Farmers Weekly NZ April 3 2023

Migrants not the answer to labour squeeze

Farmers say trust lost in BLNZ

implications could be significant.

FARMERS have lost trust in Beef + Lamb NZ over its handling of the industrywide He Waka Eke Noa agreement, directors were told at its annual meeting in New Plymouth on Thursday.

The industry-wide agreement to price agricultural greenhouse gases dominated discussion and most of the 10 remits being considered as farmers dissected what they said were HWEN’s flaws.

Farming Inc should have said ‘No, this is going too fast.’ We should have pulled on the handbrake.

Most of their anger stemmed from what was seen as BLNZ’s role as an industry advocate when there was deficient consultation and a lack of transparency over HWEN.

Given its complexity, farmers said, they needed more time to consider its implications.

It was noted that a recent BLNZ survey showed farmer satisfaction with the body was just 36% and unless that improved, the

Ripcord

Insecticide

“The risk of losing the levy vote in three years’ time is very real,” North Otago farmer Jane Smith said.

She called for an independent review of how BLNZ reaches a levy payer mandate.

Given the wave of pending further regulations, Smith urged BLNZ not to be defensive and circle the wagons.

“The independent review needs to reflect, acknowledge and assess its advocacy position on our behalf.”

Other remits also reflected frustration and a loss of trust. They included a vote of no confidence in the board, getting the board to adopt best-practice consultation, and having access to contact details for board and farmer council members.

Bay of Plenty farmer Rick Burke said HWEN moved too fast and communication was poor on both sides.

“Farming Inc should have said ‘No, this is going too fast.’ We should have pulled on the handbrake.”

Waikato farmer Graeme Gleeson said consultation with farmers over HWEN was poor and became top-down, a “we know best” discussion.

He said it appeared as if BLNZ lacked a framework to follow.

“It looks like you walked into it

Continued page 5

Matawhero emerges from the gloom

PGG Wrightson’s Chris Hurlstone calls for bids at the Matawhero dairy beef weaner fair last week as vendors made complicated plans to work around the weather disruptions.

MARKETS 38

Kindness, kinship soothe Cyclone Gabrielle’s sting

Even modest gestures help to start the process of healing from the emotional trauma of seeing a life’s work devastated, writes Cheyenne Wilson.

OPINION 23

Geoffrey

board ousted the chair, has often done things the hard way.

PEOPLE 9

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Dairy market analysts differ widely in their preliminary forecasts for the farmgate milk price next season.

MARKETS 14

A Pātoka farmer conquers cyclone fatigue to get to Young Farmer regionals –and win by less than a point.

PEOPLE 24

Don’t let flies take away all your hard work

Young, whose election to the BLNZ

Neal Wallace NEWS Leadership

Rick Burke Bay of Plenty

Steps toward the future

Resource utilisation

Good resource utilisation is all about working your assets. Working to your farm’s strengths whilst being mindful of the areas that need a different approach. Planning for the future means deciding how to make the most of your farm’s unique natural resources while protecting them for future generations. That’s why resource utilisation is an integral pillar of Ballance with Nature.

Every farm has its own unique set of challenges and opportunities, and farmers and growers around the country are always developing innovative ways to maximise productivity while protecting their land. In this issue we talk with a panel of farmers about their approaches to resource utilisation.

From simple things you can start looking at today through to long-term planning for the future, resource utilisation is all about finding the best ways to use your land for better efficiency, better productivity, and a better tomorrow.

The panel

Richard & Annabelle Subtil – Sheep & Beef

Richard & Annabelle run Omarama Station, a 12,000ha sheep and beef farm in the Mackenzie Country. Running such a diverse operation means effective resource utilisation is always top-of-mind for the Subtils. That dedication is why they were named the Canterbury Regional Supreme Winners at the 2015 Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Peter & Nicola Carver – Sheep, Dairy & Beef

Peter & Nicola have turned sustainable farming practices and diversified land use into a winning formula on their 515ha property, just south of Taranaki. They operate an even split of sheep, beef, and dairy, and have replanted trees in some areas of their farm. Having diversified land means they’re able to smartly utilise every acre of their farm.

Why is resource utilisation important to the future of New Zealand farming?

Peter & Nicola: “Resource utilisation and diversity are important to help you respond to a changing world. You need to be able to react reasonably quickly.”

Richard & Annabelle: “There is a strong regeneration mindset among New Zealand farmers. Careful resource utilisation means we can leave things the way we found them, without degrading the environment.”

What resource utilisation initiatives have already been implemented on farm?

Peter & Nicola: “We converted and diversified our dairy farm in 2014. That let us juggle the commodities - when dairy’s up, meat might be down, it all balances out.

“We grow maize on the effluent block to minimise inputs and to grow a cheaper crop, and we retired the steeper land in favour of trees. It’s about making the most of what we’ve got.”

Richard & Annabelle: “We sell hydroelectricity from two sites on our farm to our national grid. Two hydro turbines harvest energy, and all irrigation is gravity fed so there’s no pumping required.

“We also started working with the local iwi to reintroduce young native eels to their swampland (the Benmore Dam interrupted their breeding). Now the eels are a metre long and are getting to breeding age.”

What are some of the challenges involved?

Richard & Annabelle: “Getting everyone on board with what you’re doing can be a challenge. We did things like giving out water quality tests to our neighbours. This helped establish trust.

“Nutrient use can get bad press, so we take 27 different soil tests on farm. We can say with real confidence that we are trying to farm with the least impact as possible to the land.”

Ballance with Nature

Making it easy for you to care for and protect your natural resources. If the natural world is healthy, so too are the people.

Taiao ora, Tangata ora.

What are some of the resource utilisation practices being looked at in the future?

Peter & Nicola: “We’ve identified a couple of areas near the road where we could plant 30-40ha of trees without too much loss of production. Those areas are hard to manage anyway, so it’s a chance to bring some biodiversity back to the farm.”

Richard & Annabelle: ”Infrastructure has been key. With the flooding, we need fences to work and be more capable of withstanding those floods. We also introduced trees to our riverbeds to help distort the flow of water.”

What’s exciting about the future of farming in New Zealand?

Peter & Nicola: “New Zealand produces good food, and the world will always need that. If we keep producing in the best value and most ecologically favourable ways, there’s an optimistic future out there. That will encourage younger people to give farming a crack.”

Richard & Annabelle: “New Zealand is still one of the best countries in the world, we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. We have two young kids who are keen to work in farming… if we see them come through and take over (fourth generation) that would be fantastic.

“Farmers should always be exploring new ways to do things better, but we should remember to step back and celebrate what we do well too.”

EDITORIAL

Bryan Gibson | 06 323 1519

Managing Editor bryan.gibson@agrihq.co.nz

Craig Page | 03 470 2469

Deputy Editor craig.page@agrihq.co.nz

Claire Robertson

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Neal Wallace | 03 474 9240

Journalist neal.wallace@agrihq.co.nz

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Journalist gerald.piddock@agrihq.co.nz

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Journalist nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com

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ISSN 2463-6002 (Print) ISSN 2463-6010 (Online)

News in

brief Log prices rise

A shortage of logs and increasing demand out of China at wharf gate prices for export grade saw logs climb 14% last month, or $18 per Japanese Agricultural Standard cubic metre.

But while demand in China has increased, it is still “well below” normal levels for this time of year. Scott Downs, PF Olsen’s director of sales and marketing, said domestic demand for lumber – and therefore logs – is also weakening, with most log processors operating below capacity.

Claims top $23m

Rural insurer FMG has so far paid out about $23 million in insurance claims following Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent storms.

“We know this is just the tip of things and there’s some way to go yet,” said FMG’s head of claims, Nicki Mackay. The company has bolstered resources across claims and assessing teams and is working at ways to streamline processes to get more claims paid.

Pest on the move

Fall armyworm has been confirmed in a crop of North Canterbury sweetcorn. It brings the total number of finds for the 2022-23 year to 133.

Although the fall armyworm larvae population is low and at an early stage of development, its presence, when combined with a large corn earworm population, means crop losses could be significant, the Foundation for Arable Research said.

Eyes in the sky

The Otago Regional Council is about to begin a series of farm flyovers as part of its monitoring of intensive winter grazing in Otago.

The flyovers will also be used to identify any large land disturbance, such as forestry or earthworks, around waterways.

GHG just the start for global farm targets

are pending to also protect and improve water quality, biodiversity and social issues.

GLOBAL greenhouse gas emission reduction targets could be just the first of several goals that producers and processors will have to meet in the coming years.

Rabobank managing board member Berry Marttin told the Farm2Fork forum in Sydney there is a global move to extend targets for water, biodiversity and social standards that consumers will expect producers to meet.

These are being driven by a global group called Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which so far has commitments from 4764 companies, of which 2431 have approved emission reduction targets.

In New Zealand, 29 companies have signed on, six of them rural. They are: Comvita, Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Synlait Milk, Timberline Australia and NZ and WoolWorks NZ.

Berry said signatory companies have to commit to greenhouse gas emission targets, but policies

and were working by the seat of your pants.”

Erica van Reenen said a solution is to ensure farmer councils retain their regional influence so the board can hear additional opinions.

Graeme Evans, from Southland, noted that despite lobbying and arguing, sometimes in life you have “to swallow a dead rat”.

One farmer commented there is a responsibility on farmers to read, engage and attend meetings to educate themselves on issues.

A remit promoted by Jason Barrier from North Waikato

“That’s coming our way and more and more people will have standards that will have to be upheld. It’s coming very rapidly.”

For example, global biodiversity targets will be established by 2025 with the goal of being “net nature positive” by 2050.

Signatory companies have to commit to greenhouse gas emission targets, but policies are pending to also protect and improve water quality, biodiversity and social issues.

A water initiative will obligate companies to address their direct impact on water quality and the quantity used, but not water use in the downstream part of the value chain.

“We have used nature because it is very valuable but we also

urged BLNZ to exit the HWEN partnership, saying it had failed the sector and will result in further conversion of hill country to pine trees.

He said BLNZ needed to advocate a better deal, saying the proposed “methane taxes” will require “an honourable exit” for 30% of North Island hill country farmers.

Barrier blamed this on the need to find compromise as part of the HWEN partnership, but it meant sheep and beef farmers took one for the wider sector.

“That’s not my idea of being in a team.”

lose nature because it’s free,” said Marttin. Social commitments will obligate signatories to meet minimum standards for employees. There appears to be some crossover between the SBTi and the NZ Farm Assurance Programme (NZFAP), an on-farm audit and certification of sheep, beef and deer production that is being rolled out to farmers. Developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), the NZFAP allows red meat and wool industries to have independently verified best-practice in animal health, welfare and production, environmental management and sustainability.

Marttin said underpinning SBTi is the need to double food production, with projections that the global population will reach 9.7 billion in 2050. That extra food will have to be produced from diminished resources.

“What is going to change is the concept that we need to produce food but using only a fraction of the resources we use today,” Marttin said.

South Island farmer Roger Dalrymple took a slightly different tack, saying BLNZ should stay in HWEN if it thinks it can secure a more favourable deal for the industry.

Outgoing BLNZ chair Andrew Morrison said the meeting agenda and format had been altered so the board could listen to farmer concerns.

He said the board had never before struck an issue the size and complexity of HWEN, but they always reserved the right to step back rather than commit to it.

Morrison had opened the meeting, saying BLNZ is dealing in

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that to achieve that level of food production by 2050 and for the climate to stay under 1.5degC, food producers will need to be four times as efficient.

Marttin urged growers to calculate their emissions intensity so they have a starting point from which to meet their targets.

He said food should be referenced in terms of nutrient value or nutrient density.

While plant-based milk has lower emissions, it also has a fraction of the nutrient density of animalsourced milk.

Belgium has recently introduced a nutrient score on labels of dairy

the real world, not the world they wished they operated in.

He acknowledged and welcomed that levy payers were challenging their organisation.

But he reminded levy payers that BLNZ had added advocacy to their role at members’ behest, and, though they had not achieved everything they sought, there have been wins.

He noted that the only additional tasks imposed on farmers in recent years have been to record their nitrogen use to ensure it stays under the new regulatory cap, and to get resource consent for intensive winter grazing.

products and those made from plants which mimic dairy, to assist consumers compare nutritional values.

He is optimistic that food producers can adapt, saying that global agricultural emissions have the potential to be net zero or even become a net carbon sink.

He sees this being achieved through a combination of stopping land use change, a shift in consumption diets, production changes and reducing food loss and waste.

This could allow the food and agriculture sector to become a net sequester of carbon.

MORE: P10

The only reason consent is required is that the government has failed to create freshwater farm plans as promised, he said.

The motion of no confidence in the board was lost.

Promoted by Gore farmer Hugh Gardyne for the board’s handling of HWEN, the non-binding motion was voted on by a show of hands by those attending the meeting.

The results of the votes on the other remits were expected to be released within days of the meeting.

MORE: P9

Neal Wallace NEWS Climate change

HANDS ON: Rabobank managing board member Berry Marttin urged growers to calculate their emissions intensity so they have a starting point from which to meet their targets.

Berry Marttin Rabobank

Land for Life holds hill country recovery hopes

Richard Rennie NEWS Land

CYCLONE Gabrielle may provide the catalyst for wider adoption of a land management programme a decade in the making in Hawke’s Bay.

The Land for Life integrated land management programme aims to help farmers shift land use practices to ensure they can continue to farm, and in a more resilient fashion, in the face of climate change impacts.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council project director Michael BassettFoss said Cyclone Gabrielle is prompting a re-think on how Hawke’s Bay hill country can recover.

Under the Land for Life project, which originated over a decade ago, “the council trialled using different eucalyptus species around Lake Tūtira, along with plantings of Mānuka and Kānuka”.

Sedimentation has long been identified as a key area impacting water quality and land loss in the Hawke’s Bay catchment.

Estimates are 250,000ha of the catchment’s most erodible country contributes 6.2 million tonnes of silt a year to its river systems, at a cost of about 1000t per square kilometres a year.

Six years ago under the “right

tree right place” title, the council worked with research partners including Scion to advance the project to the trial stage.

This included identifying distinct zones on a trial farm and mapping vulnerable areas suited to being planted in various tree species.

“Pine is okay to plant where appropriate but there are also other forms of harvestable trees that can be planted. In other zones it may be a case of shutting the gate and letting native regeneration happen naturally.”

Meantime the remaining and most productive parts of the farm may require reconfiguring, including paddock size/shape, water lines and possibly the stock types run.

“And other revenue schemes may be introduced, the most obvious being carbon.”

From here full cost-revenue streams can be projected out over 30-plus years to fit with harvesting cycles, providing valuable projections for potential investors.

Over $4 million in funding has

Michael Bassett-Foss HBRC

Trial farm to stay course after cyclone

Richard Rennie NEWS Environment

CENTRAL Hawke’s Bay farmer

Evan Potter believes Cyclone Gabrielle was Mother Nature running a highlighter over the region’s most vulnerable land, prompting a re-think on how that land will be used in future.

Potter and his wife Linda’s Elsthorpe property is the first farm to be trialling the Land for Life integrated farming model, incorporating mixed forestry and native plantings alongside pasture, with the toughest country retired.

Ultimately, they aim to have 200ha retired, leaving 520ha in pasture.

Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, the project may provide a template for the region’s response to Gabrielle and remediating the devastation it inflicted.

Late last year the first trees were planted. Planting was going to continue over the next two years before being brutally interrupted by Gabrielle.

After Gabrielle, Potter said, all the low-producing country stood

been set aside for the project. One trial farm is in play and a dozen more are having their farm plans finalised.

The first farm is owned by Evan and Linda Potter (see accompanying article) in Elsthorpe, where ultimately 520ha of pasture will remain of the original 720ha once the planting plan is complete.

Bassett-Foss said the main barriers to adoption are likely to be a lack of confidence among farmers, a lack of finance to embark on expensive planting plans, and a lack of extension or education on what really is the “right tree for the right place”. Having farmers like the Potters lead the way will go some way to instilling confidence in others. Meantime the council has forged a strong relationship with international conservation group The Nature Conservancy, which has experience in building financial markets for environmental initiatives.

“The aim is to take the data from the first farms in the project and aggregate it up to put into a business case to take to assorted finance groups for funding, and then to scale it up to 100 farms.”

He said the council is well placed to help farmers with the third challenge, the need for expertise and education.

“Council has 12 catchment advisors out on farms who

have trusted relationships and knowledge on erosion control, and they can layer in or bring in other expertise for other areas including greenhouse gas sequestration, on-farm financing and tree species selection.”

Estimates are there are 500-600 farms in the region in the “highly erodible” category, with several hundred more in the next erosion tier.

Bassett-Foss emphasises Land for Life is not a regulated, enforced

council land use requirement. Rather, that it aims to capture farmers’ long-term vision for their farms, putting it into a farm environment plan that incidentally also meets the incoming regulatory requirements around GHG emissions and water quality management.

“On the Wairoa farm we have modelled a 22% reduction in GHG emissions and a similar reduction in sediment losses,” Bassett-Foss said.

out as taking the hardest hit, slipping and eroding heavily.

“It reinforced our decision to plant it in trees was the right one.

It is unfortunate though we were not 20 years down the track when it struck.”

He said they have lost some of their younger trees to land slips, and recovery requires them to put this year’s plantings of 20ha of pine and 5ha of other exotics on pause while they attend to damaged fences and infrastructure.

“I can honestly say none of the plantings have made the outcome worse than if we had not planted.

It has definitely reinforced to us the plan is on track.”

He said there are also some valuable lessons emerging for future Land for Life farm participants.

“There is a need there to keep it simple, to clearly explain the benefits and highlight how profitability will be increased.

“The financing needs to be ironed out so it is not stifling farm businesses that lack the capacity to fund a large land use change.”

For this reason, he welcomes the engagement of TNC with its ability to help leverage affordable financing options with banks.

However, he also cautions that farmers in the region are still raw from their Gabrielle experience, and some may not be overly receptive to changing practices and farm layouts.

“They have a lot on their plate. How receptive they will be will come down to the individual.”

He is also pushing for better communication about the

downstream benefits the project brings, such as holding back sediment and vegetation that is otherwise dumped on the flats, and the win-win that brings for the entire region’s community. He acknowledges he and Linda probably need two more years to provide a visual, tactile example of how Land for Life could benefit farmers and the region.

“This will put us back 12 months before we get back on track.”

Meantime his advice to fellow farmers is not to rush into a plan post-Gabrielle, but give themselves and the land some time to steady, and assess options.

“But this general concept of doing a plan and identifying areas to change has a lot of merit.”

LAND FOR LIFE: Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Land for Life manager Michael Bassett-Foss says the project could provide a template for recovery in the region that keeps people and farming in the equation, alongside trees.

Other revenue schemes may be introduced, the most obvious being carbon.

CONTAINED: Evan and Linda Potter say the early stage plantings on their property were hit hard by Gabrielle, but the decisions about what to plant where were the right ones.

