MEAT EXPORT

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21975, 26 December 1936, Page 7

MEAT EXPORT

PRICES ELSEWHERE Apparently the lamb export schedule is higher in the South Island than in the north, notwithstanding that the North Island iamb is claimed to be much the superior article. Up till the closing down this week of the Auckland works for the holidays, 361b lambs were quoted in the schedule at Bid, 37’s to 42’s Bd, over 42's 7?d. and seconds 7Jd. The Canterbury prices have been a halfpenny per lb higher in each case. The superior skin value of Canterbury lambs may have something to do with the increased rates here. Exceptionally prime drafts have been going into the Southland works, weights of more than 40 to 441b being fairly common, with occasional lambs reaching 601b. Compared with the first day’s operations at the Makarewa works last year, the lambs averaged 21b heavier, and the number was slightly larger. The report has gained currency that the North Island will export 1,000,000 more lambs this season than last year. The estimated lambing returns show that the number of lambs tailed in the North Island was 9,322,476 as against 8,500,075 last year, or a difference of approximately 8,322,000. With the general policy of building up ewe flocks. 1,000.000 extra lambs for export this year appears somewhat on the optimistic side. The South Island increase was approximately 345,000. The figures indicate that 1,000,000 extra lambs may be exported this season from the Dominion as a whole. Beef and Tig Products No export schedule for beef has yet been issued in the North Island, as prices for local consumption are substantially in advance of export parity, and this dominates the position. Pig export prices in the Waikato are; Up to 801b. 6d; r lb to 1001b, 51d; 1011b to 1201b, sid; 1211b to 1601b. 53d; 1611b to 1801b, 43d: 1811b to 2001b, 2?d; over 2001b, 2d; choppers, exportable, 2Jd. RAGWORT POISONING CASES IN ENGLAND AND WALES Many farmers will remember the scare occasioned by the outbreak of Winton disease in Southland about the end of last century. Stock commenced to die from unaccountable causes, and investigation showed that the disease was really poisoning from ragwort. It is reported this last month that many deaths of stock have occurred in England and Wales from the same cause. Commenting on these deaths, a writer in the “British Farmer and Stock Breeder” says:— . “It is not generally recognised that ragwort is poisonous, probably because cattle and horses avoid it in the pasture. Unless driven by hunger they will not take sufficient of it to do them any harm. The trouble arises, however, when the hay contains much of the weed, and as the poison is cumulative in action it is only a question of time before enough is taken to cause very serious symptoms, that frequently end fatally. Sheep, on the other hand, are supposed to be able to eat ragwort with • impunity, but this is not quite correct, for after continuous feeding on the weed losses may occur. Possibly the young plants do not contain so much of the poisonous principles as the full-grown onea, which are richer in it just before flowering than after. The onset of poisoning is very insidious, and the symptoms may not come on for quite a long time after the ragwort is oaten. Death may not follow for as long as a month afterwards. “In the early stages the poisoned animals appear to be hidebound, and later stagger as they walk, some seemingly being blind, or quite heedless of what they blunder into. Later still, they become very excitable and aggressive, charging everyone who goes near them. "Post-mortem examination shows the liver reduced in size, slaty blue in colour, leathery to the touch, and tough to cut. The fourth stomach and the small intestines are inflamed, but the remaining three stomachs are healthy." Amongst methods suggested for the eradication of ragwort have been the breeding of Cinnabar moths, the caterpillars of which feed on the leaves of the ragwort. The formation of a Potato Marketing Board on the lines of the English Potato Board is now being considered by the Federal Government. A recommendation that the policy adopted by the British Potato Board be adopted in Australia was submitted to the Federal Government by the Assistant Minister for Commerce (Mr Thorby) on his return from Great Britain more than 12 months ago. Mr Thorby expressed pleasure with the development in the negotiations between Australia and New Zealand regarding the potato and fruit embargoes, “Australian potato growers are very much opposed to the importation of New Zealand potatoes,” he said in Sydney recently, “for the reason that through the lack of organisation, backed up by the necessary power or powers, the Australian growers are repeatedly forced to sell their products in large quantities below the cost of production. They claim that it is only during the high-price period that they are able to secure compensation for their past losses. An organisation similar to that of the English Potato' Marketing Board would be competent to secure a better average price for the growers and more regular supplies for the consumer. Such a board would also be able to advise the Government, as is done in Great Britain, when it is necessary and advisable to import certain quantities of potatoes for home consumption.”