RUAKURA HANDLES 5000 FARMERS AT FIELD DAY

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29234, 18 June 1960, Page 9

RUAKURA HANDLES 5000 FARMERS AT FIELD DAY

The annual field day held in conjunction with the Ruakura Animal Research station’s farmers’ week must be unique in the country for the range and interest of its demonstrations and exhibitions, and the excellence of the arrangements, but only an organisation with an annual expenditure of around £250,000 and a complete concentration on research'could be expected to put on anything quite like it On Wednesday 5000 farmers flocked to Ruakura under perfect conditions. Shortly before 9.30 a.m. buses started to move them round a series of 14 demonstration or exhibition points around the station. Visitors were able to dismount where they pleased and after spending as long, or as little as they cared at a particular demonstration they were able to board another of the buses ceaselessly circling the route and go on to another point. At the peak of the day some 30 buses were on the run.

The system meant that there was never more than a moderate assembly at any one point so that

proceedings could be followed with ease.

Another point about the field day, was the excellence of the bold, clear diagrams and notices associated with the exhibits. These invariably summarised the salient points of experiments and helped the visitor to absorb through the eye as well as through his over-worked ears. Although Ruakura is in the Waikato the sheepfarmers’ interests are being well looked after at the station.

A particularly interesting piece of work in this respect is the study of the effect of time of shearing on wool and lamb returns. These results indicate that pre-lamb shearing and shearing again of ewes after weaning may well pay off. A progress report on experiments with crossing the Border Leicester with the Rom-

ney under hill country conditions showed that an attempt is now being made to fix a halfbred sheep by crossing the halfbred with the halfbred. Weight For Age On the beef side the station is pushing the point of selecting on weight for age and here, as at other points along the route, a little humour was introduced to reinforce a point—“Do not select on appearance. Consider weight for age. It is beef not beauty you sell,’’ and there were cattle In the pens to support the point that the growth rate of the sire has a distinct bearing on the growth rate of their progeny. On the dairy side perhaps greatest interest was in the No 2. dairy where results for 1959-60 show that 42 cows on 33J acres of surveyed grass under controlled grazing gave 5221 b of butterfat to the acre.

A spot spraying boom mounted on a tractor working on a rushcovered pasture interested spectators. Feeler springs open valves to allow the nozzles to operate. Likewise much interest was shown in a machine with a fast revolving rear wheel with six lugs which excavates shallow surface drains spreading the spoil over the surrounding countryside. Canterbury farmers who can arrange to be in the Waikato for the Ruakura field day can be assured of a rewarding day out if this year's field day is any sort of example of what can be expected. The only trouble is that the day is hardly long enough to do it justice.