DAIRY HERD SALE

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 1 October 1924, Page 5

DAIRY HERD SALE

GRADE COWS AT OYER £50. : PHENOMENA!, PRICES REALISED. HEAVY AVERAGE FOR A HERD.

South Taranaki would appear to be entering upon another boom period so far as the values of dairy herds are concerned, and at a sale conducted by the Farmers’ Co-op. yesterday, on behalf of Mr. Gordon Wills?, of Denbigh Road, Hawera, truly phenomenal prices' were realised —in fact bidders seem to have been prepared to buy at almost any figure. Although the herd showed that Mr. Wills had been particularly careful in his selection,- and had certainly built up on the right lines of butter-fat and dairy quality, the prices realised were much more than the normal advance which a good season for butter-fat and feed would appear to justify. While an average of £2O was obtained —as against £l2 to £l3 last year—seven annuals realised £3O to £35, and two reached the remarkable amounts of £SO and £56." The latter is considered" to be a record- That the great advance ■ »n prices was not confined to one par-' ticular sale is indicated by the fact that at a sale at Stratford, held by the ‘■mine company, ah average of £ll 3s ruled, as against approximately £9 for the same period last year. There lias been an. uneasy feeling created that the-extremely high prices, while satisfactory froin a certain viewpoint, may have some of the evil effects resultant on the boom of a few years ago. The prospects so far as the price of butter-fat is concerned are satisfactory, but wouJd not. appear to justify such exceptional prices. There is one outstanding feature, however, namely, that there has been growing recently a feeling of renewed confidence in the prospects of. the district? wliich -does not appear likely , to be shaken, and for this reason alone the high prices prevailing may be regarded as satisfactory. ~ - * v In the course of an interview with a Hawera Star reporter, Mr. C. G. Trotter, of the Farmers’ Co-op., mentioned that a measure of regret is to be farmers havV found it necessary, owing to the low- prices secured for yearlings, to destroy so many, calves. This would naturally have a tendency to increase "the value of producing animals.. It would seem unfortunate that so many, calves from high-producing cows are being destroyed, as this. must ultimately have the effect of reducing the,quality of dairy herds generally.