EARLY KILLINGS OF LAMBS

Southland Times, Issue 23989, 2 December 1939, Page 14

EARLY KILLINGS OF LAMBS

SEASON OPEN IN GISBORNE DISTRICT About 10,000 lambs, the first of the new season, have been slaughtered at the Kaiti freezing works near Gisborne last week. Included in the total are a few sheep. The quality is reported to be of the best, most of the carcasses being in the prime Southdown class, with a few prime crossbreds. Weights have been about average for this time of the year, running mainly around 331 b. When the new season opened the refrigeration chambers at Kaiti were still holding a portion of the old season’s meat, but arrangements have been made to have all of this cleared out by the week-end, leaving the chambers entirely free for the new season’s supplies. With the recent enlargement of the freezing space Kaiti can hold considerably more than 60 per cent, of total estimated killings 'for the whole season.

Some comment has been made in the district about the difference of 3-8 d a lb. in lamb buying rates here and those in centres near main ports. In the past the margin had been |d, as a result of the difference in freezing charges in Gisborne and those in larger centres, and it is pointed out by buyers that this did not cover the full extent of the variation resulting in the revision of the schedule following the announcement of Government payments.