FARMERS' PLIGHT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 74, 29 March 1943, Page 4

FARMERS' PLIGHT

PRODUCTION DOWN WAIKATO'S PARCHED FIELDS (O.C. HAMILTON, this day. If Mr. Barclay, when reporting at Whangarei a decline in dairy p ro . duction for the Dominion of 7 per cent had had up-to-date figures available, his estimate might have been a different one, at any rate so far as the Waikato is concerned, for in this district production is declining to an unprecedented degree, according to inquiries in the Waikato. This is in contrast to other districts, notably Taranaki, which is reported to be enjoying a second spring.

In the Waikato the position varies a good deal, but, of some parts at any rate, it is true to say that the first quarter of 1943. one of the driest on record to visit these areas reveals the parched nature of fields and the paucity of feed. A dairy farmer in the eastern Waikato district said: "I have been.farming in this district for 23 years and consider this is the driest season'during that period." ... • . ..."-J./ Production ' figures for March' in the Morrinsville district disclose a serious fall. The large cheese factory of the Tatua Dairy Company at Tatuanui, for the period March 1 to March 26, 1940, made 77 cheeses a day and for the same period of March, 1943, 46 a day, a drop of 40.3 per cent. One of the two butter factories in Morrinsville makes at the flush of the season 700 boxes a day and the daily make is now dowji to 200 boxes, and the output is falling about ten boxes daily. , "".

The years 1941 and 1942 do not offer a fair comparison because of variations in supply. So far this year there has not been a single good fall of rain, and the total for the year to date is 4.72 in, compared with 13;63in for the first quarter of 1940 and 17.06 in in 1941. The March rainfall to date is 1.l Bin, against the average March fall of 3.32 in. . / !

Rain Needed Badly

The most farmers can now hope for is soaking rain of several days duration to bring the feed away and enable them to save supplies for winter feed, which is now being used up rapidly. Some are fortunate enough to have good supplies of crops, but these cannot last much longer. Others have been feeding out ensilage for some time, with the result that anxiety prevails regarding the feed position for winter arid spring. Another factor to cause anxiety is water supply. Not all have large concrete reservoirs, and in some parts the stock of water is too precious to allow of clothes being washed.