Thursday, March 7, 1968 Province compared with 37,000 in 19G7. This represents a decrease of almost 20%, and I think the various reasons why our dairy herds are decreasing is that farmers enjoy this specialized way of living and it is pretty hard to get a cow operating on eight hours a day, she just won't do it. The statistical facts are here. Some Member : Or five days a week. Hon . Daniel J. MacDonald : Or five days a week, a cow just won't do it and you can't take her with you on the weekend to the beach because there is not room. (Laughter) Walter Dingwell : Mr. Speaker , I would like to ask a question? Was there a corres¬ ponding decrease on production? Hon . Daniel J. MacDonald : No, this is further on in my speech, I have this further on in my statement, Mr. Speaker , and I will be glad to bring it out at that time. Leo F. Rossiter : Are they going out of dairy herds altogether or are some of them going into beef cattle? Hon . Daniel J. MacDonald : Some of them, Mr. Speaker , are going out of dairy herds altogether. I can cite sections that I knew of people who had ten and twelve, but have been replaced to a great degree by those that are still in the dairy industry increasing their herds, and also increasing their productions per cow. Walter R. Shaw : The total number of cows has also gone down? Hon . Daniel J. MacDonald : The total number of cows has steadily declined. Walter R. Shaw : Yes that is right. Hon . Daniel J. MacDonald : It could be a cycle, it could change providing we don't get too much synthetic milk. We have lots of problems ahead of us in the dairy industry and they are certainly being looked into. An increase in the average herd size and also production per cow was noted. J. Walter Dingwell : They are good people if they are given the incentive, more milk with less cows. Hon . Daniel J. MacDonald : That's right and a credit to them. An increase in the average herd size and also production is noted. Other major reasons for these changes could be attributed to the wide-spread use of artificial insemination which makes it possible for dairymen to utilize the services of the best bulls available in their breeding program. There has also been a greater use of the milk testing pro¬ gram and this has done much to increase the production per cow. Some idea of how our total milk supplied is utilized can be obtained from the following figures. 49.2% of the total milk production was manufactured into creamery butter. 11.5% into cheddar cheese and 17% concentrated products and ice-cream, and 8% is sold as fluid milk. The balance is consumed on the farm and fed to livestock. During 1966, the Prince Edward Island Milk Control Board authorized an increase in the price of fluid milk to the producer and the consumer but this increase becoming effective August the first 1967. At the present time, the producer is receiving $5.75 per cwt. on the 3.6 butterfat and the consumer is paying 27 cents a quart for pasteurized and homo¬ genized milk. J. Walter Dingwell : Is that fluid? Hon . Daniel J. MacDonald : That's fluid. 17,179 pounds of milk were purchased by pasteurizing plants in 1967 and the net value of milk and cream was $893,209. One hundred and thirty-eight producers were supplying milk to fluid plants in 1967. The total of butter manufactured for the year amounted to 4,590,000 lbs., which was a decrease of 11.8% from the previous year. The gross value of butter was $2,987,000, the average price received for butter was 65.8 cents. Walter R. Shaw : Pardon , Mr. Speaker , was that for butter or butterfat? —181—