25 minute read
China maintains firm Omicron rules
10 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – February 7, 2022
News China Omicron rules remain firm
Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz
DESPITE the global spread of Omicron, New Zealand primary sector exporters are not expecting China’s “zero covid” policy to abate any time soon.
The country’s ultra-strict policy on covid detection and containment has citizens forbidden from leaving buildings or confined to apartments if covid is detected.
Xi’an, the home of the terracotta warriors, was effectively closed in December when 150 cases were reported in a city with a population of 13 million.
Since the epidemic began 5000 people have died in China, making it one of the lowest per capita countries globally for covid death rates.
Food suppliers have also borne the strict controls, with the likes of supermarkets being shut down after traces of covid was detected in fruit imports from Vietnam.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) officials here have confirmed Chinese authorities are still testing and disinfecting packaging of all frozen product imports in relation to covid-19 at the border.
Imports may be suspended for a period from particular suppliers if positive detections of covid are made.
Almost a year ago, Chinese authorities suspended imports from two NZ Sealord fish processing factories after Beijing claimed issues around covid guidance and food safety management were a concern, following a live video audit.
In September Zespri faced a positive covid test from a small sample of kiwifruit in a Chinese wholesale market, despite no covid being present in Bay of Plenty at the time of the fruit’s harvest and packing.
MPI confirmed it has not been notified of any specific changes to China’s covid-19 protocols for NZ primary exports, while strict covid measures continue to operate, including temperature testing, use of protective equipment and physical distancing.
The department confirmed there were no impacts to NZ’s kiwifruit exports to China as a result of the small amount of kiwifruit associated with the covid detection in China.
Expat Kiwi and consultant David Mahon said from Beijing that it was unlikely China would be loosening its standards around covid management and food imports before the Chinese congress meets in March.
“Vaccination rates here are high at about 90%, and booster shots are being rolled out ardently. One problem is local officials try to ensure they do not make a mistake that may lead to covid circulating, so they may apply regulations over zealously,” Mahon said.
He said NZ has managed to maintain a good reputation with the standard of food products being imported during the pandemic, with the one incidence involving seafood.
The Zespri case only surfaced due to an official posting a single test result on social media, giving the incident momentum.
“There is a fair chance the standards will evolve but it would not be wise to forecast it, it can be a very opaque system,” he said.
He pointed out China has managed to handle the outbreak well, incurring less than 6000 deaths in a population of 1.4 billion and still experiencing 8% economic growth.
Mahon said Chinese attention on NZ has been more focused on this country’s ability to differentiate its foreign policy from those falling in behind United States rhetoric, which has continued from the Trump administration to President Biden.
“NZ has managed to negotiate that and maintain an independent foreign policy. There is a continuity in that which has been maintained since the Helen Clark government and that has not gone unnoticed,” he said.
He said long-term relationships between companies and government officials would also play a big part in negotiating the challenges of Omicron.
“MPI is very much respected up here for applying Chinese import standards well. There is a strong relationship there, which has been ongoing for some time now,” he said.
Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said the sector had not been advised of any changes to Chinese covid protocols.
“A comprehensive review of the published literature on transmission risks for covid-19 by the New Zealand Food Safety Science Research Centre has found no evidence of transmission of the virus through food,” Karapeeva said.
“Furthermore, advice from the Ministry of Health indicates the risk of covid-19 being present on refrigerated goods is highly unlikely.
“The World Health Organisation has also stated there is no evidence that food or the food chain is participating in the transmission of this virus and that people should feel comfortable and safe.”
Plants are operating under guidelines agreed upon with MPI ensuring the sector’s operations do not compromise safety, or contribute to covid spread.
David Mahon Mahon Investment Management
STANCE: David Mahon says it is highly likely Chinese authorities will maintain their strict “zero covid” stance for some time yet.
THE ALL NEW COOPER RUGGED TREK®
FORECAST: The increase in NPBT forecast was due to a sale of veal inventory in late December.
Allied Farmers lifts forecast
Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz
ALLIED Farmers has increased its interim result forecast for the six months to December 31 by $200,000 for a net profit before tax (NPBT) in the range from $1.2 million to $1.4m.
But the directors said in December they were not prepared to make a full-year guidance because of uncertainty surrounding livestock trading and herd sales in the second half.
The share price of the small listed rural servicing company responded by lifting 10c to 90c.
The increase in NPBT forecast was due to a $200,000 sale of veal inventory in late December 2021 that had been expected to sell during the second half when a previous guidance was issued on December 20.
Veal is processed and sold during the first half of the financial year by subsidiary Farmers Meat Export (FME).
