ARGENTINE MEAT

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 26, 31 January 1924, Page 5

ARGENTINE MEAT

REVIEW OF THE POSITION.

By the last mail the New' Zealand Meat Producers Board ■ received' 'some interesting information relating to the frozen meat industry in South America'. The board's representative at Buenos Aires wrote as follows under dale-15th November, 1923:—"Y0u are already aware of the stoppage in the: slaughter ov export beef cattle, caused by the application of the minimum price' law, the enforcement of which has been delayed fci 180 days. Killing has again been resumed, and many lots of choice steers slaughtered for the Christmas trade, the' freezers-have so far maintained/prices, but a big drop is inevitable owing to the laige available, supply at this season of the year. The quantity of dressed beet an the chambers, and the animals -purchased before the Act came into force, enabled the companies to fill up their shipping space, with the exception of odd lots for the Continent. The "freezing companies' business offices have lately been thronged with owners of fat cattle deßirous of selling their animals before the fall in prices. "Sheep.—There has been a large offering of all classes of • sheep, and values are slightly lower.- There have been: considerable entries, of good lambs, around 32 pounds, 'in more level' and fatter lots than are generally marketed here. There, is no means of "getting reliable information regarding the possible" killings on the South Coast (called Patagonia in the trade), only there has 'been an exceptionally severe winter,, with very 1 heavy falls of snow, which will cause' sheep to be thin in the.spring, while there are only natural grasses available in that part of this Republic, where the killing season starts in January and finishes about middle iof April. I am inclined to j consider that numbers of the Patagonian sheep have been brought to the province of Buenos Aires, ow'ing- to the high prices ruling for sheep here. "A co-operative society has commenced to build a plant at Deseado (Santa Cruz), with a capacity to handle 5000 sheep a day and store '250,000 carcases.