MATAURA VALLEY LAMBS

Southland Times, Issue 23734, 4 February 1939, Page 6

MATAURA VALLEY LAMBS

SEVERAL GOOD DRAFTS REPORTED Drafters of fat lambs in the Lower Mataura area are now well forward with their work and drafts sent forward from flocks which are still unshorn arc maintaining a good quality. Sheep shorn before Christmas have received a bad setback because of the rough weather, and in some cases a serious death-rate has occurred. The cold weather was also responsible for sending a good number of the shorn ewes off their milk and drafts from these are not up to the standard of those from the ewes in wool.

The boisterous weather was responsible for much damage to the rape and turnip crops, and because of this the prospects of securing good second drafts are not reassuring. In many cases, because of the loss of rape crops, farmers have asked drafters to draft deep and take everything that will pass at the works. The reason for this is that the prospect for forward store lambs does not look bright at present unless there is a quick growth. So far the average weight of lambs drafted is working out much heavier than last year.

GOOD DRAFT AT MORTON MAINS An exceptionally fine draft is reported from Morton Mains on behalf of Mr Joseph Paterson. From a flock of 384 ewes Mr Paterson secured 480 lambs from which he got 440 away from the mothers in one draft. The returns received by Mr J. E. Hickey, of Woodlands, for his annual draft of more than 100 Southdown lambs show that the lambs killed at an average of 42.971 b and realized £1 5/6 a head. The feature of the returns is that 10 lambs, averaging 551 b, realized the same amount of money as did 15 lambs of the under 371 b class. It is evident that Woodlands must be one of the best sheep-farming districts in Southland because for the past six seasons Mr Hickey’s lambs have averaged 26/6.