DOMINION’S DAIRY HERDS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 418, 1 September 1928, Page 29

DOMINION’S DAIRY HERDS

DECREASE IN NUMBERS A tabulation of the dairy herds of rhe Dominion, classified according to size, has recently been undertaken, the Jlgures used being as at January 31, in 1923 and 1927, so as to provide a reasonable period for purposes of comparison. Herds of less than ten dairy cows have been excluded from the tabulation, as it is considered that they are almost entirely confined to small holdings used for mixed farming and which are not dairy farms in the true sense of the word. In many cases, of course, one or two cows are run on what are merely residential sites and not in any sense “farms/' In 1927 holdings depasturing from one to nine cows numbered 31,727. Perhaps the most striking fact elucidated is the very considerable decrease in the numbers of herds comprising from ten to 29 cows, while there is an increase in every class comprising 30 or more cows. The total number of herds shows a decrease of 307, but the total number of cows has increased by 59,489. Although the number of dairy cows Per unit of total area of holdings has rtsen considerably (from 0.081 to 0.085 Per acre), the total number of cattle Per unit of area shows a slight decline. This is contrary to what might he expected from various factors — Principal among these being the increased use of fertiliser for top-dress-in recent years. Eniplpyees (particularly females) ar e considerably fewer despite the heater number of cows, and this is doubt due to the increased use g milking machines. The total numh®r of cows returned as milked by in the respective years were 51 U87 and 753,751 respectively, an Crease of 112,464 or 23 per cent. Summarised results of the tabula IO Q are subjoined.

of gairy Serda. JO-19 £0-24 ' Wo. of Herds. Xo. of Dai 1923. 1927. 1923. 11.265 10.065 156,830 ry Cows. 1927. 139,535 96.733 IO.34 ‘ 15-39 • 40-44 ‘ 45.49 • 50-59 50-74 i 88.408 96,873 99,500 74,173 2,042 2,105 84,838 63,868 8 i ,36.j 67,950 2,201 2,369 117,474 115,623 141,047 lw ana' 1,163 97,828 112,235 „ 0V6r • T otau —(Abstr 773 911 104,543 123,068 33,449 33,142 ,0147,765 1,157,266 ct of Statistics.