TEMUKA.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 29 April 1925, Page 11

TEMUKA.

(From Our Own Correspondent),

DAIRY' PRODUCE CONTROL. . A meeting of importance to dairy farmem was held in the Parish Hall, Temuka, , on, Monday, when Mr W. Grounds, chairman of the Dairy Control Board, advanced reasons why the Board should exercise control over dairy produce from August of next 3 ear. There was a .very; good attendance.

Mr Grounds said that those engaged in the daily industry had felt tliey wore not - getting enough out of their efforts in the, matter of marketing; There were some who said they were genuinely alarmed at tho Board taking over such a huge undertaking involving a turnover of T 20,006,000, but he was satisfied,-itha.t'i niucli of tii© ( criticism .that had been -published ou the question was contradictory. Some of those ’ who wero opposed to the operations of the Board had decided that a certain amount of control was necessary. .With respect to a proposal for educating farmers to improve the quality of their .herds and .increase . the output of dairy produce- to a great extent, lie maintained that such would only intensify the- problem, as it would then be harder to find an outlet for the greater amount of products "T). , ss there was a system of control established. He realised the value of co-opera-tion in tliei matter- of improving the in- • dustry, and’ ho considered that seeing such an advance had been mad© in recent years in the technical knowledge of the industry, it" was essential that more attention should bo paid to the marketing of the produce. New Zealand was now bracketed with Denmark for best quality butter and with Canada for chese. It was necessary to consider seriously the question, of enabling New Zealand to maintain her present higli position in that connection. During its visit to Britain, the overseas delegation of tha Board had been of the opinion that much of the deterioration in dairy produce was due to' the mishandling of it in Britain, whereas a good 1 deal of the trouble was due to the carriage of produce from New Zealand. It was wrong to assert that New Zealand could not maintain the quality of its butter all' the year round. As a matter of fact tlio delegation, as a result of its investigations, had ascertained that New Zealand produce could keep well enough to hold its own against that of any other country in tho world. It was essential, continued Mr Grounds, That a . superfine, grade should be established and 1 that only superfine and first grade butter should ■be shipped- out of* New . Zealand, under ~ a rational brand. He referred to the methods of marketing in the United States and Canada, and stated that those methods had resulted 1 in movement for cq-opevation.-In Canada there/ wa3 a koon desire: at 'the present time, to follow thp .lead oft Nowv Zeal and- in' the matter of‘dairy produce "control. ' There was no desire on the part of the Board to fix the prices without regard ?to the economic position. The Board was awahejyof.- ’Jhe, impprtanco jof ,qconbmy, and?was|of| thdj opinion!; That-; it was nectssiiry' for Unification bf effort to get the best prices for New Zealand ,produce...^He, believed, that, the Dowtpo * was destined 'M. becoihei a. Hand or small holdings, and "it was, there- J fore, necessary, that an effort should be, made to find the best outlet for the additional amount of butter and cheese that was; bound to be produced. Individual effort was not sufficient "to; meet the position. The development of the new centres of distribution and the stabilisation of quality could' only be ensured by a centralised control, WliTclT was 'hlso Mecessaiy tS :, : «nshie;'a •>Std‘atlJr p A'hiU J adg§fidj6e dfstfiKutibn. It ■ was essential for the Board to have the power to divert supplies from distributors. who were proved to be in-, efficient, to • those wlio were efficient,, sp ,as.tp,,obtain the best resultsT'or, the; producer? '* The small factories under the S3 r stem of control would receive a fair price for their superfine products. Dealing; with the question of advances, Mr Grounds, said. that these would be made against, the commodity, and he was certain that there would be no difficulty in this . connection. : The main object of the Board was to, organise ’a system of control in connection with tho distribution of New Zealand produce in Great Britain which would keep pace with the increasing development in. the. Dominion, and lie was confident that in a few’years there would be many producers who would be wondering why the scheme was not adopted many years ago. (Applause.), QUESTIONS. Mr A. It. Guild asked Mr Grounds if at any time during his visit to England, he found any butter and cheese being held in wrong temperature. Mr Grounds replied that on one occasion he found a quantity of butter stored for 26 days in a temperature of 62. He had tested it and the quality, was reduced by 4 points, on the New Zealand grading. Mr J. Caithness asked if it were not a fact that the output of Companies, representing about 26 per cent, of the Dominion’s production, were exempt from tho operation of absolute control? Mr Grounds, in reply, stated that tho New Zealand • Dairy Company would‘be exempt from'absolute control for a certain period, owing to existing contracts being entered into, which were legally binding and Could not be broken.

To another questioner, Mr Grounds stated that it was hoped to get a better net return for the produce than at present, by virtue of tiie fact that many middlemen would be eliminated. Mr AY. If. Staniland asked if the Board was using its influence with, the Government to make cream-grading compulsory. Mr Grounds: Yes, in Australia this method had been; the means of raising the general .quality'of thei butter- by-at least two points..' . ' / . - Mr-Booth asked, if this was the reason why : Australian butter, was on a level rVitli New 'Zealand:!produce some weeks agfr? :'v. ' : ■ Mr Grounds said •tbat. there was a shortage, of Australian produce on, that occasion, owing to supplies being diverted to; other..markets.;. Consequently enhanced prices.- were realised.; Mr G. (Bf ; .Cartwright asked’ how 'the Board was going' to fulfil orders. Mr Grounds replied - that each factory's financial return'.would" be. based upon quality whothor their, output was sold or not. • "• ....

Mr Guild asked .if - the West Coast ports of Great Britain‘could be utilised as markets for New Zealand dairy produce.

Mr Grounds said that undoubtedly they - could', . and that was what the Board was aiming at, but a regular all-the-ycar-rouml supply was essential. At .the present-time, five-sixths of Glas-. gow's supply had to bo railed from London, and only oiic-s'ixth arrived by direqfc shipment. This, of course, increased the cost to the consumer in that city.

In answer to Mr Leo, Mr Grounds, stated that the factories would be paid on New Zealand grading, not English. Mr G. B. Cartwright then moved: “Tliiit this meeting has full confidence, in the Dairy Control Board, in the system of marketing of our dairy produce, and how they may market it in the future.” Mr AY. H. Staniland seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.

NOTES. Tn connection with the T7.A.0.D. i iig-of-war tournament, a lighted candle competition was won by AY. Ahuing (Winchester), who guessed ,‘l6 hours, the actual time -being .‘ls hours. 55 minutes. The clock competition was won I>\- (1. E. Bierce, who gues-ed O.L’Bl. the actual time being G p.ru.