THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21643, 13 May 1932, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

The Strath-Taieri District Farmers ill the Strath-Taieri district are congratulating themselves on one of the best seasons ever experienced there. The past year has, ou the whole, been very favourable, but since the l abundant rains of October there has never at any time been the slightest fear of feed shortage. Crops and stock have done well, and the district enters the winter well provided for. Turnip crops have turned out exceptionally well, and whereas as there is usually no difficulty about disposing of this class of supplementary foddder by sale, there is this year very little inquiry for it, mainly on account of the fact that suitable weather conditions have brought on plenty of feed everywhere. • Fat stock have done unusually well, and drafts from the district have taken the road very much earlier than is generally the case. The nature of the exceptional fattening season that has been experienced is evidenced by some very fine figures in respect of fat lamb raising, whjch may be said to de- j moustrate in striking fashion the suit- i I ability of the Strath Taieri district for this branch of pastoral farming. Mr James M'Hardy, one of the most successful fat lamb growers in the district, has this year sent away 1170 lambs off their mothers from a flock of 1130 ewes. Twelve trucks of this draft were killed at the freezing works and weighed out at an average of 42ilb, while four other trucks averaged 44.431 b. On one 140acre section of his property Mr M'Hardy turned out 230 ewes in August, leaving them to run continuously there until February, when 284 lambs were drafted out, only 15 being returned to the paddock. On another 80-acre block 180 ewes yielded 228 lambs, of which number only 33 were rejected. Locally this is regarded as an excellent performance on- old pastures, ■ which, it is said, have never been topdressed. The question which arises naturally out of this set of facts is what might have been expected from those old pastures if they had been top-dressed. Herd-testing at Middlemarch

Interest in herd-testing has been well maintained throughout the past year in the Middlemarch group’s area, and it is generally expected that the second year's operations, which will commence with the coming spring, will furnish further evidence of the appreciation of Strath-Taieri dairymen of this valuable and instructive practice. The returns received to date will stand comparison with most of the groups in Otago and Southland, not all of which have managed to produce cows ■ capable of returning in excess of 901 b of 'butter-fat per month at the height of the season. Both departmental and daily factory reports indicate that the operations of the I local herd-testing group have greatly bene- ' fited the industry in this district. There has developed during the past nine montns a keen inquiry for purebred sires with butter-fat hacking, and importations from established studs in many parts of the Dominion have been frequent. A recent acquisition is a fine Rosevale Friesian sire, which has been purchased as a. herd sire by Mr,D. W. Garrett, The animal is by Rosevale Sir Echo Sylvia Plus, and I its grandsire is the celebrated imported I,'bull, Echo Sir Griselda,' who claims 21 ! daughters with a butter-fat production of ! over 8901 b. The dam, Rosevale Helena f Keys, produced 4711 b of butter-fat as a. I two-year-old, and in the whole_ four gene- ! rations pedigree of the young sire there is I only one untested dam, the performances in the ease of each of the tested dams ranging from 4711 b to ,8921 b.

In North Otago The season now closing has been peculiarly discouraging and difficult for nearly all classes of farmers in North Otago, where the misfortune of collapsing markets ' was 'aggravated by climatic conditions of rare and damaging drought. The season opened with a promising and hopeful spring. Seed time was good and sowings were heavy. Early growth confirmed the early anticipations of a good year, but almost before the grain had found its way through the earth the drought set in, and continued throughout several .•months, until by the time the autumn came the feed position was desperate and farmers were at their wits’ end not to fatten stock but to keep them alive. Stock was railed out of the "district by the thousands, crops were ’fed off, and still the livestock of the district starved. The cereal crops suffered heavily, and many of them came into ear when no more than seven or eight inches high. Yields were discouragingly low and many stands hardly paid for harvesting. Fortunately one or two districts managed to withstand the unusual conditions, and in certain parts of the province as high as 60 bushel yields were secured, with one or two even higher. The record so far reported, it is understood, approxi- • mates 71 bushels on a very choice piece of land fairly handy to Oamaru. Such exceptions were very few, however, and it has been authoritatively estimated that when the final figures are analysed the average for the season will be over 13 bushels, but considerably less than 20. An oat shortage, with consequent higher prices for, this cereal and for chaff, is indicated by the poor returns received from this crop.

