NEW ZEALAND MEAT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23005, 7 October 1936, Page 10

NEW ZEALAND MEAT

GOOD SALE IN ENGLAND MR R. S. FORSYTH INTERVIEWED COMPETITION WITH ARGENTINE (From Our Own Correspondent) (By Air Mail)/ LONDON, Sept. 2. "Meat producers in New Zealand may regard the London selling season with satisfaction, despite the English summer having been somewhat against the best results being obtained," said Mr R. S. Forsyth, general manager of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board in London, this week. "We are now reaching the close of the season, and by the time the last of the shipments arrive we shall have sold just over 9,000,000 carcasses of lamb and 2,000,000 carcasses of mutton. " The state of the weather exerts a great influence on the sale of our lamb," Mr Forsyth continued. " The early part of this summer was rather cooler than usual, with the result that the sale of beef was encouraged rather than that of lighter meats such as lamb. The total consumption, however, is within 400,000 carcasses as compared with the record sale of lamb in 1935, and present indications are that our stocks will be completely used up before the arrival of the new season's supplies from New Zealand and Australia. " I may say that the market has been singularly steady for lamb this year, and for over five months the variation in price was not more than Id. There has been a wide distribution throughout the whole of Great Britain, and altogether we can look back on a season that has been very successful from the New Zealander's point of view. " Our chilled beef is also establishing itself very well in the English market, and it can be safely said that it, has passed the experimental stage. Last week, for instance, we were within 9-16 d per lb of the best Argentine beef, which, as you know, always commands top price in England. We received exactly the same price as was paid for Uruguayan chilled beef, which has been on the market for many years, while we were gd per lb higher than Brazilian chilled beef. It may be a source of satisfaction to New Zealanders to know that their beef has been commanding a higher price than Australian for the past two months. "There is still room, of course, for improvement before we reach the Argentine standard, but we are gaining experience both in handling at the works and in transport, and our prices are very close to those secured by Argentina. One special shipment of selected young cattle, in fact, was recently admitted by the manager of one of the biggest South American importers in a conversation with me to be well up to the commercial standard of the meat from the Argentine. If New Zealand farmers wish their chilled beef to be considered on equal terms with that from the Argentine, I advocate very careful selection for export and the shipping of only well finished young cattle. It may interest them to know, incidentally, that retailers inform me that the eating qualities of New Zealand chilled beef are all that can be desired. "Our pork trade is also going on well and we have established enother record this season by landing 450,000 carcasses for the retail trade and 250,000 for bacon curing. New Zealand pork, incidentally, is looked upon as the best imported pork entering Smithfield market. During the last few months bacon meat from the Dominion, cured in Great Britain, has realised within lis per cwt of the best Danish, which always commands top price in this trade." GERMAN EMBARGO Referring to the increased quantity of beef being taken by Germany from Argentina, and the possibility of New Zealand meat being sold in that country also, Mr Forsyth pointed out that Germany had an embargo against New Zealand produce. One of the stipulations concerning imported meat was that it should be landed with the entire organs of the animal in situ, which was virtually a prohibition. With Argentina, however, Germany had entered into a barter agreement, whereby Argentina took German manufactured goods and exported chilled beef. Last year she had shipped 30,000 tons of meat to Germany, and the quantity had been still further extended this year. As far as New Zealand was concerned, Mr Forsyth added, Germany had not the finance to pay for imports, and primary produce could only enter the country on terms of barter.