Farmers Weekly NZ June 19 2017 by AgriHQ

11 Red meat showcase Vol 16 No 24, June 19, 2017

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Bright future here Neal Wallace & Bryan Gibson

XPORT earnings will rise this year despite calamitous weather and natural disasters and even better times are ahead, the Primary Industries Ministry predicts. Its latest Situation and Outlook report it expected export receipts to be up 2.4% for the year to June 30. They would grow 18% in the next four years from $38.1 billion this year to $45b in 2021. This year’s forecast compared to $37.2b last year and came on the back of strong global prices for forestry, dairy and growing horticulture volumes. Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said that achievement was a credit to the primary sector. “It’s been a really challenging year for our primary sector when you think about droughts in Northland and Hawke’s Bay, the prolonged drought period in North Canterbury.” The country has also been rocked by cyclones, a very wet autumn and the Kaikoura earthquakes, which sent shockwaves through the South Island and Wellington and affected grape growers. “The primary sector is in really good heart and I’m picking that up at the Fieldays.” It was a good news story and Guy was excited by predictions the primary sector could generate $41b in the year to June 30 2018, a significant 9% lift on this year. “We’ve got a very diverse sector.”

Meat and wool exports fell 9.8% from 2016 to 2017, after growing 13.6% in the previous two years. The report expected receipts to grow 1.6% between 2017 and 2018 despite lower sheep and cattle numbers but that would be dwarfed by dairy, which was forecast to grow 18.5% in the same period. “The fundamentals for continued trade growth remain strong. “Our major trading partners are experiencing relatively robust demand for food imports as well as overall economic growth. “Emerging opportunities for expanding trade in southeast Asia and the Middle East also provide reason for optimism.” MPI predicted average growth of 3.9% in export earnings for the next few years, underpinned by price gains across most sectors. The recent lift in dairy prices was expected to be sustained, pasture productivity was predicted to improve and new varieties and expanded planting of grapes, kiwifruit and apples and expanded sales of addedvalue products would also be drivers. The latest ANZ Agri Focus report agreed with MPI, saying the outlook for agricultural sectors remained positive. There was some uncertainty with possible policy changes in China that might not be conducive to economic growth and with United States trade and tax policies. But ANZ expected dairy prices of $6.75/kg MS, lamb to settle next season in the low to mid $5/

kg mark, bull beef about $4/kg and steers about $5/kg. Venison could reach record levels of $8/kg to mid $9/kg on the back of low inventory while horticulture was also expected to enjoy prosperous times. Green kiwifruit should bounce back to $6 a tray, a 37% increase, on the back of lower New Zealand supply and lower Italian production while SunGold should sell for close to $9 a tray, benefiting from expanded markets. Pipfruit returns were mixed depending on the supplydemand balance for each variety while a smaller grape crop should allow wine exporters to be choosier and to restore earnings per bottle. Sauvignon Blanc grape prices could ease slightly to $1750 a tonne with other varieties expected to either ease slightly or be stable. The MPI report highlighted just how dependent NZ was on the primary sector, responsible for over 78% of merchandise exports, an increase from 72% in 2012. It calculated 16% of all workers were employed in the production, manufacturing or support industries in the primary sector. Primary industries contributed $24b to the NZ economy in 2016, which was about 10.6% of GDP, of which $11.5b came from primary production and $12.6b from processing.

Fieldays stories on pages 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 14, 21.

GOOD TASTE: The primary sector is in good heart as bright times are predicted, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said at Fieldays where Grace from Morrinsville tried Zespri’s offering.

NEWS

NEW THINKING

Soil Moisture Anomaly (mm) at 9am June 16, 2017

60 Wetter than

normal (mm)

5 More money for health

21 Making a beeline for prizes

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have committed another joint funding boost to rural mental health.

Four years after the concept came to him and on his first time at the National Fieldays Darren Bainbridge won four innovation awards for his electronic MyApiary products.

8 Value gain needs consumer

focus

Capturing the added value produced by New Zealand agriculture means putting customers at the centre of everything, KPMG global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot says.

12 Awards finalists from all

industry sectors

Leading farmers, scientists, a retired sheep breeder and a ground-breaking stock trading company are among the finalists selected in this year’s Beef + Lamb New Zealand Sheep Industry Awards. Tech aims to get more from less �� 3 Old stud sells new breeds �� 4 More money for health �� 5 Water rescue plan not anti-cow �� 7 Value gain needs consumer focus �� 8 Affco launching farmer focus �� 10 Lincoln goes from red to black �� 12 Zespri walking supply tightrope �� 14 Let’s work together, Sanson says �� 17 Rain dampens earnings �� 18

NEWSMAKER

20 Tough times mould farm

mentor

With more than 40 years of farming experience Neil Bateup can recall a few times he could have done with some of the support he dispenses today when things are getting tough in his Waikato Rural Support Trust (RST) area.

OPINION

-10

-20

-30

-50

Drier than normal (mm)

24 Alternative View Alan Emerson says another report on water quality is all we need. Editorial �� 22 Cartoon �� 22

Map reading tips

Letters �� 22 Pulpit �� 23 Alternative View �� 24 From the Ridge �� 24 Town Talk �� 25

REGULARS Real Estate �� 26-32 Employment �� 33 Classifieds �� 34 Livestock �� 34-35

MARKETS

40 Venison

prices rocket up Strong uptake for contracts and fierce competition for uncommitted product have sent deer prices skyrocketing as the stars align for venison.

Market Snapshot �� 36

This map shows the difference or anomaly in soil moisture level at the date shown compared to the average, generated from more than 30 years of records held by NIWA.

Job

of the

Week

Onion agronomist - Mid Canterbury. Southern Packers is based near Timaru. It packs and exports about 22,000 tonnes of onions a year to the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and also supplies the New Zealand domestic market. It is recognised for its delivery of consistent, high-quality finished product. Due to forecasted increase in output we now wish to appoint an in-house onion agronomist who will assist our shareholders and contract growers with their agronomic requirements. For more information and a full job description visit the Farmers Weekly jobs site: farmersweeklyjobs. co.nz and click on Agronomy category. To find all other agjobs click on All Categories. #agjobs at your fingertips.

Contact us Editor: Bryan Gibson Twitter: farmersweeklynz Email: nzfarmersweekly@nzx.com Free phone: 0800 85 25 80 DDI: 06 323 1519

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Tech aims to get more from less Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com FARMERS’ efforts to cut costs after some tough seasons have not dampened their appetite for adopting technology that will help them produce more from less. This year’s Mystery Creek Fieldays was dominated by the usual swathe of latest hardware for farm use but agri-tech companies reported farmers were most interested in technology to help them generate greater profits from more stripped down, pasturefocused systems. That was also being pushed harder by regulatory requirements around animal identification and environmental controls, both requiring better technology to keep operations compliant. Gallagher marketing manager Mark Harris said farmers were scrutinising technology closer, looking for the key value proposition it offered. “They will ask you if you offer a solution to a problem they put a value on. “Regulation is also driving that adaptation and the best example of that is the NAIT requirement. Since that has come in farmers are looking at where they can get the maximum advantage from.” Despite tighter dairy budgets Gallaghers’ highest sales had come from dairy regions as farmers tightened feed management and better use of low-cost grass pasture. Investment in the company’s relatively low-cost solar powered portable technology and a sharpening up of grass management skills were means to make some quick gains on a tight budget. That also matched the slide in spending on supplements over the past two seasons. DairyNZ data indicated boughtin supplements had dropped from a high of $1.60/kg MS in 2013-14 to $1.39/kg MS and indications

MADE FOR US: DeLaval Australasian director Justin Thompson says its new milking machines was designed around farmers needs here rather than importing one and making it fit local systems.

Farmers are looking at where they can get the maximum advantage from. Mark Harris Gallagher were it had fallen well below $1/kg for the 2016-17 season. Harris attributed part of the company’s strong early sales of its new touch-screen weigh scales to farmers upgrading equipment almost made redundant by wireless connectivity, touchscreen interfaces and greater portability. Major advances in technology

in only the past two to three years made that move easier. “That early tech could be a bit clunky and usually only appealed to those early adopters who put up with that.” “We have units now that can not only record data but can also produce reports in the field – if there is one thing farmers hate it is having to go back to data on their PC to understand it. This technology enables them to record, analyse and make decisions on the spot, on the day and the job is done.” The need to optimise decisionmaking was driving suppliers to adapt to farming’s 24/7 operating demands. Ballance used Mystery Creek to showcase a model of a remote operated urea silo that did not

require staff to operate. It let farmers or contractors load up at any time after ordering over the web. Ballance supply chain analyst Craig Fitzpatrick said farmers could ensure a timely application for maximum crop yield while contractors could maximise their machinery investment over the short window seasonal demands often presented. Milking machine company DeLaval acknowledged a step back from the “bleeding edge” technology that characterised much of the industry’s new dairy designs in recent years. Launching its new E100 rotary system the company had sought to simplify and consolidate on existing technology and hardware. That included designing it

around the needs of pastoral farmers here rather than making an imported design fit for NZ systems. “We have had a lot of conversations with farmers today about going back to basics. The industry may have missed a trick in recent years as it has expanded, adding a lot of new staff but not always getting the basics in place before bringing in new technology as well,” DeLaval Oceania manager Justin Thompson said. The biggest need now was for companies like his that supplied the technology to continue working with farmers after the sale, helping them interpret and manage the megabytes of data generated, delivering a better return than they would have without it.

Wairere lambs are fast finishing When Brian Coogan changed to Wairere Romney on his Taihape farm five years ago, he was lambing at 140% with half the lambs going prime at weaning, averaging 17.5kg. Lambing this year was 150%, with 85% POM at an average of 19.2kg. All hoggets are mated and are consistently lambing above 90%; this season 60% went POM at 18.2kg average. The overall average, including hogget lambs, will be over 19kg this year, with 80% of all lambs gone at weaning.

“These sheep have performed well.”

www.wairererams.co.nz | 0800 924 7373

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; farmersweekly.co.nz â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 19, 2017

Old stud sells new cattle breed Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com THE oldest Hereford stud in the country has made the highest price of the selling season so far with a bull from one of the newest breeds, Speckle Park. Maungahina Stud, Masterton, sold 15 Speckle Park bulls and 18 SP-Hereford heifers as well as its large offering of Hereford bulls. Vendor Mark McKenzie said Rahaki Station, Featherston, paid $24,000 for the bull and all 15 sold averaged $9366. For newcomers to the breed there were bulls available at $5000 to $6000, he said. The heifers sold in groups of five and reached a record top price of $2900 a head, averaging $2544. Maungahina Hereford bulls made a top price of $14,500, sold to C R Grace, and averaged $7073 for 34 sold of 37 offered. Again, there were affordable bulls for $5000 to $6000, McKenzie said. More than 300 people including 15 Australians attended the sale, which was filmed by Country Calendar to contribute towards an episode on the 110-year-old stud run by five generations of McKenzies, to be aired on TV One on August 6. Atahua Angus, Feilding, made a

top price of $17,500, paid by Rowe Brothers, and made one of the highest averages so far this year of $9458 for 34 of 35 offered. On the same day in the same region Ngaputahi Station Angus, Pohangina Valley, sold 36 of 40 for a top price of $12,000 paid by Rocklea Farm and an average of $7455. The Campbell family on Earnscleugh Station, Alexandra, sold 85 of the 98 bulls offered, of three breeds. The top price for each of the breeds was $12,000 and the average price across all bulls sold was $6915, much higher than last year. The top-priced Hereford was sold to Carrick Station, the top Angus to R Aitchison, of Roxburgh, and the top composite bull was bought by Inverloch Farm. In Wairarapa the Borthwick family at Te Whangarei Angus sold six of nine offered for an average price of $8400 and a top price of $14,200 paid by Andy Darling, Martinborough. In Waipukurau Tony and Glennis Thompson, Glen Anthony Simmentals, sold nine of 12 bulls for an average of $5411 and a top of $6700. Mt Mable Angus sold all 42 bulls catalogued for the excellent average of $10,060, including a top

HANDS-ON: Maungahina stud principal Mark McKenzie in the ring with lot one in the Hereford bulls, which sold for $14,500. Photo: Dan Henry, Hyundai Country Calendar

price of $19,000 paid by Charles Dowding, Rangatira Angus, Gisborne. Hereford Bulls sold very well in southern districts early in the sale calendar.

Limehills, at Roxbrugh, made a top of $14,000 and averaged $7124 for 46 sold from 49, Monymusk at Te Anau had a top of $13,000 and a full clearance of 33 bulls averaged $8303, Pourakino Downs

at Otautau averaged $6688 for nine of 10 sold and had a top price of $12,000 while Waiau at Tuatapere sold 18 of 23 offered, averaging $6861 with a top price of $15,500.

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Dairy has plan to act on climate change CLIMATE Change Minister Paula Bennett launched the Dairy Action for Climate Change plan while opening the National Fieldays. The collaborative plan involved DairyNZ, Fonterra and Government ministries working together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bennett said New Zealand farmers were among the most efficient in the world and the industry-led initiative would build on that efficiency. “This establishes the foundation for the dairy sector – farmers, scientists and rural professionals – to work together to address farm biological emissions.” The plan involved three actions. DairyNZ would work to raise awareness with 16 climate change workshops around the country, identify climate change champions and train rural professionals at the Massey University greenhouse gas course. DairyNZ and the Primary Industries Ministry would

establish 10 partnership farms to identify system changes that could be used on real dairy farms. Fonterra would run an onfarm greenhouse gas recording pilot with up to 100 Fonterra suppliers to provide them with a report.

This plan lays down the foundation for dairy’s sustained, strategic approach to a lower carbon future. Dr Tim Mackle DairyNZ DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said modern, science-based farming was the way to achieve a future for NZ where dairy farming had a lower

environmental footprint. “This plan lays down the foundation for dairy’s sustained, strategic approach to a lower carbon future. “We’re taking the first steps in understanding what dairy can do – in conjunction with the wider agricultural sector plus industry and urban communities – to help meet NZ’s Paris Agreement emissions reduction target. “Our farmers are already working on lowering emissions – they are used to rising to challenges and they’re dedicated stewards of their land who want to do the right thing by the environment.” Fonterra’s Farm Source chief operating officer Miles Hurrell said it was crucial to take an integrated approach to all the challenges facing dairy – from climate change and animal welfare to the protection of waterways while maintaining ther productivity and profitability of dairy.

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rural clinical champions and a medical director as well as support aimed at younger rural workers. “The Government recognises that rural life goes in cycles and we want to support our rural communities through the ups and downs,” Coleman said. “The Rural Mental Wellness initiative is administered by Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand and rural support trusts. “It’s the right mix of further raising awareness of mental health issues within rural communities coupled with practical help to improve the skills of the health professionals who work alongside the rural sector,” Coleman said. Guy said it was important farmers and their families knew they weren’t alone if they needed someone to talk to. “There is a wide range of good advice and support from organisations like rural support trusts, Farmstrong, and Dairy NZ.”

that are well under way, like the research to breed cows that produce fewer methane emissions and a methaneinhibiting vaccine.” Bennett said the plan would not be the silver bullet. “It’s not the one thing that’s going to reduce carbon emissions but what it is, is a collaborative way forward. “It’s a commitment from the sector to do its part. I applaud agriculture for that and I thank them for it.”

“The plan complements the environmental commitment dairy farmers have voluntarily undertaken through their work under the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord. “Some of their work, such as tree planting, better soil management and reducing nitrogen leaching, therefore reducing the release of nitrous oxide, is already helping to address emissions. “Then there are the other science-based endeavours

Give

GOOD THINKING: Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have put up an extra half million dollars for rural mental health.

HEALTH Minister Jonathan Coleman and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have committed another joint funding boost to rural mental health. In opening the Fieldays Health Hub Guy said health was a challenge for isolated communities. The hub featured 30 exhibitors showcasing initiatives and services aimed at improving the health of rural communities. “Farmers are really good at checking the dipstick in the tractor, checking the livestock. But they are not good at thinking about their own wellness,” Guy said. Coleman said technology was helping improve health services but there were still barriers, which the new money would help address. The ministers committed $500,000 for rural mental would go towards 20 workshops for rural health professionals treating people at risk of suicide, continued support for

STRATEGY: A plan to tackle climate change in the dairy sector was launched by Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett as she opened the Fieldays with Fieldays Society president Peter Carr. Photo: Aaron Davies

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Helping grow the country

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Water rescue plan not anti-cow Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com THE creators of the Freshwater Rescue Plan deny claims it is “anticow” and aimed only at undoing the pastoral sector in its effort clean up water systems. The Choose Clean Water group released the seven-point rescue plan that included canning irrigation subsidies, funding a transition out of intensive pastoral systems and reducing cow numbers nationally as three of its points. The plan also called for polluterpays taxing, improved regional council reporting and adopting Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development recommendations to move to a low-carbon economy. But Federated Farmers environment spokesman Chris Allen said the plan appeared to be pointing firmly against the farming sector and failed to address pollution issues attributable to the urban sector. “They appear to be totally fixated on cows and all about being focused on anti-food production. “There is no mention there of the impact of urban pollution, which is increasingly significant,” Allen said. He cited the plan’s fourth point, to reduce cow numbers. “If that is the case, then should they also be looking at including a plan to reduce house numbers and subdivisions?” The plan had the backing of some heavyweight groups including the Tourism Export Council, Federated Mountain Clubs, Fish and Game and Forest and Bird. Scientific backing was also coming from endorsement by Massey University freshwater ecologist Dr Russell Death, environmental health academic Dr Alex Macmillan and public health professor at Otago

point, by withdrawing all public subsidies of irrigation schemes. The Government has $480 million for irrigation funding. But Dewes said any further progress for the plan would have to come by it gaining political traction with parties. The plan’s release came hard on the heels of the Labour Party’s plan for freshwater. The Labour plan aimed to make it more difficult for farms to increase stocking rates and intensify and was founded on principles recommended by a previous head of the Environment Court.

Farmers remain committed to continuing to invest large amounts into water quality but not all water quality issues are attributable to farmers. Chris Allen Federated Farmers

OVERSTOCKED: There is increased consensus there are too many cows, Choose Clean Water spokeswoman Marnie Prickett says.

University Professor Michael Baker. Input also came from ecologist and veterinarian Dr Alison Dewes. Dewes said the plan incorporated some of her concepts for helping farmers adapt their systems to a lower input, lower nutrient footprint that would ensure sustainable dairy systems into the future.

That included a proposal to invest in an agricultural transition fund. It would include funding demonstration farms to show methods and promote diversification from intensive pastoral systems to help reduce nutrient losses. Dewes said the funding could come from the plan’s second

It also included stricter monitoring and enforcement by councils with limits on phosphate and sediment losses, two not included in National’s freshwater plan. Intensification of land use would not remain a permitted activity and would need resource consent. But despite the timing and some similarities to the Freshwater Campaign’s plan, it had not earned complete praise from that group. Choose Clean Water group leader and Massey ag-science student Marnie Prickett said the Labour plan earned some points when compared to the sevenpoint action plan.

“We applaud the requirement for stricter monitoring and enforcement by regional councils and for including limits on phosphate and sediment in waterways. That is something absent from National’s present freshwater standards which only focus on nitrogen.” However, more detail was required on what the exact standards were that Labour intended to impose and enforce around key contaminants, including E. coli levels in water. Prickett denied the Freshwater Rescue Plan was “anti-cow”. “There is increased consensus that NZ already has too many cows. We know this from OECD reports. Even the Minister for Primary Industries (Nathan Guy) has acknowledged we have enough. “By also putting sediment limits in the rescue plan means we are also targeting urban development. “The Government does not have any sediment controls in its freshwater standards and sediment is also an urban issue.” She said the plan’s polluter-pays action point was also indifferent to urban or rural sourced pollution but would encourage whoever the polluter was to seek more innovative ways to deal with it. “When we have public health experts like Professor Michael Baker pointing out that rural children are more susceptible to disease than urban kids due to contamination of water supplies, how can you argue this is anticow when it aims to protect the people you are supposed to represent?” Allen said it would be more constructive to take a unified approach to dealing with pollution issues. “Farmers remain committed to continuing to invest large amounts into water quality but not all water quality issues are attributable to farmers.”

