VALUES OF DAIRY PRODUCE

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1930, Page 10

VALUES OF DAIRY PRODUCE

MEANS OF MEETING THE FALL. THE METHOD OF MARKETING. Interesting opinions on tne condition of the dairy industry and the present market problems were expressed, by Mr. F J. Nathan, of Joseph Nathan ‘and Co., Ltd., in a letter written on Nol.vember 20 to a dairy company which, hail sought his advice. “There is no doubt, in my opinion,” he wrote, “that at the present time there ie an overproduction in* the butter and cheese market —by overproduction I mean such a quantity produced one might say unevouomically, or without profit to tlle producer. New Zealand, Australia and Siberia are all showing large These increases, for want of consumption in Great Britain, have accumulated and brought about a stored butter position such as we met nine years ago. No doubt the buyers at the other end are using that fact to their advantage and to the producer’s disadvantage. “I do think, however, that we are on a definite plane of lower values. When asked by our London house some few months ago our views of the values of butter, we expressed the opinion that they might average about 1355. Later on we advised London that we thought they should budget for a value of 130 s. Personally I am inclined to the view now in the face of the heavy production in the countries mentioned that this is very optimistic, and that we shall be fortunate indeed if the average for the season reaches 120 s. One very large house in England has advised its clients that it does not think the average for cheese will be much over 60s for the season, so that it seems to me that we are oetting down to pre-war values, and the advances made by the dairy companies to their suppliers will need to be on a very conservative basis. _ “How are we going to combat this fall? I have already expressed to many in discussions the view that the mortffagees of this country in. the next twelve months'are faced with the loss of several millions of pounds. It is impossible for large lending institutions, insurance companies, trustees, etc., to take over and farm the various properties that have large mortgages on them, and the position will' have to be met by their writing off considerable amounts of each of their mortgages, and even, in my opinion, going so far as to reduce the interest 011 the mortgages. What else.are they going to do? Ihey will not be able to sell the properties; people cannot get the credit to buy them, and the trustees and companies are certainly not in a position to farm the properties. “What can the farmer do? He can - Quite a deal. His object now must be the 300-3501 b. butter-fat cow, and it he Sts is per lb. butter-fat and pays reaXbl. prto for Ms Mod ho.-ll> all rMit. That grade herds can . preduce this amount of butter-fat there is no doubt, but it takes time. Top-dress-ing of course, is essential, not only in the’ Waikato now, but is recoghised to Kp, necessary in all the dairying and Seep-farming districts where the land is flat enough to make it economical to do so That, combined with herd-Jest-ing, will help the farmer out of his trouble; but in the meantime these troubles are going to take time, and this depression, in my opinion, is goin e to be' : with us for the next twelve months or two years. “Wages will have to be reduced; but it is impossible to turn round to the Working classes here and make drastic reductions in their wages until the cost I of living is lowered.. So long we have these excessive duties on wheat, then so long in.ust we have dear bread; and as that is one of the the family, that position will haic 10 be met. The idea that the country ; has to produce its "own wheat, is no . mure sound than that the country has tn produce its own petrol, tobacco, tea . and a hundred and one other articles.

If the farmers down south cannot grow wheat economically on the world parity then they have no right to ask 95 per cent, of the people of New Zealand to bolster up their industry. They must turn their land to some more profitable U “We are all a little disturbed at the Inure difference between the values of New Zealand and Danish butters. • I do not know whether you noticed, quite recently‘in the-cabled reports that butter from'Latvia was Is higher per cwt. than that from New Zealand. . This, <*■ course, is accounted for, I think, by the Danes retaining the goodwill of the people wlio are marketing their butter bv not interfering with the agents in the marketing. It you look at our position on the London market as it was a few years ago, when we had the goodwill of the London merchants, you will se. that these differences did not exist. I believe a business cannot be worked successfully unless a goodwill is built Up between the pre Iticer, the merchant and the consumer; and there must be no unwarranted interference between one ar-’, the other. Those connected closely with the industry in this country have done nothing else the last few years but interfere in the sphere that does not concern them. This, in my opinion, has cost New Zealand millions of pounds,

and at the present moment we are suff.ring from that interference. ( “Much can be done, and a good deai is beiim done, by introducing and advertising pat butter, thus building up a goodwill for New Zealand butter throughout Great Britain. Much more

remains to be done, but that can be done only by the close co-operation or the factory and its agent, by c° nt l n “* ity of supply, and (above all) by careful attention to the quality of the but ter supplied to tho people who aie go » to eat it.”