EGG MARKETING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24606, 14 May 1941, Page 8

EGG MARKETING

PROBLEMS OF THE PRODUCER NEED FOR CO-OPERATION Questions of importance to the ncultrv producers of Cttgo arising from ErSg Marketing Regulations were discussed last night by P°u"ry:tenners at a meeting at which were the members of the New Zealand Poultry BoardMessrs T. C. Dove (chairman), T. GiU, fwMcGlinchy, A. B. %»"%£ J Severn, and the Rev. W. F. Stent Mr J W. McCannon, head of the egg marketmg section of the Internal Marketing Department, was also present, and Mr A. Burt, of the Dunedin branch of the federation, occupied the chair Each member of the board briefly addressed the meeting, urging the neSsfty of co-operation on the part of all producers in ah effort to build up the industry, and there was some discussion at the close of the meeting on points raised by several producers. Mr Dove said that the producers had hpen fighting for an orderly system of egg marketing for 20 or 30 years, and at last regulations had been formulated. They might not be perfect, but they were a start, and with the cooperation of producers all over the Dominion they would be able to correct anv faults. He referred briefly to the need for control by the producers of the egg pulp and chilled egg markets the auestion of feed supplies and the variations in the maximum price of eggs in different parts of the Dominion. Mr McConnon said that until the regulations had come into force the industry had been in the same position as the dairy industry before the inauguration of the factory system of making butter. He was confident that the poultry industry could be built up into one which would provide security for the producers and an adequate return for services given. Private sellers of eggs, he said, were sabotaging the industry, and honest, trading was necessary for an ordered and organised marketing system. Mr Gill said that the local Advisory Committee was of the opinion that* there should be a common price tor eggs in the four main centres and that supplies should be sent from centre to centre if it were necessary to keep up the price. Several producers took uo the position of the lower price of eggs in Dunedin than in the north, one considering that Dunedin was suffering an injustice.

Mr McConnon explained that the industry had always considered it wrong that the price should be so low, but the Price Fixation Tribunal would not allow the raising of the price beyond the level ruling in any centre at the same period of the previous year. That the price of the previous year in Dunedin was below that in other centres showed, he said, that the Dunedin producers had not been properly organised. If they had been, they would have been able to have kept the price up.. The question of the grading of eggs for quality as well as size, cracked eggs, and the sale of bad eggs were all discussed, and at the close of the meeting members of the board were thanked for the information they had given.