HIGH COUNTRY RUN

Korero (AEWS), Volume 3, Issue 10, 18 June 1945, Page 8

HIGH COUNTRY RUN

Just over 12 per cent, of New Zealand is high-country tussock land in the South Island. Between the eastern plains and the perpetual snows of the Southern Alps it sprawls southwards, from Marlborough to Southland. It is a land of glacier-gnawed valleys scoured by fierce mountain-torrents. It is a land of hills and gorges, spurs and shingle slopes, hanging valleys and river flats, across which sweep the north-west winds. To these tussock grasslands came early immigrant farmers. With English matches, they set ablaze the age-old tussocks, the tangled beech forests. They brought Australian Merinos, with Scots shepherds and sheep-dogs to tend them. To-day, almost 2,000,000 sheep graze upon these 7,700,000 mountainous acres. The Crown, the largest owner of all, leases 545 runs, each one averaging over 14,000 acres. Of the flocks (mostly crossbreds, including the Merino strain) at least nine contain more than 20,000 sheep.

But as far back as 1920 a Government Commission gave warning that these mountain farms, far from progressing, had “ gone backward ... a state of affairs not at all creditable to the Dominion.”

What’s the reason for this ? Why is the future doubtful for tussock grasslands ? A detailed survey, covering grazing and farm economy at one high country run, endeavours to answer these questions. *

Rough roads, often mere tracks, wind laboriously to most high-country farms, but the Grasmere - Cora Lynn run, set in the Waimakariri Basin, is linked to Canterbury and Westland both by transalpine railroad and main highway. Cora Lynn, administered by the Lands Department, and Grasmere, an educational grant controlled by the Canterbury University Council, total almost 54,000 acres. The two stations are worked as one enormous unit. Over 90 per cent, of the unit is divided into fifteen grazing blocks, nine of which range from 700 to 10,000 acres. Four distinct types of country are found in this area—river-bed shingle, alluvial fans, steep slopes worn by glaciers, and, lastly, mountain tops with shingle slides and bare rock. The weather and climate varies widely, depending on slope, aspect, height above sea-level, and the amount of bare rock. Frequent frosts, temperatures as erratic as the nor’west rains, a late spring, hot dry winds, fierce, sudden summer rains

and winter snow from the west or southwest, all have their varied effects upon the plant-life and pastures. At the western boundary of Cora Lynn, rainfall averages 62-09 in., but on the eastern margin of the run it amounts to only 35-81 in. It’s not surprising that such unusual conditions produce unusual series of vegetation : tussock steppe, southern beech forest, scrubland, and alpine herb fields. Ninety years ago the tussocks and other bunched grasses spread from riverbeds to slopes at least 3,000 ft. high. Sheep found few of the tussocks tasty, and searched for the less conspicuous grasses. The settlers did not understand that, tussocks not only preserved, but enriched the topsoil, so they set fire, ruthlessly, to the matted grassy growth of centuries. These burnings, repeated again and again, produced a fresh new growth, but simultaneously they weakened seriously the plant-life and vegetable mould. Also (as has happened in most tussock grasslands) the natural pastures of Grasmere and Cora Lynn were seriously overstocked. The close - cropping Merino added to the destruction of the more tasty herbs and grasses. Deer, rabbits (fortunately not serious in the Upper Waimakariri), and weeds assisted the deterioration. ♦ To-day on the Grasmere - Cora Lynn run, work is directed from the old limestone home at Grasmere. The unit is well situated towards the sun, with few slopes snow-bound all winter. The foundation of the flock of half-breds— Merino-Romney and Merino-Leicester—-

is some 5,000 ewes, while 3,000 heavyhardy wethers and several hundred dryewes graze on the poorer, more broken country. In the summer months the run accommodates more than 3,500 lambs. The flock, both ewes and wethers, is renewed from the 3,000 hoggets carried annually, and yields each year a clip of 200 bales (80,000 lb.), worth £4,000. Although the 300 acres of cultivated land are well fenced, many of the blocks have only natural boundaries, such as rocky bluffs, rivers, and the bush. But these serve pretty well. High-country sheep don’t often stray from the property on which they’re bred. An October spring, bringing lambs with the new grass, keeps all hands busy, and the tempo of work steadily increases, until it reaches its peak in December. Then hired men aid in shearing, woolclassing, and baling. Closely-shorn sheep will die in cold, unseasonable weather, so the machines are used only for crutching. Hand blades clip the fleeces, and the shorn wethers and dry ewes are driven to the " summer country rugged, scrubby highlands. Ewes and lambs go to the blocks, while the “ winter country ” is given a brief rest. In March and April the whole run is mustered. The lambs are weaned, the ewes and wethers culled, and surplus stock is sent to the plains, either for fattening or direct to the freezing-works. The rest of the sheep are dipped, and the rams are put to the ewes in May. Now the cold season is approaching, so most of the sheep go on to “ winter country ” and “ the farm.”

“ The farm ” is a feature of the Gras-mere-Cora Lynn run. On most highcountry tussock runs, the plough isn’t used extensively for preparing winterfeed areas. Either the land is too rough, or short-term leases discourage such attempts at improvement. “ The farm,” however, produces turnips, grasses, and white clover for winter feed. A strict rotation is applied to the ten paddocks making up the 300 cultivated acres. One paddock of 24 acres produces two 35-ton hay crops annually. This, together with liming and top-dressing with superphosphate, has raised the carryingcapacity of “ the farm ” from 150 to over 1,000. Cull ewes and wethers are fattened in the late summer, and through the winter over 1,000 hoggets graze with a much lower death-rate than those on the ranges. Their fleeces, too, are 2 lb. heavier. But, in spite of “ the farm,” GrasmereCora Lynn carries fewer sheep than in the past. Over a period of sixty-five years the sheep population has dwindled from 16,200 in 1879 to 11,900 in 1919, and to approximately 10,000 in 1944. This can be explained partly from a change-over from Merino to a half-bred flock, and a policy, since 1930, of controlled grazing. Tussock burning (and with it the destruction of small, tender feed) is almost completely banned. Yet overstocking, indiscriminate tussock burning, and

erosion continue steadily on most other high-country runs. They continue to deteriorate, seriously. What of the future of our high country, which at present produces wool, and relatively little food ? New Zealand is now committed to a maximum production of food. In the years just ahead synthetic substitutes yet may compete successfully with fine wools. The high-country farmer depends on wool. The wool depends on the sheep, the sheep depend on the grass, the grass depends on the soil. The tussock grasslands and the thin mountain soils are deteriorating rapidly, and partial reafforestation, giving shelter for stock and grasses, is needed. New grasses could be tried which have been developed and stood the test of stock on similar country inother parts of the world. Not only would they provide food, but protect the soil. Perhaps another solution is bringing to the ranges more beef cattle to live on rank tussock and scrub growth hitherto burned. This would require an extensive fencing-off of precipitous areas and a reduction in the number of sheep. Should the raising of wool, sheep and beef cattle prove uneconomic, the only significant altenative would be afforestation to combat floods and erosion, and to guarantee the supply of hydro-electric power, the last remaining use for our high country. —A report based on an article by Kenneth B. Cumberland.