THE VALUE OF MILK.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 9 August 1924, Page 8

THE VALUE OF MILK.

WHAT FEW FARMERS. KNOW. REMARKS BY MR BUCKERIDGE. The annual meeting of the Ararata Dairy Co. was addressed yesterday by Mr G. H. Buckeridge, who gave some interesting facts concerning the relative value of milk for cheesemaking. Mr Buckeridge, at the outset, said his objective was to help farmers to increase the earning power of their farms. In these days it was necessary that they should make a prisoner of every penny. The first essential for every man in business was to be able to estimate with accuracy the value of the commodity he was handling. Dairying was a business, and the commodity which the dairyman handled was milk, which milk was used mostly in the manufacture of cheese. How were they going to estimate what they got out of 1001 bof milk? They would do it on the cheese content. They would agree with him that their milk was valued on its butter content and very largely on its cheese content. At the end of the year the suppliers of the co-operative dairy company divided op amongst themselves the of the sale of the cheese, dividing it up in proportion to the amount of butterfat supplied by each to the factory. It might be just a question as to whether that system was the fairest one, but he did not propose to go into that question. In order to demonstrate the facts which he wished to emphasise he had asked those present at various meetings this question: “Which milk gives tlie best return —the milk with the low test and high ratio or the milk with the high test and low ratio?” The answer he invariably got was “the low-testing milking with the high ratio.” Continuing, Mr Buckeridge said that his investigation last year of the balance-sheets of numerous dairy companies, together with his investigation this year, had proved conclusively, that the high-testing milk with the low ratio gave a greater amount of cheese per 1001 bof milk. They all knew that at the beginning of the year, say, in September or October, the factory handled the lowest testing milk. During that time of the year the manager produced 10 cheeses from every 900 gallon vat. In April, when the test of the milk handled is high, the manager got 13 to 14 cheeses out of the same 900 gallon vat. Yet there were people who would argue that the low-testing milk with the high ratio is the best for cheesemaking. Apart from tlie fact that in April they made more cheeses to the vat, they should also not forget that the cheese was then of a better quality. Also the cost of manufacture was less, as the vat that produced the 14 cheeses only required the labour of one man the same as did the vat that produced only 10 cheeses. The only additional cost was the cost of bandages, salt, crates and nails, but they would agree with him that this extra cost was worth while when they got the extra yield from the milk. Continuing, Mr Buckeridge pointed out that an increased return could also be obtained by the farmer providing purer and cleaner milk from the farm. The better the quality of the milk they sent into their factory, the higher tlie earning power of their own farms.

The matter of the high; yield that was being; obtained by one factory as against another was also mentioned, Mr Buckeridge pointing out the serious consequences of such rivalry. In the first place it created dissatisfaction amongst suppliers. This extra yield could he got in various ways. To read down one point in the test meant a difference of Id per lb butter-fat. There was another way in which the yield could be increased, and that was by extra moisture content. In this direction lay a great danger. In conclusion, Mr Buckeridge urged those present to increase the earning power of their farms by sending to the factory high-testing' milk of the best quality.