Farmers Weekly NZ September 9 2024

Dairy upside to China-EU trade tension

ANigel Stirling MARKETS Dairy

N ANTI-dumping probe by the Chinese government could sideline European dairy producers and create new opportunities for New Zealand in the world’s biggest dairy import market.

China’s Commerce Ministry last month said it would investigate claims that the dumping of subsidised imports from the European Union on the Chinese domestic market was damaging its dairy industry.

The announcement came a day after the EU confirmed it would use tariffs to stem a surge in imports of Chinese-made electrical vehicles.

Rabobank dairy analyst Emma Higgins said the products under investigation, which include fresh liquid cream and grated and blue vein cheese, are not a large part of the EU’s dairy exports to China. If China responds against them with tariffs it could create opportunities for Chinese dairy manufacturing companies and others from outside the EU to fill the gap.

Higgins said China’s dairy industry is known to want to increase its small cheese manufacturing capacity to boost returns from milk surpluses currently in the market.

“The trade tensions with EU potentially mean trade flows could easily benefit us here in NZ as well as potentially the domestic dairy players in China with offshore assets in this part of the world as they look to maximise any opportunities that present themselves.”

While the European products being investigated do not include the milk powders, butter and cheeses that dominated NZ’s trade with China, that could change as tensions rise.

Higgins said that China has shown with its now-settled diplomatic and trade dispute with Australia that it is not afraid to ratchet things up.

China hit back at calls by thenAustralian prime minister Scott Morrison’s call for an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus with tariffs on Australian barley in May 2020 before quickly moving to blacklist multiple beef plants, and later in the year used tariffs against its wine exports.

“Right now the disruption to global dairy markets is likely to be minimal based on the small volume of product and the types of products that are under investigation,” Higgins said.

“But these kinds of disputes can last several years and can extend out and either the [basket of] products being investigated expands out or the time period

Continued page 4

SECTORFOCUS

‘Complete surprise’ of big wheat win

The first Stephen, Mary, Peter and Glenys (not pictured) Blain heard of their wheatgrowing Arable Award was when they won it – and it was all thanks to an entry by their agent.

ARABLE 18-21

US shows a keen appetite for dairy protein ahead of processed plant-based products.

NEWS 3

Photo: Annette Scott

After Zimbabwe, the oyster’s his world

Leaving the snakes and leopards of Zimbabwe for the cows and mushrooms of Southland was the move of a lifetime for Edwin Mabonga.

PEOPLE 16

NZ seen as an outlier for global shipping as cargo movers grapple with soaring costs.

NEWS 4

Alan Emerson takes issue with councils acting on regs that are about to be scrapped.

OPINION 14

Are you involved with a project that’s making a positive impact in your local rural community?

Whether your local sports club needs a lick of paint, or your community hall needs a makeover, we’d love to hear from you!

Your project could receive $5,000 cash and a day’s labour from the teams at Rabobank and The Country radio show to help bring your community initiative to life. We’re committed to helping rural communities thrive, and your project could be the next to benefit.

Entries can be submitted at rabobank.co.nz/good-deeds Entries close 30 June 2024 T&C's

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

Contents

News in brief

16

17

Focus

18-21

Farmers . 22-25

26

27

28-33

34-39

40

PAPER ROAD: Jessamine Corpe, managing director of Maia Manawanui Whenua, which owns Mokai Station, says she wants the DoC to adhere to an agreement made decades ago to make a paper road ‘disappear’.

STORY P11 News

Final heads south Farm plan

Invercargill is to host next year’s FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final. The contest series will start with district contest competitions in October 2024, with up to 200 young farmers battling it out for a shot at the title. Entries for FMG Young Farmer of the Year opened on September 2, and entries for FMG Junior and AgriKids will open on October 21on the New Zealand Young Farmers’ website.

pause

The government is pausing the rollout of Freshwater Farm Plans until system improvements are finalised. Minor amendments to the Resource Management Act will be required to enable the pause, which ministers said will allow them to make changes to make implementing the plans more cost effective and fit for purpose.

GDT eases

The GDT index eased 0.4% in the latest auction to settle for an average price of US$3833 a tonne and 88% of product on offer sold.

Results were varied across the product mix, with whole milk powder, butter and lactose pulling the index down, while all others increased. NZX dairy analyst Rosalind Crickett said the results were a little off their expectations, led by a soft drop in WMP and butter.

Forecast rise

Synlait has increased its forecast base milk price for the 2024/2025 season from $8/kg MS to $8.60/kg MS. Despite the 60-cent increase, Synlait said it will continue to take a conservative approach to its 2024/2025 forecast, given the exposure to volatile future global dairy commodity prices at the beginning of the season. Synlait’s final milk price for the 2023/2024 season will be confirmed when the company’s full-year result is released on September 30.

Back in 1860, exporting meat to the other side of the world seemed about as easy as nailing gravy to the ceiling But a few determined kiwis took the bull by the horns and now our grass-fed beef and lamb is sought-after all around the globe

At AFFCO, we see the same pioneering spirit alive and well in farmers today We’re playing our part too – exploring every opportunity to take New Zealand’s finest farm-raised products to the world

Glimmers of new deal for farmers in EU

Neal Wallace POLITICS Agriculture

WHEN newly reelected European Commission

President Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged agriculture as a strategic asset, it piqued the interest of the community’s seven million farmers.

Patrick Pagani, deputy secretarygeneral of farm lobby group Copa Cogeca, said the recognition was in contrast to how European farmers felt they were previously treated.

“There has been a lack of farmer engagement but also a lack of recognition of the important role of farming in Europe,” he told Farmers Weekly at his Brussels office.

Earlier this year farmers took to the streets in 20 of the European Union’s 27 member states, protesting local and international issues such as a flood of Ukrainian food exports, a lack of response to drought and farmer returns being squeezed by processors and retailers.

Pagani said this reflected a topdown approach from Brussels bureaucrats who imposed targets on the sector and treated them as a problem.

He was therefore heartened at the noticeable change when in July Von der Leyen referred to agriculture as a strategic asset in her speech setting the scene for the next four years.

It is a comment not made in recent years.

“It means they consider farming and food as a priority and action will follow,” said Pagani. He hopes it will encourage engagement with the sector and an end to impractical policies.

“We are happy to see this topdown approach abandoned and move to transitioning with the sector.”

Copa Cogeca represents 64 farming and co-operative members from the EU’s member states and is the largest such body in Europe.

It has 50 staff in its Brussels office.

Pagani said the challenges facing the sector are real.

The average income earned by 60% of Europe’s farmers is lower than other sectors and 30% of farmers will retire in the next decade.

Since 2005, 3 million farms have disappeared under urban sprawl or amalgamation.

The EU has a target of a 55% reduction in carbon emissions, compared to 1990 levels, by 2030, a 90% reduction by 2040 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

In 2020 EU agrifood systems contributed 31% of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions.

During her campaign, Von der Leyen spoke of ensuring farmers can work their land without excessive bureaucracy while rewarding those who work with nature and preserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems while helping to decarbonise the economy.

She has commissioned a Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture, a vision for farming and food production that will be released shortly.

“This is important because it is a process that has never happened,” said Pagani.

While the commission’s approach to agriculture appears to have changed, he said that intent needs to be turned into action.

“We are only asking to have put back the competitiveness and economics of the sector, a

NEW APPROACH: Patrick

We are happy to see this top-down approach abandoned and move to transitioning with the sector.

Patrick Pagani Copa Cogeca

transition that includes the three pillars: economic, social and environmental.”

The EU Green Deal, a policy adopted in 2022, aims to transform the bloc into a modern, resource-

of farm

efficient and competitive economy.

For agriculture, it aims to enhance food security, reduce the environmental and climate footprint of food and make food systems more resilient and sustainable through an aligned Farm to Fork strategy.

A report from Wageningen University warns livestock numbers could fall 10-15% in order to meet nutrient loss targets, while feed costs are likely to rise.

The policy will also lower the use of pesticides and antimicrobials, impacting crop yields.

Soil is one of the policy’s target

Win for dairy in natural eating trend

Neal Wallace MARKETS Food and fibre

UNITED States consumers have discovered the wonders of dairy protein.

Elisa Giusti, Fonterra’s vicepresident of marketing, strategy and innovation for Fonterra Global Ingredients, said food fortified with dairy protein is increasingly seen as a crucial element in people’s health and wellbeing.

There are hundreds of ways that milk products find their way onto shelves.

It is a trend she said is being reflected in new products and new uses. Chicago-based Giusti said it is part of a movement to natural products – away from plant-based proteins and margarine to dairy

products such as butter, natural cheeses and fats. Fortified protein is being used in new beverages, baked goods, snacks and pasta and even potato chips and candy bars.

“Americans understand that protein is good for them,” she said.

“There are hundreds of ways that milk products find their way onto shelves.”

She said consumers have lost interest in plant-based alternatives as awareness of health and wellbeing has increased.

They are asking themselves which is better for them, a natural dairy product or a plant-based alternative that has a lengthy, complex ingredient panel.

“Natural grass-fed dairy, they see that as real food and real food is better for me.

“They have a better understanding of the nutrient reality of dairy.”

Trends come and go but Giusti can see only upside in interest in fortified dairy protein as consumers make this shift using their own research but also

encouraged by influencers who pique their curiosity.

At the heart of this shift is the perception that if it is good for the planet, it must good for the consumer.

The global market for fortified protein is expected to grow by US$10 billion ($16bn) in the next four years and is one of reasons Fonterra is investing $75m expanding its Studholme plant in South Canterbury.

Giusti said her role is to connect dairy with users and applications, and increasingly those consumers want proof those products were sustainably produced.

Consistently the top four considerations are environment, climate change, animal welfare and regenerative agriculture.

“Targets were one step, now it’s action. They want us to show them the progress.

“It’s gone beyond the ‘we would like you to’ to ‘this is what we expect you to do’.”

New Zealand dairy is acknowledged as being world

MEETING the MARKET

7 COUNTRIES IN 6 WEEKS

leading in sustainability and is seen as providing customers with carbon-reduction solutions.

But farmers cannot afford to relax.

“So long as we continue to commit to being leaders in sustainability – which we are and all credit to farmers – it gives the co-operative the ability to differentiate, it’s a value proposition.”

For Giusti, who was raised in Chicago and who has worked for over a decade in the commercial food industry, working for a dairy co-operative differs from her previous roles.

7 COUNTRIES IN 6 WEEKS

area with an estimated 60% classified as unhealthy and 83% containing pest residues.

By 2050 data will be collected on the health of soils and made available to farmers and other soil managers to improve its management.

