GREATER EFFICIENCY ON HIGH COUNTRY

Press, Volume C, Issue 29620, 16 September 1961, Page 7

GREATER EFFICIENCY ON HIGH COUNTRY

THE most obvious way to combat the effect of reduced returns was to raise the efficiency of a- property, said Mr Frank L. Ward, a field officer of the Economic Service of the Meat and Wool Boards, in an address to the high country section of Federated Farmers at Blenheim. In the high country, Mr Ward suggested that maximum wool production should receive high priority, maximum lambing survival from mated ewes was very necessary, good treatment of flock hoggets was an essential part of flock management, and cattle could be used much more extensively yet adding to income and resulting in a better utilisation of labour. The aim in cases of reduced financial margins would generally be to increase production or to produce more efficiently, he said. An increase in production could come from an increased number of sheep or an increase in output of wool and stock from the same basic flock. An increase in numbers was not always possible or desirable and increases in the past had come mainly from increased output

Wool Production The wool increase per head in the last few years had been about 15 per cent, which had tended to offset the decreasing price differential between fine and coarser wools, since it now took 91b of fine wool to give an equivalent return to 9%1b of medium crossbred whereas only a few years ago 91b of fine wool was as good as 13%1b of medium crossbred. Stock output had also been increased by more than 50 per cent. These were signs of greater efficiency and there was no reason why this trend should n'ot continue.

’The replacement hogget was the key to the flock and should have top priority in feeding and management. It was known that a big, wellgrown hogget stood a better chance of survival and hence stock losses would be lower. It would come to full wool production earlier and give maximum wool production throughout its life. A big well-grown ewe hogget would be more mature and hence lambing percentages were likely to rise. These facts should be borne in mind when deciding on utilisation of feed. It seemed to him to be bad policy to fatten a few lambs at the expense of flock hoggets. It was only when young sheep and ewes were well fed that fattening should be considered. The high country ewe was a wonderful animal. Her nutrition was all back to front. She went into the winter with good feed but the nearer she got to lambing the less food there was for

her. Probably 95 per cent, of high country ewes had lambs but some 20 per cent were likely to lose them in storms or through lack of food. If it-was possible to increase lambing percentage and lamb survival then either more stock would be available for sale or else breeding ewe proportions in the flock could be reduced and advantage taken of increased wool weights from dry sheep. If any improvement to a property was possible or contemplated usually the most profitable place to begin work was on the hogget and breeding country. Mr Ward said that the number of cattle on runs bad increased considerably in recent years, and to some extent, m the overall picture, had tended to offset lower wool and sheep prices. Expressed as a proportion of total revenue on runs the return from cattle had increased from 1.9 per cent 10 years ago to 6.1 per cent as at 1958-59 and was still increasing in importance. “There are few places that are unable to carry some cattle and If they can be carried they should be on the property. A strong argument in their favour is the better utilisation of labour since cattle work rarely clashes with sheep work on farm or station, and they do not seem to make much, if any, difference to the cost structure on a property.” Mr Ward said that development of a property would depend on its characteristics but priorities were fairly clearly defined. They were adequate nutrition for the flock with high prority for young stock and later on, if development could proceed, the build-up could be utilised to develop an output of regular lines of sale stock and possibly fats.