N.Z. AGRICULTURE

Southland Times, Issue 19898, 17 June 1926, Page 7

N.Z. AGRICULTURE

PRESENT DAY TREND MR A. H. COCKAYNE’S ADDRESS CAKE NEEDED IN HANDLING PASTURES. A warning note against the too rapid extension of the top-dressing of pastures without due consideration being given to cultivation was sounded by Mr A. H. Cockayne, director of the Fields Division of the Agricultural Department in a lecture entitled, “The Trend of Agriculture in New Zealand” given at the farm school.

“There are certain developments in the agriculture of New Zealand during the past 25 years,” said Mr. Cockayne in opening, “that are worth while discussing and criticising.” He said that going back 25 years they would find that the tussock grasslands of the Dominion comprised about 15,000,000 acres, the sown grasslands 11,000,000, while 1,500,000 acres was devoted to the growing of crops. The lastnamed area was about equally divided between harvested crops and stock-feed crops. To-day the tussock grassland was approximately the same, while the sown grasslands had risen to 17,000,000 acres. The harvested and feed crops remained about the same. While there had been an increase of 6,000,000 acres in sown grasslands, there had been no increase—rather a falling off—in harvested crops. During the same period the value of the products had altered greatly. In 1900 the average return from a sheep was 8/9, while to-day it was £1 6/-; the dairy cow products had increased in value from £6 10/- to £l7 10/- on the average. In both those cases a great increase in value was recorded, but there had been little increase in the value of the product of the steer over the same period. In 1900 the average steer returned £1 4/-, while the return to-day was only £2. With regard to the harvested cereal crops the present cost of production had increased out of all proportion to the increased value but the cost of feed crops had not gone up to the Same extent. With the rise in value of sheep and dairy products there had been an increase in the value of grass crops to the same extent. On the contrary the decrease in harvested crop returns was reflected over a large part of the Dominion by the steady decline in the cereal areas. With regard to cereals the one exception was Canterbury, where the area remained about the same, and it would appear that Canterbury and North Otago were destined to provide the cereals for the whole of New Zealand. In other parts the cereal crops i were rapidly disappearing. In cereal disI tricts the rotation provided for a certain I amount of young grass which was essential l in such districts for meat production. It J was necessary in all districts to produce ! young grass, and where cereals were not I grown farmers turned to top-dressing with I phosphatic manures to supply them with I young grass. . This trend of agriculture I was definitely causing a reduction of the extent of land under the plough, even for stock-feed purposes. SOME WEAKNESSES. “There are some serious weaknesses in relying upon top-dressing for securing the necessary feed for stock,” he said, “and one of the most serious is that grassland does not yield evenly all the year round.” ;He went on to say that in the winter the ! yield was much smaller and unless some I way of varying the feed required were obtained it looked a difficult matter to deal with a crop that varied so much, but by the development and utilisation of the live stock, and the difference between summer and winter production the New Zealand farmer had increased the production of butter fat from 20,000 tons to over 100,000 tons. During the same period the pro duction of meat was increased from 100,000 tons to 200,000 tons. The increase in butter fat production was accomplished by a big increase in cows, and the raising of the annual production from 1401bs in 1900 to 1801bs at the present time. With regard to mutton and lamb the output had been doubled in 20 years with only an increase of 25 per cent, in the flocks. The dairy and fat lamb development were both connected with the successful utilisation of the grass crop. This had been accomplished by the exploitation of the female animal which enabled the farmer to use the summer feed to obtain the maximum results. The skilful way the cow and ewe were used had enabled New Zealand farming to develop along the present lines. Where a crop varies so much in production no matter how skilfully the live stock were managed there would be an excess of summer feed. That was one of the difficulties. With such a condition they would expect an increase of supplementary fodders, but this was not the case. In 1900 the North Island grew one acre of supplementary fodders for 110 sheep, while to-day it was one acre to 180 sheep. In Southland the ratio in 1900 was one acre for 16 sheep, while the latest figures were one acre to 20 sheep. There was a tendency everywhere to restrict cropping. DEVELOPMENT OF TOP-DRESSING. In 1900 something like 5000 tons of phosphate manures were used for top-dress-ing, while to-day the amount was 130,000 tons, superphosphate being the principal manure used. Top-dressing was at first restricted to dairying land, but had now extended to sheep areas. A significant development was the extensive utilisation of phosphatic manures spread by hand on the bush country of the north. At first the dressing was periodical but it has now de- , veloped to such an extent that some farmers treat the land twice a year. This increased the production and provided good rough winter food. They had to view topdressing with regard to dairying from a totally different angle when compared with sheep farming. The dairy cow had to be brought tlyough the winter without any loss of weight otherwise this would be reflected in decreased output during the early lactation period, but they could allow a certain amount of loss in the ewe without the returns showing any decrease. It was quite clear to the speaker’s mind that the management of top-dressed land would be much more difficult than that of areas which were not top-dressed and whereas to-day only about five per cent, of the producing land was top-dressed they would be treating a far greater percentage than that in a few years. Increased subdivision, however, must first be carried out, and this point was certainly a most important one. As he had mentioned before, the whole object of top-dressing was to make the fullest possible use of grass lands, and so far as most of this type of country was concerned this could only be accomplished by adequate stocking. Uniformity in regard to the whole of the pastures was an essential to successful grazing. At the present time a great deal of grass was allowed to get away as paddocks were too large for the stock to keep it down. Although these paddocks yielded a tremendous growth its feeding value was not completely satisfactory for milk production in the later summer months. As he had .stated, the main object of top-dreasing was to produce young grass and unless this was carried out as long as possible in the summer months they would not secure the best results from their efforts. For this reason the use of the mower was being more extensively introduced, for two reasons: for making hay from those pastures which could not be kept down earlier in the season and the early mowing of certain paddocks before the hay period had been reached. A most significant development was the making of grass ensilage from early-mown pastures, these same areas later producing an abundance of first-class milkproducing feed over a longer period than if the pasture had not been mowed at all. So far as dairying was concerned the question of top-dressing was a comparatively

