Guardian Farming February 2011

Guardian

farming interesting • informative • essential

An Ashburton Guardian Advertising Feature

February 2011 $2.00

Doing it large on a Kiwi farm ... page 3

Basics of employment ... page 5

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Page 2

GUARDIAN FARMING

What’s inside/happening

contents Doing it large on a Kiwi farm...................................P3 Winchmore update .....................................................P4 Getting basics of employment right ....................P5 Mad about millilitres and millimetres ..................P6 Cushing’s disease...... ...................................................P8 Attitude, aptitude are key ........................................P9 Going back to school - safely ............................... P13 Employing - getting it right first time ............... P14 Tractor farm safety ................................................. .P15 Cartage feature .................................................. P18, 19 Ken Ring - The End of the World. Not. .........P22-24

Guardian

farming interesting • informative • essential

Any feedback is welcome, any comments about our magazine, letters or story suggestions.

Please direct any correspondence to: Amanda Niblett, on 307-7927 email: amanda.n@theguardian.co.nz or to: Lance Isbister, on 307-7953 email: lance.i@theguardian.co.nz or write to PO Box 77, Ashburton.

Advertising: Phone 307-7900 Email: emma.j@theguardian.co.nz Publication date: February 1, 2011 Next issue: March 1, 2011 An advertising feature for the Ashburton Guardian. Any opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Guardian Farming or the Ashburton Guardian.

Event

calendar

February 11

Tue 1 Wed 2 Thur 3 Fri 4 Sat 5 Sun 6 Mon 7 Tue 8 Wed 9 Thur 10 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sun 13 Mon 14 Tue 15 Wed 16 Thur 17 Fri 18 Sat 19 Sun 20 Mon 21 Tue 22 Wed 23 Thur 24 Fri 25 Sat 26 Sun 27 Mon 28 Tues 1 Wed 2 Thur 3 Fri 4 Sat 5 Sun 6 Mon 7 Tue 8

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Page 3

Dutch farmer has big Kiwi experience

Lance Isbister, Ashburton Guardian rural reporter

New Zealand must seem like a land of opposites to Dutch agricultural exchange student Klass Pieter as he experiences a summer harvest during Holland’s winter.

He knew of the Bieremas through family ties and the Rokeby arable farmers were only too keen to host the fellow Dutch arable farmer.

Snow covers the landscape of Holland where farms rely more on drainage than irrigation to contribute to plant growth in the spring and summer ahead.

“They gave me the chance to work for them and I thought that’s a big opportunity.”

These are just some of the things Dutch agricultural exchange student Klass Pieter has had to get his head around since he came to New Zealand via Australia last year.

Arable farmer Klaas Pieter, also known as KP, hadn’t done tractor work outside Europe till last year when he decided to travel to Australia to experience tractor work, in South Victoria where he used an 18 metre drill to sow seeds.

He was curious and wanted to see how farming systems operated on the other side of the world.

He was also keen to get his hands on the steering wheels of large tractors, like the 500 horsepower leviathan John Deere tractor, which dwarfed the120 horsepower one on his family farm.

Because Holland is relatively small compared to Australia and the farms naturally likewise, Dutch farmers do not require the large tractors or equipment more suited to Australia’s wide open flat terrain, which was part of the attraction for KP to travel there.

After working in Australia for five months, he was keen to experience the harvest on this side of the ditch so arranged to make the transition through the agricultural exchange programme.

KP remembers arriving at the Bieremas’ farm on August 2 last year when it was raining and the Bieremas had just started sowing their first paddocks of spring barley, which KP was very much a part of.

“I saw the paddocks being drilled, it growing and also the harvest of them (more than) two weeks ago.”

New Zealand weather and soil is a lot different to what he’s used to back in Holland, where the land can receive as much as 700mms of rainfall in a year.

There’s no need for irrigation on farms in Holland, but they do require plenty of drainage to remove excess water from paddocks because the soil is comprised of clay which can hold the moisture for more than a week.

KP said in a typical paddock drains run parallel to each other and are spaced 12 metres apart, where they are situated half a metre below the ground and deliver the water to trenches at the end of the paddock.

He’s still adapting to the fickle weather patterns of Mid Canterbury this season, here it can be raining in the morning and clear in the afternoon whereas weather patterns in Holland are more consistent.

KP originally thought New Zealand would be behind the rest of the world in agricultural machine technology because it’s so far away from production centres.

PHOTO LANCE ISBISTER 240111-LI-003

This is the first time Dutch agricultural student Klaas Pieter will be harvesting clover and is impressed with the range of different crops which are grown in Mid Canterbury.

He soon came to realise however that Kiwi farmers, especially Mid Cantarbrians had their hands on the latest gear due to agricultural machinery manufacturers testing their equipment here because it’s a season ahead and there are an excellent variety of crops they can test on.

KP is a keen potato grower at heart, so when the opportunity arose to plant potatoes on Andy Innes’ farm which neighbours the Bieremas’, he not only planted half of Mr Innes’ potatoes, but also all of the Bieremas’ potato crop.

With less than a month to go before he returns to Holland, KP has been anxious to get stuck into a Kiwi harvest and is looking forward to the experience of harvesting a range of different crops.

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Winchmore update - January

John Carson

It seems as if 2011 has just started and already the first month has gone . . . somewhere?

allowing me to free up some more areas for a cattle trial they want to start next month.

The first part of the month promised much fine weather for the harvesting of crops but of late, the conditions have not been so great, a repeat of last January it seems.

The last sheep trial will also finish next month and it appears that the draft of lambs from there will also be of considerable numbers of what I have remaining.

Rainfall to date (24th) sits at 44.2 mm with the long term average for January of 61.3mm, once again this season, another month that is below the average rainfall.

Luckily, some of the heavier ewe lambs that were outside the specified requirements for the Lincoln farm will be just the ticket for grazing on the long term fertiliser and irrigation trials which are made up of very small paddocks that are grazed in sequence with small numbers of between nine and 18 animals. Something that is not easily done with adult ewes that have extra management needs like mating and lambing.

Air temperatures and soil temperatures are average at 21.3°C and 16.7°C to date.

A very old shepherd I worked with just after I left college once told me, “a good summer for growing brassicas was the very devil of a summer for cereals and stock,” which certainly seems to be the case with a lot of great looking kale crops in the district.

I wish I could say that my 90 ha of kale is all growing well but unfortunately some of it is not all that flash, despite the weed and pest spray treatment it had received.

However, I have figured out a better approach to deal with the problems and now have a better plan, written down, to get a better result next season. The challenge will always to be a bit better than previous years. It must be why

I have been able, at last to draft and sell some lambs. we all, as farmers, get out of bed in the crops have received wind damage, morning to have a crack at doing what hopefully it will still be salvageable. we do a little bit better.

The science guys have completed two of The maize has started to flower and cobs their grazing trials and I have been able, are forming nicely so here’s hoping the at last to draft and sell some lambs. Over kernels will be full. I am not sure exactly 150 ewe lambs went up to the Lincoln when the maize flowered last season but AgResearch farm to be used in new I think it is earlier this year. The strong grass species and endophyte trials and winds have not damaged it any way, another 200 have been sold prime. All although I have heard that some maize within a week which has been great in

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Page 5

Getting basics of employment right Neal Shaw, ATS Chief Executive

The biggest asset any business has is its staff. It is a statement we are all familiar with and one that few of us would dispute – but do we always back it up and follow it through?

Our region is relatively unique with its consistently low unemployment rates.

Statistics gathered by our Mayor Angus McKay and reported late last year showed Ashburton’s core unemployment rate sat at 1.8% compared with Timaru’s 3.9% and Christchurch’s 2.2%. The same figures showed Ashburton’s workforce totalled 16,536 with only 302 unemployed.

These are enviable statistics although it also means local employers have to work harder to retain good staff. Investing time and energy in employment issues is always important and will stand your business in good stead.

The low unemployment rates and tight labour market we experience in Mid Canterbury has created a skilled labour shortage - this contrasts with other parts of New Zealand experiencing higher rates of unemployment. This is especially the case in the rural sector, where many of us struggle to find skilled employees.

Our business at ATS shares many similarities with farming operations around the district.

We are continuing to change and grow to meet the demands of our customers, and we also need skilled staff. I believe our point of difference to others in the marketplace is our staff, and it’s because of this emphasis that we now have a staff member dedicated to Human Resources.

HR has become another compliance issue for employers, including farmers. It is necessary for employers to be savvy when it comes to hiring, training and retaining staff.

There’s a lot of information available to employers, and most farming industry bodies have information available to their levy payers. There’s also plenty of information available through various Government departments.

