Country-Wide September 2022

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2022

HITTING THE

TARGET Ensuring your onfarm strategy hits the mark using science and best practices.

TRADE DEALS Cracking the protectionist European Union

CROP & FORAGE Time to revisit the genetic modification debate?

EMISSIONS TRADING Hitting pause on exotic forest exclusion

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September 2022

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EDITOR’S NOTE Opinion

Look on the bright side

A

FTER 32 YEARS OF AGRICULTURE journalism and farming before that, I see the outlook for farmers as brighter than

ever.

Farming is in far better shape than it was in the 1980s and early 1990s. For a start there are higherpaying and diverse markets. Yes, an over-reliance on meat exports to China is a worry, but Europe and the United Kingdom offer a bolt hole. Increasing demand for health and pharmaceutical products offers livestock and arable farmers new and bigger markets.

Growing protectionism, war and disease, have become problems but the world has handled these before and solved them. The Covid-related problems with supply lines are starting to sort themselves out and with the right management inflation will be controlled.

Carbon forestry is still eating up valuable sheep and beef hill country, but that requires a political solution and there is an election next year.

Sheep farming is an amazing story. Ewe numbers have fallen 60% since 1990 (40m down to 16m) while dairy cow numbers have risen 75%. There is a danger of losing critical mass but the productivity gains have been phenomenal with an annual average of 2% and ewes producing about 23 million lambs a year at heavier weights.

If only the efficiency gains could be repeated with beef cattle. Since 1990, beef cow and deer hind numbers have dropped 24% and 28%, respectively.

However, pastoral farmers have reduced methane emissions by 30% since 1990 with the fall in livestock numbers. Even though they have done

the heavy lifting for New Zealand by reducing emissions, they are still going to be punished with a methane tax. They should be rewarded with credits to sell.

United States Professor Frank Mitloehner, a specialist in air quality, says policymakers should work with farmers and take a carrot, not a stick approach. Public funding has helped farmers reduce methane and sell emission credits. The US beef herd has almost halved since 1970 but production is the same. He says reducing methane is as good as planting trees.

A major cause of carbon emissions are petrol vehicles but they were once acclaimed as environmental saviours. Renowned economist Steven Levitt said horse manure was so bad in cities a 10-day international conference was held in New York in 1898 to find a solution. After three days it was abandoned because they couldn’t see one. In the end the electric car and automobile solved the problem.

Levitt said humans are good at finding solutions and this will likely be the case for global warming.

Terry Brosnahan

Got any feedback?

Contact the editor: terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz or call 03 471 5272 @CountryWideEd

Next issue: The annual sheep special covering markets, management, animal health, crop & forage, onfarms and more.

Farming for profit: Using benchmarks within and outside of your farm.

Hill Country Future: The $8m

programme is nearing its end so how did it perform?

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September 2022

Getting close: Science has broken

down coarse wool for new uses which will soon be marketed.

Transitioning: A study of moving from Romney to a fine wool cross for more money.

5

Contents

56

THE ANSWERS ARE IN THE SOIL Rocketing fertiliser prices has seen a Waikato farmer reassess his soil nutrient requirements.

74

GENETICS IS KEY Raising prime Angus cattle and Dorset Down sheep is the focus for a Tararua stud operation.

8 BOUNDARIES

26

CALLS TO REOPEN DEBATE ON GM Is it time to shift the debate on genetic modification technologies?

HOME BLOCK 11 Paul Burt takes extra care with a zipper 12 Blair Smith faces a mid-life crisis 13 Amid the blast of winter, it’s calving time for the Coates’ team 14 Losing weight, gaining health with Micha Johansen 15 Blair Drysdale observes some awards while prices soar 17 David Walston finds it too hot to harvest

32

BUSINESS

DESIGNER GENES

18 Trade: EU always a hard task 20 ETS: Alternatives to exotic exclusion 23 Dairy beef numbers falter

6

Country-Wide

September 2022

Country-Wide is published by NZ Farm Life Media PO Box 218, Feilding 4740

26 Calls to reopen debate on GM 28 Methane need not be a liability 31 Everyone wants wheat 32 Designer genes: The GM debate 38 Arable contracts: Fixing feral behaviour 40 Soil tests: Checking the whole farm

51

IS FODDER BEET’S LIGHT FADING?

43 NZ cultivar finally makes it 44 Surviving high fertiliser costs 46 Assessing feed crop profitability

Are farmers turning away from fodder beet?

51 Is fodder beet’s light fading?

54 Nitrogen management in vegetable production 56 Onfarm: The answers are in the soil

General enquiries: Toll free 0800 2AG SUB (0800 224 782) www.nzfarmlife.co.nz Editor Terry Brosnahan 03 471 5272 | 027 249 0200 terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz Publisher Tony Leggett 06 280 3162 | 0274 746 093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz Sub editor Andy Maciver 06 280 3166 andy.maciver@nzfarmlife.co.nz Designer Emily Rees 06 280 3167 emily.rees@nzfarmlife.co.nz

66 Sowing the seed for generations

LIVESTOCK

Production Jo Hannam 06 280 3168

74 Onfarm: Genetics is the key 81 Stock Check: They hear, but don’t listen 82 Onfarm: Northern lights 88 Seeking a better-balanced bull 90 Calf rearing in a volatile world

ENVIRONMENT 92 Soil science: Nothing comes from nothing 94 Market test for biodiversity credits

82

NORTHERN LIGHTS

A Simmental-based herd of cattle are the stars of a Far North farming operation.

96 Know your environment

YOUNG COUNTRY 97 A load of bull

Writers Anne Hardie 03 540 3635 Lynda Gray 027 465 3726 Robert Pattison 027 889 8444 Sandra Taylor 021 151 8685 James Hoban 027 251 1986 Russell Priest 06 328 9852 Jo Cuttance 03 976 5599 Joanna Grigg 027 275 4031 Partnership Managers Janine Aish | Auckland, Waikato, BOP 027 890 0015 janine.aish@nzfarmlife.co.nz Angus Kebbell South Island, Lower North Island, Livestock 022 052 3268 angus.kebbell@nzfarmlife.co.nz Tony Leggett | International 027 474 6093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz

98 FARMING IN FOCUS

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2022

44 SURVIVING HIGH

HITTING THE

TARGET Ensuring your onfarm strategy hits the mark using science and best practices.

TRADE DEALS Cracking the protectionist European Union

FERTILISER COSTS

CROP & FORAGE Time to revisit the genetic modification debate?

EMISSIONS TRADING Hitting pause on exotic forest exclusion

SEPTEMBER 2022

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COVER DESIGN: Emily Rees

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September 2022

Country-Wide

ISSN 1179-9854 (Print) ISSN 2253-2307 (Online) @CountryWideNZ

WHOLE-FARM TEST ADDITIONAL

The benefits of wholefarm soil testing.

1

September 2022

7

BOUNDARIES

BOWING OUT OF FUTURE FARM

Surfers, farmer and the whale A DEAD WHALE HAS WASHED UP ON THE ROCKY shore of our coastal Otago farm.

Experts from DOC, Otago Museum and the local runaka (Maori council) came to inspect it. They say it is a 9.7m juvenile humpback, cause of death undetermined, and it will take months to decompose. Upon hearing about the whale, the local surfers become concerned that it will attract sharks. The experts cannot rule out a marginal increase in human-shark interactions during this time. Not good enough according to the self-identified shark food.

“Something must be done about the whale,” they cry.

Nothing can be done about the whale. The sea shall take it or it shall rot on the shore, those are the two options and no one gets a say in the matter.

“My friend owns a digger,” says someone, volunteering his friend to literally drive off a cliff. “What about towing it out to sea?” asks another, as if the risk of crossing a reef with a 10-tonne deadweight is nothing compared to the marginal risk of a shark a-snack. Note, I reject the term “attack” in this context. If you bite a slug in your salad, are you “attacking it? No. It’s simply an unfortunate snacking accident.

Every second person mentions using explosives and/ or the popular belief that whales spontaneously detonate anyway. I have hundreds of thousands of reasons why I will not endorse a bombing below my house.

“Are we positive that sharks are the bad guys?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood. Tilikum, one of the whales at SeaWorld Orlando, deliberately killed three people in separate, horrific attacks. We wouldn’t ask DOC to rule out attacks from the remaining whales, would we? Yes, we probably would.

8

On the rocks: Nicola Dennis has a whale rotting at the bottom of her garden.

Discretely towards the bottom of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s E-diary on August 12 was the announcement that the organisation is exiting from its “Future Farm” venture at Lanercost in North Canterbury.

B+LNZ’s general manager Farm Excellence, Dan Brier said much had changed since 2018 when the property was first leased to the organisation. He cited demands of dealing with climate change, environmental regulations and changing market dynamics.

The irony of B+LNZ re-prioritising because of these challenges, all of which its levy payers are having to deal with, has not been lost on farmers who were sceptical of the venture from the beginning.

Many questioned the ability of the Future Farm to push boundaries the way it was set up - in partnership with local farmers who needed a return from the project. These doubts appeared well-founded when the farmers Beef + Lamb were working with left the project part way through. Since then B+LNZ continued the lease with oversight from farm consultants who work closely with the farm manager and staff.

One shrewd observer, who has been closely involved with the project, surmised that perhaps the language used by the industry group was a sign of the struggle ahead: “Does that mean the future of sheep and beef farming is exiting?”

Further information outlining the achievements at Lanercost will be published between now and March when the lease ends. Many farmers will be interested to see how much of what has been achieved could only have happened through the levyfunded organisation leasing a farm.

Lanercost farm.

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September 2022

SITTING ON THE SHELF

SHEEP EFFICIENCY

The resurgence in popularity in cool season sub clovers prompted a Canterbury seed company to go looking for a sub clover.

Luisetti Seeds was searching for a clover with a prostrate crown, runners and a later season flowering date as these characteristics all promote re-seeding.

The company found it sitting on the AgResearch shelf.

AgResearch developed WS1801 in the 1990s, all ready for commercialisation, but it never made it to market.

Luisetti says it ticked all the boxes in terms of drymatter production as well as being an exceptional re-seeder. It has the ability to produce more than 200 plants per square metre and yield over 1000kg DM/ha in spring.

The company says it is the only sub-clover selected in NZ specifically for NZ hill country environments.

So what else is sitting on AgResearch’s shelf?

Sheep and ewe numbers may have dropped 55% and 60% respectively since 1990 but it is from a large base.

Dairy cow numbers have risen 75%. What the graph doesn’t show is how efficient sheep farmers have become in spite of the drop in ewes. About 24 million lambs are born each year and heavier lambs are exported. Thanks to management and genetic change, productivity has increased on average 2% a year. Not on the graph are beef cows and deer hinds which have fallen 24 and 28%, respectively.

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SOCIALITES IGNORED A father and daughter recently visited Wellington and top of the ‘to do’ list was visit the zoo. The zoo was packed with families making the most of the sunshine. An area with no fences allowed the public to wander freely among the less dangerous inmates. Sheep would have been ideal but instead they were wallabies. The pests were socially inept. They stayed sulking in a group and didn’t interact.

At the end of the tour were two sheep in a pen, unable to release their social skills. The zoo is run by a charitable trust so what a good opportunity for NZ ag inc to get involved and help the zoo put on a real farm show. Sheep, lambs, bambi and a cow or two. Let the public feed and pat the animals. Maybe visitors could even milk a cow or sheep.

E J O K An elderly woman was very ill in hospital. Her

Total dairy ‘000 head

Total sheep ‘000 head

• Read more p43

NZ livestock trend by season

0 1990-1991

2010-2011 Sheep

2022-2023 Dairy

Source: Beef + Lamb Economic Service & Insights

D I D YO U

KNOW?

The closest star to earth (Proxima Centauri) is 4.2 light years away. That means if the Proxima Centaurians were pointing a telescope at us, the images they would be seeing would be from July 2018. They would be watching us in the pre-pandemic days arguing about president Trump. Meanwhile the much further away inhabitants of Polaris, the north star, would be stuck in 1699 watching King Louis XIV and the African slave trade.

PLAGUE CARRIERS

daughter was constantly by her bedside, but when she had to go to work, she called her husband and made him promise he would visit his mother-in-law while she was away.

When she came home after work, she asked her husband, very worried: “So, how’s my mum doing?”

“She‘s great!” he replied. “She will be released from the hospital any day now, and will move in with us when she’s released, and go on to live for many, many years!”

“Wow! That’s amazing!” says the wife. “But also very strange. Before I left the hospital, she seemed very ill, and the doctors said she may only have a few days left. Did she have some kind of a miraculous recovery?”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” replied the husband. “But today, the doctor told me that we needed to start preparing for the worst!”

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September 2022

9

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September 2022

HOME BLOCK Matata

Heeding the warnings Given fair warning, Paul Burt takes care with the zip on a new pair of jeans.

S

OMETIMES IT IS HARD NOT TO BE filled with despair over where we are going as a species. Front of mind is the despicably immoral behaviour that regimes and individuals are inflicting on innocents around the world. But there are also more subtle signals that indicate we are losing the self-awareness and perception that saw us overtake the other great apes on the evolutionary ladder.

Has our advance stumbled and are we heading back toward the simple cells from which we sprang?

With fashion not high on my list of priorities, my clothing purchases are few and far between. It was a surprise on buying a pair of jeans recently that the “fly” had a warning label attached. “This apparatus may harm your penis.”

I took note to exercise more care but the efforts of manufacturers to keep me safe didn’t stop there.

Needing to inspect the inside of a piece of machinery, the internet sent me a cheap endoscope - $50 and doing my bit for the Chinese economy, a small payback for all those briskets and flaps they are taking off our hands.

Apparently though, even the communists fear litigation because there is a warning on the box that this tool is not for personal use. It hadn’t previously occurred to me to bypass the overburdened health system and perform my own colonoscopy. On reflection there would be no waiting time and a considerable cost saving and with the help of Dr Google. How hard could it be?

This is the lighter side of a sad situation. We are no longer the motivated, independent, self-reliant achievers we once were and I am in fear of what our No. 8-wired mentality is being replaced with.

Like an appendage caught in a zipper we have gone soft and are ripe for the mothering and smothering dispensed from the Beehive. When a Government minister boasts that 70% of Kiwis are on some form of national assistance there is need for concern.

Likewise, major alarm bells should ring when the world rankings for numeracy and literacy are published.

Our backward direction began years ago with the trendy view that rote learning was demeaning and children could be free-thinking problem solvers

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September 2022

"It hadn’t previously occurred to me to bypass the overburdened health system and perform my own colonoscopy.”

right from the get go. If we allow children to grow up without confidence in numbers and words we are setting them up to fail.

It’s logical to me that parents take a major role in childhood learning but when the issues of going to school hungry or not attending at all are raised, the powers that be never mention the responsibilities of parents. If we don’t address every failing in a system for fear of offending certain parties, we will never improve the situation.

We have to start expecting (demanding) more of people, including our political leaders. Are both sides of the divide working to genuinely improve the three tiers of society or are they just power hungry, distracted with posturing and point scoring.

Take the agricultural emissions argument. There is more than enough science available to establish the facts. If the facts are interpreted fairly there should be no rational dispute. What we have is a political agenda with selective information skewed to suit an ideology.

All fervent arguments come with a natural bias.

In our ordinary lives this is woven into discussion without too much harm being done. However, I believe we have a right to expect the important players who map our future to be above these immature manoeuverings. A quote from the top last week says it all: “we will listen but we won’t change our position”. From an elected representative the arrogance is appalling.

We, like many farmers, pay the mortgage, the rates and substantial other costs to protect large areas of native forest on our farm. I would happily pay the cost of livestock emissions knowing that income from native forest sequestration put us in balance.

The present rules don’t allow this.

We have many urban visitors to the farm and I have yet to find one who is aware of this situation and certainly no-one, once it is explained who agrees with it.

I can see the opportunity in using a climate positive response as an international marketing advantage but as a radio announcer observed, putting heat on the golden goose is a tricky business. I can see a bigger opportunity in exposing urban New Zealand to the real situation down on the farm.

11

HOME BLOCK Five Forks

Taking a line from The Boss Blair Smith has found himself facing a mid-life crisis.

U “...my mid-life crisis has also kicked off – sadly not in the sports car that I was hoping for, and cheaper than finding a secretary to run away with.”

12

It’s a long cold winter up in the Newhaven hill block for the Fossil Creek cows.

NLIKE MY WIFE, I’M NOT ONE FOR quotes but here I was shearing hoggets yesterday with the wireless on and this line in a song from “the boss” (Springsteen, not Ardern) hit me harder than a GHG tax… “we took a wrong turn and we just kept going”.

Holy shite I thought on the long blow (which now takes longer than it used to) - this is exactly what we have done as a country. Wrong turn, kept going. Engine light is flashing, the gasket is about to blow, kept going. Rome is burning, heading towards a future as a second-world country and here we are, out visiting the villages to rebrand their broken health care system in te reo.

We had some Australian farmers call us the other day to ask how the hell they can help their Kiwi Anzacs across the ditch. The Aussies have been dealt some tremendous blows with floods, fire, rodent plagues and a decade of drought - yet they said they’d rather face mother nature than mother Jacinda any day.

So while the country is in crisis, my mid-life crisis has also kicked off – sadly not in the sports car that I was hoping for, and cheaper than finding a secretary to run away with.

I’ve recently been upgraded from the more PC mixed hockey grade to the men’s only grade (surprised that they are allowed to still call it that) - and by hell it’s a mission to drag my ageing, balding carcase around the fast-paced turf for an hour. I did suggest we move the game back to the grassy fields of yesteryear to slow things down a bit but the Labour/Greens feminists have banned all sweaty middle-age white guys from using open public spaces.

Back on the farm, it’s been a wet, snowy cold winter in North Otago - with more rain in August than we usually get in six months, but it sets us up

for a long overdue good spring. The 350 stud Fossil Creek Angus cows are due to start calving on the hillblock any day and then come late September, Jane will have 2500 stud lambs to tag up in the tussocks. While I enter the lambing data into the phone app in the Hilux with the heater on, she yells tag numbers and other things at me from across the gully – perks of being the boss.

In my defence, I do tag all of the 350 stud calves which sounds cruisy but not so on a snowy spring day wading through shoulder-height tussocks trying to find a calf to tag and weigh while looking over your shoulder to see where Mum is. You usually find her pretty damn quickly when you tag her calf.

I’m coming back in the next life as a bureaucrat (or bureaucrap as Jane fondly calls them). Paper shuffling, finger-pointing, empty excuses and no accountability. Sounds good to me. Reality is that these inglorious bastards are turning farmers and other evil business owners into office-bound wonders - where audits and paper shuffling could easily take up most of our days but don’t add a single bloody dollar to exports.

As a footnote, my fifth form English teacher would happily inform you that I’m not much of a reader but I read an article the other day and misquoted it to Jane when I said I needed to work on my ‘work:wife’ balance over the next couple of weeks as we’ve been spending too much time together at work.

“Fantastic idea - I was thinking the same thing,” she replied. “The return on investment on spending any time with grumpy, ageing cryptorchids doesn’t stack up anyway, so I’ve made the spare bed up for you”.

Definitely an own-goal. I wonder if the Nats have a spot for me.

Country-Wide

September 2022

HOME BLOCK Haupiri

Pitter patter of falling rain Amid the blasts of winter weather, it’s calving time for the team, writes Gaye Coates.

Gimme shelter: New arrivals on the Coates farm.

L

ISTENING TO THE RHYTHMIC PITTER patter of rain on the roof is quite soulfully soothing from the vantage point of a warm bed and cosy blanket cocoon.

Ironically, it doesn’t quite have that same comforting effect when the drops gather cacophonous momentum, hitting with knife-like sharpness on taut, smarting cheeks before trickling frigidly down the front of an already sodden raincoat, the rest of the body trying to get the farm jobs done.

That was yesterday, a hearty 50mm drop in our annual bucket.

Today, the rain has been blown away quite literally, by 60kmh gusts of polar-laced easterly wind careering straight over the Southern Alps.

Overnight this bluster aggressively tugged at our roof and swayed the windows, the penetrating squeals sending me to the wardrobe to sleep, the blockade of clothes muffling the potential bedlam happening outside.

In daylight with the wind still shrieking and our bodies buffeted, this recount of closet cloistering brought the relief of laughter to the team. The milk tanker driver however, did not see the satirical humour in the obstacle course of randomly landed pallets and feed bins that challenged his entry to the milk silo.

I was just greatly relieved that these haphazard objects were blown and flown in place before anyone was about. Tomorrow it is forecast to be still and frosty. It is likely that the concrete milk tanker stand will be transformed to an ice rink for any unsuspecting team member striding off to tackle the next job on their list. Best I race off and find the hazard marker cone.

It is August and it is calving; a typically tempestuous mix. It is always a busy few weeks peppered with what I like to think is managed madness rather than disorganised mayhem. That said, it is the time of year when I would not want surprise visitors to arrive at the door.

The piles of unfolded washing (strategically

Country-Wide

September 2022

"The intensity of the beginning of calving has taken us somewhat by surprise and there has been no gentle start.”

hidden) and dishes “drip drying” (isn’t there research supporting tea towels to be unhygienic?!) certainly do not support that sense of order that is being constructed onfarm. Prioritise is the theme of these weeks.

In the 15 years since converting to dairy farming, I’ve never quite found a sense of kinship with the very beginning of calving. I find the initial period to be gnarly and uncomfortably stilted as the mind reboots itself to the seasonal procedures and the body readjusts to the pace of the physical jobs. Even the best-documented standard operating procedure seems several dimensions short of the reality of reexecuting the actual task in the exact moment when it is needed.

Predictably and despite a winter service plan, the beginning inevitably has the occasional unexpected breakdown as equipment and machinery restart for the season, usually on the busiest day of calving and involving the most essential piece of machinery needed that day. Gnarly is nowhere near descriptive enough when that happens.

This year there really hasn’t been the time to loiter in that initial period of apprehension. The intensity of the beginning of calving has taken us somewhat by surprise and there has been no gentle start.

The plus side of this is I am quietly confident that we may have achieved a level of respectability in our progress towards achieving that coveted condensed calving pattern. And while there have been a couple of notable breakdowns, I have been reminded of the immense value of having a “village” behind us; part of which are those essential service people who absolutely understand the need to urgently get us back up and running.

At the centre of our farm community and the bit that keeps me going in those first weeks is a fabulous team of staff who despite high winds, driving rain and some frenzied days, turn up to work and over and above the physical tasks, they give support, comradery and humour to make those gnarly first weeks more than a bit less difficult. Thanks Team.

13

HOME BLOCK Eketahuna

Weight loss, mental gain Surrounded by newborn calves, Micha Johansen is relishing a new, slimmer self.

C “Perhaps reading columns in one of the nation’s leading farming publications will help them out...”

14

ALVING IS ONCE AGAIN UNDERWAY. As I write we have 47 cows in, so that is more than a third of our herd calved in two weeks, which is a pretty good start. The biggest difference for me this season is the 20kg I have managed to lose over the last 10 months.

Everyone knows being overweight is a hindrance, especially in a physical job, but boy, what a difference. I’m walking faster, able to climb hills better (which is good as we have a lot of those), wind up reels so much easier, and I complain a heck of a lot less.

I am also far less tired, until around 7.30pm, when I tend to zonk out on the beanbag in front of the fire, but until then I have been pretty energetic.

It has also led to much better mental health.

I have been practicing the whole ‘focus on the good in your life’ routine, which takes a bit of work, but is starting to pay dividends. Case in point is despite the fact the weather has been absolute bollocks, which in previous years would have been my main focus and drained me, this season I have been focused on getting jobs done.

I haven’t even whinged about putting my wet wet-weather gear on, and I am not a fan of wet wet-weather gear. So, yes, apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Being the good keen farmer I am, I eventually took a gander at the new calf welfare regulations.

Needless to say I already do most of what the regulations say, with a few ‘I know what I am doing in regards to animal husbandry’ tweaks.

The two main cases in point are, first, I am not going to offer colostrum to a calf that has obviously had a decent feed from its dam, because, quite simply, there is no point. It’s not going to drink, and if you tube it two litres (I

don’t tube, ever), then it’s just going to be overfull and get a gut-ache.

I do ensure all our calves get two litres of ‘gold colostrum’ (first milking colostrum) at their first feed, and I even have about 26 litres of gold colostrum from last year in the freezer, in case I end up with none suitable on any particular day.

The other is the 20% of body weight in milk, over two feeds. While I do feed twice a day, for far too long according to my mother, again, in my experience, you could be looking at overfeeding problems, leading to gastro issues.

I make judgement calls based on a number of factors including size and breeding, how full they are looking (do they have the ‘shakes’?), plus the speed at which they drink.

