GREAT CHANGES IN DAIRYING

Southland Times, Issue 23180, 22 April 1937, Page 6

GREAT CHANGES IN DAIRYING

Developments Over 40 Years REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF DAIRY BOARD The development of the dairy industry in New Zealand during the past 40 years, on the farm, in the manufacturing process and in marketing methods, was discussed by Mr T. C. Brash, secretary to the New Zealand Dairy Board, when he presented the Bledisloe Cup, the emblem of championship honours at the London Dairy Show, to the manager of the Drummond co-operative dairy factory (Mr A. J. Linklater) at a function in the Drummond Hall last evening. He touched very lightly on recent legislation, saying that the Government claimed to have given the farmers what they asked for. “I wonder if that is the end?” he remarked. “I think I will leave the answer of that question to you.” “Think of the development at the farm end of the business,” Mr Brash began—“ From a mere handful of dairy cows to something over 2,000,000. The advancement in the breeding of cattle has shown wonderful strides; but there has been a lag on the question of improved butterfat production per cow. Certain work is now being undertaken by the Dairy Board which we believe will mean a move forward, but the butterfat production per cow in the Dominion is not what it might be. Think also of the development of mechanical milking in this Dominion over the last 40 years. In no other dairy country in the world has there been anything approaching it. It is true that it has brought certain difficulties with it. For instance, it has made it more difficult to detect at the early stage disease in the individual cow, such as mammitis. Revolutionary Changes “The most noticeable change since Southland sent some of its men to the north is, of course, the great increase in the quantity of butter and cheese exported from the Dominion. When I began working in a dairy factory nearly 48 years ago, the total quantity of both butter and cheese exported from New Zealand was 3500 tons. It is now 250,000 tons. In no other part of the world has there been such a growth, and New Zealand is in the proud position of being able to say that it exports more dairy produce than any other country in the world. The changes made in the manufacturing process during the last 40 years have been most revolutionary. Take cheese making, for instance. The whole process of manufacture was changed by the adoption of pasteurization of all milk before being made into cheese. Whether or not it was a move for the betterment of quality is a matter of opinion. It certainly made . for uniformity, and no cheddar cheese going into the United Kingdom is so uniform in quality as that sent from this Dominion. Pasteurization, however, has tended, we believe, to a lowering of the quality of the milk supplied to the factories. Pasteurization, like charity, covers a multitude of sins. The grading of milk to cheese factories with differential payments on quality was not dreamt of in those early years. Curd agitators were conspicuous by their absence, and the only agitator was a rake pushed by a sturdy assistant.

“Great changes have taken place also in butter manufacture. The adoption of home separation instead of the supply of whole milk to butter factories and creameries, brought outstanding changes in its train. It permitted an increase in quantity, that would have been quite impossible otherwise, for the supply of whole milk to a butter factory had the same limits as to a cheese factory. With the adoption of home separation there appeared to be no limit to the distance over which home separated cream could be carted, and the quantity of butter manufactured under one roof was increased enormously, reaching as high as 6000 tons by one unit. This hauling of cream for long distances had two great disadvantages. In the first place it meant the delivery of a deteriorated raw material in many cases, leading to the use of neutralizers and very high temperature pasteurization, with the result that the butter manufactured lost much of the real butter flavour. Secondly, it led to fierce competition among both proprietary and co-operative dairy companies, thus preventing any possibility of improvement in the raw material by the farmer and has led to cream grading with deferential payments, and in many districts the appointment of dairy farm instructors. “The Executive Commission of Agriculture is working with representatives of the Dairy Board to improve the position and is aiming at amalgamations of factories, and zoning of factories, with certain exchange arrangements. Much time is likely to elapse before the best results can be secured as it means the undoing of the faulty methods of the past. The changes which have taken place in the manufacture of butter have been much greater than in the manufacture of cheese. Great changes too, have" taken place in the work of * the Dairy Division. In those early years of over 40 years hgo there were no graders or instructors. Today we have a very far reaching service, with not only instruction and grading, but the checking of testing at the factories, tests at the grading ports for butterfat, moisture, salt, iron, copper, etc. The factory manager is truly well checked, and the checking process does not end in New Zealand, but is carried on by staff of the Dairy Division in London. Marketing Changes “Then what shall we say about the changes in marketing? There has been what some might call a ‘divine discontentment’ with the marketing of our dairy produce for at least 48 years to my certain knowledge. Looking back and trying to sense the basis of that dissatisfaction, one feels that it was not so much a dissatisfaction with the cash returns as a real desire on the part of the producer for a greater share in the marketing of his own produce. The selling of the produce on railway trucks with the buyer taking all responsibility from that point was the first method. Then came the desire, particularly in the north, to send the produce to the Britrish markets on open consignment. This led to a move for the control of shipping space by producers. In the beginning this space was handled by merchants. The formation of the South Island Dairy Association in 1892 and the National Dairy Association in 1893 made the handling of shipping space by producers’ representatives possible. From that time two methods of marketing became established, sales f.o.b. ocean steamer and ‘open consignment’. Each method has had its supporters down through the years. Attempts were made at various times to get past the local agents, through the dairy associations, and lat;.' by the establishment of the New Zealand Producers’ Marketing Association. Later came the setting up of the Dairy Board with statutory powers, but made up mainly of producers elected by the industry. Its history is one of recent days and we need not touch on details, except to say that if producers had stood solidly behind their own board in 1926-27, some of the recent

happenings would never have taken place. “It has been said that always there has been a desire on the part of the producer for a greater share in the marketing of his own produce. Today he is back where he started, for he now has neither part nor lot in the marketing of his produce. I wonder if that is the end? I think I will leave the answer of that question with you, for the Government claims that it has given the farmers what they asked for.”