Canterbury Farming, January 2020 by Canterbury Farming

30,287 copies distributed monthly – to every rural mailbox in Canterbury and the West Coast

January 2020 Edition

INSIDE Boots and all THIS EDITION Lincoln Uni rebuild

p3 Farm machinery

p13 Soil matters

p28 Summer envy

Prime Minster Jacinda arden was on hand to lend her support to a tree planting programme which was one of two sustainable projects she helped to launch at the Canterbury dairy company Synlait’s Dunsandel factory. In addition to helping with the launch of Whakapuawai, a Synlait initiative which will provide four million native trees for farmers to plant over the next eight years, she also opened the company’s first electrode boiler which will help Synlait reduce its dependency on coal. For more on her visit and the Whakapuawai programme see Page 25.

MPI crack down on raw drinking milk suppliers

The Ministry for Primary Industries has directed unregistered raw (unpasteurised) drinking milk suppliers across the country to stop selling their product until they comply with the legal requirements for sale.

❚ by Kent Caddick p31

In December Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) compliance staff executed search warrants at non-compliant raw drinking milk suppliers in Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Horowhenua, Nelson and Southland following a year-long operation.

MPI’s Manager of Food Compliance Melinda Sando said the purpose of the co-ordinated site visits was to gather evidence of the offending and to allow further investigation of non-compliant sales. “We believe that the suppliers we visited were operating outside of the regulatory framework.

“By not adhering to the rules for selling raw drinking milk, they are putting consumer health at risk. “There have been multiple instances in the past of people getting sick after drinking raw milk from some of these suppliers. We can’t let this continue.”

TO PAGE 2

January 2020

CANTERBURY FARMING

FARMING NEWS

Supplier tactics ‘not legal’ says MPI FROM PAGE 1 From March 2016, the sale of raw drinking milk was regulated under the Raw Milk for Sale to Consumers Regulations 2015, developed under the Animal Products Act 100 (APA). The regulations meant that farmers who sold raw drinking milk to consumers needed to register with MPI, follow hygiene rules when harvesting, bottling, storing and distributing the milk, frequently test their milk, and keep contact details for their customers so they can be contacted in case harmful bacteria is found in their milk. “Raw unpasteurised milk is a risky product as it hasn’t been heat treated (pasteurised) to remove illness causing bacteria including E. coli, listeria and campylobacter,” Sando said. “These types of bacteria most commonly cause severe diarrhoea and vomiting, but occasionally some have been linked with more serious complications that include miscarriage, paralysis, meningitis and serious kid-

‘

These tactics are a way of getting around the regulations and avoiding the costs associated with being compliant.

ney problems in children. Raw milk may also be a source of tuberculosis (Tb). However, she said MPI supports consumer choice. “We’re not saying people can’t drink raw unpasteurised milk. What we are saying is that when people do choose to drink raw unpasteurised milk, they’re able to make that choice with a degree of confidence that the milk they’re consuming is produced within the regulatory framework. “Purchasing from MPI registered suppliers who are being audited regularly to ensure they are managing risks and testing regularly helps consumers reduce the risks if they choose to drink this product.” Christchurch Office 03 377 2721 Sando said the suppliers in question have been using various tactics in an attempt ¡ Rural & Urban Subdivisions to continue selling their prod¡ Mapping/Survey Graphics uct including selling it as ¡ Cross Lease/Unit Surveys bath milk or pet milk. ¡ Resource Consents “These tactics are not le¡ Topo/Site Surveys gal in our view and are a way ¡ GPS Positioning of getting around the regulations and avoiding the costs ¡ Land Status Research associated with being comwww.resonant.co.nz pliant including food safe-

Surveyors - Planners

Crack down: The Ministry for Primary Industries has taken action against farmers who are not following new regulations when it comes to the sale of raw drinking milk. Photo: alexander Chaikin ty testing costs, registration costs and audit costs. “We make no apologies for holding to account, people who are breaching the regulations. “The rules exist for a reason – to protect human health.”

She said all suppliers were able to take par t in the consultation process around the introduction of new raw drinking milk regulations which came into effect in March 2016. “They knew what the rules were designed to do and why they were brought into effect.”

FARMING NEWS

CANTERBURY FARMING January 2020

Government to assist with Lincoln University rebuild The Government has approved $80 million to help Lincoln University rebuild its earthquake-damaged science facilities.

❚❚by Kent Caddick The funding was announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins. “The funding will assist Lincoln’s recovery by replacing damaged buildings with teaching and research spaces that are safe, modern, flexible and future-proofed, and which are attractive to students, staff, and research and investment partners,” Hipkins said. “At the same time Lincoln will be modernising the way it teaches, undertakes research, and partners with other agencies.” As previously approved by the Minister of Research, Science and Innovation, Crown Research Institute AgResearch will build complementary research facilities on the same site. “The arrangement will enable greater collaboration between students, researchers and commercial partners and make the Lincoln precinct a real power-house of science and research, with an ability to tackle some of the biggest challenges and sustainability issues facing the land-based sector,” Hipkins said. “This announcement is another sign of this government’s commitment to New Zealand’s agri-tech industry. “Together these innovations will benefit not just Lincoln and its community but the country as a whole. “We’re providing a greater return on research and development through improving

Rebuild: The Government will contribute $80 million to repair earthquake-damaged science facilities at Lincoln Universiry.

connections with industry, and an increase in the number of land-based sector graduates – something which is sorely needed. “It will drive continued improvements to the sector’s global competitiveness.”

The funding follows a revised business case received from Lincoln and will be released in stages over the next five years as various phases of the rebuilding are completed.

A Programme Governance Oversight Group, with an independent chair and senior representatives from Lincoln University and the Crown, will be set up to oversee the work and ensure strong accountability for funding.

January 2020

CANTERBURY FARMING

Damien O’Connor ❚ by for Agriculture, Biosecurity, ❚ Minister Food Safety and Rural Communities ❚

FARMING NEWS

A vision to unite the primary sector

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as 2019 was a challenging one and I hope you had the chance to catch-up and rest with friends and family. As I write this, the Primary Sector Council’s vision for the future of the agriculture, food and fibres sector has just been announced. It envisions New Zealand as a world-leader in modern regenerative production systems that are Fit for a Better World. It is a vision to unite the primary sector which is based around the Maori concept of Taiao – putting the health of the climate, land, water and living systems first. It provides a uniquely New Zealand way to shape the future. The world is changing and, if it’s to continue to thrive, the primary sector needs to change with it. Now is the time to figure out how we unite around a common goal and move forward together. It’s vital that we have a shared vision. It will help us answer the question of why we’re doing what we’re doing and who we’re doing it for. The international consumers who buy our world-class products increasingly want to know the story behind their food. They want to know its climate friendly and sustainably produced, with high animal welfare standards and by a workforce that’s

RANGER

treated with respect and paid fairly. Our farmers and growers have been seeking clear leadership and more guidance about what needs to change to meet some of the greatest challenges the sector has ever faced. The Council’s vision captures the spirit of the challenges we face, and how we will go about facing them. Our primary sector has been at the heart of our economy, our rural communities and our national identity for generations and will remain so for many generations to come. This Government is extremely proud of them and we’re backing our farmers and growers for the long-term. The $229 million sustainable land use package is being used to boost farm extension and advisory services. We’re also working with and for farmers as shown by our recent agreement on agricultural emissions, our just released skills work plan developed with the sector to attract the workers it needs, our efforts to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis and our suppor t of farm catchment groups to build on

what they’re doing to improve water quality. The recently passed Farm Debt Mediation and NAIT Bills aim to provide a safety net for farmers against financial problems and biosecurity outbreaks and we’re supporting farmer wellbeing by more than doubling funding for the Rural Support Trust. Rural communities have been front on mind in the development and roll out of frontline mental health services.

We’ve also progressed trade deals that open up the world’s largest economies to our primary exports. We’re not just talking about supporting our farmers to succeed – we’re doing it. There are plenty of challenges ahead in the coming year, but I think we’re in a good position to meet them together and grow the value we get from our wonderful food and fibre products.

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FARMING NEWS

CANTERBURY FARMING

January 2020

Promising signs for drive for milling wheat self-sufﬁciency Continuing strong demand for milling wheat is one of the findings of a recent Arable Industry Marketing Initiative survey.

❚ by Kent Caddick The AIMI survey revealed another positive sign, a big drop in the amount of unsold cereal. It is estimated unsold stocks of cereal grain, summed over all six crops, reduced by 44% between July and October. “That’s a good sign, even if deliveries hadn’t happened by the time of the October survey, that people have been meeting the market and getting product sold,” Federated Farmers Arable vice-chairperson Brian Leadley said. Total production from the 2019 harvest (wheat, barley and oats) was 799,900 tonnes, about 25,000t up on the 2018 harvest. Leadley said while unsold stocks across the six crops were up by 95% (or 52,700 tonnes) compared to October last year, people shouldn’t read too much into that. “This time last year there was very little left about,” he said. “When you look at it on a five to 10-year rolling average, stocks still on hand from the 2019 harvest, are not that massive. “There’s a bit of concern about the feed

barley market, which is a bit flat at the moment. We’d like to see that move a bit.” Overall, Leadley described the situation as stable. “Prices aren’t bad but not a lot moved. It reflects the mood in agriculture, I think. Feed grains are being bought when it’s actually needed rather than being bought and stockpiled or bought in preparation.” He said milling wheat options have been taken up, with the mills responding well to calls from Federated Farmers and others in the industry to put out forward contracts early to send the right signals. “It’s given some confidence to growers.” The area sown plus intended to be sown in wheat, barley or oats, as at October 10, was estimated to be 5% down (5,300ha) on the area harvested in 2018. Over the two year period, Feed barley area was down 18%, feed wheat area was largely unchanged (down 2%) but milling wheat was up 27% and malted barley was up 16%. “When there’s lesser demand for feed grains, the lift for milling wheat fits in well. It also has a bigger window for planting. For good yields of feed wheats they have to be

planted early whereas with some of the milling varieties you can get them in a bit later. “That can work with the farming rotation. A lot of arable farmers have a livestock grazing system within their operation, and with good returns for red meat in particular, it

supports that later planting possible with milling varieties.” Leadley said, on the whole, the trend is promising for the drive by the Arable Food Industry Council for New Zealand to be self-sufficient in milling wheat by 2025.

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ADVERTORIAL

January 2020 CANTERBURY FARMING

BACK

NECK PAIN?

Then try a Teeter WHY INVERSION?

Because in most cases it works! Inversion Therapy is the oldest recorded medical cure for back issues, first recorded by Hippocrates in 400 BC, otherwise known as spinal traction. Traction was used by modern hospitals for many years however because it is a slow process and ties up hospital beds for many weeks, they recently stopped using the treatment. Inversion Therapy is gentle and relaxing if done properly and has many other benefits apart from relieving back pain, it helps realign the spine and pelvic area, loosens up tight muscles, increases oxygen to the brain, stimulates circulation and the lymphatic system and has many other benefits.

Inversion helps to: • Relieve Back Pain • Relieve Neck Pain • Relieve Muscle Tension • Stimulate Blood And Lymph Flow • Improve Posture • Increase Flexability

Inversion NZ have been teaching people how to use this treatment for over twelve years, it is an amazing process with most people getting off the Teeter pain free for the first time in years or with their pain substantially reduced. The relief usually lasts around 30 minutes to three hours and as the pain returns you use the machine again, after using this method of treatment, in a few weeks the relief increases, which is the discs starting to retain more fluid, muscles starting to loosen up and the body coming back into alignment. In our experience most people are pain free in around three months, then the Teeter is used daily to maintain the health of the body.

WHY TEETER?

