OPPOSITION TO PLAN

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28536, 15 March 1958, Page 12

OPPOSITION TO PLAN

Depletion Of Beef Herds (New Zeaiana Press Association) AUCKLAND, Mar. 14. The proposal to ship live beef cattle to the United States got a mixed reception from meat industry spokesmen and producers today. Mr J. D. Ormond, chairman of the Meat Board, said he had only learned today of the proposed shipments, the scope of which would need a lot of careful consideration. “This is not just a matter concerning the meat producer,” said Mr Qrmond, “but something affecting the welfare of our own New Zealand freezing industry, the freezing, workers, the consumers and a lot of other people whose interests are likely to be affected. “Equally important is the danger of reducing the numbers of our capital beef stock to a point from which they might take years to recover,” he said. Meat exporters predicted that the price of beef to the New Zealand consumer would skyrocket this winter if thousands of beef cattle suitable for the local trade were bought in autumn for shipment to America. There was already a grave shortage of quality beef cattle in the North Island, and exporters had been unable to compete with the local demand to buy young cattle for export as chilled beef. Shipping cattle alive, said one exporter, meant a loss of foreign exchange to New Zealand, as every pound of meat exported carried with it processing and freezing charges which were included in the price received overseas. Farmers in the Auckland district were generally pleased to learn of the American venture because of the demand it would create for their cattle. They said it might take some of the strain off the well-supplied British market and earn needed dollars for New Zealand.