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Farming GUARDIAN
DECEMBER 2018
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NEWS
Strength in sheep meat prices
INSIDE
PAGE 7 LAND USE CHANGE WHAT’S AHEAD
PAGE 8 NOVEMBER ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
PAGE 18 SMITH VOWS TO FRONT UP
Sheep meat prices are expected to remain strong as beef returns show signs of softening again next year. Another year of solid returns is signalled in a Rabobank report and should keep sheep and beef farmers in a pleasant mood. That will be tinged with some nervousness as the bank’s Global Animal Protein Outlook report says increasing global beef supplies, combined with weakened United States demand, points to pressure going on beef export returns throughout next year. However, a higher dollar is forecasted to reduce some of the pressure going on farm gate prices. Rabobank animal proteins analyst Blake Holgate said US demand for New Zealand beef exports was expected to reduce and China would become an increasingly important export market. “Just five years ago China accounted for less than 10 per cent of New Zealand’s total beef export receipts, however, this was up to 23 per cent last season. While the US remains
Tim Cronshaw
RURAL REPORTER
New Zealand’s largest beef export market, the proportion of product being exported to China is anticipated to grow further in 2019.’’ New Zealand beef production is expected to decline slightly by about 3 per cent with cow slaughter lower than this year when the culling of mature dairy herds led to a jump in overall beef processing. For sheep meat, the outlook remains positive for strong prices. “Despite some consumer resistance to high prices, and the potential for Brexit to disrupt New Zealand sheep meat exports into the UK and EU market, continuing strong demand in New Zealand’s other key export markets,
particularly China and the US, is expected to hold farm gate prices within a similar range to what was experienced last season,’’ said Holgate. Total lamb slaughter was expected to decrease to 19 million head, a fall of 2 per cent from this year, he said. “This would make it New Zealand’s lowest lamb kill on record and is being driven by the continual decline of New Zealand’s sheep flock and a lower national lambing percentage this season,” he said. Holgate said sheep and beef farmers would “be wise” to keep a close eye on local issues with the potential to impact farm production costs and
productivity. Regulations were set to tighten for livestock farming over the next year to 18 months for water quality, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions. Sourcing labour was expected to remain a challenge for farm owners and meat processing companies and this could impact on their productivity. Holgate said the US-China trade war was having much wider implications. “Of most significance for New Zealand sheep and beef farmers is the impact of the trade war on beef trade flows. While we do not see any direct beef trade between the US and China in 2019, we do see US exports looking for a new destination markets and this has the potential to distort other trade flows,” he said. Global feed prices set for a gradual increase would help to improve the trade competiveness of pasturedriven New Zealand, particularly for beef. Biosecurity risks have the potential to upset the global sector in the coming year.
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NEWS
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A glimpse of high country life Tim Cronshaw
RURAL REPORTER
Fairlie shepherd Josh Sheehan likes to carry his smartphone on the odd occasion he gets to the tops of Woodburn Station. Rather than keeping in touch with his mates, he’s always on the look-out for a good photograph. There’s no shortage of picturesque material when he’s in the back country mustering with his four dogs. On often snow-tinged ridgelines, the views can be captured looking down scree slopes and below to snaking rivers and cultivated country. Sheehan likes to keep his photography simple and has taken all his best photos from his iPhone. “I just use my phone and they come out alright,’’ he said. “I’ve never really been into photography, but if there is a good view I will take a photo.’’ Sheehan has entered a new photography competition by the New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF) to give people a glimpse of life on a high country station. He is encouraging other young shepherds and stock managers to enter the competition and share photos of their outdoor “offices’’. Normally animals and children are the hardest subjects to photograph. Sheehan said his pair of huntaways and two other heading dogs, which he has owned since they were puppies, had to follow instructions and were made to sit for the photo sessions.
Taking a well-earned break are two of Josh Sheehan’s working dogs atop a steep shingle ridge at Godley Peaks Station at the top of PHOTO ASHBURTON GUARDIAN Lake Tekapo.
He gets to the tops a couple of times a year which normally involves hard walking although on one of the trips this was made easier by a helicopter ride. The 20-year-old Mackenzie Young Farmers member came off a farm to work as a shepherd before going to Lincoln University for two years and returning as
a shepherd on Woodburn Station. The 2500 hectare property is a mix of flat to hilly terrain, and carries 3500 coopworth ewes and 300 beef cows. Tailing has finished and he is busy calf marking, often in rain. “We haven’t seen the sun for a couple of weeks.’’ Among the photos he has
entered in the competition are two working dogs perched on a steep shingle ridge. “That photo was taken at Godley Peaks Station at the top of Lake Tekapo,” he said. The other image is of a dog on a rocky outcrop overlooking the lush plains below. His dogs are essential when mustering sheep on rugged
terrain only accessible by foot or on horseback. “A good working dog has to be friendly and good natured, have natural ability and be hard working,” he said. Entries close on December 10. Categories include photos of a huntaway or heading dog, a photo of a NZYF member and their working dogs, or a farm landscape.
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NEWS
Pig competition ribbon hard-earned A three-man Methven Pig Inspectors (MPI) team came away with a hard-earned ribbon in front of hundreds of spectators in the hotly contested pig section at Christchurch’s New Zealand Agricultural Show. The colourfully dressed team of George Mannering and brothers Luc and Ben Rodwell were jubilant after their boar Bovis was runnerup in the under 60 kilogram commercial boar class. Mannering said decades of breeding had gone into the 16-week-old boar, called Boris in more politically correct circles. “We have never even placed before and got fourth one year so today to get second in our class was a good day.’’ Bovis/Boris had come from a Rakaia farm and was selected as “probably the worst one’’ from 200 pigs. Mannering said the pig section had become extremely competitive compared with previous years when disease fears cut the field down to one entry. “We have gone from one
Tim Cronshaw
RURAL REPORTER
pig six years ago and now there’s 53 of them,’’ said Mannering. “The teams are from Young Farmers, bankers, stock and station agents, just everywhere. We have been doing this for the past four years because of the Board Breeders Association (BBA) president James Pearse. He’s the reason we are all here and he’s the man and godfather of pig showing.’’ Pearse won the supremechampion title with Rammstein in a two-pig race in 2014 and pledged to bring more mates the following year. The promise was kept and the pig section has brought new blood to livestock showing at the event formerly called the Canterbury A&P Show. Rammstein, named after a
Celebrating a win in the pig ring at the New Zealand Agricultural Show, the Methven Pig Inspectors (from left) Luc Rodwell, George Mannering and Ben Rodwell. PHOTO TIM CRONSHAW
German heavy metal band, has retired from the show ring, but had his own display pen and admiring followers on the second day of the show in the main lane of the stock yards.
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Co-judge Lynda Topp, one half of the Topp Twins and appearing as her good-Kiwibloke alter-ego, Ken, kept the large crowd entertained with one-liners.
As many as 300 spectators thronged the pig ring, many of them smartly attired and bearing stylish moustaches. While the dress of the day appeared to be tweed jackets and formal drill, MPI cut an alternative figure in their Hawaiian-style shirts and cutoff overalls. “We just have a bit of a laugh and don’t take life too seriously,’’ said Mannering. “Everyone is dressed for a funeral and we thought we would do something different.’’ He said young farmers and rural people had got into pig showing because it was a good way to get a few days off the farm and socialise. Winners of the BBA Cup for the best overall commercial boar were the Greasy Swines. Despondent on the sidelines were the defending champions of Lowcliffe friends Catherine and Emma Sharpin and Annabel Askin, who watched their pig entry reduced to an early exit. Before the judging Askin admitted the competition had become much steeper.
