MEAT FOR EXPORT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 47, 25 February 1941, Page 9

MEAT FOR EXPORT

THE PRESENT POSITION EFFORT TO SAVE EXPLAINED Claiming that the policy i adopted hy the Meat Board is to sacrifice 501bs. of meat to get rid of 301bs. of fat. Mr. S. Timbs, I Wanganui, in an interview witii | the ‘Chronicle,” draws attention to the recent activities of the board and recounts his own endeavours to demonstrate an improvement in present methods of preparing meat for export. ‘‘During July and August, 1940, reports from Home of the hardship and injustice inflicted on the British public, owing to so much excessively fat New Zealand mutton and lamb, aroused me to use what knowledge I possessed to awaken in the minds of the men who control the meat export business of New Zealand, the urgent, necessity to overhaul the technique used, in the selection and preparation of our> meat to be shipped to Great Britain for the duration of the war,” said Mr. Timbs. Objective ‘‘My objective was a threefold one, viz.: (1) To ship all meat as free from waste as possible; (2.) to ship all meat to use the minimum of space for storage; (3) to ship all meat in the best manner to preserve our trade goodwill. Trial Shipment Refused ‘‘To push this objective into a concrete form, the Meat Board and the Marketing Division of the Government were asked to grant a permit for a trial shipment, a gift shipment, to try out in a practical businesslike manner, what improvements could be made. I made no claim to infallibility, but just simply asked for permission to see if something could be done, as the British consumers regard for New Zealand meats was being rapidly undermined, and the shipping prospects were very bad. This request was refused, much to my chagrin, as I knew it was imperative to make the trials before the new season opened. "However, persistence prevailed, and the Controller of Primary Industries invited me to give a demonstration at the Ngahauranga Works, Wellington, on January 30, 1941. The following was the agenda handed to me by Mr. Cockayne, the controller, on the way to carry out the demonstration . The Comptroller's Agenda Trimming of Meat—Mr. S. S. Timbs' Method “The following is the suggested outline of the experimental work to be undertaken in connection with Mr. Timbs’ method for the trimming of heavy meat: (1) A parcel of 50 heavy-weight ewes to be purchased from one of the two Wellington meat companies for the purposes of trial. (2) The trial to be supervised by officers of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board and the Departments of Agriculture and Marketing. (3) The scope of the trial to be undertaken is as follows: (a) Storage capacity required for carcases in their present form. (b) Storage capacity required for carcases in their present form, but telescoped. (c) Storage capacity required for carcases trimmed in accordance with Mr. Timbs’ method. (d) Storage capacity required for carcases which are telescoped after being trimmed by Mr. Timbs’ method. “(4) On completion of the experimental measurements in New Zealand, the Marketing Department to export the carcases to the United Kingdom with instructions that they be inspected and sold on valuation and that a full report be obtained from the trade and from the Government officers in London relative to the condition of the meat on arrival and to the desirability or otherwise of sending further parcels in a like condition. Recent Developments “The 50 sheep were then prepared according to the above instructions. Unofficial measurements taken immediately after the demonstration placed the "trimmed” carcases first, the trimmed carcases "telescoped” second, and the other two classes very much out of the running. “Up to date, February 24, no official records have come to hand. The demonstration results up to the present are, viz:— (1) The New Zealand Meat Board’s revival of the 1938-39 partial embargo, which automatically condemns to the vat at a value approximately 2s 6d per head, all ewes over 721 b. These ewes bc-ff' ' the demonstration brought in a; : mately 20s per head. (2) The New Zealand Meat Board on February 22, published an article entitled “Preparation of Carcases,” wherein they prejudged to condemnation all the points I claim for my methods, points that the trial consignment was r.ade expressly to try out in a sensible businesslike manner, and so well provided for in the conditions enumerated in the agenda. Sacrificing Meat "I, personally, am satisfied. My efforts will put many tons of fat into sacks that would have been placed on the plate as food for the British worker and his family. The cost is high, but the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board in their wisdom, think it allright to sacrifice 501 b. of good meat to get rid of 301bs. of waste. (I wanted to save that 501bs. meat).”