GREEN CROP DRYING

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26971, 21 February 1953, Page 5

GREEN CROP DRYING

NEW INDUSTRY IN BRITAIN The industry of green crop drying is a comparatively new one. It owes ita growth and continued success m large measure to the difficulties in obtaining concentrated feeds for supplying the vast livestock industry of Europe. Before the war this industry was supported largely through imports ot cheap concentrates such as- oil cakes and cereal grains supplemented by home-grown crops to tide over the difficult winter period when hand feeding is essential. The war stopped many of these imports and changed economic conditions have prevented their renewal during the post-war period. To keep up production —in particular during the off season—better methods of preserving what could be grown in the spring and summer flush period had to be evolved. One method for the improvement of preservation lay in the artificial drying of green crops. During the last 12 years the industry has expanded tremendously and provides a means whereby a foodstuff can be produced which differs little from the original spring or summer grazing in the field. Authoritative Work A book recently written by two competent authorities, briefly summarises work done on green crop drying throughout the world. Each aspect of the industry is then discussed in greater detail. To the lay reader as well as to the reader familiar with the subject one point stands out clearly. Successful green crop drying requires a high degree of business, farming, and mechanical skill. Proteijn is generally regarded as the most important food to preserve owing to its importance in the production ration for meat, milk, and wool. The selection of strains with a greater capacity to synthesise protein or the ability to maintain protein content at a higher level throughout the growing season could be a promising line of research for the plant breeder. The quality of the final product can never exceed the quality of the original material. To ensure the greatest success the original material must be of the very best. This requires a high level of farming skill, and the processing requires a high

level of mechanical skill. The final arbiter of the whole industry lies in the success which can be obtained when feeding the final product to the animal. , The New Zealand farmer will find a good deal to interest him within the pages of the work referred to. Before green crop drying could become a reality in the Dominion, however, a good deal more stress would have to be laid on the importance of quality in foodstuffs. —From “Green Crop Drying,” by R. O. Whyte and M. L. Yeo. Faber and Faber, London. 308 pages.