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NEWS
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Oddball weather event looking likely Farmers bracing themselves for a dry El Nino can almost certainly bank on an oddball weather pattern deviating from conventional events. NIWA meteorologists have confirmed an “abnormal El Nino’’ weather event is looking likely for New Zealand over summer. Meteorologist Ben Noll said NIWA had been keeping a watch on the potential weather pattern for months and there was now an 80 per cent chance it would happen. “El Nino conditions are still yet to officially arrive but the
Tim Cronshaw
RURAL REPORTER
Pacific Ocean continues to make strides towards it,” he said. This El Nino is likely to start late and is exhibiting
some non-traditional characteristics in the ocean. “The most unusually warm sea surface temperatures are in the central equatorial Pacific – typically they are found further east, closer to South America.” Noll said this was known as a central-based El Nino, or El Nino Modoki - a Japanese word meaning “same, but different”. This pattern is likely to differ from conventional events. During summer a typical El Nino shows stronger and/or
more frequent winds from the west in New Zealand, leading to an elevated risk of drierthan-normal conditions in the east of both islands and above normal rainfall in the west. Westerly air flow patterns are favoured through to next year and the summer season may come with a bit more variability. El Nino Modoki may be associated with periodic easterly-quarter wind flows that bring some rainfall to eastern areas. Equally, the next three months was likely to have
above average or average temperatures throughout New Zealand with rainfall below normal or near normal for most areas, Noll said. Several regions identified by NIWA for developing dry conditions this summer season include the lower/ western South Island, Gisborne/East Cape, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel/Waikato, Auckland, and Northland. While an El Nino can be confined to summer, the chance for this to carry on into autumn is higher and stands at 55 to 60 per cent.
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OPINION
EDITORIAL COMMENT For the meantime MPI’s new boss keeps the top marks given to him after gate-crashing a meeting for farmers grappling with mycoplasma bovis. Strictly speaking, he didn’t gate-crash the get-together, Tim but contacted a Federated Cronshaw Farmers dairy leader to ask if he could attend the meeting in Ashburton. New MPI director-general Ray Smith said he cleared his diary to make the meeting because he heard that farmers were getting upset with the disease response. Let’s give credit where praise is due. Smith deserved the thumbs-up given to him by farmers for showing this initiative. His timing
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was good too. Farmers had over the past few weeks voiced their dissatisfaction with the stilted communications coming from the RURAL response team and REPORTER the long delays to their compensation claims. Media were exempt from the meeting until after the doors were opened, but by all accounts the stories that unfolded were “raw’’ and caused eyes to moisten. This didn’t escape Smith who admitted he was moved by the personal stories and particularly those recounted of school ground taunts aimed at farming children. It’s hard enough dealing with the emotional and financial turmoil that
comes with M. bovis without your children being dragged into it as well. No doubt Smith would have come across a constant stream of human pathos across his desk as the former chief executive of the Department of Corrections. After eight years in the role it would be easy to become hardened to the vicissitude of fortunes. So it was telling that he was moved by the farmers’ stories. Smith said the response team was dealing with New Zealand’s largest biosecurity incursion and under the circumstances had done a good job. Mistakes had been made, but the response was a far different animal than when it started. Sorting out claim delays was a priority, he told farmers. It was inevitable that the farmers
would give someone who was at that stage barely 20 days into the job the benefit of the doubt. So he got top marks for fronting farmers, answering their questions and listening to them. But the high compliments come with a firm caveat. Words are appreciated, but results must follow them. At the meeting farmers sought a firm commitment from him that the response team would improve their communication and consistency of information and then follow through words with actions. So when MPI director-general Smith returns to Ashburton before Christmas, as promised, the reaction of farmers to his return will revealingly tell if the M. bovis response has made satisfactory progress in their eyes.
Farm gate milk price revised Dairy analysts are revising their forecasts for the farm gate milk price after the seventh consecutive fall in dairy commodities at the Global Dairy Tim Trade (GDT) Cronshaw auction. NZX dairy analyst Amy Castleton put the red pencil to NZX’s prediction, removing nine cents to a 2018-19 season forecast now sitting at $6.17 a kilogram of milksolids. This was based on the GDT results of November 20 and a falling outlook for commodity prices and is below Fonterra’s forecasted range of $6.25-$6.50/kg. Rising milk production and a heavy dollop of rain over November, promising more grass growth, has ASB predicting more milk arriving. The bank has trimmed its milk price forecast by 25 cents to $6/kg and other bank economists are leaning towards this level. Milk prices dropped 3.5 per cent at
the last GDT. The last time they were in positive territory was on August 18 when there was no change. Auction prices averaged $US2727 RURAL among 170 bidders REPORTER vying for 42,966 tonnes of dairy product. They were last at this level in mid-2016 and dairy farmers will be nervous about another revision to Fonterra’s milk price. Fonterra cut its forecast from $7/kg to $6.75/kg in August and again to a range of $6.25-$6.50/ kg in October after taking stock of market movements. If there was any consolation for farmers at the last GDT auction it was that the main ingredient of whole milk powder fell only slightly from the last auction on November 6. Whole milk powder was back 1.8 per cent to $US2599. Driving the drop was heftier falls for anhydrous milkfat (AMF) and butter.
Castleton was surprised by the modest decline for whole milk powder. “The 1.8 per cent fall in the whole milk powder price index was a surprisingly resilient result. Whole milk powder offer volumes were at their highest for the season at the November 20 event. In addition, New Zealand milk production figures showed October production was up 6.5 per cent on a milk solids basis.’’ AMF prices dropped 9.4 per cent to $US4577 and butter was lower by 9.6 per cent at $US3637. Analysts last witnessed such a big change in prices for either AMF or butter in late 2016. Skim milk powder prices softened by 1.6 per cent. NZX’s spot price has dropped from $5.81/kg to $5.42/kg. The spot price indicates what the milk price would be if GDT prices on November 20 were achieved over the entire dairy season at current exchange rates. The next auction is on December 4.
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OPINION
7
Land use change – what’s ahead? Many of my rural property colleagues elsewhere in the country are reporting significant land use change, associated with substantial changes of ownership. In the Bay of Plenty most of the available land is now in kiwifruit; around Pukekohe traditional market gardens now grow residential subdivisions; in Marlborough sheep and beef farms have become vineyards; in Northland dairy farms are converting to avocado orchards; and around Matamata a group of South Auckland market gardening families have purchased one dairy farm per annum since the mid-1990s to grow onions, potatoes, carrots, kumara and other vegetables. Are similar shifts possible locally? A few years ago, several prime Mid Canterbury cropping farms converted to dairy. That process has stopped, and might reverse in some cases. Our water schemes are more mature than elsewhere,
Calvin Leen
PGG Wrightson Real Estate
so land use change following irrigation development, as in central Canterbury and North Canterbury, is not a strong prospect. However, changing environmental regulations and insecurity around dairying could initiate some change. With the completion of the dairy goat infant formula facility in Ashburton last year, we are starting to see an increase in the number of dairy goats locally. Their low environmental impact suggests that, under increasingly strict land and water requirements, this land use might be more favourably considered than present farming practices. Change of any scale is only likely, though, with a compelling economic case.
Mid Canterbury farmers might consider change when they see they could do better from a different land use.
Farmers might consider change when they see that they could do better from a different land use, whether that be dairy goats or anything else. Likewise, cropping farms could go into more specialised seed multiplication, or vegetables. Even hemp, keenly advocated by some, could thrive on our better soils. Farmers with courage and
vision, on versatile properties, will be the ones to initiate any change. Mid Canterbury has plenty of suitable farms, some of which will change hands this summer. We have one such listing, of an Ashburton spray-irrigated farm, which has attracted plenty of interest since it was offered for sale, including from potential buyers who are
looking outside the square. How this farm sells, and for what use, will be closely monitored by neighbours. If new owners with new ideas prosper, others are likely to follow suit, as they have throughout the history of New Zealand agriculture. Calvin Leen is Mid-South Canterbury Sales Manager for PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited.
