Farmers Weekly NZ March 6 2017 by AgriHQ

17 Same man, new job Vol 16 No 9, March 6, 2017

farmersweekly.co.nz

Farmers on board Richard Rennie & Neal Wallace

Southland farmer Dean Rabbidge said while he supported the laudable goal of clean, fresh water, he questioned how realistic the cost and timing estimates for excluding livestock. He farms 220ha near Wyndham and calculated the cost of fencing his waterways and installing a stock water scheme at close to $1 million.

ORTHERN Southland farmer and farm environment group spokesman Aaron Wilson believes the Government’s fresh water standards contain a positive aspirational goal in making 90% of waterways swimmable by 2040. However, the Waimea Valley dairy farmer admits to feeling frustrated that the goal has become mired in an argument about E.coli levels and whether they pose a greater risk under the new standards. But with the standards and goal in place, Wilson said there were bigger issues that require debating at a national level over water quality. “I do not think we are still asking the right questions on land use though,” he said. “It is land use past, present and future that will drive water quality issues from here. If we could (just) draw away from the emotional debate now and look at how the change in land use over time will affect water quality.” But he said there were even bigger issues behind that to debate. “We have to ask ourselves, do we want to continue operating in an open economy where, aside from resource consent land-use change is possible, or do we want something more managed?” He said water quality standards also brought some paradoxes with them for farmers charged with enacting them. “In our catchment, if we had to put wintering barns in it increases costs, so we have to increase our

Water quality is a national effort – it just can’t be put on farmers. Dean Rabbidge Farmer

ATTENUATION: The “mission to Mars” goal of nitrogen reduction in New Zealand’s pastoral systems is the best way to address water quality issues, northern Southland dairy farmer Aaron Wilson says.

production to pay for it, requiring more supplements. “The result is the effluent saved onfarm will always be less than the supplement inputs the system now requires. So intensifying to mitigate can be a paradox.” Instead, Wilson maintains New Zealand’s “mission to Mars” goal should be to find a means to

attenuate nitrogen in a pastoral system. Meantime, fencing requirements under the standards should not cause dairy farmers too much grief. He said it was largely “business as usual” for the dairy sector that was only weeks away from having all waterways fenced from stock.

But as an ex-sheep and beef farmer Wilson said he understood the challenges the drystock sector would face in fencing. “But it is still the most useful tool we have. Despite what some environmentalists may claim, it is also very effective at helping reduce pollution and nutrient levels in waterways.”

Rabbidge said this made the Government’s estimated fencing cost of $367m by 2030 for the whole country as way too low. He would like to exclude stock from waterways tomorrow but realistically it was unaffordable. “Even on a property this size, if you didn’t have debt it would still be very difficult to do.” The Government’s plan appeared to target the rural sector when most urban rivers were in a worse state, but Rabbidge said the solution required a national effort. “I know farmers are aware of it (state of water quality) but the problem doesn’t start and stop with dairy farmers. “Water quality is a national effort – it just can’t be put on farmers,” he said.

P4-5

NEWS

NEWSMAKER

Soil Moisture Anomaly (mm) at 9am March 3, 2017

24 Real-life lessons at

Taratahi’s heart

60 Wetter than

The reality that nearly 40% of students at Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre this year have an urban background could be seen as a metaphor for the challenges facing agriculture.

normal (mm)

OPINION

on track

The National Government’s new Clean Water package would not disrupt the implementation by regional councils of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management, Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder says.

7 Weather holds up harvest Harvest is starting to drag the chain in much of Canterbury as cropping farmers battle an earlyautumn weather pattern.

12 Venison prices at eight-year

high

Venison prices have beaten the odds to reach an eightyear high amidst unfavourable exchange rates and in what is traditionally the low point of the season. Peters full of praise at Northland Field Days �� 3 Water quality everyone’s goal �� 4 Water quality plans on track �� 5 Weather holds up harvest �� 7

-10

Alan Emerson applauds the Government’s new water quality standards. Editorial �� 26 Cartoon �� 26 Letters �� 26-27 Pulpit �� 25 Alternative View �� 28 From the Ridge �� 29 Meaty Matters �� 29

-30

-50

Drier than normal (mm)

30 EU study supports NZ trade

agreement

Trade agreements with Mexico, South Korea and Switzerland have boosted European Union agri-food exports by more than €1 billion (NZ$1.47b), according to a new study published by the European Commission in support of its drive to secure free-trade agreements with several countries, including New Zealand.

REGULARS Employment �� 31-32 Classifieds �� 33 Livestock �� 34-25

MARKETS

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.

Job

of the

Week

Farm Manager – Mount Albert Grammar School. This is a unique opportunity to join the staff of one of Auckland’s most successful schools as the manager of its working farm. The 8.1 hectare farm is adjacent to the school and is an integral part of the community as well as the agricultural and horticulture school curriculum. For the full job description visit the Farmers Weekly jobs site: farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz and click on Farm Manager category. To find all other agjobs click on ‘All Categories’. #agjobs at your fingertips.

NZ banks on Iran lamb exports resuming �� 10 Reduced pesticide use brings challenges �� 11

Venison prices at eight-year high �� 12

Affco offer ahead of the game �� 20

-20

WORLD

New biosecurity risk wings in �� 8

New role for money man �� 17

16 Alternative View 5 Regional water quality plans

40 Fine-wool market booming

No bull behind record milking attempt �� 21

Recent Merino ewe fairs at Omarama and Tekapo again highlighted the booming fine-wool market.

ALF reports $480,000 after-tax profit �� 22

Market Snapshot �� 36

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

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

NEWS BRIEFS New Westland chairman

OPEN: NZ First leader and Northland MP Winston Peters opened the 33rd Northland Field Days with society president Lew Duggan.

Peters full of praise at Northland Field Days Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com NORTHLAND MP and New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters, was keen to speak to farmers when he opened the 33rd Northland Field Days, near Dargaville, last week. “You represent the greatest industry NZ has, and ever will have,” he told a small crowd on the first morning of the three-day event. The Ministry for Primary Industries should be relocated out of Wellington to a provincial centre and Fonterra shouldn’t have its headquarters in the Auckland CBD, he said. Peters also said that hill and high-country waterway fencing requirements in the Government’s recent Clean Water package were going to be 18 times further than United States President Donald

Trump’s border wall proposal. “I can tell sheep and beef farmers that fencing on that scale is going to cost a great deal more than the Government has estimated, but it won’t let on.” Peters introduced himself as the only leader of a major party that was an electorate MP, and was clearly in election mode. Northland Field Days Society president Lew Duggan said proceeds from the event would go towards supporting Northland tertiary students and Northern Young Farmers, because the society was a charitable trust. More than 300 sites were occupied and organisers were delighted with a weather forecast of three fine days. Mobile Health Solutions (MHS) took up two large sites with its giant 42-tonne, 20m-long mobile surgical unit. MHS general manager Mark

Eager said the unit will be 15 years on the road in mid-March and 21,000 patients had passed through its care. It would be parked up again for members of the public to walk through at National Fieldays in June to participate in a Rural Health Hub initiative. Also eye-catching in their own way were several Speckle Park cattle, a Canadian breed that’s been in NZ for the past decade. Breeders Mark McKenzie, Wairarapa, and Derek Hayward, Cambridge, won the best new exhibitor award in Northland last year and came back because northern interest was growing in the high-yielding, grass-marbling cattle. McKenzie’s Maungahina Stud would be selling two-year bulls on June 8 and yearlings at the end of September. Last year he averaged $10,500 and $6700 respectively.

WESTLAND Milk will provide shareholders with a competitive and sustainable payout, new chairman Pete Morrison says. The farmer and businessman was elected chairman of Westland Milk Products at the company’s board meeting last Wednesday. Morrison has been a Westland Milk Products shareholder since the creation of the co-op as an independent dairy company in 2001. First elected to the board in 2015, he supplies milk from farm properties in both Canterbury and the West Coast. Morrison acknowledged that Westland had performed poorly in the previous financial year and that its payout was below the break-even line for

shareholders, and less than competitive compared with other New Zealand companies. But he delivered a tone of confidence, noting the payout was on the way back up again.

South Island award ends THIRTY years of recognising the South Island’s high-achieving farmers has come to an end as the Lincoln University Foundation steps sideways to direct its support to a younger generation. Promoting farming excellence will be no less of a focus though, foundation chairman Ben Todhunter said. “It’s a move from identifying farming excellence to creating farming excellence. “A shift of resources to increasing scholarship

opportunities for young farmers and other agriculturalists to study at Lincoln University,” he said. A stand-alone entity, the foundation was established in 1978 to mark Lincoln’s centenary. For 30 years it had hosted the annual South Island Farmer of the Year contest, which had focused on recognising and rewarding existing excellence and sharing that with others to inspire improved performance across the sector.

Hanmer Springs fire scare “WE were bloody lucky the wind didn’t pick up and take a spark into the hill,” is how Hanmer Springs farmer Hamish McRae summed up last week’s fire. The fire had jumped the road it started on and burnt out a pine plantation on McRae’s Lochiel Station. It also led to his family being forced to evacuate their home, about 700m away, for a few hours last Wednesday.

He lost about 17ha of pine trees and had to move rams and bulls from paddocks close to the fire, but McRae’s main flock of ewes were safe as long as the fire stayed away. Neighbouring station Marble Point was also evacuated for a time. By mid-afternoon last Thursday, fire breaks had been created around the perimeter of McRae’s fire area, and fire-fighters were dampening down hot spots.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Water quality everyone’s goal Richard Rennie & Neal Wallace MANAWATU dairy farmer James Stewart believes the goals the Government has set in its latest freshwater standards are aspirational and should engage entire communities, rather than leave the farming sector on its own to solve. “The goal to make 90% of New Zealand’s lakes and rivers swimmable is a message for us all as New Zealanders to step up and do our bit to achieve that,” he said. “We will have to look at it catchment by catchment, and it will require a pragmatic approach depending upon the catchment’s nature.” He pointed to efforts in Manawatu to turn around water quality in the much maligned Manawatu River catchment. “With [Horizons regional council’s] One Plan we had already started down the pathway before the National Policy Statement on water quality came in, and we are already seeing some positive results from the plan.” Stewart said water quality across the 16 sites being monitored was improving. “I know from a survey I did a few years ago that the improvements on dairy farms had reduced nitrogen losses by 100 tonnes a year into the catchment, and phosphate losses by 18t that is encouraging.” Given the region had been engaged with the One Plan for less than a decade, it was a good achievement in a relatively short turnaround time, he said. But collaboration through the Manawatu River Leaders’ Forum accord had played a big part in that success. “Leaders from across the entire community get together to work on this,” Stewart said. “Yes, there is a bit of heat exchanged, but we are engaged on working towards that same goal of water quality, regardless.”

POSITIVE: In less than 10 years dairy farm improvements have reduced nitrogen losses by 100 tonnes a year into the Manawatu River catchment, farmer James Stewart says.

The goal to make 90% of New Zealand’s lakes and rivers swimmable is a message for us all as New Zealanders to step up and do our bit to achieve that.

the improvements that are being made with real numbers.” Keeping track of the Government’s fresh water management rules was becoming a challenge for farmers and regional councils, says the leader of an irrigation group.

Meantime, the policy manager for the Waitaki Irrigators Collective, Elizabeth Soal, said the Government’s Clean Water document was the third set of James Stewart changes since 2011 to its National Farmer Policy Statement for Freshwater Management. “Essentially, what regional Stewart felt it was almost councils have been tasked with inevitable drystock operators doing has become more complex would face compulsory stock and more is being asked of them exclusions as the new standards by the Government because more required. But he said this too had complex regulations have been to be pragmatic, with steep hill developed.” country the biggest challenge. Her group represents “And we also need cleaner, irrigators administered by the clearer data to take the emotion Otago Regional Council and out of the water debate, and help Environment Canterbury (ECan), more clearly understand what GST per 500kg cow** and while the Otago Land and our farm environmental footprint Water plans were operative, ECan really is, and be able to convey

was still holding hearings on its proposed plan for the Lower Waitaki area. “Regions are either currently in the process of setting limits and objectives for freshwater or working towards implementing those limits through regulations.” Soal said farmers and irrigation groups would be watching how councils react to the latest iteration but had little idea what the impact of the changes would be. Media focus on last month’s announcement was on swimmability of water, but Soal said that was just one of a draft of changes. She said the new regulations required more comprehensive monitoring, including tracking of E.coli levels, monitoring of macro-invertebrate communities, indigenous flora and fauna, water takes and sources of contaminants. The current measurements to determine swimmability used annual medians and percentiles

to assess risk to human health but this could be influenced by frequent spikes above and below that median. “The proposed amendments provide greater clarity around how water will be assessed and monitored and also, in some cases, requires councils and communities to ultimately improve water quality in terms of recreation, over time,” Soal said. Reducing E.coli levels, the measure for swimmability, required a community effort because it can be sourced from birdlife and human waste, as well as farm stock. Collective members already monitored water quality and followed farm environment management plans that required riparian management and fencing, which Soal said was central to reducing bacterial levels in waterways. Her group represents members from six companies irrigating 80,000ha in South Canterbury and North Otago.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Regional water quality plans on track Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com THE National Government’s new freshwater standards would not disrupt the implementation by regional councils of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management, Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder says. Speaking for the regional sector group of Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), Leeder said the 11 regional councils and five unitary councils in that sector were at different stages along the National Policy Statement pathway. Many would be signing off new regional and environmental plans this year, he said. However, the central government inclusion of monitoring for macroinvertebrates was going to add another layer of complexity. “Essentially, the regional councils have to implement what [the] National Government wants, so we will have to find ways of doing the macro-invertebrates,” Leeder said. “The expectations of members of the public as regards freshwater quality have risen right across the country and this is what central government is addressing.” Leeder said that the new livestock fencing and exclusion proposal in the package was in response to agreements reached in the Land and Water Forum process. Some individual regional councils and LGNZ said central government had muddied the

waters over swimmability status by publishing maps on the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) website. MfE used a mix of regional council monitoring and computer modelling based on land use. It cut across what LGNZ was already doing, more meaningfully and more up-to-date, with its Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA) website. “LGNZ supports informing the public about progress on water quality, despite our concerns around the methods and data used in the maps,” president Lawrence Yule said. The most up-to-date information was available through local government’s LAWA, Can I Swim Here? function. Northland Regional Council (NRC) chairman Bill Shepherd said the MfE maps appeared to show that Northland had some of the least swimmable rivers, streams and lakes in the country, but NRC’s own summer water quality testing told a different story. Near the end of a 14-week testing season, results showed that 93.5% – 158 out of 169 freshwater samples – met national guideline values, meaning they were considered suitable for swimming. In coastal areas where members of the public most wanted to swim, that figure was 99.8%. Northland rivers and streams were often short, shallow and passed though pastoral areas susceptible to run-off during moderate to heavy rainfall events, all of which could negatively

MUDDY WATERS: Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder says the Government’s new Clean Water package has added another layer of complexity to water quality management for regional councils.

influence water quality in the short term. NRC had reservations about the methodology and historical data used to generate the maps, but nevertheless it would closely study the MfE findings.

Decisions made in one area fundamentally impact on whether outcomes can be achieved in the others, so water policy needs to be considered in a connected way. Lawrence Yule Local Government NZ “Where improvements are possible and practical, we’re obviously very keen to encourage this, subject of course to the legislation central government says we must operate under,” Shepherd said. Otago Regional Council (ORC)

chairman Stephen Woodhead said the maps were based on modelling and only showed water quality at a moment in time. For example, MfE ranked Lake Wanaka’s swimmability below that of Hawea and Wakatipu lakes, but that didn’t align with ORC’s monitoring data. ORC supported the principle behind livestock exclusion from waterways in hill and high country but would need to study the practicalities of implementation. “Some fencing may create adverse effects, and we will be submitting on the proposed regulations to ensure they are workable.” Horizons (ManawatuWanganui) Regional Council said it was in advance of the latest requirements, for instance on monitoring of macro-invertebrates, and its One Plan exceeded what central government wanted in many parts. The plan had achieved measureable improvements in measures of water quality over the past decade, it claimed. Yule also called for a new

holistic approach to water policy. Health and environmental quality standards, rights to access and use water, and the cost, affordability and provision of infrastructure that delivers water to users and treats wastewater and storm water weren’t always considered together. “We have seen the pressure that land intensification can have on the quality of our waterways,” Yule said. “Increasingly we are aware that urban water infrastructure, like ageing wastewater systems and a deficit of stormwater infrastructure, is having an adverse impact on our freshwater quality in the future. “Decisions made in one area fundamentally impact on whether outcomes can be achieved in the others, so water policy needs to be considered in a connected way.” LGNZ had begun a major piece of policy work, called Water 2050, to develop a framework for water that coherently integrated policy relating to freshwater quality and quantity, standards, rights and allocation, land use, 3 Waters infrastructure, cost and affordability, and funding.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Weather holds up harvest Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com HARVEST is starting to drag the chain in much of Canterbury as cropping farmers battle an earlyautumn weather pattern. “It had been a good run until two weeks ago and most farmers were on top of their harvest as it was ripening but high humidity has become frustrating and is now holding up progress,” Federated Farmers arable industry vicechairman Brian Leadley said. “Farmers are just not getting a good crack at it with the overnight dews we would almost be better off to get a good rain and let it clear this current pattern,” he said. Drying was becoming a necessity rather than an option for tail-end cereal crops, particularly for seed lines. Clovers, speciality seeds and brassicas were just coming in but a good spell of dry and heat was needed in the next two-tothree weeks with windrowing contractors starting to get busy as farmers struggle to pick up crops direct with the header because of humidity issues. “It’s just another season, there’s always something,” Leadley said. Yields and quality of harvested crops had been a mixed bag. “Crops with irrigation had seen some better quality but earlyJanuary frosts have resulted in some damage affecting quality and yield in the late flowering grasses. “There have been a few really good crops but some really disappointing crops – the average would be that farmers are saying they would like to have done better,” Leadley said. Up north Manawatu-Rangitikei Feds arable chairman David Lee-Jones said harvest was late because of the weather. A wet spring had resulted in late plantings and while good rains over summer had benefited grain

Farmers are just not getting a good crack at we would almost be better off to get a good rain and let it clear this current pattern. Brian Leadley Federated Farmers

MIXED BAG: Rural Contractors NZ chairman Steve Levet says harvest conditions around the country this season have been patchy, with some good and some pretty awful.

fill, ripening had been slow. “And now we are into a late harvest – [we’re] just getting under way and it’s autumn,” Lee-Jones said. “My guess is yields are going to be okay, especially for barley but it’s early to say as it’s just coming in.” Maize needed to see some sun and again late plantings, up to two-to-four weeks because of the

wet, would compromise yields. “Certainly none of our crops are drought stressed,” Lee-Jones said. For contractors the season had been better for some than others, Rural Contractors New Zealand chairman Steve Levet said. “In Canterbury and Southland it had been a very good season – ideal growing conditions certainly resulted in some good grass harvesting.

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“But the further north you go the worse it gets,” he said. “Central North Island had been not too bad – average, but Northland, it’s been dry, a shocker, below average.” There hadn’t been a lot of rain in December so maize crops had been affected with kernels not developing and that’s been a big problem for contractors, Levet said.

“It’s been patchy I’d say to best describe the season – some pretty good but some pretty awful.” Levet said it was more common than not for contractors to do their own buying and selling these days so contracting was bigger business than it once was. “At the moment there seems to be a market – some years are better than others. “The dairy industry nationwide has created the current way of the market and given dairy seems to be back on track, there is some optimism out there,” he said. Meanwhile, in the grain markets there had been a bit of demand for both 2016 maize and 2016 barley, AgriHQ analyst Amy van Ossenbruggen reported. Both have been selling well at high prices with maize selling in just small lots because it had been difficult to find large lots of maize for some time, she said. It was expected there would be very little carryover of either crop. There had been some ongoing interest from the dairy sector in the current season barley. This demand was expected to just tick along and keep things moving though a lot of recent sales had been more direct from grower to farmer rather than going through a trader, so it had been hard to tell precisely how much grain was selling, van Ossenbruggen said.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

New biosecurity risk wings in Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com A FOURTH biosecurity incursion has prompted a further warning for farmers to implement their own biosecurity plans to protect their individual farm borders. With the red clover case bearer moth now added to the velvetleaf, pea weevil and blackgrass incursions, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) urged farmers to take action. The biosecurity risk farmers could influence most was their own property, FAR chief executive Nick Pyke said. “A robust biosecurity plan is to protect your farm border from incursions of weeds, pests and diseases you don’t have but that may be in NZ.” While the black grass, pea weevil and velvetleaf incursions were detected through good surveillance, all should have been detected sooner if good biosecurity was in place across the industry. “For all three incursions the response was complicated by a poor understanding of the problem, then inability to respond in a clear time frame. “Poorly informed people making statements without the necessary information therefore reduced the effectiveness of the response,” Pyke said. Some of those issues would be addressed under the new Government Industry Agreement (GIA) for biosecurity, developed to manage border biosecurity. The cropping industry was developing a GIA of its own, which would involve the formation of a new legal entity. “We, as part of that GIA shared decision-making and costs, will have a say on what happens at the border.” But still biosecurity was important at the farm level and all farms should have a biosecurity plan, Pyke said.

INCURSION ALERT: Red clover case bearer moth was confirmed in a red clover crop in Mid Canterbury last month.

Poorly informed people making statements without the necessary information reduced the effectiveness of the response. Nick Pyke FAR An easy-to-use plan was available in the FAR farm environment plan at www.far.org. nz. Meantime, red clover case bearer moth (Coleophora

WORLD LEADING

deauratella), initially discovered in Auckland in October 2016, was confirmed in a red clover crop in Mid Canterbury in February. Reduced seed yields and damaged seeds from the same paddock last year suggested it might have been present back then, Pyke said. He urged red clover growers to inspect their crops for the presence of a small moth, typically 8mm in width and to part open flowers to look for drill holes near the base of the floret. “If you have any concerns or see small moths you can’t identify, try to capture them in a jar and place it in a chilly bin with ice or in the freezer and-or contact FAR,” Pyke said. Brown larva cases could

sometimes be seen on the flower heads and damaged flowers might be dark brown rather than the more usual tan colour. The red clover case bearer had a high preference for red clover and was a different species to the case bearer that was common in white clover. Two parasitoids that were released in the 1980s had been very successful and eliminated the case-bearer problem in white clover. While those same parasitoids were thought to be able to also control the red clover case bearer moth, the level of populations was unknown, Pyke said. FAR was working with the Ministry for Primary Industries, Federated Farmers and other

industry groups to understand more about the moth pest, its impact on red clover crops and how to manage it. Adding to biosecurity concerns MPI had reported more black grass found growing on three separate properties in Mid Canterbury over New Year. The plants had been removed and monitoring in the area had been enhanced, MPI response manager David Yard said. A routine surveillance programme had been in place since the detection of blackgrass seed in harvests of ryegrass from two properties in 2015 and 2016. Yard said while the latest finds were disappointing they were not unexpected given the previous detections. MPI was treating the finds seriously and would continue surveillance and monitoring of the properties and other risk sites, including tracing of seed and machinery movements. The blackgrass was likely to have come from a consignment of contaminated ryegrass imported in 2007. MPI was surveying 24 other properties that bought grass from the 2007 consignment, Yard said. In Europe, blackgrass was known as an invasive pest that particularly affected winter crops like wheat, grass seed, rapeseed, forage legumes and barley. Meanwhile, on the pea weevil front 757 sweeps of 283 pea crops across NZ had been completed with no pea weevils detected outside the Wairarapa exclusion zone. A small number of crops in Canterbury remained on the monitoring list and were due to be checked by MPI in mid-February. Wairarapa trap crops had worked well, attracting pea weevils into the crops at all sites. Trap crops would be planted again next season when it was hoped to see fewer, if any weevils caught.

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10 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

NZ banks on Iran lamb exports resuming Nigel Stirling nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com MEAT exporters have got the green light on veterinary protocols to allow lamb exports to Iran to resume but questions remain about how sales proceeds will be returned to New Zealand. Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy signed an agreement with his Iranian counterpart last week sewing up protocols related to recognition of the certification of halal slaughter systems used by the NZ industry. The agreement requires up to two Iranian nationals with religious training onsite at plants during the processing of carcases bound for the Middle Eastern country. It follows agreement on food safety protocols in 2014 and theoretically allows NZ meat exporters to resume trade with Iran after an almost 20-year hiatus. However, that prospect is being complicated by banking sanctions that have seen commercial players in the West only tentatively re-enter the market in the two years since a deal was brokered to lift some sanctions in return for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme. Still in place are laws in the United States prohibiting any

GREEN LIGHT: Following an agreement signed by Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy last week, NZ lamb exporters may soon be able to resume trade with Iran after a near 20-year pause.

bank with a US banking license from doing business with Iranian counterparts thought to have links with terrorist organisations. The laws have spooked banks worldwide – including in NZ – who fear settling business for export clients through Iranian banks could see them hit with huge fines or even stripped of their US banking licenses. That is a huge risk for the Australian-owned banks that

raise a large chunk of their nondomestic funding in the US and whose very business model would be threatened by being cut out of US financial markets. A senior source at one of the trading banks told Farmers Weekly that NZ banks were still unwilling to deal with Iran’s banks directly. That cautious approach could extend to taking steps to prevent meat company clients from

routing proceeds from sales to Iran through financial intermediaries in other Middle Eastern countries as the dairy industry had done successfully for years. “There have been cases in the last few years where serious penalties have been levied for knowingly sending funds to a party that then sent them on to a sanctioned party,” the source said. “You do not want to be part of that and be levied with hundreds of millions, if not billions in fines, if not the possibility of losing your US banking license. “That is a huge amount of risk and banks are pretty risk-averse.” Silver Fern Farms chief executive and former investment banker Dean Hamilton said the industry would take a cautious approach to resuming trade with Iran but admitted he “had not sought a whole lot of feedback” from his company’s bankers on the issue. He took confidence from the uninterrupted Iranian dealings of the NZ dairy companies through nearly two decades of sanctions and which were largely funded by the same lenders as banked the meat industry. “They never left. They kept trading. They have got an enormous banking syndicate and clearly everybody has been comfortable for that being a

material market for them,” Hamilton said. The Government’s agricultural trade envoy, Mike Petersen, who joined Guy on the trip to the Middle East last week, said the cost of getting the proceeds of sales to Iran back to NZ via a financial intermediary not connected to the US banking system could be as much as 10%. That was on top of tariffs of between 5% and 40% that fluctuated according to whether Iran had supplies enough to meet local demand. Petersen said potential buyers he had met on the trip – ranging from traders to importers with established links to retail chains – were “desperate” for lamb from NZ. He said how much NZ ended up selling them depended on their ability to pay the world price plus extra costs. Those included tariffs and financial intermediation costs unique to the Iranian market. SFF’s Hamilton said Iranians would have to get used to the idea of paying more for NZ meat than they had when they were last buyers nearly 20 years ago. China had since become a significant buyer while exporters were adding more value to the carcase through a greater range of cuts.

Kiwi lamb suffers UK grilling Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com DON’T expect any let up in opposition from United Kingdom farming leaders towards New Zealand lamb imports. That’s the message from Beef + Lamb NZ chairman James Parsons who said the anti-NZ sentiment reflected a feeling of vulnerability among UK farmers following the Brexit vote. The collapse of the UK pound has helped demand for locallygrown product but overhanging that was uncertain future trade access to the European Union market. “If the UK cannot negotiate a free-trade agreement with the European Union for agriculture, especially for lamb, beef and dairy, that means more product to sell at home and concern about the impact from imports,” Parsons said. That would heighten antiNZ lamb rhetoric but similarly it should die down if trade negotiations between the UK and EU were amicable. NZ’s name has been sullied in recent weeks following the mislabelling of Waitrose supermarket lamb ready meals as British when the small print revealed they contained NZ lamb. Another supermarket, Morrison’s, has initiated a go-local campaign calling on farmers, retailers and consumers to focus on locally produced food. Farmers Weekly reported last week that a report commissioned

by the Morrison’s supermarket chain warned of the country’s reliance on imported food, with just 52% of food eaten in the UK produced by British farmers. Morrison’s has committed to recruiting more than 200 new suppliers from England, Scotland and Wales this year. The report also warned that leaving the EU could mean a reduction in farm subsidies and a change to farming systems. Parsons said he did not have enough information to comment on the two issues, but doubted a company like Waitrose would want to mislead consumers, saying the error could have been a supply-chain issue. “We don’t want NZ lamb to be labelled British lamb or Welsh lamb.” Parsons also noted that while some consumers wanted country of origin labelling, they didn’t want to pay any more for food despite the process adding to the cost, especially if a product had multiple ingredients from a variety of countries. Parsons said UK farmers needed out-of-season NZ lamb to ensure the category maintained a 52-week presence on supermarket shelves. He also dismissed claims NZ lamb has swamped the UK, noting we haven’t filled our import quota in recent years. As members of the World Trade Organisation, Parsons said both the UK and EU had trade obligations that had to be honoured.

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Reduced pesticide use brings challenges Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com DESPITE a French study published in the respected journal Nature Plants showing reduced pesticide use can have minimal effect on crop productivity, a New Zealand scientist cautions fewer applications can come with challenges. The French study across 946 farms analysed the impact lower applications of herbicide, fungicide and insecticides could have across a variety of crops on their productivity and profitability. It found that overall total pesticide use could drop by 42% on average with no negative effect on 60% of the farms in the study. The decline in applications ranged from a 37% decline in herbicides to a 60% decline in insecticide application. France is the sixth biggest European user of pesticides based on per-unit of agricultural area. But Professor Max Suckling, Plant & Food Research science group leader for biosecurity, said while philosophically most scientists would agree with the efforts to reduce what are essentially poisons in a system, there remain challenges to achieving fewer applications. NZ was under a constant biosecurity incursion risk from a variety of pests and diseases that reflected a trend happening around the world in recent decades.

Risk aversion among growers towards pheromones explained their slower uptake. But Suckling was optimistic NZ was on the right track. Significant reductions in organo-phosphates had been achieved, and sprays like azinphos-methyl removed and replaced with pheromone treatments to disrupt insect mating and spread. “Treatments with sprays today are also much more targeted compared to the broader, generic treatments used in the early days.”

ON TARGET: Professor Max Suckling at Plant & Food Research says that scientists around the world are working towards specific sprays for pests and diseases as well as non-toxic options.

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The bio-geography of the world is changing at warp speed, really as fast as a pest can be delivered via a wide-bodied jet. Max Suckling Plant & Food Research “If you look at the major incursions and campaigns to remove them in different countries, most of these large-scale programmes have been in the last 20 years. The bio-geography of the world is changing at warp speed, really as fast as a pest can be delivered via a wide-bodied jet,” Suckling said. This was creating what he described as a “counter factual” action running against the desire to use fewer chemicals. Incursions like the potato psyllid had required some sectors to actually increase their use of pesticides to control them. “What we are increasingly trying to do as scientists is to work at both ends of the spectrum, by supporting more specific sprays at one end and more benign, non-toxic solutions at the other, including pheromone use and biological controls.” A bio-control agent has been released as a parasitic wasp in the past 12 months for potato psyllid, but Suckling said it remained early days for a control that can take years to reach a critical mass for control. The French study noted that implementing a low-pesticide management strategy could be challenging for many farmers, requiring more complex cropping systems and limiting their ability to shift crop types quickly. Suckling also agreed with its finding that risk aversion among farmers to lowering tried and proven pesticide use would be a real factor in changing use. A change could be particularly difficult to achieve if they were being asked to consider newer, more benign-type treatments like pheromones, Suckling’s specialty. “But we now have about a third of our export apple crop with no insect infestations that attract a premium not only for being pest-free, but also residue-free because they use pheromones to eliminate the pests.”

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12 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Venison prices at eight-year high Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com VENISON prices have beaten the odds to reach an eightyear high amidst unfavourable exchange rates and in what is traditionally the low point of the season. The average published schedule at $8.03 a kilogram hadn’t looked that good since February 2009, Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) chief executive Dan Coup said.

We have an industry strategy to diversify sales away from the traditional, highly-seasonal European game trade and the industry is making good progress on that. Dan Coup DINZ

“Venison prices to farmers haven’t looked this good in late February since the average stag venison schedule price was $8.10/ kg in 2009 and the kiwi was worth a miserable 47 euro cents. “Eight years later, at what is traditionally the low point of the season the average published schedule is $8.03/kg, and the kiwi is worth a strapping 67

euro cents,” Coup said. This followed a steady increase in venison prices over recent years, despite very unfavourable exchange rates, he said. Falling NZ venison production was one of the main drivers of the improvement. Also important was increased out-of-season consumption that was supported by co-ordinated investment in market and product diversification by exporters and DINZ, Coup said. “We have an industry strategy to diversify sales away from the traditional, highly-seasonal European game trade into markets that are willing to pay a premium for year-round supply of tender, chilled farm-raised venison. “The industry seems to be making good progress on that,” he said. “Each year we see a small increase in the proportion of our venison that is exported chilled. “Last year it reached 18.3% by volume and nearly 33% by value – up a couple of percentage points on the year before.” That trend had been assisted by a steady increase in the volume and value of chilled exports to Canada and the United States. While continental Europe remained NZ’s biggest market for frozen and chilled venison it was steadily losing its dominance as sales to North America grew. Chilled exports to the US and Canada last year jumped 16.5% by volume and nearly 18% by value at a time when NZ’s total chilled venison exports were down 7% by volume and 5% by value, Coup said.

