THE BACON INDUSTRY

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14599, 24 February 1921, Page 6

THE BACON INDUSTRY

MEETING IN HAMILTON. CO-OPERVTION ADVOCATED. DEVELOPMENTS \NTIOIPATED. An important meeting held in Hamilton on Tuesday gave inlerest'ng proo of the high slate of organisation achieved by the New Zealand Dairy Company A few days ago (lie directors of Lin company decided. a| the request of lln New Zealand Meal Packing and Bacoi Co. i co-operative) to hold a meetinnf conveners of suppliers' committees In each district where (be |tair\ Com pany operates these suppliers i led . ,<•< ii.miit.te,; annually. |o look after Iheii interests. The Dairy Company has I H suppliers' committee's, and in responsi |o a telegram senl nit ;i feu days '-" over inn conveners alien,led Tuesday's meeting. The object of the meeting was I' consider Hie present UllMlisfili'lnT) smie of Hie pig industry, and lo ascertain whether sonic scheme could be formulated to stabilise the induslry, an thus prevent a recurrence of Hie violent fluctuation in the price of pits whirl h;>s taken place recently MrW. Claude s'otion, chairman of directors of tin h.V'v Company, presided, and Messrs •]". C. Blaekclt. Joseph (dark. E. C Banks, J. T. Bryant, J. T. Young, R. M Somcrville and B. 11. McKcnzie, directors of the Hairy Company, were in attendance, Mr P. C. Baron, general manage! of the Bacon Company, an I Messrs J Barugli, T. Patterson and Jacob Marx directors, were' also present. Value of By-products. In outlining Hie object, of Ihe meeting, the chairman said he had hoped tc hove some concrete scheme to place before them. The dire,-;, ,-s of Ihe Dairj Company considered sonic action sliouh ■be taken to place the by-pro iil-ds of lh, dairy industry on a better fooling, hut until a definite scheme was placed before them they were nol in a position to give a lead to the suppliers. lb hoped that as a result of the meeting something tangible would be submitted by the Bacon Company s representatives. Mr A. J. Sinclair, assistant manager of the Dairy Company, stressed tin llnaneial side of ihe by-products in relation to dairying. The serious decline in Ihe prii f pigs had to some oxlcnl nullified Ho- efforts of Ihe Hairy Company in securing a satisfactory price for I,idler. I'.aeb yea,- Ihe by-products became a nmre iniporlani factor on the dairy farm, and Ihe presenl drop in Ihe price of pigs uieaiil the same loss to suppliers financially as if butter had been sold at 270 s instead of ','SOs. Any feasible scheme for placing Ihe pig induslry on a satisfactory footing could, therefore, be assure,.! of the company s support. Effect of Co-operation. Mr 5. C. Baron, general manager of the Bacon Company, dealt fully with the present position of the industry. He traced developments from the year 1916, when the whole of the bacon industry in New Zealand was faced with a serious crisis. He maintained that his company had played a most important pari in Ihe bacon induslry of New Zealand, and Ili.it if it bad nol been operating it is very rlilheull In say where Ihe industry would have been to-day. Many farmers bad unfortunately purchased store pigs on Ihe price ruling some lime ago for bi n pigs, and lliej were placed in a serious llnaneial position, bul he asked tin m |o remember that these prices ha,l I n purely lielilioiis. and were offered at a lime when there were few pigs available, Mr Baron staled tii.it tie- presenl position could have been a-Verteil, of at least greatly minimised, if Ihe 11, i Company had been assisted in ils policy of making a progress payment throughout the year, and finishing up with a supplementary payment a) the end of the season. It had now been decided by his company to go before (he producers and ask tlu-ir co-operation in preventing a recurrei if Ihe unsatisfactory stale of affairs which now existed, lie said the bacon industry was difllcull lo handle for several reasons. They were dealing with a pro,bid that was continually shrinking, and it was a class of business in which it was necessary |o hold slocks in reserve for a longer period than almost any other business. Advances could be obtained against wo,,], meat and butter, etc., bul this did not apply to pig products, so that the present, financial stringency had a si pious effect. The selling end of the business also presented difficulty. The policy of the Bacon Company had been to aim at a fair and reasonable price to Ihe consumer as well as the producer. Extremely high'prices merely curtailed ,-, nsuuiplion, and he felt, assured thai the fanners themselves were strongly j\ersc lo high prices at the selling end. [Applause.) Mr Baron then submitted details with regard lo the constitution or the Bacon Company, lie mentioned that out of ten directors six were elected by the farmers, and that provision was made 1.1 the Articles to increase the directorate to fifteen, of whom eleven would be elected by the farmers. The capacity of the company's plant was 80.000 ti 100.000 pio-s per annum, but owing I-, the serious shortage of piars In New Zealand during the past year, the company's plant had not hem running lo 115, full capacity. During the ilrst two years the company operated tliey paid on! bonuses to their shareholders amounting lo c-.M.00n, but for Ihe last two years Ihe company's policy of paying op| Ihe advance taymeril. and sup- |,|, meillilig ibis h> a I,,,nus at II ml ~| 110- season had lo he temporarily abandoned owing I" Hie extreme short age of pigs and consequent 111111<•■• llli y competition. 11,. maintained that the presence of Hie co-operative rornpan> had a very beneficial effect on Ihe pig industry, rmmelhing like 80.000 pigs were killed a miila 11y. and an increase of Id per lb meant something like £IO,OOO per annum. He urged Ihe farmers |o support the ee-operafive institution, which,si I as a bulwark between the producer and Ihe public. If this \ve|-,- riot doim the industry might fail back lo where it was Some 10 year-; ago. when the hulk of the business was in the hands of proprietary concerns. Loud applause, ■ Recommendation to Suppliers. Mr Jacob M irx, "f Tamil iki. gave an outline "f developments in Ihe Taranaki district with regard lo Hie industry. Questions were limn in\ifed, and \ aid nils phases of the pjg induslry discussed. I'lie reeling in Ihe meeting was lhal a -Ireiiui.iis effort should be made by Hi ■ farmers lo support lb -opet-nijve .;, mpany. Eventually the following resolution, proposed by Mr '.has. Hiorns, of Te Kuili. seconded by Major Spras-g. of Papakura, was passed: "Thai the ,-,,-,-, posals of !he Bacon i ompanv be sub milted in a concrete form |o the di rectors of lhe N.Z. Hairy Company, ?,, that they may delibcral i the matte and make a recommendation to the sur. - pliers." Subsequently a private conference between Ho- directors of Ihe Ha, '', mpany and the dii tors of Hie Hairy Company was held, as a result nl which i'i rtain developments will lake place at an early dale.