EMPIRE'S DAIRY FARM

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 15272, 23 June 1923, Page 16 (Supplement)

EMPIRE'S DAIRY FARM

JJOWEYEB efficient the factory might be, however modem

the machinery, or skilled the management, it is a physical impossibility to make bad cream into good butter, dirty milk into clean powder, or contaminated milk into good cheese or casein. Factory supervision and Government grading at export stores therefore left the real problem untouched. That problem was the producer himself—the supplier. To build a foundation of quality in the dairy products of_the country it was essential to educate the supplier in the finer points of production. Accordingly, a scheme was devised of appointing dairy instructors, to be under the control and supervision of the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture, which bore two-thirds of their salary and expenses, while the various companies in whose territory they operated contributed the remaining one-third. This system has been in operation now for several seasons, and is yielding results which stimulate the imagination in regard to what may be done in future with a continuation of the scientific and economic education of the farming community.

These men are equipped with the full authority of dairy inspectors, and can, if necessary, take very drastic action. It is their duty to personally visit each farm in the district to which they are attached, report upon the milking shed, the condition of the plant, the equipment, cleanliness, etc. With the advent and strong development of mechanical milking in this country, their work is very necessary. The milking machine

essentially a New Zealand invention, and it is safe to say that in distinctly dairy districts, from 75 to 80 per cent, of the cows are milked ,by machinery. This constitutes a very definite gain from the point of’view of economic production, because by this machinery it is possible for one man and his wife, or a man and a boy, to comfortably handle and do all the farm work pertaining to a herd of 50 cows. In reality this might be termed the economic labour unit. But while mac-hine-milking facilitates economic production, it constitutes a possible danger to quality production, the reason being that milking machines in their process of evolution have not yet attained absolute perfection. The pipes, tubes, and bends attached to them, unless certain care is taken, provide a comfortable breeding ground for bacteria. Milk, as is well known, is an ideal field for bacteria, their rate of multiplication under suitable conditions being simply staggering. The slightest trace of bacteral ferment left in an isolated or inaccessible part of the milking machine may inoculate all the milk or cream coming in contact with it, and on passing on to the factory, damage large quantities of hitherto clean milk or cream. Prompt pasteurisation in the factory is designed to maintain quality but while it does wonders it cannot do impossibilities. Careful production is therefore essential.

As a body, farmers are coming more and more to appreciate the importance of quality, and of absolute cleanliness in their search for that quality. On their appointment, the dairy instructors promptly initiated a war on the second grade and inferior product. Suppliers of inferior cream were tracked back from the factory to the farm, and investigation made as to the cause. Naturally enough, a certain amount of resentment of investigation was expressed at that time, for there is no subject on which the average human being is so sensitive as cleanliness. With steady patience, however, the instructors have followed out their work and to-day, instead of being regarded as inspectors, they are looked to as instructors, teachers, and friends. They have amassed a vast amount of useful knowledge in their work, and this knowledge they pass on from farmer to farmer. A valuable scientific education in the niceties of milk induction is thus being steadily diffused throughout the dairying community so that in time no group of producers will be so well versed in the intricacies of their business and its scientific aspects, as dairyfarmers where instructors are employed.

The work of tracing contaminations is by no means easy. There is yet a lot to be discovered and countered, but a very great deal has been done. The milking machine, the separator, and the cooler, when not attended to, all produce trouble — but the greatest trouble definitely lies in the milking machine. Yeast fermentations and contaminations develop miraculously if there is the slightest slackness in cleanliness. Even in an apparently clean shed and plant, trouble will arise from an unexpected source. One instance recorded is that of a supplier whose cream arrived at the factory almost in a boiling condition through bacterial ferment. A prompt inspection of the shed and plant showed everything apparently clean and in good order. The usual measures were taken, but still the trouble continued, and it was not until after a good deal of investigation that a liberal use of boiling water and chloride of lime disposed of a particularly virulent ferment that had become established in a comer of the milking machine. Th® supply of an absolutely pure product becomes doubly important when it is mentioned that the addition of even one gallon of milk containing a trace of yeast ferment —the special product of dirty machines—is sufficient to absolutely spoil an 800-gallon vat ready for casein precipitation.

Arising out of the revealed deficiencies in some machines, improvements are being effected to facilitate cleaning, and in this way a very definite advance towards perfection is being made. New Zealand in fact, is in the process of proving that machine milking can be engaged in, with its economic advantages’ without any disadvantage upon quality.

, To assist in the dissemination of definite knowledge upon many problems confronting the supplier on bis farm and in relation to the factory, the Directors of the Company took the

bold step of establishing a monthly journal entitled “The Dairyfarmer.” Copies of this are distributed free to every one of the company’s suppliers and it thus has a guaranteed circulation of 8000, throughout one of the most intensely developed dairying districts of the world. The journal is very capably edited indeed by two recognised experts in dairy literature and farm problems. Under their control the journal fills an important place in the economy of the company’s organisation.

The response of the suppliers to the company to the efforts of tlie instructional staff and the application of the grading system at the factory has been so good that for the past 5ea50n,87.76 per cent, of the Company’s export butter has gi-ded superfine instead of only 60 per cent, as was th. case four years ago. As the production this year is 2J times that of four seasons back, it will be seen that the actual increase in superfine butter is remarkable, enabling the proud boast to be made that “Anchor” brand has carried to market this year more high quality butter than any other individual brand in the •world. The premium demanded for Anchor superfine butter over ordinary first grade is sufficient to return an extra sum estimated at £60,000 to the company’s suppliers—a handsome return surely for an approximate expenditure of £3OOO on the part of the company.