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Helping grow the country

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Value gain needs consumer focus Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com CAPTURING the added value produced by New Zealand agriculture means putting customers at the centre of everything, KPMG global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot says. “Historically, we have placed a majority of our focus on maximising production but the simple, unavoidable truth is: no customers, no business,” he said. Proudfoot was writing in the 2017 KPMG Agribusiness Agenda, called The Recipe for Action. If NZ was to capture more of the $250 billion-plus paid for our products retailed for, the pivot towards the consumer must become unstoppable, he said. “It is the authenticity of the story around which an organisation builds its products and the way that this appeals to a consumer that will shape the value able to be secured from what we grow.” Whereas volume was dictated by the Government, it was not responsible for the value lift. Though a government could be an enabler, Proudfoot suggested creating and capturing value fell on every person and organisation involved in the industry including farmers, processors and exporters, industry-good organisations, councils, Maori trusts, iwi and service providers. “Only by the whole industry seeking ways to work collaboratively will the pivot from a producer-focused, volume-based culture to a market-focused, value-based culture be achieved sufficiently quickly to capture the

opportunities available to it.” The biggest risk was complacency. “People don’t recognise the impact that structural changes in the agri-Food sector globally, driven by innovation and consumer preferences, will have on our traditional markets. “Some have the potential to literally vanish overnight. There is no place for any comfort or complacency.” NZ was the only developed nation that relied on growing biological products and selling them to the world to pay for schools, roads and hospitals.

Our conversations suggest that industry leaders realise they have a once-in-a-generation window in which to develop a values framework. Ian Proudfoot KPMG As before, the KPMG Agribusiness Agenda was initiated by an on-line survey of 100-plus sector leaders, about 80 of whom responded by ranking their priorities. Top was again biosecurity, followed by the need for NZ provenance brands, food safety, high-speed rural broadband, innovation with customers, trade agreements and delivering

research and development incentives. At number eight was a big mover, being the need for increased rural and urban understanding, up 15 places from the 2016 survey. Water issues, animal welfare failures and the effectiveness of environmental pressure groups in using social media were all mentioned frequently. “Freshwater quality is an emotional issue that cuts to the heart of being a New Zealander. “Swimmable must mean swimmable and not scientifically swimmable in 2040.” That water issue had contributed a lot to the gap between urban people, particularly those in Auckland, and the agri-food sector. Many of the 110 action items in the Agenda would help bridge that gap, Proudfoot said. Another big mover was the need to track synthetic and alternative forms of protein, up 15 places to 19th. Leaders said that we ignored protein substitution at our peril. “Wool farmers ignored their synthetic substitution moment and have been fighting a declining market for more than 40 years. “Understanding the technologies and their strengths and weaknesses is critical to protecting our natural protein markets,” KPMG said. The need for a values-led framework and vision for NZ agrifood sector had been raised in every survey since 2012 but only limited progress had been made. But the realisation in the past six months that Ireland had

Market defines the rules now MOST agri-food sector leaders are apparently not preoccupied with a possible change of government, KPMG global agribusiness head Ian Proudfoot says. And he wondered why not. He believed it was because they had much bigger issues to discuss. They were to: • Define and articulate a broadly accepted vision and values for the sector; • Develop a clearly recognisable New Zealand food culture; • Recruit, educate and retain the best talent available, regardless of their background; • Lift performance on the sustainable use of land, water and labour and to communicate progress to the wider community; • Keep up with and adopt relevant technologies as they become available around the world and, potentially most significantly; • Accelerate the process of pivoting individual organisations and the industry from a volume-driven production culture towards a consumerled, value-driven, agri-food industry. Proudfoot said agri-food leaders had to move faster than changing rules

and regulations. “The reality is that the demands of the community and the market, rather than any election result, are now defining the rules of the agri-food game.” In a nutshell, the NZ agri-food sector was an artisan, niche producer of premiumquality, safe and sustainable food and beverage, fibre and timber products. These products were eaten at landmark events and family celebrations and used when people wanted to treat themselves. “The sector does not aspire to feed the world but recognises the importance of making a substantive contribution to helping the world feed itself.” To earn the right to supply premium markets everything about the product being offered must be sustainable, Proudfoot said. The integration of digital technology into all aspects of farming would be necessary for it to operate sustainably. That would enhance the feel a farmer had for the land, enabling better decisions to be made to improve yield while reducing the input quantities. It also went into the block chain of provenance data for assurance to consumers.

HERE TODAY: Some of our traditional markets have the potential to vanish overnight, KPMG global agribusiness head Ian Proudfoot says.

gained traction with Origin Green had brought some action by the Ministry for Primary Industries on Project Origin. “Our conversations suggest that industry leaders realise they have a once-in-a-generation window in which to develop a values framework. “It is unlikely or impossible that the whole industry will be on the same page on every single issue; therefore areas of common ground are critical to creating trust and delivering success.” Many leaders surveyed also called for the development of a NZ food culture. NZ had all the elements for a truly unique food movement – flora and fauna, great chefs and indigenous ways of cooking. “People don’t go out for an evening at a NZ restaurant in the same way that they will head out for an Italian, a Chinese, a

Mexican or a Vietnamese meal. “As a consequence our visitors are left to eat food that they are familiar with from their homes, as there is nothing available to take them to a different place or to profile the amazing food we grow to its maximum potential.” Others also said they would not take business visitors to a NZ supermarket because they were no different to stores all around the world. The agenda mentioned the efforts of chef Monique Fiso to create the Hiakai fusion between fine dining and indigenous ingredients. “Given the lack of focus on NZ as a unique food destination we will struggle to attract and retain chefs if we keep replicating what everyone else does rather than creating our own food style,” she said.

Farmers need Guy pride we need to tell it– farmers are generally too humble.” Guy decried cynical politics that isolated one farming type or a particular FOOD producers, previously called catchment over water quality. farmers, must be louder and prouder “That approach doesn’t show that we starting now, Primary Industries Minister are all in this together – farmers, urban Nathan Guy told sector leaders at people and industries.” National Fieldays. He talked about the He took issue with “myths concerning attacks on agriculture irrigation”. in the guise of The recent Ruataniwha environmental activism, irrigation scheme report saying such attacks concluded the ambitious were “pathetic and environmental objectives disheartening”. of would be easier to But the critics were meet with the dam than better at telling their without. stories than the primary “Greenpeace says that sector. with Ruataniwha the The sector generated whole of Hawke’s Bay will $38 billion in export Primary Industries Minister move into dairy farming. earnings last financial Nathan Guy. “The reality is about year and would increase 22% of intentions are that by 10% to $41b this dairying and water will financial year. transform Hawke’s Bay into higher-value That would be $9000 earned for every production. man, woman and child. “Critics talk about climate change “We are food producers feeding 40 but refuse to acknowledge that we have million people in the 150 countries we droughts, for which water storage is export to. needed.” “Consumers want to buy our story and Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com

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10 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Affco launching farmer focus Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com AFFCO intends emphasising its wholly New Zealand ownership and long history in domestic and international meat markets, chief executive Andy Leonard says. At the National Fieldays it unveiled a refreshed image aimed at farmers, including a new tagline: Kiwi to the Bone. “To us that means doing what we say we will, working hard, innovating and not forgetting our roots,” Leonard said. The largest NZ-owned meat supplier, founded in 1904 by a group of farmers, Affco had the biggest domestic supply and sales business of the big four meat companies. It was working on a new retail brand and had in the past few years put a lot of money and effort into value adding. Though he could not say what the brand would be, Leonard said the iconic four stars (a stylised Southern Cross) and new skin pack technology would feature. Affco had just sent its first shipment of high-value beef to China, containing 33,000 packages

of frozen steaks and tenderloins, intended for online, supermarket and restaurant sales. The skin pack technology was installed earlier this year at Horotiu, the company’s head office site in Waikato. Beef exports to China were relatively recent, China sales manager Clint Bailey said. The free-trade agreement had opened access but the drive was the urbanisation of Chinese people as a growing middle class wanted to put high-quality meat protein on their tables. Affco supplied a third of all NZ beef into China, now the secondlargest market after the United States. The first shipment to two Chinese customers was frozen with a view to chilled shipments in the future when new protocols were finalised. The Government’s chilled exports initiative was worthwhile but it would take the Chinese a while to build infrastructure to handle chilled and therefore be in a position to pay a premium over frozen, Bailey said. Leonard said the NZ reputation for big, green, open pastures was

HISTORY: AFFCO chief executive Andy Leonard doesn’t want the firm’s age to be confused with its attitude.

alive and well in the Chinese market, which was prepared to pay a premium for grass-fed. Affco’s four stars brand resonated with Chinese and NZ origin was worth more than Latin American sourced meat, he said. Compared with other countries NZ was an easy place to do business with a reputation for honesty, high quality standards

and a robust certification process. Sheep and beef farmers should be encouraged that better prices would be sustainable, Leonard said. “Sheep meat markets are probably peaking but we will do all we can to sustain prices. “Beef markets are reasonably solid while Australian supplies are low and US consumption and demand are strong.”

Leonard said he wanted the company to highlight its long history, commitment and NZ ownership. Affco meats had been touring overseas longer than the national rugby team. Dave Gallaher, captain of the NZ Originals rugby team, had a day job at Affco. The company now exported to 80 countries and had 800 international sales contacts and strong relationships with supermarkets and leading food retailers. The Select Lamb and Natural Beef accreditation programmes passed price premiums back to local farmers. “We are incredibly proud of our heritage but we don’t want our age to be confused with our attitude. “We are a modern and progressive business, equipped with the latest technology and working at the leading edge of the industry.” Leonard said the spread and balance of Affco’s plants was in the right places including Canterbury and Southland for the mainly North Island-based company. A mobile and tablet app was being developed for farmers to access their kill sheets and other company information. Leonard has been chief executive since early 2016 after joining Affco from parent company Talleys Seafoods in 2015 where he was seven years in various roles.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Eating quality combats imitations Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com GROW them fast and kill them young is the recipe for the best eating quality in red meat. And with the threat from synthetic and plant-based meats a good eating experience was critical to underpin New Zealand’s grass-fed, ethically produced red meat story, AbacusBio consultant Jason Archer said. Older animals had more connective tissue in their muscles, which made their meat tougher, so fast-finishing made for more tenderness, Archer told farmers at a Beef + Lamb NZ beef-focused field day. He defined eating quality as tenderness, juiciness and flavour and said much of what farmers did onfarm influenced those factors. “NZ’s red meat producers have a great story to tell and eating quality needs to underpin the marketing rhetoric,” Archer said. While specialising in beef genetics, Archer didn’t claim to be a lamb quality expert but said while the principles were the same, the relative importance might be different in lamb. That could be especially so when it came to issues such as

TASTE: Farmers must pick animals for slaughter based on their fat cover rather than weight to ensure good eating quality, AbacusBio consultant Jason Archer says.

marbling and the pH of the meat. Age, long-term stress, marbling, fat depth and colour were all influenced by an interdependent combination of genetics, feeding and management, all of which were controlled by management decisions and practices. “In essence, breed them well, feed them well, handle them well and you will get good eating quality.” He said all breeds were capable of producing tender, juicy,

flavoursome meat. It was a matter of managing those animals to ensure they did. The pH of the meat influenced eating quality and how animals were managed in the six weeks before slaughter would affect pH levels. Lactic acid was produced by muscles in response to stress so management needed to focus on minimising stress and maximising glycogen levels in the muscles. That included not walking

animals long distances, not mixing mobs within a month of slaughter and removing animals with a poor temperament. Stock had to be handled quietly and that meant minimising the use of dogs, particularly huntaways, Archer said. Electric prodders should not be used when loading animals because studies had shown they negatively affected meat quality. Beef animals had to be growing every day and that meant managing them to avoid feed pinches or pregnancy. When it came to selling, animals should be drafted on their fat cover and not on weight. “A lot of animals are killed that have not been finished properly and don’t have enough fat cover. “This can happen when farmers run out of feed or they want to make room for other enterprises.” When carcases don’t have enough fat cover “cold shortening” could occur when the muscle cooled and contracted too quickly after slaughter and the meat then became tough. Marbling was a function of genetics, nutrition and carcase weight and so all those factors needed to be in place to allow animals to express their marbling potential.

In essence, breed them well, feed them well, handle them well and you will get good eating quality. Jason Archer AbacusBio Temperament was a factor that should be considered when selecting genetics because that affected meat eating quality. Meat quality came in a number of different genetic packages and the importance of getting it right was critical in producing the best eating quality. Archer said the emergence of synthetic and plant-based meats was a real threat to the red meat industry. The marketing of these products played on consumers’ concerns around environmental degradation, animal welfare, health and food safety. While NZ was in a good position to counter those arguments, a good eating experience had to underpin the grass-fed, ethically produced red meat story.

Visitors get teeth into meaty story Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com THE developing red meat story went to National Fieldays when eight meat companies cooked and distributed samples from their best and recently branded products in a Red Meat Showcase organised by the Ministry for Primary Industries. Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive Sam McIvor said the red meat story had involved numerous conversations with farmers throughout the country along with meat company executives and marketing managers.

Help from other sectors was provided by Zespri, NZ Wine, NZ Merino and a food story telling expert from New York. “The story needs to connect emotionally and rationally and it needs to be authentic,” he said. The purposes of the story included supporting companies to reach out to consumers with underpinning attributes supporting commercial brands. It would also tell the red meat story to domestic consumers, bringing the human face and pride of farmers to the fore. Sheep and beef farming employed 22,000 people and

another 25,000 were employed in processing and exporting. More than two million New Zealanders travelled overseas each year and they should be ambassadors for red meat, McIvor said. Alliance Group showcased Te Mana lamb, Anzco did lamb racks, Greenlea Meats had prime beef, Deer Industry NZ showed Cervena Denver leg and First Light Foods its grass-fed Wagyu ribeye. Progressive Meats and Silver Fern Farms were also represented and barbecued their premium products for passers-by.

HIGH-FLIER: Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett joined celebrity chef Benjamin Bayly of My Kitchen Rules to cook lamb racks at National Fieldays.

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12 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Lincoln goes from red to black Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com LINCOLN University has successfully navigated a year of transformation to record its first financial surplus in a decade. Vice-chancellor Robin Pollard said the focus of the Refreshing Lincoln project for the past year was getting its house in order. That had been achieved and gave the university some confidence. “A year ago I was new and we felt that for most of the year we were under siege. “But through some heavy lifting and eventually after a difficult year we have returned a small surplus, which has given us a lot of institutional confidence and surprised some of our stakeholders.” The $500,000 net surplus for 2016, before the impact of earthquakes, joint facility projects and transformation, compared to a $7 million deficit in 2015. When those excluded items were accounted for, the surplus was $17.6m. Year to date figures for 2017 were well ahead of target with expected EBITDA of $10m for the year, well ahead of the budgeted $8.3m.

Earlier consideration of merging, selling assets such as land and other reforms were not off the agenda with Pollard saying Lincoln still had some way to go to become a modern university. Such decisions would be made by the Transformation Board and the university council. The board was expected to report to the council on its vision for the university later this year. Discussions were continuing with Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre about taking over the Telford division. Pollard said Lincoln felt “as strong as an institution should”. “Lincoln last year was underperforming and we had lots of critics. “Financially, 2015 was woeful and 2016, after much heavy lifting, we achieved a small surplus.” Pollard said initiatives that had driven much of the transformation were getting the university’s house in order, ensuring finances were carefully managed, that staff had clear direction, proficient management and having a clear focus on the university’s direction. Specifically, those initiatives included creating an internal economy, which included allocating faculties their direct revenue and costs including

a charge for space allocation. “The previous budgeting mechanisms provided little incentive for staff or organisational units to increase revenue and reduce costs. “They precluded businesslike performance and budget management and they disinclined advantageous recognition of assets and liabilities via accrual accounting.” It also stymied BEEN THERE: The former president and chairman of the Netherlands-based innovating and improving Wageningen University and Research Centre, Aalt Dijkhuizen with Lincoln performance. University vice-chancellor Robin Pollard at Lincoln. Pollard said issues facing the university a year ago had “striking parallels” with those facing decision was to work closely Wageningen University in the Financially, 2015 with nine applied research Netherlands in the 1990s. was woeful and 2016, organisations with similar spheres The number of students after much heavy lifting, of interest in applied animal and enrolled had fallen by twofood science and agricultural thirds in a decade because of a we achieved a small economics. constant flow of negative news surplus. Today the education and about agriculture, which turned applied research institutions were the public against the sector separate but run by one governing and ultimately threatened the Robin Pollard foundation and he said the university’s viability. Lincoln University arrangement meant Wageningen “That was a damaging had facilities of scale and benefits situation and when we looked flowing from them. to the future, people could not It also needed to improve its Today it had 5000 employees see things changing,” split evenly between the university profile so the wider public knew the university’s former what the institution stood for and and research, 10,500 bachelor and president and chairman Aalt what it did and it was a message masters students and 1900 PhD Dijkhuizen, who oversaw its that needed to be consistent and students. transformation, said. clear. Dijkhuizen said there were five It was an institution some Dijkhuizen said it was an key steps to turning around the believed had no future but ongoing exercise and as soon as university’s fortunes. today international global an entity became static it would The first was to get the house in surveys ranked Wageningen end up going backwards. order, to stop losing money and University and Research “You need to renew and ensure it was efficiently run. Centre the world’s top improve it every year. Never say Next was to implement a tertiary centre for agriculture ‘okay, we are ready’,” he said. clear strategy, to identify areas and food. Pollard said the Refreshing of growth and ensure proficient Dijkhuizen was invited Lincoln programme had not management. to join the International He said universities operated on ended and included work streams Panel of the Lincoln such finalising earthquake claims, slim margins so had to be closely University Transformation improving the attractiveness of managed. Board and Pollard said academic programmes, internal Wageningen realised it while Wageningen was not budgeting, a joint Lincolnhad to engage better with its a blueprint for Lincoln to AgResearch facility, optimising stakeholders, where its future follow there was much that Lincoln assets and transferring the students came from, alumni and could be learned. Telford campus. outside industries. Dijkhuizen said a crucial

Wine man to lead Lincoln Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com VITICULTURALIST and Lincoln University alumnus Steve Smith is its new chancellor. He would replace Tony Hall, who was retiring at the end of the year after holding the position since April last year. In the annual report Hall said his appointment was intended to be short to enable a smooth transition to the next long-term holder. Smith was a co-founder and

managing director of Craggy Range Winery, a member of the Primary Growth Partnership advisory panel and the NZ Story Group, set up to enhance New Zealand’s reputation and to create business opportunities. Smith said Lincoln had an opportunity to be global academic thought leader. “Our land is our single most significant and unique resource and one which will drive future prosperity in NZ. “But in a period of rapid change the land-based

economy needs innovative and integrated tertiary education and research that delivers solutions to the problems of today and tomorrow. “Lincoln University will provide answers to those pressing issues, whether it be climate change-related, water quality and allocation or new ways of eradicating pests and predators,” he said. “It’s about designing new ways of remedying real life problems and ensuring we’re future ready.”

