Kokiri fosters throughput by lending on dairy bull calves

Press, 10 January 1986, Page 18

Kokiri fosters throughput by lending on dairy bull calves

Financial help for farmers who want to buy in dairy bull calves for beef raising should lift the throughput of the Kokiri meatworks on the West Coast in coming years, the Phoenix Meat Co. believes. The company, its shareholders and the staff at the export beef plant at Dobson, near Greymouth, are unfor-

tunately facing another drop in throughput in killing this season, the chief executive, Mr Richard Cornelius, said this week.

He expected that the kill would be down about 10 per cent on the 29,745 kill of the -1984-85 season. That kill was

up 16.8 per cent on the previous year, following a 24 per cent drop the year before. But Kokiri has taken steps to iron out such fluctuations and to boost throughput to the 50,000 head the management and directors think is a reasonable target for the works and the region.

It has launched a scheme to lend farmers the cost of purchasing dairy calves, charging interest on the advance and then recovering

the money on slaughter at Kokiri. The scheme aims to encourage the swing towards

more beef, and better grown beef, which has been fostered by many on the West Coast, including M.A.F. advisers. Mr Cornelius said that the first of the calves from this scheme should begin to lift the Kokiri kill next season. Good growing and fattening conditions on the east coast will also contribute to the reduced throughput this season at Kokiri, he said.

Not so many eastern store cattle were currently finding their way onto lush West Coast pastures. The good season on the coast had also prompted beef farmers to hang on to their

stock and the peak killing season at Kokiri would be delayed somewhat, Mr Cornelius said. Higher average carcase weights would result. Kokiri maintained its 11 per cent of the South Island beef kill during the season ended September 30, 1985. Eighty seven per cent of the kill went export and much of the remaining 3621 carcases were sold through the company’s three retail outlets, in Greymouth, Hokitika and Westport. The chairman of Phoenix, Mr Malcolm Wallace, reported to shareholders recently that a Westport retail

shop had been added to operations. He disclosed that Phoenix brought in $10.6 million in revenue during the 1984-85 year, compared with $8.3 million the previous year. Operating and administration costs absorbed $8.2 million out of the total expenditure of $9.4 million. A provision for taxation of $681,000 was made from the net operating profit of $1.5 million. The net profit after taxation of $832,000 was added to the retained earnings brought forward of .$3.9 million and from this total a bonus issue absorbed $249,000 and shareholders’ dividends $235,000.