STUDIES IN FARM MANAGEMENT

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 72, Issue 1, 15 January 1946, Page 27

STUDIES IN FARM MANAGEMENT

By

H. deO. CHAMBERLAIN,

Instructor in Agriculture, Palmerston North.

SOILS of the Oroua County are highly fertile and eminently suited for the growing of wheat and seed crops and for fat lamb production. Drainage is imperative because of the impervious subsoil, and if mole drainage is carried out before sowing to good grasses, the land will hold highly-productive pastures for 10 years or more; but with the great success attending fat lamb production in the district and the need for young pastures, most farmers plough regularly, take out a cash crop, and resow, thus keeping both stock and crop output at a high level. The great increase in production that can be achieved in the district by good management is evident in the following study of a typical wheat and fat lamb farm in Oroua County.

SEVENTY-FOUR years ago the _ 4. o+;u invrrniv Oroua County was still large y covered with heavy bush—tall matai and rimu, tawa and tree ferns, with occasional giant totaras. For centuries fallen leaves of the bush had built up the fertility of the forest floor until

no more luxurious forest could be found anywhere in the North Island. L an( i_h un g r y settlers, recognising the possibilities of the area, came in 1874 w ith their families and their few possessions, and the silence of the bush was shattered by the ring of many axes and the crash of falling trees.

In the Halcombe district of the Oroua County, about which this article is chiefly concerned, the number of settlers had increased from 429 in 1874 to 1,600 three years later, and the development of the area had begun in earnest. The Oroua is a long narrow county bounded on the northwest by the Rangitikei River, whence it extends to the south-east to a point just over the Manawatu River. It is bisected by the Oroua River. The eastern boundary is roughly defined by a line running from the Rangitikei River, near Rata, through Cheltenham to the Manawatu River; and the western from the Rangitikei through

Mount Biggs and Feilding along Stony Creek Road to Ferry Road, just across the Manawatu River. Soils About two thirds of the county is rolling country and the soil on these downs is a Pirinoa sandy silt loam, consisting of about 6in. of blackishgrey sandy silt loam over a compact subsoil of mottled clay loam. It is highly fertile and eminently suited to the growing of wheat. On the banks of the Manawatu and Oroua Rivers there is about a halfmile wide strip of a brownish-grey sandy silt loam on sandy loam subsoil. There are small areas here, too, which consist of 6 to 12in. of grey stony loam over gravel. The remaining third of the county—a strip three miles wide which runs from Cheltenham to Feilding on the north bank of the Oroua River—is mostly flat or slightly undulating, with soil of the Milsom silt loam type, which is 7in. of brownish-black silt loam over clay loam.

In the bend of the Rangitikei by Tokorangi in the Halcombe district there is a small pocket of a soil type known as Ohakea loam, consisting of 6in. of dark grey loam, 20in. of brownish-yellow clay loam, and 6in. of sandy loam over gravel. Drainage All these soils are low in phosphate and have very compact subsoils. Drainage is of the first importance and must be attended to before sowing to good grasses. Fortunately the subsoil over most of the county is well suited for mole drainage, and the fact that the rolling country provides a natural run-off towards creeks makes this form of drainage comparatively simple. ■ The majority of tne mole drains are pulled about 9ft. apart at an angle across the fall of the downs. In the low spots tiles are laid to carry the water away to creeks or main drains, the moles being pulled straight over the top of the tile lines. - Another system, now becoming more general, is the McLeod system of mole draining, the main feature of which

is the collecting of several minor moles into major mole drains and allowing two or three majors to run into one outlet, which is tiled. This has the great advantage of reducing the number of outlets and therefore the damage to the land immediately about the outlets. Moreover, the tiling of the outlets reduces the possibility of blocking. Mole draining is also quite successfully carried out on the flatter areas where the fall is not less than one in 300. These drains tend to silt up at the end of three or four years, but the improvement of pastures coupled with the reduced poaching makes mole draining even at these intervals highly profitable. Pasture Establishment In the early days pasture seed was ' sown after the bush had been felled and burned. At first only limited areas of pastures were sown, most of the cleared land being used for vegetable and grain crops for human consumption. The seeds chiefly sown were cocksfoot, ryegrass, Yorkshire fog, white clover, and trefoil, but

