CO-OPERATIVE DAIRYING

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21194, 17 August 1940, Page 6

CO-OPERATIVE DAIRYING

It its twenty-first year the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, the largest co-operative company in the world, has achieved a record in production of 75,611 tons and the huge turnover of £9,836,227. Nature was bountiful last season, but it has to be remembered that the New Zealand production of dairy produce was still 10 per cent, below the record output of 1936-37. If climatic conditions continue to be as favourable as they have been in the early part of the present spring, combined with the additional war effort, it is possible that the volume of production this year will set a fresh standard. As a demonstration of the importance of the dairy industry to the Waikato and New Zealand, and as an example of the success of co-operative management, the figures presented at the annual meeting of the company are arresting. So great an industry is worthy of the most careful management, and in these days when politics enter so largely into industry it is doubly necessary to ensure that nothing is done to hamper this lusty growth or to discourage those who are so effectively contributing to the country’s income. Even the slightest divergence in political policy might mean to the individual dairyman the difference between economic and uneconomic production. Clearly the greatest need is to ensure that costs are not unduly loaded on to the industry, which must entrench itself now in preparation for the altered conditions that may prevail after the war. The amount of care that goes into the management of the New Zealand company is illustrated by the fact that in a period of rising prices generally it was still possible to effect a slight decrease in the cost of production. An advance in costs is probable in the current season, however, because of the increase in award wages and the application of war costs. Factory costs also must not be confused with the costs of production on the farms. Another problem is that of quality of produce. The standard was not quite so high last year, and that is a factor-that must be watched carefully. In spite of the changed marketing system, in which New Zealand produce has almost lost its identity, payment is still made for quality and the whole future of the industry depends upon the maintenance of a high standard.