PRICES FOR SHEEP AND CATTLE REACH NEW RECORD LEVEL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26848, 12 August 1948, Page 4

PRICES FOR SHEEP AND CATTLE REACH NEW RECORD LEVEL

Because of the scarcity of fat cattle at the Burnside saleyards yesterday bullocks reached the extremely high figure of £4O in some cases.- The Daily Times was told that the present shortage of fat cattle was likely to last until Christmas, and that it was probable that butchers would be obliged to take less than their normal requiiements of fat cattle for this period.

Fat sheep continued their upward trend at Burnside yesterday, one consignment commanding the exceptional price of £5 Is 6d a head., another lot £5 0s 6d, and a third £5.

To sell such high-priced mea' butchers must incur considerable lc

t at the fixed retail charges, city isses.

An auctioneer from a city stock firm said that there was a number of reasons for the scarcity of both fat sheep and cattle. The past two dry winters in Central Otago had caused anxiety among farmers about the adequacy of winter feed. As high export prices were ruling this season for stock, farmers obviously had preferred to sell at a good price rather than try to hold stock over in the hope of obtaining better profits during the winter. .The dry summer in Canterbury, on which Otago drew for much of its fat cattle during the winter, had also decided farmers there to take advantage of the high export schedule rates. In Otago the increased cost of winter feed had persuaded many farmers to quit their stock rather than face the prospect of a hard winter and the necessity for a great deal of artificial feeding to maintain fat stock level.

Another reason why farmers nad shbwed an increasing tendency to sell their stock on a favourable export market this season was because of the earlier unsettled nature of the auctions. For some time butchers boycotted the auctions and then in some cases group-buying had been introduced. Neither of these moves, however, had affected the market to any appreciable extent.