THE FARM

Northern Advocate, 10 November 1934, Page 14

THE FARM

Big Reform Neglected. ■; It is possible to produce butter-fat more cheaply in New Zealand than in arfy other country. But New Zealand dairy farmers are certainly not taking advantage of this fact. They have bebn led to believe that the only way bfl counteracting lower prices is by derating, cheaper money, better marketing and similar economies. This is only subjects their lead-, ie^'.dah?discuss with them are political, mStketing and factory problems. The greatest Subject of all, reduced cost of production,-by reason of better farmin|jyis*.c[uite ignored, for the leaders o£;the farmers are almost invariably jy^as'.'poorly, informed in regard to tKis greatest subject as is the farmer himself.- Of course derating, cheaper money and improved marketing are all* desirable, are reforms that should be; strenuously fought for. But while they-are necessary it is rather disappointing .to .find that they are practically the only things being discussed in criticism of the report of the Dairy Commission. We find men expressing public' satisfaction' with the factory system of instruction, and at the same time the same men are attempting to make‘ a high-class exportable articlefrom cream that has been conveyed by road one hundred miles or more, the cream passing well-equipped factories on the way. The Disease Question. r fbe most serious leakage in the dairying business of this country is the loss from disease. The loss must , amount to over a million pounds a year. Yet the proposal of the commission to deal with this serious menace is said to be unnecessary—that it would cost too much money. How piuch ,money is doing nothing in this matter costing the country now? As „to of 'tuberculosis, this would be the finest thing ever done for the industry apart altogether from the magnificent advertisement it would provide for New Zealand dairy produce* on overseas markets. And in view Of the rapid development of the pig industry, elimination of tuberculosis' is imperative. ■How to Fight Disease. Of course the best means of dealing ’ with such common , diseases as mam--mitis and abortion would be encour'•agement of better farming methods. With better farming, of which better feeding is an essential part, these "troubles would be automatically controlled. Indigestion, lack of mineral "matter, the use of a poor constitutioned -animal. 6r of animals having hereditary susceptibility, are responsible for over 90 per cent of the cases of disease on dairy farms. Thus it all comes back to improved methods of dairy the major subject in considering necessary reform of the industry. Wanted—More Intensive Farming. In view of the fact of improved methods of farming being the most important of all subjects to the dairy industry, it is rather disappointing that the Dairy Commission made no reference to the necessity of providing financial facilities for dairy farmers desiring to subdivide their properties, to cut 200 acres down to 100 or 50 acres, according to the nature of the country, in order that present owners could concentrate on the area of land that they could manage’ effectively. Better cows and better pastures are the need of the industry, and this necessarily means concentrated farms instead of the range system which is now commonly in vogue, for many 200 acre farms are now conducted practically on the range system. And with this weak method of dairy farming there is, of course, no proper opportunity to attend to sidelines, especially modern pig-keeping. Test Lessons Must be Applied. The basis of all good and profitable dairy farming is group herd-testing, for it is not till a man has his herd consistently tested from year to year and applies the lessons arising out of this vital work that he becomes a keen farmer and feeds and manages his herd as it. should be fed and managed. While much has been said and written of the great value of herd-testing, especialy as a means of introducing business methods to dairy farming, and thereby making the business more profitable, it is only when the experience of herd-testing farmers who have properly applied the lessons of herdtesting is related that the enormous possibilities in herd-testing are realised. Very many herd-testing farmers, it is to be regretted, do not benefit to anything like the extent they should from herd-testing work. They may cull out the cows that are shown to be really unprofitable, but there their interest in improved work ends. Others, again, take the keenest interest in the figures and they benefit accordingly. In the progressive homes the herdtesting sheets are handled so often, by. being studied by parents and children alike, that the figures become difficult to read. In other farm homes the sheets are seldom looked at. Apd