simple matter, for if pastures were mowed early a good supply of ensilage was secured, while if late mowing was undertaken an equally satisfactory supply of hay was the result. Thus the necessity for special cropping was practically done* away with. At one time it was considered the height of good dairying to grow an abundance of supplementary summer crops, proceeded the speaker. This idea, however, would undoubtedly go by the board in the future and his personal expectations were that an increase in grass ensilage would take place. In theory supplementary summer crops sounded all right, but more often than not such crops proved to be a failure when they were most needed. As far as sheep and dairying were concerned the reliability of the crop was the essential point. The dairy cow must be kept from losing weight during 'the winter months and if ensilage and hay was not likely to be sufficient for this it was clear that a supplementary root crop would not be hard to produce. To his mind it was clear that future development would be along the lines of increased top-dressing in the interests of securing an adequate supply of feed for the winter months, this in its turn being aimed at increasing the efficiency of the animals themselves. At the present time the summer requirement of the dairy cows was about half its winter requirement, but he was of the opinion that it should be possible to increase efficiency to the extent that the summer requirement would be at least three times that of the winter. Continuing, Mr Cockayne voiced the fear that the glamour of top-dressing and the results achieved on good grass lands might be inclined to swing the pendulum too far the other way, inducing a restriction in the cultivation of supplementary crops. In the north, and particularly in central Taranaki, this had already occurred and as far as Southland was concerned he thought the farmer would be prone to be led astray in the matter of restricting cropping unduly. Grass producing in Southland always would show a wide ratio between the winter and summer months and it was only by bringing his land to its highest efficiency that a farmer was going to make both ends meet and instead of worn-out land being put under the plough good grass land would be turned in to rejuvenate it. Another point touched on by the speaker was the position of the team in relation to the tractor. Horses, he stated, could not be kept at a profit unless there was continual work for them. They all knew that the tendency in regard to harvested crops was to decrease rather than to increase, but if one was to get the fullest benefit from grasslands a good deal of cropping must be done. He was confident that until a nice balance between topdtessed areas and supplementary crops was secured they were not likely to gain the greatest efficiency from the former. The possibility of mixed grazing being extensively developed in the south was next referred to, the lecturer explaining that in order to keep sheep lands in satisfactory condition it was comparatively essential to run steers on the same area. This was done on hill country in the north and though the steers might appear to be an unprofitable proposition it would be necessary to adopt the same practice over a large portion of Southland if they were to have the carrying capacity as high as that indicated by tests carried out at Winton. At the conclusion of his address Mr Cockayne answered a number of questions. On the motion of Mr O. Neiderer he was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for a most interesting lecture.