H—3OA

Local sales of butter, including those to Pacific Forces, were as follows: —

Local Market Sales of Butter for Year ended 31st March, 1946

Dairy Butterfat The dry-butterfat plant has continued to function in the same way as last year, processing only such quantities of farm or deteriorated butters as have been available,, and also recovering fat from paper stripped from bulk butter. The cessation of military orders and the smaller local butter consumption has reduced this still further. However, the Dry Fat Committee (representing the Dairy Board, Dairy Research Institute, Export Division, and Internal Marketing Division) has recommended that the plant should be retained if accommodation can be found at a reasonable cost. A suitable building is. therefore to be erected on the roof of the Division's Auckland premises, to which the plant will be moved and where it will be operated as required. The Frankton plant, which was installed at the request of the United Kingdom Government, but, fortunately, never needed, has been dismantled and, in the main, already sold. Half of the comparatively small loss upon the plant will be borne by Britain. Administration War conditions have caused some fairly drastic changes in many of our distributing procedures, originating as temporary expedients to meet shortages of labour, plant, and requisites. In pre-war days the Division generally licensed as distributors such manufacturing dairies and merchants as had previously operated. This meant that in most of the larger towns and in all the cities there was considerable overlapping of delivery. In Palmerston North, for example, three or four licensed merchants, as well as dairy companies, delivered butter to retailers over the same area. When the Division was later instructed to arrange butter delivery to effect the greatest possible economy in man-power, petrol, tires, and vehicles it helped to eliminate redundant services by—(1) Amalgamation of distributors, as in the City of Wellington ; . (2) Amalgamation of dairy company deliveries, as in Palmerston North ; and (3) Zoning of delivery areas, as in Auckland. These amalgamations of deliveries, though instituted purely as a war measure, caused dairy factories near the larger towns to form themselves into co-operative units, thus eliminating their licensed agents. These co-operative farm products companies, although composed of dairy companies in the first instance, proceeded to deliver other primary products such as eggs, cheese, honey, and bacon. Poultry-farmers also, in some areas, formed themselves into co-operative companies composed of producers in order to share in the. local farm products company and' its activities.

3

— Creamery. U.S. Forces Creamery. Whey. Total. 1945 April May .. June July August September October November December 1946 January February March lb. 4,362,231 4,958,218 3,698,369 3,604,784 3,792,629 3,686,103 4,008,509 3,560,235 4,308,396 3,753,958 3,535,711 3,699,733 lb. 881,224 661,114 615,540 820,050 1,935,794 2,860.362 2,619,776 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil lb. 50,706 56,069 45,299 29,005 35,501 29,319 40,939 36,400 34,811 36,547 35,189 37,659 lb. 5,294,161 5,675,401 4,359,208 4,453,839 5,763,924 6,575,784 6,669,224 3,596,635 4,343,207 3,790,505 3,570,900 3,737,392 46,968,876 10,393,860 467,444 57,830,180