More Cross-breeding in Next Decade

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31772, 31 August 1968, Page 10

More Cross-breeding in Next Decade

Professor A. L. Rae, professor of animal husbandry at Massey University, believes that in the next decade there will be much more crossing of sheep breeds and the introduction. of more exotic breeds designed to give some characteristic which is lacking in the present gene pool.

Discussing future market demands on hill country farms when the Institute of Agricultural Science held its annual conference at Lincoln last week, Professor Rae said he believed that the farming community was passing out of an era, lasting for half a century, when it based its beliefs on pure-breeding. Professor Rae's paper laid emphasis on the hill country farming of the North Island, which, he noted, produced 28} per cent of New Zealand’s meat production, and 32 per cent of its wool.

He said a sampling of 125 farms in the North Island hill country showed that there was an average of 902 acres per unit, 794 acres of it effective. With 1516 ewes to the ram, and replacements, and 205 cattle, it was carrying 3.8 stock units per effective acre “When we come to consider what flexibilities are available within this farming system we find that they are limited,” Professor Rae said. “The response in the short run to reduced income through falling prices is a reduction in fertiliser applications (which is perhaps the easiest but not necessarily

the wisest measure to take), deferment of repairs and maintenance, reduction in personal drawings, and a slowing down or cessation of development.” Longer term decisions involved the question of whether to alter the ratio of sheep to cattle, whether to grow finer or stronger wool, and whether to change the relative emphasis on woo) and lamb production. Beyond this, the topography, -and sometimes the climate, placed limitations on further possibilities of change. The one major exception was the possibility of farm forestry. Professor Rae said that although cattle numbers had been increasing, the main increases in carrying capacity had been with sheep. Given reasonable conditions, stocking would increase, but the question had been raised as to what sort of stock. Should it be more sheep or more cattle?

Discussing cattle, Professor Rae said lower wool prices had stimulated interest in beef but against this he would list:—

(1) Some scepticism about projections by the Food and

Agriculture Organisation on the marketing of beef in countries which were already geared to regulate supplies. (2) On past performance beef returns had fluctuated widely. For example in the last 10 years prices for weaner steers had fluctuated from $2O to $6O. (3) Although present returns were comparable with those from sheep, the capital required for expansion in beef was very much higher than for expanding sheep units.

(4) The growth of the dairy-beef industry was not necessarily a favourable omen as seen through the eyes of the hill country beef breeder. It could lead to increased competition and reduced prices for weaners. In favour of cattle was the much reduced labour requirement, and the prospects for beef appeared to be as good as for wool and lamb. A higher proportion of total farm income from cattle could also result in a more balanced situation to face the uncertainty of future markets. He expected to see a continuation in the increases of cattle in the hill country. The potential in the South Island had been pointed to on many occasions. Type And Breed Discussing the type and breed of cattle to be considered, Professor Rae said a most important need from the point of view of the finisher was rate of growth, while the breeding cow should have high efficiency of production, good milking and mothering ability, good foraging ability, and sound feet and jaws. Recent work in New Zealand had consistently shown the slower growth rate and early and excessive depositions of fat to be the disadvantages of the traditional beef breeds in comparison with the Friesian and Friesian cross cattle.

Although these deficiencies were being recognised by the breeders of the traditional beef breeds, and. a national recording scheme for weightgain performance was in operation, it was an open question whether the present dominance of the beef breeds on the hills would be maintained.

Much would . depend, not only on the extent to which breeders' entered the recording scheme, but on the extent to which they actually used the information derived from it in their selection. In the meantime, crosses with the Friesian and the Friesian itself were being tried out by a number of farmers.

'Professor Rae added that as sheep or cattle stocking became more Intensive on the hills, then the complementary relationship between them tended to break down. At low levels of utilisation no special provision was required for the breeding herfl. As sheep stocking increased, however, "standing hay” was no longer a feature of the sward, and special provision had to be made for the breeding cow. Hence, one found there was real competition for feed, and manage-

meat now tended to separate the breeding flock and the breeding herd as distinct entitles.

Secondly, the improvement of the hill country was bringing about a change in land use in that country formerly regarded as capable of producing only store stock could now produce stock for slaughter.

Tliis movement of the fattening country into the hills could mean a break in the traditional two-tier system of beef production. However, it also meant less reliance on the low country for finishing, and opened up the possibilities of greater diversification of fanning on the low country. In considering the situation of sheep in the hill country. Professor Rae said there would be continuing emphasis on increasing lambing percentages in hill country sheep. The rapid development in the use of the Perendale and the Border-Romney were indicative of the thinking in the sheep industry at the moment.

As far as the hill country farmer running Romneys was concerned, the question of what type of wool to produce was of immediate concern. Two sorts of advice had been given on this problem—on the one hand, a need for greater specialisation in the type of wool produced, and on the other, a suggestion that one should produce the type of wool to suit the country. Professor Rae said he agreed with the first in principle, but the second was not very helpful. While it was doubtless possible to suggest the types of country on which Merino, Corriedale, and halfbred sheep would do better than the Romney, there seemed to him to be vast areas of country which would produce fine Romney wool just as well as strong Romney wool. In fact, for many years past, the crucial point was that the fleece which was heaviest was likely to be the most profitable.

Ip considering wools stronger than the typical Romney, Prpfessor Rae said there was a strong case for the production of specialised carpet wools. Expansion of the growing of Drysdale wool seemed justified, and the build-up, which had taken place since 1962, was such that fairly rapid expansion in the production of this wool could take place over the next few years.

Professor Rae said the situation was not unlike that of the 1870 s and 1880 s when economic stress, plus the de. velopment of refrigeration, opened up vast new possibilities and led to the development of the Corriedale and the halfbred. At present, he believed, New Zealand was passing out of an era of purebreeding into one where crossbreeding was no longer an anathema to a growing number of hill country producers.

The beginning of this change went back to the 1940 s which saw the development of the Cheviot-Romney cross and the Border-Romney cross.