Farmers Weekly NZ April 2 2018 by AgriHQ

18 New dairy champ talks Vol 17 No 13, April 2, 2018

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Farmers want clarity T

Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz

HE effects of the Mycoplasma bovis response are being felt by a Cambridge farmer whose farms are under Primary Industries Ministry Notice of Direction. “We are under movement restriction with three properties. “We were told we were suspect and slapped under restriction on March 5.” MPI said there are no properties under Restricted Place Notice in the North Island but there might be some on Notices of Direction, effectively a stock movement restriction. “I don’t believe we are the only ones,” the farmer said. On January 14 MPI told him he was a trace property through stock he bought from a Winton, Southland, farm two years earlier. The Winton property was identified as an infected property in mid December. “I expected from that January 14 phone call that I would have follow-up straight away but that follow-up call took six weeks, until March 5. On Monday MPI said more than 22,000 cattle from 22 infected South Island properties will be culled by May. Another six had no cattle on them and 48 properties were under MPI response restrictions. Piecing together how the disease got here is a difficult jigsaw and the flurry of action and lack of detail in information this past week is fueling the rumour mill, Federated Farmers dairy

chairman Chris Lewis said. He expects it won’t be too long before the Waikato dairy community’s worst fears are realised. “It just shows MPI still has a lot of work to do on their processes yet. “The secrets are not all out yet,” Lewis said. MPI on Wednesday released reports by a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and an internal report examining potential entry routes. The TAG report makes reference to possible legal breaches in relation to how the disease entered the country. The references have largely been redacted, to obscure or remove sensitive information. Sections blocked out relate to veterinary medicines and biological products. The report also raises a red flag about M bovis infection from imported frozen semen and embryos and recommends research funding to better understand the transmission risk. MPI said it couldn’t release the report until the legal matters were sufficiently examined by compliance investigators. That happened on Tuesday when warranted MPI officers simultaneously raided three properties, one in the North Island and two in the South Island. They “related to potential breaches of legislation related to the M bovis response,” it said. The breach was believed to likely be of the Biosecurity Act in regards to importing genetic material that included semen, embryos or drugs. MPI compliance investigations

operate we need transparency – ongoing surface information, lack of detail and reports blacked out, is not transparency.” As for the culling of all cattle on all infected properties Lewis said those farmers needed certainty they would get immediate compensation to enable to them to get their businesses back up and running by June 1.

Farmers have always said they want eradication if that was at all feasible. Chris Lewis Federated Farmers

SPEED: Farmers affected by the M bovis cow cull need certainty and quick compensation to replace cows for the start of next season, Federated Farmers dairy chairman Chris Lewis says.

manager Gary Orr said the outcome of the searches would be communicated to farmers as soon as MPI was able to provide that information. Lewis said farmers were again left hanging. “There’s still missing bits. “That fuels the rumour mill

and has left people gossiping and speculating and that does a lot of damage,” Lewis said. “What has happened in the past week around warranted searches, announcements to cull and the release of the reports has not been on the fly. “If they want farmers to co-

“Farmers have always said they want eradication if that was at all feasible,” Lewis said. “But we need certainty on all fronts for all decisions made and I am not so certain we have that certainty. “Without knowing the source there’s no certainty around eradication no matter what number of cows are culled.” Lewis urged MPI to give farmers destined to have their herds culled a written letter of certainty confirming they will get compensation and be in a position to buy new herds by June 1. Lewis expects there will be good numbers of cows available but timing of the compensation will be critical for farmers to be in a position to repopulate, especially for buying whole herds as they come on the market.

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NEWS

WEATHER OVERVIEW HIGH pressure dominates the country for the next couple of weeks with a drier than average trend kicking in for many northern and eastern regions. In fact most of the North Island and a large chunk of the South Island with the exception of the West Coast looks drier than average for the week ahead and fairly dry for the following week. But there are a few cold front and heavy rain events. The Southern Ocean is quite active now as we head towards winter so very large lows will continue to brush the South Island bringing short bursts of cold, windy, weather and more of that heavy rain on the West Coast. The tropics are still active too.

NZX PASTURE GROWTH INDEX – Next 15 days

Pasture Growth Index Above normal Near normal Below normal

7-DAY TRENDS

16 Beltex crosses steal the show The highly anticipated first-ever Beltex ram sale made history for New Zealand and dealt an unexpected result for the breeders who believe they have introduced a breed that will be a game-changer for the sheep industry. Risk aversion is bad for dairy �� 5

Wind

Rain A few cold fronts hit the West Coast over the next week and while none is major when combined they do accumulate some large rainfall totals, especially in the southern half. Elsewhere in NZ mainly dry but a few isolated downpours.

Forest rule puts the cart first �� 7 NZ sheep milking on right track �� 11

Newsmaker ��18 New Thinking ��19 Opinion ��20

REGULARS

With high pressure dominating, winds will generally not be a major issue but with the highs mainly centred in the Tasman Sea and northern NZ it should encourage westerly quarter winds at times. That’s why the east is drying out. For further information on the NZX PGI visit www.agrihq.co.nz/pgi

Highlights/ Extremes

Temperature We’re seeing a slow sinking of the daytime highs in Southland and Otago. As more southern air mixes in the days get shorter. Elsewhere the afternoons look fairly mild, even hot at times for some in the North Island’s east.

Not too much in the way of severe weather at this stage for the week ahead. Watch for heavy rain at times on the West Coast and sometimes gusty winds through the mountains. Drying out slowly in the east and north.

14-DAY OUTLOOK

The soil in many parts of the country remains wetter than usual for this time of year following a very wet end to summer. Some of the driest regions for this time of year like Southland, Manawatu, Whanganui and Gisborne could all do with some more rain but not a lot is in the forecast. The positive is that the warm weather will continue, which means pasture growth should still be positive for most regions this week.

SOIL MOISTURE INDEX

Real Estate ��24-38

– 28/03/2018

Employment ��39 Classifieds ��39-40 Livestock ��40-43

48 Bigger calves, higher prices Higher weights than last year meant higher prices overall on the first day of the Cheviot calf sale in North Canterbury.

Source: WeatherWatch.co.nz

This product is powered by NIWA Data

For more weather information go to farmersweekly.co.nz/weather

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1. Outlook

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Fonterra milk spill to continue

In this section we explore forecast market share of the NZ milk processing market. We done so assuming no growth in total milk volumes over the three years to 2020.

The growth estimates by company are a function of committed capacity currently invested over the three years 2018 to 2020. in, access to capital, and in Westland’s case, a return to competitiveness that r “Our growth estimates by current volumes. their

Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com FALLING market share is a continuing problem for Fonterra as it is projected to lose a further billion litres of milk supply over three years to 2020. That is a big concern for Fonterra in efficient asset use because that loss of supply would be equivalent to the throughput of three averagesized milk powder plants. The second edition of a dairy industry competitiveness study by TDB Advisory, of Wellington, predicts Fonterra’s market share will fall below 78% in both North and South Islands in 2020.

Under the original Dairy Industry Restructuring Act that market share would have triggered a review and, subject to adequate competition, the expiration of the DIRA TDB Advisory “Under the original Dairy Industry Restructuring Act that market share would have triggered a review and, subject to adequate competition, the expiration of the DIRA,” TDB said. But those trigger points have been suspended by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The TDB analysis assumes industry number two Open Country will be successful in attracting the milk supply it needs for its seventh drier on its fourth site, at Horotiu in north Waikato, due to open in August. Also, the major underlying assumption is nil milk production growth for New Zealand as a whole

company are a function of committed capacity currently Table 1: Company milk volume growth rates and leverage being invested in, access to capital and, in Westland’s case, a return to competitiveness that retains their Growth rates Forecast growth rates Dividend pay-out ratio, Debt to To current volumes.” Companies 2012-2017 (% p.a.) 2018-2020 2017 Assets, 20 The forecast growth figures generated for 2018-20 are: Fonterra Fonterra 0.12% -2.17% 82% 33% minus 2% annually, Open Country plus 8%, Synlait plus 1%, Westland 0% 8% OCD 12% 8% nil, Tataua plus 3%, Miraka plus 4% Synlait 8% 1% 0% 11% and Oceania plus 26%. Open Country’s actual volume Westland 4% 0% not applicable 38% growth is forecast to rise from 1.4b litres to 1.75b annually, that of Tatua 3% 3% not applicable 28% Synlait to approach 1b and Oceania Miraka 10%+* 4% not applicable not disclos to reach 400 million. Elsewhere in the TDB analysis Oceania it 15%+* 26% not applicable not disclos gathered sharebrokers’ forecasts of the earnings performance in 2019-20 of four dairy companies, Fonterra, Open Country Synlait, and A2 Milk. The forecast net profits after tax Taking the COMING growth rates from the previous section we have forecast Fonterra’s compe SOON: The terms of reference for Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s dairy industry review will be ready of Synlait at $1.21/kg milksolids for to Cabinet in April. processed and of A2 $2.76 when volumes out 2020. compared with Fonterra 87c illustrated how far ahead those Figure 1: Forecast Fonterra’s competitors on themilk rise collection volume, 2017-2020 value-add companies are. “If profits were bundled into milk price there would be more than $1/kg additional, compared with Fonterra,” TDB warned. TDB published its first dairy company comparison in April last year and has a second edition nearing completion. Director and long-time dairy industry executive, analyst, and investor Geoff Taylor hopes the new analysis will be useful in the review of the dairy industry, announced by O’Connor in February. A spokesperson for the minister said the terms of reference for the review will be written and presented to Cabinet in April. The actual review is expected to take a year and therefore any possible amendments to the DIRA will occur in 2019, following the normal Parliamentary procedure. The form of the review and who will do it have not been finalised, the spokesperson said.

1.1

Forecast market share

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Pressure on processors’ margins Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz LESS aggressive buying by United States manufacturing beef importers is putting pressure on New Zealand processor margins. Most of the impact is on bull returns, with the cull cow season building up after Easter. At this time of year, going into the northern hemisphere spring, the American feedlots are well stocked and importers there were aware of NZ supply trends, including the cull cow outlook, Anzco Foods general manager of agriculture and livestock Grant Bunting said. “They factor a lot in and if they think they can hold off a bit and

create an anomaly that helps their pricing they’ll do that.” Anzco is a big bull beef processor and like the sector generally is subject to the market, including the rate of forward selling of product and currency hedging rates. The season at this stage is pretty similar to last year, he said. In her latest livestock report, NZXAgri analyst Rachel Agnew said the US market is performing in line with historical trends but processors are being hurt by the high NZ dollar and high procurement prices. Cow slaughter rates are slowly building and processors are “adamant that operating prices

OUCH: Processors are being hurt by a high Kiwi dollar and high stock procurement costs, AgriHQ analyst Rachel Agnew says.

will fall” as they try to secure better margins. There are still questions over how big the cow kill will be. Bunting said procurement schedule rates will be guided by the numbers coming through. If there is a repeat of the peak of some earlier years, prices will

go down but if the trend is the same as last year with no real peak but an on-and-on supply and with cow numbers lower anyway, the impact might not be as marked. There is also an issue over the forced kill of Mycoplasma bovis animals, which could artificially raise total numbers. Agnew said bull margins now are 30% down on both last year and the five-year average. Margins for cows are about the same as last year but 10% off the five-year average. The NZ dollar has been in the US$0.72 to 0.74 range over the last several weeks but even at 0.70, margins would be poor. The US market outlook is

If they think they can hold off a bit and create an anomaly that helps their pricing they’ll do that. Grant Bunning Anzco also just steady to weaker, she said. Prime cattle margins have held up better than for manufacturing beef but are also starting to fall back as domestic demand for steak cuts weakens.

January log exports up NEW Zealand exported more than a million cubic metres of softwood logs in January, only the second time such a high volume has been shipped in that month. The 1.1m cubic metres sent overseas was up 32% on January 2017, Global Trade Information Services data published in AgriHQ’s monthly forestry market report said. That’s the highest level for the month since 2014 though it was down 31% on December. “The strong start to 2018 bodes well for the coming year as January is historically the weakest month each year,”AgriHQ analyst Reece Brick said. The big export volumes were partly because of the later Chinese New Year, which moved some of the heavy preChinese New Year trading into January rather than December. The generally high level of exports last year was also a factor in lifting January volumes. NZ cemented its position as China’s top source of softwood logs last year, with its share of the market lifting to 36.3% from 34.7%. AgriHQ said NZ’s strong

presence in the Chinese log market continued in January, with imports of NZ logs jumping 43% from the same month a year earlier and accounting for 40% of China’s total log imports, significantly ahead of closest rival Russia with a 21% share. China’s demand for softwood logs has increased after Asia’s largest economy clamped down on harvesting its own forests and reduced tariffs on imported logs to meet demand in its local market. “All eyes are focused on the direction that China takes after the Chinese New Year holidays,” Brick said. “Activity was relatively dead over the past month but portlevel offtake in the past week or two has reportedly lifted more sharply than expected. “There’s little to show there will be any deviation from what’s been witnessed over the past 12 months and the general sentiment is for small price increases over the next two months.” Forest products are NZ’s third-largest commodity export behind dairy and meat products. – BusinessDesk

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Risk aversion is bad for dairy Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com DAIRY farmers are stuck in a vicious circle chasing profit in farm systems stretched beyond their capabilities with stress on people, infrastructure, animals and the environment, last year’s Fonterra dairy woman of the year Jessie Chan-Dorman says. Her estimate was the vicious cycle affects half of farms, though farmers don’t know they are in it, but it can be turned into an opportunity. She and husband Hayden started sharemilking on a Canterbury dairy farm eight years ago. “The farm was making money but it was a chaotic mess,” she told the Pioneer conference. It had a death rate of 5.1% compared to 2% today and a somatic cell count over 200,000, almost three times what it is now. “We were putting a lot of feed into cows without a great conversion rate into milk and people were burnt out, working 70-plus hours a week compared to the average of 53 they do now. “We were like what too many New Zealand dairy farms are now, in that vicious cycle and they do not realise it.” The opportunity starts with collecting data on all aspects of farm operation, without which no considered, informed decisions can be made, and a full understanding of the farm’s true efficiencies. “We have all started to collect data but how many farms are starting to use it? It takes a lot of hard work to input it.” Giving key players in the industry skin in the game is also vital to reinforce commitment. Chan-Dorman said there is a need for managers in the dairy sector but she fears a culture of management is usurping and

Tony Woodcock

LOCKED IN: Farmers must break out of the cycle of chasing profit, Fonterra dairy woman of the year Jessie Chan-Dorman says.

smothering the entrepreneurial spirit needed to encourage risktakers. “It has never been easy to buy a farm and to achieve that young farmers need to understand their why, with a deep understanding of risk and how to accept it and manage it and take advantage of it. “If the number one priority of the contract milker next door is to get a six-figure income to buy a boat then there is something wrong.” She is concerned as the sector moves to more corporate ownership structures, there is a tendency for skin in the game opportunities to decline. Chan-Dorman also advocates giving staff and operators the ingredients, not the recipe

and welcomes any move away from the traditional System 1-5 categories for classing NZ dairy farm intensity. “Most people can follow a recipe but that does not encourage creativity of thinking outside the norm.” The couple tipped the farm operation they started with on its head after some years of running it as a typical intensive Canterbury dairy operation. Cow numbers were sliced by almost half to 880 cows, calving was split between spring and autumn and the entire property became self contained for wintering and grazing youngstock. The farm runs a no bobby calf policy, extracting maximum value from beef income potential

that has included using Wagyu genetics over cows for high value non-replacement calves. The herd is a closed pedigree herd, proving a major advantage under the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. The fourth area she wants to see the industry shift on is the metrics of measurement used to judge success. “We have seen so many farms put on a pedestal because they make so much money. “Not to say it is not important to make money but often these can be the same farms you would never send visitors to, that you would never want to see your children working on. “For a long time it has been our only key measure, yet our licence to operate is threatened.

For a long time it (money) has been our only key measure, yet our licence to operate is threatened. Jessie Chan-Dorman Farmer “We have risked squeezing our systems so hard. It is not that attractive any more.” She urged the industry to stop research and development that defends the status quo and to focus on those attributes that will deliver a more sustainable, appealing industry.

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Forest rule puts the cart first Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com TARANAKI farmer Neil Walker hopes proposed changes by the Government will add clarity to the eligibility rules for forests joining the Emissions Trading Scheme. Confusion and uncertainty over the criteria and management of the scheme not only make it difficult to set aside land as ETS carbon sinks but deprive owners of poor performing, inaccessible land of a valuable source of income. With the Government setting some ambitious greenhouse gas emission goals, land owners can generate significant new income from carbon farming by planting trees and selling the credits. The twin issues of climate change, the creation of carbon units or forest sinks and reducing emissions, appear to be working in opposition to each other, he said. “Rules and administering the rules are standing in the way of creating forestry and the possibility of establishing carbon credit offsetting sinks.” He has a 200ha property near Waverley that he estimates by 2020 will have generated $150,000 from carbon credits and manuka honey with the pest control the only annual cost. A Ministry for Primary Industry spokesman said it is aware of landowner concerns about forests being eligible for the ETS and criteria are being reviewed with any changes requiring a legislative amendment. “MPI is currently working on operational improvements to the

ABOUT FACE: Land must be planted in trees before the Primary Industries Ministry will say if it elligible for the Emissions Trading Scheme.

ETS for forestry and is already aware of the concerns some landowners have regarding their ability to establish the potential eligibility of land before it is established in forest.” Long-term or permanent forest, where appropriate, is a feature of the ministry’s climate change, water quality, regional growth and billion-tree planting policies. Walker said landowners have a role if the country is to meet its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050 but under the present regime

participation is confusing and the threshold creates too much risk. Walker said he had a 25ha steep hill block he planned to plant in eucalyptus regnum, which can live for 100 years, as a carbon sink. He had been told by MPI it could not indicate or tell him if the land qualifies for the ETS until after it is planted. To be eligible to enter the ETS and receive carbon credits under present legislation, MPI assessed the suitability of registering forest land for inclusion in the ETS using

aerial photography, site visits and information from the applicant. “By definition the land must already be in forest when any assessment is made, for the assessment to deem the land eligible to enter.” That means applicants cannot get an assessment of the land without planting it though there is an avenue through the Environmental Protection Authority that can provide landowners with some clarity before planting.

Walker hired a Palmerston North mapping company to assess whether the 25ha qualified, for which he believed it did, so he has decided to invest in planting the forest ahead of any MPI decision. But landowners need clarity about the suitability of land so they can make forest planting decisions. They do not want to destroy regenerating bush but areas of weed and low-producing pasture are ideal carbon sinks while also providing a new source of income.

Wrong brassica buyers are in line for refunds Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com THE 556 farmers supplied incorrectly labelled swede seed will be fully refunded by seed merchant PGG Wrightson Seed at a cost of more than $2 million. Farmers sowed 9300ha of what they believed was yellow-fleshed Hawkstone Cleancrop brassica for winter feed but were actually supplied HT-S57 brassica, which in 2014 was responsible for

toxicity issues in cattle and sheep. PGG Wrightson Seed manager David Green said farmers were given a product they did not want to buy so it is right that they should be refunded. Farmers will be refunded the cost of seed and chemicals sold as a package. “From our perspective, we are really disappointed that this happened and we want to make sure we do the right thing.” Green was reluctant to say

how much the refund would cost but sources estimate the establishment cost was more than $200 a hectare, meaning the total refund cost to the merchant is more than $2m. All 556 farmers who bought the seed have been contacted, with 160 registered with PPG Wrightson and the rest through seed retailers. A designated response team has also been established to help farmers manage the crop,

especially in late winter when there can be palatability issues. The 2014 winter was especially mild and it was discovered that contributed to the HTS57 brassica beginning the reproduction stage earlier than expected. The toxins it produced caused death and health issues in some stock, especially dairy cows that had returned home from winter grazing and were held on swede crops before calving.

Green said the two varieties produce identical drymatter but human error caused the variety mix up during the supply chain process. Green will attend a public meeting called by Clutha Southland National Party MP Hamish Walker in Gore on April 6. The meeting will update farmers on animal health precautions and will be addressed by PGG Wrightson, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ.

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Trade war might hit here yet Nigel Stirling nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com THE opening shots in Donald Trump’s global trade war so far have mainly been contained to industrial products but experts warn they could yet ricochet into important markets for New Zealand farmers. The renegade American president has followed up acrossthe-board tariffs on imports of aluminium and steel with a new tariff threat against 1300 different products imported from China with a value of $60b. The tariffs have been in the works since last year as Trump sought to make good on promises made in the 2016 presidential election to crack down on state subsidies to Chinese steelmakers and theft of intellectual property from American companies. China has been measured in its response so far, publishing a list of 128 imports from the United States worth $3b that it says would be hit with tariffs of up to 25% should Trump target Chinese imports. The Government’s agricultural trade envoy Mike Petersen said key exports for NZ including beef and dairy were absent from the list of products singled out by China and the US for tariffs and should be spared any direct fallout from the initial shots in a trade war between the US and China. However, if China escalates hostilities with punitive tariffs against imports of US grains and cereals it could drive down international stock feed prices with bigger implications for NZ exporters. “That would bring the price of food down in some parts of the world and that is a real risk for NZ.” A former senior trade policy adviser to Fonterra, Ken Geard, warned of potential disruption to NZ exporters from a trade

If Trump can somehow get away with using national security as his justification on steel and aluminium what is there to stop someone else using food security as an argument? Ken Geard Trade policy adviser

WARNING: Trump’s trade war could spiral out of control, former New Zealand trade negotiator Charles Finny says.

war involving China and the US as the two protagonists redirect their own exports to lower-tariff markets. While increased tariffs on US beef to China, for example, could create opportunities for NZ meat companies in China it could at the same time hit trade in markets where NZ and US exporters compete, such as South Korea as US rivals seek an outlet for beef previously destined for China but now shut out. Under pressure from a surge in imports and falling prices Korean farmers can be expected to press their government to respond with tariffs of its own. With the example of the US and

China to guide them, increased barriers to imports will be seen as politically more palatable. “They will say ‘who cares if it breaks our World Trade Organisation obligations. It does not matter any more because these other people are doing it so why shouldn’t we?’.” Former trade negotiator Charles Finny says justification for tariffs on national security grounds – the US has argued international trade law allows it to use tariffs to minimise its reliance on foreign powers for steel for armaments and other military hardware – invites further unravelling of the global trading system. “If Trump can somehow get

away with using national security as his justification on steel and aluminium what is there to stop someone else using food security as an argument? “Perhaps a future Japanese or Indonesian government saying ‘terribly sorry NZ we need to have our own beef industry or sheep meat or dairy industry to feed our people and given international tensions we cannot rely on you for supply so terribly sorry your product is banned’.” Finny warned the situation could further spiral out of control as exemptions granted by Trump to large steel producers such as Brazil and the European Union expire at the end of May.

If tariffs follow it will open the door to yet more retaliation against the US and throw up any number of disruptions to key markets for NZ exporters as global trade flows are thrown into disarray. The best that NZ can do is to play its part and join any legal challenge to Trump’s tariffs through the WTO. However, Geard said there is no guarantee Trump will respect any decision from the Geneva-based body. “For him then to accept a ruling from this multilateral body made up of judges from wherever … they wouldn’t be Americans … is going to be outrageous for him. “This would be his opportunity to say ‘stuff them, I am not going to belong to this’.” If Trump ignores a finding against him in the WTO there is a danger of slipping back into a situation that existed before its establishment in 1995 when larger countries such as the US used their economic muscle to their advantage in trade disputes. NZ has taken and won nine cases at the WTO – the most recent last year against Indonesian import rules estimated to have cost beef exporters a billion dollars in lost sales since 2012.

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News

10 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

KEEPING ON: Sam Whitelock will be taking basic health and performance techniques from the All Blacks back to the farm.

Get the basics of life right Sam Whitelock Farmstrong Ambassador farmstrong.co.nz

I COME from a farming background and once I complete my rugby career I’ll be taking the lessons I’ve learnt from professional sport and applying them back on the farm. Rugby has certainly taught me heaps about how to look after myself and handle pressure. I reckon rugby and farming are really similar that way – there’s

always targets to meet and results to achieve. So how can you prepare for the ups and downs of it all? Whether you’re an athlete or a farmer, it all starts with getting the basics right – sleep, nutrition and recovery time. Sleep Sleep’s massive.

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Most of us need seven to nine hours of sleep each day to give our bodies a chance to repair and re-energise for the next day. Without the right amount of sleep you won’t function at your best. When I am having trouble sleeping because of worrying about things, I write them down on a bit of paper and save them for the next day. Nutrition Whether you’re farming or playing sport you need the right fuel in the tank to perform at your best. Eat more unprocessed, natural foods – they’ll give you heaps more nutrients and energy. Avoid skipping meals and carry snacks during the day for when you need energy boosts. And have water handy. Poor hydration can really affect your decision-making and ability to perform.

