LARGE-SCALE FARMING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 738, 10 August 1929, Page 33

LARGE-SCALE FARMING

CONDITIONS IN PATAGONIA FLOCK OF 2,000,000 SHEEP Patagonia knows neither drought nor pests. But what it saves its pastoralists in this connection is offset by its 10 feet of snow that buries its pastures every winter. An Interesting visitor to the recent Sydney Sheep Show and Fair was Mr. M. S. Mackinnon, sub-manager of the Tecka Argentine Laud Co., a huge pastoral organisation operating in one immense block, a chain of sheep and cattle stations in Patagonia, a country in the south of Argentine. Mr. Mackinnon was in Australia

for tne purpose of purchasing stud merinos for the Tecka Company, and Corriedales for a Chilean pastoral company that controls a flock of over two million strong wools, chiefly Romney Marsh and Corriedales. In an interview with “Country Life," Mr. Mackinnon gave an interesting account of the conditions under which they grow wool in Patagonia. “We grow no fine wools in the south,” he said, “but our medium and strong wools compare favourably with those of Australia.

“Mostly it is crossbred wool, but an indication of its quality can be formed from the fact that our best crossbred wool brings higher values than our best Merino wool. “The stations are vast holdings, many times more expansive than those in Australia, and naturally we cannot give our sheep the same attention as your graziers do. Our winters are intensely cold, and our summers are also bleak. Often our annual snowfall ranges from 100 to 120 inches, completely burying the fences and outbuildings. On our best Merino paddocks there is an average fall of 65 inches of snow every winter. SURVIVAL OF FITTEST j i “Naturally we do not worry about constitution. If sheep are not strong they die —it is a case of the survival of the fittest. The result has been that by this natural elimination of frail sheep our flocks today have been bred to withstand the extraordinarily severe conditions' of the country.” Most of the station managers, said Mr. Mackinnon, are Australians and New Zealanders, but while we must admit that we have much to learn from you in the nature of mating of flocks, etc., our pastoral companies—controlled as they are mostly by British capital—can teach you people a lot about administration, he continued. “We divide our station management into two branches—finance and stock. They are entirely separate activities. The financial side has been developed to the highest degree of efficiency, and plays a most powerful part in the profit-earning side of our stations." Mr. Mackinnon said that the south of Patagonia was remarkably free from anything troublesome except scab, a skin disease that necessitated continual dipping. Blowfly, though frequently troublesome in the north, is never ever seen In the southern regions. “Only for scab,” he said, “Patagonia could be called the sheepman’s paradise. CARRYING CAPACITY “Nor are pasture improvement schemes required. In the summer there is a wealth of pasture resulting from the winter snows, and two sheep to the acre can be carried with ease. In the winter, however, it is necessary to stock lightly, and one

sheep to three acres is the average limit of safety. “Despite the fact that often 30 inches of snow falls within a week, the pasture is unaffected, and but for the uncertainty of additional heavy falls on the already frozen mantle left by previous snowings, . Patagonia would he a far heavier carrying country than Australia. “Australia will always have Pata ! gouia as a customer for stud sheep,” said Mr. Mackinnon, "as we find it continually necessary to introduce new pure blood. Even in our cattle studs, and w r e have some o£ the finest Herefords in the world on our runs, we still have to import pure blood from England.” Mr. Mackinnon will visit New Zealand to select the Corriedales, though he will first inspect one of two Australian flocks along the Murray.