Farm deaths demand urgent attention

WORK contributes to about a quarter of all fatal injuries in New Zealand and the primary sector is among the worst offenders, according to University of Otago-led research. The new research set out to determine the societal burden of fatal work-related incidents in the country by including bystanders and commuters.

Lead author Dr Rebbecca Lilley, of Otago’s Injury Prevention

We don’t see the same political activity or public outcry about farming fatalities. Yet in farming we kill way more people than we do in the forest.

Research Unit, said work poses increased risk of injury not only for workers but also for the public, yet the broader impact of work-related injuries has never been quantified.

“We have long known official work fatality data dramatically undercount the true burden of work to fatal injury in New Zealand,” Lilley said.

“This study conservatively estimates that we don’t even count half the fatal injuries that occur due to work.”

Lilley said the aim of the study was to highlight where NZ has historically poorly performed in workplace safety and help provide answers.

“When our official data understate the scale of the issue society suffers.

“If we are to achieve a substantive reduction in workrelated fatal injury it is time to recognise and count the broader societal burden of work fatalities and respond to them adequately.”

In total, 7707 coronial records from 2005 to 2014 were reviewed, of which 1884 (24%) were identified as work-related. Of those 1884, almost half occurred among non-working bystanders and commuters. Of the fatal injuries for that time, those due to machinery (97%) and due to being struck by another object (69%) were work-related.

Lilley said the primary production sector, which includes agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and the construction industry were the only sectors to have an increase in fatal injuries during the study period.

In that time, 310 people died in the primary sector, while 76 children aged under 15 also died in rural accidents.

safety benefits as other workers in other sectors,” Lilley said.

“We know that in agriculture there are deaths that don’t get counted. For example a lot of crop-dusting deaths don’t get counted in agriculture, they are counted under civil aviation. But the activities happening are happening on farm, and it’s an agricultural activity.”

Workers who may not be getting paid – such as family members – don’t get counted in official statistics, and neither do children killed on farms.

While the study looked at data up until in 2014, Lilley does not believe things have changed in the past decade.

to other sectors, has been poor during 30 years of data collection by the unit. The industry has been slow to achieve reductions in fatalities. There appears to be a group resistant to change and not prepared to engage with health and safety legislation.

“Basically it’s the same sorts of incidents happening over and over again. We are not shifting the dial when it comes to quad bikes and tractor rollovers.

“People are getting killed by moving objects, vehicles predominantly.”

TRUE PICTURE: Injury prevention researcher Dr Rebbecca Lilley says far too many people – many of them boys – are dying on our farms.

“These increases in risk of fatal injury makes this group a priority for urgent attention and further examination as to why primary production sectors have not experienced the same health and

“If you look at the fatality data ... agriculture is still the No 1 contributor to fatalities. We may see some decline [in recent years] but I don’t think its going to be the big paradigm shift that we need.”

Lilley said agriculture’s performance, when compared

Lilley said quad bikes are particularly dangerous and often used in a way they weren’t designed for. Farmers need to move from quad bikes and into more secure side-by-side vehicles, she said.

Of the children who died, most were boys, which, Lilley believes, shows some are being exposed to farming tasks before they are ready.

“We know how to protect our females on farms. We don’t let them go out and do the tasks they aren’t developmentally able to do.

“Yet, we have the kind of attitude that our boys will learn on the job early and get exposed to these risks.

“In some cases their brains are not developed to make the right decisions or they’re not physically developed enough to be using a piece of equipment that’s designed for an adult.”

Other “equally hazardous” sectors have made inroads into workplace safety, which shows change is possible, she said. Forestry improved significantly after political and public scrutiny of the industry led to an independent safety review.

“We don’t see the same political activity or public outcry about farming fatalities.

“Yet in farming we kill way more people than we do in the forest.”

FATAL: Farmers need to move from quad bikes and into more secure side-by-side vehicles, says Dr Rebbecca Lilley of the University of Otago’s Injury Prevention Research Unit.

Dr Rebbecca Lilley University of Otago

Young and the restless taking on BLNZ

Geoffrey Young accepts he is just one voice, but the newly elected Beef + Lamb NZ director says the circumstances around his election mean he speaks for a large number of farmers, and their impatience with the status quo must be heeded.

Neal Wallace

THE 1970s and ’80s were tough decades, and they shaped Geoffrey Young’s values and principles.

Having left school in the mid1970s, he returned to work on the family farm at Orepuki, coastal western Southland. For the next decade or so he was not paid any wages, receiving instead shares in the farm business.

“Venison was quite valuable then so I’d go out and shoot a couple of deer each week and sell them to get some pocket money. I’d also sell the occasional dog,” Young says.

He never considered it a hardship – rather, it taught him the value of money and how to get by on very little.

That resilience paid handsome dividends when farming was thrust into turmoil during the economic reforms of the 1980s, by which time he was farming on his own account.

He did without, adopted lowcost all-grass wintering and collected dead lambs and calves to feed to his dogs.

“Perhaps I’ve always been a bit different, but I do know the value of money.

“I appreciated where I could save money and live as economically as possible.”

This approach along with a “get things done” attitude, still resonates today and has driven much of his approach to public and community involvement.

Young hates what he considers wasteful spending and bureaucrats imposing costs and pointless obligations on ratepayers and taxpayers.

His involvement with Federated Farmers, which began in 2002 and culminated with his election as provincial president in 2019, was a call to duty, a bid to try to improve the working environment for farmers.

Last year Young unsuccessfully

stood for the mayoralty of the Southland District Council, concerned about the performance of the council’s consenting and land management processes.

Young was approached last October by senior Southland Federated Farmer members to stand for the BLNZ board against the incumbent director and current chair, Andrew Morrison.

“I did it because I’m at the age where I can give back and get away from the day-to-day running of the farm and give my son a crack,” Young says.

“The other issue and an area of real concern is that bureaucracy within councils and government is becoming, to a degree, intolerable and hindering people more than enabling people.”

He says industry organisations are not listening to grassroots farmers and he wants to be their voice.

Young says he also saw his candidacy as an opportunity to create a strong, united and imposing lobby group of likeminded people representing Federated Farmers, DairyNZ and BLNZ.

“That is nothing against Andrew Morrison, he has worked hard for farmers, but the board is on the wrong pathway and has not pushed back against regulation as it should have and as farmers expect them to.”

He cites freshwater reforms, significant natural areas (SNAs) and other aspects of biodiversity as government policies the producer bodies should have resisted more vigorously.

His farm has been affected by all of these policies.

Young bought the 640ha Orepuki home farm that had been in the family since 1864.

A wish to experience farming in the high country, where he had done some mustering, prompted a desire to sell it and buy a high country station.

The influx of dairying provided that opportunity and in 1993 he sold most of the home farm and

bought Cattle Flat Station near Lumsden.

He retained the original home block so his ageing mother could continue to live there until she died in 2000.

Cattle Flat, at that stage a pastoral lease, ticked all his boxes.

At 5400ha and peaking at 1200m above sea level, it had scale and allowed him to use horses for mustering and to test his dogworking skills.

The property has a 20km frontage on the Mataura River and encompasses three water catchments.

Largely underdeveloped, it also gave him the opportunity to set it up the way he wanted.

Young immediately embarked on tenure review, a lengthy, complicated bureaucratic exercise to freehold part of the property while releasing areas of high conservation value.

The endeavour gives an insight into how he operates.

Young spent 13 years working through the process, opting to do it himself rather than employ experts.

“I knew my bottom line. I didn’t want anyone else negotiating and weakening my position.

“It was stressful but I came out in the end with a very good result.”

Throughout his career Young has been heavily involved in the community, such as chairing the trust that established the Tūātapere Maternity Hospital and getting involved with local theatre and the Mid Dome Wilding Tree Trust, among others.

His experience combating wilding trees galvanised his frustration with the SNA obligations imposed on landowners.

Young says the Department of Conservation is too bureaucratic, with too few people in the field, and a poor manager of the weeds and pests on public conservation land.

“There is no point safeguarding snippets of SNAs of private land and impinging on private property rights when they can’t manage the land they have.”

He says the Southland District Council estimates mapping SNAs will cost it $18 million.

“It won’t save one plant or one animal yet comes with all that expense.”

Young concedes he is just one person on the BLNZ board, but he hopes to create a movement that will improve the industry and free it from excessive rules and regulations.

“I want to see a vibrant, sustainable farming industry for my children and my grandchildren.”

Specifically, he wants changes to He Waka Eke Noa and emissions pricing so productive sheep and beef land is not planted in forestry and methane tax does not force farmers out of business.

“If we lose 20% of production from sheep and beef properties, that is absolute nonsense and NZ can’t afford to have that amount export income lost.”

Farmers should pay no or very little tax on methane emissions.

Young maintains HWEN is not united, evident by Federated Farmers not signing the final document and establishing six bottom lines it says are needed for it to stay.

Just how far to push a government with a Parliamentary majority is always a risk, but Young says a strong and united voice provides negotiating strength.

On trade, Young acknowledges the importance of NZ provenance and environmental integrity, but not at the expense of the country’s production base.

“No other country would tax farm emissions as this government wants to.”

Young says the fact that he unseated the BLNZ chair and that 10 remits were considered at this year’s board AGM send a signal that farmers want change.

“We need to up our game and get back on the side of grass root farmers,” he says Young has two children, a son and daughter, who are both farming and says his four grandchildren all love farm life. It is their future that drives him.

POLITICS Beef + Lamb NZ

HIGH COUNTRY: Geoffrey Young on Cattle Flat Station near Lumsden. He says he’s ‘at the age where I can give back and get away from the day-today running of the farm and give my son a crack’. Photo: Natwick

‘Global yardstick can only boost NZ cred’

created in the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling, and scope three are value chain emissions.

NEW Zealand’s two largest exporters of animal protein say being part of a global movement setting greenhouse gas emission targets boosts the credibility of NZ producers.

Kate Beddoe, the chief sustainability and risk officer at Silver Fern Farms, said its customers want to know their red meat is sustainably produced and that progress is being made to reduce emissions.

“We think the transition to a low-carbon economy is an important opportunity to create new forms of value for NZ and position our farmers as climate innovators.”

Fonterra’s director of sustainability, Charlotte Rutherford, said the sciencebased targets initiative (SBTi) is aligned to what customers want, and provides transparency and credibility.

Beddoe said SBTi also provides a clearly defined, science-based pathway for companies and financial institutions to reduce emissions, with targets reviewed and validated.

Globally, research is underway into the link between climate change and the role of restored

nature areas, which will lead to science-based targets and guidance for companies to make disclosures in terms of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework. This is a risk management and disclosure framework to identify, assess and manage the impact on natural areas.

“This is a clear direction of travel that progressive companies are fronting into and SFF is closely connected to this work,” said Beddoe.

TRANSPARENCY:

Fonterra’s director of sustainability, Charlotte Rutherford, says the global sciencebased targets initiative is aligned to what customers want, and provides transparency and credibility.

She sees this as a further opportunity to demonstrate the attributes of NZ pastoral farming, how farmers manage their emissions and work within their natural capital to produce food and support farm biodiversity.

Rutherford said Fonterra has accredited scope one and two targets and is engaging with farmers about scope three accredited targets.

Scope one emissions stem directly from company operations, scope two are indirect emissions

Rutherford said Fonterra’s SBTi accredited targets are aligned to what its customers are also using. The benefits far outweigh the costs.

“Having SBTi accreditation is a ticket to the game.”

Fonterra will assess whether to be included in other SBTi targets, such as for water and biodiversity, as they are released.

“We are a leading partner of the Aotearoa Circle and are participating in a series of workshops on the TNFD.”

The purpose of the workshops is to assess the TNFD framework through a NZ lens to see how it would apply to Fonterra.

She said these aspects are already covered by The Co-operative Difference, which sets goals for milk quality and sustainability, and which includes people and community.

Any targets must align with Fonterra’s best practice but also have support from farmers and other stakeholders; demonstrate the ability to protect and create value and maintain a social licence to operate; and align with the co-operative’s ambition to lead in sustainability.

Cyclone Gabrielle Temporary Accommodation

Cyclone Gabrielle Temporary Accommodation

If your property was impacted during this severe weather event and you need support finding temporary accommodation, we can help.

If your property was impacted during this severe weather event and you need support finding temporary accommodation, we can help.

The Temporary Accommodation Service is assisting displaced people to find suitable temporary accommodation.

The Temporary Accommodation Service is assisting displaced people to find suitable temporary accommodation.

Register your details with us and a staff member will call you in a few days to help you find suitable temporary housing. Our staff can also provide guidance on how to access support services such as insurance advice and financial assistance.

Register your details with us and a staff member will call you in a few days to help you find suitable temporary housing. Our staff can also provide guidance on how to access support services such as insurance advice and financial assistance.

There will be a cost for temporary accommodation, but you can contact the Ministry of Social Development to see if assistance is available to meet this cost.

There will be a cost for temporary accommodation, but you can contact the Ministry of Social Development to see if assistance is available to meet this cost.

If you are the tenant or landlord of a rental property, www.tenancy.govt.nz has information on your rights and obligations after a natural disaster.

If you are the tenant or landlord of a rental property, www.tenancy.govt.nz has information on your rights and obligations after a natural disaster.

For more information and to register your details, please go to: www.tas.mbie.govt.nz

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Neal Wallace MARKETS Sustainability

This is a clear direction of travel that progressive companies are fronting into and SFF is closely connected to this work.

Kate Beddoe Silver Fern Farms

Wrangling of the bulls as Pātoka makes a plan

Craig Page NEWS Transport

THERE might finally be some light at the end of the tunnel for isolated residents in the Hawke’s Bay region of Pātoka.

Access to the area has been severely limited since Cyclone Gabrielle washed out a bridge at Rissington in February. A culvert bridge was installed, but it had limitations for heavy vehicles and relied on low river levels.

By hook or shepherds crook, sale goes on

AFTER being postponed in February because of a major weather event, the Lakes Station onfarm sheep sale was eventually held recently.

Located near Hawarden in North Canterbury, Lakes Station had 20,000 sheep in holding paddocks waiting to be weaned for the annual sale when the access road was washed out the day before.

“It couldn’t have been worse timing,” Hazlett Rural livestock agent Alby Orchard said.

“It has taken six weeks to get the road back to allow truck and trailer units to navigate the washout area of the road, and finally we have held the sale.”

The contingency plan was to wean the lambs and fortunately, Orchard said, with coastal North Canterbury having had a “very good summer”, grazing was found for 2500 of the breeding ewes. The remainder of the ewes

were put back on the hills while the lambs were spread across the lower hill country until road access allowed the re-scheduling of the on-farm sale.

“With Hawarden area having plenty of feed, this allowed us to find grazing for a sizeable number of the breeding ewes.

This was a two-day journey for the shepherds, who camped out on the roadsides overnight to contain the mob ... like winding the clock back 60 to 70 years.

Alby Orchard Hazlett Livestock

“This was to take some pressure off the grazing back at Lakes Station as it was still very dry in there.”

The Lakes Station stock team walked the 2500 breeding ewes out on a 45km journey from the station to grazing. There were also 1500 annual

draft ewes walked out to Hawarden in mid-February and trucked to the Sheffield ewe fair, where they averaged $140.

“This was a two-day journey for the shepherds, who camped out on the roadsides overnight to contain the mob.

“This was like winding the clock back 60 to 70 years as this was the way many properties moved their sheep around back then,” Orchard said.

Six weeks later the sale proved highly successful.

“The market had strengthened sufficiently throughout the Canterbury region with a lot more cropping farmers entering the market with most of the lambs going to North, Central and Mid Canterbury areas.

The sale consisted of 6500 Romdale mixed sex lambs and 200 annual draft Romdale Ewes.

The lambs averaged $127 with the Down cross mixed sex lambs selling from $114-$151, Romdale wether lambs $125-$151, Romdale ewe lambs $88-$125 and the Romdale annual draft ewes fetched $74-$118.

News that a Bailey bridge was expected to open on Friday is a relief for locals and can’t come soon enough for farmers desperate to get stock off their farms and to saleyards or meatworks.

Sally and Nathan Newall were stuck with about 500 bulls that would normally have been off the farm well before now.

Recently they were able to finally move 36 of them, but it was a lengthy process.

The stock were trucked from the farm down to the Tūtaekurī River, transferred into a stock crate 16 at a time, and towed across the river by tractor to a

truck and trailer waiting on the other side.

“Getting bulls off farm is a challenging process these days,” Sally Newall said.

“With our only bridge to town washed away we have to do things a little differently. We did one load last week across the river and thought we won’t do that again, we’ll wait for the Bailey bridge.

Getting bulls off farm is a challenging process these days.

Sally Newall

“Then space came up at the works and we needed to get them out so we had to take that opportunity.”

Despite vowing not to do it again, the Newalls last week shipped out 60 more bulls. With about 100 bulls off the farm, and a bigger clear-out planned when the Bailey bridge is installed, Newall said they are now starting to focus on winter feed.

“These bulls have just decked us to the boards.”

Pātoka

ON THE MOOVE: Loaded into crates, the bulls are towed by tractor along a narrow road towards the Tūtaekurī River crossing.

Photo: Sally Newall/ Kiwi Country Kid

Annette Scott MARKETS Livestock

OLD SCHOOL: With road access washed out, shepherds walked 4000 sheep on a 45km, two-day journey out of Lakes Station.

Migrants not the answer to labour squeeze

Gerald Piddock NEWS Employment

THE dairy industry cannot rely on immigration as a safety valve to solve its labour shortages.

Such a strategy is not sustainable and is too reliant on Wellington’s public service, economist Shamubeel Eaqub says.

Speaking at DairyNZ’s People Expo event in Matamata, Eaqub told farmers that politicians do not have the social licence to bring in the numbers of immigrants needed to make up the labour shortfall that exists in the dairy industry and the wider economy.

“Yes, we want immigrants to come and work on the farm, but do you really think politicians are going to bring in 100,000-plus immigrants every year for the next 50 years? No way.

“We are in an extraordinary situation where we have become reliant on immigration as our safety valve and yet there is no strategy, there is no policy and no agreement on how to do this.

“I urge you not to rely on immigration as your safety valve in your labour plan. It’s not going to work, it’s not sustainable and it’s entirely prone to who is in Wellington – and their minds change on a daily basis.”

New Zealand is in a recession – regardless of whether the Reserve Bank believes it or not – and people are scared to make investment decisions, he said. This means prioritising those decisions into “must haves” and things that can be delayed.

Investing in people is a “must have”, Eaqub said.

The re-opening of the country’s borders following the covid pandemic is a double-edged sword. While more migrants can come in, all of the young people who have been working on farms may now choose overseas travel. Eaqub said

the industry should not be too concerned about demand for dairy as the world will keep needing food.

“The biggest issue for us – and the biggest issue for almost every industry that I speak to – is around labour shortages. You don’t have a business if you don’t have people.” Getting enough people and the right people into work is key, he said.

“I think labour costs will keep increasing at a pretty steady clip ... because all of the labour shortages you are experiencing today are not going to get better, they are going to get much worse.”

Countries such as Australia and Canada have responded by relaxing their immigration laws to allow more migrants in.

