FARM MANAGEMENT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 92, 18 April 1929, Page 12

FARM MANAGEMENT

More Butter-fat Per Acre

BETTER PROFITS FROM THE FARM

There has been carried out in New Zealand during the last two seasons a complete survey of production costs on dairy farms scattered over a wide area in the Waikato and Taranaki districts. The work has involved special visits to farms by officers of the Department of agriculture and the preparation of special schedules in which the farmer gives complete details of his years operations together with information of the amount of capital sunk in the farm. The work, Insofar as it has gone, has now been embodied in the form o fa bulletin which contains very much valuable matter.

(Specially Written for the ~ “Chronicle. ”) One of tin? things which has been sadly lacking in New Zealand during the last decade was a knowledge, of production costs on which to base an estimate of land values. The work which has now been carried out supplies the deficiency, and although yet incomplete will eventually give a oasis for the valuation of land. Three salient facts stand out an connection with this investigation. The first is that the small farm pays best, the second that liberal, top-dressing returns excellent dividends and the third that the per acre production is the most important, feature of all. The Small Farm. It has always been more or less recognised that, the small farm was the most payable proposition, but previously a few figures wore available with which to back up the assertion. The only reason for elose settlement of course lies in increased production through more intensive utilisation of the farm land, and it is on the smaller farms that most intensive production is secured. The small farm is the family farm, giving a living to a single family all of whom help in the production work. Another reason for the outstanding success of this type of farm lies in lhe greater use of fertilisers. That heavy applications pay liandsomely is shown by the statements made by Mr Fawcett, the farm economist ,who carried out the survey. In actual fact, it was shown that the heavy application of manure gives a higher cost per lb. of butterfat, produced than did a smaller , application. This means that those farms where high production is not general and whore top-dressing is not extensively practised the cost represented in the purchase of fertilisers is relatively higher than is the case on high producing farms. Results from one end of New Zealand to the other have shown that with our equable climate and soil fertility it is very largely a matter of management and the results of this survey amplify this idea. It was. for instance, shown that in p portion of the Waikato on land which in 19.19 was carrying only 1} sheep per acre top-dressing it so increased fertility that to-day it was producing from 90 to lOOlbs. of butterfat per acre. As a result of his analysis Mr Fawcett stales definitely that top-dressing is a most important factor in grass land management, and that a high per acre utilisation of fertilisers was associated with high per aero production, high herd carrying capacity and high herd averages of butterfat. Per Acre Production. “It is apparent that other things being equal, the number of cows carried per given area determines the limits of butterfat production. It is possible to procure high per acre returns from a ! comparatively low average herd if the carrying capacity is high, but it is not possible to do so with a badly understocked farm of high producers.” In those words Air Fawcett draws attention to the need for keeping up the carrying capacity, and for seeing that high production per cow is not gained through understocking. lie rightly points out that individual animals should not be exploited to the detriment of carrying capacity. Although as a general rule it is on the farms with high producing herds that high per acre production is secured, this is not always the case The advice to cull out the lower producers in a herd is sound, but the culling process should only bo carried out providing other cows are available to replace those culled and thus keep up the carrying capacity of the fafm. One point raised in connection with carrying capacity was that too great an expenditure on fertiliser might eventually result in lower production

because of the law diminishing returns, but. as this has not occurred on any of the 20(1 farms surveyed it might be taken that wo aro still a long way from this danger. Length of Occupation. An interesting and rather unusual point brought out was that the length of. time the farm had been in occupation had some influence on production. The average farmer would hardly expect this to be the case, but. when you consider that many of our farms wore purchased 15 or twenty years ago, when prices were low, and then soundly farmed for many years, if. can be understood. It simply means that in a great many eases farmers have worked themselves into a sound financial position and are to-day less thorough in their farming methods than they were during their years of struggle. Another factor which is brought info play in this connection is that it takes some years before a man thoroughly understands his farm, aml in addition lakes him still more finie to work his herd up to a good average. Returns From Pigs. How neglected the pig is on many farms is also disclosed by the survey which showed that lhe returns from pigs varied from just over H's per row up to as high as £5 per row. Once again i| was the farmers who followed th<> : i»umiest general methods of farming v. Ik. <li.| best with their pigs. The EiH that on some farms closa on iS per row was realised for pigs after all the supplementary feed bought was paid for, shows how very inadequate are the returns generaly secured. It is the farmer who breeds his own pigs that secures the best return for under this system an average of £2 per sow was realised, whereas on the farms where weaners were bought the average was only £1 per cow. Production Factors. The Bulletin covers such a wide field and deals with so many aspects of the farming problem it is difficult to sift from it only those portions which are of genuine interest to the farmer. The question of how to increase the returns from the farm is, however, an all absorbing one in which every farmer must of necessity be interested. The survey shows the need for increasing the production of butterfat per acre, while at the same time keeping maintenance and overhead expenses down, so that the profit to the farmer becomes greater. 'i he three factors which are considered to influence production in the main aro the increased carrying capacity, increased production <>f butterfat per cow and the farming of an economic area. Probably the easiest of these three is the first for by the adoption of the system of grass land management which has become so popular in our more intensively farmed districts, a farmer ran rapidly build up his land to a higher state of fertility. This building up would, from its very nature, increase the butterfat .returns as the cows would have more feed, but with, herd improvement as a corollary of grass land management the farmer would more rapidly improve his position. The farming of an economic area boiled down into simple form simply means having sufficient capital to handle efficiently the land you possess. It is useless having a large area unless you have sufficient capital to develop it thoroughly, a fact which is proved by the low per acre yields of many of the large farms. In one sense the survey has disclosed nothing new, but it has provided a basis of fact and given figures to supplement the arguments in favour of those three essential factors in dairy farming, sound grassland management, adequate topdressing, and the building up of the herd to a high degree of productivity.