Farmers Weekly NZ June 26 2017 by AgriHQ

25 Speaking from experience Vol 16 No 25, June 26, 2017

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She’s the boss I

I’ve had women from all walks of life coming to me and saying sincerely that this is great for women.

Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com

T TAKES very little prodding for new Federated Farmers president Katie Milne to identify that her number one priority is reconnecting urban and rural New Zealanders. That split was the root of many accusations levelled at farmers over water quality and environmental issues as well as deterring people from pursuing careers in agriculture, she said. “Because of all the flak we’ve been getting lately from Greenpeace etc, NZ needs to remember that farmers produce great food, which is important economically and to the sustainability of local communities.” Milne, 47, a fifth generation West Coaster, was the first female national president of the farmer lobby group in its 118-year history. She said her age and ability to speak in simple terms should help get the message across to urban NZ that farming was about producing great food and feeding families. That communication skill was identified while attending a governance and leadership course. The 2015 dairy woman of the year, Milne was one of 38 women attending the course as part of her prize but was the only farmer. A hands-on dairy farmer, she found herself having to explain aspects of farming and why

Katie Milne Federated Farmers

CENTRE OF ATTENTION: West Coast farmer Katie Milne has attracted much interest since breaking through the grass ceiling to become the first woman to lead Federated Farmers.

farmers did what they did to her course colleagues, prompting them to ask why she wasn’t speaking on behalf of the sector. “That got me thinking and understanding about how we need to be telling our stories. “Farmers then began asking me to maybe think about taking this a bit further and stand for the presidency and it made me start to think ‘why not?’” The fact Milne was the first woman to lead the federation was incidental but the magnitude of her achievement had since dawned on her.

“It’s hit home for me. I’ve had women from all walks of life coming to me and saying sincerely that this is great for women.” Milne viewed her elevation as an extension of what happens on farms already, given that women were involved in all aspects of farming from labouring to ownership. “Another great aspect of farming is that we don’t think about gender. We get out and do what we have got to do. “When you go to conferences it is male-dominated but the reason they can do that is because often

they have got a great partner in the business overseeing what is going on and often it is a rural woman.” Her motivation had always been a passion for the industry and getting a fair deal for farmers. Born to West Coast sheep and beef farmers, Milne was educated in Greymouth and worked on farms and in the Anzco Kokiri meat works as an inspector and in quality control. She met her partner Ian Whitmore and about 25 years ago they bought a dairy farm at Lake Brunner, inland from Greymouth.

They also ran a small contracting business. Milne said the Resource Management Act was being introduced at that time and she had to understand the consequences for their farm. Since then she became increasingly involved in issues affecting farming, especially when the Lake Brunner catchment was identified as sensitive, which meant management restrictions were imposed and farm plans were required. On her way to the top of the federation Milne was West Coast dairy section and provincial chairwoman and a national board member for five years. Her daughter Andrea had a science degree and returned with her husband to the West Coast where she had just finished the first season milking the family’s 200-cow Jersey herd. Milne succeeded Dr William Rolleston.

MORE: POLITICIANS MANIFESTO

P4 P4

NEWS

NEW THINKING

Soil Moisture Anomaly (mm) at 9am June 23, 2017

23 Test makes big nitrogen

4 Urban-rural gap not big Politicians lined up last week to tell farmers the biggest issue facing the nation is the environment but Prime Minister Bill English maintained urban people still had a positive view of farming.

10 Farmers must heal

themselves

The higher rate of injuries to farming staff members than self-employed farmers is concerning WorkSafe, chief executive Nicole Rosie says.

13 McClay and Trump in same

savings

60 Wetter than

Simple changes to management could deliver significant reductions in dairy farm nitrogen losses without major effects on profit.

OPINION

normal (mm)

26 Alternative View Alan Emerson says small local government is not always the best local government.

Editorial �� 24 Cartoon �� 24 Letters �� 24, 26 Pulpit �� 25 Alternative View �� 26 From the Ridge �� 27 From the Lip �� 27

farmers

There are concerns over the viability of Murray Goulburn in Tasmania as dozens of farmers look to change suppliers after Fonterra set a higher opening price.

Big chopper helps sell bulls �� 5 Don’t slack on drug testing �� 7 Hill farmers want better river �� 8 Farmers must heal themselves �� 10 Prisoners ready for ag-hort work �� 11 McClay and Trump in same camp �� 13

REGULARS Real Estate �� 29-33 Employment �� 34 Classifieds �� 34-35 Livestock �� 35

MARKETS

40 Milk prices

hold up

22 Make plans for the Crisis consultant Jordan Small has not yet met a food company executive who could manage a food safety crisis naturally and does not expect to any time soon.

Market Snapshot �� 36

Meat and dairy sectors fight back �� 20

NEWSMAKER unthinkable

-30

-50

Drier than normal (mm)

Map reading tips 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.

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Further gains for butter and anhydrous milk fat in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction have accentuated the spread between dairy fat and protein prices on world markets.

Genetic science needs new look �� 14

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28 Fonterra price could attract

A packed trade agenda for the United States means it could be years before it gets round to starting talks for a free trade deal with New Zealand.

Urban-rural gap not big �� 4

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WORLD

camp

Battle waged for Waikato milk �� 3

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 26, 2017

Battle waged for Waikato milk Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com WAIKATO dairy farmers need to take very good advice before quitting Fonterra to supply milk to an expanding Open Country Dairy company, Fonterra chairman John Wilson says. “They must get independent, expert analysis on all aspects of payout and co-operative membership. “All the figures I have seen from recent seasons show a significant gap between Fonterra’s higher milk prices and those of its competitors, except Tatua. “That was at the milk price level, not including dividends and the significant value of Farm Source prices and services.” Wilson said Fonterra farmers had between $30 and $50/kg of milksolids invested in dairy farming. “To invest a further $6/share in the co-operative and underwrite the whole business seems to me a no-brainer. “In the past two or three years our farmers have seen the absolute benefits of permanent capital. “We stayed on strategy, maximised payout and earnings and quickly came out of the downturn. “That is why Fonterra’s farmers are now some of the highest paid in the world again. “We strive to maximise payout. That is not the same driver for the non-co-operatives.” When refusing to call Open Country a “strong competitor” because of the alleged payout differences, Wilson ruled out any Waikato regional incentives to retain suppliers. That possibility was included in the constitution when Fonterra was formed but in recent years it had chosen to treat all shareholders around the country equally. Fonterra had run radio

TRUST ME: Fonterra chairman John Wilson is warning farmers to be very careful before deciding to move to another company as Open Country Dairy expands in Waikato. Photo: Sarah Brook

With Open Country there are no caps, quotas or capacity adjustments – you produce, we pay. Open Country Dairy advertisements in the region to emphasise the benefits of payout transparency and the need for farmers to understand the alternative proposition thoroughly. The ads questioned the complexity of the OCD payment model and whether it delivered returns for milk equal to those paid by Fonterra. “If you are a Fonterra dairy farmer being offered a good deal by another dairy company, make sure it really is a good deal,” the ads said.

OCD was expanding its processing facilities in Waikato and seeking more milk supply, chairman Laurie Margrain said. At the National Fieldays it distributed a new corporate profile booklet called A Partnership by Choice. The booklet emphasised the opportunity for a farmer transferring to OCD to unlock share capital and reinvest it elsewhere. “With Open Country there are no caps, quotas or capacity adjustments – you produce, we pay,” it said. OCD was proceeding with a fourth processing site, its second in Waikato, at Horotiu, and would start production for the 2018-19 season. It had not yet disclosed the size or facilities of the new plant, Margrain said. The company also recently obtained Waikato Regional Council resource consent to

expand at Waharoa, in eastern Waikato, and build a second powder drier and a third boiler. Those facilities would lift Waharoa’s capacity to five million litres a day of milk supply. The Open Country booklet also contained a stylised graph called a cashflow comparison, picturing its three settlement period model. It said the OCD model would deliver a higher progressive return during the season than the “industry standard model”, without saying what that was or mentioning Fonterra. The final payment of settlement period three (February to May) was in August, versus October for Fonterra. Many rural professionals in Waikato had the OCD and Fonterra payment models in their computers to provide comparisons for individual farms, which varied according to the milk curve.

Without expansionary growth in milk production in Waikato and the Central Plateau, competition for supply between existing processors should be hot. A recent report by TDB Advisory said OCD had grown supply by 10% annually compounded over the past five years and that it planned to grow by another 20% to fill a new powder plant at Horotiu. OCD’s total present intake was reported by TDB director Geoff Taylor to be 6% of the national production or about 115m kilograms or 1.35 billion litres a year. The Horotiu growth target, therefore, would be about 20m kilograms or 250m litres a year. That was equal to supply from 130 average farms. Taylor was also a director of Dairy Investment Fund, a 6.7% shareholder in OCD. The majority shareholder with 75% was Talleys.

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

English: Urban-rural gap not big POLITICIANS lined up last week to tell farmers the biggest issue facing the nation is the environment but Prime Minister Bill English maintained urban people still had a positive view of farming. Greens leader James Shaw said his party wanted to work with farmers so they could make more money from environmental enhancement while Labour leader Andrew Little told them the party had stepped back from its 2014 election policy of charging farmers a rental resource for water use and nutrient discharges though it still believed there were environmental limits to growth. NZ First leader Winston Peters attacked National and Federated Farmers for not sticking up for farmers and promised to reform the Resource Management Act to allow responsible growth and to put an end to the urban-rural divide. English said the country faced big strategic challenges managing growth and the environment but the size of a divisive rural-urban split, making it harder to address the issues, is overblown. Farmers should not feel embattled by an apparent divide across NZ.

CARRY ON: Bill English says he won’t shut down farming growth despite it facing one of the biggest strategic challenges.

“I take the view that the wider community has a positive view of farming. “You wouldn’t necessarily get that impression from listening to farmers. “But if there is one message about the future of farming in NZ it is that we should have confidence in the history of the success and learning how to

be the most efficient grassland farmers of the world and in the public support of what farmers do means to the wider economy and the brand of NZ.” English indicated while there were intense debates over farming systems here, overseas customers’ view of our attributes had not changed. “In the Asia-Pacific region and the larger economies of the northern hemisphere people increasingly value our way of producing food.” On the environment he said “We are facing one of the biggest strategic challenges over the next few years. We could respond to the challenges by shutting down farming growth and intensification. “Or we could continue to do what we are doing, which is the long, difficult challenging process of understanding science, creating it as we go and following through in understanding how to change farming management practices if that is required and, in doing so, enabling the continuation of profitable farming and exporting at the same time as improving the environment.” Shaw said “If we can solve the problem here – how to deliver

high-value agricultural produce that happens to be low emissions into air and into water we will make more money in the future than we do today. This will then create fantastic intellectual property.” Shaw said the environment and economic growth were inextricably linked and there was no point trying to separate the goals of addressing environmental issues and advancing economic growth. “My preference is to look at addressing climate change issues through the realm of economic development and to say, ‘how do we make more money in the future from a form of land use that is based on lower emissions’. “That is my interest because if we don’t align these things then all the regulation in the world isn’t really worth much. So it is an economic problem even more than it is a regulatory one. “If you adopt the high-value approach it allows you to cover some of the costs of addressing emissions and will not lead to industries moving offshore because we may be producing less but it will be a higher value. “If we work out how to do that, to reduce emissions then that in

itself is valuable.” Questioned specifically on the Green Party policy on irrigation Shaw said “We have never said all irrigation is bad. But we are sceptical about really large irrigation schemes for the purpose of intensifying dairy. “Our focus will be on ways we can do smaller-scale irrigation that is more appropriate to local environmental conditions.” Peters said farmers’ rights were being eroded in such a steady way many did not notice till it was too late. Farming and the environment were flipsides of the same coin. “The Kermits may have declared intensive farming public enemy number one. The solution starts by ending this growing ruralurban divide.” And the solution to better water quality was not lopping the heads of cows under so-called caps but was about improving the farm environment, technology and water quality reporting. “That demands an upgrade to nutrient tools like Overseer before they can be put into regional plans.” He promised to support irrigation saying water storage was good.

Feds manifesto calls for affordable rural issues solutions Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com WATER quality issues should be addressed by targeting individual catchments, Federated Farmers says. The policy was included in the federation’s Farmers’ Manifesto that advocated a “sensible, practical and affordable” approach to tackling issues of relevance to rural areas. On water quality, the federation’s outgoing president

Dr William Rolleston said that approach would allow sustainable economic growth alongside environmental goals. “We support a framework for catchment partnerships that co-ordinates community, council and scientific efforts. “This could involve a range of taxpayer and region-wide rates based funding to assist in the most cost-effective way, to manage our regional waterways,” he said. “This way we can target those

hotspots that need immediate attention through applying science-based data, investing resources and funds more wisely to understand and ultimately alleviate the worst affected areas.” Rolleston also called on all New Zealanders to do their share. “Farmers are on a journey to improve our waterways and we call on all New Zealanders to not only back our campaign but to join us in doing our share. “As every catchment is unique

in regard to its current state and how it should be managed in the future, catchment communities should have more say in how their waterways are managed.” The manifesto was a challenge to all political parties ahead of September’s general election and also called for a greater focus and investment on biosecurity and reform of the Resource Management Act. “A review of the current principles relating to property rights, rural production and

how it impacts on the economic returns at the farmgate should be factored into future reviews so that farmers and rural economies aren’t overlooked or disadvantaged,” Rolleston said. Other elements on the wish list were the continued efforts to free up trade, investing in science that delivered economically and environmentally, a pragmatic approach to climate change and addressing skill shortages on farms.

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

READY: Jimmy and Jack Murray moving a mob of bulls for sale at their Clarence Valley auction.

Big chopper helps sell bulls Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com SOUTH Island bull sales in midJune set new average price records and clearances, highlighted by three Angus studs selling more than 100 bulls each. The Fraser family at Stern Angus, Totara Valley, South Canterbury had a full clearance of 102 bulls and averaged $9511, which was $2227 higher than last year’s average. PGG Wrightson’s Timaru livestock manager Joe Higgins said it was the first time Stern had sold more than 100 bulls, showing demand was very strong. Top price was a massive $47,000, paid for Stern 15815, sired by Matauri Outlier, and bought by Dean McHardy, Tangihau Angus, Gisborne. Stern 15858 fetched $22,000 and was bought by Delmont Angus, Clinton. Te Mania Angus, North Canterbury, sold more than $1 million worth of bulls by

averaging $9628 for 109 out of the offering of 111. Top price was $28,000 paid by Argyle Station, Waikaia, Southland for Te Mania 15347, sired by Thomas Up River (United States). Rangitatau Trust, Wanganui, paid $26,500 for Te Mania 15311. Te Mania stock manager Will Wilding said a very big turnout of buyers had to overcome obstacles to attend, including Kaikoura earthquake road damage and fog disruption at Christchurch Airport. The family was extremely happy with the outcome, the average being over $2000 more than last year. The bull sale was the 50th at Conway Flat and marked Te Mania’s return to full Wilding family ownership. A few days earlier Gerald and Sue Hargreaves, Kakahu Angus, Geraldine, sold 102 bulls of 109 offered. They averaged $8107, up more than $1000 from last year, and had a top price of $27,000 paid by nearby Mt Peel Station.

The leading Charolais stud in the country, Silverstream near Christchurch, sold 62 of 64 Charolais bulls and 16 of 18 Herefords offered. Brent Fisher said a larger number of bulls sold very well, averaging $7185 for Charolais and $6560 for the Herefords.

The solution was a five-minute helicopter ride.

Top price was $25,000 for a Charolais bought by Rimu Partnership, Taumarunui, plus some Australian semen rights. Lochiel Station, Hanmer Springs paid $13,000 for a Hereford. The Murray family at Clarence Valley had good clearances of both Angus and Hereford bulls and were pleased with averages $1800 and $1000 respectively above last year.

Woodbank Angus sold 51 of 54 averaging $7180 and Matariki Hereford sold 48 of 51, averaging $7969. Top price for the Angus was $15,500, sold to Wainui Station, north Otago, and for the Herefords $15,000 twice. Getting to the sale this year was a bit different for some of the buyers. Many arrived by helicopter rather than road because State Highway 1 north of Kaikoura was closed. The Murray’s Matariki and Woodbank farms on the north side of the Clarence Valley were cut off from the south following the November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. The solution was a fiveminute helicopter ride from Mangamaunu (north of Kaikoura) to the farm then a quick walk up a track to where the bulls were penned for inspection. Successful bidders on the day were refunded the cost of the return flight of about $250. The Blenheim Angus sale of

three vendors resulted in 25 bulls sold: Brackenfield (Peter family) averaged $6183 for 13 sold, Waterfall (Waddy family) averaged $4800 for six, and Blacknight (Maisey family) averaged $5616 for six. Paul and Nadine Hickman, Taimate Angus, Marlborough, averaged a very good $9382, up $2800, when selling 52 bulls with a top price of $20,000. The van Asch family, Burtergill, Blenheim, sold eight of nine South Devon bulls for an average of $6560. Neil Sanderson, Fossil Creek Angus, north Otago, sold 47 of 53 Angus bulls for an average of $7350, up $500, and a top of $13,000. On June 15 the Chesterman family at Koanui Herefords, Maraetotara, Hawke’s Bay, sold 50 bulls for an average of $8008, a $1000-plus increase on last year. The top price paid was $29,000 for Koanui Exfactor 5041. The bull sale calendar moves on to East Coast breeders for the last week in June.

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Don’t slack on drug testing Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com FARMING is one of the fastest growing employment sectors turning to professional drug testers and that growth is escalating, Drug Detection Agency Canterbury general manager Therese Gibbens says. In Ashburton to address a Federated Farmers’ drug vigilance workshop Gibbens said 4% of people were failing preemployment drug testing with random drug testing of workers recording a 5.1% fail rate. Canterbury was bucking the national average across three of the four testing categories and the Ashburton district with its “real problem with P” was largely the cause of that, Gibbens said. With law changes on the way to better handle methamphetamine contamination of rental houses, Federated Farmers facilitated a series of workshops aimed at helping farmers nip drug problems in the bud. Rural insurer FMG and the agency jointly addressed the five seminars in central New Zealand to raise vigilance about suspected drug use and manufacture and give farmers advice on the appropriate way to deal with employment matters where drug use was suspected or confirmed. The isolation of rented farmhouses made them a popular as P labs. Feds Mid Canterbury president Michael Salvesen said the organisation was running the workshops because this was an issue that was now top of mind for many farmers. “We need to get on top of this problem,” he said.

Gibbens said while cannabis at 81.3% was still the biggest cause of a drug test fail, P fails were on a rapid rise because workers reasoned they were better to smoke the drug and have it out of their system in two to six days whereas THC (found in cannabis) was stored in fat cells and detectable up to 30 days. While P smoking was odourless, its manufacture gave off a toxic smell and its black, tarry and tacky residue was a sure giveaway in its detection. She urged farmers to do regular checks of staff and rented farmhouses and their surrounds looking for old, sealed containers with labels ripped off and signs of residue in gardens, around the yard and even down the toilet. Cream to apricot-brown lines running down walls were another sign of P manufacture though it might take sunlight shining on the wall to detect them, Gibbens said. The agency had done 140,000 drug tests in the past year. “It’s big and growing business in rural NZ and an issue that employers and directors with a legal obligation to keep staff and people safe can’t walk away from.” She urged farmers to have standalone drug and alcohol testing policies linked to their employment contracts. The policy should be specific in detail, particularly in respect to level of tolerance and include the consequences of failed tests which could be dismissal or rehabilitation. “Set the conditions and make it very clear,” Gibbens said. Pre-employment testing was highly recommended as was random testing but it was best to avoid a pattern.

