THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 August 1922, Page 8

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

The maketawa company. THE ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Maketawa Coop. Dairy Company was held at the factory yesterday, the chairman (Mr. .T. Brown) presiding over an attendance of about 35 shareholders. In moving the adoption of the annual reoort and balance-sheet (already published) th-? chairman congratulated the shareholders on the increased output of last year, whi *.’.i amounted to about 41 tons of butter over the previous year’s output. Although the flne season may have accounted for a large part of this increase, it. was shown that they were getting more out of their farms than they used to" Their pay-out for the season would be about Is 4 3--8 d per lb., and this would compare favorably with the pay-out of any other factory in Taranaki. That morning he had received returns fro-m their last shipment, showing that "alted butter had brought 206 s and unsalted 210 s per cwt. A new law had been passed compelling dairj’ factories to pay income tax. and this would have cost the company about £lOO but for the fact that they wrote about 10 per cent, off their plant for depreciation, so that they only had to pay £3 income tax. The depreciation written off this year amounted to £250, which he considered very heavy, and they would be able shortly to wipe off the cost of the manager’s cottage. The balance-sheet showed the value of the factory buildings at about £6OO. but he did not think they could erect similar buildings for anything like that sum.

Their unsalted butter had not turned out as satisfactorily as they had expected. It brought about, the same as salted butter. The suppliers should be very well satisfied with their pay-out of Is 4 3-Sd. Last year it did not look ns if they would get Is per lb. He complained of the treatment the company received fmm the banks. Thej’ would get a better advance on produce from the agents than from the banks. "You can plead and talk to the banks,’’ he said, "but you can get nothing out of them.” Some of the directors j had thought that he (the chairman) was hard j in keeping down the pay-out from month to month, but they had agreed with him in the end. when it was found that market prices fluctuated and there was a danger of over-j paying. The past had been a very hard season and he did not wish to see them in a similar position again, or they would all be in the asylum. Things did look better for the coming season. BANKS CRITICISED. Referring to the subject, of the banks, the chairman said they did not advance the dairy factories what they needed. Of course the banks had their side of the question, but they did not treat the dairy factories as fthey should do. The factories were the best business the banks had. Still, the banks had to work their business on a safe basis. As far as the suppliers were concerned, the prospect was brighter for next year. Last season they were looking for 2s 6d per lb. for their but-ter-fat. but this year they were not looking for such prices. Comparing their pay-out with that of other companies, he thought they had done better than most. He had heard rumors about suppliers who had said they had not received Is 3d per lb. for their butter-fat. If they read their balance-sheets carefully they would find they had not yet received that amount, hut by the time full payments were received they would have more than that amount.. The wages paid during the season had been a little higher than previously, hut they had bad to employ another lad to handle the increased output, and if expectations were realised this year they would have to employ still another.

Referring to the cost of fuel, the chairman said the cost last y-ar was 3d per ton of

butter, as compared with 72s 3d the year before. He compared this with the fuel cost at other factories, and the comparison was not favorable. The fact that they had not been able to take advantage of cheap wood partly accounted for the increased cost. The cost of manufacture had been reduced. This year it had cost f.o.b. 2.95 d per lb. of butter-fat. while last year it had cost 3.36 d per lb. This would compare favorably with any other factory, some of which, had electric or water or other cheap power. He thought it would be necessary in the coming

year to instal another separator and another vat. At the present time they were running their separator too long. The matter of casein, he said, was a difficult one to deal with. Last, year very few suppliers had intimated their intention of supplying for casein, and by the end of the season they nearly all came in. As far as casein was concerned, the prospect was more promising than last year. Last-year they received for casein. This year it looked a.s if they would get more. The casein company offered to pay £27 per ton for first, grade casein, £25 for second grade, and £2O for third grade. They were also offering a premium of £2 per ton on the superfine grade, and this, he thought, was good policy. The company expected to advance l%d per lb., bur he could not say if this advance would be maintained. The company had also decided to deduct £2 per ton from casein containing more than 62 per cent, of water. He considered this a fair deni.

