ANOMALOUS POSITION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26778, 22 May 1948, Page 8

ANOMALOUS POSITION

CALF SKIN PRODUCERS LOSSES ON DOMINION SALES P.A. INVERCARGILL, May 21. Strong criticism of the fact that calf skins are being taken for the supply of Ne\V Zealand tanners at a price well below the export price was voiced at the annual meeting of the Southland Bobby Calf Pool to-day. It was decided to support any action taken by the calf pool’s central executive to secure redress. “ We feel pretty hot under the collar over this matter,” said the chairman, Mr H. D. Norman. “If it is necessary to supply" skins to New Zealand tanners jat a cneap rate then the Government should pay half and the Meat Board half of the difference between that rate and the export rate.” The annual report stated that during the season all skins were sold .on the open market with the exception _of 6216 of the pool’s quota of 273,000 skins which the Government demanded from the Dominion output for the use of tanners. These 273.000 skins were supplied to tanners at 16.18 d a lb. A subsidy was paid by the Government to bring the price to 24Jd lb. This figure the Government took as the cost of production and the difference between 24id and the export value became a charge on producers. The average return for Southland skins sold on the open market last season was 34s a skin. The average weight of a skin was 5.3141 b, and at 24id. lb this gave a return of 10s lOd a skin. The difference between that price and the export price was, therefore, 23s 2d so that on the 6216 skins supplied to tanners, producers in the Southland pool had been made to bear a loss during the year of £,7000 which was equal to about 6s Id a calf on the total number of calves supplied to the pool. The loss to producers throughout the Dominion on the total of 273,000 skins-supplied from Dominion output would be about £250,000.