AGAINST THE ODDS: The average venison schedule of $8.03/kg hasn’t been as favourable since February 2009, Deer Industry New Zealand chief executive Dan Coup says.

In addition to strong demand for chilled venison across established and new markets, prices to farmers were also being sustained by growing demand for co-products. Demand from Asia for tails, pizzles and sinews remained strong with sales of deer bones and offal to the premium pet food market adding to the income stream, which was reflected in the venison schedule price farmers received. In the 2015-16 year (to September 30) venison production fell to 318,000 animals, the lowest level in more than 20 years.

This followed four years in which the kill ranged between 407,000 and 431,000 animals, of which up to 54% were females. “The sudden fall in the kill last year has been followed by a further decline in the first months of the 2017 season. “This reflects falling breeding hind numbers for much of this decade, followed by a recent trend among farmers to stabilise or rebuild their hind numbers,” Coup said. “Slaughter statistics are now showing hinds making up less than 50% of the kill, which is nice, and probably a sign of herd

rebuilding, but we need to bear in mind that this kill percentage is also affected by farmer decisions around retaining velvet animals. “Anecdotally, producer confidence around venison is pretty good and this is being supported by the contracts on offer from processors providing good information on prices over coming months,” Coup said. In the meantime exporters were competing for supply with forward contracts that assured farmers of attractive prices over coming months and exporters that they can fulfil orders from their key customers.

New SFF venison plant at Pareora Staff reporter A NEW $7 million venison plant has been opened by Silver Fern Farms at its Pareora plant near Timaru. The local Member of Parliament, Jacqui Dean, opened the extensions to what was the company’s first multispecies site, processing sheep meat, beef and venison. In May last year SFF decided to build a new venison plant

at its Pareora works that was more central to its livestock catchment, and to also expand its cold storage facilities. This followed the closure of its Christchurch site at Islington, which was leased but included in a redevelopment of a business park. SFF chief executive Dean Hamilton said it was the most significant investment at Pareora since beef processing

EXTENSION: Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean and Silver Fern Farms chairman Rob Hewett at the opening of the company’s new venison plant at Pareora near Timaru.

was added in the 1960s. He said a key strategic focus was ensuring the best chain of care, and to achieve that SFF was investing in its plant network to create modern efficiency through higher yields, improved quality and lower costs. “An important benefit of multi-species processing is improved employment prospects and longer seasons for our people.” Hamilton said.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Reprieve for velvet access to China THE Chinese government has stepped up with a solution to ease uncertainty for New Zealand velvet exporters, at least for the remainder of this season. Deer Industry NZ (DINZ) Asia market manager Rhys Griffiths said despite the nervous start to the season, export volumes for this season had now reached similar levels to recent years. He said uncertainty about access to China for velvet appeared to have been resolved for the time being. Late last year it became clear that some major regulatory changes made by China to improve the safety of its food and traditional pharmaceutical supply chains would affect the way velvet was to be imported and distributed in China. Chinese customers had previously imported NZ velvet as an agricultural by-product but the changes meant they had to very rapidly adjust to being pharmaceutical importers.

China’s government is putting pressure on importers and processors to meet pharmaceutical standards as quickly as possible. Rhys Griffiths DINZ “This meant the only ones who could buy in the first few months of the season were those who had unused import allocations from the previous season,” Griffiths said. “These were enough to keep the market active until the end of 2016, but there was doubt about what would happen when they ran out as many importers needed more time to upgrade their operations to pharmaceutical standards.” But the Chinese government had now provided a solution to reduce disruption to trade while the new measures were worked through, he said. The solution required importers to demonstrate they had a commercial relationship with a company that held a pharmaceutical processing or pharmaceutical trader’s license before they could apply for a velvet import permit. “This appears to have happened with new import permits being issued and velvet exports now seeming to be flowing normally. “This should remove any remaining obstacles for this season,” Griffiths said. It wasn’t clear whether the import solution was a one-off or whether it would be available next season.

“But either way, China’s government is putting the pressure on importers and processors to meet pharmaceutical standards as quickly as possible,” Griffiths said. The impact of changes to the Chinese import regulations had added to the difficult start to the 2016-17 season, with major differences of opinion over pricing. Prices for premium grades had reached $90-$100/kg, albeit back $25/kg on last year’s returns, and less than exporters had hoped for. “They had expected some easing to reflect currency changes since the previous season but with strong underlying demand and only a small increase in production, prices were not expected to fall as much as they did,” Griffiths said. PGG Wrightson velvet manager Tony Cochrane said prices had remained stable over the past month with a mix of new and established buyers showing more interest. But the market was very price focused and PGW was continually trying to lift prices, especially on remaining Korean grades where some potential existed if the NZ dollar continued to ease and the realisation set in that NZ volumes traded so far were level with last year to the end of January. Cochrane said PGW had just sent its first container direct to China following the new Traditional Chinese Medicine classification of NZ velvet and requirements for handling and storage of velvet next season were being discussed. PGW velvet, with assistance from DINZ, had helped promote NZ velvet to a famous Korean oriental medical doctor who had now chosen to change supply from locally sourced to NZ velvet advertised on TV home shopping, Cochrane said. Meanwhile, new rules designed to ensure that velvet was protected from contamination, stored in an efficient freezer and was traceable back to the farm would go into effect in time for next velveting season. The rules, driven by the Ministry for Primary Industries, follow a visit from auditors from China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine late last year. The auditors were generally happy with what they saw. But Griffiths said a few areas had been identified for improvement and these were consistent with where the industry was heading with its increased focus on treating velvet as a high-value food and pharmaceutical ingredient. “MPI is developing a regulatory control scheme that will set outcome-based standards that will meet the new Chinese requirements. “The National Velveting Standards Body will then translate these into practical rules that will be relatively easy for farmers to apply,” he said. Details were expected to be made available soon.

SPIKED UP: Despite a tentative start to the season, velvet export volumes for this season have now reached similar levels to recent years.

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14 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Lessons from the dairy downturn Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com THE dairy recovery now under way must not lead to complacency that the price recovery will be any more permanent than previous ones, KPMG’s global head of agribusiness, Ian Proudfoot, says. The regular commentator on the primary sector was writing in the KMPG Financial Institutions Performance Survey for 2016. He claimed that a milk price upswing driven by a rise in commodity prices meant that nothing of substance had changed and New Zealand’s vital dairy industry was exposed to the next slump. Proudfoot claimed a growing acceptance among dairy farmers that simply producing more milk was not the answer to growing value in the dairy industry. The sustained period of low prices, perhaps for the first time for some farmers, had forced a focus on the fundamentals. “Many farming businesses are run more effectively today than they were three years ago.” He cited Synlait’s Munchkins contract and the Lewis Road success in getting consumers to pay for what NZ had taken for granted. “They have made good progress on seeking to monetise the unique attributes of our dairy system. “But I am not convinced this progress will continue – it may be parked until the inevitable return to poor milk prices.” Proudfoot called for motivated farmers, researchers, and other “change agents” who would be prepared to stand up to complacency. “They will progressively detach

RECOVERY: Fonterra’s foodservice and consumer sales have grown by 15% and 5% respectively in the last financial year.

adding value to dairy products were not mutually exclusive. “Our farmers are very productive but they are always going to be on the grass curve, for which we need at peak production highly-efficient milk powder driers, producing what a large number of our customers want to buy.” Wilson pointed to the 20% of total milk going into consumer and foodservice products, equivalent to five billion litres. Foodservice and consumer sales had grown by 15% and 5% respectively last financial year. That value-add volume had grown by one billion litres over the past two years, and Fonterra’s target was 10b in 2025, plus its considerable volume of value-add ingredients, which were not just basic commodities. Wilson had no doubt that NZ milk volumes would quickly return to 2015 levels, June/July 2017 given normal weather conditions, and Fonterra had to be able to process that peak production. NZ farmers had done a superb job throughout the difficulties of the past two seasons, which had been caused by extraordinary oneoff events like China’s milk BE QUICK! powder buying, the end of European dairy quotas and the Russian trade embargo. Our tour for farmers takes in beautiful The recovery of world Victoria, Vancouver, the magnificent dairy markets to “balance” at Rockys and Calgary for the famous about US$3000-3500/tonne Stampede! Continue east to Toronto, whole milk powder produced Niagara Falls, Quebec & Montreal a farmgate payout of $6 to - a superb range of farms and rural $6.50/kg milksolids. enterprises, stunning scenery and Fonterra farmers could great hospitality throughout! Add an have confidence that was Alaskan Cruise extension to Glacier sustainable because of Bay and the Inside Passage - a low-cost milk production, wonderful way to end your tour! most-efficient processing and Book now also for: supply chain management, China Japan Europe Sth Africa & Vic. Falls Queensland and added value through USA Spain & Portugal UK & Ireland South America Scandinavia Western Australia Chathams innovation. Wilson partly agreed with Farm To Farm Tours Discover some of the Proudfoot when he called world’s best farming, PO Box 239, Victoria St, scenery and experiences Rangiora, 7440 for the repeal of the Dairy in the company of like info@farmtofarm.co.nz Industry Restructuring Act Ph: 03 313 5855 minded travellers. (DIRA). Proudfoot said it was sustaining uneconomic the industry from the peaks and troughs of the commodity cycle and accelerate the arrival of a more prosperous future for our country.” NZ ran the risk of being left behind as new export competitors emerged – such as a cultured milk product without the environmental and welfare challenges associated with animals. “We must grow a lot less milk to enable processors with a greater ability to produce and deliver value-add products.” Dairy industry leaders said it would be hard to find any NZ farmer that would disagree with the value-add ambition. Fonterra chairman John Wilson said growing milk production and

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and environmentally marginal milk supply. He added that this would expose the dairy industry to the same overcapacity that had plagued the red meat industry for 20 years. Instead of building processing capacity for growing milk peaks, capital had to be redirected into brands, consumer experience and NZ product differentiation. What Wilson called the frustrations of DIRA legislation had potentially exposed the cooperative to overcapacity. Open entry and exit was well past its use-by date, certainly since Fonterra had a robust milk price mechanism and Trading Among Farmers. The requirement to pick up all milk had driven the development of some ecologically fragile land, Wilson agreed. “A farmer has to do no more than think about converting more land, growing his milk supply, or coming back to Fonterra, and the board has to ensure that we have the processing capacity for him.

There are areas of the county where, for various reasons, we can’t have any more cows while other areas can have more, if the increase is managed correctly. Tim Mackle DairyNZ “That is patently ridiculous, because all farmers carry the underwriting cost of that, and it does bring the potential of stranded assets. “I say potential, because we are not there yet.” DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle said that more cows and more milk was only one of the options facing the NZ dairy

NO COMPLACENCY: Ian Proudfoot of KPMG says farmers are aware that simply producing more milk is not the answer to growing value in the New Zealand dairy industry. industry, and individual farmers. “There are areas of the county where, for various reasons, we can’t have any more cows while other areas can have more, if the increase is managed correctly. “The Land and Water planning process is the basis for that discussion, as long as the engagement with the community is based on objective science.” Mackle agreed that farmers and those who support them have come through a major slump and that there were lessons to be learned. “There will be another, but it doesn’t have to be as difficult if in the meantime we use what we already know to future-proof farm businesses.” DairyNZ would find those farms that came through the downturn well and publicise their structures and methods. Recovery was well under way and the DairyNZ break-even milk price had risen as farmers fed more supplements and did some deferred repairs and maintenance. “Overall, the job is not done yet of getting our businesses into a strong and resilient shape,” Mackle said.

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16 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Rural sector takes the lead on safety Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com

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NEW Zealand’s primary industries appear to be more embracing of health and safety with many preparing their own plans or working with WorkSafe NZ to reduce workplace injury and death. Al McCone, WorkSafe agricultural sector leader, said horticulture, wine and ground spreaders were all working with WorkSafe while the shearing industry has produced its own online resource for contractors and farmers. McCone said realising it had an injury problem, a year ago the shearing industry approached ACC for assistance to reduce those rates, which coincided with WorkSafe’s primary sector harm reduction programme. In 2014, 743 wool harvesters made ACC claims for workrelated injuries, with 127 of those requiring more than five days off work. Shearing-related injuries from 2014 to August last year incurred ACC costs of $1.5 million. McCone said the majority of shearing injuries were to the lower leg, especially knees, as well as shoulders and backs. In less than two years the shearing industry has launched a structured training programme, Te Ako Wools, and now the first health and safety module. A Shearing Contractors Association spokesman, Jock Martin, said the first health and safety module aimed at contractors and farmers was released online and dealt with preand post-shearing. The footage consisted of unscripted discussions about health and safety duties and responsibilities in the shed. Some of those topics include ensuring shearers had quality gear that was maintained and encouraging farmers to have shearing plant that had safety sensors and a cut-out switch. It also encouraged farmers to empty stock before shearing, treating stock gently so they remained docile and suggested farmers talk to shearers about shearing and stock handling techniques and risks. Martin said a second module was being produced aimed at shearers, shed hands, pressers and shepherds working in the shed. He said the NZ wool industry was world-leading in the preparation and harvesting of wool but did not fare so well on safety and wellbeing. “The Government by 2025 wants to double exports but on a declining sheep population and the way people are beating themselves up, there is no way the wool industry is going to double production.” Rather than wait and be told by health and safety regulators what to do, Martin said the shearing industry decided to take the lead and produce a guide for the industry. McCone welcomed industry creating its own health and

safety guidelines, saying such approaches were usually readily adopted by members. Horticulture was following a similar industry-wide approach even though it had a low injury rate. Workshops held by levypaying organisations such as Beef + Lamb NZ and involving WorkSafe inspectors had also been helpful. McCone said “a phenomenal” number of people had attended the workshops and he noted in Southland there had been a marked shift in attitude towards WorkSafe inspectors, with farmers more welcoming and receptive to inspectors. The wine industry was taking a similar approach and WorkSafe has also been approached by the NZ Groundspread Fertilisers’ Association wishing to reduce the 11 deaths among its members since 2000. McCone said there was a common thread between running a successful business and health and safety.

In some ways quad bikes have been a victim of their own versatility but that does not mean it is the right vehicle for what they have been used for. Al McCone WorkSafe NZ DairyNZ has identified central practices to running a successful business as strategic planning, planning tasks well in advanced and minimising waste. McCone said an example of that was planning to use quad bikes for what they were designed for rather than because they were convenient. “In some ways quad bikes have been a victim of their own versatility but that does not mean it is the right vehicle for what they have been used for.” Meanwhile, the Department of Conservation has announced that safety concerns prompted it to phase-out quad bikes, which have been replaced with light utility vehicles (LUVs). DOC’s health and safety manager, Mike Massaar, said the department had about 160 quad bikes and in the period 201215 there had been 57 incidents including several where quads rolled long distances. Of these, 36 were near miss or unsafe acts, 10 resulted in first aid and 11 required medical treatment. Twenty-one of the incidents had the ability to be a single or double fatality or cause serious injury. Having replaced quads with LUVs, in 2016 the total number of incidents fell to just three. Massaar said in those incidents the LUVs tipped onto their side at low speed rather than rolled.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

New role for money man Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com LUKAS Paravicini expects Fonterra’s farmershareholders and staff members to welcome the continuity of his new appointment as chief operating officer of consumer and foodservice. He’s served three years in the senior management team that crafted the co-operative’s V3 strategy now he has to execute the most challenging part of growing value-add sales and profits. From June 1 he will move from chief financial officer to consumer and foodservice to replace Jacqueline Chow, who has resigned to return to Australia. Chief executive officer Theo Spierings said Paravicini had an in-depth understanding of global brands and the importance of meeting and anticipating the needs of customers through constant innovation and world-class performance. Paravicini said after the appointment announcement that he was keen to challenge himself with a new, exacting role and to “focus and accelerate” on the goals set for consumer and foodservice in Fonterra’s strategy. Chief among those would be the doubling of milk volume going into value-add products, from five billion litres of milk equivalent (LME) annually to 10b by 2025. His reputation with Fonterra was made as the precise, articulate (he speaks five languages) financial controller who drove down costs and introduced shorter, controversial terms of payment to suppliers. But the Swiss-born executive was no stranger to consumer and foodservice, following 22 years with the world’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, Nestle. His previous roles included head of Nestle Professional in Europe, the foodservice division across 22 countries, and chief financial officer of Nestle Brazil, the company’s fourth largest consumer market. A recurring criticism of Fonterra, New Zealand’s only true multinational company, was that just 20% of volume was in the much higher-margin consumer and foodservice products, in comparison with Nestle and Kraft, for example. While Fonterra was the world’s largest dairy processor and exporter, it was far behind the big dairy FMCG players in terms of sales revenue, earnings and share prices. Paravicini said that criticism was unfair because Fonterra had grown its consumer and foodservice volume by one billion LME (25%) in the past two years and had set itself the ambitious target of 10b LME (out of 30b in total) by 2025. In the 2016 financial year foodservice sales had grown 15% and consumer goods sales by 5%, and it was those rates of growth he wanted to match and exceed. In his new division Fonterra employed 11,000 people around the world and made $5b of the company’s $17b revenue last financial year. The co-op was focused on eight key markets in which it already was or intended to be number one or two with its main brands Anchor, Anlene and Anmum. So as Chow departed what remained to be done in brand positioning – new markets, new products and new imagery? Paravicini’s new role was leading talented people to achieve even more, leveraging the positions, products, research work and expertise Fonterra already had into something much greater. “I have been one of the small senior management team that crafted the strategy, called turning the wheel, of which consumer and foodservice is a vital part,” he said. “My task now is to achieve the targets by leading a winning team.” Markets, products and campaigns would be under constant discussion.

New methods and new technologies would be needed to leap-frog competitors. “We need to pick the ‘must-win’ battles and also find new categories in everyday nutrition, without which it would be hard to reach our target.” Paravicini spoke about the threat from nondairy products by emphasising the needs and choices of consumers. “Milk and dairy products will always be needed, as long as we focus on the consumer.” Innovation from the research centre in Palmerston North had to deliver what Fonterra had established consumers wanted. Paravicini said he had learned a great deal from the culture and diversity of NZ and that his family had enjoyed living here.

They had been made very welcome and been able to travel extensively throughout the country, assisted by his hobby of piloting light aircraft. He would continue as chief financial officer until June 1 and ensure stability and consistency through until the delivery of the 2017 financial results. A search was under way to find a new chief financial officer and an appointment was expected later this year. Chow was appointed chief operating officer of consumer and foodservice in June 2016, with the understanding that she would only stay one year. She now wanted to move into governance roles, and was already a director of Fisher & Paykel Appliances.

Chief operating officer Lukas Paravicini.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

‘Super white’ wool going big Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com WOOLS of New Zealand expects to have wool scoured in the next month or so under the new GlacialXT process aimed at producing whiter, brighter wool on a commercial scale. The group was making final arrangements with scour group Cavalier Wool Holdings for the wool to be processed at its Timaru plant, WoolsNZ chief executive Rosstan Mazey said. The initial production would be enough to provide its spinning and manufacturing partners the resources for their own product development work. “Once they’ve got their confidence in the wool, we’ll move to a supply programme for scoured wool if they are a spinner or yarn for a manufacturer for the commercial phase.” WoolsNZ spent most of last year in due diligence work with the GlacialXT developer, Levin-based The Merino Co, and was really encouraged by the results, Mazey said. The new “super white” wool would initially be for traditional uses – carpet, tufted rugs and upholstery – with existing customers but potentially could take crossbred wool into new territory. He was confident it would make a difference to wool prices

BRIGHT SIDE: Wools of New Zealand is in the process of building long-term relationships with wool growers to give them greater certainty in the industry, chief executive Rosstan Mazey says.

over time, providing colour and enhanced fibre qualities to match synthetic yarns. The wool price was well-below where WoolsNZ wanted to see it but some of its shareholders were still getting lambs’ wool prices on a par with last year before the slump in the market. They were the shareholders who signed up for a lambs’ wool forward contract last winter, at about double the latest auction value. In WoolsNZ’s latest bulletin to growers, one shareholder, who

said he was too slow acting to get in on the deal, wrote that the contracts were “absolute gold” in a tumbling market such as this year’s. “Lambs’ wool $3.50/kg above the spot market and second shear $1.kg above the spot market, that’s serious premium.” Some shareholders on fixed contracts would be getting all of that. Others, who were on stable price contracts, with a mechanism to balance out too much price volatility, would have downward

adjustments to that top premium over what were hoped to be the lows of the spot market but would still be making very good money. Mazey didn’t want to make too much of the gains made or give away details, saying what WoolsNZ was doing was to try to build up long-term relationships. “You can win some years and not win other times but the rationale is more certainty for growers over a longer term, not a month or a season but years.” With prices looking like they might have bottomed, WoolsNZ would possibly be negotiating its lambs’ wool contracts this year on a rising market. One WoolsNZ shareholder benefiting from last year’s contract, for delivery over this summer, was Banks Peninsula Wool Growers chairman Chris Chamberlain. Like Mazey, he was keen to play down the gain over the spot price but he was well ahead for the year. “Full credit to them – putting these contracts out before the lambs are even born for the wool being shorn in December through to February. It’s grown in volume and price every year over the years it’s been going and I’ve got no qualms about signing it.” There was a very strict criteria governing wool quality and farmers putting a lot of pride into their shed handling and wool preparation would benefit most.

Mutant sheep have straight wool Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com MUTANT sheep have opened exciting opportunities for innovative new wool products and marketing options. A research project into mutant sheep had scientists eyeing up a greater understanding of what made hair curly or straight, sparking the potential for new wool trade. The study into what made sheep’s wool crimped could add real value to New Zealand’s mainstream flocks, AgResearch scientists said. Commonly known as felting lustre mutants, the mutant sheep were rare and shared the naturally occurring trait of straight wool, instead of the usual crimped wool. “With these mutant sheep we can, for example, look at twin lambs where one has straight wool and another crimped wool or one animal that transforms from straight to crimped wool over time and study the key differences,” AgResearch scientist Jeff Plowman said. The study began in 2011 when a lamb with an unusual coat was brought to the attention of AgResearch staff involved in wool research. Its appearance was so unusual the lamb was initially thought to be a cross between a sheep and a goat. The lamb’s straight, lustrous coat was reminiscent of an Angora

“If you haven’t got the right specs you don’t get the top dollar.” The Banks Peninsula group went out on its own nearly a decade ago, frustrated with low wool prices and linked up with WoolsNZ when it was formed.

If you haven’t got the right specs you don’t get the top dollar. Chris Chamberlain Banks Peninsula Wool Growers WoolsNZ chairman Mark Shadbolt was a driving force behind both groups and was still a director of the Banks Peninsula company. It had its own wool supply arrangements with customers and shareholders supplied the WoolsNZ lamb wool contracts individually. Chamberlain said there was price sensitivity around the relationships it had and the group preferred to get on with its business outside the public eye. “But it’s given us more understanding about why we are still shearing wool and made us more aware of the market.”

These mutant sheep are exciting because they break the mould and give us a shot at what controls each property independently, something impossible with normal sheep. Jeff Plowman AgResearch

CENTRE OF ATTENTION: Sharon the mutant sheep with AgResearch scientists David Scobie, left, and Jeff Plowman.

goat, Plowman said. But genetic testing showed it was 100% sheep and its coat was the result of natural mutation. “As a result we started trying to locate more of these rare sheep so we could study what makes them different and how proteins in the wool affect the fibres. “Thanks to the assistance of farmers who came forward with

these sheep we were able to do that and we have found they show a radical change in wool structure and properties that can be tied into specific protein changes.” In some cases the mutant sheep had a transformation where the straight wool suddenly switched to become crimpy as they matured. Plowman said the curvature and diameter of the wool fibre

were important properties in controlling performance in textiles and other products. Softness, strength and felting were all affected but the ability to control those properties was limited because diameter and curvature were normally highly linked in sheep – low diameter meant high curvature and vice versa.

“These mutant sheep are exciting because they break the mould and give us a shot at what controls each property independently, something impossible with normal sheep.” While the question was asked of trying to breed the mutants, the situation was more complex than that, Plowman said. The mutant sheep, as lambs, had the same problem as Angora goat kids, they were a bit delicate and probably not suitable for most NZ farms. “But we want to use what we learn to add value to NZ’s mainstream sheep flocks.” The protein differences between the mutant sheep and semilustrous breeds suggested it might be possible to breed wool with controlled levels of lustre or crimp to produce new wool products that would allow for different market opportunities, Plowman said.

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20 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Alliance fills Easter contracts Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com ALLIANCE Group needed a late burst of supply from its South Island shareholder base to meet its Easter chilled lamb contracts. After processing delays in the last week of January and first week of February, because of climate and pasture conditions in some areas, momentum had built up from mid-February, general manager sales Murray Brown said. Alliance doesn’t have a big North Island supply base to fill the high-value Easter contracts in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, taking more of a support role to the South Island base.

Filling the contracts had required some good messaging and “enticing” the lambs forward. “It’s been difficult but the last three weeks have been good, and Southland conditions caught up at the end.” A late Easter this year – two weeks later than last year – had made an important difference, Brown said. The last ships left New Zealand about February 24. If it had been two weeks earlier, getting sufficient supply would have been a struggle. Having met its base volumes supply, any late demand out of Europe would mean product being flown to market at the cost of the retailer, Brown said. However,

while the United Kingdom is the major Easter market and remains a very strong leg consumer, the fall of sterling since the Brexit vote had put some pricing pressure on consumers. France and parts of Germany are also good Easter markets, the demand season being about three weeks covering both sides of the celebratory weekend. Alliance is the biggest sheep meat processor, and appears to have taken slightly longer to fill the Easter supply requirements than number-two player Silver Fern Farms, which has a bigger North Island supply network. The Easter boost to trading came at a time when the North

American market is strong and China has returned to previous good-volume levels, Brown said. The China cull of domestic stock last year had probably been underestimated, and inventory had returned to favourable levels. Brown expects several months of good demand while Chinese retailers build-up stocks to meet the main winter demand period later in the year. The Middle East market was also firming, as the recovery in oil prices boosted consumer sentiment. On a supply basis, Brown expects good processing throughput in NZ over the next four to five weeks.

SUPPLY: Momentum has built since mid-February for Alliance’s Easter chilled lamb contracts, general manager sales Murray Brown says.

Affco offer ahead of game HOP TO IT: A new strain of the rabbit-killing haemorrhagic disease needs MPI approval before it can be released in New Zealand.

Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com AFFCO has set the pace for post-Easter lamb processing in the North Island by offering an autumn contract matching or beating most Easter trade prices. The company was offering a guaranteed minimum of $5.30/ kg for supply between mid-March and the end of April. Meat companies typically took several cents, often up to 20c/ kg, off the price once the Easter trade was filled but the shortage of lambs in the North Island made that unlikely this year. Affco was achieving better returns out of China and the Middle East as well as getting new revenue streams from new technology, extending product shelf-life and value-add products, the group’s national livestock manager Tom Young said. “They’re certainly better than last year and we think a lot of China and Middle East buyers are aware New Zealand is short of lamb and mutton supply, so are prepared to pay more. “We’re also trying to provide farmers with certainty for their budgets so there’s a guaranteed minimum plus the prospect of an upside for them if we can achieve better pricing.” The new offer showed Affco was again slightly ahead of the game after leading the market with Easter contract offers, AgriHQ analyst Rachel Agnew said. “They were offering up to $5.30/ kg for Easter when the rest of the market was in the $5.15 to $5.25 range.” That set a benchmark and it would be interesting to see the response. “Usually companies try to take money out of the schedule at this time of year but this season is different as the production is just not there,” Agnew said. She thought other companies might still reduce their printed schedules but keep some spot premiums in place to hold the

GOOD MONEY: Affco is offering guaranteed minimum post-Easter lamb prices because of better returns from China and the Middle East, its national livestock manager Tom Young says.

market at current levels or likely even higher. The North Island was short of lambs and slaughter rates were falling. With recent heavy rain along the North Island’s east coast farmers would now be holding on to lambs to build up their weights. “It is a card up their sleeve for farmers. Processors will be short of stock so it might be a case of show us the money.” Young said the industry was awaiting Beef + Lamb NZ’s progress report on stock levels, due out early in March. There was a view the North Island might have between 500,000 and 600,000 fewer lambs for processing this season than last season.’ Between 100,000 and 200,000 lambs were thought to have gone to the South Island during the worst of the Hawke’s Bay drought, before the rain of the last two weeks. The Affco autumn contract was well up on last year’s $4.85/kg to $5/kg level, Young said. The company had received bookings from farmers for the latest autumn offer, which closed last Friday, he said.

Virus release down the rabbit hole Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com LEGISLATIVE hurdles may prevent the release of a new variant of the rabbit-killing haemorrhagic disease (RHD) this autumn. It was hoped the K5 RHD strain would be ready for release in the coming months. However, approval still had to be granted under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act and the Biosecurity Act, both of which were managed by the Ministry for Primary Industries. A decision on such applications took 70 working days, including a 30-day public submission process, MPI said. It started considering the process in the last few days of January. Last month the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) decided the new variant didn’t fall within its legislative responsibility, which triggered the MPI statutory approval process. The Otago Regional Council’s director of environmental monitoring and operations, Scott MacLean, acknowledged it could be close between getting approval and having time to release the new virus variant

before the onset of winter. “We are hoping the process will be expeditious,” he said. If any release was to happen this year MacLean said it could depend on the weather in autumn and early winter. “It is possible it is not going to happen this autumn. That is certainly not our preferred option because it carries some risk. “It is being released in the next couple of weeks in Australia, which means it is out in the environment and we saw the illegal importation back in the 1990s when someone made the wrong decision and brought it in illegally.” Known as K5, the virus is a Korean derivative of the RHD strain that has been present since 1997, but it has gradually been losing effectiveness because of growing immunity. The EPA’s Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) manager, Dr Fiona Thomson-Carter, said the new RHD variant didn’t require regulation under the HSNO Act. “Under the terms of the act, the K5 variant is exempt from regulation because it is not considered a new organism, nor is it considered a hazardous substance. “Additionally, the product

does not meet any of the physical, toxicological or ecotoxicological (poisonous to the environment) classes specified in the relevant regulations. “After full consideration of the application it was evident that the EPA has no role to play in its regulation,” she said. The applicant seeking to import and release the virus was the New Zealand Rabbit Co-ordination, a collaboration of regional councils, district councils, the Department of Conservation, Land Information NZ, MPI, Landcare Research and Federated Farmers. MacLean said recently the immunity to the current strain was averaging about 73% across the Otago region because rabbits younger than three months that were exposed to the virus developed immunity. The new K5 strain should increase the kill rate by about 40% but MacLean said as with any biological control, it was not a silver bullet and farmers still needed primary pest control. The council has allocated funding for a release this autumn through two pre-feeds of carrot followed by carrot treated with the virus with landowners distributing the bait simultaneously.

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

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PUMPING weights and eating well are now part of a daily routine for a Manawatu dairy worker intent on setting the inaugural world record for the most cows milked in a single shift. Isaac Cook is employed by large farm operators OB Group near Bulls and is aiming to milk 4000 cows across three of the company’s rotary dairies over a 12-hour shift from 3am on March 17. But he is also using the goal as a pathway to getting fitter and healthier in an industry where increasing body weight and health problems are as common as they are in more desk-bound careers. The record-setting exercise is the brain-child of healthy farming campaigner Ian Handcock who was responsible for the Fit4Farming initiative, part of the Farmstrong campaign. In 2013 Handcock’s Kellogg rural leadership project on dairy farmer health highlighted how sedentary the job had become, and its effect on farmers’ fitness. Handcock said he was keen to highlight the importance of health and fitness to farmers as an ongoing awareness in the wake of the Farmstrong campaign, and wanted a high-profile event to achieve that. “We did approach Guinness about making it a Guinness world-record event, but they told us they would only accept an entry for a single person milking cows by hand, which was not going to happen.” The record will be set in dairies operated by OB Group, all within proximity of each other and all of a 60-bail rotary design. “Isaac will be going for 10 hours with four halfhour breaks in there, so nutrition and training is going to have a lot to do with his success,” Handcock said. Cook said he has been travelling regularly into Palmerston North to train in a gym with weights and a medicine ball, and working on stretches and flexibility. He said leaving the farm and heading into the gym was a welcome break to his daily routine. He was also eating healthier, getting advice from a nutritionist and learning to eat smaller meals in the evening, leaving room for a decent breakfast including oats before going to milk. He was learning to have lunches earlier in the day “rather than just running myself right down and eating the wrong food at the end of the day”. So far he had lost 6kg in six weeks and reckoned he was halfway to his weight-loss goal. He said Stuart Taylor, operations manager for OB Group, had done much to encourage him in preparing for the record. “And OB Group has been generous in giving me time off the farm to prepare.” Handcock said the children of OB Group employees were also involved in the healthfocused campaign, designing a “healthy eating” milking apron for staff to wear. “And Stuart Taylor is a very innovative manager who is aware of the need for his staff to be in top condition mentally and physically – we are a competitive nation and farming is a competitive business where it pays to be in the best shape you can be,” Handcock said. The milking-record event will be live-streamed via Facebook and played in sponsors’ tents on Friday, March 17, during the Central Districts Field Days.

