DAIRY INDUSTRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 7 January 1925, Page 4

DAIRY INDUSTRY

REVIEW OF PROSPECTS. MARKETS AND PRICES. All those connected in any way with the dairy industry are awaiting eagerly.and in a spirit of optimism the return of the delegation from the Control Board and the report of its activities and its detailed proposals for the future. The suggestion to set up a Control Board was received with a good deal of specticism and doubt by many, and with much keen opposition by those who did not believe in the proposal. The measure, however, despite these two features—the debate in the House and the discussion in the country —iyas duly passed into law. The delegation will have set itself to gather all possible information from the principal dairying countries of the world, and also to get first-hand knowledge of the conditions obtaining at Home, after watching the process 'of arrival in England and after discussing thO whole question of disposal with those who have for many years been responsible mainly for the realisation of the primary output of the Dominion. Various aspects of the delegational work have been made public which conclusively prove the wisdom of the existence of the board.

But the cable news of yesterday shows equally conclusively the ux-gent need for improved methods and for co-operation throughout, from factory to ultimate disposal in the Old World. A special message noted the fact that the butter market was weak, prices ranging from _lßos to 182 s. Cheese, it would be noticed, was on a steady market, with, price from 97s to 98s, seeming to indicate that the piesent is likely to be a cliees© year. Another cable stated that no less than 870,000 boxes of butter from Australia and New Zealand were due to arriv© in January. The natural result would be that prospective buyex’s would hold off, and that if sellers wished to induce business they must tempt buyers by making the price more attractive. Otherwise business would not eventuate to any extent. This, combined with the statement that the quality of / the Australian butter shows such improvement as to be likely to bridge to a large exteiit the superiority j_n quality so Jong enjoyed by’ the New Zealand article, stresses the imperative lxeed for extra care in production and better methods in distribution of the New Zealand output. It points also to a great field of activity for the Daily Control Board, and indicates., many avenues of useful and profitable work for the benefit of the whole of the industry. The suggestion is strengthened by a glance hack at the conditions ruling a year ago, when'supply was short owing to a dry spell. Then butter prices continued to improve until February 8, and were till that date much higher than is the case at pi-esent. The difference in conditions for the same periods of the year in successive seasons emphasises again the need of a unified control. The absolute necessity of maintaining ■unrivalled. that High quality on which largely the industry has been built points to a' useful field of co-operation between, the boai'd and a Federation of Dairy Companies, such as exists in South Taranaki. Research by the latter has shown how improvement can he effected which, will mean many thousands of pounds sterling to the producers, and how factors can be eliminated which are doing much harm to the industry. There is ample room 'for both acting in co-operation and accoi-d.