Australia. Department of External Affairs

“ With suitable root and pasture crops there is no reason why pig raising should remain merely as an offshoot of dairying and farming operations. It is sufficiently remunerative even when all food has to be purchased on the open market to justify attention being devoted to raising alone. But such circumstances do not enter into the operation of the industry as managed in Australia. The close proximity of separating factories would in many districts make it possible for a breeder to entirely ignore the dairying side of the question. ”

“ So rich is the country in succulent natural grasses, and so congenial is the climate, that farmers exhibit a tendency to rely too much on the bounty of the seasons. This is what the Scottish Commission meant when they referred to the friendly climate as being the dairyman's most dangerous enemy. It is true that in normal years milch cows may depasture the whole year long on the natural pastures, and on this food alone yield milk of magnificent flavour, producing butter and cheese of the highest quality. ”

“ In the older settled district of Illawarra, comprising the greater portion of the south coast district, dairying has been the main industry for many years, and there is not much first-class land unoccupied. There is, however, in this district ample scope for tenant farmers and for dairying on shares on several large estates where the experienced man of small means with children old enough to help in the work can make a good living, and save with the object of later on obtaining a farm of his own. In the north coast district the strides being made in dairying are phenomenal. ”

“ These institutions are becoming fairly numerous throughout the State, and are all equipped with the most modern machinery and managed by expert men. The farmer nearly always, nowadays, has his cream separator, and all he has to take to the factory is the cream, which does not occupy much space, while the skimmed milk remains on the farm for feeding pigs or calves. Some of the dairy factories in the State are proprietary, but others are on the co-operative system, under which the farmers are the owners, and share in the general profits, as well as being paid for their cream. ”

“ The policy of closer settlement which is entering freely into the rural development of the various States is furthermore causing farmers and settlers to give more careful attention to any side industry which can be made to return a good margin of profit on the labour expended. In other words, the modern farmer is becoming more alive to the business possibilities of what may be termed specialised production. It is in this fact that the future development of the pig-raising industry depends. ”

“ On general farms, where the birds live on food that may otherwise be wasted, poultry are a source of considerable profit. The opinion of the Scottish Commission was that [Pg 21] "Australia possesses natural conditions of almost unequalled value for the profitable keeping of poultry. In climate, soil, shelter, and in natural food she has the essential attributes to success." Poultry-farming is carried on together with wheat or dairying or pig farming, but in many places the raising of poultry is carried on as a single line. ”

“ In some instances the share farmer buys his own dairy utensils, but in the greater number of cases the landowner provides them and keeps them in repair. The sharing of the profits depends largely upon the character of the farm. As a general rule the tenant receives from one-third to one-half of the proceeds of all cream or butter sold. He also receives from one-third to one-half the value of the pigs raised, and from $1.20 to $1.80 per head for each calf reared to the age of six months. A man is generally given as many cows to milk as he can conveniently manage and care for. ”

“ The average returns from a fairly good herd, in the majority of districts, may be stated at $4.80 per head per month, and as each cow will be milking for seven to eight months at least, and there will be the calves and ample separated milk for a good many pigs, it will be seen that there is at least a fair living to be made, especially when it is remembered that the share dairy farmer, under the ordinary arrangements, is living rent free and under conditions which enable him to keep household expenses at a minimum. ”

“ An Inferior Stock of Milk Cows.—The fact that while in many districts there are to be found dairy herds averaging barely 300 gallons per cow per annum, with a butter fat percentage of little over 3.5, carried on the same class of land as herds which average over 500 gallons per cow, with over 4 per cent. butter fat, will enable any dairy farmer to realise how much room there is for improvement in this thriving young industry, and what scope there is for the man accustomed to get the best results from his land and his herd. ”

“ It would not be easy to overstate the benefit a dairyman receives from being relieved of the need for housing, hand-feeding, and tending his cows during a long winter. His cows are healthier, their feeding costs less, there is no cleaning of byres, no washing of floors, no preparing of food, no never-ending carting of turnips, no filling of sheds with hay or straw. His anxiety, his work, and his expense are reduced by half, through the simple agency of a friendly climate. And yet this same climate is also his most dangerous enemy. ”

“ For the past twenty years dairy farming in Victoria has been steadily advancing. The industry has proved very successful, so that thousands of farmers are not only making a comfortable living from it, but in many cases it has raised hard-working families into positions of comparative wealth. ”

“ This is about one cow for every two persons in the Commonwealth, which seems a large proportion, but as it means only one cow for every two square miles in Australia, there is ample room for expansion. In Great Britain we have about twenty-six cows for every square mile, and only one cow for every fifteen people. These figures indicate that in proportion to its population Australia is much more of a dairying country than Great Britain, but that in proportion to its area, it has developed the industry much less extensively, and is still capable of making enormous growth. ”

“ The foundation of the Dairying Industry is grass, and to get grass, good land and plenty of moisture is required. Therefore anyone proposing to go into this business should endeavour to secure the very best land obtainable. There is a large quantity available, especially in the north-western and north-eastern parts of the island. There is a great deal also in the southern districts. Information can always be obtained from the Lands Department and the district surveyors, and no difficulty should be experienced by the intending dairy farmer in finding land suitable for his purpose. ”

