FARMING
OUTLOOK
APRIL 2022
P3 Clean sweep for NBHS students P5 Telling year for rural sector P10 Too hot to handle P13 New investigation into native honey
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
Introducing the East Coast FMG Young Farmer of the Year
uketoi Young Farmer Mark Wallace has taken out the title of East Coast FMG Young Farmer of the Year. The 30-year-old is a farm worker on a sheep, beef and cropping farm, having previously spent five years as a veterinarian.
Dairy farmer Josh Wilkinson, 24, from Dannevirke Young Farmers was named as runner up, meanwhile Tikokino Young Farmer and shepherd Ben Gordon, 27, came in third place. The FMG Young Farmer of the Year Regional Final was held on Saturday 26 March at Russell Park in Waipukurau. Upon receiving the award at the evening show, Wallace, a first time competitor was extremely appreciative for the regional final convener Joseph Watts and the rest of the convening committee. “You put a really good day on, there was something for everyone out there, there was certainly a lot of things I struggled with,” he said. He also personally thanked a number of people who helped him along the way, particularly with his fencing skills and those who repeatedly prompted him to study.
Mark hard at work during a practical test.
“A special thanks to all the competitors, everyone was really good at something, I certainly wasn’t the best in the practical side there was some great fencing out there. And I’m appreciating the massive irony in winning this trophy with a gate when I couldn’t even get the gate on,” he laughed referring to the
head to head challenge – a time and points race. Ahead of Grand Final, Wallace said he will be focusing on improving his practical skills. The contest is based on four pillars – agri-skills, agri-business, agri-sports and agri-knowledge. New Zealand Young Farmers Chief Executive Lynda Coppersmith said the stakes for 2022 were incredibly high being the third contest season impacted by the global pandemic. “Entries for FMG Young Farmer of the Year were up 30% this year despite the uncertainty of COVID which is credit to all our amazing volunteers, members, sponsors and staff who put this contest together. “My gratitude for everyone’s efforts extends beyond words and I am really proud to see how everyone has worked together to deliver another season, to pivot and adapt to new challenges including the red light framework. The calibre of competitors at each Regional Final is the highest I have seen it and is an extraordinary showcase of the skills and knowledge needed to be involved in the primary industries in this day and age.
Winner Mark Wallace in the centre flanked by Josh Wilkinson and Ben Gordon.
Our competitors represent the full diversity of the primary industries and the array of opportunities available and goes to show that New Zealand Young Farmers’ members really are the best and brightest.” Full results 1st - Mark Wallace 2nd - Josh Wilkinson 3rd - Ben Gordon Top points Agri-Skills: Ben Gordon Top points Agri-Business: Mark Wallace Top points Agri-Sports: Josh Wilkinson Top points Agri-Knowledge: Mark Wallace
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
3
Clean sweep for Napier Boys’ High School students
C
ompetition was hot on Saturday 26 March as over 60 teams went head-to-head in a bid to take out the East Coast FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year and AgriKidsNZ titles. It was a clean sweep for Napier Boys’ High School in the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year competition, with the top three spots taken out by Napier Boys’ students.
Quinn Redpath and Cameron Brans are the East Coast FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year Winners for 2022, with William Murphy and Harvey Trent coming in second, and Matt Bennett and Ryan Redpath in third.
The top two FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year teams and top three AgriKidsNZ teams have been invited to the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in Whangarei this July.
Meanwhile, the Farm Girls team, made up Hannah Tyler, Zita Pedersen and Eva Pedersen from Sherwood School took out the crown of 2022 East Coast AgriKidsNZ winners. Both the East Coast AgriKidsNZ and FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year contests were held alongside the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Contest in Waipukurau. East Coast FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year winning team teacher Rex Newman said Quinn and Cameron were very excited to make the Grand Final, saying they couldn’t believe their luck. “It’s an amazing competition, we’re so lucky to have it,” he said. After the challenge of Covid, the pair were just happy to get to the competition in the first place. They knew they had their work cut out for them, knowing that everyone there had a chance at the top spot. “They couldn’t take anything for granted, they tried to make sure they answered everything as accurately as they could,” he explained. The hard work will continue in the lead-up to Grand Final, with Newman explaining that the team will be working on their practical skills as well as learning each other’s strengths.
