MUTTON AND LAMB

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 115, 11 November 1935, Page 3

MUTTON AND LAMB

A WORLD SURVEY

BIG DROP IN NUMBERS

NEW ZEALAND'S PLACE

(From "The Post's" Representative.) i LONDON. October 12.

"Mutton and Lamb Survey" is the title of a volume of about 300 pages prepared by the Imperial . Economic Committee and issued by 'H.M. Stationery Office. As might be expected, the section on New Zealand takes up»>. considerable space, for the Dominion ii pre-eminent as an, exporter of mutton! and lamb. Sheep numbers in,the principal mutton and lamb importing and exporting countries have fallen since 1930 from 369,000,000 head to 345,009,000 head,"a fall of 7 per cent. Numbers are,1 however, still 35,000,000 head- mor* than in 1925, and 18,000,000 head more than in 1913. , The fall since; 1930 has been due to-heavy losses in the past year "or two, mainly from-drought, in. the Union of South' Africa, the United States of America, and Uruguay. PRODUCTION RISE AND DECLINE. The production of mutton and lamb in the principal importing and- exporting countries aggregated ~ about 1,642,000 tons in 1934, an increase of 28 per cent, over the 1924 total. Production rose slowly and steadily from 1,281,000 tons in 1924 to 1,509,000 tons in 1929, and then more rapidly.to a. peak of 1,772,000 tons in 1932.- The next two years saw a drop of 130,000 tons. In 1934 British Empire countries accounted for nearly 59 per cent. of the total output, as against 55 per, cent, of the much smaller total in 1924. In recent yeari Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and, among ioreign countries, the United State oi America, have together been mainly; responsible for the expanding aggregate production, although production in most other countries has also risen somewhat. , In the decade .1924 to 1933, production in Great Britain in-^ creased from 210,000 to 310,000 tons, in Australia from 205,000 to 327,000 tons, in New Zealand from 179,000 to 220,000 tons, and in the United States of America from 263,000 to 382,000 . tons. Moreover, in each of these countries, with the exception of Great Britain, the 1933 level of production was lower than in the preceding peak year. In 1934* however, production" in Great Britain fell to 262,000 tons, but rose in New Zealand to 250,000 tons. . New Zealand, ssys the report, which, enjoys a leading position in the United Kingdom market, on account of her sheep conforming closely- to' the popular English mutton breeds,' her strict grading and the reputation of her mutton and lamb, supplied 53 per cent, of the 1934 total, followed by, " Australia with 26 per cent., Argentina with 14 per cent., and Chile and Uruguay sharing most of the remaining exports. Exports from British Empire countries as a whole have substantially increased both in volume and. in proportion since 1924. Commenting on the table showing the constitution of the flocks in New Zealand from 1909 to 1934, the report says:— BREEDING EWES AND RAMS. "The points'which stand out in this table are the large increase; in. the number of rams and breeding ewes (there was ja temporary setback in 1931-32 when breeding ewes were slaughtered to provide their owners with cash during the financial crisis), the decrease in the number of wethers and the comparative stability in the number of lambs in spite of an increase in the number of rams and breeding ewes. This change in the constitution of the flocks, as on April 30 in. each year, is a reflection of the much greater increase in the slaughtering and export of lambs than of sheep. The potentiality of the flocks should be judged not by changes in the total constitution of the flocks, or even by ,their total numbers, but by the changes in the number of the breeding stock. During the seven years 1924 to 1930 the number of breeding ewes increased by 4,005,000, or one-third of the 1924 number. Since 1930 the annual changes have been much, smaller. ; "Almost the whole of the New Zealand exports of mutton and lamb are consigned to the United Kingdom. During the period 1924 to 1934 out oi an aggregate export of 1,697,850° tons no less than 1,694,130 tons or 99.8' per cent, were taken by that market. During 1934, only about fa) tons of mutton and lamb were exported to countries other than the United Kingdom, out of a-total of 174,450 tons." PREFERENCE FOR NEW ZEALAND^ LAMB. Summing up the New Zealand section, the report says:— "The climatic features of New Zealand make it an excellent mutton sheep-rearing country. The car» taken in the past in developing sheep types suitable for food purposes, and especially for the United Kingdom market, and the attention, paid to achieving and maintaining high quality have given New Zealand mutton, and still more, New Zealand lamb, a very,high position in the United Kingdom market. The large increase in. the number of breeding ewes will allow the farmers to expand total sheep numbers quickly when market conditions are favourable. ; "The primary purpose will continue to be the maintenance of heavy lamb crops, since the marked preference which consumers in the principal market abroad, i.e., the United Kingdom, now evince for New Zealand lamb is a factor which the New Zealand farmers cannot afford to ignore." SHEEP POPULATION IN EUROPE. The tables giving sheep populations in Europe show a gradual, decrease throughout most of the countries. For instance, in 1895, France had 21,164,00 ft sheep. In 1934 this had decreased to 9,571,000. The decline in sheep-rearing in, the years before the war was not confined to France bui was general all over Europe.. It was'due +o a number of causes, chief among which were the steadily increasing production of wool by the countries of the Southern Hemisphere, and to a lesser degree, the increased pressure of dairy farming. "Since the war, there has been steady progress in cattle numbers, but the recovery in sheep has been much, less marked. This is probably due to the fact that so far as the peasant is concerned the cow is more useful as a general purposes animal and- has consequently been his first.care. It is said that recovery among the larger flocks has been retarded by a shortage of skilled shepherds.l'

One of tha pla,vors in the recent exsoldievs' golf tournament at Miramar took the wrong bag when he left. The necessary exchange can be arranged by telephoning the R.S.A., Wellington. '

The "Sultan China," bought for £300 to entertain a Sultan of Turkey, was recently sold by the City of London Corporation for £23.