BIG PROBLEM: Therese Gibbens says drug testing is big and growing business in farming circles.

It’s big and growing business in rural New Zealand and an issue that employers and directors can’t walk away from. Therese Gibbens Drug Detection Agency

“It’s best to do one a month rather than three every three months. If there’s a pattern it gets very easy for employees to work out. “We have some people walk when we arrive. They know and they’re out of here.” Reasonable cause testing was an option where there was any obvious reason to suspect and post-incident or near miss

incidents were also reasons to test to eliminate drugs. “The rules are clear, no drugs in the system in a workplace. We know from post-incident testing that drugs and alcohol are a factor. “We know that people who are off their face don’t work as well as people who are clean and that becomes a health and safety factor for the employer and other staff. “I can’t stress enough – whatever you do, follow your policy,” Gibbens said. The agency tested urine at $77.50 a pop and hair follicles at $299. House swabbing ranged from $120 for a single swab to $190 for two rooms to $600 for an entire house. Insurance companies were tightening up so farmers should get proactive rather than reactive and break the cycle, FMG rural manager Nick Macklin said. “Know your obligations as a landlord, be upfront and show you

Photo: Annette Scott

have exercised reasonable care getting tenants and with ongoing property inspection. “Get references before letting, complete regular internal and external inspections every six months or when tenancy changes and keep a written record of inspections, who conducted the inspection, who was present, what did you see, take photos,” Macklin said. “Proof is everything if it comes to a claim.” Insurance companies were mindful remote farmhouses could attract those wanting to manufacture or grow drugs. “Some companies are actually requiring a P check on a set time basis,” Macklin said. FMG offered an unlawful substance contamination cover of $25,000. “While that may not go far in an extreme case it’s a help but the best safeguard for your insurance is to be a vigilant landlord.”

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Hill farmers want better river Tim Fulton THE state of the Selwyn River is a rallying cry for freshwater conservationists appalled by its murkiness and fickle flow across the Canterbury Plains. Up the Rakaia Gorge and towards the Southern Alps, the Guild family has heard the outcry. Farming below the Selwyn headwaters, the Guilds at High Peak and neighbouring Quartz Hill were in a regulatory red-zone for water use and nutrient runoff. The separately-owned stations were immersed in the water and nutrient regulations of the Selwyn Waihora catchment. The Guilds at High Peak were double-fencing about 30km of stream and river margin, including tributaries running through forestry. Relations at Quartz Hill were following their lead. High Peak patriarch James Guild was a new member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, honoured for services to deer farming. He also headed the Molesworth Steering Committee and the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust – roles that exposed him to a kaleidoscope of opinion on the health of NZ waterways. Molesworth, a vast tract of publicly-owned upper South Island high country, attracted vigorous comment about wilding pines, pest control and, more recently, water quality. James recalled one visitor, a Fish and Game officer from Taranaki, demanding an investigation into “cow shit in the river”. Molesworth managers referred the woman to a 2011 Cawthron Institute report, Culmulative effect of cattle grazing in the Acheron River, that found cows were being grazed at an intensity of four head to every square kilometre. Cattle were scattered across no more than 15-20% of the property. The woman’s assessment of that report was essentially “I don’t care

GREEN: High Peak farm manager Hamish Guild with irrigated flats with deer fencing and riparian planting nearby. Photo: Tim Fulton

It’s a bit like playing an organ - you push something here, you push something there, just to make sure the balance is right. James Guild High Peak Station about the science. I just don’t like the look of it.” High Peak was another upcountry station with a high profile, running deer, cattle and sheep. It also ran hunting tours across 40% of the property and made honey for export.

Inevitably, there was pressure on such a varied business to pay its way. “It’s a bit like playing an organ – you push something here, you push something there, just to make sure the balance is right,” James said. Right now, the station was in a critical stage of water storage and irrigation. Five small-span pivots on 100ha serviced just 2.5% of the farm but made a disproportionate contribution to production and profit. The irrigation had been a 15-year project involving about nine separate resource consent applications to enlarge an onfarm dam holding stored winter from the Selwyn River. Farm manager Hamish Guild

said the storage allowed the family to grow fescue, lucerne and modern cocksfoot. It meant they weren’t forced to sell stock as soon as it went dry. For the last 20 years High Peak had sold most of its lambs at the Rakaia Gorge onfarm lamb sale in mid-January. This year, irrigated clover allowed the Guilds to finish 2000 lambs two months later. Through 10 weeks in autumn, the lambs were putting on 300g a day. “Instead of the lambs averaging $55 in January they made more than $100 in March. The top lamb was getting up to $120 that we couldn’t get a bid on in the sale,” Hamish said. Admittedly, lamb prices stayed unusually high after Christmas, but irrigation gave High Peak

confidence to put a higher reserve price on the stock. “Anything that made $80 we sold, anything less we kept.” But it wasn’t all sweetness and mint lamb. The Guilds found themselves defending basic facts about their environment, like the Selwyn’s flow. The river had run dry along its length for as long as anyone could remember, from the mountains to the coastal Canterbury Plains. But none of that dampened the recurring idea that the Selwyn was “in a bit of a mess”, Hamish said. At Quartz Hill, Dan and Georgie Harper were introducing new pasture and brassica crops to their roly-poly lower country. The new feed worked well for the deer as well as the lambs and calves the family finished on an irrigated, down-country block at Windwhistle. Like High Peak, Quartz Hill was adapting to Environment Canterbury’s water and nutrient rules by adding stacks of fencing and riparian strips. The station was laced with at least 50 creeks feeding into the Selwyn. Deer-fencing on a 200ha block on their top country cost $120,000. The job allowed them to increase hind numbers fawning on the hill but the farm had at least 25km of waterways so double-fencing every brook and stream would be a nightmare, Dan said. If deer fencing cost $15-$20 a metre, Quartz would be up for $1 million. Fortunately for the owners, Ecan agreed total fencing went too far. “The guy (from council) laughed and said, ‘no way, that’s not economical’.” But Dan said they were happy to progressively fence as much as they could afford, just like at High Peak. “We love the Selwyn and we thought we’d do our bit.”

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News

10 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Farmers must heal themselves Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com THE higher rate of injuries to farming staff members than selfemployed farmers is concerning WorkSafe, chief executive Nicole Rosie says. Employees have a serious accident rate of 20 per 1000 people a year versus 12 among the owner-operators. Against the background of flat to slightly rising rate of severe injuries and workplace deaths in agriculture compared with forestry and construction WorkSafe was seeking the reasons for the higher rates for employees. A greater understanding would lead to specific education and intervention, she said. Rosie suggested employees could be given more high-risk physical activities and tended to be younger and less experienced. As to why the injury rate in agriculture wasn’t declining, she said “We have found that

experience is not correlated to risk. “Farmers do the same things year after year but they lose mobility and strength and their reaction times get longer.” WorkSafe would put emphasis on understanding and preventing injuries to younger farm employees and to the older cohort of farmers, aged 55 to 75. In her new role since December, Rosie came from Fonterra where she was a past global leader for health and safety, a founder of the Farm Source programme and most recently a manager of the McKinsey site review. Before Fonterra she worked in health and safety for Kiwirail and Fletcher Challenge Forests. The serious injury rate and numbers of deaths in forestry were coming down because of new log harvesting machinery and the collective ownership of health and safety by the industry. WorkSafe employed more than 500 full-time equivalents of which

DIY: The agriculture sector must improve its own safety performance, WorkSafe chief executive Nicole Rosie says. Photo: Sarah Brook

We are never going to enforce our way to positive health and safety outcomes. Nicole Rosie WorkSafe 200 people were inspectors. It had a nationwide team of 20 farm assessors because agriculture was a priority sector for its proactive approach to health and safety, she said. But those numbers should

not threaten farming people. The rate of prosecutions of farmers had fallen steadily from 10-plus a few years back to six last year. “That means when there have been serious accidents, most farmers were subsequently found to have taken all reasonable, practicable, prevention steps. “Our own surveying shows more positive interactions with farmers, many of whom now approach our farm assessors for advice. “We are never going to enforce our way to positive health and safety outcomes. “The agriculture sector must

improve its own performance by saying ‘this is a problem and we need to change’ as the forestry sector has done.” In 2014 there were 2750 severe accidents in agriculture, 1155 of them in dairying. Dairying also produced about half of the estimated cost of severe injuries, $42 million in 2014. Live cattle and machinery tended to produce the non-fatal injuries while the deaths were caused by motorcycles and tractors. Men had twice the rates of women, who tended to be injured more by animals.

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Prisoners ready for ag-hort work Tim Fulton FROM prison to packhouse, a training scheme is finding desperately needed work for exinmates. Cherry grower and Horticulture New Zealand seasonal labour coordinator Jerf van Beek has led the workplace training scheme since its launch last July. The partnership between Corrections, Horticulture NZ and about 125 employers prepared inmates for basic horticulture. Most inmates started their training about six months before release, learning applied skills like chemical and chainsaw handling, health and safety law and installation of fences and crop nets. Van Beek, a volunteer trainer in prisons for 13 years, was chairman of Pick Hawke’s Bay, a cooperative of more than 40 growers who worked together to access unemployed New Zealanders and ex-prisoners. He also found staff from the Pacific through the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, without which many horticulture industries could not function. Van Beek said he was always keen to find more New Zealanders for horticulture but the former

WORKING: Horticulture NZ seasonal labour co-ordinator Jerf van Beek, front second from left, with the Kiwi crew who worked for him in the packhouse during the last cherry season.

inmates needed prescriptive training to survive outside the wire. Whereas other newbies on a worksite might ask questions on a new job, that didn’t come naturally to ex inmates. “In prison, especially, if you’re a dummy, you’re toast. So all you want to do is blend in.” Knowing the industry’s language before starting a job could make a difference, van Beek said.

“We want people to be as robust as possible as quickly as possible to feel part of the workplace.” The number of prisoners in work through the scheme was “a trickle more than an avalanche” but results were more important than volume, van Beek said. Even if 75 prisoners out of every 10,000 behind bars in New Zealand found jobs in horticulture, the scheme would have succeeded, he said.

More than 30 years ago, van Beek was a foreign backpacker who found himself earning up to $200 a day picking apples in NZ orchards. He went on to become an orchardist on the Heretaunga Plains in Hawke’s Bay. Personally, van Beek wanted the Corrections programme to help more New Zealanders find skilled management positions on orchards and in packhouses.

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The industry could find others to pick apples, he said. At breakfast meetings around the country last week, Corrections invited prospective horticulture employers to take on its recommended ex-inmates. A Corrections flyer promised employers access to an “end-toend” recruitment service from prison and probation sites with the option of ongoing support from a third-party for the employer and/or a new employee. “People nearing the end of their sentence who have the right attitude and skills are released each day to work as employees in your business. “You get a motivated and reliable employee and your Release to Work employee builds skills and work ethic while mixing with working role models.” Corrections worked with accredited training institutions to provide trade training and qualifications in the primary sector at 12 of its prisons. The department offered onthe-job training, training courses and hands-on experience in nursery and organic market gardens, forklifting or forestry and maintenance crews. It also provided training in sheep, dairy, pig and other drystock farming.

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

McClay and Trump in same camp Nigel Stirling nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com A PACKED trade agenda for the United States means it could be years before it gets round to starting talks for a free trade deal with New Zealand. Trade Minister Todd McClay came away from a meeting with members of US President Donald Trump’s cabinet with a commitment for the US to look at talks with NZ “when the time is right”. However, the US had its hands full for the foreseeable future with a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada to kick off this year. The US indicated it was also keen on trade talks with Japan and the United Kingdom. “They’re likely to have a considerable workload over next couple of years with NAFTA renegotiations and some big bilateral deals to do. “However, I’ve welcomed their interest in an FTA as a demonstration of the good shape our trading relationship is in,” McClay said. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross indicated the trade relationship with NZ was in good shape and there were no issues standing in the way of talks.

NOT YET: Though the United States is open to a trade deal with New Zealand it has other issues to deal with first, Trade Minister Todd McClay says.

skim milk powder making its way onto global markets turn into a torrent. The US industry had called on the Trump administration to tackle the Canadian system as part of its renegotiation of the NAFTA agreement. McClay said while the issues faced by the US and NZ industries were not identical, American farmers shared NZ’s concerns about the effect Canada’s actions were having on global skim milk prices.

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We are going to work had on this because it is important to the NZ dairy industry. Todd McClay Trade Minister Asked if officials would now put in work preparatory to the start of talks McClay said that was for down the track. “Once we have moved through what will be a quite detailed and focused trade agenda they have over the next few years then there will be the opportunity to start talking some more.” In the meantime NZ and the US would work together to tackle new Canadian milk pricing policies disrupting global dairy markets. Dairy industries in both the US and NZ believed the pricing system was a ploy to circumvent World Trade Organisation limits on export subsidies. “The president seems focused on it. I am in the same camp. I am very concerned about what I am hearing but we need to do some detailed work to understand exactly what is going on.” Asked if he had discussed the possibility of teaming up again at the WTO as the two countries had done in successfully challenging Indonesian beef import rules last year McClay gave little away. “We haven’t agreed on taking any decisive step but also nothing has been ruled out. “NZ has always looked towards dispute settlement where we believe there is a case and we have worked well with the US before.” McClay said he was awaiting more advice from officials before deciding whether NZ would initiate a case. That advice could be four or five months away. “We are going to work had on this because it is important to the NZ dairy industry. “NZ dairy farmers only ask to compete fairly with others in markets around the world.” The NZ industry believed if Canada was not challenged it could see the trickle of subsidised

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14 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Genetic science needs new look The Government says science is the key to fixing many of the environmental issues facing farmers but how close are we to finding meaningful solutions? Bryan Gibson asked AgResearch chief executive Tom Richardson at National Fieldays. MORE than 15 years after the Royal Commission report AgReseach chief executive Tom Richardson believes it it is time for another look at genetic modification and gene editing. “I think there is a national debate needed,” Richardson said at National Fieldays, where the Crown research institute was showcasing a type of modified ryegrass that could resist drought and cut environmental pollution.” AgResearch scientists had shown in the laboratory the ryegrass, called High Metabolisable Energy (HME), could reduce methane emissions from animals by 15% to 30% while modelling suggested a reduction in nitrous oxide of up to 20%. It had also shown resilience to dry weather and could increase milk production by up to 12%. But it was now being tested in the United States because it was illegal to do field trials here. Richardson said the ryegrass could help solve some of the key issues facing the New Zealand farming sector but, ironically, it was opposed by the very same people pushing to fix those problems faster. “You stand on an environmental platform but there are a range of technologies that we could deploy

ISSUES: Both the use of genetic science and funding for getting research results applied on farms should be talked about in the leadup to the election, AgResearch chief executive Tom Richardson says.

to address big issues for the NZ environment that we are not using,” he said. “I think the technology has moved along so that things like gene editing are blurring the boundaries between what people thought they were talking about around traditional breeding versus genetic modification.” In the past genetic modification could, for instance, involve taking a gene out of a fish and putting it into a plant or human. “But now we’re talking about surgically altering the DNA. For some that will still be anathema but it’s a very different technology.” The technology meant it was impossible to tell whether an organism had been edited, bringing further complexity to the debate. Richardson said the benefactors of genetic modification in the

LET’S TALK: AgResearch principal scientist Greg Bryan with the High Metabolisable Energy forage chief executive Tom Richardson says could be the breakthrough that sparks a national debate about genetic science.

past were typically the producers – multinational companies that profited from their invention. “They were easy targets. Now we have traits coming online that will benefit NZ communities both in health and in agriculture. They’ll benefit the environment.” He believed the HME ryegrass might be the breakthrough that kicked the conversation into gear. “We feel that the GM ryegrass is potentially one of the catalysts for that conversation, as would be things like sterility in radiata pine to combat wilding pines in sensitive ecosystems down south.”

The environment was shaping as one of the key issues leading into September’s election and Richardson said the primary sector needed to work harder at both improving its environmental footprint and letting people know of the gains already made. New Zealanders wanted to live in a prosperous country with opportunities for themselves and their children but they also wanted to enjoy the environment they grew up in. “It’s the biggest conversation,” he said. “We’ve got to find a balance

to make sure that our regional communities and our farmers are prosperous enough for the future that we desire. “And we’ve got to show demonstrable progress towards the environmental aspirations that we all have.” The dairy industry’s progress was a good example of where the message had been muddied. “Everyone knows what cow numbers have done and what export value has been created.” In doing that, if farmers had continued to farm the way they had been, using the same farming systems they were using 16 years ago, the water quality effects would be 90% greater than they are today. “So, essentially, by changing their farming practices because of new technology, new science, farmers have ameliorated all but 10% of that massive increase in economic output.” But Richardson said a greater focus on how science was applied onfarm was needed and that meant more funding. “For us, one of the big challenges in the NZ science investment model is that over the last period – and we applaud it – there’s been significant growth in fundamental science and a significant investment by the Crown to encourage businesses to invest more in research and development. “The challenge for us all now is that a lot of the solutions that we need to solve this biggest challenge is really good applied, onfarm, environmental science and that has been underinvested in for decades. “That now needs to be turned around.”

Future Footprint on track to deliver reform sites meant the end of our being connected locally,” he said. “That’s a genuine concern.” Many farmers were particularly AGRESEARCH’S Future Footprint concerned they would lose the plan is on track and will create ability to work with scientists productive environments for doing research regionally agricultural science research, chief applicable to them. executive Tom Richardson says. “So that’s why we worked The plan, which would see hard to make sure they knew we much of the Crown research were going to continue to do the institute’s science might science they needed. concentrated in Canterbury and “Yes, it was true that we would not have so many folks in the regions but the reality of doing 21st century science is we’ve got to be efficient. And most of them got that.” Some AgResearch staff were angry as well and Richardson said the culture shift from an office-based Wyld actively supports weka farming Pioneers of Cosywear set-up to the new, activity“No farmed species has ever died out” Roger Beattie based, shared space building Support weka conservation and buy a Weka Woo hat today Lightweight, Stretchy concept took some getting $80 @ wyld.co.nz Warm & Cosy used to. “The current problem is that a lot of people in our Slow Fibre—Quality, institution need to change the way they’ve worked for a uncompromised by speed long time. “Innovation hubs are Bryan Gibson bryan.gibson@nzx.com

Manawatu, was signed off by the Government last year. It immediately faced loud opposition from some scientists and farmers who thought the dilution of expertise in the regions, especially at Otago’s Invermay campus, was a bad idea. Richardson admits the plan ruffled feathers. “Some scientists and farmers thought that our focus on two

common around the world but change is difficult. Richardson was confident the new facilities would work for current and future science staff. “We need to make it for our 30 and 40 year staff but we’re really building a building to stimulate collaboration for the next 50 years.” Building progress was on schedule with AgResearch’s involvement in the Southern Dairy Hub and a push to fill out the Invermay campus going well. “Our plans for Invermay remain the same. We’re keen for others to join us at that campus. It’s a lovely facility so hopefully over time we’ll find some folks that will co-locate out there to bring a greater critical mass.” At the Ruakura campus, research organisations and likeminded businesses were lining up to join the hub. “We’ll have roughly 100 scientists at Ruakura and they’ll be surrounded by others in our science innovation system.” The two big hubs in Palmerston North and at Lincoln were also progressing well, he said.