The Farm to Fork strategy seeks to balance environmental impacts, mitigate and adapt to climate change, and reverse the loss of biodiversity while ensuring food security and access to nutritious and safe food.

Pagani said the current NZ$690 billion Common Agricultural Policy expires in 2027 and his organisation will seek to negotiate a new policy that includes financial support, trade, plant protection, bioactive controls and fair trade protection for farmers selling products.

Other challenges being pursued by Copa Cogeca include flexibility in meeting the 2050 net carbon zero target, imported products having equal production standards to those produced locally, and shortening the six to seven years it takes to release a product developed with new genomic techniques.

• Wallace is visiting seven countries in six weeks to report on market sentiment, a trip made possible with grants from Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Alliance, Beef + Lamb NZ, NZ Meat Industry Association and Rabobank.

FORTIFIED: Elisa Giusti, Fonterra’s vice-president of marketing, strategy and innovation for Fonterra Global Ingredients, says food fortified with dairy protein is being seen as a crucial element in people’s health and wellbeing.

“It gives me a sense of purpose and obligation to the thousands of farmers who get up every day to feed and nurture the world.”

Pagani, the deputy secretary-general

lobby group Copa Cogeca, said the European Commission appears to have a new consultative approach to agriculture.

Elisa Giusti Fonterra

of uncertainty extends out.”

An executive at one large dairy exporter said his company is watching the situation closely “because it involves the world’s biggest dairy import market and the world’s largest dairy exporter”.

Another industry figure believes China could argue that the recent period of low returns for its producers has been made worse by European subsidies contributing to higher global production than could be justified by market prices. And targeting a small selection of products could be the easiest case to prove.

A study commissioned by the Dairy Companies Association of NZ backed this up when it found earlier this year that a 50% reduction in EU subsidies would lead to a 2.4% increase in factory-gate cheese prices for non-EU producers.

At the same time the timing of China’s dairy probe so soon after the EU’s tariffs on Chinese-made EVs suggested retaliation and further tit for tat escalation to include larger volume products couldn’t be discounted.

“China has basically said if you are going to look at our industrial policy then we are going to look at your agricultural subsidies,” one source said.

The EU is a significant competitor in most of NZ’s major dairy exports to China.

While last year it accounted for only 2% of China’s imports of whole milk powder compared to NZ’s 88%, the EU had a 22% share of skim milk imports while NZ accounted for 45%. For cheese the EU’s market share was 18% versus NZ’s 59%.

For butter the EU accounted for 11% of Chinese imports and NZ’s share was 87%.

However, a dairy company executive who spoke to Farmers Weekly on condition of anonymity said NZ farmers shouldn’t rush to cheer on China in a trade war with the EU which escalates to include tariffs on major dairy commodities.

“If the European dairy industry cannot send cheese to China then it will send it somewhere else and probably with even more European Commission subsidies to help them sell it.

“There might be some short-term opportunities but that is the reality.”

Infrastructure: shipping storm on New Zealand’s horizon

Gerald Piddock MARKETS Transport

NEW Zealand is now viewed as an outlier for global shipping as cargo movers grapple with the soaring cost of getting products from port to port.

The country is seen as an expensive place to do business from a shipping operator’s perspective, Zespri shipping manager Alasdair MacIntosh told HortNZ’s annual conference in Tauranga.

MacIntosh is also a representative of the New Zealand Cargo Owners Council. He said the shipping industry is facing multiple challenges as it battles ongoing costs and longer travel times.

Nationally, the council is also concerned about poor productivity, with a lack of improvement post-covid.

A lot of this is due to port operations, labour requirements and the uncertainty of when vessels will arrive, MacIntosh said.

“Overall, nationally we are about 20% down since covid –Auckland 38%, Tauranga 14% in terms of their crane moves at the moment.”

The industry is coping with the amount of cargo coming through and with a weak economy and high cost of living. He said he is concerned about low productivity once the economy starts improving and demand increases.

“Where does that leave us? We can just see more congestion coming down the line.”

Ships are going to get bigger as larger ships are more fuel efficient and are better for the environment in terms of carbon

produced per tonnes of cargo carried.

Nationally, the country faces major infrastructure challenges to be able to service these larger ships.

“We need to be in a position where we can expand, where we can make places for larger ships coming through, more efficient ships and more efficient movement of cargo.”

Most ports in New Zealand will not be able to take those larger vessels apart from Auckland, Lyttleton and Tauranga.

“Perhaps it goes offshore, perhaps Australia becomes a hub for New Zealand, and we end up having to go through Australian ports to reach the rest of the world.”

The issue needs to be depoliticised and cannot be resolved if consecutive governments continuously change or block plans.

“We need to have an infrastructure policy in place that covers at least 30 years so that we can have some good budget [funding] put aside to make sure that each of these projects that needs to be addressed does have the attention it needs and not just change every three years when a new government comes in.”

The council is working with transport agencies and the government to develop this, he said.

The sentiment was backed by Zespri’s executive officer for sustainability, Rachel Depree.

As consumers and markets became more climate conscious, New Zealand has to be well positioned to take up low-carbon shipping technology, she said.

“We’re small, down under and far away but very reliant on shipping to drive export value.”

Perhaps ... we end up having to go through Australian ports to reach the rest of the world.

Alasdair MacIntosh Zespri

There is also a limited supply of low-emissions fuel and NZ risks missing out if it does not act now.

The country could miss out on low-emissions supply chains and routes as larger trading partners move into this space, she said.

“This of course could resolve in higher emissions pricing in the future, or even reduce servicing by shipping providers including the risk that we are left with the high carbon options to ship product to market where we will essentially be paying other countries to decarbonise.”

Lowering these emissions reduces costs and helped contribute to the government’s goal of doubling export values.

Ports also need longer and deeper berths to accommodate larger ships and NZ trails other countries in transport policy investment, she said.

The industry needs allgovernment support to co-ordinate industry and government efforts around better port infrastructure, alternative fuels and increasing domestic fuel supply.

“We know we need to be infrastructure ready if we want to bring these ships to NZ.

“We need to take on this challenge if we are going to continue to offer high value products to the world and support NZ’s enviable agri-economy.”

MORE: See page 7

GROWING PROBLEM: Ships are going to get bigger because larger ships are more fuel efficient and less harmful to the environment –but many NZ ports will struggle to service these larger ships.

Spectrum of land use mapped through Prism

Bryan Gibson TECHNOLOGY Environment

SILVER Fern Farms has partnered with Wellington-based Lynker Analytics to form a new company, Prism Earth, to help farmers better understand and capitalise on their natural vegetation and biodiversity. Managing director of Prism

IN THE SKY: Prism Earth does carbon and biodiversity mapping, climate risk analysis, and farmscale land use simulation to help farmers understand, budget for and adapt to climate and biodiversity challenges and opportunities.

Earth Matt Lythe told the Farmers Weekly In Focus podcast the company will help primary producers face up to critical challenges such as developing diversified revenue streams, adjusting to changing climatic conditions, meeting emissions targets and responding to changing buyer behaviour.

“Prism delivers an integrated set of capabilities that allow us to document in some detail landscapes, catchment scale or farm scale, in order to really look at that land use problem – what’s the best and highest value use of land?

“It also does carbon and biodiversity mapping, climate risk analysis and farm-scale land use simulation to help farmers understand, budget for and adapt to climate and biodiversity challenges and opportunities,” Lythe said.

The technology will underpin SFF’s zero carbon red meat programmes and it has been approved by Toitū EnviroCare, the leading certifier in New Zealand.

And it will be available to any farmer, not just SFF suppliers.

“We’re ambitious for New Zealand and while we found a

really great alignment of values with Silver Fern, their naturepositive goals, we are very much about trying to share this knowledge and information widely.”

Prism [allows us to] to really look at that land use problem – what’s the best and highest value use of land?

Alongside artificial intelligence (AI), Prism also uses sensor data, geospatial analytics and visualisation software to deliver its services.

Lythe said Prism will not only support primary producers to realise the potential from their onfarm vegetation and biodiversity, but also help them to prepare for the impacts of climate change and increasing trade and market requirements.

“Future climate has the potential to drive major shifts in land use. These impacts won’t be distributed equally, and the level of adaptation

Kiwibank denies rural lending ambitions

Nigel Stirling NEWS Finance

KIWIBANK says an increase in the size of its rural lending book over the past 12 months is not the start of a deep dive into the market.

According to Reserve Bank data the stateowned bank increased its rural lending 32% in the year to June, the largest percentage increase of the seven largest rural lenders. However, the numbers remained small.

The rural lending market is primarily dominated by major Australian banks and specialist providers.

Spokesperson Kiwibank

Kiwibank increased its rural loan book over the period by $8 million to $24m. Farming loans by the second-largest rural lender, Heartland Bank, were $716m, up $16m, or 2.3%, over the same period.

The rural loan book of the largest rural lender, ANZ, fell by $147m, or 1%, to $14.9 billion in the year to June.

Speculation has grown in recent months that Kiwibank could be directed by its shareholder to get more involved to address complaints of price gouging by the established rural lenders.

That speculation has only grown since Finance Minister Nicola Willis wrote to the chairs of Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure and Primary Production select

committees in June asking them to begin an inquiry into competition in the rural lending market.

And it grew stronger still last month after Willis revealed she was seeking advice on a recapitalisation of the bank to give it the funds needed to take on the Australiaowned banks.

But in a statement last week a Kiwibank spokesperson said the rural lending market looked crowded with all four Australiaowned banks and Netherlands-owned Rabobank active participants.

“The rural lending market is primarily dominated by major Australian banks and specialist providers, which control most of the lending in this sector.

“Given this, we currently have no plans to enter the rural lending market and are focusing on our strengths, including driving competition in retail and business banking.”

Overall the Reserve Bank data showed agricultural lending growth was roughly flat in the year to June, up 0.2%, or $115m, to $61.5bn.

In a note to its clients, rural debt advisory firm NZAB said loan growth was stronger in the second half of the year, up 1.4%, or by $860m, as high early season dairy payments tapered off and principal repayments with them.

It noted market leader ANZ continued to lose market share, along with Westpac, which decreased its share of the rural lending market by 4% in the 12 months to June. Of the four Australia-owned banks, only BNZ increased its share of the market.

Rabobank was the major beneficiary, accounting for 40% of all new rural lending during the period, outpacing its market share of 21%.

needed will depend on location, land use and exposure of the farm,” Lythe said.

“As previously suitable climatic conditions change, it is likely that pasture yields will shift and summer water demands will increase. Nitrate leaching could also be more variable, erosion rates can increase, and increasing heat stress could affect animal welfare and milk production from dairy cows.