• Don’t employ someone just because they are the last candidate standing.

No employee is better than a bad employee.

• Have a set of criteria. Ask yourself if the CV has the skills you are looking for and only interview candidates who meet the set criteria. Why interview candidates if they are not suitable?

• Your interview list should be the best candidates on paper.

• At interviews, first impressions count.

Presentation is important and you should ask whether the candidate reflects the image you want your business to present.

• Other considerations at interviews should include: - Cultural fit – the fit within your business culture (not in terms of ethnic background).

- Does this person fit with the team and the business?

- Do they add value to the business?

- Have they taken the time to research the business?

- Do they have any passion?

- Do they want to work for you?

- Are they prepared to do that little bit extra in order to get the job done?

- Do they work well with others and equally are they self-starters when required?

• A long interview isn’t necessarily a good interview, and with most you will have a gut feel within the first five minutes.

• You can tell a lot about a person and their attitude during an interview, although you may have to take into account nerves – but that can easily be checked out when referee/ reference checks are undertaken.

• Once you have made a decision that’s when the due diligence process needs to start. This includes background and police checks. There is nothing wrong with including a police check as part of this process – those that have nothing to hide shouldn’t be concerned. It’s also important to check references and referees and to ask the hard questions when necessary.

• If you make the wrong choice, then it falls back on the business.

The hard work doesn’t end after recruitment; induction and training are also necessary to cement a good working relationship. A lack of training and poorly set expectations early on will destroy that relationship.

Sometimes the relief of getting someone into a position can see this lapse, but spending a little bit of time early on

should avoid these problems.

Employment contracts should never be overlooked. It’s important to remember they only ever come out when there are problems and when disputes do arise, a thorough contract is an important fallback for both parties.

Recent legislative changes introduced to protect employers and employees have been widely debated, and sadly there will always be rogue employers who will take advantage of the new rules. But if the legislation is used in the manner it was intended, then it offers the opportunity for both parties to exit a poor relationship with some respect and dignity.

In a lot of ways, employment issues are not rocket science, but they are about investing time. In today’s busy workplaces when we are pushed for time, many of these issues often get put on the back burner, but great staff are invaluable to the success of our businesses. By getting the basics right we can retain valuable employees and also become an employer of choice in this tight labour market.

When it comes to employing staff I’ve learnt a few common-sense tips over the years, which I use as guidelines when employing staff. These are a few of them:

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Water whisperings It is said, “one of the first signs of madness is to be talking to yourself”. I have found myself doing a little talking recently over what is a trivial matter. There is help available and it does not require admission or a bottle of drugs.

Am I going mad? I hear some say I have been for many years now. I spend a fair bit of my time when driving around listening to Radio Sport.

Two things trigger the “talking to myself”.

The first is the number of roads where interference from the power lines results in not being able to hear the commentaries. I guess it has to do with the insulators on the poles, but would be solved by Radio Sport broadcasting on an FM frequency (as it does in some North Island locations).

So, I ask aloud “please broadcast on an FM frequency”. I realise this has little to do with irrigation, other than I am sure there are other farmers and persons involved in the irrigation industry who experience the same irritation.

The second trigger involves the Country Sport Hour (I think that is what the noon1pm programme is called). There is always at this time of the year a segment discussing rainfall around the countryside. So what has rainfall and going mad have to do with each other?

It is all about mls and mm

Rainfall (and your irrigation) is measured as a depth – mm or inches or points (1/100th’s of an inch). It always has been and always will be. Referring to rainfall as mls is technically incorrect and meaningless.

• Firstly, 50ml over 1ha is an infinitesimal (0.000005mm) depth of rainfall and is not measurable.

• Secondly and significant, 50mm over 1ha is not an infinitesimal amount of water. It equates to 500 cubic metres of water or 500,000,000 mls and that is the difference - huge.

I know and I hear you say “we all know what the announcer means”. I can regularly be heard in my vehicle lamenting “it’s mm not mls you drongo” – hence the signs of madness.

I feel really sorry for the farmers in the Waikato and Northland when they received a welcome 50ml of rain. This faux pas is not just restricted the presenters on this programme but many others (TV1 and TV3 weather presenters for example) who present the same mis-information to the public.

While on the subject of nomenclature or using the correct term, there is a vast difference between the depth and rate of irrigation (or rainfall). So often I read or see the depth of irrigation referred to as the rate, though never the vice versa. To be purely

Tony Davoren, Hydroservices

technical, depth is one-dimensional and rate is two-dimensional. As outlined above, depth is measured in mm, inches or the like – a one-dimensional unit. Rate however is measured as depth per unit of time – mm/ hour or inches per hour or cubic metres per second, a two dimensional unit.

For irrigators the two terms or parameters have different significance: • Depth is how much water you apply every time you irrigate. Apply too little and the crop will reach stress point again very quickly. Apply too much and you will exceed the available storage in the soil profile or crop root zone.

Depth you can control by simply irrigating for longer or shorter times; eg, the pivot goes round in 24 hours applying 5mm or 72 hours applying 15mm.

• Rate is the “speed” the water arrives at the soil surface. You have no control over the rate – it is a design feature and unless you change the design of your irrigator, you cannot change the rate. It is controlled by the flow rate pumped to the irrigator and the wetted footprint (the length of your irrigator and the width of the wetted area).

Hence, to change the rate you can increase (preferably not) or decrease the flow rate and/or increase (preferred) or decrease the wetted

footprint. The importance of rate is often under-rated. Your soil can only infiltrate water at a particular rate – in Canterbury, 15-20mm/hour is typical.

If you apply water at a rate greater than this (and most all our irrigation systems do), some of the water must go somewhere else than where it lands. It might head off to a lower spot nearby (a few centimetres to metres), or it might simply pond, or it might head on down the macro-pores in the soil and drain below the crop root zone. On most of our irrigated soils the amount of water that drains beyond the crop root zone has been largely underestimated.

Do I have the first signs of madness? – you be the judge. No matter your conclusion, I hope you get mm of rain and not mls, and you get mm of irrigation and not a rate.

Rainfall measurements are meant to be in millimetres (mm), NOT millilitres (mls).

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GUARDIAN FARMING

fertigation

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Fertigation is a system method that has been used around the world for many years.

In NZ in earlierr years in NZ it has been used predominantly in horticulture but over recent years the philosophy system has gained acceptance in pasture and cropping farming. circles.

The various injection systems allow major and minor nutrients to be applied directly, evenly and effectively to the pasture or crop through the irrigation system. This has proved to be extremely efficient and produces excellent results in dry matter production, and crop yields and crop quality. There can beare some significant cost savings and reduction of damage such as compaction, crop loss, fences and soil environment.

The basis of any system principle of fertigation is to test the nutrient status of the soil by doing a soil test across the property paddock to establish the fertiliser requirement for the pasture or crop. This will determine what type and amounts of fertiliser the soil & plants requires for the season or the crop.

This analysis will also determine include thea nitrogen reserve nitrogen level test which will of the soil and give an some indication of the nitrogen requirement for nitrogen, in either solid or liquid forms. over the pasture season or the crop.

Once this information has been gathered a fertiliser programme can be designed recommended that maycan include solid fertilisers, soil conditioners, such as Lime or Humates or soil feeders. for the soil requirements. It will also determine what nutrients can be applied through the irrigation to complement the programme to maximize the yield. Dm growth and quality.

The irrigation products will be predominantly nitrogen on a dairy farm or cropping situation but does give the opportunity to add phosphate, potassium, sulfur and minor elements such as boron, magnesium Manganese and other trace elements as well.

One trial on a dairy farm has provend through the use of its a fertigation system and customised fertiliser programme, ( as above including solid on the ground ) to produce an

extra 20 % of dry matter growth on average over control every year for the past 6 years. It was also noted that the density of the pasture sward ( particularly clover ) in the trial area was greater than that of the control areas. ( see article in the Dairy Exporter 2008).

The protocol for the trial was for the dry matter to be cut in the trial area and the control areas every month for the year, over the 6 years.

Other trials have proved that the liquid nitrogen UAN ( as used in this trial ) can replace the use of some solid nitrogensUrea when applied to pasture and crops.

The use of UAN as part of the nutrient fertilserfertiliser programme does can reduce the dramatic affect that some solid nitrogensUrea haves on the soil environment.

It burns hasless less effect on the loss of carbon ( organic matter ) in the soil and minimizes the affect on calcium levels in the soil. reduces leaching as it is more plant available than urea, better for the environment.