Autumn Rains The weather broke in February, and although losses had been heart-breaking in all branches of farming, the downpours which followed fairly* frequently undoubtedly saved the situation. Nothing Could.be more startling than the complete transformation of the countryside by th° end of February. Crops brightened up magically, pastures burst into new; and vigorous growth, and stock immediately began to pick up. Pastoralists regarded it as a reprieve at the last minute, and dairymen who had watched the milk flow rapidly dwindling to an almost negligible flow took fresh heart. The result is that the back end of the season promises to recuperate farmers to some extent for their losses, but what is of greater moment is the present comparatively satisfactory outlook for the winter. There were few farmers in North Otago at the close of last-summer who saw any reason to hope that conditions would change in time to provide the sufficiency of winter food that is now available. Pastures, catch crops, supplementary fodder crops, and particularly the -potato crops, received great benefit," and have resulted in returns that are very good considering earlier conditions, Live stock values and fat stock rates which fell to hopelessly unremunerative levels have recovered to a very great extent, ; and it ia now confidently expected that the winter will be weathered comparatively well. Dairy Produce I

Commenting on the butter- market, Messrs Weddel and Co,, in their latest report, state: —The past month (April) can only.be described as one of “ disappointments.” Cabled reports all pointed to a strong market, with possibly higher prices. Then came news that Continental Powers were limiting by quota foreign butters coming into their country. This had the effect of again forcing Continental supplies upon the United Kingdom markets, and weak sellers in London, becoming alarmed, pressed sales until the market broke, falling from an average price of 109 s during the first week in April to 97s for the week ended May 0. In view of- the coming spring and the northern hemisphere production it seems hardly possible to expect any material improvement, in the immediate future. On the other ' hand lower prices stimulate consumption, and the market is slightly stronger in consequence. Everything must now depend on the weather in the northern hemisphere producing countries and the resultant shipments to the United Kingdom. It must not, however, be for- ] gotten that May invariably shows the lowest point in values on the London mar- .

By Rusticus

*tema of Interest to those engaged In agricultural and pastoral pursuit* with a view to their publication In these columns, will be They should be addressed to "Kusti cu* 1 ' Otago Daily Time* Dunedin.

ket. generally followed by a steady improvement up to the end of November. A glance at the arrivals in the United Kingdom shows that May-June will about equal last year’s arrivals, but the total gradings in New Zealand are well ahead of the last two seashns. Warm rains during March have brought the feed away, especially in North Auckland, and production which showed a falling-off in Feb : ruary regained the ascendancy. FUTURE OF DAIRY PRICES BAFFLING SITUATION IN EUROPE I * I | BIG SAG IN DANISH MARGIN i i . ■ Tooley Street is still in a state of bewilderment at the extraordinary, fluctuations which have taken place in the dairy products market during the past month. For four weeks there have been the most surprising changes in butter prices,, and so far the only lesson that can be drawn from the interplay of tariffs and supply and demand is that “ you never can tell.” With the advent of the 10 per cent, tariff on imported butter at the beginning of the month it was confidently expected that the demand for Empire outer would be stimulated, but that there woufd be little alteration in prices generally, The prevailing margin between Danish butter and Empire butter. might, it was thought, be accentuated, since, the Danes, as foreigners, would have to carry the 10 per cent. duty. The end of the first four weeks of the tariff saw New Zealand butter at 109 a as against the Danish 118 s, while to-day’s prices respectively were 109 s and 113 s. Actually there has been a clear drop of more than 20s in the margin between the Danish and Empire product which prevailed immediately before the imposition of the tariff. Again, while the price of New Zealand butter has remained practically unchanged, that of Danish and the better-class foreign butters has fallen to the tune of from

20s to 38s. The decline in the price of Danish butter is a little difficult to understand, as reports from all sources indicate- that dairy production is generally decreasing, but the slackening of the Continental demand is probably the immed*-. ate cause.

