CONFERENCE OF DAIRYMEN

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 230, 23 June 1920, Page 8

CONFERENCE OF DAIRYMEN

ANNUAL MEETING OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

REVIEW OF THE INDUSTRY DECLINE IN BITTER EXPORTS By TelegraDh—Special Reporter. Palmerston North, June 22. The twenty-sixth annual meeting the National Dairy Association _of New Zealand was commenced here this liming in the A. and P. buildings. Iho president (Mr, A. Morton) was in the chair, and there urns a very large attendgjice of delegates. 11l moving the adoption of tne annual •report and balance-sheet—a precis ot which has already been 'published—the chairman expressed pleasure at the fact that Mr. Ellison (tlio associations London representative) was in attendance at the meeting'. Reviewing the industry, lie said that, the season just gone! through was somewhat exceptional on account of the almost entire absence of spring-like conditions. Consequent?.}' the output of the factories for the spring season was unusually low. The autumn outputj howover, largely made up for this deficiency. The season itself was a somewhat favourable one so far as quality was concerned, the absence of close, muggy weather being a feature. No serious complaints had been received with regard to the quality of their produce upon its receipt in London. As to cheese, however, the opinion had gained ground in om-. cial circlcs thoji'this commodity should be retained in cooll storage for at least six weeks bofore being exported from tho Dominion. People in New Zealand lilted a fresh', new chcese. but at Home a w(Miniatured articlo was preferred. Any delay in forwarding consignments from New Zealand' had termed to jmprovo the cheese in tho eves of British buyers. In official circles tih'e matter was being very seriously discussed, and it was possible that before long the chcese factories would be approached with a suggestion i£ong the lines indicated. Butter v. Cheese. There had been an enormous increase in the quantity of cheeso shipped and a reduction in tho quantity of butter. The difference was accounted for through the considerable .increase in the number of butter factories that had been converted into cheese factories.. The dairy farmers, wherever possiblo, had gone over tc cheese. This; tendency was, he was convinced, due- to the fact that cheese represented a better monetary investment than butter. He was per fcctlv satisfied that tho price. receive( for butter did not pay eonio factories nnd that in many cases the prices re ceived represented no profit. -There wer a number of communities who on ac count of lack of roading and transpor facilities could not mako cheeso. It wa not in their interest and the interests o the/Dominion a.<? a whole that this dif ference in values- in favour of chees should be maintained. The butter pro ducers had had no encouragement to g in for increased production. _ There had been a very considerable im provement in shipping conditions', an there was every indication' that_ thi would be maintained. The space in th cool stores had been entirely ndequat except in the Auckland district. Dui ing tho year very distinct progress ha been made in the matter of freezing an cool storage by the acquisition in' Wei lington, by the dairy companies of We lington and Hawke's Bay provincial dii ♦ricts, of the interests or the'Wellingto ■Meat Export Co., Ltd., and it was pr< posed to build new and extensive work convenient to tho wharves. It was distinct advance. There we're now onl two ports of the and Southland—where the dairy compat ies themselves did not have their ow freezing and cool storage accommodation. The position .of those, factories supplying butter to the local market was referred to by the chairman. .He.said; that as a result of the activities set afoot by the association the principle had been established by tlio Government that if there was to be any price-fixing in tho future .affecting dairy companies they wero entitled to receive from tlio whole community the difference between the local fixed price and the export price. There was a possibility, incidentally, of a refund of the butter-fat levy being obtained from the Government.

Incidence of By-products. .. Touching on investigation work, r the chairman snid that a- great deal had been accomplished during the year. Delegates had visited America, England, and tho Continent,, and, as a result of thoir observations a ray large amount of information had been made available. Unfortunately things had. been so unsettled in the labour market that the companies hesitated t0... go ill .for the manufacture of by-products until they were absolutely assured of a permanent supply of coal. In tho Waikato district there had been a considerable development in connection with the manufacture of milk powder. So far nothing' had been achieved in connection with tho attempt to establish; a co-operative casein company. There • was not sufficient cohesion between the co-operative lactones to bring tho matter to a head. If it turned out this'season that butter offered a better investment than cheeso,, he believed that some of the larger factories, which In that case would go over to butter, would go in for the manufacture ,of casein on their own account. Never in the history of tho industry was ; there , a greater need than, at present for effective co-operation on part of companies in connection with the handling of by-products. It was only by having tho best organisation that they would get the best results. The chnirman referred to the fact that by reason of the executive's protests, made through the Primo Miniver and tho association's London representative, the attempt on the part of the importers in 1/ondon to obtain a 'charter conceding to them the ©xclusivo right to handle all butter and cheese imports, had definitely failed. ' In ccleluijion he paid a tribute to the work of tho staff and the association's London representative (Mr. Ellison). Tho report and balance-sheet • were adopted.

Retiring Directors Re-elected.

The secretary announced that as the result of the ballot to fill three vacancies on the directorate, the retiring directors had been Te-clected as follows:—Hon. J. B. Gov, representing" the Auckland district; Mr. W. D. Powdrell (unopposed); Taranaki; and Mr. J. D. Brown, Wellington district.