WHEAT CROP REVIEWED

Press, Volume C, Issue 29513, 13 May 1961, Page 15

WHEAT CROP REVIEWED

Improvement In Sample

The new regulations for milling standard wheat which have now operated for two seasons had certainly accomplished an over-all improvement in the samples being offered by farmers, said the chairman of the agriculture section of North Canterbury Federated Farmers (Mr R. G. Rainey) in his annual report. “Should our wheat acreage increase further there will be still more emphasis on quality, and any improvement would be welcomed by all sections of the industry,” he said. “There is one advantage which Canterbury farmers have over many other districts—we can diversify our farming more easily. We must also always try to produce top quality to hold this advantage.” Although in the past wheat season there had been some comment on the Hagberg test, it was a test which, although admitted to be only approximate, was acceptable to millers and farmers were able to dispose of wheat which was not too severely sprouted as milling standard wheat. “It is many years since Canterbury has experienced a harvest as wet as we have had this 1961 season, and it may be years before we will require to use the Hagberg test again,” he said. Wheat Transport Wheat transport this year had not been as good as in recent years. Congestion at Lyttelton prevented the railways giving as good a service. “The shifting of wheat from the farm to the mill or store is most important, and the wheatgrower should have a proportion of available railway waggons during harvest,’’ Mr Rainey said. "Farmers should also realise that they must be prepared to help themselves to some extent. Consideration to making the crop safe after it has been harvested should be foremost in wheatgrowers’ minds. “It must be obvious to al! that all of the wheat cannot be shifted from the farm to the mill as it is headed in the paddock—therefore it must be prudent policy to shift at least a proportion into heaps to be made safe from the weather for a time. “There is some lack of co-operation among all sections of the wheat industry. We need more understanding with millers, and the result must mean a smoother handling of our grain at harvest time,” Mr Rainey said.