THE MEAT BOARD

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 269, 27 August 1935, Page 7

THE MEAT BOARD

YEAR’S ACTIVITIES REVIEWED.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH BRITAIN. i The thirteenth annual report of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, which, will be presented to the annual meeting of the electoral committee of the Board at Wellington to-morrow, contains, besides a review of the work of the Board for the year ended June 30, 1935, a wealth of detail on the sheep-farming industry in the Dominion.

The report states: — ‘‘Throughout the whole of the year this most important matter has been the subject of very careful consideration by the Board, acting in the closest co-operation with the Government. Under the Ottawa Agreement the United Kingdom Government undertook not to place any restrictions on supplies of meat from the Dominions before July 1, 1934, but from that date the meat export trade of the Dominions entered upon a new era, and quotas for short-term periods came into operation. These have been the subject of lengthy and continuous cable communications with the British Government and with New Zealand representatives in London;, and the Board’s chairman (Mr David Jones) took part in the discussions in London.

“These quota-requirements of the British Government necessitated the New Zealand Government making Orders-in-Council restricting the exportation to the United Kingdom of certain classes of meat, and, acting under the' provisions of these orders, the Board has made recommendations to the Government from time to time in accordance with the quotas allotted to New Zealand.”

Finance.

The balance-sheet sets out the

Board’s income and expenditure for the year and its financial position as at June 30, 1935. The excess of expenditure over income for the 12 months was £13.298 18s Bd, and the accumulated funds stood at ££9,857 7s 9d. In the 1 previous year the excess of expenditure was £15,447. i The levy on meat exported returned £37,687. investments yielded £2725, and the income from the cold store site in London was £322, makings a total revenue of £40,736. Head office expenditure came to £6097 and London office expenditure to £5470. Members’ honoraria and expenses were £2715, and the visits to Great Britain made by! the Board’s representatives cost £1992. Supervision of grading and loading and unloading cost £2688, and advertising £22,780. Research grants and experiments accounted for £2360 and exchange on London for £7428. The total expenditure was £54,035, leaving a deficiency of £13,299 on the vear’s working. The Board’s

assets stand at £61,309, the chief items being investments, £23,405, cool store site in London £29,790, debtors £3230 and cash £3091. Liabilities comprise sundry debtors £1451. The accumulated fund at June 30, 1934, was £73,156. The excess expenditure in the last year ha 3 reduced this to £59,857.

Regulation of Shipments.

“The regulation of shipments to the best advantage has again received careful attention, and it can fairly be claimed that the system has been markedly successful over a long period in avoiding excessive fluctuations in prices and maintaining a higher average than would have been secured under conditions of alternate glut and scarcity. “This satisfactory result has been achieved by constant study of many factors which may influence market prices. New Zealand’s meat output is not available for shipment in steady volume all the year round, nor is the consumptive demand maintained at the same point month bv month, but varies considerably, having regard to seasonal fluctuations m demand for various kinds of meat. There are naturally periods of heavy killings when stock is in prime condition, but as prompt shipment of this excessive volume of meat would be likely to overload a market always highly sensitive to oversupply, the exports from New Zealand during the busy period do not by any means coincide with the total killings.

“Consumptive demand in relation to available supply is not the only factor which comes into a regulative policy. Freight arrangements on a route which is the longest in the world for regular food supplies to the English market involve much planning well in advance of shipping dates,* hut the fact that the Board arranges the freight contracts for the whole of the Dominion’s meat shipments, and every month allocates tonnage for gives it an important controlling influence in this sphere. It then has to take irtto consideration, in planning an even flow of supplies at the British end, variations in speeds of vessels employed in the trade, and the loading conditions around the New Zealand coast, with liability to delay through unfavourable weather in open roadsteads.

