MORE DAIRY FARMING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 125, 28 May 1932, Page 16

MORE DAIRY FARMING.

BEST UNEMPLOYED CURE. SUBDIVISION OF FARMS. MAJOR WILSON'S SCHEME. "I think efforts should be concentrated not in opening up fresh districts, but in increasing the density of our present dairying-districts," said Major E. A. Wilson in his presidential address to the annual meeting of the New Zealand Friesian Association in Hamilton. He was discussing unemployment, and had expressed the opinion that the solution would be found in increasing the number of dairy farmers. By cutting off portions of farms not now being fully utilised, I consider wo could find room for a great many more families than at present. There would be very little extra expenditure required for roads, railways, post offices, power lines or dairy factories, as the only considerable capital expenditure would be for buildings and extra fencing necessary. Our existing financial arrangements would probably take care of the extra cows and manure required. In an average case I consider an advance of between £400 and £500 would be required for buildings and fencing. The great point is that any families so settled are permanentlv off the labour market.

"I venture to state that probably between 70 and 80 per cent of our dairy farmers are paying their Avay at the present time, while probably not more than 20 or 30 per cent of our purely sheep farmers arc doing so, and then only when fat lambs arc produced. Advantages of Dairy Farming. "One great advantage of dairy products is that any fall in price to the producer passes immediately to the consumer, and hence is a great incentive to increased consumption. With wool, however, oven if (as at the present time) the producer gets practically nothing for his raw material, yet the finished article is very little cheaper — the ultimate consumer being so far removed from the producer. The great advantage of dairying over sheep farming from a closer settlement point of view is that while very little extra production is obtained by cutting up sheep farms (for a man with several thousand sheep can get about as great a return per acre per sheep as a man with a few hundred), cutting up dairy farms into jxr.ll areas greatly increases the production both per acre and per cow. Hence it is an economic proposition to subdivide dairy farms down to areas grazing from 25 to 40 cows. If we can increase the number of families on the land sufficiently, unemployment in the towns would take care of itself, for the extra production would necessitate extra labour in the towns and ports to cope with the handling s[ the extra produce.

"There is no need to elaborate the point of intensive production. I can show practical examples of 2001b of butterfat per acre being obtained in districts •where the average is not more than 1001b per acre. It is scarcely necessary to state at this period that the chief instrument in getting these increased returns is topdressing, but for those who have not seen the results I would say that in dairying districts I do not know of any farm where you would not get a better return from half the farm under topdressing than you would on the whole farm without it, and in many cases dairying would be quite impossible without topdressing. To Settle 10,000 Families.

"If we could settle 10,000 families with a capital expenditure of five millions, it would (with the increased work in the towns provided by the extra production) go a long way towards alleviating our unemployment problem. As the last statistics showed that about 40,000 holdings were used for dairying, this would mean an increase of 25 per cent, a difficult but not impossible task."

Major Wilson elaborated the scheme as under:—

(1) Form committees of directors and shareholders of each dairy factory, who would recommend suitable tenants or purchasers of land, and nlso say whether such purchases are at a figure that gives the buyer a reasonable chance of paying his way. (2) The Government to advance sufficient money to build a cottage and milking shed. (3) Such advances to be for a long term at a low rate, say, 5 per cent, with a sinking fund of, say, 1 per cent, and to be a first charge on the land (subject to the mortagee's consent), in the same way as rates and power board installations are at present.

The incentive the mortgagee would havo to agree would be that his security would be improved, and the prior claim to his mortgage (being a long term advance with a sinking fund) would not have to bo met by a capital payment (in case of foreclosure) like an ordinary first mortgage. Capital would have to be found by the Government, but the security would be £here to be pledged for a loan. Settlers and Land Available.

"The questions will be asked," said Major Wilson, "(1) Are suitable families available in sufficient numbers? (2) Will sufficient land be on offer? I have no doubt of tlie former, and I believe sufficient land can be obtained. It would need organisation, and perhaps a certain amount of appeal to the community spirit, but I believe a great deal could be accomplished in these times. My experience of the wonderful way in which, with the aid of topdressing, a family becomes self-supporting by means of a dairy herd on land which formerly ran only a few sheep, has made me a great advocate of the extension of our dairying as a remedy for unemployment."