STOCK AND PRODUCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19500, 8 June 1925, Page 2

STOCK AND PRODUCE

THE OAMARU MARKETS. . (From Odb Own Correspondent.) OAMARU, May 6. The weather during the week has been of a wintry character so far as temperature is concerned, but there has been little ram anywhere. The month of May was more generous in the matter of rainfall than May of last year. The measure has, however, varied a good deal, ranging from a little under 2in in some localities to something over 2in in others, the greater amount being generally near the coastline. Frosts, sometimes pretty sharp, have been fairly constant, but during most days a genial sunshine has modified Jho cold, and, speaking generally, mild winter weather lias been experienced. It has. on the whole, been weather suitable for the prosecution ol farm work, which has been helped forward to a very fair extent, notwithstanding that a great many farmers heard and answered the call to Dunedin for the Winter Show. More sowing of whiat has been done, and not a great deal more will now follow until the spring. What will happen cannot be forecasted, for a great many contingencies may arise to direct the course of events. It may, however, be stated that farmers in North Otago very generally do not view spring sowing of wheat with favour, and for that reason a very material increase in the area under that cereal is not anticipated, unless something should arise to induce a change of policy. A good many of the early-sown fields of wheat arc now through the ground, and are making encouraging 'progress. There is plenty of moisture in the soil to keep them growing, but much more rain is needed to provide for their safety later on. Most farmers arc hoping for a wet Juno, the prevailing impression being that plenty of rain in that month and early in July is a precursor of a good harvest. The advent of frosts has arrested the growth, of grass, which made its pleasant appearance wh6n the warmth received the needed moisture. However, catch crops sown to provide green feed are doing very well, and farmers have been relieved of anxiety in the matter of wintering their stock. There is very little to be chronicled in connection with the markets, for business in all departments has been on a small scale, with really nothing of any moment to relievo the monotony. This condition is attributed to the intervention of the Winter Show, but the real cause is that the markets generally have entered upon what is recognised .as an olf-season, when there is not much to sc I and farmers exorcise caution in the matter of stock buying. So far as the grain and produce market is concerned, the major part of the business has been done in milling wheat. But even this has been on a reduced scale, oilcriugs being fewer and generally of reduced bulk. bothAircumalauces being indicative that supplies in the country' are nearing the. vanish--ing point. All coming forward has mot with ready' acceptance at the agreed upon prices. There are buyers of oats on a modest scale, but business has reached an impasse owing to the wide difference ol opinion as to values between would-be purchasers and holders in the country. Growers who still hold oats show no tendency towards a weakening of their confidence that prices will be higher before the season is through. Merchants are not so optimistic, and refrain from speculating on the chance of some farmers earning fame as prophets. Xne consequence i s that only a solitary transaction is reported the whole week. This covered a lino of Gartons that just fell short of A grade, which changed hands at a country station at 3a ad not. The only other' business in the market has been in clover seed, the prices being tld for red and for white, both net on trucks. The stock market has had a particularly, poor week. To begin with, the customary weekly sale was abandoned because of the Dunedin Winter Show, and opportunities ior doing business by private treaty were curtailed from the same cause. In any event, however, this time of the year is generally poor for transactions in sheep, and particularly breeding ewes, farmers preferring to wait until the spring when there is a hotter chanco of determining ■whether or not the ewes arc in lamb. This year the pursuance of that policy has been given added wisdom because ol the doubtful position of wool. As a consequence of this caution only a single sale of ewes is reported, this being a line of mixed-sex and eight-tooth, for which 39s (id was given. All other sales of sheep have been in butchers’ animals, of which a fair nun.her have changed hands. The prices recorded liave been from 41s to IGs for prime wethers, according to weight and wool, and from 30s to 335. The whole of the business reported in cattle has been for animals intended for slaughter, either as beeves or as potters. A fair number of fat cattle have been handled, the prices being as follows:—Good-weight bullocks, JEM; light-weight bullocks, £8 to £8 15s; steers, £ll and £ll 10s; heavy cows, np to £10; lighter cows, from £G to £8; heifers, £5 2s to £6 10s; veaiers, £2 13s Cd. There has boon a further clearing out of nondescript cattle for potting purposes, bulls having been sold at from £1 to £o, and cows at from £1 5s to £4 15s. SOUTHLAND MARKET REPORT. (From Oor Own Cob respondent. 1 INVERCARGILL, June G. The local market for oats is distinctly film, merchants being rather mure inclined to seek tor higher rales than accept any reduction on their recent quotations, while ail refrain from forward business of any descriplion. Business has boon done lor June shipment in A’s at 4s 7d, B’s at Is 31d, f.0.b., s.i., Bluff. On the oilier hand lor spread delivery to December, quotations from northern sources have been made at 4s 3d per bushel, f.0.b., s.i., southern ports, but it is extremely doubtful if any business has been or would be booked up at these figures.—So few oats are now being offered by growers that it is evident that virtually the whole of the crop is now in merchants’ hands. Stocks, and the demand from over-sellers are such that holders of oats are quite unlikely to bo affected in their ideas of the future of the market by such tactics. - Ample offerings of chaff from growers are still being made to meet the requirements of the local market. Current quotations to growers are in the basis of £5 per ton, oil trucks, at country sidings, for prime quality. Lighter lines, of which fair quantities are offered, cannot find buyers at anything in excess of £4 10s. Growers who have not yet marketed their yield are still holding out for 7s per bushel for wheat ol any description, though the bulk of this is of milling quality. This is eomo Gd per bushel in advance of milling rates, and it finds merchants quite uninterested. There is a strong demand for ryegrass, with frequent inquiries from northern centres ior machine-dressed ryegrass in excess of 271 b weight, and as a considerable amount of business has been done during the last two or three weeks merchants’ stocks have been materially reduced, and this is having an appreciable effect on their ideas of value. The basis of value to-day is about 5s 9d per bushel for 271 b to 281 b seed, but at such a price would be somewhat difficult to find a seller. The market for all classes of stock offering continues firm with a hardening tendency for fat stock The store market is, it anything, quieter, but any lines offering meet with sales at prices on a par with lute values. Fat Cattle—Extra heavy prime bullocks, £l4 to £IG Ids; medium, £ll IDs to £l3 10s; prime heifers, £8 to £lO Ids; medium, £5 1U S to £7; heavy cow, £7 10s to £9 10a; lighter, down to £4 10s; vealers, 25 sto 32a 6d. Prime ox beef, to 37s 6d per 1001 b; prime heifer, to 32s (3d; prime cow, to 255. Fat Sheep.— Prime heavy wethers, 44s to 46s 6d; medium, 40.-: to 42s 6d; lighter, 3Ss to 39s Gd ; prime ewes, 32a to 90s; medium, 27s Gd to'3os. Store Sheep.—Mixcd-scx lambs, 26s Gd to 28s Gd; two-tooth ewes, 40s to 445; four ana six-tooth ewes, to 455; s.m. owes, to 38s; iail-ing-mouthed ewes, to 30s; old owes, als to 235. Store Cattle.—Very few good lines of bullocks or steers are offering, and the market it about on a par with onr last report.