CountryLife Friday December 15, 2017
Olde Berry Farm co-owner Debbie Molloy
CountryLife – 1
DECEMBER 2017
See story page 2
2 – CountryLife
Friday December 15, 2017
Have a very berry Christmas
By Steph Bell-Jenkins
Twenty-five years ago, when Pete and Debbie Molloy started growing berries on leased land on Morrinsville Rd, their operation was about as basic as you could get. “We started off selling berries in a tent on our front lawn,” Debbie said. “As we made more money we just tried to improve the place as best we could, and Pete built a little rustic timber shop and each season he would add a bit more onto it.” Two and a half decades later the couple has progressed from low-spec to super high-tech, with most of their strawberries, raspberries and blackberries now grown hydroponically in giant “tunnel houses” at their new joint venture in Matangi. The couple moved to Matangi three years ago, partnering with local raspberry grower Michael Jiang and keeping their original name, The Olde Berry Farm. “It was just an opportunity,” Debbie said. “Michael wanted to expand, we wanted to expand, and by doing it together we could stay in this area.” The trio invested heavily in state-of-theart infrastructure, erecting tunnel houses – open-ended tents that stretch over rows of plants – to protect crops from rain, hail, birds and dust. “Hail can just about have a crop wiped out, so this is just a nicer way of growing,” Debbie said. “And the hydroponic system increases our yield and produces sweeter, more perfect berries, because the plants are being fed and irrigated all the time.” Inside the tunnel houses, each plant is drip fed a tailor-made nutrient solution through a computer-controlled system. “It’s been very expensive to set up, but we’re very close to finishing all our developing, so once we’ve done that we can start to recoup what we’ve spent,” Debbie said. But while the trio’s growing methods are cutting-edge, when it comes to customers it’s all about good old-fashioned hospitality. “I love people and I love seeing the kiddies,” Debbie said. “I like all nationalities coming here and having such a lot of fun. We do a lot on Facebook and I love taking photos of the kiddies and their families picking berries and eating ice creams.” This year Debbie, Pete and Michael
have expanded their produce shop to incorporate a new vintage tearoom. “With having pick your own on weekends, we have a lot of families that come from places like Auckland and Rotorua, and because they travel for miles they’re looking to have a cup of tea or coffee,” Debbie said. A new children’s adventure playground featuring chooks, bunnies and bamboo huts is also planned. But the business’s biggest earner is berry sales to supermarkets, with more than 100 people employed to pick, grade and pack the fruit at this time of year. Now, with their busiest week of the year about to hit and most of the hard work setting up their new farm behind them, the three partners are looking forward to enjoying the fruits of their labour.
The Olde Berry Farm has a vintage tearoom and produce shop.
Strawberries and blackberries are grown in tunnel houses, along with raspberries.
Friday December 15, 2017
Focus on Owl Farm By Steph Bell-Jenkins
Efforts to increase profitability at Owl Farm while reducing its environmental footprint are paying off. Despite a “really challenging spring”, production at the St Peter’s School farm was up seven per cent to the end of November. The extra 5000kg of milksolids sent to the dairy factory equates to $22,000 in extra revenue so far. This production boost was achieved despite a 13 per cent reduction in nitrogen fertiliser use so far this year. Demonstration manager Louise Cook said the key to the increase was “focusing on protecting the feed wedge in winter to have feed on hand for calving”. Pasture growth was up 17 per cent on last year, particularly in July and August, enabling high pasture allocation to cows. These were some of the highlights discussed by Ms Cook and farm manager Tom Buckley at a recent Owl Farm focus day attended by about 100 farmers. “In brief, we’ve certainly had a win here,” Mr Buckley told the audience during his seasonal update.
