Canterbury Leading Cropping Province

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30535, 2 September 1964, Page 18

Canterbury Leading Cropping Province

“Canterbury’s, reputation as a cropping area can be seen to be well founded,” says the Department of Statistics in a publication on farm production in the 1962-63 year.

Of 225,748 acres of wheat grown for threshing that season, 212,822 acres or 94.3 per cent were grown in the South Island, Including 145,839 acres or 64.6 per cent, in Canterbury. Similarly, of the 20,877 acres of oats for threshing 20,088 acres or 96.2 per cent, were in the South Island and 55.1 per cent in Canterbury, and this province also grew 30.8 per cent of the 14,784 acres of oats for chaff, hay or silage, of which 11,433 acres or 77.3 per cent were in the South Island. The province’s share of the 28,939 acres of oats fed off or cut green was 54.7 per cent.

Canterbury was also the major producer of barley with 71.2 per cent of the 87,432 acres grown for threshing, of which 72,199 acres or 82.6 per cent were In the South Island. This province also had a major share of the pea crop for threshing. The percentage of peas in Canterbury was 63.5 per cent out of a crop of 29,824 acres, with 82.2 per cent or 24,509 acres in the South Island. “Only in the production of maize,” says the department, “does the North Island lead the South Island. Here 94.3 per cent of the total New Zealand crop for all purposes was grown in the North Island. The South Island also depends more on root crops than the North Island. Of 768,861 acres of green, root and other crops 551,668 acres or 71.7 per cent were grown in the South Island, including 31.3 per cent in Canterbury. Canterbury also had the largest number of sheep of any district in the country. It had 8,588,015 or 17.1 per cent of the national total at June 30 last year. It also had most breeding ewes at 6.199,811 or 17.7 per cent. And while 53.8 per cent of all sheep were in the North Island, 50.8 per cent of all lambs tailed were tailed in the South Island because of the higher lambing percentage there. In cattle numbers, however, the South Island falls far behind the North. Of the 3,133,057 dairy cattle in New Zealand at January 31, 1963, 2,860,717, or 91.3 per cent, were in the North Island, and of the 3,557,907 beef cattle at the same date, 2,951,322, or 83 per cent, were in the North Island.

The most striking feature of the dairy eattle figures was the rise in numbers of Friesians, as compared with other breeds. While Jersey cattle increased by 1.2 per cent from 2,465,929 at January 31, 1950, to 2,494,050 at January 13, 1963, Friesians increased by 125.9 per cent from 181.643 to 410.242. Ayrshire*

increased by 47.3 per cent from 95,602 to 140,839. “Since 1950,” says the department, “there has beep a clearly-defined swing away from Jerseys among dairy cattle, mainly towards Friesians. There has been a drop of 6.1 per cent in the proportion of Jerseys among all dairy cattle, and it has been matched by a rise of 6.4 per cent in the proportion, of Friesians among all dairy cattle. There has also been a rise of 1.5 per cent in the proportion of Ayrshires and a drop of 3.2 per cent in the proportion of Milking Shorthorns among all dairy cattle.” Among beef cattle the Aberdeen Angus breed gained markedly in popularity, increasing its proportion of all beef cattle from 66.7 per cent in 1950 to 74.5 per cent in 1963, and its total numbers from 1,393,681 to 2,649,881. Herefords were still the second most important breed, but their proportion of all beef cattle dropped from 21.9 per cent in 1950 to 16.3 per cent in 1963.

Of the 85,002 agricultural tractors in New Zealand at

January 31, 1963, 73,789 were wheel tractors and 11,213 crawler tractors. The department notes that while petrol or kerosene wheel tractors are still the most popular, there is a strong trend towards diesel wheel tractors, the figures for this type being 13,615 in 1960, 21,458 in 1961, 23;265 in 1962, and 25,159 in 1963.