A HAPPIER TREND

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29070, 5 December 1959, Page 9

A HAPPIER TREND

Lamb Rises In U.K.

The steady improvement in lamb prices on Smithfield market in the last month will be welcomed by farmers. In that period, according to the price list issued by the Imported Meat Trade Association in Britain, the upward movement has ranged from Jd a lb for heavier weights to lid to l.?d for light weight lambs.

This trend seems to be linked with a falling off of Home supplies after the unprecedented killings in June to October as farmers in Britain lightened the stock load in one of the worst droughts for possibly 200 years. Apparently now Home killed hoggets are not expected a cause a glut on the market and the outlook for early supplies of New Zealand lamb has brightened, although it is customary for the market to show some upward movement on receipt of the new season’s supplies. It would be wrong, however, to imagine that somehow the magic wand has been waved and the outlook for the rest of the season is going to be all sunshine with prices moving upwards. The facts and figures are against that. Professor B. P. Philpott, of Canterbury Agricultural College, has hinted at a reduction in Home killed mutton and lamb in the United Kingdom in 1960 but he has pointed to production in this country being as great or a little greater.

Heavy Supplies The overall picture is still one of heavy supplies in the United Kingdom and what gains have been made in the way of increasing consumption of mutton and lamb there have been made at the expense of price. This means that no very marked advance in price can be expected while the supply position remains thus.

A butcher with long experience in the United Kingdom and now also in business in Christchurch, Mr Stanley Stevens, has suggested on this page that by imaginative advertising to both the retailer and consumer the turnover; of lamb can be increased without sacrificing price. This is an interesting angle and one that deserves the close attention of those in the meat trade.

In the meantime the improvement at Smithfield, which has already been reflected in local schedules, will be warmly welcomed but must not be regarded with undue optimism.