Report on the trade in refrigerated beef, mutton and lamb

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1800540760

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-185131

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report on the trade in refrigerated beef, mutton and lamb

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1925

Scope:: vi, 65 Seiten; Ill., graph. Darst.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter III. Present sources of supply

Collection:: Economics Books

'Q (iii) South America.—While New Zealand is predominantly the country of first-grade mutton and lamb, the Argentine and Uruguay are producers of first-grade beef and constitute the only area which is at present a large exporter of chilled beef. Attempts have been made at various times to ship chilled beef trom Australia and New Zealand, but, up to the present, such shipments have not been successful commercially, while recent regulations regarding the use of a preservative which promised success has again left the question one for further experiment. South America has several natural advantages as a meat supplier. It has, first, the advantage of position, meat vessels taking just over three weeks from the River Plate to London, as against five to six weeks from Australia. In addition, the meat works on the Plate are better placed for loading, so that a vessel can pick up a cargo and leave for England in a few days; whereas, after loading beef on the coast of Queensland, a ship may have to call at various ports to get a complete cargo, and may not be able to sail for several weeks. Again, both the Argentine and Uruguay are free from the devastating droughts which are such a disturbing and difficult factor in the Australian trade. It is not surprising, therefore, that a highly-organised and efficient industry should have been built up. There are experts who hold the view that the Argentine has reached the limit of its productive capacity under existing conditions, but there appears to be no general agreement on this important point. The cattle are mainly of the Shorthorn type; the basis of the herds is British, stock-raisers, for many years, having been eager buyers of British pedigree bulls. The cattle are largely fed on alfalfa—or finished off on it or on cake—and attain maturity at about 23 years of age, when they give about 800 lb. of dressed meat. Breeding and fattening are distinct businesses. The climate allows breeding practically all the year round, so that the export trade, unlike that of Australia and New Zealand, is not seasonal, though there is a decline in supplies during the Argentine winter until the new grass comes on. The cattle are frequently dishorned during the first two months after birth in order to avoid bruising during drinking or when heing railed. The buyers of the freezing companies buy at the farms or in the market, the cattle being bought at so much per head. In 1923, sale by live weight was made compulsory in Argentine, she object being to assure for the cattle-owner a fair sale. For various reasons, among them the fact that facilities for weighing were not universally available, the statute was suspended for six months, but it is now operative. After the cattle are bought, they are railed down to the freezing works (frigorifico), care being taken that they do not suffer in transit. Among the precautions adopted on the railways are locked couplings to prevent jolting and bruising, sprinklers so that cattle do not

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