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Equine

Jenny Paterson B.Sc Horsemanship NZ Ltd

‘Dairy Cow-it is’ in Horses!

• Increased appetite (usually with no accompanying weight gain).

Is your horse or pony started on the slow, insidious slide towards developing Cushing’s Disease in his latter years?

• Chronic laminitis.

Cushing’s is a common condition in older NZ horses, statistically 85% of Cushing’s horses are over 15 but it can occur in horses as young as seven.

• Compromised peripheral immune system, respiratory disease, skin infections, hoof abscesses, mouth ulcers, and dental problems.

What is Cushing’s Disease?

What may be of interest to some readers with horses showing some or all of these signs is that we have seen significant improvement in horses displaying various degrees of these symptoms by guess what: changing their diet.

I learned a lot from Sue Beatson a veterinarian who lectured on the subject at Equitana recently. Cushing’s Disease (otherwise known as PPID) is the proliferation of normal tissue in the pituitary gland causing a benign ‘tumour’.

Eliminating any access to grass in rapid growth mode Throughout Sue’s lecture ‘bells rang’ in my head because and providing their teeth are still good, feeding lots of we see the fledgling signs of this disease in so many hay, more salt and premium minerals. younger ‘grass affected’ horses especially those leaning Cushing’s syndrome produces changes in hair towards metabolic syndrome, laminitis, respiratory All food for thought. It will likely eventually be proven coat, a sway back and pot-bellied appearance. conditions and diseases of the pituitary is the ‘master that Cushings Disease is one more unfortunate end gland’ and is responsible for running all the other glands • Increased melanin causes abnormal hair growth result of a lifetime of eating grass in its vegetative especially the adrenal glands! and shedding. Affected horses become hairy, often (growing) state. The major difference between a wild long, andofoften curly, New and formula take a Alleviate the whole story as explained on the ill-thrift.

C and A horse with ‘dairyexcessively cow-it is’! Look at coarse the Lots of horses get ‘dairy cow-itis’. In horse’s diet andlistening that of to our domestic horses is that the Malfunctioning of the pituitary causes the adrenals to long time to shed or fail to shed at all in summer.

“Changes in the Grass Changes in Premium New-Zealand-Horse Minerals similarities in condition. other words they are consuming lots latter are confined and forced to eatMake the regrowth. chronically over produce the ‘stress hormone’! the Horse”.

A combination of the following points will get are perfectly designed for this and you of feed but you would never cortisol, know it by Therefore Cushing’s characterised high results.• Sweating and flaking of thecan You should see a marked difference in add plain salt to help balanceAnd theirwe actively encourage excellent their appearance!

Likeismost dairy cows by chronic skin. even more prolifi c regrowth cortisol which can‘no betop-line’, very damaging one-two weeks and they will continue to potassium:sodium ratio 1. tissues Feed as much hay as the horse will eat. these horses have you can to healthy by spreading manure, irrigating and fertilising. The andtheir causes system to be compromised. improve from there. Contrary to popular belief 3. Add calories in Loss the form If your horse is chronically thin and has to see ribsthe andimmune sometimes back-bone.

• Development of asoft swayback and a pot belly. of of extruded answers are all very simple really, just hard to wrap our horses don’t actually NEED green grass to be barley and maybe some oil. Extruded barley sloppy manure, you may need to turn an area This translates in horses to saddle-fitting When the pituitary swells it also pushes on the muscle over the topline. head around! fabulously healthy! is ground and cooked so it is very digestible into a ‘dry problems from trying fit a saddle to a temperature hypothalamus glandtowhich controls andlot’ by spraying out or scraping the The same horse just two months later. and we have found it excellent for giving these grass off. This is the best thing you can do to hollow shaped back. Usually there will be endorphins • the Filling of the hollow above horses the eyes caused by the See DVD PPt presentation Changes inofthe Grassthese Make Fabulous side-effects making a boost. ensure the flora in hind-gut is healthy. other associated issues concerning health deposition ofdisturbance fat.

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Page 9

Attitude, aptitude employment keys John Leadley

rogueing, pack-house and similar work.

The editorial by Sue Newman in the Guardian of Friday, January 7 again made for thought provoking reading.

My admiration for those that perform these tasks and the parents who encourage them is considerable.

Most prospective employers appreciate some evidence of work aptitude on a CV no matter how menial the task may seem.

The title “Job Seeking in a Jobless Market” was both timely and relevant. Not for the first time I found myself agreeing with many of the views expressed. Must be a generational thing!

Even experience of voluntary or unpaid work or contribution in kind to some worthwhile organisation can give a strong clue to employment suitability. What better than enrolling as a blood donor?

With youth (officially 16-24 years old) unemployment at its highest level for 20 years there is certainly cause for concern.

The discipline of regular work for reward should be well entrenched by the mid to late 20s.

As Sue Newman said, school leavers need to canvass all opportunities to enhance their work prospects.

I greatly admire young people who have attained high levels of academic achievement through tertiary qualification and proven educational skills. If these have been achieved with practical work skill qualification at the same time, this is an added bonus.

A mix of theoretical knowledge and sound practical skills provides an ideal blend for future productive employment.

When it comes to employing someone attitude and aptitude are everything.

“keep student loans interest free despite the $11 billion loan book only returning I equally admire those in our most important 53 cents in the dollar.” agricultural industry, who by age 25 with little more than 8-10 years pure hard physical Can an economy currently borrowing $1 billion monthly to service debt afford this endeavour, have risen through the ranks level of welfare largesse? of labourer, sharemilker, manager, to some form of equity partnership or ownership.

In similar vein government seems happy This is true career dedication and simply won’t occur without a strong work ethic. Ag to ignore the $1.8 billion due in unpaid ITO provides a wonderfully balanced theory/ child support. This surely communicates practical education mix for prospective rural to people that it’s okay to go around making children and then show next to workers. no responsibility for their well-being. This should never be the case.

Ms Newman’s observation that frequently generation Y youth (15-24 years) have a very different attitude to work and life than those Statistics show that 20% of New Zealand’s children come from households where over 60 is very true. “They’re the immediate welfare payments are the primary income generation, they have high expectations, source. Not a sustainable scenario. they don’t do boredom, they’re very ME Now, more than ever we need to build a and if they don’t like the job or the people fiscally responsible nation. they work with, then they’re just as likely to scarper. A work request is often challenged.

The lead should come from government.

Many don’t do instructions without debate.

I’m a great believer that you’re never too And it’s not their fault – never is”. young to learn good work ethics, and was Whatever the reasons for this situation the fact remains that employment is a privilege not a right.

fortunate as a child to live on a farm where opportunities for pocket money arose frequently.

In the 1940s and 50s rats’ tails, birds’ eggs, mushrooms, blackberries, wool from fences, pine cones and stable manure were all sources of income – all jobs where the harder you worked, the greater the reward. Later piecemeal occupations like potato picking and shearing reinforced the culture.

With more than 50 job vacancies from highly skilled to part-time unskilled work opportunities for work advertised in last Saturday’s Guardian, the situation is competitive but not desperate.

As always the first job is usually the hardest to get, so flexibility is essential.

Employer respect, job ownership, enthusiasm, efficiency and honest endeavour still go a long way to employment security. Attitude and aptitude are key.

Unfortunately modern society provides few opportunities for piecemeal work, but energetic young people can still make reasonable returns from paper and pamphlet rounds, berry picking, baby sitting, delivery work, Working as a volunteer speaks volumes on a CV.

Success is the reward for hard work.

Rules entitling young people to the unemployment benefit are somewhat generous and in many cases liberally interpreted. This must be addressed.

The same applies to the sickness benefit. Yes there are a number of persons both young and older for whom welfare benefits are absolutely essential. Obviously this includes the medically, mentally or physically impaired but not I suggest the current 4000 deemed unable to work because of drug or alcohol addiction and who cost the nation $45 million a year.

No-one would deny this former group the benefits of living in a welfare state and family support payments. Conversely the dole should not become an alternative to regular employment for the latter.

Recently released statistics give an insight into abuse of the student loan scheme and a further example of lax enforcement.

Overseas student loan defaulters owe $191.4 million (none ever prosecuted) as at December, with overseas borrowers (many with a 1-3 year repayment holiday) owing more than $2 billion.

In Prime Minister John Key’s words he will

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Guardian Farming

Farm Shed Feature

The durable pole shed

If you’re considering building a shed for livestock, living quarters, storage or use as a garage, pole sheds offer an affordable, durable option that’s easy to build.

As their name suggests, pole sheds are built by driving posts into the ground and attaching simple frames, braces and a roof. They can be as elegant or simple as desired.

