DAIRY INDUSTRY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 234, 31 August 1935, Page 12

DAIRY INDUSTRY

MANAWATU RELIANCE COY. ANNUAL MEETING. The annunl meeting of the suppliers of the Manawatu Reliance Dairy Coy., Ltd., was held at the factory at Rangiotu yesterday. The chairman of directors, Mr J. H. Lover, presided. There was an attendance of 14. The report presented by the chairman was as follows:—“The supply and output for the year are :—Cheese manufactured, green weights, 167 tons 5 cwt Oqr 31b; cheese manufactured, grader’s weights, 163 tons 16cwt 3qr 161 b; average shrinkage from green weights to marked weights, 2.14 per. cent: average shrinkage from marked weights to sale weights, for what we have account sales for, waxed, 1.09 per cent, unwaxed, 2.02 per cent; total milk received for cheesemaking, 3,436,3301 b; total butterfat received for cheesemaking, 149,394.361 b; average test, 4.347; average yield of cheese to each pound of .butterfat, 2.49, grader’s weights; average pounds of milk to each pound of cheese, 9.36 lb, grader’s weights; average price paid per pound of butterfat for cheesemaking, 7.74 d. At June 30, 1935, there were 634 crates unsold, and these have been valued at 45s per cwt. The balance to the credit of the appropriation account is £751 15s 2d, and this your directors recommend to bo disposed of as follows: (1) In making a further payment on butterfat used for cheesemaking, made up as follows: id for August, -]d for September, id for October, id for November, lid for December and January, l£d for February, March and April, and id for May. This will nbsorb the sum of £617 19s Id, and will make an average payment of 8.75 d for tho whole season. (2) In making an allowance of £l5O for depreciation on plant and machinery. The following directors retire by rotation: Messrs R. G. Moore, E. L. Russell and S. Graham, and, being eligible, offer themselves for re-elec-tion. The auditor, Mr R. Davis, also retires, but offers himself for re-ap-pointment.’’ ' “There are one or two points in the balance-sheet to which I would like to draw your attention,’’ said the chairman. “You will notice that the subscribed and paid-up capital remains at the same figure as last year, and also tho butterfat deductions account is unaltered at £565 2s Sd. Sundry creditors are shown at £371 12s lOd, that sum being £6B 18s lOd less than last year, and includes provision for accrued interest and directors’ fees. The final instalment on the automatic stoker we purchased a few years ago was paid during the year. The No. 1 account nt the Bank of New Zealand was reduced to £l5O, this representing the amount provided last year for depreciation of plant and machinery. The No. 2 and No. 3 accounts are in credit and the bank allows these as an offset against the No. 1 account for interest purposes. The balance of the appropriation account is £751 15s 2d, and after the bonus has been paid the balance will be £133 16s Id. In accordance with the motion passed at the last annual meeting, £843 has been written off the land and buildings nnd debited to the appropriation account. During the year we received a refund of storage charges over the last three or four years amounting to £l2O Is 7d. As this would have had to be divided over each year separately (and in terms of a letter received from the bank) the directors considered it better to create a bad debts reserve for this amount and paicl the money into the No. 2 account. This will help to offset any losses we have under this heading. The fixed assets are the same as last year’s, except for the amounts written off the land and building and machinery for depreciation. The stocks of manufacturing requisites have been valued at cost. The cheese, of which 634 crates were unsold at the end of June, was valued at 45s per cwt.(London). Adequate provision has been made for the freight and selling expenses. As present prices are 49s and 50s per cwt., approximately, there should be a further bonus when all account sales have come to hand. EFFECT OF DRY WEATHER.

