Aerial Farming Defended

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30782, 21 June 1965, Page 1

Aerial Farming Defended

(N.Z. Press Association? WELLINGTON, June 20. “I am surprised a responsible Government official should rush into criticism with unproved arguments which, if left unanswered. tend to undermine confidence in an industry vital to the productivity of this country,” the president of the Aviation Industry Association (Mr B. J. ForsterPratt) said today. He was referring to a suggestion that fanners are wasting between £1.9 million and £2.9 million a year on aerial topdressing, made by Mr R. S. Scott, scientific officer at Invermav research station, in an address to sheep and dairy i

farmers’ meeting at Hamilton on Thursday. Mr Scott said the economic loss was primarily the result of uneven spreading and farmers should take another look at aerial topdressing.

Mr Forster-Pratt said it was unfortunate such a statement should be made at a time when the country was conscious, as never before probably, of the need for intelligent utilisation of its productive potential, and it was more unfortunate that such a statement should be based upon what, at best could be described as inadequate trials and comparisons. “In my view, it is presumptuous for Mr Scott to embark upon such generalised and harmful criticism without real examination of the facts of aerial topdressing, and of its effectiveness in relation to application of fertiliser byground machine. “That he should have made a sweeping generalisation on the basis of a few tests out of

the 850.000 tons of fertiliser distributed from the air last year was surprising enough.

“That he should have replied ‘no’ when asked at the farmers’ conference whether he had also carried out tests of surface-methods’ application. show his criticism and comparisons were simply without value.” The aerial work division of the Aviation Industry Association had never claimed perfection in its work, but it did claim to have made substantial advances in techniques. This had resulted in a highly economic utilisation of topdressing and aerial work materials in general. That was appreciated by the farmers of New Zealand, increasingly so over the last 15 years. The division would welcome the fullest assistance which the Department of Agriculture and its officers could afford in furthering its efficiency, but it did not expect criticism lacking in foundation from a senior departmental officer.