“Our country pretty much goes, ‘immigrants, we don’t really like them’.”

The world is shifting for everybody and the dairy industry has to be better than everybody else if it wants to keep attracting workers, he said.

“That is the nub of all of the challenges that we face.”

The dairy industry has also shifted from a growth to a mature industry, and this changes the narrative of how the rest of the country perceives it.

It needs to re-frame the conversation of how it is perceived, he said.

Every business relies on social licence to operate and too much of the industry’s messaging and language is aimed at one another rather than people outside the industry.

“You are not speaking to the 5% who are dairy farmers, you are talking to the 95% who are not.

“You are not the audience.”

NZ Merino earnings steady

Staff reporter

MARKETS Wool

This is because of NZ’s changing demography. People are getting older and at the same time are not having enough babies, resulting in not having enough young people to work. This is likely to be the last year where there are more people entering the workforce than retiring.

The flipside of the low unemployment rate is there have never been fewer people available to work and many of the people who are not working may not be available to work because they are studying, are retired or are on parental leave.

“We are not the only ones. If you look across the OECD, this is a story reflected across the world. We are probably the tightest labour market in the OECD and there is fierce competition for workers.”

Headlines that highlight the billions of dollars the industry exports do not resonate with people outside the sector, especially since the numbers of people employed on farms has fallen from one third in the 1900s to less than 8%.

“Export revenue does not resonate. There’s no humanity in the way you describe it.”

The industry needs to be humble and realistic about its size and how it is perceived.

“We are not 100% of New Zealand, we are not the backbone of the country, we are businesspeople doing a thing that people want.

“We are very good at it, we don’t need to be the backbone to justify our business. We do it because we’re bloody good at it.”

NEW Zealand Merino has declared earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) of $5.6 million for the six months ended December 31 and reaffirmed its earlier full-year guidance for Ebit between $5.8m and $6.4m.

The strongly seasonal nature of the company’s business means that most of its earnings occur in the first half of the financial year. In the 2022 financial year the Ebit was $6.9m.

NZ Merino (NZM) recently announced the appointment of Australian businessman John Maher as an additional director, after the company of which he is chair, AWN Rural, purchased 10.1% of the NZM shares.

AWN Rural bought the shares from outgoing NZM managing director John Brakenridge and his wife Sarah for slightly more than $5m at a price of $9.50 a share.

In the past 12 months NZM shares have traded on the Unlisted exchange in the range $5.59 to $6.87.

full-year guidance for earnings before interest and tax of between $5.8m and

NO SOLUTION: Economist Shamubeel Eaqub says it is not sustainable for the dairy industry to rely on migrant labour as the answer to its worker shortage woes.

We are not 100% of New Zealand, we are not the backbone of the country, we are businesspeople doing a thing that people want ... We do it because we’re bloody good at it.

Shamubeel Eaqub Economist

INCOME STREAM: New Zealand Merino rea rmed its earlier

$6.4m.

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Milk price forecasts spread far and wide

Hugh Stringleman MARKETS Dairy

DAIRY market analysts differ widely in their preliminary forecasts for the farmgate milk price next season, which begins in two months.

The span of $3 between highest and lowest should give rise to caution among dairy farmers budgeting for the new season to cover much higher farm expenses.

Westpac senior agri economist Nathan Penny, an analyst of long standing with a reputation for optimism, said increasing Chinese demand and the relatively low New Zealand dollar will deliver $10/kg milksolids in 2023-24.

ASB economist Nat Keall said improving Chinese demand is being offset by weaker dairy consumption elsewhere and that $7/kg is a reasonable forecast.

ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby sits in the middle at $8.50, having just trimmed both the current season prediction and 2023-24 by 25c because dairy commodities have not rebounded as she hoped.

Penny said the reopening of the Chinese economy after covid lockdowns has already lifted the tide in sheepmeat and export logs.

“It is a matter of when, not if, lifting Chinese demand translates into higher dairy prices.”

As NZ’s largest market, China has an over-sized impact on global dairy prices. Its share of NZ dairy purchasing fell from 43% in November 2021 to 30% currently, matched by the fall in dairy prices.

“Other key markets in the rest of Asia picked up the slack, although at lower prices than China had been paying.

“Looking over the remainder of 2023, we expect Chinese buyers to return in greater numbers in line with their average buying patterns over 2020 and 2021,” Penny said.

Milk production in the United States, Europe and NZ has picked up but will remain subdued, he said.

“All up, we expect global dairy prices to firm over the course of 2023.

“While the lift will come too late for this season’s forecast, it does set up 2023/24 for a bumper milk price.”

Keall said the ASB team thinks lower demand is now the dominant market theme.

“Understandably, a less certain outlook for the global economy and the prospect of weaker consumption in many parts of the world are weighing on buyers.

“With milk production also getting past its lows, the balance of supply and demand has shifted markedly.”

Bidders on Global Dairy Trade are securing what they need without needing to go on the offensive, and China’s return to GDT isn’t pushing prices higher.

China’s volume of whole milk powder has risen but other markets are increasingly stepping back.

“We expect this to remain a theme over the course of the next season, with improving Chinese demand offset by weaker dairy consumption elsewhere.

“What’s more, with local production strong and dairy stocks still healthy, there’s a limit to what Chinese processors will be prepared to pay for now.

“With global dairy supply past its lows and softer global growth set to weigh on demand, we don’t

see prices mounting a dramatic comeback.”

At ANZ, Kilsby is cautious concerning next season’s milk price, saying the decline in dairy commodity prices of the past few months is unlikely to abate due to expanding world milk supplies.

The futures market and the forward sales on GDT point to a flattening line a little above $8 for the farmgate milk price.

The NZD is expected to firm over the medium term but that influence will be muted by the foreign exchange hedging policies of the dairy companies.

“Global dairy markets are not quite as robust as we hoped, which will put downward pressure on prices.

“But as demand from China improves this will help to soak up the surplus dairy products currently available.”

Penny acknowledged that dairy farm margins will remain tighter for longer after revising the current milk price down by 35c to $8.40.

But his very optimistic $10 for next season plus some moderation in the growth of farm costs should recover some of this season’s lost ground for operating margins.

Synlait making heavy weather of recovery

Hugh Stringleman MARKETS Dairy

SYNLAIT’S interim results for the 2023 financial year have confirmed and underlined its muchreduced profit guidance and cost headwinds released to the share market 10 days earlier.

Revenue was down 3% to $770 million compared with the first half in FY2022 –but net profit after tax was down 83% to $4.8m.

Therefore, the full-year guidance is now between $15m and $25m, drastically below the FY2022 outcome of $38.5m.

Chief executive Grant Watson has reiterated his warning that company recovery will now take three years rather than two, and by that he means a return to the FY21 result of $75m.

Chief among the reasons are delayed demand for infant formula base powder from its main customer and minority shareholder, A2 Milk Company, increased underlying costs and a delay on new business with a multinational food company for which Synlait has geared its Pōkeno plant.

In the first half of FY23,

Synlait incurred about $20m of increased operating costs and recurring costs for its new SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, which governs all its manufacturing, product storage and despatch.

“Operational stability and cost challenges are evident across Synlait, including a reduction in milk processed, raw material supply challenges, CO2 shortages, an extremely tight labour market, extreme weather events, and high inflationary costs pressures,” Watson said.

“Implementing and stabilising SAP ERP significantly impacted our ability to release and ship

products to customers in Q1.

“The flow-on effects resulted in higher inventory levels and costs, including interest costs.”

Net debt on January 31 was $518.6m, 32% higher than a year earlier, and operating cash flow was minus $125m, down $242m.

Chief financial officer Rob Stowell said the net debt position was disappointing and the company’s guidance for the end of the financial year is a range of 3 to 3.5 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

That net debt target previously had been 2 to 2.5 times.

“Synlait is currently undertaking a review of its capital strategy, focusing primarily on debt and a further update will be provided at the investor day on May 8.”

The current milk price forecast is $8.50 and the higher advance rate to farmers is contributing to the debt position.

Synlait’s shares were trading around $3.14 before its March 17 announcement of the profit guidance downgrade and the price has subsequently lost 80c, or 25% of value.

GOT MILK: ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby is cautious about next season’s milk price, saying the decline in dairy commodity prices of the past few months is unlikely to abate due to expanding world milk supplies

DELAY: Synlait CEO Grant Watson repeated his warning that it will take three years rather than two to return to the FY21 result of $75m.

Southland tech firm takes GPS to next level

Richard Rennie TECHNOLOGY Farm systems

TRACKING down

elusive water pipes or determining the exact location of a dodgy boundary line will be achieved with greater accuracy in the future, thanks to new GPS technology just launched in Southland.

Robin O’Neill’s company Space Operations NZ in Invercargill is the service provider for a system that enhances GPS accuracy from about plus/minus 3m down to 10cm, barely a spade width.

Known as Southern Position Augmentation Network

It means that as a farmer, should you need to do a bit of survey work for something like laying subsoil drains, you can do that and know it is accurate, and be able to find those drains when you come back in two to three years’ time.

Robin O’Neill Space Operations NZ

(SouthPAN), the service’s New Zealand uplink centre was launched at a sod-turning by Minister for Land Information Damien O’Connor this month.

O’Neill describes the system as an error-correcting operation spanning Australasia that takes data from conventional GPS networks, feeds it back through a satellite uplink at Avarua Cook Islands and to users’ GPS units, which are corrected for the error level.

That significant improvement in accuracy has some major implications for farmers who may want to leverage smarter farm systems off the technology.

“Something like a driverless tractor – you would be a bit nervous about having accuracy only within 3m, but that changes at 10cm,” said O’Neill.

The technology opens up surveying and positioning opportunities that in the past would only have been available to professionals paying for highpriced accuracy positioning tech.

“It means that as a farmer, should you need to do a bit of survey work for something like laying subsoil drains, you can do that and know it is accurate, and be able to find those drains when you come back in two to three

years’ time when they may be blocked – 3m can mean a look of digging.”

He sees potential for the enabling technology to open up more opportunities for virtual fencing systems, particularly for remoter hill country properties wanting to keep stock out of waterways but unable to justify the high cost of physical fences.

Craig Young, CEO of TUANZ, the Tech Users Association, said just as “internet of things” technology

has taken time to evolve despite being around for some years, he suspects SouthPAN’s tech may be the same.

“It is the sort of tech where the facilities have to be put in before making the most of it. There is a bit of an adoption curve with some hype for the first couple of years, then you see the real use cases start to come through.”

O’Connor said the system should mean by 2028 helicopters and planes will be able to fly more

safely in weather they cannot fly in now, while search and rescue systems will also be greatly enhanced.

The system comprises two 11m antennae being built linking to a control centre in Invercargill. “Our future export growth relies on lifting our sustainability credentials, and SouthPAN will help farmers and growers with precision through application of inputs and improved livestock management,” O’Connor said.

Do you want to change the government?

ACCURATE: Space Operations NZ director Robin O’Neill says the new technology will open up possibilities for new technology, such as driverless tractors.

A TASTE: ANZCO’s general manager of sales, Rick Walker, says the meat exporter’s focus over the past year has been on working with distributors to get NZ product into the UK market to sample.

UK parliament passes NZ free trade bill

Nigel Stirling MARKETS Trade

THE last significant remaining obstacle to New Zealand’s free trade agreement with the United Kingdom entering into force has been cleared away.

The Trade (Australia and NZ) 2023 Bill received Royal Assent last Friday after being

passed by both houses of the UK parliament.

Members of Parliament in New Zealand passed legislation ratifying the agreement in November last year.

Dairy Companies Association executive director Kimberly Crewther said the finish line was close for exporters eager for expanded access to the UK market.

“There are a couple more processes the UK needs to get through before implementation but it should be fairly close ... mid-year hopefully.

“There are some odd things that happen in the UK around them not being able to do certain things around the time of the coronation [of King Charles], which impacts the timing a bit but it is within sight with both those bills having been passed, at our end and now at their end.”

After the agreement was concluded in February last year Trade Minister Damien O’Connor declared it the best for NZ exporters since the 2008 deal with China, which ushered in a boom in trade between the two countries.

Officials have estimated the UK deal will result in annual tariff savings of $38 million based on current trade volumes. Realistically the savings will be significantly more, given the fact that current high tariffs effectively stop trade in products such as dairy and beef. These should flow much more freely once the deal enters into force.

Meat exporter ANZCO’s general manager of sales, Rick Walker, said NZ’s annual beef quota rises substantially from 450t now to 12,000t tariff-free in the first year, and in equal annual instalments to 60,000t within 15 years, after which quotas fall away completely.

“Our focus over the last 12 months has been to work with food service distributors to get product into the market to sample and get a better feel for.

“The feedback in general has been positive.”

However the market will not be without its challenges for meat exporters, Walker said. Australia’s own free trade agreement with the UK, which enters into force at the same time as NZ’s, has created a significant amount of new sheep meat quota for its exporters.

“We have definitely seen Australia be far more active over the past 12 months with customers in the UK and preparing for a meaningful increase in their quota access.

“One of the big challenges we are going see is a more competitive environment [for sheep meat].

“We have had that market to ourselves and now we don’t.

“We will have to face that challenge headon,” Walker said.

Beef and Lamb NZ’s general manager for market development Nick Beeby said Australia will back its exporters’ push into the UK with significant promotional spending.

“We know that they are preparing to spend more in the UK than they ever have before.”

Beeby said the NZ industry is considering how it can respond with its own promotions, although it is certain to be considerably outgunned by Australia’s budgets.

Union flags meat industry migrant system

they don’t really have the skills.”

SOME migrant workers recruited by the meat industry lack the skills required by their immigration visa, according to a meat workers’ union.

Daryl Carran, national secretary of the New Zealand Meat Workers and Related Trades Union, is also concerned meat companies are using labour recruitment companies to source migrant workers, which leaves workers in limbo about who is responsible for them.

Carran said he has seen cases where Alliance Group has employed migrant staff under Immigration NZ’s Skilled Migrant Workers Visa category, but they do not have the necessary skills.

In one case a worker recruited by the Lorneville plant had previously worked as a telephone technician.

Carran said a definition of “skilled migrant worker” is needed.

“The issue from our perspective is that they are coming out here as skilled migrant workers, but they may have done minimal slaughtering in their village they are from but come over here and

Carran said ideally migrant meat workers employed in NZ should have experience in an abattoir or meat works where quality and hygiene standards have to be met.

Chris Selbie, Alliance’s manager of people and safety, said to obtain a visa all overseas workers are required to meet strict skills criteria and fulfil Immigration NZ requirements.

“This includes providing evidence of previous knife skills experience.

migrant workers as much as $12 or $13 an hour more than local staff who, in most cases, Carran said, have greater skills.

Selbie said the disparity has been corrected.

“We were made aware of the union’s concerns with regards to pay disparity and these have been addressed.

“There is currently no pay disparity between the people being trained and their equivalent workers.”

The migrant workers have come from Pacific Islands and parts of Asia, and Carran said some have been sourced by labour hire companies, which creates ambiguity about who is responsible for that worker.

He estimates that about 80 of the approximately 160 migrant workers at Lorneville were recruited by a labour broker and the rest by Alliance.

Recently one of those workers was dismissed and found himself without a home or income.

said, it could have ended very differently.

Unlike Pacific Islanders, workers from Asia often do not have the support of family and friends in NZ.

specifications and local work practices.”

Selbie said the co-operative has a labour shortage and Southland has low unemployment.

“The skilled migrants we engaged meet the baseline skills required by Immigration New Zealand.”

The government requires migrants employed up to February 27 to be paid at least $27.76 an hour, and $29.90/hr after that date.

Carran said Alliance is paying

Carran said the worker had borrowed money to travel to NZ and had little prospect of borrowing more to return home.

He found accommodation with a friend and Carran said it appears the man may have found another job.

The way he was recruited, Carran

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Carran said there is no necessity to use recruitment firms and he wants companies to employ migrant workers directly. Selbie said migrants do need time to adjust to the work and work environment.

“As with any skilled worker entering a processing environment in a new country, they need time to be inducted to new product

“While our preference is always to employ people from our local communities, in recent years we have had to recruit skilled people from overseas to make up the shortfall in numbers.”

Migrant workers represent a small proportion of Alliance’s total workforce, he said.

Carran confirmed the union and co-operative are about to start contract talks.

Neal Wallace NEWS

Meat industry

As with any skilled worker entering a processing environment in a new country, they need time to be inducted to new product specifications and local work practices.

Chris Selbie Alliance Group

LEARNING: Migrant workers need time to adjust to the work and work environment in New Zealand’s meat industry.

‘Remember, the grass always grows back’

Farmstrong ambassador Sam Whitelock has just paid a visit to flood-hit farmers and growers in the Counties and northern Waikato areas to check how they were going. Here’s how it all went down.

FIRST stop was the Aka Aka community hall, where locals took a morning off from their clean-up duties and farm work to have a catchup and hear how Whitelock has managed setbacks not only in his sporting career, but also during the Christchurch earthquakes.

People fired all sorts of questions his way about what it takes to stay mentally and physically well in the face of a significant challenge. It’s a topic that’s top of mind for many in the light of flood damage to the low-lying area, said local dairy farmer Jo Sands.

“It’s been challenging. We’ve done it quite hard here. The first flood in January, we got 198ml of rain in one night and then more after that. The water couldn’t get away and we had flooding all over the farm. All the drains were overflowing. The water hung round for three or four days so the grass died off and then the cows didn’t want to eat the grass.

“We also had a lot of lame cows from having wet feet all the time. Then came the cyclone and then more flooding. I think we’ve only had five to seven fine days all summer, so we haven’t really had summer. We’re still waiting for it,” she laughed. “It just feels as if you’re fighting with the elements all the time.”

It’s a similar story further south in Onewhero, where farmers gathered at the local rugby club rooms to meet Whitelock. Kate Reese, a sheep and beef farmer in Wairamarama in north Waikato, described the impact of the floods there.

“Our community has had a tough time. The initial downpour and then Cyclone Gabrielle really affected us. We even lost a member of our community, which was terrible. A lot of our dairy farmers were impacted by overflow from the Waikato river and most of their

farms ended up under water.”

Reese said increased communication and connection is something her community had been working on for several years and that work is now paying off.

“I think the thing to remember mentally is that the grass always grows back. As long as your stock are contained and everyone is safe, you can put up temporary fencing and the grass will grow back. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel. So, make sure you get off farm and talk with other farmers so you realise everyone’s in the same boat and keep trying to do your extra-curricular stuff, like kids’ sport, to try and keep things normal as much as possible.”

time to connect with others and reset physically and mentally often came out better than the people who just kept on going and going. Obviously cyclones, floods and earthquakes are completely different things, but it’s still about getting through something exceptional.” Whitelock intends to return to farming after his rugby career and also shared how his own farm in Hawke’s Bay has been affected by the cyclones with damaged land and fencing. He was quick to point out the importance of sticking together as a community during a crisis.

