BUTTER QUALITY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21554, 17 January 1940, Page 3

BUTTER QUALITY

DECLINE IN GRADING CAUSE NOT ASCERTAINED The drop in the grade allotted to butter made in some Waikato factories this season has caused a good deal of concern to factory directors, and difficulty has been experienced in ascertaining the cause. One company which usually has a very large proportion of its output graded finest and comparatively little classed as first grade has had the mortification this season of finding much of its produce graded down heavily. An officer of the Dairy Division said that, although production had been heavy this season, many cows entered into the lactation period in poor condition owing to the severe weather experienced during the winter. The consequence was that the cream was weak and any feed flavours in it became more pronounced than otherwise would have been the case. The grader said there had been no change in the system of grading and that uniformity had always been aimed at by the whole staff. A dairy company manager said that although the grading in some of the butter factories controlled by his company was down this season in other instances it was above the average. On the whole there had been no great difference in the quality of the produce manufactured compared with that of other seasons, and what difference there was was difficult to account for. Factories which formerly had a comparatively low grading were well up this season. This occurred in districts where the climatic conditions were much more severe than they were in other aretas in South Auckland. On the other hand, factories which in the past had won prizes for the quality of their output were this season well down in the grading lists, although there had been no change in the management or any other known factor that might account for it.