HB Today - Farming Outlook August 2021 by NZME.

FARMING

OUTLOOK

AUGUST 2021

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Rural Cartage Specialists Nick Agnew 027 583 7373 1445 Omahu Road Has!ngs

FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

Treat your working dogs like athletes By Nicole Lansdown Veterinarian, Vet Services Hawke’s Bay

orking dogs are an asset to any farmer and are becoming an increasingly large investment. The lifetime value of a useful working dog is estimated to be $40,000 with dogs fulﬁlling roles other staff cannot replace. With this in mind it is important to provide the best care to allow dogs to reach their full potential. One of the most important factors for working dog performance is nutrition. With some dogs running up to 100km/ day at speeds of 20-30km/hr, suitable feeding ensures dogs work better for longer. Dogs that are fed appropriate levels of protein with optimal diets containing 30-32% protein and 20-30% fat sustain less musculoskeletal injuries than dogs that are not. Diets recommended by VSHB are Royal Canin 4800 and Black Hawk Working dog, both of which meet these recommendations. While these diets may be more expensive per bag compared to commercial diets, less needs to be fed to meet the same nutritional requirements and dogs have the energy to work all day.

While feeding adult dogs is important, it is also crucial to provide pups with the right diet for their different nutrient requirements. Calcium and phosphorus ratios are essential for puppies, with Huntaway and Heading pups needing different diets. Ensuring these ratios are correct from six weeks of age can lower the risk of arthritis as adults and lengthen a working dog’s productive life. Meat diets in puppies are not recommended as the reduced calcium and excessive phosphorus can cause irreversible bone disease.

so calling for help sooner rather than later can save both puppies and their mothers. If a mismate does occur there are options at any stage of pregnancy to avoid unwanted litters, please contact your veterinarian to discuss these.

It is important to remember that working dogs are athletes and deserve to be treated as such. A good dog is an invaluable resource, so providing them with a good diet, a warm dry kennel and early veterinary care will enable them to work a long and productive life.

Care of pregnant bitches is imperative to ensure both healthy pups and for mother welfare. Ideally working bitches shouldn’t be bred until fully mature, usually around two years. Once at the appropriate age she should be checked over for abnormalities by a veterinarian, along with a discussion about inherited diseases such as hip dysplasia. Once in pup, diet is again very important. She should be fed a good quality adult dog food until one week before whelping, then switched onto medium breed puppy food which has the right amount of calcium until the pups are weaned. During whelping if you are concerned contact your veterinarian; there is a small window where pups can be delivered safely if they are in distress

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FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

Reaching for the sky

osh and Suzie Calder, who have over 20 years-experience in the agricultural aviation industry, are the team behind Rural Air Work.

While the application of solid fertiliser makes up the majority of their workload they are also experts in rural fire fighting support. Rural Air Work’s distinctive Pink Cresco’s and Blue/Yellow PAC 750XL aircraft are both capable of two tonne payloads. Along with the latest variable rate technology they can accommodate any aerial spreading needs in the greater Hawke’s Bay area. To assist the business on the ground, Rural Air Work has a close partnership with Stevenson & Taylor of Waipukurau and have been loyal clients since 2015. In 2019 the two Central Hawke’s Bay companies worked closely together building a purpose-built fertiliser loader truck. The project took 10 months and this innovative machine has allowed Rural Air Work to upgrade their fleet, meet regulations and provide a safer loading cab for the drivers. Other projects they have worked together on include a waterproof bucket for filling the plane from ground equipment which is essential when fighting fires from the air.

Local service Josh and Suzie both agree having the purpose-built machinery that is easy to operate offers huge beneﬁts for their company and clients. But when it comes to investing in the latest gear, there’s more to it than that.

The Waipukurau-based sales and service agents have come to the rescue a couple of times, says Josh. In one instance they provided ﬁxing equipment within just half an hour of the initial call being made.

Josh says 99 % of the reason they use Stevenson & Taylor is because of the service and support they provide.

It’s a responsive service that Stevenson & Taylor general manager Robby Smith is justiﬁably proud of. But then, “that’s the nature of the modern agricultural industry,” he says.

“They are always available to ﬁx something for us, no matter what time of day or day of the week. We have to be able to keep working when the farmer needs us and if there is an issue with a machine it’s great to know Stevenson & Taylor are there.”

“The intensity has changed a lot. Previously ‘tomorrow’ was ﬁne, that’s often not the case anymore. Our customers don’t ring us in anticipation of needing our help-when they call, they need assistance. So, we need to be straight onto solving the issue for them.”