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14 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Zespri walking supply tightrope Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com AFTER a clunky start to the kiwifruit season Zespri is struggling to meet buyer expectations amid tighter Green fruit supply and burgeoning Sungold demand. Zespri’s chief operating officer Simon Limmer said with the supply of Green fruit trays down to 69 million from last year’s 83m the marketer had to walk a tightrope with long-term outlets globally to maintain a steady semblance of supply. Patchy pollination last spring reduced crop volumes while this season’s harvest had proved to be later than usual for the Green fruit, with sugar levels taking longer than usual to lift to match export taste profile requirements. “However, what we are also seeing is the fourth year in a row where growers are receiving around $50,000 a hectare for the fruit despite the variability in supply we have experienced over that time.” He said $50,000-$55,000 a hectare was a “good solid number” to generate realistic, sustainable returns for orchard owners. This year’s taste profile and fruit size were both up on last year’s. Despite the decline in Green

DIFFICULT: Zespri is doing all it can to maintain a steady supply of kiwifruit so its outlets can keep up with demand, chief operating officer Simon Limmer says. Photo: Sarah Brook

volume, the season remained the second largest on record with 55m trays of Sungold also being harvested for global markets that appeared to hold an almost insatiable demand for the highervalue fruit. China continued to be the big driver of demand for Sungold with sales volumes up 50% last year and 40% this year. The marketer had managed to tie down supply channels in China, becoming an importer of record, enabling it to control the

distribution of fruit rather than relying on private distributors. The number of Zespri offices in China was being expanded from two to five. “Managing the fruit ourselves means we can better manage our investment in the brand,” Limmer said. “We now have brand recognition equal to that of other big fruit brands like Dole and Sunkist despite us only having been in existence for 20 years.” China’s domestic production

of kiwifruit was now about 1.5m tonnes a year, three times NZ’s, with a populace very familiar with the fruit. It was also a market that would require some locally grown supply to augment and complement the seasonally opposite supply from New Zealand. Limmer acknowledged China was “challenging on every front” and that included the risk Zespri’s franchised plant varieties could fall into non-franchised growers’ hands. “That is not a surprise but we are working hard on that. Plant variety protection is important, given what growers here are investing in licences.” NZ licences for Sungold are now well north of $200,000 a hectare, with a further 400ha being sold this year and three more tranches over the coming three seasons planned. “We are trying to shift the dial (around plant variety protection) in our favour, working on it at a government level.” In terms of growing crop in China Limmer said three areas had to be addressed – food safety, quality and consumer acceptance of Chinese fruit. “We can answer the first two quite well, the third is harder.” Zespri was still working on the

Time ripe for direct apple sales Tim Fulton THE time is ripe for Mr Apple to sell direct to Chinese retailers, owner Scales Corporation says. The past year had been a stunner for Mr Apple on almost every count, outgoing Scales chairman Jon Mayson told shareholders at the 105th annual meeting. Mr Apple was a major earner for the publicly-listed Scales group, reaping $43.6 million of pre-tax earnings (EBITDA) in the 2016 financial year. The diversified Scales agribusiness employed more than 600 permanent staff with total staff rising to about 2400 at the peak of the apple harvest. By picking and selling more than half a billion apples the grower, packer and exporter bumped up revenue in Scales’ hefty horticulture division by 29%. Highlights included a record crop and meeting a 2020 production target four years ahead of schedule. China would continue to be a major export market, Mayson said. No single apple brand had cornered the market so Mr Apple had an opportunity to lead the way by selling directly to retailers as well as online. Mr Apple entered China on a business-to-business basis but technology now allowed it to pitch product straight to consumers, he said. It was a distinct turn for NZXlisted Scales, which has had a Chinese shareholder, China

Resources Ng Fung, on its stock register since March 2016. China Resources chief executive Weiyong Wang became a director in June that year. Mayson said both China Resources Ng Fung and Wang brought a wealth of experience across a broad range of industries as well as strong networks and connections to mainland China. Group-wide, Scales’ underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of $38.6m was just over 10% ahead of the year before. The listed company had achieved double-digit compounding profit growth in both underlying EBITDA and NPAT over the past five years. The horticulture division achieved 45% compounding underlying growth in pre-tax earnings over the past five years. Overall, Scales was well placed to make further acquisitions with cash and debt finance. Mayson used his final chairman’s address to touch on the difficulties New Zealand companies faced in continuously monitoring and reporting foreign ownership. A NZ company with overseas ownership of 25% or more was considered an overseas person under the Overseas Investment Act. With that, it was required to apply for consent for certain sensitive land purchases and leases. The law also applied to investments in business assets with a value of more than $100m.

Mayson said while an overseas person acquiring shares in Scales would be required to determine the overall level of overseas ownership and whether consent was required, a number of institutional and retail shareholders did not follow that process. “In addition, the monitoring of shareholding is complex and ongoing changes in shareholdings and shareholders is frequent.” Scales intended to now “provide the market with regular updates of the estimated level of foreign ownership of Scales’ shares”. Mayson said it did intend to introduce restrictions on share transfers. “We welcome all shareholders but wish to avoid a shareholder unintentionally tipping Scales into overseas person status and triggering a requirement to seek Overseas Investment Office approval to own Scales shares.” Obtaining OIO consent could be “a drawn-out process that may, at the time, have a financial and operational impact on the business”. Additionally, Scales would adopt a selective approach to placing new shares, such as in consideration for bolt-on acquisitions.” It would also lobby authorities to introduce “new and or practical guidelines for shareholders and listed companies”. Mayson said Scales remained a vocal supporter of similar

reporting rules to Australia, which counted only disclosed relevant interests towards a listed company’s overseas ownership levels. If applied to NZ, only companies with an interest of more than 5% would be counted in that calculation. After the meeting managing director Andy Borland said the level of total foreign ownership was about 23%. The figure had risen by about 1% since China Resources joined the register. Borland estimated Scales had hundreds of overseas institutional investors, many of whom might have parcels of $50,000 to $100,000 they had bought as part of a much bigger, broader portfolio. It was no fault of any of those investors that disclosure on a diverse register like Scales’ was hard to manage, he said. On market developments, Borland said Mr Apple was transforming itself: six years ago two thirds of its Chinese sales were wholesale and now the same proportion was retail. China Resources was helping Mr Apple’s transition, selling apples to householders ordering on e-portals like Fruit Day. In major cities like Shanghai buyers could have same-day delivery. Borland said top-end Chinese consumers favoured NZ apples because they were considered safe. Chinese, mindful of the “history and bad experiences” of local food, routinely washed apples with detergent before peeling.

business model it could employ once it started growing fruit in China but there were a few other successful fruit-growing models to follow, particularly in the berry sector. “There are also some interesting varieties coming out of China that are obviously already adapted to the local environment.” Zespri expected its supply volume would always remain domestically skewed but longer term the current 10% from offshore could move up to 25%. Limmer said the sweet spot the sector was in gave management time to look more strategically ahead to consider big-picture issues like offshore crop supply and new varieties. However, the much-promised red variety was still at least two years from commercial launch. Limmer’s key concerns revolved around the usual bogey men issues, including Trump’s thumbs-down to the Trans Pacific Partnership and a nervousness about what Brexit might mean to Zespri’s massive European market. “And Chinese growth rates mean we are running faster than ever and to try to get on the front foot we have to think ahead and be sure our growers are ready to shift with us,” he said.

Jager wins award for best communicator ZESPRI chief executive Lain Jager is the 2017 Ravensdown Agricultural Communicator of the Year, an award organised by the Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators. Jager has been chief executive since 2008 and is retiring later this year. In his time with Zespri annual global sales almost quadrupled from $500 million to $1.9 billion. He was credited with an open, accessible and direct style of communication along with an ability to make complicated information understandable. Jager said the only way the Zespri “ecosystem” worked was through communication. The kiwifruit industry had good stories to tell about the recovery from devastating disease and the innovations along the value chain. “We rely on agricultural journalists to share our stories around the world and we recognise the challenges you face through pressure on resources and the effects on the quality of what you do,” he said. The award was sponsored for the first time in 31 years by Ravensdown. Its innovation and strategy general manager Mike Manning said agricultural communication was vital when the primary sector’s social licence to operate was under severe jeopardy. “We need to communicate in ways that are not flippant or cynical,” he said. “I am not sure how we do it but we must do better.”

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Let’s work together, Sanson says Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com OPEN spaces, open hearts and open minds will be the way forward for a happy and healthy partnership between conservation and farming, Conservation Department director-general Lou Sanson says. Addressing the Federated Farmers South Island highcountry farmers’ conference, Sanson said collaboration was the way forward. While conservation sat at the core of tourism, high-country farming played an equally important part. “High country is an integral part of New Zealand’s integrity and the NZ brand, the iconic musterers’ hut is so often how we are seen by tourism and in many respects it’s important to retain that.” But Sanson said there were wider issues such as the demise of biodiversity by stoats, rats and possums. “Do we go hard on gene-editing? There’s a complex policy debate as to which way do we go – NZ GE-free or the NZ brand with the iconic musterers’ hut.” Collaboration was the way forward for conservation that sat

It’s not about telling farmers what to do. It’s about how we work together with your landscape and our landscape. Lou Sanson DOC

MONEY: The Conservation Department has to get better at dealing with the commercial aspects of its work, its director-general Lou Sanson says.

at the core of NZ tourism, now the country’s number one export industry. “Because of the image of Peter Jackson on your farms the world is falling in love with us. “More and bigger planes, cheaper airfares – 50% of international holiday visitors come to NZ to connect to our natural places and that’s going up 10% every year. “We, farming and conservation, are sitting at the heart of that.

Case dropped on Mackenzie Basin appeal Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com A LEGAL interpretation on the implications of a proposed plan change in the central South Island’s Mackenzie Basin appears to have partially satisfied the district’s farmers. Farmers have dropped a High Court appeal seeking clarity on an Environment Court decision on Plan Change 13, a Mackenzie District Council proposal they feared meant they would require resource consent for activities such as fencing and applying fertiliser. Federated Farmers high country executive member Andrew Simpson said despite still having some reservations he was satisfied the plan change applied only to undeveloped land. “The legal advice we’ve had is that it won’t affect what we’ve been doing.” The appeal was designed to get clarity about the implications of appeals to an Environment Court ruling. “As soon as we got that clarification, which we

got last week, we were able to withdraw it.” Farmers wanted a positive working relationship with the council and to ensure implementation of the plan change was workable. The legal opinion was that development of any undeveloped land would require resource consent, which was a broadening of existing rules. So long as land was already developed then it was business as usual. Previously land indentified as having significant value such as lake side or in a scenic area would require resource consent but the changes made developing any undeveloped land more difficult. Simpson said he welcomed the chance to show concerned parties farming and environmental practices on farms in the basin. “So they can see how we operate and make informed comments instead of the illinformed ones that have been floating about in the media.”

“Conservation underpins our wellbeing and prosperity and farming is a big part of that,” Sanson said. DOC’s 2025 “stretched goals” were working with others, including the Ministry for Primary Industries, to inspire and deliver world-leading conservation. Predators were doing so much damage to conservation and primary industry, that being predator-free by 2050 was the goal. “If we can knock this we can move ahead and that makes sense

in terms of future investment.” Sanson said there was often criticism that DOC was missing in the advocacy area. “You know I would prefer to sit down and talk about things rather than go to the Environment Court. Collaboration is where it happens.” DOC had a shared vision for the high country but getting a common agreement as a country and making use of the latest science was a work in progress. “It’s not about telling farmers what to do. It’s about how we work together with your landscape and our landscape.” Sanson acknowledged his department’s decisions were not always popular but it had

to balance commercial and environment interests with the competing demands of farming, tourism and environmentalists. “There is a culture in DOC which welcomes people but finds the commercial stuff quite hard and we’ve got to get better at that because tourism has really taken off. “Tourism is crying out for the iconic landscape and some of the most pristine rivers we have left are in the high country of Canterbury. “We have got this huge growth in tourism but how do we balance biodiversity and how do we clip the ticket?” One option being looked at was a GPS ticketing system to keep track of tourist numbers and ensure everyone contributed to the cost of looking after the environment. “If we all work together in a collaborative way, regional councils, government, farming – for sure, balancing all interests with the growth in tourism will be challenging but we can do it if we sit down and do it together. “Imagine, tourists in a hut paying $100,000 and eating Molesworth beef – there’s a vision,” Sanson said.

Council to go easy on farmer compliance Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com OTAGO farmers will be required to use the latest available version of Overseer to manage nutrient leaching when the region’s water plan is fully introduced in 2020. The council already monitors farmer compliance for ponding and sediment discharge but from 2020 that will extend to nitrate, phosphorous and E. coli leaching in to waterways. Council chief executive Peter Bodeker said monitoring would require farmers to use the most current version of Overseer, a software tool designed to help farmers and growers make nutrient and stocking decisions, monitor nutrient use on their land and assess management options. Bodeker acknowledged some farmers who complied with one version of Overseer might not comply using a newer version but the council would be tolerant and not heavy-handed with those who were slightly over. “Obviously, we will set an Overseer number but if you are five or 10 either side of it there will be a margin of error. “The gross effects are what we will be looking for and what farmers will use it for. If you are miles

over that number then that is what we are concerned about.” The use of Overseer had caused issues for farmers in the Manawatu-Wanganui (Horizons) Region following a successful Environment Court ruling taken by the Aucklandbased Environmental Defence Society (EDS) and Wellington Fish and Game. The court found the council was not adhering to its One Plan in relation to nutrient leaching and could not be tolerant of deviations. The Farmers Weekly was told the problem was the council’s reliance on Overseer to provide a literal measure of nutrient loss using an early version of the programme. The release of newer versions, which the court said must be used to monitor leaching, rendered many farmers who were compliant under that earlier version non compliant though their farm management was unchanged. The council then said future consents would require more information, take longer to process and be more costly. Bodeker said Overseer would become more accurate as the technology was refined but he acknowledged it could mean farmers who were

compliant under one version might not be under another. “Obviously, we will set an Overseer number but if you are five or 10 either side of it there will be a margin of error. especially in the early stages.” The Otago council saw Overseer as a tool to help identify the causes of significant water degradation but many farmers were already addressing those issues through grazing management to reduce sediment and E. coli. An independent survey for the council found increasing numbers of Otago farmers were looking for information and advice on how to minimise their impact on water quality and to how to comply with the Water Plan. The annual survey revealed more than half of farmers had a good or excellent understanding of what they needed to do to comply, a similar level to last year. It also found 14% of dairy, sheep and beef farmers – double the previous year – wanted more information on how to comply. Bodeker said the surge in respondents looking for more information suggested farmers were not being complacent and those who previously

assumed they knew what was required of them were now aware they needed to be better informed. Overall, 11% of respondents said they had made all the changes needed to ensure their operations were compliant while 38% said they had made most of the required changes, up from 28% in 2015 and 35% last year. In addition, 35% said they had made some of the changes, up from 31% last year, while just 14% said they had not yet made any changes to their farming practices, a decrease from last year. Bodeker said land management changes involved fencing and upgrading effluent systems and took time and were costly. The survey also showed some farmers were unclear about how to comply with the Water Plan and the council was considering several initiatives including employing three more environmental risk assessment staff. “We are aware that many farmers are responding positively to our unique, effects-based approach to water quality compliance and we are committed to ensuring that those who are unclear or confused get the targeted information they need to do the same,” he said.

News

18 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Rain dampens earnings Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com PGG Wrightson is looking for a new chief executive and has warned an unfavourable autumn means its full year profit will be at the bottom end of its forecast range. In a New Zealand Stock Exchange announcement PGW said the board would start a leadership review as a result of chief executive Mark Dewdney’s resignation, a process that should have a new leader in place in January. Dewdney, who was appointed in June 2013, told the board he wanted to pursue private interests and his resignation would take effect from the end of the year. The rural services company confirmed earlier predictions the 2017 year would be more difficult than 2016, with the full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) expected to be at the bottom of the $62 million to $68m range. “As a consequence PGW also expects net profit after tax to also be towards the lower end of the previously announced guidance range of $46m to $51m.” Dewdney said PGW was

tracking ahead of forecast before autumn but unfavourable weather in the final quarter of the financial year put a dampener on expected earnings, especially from seed and grain. “April was very wet for most of the country and this made crops difficult to harvest and paddocks challenging to work.” Lower grain harvest yields meant reduced earnings from processing and drying while demand for seed was lower because farmers couldn’t complete their regrassing and autumn pasture renewal. The livestock division had a strong final quarter and retail traded extremely well given the challenging weather, but spring was the key trading period for the rural supplies business. “There are some signs of improving confidence in a number of key agricultural sectors and the early indications for our 2018 financial year are looking encouraging. “Our 2016 earnings were a record and we are hoping that FY18 will be close to that again.” Dewdney said. The full year’s result would be released on August 8. PGW chairman Alan Lai said Dewdney had done an excellent job implementing a strategy of

Creditors left $9m in red as trainer folds Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com

GOING: Mark Dewdney is leaving PGG Wrightson to pursue private interests.

building staff engagement and capability and growing key areas of the business. The board would balance continuity and renewal in its leadership review. “PGW has an experienced and stable management team in place and the board will consider potential internal and external candidates in the review process.”

CREDITORS have been left $9 million out of pocket following the liquidation of a Southland agricultural training organisation. Agribusiness Training was put in liquidation by shareholders in October 2015 after the Tertiary Education Commission claimed it was in breach of funding conditions for the previous seven years. It was initially ordered to repay $6.24m but that was later increased to $8.4m and a final report from the company’s liquidator, Insolvency Management, said just $1.883m had been recovered and repaid to creditors. Agribusiness was a private tertiary training provider for land based industries but an investigation by Deloitte found five programmes delivered fewer teaching hours than the NZ Qualification’s Authority expected. The liquidator’s report said the TEC claim related to a period when the company structure and governance of Agribusiness

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Training differed from that which was put in liquidation. The company directors were of the view the training services had been delivered correctly and it was a case of interpretation and ambiguity. “Consequently, after taking legal advice on the demand and accounting advice on the implications of the same, the shareholders resolved to put the company in to liquidation given that there was no guarantee of future funding.” The report also said the authority did not have concerns about the standard of teaching or the qualifications obtained by students. Claims totalling more than $11m were made by creditors, of which $10.9m was unsecured. The liquidator recovered $1.883m with $1.77m paid to preferential and unsecured creditors. Student results were updated to ensure they received appropriate credits and any student claims for course fees were dealt with through a trust fund and on a case-by-case basis, the liquidator said.

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Regulation is wanted for organic farms ORGANIC farmers want the Government to regulate their sector to provide a national standard to protect use of the word organic. Some of the country’s largest organic businesses have just hosted the Primary Production Select Committee in Hawke’s Bay at an Organics Aotearoa New Zealand field trip Chief executive Brendan Hoare said the organic sector was growing 11% a year and was now worth more than half a billion dollars to the economy. “We are all serious operators and we want the Government to see that we are all about adding value. “We need them to get behind our sector and provide the necessary protection experienced in other markets.” There were no Government regulations for use of the word “organic” and OANZ wanted a single national standard to protect growing organic businesses. The request had the backing of all national certification agencies – each with its own standard. “A single national standard would deliver greater efficiency and clarity for the consumer. “The organic sector covers all market segments but at the moment anyone can set up an organic business and they do not need to be certified. “It is simply unfair and undermining our potential to grow in both the domestic and international markets. The economic opportunity is significant and we want to protect that,” Hoare said. NZ was one of the few countries in the world that didn’t have regulations protecting the use of the term organic and a supporting national organic standard. The MPs were taken to Te Awa Winery where Villa Maria’s Organic wines were showcased. They were then shown around Lawson’s Organic Farms growing True Earth blueberries and vegetables. True Earth Owner Scott Lawson said a national standard was a no-brainer. “A national standard is needed because the consumer has the right to know. When we are exporting the first question we get asked is, ‘What is your national standard?’” At Bostock’s Organic Free Range Chicken Farm owners, Ben and George Bostock, told the MPs regulation was important and would give more credibility and trust. “We spend a lot more money than conventional farmers to ensure we are farming sustainably and providing consumers with a truly organic product. “It is important that consumers trust the word organic.” NZ’s largest organic apple grower and pioneer of commercial organic apple growing, John Bostock, said “it is unbelievable that a clean, green country like NZ doesn’t provide some form of protection for organic businesses. “There has been so much false advertising in the past and we still have not tidied up our act. “We need to shake up the Government to see sense.” Committee chairman and Rangitikei National MP Ian McKelvie said he was impressed by what he saw in Hawke’s Bay and was supportive of OANZ calls for regulation. “The Ministry for Primary Industries is certainly looking at this issue. “The organic sector is big business now and very organised and the Government is listening to these concerns.” Green Party MP Eugenie Sage said a national standard could be achieved very quickly and wasn’t a complicated process.