“I’ve heard from the manager on our place that since the cyclones, they’ve actually met all the neighbours now and the community feels tighter than what it was before. Ideally, that would happen before one of these events, but we all lead busy lives and we’re all time poor, so that’s why I appreciate people coming along today. I know it’s not easy to get off farm, but it’s great that you are here. It’s an important part of getting through something like this.”

Whitelock also stressed the importance of people pacing themselves for the long haul.

always a to-do list that never gets completed. So it’s a case of being realistic about how much you’re trying to do. Decide what’s the most important thing and just focus on that. That was my experience of the quakes.”

Whitelock also advised locals not to neglect the basics, such as sleep, nutrition and scheduling downtime.

“As well as looking after your neighbours, it’s important to look after yourself – make sure you keep talking to others and take time to stop and reset mentally so you’re not burning out. If you’re working hard, even a 10-minute break gives you a chance to ‘get outside your brain’.

Sands liked what she heard as well.

“It was brilliant. It makes you stop and think about what it does take to get through something like this. It was good because Sam’s obviously been through something similar. It will be a big help for anyone who’s young or new to it all. It gives you perspective.

“I think it’s great that Farmstrong has an ambassador like Sam who’s aware of what’s happened to us and gives his input. It’s great to get his take on what’s going on and how to get through something like this.”

Dairy farmer David McDonald said about a third of his farm ended up under water.

Whitelock talked about his experience of the Canterbury earthquakes and the insights it gave him on getting through a lengthy recovery process. He particularly stressed the importance of people looking after themselves after the initial adrenaline rush of dealing with a crisis subsides.

“I remember after the earthquake, for the first couple of weeks, a lot of people got through purely on adrenaline but then, bang, the pressure of it all suddenly just hit them and they fell flat. The thing I noticed is that the people who took the

“I know a disaster like this affects some more than others. It could take years for some people to get up and running again, just like it was for us in Christchurch. The important thing is to pace yourself, so you don’t burn out. When the earthquake happened, as a team we all went round to a teammate’s place which had been badly hit by liquefaction. It took us five wheelbarrows and two days just to clean his back yard! That was the case for thousands and thousands of others too.

“You soon learnt, it was about taking things day by day. As anyone in farming knows, there’s

“You can’t just live on adrenaline the whole time. That’s something I learnt during the earthquakes. You can’t get by on adrenaline and no sleep.”

Reese agreed. “It’s important for people to remember they’re not invincible and that everyone has a limit to their energy. As Sam said, people’s natural reaction is to get in there and fix the problem and find solutions because that’s what farmers do, but long term that can have a real impact on families and relationships when people get tired. It’s about having those conversations within families to make sure people aren’t burning themselves out.”

“It wasn’t ideal, but you carry on, don’t you? I thought Sam was really good today. I liked the parallels he made between rugby and farming. He’s right. Work on one thing at a time. If you can do one clean-up job a day as well as milking the cows, you’ll get there.”

As if to illustrate that life must go on no matter what the elements throw at us, Whitelock finished his visit by running a surprise coaching session for the local kids at the Onewhero rugby club. He took time to run them through tackling and passing drills as well as posing for selfies and signing autographs. And yes, it was raining.

KNOW YOUR LIMITS: Sheep and beef farmer Kate Reese says it’s important for people ‘to remember they’re not invincible and that everyone has a limit to their energy’.

The thing I noticed is that the people who took the time to connect with others and reset physically and mentally often came out better than the people who just kept on going and going.

Sam Whitelock Farmstrong ambassador

O’Connor hails vertical farming programme

Gerald Piddock TECHNOLOGY Horticulture

VERTICAL farming

will complement

rather than replace existing outdoor food production systems, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says. The indoor farms are increasingly popular worldwide as countries grappled with food security.

This is one of the reasons the government is backing New Zealand’s first commercial vertical farm, Greengrower, O’Connor said at the farm’s site at Waikato Innovation Park in Hamilton.

Whilst conventional horticulture is reliant on the weather playing ball and providing high volumes of water, this kind of innovative vertical farming is done indoors and can use up to 95% less water to grow produce in half the time.

Damien O’Connor Agriculture minister

“We are a food-producing nation, we take great pride in that and we are very innovative, and in my view this is just one more innovation.

“It’s not a replacement or an alternative, it’s an innovation and smart utilisation of the resources we need including fertiliser to grow food that the world needs.”

It will also help reduce food and resource wastage, he said.

Greengrower started commercial production late last year with, having one tunnel (production line) running; in it, seedlings are grown in a largely automated system where light, temperature and water are all controlled.

The facility is self-contained and uses 1% of the water used in outdoor farming, with none of the runoff or leaching typically seen in an outdoor farming system.

The resulting vegetables are bagged for the retail market.

Currently, the site is producing around 4000 bags of leafy green vegetables a day.

Capacity will grow as two other tunnels are completed this year.

Once finished, Greengrower should deliver the equivalent production of a 150ha farm.

“If you’re getting the equivalent of production from 150ha of land in a building like this, you

can very quickly go through the calculations and think that this can be a pretty smart and sustainable investment,” O’Connor said.

“Whilst conventional horticulture is reliant on the weather playing ball and providing high volumes of water, this kind of innovative vertical farming is done indoors and can use up to 95% less

Nil withholding, for when she needs it.

University providing research and development support.

The government has provided $3.53m to support the four-year programme.

The first phase of the SFFF programme is largely complete. It saw early-stage trialling and testing carried out to determine whether plants could be grown. The second part of the programme will take place over three years and look at trialling more plant varieties in an indoor growing setting.

Greengrower chief executive Tom Schuyt said the programme will look at how it can deliver new products in the New Zealand environment.

water to grow produce in half the time.”

Greengrower’s capability as a food producer is being tested in a Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures (SFFF) fund programme, which O’Connor launched.

Greengrower subsidiary Sustineri Limited is contributing $5.29 million to the fouryear programme, with Massey

“A great example of that is pōhā – a native crop that hasn’t been able to be grown in a commercial environment. How do we use the technology that we have built to deliver some of those new crops in the market where there may be demand, but it hasn’t been met yet?”

Berries, peas, and beans are other potential crops that can be looked at, he said. The science component of the programme will be undertaken in small trials at Massey University. If successful, Greengrower then takes that work to test it on a larger scale.

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SCALE: Once it reaches full capacity, the new Greengrower facility will produce as much as a 150ha farm, using a fraction of the water.

Letters of the week

Wrong tree, wrong place

Andrew Luddington Christchurch

YOU put a shedload of money on the wrong tree and, man, how the laws of unintended consequences go into overdrive.

I have just read an article for Newsroom by Dame Anne Salmond entitled “Greenwashing and the forestry industry in NZ”. Also for Newsroom is an article by Aaron Smale entitled “East Coast farmland crumbles after carbon group takes over”. Both highlight the catastrophe that is now occurring after planting vast acreages of unsuitable land in the wrong tree, namely Radiata pine.

About 10 years ago I wrote an article for the former magazine Straight Furrow about the disaster that would unfold should the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) favour one single exotic tree. Sadly, the government has gone in eyes wide shut, favoured the bloody pine tree, and our farmland is crumbling as a result.

From the Editor

Get labour conditions working for dairy

Bryan Gibson Managing editor

ECONOMIST Shamubeel Eaqub is a familiar face in the media, often discussing the housing crisis and how economic conditions impact the people we hear of less often.

He coined “zombie towns” a few years ago when describing the decline in regional economies.

At the recent DairyNZ People Expo he had a stark warning for the farming sector – immigration won’t solve your labour shortage.

As the dairy industry has now matured, Eaqub said, the time when the solution to labour shortages was to open the borders to farm workers has passed.

A mature industry needs a mature approach, which will require a change in rhetoric, he said.

Being humble and talking to the rest of New Zealand, rather than at them, is vital if dairy is to change how it is perceived.

“We are not 100% of New Zealand, we

are not the backbone of the country, we are business people doing a thing that people want,” he said.

Looking at the macroeconomy, Eaqub said the labour squeeze will only get worse as the entire OECD is facing the same issue, and that means labour costs will continue to rise.

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becomes more precious, there’s an incentive to ensure the person doing the work has the tools and knowledge to be the best they can be.

Too often the topline messages of good pay and added extras in farming work are undercut by stories of imposing rosters and strict rules around how free time is used.

When someone looks at their career options, they don’t just consider the time spent on the clock.

The ETS is turning New Zealand into the world’s unsustainable composting toilet of slash and ruin. Salmond writes that “a landowner who plants pines will earn 10 times more by Year 5 than if they restore native forest, at a time when it is almost universally agreed that this (native forestry) is the best use for highly erodible slopes and gullies and around waterways. The ETS is an ecological and economic idiot.”

She goes on to conclude that clear felling on highly erodible land should be banned, that the “permanent forest” category should be reserved for natives, and that natives should be made financially competitive with pines.

I agree. We don’t just have a climate crisis. We also have a biodiversity crisis. We have gone mad for short-term gain and it makes me weep.

Andy Whitson 027 626 2269 New Media & Business Development Lead andy.whitson@globalhq.co.nz

They look at the quality of the team they’ll be working with – whether it will be fun, rewarding and will build their knowledge and skills.

Steve McLaren 027 205 1456 Auckland/Northland Partnership Manager steve.mclaren@globalhq.co.nz

But there is an upside to this challenge, as data from Statistics New Zealand released last week shows.

Jody Anderson 027 474 6094 Waikato/Bay of Plenty Partnership Manager jody.anderson@globalhq.co.nz

They look at whether their partner, children and friends can find a place in a community.

Donna Hirst 027 474 6095

Lower North Island/international Partnership Manager donna.hirst@globalhq.co.nz

Grant Marshall

Labour productivity rose 2.2% in the year to March 2022, the steepest rise in more than a decade.

The rise in primary industries’ productivity was steeper than that of the economy as a whole as well.

It seems that as each unit of labour

They look at whether the stepping stones to success will give them a good life. The days of suffering now in the hope of one day being the one to impose suffering on others is over.

So how does dairy succeed? Engage with potential workers, offer them a life that’s rewarding economically and socially, and continue to be the best at what we do.

Three

As each unit of labour becomes more precious, there’s an incentive to ensure the person doing the work has the tools and knowledge to be the best they can be.

Is this Golden Goose about to go extinct?

Rick Cameron AgWool NZ director

NEW Zealand’s Golden Goose, sheep farming, is under its greatest ever pressure to be profitable.

In an age of climate events –cyclones at one end of the country and three successive droughts at the other – the lucky ones in the middle are suffering from low strong wool returns. Let us not forget how difficult it is for processors, too, faced with the same higher energy, labour and logistical costs. The never-ending money-printing press of today has many believing technology will supersede our nature of the past.

Right, what has the University of Necessity taught us? Never, ever, ever, ever give up! Arise from all the world’s overflow of doom and gloom designed to engineer yet another crisis to attack our individual choices. Recognise the deception of NZ being designated for pine trees in the “global village” in the 1990s and the creep of regulations and an impractical mantra for a (very profitable for some), two words:

In my view ...

“climate change”, where a single one, “pollution” could re-align more people? How are we to get rid of the hill country farmer? The answer is to never subsidise wool prices!

If an open mind lasts only 20 seconds, the action required for strong wool Returns On Farm (ROF) has been achieved tenfold above current auction prices (but still below the inflation-adjusted price of raw wool in 1980 that harvesting costs today are 25% ahead of). This is the reality, so let us move on with the solution we have working; it’s one that can scale up for exporting and employ more NZ people in the process.

We know a magic wand like concessions for electric cars is not coming from above. With the support of fellow sheep farmers and processors to speculate and share the risks, we have created a garment and a flooring schedule mix of products to optimize the ROF and the percentage return on funds. The very dream of multiple expensive reports from the NZ Wool Board, but without one dollar from tax or levy payers. This required a new business model of collaboration in a fair

trade and zero commission for all. Just as we use hybrid vigour on farm, so do we connect by choice in a membership to provide returns multiple times the cost.

The University of Necessity recognises that corporatism excels in the extraction demanded by shareholders hungry for higher returns. Co-operatives are driven by necessity before progressing towards being corporates.

Corruption is another model that benefits only a few, very well. Agriculture has tried all three with varied success, but today technology offers connectivity like never before, and the chance to collaborate.

This fourth hybrid model of business creates a community of singular businesses doing to others what they want done to them. They know the value of networking to longevity, lowering costs and increasing income by surprising customers with quality, value and durability.

It requires a mixture of retail, wholesale and transparency skills in a fair trade, where words are turned into numbers to be accurately managed.

Long gone are the expensive

and complicated words of the past: “compulsory”, “united”, “elected”, “something has to be done”, “wool levy”, “producer boards”, “inside information”. They abdicated individual responsibility to create.

Now we have a choice of membership, an overflow of entrepreneurial ideas and

Israel has the tech for a thirsty planet

IN THE past year with the decline of the coronavirus, the world has returned its focus to the most pressing existential threats – global warming and climate change, and their devastating effects on the world we live in.

One of the main areas critically affected by climate change is the global rainfall cycle, resulting in extreme rain events, with either severe drought or excessive rainfall, bringing with them more destruction than blessings.

We believe that innovative technological solutions to the water crisis can be a central part of dealing with the climate crisis, for both adaptation and mitigation.

Israel is helping to provide solutions to the water crisis around the world. Recently, following the devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle, the embassy offered its assistance to New Zealand in the form of a series of advanced water technologies, including advanced emergency water management and water infrastructure development, which are now being reviewed.

The close connection between the water crisis and the climate crisis was noted in the COP 27 summary statement and was a central theme in the United Nations Water Conference that opened on the recent Water Day,

March 22, at UN headquarters in New York.

Even as the powerful processes of climate change and global population growth continue to rise, growing demand for industrial and agricultural products will intensify.

We must understand that this will entail formulating a comprehensive campaign that will require that all necessary steps be integrated together, such as: guide and educate on water conservation; increase water use efficiency; accrue international, public and private funding; rehabilitate polluted water sources; encourage investments and R&D; and, first and foremost, learn how to practice good water management on a local, national, regional and global scale.

We must explore new approaches to investing in water and sanitation-related infrastructure and services, while ensuring each person’s right to safe drinking water. It is important that emphasis be placed on the availability and sharing of information about the amount,

quality, distribution and access to water, as well as of the risks and use of that water.

In this regard, Israel can make a significant contribution to the world at large and NZ in particular, as a country with one of the most advanced water systems in the world and with an abundance of R&D and innovative technologies in many fields.

One example is the treatment and recycling of sewage: Israel holds a world record in this field, with 95% of its wastewater being treated; from this, almost 90% is used in agriculture.

Another field in which Israel holds a world record is the prevention of water loss in urban systems. In Israel only a small percentage of water is lost in urban supply systems, while in other countries in the world, this rate can reach dozens of percent. The paradox is that these are often arid and water-scarce countries for whom the absence of available water represents a significant burden.

In Israel, a comprehensive variety of technologies and

In Israel, a comprehensive variety of technologies and methods have been developed to prevent water loss in supply systems, detect leaks through remote sensors, and more.

methods have been developed to prevent water loss in supply systems, detect leaks through remote sensors, and more.

If this was the status quo the world over, it would be possible to greatly reduce and prevent environmental pollution and the destruction of natural systems, all the while allowing treated and purified water to flow back into nature and agriculture.

It would be possible to simultaneously reduce largescale emission of greenhouse gases, build agricultural resilience against climate chance, allow more water in nature for natural systems – which naturally absorb greenhouse gases – to better function, prevent unnecessary destruction of ecological systems as the result of pollution or water scarcity, and much more.

Seawater desalination, the use of brackish water in agriculture, drip irrigation, the development of agricultural varieties that consume less water, and even the extraction of water from air, are all fields that are developed in Israel.

We in Israel are able and willing to share our accumulated knowhow and best practices with fellow nations around the world so that together we will ensure that every individual across the globe is able to enjoy the essential human right to safe and clean water. Water is life.

relationships built for longevity for all, from the farm to the customer and the staff in between. As a farmer, do you want to be part of the solution or part of the problem? What can voluntary capitalism do for you? The concept is proven and improving every day. Never ever, ever, ever give up!

EMERGENCY: Israeli ambassador Ran Yaakoby says his country offered its water technology to New Zealand – including advanced emergency water management and water infrastructure development – in the wake of the floods.

HANG IN THERE: AgWool director Rick Cameron exhorts strong-wool producers to ‘never, ever, ever, ever give up’.

Writing’s on the wall for levy bodies

Alternative view

hard for Beef + Lamb,” he said. “The board wasn’t following what farmers wanted.”

And there’s the problem. BLNZ, in the opinion of grassroots farmers, isn’t representing their best interests.

I feel positive, however, about the opportunity for change going forward.

The Southern campaign has shown farmers that if they get together for a common purpose they can achieve a lot.

In 2021 only a third of voters on the BLNZ electoral roll voted for a continuation of the levy. While I accept that everyone had the opportunity of voting, it showed extreme apathy that only one in three did.

Correspondingly, a farmer can leave Feds and with it its financial support whenever the mood takes them.

leaders in the levy groups.

IWAS aware of the rebellious South during the lead-up to the Beef + Lamb NZ director vote. The Southerners weren’t happy and wanted change. They believed BLNZ had grown too close to the government and they wanted a different approach. That new direction motivated the campaign to remove the chair of the organisation, Andrew Morrison.

The man chosen to oppose Andrew Morrison was Geoffrey Young, an ex Southland Federated Farmers president and recent mayoral candidate. He’s a straightup character who “always had farmers interests at heart, a genuine bloke”. Additionally “he did a great job at Feds”, and “Southland farmers are over the moon”. “Grassroots farmers are genuinely impressed”.

That’s all really positive feedback.

The message is that the organisations are on the wrong track and need to change. Ignore that at your peril.

There was concern expressed that Pāmu would vote to maintain the status quo and that the grassroots farmers needed to get voters registered and out to vote.

The turnout was a mere 36%, only slightly higher than the recent levy vote of 34.9%. Surprisingly, in my view, even with the low turnout Young achieved 8777 votes, 2190 ahead of Morrison.

That sends a significant message to the other directors of both BLNZ and Dairy NZ. The message is that the organisations are on the wrong track and need to change. Ignore that at your peril.

Young reiterated that during an interview with Jamie McKay on The Country.

“Andrew worked extremely

Mind you, that didn’t stop BLNZ crying its success from the rooftops.

We were initially informed that farmers who voted had “overwhelmingly supported the continuation of the sheepmeat and beef levies”.

Farmers had “strongly endorsed BLNZ’s role in advocacy”.

One could humbly suggest that 90% of 35% of voters is still a dismal percentage of levy payers. A slim minority in fact. It does not in my view provide a mandate for anything.

As it happened, just over 5000 farmers voted for a levy that would cost the industry over $30 million a year for five years.

As I’ve said, the Southern farmers have shown us all that if farmers want change they can achieve it if they work together.

A plank of both Young’s campaign and that of Chris Lewis at Dairy NZ was to work more closely with Federated Farmers.

I totally support that. We are a small sector under extreme threat. We need to stand united and not be divided and conquered.

