SURVEY OF FARMING

Taranaki Daily News, 26 November 1934, Page 8

SURVEY OF FARMING

CONDITIONS IN TARANAKI MANAGEMENT OF PASTURES. ADDRESS BY MR. J. M. SMITH. A survey of farming conditions in Taranaki with much useful advice to farmers of the province was given by J. M. Smith in a broadcast from 2YB New Plymouth on Wednesday night. He said:—

It has been truely said that the three main factors that go to make successful farming are the climate, the soil and the man, and it might be rightly claimed that Taranaki has been richly endowed with those factors. From a dairying point of view our climate with its heavy well-distributed rainfall is almost ideal, while our soil types are such that, while not naturally rich and fertile, lend themselves to artificial means whicli can be employed to bring them up to a high standard. Our average production figures indicate that these two factors are being fully utilised in many cases by the third factor—man. It is no wonder, therefore that Taranaki has been called the dairy farm of New Zealand.

In every industry there are leaders, men who stand head and shoulders above the others in that industry, and in dairying we have our leaders in production who stand head and shoulders above their fellow farmers. As these leaders in dairy production are utilising the same type of soil, and are enjoying the same climate as their fellow farmers it follows that there is something in their farming methods which it behoves us all to study.

Dairying has made much progress during the past 10 or 15 years, although the size of present dairy cheques might lead one to seriously doubt this. However, these small cheques are in no way the fault of the dairy farmers’ farming methods, although their present smallness necessitates our looking into these same methods to see if they can be modified or improved. To the individual there is no doubt that increased production, at a reduced production cost, is the likeliest immediate solution to the problem, if this can be brought about. PRODUCTION FROM GRASS. It is an accepted fact that butterfat can be more cheaply produced from grass, under grassland farming, than it can be produced under any other system of dairy farming. This must not be interpreted that grass only is necessary, however, for grassland farming to be economical, may necessitate the growing of a certain amount of crop. A farmer growing a small amount of crop is still a grassland farmer, just as a dairy farmer running a few sheep is still a dairy farmer. Grass is the natural food of the grazing animal and its utilisation as grass is more economical than its utilisation as hay or silage; therefore it may. be a profitable practice to grow crops for winter feeding, and <.O utilise grass as grass by increasing the size of the herd and by so doing iricrease the production. This is a line of thought that is being given serious consideration by the successful dairy farmers of Taranaki to-day. The greatest forward move during more recent years in connection with grassland farming has been the exploitation of the better strains of grasses and clovers. It is no new thing to know this as many fanners for years have appreciated the value of strains from certain districts but it is only during recent years that these strains have been isolated and their value demonstrated to the farming public generally. The difference between the various .strains is principally with regard to their permanence, but other factors such as type, leafiness, ability to stool out etc., are also taken into consideration so that the difference between the strains expressed in terms of butterfat is considerable, and without a shadow of doubt makes these strains of economic importance.

Following on the isolation and the mass selection of these strains, the department instituted a system of certification whereby the good strains were placed in epecially branded and sealed sacks. The immediate and most noticeable outcome of certification during the first year or two was the extremely high price that was asked for certified seed, but during the past few seasons the supply has caught up to the demand and to-day the price of certified seeds is fairly reasonable, while some still consider that they cannot afford certified seed, the actual position is that no dairy farmer in Taranaki to-day who wishes to economically produce butterfat can afford not to use them. EXTRA COST RECOVERED. While the sowing down a permanent pasture with such seeds may mean an extra 10s ■to 15s per acre in the cost of the seed mixture it is quite safe to say that this extra cost is actually recovered many times over during the first season. Farmers of Taranaki are now familiar with the certified perennial rye seed and are using it almost exclusively in their permanent pastures, but the use of certified cocksfoot and certified white clover is not as general as it should be and farmers would be well advised to consider their use.

The vast improvement in our seed strains to-day has been the result of mass selection as already mentioned, and much remains yet to be done to further improve these strains. The mass selection of rye, 1 for instance, might be likened to the selection of a herd of say 30 cows from a thousand or so grade animals, and from this selected herd the breeder may by line breeding etc. produce some highly efficient animals as far as production is concerned. This line breeding of rye is now in progress at the Plant Research Station at Palmerston North and at the present time there is I of an acre of pedigree rye closed for seeding purposes. This will probably yield sufficient seed to sow down 200 acres the following season, so that the following season again should see the produce of this 200 acres of pedigree seed on the market commercially. It will thus be seen that within a very few years the seed position of New Zealand should be on a very sound footing. The grass seed mixture for the bulk of Taranaki country has now been determined fairly definitely. Perennial rye must be the dominating species, with cocksfoot, timothy, dogstail and clover present in varying quantities. The following mixture gives fairly general satisfaction per acre. lb. Certified perennial rye '• Certified cocksfoot I 2 Timothy 3 Crested dogstail - Certified white clover 2 Montgomery red clover 2 ' 41 To this, mixture might profitably be added such species as subterranean clover, paspalum, poa trivialis, and meadow foxtail, as local conditions warranting the use of such species occurs.

