FARMING SEASON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 July 1940, Page 2

FARMING SEASON

SURVEY OF POSITION. NUMBER OF BREEDING EWES A RECORD. In a general survey of the 1939-40 season in New Zealand, the annual report of the New Zealand Meat Proj ducc-rs’ Board states: —The sheep flocks in the Dominion as at April 30, 1939, totalled 31,897,091, being a reduction ci 481,683 on the previous year’s i.’ecorci total of 32,378,774. Tne number, ci breeding ewes at April 30, 1939, sloot; at the record figure of 19,960,299, sopresenting 62.6 per cent of the total flocks, the highest percentage yet reached. The lambing percentage over the whole Dominion was estimated at 35.26 ,per cent, or a yield of 17,017,395 lambs. The effect of the record kill this season, so far as mutton and lamb is concerned, is reflected in the flock returns at April 30, 1940. The official interim figures just to hand show that the total flocks at that date are now estimated at 31,050,850, a decrease of 846,241. The breeding ewes at the same date are officially estimated at 19,676.458, a decrease of 283,841. This occurred wholly in the South Island where the estimated decrease is 314,000. In the North Island, there is an estimated increase of 30,000, which brings the net decrease to approximately 284,000. Last season’s record kill has been exceeded by this season’s production, and a fresh record has been established in beef, mutton and lamb. The total weight of meat of all classes killed for export at all works during the current season to June 1 was 11,726,844 freight carcases, representing an increase over the previous season’s killings to May 31, 1939 (the nearest comparable date) of 1,649,922 freight carcases. This improved production represents an increase of 16 per cent.