MEAT MARKETING

Northern Advocate, 9 August 1929, Page 5

MEAT MARKETING

BREED FOB THE BEST. ..

ADVICE TO, NEW ZEALAND. "’ VALUABLE. EE,COMMENDATIONS;' (Australian Press, Association.) (Received 5.30 a.m.) LONDON, August S. Lieutenant-Colonel Dunlop Young's i report on the inspection and exporta* tion of meat in Australia and New Zea* . land contains recommendations •to which he suggests attention, in the k hope that they may prove of sorfie value to those concerned, and that Australian especially lamb,'may ob»tain as good a reputation ,at Smith.'? field as New Zealand lamb.

Lieutenant-Colonel Young is veterinary officer a.t Southfield. He visited Australia last year at the invitation of the Commonwealth Government and also went to New Zealand. f . :

He suggests that the establishment of animal bureaux for the industry' on the same lines as in the would be of incalculable benefit. He advises station owners and cattle breeders to breed from hornless’ bulla

selected for beef production, in. ■order’ to get rid >o£ the horns and'produce: smaller cattle weighing 560 to 720 lbs, with smaller bones and the meat fat uniformly distributed over the body, not patchy, but preferably the heaviest hindquarters, for which the highest price is obtaine d. The cattle should be marketed as young as possible. •'

He recommends: the Government to prevent the use of scrub bulls and to import selected bulls of • the hornless breed and sell them at cost price to station owners who are unablg to import them, also to supply public abattoirs and provide funds for veterinary research into animal diseases, especially, those at present -.financially affecting the meat industry. Lt.-001. Young adds that in New Zealand grading has been well done, and the reliable system should be,maintained. Breeders should be able to consult salesmen at Smithfield and the Meat Board’s expert • as to the best type of lamb and sheep carcase “desired by the retail butcher, who is the deciding factor. t •'

Regarding meat inspection, one of the weakest points in New' Zealand’s •otherwise good system appears’ to be too few inspectors, considering the number of carcases to be examined. Ante-mortem inspection appears to be chiefly carried out by lay inspectors.iSuch work should only be done by efficient veterinary officers. Plucks should be left in the carcases till an inspector has examined them.