DAIRY CONFERENCE

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXV, Issue 12358, 23 June 1937, Page 3

DA IR Y CONFERENCE

OPENED AT HAMILTON addkess by minister pVI-JIBXT FOB DAIKY 1 produce Hamilton, June 23. the National Dairy Asia ? p inference here to-day, the s ociat w n i ee Martin, Minister of AgH° n ; ' ’ i ia( i some interesting reticuitut > regarding some of the F ar f s 1 t “e Conference. : The first to “That payment , by the Government for butter and cheese he made at factory door or at the time of grading or at some Ser point before F. 0.8. ocean steamer.” -r notice,” said the Minister, that 1 niher of remits on your order a " r suggest that payment he made Ke Government for butter and b> 1 o at some point earlier than , che h S ocean sfeamer. ahd at the reSouth Island Dairy Association reference similar remits were conC -Sed I can say that very full was given to-'the- most con fnnriate point at which payment for butter and cheese should be and the Committee responsible f or working out the details finally 1 L to the definite conclusion that tbfpoint of f.o.b. ocean steamer was to the' Conference that both from the point ot view nfthe industry and the Government the present method is the most suithie The point of f.o.b. ocean steamer has the foliowing hdvantages; .'(’{) The existing” arrangements mr transport and storage of produce are in the hands of the dairy industry through the dairy companies and their subsidiary cool storage companies. it therefore seems-desirable that this organisation and control by the Industry . should not t beinterfered with unless there are very strong reasons to the contrary..,.

“(2) -.Quantities of butter and cheese-' are . frequently withdrawn from the export allocations for local sale, and this would cause a complication if payment had already been made for this produce for export. “(3) The grading stores throughout New Zealand are almost entirely co-operatively owned. - This .being the case, it seems reasonable that the dairy factory companies should have the' responsibility of seeing to the proper transport and storage* pf the butter and cheese and that they should deliver the produce ready for export, , free on .board , the ocean steamer. “I have noticed that -fhe representatives of some dairy companies have commented on their increased interest charges, and f they have suggested that any additional cost under this heading arises from a longer period of storage than was formerly the case. I consider that any increase in interest charges arises mainly from the fact'that this season, with the certainty: of-thc* guaranteed price payments, dairy factory ‘ companies have been hble to assist their suppliers by making-relatively higher monthly advance payments than they were able to make under the old system. This has, in , the case of companies working on an overdraft, led to a somewhat greater payment for bank interest. As you are .aware, arrangements have’ been made for store warrant advances to be made by the banks at the best-interest rate (4i per,.cent.), the amount of the advance being about 9 0 per cent.'"of the ultimate valuh’ of • the produce. “During the season, in some cases there has been a slight increase in the period of storage compared with last year. The Government desires to spread shipments and arrivals of butter and cheese in England as evenly as possible, and in accordance, with a programme worked out by the London officers of the Department in collaboration with the selling agents. It is felt that the industry will heartily approve of this policy. I think any extra* cost of storage would be very slight’ indeed, and would be covered in the general allowance made for factory costs in the computation of “the, guaranteed price. The guaranteed ' price plan aims to provide a butter-fat payout for suppliers at ah average figure. In order to carry but'this policy allowance "is made in the calculation for the average ascertained factory and cheese factory costs. These costs will, of course, include the items interest and storage. If payment for the butter and cheese and ownership by the Government , were tb take'‘place at a point' before f.ob. ocean steamer, then -the savings in Merest and 'Storage costs which* dairy factory companies’would make would be allowed for in the computation of the guaranteed prices, l which, as al-ready-stated, are designed to return an average butter-fat payout to suppliers. ■

