PRODUCE CONTRACTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 40, 16 August 1944, Page 3

PRODUCE CONTRACTS

MEAT BOARD DISCUSSION,

At a recent mooting, of ■ the Now Zealand Meat Producers Board, the longterm contract * with the British Ministry of Food was further discussed, and also the prices for fat stock la tne coming season. It was decided to set up a special committee of the board to . work with the Dairy Board in regard to these matters. Several remits on the subject of new season* /. prices and the operation of the Meat Pool ' Account were received from the recent Dominion conference of the New Zealand Farmers* Union, and from other producers' organisations, These were referred to the special committee, which will deal with these subjects. A special report 'on the supervision of meat grading was submitted by the board's general manager. It Included recommendations to strengthen this branch of the board's work, and these were approved. Full particulars of the storage position and current season's export killings were submitted. These included details of the latest ■ average weights, which showed that ' the average weight of lambs killed this season to July 15 was 33.5i)1b, compared with 33.491b to the same dnte last season, an improvement thli year of ,101b per carcass. Seasonal conditions were not favourable to the objective, consequently the board considered that the in-, crease per carcass, though small, reflected a very good effort on Die part of the producers. Compared with last season's average weights, this weight Increase represented over 30,000 additional lambs. The board has frequently urged the Department of Agriculture .to collect the annual sheep returns later in Jho year so as to reflect more accurately the position of the Do- ■ minion's flocks when the season'» killings have been completed. The Department'has notboen. able to make a change, and in this year's interim sheep returns as at April 30 showed that flocks had increased, compared with the total in April, 1941 (Hie date of the prevlour • collection), by 1,331,658. The board hns, however, taken out figures comparing the export killings of sheep andlambs after the stocktaking date in each' of these years. These reveal that the killing* after April 30, 1941, were 1,000,000 greater ■ than the killings after April 30, IP4I, so that the actual net incrcaso of the1 . flocks after Killings for the season nre completed, would ba nearer n figure of 330.000.