“We’re also seeing growing global requirements on a range of sustainability measures, through which trusted and verifiable data

HOLISTIC: Prism Earth will not only support primary producers to realise the potential from their on-farm vegetation and biodiversity, but also help them to prepare for the impacts of climate change and increasing trade and market requirements, managing director Matt Lythe says.

will play a key role in supporting farmers to navigate market access and realise the opportunities available,” he said. Prism will work extensively with catchment groups to model science-based, long-term land use adaptation in economic, environmental, social and cultural terms. This work will begin at Arai Te Uru Awa, a 23,000 hectare hill country catchment 10km southwest of Gisborne.

MORE:

Listen to Farmers Weekly In Focus wherever you find your podcasts.

Matt Lythe Prism Earth

EYE

Don’t move too fast on GE, grower warns

Gerald Piddock TECHNOLOGY Genetics

THE government’s tight timeframe for updating the rules around genetic technology is a case of moving “too far, too fast”, says a Hawke’s Bay grower.

Speaking in a panel discussion at HortNZ’s annual conference in Tauranga, Scott Lawson said the sector had everything to lose including market access and grower returns if the rules are changed.

“I don’t want to see a horticultural industry and all the good work we have done crushed by poorly thought-through regulation that hasn’t been canvassed or discussed by the wider community.”

The starting point for the new legislation has to be that anything that puts at risk the trust and clean green image of NZ is too much of a risk to take, he said.

The government plans to end what is effectively a ban on GM and GE and create a dedicated regulator to ensure the safe and ethical usage of biotech and streamline the approvals for trials.

The government has signalled that it wants to have the

legislation completed by 2025. Lawson said NZ has to be aware of what no longer being GMO-free will do to its markets.

“Zespri, Fonterra and many companies leverage off this GMOfree position and internationally we have to sign GMO-free declarations on phytosanitary for apples going to India – all of these emerging markets are very concerned around that.

“We need to be very aware of what our consumers think internationally and that feedback we’re reliant on.”

It also raises ethical questions around whether growers could face future restrictions around what they can and cannot grow due to patents.

He said the European Patent Office is accepting patents for gene-edited feed proposals and when people start patenting nature’s biology, that limits what breeders called “breeders bounty” – the gene pool that growers choose to grow from.

It has caused a huge outcry among European vegetable seed growers who fear it will lead to growing restrictions.

It raises questions around who owns nature’s biology and whether NZ growers will have to recognise these patents under World Trade

Organisation and other trade rules.

“We could end up selling our sovereignty,” he said.

Māori Kiwifruit Growers chair Anaru Timutimu said Māori growers have a cautious but open attitude towards having discussions around GE.

Timutimu said in his conversations with the Māori sector, they wanted protections in place for the original species.

I don’t want to see all the good work we have done crushed by poorly thought-through regulation.

AWARE: Hawke’s Bay grower Scott Lawson says NZ has to be aware of what no longer being GMO-free will do to its markets.

“The whakapapa of that original species is really important.”

Turners & Growers chief executive Gareth Edgecombe said if GMO labelling has to go on a product, it will be real barrier for consumers globally.

He said NZ has a brand of high trust and high quality and the settings have to be gotten right. It is such an important longterm step for NZ and it will still be decades before new genetically

Scott Lawson Hawke’s Bay

edited products will be in the marketplace.

“With that in mind, it’s more important that we get all of the settings right and bring everyone along and take our time to do that.”

BioTechNZ executive director Dr Zahra Champion said the regulations as they stand are 28 years old and are unsuitable for managing new technologies and need to be updated.

One of the main challenges in the new legislation will be how these new technologies are defined, she said.

“This is where the tension really is. It’s not about ‘Should we update the regulations?’; it’s down to those definitions.

“Where do we feel comfortable where we start calling it a GMO? I believe that is going to continue to be the big question.”

WorkSafe issues advisory after milk shed death

WORKSAFE has issued a warning on slide pulsators after a recent death in a milking shed.

Jeff Bolstad died on July 27 in Morrinsville, Waikato, when his clothing became entangled in the rotating bar of a slide pulsator.

WorkSafe’s investigation manager Paul West said WorkSafe is recommending the dairy industry reassess its use of slide pulsators.

“WorkSafe is in the early stages of investigating the circumstances, but already has enough information to urge caution.

“We are extremely concerned about the risk posed by exposed moving parts on slide pulsators, and urge farmers to check if their set-up is safe or bring a specialist in for advice,” West said.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, there is an obligation for businesses to manage their health and safety risks.

“For farmers, this means to

either ensure slide pulsators are safe, substitute them for an electronic pulsator, install safeguarding to prevent access to any moving parts, or remove them. PVC tubing used on some farms is unlikely to provide enough protection to eliminate the risk and meet the required guarding standards.

“The risk of clothing entanglement is real, and steps need to be taken to manage that risk. Any rotating shafts that can catch clothing or body parts need as much protective guarding as

possible, or to be replaced,” West said.

Executive officer at the Milking and Pumping Trade Association (NZMPTA) Maria Scott said it advises farmers to ensure that all moving parts in their dairy shed are identified and protected appropriately, and detailed in their Risk Management / Hazards Plan.

Retrofit guards are available for purchase and farmers should contact their milking equipment provider for advice on guarding, Scott said.

The joint Australia/New Zealand Standard SF-041 Safety of Machinery governs the safety and standards of such equipment.

“A major manufacturer of mechanical slide pulsators advises that, for the past couple of years, all new pulsation systems that they install themselves leave the factory with guards – and that from now on, all third party purchases of their mechanical slide pulsators will include cover guards for the installer to fit on farm,” Scott said.

Gerhard Uys NEWS Health

Remembering farming legend James Guild

GROWTH: James Guild arrived on High Peak in 1973 to an undeveloped foothills valley in inland Canterbury.

ONE of the greats in New Zealand farming and conservation, James Alastair Hay Guild, MNZM, of High Peak Station in the Canterbury high country, has died.

Guild, a highly respected steward of the land, much loved husband, father and friend, lost his threeyear battle with prostate cancer on September 1, leaving an enduring legacy within NZ agriculture.

A true guardian of the land who championed environmental stewardship and advocated for sustainable farming practices, Guild arrived on High Peak in 1973 to an undeveloped foothills valley in inland Canterbury.

Government incentives of the time encouraged development of the land, but he soon saw the need to balance this approach with the protection of High Peak’s unique natural attributes.

This was the beginning of a lifelong passion for agriculture and conservation.

Just two months ago Guild and his sons Hamish and Simon were named the 2024 National Ambassadors for Sustainable Farming and Growing, and

the recipients of NZ’s most prestigious farm environment award, the Gordon Stephenson Trophy.

This was one of the last big moments for James Guild, who said the win was “an incredible honour”.

He said on the night: “My challenge to my family behind me is to take the Gordon Stephenson mantle and go out and carry on the good work of the Farm Environment Trust in extending the best land management systems that we can in New Zealand.”

The award judges praised the family for a combination of an exemplary farming operation, from a financial, social and environmental perspective, and the ability to give well-informed responses and views on a range of pan-sector topics, including particular awareness of global markets and how products are seen offshore.

The 3760 hectare farm runs 3500 deer, mainly for venison, along with producing four tonnes of velvet, plus 1000 weaners for finishing each year, alongside separate entities of sheep and beef; honey; forestry; and tourism ventures including guided hunting and heli-skiing, each bringing strengths to ensure a sustainable and robust business.

Guild spent over 50 years dedicated to farming, conservation and the deer industry, holding numerous industry positions across all three sectors at all levels.

He was a chair for nine years of the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust, responsible for the protection of private land for conservation.

He believed the QEII National Trust’s work with farmers was “living proof” that agricultural production and conservation can coexist on farm.

In his time as chair the organisation grew to support more than 190,000ha of covenant land as the trust at one stage was taking in up to 300 new covenants a year.

About 60% of covenants were held by farmers, with the average size being about 30ha.

Guild advocated that the attraction for farmers in holding a covenant included preserving a unique feature for future generations.

Zealand Order of Merit for services to the deer industry.

Over a period of 40 years he was councillor and president of the NZ Deer Farmers Association, director of the Game Industry Board, director of the Cervena Trust, inaugural chair of Provelco Co-op Ltd, president of the NZ Association of Game Estates, and chaired the organising committee of the first World Deer Congress. He advised the government on issues such as animal welfare and livestock tax, and was on the Game Animal Council Establishment Committee, whose work led to the development of the Game Animal Council Act.

While Guild and his wife Anna were semi-retired, they were still involved, overseeing and assisting all High Peak operations and hosting guests at the homestead. Guild subscribed to the “Three Fs” philosophy of life – Friends, Family and Fine Scotch!

He is survived by his wife Anna and children Simon, Hamish and Amelia and their families.

High Peak Station has several covenants across the property largely based around water and biodiversity.

Guild had a Member of the New

His life will be celebrated at High Peak Station on Wednesday, September 11.

Fonterra to build new $150m UHT cream plant

continues to strengthen.

FONTERRA is to build a $150 million UHT cream plant at its Edendale site to meet growing demand in Asia.

The new plant will initially create upward of 50 million litres of UHT processing capacity with the capacity to grow beyond 100 million litres by 2030.

Demand for dairy is growing in Asia as consumers integrate dairy into traditional foods such as laksa and milk tea.

Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell said the investment is part of the co-operative’s strategy to grow further value by expanding its foodservice business in Asia and increasing production capacity for high-value products.

“Demand for UHT cream

Globally, we’re expecting demand to increase by more than 4% year on year between 2023 and 2032.

“This is the second announcement we’ve made in as many weeks about expansions at our sites to cater for growing demand.

“We believe prioritising our ingredients and foodservice channels will create more value for Fonterra and this expansion is a good example of the direction the co-op is heading,” Hurrell said.

He shared the news while in Malaysia on a senior New Zealand business delegation with the prime minister.

In Malaysia, Fonterra is looking to build on solid foundations where half of New Zealand exports to the country are already dairy.

Fonterra COO Anna Palairet said the Edendale site is well set up to

for future growth with decarbonisation work well underway along with a good supply of cream in the region.

“The additional processing capacity will allow us to manufacture more UHT cream products and grow value for farmers.”

The investment is also good news for the South Island economy.

“Adding to the six new roles created through the recently announced expansion at our Studholme site, we will create an additional 70 new jobs with this new plant at Edendale. This is great news for the local community.”

Additional employment opportunities will also be created through the construction phase, which is scheduled to start early next year. The first product is expected to come off the line in August 2026.

PRESTIGE: Hamish, James and Simon Guild were named the 2024 National Ambassadors for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipients of NZ’s most prestigious farm environment award, the Gordon Stephenson Trophy.