First place getters Cameron Brans and Quinn Redpath of Napier Boys’ High School.
The AgriKidsNZ runner-up spot was taken out by The Agri-Beasts made up of Hannah Newman, Kaitlin Bush and Phoebe Mitchell. Following in third place was the Omakere Shepherds team, made up of James Martin, Caitlyn Humphries and Madi Hunt.
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William Murphy and Harvey Trent, also of Napier Boys’ High School were placed second.
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
Proposed rural water supply regulationsover the top, unacceptable chlorination requirements, etc, that are aimed at bigger town and municipal supplies. But we were turned down.
By Jim Galloway, President Federated Farmers Hawke’s Bay
T
he primary industries have continued to be one of the pillars of our economy as New Zealand weathers the disruption of the global pandemic. I know that the Hawke’s Bay’s farmers and growers have been proud to keep putting quality food on the tables of families here and around the world. We’re used to dealing with the vagaries of the weather but an even bigger challenge is the ‘regulatory exhaustion’ from all the new rules and requirements the government throws at the sector – emissions pricing, one-size-fits all freshwater regulations rather than rules tailored to each region’s particular requirements and priorities, the socalled ute tax, planning changes that may be even more cumbersome than the current RMA…. Hawke’s Bay farmers are particularly puzzled and irked by another round of catch-all and impractical restrictions, this time on drinking water quality assurance. Of course we need safe drinking water. And yes, the serious water contamination episode in Havelock North in 2016 showed the
need for beefed up standards and vigilance. But the response – two new acts of Parliament and the centralization of council ‘three waters’ infrastructure into four mega entities - seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Federated Farmers put a compelling case to government and the new water services regulator Taumata Arowai that rural suppliers providing water to fewer than 50 people should be exempted from the sorts of comprehensive compliance, daily water testing,
The upshot is – as confirmed by a recent Federated Farmers survey of nearly 1000 farmers around the country – there’s a real risk that a quarter of the tens of thousands of small rural water suppliers will discontinue supply to neighbouring households if new rules compromise their ability to supply livestock or irrigation water, or to avoid administrative hassles or liabilities. Around a third of the farmers in our survey say they will ‘wait and see’ what the final form of the “acceptable solutions” for small rural suppliers Taumata Arowai comes up with. At this stage, the proposed solutions are anything but acceptable. The vast majority of respondents to the Feds survey, both suppliers and consumers, seemed happy with their water supply arrangements. Ninety per cent of consumers were satisfied with the quality and taste of water supplied to their households, with only 1% not satisfied. Based on the multitude of comments that came in, the vast majority were very resistant to the idea of regulation extending to their situations, either as suppliers or consumers.
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It was also notable how many suppliers were run by volunteers (94% of dual purpose and 96% of household-only). It was also evident that many schemes are undertaken on the basis of goodwill and informal arrangements. Relatively few invoiced for water consumed. And after all, the drinking water a farmer may supply to a few neighbours’ houses out of goodwill, is the same water his/her own family drinks. They have a very real incentive to ensure the water is safe to drink and it has nothing to do with regulations. As one farmer commented: “Bureaucrats should butt their noses out of our private lives. Most people making the rules are academics who wouldn’t know a spring if they fell into one.”
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
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This will be a telling year By Nick Hawken Bayleys National Director of Rural
emissions recognised at the farm level, or pay at the processor level. Rural landowners have commented to us that now is the time to take control or be controlled and say we have to have faith that our position as the best producers in the world will eventually be rewarded. On balance, a reduction in our contribution to the food bowl worldwide is said to be detrimental to the carbon footprint globally.
F
or the rural sector, 2022 is shaping up to be the year when the rubber hits the road and rural New Zealand is ready for what is ahead.
Farmer consultations are underway around provincial New Zealand via He Waka Eke Noa – the industry partnership that’s putting two options to farmers for how on-farm emissions should be paid as an alternative to the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.
Targets and tax systems that eat into farmers’ productivity and profitability are overshadowing the potential that technology could play in reducing overall ag emissions. What will the real cost of emissions reductions be for individual farmers and the New Zealand economy overall as the carbon price keeps growing… That carbon horse has well and truly bolted, and without a change in policy settings, it’s difficult to see the price of carbon slowing in the absence of price caps being reinstated.