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OPINION
November one for the record books Not in the time I have been measuring soil moisture since 1983 have we had rainfall like this year. How do you write about irrigation matters when all that many people want to do is get the water off the land? So, just how wet has it been? It seems to have rained nearly every day in November although the statistics from Winchmore tell us that is not the case. In fact, it’s rained 14 out of 27 days. Given I’m penning this on November 27 and the forecast for the following two days was for rain, then we can safely assume by the time you read this that it rained potentially 16 out of 30 days. Over six days we had more than 12 millimetres a day (no particular reason for picking on 12mm). From 2.8mm of rain in 2017 we have gone to 146.6mm by November 27. However, it hasn’t been the wettest November over nearly 120 years and is unlikely to be so. There have been two Novembers on record since
Tony Davoren
HYDRO SERVICES
1900 with more rainfall. In 1952 there was 268mm (OMG it must have been wet) and in 1967 there was 163mm (we could still catch that). Looking at even longer records (which has some derived data) from Winchmore dating back to 1867 there have only been a couple more Novembers with larger rainfalls. In 1882, 154mm of rain was measured and 1896 with 139mm. It appears then that 2018 is going to rate as about the third or fourth wettest November since 1867. Typically rain is highly variable and this November is no different: Ashburton, for the same period, had 176mm, Methven 169mm, Chertsey 126mm,
The after effects of flooding on a paddock just south of Geraldine. PHOTO JANE ROBB, TE MOANA
Dorie 58mm (this seems hard to believe and maybe the official rain gauge needs verification?), Wakanui 140mm and Geraldine (thanks to a staff member) more than 260mm. And there has been much less rain north of the Rakaia River and into North Canterbury. In amongst these large rainfall totals there has been
some intense periods of rain – such as 30mm in an hour on Friday, November 23 in the area just to the south of Geraldine. Rain at this intensity can produce and leave behind quite dramatic results particularly when it falls on already saturated soils. It certainly cleaned out the debris from upstream paddocks. Not surprisingly, there
is little need for irrigation nor anything to write about irrigation – not this week and probably not the next one to two weeks given the forecast. Nor is there anything interesting to write about irrigation. This could be a year when some autumn crops will be grown without any irrigation. And all from a developing El Niño that has yet to manifest itself.
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A fencing contractor who inadvertently caused damage to an underground cable leaving more than 2000 South Canterbury homes and businesses without power is not an isolated incident for Alpine Energy. Alpine Energy network general manager Willem Rawlins says there have been at least three incidents in the past month where damage to underground cables has occurred. A cable strike was the cause for the power outage affecting Washdyke, Grantlea and Pleasant Point areas on Saturday, October 22. A contractor drilled into an 11,000volt power cable in the Washdyke area. “When live 11,000-volt equipment is damaged as in this case the drilling into the live cable, the results are serious due to the latent energy within the power system.” The cable strike in Washdyke resulted in the failure of equipment on a power pole just across the drive into the Timaru substation on Old North Road which caused the power supply to Grantlea and Pleasant Point areas to be switched off. “Our electrical network protection equipment which is designed to operate in such events to keep the public safe and to minimise damage to power infrastructure, performed correctly and in the manner, it was intended
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NEWS
Cameron set to compete against Tim Cronshaw
Mitcham farmer Cameron Letham is set to compete against the best livestock judges among Australian youth in mid-February. PHOTO TIM CRONSHAW 261118-TC-0054
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Mitcham farmer Cameron Letham will enter unknown territory when he competes against the best livestock judges among Australian youth in mid-February. By winning the New Zealand Young Judges’ Championship, Letham, 28, has earned a trip to the Canberra Show to pitch his skills against the top youth judges in Australasia. Knowing little about what to expect, he plans to do his homework between now and then to learn more about youth judging across the Tasman Sea. A line-up of 28 youth judges contested the national championships at the New Zealand Agricultural Show, formerly called the Canterbury
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RURAL REPORTER
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NEWS
11
top livestock judges
“
I guess I have grown up with sheep and rams at home and judging so it’s my whole life and it’s quite nice to put these skills to work that you have accrued over the years
A&P Show, in Christchurch this month. As the top placed competitor he won the Lady Isaac Scholarship to travel to Canberra. This will be his first visit to the capital city of Australia after trips to northern New South Wales to work on several harvests and on a cattle property. “I was absolutely thrilled to win and the wee bonus is the trip to see how the Australians do it,’’ said Letham. “I don’t know a hang of a lot about what to expect so we will book the trip and figure it out once we are over there. There was one Australian in the Christchurch competition so I have been in touch with her and that will be good.’’ In a tight finish Letham managed to edge out the eight finalists at the Christchurch show. After ranking corriedale
ewe hoggets and suffolk ram hoggets in order he did his best to explain his line-up to judges and why some of them were better than others, he said. “It was a bit of the unknown and it went down to the wire so it was definitely nervous times. I guess I have grown up with sheep and rams at home and judging so it’s my whole life and it’s quite nice to put these skills to work that you have accrued over the years. I am pretty passionate about breeding good rams and good sheep.’’ Letham is keen to judge in higher profile events after running his eye over sheep in the show rings of Oxford, Ranfurly and Ellesmere events. Letham co-manages the 380 hectare mixed sheep and cropping family farm, Hermiston, at Mitcham where
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2200 ewes are run on the fully irrigated property. The family has about 200 romney stud ewes and the same number of dorset down purebred ewes as well as a stud flock of about 100 border leicesters. The Christchurch competition sponsored by the New Zealand Sheepbreeders’ Association was open to 15 to 30-year-olds. Convenor Tom Burrows said the Australian trip awarded to the winner was a drawcard for young judges entering the event. Letham stood out among the line-up, but the point scoring was narrow at the top, he said. “He was very good. He spoke well in the competition with his descriptions. There were only three points in it and the top three or four were pretty close.’’ Continued next page
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Burrows said the competition had advanced since it began about 10 years ago and some of the former winners and entrants were judging major events at shows. “We tell people if we don’t train these young judges they will be wheeling us oldies out in wheelchairs.’’ He said competition organisers were working with Young Farmers, ITO and high schools to boost numbers and this had resulted in the increase from nine entries last year. Burrows said there was merit in eventually introducing a judging competition for high school aged students as similar competitions were popular in Australia. Letham also enjoyed success in the fiercely contested pig competition after the Rakaia Swine Company’s entry Ted placed third in the boar under 60 kilogram class. “It’s a great initiative to get a bit of youth into the stock showing and there were 200 males and females in syndicates with more than 50 pigs that wouldn’t have otherwise been associated with the show and the A&P [association] is getting right behind it.’’ The Letham family won the dorset down ewe hogget class in the sheep ring as well as the best romney and border leicester pairs, among other placings.
