DAIRY PRODUCTION

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20718, 31 January 1939, Page 8

DAIRY PRODUCTION

BENEFIT FROM RAIN MORE FAVOURABLE AUTUMN While the week-end’s heavy down pour is not expected to bring aboin any spectacular increase in dairying production, it will at least do much to ensure that a more favourable autumn will be experienced than would have been the case had the dry spell continued. In view of the danger of disease arising from a sudden flush of feed, Waikato farmers will be parlic- W* ularly careful should such a occur to see that the stock are n6t allowed unlimited access to the immature grass. It is a common theory that “facial eczema’’ is likely to occur following any flush of young green feed after a long dry apell. At the corresponding period last season a dry spell was experienced in most districts with the result that production began to fall away rapidlyConsiderable rain later in the season brought about a heavy growth of grass which was blamed for the alarming incidence of “facial eczema.” Mr A. J. Sinclair, secretary-manager of the Te Awamutu Co-operative Dairy Company, stated this -morning that while it was too early to indicate the full effect of the recent rain it was the general anticipation in the Te Awamutu district that a favourable autumn would be experienced. Production was falling away rapidly before the rain and the heavy -downpour must have come as a great relief to the farming community'.