Frank Harwood (84 at time of picture) using his Teeter, Frank’s been Inverting for over eleven years and has found it keeps him young

The biggest issue with inversion tables is there is no safety standards that need to be met. Because of this, other brands use mild steel for 100% of the metal involved. Mild steel is great for static loads, in other words things that don’t move such as chairs, tables etc, however with Inversion Therapy there is considerable movement and this movement causes mild steel to flex. Because it always flexes in the same place it eventually causes metal fatigue and can result in failure. All Teeters are manufactured for extreme safety. Heat treated high tensile steel has been used in all areas subjected to stress. High tensile steel is far stronger and most importantly does not flex. This means Teeters are the strongest and safest tables on the market today.

IT IS PURE LOGIC AS TO HOW THE TEETER TABLE WORKS

Discs:

It uses gravity to apply traction, the traction gently opens the discs and as they open up they create suction, this suction draws fluid from the surrounding tissue back into the discs, re-hydrating them. This is the key! Discs do not have their own blood supply, they rely on trans fer of fluid from the surrounding tissue to keep them healthy and hydrated and over the years as discs get thinner with age, they lose the ability to take on fluid (just like squeezing a sponge) and they start to de-hydrate.

Posture: Poor

posture is one of the major cases of pain and is a major contributor to the deterioration of the body with age. A difference in leg length causes most of the hip and knee issues, as they continue to place uneven loads on the joints; similar to the wheels out of alignment on your car. Trying to correct posture is extremely difficult due to muscle memory, as it constantly pulls the muscles back to where they were. At a level of 40 degrees or more on the Teeter, the muscle groups open up and eventually come back into alignment, using the table daily, does not allow the muscle memory to pull them back out of alignment and slowly the muscles start to lose their memory and go with the flow, allowing the body to come back into correct posture. Then using the table once a day will ensure it is kept there.

De-Hydrated discs are less flexible, they are harder, more prone to injury, they interfere with nerve roots creating pain and ultimately the de-hydration causes degen eration. The Teeter Inversion table slowly and gently brings the hydration back into the discs, plumping them up. It separates the nerve roots far more effectively and This is pure logic, if a machine is out of returns quality of life

Muscles: A lot of pain is muscular, when

muscles are stressed they become tight which restricts the flow of blood and lymph through the muscles so toxins build up, Co2 and Lactic Acid. Traction opens up the muscles, Rhythmic Traction, is a gentle rocking motion that stimulates circulation and encourages blood flow through the muscles, which clears the lactic acid into your lymph system where it stimulates lymph flow and deals with it. Most people with serious neck issues see a large improvement after only one treatment.

ROLLESTON

alignment it does not last long, the only difference between the body and a machine is that the body is constantly repairing itself, however if the wear and tear on the body is greater than the body’s ability to repair itself, it is a slow decline. The Teeter slowly brings the body out of its decline and allows the body to repair itself, resulting in a far healthier life.

If you are serious about investing in your health and really sorting your issues out, come see us at one of our local roadshows, you have nothing to lose and chances are, a lot to gain.

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CANTERBURY FARMING

FARMING NEWS

January 2020

Dairy intensiﬁcation – can we do more with less?

As the Chair of Environment Canterbury, I would like to use this column to engage with you and other people living or working in Canterbury. I would love to hear your views and ideas.

Jenny Hughey ❚ by ❚ Environment Canterbury

Earlier this year a media article reported me as saying cow numbers on the Canterbury Plains had to be reduced 25% and that Lincoln dairy farm and other research has proven this to be possible over time. There was, however, no other explanation and this column is a good opportunity to put

some context around the report. There’s little argument that dairying is a hot topic in New Zealand, with environmental groups on one side attacking the industry for poor practices and environmental damage, while DairyNZ and other farmer groups say dairying has made huge strides in recent years not only to protect the environment, but also in beginning to turn around the damage caused by many decades of increasing intensification of farming. Some people point to these conflicts as evidence of a deep rural-urban divide in New Zealand, which I addressed as nonsense in my previous column. The issue isn’t just about nutrient pollution (N and P), sediment and bacterial contamination of our waterways, it also includes the very sensitive subject of greenhouse gas emissions and how the recommendations of the Interim Climate Change Committee will be implemented and how they will affect farmers.

While a call to reduce cow numbers might seem a simplistic response to the farming community, it would have an immediate effect on greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. There is also a lot of evidence that dairy farmers can maintain production and profitability while cutting nitrate emissions. Work at the Lincoln University dairy farm by adopting a low-input pasture-first model which resulted in the same level of production from fewer cows, and a significant reduction in the farm’s nitrate leaching. Research at other model farms in Canterbury has shown production can be maintained while achieving a reduction in nitrate leaching of nearly half. The work to achieve such results has been incremental over many years and the message from farmers leading such programmes is to get started and to make the improvements before you need to.

In the long-run that will be a lot easier than having to try to make significant shortterm reductions because of regulations. This on-farm research to reduce nitrate leaching began with improved irrigation efficiency and management, followed by better effluent management and water use efficiency. A reduction in N fertiliser rates was trialled (both amount and frequency) without affecting pasture growth rates. High N feed supplements were replaced with low N options as well as a catch-crop of oats to mop up residual N. Plantain was also introduced, initially to just a couple of paddocks, which helps reduce the N concentration in urine. It is my view that the science is telling us that to protect our environment for the future we need to reduce both greenhouse gases and nutrient pollution. I am interested in hearing your views – please email me at Councillor.Hughey@ecan.govt.nz.

Last year was a big year for farmers You’ve dealt with a huge amount of adversity whether it be ﬂooding in November, the continuing Mycoplasma Bovis response, and a lack of support from a Government who many will feel is working against them rather than with them.

❚ by Todd Muller I have a tremendous amount of respect for the fortitude of farmers who go out and work hard day after day despite these many challenges. The Government’s proposals in 2019 have been damaging farmers’ confidence and are continuing to fuel uncertainty. They’ve put up with the Tax Working Group report and the un-

certainty of the Capital Gains Tax campaign – which included proposals for a water tax, nitrogen tax and fertiliser tax, good pastoral farm land being converted to forestry due to what is effectively subsidisation, and now the freshwater proposals and cynical consultation process surrounding them. The most prominent current policy concern for farmers is the Government’s freshwater proposals, which have just received tens of thousands of submissions. There has been a serious lack of concrete data and answers from the Government on these proposals and farmers deserve better. Most concerning is the fact that the Government failed to even analyse how much these changes would cost farmers, leaving stakeholder groups to do the work for them and highlight the potentially crippling costs. Damien O’Connor didn’t even bother to ask his officials for any advice on this important metric.

In the summer months we’re also reminded of the importance of water storage, and sadly how little work this Government has done in this area. The Coalition Government disbanded Crown Irrigation Ltd and with it any established form of Government support for water storage. Done well, water storage delivers on environmental, social and economic factors equally. The Waimea water scheme is a great example of this as it is delivering clear environmental benefits, such as increased river flows, improvement to the local drinking water supply, and is helping businesses flourish and boosting the local economy. National recognises water’s role as one of our key strategic assets going forward, and has proposed the establishment of a Water Infrastructure Fund in our Pri-

mary Sector Discussion Document. I’m confident that thanks to our farmers we will continue to be the most sustainable producer of food in the world. And it’s important that we keep pushing the stories that show just how important the primary sector is in 2020. I look for ward to announcing National’s comprehensive primar y industries policy in 2020, which will aim to give farmers the tools to farm their way to better outcomes, not drown them in regulations and taxes.

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January 2020

CANTERBURY FARMING

andrew Wyllie ❚ with ❚ Forsyth Barr

RURAL PROFESSIONALS

The consumer is king The past quarter saw a substantial improvement in financial market sentiment.

er and business data has proved resilient in the face of trade tensions and other geopolitical risks. In New Zealand, stronger data has included a better than expected bounce in retail sales which, when combined with continued strength in our commodity prices, has led to our terms of trade (the price New Zealand receives for its exports compared to the price it pays for imports boosting the country’s earnings) hovering around record highs. This has also resulted in a surprisingly strong rebound in business confidence. Underpinning the improved global economic outlook has been the strength When you are thinking about your of households (or consuminvestment options, talk to Forsyth Barr ers). To get personalised investment advice and Central Banks remain portfolio management specific to your investing committed to maintaining needs, talk to Investment Adviser Andrew Wyllie short-term interest rates near historic low levels. Low in confidence on (03) 365 4244 or email rates reduce the borrowing andrew.wyllie@forsythbarr.co.nz and debt servicing costs of consumers. Disclosure Statements Additionally, higher asset for Forsyth Barr Authorised Financial prices (including houses and Advisers are available on equities) have created a posrequest and free of charge. itive “wealth effect”, boosting consumer sentiment.

At the start of the period recessionary risks were being constantly highlighted, however by the end of November, these concerns were regarded as over-blown. The consensus view is now that the global economic backdrop will improve through 2020. Sentiment has improved as consum-

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Lower rates have stimulated a pick-up in housing activity in most developed markets, including in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. This should flow through to improved consumer spending during the first half of 2020. Companies are also heartened by low rates and an improving economic outlook Another consequence of low interest rates and greater confidence in the economic outlook has been a sharp resurgence in corporate merger and acquisition (M&A) activity. In November, on what’s been labelled “Merger Monday”, US$60 billion worth of deals were announced on one day. Deals included brokerage Charles Schwab agreeing to buy rival TD Ameritrade and France’s LVMH (the world’s largest luxury goods company) acquiring jewellery company Tiffany & Co. LMVH is reportedly funding its acquisition of Tiffany & Co with a bond issue paying less than 1% interest. Closer to home, in Australia, Canadabased convenience retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard made a bid for Caltex. In New Zealand in recent weeks we have seen Abano Healthcare’s Board agree to a takeover offer, and Metlifecare announcing that it has received an “expression of interest... to acquire the company”. We expect M&A will continue to be a theme of markets in 2020. Investors have been rewarded for sticking to basics

The past quarter highlights how quickly the winds of economic sentiment can shift, and how nerve-racking markets can be for investors who focus on the daily geo-political and economic noise the media creates. Investors who have stuck to core disciplines of a long-term focus and a diversified portfolio have been rewarded with the “market risk premium”, which means that higher long-term returns will compensate investors for bearing additional investment risk. Whilst we don’t expect medium-term returns to continue to match those we’ve seen year-to-date, the returns we have seen do highlight the benefit of sticking to investing basics. This report covers the three months ended 30 nov 2019. If you’re new to investing please see Forsyth Barr’s Introduction to Investing guide available at www.forsythbarr.co.nz/investing-with-us/ new-to-investing or to discuss your investment options please contact andrew Wyllie, an authorised Financial adviser with Forsyth Barr in Christchurch. He can be contacted regarding portfolio management, fixed interest, or share investments on 0800 367 227 or andrew.wyllie@forsythbarr.co.nz. This column is general in nature and should not be regarded as personalised investment advice. Disclosure Statements are available for Forsyth Barr authorised Financial advisers on request and free of charge.

CANTERBURY FARMING

RURAL PROFESSIONALS

January 2020

The Property (Relationships) Act Review

Bessie Paterson LLB ❚ with Ronald ❚ W Angland & Son

When the coalition Government was installed after the last election, promises were made to review many of our institutions and the law relating to them. True to its promise the government instigated a review of the Property (Relationships) Act to ensure that its provisions are functional and provide a satisfactory formula for the division of relationship property when a relationship ends whether by separation or the death of one partner. The legislation first passed into law in 1976 when a limited equal-sharing arrangement applied to the property of all marriages. Later it was extended to include de facto relationships and it now covers nearly all types of relationship. It reflects how radical social change has developed in NZ in the past 40 years. I was asked the other day what happened in NZ before 1976 if a relationship ended. In telling the story of life before relationship property I felt as though I was talking about the dark ages when recounting the business and domestic power structure of those times. The Law Commission which undertook the review made 140 recommendations for change to the legislation which they concluded was not fit for purpose in the 21st centu-

ry. Some of the recommendations were quite radical and if they are eventually included in a new statute they impose significant changes to a division of relationship property. One of the major recommendations will be changing the classification of the family home. Presently, and for the foreseeable future, the family home will always be relationship property and generally divided equally. The recommendation was that where one partner owned the home prior to the relationship only the increase in value after the relationship commenced would be shared equally. Other recommendations include simplifying the eligibility for equal sharing, family income sharing arrangements, giving the Courts more powers to divide trust property where the property has been a project produced by the relationship, and giving children’s interests greater priority especially to remain in the family home after separation (if one partner remains there). There are many more. Currently the death of one partner provides the surviving partner with two options.