In the past BLNZ has actively undermined Feds for whatever reason. Just recently the levy group has formed an alliance with ginger group 50 Shades of Green, (50 SOG). While 50 SOG has proven to be highly effective, why is BLNZ going with it while giving Feds a two-fingered salute?

Why is BLNZ supporting it with cash while depriving Federated Farmers?

I’d also respectfully ask who has the better track record lobbying the government. I’d humbly suggest Feds.

Finally, was the decision to shove it up Feds endorsed by the board of BLNZ?

The major difference between BLNZ, Dairy NZ and Federated Farmers is that of accountability.

BLNZ and Dairy NZ just have to get through a minority of farmers voting for a levy every five years.

What that tells me is that the elected leaders at Federated Farmers are considerably more tuned into grassroots thinking than many of the board members of the levy organisations. There are now two ex-Feds

I’m both confident and hopeful that will lead to change. If a Southland farmer can roll the chair of BLNZ that should send a message to other board members of both levy groups.

Time will tell, but I’m optimistic. I firmly believe that if the levy organisations don’t change, they’ll be history next time there’s a vote.

The other farmer vote, for Eastern North Island, has been postponed courtesy of Cyclone Gabrielle. The incumbent, local farmer George Tatham, will remain until a vote can be held.

Tatham is standing down after nine years and will be missed. He’s intelligent and personable, a good farmer and employer who certainly has his feet on the ground.

The quest to try and be outstanding in my field

From the ridge

WE FARMERS all like to think we are top stockmen.

Most are and I thought I probably was as well. Then about halfway through my farming career, around 20 years ago, I started to have some selfrealisation that it wasn’t my core competence at all.

I was actually a better pasture manager than a stockman, but having adequate quality feed at the right times does lead to good animal performance so it’s no great sin.

And of course, there is that tension between stock performance and stocking rate. There’s a sweet spot there somewhere.

Limited to farming just 320ha,

Continued next page

YOUNG BLOOD: Geoffrey Young’s election to the board of Beef + Lamb New Zealand has put the boards of it and DairyNZ on notice to heed farmers’ voices, says Alan Emerson.

Alan Emerson Semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath.emerson@gmail.com

Steve Wyn-Harris Central Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer: swyn@xtra.co.nz

KIT: The rising plate didn’t last long in Steve Wyn-Harris’ toolkit, soon replaced by Dooney Sticks – which in turn were soon copied by a smart consultant, who created the plastic sward sticks in wide use now.

Kindness, kinship soothe cyclone’s sting

Our future

SINCE Cyclone Gabrielle hit, I have been on the ground in Tairāwhiti, where I have watched the vital role rural leadership plays during adverse events. No questions needed to be asked, people just pitched in and did what was needed to keep everyone safe.

On the evening of Monday February 13, I sat in my rural cottage near Te Puke with sandbags protecting the house, hoping the cyclone would not repeat the damage caused by Cyclone Hale two weeks earlier. Hale had caused floodwaters to race down the Raparapahoe Stream, bursting its banks, damaging bridges, farmland and buildings. I did not want my place flooded again.

That night I spoke with Gisborne-based agribusiness leader Hilton Collier. As well as discussing the cyclone I shared with him that I had decided to take the plunge and start my own management business. That call ended with an agreement to check in the next day.

The next morning, I woke to the news that Tairāwhiti was completely isolated, with no communication, road access or power.

Like many others I watched the news updates that showed the devastating impacts of the cyclone as it cut a path across Te Ika a

Continued from previous page

I kept my stocking rate up to maximise the net profit but would have to compromise on not having the biggest sheep or the very best per-head production while chasing good per-hectare returns.

And because of an annual rainfall that has ranged between 500mm and 1300mm, I’ve had to develop a flexible farming system that can cope with the vagaries of nature.

I’ve had the big advantage of being well benchmarked against my peers in my land class (Class 5 NI Finishing East Coast), having been a participant in Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Economic Service survey for 25 years. This has allowed me to see where my business strengths and weaknesses lie and address them in the quest for continuous improvement.

Māui. Like many I felt helpless, unable to support whānau and friends whose homes and livelihoods were being destroyed by the cyclone. I felt a powerful urge to lend a hand. During the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake a group of us had gone to Kaikōura to help our rural community by lending a hand where needed. Since then, heading to Kaikōura has become an annual event that has enabled us to build strong bonds with those farming families.

With no way of talking to Hilton I spent a few days baking, for me a therapeutic practice. Once I was able to get back in touch, I told him I was packed and coming, filling my car with baking and donations, and would get there as soon as the road opened.

In Gisborne, Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou had mobilised its networks and established a distribution centre to receive, sort and redistribute food and care packages for all whānau impacted by the cyclone.

Support was being given to both Māori and non-Māori and donations were dispatched as those from outside the region responded and gave what they

A group of us who began farming in the 1980s formed a discussion group.

We were fortunate to get the opportunity to farm but beginning during the tough years of a farming recession with high interest rates meant the support of the discussion group was extremely useful for financial survival as well as moral support. Several went on to become Hawke’s Bay Farmers of the Year. We remain good friends all these years later.

Under the tutelage of our discussion group’s farm consultants, Alan Barr and Ray Guilford, our group had begun to learn the art of feed budgeting in the 1980s.

It was basic as we grappled with how to use spreadsheets and estimate feed levels.

I got myself a rising plate and later a probe but in the end

could at a time of need.

Iwi had mobilised its vast networks and connections to expand its already deployed network of Starlink devices and generators to help the region re-establish vital internet and communication. A timely reminder of how important it is to have a comprehensive and actioned business continuity plan.

These networks have proved invaluable in getting other muchneeded goods and kai into the region.

It was amazing to see the realtime operation and co-ordination of truckloads of donations as those in need were supported. For reasons of practicality, we received bulk supplies that needed to be broken down to whānau-sized boxes for distribution. These were then loaded onto four-wheel drive vehicles for delivery into the regional evacuation centres. The distribution centre was staffed by volunteers, including students in the Gisborne Girls and Boys High rowing teams, along with iwi employees drawn from social and commercial entities, who had been redeployed to help “feed the people” .

This was an exercise that needed

marked onto four rulers, one for each season, the dry matter levels from the tables out of the MAF book written by Mulligan that we used as our feed budgeting bible. Chris improved on this and made little wooden sticks with a season on each side.

I used to print the annual feed graphs and Sellotape them together and it showed that, for much of the time, I was pretty good at keeping my pasture covers in the optimum zone.

We copied them and called them “Dooney Sticks” and then a smart consultant saw them and created the plastic sward sticks we all use now.

to scale up further when power was restored but EFTPOS and banking remained offline. Even those families who were less impacted by the cyclone had to seek support as their pantries ran out of food.

community who saw support from outside the region arrive, and then the receipt of the Ministry for Primary Industry’s Farming Grants.

In the context of the devastation, these gestures are modest. However, they helped to start the process of healing from the emotional trauma of seeing a life’s work devastated, shifting people from despair towards hope. Mental wellbeing is as important as physical wellbeing. As farmers we all need to do more about how we feel and think about our own situations.

In the absence of structured support from government agencies, I saw a rural leader establish and staff wellbeing and business hubs to reconnect some in the most isolated communities with the outside world. I saw the value of local leaders flying in by helicopter (at their own cost), to front their communities and to provide a reassuring and empathetic voice to hear how the community was feeling and what they were facing.

I learnt the value to a farming

The last time I saw the numbers, there were relatively few who did formal feed budgeting, but many of course do it instinctively in their head and trust their gut.

I’ve been a Farmax user for 23 years since it evolved out of the old Stockpol, which I’d used during the 1990s.

I used to print the annual feed graphs and Sellotape them together and it showed that, for much of the time, I was pretty good at keeping my pasture covers in the optimum zone for each season as recommended by the model.

Well, that ability has gone well out the window over the past three years.

Given the two autumn droughts in a row and now two boomer autumns, I feel like my covers have been either 1000kgdm/ha or 3000kgdm/ha and very little time spent in the middle.

The power of social media has enabled us to coalesce our rural spirit and kinship, which saw truckloads of fencing gear brought in, and over 1000 bales of stock feed, a dozen pallets of dog biscuits, untold boxes of goods and sanitary items.

No small contribution goes unnoticed here on the ground, and as the situation begins to settle, this region can pause and marvel at the generosity of many of you during the region’s time of need. In time there will be messages of gratitude and appreciation. For now, rural isolation remains, delaying the healing process.

Two of the driest autumns and winters I’ve recorded followed by the wettest last year and an extremely wet start to this year thanks to a couple of cyclones have made pasture management difficult.

Over the past 12 months we have grown a large amount of feed with plenty of clover, but stock performance has been average at best.

A combination of poorer quality pastures and being wet much of the time. And also I don’t think my management has been as good as in the past.

Pasture and stock management will be even more difficult for the many properties that have suffered extensive damage to their fencing infrastructure from the cyclones, and they will be doing everything they can to get things back to some order before the onset of winter.

WINGS: Volunteers sort donations at the Tauranga Aero Club for delivery to Tairāwhiti after Cyclone Gabrielle tore through the region.

Cheyenne Wilson

Cheyenne Wilson is chair of the Food and Fibre Youth Network and a youth engagement coach

No small contribution goes unnoticed here on the ground, and as the situation begins to settle, this region can pause and marvel at the generosity of many of you during the region’s time of need.

our favour and giving us a chance to make some headway.

“We have a lot of help coming in this next couple of weeks.”

Crawshaw grew up on the family farm at Nuhaka, Hawke’s Bay, where his parents run the Kenhardt Angus stud.

Crawshaw, who hadn’t been into town since the cyclone.

“Driving into town and seeing the damage made it tough to get into the right headspace, but I knew I needed to focus on the competition and set myself up as well as I could for the day ahead.”

The competition was a close match, with Crawshaw finishing on a score of 581.8 – less than a point ahead of last year’s winner, 31-year-old Mark Wallace on 581.5 – to take out the East Coast FMG Young Farmer of the Year.

CARVING OUT A NAILBITER: It was a close thing in every way for Patrick Crawshaw, who almost didn’t make it from his devastated Pātoka farm to the East Coast Young Farmer regional finals – and then won by less than a point.

Nothing gets in the way of a champion Young Farmer

Cut off from town on his devastated farm after the cyclone, Patrick Crawshaw felt the regional contest slipping down his list of priorities. The Pātoka farmer talks to Annette Scott about what changed his mind.

WITH no way out and his farm severely battered by Cyclone Gabrielle, the prospect of making it to the East Coast Young Farmer regional final appeared out of reach for Patrick Crawshaw.

He had a couple of contingency plans to get out to Dannevirke to take his place in the regional contest, but what lay ahead of him on his farm was too daunting to even contemplate going.

The devastation was acute, with his farm’s recovery cost estimated at this stage to be in the vicinity of $200,000.

The hardest call Crawshaw and his wife Isabelle had made was the decision to move their two young daughters, Charlotte, three and Millie, six months, away from the farm to safer surrounds.

“Grandma in Wellington came to the rescue for a couple of weeks,” Crawshaw says.

“Looking back it was the hardest thing ever letting them go but it was the right decision for them and Charlotte got to go preschool with her cousin down there and she thought that was a great holiday.

“It sure is a breath of fresh air having them back home now,

though, but it’s taking a bit to settle in and find a routine. Not going to town every day for day care yet.”

Access was the key issue, with no way out to the closest towns of Napier and Hastings.

“We weren’t so bad on farm as many others, we were okay really compared to some. It’s access and infrastructure that are the biggest issues.

“Mid-February is when we usually have 140 cattle exit, so the logistics of getting them out is a bit tricky but not the end of the world.

“It will be a year or two until we are back to an operation we are comfortable with. Meantime it’s making a plan we can cope with.”

Getting fences and access reinstated will be the initial cost, and Crawshaw is also facing a decrease in foreseeable income as he manages stock control going forward.

“That will be the bigger bite, more than the expense of fencing and repairing access.

“It’s the cumulative loss of grass production, and stock control accordingly, and we will have this and maybe next winter a bit understocked to ensure future capacity.

“At the moment we are having the driest spell in about 12 months with moisture content the driest since October so that is playing in

Patrick

He moved to take up his own beef and lamb enterprise at Pātoka in 2018, the year he and Isabelle married and also the year of his first attempt at the FMG Young Farmer of the Year.

Since completing his Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) at Lincoln University, he has been immersed in the beef and lamb industry.

He is involved in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme and is a candidate for the upcoming Beef + Lamb NZ Eastern North Island director election.

Amid the devastation of the cyclone, Crawshaw did make a last-minute call on the East Coast Young Farmer of the Year regional final.

That call turned out to have a silver lining and was the much needed “morale boost”.

“At one stage it seemed all too hard. A few days after the cyclone I thought to pull the pin was the best option.

“Then two days before the final we made the call to get out of the mess we were dealing with, apply the mind and see some faces away from the battle and challenges on farm.

“It was the best call ever. For the mental health and general wellbeing it was the morale boost we needed.”

Arriving at the event was a “surreal feeling” for 29-year-old

Jack Scahill, 27, from Dannevirke Young Farmers secured the final spot on the podium with 486.5 points.

Crawshaw’s win earns him entry to the Grand Final in Timaru in July.

The 2023 Grand Final will be his second attempt at the title of FMG Young Farmer of the Year. He competed back in 2018 and always knew he wanted to give it another shot.

“With everything that’s happened back home, it’s all a bit hard to comprehend. We know it’s going to take years to repair the damage that the farm sustained in the cyclone, so I’m just enjoying the win for now.”

Leading into the Grand Final, Crawshaw has no expectations.

“I haven’t really had time to reflect on what’s ahead from here, but the battle of the farm repair to restore fences, culverts and floodgates so we can move stock is first and foremost right now.

“This Grand Final will be a whole different experience and not near so daunting as real life back home on the farm.

“I am at a different stage of my career [than in 2018] and I see the networking opportunities a focus for me as I hope to use the platform to open some doors to further my interests in future farming.

“I have had a lot of opportunities from the farming industry and I want to give back on that front, particularly in the areas of innovation and governance.”

It was the best call ever. For the mental health and general wellbeing it was the morale boost we needed.

Crawshaw Pātoka farmer

NO BALING OUT: Patrick Crawshaw says the Young Farmer Grand Final will not be as daunting as what he is facing back home at his farm.

Online saleyards click with buyers, sellers

With farmers valuing their time di erently and looking for more e cient ways of working, online stock sales have been growing apace, and even more saleyards are coming online as the fallout from Cyclone Gabrielle inhibits travel, reports

Hugh Stringleman

THE bidr online livestock selling platform expects to stream more than 1200 sales this year, including 10 big regional saleyards on a weekly basis, national general manager Liam Beattie says.

Balclutha and Coalgate saleyards have joined as the first large South Island venues and Matawhero, near Gisborne, will be streamed ad hoc while road access is difficult for farmers, he says.

Major seasonal fairs like weaner sales will also be featured from locations such as Kaikohe, Canterbury Park, Te Kūiti and Gore. Beattie says about 350 hybrid,

ONLINE SHOPPING: NZ Farmers

Livestock manager Bill Sweeney says the number of on-farm auctions is growing.

or on-farm, sales are booked in for the current financial year, including bull sales, dairy sales and special auctions. In the major saleyards, after bidr oversees installation of cameras and data links, local yard staff members are trained to live-stream sales.

Illness has been a concern recently, when relief workers are needed.

Some venues opt to stream only their weekly flagship store sale day, but perhaps not the prime stock sales.

Three bidr employees are located in the North island and two in the South. They travel to the special and occasional venues, including the on-farm stud stock auctions.

NZ Farmers Livestock manager Bill Sweeney says his company’s MyLivestock platform has been live-streaming from six venues from the beginning – Frankton, Morrinsville, Stratford, Te Kūiti, Rongotea and Matakohe – and the number of on-farm auctions is growing.

While initially the proportion of sales made online was 2-3%, that now averages 8-10% as more farmers become familiar with the process and find it suits them, he says. Dairy clearing sales might go as high as 75% online sales, with bidders scattered around the country.

“It is certainly the way of the future in livestock sales because it saves travelling long distances, but intending online buyers do need

Temuka sticking with online independence

THE independent online selling platform at the Temuka saleyards in South Canterbury is delivering up to 20% of store cattle purchases each event, but lower percentages of prime cattle transactions.

Coming up to two years after the Temuka Saleyards Co-operative installed a United States system called Xcira, lead operator Tatiana Hewitson said the percentage of sales made online is steadily growing.

The number of registered online buyers has reached 453, and those approved by the five participating agencies is 368.

She said Tessco, the saleyard operating company, “does not control any of the transaction finance and the member livestock agencies have to approve the creditworthiness of farmers before they can buy”.

She said prime cattle purchasing on Mondays is usually by wholesalers and meat companies, who like to attend in person because it is their livelihood.

Store cattle and the seasonal calf sales and cow sales attract a much bigger online audience, from far afield.

Remote access is the primary reason for streaming, plus market liquidity and livestock valuing, even when online farmers don’t achieve purchases.

“Their presence may bring price increments and the live-streaming shows vendors that the agents are working hard on their behalf,” Hewitson said.

“The independence of the selling platform means the five agencies can compete with each other on an even playing field.”

Live-streaming committee chair Bruce McDougall said the reason Temuka went with the US-sourced Xcira system was to be independent of the livestock companies, providing equal opportunity to all agencies.

“That neutrality is still valid as the reason for standing alone,” he said.

A planned upgrade of the sheepyards, including a

to get their livestock transport organised beforehand.”

NZ Farmers Livestock does not charge vendors extra fees for cattle featured in streamed sales.

Beattie says different types of sales have online purchasing rates. For example, two-year-old beef bull sales have low rates because most buyers like to see the bulls they have picked out.

“But we also have people that can’t make it to the sales, for whatever reasons, and that makes live-streaming a marketing tool for the vendors.”

Two large South Island venues do not have bidr, namely Canterbury Park and Temuka.

While bidr is a platform open to all agencies, and has nine partner agencies at present, Beattie says it is up to the local saleyard owners and operators to decide what suits them and their patrons and what charges will be passed on to farmer-clients.

“If we had a lot of competing platforms it would be very hard to do so profitably.”

Beattie says some of the high users of bidr watch and/or

participate in three auctions at a time, such as a Taupō weaner fair, the weekly Tuakau sale and at Wellsford.

It is certainly the way of the future in livestock sales because it saves travelling long distances, but intending online buyers do need to get their livestock transport organised beforehand.

“It extends their reach over hundreds of kilometres and avoids several hours’ driving time,” he says.

“Once upon a time they would spend a whole day driving to and from sales, but now they are out on the farm in the morning and sitting in front of the computer at lunchtime.

“Farmers are valuing their time differently and looking for more efficient ways of working.”

weighbridge, will incorporate live-streaming equipment, and the portability will facilitate on-farm sales in future.

The saleyards co-op lost about $100,000 in income during the covid lockdowns, when cattle were sold by other means, and the live-

streaming capability is insurance against similar disruption in the future.

