Problems In Developing Hill Farm

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31724, 6 July 1968, Page 8

Problems In Developing Hill Farm

Lincoln College has not had it easy on its 2282-acre Hunua hill country property at Waikari. “The financial results have not been at all encouraging,” Professor J. D. Stewart, professor of farm management at the college, noted at the start of a field day which attracted almost 200 persons.

The college acquired the property early in 1966 and has run into the period of lower prices for farm produce. There have also been other problems. The property is a long and gangling one,~the stock taken over at the outset were light in weight and stock performance has not been very good, and there is evidence of copper deficiency. While some 280 acres have been over-sown and topdressed and there has been some improvement in the condition of the stock, it has not been spectacular. The purchase price of the property Crown renewable leasehold with 17 years to run at the time of acquisition and carrying 1000 ewes and 350 ewe lambs—was $39,000. The annual rental is $592.

had no milk at all. A comparison of lamb weights in March and the same time last year showed that the early weaning had not been detrimental.

Indicating that these sheep did have the ability to grow, Mr Clark told a questioner that lambs shifted to Lincoln at weights of 121 b to 171 b had grown faster than some of the stock there and these were now twice the weight of those remaining at Hunua. However, replying to a speaker who asked whether it might have been desirable to sell the existing stock at the outset and bring in bet-

Professor Stewart told a questioner that the price had been too high in relation to current earning capacity, but it was the market price. In developing the property the college has tried to put itself in the place of a young man taking over this enterprise. It has assumed the use of $12,000 on first mortgage to help finance the purchase, and a loan of a further $14,000 to help develop the place—the maximum loan that such a person would have obtained in the light of the money needed to complete the purchase. Even at the prices ruling soon after the property was taken over, revenue would not have been available for substantial development, Professor Stewart said. It was thought at the time that with the development loan the maximum overdraft needed would have been $4OOO, but in fact this has been far exceeded.

The programme began with 1000 Corriedale ewes and 358 ewe lambs—a total of 1425 sheep. The initial lambing was 72 per cent and the wool clip 10,4041 b or 7.41 b a head. All ewes and all ewe lambs were kept, and 250 wethers purchased to increase sheep numbers to 2050. But with a dry autumn last year and a poor spring, lambing dropped to 64 per cent and the average wool weight was 6.91 b, although the total clip increased to 13,9441 b. Run Dry All ewe lambs have again been kept and another 200 wethers have been bought, but ewe numbers have been slightly reduced and two and four-tooth ewes under 801 b live-weight at tupping have been run dry instead of being mated. Now the sheep total 2329. This represents an increase of 900 sheep or nearly 700 ewe equivalents since the place was taken over. Wet ewes clipped about 61b of wool, dry ewes 7jlb and wethers B|lb, said Mr V. R. Clark, of the animal science department at the college. At the outset no sheep on the property had weighed more than 1001 b live-weight, he said. With over-sowing, top-dressing and fencing, liveweight had, improved so that now there were some animals of more than 1001 b, but there were still a large number that were very light. However, he said, restriction of stock numbers was not compatible with development. and numbers had been increased by buying in wethers.

Between tupping and weaning, ewes lost 101 b in liveweight and one way of either holding or increasing liveweight on limited feed was early weaning of lambs. This had been done on December 5 of last year. Actually between that time and March the ewes regained the 101 b lost and made another 71b.

The average weaning weight of the lambs was 261 b and some were as light as 141 b. At the time of weaning, when the ewes were also shorn, Mr Clark said, some

ter stock, Mr Clark said that it had been shown that where stock did gain in weight they held this improvement subsequently, so that if better stock had been bought in it would have been possible to get into a better level of stock.

Mr Clark said that this winter stock health had not been as good as it might have been. Young stock had stood still, although the feed situation was good. Analyses had been made of pasture samples and it was apparent that pastures were marginal to low for copper, and where liver analyses had been done some were found to be low or deficient.

In trials, responses had been obtained to copperselenium administration. Ewes had been drenched with copper and selenium and they had also recently been injected with a copper solution.

Professor Stewart said that the water situation on the property was not good for weaning of lambs and it was suspected that small lambs weaned early went up on to the tops and dehydrated. In the next stage of development better provision of water would have to take priority.

Dealing with a question about the desirability of running all wethers. Professor Stewart said that the emphasis in stock increases had been on wethers and ewe numbers had been reduced slightly, but he would be reluctant to eliminate the ewe flock and was hopeful that it would be possible to do stock better in the future.

