Farmers Weekly NZ December 7 2020 by AgriHQ

7 Fonterra forks out for Christmas Vol 18 No 48, December 7, 2020

farmersweekly.co.nz

$3.95

Incl GST

Unexpected business venture Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz

N EXCITING new farm business venture stemming from a post on social media is transforming wool direct from the farm gate into a knitting yarn in an all New Zealand wool story. The farm to needles project grew from a photo shared on Instagram by Otematata Station farmer Philippa Cameron. “We were shearing and I posted a pic from the woolshed on Instagram, a woman responded asking, ‘do you want me to dye some wool from your farm to knit a jumper?’” Cameron said. “It was such a great suggestion, I thought ‘yes, let’s do this’.” Rebecca from Wellington-based Good Wool was the dyer behind the offer. Passionate about creating sustainable, purposeful products, especially boasting a NZ farmed story behind the yarn dyed from natural resources, Good Wool was a hit with Cameron. “She was thinking maybe grandma could knit a jumper; my children wear a range of delightful jumpers from my grandma,” she said. “She was talking about one jumper, but I was thinking about a jumper for everybody, that was a bit of hoot.” But the yarn started to spin and following some convincing of her farming partners, husband Joe and father-in-law Hugh Cameron, a bale of wool was saved for the farm to needles project. Otematata Station in South Canterbury has been farmed by the Cameron family since

TEST RUN: Phillipa Cameron’s one bale of Merino wool from their Otematata Station yielded 80 kilograms of wool.

Get what you need, when you need it IN-STORE OR ONLINE, DELIVERED DIRECT TO YOU ORDER BY PHONE:

ORDER ONLINE AT RURALCO.CO.NZ:

0800 787 256

USE YOUR RURALCO CARD OR CREDIT CARD

BUY ONLINE OR INSTORE

with very little human contact, and that comes in once in 12 months for shearing. “These are the stories we love to tell from the farm gate.” Wool from the high country farm gate to the local wool scour to Wild Earth Yarns in Christchurch, where the wool is being spun, then on to Good Wool to be dyed and back to grandma to knit jumpers

1892 and there was no doubt the genetics behind the 36,000 Merinos on the station would make a “damn good yarn.” “The wethers are my favourite; we have a large flock, about 12,000 of them and they live life like little hermits,” Cameron said. “This is the life of Larry, a story about sustainable fibre from a lamb that roams the high country

BUY INSTORE: ASHBURTON, METHVEN, RAKAIA

DORAJECT 500ML For treatment and control of internal parasites in cattle.

NOW ONLY SAVE $ .40 $269.00 EA

for everyone – this is an all NZ wool story, Cameron says. “The wether wool with 12 months growth will be a good length and at 17.7 micron, will be a jolly good knitting yarn,” she said. The one bale of wool has scoured out to 80 kilograms of wool. “That’s a lot of 100gram skeins,” she said. “I was only allowed one bale this year until it’s proven its worth. “I’m very keen to do five or six bales next year.” The wool will be spun in February and go down the market road ready for knitting in autumn. “We will do a few demo jumpers to get the ball rolling,” she said. Half the 80kgs will be dyed in colours inspired by the high country, while half will be left in blank (natural) skeins. Both 4-ply and 8-ply yarn will be spun. “It’s all very exciting now that we are on the way with it and hopefully it will meet the aim of creating value to our own homegrown wool in an all NZ wool story,” she said. NZ Woolscouring chief executive Nigel Hales says there are many new wool initiatives happening right now. “Since lockdown we have had farmers come to us looking for ways to support them to help add value to their own wool here in NZ,” he said. The Camerons’ wool was scoured at NZ Woolscouring in Washdyke, near Timaru. “We are so pleased and happy to be involved where we can, the Camerons’ wool is an exciting venture,” he said. “It’s great to see added value coming from the farm gate and happening here in NZ. “We believe there is potential

for a lot more here in NZ and we are happy to speak to anyone who would like to add value to their Merino wool here. “It can be done in NZ and that means the value stays here in NZ.” Hales says new initiatives include blankets, homecrafts, luxury brand carpets and insulation.

It’s all very exciting now that we are on the way with it and hopefully it will meet the aim of creating value to our own homegrown wool in an all NZ wool story. Philippa Cameron Farmer “I think everyone had time to sit down, take a break and do some thinking during lockdown,” he said. “We are taking wool direct from the farm (and producing) insulation and carpet products. “There’s a whole bunch of really good things happening, I just wish we could speed up the process of getting more value back to the growers.” Hales is confident the industry will come back. “We are fully supportive of the strong wool initiative with the Strong Wool Action Group (SWAG),” he said. “As a business we can add value to wool here in NZ, we compete well on the international stage. “We need to do more here in NZ to roll the industry onwards.”

PYRAX 10LT

TRANSFORM 5LT

Systemic fungicide for the control of diseases in barley, maize, ryegrass and wheat.

Superior aphid control in forage brassica.

SAVE $ .00

NOW ONLY $ .00 EA

559

SAVE $ .30

NOW ONLY $ .00 EA

1,789

HANSEN TANK LEVELLER VALVE Enables you to set a minimum and maximum water level when filling your tank with a pump.

SAVE $ .10

NOW ONLY $ .90 EA

136

TRU TEST PLATE METER EC-09 /EC-10

AGHATS

Plan feed breaks and rotations, and accurately forecast your feed budget.

Head protection from impact or accidents. Available colours: Black, White, Red, Blue, Yellow.

EC-09

EC-10

SAVE $ .00

NOW ONLY $ .00 EA

799

949

NOW ONLY SAVE $ .60 $139.00 EA

All prices are including GST, valid until 31 December 2020 or while stocks last.

ROUND THE FARM TABLE Chef and good keen man Al Brown chats to BFEA entrants from around the country and finds they’re committed to sustainable farming – and growing delicious food.

Ask Dannevirke dairy farmers Andrew Hardie and Helen Long for a piece of advice to pass onto young farmers and their answer is simple but compelling – “be good ancestors”. This pledge to do right today, to benefit others tomorrow, is a philosophy that has been instilled in them by their own parents, and is one they are determined to pass onto their three adult children Katelyn, Callum, and Jordan.

Andrew: We border two rivers, so we quickly realised fencing stock out of these waterways was vital. The rivers now provide drinking water for the family, as well as stunning swimming, fishing and jetboating spots – you’ll have to join us some time!

It is also at the heart of how they run their 428ha dairy farm, Te Maunga.

Helen: For us, sustainability equals longevity and balance across the environment, business and our people, so we look at all three areas to help the operation thrive.

Flanked by the Manawatu and Mangatewainui rivers, 720 Friesian-Jersey-crosses are milked once a day here and delicious dairy-Wagyu-cross beef is bred and sold under the First Light brand. Andrew and Helen have created a model of sustainability and profitability, taking out the Regional Supreme Ballance Farm Environment Award in 2018. “The opportunity to get environmentally-focussed judges looking closely at our enterprise and providing constructive feedback was priceless,” says Andrew of the experience. “We loved the process and were honoured to be given the opportunity to became judges ourselves,” says Helen, adding, “it was incredibly encouraging to see so much positivity industry-wide.” Enjoying work/life balance, a thriving business, and decreased environmental footprint, it’s no wonder Helen calls Te Maunga their little patch of paradise. Al: You guys bought Te Maunga in 1999 – was it as beautiful then as it is now? Helen: It’s always been beautiful, but the land was pretty marginal when we bought it. It was all we could afford, so we had to make it work. But from day one, we looked at making long-term improvements to conserve the farm for our family.

Al: I’ll bring my rod! I love your long-term view – how important is it to have that vision do you think?

Andrew: That means regenerating native bush areas, developing wetlands around the farm, retiring areas with permanent fencing, and planting pines as well as over 1000 other riparian plants every year. Al: I can see from your story a real emphasis on sharing, which I just love because it’s something I really value in our industry – sharing inspiration and finding inspiration from other restaurants. Andrew: Sharing is so important. This can be a tough business but we’re lucky to have a brilliant team around us and we all support each other – from our sharemilkers, great local suppliers, supportive family, a tight community and of course, each other. Good, genuine partnerships. Helen: At the end of the day, we’re all in this together so we have to be open to sharing ideas, linking arms and climbing the hill together. It’s a journey, and you get to what you think is the end, to find you’re only about halfway there! There’s still lots of trial and error – and like you, we’ve all got to keep trying new things, exploring new ideas, and learning from others. Al: More and more, we’re seeing our customers placing huge importance on knowing where their food comes from. What role can you play in this conversation?

No.3

Andrew Hardie and Helen Long. Dairy farmers, Te Maunga Farm, Dannevirke

WITH

Helen: As a society, I feel like there is a real pull to move back to a more natural way of life. The kids are proud to bring their friends here from all over the world and eat food off the land. It’s a really eye-opening experience for those people. Al: And these are the stories that will help us continue to compete on the global stage in the future, right? Andrew: Absolutely. Producing the most delicious, highest quality, healthy and environmentally sound foods in the world should continue to be our focus. As a country we are selling premium quality food so we have to reflect that in everything we do.

with in o l ir s u y g a W y m Try er puree w o l if l u a c , d u p e ir Yorksh urnt butter mash. and b

Al: Ok, here’s a meaty question. What’s your favourite food off the farm? Helen: Ha! All of it! From the venison out the back, to the Wagyu. But I also love a bit of lamb, so we’ll often trade beef for lamb with our neighbour! Al: And of course, good food is best enjoyed with company, so who would you invite over to share a meal with you? Andrew: Helen’s mum and dad are sadly not with us any longer, and my dad passed away when I was 17. He never got to meet Helen or our children, so it would be pretty special to have all our parents and children round the same table for one night. Al. Three generations of good ancestors all together – sounds perfect . . .

FIND THE RECIPE AT NZFEATRUST.ORG.NZ

The Ballance Farm Environment Awards is a pan-sector programme that promotes best practice, sustainable farming and growing. To join the journey or find out more, visit nzfeatrust.org.nz

NEWS

ON FARM STORY

32 Buffalo cheese demand soars A Canterbury couple who make top quality buffalo cheese faced a tough time during the covid-19 lockdown but now that their market is back, it’s stronger than ever.

REGULARS Newsmaker �� 26 New Thinking �� 27 Editorial �� 28

24 Kono boss to chair Apec council The new chair of the Apec (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation) business advisory council is Rachel Taulelei, chief executive of Maori food and beverage exporter Kono.

Pulpit �� 29 Opinion �� 30 On Farm Story �� 32-33 Real Estate �� 34-38 Tech and toys �� 39 Employment �� 40-41 Classifieds �� 41 Livestock �� 42-43 Weather �� 45

10 Supply and quality

12 Elite Romney rams dispersed

Wairarapa sheep and beef farmer Neil Morison has been named Atkins Ranch Producer of the Year for two out of the past three years.

Kikitangeo Romney rams sold to a top price of $3600 and an average of $1600 at top breeder Gordon Levet’s final sale before semi-retirement and a change of management for the Northland property.

commitment rewarded

Markets �� 44-48 GlobalHQ is a farming family owned business that donates 1% of all advertising revenue in Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer to farmer health and well-being initiatives. Thank you for your prompt payment.

Fast knockdown. It’s CRUCIAL. ®

Contact your local Rural Supplier to purchase CRUCIAL today.

ONF204834FWV3

nufarm.co.nz/discovercrucial

®CRUCIAL is a registered trademark of Nufarm Australia Limited.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Farmers want pest management Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz A GROUP of Hawke’s Bay farmers is threatening to take Ospri to court, saying it has failed to carry out necessary pest management activities in the region and consequently has not fulfilled its legally required pest management responsibilities. When asked by Farmers Weekly whether Ospri has fulfilled its legal responsibilities, chief executive Steve Stuart said it would be inappropriate to comment on legal correspondence. However, he says Ospri has a long history of successfully reducing TB infection. “TB has been eradicated from wildlife in 2.73 million hectares since 2011 and the number of TB infected herds has reduced from nearly 1700 in the mid-1990s to 38 today,” Stuart said. The farmers are frustrated at what they see as some landowners not being held to the same pest control standards that they are, and that Ospri needs to do more to ensure those landowners pull their weight. Te Kuiti-based lawyer Max Lamb, who is part of the legal team representing the dozen farmers involved, wrote to Stuart last month saying the organisation has failed its responsibilities under the Biosecurity Act and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Pest Management Plan (RPMP). He gave Ospri two weeks to show what they would do to rectify the problem, and said if that didn’t happen, the farmers involved reserved the right to take legal action to address what they say is a serious and critical issue. That deadline was the end of November. To illustrate the problem, group member and Tutira farmer Neil Aitken gives the example of land owned by Tataraakina Trust C, which is west of the Mohaka River near the Waitara Valley, off the Napier-Taupo road. He says Ospri has done no pest control work on the block for 11 years, despite the area being a known TB hotspot, and that lack of work shows that it is not doing its job. A poisoning programme was

FRUSTRATED: Hawke’s Bay farmer Neil Aitken says not enough is being done to control bovine TB in the region.

undertaken there in 2004 and again in 2009, but there has been nothing since. Aitken says Ospri needed to do pest control work there years ago and by not doing so has contributed to the current TB problem in Hawke’s Bay, which has led to half the herds testing positive in New Zealand coming from this region. He acknowledges, but says it was too little too late, that Ospri had planned to do work there this year and had been given permission to undertake an aerial 1080 programme by the trust’s responsible trustee Clinton Hemana, before trust member Nigel Baker filed an injunction in the Maori Land Court opposing it. Farmers Weekly understands there are some within the trust who want the work done, while others do not. The hearing was held in

Hastings at the end of November before Chief Judge Watson Isaac, who rejected a similar application by Baker in 2004. Baker was again unsuccessful in 2009. Baker says he has seen no proof that possums from the trust’s land are the source of TB infection and that farmers in the area need to take more responsibility themselves. “Why do they always point the finger at us? The TB came in by truck, through stock movements,” Baker said. He does not believe that Ospri’s approach to possum control through 1080 is the right one. “It’s (1080) not environmentally friendly. It kills everything. It’s killing our wildlife.” He says despite the tough terrain alternatives to aerial 1080 drops, such as trapping and cyanide, are more effective and as long as Ospri wants to use 1080,

he and others will oppose it. Judge Isaac reserved his decision, but it is expected in the next few weeks. Aitken says Ospri should have acted far earlier and even if it is given the go-ahead the pest control programme is effectively delayed by a year, as it makes no sense to start poisoning now because it is most effective during winter when there is much less food available for possums, so they are more likely to eat poisoned bait. He says possum control work done prior to the planned programme on the edges of the Tataraakina block to keep potentially infected possums inside it until the block itself could be targeted, has been wasted because of the delay. Stuart says Ospri is not a party to the Tataraakina C block proceeding and as it was called to

Photo: Colin Williscroft

Why do they always point the finger at us? The TB came in by truck, through stock movements. Nigel Baker give evidence to the court it is not appropriate for it to comment on matters relating to the proceeding while it awaits the court’s decision. In the meantime, it will continue to maintain possum control on lands surrounding Tataraakina to protect herds from infection. It acknowledges the importance of getting access to land in order to prevent further spread of TB and successfully eradicate TB from herds by 2026.

Farmer wants compensation for losses Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz ONE of the Hawke’s Bay farmers who is questioning the way Ospri has handled pest control in the area wants compensation for money he has lost because of changes he was forced to make to his farming operation as a result of the outbreak in October last year. Waitara Valley farmer Lloyd Holloway, who can see the Tataraakina C block from his farm, says Ospri has not done its

job by not undertaking a proper poisoning programme in the area for 11 years. “It’s too long to be talking and doing nothing. Ospri says they’ve done everything that they’re supposed to do and they’re 100% in the clear but I don’t believe that,” Holloway said. He says despite being told by Ospri that he would not be left out of pocket by its movement restriction plan to control bovine TB in the area it’s cost him $425,000 – a figure that’s backed up by a Ministry for Primary

Industries’ report on his farm business. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m not knocking off on this. They told me, and I’ve got witnesses, that it wouldn’t cost me but it has,” he said. “There’s a duty there, whether it’s Ospri, MPI or Beef and Lamb, because they’re all part of it, they have to front up.” He says the group of about a dozen Hawke’s Bay farmers who are pursuing Ospri will wait until the Maori Land Court decision comes out, probably within the

next week, before meeting with their lawyers to decide what to do next. Holloway is not ruling out legal action and he says other farmers also want compensation. “We’re not going to go away easily,” he said. Ospri chief executive Steve Stuart says compensation payments administered by Ospri under the Bovine Tuberculosis Pest Management Plan have been in place since 1998 and are regularly reviewed by the industry, which agrees and funds

them through levies paid by farmers. The most recent review was in 2016, when no substantive changes were made. He says farmers affected by TB have been paid compensation under these arrangements for over 20 years. “The wider provisions for compensation, under section 162A of the Biosecurity Act 1993, do not apply when a pest management plan is in place, and are not administered by Ospri,” Stuart said.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Natural fibres could be a game changer Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz THE launch of a new natural fibre company is set to re-emerge wool and hemp to the forefront of a global sea-change in consumer preference. In a move to innovate for a greener tomorrow, NZ Yarn, a subsidiary of Carrfields Primary Wool (CP Wool), and hemp processing company Hemp NZ have joined forces to create New Zealand Natural Fibres (NZNF), a natural fibres and materials business with global ambitions. NZNF chair Craig Carr says the new company is aiming to be a pioneer in the global natural fibres revolution. Products will be made from renewable NZ-grown hemp and wool, as well as blends of the two fibres using proprietary technology to prototype, produce and market a wide range of consumer and industrial options.

We have a clear purpose to transform natural fibres to enable earth-positive choices. Craig Carr CP Wool “We have a clear purpose to transform natural fibres to enable earth-positive choices,” Carr said. The creation of the new company will pave the way for the development of an extensive portfolio of new product innovation, while also opening new national and global sales channels, NZNF chief executive Colin McKenzie said. “We are very positive about the future of NZ wool and hemp products worldwide. “There is tremendous potential to increase awareness of the sustainability, versatility and quality of wool and hemp across a variety of value-add applications.”

McKenzie says the company has aspirations to build its farmer and grower base, ramp up research and development activity and launch into new domestic and offshore markets. The new natural fibres company will be run from the Christchurchbased NZ Yarn plant, where the company is currently installing a leading-edge natural fibre processing facility which it has imported from Europe. This highly advanced equipment, the first of its kind in NZ, will enable NZNF to begin what is thought to be the first-ever commercial processing of hemp stalks into fibre in the Southern Hemisphere. The new processing facility will operate alongside NZ Yarn’s existing yarn spinning equipment, which spins strong NZ wool into yarn for the carpet industry worldwide. McKenzie says NZNF’s investment in new equipment means the company has a strong, and difficult to replicate, platform from which to develop marketleading innovations in hemp fibre processing, as well as the development of new consumer products made from wool yarn, wool and hemp hybrid yarns and non-woven wool and hemp products. Further bolstering NZNF’s market positioning is its vertically integrated structure, boasting a large and geographically diversified base of contracted growers of hemp and wool. McKenzie says wool and hemp are among the oldest fibres known to humankind and people have used these ancient materials in a wide range of applications for millennia. “It’s only fitting that today, in the face of looming global environmental challenges, natural fibres including wool and hemp are now re-emerging at the forefront of a global sea-change in consumer preference,” he said. “We are tremendously excited to be at the forefront of a growth industry that is working to address some of the most critical issues facing life on earth.

GOAL: NZNF chief executive Colin McKenzie says the company has aspirations to build its farmer and grower base, ramp up research and development activity and launch into new domestic and offshore markets.

“As our oceans fill with plastic and grim climate change predictions threaten the livelihoods of communities around the world, consumers are choosing to shun synthetic fibres and plastics in favour of products made from sustainable materials, which help us reduce our impact on our fragile environment.” He says this presents a huge opportunity for growers of materials such as wool and hemp, and producers of consumer and industrial products made from them, to ride the wave of changing consumer behaviour. Included in potential product applications being explored are wool and hemp blends for use in soft flooring. Blending hemp with Merino fibre to produce yarn for use in outdoor activewear is another area NZNF is well advanced in, with partnerships already in place with major brands in NZ, North America and Western Europe. Non-woven products are also

HI-TECH: The first of its kind in NZ, the hemp decorticator will enable New Zealand Natural Fibres to begin commercial processing of hemp stalks into fibre.

being developed and tested, including a natural hemp-based material that could replace singleuse plastic food packaging, and a hemp-based replacement for the permeable synthetic geotextile fabric, which is used to stabilise soil in infrastructure works. NZNF has plans to look at how hemp fibre could be used to produce a natural replacement for carbon composites, packaging and building materials. “Wool and hemp are two natural, NZ-grown fibres which

have many synergies in terms of sustainable provenance, ethics, environmental credentials, processing performance and product characteristics,” McKenzie said “We are extremely excited about moving forward under the NZNF brand and realising the enormous potential natural fibres have to help change the world.”

MORE: EMERSON P30

AgMARDT initiative to fund innovation Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz BLUE sky research may be out, but if it has an applied outcome then it may have a chance to receive funding through AgMARDT’s new Food & Fibre Challenge. The not-for-profit trust is offering funding from between $50,000 and $500,000 to innovators in the food and fibre sector to help them develop and commercialise technology with a clear pathway to market. “This is not the big end of town when it comes to funding amounts, but we do want the projects to be meaningful and are really looking for things that will tip the industry in a new direction.

We are looking at the applied end,” AgMARDT’s chair Richard Green said. He says the funding is open to projects where industry, sector groups or individuals are looking at four priority areas identified by the trust. First of those areas is catchment-regional solutions to solve carbon, waste, environmental and biodiversity issues. The second is on emissions and decarbonisation, the third on sustainable food packaging. The fourth area is waste minimisation from the food and fibre sector through a circular economy. “It could be a group of farmers in a catchment who want to pull

together some science to identify what they need to do to make a significant difference, and it may be something that can be applied in a national sense,” he said. Green says the funding opportunities marked a more proactive approach for the trust, which has typically accepted funding applications across three broad areas – personal development, in-market, and innovation grants. “And those grants will be continuing alongside this,” he said. He noted that since covid-19, there has been a lift in the quality and quantity of applications to the trust which has a value of $90 million.

“People seem to be thinking a lot more progressively and recognise the need to collaborate more on projects,” he said. “We see this as a key time to invest some of our capital and are prepared to put a fair bit of money into it.” Rather than put a ceiling on the challenge’s total allocation, Green says AgMARDT had not limited itself on amounts and quantities of grants. Applicants are required to initially submit a one-page pitch to the trust. “Then we will come back to them and ask for a full brief if we find that fits our criteria,” he said. Initial challenge fund applications close on January 22.

ALL-IN: Chair Richard Green says people seem to be thinking a lot more progressively and AgMARDT is prepared to put a fair bit of money into it.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Whole milk powder drives dairy price lift Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz THE highest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) price index rise since July and the second-highest for 2020 helped bring a turbulent year to a satisfactory close for New Zealand dairy farmers. The GDT index rose 4.3% on December 1, in large part due to a 5% increase in the average price for whole milk powder (WMP) delivery periods and product variations. The WMP average was US$3182/tonne, just below a short-lived July peak of $3218. The global dairy market has lifted 11% in three months, since its most-recent low point, against expectations that higher NZ milk production would tilt the

demand-supply balance. Although the NZ dollar against the US dollar has appreciated 5c over the same quarter, the NZX milk price indicator has risen 50c from $6.78/kg milksolids on September 1 to $7.28 now.

The recovery in global dairy demand is on increasingly solid ground. Nathan Penny Westpac Other dairy market analysts have increased their milk price

forecasts or indicated that there is reason for them to do so shortly. NZX analyst Amy Castleton says the dairy derivatives market was bullish on WMP, now writing contracts at $3200-plus for the next six months. Milk price futures contracts for the current season were trading at $7/kg and $6.80 for the next season. Westpac senior agricultural economist Nathan Penny says his milk price forecasts were $7 for both this season and the next. ASB economist Nat Keall says the ASB milk price forecast was currently $6.75, but the season was likely to end at a higher level. In the latest GDT butter prices were up 3.8%, skim milk powder

OBSERVATION: ASB economist Nat Keall says all whole milk powder prices were higher across the contract curve and that further-dated contracts commanded the highest prices.

(SMP) prices were up 3.6%, anhydrous milk fat up 2.6%,

cheddar up 2.4%, and lactose rose a whopping 13.5%.

Fonterra give farmers a Christmas present Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz FONTERRA has raised and narrowed its milk price forecast range and will now base its monthly advance payments to farmer-suppliers on $7/kg milksolids. The new range is $6.70 to $7.30 and the midpoint has risen from $6.80 to $7. When back-paid, the 20c increase in advance payments will deliver $300 million more into farmers’ bank accounts, more than half of it before Christmas. The widely anticipated upgrade for the milk price accompanied its first quarter trading results, including a 40% increase in normalised earnings compared

with the previous corresponding period. Total group normalised earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) for the three months ended October 31 were $250 million, up $72m. Fonterra also reiterated its earnings guidance for the full year of 20 to 35c a share. It says the performance of the company was tracking above the midpoint of the guidance range, but the risks included the ongoing impacts of covid-19 and product price relativities for the rest of the year. Chief executive officer Miles Hurrell says China was recovering well from the effects of covid-19 and demand had boosted Global Dairy Trade (GDT) prices, especially for whole milk powder.

“The impact of covid-19 continues to play out globally, and we continue to have a watchful eye on the increasing Northern Hemisphere milk production and New Zealand dollar,” he said. “However, we have contracted a good proportion of our sales book for this time of the season, which has given us the confidence to narrow and lift the bottom end of the forecast milk price range.” In the first quarter of FY2021, the company produced 832,000 tonnes of dairy products and achieved $4.2 billion of revenue, both measurements comparable to first quarter FY2020, before the impact of covid-19. Gross profit ($758m) and gross margin (18.1%) both increased due to improved margins and higher volumes in foodservice and

consumer products in China and Southeast Asia. Chief financial officer Marc Rivers says contracts had been signed for the $555m sale of China Farms and that was awaiting regulatory approval, which was an unknown time frame. Fonterra’s stake in Beingmate Baby & Child was down to 6.63% on October 31, slightly higher than one-third of the original size. Milk collection season-to-date end October was 527m kg, up 0.5% on the previous year, but the October supply was down 1% and the peak was 83m litres a day. Milk supply to Fonterra Australia has fallen 2.5% year-todate, whereas the Australian dairy industry as a whole has increased production by 2.5%. Hurrell says the new strategy

Finance to help farms prosper We know finance and we know farmers. We provide finance that supports our farmers by providing opportunities to purchase stock in a flexible and efficient way. Why do Kiwi farmers choose Heartland? Security is only taken over the stock purchased 100% finance options for any livestock purchases No need to switch banks Don’t have to make any repayments until the stock is sold

Talk to one of our livestock specialists today on 0800 87 50 50. Tayler Payton

Emily Daly

Tim Murgatroyd

027 266 5882

03 924 3193

03 341 0513

Or visit heartland.co.nz Heartland Bank’s lending criteria, terms and conditions apply.