They can either elect to apply to the Court for a division of relationship property if they have not been treated fairly by the deceased partner’s will (they may also have claims under the Family Protection Act), or they can elect to accept the entitlements they have been left under their partner’s will. The review recommended that the Government undertake a review of the laws of succession and the law relating to succession when a relationship ends by the death of one partner be included in that review. We therefore need to wait for a further report before the Government will be considering changes to our relationship property law.

‘

In telling the story of

life before the Property (relationships) act 1976 I felt as though I was talking about the dark ages.

Ronald W. Angland & Son

This article has been prepared by Bessie Paterson, a Partner at ronald W angland & Son, Solicitors, 2 Chapman Street, Leeston.

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Power Farming Canterbury

January 2020

CANTERBURY FARMING

❚ with rob Cope-Williams

❚ with John arts

Warm Bloods: the Benefits of a Multioverlooked industry nutritional formula Canterbury breeds some of the best warmbloods in the world, but few seem to acknowledge the success of the industry. While the media focusses on the Yearling sales up north and are quite often totally overlooking the local racehorse sales, their awareness of the warm bloods seems to be zero. Sure, whenever Sir Mark Todd talked about whatever mount he was winning on, there seems to be very little, if any, mention of our breeders. I see that Sue Fowler has brought her Astek stud back to Canterbury, and in my view, she is a case in point. Sue has an amazing line up of stallions and has probably forgotten more than most people could learn about breeding and stud management. Sue is also a great support person for up and coming riders who need a good horse under them as they rise through the ranks. Despite that, there’s no general publicity about her or others who are working hard in the breeding and supporting roles. What I would like to see happen is an academy like the Motorsport NZ has; They take the most promising drivers into a course that tests them to the limit behind the wheel of cars, but most importantly they teach them media skills as well as fitness and diet requirements. These young people are now all over the

world doing very well on the international scene taking New Zealand with them. The drivers are taught how to approach sponsors and more importantly, how to ensure sponsors get their money worth from the investment. Hence, we gave names such as Hartley, Bamber, Armstrong, Lawson and several others getting worldwide attention and being able to handle it. Sure, the local media doesn’t give much, if any, coverage of local motor racing but overseas the focus is huge. The same can be said for equine sports. The other aspect that seriously needs to be looked at is the funding of young riders. Breeders can’t be expected to breed and provide youngsters top line mounts despite the talent they show, that must be up to the industry in general as it is in motorsport. Whatever happened to the idea of an organisation that could take promising riders under its wing and back them financially by raising funds and administrating scholarships? Let’s take another look at it and acknowledge the work the breeders are doing for the industry plus open the door for the youngsters who can and will take New Zealand to the top in a blaze of glory.

Part 2: antioxidants

Last edition we looked at what you should expect from a good multi-nutritional formula. I made the comment that often farmers and vets have a better understanding about minerals and soil and animal health than many human health professionals. I know of no other supplement to have such profound long term benefits as a well formulated multi-nutritional. The best products use top quality USA sourced ingredients and include these in meaningful amounts. Antioxidants are compounds found in food, or made in the body that have the ability to donate electrons to unbalanced free radicals. Antioxidants have extra electrons that they donate thus preventing the chain of destruction caused by free radicals. Antioxidants protect the structures that make up cells from unwanted and premature damage. As discussed in Part 1, the most important antioxidants are those made in our body from trace minerals. Some vitamins are also antioxidants. The most obvious are water soluble vitamin C and fat soluble vitamins E and A. I prefer beta carotene than straight vitamin A as the body then changes this to vitamin A as needed. The most potent food sourced antioxidants belong to a group of food chemicals called phytochemicals. These are biologi-

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cally active food compounds have significant antioxidant activity. In terms of therapeutic qualities the grape seed sourced proanthocyanidins (abbreviated to OPC) have the most profound effect. There are many OPC’s on the market. Many are extracted with solvents. My preferred one is the US made, naturally extracted ActiVin®. A good multi should have all the main antioxidant groups and include the trace minerals especially selenium, zinc, iron, copper and manganese and the vitamin antioxidants as vitamins A (from beta carotene) and vitamins C and E. It should then have all the main phytochemical groups especially OPC, bilberry, green tea, hesperidin, lutein and lycopene. Try this for 3 months and you will notice the difference. John arts (B.Soc.Sci, Dip Tch, adv.Dip.nut.Med) is a nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of abundant Health Ltd. For questions or advice contact John on 0800 423559 or email john@ abundant.co.nz. Join his all new newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz.

CANTERBURY FARMING

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CANTERBURY FARMING January 2020

Looking after your tractor for a long life Tractors are essential pieces of farm equipment, and with the right maintenance they can run for years with very little trouble.

❚❚by Kent Caddick

might want to add a few more pounds of air. Tyres lose pressure more quickly when temperatures change from cold to hot, so you may want to check your tyre pressure more frequently in the Spring and Autumn.

Because there are so many different kinds of tractors with specific applications, maintenance may vary greatly from tractor to tractor. However, there are certain universal things you can do to help guarantee a long and useful life for your tractor, and carrying out regular inspections is a key.

Inspect the belts and hoses Just like in a car, a tractor’s engine relies on a number of rubber hoses and usually at least one belt. Look all the rubber components over for signs of wear or damage. Excessively worn rubber components should all be replaced. Look for grazing on the sides and bottom of any belts that may indicate that it’s been slipping. Any rubber that has cracked should be replaced.

Familiarize yourself with your tractor’s manual There are many different types of tractors on the market with a wide variety of applications and associated accessories. To be sure you properly maintain your specific make and model of tractor, you should read through the manual that came with it. Many tractors require specific types of lubricants and hydraulic fluids that you can identify in the manual. If you do not have a manual for your tractor, you may be able to find the information on the manufacturer’s website.

Give the tractor a visual inspection Before you get started with any planned maintenance on your tractor, give the whole thing a good once over to see if anything looks overly worn, broken, or dirty. Many newer model tractors even have plastic windows on fluid reservoirs to check things like hydraulic fluid levels.

Replace the air filter as needed

Check list: Even if your tractor is not as big and new as Sam Whitelock’s, regular maintenance will extend its life.

Give your tractor a visual inspection before and after each use Make note of any issues you identify to make sure you address them before the next time you use the tractor.

Do a tyre pressure check Tractor tyres can last years, but operating a tractor with under-inflated tyres can ruin the sidewall and cause the tyres to wear faster

than they should. Under-inflated tyres will also cause the tractor to burn more fuel in normal operations. You may want to adjust tyre pressure for different types of jobs. For instance, if you plan on driving your tractor on the road, you

Depending on the environment you use your tractor in, you may need to change your air filter more or less frequently. Locate the air filter using the tractor’s user manual, then visually inspect it. If it’s really dirty, it should be replaced. There’s no real rule of thumb with air filters; they should just be replaced as they appear dirty. You should check your air filter after eight hours of use or so.

January 2020 ING 14 NEWS

CANTERBURY FARMING

December 2019

nister’s Scholarship ln Uni Young Farmer

hat speagri-

ate ac, to rm-

king uth-

estone . ery

Helping to buy crush protection devices for quad bikes If you’re self-employed or own a small to medium business in the agriculture sectors with the highest quad bike injury rates, you might be eligible for a workplace injury prevention subsidy to help pay for a crush protection device (CPD) for quad bikes at work.

❚❚Article supplied by ACC

Every year quad bikes are a major cause of death and serious injury in rural workplaces with many incidents associated with accidental rollovers. On average each year five people die, and we receive over 1,000 claims for work-related quad bikes accidents, costing $12 million. A new policy clarification from WorkSafe was issued in June 2019, strongly recommending that crush protection devices (CPgood at business so I’m pretty keen to learn Ds) are installed onoperates.” all quad bikes used for more about how that work. Exploring different enterprises and import WorkSafe to deand We’ve export collaborated ideas is also with something he hopes a workplace subsidy tosign bring home and injury furtherprevention his passion for ag-to help rural business buy CPDs. ribusiness. CPDs canhehelp reduce the just risk of However, said it’s not theinjury busi-or death to you or your staffexcited when they’re ness side of the trip he’s about. riding a “I quad lovebike. Asian food so I’m looking forward A CPD can be fitted a quad proto the cuisine side of ittoand thenbike to to learn vide their a survivable space should a rider be about unique culture.” pinned underneathSouthland it. The Western boy originalWe’ll Tuatapere help you to grew have aup healthier safly from on a and sheep er workplace by contributing to thetocost of up and beef farm before heading boardto school two CPDs per business ing in Invercargill at(including Southlandself-emBoys ployed). High School.

Safety first: Crush protection devices on quad bikes will help save lives according to WorkSafe and ACC has subsidies for famers needing one.

Gill served as the chair of the Lincoln University Young Farmers Club for 2019 and is a Tasman Regional Finalist in the FMG Young Farmer of the Year contest. It was his first time competing at district finals and says he was surprised to make it We’ll send each business a certificate to through. acknowledge participation commit“I was neveryour expecting to get and through to ment to improving workplace safety. regionals at all, I was just going to do nonThe subsidy is $180 per till CPD with competitive and Ioffer was going to wait I was maximum two CPD purchases per busiaabit older to of give the FMG Young Farmer of ness (including the Year contest aself-employed). good crack but here I am,” There are two CPDs currently on the marhe said. ket andfinal are inelHethat will WorkSafe compete recommends at the regional igible next for the subsidy, and March against eight the otherLifeGuard contestants Quadbar. hoping to make it to the Grand Final.

How to apply

These CPDs have been well tested and are designed to withstand the forces of a quad rollover, to the extent that the operator has a greater probability of escaping serious harm from crushing, and can do so with limited effect on the operation of the vehicle itself. If WorkSafe changes their recommendations to include new CPDs in the future, we will update the list of eligible CPDs.

To apply for the workplace injury prevention subsidy, you must be self-employed or own a small to medium business (0-99 employees) in the following sub-sectors: • Sheep and beef cattle farming (CU code 1230) • Sheep farming (CU code 1240) • Beef cattle farming (CU code 1250) • Dairy cattle farming (CU code 1300) • Livestock farming (not elsewhere classified) (CU code 1590) • Hunting and trapping (CU code 2200)

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January 2020

Agrifac releases new range of self-propelled sprayers A new generation of Condor self-propelled sprayers is rolling off the production line at Agrifac Machinery in the Netherlands. tested Condor concept can also be used Article supplied by in specific circumstances and the most diAgrifac Machinery

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The design has been updated, in line with the new Condor Endurance. Another major update is the stage V motor. Ever since its introduction, the Agrifac Condor stands for stability, precision and innovation. The unparalleled StabiloPlus chassis ensures the most stable field sprayer in the world, the GreenFlowPlus ensures that there is continuous pressure so that there is no difference in spraying and no residual liquid in the tank. The EcoTronicPlus control system is known as simple and understandable, so that operation is easy in an extremely comfortable self-propelled sprayer. With versions that give a wider track width (WideTrackPlus) and higher ground clearance (ClearancePlus), the tried and

verse crops. In addition to various possible options and versions, the Condor is also NEED Farming-ready, which means that the Condor is ready to spray on plant level, with Agrifac innovations such as AiCPlus (location-specific spraying thanks to camera technology) and DynamicDosePlus (individual dosage per nozzle). The Condor V offers all these well-known and new benefits in a new design, making the Condor V look more like its big brother, the Red Dot Design winning Condor Endurance. In addition, a number of improvements have been made, of course in line with the company’s “4e for growers” concept. First of all, a Stage V engine (efficiency, ecology) is chosen so that the strictest

Work in comfort: The EcoTronicPlus control system on the Condor V is simple and understandable making operation easy in an extremely comfortable self-propelled sprayer.

emission standard can be met, standard LED lighting (economy, ergonomy) which ensures a better view at night, an improved driveline (efficiency, economy) which offers

an even better reliability. In addition, there have been a lot of small improvements that further improve convenience and use.

