British Beef Industry Is Being “Drowned In Milk"

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18757, 13 July 1935, Page 13

British Beef Industry Is Being “Drowned In Milk"

all down the western side of Kng- • land an agricultural revolution is taking place. Through the Midlands and along, the Welsh bordei, and (lown into the ,stock -producing districts of Devon, the farms that' used to produce beef are being .equipped for milk production. Landlords are gliding it difficult to let farms where there are no dairying facilities. The reason is the economic condition of the beef industry, ■ a condition that has persisted for three years. Pew beef producers are coming out on the right side, and many arc making losses year after year. First quality beef can hardly be produced at less than 40s per cu t., allowing nothing for profit, and yardfed beef costs something like 45s to i turn out. The subsidy of 5s per cWI. has, of- course, been helpful, but fourf fifths of it has been lost in’‘the fall in prices since the subsidy was introduced. Even with the subsidy few beef animals are bringing a return of more than 41s. Big Milk Increase Farmers would not, be going to the trouble and expense of changing oyer I from beef to milk if beef production wore not unattractive in spite ol the Uubsidy. The result is a tremendous increase in milk supplies- —about 10,000,000 gallons a month compared | with last year—largely due to unat- | tractive beef priecs, and this now threatens disaster to both the dairying industry and the Milk Board. “Put beof right, and the. troubles of the milk industry will be righted too.” How often have we heard those words in the past 18 months from farmers, agricultural organisers, marketing officials and every kind of agriculturist in all parts of the country. Beef and milk are interlinked, and unless a means can be found to “put beef right,” not only is our beef industry in jeopardy but our dairying industry also, and this means about (if) per cent, of our entire agricultural production. Beef From Dairy Stock. The Fat Stock Commissioners reported that about 30 per cent, of our home beef supplies were now made up of beef from cows and bulls thrown out by the dairying industry. Farmers arc breeding for milk instead ol beef, crossing bulls with dairy cows and throwing the surplus calves on the beef market, to which they are quite unsuited. There are universal complaints that good young beef , and store cattle cannot be found; they arc all being bred for dairying. li the beef industry is being drowned in milk, as well as drowning the dairying industry, and beef is becoming a by-product of dairying, the urgent need to put beef right cannot bo over-stressed.'.

Cattle brooding, is a 'business in which what is done to-day is not eifcctivo.mntil- two yearsdatov, so there is already a certain amount of dtun ago done. However quickly action may be ,taken to improve the beef farmers’ returns, there must lie an embarrassingly large number of dairy bulls and cows and dairy-type young stock coming on the' home-produced beef market, and the delay is adding fn tils flfnlv. .