FARM SUBDIVISION

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 10, 22 December 1933, Page 11

FARM SUBDIVISION

MEANS EFFICIENT GRAZING COSTS REQUIRE CONSIDERATION. IMPORTANT ASPECTS DISCUSSED. Since th# pastures provide the bulk of the feed for our dairy herds it may bo realised how closely efficient utilisation is bound up with economic production. One of the major items in the cost of production of butter fat is the interest on the capital value of the land, and if, by increasing the carrying capacity of the pasture, we can increase the number of animals carried, or their production, we will have achieved something towards reducing production costs. Of course, the proviso must be added that the cost involved in bringing about this increase in carrying capacity must not be greater than the value derived from the improvement. For instance, adequate subdivision is one of the essentials of efficient management of grass lands, but it is doubtful whether on many farms the cost involved in adequately subdividing the paddocks would not be out of proportion to the probable return. In other cases additions or alterations to fencing already erected might profitably bo undertaken. It should be remembered, however, that adequate subdivision does not necessarily ensure efficient utilisation of the pasture —it is only one of the essential requirements. On many dairy farms efficient pasture utilisation cannot be expected without a very substantial increase in the quantity of fencing. In those cases the question of tho amount of capita] involved in making the alterations requires very careful consideration, and those dairy farmers so placed would be well advised to act warily, particularly while butter fat is returning such a low price. MINOR ALTERATIONS. On the other hand, there are numerous farms on which quite substantial improvement in pasture utilisation could be brought about without any considerable expenditure on fencing. In these cases minor alterations and additions to the existing fencing would enable the modern system of pasture management to bo put into practice. There arc, too, other cases in which a marked improvement in the efficient use of tho pasture could be achieved with tho fencing already erected—the only changes being in the grazing methods adopted. While subdivision of the farm is im* portant in the practice of controlled grazing, it is not always of sueh vital importance as is sometimes thought. On the contrary, tho greatest need in many eases is not for heavy expenditure on the part of the farmer, but rather that he should have a thorough understanding of the principles and practices involved in effective utilisation of pasture growth. As a matter of fact, until those principles and practices are understood, a heavy expenditure on extra subdivisional fencing will be not only ineffective, but also actually harmful, for the reason that extensive grazing, i.c., tho method usually adopted on relatively largo paddocks is preferable to a badly managed attempt to graze small paddocks on the intensive, or rotational, system.

This is because a series of small paddocks which are intermittently spelled and grazed in an inefficient manner will become covered fairly rapidly during spring and summer with long mature grass, and no portion of the land being grazed will be producing the desirable short, fresh growth. On the other hand, in “extensive” grazing on larger paddocks the stock, while allowing certain portions of tho pasture to become long and woody, and producing flowering stalks, will graze other portions short, so that at least parts of the field will be producing the desirable fresh, leafy, well-bal-anced growth. The patches of short growth will supply feed to meet the milk requirements of the cow much better than would a series of small paddocks wholly overrun with long mature growth. PERMANENT FENCES. Another aspect of the subdivision of dairy farms that should be borne in mind is that it is not always necessary, or even desirable, to erect permanent standard fences. Actually field tests in New Zealand have shown that fences consisting of three barbed wires and four posts to the chain are reasonably effective. Such fences are likely to prove all that is necessary on most dairy farms, especially in the initial stages, when the suitability of tho position of new fence lines may be more or less under trial. It has been shown that quite effective intensive grazing can be secured without subdividing into an exceptionally large number of really usually small paddocks. Indeed, the experience in the Dominion has shown definitely that it is not always necessary to wait until expensive fencing has been carried out before attempting to obtain better pasture utilisation by

systematic grazing and that frequently it is possible to proceed with the facilities that are on hand. When additional fences are to ba erected, the decision 'as to where they should be placed generally calls for a good deal of thought. The system of subdivision to be adopted will depend on the topography of the farm, and the existing fence lines, but one usually can work to a more or less uniform plan. A common system is that which involves the use of a narrow roadway or race, running from back to front of the farm. In many cases, the narrow race has been replaced by a long, narrow paddock. This change was found desirable because of the mud and slush which usually marked the race and also because of the fact that when largo herds of cattle have to pass along a narrow roadway injury by horning, etc,, may be incurred. Apart from the fact that, with this new arrangement, muddy tracks are practically eliminated, an important consideration is that, with tho same length of internal fencing three paddocks are obtained for every two that >ouM be given by the central-race system of subdivision.