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CANTERBURY FARMING

A knife edge so sharp it’s scary For most farmers, fishermen and hunters having a sharp knife is one of the most important tools of the trade. supplied by ❚ Article Hawera Rewinds ❚ Various tools and machines are available to put an edge back on a blade but one the most effective ways to keep a knife sharp is by regularly honing it on a wet or oil stone. The key to using a stone effectively is to maintain a constant angle as you hone the blade. This is difficult, almost impossible, to achieve manually, which is why most knives are never as sharp as they could be. That has now all changed following the invention of the Scary Sharp constant angle sharpening system by innovative Kiwi Geoff Furborough. Geoff, a keen hunter, has an obvious need for super sharp knives and applied his mechanical and engineering skills to come up with a simple yet highly effective way to maintain a constant angle when sharpening blades. He grew up on a dairy farm in the King Country in the 1950s and often watched his father prepare the homekill. “Saturday afternoon we always milked early as after milking Dad killed a sheep to provide the next week’s meat,” Geoff says. “So Friday night the two knives were sharpened, one for the throat cutting and one for the skinning. No TV and no pressure

First a blade is held in place by the rotating clamp.

The stone carrier rests against the upright of the Precision Series Frame. The indexed frame gives three angle options.

on the time to carry out the basics of providing the weekly meat supply, but the rules on the sharpened knives were very strict. ‘You kids are to never touch those knives’ Dad would say.” Like many clever devices, the Scary Sharp tool is based on a fairly simple concept. The original system is basically a stainless steel frame with a sharpening stone set at a desired pre-set angle to suit the knife edge. A machined nylon block supplied with the kit can alter the angle of the stone for final honing of the cutting edge. “The original system got us started but has a disadvantage in that the user has to

rely on eyeball accuracy as the knife needs to clamped and then re-clamped to sharpen the second side,” Geoff says. The Precision Series sharpening system has eliminated this problem as the knife is clamped once in a robust knife carrier, which can be set at three different angles, and the entire carrier is rotated thus eliminating the need to remove the knife before achieving the desired level of sharpness. Both models are available and are designed to fit in a vice or to be bolted or screwed to the edge of workbench. Operation is simple, meaning even unskilled users can create a perfect edge to their knives

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Satisfied owners of the Scary Sharp system are now suggesting the process of turning a blunt knife into a terrifyingly sharp item has definite therapeutic qualities. “Several farmers now have on their list of jobs for wet days – to sharpen the farm knives and the household knives,” Geoff says. Scary Sharp is manufactured by Hawera Rewinds Limited, a small North Island business involved in the electric motor industry with some engineering manufacturing capabilities. For more on the Scary Sharp system, go to www.scarysharp.co.nz

CANTERBURY FARMING

January 2020

Always safety ﬁrst with a chainsaw The chainsaw is an indispensable labour saving aid used by thousands of New Zealand farmers, firewood gatherers and other non-vocational users.

❚ Article supplied by WorkSafe

It makes light work of felling and cutting up trees, but a chainsaw deserves to be treated with respect. Carelessly used, inadequately maintained or incorrectly equipped, a chainsaw can be a lethal weapon. If you have just bought a chainsaw, you should read the manufacturer’s instruction manual carefully and familiarise yourself with your chainsaw’s operation. If you have not used a chainsaw before, practice the cutting techniques on a stump or log before you attempt more serious work. If you use your chainsaw sensibly, follow correct techniques and maintain your saw to the manufacturer’s instructions, it will provide you with safe and trouble-free service. If you’re a chainsaw novice, it’s an excellent idea to get training from a qualified person. This way you learn by hands-on experience and avoid developing unsafe habits right from the start. Your chainsaw dealer may be able to provide this instruction or put you in contact with a qualified instructor.

Work area safety It’s important to check the work area for hazards before you start felling or cutting. Don’t do anything that will harm another person in any place where you are using your chainsaw (this includes harm to yourself). • Check that there are no people or animals in the work area. • Do not work in adverse weather conditions such as heavy rain, snow or high winds.

Safety first: Carelessly used, inadequately maintained or incorrectly equipped, a chainsaw can be a lethal weapon.

• Always ensure you have a clear work area where you have a stable footing and do not have to reach or work off balance. • Make your way carefully on uneven or sloping ground. • Shut the chainsaw off before carrying it. Carry it by the front handle with the bar to the rear – not on your shoulders.

If you are felling trees • Make sure other people are at least two tree lengths away. • Always have an escape route planned

and cleared to the side and rear. • Check for hazards in the area – such as electricity or telecommunication cables. If in doubt, seek advice from the controlling authority. • Always check for any material such as branches or tops which may dislodge and fall into the work area as the tree falls.

General chainsaw maintenance Finally, keep your chainsaw clean and well maintained. Not only will it be safer to use, but it will also prolong the chainsaw’s life.

Regularly: • Clean your chainsaw, particularly the air filter cooling inlets, sprocket cover and chain brake mechanism. • Clean the guide bar groove and oil holes. • Check the guide bar for straightness, burring and wear of the rails. • Turn the guide bar regularly to ensure even wear. • Check the sprocket and chain for wear. • Check the chain for cracked rivets or side links. • Check all nuts, bolts and screws for correct tension.

January 2020 CANTERBURY FARMING

Guide to mulching and mulchers This guide outlines the uses for mulchers, benefits of topping with a mulcher, how to pick the correct mulcher for your situation and crucial features that a good mulcher must have.

Gerry Hamlin ❚❚by ❚❚Agriline Farm Machinery

Mulchers are a great multi-purpose tool on any farm so long as you get the right one for the job. They can be used for clearing Gorse, Broom, Matagouri, Teatree, Rice Grass, Tussock, Rushes, Thistles, and most other vegetation and small trees. There are some very distinct advantages of clearing with a mulcher. If you spray the vegetation it can often take years to break down before the land can become effective again and by that stage there is often more of the rouge vegetation coming away. Root-raking will give you a pile of unwanted trash that you have to deal with and will disturb the soil and you may have to cultivate before replanting. With a mulcher, the vegetation is mulched very fine and will break down quickly so you can over-sow almost straight away with brilliant results. A mulcher is the ideal machine for topping your pasture. Other topping machines tend to cut the grass and lie it over intact making it very hard for the elements to break it down this is made even worse when there are thistles and other weeds. A mulcher will cut the grass and weeds very fine allowing it to break down faster putting nutrients back into the soil and boosting regrowth. The fungus that causes facial eczema lives in the dry plant stems so mulching

these up reduce the risk. Mulchers will also spread out animal waste and reduce the sour patches of grass. Mulchers are very robust and low maintenance compared to a lot of other topping machines. Mulchers are the ideal machine to deal with crop residue, they will mulch it up finely to allow you to cultivate easily. Mulching the stubble reduces the blocking of cultivation equipment and allows stubble to break down when buried, if stubble is buried un-mulched it can use up the nitrogen in the soil.

Top job: A mulcher is the ideal machine for topping your pasture. Photo courtesy of Agriline

Choosing the right mulcher • Width: Ensure you get the right width for your tractor. You need the mulcher to be narrow enough to drive it easily and do a good job, but obviously, the more ground you can cover at the same time the better. Also in rough terrain, too wide can cause scalping so take this into account as well. • Horsepower Rating: Have plenty of tolerance to give you peace of mind for reliability and scope to run it on a bigger tractor should you decide to upgrade. • Enough Belts: Belts are generally designed to take up to about 35 HP per belt. Make sure your mulcher has enough of them to handle the horsepower of your tractor. Lack of belts will result in belts slipping and destroying themselves.

• Dual or Single Transmission: A dual transmission mulcher is where the rotor is driven from both ends. This decision is partly to do with getting enough belts for your Horsepower rating, and also once you go over 2.5m Dual Transmission is almost essential. • Flails: For most situations, the triple flail (a Y flail with the straight centre blade) is the ideal option. It does a finer cut, smoother finish and is easier to drive than other flails. Also ensure they are a good solid flail with a large diame-

Work safely: Watch 4 wires Always keep equipment at least 4 metres away from power lines. Reduce the risk of electrocution and electrical fires on the farm. Contact Orion to arrange free onsite advice. Use industry safe working practices: The New Zealand Code of Practice for Electrical safe Distances (NZECP 34:2001). Visit our Orion website oriongroup.co.nz or call us on 03 363 9898 or 0800 363 9898 for free advice.

4m +

ter bolt. If you have a high chance of hitting large stones or have a ver y abrasive environment sometimes a hammer flail is a better option. In these situations, it can be a good idea to get flails hardfaced as well. • Skids & rollers: Where possible in most situations it is best not to have a roller and just run on wide skids. To do this you need at least 150mm wide skids with rolled edges to stop gouging. Once mulchers get up to around 3m it is often better to run a roller to stop scalping.

CANTERBURY FARMING

January 2020

Caring for your pet lamb Many people who live in the country are tempted to get a woolly friends for their children to show off at pet day or to use as a grass cutter for their lifestyle block or section.

❚ by Kent Caddick As with all animal ownership taking on a pet lamb needs to be undertaken with knowledge and the appropriate resources. Livestock expert Dr Clive Dalton advises prospective pet lamb owners to ask the farmer if the lamb received colostrum from the mother sheep, or another source, before being orphaned. “This first milk from the mother protects the young animal against the many infections it will meet in its early life,” Dr Dalton said. “If you cannot get a satisfactory answer to the question, then don’t have it, as you’ll have problems rearing it, and it will stand a high chance of being unthrifty or of dying.” Lambs will need tailing and possibly castrating. They will also require vaccinating. Some farmer will perform tasks such as these before hand over, but the chances are you will need to factor in a trip to the vet on occasion.

To get ready for your lamb you will need some supplies including a suitable fenced area with a place where young lambs can keep warm and dry in cold weather. They will also need milk powder, bottles and teats. When making the milk solution be careful it’s not too strong as this can cause upset tummies and scouring, which is like lamb diarrhoea. Don’t over fed lambs as this too can lead to digestion problems. When preparing the bottle be conservative when you cut the end of the teat off, because if you make the hole too big the lamb will get too much milk too quickly, which again can lead to sore tummies and scouring. If your aim is to raise your lamb as a pet then Dr Dalton said feeding time is the best time to bond with your lamb. “Use the bottle as way to teach the lamb or kid to follow you. Remember it is building up an association of your voice with food, so calling it at feed time is vital to bonding,” Dr Dalton said.

Cute but needy: as adorable as they are owning a pet lamb takes a lot of work. Pellets can be introduced into your lambs diet at about three to four weeks and you can encourage your lamb to eat these out of your hand, which is a trick that can be useful when teaching them to lead for pet day. “You can never do enough training. Set up a ring at home and have a test run regularly. “Take your time in training. Learn one thing at a time. Reward it after a success with some feed pellets.”

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The beneﬁts of walnuts on the block

Trees are an essential part of any lifestyle block and the benefits extend beyond our lifetimes and benefit to the lives of our descendants.

