CANTERBURY LAMB

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21708, 15 February 1936, Page 9

CANTERBURY LAMB

STUDY OF BREEDING METHODS

SANE CONCLUSIONS

‘ The following is the conclusion of ! the essay on Canterbury lamb by J. ‘ M. Brown, a degree student at Lincoln , College, of which the first part was . printed on Wednesday. The essay won ; the Hunter-Brown Challenge Cup. ‘ The points so far reviewed are well within. the control of the farmer. It seems that in the past there has been little to warrant the improvement of . ewes in the ways suggested, as this would apparently not have increased returns. The freezing works have absorbed all the lambs the farmer can turn out fat, and these being graded and exported, seem to have been satisfactorily disposed of. Probably he does not correlate home prices directly with the quality of his own stock. In view ol the present meat agreements and the trend in the export position as a whole, this satisfactory era must be coming to an end, and it now behoves the farmer to do all within his power to improve the product he is exporting. By this means alone can he maintain his market in face of foreign competition. As previously mentioned, the position is partly beyond the personal control of many producers. These are men who, for a variety of reasons, do not breed ewes, but have to rely on outside sources to maintain their flocks. In Canterbury the main redistribution of ewes takes place at the annual ewe fairs held in autumn. The numbers of ewes sold amount to hundreds of thousands and many of these are bought for the fat lamb trade. It is at the ewe fair that the wool grower disposes of his surplus breeding ewes. So'me of these have been culled for age, some for conformation defects, and others have been sold through the inability of the country on which they are produced to carry over a certain number of sheep. When the plains farmer buys these ewes he frequently purchases animals bred for climatic conditions totally different from those conditions common to fat lamb country. Considering mutton qualities these same ewes are often of a type, too poor to produce an ideal or even a reasonably good export lamb, though, mated with the best ram procurable, z So long as this practice of purchasing inferior back-country, ewes for fat lamb production continues, it wilX .be difficult to raise the general standard of Canterbury lamb, despite attention to points of management and to better feed production, Theoretically the matter could be rectified if the farmer were to breed his own ewes. However, this is economically undesirable or impossible in most cases. Moreover, the system under which one producer sells his surplus stock to another, who can better put his land to the produc!>tion of other products than to the of such stock, is a perfectly sound one—provided the sfdck supplied are of the required type. At present this is not so and the onus is on; the wool . grower to Improve his sheep along the lines demanded by the fat:lamb grower. Despite the mutual gain resulting from such a move, there seems;little hope.of this taking place until stock improvement becomes a compulsory national scheme. Live Stock Improvement Scheme So wide a subject as fat lamb production might he approached from many points of view. In the above discussion only one side of the problem has been summarised, with the aim of stressing a few weaknesses which undeniably exist in the present system, i Before accepting any criticism, those concerned usually demand some constructive scheme to replace the one attacked. In the present case the course to be followed is t j obvious that, this is unnecessary, and unless aoluntarv change for the better is brought about -from inside •the trade, it will assuredly come from without. »The unwillingness of the home consumer to pay a better- price for a no way superior product will soon assert itself, and be reflected in the farmer’s income and the number of lambs he can export. To state that ewi improvement, and even breeding improvement as a whole, were the only things necessary for the perfection of our lambs would be to underestimate the imnortance of ewe and lamb management and of general farm practice. In this paper the writer has attempted to snow that after 50 years some of the problems confronting the producer are as fundamental in their scope as they were when the trade was in its Infancy. In his address to the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1893, the chairman discussed the fat lamb trade. His words ;ire of great interest when compared with modern ideas and standards, and but fcr tbeir length, would be quoted in full. . . The fact of Australia’s being able to secure our long-woolled rams will almost at once put her in a position of being a heavy supplier of frozen meat in the London market, hence it will be most important that the high quality of our ■ frozen meat shall be fully maintained in order to hold our own, . . . During the year

