DAIRY BOARD

Southland Times, Issue 20538, 14 July 1928, Page 8

DAIRY BOARD

ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN STATEMENT BY MR TIMPANY HARMONY PREVAILS On his return from Wellington Mr T. M. Timpany gave some interesting information regarding the business done at the annual meeting of the Dairy Control Board. “There is a general desire on the part of all the board members to work harmoniously under the new policy,” said Mr Timpany, to a Times reporter. Even the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company seemed prepared to assist the board in every way possible and would probably be willing to give the information which it had formerly refused under pressure. The information required from factories throughout the Dominion concerned f.o.b. sales and copies of account sales so that the board would be in a position to function as an authentic information bureau. The majority of dairy factory companies would fall in with this suggestion right away while a number of exporting firms had expressed their willingness to co-operate with the board in this direction. “Any factory,” he continued “that refuses to come in will be standing alone.” There was more harmony in the board today, he said, than there had been for years, and everyone would look forward to being able to advance materially the interests of New Zealand producers during the year ahead.

The position concerning the election of the chairman was then discussed. Mr J. R. Corrigan had nominated Mr W. Grounds for the position of chairman for the ensuing year, but when Mr Grounds declined, Mr Corrigan nominated Mr J. B. Hine. Mr Grounds seconded this nomination, but when the vote was taken, only the proposer and seconder voted for Mr Hine and Mr lorns was elected chairman by seven votes to two. ■».

The board agreed to recommend the Governor-General to appoint Mr G. Ferguson, chairman of the South Auckland Dairy Association, to fill the vacancy on the board caused by the resignation of Mr W. Goodfellow. It was also agreed to ask the Minister of Agriculture to have clauses six and eight of the license regulations repealed. When these clauses were repealed all that the board had to do was to exercise control over such matters as shipping, insurance, grading, storage etc., marketing being left alone. THE NEW CHAIRMAN. The new chairman comes of a well-known Wairarapa pioneering family, his father, the late Mr William lorns, being one of the earliest of settlers “to cross the hill.” The new chairman was elected a member of the board by producers, and at last election he was returned unopposed. He served as chairman of the London Agency of the Dairy Produce Control Board and was a consistent opponent of the policy of price fixation which broke down with admittedly disastrous results to producers. It was while acting in that capacity that Mr lorns consistently warned the board in Wellington to “go slow” in whatever steps it contemplated in prices. W’hen the board solicited the individual opinion of its London representatives on this subject Mr .lorns cabled to the effect that he would rather be recalled than that the board should pursue its pricefixing policy for the reason, as he has since stated publicly, that it would be fatal to the best interests of producers. Mr lorns was brought up on the farm, but his practical experience of the land was reinforced by some seven years of service in the stock and station business. For the past twenty years he has been farming in the Martinborough district, and his operations are generally indicated as being conducted on modern farming lines. Mr lorns was one of the earliest promoters of herd testing, and a practical exponent of the value of top-dressing pastures. He is also regarded as one of the stalwarts in farmers’ co-operative movements in the Wairarapa district. In his younger days Mr lorns serv ed in the South African War, and on its close he toured Great Britain and the. Continent and Australia, paying particular attention to farming methods and conditions. While stationed in England as a member of the Dairy Produce Board, he took the opportunity of personally inspecting dairying developments on the Continent and in the United Kingdom, and he also visited Canada and the United States, paying special attention to dairy production, and local marketing and export.