Other remits bh __which comment was made were:— “That any surplus from the sale of cheese.under, the guaranteed price plan be.paid to cheese companies.” , v.'y aiaou s representations,” said the Minister, “have been made to the Government In regard to the disposal of any surplus in the Dairy luousti7 Account, and in regard to the Roeping of separate pools for cheese Rales and the butter sales. l ean only that these matters were dealt v ‘th by the Hon. W. Nash in his speech on the 1936- Budget. Mr «ash explained that if oyer the current year, sales of dairy products during the present year produced any sum in excess of oe amount paid out by the New ealand Government, the, excess will erased for the benefit-) ojf.the dairy dustry after consultation with its representatives, if the proceeds of h aie ®^a re less than the. sum paid out J New Zealand Government, u-fi 1 ! t deficit is shown in the draff” In(iUStry Account as an over- , “That a premium be paid for trotter manufactured during the winter months so that the Winter supply of cream may be encouraged.” remit introduces a suggesworthy of considP 10n ’ and I am asking that the er t s an * ee d Price Committee considdatlon J? a^er an d make a recommenThat the guaranteed price .. n&sed on the costs of producMon of cheese factories manufacturing 150-200 tons annually.” tee "wu Guara nteed Price Commitcoikuiav }■ kll °w, give- very careful 1 wnr,ff atlou . to cll eese factory costs. d remind the Conference that ed t^ uaran teed prices are not intendthe . CUnaliae existing differences in ter 9 M no ? ic circumstances of hutthp a<l cheese factories throughout PrL. i 1 ? 1011 - The aim is to pay butter enable cheese and Under actory companies working aa certain V e Tprlce C !” ditionS t 0 P&y “

‘"That the Guaranteed Price Committee include nominees appointed by this Conference.” “The personnel o£ the Guaranteed Price Committee is:—-The Hon. Sir Francis Fraser, Mr G. A. Duncan, Mr D. Jones, Executive Commission of Agriculture; Mr J. Dunlop, representing the Southern Ward of the New Zealand Dairy Board; Mr W. E. Hale, representing the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Co. Ltd., on the New Zealand Dairy Board; Mr A. Morton, President of the National Dairy Association; Mr N. H. Moss, Barrister and Solicitor, Stratford; Mr B. Roberts, M.P., Director of Parkvale Co-operative Dairy Co. Ltd; Mr A. J. Sinclair, Secretary-Manager of the Te Awamutu Co-operative Dairy Co. Ltd; and Mr D. O. Williams, Economist, Massey Agricultural College, Palmerston North.

These gentlemen are ail of the very highest standing and enjoy the confidence of the industry. Mr Roberts is the only. one of whose political opinions I have any knowledge. The Committee will not fix the price, but will make its recommendation to the Government. The N.D.A. has already been recognised by the appointment of its President (Mr A. Morton).” Dairy Farm Instruction

Continuing his address the Minister dealt with the question of dairy farm instruction: “I noticed in the annual report of your Association,” he said, “that emphasis is laid on the importance of a system of universal farm instruction. The subject will shortly be placed before Cabinet, and I can assure you that the Government will give careful consideration to the wishes of the industry. “Farm Dairy Instruction on the basis of the appointment of men with official status to carry out the work for individual or collective groups of dairy companies was started at Kaupokonul in 1912. The number of men engaged in the work has varied from time to time, but at present there are 39 instructors of this type, and two further appointments have been approved. “Of the 363 dairy companies in the Dominion, 8 5 have the services of an instructor. Instructors are at the service of practically all the more important dairy companies. The total number -of suppliers to dairy factories in New Zealand is 70,258, and of these 3 6,284 enjoy the benefits of an instructor. Let me put it another way. The amount of butter made for the year ended July 31st, 1936, was 146,687 tons, and of this quantity 103,180 tons, or 70 per cent, was made by creameries having instructors, leaving 43,507 tons without this service. However, the cheese manufacturers are not so fortunate. There were 85,555 tons of cheese made in the same period, and of this volume 34,3 5 6 tons, or 40 per cent, were made under instruction, leaving a balance of 51,199 tons without supervision. _ “In 1913, before the present system of farm instruction was established, an inspection of 60 0 milking plants showed that 23 per cent, were in good condition, 27 per cent, fair, and 50 per cent, were bad. In 193 5, of the machines inspected 50 per cent, were good, 41 per cent, fair, and 9 per cent. bad. Experience shows that in districts where the work has been undertaken for the first time the conditions are similar to those found by the pioneer instructors in 1913.

