IMPROVING SHEEP PASTURES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 142, 18 June 1930, Page 19

IMPROVING SHEEP PASTURES.

- if " § s MA LL paddocks best. SUITABLE MANURING ESSENTIAL. (Specially Written By "SUPER"). •Rrien prices for primary products are I fjinnsr wlio "wiiiiis "to miLl^s I profit" most do one of two things. He | either reduce his production costs, p or increase his production. It is very mtich easier to do these things on paper 8 than in practice, which is one of the reasons why farmers are often suspicious of meant advice thrown at them by propagandists on behalf of suecific fertilisers. Nine out of ten farmers in New Zealand are only too 1 w illiiia- and anxious to increase produc--1 tion = bv ' any means, provided the increases are economical, and return I theia profits above the cost of making them- Sheep-farmers this year have had a particularly bad time, and while it mav be some consolation to them to 1 know that they are not as badly off as their fellow-farmers in Australia, they fuel that prices here are so low as to make some change imperative. The dairy farmer can rapidly increase his production by adopting top-dressing, but the sheep-farmer is handicapped 1 by the size of his farm, and particularly by the size of his paddocks. Before he i jnilas any changes in these it is essenI tiajf that "he be certain-that these can fie made with profit to himself, for fencing costs are high. I A Few Small Paddocks. Without doubt, a few small paddocks 1 will pay handsomely on any sheep farm, and while it may not be possible to work the whole area on an intensive 10 basis, portions of it can be so worked with profit. Some very useful work proving that this is the case has been | carried out recently in Canterbury by It the Lincoln College people. Very wisely 1 they have done this work on farms scatJa tered throughout the length and breadth I of Canterbury so that the system has f been tried out on a wide range of soils, and under different conditions of management. All that the college authorities hate done has been to advise farmers on how to work their paddocks, and what manures to use. The individual farmers have done the work, seen the results and reaped the benefits. From these experiments Lincoln College officers have been able to lay down certain principles which appear to hold good under the conditions existing there. Some quite phenomenal carrying capacities have been recorded on paddocks managed on the intensive system, up to eighteen ewes per acre being carried for considerable periods. There seems to be no- reason- why even poor land could not winter three or four ewes to the acre when properly managed on this system. It must be admitted that a lot of work S is involved, and that expensive manures 111 have; to be used. Nevertheless the returns fl on most of the farms were such that the farmers will not be going back to the: old system. What Must be Done. ATT round manuring is needed in this j scheme* and small paddocks- Given these two, and intelligent management, returns from the sheep farm can be very considerably increased. The important thing is that July has been.found to be || the most profitable month for the use I of' the nitrogenous manures, so that those intending to try out these ideas on a small scale this season must start ■ soon. With a dressing of nitrogen in July the pastures make" early and rapid spring growth, the lambs get a particu- -> larjy good start, and big drafts can be got away early in the season, when prices are usually most remunerative. It is important for farmers to know that it would be little use giving pastures nitrogenous dressings unless they Lad been treated with phosphates earlier m the season. Balanced manuring is |j the ideal, and if it be adopted on one- || third of the farm this coming season I the extra returns would be a 'Welcome H addition to the farm income, should prices be as bad next season as they 11 were this year. This is one way in I which better per acre returns may be secured, but there is no • use denying that it requires intelligent planning to maks a success of it. There is no royal road to easy profits through the subdivision of paddocks and the use of balanced manures, but there is opportunity for greater development from the farm. The Special Paddocks. It was found in Canterbury that in thfr "specially treated paddocks the spring growth was so heavy that even with very heavy stocking the feed was not eaten down. Farmers there were of the opinion that a few of these paddocks were wonderful profit-makers in the spring months, in providing specially good feed for the ewes and lambs, thus allowing the lambs to make rapid headway. The farmer who can draft off the best of hi 3 ewes and lambs to paddocks of this sort is placing himself in an excellent position for "fats" later in the season. Another important point brought out ia Canterbury was that, contrary to general opinion, sulphate of ammonia did not give a flash in the pan effect and become worn out in a very short while. Where there was a dry spell M following its application it apparently stayed in the ground unaltered, for after m rain there was tremendous growth- Even after three or four months the paddocks I treated with sulphate of ammonia showed great increases over those not treated. It will perhaps be interesting to quote one or two of the actual results s o that farmers can see for themselves that these new methods are profitable when carried out judiciously. One farm in particular had a splendid pasture in which rye was' dominant, and on this, ft® the six months from September to February inclusive, the equivalent of 15-61 sheep per acre were carried. This was a 30-year-old pasture and gave wonderful response to the manuring. Young pastures did very well at the ®tatt, but did not hold out in the same wa y later in the season. Tile best soils gave the best results and lighter types did not give such good returns, partly because the passes were not of the right types. Pastures can be gradually built up even on, these lighter lands through the use phosphates and potash, and once this aas been done the use of the nitrogenous manures and more intensive methods of Management will become profitable. These methods have already been adopted with success by many farmers / m the North Island, and in. Taranakl,

liillHHlllJlllHilHUillUHUllUllllHnillllii the Waikato and North Auckland there are pastures grazed intensively, giving high per acre returns. The gradual extension of the idea is highly desirable and is certainly in the interests of farmers. It would be useless for farmers to try and farm on this system all at once. The change-over from the present methods to more intensive management has to be made gradually j as finances permit additional fencing and manures. Without a doubt the major increases in sheep fanning production in the next decade will corns from the extension of this intensive system, and the farmers who most profit will be those who start now and gradually extend the area under this type of management.