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Recovery time Even though as rugby players we practice heaps and play high intensity games we still build recovery time into our schedule. This gives us a chance to recover physically and mentally so we can perform at our best next time. No-one can go hard out all day, every day without breaks. That’s the stuff of burn out. So build proper breaks into your working day and seasonal calendar. Whether it’s a two-week holiday, a weekend away or an afternoon off, remember any break is better than none. Recovery time makes you more energised and efficient when you are on the job. Remember to warm up Once you’ve got these basics under your belt it’s all about dayto-day maintenance. Keeping in better shape can be as easy as doing some simple warm-up stretches and exercises

each day before you hit the woolshed, the milking cups, drench the lambs or drive the tractor. Doing warm-ups keeps the body flexible and prevents you picking up unnecessary strains, niggles and injuries that can wear you down. Whether you’re a farmer or a lock, warming up before you work will extend your career. Working on these basics helps me cope with the ups and downs of sporting life and I know they will also help when I am back farming. And that’s what Farmstrong’s all about, looking after the farm’s number one asset – you.

Head to www.farmstrong.co.nz There’s a tonne of other farmer-tofarmer videos and stories on our website www.farmstrong.co.nz that will help you become a better farmer and a better person. So check out a new habit that could work for you and lock it in.

Comedy for a Cause FARMSTRONG is heading to Waikato in April and giving farmers, growers and anyone connected with the rural community a chance to get off farm to have break and a laugh. “From time-to-time we all find ourselves under the pump and it’s easy to just keep going but the reality is we can’t. We all need to stop and recharge,” Farmstrong spokeswoman Michelle Stevens said. “Whilst farming can be incredibly enjoyable and rewarding, at the same time

it’s a tough gig. “In the same way we plan our daily workloads of milking, shearing and stock rotation we also need to take time to plan how we’re going to stop. It may sound a little odd but it’s so important to have a break and invest in ourselves. “After having a break we tend to make better decisions, have more energy and are in a stronger position to look after our family, friends, workmates and staff.” So comedians Nick Rado, Paul Ego, Andre King and

Tarun Mohanbhai will perform on Saturday April 21 at the Sir Don Rowlands Centre at Karapiro. The event is supported by Young Farmers and Rural Support Trust. It’s an R18 event and tickets are $10 each with all proceeds going back to Farmstrong. Limited corporate tables are also available for a donation. Email your bid to info@ farmstrong.co.nz General admission tickets are available at www. youngfarmers.co.nz/nzyf

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

NZ sheep milking on right track WHEN United States sheep researcher Dave Thomas visited New Zealand almost 40 years ago there were 20 sheep to each person and not one of them was being milked. Today the keynote speaker at the 2018 Sheep Milk NZ conference was overwhelmed by the progress made by the fledgling industry, its innovative approach to developing new products and the scale NZ farmers have built their operations on. For over 20 years Thomas was the founder and principal researcher at University of Wisconsin’s specialist dairy sheep research station, the Spooner Institute. In that time he has seen a “niche within a niche” develop for dairy sheep in the US, in a sector already regarded as a minor species amid that country’s gigantic livestock industry. “In Wisconsin itself we have about 20 dairy sheep operations. “While you may not have as many producers in NZ, what you do have is scale within your operators’ farms. “We typically only have a few hundred sheep per farm with the biggest operation in New York state having a couple of thousand.” In a country where typical dairy cow herds are now about 5000 head on average, the minute scale of dairy sheep is underscored even further. Here in NZ the typical flock size is easily topping 1000 head, with Landcorp’s Spring Sheep operation milking 4000 ewes, and Maui Milk also on the Volcanic Plateau milking about 5000 ewes. “In the US in total we would only be looking at about 40,000 milking ewes so you have grown quickly in a short time.” But despite differences in scale, Thomas said the NZ farmers he had spoken to are facing the same

CAREFUL: United States sheep milk expert Dave Thomas warns against moving away from grass-fed production and simply adopting overseas technology.

While you may not have as many producers in NZ, what you do have is scale within your operators’ farms. Dave Thomas Wisconsin University issues their US counterparts dealt with when getting established. “The main one is trying to grade up to a higher dairy percentage in the sheep to increase the amount of milk they produce. “With that comes some difference in how you handle milking sheep compared to meat sheep – it’s a bit like the difference between a Holstein-Friesian and

an old Hereford beef cow, they need a bit more love and care.” He sees the large operations in both islands as helping create an anchor or critical mass that provides a slipstream for smaller operators to ride on, should they wish to start milking sheep. “They can bring in the genetics and the numbers and then you may see the industry become a little more like it is at home, with smaller artisan operators come in who may want to just focus on a high-value cheese, for example.” His research operation at University of Wisconsin faced the same challenge of milking relatively low-yielding sheep to begin with, producing only about 200l a year over a 200-day lactation. But with the use of EastFriesland and Lacaune genetics, smarter management and some

modification to an all grass diet today that flock is producing more than 400l a head. “We have visited farms here with sheep around the 150-200l per head production but I know that will change and what is significant is that is largely coming off an allpasture diet.” He cautions farmers about pursuing massive volume increases at the cost of sacrificing the largely all-pasture diet. “It is that grass-fed diet that really is NZ’s niche, similar to your dairy cow system. “More and more farmers in the US are looking at the grassfed system and in Wisconsin we try to keep as close to all pasture as possible over the six to seven month growing season we get up there.” He said it might, however, be worthwhile for farmers to

explore the benefits of some grain supplementation if it can be proved to deliver economic returns. “Research has shown ewes respond well to about 1kg a day of grain but our system is more pasture focused than the dairy cow system.” He said that has partly come from the type of farmer milking sheep in the US. “They are typically people looking at sustainable, environmentally friendly ways to farm and grass-fed suits that.” Thomas estimates the US’s small sheep milking sector is supplying only about 5-7% of that country’s demand for sheep milk cheese products, with the rest imported from Europe. “And the profile of sheep’s cheese has been lifted significantly by a sheep cheese winning the World Championship Cheese contest in Wisconsin last month.” Thomas said he is highly impressed by this country’s innovative efforts in producing and marketing premium infant formula, something absent in his own country. “We have actually had Chinese clients ask us for powder, which we don’t make. It’s pretty much all cheese.” The powder aspect of the industry in NZ has received a boost recently with news $45 million will be spent on a food spray drier at Waikato Innovation Park to cope with an anticipated doubling of milk volumes by 201920 season. For an industry he believes is well on track, Thomas urged farmers to stick with the pasture focused diet and to diligently record genetics and production traits through the Sheep Improvement database. “And look at overseas technology with a wary eye. You have the ability to innovate here very well. What works over there does not always work so well here.”

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News

12 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Food buyers put source second Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com

COLLABORTITION? Food producers around the world are collaborating then competing on food safety, Professor Hamish Gow says.

high regard because they are sourced from here, consumers are increasingly putting the experience they derive from that product first then connecting back to where the product comes from second, Gow said. Allbirds, the number one selling online shoe brand, typified that with its comfort experience being a key purchase driver and the fact it happened to be made from NZ wool came second. The trend to making money out of the secondary product, whether it be beef cuts or graded fruit, is also becoming a preoccupation for processors, driven in part by consumers often seeking them out. Bolthouse Farms in the United States found a means to add value to “ugly” carrots and created a complete new niche for baby carrots. Promotion exhorted student consumers to “eat ‘em like junk food”, putting them into school and university vending machines with packaging resembling junk food bags. The hugely successful move was tested in only two markets and sparked 740 million page impressions on line. Consumers’ shopping patterns are also starting to become almost bipolar, with a weekend versus weekday view of their food shopping activity. “At some times of the week, often the weekend, there will be a highly enriched connection with what they are buying. At other times it will be just looking for the lowest cost, convenient items.” The German Aldi supermarket chain which now has 500 stores in Australia is meeting that market, offering an extensive range of wellpriced everyday products in a setting that is higher quality than a typical discount outlet, with consumers making their basic purchases there and high-end purchases elsewhere. “So you have this disappearing of

FOOD anxiety, experience and value versus choice are all dominating consumers’ food purchases and all demand the attention of primary producers and processors to keep pace and stay relevant to their palates, Massey University business innovation director Hamish Gow says. Addressing the Pioneer rural professionals conference Gow pulled out almost a dozen “flips” he sees occurring in the retail sector largely but not solely affecting food purchases. In a world of almost unlimited choice of high-quality produce for food consumers it might come as a surprise that anxiety about food safety has developed, with a loss of trust in food companies. “Consumers no longer naturally trust companies. “Chinese consumers trust New Zealand products like milk powder more than most but around the world everyone is collaborating and wanting to compete on food safety. “I think we should be collaborating with others as they form their own assurance standards, such as is happening in the United Kingdom.” While NZ producers might once have taken it as a given that natural products like wool fibre will be held in

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the middle going on.” Meantime, the challenge for branded food products has grown with the evolution of food-bag type deliveries eclipsing the brands contained in them. And a move away from bricks and mortar store purchases is putting more consumer data into the hands of providers like Amazon. “They tend to play the long tail of individual products you may find hard to get and the more information they get, the smarter they are becoming. “In New York they can stock their delivery trucks to deliver within 60 minutes from predetermined positions, knowing they have the right quantities and types of products on board.” This sort of granular knowledge means Amazon’s ownership of organic chain Whole Foods has pushed an extra 20% into that company’s profit margin. A flip from seeking performance foods to nutritive foods to deliver that performance has also occurred, bolstered in part by the likes of the All Blacks linking quality protein and fats to surviving the final 20 minutes of a test match. “There is a challenge there to think about how do we get the right nutrition into our bodies to perform and that is especially within the workplace.” He pointed to work done with highly trained medical staff who, despite understanding diet and energy better than most, fail to eat properly during their intense working shifts. Gow urged NZ marketers to spend more time thinking about the right questions to ask consumers before rushing to create a product and rolling out concepts in a small test-marketed way. “Otherwise it is like the tech sector. Everyone is walking around with a hammer, looking for a nail.”

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News

farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Markets don’t back the Fonterra price Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com FONTERRA’S 15c/kg milksolids increase in the milk price forecast at the same time the Global Dairy Trade auction price index recorded a third consecutive small loss resulted in differing views from market analysts. AgriHQ dairy analyst Amy Castleton said the latest, higher forecast by Fonterra is not backed by the GDT results and the subsequent futures market movements. Her own milk price model, run a day after the GDT auction and the release of Fonterra’s interim results, generated a 1c rise to $6.27/kg MS, 28c behind Fonterra. “Dairy commodity prices really need to lift for Fonterra to be able to achieve its ambitious $6.55 forecast and this is looking fairly unlikely,” she said. “Continuing growth in global milk supply puts downside pressure on commodity prices.” Prices for dairy commodity futures trading on the NZX Dairy Derivatives market are marginally stronger than they were after the previous GDT event but prices are still expected to fall through the rest of the season and Fonterra’s financial year. Castleton said part of the explanation for the 28c disparity could be the nonGDT sales made at higher prices by Fonterra, which is now close to having sold all this season’s production. Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings said the volumes being sold through GDT are much smaller now, perhaps only a third of what they were five years ago. Off-GDT sales are consequently a bigger influence on Fonterra’s milk price model, having added about 6c/kg in the first half. Fonterra’s reduced milk volume in the first half (down 11% compared with 1H 2017) was made into categories of products as follows: base ingredients

GO UP: Dairy commodity prices need to lift for Fonterra to achieve its ambitioous $6.55/kg MS milk price, AgriHQ analyst Amy Castleton says.

33%, GDT commodities 22%, non-GDT advanced ingredients 19%, consumer products 13%, food service 11% and DIRA sales 2%. The global dairy market remains weighted towards demand over supply, Spierings said. Recent highlights included a 13% increase in China’s imports, a 4% increase in Asian countries excluding China and a 5% increase in Latin American imports, whereas the region had been expected to be a net exporter. On the supply side milk production growth is modest, including 1% increases over the past 12 months in the United States and NZ and 2% in the fourth quarter of 2017 in the European Union. EU companies are paying their farmers well in excess of the spot market price for milk so that is not sustainable, Spierings said.

But Fonterra’s milk collection this season is forecast to be down 3% to 1480 million kilos MS, the third consecutive similarly sized annual reduction in milk supply. Fonterra chairman John Wilson said the global supply and demand picture remains positive. “We expect prices to stay around current levels but we will be watching for any impact in market sentiment as spring production levels build in Europe.” Other dairy market commentators chose to realign their predictions with Fonterra’s higher revised forecast. Westpac moved its prediction up 5c to $6.55, observing that the bulk of dairy products have been sold for this season. “Looking ahead, we expect dairy prices to continue to ease gradually in the coming months as global supply continues to expand at a relatively steady pace and demand is expected to remain relatively robust. “A weaker NZ dollar should also boost local prices and, while it is early days yet, we’re forecasting a $6.50 milk price for the 2018-19 season,” Westpac said. ANZ rural economist Con Williams said Fonterra’s lift in milk price forecast indicated stronger margins for products sold outside the GDT platform. “We maintain our 2018-19 opening milk price forecast of $6 to $6.25/kg MS. “The recent downward pressure on NZD and milk powder prices holding at the top of recent ranges creates some upside risk but we suspect international prices could be under a little bit of pressure into May on improved milk flow. “The demand side of most dairy markets looks strong, meaning any downside should be fairly limited.” ASB rural economist Nathan Penny moved his forecast higher by 5c, to align with Fonterra, and said that should dairy auction prices hold near current levels, the milk price could edge higher to $6.60.

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Shearathon raises money for suicide help groups Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz THE success of a 24-hour shearathon raising awareness of suicide prevention has virtually blown its organisers off the board. Hosted at White Rock in North Canterbury, the shearathon pulled in more than $45,000 including close to $18,000 raised in a charity auction after the shearing. Spokesman Mark Herlihy said the event exceeded any expectation. Herlihy lost his young brother to suicide in 2016. The tragedy left the family questioning why he hadn’t asked for help, prompting the drive for greater awareness of mental health and suicide prevention. Being a family of shearers it was appropriate that awareness was driven from the shearing board, Herlihy said. “We chose to embrace the word prevention as we want to help people before they lose any sense of hope for their future.” The main objective was to let people know it was okay, no matter what their circumstance, to reach out for help.

The North Canterbury event was the second for Herlihy. Two years ago in his home town in Taranaki a similar event raised $20,000. He said while the key focus was about raising awareness, at the same time it made sense to raise some money to support mental health organisations. “It isn’t about trying to beat anything done before, it’s about preventing suicide,” Herlihy said. The group of North Canterbury farmers, shearers, agribusiness representatives and wider community were overwhelmed at the end result. “It was way better than we could have ever thought. There was huge support and the way the North Canterbury community pitched in made it a real community event. “We are looking to have raised more than $45,000 – that’s blown us away,” Herlihy said. More than 50 machine shearers and eight blade shearers took their turns on the board over the 24-hours that started at 10am on March 23. “There were plenty of shed hands, everybody knew what they were doing and just got into a routine and on with it

pretty quickly.” While the weather was not on their side, organisers were prepared. “We heard the rain was forecast so we had all the sheep under cover and trucks organised. They just kept trucking sheep to the shed right through the night.” A total of 3222 sheep were shorn, down on the 4500 planned but with the wet weather a pleasing result given the logistics of getting dry sheep to the shed. Herlihy said organisers were hugely grateful to Tim Hawke for the use of his shed, Duncan and Tina Mackintosh who along with Hawke supplied all the sheep and to the truckies who made it possible to go ahead. Sponsors had willingly come forward in numbers to support the event. “We had a good number of very generous sponsors and support for the charity auction. Also the givealittle page – we can’t thank everyone who was in any way involved enough. It’s been such a huge success.” Four main key recipients working in the field of suicide prevention – Lifeline, Through the other Side Trust, Taranaki Retreat and He Waka Tapu – will benefit from the money raised.

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14 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Ripper season for Nth Canterbury Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz NORTH Canterbury dryland farming areas go into autumn in the best condition in many years. Rain has fallen in sufficient quantities at the right times to make up for the very dry October to December period that had farmers hoping they were not in for a repeat of the severe drought from 2014 to 2016, Canterbury Federated Farmers meat and wool chairman Dan Hodgen said. He has been farming at Hawarden for 15 or so years and the feed conditions now are as good as he’s had there. “It’s been a ripper of a season,” he said. The last couple of months in 2017 were dry but the winter and particularly the spring were very wet and the hot, dry early summer did not have the dry norwest winds that could have undone some those benefits. Good January rain and more in March after a dry February topped off the season. Hodgen has not heard of any areas missing out on the favourable conditions and coastal areas benefited more from the southerly and easterly rainfall trends. Most farms will be going into winter with huge banks of feed and ewes have gone to the rams in great order with farmers confident of good scanning rates to come. “Deep-rooted lucerne has gone nuts over the summer,” Hodgen said. “We’ve taken a lot for balage but you’ve had to keep grazing it down and clovers have been winners and plantain’s always a winner for us.” The very hot NovemberDecember conditions had an impact on ryegrass but that returned to growth as soon as the moisture came in late December. After getting many lambs away, either for processing or as stores, in the dry pre-Christmas period, North Canterbury farmers were buying store lambs in good numbers once the rain boosted growth in January. A lot of the

BIG CHANGE: Dan Hodgen is much happier now after a phenomenal summer than he was in the drought of 2015.

lambs came in at favourable prices from Southland and parts of Otago that had become very dry. Most of them were finished for processing by now, Hodgen said.

People are saying they’ve never seen it this good before. Winton Dalley Hurunui District Council There has been rebuilding of ewe flocks, though largely through retaining ewe lambs and breeding from hoggets. High beef cattle prices might be holding back herd rebuilding as farmers remain cautious about paying big money for livestock. Hodgen could have run another 500 to 600 ewes on his Hawarden farm but if it had not rained in

March or if winter ahead is cold he could easily have been caught out. “I think most farmers will be back at stock levels where they want them to be. You’ve got to be pragmatic on these dryland farms and they will be holding back from their old peak levels and a few will still be understocked.” Hurunui Mayor Winton Dalley hopes North Canterbury farmers take lessons from drought recovery and preserve feed in good years. Providing that sort of advice is one of the reason he set up the regional drought committee in the 2014 to 2016 serious drought years. “There were a lot of young farmers who hadn’t experienced a major adverse event and our group was able to pass on our own learnings.’’ The latest summer was a phenomenal season, after the breaking of the drought in March last year. “People are saying they’ve never seen it this good before but it’s

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always like this when it breaks because there’s a build-up of nitrogen and you get exceptional pasture growth.” As a farmer he’s seen the same results coming out of the 1976-77 and 1997-99 droughts. “Get the sileage in when you can for the next time you need it,” is what he learned. During the drought it was said the full recovery time for many farmers would be three to five years after the drought finally ended. That is how Dalley sees it playing, with some farmers still having stocking rates, debt levels and pasture renewal to work on but the recovery progress has been good. The drought committee organised field days with an early focus on helping farmers make decisions. “Often the early decisions are the best,” Dalley said. “We gave them practical help on that, using consultants, on issues such as sending stock away for

grazing, buying in feed or selling capital stock, looking for the best solution in difficult circumstances. I’m certain it was helpful.” Contacts were set up with banks and other rural sector professionals. There was also a series of wellbeing events and they are continuing, also covering the subsequent earthquake impacts. The drought committee was transitioned into an adverse events committee and its focus now is to be ready for the next event. The group has periodic conference calls and email contact to ensure it is ready to get involved quickly. It is also working on resilience programmes for younger farming couples, covering their businesses. Dalley has seen a Canterbury family farming diary going back to 1848, describing how there had been major adverse events every decade. They included droughts, earthquakes, fires, floods, wind storms and snow storms as well as serious economic downturns.

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News

16 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Change difficult but essential Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz MANAGING diffusely sourced nutrients is difficult but essential for the future of farming, Environment Canterbury principal planning adviser Leo Fietje told farmers at the South Island High Country Farmers field day. “Essential if we want to halt or reverse the decline in the quality of our lakes and rivers to meet societal and market expectations. “Difficult because we’re dealing with incomplete information and complex interdependencies along with changing requirements needing a broad range of skills to resolve,” Fietje said. “It is as much a social, cultural and economic challenge as it is technical.” Managing diffusely sourced nutrients requires a fundamental shift in thinking and approach to managing both land and waterbased farming as well as tourism and for towns and cities managing stormwater. Farmers have traditionally relied on development and intensification to keep ahead of inflation and grow their

businesses and that often results in increased loss of nutrients to water. With the national imperative NPS-FM 2014 to maintain and, in some cases, improve, water quality as a bottom line must now consider potential for increased loss and if so, incorporate mitigation, Fietje said. In common with other regional councils ECan has grappled with the challenge and lessons continue to be learned. “That should not come as a surprise to anyone – our approach focusing on management of nutrient outputs rather than inputs means there’s no clear precedent for us to follow, hence we need to find out ourselves what works and what doesn’t.” While acknowledging many lessons have been learned, Fietje also acknowledged the success stories and significant progress that has been made by many. “There’s nothing more disheartening than to be told we’re making no progress when so much is being done and for many the journey towards managing diffusely sourced nutrients is well under way.” While regional plans might

PRIORITIES: Farm Environment Planning is just one of the key issues addressed at the South Island High Country Farmers field day hosted by Castle Ridge and Mt Arrowsmith Stations in the Ashburton Lakes high country. Photo: Annette Scott

seem formidable, Fietje said the two key components when it comes to managing nutrients are limits and good management practice (GMP). While related they are not the same – GMP is about meeting industry expectations for a particular land use but it does not stop intensification resulting in

Pampered pets push venison price Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz A GROWING appetite for venison from a booming global pet food market has helped drive autumn venison schedules to record highs. While schedule prices normally peak in spring, pampered pets have continued to push prices upward to an autumn peak of $11/ kg. Deer Industry New Zealand chief executive Dan Coup said the popularity of venison as a pet food component is driven by a worldwide shift in attitudes towards companion animals from owners who want the best for their pets. That includes an increasing interest in feeding them natural paleo-type diets. Globally, the pet food market is worth more than US$75 billion and growing by about 4% cent a year. Coup said trim and mechanically deboned meat is being snapped up for premium pet foods at prices that couldn’t be matched by the human food service sector. They now account for about $80 of the value of a deer carcase. Venison used in special hypoallergenic pet foods for cats and dogs with skin or allergy problems and in premium products like Ziwi Peak Daily-Dog air-dried venison cuisine is selling in NZ for $189.99 for a 2.5kg bag. “Typically, prices to farmers peak in spring when demand from European markets is at its highest then ease off from November – but not this season,” Coup said. “The demand from the pet

food sector is unprecedented. “Like most other markets, pet food is prone to fashion swings so there’s no way of knowing how long the demand will last but the word from the market is that prices are probably about as high as they will get.” Not that there’s any suggestion prices to farmers are likely to fall any time soon.

This pet food phenomenon has changed the shape of the venison schedule. Dan Coup DINZ Venison production is at an historically low level and at the same time venison marketers have been making good progress finding new year-round human customers in non-traditional markets. Coup said the combination of low supply and new demand is driving product innovation. “Processor-marketers are successfully developing novel grilling cuts that offer a great eating experience at prices that appeal to restaurants while increasing the overall value of the venison carcase.” Having greater year-round demand is a long-term goal for the industry. But Coup said the industry’s

most important group of consumers is still the Continental Europeans with their very strong seasonal preferences. “This pet food phenomenon has changed the shape of the venison schedule this season but our expectation is that we will see a return to a more traditional schedule curve in the future. “While the spring price premium is expected to return, future seasonal peaks and troughs are likely to be less pronounced than they have been in the past – thanks to the great market diversification work that our companies are doing.” The deer industry views the demand from the premium pet food sector as a positive development that it expected to continue – albeit at an unknown price in the future. “It’s a new segment and we don’t have a good understanding of whether venison pet food is here to stay or not. “With so many pet food companies having invested in product development and marketing it’s certainly not going to disappear overnight but we will have to wait and see whether consumer demand and pricing levels are sustainable in the long term,” Coup said. Average venison schedule prices to farmers lifted steadily from about $7.90/kg in January last year to just over $10 in December. Since then, they have continued to rise. By mid-March, a 55kg stag carcase was fetching between $10.20 and $11/kg, up from $6–$7 in March the previous three seasons.

increased nutrient loss so that’s where limits come in. The key tool bringing together information about GMP and limits and what they mean for individual properties is the farm environment plan (FEP). The FEP brings together all the pieces of information needed to address the challenge of

managing nutrients and set the way forward. “They’re living documents – updated regularly, prepared by you or with input using templates prepared by your industry or if you wish, with professional help.” Fietje said it is farmers’ choice who audits their FEP with ECan able to offer a list of those with the qualifications, experience and character needed to understand the farm and at the same time enable ECan to give the community confidence that farming is occurring within agreed limits. AgriMagic consultant Charlotte Glass said understanding the property, the purpose of the business and values of the farming are key issues in practical farm environmental planning. Managing risks with imperfect information will always be challenged by rules versus science. That’s when prioritising kicks in. “So what do we know, what is the purpose, the risk, the likelihood and the value for what outcome? “Will it make the boat go faster, is a key question across practical farm environmental planning,” Glass said.