Stevenson & Taylor are also proud of their engineering departments capability and expertise – Robby believes one of the core strengths of the business is having staff with outstanding technical ability. He says between the workshop and the engineering department the company can offer results to their clients when it really matters. “We’re able to offer a large-town-shop experience, backed with small-town service,” he says. Rural Air Work is a progressive player in the Hawke’s Bay agricultural aviation industry. The support that Stevenson & Taylor offer makes their partnership destined for exciting things ahead.

FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

Form ﬁlling robs farmers of their production ‘happy place’

By Jim Galloway, President Federated Farmers Hawke’s Bay

t’s a fact of modern farming life that these days the laptop or iPad is probably as vital as the tractor or the dog team to growing the quality food and ﬁbre that New Zealand is known for in markets around the world.

But it’s also true that for the vast majority of farmers their happy place is out on the land with their crops and livestock. It isn’t back in the farmhouse ofﬁce staring at a glowing screen and tapping a keyboard. I certainly didn’t get into farming to tick lots of compliance boxes and grapple with endless forms and paperwork. The thing with compliance in all its many forms isn’t just about doing the right thing, it’s proving to the person with the clipboard you have done the right thing. Farmers understand the need for paperwork when it’s needed for the likes of food safety, for environmental monitoring and for product traceability to assure our customers here and offshore that we’re doing the right things by our animals, our catchments and emissions. When they have those assurances they’re willing to keep buying our great produce, and hopefully pay a premium for it. But what farmers ﬁnd frustrating are compliance and audits which have no

apparent purpose, or when they have to enter the same data again and again because computer programmes don’t ‘talk’ to each other, or because the organisations, councils, government agencies or others demanding the information haven’t shown any co-ordination. The Hawke’s Bay farm I work on recently undertook an audit for the meat it produces. Coming up hard on us is another audit on the horticultural side of the operation. New Zealand’s farms are multi-faceted businesses these days – every dairy farmer also produces beef; every sheep and beef farmer deals with meat and wool, supplying different companies. Arable farms grow many crops and usually run livestock as well. Others have also diversiﬁed into tourism and woodlots to name a couple of enterprises in rural NZ. A lot of the data farmers enter is in programmes that provide value for decision-making tools in their farming business but then they’re often forced to re-type it all out into another programme to satisfy compliance. No-one likes doing the same job twice, or in the case of some compliance data, many times. Then of course this needs to be audited to ensure you typed the right numbers across.

A good example of a programme/tool that has got it right is PaySauce. This is a payroll system, with an app geared for farmers. Staff can enter the hours they have worked on their cellphone – no need for chasing around to get paper timesheets off them. PaySauce calculates wages, PAYE, KiwiSaver, holiday pay and any extra obligations, pays the staff and the tax man, sends payslips and reports, and ﬁles with the IR. Farmers need only approve timesheets and leave.

the sake of form ﬁlling. More co-ordination from those needing farm data, and development of technology solutions/ inter-operability to reduce the time it swallows, would go a very long way. Then farmers like me could enjoy more time in their happy place – outdoors, making environmental improvements and producing the quality food and ﬁbre that are the lifeblood of not only provincial economies, but also earn the lion’s share of New Zealand’s export receipts.

Driving productivity gains are what we want from the time we spend on computers recording data, not doing it for

Jim in his not so happy place Jim in his happy place

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FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

BioAg – putting the love back into farming

ioAg has been putting the love back in to farming for the past 40 years, using biology to improve the health of soils, plants, animals, humans, and the environment.

“If it’s good for the soil, it’s good for you,” says BioAg managing director Steven Haswell. “When we pay attention to biological processes between soil, plant and animal there are significant opportunities to improve the efficiency of our food production, reduce synthetic fertiliser and chemical inputs while improving environmental and human health outcomes and farmers bottom lines.” “Soil is made up of air, water, minerals, organic matter and living organisms the biology. The last two distinguish soil from dirt, topsoil from subsoil. Humus sums that part up and right there is a farmer’s natural capital.” “Enhancing the biological function of the soil improves its structure, its ability to infiltrate and retain water, its ability to breathe oxygen – free nitrogen. The soil and plant biome enables pastures, crops, and animals to express their genetic potential. Nutrition is only possible due to a series of microbial bridges linking soil, plant, animal and human.” BioAg’s systems are centred on their proprietary advanced microbial stimulants, the effects of which allow farmers

to use dramatically less nitrogen, and fully mobilise soil nutrients. Minerals are always assessed and amended where appropriate. Their core focus is always on addressing causes, long term, rather than continuing the treadmill of treating symptoms.

