Manawatu Evening Standrad. MONDAY, MARCH 24, 1941. THE MEAT SITUATION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 97, 24 March 1941, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standrad. MONDAY, MARCH 24, 1941. THE MEAT SITUATION.

The serious situation which lias developed-in the meat industry, because of the refrigerated shipping position making it incumbent upon the British Government to secure its supplies closer to Britain, and the need to make the best possible use of storage space at the freezing works, has been made the subject of a statement by the Minister for Marketing. It has been decided that lrom to-day only lamb, prime beef, and porker pigs up to 1201 b in weight will be accepted at the works; all other stock must be kept on the farm. This means that wether and ewe mutton particularly, normally accepted lor freezing, cannot be dealt with in the meantime at least, but the range of temporarily banned meats includes also boneless beef and veal, baconer and chopper pigs and boneless chopper pork, and boneless ewe mutton. The announcement hardly comes as a surprise and the Minister's statement is the result of the promise he made in the House of Representatives last week. There is a serious crisis in the shipping industry; U-boats and raiders have taken their toll and the war makes a big demand upon tonnage. This crisis is reflected hi the restrictions upon ships' movements to these shores, with the consequent effect upon the space for meat shipments. In these circumstances the freezing companies must reserve the facilities at their disposal for the best classes of meat. That is sound policy. The Minister's review of 1 lie negotiations with the British Government shows how the situation, which at first was regarded most hopefully, has deteriorated with the loss of shipping. In the 1939-40 season we had a contract with the Imperial Government to take 3UO,OUD tons of meat and •350,000 tons were despatched, Britain promising to take the excess. In themegotiations for this season the Dominion sought a similar contract, but Britain indicated her desire for a reduced quantity. Towards the etui of last year the total then mentioned, 275,000 tons, plus excess production, had been reduced.to 217,b'h0 tons plus 21,000 tons of bacouers. Britain's welfare lor the industry of our primary producers was still shown in her desire to lift more if humanly possible. By March the increasing seriousness of the position was exemplified, firVt iu the reduction of tonnage to 180,550, and then the restriction upon the shipment of various classes of meat, wether and ewe mutton not being specified. Producers are therefore faced with a most Serious problem. Meat exports have risen in value from £13,511,000 in 1936 to £20,102,000 in 1940, and the Government must now work out a policy to deal with stock.not to be sent to the works. It is rather unfortunate that the Government has not seen fit to publish the recommendations of the compie-

hensive committee it set up recently to consider the (problem, and also of the Meat Board itself. Its stated policy is that "during the war and its crises the difficulties connected with the problems which arise and which may entail undue losses to any section of the community shall be shared by the whole community." The Government has promised to "live up to its obligations" so far as this season is concerned,' and producers as a whole will await with the keenest interest, and not a little anxiety, the Government's policy regarding the stock not now accepted.