H—3o

EXPORTS TO COUNTRIES OTHER THAN UNITED KINGDOM During 1946 the United Kingdom Ministry of Food advised that a revised method of supplying British colonies and dependencies with their allocations of meat, other than frozen meat, was to come into operation. Instead of securing supplies out of the Ministry's bulk purchases, these territories could, if they wished, import through normal commercial channels direct. Under this scheme the quantity required by each territory is agreed mutually between the United Kingdom and the area concerned, and the importing country undertakes to exercise control of imports so as to keep within the limit of the agreed allocations. New Zealand exporters have been kept advised of the territories which have agreed to secure their supplies under this scheme, and some business on a trader-to-trader basis has resulted. SURVEY OF SEASON The killings of meat returned to the Department during the 1946-47 season as available for export totalled 354,824 tons, representing an increase of 4*85 per cent, on the previous season. The number of lambs, wethers, and ewes slaughtered for export this season were lower than last season, but, owing to the favourable climatic conditions experienced, average weights were higher than normal. Killings of quarter beef reached a record level. Average weights of lamb and mutton for the three seasons, 1944-45, 1945-46, and 1946-47, are as follows :

Details of killings for export month by month throughout the season, with the 1945-46 season's totals for comparison, are shown in the following table :

Frozen Meat Killings for Export, Season 1946-47

32

North Island. South Island. Dominion. 1944-45. 1945-46. 1946-47. 1944-45. 1945-46. 1 1946-47. 1944-45. 1945-46. 1946-47. lb. . lblb. lb. lb. lb. lb. lb. lb. Lambs 34-20 31-39 35-15 35-05 34-61 35-58 34-59 32-81 35-35 Wethers 59-18 54-32 60-18 51-02 49-67 52-41 58-40 53-86 ! 59-42 Ewes 57-14 52-51 57-23 53-13 52-83 54-01 55-68 52-61 ! 56-05

— ! /ether Mutton. we Mutton. uarter Beef. oneless Bobby Veal. oneless Bull Beef. oneless Cow and Ox Beef. 2 § c3 & o 1 jS 3 ta o 53 •3 "3 o ! s G? > pq M o (Si H 1946 Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. ! Tons. Tons. Tons. October 16 177 421 256 17 986 161 532 718 81 22 191 3,578 November 2,935 1,378 923 718 4 376 293 794 1,009 87 19 304 S.-840 December 20,902 1,038 916 614 6 121 388 492 1,054 78 18 807 26,434 1947 January 48,796 2,395 4,865 1,848 9 56 592 321 1,444 133 34 1,936 62.429 February31,573 3.901 17,281 4,200 39 53 933 438 1,115 407 43 1,918 61-906 March 23,690 5,010 15,207 6,539 67 25 693 638 959 887 28 1,688 55,431 April 26,319 3,491 5,959 8,936 124 41 678 1,155 692 929 17 1,709 ! 50,050 May 15,861 1,620 7,054 10,857 124 49 592 2,084 234 607 21 1,667 1 40,770 June 8,481 885 3,071 10,459 99 69 395 1,508 351 466 10 942 26,736 July 1,001 294 1,201 5,709 43 1,114 ! 254 729 52 25 3 722 11,1,47 August 323 126 375 418 10 2,494 74 268 44 24 6 429 4,391 September 11 43 140 174 2 2,085 66 162 97 12 24 296 3,112 Season Total 179,908 | 20,358 57,213 50,728 544 7,469 5,124 9,121 7,769 3,736 245 12,609 354,824 1945-46 season 174,298 19,639 60,868 33,341 1,093 7,121 | 4,681 12,387 8,414 5,584 200 10., 791 1 338,417