DAIRYING INCOME

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30365, 14 February 1964, Page 12

DAIRYING INCOME

Exports Worth £loom (N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, Feb. 13. New Zealand’s overseas exchange earnings from dairy produce in 1963 reached £87.1 million, a rise of nearly £lO million on 1962 and the second highest figure on record. It compared with £7.4 million in 1962, and £93.8 million in 1959, when record butter prices drove receipts to a record total. In addition to the £B7 million earned by the sale of dairy products abroad, an estimated £l4 million was derived during 1963 from the sale of dairy meats, including dairy cow and bull beef, bobby veal and hides, bringing the aggregate export income earned from the sale of products of dairy farms to more than £lOO million.

The Dairy Board said today that the substantial rise in exchange receipts for dairy produce in 1963 was due principally to the rise in butter prices. The price of butter in Britain firmed in the first half of the year after Northern Hemisphere production had fallen due to harsh weather in the winter and early spring. Another ' factor which helped to bring in additional export income for New Zealand’s dairy produce in 1963 was the rise in prices for skim and buttermilk powders. Casein and cheese prices showed comparatively little movement during the year. . , j • Total receipts for dairy produce sold in Britain in 1963 amounted to £73.8 million. The proceeds of sales to other markets were £13.4 million, a rise of £1.6 million, or about 14 per cent on the 1962 figure.