Mixed messages on Russia trade Nigel Stirling nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com OFFICIALS will continue to hammer away at Russia’s refusal to re-instate export licenses to New Zealand dairy plants even as the Government shelves plans to restart free-trade talks. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has responded to the suspected poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the English town of Salisbury by overriding her party’s own coalition agreement with NZ First, which pledged to restart talks with Russia for a tariffbusting, free-trade deal. The backdown came after Britain’s High Commissioner in Wellington warned future deals with the United Kingdom and the European Union could be at risk if NZ resumed trade talks with Russia. A spokesman for Trade Minister David Parker said it was uncertain when talks on tariff cuts could resume with Russia. “In the meantime the Government will engage with Russia, as others do, to tackle barriers to our trading relationship.” The historically lucrative dairy trade with Russia faltered in 2013 when licenses for 61 out of 81 plants were suspended following Fonterra’s botulism scare. Only some of these have been reinstated although exports

recovered to $142m last year as butter prices hit record highs. NZ’s total dairy exports hit a high of $193m in 2010. The meat industry was also hit with a ban last year after Russia claimed to have found listeria and the banned feed additive ractopamine in NZ beef shipments. Dairy Companies Association executive director Kimberly Crewther said the industry was disappointed a deal with Russia to cut tariffs had been shelved but recognised the Government had to weigh up the risk restarting talks posed to deals with the EU and the UK. However, in a sign some progress is being made with Russia, the Ministry of Primary Industries confirmed it responded in December to a request for technical information needed to clear the way for the remaining export licenses to be restored. Crewther said the information was needed ahead of inspections of NZ plants, although it was no guarantee the licenses would be fully restored any time soon. NZ sided with western allies when it pulled out of a free trade deal with Russia after Kremlin-backed troops invaded Crimea in 2014. One insider told Farmers Weekly pulling the plug again could cost NZ further progress in tackling non-tariff barriers faced by dairy and beef exports.

News

Beltex crosses steal the show Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz

Alf gets some money back ALLIED Farmers is getting a $441,137 cash payout on a bad loan it had written down to zero value. The loan was subsequently sold to debt recovery specialists in 2013 for $100,000 plus a share of any return. The end return is not as high as indicated to ALF last year when court action was being pursued but the action has been discontinued and an agreed settlement made. The litigation action by the liquidator of Property Ventures against the company’s directors and auditors was expensive and lengthy, ALF chairman Garry Bluett said. The loan dated from ALF’s time as a major finance company owner leading up to the global financial crisis in 2008-09. The NZX-listed ALF now focuses entirely on livestock-related operations. – Alan Williams

McWha replaces Pollard HOT ITEMS: Purebred Beltex rams sold for up to $12,000 at the breeds first sale in New Zealand. Photo Annette Scott

bought. He plans to put his two new sires across the small Southdown babydolls he runs in his vineyard. Beltex NZ, established by Gallagher and his wife Sara, NZ sheep genetics expert Jock Allison, his wife Hilary and farm adviser John Tavendale and his wife Lynley introduced the breed to NZ with the importation of the first Beltex embryos in 2016. They went on to launch the Beltex sheep with the first lamb crop last season showcased at the Canterbury A&P Show in November. The group has already started on its second stage of the Beltex NZ breeding programme having sourced embryos and semen this year from a further three different studs in Britain. The first round of embryos was sourced from five studs with the genetic base now coming from eight unrelated studs. “We have specifically selected the genetics we want and we can breed for a few years now without bringing in more genetics and that’s good because it’s an expensive exercise,” Gallagher said. Hot on the heels of the first sale, stage two of the breeding programme has already kicked off with embryos transferred into Poll Dorset and Suffolk ewes on the Gallaghers’ property last week and artificial insemination

getting under way this week. By the end of stage two this year investment in the Beltex breeding programme will reach $1 million. Gallagher said the group is confident the breed will be a game-changer for the NZ sheep industry. “It has been an exciting journey thus far and it’s got the attributes to make a real contribution to our sheep industry, particularly in extra meat yield and carcase conformation.” The Beltex sheep, a double-muscled Texel, and their crosses are known to be widely preferred by butchers in Britain and command a premium price. Data available from the Scottish Rural College at Edinburgh provided the Beltex NZ team with some real insight into the expected performance of the breed compared with other terminal sire breeds. The Beltex has a much higher killing out percentage (7-11%) than other terminal sire breeds and in comparison the ratio of eye muscle area to liveweight is 12-25% higher for Beltex. More recent data shows the percentage of meat in the carcase is about 72%, making it 6% higher than UK Texels and 12-14% higher than other terminals with which the Beltex was compared.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT YOUR SALEYARD? And now LivestockEye Taranaki has joined our collection of nine other saleyards we report on. agriHQ.co.nz

LINCOLN University vice-chancellor Robin Pollard has resigned and been replaced by Professor James McWha on a fixed term contract to December. Pollard joined Lincoln in February 2016 and the university’s chancellor Steve Smith said he was leaving to pursue new opportunities having transformed the university, which was struggling financially and from low student numbers. Smith said Pollard could claim credit for that transformation. “He has helped engineer the financial and organisational revival of the University, including posting its first surplus for 10 years in 2016 followed by another record surplus in 2017. “Professor Pollard was also instrumental in introducing concepts for a new way of organising the academic community and encouraged new, collaborative ways of working with Crown research institutes and private-sector companies.” Pollard will stay on for a short period as a special projects adviser reporting directly to McWha. McWha has had 30 years in leadership roles in universities and Crown research institutes and last year he joined the Lincoln University Council.

Ravensdown rebate early RAVENSDOWN shareholders will receive another early rebate payment in June. The fertiliser cooperative will pay $17.50 a tonne on deliveries made before May 31. It will be the third interim payment in three years and continues the board’s strategy of returning surplus cash to farmers at the earliest opportunity, chairman John Henderson said. Last year’s early rebate was $20 a tonne, followed by $25 a tonne after the year’s accounts were finalised. Henderson said last year’s wet autumn disrupted fertiliser applications and urged farmers to book their applications early this year. That is especially so for aerial spreading operations because demand is very strong. – Alan Williams

29, 2017

NOVEMBER

EYE LIVESTOCK TTLE TARANAKI CA

2.73

2.47

2.96

2.86

Store cattle

VIEWPOIN not enough475n good but while Angus-Friesian, Localisededrai $2.82/kg, $2.74-$2.77/ off the pace at on a quiet note T

Suz Bremner

225 - 245KG

310KG

350 - 415KG

400 - 505KG

1-YEA R HEIFE BEEF/ DAIRY

1-YEA R STEER BEEF/ DAIRY

2-YEA R STEER BEEF/ DAIRY

tallies

Weaner 13

Steer Heifer

1-year 112

2-year+ 34 9

Total 159

60 31

3 Bull ed , were November finish apart from a doozy 506kg s-Jersey, 401-445kg, return 297 Cow 62 Angu sale, 169 upted the kg. -$2.77/kg. at the Taranaki 19 m that interr Total and two $2.74 of a thunderstor a mixed bunch cattle were ed Heifers were A total of 340 Friesian reach auctioning. cons isted lines of beefgh main ly lines well below over small Total cattle tallies penn ed, thou other three Prime all Cow just with /kg 15kg, with Bull Heifer 40 of smal l lines localised $2.75 Ex-service Red bulls, 688-7 Steer 20 ite the odd /kg. 1 getting that. 10 head. Desp 19 ged $2.94-$3.00 and some areas hit and itions on mana had to be quite light to thunderstorm Lines yesterday, cond steer pens, up to 25mls drying out in the 1-year n tallies rties are still old effect pass $3.00/kg Hereford-Friesia Store cattle most prope ever-popular causing a two-f occasions. 1500 few g to but the a on fast, which is comin that 10kg, quality cattle did manage h were 308-3 them. of more mixed offered thoug buyers to greet at $2.92- 1200 sale and fewer sold over a very tight Mostsold on a steady market 900 sian, and er Angus-Frie Prime steers what was a /kg, with heavi s. -$2.88/kg on 600 is tight. $2.97 g similar value range of $2.83 as processor space/kg. 335-381kg, makin1-year heifers could 300 softer market $1.75-$1.82 for 20-Dec The best the made 6/kg 6-Dec cows -$2.5 r some 0 Bone 22-Nov pens included This year age was $2.52 again this was 8-Nov Last year but The 2-year steer albeit in very small man n, 5-yr ave riesia y, ord-F nice lines of qualit best of the bunch Heref tion of the quality. the reflec a and at 546kg, numbers, ($/kg) ord-Friesian, and heifers was three Heref Beef/Dairy steers

STORE CATT 2-YEAR STEER Dev x Ang/Fr Ang/Fr Ang/Jer Ang/Jer Here/Fr

Jer

1400

540 475 - 506 401 - 445 366

M/G M

546 492 377

2 R

2-YEAR HEIFE Ang/Fr

Here/Jer Fr & Fr x

M/G

Jer x

Ang/Fr Here/Fr

M/G

L/M

530 370 467 315 451 320

4.0

$/kg

$/hd 1140

452

Fr x

Weight

Cond.

Tally

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NEWS BRIEFS

1300 - 1400 1090 - 1200 940 1542 1220 600 1455 910 1285 800 1060 400

3.5

2.52

3.0

2.59

2.5

2.74 - 2.77 2.70 - 2.72

2.0 100kg

200kg

300kg Steers

500kg 400kg Heifers

2.82 2.48 1.59 2.75 2.46 2.75 2.54 2.35 1.25

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AT AGRIHQ.CO.NZ/FARMER ph 0800 85

info@agrihq.co.nz

600kg

2.57

25 80

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THE highly anticipated first-ever Beltex ram sale made history for New Zealand and dealt an unexpected result for the breeders who believe they have introduced a breed that will be a game-changer for the sheep industry. Hosted at Rangiatea farm in the Mid Canterbury foothills where the Beltex lambs were born last year, the sale attracted close to 200 people with registered buyers from all over the country. “It was somewhat of an interesting result,” Rangiatea owner and Beltex NZ director Blair Gallagher said. “I couldn’t believe the interest and bidding in the crossbred section.” In the first public auction of its kind in this part of the world Beltex NZ offered 16 purebred Beltex rams, the priciest of which went under the hammer at $12,000 with several others selling at $7000 and $8000. The sale went on to offer 48 crossbred Beltex-Suffolk, Beltex-Poll Dorset and Beltex-Perendale rams. It was the Beltex-Suffolk that produced the surprise of the day, meeting serious competition that prompted brisk bidding to yield the sale’s top price of $15,000 – a record price for a ram in NZ, according to the auctioneers. “Bidding just went thought the roof on the crossbreds. It was phenomenal – not quite what we expected. “In all honesty I couldn’t quite work it out. We just expected the purebreds would sell higher,” Gallagher said. “But it showed farmers could see the extra meat on the carcase in the crossbred and that gave them the confidence to bid up.” Gallagher said overall the sale recorded a very satisfying result. “The sale overall was ahead of expectation – just the other way around.” Buyers were spread across the country with at least three rams going to Northland, several to Southland and virtually everywhere in between. Marlborough winemaker Peter Yealands was among those who

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Newsmaker

18 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

WINNER: 2018 Dairy Woman of the Year Loshni Manikam

Helping others drives top farmer Loshni Manikam, who has been crowned Dairy Woman of the Year 2018, never, in her wildest dreams, envisaged a career in the dairy industry. She tells her story to Annette Scott.

OUTH African born Loshni Manikam studied law in her home country and following her graduation from university donned a backpack and set out to see the world. It was her intention to at some stage return home but as she explored the United Kingdom her travels started a new journey. “Guess what? I met a dairy farmer from Northland,” Manikam said. That meeting had a huge influence on her future and it was New Zealand she was destined to see more of. “I married that dairy farmer, Donald Kidd, and became a dairy farmer’s wife in Northland. “I never ever thought I would be a dairy farmer’s wife but here I am.” And she has no regrets as she proudly claims her roots are firmly set in NZ having just this month gained NZ citizenship. “That was pretty exciting and then came this award.” Manikam came to NZ in 1998 when she and Kidd, a fourth generation farmer, initially farmed in Northland. From one end of the country to the other, the couple were offered a 50-50 sharemilking job in Southland so in 2004 they became Southlanders. It was following their win as sharemilkers of the year in the 2007 dairy industry awards that they were shoulder-tapped and offered a chance too good to turn down. “We sold our cows and started the journey in our equity partnership milking 600 cows.” Now also a Southland dairy

leadership coach, Manikam was crowned this year’s Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year at the Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) annual conference in Rotorua. Of the award, Manikam said she was initially “stunned, disbelieving”. “Because there were two other awesome finalists in the running for the award but while I was in disbelief it was so exciting.” Manikam took out the 2018 title ahead of fellow finalists, Tararua Mayor Tracey Collis and Hawke’s Bay dairy consultant Rachel Baker. The former lawyer transitioned from dairy farming to leadership coaching after receiving her coach certification in 2012. She is the founding director of Iceberg Coaching and a strategic consultant for Farmstrong, working to support the wellbeing of farming communities. Manikam is passionate about working with people and it was her unique ability to engage with communities and stakeholders at a range of levels that stood out for her as the winner. She is a trustee of the Southern Dairy Development Trust, a coach and facilitator of the Agri-Women’s Development Trust’s Escalator Programme and a Federated Farmers Southland executive member. “What stood out to us was Loshni’s dedication to growing leadership among farming communities and her determination to change the headspace in which farmers operate – that they are more than what they do, they are not just their farms and their bottom lines,” Dairy Women’s Network chief executive Zelda de Villiers said.

Manikam passionately strives to be part of change in the industry as she combines her grassroots experience and enthusiasm with her ability to engage at the highest levels.

It shows you can raise a family and still progress through the industry, reach the top and have a say at industry level. Loshni Manikam Dairy Woman of the Year 2018 She said receiving the title was positive proof that the success of “an ordinary dairy farming woman” can translate far and wide. “It shows you can raise a family and still progress through the industry, reach the top and have a say at industry level.” Passionate about people and their untapped potential, Manikam is keen to use the award as a platform to engage in consultation around a positive dairy industry culture. “It really excites me how growing people’s awareness of their own strengths has such a positive and far-reaching impact on everyone around them. “I see a real need in our industry to better understand the importance and benefits, both financial and non-financial, of prioritising and developing people.

Manikam strives to effect change by working alongside industry leaders and farming communities. “I think it’s important to first build relationships and understand each group’s drivers before collaborating for change and I hope the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year title will allow a few more doors to open to allow that to keep happening. “What is our industry culture and what do we need to do to make a culture that is best serving us? “If we have a positive, thriving protective culture it will have a ripple-on effect to all dairy women and dairy men – everyone in the industry. “I don’t like to see negative, I like looking at things in a positive way, finding solutions to make it positive. “My underlying theme is about the focus on growth in development of people and I want to take that up a notch to industry level and I hope this award can help me do that.”

As Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Manikam receives a scholarship prize of up to $20,000 for a professional business development programme sponsored by Fonterra. The award was presented by Fonterra chief operating officer Miles Hurrell who said the award and associated scholarship are an investment in the future of NZ dairy farming. “We are proud to support, celebrate and help develop the women in dairying who, like Fonterra, set high standards for themselves and for our industry,” Hurrell said. “Loshni is another outstanding dairy woman to add to the ranks of previous recipients of the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award. “On behalf of Fonterra I wish her all the best and I have no doubt we will see more great things from her in the near future.” Hurrell also acknowledged the other two finalists for their contribution to the industry.

About Dairy Women’s Network DWN was established in 1998 by several of NZ’s leading dairying women to develop and educate women to add value to the business of dairying. Nearly 10,000 members have access to professional and inperson support through a mix of face-to-face events and web-based contact, which includes dairy modules, regional meetings, internet forums and the annual conference. The Dairy Woman of the Year award has been sponsored by Fonterra since its inception and recognises the passion, drive and leadership of women in the dairy industry. The winner is decided by a panel of judges that includes representatives from DWN, Fonterra, Global Women, Ballance AgriNutrients and a previous winner.

New thinking

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Gut bugs could help emissions cuts Rumen microbe research has been surprisingly light when it comes to identifying specific strains of bacteria in the guts of New Zealand’s most populous livestock. A major joint research effort has gone a long way to building a better understanding of these microbes, including identifying hundreds of new ones. Richard Rennie spoke to one of the lead scientists on the ground-breaking project. before that, in getting 60 scientists from 14 research agencies across nine countries together to collaborate on an area relatively little explored in the past. “It really stemmed from a small workshop seven years ago when we asked a few researchers ‘If you had the choice, where would you like to see research go in this area?’” The 1000 became an aspirational target, lifted from 100 as the first choice, which itself seemed a long way from the 15 microbes already categorised. Leahy said the work has yielded its share of surprises, some that challenge conventional wisdom on how life exists. “For me the biggest surprise was that several of our microbial strains did not have the enolase enzyme, which is a key enzyme needed for catalysing glucose into pyruvate for energy. It is accepted as a basic part of the biochemistry pathway in living organisms, practically all have it.” That absence in itself is grounds for an entire new area of research and discovery for a committed microbiologist. A key strength of the research has been that ability to physically culture the microbial strains discovered, rather than the commonly used 16S rRNA gene DNA sequencing techniques used to determine different microbes. Leahy said DNA sequencing goes only so far, whereas culturing gives scientists a future resource from which a far better understanding of the microbe’s behaviour can be obtained. In a case of if microbes were

INVESTIGATORS: Lead Hungate researchers Bill Kelly and Sinead Leahy.

like people, researchers can now study how different strains behave in different conditions, whether they perform better in the company of other microbes and what quirks or traits they might contain. Researchers are also seeing some potential links to human gut microbial populations, with researchers in that field keen to access the catalogue and find what microbes sit most closely to those that inhabit the human gut. That comes as the human brain-gut axis is being more widely understood. Leahy said it is only a matter of time until similar connections are made when studying ruminant animals, now some of the microbes are beginning to be better known. Interest has also been strong in the demonstrated anti-microbial activity exhibited in some of the microbes and how it might be

There are literally thousands of strains of microbes in the rumen.

“All the data has been made available as soon as we generated it to the general science community and the cultures are available for research requests.” While cautious about where application of the research might go, Leahy said there has been obvious and strong interest from scientists working on livestock

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT YOUR SALEYARD? 0800 85 25 80

agriHQ.co.nz

29, 2017

NOVEMBER

EYE LIVESTOCK TTLE TARANAKI CA

2.73

2.47

2.96

2.86

Store cattle

VIEWPOIN not enough475n good but while Angus-Friesian, Localisededrai $2.82/kg, $2.74-$2.77/ off the pace at on a quiet note T

Suz Bremner

225 - 245KG

310KG

350 - 415KG

400 - 505KG

1-YEA R HEIFE BEEF/ DAIRY

1-YEA R STEER BEEF/ DAIRY

2-YEA R STEER BEEF/ DAIRY

tallies

Weaner 13

Steer Heifer

1-year 112

2-year+ 34 9

Total 159

60 31

STORE CATT 2-YEAR STEER Dev x Ang/Fr Ang/Fr Ang/Jer Ang/Jer Here/Fr

Jer

1400

540 475 - 506 401 - 445 366

M/G M

546 492 377

2 R

2-YEAR HEIFE Ang/Fr

Here/Jer Fr & Fr x

M/G

Jer x

Ang/Fr Here/Fr

M/G

L/M

530 370 467 315 451 320

4.0

$/kg

$/hd 1140

452

Fr x

Weight

Cond.

Tally

Receive comprehensive liveweight-based results from the entire sale even when you can’t make it there yourself. Sign up to LivestockEye reports and keep your head in the game. And now LivestockEye Taranaki has joined our collection of nine other saleyards we report on.

greenhouse gas emissions and options to develop vaccines and inhibitors based on microbe modification. “There are literally thousands of strains of microbes in the rumen and they have a very evolved community that works in a balanced way. “It is likely we will have to learn a lot more about how these communities of microbes work together before you could have a real and long-term impact on modifying them.” Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre’s international deputy director Dr Andy Reisinger said the Hungate1000 is central to the work the centre is managing. “This will help us find ways not only to enhance productivity but also to achieve emissions reductions and deliver solutions to farmers, such as inhibitors and vaccines that don’t affect their bottom lines.”

applicable to animal and human health. More than 60 of the microbe strains have shown to be useful to scientists studying human microbes.

1300 - 1400 1090 - 1200 940 1542 1220 600 1455 910 1285 800 1060 400

3.5

2.52

3.0

2.59

2.5

2.74 - 2.77 2.70 - 2.72

2.0 100kg

200kg

300kg Steers

500kg 400kg Heifers

2.82 2.48 1.59 2.75 2.46 2.75 2.54 2.35 1.25

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AT AGRIHQ.CO.NZ/FARMER ph 0800 85

info@agrihq.co.nz

600kg

2.57

25 80

grihq.co.nz

web agrihq.co.nz

email info@a

2398HQV2

UMEN research that has discovered DNA sequences of entirely new gut bugs in sheep and cattle has reinforced New Zealand’s status as a world leader in microbiology studies. The NZ-led, global project that discovered and cultured hundreds of microbial strains has earned its 60-plus team of researchers publication of their work in the international Nature Biotechnology magazine. Dr Sinead Leahy is an AgResearch scientist and joint research leader with the principal investigator and former AgResearch scientist Dr Bill Kelly for the Hungate1000 project. She said Nature Biotechnology has wider appeal in the scientific community than more specific microbial magazines and its decision to publicise the work highlights the broad significance of the work, beyond rumen science alone. The project also tips its hat to NZ’s scientific history in this field, being named the Hungate1000 after Bob Hungate who developed pioneering methods for growing anaerobic gut bacteria and who helped train some of NZ’s first rumen microbiologists. Culturing microbes was a cornerstone of the project, from which their genomes could be sequenced. The project has created a reference genome catalogue of 501 rumen microbes, well up on the mere 15 known about before the work began. But part of its success came

Opinion

20 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

EDITORIAL There’s more to life than lucre

ONEY isn’t everything. It’s important but there are many other things that contribute to what we are. That’s the gist of the message from two women featured in this issue. They are last year’s Dairy Woman of the Year Jessie Chan-Dorman and this year’s just crowned Loshni Manikam. They are two shining examples of the value farming gets from having so many women involved at all levels. Chan-Dorman told the Pioneer conference she fears making money in the dairy sector is being driven by a management culture giving staff recipes for how to do it, rather than just the ingredients, is smothering entrepreneurship and risk taking. Contrastingly she also believes in nurturing as well as risk-taking, saying something is wrong if someone’s priority is to earn six figures to buy a boat. She talks about chasing profit in a vicious cycle with farm systems stretched beyond their capabilities with stress on people, infrastructure, animals and the environment. She worries that more of the human side of farming will be lost with the increasing corporate ownership. And let’s face it, many farmers are probably farmers because a life in the corporate rat race didn’t appeal to them. Manikam is a South African turned Kiwi, lawyer turned farmer turned development coach who wants to grow people’s leadership abilities but also wants to change the headspace farmers operate in. But she talks equally of non-financial and financial benefits. Manikam is also involved in Farmstrong, for which this newspaper is a champion. Farmstrong is not just about dealing with people who are having trouble dealing with problems. That’s shown by the series, also in this issue, by All Black Sam Whitelock talking about all the things farmers can do to improve their lives and their mental and physical wellbeing. It’s all those intangible benefits that make farming an attractive proposition for many people. Yes, money is important, but its just the bit that allows us to use all our other abilities to enjoy life to the full and get the most out of farming while we’re making that money.

Stephen Bell

LETTERS

Aiming for strong wool sector IN REPLY to Terry Smith’s letter (March 26), how much do I get paid? Nothing at all from the Federated Farmers national body. Go easy on the good staff of Feds. I am just a farmer who represents Fed’s meat and wool from the Otago province voicing my opinion. I absolutely agree with Terry that crossbred wool prices have been abysmal and better marketing is the only answer to consistently improved returns for our wool. I certainly don’t profess to know the solutions, as I know that many smarter people than me have tried in the past and a few continue to try. But I do know that if we are to achieve permanently higher prices we will need good clip preparation to justify those prices. Why should someone pay us more for what we wish to market as a premium product

if we don’t do anything to enhance the quality? I don’t know of any Merino wool grower who just throws everything in the wool press. The other wool industry problem is the diminishing pool of skills in the shearing industry. If we are going to continue running sheep, which are quite profitable this year despite almost no wool income, then, unless we start breeding sheep without wool, we are still going to need skilled shearers and wool handlers to deal with the wool they produce. There will continue to be shearing and crutching costs that are essential to ewe management and lamb production. Federated Farmers meat and wool wishes to continue to highlight wool industry issues and be part of a stronger and more unified industry. Simon McAtamney Puketi

Too good to be true HOW disappointing and frustrating it is to read that Alliance, a major New Zealand meat processing company, has decided not to join a national farm assurance programme designed to reduce costs to farmers and give confidence to our overseas markets that red meat produced here meets the high standards demanded by our customers around the world. It was a great opportunity to have all the major meat processors working together to create a farm assurance quality programme that would be world class. Sadly, it was too good to be true. The red meat sector is fraught with a history of infighting and factions that in the end is futile and it is the meat producer who ultimately pays the price.