Once they have had quite a few days in the shed, and are not having any issues, I will likely top up a fast-drinking calf. Lets face it, this is mostly to try and keep the little bugger from knocking all the slower-drinking ones off! But it is one of the reasons I use partitioned feeders, so I can ensure all calves receive at least two litres per feed regardless of size, and drinking speed.

Yep, I even wait around defending the calves who ‘chomp’ rather than suck, making sure they get their full two litres. I believe I just may be a calf rearing Saint.

My calves also have access to hay, muesli, and water from day one, so growth rates are certainly not an issue, and they develop their rumens nicely. I’ve been told a few times that I rear nice calves, so, aside from my usual regular tweaking of my system, I’ll be leaving well enough alone.

I’m also unsure how they will police this exactly. Perhaps reading columns in one of the nation’s leading farming publications will help them out with that. Whoops!

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September 2022

HOME BLOCK Balfour

Plaudits among the volatility Prices are soaring for grain, and with it comes a negative knock-on effect on other sectors, such as dairy, Blair Drysdale writes from Northern Southland.

Hopefield Hemp was entered in the Arable Awards, but no gongs this year.

A

S WE HEAD TOWARDS A RAPIDLY approaching spring, we’re seeing grain prices rise just as quickly and the question ahead is how soon before grain prices reach $700 per tonne? If this question had been broached a year ago, you’d all have thought I’d gone completely mad, but due to many influencing factors both here and offshore, that is where we now find ourselves heading.

As a large part of our business is arable, we’re directly attached to, and our prices influenced by, the dairy sector, so it is of notable worry that 10 of the last 12 GDT auctions have seen a negative result.

While the forecast midpoint payout is still $9.50 per kg milksolids (MS) for this season, it looks like there’ll be some serious downward pressure on the 2023/24 season dairy payout and we’ll see the impact of that with grain prices looking ahead.

Volatility is the new normal that from all indications will continue for a while yet. Our worry is where the appetite will be for grain if the price point gets too high on a falling payout, we’ve been there before and it’s not much fun.

On a much brighter note our Hopefield Hemp business was nominated in two categories for the Arable Awards in Christchurch which was held at the new Te Pae Convention Centre. While we didn’t come away with a gong in either the Food Champions or Innovation categories, it was a brilliant night and our congratulations to all the category winners, but especially to Toni and Rob at Auld Farm Distillery and Angela Clifford from Eat New Zealand who won the two categories respectively, bloody good people doing great things for our industry.

Well done to Federated Farmers for taking the lead on elevating the arable awards to a completely new level where the success of those going the extra lengths in the industry are now very deservingly

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"The best thing about the awards evening and other similar events, though, is always chewing the fat with other likeminded people over a few amber-coloured refreshments.”

awarded and celebrated as they deserve to be. The arable industry has run under the radar for too long and this promotion around its importance to food production is so good to see.

The best thing about the awards evening and other similar events, though, is always chewing the fat with other like-minded people over a few amber-coloured refreshments, building a network through meeting new people and catching up with others you’ve not seen for a while.

It’s been a very busy winter off farm and thankfully winter on the farm is quiet with only two mobs of stock behind the wire that allows me to get away. As part of a Foundation for Arable Research Growers Leading Change group we’re in, hemp-related events and the odd speaking gig here and there, I’ve not had a full week at home since late May and I’m more than happy that a busy spring is approaching to keep me busy on the farm again.

By the time this goes to print I’m hoping ground conditions are dry enough so that we’ve kicked off the spray and fertiliser programme on the crops, with oil seed rape being first up for some SOA and a herbicide, with the autumn-sown barley right behind that before we get started on the wheat. Our part of Southland has once again fared very well over the winter and it was only very late July before things started to get wet, with both the ground and stock holding up very well all the way through.

In saying that, winter has been a bit dreary with frosts followed by overcast days, and even worse of late has been frost followed up with a dirty easterly that cuts right through a bloke. But it’s only a matter of days now until the grass starts growing, the cereals start to move along, lambs hit the ground, and in our case 25ha of tulips flowering right out in front of the house.

There are certainly worse places in the world that one could be right now, happy spring everyone.

15

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Country-Wide

September 2022

HOME BLOCK Cambridgeshire, England

Too dry to combine A hot dry summer in Cambridgeshire, England, has left David Walston opting out of some future crops.

Combining a 13t/ha winter wheat crop, starting at 5am to cut winter beans in the dew, cleaning a combine late at night, ready for an early start the next day.

W

HEN I WAS A KID, AND EVEN FOR the first years that I worked on the farm - which started about a decade ago harvest always followed a pretty set pattern.

We would start oilseed rape on something like July 18, give or take a couple of days. This would take about a week, then we would wait another few days for the wheat to be ready; near the end of July, or maybe the beginning of August in a very wet year.

The rest of August would proceed gently, as the wheat ripened on our heavy land, and then, at the end of the month, or the beginning of September, we would end the harvest by cutting our winter-sown beans. So all in all, harvest was about five weeks, maybe four in a very kind year, and over six in a bad one.

As you may have guessed, this old pattern is no longer what happens.

Since 2018, we have finished harvest on or before August 5 in three out of the five years. The other two years, with their more ‘normal’ finish dates, were more to do with wet Augusts not allowing the combine to roll, rather than the crops not being ready.

In 2022 we went to extremes, with harvest starting on July 11, and ending on a scarcely credible July 29. Within this period was a two-day span with temperatures reaching just under 40C. We had to stop combining as the crops were just too dry. Back in 1976 there was a famously hot and dry summer, and on this farm harvest finished on July 27. This has long been considered a huge anomaly, but with our harvests now seemingly finishing earlier and earlier, is it the new normal?

I have mixed feelings about all of this. On the one hand, the reason for such earliness - higher temperatures and a lack of spring and early summer rainfall are seriously limiting our yields, and hence the profitability of the farm.

On the other hand, it’s great for my non-farming life, as I can have a proper summer holiday with

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September 2022

"It really makes you wonder about the accuracy, and usefulness, of trying to benchmark against your neighbours when it’s not even possible to benchmark against yourself!”

my kids when they are off school. I think that on balance, I do like the early finishes and the quality family time more, at least while my children are young enough to want to go on holiday with me still.

Looking at the results from harvest 2022, I would say they have generally been slightly below average, although I feel that perhaps what constitutes a “good” result is perhaps not quite as high as it was only a few years ago.

Oilseed rape produced a paltry 2.22 tonnes/hectare, although with the now-customary flea beetle attack, combined with a pigeon epidemic and a dry spring, anything over 3t/ha in this part of the country is considered a good result.

As it happens, we will probably not have a single hectare of oilseed rape next year, simply for the reason that with only 15mm of rain the past two months, there is no moisture in the soil and so we cannot plant anything.

Our one field of peas, grown as a seed crop, was about as close to a crop failure as you can get, whilst still harvesting a crop. The yield of 0.35t/ha made it worth combining - but only just.

We will not grow peas again. They just cannot cope with the dry springs. Our winter beans, which used to be ready in September, were cut in mid-July, and produced a mediocre result of 3.39t/ha.

Spring oats were very variable, ranging from the very low 3.17t/ha to the not-too-bad 5.84t/ha.

Wheat, which ended up with an average of 8.94t/ ha, was also highly variable. If you were to split our farm in half, the southern part, made up of lighter, sandy soil, averaged 6.95t/ha of first wheat. The heavier, northern half on the other hand made 10.44t/ha. I should add that this is one contiguous block of land, so about as close a comparison as you could hope to make.

It really makes you wonder about the accuracy, and usefulness, of trying to benchmark against your neighbours when it’s not even possible to benchmark against yourself!

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BUSINESS Trade

Protectionist EU always a hard task Industry talking heads were quick to knock it down, but how useful will the recent trade agreement with the European Union be to meat exporters? Nigel Stirling spoke to some.

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hree years working in Brussels for New Zealand’s biggest exporter is enough to make anybody cynical about the European Union’s openness to the idea of free trade.

ANZCO general manager of sales and marketing Rick Walker, who worked as a trade policy manager for Fonterra in the EU’s bureaucratic nerve centre from 2003 to 2006, has seen it all from the Europeans before.

“I had no expectations,” Walker said. “So I am not disappointed.”

The chief executive of Hamilton-based beef exporter Greenlea Premier Meats, Tony Egan, had a similarly fatalistic view of the free trade agreement.

“To be honest when [NZ negotiators] went into the final round they were struggling even to get what they got in the end.”

So set expectations low and you’ll never be disappointed? That might be a good rule for life but is hardly any way to measure the success of four years of talks to prise open a highly protected market of 450 million people.

The Meat Industry Association, representing exporters, and Beef + Lamb NZ, representing farmers, were unequivocal in the immediate aftermath of the agreement’s announcement in Brussels by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The deal stunk.

New beef quota of 3333 tonnes, rising to 10,000t after seven years, was a drop in the bucket compared to the EU’s beef consumption of 4.5 million tonnes annually. NZ’s existing high-quality beef quota remained a miserable 846t per annum.

There were bigger gains for sheep meat, but given NZ struggles to fill its existing 114,000 tonnes tariff-free quota, these were of secondary importance.

The deal had not delivered the commercially meaningful market access gains the industry lobbies were hoping to see.

But Walker recommends taking a closer look at the detail to get a true feel for the worth of the deal.

Reducing the current in-quota tariff rate for beef from 20% to 7% was a material change for any exporter looking at which

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markets it allocated scarce supplies of product to. More so because the lower tariff is also to apply to the newly-created beef quota under the FTA. “At the moment Europe is not first cab off the rank because of the tariff and reducing it actually does make that access more valuable to us.”

While the size of the new quota looked miniscule compared to total EU consumption it is more flattering when compared to rival markets.

Under existing arrangements ANZCO is eligible for 300t of NZ’s high-quality beef quota for the EU. That would increase threefold to 1000t on the EU FTA’s entry into force.

“We had good hopes after seeing Canada getting a good deal some time ago…but we were also realistic that the EU did not particularly want more beef.”

ANZCO’s number one market for highquality beef is Japan which buys 2000 tonnes per annum, followed by China catching up quickly with 1000t annually.

NZ has FTAs with both.

“If we have that EU access and it is at the 7% tariff then it moves up the priority list in terms of other options for that prime steer around the world,” Walker said.

“A thousand tonnes of prime steer is actually a big market for us.”

Greenlea’s allocation rises from 80t per annum to 200t on the deal’s entry into force.

Chief executive Tony Egan said the increase would be soaked up by existing customers and wasn’t enough to explore the EU market any more widely than it already was.

In the past Greenlea had continued to ship to customers even once its quota allocation was exhausted in the interests of maintaining continuity of supply and business relationships.

More quota meant it would be able to meet more of that demand without paying high out-of-quota tariffs.

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Canada and Mercosur deals still to be ratified Tony Egan said the EU had agreed deals with Canada and the Mercosur group of South American countries in recent years.

They had been allocated 50,000 and 90,000t respectively of new beef quota.

A backlash from European agricultural protectionists is one of the reasons both deals are still to be ratified by all EU member states. In the case of Mercosur the deal is still fully in limbo.

“We had good hopes after seeing Canada getting a good deal some time ago…but we were also realistic that the EU did not particularly want more beef.

“It is still an improvement on where we were but not as much as we would have liked.”

Silver Fern Farms group sales manager Peter Robinson said he was disappointed by the deal with the EU but that was not to say it had no value.

The increased market access gained through FTAs benefited exporters by giving them more selling options for their products.

“It may be that an FTA will enable more product to go in there, but if you have more access you also have the ability to choose markets and the best paying markets “This one falls a wee bit short of that.”

Robinson said the EU was a strong market for beef tenderloins but age restrictions meant exporters were limited in the amount they could send there under the terms of the existing high-quality quota.

Ditching those restrictions would be a welcome boost.

While it was likely to go unused for the foreseeable future, the 30,000t of new sheep meat quota could also be a useful backstop should NZ face disruption to its main market of China, Robinson said.

That was even though many of the items popular in one market were not necessarily valued as highly in the other.

“Obviously it would be challenging if you turn up in the EU with double the amount of product it is going to have an impact on pricing.

“Also do not forget we have the unused access into the UK as well.”

“Having that access to extra quota, it just gives you options should things deteriorate in other markets.”

The same could not be said for new EU beef market access, however.

• Nigel Stirling is a farmer, agribusiness and trade journalist in South Otago.

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BUSINESS Opinion

Carbon catch-up Alternatives to the exclusion of exotic forests from the Emissions Trading Scheme are back in the mix. By Joanna Grigg.

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ithout getting bogged down in detail, here’s a quick summary of where things are at with the Emissions Trading Scheme.

The Government has hit pause on the plan to exclude exotics from the new permanent post-1989 forest ETS category.

This is a win for forestry advocates, including iwi who actively swayed Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash and Climate Change Minister James Shaw. It was an impressive campaign.

Emerging Forests managing director Mark Belton was one of the campaigners. In Country-Wide June, he floated an alternative scheme, to take the heat out of farmland conversions, but still allow permanent exotics in the ETS. He suggested exotics should be allowed for permanent carbon forestry but only when integrated within farmland owned by New Zealand citizens. This should primarily be located on problem marginal LUC 6, 7 and 8 land types.

He floated the idea of landowners and the Government partnering on permanent carbon forests. They would take 50% each of the carbon credits. He believes this socalled ‘Belton-scheme’ would decelerate the carbon market price, making it rewarding but more stable. Returns per hectare to the landowner would be reduced – slowing the land price escalation problem. Will this idea be taken on board?

Will the farm sequestration choir sing as loudly and in unison, as the foresters?

In their July report, the Climate Change

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Commission threw the cat among the pigeons suggesting onfarm sequestration be excluded from an agriculture emissions scheme. Instead, it should lie within the MPI-administered ETS. The reasons were that it would be too complicated to run and too costly.

Will Beef + Lamb NZ, Federated Farmers and other farmer groups, wanting inclusion of farm sequestration outside the ETS, get the same response from their advocacy?

Perhaps not, unless Maori farming groups rally to the cause. The weight of the Climate Change Commission advice may tip it.

Farmer organisations have cried that it’s unfair to exclude farmland trees.

Kiwis pride themselves on being fair. The beast that is the ETS, tends to see only in black and white, and onfarm indigenous blocks are seldom let through the gates.

Yes, building a custom system to measure onfarm sequestration might be tricky and require building another beast to do it, but shouldn’t we try?

A possible solution is a voluntary option for farms to opt into measuring and contracting sequestration, via He Waka Eke Noa. Keep it simple and don’t try to count every shrub, scrub and stump. Build on it over time, as the science comes through.

With a subsidised methane tax, increasing in cost over time, farmers may not see it making much of a difference to their bottom line initially. They may opt in later as the tax increases. Watch this space.

“He suggested exotics should be allowed for permanent carbon forestry but only when integrated within farmland owned by New Zealand citizens.”

The Climate Change Commission made some more big calls last month. One was the suggestion that the Government put shopping for carbon credits overseas back on the agenda. And now, not later. NZ will never meet emissions reduction targets otherwise.

There are no approved overseas units in the NZ ETS. Dr Rod Carr, in his chair’s message, said it is essential the Government secure access to sources of offshore mitigation as soon as possible, and decide how this will affect the NZ ETS. This matter

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September 2022

cannot be left until later this decade, he said.

The other was decarbonisation. Carr wants to see it start now. Unless this is addressed, the ETS is likely to deliver mostly new plantation forestry rather than gross emission reductions, he said.

“This would ultimately put our economy at a competitive disadvantage relative to a decarbonised global economy and shift cost burdens on to future generations.”

They want to see the stick used on emitters. The government provides some

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NZUs for free to firms undertaking activities that are both emissions-intensive and trade-exposed. This is called industrial free allocation. The commission suggests the Government reduce the subsidiary businesses’ allocations on carbon liabilities.

In other words, businesses have to reduce emissions, not rely on subsidiaries.

One issue has been the stockpile of credits in private ownership. There are 144 million units held in the NZ ETS as of June 1, 2022.

This is about four times as many units as were surrendered for emissions released in

2021. The commission suggests reducing auction volumes, and driving down the surplus by 2030. Watch the price rise.

Auction price levers should be pulled, suggests the commission. It suggests reducing the limit on the number of units available for auction from 16m in 2023 to 10m in 2027. It also suggests raising the trigger prices for the cost containment reserve and auction reserve price.

Combined, these moves set the tone for the carbon market which agriculture is being drawn into.

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Country-Wide

September 2022

BUSINESS Cattle

Dairy-beef numbers falter Demand for dairy-beef calves is likely to outstrip supply, Bob Thompson writes.

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his year it appears the number of dairy-beef calves to be reared will be down and this will impact the general beef market. Number changes flow through to the number of cattle available to trade and ultimately in the number to truck and processing.

The number of dairy-origin calves that end up on sheep and beef farms is often discussed and debated but there can be little doubt the numbers are large and significant.

To fully appreciate the impact of dairy beef supply, it’s useful to review the numbers.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Economic Service figures indicate just over one million calves transfer from dairy to beef farms. Of those it is estimated half are bull calves and mostly high-content Friesian. That leaves about half a million calves sired by beef bulls out of dairy cows.

These dairy-origin calves combine with our traditional beef calves to make up the national processing statistics for finishing cattle.

When we review the last three years of processing data we find 70% of the steers are traditional beef breeds. It is a different story with heifers: just 36% are traditionally bred.

The difference between steers and heifers comes about because most of the male calves that originate from dairy farms are bulls and these make up about 95% of the bulls processed in NZ each year.

This year it appears the number of dairy-beef calves being reared is faltering as farmers, and bull farmers in particular, are reluctant to face up to the increased cost of milk powder and meal. Inevitably this will mean fewer calves reared and in a couple of years a drop in the number of cattle processed. With a drop in the supply of calves the demand will likely outstrip supply; store prices will increase, and profit margins will decrease – a simple case of 101 economics!

Numbers have been consistent If you dig into the numbers further, you discover the number of cattle processed has been reasonably consistent over the past three seasons. The numbers show slight ups and downs between seasons with a general but small increase. Of course there are two crops of calves in the pipeline, and we won’t know the real numbers emanating from them until they’re trucked and processed.

New Zealand Beef Supply

2021-22e September Year, Million Head NZ beef supply: 2021-22e September year, million head.

Sheep & Beef Farms ~9,165 4.0m Beef Cattle 1.1m Beef Cows 100%

95%

Steer 0.66m

1.05m Calves

Dairy Farms ~11,030 6.2m Dairy Cattle 4.8m Dairy Cows

5%

92% 22%

Bull 0.56m

Other Premises 0.04m 0.9%

78%

Cow 1.02m Export Approved Premises 4.51m 97%

Heifer 0.52m

8%

100%

Bobby Calf 1.75m Live Expo rt 0.08m 1.8%

Source: Beef + Lamb New Zealand Economic Service

Source: B+LNZ Economic Service

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This year it appears the number of dairy-beef calves to be reared will be down and this will impact the September 2022 general beef market. Number changes flow through to the number of cattle available to trade and

Traditional cattle have their origins with the beef cow, and she’s been under pressure.

The traditional breeding cow regions have been hammered with drought and cannibalised by pines.

The B+LNZ Economic Service numbers indicate just over one million cows will be processed in the 2021-22 season but again we’ll need to wait and see what the processing statistics reveal as time moves on.

One could guess there’s been more haemorrhage of breeding cow numbers than has been indicated or forecast. Certainly there’s more pressure in the pipeline with the backlog of farms that have yielded to forestry and carbon but not yet been planted.

Genetic overhaul needed While it’s acknowledged the traditional breeding cow has historically been one of our best farming friends, she’s taking another hit with respect to her carbon footprint. To take her place there are plenty of dairy-beef calves that could be sourced with their mother’s carbon footprint having already been accounted for in the dairy herd. But for these dairy-beef calves to be serious contenders for beef finishing most will need a genetic overhaul.

For dairy-beef calves to be worthwhile for beef finishing their dairy dams should be at least 50% Friesian and their sires proven to be of high genetic merit for carcaseweight and/or carcase quality.

For change to occur beef finishers will need to preferentially buy calves of high genetic value/merit for finishing. Dairy farmers will need to understand that it’ll be a privilege for their calves to be bought and not expect a premium.

Calves that are five-10 days old are well and truly overpriced at $100-250 when in reality they should be closer to bobby-calf price at $20-50/head. A lesser and more realistic calf price would make it much easier for our professional calf rearers to make a profit too.

Lower prices for high genetic merit dairybeef finishing calves may not seem realistic today, however, when the market dictates that we’ll need to rear more bobby calves, then it’s suggested agreement will be explicit in the ability to sell or not.

• Bob Thomson is a beef and sheep specialist with AgFirst Waikato.

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2022 Genetic modification | Farmer methane credits | Contracts and feral behaviour | Whole-farm soil testing | The power of good crop management | Harnessing technology.

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September 2022

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CROP & FORAGE New technology

r Calls to

M nG

e d b n a e t p e o o e

Is it time to shift the debate on genetic modification technologies away from toads in tomatoes? Glenys Christian reports.

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ack of movement on reopening the debate on genetic modification (GM) is causing increasing frustration.

While the Government indicated in April it would look at the subject again, indications are there still isn’t the political will for this to happen.

Federated Farmers’ president Andrew Hoggard said the lobby group had been constantly raising the issue.

“More and more people are agreeing we need to have a better look at GM. But we’ve got to have the leadership.”

There needed to be a move away from previous discussions, focusing on where the technology had now moved to.

“We’re not talking about putting frog genes into tomatoes.”

Instead any future debate needed to be framed around how nature could be improved, such as using the technology to reduce the spread of wilding pines, slowing possums’ breeding and reducing methane emissions.

It also needed to be recognised that New Zealand agriculture could be missing out with other countries

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getting to solutions earlier.

The example he used was polled cattle where, through activation of a gene at the embryo stage, the animal born would have no horns. This could replace crossing of animals with this trait which might take many years and could suppress productivity improvements.

“The United States has already bred some animals which are gene-edited polls,” he says.

It wouldn’t be long before their semen was available in breeding catalogues, meaning the end of a painful process which calves would no longer need to go through. But with NZ’s present policy importing semen from such animals would create a problem.

He would like to see a position paper put forward by, for example, the Prime Minister’s chief science officer, so a public discussion could be held.

Both National and ACT support such a re-evaluation.

Opposition science and research spokesperson, Judith Collins, said it’s time for a sensible and intelligent discussion as to how NZ can use precision breeding to

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“More and more people are agreeing we need to have a better look at GM. But we’ve got to have the leadership.”

Below: Samples of high metabolisable energy ryegrass which had the potential to reduce livestock methane emissions.

comply with its climate change obligations and also to lessen the use of chemicals.

Right words but will they?

Hoggard said National had nine years in government to do something about the situation, but didn’t.

“They’re saying the right words, but it’s what they do in government which counts.”

ACT’s Primary Industries spokesperson, Mark Cameron, said NZ should be looking at technological advancements before taxing and destocking, and his party would make changes to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HZNO) to allow this to happen. He referred to a recent Research First survey which showed only 15-19% of respondents were opposed to gene-editing for improved results onfarm.

From 48-52% were supportive and 31-33% neutral.

The terms of reference for the Government’s review of genetic engineering were so tight the benefits to the agriculture industry and climate weren’t considered.

That would mean AgResearch’s high metabolisable energy (HME) ryegrass which had the potential to reduce livestock methane emissions by about 23% and reduce nitrogen excretion wouldn’t be considered.

A number of speakers at the recent Primary Industries Summit agreed there needed to be further discussion about GM introduction. Lincoln University’s Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit Professor Caroline Saunders said the conversation needed to be changed as consumers were confused. A survey of United Kingdom consumers’ attitude to lamb carried out in both 2019 and again in 2020 showed the percentage opposed to GM feed went from 9.5% to 20.4%.

“It would be good to do a more in-depth, nuanced study.”

DairyNZ senior research scientist Jane Kay said while GM would give NZ more tools and technology, it had to be careful it didn’t impact the country’s reputation. And there was concern from the horticulture sector as to the

effect such a change could have on this country’s wellestablished brands.

Zespri chief executive, Dan Mathieson, said the debate would take some unwinding as consumers were confused.

Chief executive of Horticulture New Zealand, Nadine Tunley, said while the conversation around the introduction of GM needed to be had, there needed to be care taken around the story.

The two men who co-chaired the Royal Society’s expert panel on the subject two years ago, which concluded there was an urgent need for such a discussion both lament the time that had already been lost.

Massey University Professor of Molecular Genetics Barry Scott said NZ’s regulatory framework is not fit for purpose with little changing in HZNO legislation since the 1990s.

“Technologies available now challenge past views.

“We need new technologies and we shouldn’t be afraid to embrace them.”

