DAIRY COMPANIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1920, Page 8

DAIRY COMPANIES.

» T. L. iOLL, LTD. tblt twelfth annual meeting of the T. 1. Joll Dairy Company was held at Kapuni yesterday, when Mr. J. B. Murdoch, chairman of directors, presided over an attendance of about 100 shareholders. CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. la moving the adoption,of the report, which has already been published, the chairman stated that the price paid out, viz., 2s per lb. of butter-fat was the highest ever said In the history of the company. There were a lot of people in New Zealand who looked on these high "prices as an indication of tlie tremendous profits made by farmers, but he was certain that the 2s o%d which the farmer was now receiving for his butter-fat was hot a great deal better when compared with the lid per lb. that they received some years ago. Everything in connection with the running of a dairy farm was now very expensive, some thing 3 having advanced as much as 300 per cent., and he Would not like to say that the difference in profits at present day prices compared with pre-war prices would be more than 20 per cent, or 25 per cent., and' what other commodity in New Zealand was sold at so low a difference? Still jeople were crying out that dairymen were making huge profits. He considered that they should make the real position clear so as to bring about a Better understanding between all sections of the community. There was now industrial strife which might spread to other parts, affecting the coal supply at Wellington, and there was a probability of it jffeqting the industry here. These high prices of produce were required to meet the Increased burden placed on farmers, especially by the high pries of land and stock, which had to be met.

THE REAL POSITION. Farmers, he said, were not economising any more now than when they received lid per lb. butter-fat. It was a good thing that the farmer received thes"e high prices.. They required all the money to enable New Zealand to meet the,increased.burdens. He,, hawever, urged all to practice economies so that when a period of low prices did arrive they would be fn a position to meet those conditions. He felt they would continue to get good prices for some years to come, but after that no one could tell, as all depended' on the spending power of the consumer, whether It became dear. He therefore urged them to.be cautious in regard to speculation and endeavor, to wipe off their liabilities as much as possible so as to be in a good position in a few years to meet a drop in prices. He then touched at length on the need for increased production, reported elsewhere.

Coming to the present position, he pointed out that during the N past four years their produce had been taken by the Imperial Government, but so far as cheese was concerned, the Imperial Government Had decided not to purchase the output for the coining year, and they were left with a free market as was the case prior to the war. In-the case of butter, thero was no doubt but that (the Imperial Government would Hurehase. Butter producers were anxious to have an open market as they would undoubtedly be able to get a better price. He understood from Information received on Monday that the butter had been offered to the Imperial Government at a price equal to 2a per lb., f.o.b. Wellington, and the Butter Committee was now in Wellington. As far as cheese was concerned, they were out on the open Toarket to obtain the best price ruling. The directors had decided to ship their produce through the channels that they used prior to the war. THE MARKETING SCHEME. They had, he said, jvo doubt heard a lot through the papers about the marketing scheme. Some improvement could l be made In the marketing of their produce, and that was the Idea of those at the head of the scheme. Prior to the war n meeting was held and it was decided that the producers should join with several of the best' firms at Home In marketing, but that fell through owing f& the war. Now a company had been formed in New Zealand giving power, which dairy factories did not possess now, to go in for a marketing scheme or the formation of a shipping company, and he considered that It was a good plan to have the machinery available any time they required to use it.

The price's that had been floating about for their produce had been very high. Some of the smaller factories had sold as high as Is 2% per II). f.o.b. Wellington. That was a .very big price .as compared with what they had been receiving during the ps3t three years. Their company, however, considered .If these firms were giving Is there must be prospects of a better market ahead, and so they had consigned, Tills price, lie said, If It continued throughout the season would net them 2s 9d per lb. butter-fat. This, he said, seemed a tremendous rise as compared with last year. When at Home,he found that the Imperial Government paid the Home farmer 2s 2d for cheese at his own farm, and had given us 10% d. This seemed a tremendous difference in the relative values. Ho had tasted a lot of cheese, mid was satisfied that when our cheese landed at Home it was In as good condition as the English, and this was why their cheese had risen to Is 2&d, the price offered by the merchants. y. He expected, as he had said, that 2s 9d or possibly unore would be reallsed f 'Jor their butter-fut ; next season, and they should save as much as they possibly . could. ' They could also expect good prices the following season, but he was not prepared to say what would happen the year after that, but they could then expect much greater production from countries that were not producing to-duy and prices would probably come back to what they were to-day. During the past four or five months the company had been faced with the prospects of butter being a better paying proposition than cheese, and they-hod'accordingly purchased some plant, including separators so ns to bo in a position to manufacture butter if necessary. These separators could now be sold for £7O more than they had cost. The prospects now were In favor ofjeheese, though a butter factory that made Casein as well would probably pay as well a.s cheese, allowing a margin of 3d for the skim milk.

