Developing Unploughable Country

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30710, 27 March 1965, Page 9

Developing Unploughable Country

“I would suggest the following benefits from a development programme on this class of country,” said Mr G. A. G. Frengley, a lecturer in the farm management and rural valuation department at Lincoln College, when the North Canterbury section of the High Country Committee of Federated Farmers visited the Island Hills run of Shand Bros, after the annual meeting of the section at the Glens of Tekoa last week.

“More profits to improve the cost-price structure; a better spread of growth with feed later into the autumn and earlier in the spring; better young stock and consequently heavier ewes to go to the ram—and that means better lambing percentages; the sale ewes can be finished better; cattle can also be finished off; more holding paddocks are available; and there is a reduction of pressure on class VII and class VIII land. Against all this there is the problem that the extra stock carried may mean extra labour and during the buildup period there will be fewer sale stock.”

Mr Frengley made this comment in the course of discussing the economics of the form of development being practised on the run. He said that the Tussock Grasslands and Mountain Lands Institute had made him a research grant to study this very question. He said he would investigate the benefits accruing to the nation (from the increased production) and to the occupier from the soil conservation subsidies over the five-year development period. In welcoming the party to Island Hills, Mr Arthur Shand explained how some years ago, under what he believed, at the time, to be competent advice, he had applied 50 tons of fertiliser on a block at the back of the run and another 50 tons on a hill near the homestead. In neither case, because of the lack of fencing, could the improved vegetation be controlled, and the final result was worse than the situation before treatment.

Recently rising costs had forced another look at the possibility of an improvement programme and he had asked the farm advisory service of Lincoln College for advice. The first adviser had been Mr J. Guise who arranged for the district soil conservator, Mr D. R. Wilkie, to have a land inventory carried out and a land capability map prepared. This showed a high proportion of class VII and class VIII land, some of the latter so badly eroded that it was highly desirable to reduce the grazing pres-

sure. About this time the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council had made subsidies available for the production of extra off-site grazing to enable eroded land to be spelled, and it looked as if such subsidies might help to make a development programme economic at the same time as conservation aims were attained.

Mr Frengley, who had replaced Mr Guise as the adviser, and who, in conjunction with Mr Shand, drew up the present development plan, explained the programme to the visitors. He said, like other places, the property was involved in a cost-price squeeze and it seemecT impossible to cut costs. The only answer was to build up productivity by a development programme. A small holding paddock near the homestead, which had been oversown some years ago and which had received a total of nearly 9cwt of fertiliser, was now a high quality pasture and indicated the type of production obtainable on unploughable land.

“Because there is no cultivable area on Island Hills,” said Mr Frengley, “it was necessary to develop entirely by oversowing and topdressing.” A block of 600 acres of fairly steep hill country running at about 1500 ft was selected for initial treatment. To ensure adequate grazing control it was fenced into four blocks of nearly equal size, two sunny and two shady. As increased summer feed was the most urgent need the two shady paddocks had been treated first. Because of the amount of tawhini and matagourt scrub the blocks had been burned prior to sowing in early August, 1963, with 31b each of red and white clovers and 2cwt of molybdic sulphur superphosphate (200 lb mix). Flying costs on this property ranged from 80s to £7 10s per ton. The strike was good and after the early grazing the

blocks had been spelled in the first January and February to enable the setting of plenty of clover seed. The block which the party inspected was of 150 acres. “It used to carry from 20 to 30 sheep but this year from August to March it carried six hoggets to the acre with some cattle,” said Mr Frengley. “During the last six weeks there have been 70 of these cattle and the total carrying was about five ewe equivalents."

Mr Frengley stressed the importance of keeping the clover under control. He estimated that if the clover was retained by proper grazing management and the application of maintenance fertiliser at 1 to IJcwt each year the overall carrying capacity would be two and a half to three ewe equivalents to the acre. It would be necessary to apply D.D.T. this year as an insurance against attack of grass grub and porina. It was much better to prevent it than to try to cure it afterwards.

With the high stock concentrations he said it was almost essential to drench and the sheep on the improved areas had been given two preventive drenchings. “Wool weight will reflect the number of worms in hoggets,” said Mr Frengley. “It can be ejected that a drenching costing sixpence may give you up to an extra half pound of wool.” During the discussion Mr Frengley said that it would probably have been wise to include 11b to 21b of shelled cocksfoot when oversowing and a little alsike could also have been added. The two sunny blocks would be treated next season and for the seed mixtures there the red and white clover would be reduced a little and 41b of Mt. Barker subterranean clover included, together with lib of cocksfoot.

Once the present 600 acres had been developed, the plan provided for a similar programme further out on the run choosing areas likely to give the greatest return. Questioned about the time to shut up clover in the first season, Mr Frengley said that if the peak date of flowering was taken and 17 to 21 days added the developing seed would be hard enough to pass through the animal and germinate. He preferred to graze with lambs at this stage. It was a' good time to give them a build up and with the small dropping, the spread of seed was much more effective than with cattle.