Small Return From Extra Meat In U.K.

Press, Volume C, Issue 29518, 20 May 1961, Page 7

Small Return From Extra Meat In U.K.

In studies at Canterbury Agricultural College into factors affecting lamb and mutton prices in the United Kingdom it has been found that for every 1 per cent increase in supplies of lamb and mutton imported into the country total sales revenue rises by only 0.2 per cent., or about one-fifth.

Giving this information to the farmers’ conference al the college. Professor B. P. Philpott, professor of agricultural economics at the college, said that if the price was £2OO a ton the extrarevenue earned a ton was therefore only £4O. “It is this relationship which accounts for the tact that our export earnings from lamb sold over the last five years or so have failed to match the greatly increased volume dispatched,” he said. “In fact, the total earnings have hardly risen at all—hence our very urgent need for new markets."

It was a moot point when a state of saturation was reached in the market, but he believed that this critical point had ’ in fact been reached.

Here Professor Philpott said that he wished to make a suggestion. “Because the extra supplies of lamb sold in the United Kingdom only net us about £4O a ton com. pared with the price of £2OO, then it is worth while our selling lamb in new markets at any price whjch. after transport and marketing costs, nets us at least £4O I

am not here suggesting thm we should in fact sell at such low prices, but it would certainly pay us to offer our lamb, or more particularly our mutton—to say Japan—at prices somewhat lower than we receive in the United Kingdom if that is necessary to develop a new market. “Or alternatively if it is going to cost us a lot of money to develop and maintain a market in the United States of America so that we finish up getting less per lb net there than in the United Kingdom it is clearly in our interests to bear those costs since the amount we would receive for the same lamb sold in Great Britain is in any case much less than the current price. “It is not my purpose to discuss the actual marketing arrangements for meat which would permit us to follow such a policy—all I will say is that there is reason to doubt whether the present organisations are adequate. "Nothing that I have sa'd implies that we should attempt to stabilise our sheep numbers and our production of lambs. It is imperative in the interests of the economy that we find more places to sell it or spend more on promotion.” said Professor Philpott. Answering questions about this proposal Professor Philpott said that he did not think that the Meat Export Development Company as now constituted could handle it unless it had access to poo! funds. Otherwise an export levy might be neceatary.