ODD ONE OUT: New Zealand is one of just a few countries not to have organic regulation, Organics Aoteraroa NZ chief executive Brendan Hoare says.

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20 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Newsmaker

HELPER: Neil Bateup has been a go-to guy for farmers but has never sought the glory of high-profile roles.

Tough times mould farm mentor Neil Bateup is heading the new national organisation for rural support trusts. His insight comes from having been through farming’s tough times over the last 40-odd years. He spoke to Richard Rennie.

ITH more than 40 years farming experience Neil Bateup can recall a few times he could have done with some of the support he dispenses today when things are getting tough in his Waikato Rural Support Trust (RST) area. As the trust’s long-standing chairman who has farmed in north Waikato all his life, Bateup has experienced pretty much everything farming can throw at him and his peers. He and wife Eileen own a 700cow dairy unit on the fringe of north Waikato, proven to have been one of the driest parts of the North Island. It is a location that quickly dismisses any sentiment farming in Waikato is an easy cruise. The Bateup property has a rolling contour laid over tough clay soil that goes from pugged mess to solid concrete in a couple of weeks. In 2003 they became once-a-day milking pioneers, aiming to make life easier on the herd and staff,

adjusting to the farm’s seasonal challenges while keeping it a lowinput, low-cost operation. As generous with his time as he is with his spirit, for the past 13 years Bateup managed to juggle the demands of his property with the pressure that comes from heading up an organisation that regularly deals with stressful situations. He says he’s happy to assume the mantle of inaugural chairman for the national Rural Support Trust group, representing the 14 rural support trusts around the country. It is a good fit for a man who has always stayed very hands-on in his own farming business, never actively seeking out high profile political farming roles. “I guess over the years I have become the go-to person when adverse events happen, sort of an unofficial spokesman. “The Government is also increasingly relying on the trusts to become the interface with farmers.” He believed the trusts’ ability to do so came from their neutral

position in the mosaic of rural support and services. “We have the ability to source a wide range of people with a wide range of skills, including counselling, financial skills and farm management. “Farmers also often feel most comfortable talking to other farmers around the kitchen table. “Often we may find the problem we are called about is actually more multi-faceted, possibly the feed shortage that has contributed to depression that is causing problems at home too.”

We saw interest rates that were 12.5% when we took out the loan shoot up to 26%.

Bateup was best characterised by the upbeat, positive view he held about farming and life in general, but he admitted that like all farmers he had experienced his share of tough periods over the years. The mid-eighties in the years of Rogernomics reform came down hard on young farmers like him

and his brother Bruce who had just bought a block in the district. “We saw interest rates that were 12.5% when we took out the loan shoot up to 26%. “It was tough enough I had to learn to shear sheep, something I never expected to be doing or have done since. “The block had sheep on it that were worth next to nothing. “Bruce and I would milk in the morning, shear these sheep all day and Eileen would come down with our four small kids to be fleeso then we would grab a cup of tea and head back home to milk. “It was just what you had to do and we did get through it to enjoy some good times later.” Even as recently as last spring Bateup witnessed one of the toughest seasons in more recent times as Waikato experienced 100 days of rain out of 120 between July and October. Coinciding with a dismal dairy payout, it had his trust phone ringing at a rate of a farmer a day requiring some contact. It also came at a time when the suicide rate in rural Waikato had already tripled with six farmers taking their lives to the year ended June 30 2015. Bateup believed the stresses of farming had shifted in the past 10 years.

In his younger years much of the stress came from the sheer hard work that had to be done to make a farm work successfully. “Today they are coming more from compliance requirements, health and safety demands and very volatile payout movements and that is the same I think for beef farmers too.” Extra pressure came when an anti-farming attitude towards the sector was added in, leaving farmers driven into something of a siege mentality. “There is a sense of frustration there that we have been spending a lot of money to do a better job with the environment but mainstream media chooses not to really see that.” He had a sense of pride the tiny team he started off with 14 years ago now had access to a wide pool of very experienced and talented people who could help farmers out of a hole. Looking over the sad figures of farmer suicides, Bateup could say unequivocally his team had saved lives with a timely visit. From time to time that included a personal visit from him. “I do know of situations where we have saved lives, even if we only save one person, the rural support trusts have done what we are here to do.”

New thinking

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Making a beeline for prizes Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com

OUR years after the concept came to him and on his first time at the National Fieldays Darren Bainbridge won four innovation awards for his electronic MyApiary products. With co-founder Carl Vink, Bainbridge creamed the awards among 80 entrants with their cloud-based operations management tool for beekeeping. The custom-built tool was delivered on licence for the required number of users, effectively making MyApiary the IT provider for the beekeeper. All of the biggest bee companies had shown interest in the service, Bainbridge said.

WINNERS: Innovations prizewinner StockX was represented by, from left, Emma Oliver, Digby Philip and Jason Roebuck.

BEST IN CLASS: MyApiary co-founder Carl Vink and marketing intern Stephanie Fankhauser with the trophies won.

Innovation is the key to future growth of the agriculture sector. Peter Carr Fieldays Society The qualified engineer with experience of product development and start-ups became aware of the need for beekeeping back-office products and joined with Vink to develop, build and market them. They also kept bees near Hamilton. MyApiary retained all work schedules, site details, hive treatments, locations and landowner details and produced customised reports. Health and safety records, hazards and mitigation steps were also tracked. Data was generated and entered on location or in the office. Reports included consumables, staff time and resources used and MyApiary would be continually updated with registration requirements and disease declarations.

TILLAGE: Brian, left, and Keith Taege brought their award-winning power discs to the Innovations Centre at National Fieldays.

Bainbridge and Vink also sold an imported hive tracker, enabling asset location on GPS and cell phones, with four years of battery life. Location reporting could be varied from every 10 minutes to 48 hours, guarding against unauthorised removal. MyApiary headed the awards list with the Grassroots Prototype Award, the Vodafone ICT Award, the Tompkins Wake IP and

Commercialisation Award and the Callaghan Innovation Partnership and Collaboration Award. The Fieldays Established Prototype Award was won by Taege Engineering, Canterbury, with its power discs that resulted in better tilling before drilling or planting, saving time and effort when the ground was unsuitable for traditional discing. The Fieldays Innovation Launch Award was won by Hydratorq of

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ON SHOW: Innovations award entrants De-Fence were Robert Morbey and James Mitchell.

Hastings with its BioFume Ozone system for cleaning, bacterial management and bleaching. Hydratorq also won a Locus Research Innovation Award. The judges said it would have applications across dairy, viticulture and horticulture. An Innovation Launch highly commended award went to StockX for its internet selling platform.

The Origin Innovation Award went to Spectrum Innovations with the M6 13 Auto Sawmill. National Fieldays Society president Peter Carr said the awards were recognised internationally as a launch pad for leading New Zealand innovations. All entrants had access to industry experts and advice. “Innovation is the key to future growth of the agriculture sector,” he said.

Opinion

22 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

EDITORIAL

Selling what we stand for

Stephen Bell

LETTERS

Safety issue for older farmers IN Crossing the finish line in one piece (The Pulpit May 22) Dave Hunger highlights issues which are salient for many older farmers. There is a constant flow of coverage on a wide range of issues relating to onfarm safety – everything from depression to quad bike helmets and water quality, even when dairy farming issues eclipse almost everything else. But little attention is paid to the dangers of being an old farmer. People often remind us that it’s time to take it easy and seem to ignore all the other factors that mean we carry on. Years of experience can pay off when you know your stock, your weather and your farm

well. Yet the same bonus of years makes us vulnerable, as Dave Hunger points out. My husband Graham Fenwick has been farming deer since the first deer auction in Wanaka in 1977. Every year he must pass all the associated tests and audits to continue to remove velvet. He is 75 and fit and well enough. These days he is much more cautious about making those dodgy, impatient and thoughtless moves that can spell trouble or doom. And there have been plenty of them, believe me. Any thought of retirement vanished with the first log truck that came roaring through our farm two years ago. An old right of way clause in our purchase agreement, which we had mostly ignored, suddenly came to life and

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picture the scenario in HD clarity. It hurt. So let’s talk more about how to make sure that we reach the finish line in one piece. Thanks Dave, for starting the conversation. Denise Cush Bideford

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Letterof theWeek

EDITOR Bryan Gibson bryan.gibson@nzx.com

plunged us into a huge clash of cultures – farming versus forestry, removing any chance of selling our small hill country farm unless we sold to forestry. The logging is nearly over. The whole operation has caused us huge stress and yes, to be honest, some improvements. Soon we will have the place more or less to ourselves again. We will leave when we decide to and until that day we will keep going. At lunchtime or on rainy days we scour the farming papers for stories similar to ours. They’re out there. Like many older couples we do not have other members of the family involved and it’s just us, carrying on farming. It was hard to read about the death of the 80-yearold farmer two days before Christmas last year. We could

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TOP pussyfooting and fiddling round the fringes is the message coming through loud and clear for the primary sector if it wants a successful and prosperous future. In this issue readers can see the message for themselves in the latest KPMG Agribusiness Agenda: The Recipe for Action and in The Pulpit where Nuffield Scholar Nadine Porter tells us what her worldwide studies have revealed. It also came through in last week’s Farmers Weekly where another Nuffield Scholar, Jessica Benseman, gave her findings. It’s reflected, too, in this year’s Fieldays theme: Leading Change. The change, and it’s here now, is massive and could turn the world as we know it in the primary sector on its head. Safeways supermarket chain in America this week signed a deal for supply of synthetic protein. This is not a vague idea of a brave new world at some distance in the future. It’s here now. It’s reality. The big challenge comes from synthetic and plant-based proteins that are being promoted already as safe, healthy and environmentally friendly. They don’t have animal welfare issues and use fewer resources than animal farming. In other words, consumers are being told they can save the planet. Our challenges are to get past our domestic issues so we can concentrate of dealing with the world and overseas customers’ perception of what we are trying to sell to them. At Fieldays the Government released a roadmap for primary sector science. We need a roadmap for the primary sector that involves the whole country. It must put together a solution that fits like jigsaw pieces for the environment, primary sector, tourism and all citizens. We need to get our act together and decide what New Zealand stands for before we can sell our vision of utopia to the rest of the world. That means making decisions at a national level about use of resources, animal and human welfare, genetic modification and getting customers to buy in to our beliefs.

Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Why NZ Inc is dead in the water Nadine Porter

IGHT now, I want you to forget everything you think you know. Forget NZ Incorporated, forget 100% Pure, forget farmers pasting themselves over social media and forget their frustration at having to market themselves when they are paying levies and taxes to do the same job while spending copious amounts of think time puzzling how to relay the passion they have for what they do. Forget it all. Throw it out. Clear your mind and reset. In this new mindset, allow farmers to do what they do best – allow them to produce food on their land as efficiently and sustainably as they can. NZ Inc will not get us over the line. In fact, I believe if we proceed in this direction we are dead ducks in the water because that race left the starting canal a decade ago. After eight weeks travelling with international Nuffield agricultural scholars on a Global Focus Programme I have seen the colossal advances Advance Australia Fair has made in the red meat market. I have also seen slick alternative protein messaging, countries filling the space New Zealand used to command and regionalism completely metamorphosing the market as we know it. Probably the most significant announcement in recent global food industry news occurred this week when United States supermarket chain, Safeways, trumpeted its move into Beyond Meat’s alternative plant based protein across all of its stores in the meat chillers alongside the real deal … or is it real for that much longer? The only people who can answer that are the consumers and answer it they will. Consumer behaviour worldwide is a changing feast or famine, depending on what side of the fence you sit. This, then, is the choice NZ faces … what side will it fall on? Is this a negative or do we see it as a vast untapped opportunity? It is a difference in mindset and it is important because the farmers I have had the pleasure of talking to since arriving back in Godzone have seemed both confused and conflicted. Their message has warped and become mutated. How is it that those who produce our food are now being asked to be the marketers and drivers of its fate? When did that narrative shift to their shoulders? Are they qualified to do that job? And, if not, where is our food sector failing in dumping that burden on their shoulders alone? I need to be clear here. To do that I want to share what consumers are demanding globally. It might surprise you. Firstly, put aside country of origin right now. Yes, NZ holds a high quality food safety reputation in Asia but in developed countries

TRAVELLERS: Nuffield scholars, from left, Mat Hocken, Nadine Porter and Ryan O’Sullivan in Brazil with one of their hosts second from left.

The

Pulpit

NZ markets into, I saw no differentiation between NZ and other countries. In fact, in the US when I talked to consumers and supermarkets, it was disturbing to find Australia was perceived as a more pure country than our own and had superior individualised, imaging and messaging on all products I saw. Put simply, we are too hung up on the value of having NZ on our product and have compromised our messaging because of that. Many countries are employing incredibly smart thinkers who are putting them into and ahead of our space in that area. It is naive to think that is what was will always be. This is why I hold grave concerns around the NZ Inc concept. To me it feels like every week it is morphing into something infinitely bigger that will be unable to deliver in real time what consumers actually want. Today is already yesterday. So what of tomorrow? And why did Safeways see a future in alternative protein when we have been so slow here to understand its repercussions?

Like all major supermarket retailers, Safeways analyses forward mega trends and consumer behaviour. If it believes in alternative protein you had better believe it is going to be a game changer. Right now, we are on the wrong side of that. In addition, here is the curveball no-one is planning for. Visualise an avian influenza epidemic in, say, the United Kingdom or a foot and mouth outbreak that led to a shortage of poultry or red meat protein in supermarkets and suspicion on the safety of food. What then happens? Who is ready to pounce? That is all it takes for the clean meat message to dominate the market. They pull the consumer into buying what will be a cheaper product with claims of added nutritional value and those industries are facing the biggest disrupter to date. The vacuum should be the feared disruptor to all meat protein industries right now – but is it? How is NZ placed to cope with a massive rejection on that scale? What is our Plan B? We lack understanding of what the consumer wants. That is reflected in our persistence in marketing legs of lamb in unattractive packaging. If you haven’t grown up eating that cut you are not about to start trying. To that consumer it is about as attractive as eating a giraffe’s tongue. That matters when you find out where the buying power is going to be. Right now, under 18s are the largest global demographic at 2.4 billion. They will be the most socially conscious generation in history and are projected to live, on average, for a century. They are fundamentally programmed differently. They will self-teach and demand full

transparency in every product they buy. The old rules do not apply and neither do today’s rules and, by the way, don’t expect tomorrow’s to either. In terms of social conscience they will demand sustainable produce. They will reject food that has travelled thousands of miles and, therefore, could be a nightmare for the future of exportdriven agricultural economies like NZ. While we are bogged down in talking about a perceived urbanrural rift, we are missing the bigger global picture.

We are too hung up on the value of having NZ on our product and have compromised our messaging because of that.

I have often heard urban dwellers being described as ignorant of farmers. Since I have got back, I have followed a lot of social media commentary and have felt farmers’ resentment at feeling misunderstood and unappreciated. However, there are two ways to look at this. One is to hunker down, react bitterly and ignore market signals and the other is to acknowledge that today’s urbanites are more engaged and educated about what goes on inside our farms than ever before. I know that is an opinion that will be hard to swallow but humour me and strike up conversations with younger consumers. They will tell you how they

watch documentaries on their phones and read online about sustainability. Sure, they might not be able to go out and do a milking or understand why we take tails off lambs but they do understand their planet, climate change and the part red meat production might play in that. Whether you like it or not, until we accept their position, their views and their power of purchase we will never command premiums or a future for our red meat industry. So, NZ Inc is out. Regionalism is in. 100% Pure is out and is indefensible in any situation. Vegetarian-fed is in. Carbon footprint is in. Exporting nations at the bottom of the world could be out. Sustainability is in and perceived water-heavy foods such as almond milk and meat proteins will increasingly be disregarded on the shelves. What should we do about it? Well, for one we must collate the best and brightest minds in the world, bring them together and write our own narrative to the future, one that comes up with our own version of clean meat and one that doesn’t have a corporate brand associated with it. The cynicism related to any messaging today means we have to be subtle and cleverer than we’ve ever been and we must be looking 30 years out and engaging on the mega trends we expect then, right now. It must be a sustained, consumer-driven message and it must begin now because we have already lost the first skirmishes. Now it’s time to win the war.

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

24 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Water report ignores reality Alternative View

Alan Emerson

PREDICATABLY, the recently announced rescue plan for our freshwater annoyed me considerably. To the credit of the mainstream media it received little coverage. It was an unholy amalgam of the predictable anti-farming groups with a script better suited to farce than a credible discussion. We’ve heard most of it before. They want to cut public subsidies to irrigation, thus condemning communities to a lower standard of living along with failing to future-proof our economy. They want irrigation funding put into an agriculture transition fund to diversify to more environmentally friendly farming. We’ve heard all of that before as well, and my simple question is to ask to what? The statements we’ve had from the brains trust at Massey University suggesting trees are laughable. Could the farmer who could afford to forgo any income for 28 years please stand up. They want to reduce cow numbers immediately, totally ignoring the excellent work dairy farmers are doing to reduce their footprint. They also want to start an all-of-

government effort to transition to a low-carbon economy. Just how are we going to do that short of the idiotic suggestion we get rid of all farm animals? The groups involved are predictable anti-farming types including Massey University, Fish and Game, Forest and Bird, Greenpeace, Federated Mountain Clubs and the Tourism Export Council. Greenpeace has a history of not letting facts get in the way of a good story. Surprisingly, one Lesley Immink of the Tourism Export Council described her organisation as being like “the Fonterra of tourism”.

Surprisingly, one Lesley Immink of the Tourism Export Council described her organisation as being like “the Fonterra of tourism”.

As we all know, Fonterra shareholders own most of our cows, the very animals the group wants to get rid of. Maybe it was an acknowledgement of all the crap freedom campers spread round, brought to New Zealand by her organisation. Massey’s Professor Russell Death was quoted as saying he’d been involved with fresh water for several decades and “it feels like in

that time I’ve just been recording the death and destruction of our waterways”. It is a broad statement aimed more at headlines than fact, but it contradicts many of the more credible reports we’ve had. We know that 80% of our rivers are improving or being maintained. There are a variety of reasons for the degradation of the remaining 20% including soil erosion, wildfowl such as ducks and geese, factory discharges, farm animals, urban sewerage and storm water. In addition, the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics NZ report told us pollution is worse in urban rivers than rural. It said much of the damage was done 60 years ago at a time intensive agriculture didn’t exist. So, water quality is not solely an agricultural problem as the authors of the report maintain. Another academic, Professor Michael Baker from Otago University said the increase in dairy cattle density was responsible for a huge load of animal faeces going into waterways. He added “This has resulted in a big rise in a very serious pathogen called Shiga toxin, producing E. coli.” Again the MfE-Statistics NZ report maintained E. coli was 22 times higher in urban rivers than rural. Further the Ministry of Health website told me Shiga toxinproducing E. coli was transmitted by eating contaminated raw food, drinking raw milk, drinking

WAY FORWARD: Federated Farmers president Dr William Rolleston has urged environment groups to engage not enrage.

contaminated water, contact with infected animals and contact with faeces of infected people. Again, it is not solely an agricultural problem. So my take on the document is that it started from an established anti-farming position and gathered what information it could to justify the initial stance. If they wanted to be credible they should have included the farming sector and soil scientists in the discussion. As Dr William Rolleston has said, “engage not enrage”. The Government’s chief science adviser Sir Peter Gluckman wants “a more mature conversation on water quality issues”, adding an “end to the polarised positions that have characterised the debate so far”. I totally agree. That’s also an approach the Labour Party should acknowledge.