nutrition for the past 26 years. “Our biological and soil enhancing farming inputs and programmes seek to reduce the reliance on and eliminate poisonous chemistry in the food chain while en-

“We look at the soils bio state and structure. If you look at only one aspect of the soil, you can easily miss the root cause. And of course, a farm is a collective of soil, plant and animals. One part affects another, so a holistic view is important to create the right programme”. BioAg provide complete soil, crop and pasture fertility programmes based on comprehensive soil testing, visual soil assessments along with crop, pasture or stock indicators and farmer objectives and take a long-term partnership approach. BioAg also collaborate and network with other industry such as seed suppliers, Ag scientists and innovative machinery distributors benefit their customers. BioAg’s integrated approach aims to not only achieve the farmer’s desired results in one area, but to create opportunities for overall improvement including profit, farm potential and personal fulfilment. Owner director Steven Haswell has worked in soil health, pasture, and crop

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hancing the productive capacity of our soils. This serves the farm, the people and the community.” Better soils, better everything. That’s for everyone.

FARMING OUTLOOK

AUGUST 2021

Young Farmers-social, educational and fun with the local community, Heather says. There is another, more serious, aspect in that the club is a good social support network and is a positive inﬂuence from a mental health perspective. In reality members can be over 31, they become alumni and don’t have voting rights but can be on hand to help and advise younger members.

By Chrys Ayley

eather Gunson has led an interesting life to date including a couple of stints dairy farming in Iceland. Now back in Hawke’s Bay she is the publicity ofﬁcer for the Ashley Clinton Norsewood Young Farmers Club. She’s also secretary of the East Coast Young Farmers regional executive committee.

The interesting thing about all Young Farmers clubs is that members don’t have to be employed in farming jobs, Heather says. All they need is an interest in farming, be between 18 and 31, keen to meet like-minded people and enjoy having fun. Heather falls into the latter category as she is studying for a degree in radiography in spite of her interest in farming. She says she was looking for a qualiﬁcation that would help her get work overseas but wanted to join a local, social farming group. The club caters to everyone, aims to be social and involve members in events. Members might range from teachers to truck drivers or fencers. From time to time there may be tractor or truck talk but overall it’s social, they have a meal and a yarn and get the business side of things over with as quickly as possible.

Club members are also encouraged to socialise with other clubs and compete in activities like paintball or clay target practice. In May they dusted off the old bowling trophy and travelled up to Hastings to defend their ten pin bowling title against the Eskview club. The Ashley Clinton Norsewood club held onto the title! James Cunningham, left, Heather Gunson and Fletch Edwards at a clay target event.

Currently there are 12 members and they meet at the Crown Hotel Norsewood one month and at the Copper Pot Gastro Pub in Waipukurau the alternate month. The chairperson is Adam Pickup with James Crysell, Zac Averill and James Cunningham also on the committee. There are plenty of social activities and fundraisers to be involved with such as fundraising for the rescue Helicopter Trust, Cranford Hospice and log splitting for the Norsewood Lions. The fundraisers help members connect

There are several information and educational seminars held during the year by supporters such as Vet Services. Most recently a representative from Primary ITO spoke to them about courses on offer and they also had a talk from the Kelso Ram Operations Manager Olivia Ellis. Then there are interclub debating challenges at local, regional and national level. For anyone interested in joining the Ashley Clinton Norsewood Young Farmers club contact ashleyclinton@ youngfarmers.co.nz or go to https://www.youngfarmers.co.nz/ to see which club is nearest you.

ECUREMAPPING D

iesel Performance Solutions (DPS) is a wellknown business that has proudly focused on remapping tractors, trucks, utes, commercial vehicles, and even buses around New Zealand for more than 16 years.

DPS stands out from the crowd with a reputation for outstanding customer service and for the fact the business develops its own software for New Zealand vehicles and Kiwi conditions. Based in Matamata, the research and development arm of DPS is led by founder and head tech Chris Burnell, along with ﬁle writing technician Scott Lecky. Chris is highly skilled at fault ﬁnding and has a great mind for anything related to electronics. Having strong mechanical knowledge plays a huge part in this business and all of the agents around New Zealand have mechanical experience behind them. Prior to working at DPS, Scott worked for Link Engine Management and has been working in tuning for 11 years, so adding his wealth of experience to the already impressive DPS team ensures the

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business keeps evolving and growing.