“Palmerston North is on track with the new science centre that’s being built with Massey. Construction would begin later this year and be completed early in 2019. “On the other side of the road we’re redeveloping the Grasslands site to create a town centre that connects up with the new cycleway coming in to connect the two sides of the road. “Fonterra, Massey, Plant and Food Research and ourselves continue to be the core working to develop that into a hub for food science.” All of the farm systems capability on that site now would be retained. At Lincoln, Richardson expected to have a detailed business case signed off by ministers soon, which would release $100 million of Tertiary Education Commission money set aside in the 2015 Budget. The first buildings would be completed at the end of 2019. “That magnet should attract talent, not just science talent and student talent but also commercial firms.”

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News

16 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

More irrigation work approved Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com THE $195 million Hunter Downs Water project has received the all clear to implement its proposed irrigation scheme in South Canterbury. Environment Minister Nick Smith has granted Hunter Downs Water requiring authority status to develop and operate the Hunter Downs irrigation scheme, effectively giving it the green light to go. The milestone decision gave it the authority to apply to the Timaru and Waimate District Councils and Environment Canterbury for the necessary designations to implement the scheme. Smith said a requiring authority had the ability to set aside land for infrastructure, such as road, rail, energy or water. “I am satisfied HDWL meets the criteria to become one and this authority status is necessary to enable the scheme to be developed.” His approval reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to support well-designed water augmentation schemes. “We reject the simplistic view held by opposition parties that all water storage for irrigation is bad and will continue to support projects that meet high environmental standards,” Smith said. The scheme would take water from the Waitaki River to irrigate land between Waimate and Timaru. Hunter Downs had previously obtained a water-take consent from Environment Canterbury and received a $1.37m development grant boost from Crown Irrigation Investments earlier this year. The scheme had the potential to irrigate 40,000 hectares for 200 farmers. The deadline to buy water

NOT US: The Government rejects opposition parties’ view that all water storage for irrigation is bad, Environment Minister Nick Smith says.

FLOWING TOGETHER: The Mayfield-Hinds and Valetta Irrigation schemes have merged.

and development shares was on April 28 after the initial April 10 deadline was extended. Despite the shortfall in share uptake, HDW said it was committed to proceed with a redesigned scheme that would meet the demand. “We are also engaging to confirm the economic viability to reflect scale around the demand committed,” project manager Stacey Scott said. “We will build a scheme based on the demand that has been committed.” Stakeholders would be involved in assessing the next step as more details on the redesign and demand became available. The planned commissioning date was spring 2019. The Hurunui Water Project in North Canterbury had a new chief executive to take the eight-year-old company to commercialisation of the proposed $200m scheme promising economic benefit of $170m a year.

Formerly an engineer with consultancy firm MWH Global, Chris Pile took up the reins of HWP in April from Alec Adams who had led the project for the past three years. Pile said HWP had bought out the majority of Ngai Tahu’s shareholding and was forging ahead with a down-scaled plan. The down-size of the initially proposed 58,000ha to 21,000ha was caused by Environment Canterbury’s new nutrient leaching rules for the Hurunui and Waipara areas that would restrict the level of farming intensification. While Ngai Tahu still had a small package of land in the command area, it had a much larger chunk that would no longer fit into the scheme, hence the sale of a significant portion of its shareholding. A rearrangement had included Ngai Tahu retaining a small shareholding and part of its water consent for its own future development.

Crown Irrigation Investments was providing a $3.5m grant to Hurunui Water for feasibility work. Pile said the scheme would take water from the Hurunui and Waitohi Rivers that would go into on-plain storage using a pressured piped and distribution system.

There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge yet before we go out to farmers. Chris Pile Hurunui Water Project “There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge yet before we go out to farmers. “We are still in the design and development stage, aiming to be ready for capital-raising in the first quarter of next year,” Pile said. Meanwhile, in a bid to better

manage water and improve irrigation efficiency two Mid Canterbury irrigation schemes have voted to merge. Mayfield-Hinds, already the largest privately owned scheme in NZ, and Valetta Irrigation voted 87% in favour for the merged business that its shareholders said was positive news for the environment and the way in which water was managed in Mid Canterbury. Both schemes drew water from the Rangitata River and had been delivering it via the Rangitata Diversion Race for the past 60 years. The merged business, MHV Water, would now supply water for close to 50,000ha of farmland. New chief executive Melanie Brooks was appointed to head the new company with former Mayfield-Hinds chairman John Nicholls the new chairman of MHV Water and former Valetta chairman Mark Dewhirst his deputy.

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News

18 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Merger creates national outfit Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com MAPPING: The creation of Wallace Group gives it national coverage for processing coproducts from meat plants, Sir James Wallace says.

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SIR James Wallace has rationalised New Zealand’s co-products industry by merging part of his family business with Farm Brands to create Wallace Group. Farm Brands was jointly owned by the Spence family of Auckland and Sapi SpA (Societa Azionaria Prodotti Industrali), an Italian coproducts and rendering business. Arts patron and philanthropist Sir James would own half of the new Wallace Group, the Spences a quarter and the Italians a quarter. The $100 million-plus merger created a national coverage of rendering plants, extended the reach of casualty cow pick-ups into the South Island and enabled investments in science and further innovation. However, more than half of Wallace Corporation, comprising farms here and in Chile and biotechnology investments in polymers remained outside of the co-products merger, Sir James said. In the future all his personal shareholdings would pass to the Wallace Arts Trust and charitable foundations. The corporation’s chief executive Graham Shortland had been appointed to run Wallace Group and it would be based at the head office site at Waitoa, Waikato. Farm Brands chief executive Hugh Spence said his family had traded rendered products with Wallace for more than 40 years. The Farm Brands joint venture was formed in 2009 between Silver Fern Farms and Modena Investments, owned by the Spences and Sapi. SFF withdrew in 2015 and was now effectively replaced by Wallace. The warehousing and distribution investment in IQI (United States and Holland) remained outside the merger, Spence said. Sir James welcomed the chance to consolidate and develop his chosen industry, which, along with the Spences and the family-owned Lowe Corporation, had remained predominantly NZowned in recent times. With the new national coverage Wallace Group could process the co-products of all meat plants in the regions, he said. It would be rendering at Waitoa, Hororata in Canterbury, at Washdyke, Timaru, at Silverstream in Dunedin, tanning skins and hides at Waitoa and making mountains of compost at Waitoa. It had two regional collection facilities in Northland and Manawatu. Farm Brands also had an export trading business in Auckland for protein meals and tallow that would be retained and continue to operate under that name. Wallace sold its meat processing plant at Waitoa to SFF in 2011. The merger would hasten the development of added-value products like biopolymers from blood using a process discovered at the University of Waikato and backed by Wallace Corporation. Sir James referred to the parchments made from calf skins and sent to Israel for traditional documentation while also displaying at National Fieldays the wide variety of colours and garments made from hides and pelts. Wallace Corporation was founded in 1931 as a small rendering business in Waikato by agricultural contractor James Dunning Wallace, who had two sons, Sir James and David. Sir James trained in law and worked for Sir Robert Kerridge and Sir Woolf Fisher before returning to the family business and beginning the art collection now numbering more than 8000 pieces. David continued in business and farming locally, trading as JD and RD Wallace, as well as live animal exporting, and funding his passion of conservation and native species restoration.

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Investors have money for marginal manuka Glenys Christian glenys.christian@nzx.com TENS of millions of investment dollars are available to farmers to plant manuka on marginal country, according to the country’s largest seedling supplier. Kauri Park Nurseries at Kaiwaka, Northland, has sold six million manuka plants for this year’s planting season from May to October and director Vern Wearmouth believed the number will grow rapidly. Two New Zealand-based investors were keen to find more land on which to plant manuka along with one from New York which had a local base, he said. “They have done some trial plantings and want to see those established first.” That’s already involved buying two farms and planting half a million seedlings. More investors were also likely to be looking for land as beekeepers put more of their own plants in. While many farmers had planted up to 20 hectares of their marginal land in manuka, investors generally weren’t interested in an area of under 50ha for a joint venture, Wearmouth said. That was because establishing that size of manuka planting meant there was less dilution of the honey produced if hives were put in the middle.

It could put landowners in touch with interested investors. If they provided just their land they could expect a 20% to 30% share in future earnings. “From year three onwards they will have cashflow and if the plantings are right, year five will see manuka in full production,” he said. If farmers are not interested in a joint venture but want to establish their own manuka plantation, Kauri Park offer the full service from plant supply through to plant implementation and weed control.

MOTIVATION: There are many options and reasons for farmers to get into the manuka industry, nurseryman Vern Wearmouth says.

There’s more certainty in an industry centred around the health and longevity sector, not food. Vern Wearemouth Kauri Park Nurseries Investors were interested in available land anywhere in NZ with Kauri Park, through advanced breeding and selection, able to supply seedlings from 100 different mother plants. That would increase to 150 “Super Manuka” selections for the 2018 planting season. The company selected for high DHA, the precursor to MGO in honey, which meant a higher value per kilogram. It also selected for prolific flowering, nectar flow in the flower, bee activity, flower timing and plant vigour. In its extensive nursery plants were trimmed regularly to give them a strong, thick stem and extra resilience. “They’re the toughest on the market,” Wearmouth said. He believed the United States’ decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord added further to manuka’s advantages as a land use. “There’s more certainty in an industry centred around the health and longevity sector, not food,” he said. As consumers around the world earned more money they were spending more of their discretionary income on health products. “The market is massively undersupplied,” he said. “The big honey producers could stretch their wings more but they are gauging the market and they don’t want to run out of product.” To help farmers work out projected costs and returns the company had developed a computer programme that gave a range of different planting regimes along with different honey harvests and pricing.

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News

20 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Meat and dairy sectors fight back Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com MEAT and dairy sectors are fighting back against plant protein and synthetic food producers using descriptive terms traditionally associated with animal-based products. They have had some early success with the European Court of Justice ruling the words milk, whey, cream, buttermilk, cheese and yoghurt could be used for only animal-based products. Last week’s court ruling banned plant-based products like soya and tofu from being promoted in Europe using terms normally associated with dairy, upholding regulations that reserved those terms exclusively for products “produced by normal mammary excretion”. A group representing the European processed meat industry has been lobbying the European Commission to ban vegetarian or vegan products being referred to as meat, vegetarian meat, meat substitute, vegetarian minced meat, vegetarian meatballs or deliberate misspelling such as chiken. Dairy Companies Association of NZ chief executive Kimberly Crewther said her organisation shared the concern of other global

dairy organisations about creep in the use of milk terminology to label or describe non-milk products. “This issue specifically arises where other products not only use milk or dairy terms but are also marketed as providing a dietary equivalent or substitute to milk or dairy products.” In doing so non-milk products were trading on the association of dairy milk and its natural, nutrient-dense source of nutrition. Crewther said the association supported the Codex principles for food labelling that set standards, guidelines and principles on the use of dairy terms, helping consumers make decisions and supported the predictability of food composition. “Codex defines milk as being produced by mammals. “It also defines a range of associated dairy terms such as skim milk, butter and casein to ensure consistency of composition. For example, you could not use the term butter for a product labelled as fat-free because butter by its nature is made from dairy fat.” Those standards, which applied in NZ, allowed exceptions where it was clear use described a characteristic of a non-milk product such as peanut butter,

coconut milk, cocoa butter or soy milk. Asked if the dairy industry would take legal action to prevent plant-based alternatives using traditional dairy terms, Crewther said given growing international demand for pasture-based dairy cow products, the strategy was to raise consumer awareness of its nutritional value. Beef + Lamb NZ chief executive Sam McIvor said his organisation took an approach of not wanting consumers to be misled. “We don’t want to leave open the possibility of consumer confusion so would expect that all the fair trading rules about misleading consumers etc, were applied.” The Farmers Weekly in Britain reported the European Court of Justice ruling was the result of a case taken by German competition association Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb (VSW) against TofuTown, a producer and distributor of vegetarian and vegan food products in Germany. VSW claimed TofuTown used dairy terms such as Soyatoo tofu butter, plant cheese, veggie cheese and cream on purely plant-based products in contravention of competition rules. Te Puke sharemilker and Nuffield scholar Richard Fowler,

BLINKERED: Trying to stop synthetic and plant protein makers using traditional meat and dairy terms is missing the big picture, Nuffield Scholar Richard Fowler says.

who studied the growth of synthetic food, said while the court victory would be welcomed it ignored the bigger picture. “Ultimately we have got to focus on the product itself, why people are buying these synthetic foods over animal products.” Conventional farming has to also defend itself better from some questionable claims and accusations levelled by synthetic food manufacturers. “What I found was that there was a lot of generalised stuff in the marketing of these synthetic foods about what farming has done. “They didn’t differentiate between farming systems, which I found frustrating coming from NZ’s pasture-based system compared to the United States feedlot systems.” Fowler said he attended the New Harvest conference in the US, a group representing the

cellular agriculture industry. Of the 300 attendees he was one of just three farmers and was disturbed at the absence of scienctific evidence used to question conventional agriculture. “I think we’ve just got to get the message out there that agriculture is not ending, that it is not coming to the end of the world.” The European Vegetarian Union (EVU) claimed the court decision was a literal interpretation of the law that had nothing to do with consumer protection but was driven by economic concerns. It said plant-based products had been developed “specifically to resemble the originals, they should be allowed to be marketed under similar sales denominations. “It is the EVU’s position that milky names on plant-based milk alternatives convey important information on what consumers can expect from a product.”

Dairy defence based on superior health benefits Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com ONE of the world’s largest dairy companies believes a European Court ruling preventing plantbased protein firms using terms traditionally associated with animal milk should be applied internationally. Denmark-based dairy cooperative Arla Foods believed animal-based protein and plantbased protein could supplement each other and need not compete but the European Court of Justice ruling was clear that plant–based products could not use terms traditionally associated with animal protein. “The European ruling is very clear and we see no reason why the opinions of regulators and legislators would differ in other parts of the world,” an Arla spokeswoman said. While plant-based proteins mimicking dairy were growing, the spokeswoman said they did not have the same nutrients as cow’s milk and therefore not the same health benefits. “This was underlined by the European Court of Justice very recently stating that purely plantbased products cannot be labelled as milk, cream, butter, cheese or yoghurt.” United States National Milk Producers’ Federation president and chairman Jim Mulhern

said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could no longer ignore demands from Congress and industry that it enforce its own regulations to prevent “fake dairy foods” using terminology associated with dairy products. “State officials have witnessed the same concerning trend all of us in the dairy community have seen. “When the regulatory cop is not on the beat, clever marketers will capitalise on that void and violate long-standing food labelling standards by marketing almond milk, soy cheese and rice yogurt. “And when the latest milks are coming from pulverised quinoa, algae and hemp it’s past time something needs to be done.” Mulhern said plant-based producers could no longer play loose and fast with labelling

regulation and rely on the FDA to do nothing while they “bask in milk’s halo without offering the same consistent level of nutrition”. The New York Times reported earlier this year that a 2013 classaction suit in San Francisco and another in 2015 in California to restrict the use of dairy terms were both dismissed with the judges saying it was obvious the plant-based products were not cows’ milk. In the earlier case claimants argued that almond, coconut and soy milk were mislabelled because they did not contain cow milk while the later court case argued consumers could be misled into thinking soy milk and cows’ milk were nutritionally equivalent. But, it appeared the response of the world’s largest dairy companies to the challenge of plant-based protein was to

promote dairy milk’s nutritional values. The Farmers Weekly asked some of the world’s largest meat and dairy processors how they were addressing the challenge of plantbased protein and the consistent answer from dairy was to tell consumers of the nutritional value of including cows’ milk in diets. A spokeswoman for Arla Foods said it was involved in research projects that substantiated the health benefits and superior quality of dairy-based protein compared to plant protein. “To secure the health of our consumers we need to make sure that this knowledge is available to them.” Arla believed animal-based and plant-based products could supplement each other.

NOT MILK: The European Court has banned makers of plant protein drinks from calling their products milk.

“We are also looking into how intelligent combinations of plant and animal proteins could supplement each other to secure maximum health benefit of the consumer in the developing part of the world, yet at an affordable price.” As the world’s population increased a combination of vegetable-based protein with protein from dairy and meat could have a role. A spokesman for Netherlandsbased dairy company FrieslandCampina said the 18,900 farmer-owned co-operative did not view plant based-protein designed to mimic dairy as a threat because milk was more than protein. “This cannot be said about plant protein products. “The constituents of milk or other dairy foods do not work in isolation but interact with each other. “It is increasingly recognised in the scientific world that the effects of milk and dairy foods on health extend beyond the benefits of the individual nutrients they contain. “This is not the case with plant protein products. The FrieslandCampina spokesman said it was part of sector-wide legal action “against unjustified claims” to protect dairy-specific terms, not only in Europe but in individual European countries.

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Newsmaker

22 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Make plans in case of the unthinkable With the world focusing on food rather than thinking of agricultural production the spotlight is on food companies. Consultant Jordan Small says planning for crisis management is the best option should the unthinkable happen. He told Richard Rennie why before speaking at this year’s Food Integrity Conference.

RISIS consultant Jordan Small has not yet met a food company executive who could manage a food safety crisis naturally and does not expect to any time soon. After 14 years advising and working with companies on assorted levels of company crises Small was offering food companies some insights about how best to think about the unthinkable. “It is fair to say that crisis response is not something that comes naturally to anyone. “It is a trained response. “For many companies there may be two ways they respond. The first is when the crisis breaks they do nothing and let it roll for as long as five days. Others will take on board too many advisers and simply end up with too many conflicting views on how to cope.” Just as consumers would buy insurance to cover the worst, he had worked with organisations encouraging them to have a crisis plan in place before anything happened. As New Zealand continued its China-focused export drive and Chinese consumers took to social

media, it was imperative to have the insurance of a good crisis management plan in place. Small started a stint in China the same year Fonterra experienced its botulism crisis. By default he scored a ringside seat on how not to manage a crisis for his client at the time, the United States Dairy Export Council. “But the really valuable information came out of the publicly available reports that were published after it. “They provided a lot of insights and lessons for best practice for other companies operating in China. “That became our playbook for the next few years.” The reports highlighted blind spots contributing to the botulism scare that had not been addressed from the earlier DCD nitrate inhibitor residue scare. They included failing to implement more social media development, the vector for news that moved at combustible speed. He noticed while working for the council that because exporting had not been part of the US dairy culture for long, the organisation had a willingness to

NO, NO, NO: Consultant Jordan Small used Fonterra’s botulism scare as a template for how not to manager a crisis. Photo: Mark Coote

seek out advice and spend money to learn more. “They will spend on projects. For example, learning more on consumers’ understanding and response to a food crisis situation – what do they need and want to know and how best to inform them.” US dairy farmers had learned not to look to their government or state trade agencies to help them out in a food crisis in China, something NZ could learn from. “The US industry looks to itself for reliance and readiness and there is a lot of engagement between companies in the same market, sharing information.” The council now had a crisis template it had hammered out across all processors exporting under its umbrella, including agreements on who would front a crisis response, how much information would be shared and what experts would be used.

