FARMING PROSPECTS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 806, 8 September 1923, Page 4

FARMING PROSPECTS.

LAMBING .WELL

A PROMISING OUT LOOK,

Various questions, tf/fclWWi* 'W farmer*) especially those wkoife enterprise is centred ,ih ''&e^'aftd Wool, were discussed by -a -local «took agent in the course of ah interview with f "Standard" wporter.. y ': ' ''Lambing is very. go?d «gh f through the district," fcVHmaVked "and although it has been cold o; late, the weather has beon vely fav. Ourable for laffibing, owing to the dry conditions. Farmers af6 hopfejful w the prices fof fat lambs, and it is anticipated that values generally will be as good as those ruling last year. ThU assumption is based on present indications. Fat sheep for local require* ments are fetching good prices. The hard conditions during the latter part of the winter and the early spfing were very bad for dairy stock. The paddocks were bare, and it will take some time before farmers obtain a full supply of fodder. Cultivation of the land has been at a standstill, but owing to the good weather we have had lately matters have looked up in that respect." • THE LAND MAR&ET.

Touching oh the land market our informant Said: "Generally speaking, the land business has beeh very brisk, but latterly it has died down, although big business has been done since tit beginning of the year. This Was only to be expected as the dairying season was so well advanced, and people who want to make a start had hctte* get in early or they Will be too late foi this season. There are any number of people looking for dairy farms who possess a little capital, with which to buy or lease suitable properties, but the good land is firmly held and big prices are being asked for best class cbuiitry. "Dairy stock is fetching very low prices and it is many years since quotations were so low. This position is due to the cold weather we have been experiencing and to the increase in the number bf stock available. Farmers are saving their good heifers and graziers have not been able to make ally profit out of beef cattle in consequence of which they are turning their attention to dairy heifers. One reason "why prices or dairy stock are so low is that people who went into dairying because they. looked, upon it as the only means of making a living are now reverting to sheep farming again. QChis applies principally to people on land which is shitable for sheep farming and hot for dairying. There are really three causes for the position which I have outlined and they are the hard winter, the increasing number of heifers and the number who have gone out of dairying for the reasons given. "In the beef market cattle have been selling at ridiculously low rates and consequently, here again, people have gone out Of the business. The result of the latter, coupled with the hard winter and the export ol cattle to Australia, has been to firm up the price bf stock bullocks, and tins will have an influence on the price of ordinary statioh cattle." THE BEEF MARKET. Asked about the prospects of developing the beef market at Home, he said: "So far as we can say there is, I think, no prospects of a solid market in the Old Country. The .'people of the Argentine can send Home chilled beef in a shorter time and at a less "cost than we can send' the frozen article, and we ihhst lodk forward to the future by developing our output of mutton and wood, butter and cheese. We have not much hope of developing a big export trade in beef. "I believe that the prospects are going to be realised as regards fat lambs and fat wethers, while tjrool is maintaining its price, whidh is still somewhat, low for our crossbred material, but with the decreasing number of sheep throughout the world New Zealand can look forward with hope in connection with the sheiep industry." Asked whether he suggested a greater develdpmoht of the sheep industry to the possible detriment of dairying pursuits, our informant replied: "No, because the sheep industry has been brought up to a very high level in this country. What I Would advocate, however, is that a man with a large farm should subdivide it and sell a portion of it to people who could afford to buy it for dairying purposes, If a man has a large holding and utilises the money realised oh the sale o( a portion to bringing the balance oi his property into the fullest produce tion by the planting of trees and systematical cultivation it would be of great benefit to the country. Reverting to the shee/p question, he said* "There is keen competition between lamb producers, and the standard of the breeds has been steadily improved. This applies specially to the •Bomney Marsh, which are really the backbone cf the sheep industry, especially in the North Island. Sheep farmers are quite prepared to pay big prices for their fatiiS if they can» obtaifa sheep, that Will' shit their requirements and improve the standards of their flocks."