Auckland Farmers' Freezing Co., Ltd.

Te Puke Times, 27 September 1932, Page 3

Auckland Farmers' Freezing Co., Ltd.

The Aunual Report.

The following interesting information is contained in the annual report of The Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Co. Ltd., delivered at the annual meeting on Friday last

The past season has proved a satisfactory one for our Company and has given proof of the wisdom of the policy we followed at the beginning of last year and which I touched on in my remarks to you at last year’s annual meeting. We had made a reduction in our freezing rates on dairy produce as from Ist July 1931, which not only passed on the whole of the saving in wages by the 10 par cent reduction which then came into force, but a very substantial amount in addition ; in persuance of the policy which has been the aim of our Company since its inception, to provide the services needed by the farmers in the handling of their own export produce, at the lowest possible cost, consistent with sound economic practice so as to meet the growing needs of the Province and so maintain the principles for which our Company was brought into existence. While as yet our meat rates for the coming season have not yet been fully reviewed it is the hope of our Board that we may still be able to refrain from in oreasing the existing rates. The price of meat products is such that even a small increase has an important bearing and unfortunately as yet there is not much prospect in view of improvement in prices.

The.Kings’s Wharf Works have handled a great volume of dairy produce, fruit and sundry other good and everything has worked satisfactorily. In face of what now seems to be a fixed polioy in the Dairy Industry to hold the produoe at this end so as to spread its airival in Britain more evenly over the year, and the steadily increasing volume of dairy produce, meat, and fruit, it is clear that we must again prooeed to make further storage provision on King’s Wharf, capable of storing 240,000 boxes of butter. No new refrigerating machinery is required. We hope to have this building available ' early next year in time for the peak of storage demands.

At the Southdown works we handled a much increased output of lamb, the increase being 31,034 bead and an inorease also in sheep, calves, bobby calves and beef, but a heavy reduction in piga. At the Horotiu works we have had a considerable capital expenditure in provision of the new engine and refrigerating plant. We treated a much greater number of lambs during the past season, the increase being 39,934 bead, with increases in sheep and cattle, but a heavy reduction in pigs and also in oalves and bobby oalves. We handled increased killings of lambs, sheep and cattle, at the Moerewa Works, lambs showing over 18 per oent, ncrease, sheep 83 per cent., and cattle over three times as many as the previous season, We have at our three meat works handled 20,983 oattle during the past season, an increase ol 53.7 per cent. A large per cenj of these were 1 boner ’ olass. The prices for prime beef were very low, and really quite unpayable to the growers. London prices, equal fores and hinds, only reached about in Ootober last, and were as low as 2jfcd for ox beef in March.

The killing of pigs this past season showed a reduction of fully 33 per cent. The reduction for the Province in export Works killings was seeminglylß,7ss bead, giving 20 ? per cent, of reduction on the previous seasom Our reduoed killing was, of course, partly due to the New Zealand Co-operative Pig Marketing Association deciding to accept a cut rate quotation from the Westfield Freezing Company. There has been a very heavy supply of European cured pig meat concentrated on the British market during the past season which has had a serious effect oh the price levels.

In the lamb section we had a total increase of 85,998 head, or just over 30 per cent, more than the previous season. The total export lamb killing for Auckland was seemingly over three quarter of a million lambs —an increase of 161,178 lambs, or 27 per cent. Also in grown sheep we had an increased killing of equal to 44.6 per cent., while the total export killing for the Province seemingly increased by 115,144 or 125.5 per cent.

The output of butter has again been a record, the inorease over the previous season being 294,186 boxes, o? 11.3 per cent. There was, however, a reduction in the ehee; e output of 27,960 crates or 11.3 per cent,