FREEZING SEASON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19889, 7 March 1928, Page 8

FREEZING SEASON.

SOME NOTABLE EEATUEES.

REVIVAL OF BEEF TRADE.

HEAVY LAMB KILLINGS. ' n . 1 " ¥ IMPETUS TO PIG INDUSTRY. Most gratifying of many satisfactory features attaching to the present freezing and meat export season is the increase in the number of lambs ahd pigs dealt with to date. It is confidently anticipated in responsible quarters that the number of pigs which will be sent overseas this season will easily constitute a Dominion record.

Following heavy killings of lambs at Auckland district works, mutton is coming forward freely and the. slaughter of cattle has indicated a revival of the beef industry although, unfortunately, the sorry depletion of herds which has taken placs progressively in recent due to the low prices occasioned by the Argentine "meat war," will take a long while to overcome. Auckland has shared with the rest of the Dominion in the increase in the number of cattle passed through the works now that export values are better, while the local market, at present retail prices, is in itself an incentive to the farmer to kill. According to a return issued a short while ago by the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board, the total killings in the Dominion for the current season up to January 15 were 17,000 head, compared with a mere SQO head for the corresponding period of last season. It is interesting" to note that already, at the Southdown, Moerewa and Horotiu works 8500 cattle have been slaughtered this season, while killings at Westfield have also been most substantial.

Question of Depleted Herds. Probably the dry spell in a measure forced a certain number of cattle through the hands of the butchers, farmers experiencing some difficulty in carrying the quantity of stock customary in times of more normal pasture growth. Now, however, the rainfall will cause such an increase in feed that the cattle will be in greater demand for pasture control, while another factor calculated to decrease killings from now onwaia is the holding of stock for the winter market. Still, there has been a noticeable revival in the beef trade this season, although it accentuates anxiety on the score of depleted herds and their relation to efficient farming, especially on sheep country A big contract made in England for the supply of beef to the British Admiralty has had its reflex in the Dominion, and, together with a drought in Paraguay and unfavourable conditions in some other beef-producing countries, adds conviction to forecasts of a firm market for beef for some time to come.

Substantial Financial Gain. It has been estimated that the increased killings of lamb in the North Island alone, this season, will amount to 200,000 carcases, which, valued at 25s • each, represents a gam of some £250,000 to the sheepfarmers in this department of then activities when compared with last year. Very shortly now, a valuable index to tinposition of the lamb trade this season will be available, and it cannot be otherwise thin pleasant reading. The development of the fat lamb trade m the Auckland l'io vince, particularly in the Northland, has been rapid in recent years, and the current season is expected to set auothei j high standard. That efforts by the Government and others interested m promoting pig-reanng as an adjunct to dairying have not. been without result is indicated by the heavy killings to date this season. While the State bounty on exported pork has prob ably come into operation too late this season to materially influence farmers, the fact that pig farming has already shown such an impetus augurs well for the volume of export next season. Already, this season, the Southdown, Moerewa and Horotiu works have bandied 40,000 pigs. Experts share the View that, on a tonnage basis, the aggregate exports of meat this season will be substantially above what they were last year, and on a sound basis of market values. Generally speaking, the dry spell was welcomed by sheepfarmers except; in the latter stages'of its severity wher it began to have an appreciable effect on stock, but in the main it did not do a great deal of harm. The rains are expected to be followed by a healthy autumn growth which will serve to fortify stock against the winter and carry them through in good heart for next spring.