Station Manager’s View

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30977, 5 February 1966, Page 8

Station Manager’s View

The station manager, Mr R.i S. A. Chaffey, said that as a result of the plan more stock were now on the country fori shorter periods. It had been initially intended that the Big Hill block be closed up from grazing in five to 10 years, but his company had considered that the plan should be concentrated on the Harper block, which he believed was in a more dangerous condition than Big Hill—the latter had shingle and tussock but neither was moving. The company had

agreed to modify the grazing of the Harper block with subdivisional fences if any benefits from this course of action were the property of the company.

Last year it had been decided to test this by applying for stock increases amounting to 500 extra sheep and 1000 cattle. This had, however, been turned down. It was now doubtful whether the comI pany was getting the benefit. On the Harper block, he said, the practice had been formerly to put 4000 ewes out after shearing until weaning when they were put back again. The company had agreed in the run plan to limit stocking until after mid February. This course had been implemented after the plan had been running a year but as an experiment in midOctober 3000 sheep off the shears had been put on to the front country on the block which tended to go rank. In early December when a muster was done it was found that only 14 per cent were not on this country and it was considered that very few had gone high up on the country. It was his hope that when they were put back in February or March that they would return to the same country that they had grazed earlier. If they had not grazed this country earlier and it had been allowed to go rank they would have gone straight up when they were put on to this country to the sweeter, shorter vegetation. Oversowing Mr Chaffey said that in the run plan there had been a provision for oversowing a block of 450 acres at the bottom end of Lake Clearwater. This area was too big and he had applied for the transfer of two fifths of the original subsidy for treatment of 125 acres adjacent to their paddocks. This had been rejected on the grounds that the company was only developing its paddock country. i Where a subsidy of twofifths of the cost was allowed on a project costing £2OOO, Mr Chaffey said, the subsidy payment after deducting certain charges incurred on the site would be about £730, which meant that the cost to the company would be about £1270, but considering that with taxation the direct cost) to the company if it had been, meeting the whole of the i charge would probably have been really only £lOOO this meant that the subsidy was! really only worth £365 to the) company as the actual costl was £635. Because runholders disliked’ subsidies Mr Chaffey proposed ’ that they be compensated ini another way for closing of I the country. He suggested.that the soil conservation authorities calculate the cost of providing extra stock carrying capacity elsewhere and then plant strips of trees on the lower country to the value of this cost so that the runholder

would obtain no gain from this investment unless he developed his country. But Mr Chaffey expressed his pleasure at working with the soil conservation officers and said that they were very keen to take some action when he was critical of the run plan, which in practice was very flexible. He said that soil maps had been extremely valuable in assessing reactions on various soil types and the increased subdivision had made management much more flexible and simple. It had also meant that now he had to sit down and work things out which in itself was a valuable exercise—he had to determine what stocking various blocks could stand and for how long. Inspection When the field day party travelled to the area where the Potts river flows into the Rangitata, Mr Chaffey pointed out a fence with five plain wires and two barbs—a barb on the top and the third wire down—it was typical, he said of the fence used up to 3500 ft. On higher country he said he favoured a low strong fence that cattle would not knock down and which would not go down so readily. At one stage Mr Chaffey said he no longer intended to use galvanised battens in the cattle proofing of fences.

Mr Chaffey explained at the same time that just round the corner on the banks of the Rangitata, on which the station has a 14 miles boundary, 100 acres was being prepared for lucerne. A good crop of turnips had been grown last winter and in the spring the area had been sown in rape and Italian ryegrass—he had been told that the rape would burn the ears of the Merinos but he was not really concerned so much about the feed as getting the country level. Around the station headquarters at Mount Possession and Hakatere, Mr Chaffey said, there were some 840 acres under cultivation. Some 200 acres of turnips were grown each year for winter feed, and where there was not sufficient old pasture to take up some virgin ground was brought in. In the development of these areas he said that extensive tree planting undertaken under the supervision of his father when he was station manager had made all the difference —some 400,000 trees were planted in 15 years after the Second World War. Near Mount Possession an 11-months-old pasture with clover very prominent in it was much admired as were also some 300 yearling Hereford cattle which had been running on the paddocks since late in August. Nearly all the gates were now open from the paddocks to the adjacent hill country and some 4500 to 5000 Merino breeding ewes and their lambs had access to some 3001 acres of paddocks, he said. They could go in, and out of the paddocks as they pleased.: This, he' thought would be | doing something, for the hill J country.

Mr Chaffey said he was trying to eliminate the need for artificial feeding in the winter and to keep management as simple as possible.

Calves are now wintered on the cows on the tussock and weaning takes place in August. Mr Chaffey said he did not think that the cows were suffering unduly under this treatment.