POULTRY FEED

Hokitika Guardian, 8 July 1937, Page 6

POULTRY FEED

HEAVY INCREASE IN COST; U*er Press Association—Copyright). AUCKLAND.' July 7/ ; Because of an increase of nearly >;9d per cent, in the cost of feeding poultry', ,to lower drastically the price-of eggs under, existing conditions would be uneconomic to producers, according to Mr A. E. Knowles, a member of the. New Zealand Poultry Board, in a reply to the claims of Mr L. J. Schmitt, de-puty-chairman of the Wheat Committee.

j Mr Knowles explained that an analysis of returns revealed that the cost of feeding each bird a week had risenfrom lid five years ago to approximately 2;pl in the 1936-37 season. Dir Knowles referred to a statement by Mr Schmitt that the price at which the; .Wheat Committee was selling pollard in Auckland was £7 a ton, delivered/ less 11- per cent, discount for cash within 14 days. This, however, was of no account to poultry keepers, as the total quantity of New Zealand pollard available in Auckland amounted to a fraction of 1. per cent, of the consumption of poultry keepers and other stock breeders, They were, unable to purchase! their requirements at £7 a ton for the simple reason that the stock was not .available. “Mr Schmitt claimed that the experiments at Wallacoville research station showed that the feeding of sprout-. ed wheat had no ill-effects on poultry,” Mr Knowles continued. “I admit that those experiments were carried out.;_ but actually departmental officers acknowledged that the results were not convincing, for the one reason, that the opportunity for checking over a sufficiently long period did not exist. “The shortage of eggs this winter is unprecedented, and producers know that -something more than purely seasonal conditions has been responsible. They agree that it is due to sprouted wheat. It is known that the germ in the wheat grain contains vitamins, without which a bird is not fully able to make the best use of the other pait. of the grain, and the lack of thesevitamins in sprouted wheat, togethei with the wet season, lias created a problem of extremely short supplies. “Instead of defending and apologising for the Wheat Committee. I should like to see the Government stating what it is prepared to do to help the noultry industry. I should be glad to hear them tell us. what guarantee we have against shortages, poor grade supplies, and uneconomic prices,” Mr Knowles added.