It was tragic that the country was being held back which was resulting in young people going offshore where regulations weren’t so tight and start-up companies using such technology could flourish.

Medicines weren’t regulated based on how they were created but on their safety and efficacy.

“That’s where the real problem lies.”

There could be instances in agriculture where a GM solution was required in the future. With the kiwifruit industry’s PSA incursion it was just fortunate that good germplasm was available locally to breed new, resistant varieties.

“It’s really foolish not to embrace new technology and apply it to agriculture, otherwise we will be severely disadvantaged.”

Retired entomologist and co-chair Dr David Penman, said technology has a way of scaring people, with one hugely controversial development in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) now easily accepted.

“But we are shutting ourselves off from the opportunity to move along in a safe way.”

HZNO wasn’t built for this type of technological advance but progress had to be driven by political will.

“It’s crazy to have to do low-methane ryegrass work in the US.” A further debate which wasn’t confrontational was needed on the subject.

“I’m really worried that we’re missing out on lots of opportunities in the agricultural area.”

Farmers needed more tools as they were fast losing their ability to use some pesticides, but introduction of GM technology could enhance the country’s clean, green image.

“We’ve got to find a way to shift the debate away from toads in plants.”

• More on genetic modification p32.

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27

CROP & FORAGE Conference

Methane matters Unlike carbon dioxide, methane is a fast and furious gas, but it doesn’t need to be a liability. Sandra Taylor reports.

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anaged well, methane can be a tool used to reduce global warming and go from being a liability for farmers to an asset.

This was one of the messages Professor Frank Mitloehner, an air quality specialist at University of California Davis, gave the audience at the recent Red Meat Sector conference in Christchurch.

Speaking virtually, Mitloehner called for the animal agriculture sector to take the challenge of methane reduction seriously to help address climate change.

“It will not go away, we need to reduce methane and if we do, great things can happen.”

Reducing methane will have the same effect as planting forests.

“You are reducing warming by reducing methane.”

Methane reductions could also offset gases emitted from other industries which will help the planet reach carbon neutrality.

It was important policy makers understood that farmers can be part of the climate solution, but they need to work alongside farmers and take a carrot and not a stick

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approach, he said.

He also called for a change in the way methane was measured against other greenhouse gases as he believed the widely used matrix GWP100 was not fit for purpose.

Mitloehner described methane as a fast and furious gas in that while it is potent, it is short-lived and is removed from the atmosphere by hydroxyl radicals.

Methane is differentiated from carbon dioxide in that it is a flow gas which is destroyed in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide on the other hand, is a stock gas that accumulates in the atmosphere and stays there for thousands of years.

This means a constant source of methane does not add additional methane to the atmosphere so there is no additional warming. It also means reducing methane will induce cooling immediately, unlike carbon dioxide which would continue to warm the atmosphere because it is a cumulative gas.

He drew the analogy of a bathtub. With the tap on and no drainage hole, the bath will just continue to fill and eventually overflow – as is the case with carbon dioxide. With

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methane, there is a drainage hole (in the form of methane sinks) so the water level will remain constant. Decreasing the flow will immediately drop the level, unlike carbon dioxide which will continue to overflow.

GWP* not GWP100 for methane Mitloehner says GWP 100, the traditional matrix used to measure the impact different greenhouse gases have on the atmosphere, is troublesome, as it doesn’t correctly describe the impact constant sources of methane have on the atmosphere. It simply converts methane into a carbon equivalent and this overestimates the impact of methane on the atmosphere by a factor of three or four. A fact acknowledged in the IPPC’s 2021 climate change report.

“Every time we burn fossil fuels we add new additional carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

“Methane is treated like a stock gas, yet it’s a flow gas.

“It’s not only produced, it's also destroyed.

“As long as you keep the herd size constant, you don’t add additional carbon to the atmosphere and there is no additional warming.”

GWP*, which was developed at Oxford University, looks at the rate of change of methane and how it affects warming.

He believes GWP 100 will continue to be used by governments and other sectors.

However it is important for sectors that are methane heavy, that there is a matrix such as GWP* that is fit for purpose.

The two can be used in parallel with GWP* being used as a way of defining production goals.

Mitloehner says methane heavy sectors such as agriculture shouldn’t be opposed to methane reductions.

“Methane losses are energy losses and

we must aggressively work out how to minimise losses not only to be green, but to be in the green.”

Highlighting the reductions that have already occurred over the past 50 years, Mitloehner says since 1970, the United States beef herd has declined from 170 million head to 90 million today while production has stayed the same. Similarly, the dairy herd has shrunk from 25 million cows in 1970 to nine million today while production has increased by 60%.

Californian dairy farmers rise to the challenge Dairy farmers in California have risen to the mandated challenge of reducing methane by 40% by 2030 and are now in a position where they have been able to diversify their businesses by selling renewable natural gas to the transport industry or carbon credits back to other industries.

Mitloehner said farmers were initially worried about the 40% reduction targets, but with the help of public funding, they

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covered their effluent ponds to capture methane-rich biogas.

Rather than burning the biogas to fuel their dairy farms and communities, they send it off to be turned into renewable natural gas. As a result, the Californian dairy sector has reduced its methane emissions by 30% in just a couple of years, and that’s without rules, regulations or fines.

“This was with a carrot approach of

financially incentivising the reduction of methane.”

By 2027 he expects the sector will reach carbon neutrality and beyond that, it will take out more warming from the atmosphere than it replaces.

Within the next few years, farmers would have numerous tools at their disposal to reduce the production of enteric methane which would further help reductions, he said.

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CROP & FORAGE Overview

‘Everyone wants wheat’ Growing demand, especially with Russia’s war in Ukraine, is seeing improved plantings and prices of arable crops in New Zealand. By Glenys Christian.

THE $1 BILLION NZ ARABLE industry has been through a growth spurt with a 30% lift in grains and pulses sold in the past three years, which looks set to continue with international shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

An estimated upstream economic impact of $2.2b last year, was up from $1.8b in 2018. That meant a $932 million contribution to gross domestic product (GDP), with exports, mostly of vegetable seeds and ryegrass, worth $260m according to a BERL economic impact report commissioned by the Arable Food Industry Council (AFIC).

The report shows 70% of production was sold to other farmers last year, most of which is made up by maize silage, where volumes have lifted 39% to total 1.18m tonnes. The remaining 30% went to feed mills, flour and malt mills and other uses.

“Everyone wants wheat,” Federated Farmers’ arable chairman Colin Hurst says.

Seed companies were predicting larger plantings this spring, and with higher prices it made a good option for farmers, who might have moved away to growing a range of 44 different seed crops including grasses,

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brassicas and legumes.

Last year milling wheat growers were faced with anti-competitive cartel-like behaviour from two of the major buyers, leading to a 30% reduction in plantings.

The federation referred the matter to the Commerce Commission, which didn’t uphold the complaint. But Hurst is convinced it had a flow-on effect, with buying practices changing. Some pre-harvest contract milling wheat prices had lifted by about $245 a tonne to over $650/t, with feed wheat prices nearing that.

“Who knows what prices will look like a year from now.”

While increasing onfarm costs of fertiliser, fuel, compliance, rates, interest and labour were having an impact and creating uncertainty, margins were improving and looking positive.

“There’s a really good, strong trend there,” he says.

“And we’re building resilience on our own farms. Covid has taught us that.”

Two recently released Arable Industry Marketing Initiative (AIMI) reports show an increase of 38% in the area expected to be sown in milling wheat this year. This

follows a drop of 30% in harvest volumes due to wet weather in much of Canterbury earlier in the year.

Feed wheat sowing intentions remained the same and malting barley was up 2%. But feed barley was down 8%, milling oats by 9% and feed oats 16% meaning estimated average yields over all six crops were likely to be down by 4% compared with last season.

The average yield of maize grain at11.6t/ ha for this year’s harvest was slightly down at 3% on last season. Maize silage yields were down 1% at 21t drymatter (DM)/ha.

With the maize grain harvest 83% complete as at June , when the survey was taken, the estimated total tonnage was 195,900t, down 6% on last year due to both reduced yields and harvest areas. The maize silage harvest was estimated at 1,202,800t DM, with the average 21.2t DM/ ha. This was a lift of 2% due to the area sown going up by 3% but yields being down by 1%.

As at June 1, maize grain sowing intentions for 2022/23 were 11% up on last season, and maize silage sowing intentions were 2% down. Increased input costs meant some growers were at that time holding off making decisions about sowing for the coming season.

Seed Industry Research Centre chairman David Birkett says the industry is the starting point of most agricultural businesses. But the Leeston grower, who won arable farmer of the year at the recent Federated Farmers awards, says the industry will need to move out of Canterbury in order to expand as there’s no more land suitable for cropping. That would bring challenges such as the lack of infrastructure, like seed processing plants, in other areas.

While the sector was already diversified, this hadn’t delivered financial resilience because of growers’ lack of influence outside the farmgate.

“We’re price-takers and that has to change,” he told the recent Primary Industries Summit.

But he believed it would be a case of what not to grow rather than what to grow as demand increased for more added-value and specialist crops required for human health and pharmaceutical end uses.

Read more on arable contracts p38.

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r e n g i s e D CROP & FORAGE Genetics

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Geneticist Nicola Dennis scans the world of genetic modification, mostly outside New Zealand.

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enetic modification, genetic engineering, gene editing. It’s fair to say the science of tinkering with genes in the genome has had a fair bit of rebranding over the years.

The marketing has yet to resonate with the New Zealand authorities who won’t even entertain the thought of letting it out of the lab and into general circulation. It seems a little unfair that all the other countries get it, but we miss out.

But what is it, really? Other than something the man won’t let us have.

What is genetic modification?

To the purists, even your bog-standard breeding programme is genetic modification (GM).

Generations of selective breeding has turned the wolf into a Dachshund.

There is an argument to be made for classifying yappy little dogs as genetically modified organisms.

But, of course we are usually referring to the speedier kinds of modification. Scientific meddling with DNA. Popping genes in, taking them out, inserting/fixing mutations.

Genetic engineering/genetic modification are often used as the umbrella terms for this practice, although you will occasionally find people who will make very boring distinctions between the two.

Whereas, gene editing is a newer, more targeted approach for making small changes to an existing gene (i.e. to fix a disease causing mutation). You might also hear the term CRISPR which is kind of like the Sellotape/ sticky tape situation of the genetic modification world. CRISPR is a technique that has become so popular that its name is often used interchangeably with gene editing.

To understand the fanfare of CRISPR we have to look back on some horrible history.

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‘‘

In total, 20 children were given a virus containing the missing cytokine gene.

Seventeen of the children were cured of their SCID. But not without tragedy.

’’

Some horrible history Back in the olden days (the 1990s), there was some pretty crude genetic modification going on. It involved bombarding cells with DNA that encoded a gene and some extra bits to help drive it.

This franken DNA was usually delivered with a modified virus if the target was a cell that was already part of someone. But, if we are talking about a lonesome cell yet to turn into a plant or animal (when making a germline mutation), then it might involve electricity or firing particles at it. There wasn’t a tonne of precision about where in the cell’s genome the gene ended up which ended up causing some heartbreak.

The highest priorities at the time were: 1. Testing that genes could actually be transplanted from one species to another (i.e. transgenics) and 2. Trying to fix children who had inherited very serious genetic mutations (i.e. gene therapy).

The latter involved children with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID or “the boy in the bubble” disease), where children born with a faulty cytokine gene lack a working immune system.

In total, 20 children were given a virus containing the missing cytokine gene. Seventeen of the children were cured of their SCID. But not without tragedy.

Shotgunning a genome with DNA is a recipe for causing cancer, since the insertion of the new gene can upset the delicate regulation of other genes if it lands somewhere inappropriate.

Five of the children developed leukaemia.

Gene therapy looked promising, but it was far too risky without the technology to control where the genome was affected (that precision would later be delivered by CRISPR).

While gene therapy quietly buried its mistakes, transgenic plants carried the flag boldly. It’s not so daunting if you accidentally give plants tumours. Just pick the plant (or a piece of it) that didn’t develop any issues and you have your new transgenic breeding line.

Golden rice, Flavr Savr tomatoes, blue roses, and a bunch of other commercially dismal genetically modified plants were put before the very reluctant public.

Most wacky plants were harshly rejected, but the glyphosate-resistant trait was well received.

In glyphosate-resistant crops, weeds could be controlled with the inexpensive and relatively harmless glyphosate rather than dipping into the heavier chemistry often required for selective control.

You are forbidden from growing GM crops here in NZ, but chances are you have consumed them. Imported foods made from herbicideresistant canola, corn, rice, soybeans and sugar beet are all authorised for sale in NZ, provided some perfunctory food labelling is in place.

CRISPR - for controlling where you mutate Whether or not genetic modification is abhorrent to you kind of depends on your level of trust in your fellow humans. But we can probably all agree that if you are going to do it, then focusing your meddling on only your targeted location should be a bare minimum requirement. Scientists experimented with enzymes designed to cut DNA at certain places (i.e. site-specific nucleases) to try to take some creative control over their mutations. But a much simpler system was found in an unlikely place. It came from a proper “what the hell is this” analysis of weird repeating DNA sequences found in bacterial genomes. There were clusters of these repeating sequences interspaced with bits of DNA that looked like it came from other organisms. It was the DNA equivalent of a crop circle.

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Gene editing people

Scientists called this phenomenon Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats or CRISPR for short. We now suspect that this is the bacterial equivalent of an immune system.

The bacteria senses an invading virus is trying to hijack its genetic material, it cuts up the virus’s genetic code, takes a piece of the virus’s genetic code and makes itself a new gene dedicated to cutting up that virus next time it sees it again.

In 2012, scientists worked out how to modify this system for introducing precise genetic modifications. Or gene editing as it was now called, to put some distance between this new system and the one that killed children and produced peculiar plants.

Although this kind of breezes over the fact that CRISPR is not limited to “editing” existing genes.

CRISPR is also used for popping in genes from other organisms to make transgenic creatures.

Gene editing livestock and plants There was a public whoopsy when United States company, Recombinetics, tried to introduce the polled (hornless) mutation into non-polled cattle.

The idea would be that top genetic dairy sires could be nipped and tucked into losing their horns so that no genetic progress for production would be lost in the pursuit of a polled dairy herd.

A fine idea that should definitely be developed further. However, the FDA discovered that the genome of Buri, the experimental bull produced, was contaminated with bacterial DNA. Buri and his progeny were packing a bacterial gene for antibiotic resistance. The kind of gene that would have been used to help grow the machinery needed for the gene editing. An error that could have been easily avoided had the company properly verified that they weren’t exposing their cattle embryos to anything but the desired genetic sequence.

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CRISPR and a few of its lesser-known cousins have put gene therapy back on the medical research scene. There have been some very promising cancer trials where CRISPR has been used to modify the immune system to fight off advanced cancer.

There are trials for curing a common form of inherited childhood blindness, for editing transplant cells to cure type 1 diabetes, and just last month a NZ man had his liver genetically modified to lower his cholesterol.

I am being a bit click-baity here, the man had a genetic disorder where cholesterol levels get so high that you can literally see it in the sufferer’s eyes.

At the moment, delivering the CRISPR mishmash of bacterial protein and synthetic RNA into the human body is proving a challenge. So for gene therapy, this new technology is usually focused on easy to get to targets like the blood and the liver.

That isn’t so much of a problem for germline mutations where you are treating a single cell or an embryo. Scientists are legally allowed to mess with human embryos for research purposes, but there is a global understanding that you must not grow them out.

Designer babies are very bad for the brand. An overeager Chinese scientist earned himself a (confusingly short) three-year prison sentence for creating a pair of CRISPR babies. He was aiming to make the twins HIV-resistant in preparation for their life with a HIV-positive parent. It didn’t work, the desired mutation was not widespread throughout the children’s cells, and the whole experiment was condemned as unethical and reckless.

‘‘

An overeager Chinese scientist earned himself a threeyear prison sentence for creating a pair of CRISPR babies. He was aiming to make the twins HIVresistant in preparation for their life with a HIV-positive parent.

’’

On a more positive note, Japan seems to have successfully commercialised CRISPR-modified tomatoes and fish. The tomatoes have five times the normal level of a gamma-aminobutyric acid, a compound that has a vague health halo polished by marketing. The fish are two smallish species (the Red Sea Bream and the Tiger Puffer) modified to grow 1.2-1.9 times larger than normal.

Genetic modification in NZ Closer to home, AgResearch has developed a genetically modified rye grass with a higher fat content. This boosts the energy content of the pasture and could reduce the amount of drymatter grazing livestock have to eat to get their fill.

It could be a useful tool for reducing agricultural methane emissions. It might also never be allowed in the NZ outdoors. Research grazing trials had to be conducted in the US as they were not permitted here. Those trials should be complete by now, but things have gone very quiet.

Meanwhile the science scene is aflutter with scientists researching “gene drives” for pest control. The idea is that you modify a lab-bound pest with an unfavourable mutation that would slow their population growth (e.g. knocking out the gene used to make male offspring). Along with

35

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Glossary Cell: The small Lego pieces of your body. Each cell holds a copy of your genetic code.

CRISPR: A new fangled way limiting genetic modifications to a particular site in the genome. Helpful for reducing collateral damage.

DNA: The chemical that your genetic code is made of.

Gene: A sequence of DNA that holds the instructions for a particular protein or sometimes other nonprotein things.

Gene drive: Modifying a genome (probably via CRISPR) so that it contains the CRISPR machinery. The idea is that the inherited CRISPR machinery keeps on messing with the genome to ensure all offspring (and future descendents) inherit the unfavourable genes. Remember that movie Inception, it’s like the pest control version of that.

Gene editing: A more modern way of genetic modification which only makes small changes in existing genes.

this unfavourable gene you also include the genes for the CRISPR technology.

When a mating takes place out in the wild (assuming you are allowed to release the GM pest), the CRISPR machinery modifies any natural copies of the gene that it encounters to include the new mutation. This means that any matings between a mutant and a wildtype pest result in 100% mutant offspring.

Theoretically, anyway.

I can imagine a scenario where the last male standing has a CRISPR-resistant mutation that rocks back through the population with vengeance. Or maybe something not all that useful to humans mutates inside the pest’s gene drive system and then we have a mutant population of poison-resistant rats that can pick locks.

Existing challenges (where the scientists play) Outside of my wild imagination, there are some notable limitations for the modern gene editing system. Not being allowed to have an adult conversation about its use in NZ is a major one. But, like all emergent technologies the hype is blustering over some important limitations.

First you can’t, yet, mutate any piece of DNA you choose. The CRISPR machinery is looking

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for specific patterns on the DNA to prove it is where it thinks it is - remember it thinks it is in a bacteria fighting off viruses. So there has to be some tomfoolery going on with the protein machinery to trick it into performing the desired behaviour.

The genomic site of the mutation you want to introduce or change might not be suitable for this kind of trickery. Or it might not be unique enough. With CRISPR you have a small amount of sequence (20ish base pairs) with which to identify your target address and CRISPR is not too fussed if it doesn’t line up exactly.

If you have a genomic address that reads like “10 Beach Street” you might end up bombing some unintended targets. And of course, a lot of paper is devoted to working out the best way to safely deliver the CRISPR machinery into living cells. Preferably with some precision and dignity if we are talking about gene therapy in ailing humans.

Viruses are a bit old school and can lead to unintended (read deadly) inflammatory responses. However, there have been some very recent breakthroughs in using nanoparticles to deliver genetic material (e.g. the covid mRNA vaccine) to cells. So we can expect the hamsters to be pounding the wheel steadily in that direction.

Gene therapy: Repairing disease causing mutations via genetic modification. Still in experimental stages in human medicine. Only allowed under strict conditions in consenting children/adults, not in embryos who can’t give consent.

Genetic modification/engineering: Changing genes in a cell or person/ creature. These are general terms for adding genes, disabling genes, fixing or causing mutations.

Genome: The word that means “all the genetic information in a cell”. It is a concept rather than a specific place because genes are spread out over multiple chromosomes etc.

Germline modification: Modifying an individual cell or embryo in the hopes of turning it into a living breathing thing with the modification in every one of its cells. Allowed in plants and animals, but considered a step too far for humans.

Nanoparticles: Tiny little particles that almost have no relevance here.

Organism: A broad term of any living thing. I prefer to use the word “creature” because it is less likely to be mistaken for the bedroom climax.

Transgenics: Taking a gene (i.e. herbicide-resistance) out of one organism (i.e. Agrobacterium) and putting it into another (i.e. soybeans).

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CROP & FORAGE Contracts

Fixing ‘feral’ behaviour A solution has been found to a trend towards broken arable contracts. By Glenys Christian.

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olatility brought on by world events has led to the tackling of the longstanding problem of arable contracts being broken.

Federated Farmers and Rural Contractors NZ representatives have got together and come up with registered contracts with NZX supplying indexed variable components which can be adjusted up and down.

They track costs in fuel, fertiliser and agrichemicals for an independent measure based on rises and falls in offshore pricing changes. With a three-month time lag, growers and contractors will be able to predict and anticipate price changes and know more of the reasons behind them through monthly updates and commentary from NZX, giving them greater clarity about what’s happening.

Waikato Federated Farmers Arable chair, Keith Holmes, said contracts were seldom broken in the South Island, but in the past there had been instances of what he described as “feral” behaviour in the north.

“People will sign a contract but then break it if they can get more money.”

There had been relative stability in the maize trading industry for many years until the current season.

“But suddenly there’s been an almost catastrophic change coming through.”

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Input costs have a high degree of volatility with fertiliser prices going up in some instances by 100%.

Petrol and diesel had risen and so had chemical sprays with interest rate increases yet to come through.

While some of these costs were known when growers were planting their crop, with harvesting prices already estimated to be from 20-30% higher than last year, they couldn’t make allowance for those which might occur later in the season. Not only could there be further increases but there could be big changes when it came to the cost of applying side-dressings or post-emergence sprays.

So the total costs of growing maize could easily be underestimated, along with the increasing returns for a number of alternative crops, as well as maize being used for grain.

He said this was giving growers a wake-up call.

“The world as we know it in traded maize has changed.

These changes aren’t incremental, they’re absolutely dramatic.”

So a pre-emptive move was needed to put in place a robust, defensible contract for maize silage and grain to give a high degree of certainty as to what the final price would be.

“We don’t want people to get their fingers burned.

They need to make sure their budgets stack up.”

The contract will be available to growers and contractors at a nominal cost with positive reactions received so far. Rural Contractors NZ held five roadshow meetings in August which were well attended by members. Chief executive Andrew Olsen says it’s timely to talk about cost shocks in the sector.

“We want to make sure there is both a legal and responsible way for both sides to transparently meet this challenge.”

Contracts may have been suitable in the past but now needed a few tweaks to deal with today’s pressures.

These were often difficult conversations to have and for some growers their initial response might be to go to a contractor who wouldn’t increase their price.

“We want to have common sense discussions to make sure both of our businesses are intact on the other side.”

It was hoped growers and contractors were aware of and honoured their contractual obligations.

“We’re not trying to influence the price,” he says.

“All sectors are under cost pressures.”

The two organisations had worked together in the past and development of the contracts had opened the door to further collaboration.

“We need to get through this together.”

NZX’s Head of Insight, Julia Jones, says if more information is required by growers and contractors that could well be added in.

“This is just the beginning.”

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39

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CROP & FORAGE Soil testing

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Whole farm test additional •

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The aim of whole-farm soil testing is to give a better definition of the spatial variability (paddock by paddock) in soil fertility, Joanna Cuttance writes.

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armers need to ensure they are applying the right amount of nutrients in the right place at the right time.

To achieve this many farmers generate fertiliser plans by sampling a limited number of paddocks which represent the soil type and farm use of the whole farm, but some have extended this approach by doing whole-farm testing.

Ravensdown chief scientific officer Dr Ants Roberts said the purpose of whole-farm testing was not to get a better average fertility status per farm management unit (FMU) by taking more samples to calculate an average, but to give a better definition to the spatial variability (paddock by paddock) in soil fertility.

It was not a replacement for the normal soil fertility monitoring programme which used multiple sampling transects in FMUs, for example, effluent versus non-effluent blocks, contrasting soil types, and different land slope categories.

Whole-farm soil testing was appropriate for hill country farms, along with intensive dairy farms, though the intensity of soil sampling might be different between farm types, Roberts said.

Whole-farm soil testing sought to identify those paddocks which were below optimal soil fertility for pH, or one or more nutrients. Those paddocks could then be given capital lime or P to lift those levels, and for K a higher than maintenance K level might be appropriate.

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Averages tell the real story

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Generally but not always, S was applied regardless of soil fertility level unless very high, which could happen on high anion storage capacity soils.

