STOCK FOR EXPORT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 248, 1 August 1946, Page 5

STOCK FOR EXPORT

Plea for Research (Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) , (Rec. 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, July 31. A strong plea to the British Government and British farmers to promote State agricultural research on the lines followed in Denmark and New Zealand with the object of standardising the most economic breeds of livestock for export was made by Mr J. O. Cherrington, a special correspondent on the “Farmers Weekly” (the official organ of the National Farmers’ Union). There was undoubtedly some ground for the assertion that some British farmers were conservative, and, refused to explore the possibilities of improving their farming methods, says Mr Charrington, criticising the disposition of farmers to seek remedies in the form of Government subsidies. Before the war the technical efficiency of Danish and New Zealand production methods and marketing was much ahead of Britain, because farmers in those countries were forced by economic circumstances to export produce which would meet the world demand at ruling prices. Denmark, for instance, spent a great deal of time in ascertaining just what sort of bacon the British housewife wanted and then proceeded to standardise the Danish pig breeding with the object of producing bacon of that type. Similarly Danish dairy management was standardised with one breed of cattle. Low prices also forced New Zealand farmers to make careful economies in production, and to-day in New Zealand about three breeds of sheep and three breeds of cattle had all been carefully developed for export production. “We shall not always be able to j sell just what we like to hungry cus- j tomers,” says Mr Cherrington. “We j shall find that small joints and thin j bacon will again he in demand. It is ! no good when this happens passing | resolutions deploring the change in i tastes and asking for subsidies . to j maintain production •of over-weight: steers and lambs on the ground that j they are the stuff that built the British I Empire. Before we can begin to call ourselves really efficient we have a; great deal to do.”