Banks Peninsula in 1980s

Press, 9 May 1980, Page 10

Banks Peninsula in 1980s

. The character of farming on Banks Peninsula would change dramatically during the 1980 s, Mr G. F Tate, senior lecturer in rural extension at Lincoln College, said recently. ~ Speaking at the annual field-day organised by Banks Peninsula Federated Fanners and Young Farmers’ Club, Mr Tate said that a large number of people would be seeking to farm intensively on small blocks on the Peninsula and Christchurch people would use the Peninsula as a recreational area.

Banks Peninsula was a very traditional place, he said. About 80 per cent of the farming families had long links with the area, and for about half of these the links went back up to 100 years. The traditions also extended to farming practices. Methods had not changed much during the last 40 years and between 1938 and 1978 the number of ewes on the Peninsula had increased by only 20,000 — about 10 per cent

As a group Banks Peninsula fanners were generally slower to take up management changes. Because of reading and communication problems, it was difficult for the Peninsula farmer to go out

and watch farmers elsewhere, Mr Tate said.

But there was a strong element of community cohesion on die Peninsula which was rarely found elsewhere. Banks Peninsula residents were very community minded. The formation of Banks Peninsula Meats, a cooperative owned mainly by the farming community, the establishment of a farmer-owned sawmill at Le Bons Bay, and the large response to a recently published survey on the Peninsula, were indications of this, he said.

Limited community services on the Peninsula created hardships for residents. An increase in population would serve to reduce these problems. Mr Tate said the population was going to increase. The number of people wanting to develop horticultural blocks, deer farms, and sheep milking units, among other enterprises, was increasing. Some would choose to adopt a "self-sufficiency” lifestyle and augment their incomes with craftwork. All these people had a lot to offer the community and this would help to bring about improved facilities for all of Banks Peninsula.

Six local farmers spoke

about their efforts to diversify and intensify. Mr G. J. Foley said he could not see the historical farming methods changing radically. A key to farming at the moment was high land prices. This forced farmers to devise methods of improving production to cover costs.

Mr Foley said he was considering the idea of dry sheep farming. Instead of carrying breeding ewes a farmer could carry large numbers of young wethers — probably twice as many wethers as ewes — for wool production. Meat prices fluctuated but wool prices were reasonably certain, he said.

Mr Foley said he had yet to investigate the possibility fully but it certainly had its good points. Mr D. R. Marshall said he and his son had established a sheep-milking unit on their Little Akaloa farm.

Because sheep-milking was new it was difficult to look at its future. The Barrys Bay Dairy Co, Ltd, made fetta cheese from sheep’s milk produced on five farms, which carried between 50 and 500 milking ewes. Suppliers had received returns of up to $5O per ewe and the future looked good, Mr Marshall said. He expected several young farmers would milk sheep as a way of starting in farming. Mr M. Shadbolt and his father established a deer farm on their French Farm property. Mr Shadbolt said although the future for antler velvet, which had been a great revenue earner for deer farmers, was a little uncertain, deer farmers would do well from venison export and selling breeding stock. ‘ He said there was a very large demand in Europe for New Zealand venison, which is considered the best in the world.

Mr D. F. Armstrong has found a place for feral goats on his farm. He told those at the field-day that

Banks Peninsula farms often contained rough areas of land, mainly covered in bracken, manuka, and gorse, which were unproductive with sheep and cattle farming. Goats could be used as fleece, milk, or meat producers on the Peninsula, Mr Armstrong said. He said his only problem with goats had been fencing. Otherwise the management was similar .to sheep.

Apart from being cheaper than chemicals to clear scrub and weeds, goats were valuable stock, Mr Armstrong said. Mr I. Jenkins, a dairy farmer from Port Levy, said the dairy industry in New Zealand was in a very sound state. Dairying on the Peninsula had waned in recent times, but was again being regarded as a profitable and satisfactory form of farming and, if necessary, a stepping stone to other types of farming. The useful part treefarming could play on a farm was described by Mr M. D. M. Sellar.

Mr Sellar, who manages a large block near Little River, srid tree planting on farms was being encouraged by Government departments and catchment boards.

A block of trees could provide a farmer with an income and work well to stabilise the land.