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Cameron Letham co-manages the 380 hectare mixed sheep and cropping family farm, Hermiston, at Mitcham. PHOTO TIM CRONSHAW 261118-TC-0010
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COUNTRY ROADS
A whole new theme There’s plenty to like about the new Santa Fe, the stylish looks of the stronger, larger new body, and the highlight – its more upmarket cabin furnishings. The new Santa Fe displays new design themes inside and out. You won’t confuse the Santa Fe with the slightly smaller Tucson anymore. Nor will there be any identification issues between the new Sante Fe and the compact Kona, despite the larger vehicle adopting a similarly adventurous headlight layout to the smaller, with arrays of LED driving lights taking top billing on the fascia, while
the genuine possum-stunners reside on either side of the enlarged front bumper, stacked into two large pentangleshaped recesses. As for the “fluidic sculpture” theme of recent Hyundais, the exterior of new Santa Fe no longer looks like it was shaped by running water. Instead of the rippled character line of the current model, there’s a strong shoulder line running down the flanks of the new Santa Fe from front to rear, adding a crisp muscularity to the design. As for the interior of the new Hyundai, it’ll take several decades to grow old. There’s the twin cockpits
for front-seat occupants, accompanied by a centre console that cascades past them while keeping every control handy. The driver gets to face a TFT screen with an Audilike ability to select multiple instrumentation layouts – and, like top Kona models, there’s a legible and informative heads-up-display. Another large colour TFT screen at the top of the centre console monitors secondary control settings, and projects cellphone info and applications via either Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, as well as the maps of Hyundai’s new fifthgeneration nav system.
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But it’s the new trim and colours that set the mood. There’s a choice of brown and royal blue leathers. With a well-arranged mix of rough and smooth textures, it all comes together to create a Genesis-like ambience, and few mainstream SUVs exude such class inside. The Krell audio system fitted to top-spec Santa Fe models has the ability to resurrect Woodstock, offering clarity and resonances that will allow you to pick out new nuances in your music du jour. Getting in or out of any of the seven seats of the Hyundai Santa Fe is now easier, thanks to a 65mm
wheelbase extension and the pulling forward of the front windscreen pillars. The fourth-gen Santa Fes will continue to be powered by the 2.4 litre direct-injection petrol engine with its 138kW/241Nm peak outputs, and the same R-series 2.2 litre turbo-diesel that generates 147kW and 440Nm. The powertrain improvements to our wagons are the lighter new eightspeed automatic gearbox that replaces the six-speed of the current model and provides a wider spread of ratios, and improvements to the adaptive 4WD system that add driving modes.
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COUNTRY ROADS
Electrifying the Renegade The FCA Melfi Plant in Italy is beginning preparations to produce the Jeep Renegade Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) scheduled for market launch in early 2020. The Renegade PHEV will be produced alongside the Renegade and 500X full combustion engine products that are currently produced at the Melfi vehicle assembly plant. The pre-production units of the new Jeep Renegade PHEV are scheduled in 2019. The investment for the new engine launch equates to more than 200 million euros and also includes a strong commitment for training all workers on the application of this new technology. The plant facilities involved in the production will also be modernised accordingly. ”With over 742,000 Renegades produced to date in Italy, the Melfi plant and the Renegade are the ideal location and the perfect product to launch the PHEV, further strengthening the offer of this highly successful Jeep”, said Pietro Gorlier, chief operating officer EMEA region. During the FCA Capital Markets Day on June 1, when the 2018-2022 business plan was presented, it was stated that one of the most important change factors addressed in the strategic plan is electrification. Investments during the plan period result in a portfolio of technical solutions that will enable FCA to comply with the regulatory requirements in each sales region. At the same time, the technology will also be applied to enhance the specific strengths of each brand. By 2022, FCA will offer a total of 12 electric propulsion systems (BEV, PHEV, full-hybrid and mildhybrid) in global architectures.
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COUNTRY ROADS
Hino launches all-new 500 Series With class-leading features including a Pre-Collision System, Vehicle Stability Control, and cleaner emissions, Hino Australia has launched its all-new 500 Series Standard Cab medium duty truck range. “The level of safety on this truck has never been seen before in a Japanesebuilt medium duty truck in Australia – this is complemented by the superior torque, increased power and reduced fuel consumption of the all-new heavy-duty Hino A05 turbocharged five litre four-cylinder diesel engine,” said Hino Australia’s manager of product strategy Daniel Petrovski. Unrivalled safety levels for Japanese medium duty trucks The 500 Series Standard Cab boasts the most comprehensive active safety package ever offered by a Japanese manufacturer in the medium duty truck market. Headlining this substantial leap forward is the PreCollision System (PCS) which includes Autonomous
Emergency Braking (AEB), Pedestrian Detection (PD) and Safety Eye (SE). The new truck also includes Adaptive Cruise Control and a Lane Departure Warning System. The Adaptive Cruise Control maintains the speed set by the driver and utilises the Safety Eye to continuously scan the road in front of the truck. If a slower vehicle is detected in front, it will reduce the engine acceleration and even engage the engine brake to adapt the truck’s speed to that of the other vehicle. The Lane Departure Warning System is designed to alert the driver both visually on the Multi Information Display and audibly through the speakers, if the vehicle deviates from its lane without the turn indicators being triggered. Another active safety feature which is unique among the Japanese medium duty competitors is the standard inclusion of Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), which incorporates Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) and traction control.
This makes Hino the only Japanese manufacturer to offer Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) as standard equipment on every on-road model in its range, from the 300 Series light duty car licence through to the heavy duty 500 Series 6x4 350 horsepower FM models. Further in-built safety technology includes a standard reverse camera with infra-red night vision capability and a microphone.
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Eddie Bakos
Robin McClimont
18
Farming
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NEWS
Smith vows to front up to farmers
Dromore farmer Chris Ford says farmers would appreciate the new MPI director-general fronting up to them. PHOTO ROBYN HOOD
New MPI director-general Ray Smith has pledged he will return to Ashburton before Christmas to meet again with farmers struggling with mycoplasma bovis. Smith, who replaces Martyn Dunne, took on the role on November 1 and has made it a priority to improve the disease response. The former chief executive of the Department of Corrections for eight years cleared his diary to make a Federated Farmers meeting last Wednesday after contacting local federation dairy leader Chris Ford. He said he wanted to get the M. bovis response right and be brave enough to front up to issues and fix them. “I understood some people were upset and I said: how do I get to this meeting? I wasn’t invited, I asked to come. [For] some of them I have their cases already on my desk as we try to speed up the compensation claims and I put an emphasis on that where I can.’’ He said the emotional stories told by farmers,
Tim Cronshaw
RURAL REPORTER
particularly what children say to their children at school, were difficult to hear. The MPI team could not take the pain away for people, but it could be there for them and make sure it gave the best information and connection it could along the compensation trail, he said. “You listen to the stories and they are human stories. This is New Zealand’s largest biosecurity incursion and it’s dealing with something that’s a bit insidious. It’s not manifestly obvious that these animals are unwell therefore it feels a bit hidden for a lot of people and we are having to develop our understanding of how this disease operates and spreads.’’ He said the farming industry
had got through the initial shock of finding out about the disease and MPI had moved fairly quickly. MPI’s response was improving as its understanding increased and it would continue to listen to people’s concerns, he said. The technical advisory group formed by MPI meets again this week and would provide advice about handling the disease response scientifically. “Coming into it fresh I would say at a New Zealand industry level all of the signs are that we will beat this. I know it’s too early to call it, but with the testing that has been done so far it seems as though we might have moved fast enough to contain the issue to the farmers that have been traced. Largely, that’s how it’s playing out - I know it’s not over so I say that with some caution.’’ He said it was incredibly challenging for farmers to go through the disease process with MPI. The MPI team had done an amazing job, but no one was
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perfect and they would be the first to accept that some mistakes were made along the way, he said. “But remember we started with nothing and they built up to I think a few hundred people in labs, on the ground and people working on compensation we have gone from a small group to about 40 people in the team. Our responses I would like to think are improving, but I’m very cognisant of what was said in the room and the feelings of people.’’ Farmers told Smith in the media-exempted meeting that they wanted the response team to improve their communication and consistency of information and then follow through words with actions. Smith said the requests were challenged by a scientific testing regime which was not always straightforward. “Every farmer I have spoken to so far they all want mycoplasma bovis gone. I have picked up there is a real commitment amongst the farming community to get this done. It’s hard on some of them. Most people are not affected by it … but if you are affected it’s very personal and it’s very hard and it’s their
