Planning next season’s crop programme

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33774, 21 February 1975, Page 9

Planning next season’s crop programme

With the harvest completed in many areas now, it is time for farmers to exchange the seat on the header for the one in their office and do .some very serious planning for the next season’s cropping programme.

With the increase in fertility on cropping farms over the years, the learning of new techniques and the constant fluctuations between years and within years of the costs and returns associated with different crops, we have seen the disappearance of a crop

rotation as such. We like: to think now that we can' grow the most profitable crops in the most suitable; paddocks, bearing in mind all the restrictions involved.

This is good, so long as the cropping programme is i still planned, and does not just happen.

With every cropping programme plan, a forecast budget should also be completed, so a farmer has a reasonable idea of just where he is heading, the best actions carried out are always those that are planned for, and this is especially relevant in the financial field. This budget should then be updated periodically as more of the actual costs and returns come to hand.

A cropping plan will I entail the ranking of crop: gross margins based on I expected prices and the ■ costs involved and the; farmer’s own known aver-1 age yields for the crops. I These same crops may be! ranked several times accord- j ing to the risk and un-: certainty associated with: their yields and prices, the | cost structure involved, the ■ fertility build-up or other- < wise, and the amount ofj grazing associated with each | crop.

From these listings, a

final ranking of the crops may be arrived at to suit -tny individual farm and farmer. The next, decision must involve a planned timing ol operations. In other words, a decision as to how many acres of each of the crops can be handled adequately

with respect to cultivation, harvesting, irrigation and cash outlay requirements. Finally, the acreages of the crops selected must be allocated to the most suitable paddocks. This will involve consideration of making the best use of any fertility build-up within the rotation, the position of lime applications within the rotation, weed, pest and disease control, and practices aimed at decreasing cultivation time and increasing production efficiency. In the present financial situation, planning is more important than ever as an essential ingredient of success, and must be carried out now.

The accompanying item has been written by M- J, Batey, a farm advisory o(p--cer with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dar field.