HIGH LEVEL OF PRODUCTION

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24899, 12 June 1946, Page 9

HIGH LEVEL OF PRODUCTION

IMPROVED PASTURES ESTABLISHED LIGHT LAND AREAS (By H,S.) It is quite likely that in the future the war years will be remembered by Canterbury farmers not so much as years in which against severe handicaps in every direction they maintained a very high level of production, but as years in which the traditional wheat and grass on a three-yegr or four-year rotation began to give place to high-producing pastures. It is certain that in the war year# there has been a tremendous improvement in the standard of farming on the lighter lands of the province. Many farms, once barely able to hold their own, and some which were going back, are, with the new system of pasture establishment, now carrying more sheep than they have ever done before, and are producing good returns from small s?eds besides. Undoubtedly the primary cause of the sixfold increase in the area of seed crops entered for certification in North Canterbury in the last five years or an has been the exceptional price obtainable for most of the ,usual varieties of small seeds. In fact, so touch has this been the case that many farmers have been carried away with the idea of growing small seeds for sale, and have lost sight of the fact that in producing good small seeds they must produce good pasture. Many farmers who have come to the conclusion that the present high prices for small seeds cannot last have found that their small seeds programme has left them in possession of pastures which will allow them greatly increased sheep carrying capacity, and in addition, will do the larger flocks very much better. The writer this week walked over three greatly Improved farms on some of the very light land in the Oxford district. On all three the story was the same. The land was well cropped out, and in fact on two of these properties wheat yields had declined to the point at which. the crop was no longer profitable. The properties were turning off fewer lambs each year, or maintaining the numbers only with increasing expenses of cultivation. On all three places the good pastures grown during small seeds programmes have more than arrested the general decline in productivity, •and have given the .occupiers fresh heart.

One of these farms is typical of all threes and typical of very many others everywhere in Canterbury. It is of about 550 acres, and lies between Oxford and the Waimakariri river at an elevation of about 1000 feet above sea level. It is flat. Its earlier history was one of wheat followed by grass, which lasted two or three years, then a feed crop and more wheat It had reached the stage where a wheat yield of above 20 bushels was very good. Sheep carried went down in numbers, and the owner was forced into doing a certain amount of dealing in the hope of making a little ready cash. The size of the flock varied according to the needs of the dealing side of the owner’s activities, but the place could not handle more than about 500 ewes. The unimproved value of the land is £lO an acre, an excessive assessment for that class of light, stony country. Half of Farm Improved Rather more than half the farm is to-day either in high-grade clover-rye-grass pasture or coming into it this year. The rest is as yet untouched, but it actually has more value to-day than it had formerly, because it works in -well with the new part in the management of the sheep. But it is not an impressive area. It has run out to browntop and other low-fertility. {trasses and plantr, and is very heavily nfested with twitch. In dry periods feed available is almost nil. The better management possible with the excellent reserve of feed on the new parts has allowed it a better chance, but it is still poor land, and a striking contrast with the improved paddocks. Money was found about five years ago to start a programme of pasture improvement. An area was turned over and summer fallowed, and as much twitch as possibly wprked' out of it. .It was then sown to lupins, which were allowed to mature intq a seed crop to provide ready cash. The seed self-sown during the harvesting of the lupins gave a good crop for turning in, and peas, potatoes, or oats were grown before the land was again worked for a small seed crop. Lime was used liberally, with initial dress? ings of about a ton and a half. A good example of what can be done, with luck, is provided by the experience on this place with a small paddock of H. 1., ryegrass. It was sown down at the end of January, 1944, after a summer fallow. At the end of March it was far enough advanced to feed off, and sheep at the rate of 12 to the acre were on it for 65 days. It was then spelled, the intention being to keep it shut up till well on, but it went on so well that in August sheep were again put on, and it fed eight sheep to the acre for eight weeks.' The paddock was’ shut up and a seed crop taken. Beside the grazing, the owner gen 35 bushels of certified seed at. somewhere about £1 a bushel. Altogether it was an exceptionally profitable crop. There was of course, a certain element of luck. The autumn was very favourable, and the winter was not too severe, but since farming first began, no farmer has embarked on a crop without realising that he was dependent to a large extent on favourable conditions.

This particular fprm is at present in ■ far better heart than it has ever been, ; and is being managed well within its capacity, but nevertheless, it is carry- : ing 700 ewes and 150 hoggets. Thi? sea- ■ son a few more than 1000 lambs were got off fat, 450 of them bought in and fattened, and the rest off their mothers. The average wool weights have gone up markedly, and the surplus stock is considerably more valuable than it was. Profits from Seeds All these improvements have not been done without a good deal of money being laid out, but in this instance, most of the money for development has come from profits on the seed crops. In fact, this side of the business has been so profitable that the owner is now in a position to justify | buying harvesting machinery instead of depending on contractors. The cost, worked out on a strict accountancy basis, which takes in rent rates and other overheads beside the actual cost of cultivation and establishment, has averaged between £7 and £8 an acre. This figure is probably not far out for similar land, anywhere in the Province. Under the old system, establishment of an inferior pasture which would certainly run out early, would cost about £4 an acre. The new system therefore doubles the cost of establishing pasture, but returns so far at any rate, have more than justified the added expense. Of course, every paddock sown to expensive seed has not been the moneymaker that the paddock of H.l. proved to be. One fairly large area of Montgomery clover was a failure, or almost so, because it was caught at the wrong time by four days of nor’-wester and simply lay down in the paddock. Another large area of grass and clover was sown rather late and a risk taken with the season. The season turned out badly, and the first year of the life of that paddock has cost the owner something. It will be all right later on. The owner of the property is most enthusiastic about the new system, and the appearance of the improved portion of the farm justifies his enthusiasm. His only complaint is that he has been forced to learn a system of farming entirely new to him, and is forced to put in a good deal of hard thinking to make the best use of the relatively expensive pastures he is growing. This is in fact a problem that many farmers will be facing. When small seeds prices settle down, as they are bound to do, it will be necessary to scheme to take the fullest advantage of the increased potential for production of good grass, and the increased fertility of the land.