under conditions of poor drainage the swards deteriorated fairly quickly and rushes made an appearance, necessitating the breaking up of the pastures, cropping, and resowing. Today, with improved facilities and methods for draining, pastures will hold the best grasses for 10 years or more, but owing to the common practice of fat lamb raising , and the consequent desire for young pastures, most farmers plough their pastures at regular intervals, take out a cash crop, and resow. This is particularly the practice on the rolling country, on which excellent crops of wheat can be grown. The introduction of long-lived, highproducing strains of grass, however, together with the brisk demand for the seed of these strains, has caused a general tendency, towards keeping pastures down for longer periods, and cropping has declined in acreage by about half over the past 10 years.

Manurial Practice

Manurial practice has varied considerably in the past, at least as far as the kind of manure used. Farmers have realised the need for phosphate if pastures are to be kept in maximum production. In the Oroua County generally large quantities of basic slag have been used and ground rock phosphate was also a favourite manure, while blood and bone manure was also applied to pastures in fair quantity. In later years, however, the practice of using superphosphate in place of the manures mentioned has become general, the value of the quicker, more evenly-balanced returns having made itself plain. Lime also is becoming very much more widely used, and the standard practice for the county is to apply 1 ton of carbonate of lime after ploughing and scwt. annually as a topdressing. The superphosphate is generally applied at the rate of 3cwt. with the seed with an annual topdressing of from 2 to 3cwt.

LAND AREAS, CROPS, PASTURES, AND LIVESTOCK, OROUA COUNTY, 1942* Area in pasture .. .. 98,756 acres. Area under cultivation . .. 3,366 acres. Sheep population .. .. 248,454 Dairy cows in milk .. .. 11,424 Other cattle .. .. .. 36,394 Pigs .. 3,642 No. of holdings .. ... 634 Average size of holdings .. 167 acres. *A. and P. Statistics, 1942.

Climate

The climate of the Oroua County is mild, the maximum frost recorded being 11 degrees. High winds are common from November to January, and shelter for both stock and homesteads is necessary. The rainfall averages 35.8 in. per year, the lowest falls being recorded in December, January, and February. The following table gives the average rainfall for 10 years.

Inches. Inches. January .. .. 2.0 'July .. .. 4.0 February .. .. 2.2 August .. .. 3.2 March .. .. 2.5 September .. 3.3 April .. .. 3.0 - October .. .. 3.4 ' May .. .. 2.8 November .. 3.6 June .... 3.5 December .. 2.3 Total .. 35.8 inches. A FAT LAMB AND WHEAT FARM. As a typical fat lamb and wheat farm, one in the Halcombe district has been selected for the purpose of this study. Situated 1 mile from Halcombe railway station and 8 miles from the Feilding sale yards and freezing works, it is well placed for communications both by road and rail. The country is of the easy rolling type and the whole area lends itself to cropping and seed production. The farm is of 222 acres, well divided into 14 paddocks, apart from the shed and homestead area.

Water Supply Water is supplied from simply-con-structed but well-built dams made by a contract-supplied bulldozer in places where water collects naturally, the excavated soil being used to form the banks. Outlets are formed on hard ground where the shoulder of the dam meets the hill and may be open if the dam is formed on a natural water channel or, if not, are piped to the nearest creek by drainage tiles. Cleaning is done by horse scoop. Water enters the dams from the natural drainage from the side of the slopes and also, in some cases, through tile drains led into the dam. There is a plentiful supply all the year round and this method of watering is found to be efficient and economical. Each dam on this farm waters two or three paddocks, with the exception of two small ones which cater for individual paddocks.

Soil The soil is in the Pirinoa section of yellow-grey loams. The topsoil, when drained, is free and about Bin. deep. The subsoil is a compact mottled clay, ideal for mole draining and for wheat growing.

