Factors in Successful Farming.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 56, Issue 5, 20 May 1938, Page 333

Factors in Successful Farming.

(5) Factors in Farm Development.

W. H. Paton,

WHATEVER the walk of life, man continually aspires to bigger and better things, and farming is no exception to the rule. Thus extension and intensification figure large in the aspirations of existing or intending farmers. Extension may be attained either by acquiring an addition to the area of the farm or by breaking in an undeveloped portion. Scope for intensification lies in the direction of raising productivity by better management and efficiency and by exploitation of byproducts and side lines. The bulk of these measures entail capital and labour, and hence in envisioning future expansion it is essential to have proper regard for this fact. ■ , As pointed out in the second article of this series, an undeveloped area within a farm may prove a liability rather than an asset unless the . reserve of capital and/or amount of full-time family male labour available is sufficient for the purpose of the proposition concerned. Scope in farm development and incidental costs and labour are not at all easily gauged to any close degree of accuracy. In consequence the path of development is one of many vicissitudes arising often from defective purchasing, planning, and management. Man’s optimism towards husbandry possibilities is ever apparent and must surely be inherent. Place him on a plot of ground, and in a very short space of time his mind is away in a garden of dreams. No doubt it would be a sorry state of affairs if we did not respond so readily in this way to Nature. But in a practical world we need to be practical and guard against this susceptibility to optimism. Extension. The points of importance to be considered where extension of a farming enterprise is brought about by the purchase of an additional area corresponds closely with what was dealt with in articles two and three. Therefore it remains to discuss the case where an undeveloped portion of a farm is to be broken in. This is one of the commonest forms of development and expansion in farming, especially where the shortcomings of the class of farming concerned, of the locality, and of the management ability of the

Senior Investigational Officer, Accounts Division.

farmer are such as to considerably limit intensification. Typical cases of unproductive land are timbered areas; land covered in scrub, fern, gorse, &c. ; swamp ; pumice, land ; sand waste ; gum land, &c. The examples given well illustrate the range of distinctly different propositions that may be involved. Hence remarks can only b of a general nature and having a bearing on the broader aspects more or less common to each instance. Once, satisfied that improvement of the area in question is feasible and that the work can be done in reasonable time either in stages or as a whole, it is necessary to be assured at the outset that the proposition is economically sound. One important aspect is whether or not the area, once improved, can be kept in production without unduly high maintenancecost. In this connection the case of thousands of acres in the middle, districts of the North Island may be quoted where over-steep bush-land should never have been cleared at all. Development-costs. Go carefully into the development-costs, making allowance for possible contingencies, and also endeavour to assess at a reasonably conservative figure what extra production is likely to result and at what maintenance-cost. Much depends on individual circumstances. More than one course of action may be feasible, and any alternatives should be carefully gone into in order that the best development plan may be adopted. Do not overlook the possibilities of indirect products arising out of the development-work, such as posts, droppers, firewood from a timbered area. The stones removed from a stony piece of ground can often be put to profitable use as fences, in filling in culverts, in metalling yards or roads within the farm, in the laying of foundations for concrete work, or in the building of dams, &c. The spoil from cutting drains can occasionally be employed in building stop-banks, or for fillings, &c. Tea-tree scrub is useful for shelter purposes when interlaced in wire fences. Where the amount of work to be done is appreciable, it will be found in all probability that the usual farm "labour is insufficient for rapid progress. Considerable capital outlay may also be involved.

It should also be borne in mind that while the unimproved portion lies idle interest on its unimproved value has to be earned by the remainder of the farm, unless the purchase price was sufficiently favourable to offset this aspect. Land lying undeveloped too long often becomes infested with noxious weeds to such extent as to menace the improved portion of the farm and render maintenance of the latter unduly high in consequence. Eradication or control of noxious weeds on unimproved land in the rough often can prove an arduous and expensive undertaking. Hence it is to the farmer’s advantage to break in the areas as rapidly as possible. Contract System. In these days of smaller families and movement of young people to vocations other than , farming, the breaking-in of a considerable . area of unproductive land may represent a difficult problem unless enough capital is available to have the work done by. contract. Much of the drudgery of land-improvement can . now be obviated by the use of specialized mechanical equipment which, although beyond the pocket of the average farmer, is available' through contractors. The saving of time possible by the employment of modern methods is a major consideration. The first expense may appear high, but against this savings should be taken into account. It is sound practice not to go in for a farm where heavy land-improvement work is necessary without having on hand a reserve of capital for the purpose. Those who have not made special capital provision for pressingly essential improvement work,' and whose availability of family labour is not great enough, should endeavour to raise the finance to have the work done by contract. Should this not be feasible, it may be best to dispose of the area where opportunity offers, especially where it is proving an encumbrance. In breaking in unproductive land there are two main divisions of work to be done. The first of these is of an agriculturalengineering nature, and the second the preparation of the ground for crops or pasture. Unless the farmer has reason to be confident in his ability, kn wledge, and experience, it is wise to consult the Instructor in Agriculture for the district