Is a pole shed right for you? If you’re on a tight budget and need to build a small to mid-size shed in a hurry, you’ll find that pole shed construction is ideally suited to the task. Pole sheds are highly versatile structures. With the right plans, a midsized structure with post-frame construction will provide substantial clear spans. (The rafters on larger structures are supported by sunk or surfacemounted columns.)

Pole sheds are fast and economical to build -- a basic unfinished structure might be closed in within a week.

The versatility starts at the foundation. Depending on the design, pole sheds can be built with posts set directly in the ground (without a concrete slab foundation) or built with the posts fastened to a slab.

It’s even possible to design a pole shed that initially sets the posts in the ground, with a concrete slab floor poured once the structure is complete. Pole sheds are durable because of their construction.

Wooden posts or concrete columns are driven into the ground, increasing the shed’s stability and wind resistance. According to Post Frame Advantage, treated wood used for pole shed structures holds a higher amount of chemical preservatives than that found in many other treated wood products and lasts longer. Pole sheds counter high winds effectively because of their box shape and brace distribution. A concrete shed base is without a doubt the strongest and most durable form of shed foundation, so while pole sheds can be constructed leaving a dirt floor, the addition of a concrete floor will most likely save you time, effort and money in the long run.

While siding choices are varied, metal siding most often gets the nod over wood. Rather than cost or aesthetics, speed of construction and ease of maintenance are often the deciding factor. Roofing is most often made of steel.

Pole sheds are appropriate for a wide range of uses, not just for agricultural storage or backyard storage sheds, but for commercial and industrial uses, as well. Pole sheds are widely used as housing for cows, pigs, poultry, and horses.

In Mid-Canterbury we are lucky that we have a wide range of quality builders that can build excellent rural structures, including pole sheds. For additional storage for farm machinery and stock, talk to your local builder on what will best suit your requirements.

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Guardian Farming

Page 11

Lifestyle Block Feature

Lifestyle Block

– the kiwi dream In New Zealand there is a vast difference in rural lifestyle blocks. We have subdivisions of complete farms with blocks ranging in all sizes from 1ha up to quite large farmlets.

The thing to remember in all instances is that Rural Blocks are very different to urban sections and the requirements for subdivision approval are different.

That little piece of Kiwi magic can have many hidden costs!!

In an Urban situation you have everything supplied, that is to say all roads and footpaths are installed, all services for power, water, phone, gas, sewerage etc are to the boundary and ready to be connected to. These sections are all approved as building platforms ready for a residential dwelling.

Not so in a rural situation!!

1. The Developers obligations: The developer does not have to supply any water or sewerage and very often does not have to provide other services such as power and telephone to the boundary.

For example the power may be 300metres away on the other side of the road, it may be the end of the line and could mean installing a new transformer, extending the line up to your site and thrusting under the road, all up a very large bill.

2. 2. Site conditions: Firstly spoil type and stability become a number one concern for the local building authorities and we tend to find in most instances today, Councils require a geotechnical report on the building site before a building consent will be issued. Geotech reports can show up ground instability, which can quickly escalate building costs and where specific designed drainage and retaining systems are needed the costs can be quite considerable.

3. 3. L.I.M. reports: What is a LIM report Lim Report is short for Land Information Memorandum Report.

A Lim Report is a report obtained from your local Council. The report gives you a clear and detailed picture of the land or property that you are interested in purchasing.

If the Lim report comes with any aerial

photographs etc this is NOT confirmation of the boundary of a property in a legal sense.

Where do I obtain a LIM report?

• Go to your local Council and they will be able to help you with what is needed. A Lim Report takes up to about 10 working days to complete. There is a fee for compiling a Lim Report, again ask your local Council for a schedule of fees. All queries should be directed to the local Council in which the property in question is situated.

4. 4. Resource consents: “The Resource Management Act!!

In todays world especially in a rural situation just about everything requires resource consent. There are maximum amounts of soil you can move without resource consent, there are minimum distances from boundaries and roads and any variation from these again requires resource consent. These road boundary distances are considerably increased if it is a main highway or a secondary road linking two main highways.

“Check with your local Council and Town Planning Dept regarding specific rules and regulations” 5. 5. Costs of services: What are the costs involved in all the services, waste water ie sewerage system, storm water run off, water supply which is very often tanks and pump system using the rain water which still has to have a designed and controlled run off. If there is not an existing crossing giving access to the site there are Council consents with fees required plus the actual installation costs for a new crossing.

You then have your site excavation and driveway costs complete with base course and metal surfacing.

In summary there are many things to consider: Make sure you do your homework careful planning is a must. Accurate budgeting will reflect in an enjoyable stress free, project.

For further information on building your dream lifestyle block, check out the below website for more tips and advice, and as always, give your local builders a call to get the best local advice available. www.buildyourdream.co.nz

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Irrigation

Irrigation New Zealand Inc www.irrigationnz.co.nz

Irrigation User Groups – it’s all about ‘trust’ Article contributed by IrrigationNZ Existing irrigation user groups have proven that a collective approach provides many benefits.

Most importantly it enables irrigators to better manage the water resource on behalf of the community by finding workable, achievable and long-term solutions that fit the community expectations while actively managing, and often improving, their irrigation use and profitability.

Irrigator groups to date have frequently been born out of adversity or wider concern from the community. Once established the groups have always risen to the challenge of proving that the resource they are using can be self managed in a proactive, transparent and sustainable manner. But often there could have been a quicker and easier pathway.

Leaving the formation of groups until it is forced upon irrigators is often problematic. It can be very expensive in terms of resources, financial and personal, to react and battle decisions through the legal process. Trust is often lost with the community and the regulator, which then makes it a hard for the collaborative process (on which irrigator groups are based) to function.

For collaboration, a high level of trust is necessary between all parties – trust is

slowest to light, quickest to burn.

The increased reliability, accessibility and affordability of real time technology enable irrigation to be better monitored and measured. This creates an opportunity; for the regulator to accurately observe what is happening; and for irrigators to actively manage their individual and collective use.

In catchments and river systems subject to periods of restrictions, transparent information combined with a high level of trust has already enabled some user groups to steer away from the traditional regulatory top-down, command and control approach and enable a bottom up, flexible, user based approach to managing water.

The new model is one where decisions on how to manage the available water resource (within the agreed defined boundaries) are made by the irrigator. This replaces the previous model where the regulatory authority micro manages every decision.

The prize is a self management system that functions within predefined boundaries set by the regulating authority – Audited Self Management (ASM).

The Kakanui River in North Otago is a good example. The river is highly valued for its conservation and recreational values as well as its supply for irrigation. Minimum flow compliance was difficult as it was often not

known who was taking the water when the flow was breached.

The installation of telemetered meters on all takes, providing real time data, combined with the flow gauging of the river at different points meant the information was available to manage the water use more proactively. A user group (Kakanui Allocation Committee) formed initially through the Otago Regional Council (ORC) and then expanded after an Environment Court directive, has built knowledge and trust to the point where decisions that are made by the irrigators are trusted by the community and regulatory members of the group.

The user group has an elected “Water Allocation Committee” (WAC) within its structure made up of 5 irrigators who each have a stretch of river they are responsible for. All water users must act as directed by the WAC when a roster is implemented. The WAC is able to manipulate the roster to meet on farm needs. This makes it possible for farmers to pass up their allocation for a more critical user to benefit.

This type of communication and sharing management at the irrigator level would not be possible if the traditional top down individual consent holder approach had been taken by the ORC. Meetings remain ongoing between the

WAC, ORC, Fish and Game, and a community representative group. They have become increasingly positive - a spin-off now being that the group is successfully working though a number of wider community issues alongside the better management of the Kakanui minimum flows.

The trust and support that the Kakanui user group has built is bringing benefits to both the irrigators and the community.

With the blessing of the ORC the Kakanui user group has now successfully moved day-to-day management away from the regional authority for the benefit of all parties. The information gathered, ongoing communication and transparency of the process has been key to the Kakanui success.

Regional and central governments are actively promoting the Audited Self Management approach, utilising user groups. With an understanding that irrigator and community involvement in the management of our water resources creates more harmonious, equitable and sustainable outcomes they are looking more and more for irrigators to seize the initiative.

A meeting to discuss the formation of Irrigator User groups in the Ashburton District is scheduled for March 24 with further details to be advertised closer to the time.

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Back to school - safely The long summer holiday is over and the district’s children are back at school. There must be many parents heaving quite a sigh of relief that things are relatively back to normal now that all the trips away, finding ideas to entertain children, sorting out sibling squabbles, finding childcare, buying uniforms and stationery on the heels of Christmas, and the like is over.

