Types of Farming Practised in New Zealand

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 85, Issue 2, 15 August 1952, Page 159

Types of Farming Practised in New Zealand

By

W. N. PATON,

Senior Investigational Officer, Department of Agriculture, Wellington

THE number of holdings in New Zealand according to the type of farming practised in 1950 and according to farming regions and to land districts are given by the Census and Statistics Department in a supplement accompanying the May 1952 issue of the "Monthly Abstract of Statistics". A World Census of Agriculture was conducted in 1950, and in meeting the requirements of such a Census not only are extra items covered to those included in the annual collection, but additional tabulation and analysis work is done on the data. Further tables will therefore be published by the Census and Statistics Department as this work proceeds, and brief summaries of this special information with explanatory comment will be published in the "Journal" from time to time. This article deals with the types of farming practised in New Zealand and the numbers of farms classified in each group.

OFFICERS of the Department of Agriculture drew up a basis by which the types and combinations of types of farming enterprises could be established and recorded for each holding from the data collected. Where 75 or more per cent, of the total farming effort on a holding concerned any one type of farming the farm was classed according to that type. If the enterprise involved two types of farming in combination, one at not less than the 50 per cent, level and the other at not less than the 25 per cent, level, the type .of farming was recorded according to the combination represented, with the major one mentioned first. The proportions of each type of farming within mixed farming enterprises were determined by using factors based mainly on the standard labour requirement of the respective types of farming. Holdings where a particular type of farming was carried on to the extent

of 50 per cent, of the total or more (inclusive of those where the same main type of farming was carried on at the 75 per cent, level or more) have been combined into major groups according to the type of farming concerned. The numbers of holdings in these groups and other more miscellaneous groups in the North Island, South Island, and New Zealand as a whole are given in the table following. Data for the Chatham Islands have been included with the South Island, whereas the Census and Statistics Department have included these with the North Island. The numbers in the table represent all holdings of 1 acre or more (excluding those farmed by Maoris under the communal system) situated outside city and borough boundaries and in . town districts comprising parts of counties within which they are situated.

The table above and those published by the Census and Statistics Department in the supplement to the May 1952 “Monthly Abstract of Statistics” give for the first time a really dependable and comprehensive indication of the relative popularity of various types of farming in New Zealand. Later as machine-analysed data are made available by the Census and Statistics Department concerning the main items covered in the collection a precise and valuable picture of the agriculture practised in New Zealand and of the locations and sizes of the farming patterns according to type will be gained. This information will facilitate the study of land-use problems, the collection of statistics by “master sample”, farming surveys, and national and regional planning and development.

Analysis of Groups

The table clearly shows the importance of dairy and sheep farming in New Zealand, the two together accounting for 70 per cent, of the total holdings (dairy farming being 44 per cent, and sheep farming 26 per cent.). If residential and unused holdings are excluded, these two farming groups comprise 78 per cent, of New Zealand farms. Of the 81,000 holdings concerned with agriculture in some form or other to a significant extent approximately 10,000 are operated only part time. Unfortunately it is not possible at present to give any details of these. •

Dairy Group

The holdings in the dairy group comprise 44 per cent, of the total for the Dominion, 84/ per cent, being in the North

Island and 16

per cent, in the South Island. On

35,146 holdings dairying is carried on at the

75 per cent, level or more.

Of the types where other

forms of farming are carried on to a significant level (that is, 25 per cent, and more) together with dairying (at not less than the 50 per cent, level) only that of dairy and sheep farming is of appreciable importance, there being 2230 such holdings. There are 763 holdings where the raising of dairy heifers and other dry dairy stock is the main activity.

Sheep Farming Group

Of the 23,264 holdings in the sheep farming group 16,883 are concerned in sheep farming to a specialised extent, that is, 75 per MW*’*® total activates

are devoted to

sheep. Unfortunately no details were collected from farmers

by which different types of specialised sheep farming could have been defined, and thus it is not possible to say just how many represented fat-lamb farming, how many store-sheep farming on hill country, how many wool-dominant sheep farming in the high country of the South Island, and how many other types of sheep farming. Important sub-types of sheep farming are represented by the following numbers of holdings: Sheep and beef 1731, sheep and dairy 1339, sheep and crops 1245, and sheep and mixed 1151. In the last sub-type mentioned sheep farming is carried on at not less than the 50 per cent, level together with two or more other types of farming none of which represents 25 per cent, or more by itself but which collectively represent 25 per cent, or more.

