MOLESWORTH INQUIRY A Case For Retaining Policy Of Beef Production

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31576, 13 January 1968, Page 8

MOLESWORTH INQUIRY A Case For Retaining Policy Of Beef Production

(By

L. W. McCASKILL)

The Minister of Lands is just 25 years too soon in setting up a committee of departmental officers to study the potential of Molesworth Station “for farming, afforestation, recreation and scenic development.”

I recently made a comprehensive tour x of the 458,000-acre property (my twentieth visit since 1946) and I am convinced that there are so many lessons still to be learned about the production of beef cattle in a mountain climate in conjunction with conservation of denuded soils that we should let the major experiment run for a second 25 years.

For it is just 25 years since Mr M. M. Chisholm was appointed manager, and set out to prove his firm belief “that production can go hand in hand with conservation and can be made to pay.” So effective were the early practices that within two years the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council publicly congratulated the Department of Lands and Survey on “its wisdom and enterprise in pioneering a new era—an era of conservation in contrast to the past one of exploitation.” Since then, cattle to the value of more than $1,600,000 have been sold, and spectacu-

lar progress has been made in soil and water conservation; in addition the State has an asset valued today at approximately $900,000. And all this has been achieved at no cost to the taxpayer. In fact, in an economic study of Molesworth, accounts made by the agricultural economics research unit of Lincoln College, it was concluded that over the period 1940-1987, the rate of return on total outlay can be shown to be 14.8 per cent. The story of Molesworth over the years has been described in detail in the columns of “The Press" and need not be repeated here. We should, however, remind ourselves of such pioneering efforts as control of rabbits by aerial poisoning, the use of 1080 on pigs, goats and deer, large scale aerial seeding of cocksfoot and clover in land previously thought ruined for all time, the use of D.D.T. prills on high-country grassland affected by grass grub, the control of sweet brier by Tordon pellets dropped from the air, and the development of a system of cattle breeding and management. All these have had and are having a growing influence on the South Island beef industry. What is now important Is that we should assess the present position of Molesworth and consider its potential to assist the New Zealand economy. Striking Result The first few acres seeded from the air in 1952 have grown to an area of over 45.000 acres but a much greater area has received benefit because of the efficiency of cattle in transporting seed up to a height of four and even five thousand' feet. The result is cumulative; each new patch of clover acting as a further source of distribution. , The cessation of burning, the complete removal of sheep the control of rabbits and deer, and the planned grazing by cattle have resulted in striking recovery of the native tussock vegetation, especially of the palatable blue grass and plume grass. This alteration to the cover has produced useful changes in the pattern of most of the streams. Where previously there were broad patches of everchanging shingle, we now find stabilised beds covered with vegetation, with the streams flowing in degraded channels similar to those occurring in virgin country. In the stream beds the establishment of lucerne by modern techniques shows promise for providing summer feed—near water where cattle like to be —as well as helping to stabil-

ise the banks against damage by floods. The extra feed provided by the improved vegetation has enabled the Increase of cattle numbers to such an extent that 9000 were wintered in 1967. Increase above 10,000 will have to wait until improvements to the wintering areas will allow the present limit of 3000 breeding cows to be increased. Big Turn-off It is impossible to assess in money terms alone the influence Molesworth cattle have had on the beef industry in the South Island. In recent years 600 to 1000 two and three-year-old steers have been sold annually—hardy, docile animals which have gone into private herds as well as providing substantial accretions to herds on departmental land-development blocks in Southland, Otago and Westland. Cull cows and surplus heifers are also playing an increasingly important part. In fact it is difficult to imagine the beef business without a regular supply of animals from Molesworth. After Professor B. P. Philpott’s comments this week on beef as an international meat and the rapidly growing demand for

it in Europe, he would be a brave man who would advocate seriously a change of land use on Molesworth. In the field of extension too. Molesworth has played an extremely important part. Most South Island catchment authorities have paid special visits to study cattle in relation to revegetation and soil conservation, while agricultural college staff and students, departmental research workers, members of breed societies, branches of Federated Farmers, and high-coun-try runholders, to the number of many hundreds have studied their own particular interests. Mr Chisholm has been in demand also as a lecturer to breed societies and farmers’ groups in both islands, and his advice is constantly sought by correspondence. From the research angle, while Molesworth has not been used by scientists as fully as it should have been, many major projects have been completed, particularly of the type which may be described as “applied” research. Some of the most important of these have been carried out by Mr Chisholm himself. In fact, for a long time to come, the whole station should be looked on as a huge experimental area, the only large tract of land on which research into

land use, regeneration and development can be carried out in the absence of sheep. A Wide Field Superficial observation shows that a further 20,000 acres are ready for oversowing with cocksfoot and clovers and there is room for further experiment here. We also need to know more as to the revegetation of bare ground (and there is still plenty of it) up to 5000 feet and there is a big field open for work on the control of weeds. Something like 35,000 acres are affected more or less seriously by brier: broom, if unchecked, could become even worse than brier. Adjoining runs are equally affected by brier, disposing of any idea that running cattle alone is a major cause of infestation.

