DAIRY PRODUCE

Southland Times, Issue 20207, 18 June 1927, Page 4

DAIRY PRODUCE

BANK CHAIRMAN’S REVIEW. Reviewing the dairy produce situation at yesterday’s meeting of the Bank of New Zealand, Mr Richard W. Gibbs, acting chairman of directors, said—- “ Dairy produce for a time showed a serious decline, though happily the latest reports register a satisfactory recovery, quotations for butter being up to 170/- per cwt, as against 174/- last year, and cheese 87/- to 94/- per cwt, as against 96/-. “The market appears steady at about these figures, and it is refreshing to learn from a recent report of the director of the Dairy Division that there has been an increase in butter-fat production of 9.11 per cent, for nine months to a recent date, as compared with the same period of the 1925-6 season. ‘The average price for butter-fat paid by the factories for 1924-5 was 18.75 pence, against 18.61 for 1925-6. The latter, however, is not a true indication of value, as heavy reclamations have to be provided for in many instances. It is interesting to note that the 1913-1914 figure was 12.00 pence. While the price has advanced 50 per cent., the expenses have outstripped this. In other words, the cost of production, including interest on the higher land values at which many dairy properties have been acquired during the intervening period, leaves the position much less favourable. With the severe competition threatening this important industry, a progressive improvement in the herds, with the resultant increase in the percentage of butter-fat, combined with the most up-to-date methods of treating the individual farms, would appear to be the best way of facing the present difficulties. “Dairy produce has become our leading export, and whereas in 1906 the total export of this produce was only 451,431 cwt, at March 31, 1927, it had reached 2,753,557 cwt, the bulk of which was disposed of in Britain; showing the utmost necessity for maintaining the goodwill of all parties connected with the trade there, always bearing in mind the important fact that we supply only about 20 per cent, of that market’s requirements. “I think it will be generally conceded that, if more energy were directed into the channel of increased and better production, many of our present difficulties would be met. In this direction the valuable assistance afforded by such institutions as the Cawthron Institute, of Nelson, and, in due course, by the newly-appointed Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, cannot fail to show good results in the near future. “In connection with the above situation, the operations of the Dairy Control Board have come in for a considerable amount of criticism. Much of the criticism has resolved itself into finding a scapegoat for the losses which have been sustained under the operations of a system which many from the outset considered would prove a doubtful expedient. However, the whole question of the future method of dealing with our dairy products to the best advantage will shortly be reviewed by those vitally interested therein, and doubtless some solution will be found which will give satisfactory, results. “The farming community throughout the world is experiencing a critical time, and little consolation is to be found by our producers in the fact that primary industries are suffering a set-back generally, more particularly in the United States of America, where the farmer has found himself in more serious trouble than his confrere in New Zealand, but there methods are being adopted tb ensure more scientific farming, and the fact that along that road lies recovery cannot be too often stressed.”