Third works kills 1m sheep and lambs

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34128, 14 April 1976, Page 3

Third works kills 1m sheep and lambs

The kill of sheep and lambs at the Fairfield works of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, Ltd, yesterday reached a total of Im for the season.

Fairfield is the third of the company’s freezing works to reach this figure this season.

The company's general manager (Mr D. Morten) said yesterday that this season the company expected to have its biggest kill of ■ lambs and sheep and also its (biggest kill of cattle. By this afternoon, when the kill would end for the week, the lamb and sheep tally at the company's works should stand at more than 3.4 m. By last week-end, when the total was 3,322,167, it was more than 369,000 ahead of the figure at the same time last year. It was expected that the lamb and sheep kill would keep up until the middle of May, Mr Morten said. However, the lamb kill was beginning to tai. off, so that last week at its three sheepkilling works the company handled about 43,000 ewes. After Easter, it would be the aim to kill 45,000 to 60,000

a week, depending on the availability of storage. By the end of killing today, 'the sheep kill should Istand at slighty more than 290,000 for the season. As an indication of the big backlog of cattle awaiting slaughter, the company had been offered 32,000 cattle in the week after Easter, Mr Morten said. In a full week, the company was handling about 3500 head, slightly more than 2400 being killed in the best week so far.

The company was taking bookings for cattle killing in July; and the cattle season might well continue later than that, said Mr Morten.

By this afternoon, the company’s cattle kill should be about 83,000, more than that for the whole of last season to the end of August. By last week-end, when the kill stood at 81,326, it had been ahead of last year by ■ more than 44,000; but this time last year the new beef-killing facilities at Belfast had not been in use A matter of concern, Mr Morten said, was the capital stock, particularly heifers, that were being killed. Although under pressure from all quarters to kill' stock, the company had been I able to help Central Otago farmers in the throes of a!

severe drought. The C.F.M., with four drafters in Central Otago, had taken 315,000 lambs and sheep from thej area to the end of March! (79,000 more than last season) and 4200 cattle.

About a quarter of the larnb and sheep kill at the company’s Pareora works this week was from Central Otago, Mr Morten said. Some sheep from Central Otago had been brought as far north as Fairfield for slaughter.