❚ by Trudi Meyer Trees have been grown on lifestyle blocks for a number of reasons including food production, shelter, shade, erosion prevention, aesthetic appeal or just for firewood. Trees help improve water quality, provide shade, stabilise eroding slopes, filtering sediments and nutrients from runoff, provide a financial return for nut crops or timber. The secret to successful results is to match the tree to the purpose and the locality and there is a lot of information out there to help you get the best outcome. Becoming a walnut orchardist after more than 20 years of dairy farming has had its benefits but also its challenges. Walnut trees are dual purpose trees grown for food and also for timber and very long living, more than 100 years. In commercial orchards walnut trees are grown seven to ten metres apart and some trees have been planted in hedge rows. It is essential to protect the young trees from rabbits and stock nibbling away as sheep and cows, especially calves, will happily munch on a tree sapling and kill it. Shelter from strong winds will help the trees to grow strong and straight as whippy branches can break or twist in strong winds. Shaping and pruning is an essential task in the younger years to set up a good frame and encourage growth. I am told that

this can also be therapeutic. Growing walnut trees for crop or timber production makes financial sense as the development costs for walnut orchards are reasonably high at the start and returns from crop (or timber) is slow in coming for a number of years. From the age of about six years old, the trees will start to produce walnuts, a handful at first but up to 2 tonnes per ha (approx. 10kg/tree). There are a large number of 10 acre blocks suitable for a walnut orchard. Planting walnut trees and harvesting the grass in between the rows for hay or silage will mean that you don’t have to look after animals and in 15-20 years will provide a retirement income. It is quite feasible to establish a walnut orchard in the country while working in the city and doing the orchard work over the weekend, which would generally involve pruning (winter) and watering (summer). Once the orchard is coming into commercial production it could be a very profitable enterprise that still leaves enough time to do all the things you could not do during the busy working life. There is scope for large plantations of walnuts. The operation can be completely mechanised and as such lends itself to large-scale production. With crop yields increasing over the coming years, financial vi-

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Multi-purpose: Walnut trees are dual purpose trees grown for food and also for timber. ability is expected to improve year by year. Demand for walnuts is growing. Just under 800t of walnut kernel (2000t of walnuts in shell) were imported in 2015, up from about 500t a few years previously. But the taste of fresh, New Zealand

grown, walnuts are superior to the imported ones, and remember walnuts are considered a very healthy food. For further information: www.walnuts.org.nz and www.walnutsplease.nz

CANTERBURY FARMING January 2020

Updated: Farmers will benefit from the new MetService website.

MetService launch new site

What will the weather do is often a crucial question for many farmers. To assist them on making weather-based decisions MetService, New Zealand’s national weather authority, has launched a new website.

❚❚by Kent Caddick metservice.com is one of the most popular New Zealand based websites, providing national weather and marine forecasts for all of the country. More than 200,000 people have trialled the new website over the last three months, with MetService receiving close to 1,500 pieces of feedback. This has helped further refine the website before launch. MetService Chief Executive Peter Lennox is pleased with the additional capability the new site provides. “Our current site served us well for over seven years, however, we were at the limit of what we could do in terms of ingesting and delivering the ever-increasing amounts of data now available to forecasters,” Lennox said. “MetService is committed to adding more precision forecasts and observational data than ever before, and our new site allows us to achieve this. ”The new site better communicates urgent and critical information and as New Zealand’s only official provider of Severe Weather Warnings, metservice.com is a key channel to alert the public to safety critical information,” he said. Some of the key new features include the addition of search functionality, interactive map displays, and features allowing users to favourite the pages that matter most to them, so they are

more accessible whenever they visit the site. The new website also introduces higher resolution rain radar imagery available at all nine MetService radar locations. The addition of 120-kilometre radar information allows people to see more detailed real-time observations of precipitation, especially useful in severe weather. Over the coming months, further changes are planned based on feedback from users and work still in the pipeline. MetService encourages those on the new site to view the short video tutorials which outline some of the new features and changes. These can be found at metservice.com/tutorials

ding to DairyNZ South Island lead, Tony Finch.

r the

January 2020

CANTERBURY FARMING

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NZ’s top growers earn their titles Nelson’s Jono Sutton has taken out the 2019 Young Grower of the Year title.

❚ by Kent Caddick

Sutton proved his impressive skills and knowledge throughout the competition. The annual Young Grower of the Year com- As the regional Nelson finalist, he was up petition is run by Horticulture New Zealand against six other contestants from around (HortNZ), supported by the Horticentre Char- New Zealand, at the finals in Tauranga. His grandparents, who are berry and apitable Trust, and the winners were awarded ple in has Nelson, to support with their prizes at a dinner in Tauranga. Planning: A winter crop paddock showing a critical sourcegrowers area which been came left uncultivated andhim in Tauranga. “This is one of horticulture’s highest ungrazed. The paddock also provides shelter for animals. “It’s really great to have really genuine achievements for a young person, so winning support where win or lose, they think you’re it is massive,” the 26-year-old Sutton said. “As a result of this, there has been strong ronment and the people involved.” “Some of the past winners have gone on to the best anyway,” Sutton said. attendance at wintering events as everyone “They’ve been in the industry since the do amazing things in horticulture, so to have is keen to improve their knowledge. Success- For more advice on planning for winter grazing visit my name next to theirs is overwhelming.” 80s, when they transferred from agriculture ful wintering is good for the cows, the envi- dairynz.co.nz/wintering HortNZ Chief Executive Mike Chapman to horticulture with the help of my father. For said the Young Grower of the Year is impor- them to be able to pass the baton on to me tant because it highlights horticulture as a vi- is a real blessing.” Meanwhile, the youngest finalist in this brant career for young people. “Our $6 billion industry continues to grow year’s competition, Austin Singh Purewal, in response to worldwide and domestic de- beat the field to win the Young Vegetable mand for fresh healthy food. At the same Grower of the Year title. At only 18, Purewal has managed to time, our industry is responding to new requirements, particularly in the areas of fresh- achieve a lot in his horticulture career alwater, land use, food safety, and health and ready. After winning the Pukekohe regional competition, he was looking forward to taksafety. “These areas offer young people many ing part in the finals. “It’s almost like another job, to be honand varied career opportunities. I am positive that all entrants in 2019’s Young Grower est,” Purewal, said. “It takes up a lot of your time if you are recompetition have benefited from the experiCall Matthew Reed today 021a 526 ally dedicated to it. If you put lot of 576 effort ence and will continue to grow and support www.broadgateharvesting.com in, you get lots out of it. horticulture.”

Starting young: Teenager austin Singh Purewal, was named the young Vegetable Grower of the year title winner.

“From meeting new people to opening up my mind to opportunities within the industry, that’s what I wanted to get out of the competition. I didn’t necessarily want to win. I wanted to come out of it with more opportunities.” Throughout the leadership panel and speech events, Purewal, voiced his views on the importance of diversity and encouraging young people into roles within the industry. He hoped that by entering, he has shown his peers that they can also achieve great things in the industry.

Top job: nelsonian Jono Sutton has taken out the 2019 young Grower of the year title.

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CANTERBURY FARMING

Getting the lowdown on Rural Contractors New Zealand Rural Contractors New Zealand (RCNZ) is the only national association, and the leading advocate for, rural contractors in New Zealand.

❚ Article supplied by RCNZ

via a constitution, the RCNZ board compriseight members – who are elected annuIt represents the interests of contractors enCANTERBURY FARMING Decemberes 2019 gaged in a wide range of activities such as: ally. The country is divided into four Zones land development, drainage, fencing, cultiva- and each Zone elects two Board Members by tion and planting, harvesting of crops, high- postal ballot. RCNZ employs a permanent, part-time way vegetation control and maintenance, parks, reserves and landscaping, chemical chief executive based in Wellington – close to application, sheep dipping , and direct drill- Government and other organisations where a close liaison is maintained. ing. RCNZ monitors central and local governFrequently asked questions about ment policies, plans and proposals on behalf RCNZ: of its membership. It also maintains close relations with a wide number of organisations, Q. What type of contracting are RCNZ memgovernment departments and other national bers involved in? bodies. A. Predominantly RCNZ members are inRCNZ’s governance consists of a national volved in agriculture, horticulture and vitboard, made up of the four zones. Operating iculture, chemical applications on the

e yield gaps

re yields in Canterbury at around $1.8M annually.

yn & tricts

January 2020

‘

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January 2020

CANTERBURY FARMING

Changes recommended for winter grazing practices A Taskforce has made 11 recommendations to improve animal welfare in intensive winter grazing farm systems.

❚ by Kent Caddick The Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor said he established the Winter Grazing Taskforce in response to concerns about the impacts on animal welfare of some intensive winter grazing practices. “I asked the Taskforce to do a stocktake of the multiple initiatives that are already under way to promote good winter grazing and identify where we might work more together to improve practices,” O’Connor said. The recommendations include: More work to understand and mitigate the long-term animal welfare consequences of intensive winter grazing practices

Expand knowledge of barriers to adopting improved animal welfare practices More active surveillance to ensure animal welfare standards are being met The establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement the recommendations “Winter crop grazing is necessary in some parts of the country to provide enough feed for stock at a time when there’s not a lot of pasture, but we must ensure farmers have the right tools and advice to ensure animal welfare,” O’Connor said. “As a Government, we’re committed to working alongside farmers to maintain their ability to export on our valuable New Zealand brand and open up new trading markets. Our

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international reputation depends on getting this sort of thing right, as does our social licence to operate within New Zealand. “Some farmers manage this system very well but for those who don’t – we’ve got to find a way of doing it better and help them do so. “Following the taskforce’s report, I’ve asked the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to work with farmers and industry groups to ensure farmers get the help they need. “I know that many farmers are already changing and adapting their practice and I thank them for the effort. We want to help in that work.

‘

Our international reputation depends on getting this sort of thing right. Damien O’Connor Minister of Agriculture

“The next step will be the establishment of an action group to begin implementing the recommendations so we can see some progress next winter and beyond”.

CANTERBURY FARMING

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January 2020

Dairy company to plant trees Canterbury dairy company Synlait has unveiled its plans to plant four million native trees on farmers and community land by 2028.

❚ by Kent Caddick The plan was released at a ceremony at the company’s plant near Dunsandel which was attended by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor. The company has established an industrial scale nursery on 15-hectares of land at the Dunsandel plant to grow the plants which it will then distribute to farmers and other land users to plant along with the help of company staff. Synlait CEO Leon Clement said climate change is the problem of our age, and as a dairy player in New Zealand they know they are a part of that problem. “Solving it requires a fundamental re-think of how we operate and it will require us to work together to share the impact of the changes needed like never before,” Clement said.

“It will require us to harness the collective expertise and resources of our industry, of our government, and of our innovation, technology and academic sectors. “And it will require us to have a mindset that the solutions to our shared challenges may not exist today but can only be discovered once we commit and aspire to the changes we need to make. “This is our moonshot – the answers will come from aspiration and courage, not obligation and protection.” The tree planting programme has been called Whakapuawai, which means to thrive and grow. “It is an expression of our purpose and will help our people, farmers and communities connect and live it every day. “We chose to build Whakapuawai here because we know that to lead positive change,

we have to start with ourselves, quite literally, right here, in our own backyard. “We chose trees because they represent a very simple way for us to connect, with partners that will allow us to have far wider impact than if we were acting alone. “Our farmer suppliers need trees to restore balance on their land and protect our shared waterways. We know, many of our farmers don’t have the resources, money or time to plant these trees themselves so we want to help. “Our mana whenua need trees to protect and regenerate culturally significant sites and support the recovery of mahinga-kai principles and the bio-diversity that it’s dependent on.” Clement said the Whakapuawai site will propagate

plants and is capable of growing more than one million native trees and shrubs annually. “Our goal is to plant four million native trees on farmers and community land by 2028. That’s a lot of trees. “More than 1,000 natives have already planted at the site and our staff will get one paid day per year to plant native trees and shrubs as a way of supporting commitments to our farmers and communities to jointly restore land in Canterbury.” Clement said it’s in Synlait’s interests to help shape a future that ensures New Zealand’s primary sector is fit for a better world.

