HERD TESTING

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19637, 25 July 1935, Page 8

HERD TESTING

DOMINION ASSOCIATION.

ANNUAL MEETING OF CONVENERS

YEAR’S WORK REVIEWED,

The 12th. annual meeting of conveners of the New Zealand Co-Op-erative Herd Testing Association was held at the Wattle Tea Rooms to-day when the chairman of directors, - Ir. A. Candy presided. motor's After the adoption of the director annual report (already publishe ) chairman stated that he was et ) to' see so many conveners present at the meeting.; It spoke volumes for their keenness. Over the last 12 months, he regretted to say, prices had shown little alteration. Improved pay-outs had been made to butter suppliers, u slightly decreased payments had been made to cheese suppliers. The increased payments to butter supplieis, however, had been counter-balanced by the reduced production brought about by the extremely dry weather. Mr. Candy said he was sorry to state, that as far as the dairy industry was concerned it was still in the same unsatisfactory position that it has been dn for the past few years. It seemed to he a fact that.a section; of the community was losing hope and this was particularly unfortunate as this was the greatest asset that the community could possess.

Freer Trade wanted.

Many solutions of the present problems had been- suggested. It was said that if nations were to become internationally minded 'and trade barriers were broken down a freer exchange of goods would result. Some felt that some -system of monetary reform would solve the problem. ;

, Undue Importance .had. been attached to herd averages In the past from a competitive point of- view. Members of the association should.keep in mind that the primary funßtion of the association was to differentiate between the bad and the good cow in the individual member’s herd. Oyer a period of years great results' had been obtained in Russia by artificial insemination and it was felt by the directorate that some experimental work in conjunction with the Department of of Agriculture should be carried out. It was hoped to secure- some, outstanding sire and. to v ;.use this'-; particular animal on 'SOO to 600 dairy cows by the means of artificial insemination. Comprehensive would be carried out and very useful knowledge would be gained.

Election of Officers.

The two retiring directors, Messrs W. H. Allen, (Tlrau,) and R. A. Candy, (Ngarua,) were re-elected. ■Mr R. 'P. Hazard was re-elected auditor. : / a " '' K " :; Survey of Operations. An interesting survey of the operations -of the association during the 1934-35 season was given by the general manager of the association, Mr S. J. Sheaf, in llis annual report. •During the season -1-809 herds comprising 109,715 -cows Were to be tbsted as against 2,045 herds, 122,286 cows last season, a decrease of 236 in the number of herds and 12,571 in the number of cows,. The number of cows tested in the various districts over which the association operated was ns follows: North Auckland, 8,360; South Auckland, (Auckland to Hamilton), 26,133; Waikato, 38,953; Te Awamulu, 8,393; King Country, 9,950; Rotorua and Putaruru, 6,605; Haiirnki Plains, 5.566; Coromandel Peninsula, Waihi. and .Matatoki, 5,455. The total number of cows'tested was 109,715.

The. production per cow over the whole of the association for the past season showed a ;decrease of 4.03 per cent. The January average was the lowest ever recorded by the association, while that of February was the lowest since the 1927-28 season. It was interesting to note that the average for the month of May constituted a record for the association.

Average Size of Herds.

The average size of the herds under test, together with the corresponding figures for the .1934-35 season, was-as follows: (a) Based on cows actually tested, 00.0.4 ,'(59/80); (b) based on cows “charged for,” 56/48' (56.22), The outside staff employed totalled 75, as compared with,B3 for the 193334 seasofi, as follows:Depot officers, 7 (7) ; testing officers 35 (39); sampling oßlcers, 33 (37). Last season 41 members of the outside staff had supplied their own inolor vehicles as against 38 last year, the remaining 27 using horse-drawn vehicles as against 38 last year. Tho work of the head office staff during the 'past season was entirely satisfactory. As a result of progressive improvements in recording work, tho association could claim almost 100 per cent, accuracy in its calculations.

The composite check lest system, a method erf keeping a reliable check on the work of the association’s outside staff, had again proved, the accuracy of the testing carried out by the association. The average difference per officer was ,331 b fat for the 30-day period, which, it would be agreed, was an excellent result.

Calf Marking

The total number of ”K” calves marked to date was 5050 as compared with £58.1 “J" calves marked last season. At the end of last season all 5-Sin. tattoo figures and letters in use were withdrawn and replaced with the smaller 3-Bin. size, as tile latler were undoubtedly preferable for tattooing calves. In March last "marked calf” fairs were held at Matamata, Frankten Junclion and Pukekohe, 320 calves being sold at an average price of £i j >j s 7id. Owing to the low prices ruling for all classes of dairy stock during the past few seasons, the statement bad sometimes beeij made that “marked” calves were worth no more than “unmarked ’ artimals. The incorrectness of lliis statement''was proved by tlic fact that the average price realised at the “marked calf” fairs represented a premium of about 100 per cent, over the average prices ruling at that time for “marked” calves.

Proved Bull Schemo. Reference had been made in the directors report lo (he preliminary work carried out by the association in (Continued in next r.nlnmn X

an endeavour to formulate a sound practicable proved bull soheme. A considerable amount of useful data had been taken out in the nature of daughter—dam comparisons, the results of which have been tabulated and also graphed. Twenty bull surveys were supplied during the season to several members who had a sufficiently large number of records available, to ehable an effective and reliable survey to be compiled. “v; ; ; .

Financial Position. As a result of. the decline in mem*bershlp last season,,:the total income was £I3OB lis Gd less than the previous year. The association’s expenditure ''showed a decrease of £IOOB 17s 4d, leaving an increased loss as compared with the previous season of £299 14s 2d. The directors and management used every endeavour to -N keep expenditure down to the lowest possible level, particularly in view of the decreased revenue, but as was generally tire case, the fall in income was not followed by a corresponding fall in expenditure. 11. General Business. ' The best policy to be followed ift regard to group meetings . was discussed at length, it being * eventually decided to leave the matter in abeyance for the time being. A lengthy and animated discussion arose when 'Mr J. H. Furniss moved a resolution in regard to the subsidy granted to the herd-testing movement, lo the effect “That this meeting is emphatically of the opinion that there is no justification for refusing to continue the subsidy of approximately lid per cow tested under the group herd testing system if the Government proposes to continue the subsidy of 15s Od per cow for cows tested under the C.O.R. and O.H.T. system, the latter systems being practically useless unless supplemented by .the group herd testing system.” The resolution was finally carried after various speakers had spoken of the futility of antagonising the breed societies which the resolution would have the effect of doing. > Mr Candy explained the.nature of the experimental work that the association intended carrying out in regard lo artificial insemination. It had been decided to acquire an outstanding sire and to have it stationed at the Ruakura Farm of Insruction for the use of member's. Dr. 11. E. Annett, in moving that the meeting record Its appreciation of tlie work that the association was doing in this connection? stated that the association was carrying out a work that was essentially of a pioneer nature. ,