STANDARDISED CHEESE.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1930, Page 2

STANDARDISED CHEESE.

(To the Editor). Sir,At a meeting held recently at Npayro the chairman. Mr- 11. Taylor, staled that the effect of standardising was the most serious problem before the dairy industry at the present time. It was not so much a question as Io whether good standardised cheese could be made, but whether Hie industry could overcome the prejudice against standardised cheese on the British market. He had information to show that quite a, number of large firms refused to handle standardised cheese at allIt is the quality of our cheese on the British market that will be the deciding factor, especially now that America has raised a, tariff wall against Canadian cream and our sister Dominion can be expected to increase its exports of first-class cheese. The immediate difficulty before the Ngaere company was) that it would be useless for it to. take a, stand if other companies continued standardising and thereby lowering the whole standard of New Zealand cheese ftom £4 to £8 per ton. And unless the Dairy Division is prepared to reframe its regulations to provide for less skimming, then 1 think standardising is doomed. Mr. Taylor also stated that if the milk was his, he would unhesitatingly make full creqm cheese. I quite agree with Mr. Taylor, and congratulate him on his decision.

If New Zealand farmers are going to try and regain the confidence of their British customers they must give a square deal- Standardising is no new process in Taranaki. It has been going qu fop the past 10 years. It started wjth the dairy companies skimniing flieir starters, and the starters giew until the starter was the largest proportion of the milk- And once this process started the quality of the cheese began to deteriorate. The Director of the Dairy Division referred to it from tjine to time as “much illicit skimming is o-oing on,” but beyond, that he took ha notice. All this cheese was exported branded “full cream.” If the same methods were used, in any other industry the companies would be prosecuted for obtaining money under false pretences, and the directors would most likely find themselves in the cooling chamber. As soon as standardising was made legal many dairy farmers expected there would be a great improvement in quality of the New Zealand cheese, but unfortunately it had the reverse effect. During last season, while standardising was going on, the liigli-testing cow had her golden opportunity to show what she could do for the dairy ip4 l,strv, and the result is disastrous. In South Taranaki, from some of the best land in New' Zealand, only 6 per cent, of the chpesQ graded at the Patea grading store was graded finest and 80 per cent, of it was a “market breaker.” Yet in Southland, where lower testing cattle are used for cheesemaking, 56 per cent, of the cheese graded finest for the same period and no “market breaker. The Dairy Control Board has received, much valuable information from its London office and the Loudon nlel ‘ chants, and Mr. lorn?, the chairman of the board, has just returned from England, anj he states that it will take years to regain the ground the industry has. lost. Now surely the board could advise the industry whether it i? advisable; to continue to make standardised cheese. The Dairy Division should also be in a position to give a lead at the present difficult tinie. It i? true they have sent; Air. Alex, RqsS to tell the fanpers the true position, and fanners should be in a position to judge for theniselvqs. But why does Alr.°Bos? have to give fits infprmatipn Without a reporter being present? I suppose he has his orders front headquarters. But such important information should not be confined to only a few to hear the truth. The writer was fortunate enough to be at one of AirRoss’ meetings, and farmers were present from Ngaere, Lowgarth, Pembroke, 'Cardiff and. Stratford districts, arid they gave Mr. Ross a very attentive hearing, which must have lasted for nearly two hours. It took over one hour to answer the many questions that farmers were anxious to have answered. i Air. Ross is to he congratulated on the straightforward information he gave the dairy farmers, and the Dairy Division deserves the hearty thanks of the dairy farmers for malqng so much valuable information available. Personally I think Air. Ross’ advice has already “borne fruit,” and that Air. 11. 0. dajlor, the chairman of the Ngaire Dairy Company, was ilble to give his supplieis more definite information than he would have beem able to had he not bepn present at Air. Ross’ meeting. For instance, on the subject of pasteupisation Mr. Ross was able to give very definite information. He was also able to show what a bad effect standardising was having on the industry, how merchants were making heavy losses caused by the inferior quality of standaidiscd cheese, and hqw they were not likely to repeat their orders for cheese of this description, what a bad effect it had. on the trade and how some of the merchants’ sales had fallen to about onehalf since standardised cheese had been legalised, how much of his time had been spent in settling disputes caused thi ough the inferior quality of standaidised cheese. He also pointed out that no cheese should be marketed until it was at least six months old, and some merchants wanted a cheese that would keep two or three years to mature. And the Taranaki “market breaker” would not keep three months. All this information should not be bottled up. Will the absence of publicity make bad cheese good? Mr. A'eale has told us he is no idle alarmist and tliat he believes there will be a crisis iq the cheese industry. AA’lpit would be tfie position of thousands of farmers in New Zealand if the British merchants decided to “boycott” the New Zealand “market breaker?” It would not be the first time that the British merchants have used these tactics. They boycotted New Zealand beef, and later they boycotted New Zealand butter when New Zealand tried to fix the price. And they have never given so much warning as they' have given with the cheese. AV e have arrived at a time that New Zealand cannot afford to throw away a valuable industry, and some plain speaking is necessary. The legalising of skimming is a clear admission that milk of higff fat percentage is fipt suitable for ■making good cheese. Bqt neithci the Dairy °Division nor the Dairy Control Board is wise enough, nor coura-geoqs enough, to advise the production of milk with°a high caseiu content, which is the true remedy.—l am, etc., HENRY JOHNSON. Stratford, September 23, 1930.