Small intended to take the message to exporters attending the conference that, regardless of their scale, had a responsibility to prepare for a crisis in their market in a similar way.

It is fair to say that crisis response is not something that comes naturally to anyone. Jordan Small Consultant “As an exporter you are always going to be on the back foot for a number of reasons but you need to plan for something you hope won’t happen and it does not have to be an expensive exercise to do that.”

It might be as simple as identifying the 10 key influencers on product success and having a plan on how to communicate with them should things go bad. “One easy thing to do is to have a dark-site web page that you activate when people need information about your product in a food crisis. “It gives you some control and an outlet for all the information in an easily accessed place, separate to your regular web page.” Whatever plan is adopted, something is better than nothing and he had seen companies frozen like possums in the headlights with bad news breaking around them and no control over how it was presented.

The Food Integrity conference is on June 28 and 29 in Auckland, www.foodintegrityconfrence.com

WISPs coy on deal with big 3 Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com RURAL wireless providers are lukewarm on the possibility of sharing hardware with the big three telcos should funding become available to do so through the next round of the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI2). Crown Fibre Holdings, the agency tasked with allocating the $100 million of RBI2 funding, was considering funding requests with a decision on allocation due in coming weeks. Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISP) have expressed concern they might risk being shut out of funding with the announcement earlier this year Vodafone, Spark and 2Degrees were putting $75m of their own funds behind a bid to secure

some of the a extra $100m. But Vodafone RBI wholesale director Steve Rieger said the big three partnership was keen to work with WISPs rather than over-building using their $75m and RBI2 funds across the smaller players’ catchments. “Rather than seeing us as absolutely competitive we think the opportunity is there to work with the WISPs. “WISPs play a part in the rural landscape, they are local and serve areas that we could not do. “We have put a proposal together for upwards of 500 new towers serving cellular broadband with our combined $75m ensuring a bigger build than what would be achieved with each of us individually building towers. “That larger infrastructure would be usable by the WISPs. We

GO AWAY: Wireless Internet Service Providers are not interested in talking joint ventures with the big three telecommunications firms, spokesman Ernie Newman says.

would build structures that allow one set of mobile equipment on them and a set of WISP equipment on them.” But WISP spokesman Ernie

Newman said he was surprised the group was talking about that option openly after only a preliminary discussion on the proposal.

“We are not interested in engaging as a group while the Crown Fibre Holdings are still in negotiations on funding proposals,” he said.

New thinking

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Test makes big nitrogen savings Changes to dairy farm systems that are easy to make could hold great potential for cutting nitrogen losses and, combined with the right pasture mix, greenhouse gas emissions. And if an inhibitor that left no residue in milk could be found nitrogen losses could be cut by more than half. Richard Rennie spoke to the researchers.

IMPLE changes to management could deliver significant reductions in dairy farm nitrogen losses without major effects on profit. DairyNZ and AgResearch scientists have just wound up the Waikato Pastoral 21 trial, one of the longest studies of a farm system examining the ability to lower nitrogen losses while maintaining or increasing milk production and profit. Lead researcher Pierre Beukes said as pressure mounted on dairying to reduce its nutrient footprint and, particularly, nitrogen losses, the study offered some positive news for farmers dealing with demands often coming in the form of regional plan changes. “Ultimately, what we found was that the level of reductions we achieved were spread almost 50:50 between putting less input nitrogen into the farm system and through standing cows off at certain times of the year.” When the trial was initiated in 2011 a combination of strategies was incorporated into the Scott Farm system, near Hamilton, with two farmlets – one representing standard practice and one, the future farm, with lower nitrogen losses. It included using less nitrogen fertiliser with a nitrification

inhibitor added, using higher genetic worth cows with greater milk production potential, using lower protein supplements to dilute the loss of nitrogen as waste and restricted grazing time using a stand-off pad with wood chips. Early in the trial researchers found the nitrification inhibitor DCD could cause milk residues so it was removed from the market and the trial. “We estimate this may have been capable of reducing nitrogen losses by 10-12% so it was a reasonable percentage and it’s a pity we lost it as we would have topped a full 50% reduction. “But even without being able to use it the reductions achieved are still significant.” The standard farm, stocked at 3.2 cows a hectare, received 180kg a hectare a year of nitrogen fertiliser. In contrast the future, lownitrogen farm had fewer highproducing stock at 2.6 cows a hectare. They were stood off the pasture on a loafing pad for eight hours a day in later lactation over autumn and fed with pasture silage. Low-N Maize grain was also fed and nitrogen fertiliser was sliced right back to 56kg a hectare a year. Beukes said the researchers were encouraged by the close alignment between what their modelling indicated might

GLAD TIDINGS: As pressure mounts of dairy farmers to improve environmental performance a study has offered positive news for farmers, lead researcher Pierre Beukes says. Photo: Sarah Brook

happen and what they achieved. “It is the case at times modelling work may not always be proven, having our models validated was as important as what we found from the trial itself.” The scientists were surprised at the impact the stand-off period had on reducing nitrogen losses. “But we do also know that time leading up to winter is a critical time for nitrogen losses. With low pasture uptake nitrogen sits in the soil, to be washed out with rainfall.” Beukes cautioned the changes in nitrogen losses proved to be very dependent on weather. Variation in nitrogen reductions was between 40% and 50%, reflecting the level of rain,

particularly in late summer and autumn when the herd was stood off. “But using leaching risk for a normal year we would estimate the contributions from less nitrogen going in would be to 60% of the reduction and 40% to the stand-off.” The results showed the future farm experienced an average decrease in milk production of 2% and a drop in operating profit of 5% compared to the baseline standard farm system. “But you also have to remember this was comparing the future farm to a high-performing current farm that was setting a high benchmark for production, achieving 1193kg MS a hectare

when the regional average is closer to 1000kg MS a hectare.” The most expensive component of the future system was the standoff pad. It used wood chips, which had become more expensive. Lincoln University was testing different surface types, including river stones, geo-textile carpet and other wood chip products. Beukes said AgResearch staff had also done some small trials using zeolite rock compounds, which were known to absorb nitrogen. He acknowledged that when used in context with a mixed pasture containing grasses and herbs like plantain the work offered some exciting opportunities farmers could pick up on relatively easily. Work in the National Forage Variety Trial also indicated a pasture with at least 25% plantain in it might be capable of reducing urinary nitrogen losses in dairy herds by almost a third. “And if we ever developed a nitrification inhibitor that did not have a residue, combining all these things we could be looking at nitrogen reductions beyond even 50%.” Beukes hoped the work would engage farmers on the grounds it offered some realistic and immediate options to them. The work also helped contribute to a solution to another environmental challenge, greenhouse gas emissions. The changes ensured the farm had a more efficient profile to its production outputs with the future farm having 16% lower greenhouse gas emissions compared with the standard farm over four seasons.

Collaboration opens tech road Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com GREATER collaboration between companies developing software solutions for farmers is helping the agri-tech sector move towards a more integrated, one-stop approach to inputting data and making it easier for farmers to use more effectively. This year’s National Fieldays reflected the ramp-up in agri-tech offerings to farmers, with some major Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) projects starting to come to commercial fruition. Those projects, in particular, highlighted greater crosspollination between agricultural companies incorporating their technology or sharing their data to make systems simpler and more one-stop for farmers to engage with. One of the oldest PGPs, the FarmIQ programme that began in 2010 was now running commercially as FarmIQ Systems. Dairy farmers were now it its sights with a software package that would combine staff management, land and animal management and health and safety compliance.

MILKING IT: Half of the inquiries about FarmIQ at Fieldays came from dairy farmers, its sales and marketing manager Andrew van Bunnik says.

FarmIQ sales and marketing manager Andrew van Bunnik said the PGP’s move to a full commercial operation had seen its suite of associated companies expand to include Ballance, AllFlex, Jenquip, Tracmap and StockCare as companies providing links and collaboration. The company was also working to bring in major dairy processors so farmers’ production data could be shared within the system.

“The interest from dairy farmers this year has been very strong. We would have had 50% of inquiry at Mystery Creek come from dairy farmers, keeping in mind this is the first time we have offered this package to them,” he said. Interest was now more on data management. Only a few years ago data collection tools were top of mind. “It’s one thing to have a pasture meter that can collect a lot of data

from around the farm quickly but there’s a need to manage that data, to make it smart data for management decisions.” There was also a growing interest for systems to link to suppliers, for example, to inform the vet that supplies of certain remedies were running low or fertiliser stocks needed replenishing. FarmIQ now had 1200, predominately dry stock, farmers as subscribers. Van Bunnik said with Te Awamutu vet company Vet Ent taking a minority shareholding in the company even greater platform sharing was more likely. Gallagher marketing manager Mark Harris said the agri-tech sector was poised on the thirdgeneration stage. “That third generation is about the interoperability of systems. We have a lot of individual units and the challenge is to get data to a platform that allows data to move around more easily.” Ravensdown subsidiary farm mapping company HawkEye also had platforms combining. That included hyperspectral mapping technology that was also funded under the PGP between

Ravensdown and the Ministry for Primary Industries and owned by affiliate company Hyperceptions. The HawkEye platform maximised the amount of data put graphically onto farm maps, providing not only soil test results but also vegetation and grass type, nutrient loss points and soil types. Feed prediction capability came from incorporating Farmax software and, while owned by Ravensdown, the system was open to anyone, regardless of preferred fertiliser supplier. Work by ANZ economist Con Williams also highlighted the sheer volume of applications farmers were offered. His work identified 65 systems of note split into management, finance-planning, compliance, supply chain partner programmes and everyday use. “The last two years, in particular, have had an increase in offerings from start up businesses and combining them with new sensor technology. “It is interesting we are now seeing a lot more collaboration and more open platforms capable of adding apps alongside to make it more functional,” Williams said.

Opinion

24 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

EDITORIAL

Reports reinforce rural importance

Neal Wallace

LETTERS

More letters P26

Water rules are anti-farming ONE can only wonder where the legislators are trying to take us with regard to water quality and river flows in this country. It is one thing to want livestock excluded from rivers adjoining intensively farmed lowland areas but quite another when it comes to upland, low-density farming. I am fortunate enough to have farmed and worked in England, France and New Zealand. The rules here seem to be very different and more anti-farming. Cast your mind to Constable’s iconic painting, Flatford Mill, with the cattle enjoying the river water up to their bellies. Little has changed since then. Our family still farms land fronting nearly 5km of river in England, none of it fenced.

In fact, the water authorities, now called environment agencies, actively encourage riverbank grazing right down to the water’s edge. In East Anglia the water authorities own several waterways that are let out to farmers to graze the grass down to the water’s edge, mostly with cattle, with no fencing required. One reason is that fences would impede the river flow, particularly in a flood. With regard to hill country in Britain and Europe, how many rivers and upland streams do you see fenced in the English Lake District, Scottish highlands and Welsh mountains? Similarly, in the European Alps they like the mountain pasture to be grazed to a suitable length to hold the snow for the skiers. In Britain, some of the best

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Good news ONE of the advantages of living on a farm is receiving the regular farming newspapers. There is no doubt about the imagination and ability of our farmers in their pursuit of extra production, improved quality of product and sheer nous in dealing with challenging issues. In the last few years there has been a great deal of heat and not a lot of light in the

discussion about freshwater and much of that is generated by dogged farmers and reporters who cannot accept others views. In recent papers, however, I have been heartened by some in the farming community who are not blinkered by the dogma of the old brigade.

Continued page 26

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Letterof theWeek

EDITOR Bryan Gibson bryan.gibson@nzx.com

and most expensive fishing rivers in the world are not fenced. If they were, the banks would have to be sprayed to keep the rubbish under control and who would prefer the sprays? The thinking is simply not joined up.

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FTER a tough few years, there was an almost audible sigh of relief that many of agriculture’s planets appear to have aligned in recent months. Prices for most commodities – except wool – have rallied recently and forecasts by the Ministry for Primary Industries and ANZ bank were bullish about the immediate future for export demand prices. That renewed confidence was evident by the record crowds that attended National Fieldays, with reports many attendees had an extra spring in their step. That new found positivity has some foundation if those forecasts prove correct, but the significant turnaround in product prices from 10 months ago and last week’s 6c rise in AgriHQ’s forecast milk price for the coming year to $6.68/kg of milk solids, may indicate there is some substance. The season started poorly with most farmers hit by a double whammy of poor weather and low product prices before conditions and prices improved in recent months. Similarly, sheepmeat prices started at levels many could only call abysmal, before improving markedly, while venison has continued to strengthen and could reach what ANZ terms record levels. MPI does expect sheep, beef and deer numbers to stabilise, a comment reiterated by the chief executives of the country’s two largest meat companies in recent weeks, and a welcome reversal in the sector’s fortunes. It is understandable if these forecasts are greeted with some scepticism. Forecasts are just that, and given the variability of global economics, politics and climate, there always remains an element of uncertainty. The reports do reinforce to the embattled primary sector its importance and relevance to NZ and it a timely reminder. In 2016 the sector contributed $24 billion to the NZ economy, which was about 10.6% of NZ GDP, of which $11.5 billion came from primary production and $12.6 billion from processing activities. It also employs 16% of the country’s workforce So all in all it was a good week for NZ primary sector but hopefully there are better weeks to come if the forecasts are accurate.

Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Stock enhance rivers and swamps Bob Todhunter

ITH all the bad publicity our rivers are receiving I feel the public is confused between extensive and intensive grazing. I would like to make some observations about stock grazing alongside waterways. I am no scientist but have 70-plus years of practical observation. I remember being taught fishing by my grandfather in the 1950s on Canterbury Plains rivers. Stock, sheep and cattle, were grazed extensively by the riverbeds. The streams could be walked and fished from the banks. The water was clear and pristine. Now these same streams have a 6000-volt electric fence, the banks are overgrown with willows, gorse and broom. If you travel on route 72 you will notice how all Canterbury’s rivers are choked with weeds, willows, gorse and broom.

The Queen’s Chain has little relevance because you cannot get near the river.

The Queen’s Chain has little relevance because you cannot get near the river. How much moisture are these weeds sucking out of the stream beds? This year we went down to the Catlins to fish. The Owaka was fenced on one side and would have been hopeless to fish from, however, the north bank was grazed to the stream edge allowing enjoyable fishing and the water was pristine. Last year we drove through Molesworth. The Clarence from Jacks Pass was a shambles of wilding trees, gorse and broom. On turning into the Acheron, cattle were grazing to the edge of the river. It was walkable and

The

Pulpit

fishable. We sat down and had lunch. A herd of 30 heifers decided to cross. They went in single file not defecating, nor was the river discoloured. On reading the paper one would assume cattle go down to the river to both drink and defecate The fact is extensively grazed cattle tend to defecate where they camp. Extensively grazing a swamp, sheep and cattle keep away from swampy areas, grazing river edges and dry areas. This enhances the swamp for waterfowl and also controls rank grasses like cocksfoot and browntop. When scientists are asked about swamp grazing it is always the loss of biodiversity through grazing, never the loss with smothering by cocksfoot and browntop. Once a river or swamp is fenced a farmer no longer has any interest in it and it becomes a Land Information, Conservation Department and Environment Canterbury responsibility. Fencing is only the first cost. There is also maintenance and weed control. I would think it wise for Ecan to have a rigorous testing programme and if there is pollution or reduction in water quality find out what is causing the problem. For instance, the Ashburton lakes were tested as all being okay except Lake Emma.

The reporter put this down to cattle and topdressing, however, Lake Emma was fenced and there were no cattle or topdressing. The problem was Lake Emma is a shallow lake with a large population of game birds. I also note the Birchwood swamp became too rank for black stilts once it was retired from grazing. Also the Ashburton riverbed became so overgrown with weeds that the black billed gull departed and Ecan are now experimenting with bulldozed islands and have been successful. When a high-country farmer wishes to have a large scale development programme it might be better to have a wider margin with extensive grazing before fencing and development. It is interesting that English authorities encourage extensive grazing to control rank growth on their river margins. In driving for water purity don’t overlook river margins and the part extensively grazed sheep and cattle can play in the control of weeds and rank growth. If you do, our high-country rivers will look more and more like our down country rivers. A mess.

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

CUT OFF: Access to the Stour River, a tributary of the Ashburton River, is restricted by vegetation.

The online hub for what’s happening now in agriculture. It’s where farmers go for live news, information, jobs, real estate and much more.

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OBSERVER: Bob Todhunter from Glenfalloch Station, Rakaia, has definite views on farming and the environment based on his 70-plus years’ experience of both.

Opinion

26 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Model local government on feds Alternative View

Alan Emerson

EVEN though I’ll always be a Mainland South Islander I do enjoy living in Wairarapa. It is handy to Wellington and Palmerston North and close enough to Napier. The people are great, property prices are reasonable and we have great schools and superb health care. Note I said Wairarapa and not Masterton. While our doctor and accountant practice in Masterton, our lawyer and dentist are in Carterton. I’ve drinking mates in Greytown and Martinborough so I’m a Wairarapa person. The issue is that the Local Government Commission has recommended the Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa councils merge, which I think is an excellent idea. Wairarapa has just 43,600 people in total. It is about half the population of Palmerston North and just 3% of Auckland. Numerically, we’re insignificant. What’s worse is that we have three councils – Masterton the biggest with 24,600 people, Carterton with 8900 and South Wairarapa with 10,100. Each has a mayor, chief executive, accountant, planner and so it goes. Further, we have 27 councillors all doing their bit. We don’t need it. The commission identified the

areas where locals would benefit from a merger. They included a saving of $10 million over 10 years, a stronger, more united voice for the region, it would be easier and cheaper for companies and community groups to do business, council decision-making would be simplified and the new body would be more effective at delivering infrastructure. They’re strong reasons for amalgamation. So, to me, amalgamation is logical, makes good economic sense and simplifies governance. Not so the knockers and the patch preservers. We had a letter to the editor claiming a person would be forced to sell their house if the amalgamation went ahead. How that is remotely possible I have no idea. An anti-amalgamation lobby came out of the sticks calling itself Wairarapa Voice; it used to be Carterton Voice. I refer to it as a fringe group. It did, however, claim “Masterton only seems interested in raw power to get what they want. Placing disproportionate power in the hands of Masterton voters and politicians will ensure the accelerated demise of the rest of Wairarapa.” That’s pure rubbish. We live further away from Masterton than Carterton is and we’re really happy with the council and its democratic approach. Carterton has just 8900 residents. It is pifflingly small and irrelevant in the overall ball game. It is in their interest to be part of a far larger group, one with some muscle. The suggestion that Masterton wants to promote itself at the

BONKERS: The suggestion that Masterton wants to promote itself at the expense of the rest of Wairarapa is absurd, Alan Emerson says.

expense of the rest of Wairarapa is absurd. From a farming perspective we don’t have Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa Federated Farmers we have Wairarapa Feds. They deal with the farming problems of the entire area not just one little part and they do it well. If anyone wants a reason for combined muscle you just have to consider the Wellington rate grab to build a grand new indoor arena for the arts, which I have absolutely no intention of subsidising as I’m forced to do with the stadium. While 42,000 people have some influence, 8000 don’t. Mind you, there must be something in the water at Carterton as the vibes coming out of the area suggest amalgamation would be okay provided the headquarters was in Carterton. What a ridiculously stupid and puerile approach. It shows the

level of debate and understanding in the town. Who cares where any HQ is? If you want a central location then Gladstone would be the place. What the internecine Carterton position does is to reinforce the petty tribalism that has no place in a modern world. To their credit Federated Farmers labelled the office location a distraction, suggesting the debate was about amalgamation, end of story. Also, logic would suggest there would be offices located throughout Wairarapa and meetings would be held throughout the district. The knockers are ignoring history. Until recently South Wairarapa consisted of Greytown, Featherston and Martinborough councils. Does anyone want to go back to that? Does anyone want to return to the bad old days of city and county councils? I don’t think so.

