WARNING ABOUT IRRIGATION

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27670, 28 May 1955, Page 5

WARNING ABOUT IRRIGATION

MANY DIFFICULTIES SEEN

“I think farmers should think long and well before they commit themselvs,” said Mr H. M. Burgin, of Swannanoa, in a note accompanying a letter to the - agricultural editor of ‘‘The Press” in which he sets out difficulties likely to be encountered in irrigation farming. Mr Eurgin writes: ‘‘Now that the Minister of Agriculture has shown that he and his Government are willing and ready to stand behind the farmers in their request for irrigation, and has stated that only by this means can the country substantially increase its production, no doubt the adherents to irrigation will lose no time in furthering schemes. It is easy for chambers of commerce, progress leagues, etc., to advocate this seemingly easy way of increasing the wealth of the country, but there is another side to the irrigation question that so far has not been considered.

“I refer to the farmers whose land it is proposed to irrigate. Any owner of a fair-sized farm who undertakes irrigation faces a revolution in his farming methods. It appears that it is proposed that one third of each farm has to be irrigated to get economic results. A light to medium land farm of, say, 1000 acres will have more than 300 acres under irrigation. Subdivision of that area into 10-acre or 15-acre paddocks has to be undertaken, levelling, ploughing and resowing done before water can be applied. Stock has to be increased enormously and cattle added to the stock to control growth. ‘‘All this means extra staff with one new cottage at least, if not two, for permanent men. I would be surprised if our Corriedale and halfbred flocks would be suitable for irrigated pastures, so that would mean a change of breed, probably to Romneys. This is a pretty formidable undertaking—in fact, it is a revolution. More Diseases “We have had the experience of a drought in Canterbury and probably the greatest shortage of feed any of us have seen, and yet we are carrying the same numbers of sheep, and never for years have those sheep looked so well or been so healthy. I venture to say that if irrigation comes -and we pile sheep on our land at the rate exponents say it will carry, then we will have to have a permanent veterinarian, plus a scientist, in each* district, for we are going to court all the troubles and diseases known to stock and land. “In my condemnation of irrigation it would be reasonable to ask what alternative I would suggest for insurance in dry periods, and for making full use of our peak periods of growth by carrying enough stock to cope with it. We have the one plant already that, if used more extensively, would do the job and we would • still have healthy farming. I refer to lucerne. I am sure if every sheep farmer kept increasing his area of lucerne, until he had one-third of his area planted, he would cut costs of cultivation by having so much less suihmer and winter feed to grow, and by using the surplus for hay could lay by a store that would see his stock through any lean period of drought or winter. Irrigation will contribute to producing more stock of a vastly inferior quality; dry farming with a third of the farm in lucerne will allow for a big increase of stock of the highest quality. “It is recognised, too, that periodically sheep-grazed land is more healthy if a crop is taken from it before sowing to grass. I have not heard it said that crops can be satisfactorily watered. .Water-forced growth is not healthy growth for animals, especially sheep, and if we make use of lime and super, plus whatever trace elements our soils are lacking in, plus the plentiful supply of lucerne, and depend entirely on the all wise sense of nature for our moisture, we will have a land producing just as much Nveight of meat and wool an acre from a lot less numbers than we will under irrigation and at a very much less cost.”