The Show President

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31320, 16 March 1967, Page 22

The Show President

This year’s president of the Methven Agricultural and Pastoral Association and leader of this week’s show is a son of the district. He is Mr S. (Stewart) Callaghan.

Mr Callaghan is the grandson of the late Mr A. K. Callaghan, who was a foundation member of the association. His father, Mr George Callaghan, was president in 1934-35 and is now an honorary life member. A cousin, Mr R. A. Callaghan, was president in 1950-51 and is now the treasurer of the association. A brother of Mr Stewart Callaghan, Mr T. G. Callaghan, is also a present member of the association’s committee. Mr Stewart Callaghan has served on the committee of the association since 1950 and was chairman of the association’s farm committee when it originally took over the additional 60 acres of land adjoining the showgrounds four or five years ago. He was involved in the process of getting this land into a state where it could be farmed by the association. Educated at Methven District High School and

St. Andrew’s College Mr Callaghan farms 385 acres at Highbank. It runs back to the 340 ft high bank above the Rakaia river. This was formerly part of his father’s farm. It is a mixed cropping and sheep farm on which he runs about 1000 Romney ewes and in the last season he has had about 100 acres in wheat, 12 acres in barley and seven acres in chou moellier for seed. It is likely, he says, that more grain crop will be grown in the future as in this area, as in many other places, wheat is the most rewarding aspect of farming just at the moment. Wheat on his farm yielded up to 93 bushels last year and up to about 75 bushels this year. In recent years Mr Callaghan has done some harvesting of clover and grass for seed and the pattern has usually been to take a clover crop following a second crop

of wheat, with which it has been undersown. Mr Callaghan has been growing Aotea and Arawa wheat, and also Hilgendorf as spring wheat. Even if the spring wheat did not give a big yield, but about 35 to 40 bushels, it was easier to handle and harvest than barley and gave a return equivalent to a good yield of barley, he said. Mr Callaghan is a member of the committee of the Methven Golf Club and a past captain of the club.