COST OF MILK PRODUCTION AS AFFECTED BY LAND VALUES AND LABOUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2728, 27 June 1906, Page 8

COST OF MILK PRODUCTION AS AFFECTED BY LAND VALUES AND LABOUR.

(By J. C. "C. Gebpie, Te Roti, Taranaki.) The subject of this paper is one that is not, I think, taken seriously enough into account when considering our position as competitors in the Home market; and as other countries arc trying hard to equal us m the quality of our butter and cheese, it requires more attention to the producing end io successfully combat competition. We may take it for granted that in the manufacturing part of the business our various factory staffs have arrived at as near perfection as can reasonably be expected; therefore any, material improvement, either in , quality or ip .more econo-" mica! , produciionr mu<jt,v in the future, ema,nai<r from the 'dairyman himself; and the object of my paper is to put in a concrete form the economic position ac presented. .by .dear land aid labour. I B would asl?. you to kitfdly consider my remarks in -a -practical" sense, and not treat the subject -as one of theory only; for, whether recognised by the majority of dairymen or not, the matter is undoubtedly facing us as depicted by me. We can safely assume that land valued at £25 per acre should be capable of grazing one cow to two acres, with the assistance of extra winter feed; and that the avc-ragj cost of a herd of dairy cows would be about £6 10s per head. On this basis the position presents itself something like J thie: —s pec cent, on the capital ra)u« of such land is 25s per acre in the shape of lent, to which musi be added rates, taxes, and insurance^, amounting to quite 2s 6d per ticrc, so that allowing two acres to the cow. we have a primary cost of grazing alone- of £2 15s per head. Interest on capital invented in cows (£6 10s per head) at 6 per cent, is 7s 9d; depreciation of the dairy herd may at the least be put down at 1C per cent., equalling 13s per head. The cost of wintering cows, either by growing ■winter feed ov by grazing out, may be estimated at another 5s par head; so that we have an absolute charge to the owner of a dairy herd of £4 Os 9d, or, say, £4 per he<ad, without allowing anything at all for labour. For argument's sake, I think we may take it that to a man capable of milking 20 cows at a meal the wage would not be less than 20s per week, with board added, say another Bs, or a total of £72 per year, which gives us an average cost per cow of £3 12s for labour alone. Adding to the cost of labour the cost of keeping the cow, we have thus to obtain * return of £7 12s per year before a cow is "profitable "Hinder-present conditions -, and please bear in mind that this is what is necessary for the worst cow in the shed to return to make herself payable. It must not be thought that if a herd were, on these conditions, to average JB7 12e per head that all were payable, for if none of them did better than that many cows would have been milked at an actual loss. I do not ;think.l can be accused of.overestimating the cost of production, in fact, it appears to me I have considerably underestimated it; but, taking my figures as a standard, it must appeal to all of us that, as m, whole, we axe engaged in a work that is cot as profitably as at should be so that

all concerned will be Justly paid. "In some cases it may be that' land is too dear to give profitable returns and allow a reasonable wage to be pa ; d for milking; in others, it may be that wages are too high, and m others again, that the losses each year in the herd may be abnormally high. It is not the function of this paper to say just whut is necessary for more profitable working — the successful solution remains with every individual dairyman. I have only briefly drawn an outline of the way the matter may be viewed. Land values have no tendency to come down, neither has the price of labour; so, logically, there is only one thing we can do, and that is to get more out of our land through our cows. The way to do this may be shortly " summed vtp thus : — "Better feed and better cows." In papers read before previous conferences of this association, I have given the results arrived at by starting our milking season earlier (which means better feeding), and the comparative cost of growing feed for such a system. There is a distinct gam in having our cows calve early, so long as extra feed is grown to compensate for it, and an average herd of cows would materially increase their returns in. this way. If, however, there were valid objections to this system, we would still be able to fall back on this method of improvement— the weighing and testing of each individual cowfs milk, say, for three days in the middle of each month, which would give us results practical enough for all intents and purposes. This no doubt should be done in any case, and the former suggestion where practicable. Of course, all this "means a lot of extra work, but it is becoming almost esseritial to successful dairying. Assuming faat, as a whoki, we adopt the latter system, and that at the end of the season we dispose of our inferior stock, we are faced with this question - "Where are ue to procure better?" Good cows will not be offered for sale, for once their capabilities are known they will readiry assume a greater importance in their owners' eyes. We are forced, therefore, to replace, let us say, with heifers whose milking propensities are probably below those of the cows we have already sold. This has been the experience of a good many of us, and naturally makes a man hesitate at buying at enhanced prices animals of whose capabilities he knows absolutely nothing. It may be urged that each dairyman should keep the heifer calves from his best cows, but there are many difficulties m the way of doing this. Land at 25s rental is too dear to rear calves on, at present values at all events, and as the dairyman cannot manage to keep his own calves he becomes careless in the use of good bulls; and as not only one dairyman, but practically all. are in the same position, we are faced in the near future with an increased difficulty in the way of improvement under this scheme. Our present' methods as practised are leading us away from improvement instead of to it. Experience should teach us which is the most profitable time to occuny as the milking season, also what are the chcapesr and best feeds to grow in our own districts, but the advisableness of selling cows below the standard at store prices and purchasing at dairy prices something probably no better than what has just been discarded is a matter which must be left to each man's judgment. With high land va j S% ,^ eai> labour, and a deteriorating btandaxd of dairy stock, we are brought face to face with a danger that is threatening the very existence or our industry. With the knowledge of all these points before me, I must still eamess my inability to advise an easy way out of the difficulty, and I trust, as the matter so nearly concerns ue all, that in criticising mv remarks and in comparing notes with one another we may arrive at some practical conclusion.