Move into cattle made at right time

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32885, 7 April 1972, Page 12

Move into cattle made at right time

The financial implications and subsequent benefits of moving into cattle —even to the extent of borrowing to do it—provided the main talking point at a tussock country field day in the Geraldine district last week.

One hundred farmers, who visited the Waireka run of Mr E. C. Lynn, could not have been other than impressed with the achievements since a decision was made in 1967 to raise the role of cattle at the expense of sheep. In five years, Mr Lynn has raised the investment in his stock by 71 per cent, with stock units still constant; he now obtains as much income from cattle as he did from the whole farm five years ago, and he has managed to hold expenses. As was pointed out to visitors, Waireka is not a typical South Canterbury tussock run, because of the proportion of flat to hill. It has two lower country blocks, one of which, with lucerne and tama, is an invaluable wintering unit. It is a third-generation farm, Mr Lynn’s grandfather having first taken up the tussock block of 1386 acres in 1890. One hundred and sixty-three acres of day downs was added two years later, a further 166 of medium soil in 1907, and 206 acres in Pleasant Valley in 1939. Waireka runs up to 2800 ft, with rainfall ranging from 28in to 36in. This is heavy tussock country, with odd snow tussocks at the higher reaches, and manuka is a problem on some aspects. The run is subdivided into eight blocks, and in spite of some new fencing over recent years, they are still quite large. The back block, for instance, is 445 acres, and one next door covers 365, but the others run mainly from 100 to 150. In the past, the flock has

, consisted of Romneys, givi ing a lambing of 90 to 95 I per cent, but as high as 104 per cent last year. Ewe 1 lambs are bred and ■ retained, and all wether i lambs fattened. These in- , elude a further 500 lambs ' from ewes put to the Down ' ram. There is also an annual line of cast-for-age t sale ewes. i The year of particular , interest to the present change in stocking policy i is 1967. In that autumn, the : stock comprised 2300 ewes, 700 hoggets, and 122 cattle, 100 of them cows. This gave a total of 3499 stock units. Sheep numbers dropped to 2502 in 1969 and to 1650 in 1971. Cattle numbers, however, had risen to 222 in 1967, and to 436 in 1971. They consisted of 229 cows and 203 heifer calves. Expressed as stock units, the stocking trend shows only a small increase — from 3499 in 1967. to 3648 in 1971—a rise of 4 per cent. It Is Mr Lynn’s plan to take the breeding herd to 300 head by 1074, but he believes it may involve increasing the topdressing on the tussock blocks. At present the rate is l|cwt of sulphur-super every third year. When Mr Lynn decided to step up cattle numbers at the expense of sheep, his adviser (Mr E. Etwell) reckoned he could make 20 per cent on borrowed money. A modest loan was obtained to buy in heifer calves, and as cattle prices have continued to firm ever since, stock investment and income have shown a remarkable lift. Since 1967, the investment in cattle per acre has

risen from $7.10 to $24.40 (estimated). Sheep, in line with decreasing numbers, have fallen from $9.60 an acre to $4.20. On the income side, cattle produced less than $2 worth of the $lO an acre obtained in 1967-68, but by this year, 1971-72, will return more than $lO an acre, or more than twothirds of total income. On the cost side of the plan, development in stock, oversowing and topdressing, has risen from $5OOO to $27,000 over five seasons, but more than two-thirds of it has been done out of farm income. Five years ago expenses were running at $7 an acre. The following year they fell to $6, and in three years have edged up to $7.75. It is a constant figure in view of current trends. Gross margins per stock unit were $4.10 for sheep last year and $7.47 for cattle. This year the respective figures are $4.72 and $6.13, and the point was made that with an improved wool market and better lambing percentages, the margin between sheep and cattle returns could be narrowed further. While much emphasis has been placed on elevating the role of cattle, Mr Lynn has made an important change in sheep policy too. Last year Cheviot rams were put out with the Romney ewes, with the intention of developing a Perendale flock. Four years ago, Mr Lynn obtained 50 Perendale ewes to gain some first-hand experience of them. He told visitors he was impressed with their performance, so had decided to change the entire flock into Perendales. One of the underlying factors in the satisfactory change of farming policy is that the move into more cattle was made at a good time. Ever since, cattle prices have continued to increase, which is reflected today in the healthy state of the farm’s finances. In company terms, the asset backing of Mr Lynn’s enterprise is excellent.