Milk Production Survey

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 60, 12 March 1938, Page 6

Milk Production Survey

GOVERNMENT’S INTENTIONS FARMERS ASKED TO CO-OPERATE Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Last Night. The decision of the Government to carry out a survey of the production of liquid milk for consumption in homes and schools was announced to-day by the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, who stated that the production of milk for these purposes called for a specialised type of dairying which was of greater national importance than many realised. “This survey will be made by the Department of Agriculture and will be under the direction of Mr. R. P. Connell, Land Utilisation Officer,“'said the Minister. ‘ ‘lt will be conducted on similar lines to the two surveys carried out in recent years in regard to production of butter-fat for manufacture into dairy produce and to surveys of other phases of farming such as wheat growing and flax growing. The work is being to cover thoroughly the economics of milk production and the ob- ! jective is not only' to give accurate information on the present cost of production and thereby possibly to point the wav to betterment of the milkproducing industry. It is to be expected that comparison of the results and returns from various systems of farmmanagement and farm practice will re- ( veal the relative efficiency of these under specific conditions and provide guidance as to the avenues which should be followed to attain lower average costs of production. “Specific matters which specially call for attention relate to systems of feeding and provision of feed, distribution of calving dates, relative incidence and importance of diseases and disorders, types of soils, and herd and pasture maintenance. In the past such a survey has been asked for by the representatives of milk producers in the Wellington Province and, for a •start at least, the surveys will cover the Wellington-West Coast district from about Palmerston North to Paekakariki. The fullest collaboration of the farmers concerned with the officers carrying out the survey is necessary to obtain a true picture of the position and judging from the experience in respect of similar surveys dealing with other phases of rural production such collaboration will characterise the forthcoming survey.”