And the children themselves are, on the whole, excited to be back too. Many will not have seen their friends much over the holidays, will be moving into new classrooms or starting new schools. It is a time of eager anticipation. No doubt they will be thinking of anything other than being careful crossing roads, waiting patiently for school buses, and remembering road rules on their bicycles. We all know how impulsive and unpredictable children can be, the risks they willingly take, how unfearing they are, and how insensible to danger they can be.

It is nice to be settling back into the old routines again, but how much more comfortable would parents feel if they were sure their children were safe as they head to and from school each day.

Each year children are seriously injured or even, tragically, killed on our roads by unthinking and careless motorists.

Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) has been tirelessly promoting the message for motorists to slow down around schools

and observe the 20km/h speed limit when passing a school bus which has stopped to pick up or drop off children. This message has been echoed by other organisations such as police, school committees, SafeKids, and Council Road Safety co-ordinators.

There is growing support for the ‘slow down around schools’ message with many councils now lowering speed limits and putting up signs around schools. Towards the end of last year Selwyn District Council agreed to lower the speed limit and put up appropriate signs around all schools in that district. How wonderful if that were also to happen here in the Ashburton District.

I was thrilled to read in this week’s Ashburton Guardian that our local Road Safety coordinator is running an art competition for children to design a road safety calendar.

Two of the monthly themes chosen were ‘slow down around schools’ and ‘20km past the school bus’. It is fantastic to think children’s impressions of those messages will be hung on the walls of many homes and offices around the district, as a constant reminder to us all.

The speed of motorists past school buses continues to be a major cause of concern for RWNZ, police, and families. When a bus has stopped to pick up or drop off children, the speed limit past that bus (from either direction) is 20km/h. This law applies whether the bus is on a small rural road, on State Highway One, or outside the school

Page 13

Kerry Maw

itself. It makes no difference whether that is a rural school, or let’s say, at the bus exchange in Creek Road outside Ashburton College.

The law is the same – the speed limit is 20km/h!

Some people say that it’s too hard to slow down quickly. I don’t really go along with that. Over the years I have personally seen large vehicles like milk tankers and fully laden truck and trailer units capable of slowing to 20km/h, so surely the average family car or farm ute can do it too. It’s all about being aware of other traffic on the road and being prepared or, dare I say, willing to slow down and take care for our children’s sake.

Just imagine what you would say to a child’s parents if a tragic accident did happen and what about all the other children on the bus who have just witnessed that accident?

Somehow I don’t think “it was too hard” or “I wasn’t really thinking” will cut the mustard.

That accident will live with you and those children and families for a long time.

Next week RWNZ Mid Canterbury Provincial members will again be running their school bus safety programme in conjunction with the police and school bus contractors.

Police officers and RWNZ members will follow buses on selected routes to monitor the speed of motorists. The key focus of the campaign is to recognise, congratulate and reward those motorists who do slow down to 20km/h when the bus has stopped to pick

up and drop off children. And woe betide those motorists who don’t – they are likely to get a reward of a different kind from the police.

It is the start of a new school year and I know that after the long summer holiday we are all out of the habit of thinking about school buses and slowing down around schools.

Our children are keen to be back with friends and are very unpredictable in the way they dart out across the road without a moment’s thought. They probably won’t be thinking about you barrelling along the road. So please….. Slow Down and help make sure our children can go back to school safely.

HEALTHY SOILS principal objective is to offer a range of products and services that can restore the MINERAL and MICROBIAL balance in the soil, thereby reducing the need for high analysis fertilisers and chemicals.

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Page 14

GUARDIAN FARMING

Getting it right first time

Rob Stevenson, Teamwork (SI) Limited

A significant number of people out there (maybe you are one of them) think Human Resource Management (HRM) is about hiring and firing people, this could not be further from the truth.

Having another person attend the interview will allow you to collectively gain much more information than interviewing alone. It is difficult to really listen to the answers if you are already thinking about the next question.

The success of good HRM is measured by the stability of the workforce, a positive atmosphere and the level of satisfaction both staff and management take from the business.

Never employ anyone without conducting referee checks. Employees should also have the opportunity to referee check employers.

Too many employers take pride in how quickly and cheaply they can employ staff and likewise how quickly and cheaply they can remove them if things go wrong. It is no surprise the two go hand-in-hand and can result in plenty of practice at both.

Clearly, avoidable recruitment and termination is a waste of time and money, so I offer some suggestions on limiting unnecessary staff turnover and getting it right first time.

Don’t pay an employee more than you believe they are worth. This will lead to resentment and unrealistic expectations on the employer’s part. From the employee’s perspective, if money is their only motivator to work for you, the relationship is doomed from the start.

Hiring a new staff member should result in more time spent making money and less time wasting it on ‘hiring and firing’.

When recruiting, be clear and determined in what type of person you seek, just as you would be in sourcing any other asset for your business. Only appoint the ‘right’ applicant. Often the best applicant is not good enough, so go back to the market and look again.

you can’t think of what it is that makes you and your business stand out from the rest, ask friends, family or clients, often people looking in from outside see huge positives you overlook.

When advertising, sell your business as well as the position. The right person will not want any job, they will want your job. If

When accepting applicants, if time permits try to speak to each of them (you will get much more information from a five minute phone conversation than a brief

i ng r Se e d a e Y 1 e di ng rs We a e Y 7

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email or worse still, text message). CVs are useful but can not communicate a person’s attitude, which is almost always the first attribute employers seek.

Take time during the interview to find out what their goals are and establish how they will fit in with your goals. Have a written list of questions so you obtain the same base information from each applicant.

Once employed, I have three suggestions to maintain a happy and sustainable employment relationship – • Communicate.

• Share your business goals so employees can understand their role in your business.

• Ensure employees are achieving their own goals, celebrate successes and address failures.

The result should be more time spent making money and less time wasting it on ‘hiring and firing’.

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GUARDIAN FARMING

Page 15

Farm tractor safety Assess a person’s skill level to operate a tractor One of the best methods to assess the skill level of a person to operate a tractor is to spend time discussing aspects of safe tractor operation from your experience and getting the operator to demonstrate their skill while under your direct supervision.

When learning to drive a tractor, it is advisable to select an area of flat ground free of obstacles and hazards.

After ensuring that the operator is familiar with the controls, initial driving should involve the use of the gears and taking time to get used to the controls, in particular the throttle, brakes and clutch.

Gear changes need to be practised so that changes are made smoothly because, under difficult conditions, an ability to change gears quickly and smoothly and correct gear selection is very important.

Familiarisation with the tractor should include: Tractor components; controls; gears; start/stop procedures; layout and function of controls.

Identify potential hazards such as speed, obstacles, surfaces, slopes undulations/ruts as well as routes to be taken, terrain peculiarities and alternative routes that can be used in bad weather conditions.

Use this time to familiarise the operator with your property.

The operator should be able to manoeuvre the tractor in a controlled manner using correct gear selection and able to drive through a range of surface conditions.

Assess tractor limitations

manual, contact your local tractor dealer for assistance.

Tractors perform many different tasks on the farm, more often than not with an attachment or implement.

Various forces are exerted on the tractor affecting the overall handling while completing these tasks.

Centrifugal force is one of the major causes in tractor overturns.

Slow down before making any turn.

The centrifugal force tries to keep the tractor going in a straight line.

Doubling the speed of a tractor while turning increases the chance of overturning by four times.

Implements and their effects on a tractor Fit implements according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Always use the draw bar or the manufacturer’s mounting points for the attachment of equipment.

Selecting a safe hitch where traction is a priority— demanding a reasonably high hitch point at the rear of the tractor—will require a trade off between getting sufficient weight transfer to optimise traction and not getting so much weight transfer as to cause a flip-over.

Where traction is a priority, make sure you use a long draw bar.

Never use the top link as a hitch point.

Always use the correct size draw bar pin with a lynch pin through the bottom of it.

Never fix a single clevis tow bar to a single clevis draw bar— one must have a double clevis.

Environmental conditions

Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for operating your tractor.

This information is usually included in the operator’s manual for newer tractors, for older models with no

Loss of traction is one of the single most common starting points of all tractor accidents.

Tractor tyres with tread bars at 45° have more lateral

(sideways) traction on hills than tread bars at 22-23°.

On sand or pumice soils, interchanging the wheels so the tread bars are reversed, may increase traction by holding the soil together instead of pushing it out sideways as a means of self-cleaning.

This does not apply on normal soils.