Arable Cropping Group

The arable cropping group consists of only those holdings where the major activity concerns cereal and seed cash cropping together with potato, onion, and other non-fodder

crops but excluding horticultural operations proper. The term arable cropping has therefore been applied in a restricted sense. Almost 90 per cent, of these cropping holdings are situated and of the 2788

in the South Island, and of the 2788 holdings, cropping predominates at the 75 per cent, level and more in 988 cases and grass-seed production in 249 cases. Cropping activities combined with a significant proportion of sheep farming occur in 955 cases, this being the only cropping sub-type of major importance occurring within the cropping group.

Beef Cattle Raising and Fattening

There are more holdings concerned in beef cattle raising and fattening than may have been realised, but a maraaniMnMMffi fair proportion JO of the holdings are conducted

on a part-time basis. Grey and Westland Coun-

ties have a

cattle as a major activity than any other district in New Zealand, but 42 per cent, of them are worked on a part-time basis. Beef cattle raising and fattening is specialised to the 75 per cent, level and more in 952 cases (76.7 per cent.), and is conducted in conjunction with a significant proportion of sheep farming (that is, 25 per cent, and over) in 215 other cases.

higher proportion of holdings devoted to beef

Poultry Group

The poultry group is incomplete because the numbers of poultry situated within city and borough bound--wp J.— aries are just as great if not greater than those in rural

the 75 per cent. • • '•.saaoc-' level and more is slightly less than 70 per cent. (69.4 per cent.), and the only sub-type of any consequence is where dairying is an adjunct to poultry farming (260 cases). In the dairy group there are 309 cases where poultry forms a significant adjunct to dairy farming. Many part-time poultry farming enterprises are included in the poultry group.

areas. The proportion of poultry farming in rural areas

conducted at

Horticultural Group

In the horticultural group there are 1449 orchards, 78 vineyards, 1448 market gardens mainly concerned in . the raising of ■ vegetables, 233 nurseries of all kinds, 227 holdings and 26 holdings concerned mainly with tobacco growing and hop gardening respectively, 132 apiaries, 138 small fruits < holdings, 406

holdings devoted to other specialised horticulture (including mixed horticulture), 179 to horticulture and dairying, 62 to horticulture and poultry, 55 to horticulture and sheep, and 182 where horticultural and other non-horticultural activities are carried on at a significant level. Part-time agriculture plays an important role in this group also. Mixed Farming Group This group includes farms where three separate types of farming are worked in combination, each of the

three being represented at the 25 per cent, level or more. Only farms on which no one type of farming can be represented at as high a level as

50 per cent. _of the whole enterprise can be classified in this group. It is possible for four separate types of farming to be conducted on a holding at the 25 per cent, level (that is, each one at exactly this proportion of the whole) but such cases would be extremely rare. Grazing Group Holdings in the grazing group represent areas held or let for more or less casual grazing (2804), winter

run-offs mainly for dairy herds (553), holding paddocks o n stock - droving routes (342), stock dealers’ lots (156), and sports, show, and race

grounds and the like let for intermittent grazing (139). Miscellaneous Group The miscellaneous group is comprised of 274 holdings devoted to plantations, 22 to Phormium tenax,

and 477 to horse I raising, 227 pig ? farms, 75 areas i of native timber ? where timber i cutting is the ! main activity, and 1310 hold- ' ings devoted to

other types of farming or agriculture not elsewhere specified. In this other agriculture sub-group are many holdings where agriculture was carried on only at the domestic requirements level, but which could not be allocated to the residential group because no people resided on the holdings. Many of these holdings were cow paddocks for household cows pertaining to a separate residential area. Unused and Residential Group The unused and residential group is comprised of 2340 unused holdings and 6710 residential holdings. Unused holdings were so grouped because no residents, no crops, and no stock were recorded for them. It signifies that no agricultural use is being made of such holdings, but it does not necessarily mean that they may not be devoted to some non-agricultural use such as a metal quarry or mining area. Residential holdings are those on which people, reside but where-agriculture is carried on at only the domestic requirements level.

North Island South Island New Zealand Dairy group .. 33,262 6,505 39,767. Sheep group .. 12,092 11,172 23,264 Beef group 802 439 1,241 Poultry group 761 691 1,452 Horticulture group .. 2,422 2,193 4,615 Cropping group 293 2,495 2,788 Mixed farming group 427 1,307 1,734 Grazing group 2,240 1,754 3,994 Miscellaneous group . 1,220 1,165 2,385 Unused and residential 4,286 2,385 Unused and residential 4,764 4,764 4,286 9,050 •■■■I ■ 1 - ■■ - Totals 58,283 32,007 90,290 will, Illi — ... ■ -

NUMBERS OF HOLDINGS IN EACH FARMING GROUP