THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 2 September 1924, Page 3

THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY.

MEETING AT RAWER A

ALTERATION OF GRADING POINTS.

CHANGE NOT FAVOURED

A meeting representative of tne dairying industry in Taranaki, at which there were about 150 dairy, company directors present, was held in the Grand Theatre at Hawera yesterday to consider the proposal that the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture should make an alteration in the grading points for. butter and cheese along the lines of raising the minimum points for first grade from 88 to 90. After considerable discussion a majority vote was recorded in favour of an amendment opposing any alteration with regard, to cheese, but a resolution approving of the raising of the. minimum, points for first grade butter to 90 was carried.

Mr. Winks, chairman of the. Federa-' tion of Factories, was voted to the. chair, and Mr. Duncan, secretary of the federation, -?ead the notice calling the, meeting. Mr. Duncan mentioned that a copy of the notice had been sent to every company in the province. .

The chairman said he proposed to ask .Mr. AV. M. Singlton, Director of the Dairy Division, to state the case in favour of the proposed- alteration, and then ask Mr. T. C. Brash, secretary of the Dairy Control Board to explain the Control. Board’s action in supporting the proposal. In this way a good deal of time which would otherwise be taken np by questions would be saved.. -

In introducing Mr. Singleton, the chairman said it was not the grading that was the principal trouble. Grading might he a guide to the companies in regard to the class of article they were manufacturing, but it had to be realised that very often the grading had altered in character between the time the produce was graded in New Zealand and the time it was placed on the market at Home. The trouble was to a. great; extent- in dirty milk and want of knowledge handling the milk. It was interesting to note that: in the early days with the virgin grass there was not the same trouble, and it was just a question whether the use of artificial manures had some bearing on the question. Continuing with regard to the quality of the New Zealand produce, the chairman said that at the latter end of last season there were practically no complaints from the English, market, but at the beginning oF the season and for the last three or four seasons there had. jeen many complaints. If the quality of New Zealand produce was going to go back he was satisfied that New Zealand would lose her place on the English market.

Mr. Singleton, in thanking the dairymen, of Taranaki for the "opportunity. of discussing the proposal with them, said that the Dairy Division took ncy credit in being instrumental in bringing forward a new proposition. The dairymen of Taranaki bad considered the question of raising the minimum points for first grade to 90 twenty-five years, ago, when a meeting was held at Stratford in 1899 to consider that proposal. The minimum points for first grade were then 86. From that period they had made considerable improvements in connection with the manufacture of butter and cheese. Practically all of the butter to-day was nia.de from pasteurised cream and some 66 per cent, of the cheese was made from pasteurised milk. Last season 60 per cent; of the butter had been made from cream that had been voluntarily graded, and in addition to that many districts had gone in lor dairy inspectors with a view to improving the milk and cream, supplies. These factors had all borne, fruit, and New Zealand had improved the quality of her butter and cheese exports. Nevertheless in view ol the tact that New Zealand produce bad to meet increased competition it seemed to the speaker that it was their bonnden duty to further face the position of improving the quality of their produce. Lf he- did not think that the. proposal would mean more money to the producers of. New Zealand they could rest assured that- he would .not have brought it forward. Proceeding, Mr. Singleton said that openness in cheese- was one of the- defects that, was usually mentioned when unfavourable reports ■ were received. This open texture had been recognised by graders as being a predominant fault. In the early days labour had been on a different plane, but today labour union conditions had been imported into the dairy company business with the result that factory assistants were not quite so interested in turning out the best quality produce as they had been in- yeax-s before. There seemed to be a tendency to liuri’y the process of manufacture more than was the case in the early days, and the result of that hurry was reflected in the increased openness of the New Zealand cheese. The question of pasteurisation had been brought in. They all knew that pasteurisation was a great factor in making for uniformity in the line. They needed uniformity, and to further emphasise, t-his the speaker quoted from a report by Mr. Wriglit on cheese manufactured by one company. The report stated, inter alia: “The trade wants uniformity every time, and I am of the opinion that thi-s cheese would have been of better quality had the milk been pasteurised.” Continuing, Mr. Singleton said that they had noticed during the war period when cheese had been stored for a long time in New Zealand that the cheese that had been manufactured from pasteurised milk held up better than the cheese from non-pasteurised milk. However, they must also recognise that clean non-pasteurised milk would make good cheese. Still, with cheese from nonpasteurised milk there was a tendency to develop what was known as “the off flavour.” About 66 per cent, of the cheese manufactured in New Zealand was made from .-pasteurised milk, which meant that 36 per cent, of the milk was made from non-pasteurised milk. Mr. Singleton said ho hail had all the reports since September classified. and fox- cheese nninnf'nof ural bv companies who were making use of pasteurisers,-68 per cent, of the reports wer favourable and 3 2 per cent, wpi-o unfavourable. Taking the cheese manufactured from non-pasteurised mill:. 32 per cent,, were favourable ami 6.8 per cent, unfavourable, the percentages being exactly reversed. In other words, for every unfavourable report on c-heeso manufactured from pasteurised milk there were 61 unfavourable reports on choose made from non-pasteurised milk. Mr. Singleton considered that Mr. Wright's reports would be a correct indication of the opinion of the trade in London. Mr. Wright had been in the trade a long

