50 years ago in the Dairy Exporter June

OUR STORY: 50 YEARS AGO IN NZ DAIRY EXPORTER

50 years ago in the Dairy Exporter June

As NZ Dairy Exporter counts down to its centenary in 2025, we look back at the issues of earlier decades. 50 Years Ago – May 1972.

LIFTING MAGNESIUM CONTENT

The discovery by the Grasslands Division that there are differences in magnesium content between ryegrass varieties, and that these differences are probably inherited, will interest dairyfarmers with grass staggers problems.

A few years ago, Mr R. Ball of the soils and plant nutrition section, and the Chief Plant Breeder, Mr P. C. Barclay, investigated the mineral uptake of several varieties of ryegrass sown on the same soil at Palmerston North. They found the striking difference to be in magnesium content.

The Grasslands Manawa ryegrass (previously known as H1 or shortrotation), bred from crosses of perennial and Italian ryegrasses, showed a decidedly higher magnesium content than any of the others under trial. (The measurements were taken in the early spring in a period of exceedingly rapid growth when staggers problems would normally be expected.)

WHY MORE DAIRYFARMERS ARE NOT USING AB

Dairyfarmers have been told by experts and advisory people for many years now, why they should use AB.

Although AB has been operating commercially in New Zealand for 20 years now the Dairy Board is artificially inseminating less than half the dairy

cows in the country. If AB is as good as many people reckon it is, why aren’t we inseminating around 2 million dairy cows per year instead of struggling to get past the million mark?

The heavy users of AB (i.e. those farmers who put more than 70 per cent of their herd to AB), produce an average of 23 lb milkfat per cow more than the non-users of AB in the 1968-69 season.

Mr Bruce Pollock (holding fork), who farms near Cambridge, says he can grow much more in the form of maize silage than he can in grass. By growing maize he hopes to get a year ahead with his silage making.

WOULD MILK ALL THE COWS POSSIBLE – BOARD CHAIRMAN

“If I was a young dairyfarmer, I would milk the maximum number of cows that I could milk next season – and you can hold that against me next year if you want to do so.”

The Dairy Board chairman, Mr F. L. Onion, replied in these terms to the comments of Mr Slater (Bell Block) during question time at the Taranaki ward conference.

Mr Slater said that as one of the young directors, he had been perturbed at some of Mr Onion’s remarks in his address about markets which we would not exploit because of shortage of supply.

Five years ago they had been urged to produce to the maximum, next they had a 5 per cent cut in the basic price, then they were urged to produce dairy beef and now they were told that there were more markets than they could meet with the current season’s production.

“There is also widespread concern about the increasing regulations creeping into our industry,” Mr Slater said.

“In most cases they are costing the farmer more and in many cases are forcing farmers out of dairy production.”

• Thanks to the Hocken Library, Dunedin.