FAT LAMB TRADE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 94, 15 January 1935, Page 10

FAT LAMB TRADE

Praise For New Zealand Industry VISITOR’S TRIBUTE “Pastures a Revelation” While climate and soil play a prominent part in tlie outstanding record associated with the lamb and million industry in New Zealand, lamb breeders and exporters in all States of Australia could with advantage emulate some of the methods employed in the Dominion. This is the impression gained after a tour of the sheep country of New Zealand by “Yattahinga” (Colonel C. P. Butler), the agricultural expert of “The Adelaide Advertiser,” with the DeputyDirector of Agriculture for South Australia, Mr. W. J. Spafford. He recently visited New Zealand. He is now in South America, and will later visit South Africa, for the purpose of examining the methods adopted by the competitors of Australian producers in the markets of the Northern Hemisphere. “Favourable climatic conditions, wonderful soil fertility, good breeding, and marketing methods which—although exercising some control in shipments \to ensure continuity of supply, proper grading, and judicious advertising—allow of no interference with private enterprise in the marketing of the stock in New Zealand or meat in Great Britain, are the outstanding factors that have led to the successful development of the export meat trade in New Zealand,” writes “Yattalunga” in an article in the “Courier-Mail,” Brisbane. “To export nearly 11,000,000 carcases of mutton and lamb in one year, when the total sheep population is fewer than 28,000,000, is an achievement unequalled in any part of the world. Breeding and Feeding. “On the production side, two factors, breeding and pastures, are of the utmost importance; and in both of these, although there is still room for improvement, New Zealand has attained a very high standard. It was the lambs from the Canterbury Plains in South Island that first put New Zealand in the forefront on the Smithfield (London) market. The use of Southdown sires on crossbred ewes produced a carcase that met with the approval of the English consumers. I have heard it said, during the short time I have been in New Zealand, that it was the merino blood in the ewes used for the production of these lam'bs that created a particular flavour in the meat which was appreciated, but it was undoubtedly the Down sire that gave the desired carease conformation. “Time was when these Canterbury, lambs commanded a much higher value than others imported into Great Britain from New Zealand or elsewhere, but the selected Down lambs, by Southdown rams from Romney Marsh ewes, bred on North Island, are now at least equally sought after by buyers, and in some cases command a higher price. It. is not that the Canterbury lamb has deteriorated, but that the North Island lamb has improved, and this improvement is attributed to the fact that the Romney is the better mother, from the viewpoint of both fecundity and milk production. Foot-rot in Hawke’s Bay. * o * “In both islands it is a practice among the majority of laip'b breeders to hold their ewes for one season. They purchase them from recognised ewe breeders, and, when the lambs are marketed, top them off and dispose of them also for export. I can well understand the value of this policy from what I saw in the wetter districts around Hastings and Napier, where footrot was most prevalent. The Romney is generally recognised as being more resistant to footrot than any other breed, but in these districts, where the pastures were particularly rank, a very large proportion of the flocks, both ewes and lambs, were affected. “I visited three of the principal export meat works at Christchurch and Hastings, and saw thousands of lambs pass over the board. /It Christchurch the quality and type were little, if any, better than that produced in Australia, although it should be stated that the manager of the works explained that the season had only just opened, and there would be an improvement later. The earcases at the Hastings works were a very fine lot, uniformity in type being their outstanding characteristic. “A wet winter, which delayed tlie growth of the pastures, followed by very warm weather during the last few weeks, which had the opposite effect, lias resulted in the feed now being rank in many instances, and this no doubt accounts for the quality of the lambs not being quite as good as usual. In motoring through the country one easily observes the .detrimental effect on the stock of rank pastures. In the fields which had been systematically grazed, and where the feed was only an inch or two high, the lambs carried plenty of bloom, and were obviously thriving, whereas where the rye grass was in head and the clovers and cocksfoot were rank the wool appeared dry and often on the back of the lambs, a sure sign that they were not putting on flesh. Wonderful Pastures. “To an Australian with a knowledge of (he cereal growing and pastoral ’country, the pastures of New Zealand are a revelation, and fill one with envy. Perennial rye grass, white clover, and cocksfoot appear to be the recognised pasture mixture; and the production obtained and the carrying capacity of the land are hard to believe unless seen. In the Christchurch district, which is considered a dry one (the rainfall averages about 25 inches a year), the average carrying capacity is three ewes to the acre —which means that it will carry the ewes all the year round and fatten the lambs. This land was selling at as much as £5O an acre in the boom times, and is valued at from £25 to £3O an acre now. but would be hard to buy at that figure. ' “I visited the property of Mr. IT. Phillips, between Palmerston North and Marton. lie has 100 acres divided into fields of seven acres, and. worked on a one-day rotational grazing system, he carries a little over 900 ewes and fattens 100 per cent, of lambs. Even with this number he can afford to close up one or two paddocks and keep them Io cut for grass hay. “At Hastings I visited several properties under the guidance of Mr, IV Richmond, who lias been exporting lambs for 38 years. In partnership with n Mr. Foi’nio, lie originally held 4009 acres close to the town of Hastings. and from this country for a period of 25 years 55.000 fat lambs and sheep

were sold annually. I iiis]ieeted a field of 100 acres of this land, and it was carrying 1-100 sheep and 4S bullocks, and they had been there since August 1. together with a further 116 bullocks, which had been sent to tlie me.it. works for slaughter the day before I arrived. From this 100 acres Mr. Richmond obtained rye gruss seed to Hie value of £3OOO in 1932. None of the country around Hastings is top-dressed, and I little of it has ever been cultivated.” |