He Waka Eke Noa is developing a practical framework to support farmers to measure, manage and reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions with the two options being: pay for net
I once heard businessman and tech innovator Sir Ian Taylor say – and I paraphrase – sometimes you will need to paddle the waka as hard as you can, but other times you’ll need to lie down in the hull and trust that the wind, the current, your instinct and your intuition
will guide you safely to your destination. And it seems that we are almost at a point where there are a few final crucial pieces of work to be completed in 2022, then it will be time to “lie down” and trust that all the hard work has been worthwhile. The environmental side of the coin is also important when it comes to farm transactions with buyers, their lenders and their advisors looking closely at input/output data and wanting transparent record-keeping with evidence of good governance of a property. Future maintainable production is now a very real consideration come transaction time for buyers and those vendors that are well-prepared are separated from the pack. Such detail may provide a premium price in the market – something that we continuously seek for our vendors.
Commodity prices and outlooks for the year ahead Our primary sector exports have performed well on the global stage in recent years – have we reached the top of the cycle? Commodity markets are, after all, cyclical, and inevitably cycles bring volatility. Maybe, maybe not. But, cautiously, inflation is stamping its mark on
margins behind the farm and orchard gates. Yes, Fonterra’s farmgate milk forecasts are up around $9.50/kgMS currently, underpinned by global demand and supply dynamics, but on-farm costs have escalated, and this dilutes real returns significantly. Fertiliser, electricity and labour costs are multiplying, and will potentially act as handbrakes for most primary industries. ANZ and Rabobank are both foreseeing an up-and-down period over the next 12 months, with a mix of positivity, challenges and the ongoing uncertainty of pandemic-related impacts. In the lifestyle market, country living is now well and truly embedded into the landscape of daily New Zealand life. If the level of transactions concluded by Bayleys during the pandemic is anything to go by, there are possibly more Kiwis living out in the country now than ever before, bringing new diversity to the rural landscape. As we say goodbye to what has been an outstanding summer for many and settle into autumn, the Bayleys Country team is only a phone call or email away if property is on your mind. Talk to us – being altogether better in the country is what we to do.
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
Informing New Zealand Beef ’s Progeny Test By George Tatham Director Beef + Lamb New Zealand
W
hile still early days, Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Informing New Zealand Beef programme’s progeny test is already coming up with some interesting findings.
The first is the relatively low correlation between Body Condition Score (BCS) in cows and fat depth measurements in heifers and bulls. The programme’s science team, led by Jason Archer, found this correlation to be only 25 per cent, which makes a focus on EBVs for fat a blunt instrument for indicating a cow’s ability to hold her condition through winter. Early results suggest that it could be better to measure BCS and create an Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) based on that as a more reliable indicator of a cow’s ability to maintain body condition during feed deficits. The other finding was the link between sires and a heifer’s ability to get back in-calf at her second mating.
They found there was no variation between sires and a heifer’s ability to get in-calf for the first time as a yearling, but there was variation when it came to getting that heifer back in calf a second time. As farmers know, that second mating is the important one because that inability to get back in calf makes for a very expensive animal. This variation apparently disappears once the cow moves into the mixed-age herd, but there hasn’t been a lot of data generated at this early stage of the programme. Progeny test data is now being gathered on Pamu’s Kepler Farm near Manapouri in Southland but the team is now looking for a second farm upon which to set up a progeny test, preferably in the North Island.
objectives, breeder selection, using EBVs and structural assessment.
These will be followed up with a post bull-sale workshop which will focus on getting the most out of the investment in genetics. While a planned in-person Beef Breeder Forum run in conjunction with breed associations will no longer be held in early May, a short webinar is being organised for stud breeders as an alternative. One of the goals of the INZB programme is to collect data from commercial beef enterprises as traditionally it is stud breeders who performance record and whose data is used to generate EBVs. Commercial breeders
involved in the INZB programme will be running scaled-down versions of the progeny test, without the artificial insemination. They will be collecting basic data which will be used alongside stud data to calculate EBVs. Over the next year, an industry survey will be one of the programme’s top priorities to understand what traits are important to both commercial beef producers and stud breeders.
