CHAMPION PASTURE

Taranaki Daily News, 10 April 1935, Page 12

CHAMPION PASTURE

W. F. GOODIN, OKATO, WINS J. N. BLYDE, LEPPERTON, SECOND. EIGHT LEADERS RE-INSPECTED. The pasture championship of North Taranaki for the 1934-35 season has been won by Mr. W. F. Godin, Okato, with Mr. J. N. Blyde, Lepperton, runnerup. This result was announced yesterday by Mr. A. G. Elliott, instructor in agriculture to the fields division of the Agricultural Department, who had carried out the autumn judging. At the last annual meeting it was decided that before the championship was decided the' judge should go round the district and inspect the five leading pastures on the one day. Some of the leading pastures were so close that the judge decided to inspect the leading eight. Yesterday he visited the Pukearuhe, Tikorangi, Lepperton, Wharehuia, Ngaere and Okato districts, travelling in all 165 miles. The pastures were all looking well, despite the fact that some of them had been very heavily grazed during the past few days, and the leading pastures are distributed well through the district. Both coastal and inland areas have scored well. The final results are:— W. F. Goodin (Okato) 1

J. N. Blyde (Lepperton) 2 J. H. Paulger (Tikorangi) 3 G. Downes (Wharehuia) ' 4 W. J. Freeth (Pukearuhe) 5 P. A. Openshaw (Lepperton) 6 J. Cloke (Lepperton) and H. C. Taylor (Ngaere) equal 7

The autumn judging of entries in the pasture competition was completed on Monday, when Mr. Elliott visited the Tarurutangi district and inspected five pastures. The judge was accompanied throughout by Mr. P. J. R. Warren, president of the Tarurutangi branch of the Farmers’ Union, Mr. R. Street, secretary, and a number of farmers, and interesting discussions took place, an educative day resulting. At the conclusion of the judging the party adjourned to the Tarurutangi Hall to be the guests of the branch of the Farmers’ Union at luncheon, which was dispensed by Mesdames P. J. R. Warren and N. Fabish. Mr. Warren on behalf of the branch took the opportunity of Mr. Elliott’s first official appearance in Tarurutangi to extend a welcome. The farmers of the district, he said, had had many happy experiences of his predecessor, Mr. J. M. Smith, whom they were sorry to lose, but he felt Mr. Elliott would carry on the good work just as keenly and thoroughly and give as much help to the farmers. Mr. Warren said he recognised that the pastures inspected had no outstanding characteristics, due no doubt to the peculiar season experienced. There had been a great deal of controversy regarding the values of clover and ryegrasses, and the farmers were eager to glean all the knowledge they .could. In expressing thanks for the welcome Mr. Elliott said he would not hold any field days yet nor make any recommendations to the farmers, as they would be of little value until he had grasped Taranaki problems and conditions. Constructive criticism was always helpful. The best pasture was that which most economically enabled butter-fat to be produced, and he pointed out that the highest production pasture in North Taranaki contained white clover, which, he considered, 1 was necessary to secure a well-balanced sward. He stressed the importance of proper utilisation of pastures.

As far as the department was concerned the value of competitions lay in the opportunity they gave for extending its work. He was not interested in the championship result but in the value of the competitions as a means of raising the Dominion standard of the pastures. H 6 was more interested in seeing the standard of the lower grade pastures rise each year than to see a slight improvement in the high grade pastures. Mr. Elliott said he appreciated the fact that in Mr. Smith he was following a man who knew the district thoroughly, but he asked them to accept him as his predecessor was when he arrived in Taranaki. It was an important factor in the success of the work that confidence should be established between the instructor and the farmers. He enjoyed the work of the competitions and would do all he could to assist them, as he recognised their value. He also favoured field days in preference to lectures. The results of the judging were:—P. J. R. Warren 1, R. Street 2.