Seeds of confidence

Press, 23 January 1984, Page 16

Seeds of confidence

Canterbury is heading for a bumper grain harvest, blemished, but not seriously, by the recent spell of cold, rainy weather. For some farmers, the bad weather was a disaster. While town people brought out their raincoats and umbrellas earlier this month, and people on holiday cursed the rain, they might have drawn some consolation from the thought that at least many farmers would be happy. Nevertheless, the devastation caused by the hailstorm in the Darfield district on January 13 was another strong reminder that the fortunes of all types of farming depend heavily on the weather.

The week of heavy rain that came after the hailstorm did much good elsewhere; had it come a month later, it would have severely disrupted harvesting, would have lowered yields of grain, and would have taken the gloss off what has been an excellent season for all farming. Many Canterbury farmers who have areas of flat land capable of being cultivated have planted more than the usual area in grains. They have grown barley, in particular, for stock food as an insurance against the droughts that are still a painful memory of recent years. Their motive has also been to improve their cash flow and to appease their bankers.

Prospects for healthy export barley prices are good and the domestic price for wheat will soon be raised by $23 to $227 a tonne. In North Canterbury alone, more than twice the usual amount of barley, was sold to farmers for seed last spring. Wheat acreage is also higher. So far, rain has fallen at very nearly all the right times to produce the best growth of crops. Sheep farmers also have benefited because the grass has grown steadily and they have been able to conserve much more hay and silage

than they could produce in any of the last three years. The latest soaking probably gave a further boost to late-sown barley in particular. Such rain in the middle of the harvesting period, instead of at the beginning, would have made the gathering of grain very difficult, raised the risk of fungal diseases, and grain would have had to be dried before storage. Few Canterbury grain farmers have grain driers because the weather is almost always hot and dry at harvest time. Last year, Southland farmers, who regularly have to dry their grain, were in some instances forced to wait until May or June for the crops to ripen and the weather to clear sufficiently for them to be able to harvest. In most years, Canterbury farmers get the favourable weather that justifies their confidence in cropping. Recent studies by Lincoln College and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries have identified still greater potential for the profitable use of Canterbury land for arable cropping. The studies show that workable land, capable of reasonable yields, is more profitable to the farmer, and to the country, under crops than it is under hoofs. Canterbury’s usual seasonal advantage over the rest of the country in arable farming may steer Canterbury farming more in the direction of crops, especially when the meat market is so uncertain. The widespread provision of irrigation on the plains would remove some of the uncertainties that come with droughts, for arable and sheep farmers alike. Too much water, rather than too little, has very nearly been the problem this summer. If all goes well with the rest of the season, full grain silos will do a great deal to restore confidence throughout the province.