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Tickets on sale

Come join us as we celebrate the sector and announce the winners at the 2024 B+LNZ Awards

Thursday 10 October, Claudelands Event Centre, Hamilton

Scan here to learn more about the finalists and purchase your ticket or visit beeflambnz.com/finalists

As well as finding out who the winners are of the eight award categories, it will be an opportunity to meet the finalists and celebrate the people, innovations and farming systems that make our red meat sector world-leading.

Congratulations to the 2024 finalists

AgResearch Emerging Achiever Award

• Lana Chrystal

• Mitchel Hoare

• Martin Reisima

Rabobank People Development Award

• Growing Future Farmers

• Hereheretau Station

• Lone Star Farms

FMG Rural Champion Award

• Harriet Bremner-Pinckney

• New Zealand Farm Environment Trust

• Royalburn Station Ltd

Alliance Significant Contribution Award

• Bryan Hocken MNZM

• Ian McIvor

• Rod Slater

Silver Fern Farms Market Leader Award

• Conscious Valley

• Headwaters

• Ongaha

Datamars Livestock Technology Award

• Farm IQ Freshwater Farm Plan Tool

• Halter

• Zoetis SHEPHERD®

Gallagher Innovative Farming Award

• FE Gold

• Fernglen Farm

• Motumatai Pastoral Ltd

Ballance Agri-Nutrients

Science and Research Award

• Andy Dumbleton

• Dr David Hume

• Anne Ridler

Thank you to our Awards partner Farmlands and the Award Category Sponsors.

Mokai Station public access talks stall

THE managing director of a company that owns a Taihape station says the Department of Conservation is going back on a promise made 48 years ago to make a paper road “disappear”.

Jessamine Corpe, MD of Maia Manawanui Whenua, said as a result of the broken promise, negotiations between Mokai Station and the DoC for access to public land through the station are failing.

The dispute relates to a NonRegistered Easement entered into 48 years ago by Corpe’s fatherin-law, Bruce Corpe, and the New Zealand Forest Service, now the DoC.

Corpe said she is in possession of decades-old documents showing the DoC agreed to a road stoppage of the paper road, officially known as an unformed legal road (ULR), if public access to the Ruahine range was granted via the NonRegistered Easement.

The DoC did not keep to the agreement, she said.

The ULR crosses a considerable section of the station, with the easement crossing only a small section, making it more practical for access.

Except for crossing a large section of the farm, the ULR is also not practical as it ends near a cliff face, making access to DoC land difficult, she said.

The DoC is now demanding further access points, wants part of the ULR accessible for the public to get to a scenic reserve on the farm, and still wants access via the Non-Registered Easement to the Ruahine ranges before continuing with negotiations, she said.

Opening the new access points would mean Corpe would have to move sheep yards and move a bridge.

The family has spent almost $100,000 in legal fees in attempts to come to an agreement.

The negotiations have been ongoing for four years, she said.

Corpe believes the DoC is heavily influenced by the Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC), which are pushing for access.

Corpe said they don’t want to bar the public, but with negotiations stalling they are considering exercising that right.

“The ideal outcome would be for us to directly speak to the DoC’s director,” she said.

“Out of good faith we’ve given the opportunity for people to access the tops through the easement. But it feels like we’re being threatened for our generosity.”

“I just want the original agreement to be adhered to,” she said.

District operations manager for the DoC Moana Smith-Dunlop said an easement agreement was signed in 1976 between the New Zealand Forest Service and the landowner to establish access across the property.

The DoC succeeded the New Zealand Forest Service in 1987. ULR, also known as “paper roads”, are managed by the local council and the DoC does not have statutory responsibility for unformed legal roads, SmithDunlop said.

“DoC would prefer a shorter easement route following established tracks across the Corpe property and to update the historic easement agreement to a more modern format.

“If the owner does not want to amend the easement terms, DoC is happy for the existing easement to remain unchanged.”

The DoC advised the landowner’s solicitor of this in July 2023, she said.

“DoC considers the landowner is more likely to have a successful road-stopping application if access to Ruahine Forest Park is improved.

“DoC considers an improved access route has potential to minimise disruption to farming operations by reducing time required to cross the private property and increasing adherence to an agreed track.”

Smith-Dunlop said negotiations are stalling as Corpe wants the DoC to stop the ULR before engaging further.

“DoC has no statutory authority over unformed legal roads and therefore cannot meet the landowner’s expectation.”

FMC president Megan Dimozantos said the club has been putting pressure on the DoC to resolve the access situation.

Dimozantos said ULR have particular features attached to them.

A ULR is not a landowner’s property, is usually about 50m wide, is generally managed by the district council, allows vehicles and dogs, access is in perpetuity, and they can’t be revoked without the full support of the public, she said.

ULRs are generally the preferred mechanism for access.

Dimozantos said the ULR that goes across Mokai Station is in an inconvenient spot, for example going past buildings or up steep hills.

“If there were changes made to the easement that allowed dogs to go across on lead, firearms to go across, potentially for it to go straight through to Iron Bark Hut, then the community would be more supportive of a road stoppage, but as it stands that easement doesn’t have the same access in perpetuity and the same access rights as what that ULR has.

“Until people can be assured that the easement is going to have the same features as the ULR, people are probably not going to be supportive of the ULR road stoppage.”

A ULR road stoppage generally goes out for consultation. If there are submissions against it, it goes to the Environment Court.

The Environment Court will assess it and will generally decline the road stoppage unless the net benefit is in favour of the public, Dimozantos said.

“To get the support for the stoppage of the ULR the landowner would need to be agreeable to the easement being redrafted so that the features and the access and perpetuity that is currently afforded by the ULR applied to the easement.”

Gerhard Uys NEWS Land

AGREEMENT: Jessamine Corpe, managing director of Maia Manawanui Whenua, which owns Mokai Station, says she wants the DoC to adhere to an agreement made decades ago to make a paper road ‘disappear’.

NEGOTIATIONS: Access to public land through Mokai Station in future will be dependent on how negotiations between the station and DoC turn out.

From the Editor

Teamwork makes the dream work

Bryan Gibson Managing editor

ONE of reporter Neal Wallace’s first visits on his Meeting the Market journey was to McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago.

The company sells 1.5 million Big Macs an hour in the United States and one would figure that safety and surety of supply would be top of its checklist when procuring meat.

But its global supply chain director told Neal that emissions intensity and animal welfare are the work-ons for NZ producers.

For many here in Aotearoa, the first reaction to that news is bemused horror. Surely an industrial barn in Illinois or Brazil doesn’t hold a candle to the lush green pastures of Waikato or Southland?

Surely McDonald’s must simply not know very much about our farm systems and we’re being tarred with a brush that was never meant for us?

It’s a theory that satisfies the notion we

have about our place in the food-producing world.

But it’s also one that won’t help us remain the supplier of choice to the biggest processors.

Some people have asked us if we corrected these corporate monsters, telling them the truth about how food is grown here.

Well, we would have if they needed telling, but they didn’t because the data doesn’t lie.

Delving deeper into Neal’s story, we find McDonald’s global supply chain director isn’t a Chicago suit, he’s an Australian beef farmer who has a deep understanding of downunder farming systems.

No doubt he can also read statistics and data, which show the emissions efficiency of meat and dairy from producers in the US, European Union and even South America is improving far faster than it is here.

McDonald’s serves 70 million meals globally every day. It’s not the most premium of products but the company is probably better placed than most when it comes to knowing the global consumer.

The good news is that McDonald’s is working on ways to reward farmers who improve their sustainability profile.

As big industrial producers make progress on improving the sustainability of their beef and dairy systems, which centre on feedlots and barns, the pasture-

based practitioners need to find their own improvements.

Advocating for that continual improvement isn’t naive, nor is it woke –whatever that means these days.

So while some readers may think news stories that feature New Zealand’s customers urging further improvements in sustainability is a sign that we’re not backing NZ farming, we think it’s a key component of what makes Team Ag such a world beater.

You can love who you are now and also strive to improve in the future. It’s called meeting the market.

Talk to any farmer who has had the opportunity to visit export markets and see how they operate – they’ll tell you it only spurred them to focus on the sustainability, traceability and brand story that accompanies what they actually put on the boat.

You can love who you are now and also strive to improve in the future, that’s how the world works.

It’s called meeting the market.

You can inspire your colleagues to be the best that they can be.

That’s called teamwork, and we’re on your team.

Letters of the week GE crops a must for our future

Cassie Buick

Lincoln University student

I WAS relieved to read Hugh Stringleman’s article “GE leaps up agribusiness priority list” (June 17). It reminded us not only of the possible environmental benefits but also the profit increases that New Zealand would gain if genetic engineering laws were to be changed.

Genetic improvement of animals or crops is nowhere near as harmful as it is made out to be. It is just simply not possible to achieve the best genotype in a crop or herd quickly by using conventional breeding, which is a long and tedious process that, quite frankly, farmers are getting tired of.

We have to give the farmers confidence to keep going, and we have the ability to do this by using genetic engineering. It improves our crops and animals at a much faster rate, and farmers can make production gains faster. It all began with a genetically modified tomato plant in 1994, and from there GE crops rapidly expanded. Within 25 years there were 192 million hectares of GE crops around the globe. Farmers adopted this technology quickly for a reason: it worked. Given the ability to pick specific desired traits and insert them into a crop or animal herd quickly and efficiently a farmer can dramatically increase his production and profit margins. You’d be silly not to try it.

GE crops are being used and produced all over the globe – potato, pumpkin, alfalfa, the list goes on and on, all of which get the green tick to be consumed by humans.

If that’s the case, why are New Zealand growers and farmers being held back while the rest of the world is progressing in the production of crops?

On average, farmers in the United States who have adopted the use of GE crops have reduced chemical pesticide use by 37% and increased production by 22%. So let’s loosen the laws and allow our farmers to benefit from GE technology by building a more sustainable crop production system, as well as improving the nutrition of both stock and human feed.

NZ business leaders have recognised this flaw in our system, and putting an end to “unenforceable and foolish rules on genetic engineering” has become top priority for them. The country is with them and will ensure the new rules protect human health and our environment.

Best letter WINS a quality hiking knife

Send your letter to the Editor at Farmers Weekly P.0. Box 529, Feilding or email us at farmers.weekly@agrihq.co.nz

In my view ...

Joining the 21st century, a little late

Dr Parmjeet Parmar

Parmar is ACT’s spokesperson for science, innovation, and technology

YEARS ago, as I began exploring the potential of liberalising genetic engineering laws, I was advised to use the euphemism “biotechnology” to avoid a fearful knee-jerk reaction.

I believe New Zealanders’ attitudes have shifted. We have now elected a coalition government with all three partners signed up to freeing genetic technology from the laboratory.