This will help expand the progeny testing programme and allow for the introduction of new genetics. While Covid-19 has disrupted extension activities initially planned by the Informing New Zealand Beef programme, online workshops have been developed in the lead-up to the bull buying season. These include a workshop based on the Better Beef Breeding workshop which covered topics such as setting breeding
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Informing New Zealand Beef’s Progeny Test science lead Jason Archer.
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
A 15-month hunt for a World title: Covid-willing By Doug Laing
F
ormer World shearing champion, agricultural contractor and Maraekakaho farmer Rowland Smith is known for a competitive and work ethic beyond compare.
But he’ll be pulling out all stops even further over the next 15 months as he tries to win selection in New Zealand’s team and if successful go to Scotland in 2023 in an attempt regain the World title he won in Ireland in 2014. After seven years at the top level it was his 60th Open title, moving in as the successor of prolific winners Sir David Fagan, now retired, and fellow Hawke’s Bay gun Johnny Kirkpatrick, the 2017 World champion, who in 2002 was first to beat Fagan in the Golden Shears Open final since 1989. Seven seasons later (given that he did not compete in the heavily curtailed 2021-2022 season) the 35-year-old, who was born in Napier but grew-up in Northland, now has 167 Open titles to his name including seven of the last eight Golden Shears Opens in Masterton and eight of the last 10 NZ Shears Opens in Te Kuiti. But the list misses the two to which he perhaps most aspired, missing a chance for a successful defence in Invercargill
in 2017 after missing out on a place in the team, and succumbing by just 0.15pts in finishing runner-up to Welsh shearer Richard Jones in the 2019 final in France. Shearing Sports NZ is yet to decide how it will select two machine shearers, two blades shearers and two wool handlers for the World Championships, part of the 2023 celebration of Scotland’s Royal Highland Show 200th anniversary – originally scheduled for this year.
has “taken away” what could have been two of the better seasons of his career. He says as well it will be “interesting” to see who else is ready to put their handpieces up. Kirkpatrick is zeroing-in on 200 career Open wins since his first in OctoberNovember 1995 and Southland gun Nathan Stratford, who won the teams title with Kirkpatrick in 2017 and the PGG Wrightson Vetmed National
Shearing Circuit final in the truncated latest season, but Smith expects challenges from across the board, including some who’ve been regulars in finals but only rarely able to get the top prize. “You need to be doing the shows, I’ll be doing the shows, to get everything right,” he says, noting one particular attraction. “You can’t beat the Golden Shears. That will keep me going.”
He last competed over ago at the 2021 NZ Shears, watching the 2021-2022 season fall apart with cancellation of three-quarters of its 59 shows, including all eight from the Poverty Bay A and P Show in Gisborne to the Wairarapa A and P Show at Clareville, and all but four in the North Island. Just when some may have conjectured a season off might have been enough to direct him more to the agricultural contracting side of his life – and his latest tractor in a chain which started in his teens – Smith displays the absence makes the heart grow fonder side, ready to let rip with as many competitions as he can muster to make sure he’s in the right trim. At peak, he’s contested more than half the competitions in a season, but says the pandemic – cancelling the Golden Shears and the NZ Shears both twice –
A triumphant Rowland Smith after winning the 2014 World shearing championship in Gorey, Ireland. Photo Doug Laing.
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
Too hot to handle Fortunately, there is a treatment if the animals are not too severely affected and are caught early enough. Unfortunately, it is an off-label product meaning a default meat WHP (91 days) will apply. If you see any signs, get them off the paddock immediately.
By Victor Sanders Vet Services Hawke’s Bay
C
rops are an integral part of many systems, supplying supplementary feed when pasture covers get tight during autumn and winter. Unfortunately, nothing in life is ever that simple with many of the popular choices for crop being higher risk for nitrate accumulation, placing us between a rock and a hard place when push comes to shove.
Prevention is the best cure when it comes to nitrate toxicity. Simply bring in a sample of the crop/pasture to your local clinic and ask for a nitrate test. The test allows us to see the current levels of nitrate in the plant and if it is safe for stock to graze.
Management practices can also help reduce the risk of nitrate toxicity if we need to feed stock on crops that have moderate levels. These include ensuring stock do not go on hungry, feeding in late morning and early afternoon, supplying some supplementary feed such as hay while on the crop, checking the animals regularly when they are on crop and lastly, restricting how long they are grazing for to no more than one hour.