time, and -lie noticed that in his reports., lie used trade terms to indicate liis opinions.

Air Singleton said that from the viewpoint of the Daily Division they should recognise that good cheese could lie made from non-pasteurised milk. Their figures proved that. Taking the figures of factories grading 91 points and over, 25 per cent were factories not pasteurising their milk. It was to be recognised that if milk were sound and ripe, and was also manufactured up to the average standard, good cheese would result. There was no doubt about that, and personally lie thought he would rather eat that sort of cheese. The fact remained, however, that only a small percentage of the milk was up to that quality. Also, they had to remember that" in prepasteurising days the managers had more influence over the individual suppliers in seeing that the best qualit-v milk was brought in To-day they were not producing milk of the- average standard that would be required for the manufacture of English and Scotch .-Cheddar, cheese, and the nearest way in which this standard could be obtained was by pasteurisation. Pasteurisation was an insurance policy towards better quality, and unless the milk supplied was very clean it was a good proposition to pasteurise, more particularly if the cheese were to be stored.

The speaker next- dwelt upon the question of the quality of cheese in connction with some of the high-scoring lines. He said that some Considered that it was not very essential that they should strive to make what was considered here to lie the best quality, but that they, should aim at manufacturing an average scoring cheese which was considered by the grading staff here to be of high quality. Mr Singleton then proceeded to quote reports which, showed that what was considered to he the best scoring cheese here was considered to be tlie best quality cheese at the other end.

Continuing, the speaker said there had been a good deal of discussion with regard to high moisture content m cheese. This was not a- new thing, and he proceeded to quote a further report from Mr Wright, which stated: “We are too far away from our market- to take any liberties with regard to moisture content in cheese.” Mr Singleton likened a high moisture content cheese to a one-day lily—it did not stay in bloom very long. It was also like some of the early-bearing apples—quick maturing, qiiick rotting. It was a fact, however, that second grade cheese could at times' be turned into channels which would enable it to return as much money as first grade cheese, but this sort of thing was exceptional, and they could not afford to rely on such chances. There was also another point, said the speaker. It had been his experience, when talking to an importer in London, to hear that gentleman sav that it did not always suit them for. a factory to improve the quality of its cheese. Sometimes they had a client who would take the low quality, and in that event if the factory improved the quality they (the importers) would have to find another market. “Is pot that just what you want them to do?” said Mr Singleton. I quehing on the actual question of raising the minimum first grade points, the speaker said that when the matter was considered many years ago a compiomise was arrived at, and! the minimum points were raised from 86 to' 88. at which figure they had remained ever since. He referred to a report hy the Agricultural Department in I9UO, which pointed out that the raising of the grading points had not been the cause of more second grade produce. There bad been an increase in. S rade butter of II ner cent. Ibis was practically no ‘more than under the old standard, and there was no doubt that the raising of the old standard was one of the forces which Tuuh bought- about an improvement. VVith regard to. the present proposal to raise the grading points, there was no opposition as far as first grade butter was concerned.

In conclusion, Air Singleton said lie desired to express the Dairy Division's appreciation of the Control. Board. He also wished to specially mention the assistance afforded by Mr Brash at the meetings in Dunedin and Invercargill. In the Control Board the Dairy Division realised that they had a body vhich was representing the dairvinointerests of the Dominion, and a body ivlucli they could go to for consultation with a great deal of satisfaction. Ihe chairman then called upon Mr Brash to give the reasons for the Contiol Board s action in backing up the uairy Division in connection with tlie proposed alteration of the grading points. 6