! D E ANT

W Planting seeds: Synlait CEO Leon Clement, left and board chairman Graeme Milne (far right) explain to Prime Minster Jacinda ardern and Minister of agriculture Damien O’Connor how the company’s tree planting programme Whakapuawai will operate.

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Many factors impacting the softwood log markets

As we rounded out the trading year, I can report domestic sales to local sawmills are strong and stable. This is a continuation of what has been a market segment that has once again provided forest owners stable prices at good levels. The log supply planets are in general alignment with logging crews getting in to some higher quality woodlots and forest. This means production rates are generally ensuring as adequacy of supply although some mills report supply is just keeping pace and they believe it will not take much to upset the supply cart. Export log prices lifted in December reflecting more than anything a reduction in shipping costs. The sales prices in China in US$ terms did not change and for the moment, stability is all we could ask for. Current wharf gate sales levels at New Zealand ports are likely to be at the top of the current market. In Q1 2020 there will be challenges to price levels as a veritable flood of supply of Spruce log and lumber pours in to China. This is displacing NZ supply and current sales prices of Spruce are below NZ Radiata pine. Meanwhile, lumber sales ex China sawmills have been declining but are currently stable. This means China traders are continuing to operate on negative margins. Now whilst I do not have a great opinion of traders, there is no question if they are losing money something is going to have to give.

Combine this with a seasonal increase in shipping costs and inevitability appears to be “enjoy it while you can”. Against this negative market persona, the demand levels in the construction sector are better than expected at 54,000 cubic metres for day. This compares with 80,000 cubic metres per day at the same time in 2018. I believe the reason no-one is panicking relates to recent China policy changes around freeing up construction capital. This, together with other economic stimulus, is bringing an air of confidence which has been a rarity in recent times. As at mid-December, the China Eastern seaboard inventory is sitting at around 3.45 million cubic metres. This compares to 2.6 million at the same time last year, so is not high but high enough having regard to other factors. Chinese New Year celebrations come early this year (January 25). Most commentators are suggesting this is positive for the NZ Forest Industry. This relates to the fact shippers are furiously cleaning our NZ ports of stock at present. Those vessels will have just discharged or awaiting discharge when China people return

‘

China traders are continuing to operate on negative margins. If they are losing money something is going to have to give.

from holiday. When the China holidays fell later it meant the China ports were all full of stock before the break and this added a negative tone. As in last year I wanted to round out this one with some advisories. 1. Have you signed up on line to SAFTREE. co.nz yet? If you are involved in the forest industry this Safety Council led initiative

heads the H&S space with this very very good conduit. It has all the resources you need if you want to be involved in forestry operations at any level and that includes forest growers. 2. Have you had a look at the 1BT grant scheme on the MPI website? Despite wildly incorrect media reporting the 1 BT scheme does not support whole farm conversions. But is does support planting and therefore integrating trees on farms and that can include Exotic and Native species. Grants are available that essentially cover all of, or a good chunk of, the costs of planting. 3. If you are a forest grower at any scale have you joined up To the Farm Forestry Association yet? Go to FFA.co.nz to find out how you can get access to info and support via a wealth of information about growing trees on farms. I hope all readers had a very Merry Christmas and all the very best for 2020. As always please remember the thoroughly important message, “It remains, as always, fundamentally important, the only way forward for climate, country and the planet, is to get out there and plant more trees”.

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CANTERBURY FARMING

DAIRY

January 2020

Visit U s Waimu : mu Field D ay site #2 s 31

❚ with Fred Hoekstra, VeeHof

Heat stress is a factor in lameness

We have just passed the shortest day of the year, mating is coming to an end, summer is well and truly here, and we are getting different risk factors to deal with when it comes to lameness. Heat stress and time budget are factors that I would like to touch on in this article. Heat stress is a serious risk factor for lameness. A cow’s optimum air temperature is between 5-15degC. Depending on humidity levels, a cow is starting to feel hot over 15degC. The reason why it is so low is because a cow has a big rumen that creates a lot of heat when it is digesting food. Cows that are suffering from heat stress tend to stand a lot more. They congregate around the water trough and you can see them panting in the yard. When they get to that point they have already been suffering for a while. There is a strong link between heat stress and lameness, and we need to take it seriously. Part of the problem is that we don’t have the trees that cows need to shelter from the sun. That is not an easy thing to change but there are other things we can do such as having more water troughs, and ensuring they are cleaned on a regular basis. Water is the most important nutrient for a cow. Her body is made up of 80% water. It is the cheapest nutrient and yet it is the most overlooked nutrient. You can never have too many water troughs on your farm. Have three or four per paddock and also along the track. Put them in the exit in your cow shed. If cow flow is affected because of water troughs you know that they don’t have enough access to water and that is costing you money – probably more than you think. Another way to combat heat stress is to put sprinklers on the yard. When you do this, it’s important to ensure the water going through the system is not too cold. It’s not fun to

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have a bucket full of ice-cold water poured over you when you are hot, and you don’t want to replace one form of stress for another. And another suggestion is to have some misters in the cow shed. It is a good way to cool the shed down and it also reduces fly numbers in the shed. The other risk factor that I mentioned before is the time budget. The idea of the time budget is to come up with ideas to ensure that the time cows spend in the paddock is maximised. A waiting cow costs you money, so you don’t want cows to spend a minute longer on the tracks, holding yard or feed pad than is absolutely necessar y. As soon as a cow is standing doing nothing it becomes a waiting cow and walking on the tracks also belongs in that category. The problem with the lack of paddock time is the accumulative effect of insufficient rest and food, which increases stress and decreases perfor-

mance all of which contributes to higher incidences of lameness amongst other welfare concerns.

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More growth from less N In time a permanent reduction of 10% in growth is anticipated, and it’s probably the expectation of those contemplating reducing or eliminating fertiliser nitrogen, and yet there are alternatives. Removing any input from a fertiliser programme and not replacing it energetically will result in less growth, guaranteed. So, when fertiliser N is removed from a programme it must be replaced by nitrogen from another source if a reduction in growth is to be avoided. Within the top 200mm of the soil under grazed pasture there is usually somewhere between 5,000 – 15,000 kg of nitrogen held in soil organic matter. That’s many years of reserve and although it must be replaced, in the short term some of it may be utilised by improving physical soil structures and speeding the rate at which nutrient is naturally cycling. Initially that can be achieved by lifting plant available calcium. Worm activity increases markedly after lime is applied and the analysis of worm cast shows they contain significantly more nitrogen than surrounding soil. Soil rapidly becomes more friable encouraging plant roots to delve deeper accessing nutrient from below their normal feeding depth. Increased calcium encourages clover

growth and ultimately this is where the bulk of the nitrogen for plant growth will come from. The speed at which this happens is surprisingly rapid. Lime applied in late spring early summer can have a marked effect on nitrogen availability, and clover growth, by autumn given reasonable summer moisture. Clover rich pasture provides a wide range of benefits. Its markedly higher in calcium, protein, and energy, the key components of rapidly growing animals and high producing dairy cows. It’s also more digestible which means animals eat more in their naturally allotted daily grazing time. It can be left longer between grazings and therefore be more mature when grazed with no loss in palatability or digestibility. And the incidence of bloat caused by clover when driven by calcium is far less than when driven by potassium. Management is the other key component to lessening the impact of reducing fertiliser nitrogen dependence. Winter applied nitrogen brings forward spring growth therefore slightly later lambing and calving date will bring peak demand closer to the time of most rapid growth. Summer growth will be stronger than previously experienced because clover is strong-

est when soil temperatures are at or above 20℃. Live weight gains and milk production improves with more clover in the sward, as does animal temperament. Pastures to which N is regularly applied nearly always contains excess nitrate at the expense of full protein. Nitrates put extra pressure on both kidneys and liver and animals become irritable. It takes only a week to ten days for unsettled stock when fed on mature clover-based swards to become settled and more easily managed. Pasture energy levels also increase resulting in less total feed being required to meet animal requirements resulting in higher per animal and overall farm production. There are fertiliser programmes that can be relied on to comfortably transition farms from fertiliser N dependence to increased reliance on N from natural sources without difficult to manage feed deficits. Functional Fertiliser has products and programmes that have been in place on properties for over fifteen years and independent performance analysis shows higher pasture production, lower environmental impact and improved profitability is achievable. For more information contact Peter on 0800 843 809.

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WATER & IRRIGATION

January 2020

A talk about water infrastructure

There has been a lot of talk about infrastructure of late. The Government has revealed its plan to spend an extra $12 billion on infrastructure projects and a recently released public opinion poll shows that New Zealanders want the government to be investing in infrastructure.

❚ by Elizabeth Soal Absolutely, it is critical that we invest in our schools, health facilities, transport, and technology systems. However, there is an important type of infrastructure left off the spending priority list – water infrastructure. More and more frequently, we are seeing the effects of major weather and climate events. The impacts of these are felt in both rural and urban communities and floods, for instance, have major effects on transport and communication links around the country. The significant flood of the Rangitata River in South Canterbury, in early December last year demonstrated this clearly. The Mayor of the Timaru District was reported at the time as saying that the event showed just how “resilient we aren’t”. To be truly resilient, we need to think not only about how our current infrastructure responds to these major events, but we need to think about how we can manage water better in the first place to minimise and prevent negative effects on lives, property, and the environment. We know that climate change will change what ‘normal’ looks like for our precipitation patterns (both rainfall and snow), and therefore river flows, groundwater recharge, and soil moisture patterns. We are seeing this already this summer, with extreme rainfall in some parts of the country, whilst other areas, such as Northland are extremely dry and are close to experiencing major drought conditions. This will affect not only farmers, but critical aquatic ecosystems, water availability for domestic and commercial uses (including homes and businesses in towns and cities), recreation, and cultural values. Predictions in many areas are for an increasing frequency of major flood events, punctuated by prolonged periods of drought. Unless we think and invest strategically to plan for these changes now, we will be forcing ourselves to manage the impacts of these events as they occur - with much greater risks and costs to our communities. There is currently an increased public focus on water quality, protecting highly pro-

ductive land (including land that has access to water for productive purposes), improving ecosystems and indigenous biodiversity, and supporting the cultural health of our waterways. By preparing for and managing flood and drought events through investment in strategic water infrastructure, we are ensuring that this range of values is better protected for future generations. Water storage does not mean just large dams but, includes smaller-scale projects and other types of storage, such as using groundwater aquifers as storage systems, through managed recharge projects. Storing water when it is plentiful or in oversupply means that flows can be released at critical times to provide for ecosystem flows, hydro-electricity generation, domestic supplies, businesses, tourism, and irrigation for valuable primary production. We know that our three waters infrastructure (stormwater, drinking water, and wastewater) system needs upgrading across many parts of the country. If are we are to invest in the delivery, treatment, and management of water at this level, it makes sense to also invest in better and more fit-for-purpose storage. Currently, water storage projects tend to be proposed and determined in a piecemeal, project-based fashion at the regional or district level. This can quickly result in politicisation of the issues, as communities grapple with how costs and benefits are spread, what the effects of changed land-use will be (often required in order to meet the costs associated with privately-funded projects), and philosophical or emotive standpoints on the management and use of water. These viewpoints often become entrenched and decision-making stalls as a result. What we need is a national-level strategy leading and guiding decision-making. This would provide high level analysis and guidance – and potentially investment – for these critical projects. And we need this soon. The effects of climate change are likely to accelerate and if we don’t think critically about how we better store and manage water quickly, we are likely to suffer major consequences in the short term, from floods and droughts. These consequences will be felt across the urban and rural communities alike. With our territorial authorities already stretched in terms of providing essential services from small rating bases, and with increased pressure from growing tourism numbers, these critical issues cannot be left to be determined in a piecemeal project-by-project fashion.