“We are seeing that in Hawke’s Bay at the moment, where farmers are unable to leave their properties because of access issues,” McDougall said.

Hugh Stringleman TECHNOLOGY Livestock

POISED: Agents from ve livestock companies use Temuka’s livestreaming on a regular basis. Photo: Stu Jackson

Bill Sweeney NZ Farmers Livestock

Trade for All agenda ‘comes at high cost’

Nigel Stirling MARKETS Export

THE National Party says the Labour Government’s drive to impose its social and environmental values on trading partners is increasingly coming at a high cost for New Zealand’s agricultural exporters.

The claim comes as attempts to revive a trade agreement with the oil-rich member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) hit a roadblock following Trade Minister Damien O’Connor’s visit last year.

A deal to scrap $60 million of tariffs on NZ exports had been largely concluded by the previous National-led government but never formally signed off.

O’Connor travelled to the Gulf last March to restart negotiations with fresh demands that any deal must have commitments by the GCC on climate change and workers’ rights including “to adopt and maintain laws which govern acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work and health and safety”.

The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, and Qatar, the world’s largest LNG exporter, and the scene of thousands of deaths of immigrant labourers working on new stadiums for last year’s football World Cup.

“Discussion will be held to explore what adjustment may be required to update and modernise the agreement in line with NZ’s

Trade for All Agenda,” O’Connor said at the time of his visit.

Since then the GCC has reneged on its commitment to scrap tariffs on agricultural products and negotiations have stalled.

The National Party’s trade spokesperson, Todd McClay, said he is concerned exporters are paying the price for demands that were always going to be very difficult for such a group to agree to.

“All countries find it hard to negotiate with the GCC.

“There are some quite challenging countries there and that is all the more reason you would be cautious and not introduce new things.

“You try and get what you have got done and not go to them and say ‘That is great but we want to put all these new things in and renegotiate please’.”

Labour’s Trade for All agenda was the brainchild of O’Connor’s predecessor, David Parker.

Formulated in the wake of a public backlash during negotiations for the TransPacific Partnership while Labour was in opposition, the agenda –Parker believed – addressed concerns about trade agreements ignored by previous National-led governments and was crucial to maintaining a mandate from the NZ public for trade deals.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s website, the government’s Trade for All agenda emphasises environmental issues, including climate change, protecting New Zealanders’ health and wellbeing,

Todd McClay National Party

labour rights, gender equality and the rights of indigenous people, among other issues, as priorities for NZ trade negotiators. McClay, a former trade minister, said many of these ideals played well with some Western countries, such as those in the European Union, but had not been enough to overcome entrenched protectionism and secure

meaningful gains for key dairy and beef exports in the recentlyconcluded negotiations with the EU.

They were of even more questionable value when dealing with other trading partners, and trying to shoehorn them into trade agreements with those countries was working against NZ’s trade interests, he said.

“We should stand up for the things we think are important but what might be easily negotiated with the EU or the UK won’t be the case with all countries.

“First and foremost the trade minister has to be putting forward the removal of tariffs on agricultural products, or otherwise he is not delivering for NZ.”

One of the biggest priorities for O’Connor this year as trade minister will be negotiations for admitting new countries into the

Comprehensive and Progressive TransPacific Partnership (CPTPP). Countries banging on the door to join include the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Ecuador, South Korea and China.

McClay cautioned O’Connor against using the negotiations as a chance to force its Trade for All Agenda on CPTPP countries. Instead the government should be prioritising compensatory market access improvements for NZ exporters in existing CPTPP countries as new countries join and grab their own share of newly liberalised markets.

“It should be ensuring that, as the CPTPP enlarges, NZ exporters should not be worse off because they face greater competition than they would have if the agreement had stayed the same size. “That is where the effort should be going.”

Human rights, trade on NZ-China agenda

MINISTER of Foreign Affairs

Nanaia Mahuta says New Zealand’s relationship with China is strong and resilient, but also noted the government’s opposition to the erosion of human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong and rising tension with Taiwan.

Mahuta concluded a visit to China, the first by a NZ foreign minister since 2018, where she met her counterpart, newly appointed State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang, for the first time.

“Our discussions were wideranging, covering all aspects of our bilateral relationship,” Mahuta said.

“I noted the resilience of our bilateral trade through covid-19. With borders now open in both directions, reconnecting people will be priority this year, with

students, tourists and business people resuming travel.

“We look forward to the

WIDE-RANGING: Minister of Foreign A airs Nanaia Mahuta met newly appointed State Councillor and Minister of Foreign A airs Qin Gang for the rst time on her trip.

resumption of a range of inperson high-level discussions and officials’ dialogues, including on

foreign affairs, climate change, human rights, the Pacific and trade, which provide a valuable platform for engagement,” Mahuta said.

She observed that, alongside areas of co-operation, areas where NZ and China disagree form part of a comprehensive and mature relationship.

“I noted New Zealand’s deep concerns regarding the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong,” Mahuta said.

The ministers also had in-depth discussions on regional and international issues.

Mahuta expressed concerns over developments in the South China Sea and increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and reiterated NZ’s condemnation of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“Aotearoa New Zealand would be concerned by any provision of lethal aid in support of Russia’s illegal war,” she said.

Mahuta invited Minister Qin to visit NZ. The ministers discussed the possibility of a visit by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to China this year.

I noted the resilience of our bilateral trade through covid-19. With borders now open in both directions, reconnecting people will be priority this year.

Nanaia Mahuta Foreign A airs Minister

“I emphasised Aotearoa New Zealand’s interest in a peaceful, stable and resilient Pacific region and the importance of engaging through existing regional institutions and arrangements, in particular on regional security matters,” Mahuta said.

DUTIES: NZ and Gulf state negotiators met twice last year, when the Gulf Co-operation Council submitted a revised market access o er and NZ tabled new demands relating to environmental and labour issues.

First and foremost the trade minister has to be putting forward the removal of tariffs on agricultural products, or otherwise he is not delivering for NZ.

Staff reporter POLITICS Trade

Ohakune 1664 Whangaehu Valley Road and 78 Owhakura Road, Kakatahi

Two easy contoured farms oozing potential

Located in a tightly held district only 27 kilometres south of Ohakune, a rare opportunity to purchase either or both of these two attractive properties, each offering exciting production potential.

The 139ha Whangaehu Valley Road block has a homestead with three bedrooms plus an office, and boasts 30ha of flat to easy contour. The larger 367ha block on Owhakura Road is dominated by easy country featuring Ohakune silt loams and includes a five-stand woolshed, large cattle yards, airstrip and older accommodation, all easily accessed in the centre of the farm. This reliable rainfall district is renowned for producing healthy livestock, with both farms having been conservatively farmed by our retiring vendors. bayleys.co.nz/2900585

507ha

Tender (unless sold prior)

Closing 2pm, Thu 11 May 2023

Bayleys, 16 Goldfinch Street, Ohakune View by appointment

Pete Stratton 027 484 7078 peter.stratton@bayleys.co.nz

Rangitikei 369 Makopua Road, Taihape

'Makopua' - Mānuka honey and carbon investment

An indigenous carbon forest being re-established back to its original state, provides an exceptional ESG investment opportunity producing environmentally friendly NZU's and high end Mānuka honey.

Just 15 kilometres off State Highway 1 and accessed by a network of metalled tracks off the central Makopua Road. Meticulously planned with approximately four million Mānuka plants chosen for the production of high grade UMF Mānuka honey, this is one of New Zealand's largest Mānuka specific blocks. The superbly established Mānuka forest has been designed to support future production of circa 60,000kg of high value Mānuka honey. Full crop production is expected in the next three years, and the ETS carbon registered plantation is forecast to generate indigenous NZU's, making this is a quality long-term sustainable ESG based investment. bayleys.co.nz/1695740

1,657ha

Tender (unless sold prior)

Closing 4pm, Fri 26 May 2023

Bayleys House, 30 Gaunt Street, Auckland

Duncan Ross 021 663 567 duncan.ross@bayleys.co.nz

Pete Stratton 027 484 7078 peter.stratton@bayleys.co.nz

bayleys.co.nz

Manawatu 2614 Ridge Road, Pohangina

Whakonui - established breeding and finishing farm

Located in Manawatu 13 kilometres east of Kimbolton are 734 hectares of easy medium to steep hill country with breeding and finishing capabilities. Farming policy is based on terminal sires over entire ewe flock, purchasing store lambs, weaner steers and running a South Devon beef herd. Stock facilities include satellite yards, six-stand woolshed with covered yards and additional three-stand woolshed. The family home is set amongst established trees with five bedrooms and views out to the ranges. With three kilometres of road frontage and a network of well-formed tracks access is of a high standard and well-maintained. Fertiliser and fencing have remained a priority with regular applications and maintenance programs in place to ensure stock performance is maintained. Whakonui is a productive hill country farm with both breeding and finishing capabilities. bayleys.co.nz/3100481

734.4919ha

Tender (unless sold prior)

Closing 1pm, Thu 27 Apr 2023

49 Manchester Street, Feilding

View 11am-12pm Wed 5 Apr

Mark Monckton 021 724 833 mark.monckton@bayleys.co.nz

MID WEST REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Waipukurau 666 Hinerangi Road

Pukeawa

Currently run in conjunction with a larger farming enterprise but comes to the market as a well developed 354.25ha stand alone sheep and beef opportunity. The farming policy on Pukeawa is breeding ewes and bull beef fattening. The contour ranges from approximately 70ha of easy hill to a balance of medium hill to a portion of steeper country. Annual fertilizer applications applied along with well-maintained conventional fencing with 40 paddocks including a 30ha deer unit. Excellent water from a spring along with a back up supply from the Maharakeke stream. Infrastructure includes four bedroom home, four stand woolshed and covered yards, four bay implement shed, cattle yards and sheep yards. 21.5km to Waipukurau. bayleys.co.nz/2870958

bayleys.co.nz

354.2519ha

Tender (will not be sold prior)

Closing 12.30pm, Wed 26 Apr 2023

26 Takapau Road, Waipukurau

View by appointment

Andy Hunter 027 449 5827 andy.hunter@bayleys.co.nz

Andy Lee 027 354 8608 andy.lee@bayleys.co.nz

Real Estate

A delightful smaller, versatile property featuring excellent presentation, situated in a quiet, private, no exit road location, approx. 10 kms from Dinsdale, the western suburb of Hamilton City.

• 103(B) Jury Road, Koromatua, R D 10, Hamilton

• 14.4576 hectares

• lovely flat to gentle rolling contour enhanced by pristine presentation

• subdivided with a mix of very good fencing complimented by all gates swinging

• water currently supplied from vendor ’s adjoining property

• currently utilised for grazing dairy heifers; ideal also for beef finishing / growing maize

• first class cattle yards; concrete base in main working area; very good loading facilities

• fully enclosed shedding plus a lockable storage building

• aesthetically pleasing with deciduous shade trees scattered throughout

• no dwelling excellent north facing options with panoramic views for a new residence

• a great range of primary and secondary schooling options, some within close proximity

• a dream opportunity for farmers or for those seeking a special lifestyle environment

TradeMe search # R1421 Sale by Deadline: Thurs, 20 April 2023 4.00pm

bjp@prl308.co.nz

Rural

Lot 1 and Lot 2 Longacre Road

Larger lifestyle blocks, buy one or both – 68.72ha

Being subdivided from an existing sheep and beef farm, these two bare land lifestyle blocks are 42.01ha and 26.71ha respectively, and they can be purchased separately or together. Situated in the Longacre Valley, a picturesque rural area where manuka planting and forestry are also popular options. These blocks are conveniently located only five kilometres from the city boundary which provides easy access to the city while still offering the peaceful, rural lifestyle. A brand-new bridge provides further convenience and accessibility to the property. These blocks are being sold subject to survey and prices will be plus

Dairy delight

Located in the popular farming district of Maihiihi, this 88ha (approx) dairy farm is available for buyers looking for a stand alone dairy or as a support block with options for grazing beef, dairy replacements or growing maize. Two houses, a tidy farm dairy with compliant effluent system, rolling contour and fertile soils. Too good not to view!

$3.96m +

View

Ohauiti 470 Rowe Road

Tender

As unique as it gets

Rewarewa Ridge is a remarkable property that has been transformed from unspoilt countryside into a productive grazing operation. Located just a short distance from Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, the property offers a breathtaking north facing view of the Bay of Plenty, including the ports of Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, as well as the coastal playground stretching from Mayor Island to the Alderman Islands, Slipper Island and further. The property features a geo tech approved building platform, which provides an opportunity to build your dream residence now or in the future. The farm is fenced into 42 paddocks with reticulated trough water to all paddocks. Good all weather internal access roads make for easy stock management. The property supports approximately 240 dairy grazers and produces around 250-300 bales of wrapped silage. In terms of buildings, the property includes a four bay lock up half round shed, cattle yards, and a loadout area.

Galatea 3931 Galatea Road

Open Day

Tender closes 1.00pm, Thu 27th Apr, 2023 (unless sold prior), Property Brokers, 63 Jellicoe Street, Te Puke View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/TZR117179

Brett Ashworth

M 021 0261 7488 E bretta@pb.co.nz

Ian Morgan

M 027 492 5878 E ian.morgan@pb.co.nz

Large scale dairy farm and quarry

Dairy units of this size are rarely offered for sale in this locality.

Approximately 348 ha (more or less) is being offered for sale encompassing 6 titles. Up until this last season the farm has been milking 850-900 cows for a three year production average of 317,600 kgMS (19/20 - 21/22 seasons from 441 ha) with all young stock grazed on the property and cows wintered at home. This season has seen a change in farm practice where cow numbers have dropped to 450 and 100 ha of maize is being grown on the property. Approximately 250 ha of the property is flat to gently rolling contour with the balance being made up of moderate hill country. 114 ha of the property is currently irrigated via two central pivot units. Application has been lodged to bring a further 26 ha in under a third pivot.

Tender closes 12.00pm, Thu 20th Apr, 2023 (unless sold prior), 38 Landing Road, Whakatane View Wed 5 Apr 10.30 - 12.00pm Wed 12 Apr 10.30 - 12.00pm Web pb.co.nz/WTR117036

Phillip Berry M 027 478 8892 E phillip.berry@pb.co.nz

Peter Lissington

M 027 430 8770 E peterl@pb.co.nz

5.04 ha Chicken (Broiler) farm at Lepperton

For sale is this large and very well presented and maintained poultry production farm which is contracted to Tegel. Ideally located in the desirable Lepperton district in North Taranaki, the property comprises of eight modernised sheds of varying sizes with a combined total net shed area of 11,290m2. 5.5 - 6 runs annually with 190,000 birds per run. Substantial investment into fully upgrading and automation to ensure sheds are at the highest standard for their ages. Other improvements include natural energy (solar) and water storage facilities. All supporting plant and equipment is included. Approximately 1.5 ha of grazing land subdivided into five grazing paddocks is also part of the sale. Other buildings include an upgraded three bedroom character home with double garage plus a good number of supporting buildings. This high quality, well located chicken farm provides an excellent investment opportunity to be part of the major broiler chicken industry operated by Tegel.

Methven 113 Waimarama Road

Deadline Sale

3 2 2

For Sale By Negotiation + GST (if any)

View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/NPR116097

Greg O'Byrne

M 027 598 3000 E greg.obyrne@pb.co.nz

158.6 ha - Arable treasure at Methven

'Cloverlea' is a quality, non-irrigated, arable livestock farm located in the highly regarded Mid Canterbury area of Methven. Held in family ownership for four generations, this is a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to secure this extremely, well presented family farm which has been conscientiously managed for over 70 years. Farm management is based on the quality Mayfield soil, reliable climatic conditions and rainfall plus a low cost arable system focused on attaining consistent yields and productivity.

Excellent improvements and infrastructure including two quality homes and a wide range of sheds plus seed dressing/drying operations add value, versatility and reliability to this property. With close proximity to Methven, Mount Hutt and the area's many other attractions, Cloverlea is an outstanding purchase for you and your next generation.

7 4 4

Deadline Sale closes Thursday 4th May, 2023 at 12.00pm, (unless sold prior), Property Brokers, 217 West Street, Ashburton

View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/AR118059

Greg Jopson

M 027 447 4382 E gregj@pb.co.nz

Lepperton 687 Manutahi Road

AUCTION

TENDER

DARGAVILLE,

Dairy Farm with Location

189 hectares in eight titles with two homes and good infrastructure. This dairy farm would be a good step up if you are wanting the next level in your dairy career. It has the location to town which is such an attractive point of this farm and has seen consistent production ranging from 130,000kg MS to 137,600kg MS. Tidy races to 82 paddocks, underpass to access both sides of the road, a very good 50 bail rotary shed with large yarding, sorting pens and cup removers. Call us now!

EXCLUSIVE

AUCTION Plus GST (if any)

(Unless Sold Prior)

11.00am, Thursday 20 April

PGG Wrightson, Whangarei

Megan Browning

M 027 668 8468

E mbrowning@pggwrightson.co.nz

Barry Banicevich

M 021 999 591

E bbanicevich@pggwrightson.co.nz

Scale on the Plains - Eight Titles - 177ha

Best production 205,602kg MS, rearing 100 calves on whole milk

• Milking 500 mixed age cows, Dairy NZ 3 production system

28 ASHB dairy shed with ACR's, two herd homes, full complement of support buildings

• Fonterra whey scheme supply and infrastructure in place - Two, three bedroom homes

This is a highly productive dairy farm on the renowned Rangitaiki Plains, a recognised region known for its great climate, highly productive soils and exceptional lifestyle.

pggwre.co.nz/WHK37602

ASHBURTON

Very Affordable Dairy Farm Ready to Go!

• 188.36ha spray irrigated dairy farm with Authorised Land Use allowing for 750 cows

• Four dwellings including 4 bedroom homestead 54 bail rotary shed, ACR's, Protrack, PK system

Sheds, grain & PKE silo's, cattle yards, workshop

Tidy herd available, young stock, winter grazing options

• 1965 MHV shares to be purchased with farm

over/above purchase price by neg plus GST

Aggressive pricing $44,850/ha for a prompt sale Settlement 1st June or earlier by agreement. Plus GST (if any)

pggwre.co.nz/ASH37617

TENDER

Plus GST (if any)

(Unless Sold By Private Treaty)

Closes 4.00pm, Thursday 20 April

VIEW 11.00-1.00pm Wednesday 5 April

Phil Goldsmith

M 027 494 1844

E pgoldsmith@pggwrightson.co.nz

Accelerating success.

$8.45M Plus GST (if any)

Sheep/Beef/Deer

Exceptional Pongaroa Drystock Farm

For Sale by Negotiation (plus GST if any) 11381 Route 52, Pongaroa, Manawatu

Jason Waterman 027 376 8313 jason.waterman@colliers.com

Dan van der Salm

M 021 918 233

E dan.vandersalm@pggwrightson.co.nz

Tim Gallagher

M 027 801 2888

E tim.gallagher@pggwrightson.co.nz

Land Area: 306.7128 ha (more or less)

Four bedroom homestead

Excellent infrastructure

306 hectare sheep, beef and deer farm located only 5 minutes from the vibrant Pongaroa village. A central lane and all subdivision permanent fencing of an extremely high standard with around 150 hectares deer fenced.

