Sheep And Lamb Killings Decrease In Canterbury

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28251, 12 April 1957, Page 18

Sheep And Lamb Killings Decrease In Canterbury

Killings of sheep and lambs in; Canterbury this season have so far been 500,000 fewer than the figures for last year. Although the supply of stock to the works has been steady for most of the season since October, and the figures for two months of the season have still to come to hand, it seems unlikely that output will match the record totals throughout the Dominion last year.

The South Island season began well but there was a distinct fall in February when the North Island killings were showing an improvement. There was a further fall in r March, attributed mainly to the unusually wet weather. Killings of sheep and lambs at the seven Canterbury freezing works and the Christchurch City Abattoir, from October last year to the end of March, were 2.973,000. Last year, in the same period, the figure was 3,479,000. The South Island killings are about 250,000 down on last year’s figures of some 6.750,000 at the end of March. In the 1955-56 season large numbers of sheep and lambs were brought north from Otago and Southland so that, combined with the extra killings because of the drought in Canterbury, the figure was unusually high. All Stock 2?his season the southern works are dealing with all stock coming off the farms. As in Canterbury, lambing percentages in Southland and Otago were down on 1955, but with farm development in that area 140,000 more breeding ewes were put out last year and the killings have, therefore, remained high. The lambing rate in Canterbury was down almost 4 per cent, last year; the Otago rate was down li per cent.; the Southland rate wafe down 4| per cent.Throughout New Zealand the number of lambs killed this season is down about 500.000 on last season and the number of ewes is almost 350.000 down. Only the number of wethers has increased. Wether killings have been up about 150,000.

There have been several reasons for these changes. Although there has been a good volume of summer and autumn feed some ‘regard it as a disappointing season for fattening lambs. 111-thrift disease in Mid-Canterbury was a serious set-back to many farmers, but reports now show that provided the weather is suitable within the next six weeks farmers whose flocks have been affected by illthrift will probably get lambs ready for the works in May. Nevertheless, where the disease caused death, the loss was often heavy and the loss in the condi tion of other lambs upset the steady flow to the freezing works. Holding Lambs As a result of the heavy killings in Canterbury last season, when feed was desperately short, farmers found that they would

have to hold over more of this season’s lambs. With the abundance of feed this year, there was also a short supply of ewes at the fairs in February and March. The strong demand and high prices further encouraged farmers to hold back stock from the freezing companies to carry over, the winter for breeding. " This has been reflected in high weekly auction prices for store lambs and ewes. Prices for lamb in Britain are still in advance of those ruling a year ago in spite of a substantial flow of supplies. Light-weight lamb commands premiums over the heavier grades, yet the drop in carcase numbers in the North Island has been in some measure compensated by an increase in the average weight of lambs. The average weight in the North Island for the season up to March 16 was 32.431 b. The season before it was 31.761 b. Average Lamb Heavier The average South Island lamb carcase has also been heavier than last season. To March 16, the average weight was 331 b. Last season it was 32.011 b. But as the earlier peak of the South Island killing suggests, advantage was taken of the premiums in London for light-weight lambs. In the 1952-53 season, only 108,574 lambs had .been killed up to the end of December. This year the figure at that time was greater than 1,500,000.

By the end of last month, the Canterbury meatworks had handled 2.451,000 lambs, compared with 2,840.000 last season at the same stage—a drop of 399,000. The ewes and wethers numbered 521,000, compared with 639,000 — a drop of 118.000. This is a total drop of 517,000.