THE DAIRY INDUSTRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 21 September 1926, Page 5

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY

OGR PLACE IN THE SUN.

MENACE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES

ARGENTINA’S ADVANCE. ~ Evidence is rapidly, accumulating illustrating the need for immediate steps to tighten up on the loose ends of New Zealand’s dairy, industry, which is front day to day sliown to..menaced more seriously-by other countries which give great attention to detail, and, employ advanced commercial principles. .. . . - ’ Messrs Joseph Nathan and Co., Ltd., of Wellington, have' just received the following letter from their London house, reporting upon the, dairy produce markets in England: There is little doubt that ~. . . the Argentine Government is alive to the opportunities. New Zealand is giving them to get into the butter industry much .more deeply .than they have hitherto done. “The Argentine has set-to work with a. view to improving the quality of her b utter, with the result that to-day the quality is far-superior to what it used to be. “This is partly due to pasteurisation .at the source of supply. ’ If this improvement continues, the Argentine will become a serious’ competitor to New Zealand, because it will en r able producers there .to obtain higher prices, and, since that position i 3 brought..about, it will encourage producers and capitalists to increase the output. Moreover, the Argentine is only 17 days from this market.” Argentina has not yet shipped cheese in such proportions as it has butter, but it is suited to produce cheese just as much as butter, if not more so. Present Home consumption pf cheese which is very high (combined with a quince' jelly it forms a. regular national diet) keeps pace with . manufacturej bub Chubut, that huge 'unroaded arid unrailed province, is in itself a formidable prospective competitor to. all this country can produce. ' • In butter, which concerns the-’Wai-kato more intimately than Taranaki, the Argentine Republic has : shown great strides in recent years. . For lam industry which lias air export- life dating for all practical purpose since after the war, the figures of the last four years speaks eloquently of the progress made, and continuing to be made. The increase in quantity will be seen in the following table to exceed in proportion that of New Zealand: - •*•»*'

1926 628,305 1,407,112 Next comes a consideration' of how the prices of the tiro countries have compared. New Zealland 'is at a disadvantage. The following: figures, for butter have been taken at random, over five years, from the official Lon-

July, Lyzt> , : iaistoious Kzsujim It will thus be seeu that; save for top prices in the January and December sample figures of 1924, the advantage in increase of prices, steady improvement, and minimum fluctuation lay with Argentina. Of course,-it must be admitted to New Zealand’s advantage that it is easier to improve quality from 1 the relatively low standard until recently existing' in Argentina to a moderately good standard than for New Zealand to improve from good fair average quality to best quality. Nevertheless, the significance of tlie figures “cannot be overlooked. ! Messrs Nathan and -Co.’s (London) l-eport proceeds to say: “ “We .have noticed the same thing” —progress and appreciation of the fact that , New - Zealand- -is •' giving other countries a chance .to enter the dairy., markets—f Sin ._-Estonia. There the '-have* taken the matter .up seriously.,; and 'are lending money at low rates of interest for the purpose of encouraging the industry. They have instituted a system of grading, and the quantity exported to-day is-:' ten times greater than it was even two years ago.”

Argentina. N Z. . cwt.. cwt. 1923 443,122 1,272,504 1924 548,640 1,036,945 1925. 449,074 • . 1,343,601

don price lis its: __ Argentine. ' ' N.Z. May, 1921 160s to 170s i. 194s to 196s Jan., 1923 . 168s to 184s . 196s to 200.s Jan., 1924 180 s to 186s 208s to 214s Dec., 1924 176s to 180s 204s to 216s ■ l KAr-u 4« 1 fiTlo. -• 1 TOo 17Ao