Grain a good drought feed

Press, 8 March 1978, Page 3

Grain a good drought feed

From Front Page A meeting was held on the property of Mr L. A. Catherwood at Charing Cross yesterday, when Ministry of Agriculture officers discussed sheep-feeding methods under drought conditions with between 100 and 150 farmers. Mr R. L. Bennetts, a farm advisory officer of the Ministry at Darfield, said he was concerned to see only one or two hands go up when those at the meeting were asked who was now feeding grain to stock. Mr Bennetts then asked that if it were shown that Government aid with the cost of grain was the best way to help lamb production and if grain were available at a reasonable price, would farmers feed it? Many hands were then raised. But background comment came from his audience that the Government should have done this much earlier. It was suggested that the Government might meet a quarter to a half the cost of grain, and that to ensure the benefit of this reached the farmer it would be necessary to put a ceiling on grain prices. But a grain grower said yesterday that it must be the Government and not the growers who met the cost of the subsidy, particularly in a year when yields had been lower. A few years ago a subsidy was paid to Waikato farmers on barley fed to stock while the price paid to Canterbury growers was frozen at an “unrealistically low level.” Some doubts were expressed whether grain was readily available, but the meeting was told that about 270,000 tonnes of barley and other grains were in store. Grain, and particularly barley, featured in the Ministry’s feed recommendations.