Farm deer, finish stock or crop the versatility of this farm provides options for buyers.

Sheep/Beef & Deer farm colliers.co.nz/p-NZL67022747

Rob Deal 027 241 4775 rob.deal@colliers.com

RURAL | LIFESTYLE | RESIDENTIAL colliers.co.nz

NORTHLAND

MATATA 697 Matata & 172 Sutherland Roads

6 2 2

To advertise phone Debbie 06 323 0765

HOME-BASED FARM RELATED TELEPHONE INTERVIEWING

Cinta Agri Research is looking for home-based telephone interviewers who wish to work on a casual temporary basis and able to work from home. It is preferable if you have an understanding of NZ farming or have a rural background. If you are keen to start immediately and have the following qualities we wish to hear from you:

• Reliable and able to work to time deadlines unsupervised

• Professional telephone manner

• Clear and confident speaking voice

• Conscientious approach to work

• Remuneration is $24-$27 per hour payment options dependent on number of interviews completed

Please email your interest and any experience to Fiona – Managing Director fiona@cinta.co.nz www.cinta.co.nz

Southland / Otago. In Waimate district mid to late April. Phone 027 517 9908 or email: raymond.d@ slingshot.co.nz

DOGS FOR SALE

HUNTAWAY PUPS, station bred. 8 weeks old, wormed and vaccinated. $400 each. Phone 027 327 2345. Central HB. TOP BLOODLINES. Heading pups guaranteed. Phone Dave Andrews 027 450 6095.

FARM MAPPING

ACCURATE AND PRACTICAL farm maps showing area sizes of paddocks and vegetation. Visit farmmapping.co.nz or phone 0800 433 855 for a free quote.

RURAL MASSAGE

HAY FOR SALE

5-FOOT ROUNDS $90+gst each. Unit loads available. Phone 021 455 787.

HORTICULTURE

NZ KELP. FRESH, wild ocean harvested giant kelp. The world’s richest source of natural iodine. Dried and milled for use in agriculture and horticulture. Growth promotant / stock health food. As seen on Country Calendar. Orders to: 03 322 6115 or info@nzkelp.co.nz

LAND FOR LEASE

MOTU, MATAWAI, Whitikau areas. 687 hectares. Phone 021 236 0457 or 07 322 8497.

LEASE LAND WANTED

DAIRY OR GRAZING. Rangitīkei / Manawatū through to HB. Regenerative farming practiced. Open to developing land in partnership. Phone Michael 027 223 6156.

GIBB-GRO GROWTH PROMOTANT

PROMOTES QUICK PASTURE growth. Only $6.50+gst per hectare delivered. 0508-GIBBGRO [0508 442 247] www. gibbgro.co.nz. “The Proven One.”

Pasture Seed Range and Mixes

Contact us: 0508 733 343 or 021 228 5035 www.vernado.co.nz

Farmers/Woodlot owner

Tired of waiting for someone to harvest your trees?

We are not committed to one buyer that is how we get our customers the most profit we can. Set up to do the smaller, trickier wood lots. No job too big or too small.

Buyers of Woodlots and Forest.

RELAXING FULL BODY massage in rural Ohaupo. Unwind. De-stress. www. ruralmassage.co.nz or call 027 529 5540.

SHEEP SCANNING AVAILABLE

SERVICING SOUTH

WAIKATO, King Country, Ruapehu, Taihape areas. Eleven years experience, NZ & UK. Fully Pneumatic, 3 Way drafting, EID available. No mob too big or small. Wet/dry to Triplet and foetal ageing. Phone for prices and availability 027 479 4918.

WANTED TO BUY

(Obtaining

CONTRACTORS

GORSE AND THISTLE SPRAY. We also scrub cut. Four men with all gear in your area. Phone Dave 06 375 8032.

DOGS FOR SALE

HEADING PUPS FOR sale. 9 weeks old. Proven workers, station bred. $400 each. Phone Craig Berry 06 385 4634 or 027 326 9277. BUYING / SELLING. Huntaways. Heading dogs. Deliver NZ wide. https:// www.youtube.com/@ mikehughesworkingdog 07 315 5553.

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.

GOATS. 40 YEARS experience mustering feral cattle and feral goats anywhere in NZ. 50% owner (no costs). 50% musterer (all costs). Phone Kerry Coulter 027 494 4194.

WORD ONLY ADVERTISING. Phone Debbie on 0800 85 25 80.

GRAZING AVAILABLE SPACE FOR AROUND 80 to 100 in-calf cows. Located between Tīrau and Putāruru. Available from mid-April. $35+gst per head per week. Phone Stew 027 711 3598.

PERSONAL

RURAL ROMANCE.

0114717

Feeling alone or lonely?

30x30

PERSONAL. Country Romance

Whether you’re divorced, widowed, separated or simply have never met the right person. We can help you in nding real people seeking happiness and companionship. Call CCN for a compatibility match today. All ages – city and country areas welcome. No computer required.

0800 446 332.

RAMS FOR SALE

WILTSHIRES-ARVIDSON.

Self shearing sheep. No1 for Facial Eczema. David 027 2771 556.

WHAT’S SITTING IN your barn? Don’t leave it to rust away! We pay cash for tractors, excavators, small crawler tractors and surplus farm machinery. Ford –Ferguson – Hitachi – Komatsu – John Deere and more. Tell us what you have no matter where it is in NZ. You never know.. what’s resting in your barn could be fattening up your wallet! Email admin@ loaderparts.co.nz or phone Colin on 0274 426 936 (No texts please)

BOOK AN AD. For only $2.30 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classi eds section. Phone Debbie on 0800 85 25 80 to book in or email wordads@agrihq.co.nz

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

UPPER CLUTHA (WANAKA) ON FARM CALF

Tuesday 18 April, 10.30am

Vendors to include - Mt Aspiring Station Limited, Matukituki Station, West Wanaka Station, Alpha Burn Station, JIT Hillend Limited and The Larches.

The sale starts at Mt Aspiring Station and progresses on farm to the various properties concluding at JIT Hillend where the remaining vendors will offer their calves.

Approx.:

• 115 Angus & Angus X 2yr Steers

50 Hereford 2yr Steers

• 100 Angus & Angus X 2yr Heifers (guaranteed empty)

• 40 Hereford 2yr Heifers (guaranteed empty)

• 950 Angus & Angus X Steer Calves

200 Hereford & Angus X Heifer Calves

On farm grazing available by arrangement.

Craig Knight (PGW) 027 590 1331

John Duffy (PGW) 027 240 3841

Rural Livestock will offer of behalf of Highlandburn and Run 505 Ltd (at JIT Hillend yards)

Approx:

• 90 Angus & Angus X Steer Calves

50 Angus & Angus X Heifer Calves

Paul Mavor (RLL) 027 473 0100

Helping grow the country

KERRAH SIMMENTAL FEMALE REDUCTION SALE

Tuesday 11 April , 1pm

On Farm at Tangiwai Stn, Wairoa

A rare opportunity to secure high performing, genuine hill country females from a stud that focuses on docility, structure and balanced breeding values. Interfaced with Bidr.

Comprising of approx. 100 VIC Cows and Heifers, plus 15 autumn cows with calves at foot.

Enquiries:

Emma Pollitt 027 597 5821 Phil Transom 027 442 0060

FEILDING WEANER STEER & BULL

Tuesday 4 April, 11.30am

We will be offering approx:

• 800 Weaner Steers

50 Weaner Bulls

Feilding Weaner Heifers

Wednesday 5 April, 11.30am

We will be offering approx:

• 500 Weaner Heifers

Annual Lines

Port Farming Ltd, Norbury Farms Ltd, M Will, D&C Mckenzie, RD Silk, Masters Farming Ltd, Takiri Family Trust, S&K Rainey, MC&AM Smith, Bushfurlong,

Enquiries:

G&D P/Ship, SR Voelkerling, Terawhiti Station, GJ Crafar, MA&LA Illston, GP&JA Olsen, GJ&I Olsen, S&T Farming, Tapuwai Farm, Bremner Pastoral.

Maurice Stewart 027 246 9255

NZ’s Virtual Saleyard bidr.co.nz

Tony Gallen 027 591 1711

Helping grow the country

DICKSONS HIGH INDEX QUAILITY IN-CALF HEIFER SALE

Thursday

333 Top BW 435

• 13 In calf Friesian & Xbred Cows BW 306 PW 435 Animal Details

• 47 Heifers & Cows contract mated 2022

• 38 Heifers & Cows contract mated 2023

All animals are well grown and in very good condition 3-Digit herd code. Mated from the 6/10/22 for 2 rounds of AI then tailed with DNA profiled high BW bulls. Only 9/72 head deemed not in calf to AI and have been identified as accurate as possible. A2/A2 tested. Closed herd with heifers grazing on run off.

Herd Facts

The herd was sold last season to a local farming family where they are preforming above expectations. Previously the herd had been in the Dickson family for over 60 years where they endeavoured to breed a medium sized capacious cow that was extremely quiet with very good dairy conformation. The AI companies have liked the strong maternal lines/ families within their herd resulting in numerous bulls been selected. Last year the Dicksons in- calf heifers were sold on Bidr around the country with many good performance reports from purchasers. This is a unique opportunity to buy top genetics from genuine farmers that will give your breeding program a boost.

Payment

50% payment in 14 days

50% payment 20 October, 2023

Open Day to view animals Thursday 13 April

110 Mangati Road , Puketotara at 12 noon. Barbecue lunch.

Catalogues available on AgOnline or phone the auctioneers for a hard copy.

Andrew Reyland (PGW) 027 223 7092

Murray & Julie Dickson (Vendors) 021 790 840

WESTELL HERD DISPERSAL SALE | HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN

Friday 14 April 2023, 10.30am

245 Kakepuku Road - Te Awamutu | A/C David & Wendy Harker

On Farm and Bidr sale

Comprising:

• 140 In calf Friesian Cows (in milk)

28 In milk Friesian Cows (empty)

48 In calf Friesian Heifers

47 Rising One Friesian Heifers

David & Wendy have made the hard decision to employ a 50% sharemilker next season and disperse the Westell herd across 2 sales on breed Mixed breeds 27th April. Goal has been to breed moderate size production cows with good udders and temperament.A range of both NZ and overseas bulls that tick the right boxes have been used. Farm is a system 2 with some in shed feeding and maize grown on farm.

The cows have only been mated to AI this season for 11 weeks and carry an exciting array of valuable pregnancies including a selection of sexed semen. Most In calf heifers had the opportunity for AI for 3 weeks then run with G3 profiled jersey bulls until 22/12/22. David and Wendy are passionate about their stock which will be presented on sale day in top condition.

PGW would advise farmers who enjoy milking quality open framed cows sired by the best bulls available combining both index and type should attend this sale and not miss this rare opportunity to buy top quality genetics that will boost your breeding program.

Catalogues available on AgOnline or phone the auctioneers for a hard copy.

Enquiries:

Andrew Reyland (PGW) 027 223 7092 | Jamie Cunningham (PGW) 027 583 3533

Wendy Harker (Vendor) 021 177 5289

NZ’s Virtual Saleyard bidr.co.nz

GENUINE

OPPORTUNITY TO BUY HARDWORKING COWS FROM LARGE HERD

Tuesday

18

April 2023,11.30am

A/C Estate of DL Burgess – Te Aroha

To be held at Morrinsville Saleyards

Comprising:

470 Friesian, Aryshire & Jersey In Milk & In Calf Dairy Cows (Unrecorded)

This herd comes to auction due to our vendors selling the farm.

They have been milked on challenging farm beside Mount Te Aroha.

Last season the herd produced 190,000 milk solids at the factory (372 m/s per cow)

SCC 180,000, System 2-3, Rotary Shed. Over the years David always purchased top pedigree sires from well-known studs throughout the North Island. Last 3 years Ambreed sires have been used.

Calving commence 1st August with 300 Friesian/Aryshire cows mated to Ambreed 4 weeks (150 straws) breed to breed then tailed Frsn bulls. 170 Jersey cows & 1st calving 2yr Heifers were run with Jersey bulls (bulls removed from both herds 16/01) If you are requiring extra cows these girls will shift. TB

Status C10, EBL Free, BVD Milk tested clear.

Enquiries:

Allan Jones 027 224 0768

Regan Craig 027 502 8585

NZ’s Virtual Saleyard bidr.co.nz

Auahi Charolais

3RD QUALITY IN MILK RISING 2ND CALVERS & YOUNG COWS ANNUAL AUCTION

A/c JCB Farms – Neil & Trudy Vince

Date and Location

14th April 2023 @ 137 Lower Lepper Rd, Inglewood FN 43106

Start 11am

Herd Details

Final Notice VIC Female Sale – 11th April 2023

•

Upcoming Auctions

221 x In milk Friesian Cross Vetted In calf Cows – BW 176, PW 200 RA 98% Lepto vaccinated, TB clear, Low somatic cell count herd. Calving from 22/7/23, 4.5 week mating to Friesian & Xbred straws, tailed with Jersey bull.

Auctioneers Note: NZ Farmers Livestock and Progressive Livestock are pleased to bring you the Vince’s 3rd Annual auction of outstanding 2nd calvers and young cows. These animals have been herd tested and scc averaging 69,000 so far this season. All cows scanned and dated in calf and will be tested one week prior to sale with certificate supplied.

This the 3rd sale for our vendor with great remarks from last years purchasers, it is a great opportunity to purchase young in milk cows.

Payment and delivery terms: Payment due 14 days from sale unless prior arrangement has been made. Delivery following week of sale unless prior arrangement has been made.

“BELLS” HIGH GENETICS LOW CELL COUNTS

A/C Milldale Farm Limited Graham & Glenys Bell

Featuring Progeny and Cow Families of their numerous Industry Proven Sires. Comprises approximately 280 Cows, 72 In-calf Heifers and 57 Heifer Calves. 20 Contract females, Jerseys and Xbreds. Herd BW 270, PW 306, 100% ancestry. Bred for Udders, Fertility and Temperament. System 2 averaging 1300-1400kgs/hectare 110- 120 calves fed on whole milk.

Fonterra’s lowest cell count herd last 10 years.

Sale days:

17th, 18th & 19th April at 11:00am on

AN OPEN DAY WILL BE HELD Chudleigh Road, RD 3, Te Aroha Friday 14th April, 10:30am – 2pm

Payment Terms: 31st May 2023

Online catalogue available now, hard copies available at the open day or by request.

CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Vendor: Graham & Glenys Bell 021 620 024

Agent: Tania White 027 220 1799

Agent: Ross Riddell 027 2111 112

www.linklivestock.co.nz

PRELIMINARY NOTICE HERD AUCTION Plus Machinery

This is an outstanding herd been in the

Please Contact

Garry Johns 027 739 3881 garry.johns@progressivelivestock.co.nz

Livestock

STOCK FOR SALE

2000 MA ROMNEY FE Tol EWES

Going to Trees

1000 MA KELSON COMP EWES

Storm Damage Sale

STOCK REQUIRED

2nd -4th CALVING ANGUS COWS

Due Aug/Sept

FRSN BEEF BULLS 150-240kg

2YR HEREFORD BULLS 400-450kg

2.5YR ANG & ANG X STEERS 500-600kg

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381

A Financing Solution For Your Farm

E info@rdlfinance.co.nz

TEMUKA MACKENZIE CALF

10am, Wed 12th Apr - Temuka Saleyards

Grantleigh Farm Ltd, Twizel

> 40 Angus Bull Calves

> 20 Angus/Hereford x Bull Calves

> 15 Hereford Bull Calves

> 15 Angus/Shorthorn x Bull Calves

Herd has BVD tested negative. TB Status C10. All Sire Bulls used are low birth calving ease & growth. The Angus Sire Bulls are Te Mania & Stern Bred and the Hereford Sire Bulls are Okawa Bred.

Further enquiries: Callum Dunnett (Hazlett) 027 462 0126

Jonty Hyslop (PGW) 027 595 6450

KAIWERA DAIRIES LTD DENIS & DONNA HOLLAND DAIRY HERD AUCTION

Wednesday 26th April

Commencing 11am

On Farm At Kaiwera, Southland

In-milk High Production Cows

2014 Winners South Island Dairy Heifer Competition

150 Holstein Friesian 2-8yr Dairy Cows

50 Crossbred 2-8yr Dairy Cows

Robotic Milking System

650 Milk Solids Average Semex and ST Genetics

Young Stock:

67 In-calf R2 Heifers – Available at Auction

88 R1 Heifers – Available by Private Sale

For general enquiries or to receive a catalogue please contact: Hamish Martin – 0272 425 589

SALE TALK

A man carrying a bucket of fish was just leaving the lake, when he was stopped by a game warden checking people’s fishing licenses.

The game warden asked the man, “Do you have a license to catch those fish?”

The man replied to the game warden, “No, sir. These are my pet fish.”

“Pet fish?” the warden replied.

“Yes. Every night I take my fish down to the lake and they swim around for a while. I whistle and they jump back into their buckets, and I take ‘em home.”

“Ridiculous! Fish can’t do that!”

The man looked at the game warden for a moment, and then said, “Here, I’ll show you.”

“O.K. I’ve GOT to see this!” The game warden was curious now.

The man poured the fish into the lake and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to the man and said: “Well?”

“Well, What?” the man responded.

“When are you calling them back?” the game warden prompted.

“Call who back?” the man asked.

“The FISH.”

“What fish?” the man asked.

EARLY CALVING, I/C

FRSN/FRSNX I/M HERD & HEIFERS + MACHINERY

A/c Edward Lee Ltd

Date: Wednesday 12th April 2023

Address: 730 Matuku Road RD 5 Morrinsville – Synlait 5375

Start Time: Machinery 11.00am, Cows 11.30am – Lunch provided will be available for online bidding

COMPRISING/DETAILS:

220 x I/C Frsn/FrsnX I/M Cows BW165

PW165 RA85% DTC 7/7/23, PSS LIC

Frsn, AB 5.5 weeks, tailed Angus bull removed 7/12/22. SCC 200,000, TB C9

62 x I/C Frsn/FrsnX Hfrs BW211 PW224

DTC 7/7/23 to Jersey bull removed 7/12/22.

MACHINERY LIST:

Mobile 60 teat calf feeder, Milk bar 50 teat mobile feeder, 7 x portable teat calf feeders, 8 x tipper drums, CF MOTO 500 Quad bike 4X4, Refrigeration unit + More to come plus assortment of she sundries. Sam spreader

2.75 ton, Kuhn GMD802 3.2mtr mower, Krone swadro rake 800/26 2009, Duels 15.5r

38, Duels 16.9r 38, John Deere 6200 new loader, John Deere 6800, 12 ton home madetip trailer, 400L trailer diesel tank with electricpump, Aitchison roller drill with second roller.

