FACTORY BUTTER BOOM

Evening Star, Issue 22004, 13 April 1935, Page 2

FACTORY BUTTER BOOM

MILK BOARD HELPS A “ REVOLUTION *■ A revolutionary change is overtaking butter production in Great Britain (states the agricultural correspondent of a British paper). The last available figures are for 1931, when vve were producing slightly less than 800,000 cwt of butter, or less than nine-tenths if our consumption. Of this quantity roughly nine-tenths was made on farms and one-tenth in creameries. These proportions have now been completely reversed; Exact figures are not yet available, but an investigation of the position has just been officially carried out in the south-west and far west areas, also in Shropshire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire, ami the change in the past twelve months has been found to be almost incredible —“ fantastic ” was the word used to me.

The investigators have found buttermaking premises springing up everywhere, and existing premises are being enlarged. The reason is chiefly the existence of the Milk Board. The Milk Board sells cheap milk for butter-making to those that will contract for 500 gallons per day. The average price of this particular milk worked out at 3.61 d per gallon for the board’s first complete year.

That means that the milk for making 11b of butter can be bought for something like 10id, and also leaves a byproduct worth from IJd to fid per lb of butter made, according to the facilities available for making use of the byproduct. English butter sells in the shops at about Is 4cl per lb. The farm butter-maker, on the other hand, must use his own milk (which he cannot produce at anything like 3.61 d per gallon), and is not in a position to contract for 500 gallons daily. So he is giving up huttor-making and t is selling his milk off the farm.

If things continue iu the way they are going, it looks like the demise of the farm butter-maker.