FARMING TRENDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 May 1939, Page 3

FARMING TRENDS

LESS LAND IN OCCUPATION HORSES BECOMING MORE POPULAR. THE HOME SEPARATOR GOING. Recent farming trends in New Zealand —certain areas left unoccupied, increased top-dressing, fewer dairy cattle, less cream separation on the farm, and an increase in horses as well as in power machinery—are reflected in the statistical report on the agricultural and pastoral production of the Dominion for the season 1937-38. The report has just been released for publication. In the 1937-38 collection, 272 police sub-enumerators throughout the Dominion returned 85,672 holdings aggregating 43,160,689 acres. Compared with 1936-37, holdings have increased in number by 190 (0.22 per cent.), while the total area occupied has decreased by 39,204 acres (0.09 per cent). Freehold and leasehold land was returned in 1937-38 in the proportions of 49 per cent and 51 per cent respectively. Compared with the previous year, the freehold acreage increased by 318,059, while the area of leasehold land decreased by 357,263 acres. The total area of field crops harvested or fed off in 1937-38 was below the average of the five preceding seasons. Compared with the season 193637, the latest areas are generally less for individual items, with a corresponding effect on yields where given. The aggregate area of grain and pulse crops for threshing declined by 15 per cent, and the aggregate yield was less to a corresponding extent. The average yields per acre of grain crops were somewhat the same as those obtained in the season 1936-37, the principal exception being in the case of barley, which yielded particularly well, the average of 42.6 G bushels per acre being a record since the present system of statistics was instituted in 1915-16. The proportion of the oats area threshed in 1937-38 was 20 per cent, as compared with 23 per cent in the previous season.

GRASSES AND CLOVERS. The area of grasses and clovers cut for seed declined from 96.577 acres in 1936-37 to 80,523 acres in 1937-38, a reduction of 17 per cent. However, the total production of grass-seed was practically the same as in 1936-37,' due to increases in the average yields per acre of both rye-grass and cocksfoot. As regards grasses, clover and lucerne cut for hay and ensilage, both area and production were less than in 1936-37 and below the level of other recent years. In 1937-38 the total area cultivated comprised 454 per cent of the total area occupied" Of the total area cultivated, pasture land occupies 89 per cent. The latest figures give an increase since last year of 35,991 acres for this item, pasture of more than twelve months standing accounting for the increase. Field crops are in order of importance with 6.2 per cent of the total area cultivated. Plantations consist principally of conifers which occupy 971 per cent of the total plantation area. The latter represents a little more than 4 per cent of the total area under cultivation. Since 1936-37, the total plantation area increased by 77 per cent to 874,974 acres, including 853,154 acres of conifers.

Among the minor items comprising the balance (1 per cent) of cultivated land, areas of over 1000 acres were covered by: Fallow land, 181,414 acres; private gardens and grounds, 81,698 acres; orchards, 21,397 acres; market gardens, 7413 acres and tung-trees, •8967 acres. Nurseries and seed-gar-dens occupied 879 acres. Unimproved land ' (23,469,688 acres) formed 541 per cent of the total area occupied, this percentage being almost the same as was observed in 1936-37, when the acreage was 23,611,887. Of the unimproved land in 1937-38, 14,015,112 acres, or 60 per cent of it, was covered by tussock or other native grasses.

GRASSLAND TOP-DRESSED. Greater activity in top-dressing was in evidence in 1937-38, the total area so treated aggregating 3,873,989 acres, giving an increase of over 16 per cent on the figure for the previous season. The proportion of pasture land topdressed to total pasture land works out at 22 per cent as compared with 19 per cent in 1936-37. All classes of farm machinery rose in numbers in 1937-38 except cream which were slightly less numerically. The greatest relative increases occurred in agricultural tractors (22 per cent) and electric motors (14| per cent). An increase of slightly over 3 per cent is noted in the case of milking-machines. The extensive use of machines for milking is indicated by the fact that they dealt with nearly 80 per cent of the total, cows milked in 1937-38.

For agricultural tractors there is an increase of 1446 in number and over 27,000 in horse-power, the figures for 1937-38 being 8031 and 139,269 respectively. The number of shearing-ma-chine plants increased by 9 per cent, the 1937-38 figure being 9680. An increase of 117,000 is noted in the total number of cattle at January 31, 1938, compared with the previous year’s total. Dairy cattle again showed a decrease, although an increase occurred in replacement stock of one year and under two years old. The number of heifer calves under one year old declined a little. On the other hand, cattle for beef purposes have considerably exceeded the numbers similarly classified in 1937. STEADY INCREASE IN HORSES. The number of pigs in 1938 was 756,466, a decrease of 5.7 per cent, compared with the number recorded in 1937. Pig-production increased rapidly until 1936, when the record number of 808,463 was noted. Successive decreases have since taken place. ■ Since 1911, when the peak number of 404,000 horses was recorded, their numbers gradually declined until 1935. However, annual increases have since been recorded, gains since 1935 amounting to 5181. Compared with last year, an increase of 368 is in evidence. A further increase of over 1,000.000 sheep was recorded in 1938, which brings the 1938 total number to over 32,300,000. This figure exceeds the previous record number established in .1937, when 31,300,000 breeding ewes is

included in the total increase mentioned above. The total number of 19,664,000 breeding ewes constitutes a record. The 1938 figures show substantial increases over those for 1937 for both sheep shorn and lambs tailed. On a percentage basis the increases are 4 and 3 per cent respectively. A small decrease is noted in the number of lambs shorn. Wool production z on a greasy basis during the twelve months ended June 30, 1938, amounted to 296,800,0001 b from all sources, compared with 302,900,000 lb in the previous twelve months. The record for production was established in the season 1935-36, when the total was estimated at 304,300,0001 b.