Its fresh water policy is firmly anti-farmer. I can’t see evidence of any possible engagement with the primary sector in that document. They’ve also ignored urban pollution. The bright light in the debate came from Environment Minister Nick Smith who described the Massey freshwater plan as simplistic. I thought that was most charitable. He did add: “A complete prohibition on any water augmentation schemes would not actually deliver on the Blue-Green vision we have of improving water quality as well as being able to grow the regional economy.” Good on yer mate.

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

Better as a spectator than in the play From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

A PLETHORA of sport hit us last week with Kiwis doing well all over the place. The tennis coach in the household was thrilled with Michael Venus’ win at the French Open when he and partner Ryan Harrison won the men’s doubles. It was the first Grand Slam win by a Kiwi since Judy Chalinor won the women’s doubles at the Australian Open way back in 1979. Venus is a great exemplar of a young sportsman who was good but not one of the very best who has stuck at his craft through the tough times and now at 29 years of age, has been rewarded with a title that will give him satisfaction for the rest of his life.

Satisfying as well was the New Zealand boat getting up and winning the seventh race in the Louis Vuitton Cup to go 5-2 up and getting to be the challenger for the America’s Cup. Most of the racing was while we were in Tasmania and I didn’t see a mention of it there. Then I was either too tired or lazy to get up at a ridiculous hour to see the first few races of the final but thought I’d better do the patriotic thing and watch in case this seventh race was in fact the decider. They were off racing and the Kiwis in front. Then the wind died and the race was abandoned. A bad case of deja vu set in. I well remember getting up every morning from when we were 8-1 in front with one more win to clinch it against Oracle in 2013. Then race 13 was also abandoned when we were well in front as it, too, went beyond the time limit. Those successive wins by Oracle must have been the greatest comeback and biggest choke in sport, making some of my own massive chokes on the golf course

mere trifles in comparison. I didn’t think I’d ever watch America’s Cup racing again. But here we are four years later and I’ll certainly be getting up early all this week. I’d say the odds are very even.

An enormous, and judging by his looks, front row Lion patted me on the head and said, Nice try son.

And then there was the Highlanders’ epic win over the British Lions by a mere point – an exciting game of rugby and a great result for the southern men. I know Jamie Mackay will spend every chance boring the pants off the readers of his column or listeners to his radio show about his own sporting exploits, particularly his obscure rugby career. Several past team mates

have been very keen to tell me of the comb he kept in his sock and his deft offload which saved him being tackled and kept his playing gear pristine. However, I too feel compelled to relay my own brush with the Lions and beg readers to cut me some slack. Back in ancient history in 1971 as a 12-year-old I was playing for a rep team called Red Star in Masterton. We were very excited to be playing the curtain-raiser for the Wairarapa Bush versus British Lions game on July 14. I’ve pointed out to Sir Brian Lochore that he gave us some coaching for this match but he professes to not remember that or the handy number eight he was guiding. He has no difficulty remembering playing golf with me when I had a sudden bout of shanking and a complete meltdown though. He’d retired from the All Blacks the year before but got recalled to play in the above match, which the Lions won 27-6, and the test match in Wellington. That’s the

famous story where Pam came home to find the note he’d left to say he’d gone to play a test and would be home Sunday. Anyway, enough of Brian, he gets enough plaudits, this is my story. The only thing I can remember from that curtain-raiser was busting through the opposing pack, running over the halfback and scoring what I think was the only try of the match. On the way off the field, an enormous, and judging by his looks, front row Lion patted me on the head and said, “Nice try son”. Sadly, that was the high point of my rugby career and it was a slow decline thereafter. So, like most of us I will continue to live vicariously through the deeds of far better sports folk than me as Kiwis battle out there on the world stage.

Your View Steve Wyn-Harris is a Central Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer. swyn@xtra.co.nz

Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

Hello, we need to reconnect Town Talk

Amy Williams

SOMETIMES, when I’m serving dinner, I remind my children where their meat comes from. My seven-year-old acts horrified, my five-year-old looks twice at her dinner and my threeyear-old just doesn’t believe it. The reality of living in the city means most of us don’t really have to think about where our food comes from. There’s no arguing the rural-urban divide exists and researchers around the world have been pointing at this gulf between country producers and city consumers for years, often with a sense of dismay. Even in the early 20th century newspapers raised fears about urban decay and warned of losing the pioneering spirit. Official records show the prominent educationalist Professor James Shelley wrote in 1923 that children “should not be educated in town … I do not think you realise how destructive it is”. Looking back at our country in the early 1880s, official figures show urban New Zealanders were

a minority but by the 2001 Census, they had become the substantial majority. A Statistics NZ paper, NZ: An Urban-Rural Profile shows how working on the land was no longer a major occupation by the 20th century with less than 10% of the country’s workforce employed in agriculture, forestry or fishing by 2001. We’re not alone. This trend reflects an international shift towards urbanisation. Recent research by the think tank Maxim Institute suggests small town NZ will struggle as regional differences widen over the next three decades. The Institute’s 30-year projections show 39% of the population of 5.9 million living in Auckland and another 31% living either close to Auckland or in other major centres. Maxim researcher Julian Wood wonders if we risk “opening the door to broader societal division between people and communities in growing areas and those in stagnation or decline”. “That’s a lot of urban voters and it’s going to be very tempting for politicians to focus more and more on urban interests in order to win those votes, possibly at the expense of the rest of the country,” he says in an opinion piece. So what does that mean for us and what can we do about it? It’s likely that you can think of local issues where politics have trumped unity and the urban-

ON OUR WAY: Amy Williams and her family intend to visit Fieldays next year to connect with rural New Zealand, like this family this year.

rural divide feels like a gulf (water quality and urban sprawl perhaps?).

Many consumers are looking for a connection to their food again. We want to know the story.

But rural and urban NZ need each other so we must both embrace change and keep an

open mind about the future. Though my children are fortunate to have grandparents who live on a rural lifestyle block I couldn’t name even three Auckland families in my circle of friends who visit a farm in the holidays. But I’m not sure it matters in the long run. After all, it is 2017 and we can foster a connection to rural NZ in other ways. Every year thousands of townies flock to Waikato for Fieldays not just for tractor rides but to show their kids where food comes from and to check out the latest innovations in agriculture.

Fieldays organisers are well aware of NZ’s changing demographics and the event aims to bridge the divide between urban and rural communities. It’s on our family calendar for next year. There are also programmes and schools that offer farming experience. We’re in-zone for Mt Albert Grammar School, which has an 8.1 hectare working farm with livestock. Students from years 10 to 13 can take full academic courses in agricultural and horticultural science. Just last year a national survey by Rabobank showed an alarming lack of knowledge about the agricultural sector among city teenagers with 81% saying they knew little or nothing about farming or food production. However, more than 90% of city teenagers surveyed perceived farming and food production as very important to NZ. Farming is still in our DNA but rural and urban communities need to be intentional about learning from each other. When it comes to the food chain, many consumers (city foodies, if you like) are looking for a connection to their food again. We want to know the story behind our food, where it comes from and who made it, along with information about farming practices. We might not be able to visit the farm but we’ll read all about it online if the information is there.

Farmers could store carbon in the soil Sue Edmonds IF NEW Zealand is not going to follow the United States and pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, isn’t it time we actually did something serious not only about reducing our emissions but actually earning some carbon credits? The recent article ‘Carbon Credits to cost $14b’ (June 5) giving the view of Dr Adrian Macey of Victoria University appeared to assume that we are going to continue to try to buy our way through climate change. Our efforts to date, buying cheap and questionable credits from little known countries, haven’t done much for our international reputation in the carbon sphere. We need to remember that although the Paris Accord allows for a world carbon market to be set up, there isn’t one at present and hasn’t been for the last two years. Meantime, our emissions keep climbing rather than reducing so the problem goes on getting bigger. A high-level think tank led by Motu has come up with ideas for caps of a fixed but reducing supply of units to be set by Government, presumably supplied from the backlog of banked NZ units, which were ignored when the cheap overseas ones became available.

The trouble with think tanks is that the members all know each other and each member has probably already assumed that we can’t make enough savings and will need to rely on others to sell theirs to us. So, what comes out are just variations on the current theme. When the concept of sequestering carbon in our soils is raised, shoulders are shrugged and eyebrows go up.

It’s an incentive system with measurable results, much of which can be recorded by the farmers themselves.

After all, everyone is becoming aware that our farming methods are actually reducing soil carbon and we are supposed to be farming sustainably. As usual in NZ, small companies are doing their own research. They come up with the answers but getting them believed and implemented is repeatedly quashed by soil chemists, most of whose research is funded by those who make fortunes from selling products that destroy soil life and reduce pasture production.

So, when someone introduced me to the Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project (KACP) I happily dug around to find out more. With the help of the World Bank Biocarbon Fund and others, 60,000 subsistence farmers on 45,000 hectares in western Kenya have had their farming methods turned around according to the Sustainable Agricultural Land Management (SALM) systems. They can now feed their families from increased production of 15-20% and are estimated to have earned carbon credits, recognised internationally under the Verified Carbon Standard system, valued at more than $600,000 by this year. It’s an incentive system with measurable results, much of which can be recorded by the farmers themselves. And we could do it here. We already have locally devised grazing management systems and fertilising methods, and now we are also acquiring a locally created computerised measuring system, adapted from the Kenyan model, for our pastoral farmers. It won’t please those making fortunes from selling the wrong things but it will provide incentives to farmers to make the necessary changes. It would make us sustainable and it would produce enough credits from reduced emissions to cover all we shall owe in the future. We could go back to leading

DO IT: Farming and science writer Sue Edmonds suggests New Zealand can deal with climate change by following Kenya’s example.

the world, instead of cribbing off others. The amount of carbon that can be sequestered in our soils is not finite. We simply grow soil rather than supposedly sating what we have.

We could grow more pasture, have healthier, more productive animals, reduce debt and even make profits. And we’d clean up our freshwaters at the same time.

bayleys.co.nz Contributor to realestate.co.nz

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 19, 2017

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

For Sale Wairarapa Martinborough 118.7 Hectares Tender Closing 4pm, Thursday 6 July 2017

Contact Tim Falloon 027 449 2105 Quality Martinborough Lifestyle. Three bedroom homestead. 20 hectares productive flats, balance being rolling to steeper hills, 15 well fenced main paddocks with good pasture. Sheep and cattle yards with loading race/crush. Multi-purpose farm shed with 1-stand shearing plant/press, lock-up storage, tractor shed. Breeds sheep/cattle, grows crops, produces prime livestock. Future subdivision options. Tender (unless sold by private treaty) | Property ID MA1249

Canterbury South Canterbury | Fairlie

Deadline Sale

1,162.5 Hectares

Closing 1pm, Thursday 6 July 2017

West Hills Station - Deer Farm & Trophy Hunting Park. Total 1,161 Hectares (64 hectares freehold and 1,097 hectares pastoral lease) – 5km from the Fairlie township. A large part of the property is deer fenced and incorporates very well subdivided and improved paddock country with the lower hill having been over sown and top dressed, with larger clean tussock blocks that rise up to the skyline. Large covered deer yards, good cattle handling facilities, sufficient farm implement sheds and a four bedroom villa homestead. A significant opportunity to have a multifaceted business with deer, cattle, sheep and trophy hunting. Enquiry is highly recommended. | Property ID TU10967

Hororata 167 Hectares Deadline Sale Closing 2pm, Thursday 29 June 2017

Inspection

Contact

By appointment

Contact Simon Richards 027 457 0990

Grant McIlroy 027 345 9262 Glenoakley Cottage Farm. This desirable property is farmed in conjunction with the home block and has three well defined land use contours; a small area of milled forestry combined with steep hill grazing facing to the North West, with the majority of the property being rolling downs to well sheltered flats. The dwelling is referred to as the cottage and has recently been renovated with three bedrooms, a good size kitchen/ dining area. The lounge has an open fire and leading off the lounge is a sun room. | Property ID DA1732

Licensed under REAA 2008

Ranfurly District, Central Otago 3577 hectares of farm land The farm land is available for acquisition and offers are sought from potential purchasers.

Price by negotiation. Please contact Graeme Martin for further information graeme@dfpag.co.nz or 0274 942 499 farmersweekly.co.nz

LK0088098©

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The farm land consists of five dairy platforms and support farm across various locations on either side of the Taieri River, including at Pataeroa, Wilson Road, Puketoi Road and Duffy Lane in Ranfurly district 1870 hectares of land irrigated by centre pivots Water storage of 1370 cubic metres In excess of 5000 dairy cows

THE NEW ADDRESS FOR RURAL REAL ESTATE Stay up-to-date with the real estate market with

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate

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Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 19, 2017

TR ANS F O R M I N G R E A L E STAT E I NTO REAL ADVANTAG E FOR SALE NEW PLYMOUTH COOL STORE 20 HAKIRAU STREET, New Plymouth

REDEVELOP OR ADD VALUE OPPORTUNITY This is an outstanding opportunity to purchase a cool store/ logistics facility of significant scale on an undoubtedly strategic land holding adjacent to the New Plymouth Port. Benefit from the holding income while you develop a third party logistics business or re-purpose the existing structure to suit your intended use. + + + + +

2.586ha* freehold land 17,830sqm** of buildings Functional cool store/logistics facility Up to two years holding income or flexible settlement Close proximity to New Plymouth CBD

FOR SALE BY TENDER Thursday 13 July 2017 at 4.00pm (unless sold prior)

JEREMY KEATING

IAIN TAYLOR

ANDREW STRINGER

027 293 0762 021 473 253

021 461 210 021 388 834

*Subject to minor boundary adjustment **Approximately

w w w.cbre.co.nz/207975Q27 Success Realty Limited, Licensed under the REAA Act 2008

TR ANS F O R M I N G R E A L E STAT E I NTO REAL ADVANTAG E FOR SALE WAIOTIRA SOUTH FOREST 549 PAIAWA ROAD, Waiotira, Northland

SO CLOSE TO NORTHPORT! Waiotira South Forest represents a superb opportunity for a purchaser to secure a younger forest with existing forestry infrastructure. Located just Southwest from Whangarei and only 51kms to Northport means this is an exceptionally well situated property. Pinus Radiata net stocked area is 144.9ha planted between 2010 and 2012, there is also a further 19.6ha planted in Blackwoods with a total freehold land area of 173.4227ha in five titles. + + + +

Superb location only 51kms to Northport Net Stocked Area of 145ha –Radiata, 19ha Blackwoods Second Rotation forest with prior harvest infrastructure Crop aged between 5-7yrs old for the Pine, 31-32 for Blackwoods

DEADLINE TENDER Friday 14 July 2017 at 4.00pm

CONTACT WARWICK SEARLE

021 362 778 warwick.searle@cbre.co.nz

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

N EW

LIS TI N G

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 19, 2017

MATURE FORESTRY INVESTMENT Kauarapaoa Road, Brunswick, Wanganui

644 hectares Tender (unless sold prior) www.nzr.nz | Ref: R269

The opportunity to secure a close to harvest forestry investment property, totaling 644ha comprising of 4 titles with approximately 170 ha pine plantation planted in 1993, 1994 and a balance of 30 ha in 1995.The remaining area consists of 60 ha of manuka and regenerating native species, 8 ha livestock grazing pasture and 406 ha of virgin native forest. The hill country property has good strategic tracking throughout the pine forest to assist harvesting and placement of a small number of Beehives. Currently registered under the NZETS and getting an added return from the carbon all adding to this investment proposition. Located only 30 km from the heart of Wanganui. Buildings include a 3-bedroom 1960´s roughcast home, 3 stand older woolshed with covered yards and cattle yards with load out facility. Adding to all this is a resident fallow deer population and wild pigs for the avid recreational hunter. Tender date 3rd August 2017 at 4pm.

85 ACRES CLOSE TO THE CITY 445c Milson Line, Newbury, Palmerston North Situated only 6.5km from the city square and 12km to the Feilding saleyards, this productive bareland property is offered outside the family for the first time in nearly 100 years. Access via a tarsealed lane off Milson Line creates the perfect spot to build a private home, with utilities already at the gate. Having regularly grown maize and squash, the current land-use of the Te Arakura Sandy Loams is primarily lamb and cattle finishing, with tidy facilities and artesian stock water. You’ll find it hard to beat this size and location!

34.53 ha (85.34 acres) For Sale www.nzr.nz/F111 Peter Barnett AREINZ 027 482 6835 | 06 323 4434 peter@nzr.nz NZR Limited

| Licensed REAA 2008

Tender closes 4pm, 3rd August 2017 1 Goldfinch Street, Ohakune Jamie Proude 06 385 4789 | 027 448 5162 jamie@nzr.nz NZR Central Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

MELLINGTON DAIRY - 260 HA PLATFORM PLUS 108 HA SUPPORT ALONGSIDE Rangatira Road, Rangitikei Comprising a 260 hectare milking platform of quality Kiwitea loams, with 108 hectares of medium hills alongside, providing the potential to be self-contained. The 60 bail rotary dairy and feed pad were commissioned in 2009 and include an automated dairy management and ACRs. The farm has three homes, primary school bus at the gate, is close to the active Hunterville community and only 42km to Feilding.

368 hectares For Sale www.nzr.nz/F082 - incl. video Peter Barnett AREINZ 027 482 6835 | 06 323 4434 peter@nzr.nz NZR Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

PUTTING YOUR INTERESTS FIRST. AN INDUSTRY FIRST.

A champion team will beat a team of individuals every day, especially in rural real estate. That’s why we’ve done something no other real estate agency has done before. Every member of the Property Brokers’ rural team has signed a binding agreement to work together to sell your property. No working in isolation and no guarding listings. So, while you’ll still have a lead agent when you sell your rural property, you’re guaranteed to have a true team of equally committed agents, marketing experts and support staff working for you, right across the country. They will put your interests first, to get you and your farm the best result. Find out more at pb.co.nz/trueteam

WAIKATO

LOWER NORTH ISLAND

SOUTH ISLAND Property Brokers Limited MREINZ Licensed REAA 2008 0800 FOR LAND

TRUE TEAM

This is Property Brokers’ Country!

GUARANTEE

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 19, 2017

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE

REALISATION OF SUBSTANTIAL FREEHOLD LAND

SOUTHLAND

DEADLINE SALE ON BEHALF OF ANTARA AG PROPERTIES LIMITED LAND BEING OFFERED

LIFESTYLE BLOCK 2.025ha

Homestead fronting Keen Road and the Winton Hedgehope Highway. BRENDA CALDWELL JANICE MCKERCHAR m 0274 622 123 m 0274 410 927

“THE PARK” - HEDGEHOPE 70.2484ha Flat bare land fronting Keen Road. 3.4045ha Two parcels of land together with excellent cattle yards fronting Keen Road. 2.025ha Homestead fronting Keen Road and the Winton Hedgehope Highway.

“THE DOWNS” - SPRINGHILLS 103.0583ha Bare land fronting Sharks Tooth Road.