An independent national water commission, providing non-partisan advice, guidance, and strategic oversight, would bring these discussions up to the level at which we need to be having them. Such a commission could also lead our policy responses on water quality, water allocation, and addressing the question of Maori rights and interests in freshwater. It has been said that water infrastructure

issues are not something you fix once and then walk away from; job done. Water infrastructure is something we must be continually fixing, by looking to future needs and the requirements of the community and our environment as a whole, and ensuring we can respond accordingly. Let’s talk about water infrastructure now, before the scars of climate change get too deep.

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January 2020

Summer, envy on the mind ❚ with Dr Tony Davoren

December was a complete turn-around from October and November. Like a light switch the rain stopped (at least on the East Coast) and hot temperatures arrived, and irrigation demand took off.

Not just in Canterbury but up and down the east coast of both islands. But his month I want to discuss Envy. What has Envy got to do with irrigation, whether here in Canterbury or elsewhere on the east coast? Quite a bit really on two counts, because at the end of November and early December I was providing support for the irrigation management team in the North Island who are based in Hawkes Bay. Last month I wrote of déjà vu and this support role was serious a serious déjà vu experience. It involved a return to my birthplace of Gisborne and that is where the Envy comes into it. Firstly, spending couple of days in the area training a new staff person and secondly getting to monitor soil moisture a week later when a family bereavement took the staff person off to a funeral. The first count of Envy is all about the apple – yes Envy apples and if you haven’t tried them then I believe you have missed out on a taste treat. Gisborne (and Hawkes Bay) are increasing the plantings of Envy, not quite in a frenzy, but it seems to be the apple of choice when replanting or establishing new blocks. Envy is a trademarked brand of the Scilate apple variety – where Scilate is simply the result of a cross between Royal Gala and Braeburn developed by HortResearch and patented in 2009. It is a mostly red apple with yellow specks and is sweet with low acid. Simply delicious, so much so that in 2018 20-count (20 apples to carton tray) Envy apples were selling in Hong Kong for $US5 each. They have to be good at that price. Almost all the monitoring in Gisborne is in Envy orchards, hence my first count of Envy, which leads me to my second count of envy. The second count is all about “the wish that you had something that another person has”. This was not my “wishing I had something someone else had”, but vice versa. On my second visit to Gisborne monitoring I had two 31degC days in a row and inside the orchards it was much hotter than 31deg. On my first day I began planning the monitoring from about 3pm onward to finish at Matawhero (just a few km out of Gisborne) so that I would have to pass by Midway Beach on my way to the motel. A little more déjà

Two counts of envy: Gisborne’s Envy apple orchards and Matawhero’s Midway Beach just a few kilometres away. vu because this beach was a favourite haunt after similar summer days at Gisborne Boys High when on the way home from school. So be it – a refreshing swim in an idyllic location. The envy was staff here in Canterbury knowing that I had this place to finish the day in the sun.

As this is written before Christmas and New Year, I do wish for a continuation of our hot and dry conditions through the end of December and into January and early February 2020. A wet and/or cool Christmas and New Year is no fun, unless it is truly cold, and it snows for magical white Christmas.

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January 2020

CANTERBURY FARMING

LIVESTOCK

It’s a new year

rob Cochrane At time of writing, to meet printing deadlines, there were still ❚ by Procurement Manager, two wool auctions to be held nationally, both on December 19 at ❚ Wool Napier and Christchurch, to complete the calendar auction year. ❚ PGG Wrightson Wool

More returns for your wool. Carrfields Primary Wool (CP Wool) is a 50/50 joint venture between Carrfields and Primary Wool Co-operative (PWC), a 100% wool grower owned co-operative. • CP Wool has stores in key locations across NZ

• CP Wool offers significant At a recent International Wool TexBrokers were disappointed with that Wool flows off farm were beginning to increase as shearing of ewe flocks result, considering that the two pre- tile Organisation (IWTO) Round Table benefits and advantages to across the country was in full swing and vious auctions had signalled a better conference in Queenstown, it was very New Zealand wool producers lamb shearing had also begun in ear- market tone with particularly solid in- pleasing and refreshing to hear severTalk to your local CP Wool nest in the North Island, particularly, terest in hogget wools measuring finer al individuals representing a diverse representative about maximising but also in early lambing areas of the than 35 microns, however, there ap- range of international enterprises, exthe returns on your wool clip. peared only limited enquiry for similar plain how they are expounding the virSouth Island. tues of wool through their products and With dry conditions prevailing in wools on December 5. CANTERBURY FARMINGrepresentative December 2019 services. Halfbred and Corriedale wool types LIVESTOCK some parts of the country but damp Contact your Canterbury With a generation of wool users lost and cool in others, feed availability for finer than around 31 microns sold well Mark Greenlaw 027 227 8898 Gavin Crump 027 431 6555 post-shorn sheep appeared reasonably again on December 5, however buy- to competition from synthetic fibres due Roger Fuller 027 683 6993 Milton Hulme 027 229 9794 tight, however with all classes of live- ers were selective and insisted on well- to slick advertising and marketing, a reGrant Andrew 027 481 6219 www.cpwool.co.nz stock in high demand from meat com- grown and well-prepared wools to meet education focusing on the benefits of panies creating attractive pricing, most their orders. The strength of this mar- wool is underway and, in my view, maksheep farmers were probably not too ket reflected similar levels at Australi- ing good progress. Health and wellbeing is a major part of the education process an auctions. concerned. Although only limited Merino wool and the benefits are real. Many people The last North Island auction held in Napier on December 12 had been types were available in early Decem- do not understand the ability of wool to completed with little of significance to ber, following on from an excellent insulate, filter air, absorb moisture, be The Working Wool Buyer report other than there was good inter- clearance during November, the market fire retardant, and be biodegradable, all NO commission! est in crossbred lamb’s wool measuring eased slightly, quite possibly in reflec- things which my generation knew about because it was passed-on to us through tion of the small quantities. around 27.5 microns. NO transport costs! NO guess work! our parents. in greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved by making markets suf- reductions CrossbredAfleece showing deerwool farm casepoor study The hasAustralian shown auction that only small It’s time everyone took notice of why colour struggled to maintain levels of fered some downside also with best management changes, short of reducing the number of livestock on the farm. the week previous in both Christchurch interest shown towards sound (high “wool is cool” and why we all should setensile strength), non-mulesed, and riously think twice before making purand Napier. on the sample farms. But even if sever- need to be replanted to offset the carbon remaintain while decisions. Make it happen. types. or improve profitabilitychasing The Christchurch auction of Decem- well-prepared al mitigations were adopted reducing dry matter intake and thereIt’s a new day and a new year. Wel- the net benefit moved at harvesting, plus an additional 100 Whilst there is not a lot to report ber 5 ended with around 16%, of the was unlikely to add more than 5%. The ha would need to be planted to offset continfore market, methaneit emissions). Farms with land5000 that’s suitable for other usit seems like up justtoyesabout the spot is pleasing to come to 2020... approximately bales offered, most significant single reduction modelled uing emissions. At the second harvest, the • Reduce the rate at which breeding fees, such as forestry or cash cropping, are passed-in failing to reach grower re- note that, in the general wool space, pro- terday we were all wondering what Y2K was 5.7%, achieved by increasing the lamb- 200 ha would need to be replanted, as well males are replaced (opportunity to likely to have the greatest ability to reduce motion and marketing is alive and well. would bring. That’s my view. serve. ing percentage on one of the farms by 20%, as an additional 100 ha; and so on,” she maintain performance while reducing their emissions when farming is included in which would allow a reduction in ewe num- says. feed demand). the Emissions Trading Scheme. “If you are considering forestry for carbon bers. • Improve breeding performance (inThe study by AgFirst environmental agriMuch has been made about the inabil- sequestration or offsetting it is important to crease lambing & fawning percentagbusiness consultant Alesha Cooper was of ity, under the Zero Carbon Act, for farmers get good advice.” es). four farms selected to represent typical deer Cooper says a number of mitigation opto offset methane emissions with carbon • Optimise N fertiliser use (reduce nifarms, two on North Island hill country, one forests, including shelter belts. If this rule tions may become available in the future, introus oxide emissions). on South Island high country and one on is changed and offsets are allowed in trees cluding methane and nitrification inhibitors. • Reduce N intake by using low N feeds South Island flat to rolling country. Two of A methane inhibitor for deer would need planted since 1989, the offsets earned by such as grains and fodder beet. Howthe farms were breeder/finishers, one was the four case study farms from existing plant- to be delivered using a technology that did ever these feeds need to be a major velvet-focussed and the other was venison not require animals to be frequently handled, ings would range from nil to 46.5%. part of the diet to have much effect. finisher. Carbon emissions were estimated Cooper emphasises, however, that for- such as a slow-release bolus. Nitrification in• Increase the ratio of lower-emitting using Overseer FM. estry is not a permanent solution for offset- hibitors have been shown to reduce nitrous stock classes, for example by going All four farms were running deer, cattle Ring Kevin he will turnbut up with truckbe used on oxideand emissions, theythe can’t ting GHG emissions, as an additional area from 40% sheep to 60% sheep. and sheep, with ratios ranging from 22% to and certified scales. of trees needs to be planted after every har- NZ farms because there is no international• Reduce the number of breeding ani79% deer. In all cases, sheep had lower carFrom mainline dags seetolerance if you can find any wool ly to accepted for their usebuyer on feeds vest. mals, for example by replacing breedbon emissions per stock unit than deer or go further or work harder for your wool. by food animals. “For example, if we assume 100 ha ofwho ra-willeaten ing cows with finishing bulls (this cattle, which had similar emission levels. Methane emissions also varywool. from anidiata pine forestry is enough to offsetPhone emis-Kevin today increases feed efficiency, by channelThe effectiveness of mitigation options and get the best out of your sions on a farm, after 28 years the forest mal to animal, a difference that is thought ling more feed to production rather depends on the farm. Options might include: 0274 396a 848 03 so 312 9059 to have geneticor basis, selecting for lowwould reach maturity and need to PH be harthan herd maintenance). • Increase per animal performance and These and other options were assessed vested. At that time the initial 100 ha would emitters may one day be possible. lower stocking rate (opportunity to

Reducing emissions won’t be easy ❚ by Trevor Walton

Small changes: converting parts of a farm to forestry is one of the few ways deer farmers can significantly reduce emissions

CANTERBURY FARMING January 2020

LIVESTOCK

What’s best for deer in winter? Ensuring deer do well in the cold, wet months of winter is a priority for the deer industry.