THK BY-PaOOttCTS. I He then dwelt on the question* 0 f the I development of the industry through its byproducts, 1.e., dried milk, ice cream, and sugar of milk. While abroad, he had • gono j fully into the question of dried imilk. Twelve j months ago there was a treat agitation throughout New Zealand for the'establishment and with prices,as high as is per lb. butlerfat spoken of, the position looked very rosy They were faced with the position that there were patents over the plants available, and In addition to paying for patent rights, any factory would have to pay royalty on everv pound of butter-fat. The delegates went abroad to endeavour to And out If there were any plants that could be used without the payment of a royalty. They were successful In finding several and gave the information jto the committee. The coal-question was, I however, the governing factor in New Zeai land. It required "a tremendous amount of coal to evaporate the moisture from the skim milk or the whey. Their company alone would reilulrc 12,000 tons per annum and under present conditions It was not possible to obtain that quantity. Indeed, they had great difficulty in obtaining what they required now. In fact, he heard that one Taranakl company, relying solely on coal, did not know whether it would be able to carry on through the season, so that what chance would they have of taking up an Industry requiring ten times as much coal. Endeavours were now being made to see if it were possible to. obtain coal' from the Ohura If adequate supplies were available in the near future, the dairy community would be in a position to manufacture a great many more commodities than it could do at present In America thay manufactured largo quantities of dried milk, which wnß used largely in the manufacture of ine cream, the consumption of which is enormous, being in the State of Philadelphia, 35 gallons per capila The fee cream was absolutely pure milk and butter-fat frozen in the proper appliances In North Taranakl, he had met same dairymen who were receiving Ss Bd per lb. btitteifat for dried milk. He considered that If the industry were established here In a bis way, they would do better than was drtne In America, where in some parts the skim milk powder was carted 30 miles. The dairy industry, ho said, had a lot ahead of It as a tremendous amount of materia! was being lost year by year through not making'use of the by-products of milk. However, he hoped that the committee that had been set up would be able to do somothlng before next year.

. THE BALANCE-SHEET DISSECTED. Turning to the balance-shcat, they would find that the position was considerably improved. The alterations at Te Ngutu had been complete at a. cost of £I6OO, being. aJ saving of £BOO on the contract price, It was Intended to built a curing room at i Palmer Bond. . Four cottages had been 1 erected for the employees. The plant at Tel Ngutu had also been, increased. Taking it all through the position must be regarded as very stable for the assets, though the plant and buildings had been improved t6 the extent of over £IO,OOO showed on the books at less value 'than when taken over from the Jell Estate A concrete garag* and m>*ir

shop had been built at Okaiawa, and showed a profit, over expenses. A benzine store had also been built. He had worked out figures showing that the cost of manufacture from the raw material to placing the cheese f.o.n. at Wellington, was 4.78 d per lb, butler-fat, as compared With 2%d before the war. Landed at Home including insurance, the cost was a. little over 8d ns compared with 4d, an increase of over 100 per cent. In concluding, he referred to the stability of the company as evidenced by the fact that they were not called on to sign a joint and; several by the hank. ! Their pay-out, if they included the amount sua- i" 3 " lterest on slm '£ capital, would equal He then formally moved the adoption of the repors and balance-sheet. This was seconded by Mr A. C. Johnstone. The chairman stated that It was proposed to have the company's buildings painted, and as this would cost over £IOOO the cost would he spread over a number of vears The motion was carried without any discussion, the chairman remarking that it was very gratifying to find that the balance-sheet was so satisfactory that no one had any questions to ask.

■ ELECTION OP DIRECTORS. For the three vacancies on the directorate caused by the retirement of Messrs. ,r. B Murdoch, E. Chapman, and J. E Meull, there were four nominations, and the election resulted ns follows: .1. B. Murdoch'44o, ,1. E. Mculi 102. R. E. Harrison 269 (elected): E Chapman 227. Mr. H A Lennon was re-elected auditor, the remuneration being Increased from 20 gns. to 40 gns, On the motion of Messrs. O. H. Buckeridgo and Hartley, the directors' honorarium was increased from 10s Gd to £1 per day, and the chairman was voted a bonus of £SO. A vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Chapman, the retiring director. INCREASE OF SHARE CAPITAL. 11l accordance with notice of motion, .Mr. A. C. Johnstone moved in the directlorKof Increasing the share capital from £25,000 to £50,000, Mr. Walshe seconded. Tho chairman stated that.it was necessary to increase the capital to meet shareholders' requirements, as there were only 600 shares at present unissued, and thero would be at least 12,000 fresh shares required during the coming season'. The motion was carried. HYDRO-ELECTRICITY/. Mr. Yorke asked whether It would not be an economical proposition for tho company to consider the question of installing a small hydro-electric plant to supply power at their fi'ctories, and supply some of the shareholders w' 'i power. The chairman pointed out that they were in the district covered by the Hnwera Electric Supply Company, and no other company could sell electricity within that area. H would be a great sawing of fuel If they installed electric power. Ho pointed out that tho directors had approached the Electric Supply Company asking them to extend thoir lines to the Te Ngutu factory, hut nothing had come of it.

On the motion of Messrs. Yorlte and Slattery, a resolution was .passed urging on the Electric Supply Company the' necessity of extending their lines as suggested. GENERAL. The chairman spoke In high terms of appreciation of Mr. Kent'B- services as tester Mr. Kent's salary was fixed by the Government although paid by the company, but he thought they should show their appreciation of his services In a practical way. On the (motion of Messrs. Harrison and walshe, it was resolved to vote Mr /Kent a bonus of 50 guineas. The chairman urged on suppliers the necessity of saving veils for which the company was prepared to pay 2s fid.; He pointed out that there was a great shortage last season, and but for the Rennet Company some of the factories would have been compelled to close down. On the motion of the chairman, a hearty vote of appreciation of the services of the manager and staff was unanimously passed llio mover speaking In eulogistic terms of the work dime. Mr Harrison suggested that tho directors should consider the question of purchasing the shares of dry shareholders, and reIssuing them. On the motion of Mr. Buckeridge, It was resolved that tho directors be recommended to approach directors of other dairy factories with a view to'the standardisation of factory balance-sheets. „