the progress of the of the different types of farmers may be gauged accordingly. Testing Educative Work. Of course, testing work, especially the very complete scheme New Zealand farmers now enjoy, is mainly'educative. In any walk of life there are men who will continually let opportunities pass them by, whereas there are others who will grasp every opportunity that comes their way. And it is usually the case that it is the man who is up against it who is looking for the opportunities. The man who has fewer obligations and can safely mark time when things go wrong will allow opportunity to pass him by. To the man who will take advantage of every opportunity to improve his dairy farm, practice herd-testing is a veritable gold-mine as many a farmer has already proved. What an Eye-opener! Here is an instance of what herdtesting has meant to the farmer who promptly applied the lessons staring at him from the test sheets. In the season 1932-33 this farmer joined up with his group association. It had taken a long time for a neighbour to bring him into the movement. At the time of joining up he was very satisfied with his herd of 34 cows. According to the factory figures they averaged 194 lbs. * After ,he received his second test sheet, in September, he met the neighbour who had prevailed upon him to test. “What was your average?” the neighbour asked, “Oh. 35 lbs,” he replied, quite satisfied with the result, for, like a good many others, he h*ad a rather vague idea what a cow should produce. “And what was your average?” he asked the neighbour. “Oh, we did 51 lbs. and the home herd averaged 59 lbs,” replied the neighbour. Then our friend began to realise where he was. As he put it, he seemed to lose all interest in dairying for; the rest of the season, but he decided that things were going to happen. At the end of the season he culled out 26 of the 34 cows, fattening them in back country, and bought 18 springing heifers from tested cows and five mature pedigree cows. In the past season he milked the 18 heifers, the five new cows and the eight that were left from his old herd, and his average was 300 lbs., or an increase of 112 lbs. a head, and 18 of them were first calvers. This man now declares that he cannot understand how anybody can go on milking without testing. The big lesson is here, indicating as it does, the remarkable possibilities to many who will relentlessly apply the lessons of the test sheets. And as the years go on there are lessons to be learnt all the time in regard to the capacity of individual cows to produce, reproduce, and resist disease, as indicative of cows that are to provide the animals that are to maintain the herd in the future. How Some Meet the Crisis. The present crisis calls for a greater measure of individual effort. Many farmers, benefiting from the lessons of herd-testing, have drastically reduced their large herds and now are deriving greater profit from smaller herds, comprising only good producing animals. Some of these farmers with fewer but better cows have retained an assistant they could ordinarily have done without, but they have gone back to hand-milking, which they have found means as rapid milking as before, everything considered, and the labour available has enabled them to give more attention to pasture management and to the pigs. What these farmers have done every dairy farmer in New Zealand can do. Just as the smaller herd of good producing cows is proving more profitable to the individual so a smaller national herd of really profitable cows would prove more profitable to the Dominion. Let farmers make greater use of the much vaunted spirit of co-operation and co-operate, by the elimination of all low producing cows, for this ideal —a more profitable national herd. Political measures will be of little avail to those farmers who refuse to help themselves. The- easygoing farmer is proving a drag on his progressive neighbour and is retarding national prosperity. Today the cry is for better quality, and the truest and best co-operation will be indicated by individual effort, that is, by better herd and grassland management, a greater degree of cleanliness in the milking shed and a more honest effort to improve the quality of the raw material produced on the farm. In this way can the quality of the Dominion dairy products alone be improved. England Deals With Cull Bulls. On August the Ist of this year bull licensing came into force in England, any bull which, had attained the age of 10 months by that date having to be licensed. For the first few years a very high standard will not be demanded, the initial object being to eliminate bulls of the scrub class. A license will not be granted in respect

of any bull which appears to be:—(1) Of defective or inferior conformation; (2) permanently afflicted with any contagious disease; (3) permanently affected with any other disease rendering the bull unsuitable for breeding purposes. The slaughter or castration of any bull for which a license is refused will be required, and heavy penalties are provided for breaches of the Act. Ear tattoo marks will be used for identification purposes.