First Tanker For City Milk

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29916, 1 September 1962, Page 7

First Tanker For City Milk

'THE first of the fleet of A milk tankers for the Chiristohurch town milk supply district arrived in the city this week from the North Island, where the articulated white vehicles are common in dairying areas. The Canterbury Dairy Farmers, Ltd., will soon be entering the first phase of changing over from can collection of milk to tanker collection. This will mean that all milk for town supply will eventually be refrig-

erated on the farm during and immediately after milking.

The general manager of the company (Mr L. (Fowler' said this week that pome 75 farms out of the total of 221 supplying his company with town milk had already provided facilities for tanker collection, and the average cost, was about £ 1000 a farm. Some had built entirely new dairies. The tanker unit costs about £7OOO and, while the prime mover is imported, the tanker itself has been built by a Hamilton firm, Truscotts (New Zealand), Ltd., which has supplied many of the units in operation in the North Island. On the farms the company has selected circular vats which provide for rapid chilling. The milk from the cows is cooled by water coolers to about 65deg, and the refrigerated vat reduces the temperature to below 40 deg. in less than 3$ hours and holds it at that temperature. The tanker drives into the farm and pulls up alongside the dairy to pump the milk into the tank. Inspection The milk has to be inspected before the pumping begins and the tanker driver has to be specially trained in milk quality. A sample of the milk for testing will be taken during pumping and the samples held in an insulated cabinet, for delivery to the treating house laboratory Gallonage will be recorded by a calibrated measure on the side of the vat.

On arrival at the treating house the milk will be pumped to large stainless steel holding tanks. The use of the tankers will mean that from the time the milk is put into the vat until the consumer opens the bottle, it will be protected from contamination.

Mr Fowler said that the tankers collecting |ailk for town supply would pick up only the top quality milk. If the quality was not suitable for town supply then it would be left. In the initial stages the milk, if it was suitable for manufacturing, would probably be put into cans and collected by a truck, but the provision of a smaller emergency tanker was being considered so that the milk could still be collected in bulk and taken to the factory for

manufacturing. If it was not suitable for manufacturing it would not be collected. The company was also considering the provision later of radiotelephones for the tankers. Collecting milk for town supply by tanker posed greater problems than those for manufacturing and extensive research had been carried out by the company, the New Zealand Milk Board. Town Milk Producers’ Federation, Dairy Research Institute at Massey College, Department of Agriculture refrigeration experts and manufacturers, Mr Fowler said, its producers in this matter “The steps which have been taken by the company and are in line with their policy of taking all available measures for improvement of the supply and the handling thereof. This development is of benefit to both producer and consumer, and coupled with the disease-free herd policy of the company and the proposed construction of a new treating house for Christchurch will, we trust, consolidate the growing confidence which the public has shown in the producers’ efforts to fulfil, in full measure, their responsibility to those who consume their product.” Mr Fowler said.