LETTERS Continued from page 24 There was refreshing news about Landcorp bosses who welcomed the advice of a group of greenies. Landcorp would have taken a different attitude to intensive dairying if it had had that advisory group before. Your article by Nadine Porter (June 19), a Nuffield scholar, was also a breath of fresh air about why our farming and marketing strategies need to change. Your other columnist Alan Emerson, however, was right back in his “I don’t believe it” mode rubbishing anyone who challenges farming. I had to laugh at his final paragraph, though, where he quoted Environment Minister Nick Smith referring to the “BlueGreen vision we have” for water. I am not surprised Emerson was oblivious but Smith with his environment and conservation portfolios should have known blue-green algae are the predominant algal components of eutrophic lakes, like Rotorua, resulting from excesses of nitrogen and phosphorous in the catchments during warm summer months. Despite their history of forest

Mind you, what did concern me was the commission’s recommendation concerning a transition board with two members from Masterton, two from Carterton and two from South Wairarapa. Democracy is about one person one vote and giving an outfit a third the size of Masterton the same voting power is both bizarre and undemocratic. So, what I want is the better public services a single body can provide. I want one set of rules and regulations over the area and I don’t want the expensive duplication of three councils. I want a region with more capacity and capability and a single council can achieve that.

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

More letters P24 clearances, New Zealand farmers with their reliance on artificial fertilisers and other unsustainable practices are still smart enough to see the light and I am optimistic. Dave Field Rotorua

Bang on ALAN Emerson deserves praise for his column on the proposal for changes to our firearms legislation. Seldom can a select committee have failed so spectacularly to address its remit as this one. Its proposals will have absolutely no effect on the criminal misuse of firearms or their possession by gang members and other criminal elements but will, if adopted by the Government, very likely lead to a whole lot more paperwork criminals as usually law-abiding gun owners fall foul of new technical offences. A further erosion of the long-standing trust and good relationship between legitimate sporting shooters and the police seems probable too and that is in nobody’s best interest. The Sporting Hunters’ Outdoor Trust (SHOT) strongly endorses Emerson’s contention that MPs

are firing blanks on gun control and recommends all MPs and those interested in the reality of the effectiveness of gun laws should view the Canadian philosopher Stefan Molyneux’s video presentation The Truth about Gun Control on You Tube. We (SHOT) do take issue with Emerson when he claims various animals and game birds, among them deer and Canada geese, are “pests” that, as he put it, “need to be eliminated”. This is very old fashioned thinking in our opinion. Most of the animals he mentions should today be seen as a valuable resource to be appropriately harvested. New Zealand has among the most effective and cost-effective firearms legislation in the world, a fact well borne out by our high rate of gun ownership and our very low rate of firearms crime. It would be foolish, indeed, if we were to change a system that works so well just so that a few MPs can be seen to be doing something, anything, about a problem that, in reality, hardly exists. Only NZ First seems to have a really sound grip on the issue and it is much to be hoped its rise in

popularity continues as we draw closer to the election. David Mack Spokesman Sporting Hunters Outdoor Trust

GM is no-go I’M NOT too impressed with biased quotes from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications waxing poetic about how great genetically engineered crops are. Much more compelling is Professor Jack Heinemann of Canterbury University and colleagues peer reviewed comprehensive paper, Sustainability and Innovation in Staple Crop Production in the United States Midwest, published in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability. This is a comparative study between the US, which went down the GE road, and the European Union, which rejected GE/GMOs, showing that the EU has made the right call in rejecting GE crops, achieving, without GMOs, superior yields and lowered herbicide use. An extensive examination by the New York Times last May,

Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops, showed that in addition to high, ongoing levels of consumer aversion to GE food, GM in the US and Canada did not accelerate increases in crop yields or lead to an overall reduction in the use of chemical pesticides. The fact that the Australiandominated Food Standards Australia NZ keeps on unethically rubber-stamping processed, imported, dodgy GE food ingredient applications just means we need to be careful what food we buy and support NZ companies with best practice, GEfree policies (www.gefreepolicy. com). We are very proud that NZ has no commercial GE crops or cloned/transgenic animals and that the number of councils choosing to regulate or ban outdoor use of GMOs, in keeping with the wishes of local farmers and other ratepayers, keeps on growing. In our region, all councils from south Auckland to Cape Reinga have precautionary and prohibitive GE policies. Linda Grammer Whangarei

Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

More feed than the stock can eat From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

FARMING over the last wee while has been about as easy and pleasant as I can remember. Animal health has been excellent with no interventions required. I still have a decent surplus of grass so the past anxiety of feed shortages after many poor autumns has certainly not been an issue this winter. It had been wet with the deluges of the autumn then a month ago a final gentle 10mm of rain. Since then the spider in the rain gauge has been going thirsty with just a couple of skiffs. Not that usual for June though at the time of writing there is the prospect of rain over the next couple of days, which could wet it up again. As well as the tap being turned off we’ve had the first westerlies for months, which helped dry out the ground. They were strong enough to knock a few trees over. The westerly weather pattern

lifted temperatures so stock feed demand has been modest. I usually pride myself on my pasture management but growth rates in March and April similar to the best spring growth rates I’ve experienced and being light on cattle as we felt the summer drought could have easily slipped into autumn, meant I had no chance of my usual winter cleanup with the ewe rotation. They piled on so much weight over tupping in March that I’ve had the luxury of trying to trim some off through April until now, mainly for bearing management.

The other issue these past months was the high cost of getting back into cattle.

The paddocks they have gone through have had a lot of poor quality feed at the base as they had been so long. Thus, the ewes have spent more than twice as long as usual in each one cleaning them out. Consequently, for the first time ever they won’t complete a full winter rotation knocking them

down to 800kg DM/ha. We used to think we were decking them down to 400-500kg DM/ha as that was the recommendation and talk in the 1980s but we were deluding ourselves. Now I’m at the point, as they just start to show some udder five to six weeks out from the beginning of lambing, of finally being very kind to them and speeding up the rotation to grow a decent udder and get good lamb birth weights. They won’t be able to believe their luck after the work they have been asked to do until now. They will now be leaving behind 1100-1200kg DM/ha, taking the better-quality feed on offer and shunning the rubbish at the base. When I set stock right on the drop, ewes that lamb in these paddocks will keep picking away at the newer growth and I’ll still have the rubbish to look at. It surely isn’t going to assist milking ability or lamb growth rates. And I’ll be surprised if I see anything like the amount of clover coming into the spring as usual. Where I usually get a high percentage of lambs off to the works at weaning, that might be reduced this year as a consequence of this but a lot of water needs to flow under that particular bridge before I find out. The other issue these past

RARE SIGHT: Steve Wyn-Harris will be surprised if he sees much clover in spring.

months was the high cost of getting back into cattle. More cattle on hand would have addressed the above issues but, as always, I’m blessed with the gift of hindsight. I did eventually bite the bullet and bought 100 rising yearling bulls weighing just 215kg for a historic high of $860 or $4/kg. I was only able to bring myself to do this based on the reasonable trading margin of killing a similar number of rising 2-year-old bulls. This class of cattle had benefitted from the big surplus of feed through the autumn and had done their best to help maintain some semblance of control.

Meaning more have been killed with fewer to winter. The smaller two-year-old bulls have been shut down and doing clean-up duties and will soon go onto crops behind wires. At some stage, I’ll need to buy more yearlings for the anticipated spring growth. The shortest day has just come and gone so time to gird the loins for winter proper and the physical demands of lambing.

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

A day of name-dropping in Te Kuiti From the Lip

Jamie Mackay

MONDAY, June 19. A diary of a day spent saluting the greatest living New Zealander. 4.59am: The alarm goes off at an ungodly hour. How do cow cockies do it? I have slept uneasily after a late night call telling me of the near-death experience of my old mate Dick Tayler who took a turn for the worst on his way to Te Kuiti for today’s unveiling of the Sir Colin Meads statue. God willing, he’s made it through the night. 5.07am: The one bonus of getting up at sparrow’s fart is that I get to hear the great P J Montgomery’s radio call on races three and four of the America’s Cup as I drive to the airport. 6.25am: I board my flight to Wellington safe in the knowledge we are now three-nil up in the America’s Cup. Way to go Peter Burling. 8am: A breakfast stopover in Wellington is greeted by the great news that things are looking up for Dick. He won’t be running 27 min 46 sec for the 10,000m as he did in

the 1974 Commonwealth Games but hopefully he can look forward to plenty more of his painfully quick 10km walks. 10.45am: Arrive at Hamilton airport. It seems like only yesterday I was here. Actually it was just three days ago for Fieldays. Add the life of a travelling salesman to that of a dairy farmer on to the list of jobs I could not do. Te Kuiti here we come. It’s taken me only 57 years to get there. Noon: Lunch is served at King Country Rugby Union headquarters. There is a veritable feast of former All Blacks on offer. Sir Brian Lochore, Stan Meads, Earle Kirton, Sid Going, Bryan Williams, Billy Bush and Graham (Moose) Whiting to name a few. I have a very pleasant chat with a very pleasant English chap at the men’s urinal. We don’t shake hands but I tell the Lions’ manager John Spencer that I can remember him (and his flowing blond locks) playing for the 1971 Lions against Southland. He says he remembers the game well but long flowing locks are a distant memory. 1.30pm: The moment we’ve all been waiting for, the unveiling of the statue paying homage to Pinetree Meads and the launch of the Meads Brothers Exhibition. Speakers include the Te Kuitiborn MC Keith Quinn, Waitomo mayor and driving force behind the project Bryan Hanna, NZ Rugby president Maurice Trapp, B J Lochore, the aforementioned

ICON: Te Kuiti now has a statue of Colin Meads about to kick the ball.

Spencer, Stan Meads and then the great man himself. He is very frail and very quiet. You can hear a pin drop despite there being several thousand gathered in the main street of Te Kuiti. 3.30pm: Following a live cross with Kerre McIvor and Mark Watson plus recording interviews for my own show with Quinn, Stan Meads and Sir David Fagan, I reckon I’ve earned the right

for a beer at the Waitete rugby clubrooms. At the spiritual home of the Meads brothers I get to meet loads of King Country rugby legends plus more than a few Lions fans. Much as I love a good craft beer these days, when in Rome, I drink Pinetree’s tipple of choice, Tui. It would be sacrilege to do anything else. 4.30pm: It’s off to the Les Munro (former mayor and WWII

war hero) Centre for the cocktail function. A wonderful spread greets us and more heart-warming speeches ensue. Bee Gee Williams is all class and Pinetree once again has the audience spellbound in his hand. Then Quinn and rugby commentator Paul Allison steal the show with a brilliantly comical piece on how to commentate complex Pacifika rugby names. 7.30pm: Remarkably, after being a very doubtful starter for his own party, Sir Colin is still holding court and chugging away, albeit very slowly, on a Tui stubbie. The large crowd is very respectful of his health. Like many, I get to spend 30 seconds with him. I hope I get another chance in the future. 7.45pm: Time to hit the road to Hamilton. My pre-arranged lift with Arran Pene, Matt Cooper and Stu Forster does not eventuate as they leave without me. I suspect someone got in their ear and warned them I’d bore them senseless with my rugby trainspotting stories on the one hour drive north. Thankfully Hanna’s brother Rod takes pity and gets me back to the Tron. This day will live long in my memory. Thanks for the memories Pinetree.

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

World

28 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

Aussie farm output hits record THE gross value of Australian farm production in 2016-17 was $62.8 billion, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences calculated. It was driven to the highestever level by record winter crop production and ongoing high livestock and wool prices. The result, released in the Agricultural Commodities June quarter report, was described by the official agriculture forecaster as phenomenal but was down slightly on its March forecast of $63.8b. But it was unlikely the record run will continue — ABARES forecast 2017-18 farm production would reach $59.9b, which was still 9% higher than the previous fiveyear average of $55b. Acting ABARES executive director Peter Gooday said despite the forecast decline the outlook for this year was positive. “The gross value of livestock production is forecast to increase by 3.5% to $30.2b in 2017-18, driven by forecast increases in prices for livestock products, particularly wool and dairy,” Gooday said. Export earnings from farm commodities were tipped to remain unchanged at a record

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$48b in 2017-18. ABARES said the record export earnings in 2016-17, up 5% on the previous result, were due to a 44% year-on-year increase in grain and oilseed exports along with high beef, lamb and wool values. Commodities tipped to have higher export earnings in 201718 included beef and veal up 4%, wool 6%, dairy products 14%, cotton 34%, wine 5%, lamb 4% and live export cattle 3%. The forecast increase in export earnings in 2017-18 was tipped to be partly offset by expected declines for wheat of 3%, sugar 7%, coarse grains 23%, canola 19%, chickpeas 44% and mutton 5%. ABARES forecast the weighted average sale yard price of beef cattle would fall by about 3% to an average 525 cents a kilogram (carcase weight) in 2017-18 as a result of expanding beef production in Australia and export competition. “This forecast fall reflects strong competition in export markets, which is expected to place downward pressure on sale yard prices for cows and heavy steers,” it said. For the dairy industry ABARES estimated milk production to rise by 4% to 9.25 billion litres in 201718 in response to “farmgate milk

agrievents Wednesdays 05/07/2017 and 02/08/2017 AWDT Understanding Your Farming Business Three full-day workshops and an evening graduation ceremony run over four months Venue: Te Akau Community Complex, Te Akau Contact: anna@awdt.org.nz or 06 377 4560 Website: To register for the programme go to http://www.awdt.org.nz/programmes/ understanding-your-farming-business/ Friday 07/07/2017 FMG Young Farmer of the Year Practical Day 2017 Venue: Manfeild, South Street, Feilding, Feilding and District Admission: Free Website: http://www.fmgyoungfarmercontest. co.nz/fmg-young-farmer-of-the-year-contest/

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Thursdays 20/07/2017 and 17/08/2017 AWDT Understanding Your Farming Business Three full-day workshops and an evening graduation ceremony run over four months Venue: Hunterville Contact: anna@awdt.org.nz or 06 377 4560 Website: To register for the programme go to http://www.awdt.org.nz/programmes/ understanding-your-farming-business/

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prices and lower input prices”. The average Australian farmgate milk price was forecast to rise by 8% “reflecting higher world prices and intense competition between milk processors to maintain market share”. And the latest Rabobank Agribusiness monthly report said wheat, cattle and lamb prices were all reaching highs. Australian wheat had traded to its highest levels in six months (ASX East Coast January 2018 wheat futures $269/tonne), the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator was trading at record prices for

this time of the year (at 655c/kg carcaseweight) and lamb prices reached their highest point for the season before coming back down. The Eastern States Trade Lamb Indicator has now been above 600c/kg carcase weight for 20 weeks — the longest period in history — and on June 12 rose to a seasonal high of 673c/kg. Year-to-date lamb exports to China were 21,153 tonnes, a record volume. Prices for trade and export lambs were expected to remain strong through winter given the shorter supply.

Fonterra price could attract more farmers

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Saturday 22/09/2017 2017 National Alpaca Show Venue: Manfield, South Street West, Feilding Time: 9.00am

RECORD: Farm output in Australia has reached its greatest-ever level.

THERE are concerns over the viability of Murray Goulburn in Tasmania as dozens of farmers look to change suppliers after Fonterra set a higher opening price. Fonterra’s opening price of $5.70 a kilogram of milksolids included a 40c bonus payment and was $1 higher than MG’s $4.70/kg MS. Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association dairy council chairman Andrew Lester said the gap was significant and many farmers would be considering their options. “It’s the difference between making a living or not,” he said. “People have to be able to make enough money to keep themselves going and they will need to look at this on an individual basis.” MG had about 80 suppliers in Tasmania and Fonterra about 250. Lester said the Tasmanian industry needed both processors in the state. “We definitely need them here unless another co-operative is prepared to come in. “The Smithton factory is essential to process the state’s milk because Fonterra would not be able to do it all. “It’s a big risk and if MG falls flat it will affect the whole industry.” With the bonus payments included, Fonterra now forecast a full-year price range of $5.80 to $6.20/kg MS. Fonterra Australia managing director Rene Dedoncker said

the company had taken a “responsible view”, reflecting an improved Australian product mix and the strengthening global market. Fonterra was looking to increase milk supply after investing in a new processing factory at Stanhope in Victoria and expanding capacity at its Wynyard and Cobden plants. Dedoncker said Fonterra needed to grow its milk pool to optimise the new plant and believed its pricing would enable farmers to plan ahead and position their farms to grow. Lester said for the average Tasmanian dairy farm the price difference between the companies could mean an extra $150,000 to $200,000 in onfarm income. “It’s a significant difference this year but MG did pay a bit more last year so farmers that do change over will be doing okay to get the higher prices for both years,” Lester said. “You can’t blame people for wanting to change but there is some mixed feeling among some loyal Fonterra suppliers.” Lester said many Victorian farmers were choosing to not supply MG and he could foresee a similar situation in Tasmania. “It’s just unfortunate that the company has got itself into the situation where they have to do this and farmers are the ones who are paying for it.” www.weeklytimesnow.com.au

Global dairy markets remained well balanced at higher levels than at this time last season. May was considered a fairly dry month across most southern dairying regions of Australia, seeing national milk production fall 6.3% in April, bringing yearto-date volumes down 8% or 668 million litres. Average slaughter weights for cattle increased to their highest level in 40 years, at 299kg. Rabobank expected beef prices to rise slightly throughout winter. www.weeklytimesnow.com.au

Water company to pay for cover crops to be grown A WATER company is paying British farmers to grow cover crops in a bid to improve water quality. Farmers in northwest England were invited to take part in a reverse auction by United Utilities. They had to place a bid for the price they were willing to be paid to sow the crops. The offer was open to growers who farmed land within the seven “safeguard zones” over important water storage aquifers in and around Cheshire. United Utilities hoped it would improve water quality by reducing the nitrates that leached into groundwater surrounding boreholes in the area during the winter. “We want to work closely with farmers to help them plant cover crops over the winter to take up nitrates remaining in the soil after the summer harvest,” a company spokesman said. The auction allowed the price United Utilities paid to be determined by the farmers who participated, based on their price per hectare and the resulting nitrogen saving. During the auction farmers would be able to see where their bid sat in comparison to other bids. “If this auction proves successful we plan to branch out with more auctions in the future.” Cover crops brought major benefits to farmers as well as to the water company, he said. They would help prevent nitrates from leaching into the groundwater during winter when it rained and affected water quality in the catchment area. They also helped reduce fertiliser and agrichemical costs, improving yields by enhancing soil health, preventing soil erosion and conserving soil moisture. The auction was being run in partnership with EnTrade, an online trading platform that facilitated environmental improvements. The company worked to match up people who were looking to secure an improvement to the environment with those who were best able to deliver it. UK Farmers Weekly

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Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 26, 2017

www.harveys.co.nz

Oropi Orchard boasts fantastic opportunity Stunning opportunity to capitalise on two adjoining blocks on two separate titles. Enjoy the sun- drenched patio over-looking an undulating setting that spans out to Mount Maunganui, Mayor Island and beyond. Retiring owners open the pathway for new energy to grow, increase and optimise this unique piece of real estate. Certified organic green Kiwifruit since 1996 this idyllic residence offers a large house (324sqm) comprising 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, three living areas as well as a north facing entertaining setting overlooking the orchard below. Boasting a remodelled kitchen and living area this property has the comforts of modern living with acres of space.

