N. Z. PRIMARY INDUSTRIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3655, 1 April 1924, Page 14

N. Z. PRIMARY INDUSTRIES.

A REVIEW. The retiring President, Mr R. E. Alexander, of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, in the course of an interesting review of the primary industries said :—- The present prices for agricultural products must be gratifying to everyone concerned. Ihe high prices ruling will help in many cases to unravel the financial tangle occasioned by the slump three years ago. Unfortunately the extraordinarily dry summer over the greater part of New Zealand has reduced the output, not only of lamb and mutton, but of dairy products and thus hampered or hindered many farmers, and prevented them getting the full advantage of buoyant markets. The grain yields have also been greatly reduced as a result of a wet winter and dry summer, so that our total production is not sufficient for the Dominion’s requirements.

—lmportation ot Wheat and Flour.-

The question is being continually, asked: “Is New Zealand going to become an importer of wheat and flour?” It is almost impossible to answer the question. The Minister of Agriculture has refused the request of growers to fix a price _ for next year, perhaps rightly. I question if guaranteed prices will stabilise the industry, especially as the fixed prices seem to be against, rather than in favour of, the farmer. From information gathered from wheat growers in Canterbury. I conclude that the farmer is not disclined to grow wheat, but he objects to taking the risk of growing a crop on which more than a fair profit is made by those who handle it after he has harvested it. The effect of price fixing during the last six or seven, years has been to leave the farmer with no margin of profit. During the same period the fihreshing-mill owner, commission agent, miller, and baker, have had their profits doubled—this the farmer feels to be unfair and he is turning to other products, where he has less risks to take, can make better returns and has not to support profiteers. In making this statement I am only voicing 'inions I have obtained from farmers. I , : vouch for the fact that the fixed prices have not left a sufficient return for the risk the farmer has taken and the outlay involved in growing wheat. Yet- others engaged in handling wheat and its products have accumulated wealth. —Wool and Meat. —

In regard to wool and meat: Is the position as satisfactory as it appears? That is, is the standard of our wool and meat up to the pre-war standard? I do not wish to appear as a pessimist? but I feel that our products are not up to the former high level of merit. No doubt our bestwool clips and the primest of our meat are excellent, but there is too great a proportion of each, more or less inferior, and it is on this inferior product that more often than not our output is judged and the prices fixed.

The report of the Meat Board last year indicated a very large proportion of secondclass meat passing through the works for export. This state of things is not in the best interests of the Dominion. We are in keen competition with other countries for the British market, aud should only export the best, when we can easily hold the market, but second quality only places us on a level with these countries in competition; besides, our soil and climate enable us to produce prime meat. There can only be one of two reasons why we don’t turn our meat out as prime—-the animals are either badly bred or improperly fed. In the majority of cases I feel safe in stating that the breeding is a.t fault. The use of inferior sires is becoming far too common. During the last year I have seen rams which were used to sire fat lambs which could onlv be described as mongrels of the worst type. I was told a few weeks ago that the demand for Down rams is being met by astute farmers keeping their darkest-faced ram lambs from crossbred ewes and selling them as Down rams, and. added my informant: “They look like Downs, are bought as such, and the breeders are doing quite well out of it; but the practice is affecting the price of pure-bred sheep.” Such rams are only mongrels, and there can only be one result from using them. I admit we have no means cf stopping the practice beyond advising every breeder of the danger. The Meat Board and Agricultural Department could undertake some propaganda work in this direction with profit to the Dominion. Last year this committee, through a subcommittee, dealt with the question of scrub bulls. I don't think their deliberations bore fruit. The same argument applies to the scrub rams. I noticed that last year the Meat Board bad a substantial balance left over. I would suggest to them that they spend this money in a stock improvement scheme. •—Price of Beef. —

The price of beef is still very unsatisfactory, and is hindering the development of areas where cattle must be kept. We gather from the Press that an experiment is being carried out with a new process of keeping beef during shipment. Some weeks ago an overseas visitor, in commenting on our beef, said: “It is not a question of freezing, de-frosting, or chilling. It is a question of quality. The British public want your tender beef and are prepared to pay for it. They won’t eat five-year-old stringy beef.” What we really want from the Meat Board is an experiment on freezing or chilling baby beef and sending it Home to see how it sells. Some months ago I noticed in the Live Stock Journal an opinion of a leading London butcher on Canadian bullocks fattened in

