THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 October 1920, Page 7

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

NEED FOR BETTER HERDS. Mr. Robert J. Preston, Hawcra, writes as follows Sir,—l will be pleased if you will lie so so good as to print in your valuable paper the enclosed letter which appeared In an issue of the Hawora Star. The Information discussed, I thijile you will readily agree, is of very great importance to the dairy industry of New Zealand. (Enclosure.) Sir,—l notice in reading over the report of the Butter Committee that, it iB stated !.n paragraph headed "Unhealthy Boom," that the cost of production of butter-fat ranges from Is Id to lis 3d per ib„ and that the wide divergence in cost was almost entirely due to difference in the prices paid for land. That statement is somewhat misleading and contrary to fact. It is not in the price of land ttat the trouble lies, but in Lhe low production of butter-fat from the average cow. That is the chief cause of the high cost of producing butter-fat. The simple fact is that land has increased in value by £SO to £TS per acre, while tho number of pounds of butter-fat produced lias not increased one pound per acre, Willie New Zealand dairy farmers continue to milk 30 per cent, to 40 per cent, of cows in their herd that are producing less than 158 lb. of butter-fat per cow, just so long will the dairy farmerigo on losing money, notwithstanding the fact that t>utter-fat Is now selling at 2s 9d per lb. My statement that 40 per cent, of the dairy cows milked are not producing more than 153 lb. of butter-fat per cow is fully proved by the figures published by the Dairy Division, placing, the average yield of New Zealand's herd of 703,000 cows at 161 lb. butter-fat per cow.

There is no reason in the world why the average herd should not yield 300 lb. of butterfat per cow if dairy farming generally were run on ordinary co.mmon-senso business lines. That implies keeping proper records of the production of butter-fat of every cow, so that the fanmer may know which cows pay and which do not pay. We know there are quite & number of tested herds in the country averaging over 300 lb. of gutter-fat per cow, so If one herd can be graded up to .300 lb. of butter-fat why not all the herds? 1 It could be done In a few years; but only by thoroughly and systematically testing every cow to prove that she is producing tho necessary number of pounds of butter-fat to warrant her occupying her two acres of land. To the farmer who is milking a herd averaging over 300 lb. per cow what does a few ponce matter either way. If butter-fat is up a few rence lie gets more money, if It is down less, hut why worry? Ho is Quite safe. Butter-fat will never come down to tte cost of producing wttli a herd averaging 300 lb. of bui,ter-fat per cow. It is the farmer who is working on the 153 lb. basis who is howling at the high cost of land, and Just so long as he sticks to 153 lb. per cow, just so long will he continue to howl, that is, if ho does not go bung in the meantime.

Dairy land varies in values from £75 per acre to £225. Taking £225 worth of land to carry one cow, together w!,tb other running costs, we And the average cow is costing £2l, that is:—

£ a. d. Six pere cent, on £225 13 10 0 Interest on £25, cost of cow .... 1 10 0 Labor of milking 5 0 0 Death rate, 4 per cent. .., 1 0 0 Benzine and general upkeep of milking plant, carts, horses .. 10 0 Total per cow £2l 0 0 Taking the price of butter-fat at 2s 9d per lb., which the dairy fawner hopes to receive this season, we find that 40 per cent, of New Zealand's herd is only producing 153 lb. of butter-fat per cow, costing 2s 9d per lb. to produce. Profit, nil.

Herds producing 200 lb. of butter-fat per cow, cost of producing 2s profit 7%d per lb., or £7 10s per cwt, or on a 50-cow herd.

Herds producing 300 lb. of butter-fat per cow. cost of producing Is 4y 4 d; profit Is 4%d per lb., or £2l 5a per cow, or £1062 10s on a 50-cow herd.

Herds producing 400 lbs. butter-fat per cow, cwt of producing Is o%d per 'b., or a profit of Is B%d per >l»., or a profit of £.°, l per cow, or £I7OO on a 50-cow herd.

No, Sir, it la not that land is too high, but that the production of butter-fat ppr cow i£ too low, quite 140 lb. per cow below what it would be if ordinary ci>mino;i sense business methods were adopted in. the management o• at In-st 75 per cent, (f the dairy herd of the O.ji- 'Ton, which should be sy3tfmatlcuilf and 1< dtvidisally test«l for liuttcr'nt Dairy fcrners may harp -.'ir.'e ;>r four years while butter-fat is at tte' prj<ent High price to raise this average cow from let lb. but<er-fat to an average of 300 ib. Imttcr-fav. That can be done in five years by weeding out the the drones, breeding from the best and good feeding. Then if butter fat remains at 2s 9d til© dairymen gets ricn quick; if butter-fat conies back to Is 6d he is quite sound; on the other hand, if the hut - ter-fat comes backs to Is 6d, witfi»the average cows at 161 lb., two-thirds of the dairy farmers must £0 to tte pack.