FARM COMPETITIONS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 115, 17 May 1930, Page 8 (Supplement)

FARM COMPETITIONS

COMMENDABLE SCHEME IN THE MANAWATU ADDING TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF AGRICULTURE

(Specially Written by “Super.”) A big farm production competition will shortly be got under way in the Manawatu district, and as it is probable that schemes of this type will add considerably to our farming knowledge, its details are worth discussing.

In the first place it is necessary to point out some of the differences in farming between district and district. Although there are certain practices that stand in every district, such as the making of hay and ensilage, mouification of methods arc needed according to the climatic and soil conditions. Because certain methods give the best results in the Manawatu, is not to say that the same methods used in their entirety in the Waikato, would be successful. That is one reason why individual districts must be dealt with in these competitions. The information gained in the Manawatu would be of general interest, and would show certain principles to bo sound, but, it would be necessary to hold a similar competition in the Waikato, if farmers were to derive tho greatest benefit from it. The idea is one that could well be profitably developed in various parts of the Dominion, especially where farmers are working under difficulties, such as in certain parts of the Rotorua district, .and in parts of the King Country. Specialised methods have to be used to cope with the mineral deficiencies in this country, and a farm competition carried out over an area of this nature, would give a very fair indication of the most successful methods of farming it at a profit. Pooling Their Knowledge The farmer has always been an individualist, his whole training and life tending to make him such. In many cases he resents passing on information, and it is largely through the good influences of the co-operative movement and such institutions as Farmers’ Unions that he has acquired the habit of thinking in terms of the whole industry. The dairy industry is, of course, much better developed in this respect than is the pastoral industry, but the present year, with its depressed price for wool, is a good time to suggest greater co-operation in this section of our primary industries. Research workers all over the world keep in touch with one another, and pool the knowledge they gain on different problems. In this way team work is undertaken and a solution arrived at. Similarly, if farmers were to work together it would be possible to take greater return from their holdings.

Take the case of the small sheepfarm of from 300-700 acres. The area given covers a wide range of farms held by young settlers, and it is this class of sheepfarm which mst feels tho rdeuced prices for wool. Sonic farmers on these areas are top-dressing mildly; others are top-dressing heavily, while others still are not top-dressing at all. It is impossible to say offhand whether topdressing sheep country in a particular district will pay dividends over and above cost of materials and application. The most wo can say is that many farmers have found it profitable to do so, and that experiments conducted by the Agricultural Department at different times indicate that hill country top-

dressing can be very profitable. It would be very much more valAable were farmers in a certain district to hold a farm production competition, and see for themselves the fertilisers that gave the best results under their conditions. The Smaller Area Idea It has often been suggested that sheep farmers could in many cases be farming a smaller area, and actually making greater profits from it than from their present holdings. Expressed in other words this simply means that their present farms arc too large for intensive working, and that more efficient management could be carried out, were they reduced in size. This, of course, would be of very great benefit to the country, as more men could then be absorbed on the land. It is easy to talk generalities. The only way in which these ideas can be proved or disproved is by means of farm surveys or farm competitions.

The Manawatu competition, mentioned earlier in this article, deals solely with dairying, being confined to those farms where 50 per cent, of the farm income is derived from dairying, and where 80 per cent, of the cows are wintered on the holding. Tho basic idea is to find those holdings which arc being farmed to the greatest advantage per £lOO invested in the land. Points are being allotted, and as 35 (out of 100) are given for cost of production, and another 35 for total farm production per £lOO invested, it will be seen that the financial side is placed first. The balance of the points go to stock, and to farm equipment. This competition will carry farmers a stage beyond that reached in the farm surveys that have already been carried out in certain districts. With the farm survey a general idea of the profitableness of farming in a district is gained, and a rough indication of land values. A scheme such as this goes a long way further. If farms in the same district are compared the difference in results is comparable in terms of farming methods, and it is then possible to say with fair accuracy that certain things must be done for profitable working. The objection that neighbouring farmers will know all about each other’s affairs, if taken seriously, can be overcome by working with numbers instead of names, only the winners being stated. Few farmers whose production is so satisfactory as to win one of these competitions would object to having their names mentioned. It is certainly to be hoped that any opposition now existing to schemes of this nature will be gradually worn down, and that farmers will see the wisdom of pooling the knowledge they gain as individuals. A great deal of research work is under way in New Zealand at the present moment. Much of it will lead to useful results in the long run. Farmers, however, have it in their own hands to take short cuts to greater profits by making tho fullest possible use of the knowledge that is already in existence.