Earlier this year, I surveyed New Zealand scientists with research involving genetic engineering. Their work is inspiring. Kiwis are using genetic technology to develop cancer treatments, combat crop diseases, advance new industries, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

One respondent was using genetic technology to understand the cognitive processes of insects and applying this knowledge to artificial intelligence.

In short, they are working to make both people and the planet healthier and wealthier.

They have the knowledge and the passion to make New Zealand a superpower in genetic technology. What they often lack is the permission.

A major concern reported to me is the regulation of low-risk research as high-risk. Current settings effectively bar many scientists from testing and commercialising their work, and even those working on the most mundane projects sacrifice time and resources to fulfil compliance processes.

Legislation set in Wellington has led to absurd outcomes. In one case local scientists developed a red-fleshed apple, but weren’t allowed to taste test that apple in New Zealand. They had to taste it in the United States instead.

Innovations like AgResearch’s high metabolisable energy ryegrass, which could reduce livestock methane emissions by 15% and lower nitrogen excretion, remain illegal here, even as we are told livestock emissions are a desperate problem.

New Zealand’s long-standing boast that no genetically modified crops are grown here is no longer something to be proud of. It only sends the message that we deny science and means we are stuck with the trial-and-error method of selective breeding.

For hundreds if not thousands of years, humans have modified and enhanced traits in plants and animals by selective or conventional breeding techniques to achieve desired phenotypic traits that we can see or taste. Not everything we eat has always

existed naturally, and we have been growing and consuming these foods for years without questioning what those expressed traits mean in terms of changes to genetic make-up.

But now we have a government willing to do what Helen Clark, John Key, and Jacinda Ardern failed to do. We may be 24 years late, but New Zealand is entering the 21st century.

There will be some opposition. Last year, the Labour Government expressed interest in changing regulations, but it stated its proposals would not alter rules on using GMOs outside laboratory settings.

This approach was not riskproportionate and would have seen our brightest minds continue to take their research overseas.

This month, the Green Party’s Steve Abel said they would oppose the environmental release of genetically engineered crops but supported the “ethical use of GE biotechnology in containment, including medical use”.

This position is contradictory. They trust genetic technology for use on humans (who presumably will not be required to live inside a lab) but oppose it for making animals or crops in the outside world more disease resistant. The principles of risk-proportionate regulation do not change whether applied to humans or crops.

Genetic technologies are

NO LOGIC: The Green Party trusts GE for use on humans but opposes it for making animals or crops in the outside world more disease resistant, says Dr Parmjeet Parmar, ACT’s spokesperson for science, innovation, and technology.

neutral, just like all other technologies. It is their applications that make them risky or beneficial. The regulatory system should allow us to harness the potential of the technology while putting safeguards in place for applications that present real risk. ACT aims to be closely engaged in the development of legislation and the implementation of a dedicated regulator. Regulation must be proportionate to risk.

While Australia’s framework is a starting point, scientists who have worked under that regime tell me it comes with its own frustrations. Our system should not just match

Australia’s but surpass it. We should never take progress for granted. The comforts we enjoy today rest on the scientific advances of those who were allowed to question, to experiment, to test their ideas outside the laboratory, and ultimately to offer the fruits of their research to a hungry world. Likewise, many of our challenges in health and economics and the environment may in fact be the product of selfimposed barriers.

ACT proposes to lift these barriers and give people permission to flourish.

A pork industry that we can be proud of

Roy Roy is chair of NZ Pork

THIS year marks the 50th anniversary of the statute that led to the foundation of New Zealand Pork, the organisation representing New Zealand pig farmers. NZ Pork’s recent conference provided an excellent opportunity to reflect on the many changes over the past halfcentury.

In 1974, the Pork Act established the Pork Industry Council, which marked the beginning of organised representation for pig farmers. At that time, the industry had a larger workforce and fewer regulations. Over the years, significant developments in regulation and environmental requirements have prompted the industry to adapt and evolve.

In 1997, the Pork Industry Board Act established the statutory industry board that we have today, which I am proud to chair.

Pork production, though a small part of our primary sector, is vital. Pork consumption is increasing both in NZ and globally. NZ Pork works to support producers in

building a sustainable future and ensuring high standards of animal welfare.

Sustainability and welfare standards are critical when considering the opportunities and challenges for our pork producers. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from commercial pig farming are low compared to other livestock production sectors, contributing just 0.2% of NZ’s total agricultural emissions.

Our goal is for the commercial pig farming sector to be carbon neutral by 2050.

STRICTER: NZ Pork chair Eric Roy says New Zealand’s pork sector has more stringent welfare and environmental standards and enforcement regimes than are found in most other countries.

We have collaborated with AgResearch to develop a tool that allows pork producers to estimate on-farm GHG emissions, and we are working with farmers to generate emissions estimation reports.

There are many positive stories within the sector, from farmers capturing biogas and delivering organic fertiliser to pastoral farms, to a solar farm providing renewable energy to a pig farm.

NZ’s pork sector has more stringent welfare and environmental standards and

enforcement regimes than are found in most other countries.

Significant strides have been made through investment in genetic improvements, and the domestic pig herd is free of many diseases prevalent in other countries.

These qualities are highly valued by consumers.

However, maintaining high standards brings higher costs, and one of our biggest challenges is the influx of imported pork, most of which is produced more cheaply under lower welfare standards, with lower production costs, and often subsidised.

Almost two-thirds of pork consumed in NZ is imported, yet there is no requirement for it to meet our animal welfare standards. Additionally, being farther from major grainproducing countries increases our feed costs, exacerbated by global issues like war and weather.

The current country-of-origin labelling legislation is failing our pork producers and consumers, as it does not ensure accurate information about where pork has been produced.

In 2022, the National Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC)

drafted a proposed new code of welfare for pigs, which outlines changes that would further increase costs for farmers. Some aspects of the proposal could negatively impact pig welfare and likely drive some farmers out of business.

Farmers have been in limbo for more than two years awaiting a final decision, making it very difficult for them to make decisions or invest in their businesses. Some have left the industry altogether.

We are hopeful that the government lands on an evidencebased solution so NZ pig farmers can continue to do what they love.

At our conference, I acknowledged the steadfastness of our commercial pig farmers who continue to produce quality, ethically produced pork for New Zealanders despite such uncertainty.

We should be proud of this small but highly skilled part of our primary industries and support them. When you purchase products with NZ Pork’s PigCare Born & Raised in New Zealand label, you know you are choosing a product that is a cut above the rest.

Eric

Sheer bureaucratic bloody-mindedness

Alternative view

Alan Emerson

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

IRECENTLY received a statement from ACT MP and Primary Production Select Committee chair Mark Cameron.

Cameron is a Northland dairy farmer and an extremely busy MP who is committed to the primary sector.

He’s drafted a Private Members Bill that stops regional councils using the Resource Management Act (RMA) to restrict farming activities.

I read the legislation thinking that on the one hand ACT wanted local communities to make their own decisions but on the other here was a Private Members Bill that was telling them what those communities through their local councils could and couldn’t do.

On reflection my view is that regional councils are out of control and anything that restricts their excesses has got to be good.

Cameron makes the point that currently councils can use the RMA “to impose a patchwork of restrictions on the way Kiwis use their land all in the name of reducing emissions”. He felt that “previously property rights were sacrificed to the climate gods, in a

way that wouldn’t even reduce net emissions”.

As you will have read in my previous articles I don’t have a lot of time for many of our regional councils. I’d further suggest that some are out of control.

We’ve had the most bizarre statements come out of the local council’s well-resourced spin doctors telling me that central government isn’t taking climate change seriously and that the regional council is. As such it is planning tougher regulations than those proposed by the previous government.

Understandably I have considerable problems with that approach and I’m no fan of many central government agencies, the Ministry for the Environment being one.

The difference between central and local government is that there is some rigour given to the central government’s scientific arguments, which are inevitably discussed at length in the media.

In addition, central government politicians are more accountable for their decisions. With local government the majority of electors don’t even bother to vote.

So local government can get away with a lot central government can’t. Having said, that some of the absurd situations that have arisen lately could well have been part of a Seven Days skit.

First out of the blocks would be the Otago Regional Council (ORC), which genuinely appears to have a Canute-like approach to freshwater rules.

It’s going hell for leather to install the old legislation involving Te Mana o Te Wai or the mana of water. There is no scientific backing for the proposal, more folklore in my view.

The issue is it creates some major bureaucratic hurdles along with considerable costs to ratepayers. Not that the ORC

seems remotely concerned.

Local ratepayers would be well advised to canvass the various councillors’ views and vote accordingly in next year’s local government elections.

The ORC isn’t the only council creating costly bureaucratic idiocy but currently it is in the hot seat.

While unrelated to water, the Gore District Council’s attitude to significant natural areas (SNAs) is

difficult to understand.

Unbelievably, in my opinion, the Gore council has suggested turning its entire geographical area into an SNA for Māori.

That strikes me as unbelievably stupid. I just wonder if the entire council was asleep when the officials gave their recommendations.

I would further wonder if anyone had given any thought to the

cost to ratepayers or the massive barriers to progress that the Gore council was planning.

I was also totally unaware that the entire Gore area was significant to Māori. Further, if Gore is that significant, the Taranaki and Waikato councils are going to have a real fun time of it.

What irks me considerably is that Mark Cameron’s Private Members Bill shouldn’t have been necessary

Why not just sit on your hands for a few short months until the new rules can go through the system?

if the regional councils had an ounce of common sense.

There has been a change in government and the councils were told that many of the regulations would change with it. That’s called democracy.

Why then are some of those councils racing against time to install the old regulations knowing they are about to be changed? I would argue that they are not competent to make some of the judgements they are and that they are actively trying to pervert the democratic process.

Yes, the councils are operating under existing laws. Yes, the new government has said those rules will change and sooner rather than later. So why not just sit on your hands for a few short months until the new rules can go through the system?

Why rush through old legislation at a massive cost to ratepayers when new legislation is on the horizon?

The only way I can describe it would be sheer bureaucratic bloody-mindedness, all exercised without any care as to the impact it will have on ratepayers. Consequently I hope Cameron’s Bill is drawn from the ballot and debated in full.

Tinkering with policy as pines march on

Meaty matters

Allan Barber Meat industry commentator: allan@barberstrategic.co.nz, http:// allanbarber.wordpress.com

ALTHOUGH the rate of forestry conversions has slowed due to policy uncertainty and despite touted government plans to limit forestry on sheep and beef land, the livestock population,

particularly sheep, appears to be heading irrevocably downwards.

At 23 million there are now just one-third the number of sheep compared with the peak in the 1970s.