The January 28 updated guidance said that the changed veal sale timing would make no impact on the expected full-year contribution from the FME subsidiary.
Allied Farmers is restructuring itself by reducing costs at the parent company level, including the move of group chief executive Steve Morrison to NZ Farmers Livestock, in which Allied holds 67%.
At the late November annual meeting, chair Mark Franklin said the company had been on a long and complex journey of recovery from the impact of the Global Financial Crisis which decimated value for shareholders.
“Today, it has re-established itself as an investor in rural-focused businesses with a strong balance sheet and a focus on building value for its shareholders,” Franklin said.
The investment in the management company of NZ Rural Land Company was transformational and would enable earnings diversification and growth.
The directors had decided not to pay a dividend in FY21 to retain and redeploy earnings in preparation for the decision whether to call its option to acquire the 50% of NZ Rural Land Management not already owned.
LIC reports strong first-half results
Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz
LIC has reported strong first-half results for the 2022 financial year, including a 5% increase in revenue and net profit after tax from continuing operations up 6.2% to $35.6 million.
Net profit from discontinued operations, being the Protrack automation business sold to Allflex, was $15m.
A special dividend of 10c a share fully imputed was announced in December and paid in January, totalling $14m distribution.
The LIC share price sits at $1.35 compared with $1.22 before the special dividend was announced and is up 50% over the past year.
Chair Murray King said the halfyear result to November 30 included underlying earnings, excluding bull valuation change, of $50m and the forecast range for the full year was now $22-26m.
This compares with $22.3m in FY21 and LIC has also made a guidance of $20m to $26m for FY23.
LIC’s first-half result incorporates the majority of revenues from LIC’s core artificial breeding (AB) and herd testing services.
But it does not contain a similar proportion of total costs so is not indicative of the second half, nor the full year result. Revenue from international business, technology products and animal health testing is also spread through the year.
King said the first-half result was driven by more farmers investing in the co-op’s premium AB products where young, genomically selected bulls are used to fast-track genetic gain and deliver more value onfarm through increased productivity and efficiency, including improved environmental efficiency.
This year just over half of all AB inseminations will be from genomically selected bulls and within that 200,000 sexed straws will be despatched to farmers, double the previous year.
GET IT DONE RIGHT
Trusted for decades and proven to perform, you can always rely on Boehringer Ingelheim products to keep your stock at their best. And to help get everything else done right, we’ll throw in these DeWalt tools.
Purchase qualifying cattle drench products this season and you’ll receive either a FREE* DeWalt 18V Cordless Drill Set, Lockable Tool Box or a 35-piece Screwdriver Set.
Ensure young stock become future high producers through improved health, growth and energy at: futureproducers.co.nz
Mating completed for INZB programme
BEEF + Lamb New Zealand Genetics operations specialist Anna Boyd recently visited Pāmu’s Kepler Farm in Te Anau to assist with AI of the across-breed progeny test – where 493 Angus and Hereford heifers were mated as part of the Informing NZ Beef (INZB) programme.
The $16.7 million programme was launched at Kepler Farm in 2020, with the aim of generating more income for beef farmers, with the first calves born last year.
Ultimately, the programme aims to help beef farmers to improve their herds and make the best decisions on genetics. The seven-year progeny test run by B+LNZ will support that, providing information that will help make estimated breeding values (EBVs) on bulls of different breeds comparable to each other.
The farming system at Kepler has been tweaked to include Hereford cows as well as the Angus herd already run there and these cows are being inseminated with semen from some of NZ’s best Hereford and Angus bulls.
The progeny will be pure Angus, pure Hereford and crossbred calves and the performance data collected will be used to rank bulls and create an evaluation where EBVs are comparable across breeds, which isn’t the case now.
“What I’m most excited about is that an across-breed evaluation will enable farmers to compare say an Angus bull against a Hereford bull, based on breeding values, because at the moment you can’t do that,” Boyd said.
“To be able to put bulls from the different breeds on the same base and enable farmers to make that comparison so they can select a bull that best fits their system and their objectives is a real step forward, and will help make using EBVs for bull selection decisions more effective.”
Kepler’s Angus heifers are sourced from Pāmu’s Duncraigen genetics, also based near Te Anau, and the Hereford herd has been formed from performance recorded herds on Lime Hills, Monymusk, Orari, Matariki, Grassmere and Haldon Station.
The 2021 AI sires were selected from top bulls nominated by Angus and Hereford breeders.
“The heifers have either been recorded themselves or are related to a registered sire so we know that the genetics that are coming in are good,” she said.