GOING THE DISTANCE: Manawatu dairy farm worker Isaac Cook, left, with OB Group operations manager Stuart Taylor.

News

22 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Scales’ sweet taste of success Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com DIVERSIFIED agri-business Scales Corporation has set another earnings record and achieved a major strategic target four years ahead of schedule. The group’s Mr Apple and Fern Ridge businesses picked more than half a billion apples last year from their own orchards, selling them to more than 150 business customers in 40 countries. These made up 3.55 million cartons, a figure targeted for the 2020 year. Another 1.18m cartons from outside growers were exported by the group. The profit after-tax for the year ended December 31, 2016, was $38.2m, up 6% on a year earlier, and the underlying operating profit (Ebitda) was up 11% at $67.9m, with outstanding returns from Horticulture and also the Food Ingredients division, chairman Jon Mayson said. The after-tax figure reported to the NZX included $406,000 in downward adjustments under international accounting rules. Operating cashflow was $41.3m, compared to $49m the year before.

The Hawke’s Bay-based Apple business provided 64% of the operating earnings, at $45.3m. There was a significant increase in export volumes, because of a high “pack-out’’ rate with good colour, size and taste qualities, managing director Andy Borland said. Average prices were also slightly higher than a year earlier, with a higher premium variety mix and higher pricing for traditional varieties. The ratio of own-grown premium fruit high-colour Fuji and Royal Gala, Pink Lady and New Zealand Queen has increased markedly, to 1.65m cartons last year from $1.03m in 2014. Traditional varieties, including Braeburn and standard Royal Gala, have grown to 1.89m from 1.71m over the same period. Mr Apple’s newest variety, Dazzle, was launched in December with its bright red cover and sweet taste aimed at the Asian market. Asia and the Middle East has become the largest market segment for the group, as it is for the Longview orchard and packing business acquired during the year. This market trend has developed rapidly.

FRUITFUL: Scales’ Mr Apple and Fern Ridge businesses picked more than half a billion apples last year, amounting to 3.55 million cartons for export.

In 2014, Asia-Middle East took 37% of exports, Europe 36%, North America 8%, and the United Kingdom 19%. By 2015, AsiaMiddle East was at 53%, Europe 29%, North America 5%, and the UK 13%. The numbers for last year were 53%, 30%, 7%, and 10% respectively. The Food Ingredients business had underlying Ebitda of $9.2m,

a 22% increase over the previous year. The gains were spread across the Meateor pet food operations and the juice concentrate Profruit operations. The strong markets for agriculture produce helped the other divisions, but meant less storage time for product in Scales’ coldstores round the country, so that operating earnings in the

One-off gain boosts TGG result Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com A STRONG apple trading year but mixed performances elsewhere meant T&G Global (TGG) needed the gain from an asset sale to post significant profit improvement. The New Zealand-based growing operations achieved good volumes and prices in world markets, and northern hemisphere product grown under license by growers in the United States, Italy and Spain also sold well in domestic and export markets, providing TGG with good royalty payments. Issues in the International Produce and Processed Foods division offset that steady result and impacted on operating earnings, the company reported to NZX. The group’s after-tax profit for the year-ended December 31 was $32.4 million, up from $19.5m a year earlier. The increase came from a one-off gain of $11.9m on the sale of the Fruit Case Co last June. Operating cashflow was higher at $39.7m, up from $21m. The 2015 year had been one of acquisition and integration, chief executive Alastair Hulbert said. The latest year was about consolidation and building on the foundations set earlier. The group was on track to meet its 2022 target of $2 billion in revenues, up from last year’s $872m. The latest year had seen the first impact of the pipfruit-growing expansion started in 2014, and this would increase as trees grew to full production. The increase in owngrown fruit had more than offset the loss in volumes of traded product because of adverse weather in the Nelson region. In the northern hemisphere,

Storage & Logistics business was consistent with the previous year at $16.2m. While the coldstores were held back, the Liqueo bulk liquid storage business and the Scales Logistics freight-forwarding business traded strongly, Borland said. In his outlook for the current year, Mayson said apple indications were positive as picking begins, with good colour, sweetness and size qualities. Production is expected to be similar or potentially higher than last year, helped by the Longview production and ongoing orchard maturity. Some foreign exchange headwinds are likely, but the group does have hedging cover. Ebitda guidance has been confirmed at between $55m and $62m for the year. At balance date, Scales had total assets of $330m, and total liabilities of $115.5m. Borrowings were about $34m, so the balance sheet was very strong. Interest costs for last year were covered 22 times by the Ebit earnings. Earnings a share for the year were 27c, and shareholders received 14.5c in dividends.

ALF reports $480,000 after-tax profit Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com

RIPE: Northern hemisphere growers, under license from T&G Global, increased their Jazz, Envy and Pacific Rose harvests last year.

licensed growers had increased their Jazz, Envy and Pacific Rose harvests. Jazz had performed well on volume and price in spite of the oversupply of apples in Continental and United Kingdom markets. Envy was also becoming more popular. In NZ, the own-orchards and partner-growers received record returns a hectare, helped by Envy pricing being back at high levels. Pipfruit division operating profit was $32.5m, compared to $32m a year earlier. Elsewhere, the International Produce division increased revenues with stand-out results from table grapes, asparagus and blueberries increasing export revenues from Australia and North America to new highs. NZ exports in Asia and the Pacific Island also increased. This was all offset by the default of

a major customer and higher set-up costs for new offices overseas, so that operating profit fell to $2.2m for the year, from $4.8m. The division was well-placed to recover in the current year. The Processed Foods business made a loss, with fewer apples available for processing, and a competitive market and unfavourable foreign exchange impacting on Australian returns. NZ Produce performed well, with an operating profit of $8.9m. The division works in wholesale markets, including tropical fruits imported into NZ. At balance date, total assets were $650.5m, with liabilities of $303m including $150m in borrowings, for an equity ratio of 53%. TGG will pay a final dividend of 6c a share, with full tax credits, on April 7.

ALLIED Farmers Ltd has reported an after-tax profit of $480,000 for the six months ended December 31, marginally higher than guidance provided in early February. Earnings were down on the $620,000 figure a year earlier, but directors expect a stronger secondhalf of trading, centred on commission from dairy herd sales. Forward contracts for herd sales, due for settlement mainly in May, are significantly ahead of the same time last year, Allied Farmers (ALF) chairman Garry Bluett said. Other livestock tallies and values were tracking well, and impacts on the firsthalf were expected to be recovered. The New Zealand Farmers Livestock subsidiary (NZFL) was expanding, with several new agents contracted and more in discussion. ALF’s Rural division made a pre-tax profit of $660,000 for the first six-months, down from $1.24 million the previous year. The core Livestock business performed well, with turnover 18% higher and commissions up by 13%, Bluett said. All regions were ahead

of the previous year, with the new Northland business performing well and Hawke’s Bay-based Redshaws trading in line with expectations. The new livestock financing business, lending on dairy bulls, had income ahead of budget, and the MyLivestock web application was experiencing strong growth in page views. As reported earlier, these gains were offset by a poorer season for bobby calf processing export sales, where the reduced overall market, a less favourable United States dollar exchange rate, and poorer skin prices meant sales were 15% lower than the year before, along with reduced margins. The group operating cash outflow was $1.94m, compared with an outflow previously of $122,000. ALF had positive shareholders’ funds of $435,000 at balance date, a turnaround from the $439,000 negative position a year earlier. Under accounting rules, the formal valuation doesn’t recognise the higher market value of the NZFL business. Total assets at balance date were $12.33m, with total liabilities of $11.9m, including borrowings of $5.04m.

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Delegats uncorks record volumes and earnings Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com WINEMAKER Delegats Group sold record volumes in its latest half-year, leading to record trading earnings. The bottom line was lower because of adjustments required under international accounting rules. This required a write-down in the value of grapes held as inventory, an item that turns to credit in future years as wine is sold. Sales for the six months ended December 31 were 1.446 million cases, a solid lift on the 1.267m sold at the same time a year earlier. Revenues were $135.8m, from $128.6m, and the increase would have been greater but for adverse foreign exchange movements, executive chairman Jim Delegat said. Delegats’ after-tax trading profit was $24.7m, up from $21.1m.

However, the harvest (grape) write-down was $8.3m, compared with $4.8m previously. After favourable one-off items, including currency holdings, the net write-down was $5.6m. The same time a year earlier had a marginal write-up in values.

The results under accounting rules don’t provide adequate insight into the group’s underlying operational performance

This meant the bottom line was a $19.1m profit, down from $21.5m. The results under accounting rules don’t provide adequate insight into the group’s underlying operational

performance, Delegat said. A good guide to a company’s performance is operating cashflow, which rose to $24.9m for the period, up from $15.1m, reflecting greater wine sales. The trading profit was helped by the high-yielding 2016 vintage, reducing costs on a per-case basis, and the strong kiwi dollar also helped lower off-shore expenses. Delegats was well-positioned to pursue its strategic goal of being a leading global premium wine company, he said. Oyster Bay won a New York-based wine award for the seventh year in a row. The group was on target for full-year wine case sales of 2.63 million, which would be a 9% lift on last year. Exchange rate volatility made financial forecasts difficult, but an operating profit in line with last year’s $37m record level was expected, Delegat said.

CHEERS: Delegat Group had record global case sales of 1.446 million in the second half of 2016, up 17% on the same 2015 period.

North America remained the main first-half export destination though growth was lower in percentage terms than that achieved in other markets. Sales rose 9% to 518,000 cases the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe rose 17% to 449,000, and Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific region was 18% ahead at 479,000 cases.

Delegats invested $23m during the half-year on vineyard and winery development in NZ and at Barossa Valley in Australia. Total assets at balance date were $651.9m, with equity of $285.7m, a ratio of 43.8%. Borrowings totalled $297m. Interest costs of $6.8m were covered nearly five times by the Ebit earnings figure.

Seeka’s fruitful year brings profit boost Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com AN OUTSTANDING year for kiwifruit production and export handling has boosted Seeka to very strong profit improvement. The bottom line was helped by an insurance settlement, but the ordinary operating profit (Ebitda) was more than 50% ahead of the previous year. Ebitda (excluding a $3.63 million payout on depot fire damage) for the year ended December 31, 2016, was $21.14m. The after-tax profit (including the payout) was $10.39m, a 143% gain. The profit was a record and was based on record kiwifruit volumes and successful fruit handling results, chief executive Michael Franks said. Seeka handled 32.44m trays of New Zealand kiwifruit, up 17% on a year earlier,

GOOD YEAR: Although Seeka continues to diversify its product base kiwifruit remains the company’s dominant revenue earner, chief executive Michael Franks says.

and fruit losses were much lower as well. The company remained in a

strong growth phase, investing heavily in its core NZ operations, developing its new kiwifruit and

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nashi pear operations in Victoria, furthering its diversification in avocado exports to deliver what were sector-leading returns to growers, and its tropical fruit business in NZ. Seeka took the “kiwifruit” out of its formal name last year to highlight the diversification, but kiwifruit remains the dominant revenue and earnings stream. Directors warned that with an expected 20-25% reduction in the national core Haywards Green kiwifruit crop this year, group earnings could be up to 15% lower. The growth phase has involved extra borrowings, up to $74.4m at balance date from $54m a year earlier. This pushed the ratio of interest-bearing debt to total assets up to nearly 38% at balance date, though interest costs of $3.34m were still well-covered five times by Ebit earnings of $16.5m.

Operating cashflow was strong at $21.25m, from $1.8m previously. Investors liked the result, pushing Seeka shares up 15c to $4.90 in NZX trading it has been one of the best performers on the NZX over the past year. For the past three years, Seeka has had a scheme by which it issues shares to kiwifruit growers. This had helped secure loyalty during the uncertain times of the PSA disease outbreak growers had committed to supply the company for the three-year period, and with a combination of share price increase and dividends the scheme’s return had been 38% on the original value, Franks said. Earnings a share for the 2016 year were 65c, up from 29c previously. A 10c dividend, carrying full tax credits, will be paid on March 24, taking the total for the year to 20c a share.

Newsmaker

24 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Real-life lessons at Taratahi’s heart Arthur Graves has a passion for education but has developed an equal passion for agriculture since his appointment a year ago as chief executive of Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre. He tells Neal Wallace that he sees some real opportunities to improve primary sector training and education.

HE reality that nearly 40% of students at Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre this year have an urban background could be seen as a metaphor for the challenges facing agriculture. A recent convert to the primary sector, Taratahi chief executive Arthur Graves said this changing demographic reflected other challenges facing farming that meant staff and managers needed greater skills and knowledge of technology. Farm staff still had to know how to build fences, milk cows and shear sheep, but the wider community’s changing values and expectations were reflected in the requirement of greater farm compliance and expectations.

Taratahi is a pure form of vocational education and it just needs to be valued because people tend not to see farming and education together. Arthur Graves Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre Graves said that meant staff and managers needed skills in technology, science, data and mathematics to fulfil those requirements, something he saw as an opportunity rather than a challenge for the primary sector and education. Born and raised in the Catlins in South Otago, he initially worked as a high school teacher in Christchurch and the West Coast.

During his career he held leadership roles including as chairman of the New Zealand Secondary School Principal’s Council, and sat on various government advisory groups. Graves was also chairman of Canterbury Cricket and the Victory Park Board and coached rugby and cricket. He was later deputy chief executive of Whitireia Community Polytechnic, chaired the Careers NZ Board and, prior to his Taratahi appointment, worked for the Ministry of Education developing and implementing the Youth Guarantee initiative. This initiative was designed to improve the transition from school to further study, work or training. “I am here because I have a strong passion and belief in vocational education and Taratahi along with Telford are models of a pure form of vocational education and it just needs to be valued because people tend not to see farming and education together,” he said. The past year as the head of Taratahi has been something of a baptism of fire for Graves as the centre recovered from having to repay the Tertiary Education Commission $7.5 million following the 2015 discovery that it had been funded for uncompleted courses. Then late last year, Taratahi became a lifeline for the struggling Lincoln-Telford Division training farm in South Otago. Graves said Taratahi and Lincoln University were still working through the process of the Masterton-based centre taking over the delivery of education at Telford. But the experience gave him an insight in to the state of primary sector training, and he saw room for improvement.

WORK TO DO: Taratahi chief executive Arthur Graves says the mainstream education system doesn’t view farming as a skilled, complex career.

He said vocational training lacked structure to provide a pipeline of workers entering the primary sector because there were competing priorities from providers, the type of programmes, strategy and contestable funding rounds. “I think there is a lot of work to do on the strategic direction of sub-degree vocational training.” He said education in general was not viewed as the main driver to develop industry skills, evident in data from DairyNZ that revealed just a quarter of dairy farmers were actively engaged in education and industry training. Graves said the solution was a mix of determining the skills required by industry and coordinating and focusing the supply of staff and attracting people. Attracting young people to the

sector was difficult because most were urban and they were two steps removed from any link to land-based industry. They had different values to the past and Graves said the link between food bought in a city supermarket and the farmers that grew it was not as strong as it once was, factors employers needed to acknowledge. The skills required by modern farm workers had broadened to include ensuring farm practices met compliance, dealing with data and managing systems. Graves said the education system hadn’t grasped these new requirements and still didn’t view farming as a skilled, complex career. Increasingly, future farm staff would come from urban centres and be drawn to farming not because they had some affinity

but for other reasons such as a love of the outdoors or animals. They also brought with them community values they’d been raised with. Today’s workers expected a work-life balance and Graves said many made career-changing decisions at age 25, often opting for a complete new direction in life. DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ were trying to initiate changes to training and Graves said the Taratahi curriculum was being tweaked to take more of an educational approach rather than straight training to reflect those changes. Graves’ career has been based on what he calls “real learning” a blend of practical experience, aligned with a real workplace, balanced with knowledge, skills and understanding.

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Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Doing the small things better Malcolm Bailey

HEEP and beef farming is tough. It’s hard work, especially when those variables outside our control are seemingly against us. We have been here before. I recently looked at an old issue of the New Zealand Farmer from May 1974 and farmers had similar concerns back then. However, there are a percentage of farmers who, against the odds are making very good profits through concentrating on what they do best behind their farmgate. These farmers have a cost of production per kilogram of output that sits at less than $2/kg while the rest of us range upwards to as high as $5/kg. This isn’t because they are spending less on their inputs, in fact quite the opposite. They are profitably producing more through efficiently controlling a wide range of management variables. So rather than complain about the problems it seems far more constructive to look at the opportunities. And complaining is a waste of time anyway. Half the people we complain to simply don’t care and the other half are glad to hear we also have problems. I took a role with the Red Meat Profit Partnership (RMPP) because it has a positive focus based on helping farmers make changes on their own farms that will not only help them increase profitability but the whole sector too. Our research indicates that, for most of us, the largest potential profit lift can come from improving what we do on our own farms. This is great news because this is under our control – unlike exchange rates, what Trump might do next on trade, industry structure and so on. So how do we know this? We looked at what the highestperforming sheep and beef farmers do and compared their profit results with the rest of us. They are doing well and manage to do well over time despite bad seasons and market fluctuations. The next question is what do these high-performing farmers do that is different from the rest of us? For a start we found they don’t necessarily have a different game plan or work any harder, but they do keep a tight focus on measuring what is happening on their farms and they act quickly in response. To do this they gather performance data and use it to plan what they do. They plan for financial success and they also plan for having family time and holidays. A lot of farmers learn best from fellow farmers and need support from a variety of people to help give them the confidence to invest time, and often money, in making changes. We know it is important to be aware of the real-life pressures that farmers face and how these can create barriers to action and change. It is easy for a farmer to be bogged down dealing with

IMPROVEMENT: The Red Meat Profit Partnership is about to roll-out its farmpractice change activities to all interested sheep and beef farmers around New Zealand, chairman Malcolm Bailey says.

The

Pulpit

We need more people coming into the sector, and we want good people. Good people get good results. Malcolm Bailey Red Meat Profit Partnership day-to-day things and not making the time to plan for making some changes or adopting some good ideas they’ve picked up. Getting four or five farming businesses together in a group to challenge and support each other’s farm business improvement plans has also proved valuable. Supported by a high-performing local farmer mentor or a farm consultant, these group dynamics can be very good for building confidence and sometimes giving a kick up the backside when promised action falls off. Facilitated by our meat processing partners and with modest financial input from RMPP, we have trialled these ways of achieving practise change.

It is important to emphasise the importance of actively involved farming women in achieving increased farm profits. This is why RMPP has invested in AgriWomen’s Development Trust activities to get more women upskilled and involved in their farming businesses. This is happening in parallel to other RMPP courses such as facilitation training and computer courses. Knowing how important measurement data is to achieving farm business improvement, RMPP has invested in making it easier to manage data. When fully adopted, Data Linker will enable data to be managed from multiple sources – meat companies, fertiliser companies and farmgenerated data such as livestock weights and grass growth. This means at farm level you can use the information to make better decisions, benchmark your farm performance against others, and efficiently transfer data to and from organisations you deal with. RMPP is also working in the education system at all levels to create more interest in sheep and beef farming as an attractive career. We need more people coming into the sector, and we want good people. Good people get good results. RMPP has been working with our meat processing partners who have now been joined in this activity by the deer industry to streamline the farm audit process for farmers to ensure everyone is working to the same baseline standard. The NZ Farm Assurance Programme was launched in late 2016 and is now being implemented nationwide to meet marketplace requirements. In conjunction with OSPRI, RMPP has also developed an electronic version of the Animal Status Declaration form to make compliance easier for farmers. This has been trialled across four processing plants to ensure ease of use for farmers, especially where connectivity is an issue. The plan is to have seamless

supporting our farmers. data flow from the farm to the Over the next couple of transport operator to the meat months RMPP will be getting in processing plant. This means touch with NZ sheep and beef information will be shared farmers to explain how they can between everyone faster with become involved in joining the less chance of mistakes occurring programme. This is a big but because of not having to write up exciting challenge for RMPP all details onto a paper copy every and our red meat sector. I look time. forward to playing my part in RMPP has also researched supporting our farm businesses to potential transport and make changes on their own farms procurement cost savings in the in order to really start driving red meat sector. profitability increases. Despite a firm belief by many people in the sector that • The Red Meat Profit significant inefficiencies exist, a Partnership is a Primary Growth combination of patchy data and Partnership programme that strongly differing views makes it is working to help the red meat difficult to advocate for sectorsector increase productivity and wide changes. Instead RMPP profitability. RMPP chairman believes that actual per-animal Malcolm Bailey owns a beef cattle procurement and transport costs and maize growing operation near should be given to farmers to Feilding. He also has investments encourage them to look for cost in dairy farms. savings. Our natural farming systems, quality and audit controls, and Your View beautiful landscape are important Got a view on some aspect of attributes of NZ’s red meat farming you would like to get across? products. We need to tell this The Pulpit offers readers the chance story to consumers wherever they to have their say. are. RMPP is working with Beef + nzfarmersweekly@nzx.com Lamb NZ and others to help create Phone 06 323 1519 this red meat sector story to boost the demand Locally Sourced, Locally Sold for our red meat Countdown sources quality New Zealand Beef and products. Lamb for Kiwis throughout 185 stores. Our expert So, where livestock buyers hand select Beef and Lamb directly do we go from from New Zealand farmers for our supply chain here? RMPP has (North Island - Auckland Meat Processors, South Island - Ashburton Meat Processors). Talk to our about three and friendly Livestock Buying Team about supplying a half years of life Prime Beef and Lamb. Payment within 14 days left and is now moving from Bruce Gibson Paul Ahern engaging with a Waikato/ Head of Livestock Upper King Country Procurement small number of M: 027 492 1730 T: 09 275 2720 farmers in our M: 027 263 3655 Pierre Syben trials to rolling out E: paul.ahern@ Bay of Plenty/ countdown.co.nz our farm-practice Lower King Country M: 027 625 9977 Murray Southee change activities Northland Peter Kyle to any farmers T: 09 432 9826 M: 021 Canterbury who want to be 432 982 M: 027 432 3220 involved. This rollCarl Tomich Northland out will require M: 021 351 985 involvement Mark Broughton from a lot of rural Auckland T: 09 427 8246 professionals M: 027 436 4746 because they play a critical role in

Opinion

26 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

EDITORIAL Wising up to agri training

Neal Wallace

LETTERS

More letters P27

Double standards on water quality WHERE, oh where is Greenpeace over dumping their raw sewage into Auckland’s harbours? Since their office is at 11 Makiraho St, Mt Eden, I can find no reference to this address being environmentally friendly. Silence usually means guilt. Fish & Game, the Green Party, iwi – you’re all over the Waikato River and Lake Taupo but where are you on urban crap? Federated Farmers, you use words like watching, monitoring and lobbying. Why can’t you tell the Healthy Rivers plan to go take a jump on behalf of us farmers till urban catches up, then watch your organisation revive its membership. As a child in the 1970s I can remember visiting cow sheds and seeing the shed effluent run directly into open drains.

This practice is long gone but our urban cousins are still dumping raw sewage into our waterways and seas. Am I missing something here? Dairy farmers have been forced to pay excessive costs for compliance – tell Auckland rate payers to come up with a measly $20,000 each or they can’t live in their noncompliant houses. It’s simple. DairyNZ’s Tim Mackle, tell the world: Greenpeace NZ’s headquarters is hooked up to a sewage system that dumps raw sewage into the sea. Fight fire with fire, although you’ll be telling the truth. Ask Greenpeace if their ship sewage goes from ship to shore, to treatment plant and then back to the sea. Being a two-faced organisation, I guess they just dump straight into the sea. A friend has spent more

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and green credentials to promote our products. As the Tui ad says, yeah right. When is the return coming, or do we have to wait another 20 years? I would rather swim in a stream with cow effluent rather than one with human waste. Terry Smith Taihape

Full sympathy STEVE Wyn-Harris’ “Coping with loss” column must be one of his best-written articles ever – it comes from the heart and engages with all of us who have and see loss around us. I have shown the article to several people and they mostly dissolve into tears – especially the men. I am sure all FW readers will

Continued next page

Letterof theWeek

EDITOR Bryan Gibson bryan.gibson@nzx.com EDITORIAL Stephen Bell editorial@nzx.com Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com Andy Maciver andy.maciver@nzx.com Annette Scott annette.scott@nzx.com Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Tony Leggett tony.leggett@nzx.com

than two years in the Environment Court fighting a couple of buckets of silt reaching a water course after cleaning an existing drain. Come on, daily urban raw sewage dumps allowed over a couple of buckets of silt. Federated Farmers, he needs real help – good luck Pete. We have been conned and bullied by the “green” word for decades. Are Tip Top’s Auckland sales affected because their waste goes into Auckland’s harbours? It is time we farmers stood up and said get stuffed, we don’t like farming under an unfair dictatorship system. Try selling a good bale of naturally-grown wool. In the real world excessive outlay costs (compliance) for no monetary return is not sustainable. To sell our lamb and wool we’ve been told we need environmentally-friendly

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T WAS with some relief that an eleventhhour solution was found that enabled the 2017 intake of students at the LincolnTelford training farm in South Otago. But beyond that reprieve questions remain whether we have the training structure needed to meet the primary sector’s immediate needs, let alone the 30,000 extra workers required to meet the Government’s goal of doubling primary sector exports by 2025. The best and brightest must be attracted covering the gambit from labourers through to the most highly-skilled doctorate graduates but the sector is hampered by a series of contradictions. On one level it’s a vocation requiring knowledge of science, mathematics, engineering and English but as Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre chief executive Arthur Graves told Farmers Weekly (see p24) this week farming, especially at sub-degree level, is still not viewed as a career by the education system. On another level the Government has identified the sector as having unsatisfied demand for workers and has promised more funding for training. But last year providers offering training for about 1000 people closed down and Tertiary Education Commission figures reveal funding for training has fallen in recent years because of lower demand. All this points to some fundamental issues facing primary sector training that require a change in approach to attract new workers. Graves hinted as much when he said vocational training lacked structure and that the sector needed to value education as a driver of skills training. He also said employer expectations needed to be tempered by the different values and requirements of young people at the same time, employers needed to think about the skills they were equipping their staff with. Core skills of building fences, milking cows and shearing sheep would remain but workers and managers also need to meet increasing levels of compliance that requires skill interpreting data, mathematics and science. Training is yet another challenge facing the primary sector but it is crucial to meeting many of the other challenges weighing on the minds of farmers and sector leaders.

Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Rapid reactions PULPIT: Sheep sector decline began in 80s

Farmers Weekly Farm Life Competition We will be running this competition every month, so send your Farm Life photo to our Facebook page or Twitter with the hashtag #farmersweeklycompor email them to us at nzfarmersweekly@nzx.com and you will go in the draw to win a cool spot prize.

It saddens me to read of the dire straits the sheep industry is in nowadays. However, I would venture to say much of the decline in sheep farmers fortunes can be laid fairly and squarely on the direction the sheep industry has taken since its establishment and, more specifically, it took back in the 1980s when, at the behest of then Finance Minister Roger Douglas and co, and with the blessing of sheep farmers. Peter McDonald – Could have, should have, that opportunity was there in 2014, gone now. Question is where to now? Industry made the choice not to adjust, individual companies were afraid that adjustment costs would disadvantage themselves in regard to procurement. Through their actions or lack of, industry has moved from commitment to one of competition which switches the advantage from the large co-ops to smaller operators. Be careful what you wish for!

FW Poll

Barbara Phillips – What good is it to make that statement now? Many of us where calling out for an alternative to Fonterra and apart from a few squeaks nothing called back.

Do you agree with Ian Proudfoot that NZ must curb its number of dairy cows and focus on value-added products? Yes No bit.ly/FWpolls

BOMBS AWAY: Everyone needed a cool-off at James and Melissa Barbour’s Piarere, Waikato, farm.

LETTERS join with me in sympathy towards Steve and his family. Thank you for sharing your sadness with us. David Rudd Blenheim

The Green stick WHEN it comes to improving the image of farmers as custodians of the land, we need Alan Emerson like a diabetic needs a candy cane. He asks why Green campaigner Jeanette Fitzsimons is an avid reader of his column. The answer is because it is a stick with which she and the Green movement can beat us with. I know as much about Wellington and Auckland harbour’s pollution as Alan knows about river pollution in

Canterbury. As such I wouldn’t comment on the former but I do have something to say on the latter. Alan makes the comment to ban dogs from our rivers, a surprisingly good idea because the Selwyn, a small river south of Christchurch, is now so toxic that a dog would die if it drank from it. That same dog could drink from city rivers the Heathcote and Avon quite freely. A sample from the Selwyn River is no longer transparent, it’s a stinking green sludge, while a sample from the city’s rivers is clear. The Selwyn River bed no longer carries flowing water. It is a stagnant tip full of mosquitoes that Alan would spray with DDT. These three rivers are similar in that they all rise from springs.

But they differ for two reasons. First, the Selwyn travels through intensive farmland while the other two go through a city. Second, the Selwyn suffers irrigation mostly from deep-bore extraction. The Heathcote and Avon rivers don’t. We are told that the Selwyn’s demise is because of a lack of recharge but if that’s the case why do the city rivers still flow? It is interesting to note that the Heathcote and Avon pass by some 350,000 people and the Selwyn passes by a relative handful of people with a right to abstract an awful lot of water. The fact is intensive agriculture in Canterbury has killed the Selwyn and we farmers are in abject denial. Government watchdogs ECan have presided over an agricultural water heist

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and river land theft and they have not policed it, they have gone out and promoted it. According to a Forest and Bird report 450 hectares of its river bed have been developed for agriculture. Alan attacks everyone else for the decline of our water quality in general but if we don’t have our own house in order who are we to criticise? Alan’s Alternative View column is self-defeating and embarrassing. It was the Green view that was always the alternative view but this is no longer the case the Green view has become mainstream. We can deal with this by kicking and screaming like Alan or simply get ahead of the game. Andrew Luddington Christchurch

Just add water THERE’S been plenty of debate on the opportunities to add value to our exported primary products. Wholemilk powder is highquality product that we export in volume. Perhaps Fonterra could add value to wholemilk powder by marketing it in tandem with New Zealand natural spring water, another high-quality product of which we have a good supply. Ross Robertson Whitford

Letters to the Editor Letters must be no more than 450 words and submitted on the condition The New Zealand Farmers Weekly has the right to, and license third parties to, reproduce in electronic form and communicate these letters. Letters may also be edited for space and legal reasons. Names, addresses and phone numbers must be included. Letters with pen names will generally not be considered for publication.

Opinion

28 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Getting water quality down to a science Alternative View

Alan Emerson

Anyone with a modicum of integrity, knowledge and care for the environment should be supporting Allen’s view with alacrity. He is talking science, evidence and getting it right as against the cacophony of emotive codswallop we’ve been subjected to so well done Chris Allen and well done Feds. I’d also add well done Bill English, Nick Smith and Nathan Guy. The issue is that we’re talking E. coli at a level of 540 or below. What we’re doing is aligning our standards with those of Europe, which makes a lot of sense. In fact the European standard of less than 1000 is described as good. The figure of 540, which is the standard the Government wants in this country is described as “excellent” when it comes to water quality. What’s wrong with that? In fact 96% of European rivers

STILL S E C PL A B L E. A L I A AV OW! N L ENRO

are swimmable and I’m unaware of any health problems there. The issue is with E. coli that derives from faecal matter. It can be sourced from ruminants, dogs, ducks, children or, believe it or not, tourists. Our worst affected E. coli rivers are the Heathcote and Avon in Canterbury and the Oakley and Otara streams in Auckland. As I’ve written in previous articles there isn’t a farm animal anywhere near any of those waterways. People also want to swim in Lake Victoria in Hamilton where the E. coli level is high but there isn’t a farm animal remotely close. To make it swimmable they need to lower the E. coli level and that means getting rid of the ducks. It’s a task I’d readily assist with and I look forward to watching the war between duck lovers and swimmers. Of major interest is when I checked the rivers for a previous column the Waikato River was swimmable over its full length. What I also hadn’t realised with the Waikato River is that there is mercury and arsenic pollution in the upper reaches courtesy of geothermal activity. That’s serious and, again, has nothing to do with farmers. I noted with some interest Parliamentary Commissioner for

the Environment Dr Jan Wright’s reaction to the new policy. She liked some parts of the policy and had reservations with others. She will no doubt make a full submission based on reputable science as is her want. I look forward to reading it.