The chairman referred nt. length to the marketing of produce. He thought it would be a good idea to get the Tooley Street people over to New Zealand to hold a round table conference. They should then be able to arrive at some scheme of marketing. They would have more confidence in their dealers if they could get into closer touch. The producers could not expect to dictate prices. Shipping was a great difficulty: they were up against the shipping people. The increase in production last year resulted in the shipping people being unable to supply sufficient space, and the produce either got Home in large quantities or ndt at all. It was all very

well for the producers to say that the butter should be put in the cool stores at Home to ensure a regular supply, but who was to find the money? The produce had to be paid for. They had already had a great deal of money ,advanced by the people at Home. Tlie report was adopted. OFFICERS ELECTED. The retiring directors were Messrs. J. - T. Stephens. 'C. Goble and E. A. Lawrence. The voting was as follows: F. A. Lawrence 32, .T. T. Stevens 23, W. Marshal 20 (elected). Goble 18, Dean 6. At a subsequent meeting of directors Mr. J. Brown was re-elected chairMr. G. Pullen was re-appointed auditor. THE DISCUSSION. I Mr. TrinVole asked whv the value of the plan* had been Increased since the last bal-ance-sheet. The chairman said a new cooler, and a new pasteuriser and other things had been added, and this accounted for the increased value. A supplier asked if the comnnnv consigned through Messrs. Clements and Son, did it allow th°m or any other company to gamble with the produce when it was on the water? Did the company receive the price at which it we*’ sold on the water or the London price? The chairman said the consienincr firms, such ns Clements and Son. did not gamble with the produce on the water, unless thev instructed by the owners, but who was going to instruct these Anns to sell on the water? No one would take the responsibility in view of fluctuating prices. Mr. Dean brought- up the question of grading milk and cream. He considered that a manager should be empowered to set aside inferior milk or cream and give It second .grade. As it wa.d the same price was pard Tor every grade of milk or cream. Could they not pay out according to the grade of the article supplied? The chairman said he agreed that milk and crecm should be graded, hut most people would not sec with-them. The difficulty was that if a man was given second grade fnr his supply he would go to some other factory or firm and get the full grade price. Mr. Dean said he thought ihat cream suppliers were rather unfairly treated in having to take shares according to the amount of cream they supplied. He thought they should have tn take shares according to butter-fat supplied. If the cream was thinned down the suppliers found that they had to take more shares. wished to altar the

anethod of Issuing shares he should give notice of motion. When the rules were fixed thetk did not anticipate a supply of cream. Mr. Harding asked why their agent obtained a lower price for shipments than other agents got, and mentioned several agents who said they got considerably higher prices than the Maketawa agent. The chairman asked why’ these other people had not paid out as much as Maketawa. A rather heated argument ensued between Mr. Harding and the company’s agent, which resulted in a decision to compare the returns from several different agents. GENERAL. Speaking of electricity. Mr. Dean asked if it would not be wise to get a capable. man to advise them on the possibilities of generating power fdr their own use froun the Piokau stream. The chairman said it would not pay to spend thousands of pounds on a scheme for their own use when they would have a supply running past their gates from the other big schemes. They had a power board in the district which was going to take power from New Plymouth, and they would have to nay a rate whether they took the powur or not z He thought there was a chance of having power in about a year’s time. If it paid Inglewood to scrap their present plant and take New Plymouth power it would pay Maketawa. MT. Trimble brought, under the notice of the the advisability of joining the herd-testing association. So far only eight people had been sufficiently interested to Join. Testing was one of the ways through which

the farmers could get a greater benefit even than from, improved marketing. The advantages would readily be seen In getting a 400 lbs, average from a herd where they might be gening an average of 1501bs. Other speakers also advocated herd testing.