livelihood. We just have to make sure we walk alongside with people all the way.’’ Farmers were coming out the other side of the disease response and getting their lives back again, but that was hard to see when farmers were in the depth of the disease. It was still a “worrying time’’ with a big human cost. “People who were probably picked up earlier whose cases couldn’t be resolved for whatever reason they have been in it for a long time and that’s very challenging. We need to find ways to bring those to a conclusion. Probably people who are entering the system now are entering a better developed system and you would understand that because we didn’t have a great big response capability when we started.’’ Ford said farmers opened up to Smith and many of the stories were raw and emotional. “I have heard these stories dozens of times, but when you are in a room like that it’s pretty raw and we had the right people in the room to hear these stories.’’ He said Smith had to make changes before “it’s too late’’. “By showing up he’s already
NEWS
done good by the community by showing he’s come here. Let’s see it backed up by action.’’ Farmers wanted faster returns on compensation claims, farmer welfare made “priority one’’ and MPI leaders visit affected farmers more often, he said. MPI would work with people on the ground with an understanding of farming systems including the Rural Support Trust, DairyNZ, Beef+Lamb NZ and Federated Farmers to work to solve the problem. Smith said farmers knew how important the Nait system was for biosecurity incursions now and wanted it enforced as any complacency was gone because M. bovis had been a wake-up call. The M. bovis response is a priority but MPI is also working on other projects including the billion trees programme, a “big change’’ programme in fisheries and biosecurity. Last month Smith visited biosecurity officers at Auckland airport and saw the monitoring of cruise ship unloading facilities at the city’s wharf to prevent diseases and pests entering as well as observing lab teams
at work in Auckland and Wellington. Further trips to Invercargill, Christchurch and Ashburton were made to meet as many industry people as he could. As the head of corrections Smith oversaw its big farms including a 4000 cow dairy farm in Waikato around the prison and farms in Otago and Canterbury. His father was a stock and station agent and his older brother has been on a dairy farm for 45 years and he helped on the farm with hay making in summer holidays and other duties. “Like a lot of Kiwis of my generation, growing up in NZ they probably had connections into agriculture and I grew up in Hawera which is a big farming community. “Some people said to me why would you come to MPI and I said to them as corrections was coming to an end and eight years as being CEO there is pretty challenging and the only job I was interested in the public sector was this one and it was available because I’m a passionate Kiwi.’’ Smith said he wanted his children who were fifth generation New Zealanders to experience a bit of NZ
19
that he grew up with and if he can bring his time to MPI to support that he would be happy. He wanted to support farmers as New Zealand worked towards farms being more sustainable and all the “issues that surround us around the environment’’ because farmers were the backbone of the New Zealand economy. “We need to work on all of these transitions together and I want to be playing a role to help support them to make the changes they want to make and we all need to make so that our economy continues to thrive and our kids have a wonderful environment to grow up as we did.’’ Smith said he promised farmers he would return to Ashburton and would schedule a revisit before the end of the year. “I promised to come back because that seems to me to be the right thing to do and if I can encourage us to sit and listen and it’s hard to do sometimes that will make the difference. “The big story is it looks like we will win this. The second big story is we have to look after people on the way through.’’
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OPINION
Ease the pressure on our native birds Vehicles and birds are not a good mix. Many native birds, including the rare black-billed gull, the tarapuka, are nesting on the Ashburton River at the moment. Four-wheel-drive vehicles driven on the riverbed and at the beach add to the other pressures many species of braided river bird birds face: floods (the first tarapuka colony was washed away), predation and lack of habitat because of weeds. Vehicles not only directly kill birds by running them over and squashing the chicks or eggs, but the disturbance often means the birds are constantly alarmed and are too distracted to stay on their nests to successfully raise chicks. The black-billed gull colonies are very obvious but other river-nesting birds, such as the wrybill, are found in pairs and are harder to see because the birds and their nests are well camouflaged against the stones. Even well-meaning drivers can be oblivious to the presence of a nest and chicks and don’t
Mary Ralston
FOREST AND BIRD
realise the danger they are presenting to the birds. So what can be done to better protect the birds? There is an Ashburton Hakatere Braided River Bird Management Strategy, but this has not dealt with the issue of legal access to the river. Signs to inform the public about the importance of the birds and asking them to stay away during the breeding season reach some people but not all of them. Access to the river near Lake Hood is particularly problematic because of the number of vehicles accessing the river at that point. There isn’t a black-billed colony there but the birds that don’t nest in colonies – the wrybills, oystercatchers, black-fronted
Birds and vehicles just don’t go together as tyre tracks come perilously close to a black-fronted tern nest. PHOTO DON GEDDES
terns and dotterells – are vulnerable. And it’s not just the river – the beach and rivermouth are also frequented by many vehicles and disturbance to the birds is common. The estuary and mudflats at low tide are important feeding sites for
many birds. A solution would be to close access to the river in the birds’ breeding season from September to January and offer an alternative location for four-wheel-drivers to go. The managers of the Ashley Rakihuri River block off river
access with concrete blocks – a move that has been effective and has widespread public support. Nesting success of the birds has increased since this strategy began. On the Ashburton River, there is no such co-ordinated action. Environment Canterbury is planning to talk to the public and key stakeholders this summer about access to the rivermouth with a view to developing a management plan. Meanwhile, drivers are asked to say out of the riverbed, beach and estuary over the summer to give the birds a fighting chance of succesfully raising chicks. Walkers are also asked to avoid bird colonies and to be very careful where they walk in case eggs or chicks are stepped on. An agitated or alarmed bird often means there is a nest nearby, so the area should be avoided. And dogs are best kept on a lead or walked elsewhere. We all need to do our bit to ease the pressures on our rare native birds.
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OPINION
21
Focus on waste-to-energy solutions Waste-to-energy was a hot topic this year at the WasteMinz Conference held in Christchurch in November. I spent an interesting three days at the Wigram Airforce Museum looking around the trade exhibits, listening to many of the keynote speakers. Envirowaste and EnviroNZ had a well attended site which attracted a steady stream of attendees looking for the latest developments in waste and recycling. Several global companies presented low carbon, wasteto-energy solutions to close the energy cycle as well as reduce the 57-plus per cent of our waste now going to landfill. This would then help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and reduce the impacts on climate change. It was interesting to see reports from a large clean burning waste-to-energy facility in the middle of Paris thermally treating the rubbish from the city and converting it into electricity and heating for residents and businesses.
Sheryl Stivens
Waste is a good space to start reducing our carbon footprint and getting food and garden waste out of the waste
stream needs to be a priority. A step in the right direction is that New Zealand’s old, discarded plastic bags and bottles will soon be given new life as fenceposts for farms. Material from soft plastic recycling bins, which are at New World, Countdown and The Warehouse in Ashburton, has been sitting in storage since about September after the Australian company that was accepting it became inundated with too much plastic. But the Packaging Forum, which runs the Love NZ Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme, has now partnered with new company Future Post to convert some of the stockpile into fence posts. Future Post was founded earlier this year by farmer Jerome Wenzlick who got the idea while struggling to build a fence on an old rubbish dump site. His wooden fence posts kept breaking but they weren’t hitting rocks, they were hitting plastic waste in the ground. Future Post is now able to use plastics to create
ECO EFFICIENCY
There are now 2200 wasteto-energy plants operating globally. Is this a solution for New Zealand? A waste-to-energy facility would certainly take care of hard to recycle materials like silage wrap and other contaminated low-grade materials from our farms and processing facilities. Taking this step would enable New Zealand to get above 80 per cent waste diversion from landfills. According to presenters at the conference New Zealand is now the 10th worst nation in the world for urban waste disposal and we have the highest CO2 emissions in the OECD.