As well as identifying paddocks deficient in nutrients, Roberts said whole-farm testing also identified paddocks which were above optimal, therefore the nutrients in excess of long-term requirement could either be withheld or less than maintenance applied.

Maintenance nutrient levels are defined as ‘the rates of nutrients required to maintain the status quo soil fertility level’.

With whole-farm testing, the main soil fertility criteria looked at was the Olsen P status and the soil pH. The other nutrients like K, S, Ca and Mg could also be assessed. K and S were mobile nutrients in the soil and did not lend themselves to capital application when the levels were low enough that they could limit pasture production.

“Fertiliser mixes get quite complicated if you try too many different rates of P, K and S,” Roberts said.

The Ravensdown team recommended whole-farm soil testing was conducted once every five years or so, with the intervening years having the normal monitoring transects by farm management units to keep track of soil fertility trends. Although, he said, there were some farmers who insisted on carrying out whole-farm soil testing every year or every couple of years.

September 2022

he basic problem with soil sampling is that there is a lot of error associated with the results, soil scientist Robert McBride says.

If soil tests were taken properly, depending on the nutrient, the errors were typically +/-15% to 30%. This meant if the Olsen P result was 25, the actual soil level was probably somewhere between 20 and 30.

“If you were to keep sampling the same transect over and over, you’d get different results each time,” he said.

However, McBride said if you averaged those results, it would be about right.

This was why the standard protocol had been to sample the same transects in the same paddocks every year.

“By averaging multiple transects in a given block, it gives a better indication of the actual levels, and by plotting those averages over time, you can see trends,” McBride said.

Even though none of the soil tests were very accurate by themselves, used together, and particularly used together over time, farmers could get a good idea of where things were. The standard procedure to use established transects and blocks was an effective way to deal with variability.

McBride said the problem with all-paddock or allfarm testing was that each sample was treated as if it accurately represented the nutrient levels in that paddock. He said this was not the case.

“Assuming the sample was taken properly, which is a dangerous assumption, it is +/- 15% to 30%.”

If every paddock had an actual Olsen P level of 25 for example, the test results would come back ranging between 20 and 30. The ‘30’ paddocks would get fertilised less, and the ‘20’ paddocks fertilised more, he said, even though in reality they were exactly the same.

QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY Farmers do not have to sample soil every year, but it depends on what they were wanting to do, soil scientist Robert McBride said.

If everything was fine and farmers were just trying to maintain nutrient levels, they could get away with not sampling every year.

If farmers were trying to build fertility and spend lots of money – the more information the better.

It must be kept in mind that the quality of the samples was more important than the quantity or frequency.

“Poor soil sampling leads to inflated results, and you can’t make good decisions with bad information.”

41

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CROP & FORAGE Sub clover

NZ cultivar finally makes it BY: SANDRA TAYLOR A subterranean clover adapted for North Island hill country farming systems is about to hit the market after decades of sitting on the shelf.

Puawaa is an ecotype of the subterranean (sub) clovers (Mt Barker and Tallarook) oversown on North Island hill country in the 1940s and 50s.

In the 1980s, plant scientists including Dr Gavin Sheath, surveyed hill country pastures from the upper North Island. They described the plants, particularly white and sub clovers, and found they were very different to cultivars being sold at that time.

They were smaller, more dense and able to persist under intensive, set-stocking grazing regimes, particularly in spring.

In the late 1980s, working at Whatawhata Research Centre near Hamilton, scientists selected a line of sub

clover they thought would be more suitable for low fertility, intensively grazed, dry hill country than the Australian sub clovers on the market at the time.

“It was more prostrate, dense and later flowering than the Australian sub clovers and more importantly, it was adapted to New Zealand farming conditions.”

This sub clover thrived on dry hill country, which Sheath points out does not necessarily mean low rainfall areas, with slope and associated run-off influencing how much moisture reaches the root zone.

Sheath says the base material for this cultivar has its origins in multiple sites in upper North Island hill country; that is intensively grazed, dryish, steep hill country.

“It is only now that we are seeing some hill country farmers wanting improved performance from their pastures that we are seeing an opportunity for

commercialisation.”

Sheath says Puawaa flowers later than the Australian cultivars and when managed correctly, is a prolific seeder, particularly in the first couple of years.

Ideally, the area sown in Puawaa should be grazed regularly by cattle in the first year after establishment as ewes and lambs will selectively eat the highly palatable legume and significantly reduce reseeding in late spring.

Once established, it will grow a bulk of feed in the critical spring period which will drive lactation and pre-weaning growth rates.

Every three to four years, management should be adjusted to allow the seed bank to rebuild.

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CROP & FORAGE Costs

Surviving high fertiliser costs Is the recent spike in fertiliser costs temporary, or will farmers have get used to it, Doug Edmeades writes.

I

t has come as a shock – the shock is not that fertiliser prices have risen, but the size of the recent increases. Superphosphate is our fertiliser ‘staple’ and for the last decade the cost has ranged between $300-350/tonne ex works (see figure). It broke the $350/ tonne barrier in November 2021, and then suddenly leaped to $499 in June 2020.

An interesting feature of this historical record is that we have been in this place before during the economic meltdown in 2008.

How best should farmers respond?

One approach is to assume this recent spike, like the one in 2008, is only temporary, and that prices will eventually settle again. If this is correct then it is a matter of ‘grin and bear’ in the meantime.

The historical record provides support for this approach. During the mid-1980s all subsidies on fertiliser were removed. It was a tough time, especially for drystock farmers. However, a survey of this sector

44

in 1990 – five years after the subsidies were removed showed that the profitability of those farms where the fertiliser inputs had been maintained were three times greater than those where fertiliser inputs were withheld.

The rapid increase in fertiliser costs triggered research looking at the effects of withholding fertiliser. The ‘rule of thumb’ which emerged from this science was that production – both pasture and animal – declined at a rate of about 5% a year.

Put differently, if the farm is at optimal soil fertility, then withholding fertiliser for one year will have no lasting detrimental effect. Thus, large spikes in fertiliser prices can be survived in the short-term (12 months).

These high fertiliser prices should nevertheless trigger some rationalisation of the fertiliser policy on both dairy and drystock farms.

A significant number of dairy farms are being operated at Olsen P levels above the economic optimal, typically Olsen P levels in the range 35-40. Withholding fertiliser P (the most expensive nutrient) when the

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September 2022

D C Edmeades Words 816 It has come as a shock – the shock is not that fertiliser prices have risen, but the size of the recent increases. Superphosphate is our fertiliser ‘staple’ and for the last decade the cost has ranged between $300-350/tonne ex works (see figure). It broke the $350/tonne barrier in November 2021, and then suddenly leaped to $499 in June 2020. An interesting feature of this historical record in that we have been in the place before during the economic meltdown in 2008.

Superphosphate ($/tonne ex works) Superphosphate ($/tonne ex works) 600

500

400

300

200

100

0 Apr-01

Jan-04

Oct-06

Jul-09

Apr-12

Dec-14

Sep-17

Jun-20

Mar-23

Dec-25

“Put differently, if the farm is at optimal soil fertility, then withholding fertiliser for one year will have no lasting detrimental effect. ”

Year

Year

P levels are above the economic optimal not How best shouldOlsen farmers respond?

(VRT) will provide another great opportunity to only is prudent (reduces costs) but is environmentally rationalise the fertiliser spend in hill country. This runoff). technology will make it practical to differentially One approach is desirable to assume(reduces that this Precent spike, like the one in 2008, is only temporary, Pasture plants need 16 nutrients for optimal growth. apply fertiliser to blocks on the farm, reflecting their and that prices will eventually settle down again. If this is correct then it is a matter of ‘grin are already present in the soil, so the ‘big ones’ we economic potential. and bear’ in the Most meantime. worry about in terms of fertiliser inputs are; phosphorus In practice this may mean increasing nutrient inputs The historical record provides support for this(S) approach.

During the mid 1980s all on subsidies (P), potassium (K), sulphur and molybdenum (Mo). the better classes of land and reducing inputs, or on fertiliser wereAnd removed.

It wasthe a tough time, forthe drystock However, a remember pasture (inespecially particular clover)farmers. can maybe skipping, the ‘bony’ unproductive blocks of the survey of this sector in 1990 – 5 years after the subsidies were removed showed that the only grow at the rate of the most limiting nutrient(s). farm. In this manner the long-term profitability of the There is evidence that many farms are not balanced whole farm is optimised. in this regard – while the Olsen P levels are optimal, The same principles apply to ground-spread fertiliser.

K, or S or Mo, or perhaps a combination of these Dairy cows move large amounts of nutrients within the nutrients, are suboptimal, limiting clover growth. In farm from the hill slopes to the swales (gully floor) and these circumstances withholding P inputs and diverting gateways. In time the soil fertility on the slopes declines the fertiliser dollar into correcting the soil fertility and with it the pasture quality. The cost effectiveness of imbalances can not only reduce fertiliser costs but the fertiliser policy can be enhanced by reversing this can, in many cases, result in large increases in pasture process and applying the fertiliser to the slopes and not (clover) production. on the nutrient-rich areas of the farm.

Also note that P largely stays where it is put – the sky will not fall if no fertiliser P is applied, assuming levels are adequate. The same does not apply to mobile nutrients such as K and S. These nutrient tanks drain quickly so withholding K and S inputs can be risky.

The recent development of variable rate technology

SOME REMINDERS Clover N is cheaper than bag N. It costs about five cents to grow a kilogram of clover-based pasture drymatter. It is the cheapest source of feed for ruminants.

It follows that the fertiliser programme should be aimed at

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September 2022

optimising clover growth - it is a surefire way of reducing fertiliser N inputs, and, at the same time enhancing feed quality.

Stick to the tried-and-true generic fertilisers. They are typically cheaper than branded

fertilisers. And be wary of snakeoils – there are many products in the market that are claimed to enhance the efficiency of fertiliser N. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

45

CROP & FORAGE Budgeting

Assessing feed crop profitability Laura McQuillan-Reese reports on a profitability analysis of existing cropping systems.

G

iven the recent increases in seed, fertiliser, freight and contractor pricing, now is the opportune time to assess the profitability of cropping.

In order to evaluate the profitability of cropping programmes, gross margins were completed for two different scenarios: 1. A summer herb and clover mix for finishing lambs on.

2. A winter kale crop for wintering R2 bull and a gross margin for the operation.

A summer herb and clover mix for finishing lambs on The chicory legume mix is spring-sown when temperatures are 12C or rising.

Typical sowing rates include 4-6kg chicory seed, 3-5kg white clover and 2-4kg red clover, at a total sowing rate of 9-15kg/ha.

Most seed retailers have a herb legume mix available for lamb finishing. The crop requires about eight weeks until first grazing, which is based on chicory development. Chicory needs to reach 20-

46

30cm in height and have seven true leaves before grazing and shouldn’t be able to be pulled out of the ground.

To maintain chicory quality, the crop should be grazed over a 21 to 28-day rotation over a period of six months.

Stocking rate is important. Depending on yield, the crop could support 40-50 lambs a hectare.

Overgrazing will negatively affect the persistence of chicory and red clover, as the growing points of the plant are higher in red clover and you don’t want to cause damage to the chicory crown. Remove lambs when the crop is down to 7 or 8cm.

Throughout the course of the grazing season, lambs should be regularly weighed and killed as they hit target weights.

This crop can be overwintered and grazed over a second season but increased grazing management is required to minimise chicory reproductive stem developing and affecting feed quality. Also consider the area where the chicory crop is and as it is

unable to be grazed over winter and if that is possible for the farm system.

The chicory scenario was based on a stocking rate of 40 lambs/ha, with crop utilisation of 70%. The lambs started on crop on December 15 at a 30kg LW. Liveweight gain was 250g/day. Final lamb carcaseweight was 22.1kg and final lamb value was $181.30.

As shown in Table 2, based on the achievement of scenario assumptions, and if an increase of value of $64/head of lamb value is achieved, the chicory and legume crop has generated $823/ha of revenue after direct cropping costs.

Lambs are known to perform better on mixed sward crops over summer with increased carcase yields and higher growth rates. The chicory legume mix is versatile across a number of regions in New Zealand for drought tolerance, and adjusting the mix to suit your farm system will allow for best results.

Other examples of summer crops for lambs could be forage rape, raphanobrassicas, lucerne, pure clover swards and high sugar ryegrasses (summer safe or irrigated areas only).

The profitability of the chicory crop decreases to $23/ha after regrassing, although some may not consider that a crop cost. With appropriate grazing management practices (excluded from rotation in winter), the longevity of the chicory/legume stand can be increased to two-three years.

Table 1: Chicory gross margin assumptions Crop utilisation

70%

Regrassing cost

$800/ha

Crop grazing start date

15/12/2022

Lamb LW at start date

30kg

Lamb store price at start date

$3.90/kg LW

Stocking rate

40 lambs/ha

Target liveweight gain

250g/day

Carcase yield post summer crop

44%

Average weight at end of crop

50kg LW

Carcaseweight at end of crop

22.1kg CW

Slaughter price

$8.20/kg CW

End lamb value

$181.30

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September 2022

Table 2: Margins/ha of a chicory and legume crop over one season Chicory/ legume mix Area sown (ha)

25

Available feed (kg DM/ha)

7000

Cost of crop ($/ha)

$1750

Stocking rate (lambs/ha)

40

Feed demand as % of intake

3.2%

Available days on crop

81

Lamb increase in value ($/lamb)

$64

Total lamb returns ($/ha)

$2573

Gross margin/ha of crop

$823

Net margin/ha after regrassing

$23

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September 2022

Depending on the requirements of your system, added productivity from a pasture renovation perspective may be more valuable; or the farm may have capacity to let the chicory paddocks rest over winter, diluting the regrassing cost. This is an important factor to consider for a farm owner or manager considering a summer crop like a herb and legume mix.

It is important to remember that with chicory, after the vernalisation period in winter, the crop rapidly shoots into the reproductive development stages in summer, therefore shortening rotations and keeping on top of stem growth is important.

Once the reproductive stem appears, the lignin content in the plant increases and nutritional value of the crop is decreased.

Potential ways to increase profitability of a summer crop include: • Thinking about increasing efficiency of tractor requirements – could direct drilling be sufficient • Extending longevity for an extra grazing or keeping for an extra season.

• Buying cultivars that are better for pest resilience and growth rates with lower inputs required • Incorporating legumes which fix nitrogen to reduce the requirement for N fertilisers.

• Good animal health and grazing management practices to ensure lambs are achieving optimal lamb liveweight gains.

Kale crop for wintering R2 bulls Kale is sown in late spring/early summer, depending on soil moisture conditions, and the targeted grazing period. Kale maturity, and therefore grazing, is possible from 120150 days post-planting (between May and August). The expected yields for a range of kale crops is 8 to 17t DM/ha, largely influenced by cultivar grown.

The gross margin for the kale scenario assumed 70% utilisation, with a stocking rate of eight bulls/ha. With feed demand of 2.8% of liveweight fulfilled by 80% crop and 20% silage, this gave available grazing of 107 days. The value of bulls was determined by store value before crop and store value

47

“Utilising minimal tillage or direct drilling, rather than full cultivation decreases tractor hours and cost.” after crop in order to capture the value of the crop on its own.

At an end store price of $3.30/kg LW, Table 4 shows the gross margin at completion of grazing was $1249/ha (excluding regrassing). To breakeven, the equivalent store price at completion of crop would need to be $3/kg LWT. Traditionally we see more than a 10 cent/kg increase in bull value over this time period. When regrassing is included in the cropping cost, the breakeven store price value at crop grazing completion was closer to $3.30/kg.

When considered on the wider scale of a bull beef finishing system, the growth achieved during the winter on crops should be targeted in order to have bulls ready for slaughter in early summer. Where bulls do not achieve appropriate LW gain targets on crops, this results in decreased profitability exacerbated by having to keep feeding over summer to finish or being sold store lighter.

Key management decisions such as ensuring accurate crop yield measurement and feed allocation to ensure target liveweight gains are met, increases the level of success in these wintering systems.

There is less flexibility with winter cropping than there is with the likes of a summer crop for lambs. Correct crop husbandry from the beginning is key to maximise productivity and success. Timing of sowing is important to ensure that the plant gets enough sunshine hours to rapidly accumulate biomass in summer months.

Utilising minimal tillage or direct drilling, rather than full cultivation decreases tractor hours and cost. Also target strategic fertiliser applications by talking with a trusted consultant to maximise growth and development of the kale crop. The fertiliser should coincide with the appropriate soil moisture levels and forecasted rain.

48

Table 3: Kale gross margin assumptions

Table 4: Margins/ha of wintering bulls on kale

Crop utilisation

70%

Regrassing cost

$800/ha

Area sown (ha)

10

Crop grazing start date

15/06/2022

Available feed (kgDM/ha)

8400

Stocking rate

8 bulls/ha

Cost of Crop ($/ha)

$2000

Bull LW at start date

400 kg

Stocking rate (bulls/ha)

8

Store price at start date

$2.90/kg LW

Target LW gain (kg/day)

0.7

Kale demand

80%

Feed demand as % of intake

2.8%

Silage demand

20%

Days on crop

107

Silage cost

$0.27/kg DM

Bull increase in value ($/bull)

$406

Days on crop

107

Total bull returns ($/ha)

$3249

Store price at end date

$3.30/kg LW

Gross margin/ha

$1249

Net margin/ha (incl. regrassing)

$449

It is important to manage winter crops to minimise environmental effects and protect animal welfare. Increasingly, consent applications and compliance costs could further challenge the profitability or feasibility of winter cropping systems.

There is absolutely a place to incorporate cropping into farm systems and these crops contribute to profitability on sheep and beef farms, despite the concerns with increasing costs. Crops increase the resilience of a

Kale

grass-based farm system and can provide high quality forage during periods of little to no grass growth.

Getting good advice about how to maximise a cropping option in the farm system is the first place to start. Ensure the money spent is making the profit that you need it to.

• Laura McQuillan-Reese is a consultant with Perrin Ag, Rotorua.

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September 2022

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CROP & FORAGE Fodder beet

IS FODDER BEET’S LIGHT FADING? Failure to understand the importance of supplements and trace elements to fully feed livestock may be turning farmers off growing fodder beet. By Lynda Gray.

A

re sheep and beef farmers, and dairy grazers turning away from fodder beet’s big, sweet bulb to kale or swedes? And if this is the case, why?

The only sure way to substantiate a move away from beet is the change in the area grown. But that’s difficult because there is no updated figure from the estimated 69,000 hectares grown in 2019.

But anecdotal feedback from ag professionals and consultants is that the area grown has pegged back. Ashburton farm consultant Tom Ward says some farmers, especially on Canterbury dryland farms, are ditching fodder beet in favour of kale for animal performance and animal health reasons.

“A lot who have grown it still don’t understand it, so they’ve achieved average

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September 2022

results at a great expense.”

Numerous Beef + Lamb New Zealand online resources, forums, seminars and field days over the last decade have explained the growing and management of the crop.

But for whatever reason the messages don’t seem to have stuck, particularly around the transitioning and feeding of the crop for liveweight gain.

Central Otago farm consultant Pete Young says the average performance is indicative of farmers not feeding beet in a nutritionally balanced winter diet. North American and European farmers who winter livestock indoors understand the importance of supplements and trace elements to fully feed livestock but it’s an area many NZ farmers struggle with, he says.

The protein shortfall of the fodder beet

bulb is typically counterbalanced with silage or balage. But are there other supplements or protein feeding options that should be considered for optimal liveweight gain?

The balanced feeding and diet aspect is mentioned in an AgResearch project ‘Feeding fodder beet to pregnant ewes: what you need to know’. The research recommends that more investigation is needed to identify and address any identified nutritional shortcomings, and the development of feeding recommendations for sheep and other classes of livestock.

The proposed dairy cattle welfare code recommends beet comprise no more than 60% of a dry dairy cow’s diet. PGG Wrightson Seeds veterinary nutritionist Charlotte Westwood says the respective codes for sheep, beef and deer include no recommended allowance. However, she notes that there are risks if feeding is poorly managed which was recently highlighted in another AgResearch project looking at the effects of feeding of fodder beet to twin bearing ewes.

The research concluded that ewes fed beet from mid-pregnancy until lambing had a negative effect on lamb survival and preweaning growth rates.

Southland farm consultant Deane Carson says that research makes it difficult to justify feeding it to pregnant ewes. Beet is not widely fed to sheep and its real benefit has been in beef and dairy beef cattle grazing situations, which is still the case, he says.

“Beef finishing farmers appreciate the quality retention it has into the months of September and October.”

Beef processors speak positively about the ability of beet to add liveweight and produce quality meat that can attract premium payments.

Seed Force extension manager James White says NZ pioneered early beef finishing on the back of fodder beet.

“Many farmers are finishing R2 steers off the crop, which up until the introduction of beet was unheard of from a largely winter (brassica) crop-based diet.”

R1 systems are slightly more complex due to the high protein requirements, but beet is being fed to develop these young animals over winter and enable them to better utilise the spring protein flush, he says.

The beet for young beef system is a cost and production-efficient system because it means farmers don’t have to winter and feed cattle over two winters.

Continues

››

51

White acknowledges some beef producers struggle to achieve the live weight gains and says that could be due to a number of factors.

“That includes growing the correct beet type for the respective animal class, such as low drymatter beet for yearling cattle, through to the correct supplement type and feeding rates which are all crucial for good results.”

He says the information is available and many use it to great effect.

“Getting the results comes down to thorough research and planning, combined with good management for the respective system, as is the case for any crop. “Any issues should be avoidable with sound advice and management.”

Abacus Bio consultant Simon Glennie says that some sheep and beef farmers are questioning whether to continue with fodder beet. “…a big factor is the high cost of growing beet and the challenge of getting consistent yields over 20t on many farms.”

Also, the transition phase is problematic for some.

“It requires a lot of expensive balage as well as good staff and with the shortage of labour in general, getting the right people is becoming a real problem.”

Environmental benefits Environmentally speaking fodder beet stacks up better than kale. In broad terms, under the same conditions, it produces twice the yield in half the area and produces about half the run-off. This was substantiated in recent research by AgResearch scientists who looked at dairy cow grazing in Southland on two trial areas of beet and kale.

The winter-grazed beet leached 40-50% less nitrogen than the comparable kale crop. White says that’s a big plus for beet, given the impending intensive winter grazing rules which will restrict the area of feed grown and require the monitoring of run-off.

Another environmental tick in favour of beet is ground conditions post-grazing.

Observations at a Southern Dairy Hub site were that mud and compaction on respective kale and beet crops were the same, despite the beet having had a much higher stocking rate.

White says the lifting and feeding of beet would be a way of by-passing IWG regulations.