Heading back to science class for a second, nitrate occurs naturally in the plant as a source of energy for growth. When ruminants graze, nitrate is converted to nitrite in the rumen which is then converted to ammonia. The ammonia is used as protein for the normal bugs in the rumen.
Nitrate levels in plants vary naturally but can become too high after periods of low temperatures, low sunlight, periods of stress (such as droughts), application of nitrogen fertilizer and in young plants. Plants that are rapidly growing after a period of stunting are the most dangerous. Commonly incriminated plant species are oats, brassicas and annual ryegrass, Problems arise when the levels of nitrate are very high as a lot of nitrite is produced in the rumen. When the rate of nitrite production is too much, it exceeds the normal conversion rate to ammonia and spills over into the blood. Once in the blood, nitrite reduces how much oxygen is carried in the blood causing the animal to show signs of low oxygen. Commonly associated signs are sudden death, struggling to breathe, incoordination and weakness.
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
11
Working together through challenging times By Brydon Nisbet President of the Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association
A
cross our region the main fruit harvest for 2022 is well underway, and for many it’s nearly all over. But one thing for sure, it’s been one of the most difficult harvest seasons to date or at least since I’ve been involved in the industry. We have had the effects of Covid in our community and within our workforce. Our growers were up to the task with strong and robust H & S procedures which has helped greatly in the managing spread amongst staff. This has added to the acute labour shortage amongst our harvest crews. Our post-harvest supply chains have been stretched with shipping delays and staff shortages. Our three major providers of RSE workers, Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga also had nationwide lockdowns as they experienced their own outbreaks of Covid. Tonga was also devastated by the volcano eruption on the 15 January.
Hawke’s Bay had its own wild weather events contributing to the wettest growing season I’ve ever experienced with some areas receiving up to 175mls of rain in 12 hours. However, the history of our industry and of the Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association show it’s always in these most trying times that innovation and the strength of our community come together. We have heard of neighbours sharing labour, ensuring that growers have the equipment and staff to get through their picking. On a larger scale we have witnessed industry members working tirelessly to support our workers from the Pacific. Our industry has fantastic pastoral care networks in place for our RSE. There has been work behind the scenes especially for our Tongan friends, contributing to relief plans for the rebuild post eruption. Our wider community has banded together to assist those orchards affected by recent flood damage, here, and in our neighbouring regions. I want to thank our own community for their continued support of our industry. The future of HBFA is looking bright too. We currently have a full executive committee with a wealth of industry knowledge and a mix of small growers, corporate managers involved in apples, stonefruit, kiwifruit, organic production and postharvest operations.
Pickers stretching before work.
We have some exciting initiatives due to be announced soon. We want to continue our focus on supporting our growers through protecting, fostering, and promoting fruit growing in Hawke’s Bay. We have appointed Megan Dravitzki as our Business and Relationship Manager, who brings fresh energy with new ideas and a collaborative approach, making us well equipped for the future. Lastly, we can’t wait to come together to connect, celebrate, and kick up our heels at the Hawke’s Bay Young Fruitgrower of The Year. This year’s field competition is being held at the Hasting
showgrounds from 9am – 5pm on May 26. It’s free to come along and cheer on the local candidates, and your favourite tug of war team. On Friday the 27s May it’s the Young Fruitgrower of the Year dinner and speech night. This is an outstanding night of fun and connecting with industry people – it’s been a difficult year so far – so I encourage our growers to come and celebrate our fantastic industry.
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
Weighting the die By Jake Cope, Metservice
H
awke’s Bay has had more than its fair share of headline grabbing weather over the last 18 months, stretching back to the extreme flooding seen in Napier in November 2020. This heavy rain was described as a 1-in-100year rain event, but just a year later in November 2021 another similar sized rain event occurred. Then early this year, two further major heavy rain and flooding events occurred, one in early February and one in late March. Given that we’ve seen several 1-in-100-year events in quick succession, it’s fair to question what this term means.