We have contracted a good proportion of our sales book for this time of the season, which has given us the confidence to narrow and lift the bottom end of the forecast milk price range. Miles Hurrell called for a focus on value not volume in Australia and that its operations division was targeting the right amount of milk for the contracted products it needed to make.

RAV-07DEC-FW-NI

Buy yourself some time N-Protect®

Cert TM

Adam Williamson – Sharemilker Read Adam’s story on our website.

You can’t count on the weather, but you can control how much you get from your N fertiliser. Research shows the risk of urea N-loss from volatilisation spring to autumn averages 18%, unless 10mm of water falls within 8 hours - and that’s a tough call in dry summer conditions. N-Protect’s urease inhibitor coating limits N-loss from volatilisation by up to 50%. Take control of your N-loss. Time it right with N-Protect.

Smarter farming for a better New Zealand® 0800 100 123 ravensdown.co.nz

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Meat sector’s five-year targeted plan Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz THE meat sector has outlined four goals for the next five years, which it says will target the sustainable growth of value and enhance people, animals and the environment. The heart of the strategy, set by Beef + Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) and the Meat Industry Association (MIA), is to generate sustainable profits, premium value, vibrant communities and to be trusted guardians. Sustainable profits will come from greater innovation, performance and productivity; premium value from creating and capturing value; vibrant communities from economic growth and employment; and trusted guardianship from being guardians of reputation, animals, water and land. The latest strategy follows the Red Meat Sector Strategy from 2011 and establishes the priorities B+LNZ and the MIA will work on with industry partners over the next five years. “We have set our sights on greater profitability, sustainability and resilience,” B+LNZ chair Andrew Morrison said. “We are seeking increased value for our customers and consumers and greater social and economic benefits for Aotearoa. “Enhanced integrity, trust and reputation will help achieve our goals.” MIA chair John Loughlin says the strategy captures the work the sector is already doing and the opportunities that will build its future through market position, innovation and sustainability. “Market position is about enhanced market access for our products worldwide, assurance, differentiation, product benefits and attributes,” Loughlin said. “Our innovation work stream will look at future processing plants, future farms, future products, data integration and traceability. “Sustainability will drive the sector’s investment in people, reputation, environment,

FOCUS: B+LNZ chair Andrew Morrison says the sector’s strategy will focus on greater profitability, sustainability and resilience.

biosecurity and animal care.” Some specific goals to achieve by 2025 include having farm assurance programmes for all beef and lamb production and for Taste Pure Nature to be delivering increased returns. The plan also calls for the Pasture Raised Advantage Nutrition study to provide greater knowledge about red meat by 2025, and for farmers and processors to be rewarded by consumers for improvements to the eating quality of meat. Innovation by that date will hopefully develop a hands-free meat inspection platform and provide consumers with meat that has specific attributes. All Animal Status Declaration (ASD) forms will be electronically tracked and allow product to be traced back to the individual

SHEDS

Cattle Yards

YARDS

animal and its farm of birth. Every sheep and beef farm will have an active farm plan by 2025, which will cover water, climate change and biodiversity. Farms and processors will also have a biosecurity plan. In the eight financial years since the last strategy in 2011, gross farm revenue per ha has increased from $670 to $908, earnings before interest and tax from $112,240 to $172,100 and total sheep and beef exports have grown from $6.8 billion to $91b. The document points out further gains. Sector greenhouse gas emissions have been cut by more than 30% since 1990 and between 63% and 118% of remaining emissions have been offset by sequestration from 2.8m ha of native and exotic, woody vegetation on farms.

BRIDGES

The document claims nitrogen leaching rates on sheep and beef farms are, on average, the lowest of any form of food production while the sector’s main impact on water quality are E.coli, sediment, phosphorus and from winter grazing. While there are issues still needing to be addressed, the document says nearly all indicators have been improving. Global concern about the amount of land used for livestock production and deforestation is not applicable to NZ’s sheep and beef industry. Since 1990, the area used for sheep and beef production has shrunk by 4.3 million hectares to 8.2m ha, of which 93% is unsuitable for cropping or horticulture as it is rolling or too steep.

Our innovation work stream will look at future processing plants, future farms, future products, data integration and traceability. John Loughlin MIA The document also notes the size of the industry. It supports 92,000 jobs, is the country’s largest manufacturing industry and second largest goods exporter, generating about 16% of NZ export revenue.

Sheds

Woolsheds & Covered Yards

News

10 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Supply and quality commitment rewarded Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz WAIRARAPA sheep and beef farmer Neil Morison has been named Atkins Ranch Producer of the Year for two out of the past three years. It’s not an easy award to win, and to achieve his latest success Morison had to commit a year ahead to supplying a set number of lambs every fortnight, with those lambs being within set weight and fat content specifications. The certificate he received with the trophy for winning the award notes that Morison’s certainty of best producer was 100%, his supply rate to specifications was 96.90%, the supply was yearround over 12 months, that he’s been an Atkins Ranch supplier for more than 10 years and the number of lambs he supplied for the year was 5791. To meet the required specifications lambs need to be a minimum carcase weight of 18kg, with a maximum of 25.9kg. Payment for lambs heavier than that is capped a price per head. The carcase needs to have a GR (fat content) of 3-15mm. He says committing to a yearround supply has its challenges and sometimes requires a bit of juggling at certain times of the year. Lambs bought in recently need to already be of a good size so they can be got away this month at the right size. In early spring when lambs are growing quickly, Morison says he needs to keep a close eye on them otherwise he runs the risk of them going past the top of the weight specification. There are five regular farmers who he buys stock from, mainly in Wairarapa, with the furthest away at Porangahau. Buying from the same farmers means he knows what he is getting, while those farmers are also aware of what he is after, so

BEST: Neil Morison is the Atkins Ranch Producer of the Year.

You’re not just an account number, they know your name. Neil Morison there is some certainty all-round. Morison attributes part of his success to the working relationship he has with PGG Wrightson livestock representative Mark Graham. They’ve been working together for about 17 years and

Photo: Colin Williscroft

complement each other well, with Graham on the property a couple of times a week. It was Graham who first suggested Morison should consider becoming an Atkins Ranch supplier about 14 years ago. He has not regretted it, enjoying being part of what is a relatively small operation involving about 200 farmers that supplies the US retail market. “You’re not just an account number, they know your name,” he said. He’s also a believer in being able to provide traceability right

through to the end market, believing that’s what consumers want, a trend he says will only become more pronounced in the future. Atkins Ranch is a member of the Global Animal Partnership, a certification programme that aims for continual improvement of onfarm animal care. As with all Atkins Ranch lamb, everything from Morison’s Haunui Trust operation is 100% grass-fed on GMO-free pasture with no added antibiotics or hormones. His connection to the neighbourhood he lives in goes back a long way. He’s the sixth

generation of his family to work in the area, himself starting on the family farm beside his father straight out of college in 1981. His ancestors were among the second lot of settlers in Wairarapa, having come around the coast from Wellington in 1846. Morison’s Bush, which is just down the road, is named after the family. A few years ago Morison refined his approach to the farm to focus even more on production and profit, which has helped him win the two awards. It’s also given him a new lease on life.

Low foam. It’s CRUCIAL. ®

Contact your local Rural Supplier to purchase CRUCIAL today.

ONF204834FWV4

nufarm.co.nz/discovercrucial

®CRUCIAL is a registered trademark of Nufarm Australia Limited.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Kiwifruit centre to drive innovation Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz A LONG-TIME kiwifruit plant breeder has welcomed the announcement by Zespri and Plant & Food Research to commission an autonomous breeding centre to accelerate new cultivar development. The two organisations have confirmed plans to commission the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre based at Plant & Food Research’s Te Puke campus in a joint venture proposal. The centre will operate as a single standalone operation, focused purely upon crop cultivars. Russell Lowe says having such a unit would mean more resources could be focused on ramping up the science required to develop such cultivars. Lowe was part of the team credited for getting SunGold commercialised rapidly as the industry scrambled for an alternative Gold fruit after its predecessor was ravaged by Psa in 2010. He has recently retired from 30 years of full-time plant breeding

with Plant & Food Research and features as one of Farmers Weekly’s Rural Champions in next week’s end of year special edition. “We are already on quite a high level in terms of the fruit quality we are growing. But to make further improvements you need a large quantity of germplasm to source those small but important improvements from, and this will enable us to do that,” he said. He expected the entire breeding programme would become a much tighter, more agile and focused operation. He says this was increasingly important as overseas competitors, including China and Chile, continued to advance their kiwifruit plantings. Some fruit improvements already identified by breeders include improving the taste and yield of Green fruit, while the newly commercialised Red still requires work to lift its shelf life, fruit size and crop yield. Breeders are working to develop a tetraploid fruit that may help deliver on this better than the current diploid variety.

G E T

In a written statement to growers, Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson says while based in Te Puke, the centre will also have some presence in Kerikeri, Motueka, Mt Albert and offshore in both Italy and China. “It represents our commitment to go faster, to explore promising new varieties in our research pipeline and to unlock further innovation, so we can generate even more value for NZ and our regions,” he said. Zespri has been plagued by a surge in the amount of illegally grown SunGold fruit in China, with 4000ha now estimated in the ground. A potential option to explore by Zespri is to consider whether there is a commercial opportunity in commercialising SunGold in China to help mitigate the spread of unauthorised plantings. Plantings in China could provide a useful off-season supply source alongside Zespri licensed European crops. In New Zealand, the fruit commanded a licence fee of $400,000 a hectare in the last

T H E

OPPORTUNITY: Dan Mathieson has told growers the new kiwifruit breeding centre will mean Zespri can work faster to develop fruit and explore new varieties.

planting tender. Zespri and Plant & Food Research have worked together in breeding programmes over 30 years. With three coloured varieties of fruit on the market now, focus is likely to be on incremental advances in fruit parameters. However, breeders have also explored other coloured fruit options over the years, including an orange hairless fruit with a slight chilli flavour. Breeders have also seen potential in a “high potency” kiwifruit variety that has up to 10 times the vitamin C levels of a conventional fruit.

TO O L S

Genomic work has also already meant breeders can identify plant sex through DNA code, rather than growing cuttings out to determine sex. Other challenges facing industry cultivars in coming years include the impact global warming may have on winter chilling, a requirement for the fruit set. Psa also remains a challenge with SunGold plants tolerant to the disease, and an area where breeding may deliver better resistance in future. Mathieson says the centre aims to be opened by mid-2021, subject to final board approval.

F O R

SERIOUS FARMING FENDT 900 SERIES

* 0.99% FINANCE EARLY ORDER OFFERS NOW ON 3 YEAR / 3000 HOUR

EXTENDED WARRANTY ^

FENDT 700, 800, 900, 1000 SERIES | 144 – 517 H P Driving a Fendt is more than just driving a tractor. It’s driving your business forward with a machine that is truly forward thinking - think intelligent engine technology, industry leading operator’s console and record-breaking fuel efficiency. Plus for a limited time get a reduced 0.99% interest rate* plus an extended warranty ^ on any Fendt 700, 800, 900 & 1000 Series purchase. So don’t delay, put yourself in a tractor that says you’re serious.

Contact your local Fendt dealer for more information.

Visit fendt.com.au Fendt is a worldwide brand of AGCO Corporation.

says you’re serious.

* Offer ends March 31, 2021 while stocks last. Finance with an interest rate of 0.99% p.a. available on a Hire Purchase agreement based on a minimum 30% cash deposit, the GST component repaid in the fourth month and monthly repayments in arrears over a 36 months term. Fees and lending conditions apply to approved GST number holders who use the equipment for business purposes. Finance is approved by AGCO Finance Limited, GST number 88-831-861. Standard 2 Year/2,000 Hour factory warranty is included in the 3 Year/3,000 Hour extended warranty.

News

12 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Good buying at Romney ram sale Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz KIKITANGEO Romney rams sold to a top price of $3600 and an average of $1600 at top breeder Gordon Levet’s final sale before semi-retirement and a change of management for the Northland property. His 31st annual sale at Wellsford resulted in 76 Romney rams sold and a wide dispersal of the highest worm-resistant genetics in the country. An elite ewe sale will follow on February 24 when Levet and his PGG Wrightson agents expect very keen demand for the females. “Buyers will have the opportunity to get a double benefit from ewes in lamb to Gordon’s best sires,” chief auctioneer Cam Heggie said. “The ram sale suffered from a lack of buyers who travelled north, especially Romney breeders. “There was great buying in the catalogue for those who did come.”

Levet says the reasons for the smaller bench of buyers included a late catalogue which may not have reached past clients in time.

Consumers will appreciate lamb with less chemicals and our trade reputation will be boosted. Gordon Levet Romney breeder “It could have been delayed in the post and it wasn’t up to our usual standard because of the disruption of this year,” he said. Notwithstanding, it has been the best season for animal health in 60 years with most ewes in great condition and lamb size excellent. About 25% of Romney rams offered were passed in without

reaching the upset price of $1000, and they are available for private sale. The average price was one of the highest achieved and some buyers filled their transport with several rams at $1000. In his presale talk, Levet drew attention to the very low faecal egg counts for the sale rams as proof of strong immune systems, without cost in production traits. He called on the Government and AgResearch to continue with the progress that he has made in breeding worm-resistant sheep. “What has been achieved in the Kikitangeo flock in breeding sheep that require little or no drenching is achievable in other flocks and ultimately in the national flock,” he said. “Consumers will appreciate lamb with less chemicals and our trade reputation will be boosted. “Now we have animals with enhanced immune systems the way is wide open for research.”

ARENA: Romney studmaster Gordon Levet (left) and PGG Wrightson agents at the sale ring at Kikitangeo, Wellsford, which features a painting by Trish Levet of the mountain after which the property and stud is named.

CONTINUE: Top breeder Gordon Levet speaks at his final ram sale, where he called on the the Government and AgResearch to continue with the progress that he has made in breeding worm-resistant sheep.

Grant to fund fencing Hawke’s Bay waterways A JOINT Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and government grant of $4.2 million will be spent on improving water quality and biodiversity on the region’s farms, while also providing employment opportunities following covid-19. The council and central government are contributing $2.1m each towards the Hapara Takatu Jobs for Nature project. To improve water quality, the project will fund 195km of fencing around waterways to prevent contamination from livestock. Council Integrated Catchment Management Group manager Iain Maxwell says the project will provide employment opportunities for fencing contractors, particularly for those who have taken on new staff in the wake of covid-19. “We are thrilled to get this project under way, as it will have multiple benefits for our rural community,” he said. “Fencing our waterways on a large scale is an important part of the process to prevent

excessive nutrient levels and restore water quality.” Maxwell says a number of landowners were in a position to commence works immediately, but were also prepared to go beyond the minimum requirements for stock exclusion from waterways. “We expect this project will spur on farmers to put in place riparian plantings, which help to filter sediments and nutrients before they enter waterways, prevent land erosion and increase the habitat for native wildlife,” he said. The bulk of the fencing is expected to be completed within the next six months, with the remainder by July 2022. The Crown funding, administered by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), is part of the Government’s $1.3 billion Jobs for Nature programme, which aims to create nature-based jobs to benefit the environment and support the economic recovery following covid-19.

Peace of mind. It’s CRUCIAL. ®

Contact your local Rural Supplier to purchase CRUCIAL today.

ONF204834FWV1

nufarm.co.nz/discovercrucial

®CRUCIAL is a registered trademark of Nufarm Australia Limited.

IT’S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE STARTED THINKING LIKE A FARMER. You have enough to do without worrying about the perfect drench programme. To help, we went back to basics to create the Turbo® 3-stage parasite control programme for growing cattle. With four world-first products that combine the most effective ingredients for higher potency, better safety and coverage of key parasites at the right times – including resistant strains. It’s innovative, reliable and available exclusively through leading veterinary practices nationwide.

TURBO® CATTLE DRENCH PROGRAMME

First oral drench treatment for weaned calves. Protect against worm parasites and bridge the gap between removal of coccidiostat meal and natural coccidiosis immunity.

STAGE 1 TURBO® Initial Oral Drench

STAGE 2 TURBO® Advance Oral Drench

STAGE 3 TURBO® Pour On or Injection

Routine treatment of growing cattle that can be drenched orally. Can be used in cattle under 120kg.

Routine treatment for growing cattle that are too big to be drenched orally. Rain resistant pour-on and injectable options with the added benefit of lice control.

Available exclusively through veterinary practices nationwide. Visit www.alleva.co.nz for more information. TURBO® is a registered trademark of Alleva Animal Health Ltd. TURBO Pour-on (A011722), TURBO Injection (A011742), TURBO Initial (A011703) and TURBO Advance (A011714) are registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997. See www.foodsafety.govt.nz for registration conditions.

PROUDLY

OWNED

News

14 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Gas scheme on trees challenged Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz A SCHEME to enable airlines to offset carbon emissions has been challenged for its veracity by a leading New Zealand forestry researcher. Last week the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) announced participating airlines would be able to buy carbon credits from two approved programmes to offset airliner emissions. Meantime, countries they bought the credits off would reduce their deforestation accordingly. Known as nature-based credits and created under a United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), the scheme targets developing nations that are not obliged under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But University of Canterbury professor of forestry Euan Mason says while such a scheme will mean less deforestation in those developing countries, it did not incentivise lower emissions from the airline sector. “It just means the airlines are emitting instead of those who are cutting down the trees,” he said. “Sure we want deforestation to stop, but the credits do not allow any company to claim they are reducing greenhouse gases – they can continue to emit as they always have.” In a statement the ICAO says the move was an important signal to countries that halting deforestation and restoring degraded ecosystems was urgent, making the global aviation industry a leader in “nature-based solutions.”

But Mason says unless previously unforested land was going into new tree plantings, with a net increase in tree area, the scheme would not achieve reductions in emissions. In New Zealand, Air New Zealand is a partner with Z Energy, Genesis and Contact Energy, in Dryland Carbon, with plantings of new country into trees in an effort to sequester carbon. “If they are planting new forests to absorb carbon, it is far more credible and those companies can rightly claim they are reducing their carbon with more trees,” Mason said. So far the company has established forests in Northland, Wairoa, Wairarapa, Taranaki and Kaikoura. It has about 5700ha under management, including 1600ha Te Puna station near Wairoa. Chief executive Anthony Beverley says he was conscious of the sensitivities in rural communities over exotic tree planting for carbon sequestration.

But from the start we have targeted marginal land that is suited to trees. But we do not want emitters to use pine trees to get out of jail in terms of emissions. Anthony Beverley Dryland Carbon

“But from the start we have targeted marginal land that is suited to trees. But we do not want emitters to use pine trees to get out of jail in terms of emissions. Those emitting should also be incentivised to use technology to reduce emissions,” Beverley said. The aviation industry has been trialling options including alternative fuel types and electric engines, but hydrocarbons appear likely to remain the mainstay for some years yet. The company’s portfolio includes a significant portion as either established indigenous forest or reverting indigenous, alongside exotic plantings. Beverley says since the global pandemic there has been a significant lift in consumer consciousness about carbon emissions from the travel sector. “That level of awareness means people may be choosing not to fly, or will use Zoom instead, but no doubt a portion of travel is unavoidable and that needs to be offset. If forestry is an answer, it should be an option.” Opposition to forestry plantings purely for carbon emissions have been growing, but Beverley says Dryland has the option to fell trees. “The concept of permanent pines was sexy early on. That has changed. Of the seven properties we own, six of them are rotation forests,” he said. He says the company’s Te Puna Station in Wairoa of the 1600ha, 900ha is planted – the rest is not suitable and has been left to revert. Some farmland has also been retained in the boundary. In contrast, NZ Carbon Farming do not harvest trees and maintain by planting less than 0.5% of NZ’s

GREENWASHED: Professor of Forestry Euan Mason said the airline schemes do little to reduce the industry’s total emissions.

marginal land, they can achieve 20% of NZ’s emissions target. Mason says NZ is entering an interesting phase of its forestation process as carbon prices start to top the $35 a tonne mark. The CommTrade carbon trading site has contracts out to April 2025 rising to $42. “At these prices a lot of planting for carbon will be more desirable financially than to harvest it, depending on the location,” he said. “Planting for carbon becomes a financial proposition over this

price – below it, it still pays to take the cost on the credits and sell as timber.” Mason says beyond $35 it could become an option for farmers to plant for carbon. “Until now they may have been put off planting trees to harvest on remote areas of their farm, where extraction would be expensive,” he said. He pointed out NZ’s carbon prices still sit significantly below those of other countries like Sweden at US$126 a tonne, and Finland at about US$80/t.

Spray once, spray right. It’s CRUCIAL. ®

Contact your local Rural Supplier to purchase CRUCIAL today.

ONF204834FWV2

nufarm.co.nz/discovercrucial

®CRUCIAL is a registered trademark of Nufarm Australia Limited.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Government puts funds into regen farming research THE Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is calling for proposals for projects to investigate regenerative farming practices. The money is available through the Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures (SFF Futures) co-investment fund. The aim is to have projects under way by the middle of next year. “There is increasing interest from farmers and the wider community about regenerative agricultural practices, but definitions for regenerative agriculture can vary dramatically,” MPI’s director of investment programmes Steve Penno said. “We’re looking to define what regenerative agriculture means from a New Zealand perspective, and develop a sound evidence base to test and confirm what works in our soils, climates, and farming systems.” MPI’s chief science adviser Dr John Roche says that broadly speaking, MPI sees regenerative farming as a set of practices that, in isolation or collectively, may result in improved outcomes for productive land, freshwater and marine environments, climate, animals, and for the people that grow and consume our food and fibre products. “Regenerative agriculture is not a one-size-fitsall activity with prescribed inputs and outputs,” Roche said. “And the farmers I’ve spoken with do not want it defined so tightly. “Some of the practices NZ farmers are already using could be considered regenerative. By determining which farming practices have a positive impact on environmental sustainability and human health and wellbeing in the NZ context, we’ll be able to confidently share these regenerative practices widely with farmers. “Regenerative agriculture also has the potential to help our food and fibres sector to produce higher value products with even stronger environmental credentials. “An important part of these projects will be turning the findings into practical information for farmers, to help them adopt methods that are shown to work.” Penno says the Primary Sector Council’s Fit for a Better World vision and MPI’s Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential roadmap recognises the importance of Te Taiao (care for our natural world) and the role regenerative systems could play in transitioning to a more sustainable future for our food and fibres sector. “Through funding new projects, we want to enable a number of outcomes such as increasing the resilience of our production systems to climate impacts, reducing their environmental footprint, increasing plant health and productivity, and improving water-use efficiency and retention,” Penno said. “We’re excited about what the future may hold in the regenerative agriculture space and we

We’re excited about what the future may hold in the regenerative agriculture space and we encourage anyone who thinks their idea might be eligible to get in touch. Steve Penno MPI

PURPOSE: MPI’s director of investment programmes Steve Penno says the research will help define what regenerative agriculture means from a New Zealand perspective.

encourage anyone who thinks their idea might be eligible to get in touch.” Information on the application process is available here: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/fundingrural-support/sustainable-food-fibre-futures/ regenerative-farming-practices-project

Protect your ewes. Improve your lambing performance*.

CONTROL THE RISK OF TOXOPLASMA

CONTROL THE RISK OF CAMPYLOBACTER

Toxoplasma is present on 100% of New Zealand farms, and Campylobacter on 88%1 - but both are equally important. These two diseases can cause abortion storms with losses up to 30%, or more, of lambs*2,3. Preventing them takes two vaccines. Maiden ewes require 1 dose of Toxovax® and 2 doses of Campyvax® 4 ahead of mating. An annual booster of Campyvax4 to mixed age ewes is required in following years. Protect against abortion storms, and improve flock performance.

ORDER TOXOVAX AND CAMPYVAX4 FROM YOUR VET TODAY. AVAILABLE ONLY UNDER VETERINARY AUTHORISATION. ACVM No's: A4769, A9535. Schering-Plough Animal Health Ltd. Phone: 0800 800 543. www.msd-animal-health.co.nz NZ-CVX-200900003 © 2020 Intervet International B.V. All Rights Reserved. 1. Dempster et al (2011), NZ Veterinary Journal , 59:4 155-159. 2. Wilkins et al (1992) Surveillance, 19:4, 20-23. 3. Sahin et al (2017) The Annual Review of Animal Biosciences. 5: 9.1-9.22

News

16 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Survey shows that farmers care Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz A SURVEY of Southland farmers shows a big jump in those with farm environment plans. Of 151 farmers in the Aparima Community Environment Project who responded to the survey, 80% have farmer environment plans, a jump of 23% in the past year. “These survey results show how serious farmers are about taking

care of the environment,” Otautau dairy farmer Edwin Mabonga said. Of those surveyed, 95% have excluded stock from waterways, up 4% on last year and 87% use nitrogen fertiliser as needed to maximise pasture and only on certain parts of the farm, also an increase of 4% on a year ago. Other highlights of the survey were a 6% increase in those recycling chemical containers

ENVIRONMENT CARE: Aparima dairy farmer Edwin Mabonga has fenced and planted alongside waterways, including the Aparima River and a wetland, to protect water quality on their Otautau farm.

(80% of respondents), a 7% lift in those leaving ungrazed buffers (78%), 3% more farmers using Spreadmark accredited equipment and contractors (77%), and a 6% lift in those doing paddock scale soil testing (74%). Mabonga says farm environment plans must include actions to reduce farm sediment and nutrient loss, outline how wintering rules will be implemented and where to riparian plant and fence. They are reviewed annually. “Farm Environment Plans identify environmental risks and management options on the farm and contribute to improving water quality and other environmental benefits,” he said. Mabonga and his wife Fungai are equity partners in a Western Southland dairy farm and have been riparian planting for 10 years, a task that involves all staff and which he says gives everyone a sense of ownership. Together with Farm Environment Plans, Mabonga says all his staff know and understand the way the environment is looked after on the farm. “For us, a big benefit is to have everyone on the farm thinking

PROTECTING NATURE: Landscape of the Aparima where fencing was installed. Photo: Edwin Mabonga environmentally,” he said. Aparima sheep farmers Leon and Wendy Black plant about 300 trees a year on their 370ha farm to provide shelter and shade for stock. The farm has been in the family for almost 100 years. Black says environmental practices are continually improving as a result of targeted farm plans. “Caring for the environment is a core plank of a farming business,” Black said. “A Farm Environment Plan helps ensure good farm management practices, and

to identify and manage any potential issues.” The Aparima Community Environment Project began in 2018 and involves 600 farmers in the Aparima, Pourakino, Waimatuku and coastal Longwood catchments who are addressing water quality issues and reducing their environmental footprint. Of the 600 farmers involved, 384 are sheep and beef farmers and 216 are dairy. The project is led by farmers and supported by DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, Environment Southland and Fonterra.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Ban lifted but limits to remain

CRITERIA: MPI director animal health and welfare Chris Rodwell says any future exports will have to meet the existing requirements and those introduced following the independent review.

Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz THE conditional ban on live cattle exports has been lifted, but until the wider review is finalised, exporters must continue to meet all existing requirements. The absolute ban on live exports was imposed on September 22 while the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) launched the independent Mike Heron QC review into the animal welfare assurances it receives from exporters following the tragic loss of the Gulf Livestock 1. Following the Heron review, MPI introduced new requirements for livestock exports, lifting the absolute ban from October 24 to a conditional ban until November 30. Over the past four weeks the 24,000 cattle held over in quarantine when the Government imposed the absolute ban have now made their way to China. MPI director animal health and welfare Chris Rodwell says while the conditional ban on live exports by sea ended on November 30, MPI will continue to consider Animal Welfare Export Certificate (AWEC) applications. “Any future exports will have to meet the existing requirements and those introduced following the independent Heron review after the sinking of the Gulf Livestock 1,” he said. “The vessels will continue to be subject to maritime focused inspections by Maritime NZ.” Advice is still being finalised on the 2019 wider policy review into live animal exports. “Once complete, it will be provided to ministers and then the Cabinet will make a decision,” he said. “The independent Heron review will feed into that advice.” MPI has given no timeframe as to when the wider review is likely to be finalised. Meantime, exporters are “flat tack” procuring and organising cattle to meet import orders with China. Live export consultant Brent Wallace says there has been no easing of the growing demand from China for New Zealand cattle. Breeding stock, both dairy and beef, are in equal demand with several shipments scheduled before the end of the year. “Demand for NZ cattle is only getting stronger, buoyed by the conflict between China and Australia,” Wallace said. “Normally Australia would send 120,000 cattle a year to China, in NZ we would do 20,000 to 60,000 a year. This year because of what’s going on and the increased demand for our cattle, we are looking at doubling what we do, up to 120,000 and more, while China is struggling with Australia.” Wallace says during the NZ government’s total four week ban on live cattle exports China jumped into Chile, but that was just to fill the void. “It seems it hasn’t really paid off and there’s been a few issues so that’s another factor in the equation strengthening demand for NZ cattle.” Pricing remains very competitive for farmers supplying cattle for export. “It’s still a good option for farmers, especially in the South Island where the store markets are not really moving,” he said. “It’s all good news for the NZ live export industry so long as all parties play ball, including the Government. He says industry has no issues with the wider policy review. “So long as it is realistic and workable for exporters, it will be all good for everyone in the industry,” he said. “A key part of everything we do comes down to animal welfare and we expect that’s a key part of the review.”

New Zealand’s leading clostridial vaccine range just got better* With the addition of new Multine® B12 Selenised.

For nearly 80 years we’ve been making world leading sheep vaccines, right here in New Zealand. Kiwi farmers rely on our vaccines because they trust them to protect their stock, help increase productivity and boost farm income. And now we’re proud to add Multine B12 Selenised to our range - with an optimum 2mg dose of selenium for supplementation of lambs from tailing. Our extensive range means we’ve got all your clostridial needs covered. Available from leading veterinary clinics & retailers.

ASK FOR NEW ZEALAND’S LEADING CLOSTRIDIAL VACCINE RANGE

ACVM No: A11766, A11311, A934, A935, A3832, A3977, A1009, A1011 Covexin 10 (ACVM No: A9028) is AVAILABLE ONLY UNDER VETERINARY AUTHORISATION. Schering-Plough Animal Health Ltd. Phone: 0800 800 543. www.msd-animal-health.co.nz NZ-NLV-200500005 © 2020 Intervet International B.V. All Rights Reserved. *Baron Audit Data, June 2020

News

18 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Investors sought for rural land fund Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz THE New Zealand Rural Land Company (NZRLC) believes it can generate a minimum 4.5% annual return on capital by being a landlord to the agricultural sector. The company has launched an initial public offer (IPO) to raise $75 million to $150m before a proposed listing on the NZX on December 18. NZRLC says it is the biggest equity raising and primary listing in NZ during 2020. It wants to purchase rural land and lease it to farmers and orchardists. The proposition offers investors exposure to rural land as an asset class without direct involvement in agricultural operations, or the risk of commodity price cycles. Elevation Capital Management founder and managing director Chris Swasbrook says the IPO offered investors a differentiated proposition to what is already available on the NZX in a very low interest rate environment. Separating land ownership from agricultural operations increased capital efficiency for tenants and allowed investors to own only the rural land. He says there was long-term

value in rural land, and this was a vehicle for investors to access one of NZ’s largest and most important asset classes. NZRLC would look to negotiate what Swasbrook called a minimum targeted gross lease rate of 4.5% a year on a 10-year term as part of its acquisition and leasing strategy. However, this was not a targeted return to shareholders, which would be subject to other factors, including capital expenditure costs and NZRLC expenses. It would be seeking tenants who are experienced, well-financed and sustainably focused. In purchasing rural land, it would limit debt to no more than 30% of NZRLC assets. It is also committed to retaining at least 75% NZ ownership of NZRLC to avoid the need for Overseas Investment Office approval of any land purchases and to retain a non-purchase price advantage over would-be foreign investors. Part of the strategy is to target highly indebted, large-scale properties where vendors and their financiers have a limited pool of prospective purchasers. Contributing factors include foreign buyers being blocked by

the Government and tighter credit requirements by banks. The issue price is $1.25 a share, with a minimum of 800 shares or $1000 investment and after December 18 they would be tradable on the NZX main board. NZRLC hasn’t entered into any contracts or commitments to buy rural land, but it says 20-plus properties of interest are large dairy farms in the South Island. The management fees include 0.5% annually of the NZRLC net asset value; a performance fee of 10% of any increase in NZRLC’s NAV/share one financial year to the next; a transaction fee of 1.25% of acquisition or divestment value for land bought or sold; and $30,000 fee for any lease entered into by NZRLC. The manager is called the NZ Rural Land Management (NZRLM) Partnership, to provide management, investment and administrative services. Rural services listed company Allied Farmers has signed a conditional agreement to buy half of the management company for $2.5m. That would be payable by up to 5m ALF shares at 50c on completion of a successful IPO for NZRLC, being at least $75m raised.

Allied Farmers has a call option to buy the rest of NZRLM after two years, based on an independent valuation. The independent chair of NZRLC is Rob Campbell, who is also chair of SkyCity Entertainment, Summerset Group and Tourism Holdings. Former Fonterra executive Sarah Kennedy is an independent director, along with co-founder Swasbrook. The proposed management company board consists of

former BNZ Partners leader Shelly Ruha, former Fonterra director and Taranaki accountant Marise James, appointed by Allied Farmers, and co-founder Richard Milsom. Swasbrook says the timing of the NZRLC IPO was different to those attempts of the past that had not been successful, of which he was well aware. “I have been in this market since the mid-1990s and I can assure you we have learned the lessons of the past,” he said.

OBJECTIVE: The New Zealand Rural Land Company wants to purchase rural land and lease it to farmers and orchardists.

FUNDING YOUR FARM PLANTATIONS

We can help you tailor your indigenous planting so that your One Million Trees Grant covers most – if not all the cost. Contact us today about applying for a One Billion Trees Grant for year 2020 plantings – minimum area 5 hectares.

www.kauriparknurseries.co.nz

PHONE 0800 125 287

PLUS we can show you how including Manuka trees can help add a signiﬁcant income stream !

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Better safe than sorry SHEEP and beef farmer Ian Matthews says he was fortunate to walk away uninjured after his quad bike rolled on-farm. Today, he and wife Sandra have a crash protection device fitted. Farm vehicles, particularly bikes and tractors, handling stock and fatigue are all among risks Ian and Sandra have identified and put measures in place to manage on their 536ha (500 effective) property near Gisborne. Ian, who was in an accident a few years ago, says he was driving down a steep place where he shouldn’t have gone and his bike rolled. He wasn’t injured, but says “I was very lucky not to be.” “Sandra is our health and safety manager and a very strong advocate for safe working practices,” Ian said. “She was very keen to get rollover protection for our farm bike and we’re pleased it is now in place.

We are both in our mid-50s and as we get older, we know we need to be particularly careful. When you are rushing to do things, it only takes a momentary lapse and an accident can happen. Sandra Matthews “We had one on a bike many years ago and researched bike manufacturer articles and they were not overly keen on them. We talked it over each time we upgraded our bike and each time we were discouraged. We had discussions, read literature and recently decided we would install one – better to be safe than sorry if there was an accident.” He says wearing helmets on farm bikes and using seatbelts in vehicles, where they are fitted, are hard and fast rules on the farm. “Some people get around their farms without helmets or seatbelts, but my experience shows accidents can happen easily. They think they are all right in a side-by-side, but you should always use a helmet and seatbelt too,” he said. “A casual staff member who worked here had never had to wear a helmet when working on a farm but every time she needed to get on a farm bike, she went and got her helmet, without being reminded – which was great.” History is important to the Matthews, who have farmed together for 28 years. The land has been farmed by Ian’s family for over 110 years. “We recognise that making farms a safe place to live and work

requires change,” Sandra said. Five years ago, they replaced their wooden cattle yard structure, built by Ian’s grandfather, with a modern system. “Ian’s grandfather built it from old railway sleepers. It was built to last and it had, right through to our generation,” she said. “But when we were weighing our bulls, I would be in with them and also opening a heavy wooden gate that almost fell on me. We completely replaced it with a new yard with stock-free areas for handling, so we don’t have to be in with the cattle. “There is a forcing pen that pushes stock forward – that has made a huge difference in terms of safety.” The Matthews mostly farm alone, bringing in help when needed. They have a thorough process for inducting casual workers and contractors to ensure they understand and adhere to their health and safety policies. “We do the induction at the same time that we do their contracts,” Sandra said. “We go through our farm rules and requirements. We find out about their experience, but we also follow up on that. “For instance, no one will use a farm vehicle or equipment until we have accompanied them to use it and ascertained that they are fully competent. It is very unusual for a casual worker to use a vehicle on their own here though – they would usually be going out with one of us.” The Matthews have a farm map with hazards marked on it, and if new hazards arise, such as a track being slippery or damaged, that is flagged up in the farm diary. These are also used when working with contractors on the farm to ensure they are aware of any risks they need to manage. “The contractors all have their own health and safety policies now, and are very happy to sit down with us,” Ian said. “Between us, we make sure we all need to know everything we need to know. We also make sure we have cellphone contact with them and know where they are working at all times. “We have helicopters come in to do spraying and we do the same with those contractors. They have very strict health and safety procedures. We don’t have wires running across the farm, but they are along the edge of the road.” Running the farm together for much of the year, Sandra also delivers programmes around the country for Agri-Women’s Development Trust “We are very aware of the need to manage fatigue,” she said. “When there are just the two of you running the farm, there is always work to be done. But we are careful to avoid working hard-out 10-hour days every day – which is a trap some farmers fall into.”

Have your say on this issue: farmersweekly.co.nz

They are also aware that serious accidents on farms often involve older farmers doing jobs they have done many times before. “We are both in our mid-50s and as we get older, we know we need to be particularly careful. When you are rushing to do things, it only takes a momentary lapse and an accident can happen,” she said. “There are times of the year, for instance during shearing and docking, when we are working long hours, but we make sure we take breaks and overall get adequate rest. “We were both feeling a bit burnt-out recently, so we took a week off and had a staycation, just pottering around the house, enjoying some R&R and spending time together. We recognised, from a health and safety point of view, that we needed to take a break.” Ian and Sandra won a CPD in a competition run by WorkSafe New Zealand and the Rural Exchange (REX) radio show.

The video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=AwbNgIrhFuo

SAFETY FIRST: Gisborne-based farmer Ian Matthews had a crash protection device fitted on his bike after an on-farm accident a few years ago.

Protecting Kiwi Waterways Dr Bert Quin

QUINFERT ALGERIAN RPR V.2 Reactive Phosphate Rock 12.5% P*, 34% Ca, 1.3% S, 0.6% Mg (*slightly reduced because of ‘CM’ controlled-moisture anti-dust addition) Scores very well in the Watkinson Dissolution Test Low cadmium level of 18ppm (140 mg Cg/kg P) - half the industry maximum Fine (but low-dust) particle size means maximum neutralisation of soil acid Optimise production; minimise P run-oﬀ and leaching

$358/t + GST ex Waharoa, $22/t for other NI depots $358/t + GST+ex Waharoa $374/t + GST ex Timaru, + $22/t for other SI depots $374/t + GST ex Rolleston Blends with sulphur90 and other nutrients available

0800 QUINFERT or Bert Quin 021 427 572

News

20 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Wool rebrand to target consumers Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz SEVENTY new homes in Christchurch will feature wall-towall wool carpet as part of Wools of New Zealand’s new marketing focus. In a move to transition the marketing of strong wool to increase consumer attention, Wools of New Zealand (WONZ) embarked on the new strategy in May. “In the past we have been promoting wool as an ingredient, now we are promoting the product,” WONZ chair James Parsons said. He likened it to promoting flour as an ingredient to sell bread. “If you want to sell bread you promote bread as the product,” he said. “We want to sell carpet, so now we are promoting the product, being carpet, not the ingredient, being the wool. “The fundamental here is we can do that because we own the product. “We have been working on this since May and the team has worked very quickly to get the supply chain set up with key manufacturers to the point we have our WONZ branded wool carpet going into 70 houses in Christchurch.” These are homes that were destined to have synthetic carpet before WONZ brokered its wool carpet deal with Fletcher Living. Parsons says shortening the supply chain and retaining the grower ownership through to the finished product has been the key. “We can do it at an affordable price and be competitive with synthetic,” he said. “And while there is still a big distance to run, we are excited. “The key difference in what we are doing is not selling branded wool, but branded carpets and

We want to sell carpet, so now we are promoting the product, being carpet, not the ingredient, being the wool. James Parsons WONZ there is much more we can do in terms of branded product.” Parsons says the move into carpet sales has been wellreceived by the NZ retail market. “Once we have the domestic market fully up and running, we will implement the same strategy into the North American market,” he said. WONZ is currently working with NZ Trade and Enterprise on this. “The WONZ brand is highly regarded with the fern on it and there is still a lot of recognition with the brand (in North America) from the initial investment of the NZ Wool Board days,” he said. “We are approaching and reactivating some of those relationships.” But the priority is on getting the NZ domestic market right first. “We are working well with the NZ market and once satisfied with this progress, we can pivot quite quickly to North America,” he said. Meanwhile, the WONZ and Primary Wool Co-operative (PWC) collaboration, announced in August, is making good ground in terms of how the structure is bringing the two entities together. Initial meetings have focused on navigating the complexities that come with linking the organisations. “Discussions to date have been

STRATEGY: Wools of New Zealand chair James Parsons says the move into carpet sales has been well-received by the NZ retail market.

very constructive and positive with common values and shared vision of how we can make this a viable proposition. Carrfields Primary Wool (CPW) as a 50% shareholder of PWC, is also supporting the collaboration. “We are all committed to making a difference for our combined shareholders and the strong wool sector,” Parsons said. PWC chair Hamish de Lautour says the co-op is excited and determined to reach the common goal of establishing and capturing

the real value of wool for suppliershareholders, the co-op and for the industry. “We’re all growers in this together and understand that any initiatives on their own are just a tiny part of building demand,” De Lautour said. “This is going to take time, trust in the process, collaboration and commitment. “The reality is – if this supply chain is controlled by the growers’ organisations and the manufacturing is priced right,

then the profit from the product, when related to the greasy wool component, can be many times higher than the market price of the wool. “We believe we have a much better chance of consuming larger volumes of wool by selling quality affordable products in the first instance, while continuing to create high-end products as well.” It is expected the collaboration venture will have a structure in place early in 2021.

DECEMBER 2020 | $8.95

The latest Dairy Farmer hit letterboxes on November 30 Our OnFarmStory this month features Canterbury farmers Christo Keijzer and Lucy Appleton who milk buffalo to make a variety of Italian cheeses, with a growing demand for their product. We also talk to Maryanne Dudli from Taranaki, who milks and farms on her own, and we take a look at developments in dairy careers and training.

Demand for buffalo cheese soar s PLUS:

Life as a so lo ➜ Taranaki

farmer

woman goes it alone ➜ An interna tional voice for farmers ➜ Camping made glam ourous

2460DF-12x7

Have you read Dairy Farmer yet?

Th e c he e s e factor

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Jobs on the line in DairyNZ restructure Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz A RESTRUCTURE at DairyNZ could see some staff losing their jobs a few weeks out from Christmas as it puts in place a new strategy for the next three years. DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle would not comment on specifics around how many of the organisation’s 300 employees nationwide would be affected by the changes, what jobs would be disestablished and where additional roles in the organisation could be created as a result of the new strategy. “Implementing a strategy means reviewing what projects are running, how they are organised and how they are resourced,” he said. “We are working through a number of changes at the moment, the process is still under way and they are always complex when there are people involved.” He acknowledged the timing of the restructuring was not ideal. Any change process at any time was difficult, but informing staff as soon as it was possible gave them certainty. “When you get a strategy together that you’ve been working on throughout the year and it started in the spring last year in its development, when you land on what it is and you know what you need to do, you need to get on with it,” he said.

While it’s a significant adjustment we are confident farmers will see more value and that’s the job we have got to do.

SET IN MOTION: DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle acknowledged the timing of the restructuring was not ideal, but that they needed to “get on with it.”

forward in the successful levy vote at the annual meeting in October. The organisation operated under a three-year business investment plan and is currently in its third and final year. He says DairyNZ will be operating under the new strategy in June next year. Moving into the new year, Mackle says they will continue to talk to farmers about the new strategy as it looks to fulfil the component around better engagement with its levy payers.

Pay 50% Now & the Remaining 50% in 12 Month’s Interest Free NEW ZEALAND’S MOST ADVANCED INTEGRATED ANIMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

BEEF PRODUCER BUNDLE

SHEEP PRODUCER BUNDLE PAY

PAY

14,625

Tim Mackle

Your comment counts Add your voice to this story at farmersweekly.co.nz

T30 Scale System

Revolution Dosing Gun 14ML

0 10,50 W

N ce in n + bala nths 12 mo

Racewell HD4 Handler

The restructuring could see new roles established with reductions in other areas of the organisation. However, it could see staff deployed into new roles in the organisation rather than losing their jobs altogether. He says staff were told of the restructure last month and consultation was well under way. “While it’s a significant adjustment we are confident farmers will see more value and that’s the job we have got to do,” he said. He expected a final decision to be made soon. The new strategy has five components: increasing profit while reducing dairy farming’s environmental footprint, developing resilient future farm systems, building people capabilities on the farm, engaging better with farmer levy payers and building trust and pride in dairy farming. “We want a high-performing DairyNZ that delivers for our farmers and by targeting key priorities for the sector’s future, it gives us that level of focus,” he said. Mackle says they were aware DairyNZ was only one player and there were lots of partners in the sector it worked with on those five components. “There are some really core parts of DairyNZ that we are having a jolly good look at, to do it more effectively and add more value, and the board’s expectation is that we do some things differently,” he said. The new strategy originated with board discussions last spring and then farmer meetings across the country in the summer. It was then put

N ce in n + bala nths 12 mo

Classic Vet EID Gate Crush with Parallel Squeeze

600mm Loadbars

Revolution Dosing Gun - 70ML

1000mm Loadbars

T1 Scale App System

YARD PLAN PACKAGE SY79

LL I N S TA D E D I N C LU

With 3 pens and 3-way drafting this yard is an excellent choice for finishing operations, handling up to 79 head.

F E AT U R E S • • • •

For up to 79 head 4 working pens Includes timber for catwalk 3 way drafting

• •

PAY

Includes Te Pari C1000 Headbail Install included

* 9 7 4 , 6 1 W

N ce in n + bala nths 12 mo

Prices shown are 50% of the GST exclusive total. The remaining 50% is to be paid in 12 months. The GST component is payable after 4 months and the final interest free payment is due in 12 months. Minimum order value of $20,000 +GST. Document fee of $295 is additional. Finance offer is available on orders from 1st of October until the 31st of December 2020.

More options online at www.tepari.com Or call our team:

T O M H O LT

SI Cattle Yard Sales Ph: 021 228 4551

LEON SMITH

NI Cattle Yard Sales Ph: 021 198 5103

M AT T S H I E F F E L B I E N

Racewell Sales Ph: 027 565 0260

ARLEN WILLIAMSON

T30 Scale Specialist Ph: 0800 837 274

0800 837 274

www.tepari.com

RIGHT? THAT’S ALRIGHT! NOT ALL

5 ways to wellbeing

n a l p a e k a MG

t re ss f u l a n b e a Pse o p le c s a m t is r g ro w e rs. nd c ia t e C h We a p peref o r f a rm e rs a nitdh t he ir f a milie su eas. tim p e n d tim e w w o r k c o n tin w a n t t oa sb re a k b u t f a rm ha ve

Neil Bateup, Rural Support Trust Neil Bateup, Rural Support Trust

“It is a great time to meet your neighbours and connect - a good old kiwi BBQ” I cannot believe we are already in December. This year has been a rollercoaster. I am looking forward to having some time off farm, and heading to the beach with my family. I know this is not always possible for everyone, when we started out farming we used to milk extra early to get home before the kids woke up and enjoy the day together. It was a juggling act to balance the holidays and farm-life and there were times I would feel guilty because we had to work. Sometimes our break consisted of setting up a tent on the farm and enjoying a “stay-cation”. Christmas is about spending time with family and friends, making special memories. It is a great time to meet your neighbours and connect - a good old kiwi BBQ or potluck dinner is neat way to unwind and have yarn with others.

a nd Pla n e a r lyos te rs ge t t he r d. so r t e

Figu re ou t w hovi’sn g goin g to be ha ti me of f.

n v e rs a ti o n Ha v e a ycoou r t e a m. wit h

Are there tas ks you can do ahead of time to en sure the holid ay period runs sm oothly?

ar t he re to s tli n e. w e r u s t on no If y o u a ree lo ts o f re so u rc e s r a t h e re

From all of us at Rural Support we hope you have a Merry Christmas. We wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season. If any of you are struggling over the holidays please reach out, our services are available over the Christmas period. If you want to talk, we’re here.

H a ve y ou chec ke d y our su pply of: TE AT SPRAY

RUBBER GLOV ES DETERGENT FILTER SOCK S FITTINGS FO R WATER TROU GH

Just e i nc a se e d y o u nm? t he

Chri st ma s appre ciat ion

Chris tmas is a good time to show your ap preciation to the team. A te am Chris tmas get together can help build culture and m orale, recogn ise performan and is a great ce way to say th ank you. Whether you do it in the ev ening, or take time out of th some e day to have some fun, mak you take the tim e sure e to give and feel apprecia You could even tion. consider utili sing accumul store card po ated ints to shout fo r some treat s!

End of year got you thinking? Caring for yourself sometimes means Want to work on your own wellbeing at your own pace?

Melon

Mentemia

Sparx

taking the time to work on your mental health. There are a wide range of resources available to help you kick-start your new year with a healthy mind-set. The following Apps and e-therapy tools are a good way to begin.

Melon – App developed in NZ which is a health journal, resources and self-awareness tool to help you manage your emotional wellbeing. Available on the App Store and Google Play (www.melonhealth.com)

Mentemia – App developed by Sir John Kirwan to monitor, manage and improve your mental wellbeing by setting daily goals and tracking

your progress. Available on the App Store and Google Play (www.mentemia.com)

SPARX is an online game developed to help young people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety. SPARX is available on the App Store and Google Play. Also available as an online programme

0800 787 254 www.ruralsupport.org.nz

rural people helping rural people

Staying on track – an e-therapy course that teaches you practical strategies to cope with stress and disruption of day to day life from a wide range of issues. (www.justathought.co.nz) The Journal - a personalised online program that focuses on positive, lifestyle changes and problem solving (www.depression.org.nz)

Caring for your Caring for your mental health over mental health over thenext next month… the month… Christmas is a time of sharing and caring for each other – something rural communities excel at. But taking time to care for yourself can often feel a little selfish or take a back burner with everything else seeming to take priority. Good mental health isn’t just the absence of poor mental health nor does it happen by itself. Below are some tips for managing through the ‘silly season’ – they’re all short and sweet – but can have a considerable impact on your wellbeing. Breathe! When things are stressful and you’re reaching breaking point, go for a walk, sit down with a cuppa, take some space and simply breathe deeply for a few minutes. Lower your expectations! Forget the Christmas table decorations, don’t worry about a five course meal, ignore the kids pleas for everything they’ve ever wanted and remember that it’s all about being together. No one has ever gained useful life advice through fancy, over-priced crackers. Use time as your gift! Just think…no present shopping, no fights for carparks and considerably less exposure to the same Christmas songs on repeat. Instead offer to bake with your kids, a dinner with your partner, a visit to someone you know is lonely or a meal for a new mum. The best bit about this, is that it becomes a gift for you as well. Reflect on the positives! Let’s face it, we’ve all had a pretty ‘meh’ year. Take some time to positively reflect on the year we’ve all had. Try and remember what you’ve learnt, what you’ve gained or what opportunities are now open to you. This is also a great shared activity for the Xmas dining table. And finally, remember to laugh! Laughter is both helpful and contagious. Things will go wrong – as they often do – but its not your fault that you didn’t know that your elderly Uncle George has now embraced veganism (as you bring out the ham) or that your cousin’s kids hate the sand (as you’re laying down the beach towels). Breathe! Laugh! It will be okay…

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Farmers require incentive, support Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz WHEN it comes to climate change, policymakers need to be more supportive of New Zealand farmers, greenhouse gas (GHG) guru Frank Mitloehner says. He says NZ farmers are renowned for doing a good job around climate change issues and they should be more incentivised. A professor and air quality specialist in co-operative extension in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Mitloehner presented a webinar with the NZ Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (NZRSB) He pointed out that NZ farmers are part of the solution when it comes to climate change, and policymakers could better acknowledge and respect that. “If you run a policy that makes farmers want to give up, then whatever livestock products are produced in NZ as a result, will then come from elsewhere in the world,” he said. “Will the products from places that pick up the slack be as efficient and environmentally conscious as your farmers? “This kind of leakage is the last thing you want.” He says NZ farmers are known for doing a really good job, so you want them to keep doing it, and to quantify it appropriately. “I recommend they are incentivised to work even harder along these lines,” he said. “It is important to keep your

eye on the ball, and that ball is warming. It is not about a carbon footprint, it is about a warming footprint.” Mitloehner says NZ would be well-served by looking at what the impact of its livestock has been over the years.