Also on-site at the head ofﬁce is a dynamometer (rolling road), used to carry out development with HCV (trucks) and also light utes and cars. All DPS New Zealand agents have dynamometers to test tractors as well, ensuring top-notch service for farmers where in the country they are. This investment in technology brings a deep quality to the overall DPS service and product.

Chris Burnell

DPS’ passion and speciality is remapping engine control units (ECUs) on agricultural and commercial machines, but the DPS services are also in high demand for all vehicle remapping needs. The beneﬁts of remapping typically include increased performance, increased torque, and increased fuel efﬁciency. With DPS agents across New Zealand, the experienced DPS team is the obvious choice for all your remapping needs.

For more information, visit dieselperformancesolutions.co.nz.

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FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

Record bull price for Kaharau

he Kaharau Angus Stud near Gisborne set the record books alight in late June when the hammer fell on a price tag of $106,000 for rising two-year-old sire Kaharau Q327. This is a new on-farm sale record across all beef breeds in New Zealand. The previous record price was $104,000 made at Turiroa Angus near Wairoa last year.

Kaharau Stud principal Penny Hoogerbrug says the bull stood out from a weaner but they never dreamt he’d fetch such a high price. She and the Kaharau team are over the moon with the result and she credits the success to a team effort. “We are feeling very humbled and grateful. As a breeder you always hope your sale will go well but we never dreamt of this.” Buying Q327 was the partnership of the Tapiri and Elgin Angus Studs from the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay respectively. “They are both young breeders and their families have been terrific supporters of Kaharau in the past, it’s great to see they are still keen on our genetics,” says Penny. On the sire side of his pedigree they are all homebred Kaharau sires, but Q327 is one of the first crop of bulls from father Kaharau Atlantic 454. There were 13 sons of Atlantic 454 in the sale - the first season his progeny has been available.

On the dam side the young bull is a combination of home bred females and the influential Matauri Reality 839. “He is a combination of traditional Kaharau breeding with the influence from Matauri Reality on the dam’s side, which gives Q327 a good spread of data. He’s got moderate birthweight, good fat EBVS in the top 5% of the breed and terrific IMF. He also has an impressive scrotal circumference at 44cm.”

Sam says Q327 suits the breeding programmes of both the studs and with slightly different calving dates he envisages the bull will get a cycle with the cows in each herd and some semen is also being collected.

As well as the top-priced animal, Kaharau achieved sales of $72,000, $52,000 and $40,000, and 36 other bulls also made five figures totalling to a magnificent sale total of $980,000. Courtesy of Angus New Zealand

“Phenotypically he is a lovely deep, thick, soft and correct sire - he’s very well balanced with a beautiful temperament and structurally sound,” said Penny. Sam Duncan from the Elgin Angus Stud in Hawke’s Bay, half the successful partnership who purchased Q327, fully agrees. “He’s a robust bull and he carries it well. Sarah and I are really rapt with him and are delighted to be working with the Thorneycrofts,” said Sam. Sam said he attended the sale with the intention of buying a bull and it was clear Lot 6 was a standout. Sam and Lucy Thorneycroft agreed to work together rather than against each other and agent Tom Suttor did the bidding for them.

Kaharau Stud principal Penny Hoogerbrug and manager Nick Carr with Karahau Q327. Photo credit Gisborne Herald

FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

2021 so far – how are we tracking?

fter the extreme weather experienced in Hawke’s Bay last year – back-to-back droughts through 2019 and much of 2020, followed by deluge rainfall and severe ﬂooding in November 2020, farmers might be wondering what the “new normal” is for Hawke’s Bay. The year 2021 has, so far, stuck to recent form. Summer ran drier than normal, and hotter than normal. Autumn continued extremely dry and abnormally warm - before June produced a signiﬁcant high-intensity rainfall weather event. Nationally, New Zealand experienced its warmest June on record, and July also ran extremely mild - until a blast of Antarctic air at the end of the month brought snow to very low levels (even along the east coast of the North Island), followed by subsequent frosts as a High built in. All in all, at the time of writing, the year-to-date rainfall for Napier Airport was sitting at only 299mm, or 54% of year-to-date normal.

This is almost identical to the year-todate accumulation seen in 2020 at the same date, and is well below the yearto-date tally observed in late winter in 2019. In other words, 2021 is the third unusually dry year in a row for Napier

(even when including the November 2020 deluge).

