AUSTRALIAN OUTPUT OF BUTTER.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4815, 26 July 1939, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN OUTPUT OF BUTTER.

BIG INCREASE FOR SEASON. The extent to which increased Australian production of butter offset the heavy decline in New Zealand’s output is revealed in Commonwealth figures for 1938-39. The season’s exports of butter from Australia totalled 102,571 tons, against 87,671 tons, an increase of around 17 per cent, compared with a decline in New Zealand butter production of over 13 per cent, for a period of 10 months. Of the Australian exports, 96,985 tons were shipped to Britain, the increased supplies from the Commonwealth being an important factor in keeping prices of butter on the London market at a lower level throughout the season. The recovery in production of butter in Queensland and Victoria after the break of the drought was a conspicuous feature of Australian dairying in 1938-39. The big production in Queensland in the last few months of the season resulted in storage accommodation in Brisbane being overtaxed, and provision had to be made for an increased export quota for that State to relieve the congestion.

Victoria experienced a remarkable period of production in the closing months of the season. Arrivals of butter in Melbourne from producing centres from- the end of May to the end of June amounted to 240,172 boxes, compared wth 108,263 boxes for the corresponding period of 193738, and 124,246 boxes for 1936-*7. Heavy production in Queensland which followed the generous rainfalls from February onward enabled exports of butter to exceed largely those of the previous season.

Production of cheese in the season showed a substantial increase, particularly in Victoria. This was partly the result of relatively high prices that obtained for cheese compared with those for butter.