Why does there always seem to be one processor that won’t play in the sand pit together, that thinks they have something better than all those that have worked collaboratively to develop a NZ industry standard such as the FAP? A single farm assurance standard is a simple tool that all meat processors should be supporting to ensure good onfarm practices can be verified to all our consumers and open further opportunities for producers, as markets are enhanced and developed. As Silver Fern Farm suppliers we are fully engaged in the FAP, contracts have been opened to us because of this and we are proud to be part of a programme that is all about telling the NZ red meat story to the world. Shelley Dew-Hopkins Rangiwahia

Letterof theWeek EDITOR Bryan Gibson bryan.gibson@nzx.com

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Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Target high-end foods customers Tim Barrett NEW Zealand food production’s contribution to world supply needs to be targeted at the value-added market for naturally produced foods versus laboratoryto-factory produced food. There is a need for recently developed alternative food supply created in a test tube to meet projected demand because the world is unlikely to produce enough food for future demand and poorer civilisations need to be fed. That gives NZ the opportunity to be at the high-end of value with naturally produced, trustworthy, added-value products using our inherently competitive advantages. With the focus on trusted, natural foods we can inherently keep the cost of production low compared to most of the world by not needing to use as much machinery or animal housing while having the potential to enhance a much larger profit margin. NZ’s main competitive advantages with stock farming come from the free-range ability of our system using electric fences to allocate feed, with our complementary climate of excess water supply and great soils. Having a reliably sustainable use of resources including land, water, stock and people is a resilient system resulting in profit and security for NZ. Maximising more home-grown resource use before export sales keeps as much added-value from the beginning of production all the way to the sales. The profitability and best use of resources must consider whether the inputs are strategic or tactical. The underlying cost of strategic feed is larger than tactical decision feed costs. Essentially, strategy involves planning a business’s next move and tactics involve physically

carrying out the plan. The difference between the two concepts can be remembered with the phrase: strategic is doing the right things, tactical is doing things right. Tactical decisions are remade in a shorter time frame to help ensure the strategic plan and results. Tactical decisions on whether to grow or buy feed in a shortage require considerations of the level of current and expected pasture shortage, ie the level of pasture residual if extra feed was not fed and the flow-on effect of that on pasture regrowth and the length of milk-producing days left before drying off for calving again. But pasture substitution can be a waste if not used. Alternatively, pasture substitution can be positive by extending the grazing rotation length, rebuilding the farm’s average pasture cover and lifting growth rates, raising the pasture resource to allow extension of days in milk or weight gain for the season, reduce the risk of animal condition score falling and reduce the chance of over-grazing pasture. Pasture is the largest crop in a pasture-based system and must be managed well to maximise yield. Over-grazing is very expensive to the pasture’s yield as ryegrass tillers die and whole plants are lost then require replacement. Research has shown in severe pasture deficits (eg, unsupplemented post-grazing residual of ≤1200kg DM/ha for a milking cow) as much milk is produced after the period of supplementation as during the feed deficit when the supplements are offered. When cows are relatively well fed (eg, unsupplemented postgrazing residual of ≥1600kg DM/ ha) the deferred milk production is only about 10% of the immediate response. Nutritional properties of the

The

Pulpit

supplementary feed to consider include energy, protein, nonstructural-carbohydrate (NSC), fibre, minerals and drymatter percentage as well as the most limiting nutritional factors to counter and the likely results of proportionately more protein or fat production. Cost of the supplementary feed relative to product sales and the level of use of the supplementary feed by the way it is harvested, bought, transported, stored and fed must also be considered. The cheapest form of feeding is an electric fence reel. Contracted sales can help secure margins. The timing of feeding supplementary feed can affect the level of peak production, maintain production, affect mating results when in energy deficit and the length of total days in milk for dairy and animals partitioning the feed nutrients into milk production or liveweight gain. For dairy a larger percentage of the extra energy is likely to go into liveweight gain in late lactation than in early lactation and for dry stock maintaining target growth rates or better. Strategic decisions on whether to grow or buy feed for an extra

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NOT THE SAME: Strategic and tactical decisions are different, Taranaki farm investment and property management business Farm Venture managing director Tim Barrett says.

stocking rate require the list of tactical considerations above and strategic cost considerations. They are: • Annual animal health and reproduction costs of the extra stock; • Capital costs for larger infrastructure and machinery to farm the extra stock and supplementary feed; • Opportunity cost of alternative choices; • Changes in other costs of less pasture silage costs, pasture fertiliser, crop yield risk and; • Extra labour if the numbers are much higher and the improved infrastructure or technology doesn’t cater for it. The extra strategic costs have a longer term of payback return than the tactical cost decisions.

Choosing the correct stocking rate to help maximise pasture growth and use can strategically provide a more effective and efficient system as long as the strategic costs are profitable in a period of low commodity prices. If most of the supplementary feed is being home-grown the cost remains stable during the period of high commodity prices. A supplementary feed reserve held as inventory can provide a degree of resilience in variations of weather conditions.

Your View Got a view on some aspect of farming you would like to get across? The Pulpit offers readers the chance to have their say. nzfarmersweekly@nzx.com Phone 06 323 1519

Opinion

22 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Fonterra farmers deserve better Alternative View

Alan Emerson

I’M PLEASED I’m not a Fonterra supplier, subject to the excessive spin they cop. With the interim results that spin started with a letter to shareholders from Fonterra chairman John Wilson. Wilson starts off talking about returns to farmers, which is fine except AgriHQ and Fonterra have some quite different figures for the farmgate milk price. Going down the page you can read “Fonterra’s Greater China business continues to perform well overall but the co-operative has reassessed the value of its Beingmate investment so that it reflects a fair value at this point in time”. He then goes on to tell shareholders Beingmate’s “continued under-performance is unacceptable”. He’d be right there but late last year both Wilson and Spierings were telling everyone that Beingmate was just fine despite many reports to the contrary. Further, it is no use being disappointed in Beingmate. Fonterra did the due diligence

and invested the money. It was going to be a great investment – it wasn’t and isn’t and should never have happened. That it did is an indictment on the Fonterra board – end of story. The reality for dairy farmers is that directors didn’t take adequate steps to protect the assets of the co-operative. I would further suggest that the board was making decisions beyond its capability. That it was done with borrowed money is a further blow for shareholders. My additional issue is that I strongly disagree with the statement Fonterra’s Greater Chinese business is continuing perform well. As I’ve written, China Farms isn’t and neither did the game changer that was Beingmate, so where’s the light in the darkness? I certainly can’t see it and Fonterra shareholders have spent a massive $1.5 billion in China for nothing other than substantial losses. As I’ve previously written that is more than $100,000 loss to each shareholder. Yes, they are increasing sales in China in ingredients, consumer and food service but those businesses don’t require a lot of capital, which begs the question, why waste $1.5b in dud investments? Fonterra is good with its high quality ingredients and food service business.

That is where it should be investing and not in pie-in-the-sky Chinese companies that no-one else would have a bar of. It is actually worse than that as you have the ingredients business subsidising consumer brands in China, which I find bizarre. Fonterra does have some solid strengths but what I find surprising is there appears to be an absolute lack of recognition of those strengths and with it the subsequent development of a strong strategic direction. There also seems a further inability from Fonterra to prioritise its use of capital to those areas of strength. Farmers I spoke to certainly don’t know or understand any strategic direction Fonterra is meant to be taking. Comments I received included: “The due diligence of Fonterra wasn’t robust.” ‘The sizzle, (of Beingmate) far exceeded the sausage.” ‘What we were promised would happen with Beingmate didn’t.” ‘For the good of the co-op the old guard needs to go – we need a fresh start.” And so it went. My view is that neither the Fonterra board nor senior management had the knowledge, wit and expertise to profitably invest in China. At the end of the day the responsibility for the Chinese investment and Beingmate

GOING WELL: Fonterra chairman John Wilson says the Greater China business continues to perform well.

sits squarely with the board of Fonterra – no-one else. Then we had the Spierings resignation the Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman described as a transition, not a resignation. Amazingly, we then had Wilson saying the resignation was not a reaction to Fonterra’s performance. That begs the question who is taking responsibility for Fonterra’s dismal performance. If the chief executive resigning is a mere transition then I want a resignation, someone taking responsibility for the shambles. The rubber stamp of the Fonterra board, the limp Shareholders Council obviously won’t call anyone to account. Amazingly, the chairman of the Fonterra Shareholders Fund won’t call anyone to account either and is actually supporting the sitting chairman. Let’s look at the facts of that fund trading at $5.83 at the time of writing. It was launched on 13-112012 at $6.64. According to the Reserve Bank

inflation calculator it should be $7.01 just to have kept up with inflation. Like Beingmate it is a dog with the dividend being steadily reduced. Correspondingly in 2012 A2 Milk was launched at $2. That is now trading at $13.68. Synlait was launched in 2013 at $2.60. It is trading at $8.51. Those two companies have generated considerable wealth for their investors while Fonterra has cost its shareholders. My information is that suppliers are voting with their feet. A month ago Open Country Dairy had spare capacity – now it doesn’t. So my simple view is that if Fonterra shareholders want their co-operative to survive and prosper, if they want accountability, transparency and profitability then they need to change the board and now.

Your View Alan Emerson is a semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath-emerson@wizbiz.net.nz

The new boss must excite, inspire From the Lip

Jamie Mackay

BARACK Obama and Theo Spierings, at first glance, don’t appear to have much in common other than being tall, foreign and handsomely paid. Obama is regarded as one the great leaders and orators of his generation. Spierings could hardly be accused of that. We barely hear from him. Although privately said to be a good bloke, publically, charisma and Theo appear in the same sentence only when we’re talking about Mark Todd’s horse and New Zealand’s highest paid chief executive. While I’m a paid-up member of the Obama fan club I’ve been a bit lax in paying my Spierings sub in recent times. Yet both Barack and Theo have been in the news recently, for the wrong reasons. Spierings is known as the $8

million man but even by his lofty level of recompense, $22,740 a day, he was dwarfed by Obama’s rumoured $500,000 pay packet for a patsy question-and-answer with Sam Neill that lasted all of 75 minutes. Both men arrived on our shores with big reputations and both have disappointed, especially if you’re to believe Mike Hosking in the case of Obama. There seemed to be a general consensus the 44th POTUS’s presentation was low key, bordering on low energy. He certainly dropped a clanger when he called his sponsoring bank WestBank. Another sponsor, Air New Zealand, fared little better with Shane Jones stealing its oxygen, proving Winston’s not the only NZ First party-pooper in the one-man party. Last week on my radio show – I’m the poor man’s rural Hosking on Newstalk ZB – I floated the idea of the sort of replacement needed for the retiring Theo. The recipient of this earbashing was no less than Professor Keith Woodford from Lincoln University, one of NZ’s leading agribusiness academics. He didn’t disagree with my populist proposal.

My reckoning is Fonterra needs an Obama-esque type leader, the sort of chief executive who can get a nation excited by the good corporate deeds of our biggest company.

Fonterra needs someone of the ilk of former Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe to run the cutter.

John Key once famously said, “Where Fonterra goes, New Zealand goes.” I’m not sure Jacinda would entirely agree and you can bet your best M bovisfree Friesian Winston wouldn’t, but it’s difficult to understate the importance of Fonterra to the NZ economy. With that in mind I suggested to Woodford that Fonterra needs someone of the ilk of former Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe to run the cutter. He has a great business background, he’s a charismatic leader not afraid to muck in and get his hands dirty on

the factory floor with the workers and, most importantly, he’s a Kiwi. In fairness to Theo some good stuff has happened under his watch. Fonterra helped finance its farmers through the torturous two years of the biggest dairy downturn in recent memory. Milk for Schools is a magnificent example of good corporate citizenship. Fonterra has also made major advances in protecting, preserving and even enhancing the environment though the latter is still very much a work in progress. Ultimately though, Spierings failed because he failed in China, our most important market. As my fellow columnist and stablemate Alan Emerson so eloquently put it, Beingmate is a dog, a $750m dog, with the fleas thrown in for nothing. Throw in the botulism botch-up and the associated $183m Danone payment and you have a dog’s breakfast. Scapegoat or not for bad board decisions, Theo has also failed to excite and inspire us. And he’s also failed to front up on occasions, too often leaving the heavy PR lifting to his chairman John Wilson. As a (these days former) Fonterra shareholder I never

bought in to the argument we needed to pay a king’s ransom to an international chief executive just because Fonterra is an international company. There was an element of the Emperor’s New Clothes about Theo’s and his predecessor Andrew Ferrier’s pay packets. If we’re not paying an arm and a leg to some foreign genius then they can’t be any good (it’s worth noting Obama’s pay as Commander in Chief was a relatively paltry US$400,000 pa). Haven’t we got Kiwis running A2 Milk, Synlait, Open Country Dairy and Tatua? They seem to be doing an okay job for their shareholders for considerably more modest pay packets. So, Fonterra farmer shareholders have ended up paying a man $8m to preside over a $348m loss. Go figure. Not bad money if you can get it. Rob Fyfe, your country needs you.

Your View Jamie Mackay is the host of The Country that airs on Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport, 12-1pm, weekdays. jamie@thecountry.co.nz

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

Farm industry structures suit us Meaty Matters

Allan Barber

FONTERRA’S half year result, while disappointing, underlines the importance of maintaining a solid operating performance and at the same time being cautious with milk price forecasts. Fonterra is in no danger of falling into the hands of an overseas buyer. That is in stark contrast the vulnerability of Australian cooperative Murray Goulburn, which, subject to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Foreign Investment Review Board approval, will be sold to Canadian dairy company Saputo. For a New Zealand comparison, we have only to go back to last year’s sale of 50% of Silver Fern Farms to Shanghai Maling. Both these overseas sales are a direct result of poor financial performance and a stressed balance sheet. According to accepted management theory, strategy should always come before structure but NZ’s primary industry sectors might not have always followed the

recommended path. In most cases they have evolved over many years to meet the needs, not necessarily of their customers, but more likely their suppliers. There are essentially two options: the first and most obvious business structure is a co-operative where suppliers come together to ensure their production has critical mass for processing, distribution and marketing. The alternative to a farmer owned co-operative is an investor-owned company that pays a competitive price for the suppliers’ output and takes the downstream marketing risk. A substantial percentage of farmers, dairy, meat and horticulture, prefer the implied security of belonging to a cooperative, which, in theory and usually in practice, results in their receiving a fair price for their produce. The ability of the co-operative to continue paying suppliers a competitive price depends entirely on consistently profitable financial performance, obtained from good strategic decisions, efficiently maintained assets and excellent operational and marketing performance. If any one of these falls off the pace, competitive capability is compromised. The first dairy co-operative started in Otago in 1871 and this has remained the dominant dairy

industry structure ever since though the last 10 years have seen the start-up of several privately owned companies. Since its formation in 2003 when it enjoyed more than 90% of milk processing, Fonterra’s share has steadily fallen to nearer 80% while still being required under DIRA regulations to supply its newer competitors with milk for processing, thus ensuring free, competitive entry. The meat industry was always less committed to the co-operative structure because livestock, unlike milk, do not require daily collection. Auckland Farmers Freezing Company (now Affco) was formed by Waikato farmers in 1904 to process all species of livestock though it didn’t become a cooperative until the 1970s. Alliance and PPCS, now Silver Fern Farms, were established after World War II. Today, Alliance is the only remaining true co-operative though SFF is still 50% owned by its suppliers; Affco’s farmer shareholders had lost all their equity by the early 1990s and the company was rescued by its bankers before listing on the NZX and eventually passing into the private ownership of Talley’s Group. Kiwifruit has arguably seen the most successful implementation of a grower controlled export marketing structure with the establishment of Zespri, which

effectively functions as a cooperative while post-harvest pack houses and coolstores are split between co-operatives and private ownership. Whether the primary sector’s structural evolution has occurred as a result of a conscious strategy is doubtful. However, this process has produced an industry structure which, in each sector, appears to suit its participants or at least provide the one they deserve. What is less certain is whether, in every case, the structure best satisfies consumer needs or generates the best returns for supplier and business. Investment further up the value chain, either domestic or international, has been comparatively rare because of the cost and risk of doing so. More often than not it has been farmer owned entities that have been big enough to make the leap, though a number of investorowned dairy companies – A2, Synlait, Open Country and others – have more recently joined the race. Fonterra has invested heavily and as yet unsuccessfully in trying to control the value chain for infant formula in China but mostly the investment is the other way round with Chinese capital boosting the size and scope of NZ companies wanting to expand or survive. Synlait and SFF are two prime examples of this trend.

Fonterra is NZ’s only example of a major international company with an industry-leading share of global trade, which puts it in a unique and not always comfortable position. Its 100% farmer ownership is both a strength and a weakness: on one hand it has committed supply contracts that guarantee its annual throughput though shareholders are free to transfer to another processor at the end of each season. On the other hand it is constrained from attracting outside ownership for the consumer products part of its business, which could benefit from more investment than is compatible with its co-operative status. NZ’s position as an exporter of the greater percentage of its produce makes it vulnerable to being exploited by its overseas customers. It is impossible to control the value chain without investment or successful partnerships that, as Fonterra’s experience with SanLu and Beingmate show, are very hard to achieve. There is no right or wrong ownership structure but only good governance, strategy and operating performance.

Your View Allan Barber is a meat industry commentator: allan@barberstrategic. co.nz, http://allanbarber.wordpress. com

Hack and slash your way to failure Steve Wyn-Harris

I WAS surprised to get a call from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I thought it was a hoax call to begin with but was soon convinced it was kosher. They stressed that if I agreed, I’d need to sign a confidentially agreement. I wanted to know if it was along the lines of the one Stormy Daniels signed but they assured me her non-disclosure agreement was for quite different services even though there was a presidential connection. It seemed Barack Obama wanted to play golf with a genuine Kiwi rural bloke. Given John Key was also playing and I knew that Jamie Mackay would cut his right arm off, which wouldn’t make his golf any worse, for the opportunity, I suggested him. Apparently, he’d been considered but dismissed on the grounds of his metrosexual tendencies which was exactly what Obama wasn’t looking for. So, I willingly accepted.

Of course, no such call came but I was thinking the other day about how I would have gone up there in Northland on that course playing with the rich and famous. Given my previous record, I’d say very badly. Imagine the pressure to perform well with some credibility in front of Obama and Key not to mention all the heavy-duty security fellows and the rest of the entourage. A couple of years ago I was asked at short notice to fill in for a tournament at the Waipukurau Golf Club. I said given I was hogget lambing I’d get there just before tee off. I rushed up to the starter’s box and was told to quickly get over to the first tee which is never a good way to begin any sort of sport, let alone golf where a Zen-like approach is useful. My heart sank when I saw I was playing with the top golfers from both Onga Onga and Waipukurau. They were four-handicappers and I’m a struggling 16. Then I saw how it worked as there was a young fellow I didn’t know so they had obviously put two hackers with two good players. I introduced myself and asked Brett Allan, my new mate what he did for a crust. “I’m the pro at Hastings Golf Club,” he said. Naturally, I slashed and chopped my way up the first fairway not only in front of my companions but the rest of the

field who were waiting to tee off. I did regain my composure and ended up playing quite well. Another time I was playing Mackay in one of our epic Choker Challenge matches, this time on the lovely Eketahuna course. My partner was Sir Brian Lochore and I was playing well enough to be carrying this legend of NZ sport to a well-earned beer from our opponents. On the 16th I said to Brian that the shot into the green wasn’t my favoured distance but he told me to just keep my head down. I shanked it and narrowly missed hitting him. I stood over the next shot, gripping the life out of the club hoping like hell I didn’t do that again. That is the worst thing you should be thinking about when swinging a golf club so naturally the ball flew off at right angles once more. I could hear the laughter and conversation from the other three as I addressed the ball for a third time. Has anyone in sporting history been under this much pressure? Brian is one of the greatest sporting legends this country has ever produced and a leader of men who have all stood up and been counted when he’s asked them. And Mackay is my rival and nemesis.

Naturally, I shanked it for a third and has dined out on it many consecutive shot and immediately times. I’m pleased I didn’t get asked to fell into the foetal position and play with Obama. three times cried out in anguish that I hated myself. Your View I then had the ignominy of having to climb a tree to get my Steve Wyn-Harris is a Central bloody nine iron from where it Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer. had lodged after I threw it in the swyn@xtra.co.nz air as I plunged to the ground. I then completely went to pieces and shanked and duffed the last two holes. Brian told me that in a whole farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz career of playing and watching 2IC (1) sport he’d never Agribusiness (2) Assistant Manager (1) seen a choke and Block Manager (1) meltdown of this Contract Milker (1) Cropping Manager (1) magnitude. And Dairy (2) reminded me I’d Farm Manager (4) cost him a beer. Field Work - Chainsaw Operator (1) General Hand (3) Now, when I see General Manager (1) him across a room Livestock Buyer (1) he just smiles Livestock Representative (1) Manager (1) sadly and shakes Sharefarming Opportunity (1) his head and I Shepherd (3) Shepherd General (1) feel unable to go and have a chat Employers: Advertise your vacancy in the given my complete employment section of the Farmers Weekly lack of any sort of and as added value it will be uploaded to credibility. farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz for one month or close of application. Naturally, Mackay was Contact Debbie Brown 06 323 0765 overjoyed at seeing or email classifieds@nzx.com this experience

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FARM, HORTICULTURE AND LIFESTYLE PROPERTIES FOR SALE ISSUE 1 – 2018

VI W DEO EB O SIT N E

HADLEIGH STATION- RARE SCALE & LOCATION - 14,000SU 1940 Te Ore Ore-Bideford Road, Masterton, Wairarapa Here is the chance to buy one of the WairarapaÂ´s farming jewels. A combination of three separate farming units Hadleigh Station offers rare scale, location, quality improvements, workable contour and potential all 15 minutes from Masterton. Hadleigh is a very well farmed property with a superior fertiliser history. The farm has an excellent balance of contour; around 50% of the farm is easy to medium hill (incl. 80ha of flats) with the balance medium hill (parts being steeper) totalling over 1600 effective hectares. The carrying capacity has been independantly assessed at 14,000su, with a semi finishing system run, season dependant. A start has been made cultivating the easy country but there is plenty of potential to intensify left. There are four houses- two very good quality-and three wool sheds with the main including a covered sheep yards complex with ample other buildings. Well subdivided into 190 paddocks and well tracked itÂ´s just a five minute drive on a council maintained road to the back yards. Soil fertility is close to optimum levels and the water supply is a mixture of reticulation and dams. This property is well known for producing excellent stock from its high fertility base- the livestock and plant are also available for purchase. Purchase options may exist with separate units; Hadleigh, Mt Clyde and Riverbend. 14,000 stock units just 15 minutes from town - do not miss this rare opportunity!

1,727 hectares Tender www.nzr.nz Ref: RX1418720 Tender Closes: 4.00pm Thurs 3rd May 2018 NZR Office, 16 Perry St, Masterton Blair Stevens AREINZ 06 370 9199 027 527 7007 blair@nzr.nz NZR Real Estate Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

"CHESTER" - AN OUTSTANDING 637 HA FINISHING, CROPPING AND BREEDING PROPERTY 388 Rangatira Road & 3446 State Highway 1, Hunterville, Rangitikei

Tender Closes 3pm Wed 11 Apr 2018, CR Law, Manchester Street, Feilding Peter Barnett AREINZ 027 482 6835 | peter@nzr.nz NZR Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

N EW

LIS TI N G

Rising up from the edge of Hunterville on State Highway 1, Chester is one of the regions premier properties due to its virtual perfect balance of moderate breeding hills, encircling one of the largest contiguous areas of flat to easy Kiwitea silt loam soils in the region. These prodigious, versatile soils are friable and free draining and have few peers for livestock finishing and are equally well suited to the wide range of crops that have been grown here including lucerne, maize, cereals and potatoes. Young pastures through-out include the hills which have been heli-cropped and re-grassed in recent years, all exhibiting strong fertility test results. Excellent all weather access is enhanced with a central lane running through the flats connecting the two woolsheds, both with covered yards, with around 100 hectares deer fenced. Trough water is gravity reticulated to virtually the whole property from the district water scheme. The solid and very tidy homestead enjoys an elevated outlook from the center of the farm, with a cottage situated near the road. The bus to the popular local primary school passes the gate with a high school bus from Hunterville. The quality and scale of property that comes up rarely in any location, the sale of Chester represents a unique opportunity to purchase an outstanding property.