Those who have the development of Empire trade at heart learn with considerable concern that the shrinkage in production embraces both New Zealand and Australia, and earnest hopes are expressed here that the reduction is due less to economic stress than to weather conditions. x

RUSSIA AND THE PRICE LAND SLIDE.

It is particularly unfortunate that the climax of the Empire’s efforts to increase dairy production and clgim a greater share of the Home market should have clashed with similar efforts by the leading Continental countries, and particularly that Soviet Russia should have doubled its output in a year. This was undoubtedly mainly responsible for the landslide in prices, and with New Zealand butter selling in London for a considerable period _ ,of the year at Is and Is 2d a lb, it. is inevitable that the Dominion farmers should be discouraged from a progressive and persistent policy of fertilisation and herd improvement. It now looks as if the British consumer may soon have to pay very dearly for the short period of absurdly low prices, brought about by unrestricted foreign competition. We may again shortly be experiencing _ another of those periods of violent price fluctuations which are the despair of those who regard some kind of stabilisation as the best protection of consumer and producer alike. A period of famine prices might bring much-needed relief to the Empire farmers at this juncture, but, on the other hand, it would place in the hands of the opponents of tariffs here tbe most effective weapon to use against Empire exemption. A THREE-FOLD IDEAL.

Meanwhile, it is to be hoped that counsels of despair will not .prevail among the Empire producers. Viewing the situation from the point of view of one in England there appear to be three important facets of the problem which will well repay study:—

1. The maintenance of supplies at their present high level. 2. The bringing about of a substanital increase in the total consumption of dairy products in the Home market, which can be done only through the education of the public in the value of these foods; and 3. A steady increase in the Dominion

producers’ share of the Home market. The consummation of this threefold ideal suggests the complete solution of the dairy farmers’ problem, because it implies, a steady demand, at reasonable prices with growing advantage to the Empire producers over the foreign producers. Notwithstanding the enormous increase in Great Britain’s consumption of butter during the past two or three years, there is undoubtedly room for a continued expansion of the demand provided that the economic situation does not grow worse and that prices remain, at a reasonable level whde the public are systematically educated in the dietetic value of dairy products. IMPROVED OUTLOOK FOE THE DOMINIONS, With the encouragement that will undoubtedly be given to Empire foodstuffs by Britain’s new fiscal policy, the outlook for the Dominion producers ig better than it has Peon for some time past. Information has reached the New Zealand Dairy Produce Board authorities in London that the butter marketing! order has how been formally approved by the Privy Council, as dating from .March 17. There now remain the three months’ period of grace, during which those affected by the Order may make their preparations, and on June 17 the marketing of all butter with a mark of origin will be compulsory by law. The main provisions of the Order are that butter, whether in bulk or in packets, must be marked when exposed for sale, either wholesale or retail, with tickets and printing of the statutory dimensions. In the case of blended butter a wide range of choice is offered the packer, as is shown by the following extracts from the Order:

(a) The word "Empire” if cite whole of the butter included in the bknd was produced within the Empire (whether or not some part of it was produced in the United Kingdom), or the word “ foreign ” if the whole of the butter included in the blend was produced in foreign countries; or (b) The expression "Partly Empire and partly foreign ” if part of the butter included in the blend was produced in his Majesty's dominions outside the United Kingdom and part was produced in foreign countries, whether or not the blend contains also butter produced in the United Kingdom; or (c) The expression " Partly foreign " if the blend consists of foreign butter and butter produced in -the United Kingdom; or (d) A definite indication of all the countries of origin of the butters forming the blend; or

(e) The words “Including imported butter.”