MORE FARMING PRODUCTION

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23088, 2 August 1940, Page 10

MORE FARMING PRODUCTION

♦ SPECIFIC AIMS OF PROGRAMME SETTING UP DISTRICT COMMITTEES V The first steps in setting up the organisation needed to increase farm production to meet specific demands of Great Britain, and to supply additional needs created in New Zealand by the war. were taken at a meeting of farmers held in Christchurch on Wednesday The programme of increased production was explained on behalf of the National Council of Primary Production by Mr R. P. Connell.

The meeting was called under the auspices of the North Canterbury Farmers' Union, and Mr-R. G, Bishop, provincial president, presided. Other speakers were Mr J. Dunlop, of‘the Dairy Board, Mr H. D. Acland, of the Sheepowners’ Union, and Mr W. W. Mulholland, Dominion president of the Farmers’ Union.

The appeal was based oh patriotic motives, said Mr Connell, but the farming envisaged in the plan was strictly economic If the proposals were carried iiut efficiently, and the relation oetween costs and farm returns did not alter, then they would be profitable.

He was concerned at the moment with the proposals as they affected arable farming in North Canterbury—the district north of the Rakaia. Other councils were concerned with South Canterbury and the -Ashburton district.

Specific allotments had been set for the various districts. For North Canterbury 2800 acres of wheat in addition to what was already in sight was required. This represented an increase of 4 per cent, on the normal sowing. The second item was an additional 1200 acres of oats for threshing. This should not give much trouble, as it merely brought the total crop a little above normal.

Additional feed barley amounting to 1500 acres was required. This year substantial amounts of barley had been imported from overseas. The plan proposed that there should be no more imports of feed barley. The fourth requirement. for a 2500-acre increase in field peas, arose from a direct need of Great Britain. Pasture Seeds Needed Pasture seeds were particularly important. New Zealand usually grew enough for the country’s own needs, although this did not apply to certified seed. Britain in the past had imported considerable quantities of pasture seed from Europe. That source of supply was no longer available, and the objective was for New Zealand to grow more than its own requirements. The programme for increased production generally involved an increase in the area under the plough, particularly in the North Island, which m'eant that more seed would be needed. For the district the increases sought in the areas of certified seed were:— Perennial ryegrass, 1000 acres (a 100 per cent, increase); Italian ryegrass, 200 acres;' Montgomery red clover, 100 acres; white clover—as much as possible.

Th most important requirement of all was an additional 9000 acres of forage crops. This requirement hinged on the better feeding of stock for greater production. It was not possible quickly to' increase the number of .breeding ewes and dairy cows, but it was possible to get more produc--tion from existing animals, and better feeding was an essential. Mr Connell referred briefly to pig production. In the last 25 years dairy cows in Canterbury had increased by 43 per cent., and pig population had declined by 41 per cent. Exactly the opposite would have been expected. It was said that if New Zealand aimed at more cheese production, as she was asked by Great Britain, then the prospect of increasing pig production was lessened. It was suggested that where whey and not skim milk was available, pig feeding could be helped by the freer use of meat meal with roots.

The organisation to handle the plan was proposed to consist .of district committees of two or three practical and successful farmers operating over very small cistricts, said Mr Connell. These committees would work under the guidance of the district council of primary production. Cheese and Pig Problems Mr Dunlop said there had been an urgent request from Great Britain for 15.000 tons more cheese and 10.000 tons more pig meat than New Zealand exported last year. This would not be an easy task, but it must be faced. Last year’s cheese exports had beeri 12.000 tons more that the preyious year’s, but only because of an exceptionally favourable season. The coming season might not be favourable. The only way to secure the quantity of cheese needed .vould be to divert sr pliers from butter to cheese factories That brought about a very dif-f-ult position. The Dairy Board had combed the country for m-' erial. There were sufficient vats in the South Island for all Jie increase required, and some of that machinery had been shipped to the North Island to help there. It would be seen to that no cheese factories would make an extra profit- out of the additional suppliers, at the expense of the butter factories which were deprived of There were bound to be a number of anomalies, and it was suggested that a levy should be made over the whole of the cheese and butter industries to. straighten them up.