637 hectares See video on website nzr.nz/RX1399391

TRIPLE FARMS LTD - ONE OF THE KING COUNTRYÂ´S BEST 724 State Highway 4, Kopaki, Te Kuiti Currently operated as a high preforming cattle fattening operation, finishing between 1400 - 1600 heifers and steers annually plus sheep. Faithfully maintained over the years with strong pastures resulting from yearly fertiliser inputs and a re-grassing program together with its excellent contour ranging from easy to medium hill country with the balance being flat the potential of this farm is evident. Well subdivided into an approximate total of 170 paddocks by quality conventional fencing with reticulated and natural water sources providing ample stock water. A well maintained all-weather lane system links the farm to the stock handling facilities which include a 4-stand woolshed, cattle and sheep yards. Dwellings include 2 quality 4-bedroom homes each set in mature and landscaped grounds plus an additional tidy 3-bedroom cottage. Purchasing Options: Option 1 - Entire farm (924 hectares), Option 2 - Home farm (633 hectares), Option 3 - RonÂ´s Block (124 hectares), Option 4 - Ngatamahine Block (165 hectares) Inspection by farm open days or by appointment. Open days: 10th April 2018 at 11am, 17th April 2018 at 11am, 24th April 2018 at 11am (meet at woolshed on SHW 4 Te Kuiti - Taumarunui Road). Tender closing 4pm, 17th May 2018, 1 Goldfinch Street, Ohakune.

924 Hecatres Tender (unless sold prior) www.nzr.nz Ref: RX1428722 Jamie Proude 06 385 4466 | 027 448 5162 jamie@nzr.nz Jules Brand 06 385 4466 | 027 515 5581 juliane@nzr.nz NZR Central Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

Real Estate

WELL LOCATED IRRIGATED SILTS 320 Riverside Rd, Martinborough, Wairarapa An aesthetically pleasing property with fertile alluvial soils currently used as a dairy support block and before that as an intensive cropping and livestock finishing block. Crops grown have been; peas, barley, sorghum, green feed oats, kale and brassica´s. An 8.5ha lease gives a total area of 84ha. Around 40ha of Greytown Silt Loam soil is protected from flooding and 60ha is irrigated via 40l/s bore. There is a hayshed, combination sheep & cattle yards with load out and a concrete silage bunker. This is a quality, well located and versatile property with great infrastructure that isn´t overcapitalized.

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 2, 2018

LIS TI N G

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

N EW

VI W DEO EB O SIT N E

75.26 hectares Tender www.nzr.nz Ref: RX1412132 Tender Closes: 4.00pm Mon 23 April 18 NZR, 16 Perry St, Masterton Blair Stevens AREINZ 06 370 9199 027 527 7007 blair@nzr.nz NZR Real Estate Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

A PROVEN PRODUCER PLUS MORE 5620 Waiaruhe Road, Rangiwaea, Taihape A opportunity to acquire this attractive and productive 340 Ha farm wintering 3500 su - established in an area that is historically held tightly with the reputation of consistently producing top quality livestock and fodder crops. Contour consists of predominately undulating to easy hills with areas of flat suitable for hay or bailage. Infrastructure includes a 4bedroom home, 4 stand woolshed/covered yards. Purchasing options are available: 340 Ha - Entire farm, 260 Ha - Home block includes all the buildings, 80 Ha - Speedy Block Bare land. Tenders closing 4pm, 3rd May 2018 (unless sold prior).

340 hectares Tender (unless sold prior) www.nzr.nz Ref: RX1423753 Jamie Proude AREINZ 06 385 4466 | 027 448 5162 jamie@nzr.nz Juliane Brand 06 385 4466 | 027 515 5581 juliane@nzr.nz NZR Central Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

Accelerating success.

Reach more people - better results faster.

Tuatapere – Western Southland 1306 Happy Valley Road

Well Set Up Grazing Unit Attractive sheltered property, farming with native bush back drop. Three bedroom open plan homestead. Farm buildings include a 4 stand raised board wool shed and covered yards, 2 bay implement shed, plus Te Pari cattle yards. Presently utilised as grazing and fattening unit. Running approx. 200 heifers May to May, 800 ewes, 200 calves December to May plus fattening approx. 20 trading cattle. 50ha regrassed in last 3 years, balance 2ha fodder beet, 2ha chow, 4ha swedes. The property boasts good infrastructure, regrassing and fencing. Walk in and farm.

161.8752ha

Deadline Treaty: Closes 9 April 2018 at 4pm, Harcourts, 182 Dee Street, Invercargill. (Unless Sold Prior) View: By Appointment www.harcourts.co.nz ID# IV38482

Terry Forde M 021 361 516 P 03 214 4080 E terry@harcourtsinv.co.nz

Holmwood Real Estate Ltd Licensed Agent REAA 2008

TENDER | MATAU DRYSTOCK FARM

LK0092050©

Tender Closes 1:00pm, Friday 17th April 2018 at McDonald Real Estate 288 Broadway, Stratford (unless sold prior) Open Days Please bring your motorbike and helmet. Meet at the house

568 Matau North Road, Matau, Stratford District

colliers.co.nz

This 1337.9707 Ha (3306.05 acres) Drystock Farm comprises of some 500 Ha (1235 acres) of strong grazing land which carries a mixture of 2300 ewes and 110 MA beef cattle. Added to this is around 100 Ha (247 acres) of established Manuka with the balance of the farm being native bush. The surrounding country is a mixture of owner-operator drystock operations and extensive Department of Conservation Land. This farm offers the astute buyer a number of income options, continue of with the drystock operation and branch out into Honey production or if you are already producing Honey continue on with it on this land and lease the grazable area back to the owner. To top it off there is a varied supply of hunting opportunities.

Wednesday 4 April 12:30pm Wednesday 11 April 12:30pm

Brent Dodunski M 027 498 4346 Peter McDonald M 027 443 4506

Accelerating success.

Reach more people - better results faster.

colliers.co.nz

RURAL rural@pb.co.nz 0800 FOR LAND

Property Brokers Limited Licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008

82 ha Irrigated dairy farm

3.91 ha Private lifestyle

DEADLINE SALE

TENDER

WEB ID WR61034 CENTRAL HAWKES BAY 705 Burnside Road View By Appointment DEADLINE SALE closes Thursday 3rd May, 2018 at 4.00pm Recently converted dairy farm provides an excellent opportunity for many. Looking for expansion or starting out, this property will suit all. Irrigated Takapau plains flats provide versatility for any farm enterprise. Currently running a successful 260 cow, 84,000kgMS winter milk Bevan Pickett dairy operation. Includes Mobile 027 220 2766 • Good irrigation consent Office 06 928 0520 • Excellent farm infrastructure (converted 2012/13) bevanp@pb.co.nz • 36 a-side herringbone cowshed with feedpad Pat Portas • Two homes

DEADLINE SALE

A well-located versatile property. Make the move now.

Mobile 027 447 0612 Office 06 928 0521 Home 06 855 8330 patp@pb.co.nz

WEB ID FL61234 SHANNON 144 Old Foxton Road View By Appointment If you are looking for a lifestyle home with privacy and a TENDER closes Thursday 26th April, 2018 at 2.00pm rural outlook, this attractive property is for you. Situated down a quiet country road, so secluded. The executive upmarket home is very spacious being 352m2, three of the four bedrooms have walk in wardrobes plus great living space with open plan kitchen/dining and two living areas. Experience easy living with indoor/outdoor flow and two good sized deck areas plus an outdoor deck on the top level. The home is set on three levels, giving space and room for a family to spread out. Lianne Masters Downstairs there is a variety of shed space. Mobile 027 288 1801

TENDER

Office 06 323 1520 lianne@pb.co.nz

4 3 2+

Ruchama

NEW LISTING WEB ID TMR61187

WAIMATE 129 Shearers Hill Road • 181.9770 hectares • 50% Irrigated MGI • Well balanced • Good soils • All weather laneways

irrigation with good winter kale crops. Reliable climate, good location, with hunting, lakes, rivers and ski fields all at your doorstep. Call now for a viewing!

Good bones and location count when buying and selling farms. This property is now on the market after a 10 year lease coming to an end. With a comfortable 3 bedroom home, good sheds, 25 ha under pivot and 64 ha under K-line. Very good pasture renewal under the

www.propertybrokers.co.nz

DEADLINE SALE

VIEW Friday 6 Apr 1.00 - 2.30pm DEADLINE SALE closes Thursday 3rd May, 2018 at 4.00pm, (unless sold prior)

Michael Richardson

Mobile 027 228 7027 Office 03 687 7145 michael@pb.co.nz

4 1

Real Estate

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 2, 2018

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company RURAL | LIFESTYLE | RESIDENTIAL

SOLD

Seddon

Extensive Marlborough Hill Block Rarely available this substantial bare land tract of 1135ha (2805 acres subject to survey) is of easy to medium Marlborough hill country and for genuine sale. Ideally suited to its current sheep and beef operation this iconic property lends itself to honey, hunting, deer or carbon farming (ecological reports available) or simply your stunning retreat in the sunniest province of New Zealand. Extensively tracked and well fenced with over 100 hectares of partially developed flats at the rear of the property, gives huge scope for development. Spectacular coastal and mountain views from numerous building sites for a new homestead and infrastructure and yet only 15km from Seddon township on predominantly sealed road makes this a rare opportunity.

Joe Blakiston B 03 579 3702 | M 027 434 4069 jblakiston@pggwrightson.co.nz

pggwre.co.nz/BLE26742

Ken McLeod B 03 579 3720 | M 027 433 4746 kmcleod@pggwrightson.co.nz

pggwre.co.nz

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008

FURTHER PRICE REDUCTION

111ha River Silts

Grey Valley 320 Cows

5-year average 66,002kgs milksolids 20-aside cow shed, 2 x 4 bay sheds 1 x 3-bedroom house and 2 x 2 bedroom cottages 61ha run-off available to purchase

Real opportunity for keen energetic purchaser. Hard to ﬁnd at this price with this potential. Available Going Concern $1.620M L & B + GST (if any) Web Ref GDR3269503

• • • • •

179ha Ahaura Plains Two storey 4-bedroom permanent material home 32 aside cow shed, Reid Plant, approximately 350 yard Good complement farm buildings 106,000 Westland Milk Products shares included

“I don’t think you will ﬁnd one better at this value in Westland’s desirable and productive Grey Valley”. $2.950M L & B + GST (if any) Web Ref GDR3110986

Greg Daly AREINZ Mobile 027 478 3594 or A/H 03 762 6463

www.gregdalyrealestate.co.nz Real Estate Agent REAA 2008

LK0091844©

• • • •

220 COW HARI HARI STARTER

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company RURAL

LIFESTYLE

RESIDENTIAL

TENDER

First Time on the Market in 40 years 1378 Wairamarama Onewhero Road This tidy 215ha sheep and beef farm is ready for a new owner after 40 years under the stewardship of the current owner. The farm has been farmed with respect for the land and a view to the future to ensure the pasture has a healthy cover of clover. The property is supported by a North facing homestead set back off the road surrounded by specimen trees. The property is in two titles which gives options to purchase the house and 4ha (STS) separately.

pggwre.co.nz/PUK27945

Onewhero DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY

You Will Love The Location 1276 Kakaramea Road

Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) Closes 4.00pm, Monday 30 April VIEW 1.00-2.00pm Tuesday 3, 10 & Sunday 8 April

• 58ha dairy unit (or 54ha with cowshed and two bedroom unit) • Subdivision consent approved to purchase 4ha separately (see HAM27972 for details) • As one property, two homes, 22 ASHB • Excellent stable complex & arena. Maize & PK bunker • Mainly flat contour – sandy loam and clay loam soils

Adrian van Mil B 09 237 2041 M 027 473 3632

pggwre.co.nz/HAM27970

Te Akau

High Producing Gold Kiwifruit Orchard

Ngahinapouri TENDER (Unless Sold By Private Treaty) Closes 4pm, Fri 27 Apr PGGWRE, 11 Vialou St, Hamilton VIEW 12-1pm, Wed 4, Mon 9 & 16 Apr

2 John Sisley M 027 475 9808

jsisley@pggwrightson.co.nz

avanmil@pggwrightson.co.nz

OPEN DAY

Scale, Location and Quality 1015 Waimai Valley Road • 412 hectares breeding / finishing unit • Very good infrastructure • Modernised villa, four stand woolshed • Excellent mix of contour, good fencing and water • Great primary schooling close by • Properties like this rarely come to the market • Phone the agents for farm details

DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY (Unless Sold Prior) Closes 4pm, Fri 20 April PGGWRE, 11 Vialou St, Hamilton VIEW 11am-1pm, Tues 3 & 10 Apr

John Sisley M 027 475 9808

pggwre.co.nz/HAM27875

Richard Thomson M 027 294 8625

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008

66 Colebrook Road

Whakatane

LOT 1 - 11.699ha - 4.01 Canopy ha G3 Gold of which .57 is just grafted - 4.36 Canopy ha Haywood Green LOT 2 - 9.921ha - 6.48 Canopy ha G3 Gold - Large high stud lockup shed - Toilet facilities - Water tank Bore and pond Water for irrigation and frost protection for both titles. Underground drainage, good shelter and security fencing around pond and road frontage. Each block is STT and can be sold separately: - Lot 1 - $5.5M - Lot 2 - $6.5M

$12M

pggwre.co.nz/WHK27443

stewartmorrison@pggwrightson.co.nz

Plus GST (if any)

Stewart Morrison B 07 307 1619 M 027 442 2833

pggwre.co.nz

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company RURAL

LIFESTYLE

RESIDENTIAL

TENDER

Location Dairy Location Owned in nine titles and only minutes from Whakatane township, this Awakeri dairy farm with exceptional location and features, comes to the market for the first time in over 90 years. There are 96 hectares of fertile, flat plains, two homes, one of which is a large, beautifully refurbished homestead that any farming family would love to live in. An eight year old, 40 bail rotary dairy system, with Waikato Plant and automatic cup removers, a six-bay implement shed, a 10-bay hay barn and a second well maintained four bedroom home. pggwre.co.nz/WHK27919

Awakeri TENDER Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold By Private Treaty) Closes 4.00pm, Thursday 19 April VIEW 1.00-2.00pm, Tuesday 3 & 10 April

Phil Goldsmith B 07 307 1620 M 027 494 1844

Beef Bees and Trees

Waverley

Lakes Road Waverley via Moumahaki Road • 497.7050 ha [1229.829 ac] of hill country breeding farm • Three stand shearing shed with good holding paddocks and yards – cattle and sheep • Honey hives by lease with more desired • Hunting and alternative use option • Bach is used under a lifetime instrument – no dwelling. • 23km from SHW3 Waverley

TENDER Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold By Private Treaty) Closes 4.00pm, Thursday 26 April PGGWRE Hawera

Mark Nicholas B 06 278 0420 M 027 474 0678

pggwre.co.nz/WAN27925

pgoldsmith@pggwrightson.co.nz

mark.nicholas@pggwrightson.co.nz

AUCTION

12ha of Quality Plus Location 58 Green Road

Feilding

• Well appointed four bedroom home with en suite, office, open plan kitchen/dining, two living areas and double garage • Two large sheds 7.8m x 12.8m, 8.1m x 21.3m cater for a large range of uses • Top farm improvements including fencing, small woolshed, cattleyards plus new bore for reticulated stock water • Well located 8.6km to Feilding and 13km to Palmerston North • Excellent soil types A quality property in a well sought after location

AUCTION

RV: $1.1M (Aug 2016)

Wayne Brooks B 06 323 0709 | M 027 431 6306 wayne.brooks@pggwrightson.co.nz

pggwre.co.nz/FDG27955

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008

Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) 11.00am, Tuesday 8 May PGGWRE, 18 Manchester Street, Feilding VIEW 12.00-1.30pm, Sunday 8 & 15 April

pggwre.co.nz

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company RURAL

LIFESTYLE

RESIDENTIAL

AUCTION

TENDER

Finishing Property, Superior Location • 403.7447ha (998 acres) approximately • Mainly easy to medium rolling contour • Well subdivided and watered • Spacious four-bedroom home plus two-bedroom cottage • 25km west of Waipukurau

pggwre.co.nz/WPK27767

Ongaonga AUCTION Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) 2.00pm Thur 3rd May Ongaonga Public Hall, Bridge St VIEW 1.00-3.00pm Tue 3rd & 10th Apr & 10.00-12.00pm Thur 5th Apr

Max Lyver B 06 858 6780 M 027 597 5818

Great Entry Farm - Great Community 639 Waitara Road, Te Pohue • `Pukenui'- 234 hectares (553.5 acres) 49km from Bay View township • In excess of 40ha of flats, the balance of land being medium to steeper hill • Woolshed, deer shed, cattle and sheep yards, haybarn, fertiliser bin and strip • Three bedroom dwelling with open plan living/dining and kitchen • Cattle, deer, sheep or dairy grazing. All bases are covered pggwre.co.nz/HAS27595

mlyver@pggwrightson.co.nz

TENDER

Well Located with Options • 201.6ha (STS) 28km from Havelock North with cropping options, breeding sheep and cattle, trading and finishing • 4x4 access over farm tracks, approx. 17 paddocks with mainly conventional fencing • A permanent limestone stream flows through the property supplemented by springs and dams • Improvements include four-stand woolshed, good shedding plus sheep and cattle yards • The Horiana Downs contour of approximately 5% flat, 70% rolling, 13% medium with 12% steep offers various farming options for the new owner pggwre.co.nz/HAS27597

Hawke's Bay TENDER Plus GST (if any) Closes 4.00pm, Thursday, 12 April PGG Wrightson, Hastings

Paul Harper B 06 878 3156 M 027 494 4854

paul.harper@pggwrightson.co.nz

Doug Smith B 06 878 3156 M 027 494 1839

dougsmith@pggwrightson.co.nz

NEW LISTING

Hawke's Bay TENDER Plus GST (if any) Closes 2.00pm, Wed, 18 April Cnr Maraekakaho and Orchard Roads, Hastings

Doug Smith B 06 878 3156 M 027 494 1839

dougsmith@pggwrightson.co.nz

Paul Harper B 06 878 3156 M 027 494 4854

paul.harper@pggwrightson.co.nz

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008

Iconic Landmark Property SNAKE GULLY FARM - 202.2102ha Held by the Copland family for many years. Best of Chertsey silt loams. Irrigated by the Acton Scheme and two soundly resourced wells via two lateral irrigators and two booms. Excellent homestead, cottage, support buildings and silos. Top yields of cereals, grass seed, legumes and clover and regularly grows specialist and export crops. Top farm, well fenced, sheltered and laned and featuring many mature and specimen trees. pggwre.co.nz/TIM27923

Chertsey DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) Closes 4.00pm, Thursday 26 April

Hunter Doig B 03 687 7330 M 027 220 1004

hdoig@pggwrightson.co.nz

pggwre.co.nz

Employment

Drystock 2IC

P.O. Box 30, Palmerston North 4440, NZ

NEED

STAFF?

The successful applicant must have: • Excellent stockmanship • Proven safe operation of ATV’s on hill country • Team of good working dogs • Ability to work independently and take on responsibility in the farm owners absence • Common sense, and a positive attitude towards health and safety LK0092111©

Advertise your vacancy in Farmers Weekly

$100 pp

Feilding 15th April Taupo 22nd April Morrinsville 24th April

Free booklet

ZON BIRDSCARER

electro-tek@xtra.co.nz

LK0092125©

470 hectares, sheep, steers, dairy grazing

Sally and Murray Poole 07 825 6788 mapoole@xtra.co.nz or Waimaori Road, RD 2, Raglan 3296

STOP BIRDS NOW!

Phone: +64 6 357 2454

DE HORNER

HOOF TRIMMER

LK0090721©

Te Mata, Raglan

FARM DOG TRAINING DAYS

w w w. e l e c t r o t e k . c o . n z

Keen, honest, reliable person with the appropriate experience, and physical fitness, for the majority of stock work, also assist with general farm duties.

Classifieds

EARMARKERS

With Anna Holland www.annaholland.co.nz annaholland@xtra.co.nz Phone 027 28 44 639

Call Debbie

0800 85 25 80 classifieds@nzx.com

ASSISTANT MANAGER – LIVESTOCK OPERATIONS Due to exciting developments within our Livestock enterprise we have a new role available which will provide management and coordination support for our multi-farm operation. This role offers a good mix of practical hands-on farming as well as higher level monitoring, planning and pasture and feed management. Reporting to the Livestock Operations Manager, you will: • Provide management support and cover for the Operations Manager • Manage and coordinate a small team of Shepherd Generals which will operate as a centralised team across all farms with a focus on animal handling activities • Plan and coordinate workloads which see optimal use of people and equipment • Measure monthly pasture covers, monitor grazing management and maintain farm maintenance plans • Understand how livestock finishing systems operate and have insight into how to maximise these Role requirements: • Hands-on pastoral farming experience with a focus on pasture management and high-performance livestock systems • Strong people leadership and sound time-management skills • A desire and ability to train and develop others • Affinity for technology and intermediate level computer skills • An appropriate tertiary qualification is desirable • Driver licence essential

STANDARD FEEDER (C6 Pinned) • • • •

100% New Zealand Made Quality Stockfeeders

CHILLERS &

udly NZ Madew Pro Since 1975

021 441 180 (JC) frigidair@xtra.co.nz

A full Position Description is available upon request from: jobs@brownrigg.co.nz To discuss, phone HAYDEN ASHBY on 0272 931 682

LK0092134©

LK0092131©

Learn more about our business at www.brownrigg.co.nz APPLY NOW with CV and Cover Letter: jobs@brownrigg.co.nz

3 x 4 foot bales 2 x 6 foot bales 24 feed positions 24 - 48 animals 4m long

$ 120+G0 ST

0800 104 404 | www.stockfeeders.co.nz

New Zealand’s proven stock feeder for 24 years | 100% New Zealand Tensile Steel

CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING

This is a hands-on role requiring experience, drive, an outgoing nature and a passion for farming and its people.

On-farm accommodation is available and, being close to town, gives opportunities for those with family and singles alike with a wide range of schooling, sports, social and outdoor pursuits in close proximity along with employment opportunities for partners.

0 $ 85 +GST

• • • • •

FOR SALE

FREEZERS

You will be well rewarded, get to farm in a great environment and will be exposed to a wide range of innovative farming practices and passionate people.

1 x 6 foot bale 2m diameter 15 feed positions 15 - 30 animals

OVAL FEEDER (S2 Pinned)

FOR FARMERS & HUNTERS When only the best will do!

Combi Clamp Sheep Handler

The most versatile Sheep Handler on the market • No power • No air • No breakdowns • Hands free operation • Good flow • Complete control • Portable • Weigh, dag, draft, feet, vaccinate – all in one pass!

Do you have something to sell? Advertise in Farmers Weekly

The Combi Clamp …

Known for good sheep flow, has been tested and proven to be the fastest and most popular Sheep Handler sold in Australia, replacing many Automated Sheep Handler units on properties throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Call Debbie

0800 85 25 80 classifieds@nzx.com

Cattle Handling Equipment

Standard Crush, Vet Crush, Weight Crate, Auto Head Yoke, Sliding Gates • Heavy Duty • Hot dipped galvanized • Efficient • One-man operation • Sure catch – never miss • Self-catching with auto reset • No weight limit • Easily adjustable width • Built to last • Full range of options available

T H IN K PRE BU IL T

EMPLOYMENT REACH EVERY FARMER IN NZ FROM MONDAY Please print clearly

Email: Heading: Advert to read:

Return this form either by fax to 06 323 7101 attention Debbie Brown Post to NZX Agri Classifieds, PO Box 529, Feilding 4740 by 12pm Wednesday or Freephone 0800 85 25 80

NEW HOMES

SOLID – PRACTICAL WELL INSULATED – AFFORDABLE Our homes are built using the same materials & quality as an onsite build. Easily transported to almost anywhere in the North Island. Plans range from one bedroom to four bedroom First Home – Farm House Investment – Beach Bach

Call or email us for your free copy of our plans Email: info@ezylinehomes.co.nz Phone: 07 572 0230 Web: www.ezylinehomes.co.nz

LK0091627©

Address:

Phone:

Reliable Strong, ffi cient E and LK0091108©

Name:

0800 227 228

www.combiclamp.co.nz

Videos on website – On-farm demonstrations available SI Stuart 027 435 3062

classifieds@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Classifieds

ANIMAL HANDLING

ATTENTION FARMERS

DOGS FOR SALE

FLY OR LICE problem? Electrodip - The magic eye sheepjetter since 1989 with unique self adjusting sides. Incredible chemical and time savings with proven effectiveness. Phone 07 573 8512 w w w. e l e c t r o d i p . c o m

www.gibb-gro.co.nz GROWTH PROMOTANT $5.85 per hectare + GST delivered Brian Mace 0274 389 822 07 571 0336 brianmace@xtra.co.nz

YOUNG HEADING and Huntaways. Top working bloodlines. View our website www.ringwaykennels.co.nz Join us on Facebook: Working dogs New Zealand. Phone 027 248 7704. HEADING PUPS, 8 weeks old. Pongaroa area. Contact 021 049 5967. NZ’S BIGGEST SELECTION of Huntaways, Heading, Handy dogs. $500-$2500. View online/ onfarm. Delivering NZ wide. Guaranteed. Trial. 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

ANIMAL SUPPLEMENTS APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, GARLIC & HONEY. 200L - $450 or 1000L - $2000 excl. with FREE DELIVERY from Black Type Minerals Ltd www.blacktypeminerals. co.nz

BLUE HEELER / cattle X, ready now. No bitches. $300.00. Phone 07 378 1817 or 027 442 4811.