52

South Canterbury non-irrigated system

Compare Gross Margin Jul 22 - Jun 23 Compare Gross Margin

Weaner steers trading Jul 22 - Jun 23

Sheep Sheep

Revenue

Beef

Crop & Feed & Feed Total Crop Revenue Total Revenue

Crop & Feed Crop & Feed

Expenses Stock Costs

Expenses

Weaner steers trading 2022-23 (Kale) Weaner steers trading 63,967 2022-23 (Kale)

Difference -11,094

Wool - Purchases Sales Total Sheep Wool

6,682 75,061 81,743 6,682

5,715 63,967 69,683 5,715

-966 -11,094 -12,061 -966

Sales Sheep - Purchases Total Capital- Value Change Sales Purchases

Beef

Revenue

Sales - Purchases

2022-23 (Fodder beet) Weaner steers trading 75,061 beet) 2022-23 (Fodder

Total Beef Capital Value Change CapitalBeef Value Change Total Total Feed Capital Value Change Total Feed Conservation

Forage Crops Conservation Regrassing Forage Crops

Total Crop & Feed Regrassing AnimalCrop Health Total & Feed

173,722 173,722

173,722 69,683

320,020 47 4,990 320,020 37,500 4,990

243,384 -20 44,448 243,384 22,500 44,448

Total Variable Expenses Interest on Capital (livestock & feed) Total Variable Expenses

Gross Margin Margin per Farm ha Gross Gross Margin per Farm ha

-64,509 -12,061 0 -64,509

47 238,230 47 47

-20 173,722 -20 -20

-64,509 0 -67 -64,509 -67 -67

9,000 37,500 51,490 9,000

9,000 22,500 75,948 9,000

-15,000 24,457

2,793 51,490 8,109 2,793

Shearing Animal Health Total Stock Costs Shearing

Stock Costs Interest on Capital (livestock & feed) Total Stock Costs

Gross Margin

238,230 81,743 0 238,230 238,230 0

Difference

-76,637 -67 39,457 -76,637 -15,000 39,457

2,352 75,948 8,479 2,352

10,902 8,109 17,267 10,902 79,660 17,267

10,830 8,479 17,085 10,830 103,863 17,085

-442 24,457 370 -442 -72 370 -182 -72 24,203 -182

79,660 240,360

103,863 139,521

24,203 -100,840

240,360 2,404

139,521 1,395

-100,840 -1,008

2,404

1,395

-1,008

Compare Physical Summary Jul 22 - Jun 23

Jul 22 - Jun 23

Total Area (ha) Area

Weaner steers trading Weaner steers trading 2022-23 (Fodder beet) 2022-23 (Kale) Weaner steers trading Weaner steers trading 100 beet) 2022-23 (Fodder 2022-23100 (Kale)

Farm Area (ha) (ha) Total Area Grazing Area (ha) Farm Area (ha)

Area

100 100 82 100

Pasture (t DM/Graze ha) Grazing Eaten Area (ha) Supplements (t DM/Graze Pasture EatenEaten (t DM/Graze ha) ha)

Feeding

Production (kg Product/Graze Nitrogen Boost (tDM/Graze ha)ha) Stocking Rate ha) ha) Production (kg(SU/Graze Product/Graze

Performance

Sheep (%) Gross Margin ($/Graze ha) Beef (%) Sheep (%)

Species Ratio Species Ratio

0 0 -4 0 -0.05 -4

7.92 78 2.68 7.92 10.59 2.68

-0.95 -0.05 -1.01 -0.95

0.00 11.60 895.1 0.00

0.00 10.59 740.4 0.00

2,922 13.0 27 2,922

1,780 14.3 28 1,780

1.3 -1.8 -1,142 1.3 2 -1,142

0

0

21.1 895.1 13.0 21.1

Feed Conversion (kg DM/ ha) kg Product) Stocking Rate (SU/Graze Gross Margin ($/Graze ha)kg Product) Feed Conversion (kg DM/

Performance

100 100 78 100

7.97 82 3.63 7.97 11.60 3.63

Total Eaten (t Eaten DM/Graze ha) Supplements (t DM/Graze ha) Nitrogen Boost (tDM/Graze Total Eaten (t DM/Graze ha)ha)

Feeding

Difference Difference 0

Deer (%) Beef (%)

73 27 0 73

Deer (%)

0

0.00 -1.01 -154.7 0.00 -1.8 -154.7

19.3 740.4 14.3 19.3

72 28 0 72

-2 2 0 -2

Jul 22 - Jun 23

Stock reconciliation -Sep Fodder beet Sheep Jul 22 numbers Aug 22 22 Oct 22 Nov 22 Dec 22 Jul 22 - Jun 23 Wether Lamb Sheep Total Sheep Wether Lamb Total Sheep Beef

Steer Beef Calf

1-Year Steer Steer Calf Total 1-YearBeef Steer Total Beef

Jan 23

Feb 23

Mar 23

Apr 23

May 23

Jun 23

2000 Dec 22 2000 2000

2495 Jan 23 2495 2495

2495 Feb 23 2495 2495

Mar 23

Apr 23

May 23

Jun 23

Nov 22

2000 Dec 22

2495 Jan 23

2495 Feb 23

Mar 23

Apr 23

May 23

Jun 23

Oct 22 296

Nov 22 127

Dec 22 15

Jan 23

Feb 23

30023 Mar

30023 Apr

29923 May

29923 Jun

297 297

296 296

127 127

15 15

300 300

300 300

299 299

299 299

297

296

127

15

300

300

299

299

Oct 22

Nov 22

Mar 23

Apr 23

May 23

Jun 23

Mar 23

Apr 23

May 23

Jun 23

230

230

229

229

230

230

229

229

Jul 22

Aug 22

Sep 22

Oct 22

Nov 22

Jul 22

Aug 22

Sep 22

Oct 22

Jul 22 299

Aug 22 298

Sep 22 297

299 299

298 298

299

298

Stock reconciliation numbers - Kale Sheep

Dec 22

Jan 23

Feb 23

2000

1995

1995

Total Sheep

2000

1995

1995

Dec 22

Jan 23

Feb 23

Jul 22

Aug 22

Aug 22

Sep 22

Jul 22 - Jun 23

Wether Lamb

Beef

Jul 22

Sep 22

Oct 22

Nov 22

Steer Calf 1-Year Steer

229

228

227

211

146

40

5

Total Beef

229

228

227

211

146

40

5

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Table 1: Weaner steers on fodder beet (FB)

Table 2: Weaner steers on kale

Cost of growing FB (cents/kg DM)

Costs of growing kale (cents/kg DM) Costs per hectare ($/ha)

Costs per hectare ($/ha)

1800

2250

2500

3000

6

30

19

42

50

12

15

19

21

25

Yield

18

10

13

14

17

(TDM/ha)

24

8

9

10

13

900

1100

1300

1500

1700

6

15

18

22

25

28

9

10

12

15

17

19

Yield

12

7

9

11

13

14

(TDM/ha)

15

6

7

9

10

11

Farm Gross margin per hectare ($/kg DM)

Farm gross margin per hectare ($/ha) Costs per hectare ($/ha)

Costs per hectare ($/ha)

1800

2250

2500

3000

6

1728

1661

1623

1548

12

2138

2071

2033

1958

Yield

18

2508

2440

2404

2328

(TDM/ha)

24

2990

2923

2885

2810

Costs and margins A sensitivity analyses by Tom Ward (Table 1 and Table 2) compares the costs and margins of growing fodder beet and kale for a weaner steer finishing system.

The number of steers traded and overall performance in a fodder beet versus kale system is compared in the Farmax South Canterbury non-irrigated scenario. Both the beet and kale crops are ‘average’ yield crops grown on 15ha.

The scenario assumes the finishing of 230 steer calves on kale, and 300 steer calves on beet.

The beet is an 18-tonne crop which cost $2500/ha to grow and has a gross margin of $2404/ha. The kale is a 9t crop which cost $1500/ha to grow and has a gross margin of $1395/ha.

The gross margins include across-farm revenue and expenses.

The scenario shows that the fodder beet grazed steers produce more meat per kilogram of drymatter and a higher gross margin.

Ward says the fodder beet option appears much more profitable, but the result is very sensitive to reduced yields.

“Some non-irrigated farmers particularly on smaller farms who have experienced two droughty autumns are struggling to justify beet.”

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900

1100

1300

1500

1700

6

1439

1409

1379

1349

1319

9

1485

1455

1425

1395

1365

Yield

12

1805

1775

1745

1715

1685

(TDM/ha)

15

1812

1782

1752

1722

1692

“…a big factor is the high cost of growing beet and the challenge of getting consistent yields over 20t on many farms.” “(Harvesting beet) is considered an arable activity under the Resource Management Act and therefore excluded from winter grazing regulations.”

There are also pest and disease considerations.

“Beet as an alternate species to brassicas provides the opportunity to break disease cycles such as dry rot and club root, that have plagued brassicas for years.”

Spin-offs from beet The pioneering of winter kale systems for beef cattle and dairy cattle has brought with it new management, some of which has been successfully applied to brassicas.

Glennie says it’s probable that the attention to detail required for the growing of beet has led to better management of kale and swede crops.

With the uptake of beet came precision planters which contractors are now adept and experienced at using. That’s led to some farmers adopting the precision planting technology for swedes, another bulb crop.

Barenbrug marketing manager Graham Kerr says there’s been a slow but growing interest in precision planted swedes over the last five years.

“That’s come about because farmers have seen what’s possible with the precision planting of beet.”

He says a precision sown swede crop can conservatively yield an extra 10 to 15%, and in some exceptional situations 20 to 30%. The costs of seed and establishment are higher but offset by the increased yield.

Pete Young has also noticed more paddocks of precision-planted swedes with some yielding 22-23-tonne crops at a cost of about 6 to 7c/kg/DM. But Kerr says it’s not only the increased yield that counts, it’s the ease of management compared to a traditionally ridged crop.

“It’s easier to spray and break feed an evenly spaced crop.”

The only foreseeable drawback is the precision planting requires cultivation, a practice that might be restricted under future environmental regulation.

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CROP & FORAGE Nitrogen management

What has all this got to do with vegetable production?

Vegetable growing can be a high nitrogen input system. While nitrogen output in crop sold can also be high, there is a significant risk to freshwater quality if nitrogen is not well managed. We need to get our rates and timing right, and make sure equipment is applying our target quantities. The trouble is we don’t necessarily know the appropriate rates for all crops, and we may not be budgeting correctly.

We need sound science to understand and justify our applications, and if necessary, manage any losses.

What is being done?

Soil sampling to 09 cm at the start of a fertiliser rate trial for process crops.

Nitrogen management in vegetable production New Zealand was late to the action of management of nitrogen in water, writes Dan Bloomer of LandWISE.

A

wareness that nitrogen from agriculture can have unwanted impacts on ecosystems is not new.

While nitrogen management regulation is headline New Zealand news, we are perhaps somewhat behind our trading partners. The United States Clean Water Act of the 1970s addressed high nitrate levels in Chesapeake Bay, the result of increasing population combined with agricultural expansion1.

Denmark introduced action plans to reduce nitrate leaching in 19852, nitrogen caps in 1994, and by 2003 had reduced discharges by about 48%. The Dutch government has worked to reduce nitrogen emissions since the 1990s. Animal agriculture impact drove these regulations.

The European Union has strict nitrate directives and countries have been referred to the European Court of Justice for poor

54

implementation3. Artificial nitrogen use and excessive leaching are increasingly viewed as critical risks. Appearing in releases from trade ministries and the financial sector, it is extending beyond improving water quality to reducing greenhouse gas emissions4.

In NZ, the overarching legislation is Te Mana o te Wai (the power of water) which recognises the vital importance of water.

Policies for managing nitrogen are set in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 20205. Implementation is through regional councils, which are required to monitor every freshwater management unit, maintain or improve nitrogen levels, set desired outcomes and respond to any deterioration. Plans are to be in place before 2027. A nitrogen cap for pastures was introduced in NZ in 20216, 27 years after Denmark.

Many activities aim to address the knowledge gaps and provide growers with best management practice BMP advice based on sound research.

The most up-to-date industry guidance is the 2019 Horticulture New Zealand publication, “Nutrient Management for Vegetable Crops in New Zealand” by Reid and Morton7.

Based on reviews of earlier research, it brought together information for many crops in a standard format, helping growers select rates based on standard soil tests and predicted yields. However, it couldn’t include all the crops grown and doesn’t necessarily include tests that measure all the nitrogen available in the soil. Up-to-date data based on present growing practices and yields is needed.

The Californian Nitrate Quick Test8 calibrated for NZ by Plant & Food Research is a useful tool, especially when used with the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) online tool to convert solution concentration to kg nitrate per hectare9.

It helps determine the amount of nitrate present before application and when checking levels post-harvest.

From 2018 to 2021, LandWISE worked with vegetable growers in Gisborne and Levin through the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Future Proofing Vegetable Production project. This brought existing tools together to address nitrogen rate prescription and application, retention in the root zone, and mitigation of any losses.

We discovered growers lacked a suitable nutrient budgeting template, so created simple tools for nitrogen and phosphorous, available as paper or PDF downloads or as an online tool for nitrogen10. The budget is

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Soil taken from an asparagus paddock has been mixed, sub-sampled, mixed in solution and settled for Nitrate Quick Test with Merck dip strips.

based on Reid’s and Morton’s recommended guidelines. We used the FertSpread11 tool to calibrate fertiliser spreaders and developed a new module for placement machines. And we used the Irrig8 bucket test method12 to check the right depths of irrigation were being evenly applied.

Track all the N Research projects track all the nitrogen in the system, not just nitrate in the standard top 15cm. The whole root depth (and more), mineral nitrogen and potentially available nitrogen. Nitrogen in roots, shoots, export crops and residues should all be considered.

Sustainable Vegetable Systems (SVS) supported by MPI, Potatoes NZ, Horticulture NZ and Vegetable Research & Innovation aims to secure NZ growers’ social and regulatory license to grow vegetables for domestic and export markets. Aiming for a sustainable horticulture industry and a healthy environment, SVS is conducting numerous controlled field trials and intensively monitoring soil and plant nitrogen so modelling tools can be developed. Additionally, SVS promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing across

the horticulture industry, empowering growers to better manage nitrogen13.

SVS surveys found growers and agronomists use a variety of tools and practices to gain a better understanding of what is happening in the soil, and the amount of nutrients required for their crops.

They use several methods to assess nitrogen and other nutrients in their growing system.

Noting tools requiring a lot of effort can be difficult to work with and off-putting, they want quick results to fit the pace of their decision-making needs: “No grower wants to wait two weeks to get a soil test result back for nitrogen”. SVS growers express a range of views about the NQT.

Nitrate quick test Some strongly recommend it, and like the speed and ability to choose relevant root depths for sampling. Others note the effort required to get representative soil samples, the time for clay soil solutions to settle for reading, and difficulty in wet periods.

Nitrate sampling in wet soil is difficult regardless of the test used. Matthew Norris, the Plant & Food scientist who did much of the work calibrating the NQT for NZ soils, says getting a relevant result is tricky

when soil is wet because the sample is very diluted, and it is almost impossible if the soil is beyond field capacity.

LandWISE has two projects investigating nitrogen management, one for asparagus crops14 and one for process vegetable crops15. With only about 25kg of nitrogen exported in five tonnes of spears, asparagus is a low N crop, and some growers apply no fertiliser at all to mature crops. In line with other research, we found about 80% of nitrogen in the system was in the massive storage roots, and they are what feeds the spear production. Any additional fertiliser should be added at the start of fern growth in summer, reloading the roots for the next spring.

Process crops have a range of nitrogen needs, depending on crop type and highly driven by yield which can be difficult to predict. After our first season collecting data from tomato, green bean, beetroot and sweetcorn crops, the biggest question we have is, “What should we be measuring?”

Generally, when we look pre-planting at the amount of nitrate in the top 15cm of soil, we find there is a deficit and fertiliser is indicated. But if we sample the whole root depth, often at least 50 cm or more depending on crop and soil, and include the potentially available nitrogen present, we find no extra fertiliser would be recommended. Our rate trials so far are showing no statistically different yields with different nitrogen rates. In several paddocks the average yields were slightly higher in plots getting more nitrogen, but in one crop the plots receiving no extra N yielded more.

In the next year or so, we anticipate guidelines for vegetable growers will be updated. Expect recommendations based on improved modelling based on upto-date data relevant to varieties, yields and growing practices. And expect a greater market demand and regulatory requirements to justify every kilogram of synthetic fertiliser applied! Hopefully the demands are informed by the data.

References:

1. nitrogen-in-the-chesapeake-bay-a-retrospective.pdf (umces.edu) 2. eng.mst.dk/trade/agriculture/nitrates-directive/ implementation-in-denmark 3. The Dutch Nitrogen Crisis - FAIRR 4. Denmark presents plan to reduce nitrogen emissions in farming (thelocal.dk) 5. FS30A-Managing-nitrogen-factsheet-final.pdf (environment.govt.nz)

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6. Nitrogen Cap (N Cap) | Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (hbrc.govt.nz) 7. potatoesnz.co.nz/mdocs-posts/nutrientmanagement-for-vegetable-crops-in-nz/ 8. vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/fertilization/fertilization_ UsingthePre-SidedressingSoilNitrateQuickTesttoGuide NFertilizerManagement.pdf 9. far-qttool.shinyapps.io/shinyapp/ 10. nutrient.landwise.org.nz/

11. www.fertspread.nz/ 12. www.pagebloomer.co.nz/resources/irrigationcalibration/irrig8lite/ 13. agrilink.co.nz/casestudy/sustainable-vegetablesystems-svs/ 14. landwise.org.nz/projects/nitrogen-for-asparaguscrops/ 15. landwise.org.nz/projects/nitrogen-best-practice-forprocess-crops/

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THE ANSWERS ARE IN THE SOIL Rocketing fertiliser prices has seen Waikato farmer Don Stobie reassess his soil nutrient requirements. By Glenys Christian. Photos by Emma McCarthy.

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aikato maize grower Donald Stobie soil tested a month earlier than usual early this August to have more flexibility with fertiliser inputs.

“We usually just apply what the recommendations are.”

But with what he describes as “pretty brutal cost increases” based on projections of some nutrients jumping by up to 80%, he wanted the extra time to talk with his AgKnowledge rep about various products as well as whether application levels could be reduced on the 445ha farm at Gordonton.

“We probably could ‘mine’ some of the nutrients, but I’m wary of doing that because it could be costly to bring fertility levels back up again.”

His parents, Duncan and Lorraine, bought the original Gordonton farm of 200ha back in the 1970s, moving from a town milk supply dairy farm at Clevedon, south of Auckland. A large amount of development

58

work was required to clear scattered scrub and bull rushes from the peat country, subdivide it and put in drainage before drystock could be run.

Over the years neighbouring blocks have been added to bring the farm up to 445ha.

Today it is run as a family operation with Donald’s brother Craig and his parents.

Donald’s father started growing maize silage in 1996 to sell to local dairy farmers to feed their cows. What began as 20ha has now grown into 120ha maize silage and 80ha maize grain. Eleven years ago, when another piece of land was bought, it was decided to start to grow maize grain. There were several reasons for this decision, as the land needed quite a bit of development work, such as drainage, water reticulation being re-laid and all the fencing fixed.

He says the grain was a way of spreading the workload out through the year a bit more.

“In the early years we also used the grain

Above: Don and Brenda Stobie on their Gordonton farm.

i FARM FACTS Donald and Brenda Stobie.

445ha, Gordonton, Waikato.

120ha growing maize silage and 80ha maize grain.

Up to 1100 dairy beef steers finished.

5000-6000 mostly male lambs bought in and fattened.

100 tonnes of maize silage in the stack and 50-100t of grass silage can be fed to the cattle if required.

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as a way to lift soil fertility levels up because you are only removing the grain and returning the stover back to the soil.”

Now they’re happy with their fertility levels and the development of the farm, but have carried on growing maize grain because they feel it’s a good fit.

“Harvest time is the best part of the cropping season. You get to see all the hard work throughout the year, from soil testing, seed-bed preparation and good weed control pay off.”

Last year the grain blocks had an average pH of between 5.7 and 5.8 along with an Olsen P of 50. For the 120ha of maize silage the average pH is 5.5 and Olsen P 36.

Nutrients have been in balance since 2014 and since then it’s been a case of maintaining them. Most emphasis went on increasing potash levels which were low at about 2-3 moving up to present levels of 7-9.

The farm is divided into 22 different blocks for soil testing, which is carried out annually, with fertiliser levels remaining static for the last five to seven years. Last

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Don Stobie: “You get to see all the hard work throughout the year, from soil testing, seed-bed preparation and good weed control pay off.”

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year for the land where maize grain was grown, 250kg/ha of Cropzeal 20N was applied, 125kg/ha of DAP at planting and 250kg/ha of urea side dressed postemergence. For the maize silage crops a special mix of 250kg/ha of muriate of potash and 500kg/ha of Cropzeal 16N was applied before planting. At planting 150kg/ ha of DAP was applied and then 300kg/ha urea side dressed post-emergence.

All the machinery work for the maize crops is carried out by the Stobies apart from planting and harvesting which is carried out by local contractors Gavins.

Cyclone Dovi strikes Crop yields for the maize silage average about 27-29 tonnes/ha but earlier this year Cyclone Dovi struck in the middle of February, a month before harvest, resulting in 30% of the crop blown down.

“It was looking like potentially our best crop ever until some of it was bent over at knee height,” he says.

While it was still able to be harvested, there was a 30% drop in yield. The grain crop, which usually harvests 14-15t/ha, only suffered a 10% drop in yield due to shortermaturing varieties being grown as they were not carrying the weight and at a different

Above: Don buys in up to 5000 mainly male lambs in May at 33-35kg and sells at about 50kg by the end of September. Below: About 800 R2 steers and 200-300 dairy beef steers are bought in.

growth stage than the maize silage.

Dovi also caused salt damage from wind blown off the Tasman Sea, sucking the moisture out of the crop and burning the maize leaves.

“It was a cyclone in the middle of a drought, and it wasn’t nice for us or the contractor.”

He regards it as a random, one-off event and says it will not change his thinking on what varieties to plant. But he keeps a close eye on any variety vulnerability to different weather patterns. Frost damage has occasionally occurred in the past in early spring which has meant parts of the crops have had to be replanted.

He favours Pioneer P1636 for maize silage and P0900 and P0937 for grain because of their drought tolerance, along with P0362.

Pioneer have conducted strip trials on the farm for the past 15 years and impact trials for the past seven years.

“It’s really good to see the data on varieties grown in your own environment,” he says.

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“It shows up the varieties not to plant because they do not suit our soil or climate.

And you can see the ones which show promise.”

It is not always about the highest yield, rather the reliability and consistency so there aren’t too many ups and downs in harvests from season to season.

“There are better traits coming through for drought tolerance. But some varieties run their course after five or six years. They just do not have the yield punch any more.”

Maize silage is usually harvested mid to late March, and maize grain mid to late April. Then the ground will be planted into a perennial grass mix of Excess ryegrass and several clovers. One third of the grain maize area is planted into the same permanent pasture while the other two thirds is planted into annuals such as Tama, or increasingly Winter Star and Hogan.

Normally the biggest issue planting grass or cover crops straight after the grain harvest is incorporating the stover enough to get a

Don with his parents Duncan and Lorraine Stobie.

“ A kilo liveweight gain

makes a big difference in the long run.

It’s a single dose, a one-shot wonder.

“ Andy McLachlan

Kingst_1826_CW_A

Tararua District

Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, Nos. A009984 and A009402. Copyright @ 2022 Virbac New Zealand Limited. All rights reserved. *Based on label claims and dosage, and supporting published literature.

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smartshot.co.nz

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Family at the yards: L-R Craig (Don’s brother), Michael (Don’s nephew), Don, Duncan and Lorraine (Don’s parents).

KEY POINTS Maize silage, usually harvested from mid to late March yields an average of 27-29 tonnes/ha.

Maize grain harvested from mid to late April averages 14-15t/ha Maize silage area then planted in a perennial grass mix, along with one third of the grain maize area. The other two thirds goes into annuals.

Rising-two-year-old steers bought at about 340kg liveweight with the aim of selling them at a carcaseweight of 310kg a year later.

Mainly Romneycross male lambs bought from mid-May at about 33-35kg and sold up until the end of September at about 50kg.

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good seed-to-soil contact for it to grow.

“We do this as soon as the combine has finished each block so we can maximise the growing days through winter.”

The amount of yield from cover crops behind grain varies year to year depending on the weather. The main reason is to have living root days through winter and into spring.

“So what does grow is just a bonus really.”

R2 steers bought in About 800 rising-two-year-old steers are bought at various saleyards to be grazed through the winter and a further 200-300 dairy beef steers are bought in to finish on the spring growth when it gets away in August. Maize or grass silage isn’t fed if it’s not needed but they’ll have 100t of maize silage on hand in a stack and a further 50100t of grass silage available.

“That’s usually ample to get us through.

We are finding that although the last few summers have been long and very dry, the crops are still performing well and with timely decisions with stocking rates our

farm seems to show very good resilience and has bounced back when the rains arrive.

“I think that shows if you have good fertility and well-farmed soils the crops and grass keep growing.”

The steers are sent to Greenlea for processing from October to February. They come on the farm at about 340kg liveweight (LW) and the aim is for a carcaseweight (CW) of 310kg a year later.

“We average about 0.7kg LW gain per day through the year.”

They also fatten from 5000 to 6000 lambs through the winter, depending on the season with 400-800 arriving each week.

“This year we started buying on May 18 and will finish killing the last week of September ready for the next season’s cropping to begin.”

The mostly male lambs, predominantly Romney-cross, are bought at an average of 33-35kg and reach about 50kg by the time they are sent to AFFCO. While Donald will buy from local saleyards or in the paddock, he has a couple of agents he can rely on to buy from as

63

JEFF ROBINSON ...is happy to ‘talk up’ the benefits of his JCB SERIES III to his contracting business.

We challenged him to see the advantages of owning a second one.

Here’s what he said...

“IT’S GREAT FOR DOING JOBS WE CAN’T GET A TRACTOR TO DO.”

Jeff Robinson of Three Rivers Contracting in Southland relies on his JCB SERIES III AGRI to speed up operations, both in the yard and out in the field. In fact Jeff loves his JCB so much, we thought we’d drop off a brand spanking new JCB SERIES III AGRI SUPER, leave it with him for a day and return the next day to see if he would consider the benefits of having two JCB’s in his fleet. Already familiar with the efficiency, manoeuvrablity and speed of his JCB LOADALL, Jeff was in no doubt how much his operation would benefit from having a second one.

WHAT COULD YOU DO IN A JCB SERIES III LOADALL? LAN 2653

SEE THE FULL STORY & MORE INFO AT JCBAGRICULTURE.CO.NZ 64

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Don’s nephew Michael in the yards.

