FARM NOTES

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 274, 7 February 1929, Page 6

FARM NOTES

Great Expansion in N.Z. Farming.

WEALTH FROM THE LAND,

An amazing development of UVi stock production in g, --- to sSpertclal Criticism crying stagnation in Domimon ranmng.

For the purpose of their study, Mr E. IT Fawcett, farm economist, and Mr \v • N Paton, of the farm economics section of the Department of Agriculture, have adopted a unit of production based on equivalents, and giving production in terms of value, derived from flat-rate, prices throughout the period reviewed. For instance, £IO,OOO is the value ol one unit of production, and all cattle have been converted to sheep units oi Stock on the basis that each cattle beast is equal to six sheep. Acreage Yield 51 Per Cent. Greater Most striking of the many diagrams, jrranhs and tables presented with the

graphs ana taDies pmsouttu treatise, is a graph .depicting increases over the period in six; phases of live Stock production. The total grassland farmed is shown to have increased by 3.1.7 per cent*, while the total livestock increased by 69.7 per cent., indicating an astonishing increase in the carrying capacity per acre. Actually, it is 51-8 toer cent., showing that within 26 years the carrying capacity per acre has increased by more than half. Remarkable improvement in the qua] ity of the country’s stock is evident from the fact that the production of ' lamb, mutton, beef. wool, butter-fat ana calf products, per unit of stock carried, lias grown by 37.2 uer cent. The increase in the same forms of production per acre is actually 109.9 per centSteepest of all the rising lines on the

graph and a magnificent testimony to | the progress of the Dominion's primary i industries, is that which shows the total production of lamb, muttoh, wool, but'- | ter-fat, beef and calf products to havh ;j increased by 136-7 per cent. j Great Uniform Expansion. j A'more minute ana*ysis on the unit 1 basis, shows that the total livestock pro- | duced advanced from IST7 ’-units in 1001-2 to 4341 units in 1926-27. In terms of money, using tile flat rate prices worked upon, these represent a rise from £18,170V.000 to £43,410,000. This remarkable Expansion has been far j

more uniform than might be supposed in an industry dependent so much upon weather conditions. It is a tribute to an ideal farming climate and a national policy of unflagging progression. With minor fluctuations, the total livestock products grew to 2777 units in 1910-11 and in the next decade advanced to 3460 units, an increase of over 24 per cent. Since then, in six years, a further increase of over 25 per cent, has been registered, indicating that development is proceeding at a greater rate than ever- Since 1923-24 the growth has been slower with the exception of the 1926-27 season, which showed the remarkable growth of 261 units, or £2.-610,000 over the previous ■ season. Were the -figures for 1927-28 j available on the unit basis, there would

certainly be another sfehson of groat eX- i pansion to record. Of the total livestock products in J 1926-27, sheep products comprised over 1 46 per cent., and dairy products over 37 per cent. The balance was fairly evenly shared by pigs, cattle and calves on the one hand and livestock by-pro-ducts and live animals on the otherThe proportionate growth of dairying lis striking. In 1901-2, dairy products j provided little more than 16 per cent.. \ of the total and in 1919-20 slightly I more than 24 per cert. Put in another 1 way, since 1901-2 sheep products have 1 increased by over 62 per cent., 1

dairy products by 433 per cent- j Higher Stane.*rd of Animal j •rhe yoar 1020-27 witnessed the greatest season but one (1921-22) in sheep products, it was a centfortable record in dairy products* ike best season but one in livestock by-products, and live animals, and Wo of the three best years |in pigs, eA’ttio and calves. Among the j miscellany of valuable information i given are many interesting sidelights [ oh ‘‘the improved status of the farming industry. A graph showing the estim-, | ated production per cow, for all cows in ;J milk and dry, bespeaks the herd imI provement brought about by herd-test- \ ing. and other efforts to better the I standard of the dairy animals. It has i riser., with fluctuations, from less than 1 1301 b. of butter-fat per animal in 1901-2, to close on 2001 - in 1926-27. It is to be emphasised that the estimate covers dry cows as well as those in milk.

The lamb, mutton and wool returns per sheep, again taken on a standard value, have risen by over 33 per centin the 26 years. Did the computations take into account the rise in values, the greatly increased yield per animal and per acre would be shown to mean a very great deal more than they do to the. farmers of New Zealand. The work of the economists of the Department of Agriculture is a great gift of figures to the country, showing in definite fashion that intensive development is proceeding in every direction- To the average observer without such statistical aids, land occupied does not reveal its true worth, for there is no detailed evidence to show that all the time it is being made to carry more I stock, and what is equally important, stock producing more- Here lies the proof that the development of the

country’s primary industries* tio means rests upon the basis of the oC“ cupied area. Science in farming is today more than ever a power in the land, and only figures such as these can bring home so strikingly the fact that the limits of production per acre and per animal are by no means reached, but that New Zealand is progressing far more rapidly than the vast majority think toward making the maximum use of every acre.