WINTER BEEF SCHEME

Evening Star, Issue 23525, 14 March 1940, Page 10

WINTER BEEF SCHEME

’’ NO GOOD UNLESS PRICE WARRANTS" FEWER STOCK WILL BE FATTENED ALREADY TROUBLE WITH TURNIP DISEASES “ The scheme (fixed price for winter beef) is no good to the farmers unless there is something very definite to go on, and the price warrants it,” said one of the biggest store cattle fatteners this morning. “If these are not forthcoming there will not be as many cattle put on winter feed as usual. “ This year in particular there has been a lot of trouble with turnips, with dry rot, club root, and so on,” he continued. “ Winter feed of this nature is going to be very scarce, and there will not be the same number of cattle put in in the winter as usual for this reason. There will be a lot of trouble with feed. “ The only point is that if a farmers’ ground won’t warrant putting the cattle on to it,_ they will not he fattened. The job is so costly that unless it is worth £7 to £8 a head to the farmers they will not fatten. They would prefer to let the work go than risk losing money by it.” “ GAMBLE WITH SEASONS ” FOUR-MONTH SPAN AN IMPOSSIBILITY “ The whole thing is a gamble with the seasons,” • said a man well versed in stock matters this morning. “It might be possible to fix rates from month to month, but for a period of four months it is an absurdity. “ How is the amount of fat stock coming forward to‘be estimated? If there is an early spring, with floods, or drought, this will have the effect of either sending turnips to seed or having the . ground so wet that when stock are turned into the paddocks they will trample them underfoot. The amount of stock sent in to Burnside varies—how is this going to be regulated, and the variations of prices through ' flush ’or short _ supplies ? “ It is an impossibility to forecast the cost to the farmer of fattening his stock. Last year, with the floods following a prolonged drought, turnips went to £2O an- acre. Who is going to hear the brunt of these increased costs? Will the farmer be asked' to take less, or will the butcher be_ forced to take lower prices than he paid for the meat? “ The whole question rests on the weather,” he concluded. “If we get a good season, it might work out quite well on a month-to-month basis, but four months is rather an impossible span over which •to regulate retail prices, when the fattening costs and supply figures cannot hope to be available. Some farmers have not yet even bought their stores for winter fattening.” ■ ~ ’ -