before any plan is completed and proceeded with, particularly should the soil be of a poor type requiring considerable building up or physical improvement. Where the bulk of the work is to be performed by regular farm labour, it is necessary to see that the amount of work and programme to be followed do not clash with the maintenance and working of the remainder of the farm. .If too great a task is undertaken, in the aggregate some portion of it is likely to suffer in consequence. . Often many of the consequences which mitigate progress arise from sources external or internal to the farm that can in part be anticipated beforehand, and those that cannot be reasonably anticipated can be provided for by the margins contained within the plan or through its flexibility. Therefore very careful planning is essential. These points are of particular import to farmers financing improvement partly or wholly from farm income. This is often a hazardous procedure, although it has to be admitted that by, far the larger portion of farm-development work is carried on in this way.

It is nothing short of amazing that so much good progress has been achieved purely on the basis of where there is a will there is a way, and says much for the industry and efficiency of the farming community. One man's failure and forced sale of a farm is often another’s advantage, and therefore it is necessary to see that one is numbered in the right group. Regard must also be had for the repercussions of the bringing into production of a new area, such as increase then necessary in stock, chattels, and labour. This aspect is considered of such importance that the whole of the next article will be devoted to it. Intensification. As mentioned in the introduction to this article, intensification covers improvement of the productive portion of the farm and exploitation of by-products and side lines. Improvement of live-stock will be dealt with in articles eight and nine of this series. Improvement of land already productive provides an alternative or supplement to extension in the general aim of farm-improvement. Even under

the more unyielding of conditions or under the higher levels of intensification and productivity, scope for improvement exists for those who fit themselves for the task. As in the case of extension, intensification involves a good deal of capital and labour in its attainment. However, there is the redeeming feature that in the earlier stages these are not usually of considerable moment, and to those farmers who follow the practice of providing reserves from farm income for the purpose, and who draw up and carry out a carefully planned programme, the accomplishing of the later and more expensive stages of development should not prove difficult. Intensification entails such things as getting the soil into better heart and physical condition, by building it up with green manuring, the use of fertilizers, draining, fallowing, liming, cultivation, cropping, stocking treatment, &c. In live-stock farming the aim is better pastures. Once the soil has been got into good heart and physical condition the laying-down of the best strains of grasses and clovers in providing a composition

and quality of sward suited to the conditions is considerably facilitated and enhanced, and likely to provide a pasture of really permanent and satisfactory type. The preparation of the land , sometimes involves a certain amount of cleaning up of underground obstructions for deeper or more thorough tillage, eradication of noxious weeds, &c. Following the establishment of better pastures, provision for the heavier stocking possible, by addition of more subdivisional fencing, stock watersupply, shelter, buildings, plant, and equipment, &c., has to be made. The practical and various scientific aspects to all this work is the concern of the Instructors in Agriculture, and where information and guidance is required the officer for the district should be consulted. Similar remarks apply to exploitationof by-products— skim-milk by pigs—and * side lines where specialist and instructional officers of the various Divisions of the Department may need to be consulted. . The main points of importance to be borne in mind are not to attempt anything economically unsound, carefully to draw up and adhere to a progressive programme, . and provide the capital essential to the success and rapidity of the improvement plan. Where available farm labour is scarce a certain amount of contract work may be necessary. The size of the stages of the improvement programme, and how these dovetail with labour utilization and ’ other economic aspects, will be dealt with in : ext month’s article. Maintenance of Fertility. One important aspect that should constantly be kept in mind, particularly in live-stock farming, is that production should be considered as conversion. In the exploitation chain, soil, pasture, livestock, ; and live-stock products, together with the overriding factors of management -and of weather and climate, &c., represent conversion from one stage to the next. As neither matter nor energy can be created or destroyed, input and output balance as between each stage. The bulk of the input originates from the soil, and some from the air, water, and energy sources such as sunlight, supplemented by man-introduced . input in the form of fertilizer, lime, &c. The input supplied by man from external sources is intended to make up for original deficiency of the soil and for any losses represented in output— i.e., —carried away from the farm. .This suffices in the maintenance of soil fertility and productivity at a given level, and thus, where improvement through intensification methods is involved, greater input is necessary before greater output , can be obtained.

