HAY SHORTAGE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20672, 10 March 1937, Page 3

HAY SHORTAGE

FIEZS THROUGH SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION any farmers in North Taranaki are likely to be faced with a shortage of ha„ during the coming winter. In some instances crops were ruined, after being cut, owing to very unfavourable weather, but quite a large number have lost their stacks as the result of fire. The damage has been due to spontaneous combustion.

The general opinion is that the hay was not allowed to dry out sufficiently before being stacked and this seems quite feasible. There is a tendency nowadays to hurry the work too much. One rarely sees hay cocked, for instance. It is generally raked into wind rows, and then swept direct to the stack. Actual saving, too. often starts too early in the morning before the dew is off the grass, and this creates a real fire risk. The climate in North Taranaki is very changeable, and in most districts neighbours help each other by an exchange of labour. The result is an undue rush during spells of fine weather, as all want their hay saved at the same time. It is another aspect of the labour problem affecting the farmer, but if more men were engaged—always assuming, of course, they are available—so that the hay could be worked more it would be well worth while. The trouble does not appear to have been confined to this district judging by early estimates of price levels foe hay. For instance, this time last year values were approximately £3 to £3/10/- per ton, whereas this year they are estimated to be between £5 and £6 per ton.