THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 4 January 1928, Page 7

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.

AX EVEN ITF U L V EAII

GREATER OUTPUT. LO WER

PRICES

The year winch is just dosing will prove to have been one oi tlie most eventful 1 periods yeit experienced in an industry that has known many vicissitudes and which, in the nature at tilings, nilist, inevitably experience Jie--4n changes. , In the first pl'ace production ho* been midi .higher than during any previous twelve months, lor at pile close oi last season the milk tiow held up remarkably well, whilst t.he present season has so lay easilv eclipsed all previous records Dating tram July 1, the beginning of tiie dairy season, until the end ot November, the increase for the Dominion as a whole was above 16 per cent. It is probable that the ratio of increase as even higher in the Auckland province, and the latest advices received by the New Zealand Cooperative Dairy to. were to the effect that the increase at the factories under its control was above twenty per cent. This information related to supplies received well into the present months. so that the long spell of dry weather has so lar not'seriously checked production. THiE PRICE QUESTION.

Wlliile, production has exceeded all records, it is unfortunately a- fact that values have' lagged considerably behint those obtained in some other years. Thus with a lesser output than has since been obtainable, the year March 31 brought in over £18,000.000 to the dairy farmers of the Dominion, for the period .ending March 3,1 last, the receipts were under I)lo,000,000. January l of this, year found New Zealand, butter quoted at 1 <4 / - per owt. on the London market; to-day quotations. says the “Auckland Star of Friday, ‘are 161/-. in the interim Hactuations have been frequent, often in apparent defiance of the statistical position which is supposed to govern markets. The first variation was so pronounced a.s to wuse general alaiin ,throughout the country, for in the brief period of lour weeks, from February iy to March 18 Die, nominal price of New Zeal,and butter dropped from 1/6/- per cwt to 146/-. This result was generally attributed to the pressure of - stored stacks held over from the previous season but its immediate etiect was to emphasise the danger of alienating the goodwill of London dealers by the board’s control policy. A direct consequence was that’the board abandoned its policy of price, fixation and also 1 decided to allow factories to again sell their produce through, private, firms. Following on the change an unproved tone was imparted to? the market, and prices ranged for the rest of our produce 1 season from 134/- to lb2/-. lhe agents of London firms at once resumed their activities in the Dominion and some forward sales were made at satisfactory rates from tlie producers point of view.

The prospects of the new season appeared to be bright by reason of the fact that the Australian and Argentine output seemed, likely to be seriously curtailed through drought conditions in those, countries, and stocks m the Uld Country were thought to be light. Actually prices rose Readily ftp™ about 170 s in August to 184 s at the end of September. Then for some reason that has not been adequately explained the market commenced to sag, and even the approach of Christmas with its special conditions failed to mt values, and they have remained in the vicinity of 160 s. Similar changes have occurred in regard to cheese. The following table shows the top price or New Zealand butter and cheese on the London market at corresponding dates in recent years:

Considering the position broadly, the Dominion outlook is distinctly promising. In discussing prospects from a production point ot view it must not be torgotten that while Auckland farmers have had and still have cause for anxiety in the recent scarcity of rain, tnis has not been the experience in other parts of the Dominion where rainfall lias for the most part been abundant, so that the total Dominion production should continue at a high level. Market values, as has been shown, are so variable that it is impossible to hazard a forecast, but it is a satisfactory feature that latest advices indicate, that at the lower prices ruling there is greater activity amongst purchasers.

For the year ended March 31 last, Dominion re. eipts for butter were £9,033,381 and for oeese £5,774,113. Or this amount Auckland’s share was 65.40 per cent of the butter and 16.26 per cent of the cheese, approximately £6,795,149. A feature of the year's trading has been that of the new season’s output; an unusually large proportion lias gone to localities other than Great Britain. The-quantity that has been sent to Canada and also to Eastern countries has been larger than had been the case- for ssome years, while Australia was glad to call on this Dominion for substantial quantities during the period when the Commonwealth was affected by drought. Any broadening of the market open to our producers is a distinct advantage in lessening tho chances of congestion in London, and it is to be hoped the Dairy Board, which still has a measure of control over the industry, will direct special attention to this aspect of the marketing problem.

Butter. Doc. 4 Dec. 11 Dec. 18 Dec. 25 Per Per Per Per cwt, cwt. cwt. cwt. 1924 • .. 204/ 204/ 206/ 200/ 1923 • 1926 .. 194/ .. 166/ 176/ 176/ 174/ 172/ 174/ 172/ 1927 . .. 168/ 160/ 160/ 164 / 1924 . .. 94/ Cheese. 92/ 96/ 96/ 1923 106/ 100/ • 1926 • 94/ 96/ 96/ 96/ 1927 . .. 93/ 93/ 91/ 91/ THE OUTLOOK.