WHEAT YIELD IN N.Z.

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

WHEAT YIELD IN N.Z.

REFLECTION OF GOOD FARMING Though there have been periods in which fhe yield fell, the general trend of wheat yields in New Zealand since the earliest times has been steadily upward. A continuat'on of good methods of farming, particularly the use of the high producing pasture, promises to raise yields still further, says Mr J. W. Calder, lecturer in field husbandry at Canterbury Agricultural College, in the curtent “Rural Education Bulletin" issued by the college. In the 1944 season, the United Kingdom grew more than 3,000,000 acres of wheat with an average yield of 36.3 bushels an acre, Mr Calder says. During the last 10 years, the New Zealand average area was less than 230,000 ’ acres, and the average yield 3316 bushels an acre. “It will be recalled that the high yield in the United Kingdom is associated with mixed farming, cropping rotations, thorough cultivation, the widespread use of farmyard manure saved from the straw-covered yards where cattle are fed in the winter on foodstuffs largely imported from the great grain growing countries,” he says. “This is good husbandry from a national point of view. By contrast, the low average yield of the great grain growing countries (Canada 14.6 bushels an acre. United States 13.6 bushels an acre, Australia 11.5 bushels an acre) is associated with ‘one crop’ system of farming, in the almost complete absence of livestock and in the use of fallowing to maintain production. In these regions the land has deteriorated to such an extent that in parts, as a consequence of the system of farming, ‘dust bowl’ conditions have developed.” A New Factor After discussing in detail different I periods in which a rising or falling average yield has been obtained, Mr Calder turns to the period'from 1936 to the present, in which a new factor, likely to have far-reaching effects in raising the yield, has appeared. “The factor concerned here is the use of the high producing pasture, heavily limed, regularly top-dressed with superphosphate and containing vigorous clover to build up the nitrogen content of the land," he says. “The development of the high producing pastures and their incorporation in a rotation system of mixed farming is the outstanding change in farming in Canterbury since the introduction of refrigeration enabled mixed farming to be practised. The development is partly a result of the high returns obtained from our high quality pasture seeds and has been made possible by the widespread use of lime at the rate of one and two tons an acre. This type of pasture is more effective than ‘ any other method in building up the fertility of the soil. As a result the productivity Qf the land has increased and yields of wheat are rising. There is still room for considerable development along these lines and we may expect the yields of wheat to continue to rise. Along with the development of pasture, has been a development in the use of lupins as a green manuring crop and this has also contributed in no small measure to the rise in yield. "Through all the ups and downs the general tendency in wheat yields is upwards. Thus over the period of 70 years the productivity of our wheat producing land has increased, in contrast to that of the great wheatgrowing countries where the productivity has declined. This is an index of the ability of the farming industry in New Zealand to husband the land as good farming demands and with a continuation and intensification of ‘high’ farming methods the productivity of the land will continue to rise.