FOR SALE

FARM MAPPING

SELLING

YOUR FARM MAPPED showing paddock sizes. Priced from $600 for 100ha. Phone 0800 433 855. farmmapping.co.nz

SOMETHING? 0800 85 25 80

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

PROGESSIVE LIVESTOCK LTD AUCTION 18th April 2018 WEDNESDAY 10:30am

LK0092068©

Top 2% BW in NZ 140 Xbreed cows 125 BW/148 PW 65 Xbreed IC hfrs 143 BW/146PW

30 Years of Ownership

www.progressivelivestock.co.nz

TAUPO

WEANER FAIR

Monday 9th April

1500 HEAD

Special Entries A/c Tuatahi Farming 250 Angus & Angus X Steers 100 Ang Here & Simm X Heifers Call Shane Scott 027 4956031

A/c MA & TL Newton 150 Angus Bulls 50 Angus Heifers

Call Ross Waller 027 4845465

A/c Waione Land Company 100 Angus & Ang Here X Heifers Call Mike Tosi 027 6763303

GOATS WANTED. All weights. All breeds. Prompt service. Payment on pick up. My on farm prices will not be beaten. Phone David Hutchings 07 895 8845 or 0274 519 249. Feral goats mustered on a 50/50 share basis.

GRAZING AVAILABLE DAIRY GRAZING available 440 acres in Taumarunui flat to rolling. Contact nilsreiten@gmail.com, phone 022 398 9705.

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE

PERSONAL SINGLES BECOME COUPLES at Countrywide Network. We know so many genuine women and men all seeking their special partner. There is no need to be alone when someone wonderful is waiting for you! In town or on the land. Real People not computers. Totally confidential. Seniors welcome. Phone 0800 424 318 toll free. Countrywide Network – Matchmaking since 1989.

PROPERTY WANTED

DEER FOR SALE. 200 MA Capital Stock hinds C10. 40 MA Capital Stock hinds with velvet genetics C10. 40 MA Velvet stags. WANTED to buy - Weaner deer. Phone Rangeview Farm Services Ltd. 027 246 4060 Dave.

HOUSE FOR REMOVAL wanted. North Island. Phone 021 0274 5654.

good size and quality wool. $250-$500. Phone 06 376 4751 or 021 133 7533.

dismantling Andquiparts. Phone 027 524 3356.

FOR SALE SELLING

SOMETHING? Have something to sell? Advertise in Farmers Weekly

TRACTOR

PARTS HIGH INDEXING JERSEY & JERSEY RAMS. HILL COUNTRY DEERE 6410, CROSS HERD JOHN Perendales. Easy care with 6600, 6610, 6800, 6900,

Phone Debbie Brown 0800 85 25 80 or email classifieds@nzx.com

BW 143/50 PW 161/67 RA 100% (in top 10 All Breeds for NZ )

• •

Livestock

Many cows contracted to LIC for 2011 matings Due to calve from 16-7-12, 6.5 weeks AB Jersey and Kiwi cross GRAZERS WANTED • Estimated to be 420 cows after non pregnant, culls,Monday older cows & 2018 5% rejection 9th April at 12 noon WAGYU CROSS GRAZING • Production last season 347kgs ms/cow, Vendors Norm and Del Atkins CONTRACT 1000kgs ms/ha, on rolling to • Steers and Heifers at competitive Makotuku Dannevirke steeper per kg weight gain rates contoured farm, noJersey, meal,Friesian palm kernel or maize and Ayrshire • Wagyu Dairy Cross fed. ln calf heifer sale - Autumn born mixed sex, min 90kg • Young replacement stock also available from June 2018

For Sale

45 fully recorded, well grown, end of July calving - Rising 1yr May to May and with very good genetic background these • Wagyu Beef Herd Outstanding genetics & potential to be one of heifers are renowned for there shifting ability. - Weaners April 2018 the countries leading suppliers of Genetics to - Rising 1yr April to April Make sure you receive a catalogue from the the dairy industry for years come. FullLtddetails • Simple no-fuss agreements auctioneers, Brian to Robinson Livestock or available. Farm Source. For further information please contact: Enquiries to theContact sole marketing agents: Tim or Erin O’Brien Brian Robinson Phone: 06 857 8305 Ph 027 241 0051 or Mobile (Tim): 0272 780 496 Brian RobinsonMonty BRLLMonteith Email: tim@brownrigg.co.nz

HIGH INDEXING JERSEY & JERSEY CROSS027 HERD 0522 PH: 0272 410051Phor 07807 8583132

Friesian Herd Complete Dispersal Sale Thursday 12th April 2018 at 11am Sale to be held on the property of the vendors M/s J & S Nalder – 200 Abel Tasman Drive RD 1, Takaka Golden Bay 7183 • Phone 03 525 9765 Will comprise: 135 Friesian Spring calving cows and 55 Friesian Spring calving heifers

BW 143/50 Gary FalknerPW 161/67 RA 100% Taranaki Ayrshire Club The property has been in the Nalder family for 150 Jersey Service for NZ ) HIGH INDEXING JERSEY & JERSEY (in topMarketing 10 All Breeds

Please contact Colin Old 027 870 4434 colin@progressivelivestock.co.nz

GOATS WANTED

FERAL GOATS WANTED. All head counted, payment on pick-up, pick-up within 24 hours. Prices based on works schedule. Experienced musterers available. Phone Bill and Vicky Le Feuvre 07 893 8916.

TAMA GRASS SEEDS for sale. Excellent test. Buy direct from grower at $1.50 per kg plus GST. Phone 027 721 0838.

RAMS. SOUTHDOWNS AND Suffolk/ Southdown X for heavy fast growing lambs. Suitable for Hogget mating. $250- $500. Phone 06 357 7727 or 021 133 7533.

LK0092164©

A/C SJ & SA CARROLL 430 TE KOPIA ROAD ROTORUA

Extra low SCC 30,000 avg

12 MONTHS TO 5½-yearold Heading dogs and Huntaways wanted. Phone 022 698 8195. BUYING OVER 350 dogs annually! Running to fully broken. No one buys or pays more! 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

GRASS SEED

FOR SALE DOG/PET FOOD. Lamb/ Beef and chicken products. All natural - raw - no preservatives or additives. NOSLOC PRODUCTS. Ex-freezer Te Kuiti. For information and prices www.nosloc.com or phone 07 878 6868.

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE

PH: 027 482 8771 or 07 846 4491Sale Annual

years and the first Friesian cows were milked 100 CROSS HERD years ago. The present day herd which is of mostly CRV genetics with some LIC and nominated semen • Many cows contractedSale to to LIC for 2011 matings be held at the Stratford used, averages 385kg to 440kg ms BW 143/50 consistently PW 161/67 RA ms 100% • Due to calve from 16-7-12, 6.5 Stratford weeks Showgrounds, Flint Road, and is fed solely on a grass and silage diet. A dribble LONG ESTABLISHED (in topof10 All Breeds for NZ ) PKE has been used when needed but not for long The cross offering will comprise: ABSALE Jersey and Kiwi XBD HERD periods. The herd has indices of BW 26, PW 56 and 33 Ayrshire in-calf heifers Estimated to be 420 cows after non cowsrecorded A/c H• C Underwood • Many contracted LIC for 2011 matings ancestryto 97%. 2 Ayrshire cows 64 Watson Rd - Te Poi S/N 77354culls, older 9 Ayrshire rising one-year heifers • Due to calve pregnant, cows & 5% rejection from 16-7-12, 6.5with weeks Calving commences at the end of July the Wednesday 18th April 11am 1 Ayrshire rising one-year bull majority of cows calving in August. Cattle can stay on AB Jersey and Kiwi cross Production last season 347kgs ms/cow, Herd BW • 110 PW 142 RA 96% 45 head from leading Taranaki Ayrshire herds the property until the end of May at the purchaser’s

Tuesday 10th April 2018 at 11.30am

• Estimated to be 420 cows after non 1000kgs ms/ha,This on rolling to farmers steeper sale is a must attend for those looking risk. Cows staying until the end of May will be dried pregnant, culls, older cows & 5% rejection purchase top Ayrshirekernel replacements. cattle of on the 20th May and will be dry cow therapy contoured farm, noto meal, palm or•Allmaize Production lastat the season 347kgs ms/cow, have been inspected for conformation and size. All treated vendors expense. fed. are fully recorded with catalogues available.1000kgs The very ms/ha, on rolling toa lotsteeper All cattle are in good condition, show of dairy beststock Ayrshire genetics come out of Taranaki and Young replacement alsohave available contoured farm, no meal, palm kernel or are maize quality with very good udders. These cattle

We are privileged to offer this outstanding dairy herd that has been faithfully farmed for 21 years and bred for type, protein, temperament and longevity using nominated LIC semen. Due to son returning home with his own herd and father retiring, purchasers have an opportunity to buy this herd which will come forward in great condition and in milk on sale day. Catalogues will be available Calving from 1/7 - 4 Weeks AB - Tailed with Jsy Bulls. Bull Out 5/12, TB C10, EBL Free, BVD Tested, Bulk Milk Tested Production 390 MS/Cow, 1150 MS/ha Please refer to MyLivestock listing #WAI56739 Contact NZFL agent Steve Emile 027 224 3880 Or Vendor Harley 027 331 300

•

feature strongly in the Ayrshire and Crossbred dairy recommended to shift from this area extremely well. fed. cow population across NZ. Production backgrounds LIC transfer cards are available on all animals. Young stock also available these cattle. Make receive your Outstanding geneticsare&high forpotential tosure beyou•one of replacement Payment terms are: Payment is due to the copy of the sale catalogue by contacting one of the the countries leadingrepssuppliers of Genetics to auctioneers within 10 days from sale date. below. Outstanding genetics & potential to be one of A catalogue giving all details is available from the the dairy industry for yearsCatalogues to come. Full details the available on line at countries leading suppliers of Genetics to auctioneers Brian Robinson Livestock Ltd or online at www.brianrobinsonlivestock.com the or dairy industry for www.brianrobinsonlivestock.com years to come. Full details available. www.aryshire.org.nz available. or www.nzholstein.org.nz

AH0091898©

www.drench.co.nz farmer owned, very competitive prices. Phone 0800 4 DRENCH (437 362).

DOGS FOR SALE

DOGS WANTED

DOLOMITE, NZ’s finest Magnesium fertiliser. Bio-Gro certified, bulk or bagged. 0800 436 566.

WILD CATTLE and goats wanted. 50/50 mustering. Portable yards available. Phone Kerry Coulter 0274 944 194.

Enquiries to the soleAuctioneers: marketing agents: Brian Robinson Livestock Ltd Ph Brian 0272 410 051 Neil McDonald 0272 188 904 or Selwyn Donald 0274 378 375

Brian Robinson BRLL PH: 0272 410051 or 07 8583132

LK0091845©

ANIMAL HEALTH

AUCKLAND-BASED E A R T H M O V I N G contractor. Rural earthworks. Subdivisions and house cuts. Roading and civil. Retaining walls. 1.5 - 24 tonne Diggers. Bobcats. Trucks. Call Keegan on 022 614 5313 or email to keegan@ thediggercollective.co.nz

GOATS WANTED

LK0091970©

CRAIGCO SHEEP JETTERS. Sensor Jet. Deal to fly and Lice now. Guaranteed performance. Unbeatable pricing. Phone 06 835 6863. www.craigcojetters.com

CONTRACTORS

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – April 2, 2018

FERTILISER

LK0092089©

Enquiries Brian Robinson Ph 027 241 0051 Enquiries to the sole tomarketing agents: Selwyn Donald Ph O27 437 8375 Brian Robinson BRLL or Neil McDonald PH: 0272 410051 or218 078904 8583132 Ph 027

Livestock

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – April 2, 2018

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

SALE TALK

OUTSTANDING SEMEX JSY/JSYX HERD

SUITABLE FOR BREEDING

On Farm In Milk sale Tuesday 17th April 12 Noon A/c JCM Trust, Gordon Rd, Te Aroha

Genuine full shed sheep > No shearing > No dagging > No dipping

D L O

This capacious herd of 225 Jsy/JsyX, is of outstanding confirmation with excellent temperament, udders, type and feet. Milked on a system 1.5 doing 335 MS/Cow. Farmed at the base of the Kaimai Ranges IC to Jsy, DTC 25/7 4 Weeks AB, BO 26/12/17, Tailed with MG Bull.

D R E

CONTACT

Peter & Caroline Foss, King Country

07 877 7881

View MyLivestock listing # WAI56680 Contact Don Allison 0274 515 318

Talk to us for options to purchase in-milk for September/October Delivery Northland Herds 140 Frsn BW64 PW65 RA84% DTC 20/7 Pick 100 cows off steep country. $1500 150 Xbreds BW89 PW98 RA97% DTC 20/7 345ms, 6 weeks AB, tailed Angus. $1750

220 Frsn/FrsnX BW75 PW90 RA100% DTC 17/7, well breed OAD from Dec $1850

Note: Cows are mated to all the Top Stud Sires at Meadowslea

LK0090083©

146 High BW PW Frsn BW122 PW122 RA100% F12-F16, DTC 24/7 to Jsy bulls $1750

Philip Webb: 027 801 8057 Central & Southern NI Dairy Coordinator

: R2yr heifers mated to top low birthweight calving ease yearlings

LK0092169©

In-Calf Heifers

VENDORS: ERIK & LYN VAN DER VELDEN 06 374 1575 AGENT: NEVILLE CLARK 0275 986 537

Vendor: D S Giddings 03 685 8027 Auctioneers: PGG Wrightson Participating companies: PWA, RLL, Carrﬁelds

www.meadowslea.co.nz

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING

For extensive listings for all types of dairy stock visit:

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

PH NIGEL 0800 85 25 80

SPRINGDALE ANGUS

TO BOOK YOUR LIVESTOCK CONTACT ONE OF OUR AGENTS BELOW:

Approx. 60 R2yr Commercial Meadowslea-bred heifers Ex Grays Hills Stn, Breamar Stn, Guide Hill Stn, Manahune Stn

Catalogues on AngusNZ Website

155 Xbred/Jrsy BW91 PW111 RA98% DTC 18/7 26yrs nom AB LIC & CRV $1750

230 Frsn BW71 PW64 RA100% DTC 24/7 F12-F16 I/C Jsy bulls, will split to suit $1450

Offering: approx. 100 Stud Angus Fully Recorded Females including: - Selected R2yr, R3yr, R4yr - Annual draft capital stock stud cows

Viewing from 9am on the day and 1-3pm on 22/04/18

Waikato Herds

EVERY THURSDAY 10AM STORE CATTLE

On-Farm Fairlie – Wed 2 May at 12 Noon

23 April 2018 – 11am 204 lots

Paul Kane 027 286 9279 (North Waikato/ Northland) National Dairy & Live Export Coordinator

EVERY MONDAY 10:30AM PRIME & BONER CATTLE 2nd Annual Angus Female In-Calf Production Sale

SHORT NOTICE DISPERSAL SALE MANGATARA

120 Jrys & or 80 Xbreds CRV DTC 12/7 Pick from 400 cows, very tidy herd $1400

88 High BW PW Frsn BW119 PW122 RA100% F12-F16 Blacks DTC 24/7 to Jsy bulls $1750

LK0092168©

Still available for purchase prior to on farm sale date for 1st June delivery

FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK NOW SELLING AT TEMUKA SALEYARDS

LK0092150©

WILTSHIRE RAM HGTS

The doctor that had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally retired. At her next checkup the new doctor told her to bring a list of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her. As the doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realised Grandma had a prescription for birth control pills. “Mrs Smith, do you realise these are BIRTH CONTROL pills? “Yes, they help me sleep at night.” “Mrs Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that could possibly help you sleep!” The old lady reached out and patted the young Doctor’s knee.... “Yes, dear, I know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16 year old granddaughter drinks, and believe me, it definitely helps me sleep at night.”

DAVID BISHOP, SOUTH CANTERBURY, 027 614 8100 LYALL GRANT, MID CANTERBURY, 027 229 2927 TIM WHITE, CANTERBURY, 027 405 3088

BUSY BROOK HOLSTEINS GOLD LABEL SALE

NICK CAGNEY, NORTH CANTERBURY 027 601 8685

3.30pm Friday, 13 April 2018 51 Taylors Road, Duntroon, North Otago

MARK ESSELINK, OAMARU, 027 550 9554

Approx 50 Lots comprising: • NZ bred lots average BW is 190. There are over 20 contract mated lots, many with multiple contracts with different AI companies. Individual BW’s up to 226. Dams of sale lots production up to 875ms. • Imported animals out of some of North America’s best cow families including direct daughters of RF Goldwyn Hailey x Doorman and Eastside Lewisdale Missy x Windbrook. Many lots with high classification and show potential.

Dispersal Sale

Thursday 12th April 2018 - 11am Undercover On Farm, Ngakonui

All animals will be individually tested negative for M Bovis For more information and catalogues please contact: Nathan and Amanda Bayne – Busy Brook Holsteins nando2@xtra.co.nz – 027 486 1517 PGG Wrightson Andrew Reyland – 027 223 7092 Barry Fox – 0274 393 317

207 Lots for Sale:

• 75 Mixed Age Cows • 41 2½ Yr Heifers • 34 18 Month Heifers • 53 Heifer Calves • 4 Herd Sires

EARN FARM SOURCE DOLLARS ON ALL SALES AND PURCHASES WITH FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK.

Guest auctioneer Brian Leslie – 00418 365 934

ENQUIRIES AND INSPECTION WELCOME

Vendor:

T&Cs apply. See nzfarmsource.co.nz/rewards

LK0091815©

Ian & Karenne Borck ~ 1094 Taringamotu Rd, RD 4 Taumarunui 3994 Ph/Fax: 07 895 3452 ~ Email: springdaleangus@outlook.co.nz www.springdaleangus.co.nz Auctioneer: Bruce Orr 027 492 2122 Neville Clark 027 598 6537 or 06 862 8620 Booking: PGG Wrightson Regional Livestock Manager: Kevin Mortensen 027 473 5858 Agent: Marty Cashin 027 497 6414 Or your local agent

0800 548 339 NZFARMSOURCE.CO.NZ/LIVESTOCK Helping grow the country

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Livestock

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 2, 2018

STOCK FOR SALE 150 1YR AUT BULLS 350kgs

430-500kgs 18 MTH FRIESIAN BULLS

Your source for PGG Wrightson livestock and farming listings

STOCK REQUIRED

STORE LAMBS 25-36kgs 250-380kgs 15 MTH HEIFERS 18 MTH FRIESIAN BULLS 400-430kgs MA HERE & ANG COWS

Tuesday 10th April

Machinery Sale 2011 Deutz Fahr 420 4x4 Cab FEL bucket and forks (4238 hours) Sam Sidefeed 10 cube Feedout Wagon with scales (top condition) Bertolini 425 Pro Spreaders (1 year old) Calf feeders, reels and standards

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381 A Financing Solution For Your Farm E info@rdlfinance.co.nz

Herd Comprising: 249 Friesian Friesian X Incalf Dairy Cows 17 Friesian Friesian X Young MT Cows • Herd BW 104 PW 142 RA 97% • 3 Contract Mate Cows • Calving 13th July to LIC Friesian and Jersey 5 weeks tailed Beef Bulls

PROGESSIVE LIVESTOCK LTD AUCTION 16th April 2018 MONDAY 11:00am

LK0092067©

A/C LJ & SM PAALVAST LTD 141 PUKETARATA ROAD OTOROHANGA 142 x Cows Fsn & Fsn Cross BW 115/PW 143 - RA 100% Including 2 x Contract Mated Cows

• 1400 Milk Solids per hectare • 460 Milk Solids per cow (System 3) • TB Status C10, EBL Free and Lepto Vaccinated

Machinery 11am. Livestock 11.30am. 69 Bowler Road, RD 2, Te Aroha D/N 76273 A/C AJ Farms

On inspection we find the cows in good condition, great dairy type and very good udder confirmation. Farmers that are in search of quality cows are advised to attend this fixture.

Sheep

Other

Thursday 5th April 2018, 11am PGG Wrightson will offer approx. 6000 lambs Further Enquiries: Ian Rissetto – 06 838 8604 or 0274 449 347 Mason Birrell – 06 838 7091 or 0274 967 253 Hamish Forrester – 0276 012 351 Please note:Upcoming Gisborne/Wairoa April Weaner Fair dates Matawhero Wnr Str & Bull – Tue 10 April 2018

Catalogues available on Agonline. View video at Agonline.co.nz/sales/upcoming – On Farm

Matawhero Wnr Hfr & Older Cattle – Wed 11 April 2018

Further Enquiries: Allan Jones (PGW) – 0272 240 768 Matt Hughes (PGW) – 0274 052 824 Angela and Tony (Vendors) – 0275 879 862

Wairoa Wnr Fair – Thurs 12 April 2018

WELLSFORD GROWN MALE CATTLE FAIR

WELLSFORD SUPPLEMENTRY WEANER FAIRS

Monday 9th April 2018, 12pm Start

Monday 16th April 2018, 12pm Start

Further Enquiries: Grant Pallister – 0275 902 201 Bernie McGahan – 0275 902 210

Please contact

www.progressivelivestock.co.nz

Favoured with instructions from our vendors, PGG Wrightson take great pleasure in offering this top herd for auction.

Comprising of 480 R2yr Ang, Ang X, Here, Here X, Here Frsn, Ex, SH x Strs 120 R2yr Frsn & Beef X Bulls

Machinery & sundries to be conﬁrmed in next weeks advert.

Steve Old 027 471 2801 steveo@progressivelivestock.co.nz

Auctioneers Note:

Approx 600 Cattle

36 Years of Ownership

Beef

PRELIMINARY NOTICE WAIROA LAMB SALE

OUTSTANDING FRIESIAN FRIESIAN X IN MILK HERD

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Top 4% Herd of Cows

Key: Dairy

Approx 1000 Weaner Steers 200 Weaner Bulls

Tuesday 17th April 2018, 12pm Start Approx 250 R2yr Heifers 550 Weaner Heifers Further Enquiries: Darryl Williamson – 0294 329 285 Grant Pallister – 0275 902 201

Further Enquiries: Jamie Hayward – 06 868 6130 or 0274 347 586

FIND US ON FACEBOOK Keep up to date with what the PGG Wrightson Livestock team is up to out in the field. Visit our Facebook page at: fb.com/pgwlivestock and give us a like or follow.

