HERD-TESTING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 148, 25 June 1931, Page 9

HERD-TESTING

VALUE TO FARMERS. BENEFITS DURING DEPRESSION, j “In view of the faet that, even at the commencement of the season, a fall in price of butter fat was apparent, it is pleasing to note that associations generally have ben able to hold their position,” said the president, Mr Dynes Fulton, in the report presented to the annual meeting of the council of the Dominion Group Herd-TVsting Association at New Plymouth on Tuesday. “ The slump of 192.1-22 was responsible for the formation of the group herdtesting movement and the present low prices, together with tho immediate prospect of moderate prices only, should give a fresh impetus to the further development of this vital adjunct to dairy farm management. “We should take a lesson from our chief competitor, Denmark, where at I lease 33 1-3 per cent .of the cows are under test each year. They have concentrated on herd-testing, and that factor is largely responsible for their average, over all cows, of 2701 b. Tn this Dominion not more than 20 per cent, of the cows are under test, with an average, over all cows, of 2201 b. A large proportion of the dairy farmers in the Dominion to-day can produce profitably at Is per lb. Their average, however, is not 2201 b., but over 3001 b. It must be obvious, therefore, that were it not for the benefits of group herdtesting up to the present time, thousands of our dairy farmers could not ! have carried on during this present time of low prices and depression. “What has been done by many can be ■ jdone by practically all. Land described as second class, and regarded as worthless a few years ago, has, with the aid of fertilisers, been turned into profitable dairy farms. The Dominion is dependent on a prosperous dairying industry. The two vital factors in nt taining that objective aro herd-testing and top-dressine.” -