Farming and driving tractors After finishing high school Donald completed several polytech courses and then worked on dairy farms for about three years. Then he started driving tractors for a local contractor, learning to drive a wide range of machinery.

He married Brenda in 2000 and started to split his time between the family farm and driving tractors when the contractor was busy.

To help build stock numbers to buy land they started rearing calves, buying dairy beef calves at four days old and farming them through to finish at two and a half years.

Although it was a fantastic way to maximise their gross margin between rearing and finishing stock, he says it was very time consuming rearing up to 500 calves a year.

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far away as Stortford Lodge and Feilding.

While a lot of farmers will cut surplus grass for silage, he believes grazing lambs is an effective way of returning fertility to the paddocks to fit in with maize plantings being rotated around the farm.

“There’s a little bit going on,” he says.

“There’s a McCormack stock truck here nearly every day some weeks.”

He sees plenty of challenges for the future, mainly relating to the “avalanche” of regulations coming at farmers from local and central governments. He presented a submission on Waikato Regional Council’s Healthy Rivers Plan Change One, but says he didn’t feel listened to.

“I don’t have a PhD after my name.”

Gross carbon number While Overseer calculations initially showed 60-80 units of nitrogen/ha were being leached from the farm’s soils, with recent upgrades especially for maize rooting depth, that has dropped to 18.

He has worked out his gross carbon number under He Waka Eke Noa at 8.5 tonnes of carbon/ha, mostly generated by the livestock carried. “...Reducing livestock numbers will be

the only thing to do, to drop this down,” he says.

But he’s critical that little further detail is available, given the differences between finishing and breeding farming systems.

“They are making rules and regulations, but are not yet supplying any costing and details about what the real effect will be on farmers and the wider communities. Beef + Lamb and DairyNZ seem to agree with the Government all the time with no pushback.

“I don’t understand why they follow the Government ideology instead of saying, ‘no this is not what the science is telling us’. I sometimes wonder as farmers, if we’re not getting a real say for all the levies we are paying to these groups.

“If we crunch the numbers and run 20% less stock, we’ll still get all the bills, but we’re not going to make the income, so we’ve lost more than we’ve made.That’s the uncertainty of it.”

He feels their farming system with the mix of cropping and livestock, while keeping the fertility at optimum levels, not only gives different income streams, but is also a good fit for the biological makeup of the soil by having the integration of the two working together.

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CROP & FORAGE Onfarm

Sowing the seed for generations Granting of a water consent was the stimulus a couple needed to transform a Mid Canterbury sheep farm into diverse business. Story and photos

by Annabelle Latz.

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Anna and Darryl Oldham enjoy the flexibility of the farm and the way it is family focused.

hen the opportunity came up a decade ago to return to his family’s sheep farm and intensify the system, Darryl Oldham jumped at it.

The dryland 200ha in Westerfield had farmed 1300 crossbred ewes with some mixed cropping for two generations. When the consent came through 10 years ago to irrigate, Darryl (45) and his wife Anna (42) decided to move from nearby Ashburton and see how they could optimise the land.

Adapting to allow for irrigation included ripping out a lot of internal fences and changing lane ways to make way for pivot irrigation.

Five years ago the Oldhams decided to invest in Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) because of the different soil types across the farm.

Darryl says they went with the Trimble VRI system. After five years of breakdowns and persistent problems, Trimble walked away from the system which was very stressful.

He says they are very grateful for the Carrfields team who helped them through getting the Lindsay Precision VRI back on their pivot.

The Oldhams use one T-L 360 centre pivot with Precision VRI installed and one T-L wiper centre pivot, drawing water from two deep wells and are deepening a shallow well. Darryl’s parents Peter

and Gael did grow some crops alongside their sheep farming operation, mostly malting barley and wheat but at times also grass seed, red clover, peas and brassica for seed.

Darryl says water means more reliability on crop yields, being able to strike what they put in and hopefully achieve desired quality and yield.

“Without irrigation the farm could not support the two families.”

The 2023 harvest will be about 50ha wheat, 50ha grass seed, 30ha maize silage, 23ha peas and leasing 20ha to a potato grower. The rest of the area is dryland barley or pasture. The rotation revolves around getting fodder crops established post harvest for finishing lambs during the winter, mostly by direct drilling. Nothing is left to fallow anymore.

They’ve tried different grass seeds but have mostly nui, the most widely planted perennial rye grass which offers a good steady yield and price at the moment.

“There is the ability to change grass seed varieties, although a two-harvest hiatus is required for variety change for certification.”

With any arable venture, the desire to improve tonnage is always there. They’re happy with the way things are looking for the season, although if the wet continues some areas may begin to suffer.

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They’re trying to minimise inputs due to the tricky financial climate.

Their maize comes in at between 18-23.5 tonnes/ ha drymatter (DM), the feed wheat about 12t/ha, dressed peas sit between 3.5t and 4t/ha. The grass seed is variety dependent and anything from 1500kg – 2.5t/ha.

Owners of six combines Onfarm machinery includes a Case IH 2388, two John Deere 9500s, three New Holland combines (they run a clover harvesting business), two Case IH tractors, a Great Plains air seeder drill, a Vaderstad Carrier and a 24 metre boom sprayer. They also have range of other machinery and implements on the farm including a mix of what his parents used which still operate well thanks to the dab hand of Peter in the farm workshop.

A local contractor does all their fertiliser spreading, utilising modern equipment and the ability to provide proof of placement through Tracmap and Hawkeye. The machines also have variable rate capability, which the Oldham’s have played with a bit and would like to use more in the future.

“NZ Grazing is super easy to work with” - Long term grazing farmer Jarrod from Otorohanga

North Island wide Contact: 0800 10 84 94

i FARM FACTS Farming Partnership Westerfield, Mid Canterbury.

220ha dryland sheep to irrigated mixed cropping.

Irrigation allows the farm to support two families.

Finishing 2500 store lambs.

Bought a clover harvesting business.

Farm Focus programme for 2021/22 financial year: GFR - $5066/ha, will need to be over $6000/ ha for the 22/23 FY. EFS -$1379/ha Total expenses have climbed to 75% of GFR.

Darryl has also tried using liquid urea on some crops through their sprayer with good success and hopefully increase the area it is used on this season.

Weed challenges are fairly standard, with speedwell, thistles and dock being the biggest culprits although for certified crops the docks and thistle numbers are kept at bay.

“With our rotation we are using different chemicals all the time, so we’re hopefully keeping on top of resistance.”

They will sit with status quo for now, regarding inputs and any capital expenditure, as it’s even a challenge to work out budgets.

“Darryl seems to spend a lot of his time doing farm budgets at the moment,” Anna said.

Recently they’ve been busy with deep soil nitrogen testing, they also do leaf testing during the year, and only put on fertiliser when it’s needed.

“We’re not doing any capital fertilising at the moment or any improvements, we’re just sticking to maintenance.”

Since coming home they have invested in improving soil health and fertility, including working on building up soil humates.

The farm is basically split into thirds with soil types, including Mayfield silt loam, Wakanui silt loam, and a Rangitata stony loam down by the Ashburton River which borders the farm.

Chemicals are used as required and although they’re watching their pennies, cutting rates is something they want to avoid and has been possible with farm budgeting. Sticking within budgets and achieving targets has been possible by making sound decisions, largely through the help of local farm advisor Hayden Robinson of Lauriston Farm Improvement Club (LFIC). He came on board with the family after the 2021 floods which caused some feed budgeting issues and damage to some paddocks and cereal crops.

They were glad of Hayden’s input post flood. “...once the water receded, we felt rather overwhelmed with the outlook.”

He comes out every six weeks or so, they go over everything. Darryl says it takes out some of the guesswork.

“It’s someone to bounce ideas off who sums up if he thinks you’re doing it right or wrong.”

Minimal soil disturbance Although July has delivered record rain levels, getting seed into the ground should still be on track for this summer’s harvest. Using direct drilling, they’ll start with barley soon, peas in mid September, and maize mid-October.

They’ve been predominantly direct drilling for 25 years. Minimal soil turnover is their preference

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What are you looking for in a maize seed provider?

“They know what I want to achieve and they’re helping me get there.”

ANDREW MACKY @theonceadayfarmer

Recently awarded 2022 Waikato Dairy Manager of the Year, Andrew ’theonceadayfarmer’ Macky has built up quite a following. With just under 14,000 subscribers and collectively over 2 million views on YouTube and Instagram worldwide, to garner a following like Andrew’s, passion is key. The passion for dairying he shares with his audience is the same passion he has for growing maize with Corson Maize.

To watch the video of Andrew’s story visit corsonmaize.co.nz

PWS 2238

Come on over and grow with us.

Contact your rural retailer or a Corson Maize Agronomist on 0800 4 MAIZE (62493) or visit corsonmaize.co.nz 68

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Above: Part of the collection of machinery, they need a number of headers to accommodate their own farm and the clover heading business.

Below: Things are always in good hands with Peter Oldham’s skills in the workshop.

as protecting soil structure is the priority.

They only get the discs out when required.

The Oldhams use a contractor for balage, straw and any cultivation they can’t do themselves, and he also buys the maize silage. They use Cates in Ashburton to sell their grain, and most of their grasses are contracted through G & R Seeds in Rakaia.

The Oldham family bought a local clover heading business two years ago, hence the number of combines. The idea is for this operation to fit in well with their own harvest, to kick in after the long hours at home are done.

This was not the case last year. There was a clash in timing and the weather was terrible from February onwards. The busy crossover was managed by Darryl sorting out the clover heading while Anna and Peter stayed on the home farm to manage their own harvest.

Darryl said it was frantic at times but their clients are marvellous and all seemed very understanding, considering the conditions.

“Hopefully it will be much more straightforward this coming harvest.”

For the past 11 summers, Anna has worked as a senior assessor for Asure Quality. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Food Studies she obtained back in England.

Sheep are still a feature for Paisley

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September 2022

Farming Partnership, the name the family trades under. This year there are 2500 mostly crossbred lambs and some Halfbred store lambs on the farm. The aim is to increase the number of store lambs finished.

Until two years ago they wintered 600–1000 dairy cows, but the high number of regulations and consents required, and farming by the Ashburton River, put an end to this. Having no cows on the ground has also helped to reduce their N leaching figure through Overseer, while using soil moisture probes and VRI on one pivot also helped.

‘Consents are like tax’ Obtaining their land use consent to farm was relatively straightforward with the help of a consultant.

Darryl says the stress and headache caused by central Government’s rules of NES for freshwater, the potential SNA regulation continues, legislation like this takes away options and leaves no flexibility for farming systems.

“We can’t follow prices, or global trends, and it’s hard to move forward.”

Peter still spends most days of the week

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on the farm, but equally enjoys tinkering in his own workshop off the farm, admitting that the raft of paperwork and rules is a struggle to watch and he’s thankful they weren’t around to this extent when he was full time farming.

“Consents are like a tax, they add nothing to the farm, they’re expensive too, and take up time,” Peter said.

Darryl undertook a one-week farm manager’s programme through RaboBank

last July, studying a range of topics that are all relevant to anyone running a farm business – financial management, growing business, managing people including yourself, communication and farm succession to name a few.

Part of the course was putting together a case study for a farming operation, and Darryl chose sheep milking.

It’s a venture they are seriously considering for Westerfield and are

Table 1: Wheat INCOME

Price $

Yield (T)

Unit

Totals

Feed wheat

560

12

ha

6720

Straw

20

0

0

Total income EXPENSES

6720 Price $

Pack Size

Rate/ha

$/Unit

Disc

100

1

Drilling

80

1

ha

1

100

ha

1

80

Seed

1650

80

1000

kg

85

1.65

140.25

1460

10

Lt

0.4

146

58.4

Trimec

265

20

Lt

0

13.25

0

Orthello

400

5

Lt

1

80

80

CCC

160

20

Lt

2

8

16

Moddus

1940

20

Lt

0.2

97

19.4

Karate

1850

5

lt

0.08

370

29.6

Transform

2000

5

lt

0.2

400

80

Applications

16

1

ha

4

16

64

Steller

400

10

Lt

1

40

40

Phoenix

350

10

Lt

3.5

35

122.5

Prosaro

600

10

Lt

1

60

60

vimoy

650

10

Lt

1.5

65

97.5

Folicur

900

20

Lt

0.3

45

13.5

Amistar

1296

20

Lt

0.4

64.8

25.92

20

1

ha

4

20

80

Sul super 20

410

1000

kg

300

0.41

123

Dolomite

200

1000

kg

500

0.2

100

KCL

1065

1000

kg

200

1.065

213

Crop 15

1300

1000

kg

200

1.3

260

Boron

1800

1000

kg

20

1.8

36

Kieserite

537

1000

kg

0

0.537

0

SOA

900

1000

kg

200

0.9

180

Urea

1500

1000

kg

500

1.5

750

Spreading

18

1

ha

4

18

72

Irrigation

2

1

ml

250

2

500

Harvesting

310

1

ha

1

310

310

Cartage

27

1

ton

12

27

Cultivation/Drilling 100

Weed/Pest Firebird

Fungicide

Application Fertiliser

324

Total Expenses

3975.07

Gross Margin

2744.93

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watching with interest how the industry develops.

“When you grow crops, you have a whole year to wait until you can see the results.

With sheep milking it’s everyday, and bad weather will only lower a yield for a day or two.”

They’ve budgeted for the sheds for lambing and milking facilities for 600 ewes, and will wait to see if the capacity for milk drying in the area increases.

“We’d use one third of the farm for sheep milking, and continue to crop two thirds, dropping a portion of the grass seed area out for the sheep.”

Darryl stresses the importance of having a very good grasp on knowing your costs of production, to avoid signing contracts where the farmer is coming off second best.

In this current inflationary time costs have shot up so fast in all input areas.

One place Darryl and Anna have turned to for advice is Federated Farmers. The Herbage seed sub-section have been doing some excellent work on understanding the true cost of production, not just the gross margin.

“They have produced a spreadsheet calculator, which they are planning to make available to growers so they can assess the potential profitability of various ryegrass cultivars at any given price. This is going to be a very useful tool.”

Foundation for Arable Research is another organisation the Oldhams look to for advice. Its Production Wise Programme is an excellent tool for recording farm inputs and storing information when audited for on farm assurance schemes.

Darryl said it has not been all plain sailing, they have learnt the hard way on a few occasions, these tough lessons can really set them back both financially and confidence wise. They bought beef animals one year instead of grazing dairy cattle through the winter. When the price for feed went down to 20 cents/kg/DM, it did not work out in their favour financially. They’ve also had let downs with varietal choices in some of the crops resulting in disappointing yields.

Darryl and Anna have a bit of sound advice for young farming families like themselves, not get too hung up on the things that cannot be changed or are out of their control, like the weather. Striking a balance is important too, taking time to get involved in the community and taking opportunities to get off the farm.

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September 2022

“We are working to achieve a whole life balance, trying to have a system in place that works without you having to be out there 24/7, life can be too short.”

They want flexibility of farm life, and the satisfaction from seeing a crop through its growth cycle to harvest time.

Being your own boss, being able to contribute to the local community and school, to help out with pea straw or head along to the rugby club and get to the children’s other sports, are all great things.

Success to the Oldhams is also about setting up a farm that is fit for future generations. Short term aims are to continue planting for extra shelter and for environmental improvements, medium to long term aims will be to increase the area being farmed with more cropping and more store lambs, or possibly milk sheep.

Hands on with crop Table 2: Ryegrass seed INCOME

Price $

Yield (kg)

Unit

Totals

Nui Ryegrass

2.3

2000

ha

4600

Straw

50

15

ea

750

Grazing

50

20

hd/ha

1000

Price $

Pack Size

200

1

ha

Drilling

80

1

ha

Seed

5.5

1

kg

Starane

1115

20

Lt

Jaguar

425.5

10

Agritone

300

20

Moddus

2000

Total Income

6350

EXPENSES

Rate/ha

$/Unit

1

200

200

1

80

80

12

3.5

42

0.75

55.75

41.81

Lt

1.5

42.55

63.82

Lt

1.5

15

22.5

20

Lt

1.5

100

150

16

1

ha

4

16

64

Stellar

400

10

lt

0.5

40

20

Proline

900

10

Lt

1.2

90

108

Amistar

1200

20

Lt

0.9

60

54

Urea

1500

1000

kg

500

1.5

750

Cropmaster15

1500

1000

kg

300

1.5

450

DAP

1600

1000

kg

100

1.6

160

16

1

ha

3

16

48

Irrigation

2

1

ml

300

2

600

Harvesting

300

1

ha

1

300

300

Mowing

130

1

ha

1

130

130

Dressing/Cartage

0.45

1

kg

2000

0.45

900

Cultivation/Drilling Sumo ripper disc

Weed/Pest

Applications Fungicide

Fertiliser

Spreading

Total Expenses

4184.14

Gross Margin

2165.86

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With a Bachelor of Science from Lincoln University majoring in farm management, Darryl spent time as a grain and seed agronomist for Cates Grain and Seed in Ashburton. He said moving back to the land was an exciting feeling, they’d done their figures and were looking forward to putting his knowledge into practice and exploring what crop farming offered now they had the ability to irrigate.

“It gets to the point where you’re telling other people how to do it, and you think it’d be nice to do it yourself,” Darryl said.

Anna is from the United Kingdom with a mixed farming background. Her family now live in New Zealand. Anna had been assisting her parents in Tinwald with their new venture, a commercial flower growing business, but was ready and willing to move into the family business venture with the Oldhams.

Darryl’s parents Peter and Gael are still involved in the running of the farm, now living in Ashburton, 20 kilometres away.

Life is busy, but changeable and interesting for the couple and their two daughters Henrietta (8) and Olivia (6) as they manage young family life, the nature of crop farming and potentials for the future.

It is important for Anna and Darryl their children grow up enjoying being with them on the farm.

They feel privileged to give the girls a rural childhood they both enjoyed.

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Short but sweet KESTREL IS THE PERFECT KALE FOR SHEEP Not only is this crop the ideal height for sheep to graze, it also delivers high leaf percentage and the softest, most digestible stems that make it enjoyable to eat. That’s why Kestrel is the trusted quality kale.

Grazing from 120 days Flexible grazing, suitable for late summer/ early autumn/winter feed High whole plant metabolisable energy (MJME) content Potential yield 14,000 kgDM/ha Good regrowth if lightly grazed over summer Strong disease tolerance

For more information talk to your local seed retailer, freephone 0800 805 505 or visit pggwrightsonseeds.com 72

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LIVESTOCK Onfarm

Genetics is key

Raising prime Angus cattle and Dorset Down sheep is the focus of stud farming on the Totaranui operation near Pahiatua. By Sarah Horrocks. Photos: Sarah Horrocks and Brad Hanson.

et in the damp, misty hill country of Pahiatua in Tararua, Totaranui has been breeding stud stock for nearly a century.

Tally Jackson and her husband Daimien Reynolds came to the operation in 2006.

They left their corporate jobs in Wellington and moved back to Tally’s home farm, where her parents John and the late Mary Anne Jackson were still farming.

“John ran things the traditional way, with beautiful big Romneys, set stock grazing with moderate lambing percentages,” Daimien says.

John’s focus was not on commercial stock performance, but developing a significant agribusiness. He excelled at developing farms and to this day, has a great love for stud stock.

After a two-year apprenticeship under John, Tally

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(50) and Daimien (52) decided they needed to gain finishing experience so took up an opportunity to manage the home block at Brownrigg Agriculture.

There they learnt to use Farmax as well as contemporary rotational grazing techniques.

“We came back in 2012 and really started investing in fertiliser, fencing and our sheep genetics to lift the stocking rates and get the lambing percentage up.”

At this time the operation was home to Angus, Dorset Down and Romney studs.

Daimien says the Romney stud was a typical dualpurpose animal with a big focus on wool and type.

“They had wool on the backs of their tongues, these sheep.”

When the number of lambs became more important, they decided to drop the Romney stud and focus on the Angus and Dorset Down.

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Daimien Reynolds and wife Tally Jackson with a mob of R2 bulls.

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In winter the sheep always go first.

“If they can’t handle it they die or they’re culled, so they’re naturally selected out of the programme. The survivors are tougher for it.”

There’s ample room for the large-scale operation, which is spread over three farms – 860ha (effective) on Totaranui in Pahiatua, 1530ha on Puke Te in Masterton and 380ha on Waipori in Makuri.

The Dorset Down flock of 300 ewes is on Puke Te and has been running for just over 20 years. Of the rams born each year, 75% are sold to regular clients who are mostly either local or from Taihape. They’re well known for excellent growth and for picking prime at weaning.

Damien says their Dorsets are tougher than most because they are run with commercial ewes in a mob of 2000.

“If they can’t handle it they die or they’re culled, so they’re naturally selected out of the programme.

“The survivors are tougher for it.”

The main commercial flock of 11,000 Romneys was first crossed with TEFRom,

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then Coopworth, and is spread across all three farms. They’re experimenting with Kelso-Coopworth cross rams in the mob on Totaranui.

Daimien says the lambing is now 130-140% across the three farms so the crossbreeding has been great for the number of lambs born, but to bring in more size and growth they’ve added the Kelso.

Wool is sold to Primary Wool Cooperative and as with most other strong wool growers, it’s costing money to shear the sheep annually.

Everything at Puke Te in Masterton is terminal so Dorset Down rams are used with replacement ewes bought in from Totaranui and Waipori as needed.

The lambs are processed by Alliance, with prime weaning weights targeting 18kg carcaseweight. Winter finishing targets are

slightly heavier — 19kg for the females and 21kg for the males.

“We find the Dorsets tend to get to heavier weights without grading fat.”

While they don’t have supply contracts with Alliance, they are rewarded for their long-standing loyalty and Daimien says they tend to come out better off.

Puke Te also grazes 1300 mixed trade cattle, bought by agents through the saleyards or in the paddock. It’s good finishing country and manager Andrew Florence gets 800 away prime every year, averaging 310kg CW. Since 2013, the weighted average of meat and wool production per hectare has shifted from 193kg to more than 250kg, a testament to the changes applied within the operation. Totaranui produces close to 300kg/ha, given the wetter summer environment.

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No easy life for stud cow The trade cattle at Puke Te are a small part of the overall cattle operation, with another 200 trade Angus heifers/steers farmed at Waipori. Half of these are finished each year and processed through Alliance at an average of 330kg CW. They grade into the AngusPure and Handpicked programmes, achieving premiums of up to $1/kg on the kill sheets.

Undoubtedly the main cattle operation is the Angus stud, with 466 females and 150 bulls. It’s no easy life for the Totaranui cow.

She spends the hard winter months behind the ewes, cleaning up the pastures.

Damien strongly believes the stud operation must emulate that of a commercial farmer’s, so in winter the sheep always go first.

“I probably push them a bit hard as they get a bit light but once they come in for calving they’re on the upward plane from there.”

The cows stay behind the ewes until early July, three weeks before calving in early August - two and a half months off the grass curve.

Cows are never given a second chance.

They must calve and rear their calf as a two-year-old and get back in calf every year thereafter.

While docility and structure are paramount, Daimien believes they should be a given as he won’t breed from an unsound animal. Fertility is bred into the herd, so to speak, as they’ve mated all the

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September 2022

Above: L-R Daimien Reynolds, the late Mary Anne Jackson, John Jackson and Tally Jackson.

Below: Yearling bulls and their dams are bred specifically for heifer mating in the beef and dairy markets.

yearling heifers for more than 30 years.

A lot of traditional farmers and studs won’t mate their heifers, he says.

“The fact that we mate every single one and retain only what rears a calf is a real point of difference for our fertility.”

Profitability seems to be Daimien’s bottom line and the Angus bloodlines grow fast, have high yield and marbling, and consequently perform well for clients.

Totaranui runs two separate stud cow herds; one to generate high value two-yearold bulls and the other to generate low birthweight yearling bulls. The yearling bulls and their dams are not second-class citizens, being bred specifically for heifer mating in the beef and dairy markets.

They sold 40 bulls at the two-year-old sale in June and are offering 105 yearling bulls in September.

The difference between the breeding objective of the two herds is simple — mixed age versus heifer mating.

The yearling bulls are low birthweight (BW) bulls with an average BW EBV of 1.8.

Set against the Australasian average of 4.1, it puts the herd in the top 10% of the breed in the Trans-Tasman Cattle Evaluation.

“I’m always looking for curve benders, with good calving ease but also strong growth.

“However, ultimately the most important thing with heifer mating is to get a live calf and a live heifer, with everything else as a bonus.”

This is especially relevant for dairy farmers who get an extra 15% growth with hybrid vigour.

