GRAZING OF SHEEP.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 229, 26 August 1938, Page 5

GRAZING OF SHEEP.

MASSEY COLLEGE TRIAL. Economics of the intensive rotational glazing of sheep are dealt with in the first annual report issued by Professor G. S. Peren, Mr A. W. Hudson, Mr A. C. Marton and Mr C. C. Yates as the outcome of the first year of practical trial of this method by Massey College. They describe the land usecl for the experiment, its development, the management of the grazing, the management of the flock, the results obtained, and the financial side of the operations.

The principles of this system arc:— (1) Subdivision into paddocks of such a size that they-will carry the number of sheep concerned for roughly a day and a night. (2) Shifting the sheep from paddock to paddock in a regular rotation. (3) Dispensing with the use of cattle to keep (.he pastures in order for sheep. “It is claimed,” states the report, “that the system has a very beneficial effect on the pastures; selective graz-' ing is reduced to a minimum, the feed being eaten down evenly as if cut with a lawn mower, and the dung is spread uniformly over thp pasture. Further, the pasture plants are not weakened by continual nibbling and trampling; they are grazed once a week or fortnight and are given the intervening period in which to recover. This treatment, it is stated, produces a very strong, dense sward and, taken in conjunction with the efficient use of every bite of feed, considerably increases the carrying capacity. As the latter increases, so the pastures improve as a result of the heavier dunging until the maximum of which they arc capable is reached. Evidence in support of these claims has been presented by Mr Hudson. “As the system runs counter to several of the accepted canons of sheep grazing, particularly in the matter of the rate of stocking of paddocks when grazed, it has created considerable interest among sheep farmers. The majority, however, are sceptical of its soundness; they feel, quite naturally, that the frequent shifting of the sheep must result in a lot of mismothcring and bruising of the lambs, that the daily changes of pasture must upset the digestive systems of the lambs, that sheep cannot possibly do well when run in such large numbers per acre' and that the net result must be a serious decrease in the percentage of lambs fattened on their mothers and a bigger percentage of lambs to be fattened on either grass or crops, pr to lie sold as stores. As the books of the few farmers practising this system are private and there was there!ore no means of comparing their financial rercturns per acre with those obtained from other methods of management, the college decided to set aside a portion of its property to be run for a number of years as a small sheep farm under the intensive system and to publish eacl\ year a set of accounts covering the previous season together with a detailed report on the managerial problems involved. It was considered that unless the trials were carried out on a reasonably large scale, some of the managerial difficulties might he underestimated ond farmers would have good reason to doubt the application of the results to farming practice. It will he understood that the college is not recommending this system of management—it is not yet in a position to express an opinion on the subject. It is merely carrying out an unbiassed trial.” Much detail is dealt with in the report.