MORE PRODUCTION ON LIGHT LAND

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28630, 5 July 1958, Page 9

MORE PRODUCTION ON LIGHT LAND

Forty Years On Lyndhurst Property

Lime, use of certified grass and clover seeds and irrigation are among factors which have helped to transform the productive capacity of land in the Lyndhurst district of Mid-Canterbury. A 4 11-acre farm on light to medium stony country in this district is today carrying about four and a half ewes to the acre, producing baby beef which kill out at between 500 anil 0501 b a year after they are purchased as calves, ami as well growing some wheat, barley and small seeds.

When this property was taken up by a returned soldier in 1919 it had been growing wheat incessantly for many years and pastures sown down with the crops persisted for only two or three years. The pH level of the land was only about 4.6. For the first 16 years of the new management there was no marked change in practices largely because of a lack of knowledge about the handling ot this type of country. In the early years when the farm comprised 320 acres, about 400 ewes were carried and cropping was maintained at about 70 acres.

The real change began about 1935 when, as a result of the Department of Agriculture’s advocacy of lime, a modest start was made with liming. About 1938 the land holder also became interested in certified seeds and about the same time the liming programme was stepped up so that over the next eight to 10 years the whole of the farm received three tons of lime to the acre.

By 1950 the pH level had been raised to about 6.6 and soil tests indicated that lime at the rate of one ton to the acre needed to be sown only when new pastures were being put down. Pastures now persisted for eight to 10 years and a good mixed pasture like the standard mixture now used on the farm —one bushel of perennial ryegrass, i bushel of short rotation ryegrass. 2£lb of Montgomery red clover, 31b of white clover and 31b of cocksfoot could be maintained. The practice has been to maintain these pastures by mainly autumn topdressing, using U cwt of superphosphate over half the farm each year.

Irrigation Introduced Since 1944 irrigation has been used on the farm and today about 130 acres are border dyked and another 70 acres can be wild flooded. The first pastures sown %n the irrigation area are now being renewed. Irrigation has helped to build up the fertility of the land and wheat grown on irrigated land, though the crop *tself has not been watered, has yielded 60 bushels to the acre compared with 45 on the dry land and barley has given 70 bushels compared with 50 on dry land areas.

Wheat growing has not ceased in the last 40 years though the acreage has dropped as low as 18. This year the cropping programme provides for 30 acres of Arawa and also 30 acres of barley. A feature of practices on the property is the habit of sowing the standard grass seed mixture into the autumn sown wheat in the spring after an application of one ton .of lime to the acre. Very satisfactory results have attended this practice. After the winter the terrain is .well consoliated and the lime is available to the young pasture plants.

In 1944 lucerne was introduced on nine acres under irrigation for hay only. For five years about 1500 bales a year were taken off the area in four cuts a season, but at the end of the period the lucerne stand collapsed altogether. Now a 30-acre stand of Provence lucerne has been established on dry land for both grazing and haying. It is hard grazed in the early spring when weather is often unfavourable for haymaking, and it is then shut up so that the first cut is taken in December. According to requirements another cut may be taken before the lucerne is grazed for the balance of the season. The aim is to carry 3000 bales stored in two hay sheds into the winter. The farmer and his son have not yet come to a firm opinion on the value of lucerne for grazing or as a replacement for rape, which has been their intention.

Turnip Crop Failures Failure of turnip crops due to moasic has prompted a change to swedes, and though this is not swede growing country the high fertility and availability of irrigation water have contributed to its success. Now about 18 acres of Calder swedes are grown, half with choumoellier for cattle feed The swedes are sown at the rate of eight ounces to the acre in October to coincide with start of grass growth and avoid having the young plants coming through the ground when they may be consumed by grass grub oeetles The seed is sown in 24in ridges with IJcwt of revered superphosphate with the seed and another Ucwt of ordinary super below the seed. The crop is watered once, and possibly twice in a dry season, and is inter-row cultivated three times. This cultivation is regarded as being particularly valuable in keeping the plants growing and combatting any effects of aphids. Crops in the order of about 30 tons to the acre have been produced. One result of the high fertility level has been that whereas tn earlier times red and white clover yields of three bags to the acre were obtained, clover seed yields are now more in the order of quarter to half a bag due to the prolific leaf growth of clover. Re- | peated attempts to harvest rye-grass-white clover stands have failed to give satisfactory yields Provision is normally made in the farm programme for sowing 30 acres of this pasture in the autumn. The farm, which once carried

only 320 ewes, today has a ewe flock totalling 1150 Romney Corriedales all bred on the place. Three hundred ewe lambs are carried as replacements. The practice is to mate half the ewes with a Romney ram and half with the Southdown. The lambs by the Southdowns are for early lamb production and all prime lambs are drafted as soon as the works open. Last season the initial draft averaged 331 b. In practice most of the downs are drafted at from 10 to 13 weeks and some of the Romney lambs also go in the early drafts. In the most recent season 1122 lambs were sent to the works including 100 bought in—these latter surprisingly showing a useful margin of profit. " For the last two years set stocking has been a feature of the management of the ewe and lamb flock. At tailing the ewes and lambs are allocated to paddocks and apart from periodic draftings they remain there until weaning and shearing in December. Last there were 14 different mobs. While the procedure greatly increases labour, results have been much improved over rotational grazing, ewes and lambs being on a steady plane of diet to which they adjust themselves. In this process the 50 odd cattle are used as a balancing factor being spread around the farm to keep the feed in check where necessary.

The average wool clip has advanced from about 71b, 30 to 40 years ago. to 11b. The ewes are shorn in December and the ewe lambs are normally shorn in January when they give about 341 b of wool and again in December when they clip about 91b. This year, however, the January shearing has been dispensed with on account of the high cost of shearing and the lower prices for wool. At this time of the year—from the end of May to the end of July—the ewe flock is running-on to the swedes for about an hour to an hour and a half a day and on the run-off they are being fed a bale of hay to each 100. The hoggets have been running on grass to save their teeth but they will soon go on to the swedes full time, where they will remain with the cattle until the middle of September, freeing the rest of the farm for ewes and lambs. An endeavour is made to feed the young ewes a minimum amount of roots to save their teeth, but by growing swedes on the ridges and sowing thinly so that the bulbs can develop well it is felt that wear on teeth has been greatly reduced, in that the ewes do not have to work their way through the hard surface skin of so many small bulbs. Three weeks before lambing the ewe flocks goes on to autumn saved grass which is break fed. The aim is to save about 150 acres of this grass.

The 50 to 60 head of cattle carried on the place run on the swedes and choumoellier from early June until the end of September.

Cattle Enterprise The cattle enterprise on the farm, in addition to aiding pas ture management, has been a profitable one. The first consignment of good condition calves brought on to the place killed out at 5301 b a year later. The most spectacular results were possibly achieved with Shorthorn heifer calves which at 12 months killed out at 6601 b, and the most successful year was possibly the most recent when 63 head ot medium steer calves bought for an average of £l3 a head, killed out in April at about 5401 b and returned an average of £33 15s. The practice has generally been to buy in calves, but when calves were very costly a few years ago breeding was started temporarily on the place.