PLIGHT OF DAIRY FARMERS

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXIV, Issue 3166, 12 June 1934, Page 7

PLIGHT OF DAIRY FARMERS

A farmers wife writes to the editor f the “ Waipa Post,” expressing very orcibly the point of view of the farmr and his family on present day conitions: — t( Unless something can be done to elp the dairy industry hundreds of airymen and their families will soon e walking off and seeking help from 0 l e g ; ” she says. “For several years ow we have been working, 14 hours lily, for bare living expenses, and we ive just about reached the end of the ■ther. “Butter at 1/3 per pound to the farer.would only be just reasonable when ie considers the many drains on a irmcr's pocket, and the hundred and ie expenses which must come first be,vtp nn y wages are considered; and it rent only the farmer who works to rjjAhis living; the farmer’s wife and iftCi'ian:are just as necessary; because e dairying industry is never suffici-,

| ently remunerated to allow of help being paid profitably. “Not only is the butter at less than half the cost of production, but our pigs and calves are on the same low level. Likewise, our dairy culls, cattle, which through accident are no longer useful as milkers, but are very often fine young beef, and it’s a job to get more than £1 per head for beasts ready for slaughter. Surely our leaders sec that it is wiser to keep the farmer where he is by stabilising the industry and reducing taxation and interest, etc., than have him asking for relief work. “We do not ask for charity, but for the right to live honestly and bring up families under reasonable conditions. No wonder the tramways and police force are largely composed of farm boys, for there is absolutely no inducement to help us keep our lads on the land,” she concludes. GRAZING MANAGEMENT OF PASTURES It is often stated by farmers that good quality dairying pastures are unsuitable for the feed requirements of sheep, but often this belief is based on confused thought and not on fact At times it is not the pasture itself but the grazing management of the pasture which brings about comparatively unsatisfactory results with sheep on pastures of accepted good dairying type, says an exchange. The nutrition requirements of the dairy cow and of the breeding ewe are essentially the same, both requiring feed which is highly digestible, rich in proteins required for milk and flesh production, and rich in mineral compounds containing phosphates and lime which arc required for milk and bone production. Successful sheep and dairy farming has been carried out for years in some districts on rich dairying land on adjacent farms. In cases sheep .farming has been carried out successfully on land adjacent and similar to land which has produced from 250 to 300 pounds of butter-fat. to the acre. The fact that both types of animal require essentially the same food shows the danger in having dairy cows

| and breeding ewes feeding on the same • pastures. It also points to the advisability of making the production of but-ter-fat and production of fat lambs completely self-contained ventures, j even when they are carried out on the j same farm. NEW ZEALAND FARMERS TOUR ABROAD NEXT YEAR A special escorted tour to Great Britain and the Continent in 1935, "organised and planned to meet the particular interests of New Zealand farmers, similar to the highly successful tours arranged in .1930 and 1931, has been nr ranged for next year. Membership of the tour is open to all classes of the community, of either sex, whether of country-side, township, or city. The itinerary will provide a most comprehensive tour of England, Wales, Scotland, and the Channel Islands, occupying 28 days; and a tour on the Continent, visiting Denmark, Holland, Germany, the Rhino, Switzerland, and Prance, lasting' 21 days. Apart from the usual sightseeing trips ant* excursions, visits will be made to Royal farms, national research institutes, schools of agriculture, markets and stores, pedigree herds, agricultural implement manufactories, manor houses, famous farms and breeding establishments, Continental .State experimental farms and co-operative societies Swiss cheese stores, dairy and milking .schools, etc. All classes of farming, storing and marketing will be included and, as in previous tours, the party will enjoy the co-operation of British farmers’ associations and kindred organisations . The party will be accompanied throughout the tour in Groat Britain and on the Continent by an experienced courier (not in uniform), speaking the languages of the countries visited, who will relieve the members of all the worries of travel, leaving them completely free to devote their whole time to the tour. The tour will commence in April next.