NORTH COULD GROW WHEAT

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26639, 26 January 1952, Page 5

NORTH COULD GROW WHEAT

Auckland Growers’ Profit

PLOUGHING UP OLD PASTURE

With an article written recently by the Agricultural correspondent of the “New Zealand Herald,” all South Island farmers will heartily agree. He says that Auckland province can grow wheat at a profit, and urges that it should. The Prime Minister's appeal to farmers to grow more wheat next season was directed to farmers everywhere in the Dominion, and not merely to those in the wheat belts, he says. Im spite of statements to the contrary, wheat can be grown successfully in many parts of the Auckland Province if a conscious effort is made to encourage farmers to plough up their old, wornout pastures, take a crop of wheat, and resow the land in high-producing strains of grasses and clovers.

Under such a grass-arable system of farming not one pound of butter-fat or mear need be denied our export markets. In fact, the introduction of more' vigorous pastures would be one of the quickest methods of increasing the production of both these foodstuffs. A survey by the Department of Agriculture on crop rotations and wheat yields indicates that the best yields are obtained from wheat after grass. On farms which have not been, developed toward better pastures, wheat out of grass is the best and most Crofitable crop that can be used to reak up land for future improvement. Under this category it would be true to say that in the Auckland Province there are thousands of acres of such land—land which in its present state is carrying low producing swards of inferior grasses and weeds, which would, under good pasture, double its production of meat or butter-fat. This is the opportunity to exploit the potential of such land and at the same time serve a national purpose. Concept Not New This concept of wheat cropping between the ploughing up and renewal of an old pasture each year is not new. It has been practised on the farm of Mr J. H. Ferguson at East Tamaki since-the First World War. At present there is a splendid crop of Tainui wheat on Mr Ferguson’s farm which will be ready for harvestmg about the end of this month. The grain is eagerly sought by poultrykeepers and the straw has a ready sale to packers and horse owners at 5s a bale on the paddock. Mr Ferguson grows about 10 acres of wheat each year, and the crop has averaged about 40 bushels an acre. Grain crops are part of the rotation of the farm, the objective being to renew the pastures at least every 12 years, The old pasture is deep ploughed in the autumn, given a winter fallow, and worked up and sown in September. The wheat is ready for harvesting with the reaper and binder about the end of January, which. follows haymaking operations. The stubble is ploughed and the new pasture sown in the autumn. Mr Ferguson considers that grain growing has enabled him to keep his pastures vigorous and free of weeds, and that the cropping has promoted better drainage on the clay soils of his farm, which borders the estuary of the Tamaki river. What Mr Ferguson and another cereal grower, Mr R. A. Bell, at Pakuranga, are doing could be emulated successfully in many other districts throughout the province. Good wheat crops could be grown on the clay soils of the Waikato, on the Waipu flats, and on the alluvial clays of Northland, to mention only a few areas. NO Practical Difficulties Would wheatgrowing be profitable under such a system? Mr -Ferguson finds it so, and the profit from his wheatgrowing helps to pay for the cost of sowing down the new pasture, Wheat is unquestionably a profitable crop and a safe crop, even though the growing of it is perhaps a little more exacting than the easy-going “permanent pasture” type of farming. In other words, there are no practical difficulties in the way of growing wheat in the Auckland province. The varieties suitable for light and heavy land are available, and all that remains is tor an organised effort. Exhortation is not sufficient, in itself to produce the required effect. A more direct approach to the farmers is needed, and any plan for encouraging wheatgrowing in the province should be made as far as possible the direct responsibility of farmers’ organisations in co-operation with the Department of Agriculture. If the need to grow more wheat is of national importance, the Government might well consider restoring the primary production committees which did such fine service during the war years, when the handicaps of labour and material were more serious than they are now. Such committees could be given the task of securing the cooperation of farmers in each district and setting targets for individual districts according to the farmers’ own estimates of the ability of the land to grow wheat. So far as the Auckland Province is concerned, wheatgrowing would be starting from scratch, and assistance would be needed in making cultivation equipment and harvesting machinery available, especially in the dairying districts. Unless such a campaign is planned and carried out effectively, there is little chance of the Auckland Province fulfilling its share of the responsibility of producing sufficient wheat to meet the country’s needs.