We’re talking about return periods, a way of expressing the probability of an event of that magnitude or greater happening in any given year. The longer the return period, the less likely an event is to occur. A 1-in-10-year event is 10 times more likely to occur in any year than a 1-in-100-year event. Another way of thinking about it is that a 1-in100-year event has a 1% chance of occurring in any one year, on average, over a long time. An event like this could be expected to happen 10 times in a thousand years. Return periods are specific to each location and are calculated using historical data for that place. A rain
event considered a 1-in-100-year event for Hastings would have a much shorter return period somewhere wetter, like Milford Sound. This is one reason we seem to have these events more frequently than the return period would suggest, if we get a significant event in Havelock North, and another in Wairoa then we’ve had two in Hawke’s Bay, but just one in each place.
Tasman Sea. Low pressure is associated with wind and rain, and as these features sweep across the upper North Island, they can become slow moving thanks to the Chatham Island high. This
holds them in place and easterly winds on the southern flank of these lows can drive heavy and persistent rain over Hawke’s Bay.
Whilst the terminology can be a little confusing, it’s important to understand that a 1-in-100-year event does not mean that the event will occur every 100 years. It also doesn’t mean that just because we have had one such event recently, we won’t get another one for a century. On a standard die you have a 1-in-6 chance of rolling a six, even if you just rolled a six last time. However, just like a weighted die, not all years are created equal. The last two years have seen La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean. La Niña is when sea surface temperatures here are cooler than normal, which in turn enhance the easterly trade winds. It may be a long way away, but this has an impact on New Zealand weather maps. Through La Niña summers we’re more likely (when compared to non-La Niña years) to see high pressure around the Chatham Islands, and an increased frequency of low pressure systems in the northern
La Nina and multiple 1-in-100-year rain events in 18 months.
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
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New investigation into native honey
P
lant & Food Research will be leading a national team of researchers looking at native honey composition and the characteristics that appeal most to consumers, thanks to new funding from the High-Value Nutrition National Science Challenge.
The new two-year project focuses on prominent native monofloral (single flower nectar) honey – predominantly from kānuka, rata, rewarewa and kamahi - produced by Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa (TPT) beekeeping activities on Department of Conservation areas in the Rotorua region.
honey with great taste and bioactives that will also appeal to consumers.” “Mānuka honey has scientificallyvalidated bioactive properties that consumers will pay a premium for,” says Dr John van Klink, project co-lead from Plant & Food Research. “In this project we will analyse different monofloral honeys with the aim of identifying scientifically validated factors that will differentiate some of our other important, but lesser-known, native honeys.”
Combined with advanced consumer insights, the new knowledge gleaned from the project will provide further awareness of the unique properties and consumer value of our lesser-known honeys, and support the development of new monofloral honeys. “This investment of over $980,000 from the High-Value Nutrition National Science Challenge fits well with our objective of supporting industries with their growth aspirations through the
application of science” says Joanne Todd, Challenge Director at High Value Nutrition at The University of Auckland. The project brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts and scientists from Te Arawa and other iwi/ hapu entities, Plant & Food Research, AgResearch, Massey University and Apiculture NZ to employ a collaborative bicultural approach.
Source Plant & Food Research, 30 Mar 2022
The project will analyse examples of honeys from across the different geographical regions of the TPT rohe (territory/boundary) to search for specific chemical signatures and potential unique biomarkers. It will also determine the consistency and flavours of honey that consumers prefer, as well as consumer perceptions of Māori values and provenance. “Honey and honey-related products account for more than $400 million of New Zealand’s export earnings each year,” says project co-lead Aaron McCallion from Waka Digital. “Mānuka honey is the primary honey export, valued for its unique bioactive properties. However, we believe that other native species may also produce
Manuka honey is the primary honey export.
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WEATHER BOMBS, FORESTRY & FARMING When it rains in Biblical portions, bad things happen – Noah knows! More so, when your underlying rock is soft and unstable - a metre of rain in one month will inevitably create casualties. And that’s about the sum of March in Northern Hawkes Bay and Tairawhiti. All on the heels of the outrage which dominated headlines when a similar deluge two years back caused Tolaga Bay to be hit by logs and forestry
debris. Then, no question about it, forestry was culpable and so the industry apologised and backed this by cleaning the beaches. This time, the picture is not so simple. It is not so much wood that is coming off the hills but rather the soil. And for the most part it is not coming from forestry land. While any mobile debris is bad debris, the latest extreme weather has
provided us with confidence that we are on the right track, that the changes we are implementing are helping.
viewing smaller harvesting coups, not replanting at all on very unstable areas and leaving riparian strips everywhere.