The fixed time AI programme is carried out over 10 days starting with the insertion of CIDRs (controlled internal drug release) for synchronising the heifers reproductive cycles, followed by their removal and then AI.
“We’ve found the farm managers involved in previous B+LNZ progeny tests were all initially a little worried about the commitment of AI, but I am impressed by how smoothly and efficiently it ran on Kepler, even though it was only their second year of AI,” she said.
Boyd hopes more commercial farmers will start using AI, even if only for a portion of their herd, to improve their genetics. She’s excited about the potential of the programme to lift profitability and was pleased to see the first progeny-test calves on the ground at Kepler.
“The calves look amazing and we will get our first lot of data on them at weaning. It’s really interesting to see crossbred calves run alongside Hereford and Angus calves, and measure data on them, at scale. These calves are going to play an important part in the development of our across-breed genetic evaluation system,” she said.
Anna Boyd B+LNZ Genetics
EXCITED: Creating an evaluation where EBVs are comparable across breeds is a real step forward for farmers, Beef + Lamb NZ Genetics operations specialist Anna Boyd says.
Rural GPs brace for Omicron
Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz
MANAGING Omicron in rural areas is likely to mean more medical consultations carried out either virtually or over the phone.
This will help reduce the risk of whether people are symptomatic of this covid-19 variant or not, Rural GP Network chair Dr Fiona Bolden says.
Rural GPs are largely familiar with phone or virtual consultations after having used them when the Delta variant emerged.
Virtually overnight rural practices tried to do at least half of their consultations that way.
Some rural people preferred this method of service because of the long distance many had to travel for face-to-face consultation, assuming they had cellphone coverage.
If there is the predicted Omicron surge, as the country shifted into phase two and three of the Government’s Omicron strategy, rural GPs would not have the capacity to manage that level of service either by phone or in person consultations.
Compounding the challenge is the limited mobile and internet access in many areas.
“What we do need to do is get people used to the idea of how they are going to manage mild to moderate level symptoms – how you would manage it if you had a bad flu,” Bolden said.
That management included basic medical supplies such as a temperature reader and paracetamol and ibuprofen.
“If you have to isolate, make sure you have food at home to keep you going,” she said.
“For the majority of people, provided they are immunised – particularly if they have had their booster – will have mild to moderate symptoms and not severe symptoms because the hospitalisation is a lot less severe with Omicron per case than it is with Delta.”
She said it will be similar to having a bad cold or flu.
Provided the farmer was immunised, they should be able to isolate on their farm.
To that end, it was vital that farmers received the booster shot, she said.
Rural people will need to be more self-reliant than their urban counterparts because of those challenges, she said.
“The main thing though is that we identify those people most at risk and that we make sure we have a way to monitor those people so if they do deteriorate … we have a way of giving them the appropriate care,” she said.
“What we don’t want is people isolating on their farm and doing what rural people do – managing – and then suddenly getting really ill and there not being enough time to do anything about it.”
Self-management was critical for preventing this from happening. Farmers particularly at risk include those who are pregnant, over 60 years of age, or have an underlying medical condition.
Bolden hoped there would be more information from the Government in the coming weeks regarding how monitoring those in the at-risk category could work.
For now, those people should still contact their GP if they do feel unwell, she said, adding that people also have to be realistic given that it is a pandemic.
“The problem is that if there is a huge Omicron outbreak and people contact their GP, they are not going to be able to do the normal things that they do to keep people well every day,” she said.
Bolden said rural GPs have been asking the Government for access to rapid antigen testing (RAT) since November.
They are still waiting for information on whether they will be available for rural GPs to help speed up Omicron diagnosis in remote areas.
STRAIN: If there is the predicted Omicron surge, rural GPs do not have the capacity to manage that level of service either by phone or in person consultations.
PREVENT. PROTECT. PERFORM.
A range of sheep vaccines made for New Zealand conditions.
For nearly 80 years, MSD have been developing sheep vaccines for New Zealand farmers. We have a extensive range of vaccines to help you improve fl ock performance. Vaccines that help protect against losses from Toxoplasma, Campylobacter, Salmonella, and that are proven to increase lamb numbers1,2,3 . And we’ve developed them right here in New Zealand, specifi cally for our sheep and our conditions.
ASK YOUR VET FOR MSD SHEEP PERFORMANCE VACCINES
#AginED ED FOR FUTURE AGRIPRENEURS!
Volume 91 I February 7, 2022 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I www.farmersweekly.co.nz/agined
Are you a parent or teacher and want to receive AginED every week directly to your
email inbox? Send us an email to sign up at agined@globalhq.co.nz
CARBON
This table shows the average breeding ewe prices from the Feilding, Matawhero, and Stortford Lodge Ewe Fairs.
