Northland Cattle For Waikato

Northern Advocate, 27 May 1938, Page 7

Northland Cattle For Waikato

The excellent prices for fat stock 'for export purposes, coupled with the shortage of milking cattle in the Waikato district following the recent facial eczema scourge, has resulted in continued heavy shipments of cattle being made from Northland to Waikato in .ho past few weeks. So heavy is the traffic in this direction that the resources of the Railway Department tin coping with demands for trucking' facilities are being taxed to the utmost. One auctioneering firm alone is quitting 20 truck-loads of cattle per week for southern districts, mainly Waikato, with a fair percentage for the Westfield freezing works, and it has been estimated that the total number of stock being railed out from Northland eaoh week is in the vicinity of 100 truck-loads. The buoyant market for fat stock has encouraged many Waikato dairyfarmers to devote increased attention to fattening, and as a result they are drawing on supplies of stores in other districts.' Northland offers the best resources in_ this direction at present and has thus been called on to meet the greatest demand. Large shipments are. however, being imported to Waikato from Taranaki, The toll of facial eczema among dairying herds is still being felt in the South Auckland district, and a large percentage of the farmers are having to again build up their milking stock resources. Hence, they are coming North for this purpose, too, and large numbers of Waikato buyers are in attendance at most of the sales in Whangarei and district, securing lines which consist for the greater part of springing heifers. The demand for Northland cattle is also being built up by southern sheepfarmers, who, with their flocks in many cases heavily depleted or almost wiped out by the eczema scourge, are also turning over to cattle-fattening.