“Producers will he thrilled"- new beef prices

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33934, 29 August 1975, Page 7

“Producers will he thrilled"new beef prices

“I think that prohicers will be thrilled,'’ Mr G. H. Steel. livestock manager of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, said this week. He was commenting on the schedule of minimum prices for beef to operate from October 1 announced by the Meat Board.

"[ think it is a very good schedule, but of course it has no relationship at all to market values and it must be realised that it is being heavily subsidised,” he said.

The chairman of the Meat. Board. Mr Hilgendorf, has said that the new prices will

mean an estimated extra 553.5 m to producers above existing minimum payments which are also well above actual market realisations "My first reaction is that 1 think producers will be agreeably surprised with the schedule, bearing in mind the current schedule prices being paid." -aid Mr G. R. Burling, stock bu\ ing manager of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Com pany. The new prices are 11c to 25c per kilogram higher than those ruling at present That people would not be penalised for taking cattle to heavier weights would help the industry, said Mr Steel, by tending to spread the kill Farmers would not be forced now to kill cattle before they reached 270 kilograms.

It was apparent now that there would not be the same extreme pressure io have cattle killed in October as had previoiolv been expected, and the storm of la--t week with its accompanvmg check <>n cattle would also have » bearing on this Mr Burling also agreed that in some cases with the higher price for heavier cattle, this could tend to relieve the pressure to kill In the new schedule Mr Steel noted that there would be a 4c per kilogram dif ference between chiller and g.a.q. grades compared with Ic under the present schedule It had been stated at some beef cuts competitions last season that there would he no difference in the October schedule between steer and heifer prices, but in the new schedule there was the same 2c per kilogram difference that existed at present.