SHORTAGE OF BUTTER

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 123, 21 November 1911, Page 8

SHORTAGE OF BUTTER

The manager of the Mangatoka Dairy Co., Taranaki, states that the output from his factory for the month of October shows a decrease of twelve and a half tons as compared with the corresponding month of last year. He is of the opinion, too, that there is an almost equally large falling off at the various factories throughout the whole of the Taranaki district. The Manawatu Standard states that enquiries point to. the fact that dairy farmers in that district have had a similar experience, and that there is a general falling off in the milk supply when compared with last year. A local dairyman states there is every probability that this will lead to a considerable rise in ..prices during the coming winter, more especially in view of the fat:6 that prices on the Home market are at present in advance* of local prices. This, he contends, -will almost to a certainty cause many of the dairy companies to ship all their produce up till lato in the season, and will result in a considerable shortage in the local supply. Asked how he Would meet the difficulty, he stated that «o far. as he could see the only way was to increase local prices in proportion to the prices now obtainable on the Home markets.. This, of course, might not meet with the approval of consumers ; nevertheless, it might be the means of obviating a much* higher rise at the worse time of the year, namely, the winter, because exporters would not then be tempted to continue shipping, all their output Home.