QUALITY SUPPING

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 26 August 1933, Page 7

QUALITY SUPPING

REPORT ON CANTERBURY LAMB SOUTHERN FARMERS PERTURBED. BETTER EWE STOCK NEEDED' , r Claims that Canterbury lamb had lost its good name in the London market because the right type of carcase was not 'being produced were made by •Mr James Deans and other members at the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association at its last meetTheir contention was that this had come about because the best sort of ewe was not retained for breeding purposes, chiefly because the greater part -A the good three-quarter-bred ewe lambs were hilled for export each year. The discussion aiose when Mr Deans referred to the report, of the judges in; the last South Island district lamb competition* held under the Meat Rrodimers’ Board. Tins report, received at the previous meeting, said in reference to the Canterbury exhibit: “We were frankly disappointed with this exhibit. " It comprised a number of patchy and slight of meat carcases, and the whole , exhibit was generally flacking in p ideal shape and make.”

rsOT BREEDING RIGHT EWES “Our association, should do something to remedy this,” said Mr Deans. “We should try to improve our ewe stock.,. There is no question that we are not breeding the right sort of ewes in Canterbury, and if we are to get back to the real prime Canterbury lamb we must improve the ewe stock. ‘ (Anyone _who. is in. contact with the London market must realise that a bad name for Canterbury lamb affects the whole of New Zealand. The very name ‘Canterbury lamb’ has given a market for lamlb from the rest of the Dominion. I- haive been told, of course, that this is partly because people in Kingland think it comes from their own Canterbury. That is (by the way. “We must try to* breed a lamb suitable for the fat lamb trade. At - the last meeting, when this matter passed without comment, the secretary said that the cause of Canterbury’s .failure in the competition last year was the bad season. But that was not the real cause. If you study the London - jnarket prices you will see that Canterbury lamlb is not getting the highest price. That is a disgrace to - Canterbury. A three-quarter-bred ewe mated with a Southdown ram will give what the London market wants.” DUTY OF MEAT BOAIRD Mr D W. Westenra said that he was rrlaH Mr Deans had brought up this question. -Some good would be done if the Meat Board put up an exhibit at the show of the right and wrong type of carcase. This would be valuable to the younger men. The Meat Board had seen in 1924 that Canterbury lamlb was drifting, and it was hard to understand why it had failed to do something to remedy the position. The board was established to care for the interests of the farmers, and it should have acted. It had allowed the quality to s, ip. a nd once that had happened it was* difficult to pick up again. «, r _ Continuing, Mr W estenra said : In London one leading man remarked to me: (‘Canterbury lamb has lost its prestige on the London market, but added ‘No lamb in the world tastes better than Canterbury, and if you give us the right type of carcase um hove the market at your feet. The Meat Board should have come out into the fnen and told us. We need to put our best foot foremost for the of New Zealand. In the North Island and Southland they are breeding from Komney ewes, which are good, milk producers. so that their lamb on the English market is mainly milk-led. THE DUAL-PURPOSE PROBLEM. Mr Dean’s remarks were supported hv Mr H N. Nicholson, who said that good advice had been given in the past but that it had not always been^ followed A main difficulty was ,hat sheep farmers were trying to breed a dual-purpose sheep. “You can t have it K/vfYi xravs n h& said. If you YV«irrt ideal 'carcase for Smithfield you can’t have the same priced wool. Mr W J. Jenkins said that the bad season had upset things for Canterburv in last year s competition. It was not the class of lamb that went abroad that won the prizes. -“It is not the lamb submitted for the competition that gives Canterbury In mb its name on the London market » said Mr F. Coop “Where are the risht sort of ewes to come from. AYe shall have to tighten up the grade in the factories if we are to have enough three-quarterbrecl ewes to cartv on If we continue lolling the e/ne lambs-' at the present rate we are going to find ourslves very short of the 1 i_nt sort of ewes in the next year or two. CANTERBURY STANDING STILLMr C. G. Jarman, who presided said he* thought The fanners should help themselves. Most of the lamb? from three-ouarterbred ewes were sent awav bv the time the competition uas yll Also it sewmed th*vtr the north was it? stock while OmterWv stood still. Another point was that the Corriedale sheep were in the hands of wool men who care more for wool than for carcase. Mr G H Macclornild said that tmVro were plenty of Corriedale .meu who care for the carcase. The right point had been struck when it had neen. >aul that a main difficulty was to combine wool and carcase. . .- Mir J Jeans said the right type or dam was < not being bred What was heeded was a three-quarterbrecl ewe --personally he preferred the English Leicester mated with a Southdown ram The trouble was that practically everv three-quarterbred lamb was sent a of the country, whether it was eue fib or wSr lamb. The difficulty "was wool. He thought that '/ Canterbury had a sufficient quantity of three-auarterbred wool there would re. “ to'tlm **> committee for' investigation and jcporL