A motion that directors' fees be reduced to 10s per meeting and an amendment that, they be 12s 6d per day were lost, and the fees will remain the same as last year, £1 per

The chairman's honorarium was fixed at £5O. The retiring director (Mr. C. Goble) was accorded a vote of thanks for his services. Votes of thanks were also accorded the chairman, directors, secretary and staff. THE MOKAU COMPANY. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual report was as follows: The directors have pleasure in presenting to the shareholder s’ the statement of accounts of the company for the year ended May 31, -1922. The factory commenced the manufacture of butter on September 1, 1921, and It was unfortunate that we have experienced such an unstable market during our first year’s operations. The weather conditions, however, have been most suitable for dairying, and the supply of cream very' satisfactory. The quantity of creatn received and the figures relating to production are shown hereunder : Number of suppliers, 19: Quantity of cream received, 207,546 lb; quantity of butterfat received, 80,268 lb: zaverage test of cream, J? 8.67 per cent.; quantity of butter made. 96.582 lb; overrun, 20.32 per cent.: lbs cream to each lb of butter, 2.14: cost of manufacturing lb of butter at per lb butter-fat, 2.09 d; management, 2.94 d; freezing and charges to f.0.b., .86d; depreciation, .40d; total, 6.29 d.

The cost of manufacture and charges to f.o.b. ocean steamer compare favorably With other companies, but the cost of management is very high. All preliminary expenses as well as a substantial sum in other non-recurring expenses have been charged under this heading, and the shareholders can look forward to a substantial reduction next season iri that item. z During the year the sUm of £3375 <s 6d has been paid to suppliers, being equal to lOd per ’.b butter-fat. The sum of £137 17s has been written off for depreciation, and there remains a balance of £3OB 18s 2d, tn which will be added later the surpluses on shipments on the water, against which a comparatively small advance has been made. It is confidently anticipated that the average payment for the year will be over 13d per lb of butter-fat. The chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, congratulated shareholders on the result of the year’s working. It was their first vear’s operations, and while they could not therefore make comparisons, the balance sheet showed that butter could be manufactured by the company and marketed at a cost which compared very favorably with other dairy companies situated in a much better position geographically. The high cost of manufacture was due to the fact that all the preliminary and other non-recurring expenses had been charged under this heading. In all. they represented over 2d per lb of butter-fat. The company’s output had been handled on consignment. and the prices returned had been most satisfactory, seeing that the factory did not commence running until the middle of September, and closed down in the middle of May. He felt sure that the number of suppliers would be increased next year, and he had every hope Af seeing the output doubled. Now that the Vomprnv had completed a season’s experience and had, so to speak, felt its feet, he had no hesitation in predicting a very successful future. They had already had to double their cream vat capacity, and this he had no doubt would be followed by an increase in the churning capacity. He thanked his ao-directors for the loval assistance they had ,lim during the' year, which, he added, Wi been done without any monetary consideration or even reimbursement of out.-of-opeket expenses. Mr. T. Radford seconded the motion, which was carried after a short discussion.

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS. The retiring directors, Messrs. W. D. Black and A. G. Mouat, were re-elected unopposed. Mr. E. P. Webster was re-elected auditor. GENERAL. A very hearty vote of thanks was accorded the manager, Mr. J. C. Balscm, and the secretary, Mr. E. Garner, and they were eacn the recipients of a presentation a small token of suppliers’ appreciation of their serdecided that the directors be recommended to take over ths responsibility of delivery of cream to the factory from the MoKau River suppliers, and also from all other parts of the company’s territory when the quantity in their opinion warrants them doing so, ant that cream suppliers who deliver the-r cream to the factory be credited with an equivalent sunt per lb of butter-fat. It was decided to reimburse the directors for all out-of-pocket expenses in atteuouig meet? ings of the company during the past year. It was resolved that interest at the rate of 6 per cent, be paid to non-supplying shareholders holding fully-paid-up shares. A very cordial vote of thanks was accorded the chairman for the services he had rendered on behalf of the company.