Under-inflation of tyres on soft ground may increase traction.

Over-inflation will seldom increase traction on any surface.

Terrain • A tractor’s stability is greatly reduced on steep slopes.

• Avoid quick uphill turns.

• Watch for holes and depressions on the downhill side and for bumps on the uphill side.

• Keep side-mounted equipment uphill of the tractor.

• Set your tractor wheels to the widest possible setting to increase stability when working on hill sides.

• Descend slopes cautiously keep the tractor in low gear and allow the motor compression to act as a brake.

• When operating near ditches, holes, gullies and washouts or rivers stay as far away as they are deep.

Vehicle maintenance Features which should be checked regularly include: Brakes — lubricate linkages and adjust brakes evenly on both sides.

Tyres — check air pressure, water content, damage, wear also check tightness of wheel nuts.

Hydraulics — lubricate linkages and ensure oil level adequate and check for leaks.

Battery — top-up, keep fully charged.

Steering — lubricate and check linkage nuts.

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Page 16

GUARDIAN FARMING

GPS and Farming

Keeping farmers on track Since Global Positioning (GPS) technology has been developed from its original application as a navigation tool for the US Department of Defense it has become widely adopted by society as a modern means of navigation.

Today GPS is now more commonly used by hikers, sailors, engineers , courier drivers just to name a few who rely on the technology to navigate to a precise location.

GPS is a tool which was originally designed to provide ships and planes with navigation information, but has since branched out to include a range of transport modes.

This is especially the case today in motor cars as more people are keen to have the convenience in navigation GPS systems provide as well as the means to explore new places which is greatly assisted by GPS maps.

However its application in agriculture is where GPS systems really perpetuate modern husbandry providing truly measureable gains over manual cultivation.

As farmers look to work more efficiently in reducing onfarm costs and their impact on the environment through precision agriculture, Global Positioning GPS systems are becoming more common in sprayer, header, and tractor cabs.

GPS systems combined with agricultural machines have contributed to farmers’ dreams of making a perfectly straight furrow, minimising overlapping and enabled them to work through the night with confidence in their accuracy.

GPS systems can also reduce driver fatigue especially as part of an auto steer system, which, as the name suggests, steers the agricultural vehicle in accordance with the programme used by the GPS system.

This enables operators to achieve excellent consistency throughout the paddock and provides crops the best opportunity to develop, while also speeding up field operations.

GPS is a global radio navigation system which uses no fewer than 24 satellites which calculate positions to within an accuracy of a centimetre allowing agricultural vehicles to drill, spray and harvest with immense accuracy and thereby reducing fuel and input wastage, improving their efficiency.

This technology has become more important as farmers look to reduce their costs and improve their husbandry as they become more accountable what they do to the land.

The rising price of fuel and fertilisers have led to GPS

PHOTO 270910-LI-277

Arable farmer Murray Pike has found the AutoFarm GPS precision agriculture system useful, especially when his Pottinger Terrasem C6 drill stirs dust up affecting his visibility. systems becoming a more popular option to mitigate these costs especially as they are developed to be more user-friendly and affordable.

This is especially true when it comes to large farms where it can be uneconomical not to employ a guidance system to make the most of inputs.

The development in GPS auto steer programming now enables farmers to programme the characteristics of a particular paddock into the system as well as the desired speed of the vehicle which can be referenced and used again season after season.

This enables more accuracy in drilling and takes the guesswork out of cultivating different paddocks.

According to a number of users the ability of a guidance system to keep records of operations is more important the ability to apply inputs using variable rate control.

The guidance system’s ability to record and store operations with positioned data, dates and times serves as a helpful quality assurance tool, particularly for contractors and during spray operations.

How GPS works in five logical steps • The basis of GPS is “triangulation” from satellites.

• To “triangulate” a GPS receiver measures distance the travel time of radio signals.

• To measure travel time, GPS needs very accurate timing.

• Along with the distance, you need to know exactly where the satellites are in space. High orbits and careful monitoring are important here.

• Finally you must correct for any delays the signal experiences as it travels through the atmosphere

PHOTO 300310-LI-002 AND 003

An AutoFarm GPS autosteer system provides the tractor operator with plenty of information on their progress and accuracy when cultivating the paddock as well as keeping the on the straight and narrow, hands-free … until the headlands that is.

GUARDIAN FARMING

Page 17

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GPS SolutIonS for todAYS fArmerS VISuAl GuIdAnCe The Edge display includes a full-featured, integrated on-screen guidance lightbar with perspective view.

It will allow you to view a real-time coverage map between different field views. It will record field data from spraying and seeding, application and harvest operations for you.

rtK AutoSteer Paradyme steers your tractor, sprayer, spreader or header handsfree.

Its ability to track roll, pitch and yaw at all times gives unmatched accuracy and repeatability. It includes everything you need to get the right inputs on the right hectare at the right time, from planting to harvest.

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You will be able to view yield and moisture maps in real time for instant information on yield performance across the field.

Integra display is the full-featured, yearround hub of any precision farming operation. It will give you guidance with the capacity of autosteer. You will have access to mapping, planter and application control, yield monitoring, real-time data logging and more.

VArIABle rAte APPlICAtIon This system is available for your fertiliser spreaders, selfpropelled and pull-type sprayers. It controls applications rates of liquid and granular products automatically based on georeferenced prescription maps.

Page 18

GUARDIAN FARMING

Guardian Farming

Discharge Feature

Discharge

– the dirty topic

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Story: Amanda Niblett The discharge of stock truck effluent onto Animals that are stood off pasture, but roads and roadsides has the potential to with access to water, for a period prior to adversely affect the safety of road users, transportation, excrete less effluent during cause adverse effects on human health, cartage. If standing stock is difficult and/or animal health, the environment, and give stock is being transported long distances, rise to nuisance odours. The discharges dry feed such as hay, grain or meal can be can result in negative public perceptions fed prior to travel. Less effluent collected and experiences (by both New Zealanders in holding tanks enables trucks to travel and tourists). greater distances before holding tanks Spillage of stock effluent from trucks onto require emptying, and therefore there is less roads is a significant problem for road users likelihood that there will be spills or the need because of the amount spilt and its offensive to dump during cartage. nature. Stock truck effluent discharges Research has also found that standing stock increase road safety hazards for motorists, off feed for the recommended time prior to including cyclists and motorcyclists, due to transportation has minimal effect on carcass slippery road surfaces, and reduced visibility weights, and therefore prices received. Standing and offensive odours when spilt stock off pasture also reduces stock stress (less onto windshields. animal bruising), and results in improved meat There is the potential for adverse quality with the stock arriving in better condition. environmental effects resulting from Many farmers have taken on board the the dumping of stock truck effluent onto recommendations of the National Stock roadsides during cartage. The effluent may Effluent Working Group and are standing enter water bodies as a result of run-off stock off pasture for the recommended and adversely affect water quality with the period. However, to enable farmers to stand potential to alter in-stream habitat and stock off pasture for the recommended time ecology. Discharges also reduce aesthetic period stock agents must provide farmers values associated with New Zealand’s ‘clean with adequate notice. At present, not all stock green’ image. agents provide adequate notice to farmers.

Health and safety problems for animals and A small number of farmers are not people can result from stock truck effluent receptive to standing stock off pasture for spillage on roads and illegal dumping on the recommended time due to concern that roadsides. carcass weight will reduce, and therefore Mid-Canterbury is a dairying province a lower price will be received. Research with well-established meat processing and has proven that this concern is ill founded saleyard industries. Accordingly, at different because, as mentioned above, standing times of the year there is a large number stock off pasture improves their condition of livestock being transported on Midat destination. To ensure that farmers stand Canterbury roads. These stock movements stock off pasture for the required time, are primarily associated with the movement stock agents and truck operators must give of dairy herds and the transport of stock to sufficient warning of anticipated end point destinations. stock collection time.

What can farmers do to help?

Cartage companies are responsible for Farmers’ behaviour prior to stock being collecting and containing effluent from stock transported influences the amount of on all trucks and trailers used to transport effluent requiring disposal in-transit or at livestock. Effluent holding tanks are fitted to the destination point. Farmers’ willingness vehicles to collect effluent and to ensure that or ability to ‘stand’ stock off pasture prior spillage is minimised. to transportation represents the single best Together farmers and cartage companies method to reduce the amount of effluent can help reduce the amount of waste that collected in holding tanks. falls on Mid-Canterbury’s roads.

GUARDIAN FARMING

Guardian Farming

Page 19

Freight Feature

Get your freight from A to B without worry If you have a myriad of machinery cluttering your farm sheds, it may be time for a clean out. But how do you go about moving these items if you end up selling them out of the district?