To facilitate the testing of their dairy cows by suppliers the directors introduced a system by which suppliers desiring to do this would be supplied with testing bottles for the regular sampling of the cattle under test. Suppliers then forward the box to the nearest central factory for testing.. This system is very economical in operation involving only a cost of 2s 9d in the first season , and Is in the second —the extra amount in the first year being necessary to cover the cost

of bottles. Under this system something like 20,000 cows have been subjected to tests in the past season with very interesting results. In the more closely settled districts efforts are now being made to establish herd testing associations working upon the basis of from 26 to 30 herds in' each group. Such groups will employ a testing officer who will personally visit each farm and supervise the weighing of milk and the taking of samples. Groups of this nature that have already been established have done satisfactory work and the system is capable of easy extension. The offer to facilitate the purchase of pedigree, bulls by suppliers desirous of improving their herds was accepted by between 80 and 100 suppliers in the past season, and it is anticipated that a considerably greater number will take advantage of the offer in the coming years. The system is for the company to pay out the purchase price to the vendor and reclaim from suppliers in 6 monthly payments. Arrangements must necessarily be first made with the company, but only two stipulations are of importance —the first is that the bull must be a pedigree animal with a definite butter-fat backing and the second is that the price must not exceed £SO.

All matters pertaining to direct contact with the supplier are under the supervision of an officer bearing the title of Outside Organiser. This officer controls the instructors in conjunction with the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture and also the organisers employed by the Company'. A very comprehensive system of records is in existence, involving the keeping on file of a detailed account of all visits by instructors to suppliers. Such reports give information as to the condition of the shed, improvements suggested, and improvements carried out, and the establishment of this record enables a very comprehensive and reliable check to be kept upon the whole organisation. ,

To the outside organiser also come from the factories all reports as to second grade products received by the factory. These reports are allocated to the various organisers and inrectify the trouble and convert the second grade supply into structors in whose territory the farmers concerned are located and it then devolves upon the instructor to endeavour to one pi superfine quality. The valuable nature of this work z stands out in the records of the company- and is justified by the fact that a second grade article affects not only itself but also the quality and price of a superior article with which it may be associated.

The conditions under which the New Zealand producer works give him a very definite advantage over the dairy producer of the old world. Working upon the virgin soil of a new country he has at command reserves of fertility unpossessed by farmers in older countries. His climatic conditions are better., Particularly in the North Island of New Zealand ideal conditions prevail for the development of dairying. An abundant rainfall, a genial climate, and wide stretches of fertile land combine to make this province in general, and the Company’s area in particular, one of the most productive dairying districts in the world. The grass grows the whole year round. Indeed, pasturage is generally more scanty in January and February, the midsummer months, than in winter. The stalling of cattle is unknowK, and even in the winter months the rugging of cattle is not usually practised.

A comparison between these favourable conditions and those prevailing in Denmark, England and the Continent of Europe generally enables the estimate to be made, from the productive point of view, that? the climate of this part of New Zealand in itself, is worth up to £3O an acre extra compared with the disabilities of older and colder countries. Dairy farming here can be carried on with comparatively little supplementary cropping—some extra fodder to carry through the dry months of the summer, and again to supplement the pasture in the early spring months. In Denmark’ ( on the other hand and to a lesser extent in Britain, more extensive cropping must be undertaken to provide food for the winter months and accommodation provided for the housing of dairy cows in those winter months. This extra labour and extra outlay in buildings translates into heavier cost of production compared with the cheaper, more favourable and more economical conditions of the Southern Hemisphere.

The more natural conditions under which dairying cattle are handled in this Dominion enables the claim to be made that our butter is purely pasture butter, and is in no way produced under conditions of artificial and forced feeding and unnatural housing. In vitamine content, therefore, colonial butters are held to be superior from a health point of view.

Another great advantage possessed by New Zealand for the economical production of dairy products is her use of milking machines. Such machines enable large numbers of cows • to be handled in individual herds with a minimum of labour. A great deal of inventive genius has been directed to the improvement of these milking machines, of which there are now in existence over a score of well known makes. Right throughout the country thousands of these machines are in use, in fact it is safe to say that a very small number of herds of over 20 cows are handled by manual labour. The advantage possessed by New Zealand farmers in a superb climate, a kindly soil, and economic means of production, naturally translate into higher values of land than prevail in some countries of the world. This is quite understandable, because the feed and labour bill in New Zealand is very much lower than in other countries, and the saving thus effected by longer summer seasons and sunshine are translated into higher capital value, because the land is definitely worth more as a producing unit. But while in highly developed sections of the country witli an intense development of dairy activities comparatively high figures rule for dairying lands; intending immigrants need not magine that cheap'land is not available. Dairying in New Zealand is carried on profitably under all sorts of conditions The home separation movement enables backblock farms in process of development from rough bush country to profitably and economically produce butter-fat. Such land is cheap and offers an attractive proposition to those with the stout hearts necessary for facing such conditions. Life under such circumstances has disadvantages which it is useless and unfair to hide, but the point can well be accepted by intending immigrants that there is land available in New Zealand at prices to suit all pockets—land, too, capable of rapid improvement and high development at comparatively little cost. Obviously there is land available when only 18,381,303 acres out of over 66,000,000 aeves are cultivated, when 25,146,974 out of the 43,528’337 acres occupied by land owners or lessees are unimproved, and over 20,000,000 acres are not occupied. Good holdings in well settled districts can be secured at as low as £lO to £ls an acre, and those capable of handling unimproved land can purchase it or lease it under the renewable sixty years lease at prices ranging from 1/- an acre upward.

The future of New Zealand from a dairying point of view is assured. It is pre-eminent'y suited for dairying, and the volume of production will steadily increase by the intensive development of land already devoted to dairying and the steady widening of the circle of productivity. The supplier, who is the foundation stone of the industry, is alive to the important part he plays, and is determined that for his part the premier position now won by New Zealand shall maintained.