Dairying at Woodville

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7250, 1 September 1933, Page 5

Dairying at Woodville

DAIRY COMPANY’S ANNUAL MEETING The 1-Sth annual meeting of the Woodville Co-op. Dairy Company was held at Woodville yesterday, ‘the chairman of directors (Mr S. McIntosh) presiding. The auditors (Messrs Dempsy and Litchfield) reported that the company’s books and records were, as usual, kept in an excellent manner and the secretary (Mr A. Olsson) had afforded all information and assistance. There were no comments to make.

In moving the adoption of the annual report and balancesheet, the chairman commented that the year had been a worrying one for tho directors. The output for the year showed an increase of 23 tons and the production per cow had increased 101 b. Prices had not been too good and had averaged 48s per cwt. The outlook was not very bright and besides, there was a lot of lost ground to make up. The raising of the exchange had helped to a certain extent, but he feared that when prices rose the exchange would be lifted. The directors had done all they could to reduce costs and had accomplished something in that direction. Fuel had cost 15s 3d per ton as against 17s lid the previous season; wages 58s 2d per ton as against G2s 4d; while costs f.o.r. Woodville had fallen to .G9sd to ,77d. Railage charges wore 32s 7d per ton, which was the same as in past years. The Railway Department had recently made reductions in freights, but this company had not participated owing to having made a contract with the department three years ago. What the department had done was to bring freights down to tho Woodville rate, and having had that benefit for three years, the company could not get a further reduction.

The store account had shown a drop in turnover, the average supplier spending only £9l 6s as against £94 6s 4d the previous year. That fact had put the handling charges up from 11.6 per cent, to 12 per cent. The chairman also referred to the high testing milk that the company had handled. It had averaged 4.5 for the past season and was higher than for 25 other companies, whose annual reports they had. This high, test had its effect on tho payouts, while, the manufacture had also dropped from 2.531 b of cheese from a pound of but-ter-fat to 2.491 b. The problem of the high-testing milk was one that needed careful consideration. A certain amount of fat was recovered from the whey and in the case of the Woodville company, it had amounted to 5.7 per cent, of tho fat supplied. It seemed that the cheese could not absorb all the fat that was in the milk.

The chairman quoted figures to show that 5.755 d per lb of butterfat had to be expended in getting the company’s cheese on the London market. This figure was made up as follows: Manufacture, cartage, railage, 2.2 d; administration, depreciation, grading fees, repairs, etc., ,sd; storage, bills of lading, Dairy Board levy, .3d; ocean freights, l.Sd; marine insurance, dis ; counts, commissions, .83d; interest on drafts and deficits, .07d. Deferring to the exchange, the chairman said it had been equal to Ifd per lb butter-fat. Pasteurising Mr 11. W. Hammond argued in favour of doing away with pasteurising, stating that it would improve the quality of the company’s cheese and also save the company money. He showed how a neighbouring company had saved money by cutting out the pasteuriser.

The chairman said the pasteuriser had been cut out for an experiment and ■the startling discovery had been made that it affected the yield. In fact, the company lost more than it was costing to run the pasteuriser. The manager had also pointed out that ho could not make a first-class cheese without the pasteuriser. It was regrettable that the marketing system was such that companies could not get any more for finest cheese as for another grade article. Mr Hammond: Then why not cut out the cost of pasteurising? The Chairman: When we tried it out we discovered wo were losing money. Wo should do without it if possible, and I think we would get a better cheese, but at the same time, what I and you think, of cheese doesn’t count. It is what the purchasers think that has to be taken cognisance of. Mr You-ell: Has Mr Hammond taken into account our fuel costs when .he compares our company with neighbouring ones? Mr lb C. Leach quoted the fuel figures of the neighbouring company, which were 5s per ton above Woodville company, but he added that the Woodville manager (Mr Jensen) was an expert with fuel, and the comparison could not be taken literally. Mr Page thought the matter could bo very well left in the hands of the directors, and other shareholders agreed. : Store Profits Mr Hammond raised objection to the proposal of the directors to dispose of the surplus from the store account (£4B 11s 2d) by putting the money to the store reserve fund. He thought it should be used in the way of rebates to purchasers. The chairman said the store profits were very small and amounted this year to 1 per cent. only. The idea of the directors was to try and make the store self-supporting instead of locking up butter-fat money in the store. If a rebate was made it- would only amount to a matter of 4s or 5s to every supplier who spent £IOO. Directors’ Pees Mr Hammond asked how the directors’ fees had risen from £56 12s 6d last year to £7O this year. Tho chairman explained that for the previous year tho directors had cut their fees 25 per cent., but for the past season had restored the cut, thinking that they were underpaid for their services. Any small difference was accounted for by directors being absent from meetings and not being paid. A motion bg Mr Pag« jt.b&t .the .djn

