MEAT INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 50, 27 August 1938, Page 15

MEAT INDUSTRY

EXPORT TRADE

BOARD'S WORK REVIEWED

RECORD SEASON EXPECTED

A review of the operations of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board was made by the chairman (Mr. T. A. Duncan), when speaking at the annual meeting of the board yesterday. Mr. Duncan said that the interim sheep flock figures at April 30, 1938, showed a further increase of 1,091,042, making a new high level of 32.396,860. The prolonged dry weather experienced in most districts was reflected in lower average weights of all classes of stock. However, the total weight of meat killed for export this season to July 31 showed an increase of 202,201 freight carcasses over last season to the same date, and when the season closed it was anticipated that the total amount of meat treated for shipment would constitute a new record for this Dominion. The unusually dry summer experienced in most districts of the Dominion resulted in f killings being very heavy in the early part of the season, and at March 31 the killing figures were 670,899 freight carcasses ahead of the previous season. -The killings of lambs for export last season to March 31 represented 6,912,368 carcasses, whereas the killings for the two previous seasons to the same date were 6,450,631 and 6,196,536 respectively. BETTER QUALITY NEEDED. Realising the increasing competition from all sources in the meat export trade to the .United Kingdom, the board would again stress to all farmers and sheep breeders the vital importance of improving the quality of their flocks. In view of the steady increase in shipments of baconer pigs, the board was of the opinion that the compulsory grading scheme now adopted was a step in the right direction and should do much to improve the quality and thereby enhance the returns received by producers of baconers. The board had contributed £1000 to the work being done at the Low Temperature Research Station, Cambridge; £300 to the Cawthron Institute for piri piri and ragwort control; £100 to Massey College, and £120 to pig recording clubs. Owing to the necessity to increase the publicity grant, and in view of the fact that the board's accounts had shown an excess of expenditure over income for the last five years, which was steadily depleting the accumulated fund, the board reluctantly decided to increase the export levy as from January 1, 1938. This year's income and expenditure account showed an excess of expenditure over income of £1147 5s lid. The accumulated fund as at June 30, 1938, stood at £45,638 11s sd. CANADIAN MARKETS. ' During the year the board made two experimental shipments of lambs to Eastern Canada. As a result of the new trade agreement negotiated by the New Zealand Government with the Canadian Government, the duty on New Zealand lamb had been reduced frpm three cents to half a cent per lb.; To test the market, 8300 carcasses of lamb and 600 carcasses of mutton were purchased and shipped ~to Eastern

Canada, being marketed at Toronto and Montreal under the supervision of the board's London manager and Mr. J- W. Collins (the New Zealand Trade Commissioner in Canada). 1(The consignments met with a ready sale, and satisfactory prices were realised. Effective displays were made in cold stores at Montreal and Toronto, suitably decorated with the board's display material sent from London. An exhibit was arranged at the Retail Butchers' Convention in Toronto, and a New. Zealand meat film was shown there to large gatherings of the trade and the public. The board's London manager re- [ ported that there was a limited market for New Zealand lamb in Canada for a few months of the year, from, say, February to May. "With advertising and judicious marketing, it should be possible to increase the demand for New Zealand lamb in Canada, due to its superior quality compared With the local product, and the board is hopeful that the foundations now laid and the contacts established will be maintained and a regular trade built up." paid Mr. Duncan.