“These figures provide concrete evidence of the service, which is being rendered by the instructors who are tackling the problem at the root. Unless the raw material for the manufacturer of butter and cheese is of high quality the efforts in the factories themselves will be largely frustrated.

“The conditions under which these officers have been appointed in the past have been that the Government pays half their salaries and the dairy companies the other half, plus the cost of transport. The minimum number of suppliers required to qualify for the full subsidy is 500. It has been estimated that an additional 38 men would be required to cover those districts which are not fully served, and. a total cost to the Dominion would be .0266 per Id. of butter-fat.

“In allocating the cost as between dairy companies, the practice followed in the past has been to base it on butter-fat in some cases, and on the number of suppliers in others, as it has been recognised that circumstances vary. In some districts the number of suppliers per ton of butter or cheese is very much greater than others, and the allocation is not always' equitable when based on either fat or suppliers alone. It has been suggested that if the contribution from the dairy companies were based casually on the weight of butter-fat, and the number of suppliers to the company, this inequality would be reduced, and some consideration will be given to this' point in the event-. of ■ the Dominion scheme being established. "A feature of recenf-appointments-lias 'been the number •'.made at the Request of dairy companies which had dropped out and had later asked for the "re-appointment 'of officers, while correspondence has been recently received from others who have the part-time service of an officer, and who are asking for his jvholetime service. . ■ , ~ “It must be kept in mind that the farm dairy instruction service ;s primarily one of instruction, although it is necessary in exceptional cases to make it one of inspection. The number of cases in which this attitude must be taken is fortunately few. Combined with the milk and cream grading system, it has been responsible for a definite improvement in the standard of the raw material being delivered to our dairy factories.” Review of Season

Continuing the Minister gave a brief review of the past season in the course of which he-said. “Although the dairy year does not officially conclude until July 31st next it is possible at this stage to indicate its outstanding features. “The season has been one of the wettest on record, and, although the volume of production has been more than maintained, the moistnature of the pastures has made the main tenance P of quality a difficult problem for the manufacturers. At the ne ginning of the autumn there was a tura for the better, and the comparatively mild weather petus to production. The tesult has been that, while the statistics ielating to the dairy inuustry at the end of March last were not, perhaps, as favourable as anticipated, it is expected that autumn figures will be unusually high. , MoT „ h “During the year ended Ma.cn ols last 151.436 tons of creameij bu ter and 89,966 tons of buttei had come forward for grading, compand with 145,990 tons of butter and 86,250 tons of cheese for pre-ou year, an increase ot 5 ; 4 . 4 ® n^ 0 o S 7l e butter (or 3.73 per cent ) and 3,710 tons of cheese (or 4.31 On a butter-fat basis the increase was 5,968 tons, or 3.85 per cent-- 4 think you will agree with me thatm the circumstances the figures most satisfactoiy. * n v hi tr li “Owing to the phenomenally bi*b rainfall, districts such as Noitb Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, iNe l s r > ,’ Marlborough and Cauterbury v Otago Ull and S ’ Southland conditions

have been unfavourable, and extremely trying for the farmer. It is perhaps. worthy •of note mat the Auckland Province has, in the year ended March 31st last, on a butterfat basis, contributed 58 per cent, of the total. exports. Ten Auckland’s percentage 01 the -° r ta | exports was 47.5 per cent. congratulate the farmers ot the Auckland province on their achieveme “The reports of the Department’s officers in the United Kingdom indicate that our butter and cheese has been well received on that imuket, and have maintained their high reputation for quality. our made inroads on to some of the mar kets in the North of England wheic the Danish product has its strongest anneal. There have been no major faults in the quality of our buttei, that the mould position is more serious.’’ '■