DAIRY INDUSTRY

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 84, 14 August 1923, Page 5

DAIRY INDUSTRY

OPPOSITION TO CONTROL. AW AUCKLAND MEETINC. Per Press Association. Auckland, August 13. The Dairy Produce Control Bi'l was discussed by tho Chamber of Comme.ce, which car.ied a motion protesting against tho adoption <f pruposals enforcing compulsory control in marketing dairy produce overseas on the foil swing grounds: (1) The inalienable right of an individual to dispose of the fruits of his labor was abrogated or restricted, since a farmer would be compelled to hand over his produce to persons not of his own selection for sale at a price in the fixing of which ho had no voice. (2) A monopoly in the distribution for sale in the overseas markets of the production of tho Dominion's most rapidly expanding industry was: placed in the hands of eleven individuals.

(3) That whereas the promoters avowed a desire and intention themselves to undertake when poss'b'e the shipping and insurance business incidental to the export trade, and also to supply all the requirements of tho farming community in equipment and domestic supplies, the proposed monopoly would enable the guarantors to coerce dissenters to tho exclusion of tho ordinary trader, and whereas , co-operative undertakings were practically free of income tax, it followed that the loss of income tax which would otherwise have been leviable on profits from those sources in the usual way would have to be shouldered by tho remainder of the community in the form of an enhanced scale.

(4) That since the proposed centralisation of the control of sales overseas must almost necessarily involve the placing of a limited number of selected agents or importers in a preferential position, those importers outside the favored few would assuredly resent the discrimination by centring tlie'r efforts upon the development of other sources of rjupply, thus intensifying competition, while alienating from the Dominion much of that sympathetic consideration which had been extended to it in tho Home markets since 1914.

WONDERFUL PRODUCTIVITY. THE SEASON'S OUTPUT. The Hon. W. Nosworthy, in his report on the agricultural year, describes the period as good all round for the primary producers. The 'chief feature has-been'the phenomena! expansion of the dairy industry, as is evidenced by another big advance in production and all round development. With a surplus output this season of some 66,000 tons of butter and 00.000 tons of cheese New Zealand may claim to have become the largest exporter of dairy produce in tha world. A,s n supplier of the British market we have now actually taken the lead in cheese and are running close up to Denmark for first place in the butter supply. The manufacture and export of dried milk has now reached a volume which warrants its regular inclusion statistically, while preserved milk, casein and sugar of milk must also be reckoned with.

A further great expansion of the industry may be confidently anticipated. Largo tracts of fresh land are being brought in and the older pastures improved by top-dressing, growing of auxiliary forage crops is increasing and better feeding methods are being practised generally. Together with these factors is the present remarkable development of the herd-testing system, which, by gradually eliminating unprofitable animals, cannot fail to result in a steady increase in the average yield of dairy cowsj in the Dominion. Complementary to this movement is the valuable certificate of record testing system, which povides authenticated purebred sires for gfadingjJjp ordinary herds.

The annual statistics taken in January last show an in< rease of another 10').001 dairy cows in the Dominion, bringing the total number to over 50 per cent, higher than five years ago. The markets for butter and cheese have shown great fluctuations during the past year, but the average roturos for the whole season should bo satisfactory to the producers. The aggregate exports from all bianches of the industry for 1022-23 are valued at between £10,000,000 and £17,000,000.