Pasture Improvement On Lake Pukaki Property

Press, Volume C, Issue 29466, 18 March 1961, Page 8

Pasture Improvement On Lake Pukaki Property

Since 1957 Mr lan Wardell has increased his ewe flock from 600 ewes with 200 hoggets to 1900 ewes on his 4000-acre property at Lake Pukaki in the Mackenzie Country and in the next five years he expects to double the present size of the ewe flock. He gave this information to a high country farmers’ meeting held under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture at Lake Tekapo this week. Mr Wardell has used a disc drill to introduce clovers, grasses and fertilisers into the tussock swards on his lakeside farm and the electric fence has been used extensively in vital subdivision.

In its initial state, half of the property was in good tussock with the balance of indifferent quality. After the rabbits had been removed and the country had been given a chance to recover it was carrying 600 ewes and 200 hoggets. The lambing percentage was 80 and wool production amounted to 18 bales. Since 1957 some 800 acres have been improved with the result that in the most recent season wool production had risen to 33 bales with 650 lambs sent away fat, 700 marketed as forward stores, and 30 per cent, of the cull ewes sold as fats. Next month. Mr Wardell will be putting 1900 ewes to the ram and he confidently expects that this tally will continue to go up for the next 10 years. Present progress has been achieved on less than half of the better 2000 acres, and even this area, he feels, is still far from its maximum carrying capacity. Lacking Clover In its initial state the tussock pasture was lacking in clovers to provide nitrogen arid accordingly the pioneer efforts at improvement were aimed at the establishment of clovers with the aid of a disc drill and fortified superphosphate. Initially lewt to the acre of 4001 b sulphur super was used but since then it has been found that 801 b to the acre of 8001 b sulphur super gives lasting results. So far use of lime has not been found necessary. Where sulphur has been adequate inoculation has been no problem and clovers have established quickly and vigorously. Disc drilling has been done directly into the tussock pasture beginning as soon as the frost is out of the ground at the end of July or early August. Subsequent topdressings are given from the air at the same time of the year as the initial oversowing. The frequency of these is varied according to initial establishment, which depends to a very large degree on the moisture supply in the first six months, and the requirements for feeding in the following season. A great deal of reliance has been placed on alsike with white clover and, to a lesser extent, Montgomery red clover. Alsike appears to be the most frost-hardy and drought-resistant- clover for this class of country and its growing period is longer than for either white or red clover. This means more growth at both ends of the growing season from alsike. In addition it has the virtue of providing an abundance of sheep feed in favourable weather. In the phase in which fertility was being built up by legumes and consolidation of the naturally loose fluffy soil was being achieved. an attempt was made to establish ryegrass, cocksfoot, and dogstail but without any immediate marked success. First Block However, an idea of the improvement which has been achieved so far can be gauged from the fact that the first block sown in March, 1957. . carried 10 ewes and their lambs to the acre for a period of 10 to 12 weeks last spring. As expected in the second year grass grub and porina raised their ugly heads and use of D.D.T. super became necessary. Now besides using D.D.T. super, pasture improvement aims at establishing resistant plants like alsike. Montgomery clover, timothy and cocksfoot and in bad seasons careful grazing management to achieve minimum survival of eggs. The successful establishment of large areas of improved clover dominant pasture very soon accentuated the winter feed problem. The answer was the establishment of lucerne and until recently 51 acres had been established. Lucerne gives good early spring grazing and has yielded 60 bales to the acre from one cut. Last November a further 63 acres were sown and it is planned to establish a further 60 to 80 acres a year for the next three years. This, says Mr Wardell, should overcome the triple problems of winter feeding, early spring grazing

and lamb fattening. In making a forecast that ewe numbers might go to 3000 in the next five years. Mr Wardell suggested that with a little more work on lucerne varieties it might be possible to have growth earlier in the spring and later into the winter. The present practice with lucerne is to chisel plough straight out of tussock in January with heavy harrows attached. After eight cuts the ground is ready for sowing by October or November. Some 111 b of seed is sown with double the usual quantity of inoculant and soz of molybdenum. Reverted super at l|cwt to the acre is used at sowing and 2cwt of straight super is applied as soon as the lucerne is established. In the following spring lewt of fortified super is applied with normal spring topdressings thereafter. Initially replacements for the flock were bred on the place but it became desirable, on account of the low costs of replacements, to buy lin two-year halfbred ewes. Cheviot rams were used with these as it was felt that their progeny would be hardy and able to withstand temporary setbacks. Later, however, when the feed supply position has further improved, Mr Wardell said that consideration would be given to alternative breeds. Ewe Flock The ewes are put on to saved pasture for flushing in late March and the rams go out on April 20. brom midMay the ewes then run on unimproved blocks until the second week in July when they are brought back to graze the lake edge where it is milder and they are then fed three bales of hay a day for every 100 ewes until the end of September. Lambing begins in mid-September and from that time onwards the ewes are on lucerne and improved pastures until the end of January. As the spring progresses they are moved from the lucerne so that it can be cut for hay. The first draft of lambs is taken in early January and the second at the end of the month. The remaining lambs are then weaned and the ewes put on light rations until flushing. One of the most important aspects of improvement work was good subdivision for controlled grazing and pasture improvement. Mr Wardell said. Use of conventional post and wire fences would have made progress much slower. So far nine miles of electric fencing have been erected. Initially four wires and 80 standards to the mile were used but the following year a further wire and 20 standards to the mile were added, bringing the cost up to £l2O per mile. “Like the disc drill the electric fence is elastic—''it can be dropped and the stock driven over it without any great concern.” said Mr Wardell. “The strength of the fence comes from the steel wire.” Another important point about electric fencing was that it could be quickly dismantled and re-erected where it was found desirable to adjust a subdivision. With the conventional fence such an alteration was impossible. One man had put up a straight run of a mile of electric fencing in two and a half days. Mr Wardell’s intention is to subdivide the country into blocks of between 40 and 60 acres.

acre, lucerne establishment including cultivation, sowing, manure, seed, molybdenum, and inoculation £8 5s an acie. fencing 26s an acre improved and water supply 20s an acre improved (these latter two costs will go down as the area improved increases), and additional capital stock 47s an acre improved. Other capital items have included a 50-horsepower tractor, a second-hand roll baler, a disc drill, and a 4000-ba'le hay barn—about 14s an acre improved. If labour was included this would amount to about £9 an acre on capital development. Annual running costs were probably about 30s an acre. “A Jittle reflection on your part and you will come to the same conclusion that♦ I have,” said Mr Wardell—“that is that the return on capital is as good an investment as you will get anywhere. The interest and fascination in such a programme, added to the satisfaction of achieving something, is a piece of unfinancial wealth just as valuable.”

Subdivision has necessitated provision of stock water and so far nearly £BOO has been spent on three miles of polythene piping, a pump, storage tanks and troughs. Reviewing costs incurred so far. Mr Wardell said that the cost of the initial oversowing, seed and manure was 35s to 40s an acre, with the follow-up topdressing every second year costing 23s an