I can only imagine the concentration on ethical science is what’s making the anti-lobby angry. I’m sure they’d prefer to be able to use witchcraft.

There are several additional parts of the policy that I liked. For a start the Government is considering all waterways and not just those that run through farming areas. Everyone will have to do their bit, not just farmers. Having a central standard is a bold move but pivotal when it comes to the vagaries of some of our regional councils. It is good leadership from central government. Finally the policy is out in the open for consultation and I’ll follow that process with interest.

It is important to remember that there aren’t two sides of an argument when it comes to science the facts either back your position and you’re right or they don’t and you’re wrong. As the Feds’ Chris Allen says “we need better science”. He’s right, as Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy acknowledged when he made the point “we also know that science will play a major role in improving our freshwater”. I look forward to seeing the detail of that science. I can only imagine the concentration on ethical science is what’s making the anti-lobby angry. I’m sure they’d prefer to be able to use witchcraft. For the record I was also pleased to hear Minister Guy’s commitment to water storage. So my view is we have taken a bold but vital step in the long march to improving water quality. We have the Government relying on science and Federated Farmers have backed that approach. From here I look forward to seeing the consultation process taking off based on hard science nothing more, nothing less.

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

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I WAS pleasantly surprised with last week’s government announcement on water quality. I found it sane, sensible and achievable. Also while not ecstatic that I need to fence all streams, I can achieve it within the given time frame. There are issues not covered in the document that will come out like the definition of a stream, not to mention a fence, and I believe the estimate for that fencing is too light. I thought Federated Farmers response to the Government’s discussion document was reasoned and credible. They noted that the Government’s approach showed a willingness to “engage the entire community”. That surely is a positive step by government and a total contrast with the draconian, non-consultative approach we’ve had from some of our regional councils. Feds also regard the swimmability target of 90% by 2040 as “doable”. Again, surely that is positive for the country. Federated Farmers water spokesman Chris Allen said that “now we need better science and monitoring processes to really nail what we need to work on, where we do it and how”.

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Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

A dog’s tail From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

I HAVE a bit of a dilemma and it is of a sensitive nature so let’s just keep this between you and myself, dear reader. It’s to do with dogs. In all my growing up and my own 33-year farming career we have never had any type of pet or house dog. It has just been sheep dogs. I think my father had an eye dog for a while but other than that they have all been huntaways. All sorts of various breeds and breeding but if there was a common denominator it was that they have all been very average. My first in 1983 was a Beardie bitch called Dino, so called because she looked and acted a bit like the Flintstone’s small dinosaur by the same name. She was my first love, okay with stock but excellent at finding and killing possums. She cost me $10 from Dan and is to date my only investment in dogs. When I hear what young fellows are paying for their first dog now I do worry for them. Dino was waylaid by a neighbouring doggy villain and her daughter Please became my mainstay. She was so named because no matter what I yelled

at her it always finished with a courteous request. She ran 3500 stock units on her own quite well when her mother aged. I told neighbour Brian one day to keep his heading dog Pete away from her at docking because she was on heat, and because I only had the one dog and couldn’t afford her to be pregnant at that time of year. Next thing I know I was beating Pete with my earmarkers in a vain attempt to get him to uncouple but the resulting litter yielded Tar, in keeping with his colour and a nod to further politeness.

We both nearly wet ourselves with laughter when we finally realised the obvious. We had a cuckoo in the nest. Well, not so much a cuckoo as a Rottweiler.

He was mad and bloody useless but excellent company for his mum. However, the day his mother suddenly died of a twisted bowel I looked at him as my sole dog and said, “We’ve both got big problems”. He rose to the challenge immediately with lots of work taking the zing out of him and remains the best dog I’ve had. The day he died I was given a

PUPPY LOVE: Steve Wyn-Harris’ new sheepdog was found in a ditch.

pup and went and got a retired station dog called Coke from Wairarapa. He never did anything so I fed him throughout his long retirement but after quite a few attempts did eventually get the ex-pup pregnant. Rum turned out to be a highly strung but effective helper and started working in tandem with her lookalike daughter Gin until she died this time last year. In November Gin and I were walking along the road taking some cattle to the bottom farm when I heard an odd noise coming from the water table. I thought the bulls might have injured a hedgehog or rabbit but closer inspection revealed a tiny pup that I could cup in one hand. Some dirty sod, who didn’t have the decency to either put it down themselves or take it to the vet or the SPCA, had just dumped it there overnight. It probably had terrible genetics given its owners’ pedigree but I’ll give anyone a chance and besides Gin won’t live forever. It was his lucky day. I decided there and then to call it Ditch as Watertable doesn’t

really work and in a nice circular motion, a nod to my father’s first dog who was called Titch 54 years earlier. When I got it home Jane wanted to know what breed and I said at that size, and that it hadn’t even been weaned, it could be a Whippet or St Bernard but I was hoping for a sheep dog, which after all seemed the most likely. Ditch has turned out to be a grateful and delightful young dog. He is very clever and quickly worked out how to open Gin’s kennel so they could play together. He’s clumsy, eats like a horse, has feet like dinner plates and a terrific bark. I’ve just started training him. Yesterday the vet made a remark while giving him his second vaccination, which I forgot about until lying in bed, so I idly asked Jane to look up dog breeds on the iPad. We both nearly wet ourselves with laughter when we finally realised the obvious. We had a cuckoo in the nest. Well, not so much a cuckoo as a Rottweiler.

So, this is where you come in dear reader. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread this around as I could end up the laughing stock of rural New Zealand but I was wondering if you know of any instances of Rottweilers making good or even average sheep dogs? We are bonded to Ditch and he to us. He has been well-socialised and I don’t believe will be a problem in the future. But I do need a sheep dog above a guard dog, a police dog, seeing-eye dog, a rescue dog or a butcher’s dog for dragging carts of meat around as they did in Germany 100 years ago. I’m heartened to see that the Romans 2000 years ago used them to drive cattle herds around to feed their armies so there is hope within the family that Ditch could become a contributing family member rather than a 60kg bottomless pit waiting to be filled.

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

Meat companies and union tally up THE heyday of union representation in the meat industry was more than a quarter of a century ago, but the union still has good coverage across the industry. The decline of stock volumes, closure of the old monolithic single-shift plants, shorter seasons and the Employment Contracts Act (ECA) have all contributed to a massive reduction in the number of meat workers. This has had a dramatic impact on the sheer number of union members employed in the industry, but as a general rule the Meat Workers Union (MWU) has good representation across most companies. The bad old days when the industry was bedevilled by strikes are a thing of the past, partly because of better engagement between management and union, but mostly because of the effect of the ECA that severely constrained the right to strike during defined industrial negotiating periods and while an agreement was still current. An obvious question is whether union representation is still relevant or effective in today’s meat industry, a question underlined by Affco’s determination in recent years to move the vast majority of its workers to individual employment contracts (IEC).

Meaty Matters

Allan Barber

Affco under Talley’s ownership and direction has taken a very hard line with the union and has succeeded in getting an estimated 85% of its workers to sign an IEC. The dispute over working conditions, union membership and employment contracts at the Wairoa plant over five months in 2015-16 signalled Affco’s insistence on gaining improvements to its operational cost structures that the union clearly wasn’t willing to accept. After a court order the unrest now appears to have settled down and I understand a new collective employment agreement (CEA) is nearing conclusion across Affco’s North Island plants. But the effect of the dispute was to divide families and friends and a further dilution of union membership at the plant. To my knowledge most of the country’s meat processors have CEAs in place, normally site specific rather than company-

wide. This begs the question why Affco has pursued IECs so vigorously and what contract clauses the company would like to get rid of that other meat processors have been willing to accept. A clue to a possible reason appeared in the MWU’s December newsletter to its members and posted on its website under the headline, Silver Fern Farms – a big year ahead. Late last year SFF appears to have presented a draft CEA to one of its South Island works, saying the document was expected to be rolled out across every facility in the group in time. The newsletter states “it’s a pretty thin document” that omits previously existing contractual provisions including seniority and fair seasonal re-employment, agreed manning, union rights and redundancy, but also seeking “dramatically lowered earnings (up to $80 a day less!), more work classed as C and B grade and a longer working day. The union’s stated intention is to “stop these wage cuts and to prevent the break-up of our agreements.” Seniority was also one of the key issues in the Wairoa dispute. The seniority argument arises from the employer’s wish to determine the order in which it wants to re-employ seasonal workers, while a key contractual term for the union is worker

re-engagement according to seniority, ie: first in, last out. SFF chief executive Dean Hamilton was unwilling to discuss progress, saying some individual plant agreements had already expired, while others wouldn’t expire until 2018, but this was a process that would take several months to resolve as is inevitably the case with all contract negotiations. Predictably he wasn’t prepared to play the process out in the media, although he was willing to confirm not all agreements were the same, with some being common to several plants while other agreements were site specific. But it seems to me SFF has decided it needs to improve its operating performance and worker employment terms are a critical part of that. It is clear neither side will get everything it wants, but it’s a safe bet SFF will get movement on some of the terms in its draft CEA, while the union will be prepared to concede on some but not all the terms offered. To the casual observer, logic would suggest most collective agreements should be similar across the country with variations to take account of differences in plant size, geographical location, species and length of season. However, this doesn’t always

seem to be the case. Reasons for variations are precedent and personalities. Some companies and plants have been in operation longer than others, so the original agreements were negotiated at widely different times. As a result, certain clauses remain unchanged for years, far longer than a newer plant’s document that has determined the terms and conditions of a contract without the constraints of history and tradition. Then again, negotiations always bear the stamp of the personalities on both sides of the table and as a result used to be far more tense and confrontational than tends to be the case today. With exceptions – Affco Wairoa being an obvious case in point – relationships between meat processors and the MWU are friendlier than they were a quarter of a century ago. It looks as though both sides have reached the conclusion they need each other to achieve for the best results for company and workforce.

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

World

30 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

Goodbye UK pork pie? A DEBATE has started about how best to protect some of Britain’s most cherished food brands from cheap imitations once the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. Iconic products such as Melton Mowbray pork pies, Welsh lamb and Scotch beef have gained the EU’s Protected Geographical Indication status, Protected Designation of Origin or are included in Traditional Specialty Guaranteed schemes. Industry representatives recently met farming minister George Eustice to discuss what should happen to these products after Brexit. There are 61 UK foods with protected status, with another 17 applications in the system. While these numbers are lower than countries such as Italy, France, Spain and Germany, those who have fought to secure protected status argue it is an important marketing tool that needs to be retained. “The PGI status enjoyed by Welsh lamb and Welsh beef places our products in the same category as premium goods such as Champagne,” Hybu Cig Cymru (Meat Promotion Wales) chief executive Gwyn Howells said. “As well as protecting our meat against imitation and giving

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customers confidence in its authenticity and traceability, the PGI status has been a cornerstone of marketing efforts that have seen lamb exports rise from £57 million in 2004 to £133m in the space of a decade.” The worry is that without some form of protection, cheaper, poorquality imitations will hit the market, which will undermine the reputation and value of authentic regional products. Shortly after the EU referendum vote former Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) secretary Liz Truss tried to allay these fears, telling MPs that she was keen to develop “British protected food name status”. Six months on Defra says it is business as usual, given the UK is still a member of the EU. But a spokesman added: “These products are extremely important to our reputation as a great food nation and we will work to ensure they continue to benefit from protection in the future.” Matthew O’Callaghan, chairman of the UK Protected Food Names Association (PFNA), likens protected name status to having a Michelin star in the restaurant world. The meeting with Minster Eustice was positive and the industry was putting together a working group so it could work with Defra on proposals for a new scheme, O’Callaghan said. But he warned a suggestion that trademark

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Colin Ley FARMER representatives from Ireland and New Zealand need to start talking directly to each other in the face of Brexit and the start of European UnionNZ free-trade agreement talks, president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA), Patrick Kent says. Warning that producers in both countries could suffer heavily in the future as a result of a Brexit and a FTA-driven move towards least-cost production, Kent said farmers in Ireland and NZ had a lot in common and needed to co-

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already have food products registered for protection in the EU – so a precedent is there for the UK. However, non-EU products must already be protected in their country of origin, which means the UK would need to set up its own national approval scheme to deal with new applications. Kathy Roussel, head of the AHDB’s Brussels office and coauthor of the Horizon report, said: “Only when products have been approved by a non-EU country’s own national scheme can they be considered for approval under the EU protected food scheme.” Roussel stressed that while protected status added value for some products and could result in premiums, it did not on its own guarantee success. UK Farmers Guardian

Protected status IN TOTAL, there are 1377 foods with protected status across the European Union. Research done in 2013 found that the EU’s protected food products typically wholesale for 1.55 times more money than non-protected foods. At 1.07, the premium is smaller in the United Kingdom but there are further benefits for producers, such as greater stability, profitability and an enhanced reputation for their businesses. Protected status products can also promote more stable supply chains.

operate to secure the best deal possible for their respective industries going forward. “Brexit is already being used to pull down farm prices, particularly for beef, and as farmers we’ve got to work together to change that,” he said. “Farming in both Ireland and NZ is run on a clean environmental basis, without the use of a lot of chemicals, and we should be making use of this fact by aiming for higher-quality output and higher prices to go with it, rather than just chasing increased output.” Kent’s comments run in

direct opposition to the Irish government’s Food Wise 2025 expansion strategy, which centres on boosting Ireland’s agricultural output to meet a targeted 85% growth in agrifood exports over the next eight years. Instead of driving for such growth, however, ICSA wants farmers in Ireland, the EU and NZ to co-operate in refusing to produce too much food; concentrating instead on marketing what they do produce more efficiently than has been the case in the past. “We shouldn‘t increase production merely to keep our respective Ministers of

Agriculture happy,” Kent said. “Irish farmers have a lot of reasons to be concerned about the post-Brexit future of both UK and EU agri-food outlets, and also about the UK doing its own trade deals internationally. “This could result in South American beef and NZ lamb and dairy flooding into the UK and decimating our current trade. “As farmers, we should be working together on these issues, discussing the direction the industry is taking in both countries and exercising better control over our future.”

EU study supports NZ trade agreement

Satruday 25/03/2017 FMG Young Farmer Waikato-Bay of Plenty Regional Final Kihikihi Domain, Kihikihi, Waipa Time: 10.00am

Colin Ley

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Wednesday 29/03/2017 – Friday 31/03/2017 South Island Agricultural Field Days Venue: 1191 Courtenay Road, Kirwee Contact: Nicola Burgess 03 423 0537, 0275 858 417 or info@siafd.co.nz

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Well-known pork pie maker Melton Mowbray has European Union protection status for its pies at present but along with other British food brands may face potential pirating after Brexit.

NZ and Irish farmers urged to work together

Tuesday 07/03/2017 BNZ Northland Dairy Development Trust Annual Conference Venue: ASB Lounge, ASB Northland Sports House, Kensington Park, 193 Western Hills Drive, Whangarei Time: 10am - 2pm, registration 9.45am Contact: Abbey Cameron, northlandpix@vodafone.co.nz or 021 164 4443 for more information

Friday 05/05/2017 – Saturday 06/05/2017 Field Days Marlborough Venue: Weld Park, State Highway 1, Ward Time: 10am

certifications might be an alternative to a national scheme wasn’t one that would work for everyone. “If someone wanted to get protected status in the EU then they would have to apply for trademarks in 27 different countries, which would come at a cost. Unlike Protected Food Names status, it would also not be linked to a particular place.” O’Callaghan said the industry’s preference was for a scheme very similar to the EU one, but with improvements. “One change is we really do need proper enforcement of the rules,” he said. “There isn’t currently a specific law on protected food names, so trading standards have to use existing consumer laws, such as ‘passing off’, to take action. That’s not really adequate.” To improve transparency for consumers, the PFNA would also like to see a registration scheme for producers of a protected food, O’Callaghan said. There is a list of the products covered, but not who is behind them. There’s also a desire to see a cut in the bureaucracy involved because it can take years for an application to be accepted. An AHDB Horizon report published in December concluded that provided there was a reciprocal agreement between the UK and the EU, then existing registered protected names should be able to benefit from EU protection. It also highlighted that nonEU countries such as Colombia (coffee) and Mexico (tequila)

TRADE agreements with Mexico, South Korea and Switzerland have boosted European Union agrifood exports by more than €1 billion (NZ$1.47b), according to a new study published by the European Commission in support of its drive to secure free-trade

agreements with several countries, including New Zealand. “There is clear evidence that ‘ambitious and balanced’ trade deals work for European food and farming,” EU farm commissioner Phil Hogan said, adding that the three agreements covered by the new study have

increased the added-value of Europe’s agri-food sector by €600 million (NZ$882m). “These figures are clear evidence that ambitious and balanced trade deals work for European food and farming,” Hogan said. European trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström agreed: “Trade

deals, done right, are a force for good for our farmers and food producers.” The study also underlined the importance of closely following the trade negotiations of the EU’s main competitors to make sure that the EU doesn’t fall behind in access conditions to important markets for agri-food products.

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Employment

HERD MANAGER

FARM MANAGER

Dairy Farm – Matamata

This well established 165ha dairy farm sits in beautifully contoured land less than 10km from Matamata milking 500 cows. The farm has excellent facilities which include a 50 bail rotary farm dairy situated in the centre of the farm. This position requires the successful applicant to have a 2-3 years knowledge base to support the following: • Assist with strong emphasis on feed budgeting • Strong communication skills • Very high standards towards farm equipment, maintenance • Comply with all health and safety requirements • Accurate recording of information • Assist with all environmental compliance & effluent management • Responsibility for dairy management and milk quality • Excellent stock handling and husbandry skills This role would best suit a couple who have a passion and keenness to progress in the dairy industry. Three-bedroom accommodation is available as part of a competitive remuneration package.

CONTRACT MILKER A Challenging Prospect

Morrinsville

Are you ready to extend your experience and test your farming knowledge? Then this role may be just what you are looking for if you enjoy working with progressive Employers. Our clients milk 630 cows through a 28 bail rotary farm dairy, with the expected production of 210,000kgMS for the coming season. This position will appeal to those who: • Enjoy the satisfaction of working hard and getting results • Can achieve goals with minimum supervision while contributing to team decision making • Seek the opportunity to assist committed owners to reach their business goals • Have a proven practical work record, complemented with some training In return the successful applicant will receive • A competitive salary • The use of a 3 bedroom home with access to local schools • Opportunity for part time work for a partner if appropriate To view photos www.fegan.co.nz. If this role is for you please send your CV to jobs@fegan.co.nz or call us on 07 823 0117.

760 Cows with scope to improve production. Are you a person who thrives on a challenge? This farm provides an opportunity for an experienced Contract Milker who can see the potential, put in the hard work and receive instant results. The farm is a total of 356ha, budgeted to produce 235,000kgMS this season but has the potential to produce over 240,000kgMS which it has in the past. Situated approximately 20 minutes from Cambridge, the farm has a 33ASHB farm dairy with Protrack technology and an innovative feeding platform. If you enjoy farming on rolling contour land then it will be heaven for you. Accommodation includes a substantial 4 bedroom home with swimming pool and tennis court. The successful applicant will be willing to treat this farm as their own and assist the owner to achieve a high performing farm through the introduction of high standards in all the key areas, including excellent pasture management. To view photos www.fegan.co.nz. If this role is for you please send your CV to jobs@fegan.co.nz or call us on 07 823 0117.

To view photos www.fegan.co.nz. To apply phone 07 823 0117 or email jobs@fegan.co.nz

Human Resources • Recruitment

www.fegan.co.nz CONTRACT OR SALARY **NEGOTIABLE** SOUTHLAND

FARM MANAGER Morrinsville

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This is a great opportunity for the ‘right’ person to enter into a sole charge position with support. Our clients milk 320 cows, on 99ha through a 30 bail rotary dairy with expected production of 102,000kgMS for the coming season.

880 cows Automated, modern equipment Semi self-contained Good housing

2IC Hangawera Station

Hangawera Station, 700ha rolling to steep country, based in the Waikato region (Tauhei). It is a sheep and cattle operation specialising in breeding Hereford bulls for the dairy market and FE Coopworth ewes.

Eastern Bush Limited Partnership has been part of the MyFarm portfolio since 2010, and is a well-established, high performing operation. Comprising a 261ha milking platform, (plus support block) this farm has a 54-bail rotary. This season Eastern Bush is on target to produce 385,000 kgMS from 880 cows.

The ideal applicant will: Be committed to the dairy industry Have a minimum of 4 full seasons dairy experience Possess maturity in their attitude and outlook Have a proven work ethic and ability in all of the key areas including pasture management, animal health, grade free seasons, health and safety and record keeping

We are seeking to employ an experienced 2IC to lead the farming operation at Hangawera. Working closely with our Farm Manager/Rural Operations Manager, your key areas of responsibility will include the day-to-day running of the station in consultation with management, leading a team of staff and maximising farming returns. You will also work as part of our Rural Operations team and help with farming operations and development on our other sheep and beef farms based in the Waikato region. Also (TGH) will offer the opportunity for training to further your career.

For the 2017-18 season we are looking for an outstanding farm leader who can demonstrate strong communication skills, pride and excellence in achieving the right outcomes. For the right people the structure is negotiable. A positive attitude is critical as is your willingness to be guided by the MyFarm Agribusiness Manager. On offer is the opportunity to be exposed to good business practices whilst building your business in one of New Zealand’s most progressive dairy environments. Proven track record, good infrastructure, and the ability to have increased control with semi self-contained system are key components that make this role an attractive business proposition.

The position offers in return: • A competitive salary • 4 bedroom plus office, recently renovated home • Enjoyment working in an innovative environment If you are very good and are looking for somewhere to progress in your career, this could be the position for you.

Interested? Apply at www.no8hr.co.nz (reference number 8HR835) where you will also find further information on the farm and this opportunity.

To view photos www.fegan.co.nz. Call us on 07 823 0117 or email your CV to jobs@fegan.co.nz

Applications close 12 March 2017.

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www.no8hr.co.nz | ph: 07-870-4901

TECHNICAL SUPPORT MANAGER

CONTRACT MANAGER –

NORTH WAIKATO – 470 COWS

• Southern Hospitality • Southern Opportunity

• Does a one-year contract suit your circumstances?

You’ve probably seen our adverts already for Southern Lights Organics and maybe you’re wondering what’s going on, or maybe you’ve already had a look…. the quick answer is that it is a new and exciting challenge.

• Do you understand and farm by facts and figures? If you said yes, yes, yes then have we got the job for you…

We’re now looking for a Manager to join our senior team as custodian of our farming systems. With a farming, farm systems, consulting or management background you’ll be looking for an opportunity to move into the corporate sector where you get to work with smart people and build the career that working in a business of scale can deliver.

Taniwha Estate operates a farm system designed to get the best out of the farm, a one-person shed to make management and labour utilisation as easy as possible and a location just 30 minutes from Hamilton. The owners have got plans that mean that a one-year contract milking proposition is the best solution for the 2017/18 season, and they’re looking for someone who is keen to develop their own business and contribute their expertise to a well set up farm.

• You’ll be part of a smart and diverse senior leadership team that is focused on working together, challenging each other and delivering the required results.

www.no8hr.co.nz | ph: 07-870-4901

• Your high level of technical competence will be very beneficial to the team.

If this is what you are looking for please forward your CV and cover letter to www.waikatotainuicareers.com.

• You’ll be the go to person who understands our farm systems inside out and is custodian of the reporting and compliance standards for our Farm Managers.

For a copy of the position description please email: Kiera.Daji @tgh.co.nz

• You don’t need to know everything about organics but you will need to be able to work with our Farm Managers to create on-farm management plans and budgets that deliver to business requirements. Interested? Take a look at the detailed position description and person specification at www. no8hr.co.nz (Ref# 8HR834) to decide if your new career starts here. Applications close 12 March 2017.

www.no8hr.co.nz | ph: 07-870-4901

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Sound like an opportunity worth exploring? Take a look at this role in more detail at www. no8hr.co.nz.

We are looking for a motivated individual committed to driving outstanding results. In return we offer an outstanding opportunity for the right person to develop their career in rural operations, farm development and leadership. An on-farm 3-bedroom cottage is provided with this role. Three local rural schools close by, with school bus at the end of the road and secondary school in Morrinsville. 20km to Morrinsville and 35km to Hamilton central.

What’s guaranteed about this senior role is that:

The farm owner likes working on the farm and has got a list of ‘projects’ focused on improving the asset that will keep him busy between now and May 2018.

Hangawera Station is one of nine farms and two support blocks owned and managed by Tainui Group Holdings Ltd (TGH). We are an iwi organisation that has a strong values-based culture with a sustainable focus on people, Maori culture, environment and commercial outcomes. Our organisation will continue to grow so further career opportunities are likely to be available for those that perform and deliver. The successful applicant will need to demonstrate: • Pasture and farm production management experience; • A commitment to Health and Safety on farm; • Sound leadership and coaching skills; • The ability to develop an effective team, including farming cadets; • The ability to work well with others across our farming operations; • Farm planning, budgeting and reporting skills; and • Ability to use farming software and systems e.g. FarmIQ, NAIT • Class 1 and 2 licences are required

• Southern Lights

• Want to help make a good business great?

What we’re looking for is an accomplished and experienced farmer who can ‘do the business’ and set the farm up for further success. Ideally you’ll already have successful contract milking experience and a team that you know and trust to work alongside you. Needless to say the stats that you’ve achieved in the past will speak for themselves and you’ll be able to prove to us that you can deliver great results for these owners.

Applications for the role close at 5pm on Friday 17 March 2017.

MORE EMPLOYMENT ADS NEXT PAGE

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Do you want to work for a great employer with a reputation for doing things ‘right’? This is a new role, on a well-run farm to assist the experienced owners in the day to day operations.

classifieds@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Employment

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

• 550 Friesian cows • Fully irrigated, all grass system • 50-bail rotary shed • Large calf rearing shed • 30km northwest of Oamaru • 3/4 of farm regrassed in the last four years • Potential to lift production. Two good 3-bedroom houses plus single cottage. Send CV to Invernia@farmside.co.nz or phone R Hurst 03 431 1756

South Auckland

Area Managers (Livestock)

Due to progression of our client’s farming business, we are excited to offer this newly developed Tractor/General Hand position to the market. Set in a desirable location, this stunning 1200ha property skirts the Hauraki Gulf and is only one hour from the Auckland CBD. With both cattle and sheep breeding and finishing, the farm is currently undertaking a development process which aims to transform the property into a model operation.

1 X BAY OF PLENTY REGION 1 X SOUTH AUCKLAND/NORTH WAIKATO REGIONS

Supporting the current staff, this Tractor/General Hand position requires the appointee to have a strong background in farming and a good range of practical skills across tractors, heavy machinery, stock work, fencing and water reticulation. In order to continue the farms ongoing development and level of infrastructure, you must be able to identify and effectively manage the property’s R & M requirements.

PGG Wrightson is a leading provider of products and services to the agricultural and horticultural sectors. We are helping grow the country through our knowledge, service and expertise. As a result of a business realignment, we have a number of new leadership roles available in our Livestock business.

To be successful you will need to be proactive, show initiative and be able to take ownership of this role. You will require excellent communication skills, a high level of personal pride and presentation along with good time management and organisation skills. Computer literacy will be looked upon favourably. A current full driver’s licence is required as you will be using farm vehicles including the station tractor. A class two license will also be an advantage, but is not essential.

About the role: Reporting to the Regional Livestock Manager for the Waikato/BOP, this role is a senior position in the area. It is responsible for the leadership of a group of Livestock Representatives, and the facilitation and coordination of the sale and purchase of livestock through various trading channels. Skills & Experience:

For more information, or to fill out an application, please visit www.ruraldirections.co.nz or phone the Rural Directions team in confidence on 0800 475 465 (Reference #6058). Applications close 5pm Monday 13th March 2017

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Enjoy all of the benefits associated with this role including a rural lifestyle close to the city, a very tidy three-bedroom home with magnificent views across the gulf and an excellent remuneration package. There is also a choice of schooling options and recreational activities nearby.

• Proven experience in a senior Livestock Representative role, or in an operational management role. • A background in client relationship management. • Demonstrated commitment to compliance such as Health & Safety, company policy, legislation and regulatory activity. • Hands-on knowledge of the livestock industry and wider agricultural sector. • Highly effective communication and relationship-building skills. • Resilience, energy and enthusiasm.

Apply today: applications@pggwrightson.co.nz

www.pggwrightson.co.nz

Helping grow the country

Block Manager Type: Full time, Permanent

The purpose of this role is to build and drive multi-farm processes and support the CEO in further system development from an operations perspective. Success will be measured on the creation of a robust operational model that is structured enough to withstand the rigours of dairy farming in the North, yet nimble enough to take advantage of the opportunity. As the business’s Owners are motivated to be operating in the top 10% for the region, they are looking to take an aggressive approach to developing excellence in: • People • Cow Production • Pasture Development • Fit-for-purpose Infrastructure

Piquet Hill Farms are seeking an enthusiastic and self-motivated person to work on their sheep and beef property in Te Akau, Waikato. The family owned business has approximately 1700 hectares of hill country farmland which runs a successful ram stud operation as well as providing breeding bulls to the dairy industry. This position is for a manager to run a 900ha block with two bull finishing units and a Romney stud of 1100 ewes. The successful applicant will need to be perceptive and knowledgeable in sheep genetics and modern breeding systems. A team player who is an effective communicator with good planning skills is essential.

The current team consists of 30+ people across operational and support roles. Creating human capital depth, team cohesion and securing the desired retention are viewed as critical components for the business going forward. Building structure around their management, personal development planning, reviewing and training will be a focus of this role.

Te Akau is a fantastic rural community which has a primary school on the farm boundary. A 4-bedroom house is available.

It is expected that the Operations Manager may live off-farm and work between the properties and from the office in Kerikeri. The Job Information Pack on our website provides more details of the individual operations, the location and the role itself.

Applications close 5pm Monday 20th March 2017

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For more information in high confidence, or to fill out an application, please visit www.ruraldirections.co.nz or phone the Rural Directions team in confidence on 0800 475 465 (Reference #7016).

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

• Have drive and passion for the sheep and beef industry • Be self-motivated • Have excellent communications skills • Have a current drivers licence • Must enjoy working in a team environment • Have a good team of working dogs • Good previous knowledge in the sheep and beef industry If this appeals to you either send C.V to becks@piquethillfarms.co.nz or phone William on 07 825 4480 A/H Applications close 14th March 2017

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The applicant must:

Our clients would like to see the appointee in place as soon as possible to assist in setting up for the 1st of June; however should current commitments not allow this, they will show flexibility for the right applicant.

Ag jobs at your fingertips • www.farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz

Northland Due to growth of our client’s farming business, we are excited to present a very unique Operations Manager role in the Mangakahia Valley. This Northland cluster consists of six dairy platforms (many contiguous) across 1500ha with 3370 cows and approximately 1400ha of support and supplement growing land. This position will be attractive to an appointee who is looking to demonstrate their skills in a developing business model and who has a dairy systems’, scale and people background.

Tuscan Hills is a well-known hill-country property in the Pahiatua district. We are seeking a person who will be working alongside the manager, but will also have the ability to work solo. The applicant should have 2-3 working dogs under good control. We run a sheep and beef farm and the person needs to be efficient in working well with stock. There is a comfortable 2-bedroom house supplied, and school bus past the gate. Pahiatua township is 15km from the farm on a good sealed country road. If interested please contact: Craig McGregor 06 326 8286 or tuscan.hills@xtra.co.nz

FENCER GENERAL 90x63.57 Fencer General - Konewa Farm KONEWA FARM

• Email your cover letter and CV by Wednesday, 15 March 2017. • To discuss this opportunity further please contact Grant Higgins, Regional Livestock Manager on 027 592 7049.

Dairy Operations Manager

General shepherding duties on a 10,000su property.

0086356 LTD BROADFIELDS

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.