BRYDONE, 10KMS FROM EDENDALE DAIRY FACTORY

DAIRY UNIT - BRYDONE

188.05 HA FH

188.052ha Versatile well equipped property with potential as a dairy farm, drystock unit or beef finishing property. Three dwellings, staff accommodation, 30 aside herringbone sheep milking unit, large wintering facility. Extensive range of quality support buildings.

Presently utilised as a sheep milking unit, this property previously milked dairy cows and may be re-converted (subject to the necessary consents) or used for other alternatives. Equipped with an extensive range of buildings including three dwellings, a near new wintering shed of approximately 3000 square metres, three lambing or calf sheds, dairy shed currently set up for sheep milking and several other buildings. The property features good layout with established shelter, easy rolling contour, is well subdivided into 52 paddocks with races of a good standard and pressure water system to troughs from a bore.

Deadline Sale closing 4pm, 21st July 2017. Prior offers considered. DALLAS LUCAS OR MICHELLE LUCAS

Deadline Sale closing 4.00pm, 21st July 2017. Prior offers considered DALLAS LUCAS p 03 231 3014 m 0274 325 774 e dallas.lucas@swre.co.nz

MICHELLE LUCAS p 03 218 2795 m 0275 640 737 e michelle.lucas@swre.co.nz

Hargest House, Level One, 62 Deveron Street, Invercargill 9810 p 03 218 2795 f 03 214 0872 e southland@swre.co.nz

LK0088050

Web Ref SWI1861

Although certain parcels of land as nominated are offered above, other alternatives will be considered and interested parties should pursue wider opportunities where appropriate.

RURAL Office 0800 FOR LAND

Property Brokers Limited Licensed REAA 2008

FAMILY FARM WITH OPTIONS

THE ADDRESS FOR RURAL REAL ESTATE TAIKO 573 Sutherlands Road • 417 hectares (4 titles) • 2 x Excellent dwellings • Good infrastructure • Recent re-pasturing • Location (approx 20km Timaru) The majority of the farm is easy rolling with flat tops and a larger area of flat land on the eastern side of the farm. There are a few steeper gullies on some of the hills. This is a great opportunity to purchase the property now, and with continued development take this farm to the next level.

AUCTION View By Appointment AUCTION 2.00pm, Thu 29th Jun, 2017, (unless sold prior), Venue: Benvenue Hotel 16-22 Evans Street Timaru

Michael Richardson

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

www.propertybrokers.co.nz

4 2

Stay up-to-date with the real estate market with

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate

WEB ID TMR55678

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 19, 2017

SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE

SRM Realty Ltd, Licensed under the REAA 2008, 21 Macandrew Road, Dunedin 9054 p 03 466 3105 f 03 456 3105 e otago@southernwide.co.nz

8236 RANFURLY WEDDERBURN ROAD, RANFURLY

986 GIMMERBURN-WAIPIATA ROAD, RANFURLY

ROTHERWOOD – BLUE RIBBON MANIOTOTO PROPERTY 753.5914 HA

479.1847 HA

TENDER CLOSING AT 12PM ON THURSDAY THE 3RD OF AUGUST 2017 AT SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE, 21 MACANDREW ROAD, DUNEDIN 9054 (PRIOR OFFERS CONSIDERED) VIEW BY APPOINTMENT

JOHN FAULKS M: 027 452 5800

Web Ref SWDR1264

LK0088066©

• 479ha of highly fertile productive land. Ideal as dairy support, beef and lamb finishing, the choice is yours • Excellent irrigation with centre pivot and k-line covering approx. 170ha. Excellent storage dams in place • Development such as irrigation, fencing, lanes, regrassing all to a very high standard • Currently wintering 1000 dairy cows, 250 carryover cows, 441 R2 heifers and 450 calves • Improvements include good 4-bedroom home, woolshed, implement shed, calf rearing shed, 2 x cattle yards and sheepyards

RAY KEAN M: 027 435 7478

Southern Wide are privileged to offer ‘Rotherwood’ for sale, which has been in the Blakely family for 126 years. Situated in the Ranfurly Gimmerburn area, Maniototo, currently breeding/finishing sheep and finishing quality large steers. Well developed property with great infrastructure. Having excellent stock health and the properties are renowned for quality stock. Currently irrigation is a contour system, some border dyked irrigating totalling approximately 250ha. Water includes shares in the Maniototo West side, Waipiata and Hawkdun Idaburn irrigation schemes. 200,000 l/hour winter consent to the fill the approximate area of 7.5ha dam for storage. Overall a quality property with huge potential using the water under a spray irrigation system, combined with quality soils on a good scale. This opportunity is a rear commodity in the market and especially in the Maniototo. THREE OPTIONS AVAILABLE. Contact sole agents to inspect. BY NEGOTIATION

Web Ref SWDR1190

SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE

JOHN FAULKS M: 027 452 5800

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company

RAY KEAN M: 027 435 7478

Licenced under REAA 2008

SRM Realty Ltd, Licensed under the REAA 2008, 21 Macandrew Road, Dunedin 9054 p 03 466 3105 f 03 456 3105 e otago@southernwide.co.nz

385 NORTH BRANCH ROAD, MILTON NEW LISTING

NEW LISTING

437.0258 HECTARE

Located close to Milton township. Access is very good via North Branch Rd where the home and improvements are situated, also Table Hill Road which runs along the western boundary of the property. Major development to the property, by the current owners includes large areas of pasture renewed, winter crops, excellent cattle yards, home majorly renovated and fencing. Improvements include renovated 3-bedroom open plan home, an older 2-stand shearing shed, large 6-bay hay barn + other sundry sheds and water scheme. Flat to easy rolling with some steeper contour, very good access via road and tracks this property in this location has further upside going forward and with numerous titles – providing options. BY NEGOTIATION + GST (IF ANY)

LK0088054

LOCATION, CONTOUR, POTENTIAL

Horse Heaven With Lake Views

Rotorua

(approx. 16.68 acres) Horse trainers and breeders - here’s a great chance to have the rural lifestyle and a modern home to complete the package. Land banking with possible future subdivision potential. Only minutes to town centre and the renowned Redwood Forest. Post and rail fencing, great stables and tack room facility. Cattle yards and hay barn, good quality pastures and large three bedroom, two bathroom main home. There is a detached fourth bedroom with ensuite, perfect for the man cave, hobby room, grandparents, teenagers or guests.

$1.29M

www.pggwre.co.nz ID: ROT26229

Web Ref SWDR1258

JOHN FAULKS M: 0274 525 800

DOUG WARHURST M: 0274 660 247

Plus GST (if any) 25 COOKSON ROAD

Brett Ashworth B 07 347 6076 M 021 0261 7488 Michelle Portland B 07 349 5494 M 022 694 1329

pggwre.co.nz

LK0088055©

LISMORE DOWNS

Employment

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 19, 2017

classifieds@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Shepherd General Shepherd General required for Sheep and Beef property with some dairy grazing 20 minutes from Stratford.

Turn to The NZ Farmers Weekly first for your employment advertising needs

Beaumont Station, Millers Flat, located between Roxburgh and Lawrence, is 28,000ha with a mix of high country, easy rolling through to productive flats. The Station is running up to 60,000su with a mix of half bred Merino/Romney sheep & Hereford cattle with both breeding and finishing.

This is a superb opportunity for an experienced Farm Manager or Contract Milker to take sole charge responsibility for this extremely well developed and resourced Central North Island farm. Situated with views to Lake Maraetai, only 35 minutes from Taupo and its excellent schools and amenities, the farm calves 200 cows on 72ha. The owners, while living nearby, have other business interests and are looking for someone who has a passion for Dairying, is very capable, and is happy to be left alone to get on with the business of farming. The farm is of gentle rolling contour, has great infrastructure including a 16ASHB milking shed. The combination of superb pasture growth and access to other supplementary foods (due to the owner’s business interests) means the stock are always well fed and in the best of condition. To be successful in this role you will have proven experience in: • Pasture management and feed budgeting • Stock handling and husbandry skills • Strong communication and attention to detail • Accuracy in recording information • Dairy management and milk quality A good quality, three bedroom house is available as part of a competitive remuneration package. To view photos visit www.fegan.co.nz To apply, phone 07 823 0117 or email jobs@fegan.co.nz

Mustering is large scale from high country down to flat land farming, offering you and your team of dogs the variety and scale of stock work, a third of which is completed with the homebred station horses. The property has excellent infrastructure with both covered in cattle and sheep yards including a conveyor through to the latest air drenching guns. Key to your success in this role will be your ability to work within a team and use your initiative. On offer is a good remuneration package and recently refurbished quarters which includes a diesel heating system, offering warmth from the common room through to all the bedrooms. A cook house will provide your lunches and evening meals. This is your opportunity to dust off your saddle, grab your dogs and get a taste of the Central Otago high country!

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

For more information, or to fill out an application, please visit www.ruraldirections.co.nz or phone the Rural Directions team in confidence on 0800 475 465 (Reference # 9115). Applications close 5pm Monday 3rd July 2017

www.fegan.co.nz

LK0088083©

YOUR FEET?

LK0088094©

Please send CV with cover letter and references to: jeat63@gmail.com

RUN OFF

South Island Hill Country Are you looking for the South Island High Country experience?

A two bedroom cottage is available on school bus route (primary and secondary).

Applications close 28 June 2017

Shepherd

FARM MANAGER / CONTRACT MILKER

We are looking for someone who is honest, reliable, and can work well independently or as part of a team. Two or three good dogs are necessary.

Any questions contact: Juanita Jordan 06 762 7913

RECRUITMENT & HR Register to receive job alerts on www.ruraldirections.co.nz

ONION AGRONOMIST Mid Canterbury based Southern Packers Ltd is based near Timaru. It packs and exports around 22,000 tonnes of onions per annum to the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and also supplies the New Zealand domestic market. It is recognised for its delivery of consistent high quality finished product. Our Canterbury growers produce both summer and winter crops, requiring agronomic support throughout the year. The Company is both a Recognised Seasonal Employer and MPI Packhouse. Due to forecasted increase in output, we now wish to appoint an in-house Onion Agronomist who will assist our shareholders and contract growers with their agronomic requirements. As Onion Agronomist, you will co-ordinate with the Company’s seed developer to select the most appropriate varieties for each property. You will work alongside each grower’s agronomist to ensure consistent chemical and fertiliser inputs are maintained. Co-ordinating harvest timelines and reporting crop statistics and other relevant data to the Packhouse is also key. Competencies required for this role include: • Horticultural, vegetable or cereal agronomy skills • Willingness to be mentored and take direction around onion agronomy • Computer literacy skills • Ability to transfer technical information to your grower clients in a professional manner

Drystock Farm Manager The Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd owns and operates a 200ha farm at Tatuanui, approximately 5 minutes from Morrinsville. st

On the 1 June this year the farm was converted from dairying to a combination of cut & carry and dry-stock. As part of this change we are looking for an experienced Drystock Farm Manager who is up to the challenge of assisting in setting up the new farm system and leading its on-gong operation.

We specialise in agri-business

As our Drystock Farm Manager you will use your welldeveloped animal husbandry and pasture management skills to prepare feed budgets and grazing plans that maximise weight gains, and pasture production, while co-ordinating with the demands of wastewater irrigation. You will also take responsibility for maintaining soils, pastures and farm infrastructure at a high level.

Farmers Weekly EMPLOYMENT

As part of our commitment to providing a safe workplace, the successful applicant will be required to pass a drug test and full medical and a criminal background check. You must have the legal right to work in New Zealand to be considered for this role.

To speak about this role in confidence, please phone Deb Francis on 021 224 5000. Otherwise send your CV with covering letter to http://adr.to/trwro by Wednesday 28 June.

www.agrecruit.co.nz

REACH EVERY FARMER IN NZ FROM MONDAY Please print clearly Name:

Phone:

Applications close: 5 July 2017 please apply online, including a brief cover letter and CV, at www.tatua.com/working-at-tatua

Address: 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

www.tatua.com/working-at-tatua

Classifieds

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

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

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

ATTENTION FARMERS 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 BOOK AN AD. For only $2.00 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in The NZ Farmers Weekly Classifieds section. Phone Debbie Brown on 0800 85 25 80 to book in or email classifieds@nzx.com

GORSE SPRAYING. Experienced team, up to eight, using mist blowers and 400 litre motorised sprayer. We cut scrub and plant Manuka seedlings. Phone Dave 06 375 8032.

DOGS FOR SALE 20-MONTH-OLD Heading dog, going well, very stylish. Phone 06 388 7728. BEARDIE HUNTAWAY pups, vaccinated. 4 months, big noise, top working lines. $450. Phone 09 434 8226. ONE x 5-MONTH Huntaway. Good bark. ONE x 6-month Heading dog. Ready to start. Phone 06 388 0212 or 027 243 8541. WHATATUTU DOG SALE. Starts 12 noon, Saturday, 22nd July at Rangatira Station, Te Karaka. Email entries to: annieflood@hotmail.com with the following details: Heading or Huntaway, name, age, sex, colour and details of working ability. 12-MONTH HEADING dog. Fast, firm, flanking sides, drive away. Good station, trial potential. 15-MONTH Heading bitch. Fully broken, reliable, safe, firm, easy to handle. Contact Nolan Timmins. 06 862 7543. HEADING PUPS. Bloodlines by ‘Pep’ J Wendleborn. E.Herbert’s ‘Clyde’ and K.White’s ‘Woody’. E.Herbert’s ‘Haigh’. Phone Ken White 03 571 6079. See: dogblacks.co.nz and through FB.

EARMARKERS

DE HORNER

POWER CABLE We could save you hundreds of $$

NORTH ISLAND BUYING trip June 24th! Quick easy $ale! Buying 250 dogs NZ wide annually. No one buys or pays more! 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

12 MONTHS TO 5½-yearold Heading dogs and Huntaways wanted. Phone 022 698 8195.

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

FOR SALE

Merino Mid Sock Gumboots Work Boots www.thesocklady.co.nz

WINDMILLS for water pumping. Ferguson Windmills Company. www.windmills.co.nz sales@windmills.co.nz Phone 09 412 8655 or 027 282 7689.

GOATS WANTED 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.

PROPERTY WANTED

HOMES FARM SHEDS SUBDIVISIONS PUMPS

HOUSE FOR REMOVAL wanted. Phone 021 0274 5654.

PUMPS LK0085321©

Prices include delivery to your door!

LOOKING FOR BETTER RETURNS?

HIGH PRESSURE WATER PUMPS, suitable on high headlifts. Low energy usage for single/3-phase motors, waterwheel and turbine drives. Low maintenance costs and easy to service. Enquiries phone 04 526 4415, email sales@hydra-cell.co.nz

Te Kuiti Winter Ewe Fair

BULL SALE RESULTS 2017

Friday 23 June 2017 Start 11.30am Complete Dispersal Sale of Capital Stock Hill Country Romney Ewes

Bull sales are in full swing

A/C Hauturu Farm Ltd Oparau (Jolly Family) Approx tallies: 375 2th ewes 640 4th & 6th ewes 335 4yr ewes 165 5 & 6yr ewes The 2th, 4th, 5 & 6-year ewes have been run with Sth Suff ram from 7/4. The 6th & 4-year ewes have been run with Romney Ram from 7/4. The ewes are genuine capital stock bred for fertility and finishing ability in the hills of Oparau. Rams have been purchased from Paparata in Taumarunui for over 30 years. Auctioneers Note: An outstanding line, from one of the top producing farms in the Oparau district. The 5-year ewes are sold annually in the Te Kuiti Fair and are always extremely well sought after. Enquiries: Andy Transom 0275 965 142 Buy and sell livestock at

Farmers Weekly is emailing a weekly update of 2017 bull sales results to all breeders on our email database. SALE TALK

A guy spots a sign outside a house that reads “Talking Dog for Sale.” Intrigued, he walks in. “So what have you done with your life?” he asks the dog.

SAWN SHED TIMBER including Black Maire. Matai, Totara and Rimu etc. Also buying salvaged native logs. Phone Richard Uren. NZ Native Timber Supplies. Phone 027 688 2954.

• Large scale beef finishers • Beef breeding properties/partnerships LK0088128©

• Profit share, per kg $ rate or JV

WORK WANTED SEMI-RETIRED Shepherd General, seeking long term position on cattle finishing block. Own dogs and kennels. Kaipara Whangarei. Please phone 021 0826 7450.

If you have recently had a sale, please send in your results today. • Number of bulls on offer • Number of bulls sold • Average price • Purchaser of top priced Bull For further information, or if you would like to recieve these updates, please contact Nigel Ramsden: 06 323 0761, 027 4602 4925 or email livestock@nzx.com

21ST ANNUAL BULL SALE MATAPOURI POLLED HEREFORDS & FOREST VIEW CHAROLAIS Thursday 29th June 2017 at Marua Farm 11km from Hikurangi

“I’ve led a very full life,” says the dog. “I lived in the Alps rescuing avalanche victims. Then I served my country in Iraq. And now I spend my days reading to the residents of a retirement home.” The guy is flabbergasted. He asks the dog’s owner, “Why on earth would you want to get rid of an incredible dog like that?” The owner says, “Because he’s a liar! He never did any of that!”

STOCK FOR SALE 11 x 2 YR SIMMENTAL BULLS 30 x R1 YR ANGUS BULLS 300kgs

OFFERING: 26 Herefords & 24 Charolais These bulls are guaranteed to perform. Catalogues available. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: BRIAN CLEMENTS IAN CLEMENTS 09 433 7033 09 434 3320

STOCK REQUIRED STORE LAMBS 30-37kgs Breeding EWES SIL Apr R 1YR BULL CALVES 450-500kgs R2 YR STEERS 450-500kgs R2 YR BULLS & 150-220kgs www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381

Annual Bull Sale

A Financing Solution For Your Farm E info@rdlfinance.co.nz Tuesday 4thJuly 2017

Waitangi Angus

WANTED TO BUY

We currently seek large scale farmers, graziers and investment partners.

AGRICULTURAL ASSET MANAGEMENT

DOGS WANTED

CERTIFIED CREW. Gun and hose work units available and mistblower work. All gear supplied. Covering Lower North Island. Phone 06 375 8660 or 021 396 447.

HOOF TRIMMER

Phone Nick, 027 476 3658 Email: nick.aam@xtra.co.nz

FIFTY WORKING BULL, dairy and sheep dogs! $500-$2000. Easy to work on verbal or whistle. Demonstration on sheep and cattle. Exchangeable. View online or on farm. Deliver Northland to Southland. Trade ins welcome. Ask your neighbours. 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

GORSE SPRAYING

BIRDSCARER

For friendly & professional advice CALL 0800 843 0987 Fax: 07 843 0992 Email: power@thecableshop.co.nz THE CABLE SHOP WAIKATO www.thecableshop.co.nz

DOGS FOR SALE

LK0088081©

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

CONTRACTORS

LK0088099©

ANIMAL HANDLING

Livestock

20 17 Tu es da y 4t h Ju ly at 1.oopm on farm

nds Waitangi, Bay of Isla Contact John & Joss Bayly Ph: 0274 743 185

Email: jbayly@xtra.co.nz

www.waitangiangus.co.nz

50YRS LIC BRED COMPLETE HERD & I/C HEIFER AUCTION A/C: BUNAGARA FARMS DATE: Wednesday 28 June 2017 ADDRESS: 28 Sands Rd, Pukeoware, Waiuku START TIME: 11:30am (auction under cover) COMPRISING OF: • 124 Friesian, Friesian cross and Jersey cross cows, BW 82, PW 102, R/a 95% • 28 Friesian and Friesian cross in-calf replacement heifers, BW 92, PW 107 HERD/HEIFER DETAILS: • Herd calv from 27/07 to LIC PSS 4wks, t/off Hfd & Angus, bulls out 07/01 and 27/07 • Hfrs calv from 27/07 to Jsy bulls, out 07/01 • Herd tested, mating dates confirmed also natural mating dates • Prod 378kgMS/cow, som cell avg 66,000, MT rate 10% • TB C10, BVD free, Lepto vaccinated • Capacity cows in very good condition, farmed on feed system no 2. AUCTIONEERS NOTE: Our vendors have sold their dairy unit and cows have been grazing on their dry stock property. Farmed in the area by the vendors and owned 54 years, always bred to LIC. Very few complete herd available by auction and these are hardworking good condition cows that have great potential. PAYMENT TERMS: 14 DAYS FROM AUCTION. Catalogue available at auction or contact Stephen Hiscock. FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK AGENT: Stephen Hiscock 027 453 8769

LK0088070©

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

Livestock

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 19, 2017

Looking for Hill Country Bulls?

