DAIRYING INDUSTRY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18617, 12 July 1930, Page 3

DAIRYING INDUSTRY

FUNCTIONS OF CONTROL BOARD. ADDRESS BY MR W. LEE. On Thursday evening. In Temuka, Mr W. Lee (Waikouaiti). member of the Dairy Control Board, gave an address on the working of the Board during the past year. There was an attendance of twenty farmers and others interested. Mr R. Lee. chairman of the Temuka Co-operative Dairy Company, presided. Mr Lee expressed pleasure at again being in Temuka to give an account of his stewardship, and to discuss some of the problems facing the dairying industry. He said that since he was I last in Temuka a vast change had i come over the economic conditions, I not only of New Zealand, but of the I whole world ,as prices for most prim- | ary products had fallen below a payI able level. If there was one redeeming 1 feature, it was that dairy produce had I not suffered to the same extent as I some of the other products. Whether I this wjys due to prudence, custom or ! the Scottish character of many factory 1 directors in the south, the fact re- ! mained that through having sold fori ward, about ninety per cent, of dairyI men had not yet felt the depression. ! ‘With the low prices ruling,” Mr Lee I said, “you might be excused for asking ' what the Board is doing to allow such ! a state of affairs.” He would say quite frankly that, apart from regulatI ing supplies, seeing that the produce | was carried to market under the best

conditions, kept under proper conditions at Home, advertising New Zealand products there, and endeavouring to preserve the best of goodwill with the trade at Home, the Board could

not appreciate prices. But one thing it could do, and that was it could endeavour to, and had been successful in bringing down the cost of freight insurance storage at Home. Mr Lee said he felt he was safe in saying that It was along these lines that the hopes of the dairymen lay, not only in the work of the Board, but in their own costs of production on the farm and in the factory. Freight Contract. Mr Lee said that twelve months ago, the Board’s Shipping Committee, of which he was a member, interviewed the Union Steamship Company with a view' to securing a reduction of freight on butter shipped to Pacific Coast ports. When the existing rate (4/6 per box) had been fixed, the total number of boxes carried annually was 35,000. Last year the number had risen to 200,000, and the Board felt justified in seeking a reduction. The Board had secured a reduction of 6d per box, an annual saving of £SOOO. | This was on condition that the freight j carried was maintained. At that time, Mr Lee continued, the Board’s main freight contract had twelve months to run, but in view of the improved facilities, and time saved in discharge, brought about by improvements instituted by the Board, the Board felt they were entitled to a rebate on the existing rate. They were unsuccessful in obtaining a rebate, but realised that their effort was not work in vain, as it had laid a foundation for a reduction when the contract was to be renewed. A contract had just recently been drawn up for a further term of three years at a reduction of £35,000 per annum. Insurance. “As you are. no doubt, aware,” Mr Lee went on, “the Board has the power to arrange insurance for the whole

industry.” Through having that legal authority, the Board had been enabled J since its inception, to secure reductions in premiums totalling £32.000 annually. 1 Twelve months ago the Board's manager was given authority to make a further contract for three years, thus securing a reduction of £5250 each year. This reduction, of course, was included in the amount referred to above. The policy was most comprehensive, covering against all risks from the time the milk goes across the “stage” until it had been stored at Home for 30 days. The contract was conditional on the Board’s system of inspection of loading and unloading produce being continued. Touching on advertising, Mr Lee said that the Board spent £15,000 annually for advertising, and judging from some of the unbiased reports received from the Board’s manager at Home, and from visitors there, it was money well spent. The main work was done by selling small packets of butter and cheese. As showing the value of the advertising, Mr Lee quoted from a letter from the Board’s manager in London, as follows: — “After two years’ unbiassed observation, I can definitely say that our advertising expenditure is justified. Large distributors have recently volunteered the information that the public are in ever-increasing numbers asking especially for New Zealand butter, and in particular the manager of the Wholesale Co-operative Society’s butter department, who reports definite results from the Board’s advertising.” Another testimony came from the deputy-Mayor of Goulburn (N.S.W.). who had just returned from a visit Home.

Mr Lee said that all would agree that the best -way of advertising their products was by producing nothing but the best quality. In regard to butter, they could fairly claim that there was little to complain of. All reports spoke highly of New Zealand butter, and complaints were rare. He was sorry to say that reports regarding cheese were anything but reassuring. He was speaking more particularly of North Island cheese. He was glati to say that the South Island, which first commenced the manufacture and export of cheese, was to be congratulated on the fact that she bore a much higher reputation. Making due allowance, he considered that the large increase in production in recent years might account for the increased number of complaints, some of which, to say the least, were disturbing. “I think the statements recently issued by Mr Veale, the Taranaki Federation’s scientist, are to be deplored,” Mr Lee said. “It is all right to discuss family failings within the family, but to publish the failings broadcast, enabling them to be used by our competitors, to our detriment, is over the odds.” (Hear, hear).

Questions. In answer to a question as to the Board’s annual expenses, Mr Lee said that these amounted to £27,000. Included in that sum were the costs entailed by the Board for doing the whole of the shipping for both Islands, and this work had greatly increased since 1923-24, owing to the multitude of merchants and the splitting of outputs. Mr Added that at one time producers were obliged to pay between £4OOO and £SOOO to the two Dairy Associations for doing shipping work, whereas, at the present time, owing to the savings effected on marine insurance, the whole of the work was being done at actually no cost to the industry. Mr Lee stated also that at one time the expense of running the Board had been close on £55,000, and the reduction shown had been brought about in the last two years. The saving in insurance more than paid the expenses of the Board. Mr R. Lee inquired what steps could

be taken to reduce the cost of production to farmers. He stated that farmers were now spending as little as they possibly could, and could not afford to pay out more. Mr W. Lee said the question was one with a very big scope. He said that, at the present time, as was the case 30 years ago, the cry of over- , production was heard. Thirty years ago, he said, New Zealand’s annual export of dairy produce totalled £200,000. Last year, the total reached £20,000,000, so that undoubtedly there was a surplus reaching Home. But to raise the cry of over-production was the most hopeless and most injurious doctrine that could be instilled into the minds of dairymen. To reduce production would be a calamity. The farmer’s way of saving lay along the way of renewed effort to raise a little more produce off the same farm, and a few more lbs. of butter off the same number of cows, thus lessening his overhead costs. This should go with a sustained effort to produce milk and cream of the very highest quality so that those engaged in the manufacture of their produce might have a fair chance of turning out cheese and butter of the highest quality, and by so doing increase the demand for New Zealand produce. In answer to a further question, Mr Lee said that the Temuka Cooperative Dairy Company last year paid a total levy of £73/10/-, and had a saving, through the Board’s activities, of £941. The Board freely granted that some freight reductions would have been made, but they must get the credit of the savings, as no one previously had the legal authority.

Vote of Thanks. The chairman proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Lee for his address, saying that the speaker had put the business of the Board plainly before the meeting. The vote of thanks was carried by acclamation. AT CLANDEBOYE. At Clandeboye last evening, Mr Lee gave a second address, Mr W. H. Staniland, chairman of the Clandeboye Co-operative Dairy Company, presiding over a good attendance.