Demonstration manager Louise Cook
About 100 farmers attended the open day at St Peter’s School farm. One audience member noted there had been “a heap of under-sowing and pasture renewal last autumn” and asked about Mr Buckley’s thinking on the same philosophy going forward. Mr Buckley said about half of 150ha had been involved in regrassing in one way or another over the past 12 months. “It is a substantial area. But when I started here two years ago we saw the pasture quality fall away rather quickly and though it looked green from here, when you actually walked through the pasture it was full of summer grasses.” “Yes, it’s cost us money, but we’re now where we need to be and will be looking at a maintenance approach of 10 per cent of the farm annually going forwards,” he said. Ms Cook said Mr Buckley had been “extraordinarily careful” with autumn-sown new grass this year, taking all steps possible to protect
Louise Cook took attendees around the farm.
the new grass and ensure it had a 10-year lifespan. An in-paddock session around the summer cropping regime talked about managing insect pests this spring, as greasy cut worm and Argentine stem weevil had been around in unusually large numbers “devouring small plants”. “With no maize in the Owl Farm system, it is critical to ensure a strong summer feed supply for maximising summer milk production,” Ms Cook said. A switch to brassicas as a summer crop after several years of chicory had enabled the use of CleanCrop bulb turnip to help mitigate weed burden. “Crops were planted October 10 and October 27 and are all vibrant and healthy, so we’re looking forward to grazing them from midJanuary” she said.
CountryLife – 3
Waipa forestry study The Waipa Afforestation Feasibility Study is an investigation of the feasibility of planting areas of steep hill country in the Waipa catchment with commercial forestry, as part of delivering on the requirements of both the Waipa Catchment Plan and the vision and strategy for the Waipa and Waikato Rivers. The Waipa River is known for its sediment loading, and it’s estimated that around two thirds of the lower Waikato river’s sediment loading comes from the Waipa river. A key objective of the study was to examine the feasibility of planting parts of the Waipa catchment in commercial forestry to reduce erosion and associated sediment loss to the Waipa River, whilst still maintaining the economic base of both individual land owners and the region. Waikato Regional Council (WRC) commissioned the report, with co-funding from the Waikato River Authority (WRA) and the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). The intent of the project is to provide relevant and useful information for landowners and other parties who may be interested and/or involved in evaluating alternative landuse scenarios for steep hill country in the Waipa catchment. It is complimentary to other initiatives that have been underway to assist landowners with fencing and planting native trees on areas of land that are unsustainable for livestock farming purposes. The study has used a range of data, including landuse and land cover maps, and other spatial data that describe the erosion potential, water quality and terrain across the catchment. From these, different Geographical Information System (GIS) layers have been generated that enable the assessement of the economics of different afforestation options are evaluated. The forest species looked at were Radiata Pine, Redwood, Manuka for honey production and the option of natural reversion to indigenous forest. Carbon revenues have been looked at for the natural reversion and the manuka honey scenario (Manuka effectively reverts to native forest over time). This enables identification of scenarios that will optimise financial returns appropriate to the physical attributes of a particular area in the catchment. Noting that forestry is a long term land use requiring careful analyis, this project has resulted in a useful new tool that can be used to evaluate future land use scenarios. The study is available from the Regional Council ph 0800 800 401. Stu Kneebone Councillor Waipa/King Country Waikato Regional Council
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4 – CountryLife
Friday December 15, 2017
Volunteers get behind A&P, please By Steph Bell-Jenkins
Dairy farmer Monique Bennett is encouraging more parents to get involved with Cambridge’s A&P Show, after the cattle section almost fell over this year due to a “lack of manpower”. “We would love the show to get to its 125th birthday,” she said of the 114-year-old event, “but like a lot of organisations, we’re struggling to find new volunteers”. “Compared to other shows around the midnorthern region we are doing really well with entries, and we’ve got a really great working committee – but it is a small committee and more people bring new ideas to the table.” Monique, who was “born and bred in Cambridge” and now sharemilks with her
husband in Otorohanga, is vice president of the Cambridge A&P Society and runs the pony section of the local show with Kirsten Pike. She also helps at Hamilton’s Waikato A&P Show, where she is “the youngest volunteer by 20 years”. “If you look around the table, the people running the show are the same ones who were there when I was a kid,” she said. Monique’s two daughters are regulars at A&P shows and she loves watching them – and other children – “competing and enjoying the sport”. “You’re doing it for your kids,” she said. “It helps them learn how to handle winning and losing. And it’s a lovely community. The younger kids look up to the older kids, so it’s a nice, social thing for everyone.”
