SURPLUS FEED

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21244, 15 October 1940, Page 10

SURPLUS FEED

CONSERVE TO UTMOST WAIKATO FARMERS’ TASK “Don’t trust to Providence for . winter foodstuffs” —this slogan adopt- j ed by Great Britain a few months j ' ago might well be whole-heartedly supported by the dairy farmers of , the Waikato. The slogan was first used by Lord Woolton, Minister of Food, who in conjunction with the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Hudson, i was addressing a conference in London.

Lord Woolton was stressing the j necessity for farmers to make pro- , vision for foodstuffs for the animal, ' which in turn would provide food i for the human population, and he finished his appeal by saying that farmers should recognise that in the i last emergency the safety of the Empire and the civilised world may depend on them. In the Waikato. Providence has smiled kindly on the countryside this past winter and spring, and she is i still smiling. While it is our fervent ! hope that she will continue to smile throughout the season, there is noth- ' ing to suggest that next month or , perhaps the month after, or in the | | autumn she will scowl instead of i j smiling. In fact, if we look the cold ; facts in the face, we will realise that j |in all probability that smile will j ' j fade, for studying the seasons over i i the past decade or so we find that j !if o cnrintr oe>t a

lean autumn and vice versa. Let us then take full advantage of the present position of feed surplus and conserve to the utmost. Record Crops This season should, for two reasons, see the record amount of silage and hay made: firstly, because it looks as if the feed will be there to save and, secondly, because it is our country’s war effort to feed our i stock to capacity. On the other | side of the ledger we have unfortun- | ately conditions of labour and costs | which will react against the record j quantity of feed being saved, but | : farmers are known to rise to the oc- ! | casion and it will be surprising if : j their co-operative effort cannot lift j them above these difficulties, j We are prone to grumble—it is i human to do so, but let us compare ! . j our lot with that of the English I farmer just now. One can hardly imagine that his labour troubles or rising costs are less than our own, ■ , they are probably a great deal worse. The oil cakes and concentrates that he so largely depended upon to feed

his herd are now not obtainable. | His beautiful fields are crossed by I ditches and other obstacles to prevent enemy aircraft landing. Milii tary operations within his area play J havoc with his crops and fences and j he is not quite sure where he will find his stock. Bombs Lowers Production Actually, if his locality has been the subject of indiscriminate bombing he might not find them at all. We are told that aerial activity and j “dog fights’’ overhead are not conducive to high production of his herd, ! while there is the even possible ■ danger of power and transport be- j * ing cut off. Yes, we have our diffi- | | culties, but in the light of the diffi- ( ! culties of the English farmer they | dwindle to nothing, so let us get on : j with the job and pledge ourselves j ! to let no blade of grass be wasted j this season. The farmers of the | i Waikato have proved that it is pos- j , : sible to get two, three or four blades I of grass growing where one grew j 1 before. Let them now lead the : , | way in the full utilisation of those j . j blades by conserving the whole of | their surplus grass as silage or hay.