SHEEP-FARMING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 19 September 1936, Page 9

SHEEP-FARMING

AN IMPROVED STATE TWO WOOL SEASONS COMPARED WORLD’S MEAT TRADE The somewhat unsatisfactory condition of sheep-farming in 1935 was replaced in 1936 by a remarkably buoyant one, comparable to that of 1934, J says the Director-General of Agricul- , ture in the annual report. The change was due largely to the great change in' the wool position. The wool sold reached a record quantity, and the prices obtained in 1935-36 showed a .marked improvement in comparison with those of the previous year.' ' “The following table gives a comparison of the results of the Dominion wool sales for the last two seasons:—

“The above table shows the follow- . ing increases for the 1935-36 season: Bales, 277,036; weight, 100,328,8911 b; gross value. £5,595,817; value per bale; £3 19s sd; value per pound, 2.59 d; weight per bale, 7lb. , The end of the season found a very; small carry-over in the stores, the .estimated • total being 49,400 bales as compared with a carry-over of 186,679 bales at the end of the 1934-35 season. A feature of the 1935-36,season was the constant demand • for 'all xlasses offered, and the relative Uni- ; ' 'formity in prices .from the beginning to the end of the selling season. The. : - destination for the year ended June, .1936, of only approximately 35 per cent, of the number of. bales sold was,'the United Kingdom, whereas, during the year elided September, 1935, over - 58 per cent, was exported to the Un-wl ited Kingdom. As was the case a year ago the world wool position seems distinctly .!: satisfactory from the viewpoint of New Zealand producers, but, of course, unexpected developments later : may affect the market. Recent de- j creases in the world’s sheep population, which in the case of some countries are quite substantial, have-been recorded. France’s sheep population, . for instance, has dropped from 14 millions in 1914 to 9.8 millions in 1933. On . the other hands stocks of crossbred wool at consuming centres were at . March this year brought down for the. first time for many years to a normal figure, and the maintenance of the current consumption might leadjo higher prices. Taken in conjunction with the present demand for wool it seems of some significance that the estimated • > world’s annual production of raw - wool which has been declining stead- . ily, was approximately two hundred million pounds less in 1934-35 than it : was in 1928-29. Recently, i.e., April, 1936 —the Imperial Economic Committee stated: “Factors contributing to ' the present healthy statistical position of wool have been the fashion trend -' in the East, particularly Japan arid .China, where wool tissues enjoy a growing popularity and' the consequent industrial development in those countries (more .particularly in .Japan).” •; 1 ' ! A’ i ' The estimated average lambing percentage in'l93s : .was 86.31; this is substantially less than that of 1934, which was 89.24, and indeed less than that of any year since 1930. However, because of the increase in the number of breeding-ewes : in 1935, -the total number of lambs estimated for 1935 did not fall as much as the decreased lambing percentage would at first sight'suggest; the estimated, number of lambs for 1935 was 15,373,642, while for 1934 it was 15,680,393 estimated and 15.689,492 actually tailed. The lowered lambing considered'to be due partly to the existence ' pf facial eczema in some ewes when ' the rams were put out rind partly to the fact that the season was not a good one for lambing in certain districts. ;

i1 1 The interim return of sheep as at 80th April, 1936, gives a total of over 30,000(000, which is an increase of nearly 1,000.000 on the previous year’s " total and which is the second highest total recorded—the peak (- year was \ ,1930 when 30,841,000 sheep were in the Dominion on 30th April; To some ex- i... tent the sheep population as at 30th I''; April, while of customaby accuracy as return, does not represent the true . 1 position in the sheep industry. This is because the figures relative to 30th April .reflect the late killing season. Since 30th April slaughtering of wethers and lambs has proceeded much more freely than is usual at this seasdn-4+approkimately. 160,000 'more sheep were slaughtered during May and June, 1936, than., 'in the same months of 1935, and, of course, the . increase of 1,000,000 in sheep population is reduced by this, number at 1 ; the end of June. For the . nine' months ending 30th June the. killings for/'ex- .. port were:. Lambs, ;B,766,7s7;carcases ■ in 1935-36 and 8,782,242 Yin -- 1934- wethers, 1,143,311 carcassesjzf , 1935- and 940,401 in 1934-35;’.(eweS* -L 735,962 carcasses in 1935-36, and i,179,-; q? 092 carcasses in 1934-35. The 'sharp: - decline of 443,000 in'the: killings ewes point to the strengthening; of : the number of breeding r ewes by ineluding a larger proportion ii "of old ’ ewes. Some interest attaches, to fact that the killings of breedingewes were high last year and again-in 1931-32—both years in which wool prices were abnormally lowl . Apart from an increase of 112,000 in V the freight carcasses of boneless beef (S. for export, the available returns do £ not point to any material change in the beef-production. Probably any substantial future change in that re- y spect will be correlated with developments in chilled-beef production; While the normal high quality of 5 New Zealand meat has been well , maintained, it seems to behove us to ' ask whether this suffices in view of developments in the world’s meat trade. ,$ It probably may be said with truth that quality is of more value in meat- T marketing now than it ever was be- :£ fore. Some of our competitors in the : - world’s meat-markets assiduously have ;; been increasing, not only their output ~ but the quality of that output. In rer Tigard to lamb, for instance, the point may have been reached where there is danger that our supremacy in regard to quality—a supremacy which is so ■" valuable to us—may be challenged. ; ;; The New Zealand sheep industry can- •*- not face such a possibility- with equanimity. Fortunately there is no clear v reason why its previous eminence inrespect to quality of lamb and mutton -■ cannot be maintained. ■ ’

1934-35 1935-36 Bales sold ... 479,797 756,833 Net weight, lb. 164,618,251 264,947,142 Weight per bale, lb. .............. 343 - 350 Gross value £4,486,480 £10,083,297 Aver, per bale £9 7s £13 6s 5d Average per lb 6.54d 9.13d