In Mid-Canterbury we are lucky that we are spoilt for choice when it comes to cartage. From all manners of moving stuff from A to B, whether it is as small as shifting a trinket you have sold on Trade-Me, to container loads of bulk grain to feed our nations chickens, there are local companies specializing in all aspects of cartage.

General transport companies will organise picking up freight from your door and delivering it to the door of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s destination.

Heavier items can be shifted with trolleys and lifted to truck decks using a tail-liftâ&#x20AC;ŚIf your item is too heavy to lift, then make sure you specify that you may need a tail lift for pick up. Items over one tone and of an awkward nature may even require a hi-ab for pick up and delivery which will incur additional charges.

Placing the item on a pallet and securing it to the pallet using shrink wrap and strapping will make the transportation of the item easier for the shipping company, and will reduce the risk of the item becoming damaged.

If you do not have these items to secure your freight, then advise the shipping company of this when you arrange pick up, so the driver can bring these items with him.

For example, if you are looking at shifting a piece of machinery that has been cluttering up your farm shed, then place padding such as foam or bubble wrap over any sharp edges and any fragile areas, strap the item securely to a wooden or plastic pallet, and then cover the entire item securely in shrink wrap, making sure that the shrink wrap secures firmly to both the item and the pallet, making the package even more secure

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Story: Amanda Niblett and protected. Remember that this item will be shifted from truck to depot, to linehaul truck, to depot, possibly to linehaul truck again, to depot to delivery truckâ&#x20AC;Śin other words it will be shifted a lot during itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transit, so palletising the freight will make it easier and safer to move. Make sure to label the pallet as fragile, and the most important thing is to clearly label the pallet as to where it is going. Be thorough with the address. If you label something as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mr Jones, RD6â&#x20AC;&#x2122; it is extremely likely that this pallet will end up being pushed to the end of a freight depot halfway in transit and will not make itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s destination. The majority of freight that is lost in transit it due to poor labeling, insufficient information or the label falling off. Remember that these freight companies move thousands of items per day and at any one time have hundreds of items of freight in their depots moving in and out, so it is easy to mis-place one item.

Most freight companies these days have electronic tracking systems, so when the driver picks up your item, make sure you have a thorough look over the paperwork. It will have a tracking number on the document, so it is advisable to write this number on your item of freight for added identification, and keep your copy of the paperwork for reference if you need it later. Your details as the sender should be filled out clearly, and the receivers details need to be very clear and accurate, matching the information that you have placed on the item of freight. Phone numbers are imperative to arrange the delivery at the other end. Check the liability clause. Some items of freight if extremely fragile in nature (usually consisting of glass) may travel at owners risk, so you may need to arrange private insurance to cover itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transit. Most freight will be covered under Limited Carrier Liability, which will insure your freight up to $1500 per item, as per the Carriage of Goods Act. If your freight exceeds this value, some transport companies can

arrange insurance at an additional cost to insure it to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s value.

It is important to arrange these details before or during pick up so that you know what you are covered for right from the start of the journey. Be clear on what exactly you are shipping in the description of freight on the paperwork, this will help to identify your freight if the item becomes mis-placed. Remember that if you ship multiple items on one pallet, this is only classed as one item of freight, and only insured for $1500 for the entire pallet. Also your item may possibly contain dangerous goods that the driver will need to declare. Even something as simple as household paint is a class 3 flammable liquid, so if you think you may have a chemical or liquid of some sort that you are shipping, tell the person that is arranging your pick up so that the driver is prepared to label your package as a dangerous good, and placard his truck. You will need dangerous goods documentation, so if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have this, again tell the person who is arranging the collection so the driver can bring the applicable paperwork for you to fill in on his arrival.

Getting rid of old engines off the farm is a common practice, but make sure that all fluids are drained before the driver picks up the freight. Otherwise your dirty old oil can make a large mess in the truck, and over other peoples freight.

If your item of freight is fragile and especially sensitive on the top, label your freight as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;top stow onlyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. This will make sure that other items of freight arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stacked on top of yours during itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main transit haul. Remember that the people handling your freight are only human, so occasionally accidents with forklifts do occur, but if your paperwork and liability is clearly defined, then it will make your claim process easier should the worst happen. If you follow these guidelines, then it will make sending your items of freight a smooth transition.

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Page 20

GUARDIAN FARMING

Ashburton

Industrial Estate

Best Under Pressure...

From left: Dan Bruce, Paul Fergus, Pauline Fergus and Hamish Miller make up the dedicated team of Hydraulink, Mid-Canterbury, On call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to keep your machinery running.

Any application where optimum performance from hydraulic systems and hoses is critical, Hydraulink are there, manufacturing and distributing hydraulic hoses, fittings, couplers, tube assemblies, adaptors and accessories.

The friendly local team is led by owners Paul and Pauline Fergus. They have owned Hydraulink Mid Canterbury Ltd for 14 years, and have been at their current location in the Industrial Park for 8 years. Just keep an eye out for the bright yellow building behind Advanced Maintenance Ltd as you are driving down Robinson Street.

Story: Amanda Niblett knowledge, and understanding of the rural Paul comes from a farming background and achieved a Diploma in Agriculture from Lincoln sector, getting machinery and vehicles back up and running as fast as possible is University. Prior to owning Hydraulink, he had their number one priority. Hydraulink can 15 years experience in the rural sector, so supply and fix the hose assembly or fitting he knows full well the importance of getting required to get the job done, without having breakdowns fixed immediately. to compromise and settle for second best, Paul and Pauline have a wealth of and they guarantee their products and knowledge that makes up their enthusiastic workmanship. team. Hamish Miller is a qualified mechanic, If you are involved in agriculture, transport, and Dan Bruce also comes from a rural earthmoving, or any industry that needs fast, background. They are passionate about effective and reliable hose and hydraulic helping the rural, transport, and earthmoving services - Hydraulink can help you get the job industries get up and running when a done no matter how much pressure you’re breakdown occurs. With their combined

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Ashburton

Industrial Estate

Dan, Pauline, Paul and Hamish are here to provide fast, effective and reliable hose and hydraulic services.

Page 21

GM trial growth off Mexico City – A Mexican regulatory body has denied an application from US seed giant Monsanto Co. to expand to pilot planting projects of genetically modified corn in northern Mexico, officials said.

Government experts say more experimental planting in very small, strictly controlled plots is needed to ensure the GM crops won’t affect native corn varieties. The first such permits were granted for 22 experimental plots in 2009.

Mexico is the birthplace of corn, and scientists and activists worry that modified strains could contaminate or displace native varieties whose genetic content could prove valuable in the future for hybridisation efforts.

Reynaldo Alvarez Morales, the head of Mexico’s inter-agency commission on genetically modified crops, said companies will have to plan at least another cycle of planting in small plots of about 1ha, before they can move on to “pilot” plots of as much as 50ha.

If no risk is found at the pilot level, the next step could be monitored commercial planting in some areas.

“It is impossible, many times, to try to evaluate a crop based on one single experimental planting,” he said, noting that annual variations in temperature, moisture and winds can affect the results.

While companies may have expected to go immediately from experimental to pilot to commercial plantings, he said such expectations were “hurried.”

While there are fears that wind-borne GM pollen could cross-pollinate with native varieties, Alvarez Morales said he has seen no evidence that has occurred at any of the experimental plots yet.

The experimental plots in northern states like Sinaloa are usually planted a halfkilometre from any other potentially at-risk crops, and tests are carried out after the experiments to see what effect the nonnative corn has had.

Alvarez Morales would not say how many such cycles would be needed for approval to be granted.

Monsanto did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the government decision, which was made about three weeks ago.

While there are fears that wind-borne GM pollen could cross-pollinate with native varieties, Alvarez Morales said he has seen no evidence that has occurred at any of the experimental plots yet.

Those experimental plantings are being carried out well to the north of the central Mexico highlands where modern corn was first hybridised between 6000 and 8000 years ago.

- AP

SKYFARMERS Specialist in in All All Types Types of of Agricultural Agricultural Specialist Aviation Applications Applications Aviation

Hydraulink stock and supply an impressive range of quality hoses, fittings, components, hydraulic oil and filters for purchase.

Hydraulink also stock and supply an impressive range of quality hoses, fittings, components, hydraulic oil and filters for purchase. They can design, install and maintain your hydraulic system for you. Just call in and see the friendly team and they can advise which product will best fit your requirements.

