TESTING HERDS.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 June 1925, Page 12

TESTING HERDS.

VALUE TO DOMINION, MORE BUTTER-FAT WANTED. AVERAGE OF 250L85. AIMED AT. The value to the Dominion of herd* testing formed the subject of some i<« teresting remarks by Sir George ElliMj chairman of directors of the Bank o< New Zealand, when dealing with th# dairy industry at the annual meeting of the bank yesterday. Sir Georg* said: During the past ten years the output of dairy produce in New Zealand ha» had a marvellous development, and cowl have doubled in number. For the season that ended in 1924 there were in the J>ominion 1,3112>f8® cows of the ago of two years and over, and they produced about 72,000 tons of butter au< 79,451 ton-s of cheese. Local consumption having been provided for, the value of butter and cheese exported amounted to £10,445,832 ana £7,354,651 respectively, compared with £2,140,019 and in 1914. The export returns for the season which is now closing are not yet available, but it is anticipated there will be a substantial increase over the figures for last year. The average price realised per lb of butter for 1924 was Is 6 5 8d r compared with 11 5-8 d in 1914. It is estimated that the average annual yield of butter-fat per cow in New Zealand to-day is 1701 b, compared with an average of 3501 b in Denmark and in some parts of America. If it could bo realised that for every increase of 10lb of butter-fat per cow per annum in our dairy herds, an extra million pounds sterling would result to the dairymen, no one could fail to be impressed with the immense future lies before the industry. There is no reason whatever why our average should not be brought up to 2501 b. If this could be brought about, even though no increase took place in the number of our cows, the value ot our butter and cheese exported would, at current prices, be raised by £8,000,000 annually. It is claimed by the New Zealand Co-oper-ative Herd Testing Association that thia desideratum might be achieved in the space of ten years with systematic /herd testing. A short report recently issued shows the result of tests made in 1923-24; 31.003 cows were tested with the following results: 1,136 or 3.8 per cent, gave 3511 b of butterfat or over; 14,914 0r48.1 per cent*-gave from 201 to 3501 b of but-ter-fat; 6,341 or 20.5 per cent, gave from 161 to 2001 b of butter-fat; 8,613 or 27.81 per cent, gave 1001 b and under. It is claimed by some of those who have made a special study of the subject that a cow which does not yield more than 2001 b of butter-fat per annum is not giving a sufficient return for the capital that it represents and the labour that is spent upon it. Applying this criterion, 48.3 per cent, of the co^ r s tested were unprofitable. Had. these unprofitable cows averaged even 2001 b of butter-fat, there would have been an increased revenue of £63,000, or an average of £lOO each to the 030 owners of the 34,003 cows mentioned. In these testing experiments it was found that a few cows gave from 500 to 600ib of butter-fat per annum, while a number of others gave 300 to 5001 b. On the other hand, there were many that gave only 1001 b or under. The cow giving the lowest test was producing 391 b of butter-fat per annum, or an average of l%d in value per milking. If the production of butter-fat in New Zealand is to be increased in the near future, two things are essential on the Dominion’s dairy farms; one is the possession of first-class bulls, and the other is a rigorous testing of the herde. It seems to be impossible to determine the value of a cow from a butter-fat point of view by means other than scientific testing, and such tests give surprising results. Cows that look remarkably well have been proved unprofitable, while others that have been disparaged have been found to be the best butter-fat producers in the herd. This matter is so important for the welfare of the Dominion that any money spent rby the Government in the importation of bulls of the best type and on the encouragement of herd testing would be money well spent, and results would ensue that would have a far-reaching effect on the finances of the country.