AUCTIONEERS NOTE:

These cows are very quiet, owner milked for 13yrs. A great opportunity to purchase early calving cows on system 2 producing 420 M/S per cow that won’t let you down.

Cows & Heifers are pregnancy tested prior to auction and can carry a 3 week in-calf guarantee from sale.

Retiring vendor as the farm has sold.

DELIVERY/PAYMENT TERMS:

Deferred payments till 1st June 2023. Cows can stay on farm for those with no genuine access to existing farms.

CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT:

Matt Hancock 027 601 3787

LONG ESTABLISH, HIGH INDEXING IN-MILK CROSSBRED HERD /IN-CALF

HEIFER AUCTION

A/c PALMERDELL TRUST

– Neil & Kim Bailey

Date: Tuesday 11th April 2023

Address: 957 Stratford Opunake Road, D/N 41229

Start Time: 11:30am Lunch provided will be available for online bidding

COMPRISING:

130 x High Indexing Mixed Age In-Milk Dairy Cows 40 x High Indexing Capital Replacement In-Calf Heifers

DETAILS:

Cows: BW216 PW264 avg

Heifers: BW259 PW278 avg

Herd Tested:

4 x Herd Test programme last tested 23/02/2023

Milk solids:

Up to 400+ Per Cow with SCC 150,000

Lepto Vaccinated, TB tested 10/02/2023, C10

AUCTIONEERS NOTES:

The Bailey family are offering up to auction this high country, high quality crossbred herd and capital replacement in-calf heifers. Rotary milked cows doing the hard yards on the slopes of Mt Taranaki, farmed at 1300ft, annual rainfall 3.5 meters. Herd is vetted to date, in-calf heifers have been scanned all calving by the end of September and comes to auction with vendors personal guarantee of satisfaction.

OUR VENDORS:

Grazing available by prior arrangement with vendor or vendor agent till 1st June for purchases that are unable to take delivery within a few days of auction.

PAYMENT TERMS: 14 days from auction unless prior arrangements made with vendors or Carrfields Livestock Agent.

CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT: Colin Dent 027 646 8908 colin.dent@carrfields.co.nz

OUR VENDORS: Neil & Kim Bailey 027 294 8694

TALBOT AGRICULTURE LTD CLEARING SALE

Thursday 20th April

Viewing from 9am

Auction Starting at 11am 219 John Talbot Road, Temuka

AuctionsPlus available for online bidding

COMPRISING:

• 2012 John Deere T670i Combine Harvester

• 2009 John Deere T670i Combine Harvester

• 2009 John Deere 7530P Tractor with Duals

• 2008 John Deere 7530P Tractor with Duals

• 2003 John Deere 6520 Tractor with Duals

• 2003 John Deere 6520 Tractor with Duals

• 1986 John Deere 4240S Tractor with Duals

• 1985 John Deere 2140 Tractor with Duals

• 1991 John Deere 2850 Tractor

• 2002 Macdon Windrower

• 1993 Manitou 626T Telehandler

• 1995 Scania 8X4 – Tipper Steel Bin

• 1991 Volvo F10 – Tipper Alloy Bin

• 1989 Mitsubishi Fuso

• 2010 Isuzu D-Max LX Ute

• 1985 Land Rover Defender 110 V8 - Original

• 2009 SAM 4000 Sprayer

• 2019 Farm King Grain Auger 1370

• 2011 60ft Wheat Chief Grain Auger

• 2015 Agrimaster 3.2m Mulcher

• 2008 Vaderstad 6m roller x 2

• 2007 Farm Force Disc Leader 4m with Press

• 2014 Bogballe Fertilizer Spreader

• 2003 Krone CP1800 Baler

• 2020 CF Moto C Force 520 Quad Bike

• Prattley Portable Cattle Yards

• Prattley Portable Sheep Yards

• Silage Wagons, Trailers, Mowers, Hedge Trimmer, Claas Rake, Moisture Meters, Tru Test Hardware, Bale Feeders, Posts, Netting, Gates, Tyres, Post Driver, Tractor Parts

DETAILS:

• Full farm clearing sale with over 200 lots for livestock and arable farming.

• Full listing on Carrfields website.

FURTHER ENQUIRIES CONTACT:

Alex Struthers 027 235 9278

Jeremy Talbot 021 571 893

GOOD HONEST CRV FRIESIAN AND FRIESIAN CROSS

IN-MILK HERD

AUCTION

A/c EDGAR-BIDDLE PARTNERSHIP

Date: Thursday 6th April 2023

Address: Matamata Saleyards

- Waharoa East Road, Matamata, 3471

Start Time: 12:00pm will be available for online bidding

COMPRISING:

150 x In-Milk Friesian & Friesian Cross Mixed Aged In-Calf Cows

11 xFriesian & Friesian Cross R1 Heifers

DETAILS:

Cows: BW133 PW173 NZMI271

Heifers: BW184 PW196

• Herd tested: 3 Tests done through the season

• 305 M/S Per Cow, SCC: 161,000

• BVD Tested: Yes TB Status: C10

• Calving Date: 20th July 2023 - 6 Week AB

CRV Nominated Friesian then tailed with Hereford Bull removed 22nd December 2022

AUCTIONEERS NOTE:

Good honest cows off steep farm that will shift well. Cows farmed in Opotiki Coastal Kikuyu Country.

Owner milked – Owned 10 years. Quiet, well managed cows on a system 1. Years of CRV breeding – Vetted to dates. Cows are currently milked as OAD.

PAYMENT TERMS:

Payment to be made within 14 days after sale

CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT: Paul Collins 027 304 8994

Andrew Gordon 027 487 2044

OUR VENDOR: Simon Edgar 027 555 8282

LONG EST, HIGH PRODUCING CAPACITY Frsn/FrsnX In-Milk COWS & YOUNG STOCK NEVER BEEN OFFERED FOR SALE IN PADDOCK

A/c GG Ring

Date: Thursday 13th April 2023

Address: 298 Rangitanuku Road Matamata – Te Poi – D/N 77744

Start Time: 11.30am, luncheon provided will be available for online bidding

COMPRISING:

230 x I/C Frsn/FrsnX I/M Cows – BW198 PW254 RA99%

50 x I/C Frsn/FrsnX hfrs – BW270 PW293

50 x Frsn/FrsnX R1 hfrs – BW277 PW292

DETAILS:

Cows: DTC 10/07/23, Capacity herd

530M/S/C, milked in a rotary shed, Nominated LIC Crossbred & Jersey, Ab 6 weeks, tailed with Jersey, bull removed 12/12/22.

Salmonella Vaccinated and BVD BM Tested.

Heifers: DTC 10/07/23 to Jersey bulls, removed 12/12/22.

Farmed on a system 4. SCC 99,000 TB C10.

AUCTIONEERS NOTE:

‘END OF AN ERA’

This high capacity well uddered herd has been on this farm for the last 32 years. Well managed herd in every aspect. These cows are very quiet and come forward in excellent condition. A great opportunity to purchase high producing cows that won’t let you down.

DELIVERY/PAYMENT TERMS:

Deferred Payments till 1.6.23.

Cows can stay on farm for those with no genuine access to existing farms.

CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT: Pat Sheely 027 496 0153 pat.sheely@carrfields.co.nz

OUR VENDOR: Guy Ring 027 577 7440 guyring@xtra.co.nz

DNA A2/A2, EARLY CALVING NOMINATED BRED FRIESIAN & FRIESIAN CROSS IN-MILK HERD AUCTION

A/c Delta Brooke Dairies Ltd

Date: Friday 14th April 2023

Address: 250 Earle Road RD1 Reporoa

Start Time: 11.30am, Lunch provided will be available for online bidding

COMPRISING:

300 Friesian & Friesian Cross Mixed Aged In-Milk Cows Few Jersey & Montbéliarde Cows

DETAILS:

• BW179 PW290 RA98%

• DTC 5th July, AB Nominated Friesian (some sex semen) + Jersey, all companies, 7 weeks AB tailed with Hereford Bull removed 10/01/2023

• 5x Herd Tests, Low SCC, 500 M/S per cow

• BVD Milk tested, TB Status C10

AUCTIONEERS NOTE:

Vendor particular and fussy in breeding and conformation. Owned for 13 years, owner milked on a system 3. Herd is DNA and A2/ A2 tested. Cows are vetted to dates with early calving. Tidy quiet cows that will be presented in great condition. Cows to suit everyone.

DELIVERY/PAYMENT TERMS:

Deferred Payments: 1st June 2023

Immediate delivery or those without farm access cows can stay to end of May and dried off.

CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT: Pat Sheely 027 496 0153 pat.sheely@carrfields.co.nz

OUR VENDOR:

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the people can’t come to the calves...

Calves surmount logistical hurdles to come to the people, with East Coast beef weaners being joined by their Wairoa neighbours to make up one of the biggest fairs the country will see for the season

Suz Bremner MARKETS Beef

THE Matawhero beef weaner fairs are always a much-anticipated event, offering up some of the best hill-country traditional calves that New Zealand has to offer. This year, East Coast calves were joined by some of their Wairoa neighbours as access issues meant they could not make the usual journey south to Stortford Lodge, and holding a sale in Wairoa still created logistical issues.

So, the calves went to the people and the extra numbers meant that the fair was one of the biggest the country would see for the season. It was split over two days, during which nearly 3800 mainly traditional calves went under the hammer, with steers and bulls offered on Tuesday, March 28 and heifers the following day. The tally of 3800 was a decent number, but it wasn’t too far different from the combined total offered at the separate

Matawhero and Wairoa sales last year. And even though the Wairoa calves boosted volume by over 1000-head, there were still several consignments on the east coast that could not make it to market, which balanced the tallies out. There were still logistical challenges to be faced in both regions, and getting that many calves to sale was no easy feat, involving a lot of planning by farmers, trucking companies and stock agent companies, as well as buyers.

One consignment of 300 calves from Ohuka had to be walked out, a distance of around 12km, to meet the truck.

The sheer volume of the calves to be sold as well as the distance many needed to travel meant that they started arriving at the yards on Sunday night with five unit loads offloaded and supplemented with baleage until sale day.

For the regular vendors and buyers, it would have felt like flooding issues were becoming all too familiar; last year’s fairs were also hampered by flooding and

both the Matawhero and Wairoa events were postponed to April dates to allow time for access issues to be resolved.

This year’s floods, however, were on a much larger scale with the main access roads shut, and getting southern buyers to market created another challenge.

Getting that many calves to sale was no easy feat. One consignment of 300 calves from Ohuka had to be walked out, a distance of around 12km, to meet the truck.

But bidr came to the rescue, saving those that were happy to bid online a big trip to the yards, as well as providing a good viewing platform, with at least 170 watchers at one stage on Tuesday. Cattle at Matawhero are sold in the pens and lines weighed before the sale, either that day or the day before.

Despite the access issues, a good crowd was on hand to follow the sale proceedings and Tuesday provided a nice day to be out on the rails, though the southerly change that was forecast meant a few extra layers were donned for the Wednesday heifer fair.

PGG Wrightson regional manager Jamie Hayward had two big days at the yards, along with his team and Carrfields. Hayward said there were plenty of positives to come out of the fairs.

“We ticked off two big days and the markets were very positive. The cattle looked good, though weights were down on expected, probably due to too much wet and not enough sunshine,” Hayward said.

Comparing to the Matawhero results last year, the average traditional steer weight was down 5kg to 225kg but per head prices lifted $85 to $955, and most sold over a range of $850-$1150. The per kilogram average lifted 50c/kg to hit $4.26/kg.

Five pens of Angus steers housed big tallies from 84-head up to 126

and these sold for a premium at $900-$1150, $4.14-$4.37/kg.

Bull supply was down and that meant that the average weight managed to lift slightly. At 230kg, prices averaged $945 and $4.13/ kg, up a similar level to the steers.

Aside from a few lines of older cattle, weaner heifers had the yards to themselves on Wednesday and this market continued the path set by their brothers the previous day. More colour was added by exotic lines and both the traditional and exotic heifers’ average weights were 200kg, with the traditional lines slightly up but exotics down on last year.

There was plenty of appetite for the exotic heifers and as a result prices lifted by the biggest margin at $120 per head, or 85c/kg.

Traditional heifer line sizes were not as big, as replacements were kept at home.

The biggest pens housed 40 to 45-head. The average per head price lifted $95 to $660 and most lines sold for $670-$855.

TOGETHER AGAIN: PGG Wrightson regional manager Jamie Hayward had two big days at the yards and says the cattle looked good, though weights were down, probably due to too much wet and not enough sunshine.

Photo: Phil Yeo

If

Weekly saleyards

Winter was felt at many saleyards around New Zealand as an early wintry blast moved up the country. Salegoers donned jackets and woolly hats and it was a sharp reminder that the good growth many areas have enjoyed over summer will come to a halt soon.

Store lamb volume continued to climb at most yards and, after a few market adjustments over the past few weeks, a happy medium between buyers and sellers seems to have been found.

HIVE OF ACTIVITY: The Matawhero weaner fairs ran like a well-oiled machine, despite 3800 calves going under the hammer.

Photo: Phil Yeo

EYE THEM UP: Bump Mitchell and Ra Cotter of Wairoa keep a close eye on the cattle at the Matawhero weaner fair.

Photo: Phil Yeo

Cattle Sheep Deer

NOTE: Slaughter values are weighted average gross operating prices including premiums but excluding breed premiums for cattle.

Fertiliser Forestry

Dairy

Data provided by

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WMP futures - vs four weeks ago (US$/tonne)

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Waikato palm kernel ($/tonne)

Season of mists and mellow changeability

Philip Duncan NEWS Weather

RAINFALL in March did a great balancing act across most of New Zealand following a tough start over January and February. Regions that had been having too much rain –like Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay – saw rainfall totals drop to normal, or even below normal. Exactly what was needed.

Meanwhile, dry regions like Southland, West Coast and parts of Otago and Canterbury had rain finally returning, which helped fix most areas that had become too dry or were teetering on the edge of a more serious drought.

Why the change? La Niña faded out, but so too did summer. The combo of them ending and a return to a more “neutral” set-up means we’re getting a fairly classic autumn weather pattern now, one that favours rain in western and southern areas of the South Island and leans drier in northern and north eastern parts of NZ.

Basically, the opposite of the La Niña pattern. Basically we’re now in a “classic autumn” – with a neutral climate driver, it means New Zealand faces the usual chaotic weather patterns we get in April, driven mainly by weather systems moving from

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west to east, fuelled by storms in the Southern Ocean. But “chaotic” means just that – autumn is full of days that are sunny and mild, but also wet and cold. Southerlies, like we saw at the end of March, can drive rain into eastern NZ. Although for

Northland - Auckland - Western BOP - South Waikato

STEPHEN HENDRIKSEN

REX TOOGOOD MCLEAN

BRYCE S & PAULA M NICHOLSON

PERRY FAMILY TRUST PARTNERSHIP

RONALD WILLIAM RUSSELL

MICHAEL JOHN STUART & MARYKE

LEE STUART

South Taranaki - Taupo - Manawatu - Wellington

STEPHEN THOMAS DODUNSKI

DENIS CHARLES DUNLOP

RAYMOND N GARDNER & EDNA M

GARDNER

GORDON JAMES LAMBERT

LOCKE FAMILY TRUST

MANA ISLAND FARM LIMITED

BRUCE C MCINTOSH & AGNES M

MCINTOSH

LESLIE JOHN THOMSEN

WANGANUI MUSHROOMS LIMITED

KENNETH CHARLES WILSON

DON GRAEME WORTHINGTON

East Coast - Hawke’s Bay - South Wairarapa

RAYMOND KEITH BLAND

MATTHEW STEWART CAMPBELL

IAN BRUCE CLARK & LEONE

CAROLINE CLARK

ROLAND WARREN FISHER

KENNETH COLIN HAYE & ANNE

CHRISTINE HAYE

ESTATE T J HERRICK

Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne these wet southerlies aren’t usually as troublesome as those wet tropical La Niña nor’easters are. April kicks off with a mixture of high pressure and westerlies, with many regions in the north and east of both main islands having normal to below normal rainfall. But as we progress into April the “chaos” factor kicks in. The tropics directly north of NZ don’t look anywhere near as active as they were in January and February – meaning tropical cyclones look less likely to form there (the cyclone season officially ends in our part of the world on April 30). But a sub-tropical low that deepens as it moves into the North Island is still possible (hit and miss).

Also, the tropics around Darwin and Western Australia look highly active with at least two named cyclones likely forming in the first half of April (based on modelling over the past seven days). You’d normally not be too focused on this for NZ, but the autumn pattern means that, as these storms drop south over Australia, their low pressure may end up

JOHN ERNEST NICHOLAS KNOWLES

WAYNE W & ELIZABETH M LOWE

NEIL ALEXANDER MCNAIR

JAMES WILLIAM MCNUTT

OTEKA LAND CO LIMITED

STAG HILL FARM LIMITED

RODGER J & CAROLE A THOMASEN

TIROHIA TRUST

WILSON PAUL TWENTYMAN

EVELYN MARY WATSON

WATTIE FROZEN FOODS LIMITED

ADRIAN C WRIGHT & BRYCE WRIGHT

Mid & North Canterbury - West Coast - Tasman - MarlboroughKaikoura

JOHN RAYMOND BAKER

MURRAY ALEXANDER BOYD

ANNA MALENE BURROWS

ROGER E H GILLETT & DOROTHY

GILLETT

PATRICK J KENNEDY & ANNE K

KENNEDY

BRIAN WILLIAM LEE

ALLAN JOHN MORRISS

D J PARKINSON

JOHN T & HELEN G REID

SIMON P REID & BERNADETTE M

REID

R G ROBINSON PRODUCE LTD

ESTATE PETER WINSTON SIMS

BEDE LEO EARL TAYLOR

HENRY P B VAVASOUR

LLOYD HANLEY WILKINSON

ERIC ALLAN YATES

being pulled into the westerly conveyor belt of weather over NZ. So while April generally looks to be average to drier than average for many regions, there’s still the risk of severe weather.

April kicks off with a mixture of high pressure and westerlies, with many regions having normal to below normal rainfall, but as we progress into April the “chaos” factor kicks in.

Highlights this week Westerly to southwesterly winds for many regions, making for milder weather in the east

• Large high pressure crosses NZ mid week

• Northerly to northwesterly gales possible over parts of NZ by Friday, along with a cold front from the west

• Cold for some in the south and east this Easter weekend

Central Otago - South Canterbury

RUSSELL K & MICHELLE L BRODIE

ESTATE A L MATHIAS

GRAHAM JAMES PAGE

WILLIAM L & ROBERT A PRESTON

DAVID GREGORY WILLS

Southland - East Otago

ESTATE ROBERT A BRYDIE

CHRISTINA JEANETTE CAMPBELL

ALLAN JAMES CORRIGALL

MARTIN JAMES DENTON

KEVIN THOMAS JAMES DIXON

ADOLF P & LORETTA R HARDEGGER

LAKE OMAPERE FARMS LIMITED

BRONWYN A PERRIAM