Points Favouring Beef Cattle

Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 7

Points Favouring Beef Cattle

While not suggesting that traditional fanning methods should be thrown overboard, Mr Frank Ward, a field officer of the Economic Service of the Meat and Wool Boards, told farmers at a farm conference at Waimate recently that they might well consider running a few beef cattle on their properties.

One of the strong points in favour of cattle made ■ by Mr Ward was their small call on labour. After quoting returns from sheep, cattle and crops on various groups of farms under survey by the Service, he said that gross income did not give the full cattle story, and it was not possible to separate out sheep and cattle costs in expenditure. "It is very possible that carrying of cattle does not affect the farm cost structure greatly, as handling does not involve as much labour as sheep.” From an examination of expenditure on North Island hill country farms carrying from a cattle beast to five sheep to a cattle beast to 30 sheep it was not really possible to be sure whether they were carrying cattle at all. Carrying of cattle added something to expenditure but not as much as some people thought.

“Cattle work does not clash with sheep work either on station or farm,” said Mr Ward. “We also have many cases where a farmer is at the limit of his sheep carrying capacity not because of lack of grazing but on a labour basis. If sheep are increased it means employing an extra

man and to avoid any increase in" domestic work a married man is desirable. This means provision of accommodation and an outlay of capital and sheep numbers would have to be increased Considerably to meet this extra wage. On the other hand cattle can often be increased or carried without ext-a labour.

“We know. too. that cattle and sheep together form an efficient grazing team, and it is possible that some of our stock health problems would improve under a system of cattle-sheep grazing.

“We know from work carried out at Ruakura that a similarly high production of meat per acre can be attained either with sheep or cattle, but there are two important differences—beef is not as valuable as sheep meat, and at about 2001 b of sheep meat to the acre there is likely to be about 601 b of wool. “The question of the relative profitability of cattle and sheep should not arise because except on the more intensive farms it is not a factor. It is not usually a question of replacement of sheep by cattle but rather of cattle in addition to sheep. “The intensive fat lamb farm is a highly efficient unit geared to fat lamb production and the whole of the management is with that end in view and the disposal and marketing of the lamb is a well organised procedure. If these farms are also to produce beef then we must have a steady supply of young good quality cattle coming forward each year so that farms can develop into regular fattening units for beef cattle able to turn them off fat economically and quickly. I would suggest that the prior aim should be to dispose of cattle at 18 to 22 months to avoid carrying them through a second winter.’’

Difference Quoting figures for North Island hill farms where beef makes up 321 b of 851ib of meat produced to the acre compared with 71b out of 731 b for Canterbury and Marlborough fattening farms, Mr Ward said it was obvious that a high production of beef per acre was possible in conjunction with mutton and wool, but there was a striking difference in beef production on North and South Island farms. The reasons given for this were not wholly convincing although it had to be admitted that shorter seasons called for greater provision of winter feed.

Mr Ward listed some of the arguments advanced in the South Island against cattle and sought to answer them. Cattle are classed as fence wreckers—they tended to be wreckers on farms that had the old Canterbury type fence. New fences now being erected on most South Island farms were being planned with cattle in mind even if it was not mentioned. If a farmer was not used to cattle he could get a strain that was not very quiet and he had to find out the way to handle cattle.

Cattle need good water supplies—in many cases improved water supplies were needed for sheep as well Cattle need extra provision for winter food—more was available with balers and haybarns. Cattle damage country in wet conditions—this was more noticeable on heavier

land, particularly in Southland. If the right cattle were used Mr Ward suggested that they could be quitted before they were too heavy. Cattle would be an embarrassment in a drought—where drought was a factor feed had to be conserved for cattle as for sheep. Still another factor against cattle carrying in the South Island was the attitude of some farmers: "I do not like the brutes anyway.”

Answering a question. Mr Ward said that at the recent rate of increase of beef cattle —about 4 per cent- a year—there would only be about enough additional beef to meet the needs of a growing population and no extra for export. If New Zealand was to get into the world’s oeef markets the present rate of increase would have to be stepped up. Mr Ward showed that of Western meat-eating countries only the United Kingdom eats mutton in any quantity. "This is something to consider,” he said. “We at the moment enjoy a traditional market for lamb in the United Kingdom and we have got to fight to hold it because outside the United Kingdom if we want to sell meat we have to change the meat eating habits of the people or supply them with their kind of meat—beef—if we want 'to get in on these markets.”