The Factor of Time. The position is not quite so simple as ' so far explained, for the reason-that the factor of time has to-be reckoned with. Input from the soil to the pasture or other stock-food plants is derived from the . soluble portion, which in the aggregate forms but a small proportion of the surface , soil from which the roots draw their supplies. Action is going on in the soil continually through the effects of soil bacteria, water, air, heat and cold, &c., assisted by supplementary influences of

man in the way of cultivation, liming, &c. This chemical and bacterial action fluctuates under the varying nature of the conditions giving rise to it, and also to man ' s interference. It can be readily appreciated how the factor of time enters into the picture, since action cannot be dissociated from time. Therefore input of soluble matter from the soil, and of other matter from the air and energy from sunlight, &c., is governed by time. For. different soils and for different conditions the quantity of each

■of the elements necessary for plant-life available in utilizable form per unit of time varies. As these available supplies are drawn upon by plants, more become available with the passage of time. The plant-food available to plants is dependent upon the nature of the source of the supply. Should the soil, for instance, be low in content of a certain element, there is danger of this being exhausted in the course of time, the length of time depending upon the rate at which the exhaustion process proceeds. Although a good supply of a certain element is available in the soil it may be in a form not readily rendered soluble by the agencies at work, or the latter may be less active for a number of reasons and be responsible for a similar result. Both of these conditions may' be present, in which case the position would be accentuated. Again, the soil may be entirely deficient of some element or elements of varying importance to plant . (and animal) life. The level and rate of productivity is governed by the quantity of input in unit time of the necessary plant-food', not only as regards the whole but also as regards each of its components, according to their importance in plant nutrition. . The position varies somewhat in character with the kind or class of plant concerned. Hence it is not only a matter that all the necessary elements be present in an available form, but also that the quantity of each rendered available by the agencies ht work keeps pace with demand, and eonsequently that the storage of each on aand does not become depleted through the rate of input . lagging behind that of output. . Should the storage on hand become exhausted,. then it is obvious that .the rate of output is entirely dependent on the rate and fluctuations in the rate of input. Storage but serves as a buffer between the two in absorbing differences due to fluctuations in the rate of each.

Input in terms of the action that goes on can be speeded up somewhat by man’s interference and added input, but this needs to be very carefully done. With intensification methods man is but raising the performance of Nature to a higher level, which, as it is raised higher and higher, tends eventually to overreach the limiting factors that exist, and which are either not taken into account or are not practicable to offset. By concentrating on enhancing input of a particular plantfood which beforehand was considerably in short supply its quantitative availability in unit time can be so raised that eventually those of other necessary plantfoods may need raising also. In this way continued heavy top-dressing solely with phosphatic fertilizer may bring about a reversal of the original position. Thus man can introduce unbalance and relative deficiency in input with highlevel productivity methods, which did not exist at considerably lower levels. Man’s knowledge and understanding of all these things is too imperfect as yet to allow of a more perfect and scientific interference. By altering the part he may unbalance the whole. Fortunately, this appears to be of no serious moment until higher levels are reached. It is therefore hoped that this rather imperfect picture of what is admittedly not a very easy matter on which to expound provides some indication of what has to be dealt with by farmers when intensification reaches high levels of productive exploitation. The problems are such as to call for intelligent understanding and handling. Conclusion. Provided good scope for intensification exists and management ability is in keeping with requirements, a deficiency of opportunities for extension is of little consequence. For those who lack possibilities in both directions there exists the

consolation that it is always feasible under suitable guidance to improve management ability of live-stock as well as of land and pasture, and progress in farming science and practice is continually opening up further possibilities for improvement in all three to yet higher productive levels despite the operation of limiting conditions. There exists also the possibilities of greater exploitation of by-products and side lines. So let none be despondent for lack of opportunities. Intensification methods in farming open up a vista of realizable attainment for man’s aspirations of a satisfying nature second to none of any walk of life, and once the aspirant has experienced the thrill of a certain measure of success arising directly out of his own efforts he is made of very peculiar clay indeed if his enthusiasm is not fired with the desire for further efforts, and success. There are those, of course, who have a preference for extension rather than intensification methods —for the staid rather than the colourful. But for those who are possessed of the zest of the explorer, the discoverer, and the scientist for that which is just beyond, there is no need to follow such paths when intensive farming is right to hand. One needs to sound a note of warning, however, to those who may imagine that the intensive farming path is so well defined and easy to follow. It is but a mountain track winding and deviating from point to point, sometimes upwards and sometimes downwards, but leading eventually according to the climber’s ability to higher and yet higher vantage points upon the slopes of an unconquerable peak towering above, towards which foothold becomes progressively more precarious, and where possible falls are fraught with graver and yet graver consequences. But what a challenge to skill and perseverance !