The Dominion. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1941 THE NEW DEMAND ON THE DAIRY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 191, 10 May 1941, Page 10

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1941 THE NEW DEMAND ON THE DAIRY INDUSTRY

Against the restrictions placed on the export of some of our foodstuffs to the United Kingdom must be set the offer of the British authorities to purchase 160,000 tons of cheese from the Dominion in the coming production season. To meet this order would necessitate a major adjustment in a basic industry, and it would not be advisable to regard the change-over from butter to cheese as purely a war measure. For some years New Zealand has been the largest supplier of cheese to the Home markets, and in open competition has established a strong position. Conditions due to the war have made it necessary for our supplies to be increased, but there is a possibility that, when normal trading is resumed, the demand will still be for cheese, rather than butter. And it may be that the competition in the butter market, from other countries and from substitutes now being extensively used, will make the manufacture of.cheese the soundest economic proposition.

To produce a further 40,0CX) to 50,000 tons of cheese in a single season, just after creating a record in output, will call for reorganization of the industry on a very extensive scale. When the request for an additional 15,000 tons of cheese was received some months ago, the adjustments that could be made expeditiously and economically were at once put in hand, and no doubt they will prove to be of material assistance in swelling the output still further. But to expand cheese production from the 84,000 tons mentioned in the original agreement in 1939 to 160,000 tons in the coming season will necessitate a change-over far beyond anything yet contemplated. This development—and it can be taken .for granted that the producers will respond as readily as ever—will create difficulties that must be faced. The transference from butter to cheese has already been made in districts where facilities existed. It may be possible to reopen some of the smaller factories that have been closed in recent years. That would depend upon the provision of the necessary plant, but if it could be done the problem of lengthy carriage of milk would be reduced. The arrangements already made for financial assistance to farmers who may be called upon to send milk instead of cream from their farms, may need to be revised, and, if the butter factories are to have their supplies seriously reduced, the proportionate increase in manufacturing costs to output will have to be considered, for it might have a most adverse effect on the return to the suppliers. The Minister of Marketing has expressed his intention to confer with the Dairy Board, but as this reorganization of the dairying industry will affect some thousands of producers, and, if it is to be successful, will require their full co-operation, a frank discussion with delegates to a representative conference might serve most useful purposes. This will be the biggest change yet attempted and it should not be too readily assumed that it will be temporary. But, in any case, to achieve success there must be co-ordination of effort throughout—the spirit of co-operation that established the industry and which has brought it to its present state of efficiency.