Big Decline In N.Z. Meat Output

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30984, 14 February 1966, Page 6

Big Decline In N.Z. Meat Output

> A substantial decline in the > numbers of stock killed for ; export occurred during the I first quarter of the current • killing season, says the mar- ; ket information service of : the New Zealand Meat Board. ■ Lambs killed for export be- ; tween October 1 last year and I January 1 were down by

about 1,149,523, or 14.5 per cent from the figure for the same period a year earlier. The total tonnage of lamb for export was 93,684 tons, compared with 104,541 in the corresponding period of the previous season. This was a decline of 10,857 tons, or 10.4 per cent There was also a sharp decline in the production of mutton and beef. Total export meat production in the three months was 120,192 tons. This compared with 143,493 tons produced in the same quarter a year earlier. This was a decline of 23,301 tons, or 16.2 per cent Prolific pasture growth has caused farmers to hold back stock. This and the withholding of breeding stock for increase of herds and flocks are considered to be responsible for the present decline in output. Meat export receipts for the 1965 calendar year totalled a record £108,482,000 —an increase of £4,575,000, or 4.2 per cent over the 1964 period.

Drunkenness.-—Edward Robert William AUpress, aged 45, was fined £1 by Mr L. J. Shuker, J.P., ta the Lyttelton Magistrate’s Court on Saturday on a charge of being drunk in a public place, having been twice convicted of the same offence within the previous six months.