She said if Cambridge families texted to offer a hand it would be hugely appreciated and ease the burden on volunteers considerably. “This year one person in Cambridge did text me, but last year at the Waikato shows I asked six families that show if they could bring me a plate for morning tea and afternoon tea and you know what, I didn’t get one,” she said. “Those little things really make a difference. If everyone did a little bit it would make the running of the events so much easier.
“We’d love to be able to expand our entertainment and do something for the community, like run a top team or a singing competition, but we actually haven’t got the manpower right now.” She urged other parents to “just get in behind your local show or whatever your kid’s passion is”. “In this day and age people are busy and timepoor, but volunteering is a great way of meeting new people, giving something back and feeling more connected to your community,” she said.
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More volunteers are needed if the Cambridge A&P show is to continue. Photo by Michael Jeans
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Friday December 15, 2017
Service to Fieldays recognised
Fieldays’ CEO Peter Nation visited Kaipaki School last week to present staff, students and parents with the Fieldays’ Rimmington Award, recognising the school’s annual contribution to the event over more than 25 years, running the onsite courier service. Each year staff, trustees and parents from Kaipaki School assist in delivering courier packages around the Mystery Creek grounds – providing six volunteers from the school per
shift (mornings and afternoons) to work alongside a small team of Fieldays’ volunteers. The Kaipaki School bus driver, Bianca Crawford, also ferries pedestrians up and down the hill to save them the steep hike back to their cars. “We know that many, many people have contributed over numerous years – well over 30 years we believe – enabling and sustaining this wonderful relationship with our neighbours at Fieldays,” said Kaipaki School
Principal Kim Budd. “We are so appreciative of current and historical contributions of the Kaipaki community.” Peter Nation presented Board of Trustees chairperson Alistair Hayes with the Rimmington Award at a special assembly on Friday, before heading outside for a ceremonial tree planting to mark the occasion. “Kaipaki School, as a community, as an organisation, have been very generous with their time,” Nation said. “And
when you think about it, it’s a really big challenge for a small school… providing a service to an organisation like ours over a long period… the Rimmington Award is in recognition of an organisation that has gone beyond the call of duty over many years, to help our event be the success it is today.” The tree planted at the school – a native ribbonwood tree – was quite aptly chosen for the occasion as it was grown at the Tamahere Community Plant Nursery, located at the Fieldays site.
CountryLife – 5
Board of Trustees chairperson Alistair Hayes (left) receives the Rimmington Award from Fieldays’ CEO Peter Nation
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Board of Trustees chairperson Alistair Hayes (left) and Fieldays CEO Peter Nation plant a ribbonwood tree to mark the occasion.
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6 – CountryLife
Friday December 15, 2017
Bumper hydroponic crop this year By Steph Bell-Jenkins Switching from traditional, soil-based cropping methods to hydroponic growing has seen strawberry yields increase by 50 per cent at The Olde Berry Farm in Matangi. The farm’s owners, Debbie and Pete Molloy and Michael Jiang, now grow most of their strawberries, raspberries and blackberries in plastic “tunnel houses” using computer-controlled hydroponic equipment. “We made the right decision to go the hydroponics way with the tunnel houses,” Debbie said. “With the raspberries we have got three times the yield per hectare and we are cropping over 20 weeks instead of six weeks, and because of the tunnels we harvest every day, rain or shine.”
Debbie said the strawberry season was also longer, running from “about Labour Weekend through to about early April” and blackberry yields had improved too, although percentages weren’t available. Tirau business PGO Horticulture Ltd has been instrumental in setting up The Olde Berry Farm’s hydroponic systems over the past three years. “I tell you what, the blackberries are impressive to see,” said technical director Neville Stocker. “There’s more fruit than there are leaves, and the blackberries are as long as your thumb or bigger – they’re huge.” Neville said the benefits of hydroponic systems included greater production per area, less environmental impact than traditional ground growing, water and fertiliser savings, higher production of first-grade fruit, extended seasons,
increased yields and the ability to precisely monitor water and nutrient consumption. “The data the computer-operated controllers are logging offers you a lot of opportunity to learn about exactly how the crop’s behaving relative to what you’re doing and how the weather is,” he said. “So over a period of seasons you build up a big amount of data and you can better address the plants’ requirements.” The Olde Berry Farm’s plants are grown with their roots sitting inside individual plastic bags with a 20-30 litre capacity, sitting on “what looks like an upturned egg crate” to allow airflow underneath, Neville said. The bags contain shredded coconut fibre that doesn’t compose, is disease resistant, and “holds water and nutrients very well without locking up minerals”.
