ON THE LAND

Southland Times, Issue 22734, 9 November 1935, Page 5

ON THE LAND

A COLD SNAP CATTLE SUFFERING FROM: RICH FEED SOWING OPERATIONS The rain which lias fallen this week was not unwelcome, but the bitterly cold winds which accompanied it were most unseasonable and have not helped growth along. Lambs have not been affected, but ewes, have felt the conditions. The main injury to livestock, though, has been experienced by dairy cattle. The cold snap will set cows back again to some extent. There is plenty of moisture in most districts and feed is plentiful, but Invercargill seems to have had more rain than other areas.

Farm work is well advanced. Oats are showing up and appear to be doing as well as usual. The sowing of chou moellier and turnips has been begun in several parts of the province and it will be general during the next week or so. Farmers throughout Southland seem to be determined to get their turnips in early this year and to avoid being caught as they were last year with very dry and hot weather in which it is difficult to get turnips to germinate and braird. Merchants report that they' are putting out increased quantities of manures and seeds, and altogether renewed confidence in the future of the industry is apparent. Lamb Prospects. A few farmers are disposing of ewes and lambs all counted, the price for full and failing ewes with lambs at foot being anything from 12/- to. 14/- all counted. Prospects are for fairly good prices for fat lambs when the. works open, particularly for early deliveries. Last year one of the works opened a week or two before the end of the year, and it is probable that one will open for a few days about show time as usual this year and then close down for a week or so. During the past few days several losses of dairy cattle have been reported, especially on the richer pastures such as Mataura Island, due to cows being “blown.” If taken in time, this trouble is quite easily cured provided the farmer knows how to handle a trocar or knife and the right place in which to apply it. The complaint seems to be more prevalent than usual this year, probably due mainly to malnutrition during the winter, the consequence of which is that cows gorge themselves on succulent feed as soon as it is available and fermentation is set up. . Fat cattle values at Lorneville this week were on a par with last week’s sale. Perhaps there has been an oversupply during the past fortnight, but values should hold and there should now be regular supplies of both fat cattle and sheep. Sheep have been easing consistently, and fat ewes will probably continue in that direction until the works open and it is seen what the export prices are going to be. As mentioned before, there is every indication that fat lambs will open well and that prices will be at least as good as they were last year. If that is the case, there will probably be a corresponding slight improvement in fat ewe values.

The yarding of store cattle was an unusually big one. Probably cattle have been held by . vendors for some time in the expectation of a better demand when feed came away. The supply was in excess of requirements, and the entries generally were fairly backward in condition. Northern Sales. The highest fat cattle prices at the Burnside sale on Wednesday were obtained by Canterbury vendors. From the start of the sale there was an appreciable drop in values, and this was not picked up at any stage. Spring lambs also fell a little in value. Bidding was slack at the opening, and prices were easier than last week by quite 20/- for bullocks and 15/- for cows and heifers. The entry in most sections of stock was larger than usual at Addington, but the total was scarcely up to the requirements of a double market, reports the Press. Values for practically all classes of stock improved as a result, particularly for fat cattle and vealers, store sheep, and to a lesser extent for fat sheep. Cattle were dearer by about 25/- a head, and vealers by up to 10/-. The advance in fat sheep values ranged from 1/- to 2/- a head. The fat cattle sale was equal to the best held at Addington for some years, good beef averaging from 34/- to 36/a 1001 b. The excellent growing conditions as a result of the rains caused a sharp advance in the store sheep section. Ewes and lambs were better by from 1/6 to 2/- a head, and hoggets by an average of 1/6. The entry in the store sheep section was again a very small one, and there was a strong and unsatisfied buying demand for all classes. There will be no sale at Addington next week on account of carnival vzeek.