NOTES AND COMMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21220, 17 September 1940, Page 10

NOTES AND COMMENTS

Planning For Increase Nature certainly seems to have smiled upon the efforts of Waikato farmers in their efforts to increase production and has provided them with the most favourable spring for some years. Dairy production is well ahead of last year and in every branch of farming activity there is a heartening improvement in comparison with the poor spring that handicapped production last season. However, it is always difficult to look ahead and Nature, which one day provides a bountiful harvest may the next day provide a very difficult set of circumstances for the farmer. It is seldom that a favourable summer and autumn follows a good spring. If the farmer appreciates this law of averages, then, he will be determined to make the most of the ideal spring he is now experiencing. Pasture growth promises to be phenomenally good. Farmers will have to plan now to make the most effective use of any surplus grass. More ensilage, more hay, suggest themselves as the means of conserving grass most efficiently. There may be still a considerable amount of unused hay and ensilage in the district, but no farmer knows W’hat the future holds and he won’t deny that it is better to have more fudder than he actually requires than not enough.

With growth prospects so bright at the moment, a keener edge has

been given store cattle competition, the dairy farmer, as well as the grazier, has shown his interest in this market, but the high price level has dulled his enthusiasm in this regard. Those who bought early are better off, but those who were in the market more recently can see little prospect of a reasonable margin of profit. The outlook was very different a few weeks ago when beef was fetching high prices in the Waikato, but the slump in values since then has put a different complexion on things. When fat cattle are bringing high prices, the public often jumps to the conclusion that producers are obtaining exorbitant profits. However, they forget to take into consideration what prices producers may have had to pay for the cattle as stores. All this goes to show that there are no such things as excess profits as far as farmers are concerned, for if the price of his store stock, represented by raw material in the case of the manufacturer, is at reasonable levels then he can invariably rely upon the price of fat stock being disappointing.

There has been more talk of arable farming in the Waikato this year than for many years past. This comparative change of heart has been brought about by the fact that increased production has been made j essential because of the war. The j Waikato has become known as the foremost grassland farming district of the Dominion and there is not likely to be any great departure from this well-established practice. However, if pig producers are to be in a position to winter more pigs successfully then at least a small proportion of the farm must be devoted to roots. It has been suggested that there should be one acre of roots for every 4—5 cows, but a smaller area than this would probably be sufficient, say, one to two acres. At a time when farm labour is so uncertain, extensive cropping would be difficult and apart from this the Waikato district is not the easiest one in which to grow crops because of the weed problem. Cropping, of course, all means extra work for the farming community, which already has its hands full, but this is war time and producers are showing their determination to do their part. Where fairly large areas of crops would constitute difficulty for the farmer, he would do better to concentrate on a small area with the idea in his mind that some roots are better than none at all.