TENDER - 3 way, closing 4pm 19th July 2017 View Sunday 2.30 - 3.30pm Contact Richard Greaves m. 0272448016 e. richardg@harveysproperty.nz Mount Maunganui Office 07 281 1713 Quay Bay of Plenty Ltd. MREINZ Licensed REAA 2008

Ranfurly District, Central Otago

Professionals, Patrick & Scott Ltd

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3577 hectares of farm land

Blackburn Road, Ongaonga

The farm land is available for acquisition and offers are sought from potential purchasers. •

• • •

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

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

LK0088098©

Price by negotiation.

FINAL REMINDER

TOTARANUI

275 ha including approx. 23 ha of prime flats with the remainder being predominantly easy rolling hills situated between Blackburn Rd & the Tuki Tuki River in the heart of CHB. Currently farmed as a trading & finishing property, Totaranui boasts an excellent standard of fencing, with a new water system reticulating stock water, a pasture renovation programme is in place, with significant areas currently in crop. Recent fertiliser applications ensure that the permanent pastures are in good heart. There are areas of native bush in open space covenant adding to the aesthetic appeal of the property. There is a full range of facilities including an early 1900’s majestic 2 storey Homestead, 3 bedroom cottage, 4 stand woolshed & other auxiliary shedding, + stock yards.

VIEW:

By Appointment Only

PRICE:

By Negotiation

CONTACT: Geoff Waterworth 027 437 8063 geoff@patrickandscott.co.nz Wayne McDonagh 027 445 3199 wayne@patrickandscott.co.nz WEBSITE: www.housepoint.co.nz/DVB74

Professionals, Patrick & Scott Ltd LICENSED REAA 2008

Telephone: 06 374 4407 9 High Street, Dannevirke

housepoint.co.nz

Canterbury Hororata 167 Hectares Deadline Sale Closing 2pm, Thursday Glenoakley Cottage Farm. Farmed in conjunction with the home block with a small area of milled forestry combined with steep hill grazing. Majority of the property has rolling downs to well sheltered flats. Three 3-bay hay sheds, 2-bay open shed, cattle and sheep yards and a three bedroom, renovated cottage. Previously operated as a sheep/dairy support property but recently reverted back to sheep. | Property ID DA1732

29 June 2017

Contact Grant McIlroy 027 345 9262

0800 200 600 | farmlandsrealestate.co.nz

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 26, 2017

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

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.

FOR SALE

WAIOTIRA SOUTH FOREST 549 PAIAWA ROAD, Waiotira, Northland

NEW PLYMOUTH COOL STORE 20 HAKIRAU STREET, New Plymouth

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

REDEVELOP OR ADD VALUE OPPORTUNITY

SO CLOSE TO NORTHPORT! Waiotira South Forest represents a superb opportunity for a purchaser to secure a younger forest with existing forestry infrastructure.

+ Superb location only 51kms to Northport

Located just Southwest from Whangarei and only 51kms to Northport means this is an exceptionally well situated property.

+ Second Rotation forest with prior harvest infrastructure

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.

+ Net Stocked Area of 145ha –Radiata, 19ha Blackwoods

+ Crop aged between 5-7yrs old for the Pine, 31-32 for Blackwoods

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.

DEADLINE TENDER Friday 14 July 2017 at 4.00pm

+ 2.5836ha freehold land** + 17,830sqm of buildings (approx.) + 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* ALAN JOHNSTON 027 293 0762

WARWICK SEARLE

IAIN TAYLOR 021 473 253

021 362 778

JEREMY KEATING 021 461 210 ANDREW STRINGER 021 388 834

*Unless sold prior **Subject to minor boundary adjustment; boundary line indicative only

www.cbre.co.nz/207975Q27

www.propertyconnector.co.nz/207478Q27 CBRE (Agency) Limited, Licensed Real Estate Agent (REAA 2008)

Success Realty Limited, Licensed under the REAA Act 2008

CBRE (Agency) Limited, Licensed Real Estate Agent (REAA 2008)

WE DON’T JUST SAY TEAM. WE GUARANTEE TEAM.

It’s no secret that the rural real estate industry is known for agents working in isolation and jealously guarding their listings. That’s not great for you and is why every member of the Property Brokers’ rural team has signed a binding agreement to work together to sell your property. No working in isolation, no guarding listings. So while you’ll still have a lead agent, you are guaranteed to have a true team of equally committed agents, marketing experts and support staff, from right across the country, working for you to get you and your farm the best result. Find out more at pb.co.nz/trueteam

TRUE TEAM

Property Brokers Limited MREINZ Licensed REAA 2008 0800 FOR LAND

This is Property Brokers’ Country!

GUARANTEE

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 26, 2017

SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

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

385 NORTH BRANCH ROAD, MILTON

8236 RANFURLY WEDDERBURN ROAD, RANFURLY NEW LISTING

JOHN FAULKS M: 0274 525 800

Web Ref SWDR1258

DOUG WARHURST M: 0274 660 247

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

Web Ref SWDR1264

SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE

JOHN FAULKS M: 027 452 5800

RAY KEAN M: 027 435 7478

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company

Licenced under REAA 2008

SOUTHLAND NEW LISTING

BRYDONE, 10KMS FROM EDENDALE DAIRY FACTORY 188.05 HA FH

Magic Coastal Lifestyle

Opoutere

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.

Fantastic sunny 3-4+ bedroom home on beautifully landscaped 2.87ha section with incredible sea views, total peace and privacy. Open plan living/ kitchen/dining with wetback log burner. Huge conservatory with spa pool. One bedroom flat downstairs. Big high stud garage/workshop with upstairs studio. Handily located just off SH25 between Pauanui and Whangamata, only 151km from central Auckland and even closer to Hamilton and Tauranga. Live the dream year round or escape to enjoy the ultimate holiday getaway pad. Close to excellent fishing, surfing and diving.

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Deadline Sale closing 4.00pm, 21st July 2017. Prior offers considered Web Ref SWI1861 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

www.pggwre.co.nz ID: THA26211 LK0088051

DALLAS LUCAS p 03 231 3014 m 0274 325 774 e dallas.lucas@swre.co.nz

Until Thursday, 27 July

Emma Muir B 07 867 9596 M 0272101803 Greg Meredith B 07 864 7474 M 027 498 4327

pggwre.co.nz

LK0088186©

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 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)

479.1847 HA

• 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 LK0088185

LOCATION, CONTOUR, POTENTIAL

LISMORE DOWNS

classifieds@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Employment

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 26, 2017

Hill Country Stockperson We are looking for a keen stockperson for our unique business as a donor farm situated in the Waikato. Predominate duty; mustering stock to and from facilities.

Senior Livestock Representative

• Proven experience with cattle, horses and goats • Good team of dogs • Be physically fit, honest and reliable with good communication skills

BALCLUTHA, OTAGO

Tidy 3-bedroom accommodation.

MATAKA STATION Mataka Station is a 2835 acre coastal, fully operational sheep and beef station situated at the northern end of Bay of Islands in Northland running 2000 in-lamb ewes and 150 in-calf cows and replacements. Mataka is farmed as a “Farm Park” and as such your responsibilities will be balanced between the farming operation, maintaining and developing member infrastructure, conservation, strategic plan initiatives and on farm security. Excellent communication skills are essential as you deal with owners, contractors, staff, neighbours and the local community.

We provide special interest agricultural tours for groups, individuals, travel agents, business and government organisations. We are looking for someone with an agricultural background who has experience in administrative duties with particular focus on InDesign and Adobe Suite. Must also be confident using Word and Excel.

Duties and responsibilities: • Marketing and sales of livestock services to existing and potential clients • Maintain and grow the client base in your area through strong business relationships • Planning and self-management of work • Regular travel within region

As Station Manager your responsibilities will include: • The general conduct of all affairs of the Station in accordance with direction from the Board of Directors • Advance the ongoing development and operating plans of the Station • Maintain the standards, protocols and operating systems for the property as a whole • Attend Board meetings when required • Monitor and manage contractors on site • Manage staff on site and recruit where necessary • Formulate and discuss with appropriate consultants protocols for the protection of wildlife and management of woodlots • Provide a monthly written report to the Chairman of the Board • Good animal husbandry and care of livestock, including maintaining daily livestock/farm stock tallies, incidents and problems • Manage overall security of the station

There are a variety of duties including: • Customer relations – must have excellent communication skills • Creating itineraries • Database work • Marketing This is a part time position with the possibility of growing to full time. Email CV and references to: ron@crmcphail.co.nz or mail to:

LK0088187©

C R McPhail Ltd

Skills and experience: • Extensive knowledge and experience in the industry is essential; broader Livestock industry experience is an advantage • Proven sales experience as well as the ability to build lasting professional relationships • Auctioneering skills would be highly advantageous • Excellent oral and written communication skills • Computer/tablet literacy and administration skills • A full, current and clean New Zealand driver’s licence is essential We are committed to growing our employees and we develop leadership and technical expertise at all levels of our company. We provide extensive in house sales and technical training and offer a number of benefits including retail buying privileges.

Upcoming works to be overseen: • Forestry harvest, clean up and restoration • Shearers’ quarters upgrade • Beach Lodge maintenance

Apply today: applications@pggwrightson.co.nz

A Managers house is provided with the position along with power, landline, broadband and the usual farm perks.

Excellent opportunity for a motivated Farm Manager on a well located, diverse family farming business located 30km North of Amberley on SH7 in North Canterbury. “Awapuni” Farm is a 437ha well subdivided mixed sheep and crop farming unit currently running 3000 MA Romney ewes and 700 hogget replacements. Feed wheat, barley and oats are grown for sale offfarm with additional green feed crops grown for stock feed. We require a motivated, enthusiastic and reliable person for sole charge of the property with a good mixture of stock and general farm work. The manager will be responsible for all daily operations from stock and crop management, through to machinery operation, animal husbandry and fencing. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to have input into the stock and crop policies working alongside the farm owners and their professional team. The successful applicant will have the following attributes: - A passion for farming and a desire to advance your farming career - An excellent work ethic - Minimum 2-3 working dogs under good control - Experience in sheep production - Tractor and fencing experience - Able to use initiative and work unsupervised The property is centrally located with good access to schooling, amenities and recreational activities with Lake Sumner National Park and Hanmer Springs nearby. Housing will be matched to suit the successful applicant’s requirements along with a competitive remuneration package.

Primary school 10km from farm gate and Secondary school bus picks up 10km from farm gate. The successful applicant will demonstrate a proven track record of farm, business and project management. The ability to manage and motivate a team and have proven verbal and written communication skills. Must have four broken in working dogs under good command. A generous market competitive package will be negotiated

www.pggwrightson.co.nz

Closing date: Friday 7th July. Please email applications to: info@wwc.co.nz Or post to: The Secretary - Mataka Station c/- Whitelaw Weber Limited PO Box 501 Kerikeri 0245

Helping grow the country

NEED STAFF? Advertise your vacancy in The NZ Farmers Weekly Phone Debbie Brown 0800 85 25 80 or email classifieds@nzx.com

Classifieds EMPLOYMENT ADVERTISEMENTS Under the Human Rights Act, 1993, it is unlawful, apart from some exceptions, for employment advertisements to restrict applicants because of their sex, marital status, religious belief, colour, race, national origins, age, family status, or sexual orientation. Advertisements that discriminate in any way will not be published.

SQUARES BALE FEEDERS

T H IN K PRE BU IL T

Needs no loader! NEW HOMES

Self loader with electric or hand winch loading, tip deck.

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

ATV towable. Feeds medium square baleage hay or straw. All models have variable speed feed, floatation tyres, jack stand, ground driven and hot dip galvanised frames.

SOLID – PRACTICAL WELL INSULATED – AFFORDABLE

Campbell & Bowis Engineering Ltd

Applications close Sunday 2 July 2017. LK0088181©

• Email your CV and covering letter by Thursday, 6 July 2017 • If you would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact John Duffy, Regional Livestock Manager on 027 240 3841

LK0088164©

Farm Manager

Ring Sam on 027 326 1147 for more information (evenings preferable).

You’ll be focussed on working within a very strong farming district, including servicing sheep and beef clients. The nature of this role is very autonomous, so time management, planning, organisational skills and administrative experience are essential. You will play a key role in the development of your colleagues.

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

Telephone & Fax 03 308 8012 • A/H David 03 308 6000 119 Alford Forest Road, Ashburton • www.campbellbowis.co.nz

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

FOR SALE

LK0088166©

(C R McPhail Ltd)

Please email applications to: sclementsstewart@gmail.com including a brief cover letter and CV.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Livestock Representative to join our motivated and passionate team in Balclutha. You will be responsible for managing existing and new client relationships in the area and building up a strong client base. You’ll be focussed on building relationships within the region through the support of the Regional Livestock Manager and local colleagues. You’ll have a keen interest and passion for the local agricultural sector, and you will have the ability to relate well to both colleagues and clients.

Station Manager required for extraordinary Bay of Islands sheep and beef station.

Administrator Required

Administrative position PO Box 2091 Palmerston North 4440

About the role:

STATION MANAGER

LK0086497©

Start date July 2017

PGG Wrightson is one of New Zealand’s leading nationwide providers of products and services to the rural sector. LK0088133©

Please email your interest along with your CV to matahurufarms@outlook.com with verbal and written referees please

Classifieds DAIRY SHED REPAIRS

DOGS WANTED

FORESTRY

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

PRITCHARD MASONRY. Milking shed masonry repairs. Concrete or block. Solid plastering or pad placement etc. Workmanship guaranteed. Prepared to travel. Phone 06 346 5617 or 027 2740 306.

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

NATIVE FOREST FOR MILLING also Macrocarpa and Red Gum, New Zealand wide. We can arrange permits and plans. Also after milled timber to purchase. NEW ZEALAND NATIVE TIMBER SUPPLIERS (WGTN) LIMITED 04 293 2097 Richard.

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

CONTRACTORS 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. TICKLE AG CONTRACTING, offering gorse/broome spraying services to Otago/ Southland area. Phone Reagan on 027 471 0051.

DOGS FOR SALE 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. BRIAN BURKE, NZ Champ 1984 and 5 times NZ Champ finalist, available to train your working dog. In three weeks he will transform your heading dog into a productive asset for the farm. Contact Brian 06 343 9561 for further details and pricing (heading dogs only). HEADING DOG tri-colour, 15 months. Working sheep in training paddock. Handles sheep well. $1500. Phone 027 285 9900. Central HB. MORE WORKING DOGS here ($500$2000) than anywhere in NZ! Compare dogs on sheep or cattle, on farm or online. After sales service and satisfaction guaranteed! Dogs are exchangeable. Deliver to you NZ wide. Just ask your neighbours. 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes. HEADING PUPS. Bloodlines by ‘Pep’ J Wendleborn. E.Herbert’s ‘Clyde’ and K.White’s ‘Woody’. E.Herbert’s ‘Haig’. Phone Ken White 03 571 6079. See: dogblacks.co.nz and through FB.

BUYING 250 DOGS NZ wide annually! Quick easy $ale! No one buys or pays more! 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

FARM MAPPING

SALE TALK

WANTED

GOATS WANTED

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

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

FOR SALE SILAGE BALES. $60 per bale. Phone Richard 022 317 3905. Ruawaro, Huntly. WHANANAKI COASTAL Holiday Park. 44 camp sites, 9 semi-permanent baches, 6 motel units, 2 cabins, swimming pool. Dec/Jan 2018 rebooked. Three bedroom home in winterless North. Price: $1,500,000. Contact 09 433 8896. DOG/PET FOOD. Lamb/ Beef and chicken products. All natural - raw - no preservatives or additives. NOSLOC PRODUCTS. Ex-freezer Te Kuiti. For information and prices www.nosloc.com or phone 07 878 6868. WINDMILLS for water pumping. Ferguson Windmills Company. www.windmills.co.nz sales@windmills.co.nz Phone 09 412 8655 or 027 282 7689.

FERAL GOATS WANTED. All head counted, payment on pick-up, pick-up within 24hours. Prices based on works schedule. Experienced musterers available. Phone Bill and Vicky Le Feuvre 07 893 8916. 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 HOUSE FOR REMOVAL wanted. Phone 021 0274 5654.

WANTED TO LEASE ALBION FARM LTD is wanting to lease a hill country farm in the Manawatu-Rangitikei area. Phone 027 452 0723.

WORK WANTED MATURE STOCKMAN. Old school but up with the play. Team of dogs and horse. Anywhere considered. Phone 06 868 8598.

SELLING

SOMETHING?

FOR SALE

PH DEBBIE 0800 85 25 80

Auahi Charolais Pio Pio

The doctor asks, “What’s the problem?”The man says, “Doctor, I don’t know what to do. Every day my wife seems to lose her temper for no reason. It scares me.” The doctor says, “I have a cure for that. When it seems that your wife is getting angry, just take a glass of water and start swishing it in your mouth. Just swish and swish but don’t swallow it until she either leaves the room or calms down.”

STOCK FOR SALE 11 x 2 YR SIMMENTAL BULLS 30 x 1YR ANGUS BULLS 300kgs

STOCK REQUIRED STORE LAMBS 30-37kgs R 1YR BULL CALVES 150-230kgs 170-230kgs R1 YR HEIFER CALVES R2 YR FRIES & BEEF BULLS 400-500kgs 420-500kgs R2 YR STEERS

Two weeks later, the man comes back to the doctor looking fresh and reborn. The man says, “Doctor, that was a brilliant idea! Every time my wife started losing it, I swished with water. “I swished and swished, and she calmed right down! How does a glass of water do that?” The doctor says, “The water itself does nothing. It’s keeping your mouth shut that does the trick.”

