The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1926. BETTER DAIRY PRODUCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19648, 6 September 1926, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1926. BETTER DAIRY PRODUCE

The Imperial Economic Committee’s report on preparation and marketing of dairy produce, which was summarised in a lengthy cablegram on Friday, has evidently aroused as great interest in London as it has done in this country. The striking feature of the report is its frank warning that the producers of the Empire must “effect economies’’ in order to meet the inevitably severe competition that awaits them in the British market. Argentina, Siberia, Russia and the Baltic States arc mentioned as increasingly serious rivals to the Dominions, and it is pointed out that in the northern countries the wages and standards of living are relatively low. Their butter and cheese are produced cheaply, and the question for the Dominions to consider is how best to counteract this advantage.

New Zealand, of course, has been considering this matter for some time past, though it may be questioned whether the result has been altogether satisfactory. In a general way those engaged in the dairy industry know that it is necessary to increase the quantity and improve the quality of the output in order to meet competition; but in spite of what has been done in those directions greater effort is needed. The Imperial Economic Committee suggests that cow testing should be generally adopted and the improvement of pastures and fodder crops and attention to breeding would bring about a greatly increased output.

Winter dairying is one of the aids to marketing suggested by the Committee, but this is a matter for close investigation. It may be that winter dairying would promote regularity so far as the shipment of produce is concerned, and that is a very desirable thing. But the main question is whether New Zealand could produce butter and cheese of the first quality during the winter at a cost that would enable them to compete successfully with their rivals on the British market. Could the dairy farmers organise their herds and their holdings on such lines as to ensure profitable production during the winter? This question can only be answered when careful inquiry has been made. The virtue of herd-testing is patent. Yet there must be among the Dominion’s dairy farmers to-day a number who continue milking comparatively worthless cows because systematic testing has not been tried. The efforts of some organisations to clear “scrub” bulls out of the country indicate that there must still be a good many of these undesirable animals in existence. If all dairy farmers were seriously trying to improve the output of milk testing would be general and every care would be taken to prevent the perpetuation of inferior stock. The improvement of pastures and fodder crops is a sufficiently obvious means of increasing the dairy output. The value of top-dressing as a means of keeping pasture up to the mark is often talked of nowadays. The importance of fodder crops is also stressed by authorities. Most people must have realised by now that grass will not renew itself year after year without assistance and that it is only under exceptional conditions that grass alone will keep a herd up to the mark and enable it to produce milk of the best quality. The application of this knowledge is what the Imperial Economic Committee advocates. It is not to be expected for a moment that the New Zealand dairy farmers should lower their standard of living in order to compete successfully with the Siberian dairy farmers, whose standard of living is far lower. The New Zealander must achieve his objective by using superior methods, by being more scientific, by working more efficiently than his rival. Let it not be overlooked that the New Zealander has a very great advantage so far as climate is concerned. His herd does not require the careful housing that is necessary in Northern Europe, and the genial New Zealand climate helps him to provide food for his stock. If the dairy farmers of this country will make full use of their opportunities they will be able to increase the output in quantity and quality and set a standard that the rival suppliers of the British market will find it hard to equal.