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Paeroa 22nd June 2017- 1pm

Wa i t aw h e t a A n g u s

Sale held on farm, under cover - light lunch provided - 12pm

On Farm 2yr Angus Bull Sale

Bulls Sired By: S Chisum 6175 (Imp USA) - Waitawheta D12 Waitawheta H8 ET - Kenhardt F920 Plus 5 Waitawheta Pure NZ Sires

Meadowslea F540

10 sons and 17 grandsons on offer

Email: contact@glenrossie.co.nz

Meadowslea Angus offers: 70 Hill Bred Bulls Strong NZ Bloodlines

26 Angus 2yr Bulls

On property Fairlie, Friday June 23 at 1pm

Catalogue and DVD online: www.meadowslea.co.nz

Ph: Fred/Tracy - 09 4340 987

Contact: Alistair & Pat Sharpe 07 863 7954 or 021 054 7862 LK0088093©

David Giddings 03 685 8027 PGG Wrightson Peter Walsh & Associates Rural Livestock

Kevin Fathers 0272 799 800 - Brent Bougen 027 210 4698

Will - 09 4340 718

NZ Farmers Livestock Stud Stock: If you are looking for Pure NZ Genetics with substance and constitution we recommend you attend this sale.

Mike Laing (PGG rep) A/H 09 436 0309

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING Advertise your stock sales in The NZ Farmers Weekly

WWW.CRICKLEWOODANGUS.CO.NZ

farmersweekly.co.nz

www.alpineangus.co.nz

WWW.KENHARDTANGUS.COM

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66 bulls for sale gisborne angus stud breeders 82nd angus bull sale

GISBORNE ANGUS STUD BREEDERS 82nd ANGUS BULL SALE Matawhero Saleyard on Wednesday, June 28th, 2017 @ 12noon

matawhero saleyards wednesday 28th June 2017 @ 12.00pm

Steve Herries Phone: (06) 863 7000 Email: alpine.angus@wnation.net.nz

CORSOCK-COLVEND SHORTHORNS 13 Bulls available for sale

Angus Cattle bred and tested under

COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS for you

Paddock sales ❱ Agent enquiries and inspection always welcome ❱ Can be used as a terminal sire. Will make off spring quiet

rarapa SWelailin by Bull Walg k 19th Priv at e Tr16 ea. ty May, 20 JuAlne & l visitoJu rsly welcome.

❱ BVD tested clear and vaccinated ❱ Tb status C10

Alan & Val Park Phone 07 894 6030, Taumarunui

LK0088082©

❱ Bulls with a quiet temperament

GLANWORTH

PINEBANK

Joe Fouhy (06) 376 7324 Shaun Fouhy (06) 376 8869

Willie Falloon (06) 372 7041

MARKET SNAPSHOT

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Grain & Feed

MILK PRICE FORECAST ($/KGMS) 2017-18

6.62

AS OF 24/05/2017

AS OF 08/06/2017

MILK PRICE COMPARISON

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

5.40

340

NI mutton (20kg)

4.10

4.00

2.60

326

285

SI lamb (17kg)

6.45

6.35

5.10

Feed Barley

334

261

SI mutton (20kg)

4.15

4.05

2.50

228

Export markets (NZ$/kg) 8.97

9.12

7.73

221

225

UK CKT lamb leg

Maize Grain

410

338

PKE

218

219

224

* 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.

North Island 17kg lamb 7.0 6.5

Last year

Wheat - Nearest

221

219

247

Corn - Nearest

206

204

237

APW Wheat

327

315

332

3000

ASW Wheat

317

307

318

2500

Feed Wheat

289

288

269

2000

Feed Barley

285

276

290

115

5.0

CBOT futures (NZ$/t)

4.5

1500 Aug 16 Nov 16 Feb 17 C2 Fonterra WMP

PKE (US$/t)

May 17 Aug 17 NZX WMP Futures

Ex-Malaysia

6.5

NZ venison 60kg stag

6006.0

$/kg

3500

South Island 1 7kg lamb

7.0

Australia (NZ$/t)

4000

6.0 5.5

INTERNATIONAL Prior week

5005.5 400

5.0

300

4.5 Oct Oct

Dec

Prior week

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

3135

3170

3200

SMP

2200

2230

AMF

6600

Butter

5700

Last week

Prior week

Last year

2100

Urea

477

507

475

6.65

7.85

6775

6450

Super

309

317

314

35 micron

3.35

3.85

5.85

5750

5500

DAP

784

39 micron

3.25

3.50

5.80

702

739

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

THE British pound has fluctuated since the election, as has the FTSE 100, with further uncertainty gripping the region. The United States Federal Reserve’s June meeting resulted in yet another 25 basis point increase in the Fed Funds rate. The hike was widely expected with the market pricing in almost a 100% chance of a rate hike. The interesting part was the commentary. In a confident move, the Fed still anticipates a further rate hike this year, sticking with plan. Analysts were looking for details on the reduction of the immense US$4.2 trillion balance sheet and though little information was given, chairwoman Janet Yellen confirmed it would begin “relatively soon” and that it would be a gradual reduction. First quarter GDP in New Zealand missed expectations, growing only 0.5% for the quarter and 2.5% for the year. Expectations were for quarterly growth of 0.7% and annual growth of 2.7%. Agriculture showed a massive improvement for the quarter, up 4.3%, driven by higher milk production. This was the highest quarterly growth for the sector since September 2014. Construction was down 2.1% for the quarter in its first fall since June 2015. Market commentary provided by Craigs Investment Partners

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

7516

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

7389

$/kg

250 150 Jun 13

Jun 14

Jun 15

Jun 16

Feed barley

4 w eeks ago

Sharemarket Briefing

5.5

NZ venison 60kg stag

600

c/k kg (net)

2750

39 micron wool price

6.5

CANTERBURY FEED PRICES

NZ$/t

US$/t

This yr

Prior week

3000

12675

Aug

6.65

350

10256

Last yr

Aug

Last week

3250

S&P/FW AG EQUITY

Jun

29 micron

450

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR

Jun

(NZ$/kg)

3500

Latest price

Apr

NZ average (NZ$/t)

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

Aug

Apr

WOOL

* price as at close of business on Thursday

Jul

Feb

FERTILISER

Last price*

2500

Feb

5‐yr ave

NZX DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) Nearby contract

6.40

334

Last week

WMP GDT PRICES AND NZX FUTURES

Last year

6.45

326

May 17 AgriHQ Seasonal

Last week Prior week

NI lamb (17kg) 334

Waikato (NZ$/t)

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Feed Wheat PKE

US$/t

Last year

Milling Wheat

Jan 17 Mar 17 AgriHQ Spot Fonterra forecast

Prior week

c/kkg (net)

$/kgMS

Last week Canterbury (NZ$/t)

6.50

5 Nov 16

SHEEP MEAT

DOMESTIC

AGRIHQ 2017-18

FONTERRA 2017-18

Sheep

$/kg

Dairy

Jun 17

PKE spot

Auckland International Airport Limited

YTD High

YTD Low

6.97

7.43

6.31

Meridian Energy Limited

2.95

2.96

2.57

Spark New Zealand Limited Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd Fletcher Building Limited Mercury NZ Limited (NS) Ryman Healthcare Limited Contact Energy Limited Air New Zealand Limited (NS) Xero Limited

3.79 11.09 7.69 3.27 8.33 5.14 3.185 24.75

3.845 11.17 10.86 3.33 9.05 5.26 3.23 26.36

3.32 8.5 7.42 2.94 8.12 4.65 2.08 17.47

Listed Agri Shares Company

400 3.5 300

2.5Oct Oct

Dec

5‐yr ave

Feb

Apr

Last yr

Jun

Aug

This yr

Dollar Watch

Top 10 by Market Cap Company

4.5

500

5pm, close of market, Thursday

YTD High

The a2 Milk Company Limited

3.56

3.85

YTD Low 2.06

Cavalier Corporation Limited

0.4

0.81

0.39

Comvita Limited

5.25

8.65

5.15

Delegat Group Limited

6.6

6.72

5.65

Foley Family Wines Limited

1.32

1.5

1.2

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

5.96

6.4

5.88

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

2.45

2.61

2.45

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

1.41

1.42

1.22

PGG Wrightson Limited

0.57

0.61

0.49

Sanford Limited (NS)

6.85

7.75

6.7

Scales Corporation Limited

3.42

3.65

3.21

Seeka Limited

5.15

5.5

4.3

Tegel Group Holdings Limited

1.13

1.46

1.05

S&P/FW Primary Sector

10256

10507

9307

S&P/FW Agriculture Equity

12675

12874

10899

S&P/NZX 50 Index

7516

6971

S&P/NZX 10 Index

7389

7390

6927

AFTER a turbulent few days This Prior Last NZD vs the New Zealand currency week week year settled down by week’s USD 0.7209 0.7215 0.7045 end. ASB institutional EUR 0.6468 0.6432 0.6268 currency dealer Tim AUD 0.9509 0.9558 0.9556 Kelleher said uncertainty GBP 0.5655 0.5574 0.4955 whether the US Federal Reserve would act on Correct as of 9am last Friday interest rates and weakerthan-expected NZ growth and current account data helped push the NZ dollar to US73.2 before shedding 1c later in the week. The rise of the US-NZ cross rate was sharper than many expected. The Reserve Bank will decide the official cash rate next week and he doubted it would move given softer-than-expected economic growth and current account data. Australia last week reported an eighth consecutive month of job growth, which helped the Australian dollar underpin several months of appreciation against the NZ currency. It has traded between NZ94c and NZ95c for most of this month in defiance of weak markets for mineral commodities. Kelleher said there was also some sell-off following profit taking in the past few days. Weakness and uncertainty in the United Kingdom continues to plague that cross rate, which has appreciated further in NZ dollar terms after the hung Parliament following the UK snap election. A month ago the NZ-sterling cross rate was NZ53.5 but has traded in the past week at NZ56.5. The NZ-euro and NZ-yen rates have been static in recent weeks. Kelleher said the NZ dollar remained a safe haven and has attracted investors. Neal Wallace

Markets

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

SI SLAUGHTER STAG

NI SLAUGHTER BULL

SI SLAUGHTER LAMB

($/KG)

PRIME STEERS, 474-575KG, AT CANTERBURY PARK

($/KG)

($/KG LW)

5.65

8.95

6.45

2.89

high lights

$95-$100

$100-$120

Medium-good mixed sex lambs at Temuka

Good to heavy dry ewes at Stortford Lodge

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

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.70

5.50

NI Bull (300kg)

5.65

5.60

5.40

NI Cow (200kg)

4.45

4.40

SI Steer (300kg)

5.70

5.55

5.30

SI Bull (300kg)

5.15

5.00

SI Cow (200kg)

4.25

4.00

3.90

US imported 95CL bull

7.35

7.51

6.67

US domestic 90CL cow

7.00

7.15

6.70

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

North Island steer (300kg)

6.5

$/kg

6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0 South Island steer (300kg)

6.5 6.0 $/kg

More photos: farmersweekly.co.nz

NZ venison 60kg stag

600 5.5

c/k kg (net)

TOP SELLER: Te Taumata Gran Torino 15817 was the top selling bull at the 38th annual Te Taumata Poll Hereford bull sale on May 31.

500 5.0

400 4.5

300

4.0 Oct

Oct

Dec Dec

Feb Feb

5‐yr ave

Apr Apr

Jun Jun

Last yr

Aug Aug This yr

VENISON Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week Prior week

Last year

NI Stag (60kg)

8.55

7.70

NI Hind (50kg)

8.45

7.60

SI Stag (60kg)

8.95

8.90

7.70

SI Hind (50kg)

8.85

8.80

7.60

New Zealand venison (60kg Stag)

10 9 $/kg

NZ venison 60kg stag

c/k kg (net)

600 8 500 7 400

300

6 Oct

Oct

Dec Dec 5‐yr ave

Feb Feb

Apr Apr Last yr

Jun Jun

Aug Aug This yr

Breeding ewe market gains momentum

HE breeding ewe market has strengthened relative to how the season started, though prices are still not as high as expected given the favorable sheep industry outlook. The best sales last week were at Dannevirke, where 5200 mainly capital stock Romney ewes sold to a wide spread of buyers, with the top 4-tooth and 6-tooth lines reaching $171-$173. NORTHLAND NORTHLAND WELLSFORD made up for a short week with a yarding of 920 head on Monday.

R1 cattle featured with local buyers re-entering the market after finishing, and taking big numbers home. Features in the mainly beef-Friesian line up included Hereford-Friesian steers, 261-283kg, at $820-$900, though a line of 200kg made $770, $3.85/kg. The top heifers were not far off that pace either, with 213-223kg trading at $685-$700. Lesser quality Hereford-Jersey steers, 165kg, sold for $540. The shorter term options provided in the R2 heifer pens also had a keen bench bidding, and Hereford-Friesian sold to similar levels as the steers, with 331-428kg making $2.65-$2.76/

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kg, and Angus, 458kg, $2.69-$2.75/kg. Of all the classes, the big offering of R2 steers was one of the hardest to move, with many some way off finishing. This saw prices ease, with most types making $2.70-$2.76/kg, and very few selling over $2.80/kg. Friesian, 375376kg, sold for $2.51-$2.55/kg, while autumn-born Hereford-Friesian, 290kg, made $925, $3.19/kg. AUCKLAND AUCKLAND The cattle yards at PUKEKOHE on Saturday June 10 were full to overflowing, as the sale played catch

Continued page 37

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Markets

38 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017 up after the break over Queens Birthday. Prices for prime cattle reflected the two weeks gap also, and the lack of killable lines coming forward, though with winter approaching, plain store cattle were harder to shift. An outstanding line of 690kg steers sold to $2040, $2.96/kg, with 518kg earning $2.72-$2.78/kg. Heifers sold over a tighter range, with 461-498kg earning $2.73$2.85/kg, while bulls, 476-532kg, returned $2.60-$2.80/kg. Boner cows numbers were limited, and the best of the bunch were 411430kg, and traded at $1.75-$1.86/ kg, while prime cows, 686kg, fetched $2.20/kg Buyers were cautious in the store pens, though quality lines were still sought. R2 steers, 460kg, made $2.63/kg, and heifers, 290310kg, $2.32-$2.86/kg. Steer prices were solid in the R1 pens, with 232-234kg earning $760-$800, and 153-170kg, $575-$670. A lighter heifer offering sold for high c/kg, with 128-190kg returning $560$715 COUNTIES COUNTIES The National Fieldays may have lured a few buyers away from the TUAKAU store cattle sale last week. Buyer numbers were noticeably lower, Keith West of Carrfields Livestock reported. As a result, the market for a small yarding of 230head was sticky in places. Older cattle held value, but younger lots proved harder to sell. Friesian steers, 547kg, made $2.84/kg, and the best of the 18-20month steers, 448-482kg, traded at $2.68-$2.75/kg, with 356-416kg at similar levels. A small entry of weaner HerefordFriesian steers, 190-230kg, sold for $685-$775. In the bull section, one pen of 20-month Friesian, 473kg, traded at $2.65/kg, and a pen of 1-year, 318kg, $770. Heifer numbers were light but older Hereford-Friesian, 370430kg, sold at $2.70-$2.75/kg. Weaner Hereford-Friesian, 135kg, made $530, with a 165kg pen fetching $585. About 300 cattle were yarded at last Wednesday’s prime sale. Steer and heifer prices were firm, and cow prices lifted 5-6c/kg on the previous sale. Heavy steers traded at $2.86-$2.92/kg, with medium lots making $2.79-$2.85/ kg, and lighter $2.71-$2.77/kg. The sale drew a good entry of prime heifers. The heavier lots sold at $2.80-$2.85/kg, and medium beef heifers $2.70-$2.78/kg. Dairy-type heifers earned $2.21-$2.45/kg. A small entry of beef cows returned $2.24-$2.37/kg. Dairy cows continue to sell strongly as numbers drop. Heavy lines made $2.09-$2.25/kg, and medium $1.87-$2.02/kg. Lighter boners fetched $1.49-$1.75/kg, and a handful of Friesian and Hereford bulls $2.70-$2.82/kg. A medium-sized yarding of ewes and lambs was presented at last Monday’s sheep sale, and the market was firm. The best of the heavy prime lambs returned $131-$144, medium, $117-$129, and lighter $100-$115. Store lamb prices ranged from $85 to $102, and the best of the prime ewes fetched $90-$125. Medium ewes $71-$89.

with the lighter types $41-$68. A line of SIL 140% two-tooth ewes sold very well at $173, though other mixed age RWR and SIL ewes were lower at $108.50$117. There were more prime lines than usual. Lambs went as high as $140-$149, though most of the better end were $125-$132 with the next cut at $100-$115. Mixed age prime ewes were mainly $91$103, though went as high as $114.

SWEET SPOT: Jahquias Babbington takes it all in at a recent sale at Frankton. More photos: farmersweekly.co.nz

BAY OF PLENTY BAY OF PLENTY It was a rather standard winter sale at RANGIURU. Numbers were little higher, mainly driven by a good-sized selection of prime and forward store stock. The prime and R3 steers were down on the previous week. Prime steers were consistently at $2.95$3.00/kg for 595kg plus lines. R3 steers were nearly all bought at $2.70-$2.75/kg, weighing in at 450-585kg. R3 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 415-555kg, were mainly $2.75/kg. Longer-term store cattle interest was limited by the limited grass growth through the region, but was stable as a whole. R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 320455kg, were usually sold at $2.75$2.80/kg, though two 385-400kg lines were firmer at $1115-$1140, $2.85-$2.90/kg. Lighter R2 heifers were slow moving. R2 Hereford-Friesian, 285-375kg, were only $2.55-$2.65/ kg. Heavier Hereford-Friesian and Hereford-cross lines, 420-440kg, were better at $2.65-$2.70/kg, $1130-$1170. The R1 cattle were the usual bits of pieces common for this time of the year. Angus and Hereford heifers, 145-190kg made $450-$530. Beef-dairy steers, 170-205kg, were $470-$630. Friesian bulls were mixed quality, but one line weighing 235kg was $700, $3.00/kg. Boner Friesian cows, 480-525kg, were $1.80-$1.85/kg, though one 555kg line made, $1100, $2.00/kg.