MACHINERY & SURPLUS PLANT AUCTION Friday 14th July 2017 Commencing 10.30 am Location: Washdyke/Pleasant Point H/Way, Near Levels Good Shed Entry Forms for the above sale are now available. Please contact our Seadown Oﬃce, your local PWA Broker or visit our website for a copy and more sale info. Entries close Monday 10th July

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

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

474 OUTSTANDINGLY WELL-PRESENTED R3 FRIESIAN/FRIESIANX HERD Full milking lives ahead. Heifers milked OAD to enable full growth potential. BW 75; PW 86 AI Friesian, tailed with Hereford. Calving 16/7. Options to purchase on computer-split or early/late calving draft – $1950 Cameron Smith Phone 027 311 9887

For further information: Wayne Andrews • 027 484 8232 • 03 614 8363 PWA Oﬃce • 03 687 4440 PETER WALSH & ASSOCIATES LTD www.peterwalsh.co.nz

MOANA

Download the app today

46TH POLLED HEREFORD STUD BVD tested clear and vaccinated

Alan McEvoy 09 439 4613 Ray McEvoy 09 439 8503 Email

Livestock

Est. 1981

A man goes to the doctor, worried about his wife’s temper.

alan.mcevoy@yahoo.com

Henderson Partners

Bull Sale On offer: 24, 2 year old bulls catalogues available ON FARM SALE - LUNCHEON PROVIDED

Tuesday 4th July 2017, 1.00pm | 409 Baylys Basin Rd, DARGAVILLE

Bulls for Sale • Low birthweight • EBV’s out to +55 for 600 days • Early maturing types

Angus Cattle bred and tested under

COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS for you

• All Bulls vaccinated for BVD • TB status C10 Guaranteed to perform Ph John Henderson 07 873 8477 or 027 633 1776

LK0088161©

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

GLANWORTH

PINEBANK

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

Willie Falloon (06) 372 7041

LK0088175©

ANIMAL HANDLING

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

Livestock

MARKET SNAPSHOT

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Grain & Feed

MILK PRICE FORECAST ($/KGMS) 2017-18

6.50

6.68

AS OF 24/05/2017

AS OF 22/06/2017

Prior week

Last year

6 5 Nov 16

Jan 17 Mar 17 AgriHQ Spot Fonterra forecast

May 17 AgriHQ Seasonal

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

WMP GDT PRICES AND NZX FUTURES

6.45

5.35

334

340

NI mutton (20kg)

4.15

4.10

2.60

328

326

285

SI lamb (17kg)

6.55

6.45

5.10

Feed Barley

335

334

261

SI mutton (20kg)

4.20

4.15

2.50

228

Export markets (NZ$/kg) 8.84

8.97

7.67

221

UK CKT lamb leg

Maize Grain

410

338

PKE

220

218

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 week

Prior week

5.0

Last year

CBOT futures (NZ$/t)

4.5

Wheat - Nearest

236

221

230

Corn - Nearest

203

206

210

339

327

330

333

317

309

2500

Feed Wheat

245

289

262

2000

Feed Barley

291

285

292

PKE (US$/t) Ex-Malaysia

$/kg

ASW Wheat

NZ venison 60kg stag

6.0

600

c/kkg (net)

3000

5005.5 4005.0 300

4.5

Oct Oct

115

Dec Dec

Prior week

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

2950

3135

3175

SMP

2195

2200

AMF

6900

Butter

5950

Last week

Prior week

Last year

Last week

Prior week

Last year

2190

Urea

477

475

29 micron

6.65

7.85

6600

6650

Super

309

314

35 micron

3.35

5.85

5700

5750

DAP

784

39 micron

3.25

5.50

702

3000 2750 Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

OIL prices took centre stage last week, driving markets lower as prices plummeted to their lowest all year. Concerns of oversupply, particularly in the United States, resurfaced despite OPEC nations limiting production to 2018. Plummeting oil prices drove the Australian index to its worst single-day decline of the year while pulling other markets back from all-time or multi-month highs. Expectations were for the Reserve Bank to hold the Official Cash Rate for the fourth meeting in a row and it stayed at 1.75%, an all time low. The commentary, again the focus for analysts, was reasonably upbeat. Despite the weakness from the first quarter GDP, the growth outlook for New Zealand is positive. Inflation was again in the spotlight as it had increased in the March quarter. The RBNZ expects there will be some volatility in inflation but it will increase gradually with long-term expectations anchored at 2%. House price inflation has moderated, influenced by the loan-to-value ratio restrictions and tighter lending conditions. Despite the positivity surrounding the growth outlook for NZ and inflation normalisation monetary policy is expected to remain accommodative for a considerable period as numerous uncertainties remain. Market commentary provided by Craigs Investment Partners

10576

S&P/FW AG EQUITY

13144

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

7564

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

7409

$/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)

350

NZ$/t

US$/t

3250

39 micron wool price

6.5

CANTERBURY FEED PRICES 450

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR

This yr

(NZ$/kg)

3500

Latest price

Last yr

AugAug

NZ average (NZ$/t)

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

Aug

JunJun

WOOL

* price as at close of business on Thursday

Jul

AprApr

FERTILISER

Last price*

2500

FebFeb

5‐yr ave

NZX DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) Nearby contract

South Island 1 7kg lamb

7.0 6.5

3500

May 17 Aug 17 NZX WMP Futures

6.0 5.5

INTERNATIONAL

APW Wheat

1500 Aug 16 Nov 16 Feb 17 C2 Fonterra WMP

Last year

6.50

Australia (NZ$/t)

4000

Last week Prior week

NI lamb (17kg)

Feed Wheat

Waikato (NZ$/t)

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Milling Wheat

PKE

8 $/kgMS

Last week Canterbury (NZ$/t)

MILK PRICE COMPARISON

US$/t

SHEEP MEAT

DOMESTIC

AGRIHQ 2017-18

FONTERRA 2017-18

Sheep

$/kg

Dairy

Jun 17

PKE spot

YTD High

YTD Low

Auckland International Airport Limited

7.02

7.43

6.31

Meridian Energy Limited

3.02

2.57

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

3.8 11.14 7.77 3.31 8.32 5.29 26.02 3.175

3.845 11.31 10.86 3.345 9.05 5.31 26.36 3.28

3.32 8.5 7.42 2.94 8.12 4.65 17.47 2.08

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

YTD Low

The a2 Milk Company Limited

4.05

4.15

2.06

Cavalier Corporation Limited

0.34

0.81

0.33

Comvita Limited

5.4

8.65

5.15 5.65

Delegat Group Limited

6.4

6.72

Foley Family Wines Limited

1.32

1.5

1.2

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

5.95

6.4

5.88

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

2.45

2.61

2.45

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

1.45

1.46

1.22

PGG Wrightson Limited

0.55

0.61

0.49

Sanford Limited (NS)

6.89

7.75

6.7

Scales Corporation Limited

3.46

3.65

3.21

Seeka Limited

5.1

5.5

4.3

Tegel Group Holdings Limited

1.18

1.46

1.05

S&P/FW Primary Sector

10576

10596

9307

S&P/FW Agriculture Equity

13144

13190

10899

S&P/NZX 50 Index

7564

7592

6971

S&P/NZX 10 Index

7409

7453

6927

THE New Zealand dollar This Prior Last NZD vs tested higher ground week week year against the United States USD 0.7265 0.7209 0.7247 dollar last week, ANZ Bank EUR 0.6516 0.6468 0.6372 senior economist Philip AUD 0.9632 0.9509 0.9524 Borkin said. “There was a GBP 0.5725 0.5655 0.4870 strengthening bias but not Correct as of 9am last Friday a significant move,” he said. At the end of the week the cross-rate was US72.6c, having nudged as high as 73c earlier in the week. The NZD moved up 1.5c against the Australian dollar, to close the week around A96c. Borkin thought there were two reasons for the strengthening – weaker oil prices had weighed down hard commodity price sentiment for the minerals Australia exports and the Reserve Bank of NZ stuck to its neutral stance. “Many thought the RBNZ would be aggressive in its language regarding the currency strength and it wasn’t. The result was a short squeeze higher (on the NZD) and that was probably the most significant story of the week.” It was now apparent the RBNZ was not going to move interest rates any time soon, Borkin said. “The hurdle for action in either direction is relatively high.” The NZD had edged up half a cent and penny against both the Euro and the British pound for the same reasons for movement against the AUD. The Bank of England was in two minds whether to hike interest rates so, in the absence of a decision, the NZD was influenced more by domestic factors like the RBNZ language. Hugh Stringleman

Markets

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017

WAIKATO PALM KERNEL

SI SLAUGHTER LAMB

SI SLAUGHTER STEER

($/T)

($/KG)

PRIME LAMB MEDIAN PRICE AT TEMUKA

($/KG)

($/HD)

6.55

220

5.70

Cattle & Deer Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.70

5.45

NI Bull (300kg)

5.65

5.40

NI Cow (200kg)

4.50

4.45

4.40

SI Steer (300kg)

5.70

5.20

SI Bull (300kg)

5.15

5.00

SI Cow (200kg)

4.25

4.00

US imported 95CL bull

7.39

7.35

6.87

US domestic 90CL cow

7.04

7.00

6.80

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

NZ venison 60kg stag

c/k kg (net)

$/kg

5.5 600 5.0 500

400 4.5 300 4.0

Oct Oct

Dec Dec

Feb Feb

5‐yr ave

Apr Apr

Jun Jun

Last yr

AugAug This yr

VENISON Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week Prior week

Last year

NI Stag (60kg)

8.65

8.55

7.70

NI Hind (50kg)

8.55

8.45

7.60

SI Stag (60kg)

9.05

9.00

7.70

SI Hind (50kg)

8.95

8.90

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

$2.65-$2.72/kg

R2 Beef-cross and Friesian bulls, 425-484kg, at Stortford Lodge

R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 350-370kg, at Stratford

Jun Jun

Aug Aug This yr

T APPEARS that ‘winter mode’ at the sale yards has been shortlived, with last week’s results already showing a lift in interest for store cattle. The previous few weeks had seen a small lull in prices, though there was noted increase in demand, and in turn prices, for the few good quality lines coming out. The R2 bull market in particular looks to be making a comeback, though it never really fell away. NORTHLAND NORTHLAND Outside buyers helped keep the market alive at WELLSFORD last Monday, as local buying power was limited due to wet conditions underfoot. The yarding of 430 mainly consisted of R1 steers and heifers, though R2 cattle had a reasonable showing. Beef-cross R2 steers, 435kg plus, firmed slightly to $2.77-$2.83/kg, with results similar in the R2 heifer pens, where beef or beef-cross, 354-436kg, made $2.71-$2.78/kg. Hereford-Jersey heifers, 350-382kg, returned $2.67$2.71/kg. There was some good buying to be found in the R1 cattle pens. Good quality R1 steers, 172-241kg, made steady returns at $715-$830, with 234241kg Angus and Hereford-Friesian at $3.33-$3.50/kg. R1 heifers, 218-287kg, mainly made $692-$780, though one line of 290kg Charolais-cross stood out at $895, $3.09/kg. There was a large selection of Friesian bulls to choose from, and prices reflected keen interest. Some 215-232kg lines sold particularly well at $745-$790, $3.41-$3.47/kg. The interest wasn’t the same for 171-225kg Friesian-cross lines though, which sold for $500$700. A gloomy, wet day did little to dampen demand at KAIKOHE last Wednesday, with prices strengthening for all classes bar the R2 and R1 heifers, PGG Wrightson agent Vaughan Vujcich reported. Around 450 head were offered, and R2 steers lifted 5-8c/kg for the mainly beef-cross line up, with $2.85-$2.94/ kg common ground. Bulls followed

More photos: farmersweekly.co.nz

WHO’S BUYING? PGG Wrightson auctioneer John McKone and his team look for bids during the Matariki bull sale.

suit, and Angus and Hereford, 400460kg, were picked up for breeding at $3.05/kg, with Hereford selling up to $3.20/kg. Plainer types traded at $2.75-$2.92/kg, which was also stronger. The heifer market was harder going, with Angus-cross and Murray Grey-cross selling to just $2.60-$2.70/kg. Results for R1 steers and bulls were pleasing, but again the heifers were good shopping. Angus, AngusHereford, and Simmental-cross steers sold freely at $3.30-$3.50/kg for heavier types, while beef-cross bulls returned $3.50-$3.60/kg, and Friesian, $3.10-$3.20/kg. Heifers were well off that pace, despite some nice lines penned, and most traded at $2.85$3.00/kg. The cow market showed good strength, with a lack of supply making for a competitive environment. Heavy beef, and in-calf Friesian returned $2.00/kg, while medium type boners lifted to $1.85/kg.

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HBL0107

$3.16/kg

Winter mode short-lived

BEEF Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

133

high lights

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COUNTIES COUNTIES About 450 cattle were on offer at the TUAKAU store sale last Thursday, Kane Needham of PGG Wrightson reported. The yarding included HerefordFriesian steers, 500kg, which traded at $2.88/kg. Speckle Park steers, 438kg, earned $2.92/kg, with 393kg HerefordFriesian making $3.06/kg. Weaner Angus steers, 255kg, sold at $800, while Hereford-Friesian, 203-268kg, made $765-$910. The bull section included a 421kg Simmental lot, which made $3.05/ kg, with 251kg weaner Friesian bulls making $850. R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 355374kg, traded at $2.86/kg, and weaner Hereford heifers, 268kg, $785, while a pen of younger Hereford-Friesian, 140kg, earned $575. Last Wednesday’s prime market was also strong, with the better steers and

Continued page 37

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Markets

38 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017 heifers in the 450-head yarding selling over $3.00/kg. Heavy prime steers traded at $3.00-$3.15/kg, medium, $2.92-$2.99/kg, and lighter, $2.75-$2.85/kg. Heavy prime beef heifers returned $2.95$3.15/kg, medium $2.85-$2.95/kg and lighter types, $2.70-$2.80/kg. An entry of in-calf Friesian cows sold at $2.25-$2.47/kg, and heavy empty Friesians $1.90-$2.10/kg. Medium cows made $1.75-$1.85/ kg, and lighter boners, $1.55$1.70/kg. A small number of heavy Hereford bulls fetched $2.80$2.95/kg. The sheep market remains strong, with the best of the prime lambs selling at $145-$169 last Monday. Medium primes earned $120-$145, and lighter types, $110$120. Top store lambs traded at $95-$110, medium $80-$95, and lighter $65-$80. An entry of inlamb ewes sold at $130-$145, with the best of the prime ewes making $100-$125, medium $80-$95, and lighter lots $52-$70. BAY OF PLENTY BAY OF PLENTY Local interest in store cattle improved at RANGIURU last Tuesday, with the market more buoyant for the smaller yarding of 370. Friesian cows, 432-490kg, returned $1.91-$1.99/kg, and Hereford-cross, 367-408kg, $2.04$2.12/kg. Prime Hereford-Friesian steers, 635-683kg, continued their strong run at $2.96-$3.05/kg. There were a few lines of R2 Friesian steers to pick from, largely weighing 383-404kg, and trading at $2.54-$2.64/ kg, though the feature was Angus, 448kg, $3.02/kg. R2 heifers were mainly Hereford-cross or Hereford-Friesian, 316-443kg, and returned $2.78-$2.83/kg, while Friesian, 428kg, earned $2.45/kg. The R1 section was small lines of all sorts, with the only standout in the steer pens being four Angus, 152kg, $620, while Hereford-cross heifers, 232kg, returned $765. A larger portion of the yarding were autumn-born calves, and heifers traded at $430-$485, with bulls mainly making $430-$510. There was little to be found in the sheep pens, with no store lambs offered. The usual group of buyers kept the prime lamb market firm. Only one

line of lambs made less than $100, and the top line reaching $140. Ewes sold for $109-$120. WAIKATO Throughput lifted on the previous week at FRANKTON, as the Fieldays buzz dies down and farmers get back to business, and the market also had a livelier feel to it. Heavy cattle were chased by processors and finishers, and beef steers flew $2000 for $3.19-$3.22/ kg, and R3, $3.07-$3.16/kg. The heifer market did not have the same spark, with prices steady at $2.81-$2.93/kg. More resistance was shown on the R2 cattle, and the best of the beef-cross steers, 393480kg, traded at $2.88-$2.96/kg. Angus-Friesian heifers packed good weight at 496- 532kg, and returned $2.86-$2.89/kg, while Friesian bulls, 365-435kg, lifted to $2.83/kg. More autumn-born lines are coming forward, and the heifer pens offered up HerefordFriesian, 293- 332kg, at $960-$990. Vendors looked to capitalise on solid returns by offloading more R1 cattle. The right cattle sold well, and Hereford-Friesian steers, 232-277kg, made $900-$920, while annual draft Angus, 273-302kg, sold to $1100-$1210, and their sisters, 280kg, $920. Friesian bulls, 219-231kg managed $770-$815, with the lighter line up to $3.70/kg. TARANAKI TARANAKI The strengthening tone continued at STRATFORD last Wednesday, where another small yarding of 200 was top heavy with R2 heifers and R1 steers, New Zealand Farmers Livestock agent Stepehn Sutton reported. Prime numbers were limited, though prices consistent at $2.89-$2.96/kg, while purebred Hereford bulls, 575kg, sold for $3.13/kg. Keen bidding from two main players saw R2 steer prices lift, with the better beef-cross and beef-Friesian trading at $2.90$3.00/kg, while a line of 405kg Hereford-Friesian sold up to $3.16/ kg. R2 heifers were a feature, with a quarter of the yarding in these pens, and prices were consistent for the beef-Friesian line up, with

most trading at $2.65-$2.72/kg. The other highlight of the day was the R1 steer section, where a weighty line up of mainly beefFriesian saw 270-334kg make $930-$955, and 224-245kg, $880, putting lighter lines just shy of $4/ kg. Belgium Blue heifers, 230260kg, sold for $610-$680. A small offering of sheep consisted of purebred Suffolk ewe lambs at $89-$115, and mixed sex lambs, $50-$78, while run-withthe-ram ewes made $72. POVERTY BAY POVERTY BAY The monthly cattle sale at MATAWHERO last Tuesday was much like others around the country right now, with more than the usual share of small lines making up numbers. Locals were the main source of bidding power, though some lines also ventured into Hawke’s Bay and Waikato. Older cattle numbers were limited, with the majority of the 600 head yarding found in the R1 pens. Very small numbers of R3 steers saw Angus, 440-505kg, return $3.03-$3.08/kg, though buyers were more selective in the R2 pens, with a good line of Angus, 360kg, selling up to $3.28/kg, though other lines traded at $3.02$3.11/kg. Angus heifer prices were very competitive with the steers for limited numbers, and two lines, 365-415kg, sold for $3.00-$3.15/kg, with most other beef-cross making $2.73-$2.86/kg. Friesian bulls, 360390kg, sold for $2.67-$2.71/kg to finish off the section. It was a good sale for the relatively large number of R1 cattle offered. Angus and Angus-cross steers, 185-220kg, returned $725$880, $3.92-$4.05/kg, and 240265kg, $900-$1000, $3.75- $3.85/ kg. Traditional R1 heifers, 170195kg, made $700-$775, $3.92$4.12/kg. The highlight in the cow pens was a two sizeable lines of vettedin-calf Angus and Hereford cows, which sold to expectations, with Hereford, 560kg, earning $1510, and Angus 445kg, $1100. Runwith-the-bull Hereford, 460kg, sold for $1155. A small yarding of store lambs sold to a firmer market on Friday. The majority were ewe lambs,

