THE BEEF SUPPLY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3972, 29 April 1930, Page 23

THE BEEF SUPPLY.

SIR W. HALDANE’S RECENT WARNING.

PRODUCTION IN UNITED STATES.

SIR EDMUND VESTEY REPLIES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 21.

In an article in The Times of February 24, Sir William Haldane dealt with the meat situation. A precis of the article was contained in my mail letter of February 29. Among other things, Sir William maintained that it was mainly due to America’s large imports of meat from New Zealand and Canada that Britain had imported less beef and at higher prices during 1929. In a letter to The Times of March 17, Sir Edmund Vestey controverts this and other statements. He writes: — The reason for the increased cost of Britain’s oversea beef in 1929 was the reflex from the war-time over-produc-tion. South America, Australia, and New Zealand—owing to the increased production for war requirements, meeting the reduced demand for frozen beef on the Continent, and also to those Continental countries re-establishing their herds on a basis similar to that before the war—had millions more'cattle than the world could deal with, and as a result of this vastly increased supply of cattle the price fell in 1927-28 on Smithfield Market, for the finest chilled hindquarters of beef that the world could produce at 4d per lb. The consequence of these unprofitable conditions was that thousands of cattle growers in the exporting countries went out of the business of raising cattle, as people go out of any business that become unprofitable, with the result that for the moment the production of cattle was greatly diminished, and prices naturally rose. But even already, with the best Argentine chilled beef being sold on Smithfield at about GJd per lb sides, no one can say that the price is a high one; it can only be called by those concerned in any branch of the trade a fair price. AMERICA’S CAPACITY TO PRODUCE. The war and its aftermath had this same effect on the United States. When the United States farmers were appealed to during the war by their Government to produce the utmost possible cattle they responded to such an extent that when the war stopped there were so many more millions of cattle being reared than America required that when they came to be marketed the price realised left such huge losses that many thousands of cattle-raisers in the United States were ruined and many thousands more went out of the cattleraising business, and so there came about a shortage in United States during the last year or two. But the United States is a protective country, and to show the cattle-raisers they can proceed with safety to invest their capital in supplying the country’s needs of meat the Government have now not only placed an absolute prohibition on chilled and frozen beef coming from South America and Australia, but on tne paltry amount coming from New Zealand and from Canada they have drafted a new Tariff Act, expected to come into force in April, raising the tariff 100 per cent.—i.e., from three cents to six cents per lb—and if these duties in practice were found not to be high enough to prevent huge quantities of meat coming into the United States you can be sure they would, if necessary, at once be raised a further 100 per cent., as has been done during the past few years with other agricultural products that compete with home production. The United States under normal conditions does not require, and is determined not to have, frozen or chilled meat from outside sources. They can themselves produce all they require without the least effort. When ever cattle prices reach a level that shows the cattle growers a profit in growing cattle, so quickly as they can be produced their markets will be flooded. -The capacity to produce, as they showed during the war,

is unlimited, and no one knows that better than the Agricultural Departments at' Washington. NEW ZEALAND’S SMALL CONTRIBUTION. Sir William Haldane says:—“The United States to satisfy the hunger of their people have devoured the surplus cattle and beef Canada fed us before.” The fact is that what Canada “ fed us before was like a drop in the ocean, not more in recent years than an infinitesimal portion of Britain’s supplies, and in the future can be nothing worth mentioning. Canada 'cannot compete with British home-killed,in cost. „ k* r William Haldane further savs: “ America has seized the great bulk* of our supplies from New Zealand.” The actual position is that America took about half New Zealand’s shipments in 1929, amounting to a paltry 21 per cent, of Britain's consumption. Again, my criticism of Sir William Haldanes statement, “America has begun competing with us for whatever supplies of beef Australia can offer,” is simply that it is incorrect. Australian beef, either chilled or frozen, is absolutely prohibited to enter the United States. Sir William says: “America z is now seriously attacking* the monopoly we have hitherto held as the one big buyer in South America, the mainstay of supply we have long leant upon.” I must say. again, for the same reason, that this is quite contrary to the actual facts. Frozen or chilled beef from South America is absolutely prohibited < > enter the United States. 1 could continue further showing the inaccuracy of Sir William Haldanes remarks about the prospective shortage of beef. 1 feel, however, it is sufficient to say that the prevailing.prices of beef are exceedingly icinunei ativ e to cattle growers in all the countries of the world that Britain ditiws her supplies from, and most business men know that this condition will undoubtedly bring forward greatly increased supplies as quickly as the cattle can be produced.