❚❚by Trevor Walton

pasture growth curves. farming practices they don’t understand, as farmers we also need to look at what we are • Provide shelter or an ‘escape route’ to shelter in a storm. doing and asking ourselves, are we doing the NZ Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA) chair Some good winter grazing best we can? It’s human nature not to ques- • Ensure there is a hilltop, rocky knoll or John Somerville says deer farmers are moother free-draining area where the deer tion things that you and your neighbours see tivated by the need to ensure their animals management principles can rest when they’re not grazing. This as the norm.” are well-fed and healthy, while protecting the might be in a run-off or a nearby pine He says television and social media imenvironment. were identified at the block. ages of dairy cows up to their knees in mud, “They are also mindful that wintering pracunable to lie down and rest, and calving in • Leave a buffer between the crop and watices for all livestock are in the public spotNZDFA branch chairs’ terways or swales – the steeper the land, those conditions, caused a public uproar. light.” the wider the buffer. This prompted agriculture minister DamiSomerville says deerCANTERBURY farmers areFARMING fortuDecember 2019 LIVESTOCK annual meeting in October. en O’Connor to set up a Winter Grazing Task- • Consider indoor wintering of adult stags nate in that deer are browsers rather than on farms with long winters and heavy force that reported late last year. gorgers. soils. This will reduce animal welfare and John Somerville “Deer Industry NZ (DINZ) and the NZD“If they are given a break of winter crop, environmental risks and the amount of FA broadly support the report’s 11 recomdeer are likely to eat what they need and then Chair, NZ Deer Farmers Association crop needed. mendations and we will be taking part in the move to an area in the paddock or associataction group that’s being seted run-off where they can ruminate and rest. to implement those reca farmer would an eyewelcomed at or any indi- byupthe “Overall, when it comes to winter Rain crops, during ing Show Week isblink always farming community as it sets us up with moisture heading into deer have less impact on the environment cation that waterways or animal health could ommendations.” the busyis-time of the year. Somerville says winter be impacted. and there is less risk of animal welfare “But these complaints remind us that grazing management was sues than there is with other classes of Undoubtedly, the spread of the pig dis- possibly reflecting this trend. stock. However, when the weather goes pear- when we are establishing a winter crop, we discussed at the NZDFA Obviously, we should all be eating more ease African Swine Flu has helped lift sheep shaped the environment and animal welfare need to think carefully where it is located – branch chairs’ annual meetand beef prices as consumers in affected fruit and vegetables – to complement our not only for the welfare of our animals and ing in October. Some good are still at risk.” countries look to alternative sources of pro- beef and lamb of course – but these statisSomerville says farm planning and winter potential impact on the environment, but al- management principles were tein, but the main driver of these strong pric- tics make me wonder how people will be able crop management are put to the test in win- so how it might be perceived by the general identified, including: es is China’s seemingly insatiable appetite to eat a solely plant-based diet which is what public if they happened to look over the fence • Plan crops and winter ter storms. Fundamentally, we have a some commentators are predicting. for New Zealand’s red meat products. grazing well before winter. “In recent years the industry hasn’t heard in mid-winter.” Looking across the Tasman to the drought While plant-based diets have captured Somerville says the public is increasing- • Keep it simple. Match anof Director any casesBeef of bad wintering + Lamb Newpractice, Zealandbut media growing global population attention, it is interesting to note that and bush fires which reflect our changing cliimal feed demands to there have been a couple of public com- ly sensitive about the ways farmed animals Apart from temperatures being on the cool the consumption of fruit and vegetables in mate, and it does highlight how difficult it are treated, and this trend is not about to plaints. that needs feeding and side, regular rainfall and strong product pric- this country is actually declining year on year. would be to rely solely on plants to meet our “On investigation, healthy deer were found go away. I have noticed the vegetable section in nutritional needs. es means the stars are aligning for sheep “While it can be annoying for farmers to be grazing well-managed winter crops. people cannot eat trees. Livestock can be processed during our supermarket is getting smaller, which is and beef farmers this season. Sure, there was exposed bare soil, but noth- when members of the public sound off about drought whereas crops simply fail. My thoughts are certainly with those AusPhil Smith tralians affected by on-going drought and Director Beef + Lamb New Zealand devastating bush fires. +GST Each It was disappointing to hear Minister Freight Shane Jones call farmers “red necks”free at theanywhere in NZ recent 50 Shades of Green march in Wel• Buy 10 receive lington. Rather than placate farmers, his re-12 and a service kit • 3 models available – all the one price of • Nearly indestructible marks will only infuriate farmers even more number submissions made to the Ministry about proposed government policy. the Environment on theofgovernment’s • Only NZ Manufacturer providing lifetimefor guarantee on the body the ballcockEsIt is really alarming that it has been made sential Freshwater policy proposal. easier for overseas buyers to buy farm land I just hope common sense prevails and in NZ if they want to convert it to forestry, yet farmers’ concerns are listened to. tougher regulations remain for those wanting It is frustrating because we all want the to purchase land with the intention of farm- same outcome; all New Zealanders want ing livestock. clean, fresh water and a healthy environment. Fundamentally, we have a growing glob- We just need to set realistic and achievable al population that needs feeding and people targets, have the right frameworks in place cannot eat trees. and ensure we can run economically sound From a climate change point of view, I feel businesses that enable investment in enviuncomfortable that international corpora- ronmental enhancement. tions can off-set their emissions by planting With a few small but significant changes trees on formerly productive farmland rath- to what is being proposed, we can achieve er than reduce their carbon emissions.It is this. a short-term and short-sighted answer to a long-term problem. Wishing you all a very happy and healthy christmas It was really pleasing to see the huge and prosperous 2020.

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January 2020

CANTERBURY FARMING

Granvia ticking all the safety boxes Toyota New Zealand’s all-new Granvia eight-seat van places a premium on safety.

❚ Article supplied by Toyota NZ

The most recent addition to the Toyota lineup features the latest Toyota Safety Sense active safety technologies. Toyota New Zealand Chief Operating Officer, Neeraj Lala said the Granvia marries the spaciousness and comfort of a premium people mover with the latest Toyota Safety Sense driver assistance features. “Granvia provides high levels of safety with an almost limousine-like feeling of cabin comfort and refinement for passengers,” he said. “It’s a premium addition to our comprehensive van line-up.” The all-new Granvia is based on the new generation Hiace platform. The front of the vehicle features a contemporary wide grille with relatively high front headlights and a painted front bumper with chrome garnishes. The chrome accents continue into the side profile with the side skirts. The contem-

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Go Further

December 2019

CANTERBURY FARMING

Grant edmundson ❚ by Partner at Helmore Stewart ❚

January 2020

❚ with rob Cope-Williams

It will come No longer business as usual to us all

For decades the agricultural sector has consistently been a pillar of strength of the New Zealand economy, being a robust contributor to the country’s gross domestic product.

However, speak to any farmer on the street should be able to use this process. Notably, the process will exclude, forestry, and they will quickly let you know that farmers are finding themselves under increasing hobby or lifestyle farms (that are not considfinancial pressure due to shrinking margins, ered a business activity), secondary processgreater compliance costs, biosecurity threats ing operations and contractors. The Bill is not and uncertain (and at times volatile) interna- drafted to include contracted service providers such as shearers and harvesters. tional markets. Electric: The Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid’s front wheels are driven exclusively by a 92.9 kW electric If the Bill is approved it will create a manIt’s no longer “business as usual” at the motor powered by a 13.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. datory mediation scheme. The key benefit farm gate. Economists and politicians alike appear to for farmers will be that secured creditors will be on the same page in terms of acknowledg- have to offer mediation to farmers who deing the economic risk posed regionally and fault on payments. Mediation will have to be nationally to the country’s coffers arising offered before the creditor is able to take enfrom the heavy gearing underpinning farming forcement action on any debts owed by the operations. Whilst many will accuse the gov- farmer. Farmers will be able to request mediation ernment of “economic favouritism”, the advent of the Farm debt Mediation Bill (No.2) at any time. Currently the Bill provides farmappears to evidence the headwinds due to ers and creditors up to 60 working days to complete the mediation process unless both hit the sector. Ford is introducing plug-in zero-emission parties agreefor to extend this period. driving The MinThe Bill seeks to establish a fair, hybrid transpar-technology istry for Primary Industries expects a mediaent statutory farm debt mediation scheme to capability to its light commercial van segment in New Zealand. provide a structured and consistent process tion case to cost approximately $6000, split for resolving problems and disputes arising between the creditor and the farmer with the Article supplied by Ford New Zealand tanium Plug-In Hybridbeing eight-seat contribution cappedpeople-movto $2000. from farm debt. The intention is that anyone farmers er, utilising the same advanced powertrain Ford has announced the new Transit Custom will apwith a direct interest in farm debt mediation The Bill and the mediation process Plug-In Hybrid and the Tourneo Titanium Plug- technology. Offering superior levels of refinement in In Hybrid eight-seat people-mover will be ara spacious rear compartment with uniqueriving in the country later this year. Combining zero-emission driving capability in-segment conference seating, the Tourneo and no range anxiety, the first-in-class Tran- Custom Plug-In Hybrid makes an ideal execusit Custom Plug-In Hybrid van can be charged tive shuttle for businesses. A charging port located within the front with mains electricity for a pure electric NEDC driving range of up to 56 km – contributing to bumper enables the new Plug-In Hybrids to be charged in 4.3 hours using a domestic reduced local emissions. Featuring a technologically advanced hy- 240-volt 10-amp power supply, or 2.7 hours brid architecture, the Transit Custom Plug-In using a commercial type-2 AC vehicle chargHybrid’s front wheels are driven exclusive- er. Additional electrical energy is captured ly by a 92.9 kW electric motor powered by through regenerative charging when the vehia 13.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Ford’s cle decelerates or brakes. Four selectable EV modes enable the drivmulti-award-winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine acts as a range extender for total er to choose how and when to use the availdriving range exceeding 500 kilometres, 2.7 able battery charge. Ford New Zealand managing director Sil/100 km fuel efficiency and 60 g/km CO2 mon Rutherford said their customers want emissions NEDC. A generous net payload of 1,130 kg and electrified vehicles, but many still had conunchanged load volume of 6.0 m3 are facil- cerns about infrastructure and range. “The new Transit Custom and Tourneo itated by careful packaging of the compact battery pack beneath the floor. Giving confi- Plug-In Hybrids deliver the same well-redence to businesses, the battery pack is cov- nowned productivity capabilities combined ered by a standard eight-year/160,000 km with the ability to drive on zero-emission electric power and anxiety free ability to make warranty. Ford is also introducing a new Tourneo Ti- longer journeys.”

Ford vans going electric ❚

I’m not sure if it is the start of a new year, the fact I am now in my 71st year, or the fact that I lost my only sibling last August, but Wills have become a major thought in my mind. Sadly, most people, including me, think we don’t need a Will until we are old and on our last legs, but sadly, as several of my friends will endorse, some don’t get that far. I have had several guests on my TV programme telling me about the need for a Will, and sorry guys, I admit to hearing but not listening, until now. The point is that we all need one, whatever our age, and if we don’t the Governply ment to loans that are secured against farmsteps in with the obvious results. No land, farm machinery, wool, harvested crops thanks to that. and livestock. My advisors pointed out that Trusts An predicament andobvious companies don’t suffiiscethe andstanding can’t be of guarantors with things, the concern used to “hide” nor dothat theycreditors express mayyour be able to proceed with recovery actions wishes. directlyI against the guarantor first ifof-I also remember beingwithout told that fering mediation. were to remarry any other Will becomes Itinvalid. may beInteresting that a guarantor of farm debt point when a divorce doesn’t do that. Anyway, I am now putting my affairs in order; Will with my lawyers, financials with my accountant, and my funeral requests with members of the family. Then there’s what is to happen to the contents of my library, the cars, the furniture and treasures. Other information for the family mem-

bers includes passwords etc. Basically, as all my family live overseas, they need to know that even though they hope, so they say, that they don’t want to have to use it. The mind is a funny creature isn’t it. It was the realisation that if I didn’t wake up one morning, who would know where to start to sort out the estate, hence my moves that I am taking now. For those with farms or complicated investments I suggest a round table may a farmerand andlet consequently, withnot yourbeadvisors your childrenwould or not be relatives able to initiate upon the manclose know and whorely holds what indatory mediation under the Bill. Thankfulformation. ly, this is currently It is predicament pointless putting things addressed in your in section of the Bill which as specifi Will about 20(3) your funeral requests thatcallyprobably caters won’t for guarantors toa be come out of safeincluded until af- in the process. It is anticipated ter mediation your service. Even though I am still fithat t the scheme will come into effect in 20 October and am planning things for the next to 2020. 30 years, my children need to know that I have things such as a Piper and certain songs at my service. Yes, that does sound morbid, but it will come to us all and even Donald Trump will fall at some stage. The other thing is that, like other things you don’t want to face, once it is done you feel great and perhaps even a touch smug.

January 2020

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