Farmers Conference revamped —irrigation focus this year

Press, 18 March 1983, Page 21

Farmers Conference revamped —irrigation focus this year

This year's Lincoln College Earners' Conference will concentrate on the future of irrigation for central and eastern areas of the South Island. A committee of more than 20 farmers and Lincoln College staff members has made three major changes to the format of the Farmers' Conference after some falling off in attendance figures for last year's conference.

The committee said that it had taken notice of suggestions from a large number of farmers and advisers in making changes to the conference format.

These changes are; making the conference more regional, taking it to other centres in the South Island if appropriate and untying it from the May vacation time-slot.

As a result of the changes this year the conference will consider irrigation in detail, which will be of interest to farmers from Central Otago to Marlborough, and it’ will be associated with the South Island Young Farmers Machinery Field-Days, at Lincoln during the same week in April.

The Farmers’ Conference will be held on Tuesday, April 12 and Wednesday, April 13. The Y.F.C. fielddays will be from Wednesday. April 13 until Friday, April 15.

Its brochure for the conference. the organising committee said the programme was specifically designed for farmers on land potentially capable of increased production through irrigation.

The programme will pick up and expand on issues discussed at the Irrigation Conference at Rangiora in April, 1982.

The first session will contain an introduction by Professor Sir James Stewart, principal of the college, and an analysis of alternative stock policies and their risk under irrigation by Dr A. M. Nicol, Department of Animal Science, and Dr T. D. Heiler, N.Z. Agricultural Engineering Institute.

Drs Nicol and Heiler have analysed various farming systems in terms of the climate in past years to see where those systems have broken down and what difference either strategic or widespread irrigation would have made.

The next session will look at the pasture growth and management issues raised by irrigation and speakers will be Mr T. P. Hughes, Department of Animal

Science, Mr R. Cranshaw, agricultural attache. Office of the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom. Mr D. C. Jarman, a farmer from Darfield, North Canterbury. and Mr L. McKnight. a veterinarian from Waimate.

Mr Cranshaw. from the U.K. High Commission, will speak on silage quality and animal response. He is a scientist and has had experience with extensive silage feeding in Wales.

After lunch on the Tuesday Mr John Greer, a M.A.F. advisory officer at Lincoln, will report on a series of discussions among M.A.F. officers on the ministry’s approach to irrigation development and give an assessment of which areas of Canterbury are best suited to irrigation cropping.

Two farmers will then speak: Mr K. Shipley, of Greendale, on the present scene for irrigation cropping and Mr D. K. Redmond, of Kirwee, on the transition from dry-land livestock farming to irrigated cropping and livestock production. Mr Shipley was the first in his district to drill for water, much against the

advice of all experts, and has been irrigating his farm, and one next door which he bought, for a number of years.

Mr Redmond has rapidly expanded his irrigated area because he considered he had reached the limits of expansion of dry-land livestock raising. He irrigated 40 to 50 ha last season and plans to irrigate 140 ha next season.

Dr M. Dunbier, director of the Crop Research Division of the D.5.1.R., will speak on the suitability of Canterbury for specialist cereal and small seed production.

He will be followed by Mr J. R. Yates, executive director of Yates Corporation, who will look at small seed production and Mr J. W. South, animal feeds manager, Timaru Milling Co., who will talk on cereals.

Mr G. B. Robertson, chairman of the Herbage Seed subsection of Federated Farmers, will also speak on how the herbage seed levy will be used. First up bn the Wednesday programme will be Professor Richard Rowe, Professor of Horticulture, and Mr A. G. Malcolm, fruitgrower and Canterbury

director. Fruitgrowers Federation. who will speak on the potential for pip and stone fruits in Canterbury. Otago and Marlborough. They will also examine leasehold land as an alternative to freehold for quick-growing fruit varieties. They see this arrangement as suiting the changing nature of the horticultural industry compared with pastoral industries. Mr G. F. Thiele, Department of Horticulture, will then detail the costs involved in setting up the Lincoln College horticultural unit.

During the last session before lunch on Wednesday the four finalists in the Lincoln College Foundation Annual Farmer Award will each present a 20-minute talk on their farms and their output. The four finalists will have been chosen from the 24 applications to the award contest. The conditions of the contest this year were that applicants had to be involved in irrigation and that following a detailed application by the farmer, each property was visited by a panel of judges. The panel consisted of a nominee from the founda-

tion trustees, someone from the M.A.F. and the local provincial president of 'Federated Farmers. Applications have been received from farmers from Oamaru to Nelson and with enterprises from pastoral to horticultural.

The winner will be announced after the finalists have spoken. The focus of attention moves after lunch on Wednesday to the biannual South Island Young Farmers Machinery FieldDays being held on a site on the college cropping farm. The event will be officially opened by the immediate past president of Federated Farmers and chairman of the Rural Bank, Sir Allan Wright.

There will be demonstrations of cultivators, ploughs, harrows, discs, rollers, mowers, fertiliser spreaders, sprayers, drills, harvesters, bale handlers and many other types of farm equipment. There will also be many commercial displays.

Two events have also been scheduled for South Island farm fencers: an electric fence building competition and a standard competition.

The winner of each event will receive an all-expenses paid trip for two to the National Agricultural Fieldays, at Mystery Creek, Hamilton, in June. The busy week for Lincoln College will conclude with the annual college open days on Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16. The open days are a chance for families of students and intending students and any interested people to view the work of the college departments and farms. The extension officer at the college, Mr Don Crabb, said the intention of the Open Day was to show how the college’s resources were being applied. “Many people living in Christchurch have only a vague notion of what the college does,” he said.

“Most visitors are impressed by the variety and scale of the work being done at the college.” Lincoln College has about 1730 students, among them overseas students from 31 countries and 20 degree and diploma courses are offered.