England. As you know, an agitation lias been going on for years to admit Canadian stores. The agitation was successful last year, and consumers looked for cheaper beef. Ihe butcher referred to said he could only described these English-fed Canadian steers as “wooden beef.” They were hard to the. touch, hard to cut, and still harder to eat ; I am afraid a good proportion of New Zealand beef would be described by this gentleman as “wooden,” and vet we should be able to produce as good beef as the Argentine. Ten days ago I saw a big line of six-months calves on the way to the freezing works. They were equal to anything one could see in any country. Ihese calves, if fed for another twelve months as well as during the last six, must command a market in Britian whether frozen or chilled. —Pork.— Some weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Air J. B. Cramsie, chairman of the Australian Meat Board, in company with the chairman of our Meat Board. Among other things we were discussing the question of the possibilities of New Zealand becoming a pig-raising and exporting country, and capturing a portion of the £SO,CCO,(X)O which the British public pay every year to foreign countries for pig products. We agreed that New Zealand, with her beautiful climate and great dairying industry, should at lea.st be getting £10,000,000 a year out of pigs, but that she can only do this by producing the right type of bacon, properly fed and tXK‘ weight required. We have the food, we can easily get the weight, but we haven’t the right class of pig. 1 may say that this is a question that has interested me ever since 1 have been in New Zealand, but I have been confronted with the statement that trial shipments did not meet with success and that if the British public didn’t like our bacon they could do without it! This is not the way to develop a trade. We must try and meet our customers. The pioneers in the fat lamb trade didn’t say “Take it or leave it.” They tried to produce the right article and succeeded. If we adopted the same tactics in pig-raising, we could develop a big business. The British public wants bacon from a long slab-sided leanfleshed pig, not from a short, ridgy-backed, lardy pig. I was glad to note that some British breeders had given our Government a very pointed hint by nresenting them with specimens of the right type. This is one step in the right direction, but we have to get rid of the porky type and prejudices' in its favour by breeders and so-called authorities. Not long ago I saw one of the leading herds of pigs in the Dominion—not one pig in it capable of producing export bacon. A porker pig can. never be turned into a bacon pig, but porkers can be obtained from the bacon type, so that the Dominion has nothing to lose by altering its type of pig. I was glad to know from the chairman of our Meat Board that his Board was giving the matter full consideration and hoped to be able to develop what, to my mind, should be one of our most important industries. —Herd Testing.— Early last winter, at the request of a number of farmers, I, as your president, attended a meeting in these offices to consider the question of herd testing. After a preliminary discussion, it was decided to call a public, meeting. At this meeting a Herd-testing was formed and prepared a scheme much on the same lines as similiar Associations in the Waikato, and also exactly on the lines adopted in Great Britian and Europe, where herd-testing has done so much to raise the returns from dairying. Naturally, we turned to the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture for help and advice in the carrying out of the scheme. You may judge how pained and surprised we were to receive a reply from the Director of the Dairy Division, stating that he could not aid the scheme in any way, as he did not approve of the procedure, which was opposed to the semi-official tests to which the Department were committed. A reply on somewhat similar lines was received from the Minister of Agriculture. Ir the Dairy Division was really interested in the welfare of the industry, they should have received us with open arms, instead of discouraging and practically opposing us in our efforts to help the farmers in this district. To my mind it is high time that this branch of the Department was awakened from the present lethargic condition to a full sense of its responsibilities, and made to help the struggling dairy farmer who cannot help himself, instead of devoting its energies to picking out. and testing a few special cows of the wealthy breeders, who can well afford to look after themselves. It is the poor producers and non-rent-paying cows we want to pick out and get rid of, and not a few abnormal animals that create impossible records. If herd testing had been the Departments slogan for the last decade, the Dominion’s average yield of butter-fat would not have declined year by year. I am glad to sav that the scheme has been; placed on its feet, thanks to a number of sympathetic farmers, to two members of the staff of Lincoln College, to the secretary of the Association and to a young man who undertook the testing—all volunteers, who took the chance of being paid for their services, so sanguine were they of success. Figures have already been obtained which will. I feel certain, convince dairy farmers of the efficacy of the scheme and made the Director of the Dairy Division feel sorry he did not become an active helper. —Experimental Data. — When addressing you last year, I brought up the ouestion of the lack of experimental data in New Zealand as a result of no definite scheme for carrying out experiments having been laid down by the Agricultural Department. Bince then Mr Cockayne has been appointed Director of the Fields Division, and lias taken the matter up and two or three conferences of those interested, the outcome of which will, I hope, be a Dominion scheme of experimentation, aud from which it will be possible to corelate all experiments carried out and so obtain reliable information. It is a matter for satisfaction that our representations have borne fruit and for this happy result we are indebted to the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Cockayne and the Christchurch Boil Investigations Committee, who arried out a series of experiments this year on improved and un-to date lines.