Neil MacKenzie-Hall from Enviro NZ and Sheryl Stivens at the WasteMinz Conference. PHOTO SUPPLIED
a fence post that is better for the environment, while also reducing the amount of plastic sent to landfills. A standard post could be made out of 208 milk bottles, or about 1700 single-use plastic bags. The final post, containing about 10 kilograms of solid plastic, is expected to last about 50 years. The company can recycle single-use plastic bags, soft plastics, and milk bottles by processing them into a ground material. The blends are UV stabilised and extruded into a post. Future Post has also partnered with Fonterra to use old Anchor bottles. Last year the two companies worked on recycling milk bottles into shampoo, conditioner and body lotion bottles for Sky City hotels. Wenzlick said the partnership gave Future Post access to a steady supply of milk bottles and a customer base of 10,000 farmers in the co-operative. Sounds like a good example of Kiwi ingenuity and a winwin for all.
Platinum and 18ct rose gold chocolate coloured and white diamond Halo design ring
18ct yellow gold Tanzanite and diamond ring was $8975
18ct yellow gold 1.00ct diamond solitaire was $15,450
18ct yellow gold 4 diamond ring 1.00ct was $5995.00
18ct yellow gold 3 diamond ring 1.00ct was $6250
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22
Farming
www.guardianonline.co.nz
HARVEST FEATURE
Impact of technology on seed yield The type of machinery and the way it is used to harvest seed crops can have a big impact on harvested yields, says the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) FAR researcher Phil Rolston said three Seed Industry Research Centre (SIRC) trials comparing the Legacy windrower front for ryegrass seed crops have showed yield advantages ranging from 150 to 260 kilograms per hectare compared with alternative cutting methods. In another trial, using grower machinery, white clover seed yield declined by 93kg/ha for every one kilometre per hour increase in combine speed, between 3km/h and 6km/h. “The Legacy windrower front was developed in Oregon and commonly achieves faster cutting speeds. Several contractors have started using the Legacy front. We wanted to check the impact of this front with its faster ground speed on ryegrass seed yields. In 2017 we compared an auger windrower with the Legacy and reported a 220kg/ha MD seed yield advantage to the Legacy. Two further ryegrass harvesting trials were undertaken in 2018 (See tables below right) have confirmed the 2017 result.” Growers who are interested in this new technology should discuss their needs with their contractor, as several are now available in Canterbury.
Another FAR/SIRC trial investigated the impact of harvester speed on white clover yields after researchers in Argentina identified that increasing combine speeds from 3km/h to 6km/h resulted in reduced seed yields. “There was no recent data for New Zealand, so we set up a field scale experiment near Methven, utilising a Case 8010 axial flow combine fitted with a Macdon nine metre wide flexifront,’’ said Rolston. “Two separate measurements were
recorded for each speed representing up to one hectare each. “Machine dressed seed yield declined by 72kg/ha for every 1km/h increase in combine speed between 3km/h and 6km/h. “The white clover harvest seed work will continue this year to further quantify data around choosing correct combine speeds. We will also evaluate combine [harvester] speeds for ryegrass seed crops.” FAR’s annual CROPS field event is Cutting speed and seed yield (SY) machine dressed, (FD) of cv Bosker perennial ryegrass and Shogun annual ryegrass cut with three different methods of cutting/ windrowing machines, near Chertsey, Mid Canterbury in the 2017/18 season.
being held at Chertsey on December 5. The 12 speakers will cover a range of crops and issues of relevance to the arable industry. They will include discussions on cocksfoot seed production, the environmental benefits of arable feeds and the use of aerial imagery for profitable crop management. The international guest speaker will be herbicide resistance expert Dr Peter Boutsalis from the University of Adelaide.
Disc mower
Draper windrower
Legacy windrower
Speed (km/h) Width (m) Area (ha/h) SY (kg/ha)
7.5 2.35 1.8 2650
7.0 3.8 2.7 2840
15 4.3 6.5 3060
Cutting speed and seed yield (SY machine dressed) of cv ‘DLF 46-600’ turf ryegrass when swathed using two different methods near Chertsey, Mid Canterbury in the 2017/18 season.
Grasshopper Legacy Speed (km/h) Width (m) Area (ha/h) SY (kg/ha)
10 4.25 4.3 2990
15 4.55 6.8 3200
Call the local Selwyn harvesting specialist to book your area now! Call Matthew Reed today 021 526 576 www.broadgateharvesting.com broadgate2014@outlook.com
www.guardianonline.co.nz
HARVEST FEATURE
23
Harvest supplies
The best protection nemesis here in Mid Canterbury. Our hay covers have eyelets every metre and are fitted on a reinforced block of five layers of fabric. Careful tying off with our 4m long ropes will assist in keeping your covers in place. To aid a quick and easy install, the ropes are clipped on one end to prevent fraying and a splice on the other to make it easy to tread through the eyelets on the cover. An additional tip to lasting hay covers is to build your stack in a sheltered position if possible. Sizes in stock are 25m x 3.6m and the popular 25m x 7.2m. Advertising feature
When dealing with Harvester Markets Limited, you are dealing with a friendly, helpful team of old fellas with years of experience. Give us a call today! Phone us on 03 318-8229 We are open Monday – Friday, from 8.00am – 5.30pm and we are on call during the harvest season. Advertising feature
Harvesting Parts & Supplies Sorted!
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Maxlite Hayovers have been sold by Peter May Ltd for over 25 years. Why? Because we know they offer the best protection on the market. Maxlite Fabric is a special formulation created to protect New Zealand customers’ products. With special UV treatment, Maxlite fabric outperforms others manufactured to Northern Hemisphere conditions. And we know here in New Zealand we have some of the harshest UV rays in the world. Olive Green Maxlite is unique to Peter May Ltd and we are proud to have offered this fabric for over 25 years. Nor’west winds are our other
Since being established in 1985, Harvester Markets Limited have been a leading supplier of harvesting machinery, parts and farm supplies in the wider Canterbury region for 33 years. Everyday farm supplies – we have items you didn’t know you needed such as – tools, bolts, drawbar pins, shackles, duct tape, amber revolving lights, grain shovels, fuel pumps, machinery oil, Hy-Tran and engine oil, chainsaw oil, top links, belts, and much more! We also stock electric fencing items and twine – poly for big and medium square and conventional balers and sisal for conventional balers. Should you require batteries for agricultural requirements, we also stock Endurant batteries. We import Bailey trailers and second-hand combine harvesters. We also carry an extensive range of parts for New Holland combines and fast-moving parts for other combine harvester makes, such as fingers, sections, lifters and belts. We custom make knives for windrowers and combines and chains for all combine harvesters. Harvester Markets also have a large supply of Walterschied PTO shafts and parts, and they will make shafts to order.
