SKILLED FARMING

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXIV, 1 March 1929, Page 5

SKILLED FARMING

GREAT ADVANCES IN NEW ZEALAND.

HIGHER PRODUCTION IN EVERY DEPARTMENT.

(OU> o»> COB«MPONWtNT]

WELLINGTON, Feb. 20.

The farm economists of the Department of Agriculture, Messrs E. J. Fawcett, M.A., and W. N. Paton, have contributed to the latest issue of the New Zealand Year Book a special article which embodies their investigation into the live stock production of the Dominion during the past ’26 seasons. Their conclusions show that great progress has been made in every department of land production in securing higher outputs from the land under cultivation.

In order to make fair comparisons between various years, as the values of produce have fluctuated considerably in the period under review, the economists have adopted a system of index numbers applying arbitrary standard values to the quantities produced. Wool, for instance, figures uniformlv as valued at Is per lb, and butterfat at Is 3d per lib, cattle £lO, and sheep £2 per head. This system enables comparisons to be made accurately in regard to production from the areas concerned during the whole period 1901-2 till 1926-7.

The result is to show a remarkable increase in production from the Dominion’s grass lands, contributed to by all branches of grassland products, but mainly by butterfat, lamb, wool,, and beef. The conclusions reached are succinctly set out and illustrated in graphs, the main points being: The total grassland farmed has increased by 11.7 per cent. When all cattle are reduced to sheep, equivalents, it is shown that the total number of sheep units carried has increased by 69.7 per cent. Thus it is demonstrated that the stock carried per grass acre has increased. This improvement in carrying capacity is shown at 51.8 per cent. The total production of lamb, mutton, wool, beef, butterfat and calf products has increased per acre of grass lands to the extent of 109.9 per cent. As total production has increased more rapidly than the units of stock carried, it is proved that the production in these lines has increased by 37.2 per unit of stock carried. The economists have not included the considerable increase in capital represented by increase of stock, nor the larger capital represented in the land, as their aim is to represent the farmer’s annual position from the farmer’s viewpoint as nearly as possible.