The sector has worked wonders in increasing the value of the flock through better lambing rates, heavier lambs and higher product returns in spite of the collapsing wool price. But sluggish world markets and agriculture’s position as public enemy No 1 in generating greenhouse gases and harm to the environment risk putting New Zealand’s best-known export under existential threat.

The reality is that sheep are now in danger of no longer being reared in sufficient numbers to retain a critical mass.

Four research programmes funded by the Our Land and Water (OLW) Science Challenge initiated under a previous government have all reached a common conclusion:

the best and easiest way to meet our 2050 goals of reducing longlived GHGs and improving water quality is to convert three-quarters of all sheep and beef farms progressively to pine forests.

The summary report of the OLW programmes recognises this may not be acceptable to New Zealand as a whole because of the impact on rural communities, whether from loss of employment and rural services or on downstream and coastal settlements from forestry slash, in which case the authors say a conversation is needed to decide what alternatives are available.

Unfortunately the only thing not in question appears to be the 2050 goal of net zero for CO2, which is obviously sacrosanct.

At this point I began to question my sanity. We, the taxpayers, have funded a scientific research programme whereby several different groups of scientists

have been beavering away for several years to discover there is only one solution to the problem under current policy settings. In short, this entails destroying what has been the backbone of New Zealand’s economy for 150 years.

The reality is that sheep are now in danger of no longer being reared in sufficient numbers to retain a critical mass.

The phrase “under current policy settings” provides the one get-out clause to this impending disaster.

The question is therefore what the current government intends to do to amend the policy settings.

In reply to my question about progress on limits on forestry offsets, Trade Minister Todd McClay’s office said, “Policies are still being worked through.

The government is seeking to incentivise a balance of land uses to achieve improved outcomes for agriculture, forestry and the climate while considering the impact across the rural economy.” It is looking at proposals to limit the types of farm conversions that can be entered into the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). It is considering a moratorium on farm conversions on land classes 1-5 entering the ETS, a limit of 15,000 hectares on Land Class 6 and no limits land classes 7 and 8. The limits on Land Class 6 are critical, as Beef + Lamb NZ analysis shows the majority of sheep and beef farms sold into forestry over the last couple of years are Land Class 6, which is the backbone of the sector, making up most of the grassland used for sheep and beef. If there are no limits on Land Class 6 conversions below 15,000ha, the

Continued next page

SENSE: What irks Alan Emerson considerably is that Mark Cameron’s Private Members Bill wouldn’t have been necessary if the regional councils ‘had an ounce of common sense’.

A strategy to double food & fibre exports

Eating the elephant

David Eade

David Eade is a Whanganui sheep and beef farmer with a finance background, specialising in investments within the primary sector. eating.the.elephant.nz@gmail.com

In this series, the team each offer a big-picture strategy for food & fibre.

THIS series started with a late-night thought experiment over Zoom.

As Kiwis, we can be quick to criticise those at the top – at least if talkback radio on a Monday morning after an All Blacks loss is anything is to go by. Readers of this column will know that we’re not short of hopes and ideas for New Zealand’s food & fibre sector. What would we do, then, if we were handed the keys to the Ministry for Primary Industries’ offices and safe, or asked to take responsibility for a strategy to take this sector to the next level?

Continued from previous page

government’s proposals would in effect mean no change.

Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has submitted his reaction to the government’s second emissions reduction plan, saying his greatest concern is

In the next few weeks, you’ll hear from Phil, Daniel and guest writer for the month Kate Scott on their approach to big food & fibre strategy. For now, you’ll have to make do with me.

Here’s a strategy to double New Zealand’s primary sector over the next decade – none of which relies on telling our story better. I call it “40-30-10 & 20 to pump”. Terrible name aside, it’s a series of food & fibre investment portfolios ranging from safe to smart to risky, with a reserve fund to quickly reinforce winning bets. Let’s go through it.

The first 40% would be safe investments in the commodity sectors that keep the lights on. The expected gains from these investments would be small, but achievable, and will make a difference to many food & fibre people.

As an example, this would come in the form of continued investment in dairy and meat production efficiency – like pasture research, animal health science or market-led certification systems.

The next 30% would be smart investments. These would also focus on significantly increasing production, productivity and operating margins, by experimenting with more novel technology or market approaches.

This could include initiatives that capture additional value, like a programme to accelerate the development of Plant Variety Rights or protein equivalents like Lumina lamb. Another example would be High Density Growing Systems, like those emerging in

“the plan’s reliance on the New Zealand ETS, which in its current form suppresses carbon prices, discourages gross emissions reductions and incentivises the planting of large areas of land in pine forests.”

He points out when the ETS was established it was supposed to be an interim measure to allow new

our horticulture sector, which have the potential to double fruit yield per hectare whilst keeping operational costs low.

These investments wouldn’t be as safe or immediately achievable as the commodity plays, but offer the promise of significantly more value.

A large part of the “30% smart” play would focus on de-risking the adoption of technology like robotics or remote collars to improve productivity. For example, many primary sector businesses struggle to find people for manual tasks – so an incentive scheme would be trialled whereby New Zealand agri-tech companies would be paid minimum wage for every human hour they replace (to a point).

This would enable producers to invest more time in developing their people to upskill from doers to decision makers. For the “30% smart” portfolio to work, we’ll need fewer people mowing orchard lawns and more people experimenting with High Density Growing Systems. Fewer people getting the cows in and more people using precision data services to apply fertiliser, monitor biodiversity or certify their produce. A return would be expected from these investments within five years.

The final 10% would back a series of risky bets that, should they come through, would place New Zealand at the forefront of global agriculture. Given the relatively small investment, these areas must be chosen carefully and should leverage our strengths

low emissions technologies to be developed, but these don’t yet exist, which means forestry carbon offsets have become the easiest way for fossil fuel polluters to offset their emissions.

He cites several problems with this approach, including the loss of productive land to forestry and the effect on rural

We’ll need fewer people mowing orchard lawns and more people experimenting with High Density Growing Systems.

– like our deep knowledge of pastoral systems or our potential to produce an abundance of affordable, renewable energy.

The government’s role would be to invest in chunky capital projects that unlock innovation, a good example being the Ruakura milk dryer in Hamilton – a big-ticket investment in dryer capacity that unlocked the ability for many innovative exports derived from sheep and goat milk.

The goal of the “10% risky” portfolio is to transition from bulky, low-value exports to highvalue products that don’t require much (if any) shipping. Success would be measured by the weight

communities, the long-term removal of land for alternative purposes and the potential for unlimited carbon offsets to push the carbon price below the level needed to encourage gross emissions reduction and develop new technologies. Upton was unequivocal about the need to limit forestry offsets.

The present trend, driven by the need to meet net zero targets in pursuit of our climate change obligations, leads inevitably to the progressive decline of our rural communities and the industries that service them.

Alliance Group chair Mark Wynne says land use change as a result of normal economic and climate factors has always occurred naturally, but it is important to distinguish between this and what he terms a macro trend that is irreversible.

His issue with the present macro trend is that it is driven by the artificial nature of the carbon market, which is set by the ETS. This has resulted in 200,000ha of sheep and beef land sold for forestry conversion in recent years, equivalent to 1.4 million livestock units.

He is not concerned by seasonal fluctuations or decisions by

of exports per dollar earned. We could be world leaders in the IP behind precision fermentation, reducing ruminant methane emissions or gene editing. Investment in these areas acts as a natural hedge. If they succeed, we ride a new wave of innovation. If they don’t, we can continue to rely on our pastoral systems to prop up our exports. Better to disrupt ourselves than wait for someone else to do it to us. Finally, the “20% to pump” fund would act as a reserve –ready to reinforce any success across the safe, smart and risky portfolios through rapid, global commercialisation of new breakthroughs.

As we gear up to double our exports over the next 10 years, we’ll need a strategy that covers all angles and keeps us at the front of market and technology changes. “40-30-10 & 20 to pump” might do the trick – but its first investment should be in finding a better name.

farmers to plant appropriate land with trees, especially steep hill country, as this will eventually qualify for carbon credits in the ETS, which will enable farmers to offset their emissions.

But he warns of the long-term effect of wholesale conversions on rural communities and the industries, such as meat processors, that provide employment. The age of sheep and beef farmers means succession planning is a major issue with outright sale to the highest bidder often the only option.

He has three main problems with the present policy settings that he would like to see addressed: the ability to offset 100% of emissions, which no other country apart from Kazakhstan allows; that overseas polluters can buy land here to offset their overseas pollution; and the impact of exotic plantations on our biodiversity.

Wynne echoes BLNZ’s plea for the government to introduce changes that sensibly control the amount and class of land that can be sold for afforestation. The sector awaits the outcome of these deliberations with bated breath, but without any great expectation of serious change rather than tinkering round the edges.

FAT DISTRIBUTION: David Eade has a plan to double New Zealand’s primary sector over the next decade – none of which relies on telling our story better.

CONVERSION: Two hundred thousand hectares of sheep and beef land have been sold for forestry conversion in recent years, equivalent to 1.4 million livestock units.

After Zimbabwe, the oyster’s his world

Leaving the snakes and leopards of Zimbabwe for the cows and mushrooms of Southland was the move of a lifetime for Edwin Mabonga. Olivia Caldwell reports.

KEEP it to yourselves, but farming in New Zealand is relatively easy.

When you compare it to Edwin Mabonga’s farming escapades in his native Zimbabwe – often contending with leopards, snakes and countless diseases – it almost certainly is.

Mabonga moved to New Zealand in 2002 and is now a farm owner in Southland’s Otautau.

After sharemilking for 13 years in the north and south he’s turned to fungi, growing oyster mushrooms.

The 52-year-old has taken a hard road to get where he is today. Looking back on the move he took over a decade ago, he is grateful for what Aotearoa and its farming community have given him and his family.

“I came to Wellington and I was looking for a farming job. My first interview I had was for a shepherding job at a sheep station. They say, ‘Have you got your own dogs?’ I say, ‘Well, I just got off the plane.’”

After spending a lifetime farming flowers and beef cattle in Zimbabwe, Mabonga learnt quickly how to place a set of cups on a cow’s udder, and made a career in dairy farming.

Starting in Taranaki, he shifted to another farming capital –Riversdale, Southland.

Mabonga has never been happier, nor felt more welcomed by the local community.

“It has definitely been a better lifestyle for us, it has been good for us. Everyone has given me a fair go at life here.”

Mabonga uplifted his family from the Mashonaland region in central Zimbabwe because of the unfolding political situation of the early 2000s.

“The whole country was affected

by the toxic politics one way or another.”

Zimbabwe had been experiencing political and economic upheaval since 1999, a period that included farm seizures and worsening economic and human rights conditions.