On our hill country we recognise that a mixture of lower 1 fertility grasses will prove most economical and the following mixture annears to be sivine auite

satisfactory results on our better hill country: (per acre). lb. Certified perennial rye 8 Certified cocksfoot 5 Timothy 2 Crested dogstail 3 Poa pratensis 1 Certified white clover 2 Brown top 3 Danthonia pilosa .' 2 Lotus major 1 27 On the poorer hill country A mixture somewhat as follows with the swarding grasses predominating is recommended: (per acre). Ib. Brown top •• • 4 Danthonia pilosa 6 Lotus major 2 Certified rye 5 Certified cocksfoot 3. Certified white clover 2 Timothy 1 Crested dogstail 2 25 On costal lands there is little doubt that autumn sowing gives the best result, with spring sowing in the inland districts or in those districts on a high altitude which have an early and severe winter.

The most important factor in grassing out in Taranaki is the consolidation of the seed-bed. It does not matter how this is achieved as long as it is achieved. More failures in grassing out can be attributed to lack of consolidation than can be attributed to any other one cause. Manure with the grass seed is also very beneficial, although there are many farmers Who prefer to put no manure with the seed, but, to give an early top-dressing. A mixture of 2 parts of green bone and one part super with the seed however, gives the young pasture a foundation of fertility which stands it in good stead later. FIRST YEAR OF PASTURE The handling of the pasture during the first year of its existence often makes or mars a pasture. Light grazing with sheep or young fitock for the first grazing or so nurses the grass along and gives that additional tonsolidation which is desirable. If only milking cows are available, however, the condition of the soil as regards moisture is most important, and every endeavour should be made to control the young growth without the young plants being damaged by pulling up. The subsequent top-dressing of the permanent pasture sward, and its necessity, requires little stressing to the farming community of Taranaki. Prior to the low prices for produce the individual who did not top-dress his dairying pastures was an • exception and looked on as eccentric (or worse). To-day through force of circumstances, many have been forced to neglect top-dressing, and none realise what this neglect means more than those who have been forced to forego this important phase of pasture management.

To those who are in a position to topdress, but who are wondering whether it is payable or not, I would say make this saying in manure your last saving, for in actual practice it is no saving at all. While at present prices manure may or may not pay, we know that these prices will not last, and then, when they do rise, the farmer who has let his production drop will not be able to reap ’the Benefit of any advance. Make every endeavour to maintain your present production even if you are not in a position to increase that production. Phosphatic manures have been rightly looked upon as the principal top-dressing manures in the past and in the future phosphates must also play a big part. In many districts, however, potash is fast becoming just as important as phosphate, and while a mixture containing a large percentage of potash may .be -m expensive mixture it might easily be a more profitable mixture than a cheaper one. After all it is not so much what the manure costs, as it is the margin between cost and return. As an instance of this might be quoted the opinion of many prominent farmers in Taranaki who consider that even at to-day’s prices basic slag at £6 a ton gives a relatively better return than super at £4 a ton, and others who tire quite sure that a super potash mixture costing £6 or £7 a ton is a more profitable manure to use than super lime at about £3 a ton. USE OF ACCUMULATIONS. The making of better use of the stock accumulations that one frequently sees round sheds etc. is a matter that is receiving more consideration by Taranaki farmers to-day, and rightly so. Nitrogen is of extreme importance to a pasture, and there is no finer nitrogenous manure than the stock nitrogen. Experts have endeavoured to produce an artificial manure which will give results similar to that obtained by stock nitrogen but they have so far failed. Artificial nitrogen is all right for special purposes such as producing extra early grass, but as a general nitrogen supplying manure there is no artificial fertilizer that compares with the animal dropping. Several progressive farmers have installed plant which enables them to collect all of the drainings of the shed, and to spread these cheaply over the pasture lands, and one feels that money spent in such installation must be sound expenditure.