WAIKATO Fieldays week typically means a quieter day at FRANKTON sale yards, which rang true last Wednesday with numbers reducing to 500 head. There was still some keen buyers on the bench, and prime steers and R2 bulls stood out. With cull cow numbers dwindling, more room at the processors for other cattle saw prime prices very strong, and very competitive bidding from two new buyers pushed two lines of older Angus-Friesian and Anguscross steers to $3.44-$3.60/kg, putting well over $2000 on their heads. Those over 700kg sold exceptionally well also at $3.09$3.14/kg. Hereford-cross, 523551kg, fetched $2.93-$3.02/kg, and the better R2 beef-Friesian steers, $2.97-$3.07/kg. R2 bull numbers were low, but this market to date has been very resilient, and 450-453kg lines continued to trade around $2.78$2.87/kg. Heifer numbers were also limited, and the best of the bunch made $2.79/kg. A decent line up of R1 cattle were put forward, albeit in small lines, with a little bit of everything for buyers. The biggest section was the autumn-born Friesian bulls, and 110-150kg returned $585-$645, and 170-190kg, $625-$700. Heifers were mainly lighter, autumn-born lines, and Hereford-cross, 106-215kg, fetched $390-$675, while older Hereford-Friesian, 166-277kg, made $570-$635. The mainly beef-cross steers

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traded at $650-$820 for 170238kgs. Two lines of Vetted-in-calf Pointed Galloway cows, 500554kg, sold well at $1150-$1300. TARANAKI TARANAKI Just a very small yarding of 190 cattle greeted visitors to the STRATFORD yards last Wednesday, with winter mode well and truly set in, New Zealand Farmers Livestock agent Stephen Sutton reported. The market overall was relatively steady on the previous week, though the yarding did consist of small lines of all sorts. R2 Friesian bulls, 395-453kg, returned $2.60-$2.77/kg, while most beef-cross steers traded at $2.81-$2.87/kg. Angus-cross, 397-445kg, bettered that at $2.96$3.06/kg, with Hereford-Friesian heifers, 306-400kg, earning $2.62$2.78/kg. R1 numbers were very low and of mixed quality, though a line of Angus-cross steers, 170kg, sold for high values at $700, with their sisters, 168kg, making $570. POVERTY BAY POVERTY BAY There was little to bid on at MATAWHERO, though this didn’t have much effect on store lambs, which either sold to a steady or slightly softer value. Store lambs peaked at $115 for the heaviest male lambs available, but most other good weighted male lambs were $97-$109, with a light line making $70.50. A heavy line topped the ewe lambs at $98, but mediums were at $81.50-$90,

+ +

HAWKE’S BAY HAWKE’S BAY Ewes featured at both sales at STORTFORD LODGE last week, with dry ewes filling pens on the Monday, and capital stock in-lamb last Wednesday. A two week lag since the last prime sale drew more numbers to both the cattle and sheep pens. The lamb market continued its strong run with all weights selling well for the 520 offered. Heavy male’s sold for $145-$148, and medium, $96-$132. Ewe lambs were mainly forward types, and returned $130-$135, and store’s, $91-$101. Plenty of scanning has been completed since the last sale, and ewe numbers doubled to 1800 last Monday. A bigger number of both two-tooth and mixed age ewes made buying easier, and the edge came off prices for the first time this year. The favourable autumn meant plenty of good conditioned types available, though heavy ewes eased $3-$5 to $118- $123. Good ewes were relatively steady at $102-$116, and two-tooth, $93$108. Empty-weighted Angus steers made a return to the rostrum, with prices firm. Two good lines, 553-612kg, sold for $3.08/kg, while a smaller line of full AngusHereford, 558kg, made $2.95/ kg. Angus and Angus-Hereford heifers, 495-531kg, were steady at $2.88/kg, while a top line of Angus cows, 618kg, returned $2.07/kg. Wednesday saw breeding ewe numbers climb over 2000, and included specially advertised lines of captial stock Romney and Border Leicester-cross. The higher lambing Border Leicester-cross ewes to blackface ram proved popular, and mixed age sold for $161-$164, and 5-6year, $165. Two-tooth Romney, scanned-inlamb 129%-130% to Romney ram, made $145-$151, and 4-tooth and 6-tooth, 149%, $140-$142. Lamb numbers lifted, and the market was mainly positive, with few very long term types offered. Demand for most male lambs was strong, though two heavy lines did not meet expectations and returned home, with other lines trading at $109-$113. Most lambs offered were medium to good types, with medium ewe lambs fetching $81-$98 on a firm market, while males returned $94-$109. Though small lines dominated the winter cattle yarding, buyers were treated to some bigger consignments of specially advertised beef cattle, which drew a good local crowd. Angus steers from Wairoa sold to very high demand, with 435kg managing $1450, $3.33/kg, and a small second cut, $3.17/kg. Heavier R3 Angus & AngusHereford, 515kg, sold for $2.93/ kg. The heifer market was more susceptible to the time of year, though still positive, with R3

Markets

Angus, 437-484kg, selling at market value of $2.74-$2.79/kg, while lighter R2 Angus & AngusHereford, 325-374kg, made $2.91$2.94/kg. A nice line of Hereford, 335kg, sold for $2.84/kg, while autumn-born Angus & AngusHereford, 242-264kg, fetched $740-$795. The DANNEVIRKE ewe fair last Thursday was well supported by buyers from central, southern and eastern areas of the North Island, with the offering of 5200 ewes heading out on trucks in all directions. The bulk of the sale was a capital stock consignment of Romney ewes, on offer due to the farm being sold. The vendors deserved to have a good sale, given the years of breeding and work put into the line, and results were up on breeding ewe sales so far this season. Bids flowed freely, and 2-tooths, 152%, fetched $153-$154, with lower scanning lines at $117-$147. The 4-tooth section was topped by a line of nearly 600, which scanned 170% and fetched $172, while 714 6-tooth, 178%, sold three ways for $171-$173, to be the best selling ewes on the day. Older ewe lines mainly traded at $115-$132. MANAWATU MANAWATU Numbers at RONGOTEA last Wednesday were low, as the shortest day looms closer and winter stocking rates are set, New Zealand Farmers Livestock agent Darryl Harwood reported. Prices are also reaching winter levels, with R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 472-525kg, earning $2.62$2.76/kg, and Angus, 650kg, $2.46/ kg. The top heifers were not far off that pace, and Hereford-Friesian, 475kg, sold to $2.69/kg, with similar weighted Friesian also up to $2.66/kg. Lesser types however dropped back to $2.20-$2.38/kg. Bull numbers were limited, and Friesian prices varied at $2.13$2.55/kg. In the boner pens, Friesian, 583kg, sold to $1.83/ kg, with medium types earning $1.46-$1.55/kg. Friesian heifers, run-with-the-bull, sold for $1200, and Jersey, $900. Younger cattle were scarce, coming forward in mainly small lines of mixed quality, with one main feature being R1 Friesian bulls, 325kg, at $2.71/kg. The rest of the section sold to very limited interest, with Friesian bulls, 142-245kg, making $480$685, while other dairy lines were selling under $200. Top prices in the heifer pens was $400-$450 for Hereford-Friesian and Friesian, with other lines earning just $250$330. The small pens were also much quieter, and bull calves traded at $270-$475, heifers, $140-$330, and weaner pigs, $65. FEILDING is the place to pick up decent numbers of prime lambs, with a further 4200 on offer last Monday. Cattle numbers continue to decrease, with cows in particular selling on a softer market, and the rest of the yarding mainly store types. There was enough competitive bidding in the lamb pens to firm the heavier types, and even lift medium prime prices. Just over 1200 lambs were very heavy, and traded at $136-$159, while the majority made $120-$138, with store types steady at $58-$122.

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017

CLOSE EYE: Burt Harrison and Bryan Spain give stock the once over at a recent sale at Frankton. More photos: farmersweekly.co.nz

Scanning is bringing out more ewes, and prices eased as the pressure comes off the buyers. Heavy ewes traded at $112-$139, though most offered were medium types at $78-$114.50. A small light end sold for $57-$78. The cattle sale offered up more store than prime, with most coming forward in lines of one or two. Three Angus bulls, 493kg, sold for $2.75/kg, and one Hereford heifer, 520kg, managed $2.75/kg, but the rest of the yarding was well down on these levels. A line of 10 in-calf Friesian heifers, 424kg, sold for $2.28/ kg. There was more action in the cow pens, but both numbers and prices notably eased. Good yielding Angus & Angus-Hereford, and Hereford-Friesian, sold to $2.11-$2.13/kg, with the next cut making $1.85-$1.98/kg, and most other lines, $1.75-$1.84/kg. Sale entries in both sheep and cattle sections of Friday’s sale continued their decline to winter levels with varying effects on sale prices. Low cattle entries with no real standout lines meant that cattle prices essentially drifted sideways, not helped by most local regions still being too wet, but strong buying interest for lambs gave another lift to the lamb market. An average offering of scanned ewes sold at recent levels with works buyers still hovering. Store lambs began with the heavier males as usual and started strongly, then lifted further with the male lambs picking up some of the relative gains made by the ewe lambs last week. The male lambs were not as heavy as some buyers may have thought (or hoped), contributing to the lift. Top price was $134.50 for woolly ram lambs that were as heavy as they looked and well-bred Romney ewe lambs sold for $116. Sale prices lifted $6-$8. Ewes; SIL, $105-$140; Lambs; very heavy, $124.50-$134.50; heavy, $111-$124.50; medium, $98-$117. The cattle market did not have quite the energy of the lamb sale. Quality was somewhat lacking and buyers did target the better bred stock. The highest steer money was $1630, $2.98/kg, and $1625,

$3.06/kg, but cents/kg went sideways overall. One pen of four heavy Friesian bulls sold for $1640, $2.89/kg, with 10 weaner Hereford-Friesian bulls selling for $935, $3.58/kg, but a small bull yarding tracked sideways similarly to the steers. Heifers may have been the strongest aspect of the cattle sale. Well bred and presented rising two year Angus heifers sold up to $3.25/kg and a largish entry of Angus-Friesian weaner heifers sold well enough. Steers; R3, 526-551kg, $1500$1630, $2.85-$3.06; R2, 302-534kg, $1150-$1530, $2.86-$3.30; R1, 198251kg, $660-$1025, $2.63-$4.68; Bulls; R2, 442-567kg, $1285-$1640, $2.89-$3.00; R1, 123-261kg, $490$935, $3.25-$4.50; Heifers; R2&3, 247-432kg, $610-$1300, $2.57$3.25; R1, 119-263kg, $500-$860, $2.76-$4.67; cows VIC, 441-588kg, $1030-$1280, $2.17-$2.33. CANTERBURY CANTERBURY COALGATE was back to business last week, with an increase in stock numbers offloaded last Thursday as winter makes itself known. A bit of a lift in store lamb numbers was helped by a line of 473 head, which sold for $94. This price was mid-range for the mainly shorn, fine wool and crossbred lambs, with better types making $101-$115, and the remainder, $80-$96. Prime lambs easily outnumbered the store lines, and one buyer dominated the section. Prices were mainly steady, with most trading at $120-$159. Scanning is drawing a few more ewes out to auction, and two regular buyers picked up the majority, with heavy lines at $120$160, and medium, $79-$116. Cattle numbers were well up on the previous week, though buyers had to dig deep still, with prime heifer prices in particular very strong. Good yielding heifers, 508-567kg, were pushed to $2.93$3.01/kg, with local trade beef lines earning $2.85-$2.86/kg. The top heifers bettered the steers though they had more weight on the scales, with 633-653kg making $2.94/kg. Beef cows filled most of their pens, and sold exceptionally

well, with 528-676kg trading at $2.09-$2.12/kg. The store yarding was a mix of beef-Friesian and beef lines, but what was consistent was the quality in the pens. Budgets were stretched to $3.00-$3.03/kg for 404-435kg Hereford-Friesian steers, while R1 Angus steers, 172226kg, had a captive audience and sold for $710-$880. A consignment of Charolais-cross from the same camp as the Angus, backed up with good prices, and steers, 197-244kg, returned $770-$890, with the better heifers, 205-233kg, almost identical in price at $770$840. A small yarding, good feed levels through Canterbury and firming schedules all pointed towards a good prices paid at CANTERBURY PARK in the sheep section. Store lambs were stable weekon-week. Decent mixed sex store lambs averaged $102-$108, while lesser types were usually $93-$98. Prime lambs lifted, with the heaviest lines making $150-$167. The bulk of the line-up were $120$138, with a few rounding out the sale at $100-$119. Prime ewes were also firmer. Heavy ewes made $130-$155, easing to $105-$125 for medium types, while the lighter end managed $70-$95. Prime cattle numbers lifted at CANTERBURY PARK. Steer and heifers accounted for most of the increase, with both at least double the week prior. Steers, 460-565kg, were usually traded at $2.85-$2.90/kg, though there was the odd line that went for more like $2.90-$3.00/kg. Heifers, 440kg plus, made $2.80-$2.90/kg on average, occasionally a little weaker. Three 520-625kg lines stood out in the cows, making $2.10-$2.25/ kg, but 335-425kg were more frequently $1.70-$1.80/kg, and 445-475kg made $1.85-$1.90/kg. Some 380-445kg bulls made $2.35-$2.45/kg. SOUTH CANTERBURY SOUTH CANTERBURY Prime lambs hit record levels for numbers, with nearly 2200 on offer at TEMUKA last Monday. Cattle however continued to reduce, though this came as no surprise given the time of year.

Most classes of sheep sold to high demand, though the bigger offering of prime lambs did make buying easier for the bench, and while heavy types held their value at $130-$169, second and third cuts eased to $100-$129. Store lambs numbered 3560, and was a good mix of ewe, male and mixed sex. Big consignments were put up, with 780 mixed sex from one property, and lines continued to sell at very high levels. Light lambs are very expensive, with ewe lambs making $92-$98, though similar weighted mixed sex were more buyable at $75-$91. Four big lines of males sold for $94-$137, while mediumgood mixed sex returned $96$110, with heavy types to $113$115. The ewe market could not be faulted, and low numbers meant prices were very competitive. Of the 750 offered, 75% sold over $100, with very heavy types selling up to $160-$180. Just 290 cattle entered the rostrum, with throughput at its lowest level since mid-December 2016, and prices were strong across all classes. Prime beef and beef-Friesian steers realised $2.96$3.06/kg, with few selling outside this level. Bull demand was also strong, with good yielding types making $2.70-$2.82/kg, and including Hereford, 494-855kg which sold over a tight range at $2.74-$2.82/kg. The best of the heifers were not far off steer money at $2.86-$2.94/ kg, while Friesian varied, with 443-448kg, making $2.50-$2.51/ kg, but lesser quality lines, 460477kg, $2.12-$2.17/kg. Cow prices continued to firm and Friesian, 513-629kg, made $1.79-$1.87/ kg, and 465-510kg, $1.71-$1.78/ kg. Hereford, 515-555kg, fetched $1.95-$1.97/kg. OTAGO OTAGO Results were very positive in the store lamb pens at BALCLUTHA last Wednesday, where a reasonable yarding sold to strong demand, PGG Wrightson agent Emmett Sparrow reported. The better types held the previous week’s lift at $95-$101, while medium and light lines firmed $2-$5, to $85-$92, and $75-$80. Prime lamb prices could not be sustained though, easing $3-$10 across all types. Heavy lambs made $125-$147, with medium easing to $115-$123, and lighter, $95-$110. Heavy ewes held their value at $110-$140, though prices also showed some softening for medium types at $80-$95. However, lighter ewes firmed $5 to $65-$75. SOUTHLAND SOUTHLAND Demand was solid across all classes at the CHARLTON sheep sale last Thursday, PGG Wrightson agent Greg Clearwater reported. A medium sized yarding of store lambs sold well, with top lines earning $105, medium $87-$95, and lighter $70. Prime prices for lambs were fully firm, with limited numbers driving the market. Heavy lambs made $146, medium $112-$120, and lighter $105. Ewes were also keenly contested, and heavy types traded at $142, medium $95-$110, and light, $55-$70, with rams fetching $65-$96.

Markets

40 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 19, 2017 39 MICRON WOOL

NI SLAUGHTER MUTTON

SI SLAUGHTER STEER

($/KG)

GOOD EWE LAMBS AT STORTFORD LODGE

($/KG)

($/HD)

4.10

3.25

5.70

$171-$173 high lights In-lamb Romney

R2 Hereford-Friesian 6-tooth ewes, 178%, at heifers, 330-430kg, at Wellsford Dannevirke Ewe Fair

Venison prices rocket up The holy grail of the venison industry ever since I first became involved was to sell leg cuts into the United States.

Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com

TRONG uptake for contracts and fierce competition for uncommitted product have sent deer prices sky-rocketing as the stars align for venison. Alliance lifted spot venison schedules to $9/kg last week while Silver Fern Farms stopped publishing prices in a market short of product. Industry officials reported deer slaughter rates at 280,000 head this year, the lowest in 20 years and just half the kill reached 10 years ago but forecasts out to 2020 predicted that would grow to 350,000 head amid confidence that market development investment should handle the increased volume. A big drop in the number of deer being processed had undoubtedly played a big part in the strength of venison prices to farmers but the industry said there were other important factors at work. The United States was now the single largest market for venison, knocking Germany out of the top slot. “The holy grail of the venison industry ever since I first became involved was to sell leg cuts into the United States,” Mountain River’s John Sadler said. “Traditionally a middles market – I think we are finally getting there.”

FOUND IT: John Sadler says the holy grail for venison is getting leg cuts into the United States.

Duncan New Zealand marketing manager Glen Tyrell said the industry was reaping the rewards of 35 years of market investment. Deer Industry NZ venison marketing manager Marianne Wilson said more chefs and consumers were making ethical buying decisions. The more affluent consumers in Europe and the US were eating out more at premium casual restaurants where small

plates and shared plates were fashionable. “This style of eating with less formality is good news for NZ venison and Cervena as there is less risk for the consumer if they are trying something novel.” Wilson said with growing year-round demand less venison was being allocated to the commodity game market and instead supply was being directed as much as possible to long-term, higher-value customers.

That was reflected in a 40% reduction in sales to Germany over the past 12 months. The exporters involved in P2P were developing year-round markets, which would be needed when the kill reached 350,000, possibly as early as 2019, DINZ chief executive Dan Coup said. Silver Fern Farms was expanding summer Cervena into Germany, First Light had developed new markets in the US, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, Mountain River was developing demand from high-end hotels in Shanghai and recently launched a range of new cuts into Sweden, Alliance was developing a new market segment in the UK while Duncan NZ was continuing to build its strong position in the US. “It is one thing to have fashions and trends going your way but we also need to keep looking ahead and our exporters are certainly doing this,” Wilson said.

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$2.65-$2.75/kg

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Lamb turning in a solid performance FARMGATE lamb prices have pushed well over $6/kg in recent weeks with expectations of more upside to spring. Lamb prices for June have been higher only once before, in June 2011 when confidence in the sector Mel Croad was strong. AgriHQ Analyst Tight supplies from New Zealand and Australia have forced the hand of key international markets where buyers have had to compete hard to secure the reduced production volumes. Despite the inconsistencies of global currencies, NZ lamb is performing exceptionally well in a broad spectrum of markets. Average export values reflect the strength of demand for NZ lamb with values up by over $1.40/kg on May 2016 levels. Forward supply contract prices for late in the season are higher than current values, suggesting little reason for prices to fall over the next four months. The big question is how the new season will shape up. Key global markets are paying well above average for our lamb. Prices received are as high as their usual October peak. Average export values tend to keep lifting through our winter months to peak in October with farmgate lamb prices following suit. There has been some rumblings over resistance to paying any more for lamb, which might slow further lifts. However, with little increase in lamb supplies from NZ or Australia over the winter, that should continue to underpin market demand and procurement levels here. Inevitably, as the new season rolls around and spring lambs are offloaded, farmgate prices come under pressure. Scanning results will give a clear picture of the 2017 lamb crop but with no significant indications that sheep breeders have increased flock sizes in the last year, lamb numbers are likely to be down again on last year. If average export values can maintain their strength to at least October then, by historical standards, any downside would still leave them in a better position to previous years and that will be reflected in more favourable farmgate lamb prices. mel.croad@nzx.com

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