If you run a policy that makes farmers want to give up, then whatever livestock products are produced in NZ as a result, will then come from elsewhere in the world. Frank Mitloehner University of California “What is the warming footprint of NZ’s beef, dairy and other industries?” he asked. “You will never get the answer to that question by using the traditional method of measuring greenhouse gas emissions, Global Warming Potential 100 (GWP100).” GWP100 was developed in 1990 and the science has moved on. GWP100 assumes all GHGs are cumulative, that is, they never reduce. While this is correct for carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, methane is a flow gas and has a

lifespan of about 10 years before it disintegrates into CO2 and water vapour. Mitloehner says that GWP100 will not provide the answer to NZ’s warming footprint, but using GWP* will. GWP*, a new more accurate approach to measuring methane emissions, recognises that methane survives in the atmosphere for 10 years, whereas the other two main greenhouse gases survive for thousands of years. For countries with high methane emissions, this can make a big difference in how reducing emissions is understood and progressed. “This is not some kind of greenwashing or creative accounting,” he said. “GWP* uses GWP100 in its formula, but it looks at it over time.” GWP* means that if herd numbers remain the same after 10 years, then methane levels remain constant, with the quantity emitted equaling the quantity disintegrating. The NZRSB is supportive of the GWP* approach. “The GWP* approach is gaining traction around the world and if NZ wants to be a world leader in this space, it is time we started using an accurate measure that correlates to actual warming,” NZRSB chair Grant Bunting said. Bunting says modifying the use of GWP so that it accounts for the differences between short-lived

SUPPORT: Greenhouse gas guru Frank Mitloehner says NZ farmers are part of the solution when it comes to climate change and policymakers could be more supportive of them.

and long-lived gases will better connect emissions and warming. “If all GHG emissions are treated the same, as they are using GWP100, short-lived emissions are unequally accounted for,” he said. “As we learn more and the

science develops, we need to ensure our approach remains relevant.”

Watch the webinar here: https:// www.nzsustainablebeef.co.nz/mediareleases/rethinking-methane

Ruralco to pay bonus rebate Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz DESPITE a difficult trading year, Ruralco will pay its owners a bonus rebate. The Ashburton-based rural services co-operative, ATS Ltd trading as Ruralco, will pay a $250,000 bonus rebate on the back of a strong year, which recorded operating earnings before interest and depreciation of $1.2 million. Working together and nimbly responding to the everchanging trading environment brought about by covid-19 saw Ruralco achieve pleasing results for its 2020 financial year, Ruralco chair Jessie Chan told the 57th Ruralco annual meeting. “Covid-19 was an unprecedented obstacle this year, but as a Ruralco family we managed to overcome it,” she said. “Through the grit and dedication of our team and our farmers we continued to trade

in a way that served our farmers’ needs, while also meeting our financial goals.” It is the third successive year that Ruralco will pay its owners a bonus rebate thanks to revenue growth and careful management of expenses.

Through the grit and dedication of our team and our farmers we continued to trade in a way that served our farmers’ needs, while also meeting our financial goals. Jessie Chan Ruralco During the past financial year Ruralco has attracted 68 new shareholders and its market share has increased while also

focusing on efficiencies within the business. “Crisis does not change who you are, crisis reveals who you are,” she said. “Covid-19 revealed a lot about us this year. We are agile, innovative, and willing to rise to the challenge.” Group chief executive Rob Sharkie says the co-operative’s differentiation is always its people, its staff, shareholders, suppliers, their families and the farming community. “We have always taken great pride in our collaborative culture, our flexible working practices and our ability to act quickly to embed change,” Sharkie said. “The success of our rapid response to this year’s rapidly changing trading environment demonstrated to us that our team has resilience, determination and the culture to meet these challenges head-on.” Newly-elected director David Carter, a farmer of 10,000 stock units and former MP and House of Parliament Speaker, was

COMMITMENT: Chair Jessie Chan says Ruralco will support the success of rural NZ by bringing you complete solutions to make farming life easier.

welcomed to the board. “Joining the Ruralco Board is a chance to offer my experience to my first passion, NZ agriculture,” he said. “Ruralco has a unique history. I believe with good governance, good management, and a dedicated staff, it has the potential to deliver even greater benefits to its shareholders.” Looking forward, Ruralco recognises that while the

agricultural sectors are currently placed despite the uncertainty created in the wake of covid-19, the need to work collaboratively will remain at the forefront of all it does. “We are here to support the success of rural NZ by bringing you complete solutions to make farming life easier, in a way that makes it easy to do business and in a way that provides value for money,” Chan said.

News

24 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Food network to help families in need Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz A NETWORK to ensure surplus food goes into needy bellies rather than landfills has started filling orders in Auckland. The New Zealand Food Network was in its early stages of formation when the covid lockdown struck, and the consequent food shortages accelerated its formation into a national network, initially based in Auckland. The roots of the network lie in Dunedin with Kiwi Harvest, a food distribution network established by Deborah Manning, now a network board member. Chief executive Gavin Findlay says thanks to seed funding from the Tindall Foundation and Sam Morgan’s Jasmine Social Investments group, the network has been able to kick off while it awaits government funding to cement it into the food distribution supply chain. “We have had only a few short weeks to secure a warehouse in Auckland, take on staff to run it, set up an IT system and install storage units. We believe we have a strong proposition for funding, and have some good partners on board with us,” he said. Key donor primary sector companies include Fonterra, T&G Fresh, ANZCO, First Fresh NZ, and Fresh Pork NZ. Findlay says having a company like T&G on board provided invaluable access to produce

PAIN POINT: Despite NZ’s ability to feed 30 million people, food security at home is still an issue says NZ Food Network chief executive Gavin Findlay.

growers all over NZ, and will ensure the network is capable of delivering an even supply of staple-type products all year round to needy families.

“Our ultimate aim is to have 7580 food hubs around the country we distribute to. That could be city missions, Salvation Army or food rescue services, any agency

Kono boss to chair Apec council THE new chair of the Apec (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation) business advisory council is Rachel Taulelei, chief executive of Maori food and beverage exporter Kono. As New Zealand assumes the role of Apec chair in 2021, Taulelei takes over the advisory council chair. She says it is a unique opportunity for NZ business to help shape the economic direction of the Asia Pacific region at a time of crisis and recovery. The council is the voice of business in Apec. Its 63 members are drawn from Apec’s 21 member economies and provide advice and recommendations to Apec leaders. Taulelei says its role is unique in terms of the access to those making decisions about the region’s future. “In 2021, when all meetings will be held virtually, it will be up to us to adapt our processes and lead a work programme that speaks to the region’s urgent need for resilient, sustainable and inclusive growth,” she said. “That’s no mean feat, but my colleagues and I are up for the challenge.” NZ’s other council members are Christchurch Airport chief executive Malcolm Johns and Sharesies head of international

LEADER: Kono chief executive Rachel Taulelei is the new chair of the Apec business advisory council.

Toni Moyes, although Moyes is leaving at the end of the year with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expected to appoint a successor. Council members are advised by an executive team led by Stephen Jacobi and Stephanie Honey of the NZ International Business Forum. Jacobi, a former executive director of the NZ China Council, will take over as executive director of the council, supported by a secretariat based in Manila. Kono is an associated business of Nelson-based Wakatu Incorporation. Its products include seafood,

It will be up to us to adapt our processes and lead a work programme that speaks to the region’s urgent need for resilient, sustainable and inclusive growth. Rachel Taulelei Kono beverages, horticultural products and natural fruit bars.

capable of handling palletised produce that is dry, chilled or frozen,” he said. Findlay says NZ’s long, skinny geography meant there was a tendency for surpluses of some products to develop in some parts of the country, far removed from where they could be best utilised. “For example, we have just had to deal with 180 tonnes of fresh tomatoes in the past fortnight,” he said. “We are also looking at how we could work with processors to turn some of these surpluses into a non-perishable product, say sauce or a pasta base, and be able to provide that to households, too.” Findlay is hopeful the network will become embedded in NZ’s food supply chain, and play a big part in helping cut down on the 105,000t a year of industrial food waste that goes to landfill. “Globally, the amount of greenhouse gases generated by food waste is the third largest source in the world. It is an environmental menace, and an ethical outrage to be throwing food out,” he said. He says in NZ’s case, despite being capable of feeding about 30 million people, food insecurity in NZ was a social blight. Research released last year indicated one in five children in NZ lived in households experiencing severe to moderate food insecurity. For Findlay, the role coming

after time spent in Restaurant Brands has particular resonance. Growing up in the United Kingdom he says food insecurity had been part of his childhood when his father was made redundant, and was tempered by rabbit shooting and salmon fishing in the countryside.

Our ultimate aim is to have 75-80 food hubs around the country we distribute to. That could be city missions, Salvation Army or food rescue services, any agency capable of handling palletised produce that is dry, chilled or frozen. Gavin Findlay NZ Food Network

Ultimately, Findlay hopes to be able to form links with hunting networks around the country, utilising game meat for supply. During the lockdown the Deerstalkers Association in Southland was instrumental in supplying several tonnes of wild venison as mince to food banks to help out needy families.

New Zealand red meat exports drop THE value of New Zealand red meat exports dropped by 18% in October compared to a year earlier, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA). Sheepmeat exports in October 2020 dropped by 25% while beef exports fell by 14% in value compared to October 2019. Co-products declined by 8%. The value of red meat exports and co-products to the United Kingdom in October 2020 dropped by 16% compared to a year earlier, but the value of exports to the United States increased by 15%. MIA chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says the fall was mainly into China (down 36% to $195 million) and reflects the high prices NZ red meat was commanding last year. “In October 2019, NZ was sending record volumes of meat to China due to African Swine Fever decimating the Chinese pig herd. While the value of exports this October was down compared to last year, it was still higher than all other October monthly exports in recent years,” she said. “This latest data illustrates the volatility of our global markets and shows why it’s more important than ever

to maintain our market diversification strategy. “Covid-19 continues to severely disrupt our markets and key channels such as the food service sector and we expect this to continue through to 2021. The situation is also compounded by congestion issues at ports and the appreciation of the NZ dollar.” The analysis also shows a significant increase in exports to Singapore in October. This was mainly due to an increase in tallow exports to Singapore where the co-product is used to produce biodiesel.

VOLATILE: MIA chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says covid-19 continues to severely disrupt our markets and key channels such as the food service sector and she expects this to continue through to 2021.

AginED Ag ED

FOR E FUTURIA G R R S! U E N E R P

Volume 36 I December 7, 2020 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I www.farmersweekly.co.nz

STRETCH YOURSELF YOURSELF: 1 The Hays own Springbank farm but also lease two other blocks. They have taken on the lease of a 410ha block in Moeraki, what do they run on this farm? What is different on this block compared to Springbank? 2 What company did they buy shares of in 2017?

1 Go to www.farmersweekly.co.nz 2 Find and watch the OnFarm Story of Ross and Jo Hay ”A thriving community is what you want” and read the article “Seeking sustainability at scale”.

3 Installing irrigation on Springbank has several important benefits to the Hays farming system. What are these? 4 What is one of the main challenges at Moeraki farm? Who are some of the more interesting residents at Katiki point?

5 Jo is active in her community and particularly within a couple of groups, what are these and what do they 4 What do they farm? How many blocks do they run do? Why does Jo think that groups like these are so all together? important in rural communities? 3 Where in NZ do Ross and Jo Hay farm?

STRETCH YOURSELF: Have a go at being an AgriHQ forestry analyst. This graph shows building consents for houses in the Canterbury region from September 2010 to 2020 in m2.

1 Go the AgriHQ market snapshot page

2 What was the South Island lamb price last week? 3 How is this tracking compared to year-ago levels?

When looking at the forestry industry, why would it be important to follow housing consents?

2 Why do you think these are recorded in m2 rather than the specific number of consents? Hint: Are all houses the same size? 3 Building consents in Canterbury clearly lifted from 2012 to 2016. Do some research, what happened in this region in 2011 that considerably lifted demand for new house builds? 4 The NZ housing market is extremely heated at the moment. One answer to this could be to build more new houses. Can you think of any limitations for how many new houses can be built?

Regenerative Farming Have you heard of regenerative farming practices?

Do some research into what regenerative farming is and the practices that are adopted under that umbrella. Can you outline a definition of what regenerative farming is and what practices constitute regeneration? The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is asking for proposals for projects to investigate regenerative farming practices. Do you think that these would all have to be new practices or have

some farmers been running their farms in ways that now constitute regenerative practices? How important to our future do you believe the idea Send us your of regenerative definitions of farming is or regenerative farming isn’t? Outline the and why you believe reasons why you it is or isn’t important think it is or is not to our futures, at important. agined@globalhq.co.nz

FILL YA BOOTS: 1 Find the weather page in the paper, what is the soil moisture level in your area? 2 How will this week’s weather forecast change this? Is it likely to get wetter or drier?

For more related content please head to our website at: www.sites.google.com/view/agined/home

26 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Newsmaker

FOCUS: New Trade Minister Damien O’Connor talks shop following the recent signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and shares where some of his priorities lie in the near future.

O’Connor tackles new trade role Signing the world’s largest trade agreement barely a fortnight into the job wasn’t too shabby a start for Damien O’Connor as new Trade Minister. He talked to Nigel Stirling about the next challenges.

T THE shoulder of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for the online signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in early November, it was not a case of Damien O’Connor grabbing the publicity without having put in the hard graft of negotiations. He was already very familiar with the mega Asian trade deal, having deputised for predecessor David Parker as Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth over the past three years, as negotiations first started in 2012 came down to the wire. RCEP has been criticised for not cutting enough tariffs and for losing India from the final agreement which includes the region’s other two heavyweights China and Japan among its 15 signatories. O’Connor says that’s selling the agreement short. To take just one example, O’Connor highlights e-commerce which has grown in importance to businesses but isn’t reflected in the so-called “noodle bowl” of existing trade agreements that criss-cross the region. The boom in online sales of NZ meat to China since the start of the covid-19 pandemic was proof it was an area worth focusing on. “We have to ensure e-commerce platforms are not subject to unnecessary taxation or certification systems … those are some of the things we have addressed even in RCEP,” he said.

“If our exporters are to move from frozen to higher-value fresh or chilled products, then ensuring that the technical issues around documentation and certification fit their pathway to market is going to be important.” O’Connor is also confident of dragging India back to the negotiating table. “Some of the agricultural issues are the most sensitive, but I feel we can build on a very healthy relationship with India and can once again convince them of the value of an FTA.” With India included, the benefit for NZ from RCEP jumps from $2b to $3.2b by 2045. The deal has also been a shot in the arm for global trade and its institutions which have been at a low ebb in recent years. Soon after RCEP was signed, President-elect Joe Biden declared he did not want to see the United States continue to bypass large trade agreements like it did after President Donald Trump withdrew from the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017. Whether that leads to the US joining either RCEP or the TPP’s successor agreement the Comprehensive and Progressive TPP (CPTPP) remains to be seen, but O’Connor is hopeful that sentiment flows through at the very least into renewed support by the US for the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which was thoroughly undermined by Trump. Trump’s stymieing of the WTO’s appellate court was concerning

for a small country like NZ which depends on a neutral referee in trade disputes. “It would be great to see that issue progressed,” O’Connor said. But it is not just the US that has been setting the tone for global trade. China is currently making a diplomatic example of Australia with bullying trade tactics that even Trump would have baulked at.

If our exporters are to move from frozen to higher-value fresh or chilled products, then ensuring that the technical issues around documentation and certification fit their pathway to market is going to be important. Damien O’Connor Several of Australia’s primary exports have been effectively cut off from the Chinese market after Prime Minister Scott Morrison led the call for an international inquiry into the origins of the pandemic back in April. NZ eventually backed Australia along with 62 other countries. NZ has also joined others to criticise China’s treatment of

its Muslim minority and antidemocratic legal reforms in Hong Kong, and O’Connor says it wouldn’t shy away from doing so again. Asked if NZ should be negotiating more market access with other countries as an insurance policy should Beijing react badly to criticism in the future, O’Connor says it was always prudent to look for new markets and the Government would continue to do so. “Any exporter or producer would probably have some concerns when they are exposed to one customer with over 30% of their sales. “It is normal commercial arrangement to have an ongoing assessment of the market and ensure there are alternatives,” he said. Key to NZ lessening its reliance on China will be negotiations with the United Kingdom and the European Union. While trade talks with the UK are at an early stage, those with the EU have been under way for several years and have been tough-going so far. The EU’s dairy market offers – representing less than 0.02% of the European cheese market, and a similar paltry amount for new butter access, with high tariffs to boot – were rubbished by Parker when it was leaked to the media in July. O’Connor says he would not bend to EU demands in the talks until there was more on offer for NZ exporters.

That included the reservation of hundreds of food and beverage names linked to European places for the exclusive use of EU producers in the NZ market. “We have said everything is up for negotiation but there has to be goodwill and good offers from both sides,” he said. O’Connor was also keeping a wary eye on the EU’s new Green Deal, which aims for a 20% reduction in fertiliser use and 50% reduction in pesticides and anti-microbial animal treatments by 2030. It also wants 25% of European farmland used for organic food production. The US is suspicious it is a vehicle for protectionism although the Europeans insist the targets will not be forced on competitors through trade agreements and are merely to help put its own farmers on a more sustainable footing. The EU was also assessing border taxes based on the amount of carbon expended on products it imports. O’Connor says the record of NZ farming in these areas was the equal of anywhere else in the world. NZ would take a dual approach to dealing with any new trade rules based on environmental targets. “We have to push back when we think these things are unfair, but again be at the forefront of progress in this area … we will ensure that whatever measurements are backed by science are fair,” he said.

New thinking

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Digital tool gazes into farm’s future AgResearch scientists have turned the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” into reality for farmers wanting to visualise their future farm under different land use options. Senior scientist Seth Laurenson spoke to Richard Rennie.

S A barrage of regulatory changes require farmers to reassess land use on parts of their farm, the Hyperfarm mapping tool has been developed to help give them an idea of what those options are, and how their farm will look if they choose those options. The technology is due for release to a select group of users in June, but Seth Laurenson says developers and scientists have been working closely with farmers and iwi groups for two years on it. “The aim has been to develop a tool that gives them an accessible, user-friendly and holistic overview, rather than the nittygritty of data relating to nitrogen loss for example,” Laurenson said. “It is already a pretty crowded space for those sorts of tools.” The prompt for Hyperfarm came when Laurenson was involved in Canterbury’s community group consultations on water use. Despite the best intentions of the collaborative approach, the multiple streams of expert knowledge from the likes of hydrologists and soil scientists risked alienating many lay people, including farmers. “We wanted farmers to be able to visualise what the land use changes they may have to make would look like,” he said. “Modelling off specific parameters can deliver a textbook solution to issues that often does not fit with the practical realities of running a farm.” One farmer they worked with used Hyperfarm to virtually plant trees along a fence line, but had found they would interfere with

SMART TECH: Seth Laurenson with the Hyperfarm mapping tool. One farmer used the tool to virtually plant trees, but found they would interfere with his view of his lambing paddocks.

Many farmers already carry much of the information in their heads, this enables them to get it down visually. Seth Laurenson AgResearch his line of sight to his lambing paddocks he liked to see from the house. The tool has proven effective in getting farmers to engage at a more emotional, holistic and practical level with the changes they may make to land use, in turn taking some of the “fear factor” out of moving to the unknown. “And many farmers already carry much of the information in

their heads, this enables them to get it down visually,” he said. Trial farmer clients have also provided a dashboard of future priorities to developers about what they are seeking in their future farm, including employment options, nutrient loss control and forestry opportunities, among others. The online tool has a farm’s imagery loaded into it, sourced from LINZ mapping data, with the ability to modify and edit layers of that imagery to customise it further. “And existing land use can be picked up from satellite images,” Laurenson said. The tool allows farmers to pull up a variety of alternative land use options, ranging across arable crops, horticulture and forestry. But the realism of future options has been significantly improved by a “tool within the tool.” “We have gathered billions of data points from all over the

world, specific to different crops and the growing conditions that best suit them, right down to varieties within crops,” he said. Hyperfarm incorporates those options into its decision options and is capable of revealing a number of crop options to farmers they may not have otherwise considered. Such predictive ability offers some exciting potential for farmer groups to collectively scale up on a crop that otherwise may only remain a cottage-scale offering. “You could take Hyperfarm on your laptop to the pub, sit down with your neighbours and between you see how much of this crop you could grow, where you could look at processing it and really drill into something none of you may have considered before,” he said. Laurenson says the value of this struck him at a FAR open day. “I had a younger farmer say to me, ‘look, I will grow anything, just

Premium New Zealand Merino heirloom baby blankets

tell me what to grow, where, and I will’,” he said. The preciseness will extend beyond simply offering apples, pears and nectarines as an option. “It is capable of saying of those three crops, apples would be the best, from an environmental, financial or even lifestyle perspective,” he said. The team started off with a long list of land use alternatives for farmers to load in, but have since refined it to a more select set of options. However, Laurenson says future versions will probably be broadened out to include more pioneering land uses like tourism options, exotic berry types and more grain crops. The AgResearch team are keen to see Hyperfarm used, while also delivering a level of commercial return that makes the tool sustainable. “We are keen to see it out there with users, without us needing to look over their shoulder,” he said.

de F liv ree Ch er y ris un tm til as

At Natures Gift For Baby we believe the key to a good nights sleep is a great blanket! Gentle on Baby’s skin and gentle on the environment.

www.naturesgiftforbaby.com

LK0105020©

5 timeless colours. $99ea

Opinion

28 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

EDITORIAL

From strength to strength

S THE year draws to a close, the fortunes of the primary sector are looking pretty good. Last week’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction saw prices rise across the board, with whole milk powder up 5%. That should have dairy farmers feeling a bit more positive after a bumpy year for commodities. The red meat sector released a new strategy that plots the way forward. It’s based around sustainability, traceability and doing everything possible to raise the value of exports, which will hopefully reach more markets around the world. There’s even reason to be hopeful for wool growers. Wools of New Zealand signed a deal with Fletchers to fit out new builds with wool carpets and there are some new innovations involving hemp that also look really promising. Horticulture is also continuing to go from strength to strength. Of course, there’s the weather to think about. It’s been a year of extremes with drought in some places, floods in others, and even the odd fire. New Zealand’s success in keeping covid-19 under control has meant production hasn’t been affected as much as in other parts of the world, though getting skilled labour has been a major challenge. Despite all this, the thing that worries farmers the most at the moment is government regulation. That’s only natural as it will require some immediate responses – some will need to make significant change to farming practices and this will be difficult. The Government held out an olive branch of sorts late last month, saying changes would be made if aspects of the freshwater reforms were completely unworkable, but that will only soften the blow slightly for many. What is clear is that despite everything, farmers and growers have not only withstood 2020 but excelled. It’s a tribute to the work ethic and innovation that the sector possesses and is something we can all be proud of.

Bryan Gibson

LETTERS

So what if we want to eat meat? THE fact that someone wants to pay to eat parts of an animal at the end of its life pays for that animal’s free health and medical care, nutrition, care supplementary food and welfare for its entire life. As well as providing for the carer, shepherd or farmer and their family’s needs. Something is going to eat every animal at the end of its life. It may be a dog, cat, rat or fly, but something will eat it. Why not someone like us? If we humans don’t eat animals at the end of their life, they won’t have a life. The land they currently graze will be planted in trees, and you can’t eat trees. Except for animals kept captive or caged in zoos, there may not be any animals anymore – imagine that. The average typical

omnivorous Kiwi diet comprises 85% vegetables and 15% animal products. Cows will produce milk, regardless of whether we drink it. Chickens will produce eggs, regardless of whether we eat them. We should be grateful, not hateful. Dave Stanton Geraldine

You can do better WHAT don’t you understand about sexism? The message has not got through your especially thick and maybe male skull bones yet. Regarding your November 23, Farmers Weekly Sale Talk page. It could have been written like this: A blonde and a redhead have a ranch. They have just lost their bull and need to buy another but only have $500.

The redhead tells the blonde, “I’ll go to market and see if I can find one for less than that and when I do I’ll send you a telegram.” The redhead gets one for $499, only to find that the telegraph office charges one dollar per word. Finally, the redhead tells the telegraph operator to send the word “comfortable.” The operator says, “How does that tell anyone to bring a trailer?” To which the redhead replies, “That blondie is a slow reader and will read ‘come-forta-bull’.” And then it’s possible blondes of either sex won’t be terribly amused either (I’m a redhead). It’s not that I don’t think it’s funny, but it only takes an extra minute to think outside the dull, old sexist square.

So, let’s try the same joke with the fat man and the thin man. Or the old man/ woman and the youngster. Or the Southlander and the Cantabrian or Kaikohean, or wherever you like, and then you will understand that the descriptions are a putdown to someone and totally unnecessary for the funniness of the joke to stand on its own. Steph Jewell Tasman

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

Letterof theWeek EDITOR Bryan Gibson 06 323 1519 bryan.gibson@globalhq.co.nz EDITORIAL Carmelita Mentor-Fredericks 06 323 0769 editorial@globalhq.co.nz Neal Wallace 03 474 9240 neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz Colin Williscroft 027 298 6127 colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz Annette Scott 021 908 400 annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz Hugh Stringleman 09 432 8594 hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz Gerald Piddock 027 486 8346 gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz Richard Rennie 07 552 6176 richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz Nigel Stirling 021 136 5570 nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com

ADVERTISING

PUBLISHER Dean Williamson 027 323 9407 dean.williamson@globalhq.co.nz

Clint Dunstan 027 474 6004 Real Estate & Farm Machinery advertising clint.dunstan@globalhq.co.nz

Andy Whitson 027 626 2269 New Media & Business Development Lead andy.whitson@globalhq.co.nz Steve McLaren 027 205 1456 Auckland/Northland advertising steve.mclaren@globalhq.co.nz Jody Anderson 027 474 6094 Waikato/Bay of Plenty advertising jody.anderson@globalhq.co.nz Donna Hirst 027 474 6095 Lower North Island/international advertising donna.hirst@globalhq.co.nz Ernest Nieuwoudt 027 474 6091 South Island advertising ernest.nieuwoudt@globalhq.co.nz

ISSN 2463-6002 (Print) ISSN 2463-6010 (Online) Ella Holland 06 323 0761 Livestock advertising 027 602 4925 livestock@globalhq.co.nz Debbie Brown 06 323 0765 Classifieds/Employment advertising classifieds@globalhq.co.nz Grant Marshall 027 887 5568 AgriHQ Partnership Manager grant.marshall@globalhq.co.nz Andrea Mansfield 027 446 6002 Salesforce director andrea.mansfield@globalhq.co.nz Steph Holloway 06 323 0142 AgriHQ Commercial Leader steph.holloway@globalhq.co.nz PRODUCTION Lana Kieselbach 027 739 4295 production@globalhq.co.nz Advertising material adcopy@globalhq.co.nz SUBSCRIPTIONS 0800 85 25 80 subs@globalhq.co.nz Printed by Ovato NZ Ltd Delivered by Reach Media Ltd

Best letter each week wins a quality Victorinox Hiker knife

So go on! Stick the knife in WRITE TO The Editor, Farmers Weekly P.O. Box 529, Feilding EMAIL farmers.weekly@globalhq.co.nz • FAX 06 323 7101

LK0102967©

Farmers Weekly is published by GlobalHQ, PO Box 529, Feilding 4740. New Zealand Phone: 0800 85 25 80 Website: www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

STARK DIFFERENCE: While regenerative farms enjoy green and lush land during drought, “industrial” farms are often bare, brown and feed substitution is a major part of life – and a huge cost to those who live on them, Sue Edmonds says.

