Wheat crop may not have been so bad

Press, 23 April 1979, Page 12

Wheat crop may not have been so bad

It seems that the New Zealand wheat harvest may inot be so bad after all.

j The deputy chairman of I the Wheat Board (Mr A. G. i Beadle) and the chairman of ! the wheatgrowers’ sub-sec-tion of Federated Farmers (Mr J. H. Mitchell) said the best forecast able to be made at this stage was that the quantity of milling wheat available might be about the same as last year’s. They emphasised, however, that only limited information was so far available about the Southland crop and the harvest was not finished in South Canterbury, so the forecast would be subject to review as more information came to hand. i

The forecast, which is much more optimistic than earlier predictions would have warranted, was after a rn^- ; -- *--

: board and wheatgrower rep- ' resentatives when matters, idiscussed included the likely! I availability of milling wheat from this season’s harvest, i i Pre-harvest estimates put i > the area under wheat in. [New Zealand this season as' I down slightly on the pre-1 ivious season. In Canterbury! I autumn and winter-sown' icrops have been reported to; I be very disappointing, yields I I per acre in some cases being! i only a little over double fig-; lures and the poorest known.! : In part, at least, this has; I been blamed on the effects! I of al] the wet weather last I | year. Poor harvesting weather' Hast month made it difficult' ! for farmers in parts of coastal Mid-Canterbury, and I also over wide areas of I South Canterbury, to finish I harvesting their crops. Sources close to the industry say that some farm-| ers have had their problems! this season, rain last year making it necessary to resow crops and also delaying sowings, and then bad weather at harvest interfering with bringing crops in. But other farmers have clearly fared better, and the over-all situation has not been as bad as reports from! problem areas may have; indicated. The general manager of the Wheat Board (Mr E. R.| W. Reed) said yesterday that: the information on which the forecast by Messrs Beadle and Mitchell had been based had come from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Wheat Research Institute. The institute has indicated that the incidence of sprouting in wheat has not been widespread, although severe in some cases. In the meantime, the Southland crop looks likely

to give national wheat har-i ;, vest figures a substantial I I boost. Mr R. T. Russell, a grain; manager of Dalgety New' Zealand, Ltd, in Invercargill,, i i said yesterday that the! Southland harvest was now I close to 90 per cent com-' ipleted and that the yield! would be above average? ; Crops yielding about 1111 i bushels to the acre were not; ; I uncommon, he said, and one; ; client had achieved 150 ' ! bushels to the acre with Kopara. .! The baking quality of the! ; wheat has also been good, and .Mr Russel! said that the! : wheat from clients of his 'firm had not suffered sprout I ! damage. ! Harvesting conditions la-| ' I tealy, have not been easy, i with machines able to work I for only four or five hours a I day; earlier there was a I more favourable eight to 10day period when a lot of harvesting was done. If this season’s national crop produces a quantity of milling wheat similar to last season’s, it will have to match some 286,000 tonnes which the Wheat Board bought from the 1977-78 crop. This left a shortfall in j national requirements of ; about 30,000 tonnes, which | had to be imported from Australia. I For those cropping farm1 ers who are facing diffi- ! culties. Mr Mitchell yesterday welcomed the prompt response of the Under-Secre-tary of Agriculture (Mr Talbot) to Federated Farmers representations. Mr Talbot this week announced that Rural Bank finance would be available to such farmers at special interest rates with, if necessary, some deferment of both interest and principal repayments.