Drainage Drainage is of the utmost importance in the farming of this country, as without it the impervious subsoil keeps the surface extremely wet, breaking down the “crumb” structure of the topsoil during cultivation and causing severe poaching under cattle grazing. Undrained, this soil will not hold white clover and the better English grasses, but quickly reverts to heavy rushes. Because of its efficiency and cheapness, mole drainage is used for all except the lowest spots, where tile drains are employed. These tiles serve a dual purpose, as they not only remove the water from the lower levels, but act as an outlet for the mole drains. The method employed is to lay the tiles first, from the lower levels to the nearest creek —often one outside the boundary of the farm —and fill in the drain with topsoil. Moles from the higher slopes, which are pulled at an angle across the face, cut straight across the filling of the tile drains above the tiles, and water coming from the moles falls into the tiles and is carried to the creek. Moles are pulled 6 to Bft. apart. On long stretches of 15 chains or more this spacing would cause too great a volume of water to flow into the tiles on the low levels, so another set of tiles is laid at an angle half way up the slope and is led to the lowest part of the gully or direct into the creek, where possible, so reducing the direct flow of water by half.

Where convenient some of the collecting tiles are led into a dam to increase the water supply there, being taken in at an angle round the shoulder of the dam to prevent the water from backing up into the tiles and causing them to flood. That this method is as efficient as it is simple for the type of country is shown by the fact that moles pulled 15 years ago are still running freely.

Stock Management

Each year the broken-mouthed ewes are fattened and sold, being replaced on the average with 300 2-tooth hoggets which are brought in from hillcountry farms. This practice is a departure from the usual custom of purchasing full-mouthed ewes, as it is considered that by buying 2-tooths the flock is kept to a younger level throughout, the wool clip is better, and mortality is lower. Since fat lambs are the desired object, Romney ewes are mated with Southdown rams, the result being quick-growipg, full-bodied lambs eminently suited for the overseas trade. The wool clip averages 101 b. per head. No food is bought in, 100 per cent, of the lambs selling fat off the mothers. The lambing average is slightly better than 100 per cent. Stock carried during the season 1944-45 comprised 1,000 ewes, 26 rams, 60 cattle, 3 bulls, a house cow, and 8 horses. Fifteen hundred lambs were sold fat, of which 1,100 were bred on the farm and 400 were bought in. The cattle used are dairy heifers purchased in the autumn and sold the following autumn as springers—a very fruitful source of income besides ensuring adequate pasture control. Dry sheep are shorn about the middle of October, followed by the wet sheep in December, the brokenmouths and culls being fattened and replaced.

Crops and Rotation

The main object of the farm is the production of fat lambs and wool, and all other activities are directed to this end. Thus about 15 acres of mixed swedes and chou . moellier are grown every year for winter sheep feed; 5 acres of oats (Algerian) for horse feed and about 40 acres of . wheat are grown to break in old pastures for new grass. About 12 acres of the wheat land is set to wheat again, a catch crop of chou moellier or turnips being taken between the two white crops to improve fertility and provide extra feed. In addition about 3 acres of mangolds are grown to supplement grass when the ewes are heavy in lamb. For this soil and somewhat ' uncertain climate, the most suitable variety

of wheat has . proved to be the New Zealand selected Tainui, which yields, on the average, 50 bushels per acre of excellent quality grain. Tainui is a tight-chaffed, strong-strawed wheat resistant to rough winds and lodging. Within 2 years of its appearance Tainui had completely replaced the former favourite, Jumbuck, which Tainui, apart from its stronger characteristics, also out-yielded. Wheat is harvested with a horse binder on this farm and is invariably saved in good condition. A power binder makes sheaves which do not shed rain so easily, and the pick-up combine is not suitable in a climate of frequent showers. Direct heading of wheat is being more widely adopted because of the labour shortage, but is not to be compared with the horse-drawn binder for security in harvest. The main crops are swedes and chou moellier for winter feed, and wheat for preparing old pastures for resowing. To achieve this end a simple rotation is followed bringing swedes and chou moellier out of grass, followed by wheat, and then back into grass. If it is desired to take two crops of wheat from any specially strong paddock, this rotation is varied by ploughing the stubble of the first crop in February as soon as the crop is removed, working down immediately, and sowing at once to chou moellier or turnips. These are fed off during July-August-September and the area worked up at once for the second wheat crop. This practice keeps the land in full production, obviates a period of fallow, provides extra sheep feed, and ensures that the second wheat crop does not have such an exhausing effect on the soil as to spoil the following sward of grass. For wheat lcwt. of superphosphate to the acre has proved to be an ample dressing, and 2Jcwt. of slag and superphosphate mixed is sown with forage crops.