What is noticeable here is that much of the woody debris is poplar, willow and other species of trees not associated with pine forests. And again, while not always visibly confronting, everywhere there are rivers of silt, the productive and environmental cost of which is massive.
We also expect less soil disturbance in a second rotation forest as much of the roading and harvesting infrastructure was developed the first-time round.
Perversely, much of the problem identified with forestry is from forests created under the ‘East Coast Project’ back in the 1970’s. When a zealous government asked its forest service to acquire whole farms and blanket plant them - pine being the obvious choice as it establishes easily, grows well, and provides a versatile and valued commodity. Besides stemming soil loss another objective was to use forestry as a vector for regional development in an otherwise lagging East Coast.
But that’s all ahead of us and in the meantime, we will work with what we have got. The forests have a finite life span; weather keeps on getting more erratic and to do nothing is foolish. That given, it is not reasonable to expect the industry to completely plug the debris leaks. But we can and are always looking to do better. One can only hope that farming in Northern Hawkes Bay and Tairawhiti is on a similar trajectory with siltation, because that matters too. Keith Dolman, CEO
We knew then that once established, pines would look after the soil, in all but the wettest times when everything is vulnerable. And we are working hard to reduce the chances of immediate postharvest debris flows too.
The March 2022 weather has left quite a footprint on the hills around Wairoa. The costs to transport routes and freshwater and marine ecology will be considerable (photo anon ‘concerned landowner’).
Obviously, with the wisdom of hindsight some areas should not have been planted with commercial intent. This has been taken on board by forestry companies who now are
Debris traps are part of the toolkit. - this in a HB forest pictured just after the March rain.
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FARMING OUTLOOK APRIL 2022
Health for rural folks
R
emember to look after the most important piece of farm equipment - YOU! Managing people, land, production, finances, juggling time with the family, working long days in unpredictable weather - it’s easy to forget to look after ourselves.
Farming is tough. It can be both physically and emotionally demanding, so becoming unwell, or being unfit for work is just not an option. Here are some ideas to keep you in top condition year round.
Stay Well STAY HYDRATED Many of us don’t drink enough water, which can result in headaches and cause damage to our kidneys and heart. Have a glass of water first thing in the morning, and carry a water bottle on farm. Avoid sugary fruit juice and fizzy drinks. GET OFF YOUR QUAD BIKE Advances in farming equipment mean we get less exercise than we used to. Make an effort to make an effort – get off your bike to open gates. More time on your feet exercises your hip joints and strengthens your actual quads. BE SUN SMART Getting sunburnt is the number one cause of skin cancers. Wear sunscreen
and a hat and dark glasses whenever the sun is out and stop to re-apply sunscreen during the day. EAT WELL Our body’s energy needs changes through the farming seasons so adjust your diet to avoid gradual weight gain and rapid weight loss. REST WELL Aim to get eight hours sleep a night. Set yourself a routine and have an hour of downtime before bed. Write down your to-do list for the next day to get it off your mind, and get up ten minutes earlier to review and plan your day.
doing something you enjoy off the farm can help. KEEP A WORK DIARY Record not only what you need to do but also what you have achieved which is always encouraging. START TALKING When things are not going well, we can be too embarrassed about our decisions or the situation we are in to want to talk about them. It’s good
to talk about what’s going on with the farm and how we’re feeling. Talk to your partner, your friends, or others in your community. Getting it out in the open can lift a weight off your shoulders. If you are after confidential advice on farming matters, assistance with emergency planning, financial help, or just need help getting on track, contact your local Rural Support Trust on 0800 787 254 or visit rural-support.org.nz.
Courtesy Men’s Health Trust
Reduce Your Stress Getting momentum to keep the farm going day after day, prioritising work and decision making are all harder if you are operating with a high level of stress. But reducing that stress is easier said than done, right? Here are some ideas: GET OFF THE FARM When we go for long stretches without getting off the farm, it can take its toll. Decision making gets harder, we can get overwhelmed and become less logical and more emotional. Getting away and being with other people can recharge your batteries and help give you perspective. If you can’t get away for a few days, even a few hours a week
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