Factors in Successful Farming.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 57, Issue 6, 20 December 1938, Page 524

Factors in Successful Farming.

(10) Farming Efficiency and Recording.

W. N. Paton,

Senior Investigational Officer, Accounts Division.

MODERN farming is really a technical business ; therefore scientific method needs to be adopted in management in order to be most efficient and successful. This requirement does not imply that each and every farmer needs to have had the benefit of a higher education entailing the various science subjects. In actual practice all that is necessary over - and above a primaryschool education (admitted that to have had a secondary-school education may be a distinct advantage) can be acquired readily by those who are prepared to look upon education as something of which we only receive a foundation while at school, and which really should continue unabated throughout our useful years of life.-

Remaining a Student. Such a course means remaining . a student at all times and progressively becoming more apt and skilled in acquiring and using knowledge as a result of accumulated experience. All progress in knowledge is built on past knowledge, and all knowledge is the result of experience; experience is of little value unless we are able to learn something from it. Our aim should be to learn the most possible from experience, and this can only be done by being extra-observant and by closely studying what we observe. To enhance observation and study, recording has to be resorted to and method applied in doing all three things.: By doing just that we are being scientific.

As one noted scientist put it, the five essential points to the scientist are (i) skill in observation and experiment, (2) memory and knowledge of relevant facts,. (3) ability to reason and think in a logical, systematic way (4) cultivation of the imagination, and (5) development of a critical and impartial judgment. None of these requirements need deter the . average . farmer from striving to be reasonably scientific and therefore efficient in his endeavours. Efficiency. Highly efficient farming can only be attained as the result of scientific management, whether applied consciously .or otherwise. ' Let us by all means apply it consciously- In a complicated business, such as farming, efficiency is one of those

things which can only be developed progressively. Hence, we have to work to a plan in the development of efficiency, and as an incentive set up some objective or goal'.towards which to strive. Efficiency has continually to be subjected to measurement in order that the progress being made can be ascertained. For the ■ purpose 'of measurement of efficiency in production suitable units have to be utilized. In the industrial field costs are. usually measured in terms of unit quantity of the final product, whereas efficiency is best gauged by

expressing what quantity of the final product is obtained from a given quantity of the raw material operated upon. In farming, the raw material utilized cannot be closely measured as in the case of manufacturing, and farming efficiency is usually gauged in terms of production per acre. This represents the principal and most important unit of measurement, but in going more closely into our problems, units have to be employed which measure efficiency not only as between the first and last stages of the exploitation chain,

but also as between any two stages, or at various points within a stage. Hence, in live-stock farming we utilize such units as head of productive stock carried per acre, and of production per head of stock, &c. We have .to measure, also, the efficiency in the utilization of labour, of materials involved, and, in fact, of all things which can be counted, measured, or described according to given standards. Then, again, efficiency is measured in terms of unit costs not only at the final stage, , but, where practicable,' at - prior points as well. A consideration of this aspect, however, will be reserved for treatment in the next article. Recording. It has been emphasized already that by being methodical we are being scientific, and that scientific working and management - enhances efficiency. By drawing up. a carefully planned long-range programme of farm development at the outset and preparing a detailed outline each year of the work for the season ahead farmers are better enabled to make progress. Another valuable step is to adopt regular and systematic recording. Not . only do such records provide the essential- data from which efficiency can be measured, but they also furnish detail necessary in the interpretation of accounts and in solving farming problems of many kinds. . The details of a farmer’s experience, when properly recorded, are invaluable to the agricultural expert when he is called in to. assist,' One farmer’s records of. difficulties may be insufficient in giving a lead. to the cause of the trouble experienced, and hence records from other farmers (generally those in the immediate neighbourhood) are often necessary. This last-mentioned requirement of the investigating officer can only be met by a more general adoption of detailed recording. The reason more of this work- is not done appears to be due to the attitude, “ Why compile a whole lot of records that may never be. needed ? ” ■ Such work properly' done is never wasted • effort. Subjected to close study it will always prove informative. Its self-educative value cannot be too greatly stressed. Through this course alone a farmer can ensure that he remains a student throughout life. T : . It is only by being. acquainted with farming problems'. in . this manner that corrective measures advocated by an agricultural service can be harnessed to best effect. Moreover, the advice of others is never so convincing, nor does a successful outcome provide so much satisfaction as when we discover things for ourselves. Therefore, the motto of farmers should be “ self-help first.” • •fr <*