By spending up to SIO,OOO a year on weed control, Mr Chisholm has shown that he can control brier, but largescale investigation is necessary to enable the present prohibitive costs to be reduced. The results of such research would have widespread application over the rest of the high country. An important aspect of looking on Molesworth as a research station is that it is there, and at no initial cost to the taxpayer. But longterm research needs the security of a long-term policy.

Planned For Beef Believing that Molesworth would continue as a cattle station in the foreseeable future, the whole of the planning and expenditure has been aimed at beef production. New cattle yards at the homestead, at Tarndale, and at Bush Gully (each with a high-pressure water supply) buildings of various kinds and new fencing to the tune of SIOO,OOO, have been geared to the handling of a herd of 20,000 cattle. (So efficient have the new yards proved that recently 5000 cattle were drafted at Tarndale in 12 hours.) Whether the magic number of 20,000 will ever be reached can be discovered only by long-term planning and ordered development, unhindered by the distraction of other forms of land use. Investigations will be needed into the economics of the use of fertiliser. Largely because of prohibitive costs, only a few hundred tons have been used over the whole period, but what 1 saw re-, •cently at Tarndale indicates what is possible. A total of 16,000 animals annually pass through the 150 acres of paddocks attached to

the yards, and there is particularly heavy use In late January and February. One hundred-weight of superphosphate was applied in October, 1966, and another 2cwt three months ago on the sod-bound brown top. The result is spectacular, with clover up to two feet high, ensuring ample feed for the coming busy season. It seems obvious that the use of fertiliser in other special areas must be looked at more closely. Only time can decide the economies of such practices. Arable Land Coincident with trials with fertiliser to increase feed supply in special areas and at critical times, there should be an assessment of the results of the present proposals to develop, to the maximum, the several hundred acres of cultivable land in the immediate vicinity of the homestead. No-one knows today what influence maximum production on this area could have in the whole wintering programme.

At such altitudes (and the greater part of Molesworth is above 3000 ft) shelter for stock, particularly for areas where they are concentrated, is of real significance. This last season 10,000 trees were planted round the yards and paddocks at Tarndale alone and thousands more were planted elsewhere. Trees grow slowly in this climate, and at this altitude, and many years must elapse before benefit from them can be received and assessed. Alternative Uses Having summarised recent developments designed in the light of the continuation of Molesworth as a cattle station, and, I hope, made it clear that time is necessary for the assessment of their practical and economic success, we must look at the alternatives suggested by the Minister. All forestry experience in New Zealand would suggest that we need give no further thought to production forestry in this climate at these altitudes and at such distances from markets. In any case, the Forest Service has such large areas of much more suitable land unplanted that it would be many years before they could even consider such a proposition. Conservation forestry could be a different matter and it is possible that, on some sites, trees might be better conservers of soil than grass. But the effects to date of revegetation by grasses and clovers on soil loss and stream flow are such that there does not seem any need to transfer to another conservation method which, unlike cattle, does not give an annual cash return.

As regards "outdoor activities” if Molesworth were opened to the public, there are so many unproductive areas unused or little used that the need for the provision for the public at the expense of production is a verylong way off. What is needed, rather than a survey of the possibilities of outdoor activity on Molesworth is a thorough assessment of all the vast areas of unoccupied Crown land, scenic reserves. national parks and present and potential forest parks between the Waimakariri River and Cook Strait. Concerning forest parks the New Zealand Forest Service is still in the early stages of planning and providing for recreational use. Up to the present the Department of Lands and Survey has had quite inadequate funds to develop, for recreational activity, more than a fraction of the non-productive land under its control. One cannot envisage the Lands Department giving up good hard cash from cattle and acting as a benevolent uncle providing recreational activities on Molesworth for people who are not using better facilities already available to them and much more accessible.

Not Practical It has long been obvious in our high country that unrestricted public use and practical farming cannot go together. Other runs surrounding Molesworth have had to deny access even to the extent of locked gates. Use by the public of production land has resulted in damaged huts, theft of equipment, opened gates, broken fences, disturbance of stock, spotlight shooting and fire, with all its accompanying dangers. Molesworth, as a productive unit is surely entitled to protection from this type of vandalism. What the Minister means by “wilderness” is not clear but if it theans land with no productive value which would be kept permanently free of stock, it does not exist on Molesworth. Study of the present grazing blocks and the management system practised shows that no areas on Molesworth fit such a concept. The proposal to set up the committee to investigate Molesworth has made many people and organisations wonder whether they have been “backing the wrong horse.” Judging by its publications in

the past, the Lands Department certainly does not think so. In the meantime, the air of uncertainty, always engendered by committees of inquiry, hovers over Molesworth and foi a long time to come must hinder the advanced planning so necessary in such a huge organisation. Molesworth has been shown conclusively to be an economic success. It has paid $164,000 in interest to the Land Settlement Account on money borrowed to enable it to function each year until the cattle are sold; its accumulated profit amounts to nearly $420,000. New Zealand needs foreign exchange desperately and will continue to do so. Beef is our best product for sale overseas. At this time, and especially on Molesworth,. it would seem unwise to even consider swapping beef cattle in mid-stream for some unknown possible benefit. In the interests of production, of conservation knowledge, of research and of plain economics, the Minister would be wise to defer the sittings of the proposed committee until about January 1993.