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

SHEPHERD GENERAL

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Tractor/General Hand

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Lower Order Sharemilker/ Contract Milking Position

POHANGINA VALLEY A fencer general is required for our 600ha property, running 6500su in the Pohangina Valley. Situated 25 minutes to Feilding and 35 minutes to Palmerston North. The applicant must have a good knowledge of fencing, building yards, farm maintenance skills and general stockwork. They must take pride in their work, be self motivated, and enjoy project work. A four-bedroom home is available with three-car garaging set in private grounds. School bus at the gate. A competitive package is available to the right person. All applications, including a brief CV, must contain three professional references. Postal address: Mark Clements, 2373 Pohangina Valley East Road, RD 14, Ashhurst or email mandaclem@xtra.co.nz

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classifieds@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Farm Manager

This is a unique opportunity to join the staff of one of Auckland’s most successful schools as the manager of its working farm. The 8.1 hectare farm is adjacent to the school and is an integral part of the community as well as the agricultural and horticulture school curriculum. This role offers a wide range of tasks from handling, moving and treating livestock through to instructing students in the practical components of Primary ITO unit standards. The successful candidate will also need to be able to conduct tours of the farm to various groups including preschoolers. This position requires a person with knowledge and ability in the practical components of farming, as well as very good interpersonal skills and the ability to relate to and with a wide variety of people. You would need to be self-motivated, have the ability to work independently and be willing to embrace new technology. This is a full-time position, and the farm manager is required to live on-site. The salary package includes accommodation (3-bedroom house), electricity and water. Please refer to staff vacancies on our website (www.mags.school.nz) for the job description. Applicants for this position should have NZ Residency or a valid NZ work visa. Please send your cover letter, completed Mount Albert Grammar School support staff application form and CV to shayes@mags.school.nz Applications close 4pm, Sunday 12 March 2017

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Classifieds

DOGS FOR SALE

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

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). 2 X 18-MONTH Huntaways. ONE 3-year-old Heading dog. Needs work. Phone 06 762 2870. CLEAN BACKING BITCH. Huge distance Heading dog $2500. Ship NZ wide. 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

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

DOGS FOR SALE YOUNG HEADING and Huntaways. Top working bloodlines. View our website www.ringwaykennels.co.nz Join us on Facebook: Working dogs New Zealand. Phone 027 248 7704.

BOOK AN AD. For only $2.00 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in The NZ Farmers Weekly Classifieds section. Phone Debbie on 0800 85 25 80.

DOGS WANTED 12 MONTHS TO 5½-yearold Heading dogs and Huntaways wanted. Phone 022 698 8195. HEADING, HUNTAWAY, handy, backing dogs or bitches, 2-6 years. Top money paid. Phone Ginger Timms 03 202 5590 or 027 289 7615. MONTHLY NORTH ISLAND buying trip 11/3/17. No one buys or pays more! 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

FARM MAPPING 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 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.

FORESTRY WANTED

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.

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

Autumn Deal Classifieds display advertising

MISSING TROPHIES

GOATS WANTED

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.

GRAZING AVAILABLE

STOCK FEED MOISTURE METERS Hay, Silage dry matter, grain. www.moisturemeters.co.nz 0800 213 343.

MISPLACED. CANTERBURY SHEEPDOG Trial Association Top Dog Trophies. Have you seen them? Are they mixed up with yours somehow? Please contact Secretary 027 685 5999 or opawa1@ xtra.co.nz

BOOK AN AD. For only $2.00 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in The NZ Farmers Weekly Classifieds section. Phone Debbie on 0800 85 25 80.

I can offer: • A passion for farming (especially cattle) • Great work ethic • Attention to detail • Pride in my work For more info please email: mynewfarmmanager@yahoo.com

RAMS. SOUTHDOWNS AND Suffolk/ Southdown X for heavy fast growing lambs. $250- $500. Phone 06 357 7727 or 021 133 7533. RAMS. HILL COUNTRY Perendales. Easy care with good size and quality wool. $250-$500. Phone 06 376 4751 or 021 133 7533.

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

PERSONAL RURAL ROMANCE! Country Girls looking for Love! Whether you are in town or on the land, we can help you find that special Lady to enjoy your life with. Call for a FREE compatibility match to start meeting genuine singles in your area seeking companionship & love today. Seniors welcome. Please call 0800 446 332 www. countrycompanionship. co.nz

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

SQUARES BALE FEEDERS

March 6 to May 29

Needs no loader! Self loader with electric or hand winch loading, tip deck.

Here are 5 things to love about Autumn 1. Autumn colours 2. Settled weather

Campbell & Bowis Engineering Ltd

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

5. Local Wild Food Challenge (April 1 - Days Bay Pavilion – Eastbourne)

FOOTWEAR

MANUFACTURERS z it co.n Vis rite. lity a t u s q la w. ore cts ww r m odu fo pr

• Colour • The design of your ad

To be part of this Autumn deal – Call Debbie on 06 323 0765 or email classifieds@nzx.com

M • ore • L Leat pro • W eat her duc or her far ts a Ph 1 k & h mi va 0 ad one H u Fo ntin ng b ilab e re g oo le 09 all R to str & t s 43 oa y h tra or 8 8 d, ig mp de h i r & ng 90 RD lo b w 7 oo 5 leg ts •l ,W wo as rk tri hang te@ arei boot xtr s

• Proof to you for your approval for signing off

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• Discussion around the content of your ad

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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.

What does the deal include?

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

RIVER AND DRAINAGE ENGINEERING SCHEMES CATCHMENT COMMUNITY MEETINGS - 2017

The purpose of the meetings is to report to ratepayers on the work carried out on the Schemes over the past year, and to discuss work proposed to be carried out during the forthcoming financial year. Scheme budgets and proposed rates for the 2017-18 year will also be presented and Councillors and staff will be available to respond to ratepayer queries on general Scheme issues.

NEW HOMES

3000 TO 5000 Stock Units. North Island. Excellent references available. Phone Steve 06 874 6637.

6. Buy 4 ads and pay for only 3

FOR SALE

Each year meetings are held for ratepayers funding Horizons Regional Council’s various Flood Protection, River Control and Drainage Schemes.

T H IN K PRE B U I L T

LEASE BLOCK WANTED

AND NOW THERE ARE 6!

Advertise in The NZ Farmers Weekly

(Waikato or BOP)

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE

4. Heritage Harvest Festival (March 25 & 26 Southland District)

SELLING SOMETHING?

A sole charge drystock farm manager OR stock managers position with a top employer.

FOR BEEF COWS, NW Waikato. Large numbers. Now until 20th May. Phone 027 697 1049.

3. Hokitika Wildfoods Festivial (March 11)

SEEKING POSITION

CATTLE GRAZING good quality. 50-60 head. Taumarunui. Phone after 7pm. 07 895 7829.

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ANIMAL HANDLING

classifieds@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

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THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

This year’s meetings have been scheduled as follows: Matarawa Scheme Monday, 20 March 2017 - 6.00pm Wanganui East Club Taringamotu Scheme Thursday, 23 March 2017 - 4.00pm Ngakonui Hall Upper Whanganui River Scheme Thursday, 23 March 2017 - 7.30pm Central Park Motor Inn, Taumarunui Porewa Scheme Tuesday, 28 March 2017 - 7.00pm Hunterville Town Hall Akitio Scheme Thursday, 30 March 2017 - 11.00am Waione Hall Eastern Manawatu & South Eastern Ruahines Schemes Thursday, 30 March 2017 - 2.30pm The Hub, Dannevirke Lower Manawatu Scheme Friday, 31 March 2017 - 10.00am Kairanga Community Hall Manawatu Drainage Scheme Friday, 31 March 2017 - 1.30pm Kairanga Community Hall Koputaroa Scheme Friday, 31 March 2017 - 4.00pm Koputaroa Hall Tutaenui Scheme Monday, 3 April 2017 - 7.00pm Friendship Town Hall, Marton Pohangina-Oroua Scheme Wednesday, 5 April 2017 - 9.30am Pohangina Hall Rangitikei Scheme Wednesday, 5 April 2017 - 1.00pm Horizons Regional Council - Marton Service Centre Upper Manawatu-Lower Mangahao Scheme Thursday, 13 April 2017 - 10.00am Horizons Regional Council - Woodville Service Centre Mangatainoka Scheme Thursday, 13 April 2017 - 1.00pm Horizons Regional Council - Woodville Service Centre Makerua Scheme Wednesday, 19 April 2017 - 9.00am Tokomaru RSA Moutoa Scheme Wednesday, 19 April 2017 - 1.30pm Foxton Lions Club Whangaehu-Mangawhero & Turakina Schemes Thursday, 20 April 2017 - 3.00pm Whanganui District Council Te Kawau Scheme Thursday, 27 April 2017 - 1.00pm Kairanga Service Centre Hokio Drainage Scheme Thursday, 27 April 2017 - 4.00pm Te Takere, Levin Ohau-Manakau Scheme Tuesday, 2 May 2017 - 1.30pm Ohau Hall Lower Whanganui River Scheme Wednesday, 3 May 2017 - 9.30am Whanganui District Council Lower Kiwitea Scheme Wednesday, 3 May 2017 - 4.30pm Cheltenham Hotel

a.co.nz

Freephone 0508 800 800 www.horizons.govt.nz

Livestock

Sloane Livestock

PRELIMINARY NOTICE

AB Charolais Charolais TQ Simmental Angus Ang & hfd x Friesian

Further information: Rodger Sloane 0274 908 368 or 09 408 2626

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING

CONTACT NIGEL RAMSDEN 0800 85 25 80

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Immediate delivery unless prior arrangement made. 280 Friesian/FriesianX mixed-age, i-m cows. VIC to LIC premier sire, tailed Hereford.

For more information phone: Bryan on 027 296 0852 for all North Island enquiries. Chris on 027 474 7558 for all Southland/Otago enquiries. For all Canterbury enquiries please phone 03 325 2808.

On Farm Auction: 188 Waipapa Road, RD 5, Te Kuiti 3985 Contact: Angela Reed P: 07 878 8716 M: 027 738 1116 Auctioneer: Cam Heggie P: 07 824 9011 M: 027 501 8182

SILVER SHEEP EAST FRIESIAN Est 1999 • Flock #62 • 40 selected rams to sell • Only East Friesian stud in NZ to eye-muscle scan for meat production • Rams are brucellosis accredited • Limited number available • Rams semen available for AI (NZ and overseas)

FOR SALE

170 xbred 2-5yr cows BW 70 PW 80 DTC 6/7 180 Frn cows, 500 m/s, 40+yrs ab, DTC 1/7 500 Frn, Frnx cows, 500 m/s, DTC 20/7 60 R 5yr xbred cows, DTC 20/7 250 Frn, Frn x cows BW 71 PW 81 DTC 20/7 230 Frn, Frn x cows BW 52PW 57 DTC 14/7 85 Jsy cows BW 89 PW 132 DTC 20/7 65 Jsy cows BW 104 PW 120 DTC 17/7 64 I/c Frn hfrs BW 109 PW 108 DTC June 28/17 75 I/c Frn, Frn x hfrs BW 109 PW 108 DTC 20/7 64 Ylg Frn hfrs BW 103 PW 112 84 Ylg xbreed hfrs BW 103 PW 112 30 Autumn calving Frn hfrs for sale or lease Brad Devlin 027 498 1203

Enquiries contact: Malcolm Coombe 027 432 6104 John Watson 027 494 1975

Simply the best genetics • 40 selected rams to sell • Only East Friesian stud in NZ to eye-muscle scan for meat production • Rams are brucellosis accredited • Limited number available • Rams semen available for AI (NZ and overseas)

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10 420 25 9 30 50

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Steers 852 approx Bulls 625 approx

A/c Mark Stratford 77 Stewart Road, Feilding 10th April – 12 noon start

‘A RARE OPPORTUNITY’ 35 years of breeding in this high producing, Genuine Closed herd - BW 69 PW 93 RA 99% 550 Faultless 2-8-year Ambreed Friesian to Friesian Cross cows. Big Bold cows doing 500 MS on a System 3 feed input. DTC 10th July. Also available capital line of 200 proud in-calf replacement heifers. Will calve down at 500kg liveweight. DTC 5th July BW 88 PW 104. All enquiries to Sam Cowley 0274 515 317

Contact: M.R. Skelton Central Otago 03 448 8545

Cover

Beef

GROWING NZ FARMING

Country-Wide Beef 2017 will be delivered free to over 15,000 sheep and beef farmers.

BANK THE GAINS

Publication date: May 1, 2017 Booking deadline: April 3, 2017 Book now to secure great positions in the leading beef publication Contact Nigel Ramsden, Livestock account manager today!

freephone 0800 85 25 80 email livestock@nzx.com

incl gst

Country-W

ide Beef May 2016 Country-W

$12.00

MAY 2016

ide Beef May 2016

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Friday 10th March 12.30pm AB Hereford AB Charolais Charolais Angus Simmental Hereford

TUESDAY 4TH APRIL 2017 - 1pm Heifer & Bull calves

Good quality grazing available for: Heifers Carry over cows Winter cow grazing Other species Animals are fully monitored by trained staff. All information is managed through a online system which you can view at any time.

Broadwood Weaner Steer and Bull Fair

ON-FARM DAIRY CLEARING SALE

Complete Female Dispersal

Animals Required

LIMITED

12 15 425 320 60 20

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

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Livestock 0800 85 25 80

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•

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Ltd

Breeding E EWES WES FRIESIAN BULL CALVES 120-‐170kgs 320-‐420kgs 18 320-‐420kgs 18 MTH BULLS ULLS 18 18 M TH STEERS MTH TEERS 330-‐420kgs 330-‐420kgs

Gary Falkner Jersey Marketing Service PH: 482 8771 or 07 846 4491 Contact: Callum Dunnett 027 027 590 8612

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View our website: www.brianrobinsonlivestock.com

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BRLL PH: 0272 410051 or 07 8583132 On Account DH KING, ASHBURTON 66 MA ewes 50 ram lambs 50 ewe lambs Well bred line of ewes.

STOCK REQUIRED EQUIRED

18 EIFERS MTH ANGUS & EXOTIC HEIFERS 300-‐380kgs Store LAMBS 26-‐35kgs 26-‐35kgs

DAIRY STOCK contact our Dairy Agent gent

Buy and sell livestock at

An old farmer and his son had scratched out a living on their farm for 30 years. One day the son came home yelling for joy that he had won the $1m first prize in lotto.

Clint Worthington 021 209 2236

Wiltshire Sheep - On Farm Auction “No Shearing Required”

Feilding Saleyard Complex 11.30am 9 March - Steers, Bulls & Heifers 23 March – Steers, Bulls & Heifers 5 April – Steers & Bulls 6 April – Heifers 19 April – Steers & Bulls 20 April – Heifers 3 May – Steers & Bulls 4 May – Heifers 18 May – Steers, Bulls & Heifers Further Inquiries Maurice Stewart 0272 469 255 Tony Gallen 0275 901 711

“Yeah,” said the old man, “and a bloody mean one at that!”

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz Herds 518 Fr R3yr 2nd calvers BW81 PW94 DTC 25/7 $2000. Graham Brown 027 271 4722 190 OAD young Xbreds BW72 PW84 DTC 10/7 $1850. Deone Coulter 027 498 1206

97 Fr/FrX C/O cows BW86 PW110 DTC 29/6 to Fr $1650. Andrew Gordon 027 487 2044

I/C Heifers 142 Fr/FrX hfrs BW105 PW108 DTC 3/7 Fr & Xbrd $1750. Andrew Gordon 027 487 2044 64 Fr hfrs BW126 PW138 DTC 25/8 HfdX Well grown. $1600. Paul Kane 027 286 9279 56 Xbrd hfrs BW120 PW127 DTC 1/7 To Jsy. $1650. Paul Collins 027 304 8994 44 Fr/FrX hfrs BW119 PW131 DTC 10/7 40yrs breeding. Dave Anderson 027 498 1201 37 Fr/xbred hfrs BW77 PW97 DTC 1/8 to Jsy. $1550. Dave Anderson 027 498 1201 30 J/JX hfrs BW100 PW100 DTC 23/7 pick from 44. $1550. Grant Mclean 021 775 848

Tues 14 March @ 1pm A/C Chatto Creek Farm Ltd C/- Mrs E Badman Kinney Road Chatto Creek, Central Otago (Signposted from Chatto Creek Tavern) PGG Wrightson have been instructed to offer the following capital stock, owing to our vendors pending sale of her property.

115 Fr/FrX BW79 PW117 DTC 20/7 to Fr & KiwiX $2300. Val Ditchfield 027 573 7480

More stock available on our website or contact National Dairy Coordinator Paul Kane Ph 027 286 9279. paul.kane@carrfields.co.nz

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Approx: 24 Wiltshire 2th Ewes 50 Wiltshire 4th Ewes 80 Wiltshire 6th Ewes 70 Wiltshire FM Ewes 130 Wiltshire Ewe Lambs 4 Wiltshire Ram Lambs 2 Wiltshire 2th Rams 2 Wiltshire 4th Rams Auctioneers Note: The above ewes are big, fertile, sound in the feet with short wool that sheds naturally. They milk well producing fast growing lambs with good lean heavy carcasses. The ewes and lambs will be offered in lines to suit all intending purchasers from lifestyle blocks to commercial farms. Further Inquiries John Duffy Keith Willson

027 240 3841 027 412 5766

Ross Dyer 0274 274 3 333 33 381

YOU CAN BE CERTAIN TEXEL WILL DELIVER THEIR UNIQUE AND VERY DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS BECAUSE … • First terminal sire breed to have a National Sire Reference Scheme • First terminal sire breed to put its top ram lambs through the CAT scan on an annual basis • First terminal sire breed to develop its own Lean Growth Index to reflect todays market signals • First terminal sire breed to catalogue full production records at its National ram sale • First terminal sire breed to make it mandatory to muscle scan as lambs before April 30.

LK0083843©

Up Coming Feilding & District Weaner Fair Dates

LK0086205©

The young man considered this “Well that’s a nice state of affairs,” he complained. “Of course you know what that makes me?”

Livestock 0800 85 25 80

FOR SALE DALNESS SOUTH SUFFOLK STUD Brian Robinson

SALE TALK

The old man looked at it a while. “When I was young” he said, “I never had time to smoke, drink or gamble because working the farm took all my time. In fact, I never had time to marry your Ma”.

• Up to 100 x F/FX & XB ICH’s for lease • BW102 PW119 • G3 DNA Profiled • Mated to AI; followed with jersey bulls

“Here Dad, here’s your share”, and slipped a hundred dollar note on the table.

Livestock

Outstanding genetics & potential to be one of the countries leading suppliers of Genetics to Brian Robinson Livestock the dairy industry for years to come. Full details Marketers of all dairy livestock available.

DAIRY HEIFERS FOR LEASE

North Otago/Canterbury Region Phone Blake: 021 278 8550

fed. Young replacement stock also available

www.nzsheep.co.nz/texel

Providing the most comprehensive Dairy Livestock network in New Zealand. NORTH ISLAND HERDS FOR SALE:

NORTH ISLAND HEIFERS:

SOUTH ISLAND HERDS FOR SALE:

465 M/A Frsn, X/B Cows, BW 86/46, PW 108/63. LIC Bred Herd with the Indices in the Top 10/15%, Price reduced.

102 Jsy I/C Hfrs, BW 99, PW 93. Replacement Line, Medium Size.

600 M/A X/B Cows, BW 70, PW 100. This Herd is a Performer not only in Production but also was ranked in the Top 1% last season for lowest SCC.

(Agonline Ref: 060427)

(Agonline Ref 060814)

$1,975 +GST

Peter Forrest, 0275 986 153 Straight Pick 450 from 780 Frsn/Frsn X Cows, BW 67, PW 76. Established Herd, Will Computer Split to suit, value for money here.

$2,100 +GST

(Agonline Ref: 060321)

Craig Murray, 0273 220 063

332 MA F/FX Cows, BW:90, PW:105. 19 years on the same Farm. DNA notified. Good BW/PW & RA.

$1,975 +GST

(Agonline Ref: 060658)

Regan Craig, 0275 028 585

$1,450 + GST

Allan Jones, 0272 240 768

103 FJX I/C Heifers, BW:111, PW:130. Complete Line of Heifers - Worth Inspection.

$1,600 + GST

(Agonline Ref 060773)

Callum McCrostie, 0274 728 441

63 Frsn, FJX I/C Hfrs, BW 88, PW 99. Outstanding Line of Frsn & Frsn x DNA’d (weighed 450 Kgs 23/2/17).

$1,700 + GST

(Agonline Ref 060837)

Peter Forrest, 0275 986 153

$2,200 + GST

(Agonline Ref 059819)

Stu Walsh, 0274 344 093

64 Frsn Rising 3yr old Cows, BW:110, PW:140. Rising 3yr olds, good PW, good young Cows.

$1,975 + GST

(Agonline Ref 060831)

Simon Vernon, 0274 058 248

392 M/A FFX, FJX, Jsy, JFX Cows, BW 41, PW 59. 89%. Submission Rate after 3 weeks, on target to do 365 M/S.

$1,750 + GST

(Agonline Ref 060395)

David Walker, 0272 189 526

SOUTH ISLAND HEIFERS: 20 Jersey I/C Hfrs, BW:106, PW:99. Very nice A2 Jersey I/C Hfrs. 1st April Delivery.

$1,500 +GST

(Agonline Ref: 060874)

Kevin Cunniffe, 0274 384 802

54 F/FX I/C Hfrs, BW:95, PW:80. 1 week AI LIC, due from 28 July.

150 January Calving Frsn, FFX I/C Hfrs, BW 58, PW 7. All 2014 Born Hfrs, Calving now till Mid Feb, Hfrs are in very good condition with good capacity.

$1,800 +GST

(Agonline Ref: 060220)

For photos and more information visit www.agonline.co.nz:

Ryan Dowling, 0274 347 239

$1,700 +GST

(Agonline Ref: 060681)

Victor Schikker, 0275 908 061

www.pggwrightson.co.nz

For sale photos and catalogues please visit www.agonline.co.nz/sales/upcoming#

Helping grow the country

MARKET SNAPSHOT

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Grain & Feed

MILK PRICE FORECAST ($/KGMS) 2016-17

6.38

AS OF 23/02/2017

Prior week

Last year

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

4.90

327

350

NI mutton (20kg)

3.20

2.50

294

304

SI lamb (17kg)

5.20

4.80

Feed Barley

289

287

293

SI mutton (20kg)

3.25

3.20

2.20

228

Export markets (NZ$/kg) 7.96

7.94

7.11

245

UK CKT lamb leg

Maize Grain

375

370

352

PKE

248

225

* 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

224

227

246

Corn - Nearest

201

203

211

309

313

350

South Island 1 7kg lamb

6.5 6.0

ASW Wheat

285

290

335

2500

Feed Wheat

214

279

296

2000

Feed Barley

241

244

316

1500 Apr 16 Jul 16 Oct 16 C2 Fonter r a WMP

PKE (US$/t) Ex-Malaysia

105

102

NZ venison 60kg stag

5.5

600

$/kg

3000

Jan 17 Apr 17 NZX WMP Futur es

6.0 5.5

INTERNATIONAL

APW Wheat

3500

5005.0 4004.5 300

4.0

Oct Oct

Dec Dec

Prior week

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

2980

3100

3275

SMP

2400

2495

AMF

5420

Butter

4400

Last week

Prior week

Last year

Last week

Prior week

Last year

2510

Urea

482

525

29 micron

6.65

8.95

5450

5390

Super

317

330

35 micron

3.85

3.70

5.91

4540

4290

DAP

850

39 micron

3.60

3.55

5.79

739

$/kg

350

5.5

c/k kg (net)

3250

250

3000 May

Jun

Jul

Aug

SOME nervousness crept into markets early last week ahead of United States President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress while the local market continued to focus on the reporting season. Last week also marked the end to February, which proved to be a positive month for markets on the whole. For February, the S&P-NZX 50 gained 1.66%, backing up a strong January. All three US benchmarks finished February for a fourth straight month of gains with the Dow Jones Industrial average advancing 4.8%, the S&P 500 rising 3.7% and the Nasdaq 3.8% higher. Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Graeme Wheeler stuck to the neutral guidance because domestic risks continue to be overshadowed by global risks. Wheeler emphasised that the potential shifts in US trade policy and a rise in protectionism are a large risk to the NZ economy. The rhetoric was largely unchanged from the previous statement and the market continues to see the central bank holding for the remainder of the year, barring a substantial change. Market commentary provided by Craigs Investment Partners

9702

11285

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

7176

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

7190

Feb 14

Feb 15

Feb 16

Feed barley

4 weeks ago

Sharemarket Briefing

S&P/FW AG EQUITY

150 Feb 13

NZ venison 60kg stag

600

NZ$/t

US$/t

3500

35 micron wool price

6.5

CANTERBURY FEED PRICES 450

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR

This yr

(NZ$/kg)

3750

Latest price

Last yr

AugAug

NZ average (NZ$/t)

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

Apr

JunJun

WOOL

* price as at close of business on Thursday

Mar

AprApr

FERTILISER

Last price*

2750

Feb Feb

5‐yr ave

NZX DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) Nearby contract

5.35

Australia (NZ$/t)

4000

Last year

5.35

Feed Wheat

Waikato (NZ$/t)

Jan 17 AgriHQ Seasonal

Last week Prior week

NI lamb (17kg)

Milling Wheat

PKE

Oct 16 AgriHQ Spot Fonterra forecast

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

c/kkg (net)

$/kgMS

MILK PRICE COMPARISON

US$/t

Last week Canterbury (NZ$/t)

6.00

8 7 6 5 4 3 Jul 16

SHEEP MEAT

DOMESTIC

AGRIHQ 2016-17

FONTERRA 2016-17

Sheep

$/kg

Dairy

Feb 17

PKE spot

Auckland International Airport Limited

YTD High

YTD Low

7.26

7.43

6.31

Meridian Energy Limited

2.72

2.77

2.57

Fletcher Building Limited Spark New Zealand Limited Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd Ryman Healthcare Limited Mercury NZ Limited (NS) Contact Energy Limited Vector Limited Port of Tauranga Limited (NS)

9.73 3.53 9.28 8.83 3.11 4.86 3.27 4.39

10.86 3.71 9.31 9.05 3.15 5.02 3.30 4.52

9.45 3.41 8.50 8.17 2.94 4.65 3.15 3.86

Listed Agri Shares

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

Company

YTD High

YTD Low

The a2 Milk Company Limited

2.370

2.850

2.060

Cavalier Corporation Limited

0.570

0.810

0.570

Comvita Limited

7.490

8.020

6.000

Delegat Group Limited

6.200

6.300

5.650

Foley Family Wines Limited

1.500

1.480

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

6.260

6.400

5.990

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

2.600

2.610

2.550

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

1.350

1.420

1.270

PGG Wrightson Limited

0.540

0.550

0.490

Sanford Limited (NS)

7.500

7.750

6.700

Scales Corporation Limited

3.500

3.650

3.320

Seeka Limited

5.000

4.300

Tegel Group Holdings Limited

1.290

1.460

1.260

S&P/FW Primary Sector

9702

9716

9307

S&P/FW Agriculture Equity

11285

11571

10899

S&P/NZX 50 Index

7176

7180

6971

S&P/NZX 10 Index

7190

7254

7047

NEW Zealand’s biggest This Prior Last NZD vs trading bank has given up week week year temporarily on its view of USD 0.7227 0.7232 0.6629 a sharp fall in the kiwi over EUR 0.6839 0.6781 0.6061 the next year, and tweaked AUD 0.9375 0.9397 0.9293 its forecasts higher. “It was overdue to be GBP 0.5777 0.5795 0.4781 fair,” senior ANZ Bank Correct as of 9am last Friday economist Phil Borkin said. “Some of the things we thought would play out haven’t done, so far.” ANZ still believed in the NZ dollar eventually falling over time. It did fall quite sharply mid-week from above US$0.72 to just above 0.7050 on the back of strong United States labour market and inflation data and speeches from Federal Reserve members pointing to possible interest rate hikes at its March 15 meetings. Markets lifted the chances of a rate hike from 40% to about 90% over the week, and this drove the currency move, Borkin said. Markets would have been watching Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen over the weekend for further signals one way or the other. ANZ’s core view was that the Fed would normalise interest rate policy, and this would support the US dollar and push the kiwi gradually lower. ANZ now expects the kiwi to be at US$0.70 by June this year (previously 0.67), and at 0.68 by year-end (from 0.64). The kiwi is also seen higher against sterling (£0.58 at year-end from 0.54) and the euro (€0.68 from 0.64). A short-term fall to A0.92 is expected ahead of 0.94 at year-end. Alan Williams

Markets

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

SI SLAUGHTER STAG

NI SLAUGHTER LAMB

SI SLAUGHTER STEER

($/KG)

MEDIUM PRIME EWES AT FEILDING

($/KG)

($/HD)

5.35

8.15

5.30

Cattle & Deer

high lights

$1100-$1275

$2.25-$2.35/kg

R2 Angus steers, 325390kg, at Canterbury Park

Empty Friesian heifers, 380-435kg, at Coalgate

More photos: farmersweekly.co.nz

BEEF Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.35

NI Bull (300kg)

5.30

5.35

NI Cow (200kg)

4.20

4.30

SI Steer (300kg)

5.30

5.20

SI Bull (300kg)

4.90

4.70

SI Cow (200kg)

4.00

3.80

US imported 95CL bull

6.79

6.94

7.37

US domestic 90CL cow

6.39

6.35

7.11

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) 6.0

$/kg

600 5.0

c/k kg (net)

ALL IN: John Hope manages the stock at the recent Tuakau sale.

NZ venison 60kg stag

5.5

500

4.5

400

4.0

300

3.5

Oct Oct

Dec Dec

Feb Feb

5‐yr ave

Apr Apr

Jun Jun

Last yr

Aug Aug This yr

VENISON Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week Prior week

Last year

NI Stag (60kg)

8.00

7.30

NI Hind (50kg)

7.90

7.20

SI Stag (60kg)

8.15

7.30

SI Hind (50kg)

8.05

7.20

New Zealand venison (60kg Stag)

9.5

c/k kg (net) $/kg

8.5

NZ venison 60kg stag

600 7.5 500

6.5 400

300

5.5 Oct

Oct

Dec Dec 5‐yr ave

Feb Feb

Apr Apr Last yr

Jun Jun

Aug Aug This yr

Photos: Sarah Brook

Lamb markets continue to climb

OTH the North and South Island lamb markets moved forward last week, with grass driving demand. Outside buyers have almost all been pushed out of the market at Stortford Lodge, as a large gathering of local buyers look to restock now that grass and crops have responded to the rain. Hawkes Bay buyers have also had a big presence at Feilding as well, while in the South Island cropping farmers are now entering the market.