“I know there will be difficulties, hut they will he straightened out.” said Mr Bunion. “In the Waikato the whole thine has been fixed \in. In South Canterbury it is pretty well arranged, and Southland is also well ahead. The difficult thing is to find suppliers who will not he seriousl" disorganised by the change.” Mr Dunlon considered it would be much more difficult to meet the bacon reauirements. However. England would not ask for additional quantities if she did not require them The difficulty was that such an increase in pigs could not be achieved in a day or a vear. “What sacrifice would it bn to us if we gave up bacon eating in New Zealand altogether, and that much extra was made available to England?” asked Mr Dunlop. "For New Zealand consumption. 1000 pigs a day are killed.” Sheep Production “In the sheepfarming industry in particular it would appear that all that can be done is to provide the maximum amount possible of supplementary feed as an insurance against such conditions as drought and to enable us to carry our stock a little longer than usual, with the object of sending out more weight a head of lamb, rather than for us to 'export a greater number of carcases of lighter -"’eight,” said Mr Acland. “By doing this, we can meet the British requirements in weight of output,'without seriously deplenishing our stocks, particularly our breeding ewes.

“If we can increase our average weights of lamb, even by 11)3 a carcase, during next export season, this will mean more than 10,000,0001b additional, or a total of roughly 4500 tons of additional lamb for export.” Mr Acland gave a warning against depleting breeding stocks by drawing too heavily on ewe lambs, “Fears are being expressed in some quarters as to .possible difficulty with respect to shipping, but IKWould say.

in spite of any possibilities in this connexion, it is our paramount duty to continue to work and produce to the limit,” Mr Acland continued. "It is much better for us to have our stores full of British requirements on demand, than to adopt a* defeatist policy, and find ourselves short in our duty to the Mother Country and the Empire. Wars are not won this way, but only by continued effort and the will to win.” Feed Capacity Mr W. W. Mulholland, Dominion president of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, said that 4 in securing greater production it was not possible to increase the number of animals immediately. So it was necessary to get more out of the animals already on the farms, more butter-fat from the cows and more meat from the sheep and pigs. To do this, attention had to- be placed on increasing the feed capacity of farms, and to have reserves of feed, in case war emergencies, like the shortage of shipping, made it inadvisable to kill stock as quickly as it was ready. In discussing the wheat programme, Mr Mulholland said some farmers had said' they would like to grow something that was more of a direct war contribution than wheat, which was grown for New Zealand use. But the people must be fed, and if N.ew Zealand had to import wheat there would be a drain on shipping that was needed by the Empire for other* purposes. Mr Mulholland added that he felt sure the farmers of North Canterbury would take up the programme with real goodwill. In reply to Mr J. E. H. McGrath, who asked whether a limit would be set on this extra production, to prevent over-supply, Mr Connell said the committees would have an allotment for each district, and would apportion it. The committees hdd to do their work efficiently. Mr G. C. Warren asked what financial provision was being made, as many~farmers would need finance if they were to help. In reply. Mr Connell said provision was being made for finance, with the State Advances Corporation as the control body. Farmers would have to prove that the finance was needed, and that it could not be obtained through their normal channels.

In reply to a suggestion that the committees might take over land for cropping, Mr Mulholland said there had been many offers of land for this purpose. However, it was the job of farmers to use their land for production, and not to hand it over to the Government for someone else to produce from. The land was no good in itself. What counted was the farmer’s skill on the land. On the motion of Mr G. C. Warren the following committee was set up to decide the areas to be administered by the district committees;— Messrs W H. Nicholson. H. D. Acland. J. R. D. Johns, J. Parlane. R. T. MacMillan, and R. G- Bishop. It was suggested that Farmers’ Union districts might form useful units for. the district committees. , In discussion on the method of selecting the members of district committees, Mr G. Gardiner emphasised that the selection should be made by the farmers in each district, and that the men chosen should be good farmers above all. arid have the confidence of their fellows.

It was decided to circularise all farmers’ organisations to call meetings of farmers immediately to nominate three members for each district committee.