A MILLION COWS.
.the HERDS UNDER TEST. " THEIR WORTH TO NEW ZEALAND. Mr. W. M. Singleton, Acting-Director of the Dairying Division of the Department of Agriculture, has prepared a valuable report on the results of cowtesting in the Dominion. The season reviewed is that o-f 1920-21. In an interview on. the subject, the Wellington Post learned from Mr. Singleton that in all 15,460 cows had been tested of the million dairy cows in the Dominionestimated at 993,473 as on January 31 last.
The past season was not so good as its predecessor, for there was an exceedingly dry autumn, and the yield of milk from the million herd was, consequently much reduced.
Mr. Singleton reports that the average of the cows under test was 206.421 b of butter-fat in a milking period of 215 days. The average daily yield of butterfat per cow is about one pound. Butterfat was worth well over 2s a pound, it has reached over 2s 3d as returned to shareholders in co-operative factories during the 1920-21 season. Dannevrrke co-operative company returned 2s Sd to shareholders. Mataura and Rapanui 2s 9d. Tikorangi paid out 2s EKham Co-operative Company paid 2s 2%d. To take the value of butter-fat produced at 2s per pound for last season is a conservative figure; but Mr. Singleton believes the yield of tested, cows of 0.69611 b per cow per day, to be above the average for the Dominion herd. As it is, the Dominion’s herd of dairy cows was increased by 100,000 head last season, and it will be greatly augmented this current season. The low price of sheep and beef cattle has resulted this season in the diversion of grazing land to dairying. The demand for cows is exceedingly keen, as stock agents’ reports from ail parts of the Dominion, but especially from the North Island, will show.
AN EXPERT OPINION. Of course, there are cows and cows. It is to improve the producing capacity of the Dominion’s milking herd that the tests are conducted, Mr. Singleton stated to The Post. “My opinion is that unless the Cow-Testing Association members or dairy farmers are inspired through the testing of their cows to breed better animals to take the place of culls, the greatest lessons that cowtesting can teach are largely lost. Lowproducing cows should be replaced by heifers sired, by purebred bulls. Herdtesting will show the paramount necessity that exists of selecting such a purebred bull from cows which have certificates of record of production. It is to enable farmers to obtain bulls with a butter-fat record backjng that has caused the dairying division of the Department of Agriculture to co-operate with breeders in the authentication of the records of production of purebred cows.” The value of exports of butter and cheese (to say nothing of casein, dried milk, and other dairy products) for the 12 months ended July 31 last was: — . Cwt. £ Butter 638,670 8,654,479 Cheese -1,436,707 8,523,669 2,075,377 17,178,148 The value of the combined exports of butter and cheese for the 12 months ended July 31, 1920, was £9,639,776. Market conditions may not be so good this current season as last, making it all the more necessary that the cow should do her part to the utmost of her producing capacity. Mr. Singleton hopes that the publication of the results of the carefully conducted tests above referred to, will induce fanners to set a watch on their cows for themselves. “Comparatively,” he remarks, “New Zealand has no reason to be ashamed of the proportion of her dairy cows being tested. Moreover, there is no reason to doubt our ability to lead in this respect, and we trust to see the number of dairy cows on test increase very materially in the near future.” WHAT IS DUE TO THE COW. The farmers’ part, as Mr. Singleton sees it, is in 'better breeding, improve-, ment in the care and feeding of cows,' especially during the winter months. Crops must be grown for them in summer for winter feeding. On that subject, Mr. A. H. Cockayne, Government Biologist, holds that “the future progress of dairying in New Zealand lies in the adoption of methods that will lead to the production of butter-fat at the cheapest possible rate,- and, in general, it can be said that dairying i methods which increase the butter-fat production per acre decrease the cost of butter-fat per pound.” The average butter-fat yield of New Zealand herds is lees than 1701 b per cow per annum. With sufficient feed available to enable the maximum production to be realised, Mr. Cockayne holds that the average yield per cow would rise in a single year to well over 2001 b of butter-fat. At an increase of 301 b of butter-fat per cow per annum in a herd of a million head, at 2s per pound on Mr. Cockayne’s estimate there would be an increased revenue for the Dominion of £3,000,000 per annum from butterfat. Mr. Singleton insists that increased production must come not only from selecting the best butter-fat producing cows by careful recorded tests, but also by supplementing the grass feed in the paddock by specially grown crops for feeding the herds. The good cow has shown herself to be worth far more than bare subsistence, to say nothing of the duty of man to an animal that has served him so well. In a monetary sense, as those intimately connected with the finances of the Dominion realise, the cow has rendered substantial help in a time of great difficulty, and she promises to continue to do so, and to increase her contribution.
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Taranaki Daily News, 14 September 1921, Page 2
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934A MILLION COWS. Taranaki Daily News, 14 September 1921, Page 2
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