Don’t sustain, regenerate Sue Edmonds

T STRIKES me that the only cheerful farmers I meet these days are the oddballs who have seen the light, and begun to convert their hectares into that questionable concept they call regenerative farming. And instead of the usual exchanges of disaster stories when they meet, these people are cheering each other on, swapping ideas and finding that “getting out of the way of nature” can produce pleasurable surprises, which increases as time goes on. At present, I am Zooming a second course from an outfit called Biodiversity For A Liveable Climate based in Boston, US. The first one was called Biodiversity and Symbiosis, and dealt with the cells, bacteria and microbiota which created all the living things on earth, both plant and animal, and which continue to keep them all going, including Homo sapiens. Togetherness is what makes nature work, and togetherness with each other and with nature is what is urgently needed for people to start to work towards healing our guts, our land and our climate. The second course, demanded by all those who partook of the first one, is getting us to look at Biodiversity and Systems Thinking, to try and find some answers which might resonate with people we individually interact with. I’m the only Kiwi on the course and, from what I tell them about what we are and aren’t

The

Pulpit

doing here, a number of those Americans really want to come and visit, if not stay forever. One of the aspects of the massive learning I’m getting is finding a raft of books on the individual efforts going on all over the world where desertified landscapes are being re-greened, and where farmers who have suffered devastating fires, floods or inherited farms with huge debts and zilch productivity, have been introduced to those whose lives have been transformed by moving (sometimes over many years) to regenerative farming. These are now making profits, have healthy soils and animals, happy families and time to add to the swelling number of publications about their lives in harmony with nature. One such is Charles Massy,

whose farm is on the Monaro Tablelands of New South Wales. We keep being told that Australia is the driest country on earth, but his book Call of the Reed Warbler relates his visits to a great number of regenerative farmers all over Oz, Africa and other dry places. This is a guy who studied agriculture in the 1970s and farmed Merinos successfully for two decades, before discovering a whole new life in regeneration, which resulted in him returning to university in 2009 to do a PhD in human ecology. The thesis from this provided the core of the book, plus his massive reading and support from hundreds of wellknown names in biogenic farming and its facets. Much media attention in NZ has been given to the supposed unscientific ideas being tried here for regenerative farming. No tillage, multi-pasture species, constant movement of animals and long rest periods. But regenerative farming is a huge amount more than that, and involves studying and understanding the multiple ecosystems operating across every farm landscape and working to maximise each one. This involves getting water cycles working properly, a huge amount of biodiversity, including both insects and birds (including wildlife in Oz), and holistic planned grazing. We are already getting droughts in NZ, and the stories of areas with minimal rains being fully infiltrated (rather than running

off), creeks running and nature producing things like native grasses and shrubs from seeds which had been buried for many years, was so heartening to read, and realise that it can be done here.

Togetherness is what makes nature work, and togetherness with each other and with nature is what is urgently needed for people to start to work towards healing our guts, our land and our climate. Massy refers to the mindset of farmers and the urban public as the Mechanical Mind, where technology is assumed to always be able to find solutions to the disasters we have long created. He looks instead to what he called Emergent Minds, where man can step back (theoretically at least) and let nature recover the natural ecological systems, many of which were flourishing under indigenous peoples (including ours), but were destroyed rapidly with European settlement. I have read so much recently about green and lush regenerative farms in both the US and elsewhere, where just over the fence the “industrial” farms are bare, brown and feed substitution

is a major part of life – and a huge cost to those who live on them. Strangely, the views of such farmers are so often disbelief and derision, while the green evidence is there before their eyes. Somewhat similar to some of the media reporting about NZ that we have read. I attended a lecture on regenerative farming presented around the country recently, which was to packed audiences wherever given. I’ve been a believer in nurturing soil life for years, and am terrified of what we are already seeing of climate change. I would love to see a nationwide move among agricultural institutions to teach students and farmers about our ecology in all its forms, both above and underground, so that our land can again be permitted to show what it could do, before so much of what we have done had killed off its togetherness. Just because we can’t see the small things, doesn’t mean they won’t come back, given half a chance.

Who am I? Sue Edmonds is a Waikato-based writer specialising in agriculture and regenerative farming.

Your View Got a view on some aspect of farming you would like to get across? The Pulpit offers readers the chance to have their say. farmers.weekly@globalhq.co.nz Phone 06 323 1519

Opinion

30 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

An exciting world first for fibre Alternative View

Alan Emerson

I WROTE a column a month ago about wool and some new initiatives that I thought were worthwhile. One of the stories came from Carrfields subsidiary NZ Yarn who would take a farmer’s wool clip and turn it into carpet at a fraction of the price of the conventional process. When I was in Christchurch recently, I visited the NZ Yarn plant on the invitation of the chief executive Colin McKenzie. He is an enthusiast for all things farming. You couldn’t swing a cat in his office, which is full of all kinds of wool products that he’ll happily tell you about. The plant itself was impressive. The hot news, however, is that late last week they formed a new company New Zealand Natural Fibres (NZNF). Carrfields own 67% and Hemp NZ 33%. They intend to take wool-hemp mixes to the world. Carrfields is a vertically integrated agricultural company that’s been around since the ‘70s. Hemp NZ was established in 2008.

NZ Yarns and Hemp NZ have been working together since 2018. They developed a hemp processing line that separates the hemp fibre from the non-fibre. I found it interesting as the dried hemp in the store looked like straw. I was surprised anything workable would come out of it. I was wrong as the hemp fibre is long, smooth and strong. According to McKenzie, NZNF is world-leading. “No one else in the world is doing it,” he said. “We can really add value to NZ fibres.” There’s a machine they’ve imported from Europe to process the fibre. The only one in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is most impressive. The advantage of hemp is that it is fast-growing (90 days) and requires little to no chemicals or fertiliser. It’s also good at sucking nitrates from the soil. It is a super food high in protein and omega three, six and nine, gluten free and its fibre is strong. When mixed with wool it is an amazing product, as everything that wool does now can be made with a wool-hemp mix. The mix increases the product potential of wool. Predictably, the mix has considerable potential in the apparel industry and in carpets that aren’t susceptible to the carpet beetle. It is used in food packaging and in the building industry, both as acoustic panels and construction material. The

mix is not flammable or microbacterial. Where it has massive potential, is as a natural replacement of the carbon composites that are currently used in racing car bodies and top of the line bikes. Anything that carbon fibre can be used for today, can be replaced with a natural fibre tomorrow. The project is very much about adding value and not volume. The potential for wool and hemp to replace carbon fibre is huge. At a basic level there are bearing seals, electrical brushes and brake pads. For sporting goods there is a considerable market with tennis rackets and golf clubs. For heavy engineering there are aircraft, trucks and railways, and for defence there is personal armour. It is also environmentally sustainable, whereas the present carbon fibre manufacturing system isn’t. NZNF makes a special fabric out of hemp and wool that’s a little like a fibreglass sheet. Its woven fabric is sent offshore to have a specific resin added that is biodegradable. Currently, an epoxy resin is used that is both nasty to work with and doesn’t break down. It has been in the environment for centuries. What NZNF has done is take a basic commodity like wool, add hemp and produce a high-technology product that is both much-needed and environmentally-friendly. It

PARTNERSHIP: NZ Yarns and Hemp NZ have been working together since 2018. They developed a hemp processing line that separates the hemp fibre from the non-fibre. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

ticks all the boxes for NZ Inc and gives farmers an additional option for what has been a cheap commodity product. NZNF are currently offering farmers direct supply contracts at a “significant premium.” They say they’re at the ground level with the hemp market which is at a “premium level.” They also have “enthusiastic international partnerships.” McKenzie says that “in five years they intend to be a major international player and a significant NZ farming business”. Hemp is synergistic with wool and the mixture opens up new areas for wool, such as building materials. As you may gather, I came away from the NZNF launch

enthusiastic. Here were two NZ companies working together for the good of the country and the good of farmers. They can mix wool with hemp and open a considerable number of new uses for the product that is wool. The companies aren’t big, sexy or high profile, but they’re certainly achievers. Looking at their websites they also are committed to research and development, and also to NZ. I certainly wish them well and thank them for sharing their story with me.

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

Monetary policy is hard at work Cameron Bagrie email@nzx.com MONETARY policy is massively supporting the economy, but financial conditions have tightened in the past month. Interest rates are still low, but expectations are they will not be as low. Diminished prospects for negative interest rates in New Zealand is one factor behind a stronger NZ dollar (NZD), which is up 3-4 cents against the greenback since early November. There are other reasons, but that is a big one. Interest rates and the NZD could still turn lower again. We

are only a lockdown away. The past three weeks has seen a material shift in expectations for the Official Cash Rate (OCR) in NZ. In early November, market expectations were the OCR would go negative. It was a race to the bottom, with five-year bond yields (what the Government issues debt at) trading at zero and the oneyear bond negative. Free money. NZ had lower expectations for the OCR relative to the United Kingdom, Australia and United States, despite having a far better economy. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) was talking a big game about negative rates, more

POSSIBILITY: For the rural sector, the lift in interest rates might be used as another excuse to drive the repricing into the rural sector by banks as we have been seeing anyway. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

so than other central banks, and financial markets were backing them to follow through. It was helping to keep a lid on the NZD, and expectations were the OCR would be minus 23 basis points by late 2021, an implicit cut of 48 basis points from current levels. It is a different story now. Expectations are the OCR will remain low but positive, not negative. Five and 10-year bond yields are low but have risen 30-40 basis points. At the time of writing the NZD was above 0.70 against the US dollar and 0.95 against the Australian dollar. A better tone across the economy is one reason. The RBNZ continues to flag the possibility of a negative OCR, but the data does not back up the need. House prices across the country are up 13% in the past year and almost 8% in the past three months. Jobseeker benefit numbers are no longer rising. People are spending. Commodity prices have held up remarkably well, dairy the bellwether. Some rural regions are seeing job ads above 2019 levels. Then we had a letter from the Minister of Finance (MoF) to the governor, looking for ways the RBNZ and government could work together to achieve a sustained moderation in house prices and seeking the RBNZ consider the stability of house

prices when it sets interest rates. The market took that as another sign negative interest rates are off the table. Turbo-charged house prices, while a sign monetary is working, is exposing a delicate social issue, housing (un)affordability. The rhetoric to do something about it has not been backed by action, and meanwhile the RBNZ has played little Lucifer, pouring more petrol on the fire.

House prices across the country are up 13% in the past year and almost 8% in the past three months. Jobseeker benefit numbers are no longer rising. People are spending.

The RBNZ welcomed the offer to contribute, but also noted that when it comes to housing there are many issues at play. The RBNZ does not control supply, infrastructure, the regulatory framework (i.e. Resource Management Act) or tax system. Kiwibuild is not the RBNZ’s failure.

The MoF might not have intended the letter to be an invitation to jump into the hard stuff, but I suspect the RBNZ is not going to be shy making suggestions. They have some smart people. Good on them. The governor assured the MoF they consider the potential impact of monetary policy on asset prices, including house prices. It is a trillion-dollar asset class. You cannot ignore it. But the RBNZ’s key objectives are inflation and full employment, not house prices. The 2017 government scored an own goal taking the monitoring of asset prices out of the agreement (the Remit) with the RBNZ. Oops. For the rural sector, the lift in interest rates might be used as another excuse to drive the repricing into the rural sector by banks as we have been seeing anyway. Ask questions and seek detailed data. Interest rates might be off lows, but the RBNZ is still seeking to lower bank funding costs and deposit rates have fallen a long way. The NZD is not problematic at present, but as I pointed out a few months ago, the US dollar faces some serious structural challenges. It will be hard to get the NZD down when our economy is performing better than the other side of the coin.

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Children help to put things in perspective From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

WHEN I started writing this column 25 years ago, we had two small lads and a third about to make an appearance. The three of them were under five for a year until they started drifting off to school. Busy times, and when I see others now with something similar, I’m reminded how great those times were but also pleased that the busyness, the constant vigilance required and the turmoil are well behind us. One of my greatest pleasures was taking all three out on the two-wheeler with two sitting in front and the youngest in the backpack. I had been an impatient man and children taught me patience,

as one couldn’t just zoom out the door and jump onto the bike, but instead had to get them appropriately dressed, mediate on who was going to wear which hat, find various small gumboots scattered in all directions, tuck a muesli bar or a little raisin packet into each small pocket if it was going to be a while on the farm and then be prepared to stop and look at things like dead birds, hunt for fossils in the creeks and spend some time retracing our wheel marks looking for the gumboots that had fallen off but had gone unnoticed by their owner. The latter to much amusement from my passengers. I once wrote a column about finding a small gumboot out on the farm that had been bleached sunny side up and had obviously lain there for many years. I cradled it lovingly and took it home to show Jane this treasure from the past. I stood on the doorstep with tears in my eyes, she took one look at it and told me it wasn’t one of ours and shut the door. I felt devastated that what I thought was a link to those treasured

FARM LIFE: It’s both a pleasure and privilege to have your children in your place of work, growing up in a wonderful environment.

memories of days not that long past wasn’t at all. I was never sure she was right though, and that gumboot is still somewhere in the workshop and will no doubt be thrown out along with all my other accrued treasures after I die. That column might be nearly 20 years in the past, but I still have people reminding me of it or saying they cut it out and still have it given it was a good summing up of the pleasure and privilege we have with children in our place of work growing up in a wonderful environment. On the wet days, when they

couldn’t come out on the farm, it would be both heartbreaking and amusing to see three small boys smearing goodness knows what over the bay window, some with tears watching me drive away on my bike. No one before or since has ever cried at my departure. Perhaps my mother a couple of times. Then we didn’t yet have a fourwheeler and were still thrashing around on a three-wheeler, which was even more inappropriate to carry three small boys and myself around the farm. I watch the little kids in the district tucked inside their parent’s

side-by-sides and it looks a much better option in terms of safety; drier and warmer, and more space and comfort than what we used to put up with and it’s definitely what I would use now. However, nothing is 100% safe as we know from past incidents, so over the summer and holidays that stretch in front of us, make sure your small charges are kept safe and sound out there on our farms.

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

The global power struggle over trade Trade Wars

Nigel Stirling

THERE has been plenty of partying since Donald Trump lost the presidential election. But after the party comes the hangover – and it could last a while if the agenda of his successor Joe Biden and the Democratic Party is any guide. New Zealand farmers weren’t helped by many of Trump’s trade policies. There’s no doubt about that. On his second day in office he withdrew from the TransPacific Partnership (TPP), NZ’s best shot at a free trade deal with the United States. Trump’s China tariffs not only caused the economy of NZ’s single biggest export customer to slow appreciably from late 2018, but also kicked off a splurge on farm subsidies not seen from any US President since the 1980s. With one eye on votes in rural swing states like Wisconsin, Trump pumped tens of billions of dollars into the pockets of US farmers stung by China’s retaliation against them. More than a third of farm

income in the US will come directly from the federal government this year as a result. The payments have been questioned closely at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as concern mounts from unsubsidised rivals, such as NZ, that they won’t be able to compete against increasing surpluses of subsidised production dumped on the world market by US exporters. Because Biden is not Trump, there is an expectation that he will restore the US to its rightful place as the global champion of free trade. After all, he was vice-president to Barack Obama, who eventually backed the US’ one-time leadership of the TPP. What this overlooks, however, is the shift in opinion against free trade in the US in recent years. The offshore exodus of blue collar jobs that coincided with Bill Clinton’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada in the 1990s kicked off rising public opposition to trade agreements in the US and among Democrats in particular. That opposition found its voice with the violent protests outside the Seattle meeting of WTO ministers in 1999, which NZers will remember as the first led by former Prime Minister Mike Moore, who had stepped into the role as WTO director-general just weeks before. Eager not to alienate his labour

union supporters, Obama slated both NAFTA and TPP during the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama only belatedly backed TPP as president as the economic centrepiece of his so-called “pivot to Asia,” which aimed to counter growing concern in the region at China’s increasingly aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea. Both Trump and Democrat rival Hillary Clinton campaigned against TPP in the 2016 presidential primaries and the election itself – although it is likely Clinton would have tried to negotiate improvements rather than remove the US entirely, as Trump later did. Following the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) last month, Biden said the US was losing its opportunity to dictate new global trade rules by sitting outside such agreements. However, he has not said the US would join RCEP, which seems unlikely given China’s involvement, nor has he said it would rush to join TPP’s successor the Comprehensive and Progressive TPP (CPTPP). Under the US system, the President can only negotiate trade agreements with the backing of Congress given through what is known as Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). Without this, any agreement negotiated by US trade officials must be passed clause-by-

clause by Congress, which in politically-contentious trade agreements, often thousands of pages long, would quickly become impractical. The current TPA is due to expire in the middle of 2021 and there are no guarantees it would be renewed by the Republican Senate even if it got the backing of the Democrat-controlled House. Trade experts here doubt NZ or any other CPTPP member would go through the tortuous process of trade negotiations with the US again without a new TPA to protect any deal from being unpicked line-by-line by US lawmakers. Similarly, Biden must weigh up public opinion when deciding what to do with Trump’s China tariffs. China had further poisoned American views of free trade by failing to live up to early hopes it would follow global trade rules after the US welcomed it to the WTO in 2001. Since then, China has openly flouted those rules by tilting the playing field in favour of its own industries with huge state subsidies. US companies desperate to do business in China were coerced into handing over intellectual property to Chinese joint venture partners. Trump’s tariffs were a reaction to those violations and the view that America was doing itself no

favours in the economic race with China by sticking to the rules itself. Last Thursday, Biden announced he was in no rush to drop the tariffs which he said were now entrenched as leverage against China.

Trade experts here doubt NZ or any other CPTPP member would go through the tortuous process of trade negotiations with the US again without a new TPA to protect any deal from being unpicked line-by-line by US lawmakers.

While Trump was too busy fighting with America’s allies over perceived imbalances in their own trading relationships, Biden vowed he would work with them to build a coalition to take on China. That might not sit comfortably with NZ, which till now hasn’t had to take sides in the global power struggle. NZ only has to look across the Tasman to see what the downsides of lining up against China could be.

On Farm Story

32 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Buffalo cheese demand soars A Canterbury couple who make top quality buffalo cheese faced a tough time during the covid-19 lockdown but now that their market is back, it’s stronger than ever. Gerard Hutching reports.

VERYONE has their covid-19 story, but that of Lucy Appleton and Christo Keijzer is arguably more dramatic than most. As the March lockdown hit, Lucy was still dealing with the aftermath of her mother’s recent death. But as well as mourning her mum, she was having to focus on the future of the couple’s buffalo dairy business, which largely hinged on supplying the restaurant trade with specialty cheeses such as mozzarella. The gravity of the situation only became apparent as she did the rounds of their regular clients in Christchurch in late March. “About 95% of our business was through restaurant trade throughout the South Island,” Lucy said.

Do people want to eat mozzarella from an animal that’s constantly on antibiotics and grainfed, or would they like to enjoy fresh grass-fed mozzarella? Lucy Appleton “When I went into Christchurch to do deliveries, every chef was like ‘ah, um, can you take some of it back?’ I said ‘sure, how much?’. They said leave us a tenth.” As rapidly as the restaurant trade collapsed, online orders grew as they scrambled to rescue the business. Come Easter, a client’s brother who was a website designer and “bored stupid” set about redesigning their website. A “clever friend” came up with

the name Cheesentials for the products – cheesemaking being an essential business during covid. “People pay $89.90 and they get a selection with a 20% discount – and it went crazy. Most sales came from Auckland,” she said. The 40-hectare farm near Glenroy, Canterbury, is named Wairiri after the stream that runs through it and has been a 16-year labour of love for the couple who have only recently been able to devote their undivided attention to it. Lucy did bookkeeping and Christo has been a maintenance engineer at Christchurch Airport. Born in the Netherlands but disenchanted with the overcrowding in his native land, Christo arrived in New Zealand in 1992 with his eye on a job outdoors. He ended up working in tourism for 10 years before returning to his engineering roots. Christo’s engineering background has proved invaluable when it comes to maintaining the milking shed and the cheese factory. “There were so many small things that it would have cost a small fortune to bring in a specialist, so I’ve done a lot of it myself,” Christi said. When they bought the property in the early 2000s, they had not settled on the use they would make of the land. In fact, it would take several years before their plans solidified. Having set up a small niche tourism business in the late 1980s called Flying Kiwi, Lucy was familiar with that size of operation. As the couple mused over the possibilities, Lucy recalled the days when she ran the tourism business at Punakaiki and used to observe the water buffalo owned by pioneer Darcy Craze. “For Canterbury, there’s quite a high rainfall here (600mm a year) and we’ve got soft soil, so I

THE BIG CHEESE: Lucy Appleton and Christo Keijzer make a range of cheeses from Buffalo milk farmed on their property at Glenroy. Photos: NatWick Photography

thought what animal is needed that suits this climate. That’s when we decided on buffalo,” she said. Lucy explains that a buffalo’s cloven hoof spreads to the size of a small dinner plate, which leaves a small imprint and does not pierce and pug the ground like cattle. As

FAMILY BUSINESS: Daughter Chloe Keijzer has learnt the fine art of making cheese from her mum Lucy Appleton.

long as they can find wallows (or create them), they are content. The couple’s approach to setting up the farm differed to that of the other major buffalo operation, Clevedon Buffalo just south of Auckland, which imported a large number of buffalo from Australia

in 2007 and now have over 200 head. She says that would have been too stressful considering they were still working full-time and raising two children. Frequently though, they would find themselves working into the night – as they tried to juggle

VARIETY: Wairiri Buffalo produces a wide range of cheeses – feta, halloumi, ricotta, smoked scamorza, stracciatella, camembert and celebrated mozzarella – which are sold to restaurants, online and at farmers markets.

On Farm Story

different roles of working off and on-farm. Starting gradually, they bought their first small herd from a Melbourne farmer who used Italian genetics, then invested heavily in a purebred bull. They initially bred from those two gene pools then started doing artificial insemination over the top, at any time during the year, according to need. “We started a couple of months after Clevedon Buffalo, but we were like the tortoise, which has been really good, because we’ve been able to look after the genetics. We breed everything up here and we hand-raise the calves. We got rid of all the ones that were wild,” she said. “We have bulls to look after the younger heifers because the young are quite difficult to artificially inseminate, so they go to the bull at age two. We’ve got only a couple of bulls, others are sold to people with lifestyle blocks.” Italian buffalo, known as the Mediterranean type, are believed to have been in that country for over a thousand years. Their milk is used for the famed Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, with most farms concentrated in the region south of Naples. While New Zealanders cannot import live cattle from Italy because of the threat of Mad Cow disease, they can bring in embryos and semen, which is what Wairiri has been doing for the past eight years. Gradually, they built up the herd before starting to milk them and venturing into commercial cheesemaking in 2013. Today the farm supports 60 animals, of which 16 are milkers. They are aiming for 20 milkers. Calving is year-round with no set time for when they are dried off. Some of them dry off after 9-10 months. The buffalo are milked twice-a-day, ensuring a higher yield and a longer milking

life than if they were milked oncea-day. Target weaning weight is about 120kg. The hand-raised calves are initially fed on lamb milk formula, as they cannot be raised on cow’s milk. “It’s been a long journey, getting rid of everything that doesn’t give good milk and doesn’t have good temperament or other issues,” Lucy said. Despite milking only 16 animals, and the best yielding just 12 litres a day, they achieve much more productivity per cow than with cattle. Buffalo are capable of living off a fairly frugal diet having originated in mountainous regions where they were known as “the poor man’s cow.” Lucy and Christo inherited a property of largely ryegrass and clover and have introduced some plantain and sunflowers. But they do not have a regrassing programme because they are trying to avoid too much tilling. They do not feed the buffalo on grain or imported palm kernel. The farm has been organic from the start, although it is not certified because the effort is not worth the excessive paperwork. The buffalo are not given antibiotics and fertiliser is compost with the addition of lime. The couple are committed to looking after the environment. They have fenced off and planted along waterways and are adding to the existing native reserves. About half the farm will be grazing and half will eventually be trees. Christo says he does not know how he could manage without the robot milking system which he had installed two years ago. “We bring the whole herd in at six in the morning, they’re usually waiting outside,” he said. “Then it’s a matter of pushing a button and milking. The computer knows how much milk to expect from each cow, and once the volume starts to go down the cups drop away automatically. Then when they’re finished, I push another button and it cleans the unit.” The milking takes between oneand-a-half to two hours. Christo concedes a manual herringbone system would be faster but at the cost of more work. Even if the herd were to grow, the robot would still

DRINK UP: Lucy Hanlon and Christo feed the calves that are born year-round.

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

LESS IS MORE: Wairiri Buffalo has a herd of 60 and milks 16 buffalos twice-a-day, producing 68,352 litres a year.

be able to manage, except it would take longer to milk them. The robotic system is a handy way of keeping on top of health issues such as mastitis because it registers if there are any problems. It feeds information on milk production directly into a computer. Compared to cattle, the couple says buffalo have a lot of character.