NORTHLAND NORTHLAND A smaller yarding of store cattle at WELLSFORD last Monday sold on a firm market, though quality was mixed, with small lines dominating. R2 heifers made up 60% of the yarding, and included a nice line up of Angus-Friesian, 316-332kg, which sold on a firm market at $2.88-$2.90/ kg, while a line of 324kg HerefordFriesian managed $2.99/kg. Lesser quality Hereford-cross, 312-330kg, sold at a 16c/kg discount to those lines, though still made very good values at $2.72-$2.74/kg. Most of the

R2 steer section was also Herefordcross, and at 278-369kg, returned $2.82-$2.91/kg. Weaner cattle lines were small and mixed, but the top Hereford-Friesian steers made $645-$670, and beef-Friesian heifers, $485-$535. The cattle market held the previous week’s lift at KAIKOHE last Wednesday, with local buyers sourcing cattle, PGG Wrightson agent Vaughan Vujcich reported. Throughput lifted to 550, with R2

Continued page 38

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Markets

38 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017 and weaner cattle making up the majority.R3 steers were mainly dairy and dairy-cross, and good demand saw them firm to $2.75-$2.80/kg, while Angus steers traded to $2.90/kg. Autumn-born Angus-cross, 367kg, fetched $3.00/kg, with 258kg Simmental-cross selling to $3.10/ kg. Hereford-Friesian, 210-225kg, sold for $700-$750 at $3.20-$3.30/ kg. R2 bulls sold to a competitive bench, and the mainly Angus and Friesian line-up returned $2.70-$2.80/kg, while in the heifer pens Angus and Angus-Hereford earned $2.80-$2.90/kg, and empty Friesian’s $2.10-$2.25/kg.A large offering of weaner Friesian bulls were popular, and at 110-140kg, sold freely for $560-$620, while Hereford-Friesian heifers, 110130kg, returned $490-$520. A mostly Friesian offering of cows sold well, and the top lines made $1.85-$1.95/kg, with lighter types earning $1.60/kg. Heavy beef cows hovered around $2.00/kg. AUCKLAND AUCKLAND Recent rain and improving schedules was felt in the pens at PUKEKOHE on Saturday 25th February, with both the prime and store markets strong.The best of the prime steers traded at $2.76$2.81/kg, with one line pushing to $2280, while a lighter line, 425kg, managed $2.90/kg. Heifers, 507-553kg, returned $2.54-$2.60/ kg, while service bulls, 585-732kg, made $2.70-$2.73/kg. Boner cows, 398-565kg, sold for $1.58-$1.84/ kg. In the store pens, R2 steers sold very well, with 337-392kg earning $2.93-$3.03/kg, while lighter crossbred lines, 325-335kg, made $2.75-$2.80/kg. The top store heifers were medium types, and at 371-391kg, sold on a firm market at $2.64-$2.86/kg, while plainer types, 275-290kg, returned $660-$800.Weaners proved popular, and good steers, 276kg, made $910, while 179-210kg returned $630-$780. Heifers also sold well, and 171-182kg fetched $530-$680. COUNTIES COUNTIES TUAKAU hosted a special weaner heifer fair last Thursday, with about 700 cattle on offer, Kane Needham of PGG Wrightson reported. The sale drew a good bench of buyers, and recent rain boosted buyer confidence. Demand was steady and prices were similar to those achieved at the same sale last year. Top autumn-born Angus heifers, 343kg, $1005, and good Simmental, 248kg, earned $900. Charolais heifers, 237kg, traded at $840, with a South Devon lot, 195kg, fetching $705. Angus heifers, 230kg, made $760, and Hereford-Friesian, 183kg, $740. The market for a medium-sized yarding of prime cattle lifted by 5-10c/kg last Wednesday. Steer and heifer numbers were light, with boner cows dominating the yarding. Heavy steers traded at $2.77-$2.81/kg, good-medium, $2.73-$2.77/kg and lighter, $2.70/ kg. A 620kg Hereford-Friesian lot made the top rate in the heifer section, fetching $2.79/kg. Goodmedium heifers earned $2.73$2.76/kg and lighter, $2.67-$2.71/ kg. The cow section included an entry of empty Friesians,

640kg, which sold at $2.27/kg. Good-medium cows traded at $1.70-$1.85/kg and lighter boners $1.50-$1.65/kg. A Hereford bull, 950kg, fetched $2.33/kg, with another Hereford, 515kg, bought for breeding at $3.20/kg. Prices for prime and store lambs lifted at last Monday’s sheep sale. The best of the primes made $112, good-medium $104$105, and lighter $92-$96. Good store lambs fetched $70-$77 and light, $50-$60. The best of the heavy prime ewes made $89, good-medium $65-$75, and light, $45-$50. BAY OF PLENTY BAY OF PLENTY RANGIURU offered up a yarding of small lines of dairy and dairy-cross cattle, which sold to a competitive bench of buyers.A shortage of killable cattle, and solid returns at the processors saw any cattle fitting the bill sell well, with prime steers trading at $2.76$2.80/kg, and the top R3 Hereford and Hereford-cross heifers, 490-495kg, $2.69/kg. A small line of 3-year Simmental bulls, 770kg, sold to $2330 at $3.03/ kg. The R2 heifer pens housed the most cattle, and HerefordFriesian, 385-386kg, sold on a firm market at $2.70-$2.72/kg, though Friesian, 379-391kg, made just $2.26/kg. Hereford-cross sat in

topped the section, with 354389kg making $2.90-$3.02/kg. Hereford also made top dollar in the bull pens, with a small line of 513kg making $3.02/kg, while Angus, 491kg, returned $2.73/kg. Jersey-cross, 247-350kg, fetched $2.49-$2.54/kg. Weaner numbers were low with most found in the bull pens, and Friesian, 148183kg, sold very well at $540-$660. TARANAKI TARANAKI STRATFORD held a combined sale last Wednesday, and within the 400 head yarding there was something for everyone, New Zealand Farmers Livestock agent Stephen Sutton reported.While the entire yarding sold to high demand, prime cattle were a highlight, and Hereford-Friesian steers, 653kg, fetched $2.92/kg, with other lines at $2.80-$2.85/kg. Even the lesser quality crossbred cattle sold well at $2.75/kg. Heifers quickly followed suit, and prime beef-cross traded at $2.76/kg, with most other lines returning $2.60-$2.70/kg. A line of well-presented Friesian heifers, 590kg, managed to sell to $2.71/ kg. Prices were solid for R3 bulls, and Friesian, 554-588kg, earned $2.80-$2.90/kg, while beef bulls, 670-720kg, made $2.95-$2.97/ kg.Hereford-Friesian also featured in the R2 pens, with the top steer

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HAWKE’S BAY HAWKE’S BAY Strong demand for all stock resulted in high prices posted at STORTFORD LODGE last week, though store lambs stood out from the bunch, with a big yarding selling to a larger bench of local buyers, which lifted prices for the second week running.A very small offering of prime lambs sold on a buoyant market last Monday, with 12 ram lambs making $110-$126, while the remainder of the yarding was mixed sex. Heavy types made $106-$109, with the rest, $81-$94. The ewe section stood out for all the right reasons. Prices lifted for the 1100 yarding, and top lines pushed to $120-$122, with heavy types earning $90-$95. Most were medium-good, which traded at $81-$84, with lighter types earning $70-$76.Cattle numbers increased last week, though only to 83, and half the yarding were Angus steers. These were sold empty, and at 542-576kg, returned $2.90-$2.91/kg. Heifer quality was mixed, which was reflected in the prices, with all lines at $2.51$2.62/kg, including Angus-cross, 455-473kg. Cow prices were solid, with one line of Angus-cross, 619kg, earning $1.99/kg, and Angus, 480kg, $2.07/kg. Good responses of grass and crops to recent rain drew

+ +

incorporating iFarm

the middle at $2.46-$2.56/kg. The ever popular Hereford-Friesian stood out in the steer pens, with one line of 12 354kg earning $2.97/kg, while 380-442kg made $2.78-$2.84/kg. Friesian bulls, 406kg, returned $2.61/kgDemand for weaners was solid, and a consignment of Hereford-Friesian heifers sold for $520-$620, while Friesian bulls, 115kg, made $450, and 142-153kg, $565-$600. A line of 12 very good Hereford-Friesian, 269kg, sold exceptionally well at $890. Boner cow numbers were low as most dairy farmers opt to milk on cull cows, and those offered mainly traded at $1.67$1.80/kg. WAIKATO Despite a large number of small lines being offered at FRANKTON last Wednesday, the popular breeds sold over tight cents-perkilogram bands, as buyers stuck firmly to budgets.A small offering of R3 crossbred steers sold for $2.78-$2.84/kg, while the better quality and weighted R2 beefcross returned $2.81-$2.92/kg. Friesian, 352-413kg, also made positive returns at $2.65-$2.70/ kg. R2 heifers were the highlight, with prices firm to lifting, and Hereford-Friesian, 383-526kg, sold over a tight range at $2.67$2.76/kg. Hereford-cross, 425452kg, fetched $2.64-$2.70/kg, though straight Hereford lines

lines, 405-435kg, trading at $2.90/ kg, while a lighter line at 385kg managed $3.04/kg. Lesser quality Friesian-cross sold well at $2.60/ kg. Heifer’s consistently traded for $2.60-$2.70/kg, with most 340400kg, while empty dairy heifers sold for $900-$1100, $2.25-$2.35/ kg. The bull section was mainly 18-month Jersey, with prices firm at $830-$1000, $2.40-$2.60/kg. A good entry of cows was offered, with around 70 mainly dairy. Heavy types, 550-600kg, sold on a very competitive market at $1.87$1.90/kg, with medium earning $1.85-$1.90/kg, and lighter lines, $1.65-$1.75/kg. POVERTY BAY POVERTY BAY Another decent sized offering of lambs found even better interest at MATAWHERO last week. The rapid change in confidence in store lambs meant values lifted to a similar extent as other North Island sales. Heavy male lambs started at $85 but went as far as $90, while medium-to-smaller types were regularly at $70.50$77.50. The lighter end of ewe lambs went for $66-$69, while medium-to-heavier lines were at $70.50-$77. A handful of mixed sex lines sold between male and ewe lamb values. Prime mixed aged and twotooth ewes made $66-$78, with a few prime lambs trading at $88.50-$100.

out more local buyers last Wednesday, and 8500 lambs sold to a competitive bench, with prices lifting $3. Numbers were boosted by lambs from Gisborne and Wairoa, with quality mainly good. Much of the focus was on a big yarding of male lambs, with prime types making $95-$109, while forward stores returned $82-$93, and light, $70-$80. Top ewe lambs returned $80-$88, with lighter lines not far off the mark at $65-$79. A small offering of mixed sex mainly traded at $85-$117.Specially advertised breeding ewes sold to local buyers as replacement ewes. Two lines of run-with-the-ram 2-tooths punched above their breeding at $121-$123, while MA Romdale made $110-$117, and the top Romney’s, $109-$122.Chatham Island cattle filled most pens for the store cattle sale, and again it was a local bench that dominated most of the market, though some of the R2 steers did head outside the region. 18-month Chatham Island’s Hereford steers, 285-304kg, returned $950-$1020 at $3.33-$3.36/kg, while the Hereford-Angus lines traded at $820-$1100. A line of straight Angus, 410kg, finished off the R2 steer section, selling for $3.13/kg. R2 heifers made up nearly 50% of the total yarding, and Hereford, 256-267kg, made $2.93-$3.11/kg, while the top Angus line, 325kg,

returned $3.09/kg. Friesian were off the pace though, and 339370kg sold for $725-$870, with the heavier lines trading at $2.31$2.35/kg. MANAWATU MANAWATU The grass market continues to play its hand at RONGOTEA, with steady demand for weaner cattle, and other sections firming, New Zealand Farmers Livestock agent Darryl Harwood reported. Most sections had few numbers, which also kept the pressure on. The older cattle consisted of 3-year Hereford bulls, 845kg, at $2.37/kg, and R3, 585-610kg, $2.46-$2.56/kg. Jersey, 260-484kg, returned $2.13-$2.41/kg, while beef bulls, 645kg, sold to $2.71/kg. Boner Friesian cows, 515-540kg, were steady at $1.66-$1.72/kg, with values similar for crossbred. In-calf crossbred cows traded at $1210-$1450, and Jersey heifers, $740Heifers were the only R2 cattle to speak of, and demand was strong, with HerefordFriesian, 332-510kg, earning $2.51-2.71/kg, while beef-cross, 355-455kg, returned $2.52-$2.68/ kg. Friesian heifers, 431kg, made $2.60/kg.The buyers came out for the weaners, and vendors were well rewarded. A small offering of steers included Hereford-Friesian, 113-140kg, $640, and crossbred, 150kg, $445. Bull numbers were much larger, and Friesian, 215kg, returned $630, and 100-142kg, $400-$460. Hereford-Friesian, 95-122kg, fetched $470-$605, with Charolais bulls, 95kg, earning $460. Crossbred finished off the section, and at 165-215kg, made $504-$550.Heifer prices were equally as strong, with HerefordFriesian, 140-165kg, making $605$610, and 98-116kg, $490-$550. Angus-cross, 123-158kg, sold for $525-$640, and Charolais-cross, 110kg, $575. Dairy, and lesser lines still sold well, and Friesian, 148-222kg, made $380-$580, with crossbred, 165-192kg, at $390$460.Store pigs returned $75-$90, and weaners $70-$72, while in the sheep pens mixed age ewes sold for $51-$88, ram lambs, $115$121, and mixed sex, $80-$84. Cattle numbers came up, while sheep numbers dropped at FEILDING last Monday, though all markets were very competitive. Just over 2000 prime lambs was a fall on recent numbers, with prices lifting as buyers pushed harder. Most lambs traded at $93-$129, with the lifts also flowing through to the ewe pens, where heavy ewes made $91-$107, medium $74-$89, and light, $50-$68.A bigger yarding of dairy cattle lifted numbers in the rostrum, though still only to 82 head. Friesian cows made up the bulk, and prices were firm, with 443-540kg earning $1.77-$1.88/kg, and 368kg, $1.90/kg. The Friesian heifer market was also firm, and 330-347kg returned $2.58-$2.64/ kg. Service bulls featured Murray Grey, 697-770kg, at $2.75-$2.77/ kg, and Friesian, 598-650kg, $2.74-$2.79/kg. Calf sales also started last Monday, albeit slowly with 35 offered. Prices were strong though, and Friesian bulls returned $260-$330, HerefordFriesian $320-$350, and heifers, $325. Another larger offering of lambs at Friday’s store sale tested the buyer’s resolve somewhat and this

Markets

resulted in a slight downwards correction in the sale prices, mainly for the lighter and longer term lambs that were so strong the previous week. The top price of $101 for 246 shorn ram lambs was a full $10 below the previous week’s top but that was not a true market indication with the overall market move only a couple of dollars. The per kilo range was reasonably tight showing that, in general, the buyers had their eye in. The ewe lamb section did not offer the weight or quality of the male lambs and $90 was top price. Once again, buyers came from most of the lower and eastern North Island. Ewes; two-tooths, $105-$112; MA, $86-$111; grazing, $63$87; Lambs; Heavy, $86-$101; medium-to-heavy, $84-$91; lightto-medium, $74.50-$83. Cattle entries were again low and the buyers responded by lifting their sights on the better beef cattle. Much of the yarding were dairy cross with a larger entry of dairy weaner bulls again. No older steers were yarded but some lines of eighteen month steers offered weight and the pick was a pen of 22 Angus and AngusHereford steers selling for $1525, $3.03. The situation was similar in the bull section with a handful of older bulls and many weaner bulls again, which did ease today. Heifers followed the pattern of the steers and lifted. Older prime heifers sold for $1645, $2.69, and the eighteen month heifers lifted with the weaner heifers steady. Steers; R2, 285-503 kg, $880$1525, $2.63-$3.65; R1, 114-116 kg, $550-$570, $4.82-$4.91; Bulls; R2, 418-510 kg, $1255-$1310, $2.56-$3.00; R1, 112-300 kg, $430$865, $2.88-$4.27; Heifers; 3yr, 611 kg, $1645, $2.69; R2, 203-402 kg, $510-$1130, $2.08-$3.49; R1, 77191 kg, $300-$670, $2.88-$4.94. For full reports on these sales visit agrihq.co.nz/farmer CANTERBURY CANTERBURY Traditional store cattle drew a good crowd at CANTERBURY PARK last Tuesday, with most lines offered due to the continuing dry conditions. Sheep prices lifted on the back of increased demand. Store lamb numbers bumped up to 4300, but the market was resilient, with light lambs firm, and heavier types steady. A small offering of ewe lambs returned $75-$83, while male lambs traded at $77-$82, with all lighter lambs selling over $3/kg. Mixed sex made up the bulk of the yarding, and light types returned $65-$70, medium $74-$82, and the tops, $83-$90. A shortage of killable stock had more buyers searching in the sale yard, and prime lambs held at $80-$119, while ewe prices lifted $3-$5. Heavy ewes traded at $90-$130, though most offered were medium-good and sold for $65-$85.The prime cattle market was solid, though steer prices reflected a lesser quality line-up than seen of late. A larger percentage sold in the $2.75-$2.88/kg range, rather than hitting $2.90/kg, which was reserved for high yielding exotic. Heifers sold well, and local trade through to the export mainly returned $2.72-$2.80/kg, with one line to $2.86/kg. The better bulls also hit that range, while beef cows returned $2.05-$2.15/

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017

FULL HOUSE: Scenes at last week’s Stortford Lodge sale. More photos: farmersweekly.co.nz

kg, with better Friesian at $1.80$1.95/kg.Very dry conditions through Canterbury saw farmers push the offload button on quality traditional cattle, with 18-month and 15-month Angus and Angus-Hereford featuring. Angus steers, 325-393kg, made $1100-$1275 at $3.18/kg plus, with Angus-Hereford making similar values. Angus heifer prices were very strong, and 18-month, 305-359kg, made $920-$1070, while 15-month, 284-289kg, sold to $3.44-$3.47/kg, with per head prices at $985-$995. HerefordFriesian were well off that pace in both the steer and heifer sections, though still sold well. Steers, 341-431kg, returned $1010-$1150, with the lighter lines making $2.96-$2.99/kg, and heavier, $2.62-$2.73/kg. Hereford-Friesian heifers, 337-417kg, fetched $2.72$2.80/kg. Good results out of the store lamb pens at COALGATE last Thursday were led by an increase in demand for a better quality yarding. The cattle pens featured a large number of heifers, with both empty dairy heifers, and Hereford-Friesian on offer.Store lamb numbers were moderate at 1600, but the yarding was split into two price ranges, with half making $80-$88, and the remainder $71-$78. Groundhog Day in the prime lamb pens saw a very steady market at $80-$119, while light to medium ewes firmed to $60-$85, with heavy lines earning $90-$115.Empty dairy heifers made up most of the prime cattle section, and good demand saw prices firm. Most

were Friesian, 380-435kg, and sold over a consistent range at $2.23-$2.36/kg. Prime beef heifers sold in smaller numbers, but prices also showed improvement, with $2.76-$2.90/kg common. The best of the steers traded at $2.86-$2.95/kg.Heifers also filled most of the store section, though this time were Hereford-Friesian. These sold to high demand, with 377-389kg making $2.85-$2.89/ kg. Hereford-Friesian steers, 340kg, returned $3.10/kg, while 10 Friesian bulls, 369kg, made $2.76/ kg. SOUTH CANTERBURY SOUTH CANTERBURY The change to weekly cattle sales are proving necessary at TEMUKA, with a further 1000 cattle offered last Thursday. The mainly dairy-beef line up was mixed in quality but the market was solid. The bigger sale followed on from increased numbers at last Monday’s sale. Cattle numbers lifted at TEMUKA last Monday, which made purchasing slightly easier, though the markets were still very strong, reflecting holding schedules and low numbers of cattle heading to the processors. Sheep markets were buoyant, with a bigger yarding of store lambs the highlight.Three consignments of store lambs boosted numbers to 3400, and, with light lambs lifted in price, while medium to heavy were mainly steady. Medium-good male lambs traded at $77-$90, while light mixed sex lifted to $60-$75, and better types, $76-$89.A moderate yarding of prime lambs firmed $2-$4, with

the majority making $80-$118, and top lambs, $120-$128. Ewe’s also mostly sold in the $80-$119 bracket, with a lighter end at $50-$79.High prices drew out a bigger yarding of cattle, and both the heifer and cow pens had over 200 head, plus 100 bulls. Hereford was prominent through the steer and heifer pens, and steers, 450-590kg, made $2.74-$2.84/kg, while heifers, 520-592kg, returned $2.72-$2.81/kg, and 453-520kg, $2.62-$2.72/kg. Angus heifers sold for a premium at $2.75-$2.85/ kg, while the top Friesian made $2.40-$2.60/kg, though other lines dropped below $2/kg. Of the 100 bulls offered, 73 were Jersey, with the top lines selling well at $2.70$2.79/kg, medium $2.61-$2.71/kg, and the lesser types, $2.41-$2.51/ kg. The yarding of 266 cows was mainly Friesian, and prices eased for lighter types. Heavy lines held up, with 500kg plus starting at $1.79/kg, and selling to $1.99/kg, but 425-475kg came back in price to $1.59/kg. Areas through Mid and South Canterbury are drying off, which is keeping a steady flow of cattle coming to the store cattle sale. Most of the action was in the R2 steer and heifer pens as well as the weaner heifer and bull sections and though quality was mixed, prices were at, or above expectations. The pick of the R2 steers were small lines of AngusHereford, 310-315kg, at $2.95$3.03/kg, and Hereford-Friesian, 342-368kg, $2.95-$3.04/kg. A big offering of R2 heifers were popular, and a consignment of later-born Hereford stood out, with 215-270kg earning $3.07/kg, while Angus-Hereford, 250-287kg, made $3.00/kg. Plenty of potential in a line of 412kg HerefordFriesian saw them sell to $3.06/kg, while most other lines traded at $2.80-$2.90/kg. The empty dairy heifer market came back, with 345-373kg Friesian making $2.35$2.41/kg, and Friesian & Friesiancross, 359-378kg, $2.17-$2.29/ kg. Weaner quality was mixed but returns were above expectations. Friesian bulls, 115-132kg, made $475-$545, and Hereford-Friesian, 157-168kg, $560-$635, while heifers, 100-154kg, fetched $470$600. OTAGO OTAGO Prime lambs regained ground lost the previous week at BALCLUTHA, while store lamb prices were more mixed, though still sold well, PGG Wrightson agent Emmett Sparrow reported. Heavy store lambs eased to $78-$81, though medium types remained steady at $70-$75, and lighter lines firmed to $63-$67.A good sized yarding of prime lambs met improved competition from the bench, and the market lifted on last week. Heavy lambs traded at $107-$114, medium $92-$102, and lighter prime $83$89. In the ewe pens heavy types improved to $100-$119, though medium and light lines eased to $80-$92 and $70-$73 respectively. Two-tooth ewes returned $84$105, and rams, $90. SOUTHLAND SOUTHLAND The week started off quietly enough at LORNVILLE, with the usual sale last Tuesday, but Wednesday and Thursday saw 2000 traditional R2 steers and

heifers on offer for the Southern Man Cattle Fair. The sheep markets last Tuesday were similar to the previous week, with a few exceptions to the rule. Store lamb prices were steady to firm, with top lines earning $78-$84, medium $66-$74, and light $40-$63. Quality was better in the prime lamb pens, and prices were firm, with heavy lambs at $106-$118, medium $98-$104, and lighter, $89-$93. The firm theme continued into the ewe pens, where heavy types traded at $110-$131, medium $91-$109, and lighter, $69-$84.Breeding ewes consisted of Romney 3-shear at $140, 4-shear $108, and 5-shear, $106.A small offering of prime cattle sold to mixed results. Steers were missing from the line up, and the beef-cross heifers did not have the yield and made $2.40-$2.50/kg. Dairy heifers were steady at $2.10-$2.40/kg, and medium, $2.00/kg. Bulls, 400-430kg, returned $2.50/kg. In the cow pens, 400-500kg lines traded at $2.00-$2.20/kg, though lesser dairy lines dropped away to $1.35-$1.60/kg. Sales continued last Wednesday and Thursday, with the Southern Man Cattle Fair split between the two days due to an increase in number. Exotic and Traditional steers were on sold last Wednesday, and a big bench of buyers from Otago, Central Otago and South Canterbury set the market alight, PGG Wrightson agent Andy Yule reported. Most steers were purchased for feedlots, and with line sizes up to 60-65 head, buyers appreciated the ease in filling trucks. Prices were some of the best seen nationwide, and exotic steers, 430-480kg, made $3.20$3.30/kg and 380-400kg, $3.30$3.40/kg. The mainly Angus and Angus-Hereford steers were by far the highlight, and 420kg plus returned $3.20-$3.40/kg, while most of the yarding fitted in the 370-420kg range and made $3.50$3.60/kg, putting $1330-$1470 on their heads. Cents-per-kilogram continued to climb as the weights dropped, and 300-330kg managed $3.60-$3.80/kg.Thursday saw dairy-beef steers and all heifers go under the hammer. The Hereford-Friesian steers were off the pace of the previous day, though still respectable, with 450kg plus earning $2.80-$2.90/ kg, 380-450kg, $2.90-$3.00/kg, and 350-380kg, $3.00-$3.10/kg. Heifer prices were very consistent, and the top traditional lines, 350380kg, made $3.00-$3.25/kg, with most other lines, and including Hereford-Friesian, returned $2.80-$2.90/kg. Most sections of the sheep sale at CHARLTON last Thursday regained ground lost the previous week. Demand climbed and prime sheep lifted $5-$6, PGG Wrightson agent David Morrision reported.A small offering of store lambs sold to good demand, which firmed prices. Heavy lambs made $77, medium $65-$70, and light, $58-$60. Improvements were also made in the prime lamb pens, with heavy lines returning $119, medium $95-$105, and light, $90-$94. The theme continued into the ewe pens, where heavy ewes lifted to $133, with medium firm at $95-$110, though light ewes stayed steady at $65-$70.

Markets

40 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – March 6, 2017 SI SLAUGHTER MUTTON

NI SLAUGHTER COW

35 MICRON WOOL

($/KG)

GOOD MIXED SEX LAMBS AT CANTERBURY PARK

($/KG)

($/HD)

4.20

3.25

3.85

$3.50-$3.60/kg high lights R2 Traditional steers,

Fine-wool market booming Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com

ECENT Merino ewe fairs at Omarama and Tekapo again highlighted the booming fine-wool market. About 5500 annual-draft ewes came off the high country to Omarama in very good condition for the late February sale, and recorded a top price of $97, compared with last year’s top of $62, PGG Wrightson South Canterbury-based agents Joe Higgins and Jonty Hislop reported. The top lines sold from $83 upwards, mediums from $72 to $82, and this year there were no lines under $68 a head. The market moved on to Tekapo the same day for a yarding of 7500 ewes, and prices took another step up, with a top of $166 for a sixyear ewe, with a five-year at $155, four-year at $133, and a line of two-tooths at $140. The remainder of the top cuts made $95 to $110, and mediums were in the $85$95 range. The Tekapo prices were at a premium because several of the high-country properties supplying stock have good access to irrigation, so the weights were higher, Hislop said. As well, ewes from Balmoral Station and The Wolds Station in the Mackenzie country are traditionally sought-after and some

HIGH DEMAND: Higher weights mean ewes from the Mackenzie Basin, including Balmoral Station, have been sought-after recently by buyers.

buyers coming from the Omarama sale without the numbers they were after soon bid the prices up. “Having 15-micron to 18-micron wool selling in the $18/kg to $22/kg range makes a big difference to the aggression on the buying bench.” The ewes will have 2kg to 2.5kg of wool on them now, and will build up to 3.5-4kg by pre-lamb shearing in August-September. “That’s $75 to $80 for a start, and then you’ve got the value of the lamb.” Prices of six-year Merinos,

at about $160 were “getting up there, and as good as you’ll see in a wee while”. Buyers at that level would likely be going into a breeding programme or at least want two good years of breeding to complement the wool value. Most of the buyers were topping up on their flock numbers, and others rebuilding. Irrigation is a major factor in the market, Hislop said. Not only are ewes coming to the fairs in better condition because of it, irrigation also allows those properties to

increase their own carrying capacity, so they are selling less. Yardings now could be half of what they were four to five years ago, leaving a demandsupply issue. Buyers were from the traditional Merino farming areas from Central Otago through to Marlborough. The ewe fairs came a week after very good prices for Merino lambs at Omarama and Tekapo. These two ewe fairs wrap up the big sales, but there would be some farm sales for a while yet, Hislop said.

$70-$75

Light ewe lambs at 370-420kg, at Lorneville’s Stortford Lodge Southern Man Cattle Fair

Finished stock hard to find THE catchphrase “shortage of finished stock” is commonly heard in the industry at present, with a nationwide shortage of stock heading to the processors that isn’t just limited to lamb, or steer, or Suz Bremner boner cows but spread across all AgriHQ Analyst classes. While all classes would be worth spending some time mulling over as to why there is such a shortage, the manufacturing cow job is an interesting one to focus on at present. Since autumn is now upon us, traditionally we would’ve already seen a lift in cull dairy cow numbers heading to auction, as well as those directly to the processors. Don’t get me wrong, there are numbers coming out, but compared to previous years they are well down, and there are a number of reasons for that. There’s no doubt in my mind that the physical number of cows is not an issue – dairy conversion has been widespread, so there’s certainly plenty around. Instead, farmers are opting to keep more at home to milk on, made easier this year by most areas – excluding dry areas through Canterbury – now having enough grass cover to carry the extra mouths. Also autumn and winter milking contracts are available, and have made keeping extra mouths more attractive, with farmers literally milking the old girls for all they can. Some areas have also suffered drought over the past few years that meant offloading more cows and heifers than was normal, which means that now is restock time. And what do fewer manufacturing cows, but the usual demand for them mean? It means more in the back pocket for vendors, with a definite increase in auction prices. Temuka is a great example of how much prices have changed for Friesian cows in the past few years. Good yielding, 500kg-plus, are presently trading at $1.85-$1.95/kg LW, compared to averages of $1.25-$1.45/kg LW for the period 201315, with 2016 at $1.60-$1.70/kg LW. suz.bremner@nzx.com

MORE FROM AGRIHQ: MARKET SNAPSHOT MARKET WRAP

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Autumn 2017 Property Pull-Out March 6, 2017

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BEEFING UP: There has been an extra 23 rural real estate sales in Otago in the three months to the end of January compared to the same period last year, Real Estate Institute of New Zealand figures show.

Otago sales away Alan Williams alan.williams@nzx.com

TAGO again had the greatest increase year-on-year in rural real estate sales in the three months to the end of January. Compared to the same period last year it had 23 extra sales, ahead of an increase of 13 in Wellington and 10 in Bay of Plenty, according to Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) figures. There was strong activity in sales of sheep and beef breeding and finishing units in Otago, and the area appeared very resilient with sales volumes reasonable for the time of the year, REINZ rural real estate spokesman Brian Peacocke said. Indications were that there were also a number of properties signed-up on a conditional basis in the province, likely to show up in February’s figures. Otago also

had the biggest increase in sales in the December period compared with a year earlier. Nationally, sales of finishing properties as well as arable and horticulture units fell significantly during the latest January period. For some finishing properties there were concerns about volatility of income, environmental compliance issues and ongoing drought conditions in eastern districts of both the North and South islands, though recent rains have lessened worries in the North Island at least. This caution and uncertainty was leading to frustration with transactions taking time to come together. There was also a general shortage of finishing farms on the market around the country. Despite coinciding with the holiday period, sale volumes for dairy and grazing farms were reasonably consistent, Peacocke said. Waikato had the most active dairy farm market, with some very strong sales where properties

adjoined city or industrial boundaries. There were also reasonable sales of smaller grazing properties, though there was an insufficient number of finishing farms to meet demand.

Waikato had the most active dairy farm market, with some very strong sales where properties adjoined city or industrial boundaries. There was also considerable concern in Waikato over the regional council’s Healthy Rivers proposals, especially the potential effect on sheep and beef farms, whereas dairy farms had benefited from being involved in the Clean Streams Accord. In other areas, Taranaki had reduced turnover after a busy sales run in December. Good dairy

farms continue to sell strongly. In Canterbury, there was moderate sales activity for dairy, finishing and grazing properties, but a shortage of stock. Environmental issues were also a concern in the region, and there was some comment that banks were adopting a harder line with some transactions not measuring up to the criteria required, Peacocke said. Southland appeared to have a good number of dairy farm listings, but potential buyers were still being cautious on price and selective on property. There were reasonable volumes of finishing and grazing property sales. REINZ figures show that its All Farm Index rose 1.6% in the three months to the end of January, compared to December, and was 4.1% higher than a year earlier. This index adjusts for difference in farm size, location and farm type, which the median price figure does not. The median price for the three months was $27,058/ha,

compared to $27,395 for January a year earlier. The median was 2.6% lower than in the December three months. For dairy farms, the median sale price for January (three months) was $44,322/ha, down on the $46,397 for December, but well up on the $39,367/ha a year earlier. The REINZ Dairy Farm Index rose 5.2% in the January period, from December, and year-on-year was 8.6% higher. Finishing farm median prices for the January period were slightly lower than for December, but were up 22% year-on-year, reflecting demand in this sector. The median price for grazing farms fell 30% year-on-year, to $11,102/ha from $15,890. Turnover a year earlier was also much higher, with 224 sales compared to 166 in the latest period. The median price fall might reflect a larger proportion of bigger farms being sold, affecting the per-hectare rate, Peacocke said.

CAHERSIVEEN DAIRY FARM

945 Kaahu Road, Whakamaru

Cahersiveen is 334 hectares made up of three titles. Contour is mixed with easy to rolling and some steeper, this allows for young stock or some beef cattle to graze the area outside the milking platform. Wintering up to 800 cows, with an average production of 266,000MS, over the last three years, peak milking 750 cows. Currently supplying Miraka. The property has three houses. A very good 50 bail rotary with auto cup removers. The shed is well sited to limit the walking distance. The effluent system will irrigate up to 75 hectares. Water is supplied by a bore at the Dairy with consent to 2030. The three houses are supplied via their own bore. Cahersiveen has a cropping regime of approximately 40 hectares per annum. Being a mix of both turnips and swedes. This is also used as a new pasture programme Cahersiveen has a very good fertiliser history, with soil tests to back this up. Cahersiveen is approximately 20 minutes drive to Taupo township and 10 minutes to Whakamaru - there is a veterinary clinic, cafe, dairy and a service station.

Tenders Close 2pm, 44 Roberts Street, Taupo

View Thurs 9 Mar, 11am www.bayleys.co.nz/2650196

Stan Sickler M 021 275 7826 B 07 376 0099 stan.sickler@bayleys.co.nz WESTERMAN REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

NE W

LI ST IN G

Here is a great opportunity to purchase in a district that seldom has properties of this scale and quality come to the market. Cahersiveen is going to be sold as a Tender (unless sold prior) Stock and Plant will be available.

