Meat Prices To Rise; Fat Stock Scarce

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30234, 12 September 1963, Page 12

Meat Prices To Rise; Fat Stock Scarce

Because of the present shortage of fat stock in Canterbury, and the exceptionally high prices which are being realised at Addington market, a rise in the retail price of both beef and mutton is inevitable. Christchurch butchers said yesterday they were no longer able to absorb the increased cost of the last two months, and some of it must be passed on to the customer.

No fixed date for the increase was stated, but all those ■ approached said it would be soon. No official amount was quoted, although various butchers thought the increase could range from as little as 2d a pound to as much as 6d. Because of the acute shortage of fat cattle, beef prices would be affected more than mutton.

Several butchers said that in recent weeks they had had difficulty in buying' their requirements.

No immediate improvement of the beef supply is expected. by butchers, stock firm representatives or spokesmen of meat exporting companies. Many believe it will be at least the end of November before there is any improvement.

The shortage ■ of fat sheep and lambs will depend on the weather to a certain degree—when farmers can get their stock shorn and on to the market and. the availability of new season’s lambs. The present situation could last for about three to six weeks. One butcher said that between the beginning of June and this week, the wholesale price of bare, saleable meat from a small bullock had risen by lOld per lb, from 2s to 2s lOld. Hoggets, i in the same period had risen by about 5d per lb. while lambs had risen, by about 3d per lb. This week’s prices at Addington market were the highest he had known in 30 years of meat trading. This week at Addington, fat

steers were dearer by 30s to 50s, heifers by 30s to 40s and cows by 20s to 40s. Choice medium-weight steer beef sold to about £lO per 1001 b and a big steer made to £B2 12s 6d.

Fat lambs and wethers realised about 10s a head more than the week before, shorn lambs selling to more than £5.

One reliable authority attributed the sharp rise in fat lambs this week to the shorter yarding—soo fewer than the previous week—and the unexpected competition from an outside buyer. He thought there was a shortage of fat stock in the district because the bad weather had delayed the shearing of adult sheep which normally supply the market at this time. Also, the good freezing schedule at the end of the last season took many lambs which farmers usually held over for this time of the year.

When the weather permitted sheep to be shorn and when the early new season lambs started to come bn to the market, there was the possibility of some relief of the present shortage. The shortage of fat cattle has been attributed by many representatives of the stock and meat trade to the large numbers bought earlier in the season by the export companies, which for the first time in the South Island undertook large scale cutting and packing. The cutting and packing in the South Island increased 10

times over last year’s, according to the latest available statistics from the Meat

Board, while the amount of quarter beef handled dropped by 40 per cent.

Many growers who normally hold cattle to supply the local market at this time have instead sold earlier to the export trade. One spokesman closely connected with the industry said farmers changed to this policy because in previous years they did not receive a premium for their beef by holding it until this stage of the season.

He considered that the supply of fat cattle in the South Island had never been so low. The situation was definitely critical and the supply appeared to have almost run out. Although he had . seen very dear cattle before, he had never experienced such a shortage.