FARMING UNDER WAR CONDITIONS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 60, 30 March 1943, Page 4

FARMING UNDER WAR CONDITIONS

WHEN it became necessary to restrict the quantities of fertiliser which farmers could purchase, many of them expressed some concern regarding their production., They had r;ome to rely so confidently on the beneficial results of topdressing that the inability to carry on the process in the usual way caused anxious speculation. In 1940-41 about 4,650*000 acres were topdressed, and all 1 but 250,000 with artificial fertiliser or a mixture including it, so that the rationing system affected a very large area. It was not expected that the first season would show much change, and w'eather conditions in the North Island were favourable! to the growth of the pastures, but many farmers felt that the second and subsequent seasons with the use of limited quantities of topdressing rfiight show adverse effects. It has been reported from Rangitaiki that hay crops on the whole, lighter than they were last year, but this is attributed largely to seasonal conditions. The butterfat figures are said to be slightly below the output a year ago, but it is believed that as the autumn is a favourable one the totals for the production year will' be satisfactory. The enforced experience of having to make reduced quantities of topdressing suffice will, it is admitted, enable important comparisons to be made. Pastures that had formerly been treated with the more lasting manures will be compared with those on which the quicker-acting sorts were regularly used, and the vahies of mixtures now officially favoured will also be put to a practical test. Production is now well past its peak, and while output may be regarded as the most practical test many men on the land will take other factors into account, especially the growth of feed that carries the stock into the 'colder weather. The effects of the limitation of topdressing will be cumulative, but this experience should provide evidence of the capacity of the grasslands to stand up to the shortage over a period. It may even le<jd to changes in the methods and practices of some farmers.