On Difficult Hill Country

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31754, 10 August 1968, Page 10

On Difficult Hill Country

The injection of a substantial amount of Marginal Lands Board loan money and a lot of hard work has greatly increased the volume of production off the 3340-acre Okarahia Downs property of Mr W. J. Morgan in the Hundalee hills just north of the'Conway, between Cheviot and Kaikoura.

But Mr Morgan thinks that he would probably have done better for himself personally if, when he sold out a small 80 acres dairy farm near Kaikoura, he had invested the proceeds and taken up a job. Okarahia Downs is a difficult property by any standards. It is mainly steep hill country ranging in altitude from about 450 ft to 2500 ft above sea level. Only about 130 acres can be worked by machines and there are only 30 acres of so-called flats—there is even a terrace there. When It was taken over 10 years ago it was mainly in scrub up to 30ft tall or native bush with some 700 acres of tussock tops, on which was also some flax and lawyer. Mr Morgan says that there would probably be not more than 2000 acres capable of improvement. From May through to September there is also a risk of heavy snow on the higher country and there have been losses of young stock in these condition. Annual rainfall is about 40 inches and the climate varies between wet and cold in the winter and so hot in the height of the summer that it is almost impossible to work during the middle hours of the day. When Mr Morgan came to Okarahia Downs it was carrying no more than 900 sheep, including about 240 lambs, and a handful of cattle. Gross takings in the first year amounted to only 52400 and this was only half of what he had been taking off his

small dairy farm. Having purchased the leasehold Mr Morgan was faced

with the problem of having only limited finance to proceed with much-needed development until the Marginal Lands Board came to his assistance after three years.

This restricted what he could do in the early stages.

A bulldozer was, however, engaged to push down about

90 acres of scrub and to open up a few tracks and a start

was also made with family help to hand cut or pull I scrub off the front country

next to the main highway and about 240 acres were covered in this way. Great credit for what progress has been made is given by Mr Morgan to the Marginal Lands Board and the field officers of the Lands and Survey Department, with $26,000 having been put into the property over the last seven years. Altogether some 800 acres of scrub have been cleared or cut out. Starting about five years ago the 130 acres of workable country has been progressively cleared and sown mechanically. Thus a block of 23 acres, which is now in a paddock of 40 acres, was sown down in February of last year. The scrub was bulldozed off and pushed into windrows in the previous winter and burnt before cultivation began, and also after subsequent sowing. It was disced in November and sown down in February. All this sort of work is, incidentally, done by contract. The mixture used included 101 b of perennial ryegrass, 101 b of short rotation ryegrass, 31b of cocksfoot, and 31b of white clover, and also five ounces of turnips. Subterranean clover has also been used in such sowings. In this particular case 3cwt of sulphurised superphosphate was spread by air about two weeks later, while a little reverted superphosphate was put through the drill at sowing time. The other 17 acres, which are now in the 40-acre paddock, had been cut over about 1

four years previously, and this area was mostly cut again to remove regrowth scrub last May. The cost of bulldozing and working the 23-acre area and also bulldozing about 20 chains of fence line was $1360, and, including fencing and sowing, the total cost for the 40 acres was $l6OO. In the most recent season from October through to 1 April this area carried 200 wethers, which came off in prime condition. Another 670 acres has been brought in out of scrub by cutting and oversowing. Some 320 acres of this has been done with outside labour. For instance, two brothers cut 180 acres with axes. But the main brunt of the clearing has fallen on Mr Morgan and his family. Three sons and three daughters, down to primary school age, have played their part in this operation. The scrub has been either pulled, or cut to ground level or above 18 inches so that it does not snag sheep. Mr Morgan says he likes to get the cutting started in the early autumn and to leave the cut material for six months before burning not later than the last week of January or the first two weeks of February. The sowing is done from the air on the ash as soon as possible afterwards. The mixture is again similar to that used on the cultivated country, except that turnips are not used on steeper country to guard against the stock upsetting the stability of the country when it comes to feeding them. Lime pelleted and inoculated clover seed has been used on all bush burn country for the last three years. Sulphur super is also spread on this country and, as on cultivated areas, there is a follow up dressing of 2cwt of straight superphosphate in the spring.

of this and also subdividing the country further the exOn the country with a lighter scrub cover oversowing was done initially with only clover, including about 51b of seconds of white clover and 21b of seconds of Montgomery red clover. Initial superphosphate dressings used on the property have been increased to about the 3cwt to the acre mark and it has been found that the country does not really begin to respond until it has had about a half ton to the acre. Sulphur super began to be used as Marginal Lands finance became available.

Use of superphosphate has climbed from only about 15 tons annually to 176 tons for the three years before last year when it was reduced again to 130 tons. One of the problems under current economic conditions, Mr Morgan says, is to be able to continue putting on maintenance dressings of IJcwt to hold the area that has been developed. Some 350 acres of the higher tussock areas have also been oversown and topdressed and some 217 acres of this area, which has had lOcwt of superphosphate, carried 580 hoggets from May to mid-July, 400 ewes since that time and also from the end of April about 12 yearling cattle and from the beginning of May 44 cows as well. On the balance of the 350 acres 3cwt of sulphur super was applied in the autumn last year and also 31b of lime coated and inoculated white clover and 21b of subterranean clover and in the spring 7 tons of molybdic superphosphate was spread on the area.

Expenditure on these various areas has ranged from some $lO an acre so far on the 150 acres of tussock to $3O on the 217 acres of tussock to $5O on the 800 acres of scrub handled by clearing and cultivation or cutting and oversowing. In rugged terrain at the back of the property there are some 400 acres of broom

and on containing the spread penditure of another $BOOO of Marginal Lands Board funds is envisaged. Some 80 acres of broom was successfully sprayed from the air at the time that the seed was setting just before last Christmas, while in the previous year spraying at flowering time was unsuccessful. Over the period that this work has been going on, stock numbers have increased to 1320 breeding ewes, 720 hoggets, 1000 wethers, 80 breeding cows and currently also about 21 calves, five house cows and two bulls. The flock is a Lincoln Merino first cross one. The cows are mainly Aberdeen Angus with a few Herefords.

From 50001 b at the first year’s shearing the clip has increased to 29,0001 b, including crutchings, in the most recent periods. This was the total production of a shade

more than 3000 sheep. Reflecting the declining wool market, although the clip has gone up by 14 bales in the last two seasons, proceeds have dropped by about $2OOO. The wool, which is marred somewhat by the effect of the sheep brushing against burnt sticks and timber remaining on the country, netted about 21c to 22c per lb last season. In the last two seasons, mainly due to favourable conditions at lambing which starts about September 10, well over 1300 lambs have been weaned from about 1200 ewes. After keeping back ewe lambs for flock replacements, all surplus lambs are sold as stores through Addington and last season these brought up to $4.30 for ewe lambs and to $4.70 for wether lambs. In 1967 ewe lambs sold to $5.60. This year 280 surplus ewes sold through Addington made up to $4.35 while

last year they all averaged $5.20. Some 258 wethers have also been sold this season through Addington or locally. Likewise calves are sold through the Kaikoura calf sale and this year for 43 prices ranged up to $52. At present prices Mr Morgan says that farming of this country is not uneconomic, but there it little or no return on his own Investment in the property and the future very much depends on the course of the wool market or the rather unlikely possibility of costs being reduced. Nevertheless a cause for some satisfaction is the profusion of clover at present growing among the blackened manuka sticks on country that has been sown down for 18 months or more, particularly when the obviously light and shingley nature of slopes oversown only last autumn are taken into account.