Each bag contains two or more drippers fed by lines running down each row that contain water and dissolved nutrients. “Peter’s controller injects a raspberry recipe for the raspberries, a blackberry recipe for the blackberries, a strawberry recipe for the strawberries, and they’re all on different solar counts and watered for different lengths of time to suit the crop and its stage of growth,” Neville said. “Nutrients are mixed up at the pump shed and drawn in by the controller, injected into the line on the way in to the crop to specific strengths and then pH corrected.” Peter can control the entire system through his laptop. “Peter’s sort of pioneered some of it, he really jumped in with both feet and saw that it was the future,” Neville said.
The Olde Berry Farm is reaping the rewards of switching to hydroponic growing.
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CountryLife – 7
Friday December 15, 2017
We need to stop losing it By Bala Tikkisetty We’re losing it. Soil that is. And we need to do more to stop the slide of this precious asset into waterways and, ultimately, the ocean. It makes economic sense to do so and also helps better protect our waterways and aquatic life from the effects of sedimentation. The scale of this loss of a farmer’s most precious resource is huge in this country. We lose it to the ocean about 10 times faster than the rest of the world, with between 200 million and 300 million tonnes sliding into the sea every year. That equates to an astonishing 1.1 to1.7 per cent of total global soil loss to the ocean despite us having only 0.1 per cent of total land area. It’s a reflection of the erosion that results from our mountainous and hilly landscape, adverse weather events and land use practices. The resulting sedimentation of our waterways contributes to
poor water quality and interferes with aquatic flora and fauna, as well as productive capacity of our land. The two main approaches to erosion control are mechanical and biological. Mechanical methods such as terracing, debris dams, detention dams, retaining walls and other engineering structures can have an immediate benefit by removing excess water and artificially strengthening slopes or by capturing sediment. Biological methods – the use of live vegetation – are the more economic means of rehabilitation of eroded land. Planting helps “hold” soil and provides ground cover so that the elements don’t wear away directly on the soil. Also, planting poplar and willow poles and stakes is a good way to restore physical strength to slopes and minimise slipping and slumping. Ensuring suitable plant species are used and lower stocking rates on steep land are other practices that can reduce
erosion. In cases where severe erosion is present it may be best to retire land from grazing and, if possible, change land use to plantation forestry. Bala Tikkisetty is a sustainable agriculture advisor at Waikato Regional Council available at bala.tikkisetty@waikatoregion. govt.nz or on 0800 800 401. Waikato Regional Council has funding for up to 70 per cent of costs to help farmers in priority susceptible west coast and Waipā catchments to carry out erosion control and other land management activities. Funding covers: • tree planting, including pole planting and native plant species • fencing off marginal land or bush from active use • riparian management (fencing, planting and stock water reticulation) • farm plans to identify soils, land use capability and environmental projects.
Sniffing out velvetleaf
The arrival of warm, humid days means velvetleaf and other nasty weeds will be starting to appear on farms, prompting a plea for landowners and rural contractors to be on the lookout for pest plants. Helping to sniff out velvetleaf in the Waikato region last month was Rusty and his handler John Taylor. The Southland-based pair visited 12 high-risk farms, finding plants sprouting on 8 of them. They’ll be returning to carry out further surveillance work in the Waikato in late January and early February ahead of the harvest. Velvetleaf grows up to 2.5 metres tall and has buttery-yellow flowers as it matures from spring through to autumn. This aggressive cropping weed is one of the world’s worst. It damages crops by competing with them for nutrients, space and water, Rusty helped to sniff out velvetleaf on and its seeds can persist on farms for decades, even eight Waikato farms last month. He’ll be returning in late January-early February. surviving digestion and silage processes.
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8 – CountryLife
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