Native vs Exotic forestry
A native forest can be either a planted or a naturally regenerated forest. To qualify for inclusion in either the ETS or PFSI a native forest must have been established after 1989, on land that was not previously forest land i.e. pasture. The area must be larger than 1 hectare and the forest canopy must cover more than 30% of the ground, with the trees reaching at least 5 metres in height.
• New native forests can earn carbon credits provided they were planted after 1989.
• You can claim carbon credits using either the ETS or the PFSI. At present there is no advantage to participating in the PFSI over the
ETS. It is also useful to note that the PFSI involves a more onerous process.
• Carbon accumulation in a native forest is about one third of radiata pine, but establishment costs through natural regeneration could be nil, so it provides a viable alternative to planting an exotic forest. • There are significant additional benefits to be gained from establishing native forests including the potential for income from carbon and honey which could help them pay their way
Although fast-growing exotic species such as radiata pine sequester carbon faster than planted natives, all forests irrespective of species eventually plateau with a significant carbon carrying capacity. Unlike most radiata pine stands that are usually felled before 30 years of age (at 800 t/ha CO2 equivalents), native forest can be managed as permanent forestry sinks. These native forests can be established as conservation forests or on appropriate sites managed as sustainable production forests using Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) principles. 1 Do you think that the current increase in NZ pine plantations is the best way forward? Why or why not?
2 Would there be more or less benefit to increased native forest plantations?
3 What do you think the best options would be to increase carbon sequestration without the loss of good grazing production land?
Are all gases equal?
In discussions on climate change, we tend to focus on carbon dioxide (CO2) – the most dominant greenhouse gas produced by the burning of fossil fuels, industrial production, and land use change. But CO2 is not the only greenhouse gas that is driving global climate change. There are a number of others – methane, nitrous oxide, and trace gases such as the group of ‘F-gases’ – which have contributed a significant amount of warming to date.
You may have heard of methane and the attributed “damage” that cattle and sheep are doing to our environment due to their methane emissions. So we thought we would take a look at biogenic methane (methane produced by living organisms like plants and animals) in relation to carbon dioxide (CO2). METHANE is another greenhouse gas that has a warming potential that is more than 28 times greater than carbon dioxide. However, when looking at climate change and livestock we need to look at the characteristics that set biogenic methane and CO2 apart.
BIOGENIC METHANE:
Stays in our atmosphere for about 12 years
Is derived from atmospheric carbon, such as CO2
Is part of the biogenic carbon cycle
Is eventually returned to the atmosphere as CO2, essentially making it Methane recycled from fossil carbon fuels does not have the same characteristics as biogenic methane. Fossil methane is not derived from atmospheric carbon (it is pulled from the Earth) and is new to the atmosphere. Biogenic methane's relatively short atmospheric life is also relevant to climate warming, because as methane is being emitted it is also being destroyed in the atmosphere, making it a flow gas. Follow the following link to look at what a flow gas is https://
clear.ucdavis.edu/ news/greenhousegas-emissions-whatdifference-between-
stock-and-flow-gases and answer the following questions: 1 What is a stock gas? 2 What is a flow gas? 3 How do cattle and other livestock fit in relation to these gases? 4 What is the biogenic carbon cycle? 5 Why is comparing stock gas to flow gas like comparing apples to oranges? 2021-22 Average 2020-21 Average
Five-year Average 2-tooth $237 $202 $194 5-year plus $179 $160 $145
1 How do 2-tooth prices compare to the previous season and the 5-year average? 2 How do 5-year plus ewe prices compare to the previous season and the 5-year average? 3 Why do you think 2-tooth prices are generally higher than older ewes? 4 What drivers might impact breeding ewe values? 5 What might such high values for 2-tooth ewes suggest about farmers’ confidence levels for the next couple of seasons?
PODCAST CORNER:
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
In this episode, host Vince Heeringa is joined by Dr David Bergin, Prof. Warwick Silvester and Mark Kimberley, the scientists and authors behind the latest O Tātou Ngāhere research paper; Carbon Sequestration by Native Forest: Setting the Record Straight. The podcast delves into the research, which demonstrates that well-managed planted indigenous forest is better at sequestering carbon than commonly considered, and proposes that the Carbon Look-up Tables for the Emission Trading Scheme should include the option for planted native species as well as regenerating native forest.
https://podcasts.captivate.fm/ media/493db2f6-2799-4172-aed713514a6fc34f/ttt-interview-vincentnov-21-final.mp3
1 What are common misconceptions regarding native forests? 2 Approximately how much native forest has been lost in NZ in the last 100 years? 3 What information is being gathered from the current native stands talked about in this podcast? What can this information then be used for? 4 Why is it important that data gathered is from managed/planted native forest stands to make the results comparable to pine stand data?
FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – February 7, 2022 15 NZ experts study eruption fallout
Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz
SOME of the country’s leading experts on volcanology and disaster recovery are combining their talents to help Tongans salvage cropland after January’s devastating Hunga-Tonga-HungaHa’apai eruption.
The aftermath of the eruption has left a layer of ash 2-6cm over the main island of Tongatapu and some of the outer islands to the north of the main island.
Samples of the ash have now been closely analysed by New Zealand scientists after being flown back by the defence force.
“What we have learnt so far is that it is very fine-grained, with some coarser grain through it, but that it also has a lot of salt in it, and once wet it goes like concrete and forms a crust on the soil surface. This will make it harder for re-establishing some new crops and plants which need to push through that,” Auckland University volcanologist Dr Shane Cronin said.
The positive news was that unlike some eruptions, the ash was near neutral in pH and did not contain any toxic chemicals. It does, however, contain high concentrations of salt.
When Mount Ruapehu erupted in 1995 and 1996, large amounts of toxic fluorine entered the environment, poisoning stock water.
“And there are some crops like taro that are pretty resilient – it can pop through the crust as a seedling. If they can get a couple of decent rainfalls, that will make a significant difference, and things will start to look better,” he said.
Cronin said the silver lining from the ash fall was that in the longer-term it was a positive addition to Tonga’s already fertile soil base, which was similar in parts to the high-quality soils around Pukekohe and Waikato’s ash soils.
He said the eruption did not impact squash crops, one of the island’s major planted crops, which was not in the ground yet.
NZ has built a solid base of volcano event recovery experience, thanks to work done by Tom Wilson of University of Canterbury, Massey’s Carol Stewart, an expert in environmental health and disaster impact, and Cronin.
This has been bolstered by the team’s first-hand experience of eruptions in Chile and here in NZ during the 1995-96 Ruapehu eruptions.
Professor Tom Wilson of University of Canterbury’s earth and environment department said while there was a good level of knowledge on temperate climate volcano events, globally knowledge was still light on the impact and recovery in tropical zones.
“And this is a bit of a travesty, given the amount of volcanoes that exist in tropical areas,” Wilson said.
He was hopeful that given the event was a single burst of ash, the islanders may have more options, including cultivating it into their existing soils with long-term benefits of nutrient gains.
But he was also hopeful the Tongan eruption may prove a catalyst for more long-term work studying its impact longitudinally, to learn how communities and farmers respond and recover over time.
“This would prove invaluable in helping us put fences at the top of the cliff, being more aware of where assistance and aid should be best invested in the future,” he said.
A Kiwi family with longtime connections to Tonga is also working to help islanders recover their ability to grow their own food amid land area inundated with volcanic ash deposits.
Jennifer Boggiss, founder and director of Tauranga-based vanilla company Heilala Vanilla, said communications with the islands have been difficult, but anecdotal reports indicate some island areas have been affected significantly more than others.
Her company has been growing vanilla in Tonga for the past 19 years in partnership with multiple local farmers and also founded its own growing area of about 100ha.
The family’s vanilla business started as a response to the devastating 2002 Cyclone Waka event as a means to help locals get back on their feet growing a high-value, prized food ingredient. Today, the business has established a strong gourmet following with endorsements from leading chefs around the world.
“Fortunately, the vanilla plants are quite hardy and they have already formed their small bean after pollination over SeptemberOctober. It would have been far worse for the crop if the eruption had been when crops were flowering, or when the final crop was out drying in the sun,” Boggiss said.
A fundraising effort by Heilala has generated $155,000 to date, including a $25,000 starter donation from the Boggiss family.
To date, the company has sent 11 pallets of food, but is also gathering seeds and nursery equipment to send to 15 villages through the MORDI Tongan Trust aid organisation, with donations being made through the Heilala website.
“The islands were also hit hard by Cyclone Harold in April 2020, but the Tongans are a very resilient people, there is a lot that we could all probably learn from them,” she said.
Professor Shane Cronin University of Auckland
INSIGHT: Professor Tom Wilson believes the Tongan eruption could provide an opportunity to NZ to better understand how communities recover long-term and what aid is best needed over time.
INTRODUCING THE LATEST TOOL IN THE TOOLBOX FOR YOUR HOGGETS…
