Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 27 May 1933, Page 8

Farming Column

USE THE BY-PRODUCTS. ' . V\ ' . *» M PIGS CONVERT WASTE INTO PROFIT. '*- 5 "• • • ■> ." l ■ ' In the course of its efforts'* to promote the pig industry., the-Man wa.tU Oroua Pig Recording and Development Club urge 6 that the .full and efficient utilisation of skim milk as an important factor in reducing the cost of butterfat production is not realised. These by-products >of our dairy indus 1 try are »ti.Li being wasted in enormous quantities. Their only value lies in v hat they will return from the sa'e of pigs ar.d calves. The outlet for calves is limited—the oufcletytfor pigs unlimited. Every penny returned fi*Om skim milk and whey represents a definite contribution towards a' reduction

in the cost of butterfat production. Skim milk is worth at least Id per. pound of fat; with pork af4d per pound—many firm erg , obtain more, therefore with butterfat at 3d pef pound, Id from skim milk ivil.l increase the retu.ii 'by 10 per cent. Is this return worth having?

Apart from the many cases where farmers are not utilising by-products,

skim milk and whey are wasted* in many ways: (of . Excessive use; (b) b dly-balanced number of pigs to milk supply ; (c) loss through purchase of pi us in lieu of home breeding ; (d) bad type of pigs ; (e) bad manage- 1 ment. 1 To the discerning farmer these need little amplification. Most of us must plead guilty to misuse of skim milk and whev on one or more ' of these j counts. What we <!o not realise is the reflection of such misuse, in out, i. •farm balance-sheet. j When pigs have -access to All they -, caii excessive quantities are taken. For example, a sow and litter under test, fed on whey exclusive’}’ under ordinary farm conditions where she was given all she could consume, | developed the enormoi’g capacity of 68 gallons per day ; a ration wasteful of tne product, certainly injurious to the health of the ' pig, and sufficient - lor six sows. ,

-lu tar too many cases insufficient pigs are kept and supplies, cannot be consumed during trie high" production, period. of pigs in l.ieir of home breeding ' almost invariably results in profits fOr the breeder, alone, reducing the value of the by-produce lar. below that, possible when the Tar mer breeds his own. * ... ... By keeping more cows' breeding mure p ; g s and carefuly controlling farrowing dates, thid waste could bo entirely eliminated. Slow maturing unthrifty and sec-ond-grade p'gfi also are responsiole lor considerable loss, while poor management methods in feeding and housing and general care . bring, the jpame result. . ■ . ;

TOPDRSSSiXG OF PASTURE?. : ; Topdressing pastures is ' being carried out as.. is .usual at th.i, s season though .not to the same extent , as. in former years. Some' few years ago this with rotation 1 cazing wen* claimed t>v tlmir advocates as the panacea for all the ills which the farming industry was lieir to but results hav. e given convincing proof that to depend on grass clone to carry stock through* out the whole, year involved too m?.ny risks' even .in the “wmterjess- .north’! and right through Britain also there is a decided reaction in favour o( mixed farming.

Labour costs have been considerably llowered during tbe past few iyoavs and though grain prices are not such as to pay production ..cost® there ai* many ways of using fertilisers profitably besides topdressing pastures. A .Scottish . authority recently said, that the area and .qumtity of available during the summer months, was often in excess of. ."u-l manuring simply to increase, the bulk of grasM without regard to qaulitv was a doubtful economic proposition. • A

In sheep farming the output of fal lambs ho,-5 been increased enormously bv iudicious topdressing but since the increase in the use of fertilisers we have had .frequent epidemics causing •i ertra.oHincry death rate the causes of which have never been definitely proved. That this death rate was coincident with the heavy use of chemicals on grass Hands is not proof th;it it w’S caused by using them yet there is no definite prmf that it wa® not .a contributing faetjor and here is much wisdom in , the remark of the Scottish *- that the .problem to-day was not much to make two blades of gr'tas grov where one grew before but to mdke the one blade of better feeding value. The iudicious use of fertilisers is a necessity of modern farm'ng. On dairy farm® especially, mentary crops for' use in ear] v spring and through the autumn months . are

far more reliable and quite ry. ecpn.oirieal aa out of season grass th e ‘ceding value .of which is doubtful. There i.! no question of the feeding v''l"e of kale, autumn sow,n oats and vetches, or Italian ryeg’nss and clover and growing any of these has the additional advantage of increasing fertility while forcing grass by the .nse of n'tro£enous manures has the opposite effect. Go on tepdreusing by all means hut confin e the operation to good pastures a* using expensive .fertiliv-, I ers on old •worn-out grassland is throwing money away.. It has also •been clearly proved that tlie free nse of the barrows is essential in oWfMVj. ing the best results from topdressin^,