1892 New Zealand exported 97,636,5571 b of meat. Of this a little more than 600,0001 b was beet. The shipments from Lyttelton show that Canterbury shipped of that quantity 385,851 carcases of mutton, giving the splendid average of nearly 611 b a carcase —a weight so much desired by the Home market. Canterbury also during the same time exported the most marvellous number of 168/772 fat lambs, giving again the splendid average of 39.51 b a lamb; . . I would say to those breeders who have country suitable for merino sheep, do not lose faith in the merino, but do all you can to improve them as in the past, for without the well-grown merino ewe to fall back upon it will be impossible for Canterbury to maintain its high standard for frozen mutton; and to those runholders who have country more adapted for breeding halfbreds, do not hesitate to give your neighbour a fair price for his purely-bred, wellgrown ewe, and then be careful in your selection to secure good constitutioned, compact, short-legged, wellwoolled rams to mate with them; then, I say without fear of contradiction, that you will, by breeding that class of sheep, not only be doing yoUr country good service, but will find an unlimited demand for your hoggets. ...” The Importance of the Ewe Quite apart from the inevitable question of breed and from any comparison with other conditions, our lamb can be improved aind standardised if more attention is given to general ewe selection. Some of the factors involved are under the control of the individual farmer; others equally important may not be, but might still be influenced for the better by the united efforts of those producers concerned. The first thing to be noted is the wide variation in the breeding, of the ewes under consideration. Lambs from purebred ewes of a number of breeds, and ranging through all the classes of crossbred, halfbred and three-quarter-bred, are put on a market which demands a standardised product While it is not suggested that all ewes should be of one breed, it is time that particular breed types were confined to areas to which they are best suited. If this difference existed only between flock and flock, it could be offset to some extent by the breed of sire employed. However, at present one particular flock may contain ewes representing several types, and all are mated indiscriminately to rams of one breed. The possible reason for the position is that when farmers buy in ewes, they often have to take what ewes' are available at local sales or fairs. Even so, some farmers show indifference to type. So long as the eWe has a mouth good enough to raise a lamb for one, two, or more seasons, she is accepted as fit to produce so specialised a product as “Canterbury lamb.” One must admit the importance of sound teeth which will stand up to feeding conditions, but would it not be better if this were the last thing looked for in a flock ewe instead of the first? Another point is the consideration which may be given by the farmer to the value of the wool produced by ewes primarily intended lor fat lamb production. In itself desirable, this is often to the detriment of the lamb, as the adjustment between wool and mutton characters is not all that could be dpsirfed. On country forfat lamb production, it is essential mat wool should be treated as a subsidiary, source of incrane. On holdings Where farmers breed their own' ewe; hoggets for the express purpose of main tabling the ewe flock, these difficulties need not be encountered, ' In some instances, the farmer’s policy of replacing his flock ewes swings from buying replacements one year to keeping his own hoggets another year, the policy of a single season depending on a number of circumstances. Moreover, it is sometimes found that those kept are ones which have been slow at fattening, the selection being made after one or more drafts have gone to the works. These animals often develop Into good mature sheep, but those which were not late lambs may not possess the hereditary factors for early maturity and thriftiness. When placed in the flock, they tend to produce lambs of similar type, to the Ultimate detriment of the whole flock and the quality of their progeny sent away as fats. Unconsciously, however, this method may lead to an increase in fertility, as slow growers often include twins.

' Since measures for rural relief were passed by the Victorian State Parliament, prices have risen, and the provincial outlook has brightened considerably. The Federal Government granted £12,000,000 to the six states for adjusting and financing farmers’ debts. Victoria’s share Is '£3,000,000, and a board has been appointed to distribute the money/ It has the assistance of about 40 “conciliation officers.” One condition of the advances to farmers and creditors is that the board .must assure itself of the farmer’s ability to make repayment. Farmers whose situation is hopeless will not be assisted. A second board has been appointed to advise the Government about writing off the dues of farmers in the irrigation districts. There is an annual government deficit on this account of nearly £1,000,000. In its efforts to place settlers on the land, Victoria has finally lost many millions.