The two-year-old bull programme aims to fill the catalogue with bulls that achieve the coveted A+ endorsement from AngusPure NZ. To achieve an A+ a bull must be =>

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+$140 for the AngusPRO index, and must be => +2.0 for intramuscular fat (IMF) EBV. These are low to moderate birthweight bulls with good maternal traits, above average 600-day growth and excellent carcases, Daimien says.

They are looking to target the farmer who wants more than just another black bull - a farmer who understands the true benefits of technology and demands more than just a grazing tool to aid his sheep programme.

Improving marbling and weight The big shift towards improving carcase and eating quality happened in the early 1990s when John Jackson travelled to the United States on a bull scouting trip with AngusPure’s Guy Sargent and others.

John was wholeheartedly behind Guy’s ethos of improving the marbling within

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grass-fed beef in New Zealand and set about searching for sires that would increase the IMF and EMA of the Totaranui herd.

Artificial insemination (AI) enables Daimien to utilise the newest, most progressive genetics available. Both John and Daimien still travel to the US and Australia each autumn to ensure they can inspect the bulls they’re using in the herd.

Some elite bulls are bred here in NZ by his peers in the AngusPRO group, he says, but there are more outliers with cross-trait excellence found internationally.

The mixed-age cows are all put through two rounds of AI. The first is synchronised in the first week of November and the second is by heat detection. Some of the heifers are put through AI but Daimien finds it a very fickle business.

“Our early mating dates mean the success

rates in the yearling heifers vary from 35 to 65%.

If a heifer misses with AI she drops back a cycle, which means there are a large number of heifers returning at the same time. She could easily get missed by the bull so by no fault of her own, a high merit heifer could get culled.

This year Daimien plans to tail paint the high merit heifers and only those that have a natural cycle before AI will get a straw.

The operation has been successful in providing the industry with bulls that will leave progeny with the predisposition to reach 300kg CW before the second winter and have consistent marble scores of twos, threes and fours, he says.

For this reason, the trade steers and heifers at Waipori are either surplus stud stock or bought back from clients.

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Above: Aerial views of Totaranui Station.

Above right: General hand Dylan Gough.

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“We know they’ll grow and grade well, and it’s also really nice to do business with people you know.”

Waipori isn’t fast-finishing country. Trade cattle are utilised as a cow over two winters, cleaning up behind the ewes in a straight grass programme. It’s hard country, with only 15ha suitable for the tractor.

Puke Te has mixed topography and an annual rainfall of just 750mm - half that of Waipori and Totaranui. While the cows are on the hills in a straight grass programme, the flats provide ample room for cropping.

The trade cattle are strip grazed 10ha of fodder beet in winter and 60ha of kale is also planted annually.

Daimien finds kale a versatile crop so the ewes are often given the first grazing and then it’s fed to either trade lambs or trade cattle.

September 2022

Andrew and his team finished an additional 4800 winter trade lambs on Puke Te in 2022 as they had a “brilliant” autumn and early winter.

About 10ha of oats is usually pegged for the trade cattle, but sometimes used for the later calving cows if feed is tight. The cropping is all done themselves, with the exception of the fodder beet.

An additional 8ha of fodder beet is planted on Totaranui for the young weaner stock.

They do most of their cropping on the flats and have experimented with direct drilling kale into former plantain, clover or Italian ground. The old base comes back underneath and holds well into the spring if they graze the kale quite hard on the first grazing.

Continues

››

i FARM FACTS Three farms totalling 2770ha effective.

Dorset Down stud of 300 breeding ewes.

11,000 commercial Romney ewes.

Finishing 900 trade cattle annually - Alliance.

Angus stud selling 145 bulls annually.

Focus on technology and genetics in all breeding.

Preserving the environment is a top priority.

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Custodians of the land Preserving the environment is a top priority for Daimien and Tally who see themselves as custodians of the land for the generations to come.

They’ve been planting poplar poles for the past 15 years on Puke Te and there are QEII reserves on both Puke Te and Waipori. The rivers have been fenced, but in a manner that Daimien refers to as being quite high risk.

“To preserve the hectarage we’ve fenced below the 10-year flood line, so you’ve got to hold on to your hat a bit now that those floods seem to be coming through every five years.”

There’s frustration from Daimien at paying $85,000 a year in river rates. The Greater Wellington regional council receive $40,000 of that and have a policy to not alter the gravel levels in the Ruamahanga River. The other $45,000 is paid to Horizons.

“The river seems to be getting higher and wider every year.”

There’s been a sustainable land use initiative plan in action on Totaranui since 2016, used to ultimately steer them in the direction of farming in a sustainable manner with low erosion.

Fertiliser is not shied away from, with 20 units of phosphorus /ha going on to the hills every year and when economics allow.

DAP is used to add nitrogen to the hill country, increasing stocking rates. Chicken manure is used on the flats to apply maintenance or capital P, achieving target Olsen P levels of 35 and a pH of about 6.3.

The annual fertiliser budget is about $250,000.

Daimien admits they’ve had to pull back the stocking rate a lot recently, on Totaranui especially, purely because of the price of DAP and nitrogen.

They have been putting a lot of lime on to Totaranui and while the pH on Waipori and Puke Te has always been good, they’ll be due next.

“As fertiliser goes up in price we’ll focus more on lime.”

Totaranui Stud Limited envelopes all three farms and has a gross income of $4m, $1550/ha and the EFS is $500/ha.

The operating costs of $1050/ha are higher than Daimien would like but include the costs of owning all their own cultivating machinery and a truck, used for delivering

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Top: Clients inspecting the bulls. Above right: Okay I’m awake. A wash down for the bull sale.

the stud sale bulls.

As well as Daimien, three other full-time staff are on Totaranui, four on Puke Te and one on Waipori. Tally does the office work, helping onfarm when she can, and is also busy chasing after the couple’s three children - Lilly (15), Ricki (13) and Jacko (10).

“We have trouble finding good young staff at the moment so we find ourselves relying heavily on our loyal long-term staff.”

With labour constraints and government compliance, combined with inflation and other rising costs, the Totaranui team are doing their best in a challenging farming climate.

Daimien says Totaranui is about keeping the business healthy for future generations.

“Ideally we’d like to expand but at the size we are now, we’re just focusing on keeping a tidy ship.”

• Supplied by AngusPRO.

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LIVESTOCK Stock check

THEY HEAR BUT DON’T LISTEN Vet Trevor Cook has changed focus when talking to farmers about the risks of drench resistance in sheep.

M

y visits to farms over the past couple of months have spanned a wide range of issues.

Unfortunately the most common has been drench resistance in sheep. I am getting very tired of this topic because it has been warned of for years and has been the focus of endless extension sessions.

Any pride in my role in this was dashed when I presented to a group of high profile farmers who did admit to not applying any of the mitigating actions that have been advised and promoted for many years.

What made it most galling was that I had presented to many in this group for the past 30 odd years. Says a lot about my effectiveness in assisting change.

Any excitement that I get out of this topic now is to plan management actions that allow less dependence on drenches. The focus shifts completely to production and not drenches. It is amazing what can be achieved with that focus change.

But outside that topic there have been some extremes. Severe under performance and very high performance.

The severe dry for much of the west North Island has been behind some very poor pregnancy scanning results. Visits to farms over the past couple of months cannot change that, but if that poor result sparks a mindset change to not let that happen again it can be very powerful.

Actions can be taken that lessen the impact. I was on one farm that had a 30% drop in scanning and later that day on another farm not far away that was back less than 10%. Actions can be taken such as supplementing ewes, summer crops, tail end focus, providing facial eczema protection - even just having an action plan can reduce the risk. But changing the stocking mix and policy to lessen the competition for the ewes when feed is getting short can also be effective.

For the farm that had only a small scanning drop, showed that through taking actions to protect the ewes, the focus was still to lessen that exposure.

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“What made it most galling was that I had presented to many in this group for the past 30 odd years. Says a lot about my effectiveness in assisting change.”

Reinforcing and refining those actions was on the agenda but also looking at policy changes that overall reduced the exposure to very dry summers. The result in theory at least from looking at those changes was that they should deliver more profit. A real win win.

At the other extreme was a new farming business, or more accurately an old farming business on a new farm. This business was doing about $400/ha EFS on unfriendly hills. It shifted to a farm that should do a $2700/ha EFS is such a change that it is almost scary.

A simple lamb and bull policy can produce that profit but only if performance levels and stocking rate are high.

Delivering that profit is yet to happen but early wins have put it well on the way. The infrastructure, capability and planning are all in place to support that outcome. That is excitement.

In those two months there have been two farm visits that were totally focused on greenhouse gas management. A first for me where GHG management has been the primary reason for discussion.

That discussion was about policy changes and looking at the greenhouse gas impact. I think we are a very long way from that being a widespread focus for farms, but it has started for some. It was not as scary as the farmers expected and the financial outcomes from changes that did drop the number for both farms were positive.

I have been suggesting this to be taken into account when dealing with the management changes talked about above to cope with drench resistance.

While none of these farms have been excited about including that in the mix, it will probably need to be in time.

It is very frustrating that for all the talk and publicity we do not know just where we are and what is expected of us. I must admit to enjoying the process of testing policies and the impact on profitability but less excited about the greenhouse gas outcome. It has the feeling of having to rather than wanting to.

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LIVESTOCK Onfarm

Mt Camel Farm includes several kilometres of the Far North’s picturesque and sparsely populated Pacific coastline.

Northern lights A Simmental-based herd of cattle are the stars of the Wagener family’s Far North farming operation.

By Glenys Christian.

Photos by Malcolm Pullman.

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I

t would be hard to find a more diverse farm than Mt Camel Farms at Houhora in the Far North, with rocks, clay, peat and sand along with fresh and salt water.

“That’s what makes it different,” says Gareth Walters who makes up the workforce on the farm with uncle, Norm Wagener and his son Rob. “It’s lots of things to lots of different people. It’s a massive credit to the people who went before.”

Norm was born and raised on the farm which is now run as a family company with him and his two sisters as directors.

Gareth’s parents, Patti and Warren Walters, are now permanent St John’s paramedics

in Kaitaia but Warren, who’s now mainly involved in fencing and tractor work, worked there full-time from the 1980s until Gareth returned from farming overseas and in New Zealand in 2020. Patti is the head possum trapper.

A move was made from Hereford to Simmental-cross cattle in the 1980s. As the herd became more Simmental-based, Red Devon bulls were used over the heifers, but now only Simmental bulls are used. Four to six bulls are bought annually from stud breeders in the north, some of whom have strong links to Wairoa’s Kerrah stud.

A herd of 440 cows with their progeny are carried over winter with 70

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Norm says some have gone to Te Kuiti or Wanganui and more recently South Waikato.

There’s a two to three-week overlap between cows calving and the yearling sale and that’s the tightest bit.

“But overall, the defining thing is what numbers we can carry over summer.”

After weaning in April the cows are moved on to maintenance country. A forestry block harvested from 2005 to 2008 is also used with care taken not to push the stocking pressure up too high.

The kikuyu-dominant pastures are regularly mulched.

“It’s the only species that hangs on.”

While annual rainfall averages 1200mm it has been half that some years.

“We’ve paid for that dearly.”

Solar-powered pump

Norm Wagener’s preferred mode of transport when working on the farm, particularly when moving stock.

replacements kept. The heifers begin calving in late July with the cows beginning at the start of August. Stock work used to be all carried out on horseback with Norm and Robert still using horses today with three on the farm.

Most cows that are due to calve are regularly sorted on horseback in the outer pens of the southern yards on the Mataroa block so any close to calving can be taken back to the calving paddock on the northern area of the farm and closer to facilities.

The farm does have a quad bike and Gareth uses this for his stock work on the less-steep northern part of the farm.

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Part of this operation is the separate calving of an older mob of cows which calve in the paddocks during their normal rotation. Gareth also has several mobs of rising yearling cattle here.

Hay is fed out mainly to the cows with about 200 big square bales made by a local contractor.

A niche market The vast majority of progeny is sold as store stock at the Houhora Spring Fair the following September with the farm now having “a bit of a niche market” at spring sales. Historically, steers in particular have been sold to southern buyers.

A big recent development has been the installation of a solar-powered pump next to a dam fed by a natural spring. This means water can be pumped to a tank allowing regular water supply to 200ha of higher country. Before water reticulation the farm was fenced to take advantage of natural water and dams but they dry up in the summer leading to open-gate farming.

Unsure of where on the farm it would best perform, Norm mounted the panels on an old trailer. He has already moved it once and can also easily tweak the angle to best match the sun’s seasonal movement.

For the past five years 30 to 40 heifers have been shipped to China with buyers often taking animals not wanted on the local market. The odd steer and cull cow not in-calf will go to the meatworks.

For the last seven years a local grower has been growing from seven to eight hectares of watermelons on the farm, which require a new site every year. Norm has sown a range of new grass species after the crop is harvested.

About 85 tonnes of maintenance fertiliser is now flown on from one of the two airstrips on the farm after using about 100t of reactive phosphate rock with added sulphur for some years. Every second year they carry out their own ground spreading on easier country, after carrying out their own tests on the wide variety of soil types.

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Above: The Wagener Simmental herd grazing with their views of the country’s spectacular north eastern coastline.

The buoys are the Houhora mussel farm.

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Possum furs pay for seedlings Norm’s sister, Patti enjoys hunting and leg-traps possums before shooting them, with their fur plucked and sold to a buyer in Okaihau. Her tally over the last 15 months is 2681 with the income used to buy seedlings to plant in 200ha of swamp that has been gradually fenced off.

“It’s a mission, but I’ll get there,” she says.

Totara, puriri and cabbage tree seedlings have all been established with poplar poles and toi toi going in around a couple of dune lakes on the sand country. There are still some possums in areas of the farm which can’t be walked as well as rats, rabbits, feral cats and pigs.

The main area of native bush on the farm is around Mt Camel which is 216 metres high. A radio mast on its second-highest peak services St Johns, forestry and marine radio networks.

A block of just under 300ha which was planted in forestry in the 1970s, as part of the deal with NZ Forest Service to stabilise the sand dunes, was harvested before 2008 and not replanted. About 80ha which has

gone back into pines is registered in the emissions trading scheme (ETS).

Despite only one third of the almost 2000ha of the property being in pasture, Mt Camel Farms is not considered carbon neutral. Most of the land is made up of large areas of kanuka and manuka along with native bush. But looking into the Government’s ETS regulations at times has been difficult to understand, Norm says. And closer examination with the help of rural professionals convinced him even more that there was “a lot of smoke and mirrors”. Conversely wilding pines had been identified on the property by Northland Regional Council and these have been either poisoned or chopped down by contractors.

A form of rates postponement has been allowed for an unproductive area of sand dunes where covenants have been in place for some years with the Far North District Council.

“But we’re swimming against the tide,” Norm says. “That land is both priceless and worthless.”

i FARM FACTS 1918ha, one third in grass.

Average of 450 Simmental-cross cows.

Progeny wintered, sold as yearlings. About 30 heifers exported to China.

200 big square bales of hay made to feed to cows before calving.

300ha which was a pre-1990 forestry block where harvesting finished in 2008.

81ha left to regenerate registered in the ETS. 7-8ha of watermelons grown each year by a local farmer/grower.

A small number of beehives that belong to a north Auckland-based beekeeper.

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September 2022

Those who went before The land which is now Mt Camel Farms was bought from Maori in 1865 by the original members of the Subritzky family.

The matriarch Sophie and her eldest son, Ludolf, and his wife Maria lie in the cemetery on Mount Camel.

As well as other related early family members, Norm’s parents Bill and Rosemary are also buried there. Weed control and maintenance of the cemetery is carried out by his sister Sue Dow and husband, Alan.

During the Depression, Bill worked on a dairy farm south of Kaitaia but returned home and took a job barging shingle from the base of Mt Camel opposite the Houhora Heads up to the Pukenui Wharf. He joined the war effort becoming a radio operator and rear gunner on Lancaster bombers. He met his future wife in London and after the war returned to the north where they began developing family land into a dairy farm.

In the 1940s the then owner of Mt Camel, Bill Evans, passed away. This led to Bill and Rosemary, with the help of an inheritance from Northern Ireland, submitting a bid for the property when it went up for tender. While they lost the tender, a year later the successful bidder offered it to them as it was more than he could handle.

The block was landlocked until the late 1960s, with a launch and flat deck barge used to transport sheep, wool and general supplies in and out. For decades cattle

A solarpowered pump has allowed the Wageners to install a stock water system.

Unsure of where on the farm it would best perform, Norm mounted the panels on an old trailer.

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September 2022

were driven over the upper reaches of the Houhora Harbour at low tide.

Initially they were sold at the Hukatere Saleyards, at the edge of Ninety-Mile Beach on the west coast, until that closed, then Kaitaia before the Houhora Saleyards were built in the late 1950s. Now the trip is made by truck.

While there used to be just a few mangroves they soon started encroaching in the harbour.

“They do have a place because they protect the shore, but they’ve grown legs and are now in places where there used to be sand,” Norm says.

He worked on the farm and ran the tug and barge operation barging metal from the quarry opposite Houhora Heads, going on to work on other coastal tugs and launches in Auckland before returning to farming.

The land was also under threat on the eastern seaward side with sand dunes “coming in at a great rate” from the Pacific Ocean. In the 1970s the Forest Service tried to stabilise them by planting marram grass,

then lupins followed by pinus radiata, as had been done on the west coast of the Aupouri Peninsula.

Unfortunately, this failed as the lupins wouldn’t grow. But as part of the deal a large part of the land, outside of the dunes, was planted in pines. A big advantage of this was that a roading network and fencing was developed. Now there’s gravel road access to much of the farm, including a right of way from Henderson Bay Road over neighbour’s land.

As well as cattle, Perendale sheep, which survived well, were run on the farm until the 1960s, given free range over unfenced areas after scrub cover was burned off.

The original three-stand shearing shed was pulled down by Norm’s father and uncle and resurrected in a position on the farm more easily accessed by boat.

The former shearers’ quarters now serve as a seaside bach for family members, which they say provides a wonderful sense of home to each successive generation. It’s a connection to place and people past and

Norm’s sister Patti Walters uses the money she makes from selling the fur of possums trapped and shot on the family farm to buy plants for native revegetation plots on the property.

present and is particularly enjoyed by those who now live far away. As well as a number of family funerals, weddings have been held there including that of Gareth and wife Sally.

The groundsel invasion A worsening problem on Mt Camel Farms is gravel groundsel, a relative of ragwort, which has spread through large areas of the Far North and Northland.

“It’s very prolific,” Norm Wagener says.

Senecio madagascariensis/inaequidens, also known as fireweed, is a native of Africa and now a problem weed in parts of Australia, including Queensland and in Hawaii.

It produces yellow flowers from spring to autumn and while it thrives on light gravel, volcanic and sandy soils, large infestations are being increasingly seen on clay soils, Keri Keri-based entomologist Dr Jenny Dymock says. She was involved in much of the work importing dung beetles and getting them established on farms in the north.

Infestations are becoming more widespread and rapidly denser where they’re not controlled, due to seed being spread by wind, water, hay and machinery.

It’s a rapid coloniser of pasture, especially on lighter soils.

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Stock won’t eat it willingly but will if it makes up just a small component of break-fed, lush pasture, which can result in poisoning due to liver damage.

“It will seriously reduce productivity either by there being less edible biomass in the pasture, having stock avoid grass near gravel groundsel or through them being unhealthy,” she says.

And the nectar collected from its flowers by bees taints their honey. The plants seem to be perennial and are hard and costly to kill, requiring high chemical rates and good management.

Leaf sample analysis carried out at Lincoln University, where it was compared with a Hawaiian sample, showed they were most closely matched with a sample from Lesotho, but it’s likely hybridisation is widespread. She’s sent further samples to the CSIRO in Australia for DNA analysis.

In a 2018 study she carried out on four Far North sites five plants at each were suctioned using a modified leaf blower to find out what insect pests were present.

The most significant were the green vegetable bug, the brown shield bug and the larvae of the Nyctemera moth, also known as woolly bears.

Also present was a seed-feeding fly, Sphenella ruficeps, never previously recorded in NZ. Now entomologists at the CSIRO in Canberra have started work on a biocontrol programme using the stem weevil, Gastroclisus. Last year weevils collected in Durban, South Africa, were shipped there with the aim of establishing a colony in quarantine to be tested on its gravel groundsel species and other Senecio species, with the aim of introducing the weevils to Australia as a biocontrol agent.

Dymock says if this weevil is shown be host-specific to Senecio madagascariensis it could be considered as a biocontrol for NZ.

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LIVESTOCK Bull soundness

S E E K I N G

A

B E T T E R

BALANCED BULL Domestication of cattle may be the cause of bull breakdowns, vet Dave Robertson writes.

F

rom the pregnancy testing I have done over autumn, bull soundness issues are often a common contributor to the poorer results.

Bull issues are most often suspected when other key parameters are optimised, such as cow condition and previous year calving was not spread-out.

As part of the follow-up to poor results, I spent most of April/May service testing commercial bulls and doing insurance jobs. During this process conversations often end up on the topic of why bulls don’t last? It is an interesting question which I have attempted to frame with a bit of biomechanics, evolutionary theory and artistic licence.

The most common reasons for bull breakdowns are penile injuries, chronic lower back degeneration and lameness (feet infections and leg injuries).

Penile injuries are the most common insurance claim.

• The average service lifespan for a beef bull is three seasons (five years old).

• 45% of unsound bulls go out for another season.

How did we get a situation where we cannot cull bulls on production-based reasons and it is usually replacement of injured bulls that is required?

If we were to select for longevity, what do we look for in the appearance of a bull or the breeding values to indicate it will last?

I am not entirely sure of the answers but it is an interesting topic to debate with experienced cattle breeders. What follows are a few broad concepts of what happens in nature that may explain some of the dilemma of bull breakdowns.

The physics: Cattle have got bigger A one-tonne animal throwing all its weight in the air and forward attempting to thread a bit of fibro-elastic tissue through a small target (without looking) is bound to cause some issues eventually.

Like the higher injury rate in modern superrugby players compared to the amateur era, it appears the injury rate in bulls has increased as they have gotten bigger. It has been observed that leaner commercial bulls (of the same genetics) have lower injury rates than fatter, heavier bulls, so there

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1963 R2 bull Navigator GEM. Record price Hereford bull. Probably 500kg. 2022 a great example of a modern well-balanced, R2 horned Hereford bull estimated weight 800kg.

must be something in the more-weight, moreproblems theory.

But I don’t think it is just a size issue. The original wild cattle were much bigger at about 1.8-metres tall. There are some geometric things that have occurred in our pursuit of more meat and a certain aesthetic that may be interesting to consider.

The geometrics of mating injury risk

Wild types are generally triangular shapes with finer hind quarters that slope from the hip to the tail head.

With domestication and selection for more muscle we now have squarer, longer animals with more meat (and weight) in the hind quarter.

The bull is required to lift this hindquarter weight and move forward in an explosive movement during mating. It leads then to the argument that with more force and energy required to move heavier hindquarters there is more risk of error or injury.

The domestic cow also has a high tail head setting, to go with its “good top line”, which means bulls have to move their hindquarters further to achieve a mating from potentially a less-stable platform. Looking to nature there are not many examples of ruminants with fibro-elastic penis arrangements that have proportionally square tail heads or large hindquarters.

Wild types are generally triangular shapes with finer hindquarters that slope from the hip to the tail head (see the pictures of the wildebeest, the bison, even the rhinoceros). The wild-type female has a more sloping hindquarter angle that

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“A one-tonne animal throwing all its weight in the air and forward attempting to thread a bit of fibro-elastic tissue through a small target is bound to cause some issues eventually. ”

would remove some of the angle that the male hindquarter has to travel and also allows the male when mounted to have the centre of balance through the brisket over female rather than through the lower spine in a domesticated bull.

This is all very interesting and maybe somewhat academic, but what can we do about improving the fertility outcomes of our beef herd and longevity of domestic bulls we buy?

I don’t think most stockpeople could handle selecting “tadpole arsed” animals for the sake of mating efficiency and longevity. But I think we did learn from the 1980s when selecting for extremes of growth, frame size and hip height that bull longevity crashed.

There is no one set way nature designs things, but there is a proportion and balance to all shapes and forms that will lead to better durability than shapes out of balance or over-stressed in certain points.

EBVs have been fantastic for advancement in measurable beef production traits, but they cannot be the total answer to selecting balance and proportion for the physical requirements of

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efficient serving ability.

Weak neck muscle, lack of masculinity, paunchy guts, straight hocks, loose pizzles, nervous/agitated demeanour, small testicles are all indicators of things that may lead to reduced longevity. It does raise the question as to what dark, unsound shapes we may be selecting by using only artificial insemination of the latest and greatest figured bulls from overseas that we have never seen or even know if they survived past a year…

The ancient Greeks had their guide to the aesthetics of nature in the golden ratio 1: 1.6, closely associated with the Fibonacci number sequence that describes biological growth patterns – fun to look-up for a practical school maths project.