They have a strong pecking order. If one lower down pushes in ahead of the others, she will get punished by those higher in the order. I have to stand at the top, I have to be the boss. Christo Keijzer “They have a strong pecking order. If one lower down pushes in ahead of the others, she will get punished by those higher in the

order. I have to stand at the top, I have to be the boss,” he said. Buffalo produce A2 milk, which finds a ready-market in the Indian community because it is what they grew up with. Besides drinking it, they use it to make paneer cheese, a staple of Indian cuisine. Swedish researchers Mikaela Ståhl Högberg and Ole Lind note that comparing buffalo to cow milk, buffalo contains significantly more total solids, higher levels of the important minerals like calcium and phosphorus, substantially less cholesterol, more of the natural antioxidant tocopherol and more vitamin A. Wairiri produces a wide range of cheeses – feta, halloumi, ricotta, smoked scamorza, stracciatella, camembert and the celebrated mozzarella; the word being derived from the Italian term “to stretch.” The silky textured milk makes it a favourite for using in coffee. Lucy has been the head cheesemaker for the past six years, but her 16-year-old daughter Chloe has learned to the point where she can handle a batch, and a young local man has also trained as a cheesemaker onsite. Overall, the business employs six people. In order to learn the intricacies of cheesemaking, Lucy contacted one of Italy’s largest buffalo farms near Salerno, just south of Naples, to ask if she could visit and learn onsite. Before departing New Zealand she learned conventional Italian, only to discover that region had a difficult to understand dialect. “I could still ask questions, I just couldn’t understand the answers,” she said. “The head cheesemaker was extremely proud of his work and had extremely high standards. He was very stern with me – kind but stern. The family farm was a huge organic operation using four milking robots and supported 60 staff. They wanted me to stay for six months but I could only stay two weeks. “It was extremely exhausting. Every night I would phone a friend who was fluent in both English and Italian, and he was able to help me translate terms.” As she was to learn, mozzarella

cheesemaking on this particular Italian farm was different to the way she now makes it. For a start, they do not pasteurise the milk, whereas in NZ, legal requirements state milk has to be pasteurised. “They don’t pasteurise, they use a fresh culture, whereas we pasteurise and we don’t use a fresh culture, although we could, but it would be very difficult,” she said. “Every day they’re making cheese so they can keep their culture going, and if their culture fails, they can just go to the farm next door. We can’t, we have to use packet culture.” Lucy accepts Italian cheese is cheaper than Wairiri’s but points out there are good reasons for the price difference. For a start, Italian (and European in general) farmers are subsidised to the tune of up to 50%. And don’t get her started on the environmental and animal welfare comparisons. “In Italy they’re all inside. I had an Italian cheesemaker tell me we would not be able to make mozzarella from animals that eat grass and live outside because they need to eat grain to get the protein high. Do people want to eat mozzarella from an animal that’s constantly on antibiotics and grain-fed, or would they like to enjoy fresh grass-fed mozzarella? she asked. “Any chef who tries our cheeses won’t go near that (the imported product) anymore. “And while we lost some of the original tourist-based restaurant trade, we’ve gained a lot of others. The chefs like us because we do the traditional Italian cheeses like the stracciatella, but they use it untraditionally. “One chef put it with seaweed and wasabi, which was a fantastic dish.” Besides selling into restaurants, which have gone “crazy” since the lifting of lockdown, and the online platform, the couple also take their wares to popular farmers’ markets in Lyttelton and Dean’s Bush. The most soughtafter product is probably the mozzarella, although Lucy says they all sell well. >> Video link: bit.ly/OFSwairiri

Taupo 3723 State Highway 5 Tender

Central Plateau dairy • 1,022 ha dairy farm located 38 km south-east of Taupo in the Rangitaiki district • Contour predominantly flat to undulating with small area of easy hill; pumice and loam soils with good fertility levels • 2,825 cows, last season 1.018m kgMS with 960 kgDM per cow imported feed • 120 paddocks with access via wide stock races maintained from on-farm quarry • Run as two separate units with independent water supplies sourced from three bores; two 80 bail rotary dairies with inshed meal feeding systems; new lined effluent storage ponds, 335 ha covered by travelling irrigators • Dwellings include eight modern brick homes plus additional single staff quarters • Offered for sale as turn-key operation including livestock, plant and machinery • Attractive yield forecast with full management contract available

Tender closes Tuesday 15th December, 2020 at 4.00pm, Property Brokers Ltd - 138 Arawata Street, Te Awamutu View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/TWR02952

Dave Peacocke M 027 473 2382

E davep@pb.co.nz

David McGuire M 027 472 2572

E david.mcguire@pb.co.nz

Te Awamutu 1252 Owairaka Valley Road Open Day

CastleRock An excellent beef finishing property offering size and scope situated 25 km south east of Te Awamutu • 269.46 ha - 1252 Owairaka Valley Road, Wharepapa South - plus an additional 34 ha support block • Exceptionally well presented; finishing approx. 700/750 beef cattle per season; a well balanced mix of easy rolling contour medium to steeper hill; NB: Inspection Days - mbikes or 4WD side x side required; helmets essential • V.g. range of well maintained buildings; 4-stand woolshed, covered sheep & cattleyards, automated cattle crush with scales, 6-bay implement shed incl lockable workshop; v.g. fencing races; fully reticulated water supply • Quality 5 brm + office homestead; spacious living, large decks, inground pool, bbq area, tennis court - has been utilised as a lodge for on-farm adventure tourism business; very good 3 brm dwelling in sunny north facing position • Aesthetically pleasing with mature specimen trees, woodlots; Puniu River with trout fishing on southern boundary

Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 | pb.co.nz

Auction 12.00pm, Thu 17th Dec, 2020 View Thu 10 Dec 12.00 - 2.00pm Web pb.co.nz/TWR03019

Brian Peacocke M 021 373 113

E brianp@pb.co.nz Proud to be here

Dannevirke 16 Corby Road

Oxford 3933 South Eyre Road Tender

Corby Road - 167 ha This established dairy unit certainly presents options to the market; located 14 km from Dannevirke & under 40 minutes drive to Palmerston North. Extremely well catered for with a centrally located 40 ASHB shed with large rectangle yard, large feed pad, concrete silage bunkers & ample effluent storage. The low cost farming system is milking 400 cows on the effective platform of 121 ha of which almost all is flat & is in modern pastures on some of the districts best soil types. Two well kept family homes complete an appealing package.

Deadline Sale

Productive 41 hectares Tender closes Tuesday 15th December, 2020 at 2.00pm, Property Brokers, 129 Main Street, Pahiatua View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/PR79579

Jared Brock M 027 449 5496 John Arends M 027 444 7380

Rarely available 101 acre block, with executive home and good infrastructure is available for buyers needing more than a lifestyle block. Situated just seven kilometres from Oxford, it is an easy commute to Darfield or the ski fields. The spacious homestead has double glazing in the living area with a large log-burner, four good sized double bedrooms, master bedroom with walk in robe and ensuite. The main bathroom has been recently updated with a new shower and new carpet has been laid throughout the home. There is a double internal access garage and a detached double garage.

Deadline Sale closes Friday 18th December, 2020 at 4.00pm, (unless sold prior) View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/RR79797

Maurice Newell M 027 240 1718 Hamish Anderson M 027 678 8888

A real change in real estate. The Property Brokers and Farmlands partnership means great things for provincial real estate Together our combined strengths complement each other to create a unique offering: - A nationwide network from Northland to Southland - Over 750 staff across 75 locations dedicated to real estate - A deep understanding of the land with market-leading expertise in property sales and marketing Bigger networks, more buyers, better results. For more information call 0800 367 5263 or visit pb.co.nz/together

Proud to be together

Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008

Property Brokers Pahiatua Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 | pb.co.nz

Proud to be here

Opunake 1002 Waiteika Road

Summer safe dairy farm - 128.25ha - to be auctioned The 128.25 hectare property is predominantly flat with a smattering of lahars (cone type hills) thrown in. The farm is considered summer safe and has very good amenities. These include a very nice three bedroom home with two sleep-outs plus a three bedroom cottage. The 30 aside herringbone cowshed was built 25 years ago is in very good order with the yard easily holding 300 cows. 270 cows are currently being milked. There are excellent sheds and a dual consent discharge permit. Races are in great order, pasture in good heart and fertility very good. A farm that has been in and loved by the same family for 60 years.

Auction (will not be sold prior) 1pm, Fri 18 Dec 2020 15 Courtenay Street, New Plymouth View by appointment John Blundell 027 240 2827 john.blundell@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY TARANAKI LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

bayleys.co.nz/2600729

Boundary lines are indicative only

Waitakaruru 157 Mahuta Road North Dairy - 6 titles, 62 hectares Flat, fertile, and full of options. This 62ha (more or less) Hauraki Plains dairy farm with naturally fertile marine clay soils, all flat contour, and six titles, this a versatile proposition for an astute purchaser who can think outside the square. The farm is well divided into 37 paddocks with a central race system leading back to the key farm infrastructure. This property will be a pleasure to operate in all conditions with the combination of a 14 ASHB cowshed and 170 cow capacity herd shelter nearby helping to produce the farms record production of approximately 60,000kgMS. Additional improvements include a calf rearing shed, implement shed and a haybarn. A solid weatherboard three bedroom, one bathroom home.

bayleys.co.nz/2311949

bayleys.co.nz

North Canterbury 607 Harewood Road, Oxford 3

Auction (unless sold prior) 11am, Tue 22 Dec 2020 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton View 12-1pm Tue 8 Dec or by appointment Karl Davis 0508 83 83 83 karl.davis@bayleys.co.nz Lee Carter 027 696 5781 lee.carter@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY LIMITED, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Modern dairying at its best Invest in your future with this high-performing dairy operation currently producing great returns. Converted six years ago, this modern farm has been exceptionally well managed and offers a fantastic opportunity for the new owner. The 153.21ha property includes consent to milk up to 690 cows through the modern 60-bail rotary shed with a carbon-fibre platform, automatic wash down, in-shed feeding and 600 cow yard. Currently milking 500 cows peak-milk producing around 250,000kgMS, it is well laid out for ease of management with a central lane keeping walks under 500m. Good soils, strong pasture growth, pivot irrigation, new infrastructure and trimmed shelterbelts complete the picture. Seize the opportunity to own this productive and profitable farm.

bayleys.co.nz/5513774

For Sale by Deadline Private Treaty (unless sold prior)

12pm, Tue 15 Dec 2020 3 Deans Avenue, Christchurch View by appointment Ben Turner 027 530 1400 ben.turner@bayleys.co.nz Peter Foley 021 754 737 peter.foley@bayleys.co.nz WHALAN AND PARTNERS LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Real Estate

FARMERS WEEKLY – December 7, 2020

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

FARMS WANTED Cash buyer looking for farms only in the North Island (between Feilding and Whangarei) to buy. Seller can lease the farm back. The sale would be handled discreetly.

Catlins Surrounds 9 Rewcastle Road Lifestyle investment opportunity The Whistling Frog Restaurant and Resort contains a multitude of dining, camping and lodging accommodation options for travelers, at this mid-point Catlin’s destination stopover, providing a complex for the new owners to further enhance unrealised income potential. This property will appeal to an adventure, rural lifestyle purchaser, including returning ex-Pats, families looking to work together and expand this operation over time and to diversify and grow existing tourism operations. With pure air, water, uncrowded beaches, surfing, kayaking and stunning scenery; the Whistling Frog complex is a “must consider” for those looking to purchase a growing business enterprise.

QUEENSTOWN & SOUTHERN NZ REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED REAA 2008

bayleys.co.nz/4480813

Albury

914 Mount Nessing Road 4

Deadline Sale (unless sold prior) 2pm, Tue 15 Dec 2020 Unit 7/50 Theodosia Street Timaru Hamish Lane 027 685 6204 hamish.lane@bayleys.co.nz Georgie Robson 027 562 4100 georgie.robson@bayleys.co.nz

Please enquire by email to: dmleo60@gmail.com

LK0105115©

Asking Price $5,750,000 + GST (if any) View by appointment Warwick Kerr 027 473 3130 warwick.kerr@bayleys.co.nz

SOUTHERN WIDE REAL ESTATE Hargest House, Level One, 62 Deveron Street, Invercargill 9810

p 03 218 2795 e southland@swre.co.nz w www.southernwide.co.nz

ITS ALL ABOUT SCALE

WHALAN AND PARTNERS LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED REAA 2008

'Mossvale' 'Mossvale' represents an opportunity to purchase a 1,182.1273 hectare (more or less) property. Recently wintering approximately 1,800 Corriedale Romney Cross Ewes, 475 Hoggets, 180 Mixed Aged Hereford cows, 150 R2's and 250 R1's.

bayleys.co.nz/5513738

Your one stop shop for rural Real Estate Get in touch with your agent today to list your property next to news that farmers read. 0800 85 25 80 farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate

5788.9611 HA FARMED 1577 OWAKA VALLEY ROAD

This large scale farm has undergone an extensive development programme over the last 28 years, improving its carrying capacity and productivity. Currently wintering 19,250 sheep and 600 cattle. There is approximately 3400 hectares in paddocks, the balance being oversown and native country which provides a good mix of earlier and summer safe farming. Extensively farmed with excellent infrastructure including four modernised homes, three sets of sheep yards, two sets of cattle yards and two woolsheds which have all been maintained to a very high standard. The property has established and well maintained forestry blocks and is very suitable for large scale forestry development. If scale is what you are looking for then please contact us promptly. Wayne Clarke 0274 325 768 Web Ref SWI2244

FOR SALE

TOKOMARU BAY FORESTRY ESTATE

1944 Mata Road, Tokomaru Bay East Coast Region

FOR SALE

MANGATARATA STATION

1944 Mata Road, Tokomaru Bay East Coast Region

LARGE-SCALE FORESTRY ESTATE - MULTIPLE PURCHASE OPTIONS

FARM LAND FOR SALE - MULTIPLE PURCHASE OPTIONS

Comprised of four adjoining forests and one station, Tokomaru Bay Forestry Estate is a large-scale plantation forestry and pastoral farming opportunity located in the East Coast Region of New Zealand. Included in the sale is the option to purchase the freehold land and trees comprising Mata Forest, Mangatarata Forest, Te Rawhiti Forest, Onetohunga Forest and the Mangatarata Station together or separately. Recent inventory, mapping and harvest records are available.

Mangatarata Station is a large working farm located in the East Coast Region of New Zealand. On offer is up to 899ha (subject to survey) of farm land with a full complement of farm infrastructure, including 6-stand woolshed, modern covered yards, satellite yards, dam and reticulated water systems, stables, and various other farm outbuildings. Accommodation includes workers’ cottages, shearers’ quarters and the renovated homestead, set on a large section with expansive views to Mt Hikurangi and Tokomaru Bay.

Deadline Expressions of Interest:

Deadline Offers:

Thursday 17 December 2020 at 4pm (NZDT) Wyatt Johnston Chan Singh Jeremy Keating

+64 27 815 1303 +64 27 767 7113 +64 21 461 210

+ + + + + +

3,466.67ha combined freehold land Mature forest of 1,191.8ha* NSA Age Class 1994-1998 644.7ha* cutover/replanted land 899ha* farm land available Post ’89 land with significant carbon earning potential

*Approximately

+ Up to 899ha* subject to survey Thursday 17 December 2020 at 4pm (NZDT) + 765ha* effective, carrying 6,750* stock units Chan Singh +64 27 767 7113 + Renovated 5-bedroom 1920s homestead Wyatt Johnston +64 27 815 1303 + 6-stand woolshed, modern covered yards, Jeremy Keating +64 21 461 210 satellite yards (3), dam and reticulated water systems + Available as entire farm (899ha*), home *Approximately block only (590ha*), or northern runoff only (309ha)

SHERWOOD FOREST

FOR SALE

Annedale Road, Masterton Wellington Region

About Us

PREDOMINANTLY GROUND-BASED HARVESTING

Arotahi Agribusiness is a services business, advising owners and occupiers of rural and agribusiness properties throughout Aotearoa. Our areas of expertise cover Transactions, Valuations and Advisory across a wide range of productive land uses. Prior to establishing Arotahi in November 2020, our high performing team has successfully negotiated in excess of $500m of transactions, together with valuing some of the most productive dairy, pastoral, high country and forestry land in the country. For any transaction or advisory work, get in touch with our licensed real estate agents:

Comprised of 276.21ha of freehold land and a net stocked area of 239ha* of Pinus radiata, Sherwood Forest is a modest-scale forest on freehold land located 60km* north of Masterton. A partially harvested forest with approximately 130ha* of mature crop remaining and 109ha* replanted in 2019 and 2020. As much as 75% of the total land area is estimated to suit ground-based harvesting.

Deadline Expressions of Interest:

+ Thursday 17 December 2020 at 3pm (NZDT) + + Wyatt Johnston +64 27 815 1303 + Chan Singh +64 27 767 7113 Jeremy Keating +64 21 461 210 +

Jeremy Keating M +64 21 461 210

Arotahi Agribusiness Limited, Licensed Real Estate Agent (REAA 2008)

Chan Singh M +64 27 767 7113

Or for any valuation or advisory work, get in touch with our valuer:

276.21ha freehold land 239ha* net stocked area – P.rad 130ha* (1992-1994), 109ha* (2019-2020) 75%* suitable for ground-based harvesting (entire forest) Available as cutting right only and/or land + trees

*Approximately

Wyatt Johnston M +64 27 815 1303

Scott Carter M +64 22 122 7057

FARMERS WEEKLY – December 7, 2020

Tech & Toys

farmersweekly.co.nz/advertising 0800 85 25 80

Thursday 10 th D e c e m b e r 2020 Call Jaiden for s i t e i nfo: 0274 645 200

LIVE MACHINERY DEMONSTRATION EVENT Mowing from 9am (20min slots) & Harvesting from 1pm (30min slots)

T i c k e ts a t t h e g a t e $ 2 0 .0 0 | H a r r i sv i l l e sp eed w a y, S H 1 , B ul l s

SHEEP JETTER Sheep dipping… made easier! Innovative Agriculture Equipment

• Fantastic penetration • Get one now before price increase

7685

+ GST

Serving NZ Farmers since 1962

www.pppindustries.co.nz / sales@pppindustries.co.nz / 0800 901 902

LK0105175©

• Manufactured from stainless steel • Electric Eye • 800-1000 sheep per hour

NZ’s #1 Agri Job Board

Connecting rural employers and job seekers

AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY

TIROA E TRUST

operated Livestock Company, NZ Farmers Livestock are leaders in their industry operating across New Zealand. We define ourselves

www.farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz

We have two vacancies available for the following:

on the strength of our expertise and commitment to working with farmers for farmers. We are continually making grounds in the

CONTRACT MILKING – CANTERBURY

SHEPHERD x 2

industry and positioning ourselves as the leader in the online space

The successful applicants would require 2-3 sound working dogs and have sound stock and pasture management skills.

of livestock trading, saleyard and on farm auction live streaming with the successful and ever growing MyLiveStock.co.nz.

We require you to be an excellent communicator, a strong team player and must be improvement and solutions focused, but above all else we are seeking someone energetic and keen to progress themselves in the industry.

NZ Farmers Livestock are currently seeking a Livestock Specialist/ Regional Manager in order to extend our coverage of the Wellsford/ Northland regions. • Competitive remuneration package

This position comes with competitive remuneration, a great work environment and good housing.

• Supportive team environment • Immediate start • Unique opportunity for a change of career direction

Applicants for this position must have NZ residency or a valid NZ work visa and will be required to have a clear pre-employment drug test.

• Health Insurance • Life/Terminal Illness Insurance Key skills and attributes the successful candidate should have

For further information please contact Wayne Fraser (07) 878 4815, or email your CV to sharon@tiroatehape.maori.nz

are: • Energy and vitality

Applications close: Friday 11 December 2020, 5pm.

• Sales experience • Managerial experience • General livestock knowledge

Farm Manager

• Superior relationship building and communication skills • Ability to work in an autonomous manner • High levels of drive and self motivation

If this sounds like you, then please apply by logging onto the No8HR website at www.no8hr.co.nz (Ref#8HR1335).

Withers Trust Farm Kaipara Flats, Warkworth LK0105121©

• Computer literate

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

This position is available on our sheep and cattle breeding, fattening intensive farm of 375 hectares from 20 January 2021. We are one hour from Auckland.

NGĀI TAHU FARMING – DAIRY BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Toitū te marae o tāne, toitū te marae o tangaroa, tiotū te iwi.. When land and water are sustained, the people will prosper.

Winter stocking 3000 stock units of 1000 ewes, 300 hoggets, 100 Angus cows and heifers. Great infrastructure of buildings, fencing, races, water supply. 3 bedroom house to a high standard with a local primary school handy and the college is 6km away.

Ngai Tahu Farming recognises that growing its business means evolving its farming assets to provide positive environmental, social, cultural and financial outcomes and its ambition is to be an exemplar to the Canterbury pastoral sector of what good looks like from a quadruple bottom line perspective.

Applicants will need: • Management experience • Be capable with machinery • To have your own dogs • To be well organised with contractors and forward planning.

Ngāi Tahu Farming is mindful of its environmental impact across its operations, farming well below its consented limits and leads the industry in measuring and monitoring its footprint with lysimeters and dedicated water quality bores across the whenua (land).

Apply to: simonwithers0630@gmail.com

We anticipate negotiating an appropriate remuneration package with the successful candidate to reflect the scope of the role and level of experience. To obtain a Job Information Pack for this role, or to apply, please contact Tavendale and Partners by email to REDAopportunity@tp.co.nz

Contract Milker

All the farms are an easy commute from Christchurch (circa 45 minutes) and 15 minutes drive from the local service town of Rangiora. The farms have benefited from good infrastructure set-ups and are in their eighth year of development, so are exactly what you would expect – great farms with great infrastructure in a great location. They have the upside production potential you would expect from conversions, so the focus can shift to maximising potential and tweaking for top performance.

Dairy DairyMasters Training Courses Contract Milker Farm Manager Home based telephone interviewers Large Scale Contract Milking Position Livestock Specialist / Regional Manager Manager Operations Manager Sharemilking Shepherd Tractor / Truck / Machinery Operator

Reporting directly to and working closely with the board, the successful candidate will be responsible for: leading, supporting and developing a team of 4 Managers; cultivating team culture; maximising the efficient use of resources; financial management, including budgeting and forecasting; maintaining and growing our relationships with stakeholders; and enhancing our reputation in the community.

Lower Order Sharemilker

With up to eight roles available, this shift from managed operations to business opportunities within the now mature Ngāi Tahu Farming business is underpinned by the organisation’s desire to grow people within the dairy sector, to nurture and role model business partnerships that strengthen operational, environmental and financial performance.

JOBS BOARD

The Operations Manager position presents a great opportunity to join a team with a clear vision: to be the most innovative and sustainable farming operator, respecting the environment, while being self-sufficient and generating sufficient returns to allow investment in new business opportunities.

Living the values of the iwi in a commercially viable operation is the cornerstone of a direction shift that sees these business-to-business opportunities become available for the season starting June 2021.

Sharemilker (50/50)

farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz

REDA is looking to appoint a full-time, dedicated Operations Manager to advance the success of its New Zealand operations and lead the business into its next phase of innovation and growth.

This role presents an exciting opportunity for the right person. You will need an eye for detail, but also be able to see the big picture, identifying opportunities for growth, expansion and diversification. You will also need to be dynamic, capable of embracing and driving change and innovation and have a proven track record in leading and managing a profitable farming enterprise.

LK0105135©

REDA owns and operates three New Zealand Farms: Otamatapaio Station, (Rugged Ridges Station under the control of Otamatapaio), Glenburn Trading in the Waitaki District and Glenrock Station in the McKenzie District, totalling 30,000 hectares and farming 37,000 stock units. There has been significant investment in the combined properties over the last 8 years, mainly into irrigation. At Glenburn more than 370 hectares are now irrigated by spray irrigation. As a result, the farms have been able to diversify their revenues, which today are coming from high quality fine merino wool, mid-micron wool, and the sale of sheep and cattle.

At Ngāi Tahu Farming, values are at the forefront with whanaungatanga (family), manaakitanga (looking after its people), tohungatanga (expertise), kaitiakitanga (stewardship), tikanga (appropriate action) and rangatiratanga (leadership) underpinning its operations across the board.

These are opportunities to grow professional, pasture-based New Zealand farming professionals, but they’re also substantial businesses, so at a minimum we require tangata (people): • With at least two years full management of a large-scale dairy farm with ownership of the recruitment, training and retention of tangata; • With a proven track record of high performance in environmental management, pasture management and people development. • Who take pride in a well-presented property; and • Who have an appetite for continuous improvement.

*FREE upload to Farmers Weekly jobs: farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz *conditions apply

Keen? Go to www.no8hr.co.nz (Ref#8HR1332) to find out more about these opportunities, and how to apply.

Contact Debbie Brown 06 323 0765 or email classifieds@globalhq.co.nz LK0104232©

OPERATIONS MANAGER REDA is one of the leading brands in the merino textile industry. It firmly believes that it has the responsibility to promote change through sustainable innovation and environmental awareness, and that its future success will be built upon the strength of its people and social progress within local communities.

We have a contract milking role available on our 180ha Canterbury property at Hinds. It currently milks 670 cows with production of 326,000kg MS through a 54bail rotary with in shed feeding and protrac. The property has three houses (4 bed and 2 x 3 bed) and is well located for schooling and 15 minutes from Ashburton. We are on the MHV water scheme for irrigation with additional well water. There are two main pivots and a small amount of Kline and the effluent system has been upgraded to include solid separation, large storage pond, pivot injection plus underslung. The property is overseen by a consultant to ensure performance is at the highest level. We will provide an excellent package that rewards a top operator with the following attributes: • Preference will be given to an experienced contract milker • Minimum 4 years plus experience of large dairy operations employing staff in Canterbury • Self-starter that does not need hand held to operate business to a high level • Excellent cows and grass skills to achieve BCS and production targets without wasting grass • Excellent and honest communicator that keeps people in loop • Accurate and regular record keeper • History of maintaining farm compliance with all consents and audits • History of maintaining assets to high standard • Financially sound

LK0105152©

This is your opportunity to join an experienced 100% owned and

close Friday 18th December 2020.

Email classifieds@globalhq.co.nz or call 0800 85 25 80 today

Tiroa Station is a 3,200ha effective property situated near Benneydale, 35 minutes from Te Kuiti and part of the Tiroa Te Hape group of farms covering 7,300ha. The station winters 32,000 stock units made up of a high performing breeding ewe flock and breeding cow herd.

Wellsford/Northland

Please email CV’s to: bill.sweeney@nzfll.co.nz

Advertise your job in Farmers Weekly

(Tiroa Station)

Livestock Specialist/Regional Manager

All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence and will

FARMERS WEEKLY – December 7, 2020

Tāraia te anamata, tau ana. Carving a legacy of excellence.

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

LK0105170©

classifieds@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

LK0105186©

Agri Job Board ANIMAL HANDLING

DEERLAND TRADING LTD

DOGS WANTED

LIVESTOCK WANTED

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

DEERLAND TRADING LTD buying deer velvet this season and paying above the average. Also contractor required to buy deer velvet. Payment on commission basis. Contact 021 269 7608.

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

WILTSHIRES-ARVIDSON. Self shearing sheep. No1 for Facial Eczema. David 027 2771 556.

