RURAL ECONOMIC

Shannon News, 18 December 1928, Page 4

RURAL ECONOMIC

Scofe for Family Dairying p?'""" _ fy- LOCAL BATES NEED WATCHING r'\ An. .analysis of the production and ! costs of about 200 dairy farms in South ‘-A’uckland and Taranaki has recently r Seen completed by officers of the Fields Division of the Department of Agriculture.. . ■- , ■ . i"' In an article in the, issue B’-'the Journal of Agriculture, Mr. B. rFawcett, farm . economist of thp ields Division, says ... that broadly «■speaking, rural economics could be di- * vided into two sections: (1) The econ- \ omics of farm management;. (2) the connected with the disposal primary produce. So far as the |:Kew Zealand Department of Agricul-ST-iuer is.concerned, it was directing the S/Whole of its attention to the question I farm management. An analysis of management factors, r Fawcett points out, can be of very sat help to farmers, and the systemic collection and analysis of facts ativo to a large number. ..of farms 3 vide a fund of information which one farmer ha 3 the opportunity of laying in any other way, and the inrmation becomes of great value as guide to land purchase and general rm management. The farms inspec1. were all situated in, good. dairying strict s, although they were somew'hat / Per Acre Yield Paramount. The figures, gleaned revealed that the ist important factor in dairying was ? yield per acre.. Much emphasis A rightly laid on ; the importance of ireasing the production per cow, but should . always be .remembered that yras .possible to keep a few highjducing animals on a farm by undertaking.. Interest, rates and general lintenance' had to be paid on the 'ole. of the farm ~,and .unless each re. was producing its fair share the penseq connected with it had to be t from the rest of the farm. Thero?e, the first thing to aim at was jh production per acre. There then arose the question of &t methods to adopt to secure high fv acre yields. The analysis showed ; factor of most importance was to ick the farm' to capacity. This neisitated proper’/pasture management d the preservation of food for win* ■ feeding. Of next importance in >duction was the factor of/ herd avijgc,, Proper feeding of/the herd, .things considered, was of greater orient than breeding high producers, p often had farmers sold the poor nrs/. in their herd; 'expecting to proce a. greater total of butterfat from ver animals. This was sound when ?' farm? was overstocked, but when ;re, was sufficient feed for air the Luials ..it was unsound to cull unless • discarded animals could be replaced higher producers. - Expert Milkers and Labour. 3n the average,, small farms .showed tigher per acre pioduction than large idings, and it was found that heavy nuring was an economic proposition, e importance of expert milkers was disputed, as also was the attitude the milker toward his herd, and in s. connection family labour should, mally, be better than hired help, herally speaking, too, it was found it ..high production- was associated th, farms where the greatest amount labour, was available. Dealing with herd replacement, Mr wdett said it was supposed by many iple that it constituted a m of expense, but that was not alys so. The average number of ing animals drafted into herds every tr had in the past amounted to about ■per cent, but this figure: had inclu'd.’the increase in the total number of ry cows, which had averaged 6.8 : ppnt., .and the actual replacement s only about 15 per cent. a farmer maintained his herd Htdm.his own heifers, the cattle acHafunt' should show a small profit, as stock were gaining in value all time.' It was on farms where JHiifiging heifers or cows in milk were to replace culls that replace- ; became an appreciable expense. tlus applied particularly to HHilLL.farms where as large a milking as* possible was kept in order to required income. Maintencxpepscs oVer all the farms suraveraged about £5 per cow, and be accepted as a sound genfigure. The main expenditure manures, out high expenditure was justified. Intensive form of Farming. not watched, local body rates j become a. serious item. At the 1 time, however, it appeared the rendered warranted the cost. ■ plavcrage rates on these farms repthe interest.on £3 4s an acre. anothor way, it might be sugthat the services rendered by increased tho value of-the ; 'by £3 4s, .either as an earning the occupier was willing to HBlfi'.cbnclusion it may be advanced dairying is the most intensive ’of-fanning possible for New Zeaour present economic condithe article states. “It is cap* employing intensive labour combination of area and pro-■jfity-is-correct. There are two BWjjfcjds which may be adopted to selabour utilisation: the of labour by owners of or by gradual adjustment aize of farms until the economic unit is obtained for different 'soil.' The latter method al- ! density of rural pop* suggests’ that it should aim in all*land settle*. where conditions pen