Thurs 6 Apr 2017 (unless sold prior)

PRODUCTIVE SHEEP & BEEF UNIT An excellent opportunity to purchase a productive and well managed farm with great implementation. Comprised of 221.35 hectares

1572 Tangowahine Valley Road, Dargaville

For Sale View by appointment

TRADITIONAL BEEF AND SHEEP FARM This 912 hectare property (more or less) in multiple titles offers desirable qualities for only the most discerning buyer. Currently

www.bayleys.co.nz/1050064

utilised as a sheep and beef unit with supplementary cropping, the

front of the property and conditioning hills to the rear. Located in the

Stewart Ruddell

property is centrally located midway between Whangarei and

well known and sought after farming area of Tangowahine Valley the

M 027 273 6860 B 0800 80 20 40 stewart.ruddell@bayleys.co.nz

Dargaville. The farm is supported by a charming original 1920s four

(more or less) the property has a good balance of fertile flats at the

property is currently utilised as a beef and sheep block farming

bedroom villa and infrastructure is plentiful including woolsheds,

Pukehuia Road & SH14, Tangiteroria

Tenders Close 2pm, Thurs 6 Apr 2017 84 Walton Street, Whangarei

View by appointment

www.bayleys.co.nz/1050070

Stewart Ruddell

supplementary calf rearing and cropping. A great fertiliser history and

with some central raceways. The property has approximately 100

M 027 273 6860 B 0800 80 20 40 stewart.ruddell@bayleys.co.nz

management practices have ensured high productivity and

hectares of fertile river and higher flats (which are currently growing

MACKYS REAL ESTATE LIMITED, BAYLEYS LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

2,600 stock units in the winter (approximately) along with

MACKYS REAL ESTATE LIMITED, BAYLEYS LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

yards, crushes and a barn along with good water supply and fencing

consistency. Farm infrastructure is strong and includes multiple

12 hectares of kumara) with the balance being rolling to steeper

sheds, yards and a woolshed. Good fencing erected on the property

grazing country. An excellent fertiliser history and management

and ample water is supplied from a creek on the farm. A large double

practices have ensured this farm is high producing and carries stock

storey home complements the property and all of the hard work is

well. A rare opportunity to purchase an outstanding property in many

done - donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss out on the chance to secure this outstanding farm!

respects that is ready for you to take over and farm immediately.

www.bayleys.co.nz

LI ST IN G NE W

NESTLED IN THE PINES This quality 74 hectare dairy unit presents the perfect opportunity for a lucky buyer to get into their first farm. The property is a true credit to the owners which has been in the family for a number of years. Contour is predominantly flat to undulating with some steeper sidelings and plots of mature trees. The dairy is a 14 ASHB which supplied Fonterra a three year average of 24,619kg/MS milking 110 cows. Additional infrastructure and support is ample and racing is of

23 Schumacker Road, Maramarua

LARGE DAIRY UNIT

Auction 11am,

This 218 hectare dairy unit, with an all flat contour, is split into two

Thurs 30 Mar 2017 (unless sold prior) 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton

View Wed 8, 15 & 22 Mar 12-1pm www.bayleys.co.nz/812511

Karl Davis

rock quarry. The main home is an excellent addition to the property

M 027 496 4633 B 0508 83 83 83 karl.davis@bayleys.co.nz

and features five bedrooms plus office, two bathrooms, open plan

Lee Carter

a high standard and well-maintained by the properties own rotten

M 027 696 5781 living and dining. Handily located only a few minutesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; drive from SH B 0508 83 83 83 2, the commute to city centres 71km south to Hamilton City or 60km lee.carter@bayleys.co.nz

to Manukau is desirable. Everyday amenities are on offer in Te

SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

flat contour with three races running out to all 50 paddocks. A modern 24ASHB is well located with a 300 cow circular yard. The farm supplies Open Country Dairy with production of 91,991kgMS in 2015/16 season from 250 cows. Water for stock, dairy shed and the dwelling is provided from the Hauraki County metered water scheme. Effluent is managed through a sump at the dairy and pumped to a travelling irrigator covering approximately 20 hectares with underground plumbing and hydrants. Buildings include a near new large gable implement/calf rearing shed, a hay barn and two

located and feeds out to 120 paddocks via a very good race system. Supplying Open Country Dairy 600 cows were milked in 2015/16 season with production of 248,000kgMS. Around 10% of production is achieved with a winter milk contract. Water is provided from the Hauraki County metered water scheme. Adjacent to the dairy is a 270 cow concrete feed pad with associated bunkers and supplementary feed pads. Buildings include a large high stud workshop and implement shed, large half round implement shed, three calf rearing

Tenders Close 2pm, Thurs 6 Apr 2017 (unless sold prior) 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton

View Wed 8 Mar 12-1pm www.bayleys.co.nz/812588

Mike Fraser-Jones M 027 475 9680 B 07 834 3841 mike.fraserjones@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

sheds, three hay barns, a portacom building used as an office plus four dwellings. A very well set up large scale unit with an excellent address which enjoys the attention from its great road appeal.

LI ST IN G NE W

LI ST IN G NE W This extremely tidy and well set up 86 hectare dairy unit has an all

blocks and accessed via an underpass. The 35ASHB is centrally

Open Day Wed 8 Mar 12-1pm

Kauwhata and Ngatea 22km and 28km away respectively.

VERY TIDY UNIT

1067 Hauraki Road, Turua

291 Wharepoa Road, Turua

DIVERSE CALF REARING OPERATION

Tenders Close 2pm,

This well-established operation, on 37ha (STS) near the Hamilton city

Thurs 6 Apr 2017 (unless sold prior) 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton

View Wed 8 Mar 12-1pm www.bayleys.co.nz/812589

Mike Fraser-Jones M 027 475 9680 B 07 834 3841 mike.fraserjones@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

366 Koromatua Road, Hamilton

boundary, rears as many as 4,000-5,000 dairy and beef calves annually from four days to four months old. The hub of the operation is the large main calf rearing complex well positioned to all other ancillary buildings. A recent addition is the hydroponic shed for growing barley seed into fodder feed to mitigate risk through bought in supplements. Further infrastructure includes multiple calf rearing sheds, implement sheds and barns including a handling facility and separate stock yard with loading ramps. There are also two main

Auction (unless sold prior) 11am, Tues 4 Apr 2017 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton

View Tues 7 & 14 Mar, 12-1pm www.bayleys.co.nz/812543

Scott Macdonald M 027 753 3854 B 07 834 3847 scott.macdonald@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

dwellings. The contour is flat to rolling and is a mix of clay loam and

implement/storage sheds plus a four bedroom home with swimming

silt soils. A good central lane way feeds out to 38 paddocks. The

pool. Three primary schools are all within easy commute as is a

business is being sold as a going concern including land, buildings

sunny Coromandel Peninsula with its great beaches and fishing.

and a wide range of machinery.

Open Day Wed 8 Mar 12-1pm

Open days Tues 7 & 14 Mar, 12-1pm

www.bayleys.co.nz

LI ST IN G

NO TIC E

NE W

FI NA L

SPRINGFIELD DAIRY FARM

Putaruru

HONEST FARM - COMMITTED SELLER

59 Arapuni Road

Auction 11am,

This 88 hectare dairy unit between Tauhei and Whitikahu, represents

This 75ha dairy farm provides a great opportunity for the new owner

Thurs 16 Mar 2017 (unless sold prior) 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton

with its consistent production history, well maintained infrastructure and superb contour. Located just west of Putaruru, the farm is on prime dairy land which

View Tues 7 Mar 11am

www.bayleys.co.nz/812449

is reflected by the above average production. With the introduction of Stuart Gudsell AREINZ M 021 951 737 in shed meal feeders, last season’s production increased to 112,000kgMS from 218 cows and the generous water consent accommodates up to 250 cows. The farm improvements include a 20 ASHB dairy shed, barn, implement and calf sheds. The four bedroom brick dwelling has a double, internal access garage with office.

a great first farm buy or grazing block. The contour is mostly flat and gentle rolling with a centrally located 20ASHB and a good race system feeds to 44 paddocks. Currently 230 cows are milked with an average production of 71,153kgMS (best of 74,054kgMS). Production is achieved on a grass only regime with sorghum grown as a summer crop. A recent addition is a lined effluent holding pond

B 07 834 6740 stuart.gudsell@bayleys.co.nz

with pump and stirrer from the pond via 90mm alkathene piping and

Sharon James AREINZ

rumpus room plus an adjacent double garage along with a spacious

M 027 235 4771 B 07 834 6742 sharon.james@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

hydrants to 12 hectares. The home has three bedrooms and a large

360 Manuel Road, Morrinsville

Auction 11am, Thurs 30 Mar 2017 (unless sold prior) 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton

View Mon 6 & 13 Mar 12-1pm www.bayleys.co.nz/811967

Mike Fraser-Jones M 027 475 9680 B 07 834 3841 mike.fraserjones@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

garage and storage complex. The seller has indicated he will not be milking next season so stock and machinery are all for sale. This can be seen as a real first farm purchase or a great support block. Open Days Mon 6 & 13 Mar 12-1pm

LAKESIDE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY 230ha property positioned with spectacular views over Lake Taupo. The effective grazing area comprises 190ha of flat to undulating and 30ha of moderate to steeper land. Carrying service bulls, ewe replacements and finished lambs, current consent also allows the block to be utilised for ’cut and carry’ operations with approx 80ha annually cropped. The property is located in the Lake Taupo Catchment area, which requires farming practices to comply within the nitrogen discharge allocation. It has an allowance of 2,837kg/ year which equates to approximately 13kg/ha/year over the effective

550 Puketapu Road, Taupo

HIGH PERFORMANCE FARMING UNIT

Tenders Close 2pm,

’Beechwood Hills’ comprises 255 hectares of predominantly flat to

Wed 22 Mar 2017 (unless sold prior) 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton

View Wed 8 & 15 Mar 12-1pm www.bayleys.co.nz/812456

Mark Dawe M 027 507 0861 B 07 834 3839 mark.dawe@bayleys.co.nz

very easy hill country, which enjoys a rainfall at over 1500mls per annum with free draining soils. Infrastructure comprises of a four stand woolshed and covered yard complex, laneways, a mix of post and batten and electric fencing of a very high standard and a very reliable water system servicing approximately 37 of the 55 paddocks. Lockwood home comprising of three bedrooms and a sleep out/office. Beechwood Hills has currently been farmed with of most other areas. Keep your capital stock well fed and enjoy the

stockyards, central laneway and reticulated water supply. Situated

efforts of our current owners hard work allowing the opportunity to

only 20kms to Kinloch and 40kms west of Taupo. A dream location makes this attractive investment a very special and rare slice of kiwi paradise. Tainui no longer require the property and it will be sold.

www.bayleys.co.nz

SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008. WESTERMAN REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

Deadline Sale 4pm, Thurs 16 Mar 2017 (unless sold prior)

View by appointment www.bayleys.co.nz/2870094

Sam Twigg M 027 655 4702 B 06 858 5500 sam.twigg@bayleys.co.nz

another neighbouring property enjoying summer grass growth envious Andy Hunter

area. Improvements include a three bedroom home, three hay barns, Stan Sickler

M 021 275 7826 B 07 376 0099 stan.sickler@bayleys.co.nz

278 Hinerua Road, Ongaonga

secure a property with very little expenditure required. Come and inspect, you will be impressed!

M 027 449 5827 B 06 858 5500 andy.hunter@bayleys.co.nz COAST TO COAST LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

LI ST IN G NE W

’RAHIRI’ FERTILE BOUTIQUE FARM This part of the Rangitikei district is renowned for high yielding cash cropping. The land suits many forms of agricultural and horticultural production. The property is 5km from Marton, 42km from Wanganui and 49km from Palmerston North. The farm has a one stand woolshed and sheep and cattle yards. Established shelter belts (around 30 years old) of pine and blackwood provide shelter for livestock and a respite from the prevailing winds. To complement the land is a 250m² (more or less) four bedroom homestead in established grounds with wonderful specimen trees and many cottage garden surprises. The home has a home office with internal and external access. The property is on town supply water giving assurance of

397 Tutaenui Road, Marton

ENGLISH COUNTRY HOME ON 20HA

Hanmer Springs

Auction 2pm,

St Helens Station Homestead

Wed 12 Apr 2017 (unless sold prior) 49 Manchester Street, Feilding

Architecturally designed in the Arts and Craft style, as the

Price by Negotiation View by appointment

View by appointment

www.bayleys.co.nz/3100059

homestead (circa 1917) for the original St Helens Station. Today the two storey limestone homestead is set on 20ha, with many specimen trees and a pond system, close to the vibrant Hanmer

Andrew Bonnor

Springs Village and hot pools. A home of grand proportions (750m²),

M 027 941 7630 B 06 323 0333 A/h 06 323 0563 andrew.bonnor@bayleys.co.nz

with four formal or casual living areas, plus modern kitchen/dining,

COAST TO COAST LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

www.bayleys.co.nz/550633

Wendy Miles M 021 533 251 B 03 375 4816 wendy.miles@bayleys.co.nz WHALAN AND PARTNERS LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

library, conservatory, entrance hall, playroom, six bedrooms, an office or seventh bedroom, four luxurious modern bathrooms (six toilets), large covered veranda and various servants’ rooms. A nearby cottage is ideal for staff. Improvements include a fully automated

reliable supply which is reticulated around the farm and is

commercial grade heating and cooling system, a home automation

pressurised, so no pumps are required.

system, a full re-wire, re-plumb and re-roof, a high pressure water system, bespoke joinery and top of the range European appliances.

GOING CONCERN

143 Waihora Road,Marotiri This property is 4.6ha of easy contour, well fenced and maintained to a very high standard. The property is an easy 25 minute drive to Taupo. 15 minutes to Whakamaru with service station, vets, cafe’s and dairy. Kinloch is only 16km away with marina and boat ramp. The dwelling is approx 120m² with three bedrooms, a J line Junior fire place and a double garage, with sleepout.

Auction (unless sold prior) 5pm, Fri 24 Mar 2017, Level 1 - 38 Roberts Street, Taupo www.bayleys.co.nz/2650195

Stan Sickler M 021 275 7826 stan.sickler@bayleys.co.nz WESTERMAN REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

"KINELLAR DAIRIES"

Methven, Mid Canterbury

2877 Methven Highway

Deadline Sale 4pm,

On offer is a 215.9506 hectare (subject to final survey) dairy

Thurs 23 Mar 2017 (unless sold prior)

platform, plus an option to purchase a 60.1666 hectare irrigated support block adjoining the dairy farm. Currently milking approximately 700 cows through a high spec 54 bail Rotary shed with in shed feeding system. Budgeted production for 2016/17 is 325,000kgMS. Excellent irrigation water via the Ashburton Lyndhurst/Barrhill Chertsey irrigation schemes is delivered via centre pivots plus some K-Line. Housing includes modern two storey four bedroom main homestead built 2006, four bedroom manager’s home built 2012 plus staff cottage. Farm buildings include calf rearing facilities, supplementary shedding and grain silos. This property has potential upside to further increase production and cow numbers.

View by appointment www.bayleys.co.nz/554006

Pete Hayward M 027 433 3340 B 03 307 7377 pete.hayward@bayleys.co.nz WHALAN AND PARTNERS LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

1561 Tokomaru East Road, Wanganui

BEES, GRAZING, HUNTING, FORESTRY 270.22 ha (subject to survey) approximately 25km north of Wanganui, with multiple income strings. Cropping, grazing, bee keeping, hunting and forestry, with a tidy three bedroom home plus sleep-out, with numerous sheds, set in a beautiful bush backdrop. The grazing land is made up of flats and sidelings estimated at 18ha. 135ha of manuka, native and scrub gullies, currently utilised for beekeeping, hunting and recreation, while the pine forest is just over 107 hectares. Suited for: first home buyers, beekeepers, semi retired farmers.

Offers invited by 2pm, Thurs 6 Apr 2017 (unless sold prior) View by appointment www.bayleys.co.nz/3000334 Knud Bukholt

M 027 222 6161 knud.bukholt@bayleys.co.nz COAST TO COAST LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008.

www.bayleys.co.nz

NEED A CHANGE OF

Direction? IN 2017 WE ARE LOOKING TO EXPAND OUR COUNTRY TEAM, OFFERING TWO SCHOLARSHIPS TO INDIVIDUALS LOCATED THROUGHOUT NEW ZEALAND. What’s on offer? • A generous $50,000 retainer to support you in your first year • A four-day intensive training course with the Bayleys Property College team in Auckland • One on one mentoring by Bayleys National Country manager • Personal profiling support to help build your presence in the market • Leadership/personal development course Who are we looking for? If you are good with people, motivated to achieve great results and passionate about rural New Zealand, then we want you! How can you learn more? If you are considering a change of direction in 2017, and would like to find out more about this excellent career opportunity with the Bayleys Country team, please contact Carol Henry on 0800 BAYLEYS or carol.henry@bayleys.co.nz

NZ’S NO.1 RURAL REAL ESTATE BRAND

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Waikato land vulnerable to bulldozers Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com POPULATION growth and tight land supply in Waikato have councils grappling with the demand for more urban land and the need to preserve the region’s valuable soil types for agriculture and horticulture. A University of Waikato report on population growth in the region commissioned by the Waikato Regional Council in 2015 highlighted how much stronger than expected Waikato’s population growth had been in recent years. The report found Hamilton City had experienced a surge in population of 3000 people in 2014-15, 2.2% ahead of predictions, Waikato District an extra 1600 people putting it 2.5% ahead of expectations and Waipa was up 4.9%. All three areas were experiencing the growth through increased net migrations. Overall, the report found regional growth could amount to as much as another 175,000 people or a 40% increase on today’s 425,000 by 2060. Hamilton City’s population alone was now expected to be 41,000 people more than initial estimates had it at and Waikato District 20,000 more. Waikato region’s average population growth in recent years had been 2.5% compared to the national average of 1.9%, already the country’s fastest rate in a decade. That unexpected population boost was hitting home now and the need for more housing space was raising concerns among the region’s mayors about the conflict the growth would bring to highvalue farm and horticultural land. Waipa mayor Jim Mylchreest said his two main urban centres of Te Awamutu and Cambridge were struggling to keep up with demand for land for housing. Such demand inevitably signalled greater pressure on the high-quality farmland bordering the growth areas. Resource Management Act consent processes, however, were making it more difficult to develop land that was not zoned rural. “Around Cambridge we have sufficient land within the expressway to develop but the problem is, given the cost to develop it and the time, do the people who own it want to develop it?” He believed councils would face a finer balancing act in years

HEAD TO HEAD: Hamilton City Councillor and infrastructure-growth committee deputy chairman Geoff Taylor predicts Hamilton’s growing appetite for housing space and rural land use are likely to clash in coming years. Photo: Sarah Brook

to come with growth demands and planning tools would have to adjust to cope and continue to protect farmland. “You only need to cast your mind back to the days of the 10acre block to see how it can go wrong. We will have to increase the density of houses to allow people in and to ensure it is controlled growth rather than completely limit growth.” He believed Waikato District Council (WDC) had a tougher job on its hands than his own, being squeezed by Auckland growth from the north and Hamilton from the south. WDC Mayor Allan Sanson said his council’s planning encouraged development around “nodes” in existing small Waikato towns of Pokeno, Te Kauwhata, Huntly and Ngaruawahia rather than having strip-type development down the length of State Highway 1 between Auckland and Hamilton. The 8500 extra dwellings in the node areas available by 2046 would provide housing for about 22,000 people but fell well-short of the estimated 35,000 extra people the district would have by then. Translated to land area based on current subdivision sizes the district could be 600-800ha short for residential land alone. “Three years ago we started to see how conservative growth estimates were. Our building consents in the district for the past

Waikato dairy land plateaus Hectares

Cows

Stocking rate

2007-08

363,180

1,078,026

2.97

2008-09

371,770

1,103,587

2.97

2009-10

378,796

1,120,653

2.96

2010-11

387,925

1,135,279

2.93

2011-12

387,722

1,139,842

2.94

2012-13

390,211

1,148,553

2.94

2013-14

395,037

1,164,661

2.95

2014-15

395,304

1,173,420

2.97

2015-16

390,364

1,152,340

2.95

Source: New Zealand Dairy Statistics

year are running at twice what was estimated.” He acknowledged it would be only a matter of time before farmland around the nodes was required to be rezoned for housing. “Even at Te Kauwhata, while we allowed for 1800 new dwellings, it is actually now going to be 2700. “In my heart, I know these nodes will require more land. “The Pokeno development is already requiring more, developers have moved from turning out 220 sections a year to 400. That land around there, however, is fragmented and not all is high value.” However, some of the better land at Te Kauwhata had been lost. “And Huntly is under huge pressure to rezone land. It is short.” The council identified a “sizable” section near the town for industrial and residential development in coming years that included farmland. But Sanson was confident good Waikato farmland would be protected from the creep of lifestyle blocks that usually accompanied residential growth. Landowners had been manipulating planning rules to effectively create rural “villages” of subdivisions by chopping up old 10-acre blocks. “However, Plan Change 2 that came out eight years ago has now stopped that.” The rule disallowed subdivision of a block under 20ha. “You can still do it but only one title can be cut off from it now.” Hamilton City Councillor and infrastructure-growth committee deputy chairman Geoff Taylor predicted Hamilton’s growing appetite for housing space and rural land use were likely to go head-to-head over coming years. While the city was well provided with subdivisions to the south with the 8000 section Peacocke development, and the smaller Rotokauri subdivision to the west there was impending pressure on

land around the WDC boundary to the north. “Hamilton City Council has an agreement to claim some of that land as zoned for housing in 2039 but I think it may need to come sooner than that. “It’s always a hard decision to

take land that is productive and use it for housing. Similarly, there could be rural areas to the west and south that may need to come into the city. But like any fastgrowing city, we are hungry for more land.” Sanson said much of the land in the 2039 agreement had already been included, with the remainder being around Gordonton and inside the new K road expressway. Like Sanson, Taylor attributed part of the need for more land to the Government’s policy statement on housing that required cities to have 20% more housing allocation over their estimated demand. “So everyone is trying to comply with that policy and that will require high-quality farmland to the north at some stage.” He described the target as a tall order for councils to meet and one that loaded considerable infrastructure costs onto them. Hamilton City Council was applying for a $240 million loan to develop infrastructure around housing. Sanson said pressure for industrial land was also unlikely to ease. “We have all sorts of companies crawling all over us seeking industrial land and we are saying we just do not have it. At current rates we will not have any of that land for expansion in three years.”

DairyNZ eyes impact of Waikato growth AS DAIRYNZ economist Matt Newman considers the future for dairying in Waikato, one thing he is confident about is that future will not mimic the past. “We have been in a position in Waikato where we have had strong urban expansion and growth and that does seem more accelerated at the moment with Auckland’s southern push. “But we have also had growth in land in dairying too over the past six years, now with 390,000ha of land in dairy (see table), so it has not been such a big issue. “But going forward, I think it will be different. “The Healthy Rivers plan essentially makes conversions harder, requiring a resource consent, but we will still have urban encroachment happening so we do expect a level of net loss of dairy land in the next decade.” His view on the impact on cow numbers was echoed by KPMG agribusiness head Ian Proudfoot who said he thought New Zealand might have reached and probably passed peak milk production. Stricter environmental controls and community expectations would make it more difficult to pursue dairy farm conversions in the future. Newman said fewer cows

in the district might be an outcome of environmental constraints. “But loss of milk production is what would cause us more concern. That makes it a real issue for processors and should concern the wider community in terms of economic loss. “In the old model, dairying would have pushed out further to more marginal country as pressure came on the land closer to town. I am not so sure that will continue now.” Newman said the effect on milk volumes as a percentage nationally might be relatively small as farmers adjusted to a new regime. “Other sectors are being squeezed too, including market gardening and I wonder if those smaller operators serving the local population are the ones who will be squeezed the most.” Market signals for land use had determined dairy’s success in past decades in Waikato but shifts in returns and other industries might also drive changes to other land uses in the district. That included more use of Waikato dairy land for market gardening crops traditionally grown south of Auckland. But that land use might also come under pressure with environmental constraints limiting options in coming years.

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Taranaki home with spectacular vista A SPRAWLING cedar-clad home for sale on the bush-clad lower slopes of Mt Taranaki comes with 5ha of land that has a dirtbike track to tackle and a small lake for kayaking. The finely detailed and finished 435m² house offers a grand lifestyle with its games room, home theatre space and four bedrooms, while enjoying stunning views from the edge of the mountain to the sea. Further accommodation is provided in the large American-style barn behind the house and another barn provides plenty of storage for those bikes and kayaks. Full-height doors open up the home’s living areas, home theatre and games room

to the wide concrete patio that provides plenty of outdoor living space, including an outdoor fireplace for family and guests to gather and enjoy the ambience and expansive views. Terraced lawns and established plantings surround the house and complement the natural bush features and create a peaceful setting to escape the hustle and bustle of suburbia. The grassed terraces were created with the idea of a future swimming pool and tennis court, so there’s plenty of potential for new owners to develop further. Inside the home, dark timber is a theme connecting the various rooms, including

FAMILY FRIENDLY: The house includes four bedrooms, a games room and home theatre.

the kitchen with its striking dark-stained and waxed American oak finish. The complete kitchen was imported from the

GRAND DESIGN: Scissor trusses in the main living area create a sense of space.

FOR SALE TE MATA FOREST Coromandel

PRODUCTION FOREST ATTRACTIVE LAND This production forest and attractive land holding is located at Te Mata, Coromandel some 136km cart distance from Port of Tauranga. Showing excellent growth and adopting a pruned regime from predominantly 1996 plantings, this forest has a Net Stocked Area of around 280ha which will appeal to a range of buyers.

+ 463ha land area, 280ha Radiata, majority 20 years old

Full Information Memorandum available and inspections by arrangement.

DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY Friday 17 March 2017 at 4.00pm

+ DOC boundary, plantation manuka potential + Pruned and thinned showing excellent growth + Permanent sample plot information available + River, swimming holes and hut

JEREMY KEATING 021 461 210

PANORAMA: The finely detailed home on the lower slopes of Mt Taranaki offers stunning views along with a dirt-bike track and small lake for kayaking.

WARWICK SEARLE 021 362 778

www.cbre.co.nz CBRE (Agency) Limited, Licensed Real Estate Agent (REAA 2008)

United States as a special feature for the home and is the central focus of the openplan living areas. Scissor trusses in the main living area allow the ceiling to angle higher and create an even greater sense of space. The master bedroom enjoys privacy at the end of the home and has enough space for a settee to make it a parent’s retreat to enjoy mountain views. Running throughout the house are heated concrete floors that are dark in colour, with white stones scattered across the surface, which is honed to a gleaming finish. The underfloor hydronic system is heated by a diesel boiler in the three-car garage, which also has underfloor heating that can be turned on if needed. Expressions of interest are invited on the home, which can be viewed at open2view. com ref 388487. For further information contact Marty Suchy at TSB Realty on 06 968 3800 or 027 662 2211.

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Small unit with icing A 250-COW wintering barn is the icing on the cake of a 66ha Manawatu dairy farm milking 220 split-calving cows, which comes with a price tag of $2.75 million. Handily located to both Palmerston North and Feilding so one partner has the option of working off the farm, the topproducing dairy unit can be managed by one person, with the wintering barn making life easier and saving pasture through wet weather. Wayne Brooks from PGG Wrightson Real Estate said the farm winter milked in the past and the barn was an essential part of the farm’s infrastructure while today a sharemilker spring calves 140 cows, autumn calves 60-80 and is on target this season

for 90,845kg milksolids. “They use the barn to preserve their pasture, so if there’s rain they put them in the shed and they can be in there for a period of time. They have calved in it in the past as well. “The real appeal is the farm has options because of the wintering barn. If you had to build it yourself, you probably couldn’t justify it so this way you get to have it without paying more for the farm.” Thirty-three paddocks subdivide the flat to rolling contour with good bore water reticulated by pressure pump to troughs in every paddock. Cows head to the 16-aside herringbone dairy with an in-shed feed system and Milphos milking

GRASS: During wet weather the barn saves the paddocks.

plant that was renewed five years ago. Overlooking the farm with views toward the ranges is a three-yearold four-bedroom-plus-office home and the location of the farm is one of its key aspects. “It’s a good home in a good location on a farm with top production and with the wintering barn it certainly ticks a lot of boxes.” Other facilities on the farm include a four-bay implement shed with a lock-up bay and a five-bay calf shed. More? To view the farm visit www.pggwre.co.nz ID FDG25494 and for further information contact Brooks on 06 323 0709 or 027 431 6306.

DOUBLE USE: The wintering barn has also been used for calving.

NEW: The farm comes with a three-year-old house.

Accelerating success.

Reach more people - better results faster.

colliers.co.nz

RURAL rural@propertybrokers.co.nz 0800 FOR LAND

Property Brokers Limited Licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008

Waiaruhe Station - 513 ha

DANNEVIRKE 78903 State Highway Two

Jewel of Southern Hawke's Bay "Finishers Dream." Property Brokers are privileged to bring this picture perfect farm to the market. During our vendors tenure, improvements have been made lifting the standard of infrastructure to the present high standards. These improvements consist of 8 stand woolshed, several implement/storage sheds, 3 bedroom dwelling set in very nicely laid out lawns and gardens. Large covered in yards, specifically designed to handle high numbers of lambs and ewes, with two drafting races. Water is provided from a combination of reticulated system gravity fed to troughs and a number of large well made dams. Farm access is first class with central laneway leading to well subdivided paddocks. 390 ha has been cultivated over recent years and is providing some of the

WEB ID DR54390 best pasture offered in the district, including Plantain and Red Clover, 22 ha of freshly sown Italian Rye and Clover.

www.propertybrokers.co.nz

AUCTION

View By Appointment AUCTION 3.00pm, Wed 5th Apr, 2017, On Farm, 219 Gaisford Road Dannevirke

Jim Crispin

Mobile 027 717 8862 Office 06 374 8102 Home 06 374 6768 jimc@propertybrokers.co.nz

3 1

RURAL rural@propertybrokers.co.nz 0800 FOR LAND

Property Brokers Limited Licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008

Outstanding dairying in Carnarvon

WEB ID FR54345

OHAKEA 788 Tangimoana Road This fully self-contained dairy unit of 252.9 hectares (more or less) has a proven track record of producing in excess of 1,000 kg ms per hectare, whilst wintering all ma cows and heifers (R1 and R2) on farm and is ready to be taken to the next level should you wish. • 3 dwellings • 37 ASHB shed with ACR's • Excellent support buildings • Ohakea silt loam • 300 cow feed pad

• New pasture species • Extensive tile/nova flow drainage • 550 ma cow split calving This property offers a scale seldom seen in the Lower North Island and has the level of improvements to match, for those looking to own a significant dairy holding it is well worth your inspection.

TENDER

VIEW By Appointment TENDER closes Tuesday 4th April, 2017 at 11.00am, (unless sold prior), Property Brokers, 54 Kimbolton Road, Feilding

Stuart Sutherland

Mobile 027 452 1155 Office 06 323 5544 Home 06 323 7193 stuarts@propertybrokers.co.nz

Blair Cottrill

Mobile 027 354 5419 Office 06 323 1538 blair@propertybrokers.co.nz

Tironui

Pukeatua dairy

FINAL NOTICE

OPEN DAY

WEB ID TMR53958 HAKATARAMEA 242 Hayes Road View By Appointment DEADLINE SALE closes Tuesday 7th March, 2017 at 4.00pm, • 626.6853 hectares (unless sold prior) • Tonne of potential • Irrigation • Good arable soils • All-weather central laneway Tironui is a farm with scale and a tonne of potential, currently run as a mixed farming operation with 3 approximately 160 hectares arable for cereal harvest, 1300 mixed aged ewes & hoggets, plus 800 head of 1 cattle. Successfully farmed for the past 17 years by the Michael Richardson vendors, and ever improving and adapting to the Mobile 027 228 7027 changing farming practices and the vendors have turned Office 03 687 7145 2 michael@propertybrokers.co.nz Tironui into a varied and successful farming enterprise.

DEADLINE SALE

www.propertybrokers.co.nz

WEB ID TER54442 PUKEATUA 101 Akatarere Road VIEW 14 & 21 Mar 11.30 - 12.30pm A 94 ha self contained dairy unit in close proximity to both Te Awamutu and Putaruru with an effective area of approximately 74 ha. Currently run as a self contained unit, with all young stock on, supplying Fonterra. There is a tidy three bedroom home and an extensive range of farm buildings including a 10 bay pole barn, 2 hay barns, workshop with concrete floor, 7 bay calf shedding, tidy 22 ASHB with meal feeders and 2 x 12 tonne silos.

$3,250,000 + GST (IF ANY)

An aesthetically appealing property bounding the world renowned Maungatautari Ecological Bush Reserve.

Doug Wakelin

Mobile 027 321 1343 dougw@propertybrokers.co.nz

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Farm with low-cost water LOW-COST water is a prized asset in Canterbury and a 188ha dairy farm for sale near Ashburton has plenty of it that is good quality and cost just $80 a hectare for irrigation this season. The flat contour of the farm is irrigated using a centre pivot, two laterals, K-Lines and sprinklers from shares in the Mayfield Hinds Irrigation Scheme, which is collected in a 30,000 cubic metres pond.

It’s one of the better spray-irrigated dairy units to come on the market in Canterbury. It’s very well set up and has the four bores for extra water if required.

