THE MUTTON TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20306, 13 July 1929, Page 19

THE MUTTON TRADE.

NEW EXPORT DEMAND.

CONDITION OF THE MEAT.

FAT or lean carcases

BY H.li.T.

To one who has been closely connected With livestock and the fat, stock market

,f or (I number of years it i.s interesting to watch the change that has taken place

of late in the type of fat sheej> in <!,- ,i,and for l ' lo export trade. While our ■butchers are still content to pay hi.; inonev for heavy-weight owes and wethers, export buyers obviously avoid these. They realise that they cannot afford to neglect. ■ |]ie English consumers' preference for small joints, and wo seo them roused to

animated competition wnen a pen ol plump little two I.>oths or smalt Downcross lambs is offered. There is another trend in the meat market of Great ■Britain that is not being overlooked by Iho export buyers, and that is that conturners at Home do not want fat meat. One sees these buyers operating for freezing works keenly interested in pens ■iu which tho majority of sheep are what •yd would unhesitatingly class as " un finished," and though they obtain those two or three shillings a head cheaper, one would not think these lean lightweights ■would so nearly approach in value tho ■well-finished fats which, from long association, we have come to look on as perfection. , The Reason Why. Perhaps this keenness on the part oi exporters to secure "unfinished" sheep can best bo explained by quoting a short passago from a recent issue of tho Livo .Stock Journal, an English publication -which keeps thoroughly abreast of the "trend of markets and demand at Home.

This publication says: "The great demand there is ior lean meal, and loan ;jneat only, bo it mutton, pork, or beef, jnakes tho ordinary man wonder whether :tliis choice is for the good of the general public or not. It is said that with tho demand for fat meat thero is an increasing demand for artificial foods in tho shape ot oils, and tins again causes onu to think that the fat on meat ox•ercised a useful function m the internal economy of the human being. Therefore in all probability a return to the consumption of fat meat would be of benefit to the consuming public, while it would undoubtedly help the farmer and tho butcher."

While we may bo quite in agreement •with what this writer lias to say regarding the virtues of reasonably fat meat, our business in this Dominion, where moat is ono of our most important products, is to keep our fingers on tho pulse of tho market at Homo, and, so far as is possible, supply exactly what the consumer feels that he wants, irrespective of whether it is best for him or not. Advantage to New Zealand.

As a rnattor of fact, tho preference for Jean moat should bo rather to tho advantage of tho New Zealand farmer than otherwise. Wo nil know that it usually costs more than is returned in weight to put the extra condition on a sheep that converts it from a " licht-fat " to it " prime," and if the consumer prefers the more cheaply-produced carcase, why should ho not have it?

The question that naturally arises is: are we obtaining, even at only throe to four shillings per head less for these lightfats as much as the preference at Home ■warrants ? What the public prefer it Ss always prepared to pay considerably more for, and if wo combine small joints with lean meat it should bo worth considerably more per pound than prime. So far the consumers' taste in the Dominion has apparently not followed that in England, for our botchers still show preference for big sheep and prime sheep. An examination of the fat sheep at any of our auction sales reveals also that our producers aro not yet alive to the altered demand in the Old Country, for one sees in almost every pen prime heavyweights, and light-fat or even unfinished sheep so mixed up that they appeal to neither the local butcher nor the export buyer. These sheep would bring much better prices were they carefully dratted to meet both demands. Avenue for Bigger Profits.

It is possible to turn off a given area Of grassland far moro light-fat sheep than prime heavy, and it is obvious that if there is no great disparity in prico betweon the two, the farmer who does not finish his stock too well will come out with the biggest profit at the end of tho season. It is important, therefore, for tho farmer who fattens his surplus stock, or operates a farm devoted largely to fattening, to decide for which market be intends to cater, whether local, or abroad. If he is shipping on his own account he will apparently find that his light-weight animals will sell very well at Sniithfield, »nd yet would bo ignored by local butchers, while tho reverse would be tho case should he allow any of his stock to become prime heavy. Old beliefs are hard to uproot, and no doubt many farmers of the old school will find it hard to realise that their mutton, pork and fceef should not only be small, but that they should also bo comparatively lean instead of " fat and juicy." But tho new conditions arc likely to suit us quite well, for not only can we turn off more loan fctork than fat, but we can carry far more small stock than largo, and into the bargain the small and small-boned animal fattens much more quickly than does bigboned, big-framed stock.