Looking ahead to spring The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) remains neutral at the present time. However, there is recent chatter about a resurgent La Niña by spring – in other words, a second-time-around La Niña. If La Niña does return by the end of the year, current modelling suggests it will be on the weaker side. What’s likely to be a more important player in the New Zealand context for spring (September- November), is a sharp change in weather maps. The latest long-range predictions from MetService, based on running a large group (‘ensemble’) of weather models, signal a quick transition from the active westerlies that have characterised the ﬁrst two thirds of August, towards more Highs than usual lying over the South Island during spring. Given the time of year, what this will likely mean, in practice, is a mixture of both intense/intermittent Highs lying to the south, and some good old fashioned spring westerlies, for Hawke’s Bay. As always, you should keep to date with the MetService long-range forecast at http://metservice.com/rural/ monthly-outlook.

Figure 1: Napier Airport estimated soil moisture deficit (SMD), shown in mm of deficit for the last five years (2017 to 2021-so-far). SMD is calculated based on ingoing daily rainfall (mm), outgoing daily potential evapotranspiration (PET, mm), and a fixed available water capacity of 150 mm (this is the amount of water in the soil ‘reservoir’ that plants could utilise). Soil moisture deficit in Napier in 2021 remained in extreme soil moisture deficit (signalled within the orange band) for most of the summer, and tracked similarly to 2019 and 2020 during autumn. At the time of writing, Napier SMD was sitting close to field capacity (blue zone), as is normal at this time of year. Note a significant change in soil moisture level during the November 2020 deluge.

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FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

How to choose the right rural real estate agent

hoosing the right person to sell your rural property is imperative to achieving the desired result.

From farms, orchards, vineyards and lifestyle blocks, rural property in New Zealand is extremely diverse. While all under the rural property umbrella, each have their own layers of detail around both the land and buildings, as well as the business. It is vital that the agent understands the complexities of rural property and agribusiness systems so that they can represent your property in the best light to buyers.

Often agents will specialise in sub-sectors of the market and choosing an agent that’s an expert on your property type is an important consideration, especially for complex assets. An agent’s track record will provide a good indication of whether they will be a good ﬁt for you and your property. Agents with a strong rural property sales experience will be able to evidence their past successes, ideally for similar properties to yours. The support of an experienced team will bring an added layer of service and enable the agent to leverage their extended networks.

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A good real estate agent is also a marketing specialist. Your rural agent needs to understand who the target audience will be and how they can be reached. Professional marketing and communications will determine how your property is presented to potential buyers and the market’s perception of value. Your rural real estate agent should be familiar with tailoring marketing options to suit you and your property – avoid those who go for a “one-shoe-ﬁts-all” approach.

expectations even in challenging times. Very good agents are excellent negotiators and will often be able to extract the highest value for a property through their marketing and sales strategy, compared to an agent who wants to win the listing at all costs. Honesty and integrity are crucial. You need to trust your agent and know that they can handle the hard conversations as well as the positive.

Remember that you only pay the agent once they’ve achieved the outcome you’ve set. Choosing someone based on fees will not necessarily save you money as a good agent will exceed your

Finally, look for a solution provider someone who understands how the rural property market works and can operate effectively no matter what part of the cycle the market is in.

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FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

Nationwide project offers hope in war against weeds

coordinated national research project aimed at tackling six of New Zealand’s most invasive weeds through biocontrol is expected to have far-reaching beneﬁts for landowners and councils across the country.

The three-year, $3.2 million project is backed by the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI’s) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund; Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research; and the National Biocontrol Collective (the Collective) – a consortium of regional councils, unitary authorities and the Department of Conservation. “There’s no doubt about it – weeds are a constant source of stress for landowners,” says Phil McKenzie, Chair of the project’s governance group. “Biocontrol has the potential to provide a longer-term solution at a time when more registered herbicides are being restricted by our export trading countries, weeds are becoming resistant to herbicides, and New Zealand society is demanding more environmentally friendly farming practices.” The project has three workstreams: to advance biocontrol programmes for several highpriority weeds; monitor weed reduction in matured biocontrol programmes on productive land and develop a partnership for sustaining investment in weed biocontrol.

The project will focus on Sydney golden wattle (Acacia longifolia), Chilean needle grass (Nassella neesiana), old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba), woolly nightshade (Solanum mauritianum), Chilean ﬂame creeper (Tropaeolum speciosum), and yellow ﬂag iris (Iris pseudacorus). By completion, the project aims to secure Environmental Protection Authority approval for the release of new biocontrol agents for at least three of these six weed species. “Weeds are a major threat to New Zealand’s natural and productive ecosystems, and they’re costly to control,” says Mr McKenzie.

