Change in management of high country

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32565, 26 March 1971, Page 14

Change in management of high country

In the last few years a revolution has been quietly taking place in the high country. For the benefit of present and future generations living down country, who could be in the path of flooding rivers, steep, shingle-covered and erosion-prone country has been fenced off and taken out of production, while provision has been made for alternative grazing on easier lower country ,to make up for the loss of stock-carrying

capacity. The North Canterbury Catchment Board last week visited the 53,955-acre Lake Coleridge station in the headwaters of the Rakaia, where 18,000 acres of country has been retired from grazing and work is being done at lower levels to make up for the 2000odd ewe equivalents of grazing that have been lost For Messrs J. and M. Murchison this had meant an entirely different method of using and grazing this country, Mr R. D. Dick, chief soil conservator of the board, told board members. A veteran member and former chairman of the board, Mr R. M. D. Johnson, of Mount Torlesse, said that through soil and water conservation run plans the board had embarked on a new concept in high-country management. These plans necessarily varied from property to property. This was something that had evolved, and though it was working a great deal still had to be learned about the use of the lower country. Thus he noted that where cattle were used on the lower part of high-country runs there could be a stock water shortage problem in a dry spell. Mr M. Murchison said that the best return so far had come from fencing the open tussock country. If any mistake had been made in drawing up the plan for the property it would be that not more money had been put into fencing. It was far better to make use of what growth there was than to grow additional feed. Mr Johnson observed that this was the sort of thing that no-one really knew and was the sort of information that should be sent forward to the people who authorised Government finance for these plans. Replying to Mr H. Connor, a board member who asked whether the superiority of simply fencing off tussock at this stage might

amount to a creaming-off of the extensive area and might not hold in, say, five years, Mr Murchison said he believed that better use could now be made of this country. In the past sunny faces had been hammered. “We have got much more than we thought out of the subdivision of the lower country,” Mr Murchison told the visitors. Had they experienced reasonable summers with better rainfall, he said, they would no doubt have obtained more growth from their paddocks. However, he noted that

although the last season had been a very dry one, they had had their best establishment of turnips, sown with 3cwt of superphosphate, just before Christmas. He put this down to nitrogen in the country from the preceding matagouri cover. The Lake Coleridge seven-year plan was approved in 1965 and is now in its final stages. Work under it has cost almost $70,000, of which the State has provided almost $16,500 by way of subsidy and has met the total cost of the retirement fence, amounting to about $28,000. A major part of the exercise has been fencing. To the end of this month fencing completed will include 16 miles to close off the 18,000 acres already referred to, 10J miles of fencing of eroded tussock blocks, two miles and a half of fencing of cultivated areas into paddocks and 22 to 23 miles of cattle-proof-ing of sheep fences. So far 361 acres of tussock has been sown to turnips for winter feed and 279 acres of this area has been sown to pasture out of an antici- '• pated 500 acres. Since the plan was approved sheep numbers have remained fairly static—they are 16,150 now compared with 15,350—but cattle numbers have increased from 168, including 110 cows, to 563, including 360 cows. When Mr Dick noted that in the last six years cattle numbers had jumped in this way, miles and miles of fencing had been erected, or cattle proofed, there had been important changes in run management and a change had been made from Merino to halfbred sheep, Mr Murchison commented that these developments had been forced on them by economic circumstance. Because returns had dropped badly, he said that before they embarked on topdressing and further de-

velopment under the terms of the plan they should be sure that they were going to get a big enough return

to justify it. He said that whereas a few years ago they could run the property with 13,000 Merino sheep alone, now they were not doing as well with 16,000 sheep and 300 breeding cows. - * The intention was to treat 1200 acres in four blocks, but he and his I brother had been advised that they should look at blocks of not more than 150 acres. In fact, he said, those who were getting most benefit from this practice were treating blocks of only about 100 to 150 acres, and In the Wanaka area best results were being obtained from blocks of 70 to 150 acres. On areas of 300 acres j with flushes of growth in the spring and autumn, he I said, there would be wastage. Mr Dick suggested that the size of blocks should be determined by the numbers of stock available to be put on them, and Mr Johnson said he would personally be quite happy if he could subdivide his own property into blocks as small as 500 acres. A comment heard among some members of the visiting party was that the costs of fencing down to only about 150-acre blocks could be prohibitive. When Mr Dick asked those present to note the progessive improvement in the filling-in of bare ground between tussocks, Mr Murchison said that his father had stopped burning in 1932 and the improvement that there was had occurred since then. To Mr J. M. Pickering, chairman of the board’s soil conservation committee, he said however, that there had been some natural improvement on the better soils during the term of the plan, and his brother, Mr J. Murchison, said that there had been a marked change in both stock and country with fencing. Mr Johnson said that there could be an unbelievable improvement in the cover under the impact of cattle and at the same time there could be a big change in the cattle themselves through topdressing assuring a better balance of rations throughout the year. He also commended the type of cattle-proofing of fences being done on the property, where the old Merino fences have been heightened with two barbs being added on the top and also strengthened with additional intermediate T irons being driven every halfchain along-side existing

