WHEAT ACREAGE NEXT SEASON

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23801, 21 November 1942, Page 3

WHEAT ACREAGE NEXT SEASON

COMPULSION ASPECT NORTH ISLAND’S POSITION The recent Government announcement hinting that a form of compulsion was contemplated if the new contract system of wheatgrowing failed to secure the objective of 350,000 acres for the 1944 harvest, is of direct interest to North Island farmers. A Dominion survey taken recently of the area of actual and potential wheatgrowing land in the Dominion indicated that the objective would require less than 10 per cent, of the total area. As the North Island grows only from 6000 to 9000 acres annually out of the Dominion’s average of approximately 260,000 acres, it is obvious that the North Island will have to meet a substantial proportion of the needs if the voluntary contract should fail to do so. The average North Island farmer may object that he has never been a wheatgrower, and that it means upsetting his farming practice to divert good pasture land from dairying and sheep to a cultivated crop. But there is a war on, and though there is no urgent call for more butter, mutton, lamb, and, to an extent, wool—all exportable products—there is an inescapable necessity to produce food for our own people, for our Army, and for overseas soldiers. That is a national need during a war, and the task cannot wholly be laid on the shoulders of farmers in other parts of the country. In any case, the war needs of the United Kingdom have caused some encroachment on the lands which, in the South Island, would normally be devoted to wheat. Linen flax is a case in point, and in addition there is a call by the Government for more potatoes, and a demand for small seeds and peas for shipment, more barley, and the necessity for pulse and root crops to winter stock. Except in the matter of pota.toes the North Island has not been required to meet these extra calls to any additional extent, a fact that the authorities may take into account when imposing a system of wheat compulsion. Areas In the Past It is understood that the authorities have set a North Island wheat objective for the 1944 harvest of 50,000 acres, a tremendous increase when an investigation of the records shows nothing larger than 16,000 acres. Figures taken from the cropping returns show the small but nevertheless declining areas devoted to wheat in the North Island in the past. The years 1922T and 1941, embracing the two decades, are taken, the 1922 return being suitable because the acreage then was about the same as required for the 1943 sowing. An intermediate year (1934) is included. The North Island in 1922 grew 8819 acres (South Island, 344.099); in 1934, 11,140 (South Island 275,131). and in 1941, 6296 (South Island 236,901). Suitable Land Few people with a knowledge of wheatgrowing question the suitability of considerable areas of the North Island for growing wheat, even if in the past its payability compared with butter, mutton, lamb, and wool production could be questioned. To-day, however, the price is higher. In the harvest of 1940 the writer travelled through North Island districts which annually grow small areas of wheat. He saw in the Masterton and Takapau districts of the east coast crops as clean and as well headed as the best to be seen in the South Island. The main difference was that none of the northern crops was light. One he inspected yielded round about 65 bushels to the acre. There is undoubtedly very wide scope in the Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa districts for an extension of the 2000 acres which normally cover the wheat area there. . The only county in the north in which wheat is made an important crop in one or two selected parts is Rangitikei. In 1934, as a matter of fact, Rangitikei county grew more than 4000 acres of the 11,000 sown. It has been claimed that late crops are subject to weather interruptions m the harvesting, but with quicker maturing varieties and speedier processes of harvesting this disability can be overcome—at all events except in the most adve'rse seasons, and these are not infrequently in the major wheat growing districts of the Dominion. The North Island requires approximately 2,000,000 bushels for fowl feed each year. As the transport charges on shipped wheat provide ap extra margin to work on. farmers, by meeting the objective of 50.000 acres proposed by the Government, would be supplying a local necessity in addition to assisting in a national emergency.

WHEAT CONTRACTS

Wheatgrowers so far have responded reasonably well to the new system of brokers’ contracts for specified areas to be sown in 1943, but there is still a long way to go before an area approaching the objective of 350,000 acres is assured. These contracts have to be completed before December 12, so that only about three weeks are left for growers and intending growers to decide what they are going to do. There has been some fear that the contracts will be held binding irrespective of weather and other disabilities, but this fear is unfounded. The Wheat Committee, by which body the contracts from the various brokers will be finally dealt with, and which body is the only authority to enforce a contract, as it is the only buyer, has emphasised that the signed contract is regarded rather as a pledge than a contract, and adverse climatic developments will be given full consideration in cases in which the intended cropping programme cannot be carried out, but of course it is not expected that the pledges will not be fulfilled if at all possible. The crop harvested at the beginning of this year was only 8,671,244 bushels, from 258,002 acres, an improvement or only 365,000 bushels and approximately 15,000 acres on the figures of the preceding year. It is believed that the acreage sown for the present season will show a useful increase, but a tremendous stepping up will be required for next season if the 350,000 acres are to be seeded. The “other steps” which the Government announcement referred, to as likely if the contract system fails are not difficult to imagine. This country does not want to introduce a system involving orders as to what crops a farmer should or should not' put in, and the wheatgrower should see to it that there will be no need to do this as far as his end of the business is concerned. The rain of last week caught haymaking at its peak. The interruption was most inconvenient, as dairymen complain that the labour supply for this work is worse than it has ever been. Many of the smaller dairymen are depending on week-end labour to help them through, and a rain when not wanted narrows down the available time for stacking the hay to one or two days a week. Heavy lucerne and grass cuts have gone down with the weight of the rain and wind, and delayed cutting is not likely to improve the quality. One of the results of -this labour shortage is that much of the hay is being baled by up-to-date plants, but where the hay has to be fed out on the small farms most dairymen prefer stacking. Turnips and rape mixed were an important crop some years ago for fattening, but the statistics for last year appear to indicate that the popularity of the crop is declining. In 1940-41 the area sown in the Dominion was 62,316 acres and in 1941-42 it was down to 63,672 acres. Mangels also declined in area—from 9219 acres to 7847. Of the latter quantity 3671 acres were grown in Canterbury.