Freephone 0800 10 22 76 | www.pggwrightson.co.nz

Helping grow the country

UPCOMING HERD AUCTIONS PREDOMINATELY RISING 2ND AND 3RD CALVERS AUCTION TOP 220 COWS FROM 360 COW HERD

BRILLIANT HIGH INDEXED HERD AUCTION BW 115, PW 155, R/A 99%

COMPLETE DISPERSAL AUCTION OF BELEDENE JERSEY HERD

DATE: Friday 6th April, 2018

DATE: Wednesday 11 April, 2018

DATE: Friday 20th April, 2018

TIME: 11:30am

TIME: 11.00am

TIME: 10:00am

ADDRESS: 237 Rotokohu Road,Paeroa

ADDRESS: 642 Piako Road, Hamilton

ADDRESS: 54 Lower Duthrie Road, Kaponga, Taranaki

VENDOR: GF & F VAN HELLEMOND LTD

VENDOR: Richview Ltd

VENDOR: Revell Family Partnership

COMPRISING OF: 220 predom XB quality cows - BW 84/34, PW 105/15, R/A 94%

COMPRISING OF: 300 in-milk Fsn and /Fsn Jsy X dairy cows, BW 115, PW 155, R/A 99%

COMPRISING OF: 290 outstanding Jersey genetics

DETAILS:

• 56 outstanding in-calf hfrs

• Herd mated to CRV Nom Fsn 4 weeks, to calve from 18 July

• Calving from 10 July to LIC AB 6 weeks

• 18 Jersey rising yearling bulls

• Herd beef bulls out 30 December

• T/off Jsy and Hfd bulls, all vetted confirmed dates

• 5 Jersey 2 year bulls

• Som cell average 100,000, teat sealed annually, sold in-milk

• TB C 10, Lepto annually, BVD neg, som cell 100-180 avge

DETAILS:

• TB 10, BVD clear, lepto annually, HB shed, vetted in-calf

• Production 430-450m/s/cow, rotary shed, herd tested

• Milked once a day from Christmas, rolling dry farm

• This herd has 30+ years of AB history

• All in-calf cows/hfrs, calving from 20th July and cows in-milk on sale day

• Cows look great, very good udders, only the best offered

• BWs up to 230, PWs up to 499

• 153 in-calf high performing cows

• TB C10, inoculated for blackleg,catarrash, lepto, bvd • All cattle offered in great condition • Rare opportunity to purchase great NZ Jersey genetics

THIS HERD HAS NOT BEEN OFFERED FOR SALE PRIOR TO AUCTION PAYMENT TERMS: 1 JUNE 2018. Delivery within few days from sale. Cows can be held on grazing until 31 May if farmers do not have access to properties. FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK AGENTS: Matt Hancock 027 601 3787 Stewart Cruickshank 027 270 5288

AUCTIONEERS NOTE: Our vendor going winter milk supply and will computer split 300 cows with equal age, calving spread and index. 150 sold by computer index already. Herd size 540 head. Great uddered and dairy type styled cow. Well farmed and managed, cows in full milk at auction and in very good condition. PAYMENT TERMS: 30 May 2018. Immediate delivery within a week. Provisions can be considered for farmers without farm access to remain on property till end May (require approval prior to auction). FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK AGENTS: Matt Hancock 027 601 3787 Kelly Higgins 027 600 2374

EARN FARM SOURCE REWARD DOLLARS ON ALL FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK PURCHASES & SALES* T&Cs apply. See nzfarmsource.co.nz/rewards

AUCTIONEERS NOTE Our vendors after a life time dedicated to the Jersey breed are dispersing their total herd and replacements. The Revell family have breed some of NZ’s premier Jersey cows and many successful breeding sires with their genetics spread worldwide. PAYMENT TERMS: 20th October 2018 Catalogues available from auctioneers or online. Sale in held conjunction with: FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK

BRIAN ROBINSON LIVESTOCK

Steve Quinnell 027 278 38 37

Brain Robinson 027 241 0051

Trevor Hancock 027 283 8389

Neil Mcdonald 027 218 8904

Your source for PGG Wrightson livestock and farming listings

Key: Dairy

Cattle

Sheep

Other

IN MILK HERD SALE AND FARM EQUIPMENT

DAIRY HERDS & IN-CALF HEIFERS FOR SALE

A/C Cliff & Raewyn Henry 25 Telfer Road, Otorohanga Monday 9th April

PGG Wrightson Dairy representatives are specialists at marketing and selling dairy herds. For photos and more information visit www.agonline.co.nz

11:00am start: Machinery 12:00pm: Herd Comprising:

NORTH ISLAND HERDS FOR SALE 470 Frsn/ Frsnx Cows BW 83

PW 112

135 XBred Cows

$1,750+GST

BW 96

•

PW 110

330 Frsn/Frsnx Cows $1,500+GST

BW 79

•

PW 102

180 Frsn, Frsn x Inmilk, Incalf Cows, BW77, PW86, RA92%

115 Jsy/Jsyx Cows

$1,795+GST

BW 69

•

PW 78

•

RA89% Calving 20th July, Farm Sold, New to Market. Jason Roberts – 0272 743 1429

Calving 10th July, XBred Content of Herd. Peter Schnuriger – 0272 431 836

RA 92% Calving 10th July, Will Computer Split. Dave Stuart – 0272 241 049

RA 83% Calving 15th July, great age breakdown. Rhys Mellow – 022 240 999

Agonline ref: 063959

Agonline ref: 064011

Agonline ref: 063393

Agonline ref: 063798

419 M/A Jsy/Jsy X Cows BW 101/49

PW 120/65

160 MA Frsn Cows

$1,740+GST •

BW 63/43

170 M/A Friesian, X/Bred Cows $1,695+GST

PW 60/53

BW 102

•

PW 112

$1,800+GST

•

(LIC computer split of herd)

$1,600+GST

255 M/A Friesian, X/Bred Cows BW 65

PW 66

$1,775+GST

•

RA 97% Long Established, Young, High Indexes Closed Jsy & Jsy X Herd. Jamie Cunninghame – 0275 833 533

RA91% Excellent uddered LIC Frsn herd. Low input system. Kim Harrison – 0275 010 013

RA99% Very tidy Herd being milked on high altitude farm. 13 Week Calving. Jeff See – 0275 680 813

RA88% DNA’d Friesian Long Established LIC Herd, being on the property over 35 years. Peter Forrest – 0275 986 153

Agonline ref: 062931

Agonline ref: 063773

Agonline ref: 064051

Agonline ref: 063145

NORTH ISLAND IN-CALF HEIFERS FOR SALE 115 Xbred Incalf Heifers BW 120

PW 121

32 Frsn/Frsn Incalf Heifers

$1,530+GST

BW 120

•

RA100% Calving 19th July, Jsy Bull out 10th Dec, CRL. Dean Evans – 0278 431 092

PW 125

58 Friesian InCalf Heifers

$1,500+GST

BW 74

•

RA100% Calving 18th July, Jsy Bull, CRL. Regan Craig – 0275 028 585 Agonline ref: 064082

Agonline ref: 063181

PW 74

69 Friesian InCalf Heifers

$1,550+GST

BW 110

•

PW 116

$1,400+GST

•

RA95% Complete Capital Stock Line, well grown and in fantastic condition Andrew Leggett – 0220 383 216

RA95% Full Replacement Line. Herd has been sold and the Heifers need to go. Craig Murray – 0273 220 063

Agonline ref: 064117

Agonline ref: 063900

SOUTH ISLAND HERDS & HEIFERS FOR SALE 73 Friesian InCalf Heifers BW 40

PW 49

353 M/A X/Bred, Jsy Cows

$1,800+GST

BW 96/56

•

RA73% Well Grown Friesian InCalf Heifers, AB selected, Breeding Traits are Fertility, Protein, Good Capacity and Structure John Rawcliffe – 0272 452 258

PW 122/70

94 Frsn to X/Bred InCalf Hfrs

$2,050+GST

BW 91

•

PW 107

$1,650+GST

86 MA Xbred Cows $1,400+GST

•

RA95% Top 5% BW & PW in Southland, No mating intervention, highly rated by LIC. Roddy Bridson – 0274 582 775

RA100% Good Capacity Friesian to X/ Bred Heifers, Very Even Line. Roddy Bridson – 0274 582 775

Agonline ref: 063860

Agonline ref: 063983

These budget Cows are worth looking at Andy Cunningham – 0275 668 243 Agonline ref: 064080

Agonline ref: 063818

Herd Details • Herd due 20th July, 4 weeks AB Frsn LIC • Tailed off Hereford Bull, Bulls out 20th December • Production 350 M/S per cow, SCC 97,000 Ave • TB C10, EBL Free, BVD bulk milk test neg., H/Bone shed Machinery: • 2011 John Deere 6330 (2500 hours) • 2009 SAM 10t Silage Wagon (Scales, chain and slat conveyor) • 2003 CUB 4000 Spreader (4t, lights, cover) • 2014 LELY Splendimo 280 Classic Mower • 2008 Silvan Sprayer (800 Lt, 8M Boom, hose reel and guns) • 2015 Antila Compressor (40 Litre, 115 psi, 8 bar) • 2017 Moova Calf Trailer (Moves 20 calves at any one time) • Plus all the other farm equipment. There is a lot of good well looked after equipment for everybody. Auctioneers Note: • Good capacious cows doing solid production every year. Low cell count. Owned herd for 27 years. Payment – 14 days from sale, unless prior arrangement with agent before sale. Delivery – Immediate delivery unless prior arrangement with agent before Auction.

NATIONAL TEAM. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE. COMPLETE DISPERSAL SALE TUE 17TH APRIL 2018 10:30am Machinery 11:30am Cattle Comprising: 178 Mixed Age Cows 43 R2 InCalf Heifers Plus Replacements Top Production 457kg/ms/cow Last 4 Seasons average 437kg/ms/cow BW92, PW85 & SCC 68,633

he G “T

irls” Jerse ys

654 Kina Road, Opunake, Taranaki 06 763 8280

To be Auctioned on Farm by PGG Wrightson Full herd profile available on Agonline.

BLACKDOG ANGUS

Nokomai Station Nokomai Valley Athol, Northern Southland

Complete herd for private sale

Wednesday 18th April 1.00pm

Offering comprising approx: 7000 Half Bred Wether Lambs 3200 Half Bred Ewe Lambs 1500 Texel/Half Bred MS Lambs Auctioneers note: Nokomai lambs have an excellent reputation for their wool and also their shifting ability to grow into very good carcass weight lambs. Ewe lambs present and opportunity for either breeding or fattening. Half Bred micron 21-23 micron. Animal health.

Big Capacity & Stature Cows

Great Udders & High Production

Good Shed Temperament & Plenty of Fresh Blood Lines

Contact Kim Harrison, 027 501 0013 or Craig Murray, 027 322 0063

B12 and 5 in 1 at tailing and weaning. Triple drenched and capsules 1st February (90 day witholding). All lambs crutched. Further Enquiries: Barry McAlister – 027 441 6432 PGG Wrightson James Hore, 021 301 797 Nokomai Station

Freephone 0800 10 22 76 | www.pggwrightson.co.nz

Further Enquiries: Wium Mostert – 027 473 5856

NOKOMAI STATION

(Signposted Lumsden – Queenstown Highway)

John and Diane Baldie

Catalogues available on our website Agonline or Contact:

Comprising of approx 19 MA Cows 19 R2 & 3yr Heifers 18 Weaner Heifer Calves 18 Weaner Bull Calves 3 R2 Angus Bulls 2 Stud sires (Storth Oaks sired) A rare opportunity has arisen to purchase a complete herd of performance Angus cows, heifers and calves. The MA Cows have been VIC to Storth Oaks K152 Bull in 7/10 to 20/1 R2 Heifers VIC to Esslemont Lotto (AI) 20/10 or Storth Oaks L94 22/10 to 20/1 Weaned Calves predominantly by Storth Oaks H119 and K152 The policy has been to breed medium to lower birthweight cattle coupled with very good calving ease but with ample growth and desirable carcass traits. The majority of the cattle will be well above the average for SRI & AP indexes. All cattle are registered with NZ Angus Further Enquiries: Cam Heggie (PGW) – 0275 018 182 Nick Edgerton – 021 999 020

Helping grow the country

MARKET SNAPSHOT

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Grain & Feed

MILK PRICE FORECAST ($/KGMS) 2017-18

6.55

6.27

AS OF 21/03/2018

7.0

Prior week

Last year

5.5 Sep 17

Nov 17 AgriHQ Spot Fonterra forecast

Jan 18 Mar 18 AgriHQ Seasonal

What are the AgriHQ Milk Prices? The AgriHQ Seasonal milk price is calculated using GDT results and NZX Dairy Futures to give a full season price. The AgriHQ Spot milk price is an indicative price based solely on the prices from the most recent GDT event. To try this using your own figures go to www.agrihq.co.nz/toolbox

WMP GDT PRICES AND NZX FUTURES

7.10

5.70

361

360

333

NI mutton (20kg)

4.85

3.50

376

374

302

SI lamb (17kg)

7.05

5.40

Feed Barley

377

307

SI mutton (20kg)

4.85

3.45

238

Export markets (NZ$/kg) 9.07

9.05

8.44

274

279

UK CKT lamb leg

Maize Grain

430

375

PKE

273

276

241

* Domestic grain prices are grower bids delivered to the nearest store or mill. PKE and fertiliser prices are ex-store. Australian prices are landed in Auckland.

7.0

INTERNATIONAL Last week

Prior week

Last year

Wheat - Nearest

232

242

221

Corn - Nearest

205

209

201

384

332

2500 2000 May 17 Aug 17 Nov 17 C2 Fonterra WMP

4.5

South Island 1 7kg lamb

7.5 7.0

ASW Wheat

369

370

316

Feed Wheat

322

308

Feed Barley

357

352

276

PKE (US$/t)

Feb 18 May 18 NZX WMP Futures

6.0 5.0

Ex-Malaysia

119

120

NZ venison 60kg stag

6.5

600

$/kg

3000

6.5 5.5

CBOT futures (NZ$/t)

APW Wheat

3500

North Island 17kg lamb

7.5

Australia (NZ$/t)

4000

6.0

500

5.5

400

5.0

300

4.5 Oct Oct

Dec

Feb

5‐yr ave NZX DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) Nearby contract

Prior week

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

3170

3190

3215

SMP

1920

AMF

6200

Butter

5275

Last week

Prior week

Last year

Prior week

Last year

1890

Urea

523

507

3.04

3.84

6175

6435

Super

307

317

Nth Isl 37m

3.10

4.15

5275

5310

DAP

739

Sth Isl 35m

4.60

5.05

3.95

775

Jul

Aug

Sep

THE holiday shortened week was bumpy for markets as we round out the first quarter. The NZ index has held up well compared to global peers as concerns over potential trade wars continue to keep a lid on markets. Although it wasn’t a data heavy week, corporate newsflow kept investors interested while the ANZ business outlook showed some positive signs. Market darling a2 Milk fell from grace following the announcement global food giant Nestle has released a competing A2 infant formula in China. This sent a2’s share price down sharply as investors worry about potential impact on the company’s growth outlook, particularly because Nestle already has strong distribution channels in China. However, the move isn’t all bad news for ATM. It is expected Nestle’s foray into the niche market will raise the profile of the A2 protein, increasing the size of the market. Despite the recent weakness, a2 Milk remains the top performer on the NZX50 for the year to date, up about 50%. New Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr started his tenure by signing a new Policy Target Agreement (PTA) with Finance Minister Grant Robertson. It included an employment component. Market commentary provided by Craigs Investment Partners

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

8388

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

8090

$/kg

c/k kg (net)

US$/t

250

4 weeks ago

NZ venison 60kg stag

4.5

600

350

150 Mar 14

Coarse xbred wool indicator

5.5

CANTERBURY FEED PRICES

NZ$/t Jun

21420

This yr

3.03

Sharemarket Briefing

16003

Aug

Last week

3100

S&P/FW AG EQUITY

Last yr

Aug

Coarse xbred ind.

450

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR

Jun

(NZ$/kg)

3200

Latest price

Jun

NZ average (NZ$/t)

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

May

Apr

WOOL

* price as at close of business on Thursday

Apr

FERTILISER

Last price*

3000

Last year

7.10

Feed Wheat

Waikato (NZ$/t)

6.0

Last week Prior week

NI lamb (17kg)

Milling Wheat

PKE

6.5

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

c/kkg (net)

$/kgMS

Last week Canterbury (NZ$/t)

MILK PRICE COMPARISON

US$/t

SHEEP MEAT

DOMESTIC

AGRIHQ 2017-18

FONTERRA 2017-18

Sheep

$/kg

Dairy

Mar 15 Feed barley

Mar 16

Mar 17 PKE spot

3.5

400 300

2.5

Oct Jul

Dec Sep 5‐yr ave

Feb Nov

Apr Jan Last yr

Jun Mar

Aug May

Jul

This yr

Dollar Watch

Top 10 by Market Cap Company

YTD High

YTD Low

The a2 Milk Company Limited

12.94

14.62

7.66

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd

13.30

14.39

12.41

Auckland International Airport Limited Meridian Energy Limited Spark New Zealand Limited Ryman Healthcare Limited Mercury NZ Limited (NS) Fletcher Building Limited Contact Energy Limited Air New Zealand Limited (NS)

6.22 2.88 3.38 10.48 3.24 6.16 5.24 3.24

6.73 3.00 3.68 11.30 3.45 7.96 5.64 3.40

6.11 2.75 3.32 10.27 3.14 6.04 5.15 2.86

Listed Agri Shares

500

5pm, close of market, Thursday

Company

YTD High

YTD Low

The a2 Milk Company Limited

12.940

14.620

7.660

Comvita Limited

6.980

9.210

6.980

Delegat Group Limited

8.500

7.510

Foley Family Wines Limited

1.490

1.560

1.450

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

5.880

6.660

5.800

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

3.000

2.250

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

2.150

2.430

1.840

PGG Wrightson Limited

0.600

0.640

0.560

Sanford Limited (NS)

7.430

8.500

7.400

Scales Corporation Limited

4.510

4.920

4.400

Seeka Limited

6.500

7.000

5.800

Synlait Milk Limited (NS)

8.680

9.750

6.260

Tegel Group Holdings Limited

0.810

1.240

0.810

S&P/FW Primary Sector

16003

16555

14417

S&P/FW Agriculture Equity

21420

22252

18488

S&P/NZX 50 Index

8388

8608

8059

S&P/NZX 10 Index

8090

8368

7640

THE kiwi dollar has This Prior Last NZD vs been at eight-month week week year highs against its Aussie USD 0.7210 0.7225 0.7008 counterpart but should EUR 0.5856 0.5869 0.6557 move lower over the next AUD 0.9406 0.9368 0.9151 three months or so. Recent global risk GBP 0.5120 0.5120 0.5615 aversion and fears about Correct as of 9am last Friday trade protectionism have hurt the Aussie dollar more than the kiwi, Westpac Bank currency strategist Imre Speizer said. Australian metal prices also performed poorly in March. However, commodity prices and interest rates comparisons put fair value at A$0.92 rather than the current 0.94 level and he expects the lower level to come into play eventually. The New Zealand dollar is still in its US$0.718 to 0.744 range after briefly slipping below the lower figure two weeks ago and though the United States dollar gained slightly on the all-currency index late last week there is still potential to go towards 0.744 in the next month or so, Speizer said. Rising US interest rates should then pull the big dollar higher and he’s expecting a 0.69 level for the kiwi by mid year. A favourable Brexit agreement has helped United Kingdom sterling and Westpac believes the kiwi is likely to fall below £0.51 over the next several weeks, having just fallen below 0.52 in the last two weeks. A lack of inflation in the Eurozone, despite solid economic growth, will help keep the kiwi at current levels around €0.5860 for a time but a fall towards 0.57 by mid-year is expected. Alan Williams

Markets

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018

CANTERBURY PKE

NI SLAUGHTER LAMB

SI SLAUGHTER STAG

($/T)

($/KG)

FRIESIAN BULLS, 130-150KG, AT FRANKTON WEANER FAIR

($/KG)

($KG LW)

7.10

274

11.00

Cattle & Deer BEEF Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.40

5.50

5.65

NI Bull (300kg)

5.30

5.50

5.65

NI Cow (200kg)

4.10

4.30

4.50

SI Steer (300kg)

5.40

5.30

SI Bull (300kg)

5.20

5.00

SI Cow (200kg)

4.20

4.25

4.15

US imported 95CL bull

6.78

6.73

7.17

US domestic 90CL cow

6.69

6.55

6.81

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

North Island steer (300kg)

$/kg

6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0

South Island steer (300kg)

6.0 5.5

NZ venison 60kg stag

c/k kg (net)

$/kg

600

5.0

500

4.5 400

300 4.0

Oct Oct

Dec Dec

Feb Feb

5‐yr ave

Apr Apr

Jun Jun

Last yr

AugAug This yr

VENISON Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week Prior week

Last year

NI Stag (60kg)

10.45

8.50

NI Hind (50kg)

10.35

8.40

SI Stag (60kg)

11.00

8.50

SI Hind (50kg)

10.90

8.40

New Zealand venison (60kg Stag)

$/kg

11 10

NZ venison 60kg stag

500 8

400 7

300

6 Oct

Oct

Dec Feb Dec Feb 5‐yr ave

Apr Apr Last yr

Jun Jun

Aug Aug This yr

$1.63-$1.76/kg $2.59-$2.72/kg Friesian cows, 440480kg, at Temuka

R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 315-400kg, at Rangiuru

Store lamb markets flourish with grass

IGH store lamb prices continued as new grasses and winter crops flourish, pushing more buyers into the market. While big volumes have been offered at Feilding some buyers are still leaving emptyhanded as demand outweighs supply. NORTHLAND NORTHLAND Over 60 pens of cattle were on offer at WELLSFORD last Monday, but with only 376 yarded most pens housed less than seven head. A small bench of local buyers and support from North Waikato were present, though bids came cautiously as quality was very mixed. R3 Hereford-cross steers, 442502kg, were steady at $2.78-$2.83/kg. In the R2 pens Hereford-cross steers, 397-418kg, maintained levels of $2.77-$2.96/kg, whilst 277-315kg eased to $2.59-$2.89/ kg. Hereford-Jersey, 325-366kg, managed solid returns at $2.69-$2.79/ kg. A consignment of 24 CharolaisHereford heifers, 454-515kg, made steady returns at $2.73-$2.78/kg, as did Hereford-Jersey, 336-350kg, $2.44$2.46/kg. The weaner market was steady for the majority and Angus-Friesian steers, 163kg, sold well at $730, $4.48/ kg, as did lighter Hereford-Friesian lines, 138-152kg, $655-$675. Heavier lines, 190-191kg, fetched $750-$765, $3.93-$4.03/kg. Angus-Friesian heifers, 144kg, were steady at $525, likewise Hereford-Friesian, 128-146kg, at $505-$575, whilst 96kg managed $498, $5.19/kg. AUCKLAND AUCKLAND The feature of the PUKEKOHE sale on Saturday 24th March was the annual weaner fair, which included top quality pens of Angus and Anguscross cattle.

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3.84

high lights

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WATCHFUL: Bruce Orr, Forbes Cameron and Angus Cameron at the Ngaputahi Angus bull walk last week.