“We came here for a better life, really.”

Farming in Zimbabwe had challenges that far surpass the tightened government regulations seen in New Zealand over the past decade, so look away when Mabonga says that “farming in New Zealand is easy”.

“I know it is difficult because of the exterior rules, in fact the rules are the hardest part of farming in New Zealand and they are man made. Perhaps because farming is easy in New Zealand, someone with the rule books decided let’s make it difficult,” he says.

Mabonga isn’t dismissing the challenges farming here faces, such as the natural disasters experienced around the country, particularly in the South Island’s West Coast and on the North Island’s east coast.

He also understands government climate change initiatives and rules can take some of the joy out of farming. The cost of regulations plus production is often only just covered. These stresses exist, he says.

But “it is always going to rain and so grass is going to grow”.

“You don’t have half the diseases that we have there, you don’t have foot and mouth, you don’t have anthrax, you don’t have black leg, all these tropical diseases.

“You don’t have ticks and all the tick-borne diseases that come with that, you don’t have lions and you don’t have snakes. I could go on and on.

“Where we were farming there

My first interview I had was for a shepherding job. They say, ‘Have you got your own dogs?’ I say, ‘Well, I just got off the plane.’

Edwin Mabonga Otautau

were leopards, and a leopard is born pissed-off.”

It was not uncommon for leopards to kill calves, nor was it rare for the black mamba, green mamba or brown cobra snakes to drink from a cow’s udder before killing it with one bite.

“Snakes are a big problem. The snakes would suck milk off the cow, straight from the teat.”

Snakes are physically incapable of drinking milk from a cow’s udder, but if dehydrated the reptile will be attracted to any source of liquid. If the cow is alarmed by the snake’s presence, the reptile might defend itself by striking the cow.

“The wastage would be if the cow would kick, then the snake would bite it and then you would find a dead cow.”

In Zimbabwe it’s a legal requirement for farmers to own guns to safely protect their stock from these lethal animals.

“I have shot a lot of snakes just to protect ourselves.

“And then there is theft. You talk about ram raiders in Auckland; in Zimbabwe you had to protect your property.”

Mabonga’s house, farm and sheds were protected with a deerhigh fence with barbed wire to keep the daily threat of intruders.

“They’d help themselves; security was an issue.”

Looking back on the high-stress environment farming was back home, Mabonga keeps a sense of humour about it.

“I am now scared of snakes. I look back and I wonder how I survived. I am so used to the lifestyle here, it now scares me what I saw. I would be running now.”

Mabonga no longer has to live

HOME

THE

in fight or flight mode, owning just 200 beef cows at a time and growing mushrooms on 28 hectares.

The new lifestyle is a lot slower paced than sharemilking on the 400ha he was used to as well.

He’s running a small domestic operation producing 1.5kg of organic oyster mushrooms every second day. The mushrooms sell for $60 a kilo.

“This is a long experiment we are doing. We are trying to get into the restaurants in Queenstown. It is hard to get into that market.”

His interest in mushrooms was spawned during his horticulture diploma, when he specialised in fungi.

Mabonga arms himself with a camera nowadays and has a keen eye for photography. He says the South Island is the most beautiful part of the world for his hobby.

“I always had an interest in photography, but when we moved down to the South Island, I just picked up the camera and started taking photos. It’s beautiful. It just developed from that.”

Sam Whitelock Farmstrong Ambassador

ON

WIDE RANGE: From the challenges of cattle farming in Zimbabwe to the altogether gentler pursuit of growing oyster mushrooms on his Otautau farm, Edwin Mabonga has seen more of farming than many.

Power belongs in the hands of farmers

Solar technology that repays its capital outlay in five years is within reach for many farmers – and that’s good news for the country. Bryan Gibson reports.

FORGET importing fossil fuels to meet our growing electricity needs – farmers have all the power they need right now, Mike Casey says.

The cherry farmer is chief executive of Rewiring Aotearoa, a group formed to help electrify New Zealand.

Casey installed a solar power system on his orchard and has been replacing the farm equipment with electric options where he can.

Not only can we make money and make a different revenue stream ... but we also have a new opportunity to lower the price of electricity.

Mike Casey Rewiring Aotearoa

He told the Farmers Weekly In Focus podcast it was simply a sound business decision.

“The system generates about 150 megawatt hours, which at the average wholesale rate over the past five years, means it will generate $22,000 for the farm. The panels cost me just over $100,000 to install. So they’ve got a fiveyear complete capital payback period, which I think is super exciting.”

He says going solar is not just good for the business, but also the community and the country.

“That’s a really exciting narrative for farmers. Not only can we make money and make a different revenue stream and potentially just become more resilient business people, but we also have a new opportunity to lower the price of electricity and the price of energy for everyone in

New Zealand, which is something that I think is something that we should be embracing and figuring out how to achieve as a sector.”

However, there are some infrastructure challenges that need to be addressed for this to happen.

“When you think about our national grid at the moment, it’s kind of like a national braided river, where everything flows from one thing and it’s split up over and over again until it reaches your farm. And now what we’re essentially doing is saying to that braided river, hey, we can push water upstream. It doesn’t really work. And so there needs to be a bunch of regulation and market design changes to not only allow, but actively encourage, the customers of New Zealand to become part of the infrastructure.”

Rewiring Aotearoa is running a survey at the moment in an

effort to get an inventory of the machinery that’s on farm in New Zealand.

But Casey says focusing on barriers to electrification, such as the scarcity of options for large tractors and harvesters, misses the point.

“I wouldn’t be too caught up on the fact that we don’t have a 200 horsepower electric tractor yet. Focus on the technology that is available. The next time

Barley milk inspires yoghurt ambitions

Staff reporter TECHNOLOGY

Food and fibre

WHILE consumers have become familiar with dairy alternatives in the form of almond, oat, soy and coconut, scientists at Plant & Food Research have been exploring what the next generation of plantbased alternatives could look like –with the aim of delivering products and processing systems that have strong sustainability and nutrition credentials.

This work has led to the development of barley milk and a potential barley yoghurt.

Using the organisation’s expertise in cultivar development, food formulation, process development and technoeconomic analysis, three teams from Plant & Food Research (PFR)

have come up with novel ways to generate a nutrient dense plantbased milk and yoghurt.

Both products use a new barley cultivar developed at PFR that has high amounts of beta-glucan (known to be good for lowering cholesterol), more protein, and good agronomic performance.

Food technologist and barley milk project leader Irene Ho said the processing method that’s been applied uses the entire barley wholegrain, which means reduced waste.

“Traditional plant-based milk production involves filtration or centrifugation steps that separate gritty particles into a fibre-rich byproduct. Our process technology eliminates this gritty byproduct, meaning more nutrients stay in the final product.

“Much like oats, barley requires

a lot less water to grow compared to nuts, which is an important consideration too when it comes to sustainability.”

As part of the milk product formulation, Ho said there’s been several iterations of processing and sensory trials to ensure the wholegrain milk delivers when it comes to flavour, mouthfeel and nutritional content.

The capabilities developed through the barley milk project are now allowing PFR to push forward and explore barley yogurt formulation, as well as the application of the barley milk processing system for other crops.

Dr Gert-Jan Moggré, senior scientist, is heading the barley yoghurt project at PFR.

“There is a lot more research on dairy systems compared with plant systems.

“In moving from a dairy base to a plant base, the requirement of the bacterial cultures changes as plants-derived bases have differences in proteins and carbohydrates to ferment. What bacteria you select for will change the texture and flavour significantly, something that remains a significant challenge for existing products.

“We are trialling different cultures but are making good progress.”

An added value these barleybased products have is the higher fibre content, due to the PFR high beta-glucan content barley cultivars.

If successfully commercialised, barley-based food and beverage products have the potential to provide another income stream for New Zealand’s arable sector.

you come to making a machine purchase, you’ll be interested to see what new electric production is available. It doesn’t make much sense to buy a machine where the energy essentially comes from Saudi Arabia, when it could actually come from energy that you’ve generated yourself.”

MORE:

Listen to Farmers Weekly In Focus wherever you find your podcasts.

EXPLORE: The capabilities developed through the barley milk project are now allowing Plant & Food Research to push forward and explore barley yoghurt formulation.

At the moment, the crop is primarily grown for stock feed and for use in beer production.

• Granulated products for precision farming

• Targeted soil nutrition

• Easy application with starter fertilizer and/or seed

• Trusted quality for optimal results

REWIRING: Cherry farmer Mike Casey is chief executive of Rewiring Aotearoa, a group formed to help electrify New Zealand.

Sector Focus

‘Complete surprise’ of big wheat success

MID Canterbury farmers were at the fore scooping a sizable yield of the top prizes in this year’s Wheat Grower Awards.

Cream of the crop was the Blain family’s Strathern Farm at Ashton in Mid Canterbury, which grew the best overall wheat crop to take the honour as the United Wheatgrowers (UWG) Grand Champion 2024.

The mixed-arable family farming operation of Peter and Glenys Blain together with their son Stephen and daughter-inlaw Mary takes in 300 hectares with the farming system 100% cropping over the summer while incorporating lamb finishing and

dairy grazing throughout winter.

To learn they were winners came as a complete surprise.

“We didn’t know we were even entered until we got an email to say we had won, and we better be at the Arable Awards event,”

Stephen said.

The Strathern Farm entry from their Dawsum feed wheat crop entered by their grain and seed agent was judged the best of the crops to win the feed wheat category, going on to win the

It harvested well, we were happy, but to win when we didn’t know we were entered was even better.

Grand Champion award.

The judges described the autumn-sown crop sample as an attractive line that hit “all marks” with good protein and high yield.

“It was a good crop grown for seed; it harvested well, we were happy, but to win when we didn’t know we were entered was even better,” Stephen said.

“We didn’t do anything too special with the crop; timing of fungicides and water, keeping it healthy and keeping disease out was obviously enough.

“We have got two different varieties in the ground this season. If I’d known it was going to be a winner I would have put more in, but I haven’t got the ground now.”

Stephen is part of the third generation on Strathern Farms; the farming system has changed under his watch as irrigation pushed conversion from livestock to cropping.

The farm is pivot irrigated with good access to groundwater enabling efficient and reliable water.

“We couldn’t grow the crops that we do without reliable water.”

Looking back to earlier generations, Peter took up the reins from his father Eric who returned from World War 2 and was offered a loan from the State Services to go farming.

“He borrowed money from his uncle to get the £500 deposit; paid £11 an acre for 540 acres [218ha] and started farming with a few sheep and some crop.

“That was in 1947; he went through the wool boom of the ’50s and pretty much that paid off the loan, that was when wool could pay the loan,” Peter said.