Mi- Brash said at the outset that the Adding system had made the dairying industry m this Dominion. To the'facSp'rhri 1 "/ 861 ; gaVe a to the dnector it gave a guide as to what the manager was doing; to the buyer it gave the convenience of being 'able to buy on the grade. During the past ISwIEnm Z !u ian , d I had exported iIoOjOOOjOOO worth of dairv produce and of that £60,000,000 worth had gone fiom laranaki, which in the otlS If/ 1 €x ?° r^ d more than the °2w P ? ?• NeU ’ Zea]and ’ togethei. Continuing, Mr Brash said that grading meant money, and to ieturn I fn arS A Um . eUt r lie com Pared the tbn l £ Au^ tra!lau hutter with those _ of iSeiv Zealand. Australia -it eradino- 16 f° Uld no * have Government giadmg at any price, and they had Z'ZfJT a t- Dtecl !t s »’”«"haf halfheal tedlv. the comnarisoh was seen Ilot \ ced Australian buttei had been bringing on an average o per cent less than New Zealand. -Luo years ago a resolution had been carried at Palmerston North favouring the raising of the first grade minimum pomts > ai , ld , al,ollt a fortnight ago the proposal had been carried in Dunedin aud the following day in Invcrcargill. They would sec, therefore, that there must he some reason for seeking this advancement. As far as the butter producers were concerned there was no opposition, hut it was true that there were some difficulties rfo lg u- the oheese producer. These difficulties were created bv one of three things. Firstly, faulty raw material. It was safe to say' that the milk supply to the factory was not so good to-day as it was a' number of years ago, milking machinery calling tor more care. They were glad to know that the Government had decided on something definite in regard to •Tim dairv instructors. Government subsidies having been extended to pnv a proportion of the instructors’ salaries There was not an unlimited supply of subsidy money, hut he thought that where a group of factories could agree to appoint’a farm dairy inspector and would fulfil the eonditoins there would not he trouble in ob.taining the subsidy. Secondly, there was the difficulty of faulty rnannfaetue. Tv. was generally admitted that there were some managers and assistants who were not doing uistico to the material they were - handling. There, again, the raising of the grading points would provide a test for the dairy company directors. The third difficulty was one over which neither the factory manager or the director had any control. He referred to the scientific side of the business. Until they had a thoroughly equipped and staffed laboratory certain difficulties would not be solved. Sixteen years

ago it had been reported that the Government had conscntd to tlie establishment of a laboratory at Palmerston North. He did not know what had side-tracked it, but prob.ably it had been due to representatives in various districts not agreeing on its location. Turning to tlie marketing side of the question, Air. Brash said that every year competition was becoming more keen and New Zealand could only hold her place in the market by going forward ; she could not hold it bv remaining stationary. After years "of effort New Zealand had drawn level with Canada in the quality of cheese, but Canada had now stiffened up her grading system in an endeavour to take the lead again. They in New Zealand looked upon Canadian cheese as somewhat on a par with their own, and they would realise how far Canada had gone when he said that the Canadians in altering their grading had hit hard and had put 22 per cent, of their cheese down to second grade, wjth a view to creating a greater impulse to make better quality cheese. Air. Brash referred _to a letter from Air. Grounds, in which the writer had said that the race was to the swift, and had urged ■ the adoption of the slogan. “Alore production of better quality goods in a more economical wav!”

Air. J. Alarx (Alangatoki) then moved “That this meeting approves of the proposal to raise the minimum grading points for Jirst grade from 88 to 90.” He said that to-day it was not a case 6f standing still, but of slipping back, unless they did something of this sort.

Air. H: D. Forsytn (Eitliam) seconded. He pointed out that it was' quality that was going to count every time. Faulty raw material could be got over to a great extent by the employment of inspectors, and as far as faulty make was concerned we were getting a better class of manager every year. It was a fact, however, that too many of tlie factory directors encouraged their managers to incorporate more moisture in the cheese than it could safely carry.

Air. F. Hanford (Stratford) moved as ail amendment: “That in the opinion of this meeting it is against tlie best interests of the industry that there should be any alteration in regard to the grading points for cheese, and that the Department be asked to take no action in this connection.” He said lie was in favour of improving the quality,, but they must be careful to go about' it the right way. His experience of the past season had convinced him that it was time New Zealand improved the .transport and handling of her produce, so that it readied the consumer in good condition. To him it looked a,s though the principal trouble had .been the faulty_Jiandling and not the manufactured article. Continuing, Air. ' Ranford quoted reports which mentioned markets where other thaii our higher grading cheese was preferred. He also mentioned that it had been suggested that instead of raising the grade, a superfine grade should be instituted. This, he considered, should be avoided, as it would only result in our present second grade dropping to third grade. There was a , big company! in the , north which branded their butter grading over 91 as superfine, and lie would like to know on whose authority they did ,it. AVas it open to any other dairy company to do so Mr. Ranford said" that, fortunately, they had many tastes to cater for, and it seemed to him that tlie grading should be done at the other end, u here the tastes of the. consumers were more generally known. AYhat was " ai lted ivas a supply of good sweet milk, and the. proposal seemed like putting an ambulance at the foot of the cliff instead of a fence at the top. G. A. AY. AA T illiam.s (Aleremerel seconded the amendment.*'

Air. Pearce (Kakaramea) said tlie cheese from his company had been graded highly, while their yield had been low. The unfortunate part was that they had not got the benefit of the higher quality by an* increased puce. They had got the same price as factories grading much lower, and his diiectors felt that unless they °*ot a higher price they would put more moisture in the cheese.

