BRITISH STUD CATTLE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18920, 23 January 1936, Page 8

BRITISH STUD CATTLE

AUSTRALIAN PURCHASES

LONDON, Dee. 17.

Australia has been buying British pedigree beef cattle during the past month. Eecent shipments include 32 Shorthorns—nine bulls and three heifers—and a group of AberdeenAngus, with eight bulls among them, says the agricultural correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. Argentina and South Africa have also been buying. This is good news for the breeding industry, although it emphasises the need for organisation of the home beef industry to prepare for increasing competition. Improvements in the technique of chilling beef are chiefly responsible for this activity. Only three years ago the Dominions could supply us with no more than one-tenth of 1 per cent of our chilled meat —one ton in every thousand.

Now the total has increased more than fiftyfold, and Britain is buying 53 tons of Dominion chilled beef in every 1000 tons imported. The Dominions are concentrating upon the Shorthorn and Angus breeds. Shorthorns are popular for their quick growth and successful crossing "with native cattle; AberdeenAngus because, as one fat stock show after another has been demonstrated, their quality cannot be surpassed.