Production Trends Revealed

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26659, 3 January 1948, Page 8

Production Trends Revealed

Bv Statistician

The gross farming income for the 1945-46 production year in New Zealand has been calculated by the Government Statistician at £97,200,000, compared with £97,900,000 for the previous year. For agricultural production, the gross income of £14,500,000 was £300,000 below that for the 1944-45 year, which was a record. Pastoral production income of £46,300,000 was £3,200,000 above that for the previous year and was comfortably a record, comparing with £14,600,000 for 1931-32, the worst year of the economic depression. The income from dairying, poultry, bees and other production for 1945-46 was calculated ,to be £36,400,000 or £3,600,000 below that for 1944-45 but well above the £16,500,000 in 1932-33. The volume of agricultural production in 1938-39 being taken to equal a scale 100, that for the 1945-46 season was 142 and 18 points below the record of 160 for the 1944-45 year. On the same scale (1938-39 equalling 100) the volume of pastoral production in 1945-46 was 114, a record, and was 10 points above the figure for the previous season. Dairy production was 92, a decline of 13 points on the previous season, and the lowest figure since the 1931-32 season. The volume of all production was 108, a decline of 3 points on the previous season, and 6 points beiow the record season of 1940-41, when the figure was 114.

A General Increase Since the 1928-29 season the volume of ail farm production has increased by 44 per cent., according to the Government Statistician. In that time dairy and allied production has risen by 28 per cent., agricultural production by 33 per cent., and pastoral production by 63 per cent. Of the 66,390,677 acres comprising the area of New Zealand, the total area occupied had increased from 43,006,009 acres in 1945 to 43,080,008 acres in 1946. The area of cultivated land was approximately 19,732,049 acres in 1944-45 and 19,967,242 acres in 1945-46. Unimproved . land totalled approximately 23,274,050 acres in 1944-45 and 23,112,766 acres in 1945-46.

The area top-dressed was 3,646,391 acres in 1944-45 and 3,653,249 acres in 1945-46.

Areas in Crops The total area in field crops decreased from 1,231,442 acres in 1944-45 to 1,131,442 acres in 1945-46. The acreages of crops for threshing in 1945-46, with those for 1944-45 in parentheses, were:—Wheat 161,049 (183,886); oats 57,278 (77,684); barley 48,646 (37,325); maize 7034 (8473); peas 32,740 (43,970); linseed 10,361 (4326); swedes 1388 (957), soft turnips 87 (205); hard turnips 17 (555); mustard 1665 (1345). For chaff, hay or ensilage, fed off or cut for green fodder, the acreages were:—Wheat 3237 (4885); oats 124,845 (150,786); barley 6071 (5875); maize 8248 (6357). Other crops were:—Potatoes, 23,228 acres (29,774 acres in 1944-45); rape, 155,225 (157,832); swedes, 172,864 (170,303); soft turnips, 117,298 (117,067); hard turnips, 54,824 (66,911); turnips and rape mixed, 35,707 (39,074). The acreages of grasses and clovers cut for seed in 1945-46 (and 1944-45) were: Perennial ryegras, 58,345 (47,287); Italian and Western Wolths. 21,013 (17,547); cocksfoot, 18,941 (15,475); Chewing’s fescue, 17,161 (15,181); crested dogstail, 9609 (10,512); red clover, including cowgrass, 34,567 (32,680); white clover, 43,451 (23,596); browntop, 17,842 (15,308); other grasses and clovers. 3709 (2956). District Percentages Percentages of crops grown in each land district in 1945-46, with the percentage for 1944-45 in parentheses, were:—Wheat for threshing: Canterbury, 68.72 (78.02); Otago, 13.89 (12.51); Southland, 6.66 (2.86). Oats for threshing: Canterbury; 52.64 (52.93); Southland, 27.10 (26.62); Otago, 16.27 (16.26). Barley for threshing: Canterbury, 68.10 (62.14); Otago, 11.98 (15.92); Marlborough, 6.75 (10.45); Wellington, 4.09 (2.89); Hawke’s Bay, 3.29 (1.85); Southland, 0.69 (0.62). Percentages for potato crops were: Canterbury, 54.46 (56.52); Wellington, 13.71 (15.28); North Auckland, 6.40 (5.05); Otago, 6.20 (5.68); Southland. 5.24 (4.53); Hawke’s Bay, 4.42 (5.81); Auckland, 3.50 (2.72); Nelson 2.40 (1.98). .

Percentage of grasses and clovers for seed were:—Perennial ryegrass, Canterbury 60.39 (60.08); Otago 11.48 (8.93),; Hawke’s Bay 10.30 (14.41); Southland 8.58 (7.51). Italian and Western Wolths, Canterbury 89.17 (88.54), Otago 5.10 (5.03); Southland 3.81 .(4.83). Cocksfoot, Canterbury 53.78 (52.85), Southland 30.05 (35.11), Otago 14.16 (9.81). Red Clover, including cowgrass, Canterbury 65.83 (63.87), Otago 17.31 (15.63), Marlborough 8.52 (11.48), Southland 5.35 (3.83). White Clover, Canterbury 72.09 (59.51), Otago 14.12 (13.57); Southland 8.66 (13.19). Chewings fescue, Southland 88.45 (88.09); Otago 9.56 (10.68); Canterbury 1.99 (1.23). Crested dogstail, Southland 68.72 (67.58); Otago 15.34 (13.86); Canterbury 14.49 (17.48). Sheep, Cattle and Pigs At April 30, 1945, there were 33,974,612 sheep and lambs in New Zealand, compared with 33,200,298 the year previously. The major distribution in 1945 was:—Wellington, 7,062,775; Canterbury, 5,588,778; Hawke’s Bav, 4,490,367; Otago, 4,165,483; Southland, 3,367,233; Auckland, 3,241,666; Gisborne, 2,247,138; North Auckland, 1,236,358; Marlborough, 1,091,474. Of the total sheep in New Zealand, breeding ewes numbered 20,549,716 in 1944 and 20,865,858 in 1945, while there were 8,407,202 lambs in 1944 and 9,105,152 in 1945, Sheep shorn in 194546 totalled 30,475,740 (30,284,677 in 1944-. 45), lambs shorn 5,335,050 (5,245,191), and lambs tailed 19,561,458 (19,453,306). At January 31, 1945, cattle totalled 4,590,926, compared with a total in 1946 of 4,666,782 (2,600,309 dairy and 2,066,473 beef).

Pigs decreased from 593,828 in 1945 to 549,391 in 1946. Horses also deci’eased from 217,689 to 216,335 in the same period.