Last season, the power to run the irrigation for 189ha cost $35,673. On top of that, the farm has four bores it can source water from, giving it ample water at a good price. Robin Ford from PGG Wrightson Real Estate said $80/ ha for its water is extremely cheap compared with some other water schemes in

Canterbury that can be as much as $1000/ha. “It’s one of the better sprayirrigated dairy units to come on the market in Canterbury. It’s very well set up and has the four bores for extra water if required.” The farm milks 642 cows which are included in the sale and have a winter grazing contract confirmed just 7km away. They are milked in a 38-aside herringbone dairy in two herds and last season produced 306,379kg milksolids. A lane through the middle of the farm links the 40 main and seven smaller paddocks, which are all watered from one of the bores and are all in grass. Underneath is Lismore stony silt loam which is free-draining . Beyond the dairy, the farm has ample calf sheds including three with three bays plus another with seven bays and a workshop while a palm kernel bunker caters for supplements. Added to that is the main homestead, two houses for staff and a granny flat. The farm is for sale by deadline private treaty, closing April 6. More? To view the farm go to www.pggwre.co.nz ASH25549 and for further information contact Ford on 03 307 8700 or 03 307 8724.

HERD: This farm milks 642 cows.

For Sale NEW LISTING

PLENTY OF ROOMS: As well as the main homestead this farm has two houses and a granny flat.

Otago | Waikouaiti

Tender

138 Hectares Semi Self-contained Dairy Farm. 138 hectares freehold plus 105 hectares which is currently leased with 170 hectare milking platform, 30 hectare run-off and 21 hectares of fodder beet. 80 hectares irrigated by K-line from storage dams (three ORC water permits), two local rural water schemes to troughs. Modernised two bedroom home, new kitchen, bathroom and decor. Adjacent sleep-out/garaging. 37 aside herringbone cow shed, new top gate and backing gate, various calf sheds, implement shed/workshop. 2015/2016 production 145,000kgMS on target to do 150,000kgMS this year from 430 cows. | Property ID DU2491 Licensed under REAA 2008

Closing 12pm, Thursday 6 April 2017 (unless sold by private treaty)

South Canterbury Waimate 158 Hectares

Inspection

Price

By appointment

By negotiation

Contact Craig Bates 027 489 4361 Alan Eason 027 489 8760

0800 200 600 | farmlandsrealestate.co.nz

Dairy Farm. Newly developed with 115 hectare milking platform. Irrigated with consent for 36 litres per second. 40 aside herringbone shed with Waikato Plant – target production of 147,956kgMS from 385 cows. Three bedroom home, 4-bay calf shed, 4-bay implement shed, 7-bay workshop and cattle yards. Modern dairy pasture species over the majority of the milking platform. | Property ID TU10865

Contact Merv Dalziel 027 439 5823 Simon Richards 027 457 0990

0800 200 600 | farmlandsrealestate.co.nz

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Lifestyle and top shed THE opportunity to combine the lifestyle of the Far North with a goodquality dairy farm milking 470 cows is on offer as its owners decide it’s time to retire. Located just 8km south of Kaitaia and handy to both east and west coast beaches lies the 221ha dairy unit that has a three-year production average of 208,000kg milksolids. Claude Shepherd from Barfoot and Thompson said the farm is impeccable and came through this year’s dry spell with plenty of feed because of its good mix of soils, including silt loams on alluvial flats and a variety of clay on the balance. Its modern 50-bail rotary dairy has top-of-the-line De Laval plant, in-shed feeders, computerised ID tag readers and auto draft and wash as well as being a genuine “one-man shed” after spring. “It’s one of the best high-spec sheds I’ve seen and no expenses have been spared when building that shed. “The vendors’ expectations are very realistic and the farm is going to be sold so it’s going to be an opportunity for someone who wants the Northland lifestyle.” Most of the farm flows over flat to easy-rolling contour that grows a mix of rye and clover with kikuyu and

the quality of the pasture reflects the strong regrassing programme behind 25ha of summer chicory crops. The farm is subdivided into 130 main paddocks with a central race connecting them and leading to the 10-year-old dairy. Effluent from the dairy is collected into a sump where it can be pumped direct to pasture via a travelling irrigator and if ground conditions are wet, it is pumped to an efficient three-pond system with 90-days storage beside the old dairy. Other infrastructure on the farm includes a three-bay shed, a large calf shed and two half-round barns, while the main home with five bedrooms is in good condition and a second home is a three-bedroom cottage. Shepherd said the real beauty of this farm is the Far North lifestyle though, with fishing, diving, picturesque and safe swimming beaches and the famous Ninety Mile Beach all just a short drive away. The herd has already been sold and the farm is going to be sold. Tenders for the farm close on March 30 unless it is sold prior. More? To view the farm visit www.barfoot.co.nz ID 590634 and for further information contact Shepherd on 09 407 9321 or 0274 410 436

YIELD: This dairy farm delivers more than 200,000kg MS a year.

TOP-NOTCH: This farm has a dairy shed on which no expense has been spared.

For Sale

North Auckland | Wellsford 156 Hectares A Smart Move. This dairy farm is located only 83km north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, 10km west of Wellsford. There are two good homes and the 32 aside cowshed is central to the farm. There is plentiful water from a man-made lake and an attractive stand of mature native bush. Buildings and improvements have received a significant injection of cash in the past few years. In spite of a few management issues, production has averaged 86,500kgMS over the past three seasons on an all grass system with the help of an adjacent block of lease land which would also be available to the successful purchaser. | Property ID DG1003

Licensed under REAA 2008

Tender Closing 2pm, Wednesday 12 April 2017 (unless sold by private treaty)

Inspection By appointment

Contact Nicky Reid 021 103 6277

Northland | Matakohe 191 Hectares Quality Dairy Unit. This dairy farm offers a near new rotary cow shed and good contour in a sought-after location. It has produced a six-year average of 84,873kgMS on a grass-only system while also rearing all of its 300 plus calves to weaning and running its own young stock up to one year of age. The 30 bail Milfos rotary cowshed is centrally located. The water system is also new, the races are in good condition. There are ample good quality sheds, a totally refurbished family home and one workers cottage. Located only 3km off SH12 and only 13km from Ruawai where there is good schooling, groceries, and a range of rural support businesses. CV $2,615,000. | Property ID DG1021

Tender Closing 2pm, Tuesday 21 March 2017 (unless sold by private treaty)

Inspection By appointment

Contact Nicky Reid 021 103 6277

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Calf rearing a Waikato speciality THE impressive infrastructure of a largescale calf rearing operation for sale near Hamilton enables it to rear large numbers of calves a year and grow hydroponic barley seed into fodder feed to mitigate the risk of bought-in supplements. It’s a well-established operation on 37ha (subject to survey) near the city boundary, rearing 4000-5000 calves from four-days-old through to four months during a springautumn split rearing system. In the 25 years since it began, the operation has been continually developed to the stage it has impressive specialised facilities.

They know what they’re growing and it’s clean and green. The main complex with 48 pens has a concrete floor with a specially-designed plastic slat grate for ease of cleaning, with further concrete-pad feeding stations nearby. Numerous milk storage tanks totalling 140,000 litres are strategically positioned and plumbed through a milk warming system, with milk pumps distributing out to multiple outlets for simplicity of feeding. Supplements last season included 350 tonnes of calf pellets and 60t of barley grain to grow barley fodder, with storage in three meal silos and one 16t barley grain silo. In 2015, a 230m² hydroponic shed was designed and constructed with insulated panels plus an underfloor heating and cooling system to create an indoor facility for growing barley seed into fodder feed. The process from seed to feed takes a mere eight days, producing up to two tonnes of

nutritious barley sprouts daily, which are fed straight to the calves. Other infrastructure extends to more calf rearing sheds, implement sheds and handling facilities, while a central lane leads out to 38 paddocks. The property has mostly flat to rolling contour on a mix of clay loam and silt soils. All of it has quality fencing and water is sourced from a 25m bore through a submersible pump to a sand filter and two large storage tanks, before a multi-stage centrifugal distribution pump feeds it around the property. Effluent from the main calf shed, milk feeding stations and weighing yards is collected in a two-pond storage system with consented discharge and diverter. A three-bedroom home accommodates the managers, while a smaller cottage has its own separate grounds and a backpackers’ accommodation has been useful for the extra staff taken on during busy periods. The managers have indicated an interest to remain with the business, which is being sold as a going concern including land, buildings and machinery. Scott Macdonald from Bayleys said 25 years of calf rearing have enabled the owners to iron out any tweaks in the system to produce an efficient operation that is quite unique with its barley sprout capabilities. “That allows them to be in control of the quality of feed and the biggest thing is to mitigate the risk of any supplements bought in. “They know what they’re growing and it’s clean and green. They source the barley from the South Island and it takes just eight days to grow it.” The property will be auctioned on April 4. More? www.bayleys.co.nz/812543 or contact Scott Macdonald 027 753 3854.

LARGE SCALE: This well-established calf rearing operation near Hamilton rears 4000-5000 calves from four-days-old through to four months during a spring-autumn

SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE

LINED UP READY FOR ACTION DEADLINE TREATY

SEED TO FEED: An indoor facility for growing barley seed into fodder feed was built in 2015.

274.7727 HA

DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY

Seldom do properties of this size and quality come available and the sale of 8727 Hyde-Middlemarch Road, Strath Taieri, provides a great opportunity. The quality of the house, plus farm buildings, along with the excellent flat and rolling land with irrigation make it very desirable. Currently being run as a very successful dairy support farm running up to 400 dairy heifers plus finishing in excess of 4000, lambs all to very good weights. Irrigation is a real feature of the property with approx. 110 irrigated, opportunity to increase land area irrigated. Great opportunity to purchase an excellent property with strong income. The desirable location is also another of the many assets. For Sale By Deadline Private Treaty Closing Wednesday 15th March 2017, 12:00 Noon Web Ref SWDR1091

RAY KEAN M: 0274 357 478

LK0086359

8727 HYDE-MIDDLEMARCH ROAD, HYDE

21 Macandrew Road Dunedin 9012 p 03 466 3105

FODDER: Nutritious barley sprouts are fed straight to calves.

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

WATER: The 172ha dairy farm has 117ha irrigated.

Impeccably presented FIVE generations of the same family have faithfully farmed Marquee Dairy, an impeccably presented 172ha dairy farm for sale just south of Te Awamutu with 117ha fully irrigated. Neville Kemp from Ray White Real Estate said all the infrastructure of this 600-cow farm has been designed, built and maintained to a very high standard, right down to the green water flood wash on the feed pad. “The feed pad is used every day as the cows go in for milking and the green water flood wash saves time for staff and saves using good water.” For the past three seasons with a 50:50 sharemilker at the helm, the farm has averaged 298,000kg milksolids with palm kernel and maize silage bought in as supplements while up to 250 bales of silage and 100 bales of hay are usually made on the farm. “It’s mostly flat in a good milkproducing area with one hill at the back where it should be. All the effluent goes on the hill because they’ve got irrigation on the flats. The hills dry out in summer so they keep pouring the effluent on that.” Effluent collected from the feed pad and the 44-bail rotary goes through a system upgraded in 2012 and now includes a 5000 cubic metre lined pond with a

stirrer and two stone traps. A variable speed drive and flow meter have been installed to the pump to ensure it shuts down if a pipe bursts, safeguarding against resource consent breaches. Effluent can be applied to 96ha and uses a travelling rain gun at about 9l/sec. Irrigation on 117ha of flats entails K-Line with some long laterals, using a consent to take 6250 cubic metres of water from the Mangatutu Stream. The system has been designed to have six to 10-day returns and most paddocks have an eightday return, with a GPS mapping system used to track and shift the K-Lines and long lateral sprinklers. Stock water is sourced from a neighbouring spring and pumped to four 25,000l tanks at the dairy, where it is then pumped to four separate farm lines. Water for the three houses plus the calf shed is pumped separately from the farm lines. The three tidy homes complete the farm and Kemp said it’s a great place for families as the 172-pupil Korakonui School is just a short walk from home. Tenders for Marquee Dairy, which had a 2016 rateable value of $7.33 million, close on March 29. More? Contact Kemp on 027 271 9801.

SPREAD: Effluent can be applied to 96ha of this farm.

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

West Coast dairy farm with A 437HA dairy farm in the West Coast’s Grey Valley has similar development style and productive capacity as Canterbury, yet at a fraction of the price and the owners instructions are clear: the farm must be sold. The property has undergone extensive development in recent years and today pivot irrigation covers 200ha on the bottom flats of the terraced farm, with a further 140ha of K-line. Its 1200 cows are milked in an automated 56-bail rotary and fed on the 600-cow feedpad, with an upgraded effluent system to cater for both. Capping it off are four houses and a good range of farm buildings and facilities. Ruth Hodges from Colliers International

said the farm has to be sold and it creates an opportunity for someone to buy an irrigated dairy farm with scale and upside for less than the cost of similar farms. The farm sits along Atarau Rd, 40km inland from Greymouth and covers the plateaus of terraced country above the Grey Valley. Its milking platform makes up 425ha of the farm and is well-accessed, including an underpass leading to the 10-year-old dairy with its 600-cow yard that includes rubber matting at the front. As well as automatic cup removers and teat spray, the dairy has an in-shed feed system including a twin-head grain crusher and two silos. A three-bay calf shed sits beside the dairy, with a number of other sizeable calf sheds

catering for the large number of calves in spring. Cow numbers and production increased significantly during the high payout of 2013-14 and since then feed inputs have been reduced while more fodder beet has been planted and used with the feedpad about 42ha is now sown annually into fodder beet each year. Silage is also made onfarm and the majority of the farm has been regrassed in the past five years, with a further 100ha undersown in a perennial hybrid grass species last spring. Water to irrigate those pastures is sourced from the Grey River and the farm has consent to take 300 litres/second with an expiry date of 2048.

Production is well-above the district’s average because of its more intensive farm management system via its irrigated flats and feedpad system, resulting in a total 430,517kg milksolids (MS) last season from 1100 cows that works out as 1013kg MS/ha. Its average efficient production is assessed as being 510,000kg MS from 1275 cows with feed inputs of 400-500kg drymatter/cow, so Hodges said there’s plenty of upside for potential buyers. A contract milker has been in charge of the day-to-day operation of the farm but Hodges said it would also suit an owneroperator who has the desire to improve the ongoing farm system and productivity with a more hands-on approach.

MUST BE SOLD: This West Coast dairy farm is 40km inland from Greymouth and covers the plateaus of terraced country above the Grey Valley.

SOLID PRODUCTION: The farm’s 1200 cows are milked in an automated 56-bail rotary.

Production and Location    •  •  • 

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

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

scale “The owners have committed to exit so the call is out for all buyers to come and take advantage of their hard work. This is a fantastic opportunity to secure a dairy farm with scale and further upside, while at a fraction of the cost of other irrigated farms. “The farm can be purchased with Westland Milk Product shares, cows, plant and equipment, making it nice and simple for an incoming purchaser.” The farm is for sale by negotiation and has a 2015 rateable valuation of $10.91 million. More? www.colliers.co.nz/57191 For further information contact Ruth Hodges on 027 309 0334 or Austen Russell on 027 441 7055.

WELL-CATERED: There are four houses on the farm along with a good range of farm buildings and facilities.

MARQUEE DAIRY FARM

Strike the jackpot on this beautifully presented dairy farm of 172ha including 117ha of fully irrigated pasture, which has been faithfully farmed for five generations by the same family. The effluent system, feed pad with green water flood wash, water supply and all other farm infrastructure has been designed, built and maintained to a very high standard. A total of three tidy houses complement this marquee property. * 90-110mm effluent loop line with hydrants * Milking approx 600 cows * Av production over past 3 seasons 298,000kg MS * 44-bail internal rotary shed with Waikato cup removers * 117ha irrigated - K Line with some long laterals * Green water feed pad flood wash * Fully lined 5000cu effluent pond with two stone traps, variable speed drive pump with flow meter You need to check this one out! Opportunities like this are rare! Call Neville Kemp for further information and plan to be at the Open Days!

Tender CLOSES: Wednesday March 29th 2017. At Ray White Te Awamutu office, 223 Alexandra St, Te Awamutu, no later than 4pm. Highest or any Tender not necessarily accepted. Price will be plus GST (if any). (MAY NOT BE SOLD PRIOR) Web ID: rwteawamutu.co.nz/ID#TEA22521 View Wednesday’s March 8,15, 22 ALL OPEN DAYS 11am - 1pm Contact Neville Kemp Mob 027 271 9801 A/h 07 871 9801 Email: neville.kemp@raywhite.com www.nevillekemp.co.nz

Rosetown Realty Ltd Licensed (REAA 2008)

LK0086005©

95 Lethbridge Road, Te Awamutu

LIS TI N G N EW

MANUKA HONEY & MUCH MUCH MORE! "Kandahar" 978 Tora Road, Tora, South Wairarapa Located around 25min drive east of Martinborough, and only 5min to the renowned surf break of Tora. A smaller sheep and beef breeding operation as well as 120 hives this summer, supplemented by firewood income. Improved by a woolshed with yards, cattle yards & satellite yards. Bounding a Scenic Reserve offers hunting opportunities. The beautiful Awhea River winds its way through the property. This is the perfect property for those that like a bit of variety and a spread of income- with a vendor lease back this could be your hunting & honey block without the day to day hassle! - don´t miss this!

A DAIRY WITH THE "X FACTOR" Manson Siding Road, Owhango If a better summer rainfall farming environment is needed this property needs to be seen. A low input 350 cow herd on the 180 hectares dedicated milking platform with the balance of land utilised as the support plus a sheep/beef and deer operation adds to this exciting mix. A versatile 438 hectares situated a short distance south of Owhango, a district renown for the reliability of production through the defined seasons. Farm buildings include two dwellings, a 50 aside herringbone shed, woolshed and deer yard complex and a large implement shed with office and single man´s quarters.

362.1274 hectares Tender (if not sold prior) www.nzr.nz ref: W021 TENDER (if not sold prior) Closes 4pm, Wed 29 Mar 2017 Level 1, 16 Perry St, Masterton Blair Stevens AREINZ 06 370 9199 | 027 527 7007 blair@nzr.nz NZR Real Estate Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

438 Hectares Deadline Private Treaty www.nzr.nz/nnzz094 Deadline Private Treaty Closing date for offers 30th March 2017 (if not sold prior). Jamie Proude AREINZ 06 385 4789 | 027 448 5162 jamie@nzr.nz NZR Central Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

OFTEN SOUGHT SELDOM AVAILABLE 347 Lakes Road, Ohakune An attractive, well balanced 82ha farm in the sought-after Lakes Road Valley, only 5km to Ohakune or 11km Raetihi. With approximately 50% flat cultivatable contour, opens up an opportunity for market gardening, arable or intensive fattening regime with the balance easy to medium hills. Soils consist of top Ohakune silt loams renowned for the suitability of a number of root crops and brassica. Infrastructure includes calf rearing shed/woolshed, ½ round shed, cattle and sheep yards and an older 3-bedroom cottage. Well subdivided into 19 paddocks with gravity feed water to all paddocks.

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

82 ha Auction www.nzr.nz/nzrr213 Auction 20th April 2017, 11am, 1 Goldfinch Street, Ohakune Jamie Proude AREINZ 06 385 4789 | 027 448 5162 jamie@nzr.nz NZR Central Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

34.53 ha (85.34 acres) Tender www.nzr.nz/F111 Tender Closes 3pm, Thu 6 Apr 2017, NZR, 20 Kimbolton Rd, Feilding Peter Barnett AREINZ 027 482 6835 | 06 323 4434 peter@nzr.nz NZR Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

LIS TI N G N EW

FAMILY FRIENDLY MULTIPLE INCOME BUSINESS "Little Tora" 460 Tora Road, Tora, Martinborough A rare and unique opportunity presents itself to astute investors- this one has been worth waiting for - located in a vibrant rural community 25 minutes from the wine village of Martinborough Little Tora is more than just a well appointed sheep and beef station. Not many properties can boost the standard of improvements that Little Tora has- the four bedroom modernised homestead is set in park like grounds accompanied by a two bedroom sleep out, pool and as new tennis court. Included in the sale are the profitable Tora Outstation accommodation and ToraTora Mountain bike businesses. A recent addition to the multiple income streams has been Manuka honey - with potential to increase to 250 hives. Around 600 hectares of effective land runs between 2500-3000 ewes and 180-200 cows, with replacements, under a semi finishing regime. The property is very well subdivided with 80 paddocks, and access lane ways coupled with fenced off gullies allow excellent stock management. The four stand woolshed and covered yards have 1000NP. A feature of Little Tora is its excellent water supply. Other special benefits are the hunting with an abundance of Red deer, fellow deer and wild pigs - and the Tora Beach and coastline - extremely well renown for its abundance of Paua, Crayfish and excellent recreational fishing- also one of NZÂ´s most popular surf beaches. Call Blair today for a property report. Inspection by appointment only.

MELLINGTON DAIRY - 260 HA PLATFORM PLUS 108 HA SUPPORT ALONGSIDE Rangatira Road, Rangitikei Located just off State Highway 1, this property offers a great blend of scale, quality soil types, a high standard of dairy shed infrastructure, a great district community and primary school, while being an easy commute to Palmerston North City. Comprising a 260 hectare milking platform of Kiwitea silt loam, with 108 hectares of medium hills alongside, which provide potential to run a self-contained operation (50 ha of the hills are not farmed by the dairy unit). These highly regarded dairying soils have been regularly cropped for potatoes in the past. The 60 bail rotary dairy and feed pad were commissioned in 2009 and include an automated dairy management system including auto weighing, heat detection, mastitis monitoring, production management, auto drafting, in-shed feeding and ACRs. Milking year round, the farm has produced a past five year average of over 411,000kg MS under the current higher input farming system. The farm has three homes, primary school bus at the gate and is close to the active Hunterville community. A property offering quality natural resources and infrastructure, whether you choose to maintain a similar or different farming system.

962.17 ha TENDER www.nzr.nz

ref: W022

TENDER Closes 4pm, Thus 6 Apr 2017 NZR, 1st Floor, 16 Perry St, Masterton Blair Stevens 06 370 9199 | 027 527 7007 blair@nzr.nz NZR Real Estate Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

368 hectares Deadline Private Treaty www.nzr.nz/F082 - includes video Deadline Private Treaty Offers Close 3pm, Thu 23 Mar 2017 (if not sold prior). Peter Barnett 027 482 6835 | 06 323 4434 peter@nzr.nz NZR Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

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THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

LIMESTONE LUXURY: St Helen’s Station Homestead, near Hanmer Springs in Canterbury, was the homestead for the original St Helen’s Station.

Historic homestead near Hanmer THE luxurious St Helen’s Station Homestead near Hanmer Springs is celebrating its centenary this year – its age confirmed with the year 1917 carved in stone over the front door. Now for sale, St Helen’s is a home of grand proportions, encompassing 750m² of space that has been completely renovated and restored for contemporary living while preserving its original character. It was the homestead for the original St Helen’s Station that at one stage covered almost 101,000ha and in its heyday ran 45,000 sheep – one of the great Merino flocks in the country. But then the extremely hard winter of 1940 killed more than 20,000 sheep in the back blocks and times were hard. In 1949 the Government took back the leases for the high country and those areas form almost half of the iconic Molesworth Station today, while the Hanmer flat land was broken up into ballot farms for returned servicemen, spelling the end of St Helen’s Station. Today, the two-storied limestone homestead is set on 20ha and surrounded by renovated historic gardens with large lawns, established trees, an old orchard and pond system. The homestead has been restored with infinite attention to detail including a fully-automated commercial-grade heating

and cooling system, insulation, a home automation system, rewiring, replumbing, reroofing, the insertion of a structural steel cage, bespoke joinery and luxury European appliances. At the same time, the historic features of the homestead have been preserved and restored including open fire places, native rimu woodwork and stone-mullioned steelframed windows. St Helen’s is a home to roam, literally, with four formal or casual living areas, plus kitchen and dining, library, conservatory, large entrance hall, playroom, six large bedrooms plus a seventh or office, four luxurious modern bathrooms, six toilets, various original servants’ rooms and an extensive covered veranda. Morag Godfrey-Grant and Peter Grant lived in the four-bedroom cottage on the property while renovating the homestead, before moving in with their young twins and Morag said it has been a wonderful place to live as a family. “We really enjoy the open vistas we can look out the windows and see just grass and trees and glimpses of mountains, which gives you a real sense of space. It’s very park like, with the winding drive and huge trees, and lots of space to run around or simply find a quiet place to read.

“The orchard is lovely with old varieties of apples, pears, plums, cherries and an old quince tree. We take a rowboat out on the ponds, and the veranda is a favourite place to escape from the summer heat or enjoy the clear sunny winter days. “You get all that and yet it’s close to the village we can walk there in 20 minutes and Hanmer Springs is a tourist town which means there are lots of restaurants and

cafes and other amenities. And we are only 1.5 hours’ drive from Christchurch so the city life is there if we want it.” Wendy Miles from Bayleys Canterbury describes St Helen’s as a stunning and special house that is very welcoming despite its sheer size and grandeur. More? Visit www.bayleys.co.nz/550633 or open2view.com/355750 or contact Wendy Miles on 03 375 4816 or 021 533 251.

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company

Landcorp - Copper Road Farm • Extensively developed sheep and beef breeding and finishing property with exceptional infrastructure • 1483ha of freehold titles with approx 10,000su • Excellent standard of improvements including three well maintained and renovated homes • Large four-stand woolshed combined with covered yards complex, satellite sheep yards • Subdivided into 112 paddocks with central lane systems and a very good standard of fencing www.pggwre.co.nz ID: BAL24929

GRANDUER: The homestead has been restored and includes a fully-automated commercial-grade heating and cooling system.

Licenced under REAA 2008

Waitahuna PRICE BY NEGOTIATION

Stewart Rutter B 03 418 1381 M 027 433 7666 Jason Rutter B 03 418 1382 M 027 243 1971

pggwre.co.nz

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – March 6, 2017

Dairy shed a little purler A THOUGHTFULLY designed 30-bail rotary dairy is a stand-out feature on a 191ha farm for sale in a sought-after location near Ruawai in Northland where it milks up to 300 cows. The farm has produced a six-year average of 84,873kg of milksolids on a grass-only system with a top production of 100,321kg MS, while rearing all of its 300 or more calves. Nicky Reid from Farmlands Real Estate said it offers a good return on investment. Dairy farms in the Kaipara district have averaged $10,750/ha and about $25/kg MS in the past 12 months. The farm’s valuation is just over $2.6 million. “The market is active in lower Northland and we have had 21 dairy farm sales reported to REINZ in the past 12 months compared with only nine five years ago. “This means that those wanting to make their next move are able to, whether it’s their first farm, a bigger farm or a change of lifestyle. “I would expect this farm to be ideal for a young farmer from outside Northland wanting to secure their first farm. “The dairy is a little purler and all the improvements are of good quality.” Most of the farm is effective grazing and about 75% is milking platform with half the farm on gently sloping contour and the remainder on very easy hill country. All this has been subdivided into 70 paddocks with races linking them to the centrally located dairy. Each year 10ha to 12ha is cropped and this

year that is growing turnips while last year it was a mix of turnips and chicory. This is limestone country which is wellknown for its shallow seams of underground water that surface as artesian springs, often conveniently high on a hill. An irrigation dam has been build around a selected spring to store water on a neighbouring property that provides unlimited, good-quality water. It feeds the entire property, though other dams on the farm have been enlarged and deepened, plus water lines replaced in the past 10 years. At the centre of the farm, that “little purler” of a dairy has Milphos machines and automatic just about everything from cup removers, restraints and teat spray to the backing gate wash. The result is that it takes one person less than an hour to milk the herd. Among the other farm buildings is a large five-bay calf shed in good condition that holds about 100 calves, plus an implement shed with a lock-up bay and a hayshed. On the home front, the farm has a totally refurbished three-to-four-bedroom main home, a three-bedroom workers cottage and a building platform set up with power and phone. “This would be one of the better locations in all of Northland for schooling, community and local towns plus the lifestyle market is right on its doorstep now.” Tenders for the farm close March 21. More? Visit www.farmlandsrealestate. co.nz ID DG1021 or contact Reid on 021 103 6277.

SPRINGS GALORE: This farm is on limestone country with shallow streams of underground water.

EFFICENT: The dairy shed has automatic just about everything and takes one person less than a hour to milk the herd.

RURAL | LIFESTYLE | RESIDENTIAL

OPEN DAY

Licenced under REAA 2008

NEW LISTING

Future-Proofed Dairy Farm

Lincoln

Low Cost Water Dairy Farm

Ashburton

• 174.7985 hectares in total area (subject to final subdivision) • 99.9183ha dairy platform plus three run-offs several purchasing options • Westfalia-designed, 32-cup, herringbone dairy shed • Near new, well-equipped cow barn with consent for 465 cows • Good housing and shedding with impressive, modern effluent storage • This unique opportunity is offered by our retiring vendors

DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY

188.0872ha freehold dairy farm with very good water rights. 941 shares in Mayfield Hinds Irrigation Ltd. Cost of water for 2016/17 is $80 per hectare. Two laterals, one centre pivot, sprinklers, K-Line. RDR water runs in to a 30,000 m3 pond with a consistent flow of 77 l.p.s, plus bore for irrigation of stock and domestic water. Power costs for 2016 for irrigation $35,673pa. Lane down middle of farm. Approx. 670 cows included in the sale, winter grazing confirmed for cows for 2017. One 38 ASHB cow shed. Several calf sheds. Homestead plus two houses and granny flat. Elevation 60m AMSL.

DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY

www.pggwre.co.nz ID: CHR25400

Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) Closes 4.00pm, Friday, 7 April 2017 OPEN DAY 11.00am, Wed, 8 March Assemble in dairy shed yard, 563 Hudsons Rd. Prior registration essential.

Sam Davidson B 03 341 4301 M 027 488 8269 Peter Crean B 03 341 4315 M 027 434 4002

www.pggwre.co.nz ID: ASH25549

Plus GST (if any) (unless sold prior) Closes 4.00pm, Thursday, 6 April

Robin Ford B 03 307 8725 M 027 4336 883 H 03 308 0458

pggwre.co.nz

RURAL | LIFESTYLE | RESIDENTIAL

Licenced under REAA 2008

AUCTION

Cattle Grazing - 170.8784ha

Aria

A Gem Waiting To Be Polished

Putaruru

Occasionally a property blessed with extensive flats and easy rolling contour comes on the market and 1815 Mokauiti Road is just that. Located 27km east of Piopio and 45km south of Te Kuiti this farm is easily accessible to the service centres. Good water, Mairoa Ash and silt loam soils, long strong fertiliser applications only add to this easy to run property. Presently it has been farmed as a runoff from a dairy farm and has the ability to run 100% cattle. The farm buildings and stock handling facilities are all there including a three bedroom home.

$2.2M

109.75ha dairy farm comprising of approximately 95ha of flat to easy rolling contour with the balance being sidlings and 13ha (approx) of native bush. Presently milking 230 cows through a 21 ASHB cow shed, with good infrastructure and support buildings makes for easy management. A three bedroom Huntly brick home with a single basement garage is tucked into the hill with amazing views over the surrounding district. A double Skyline garage and a single mans hut/office are situated beside the home. With a change in direction the vendors are ready to move on.

AUCTION

www.pggwre.co.nz ID: TEK24982

Plus GST (if any)

Peter Wylie B 07 878 0265 M 027 4735 855

www.pggwre.co.nz ID: PUT23067

(Unless Sold Prior), 11.00am, Monday, 27 March, NI Kindergarten Conference Centre, 6 Glenshea St, Putaruru OPEN DAYS 10.00am-11.00am, Thursday, 9, 16, 23 March, 389 WAOTU SOUTH RD

Richard Leach B 07 882 1485 M 027 472 7785

FINAL NOTICE

Well Located Grazing Property • 240ha - approximately 190ha effective • Contour is flat to easy rolling with steeper hills at back of farm • Traditionally running 90 MA cows, 20 rising 3yr cattle, 60 rising 2yr cattle, 60 rising 1yr cattle, 380 ewes, 330 hoggets • Very tidy five bedroom homestead • A well located farm with ample easy contour which offers numerous opportunities • 4WD motorbike needed and helmets are mandatory www.pggwre.co.nz ID: TEK25456

Taumarunui

High Producing Dairy Farm

Feilding

TENDER

• 66.7295ha located only 7km from the rural servicing town of Feilding • Three year old four-bedroom home plus office overlooks the property • 250 cow housing-feed barn - 16 ASHB with inshed feed system • Good bore water is a feature of the property • Supplying Open Country, Sharemilker in place • Production 2015-16 72,186kgsMS, 2016-17 on target for 90,845kgsMS • High producing farm with good schooling nearby, good home & location

$2.75 MILLION

(Unless Sold Prior By Private Treaty), Closes 11.00am, Friday 24 March, PGG Wrightson Ltd, 31 Miriama St, Taumarunui OPEN DAY 11.00-1.00pm, Thursday, 9 March

Peter Wylie B 07 878 0265 M 027 473 5855

www.pggwre.co.nz ID: FDG25494

Plus GST (if any) Rateable Value: $2.9million

Wayne Brooks B 06 323 0709 M 027 431 6306

pggwre.co.nz

the benefits of

potassium

are clear.