MILK SHORTAGE FEARED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23830, 9 June 1939, Page 12

MILK SHORTAGE FEARED

NORTH ISLAND TOWNS AFFECTED POSITION IN WELLINGTON (Per United Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, June 8. “We are threatened with a milk shortage in seven North Island towns,” said the Director of Internal Marketing (Mr F. R. Picot) to-day. " This position has been developing for some time,” he said, “ but we are not in a position to avert it. It is the first time in New Zealand that such a situation has arisen.” For several reasons many more cows than usual had gone out of production this winter, Mr Picot said. Wellington was one of the places that w<;uld not be able to obtain the supplies it needed. NO HOUSEHOLD SHORTAGE AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT <Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 8. “We do not expect any shortage of milk for household purposes this winter, but we are a little anxious about the supply for the schools,” said Mr L. McKenzie, chairman of the Wellington Citv Council Milk Committee to-night, when Mr Picot’s statement was referred to him. Mr McKenzie said the_ recent wet weather had eased the position in Wellington to some extent. The Milk Committee had had to go fairly far afield for its supply this winter and was obtaining milk from the Greytown, Featherston and Levin districts. The farmers had met the committee splendidly with a view to assisting it over its difficulty. So far there had been no need to ration the schools, and with luck the committee hoped to get through the winter without recourse to such action. Mr McKenzie said the committee’s suppliers had intimated their willingness to help during the next few months, particularly in the Exhibition period, by a scheme for equalising the supply by bringing the cows in at varying periods to spread the supply more evenly.