BEAST TO THE ACRE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume VLI, Issue 3385, 23 September 1935, Page 6

BEAST TO THE ACRE

LICHFIELD FARM CAPACITY MANAGING SMALL PROPERTY An achievement of no mean order and an example of the results from efficient pasture management in the Putaruru district has been gained on a property on the Lichfield road, three miles from Putaruru, farmed by Mr. L. S. Small. On 26 acres Mr. Small has raised his carrying capacity in five years from 13 cows to 21 cows, four springing heifers, a bull and two horses, or an average of more than a beast to the acre. Last season the 21 cows, of which four were heifers, averaged 292.711 b of butterfat in 270 days. Subdivision and Fertilisers The farm’s capacity can be attributed to two main factors: pasture development and subdivision. The 26 acres have been subdivided into 10 paddocks, all down in permanent pasture and dressed three times annually with an aggregate of six or seven tons of manure. Mr. Small applies the fertiliser when he considers by observation the time to be most opportune, with the result that even in midwinter a green tinge may be seen on his property. There are no root crops on the farm, and the stock is wintered on hay alone. When it is considered that one-third of the 26 acres is closed to hay, which provides more than sufficient winter feed, and that in the season the stock cannot hold the pastures left open, the operations became a minor revelation in management. Any views that the methods are pure overstocking are defeated by the appearance of the stock after the last winter. No time would be better than then to bear out such an argument, but Mr. Small’s herd compares very favourably with any in the district.

The property is so situated that the stock has good shelter by hills from the prevailing winds, and with water laid on in eight paddocks the animals have no distance to travel to drink. Mr. Small considers this to be a big factor, and it is his intention to lay down the last two paddocks with water in the coming summer. High Butterfat Per Acre

Nothing can show the benefits of the farming methods adopted than definite results of herd-testing. Last year the herd was tested for the first time, and although only nine months were taken instead of the regular ten, Mr. Small’s Jersey-cross herd topped those of 50 cows and under in the Putaruru area, with an average of 292.711 b of butterfat in 270 days. A June test would have brought the total to well over the 3001 b mark, and there is little doubt that Mr. Small’s returns would lead the district on a basis of butterfat per acre.

Few are more appreciative of the efforts made than officers of the Department of Agriculture, who wax lyrical when referring to the farm. When the foremost expert on pastures, Mr. E. Bruce Levy, of the department, was recently in the district, two Rotorua officers inspected the sward with him.