Results were solid and the best of the steer’s weighed in at 280-294kg and sold for $975-$1100, with second cuts, 234-235kg, returning $785$900. Smaller crossbred weaners, 119-145kg, sold for $460-$715. In the heifer pens the best of the bunch were 242-257kg and made $780-$890, while 203-207kg traded at $610-$730. Small crossbred, 120-126kg, earned $400$495. A short kill week and easing schedules has taken the shine off the prime and boner markets, and steers, 555-698kg, returned $2.72-$2.75/kg, while heifers, 530-575kg, were not far

behind at $2.62-$2.72/kg. Boner cows, 465-720kg, sold for $1.72-$2.00/kg, with lighter types, 328-434kg, earning $1.52-$1.68/kg. A small number of older store cattle were penned and steers, 400-474kg, made $2.58-$2.74/kg, whilst heifers, 384-434kg, fetched $2.63-$2.74/kg. WAIKATO A moderate yarding greeted a small local buying bench last Tuesday at FRANKTON, and with buyers cautious in their bidding this correlated to

Continued page 46

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Markets

46 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018 an ease in the market for the majority. However Hereford-Friesian steers, 143kg, managed a solid $675, $4.72/kg. Heifers softened with Angus, 148-164kg, back to $445-$500 and Hereford-Friesian lines eased by $50-$100 for a good portion with 145-150kg down to $3.73/kg. Those 110-135kg all sold below $500 at $405-$488 compared to last sale at $450-$570. HerefordJersey, 134-146kg, softened also to $385-$405, and more lines offered had similar returns. Bucking this trend were Angus bulls, 152kg, which managed a solid $650, $4.28/kg. HerefordFriesian, 110-140kg, sold for $470-$570 but from there prices jumped to $630-$697 for those 142-151kg. It took more than 160kg for Friesian bulls to sell over $600 and even then some dropped below as buyers proved selective. Lighter 110-122kg made $440-$460, and 130-150kg eased to $460-$540. A medium size yarding of 693 cattle were on offer last Wednesday with the majority quality types. A small local buying bench were in place and absorbed all, though bids were not as free-flowing as a few weeks ago. Despite this the market held for most with some lines even managing to lift from the last sale. Quality Angus steers were on offer in the R2 section and 386475kg strengthened to $2.80$2.95/kg. Hereford-Friesian, 459-466kg, maintained levels of $2.81-$2.88/kg whilst 320-348kg eased to $2.68-$2.73/kg. Friesian steers, 404-434kg, were steady at $2.48-$2.49/kg. Both Angus-Friesian heifers, 348-370kg, and Hereford-Friesian, 317-399kg, lifted on last sale returning $2.50-$2.86/kg and $2.63-$2.71/kg respectively, while beef-cross, 382-403kg, traded at $2.63-$2.70/kg. Returns were solid in the weaner pens with Hereford steers, 204-262kg, earning $640$870. Angus-Friesian heifers, 144-182kg, managed $520-$565, whilst Friesian bulls, 182-189kg, returned $585-$595. The prime section was steady for most and Hereford-Friesian steers, 540-675kg, realized $2.70$2.80/kg. In the heifer pens Angus-Friesian, 421kg, earned $2.68/kg, with Hereford-Friesian, 397-429kg, trading just above this at $2.72-$2.74/kg. Friesian cows were a feature with 509-539kg lifting 10c/kg to $1.83-$1.97/kg, and 426-442kg steady at $1.69-$1.79/kg. COUNTIES COUNTIES Last Wednesday’s prime cattle sale at TUAKAU drew a very small yarding of steers and heifers, but boners were out in bigger numbers, Peter Pembroke of Carrfields Livestock reported. Around 50 prime steers and heifers were offered, with most of the steers selling at $2.60-$2.70/ kg and heifers ranging from $2.40 to $2.60/kg. Between 250 and 300 cows were yarded in the boner section and the heavier Friesian made $1.60-$1.85/kg. Medium boners earned $1.40-$1.55/kg and lighter Jersey-types $1.30$1.40/kg. A small entry of beef cows made $2.10-$2.30/kg and a

handful of heavy bulls, 650-700kg, $2.70/kg. Jersey bulls fetched $2.55/kg. Numbers were light at last Monday’s sheep sale but the market was similar to the previous week. Most good-medium prime lambs traded at $122-$154, with lighter primes earning $80-$110. Prime ewes continued to sell strongly. The heavier types made up to $130 and lighter sorts sold down to $80. BAY OF PLENTY BAY OF PLENTY Easter is knocking on the door and the two short weeks ahead at RANGIURU took some of the pressure off buyers, with a softer tone to much of the sale last Tuesday. Some areas did strengthen, including the boner cow market, with heavier Friesian notably stronger than the lighter types. Those 516-560kg sold for $1.75$1.88/kg, with 377-477kg trading at a 13-21c/kg discount. One line of prime steers, 542kg, traded at $2.79/kg, while Hereford and Hereford-Friesian heifers, 395-585kg, ranged from $2.64$2.72/kg. A line of five Jersey bulls, 514kg, sold well at $2.75/kg. A smaller yarding of store cattle was harder work. R2 steers was the biggest section and offered up the biggest range, which was reflected in an array of prices posted. Charolais-Hereford, 430kg, was the highlight, selling for $2.93/ kg while lighter line of HerefordFriesian, 328kg, managed $2.97/ kg. These were the only two lines to come close to $3.00/kg, with the vast majority making $2.75$2.83/kg. A large entry of lighter Hereford-Friesian heifers was penned, with all lines weighing in at 312-402kg and trading on a steady to firm market at $2.59$2.72/kg. Angus-cross, 307-330kg, traded at $2.54-$2.56/kg. Weaner numbers were low and two bigger lines of HerefordFriesian heifers, 127-139kg, made $472-$510, while Friesian bulls, 119-121kg, returned $400-$465. TARANAKI TARANAKI The lead-up sale to Easter was another busy one at TARANAKI last Wednesday, with numbers consistent with recent weeks. Boner prices reflected the increase in volumes available, both at the yards and processors, and most eased 5-7c/kg. Friesian, 405-540kg, made $1.70-$1.80/ kg, though a line of 15 355kg managed $1.90/kg. In-calf Friesian, 383-467kg, sold at a slightly lesser rate of $1.66-$1.70/ kg to the empty cows. R2 steers took up the bulk of auctioneers time and the downwards trend to winter continued. Hereford-cross stood out, with 338-468kg selling for $2.72-$2.78/kg. Most of the attention was on a sizable yarding of Hereford-Friesian, though the mix in types meant a big variance in prices. Over a 360-478kg range there were lines that were chased to $2.94-$3.07/kg, with second cuts at $2.81-$2.83/kg, but then a significant number dropping to $2.67-$2.76/kg. Vetted empty dairy heifers did little to entice bids and 415-440kg eased to $2.33/kg. The air was slightly more positive over the

beef-dairy pens and prices were steady, with 340-395kg averaging $2.59/kg. Weaner numbers were low but Hereford-Friesian steers, 117127kg, made respectable returns at $525-$540. HAWKE’S BAY HAWKE’S BAY Store lamb buyers once again had to stretch the budgets at STORTFORD LODGE last Wednesday as prices continued to improve. Monday’s sale was a quiet affair with low numbers of both cattle and sheep. Very few prime cattle were penned last Monday with the only feature being a nice line of Angus cows, 534kg, which made $1.86/ kg. A good sized buying bench were in place for the sheep section though the top end lambs did not reach the highs of the previous sale, but they also did not have the weight. Heavy mixed sex made steady returns at $148-$151, while medium-good types firmed to $136-$140.50. Medium lambs were steady at $121.50-$135, with the tail end easing to $85-$100. In the ewe pens three very heavy girls topped the sale at $191, while other heavy types managed $140-$150. The remainder of ewes were steady with only the light end easing. Very good types made $129-$131, medium to medium-good $118$122, light-medium $97.50-$110, and the very light end eased to $69. Local buyers were out in force last Wednesday, keen to secure lines of the nearly 4900 head store lambs. They had to work to achieve that with prices strong across the whole sale and very little differentiating male and ewe lambs as the ewe market took a lift of around $6 per head. With buyers very consistent in their bids the sale was easily split into four price brackets covering both the male and ewe lines. Heavy types traded at $118$131, good $104-$119, medium $108-$112 and lighter $85-$110. Just three lines of the entire yarding fell below $100, though they were light types. The store cattle market was best described as sticky, though that was a reflection of a very mixed yarding of cattle. Angus steers were the best sellers in the R2 pens though were off the pace of recent levels as 397-425kg made $2.97-$2.99/ kg. Two lines of 448kg HerefordFriesian were very different types of cattle which was reflected in a significant price difference of $2.90/kg for the better line, compared to $2.59/kg. A specially advertised consignment of exotic heifers found local homes at slightly softer rates than of late, though traded to expectations. Charolaiscross, 368-450kg, sold over a tight range of $2.68-$2.70/kg, and Simmental, 378kg, returned $2.72/kg. Angus-Friesian, 401kg, topped the section at $2.77/kg, with all the better lines making $2.67-$2.77/kg. There was still solid demand for a consignment of good condition, well-presented beef-exotic cross calves. Local buyers paid a fair price for them, with the steers making $820-$945 for 204-238kg,

while the heifers weighed very similar and made $710-$750. MANAWATU MANAWATU The prime sheep pens were a little emptier than a week ago at FEILDING solely down to ewe numbers falling by more than two-thirds. The shorter numbers weren’t able to boost prices though, and instead these were either stable or a little weaker. The majority were medium-good lines, which generally made $107-$118, with the good cuts at $130-$145. Prime lamb numbers lifted a little but the market was steady. Very heavy lambs were $151-$176, dropping to $130-$149 for the heavy pens. Quality was down on the week before, which pushed plenty of lambs in the medium bracket. These were $115-$129, and the remainder was still generally able to make at least $100. Even more cows came to the front, however pickings were slim beyond these cattle. Friesian cows sold in two main cuts; the 370-440kg lines were $1.59-$1.65/ kg while 470-540kg made $1.78$1.84/kg. A few lighter lines didn’t make more than $1.54/kg. The only proper gauge of the steer market was some 590-610kg Hereford-Friesian’s at $2.77$2.84/kg. Jersey’s, 395-465kg, accounted for nearly all of the bulls at $2.36-$2.52/kg. One line of 770kg Hereford’s did well at $3.02/kg. Feeder calves nearly tripled in numbers but continued to sell on a very solid market. Good and medium bull calves were mainly $300-$380 and $250-$300 respectively, though the lowerend of these ranges were reserved for the straight-Friesians. All bases were covered at RONGOTEA last Wednesday, albeit in small numbers. Prices are following similar patterns to other yards as they start to trend down towards winter. Boner prices were variable dependent on the yield potential and Friesian, 407-650kg, sold over a big range of $1.38-$1.98/ kg, while crossbred, 380-490kg, returned $1.45-$1.75/kg. Jersey boners, 442-475kg, sold for $1.49$1.58/kg. R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 387-440kg, traded at $2.72-$2.75/ kg, with bulls, 445kg, returning $2.56/kg. Jersey bulls, 245-247kg, made $1.67-$2.17/kg. HerefordFriesian heifers were variable, ranging from $2.11/kg to $2.59/ kg, while Friesian, 517kg, sold well at $2.55/kg. Angus-cross heifers, 307kg, returned $2.44/kg, while a line of R1 steers of similar breeding and 260kg fetched $2.48/kg. In the weaner pens Angus steers proved popular, selling for $880 for 232kg. Hereford-Friesian, 102-202kg, made $420-$710. Breeds were similar through the heifer pens and Angus, 153-213kg, made a premium at $605-$830 over Angus-cross, 155-260kg, $540-$705. Hereford-Friesian, 115-203kg, sold to $480-$675. Bulls made up a good chunk of the section with top dollar going to a line of 245kg Friesian at $790, while Hereford-Friesian, 207kg, made $610. Angus-cross and beefcross had plenty of weight but sold for low $/kg when they went

under the hammer for $570-$650. Feeder calf numbers continue to grow and Friesian bulls sold for $180-$330, while big HerefordFriesian earned $290-$315, and smaller types, $200-$250. The top Hereford-Friesian heifers made $175-$210, with the balance at $130-$150. Ewes made $88-$100, and mixed sex lambs $60-$95. A long weekend was not going to deter buyers from their mission to secure lambs at FEILDING, and once again a big crowd gathered. The change of sale day to Thursday did drop the number of lambs available to just under 8500, with the yarding just over a third of last week’s big offering. The previous week’s lift in prices was easily continued in the cryptorchid pens with prices either steady or firm. The bulk of these lambs were medium to good types and the tone of the market meant they made $108-$124. Heavier end lambs sold to $122$130 and lighter types, $92-$113. Ram lambs returned $100-$127. Good ewe lambs sold just below the male equivalents at $109$115, with a top line making $125. Lighter types returned $85-$107. It is late enough now in the season for mixed sex lines and these were by far the cheapest option on the day, with medium through to good lines all trading at $95-$111. It was an early lunch for those in the rostrum as just 243 head meant the sale only took up half an hour of people’s time. This was the smallest yarding since midJuly last year and buyer numbers were also light. As is common top quality Angus steers commenced the sale, though was limited to one line of R3, 557kg, which sold above recent comparable lines at $3.11/ kg. Dairy blood was rife through the R2 steer pens with lines either beef-Friesian or straight Friesian. The beef-Friesian lines were of lesser quality and sold for $2.14$2.39/kg. Friesian topped the section with a specially advertised consignment weighing in at 303345kg and making $2.50-$2.57/kg. Friesian followed in the bull section as well, though were lighter than anticipated and sold on a softer market at $2.72-$2.75/ kg for 371-408kg. Just 76 weaner’s were penned and highlights included 18 Hereford-Friesian steers, 184kg, $715, and heifers of same breeding, 158-179kg, $585-$652. One line of Friesian bulls, 138kg, fetched $570. WAIRARAPA WAIRARAPA One of the busiest yards last week was MASTERTON as the second round of weaner fairs were held, with steers and bulls sold last Tuesday, and heifers following on Wednesday. Like the first fairs the sale was well supported by both annual vendors and regular buyers, though a point of difference was the lighter weighted offering as more later born station lines featured. The first day had 2700 weaners on the books, which broke down to 2400 steers and 300 bulls. Through the steer pens 90% were Angus or Angus & Angus-

Markets

Hereford, with the balance exotic-cross lines. Their shifting ability preceded these calves and buyers gathered from the East Coast, King Country, Manawatu and local. Fewer calves weighed up in the top range of 280-300kg, but these sold at similar $/kg of $4.10$4.20/kg as the last fair. On a per head basis most traded at $1170$1200, while 220-250kg returned $990-$1075, $4.30-$4.50/kg. Lighter end calves weighed in at 170-200kg and sold for $820-$900. One of the biggest consignments was 175 well-bred Angus & Angus-Hereford which sold to a repeat buyer with the top lines making $1180-$1205. Of the 300 bulls offered 200 were part of a consignment of beef-cross that sold for $750-$860. Heifers had their time in the spotlight last Wednesday, with 1000 of the same breeding as the steers offered. The buying bench had a much more local feel, which is standard practice. The market was very solid and at similar levels to the last fair, though weights were not as heavy. Buyers tended to work to budgets of $700-$800, which meant that there was a good increase in $/kg for the lighter end calves. Those 240-250kg sold for $930-$950, while 190-220kg fetched $780$860, $3.90-$4.10/kg, and finally 160-190kg, $680-$780, $4.10$4.30/kg. CANTERBURY CANTERBURY Buyers were more astute with their bids for store lambs at CANTERBURY PARK last Tuesday, and the nearly 3000 head yarding allowed for that. Though prices eased the market was still strong. More single sex lines came to the fore as farmers take the time to draft up, but there was very little, if any, preference for single sex or mixed sex, with quality the price driver. Medium to good male lambs made $100-$111, with similar weighted mixed sex earning $96$110. Medium ewe lambs sold for $99-$100. The longer term lambs had a good sale and males traded at $88-$98 and mixed sex $86-$99. Lighter end mixed sex sold for

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018 $76-$88, and ewe lambs, $74-$95. Heavy prime lambs eased slightly though by no big degree, and it took and mediocre lambs to trade under $120. Most sold for $120-$165. Prime ewe throughput was up but that didn’t slow the bids, and heavier ewes took a lift to $160-$230, while the medium to good types made $120-$158, and lighter, $80-$119. Demand was solid across the prime and boner cattle offered, with extra buying power on local trade heifers a highlight. The steer section was the biggest at 50 head and the high yielding potential of the exotic cattle meant these sold for a premium by easily exceeding $3.00/kg, to a top of $3.15/kg. Traditional steers with weight made $2.89-$3.00/kg, while forward store types realised $2.97-$3.06/kg. Hereford-Friesian, 408-695kg, traded at $2.85-$2.91/ kg. Bulls traded at similar values to the steers. Charolais heifers from the same camp as the steers were store types and at 393kg sold for $3.12/ kg. Local trade heifers took a lift, reducing the gap between them and prime lines and resulting in most Hereford-Friesian heifers trading at $2.80-$2.90/kg. Cow numbers were very low at 11 head but prices are at near record levels, with beef cows selling up to $2.25-$2.37/kg, and even the boners making $1.95$2.16/kg. COALGATE had a quiet lead in to the long weekend last Wednesday with just over 2000 sheep penned and 250 cattle. While good meat breed store lambs held their value, the longer term fine wool options proved to be harder to shift, and a decent portion traded at $52-$88. At the other end of the scale the good lambs sold for $114-$115, with medium types earning $91-$109. The size of the prime sheep section paled in comparison to even a small store lamb section, as volume fell away in both the ewe and lamb pens. These were some of the lowest levels seen this year and prices simply ticked over another week in similar fashion.

The lambs traded at $111-$149 for the majority, with heavy types up to $152-$166. A range of ewes were offered in the 280 head yarding, and heavy types made $160-$173, with most of the balance earning $114-$136. A lighter end sold for $80-$89. A total of 174 store cattle were penned, and of that 98 were weaner bulls. A consignment of Friesian sold in two good sized lines and at 188-215kg made $640-$720. Also hailing from one property was the balance of the weaner pens - a consignment of Angus bulls and heifers. Prices were solid for bulls, with the main line of 25 making $860 for 253kg, while 220kg heifers were not far behind at $840. Traditional vetted-in-calf R3 heifers sold exceptionally well as the Angus, 383-447kg, achieved $3.40-$3.47/kg, though Hereford, 398kg, pushed to $3.57/kg. If not for a decent number of beef and dairy heifers coming forward there would hardly have been a prime section to the sale. Beef heifers showed promise and good demand firmed the market to $2.72/kg for 420-575kg, while dairy heifers were variable, with lesser lines at $1.73-$1.76/kg, though other types making $2.14$2.28/kg. Heavy cows, 628-727kg, returned $1.80-$1.90/kg. SOUTH CANTERBURY SOUTH CANTERBURY Another wave of cull dairy cattle hit the yards at TEMUKA with dairy cows alone accounting for more than half of the entire offering. There weren’t all that many beef cattle about though. At least 10c/kg came out of the steer market, to the point where nothing made any more than $2.90/kg. Nearly all 380kg plus beef and beef-dairy steers were $2.75-$2.87/kg. The fall wasn’t quite as sharp through the beef heifers, putting most 380kg plus heifers at $2.74-$2.81/kg. The 440580kg Friesian heifers actually managed to hold their ground fairly well at $2.53-$2.74/kg. Bulls were largely a combination of ex-service bulls once again. If anything the 545-

825kg Friesian bulls firmed a touch at $2.72-$2.84/kg. Other 465kg and heavier beef-type bulls were largely $2.65-$2.74/kg. The heaviest end of the dairy cows were roughly steady but everything else dropped back by 5-15c/kg. Friesians were sold in three cuts; 440-475kg were $1.63-$1.73/kg, 480-525kg made $1.68-$1.81/kg and anything else up to 745kg were $1.85-$1.98/ kg. Beef cows, 525-615kg, made $1.97-$2.06/kg. Buyers were very competitive on store lambs again. The heavier lambs made $109-$120, good lines were $90-$109. Anything lighter were quite varied, anywhere in the $80-$104 range. Light-to-medium Merino-cross lambs made $76-$90. It was business as usual through the prime lamb and prime ewe sections. Prime ewes took most of the attention as an extra 1000 head come forward, whereas prime lamb numbers were unchanged. The core of the ewes were sold at $100-$139 but the good lines were mainly $140-$166, while heavy ewes hit $200 plus on multiple occasions once again. Prime lambs were mainly $110$139. There wasn’t as much topend was last week though, with very little making more than $150. OTAGO OTAGO Demand was firm for prime sheep at BALCLUTHA last Wednesday, with a smaller yarding of store lambs also selling well. Shorn lambs encouraged a premium of around $5-$10 over the woolly lines. Top woolly lambs made $110, medium $90 and lighter $65, while shorn lines returned $118, medium $100, and light, $70. Terminal store lambs traded at same levels as the woolly lines. The prime lambs are starting to pack on the weight and top lines sold up to $160, with medium types returning $130, and lighter $110. Ewe prices were almost identical, from $160 for the tops to $80-$135 for light to medium lines. Two-tooth’s traded at $60$80 and rams, $80-$105.

SOUTHLAND SOUTHLAND Pre-winter offloading brought more store cattle to LORNEVILLE last Tuesday, and the market was solid for most types. The sheep sale continued in a similar vein to recent weeks. Store lamb prices were steady as the top lines sold to $95-$105, with medium types making $80$90, and lighter, $50-$75. A firm tone and some heavy lines meant prime lamb prices looked stronger, and the top line sold to $182 as heavy lambs returned $142-$182. Medium lines firmed and finished at $119-$134, with lighter lines also up $4-$6 to $100-$115. A line of heavy ewes sold to $174, with the top cuts at $141-$174, medium $110-$138 and light, $85$101. This meant a firm tone to this market also. Most bases were covered in the prime cattle section, though prices were mixed. Steers, 500kg plus, were a mix of breeding and sold for $2.35-$2.50/kg, while 420450kg returned $2.15-$2.30/kg. Heifers, 450-500kg, made $2.25$2.40/kg, while dairy, 400-430kg, firmed to $2.00$2.10/kg, and 350-400kg, $1.65$1.85/kg. Bulls, 470-550kg, went under the hammer for $2.40$2.50/kg. Cow prices were softer across all classes by around 10-15c/kg. Heavy cows, 500kg plus, made $1.70-$1.80/kg, while 400-480kg earned $1.50-$1.60/kg, and 370400kg, $1.35-$1.45/kg. Most pens of store cattle had dairy blood and the market was reasonably steady with recent weeks. R2 Angus-cross steers, 400kg, made $2.62/kg, with lighter Hereford-cross, 340kg, achieving $2.79/kg. Heifers of same breeding and 330kg sold for $2.45/kg. Weaner bull prices were pleasing for the better types and Hereford-cross, 160kg, fetched $600-$650, while 120kg returned $480. The top Friesian bulls had good weight at 180-200kg and sold for $550-$600, while 130-170kg returned $420-$560 and 116kg, $370.

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48 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 2, 2018 NI SLAUGHTER STEER

NI SLAUGHTER COW

NI SLAUGHTER LAMB

($/KG)

GOOD EWE LAMBS AT STORTFORD LODGE

($/KG)

($/KG LW)

5.40

4.10

7.05

110

high $1050-$1110 Hereford steers at lights Top Glenlyon & Huxley Gorge Calf sale, Temuka

Bigger calves, higher prices Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz

IGHER weights than last year meant higher prices overall on the first day of the CHEVIOT calf sale in North Canterbury. On a per-kilogram basis, prices were similar to last year, PGG Wrightson Canterbury livestock manager Grant Nordstrom said. With mainly traditional lines offered at Wednesday’s opening of the two-day annual sale, the market had a good feel to it and plentiful feed around the region contributed to a lot of local buying. About 100 of the 820 or so calves offer were sold to a North Island buyer. The best price of $1350 a head was paid for a pen of Angus steer calves offered by ME and GE Spencer, of Parnassus. They were bigger calves at about 336kg for a $4.03/kg return, Hazlett Rural general manager Ed Marfell said. A pen of lighter Angus steer calves, 308kg, from the same vendor fetched $1330 or $4.32/kg. A bigger pen, 357kg, of Angus-Hereford steer calves offered by Blue Grey went for $1360 at $3.81/kg. Over the sale, for heavier steer calves, the going rate was about $4/kg, rising to $4.70/kg for lighter animals for an average in the $4.40 to $4.50 range. For heifer calves prices

FULL REPORT:

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FULL HOUSE: The buyer gallery was packed for the first sale of Beltex purebred and crosses. Photo: Annette Scott were $3.90/kg to $4.20/kg. A bigger yarding might have put more pressure on heifer calf prices, Marfell said. Most were bought for finishing rather than breeding. The first day of the Cheviot sale is for calves from the township north to Kaikoura with Thursday’s second day for calves from the township south to Greta Valley and with more exotic breeds such as Charolais, Nordstrom said. The Wrightson first-day catalogue included two pens of Charolais steer calves at $1020, about $4.27/kg, and a pen of heifers at the same price. The best Wrightson price was for a pen of AngusHereford steer calves at $1270, $4.18kg, offered by R Hough

of Parnassus. Hundalee Hills sold a pen of Angus steers for $1220 at $4.25/kg. A smaller yarding of about 450 calves at the CULVERDEN sale Friday March 23 attracted strong competition from a large buyer bench and prices averaged about 20c/kg more than at Cheviot one day one, Marfell said. A strong annual Glenlyon and Huxley Gorge Station calf sale at TEMUKA on Wednesday was reported by Wrightson’s South Canterbury livestock manager Joe Higgins. The top price of $1120 for the top 20 Angus-Hereford steer calves was just $10 below last year’s top at what was an exceptional sale, he said. All the calves were sold to South Island buyers, mostly

into Mid Canterbury but also to North Canterbury and as far south as Otautau in Southland. A lot of regular, repeat buyers were active. The second tier AngusHereford steer calves, about 150, sold at $1070 a head and the 40 next best at $910. The top 22 Hereford steer calves sold at $1110 and the next 46 at $1050 with prices down to $760. Straight-black Angus Hereford heifer calves achieved a top price of $930 with prices down to $790. Straight Angus heifer calves were $880 and Herefords sold between $900 and $660. The calves, weaned a week before the sale, weighed between 160kg and 240kg.

$4.30-$4.50/kg Traditional weaner steers, 220-250kg, at Martinborough & Masterton Weaner Fair

Will boner prices be under pressure? THE news this week that the Ministry for Primary Industries will cull about 22,000 cattle in a bid to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis looks to be a drastic but necessary step, especially Suz Bremner considering that it now looks AgriHQ Analyst to be contained to the South Island, with the one infected property in the North Island now having killed all its infected cattle. This culling comes at a time when boner cow and heifer numbers are steadily increasing at sale yards around the country as autumn calving gains momentum. Also increasing already is the flow of such cattle to processors and this huge wave is surely going to have an effect on schedules, especially in the South Island. That, in turn, will roll on to prices at auction so while those directly affected will be hit hard, many other farmers are surely about to feel a bit of a pinch too, though to a much lesser degree. Boner cow prices at auction have enjoyed two very strong seasons, with prices continuing to climb to new levels and the yards have been recognised as a favorable outlet for boners. Temuka trades the greatest number of cull dairy cows in the South Island and with its proximity to the infected farms one can only assume it will show the biggest impact in prices as the infected cows are culled. The present situation has the top Friesian cows, 530kg plus, trading at $1.85-$2/ kg, with some lines up and over $2/kg. While these values are similar to 2017, compared to the five-year average farmers have enjoyed a 45-50c/kg lift. Similarly 425-525kg are mostly trading at $1.65-$1.85/kg, up 30-45c/kg on five-year averages. It might be that we see prices drop back to those five-year average levels as schedules are adjusted but only time will tell. Hopefully, the impact will be less than expected. suz.bremner@nzx.com

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