“Biocontrol can be a long-term, cost-effective and sustainable weed management solution,” says Steve Penno, MPI’s director investment programmes. “By pooling our research efforts across multiple development streams, including adopting what’s worked in previous biocontrol programmes, we’ll be able to accelerate progress considerably. “Farmers need more effective tools to manage these invasive weeds. To be able to eradicate or at least substantially reduce some of our most persistent weeds would be a huge win.”

Background information Unlike synthetic herbicides, biocontrol agents pose no risk to human health and are much less harmful to the environment. Biocontrol uses natural enemies to provide a continuous, perpetual and self-dispersing method for permanent suppression of weeds. In the long-term, once agents are established and self-dispersing, herbicide use can be much reduced – and even eliminated in some cases. Biocontrol is the only feasible management approach for many weeds because it allows widespread protection.

“Through this project we aim to safeguard our environment and save landowners and councils money by ﬁnding smarter ways to reduce herbicides and the labour needed for weed control. “Although biocontrol is expensive upfront to develop, collaborative cost-sharing models will make the development stage affordable – and the long-term beneﬁts make it well worthwhile.” “We’ve got 15 regional councils coinvesting in the project too, which enables regional priorities to be accounted for in selecting weeds to work on.”

Woolly nightshade is one of the weeds that will be focused on during the project. Source MPI

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FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021

Ahuwhenua Trophy 2022 entries open

āori sheep and beef farmers are being urged to enter the 2022 Ahuwhenua Trophy competition.

The competition is designed to recognise excellence in Māori farming and was initiated in 1933 by the great Māori leader Sir Apirana Ngata and the Governor General at the time Lord Bledisloe. Entries for the competition are now open and Chair of the Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee which runs the competition, Nuku Hadﬁeld, says it offers a unique opportunity for individual Māori farmers, trusts and incorporations to showcase their excellent farming enterprises to both Māori and the wider farming sector.

Speaking at the Red Meat Sector Conference where the 2022 competition was officially launched, Nuku Hadfield noted that Māori contribute more than 15% of red meat exports and have done much to expand and develop their farming operations both in terms of sustainability and profitability. She says previous participants in the competition have said it was an invaluable exercise, and through the judging process they gained feedback that they otherwise wouldn’t have got. Nuku says the time and effort in entering the Ahuwhenua Trophy is more than made up for by the benefits that can accrue – including becoming a finalist and winning the award. To mark the official launch of the Ahuwhenua Trophy competition for sheep and beef, the Ahuwhenua Trophy was welcomed and displayed

at the at Red Meat Sector Conference dinner attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor and close to 200 delegates. Andrew Morrison, Chair of Beef+Lamb New Zealand says it was very exciting to launch the competition at the Red Meat Sector Conference. He says having the trophy on display to such a large and influential gathering helped raise the profile of the event. He says Beef + Lamb New Zealand are proud to be a Gold sponsor of the awards and are excited to participate in the various events held in conjunction with the competition. He says he hopes the profile of the launch will help attract Māori farmers and organisations to enter the Ahuwhenua Trophy competition and motivate other companies to encourage their clients to enter. Entries close on Friday 10 December and the winner will be announced at a gala dinner on Friday 27 May 2022, in Hawke’s Bay. More details are at www.ahuwhenuatrophy.maori.nz.

Our thanks to our valued Ahuwhenua Trophy sponsors: Te Puni Kōkiri, Ministry for Primary Industries, Te Tumu Paeroa, BNZ, B+LNZ, AgResearch, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, PGG Wrightson, AFFCO, BDO, Allﬂex, Massey University and Kono Wines. A big thanks also to sponsors of the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award: Te Puni Kōkiri, Primary ITO, Te Tumu Paeroa, B+LNZ and Allﬂex.

Beef+Lamb NZ chair Andrew Morrison and Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee chair Nuku Hadﬁeld with the Ahuwhenua Trophy at the Red Meat Sector conference in late July.

RURAL ROADS ARE NOT MOTORWAYS DRIVE AT SPEEDS THAT REFLECT THE SURROUNDINGS

While there may be posted speed limits, always drive to the conditions. There are obvious differences between motorways, state highways and rural roads. Rural roads are narrower, have more corners, less road markings and often have rural activities happening on and around them. Rural road hazards include animals/stock on the road, school buses and other heavy vehicles, railway level crossings, uneven road surfaces and roadworks.

FARMING OUTLOOK AUGUST 2021