He said the 50 acre paddock which had been sown to turnips and grass last year had been used for wintering of hoggets and this should lead to a significant improvement in two-tooths. This paddock, which had now been overdrilled with perennial ryegrass and white, clover, should be a reasonably good source of feed with further fertiliser. However, there were no plans to go ahead with further cultivation:

Turning to the financial aspects of the operation, Professor Stewart showed that between 1966 and this year some $13,536 had been spent out of the development loan, including $420 yet to be spent

on top-dressing a shady part of one block.

Major items in this expenditure had included oversowing and topdressing, fencing, plant, cultivation and seed, track construction, stock purchases, and maintenance topdressing. With an estimated cash deficit for the 1967-68 year of $l9BO, this will bring accumulated cash deficits to $7365 and the budget for 1968-69, making no allowance for further development or even maintenance top-dressing, indicates a further deficit of $1550.

Under these circumstances Professor Stewart said, it was now found impossible to maintain what development had been done out of revenue. The only means of salvaging the situation was an injection of more capital or some deferment of interest payments and possibly rent perhaps both.

“It is a salvage job and it would be most unwise not to salvage the situation," he added. “We have got to at least maintain the improvement that we have done.

the college, said that a major problem in tussock land development was wintering of stock. This was the pinch period. The objective on this country was to introduce grasses or clover species that would give extra winter growth. He described trials in which grasses like tall fescue, prairie grass and cocksfoot had been introduced with the basal dressing of 4cwt of molybdenised super and 31b each of white, red and alsike clovers. Another 2cwt of super had been applied last winter. Grasses would also be introduced on a proportion of the plots after three years when there had been a build up of nitrogen. On the shady faces, he said, there had been no grass establishment at all. On the sunny faces they had only been successful with cocksfoot and ryegrass where there was bare ground. It looked as though it was difficult to get ryegrass and cocksfoot in where there was competitive native vegetation. The outstanding thing was the growth of clover on the sunny faces right into the middle of the winter. It had been felt that the college’s creeping lucerne might stand up better than clover under some sunny conditions, and this had been over-sowed at the rate of 61b of lime pelleted seed and where paraquat had been used to check the danthonia lucerne had been able to establish. There had also been a response to a high level of inoculum on the seed.

“There must be many others in a similar situation.”

Running this property with 2000 ewe equivalents and negligible debt. Professor Stewart said there would only be a moderate living in it At the pre-delivery stock carrying of 1000 ewes and 350 hoggets, he said it would not be economic.

That the property in the undeveloped state was clearly sub-economic and that it was difficult under present prices to hold the development that had been done clearly posed a problem for the Lands Department in respect of the administration of this class of property, he said. To another questioner, he said that where a person had done nothing at all on this property in the way of development, the surplus for interest and living would have been $2500. Other factors in the present situation, he said, were the low initial live-weight of the stock and their low performance, the high proportion of development overheads, the peculiarly difficult property itself, the slow response to improvement, and some mistakes in management, which, however, had not been of a critical nature.

Looking back, Professor Stewart said some $4OOO of the development loan should have been spent on the purchase of 30 to 40 heifers, a bull and the provision of cattle yards. But there had been no pointers in this direction when they had started on the programme and there were limits to cattle because of the low summer rainfall, water and fencing. Commenting on a proposition that the whole of the development loan might have been put into cattle, a neighbour, Mr A. W. Harris, said it would be interesting to see a baby Molesworth tried, but he thought trouble might be encountered with 100 cows running with sheep. However, probably 50 could be hidden away on the property. Professor Stewart said the aim should now be to stabilise on what improvement had been done and present stock numbers and to move into a small herd.

Referring later to the fairly acute difficulties associated with running this particular property, he said that it was probably not representative of the over-all situation on North Canterbury hill country. Earlier in the day, Mr A. F. S. Adams, of the soil science department at the college, said that from the results of trials it seemed that initially about 2cwt of straight superphosphate should be used on this country, and thereafter sulphur super at about Itwt or Ijcwt to the acre. He said that the Indications were that sulphur was needed and sulphur and phosphorus together were slightly better than just sulphur, so the prime requirement was superphosphate, but in the second year it seemed that sulphur super was catching up with straight super. These recommendations applied to the bulk, of the soils on the farm. Dr J. G. H. White, of the plant science department at