Sheep and dairying ‘better than beef'

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33702, 27 November 1974, Page 3

Sheep and dairying ‘better than beef'

(From Our Own Reporter) OAMARU, November 26. The Minister of Agriculture (Mr Moyle) told farmers today that they would be better concentrating <on sheepfarming and dairying than producing beef. Speaking at the opening of the thirty-sixth conference of the New Zealand Grassland Association, Mr Moyle advised farmers that they should do what they could do best. Because this country was so far from its markets, and transport costs were now so high, New Zealand produce would not be able to compete unless it had “a competitive edge.” Thus New Zealand must look objectively at what it could do best, and in this context it had special expertise in prime lamb and cross-

bred wool production and dairying. With beef New Zealand did not have a competitive edge. LESS RISK The other advantage of sheep and dairy products was that they did not face being shut out of the market place as beef did in so many parts of the world. “With beef we are in the position of being a residual supplier, and this is not a good position to be in.” Mr Moyle said that the Government had done its best to keep markets open for beef, and an international beef committee had been set up, but it was likely that domestic beef industries would continue to be protected. DIVERSIFICATION At the same time, Mr Moyle said, export markets for sheep and dairy products were expanding, although they needed to be promoted. Because of the wealth now in the Middle East and the opportunities there for sheepmeats, it would only be a

short time before New Zealand was not overly dependent on a single market for lamb.