AT WHAT AGE? The, question of what age to introduce heifti's to the dairy he.hi must be.'determined ‘upon various considerations. Big, strong heifers are doubtless fit to produce a calf at tw’o to two and Vhalf yeiirs bid, yet many ffirmed prefer them to cahe at t. ree years-old. A three-year-old heifer is practically a cow, whereas a two-year-old has often little more milk then will feed her calf. Neverthdeso it is said that early breeding male, s better milkers, and there is sometimes a risk of not getting the heifer in-call if the matter is delayed. Hthers which appear to mature l early, ana tend to fatten, are perhaps better got ifi-calf early, say, when id to ib months old, Too early mating is always, inadvisable, though it sometimes occurs, as when a bull breaks bounds and invades a forbidden field.

CHEESE FROM SOWS’ MILK In England it is proposed to utilise sows’ milk for making c ease. T. e main difficulty, is in milking the sows as though cows, goats, and ewes nurse their, young in a standing position the sow invariably lies do an to allow the piglets to feed. A correspondent in i • Home paper says he spent two years '■t Cambr* ! ge working oil a pig milking machine but the difficulties are great to ■ get it perfect and there is a wide .diversity of opinion as to the quantity cf milk a sow will produce. There won Id;-,'also be a - strong prejudice. against cheese made from so . milk to overcome, and as some writers ask., why should the risks be tak e, ‘ - when there is already an over-supply of cows’, milk. Sixty odd \c r the writer can remember holding Borcfes Leiehester ewes while they were being milked and the ewe cheese made from the milk was in great demand, but somehow the idea of sow cheese becoming popular is unlikely. . HOME SUPPLY AND QUOTA 1 From the report of a meeting of the 'Scottish Institute of. Auctioneers we* take the following: ' It i 4 atgiibd thathome supplies should, be 'increased as raf as possible, and must have the . first call upon the 'markef 1 Dominion supplies must bfi by definite quota, with known totals, shipping; dates ;ia,nd inaiketing dates,, arid must Tie subject to a twostage- control-;—control of the qu

tityi; shipped and* regulation idf the amount cf the shipped quantity that will be allowed ttf' be marketed. Foreign supplies, also-, must be : by quota, the Government Co retain full power to restrict, .step, or hold ever the for-, eign supply at- the time.

The machinery’suggested would include a quota adVis6i. ; y committee,' a national stock'‘and meat association 'repregefitatifig "England, Males, Scotland;and Northern Iceland, a fid riJsb* similar associations to* act fbr each, cf the countries—England 'arid Wales, .Scotland arid Northern Iredyrid., Each of ’Wiese' organisations Would ; Oomprise producers', salesmen and 'traders,' wholesale meat salesmen and retail' meat traders, each organisation to; be responsible for working, the trade within its own area, and far developing a system of market intelligence ns to forthcoming supplies., prices etc.

shipment of GRAIN.

NEW REGULATIONS ISSUED. Regulations governing grain shipped in bulk ' sitiiilar to those operating at Canadia nand i Australian ports have been issued by the G-overnment. It is explained 'by the Minister of Marine that the object of the regulations is primarily to provide for the safety ot the ship by preventing cargo shifting.; Cases la r e on record *>f ships wnth a cargo of, bulk grain capsizing thi’Ough the cargo shifting.'. : Two vessels chartered for the .shipment. of wheat in bulk are to load at Lyttelton and Timavu. The regulation® arb isiised in view' of the gale recently of. quantities of. wheat for shipment overseas. The regulations provide for .longitudinal division holds into ; grain,>tight compartments, to be filled to thedecks. Feeders are to-be built ’tween .decks go that as the cargo in th<? lower hold settles the compartments are .kept ifull. These feeders are to contain at least two per cent, of the quantity of grain carried in the compartments they feed.

There ere no facilities m New Zealand for loading direct in bulk, but it is proposed to carry grain br bags to hatches, whence it “will be empt.ed, thus saving the shippers the considerable amount of the rf the lmsr 7 , and making it possible for the ship to carry more.