The Greeks and Leonardo Di Vinci based a lot of their art and architecture on that ratio.

Perhaps this may be the answer to selecting better balanced bulls with longevity?

• Dave Robertson is a vet with the Veterinary Centre, Oamaru.

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89

LIVESTOCK Calf rearing

CALF REARING IN A VOLATILE WORLD Paul Muir and staff from On-Farm Research at the Poukawa Research Farm in Hawke’s Bay have been researching the calf rearing market since 1996. They have put together an update of how they think the market for calf rearing will look in the 2022/23 season.

E

stimates for the final 2021/22 milksolids payout are about $9.60/kg.

For a Friesian cow with a milksolids content of 8%, this makes milk worth 77 cents/litre. As Jersey milk has a higher milksolids content (typically 9.8%) Jersey milk is worth about 94 c/l. At this price vat milk is less likely to be used to rear calves.

CMR supply and prices: As the dairy commodities price market is at record levels (see graph for whole milk powder prices) it is not surprising that premium milk powders are also well-priced. Premium milk powders range from $95-$102 per bag (excl GST). These are for tonne rates and the cost is unlikely to include farm delivery except when reasonable tonnages are ordered for delivery close to town.

While CMR prices seem high, a glance back to the archives (our newsletters) showed that premium CMR prices ranged from $80 to $95 in June 2001 and reached $100 that spring.

This was a result of the Foot and Mouth outbreak in the United Kingdom meaning no CMR component ingredients could be imported from the European Union.

This led to a strong export demand

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for New Zealand-produced ingredients.

CMRs became so scarce that in mid spring, food grade whole milk powder was eventually released on to the market for calf rearing.

Non-curding or whey powders have also increased in price but are still typically $20/ bag cheaper than premium casein CMRs. The number of whey products has increased and most (80%) are imported but a few brands are formulated in NZ. At present, these brands are typically a blend of whey powders and infant formula which was unable to be marketed in China because of their current Covid lockdown and recent scares about the quality of infant formulas.

Current prices for non-curding powders range from $75-$82 per bag (excl GST).

Our recommendations are the same as in other years – feed a curding powder for the first few weeks then switch to non-curding milk powder if you need to cut costs.

Once calves are two or three weeks old, they are starting to develop both their rumen and immune systems and are better able to handle non-curding powders.

Pick a premium powder that curds. A curd

test is simple to apply if you can find some rennet in the local supermarket – though often it’s hard finding someone who knows what rennet is!

A simple curd test involves making up 500ml of milk replacer as per the instructions on the bag. Keep at 39C (set the oven and use a thermometer) and then add 5ml of rennet.

A good curd should have formed within 20 minutes. Do the same with some blue top milk so you can see what a really good curd should look like – though it is unlikely any milk replacer will ever curd as well as whole milk.

At $100/bag of premium CMR reconstituted at 125g/litre works out at 62.5 cents/litre and at $80/bag of non-curding CMR works out at 50c/l. When the price of whole milk is 77c/l this is likely to result in more dairy farmers switching from vat milk to CMR, particularly later in the season.

If this happens it is likely to put more pressure on both the supply and price of CMR. Given the current world volatility and the obvious constraints on supply chains, this may well be a good year to order your CMR early.

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Calf meals: Most rearers will find themselves paying in excess of $1000/t for meal. Current pricings appear to be around $1030-$1050 plus GST for 16% protein pellets in 25kg bags and $1050-$1100 plus GST for 20% protein pellets, excluding delivery.

There can be discounts of up to $150/t for bulk orders. Because of the uncertainty around supply and cost of imported ingredients that go into calf meals, few suppliers will guarantee prices beyond June.

Calf prices: Normally autumn-born calves are sought after as by summer they are often 100kg heavier than spring born calves and have a better shot at handling the lower quality summer forage.

Reduced availability of these calves means sale prices (May) are around $150 for the better Friesian calves. Spring calf prices will, as always, reflect supply and demand.

Rearers: When we surveyed calf rearers back in 2003, we found there was a 20% turnover of rearers largely because of a lack of profitability. It is hard to imagine much has changed since then. This supply chain issue could be solved with rearing contracts but there are still very few contracts on offer. Many farmers don’t want to farm calves through the summer so simply look to buy calves in autumn. Supply and demand means the price of weaners usually falls rapidly in November/December leading to poor profitability for the rearer.

Rearing cost: It is always difficult to provide an accurate indicator of calf rearing costs as every situation is different. Some rearers have ready access to cheaper calves and/or low-cost whole milk. Larger rearers get better discounts on milk and calf meals and have economies of scale with labour.

Large rearing sheds may have a higher capital cost but reduced labour costs/calf.

There will be differences in mortality and animal health costs which all impact on the bottom line. Nevertheless, we have tried to provide an estimate of costings.

The milk powder price is about $100/bag this year. While the aim might be to feed one bag of CMR, the reality is this seldom occurs – there are small or late calves which take more CMR. So we have used a CMR price of $100/bag, 25kg/calf and a CMR cost/calf of $125 per calf. This assumes a

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Table 1: Indicative calf rearing costs Costs

(all prices x GST) kg

Indicative $/head

CMR

$100/bag

25

125.00

Meal (20%)

$1100/t

25

27.50

Meal (16%)

$1000/t

50

50.00

Animal health

10.00

Dehorning

8.00

Bedding

6.00

Housing

5.00

Straw

15.00

Power and fuel

10.00

Interest*

5.00

Tags (as per AHB)**

6.50

Losses (3%)***

5.00

Grazing****

20.00

Labour/rearer margin

130.00

Total rearing costs

423.00

Your prices

Variable costs Calf purchase price Cartage Commission * ** *** ****

Based on servicing $200/calf (calf/milk/meal purchases) for 90 days.

EID supplied by dairy farmer, medium tags only Assuming most losses occur in first 10 days Assuming 98 kg DM @ 20c/kg DM

casein-based CMR is fed throughout the rearing. However, switching to a budget CMR for the last two or three weeks of rearing has the potential to save $10/calf.

Our indicator budget is for a system feeding out 75kg of meal – 25kg pre weaning and 50kg post weaning. It is worth noting there would be a number of rearers on limited land areas feeding out higher quantities of pellets, with grass becoming a much smaller component of their system.

A typical Friesian bull calf will consume around 100kg of grass drymatter between weaning and when it leaves the property.

We have valued this at 20c/kg DM to reflect the lost opportunity cost from grazing other stock.

We have used $130 as a rearer margin.

This means “fixed” costs of rearing are about $425 per calf. Variable costs of calves, cartage and commission at point of selling also have to be considered. Assuming $100 for a good early spring calf, it seems a rearer will need to secure their CMR, meal and calves and achieve a return in excess of $525/calf to be profitable.

• First published in NZ Dairy Exporter June 2022.

For more information vist www.on-farmresearch.co.nz or facebook – Calf Rearing NZ

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ENVIRONMENT Soil science

N NOTHING COMES FROM NOTHING Nutrition for plants and animals have to come from somewhere, agricultural scientist Jacqueline Rowarth writes.

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utrients 101 – they have to come from somewhere.

Whether the source is the atmosphere (carbon through photosynthesis, nitrogen through fixation and some nitrogen and sulphur deposition in rain) or the soil (phosphorus, sulphur, potassium, magnesium, calcium etc.) there is an energy cost involved. That energy also has to come from somewhere.

The ultimate source of that energy is usually the sun (photosynthesis, fossil fuel from photosynthesis millions of years ago, or evapotranspiration that draws nutrients in the transpiration stream, also driven by the sun).

The source of the nutrients is usually the parent material of the soil through the process of weathering, or geological deposits which are transported (using fossil energy from the sun) to the place where they are needed.

In the specific case of nitrogen from the atmosphere being fixed by rhizobia, and becoming available to the plant, the energy cost to the legume has been estimated at about 30% of photosynthesis.

That energy is taken by the rhizobia to enable them to turn the nitrogen (N2) molecule in the atmosphere to biologically available ammonia (NH3).

In short, nothing comes from nothing and the concept of a system feeding itself works only if the material removed from the land to feed people matches the supply of nutrients through weathering and biological fixation.

Humans have shown this repeatedly through history. Itinerant populations moved on when the food supplies were exhausted. Swidden agriculture (slash and burn) hastened the cycle and allowed food plants to be grown in a clearing until the nutrients were depleted. And then the population moved on.

Yield longevity improved when the concept of return of waste was included in production – farmyard manure, night soil (check google) and guano (bird excreta rich in phosphate). New Zealand’s production was based on recognising what nutrients required for plant growth were missing in the soil and adding them1.

The knowledge has been developed by farmers, rural professionals and scientists working together since the 1890s, and the results have been presented in publications such as those produced by the Grassland Association of New Zealand2.

Of importance in achieving efficiencies has been the breeding of animals and herbage species to meet the NZ soils and environmental conditions, and the development of soil nutrient measurements calibrated to enable prediction of likely pasture response on NZ’s unique soils.

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fertiliser to ensure good yields) and the nutrients in the litter are brought to the organic paddock… but the source paddock requires careful nutrient replacement to ensure it is not significantly depleted. The same applies to the vegetable and fruit waste.

Suggestions that synthetic fertiliser isn’t required because the soil has thousands of years of nutrients and animals, including worms and other organisms, will make the nutrients available in their excreta, also require examination.

Essential nutrients

“New Zealand’s production was based on recognising what nutrients required for plant growth were missing in the soil and adding them.”

Despite the considerable body of work underpinning soil nutrient and pasture/animal management, there is renewed interest in organic and regenerative agriculture (e.g: Greenpeace.org. nz). Their recommendations include removing fertiliser inputs and using long pasture grazing (which involves trampling residues of 2500kg drymatter DM/ha into the ground with stock, including their urine and faecal matter) to replace nutrients removed in harvest.

The question must then be “where did the nutrients in the trampled grass, urine and faecal matter come from?”

The grass will have taken up nutrients in situ, some of which are now in the guts of the animals.

The urine and faeces that the animals excrete on the grass probably came from what they ate a few hours beforehand. The excreta relocates the nutrients in concentrated areas, but the gain is offset by the fact that the nutrients have been removed from elsewhere which is now poorer in terms of nutrients.

This also applies to the farmyard manure common in organic agriculture - and the poultry and pig litter, and the vegetable and fruit waste from processing, that is the NZ equivalent. The pigs and poultry have been fed grain grown on areas elsewhere in the world (often with synthetic

It is true that there are greater quantities of essential nutrients in soil than are extracted by the traditional soil tests, but the point about soil nutrient tests is that they are calibrated for what might be available or needed for the season or year ahead.

To access all the nutrients would require destruction of the fabric of the soil and of the organic matter that is important in soil quality.

As each year passes, nutrient supply is diminished and plant growth decreases, which means animal production decreases.

During the 1990s the ‘Withholding of superphosphate trials’ showed it took several years before the effect of not adding phosphate could be seen. The timeframe depended on the starting point, with higher P soils taking longer than lower P soils.

NZ soil scientists recommend that to maintain soil quality, what is removed in animal and plant harvest (or lost to the environment) must be replaced. If improvements in soil quality are required (development), more nutrients than removed will be required.

Fertiliser advice has been improved and refined over the years, but a basic truth remains – soil organisms cannot create mineral nutrients, they simply change them from one form to another, which can affect plant availability.

Many bacteria, fungi, insects and worms in the soil mineralise organic matter as an energy source, using and releasing the carbon, nitrogen and mineral elements that organic matter contains in the process. They do not create new nutrients.

Dr Ants Roberts, Ravensdown’s chief scientist,

References:

1 teara.govt.nz/en/fertiliser-industry/page-1 2 www.grassland.org.nz 3 https://indd.adobe.com/view/693a575a-5482-4df0bc4d-f986d3bce648

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4 www.ravensdown.co.nz/expertise/opinion-therealities-of-growing-nutritious-food 5 www.fertiliser.org.nz/Site/about/why_fertiliser.aspx 6 www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/productivity-

statistics-1978-2021/ 7 www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/theconservation-of-mass-17395478/

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has made this clear in the special issue of AgScience on regenerative agriculture3.

“The inescapable fact is that if plants are harvested (by machine or animal) and removed from the location they are grown in then eventually soil nutrients will be depleted to the point where it will be inevitable that externally sourced nutrients will need to be applied to sustain the soil’s life-supporting capacity.”

Dave Clark, recently retired Arable Chair of Federated Farmers NZ, has done the calculations for wheat.

“For my 10 tonne per hectare crop of milling wheat that is made into flour to bake the toast you ate for breakfast, 25kg of phosphorus, 13kg of potassium and 15kg of sulphur were removed from every hectare of that field. Those basic elements left my field and were present in the toast you ate this morning. So, my paddock now has 25kg, 13kg and 15kg less P, K and S per hectare in it than was stored prior to the crop being harvested.

If we do not replace those nutrients, then the field has been depleted.”4 Dave has also calculated that 250kg of nitrogen is needed to grow the crop and must be replaced.

Without fertiliser use it has been estimated that NZ's soils would be able to support somewhere between half and a quarter of the animals grazed or crops grown. Such a decrease in agricultural production would be devastating for the country’s economy5.

Part of the ongoing development in precision agriculture in NZ is ensuring fertiliser is applied in the right place in the right form in the right amount at the right time. The 4Rs have enabled productivity growth in agriculture to continue6.

The take-home messages are in the law of the conservation of mass7 and the ongoing quest for efficiencies by rural professionals – including scientists and farmers.

Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Adjunct Professor Lincoln University, has a PhD in Soil Science (nutrient cycling) and is a director of Ravensdown, DairyNZ and Deer Industry NZ. The analysis and conclusions above are her own. jsrowarth@gmail.com

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Market test for biodiversity credits A system to fund farmbased biodiversity projects is under development, Joanna Grigg writes.

A

company is offering a tradeable biodiversity unit as a chance to reward and finance onfarm conservation work.

The New Zealand biodiversity market is still in its infancy but it is happening.

Farmers have limited avenues to fund public-good biodiversity work. Now there may be an opportunity to finance biodiversity conservation, using a market mechanism. Farmers would be able to sell biodiversity units to cover project costs.

The concept is in development by Ekos, a specialist in market-based mechanisms for environmental protection. They are perhaps better known for advising on forestry, carbon certification and trading in the Emissions Trading Scheme.

Ekos founder and chief executive Dr Sean Weaver sees it as a novel way to attract funds from private sources.

The biodiversity unit is a ‘habitat hectare’ comprising one hectare of

biodiversity conservation for one year.

The difference between this and standard philanthropy, he said, is that the biodiversity benefits need to be delivered, measured and verified.

This prototype arrangement of a biodiversity unit sale was between conservation group ‘seller’ Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and commercial ‘buyer’ Profile Group Limited, a parent company of a range of businesses producing aluminium windows and doors.

Ekos was approached by Mountain Sanctuary to design and develop the process. Philanthropic funding also helped build the prototype.

Weaver said the sale of these biodiversity units will fund the conservation management of 83 hectares at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, for the 2022 financial year. The Trust runs conservation work over 3400 predator-

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fenced hectares, near Cambridge. It is one of the largest pest-proof fenced projects in the world.

Still in its infancy Before farmers or catchment group administrators get on the phone to Weaver, he said the Ekos Sustainable Development Units Programme is still in its infancy.

“The administration infrastructure and a platform to match buyers and sellers will be some months away.”

With a background in forest carbon and environmental financing, it was logical that Weaver would use the carbon market as a model for the biodiversity unit. He has applied the same ground-truthing (checking the results against the real world) required for carbon credit projects internationally.

Sheep and beef hill farms typically spent $10,000 to $30,000 in 2021 on weed and pest control (B+LNZ Economic Service).

High country businesses are spending

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“The administration infrastructure and a platform to match buyers and sellers will be some months away.” significantly more – around $75,000/ year, up from $25,000 10 years ago. While some of this is to keep land in pastoral production, many farmers spend it for habitat enhancement and pest control for indigenous species. Farmers may be happy to pull funds from the farm business, but it is often limited in scale. Wages or management time spent on managing biodiversity work are often not included in this cost.

The traditional way to fund large farm conservation projects is writing grant applications and smooching to sponsors.

Weaver would like to see a future where

conservation pays for itself, without grants, and when landowners can add biodiversity conservation to the way they make a living.

Weaver said it does not put a price on nature.

“It puts a price on the human labour and technology to look after nature.”

He said a unit could be generated from a community or trust project on public land, private land, pastoral lease or a catchment group of private/public stakeholders. There is a lot of interest from the supply side already, he said.

To create a unit, the conservation project must have an audited annual spend. The Ekos process is based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (of which there are 17).

A third party, environmental auditing firm McHugh & Shaw, validates the process, he said.

“Buyers can trust it is verified.”

They are not to be used to offset bad biodiversity behaviour, he said.

“In our system you can’t destroy a hectare of rainforest and then buy a hectare of biodiversity units to compensate and feel better.”

The appeal of a biodiversity unit is that it’s defined and based on real costs.

“One example is buying a hectare of possum control for a year.”

The cost of a hectare of conservation work to protect biodiversity, in the Sanctuary Mountain transaction, was $603/year. For farm projects, it may include fencing, weed and pest work, plus the administration of running the project. Weaver suggests farmers start keeping good records of their biodiversity enhancement costs. It could be as small as a wetland or as large as a big forest.

“While this is not for the purpose of profit, everyone along the biodiversity unit value chain needs to cover all their costs, because if we don’t, we cannot financially sustain this effort,” he said.

Contracts can be for one or more years and prices for a hectare of biodiversity units will range, depending on actual costs.

Weaver first sold biodiversity units in 2014, to test the market. They were then known as habitat hectare units, sold to Commonsense Organics. These were sourced from an indigenous forest project in Southland.

Weaver said the potential market is big, with space for more players. He is already in negotiations with a global environmental standard who wants to use the Ekos model globally.

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ENVIRONMENT Microclimate

Know your environment Come rain, wind or drought, Kerry Dwyer steps up for his region’s climate.

I

didn’t get to the local Beef + Lamb event in early July, so read with interest the report that one of the speakers said of North Otago, “this is one of the worst environments in New Zealand”.

That could be a harsh indictment on my local area, which I like, because it is rather temperate by my reckoning. Like any region there are many microclimates within it, but by comparison with other areas we do not get the extremes. We are not as hot as Northland which topped the stakes for highest mean temperature for 2021, and missed the 39.4C high of Ashburton on January 27, 2021 by about 10C. We don’t get the cold of Central Otago, although we did have a -5C in May last year, when the lowest elsewhere was approaching -10C.

“And we are not as windy as Castlepoint, which regularly tops the airflow measurements. I have played golf at Pongaroa and Waimakariri Gorge, and think North Otago is blessed.”

North Otago is not as dry as Alexandra, which had the lowest NZ rainfall last year at 402mm. By the way, locals in the Hakataramea Valley thought it was great when they recorded the third lowest rainfall for 2021 at 487mm, in what was one of their better growing years.

My rain gauge totalled 620mm for the 2021 calendar year.

Neither are we as wet as many areas. While I did wade through floodwaters on January 2, 2021, from a rainfall event of close to 100mm, our son farming at the foot of Mount Hutt had around 500mm in two days of May. Historically my North Otago area was struck by droughts in the 1960s to 1980s, but in more recent times we have not seen their occurrence or severity to the same degree. People in Hawke’s Bay and North

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Canterbury have taken the brunt of drought in recent years.

And we are not as windy as Castlepoint, which regularly tops the airflow measurements. I have played golf at Pongaroa and Waimakariri Gorge, and think North Otago is blessed.

The point is, know your environment. I thought the Nevis Valley was about the worst environment in NZ, and North Otago is nothing like that. We farmers deal with climatic variation so need to have a good handle on what we face every day and every month of the year.

The speakers at the Beef + Lamb seminar did emphasise the need for flexibility and resilience to deal with climatic variation, and with global warming changing the environment that makes good business sense.

When I look at my rainfall records for the past 10 years I see we have recorded 60% of annual rainfall in the growing months, from October to March. I don’t know how that compares with earlier data but think there has been some shift. That pattern has held true over the past 10 years, even though annual rainfall has ranged from 425mm to 790mm in my rain gauge.

Looking at the growth rings on trees that I have cut down reinforces that we have had a run of good growing seasons in North Otago. Do you see any change of patterns in your environment?

One pattern that always strikes me in North Otago is that we have three consecutive dry months every year, with maybe 25mm per month or less. The seasonality of this is variable, and sometimes it stretches out to five or six months. Knowing this is likely to occur is being realistic rather than pessimistic for planning ahead. It is when it happens that we have to plan for, rather than if.

How harsh is your environment? Has it changed with time?

We have just finished July with 235mm in my rain gauge, and a little flood; along with the strongest nor’west gale since 2013.

• Kerry Dwyer is a North Otago farm consultant and farmer.

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A load of bull

A woman who carved a niche out of close up bull photography on social media features in the latest episode of the From the Ground Up podcasts, Rebecca Greaves writes. hey say you should never work with children or animals, but By the Horns photographer Amanda King has carved a niche for herself doing exactly that.

The primary school teacher turned photographer has amassed a huge following on social media with her hallmark close-up images of magnificent bulls, as well as other farm animals she’s met on her travels.

She first branched out into animals when she wanted an image for their own home, a photo of a Highland bull, and soon friends and family wanted to know if they could have one too. She was doing it for fun, but quickly realised she might be on to something, so she started posting her photos to Facebook.

That was five years ago and, in August, her first coffee table book, A Load of Bull, hit bookshops. She also has an upcoming exhibition at Eden Park, Auckland, as part of Art in the Park, which runs from September 8-11.

“I would never have thought in a million years I would have this book.”

Amanda initially began her photography business as a sideline to her teaching career, starting out photographing children. When she and husband Fraser moved south to live on his family farm at Hororata, Canterbury, she began taking photos of the animals on the farm.

Within three months, her social media had blown up and the orders soon came flooding in from around the world.

“I was so surprised by the reaction I was getting from the public, it was crazy, so I thought maybe I should open a little online store.

Her followers on Facebook grew from zero to 16,000, fast. Suddenly she had a huge business on her hands that she wasn’t prepared for. She and her husband would be rolling and packaging prints at 11pm, once their young children had gone to bed.

Luckily, she was on maternity leave from her

T

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Amanda with her new coffee table book, A Load of Bull.

teaching job at the time.

“It was an eye-opener, but exciting at the same time. I realised I really love this, I wake up every day excited...I’d always enjoyed taking photos but it had never crossed my mind to do it as a career.”

Animals are her main subjects, but she has branched out to include seascapes, landscapes and botanical prints.

“Pretty much everything I think would make a nice piece of artwork and that I’m able to do from around where I live,” she says.

“If we’re talking about animals, I like to be able to capture their personalities and it was always a vision of mine to create a piece of artwork that I could blow up into a large statement piece in a person’s home that might create conversation.”

Amanda’s fine art photography prints and canvases hang in homes and businesses from the United Kingdom and Europe to the United States, even Saudi Arabia.

“Most orders are for people’s own home and offices. I have had a few orders from interior designers in the States who were doing up restaurants, and even breweries.

It’s a wide range of places.”

Originally from the suburbs of Brisbane,

Australia, farming was completely foreign to her prior to meeting her husband while on her OE in London, where she was teaching and travelling on the school holidays.

“He always wanted to come back to the family farm, and when he moved back, I came with him. I am still learning every day being here on the farm with my husband.

This is all a new experience to me.”

Amanda still has goals she’d like to achieve when it comes to her business, with plans to build and open a studio on the farm, where people can come to view her art. She would also like to get her own printer and start printing her own prints.

FROM THE GROUND

To hear more about Amanda’s story, how she has created a significant following on social media and turned it into a viable business, listen to the latest episode of Young Country’s From the Ground Up podcast.

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FARMING IN FOCUS

Top left: Amanda King with some of her art. Top right: It’s important to Darryl and Anna Oldham that their girls Henrietta (8) and Olivia (6) enjoy farm life. Centre left: Possum trapping on Mount Camel is restoring native wildlife such as this piwakawaka. Centre right: Norm Wagener’s preferred mode of transport when working on the Mount Camel farm in Northland. Bottom: The Wagener farm lies across the water from Houhora, the country’s northernmost commercial and recreational fishing harbour.

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Top left: Don Stobie on his Gordonton, Waikato farm. Top right: 10-month Romneys fatten on the Stobie farm. Centre left: Brands for Angus cattle on Totaranui, near Pahiatua. Centre right: John Jackson chatting with clients at Totaranui’s June bull sale. Bottom: Farm views at Totaranui.

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