New Zealand, The Dairyman Of The Nations

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 65, 9 December 1938, Page 25 (Supplement)

New Zealand, The Dairyman Of The Nations

Farthest Dominion Is Britain’s Main Supplier

REMOTEST Dominion of the British Empire, here at the end of the world, separated from her markets by the whole breadth ot the Seven Seas, little New Zealand has built up the greatest export trade in dairy produce of all the countries of Christendom. She supplies Britain with a quarter of her butter, half her cheese, tor quality and price, her dairy produce tops the open market. In a decane dairying has become her greatest industry. There are 75,000 dairy-farmers in New Zealand, 4,254.000 cows. Every year she sends torth to the breakfast and luncheon tables ot the world 1 13,600,000 worth of butter, £4,376,000 worth o cheese. For every pound of butter or cheese exported half a pound is eaten in New Zealand. Although she is a small country, and stands only twenty-seventh among the cattle countries of the world' in number of herds, she has fifth greatest production of dairy produce by volume, and the greatest in proportion to her area, population and ntimbei of dairy cows. The average yield of a New Zealand cow is 2171 b. of butterfat. It is a wonderful achievement. . Growth of dairying in recent years has been the most marked feature of New Zealand’s economic development. Born and bred a sheep country, the Dominion has only at the close of a century’s existence discovered her real metier, that of dairy factory to the Homeland. The transition from sheep-grazing on a vast scale to small-scale, intensively-farmed dairying establishments has been greatly accelerated by years ot depression, when quicker returns, more ready money, were obtained from this branch of I arming than liom meat or wool businesses. Increased Efficiency Moreover, with the subdivision of the country into smaller farms came the need tor more intensive iarmffio- to make such places pay good dividends. Both to satisfy market demands and to increase farmers profits it was quickly realized that to make the most ot an’acre of ground its carrying capacity must be exploited to the utmost. Scientific research _ into pastures and management found that much ot the kiiid was feasible. In a short time the efficiency ol the industry was raised to a pitch unparalleled elsewhere. It has been said that the butterfat given in a year by a single cow averages 2171 b. Tn 1920 it averaged only 1501 b. In 1909 it was 12alb. In 20 years the total Dominion yield of butterfat increased from 136,000 0001 b. to 427,000.0001 b. The carrying capacity ot pasturage was raised from 27 to 40 cattle. per 100 acres. So research helped to increase production and pros-

perity. The cattle country of New Zealand lies mostly in

the North Island. Over half our dairy cattle are in the Auckland and North Auckland area. Taranaki and Wellington share second place. \\ elhngton is the principal beef-fattening area. Canterbury, Otago, Southland. Bay of Plenty, and Hawke s Bay are other notable outposts of the cow country. It is interesting that dairy-farming, perhaps the most scientific branch of stock management, is popularly regarded in New Zealand as the easiest way to wri'rw a living from the land. It is the mam opening for the man of small capital. Io make a sheep or agricultural farm of small acreage pay is difficult and, as a rule, reserves of capital are necessary to tide the settler over his first few seasons. . 1 he average dairyfarm is only a couple of hundred acres in area, and carries only'24 cows. It Uli be seen that_ there is still considerable room for further education of the farmer, and intensification of fanning methods. The principal breed is the Jersey. < )ne-third of the cattle of the Dominion are Jersey purebred or cro-sed strains. Friesian, Milking Shorthorn. Ayrshire, Hereford. Polled Angus, ami.Red Poll are other popular varieties. Afore than three-quarter.-, ot the cattle flocks are crossbred from these seven breeds. Pasture Management Dairy-farming depends wholly on pasture grasses and tor this reason the dairy-farming areas are all river valleys and plains, where the rich soil carries a <>oud growth, and the weather is not. subject to extremes of temperature, droughts and frosts, detrimental to the herbage. Great study has been devoted to orass management in recent years, and valuable progress made. Lord Bledisloe. formerly GovernorGeneral, was a student of this subject, and has made very appropriate remarks concerning it. He pointed out the value of developing rather than a long rank, stemmy growth, a short, leaty pastuie covering of about five inches height. This was of greatest nutritive content. Minerals removed from the soil by grazing went to form the flesh, bones, milk and wool of the ruminant. If they were not replaced, the earth would soon lose its productivity, and whatever grass it carried would be of less body-building merit. For this reason lime and artificial fertilizers must be used to enrich the soil in these deficiencies. Such fertilizers, too, would engender an earlier growth in spring, and carry it on later into autumn.

He pointed out also the value of paddock management. size of fields, importance of intensive grazing of small areas, and of having the grass well trod and harrowed. Study of the sequence of growth ot clover, cocksfoot, and various herbage was also important. Beyond doubt, much has been achieved by research in these directions, but much remains to be done. Ihe education of the farmer is all-important. Again, the questions of farm economy and management are able to make or mar the success of a farm, and if not fu ly understood by the farmer will prevent his making the most of his farmlands.

The. application of science to dairying is ic.-mlting

in a higher standard of efficiency in the. farmers themselves? The dairyman’s calling today is more, skilled and exacting than ever in the past. Fie must be able to test his produce tor quality, his herd for productivity, must have a sound knowledge of grassland, veterinary ability, and a comprehension of economic factors too subtle for the old-time ’‘cow cocky, whose main qualifications were ability to milk and to worn long hours. A Progressive Farmer "Today the successful dairyman is a fine type, industrious and -elf-reliant, intelligent and progressive. With intense competition to maintain the quality and quantity of output at a high level, the dairy industry ba- witnessed. and will continue to do so. a process of the survival of the fittest, where the lazy, inefficient, conservative and stupid farmers must inevitable go to the wail. < )nlv in the past tew years have dairymen tiegun to appreciate rhe absolute necessity of running pigs on a dairy-farm, not only to bring into use the waste products but also to improve the pasture. Only m the pre-ein decade has the ”bobby call" trade, the killing ot five-dav calves for boneless veal, rennet, and eah-km. become a proimib’e sideline. tlroim lierd-te-ting. Introduced only in recent times as a method of improving the .-tram of dairy cattle, is another -cieinific measure that has done much to raise efficiency. Herd-hook societies arc. well established, and farmers are encouraged to use purebred pedigree bulls wherever jiossible. hi 1'136 an important step was made in the marketing of dairy produce, which had far-reaching effects upon farm economy. The control of the marketing ot dairy produce was Vested in the Minister of Marketing, a guaranteed price was offered to farmers tor tneir produce for export, and the State undertook its shipment and sale. The object of this measure was m relieve the farmer from the economic insecurity due ..0 periodic fluctuations in prices overseas. Another factor which has greatly eased the expansion of dairying in New Zealand has been the increased consumption of, and demand tor. butter and cheese m the United Kingdom. This is due to several cau-es. The general prosperity of the past three years is one. Another is that the milk-marketing scheme m operation in Britain has greatly increased the milk consumption, and has led to British farmers turning tneir cattle to that purpose rather than devoting the milk to manufacture of butter and cheese. This has meant thm those commodities have had to be obtained from abroad.

But another influence, and a most reassuring one, has been the universal realization that without plenty of fresh milk, butter, cream and cheese the national physique deteriorated. In New Zealand scnoul children are supplied with the milk so necessary to their development free of cost. That situation lb ? J T advanced one, even in twentieth-century c Dluation But at last these health-giving commodities hat t been made available to the children of Great Britain s atics and towns, and it is never again likely to be -aken away from them.