CATTLE FOR AMERICA

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28604, 5 June 1958, Page 12

CATTLE FOR AMERICA

First Shipment This Month (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 4. An Australian-owned ship is due at Tauranga in the next two to three weeks to load the first shipment of live cattle for the North American market. The name of the ship is. still not known in New Zealand. The ship will take about 1300 head of cattle, the first of the proposed 10,000 head that are being shipped to the United States by Mr James Delfirio, president of the Modern Imperial Cattle Company, of Imperial, California. The cattle are being shipped to San Diego and the round trip will take about 55 days. The cattle, which are being drawn from Crown holdings in the Rotorua district, will be taken by road to Tauranga. It will take two days to load the stock. The cattle, on assembly at the port, will walk into the ship along a series of alleyways and ramps into stalls constructed of tubular steel. Each stall will hold five animals and the shipment will be attended to by a staff of about 50. The cattle are being subjected to stringent veterinary tests, including tuberculosis inoculation, before departure. It is possible, in future shipments, that American veterinarians and stock inspectors will travel in the cattle ship and carry out inoculation work during the voyage to save mustering before departure in New Zealand. On arrival at San Diego, the cattle ’ will again be tested by American inspectors and will then be stall-fed to fatten them before killing. The total shipment has been estimated to be worth up to £750,000 to New Zealand.