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with the top types at $95.50-$105, while other good lines were $89$92. Even the lighter-end had some reasonable weight to them, making $82-$87.50. Quality was good through the male lambs too. The three most expensive lines were $116-$119, though other pens with good weight were $103.50$105.50. Medium-to-lighter types made $87-$97. Good scanned-in-lamb Coopworth ewes made $121. There were a few prime ewes offered, and though the lighter end were only $84.50-$87, the majority still made $93-$101. HAWKE’S BAY HAWKE’S BAY While cattle numbers were low at STORTFORD LODGE last week, determined bidding saw R2 beefcross and Friesian bulls sell as high as $3.16/kg last Wednesday. The prime cattle offering last Monday was limited to a few lines of cows, with most good quality traditional types, selling on steady-to firmer market at $2.07-$2.18/kg . Extra buying power from farmers looking to fatten lambs helped firm the lamb market. Heavy male lambs traded at $150-$167, which covered the majority. A bigger offering of ewe lambs was more mixed, and the top end sold for $123-$142, with forward stores earning $100-$120. Scanned dry ewes continue to come forward in good numbers, and strong buyer support kept prices steady. Heavy mixed age returned $119- $123.50, and medium-good, $100-$118. Twotooth’s traded at $86-$120. A crisp clear day last Wednesday put a small store cattle yarding and sizeable sheep in good light, with plenty of visitors to the yards. Interest was high for breeding ewes, with bids coming from local buyers, plus outside interest from East Cape. High scanning, 5-year Romney sold for $150-$155, with 152%172% mixed age at similar levels. Second cut lines mainly traded at $107-$128. The rails were packed for the store lamb offering, and as a result prices lifted for the moderate yarding of 2900. The

lambs offered had plenty of weight, though strong prices saw few lines sell under $3/kg. Heavy male lambs sold for $120-$135, though a line of very heavy rams managed $161. Medium-good males lifted to $110-$115, with few selling under this level. The bulk of the ewe lambs were good types, and traded at $95-$119. A short cattle sale was timely given that it was the shortest day of the year. Just 133 cattle ventured forward, with a line of specially advertised R2 beef-cross bulls the main feature, and selling well above recent market levels at $3.16/ kg for 484kg, with Friesian, 425kg, also reaching that level. Other R2 sections offered up a few standout lines, with Angus & Angus-Hereford steers, 318kg, earning $3.10/kg, and two lines of Hereford-Friesian heifers, 355386kg, $2.91-$2.92/kg. These were bettered by a small line of 379kg, at $3.11/kg. R1 numbers were very low, though what was offered had plenty of weight, and sold well. Six Angus-Hereford steers, 359kg, sold for $1050, and HerefordFriesian heifers, 306kg, $955. After the excitement of the ewe fair last week, numbers returned to more normal levels at DANNEVIRKE last Thursday. Store lambs numbered just over 900, with the majority medium ewe lambs. The better end traded at $100-$105.50, though lesser types sold down to $50. Cryptorchid lambs were also variable in condition, with medium-good types at $114-$124, and lighter lines, $71. Mixed sex lambs traded at $115-$117. Prime lamb numbers were very low and sold for $102-$141, with most of the action in the ewe pens as more dry lines come out. Heavy ewes sold to $125, medium $111, and light, $70. MANAWATU MANAWATU A good selection of R1 Jersey bulls were on offer at RONGOTEA last Wednesday, New Zealand Farmers Livestock agent Darryl Harwood reported. Older cattle numbers were again low, but featured R3 Hereford-

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Markets

Friesian heifers, 532kg, $2.61/kg, and R2, 340-435kg, $2.55-$2.79/kg. Only Friesian steers were offered, with prices reflective of the breed and quality, while Friesian bulls, 410kg, were buyable at $2.34/kg. Crossbred boner cows, 310-315kg, sold for $1.43-$1.45/kg. Autumn-born cattle are featuring more each week, and Hereford-Friesian steers, 347kg, sold for $2.59/kg, with heifers, 320-365kg, not far off that pace at $2.50$2.52/kg. Quality was mixed in the R1 pens, with the feature being Jersey bulls, 157-270kg, which sold for $390-$600, though better quality Friesian, 298kg, sold up to $855. Angus-cross steers, 185kg, were the best sellers in their section at $550, with lesser quality crossbred and Jersey making $265-$330. Hereford-Friesian heifers, 238-335kg, sold well at $685-$880, and Simmental, 259kg, $685, with most other lines lighter types at $360-$530. In the small pens, Friesian bull calves returned $300-$375, and beef-cross, $300-$365. Hereford-Friesian heifers fetched $300-$400, and Angus-cross, $410, while Friesian lines traded at $260. Weaner pigs sold for $40-$77, ewes $60, and mixed sex lambs, $85-$129. The sheep pens were busy again at FEILDING last Monday, as scanning brings out more dry ewes, and lamb numbers continue to be high. The return of a buyer to the lamb pens lifted prices, despite the 4300 head offering. Heavy male lambs were the highlight, making as much as $180. In general heavy lambs made $138.50-$180, with the cut below at $116-$141. Ewe numbers lifted to nearly 2300, though this had limited impact on prices, as the market firmed on the previous week. The majority of the ewes were medium sized, making $79-$115, though heavier ewes returned $115-$140. The cattle sale was solid, for the limited numbers offered. The bulk of the yarding was 70 cows, with prime cows selling to $2.05-$2.11/kg, while Friesian & Friesiancross, 486-582kg, sold over a tight range on a lifting market at $1.87-$1.96/kg. Hereford-Friesian steers, 445-497kg, made $2.76/kg, while similar bred heifers, 500-645kg, had more weight and sold for similar levels of $2.70-$2.77/kg. Recent sale prices, a spell of good weather and maybe some end of year book squaring saw a lift in the store sheep yarding numbers on Friday. Most of the lambs were hill country stores and the market continued its headlong rush upwards. The heaviest of the male lambs were merely firm but the lighter and medium lambs, most of the yarding, lifted again this week by another $5-$6/ head. Two pens of male lambs sold for $130 and the top pen of 263 Romney ewe lambs sold for $125.50. Hardly a pen of lambs sold for less than $100 and relatively few lambs were shorn, such is the state of the wool industry and the ewe lambs maintained their parity with males. Ewes; SIL, $112-$158; Lambs; very heavy, $119-$130; heavy, $104-$130; medium, $105-$121.50; light, $97-$104. Cattle numbers were at winter levels but the steer quality was a little better this week and steer prices lifted with the range being $1080, $4.03/kg, for Angus yearlings to $1660, $3.09/kg, for traditional 2-year to $1775, $2.93/kg, for 3-year Hereford-Friesians. Double the number of bulls saw mixed returns with older bulls up and yearlings easing back with some bigger lines of Friesian weaners. The heifer section was also mixed. The older heifers were heavier this week, including some prime lines – one pen of 6 Angus sold for $1420, $2.85/kg – as the older heifers could not match last week but the R1’s were firm. Steers; R3, 518-604kg, $1460-$1775, $2.64-$3.13/kg; R2, 307-536kg, $890-

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017 $1660, $2.87-$3.48/kg; R1, 125-268kg, $475-$1080, $3.18-$4.06/kg; Bulls; R2, 321-500kg, $800-$1500, $2.49-$3.11/kg; R1, 187-266kg, $640-$940, $3.10-$4.27/ kg; Heifers; R2, 300-497kg, $865-$1420, $2.54-$3.14/kg; R1, 96-257kg, $545-$930, $3.40-$5.67/kg; Cows VIC; 477-529kg, $1160-$1290, $2.33-$2.51/kg. CANTERBURY CANTERBURY A typical winter yarding greeted sale goers to CANTERBURY PARK last Tuesday, with just over 3000 sheep, and a combined store and prime cattle yarding of 270 head. The small lift in store lamb numbers the previous week was gone from the pens, with under 600 head offered. Most were mixed sex, and medium-good types sold for $81-$104, though heavier types eased to $106-$115. Two lines of ewe lambs fetched $95-$105. Breeding ewe numbers are still low, but a standout line of mixed age crossbred, scanned-in-lamb 185%, sold to recent levels at $156. More action in the prime pens saw an almost even split of lambs and ewes. Prices held on the previous week, with top lambs making $150-$165, though the bulk traded at $110-$150. Scanning is bringing out more dry ewes, and most are coming forward in very good condition, due to the good autumn and no lamb burden. Prices remained steady, and heavy mixed age made $130-$158, and medium-good $111-$137. A lighter contingent made $64-$88, and 2-tooths traded at $105$137. Heifers featured in the prime pens, and both local trade and prime types fetched $2.80-$2.91/kg, though a line of 536kg beef heifers sold to $3.10/kg. Most steers sold for $2.90-$2.98/kg, with Angus, 518535kg, achieving $3.04-$3.10/kg. Limited numbers of cows saw prices lift, with 475-512kg selling to $1.87-$1.90/kg, while good beef lines sold well over $2.00/kg. A small yarding of store cattle included some nice types, but was mainly dominated by small lines. The standout of the yarding was the R2 heifer section, which featured Angus, 300-336kg, at $2.99-$3.07/kg, and Angus-Hereford, 302-326kg, $3.10-$3.11/kg. R2 traditional and Murray Grey-cross steers, 319-436kg, made $2.88-$2.95/kg. SOUTH CANTERBURYSOUTH CANTERBURY The first boatload of Chatham Islands stock were offloaded into TEMUKA last week, with lambs featuring in the store pens last Monday, and cattle making up the lion’s share of the store sale last Thursday. Limited numbers of store lambs continue to work in the vendor’s favour, and the mixed sex offering sold on a solid market. Light lambs were in the minority, with most of the yarding heavy Chatham Island lambs, with good types making $95-$115, and heavy, $117-$141. A steady flow of prime lambs continued, drawn in by the very consistent market. Prices were steady, with the bulk trading at $110-$160, though the median price lifted to $133. Scanning continues to bring a steady flow of ewes to market, and prices held as the buyers were there to meet them. $80-$110 tidied up a small tail end, though the bulk of the offering traded at $120-$160. While cattle numbers were very similar to the previous sale, cow numbers clawed their way back to some extent, with these making up 174 of the 290 head. Steer results were mixed, with prices showing some downwards pressure, and Hereford, 430-550kg, eased to $2.86-$2.97/kg, though Angus of similar weight made $2.96-$3.04/kg. A nice line up of heifers saw Angus, 495-601kg, sell for premiums of $2.85-$2.93/kg, over Hereford and Charolais at $2.76-$2.89/kg.

Buyers appreciated having a few more cows to delve into, and the best of the beef lines sold to $2.04-$2.18/kg. Friesian cows also lifted, and very heavy types traded at $1.96-$2.01/kg, medium $1.85$1.95/kg, and the lighter end, $1.78$1.89/kg. Winter mode has set in in the store cattle pens, and while prices were respectable last Thursday, the moderate yarding of 680 is in a holding pattern, with little movement either way. Breed did not have much bearing on prices in the R2 steers, with Chatham Island Angus-Hereford and DevonHereford lines making similar values as Hereford-Friesian. Ranges of $2.95-$3.02/kg easily covered most, though weights varied from 278-370kg for Devon-Hereford, up to 360-400kg for the other lines. HerefordFriesian was popular in the heifer pens, though prices did ease on last sale, with 345-377kg earning $2.94-$3.00/kg. The Devon-Hereford lines lacked weight, and at 237-292kg, sold for $2.74-$2.78/kg. R1 prices were respectable, with 200258kg Devon-Hereford steers making $760-$770, and heifers, 196-283kg, $700$930. Buyers worked to per head budgets for Friesian bulls, and those slotting into a $650-$750 price range sold freely, but bids were hard to find above that level. A consignment of vetted-in-calf Friesian-cross cows with calves at foot met good demand, with most earning $865-$940, though a lighter line of better quality cows reached $1050. OTAGO OTAGO Extra buying power on the rails at BALCLUTHA last Wednesday resulted in a lift in prime prices, while store lambs sold on a very steady market, PGG Wrightson agent Emmett Sparrow reported. A good yarding of store lambs sold at very consistent levels, with the top lambs making $96-$105, medium $85-$92, and light, $82. The prime pens was the highlight however, with the roller coaster ride that is the prime lambs sitting at its highest point last week, with heavy types lifting to $140-$156, medium $120-$135, and lighter, $107-$120. Heavy ewes held their value at $120-$140, but prices improved for medium to $106-$117, and also lighter types, $88-$104. SOUTHLAND SOUTHLAND Prime cattle continue to sell to high demand at LORNEVILLE, with a small yarding firming on recent levels last Tuesday. Numbers also dropped in the sheep pens, with the market very competitive. The best of the store lambs traded at $90-$108, with medium types earning $80-$85, and light, $40-$75. Prime lambs sold as high as $154, with all heavy types earning $130$154, medium $110-$126, and lighter, $92-$108. The top ewes matched the top lambs, trading at $120-$158, while medium lines made $88-$112, and light, $59-$85. The cattle section was the highlight of the day, with good demand across both the prime and store sections. Steers, 500kg plus, sold to $2.80-$2.90/kg, with medium types earning $2.60-$2.70/kg. The heifers offered were predominantly dairy, with 450kg plus making $2.50$2.60/kg, and 305kg, $2.00/kg. Good condition bulls, 550kg, fetched $2.65/ kg. Cows again featured, with 500kg plus making $1.90-$2.05/kg, while 450-500kg returned $1.80-$1.90/kg, and 400kg, $1.50-$1.60/kg. Vetted-in-calf Angus cows sold for $1660. Most store cattle were Hereford-cross, and R2 steers, 441-471kg, sold for $2.72$2.73/kg, while in the weaner pens, mixed sex Hereford-cross, 184kg, returned $660, and heifers, 175kg, $620.

Seamless change of seasons for South Island dairy livestock market Good weather and improving trading conditions have seen the South Island dairy livestock market operating smoothly in recent weeks. PGG Wrightson Dairy Livestock Manager Paul Edwards says a favourable start to winter across the whole South Island has made the transition from one season to the next a generally seamless one. “All dairy stock is now onto fodder beet and winter crops. While those farmers that are still looking to sell feed could be happier, for everyone else the surplus of crops around at present is pleasing, and by the end of winter, left over crops will be put to good use. So far, it has been a reasonably easy winter,” he said. South Island settlements on 1 June went off without a hitch. “Autumn was a busy season compared to last year. As the market found its level and buyers and sellers came together, we had a flurry of trades in April and May. As a result, plenty of transactions happened in the later part of the season. “We were pleased with how seamless dairy settlements have been this year. Vendors, purchasers and financiers have all done an excellent job. Livestock agents have been able to come in and keep everyone happy, so that is a big positive,” he said. Continuing confidence in the beef industry is influencing dairy livestock decisions. “Demand for four day old Friesian feeder calves is higher than it has been for a number of years, and likewise, demand for 100 kilogram Friesian weaner calves is also strong. Rearers looking to take advantage of the favourable beef market are locking in their margin price. This is offering a low risk entry into beef, which is attractive for many South Island farmers,” said Paul Edwards. Although the market is now going into a quiet period for the next few weeks, he is confident activity will lift closer to calving. “As occurs every year, when spring conditions really kick in, and after calving starts in the South Island, around 20 July, that will reinvigorate trade in livestock. Depending on the farm gate milk price and grass growth, demand for heifers and cows in milk should be strong. As long as climatic conditions and signals from export markets remain positive, we can look forward to a busy spring in the South Island dairy livestock market,” he said.

Get in touch: 0800 10 22 76 www.pggwrightson.co.nz

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Markets

40 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 26, 2017 NI SLAUGHTER LAMB

NI SLAUGHTER STEER

SI SLAUGHTER STAG

($/KG)

TRADITIONAL R2 STEERS, 360-455KG, AT FEILDING

($/KG)

6.50

5.70

9.05

3.46

high lights

Milk prices hold up Hugh Stringleman

hugh.stringleman@nzx.com

URTHER gains for butter and anhydrous milk fat in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction have accentuated the spread between dairy fat and protein prices on world markets. AMF gained 4.4% and butter 2.9% to set new records; AMF close to US$7000/tonne and butter results including two contract periods worth more than $6000. Butter was up 115% on GDT prices in June 2016 and AMF was up 90%. Lower milk production in Europe and strong demand for milk fat from developed markets had produced the outstanding prices, Rabobank dairy analyst Emma Higgins said. Rabobank expected the spread between fats and protein to persist through 2017 though milk supplies were starting to increase again. Chinese imports of whole milk powder were expected to increase 20% this year, which should keep world prices steady. Fonterra was on track to sell 600,000 tonnes of its 2.5 million tonnes of New Zealand ingredients production this season through the GDT channel with China accounting for 45% of purchases. Fonterra released its first forecast for NZ milk output in

STEADY: Rabobank dairy analyst Emma Higgins expects the spread between milk fat and protein prices to persist.

the 2017-18 season to be up 3%, after the previous season was down 3% (minus 4% in the North Island, steady in the South Island). For Fonterra, Australian milk collection in the 11 months to the end of May was 116m kilograms, up 1%, compared with the country as a whole which was down 7% in the year to March. The obvious conclusion was that Fonterra gained milk supply share, probably from the largest processor, Murray Goulburn. The global dairy market outlook remained firm, ASB

rural economist Nathan Penny said after the latest GDT auction. “Moreover, with supply and demand in balance we expect prices to fluctuate around current levels over coming months. “While global dairy markets can change rapidly, for now, a period of relative calm lies ahead,” Penny said. Whole milk powder (WMP) prices dropped 3.3% and were now down 15% since the beginning of 2017. But the outlook through the NZX Dairy Derivatives market was for stronger prices

through the rest of the year, AgriHQ dairy analyst Amy Castleton said. The AgriHQ milk price forecast rose six cents to $6.68/kg because of those WMP futures expectations and the very high butter and AMF physical market prices. The GDT price index was down 0.8%, the first fall in the index since early March. Meanwhile, the September 2018 milk price futures contract on the Derivatives market lost two cents after the GDT auction to sit at $6.48/kg, compared with the Fonterra forecast for 2017-18 of $6.50.

$665-$700

$150-$155

R1 Angus heifers, 155-170kg, at Matawhero

5-year Romney ewes, SIL 180%-190%, at Stortford Lodge

Breeding ewe market has fuel left in tank IT IS hard to believe we are now past the shortest day and on the downward spiral to Christmas (did I really just mention that word?). New season lambs are already on the ground on some Suz Bremner farms, despite the fact that AgriHQ Analyst winter is yet to come. This week I want to have a look at the breeding ewe market because all the ingredients are right for very strong results – lambs are selling well and the outlook is good, feed is not an issue and there are people looking to rebuild flocks. So, why then do I feel the market is still reserved? Don’t get me wrong, prices are good and well up on last year yet I feel there is still fuel left in the tank that is yet to be used and might not be as numbers will surely start to slow, in the North Island at least. Any lines for sale are hard to find and don’t balance with the number of people looking for them, especially since there has been a bit of a resurgence in interest as farmers look for alternatives to buying cattle. But everything comes at a price and I think too many farmers have been victims of the volatile sheep market and are working closely to realistic budgets. Buyers are not jumping out of their skin to get the ewes, as we have seen time and again in the cattle market, and the top price in the North Island so far this year was at Dannevirke, with ewes selling to $175, though most good ewes with reasonable scanning percentages are sitting around $150-$160. And the prices are not for lack of quality. The ewes I have seen coming through the yards have been top notch, oozing good breeding and presented well after a good autumn. We need some of those determined Aussies in our market, who are paying anywhere from $200-$300 over the ditch, to give it a shake-up. suz.bremner@nzx.com

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Nutrition advice? Listen to the experts. FEED TO SUCCEED Nobody is closer to your animals than you – and nobody understands their unique nutrition needs more than our qualified NRM nutritionists. It’s their expertise that make our range of feeds some of the most scientifically advanced in the market. Plus having nationwide access to their in-depth knowledge will support your understanding of animal nutrition to improve the productivity and profitability of your farming operation. To arrange an on-farm visit, contact your local nutrition specialist or call 0800 800 380.

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