“Owing to tho exceptionally dry season, production showed a decrease of 31 tons 7cwt. and consequently the manufacturing costs per pound of butfcerfat have increased, the figures being as follow: Cost of manufacture, excluding payments to suppliers, 2.04tl per lb; overhead expenses, .61(1; cost to f. 0.1).. .65d; total, 3.30 d. The costs for last year were 3.29 d, made up as: Manufacturing costs, 2.01 d; overhead expenses, .sf)d, and costs to f.o.b. ,69d. As you will see from this, the manufacturing costs and overhead expenses have both gone up, but the costs to f.o.b. have come down. The yield has come to 2.491 b from 2.571 b and therefore we have less cheese from the buttorfat supplied. The following figures, based on tho gross returns per pound of butterfat used for the manufacture of cheese, will show the effect of the lower yield, and the reason why the pay-out this year is less than last year’s:— “For 1934-35. —Cheese realisations, ll.TOd per lb of butterfat; exchange, 2.46 d; whey cream, ,47d; total, 14.63 d. For 1933-34: Cheese realisations, 12.14 c!; exchange, 2.63 d; whey cream, .41(1; total, 15.18 d. “This is a difference of ,55d per lb of fat and equals 2s Id per cwt. of cheese, whereas the difference between this year’s and last year’s prices on a cheese basis was only 5d per cwt. in favour of this year, the prices being £2 15s 7d and £2 15s 2d respectively. To this also must be added the fact that we are providing the same depreciation (£150), although our output is less, which means the depreciation is costing us ,234 d per pound of butterfat as against ,212 d per pound, a difference of .022 d more. Comparing this year’s manufacturing account with last year’s, the only item that requires any mention is fuel, which shows an, increase for the year of £23 10s. Dur-'

ing October we decided to run the factory on the power supplied from the steam engine and not use electric power. The costs were compared and it was found that the expenditure for running tho engine was too high, so wo resumed using the electric power. All the other items show a proportionate reduction, demonstrating that the directors have endeavoured to keep expenses down. Although the past season has not been as good as some others, the prospects for the new season are ever so much brighter. The quantities of cheese held in store have been greatly reduced, and the spell of hot weather now being experienced at Home will mean less Home production and better trading returns, which should help toward better prices. At a recent meeting of the directors the company’s agents advised that in their opinion prices should on the average exceed 50s per cwt. for tho coming season. Last season the average was about 43s 6d. As I have pointed out before, we must increase our supply, and I hope you will all co-operate to this end. The thanks of the shareholders are due to the manager (Mr 11. Chapman) and his staff, and to the secretary (Mr A. E. Mansford) for the manner in which they have cared for the interests of the company. I wish to express my thanks to the members of the directorate for their hearty cooperation and support during tho year.’-

Tho chairman then moved tho adoption of tho report and balance-sheet, the motion being seconded by Mr R. G. Moore.

A discussion was held on the cost of fuel and its relation to the amount of hot water given to suppliers, it being agreed the directors should go into the question in the coming season with a view to reducing the suni. Tho retiring directors, who were the only suppliers nominated for the positions, were declared re-elected. It was agreed, on the motion of Mr T. Donaldson, that the directors should be paid 7s 6d for attending each of tho 12 usual meetings in tho year, instead of 5s as formerly, the chairman’s honorarium being fixed at £25 in place of £2O. Mr R. Davis was re-appointed auditor, subject to his acceptance of tho office at a remuneration of £lO 10s.

The subject of the equitable disposal of whey was touched upon by Mr R. G. Moore, the secretary explaining that the whey belonged to the individual supplier, who was under a penalty to romove it. Mr Moore suggested that any disputes as to suppliers not receiving their full quota could be overcome if any supplier who did not require his whey sold it to another who did.

Tho discussion was not pursued further, it being agreed that the directors should look into the matter.

Whether the season’s output should be waxed or not was a matter on which the chairman asked for a direction from tho meeting. One agent had said that he would not take any waxed cheese. On the motion of Mr T. Donaldson, the subject was referred to the directors for a decision.

It was agreed that the separating of milk should be continued until tho first meeting of the directors, in about ten days’ time, two tanks being used to store the skimmed milk to obviate suppliers having to wait at the factory for their supplies. At a subsequent meeting of directors Mr Lover was re-elected chairman.