Live Stock Notes

Southland Times, Issue 19381, 3 September 1904, Page 2

Live Stock Notes

(Uy '• freezer " In view of the |. resent high prices ruliinr ini- sheep throughout this colony and the tpiestion continually asked as in bow long these hi_h priced are likely to last , i! may nut be out oi place Ki re\iew the situation broadly aii'l ;is.-.-rtain the exact causes for tli.- present shortage cf sheep in the country (loinn hack say to 1 "O-t —lo veins hu'u-«i; fun I the fro/.en meat industry lirmly established, and U.O nuill--1,,.,-s nf |j\e sheep i" the three :uui* on export ini; countries (^ Z . Art.cn' ine, nnd \iistt.tluti about 'he same as tln-V ar<J to-. lay. excepting Australia, who si- numbers have since been interfered with by ■ Irought Although the Cuit«?«l Kingdom imported iu that year close upon a,'.>00,---100 carcases of frozen mutton she only ivn-ii.-il Jiu>, ono lambs. The average top price realised in London for these lambs was ,~, . per 1»', and in the following year ivli.-n Too.ooo lambs were shipped tho uscrage '<'p price was only ill pel' th less It was these good prices in 1894 lii.ll IMUo that encouraged the N.Z. farmers to take tip the f{U lamb business s.-i-ioiisiy, and since then they have not -lat Kene.l tlieir etlorts to annually inreuse iheir output n-p to last yoar, when 'he imports of X /. lu.nh into the Initetl Kimrdoiii were 1,0 less than -.1 .')7,'100 arrases, representing an increase of 20J per rent over the preceding year, which .mam e Weeded l'.Mi,' imports by ..Si per fni These enormous shipments have in ■1,. way l/'s-seiiei* tlie value per 11). for the utual top average of last season's shipments was o.il per Ih— a conclusive prool ihat the Knt.li.sh deinnml is increasing iiHir.. rapidly than our output. Thia neavy export of lamb has a direct bearm: upon, and is one of the chief causes .I'. to-.la.V's shortage Another point to he considered i* tho -ite nt which sheep are now -u -day's ma•ured anrl killed In IS'.M. lind even up to IMO7. the ages of the sheep fro'/en in X / ranged from 4-tooth to S-tooth, whereas fit present ibe great bulk of tho sheep are hilled as ..-tooths. The South .iri.jin war, necessitating .1)0 importn•ion there of second quality mutton, was .ii unusual circumstance in the frwen' nc.it trade, and it is now regrettable that so many good breeding ewes were •xpoiietl. depleting good (locks, which ■iave not yet been made up. to their usual si/,- These facts apply to N.Z. When ny study the Argentine's position wo find 'hat the export of mutton has gone on leadily increasing— although not to tho „reat extent which some people imagine— I i'or the reason that the increase in tho 'locks there bus barely kept pace With 'he export. Ths is accounted for hy , more land going under crop, and greater ■ut. -ntion b.-ing paid to cattle raising, ' for dairying ami beef purposes, and thnt country being better athipted ior cattlo than l'or sheep. So far nr. Australia > s •oiuvrued, ilie recent thought completely upset that country's export of meat, and it Mill take u year or two of good .seasons to brin>: matters up to their old level. The killing of sheep when one year old is not taking place in N.Z. alone, hut the same thin^ i.s being done in all mut-ton-producing countries. The fact of the carcase being of more value than tho tleece is the cause of the change, and it is reckoned now hy those who keep Up wiili the times thai trie earlier a sheep or l.ullock is brought to maturity ihegrcat- ■ ■!• i lie profit until now in Scotland wo tm. l sheep nut (tired and made absolutely inline at !) lo llf mouths old, weighing from .">."> io ih. lbs The fact of sheep brum killed so young necessitates a much greater pern-Hinge of breeding ewes In the flock to keep up the numbers, and this - fact is only now being realised. Had pri--1 cs for mutton, lamb and wool been un« der cost of production, breeders VOUld have pone out of the industry, fts prorluc--1 ers tlo with nn article like wheat, hut as prices for meat ami wool have all along been profitable, the shortage of .sheep is due simply to lack of foresight. Tlock owners have not altered their system of working to meet the great change which has liven taking place during rodent years throughout the meat trade. Some Justi- , lication is found for the breeder selling j his ewes ai high prices inasmuch as the j * meat trade has since Ita commencement been very erratic as regards values, and there was always the feeling that theso high prices were only temporary. That to-dny'.s prices will last ia very doubtful. but it. is unlikely that there will he any material '.'eduction in the near future, for in addition to the conditions obtaining 1 in N .'/.. Argentine and Australia as cited 11 hove, there has been a rather serioUd decrease in the 11u.uflft.r- of sheep throughout Kuropean countries. We And that tho i latest o flic": al records show) the following decreases as compared with tho previous) year, yu ... Krance, 2fi per cent.; Germany, tri per cent -. Belgium, 12 per cent : Holland. X per rent. : (Treat Britain, t'. per cent Uussiu, Austria and Spain, from 12 per rent, to .""> per Cdlt. these reductions, combined with a steal".'. increase in the population throughout tho world, and a consequent greater demand for meat and wool, lead one to believe that thero is little chance of the prices of sheep getting back to their old level for some time to come.