Lamb By Air To Melbourne

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31598, 8 February 1968, Page 1

Lamb By Air To Melbourne

Light-weight chilled New Zealand lamb carcases loaded on an Air New Zealand Electra at Harewood this morning will be in shops of a Melbourne supermarket chain this afternoon.

Mr A. W. V. Bailey, general manager of the Cooperative' Farmers and Graziers of Victoria, purchasers of the New Zealand meat, described the transaction yesterday. The co-operative, which has more than 8000 farmer shareholders, deals entirely in meat and is one of the biggest meat firms in Victoria. t . The lambs are being supplied by the New Zealand Refrigerating Company. Mr Bailey said today’s shipment of 70 lambs was a

sample. Another 70 would go next Tuesday and other tentative bookings had been made. The development of this business would depend on economics. The numbers of lambs being sent was governed by the space offering, Mr Bailey said. The likelihood that Australia would be short of all meat products later in the year augured well for New Zealand exports. Consumption Up

Mr Bailey said that in 196667 Australian lamb consumption increased by 27 per cent on the previous year because of an increase in the population from immigration and because of promotion by the Australian Meat Board At the same time, Aus tralian lamb exports dropped to a record low level in a decline that had been continuing for many years. If the trend continued, Aus-

tralia would import lamb soon. Because of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain and the embargo therft'on the import of South American meat, New Zealand lamb prices were extremely high—to such an extent that on the New Zealand market lamb prices were as high as beef, which was very unusual. Because of the drought in Victoria and other parts of Australia, lamb prices there were very low for this time of the year, and this had made the import of New Zealand lamb very difficult, said Mr Bailey. Drought had brought a very heavy kill out of stock in Victoria and other areas. If the drought continued much longer Australia would be very short of all meat products.

The demand would not apply only to lamb but also to other products such as beef

or beef cuts for the Australian domestic market. Political factors could disturb the market

Mr Bailey said that his cooperative normally sent lambs from Victoria to South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. It had booked New Zealand lambs for the Sydney market but because of its type and because it had touched down at Asian and American ports, this aircraft could not be used- to take meat from New Zealand to Australia, because of the fear of introducing stock diseases to Australia.

The lambs that would go to Australia were specially selected, he said. They would be light with a dressed weight of 281 b to 331 b, and would not carry much fat. They would be marketed through a supermarket chain in Melbourne and would be promoted by Air New Zealand.

“We will promote Canterbury lamb,” said Mr Bailey.