The Murchison district has only a small area of flat land along its river valleys and at their confluence. Steep hills cover the remainder of the country. Rainfall is approximately 60 in. per year. When the land was originally cleared bracken fern (Pteridium esccrlentum) became a menace. The struggle over the years to control this invasion has been long and strenuous and, except on land that can be cultivated, largely unrewarded. Some degree of control has been achieved on the closer hills, but generally results have not been good. Murchison Federated Farmers in 1958 asked the Department of Agriculture to conduct some experimental work to find out how this weed could be handled economically.
Beef in the Old World was frequently a by-product of cattle used for other purposes, as cattle were once the main motive power on farms. It was not until after they were superseded by horses as draught animals that they were reared and fed primarily for beef.
In some areas of the droughty pumice soils of the central North Island considerable difficulties have been experienced in attempts to grow lucerne, especially in the Reporoa and Galatea districts and to a less extent at Taupo. The work described in this paper was carried out at Galatea on an area of low fertility with no history of topdressing.
There is little chance in dealing with a wide subject such as this in the short period of 20 minutes of doing justice to the various facets of farming in Marlborough Province and I can only hope to outline briefly the more important types of farming and perhaps to stress the more striking features of primary production in the area.
New Zealand agriculture is primarily dependent on the growth of high-producing pastures which rely on legumes for their nitrogen supply. Legumes under favourable conditions are able to. fix large amounts of nitrogen through nodule bacteria attached to their roots. Nitrogen is supplied to grasses by underground transference after the needs of the host plant are satisfied, and is also provided from the urine and dung of grazing animals. Almost invariably, poor pasture growth in New Zealand is the result of low legume production. Contributing factors to this are a poor supply of available phosphorus, sulphur, molybdenum, and potassium, ineffective nodulation, and acid soil conditions.
The problem I am going to discuss, which is seen in its most severe form on the Wither Hills near Blenheim, is predominantly one of securing clover establishment from oversowing, although unthrifty growth following establishment is apparently another facet of the same problem. The trouble does not appear to exist-certainly not in a severe form-when cultivation accompanied by liming and appropriate fertilising is adopted.
Lucerne is grown for seed chiefly in Marlborough and North Canterbury with a small amount in Mid Canterbury. The variation in the areas harvested from year to year indicates two important factors regarding lucerne seed production: 1. That most farmers regard lucerne as a catch crop. 2. The terrific influence climatic conditions have on seed yield.
Lucerne (Medicago sativn) is probably the oldest forage plant known. It is a native of northern Persia. From there it has been spread by man throughout most of the temperate regions of both hemispheres, and it is an important forage plant wherever lack of soil moisture limits summer production (1).
A major break through in plant nutrition work occurred in 1958, when G. M. Will, of the Forest Research Institute, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua, clearly showed that the yellow stunted growth in seedling trees could be quickly corrected by the application of magnesium. This showed that the nursery soil was deficient in magnesium for tree growth; the burning question was, is this soil so deficient in available magnesium that a response will be obtained from an application to pasture plants? The answer was a definite yes, and for the first time we had a pasture trial giving significant responses to applied magnesium.
Although the importance of sulphur and its relationship to soil deficiencies has been realised for only the past 10 years in New Zealand, it is now history that it assumes equal importance with phosphorus for a very large area in the South Island.
This paper describes the distribution of the main scrub weeds in the South Island of New Zealand and offers comments on their control. Climate, soils, and farm management practices set the pattern for the distribution and importance of scrub weeds. Wide variation in all three can be found in the South Island.
There was no formal presentation of these papers as the audience had been asked to read them prior to this session. Mr Saxby discussed aspects of each briefly, and the authors added comment and showed slides to illustrate methods of control.
The primary objective of this trial is to obtain basic data on the problem of so-called “ill-thrift” by relating soil conditions and seasonal changes in production and chemical composition of pure stands of various pasture species to the growth and health of the grazing. animals-in other words, a study of soil-pasture-animal relationships. In addition, the effects of certain trace elements and anthelmintics on lamb thrift have been studied. This paper summarises some of the results obtained during the second year of the trial.
Marlborough is a particularly interesting province because it is the meeting ground for the soils and the farming from the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The central Awatere and Wairau districts have a landscape succession of coastal plains, downlands, hills, inland basins, and mountain slopes with similar soils, crops, and grassland usage to Canterbury. East and west of these districts the Kaikoura and Sounds regions have extensive areas resembling those of Wellington and Wairarapa hill country in soils, grassland farming, and forestry. Further contrast to the soil pattern is added by soils formed from basaltic, ultrabasic, and limestone rocks, which outcrop over small areas. After more than 100 years of settlement the land use has become related generally to the soils, but the connection could be much closer and to greater benefit, if the soil differences were better known and applied to the selection of farm practices. With the wide range of soil occurring in Marlborough, landowners need an understanding of their soils to select where best to apply experience from other districts and how to modify their practices to suit changing economic conditions.
The effects of the aerial sowing of fertiliser and seed have been far-reaching and have had considerable impact on stock and management. The description of these changes and developments can best be given by telling the story of the property and this is done by dealing with it in four parts: 1. Location and description of the property. 2. Topdressing history and present practice. 3. Stock numbers and wool and stock production. 4. Production potential with topdressing and a cattle and sheep association.
The observations, over some years, relate to two steep hill country stations where cultivation could not be undertaken and no topdressing had been done. By reducing sheep and increasing cattle, beneficial changes in pasture composition were achieved. In one case cattle were rotationally grazed; in the other they were set stocked. One property is on the East Coast toward Cape Runaway and is bounded by the sea on one side; the hills rise to about 1,000 ft. The other station is inland toward Raetihi and lies between 1,500 and 2,500 ft; the hills are very steep and valleys very narrow. Climatic conditions at the two places are quite different. Mild and fairly equable conditions prevail on the coastal station and there is only a short period of winter dormancy. Cold winters and a longer period of winter dormancy are characteristic of the inland station. Both places have a fairly well distributed rainfall of over 60 in.; short summer droughts occur.
Lucerne as a dry-land fodder plant is centuries old. It is used in most lands subject to dry summer conditions. Its deep rooting characteristic, its winter dormancy, and its rapid growth in high temperatures fit it for use in a wide range of climatic and soil conditions. It is readily eaten as hay or in the green state by all classes of stock. It will, however, not tolerate waterlogged or acid soils. To establish the place of lucerne in dry-land farming it is necessary to examine a number of factors, the most important being the seasonal nature of its growth, the grazing management to which it must be subjected, and the effect a large area of lucerne can have on the overall carrying capacity of the farm. Finally, to demonstrate more clearly the place of luccrnc on a ploughable dry land farm, it is necessary to construct a farm unit with the maximum arca in lucerne.
Yorkshire fog probably has its centre of origin in the Iberian Peninsula, but as a result of continued colonisation since the end of the ice age is now found throughout Europe and North-west Africa. Under the influence of human pastoral activities the species has spread to all the more recently developed farming areas in the temperate regions of the Americas, South Africa, and Australasia.
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