In reply to Air. Corrigan, Air. Singleton said they endeavoured to keep the grading throughout the country as uniform as possible by bringing" the giadeis at the various ports together at shows and by having officers’ visit them at different times during the year. . Air Corrigan asked whether, in fixmg the points for grade, the-moisture content of the cheese was taken into account. Mr. Singleton, in replying, said that if a cheese were too hard it would-be reckoned second grade, and if too soft it would also, be second grade. However, there was a fair margin that could be brought in as first grade \ good deal, depended on the' plasticity or the cheese. Air Corrigan said they were out to manufacture the article that would give the best return for the man on "the farm. Proceeding, he quoted the case of two neighbouring .factories, both ivith a test of 3.94, but one grading at 89.45 and the other at 92.98. The value of 1001 b of milk from the factory 89 4,5, however, was 9s 2d, while the value of 1001 b of milk from the factory grading 92.98 was only 8s 6d—-a difference of 2d per lb butter-fat. As far as the grading was concerned. Air Singleton considered that it was on as satisfactory lines as those existing in any oilier country. Mr Corrigan said that tlie fact remained that our system of grading did i *.nse these questions. If thev conic! get a standard as regards the amount ol moisture they should incorporate in tlio cheese they could set to work iiuul maiuilPicture the article required. Air lay lor (.sgaere) considered that most ol Air Raiifo.rd’.s arguments were beside the mark, and the re nor Is lie bad quoted were from buyers who were looking lor the following season’s output. " Air J. S. Toslaiul (Piliama) said it had been in the minds of his directors to tell their manager to out more moisture in their cheese. Thev had not received the benefit of reaching the top as iai- as grading was concerned. Air 0. Hawken, ALP., said that the matter had caused tlie Dairy Control Board a lot of thought. The -Control Board was in favour of the highest finality. They h-.id had instances of lactones being able to pay out a higher price than other factories with produce of higher quality, but it did not lollow that if every iaetorv turned out the produce of the lower 'quality they would still get that high price. There was always room for the best- quality. It might net pa A’ in particular instances. hul he was used to particular instances, and the way in which they verc quoted to prove an argument. Ho knew without a doubt that quality would pay, and he was eertain that the was one in the right direotion. New Zealand had to fa.ee competition not dreamt of in oast years, and there was only one way ’to meet it. and iliac was by improving the onalitv of (he produce. ’ * Air Johnston (Lcwgarth'l said that the vield at his factory had been practically the same for' the last three years.

Mr Gane (Xormrmljv) sugeosted that perhaps it might ba to the" advantage

ol New Zealand dairy produce to have the higher grades read* 9S or 99. Mr, Willcox (Kahui) pointed out that there was no check on the supply to the factory. It was the manager who said just how much lmtter-fat was being supplied. Mr E. A. Collins (Awatuna) said it appeared to him that the whole crux oi the position lay in the question of the ratio of cheese to butter-fat. Mr Pearce had said that liis company with the high grade had only received the same price- as companies with a lower grade, hut the speaker contended that Mr Pearce’s company was on right lines as far as the quality of produce which should be produced in the Dominion was concerned. He would support the- resolution.

Mr Marchant said his ecmpanv thought the grade should he raised, but they wanted time to iustal pasteurisers.

Mr Singleton indicated that sufficient- time would be given. Mr Ranford, in. reply, said that the strongest, -argument on’ -his side was that of £ s. d. .

Mr Singleton said he quite sympathised with those who wanted - higher prices for higher quality, but if facr tories tried to get extreme percentages of moisture in their produce, New Zealand would soon bei behind Canada again.

A' vote of all companies which manufactured cheese was* then taken op the amendment, which was carried by 24 votes to 16. Companies manufacturing butter voted in favour of raising the minimum points for first grade butter to 90.

Mr Ranford moved, and Mr Mclntosh seconded: ‘ ‘That it lie a recommenelation that no dairy produce be allowed to he exported with any other mark as to quality than the 'Department’s grade stamp, and the Department he asked to enforce this principle.”—The motion was carried. The. meeting closed with a vote of thanks to Mr Singleton and the chair.