ANIMAL AND HUMAN healer, also manipulation on horses and dogs. Mid South Canterbury, North Otago, Dunedin area, Balclutha, Gore, Invercargill, Otautau, Te Anau, Alexandra, Cromwell, Omarama, Twizel, Tekapo, Fairlie, 7th17th December. For more information ph Ron Wilson 027 435 3089.

DELIVERING DOGS South & North Islands 15/12/20 www.youtube.com/user/ mikehughesworkingdog/ videos – email: mikehughesworkingdogs@ farmside.co.nz ONE 6-MONTH Huntaway dog pup, great breeding and noise. ONE 14-month Huntaway suits cattle or yard work. Phone 027 243 8541. TWO 7-MONTH heading bitches. Hawkes Bay. Can deliver North. Phone 027 688 7535.

TRT Pastoral Group owns and operates over 10,000 hectares of prime grazing land in ictoria and Tasmania . The core business focuses on producing high quality Angus cattle raised under sustainable practices . The TRT Pastoral Group herd is one of the largest privately owned Angus herds in Australia .

The King Island aggregation 8,500 ha of some of the most productive beef grazing land in the world 8,000 high quality Angus cows plus progeny :

Farms focus on optimising pasture production and utilisation through advanced gazing management

Appl' via Email: KIAdmin@trtgroup.com.au

Phone: Cod' Whiteman +61 439 6/6 524 Northern Division management role available Managing large scale intensive beef operations Day to day management of northern division staff Desirable qualification in the Grazing For Profit school or Pasture Principles course Low stress stock handling , handling large numbers of cattle and grazing management Hands on manager who can lead by example , mentor staff and provide a safe workplace Production reporting including collating , analysing and acting on performance data

An attractive remuneration package will be offered to the successful candidate , including a vehicle , communications and a comfortable house . *ing )sland offers world famous golf , pristine beaches , surfing , diving , crayfish , fishing and gourmet cheese . Applicants must be an Australian or N citizen .

Noticeboard DOLOMITE NZ’s finest BioGro certified Mg fertiliser For a delivered price call ....

0800 436 566

CHILLERS & FREEZERS

See TradeME #2251190054 [For farmers and hunters] Become self-sufficient

www.underthewoolshed.kiwi

021 441 180 (JC)

Working through Taihape area

frigidair@xtra.co.nz LK0105166©

udly NZ Made Pro Since 1975

We also clean out and remetal cattle yards – Call us!

LK0105167©

Ph: Scott Newman 027 26 26 272 0800 27 26 88

FAST GRASS www.gibb-gro.co.nz GROWTH PROMOTANT Only $6.00 per hectare + GST delivered Brian Mace 0274 389 822 brianmace@xtra.co.nz

BOOKS FOR SALE

Secure Farm Bike & expensive Tools with HIRE SAS MOTION SENSOR. Alerts Free App on your Smart Phone Sensitive to Light/Motion/ UV and Sound. Smartfone Managed & easy access 24/7

SCOTTY’S CONTRACTORS NZ’s #1 Under Woolshed/Covered Yards Cleaning Specialist For Over A Decade

“FARM SECURITY @ $1.00/ DAY”

ATTENTION FARMERS

Selling something?

Advertise in Farmers Weekly

ATF VISION nationwide Phone: 0508 13 17 16

Contact Debbie: 0800 85 25 80

BEST & CHEAPEST NZ FARM SECURITY

classifieds@globalhq.co.nz

WARNING New book by farmer and hunter Kerry Butler may offend those of a sensitive disposition as it includes steamy tales about hot-to-trot women.

To see all about it including photos from the book, and to read sample chapters just google: Kerry Butler CHB.NET

DOGS FOR SALE

WE HAVE A TOP selection of young Huntaways for sale. We are not traders we are breeders trainers and sellers based in Southland. Transport to the North Island no problem. Join us on facebook workingdogsnewzealand. Check out our web site w w w. r i n g w a y k e n n e l s . co.nz. Ringway Kennels. Phone 027 248 7704. FOR ONLY $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classifieds. Phone Marie on 0800 85 25 80 to book.

EXCHANGE/ SELL WANTED TO EXCHANGE or sell Massey Fergusson 12 hay bailer for a rotary slasher suitable for 80 horsepower tractor. Phone 04 564 8574 or email memcroberts@xtra.co.nz

FARM MAPPING GET PADDOCK SLOPE estimates for winter grazing from farmmapping.co.nz or phone 0800 433 855 for a free quote.

GOATS WANTED NAKI GOATS. Trucking goats to the works every week throughout the NI. Phone Michael and Clarice. 027 643 0403. 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. 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.

GRAZING AVAILABLE GRAZING AVAILABLE. Short or long term. Port Albert 021 885 436

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

PERSONAL

Don’t be alone this Christmas

At CCN we help lonely gentlemen in ﬁnding their soul mates & romantic partners. We specialise in introducing couples the old fashioned way. Call for a FREE compatibility match to start meeting genuine ladies seeking companionship/love today. Please call

0800 446 332

WANTED TO BUY 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.

WORK WANTED FARM SITTING / CARETAKING. Retired Male farmer. Okay with stock work & fence repairs etc. North Island. References and clean Justice of Department record available. Phone 027 214 8126.

When only the best will do!

Christmas close down

4X4 TAGALONG TOURS Bring your own 4X4 on a guided tour to discover more of the South Island. and Rainbow Stations Dates 2021

Our office will be closed from 5pm December 16 and will reopen January 5, 2021 for our first publication January 11.

Tour 2 D’Urville Island and Dates 2021 March 5-9, March 21-25, April 11-15.

LK0104815©

Jan 25-28, Feb 21-24, March 28-31, April 25-28.

Marlborough High Country Other dates available for groups of 6 or more people on request

Booking and material deadline January 6

Phone 0274 351 955 Email info@southislandtoursnz.com www.southislandtoursnz.com

Dedicated to delivering farmers the best service and best returns

LK0104519©

Heavy duty long lasting

$750 $1000 off + Free Freight on Crushes

Debbie 06 323 0765 classifieds@globalhq.co.nz farmersweekly.co.nz/advertising

Ph 021 047 9299

GENUINE $500 REDUCTION

On orders in 2020

WOOL

Independent wool brokers Est. 1983

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Our last Farmers Weekly publication for 2020 is December 14.

Tour 1 Molesworth Station, St James,

“The automatic head bail convinced us Combi Clamp was the way to go. It has transformed our cattle work in the yards.” - David Robinson

On orders in 2020

- DECEMBER ONLY SPECIAL -

TOWABLE TOPPING MOWER

Adding value from shed to sale! 4 3 S ever n S tr eet Pandor a, Napier

. 06 835 6174 . www.kellswool. co. nz

GST $4200 INCLUSIVE

$400 off Standard Unit with a major extra

$3700 GST INCLUSIVE

To find out more visit www.moamaster.co.nz

Phone 027 367 6247 • Email: info@moamaster.co.nz

LK0105095©

Live Auction . Online Auction

11.5HP Briggs & Stratton Motor. Industrial. Electric start.

™

LK0105137©

MANAGER POSITION

APPLICATIONS CLOSE FRIDAY 8TH JANUARY 2021 Do you want to join a leading sustainable farming group operating intensive beef farming on King Island, Tasmania?

Position available and responsibilities

Noticeboard

LK0105150©

0800 227 228 www.combiclamp.co.nz

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

Livestock Noticeboard

STOCK REQUIRED

CULL EWES 2YR ANG STEERS 480-540kg DRY COWS

"Maximising your return through personal livestock management"

WALDHEIM WILTSHIRES 15 YEARS OF COMMERCIALLY BREEDING LOW MAINTENANCE, HIGH PRODUCTION SHEEP

DAIRY FOR SALE

STOCK FOR SALE

100 Jersey Autumn Calving Carryover Cows.

55 x 2YR FRSN BULLS 530kg 50 x 470kg 1YR FRSN BULLS 1&2YR ANG XBRED STEERS FRSN BULL CALVES 110kg+ DAIRY SIRE BULLS, HEREFORDS 100 CS ANG 1YR HEIFERS 360-400kg

FARMERS WEEKLY – December 7, 2020

BW 172, PW 191, 97% Anc. DTC 10/03/21, in-calf to

Angus

bulls.

Dry

cow

treated.

Beautiful

bodied & very nice udders. $1,800/hd.

290 Crossbred/Frs Cows. BW 102, PW 15 , 100% Anc. DTC 20/07/21, CRV AB. 5 weeks tailed Murray Grey bulls. A beautiful herd of cows, top type & udders. This is a top herd with top records. All young stock available. $1,875/hd

2-TOOTH RAMS FOR SALE NOW

_______________________________ Jason Roberts

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381

• No shearing • No crutching • No cast sheep • High worm resistance • No bearings • No flystrike • No need for tail docking • Low mortality

027 707 1271 jason@byl.co.nz

A Financing Solution For Your Farm E info@rdlfinance.co.nz

BYLLIVESTOCK.CO.NZ

07 823 4559

byllivestock

LK0105109©

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

WILTSHIRES ARE AS EASY TO FARM AS CATTLE Sabine James • Dannevirke • 06 374 2851 • waldheim@xtra.co.nz

SHIAN STUD RAMS FOR SALE

LIVE EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES Carrfields Livestock Agents currently hold export cattle shipment details from multiple reputable exporters that gives you the choice of timing, and pricing that suits you.

South Suffolk Rams & South Suffolk/Southdown x Rams

LK0104968©

Contact your local Carrfields Agent for more details or Contact: Paul Kane 027 286 9279 National Dairy & Live Export Co-ordinator

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

MILKING BREEDING EWES A/c ANTARA AG, SOUTHLAND

Suffolk stud based mid Canterbury. Well grown top quality rams with EM and weight data.

Ewes have not been milked due to rearing their lambs.

Phone Anna 021 084 38170

Will be weaned end December. Very good milking blood lines. Will be in very sound and forward condition. 6% rejection rate.

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

PGG Wrightson on behalf of Clients will offer 8,200 including the following special entries: Atua Station | Elsthorpe Capital Stock – Farm sold • 800 Romney 2th Ewes • 500 Romney 4yr Ewes Sired by Hildreth genetics for 15 years. Flock scan 180%. Top quality breeding ewes.

Wednesday 16th December 2020 On A/c: Matijasevich Sons Trust Comprising: 100 x 1Yr South Devon Steers

Enquiries to Bill Sweeney 0274 515 310 Streamed live on mylivestock.co.nz Auto bids can also be placed

LK0105065©

20 x 2Yr South Devon Heifers

know how to shift.

STORTFORD LODGE SALE YARDS

Total yarding - 13,145 Comprising: • 3,450 2th Ewes • 1,850 4th Ewes • 4,665 MA Ewes • 3,180 5yr Ewes

FRANKTON SALE YARDS

Capital stock – Hill country cattle that

Enquiries to Brian Sherson – 07 895 7686 or Rob Sherson – 027 230 8230 Email – b.sherson@xtra.co.nz

Stortford Lodge Early Ewe Fair Friday 18th December, 10.30am

ANNUAL DRAFT OF SOUTH DEVON STEERS & HEIFERS

40 x 1Yr South Devon Heifers

RAMS AVAILABLE FOR SALE FROM EARLY DECEMBER

Merlindale Farm | Kereru • 400 4th Romney Ewes • 400 MA Romney Ewes Awanui Stn | Paki Paki • 380 2th Romney Ewes Campden Farm | Waiware • 900 MA Romney Ewes Enquiries: Neil Common 027 444 8745 Helping grow the country

SHIRE® (hair) & WILTSHIRE (shedding) BOOK HARDY MEAT BRED 2 TOOTH RAMS NOW! HARDY low input EASY CARE MEAT SHEEP NO FLY STRIKE, NO DAGGING, NO SHEARING, NO VACCINES, NO DIPPING NO DRENCHING SINCE 1989 Reduced work, high fertility, hardy, fast growing lambs. Stud established 1987

Shearing Shed used for events now!

ALSO TUFTY® (POLLED HIGHLAND) BULLS, COWS & CALVES AVAILABLE

Certified BioGro (215) Organic since 1989. Deliver all over NZ

LK0105174©

For further enquiries contact: Hamish McAslan 027 281 0377

LK0105092©

Tenders close: 11/12/20 Email tenders to: livestock.feilding@carrfields.co.nz

www.bishamptonsuffolks.co.nz

LK0105112©

Quality Suffolk and Suff-Beltex 2th rams available now and ram lambs available from January.

200 x 4 tooth 200 x 6 tooth 200 x Full Mouth

LK0105162©

Approx 600 East Friesian/Poll Dorset X Ewes made up of approx:

Phone Tim & Helen Gow 03 225 5283 www.organic-rams.co.nz • Email: tim@organic-rams.co.nz 2nd annual

Festival 2021 1-3 January 2021

™

HEALING & MUSIC

www.revitalize.nz

Tickets via www.eventfinda.co.nz ◆ PAUL UBANA JONES ◆ CRAIG SMITH ◆ JULIAN TEMPLE BAND

Live music ◆ Guitar & songwriting workshops ◆ Ayurveda ◆ Kundalini Reiki energy healing ◆ Kundaini yoga ◆ Children’s & family yoga ◆ Sabbatical fallowing & organics workshops ◆ Food trucks or own food ◆ Family friendly play areas, walks and animals ◆ $10/day camping on site ◆ Shire hair sheep & Tufty cattle ◆ Brain gym ◆ Open mic night ◆ EVs Cars Bikes UTvs 2576 Clifden Blackmount Rd, between Manapouri and Tuatapere

Livestock Noticeboard

FARMERS WEEKLY – December 7, 2020

To advertise Call Ella: 0800 85 25 80

Enquiries Mark & Helen Callaghan Methven – 027 223 7555

UPCOMING AUCTIONS Monday, 7 December 2020 1.00pm Glengarry Poll Dorset Ram Sale

OVERALL WINNER: Stu Campbell, Seddon, Longdown Lamb CLASS 3 WINNERS: Paul & Kay Gardner, Ashburton, Texel Lamb The Canterbury A&P Association congratulates the finalists in the 2020 Mint Lamb Competition, judged on overall carcass yield & hook, tender and taste tested. Other results can be viewed at theshow.co.nz/results

7th Waterton Ram Sale Charollais, % Charollais, Suffolk and South Suffolk Rams

Tuesday 15th December 2020 Viewing from 2.30pm

Hill bred

Helmsman Sale 4.00pm

Commercially farmed

Belmont Station

SIL recorded

50 Kerr Road, Cave

Eye Muscle Scanned

South Canterbury

Brucellosis Accredited Over 50 years breeding

16 Pure Charollais – 40 Suffolk – 20 South Suffolk – 18 Charollais Suffolk – 17 Percentage Charollais

Tuesday, 8 December 2020

2020 MINT LAMB COMPETITION

1.00pm Charollais Sheep NZ Ram Sale 7.30pm Glenrobin Beltex Ram Sale

Wednesday, 9 December 2020 1.00pm Kaituna Ram Sale 1.30pm Ruapehu Red Deer Stag Sale

Friday, 11 December 2020 12.30pm Forest Road Farm Red Deer Sale 1.00pm Stoneylea Suffolk & Courtenay Suffolk & Sufftex Studs Ram Sale

Saturday, 12 December 2020 11.30am Sarnia Woburn Red Deer Sale For more information go to bidr.co.nz or contact the team on 0800 TO BIDR

SALE TALK

For more information or a catalogue, contact: Chris Hampton PWA PWA 03 614 3330 Wayne Andrews Snow Buckley 027 202 5679 027 484 8232 027 561 4652 cahampton@xtra.co.nz Also on www.peterwalsh.co.nz

PGGW Greg Uren 027 431 4051 Simon Eddington 027 590 8612

Sheep Milking

Today, I saw a cop writing a parking ticket I went and asked him if his dad was proud of him.

– a growing industry

‘Nah’, he said, ‘In fact, I think he would be pretty angry if he knew what I was doing. Then again, he shouldn’t have parked here.’

Dairy Farmer ‘Sheep Milking feature’ February issue. Talk to your Partnership Manager now to secure advertising space.

Here at Farmers Weekly we get some pretty funny contributions to our Sale Talk joke from you avid readers, and we’ve keen to hear more! If you’ve got a joke you want to share with the Farming community (it must be something you’d share with your g r a n d m o t h e r. . . ) then email us at: saletalk@globalhq. co.nz with Sale Talk in the subject line and we’ll print it and credit it to you. Conditions apply.

Publication date: February 1 Booking deadline: January 14

MATAROA CHEVIOTS Est 1951 Farmed on Taihape Hill Country 500 – 700 mtrs

Enquiries Welcome Barry Cleaver Taihape Ph: 06 388 7871 barrycleaver@slingshot.co.nz

www.mataroacheviots.co.nz

LK0105071©

Easy Care High Lamb Survival

LK0105103©

2020 WINNERS ANNOUNCED

2018 YR SUITABLE BREEDING C10 Closed Herd. Excess Dispersal $1200 + GST

LK0105168©

RED DEVON HEIFERS X 15

Check out Poll Dorset NZ on Facebook

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

• Open Headed, Upstanding sheep • High Fertility – 5 year average 170% • Fine Wool Corriedales – 26.8 micron ram hogget average • Footrot Resistant – ALL rams tested • SIL recorded • Drought Resistant, Long Living and Fence Friendly • Proven Genetics and Quality Assured

WILFIELD CORRIEDALES

1213 West Coast Road, West Melton, Christchurch Contact Robin Wilson • robin.wilfield@xtra.co.nz • 021 1583866 www.wilfieldsheepstud.co.nz • www.facebook.com/Wilfield sheep stud

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Market Snapshot brought to you by the AgriHQ analysts.

Mel Croad

Suz Bremner

Reece Brick

Nicola Dennis

Sarah Friel

Caitlin Pemberton

Deer

Sheep

Cattle BEEF

SHEEP MEAT

VENISON

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.35

5.40

6.25

NI lamb (17kg)

7.00

7.10

8.90

NI Stag (60kg)

6.20

8.80

NI Bull (300kg)

5.30

5.35

6.45

NI mutton (20kg)

5.10

6.20

SI Stag (60kg)

5.75

8.80

NI Cow (200kg)

3.90

4.00

4.90

SI lamb (17kg)

6.90

7.00

9.00

SI Steer (300kg)

4.90

5.00

6.10

SI mutton (20kg)

5.10

5.15

6.45

SI Bull (300kg)

4.90

6.25

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

SI Cow (200kg)

3.55

3.60

4.75

UK CKT lamb leg

9.01

9.09

11.50

US imported 95CL bull

7.23

7.36

9.55

US domestic 90CL cow

7.23

6.35

8.21

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

5.0

10.0

$/kg CW

South Island lamb slaughter price

Oct

Dec 5-yr ave

Feb

Jun

Aug 2020-21

Apr 2019-20

Jun

2.07

2.11

2.79

Sept. 2021

DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T)

3150

3060

3050

SMP

2835

2830

2825

AMF

4140

4100

4050

Butter

3500

3460

3430

Milk Price

6.95

6.98

6.92

Urea

607

602

616

300

314

799

784

787

DAP

Top 10 by Market Cap Company

YTD High

YTD Low

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd

33.64

37.89

21.1

415

Meridian Energy Limited (NS)

6.59

6.6

3.61

410

Auckland International Airport Limited

7.69

9.21

4.26

405

The a2 Milk Company Limited

13.7

21.74

13.68

Mercury NZ Limited (NS)

6.41

6.5

3.595

Spark New Zealand Limited

4.57

5.09

3.445

Ryman Healthcare Limited

14.69

17.18

6.61

390

Mainfreight Limited

60.5

62.43

385

Contact Energy Limited

7.91

8.26

4.54

Port of Tauranga Limited

7.3

8.14

4.9

400 395

380

Nov-19

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

Jan-20

Mar-20

May-20

Jul-20

Sep-20

Nov-20

395 390 385 380

Nov-19

Jan-20

Mar-20

Listed Agri Shares Company

400

* price as at close of business on Thursday

May-20

Jul-20

Sep-20

Nov-20

WAIKATO PALM KERNEL

3300

400

3200

350 $/tonne

US$/t

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

3100 3000

5pm, close of market, Thursday Close

YTD High

YTD Low

The a2 Milk Company Limited

13.7

21.74

13.68

Comvita Limited

3.32

4.97

1.66

Delegat Group Limited

15.75

15.82

6.39

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

4.35

4.72

3.41

Foley Wines Limited

1.89

2.13

1.35

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

0.78

0.9

0.68

Marlborough Wine Estates Group Limited

0.26

0.17

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

1.63

2.3

1.29

PGG Wrightson Limited

2.96

3.01

1.55

8.2

4.81

Sanford Limited (NS) Scales Corporation Limited Seeka Limited

2900

Aug 2020-21

Last year

30 micron lamb

CANTERBURY FEED BARLEY Prior week

Jun

Prior week

$/tonne

Last price*

Apr 2019-20

Last week

N …

… S

… M

J…

6.00

NZ average (NZ$/t)

1.85

$/tonne

6.50

J…

Last year

37 micron ewe

7.00

N …

Prior week

Super

7.50

Nearby contract

Last week

CANTERBURY FEED WHEAT

Sept. 2020

Feb

Fertiliser

Aug 2020-21

Grain

Data provided by

MILK PRICE FUTURES

5.50

Dec

FERTILISER

Coarse xbred ind.

Dairy

Oct

5-yr ave

(NZ$/kg)

4.50 Apr

7.0 5.0

WOOL

5.00

2019-20

8.0

7.0

5.50

Feb

9.0

6.0

5.0

6.00

Dec

South Island stag slaughter price

11.0

6.0

South Island steer slaughter price

5-yr ave

7.0

$/kg CW

8.0

$/kg CW

4.50

Oct

8.0 6.0

5.50

6.50

9.0

7.0

9.0

Last year

North Island stag slaughter price

11.0

8.0

5.00

Last week Prior week

10.0

5.0

4.00

$/kg MS

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

6.0

6.00

4.00

Last year

North Island lamb slaughter price

9.0 $/kg CW

North Island steer slaughter price 6.50

Last week Prior week

$/kg CW

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

William Hickson

Ingrid Usherwood

4.84

5.35

3.3

4.74

3.4 4.36

Synlait Milk Limited (NS)

5.19

9.1

T&G Global Limited

2.84

2.93

2.35

15330

16959

12699

S&P/NZX Primary Sector Equity Index S&P/NZX 50 Index

12649

12769

8499

S&P/NZX 10 Index

12922

13235

9100

300 250

Dec

Jan Feb Latest price

Mar

Apr 4 weeks ago

May

200

Nov-19

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR EQUITY

Jan-20

Mar-20

May-20

Jul-20

Sep-20

Nov-20

15330

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

12649

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

12922

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

Pulse

WEATHER Soil Moisture

Overview We have another spring-like week ahead, but there are signs of change to this pattern. More high pressure will lie north of New Zealand, while south of NZ more deep storms churn by. Last Wednesday a low got into the 940hPa range south of us, this week we have one in the 950hPa range. This will encourage more of this windy westerlies, but there’s a twist. High pressure to the north will start to shift further to the east (more La Nina-like). This will then allow sub-tropical winds to come down over some parts of NZ, mostly the North Island. The next high that comes in is further south, meaning the South Island has some calmer weather on the way.

Consistency key for the long-term

03/12/2020

Mel Croad mel.croad@globalhq.co.nz

Source: NIWA Data

Highlights

Wind

Highlights/ Extremes

Temperature

Windy westerlies kick off this week as another storm/large low in the Southern Ocean churns by. A brief southerly change arrives on Thursday, before the next high rolls in bringing lighter winds nationwide into the weekend and easterlies return to northern NZ then too.

Fairly average this week, with a cooler day on Thursday in some southern areas. However, for the most part, it’s average and leaning above normal at times inland and to the east, especially as those sub-tropical breezes kick in for some.

14-day outlook

1) High pressure expands over the South Island later this week and weekend, following a windy couple of weeks. 2) The tropics and sub-tropics look more like La Nina from Sunday onwards – a better chance for northern rainmakers.

7-day rainfall forecast

The Southern Ocean has been incredibly stormy these past couple weeks, but there are signs that by the end of this week high pressure from the south of Aussie will come in and smother the South Island – and parts of the North Island, too. It’s a more typical La Nina set-up, which will see an uptick in sub-tropical winds for the North Island and a chance of northern NZ rain from this Sunday and into/across next week.

100

200

400

Wet weather (rain/showers) fall along the western side of NZ to kick off this week, and a southerly on Thursday will send some wet weather up the eastern South Island and lower North Island. This weekend, high pressure covers NZ but sub-tropical showers are possible in the north.

Weather brought to you in partnership with weatherwatch.co.nz

ESPITE the turmoil that descended on global markets in the wake of covid-19, farm gate prices for sheep and beef have weathered the storm. While lower than 12 months ago, farm gate prices have been void of erratic movements linked to procurement wars or volatile export market conditions. Over the last six weeks, AgriHQ data shows lamb slaughter prices have maintained a relatively even keel, averaging $7.10/kg in the North Island and $7.00/kg in the South Island. It’s unusual for lamb prices to trade sideways through this time. This steadiness comes from meat companies forgoing procurement battles, instead aligning more closely with export returns. Beef prices have tracked a similar path, albeit at a lower level to September. While beef and lamb prices have begun their seasonal descent, it’s likely to occur more uniformly than last year. It’s possible valuable lessons were learnt this time last year when overseas demand sky-rocketed to unsustainable levels. Meat companies responded by lifting schedules to record levels. Those levels may have reflected the markets at the time, however farmers were often caught in the glare of those prices without understanding the mechanics behind them. This led to some expecting the good run would last well into 2020, when in reality it was a short-lived spike that had almost run its course by the time many had cottoned on to it. The lessons learnt then appear to have changed the dynamics of the industry and the onset of covid-19 simply sped up the process. For many years farmers have asked for consistent, stable prices that they can

budget and farm to, not wide swings that create panicked decisions and impact cashflows. Sure, the markets have been more muted this year, but pricing for lamb, mutton and beef since late-May have performed better than many expected, with little fanfare. There is still uncertainty from many angles for prices heading into 2021. Weather, the dollar, market access and covid-19 all spring to mind as potential challenges. However, we have faced many of them already this year, and potentially the industry is better placed to deal with them again. NZ farmers are very fortunate that current pricing aligns with market conditions, rather than being artificially inflated. And that should provide some buffer if market challenges arise into next year. Maybe we should spare a thought for our Australian farming counterparts. They are in the midst of herd and flock rebuilding, which has pushed prices beyond what is sustainable. Australian beef prices are so disconnected from the global market that processors are losing hundreds of dollars per animal. The desperation to maintain slaughter throughput and service both the export and local market is coming at a significant cost. Those killing cattle are clearly benefiting from the tight supplies, but processors cannot play this game for much longer before there are long-term, industry-wide repercussions. Unsustainable prices are also filtering through into the store market for breeding stock with a proven track record. Cows with calves-at-foot and ewes with lambs-atfoot are eye-wateringly expensive and well beyond anything achieved back here. Australian farmers obviously have confidence in the long-term game, but they are set to face strong downside in stock values and farm gate prices in 2021 regardless of what eventuates in the global markets.

