Special Lamb Payments

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31908, 8 February 1969, Page 1

Special Lamb Payments

Special payments in the early stages of the next killing season to encourage early slaughter of lambs are to be made by Thomas Borthwick and Sons. The payments will include processing rebates and an exporter’s premium.

The company’s district manager in Christchurch (Mr A. R. Watson) said last evening he was confident that the exporter’s premium would apply equally at all Borthwick works. Borthwick’s head office in Wellington announced on Thursday that there would be rebates on processing rates at their Waitara, Waingawa and Feilding works on all lambs handled during October. For killings during the first two weeks of October the rebate would be 40c a head, dropping to 30c for the third week and 20c for the last week of the month. In addition the firm intended to offer an attractive exporter’s premium on all lambs killed in time to arrive in the United Kingdom

in December of this year and early January next year. Questioned whether these payments would also apply to the firm’s Canterbury works at Belfast, Mr Watson said that the mention of an exporter’s premium as well as a processing rebate reflected both the probable advantage involved in early shipments as well as the benefit to freezing works from a better spread of the kill. “I understand that the Canterbury position is at present under consideration, but I am confident that the exporter’s premium will apply equally at all Borthwick’s works for lambs that are shipped to the market at the same time.”

The works processing rebate, on the other'hand, was a reflection of the benefit that the works would gain from a greater spread of the kill and would obviously vary between districts. The normal lamb kill in Canterbury started perhaps a month earlier than in many North Island districts, and if a processing rebate was made in Canterbury for early killings it would differ from that in the North Island both in the amount and time for which it would be payable. This early announcement of a premium payment for early

killings next season should encourage farmers to plan, where possible, for a greater spread of their own lamb kill, said Mr Watson.