FREEZING INDUSTRY

Grey River Argus, 4 December 1940, Page 7

FREEZING INDUSTRY

Good Canterbury Prospects CHRISTCHURCH, December 3. Most Canterbury freezing works will commence killing next Tuesday. The companies are not expecting a rush of stock in the early weeks of the season, because, with the recent rain, the feed position is assured. . The labour situation is not yet clear, and probably it will x not be clear’ until operations actually begin. It is known that many workers have joined the forces, and some companies report that in some departments they will probably have difficulty in meeting full staff requirements. While there was a r.ecord kill for the Dominion last season, Canterbury figures were not correspondingly good, because the province had one of the worst fattening seasons on record. Dry weather forced a rush of stock into the .works before Christmas, but for six weeks after the local works were working at'only a fraction of their capacity. For neither the companies nor the workers, was the season satisfactory. Prospects this year are much brighter. The feed position began to give some concern until the recent excellent rains, which came in time to assure feed for many weeks ahead. Lambs and sheep are reported to be doing very well at present in almost all districts, and it is probable that many farmers will be in no hurry to send lambs forward as the higher v,’eights under the British purchase pay better than lighter weights. Except in minor details, the buying schedule for this season is exactly the same as that for last year, when prices were satisfactory to most producers.

At the opening of last season, there' was a carry-over of approximately 45,000 tons of meat in New Zealand, a situation which was the cause of some concern. Under its agreement with the New Zealand Government, the United Kingdom Government

agreed to take this quantity as part of the total of 300,000 tons it contracted to buy. In addition, the United Kingdom Government undertook to buy from New Zealand within the limits of its requirements, and subject to freight being available, additional meat over the quantity of 300,000 tons. Cool stores throughout New Zealand are now almost bare of meat, so that the United Kingdom must have taken approximately 350,000 tons, which was the estimate of the amount available for export.