NORTH AUCKLAND DAIRY CONFERENCE.

Northland Age, Volume III, Issue 20, 27 May 1931, Page 2

NORTH AUCKLAND DAIRY CONFERENCE.

ADDRESS BY Mr. GROUNDS At the conference of North Auckland dairy factory representatives at WhangaTei, Mr. W. Grounds in the course of a lengthy and informative address dealt with a number of subjects of interest to the dairy industry as a whole. THE CANADIAN MARKET. Dealing with the export market, Mr. Grounds expressed disappointment that nothing had been done with regard to developement in Canada. The Prime Minister had said he had not the time to enter into tariff negotiations on his passage through Canada, and would attend to the matter on his return. Unfortunately Mr. Forbes travelled back to N.Z. via Suez. On the other hand, the Australian Minister of Commerce had sacrificed other engagements, enabling him to finalise negotiations. It appears that Australia has stolen a march on New Zealand. Several times the Government has been asked for information as to what was being done, without the production of a satisfactory reply. There had been much conflict and competition concerning the local market. A suggestion had been made aiming at price inflation on the New Zealand market. Farmers, however, had experienced too much of the effects of inflated prices commodities to appreciate the proposals. To his mind the suggestions made were unsuitable and unsound. So much criticism had been levelled at the suggested price inflation, that the proposals regarding the local marketing for submission to the N.D.A. Conference had been modified to the exclusion of that point. Mr. Grounds advocated the formation of regional marketing associations such as were functioning successfully in the United States. Organisations at Seattle in the East, and Los Angeles in the West, were responsible for the sales of all butter, whatever the source, in the territories. Realisation of the on seller plan, without any artificial augmentation of prices, was the only way to handle the situation. EUROPEAN COMPETITION Mr. W. Grounds anticipated that the forward market would he considerably disorganised on account of heavy and increasing supplies from Northern Europe. The danger of these to the New Zealand producers must be realised. At the investigation into blending butter one of the expert witnesses had affirmed that Latvian butter was the best going into England, even beating Danish. Mr. Grounds said he had never anticipated that under present conditions Argentina would be a dangerous rival but opportunity for the fullest develdpKient existed in Siberia. Last year 10,000 tons from Siberia had been sold in England, and this year the quantity was 18,000 tons.

When it was considered that \ before the war Siberia annually exported 43.000 tons the probable advancement of supplier from 4 this source would be Mr. Grounds said thajMljiflU England in 1926, present a live on told him : vour the lu.yui . nut do wifl