ROOM FOR BOTH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 306, 26 December 1936, Page 7

ROOM FOR BOTH.

HOME MEAT MARKET.

BRITISH AND N.Z. FARMER

DOMINION ENTRY FAVOURED

Some aspects of the attitude of the Bri-tish-farmer towards competition on the Home meat market from the Dominions were explained this morning by a British farmer, Mr. J. Bishop, who is at present visiting Auckland in the course of a health tour of the Dominion and Australia. Mr. Bishop farms three holdings in Shropshire, totalling 900 acres. "Generally speaking," he said, "the farmers at Home are not antagonistic towards the free entry of meat from the Dominions, provided they can have some protection from foreign competition. They believe it would be possible for the British farmer to make a good living even though the Dominion primary product was admitted in unrestricted quantities." He explained further the point about protection from foreign competition. For the past four years, he said, the farmers had received a Government grant of 5/ per cwt live weight for prime bullocks and heifers. The farmers, however, had preferred a straiglitout tariff, such as was provided for in the trade agreement between the Argentine and Britain; (Details of this were cabled from London on November 26.) There was now room on the British market for both the Homegrown and the Dominion-grown meat. Opinion Long Held. "It has taken a long time for British official opinion to come round to this point of view, but it has at long last. Personally I have advocated it for the past 15 years." But more than that, he said, it was a view which had been expressed at many meetings of the local branches of the British Farmers' Union.

Mr. J. Bishop,

The executive of the central body had done its best to impress it on the minds of the British Ministry of Agriculture, and, through that Department, on the Government. It was true that a great deal of British capital had been invested in the Argentine, but the issue lay deeper than that. However much British capital was so invested, it was importantly true that the South American republic was not part of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and the Empire should come first. This was the view held by the general farming community. Apropos of the Empire, Mr. Bishop said there was a growing feeling in England that the members of the Empire should work more together, ancl should have greater chances of co-operation. To an extent this was done by Imperial Conferences, but he would like to see the cooperation extended. He instanced the farming communities of Britain, and, for example, of New Zealand. If farmers of both countries could meet many misunderstandings which had arisen, and which tended to arise through ignorance, could be removed. Perhaps something of this nature might be between the Farmers' Unions of the respective countries. No British "Season." Having discussed the position in a general way, Mr. Bishop then went into detail on certain points. He said that in Britain there'was not a "season" for meat in the same way as there was in New Zealand, except perhaps for fat lambs. The season for the peak production of meat in New Zealand, he understood, was from- the spring onwards. In Britain, however, beeves and pigs were stall-fed in winter, and thus a number were in prime condition and ready for the market all the year round. Thus the "seasons" in Britain and New Zealand or Australia did not clash, that is, the time of peak production in New Zealand and Australia did

not coincide with a time of peak production at Home, and tend to lower prices, because, speaking in a general way, there was no peak season in Britain. For fat lambs, however, this was not so true. The season at Home for lamb was from March until the end of July. The quality of New Zealand and Australian meat was spoken of highly, he said, though locally-grown meat was preferred when it was possible to get it. "However, we cannot produce enough to meet all demand," he added. Small Beast, Quick Maturity. For the past 10 years the British farmer had concentrated on the rearing of the small beast, which fattened quickly. It was realised that this was the best paying proposition. He understood that the same advice had been given to New Zealand farmers, particularly with reference to an animal suitable for chilled beef. v He personally spent about £5000 on concentrated foods in order to secure rapid maturity. He thought that the amount of beef produced in Britain was not likely to be increased. In other words a level of production had been rea-ched. Giving his reasons, he said that the rearing of beef was not profitable. Prices received at present barely met the cost of production. Oil the other hand, the production of pigs, lamb and mutton was increasing. The average for lamb over the past year had been 1/1 a 11), dead weight, and that for mutton, 10Ad. For beef, values had been not higher than 7M which corresponded with about £2 per live cwt. "Thus you can see that beef has been produced on a marginal basis," he said. He had heard that New Zealand was doing its best to raise the general quality of its herds, by eliminating the "scrub bull." He was heartily in fa\ out of that, and thought that Australia should do the same. He gave an example from Britain. "I do not bleed cattle myself," he said. "It is too slow. I import, and a good many bulls come from Ireland. In the past ten years Ireland has adopted a policy of eliminating the "scrub bull," and in my opinion the quality of their cattle has improved 75 per cent." Views of Foot-and-mouth Disease Ban. He was definite in his view that British pedigree cattle should be allowed entry into ,\ew Zealand. They had been prohibited in the past, he understood, because of the possible danger of footand mouth disease. Now, however, he said that danger had passed, and the attitude of a Government which refused the right of entry on that score he described as "unreasonable." It was his opinion that the disease had come to Britain from France in packing straw. The disease was rife in the latter country. He described the precautions taken when there was any outbreak in England. As goon as the disease was notified, a 10-mile ring was drawn on a map round the infected area. Nothing was allowed out of the area and nothing was permitted to enter, unless by special license. He said that on one occasion within the 10-mile area one of his farms had been included, while a second farm was outside the area. He had wanted to shift some mangels from the restricted farm to the unrestricted. He had not been allowed. Then, when it was considered that the disease was under control, the radius was narrowed down to one of six miles. He considered that such precautions were adequate, and should suffice the Government of another country. He was not able to pass an opinion about New Zealand butter and cheese in Britain, .because he had not had experience of those primary products. Only recently he had turned to dairying, because fattening cattle had not paid, and was now milking 80 cows on each of two farms. There was a future for farming in Britain, he said, but again he reiterated his previous" statement that, given the tariff against foreign meat, there was room on the Home market for both the Home and the Dominion-grown commodity.