North Island lamb slaughter price ($/kg) 9.0 8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0

Jan

Mar 5-yr ave

May

Jul Last year

Sep

My Daily Digest The news you need to see in a daily newsletter from the biggest rural newsroom in the country.

Nov This year

Jan

SALE YARD WRAP

Store cattle prices reach ceiling Recent results at the numerous store cattle sales around the country suggest that cattle prices may be approaching a price ceiling. Large volumes have continued to flow into yards and most classes have held value or showed signs of easing as buyers fill orders and demand tapers off. NORTHLAND Kaikohe cattle • Two-year Friesian and beef-cross bulls sold at $2.55-$2.60/kg • Better 2-year whiteface heifers earned $2.60-$2.68/kg • Yearling beef-cross bulls made $2.55/kg to $2.66/kg • Quality Hereford cows with calves-at-foot fetched $1430 • Boner cows traded at $1.60-$1.70 There were around 550 head at KAIKOHE last Wednesday, PGG Wrightson agent Vaughan Vujcich reported. The market softened, driven by easing schedules and lack of processing space. Two-year beef-cross steers, 450-500kg, made $2.75-$2.80/kg with better dairy-beef types at around $2.55/kg. Yearling beef-cross heifers realised $2.55-$2.65/ kg. In the weaner calf pens, dairy-beef bulls traded at $490$500 and heifers made $430. Wellsford dairy-beef weaner fair • Angus-Friesian steers, 85-191kg, returned $400-$675 • Hereford-Friesian steers, 130-161kg, held at $640-$705 • Hereford-Friesian heifers, 128-159kg, fetched $550-$600 • Beef-dairy bulls, 105-128kg, realised $430-$555 • Friesian bulls, 121-123kg, improved to $485-$500 Just over 1170 weaners were presented at WELLSFORD last Monday and many buyers returned for annual lines. Results were in line with quality for the weaners. Autumnborn steers, 187-273kg, realised $740-$885. HerefordFriesian heifers, 224-231kg, improved to $710. Friesian bulls, 141-183kg, mostly eased to $570-$660. Angus-Friesian heifers, 150-156kg, softened to $460-$490. HerefordFriesian, 93-105kg, returned $400-$465. Friesian bulls made up the lion’s share of their section and most eased. Those 131-185kg softened to $450-$675 and 108-114kg came back to $380-$445. Read more in your LivestockEye.

AUCKLAND Pukekohe cattle • Prime steers traded at $2.71-$2.81/kg • Prime heifers fetched $2.50/kg to $2.64/kg • Boner cows earned $1.84/kg to $2.05/kg Cattle continue to flow into the yards at PUKEKOHE. Good quality steers sold well up to $3.01/kg, with heifers at $2.59-$2.66/kg. Better weaner steers earned $460-$525 and heifers fetched up to $430-$490.

COUNTIES Tuakau sales • Hereford-Friesian steers, 575kg, made $2.64/kg • Prime steers sold up to $2.74/kg • Well-conditioned Friesian cows, 600kg, earned $2.04/kg • Top prime lambs reached $164 Around 1300 store cattle were presented at TUAKAU last Thursday, Carrfields Livestock agent Karl Chitham reported. Hereford-Friesian steers, 440kg, made $2.70/kg, and most 300-400kg realised $960-$1010 and 236kg, $770. In the heifer section, 462kg Hereford-Friesian returned $2.60/kg and 300-400kg, $820-$1050. Prime steer and heifer prices eased by up to 20c/kg last Wednesday. Steers at 550-670kg traded at $2.55/kg to $2.74/kg and heifers, 440-570kg, $2.47-$2.61/kg. The boner market also softened, and lightmedium cows ranged from $1.20/kg to $1.72/kg. Heavy prime lambs realised $145-$164 on Monday and lightmedium, $124-$137.

WAIKATO Frankton cattle sale 1.12 • Two-year Hereford-Friesian steers, 419-506kg, improved to $2.85$2.92/kg • Yearling Angus-Friesian steers, 230-325kg, lifted to $2.90-$2.92/kg • Yearling Friesian bulls, 321-338kg, held at $2.60-$2.62/kg A good local buying bench met 600 quality store cattle at FRANKTON last Tuesday and bidding was competitive for the PGG Wrightson sale. Two-year Hereford-Friesian steers, 520-583kg, earned $2.65-$2.70/kg while beef-dairy heifers, 455-485kg, managed $2.51-$2.58/kg. Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 245-280kg, lifted to $3.21-$3.29/ kg and 286-313kg, $3.02-$3.15/kg. Angus-Friesian heifers, 221-330kg, held at $2.57-$2.68/kg while Hereford-Friesian,

323-333kg, eased to $2.63-$2.70/kg. Prime dairy-beef steers, 521-686kg, eased to $2.63-$2.76/kg as did Hereford-Friesian heifers, 518-593kg, back to $2.58-$2.67/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Frankton cattle sale 2.12 • Better 2-year beef-dairy steers, 512-539kg, returned $2.62-$2.75/ kg • Fifteen yearling Charolais steers, 303kg, topped their section at $3.10/kg • Yearling beef-dairy steers, 290-361kg, held at $2.81-$2.96/kg Just under 640 store cattle were penned at FRANKTON for New Zealand Farmers Livestock last Wednesday. Quality lines sold to good demand with lesser types hard work. Most 2-year beef, beef-dairy and exotic steers earned $2.47-$2.50/kg, and Hereford-Friesian heifers, 390-439kg, eased to $2.56-$2.59/kg. Yearling Angus-cross steers, 308-437kg, held at $2.66-$2.79/kg and Hereford-dairy heifers, 251-288kg, also held at $2.52-$2.66/kg. Beef-cross bulls, 292-366kg, improved to $2.40/kg while Friesian and Friesian-cross, 224-258kg, were consistent at $2.40-$2.41/ kg. Prime throughput lowered to 95 head and HerefordFriesian steers, 632kg, strengthened to $2.82/kg. Beef-dairy heifers, 451-515kg, held at $2.54-$2.61/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Frankton dairy-beef weaner fair • The top end of Hereford-Friesian and Speckle Park-cross heifers earned $510-$530 • Hereford-Friesian steers, 131-139kg, sold well at $645-$690 There was good demand for whiteface calves at the FRANKTON dairy-beef weaner fair last Thursday, though the Friesian bull market was sticky. The Friesian bull average dropped $60 to $365 with better types around $470$520. The top end of the dairy-beef bulls, 145-149kg, made $600-$670 with 120-130kg mostly $550-$585. Read more in your LivestockEye.

KING COUNTRY Te Kuiti sheep and cattle • Heavy prime lambs earned $131.50-$150 and medium $115-$120 • Top mixed-sex store lambs sold at $94-$99.50 with medium $70$83 and light $50-$54 • Ewes with lambs-at-foot made $95 • Cows with calves-at-foot traded at $1160 There was around 1600 sheep yarded at TE KUITI last Thursday and overall, the market eased. Heavy prime ewes sold up to $181 with medium $130-$150. The cattle market was very sluggish on Friday. The best of the 2-year Hereford-Friesian steers fetched $2.75-$2.85/kg. Charolais heifers, 294kg, traded at $2.75/kg. Taupo cattle sale • Yearling traditional steers, 222-284kg, eased but sold well at $3.17-$3.27/kg • Top yearling Angus heifers, 256kg, earned $3.17/kg • Yearling Hereford-Friesian heifers, 275kg, held at $2.98-$3.02/kg • Weaner Friesian bulls, 107-109kg, came back to $355-$360 Results were mixed at TAUPO last Thursday as traditionally bred cattle and better beef-dairy made respectable levels, but it was a buyer’s market for other dairy-beef. Yearling cattle made up the bulk of the sale and outside of the top pens of steers most varied from $2.80/kg to $3.09/kg for the balance. The yearling heifer section was a feature and beef-Friesian, 249-296kg, varied from $2.63/ kg to $2.85/kg. One big line of Hereford-Friesian bulls, 327kg, made a premium at $2.98/kg. Vendors of weaner cattle met the market and Angus-Friesian steers, 131-132kg, sold for $400. Read more in your LivestockEye.

BAY OF PLENTY Rangiuru cattle and sheep • Three-year Hereford and Hereford-Friesian bulls, 620-687kg, fetched $2.85-$2.97/kg • Two-year Hereford-Friesian steers and heifers, 358-490kg, sold from $2.51/kg to $2.75/kg • Yearling Charolais-cross heifers, 220-232kg, earned $2.91-$3.02/ kg • Prime Hereford-Friesian steers, 690-808kg, made $2.76-$2.83/kg • Nearly 400 store lambs returned $56-$101

A good gallery of buyers was comfortable putting in bids for store cattle at RANGIURU last Tuesday. Wellmarked yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 278-297kg, sold for $3.33-$3.37/kg while 391-416kg were $2.98-$3.00/kg. Hereford-Friesian and Hereford-Jersey provided the bulk of the yearling heifers and sold from $2.72/kg to $2.99/kg for better pens. Nearly 200 weaners ,100-120kg, sold in the tight range of $350-$405. Boner cows numbered almost 100 and ranged from $1.40/kg to $2.10/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

POVERTY BAY Matawhero cattle fair • Two-year Angus steers, 490kg, sold well at $3.27/kg • Two-year Simmental-cross heifers, 445kg, made $2.81/kg • Yearling bulls mostly earned $2.79-$2.85/kg Good rainfall on the East Coast recently boosted confidence at the MATAWHERO cattle fair last Tuesday. The top end of the traditional yearling steers fetched $3.75/kg to $3.86/kg and 385-405kg Charolais sold at $3.47-$3.48/ kg. Yearling heifers traded over a wide range, though the traditional average firmed 9c/kg to $3.20/kg. South Devoncross run-with-bull cows with calves-at-foot achieved $1500 per unit. Read more in your LivestockEye. Matawhero sheep • Mixed-sex store lambs mostly earned $73-$95 • Store ram lambs made $69 • Prime 2th ewes sold at $141-$142 The top end of the male store lambs at MATAWHERO last Friday made $103-$103.50 with the balance at $70-$90. Mixed-age wet-dry Romney ewes earned $158 with 2-4 tooth Coopworth ewes at $164.50. Prime spring lambs were bought for $110-$132 with prime hoggets at $180. The top end of the prime ewes achieved $180 with medium $157$160 and light $125-$131. Read more in your LivestockEye.

TARANAKI Taranaki cattle • Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 288-317kg, sold well at $3.15$3.23/kg • Yearling Ayrshire bulls earned $1070 • Prime steers made $2.77-$2.82/kg • Friesian boner cows, 487kg, fetched $1.64/kg The market softened at the TARANAKI cattle sale due to a week of wet weather. Better 2-year steers weren’t too far from the previous sale at around $2.83/kg and nice heifers held at $2.55-$2.67/kg. Interest was limited for yearling heifers where the top end traded at $2.34-$2.44/kg. Taranaki dairy-beef weaner fair • Autumn-born Friesian bulls, 257kg, sold at $580 • Autumn-born Angus-Friesian heifers, 172kg, earned $450 • The top end of dairy-beef bulls made $530-$595 • 3/4 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 165kg, achieved $480 There were limited buyers at the TARANAKI dairy-beef weaner fair last Thursday and the market softened. Friesian bulls had the biggest price correction and those above 130kg sold at $400-$470 with 110-120kg at $340-$390. Decent quality heifers above 100kg fetched at least $400. Read more in your LivestockEye.

HAWKE’S BAY Stortford Lodge prime cattle and sheep • Top very heavy and heavy ewes held value at $175 and $142$148.50 respectively • Medium-good to good ewes eased to $108-$118 • Very heavy lambs improved to $170-$188 • Heavy lambs lifted to $156-$164 Prime sheep numbered just under 2900 at STORTFORD LODGE last Monday and ewes made up over 90% at 2695 head. The balance of very heavy ewes eased to $151.50$155 and heavy, $131-$135. Top-end good ewes held at $121-$123 while medium softened to $107.50. Ram lambs fetched $177-$178 and mixed-sex pushed to $210. Good types returned $126-$140.50. Cattle volume increased and Angus heifers, 406-493kg, eased to $2.56-$2.60/kg. Four South Devon-cross cows, 689kg, held at $2.03/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020

ISLAND LIFE: Nearly 1500 store cattle were presented to a small buying gallery at Temuka. The yarding included cattle from the Chatham Islands and annual drafts from local stations.

Stortford Lodge store cattle and sheep • Perendale cryptorchid lambs varied from $73.50 to $117 • Hoggets with lambs-at-foot achieved $93-$104 all counted • Two-year beef-cross bulls, 514-521kg, held at $3.03-$3.06/kg • Yearling Angus & Angus-Hereford steers, 300-325kg, eased to $3.41/kg • Yearling Friesian bulls, 315-355kg, held at $2.85/kg Outside buyers dominated a small store lamb sale at STORTFORD LODGE last Wednesday and prices firmed. Romdale cryptorchid made $97.50-$110.50. Cattle volume was high at 830 head and there was plenty of variety in the pens. Bulls made up the bulk of the 2-year section and Friesian, 499-526kg, eased to $2.69-$2.71/kg. HerefordFriesian steers, 501-538kg, returned $2.82-$2.84/kg. Yearling traditional heifers, 276-306kg, eased to $3.12$3.16/kg and Charolais-cross, 302-368kg, sold for $2.89/kg to $3.00/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

MANAWATU Feilding prime cattle and sheep • Friesian or Friesian-cross cows, 513-610kg, made $1.65-$1.75/kg • One Hereford bull, 620kg, made $2.84/kg but other bulls were $2.41/kg to $2.60/kg Ewes once again came forward in big numbers at FEILDING last Monday as 6000 were penned for the second week in a row. The best sold to $156-$170 with the balance mostly $107-$152. Less than 100 heavy lambs earned $156$160 and the bulk of the pens traded at $132.50-$147.50, a range that included most hoggets. Read more in your LivestockEye. Feilding store cattle and sheep • Ewe lambs made $93.50-$102 • Store hoggets traded up to $132 • The top end of the mixed-sex lambs sold at $100-$130 with medium $75-$90 and light $55-$60 • Better 3-year Angus steer made $2.88-$2.97/kg • The majority of the 2-year heifers traded at $2.67-$2.74/kg The sheep market softened at the FEILDING store sale last Friday. The top end of the cryptorchids made $166 with medium $80-$100 and light $60-$77. Mixed-age Romney ewes sold in a range of $120-$148. In the store cattle pens, the top end of the 2-year steers sold at $2.90-$3.00/ kg, though most realised $2.76/kg to $2.87/kg. Two-year Friesian bulls made $2.51-$2.52/kg, while the best of the Charolais-cross achieved $2.99/kg. The bulk of the yearling steers fetched $3.00-$3.16/kg with the best at $3.30-$3.60/ kg. Yearling heifers typically made $2.73/kg to $2.98/kg. Traditional cows with calves-at-foot sold at $1520-$1650 per-unit and traditional heifers with calves-at-foot made $1450. Read more in your LivestockEye.

CANTERBURY Canterbury Park prime cattle and all sheep • Charolais steers, 602-670kg, stretched to $2.70-$2.81/kg

• Charolais heifers, 598kg, earned $2.70/kg. Big entries of store lambs came from Marlborough and North Canterbury to CANTERBURY PARK last Tuesday. They met good demand from local buyers and mostly sold from $61 to $108. Prime lambs and hoggets sold for $110-$167. The heaviest ewes earned $207-$248 with the remainder generally $100-$186. The prime cattle were almost exclusively steers and heifers and most sold for $2.50-$2.60/kg. Some heavier traditional steers, 610-765kg, priced slightly higher at $2.61-$2.71/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Canterbury Park store cattle • Two-year Hereford-Friesian steers, 408-490kg, were $2.55-$2.64/ kg • Two-year Hereford-Friesian heifers, 380-444kg, made $2.43-$2.53/ kg • Yearling Speckle Park steers, 276-321kg, fetched $3.12-$3.16/kg • Yearling Belgian Blue-cross steers, 370kg, earned $3.01/kg Most of the action at a big store cattle sale at CANTERBURY PARK last Wednesday was in the yearling pens. Half of the steer entries were Hereford-Friesian where the top cut, 360-390kg, earned $2.67-$2.73/kg while second cuts over 300kg were typically $2.56-$2.66/kg. Just one pen of heifers exceeded $3/kg, 243kg Speckle Park that fetched $3.09/kg. Hereford-Friesian often made as much as equivalent steers such as 350-375kg that were priced at $2.55-$2.67/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Coalgate cattle and sheep • Yearling Simmental-cross heifers, 341kg, made $2.64/kg • Weaner Friesian bulls earned $325-$430 and Hereford-Friesian, $400-$450 • Prime Hereford-Friesian steers and heifers, 495-680kg, traded at $2.45-$2.56/kg • Prime Angus and Limousin cows, 507-706kg, reached $2.18$2.26/kg After a scheduled calf sale was postponed many instead made their way to COALGATE for the regular Thursday sale. Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 363kg, earned $2.78/ kg but the balance of the steers and heifers mostly ranged from $2.30/kg to $2.67/kg. Murray Grey-cross, 373kg, earned $2.58/kg while $2.39-$2.48/kg was typical of several pens at 262-301kg. The best prime lambs sold for $180-$181 with most of the yarding $129-$166. Top ewes managed $190-$262 with $140-$179 common for medium to good lines. The bulk of the store lambs earned $61-$105. Read more in your LivestockEye.

SOUTH-CANTERBURY Temuka prime cattle and all sheep • Hereford steers, 680-755kg, returned $2.71-$2.79/kg • Traditional cows, 555-730kg, earned $2.08-$2.14/kg • Friesian cows, 555-755kg, sold for $1.90-$1.99/kg • Ewes and hoggets with lambs-at-foot traded at $66-$78 all counted

High volume in the cattle pens meant a busy day at TEMUKA last Monday. Most high yielding steers over 470kg sold for $2.47-$2.57/kg while 450-620kg Angus heifers traded at $2.45-$2.55/kg. Dairy-beef heifers, 440560kg, fetched $2.40-$2.50/kg. Two consignments made up the store lamb section. Romney and Romney-cross wethers mostly sold for $70-$79, and Suffolk-cross $75$98. Prime lamb throughput doubled and both lambs and hoggets traded at $120-$167 for the most part. Very heavy ewes made $200-$250 with close to half of the tally $140$170 and the remainder $110-$139. Read more in your LivestockEye. Temuka store cattle • Two-year Angus-Hereford heifers, 415kg, made $2.65/kg • Two-year Angus-Hereford steers, 403-492kg, fetched $2.41-$2.43/ kg • Two-year Simmental-Friesian heifers, 363-374kg, were $2.31$2.41/kg There was only limited interest in cattle at TEMUKA last Thursday. Many yearling pens passed-in but some still sold well. Good quality traditional steers, 205-333kg, achieved $3.18-$3.28/kg. The pick of the yearling Hereford-Friesian steer lines was 379-389kg that made $2.47-$2.56/kg. One pen of Angus heifers, 318kg, earned $2.73/kg while other Angus and Angus-Hereford lines, 273-334kg, were $2.43/kg to $2.59/kg. Hereford-Friesian, 210-314kg, largely sold in two cuts: $2.26-$2.30/kg and $2.10-$2.19/kg. Many two-year steers hailed from the Chatham Islands and included 363-394kg Hereford that made $2.38-$2.39/kg. Most two-year beefcross heifers over 300kg earned $2.22-$2.31/kg range. Read more in your LivestockEye.

OTAGO Balclutha sheep • Heavy prime hoggets earned $160 and medium $120 • A small number of store lambs fetched $60-$80 There was a reasonable yarding of prime lambs at BALCLUTHA last Wednesday where heavy types earned $140-$160 and medium $120-$130. Heavy prime ewes sold well at $150-$180, though lighter types struggled at $130 and below.

SOUTHLAND Lorneville cattle and sheep • Boner cows above 500kg sold up to $1.78-$1.88/kg • Yearling Friesian bulls, 359-383kg, made $2.43-$2.47/kg • Prime spring lambs fetched $128-$150 A good-sized yarding of prime cattle was penned at LORNEVILLE last Tuesday and 500-600kg steers made $2.40-$2.46/kg. Prime heifers, 440-500kg, typically earned $2.30-$2.40/kg. Two-year store beef-cross steers made $2.31/kg with same breed heifers at $2.19-$2.22/kg. Hoggets returned $110-$159. Top store lambs managed $90-$96, with light to medium $65-$88. Prime ewes fetched $101-$170. Lorneville calf sale • The average weaner Hereford-Friesian bull, 130kg, made $480 • The average dairy-beef weaner heifer, 110kg, sold around the $400 mark There were limited buyers at the LORNEVILLE weaner calf sale last Wednesday and the average 130-140kg Friesian bull sold at $360-$375. Results were mixed for the smaller offering of heifer calves. Hereford-Friesian steers, 100120kg, sold at around $380-$450. Charlton sheep • Heavy prime ewes eased to $160, with medium $120-$140 and light $65-$75 • Top store lambs made $80-$90, with medium $65-$75 and light $50-$58 Prime lambs held at CHARLTON last Thursday with heavy types at $160 and medium $130-$140.

Where livestock market insights begin LivestockEye • • • •

LivestockEye reports provide full sale results and informed commentary and is emailed directly after the sale. The most comprehensive and independent sale report you can get your hands on. Only AgriHQ sample-weighs store lambs to give you $/kg LW benchmark pricing. Choose from 10 sale yards across the country or check out our other popular reports.

Be ahead. Be informed. Be a subscriber Head to agrihq.co.nz email info@agrihq.co.nz or call 0800 85 25 80

Markets

48 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 7, 2020 NI STEER

SI STEER

SI MUTTON

($/KG)

5.35

4.90

5.10

PRIME LAMB MEDIAN AT COALGATE ($/HD LW)

136

$3.47-$3.48 high $2.43-$2.53 Yearling Charolais steers, Hereford-Friesian lights 2-year 385-405kg, at Matawhero heifers, 380-444kg, at Canterbury Park

Feed levels allow for lamb retention ACROSS THE RAILS

Suz Bremner suz.bremner@globalhq.co.nz

OOD feed levels in South Canterbury allowed farmers to retain lighter lambs rather than offer them up at their on-farm sales. PGG Wrightson agent Rod Sands reported that several vendors at the Beautiful Valley on-farm sales drafted off the lighter lambs, saying “they took out anything around 23-24kg and below, and these will be sold later in the season.” That was echoed by Hazlett general manager Ed Marfell for DJ and AM Irving’s on-farm sale at Albury. “Feed levels have allowed retention of the smaller lambs which the vendor had no interest in selling yet, preferring to put more weight on them and sell later,” Marfell said. That meant that pricing was consistent at these sales and generally started around the $75 mark. Eskvale Station featured some of the best lambs offered in North Canterbury, Peter Walsh and Associates agent Alby Orchard reported. “The lambs were exceptional, and they were a credit to the Finney Family and their shepherd Gary Stevens,” Orchard said. “The spring in North Canterbury has been late and feed was very short through September and October, however Ben Finney has done an outstanding job bringing these lambs up for his sale in such forward condition.” Southland buyers have been a force to be reckoned with at most

on-farm sales outside of their region, but they are now able to find lambs closer to home, as the first Southland sale was held by A and P Carran at Otautau, and more will follow in the coming week. PGG Wrightson agent Willie Swale reported that the Carran’s had a full clearance for their first on-farm sale at this time of year, and all lambs stayed in Southland. Also joining the on-farm party was the North Island as Anerley Station in Masterton, held their fourth annual on-farm sale. CR Nelson Ltd’s Craig Nelson says this sale has always faced extreme weather elements in its four years running and this year was no different. “Heavy rain could have impacted the sale, but we managed to sell all lines undercover, which was appreciated by all,” he said. A widespread buying bench featured Taupo, Dannevirke and local, which included regular buyers but also some new faces to the sale. Results: North Island Anerley Station, Masterton: 4500 blackface mixed-sex and Romney cryptorchid lambs. Top blackface $114, top Romney cryptorchid $109. Medium $85$95, light $73-$80. South Island Eskvale Station, George and Ben Finney, Amberley: 1560 down-cross mixed-sex, 504 Romdale cryptorchid, 201 AD Romdale ewes. Top downcross mixed-sex $142-$161, medium $91-$117. Top Romdale cryptorchid $137-$122, medium $91-$101, total lamb average $124. AD Romdale ewes $120$157, average $142. DJ and AM Irving, Albury: 1400 Suftex-cross mixed-sex, 1350 Coopdale wether lambs. 149 Coopdale ewe lambs, 415 AD Coopdale ewes. Suftex mixed-

sex $87-$129, Coopdale wether lambs $88-$133, Coopdale ewe lambs $100. AD Coopdale ewes $119-$140, $126 average. HJB and SJ Sheed, Beautiful Valley: 1400 Suftex-cross and Romney-cross mixed-sex, undrafted, 136 AD ewes. Top mixed-sex $118, remainder $64$93. AD ewes $90-$116.

The lambs were exceptional, and they were a credit to the Finney Family and their shepherd Gary Stevens. Alby Orchard Peter Walsh and Associates RJ Horn, Beautiful Valley: 950 Suftex mixed-sex and Romney cryptorchid, 200 AD Romney ewes. Prime lambs $114-$134, Suftex mixed-sex $87-$99, Romney cryptorchid $80-$92. AD Romney ewes $131-$160. Beaufort Farming, S Pagan, Beautiful Valley: 420 Coopdale cryptorchid $79-$89, 250 Suftex mixed-sex $77-$97. MJ and LK King, Hanging Rock: 1855 Suffolk mixed-sex and Grobulk cryptorchid lambs, 200 AD ewes. Prime lambs $122$126, Suftex mixed-sex $77-$104, Grobulk cryptorchid $74-$104. AD ewes $125-$150. A and P Carran, Otautau: 2500 Suftex mixed-sex and Texel cryptorchid lambs, undrafted. Top lambs $95-$106 medium $88, small $72, average $85.

Find out more about AgriHQ at agrihq.co.nz

GOOD RESULTS: Southland and the North Island joined the on-farm lamb sales last week and sales continued to be well-supported. Good feed levels in South Canterbury allowed farmers to retain lighter lambs rather than offer them up at their on-farm sales.