Combine harvester spares Bailey trailers – bulk, flatdeck, removable sides Baling twine (poly & sisal) Combine chains & windrowing knives – made to order PTO shafts & parts Cambridge roller rings Bale forks & tines Hytran, engine & chainsaw oil Electric fencing
91 Horndon Street, Darfield 03 318 8229 harvestermarkets@gmail.com
24
Farming
www.guardianonline.co.nz
HEALTH & WELLBEING FEATURE
Getting results Are you wondering when the hard graft will actually start to pay off ? Is the subject of ‘the future’ something you tend to avoid? The business of farming often leaves us with more questions than answers, where we can’t see the wood for the trees. This is where Sarah Barr, from Coach Approach Rural, comes in. As a specialist in the field of rural coaching and relationship management, she works to enable, empower and help you reach the results you want. With over 40+ years in the rural sector, the last five supporting individuals and businesses through adversity such as earthquakes and mycoplasma bovis, Sarah has seen it all. Over these years Sarah has determined that there are three key components to success: 1. Identify your ‘Why’ – Why am I in business? or What do I hope/need to achieve? 2. Commit to a plan – ‘How will I get there?’ 3. Recognise you can’t do it alone – ‘Who do I need on my team? What skills or expertise am I missing? Sarah is passionate about helping people. “Assisting and working with clients to define their goals, or helping a family through a personal and often difficult
Sarah Barr – your rural coach
succession plan feeds my soul. Seeing the benefits I can help make to their business and family is a reward that is hard to measure.” Sarah is contactable on 027 444-9380 if you wish to discuss any situations where she can help. All inquiries remain strictly confidential. Advertising feature
FOCUS ON YOUR FUTURE When it feels like you can’t see the wood for the trees a fresh set of eyes can often help. With over 40+ years in the rural sector Lower South Island associate Sarah Barr has the expertise to assist with: Business and strategic planning Succession planning Rural Governance Leadership and team dynamics Personal development Innovative thinking
IMPARTIAL • SUPPORTIVE • SOLUTION FOCUSED Enquire with Sarah today on 027 444 9380 or email sarah@ruralcoach.co.nz
Helping women reduce stress Often the focus of rural health and wellbeing is on farming men, but rural women are not exempt from feeling stress. Research by farmer wellbeing programme, Farmstrong, found the group reporting the highest levels of reduced wellbeing were women working fulltime as sharemilkers or contract milkers. About 780 women completed a survey which was followed up by 26 in-depth interviews. Ranking highest in issues with a large or negative impact on their wellbeing was the difficulty women found of fitting everything into their workload (40 per cent). The survey found 34 per cent of the surveyed women were fatigued/ exhausted and 32 per cent did not have enough time for themselves. Another 32 per cent of them suffered from a lack of sleep or poor quality sleep and 29 per cent did not have enough time off the farm either by themselves or with family. Challenges with important relationships such as their husband/ partner, parents, in-laws, farm owner, workers was an issue for 27 per cent of them. The top three things women thought were most likely to contribute to increase their wellbeing were: more time off the farm, getting more or better quality sleep and getting more exercise. The wellbeing topics that women
expressed high interest in the most were: nutrition (26 per cent), exercise (25 per cent), self-confidence, selfworth and self-compassion (24 per cent), thinking strategies to deal with ups and downs (22 per cent), happiness (22 per cent) and mindfulness and relaxation techniques (21 per cent). The interviews particularly highlighted the vulnerability of younger women trying to navigate their way through early careers in farming. Challenges mentioned included new relationships or lack of close relationships, the expectations of parents or in-laws, living away from family support, working long hours with little or no regular time off, being a new mum, dealing with mental health issues and financial stress. There was also a link between injuries and wellbeing issues. A fifth of the women reported having an injury on the farm in the past 12 months. Farmstrong is into its fourth year as a wellbeing programme to help farmers see themselves as the most important asset on the farm. The initiative focuses on wellness not illness, and with resources and advice on its website, provides farmers and growers with information they can use on a day-today basis that will help them in the long run to live well and farm well.
www.guardianonline.co.nz
25
You must protect yourGRAIN stored grain INTEGRATED
STORAGE SOLUTIONS
Grain stored on farm represents the ultimate asset a grower obtains from investing in sowing, fertilising, spraying and harvesting a crop. This asset must be protected. While grain is in storage, unless it is managed properly, its quality and value will deteriorate. An integrated approach is the key to grain storage management, says Nick George, Canterbury/West Coast territory manager for Orion AgriScience. With the grain harvest just around the corner, Nick reminds us about the importance of good grain hygiene to minimise insect problems once the grain is stored. Nick points out that the last harvest was particularly hot and dry, resulting in low grain moisture levels, therefore growers were reluctant to use grain storage insecticides. This caused problems later on in storage with an unprecedented number of phone calls during winter regarding advice on how to treat pest infestations
number one reason for poor results in New Zealand. The other option is to use Actellic®50EC liquid which is applied through a calibrated spray system. The use rate for this is 8ml/T diluted with sufficient water to obtain uniform distribution (usually around 2L). When used in conjunction with good hygiene and storage practices, Orion AgriScience grain storage insecticides provide exceptional with a 1-2 metre wide buffer will treat a silo or grain store knockdown and on-going around the silo to prevent with a capacity of up to 250T control of common grain pests harbouring pests. of wheat or 200T of barley. in New Zealand. Step 2) Sweep all surfaces If capacity is bigger, extra For more information thoroughly and burn the smoke generators will be on these and other Orion sweepings. required. products, visit www. Step 3) Treat all cleaned Harvest orionagriscience.co.nz or surfaces with Actellic®50EC At silo filling there are ® phone 0800 674 6627 liquid using 100ml/10L water two ad-mixture options ®ACTELLIC is a registered and spray to the point of runusing Actellic®Dust or trademark of a Syngenta off. Actellic®50EC. These Group Company Step 4) Complete the preinsecticides should be ®GRAINMASTER and ® harvest process by using incorporated evenly A complete ad-mixture and SUPERSMOKE are registered GrainMaster® SuperSmoke® throughout the grain to treatment grain trademarks of Orion just prior to filling. Thesurface provide the finalinlevel of stores AgriScience Ltd fine smoke produced byproviding the protection. superior control. Editorial supplied by Orion firework-like smoke generator The Actellic®Dust use rate AgriScience Canterbury/West permeates the empty silo, is 200g/T. If the dust is not Active ingredient: 500g/litre pirimiphos-methyl Coast Territory Manager, Nick ensuring insects in every nook applied evenly throughout George and cranny are controlled. A form the grain, results will be in the of an emulsifiable concentrate. Advertising feature single 60g smoke generator compromised – this is the
post-harvest. The hygiene management process can be split into two halves – preharvest and harvest. Orion AgriScience has a range of products for each step of the way. Pre-harvest (four to ® six weeks before harvest) Good silo or grain store hygiene is an essential foundation for keeping grain ® insect-free, explains Nick. It is important that all old grain, debris and cobwebs are removed, including around hatches and doors. This also applies to harvesting and handling equipment. Step 1) Spray out vegetation
Actellic 50EC (liquid)
GrainMaster
INSECTICIDE
SuperSmoke
Rate: Grain mixture use 8ml/tonne of INSECTICIDE grain and dilute with sufficient water to obtain uniform distribution. INTEGRATED GRAIN STORAGE SMOKE GENERATOR Pack size: 1L & 5LSOLUTIONS NEW DUAL MODE ACTION SMOKE GENERATOR
Actellic Dust ®
GrainMaster SuperSmoke
® GrainMaster SuperSmoke should be used after INSECTICIDE physical cleaning to®disinfest empty grain stores A broad spectrum and silos before filling with Actellic Dust or Actellic ® Actellic Dust® Actellic 50EC (liquid) ad-mixture to control EC treated grain. INSECTICIDE INSECTICIDEand prevent pest INSECTICIDE SMOKE GENERATOR Active ingredient: 100g/kg pirimiphos-methyl infestation during NEWand DUAL50g/kg MODE ACTION SMOKE GENERATOR deltamethrin. A complete ad-mixturegrain and surface A broad spectrum ad-mixture to control storage. GrainMaster SuperSmoke should be used after physical cleaning to disinfestcontrol empty grain and silos beforepests. Superior ofstores stored grain filling with Actellic Dust or Actellic EC treated grain. Active ingredient: pirimiphos-methyl Rate: Use100g/kg 1 generator per and 33350g/kg cubic deltamethrin.
