YOUNG FARMER ON EXCHANGE VISIT FROM AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29108, 21 January 1960, Page 7

YOUNG FARMER ON EXCHANGE VISIT FROM AUSTRALIA

“The New Zealand dairy farmer knows his job. With an ideal climate and sound methods the production per cow is impressive,” said Mr W. Moffitt, a young farmer from New South Wales, who is on a tour of New Zealand. He had been in the North Island for about two months before coming to the South Island, his main interest being dairy farms. He was impressed by the farm management of the dairy farmers in the North Island. He said that at one farm he visited in Taranaki the average production of the herd of 105 cows was 4601 b of butterfat a cow.

Mr Moffitt, who is 22, comes from Nimbin, near Lismore, in the north-east corner of New South Wales where his father, his brother and he run a dairy farm of 270 acres. They have a milking herd of 95 cows while replacements and other cattle bring the total number of cattle to 140. They keep eleven breeding sows.

Mr Moffitt said their farming was more diversified than the average dairy farm in New Zealand. They supplied cream to the dairy factory at Lismore and fed pigs with the skim milk. They also went in for the grain-

feeding of pigs. The BerkshireLarge White cross was the best for their purposes. “We concentrate on bacon pigs and our aim is to get them to 1301 b to 1351 b dressed weight at six months. When I left home the top price for first quality was 3s per lb plus 3d for premium

grading, but the market fluctuates. We grade on back-fat thickness only. In New Zealand you grade on shoulder fat and back fat. “One of our problems on the farm is that we cannot do any irrigation in the dry spells because there is insufficient water. Where it can be done, irrigation shows good results. Our average rainfall is 54 inches but sometimes we get too much of it at one time,” said Mr Moffitt. He has been a member of the Junior Farmers’ Club, the counterpart of the Young Farmers’ Club, in his district for 10 years. He said there were several differences between the Junior Farmers’ movement in Australia and the Young Farmers’ Clubs in New Zealand. In Australia boys and girls met in the one club and did not have Young Farmers’ and Country Girls’ clubs. The age of entry there was 10 instead of 14. An important difference was that members in Australia must carry out an active project and keep records. Boys might go in for calfrearing and growing vegetables and girls for home science or home beautification and so on. In New Zealand the young farmers had no projects. Mr Moffitt was first nominated by the Nimbin club for this tour which is sponsored by the Bank of New South Wales and is the eighth exchange of visits between Australian and New Zealand young farmers. He was one of the eight state finalists interviewed in Sydney by a panel of four judges and two of them were selected. When he returns home it will be his duty to give reports to Junior Farmers’ Clubs in the area. He will show coloured pictures which he has taken on his tour of this country. He had already visited the Blenheim area before coming to Christchurch. He left yesterday afternoon for Ashburton and will later be the guest of young farmers in South Canterbury, Otago and Southland.