rectors be asked to Toduco tbeir fees was lost. The report and balance-sheet were adopted, with the result that £1321 4s lOd in the profit and- loss account awaiting disposal will be disbursed as , follows:—Further payments of 2d per 5 lb butter-fat for March, April and , May, absorbing £593; Id per lb for . February, absorbing £125 7s 3d; £d per lb from December, 1932, to July, 1933, [ inclusive, absorbing £387 Os 6d; divi- . dend of 5 per cent, on paid-up capital, 5 £156 13s 3d; store reserve fund, £4.8 [ 11s 2d; balance to be carried forward, . £lO 12s Bd. Election of Directors The election for two vacancies on the directorate resulted in the return ■ of Messrs Mclntosh and C. W. Squires, - who retired this year. Mr H. W. Ham- * mond was unsuccessful in the contest. ' Messrs Dempsy and Litchfield were reappointed auditors. The Company’s Year The meeting gave consideration to a . notice of motion by Mr Hammond that , the company's year end on June 30, instead of July 31. The mover gave his reasons why the change would be advantageous, but the meeting turned down the proposal when the chairman explained the inconveniences that an alteration -would entail. The chief disadvantage mentioned was that there would be more unsold cheese to be taken into the balance-sheet on estimate and .that was an exceedingly difficult matter at the best of times. Had the company ended its year on June 30 this year, the unsold cheese to be estimated would have been 1500 crates as against 600 crates at the end of July. The directors were unanimous that it would not be in the best interests of the company to make the change. General Mr Bassett asked the directors to inquire into tho cost of a free air pump at the factory for tho convenience of suppliers, and the matter was minuted. Mr Pago referred to the average test of tho milk being received at the Woodville factory and quoted figures to show that with a lowest test, a neighbouring factory had paid out 3d more for every 10 gallons of milk. He thought the figures illuminating and showing how high testing milk was not desirable for cheese. Further, the same' neighbouring factory had mado more cheese per lb of butter-fat. The tests in each case were 4.51 (Woodville) and 4.44 (neighbouring factory). Mr Page also quoted other interesting comparisons within the Woodville company. Ho said in 1924 the percentage that the farmer received of the gross sales when butter-fat was Is 6d, was 74.8, whereas last year with butter-fat at 9.3 d, the farmer only received 64 per cent, of gross sales. One of the chief causes was the increase in the percentage of wages -which had risen from 3.4 per cent, to 5.6 per cent. bfot only was the farmer not getting the price for his produce, but ho was also not getting the percentage out of it. Even the Dairy Board was getting a bigger dip into the farmers’ pockets. The chairman explained that costs had been brought down to bedrock and very little more could be saved in that direction.

Mr Pago said he realised the remedy •was outside of the control of the company. Marketing Methods Mr Leach referred to the report that New Zealand cheese possessed the highest food value of the world’s cheese, and he thought, the Dairy Board should push that fact before the buying public. The chairman mentioned that the Dairy Board proposed to increase the levy this year by £20,000, to be devoted to advertising and maybe Mr Leach’s suggestion would'receive attention. Mr Mclntosh went on to stress the need for a better marketing scheme. The position was that factories were worked on co-operative lines but where was the co-operation once the cheese left the factory? The act-ing-chairman of the board had admitted that the board had let the country down in the matter of marketing. Mr Leach contended that had the farmers got behind the board they, would have had co-operative marketing to-day. A vote of thanks was passed to the directors on the motion of Mr Hammond.