FARMING NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 264, 29 January 1941, Page 3

FARMING NOTES

FEEDING SHEEP UNDER WAR CONDITIONS It is one of the aims of our national war agricultural policy to maintain, or if possible increase, our home output of mutlon and lamb. The arguments for the oITh eial view arc that even in ordinary times sheep consume smaller amounts of imported feeding stuffs in proportion to the quantity ol meat that they produce than, any other class of livestock, and that in winter, when the demands on feeding stuffs, are at their peak, the breeding flock can pick up a large part of its living from pasture.

A larger output of mutton and lamb docs not necessarily imply an increased number of breeding ewes. In some cases it is possible to increase the numbers of the Hock, but in many other cases numbers are already as large as they can well be. Sometimes the state of affairs that is implied by saying that land is "sheep sick" is largely due to stomach worm infestation, Avhich can bt. kept under some degree of control by the use of drenches and pills: but there is no AA'ay of pi eventing the damage that is done to pastuie by punishing it with excessive numbers of cavcs in winter and early spring. Where numbers are already about a maximum, the Avay to in-cre-i'e output must be to keep the lambs to a greater age and to market them at heavier Aveights. In recent times there has been a steady tendency toAvards the earlier mmketing of 'lambs at lighter Aveights.

Two Main Feeding Problems. It seems best to think separately of the two main feeding problems: (1) Those of the cavc in late Aviliter and early spring, and (2) Of the lamb in summer and; early autumn. ] Spring grass is the best of all lood for the nursing eAve, and the earlier that this can be provided the shorter Avill be the period of hand feeding. Attempts to force an early bite may, of course, be foiled by Aveather conditions, but if careful prepaiations are made it may be expected that spring growth can be produced about a fortnight before the normal time. It is Avell known that a supply of available nitrogen is one of the things that are required to start grass into active growth, and hence one of the essential steps in the production of early grass is to givein, say, July or early August—a dressing of about 1 CAVt of quickacting fertiliser, such as sulphate of ammonia, or 11 to 3 CAVt of ammoniated super per acre. But this is by no means the whole story. This nitrogen is like the Avliip to a horse, and unless the horse is both strong and willing the response will be small. The willing horses among our pasture plants are the ryegi asses and then the cocksfoots, antf, the only fields that are worth treatment are those containing a good proportion of these. Obviously, too, light and AA T ell-drained soil Avill warm up quickly in spring, whereas clay land is necessarily late. Ihe fields foi the purpose must also be selected Avith reference to elevation and exposure .

Grazing System

The next necessary step is to adopt a system of grazing in the autumn and winter that will bring the grasses into strong condition that is, a system that will allow - the plants to store a large reserve of food in their roots and leaf bases. To this end, the field alter it has been grazed fairly bare in the eaily autumn is closed up from stock un til the. active growth comes to an end for the reason. The bulk of the roughage should now be grazed oft and the area completely spelled* from June onwards. Even light stocking in the winter weakens and exhausts the ryegrass so that it cannot answer quickly to the fertiliser. Another obvious way of reducing the ewe's demands for feeding stuff is to delay the lambing. This mav be sound policy in certain eases,, but it will generally be unwise to adopt the corresponding step with, say a flock of half-breds. first

tion of cases a double ovulation (two eggs), whereas the later heats' often give onlv a single egg. If the early heats are missed the proportion of twins will certainly be less. Use of Oihei Foods Until grass comes the ewes must be kept in milk by the use of other loods, and it is well known that an increased ration of turnips or swedes is no satisfactory substitute for the ordinary allowance ol dry tood. It is, in fact, a common observation that an abundant root, crop often produces crops of big but "solt" lambs and cause trouble, from shortage of milk in the ewes.

The explanation seems to be tliat roots are, by themselves, an ill-bal-anced food for the purpose of nourishing the lamb, cither before or after birth. If we must make shift with more roots and less dry food,, something may be done to ad list the balance *jy changing the composition of the latter by putting in more of the high protein foods, such as meat meal, linseed cake, good lucerne hay, and good red clover hay. On some farms very good results are being obtained from grass ensilage as a food for ewes in this season. Tf the grass is mown some three Avecks be lore it is ready foi haying and is ensiled with molasses a very high standard produce is obtained. Naturally, if only a limited amount of ensilage is provided it should be kept until close on lamb-

ing time. Feed for Lambs To turn to the second problem, the demand for lamb food fails at a season of the year when the needs of other classes of liA r estock are at their loAvest, and it might be argued that the need lor economy will not be so urgent. But from the broad point of view the summer should undoubtedly oe used to build up a | reserve supply 1 of feeding stuffs as an insurance against a scarcity in winter. On farms that are not very heavily stocked with sheep, the lack of lamb food will mean that the lambs Avill fatten more slowly and that numbers Avill have to be finished after weaning. Where numbers of sheep are large and have been large ior some time, there is the difficulty that lambs will not only fail to get fat in the absence of box feeding) but may fail to make thriving stores

n many cases tlie explanation of

this fact is to be found in the level of worm infestation. The lamb that is eating half a pound of grain is somehow able to fight down the parasites, while the other lamb, dependent on milk and grass, fails to do so. Worm treatment is, in this sense, some sort of substitute for box feeding,, and should be kept in mind, but with worm treatment and grain feeding lambs naturally, thrive and fatten well.

lii fattening xout lamßs in late summer and autumn it is important to make full use of the clean second .growths off' bay and ensilage paddocks and stubbles. Of course, where feasible the value of a crop of rape for lamb fattening can be achieved without the rape then that land can probably be better utilised in grain or winter feed.