636 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Oct., 191Y. 



THE DAIRY FARMER'S OPPORTUNITY. 



By J. S. MeFadzean, Senior Dairy Supervisor. 



As a body, dairy-fanners are seldom afforded mucli opportuuity of 

 taking definite advantage of economic conditions, and largely benefiting 

 thereby. There are certainly occasions when some may take advantage 

 of local demand, owing to their having stock or produce for sale when 

 ihe market is favorable, but more often than not it is the general public 

 which benefits at the farmer's expense. At the present time, however, 

 abnormal conditions prevail, and almost every farmer has an opportunity 

 of turning these conditions to his own direct advantage. With the high 

 prices ruling now for all classes of store cattle, every dairyman should 

 clear his place of all inferior stock, and get together a profitable milking 

 herd. A few, maybe, have already commenced to weed out the 

 " dufl^ers," but hundreds have not yet realized their opportunity. 



The Journal of Agriculture, and possibly every other farmer's paper 

 in this State, has for years been persistently advocating the improve- 

 ment of all dairy herds by culling. The obstacle to putting this advice 

 into general practice has been that such low prices were usually quoted 

 for cull stock, that, small as might be their dairy yield, it was more per 

 year than their market value. Therefore farmers, while recognising 

 'that their stock was of inferior dairy grade, nevertheless preferred to 

 keep Ihera rather than sell at the low figure offering. 



This excuse for not selling such cattle has, however, disappeared. 

 No cull cow will return, in dairy jiroduce, anything like her present 

 store value, and prices for all cattle will probably remain abnormally 

 high for some considerable time still. This is the dairy farmer's oppor- 

 tunity. Let the farmer sell his culls iwiv, and start building up a herd 

 which will be the foundation of profitable dairy work in the future. 



It seems almost incredible that quite recejitly a dairy farmer, who 

 sells his cream to a factory, was found killing off his young calves, and 

 feeding them to the pigs. Words cannot express such folly, or, per- 

 haps, crime. Had these calves, so foolishly slaughtered, been raised to 

 even four months old, they would have shown, at the vei-y lowest esti- 

 mate, a profit of X2 per head. In fact, in proportion to labour expended, 

 it would be more profitable to raise the calf than milk the cow for the 

 cream. Further, every calf raised is of so much assistance in the 

 national work of helping out our food supply. The calf-killing farmer 

 is not only wholly unmindful of his duty to the nation as a food-]n-o- 

 ducer, but, from a business point of view, he shows himself to be abso- 

 lutely lacking in comraonsense. 



Once again let it be emphasized that, with every prospect of a good 

 grass season, and the abnormal prices obtainable for every class of 

 cattle, the dairyman who does not establish his business soundly now 

 need never expect to succeed. Never before have Victorian dairymen 

 had such an opportunity for unloading their cull stock. How many 

 will avail themselves of it ? 



