Pushing Up Production In Mackenzie

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31215, 12 November 1966, Page 9

Pushing Up Production In Mackenzie

A story of spectacular increases in stock numbers and of associated increases in lamb and wool production in the Mackenzie Country was told to this week’s conference of the New Zealand Grassland Association in Alexandra by Mr I. H. Wardell, of Lake Pukaki, whose energy and enthusiasm in promoting farming progress in this area is now almost legendary.

“In my early years I had the ambition to be a successful farmer—l will not say runholder, as it is almost becoming a naughty word,” said Mr Wardell. “I had limited resources at my disposal and the chances with the accepted methods were almost nil. Something new was necessary. Fortunately for me W. R. Lobb’s molybdenum and sulphur, together with phosphate and clover and lucerne, provided the key, and to an unmusical chorus of discouraging talk from many people I set sail. . . .

"It all started in 1957 when I got into credit. “As you are aware my wife and I ran the Pukaki Inn. Over the years, through economic circumstances, the hotelkeepers had been granted land in order to make hotels an economic proposition. This area for me eventually reached 4000 acres—--2000 good and 2000 of light stoney flat. “By 1956 the rabbit boards had the rabbit under control and the property had gone from 240 ewes with low lambings, clipping five bales of wool, to 600 ewes, 200 hoggets, lambing at 80 per cent and 18 bales of wool.

“By 1964 ewe numbers had risen to 4000, lambing percentage was 83, 80 per cent of lambs were fattened, 120 bales of wool went off and the gross take had multiplied 12 times. To support this carrying capacity I had 1000 acres of lucerne and 600 acres of oversown pasture, 12 miles of fence had been erected and use of fertiliser had gone from nil to 60 tons annually. “At this stage it looked as though I was going to make money and come into credit

again so I bought another load of debt which should see out this lifetime, unless we do something drastic to invigorate agriculture. “The start of my development was based on several things. My wife made the observation that a few pounds of lucerne seed thrown out on a very bare and exposed terrace grew extremely well. I reflected that land which could support 10 or 12 rabbits an acre in the native should carry two or three ewes. Then there was the valuable work on sulphur and molybdenum which was just being started. The aeroplane as an agricultural implement was making its presence felt. Shortly after this the Australian Connor-Shea drill made its appearance. “In 1957, Jack Cameron, of Ben Ohau, and myself started by buying sacks of flowers of sulphur from our local chemist and drilling this in with an old drill with alsike. white clover and a bit of cocksfoot. The results were spectacular. I remember Lance McCaskill looking us over and asking us how much super we had used and not believing that we were using none.

“We sod seeded about 600 acres that year and of course could not use the feed—the usual common fault with' development work. “Having grown plenty of summer feed we then began to think about lucerne for winter hay. We had heard of the efforts of Bill Jolly and Ted Topp. We had a good look and as a result put in 16 acres. It was good. The next year we put in 40 acres and then went at it in big licks of up to 300 acres

in one year. “We sowed down just on 1000 acres of lucerne straight out of the tussock. It had eight or 10 cuts with the chisel plough starting in late January. Ail but the final cultivation was completed before the winter freeze-up. Sowing was done in the early spring. We found that the normal sowing time in November was too late for our district with its drought period starting any time from late December. “We also found that dry heat will kill more young lucerne plants than intense cold. This was a major breakthrough in that it gave us good feed in January and February in the first year and enabled us to get our lambs away fat. For those in debt an early return is vital. “We had inoculation problems, very real ones. The late Dr. Sears, former director of the Grasslands Division, got

on the job and was a great help, but it remained for our advisory officer, Dave Reynolds, to really get a good inoculated seed. This was done by soaking the seed in a bath with skim milk and water with the inoculant and this certainly did the trick. “About six years ago we heard from our friends in Central, "turnips are the thing for winter." We tried, under Albert Flay’s watchful eye. With us still watching, the turnips failed. We tried again in oversown clover country and had good turnips in the old urine patches. This last year with the keen co-opera-tion of Colin McLeod, of the Department of Agriculture, we tried again on land that had been five or six years in lucerne topdressed every year. Turnip yields have been 47 tons per acre, and swedes 27 tons per acre. From now we build up fertility to grow turnips.

“We have also started In on some cropping on land out of alsike and lucerne for winter feed. Oats have been up to 75 bushels and barley 50 bushels.

“With large quantities of sulphur super we had no trouble in growing quantities of good feed, and aided by the prevailing cheapness at that stage of Merino sheep at Tekapo each March, numbers rose like wildfire on Catherine Field, the moraine part of my property: 1962, 2500: 1963, 2800; 1964, 4000; 1965, 4000 (dry year); and 1966, 5000 plus 300 cattle in summer. “The future is now anywhere I am encouraged and permitted to put it I can foresee a twelvefold increase in carrying capacity of my hill and moraine property. I foresee the two parts of the property bearing an equal but different share in this increase,” said Mr Wardell.