COMPETITION MAY BE KEENER IN FUTURE CROPPING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22823, 18 December 1948, Page 8

COMPETITION MAY BE KEENER IN FUTURE CROPPING

The growing of field peas has become an industry involving a steady 1000 acres in the Gisborne district and as a short-term crop with a quick return for the grower it has strengthened its hold on the farmers of the Bay in the course of the past year or two.

Apart altogether from the quick return on the outlay, the nitrogen-fixing qualities of the crop and the fact that the farmer can get out of peas into grass without any delay, all desirable features weighing in favour of the crop, it is doubtless a fact that the high monetary reward per acre has influenced growers to enter into contracts. It has been considered a crop worth the risk, with unfavourable weather providing the hazards, With peas one of the crops to be affected bv the alteration in the exchange rate, as the market is an English one, interest is being taken among growers in the Gisborne area in the prospects ahead Meanwhile, there is no suggestion that there will be a decline in acreage, but it is obvious that future plans will depend upon incentive. This season top returns for peas will he about £SO per acre. Maize More Appealing

Maize growers suffered numerous setbacks last season, included among which was the apparent disregard of their claims for crib coverings, but the increase in the subsidy has made (he crop more appealing. The combined effect, with the possible 20 per cent drop in pea rates has been a levelling off in the returns for the two crops. The introduction of high yielding maize hybrids has assisted in that process. While competition may be keener in the next season, there will always be the maize grower. Despite the fact that his money is tied up in the crop for a considerably longer period and the final return may not be so handsome, the grower has come to regard his maize income as sure and satisfactory, cutworm and floods excepted.

It is estimated that maize this season will net from £3O to £35 per acre in 100-bushel-yielding hybrid crops on land well equipped for maize, with those returns scaled down where additional work and costs may be necessary. Sight should not be lost of the fact, however, that the district average yield per acre over a period of years remains at from 70 to 80 bushels netting somewhere in the vicinity of £lO to £23 under contract conditions. Growers of the 1000-odd acres of barley on the fiats will know more concerning the value of their crops at the close of the season.