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Guardian
Ashburton
www.guardianONLINE.co.nz
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 1879
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‘Junior’ florist takes out top award at Ellerslie By Sue Newman Ashburton florist Nicole Hazlehurst is at the top of her game and she’s only 19. At this year’s Ellerslie Flower Show she not only took out the junior young apprentice of the year title but also beat florists with
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LEFT: New Zealand’s number one young florist, Nicole Hazlehurst, flying the flag for Ashburton at the Ellerslie Flower Show.
decades more experience to win the show’s supreme award against all-comers. Yesterday an excited Nicole was still coming to terms with her big win and said it had capped off a year that just kept getting better. At last year’s show she came second in the young apprentice award and later in the year secured a place in the New Zealand team to compete in the International World Skills competition in Germany in July. After competing last year, Nicole said she believed she was going
into the event better prepared, but that preparation went out the window once competitors were given the competition programme. “I had a few things I wanted to do in Germany that I thought I’d do but everything was different this year so I didn’t get that opportunity. It was a completely different scenario but last year’s experience definitely helped.” Competitors were given 14 individual challenges as well as a floral shop and letterbox design. Nicole won five of these – corporate
arrangement, wreath for a funeral, mixed media, surprise box and hand-tied bouquet. “There was quite a mixture, and it was a real challenge, a real test of our skills,” she said. Over the four days of competition, the florists were watched and marked by a team of judges, but no progress results were given. That meant finding she had taken both titles came as a huge surprise, Nicole said. “I liked most of the stuff I brought out so there was always hope but
Local straw to rescue drought-hit NI farmers By Michelle Nelson and APNZ Mid Canterbury straw is already on the way to feed stock in drought stricken areas of the North Island, as trucks carrying store lambs and dairy cattle head south. Drought was declared last week in Northland, South Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel and Hawke’s Bay, while Manawatu and Rangitikei look set to be the next regions to seek Government assistance. Yesterday Federated Farmers met to discuss how best to assist their northern counterparts in what climate scientists are calling the worst drought in 70 years. Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers Grain & Seed chairman David Clark said high quality straw would be available until the end of the harvest, but a bottleneck in transport options was a sticking point. “We are working through the logistics to provide additional capacity to move feed to drought-stricken areas of the central north island,” Mr Clark said. He said time was of the essence and traditional methods of backloading trucks would not suffice, given the quantity of straw required, and rail and sea options were also being considered. In Mid Canterbury crop residue is usually burnt or chopped to clear paddocks for replanting, and the message that it was needed as stock feed has been slow to reach local farmers, according to Mr Clark. “A real concern to us is that farmers have got the message that feed is not required and that it is worthless,” Mr Clark said. “The price offered to local farmers is a serious disconnect; the product must be available in a timely manner and at a fair price – fair to everyone involved – to avoid a monopoly in the market. “Federated Farmers is working to facilitate the commercial movement of product – but it is not being done at a discounted rate. “This is not a charity emergency drive, we are working to help North Island farmers in their hour of need; it is about farmers helping farmers.” Mr Clark said the quantity of stock feed shipped north would be the largest inter-island transfer since the North Island stepped in
the world skills event later in the year. “The training I’m doing for Germany really helped at Ellerslie, particularly in things such as timing and it was good to be working in a competitive environment ahead of the skills event.” She might be a national champ, but today Nicole is happy to be back at work at Flowers and Balloons in Ashburton and coming up with ways to raise the $30,000 she needs to compete in July’s world skills event.
Sharp Blacks a cut above tri-nations competition By Sue Newman If Paddy Kennedy is grinning from ear-to-ear, it’s because he’s just whipped the Aussies and the Poms on the butchers’ block. As a member of the six-man Wedderburn Sharp Blacks team, Mr Kennedy tested his boning and meat display skills in a tri-nations event over the weekend at the Wanaka show, playing a key role in earning New Zealand its first win in the event. The six butchers might have been chosen as the best from New Zealand’s best, but they knew they were up against some pretty tough competition, he said. “We knew what we were doing, we’d had a couple of practices but as far as our display went we were still in the carpark at the bakery laying it out on the ground because we’d only got our props when we got down there so it all ended up being a bit of trial and error.” Those props included a rustic farm gate and an old shovel on a stand, in keeping with the Central Otago theme. The errors weren’t all on the part of the competitors either, with the organisers coming up with a marquee that was too small to hold three teams, forcing the competition outdoors. The Kiwis drew number one bench putting them under the noses of show-goers and television cameras. With crowds pressing in from every side, the butchers had two and three quarter hours to bone out a side of beef and two sheep. They then had to turn these into a variety of cuts for their display. Those
cuts, however, had to be creative, innovative and designed for gourmet dining. “That was the quickest two and three quarter hours of my life, it absolutely flew. Our team really gelled and everyone knew their place and what they were doing. If anyone needed help, then someone jumped in to help them. I think I lost about five kgs running back and forwards.” An example of how serious the competition was came with the Australian team, with management putting the butchers under curfew and on a drinking ban until the competition was over. As previous winners, the Aussies put the challengers on notice they were there to retain their title but the English team was a real unknown quantity, Mr Kennedy said. With this year’s competition wrapped up, the winning team members are not assured of a place in the team to travel to England next year. They’ll be forced into a boneout against a team of top butchers chosen from a north-south competition in April. “It’ll be anyone’s game again. If I don’t get in I don’t get in but I’ll be trying my hardest.” Unlike many national events where there’s the lure of a prize, the Wedderburn Sharp Blacks went home from the tri-nations empty handed. But Mr Kennedy’s not complaining. “We got nothing than the accolade and the buzz of winning but it was one of the highlights of my butchery career. Three of the team had been in there since day dot and they’d had two disappointments. It was great to see them win.”
Photo Tetsuro Mitomo 110313-tm-016
Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers Grain & Seed chairman David Clark and truck driver Chris Sparling discuss North Island drought conditions, while Charlie Pike loads straw bales at Highbank.
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To see more or purchase photos to assist with the 1992 snowstorm, which hit Mid Canterbury hard. While it is not economical to bring stock south for grazing, Mr Clark said pre-sold dairy cattle destined for Mid Canterbury conversion blocks were arriving early and “tens of thousands” of store lambs from
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the central North Island were moving into the district. However, Mr Clark urged drought-affected farmers not to forget their traditional suppliers of straw. Meanwhile, the Government has issued a warning to droughtravaged farmers telling them that
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everyone was bringing out great stuff.” The standard in this year’s event was incredibly high, she said. Competition convenor Joy Knight said some exciting young talent had been identified in the competition. “Our competitors were chosen from across New Zealand and the skills they are showing this year are astounding,” she said. For Nicole, a second appearance at Ellerslie also provided an opportunity to hone her skills ahead of
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they must adapt their practices if droughts become more common rather than relying on state bailouts. Acting Prime Minister Bill English said the Government would be unable to continuously help farmers facing drought. His comments came following claims by experts that the drought conditions, believed to be the worst in 70 years, will become more regular in the future. As regions are declared in drought, financial support and funding for support groups is triggered. Mr English said while the Government was currently provid-
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ing hardship assistance to families, farmers would have to adapt to the increasing risk of drought. “We’ve got research in place for instance to find more drought resistant grasses and farmers have for years been adapting their management practices.” Mr English denied the Government was giving assistance to failing businesses in a way it did not do for other industries. “I think we’ve got the balance about right - it’s not supporting the business in the sense of paying their bills for them, it’s just dealing with those cases involving extreme hardship.
Paddy Kennedy – a tri-nations butchery winner.
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