Another phase of pasture management which enables better use to be made of animal manure is the harrowing of pastures. By frequent harrowing this manure is spread more or less evenly over the sward, and not only does it stimulate growth generally, but it prevents permanent damage being done to the permanent sward, -,-hich damage is inevitable where harrowing is neglected. Time spent in harrowing to distribute manure must be fime well spent.

The other type of harrowing to cultivate the sward is desirable during the autumn and winter, providing the weather conditions permit. This harrowing should be with the idea of penetrating the soil to a depth of 4 or 5 inches if possible with a minimum flmount of rip and tear, unless the sward happens to be a matted fog or brown top sward in which case a good tearing about must prove beneficial. Rolling of pasture land, particularly where there has been any poaching during the winter, is a phase of pasture management that is growing and is highly desirable. The average dairy farmer of Taranaki to-day appreciates the vales pf cointrolled grazing. We have had experience in both overdoing and underdoing the grazing. Lack of control means economic waste and a damaging of the pasture sward, while the extreme close grazing as recommended by some a few years ago is also economically unsound. Fairly close grazing can be practiced during the spring when there is an optimum of growth, but before this growth fades too much a little cover should be allowed on the pasture to prevent drying. out and burning during the summer and autumn. As a means to an end in the control of pasture growth in the spring the making of silage is playing a big part in dairying in Taranaki. This useful and important winter fodder plays a dual role, in that it enables this control to be made as perfect as farming conditions will allow, and it also means the better wintering of . dairying stock. As an actual milk producer, silage is probably not quite as good as certain root crops, but it is more cheaply produced and as a fodder for wintering, provided the silage is of the right type, it will give just as good results as roots, although the quantity figure requires watching. There is nothing very complicated in the saving of silage as practiced n Taranaki to-day. With the modem harvesting gear silage making tq-day is neither the fearsome nor the long drawn out job that it was a few years ago. Hillside pits and trenches also ha<e meant a saving in labour and waste and are popular in this province. Early cutting and the rapid harvesting of the material are the two main rules to follow in silage making and on the whole the quality of silage made in Taranaxi is good. It would appear to be an advantage to have a certain amount of hay, and if roots are grown it becomes a necessity. While a number of farmers are wintering on silage alone, and are apparently doing so most successfully, the use of good hay in conjunction with the silage would minimise any risk of stock disorders which might occur as a result of a long period of feeding on nothing but silage. Tlie place that root crops should occupy on the high-production and progressive dairy farm is the subject of

much discussion but as mentioned earlier, if the growing of a small area of roots would mean the greater utilisation of grass as grass, with its consequent increase in stock carrying, then surely there is a place for roots on the average farm. Naturally the breaking up of first class pasture merely to grow roots requires careful consideration, but the present position on the average Taranaki dairy farm is that there are a number of paddocks which require ploughing anyway. Field competitions have demonstrated that from a ccsnparatively small area a large quantity of roots can be obtained, so that on the 50 to 100 acre farm there should be no need to have more than a half to an acre under the plough. Mangolds are perhaps the most promi.yent crop and the one that probably gives the greater return for the time and money spent on them. Prize-winner Yellow Globe is the variety that has consistently given . the greater yield, but jersey Queen, Long Red and Orange Globe are also good croppers. Where the soil type is suitable carrots are a crop that gives a high yield ; of dry matter per acre. Matchless White have proved the heaviest yielder over a long number of years, but Holmes Improved and Sinclair’s champion are also good yielders. Where first ground is available swedes are a crop that gives good returns, but where only second ground is available there is a definite risk of club root. In those districts that do not enjoy a good autumn, it frequently is necessary to grow a certain amount of supplementary crop to assist the pastures in providing the necessary amount of fodder for the cows. For this purpose there are no crops that excel soft turnips although here again on second ground there is a risk of club root. Care must also be exercised in feeding to avoid taints, but with judicious feeding there is really little risk hi this connection. Where the pastures do suffer a definite set back in the autumn conditions will probably prove suitable for the successful growing of lucerne. Where this crop can be successfully grown no dairy farm should be without 8 or 10 per cent, on an acreage basis, of this valuable crop. There is one point that I would like to

emphasize most strongly fn the interest of more economical production, and that is the better feeing of dairy stock during the non-producing season of the year. While the herd is producing the feeding of the average Taranaki herd leaves little to be desired, but there js a tendency to ease up considerably m the feeding as the production “dries up.” Thig is a definite weakness with the average herd, and has a tremendous effect on the producing powers of the herd during the following season.