BAD SEASON AHEAD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19898, 28 March 1939, Page 7

BAD SEASON AHEAD

SHEEPFARWiERS’ PLIGHT POOR-CONDITIONED STOCK V POVERTY BAY DIFFICULTY ADDRESS TO ROTARY CLUB A poor season in retrospect and an equally poor season likely to eventuate were reviewed by Mr. E. R. Black in an address at the Gisborne Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon to-day, when he mentioned some of the problems sheepfarmers of the district had to contend with. Mr. Black said that for a long time he had been trying to learn something about sheepfarming, but in a season such as the present he doubted whether he knew anything at all about it. He pointed out that sheep thrived best on short grass, and it was necessary to carry a heavy stocking of cattle, usually one cattle beast to six sheep. However, when a serious position, as in the present season, arose, with much of the hill country stripped absolutely bare of cattle feed, it w r as a problem to save the lives of the cattle. Water in itself was a serious problem, and in hot, dry seasons- there was usually insufficient for the cattle. . Some of the larger properties had made a practice of shutting up a certain area of country each year in order'to seed that country down and to act as a valuable standby in the event of a dry autumn being experienced, but as a result of increased taxation and rising costs it had been very difficult to afford to do that. ■Difficulties were experienced also owing to the humid, showery seasons, which promoted a serious problem in internal parasites. Drenching for parasites was not always a simple matter, and suitable feeding was necessary for best results. Disastrous Autumn Last year there - was a disastrous autumn, when a serious facial eczema outbreak occurred, this resulting in a poor lambing the following spring, and he believed there would be as poor a lambing during the coming spring as last year, • because the breeding sheep had been in low condition for some time, and it had not been possible to flush the ewes with additional feeding. The rams, also, were not ready for mating. A technique had just been developed by which farmers were able to test the fertility of their rams, and he found that in his flock the only stud rams at present, in good fertile condition were those which hacb-been fed with a ration of southern crushed oats, those fed on local grass being sterile. Research in some sections of the industry had been shockingly neglected, continued Mr. Black, who considered that not one man in the country today could say with confidence that he knew the cause of facial eczema. The accepted theory concerned the functioning of the green colouring matter under certain conditions and that facial eczema was expected to show up after a flush of feed following a hot, dry spell. That theory appeared ■to hold good until this autumn. There were cases of facial eczema among sheep in the Gisborne district at present. .... One of the greatest problems was the fail?' iriStfte fertility or the' sheen, which.had declined substantially of recent years; It was not so very long ago that lambing percentages in the Gisborne district averaged more than 100 per cent. Between 1906 and 1914 his average of lambs was 104 per cent; but it was now down to about 86 per cent, while the Poverty Bay average was probably only about 80 per cent. That state, of affairs suggested some soil deficiency. Knowledge and Research Lack of knowledge was no doubt the cause of the present position. He did not wish to blame the Department of Agriculture for what was occurring, but it appeared as though the department was unable to give the proper advice at the right time; there did not appear to be the necessary finances for adequate research. Finance for research should come from a national fund, and politicians were too prone to require something spectacular from expenditure on research work, for they did not realise that in research years might elapse apparently without anything being achieved. Topdressing was still in the experimental stages, because it could not be said what the deficiencies were on some of the country. Topdressing with a chemical mixture produced an increased growth of grass, but there might be some trace element missing that would make all the difference. He had never seen staggers among sheep so bad as this season, and he believed that a shortage of magnesium might be responsible. Future Development Farming was closely wrapped up in the further development of the land, and, with the greater tendency for closer settlement, the more the farmer had to be trained for his work. It was no good plating men on the land unless they were disposed to devote all their time to its development. Rotarian H. Kenway, the mover of a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Black, said that Mr. Black and his neighbour, Mr. Claud H. Williams, were two of the most practical sheepfarmers in Poverty Bay. ‘‘We cannot restore Our land to the original strength," Rotarian Kenway continued, “but we can prevent it going further back.” He added that shortly after the felling of the bush on Kiore station, a property he was connected with, the flock produced 123£ per cent of lambs, and 122 J per cent of them came in for docking.