PATTERN FOR FUTURE

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28618, 21 June 1958, Page 9

PATTERN FOR FUTURE

Advice From Dr. McMeekan

A pattern for New Zealand primary production was traced by Dr. C. P. McMeekan, superintendent of the Ruakura Animal Research Station, at the opening of the sheep farmers’ section of the Ruakura farmers’ conference this week.

Dr. McMeekan recommended holding the British market for lamb at about 14m head, keeping lamb weights down to 321 b and selling on the scales to guarantee this, instituting a premium grade for Down 2’s from which 'overfat carcases would be excluded, abandoning other doxvn grades and penalising overfat carcases of all weights. He also urged stepping up lambing percentages and reducing ewe flocks proportionately to make room for more cattle, and eliminating hydatids to increase income and remove a harmful advertisement for New Zealand meat.

Further he proposed co-opera-tion with Canadian and United States producers (particularly Californian) to exploit the potential lamb markets in those countries and organising all interests to develop over the next five years an export chiller beef trade with Britain of 10.000 carcases a week and planning on a contractural basis with farmers so that this could be doubled in the following five years. He also commended the exploitation of the great and cheap source of saleable beef inherent in the national dairy herd. This additional meat production

would be achieved by better farming of existing farmlands and speeding up of development of unimproved country. If necessary, he said, the production grant system of the British might be used to consolidate this production drive. Finally he proposed the stepping up of applied research in volume and quantity by a realistic appreciation of its basic needs.