Pasture

A standard seeds mixture, used for all paddocks, is as follows: lb. Govt, certified ryegrass .. .. 30 ” ” white clover . . 3 ” ” cocksfoot .. . . 5 Timothy .. .. 2 - ’ Crested dogstail . 1 Per acre .. .. 411 b.

The farmer finds that a fairly heavy seeding of grass is required on this country to smother any rush seedlings that may germinate, the farm being under dense rushes when taken over. As a further protection against rush invasion it has been found necessary to sow grass only on alternate plough—third, fifth, and so on —which

ensures that the bulk of rush seeds will be well under the soil at the time of grass-seeding instead of on or near the surface.

Topdressing and Manuring

The need for good dressings of phosphate is shown by the rapid deterioration of even the best-prepared pastures sown with highest-grade seeds if topdressing is not carried out. On this farm no grass seed is sown without a dressing in normal times of 2Jcwt. of superphosphate with the seed. Lime also is deficient in Halcombe soils, and on this farm 2 tons per acre are applied after ploughing and worked into the soil before sowing. As a topdressing, superphosphate at the rate of 2|cwt. is applied every year, varied every third year with 3cwt. of basic slag. This practice is thought to assist in keeping a betterbalanced pasture under the conditions of grazing on this farm.

Hay and Grass Seed

The quantity of hay and grass seed saved depends chiefly on the need for control of pastures in the best interests of the stock. The acreage, therefore, varies with the type of season, but averages 20 acres of hay and 35 acres of grass saved for seed, the threshed straw of which is also fed to stock. Yields of hay average 2 tons per acre and of ryegrass seed about 20' bushels dressed weight. The climate is unsuitable for the saving of white clover seed as a crop, since the certified strains tend to keep making leaf under the stimulation of summer showers and throw comparatively little seed. Hay-is baled by contract from the paddock, or else stacked in paddocks convenient of access. Almost all hay is used for winter feed, any surplus being held in stacks for an emergency. Grass for seed is cut with a binder during January and threshed with a stationary mill about 10 days later, a method which has the advantage over the use of pick-up harvester combines, as it ensures the saving of the crop in spite of the unsettled weather which occurs frequently about this time.

Cultivation and Labour

Ploughing is done with teams of horses because it has been found that large areas can often be ploughed when weather conditions prevent the use of tractors, especially on some of the steeper downs. Discing, on the other hand, is done by contract with a tractor, as it is considered quicker and cheaper than using horses. After that horses are used for all cultivation and harvesting work.

PRODUCTION AND CARRYING CAPACITY INCREASES. / Other Grass Ewes. Cattle. Horses, crops. Wheat. Hay. seed. . . ac. ac. ac. ac. 1929 (farm taken over) .. 500 1 1935 809 30 8 10 15 12 1 0 1944 ' ... 1,000 60 8 18 30 ' 13 25

Permanent labour consists of the owner and one man, with casual labour brought in for the harvest.

Farm Shelter This farmer takes a long view in the provision of shelter and plants trees which will produce good timber for fencing and general farm use as well as providing good shelter. At present there are 12 plantations in the 14 paddocks, placed in the corners where the plough cannot go. The trees are mostly macrocarpa, but in

one paddock a less accessible spot has been left in native bush. Further plantations are planned when the work of planting and fencing against stock can be carried out.

Carrying Capacity When taken over by the present owner this farm was largely undeveloped, being covered in rushes, with tree stumps in many paddocks. Drainage was badly neglected—in fact almost non-existent. During the past 15 years the farm has been worked hard and continuously and intelligently

managed. The table on this page shows the great improvement which has been effected in production and carrying capacity. The farmer concentrated first on the improvement of the land and stock and now feels justified in constructing a new homestead and buildings. When these are completed the owner will be able to view with pride the results of his 15 years’ planning and hard work.

Acknowledgments Thanks are expressed to the Soil Survey Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for data in the soil map and to the Lands and Survey Department for the drawing of maps. All photographs by E. Bruce Levy.