Customer satisfaction is of upmost importance to Hydraulink, and they have many businesses in Mid-Canterbury who are thrilled with their service. Greg Bruce, Workshop Manager from ACL quotes “We are proud to have Hydraulink as our hose repair provider. They have always given us a prompt and efficient service, and their quality of workmanship is excellent.”

Wherever you are, whenever a problem hits, Hydraulink will fix it so you can get your job done on time.

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Page 22

GUARDIAN FARMING

The End of the World. Not You will still be here on 22/12/2012. Those who hide in caves, dive underground into bunkers or wait on top of hills expecting to see a cosmic fireworks display will be disappointed, after reading the books, seeing the movie, and buying the T-shirt.

Until a few years ago there were not that many people who were familiar with the end-of-the-world-in-2012 prophecy put forward by scholars who have studied the Mayan “long calendar” and who think the world will come to an abrupt end on December 21, 2012.

How times change. Forty years ago if you walked around holding a placard saying the end is nigh you were considered a nutter. Now, with 2012, climate change and La Nina, you’re thought a denier if you don’t.

The calendar is at the centre of this controversy. The current cycle, or baktun, of this calendar began on August 13th, 3114 BC. It marked the end of the last period and the beginning of the current one. The baktun that we are currently living in is the thirteenth, and the end of this cycle is one considered to have a large level of importance to the Mayan people, which is why so many have leapt gleefully to the conclusion that this cycle’s end will mean the end of the world as we know it.

While there is no definite vision of how the end is supposed to happen, those who have studied the calendar claim that it was created in order to correspond with a long term astronomical prediction which by its nature will be calamitous. This has led to a belief that this particular end-scenario will have something to do with something from beyond this world. While this correlation to outer space is

not definite, it has come from a feeling that Mayan culture had advanced and unique understandings of astronomical phenomena and planetary alignments, and if they wanted their calendar to end with the Mother of all Bangs they would know which date to arrange it.

Another belief is that the End will come from our own Sun, apparently via a large solar flare. This flare will come about because of the infiltration of the orbits of the planets in our solar system by an outside orbiting planet that the Sumerians and the Babylonians referred to as Nibiru, and is sometimes referred to by modern scientists as Planet X. Nibiru is said to only orbit through our system once every three thousand six hundred years. Planet X has been thought to exist because it would explain the anomalies of the other planets’ orbits better. Starting with something poorly understood and creating deeper levels of confusion around it, is something that scientists revel in.

It gets worse. In addition, some believe in a race of people who lived on Nibiru known as the Anunnaki.

This superior race came to Earth and genetically engineered human beings. They did this because they needed to get gold ore from our planet in order to help save their own environment. The humans that they created helped them by mining gold from Africa.

The basis for this mythology was found in ancient writings recently uncovered in relation to the ancient Sumerians. If they are correct, then the end of the world 2012 that they think is depicted in the Mayan calendar will also coincide with the return of the Anunnaki. It would be the return of our creators, and so

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it is the belief that the Mayan calendar also signals the forthcoming Apocalypse.

If you were to genetically engineer a species it is odd to think you would make something like a human which would have so many design faults. Walking upright wrecks everybody’s back sooner or later. Our teeth do not regrow like those of the superior shark. A sudden temperature change or draught can confine one to the sneezing and wheezing horizontal for about a week. One sex continually finds aggravation with the other sex. But then, if you just want gold diggers then a hastily assembled pair of hands with legs to carry them is maybe all that is required. Still, if they were smart enough technologically to come here in cleverly designed spaceships, couldn’t they just build diggingrobots?

According to the end-of-the-world scenario, when this planetary body re-enters our system it will cause massive disruptions in the orbits of Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, and Earth. Nibiru crossing our orbit, they claim, will cause gases in Jupiter to ignite because it will get too close to the sun and the precarious balance that keeps its gas structure in check will be lost, causing Jupiter to turn into a secondary sun.

In combination with this, solar flares released from the sun on a natural cycle peak during 2012. It is believed that this in combination with Nibiru will cause massive damage to the planet on a level never been seen before.

There are a few things wrong with this too. If we can work all this out then presumably the smarter Anannukai can figure that too, and unless they are lemming-like we can assume they are not going to be

GUARDIAN FARMING

Page 23

Ken Ring

in a rush to get into their spacebuses to come down here, only to get instantly cindered into charcoal dust.

is not the worst day, which may be May 6, 2012, the day of closest moon. On the preceding day, the 20th, the moon moves across the equator heading north, a time of turbulence and the generation of currents and wind, as happens twice per month. Nothing out of the usual – we used to call it weather. (For Canterbury expect rain developing, 21°C, calm easterly).

There are others who contend that 2012 actually refers to a very rare planetary alignment that will occur during the winter solstice on December 21, 2012. At this time the entire Milky Way will align at a point that is known as the galactic equator. This alignment only happens every twenty five thousand years. Some say that this could signal a shift in the magnetic poles.

After midnight the date will pass into folklore as another charming fizzer. Doomsday Book authors will pick up pens and recalculate. I hear they are also preparing a date for global warming to pass the tipping point and burn us all to cinders.

This polar shift has happened before in the distant past, and if it were to happen now it would cause destruction across the globe. Some even claim it’s all going to happen at once, at the exact minute, this alignment, the return of Nibiru, meeting and greeting the Anunnaki, and the solar flares.

We are reluctant to admit that people in the past may have been smarter than us. Even though we know we don’t have the knowledge today to reconstruct the Pyramids, Stonehenge and some obvious purposebuilt ancient harbours, and we acknowledge that mathematics comes from Persian/Arab/Indian/Hebrew/ Asian astrologers and whoever preceded them, still we like to teach our children that humans lived in caves and communicated by grunting right up until a few thousand years ago.

frightens many people, and that indeed is one proof that we may be dumber than the Mayans. Planetary alignment on 21/12/2012? Nope - there isn’t one. The solar system does travel in a wave pattern as it circles the centre of the Milky Way during a 250,000,000 year period but will not cross the mid-plane or disc of our galaxy in 2012. We are currently around 30 million light years above this plane and moving further away from it. There is not an alignment of all or indeed even of several planets on 21-12-2012.

Apart from the fact that there wouldn’t have been enough caves, and that caves would have been efficient death-traps (imagine two smart bears: one to guard the entrance, the other to go in and get the dinner, checkmate), we still cling to the silly story of the caveman.

So what will happen on the 21st? There may well be earthquake activity in the preceeding week, because on the 13th the moon will be at new moon, southern declination, and at, perigee#2. It was the same moon as the 7.1 magnitude Canterbury earthquake. But that

The end of the world 2012 scenario is one that

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Sources: http://2012rising.com/article/the-galactic-alignment-in2012-part-1 http://2012planetalignment.org/december-2012doomsday-4-top-reasons-why-21122012-is-the-mostimportant-date-in-mankinds-history http://2012planetalignment.org/tag/really http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planets_beyond_Neptune http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon

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So expect no blank pages in the 2012 almanac.

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It will probably coincide with the rising sea levels covering the last bit of land on the highest hill that that we will have all scrambled onto, the hill we will share with the last of the polar bears and the last whale and Maui Dolphin, where we will all share the last bit of unCO2-dominated air. It is a pity that the Mayans culture has now become identified with the writings of alarmists. It would not have been their intention. But the 21/12/2012 has not been the first end-of-the-world day and certainly won’t be the last.

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Page 24

GUARDIAN FARMING

Weather by The Moon: February Forecast Summary, outlook period Number of rain days:

About 5-7

Precipitation potential times:

February 5th-6th, 10th-15th, 20th, 24th

Mostly dry

February 1st-4th, 14th-19th, 25th-28th

Wettest periods: Warmest maximum temperatures: Coolest maximum temperatures:

February 5th, 10th, 21st February 19th February 21st-22nd, 25th-26th

Warmest minimums:

February 10th-21st

Coldest minimums:

February 11th-14th, 26th

Sunniest days:

February 25th-28th

Best days for outdoor recreation:

February 25th-28th

Cloudiest:

February 20th-24th

Estimated precipation for Ashburton:

59mm

Rakaia:

59mm

Methven:

59mm

Estimated sunshine amount for Ashburton:

157hrs (February average 171hrs)

General February may be average for rain, with less sunshine than normal and below average temperatures.

Some light showers are expected, in the second week and just after full moon on 18th. Some high temperatures may come around the 19th. High kingtides are expected 19th-24th.

Potential earthquake risk is between 17th-21st , in which interval shakes and/or aftershocks may be felt at low and/or high tide times and/or mid-tide times.

The potential for maxima averages is 20째C and for minima 6-8째C.