More Favourable Year For Weather

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30947, 31 December 1965, Page 9

More Favourable Year For Weather

The farming year now at an end has been a reasonably good one in Canterbury for the reason that the weather, which plavs such a big part in the fortunes of the province's farmers, has been more favourable than in most recent seasons.

When the year began the province was still in the throes of one of the most protracted and serious of the several droughts that have characterised recent years. This one ran for almost exactly a year. Happily it came to an end very early on in the new vear. The drought naturallycost Canterbury farmers a lot of money and. caused not a little worry. With most areas required for feed for stock only much reduced areas could be harvested for small seeds last summer, but the resilience of the province in the face of adversity was demonstrated again by the wheat crop—certainly some light crops were grown in the worst drought affected areas —but soon after the harvest the fields superintendent of the Department of Agriculture. Mr A. R. Dingwall, was able to talk about an average yield for the province of about 50 bushels to the acre —a fairly remarkable achievement in the light of the relatively rainless conditions under which crops had been grown. A number of crops even managed to better the 100 bushels mark.

Early in the new year Canterbury farmers were recalling the words again of former Associate Professor A. H. Flay of Lincoln College—- " Canterbury never lets you down" —or .lot quite. Last autumn was one of the most prolific for growth on record and w’ith extensive precautionary sowings of supplementary feed crops to make up for a lack of hay, farmers went into the winter pretty well placed for feed.

The improvement in the feed situation came early enough to influence the trend of the ewe fairs. The Economic Service of the Meat and Wool Boards has calculated that at North Canterbury fairs two-tooth ewe prices rose by nearly 17 per cent on the previous season and older ewes by about 28 per cent. Yardings were generally much smaller, largely because a number of standard fair lines had to be quitted earlier because of the drought. Still almost without exception entries were of excellent quality and in forward condition, again demonstrating the ability of stock to come through difficult times with a minimum of feed, provided water supplies are adequate. It was probably as well that winter feed supplies were plentiful for the latter part of this period of the year and the early spring was cold and damp and for

I a time in the spring it seemed that the province ; might again be heading for I drought, but regular rains i right up until the present (time have kept the province’s farms well placed for feed, I so that savings of hay must : be near record proportions—iinany barns are again full to i overflowing—there are prospects for big savings of small .seeds and cereal crops have ■seldom looked better at this [time. The only problem with lambs has been that they ( have been doing too well and i there has been a tendency for them to be carrying too i much condition for today’s markets demanding lean meat. Store stock values have reached exceptionally high | levels—wether lambs for instance frequently selling at i better than 50s a head. Strong Demand When the year began lamb was in strong demand on the British market, as was all meat, with beef supplies in Europe short, and the export killing season ended with the local schedule even 3d to 4d a lb above the opening rates which were the highest since 1957. The good returns for lamb tended to counterbalance the more modest level of wool prices, with the concluding sales of the 1964-65 season tending downwards. From almost £2om in the previous season the proceeds of u’ool sales at Christchurch and Timaru in the 1964-65 season declined to under £l5m — lower by almost 25 per cent. The average price a lb in Christchurch dropped from 56.88 d to 43.422 d and at Timaru from 56.26 d to 43.667 d.

The latest export killing season began in October with values for lamb Id to IJd a lb lower than a year earlier but still at quite satisfactory levels. Recent upward adjustments in schedule rates have now brought the lighter weight fair average quality lambs, in particular, even closer to last season’s good

rates and this in spite of what looks to be an uncertain outlook for meat.

Opening rates for ewes this season were much lower, but even these have now improved again slightly and are now mainly l|d a lb lower than at this time last year. Exporters apparently were unduly optimistic about the outlook for ewes last season and realisations fell quite considerably short of schedule payments.

The dreadful uncertainty of meat and wool markets has frequently been emphasised in these columns. Just as the farmer fondly imagines that the future for one product is bright and secure for sometime to come, a new facto.- comes on the scene to upset things. Even now there seem to be forebodings about beef. In a brief interview in Christchurch this week the Argentine Secretary of State for Agriculture and Livestock, Mr Kugler, confirmed the likelihood of increasing beef exports from his country with herd numbers built up again, and a report on meat markets issued by an Auckland firm speaks of increasing stock numbers in Europe. The outcome could well be a falling off in prices from recent high levels.

For all of this beef with its almost universal demand seems to warrant increasing attention by New Zealand, and it is the view of a number of eminent authorities that the long term outlook for beef is strong. Wool markets have been following a rather uneven course this season. The most recent Christchurch sale has shown an advance on last year’s corresponding auction, but other sales in this centre have been behind last season’s sales and up to shortly before Christmas the New Zealand average for wool auctions at 43|d a lb was 3|d a lb below last season’s average at the same time. Lately finer wools seem to have been faring somewhat better than the coarser wools and as Canterbury is a major producer of fine wools this has given Canterbury sales a rather better tone than in other centres where crossbreds predominate.

After the good growing season this year most sheep in Canterbury are clipping much more wool than last season and this is an extra source of income—an average of lib to 21b more wool a head has been mentioned.'