Some Farmlands Dry

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31835, 13 November 1968, Page 8

Some Farmlands Dry

Some farmlands in Canterbury, particularly in the coastal areas, are very dry and need rain badly—but areas inland are Senerally having a better season.

Mr R. A. Milne, senior advisory officer of the Department of Agriculture at Rangiora, said at the weekend that parts of North Canterbury were too dry, but other areas were quite well placed. Coastal areas from Cheviot downwards were still fairly dry, and light land in areas such as Swannanoa was burning off. Most farmers in the coastal areas were still short of feed, Mr Milne said, but lambs were still doing quite well.

Prospects for making hay in these areas, where most of the lucerne hay was made, were very poor indeed, said Mr Milne. Much of the lucerne was being grazed, and what had been shut up for hay had been slow in growing.

Opening Up

After a spring when there! had been really no flush of I growth, grass paddocks were I starting to open, up at the bottom. i

Cultivated ground was, however, holding quite a lot of moisture and crops were looking quite well. Spring crops had been slow to start, but were now growing quite j well.

Further inland, however,. there had been more rain, 1 Mr Milne said. Further north, too,’ conditions are most favourable. Mr J. P. Beggs, senior farm advisory officer of the department at Blenheim, said that Marlborough was having an exceptionally good season. He said that there were "stacks of growth," a problem being that the feed had been a little too soft and in need of more sunshine. However, with some wind lately, lambs had been doing well. While there was plenty of hay about, said Mr Beggs, the weather had not been very favourable for making it. Crops were generally looking well, and a problem this year on the heavier land had been to get them sown. But, Mr Beggs said,' these conditions tended to run out at the southern end of the district, and in the Clarence and Kaikoura areas the conditions were more akin to those in North Canterbury. Mid-Canterbury In Mid-Canterbury, Mr H. R. Evans, a farm advisory officer (economics) of the department, said that it was also dry, but two falls of rain last week, amounting to about 70

points, while easing the situation, had probably just checked the drying out. A farmer on light land in this district said that the main concern now was to get some lucerne growth for hay. but areas closed up in the last two or three weeks had not been making much growth, because of a lack of moisture. In his district it had been getting very dry, Mr J. L. Symons, a farm advisory officer of the department at Waimate, said. But he was more hopeful of the situation after 75 points of rain fell in Waimate late last Friday. This fall would be most beneficial to crops, which were just starting “to feel the pinch,” Mr Symons said. He still thought that there was a chance of pastures rejeuvenating, and clover coming away, so that pastures could be closed for hay. While sheep had been doing reasonably well. Mr Symons said that pasture growth in the foothills had been very short, and the biggest problem had been that there had been no cattle feed. While the rain on Friday had improved prospects, he said that more would be needed.