FAT LAMB RAISING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 892, 8 February 1930, Page 27

FAT LAMB RAISING

An Attractive Side-Line THE advance of fat iamb raising in the Auckland Province during the past year or so is strikingly indicated by the keen demand which has been shown for breeding ewes offered at the various fairs held during the last ten days. Heavy offerings have been eagerly snapped up by graziers, who are compelled to make fresh purchases of breeding ewes each year.

Rapid though the growth of the fat iairb raising industry may have been, hov.'ever, still greater progress should he shown over the next decade. More aad. more, Auckland graziers are turning to fat-lamb raising as a profitable side-line. Although prices for fat lambs have tallea well below last year’s levels, it is evident that there is a steady demand for ail New Zealand can produce at the moment, and even present values have attractions to the farmer holding moderately priced land. Improved farming methods and the use of fertilisers has lifted the carrying rapacity of Auckland farm lands well beyond the expectations of the most optimistic of a few years ago; more and more country which has been regarded previously as either worthless or fit only for stores is being brought into a state of high fertility, and being used for the breeding of fat stock. This is particularly noticeable in the North, where most districts are starting on an era of unprecedented increasing production. Fat lamb raising has attractions apart from its remunerative aspect. It entails less labour than dairying, and has the additional attraction in that it is a. pleasant and profitable side-line to almost any class of farming.

Few fanners specialising in fat limb raising can. at the same time, carry forward sufficient young stock ,o maintain their flocks at normal strength: each year fresh ewes have to be brought in from outside. It is this need that is causing Auckland graziers to call more and more on Tiastoralists of Poverty Bay and the lower East Coast for breeding ewes. Many thousands of sheep are nowdrawn annually from those parts to find a ready market in the Waikato; increasing numbers are also being supplied by the bigger hill country graziers of the province.

Although breeding for the freezer does not call for the same care in selection of either the ewes or the rams, as In the case of breeding for the flock, there are certain points which warrant close attention if the best results are to be obtained. If, for instance, it is decided to use Down rams too much attention cannot be given to type. In fact, whatever the breed of the rams, it is essential that they should be good, sturdy, well-wooled sheep, if they are to be expected to throw satisfactory lambs. It should always be remembered that the ram is half the progeny.

The selection of the ewes is largely a matter of expediency; apart from the fact that the best are not available In the lines placed on the market, for the simple reason that they are mostly only sheep culled front station flocks, the majority of farmers cannot afford to pay top prices. It seems, therefore, that there should he one main rule when preparing for the new crop of lambs: buy the best available with the money at hand and, if there is to be specialising, it. should be in the direction of securing better quality rams. Last year record killings of fat lambs were made in the Auckland Province; this season it is quite on the cards that even bigger figures will be recorded. There is every reason to believe, in fact, that the production of fat lambs in the Auckland Province will be doubled within the next decade; the trend is certainly that way. It is the knowledge of thi3 that supports the' contention that Auckland, more than any other district in the Dominion, oilers big chances for the young farmer who is prepared to work under modern methods; land is comparatively cheap and most parts have easy access to ready markets for all lines of produce.