FARMING SITUATION SERIOUS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIV, Issue 20931, 10 January 1938, Page 6

FARMING SITUATION SERIOUS

CROPS DOWN AND SHEEP SUFFER A few months ago, the farming outlook was serious because of prolonged dry weather; now it has become serious because of excessive rain. Only a few months ago it was possible to state confidently that no crops would be down this year, but the last downpour of rain has knocked down even many short stands. Advanced hay paddocks have become tangled masses of grass and clover. While those farmers whose sheep are still unshorn will escape a mortality rate, the effect of the weather on wool will be most detrimental. Recently shorn fleeces already show a decided break and poor quality will accentuate lower prices. The fattening of lambs will be greatly retarded, and scour already in evidence will be accentuated. Last week, the countryside needed warm weather to harden pastures; with the added down pour, that want has become essential before lamb fattening can proceed. On the downland country, much turnip and rape ground will be scoured, and the soil has been washed away from some steep worked faces. The hard crust caused by the rain will probably stop the growth of tender shoots such as those thrown up by turnips and rape. Farm work is at a standstill, and many acres of land have still to be sown with fattening and winter feed crops. One of the benefits brought on by flooded streams has been the killing of rabbits in riverbeds. Dead rabbits could be seen floating down the Opihi and Tengawai rivers yesterday. Flooded burrows in fields would also kelp to kill the pest, and such a kill during the breeding season should do a large amount of good.