DRYING UP OF FEED

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 60, 27 March 1937, Page 15

DRYING UP OF FEED

Marked Influence on Stock Saies STORTFORD REVIEW Another week has passed "without rain; and with the unpleasant hot winds experienced a few days ago farmers aue ■ beginning to feel most anxious about the outlook for f eed for the winter. The xapld drying-up of feed and the dwindling supply certainly told their tale in the store-cattle sale at Stortford Lodge on Wednesdayw This is only the beginning of the season, and, on Wednesday'S selling, withpttt a useful rain very soon the outlook is not encouragihg. At the mpment a number of faimers are feeling that they are overstocked and Will be obliged to unload before their cattle go back, and with the market falling back they are obliged to contend With circumstancCs that are far from being uhd&rStood Of appfeftiated by the general public. Wednesday's market^ which was down, w&s no cfiterion of the inquiry. Following a good rain there would be a keen demand fOr young cattle, as the number in the province is well below the normai requirements. Quality was well to the fore in Wednesday 's big yarding. Several well'gtown young bullocks and 18-months steers that showed good breeding came forward. They would have suited many farme*rs Who were unable to enter the market, miich as they would like to have dorie, owing to the shortage of feed. Ih January no-One wanted to See ahy more rain until the winter, but weeks of high winds were not then ahticipatcd. Most of the youfig steers effered on iWbdhesday Wero particularly Well Coated, being ih soufid gobd doifig order and shOwing that fap to the p-resent they had been carried On phrtictilariy well. The youfig btilloeks, in very forward order, w6f6 moSt attractive chilliflg propositionfl tO thOSe who had the available grazing. Big Muster of Jerseys. On Wedliesday there was a fairly big musber of Jersey Btore sorts, many of Wbich. were in poor order. It Was a problem to know What to do with them. Although most of the good etationbred lines were passed in, several were afterwards traded ptivately. When suflieient feed is again available a bright market can be expected. The step-Up in prices for qtiality sta-tion-brod fat oattle was due to a short yardingi, The outstanding entry was the heifers on account of Mr H. R» Campbell, of Poukawa, which did him oredit. Young beef that have been fattened for months certainly attract in the ealering. They sell themselves as against the jtist prime and lighter finished softs. Many farmers hold the view that anything will fattefl, hut Mr Campbell' s ofiering Was an example of what can be done when breeding is at the back of young stock. Mr Hughie Thompson saw what was in these heifers and showed no hesitation in outbidding the opposition. The store sheep met with what could be desoribed aa quite a good sale, and a better one than antioipated. Wethers sold well, the outstanding line being on account of Tangiwai, Wairoa. Trucked down, these wethers were penned in splendid order and should turn out in excellent killing condition after they have been for a short time on the Crissoge flats. Another good line, later shorn, made fivepence less, and another in better order tban it looked, brougbt 23/6. Lambs showing finish, have not lost any of the favour that they earned a short time ago. An excellent pen of black-faces containing a number of killable sorts saw the freezing interests actively participate in the bidding, which reached to 22/-. Good Supply of Fat Lambs With rape crops now practieally fed off, forward lambB have tailod off as far as the yards are eoncerned. There are, however, still good supplies of fattened lambk in Hawke's Bay. The last few weeks have brougbt stock on eplendidly. It has been one of the best fattening periods known for some time, and it might surprise many to know that more (sheep ' are coming forward into tho local works than is the case anywhere else in the Dominion. Carry-over propositions of lambs aro not so easy to trade. Their selling is, however, assisted by the inquiry from Taranaki, . and thie week quite & . large number were railed over to the other coast. The dairy farms over there can still absorb a good number, and the way in which the lambs from this district came away over there has given •the Taranaki dairymen a very profitable sidelinf For the sOcond-quality lambs the last few weeks have been much in their favOur. "With a periodical dosing farmerls have been afforded an opportunity of building them ta withstand a check which must occur after the rain. Lopses are, however, still being reported, and are due in a great measure to the lambs not reeovering from the bad time they experienced earlier in the season. Losses are not conflned to lambs, and one farmer at Wharerangi reports that he has lately lost a number of his best four-tooth ewes. He cannot account for their going off, but states that they were grazing on the Ahuriri Lagoon for a time. x