“Still another important point comes into the board’s arrangements, and this is the spreading of meat supplies over as wide a geopraphical area as possible in the British market. London remains the greatest consuming centre, but every effort is made to avoid overloading this market, by allotting as much space as possible for loading to West of England ports. This involves creating an increased demand in these areas, and the board consequently maintains a travelling representative who is constantly calling upon retailers in the Midlands, the industrial centres of the West, Shetland, and' in eastern counties of England, with the object of inducing increased purchases of New Zealand mutton and lamb. The work of this officer is greatly assisted by general publicity campaigns and the special ‘New Zealand Weeks’ organised in many of the highly populated industrial centres.

“The exceptionally hot, dry summer caused a rush of killings in the early part of the season, with the result that sheep and lambs were lighter in weight on the average. This will be seen from the table setting out a comparison of average weights. As might be expected under these conditions, the number of lambs graded second class

has been somewhat higher this season than ni a normal season. The prolonged drought was followed by good rains in March, which eased the position and improved the condition of stock. There was a big drop in killings in April. “During the year the board has exercised its usual careful supervision of the grading at the various works. It is only by a strict adherence to our present standards of grading that we can retain the premium which our lambs obtain over those of our competitors. Pig Products. “The board would uraw special attention to the need tor farmers who are producing porK for export to convert as large a percentage of pigs into uie oaconer class as tney possiuiy can, instead ot killing tnem as porKers. *lt cannot be too frequently emphasised tnat tlie trade in Ureat Britain absorbs only aoout 50,UU0 tons ol imported porkers, as against over 4UU,(jOO tons or bacon, Hams, and baconers, equivalent to approximately ooO.OUO tons of baconer pigs, so tiiat it will be seen that tlie imported baconer trade into United Kingdom is approximately 11 times more than the imported porker trade. JNew Zealand's snare of this baconer trade is relatively insignificant, whereas her snare of tne imported porker trade is substantial. With quotas being fixed by the United Kingdom Government as to the quantities of the various classes which may be imported into Great Britain, this is an aspect of the position that farmers must not overlook, and they should therefore make their arrangements to convert as large a percentage of pigs into the baconer class they they possibly can. “The JNew Zealand Government and the Meat Board have been successful in obtaining an adequate quota for New Zealand baconers for arrival in the United Kingdom during the calendar year 1935, the quantity fixed for this period of 12 months being 12,0(JU tons. Overseas Distribution. “The board has actively maintained its policy of seeking the widest possible distribution for meat in our most important market, the United Kingdom. Successful results have followed from the arrangements to make direct distribution of our meat from a number of ports convenient to the large centres of population in the west coast of England, Scotland, and the north-east coast, as well as the principal and most populous distributive centre, London. Further attention has been given throughout the year to the possibilities of trade with other countries. The board is fully alive to the importance of obtaining additional outlets for our meat outside the United Kingdom, realising that evvi,* von of meat which can be kept off the British market under present quota conditions is of value to the Dominion.

“In regard to the United States of America, it will he remembered that in 1928 the board made trial shipments of New Zealand lamb to the United States of America for the purpose of opening up this market, and over 39,000 lambs were satisfactorily marketed. This promising new outlet was, however, soon barred by the imposition of ( high import duties, which under normal conditions operated as a complete prohibition. However, a se.vere drought in the United States of America in the summer of 1934 resulted in enormous killings of stock owing to the feed - position, and this resulted in a shortage of supplies in the early months of 1935, and gave an opportunity for New Zealand to export to the United States of America considerable quantities of beef, both in quarters and boneless. The quantities of meat shipped to New York this season amounted to 15,268 quarters of frozen beef, 23,126 bags of boneless beef, and 600 carcases of pork. “Over a long period attention lias, been paid by the board to the possibility of extending our trade in meat with the various countries in Europe, and the board’s London manager has made several personal investigations. It was found, in general, that creditcontrol, quota restrictions, and tariffs usually operated effectively to exclude New Zealand meat, whilst in some countries where- the tariff did not appear formidable veterinary restrictions operated as a complete bar to importations of meat from this country.”