BEEF FOR BRITAIN

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 119, 4 May 1936, Page 4

BEEF FOR BRITAIN

Export Trade Can Win Only on Merits STUDY OF REQUIREMENTS The successful establishment of a beef market in Great Britain undoubtedly depends upon the quality of the product. New Zealand, like Australia, which is endeavouring to establish u market for her chilled beef in Britain, can expect to win through only on its merits. A weakness has been the lack of attonion paid to the suitability of beef for the consumer, and to compete with rivals on the markets of Great Britain a first essential is to assure the continual growth and thriftiness of the young stock from calfhood onwards, Interesting experiments carried out by noted English authorities with the mating of dairy heifers with beef bulls have given remarkable results, which may possibly be adopted by New Zealand breeders with benefit. The greater part of Britain's beef comes from overseas, and exporting countries, realising that the British consumer demands a good article, send only the best, states W.B.L. in the “Australasian.” With improvements in the type of cattle, in methods of feeding and in the technique of refrigeration, the quality of the beef now coming into Great Britain has reached a very high standard. Chilled beef from South America competes seriously with all classes of home-fed beef, I except “prime Scotch,” which represents only a comparatively small proportion of the total home output. This ■speaks volumes for the quantity of the South American product, and proves that fatteners in that country have closely studied the requirements of the British markets, and are Blip!':. i>.g i class of beef that finds favour with the trade add consumers. INFLUENCING FACTORS ON QUALITY. The main factors influencing the quality of beef are the typo of animal fed and the method of feeding. Many scientific experiments have been carried out in Great Britain and other countries in order to ascertain the best methods of feeding and management by which to obtain good, live weight increases as economically as possible; but less attention has been paid to the suitability of the beef for the consumer. South America has engaged in such experiments, and as the result of data obtained therefrom it is producing a standardised article for which there is a ready sale at top prices in Great Britain. Australia is backward and marketing, and until more attention is paid to these important factors it is improbable that Australian beef will be able to successfully compete with that from South America. The quantity of Australian beef could be greatly improved by paying more attention to breeding, feeding, and management. The first essentials in assuring progress in this direction are selecting a breed suited to the environment, using the best sires available, raising the standard of the females, and providing sufficient feed to ensure the continual growth and thriftiness of the young stock from ealfhood onwards. This is the only way by which Australian beef will be able to compete with its rivals on the markets of Great Britain, and this consummation is not beyond attainment. CONSUMERS' REQUIREMENTS. In the January issue of the “Journal of the Ministry of Agriculture” (England( Messrs. J. Hammond and \V. S. Mansfield, of the School of Agriculture, Cambridge, outline some of the consumer’s requirements and indicate how experiments could be planned to test out systems of production and points of management to meet them. The typo of cattle that produces the quality of beef that the consumers want is fairly well known. The butcher knows, and pays a higher price per cwt for them in the fat stock market, and cattle breeders and feeders in turn produce what tho butchers want, But it is not practicable to produce that class of cattle alone. Most of the now population is kept primarily for dairy purposes, and the best dairy cows aro not ideal for beef production. Their male progeny, however, and such of their heifers as are not required for the dairy ale fed for beef; lienee the large proportion of secondgrade beef produced in this country. One of the big problems facing the cattle feeders to-day is that of getting suitable cattle for feeding. There are many complaints among them that the store cattle obtainable are not as good as thev used to be. The fall in the prices of fat cattle caused many farmers to turn from beef production to dairying, and instead of feeding prime home-bred beef cat.ie they are selling stores that are the progeny of dairy cows. This state of affairs has been accentuated within the last two or three years by the hopeless state of the beef market and the steadying influence of the milk marketing schemes on the dairying industry.

INTERESTING MATING EXPERIMENTS. Messrs. Hammond and Mansfield applied themselves to the problem of obtaining animals suitably bred for tho production of high quality beef; and as a first step they decided to find out if good beef cattle could bo pmduccd by mating dairy heifers with a good beef hull, and which breed of hull was most suitable. Some Irish-bred Shorthorn, Hereford, Aberdeen-Angus, and Sussex hulls. The experiment, it was realised, was too small to give significant results in one season, but it was hoped that it would enable the possibilities to be explored so that it might bo repeated on a larger scale or at different centres in subsequent years. Tho calves were all within two mouths of each other in age, and were reared under similar conditions. They were kept going al) the time, and were ted off at about 16 mouths old, when averaging about 9001 b. live weight. They were weighed, graded, and sold under the Ministry of Agriculture's marketing plan, and all of them, except two. were graded select, the two exceptions being graded “superselect.” QUALITY DEFINED. Quality in beei is defined by Al< - ... Hammond and .Mansfield as “that which members of Ihe public like mid the butchers can sell best," 'and they discuss a number of points concerned with quality. A low carcase percentage. they state, is usually associated

with an undesirable type of carcase from the butcher’s point of view, cattle with large heads and other offals being generally poor in other respects. The good quality beef is finer in grain and as larger carcases aro usually coarser ' in grain the price :i stone paid for n caicasc falls rapidly as the carcase weight goes-above 5001 b. Ten veura ago the weight, al which puces begaa to fall was about (JJOib.