Farm Management

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 83, 24 April 1937, Page 19

Farm Management

ELIMINATING WASTE Classifying Various Types 0! Land INCREAS1NG PRODUCTION "In recent years many other couatides have keen vitally concerned with the utilisation of the soil ahd the metkod in which the total production of the countries inay he increased. ParticulaTly has this heen the case in thoSe countries whbre military action, either of defensive or offensive nature, has l>een contemplated, in order that possihly some means may he discovered to render the country more sell-sufficing in tiines of conflict," said Mr. Elliott, when speaking of his work in the general scheme, that of farm management survey. "Ili this conhectdon it is fairly ohvious that a fundamental knowledge of the factors involved such as soil types ahd suitability of varioue types ot various crops, is of utmost importah'ce>,•, he said. "Most of the countries of Europe have now att8mpted somethjing in the way of utilisation survey work, buf po.ssibly this work has been "given more attention in the TJnited 8tates of America than any- , where else. In those countries, where work of tis type has been carried out, there has been little doubt as to

its practical sagmficance and usezul-. ness to the community. In many ways ISTew Zealand has been rather elow tb initiate work of this nature and it is only during the last few years that any attention to this signiiflcant research work has been given., "I have been told that, at a fcrmer gathering, Dr. Marsden, of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, outlined to you in a very general way the aimS and objects of the survey. At the time that the address was given;. there was iittle knowledge available as to the exact technique to be adopted, but, no doubt, you were informed that the survey would consist of many diiferent parts. Amid these parts were probably mentioned the soil,,* pasture, and -farm management sufvey, all of whieh are working under conditions of close co-operation. i "The first step whiich tad to be ' taken before any Commenepment with field work could be made was to obtain a working knowledge of the distriet as a whole," said Mr. Elliott when outlining the methods adopted, Vliffieulties, and the aims of his particular part of the work. "Followiing this, a quiek survey was made in an endeavuur to clasSify the various types of farming met wdth and it was found that, as far as the hill country sheep farms were concerned, farms fell more or lo^s readily into one .or other of threo groups. These groups were as follows:— ■ sl. That country which breeds its own stock fequirements and sells little Or no fat stock. 2."Intefmediate country where flocks are maiintained by breeding, the eurplus being fattened. 3. That area which brepds none of its replacement stock but which relios im sheep bought in to .replace those which are turned off. Most of the etoek of this type are sold fal under normal seasonal conditions. "So far as the Heretaunga Plains are concerned, it is also possible to make a rough classiificatitm of farms into dairy farms, inixed farms, sheep farms, ' fruit farms, etc. Multiolicity of Factors. "At the outset of the woi-k, it was , thdught possible that some correlation would be observable between the various soil types and tha*- type of farming adopted. As the work progiessed, tkere emerged what should have been obvious at the beginming, the f act that many other factors than soil type are canable of exertifig at any given momeUt the dominating influence of the type of management adopted. Such factors may be size of fitrm, prOxiimty td markets, contour of the country, and general price levels * "In spite of the fact that no very distinct correlation exists between type of farming and type of soil, there are very distinct correlations . with what might be termed farm practice as di^tinct froin farm management. By farm management is meant the method in which the individti'al operatious which together . constitute farm management are carried out. An example Of farfu practice would be the method of sowing down gtass, the grass seed ' mixture used, preparatory cultivation

given, time of sowing, and its eubsequent treatment. "Briefly information along the following lines has been sought from the farmers: — • 1. The type and number of stoek carried, together with the production obtained from the stoek. 2. A diary of operations setting out the various praetiees adopted in conneefiion with the management . of the farm. 3. Stock management, mortality, and diseases. 4. Manurial programmes adopted. 5. A budget of costs and returns obtained from the farm under existing price levels. Economic Management. . "The whole object of our particular branch of the work has. been to establish safisfactori'iy what is under a stxpuiated set of eondfitions the most economic way of managiug a certain area, and, having obtained the nebessary information to do this, to discover methods in which the area dhn be eeonomically extended. For example, nnder normal price conditiions, and satisfactory ability and desire on the part of the farmer, the production of fat stock is more payable than the produer tion of store stock, on the same country, provided that the country is suitable. Much country, which is to-day of the lintermediate type, could probably, with additional topdressing, and more extended use of satisfaetory pasture plants, be eeonomically caiiverted into country of type 3. Similarly, under conditions of possibly closer settlement and similar factors, type I could be made to produce the type of stoek now bedng produeed by type 2. The object then is to see how and to what extent these boundaries can be shifted.

"It is not intended that the examples quoted above should be taken as definit.ely applying to any partiqular part of Hawke's Bay, This may, or may not, be the case. The object has only been to give an example of the type of thing we are after. "Further, it rnust be remembered that, although farming tin this distriet eonforms mofe Of less to one of the types mentioned above, there exists within these types exceptions and these exceptions are useful for comparative purposes in order to assist us° in arniving at our conelusion, The further llne of exploration is that of individual differences in farm practice. For linetance, many farmers have methods which are eeonomically more sound than other farnv ers and, if it is possible to sift out these praetiees and be certain of their efficacies, very dmportant developments may take place wlien (this knowledge is put 1 into general circulation. "Possibly oue of the greatest uses, whieh may be claimed for the survey, will be to give as complete and as accurate a picture as is possible of the whole of the farmig enterprise in a distriet so that, when men strange to the distriet come to us, it will be possible to give them a complete picture of farming activities. This may, of course, have the effect of eliminating considerable amount of experimentation and waste through misguided eflorts on the part of the new settlers. Farmers' Budget Wanted. "We are endeavouring to obtain from the farmer a budget of his costs and returns. This is iiot being done witli the object of revaluation or anyfching like that, but in order that we shall be in the posiition to back up any statements which we may feel inclitied to make, with figures, and also to verify our conclusions. ' ' Farmers, for the most part, are somewhat dubious of furnishing this portion of the information and f ail to take into aecount that' the information given ia confidential and is (Jnly to be used for purposes of analysis, no names at any time being divulged. Economic surveys have, at various times, been. made in Kew Zealand and the faet that farmers have been willing to co-operate has shown that their confidence has never been abused. As an example of tliis , over five hundred farms were sutveyed in the Waikato and Taranaki dustricts for the Dairy Commission. "As One of the results of the work, we hope to establish what constitutes the best size of farm on any of the above groups, when examined in the light of labour supply, ease of handling, type of soil, etc. This would possibly furnish very useful information ou any questnons aesociated wifch the further subdivision of the land. ' 1 Time has only permitted me to refer to a few of the' ways in whieh the survey will be of use to the cpmmunity as a whole, but I think that sufficient evidenee has been presented to show that the work is of at least enough dmportanee to the country _ to warrant the support of the farming community and the business people of Hawke's Bay," said Mr. Elliot. "In conelusion I must say that we have every reason to be grateful to the farmers of Hawke's Bay for the generous manner in which they have eupported 119 in our endeavours,"