DANGER SEEN

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30578, 22 October 1964, Page 3

DANGER SEEN

Imports Of Cattle (N.Z. Press Association) HASTINGS, Oct 21. The Government’s proposal to import into New Zealand, European breeds of cattle for experimental breeding could create dangers for the country’s export beef trade, Sir John Ormond, chairman <rf the Meat Board, said today. The Minister of Agriculture (Mr Taiboys) said recently that Charollais and Simenal cattle would be imported. Sir John Ormond said it could prove dangerous to import animals from areas having foot-and-mouth or blue-tongue. “Such imports could endanger New Zealand’s reputation as a country entirely free of these diseases,” he said. He said the Government must listen to the practical people in the beef industry, and recognise that quality must still be the dominant factor in beef production. It was not the theorists who produced the animals required for New Zealand conditions and New Zealand markets, but the practical breeder who had always adapted himself to requirements. “These are the men in whose hands the future of the beef industry must rest,” he said.