standards, and being wired to them. Mr Johnson said it would be impossible to start refencing a property like this one. The party travelled up the Canterbury Winter Sports Club’s road to the site of the memorial to the late Mr H. Richards at about 2750 ft to view the retirement fence and the country beyond which is being excluded from grazing. Mr K. G. Brown, soil conservators’ assistant, noted here that the fence with six wires and a barb, had been erected in three sections by three different contractors, the first being done in 1966-67 and the last section of 439 chains being completed only this year. The total costs of erection of this fence, running up to 3200 ft, have varied from $2O to $22 to $24 a chain. On the country, which was being excluded from grazing, Mr Dick said that there was a big investment for winter sports in the Craigieburn Range, which some people said would be almost equivalent to the capital in the neighbouring runs. Later the party went to the High Peak property, of 11,060 acres, which has also been under a run plan for five years that has now almost been completed. The scene here was of a property with considerable expanses of easy country. Mr G. M. Turrell said that when he came to High Peak, which ranges from about 1500 ft at the homestead to about 3177 ft, most of the blocks were large and it was not until they had been, put on their feet in the'

wool boom in the early 19505, when wool sold for 240 d per lb, that they were able to put their fences in order. Now they were able, with the help of the Catchment Board’s plan, to carry out further fencing and also start oversowing and topdressing, which they were continuing. The purpose of the work under the plan is to reduce soil erosion and deposition of much of the sediment and debris in the riverbeds and to assist in regulating the run-off into the rivers. Expenditure under the run plan for this property has amounted to almost $15,500 and of this the subsidy has amounted to about $5600. The programme has included five miles of soil conservation fencing, seven to eight miles of cattleproofing of fences, 580 acres of oversowing and topdressing and 103 chains of soil conservation planting. As well $1515 has been spent on soil conservation wind-breaks, of which $650 has been recovered in subsidy and almost $2OOO has also been spent on an investigation into oversowing and topdressing 50 acres • of red tussock, which has earned more than $9OO in subsidy. Of the latter Mr Dick said that there was 3000 to 4000 acres of red tussock on the property and the object of the investigation was to determine whether it was possible to avoid burning and cultivation and expenditure of $5O an acre in order to produce palatable feed .with, the tussock. The .demonstration area was burned and sown with a disc drill in August, 1968, with red and white clover

being sown over the whole area and also ryegrass and cocksfoot over part of the area. Some 2cwt of molybdic sulphur superphosphate was sown with the seed and the area has since had two dressings each of 2cwt of sulphur super. Mr Dick recalled that the area had come away well after an initial spelling after sowing and there had been exceptional growth in the second year—he could- remember photographing Mr Turrell and the station manager, Mr J. A. Norris,’ standing knee deep in clover. But Mr Dick expressed concern about the vigour of the red tussock again and said he was interested in getting advice as to the optimum time to graze the tussock without threshing the cattle or sheep. Mr Dick said the board’s aim was to reduce the need to bum, produce a pasture that would be resistant to erosion and restrict run-off and also be profitable to the farmer. The Department of Agriculture has been conducting a five-acre trial in the 50 acres and Mr R. G. Jolly, of the department in Christchurch, recalled that it was more difficult to get grass than clover established bn such a site. For grass it was necessary to get a quick build up of phosphate and consequently immediately following sowing of the area in 1968 another 2cwt of super had been ap- ' plied to the five-acre area, followed by another 2cwt in thb autumn, and when the whole area (the 50 I acres) received 2cwt applied aerially in the spring, it meant that in the one year the five-acre area had had Bcwt of super com-

pared with 4cwt on the rest of the paddock. The whole area had since received the same topdressings. There had been a superior establishment of clover on the trial area compared with the rest of the paddock, but possibly due to a downpour after sowing there had been little evidence of grasses, apart ■ from a little cocksfoot. Mr Jolly said that various types of fertilisers had also been tried on the trial area and it had been decided that the most economic dressing of superphosphate would be 4cwt. There had been a response to lime and molybdenum, but not a very marked one to lime. Earlier the party motored i through paddocks which have been cultivated out of red tussock and sown to pasture and which are protected by more than three miles of windbreaks to prevent wind erosion. The belts are three rows in width with usually two rows of Pinus radiata and one row of Corsican pine or Pinus nigra on the windward side. The hardy Corsican pine grew particularly well in this locality, Mr Dick noted. High Peak Is now cartying about 8600 sheep and 705 cattle, including 450 cows, compared with 7300 sheep and 302 cattle, including 245 cows, in 1964-65, and only a few dairy cows about 10 years ago.