Pack size: 60g Superior control of stored grain pests.
and prevent pest infestation during grain treatment in grain stores providing superior storage. control. Active ingredient: 20g/kg pirimiphos-methyl
Active ingredient: 500g/litre in the form metres. pirimiphos-methyl in the form of an emulsifiable concentrate. Rate: Bulk
Rate: Use 1 generator per 333 cubic metres.
SEE NO WEEVIL
SEE NO WEEVIL®
dust.
grain use 200g/tonne of grain and Rate: Bulk grain use 200g/tonne Rate: Grain mixture use meter into the conveying to ensure of grain andsystem meter 8ml/tonne of into the conveying even distribution. grain and dilute with ®
Pack size: 60g
Active ingredient: 20g/kg of a dust. pirimiphos-methyl in the form of a
sufficient water to obtain uniform distribution. Pack
system to ensure even distribution.
size: 10kg & 20kg
Pack size: 1L & 5L
Pack size: 10kg & 20kg
Collect your AgRewards points from selected products. Look out for the AgRewards stickers on packs. Visit www.agrewards.co.nz to find out more.
www.orionagriscience.co.nz For more information contact Orion AgriScience Ltd. Freephone: 0800 674 6627 ® GrainMaster, SuperSmoke and See no weevil are Registered Trademarks of Orion AgriScience Limited. ® Actellic is a Registered Trademark of Syngenta Limited. GrainMaster SuperSmoke is approved pursuant to the HSNO Act 1996, No. HSR 101001. Actellic Dust and Actellic EC are registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, P3591, P3590. Approved pursuant to the HSNO Act 1996, No. HSR 000196, HSR 000197. See www.foodsafety.govt.nz for registration conditions. See www.epa.govt.nz for approval conditions.
26
Farming
www.guardianonline.co.nz
OPINION
Ensure you get your horse’s diet right Spring is a time of the year when you may notice that your horse has ‘tight’ muscles. Some of the indications are: • His muscles feel rock hard instead of nice and soft and palpable • When moving, he will look ‘tight behind’, is not ‘tracking up’ and/or he may ‘bunny-hop’ (back legs are together) and/ or disunite at the canter • He finds it difficult to bend and is therefore unable to obtain and maintain one lead or another (note: symptoms can be asymmetrical with one side being worse than the other) • He tends to ‘hollow out’ as his back muscles can’t relax so he can’t relax and stretch his top-line • The end result is a horse who feels ‘resistant’ and ‘hard’ rather than soft, supple and compliant. It is so important to understand these are not training issues, they are mineral imbalance issues stemming from the horse’s diet. It goes without saying that before you start your
Jenny Paterson
BSC ZOOLOGY AND BIOLOGY
training the horse needs to be functioning normally or it is not fair on him and you will not make any progress anyway because the horse simply ‘can’t’ do what you ask. It is so easy for frustration to set in. Since a major prerequisite for soundness and training is ‘straightness’, it is imperative that it is not the horse’s diet causing these problems. In simple terms ‘straightness’ in this context means that his spine is in alignment with what he is doing. For example, he is ‘straight’ on a circle to the right if his spine is curved to the right, he is ‘crooked’ if his spine is curved to the left while on a circle to the right. One common reason why a
Benny before (left) and after two weeks (above).
horse has difficulty achieving ‘straightness’ is not due to anything ‘physical’. Muscles are operated by minerals and so are the nerves which tell the muscles what to do so rectifying tight muscles can be as simple as adjusting the minerals in the horse’s daily diet. The purpose of any diet adjustments is to make it
easier for the horse to balance his own minerals. It is easy to focus only on what might be deficient, (like magnesium) whereas other contributing factors can involve excesses or the presence of antagonists (such as oxalates, phytates or nitrates to name a few examples). Reduce potassium intake
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by eliminating or restricting access to short or lush green grass and eliminating legumes like clover and lucerne. An ‘overload’ can precipitate a cascade of metabolic challenges which you will see manifesting in symptoms such as ‘tight muscles’, spooking and many other associated signs of ‘Grass Affectedness’. (See Health Checklist www. calmhealthyhorses.com). And add plain salt to their feeds. The horse in the photos was on rye/clover pastures with no additional salt and an inferior mineral mix. His coat is dreadful, his eye is sunken and he looks like he has a bad headache. He was ‘tight’ all over and unrideable. The after photo shows the same horse after two weeks off the rye/clover, salt and quality minerals. He is happy, (headache clearly gone), his coat already much improved, his muscles have softened and he is rideable. Jenny Paterson B.Sc, www.calmhealthyhorses.com
www.guardianonline.co.nz
OPINION
27
The year that was for farmers This year’s major story in my mind actually started in July, 2017 when the first farm was found that had been infected with mycoplasma bovis. This started what can only be described by those directly affected as a complete and utter disaster. By January, 23 farms had been identified in the South Island and one farm in the North Island (Hawke’s Bay). By May the figure was 38 infected properties and by November 23 there were 33 “infected properties” (IPS), 53 properties under “restricted place notice” (including the 33 infected properties), 236 properties under “notice of direction” and 42 properties with IP controls lifted. Furthermore, I know right now of two or three other farms that should be under “notice of direction” that have yet to be contacted by the MPI team. Compensation claims look like this: • 483 claims received to date • 245 claims completed in part payed
Chris Murdoch
PROPERTY BROKERS
• $41,100,000 value of claims assessed • $31,200,000 value of claims paid. This is just a quick look at the numbers, but as you can see there is still a hell of a long way to go with under 50 per cent of the claims put forward yet to be even looked at. Animals culled as a response control measure were just over 8000 off eight farms, according to pre-June figures. Another 3000 animals were expected to be culled by the end of June. I just thought I would like to get some actual figures of properties that are affected to date so people can see how many families this disease
does affect. The rural real estate market itself has had strong winds in its face for the past year and this past season since August it has been exceptionally slow.
We We don’t don’t just just say say team. team. We We promise promise it. it.
Proud to be here Proud to be here
Often we are asked why have things slowed and the answer to that question is hard to pinpoint. However, there are a range of things in my opinion,
including the main one being this Government’s attitude to overseas investments, the environment issues, banking, the global dairy trades, downward pressure, and M. bovis. This all goes against a lot of positive things that are happening, including stillstrong dairy prices, strong sheep and beef markets, good arable returns, interest rates at all-time lows, just to name a few and yet confidence is at an all-time low. However, never mind, as a whole new year is just around the corner and a whole lot of new challenges and expectations shall arise with 2019. Remember a wise man once said: “When things were up no-one can see how they could fall, and when they are down how they can ever rise again.” Finally I’d like to thank all the people who have done business with myself and our real estate company over the past year and look forward to 2019. Please note: all figures quoted have come from MPI’s website.
When you list your farm with our South Island team, there are When youBrokers’ list yourmembers farm with our South Island working team, there are Property across the country alongside Property Brokers’ members across the country alongside them to get you the best result. That’s becauseworking every one of them to you the best result. That’s to because every one of hasget signed a binding agreement work together them has signed a binding agreement to work together to sell your property. It’s a New Zealand first for the rural real to sell your property. It’s a New Zealand first interests for the rural estate industry that means we put your best first.real estate industry that means we put your best interests first. Which is exactly where they should be. Which is exactly where they should be.
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$62,000 + GST
Case IH Puma 165 MC 5900 Hrs
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McIntosh CP900SF
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For more information, or to view any of our tractors, contact: Ashburton 03 307 8027 Amberley 03 314 9055 Leeston 03 324 3791 Timaru 03 688 2179 www.cochranes.net.nz
c/w Scales
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