SHEEP FARMING

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 72, 24 February 1932, Page 8

SHEEP FARMING

METHODS IN ENGLAND. The Agricultural correspondent of the London Times writes: Useful work was started when the Bath and West Southern Counties Society undertook to make a survey of sheep farming in the seven southwestern counties. There is a wide field to be covered because the past few year's have brought many changes rn practice and raised fresh problems. The great change in methods of flock management has been in the direction of lowering costs, particularly in regard to feeding. There is to-day a greater dependence on grass land and leys in plaoe of roots and other tillage crops. The season of lambing has also been postponed so that the fullest advantage can be taken of spring and 6arly summer grass. It must, however, be observed that the tendency towards the complete elimination of tillage land appears to have been arrested. The prevalence of sheep sickness is one of the reasons. There is, in the opinion of Mr J. F. H. Thomas, who is carrying out these investigations for the society, ample proof that the declining acreage of arable land and the concentration of sheep on grass land have increased the prevalence of worm troubles in some districts. The problem of maintaining a nice balance between arable, and pasture is not peculiar to sheep farming. VALUABLE DATA. Mr Thomas has collected much valuable information by visits to the flock owners, numbering 120, who are cooperating in this investigation. to every locality he has found evidence of extensive changes relating not only to systems of sheep management but also to the type of sheep kept. Out of the very rapid, and somewhat chaotic, development of grassland sheep farming well-ordered systems and sheep policies are now emerging. Crossbreeding has grown more popular with the introduction of more thrifty or more prolific types of ewe from other districts. In the. south-western counties the Half-Bred, the Cheviot, the Exmoor, and the Kerry Hill are the most widely distributed. Mr Thomas makes special mention of the Ilyeland-Cheviot ewe, which he considers to be highly satisfactory for the dry upland areas of grassland in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, and which when mated to a Down ram breed a good type of lamb. Several different breeds of ram are being used with these grassland ewes. In every district there is some local preference for.,one or other of the crosses. This may be no more than the buyer’s preference for a light or dark faced, lamb, but it means a difference in price of two or three shillings between similar pens of different breeding. BREEDING EWES IMPORTED. One weakness of the sheep industry in this area is the necessity, so it seems, 6f importing breeding ewes from other areas. The Half-Bred, which is a standardised cross between the Border Leicester and the Cheviot, has become a very-popular-type, and prices seem to have been unduly high m Scotland during the past few seasons. This ewe is unquestionably highly prolific, and, mated with a Down ram, produces yery useful lambs, which are economical to feed and which the butcher likes. The Exmoor is a more ■ local breed, but this ewe cannot turn the better-class grazings to such good account as the Half-Bred. There is no best breed for all conditions, even in the seven south-western counties. Provided that management is efficient, there will always be se'veral types of ewe that will give satisfaction. . This investigation confirms the observation made in the Times recently that the practice of breeding from -ewe lambs has greatly increased in the past year or two. It is contended that the cost of maintenance during the first year of life can best be met if young owes are mated to a ram when 14 to 15 months of age. Mr Thomas reports that the majority of breeders, who have carried out this practice, are entirely in favour of it, provided that care is taken to select a small type of ram and that the young ewes are generously fed through the winter to maintain growth and condition. 3>he proportion of ewe lambs that will breed is said to vary from 50 per cent, to 90 per cent. It is also held that breeding at an early age develops the ewe’s maternal capacities. LIGHT AND HEAVY STOCKING. On grass, or mainly grass, farms there are two systems of shoep grazing , which can be followed. Very light stocking of the whole area can be planned, or, alternatively, heavy stocking of smaller areas, which means a definite programme of rotational grazing to ensure that all fields are properly rested in turn. From the information he has gathered, Mr Thomas gives the opinion that the adoption of either of these extremes of policy is preferable to following an intermediate one. Haphazard grazing may lead to trouble with sheep sickness. It has been suggested that by continuous heavy grazing the land and herbage are deprived of some element essential to the health and the keep. It is far more probable that in the majority of cases sheep which are grazing pasture frequently and closely without change of stocking become infected to an excessive degree with minute strongyle worms and other internal parasites. Sheep always carry some worms. By continued feeding on heavily sheeped land the number of worms in each individual becomes so multiplied that its health is affected. A method of control which is now common practice on grass farms is to dose the ewes and lambs periodically. Lameness, due to foot-rot, has been one of the most serious problems this year. The continued wet state of the herbage has made it difficult to clear up the infection.' It is believed that ordinary foot-rot is infectious, since some farms are entirely free from the disease, except for an occasional outbreak which can be traced to infection which has been introduced. It is also known that the disease is of a more virulent nature when it has been allowed to persist without systematic control. Other points of practical interest will no doubt arise as these investigations are pursued. It will be to the advantage of all concerned to pool their experiences, especially because grassland flocks are a comparatively unknown line in the districts which are traditionally arable. Already it is evident that management counts for more than breed and that some flock owners are far more successful than others in comparable conditions.