“ It has to be observed that pig raising does not require either the capital or experience demanded in the case of sheep."
These facts relate in a general way to the industry as it is possible to be carried on in all parts of the Commonwealth. A dairy man or mixed farmer finds that the carrying on of his work at a maximum of profit involves the growth of a number of different crops with which to supplement the rations of his dairy herd. Peas, barley, wheat, maize, pumpkins, carrots, mangolds, lucerne, rape, and other crops are more or less used for a succession. ”

“ The dairy herds of the State until a few years ago were of a somewhat nondescript type, very few farmers having realised the necessity of improving the butter-yielding capacity of their stock. Recently, however, great improvements have taken place, as the dairying industry has advanced, until now many Tasmanian dairymen own herds of the highest standard. The work of improving the milking strains of cattle is in the hands of the farmers themselves, but advice and assistance are always obtainable from the Government Dairy Expert. ”

“ A dairyman, general farmer, irrigationist, and even the fruitgrower finds the pig of inestimable value in using up the waste produce, and turning it into a commodity which will return high interest in a remarkably short space of time. ”

“ Pig raising now, instead of being regarded merely as an adjunct to dairying, is being looked upon much in the same light as is a main line whether connected with dairying or general farming. This is indicated by the fact that where previously any description of boar or sow was good enough to produce a litter, now both farmers and dairymen are using chiefly the pedigree stock, and are giving attention to the different crosses most likely to give the largest litters suitable for bacon production, which can be brought into condition for market in the quickest time. ”

“ The majority of young men who have embarked in farming in the Western State during the last decade have favoured the lightly-timbered belts more suitable for wheat and sheep raising in preference to the heavily-timbered land suitable for dairying situated in the coastal districts of the south-west. That there is in the State an enormous area of land which is eminently adaptable to the growing of fodders necessary for successful dairying has been amply demonstrated. ”

“ At present the industry is only in its infancy. It is capable of almost unlimited expansion. So far, farmers have confined their attention almost exclusively to butter, but the first steps have also been successfully taken to manufacture cheese and condensed milk, and to open up a regular market for fresh pork, hams, and bacon.
A large portion of Victoria is suitable for dairy farming on account of the suitability of soil for the production of pasture and fodder crops, and the mild climatic conditions. ”

“ The pure large Yorkshire is not as economical as the Berkshire if growing pigs for the pork trade, as it takes longer to mature. The sows, however, average about ten to the litter, and some have fifteen or sixteen. Only the fine-haired ones seem to scald, otherwise they stand the sun as well as the Berks. They are good doers under a wide range of conditions, prolific, vigorous, and more likely to do well under the rough circumstances to which they are accustomed on most farms than the more delicate Berkshires. When sold at the same time as other breeds and crosses, they always top the market ”

“ The average herd is about thirty head, but many farmers milk from 80 to 150 cows daily. The number of cows that could be kept on an average farm of, say, 160 acres depends entirely on the land, and the amount of cultivation or area under artificial grasses. From thirty to eighty head would be about a fair estimate that good land would carry. [Pg 35]
One dairy farmer in the West Moreton, who landed in Queensland twenty-five years ago with $0.36 in his pocket, now has 160 acres of freehold, of which he cultivates 50 acres for feed for his cows and pigs. ”

“ Capacious cow and calf stables, suitable sheds, and piggeries were designed and constructed as an example to be followed in starting an up-to-date dairy farm. A herd of dairy cows, of some of the best Ayrshire strains in Australia, was collected, as well as a fine number of Berkshire pigs, purchased from the most successful breeders and importers. Three large tub silos, capable of holding 250 tons of fodder, were erected in which to store winter-grown crops as well as the summer crops under irrigation. ”

“ At the present time there are three butter factories operating in the State, and no doubt when the Dairying Industry has developed sufficiently a number of co-operative factories will be started.
The men who decide to devote their energies to the Dairying Industry will have the advantage of a magnificent local market to start on, as at the present time Western Australia is sending something like $4800.00 a day to the eastern States for dairy produce. ”

“ A large area of South Australia is eminently adapted to successful dairying, and while the summer is dry, rendering it necessary to make provision for succulent feed for several months, the temperate nature of the climate enables the dairyman to keep his cows in the open right through the year, the natural shelter in timber country being sufficient, except on a limited number of days of extreme wet and cold. ”

“ Starting out with splendid natural advantages—a wide range of soils of great fertility, indigenous grasses of high food value, and a congenial climate—the dairying industry in Australia has made phenomenal strides. ”

“ With only very limited supplies of skim milk pig raising and fattening affords wide scope for the investments of men with limited capital. F. C. Grace, of Warrnambool, Victoria, who recently went into the matter of the cost of producing pork, indicates the possibilities of the bacon industry in a report furnished to the State Department of Agriculture. In this account he states:—"Over 6 tons of live pork have been produced, and the average cost per pound for all rations with pigs of all ages has been 4 cents. ”