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FOR E FUTURIA G R R S! U E N E R P
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Volume 19 I August 10th, 2020 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I www.farmersweekly.co.nz
WELL WEATHERED TOGETHER!
We thought you might like to hear a little more about Murray Craw, who sent us a photo of his redbands that have served him very well for close to 60 years. He was kind enough to share a little of his life story so far.
I have lived on Banks Peninsula for all of my 86 years. Born one of nine children, with triplet sisters, in Pigeon Bay I was fortunate to have a wonderful mother who saved all my family benefit. It couldn’t have been easy for her but with that help I was able to purchase my first bit of land also in Pigeon Bay. I worked as a shearer, saved, and bought a second piece of land this time in Barry’s Bay. some 200 acres. Now married my wife and I milked 40 cows whilst I continued to shear sheep. We then bought 250 acres in Little Akaloa and moved from Barrys Bay to live there. 200 acres at Chorlton was our next purchase. Meantime I stopped shearing and milked 70 cows at Little Akaloa as well as farming pigs and running 500 sheep. Our sheep were always the last to be shorn! Beef farming then became my main interest and we decided to sell the Barry’s Bay property purchasing 1000 acres at Port Levy and
leaving Little Akaloa to live there. Muldoon and Rogernomics stepped in and we were forced to sell all but our Port Levy property. My wife then had the bright idea to run horse treks which we did for fifteen years and these were our saviour. We catered for all, Americans, Japanese, New Zealanders, you name it. They came by car, boat and helicopter. Still living in Port Levy we are now retired. We have been married for 58 years and have had four children. Our son has taken on the farm and is almost as good as me at cattle buying and selling. We are very pleased to share that Skellerup has offered to set Murray up with a brand-new pair of Red Bands, so his old pair can enjoy a welldeserved retirement.
1 Go to www.farmersweekly.co.nz 2 Find and watch the OnFarm Story of Peter Brice “Now’s the opportunity” and read the accompanying article “Farming in a fishbowl”. 3 Where is the farm that Peter manages? 4 What school/s uses the farm as an educational facility? 5 When was the farm established?
FILL YA BOOTS:
STRETCH YOURSELF: 1 What opportunities/experiences does the ASB MAGS farm provide students with?
1 What do you think an advantage is for importers of frozen meat products compared to chilled? Think about how long meat would last in your fridge vs the freezer at home. 2 Can you name three different cuts of beef that you might find in the supermarket or your fridge/ freezer at home? What is your favourite?
2 A number of students feel like urban based communities have little understanding or appreciation of the agricultural industry, what are your thoughts on this? If you agree, how could we change these perceptions? Hugo & Hudson enjoying a good old winter tradition
1 Go the AgriHQ market snapshot page 2 What was the North Island steer price last week? 3 How is this tracking compared to year-ago levels?
STRETCH YOURSELF: This graph shows the volume of store lambs going through the saleyards in the Canterbury Region. 1 At the end of March the number of store lambs sold through the saleyards was well above year-ago levels and the five-year average. What do you think caused this? Think about the decision’s farmers need to make during drought conditions when feed levels are very low. 2 Throughput is typically low at this time of year. Looking at the graph, what month could we expect to see the volumes of lambs through the saleyards begin to lift?
3 How many cows do they milk? What do they do with the milk? Why couldn’t they sell it? 4 How many students help out on the farm? This has increased since Peter started managing the farm, do you think that there is opportunity to grow the numbers of students in agriculture, particularly in urban areas? Tell us how? 5 This year has brought challenges to the farm during and after the Covid lockdown and also with continued dry conditions during summer and autumn. What did the farm do to meet these challenges?
For answers to last week’s questions and more content head to our website: www.sites.google.com/view/agined/home