Skim milk powder shortage tipped

Press, 11 October 1986, Page 31

Skim milk powder shortage tipped

PA Hamilton The Dairy Board could be “embarrassed” by a shortage of casein and skim milk powder for export markets at the end of the season, according to a member of the board, Mr David Bay. Mr Bay, who is also chairman of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, told a Te Awamutu seminar there would be no problem in terms of the board taking what farmers could plyThe situation was to the contrary, he said. “We offered the scheme in the face of surpluses we had, the surpluses in Europe, the political situation, and negotiations for access to the British market, so there were practical circumstances,” he said.

This had led to prospects for better international agreements, he

said. “If anything we are likely to be embarrassed by a shortage of supply. We could do with more milk powder and casein,” he said.

A Dairy Board spokesman, Mr Neville Martin, also said embarrassment might be ahead.

“The season has been slow to date and if there is no improvement in grass growth production could be down. It has been down this season on recent levels of production,” he said. Mr Martin said the skim milk powder and casein markets were firm although butter was still a problem.

Mr Bay disagreed with a farmer’s suggestion that the milk limitation scheme — in which farmers are to be paid to reduce production — was “a bit of a joke” in view of possible shortages.