Update for farming in a fridge

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON agricultural editor

A New Zealander is helping to ensure that agriculture still makes a contribution to life in the Falkland Islands, where fish have recently usurped sheep as the economic mainstay.

Waikato agricultural consultant Colin Horton moved to the remote South Atlantic islands four years ago to be managing director of Falklands Landholdings, the equivalent of New Zealand's state-owned Landcorp.

The company, established by the Falklands Government in 1991, farms about a quarter of the islands' agricultural land, with more than 295,400ha divided into four farms on East Falkland, one of two main islands and site of the capital, Stanley.

It has about 200,000 sheep, 1000 cattle and a small but increasing area in stockfood and horticultural crops.

The number of staff, which now stands at 34, tells a story. Mr Horton's brief is to provide sustainable employment for island people but when he arrived in 1997 the operation employed 260.

He did not cut a swath through farm workers - firing just five - but even sparsely populated Falklands, with 2500 residents, is a victim of urban drift. A non-replacement policy for departing staff reduced numbers to a level where the farms now have a more economic ratio of one employee to 8500 stock units.

"I [initially] had a wage bill of £500,000 [$1.7 million] but last season I lost £500,000 in wool income," Mr Horton said.

Like woolgrowers worldwide, the Falklands are having to farm smarter to combat the falling returns for the wool on which the economy was entirely dependent for 150 years.

Fortunately for the British protectorate, the bulk of revenue has come from fishing since 1987, when it declared a 150 nautical mile Falkland Islands interim conservation and management zone.

The Government now earns about £21 million from fishing licences, and gross national product tripled from 1985-87 to 1996-97, when GNP was £40 million.

But the fishing resource may be fragile, and while there are hopes of oil production from newly found oilfields, Mr Horton's job is to get the islands' agriculture delivering as well as possible. The islands, which already have a high clean and green status, hope to be classed as totally organic soon and Falklands Landholdings will serve as a model for other farms.

Until 1979, there were only about 36 farms on the islands. Following an economic study, the larger farms were subdivided during the 1980s and about 90 smaller units created.

Mr Horton said the average farm size was 13,400ha but many were proving uneconomic.

When he arrived in 1997, subsidised farming was much like that of New Zealand in the 1960s. Pasture species were poor and provided little energy for stock, flock genetics needed improving, especially to breed a meat sheep suitable for export, and much of the machinery and equipment had not been maintained well or was simply too old.

"I found 1908 wool-balers which produced 360kg bales that took three men to fill and press. I bought hydraulic wool-balers from New Zealand that one man can use to produce 180kg bales."

In fact, New Zealand suppliers have done well out of the connection, and the lower the kiwi dollar drops against other currencies, the more Mr Horton likes buying here. Stock, seeds, fertiliser and a range of agricultural machinery and equipment have been shipped to the islands.

He is a big customer of NZ suppliers of Yamaha farmbikes and PEL electric fencing. With no trees on the islands for timber to make stockyards, South Island-made Prattley's mobile yards have proven invaluable.

Even Watties' canned food and Zealand beer and wines stock the company stores in the likes of Goose Green, a farm settlement of 56 people.

During this month's visit to New Zealand, Mr Horton also bought The Warehouse cutlery sets to stock farmhouses that are being turned into self-catering, £35-a-night accommodation for tourists. He said about a dozen of the company's 160 empty houses had tourism potential.

But with 85 per cent of the farms' income from wool and demand rising for better meat, raising flock genetics is a priority. The flock is mostly Corriedale and the company has imported New Zealand Corriedale rams to improve wool, and Texel and Poll Dorset rams for a meatier sheep.

The islands produce a total annual wool clip of about 2700 tonnes, worth around £3.3 million. By comparison, NZ's clip in 1999-2000 was 194,000 tonnes, worth $800 million.

The Falklands will soon have a European Union-approved abattoir, which will give access to European meat markets for the first time.

Falklands Holdings has won a contract to provide meat to the 2500 military personnel permanently based on the Falklands since the 1982 war.

It will take some time to build up farm production to match the plant's annual capacity of 50,000 lambs and 50,000 older sheep. There is a proposal to process meat into the frozen chips pioneered by Waikato-based Aria Farms.

Mr Horton counts among his successes the renewing of pasture at the rate of 100ha a year. He would like to do that level across all four farms.

Despite locals' scepticism, the company grew 25ha of swedes to feed stock. "They had tried and failed 20 years ago but they didn't know about new seeds, methods and technology."

An initial half a hectare of horticultural crops has increased to 38ha of cabbages and potatoes.

But there have been failures - pasture that has not established in the low-fertility peat soils and harsh climate where temperatures can reach minus 27 degree and where it can snow year-round.

"It's a very unforgiving environment. Whenever you go out driving around the farms in winter you carry a very good sleeping bag in case you get caught out. You would die without it."

Mr Horton's contract ends in March, and he is mulling an offer to renew it.

"It's been an exceedingly challenging experience but rewarding to move people through changes."