At one stage the farm was two-thirds lucerne carrying 2000

breeding ewes and cropping 200 acres.

As irrigation became important and Peter joined his father in farming, the farm was added to with the purchase of a couple of neigbouring blocks of land. The reliability of water enabled more cropping.

Environmental impact has been reduced with a low-till operation these days and pivot irrigation increasing water use efficiency.

“We haven’t ploughed for 12 years,” Peter said.

Future plans focus on further refining farm systems.

“We will keep improving where we can, especially around water efficiency and soil health, keep building good relationships with the companies we deal with to get good contracts and be open to try new things as opportunities come our way,” Stephen said.

Stephen and Mary have two sons, Benji, 4, and Chester, 2.

“We want to be here for the next generation if they want to be here.”

UWG chair Michael Tayler said the awards are about celebrating

the industry.

“We tend to fly under the radar, we are a world-class industry with world-class farmers, and we need to celebrate that.

“There was a good strong lineup of entries, the standard was high, and the winners were well deserved.

“It is particularly pleasing to note a good number of the next generation stepping up into the awards, which is really encouraging to see,” Tayler said.

Wheat Grower Awards category results:

• Feed wheat: Stephen and Peter Blain 1 and Grand Champion; Ross Richards 2, Redmond family 3

Biscuit wheat: Brian and Rachel Leadley 1, Hurst Farm Partnership 2, Philip Gray 3.

• Milling wheat: William Thompson 1, Clemens family 2, Jim and Jocelyn Petrie 3.

Ballance trials fixed-price scheme for fertiliser

Staff reporter

BALLANCE Agri-Nutrients has launched fixed-price nitrogen pilot scheme, a first for the cooperative, aimed at offering shareholders more certainty on their input costs.

In its initial market pilot phase, Ballance shareholders will be able to take advantage of the fixed price per tonne on both Nrich Urea or SustaiN, for a six-month contract period, with a minimum contract volume of 30 tonnes and a maximum contract volume of 500 tonnes.

“We’ve been listening to our shareholders who have been asking for more certainty when it comes to purchasing their urea,” said Jason Minkhorst, general manager customer at Ballance.

“We want to offer our shareholders greater stability and confidence around their input costs and make it as easy as possible for them to plan ahead,” he said.

By offering its shareholders a fixed price, Ballance can better support its supply chain planning and ensure its shareholders have a reliable onshore supply of urea.

“As a globally traded commodity, the fluctuating price of fertiliser creates high risk for farmers, so leveraging a fixed price on some or all of their fertiliser gives them peace of mind,” said Minkhorst.

A limited volume of fertiliser will be available as part of the initial Fixed Price N market pilot, and shareholders wanting to take advantage of it will need to apply via the Ballance website.

Shareholders that are successful in their application for Fixed Price N will benefit from any downward

price movements for the volume that hasn’t been fixed, though they will need to use their full contracted volume first.

“We acknowledge that Fixed Price N won’t work for all our shareholders, but we know that providing more options overall is important,” Minkhorst said.

“Launching Fixed Price N demonstrates that we are listening to our shareholders and is the first of several product and service innovations we will be announcing in the coming months.”

Meantime, global volatility and unpredictable market conditions are being blamed by Ballance Agrinutrients for price rises on some of its products.

In an email to farmers, Minkhorst cited upward global price pressure on key fertiliser products.

“Despite a stable outlook back

in May, when we last adjusted prices downwards, global DAP pricing has surged upward by over US$100/T. This unexpected turn

has forced us to replenish our local inventory at these higher costs, leading to an increase in our local DAP

FIXED: By offering its shareholders a fixed price, Ballance can better support its supply chain planning and ensure its shareholders have a reliable onshore supply of urea, the company says.

CHAMPIONS: Peter, Stephen and Mary Blain at Strathern Farm, whose farming system has changed on Stephen’s watch as irrigation pushed conversion from livestock to cropping.

Photo: Annette Scott

Annette Scott PEOPLE Awards

Premium milling wheat: Geoff Maw 1, Craig Muckle 2, Millisle Farm 3.

CHAMPION: Mary, Stephen, Glenys and Peter Blain of Strathern Farm, pictured with the Grand Champion trophy from the recent Arable Awards. Photo: Paul Petch

Stephen Blain Strathern Farm

Lucerne research programme a hit

Annette Scott TECHNOLOGY Arable

LUCERNE grazing systems are boosting on-farm profitability for pastoral farmers thanks to an $8.1 million, five-year hill country futures programme researching resilient forages.

A 16-year study on Bog Roy Station, a hill country property on the shores of Lake Benmore, shows the adoption of lucerne grazing systems has significantly boosted animal performance and farm income.

Research from the completed Beef + Lamb New Zealand Hill Country Futures (HCF) programme continues to benefit farmers with lucerne as a drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing forage.

The programme, which included a focus on resilient forages, collected data on lucerne and a range of other forages from farms across New Zealand.

HCF focused on future-proofing the profitability, sustainability and wellbeing of NZ’s hill country farmers, their farm systems, the environment and rural communities.

A case study led by Professor Derrick Moot of Lincoln University’s dryland pastures research group used insights

that were gained by the HCF programme to look at the impact of a lucerne grazing system on the station in Waitaki, with impressive results.

“Farmers know that the decisions made today can yield results for years to come.

“This is particularly evident at Bog Roy Station, a high-country farm in the Upper Waitaki region,”

BLNZ head of science and research

Dr Suzi Keeling said.

“Since 2008, the station has implemented a lucerne grazing system that continues to deliver benefits 16 years later, both in animal performance and financial returns.

“This success story shows how long-term research, like that supported by BLNZ’s Hill Country Futures, can have lasting impacts.”

By 2015, Bog Roy Station had expanded its lucerne coverage from 60 hectares to 265ha,

significantly boosting feed supply and enabling an increase in ewe numbers and overall productivity and profitability.

Over time, the lucerne system has supported higher lambing percentages and earlier weaning, leading to a substantial rise in lamb liveweight production.

By 2023, the station consistently weaned 163 tonnes of lamb liveweight from its Merino ewes, up from 90.8t in 2008.

“The improvement in ewe performance, particularly in lambing percentages and growth rates, is directly tied to the higher quality and quantity of feed available,” Moot said.

“This has not only enhanced animal health and productivity but also allowed for greater flexibility in managing the flock.”

The introduction of irrigation on 210ha further amplified these gains, supporting lucerne-grass

mixes that provided high-quality feed for lambs.

As a result, pre-weaning lamb growth rates averaged 286 grams per head per day, allowing for weaning 40 days earlier than in 2008.

“It’s a clear example of how strategic pasture development can lead to long-term gains in productivity and financial performance.

“Farmers can look to this model as proof that the benefits of research and innovation extend well beyond the initial implementation phase,” Moot said.

Bog Roy Station owner Gundy Anderson said that “the shift to a lucerne dominant grazing system has been a game changer”.

“The support and guidance of Derrick [Moot] with integrating strategic pasture development and management, combined with this programme, I believe is an example of how science and practicality can collaborate to bring about real long-term benefits and gains.

“As Derrick often quotes, excellent agricultural science only happens in the field.”

Bog Roy Station’s experience demonstrates how initiatives like HCF, continue to deliver value long after trials have ended.

The ongoing success at the station shows how continuous

monitoring, adaptation, and learning can turn a research project into a sustainable, profitable farming system, Moot said.

The HCF programme, a collaboration between BLNZ, MBIE, seed companies and farmers, was designed to provide practical, science-based solutions for the unique challenges of NZ’s hill country.

Further details of the transformational change at Bog Roy Station will be presented at this year’s NZ Grasslands conference NZGA conference in Oamaru, November 5-8.

FORAGE: The programme collected data on lucerne and a range of other forages from farms across NZ.

The 2024 Zimmatic Trailblazer Sustainable Irrigation Awards acknowledges the world-class leadership of New Zealand farmers in regards to irrigation management.

We are proud to announce this year’s finalists who will proceed to the next stage of judging for the awards categories and supreme winner, with a total prize pool of over $24,000 worth of prizes up for grabs

Top seedsman Chin eyes fresh pastures

Annette Scott PEOPLE Grain and seed

AFTER 12 years of service to the grain and seed industry Thomas Chin is set to leave his role as general manager of the joint New Zealand Grain and Seed Trade Association and the NZ Plant Breeders Association.

Chin has played a key role in advancing the associations and supporting the activities of the seed and grain and plant breeding industries.

He has been a driving force in advocating for the industry to enable the effective import and export of seed and in enhancing collaboration among industry stakeholders.

But come September 20, 2024, Chin will sow his last seeds with the associations and become the “seedsman on standby” as he heads off with plans to pursue his passion for travel with his wife Janette.

“Our son is an airline pilot, so I hope to be able to take some advantage of that with cheap fares and travel, most probably sitting around airports waiting for standby flights. I’ll be the seedsman on standby.”

A self-described “son of the soil”, Chin was attracted to the seed industry, keen for the challenge of refreshing how the seed industry was represented, particularly in the policy and regulatory spaces.

“The role I took up was covering everything in that respect from open market access to law reform and everything in between.

“It was a pilot industry with the plant breeders very keen to get reform of Plant Variety Rights; 11 years later we got that over the line and come November we will see the full outcome of that with law change that by the end of the year will have set up a regime for breeders and rights-holders to

pick up loyalties and reap financial returns from that.”

Chin came to the industry with a background of growing up in the market gardening industry and working in the liquor industry.

“I came down from Auckland [to Christchurch] to start in this role and pretty much all I knew about the seed industry was grass is green, though I do claim to have some skin in the game.

“I wasn’t a seedsman, but I did grow up in family working in the primary industries with my grandfather and my parents market gardeners and whilst I wasn’t involved in the family business, something must have rubbed off.

I am proud of this country’s ability to provide such high quality product and as an industry we need to celebrate that more.

Thomas Chin NZ Grain and Seed

“I guess now I have just done third generation in the sector, but with seed.”

Chin entered the seed business with a career background in the brewing and distilling industry including 20 years as chief executive of the New Zealand Brewers and Distillers Association. It was a tough decision to retire but he said the time was right for change.

As he reflected on the experiences and the progress, both in the association and within himself, he said that “after 12 years of dedicated service in the seed trade it is time for me to embark on the next chapter of my life”.

“My time, for me, has genuinely been a pleasure and a privilege to lead the seed industry, working with some of the best seedsmen

and seedswomen in the world.

“To that end I am proud of this country’s ability to provide such high quality product and as an industry we need to celebrate that more.”

“I am so grateful to have had the opportunities and experiences the seed industry has offered. It is a small but tight community and the camaraderie and mateship is important for me as I leave this place.

There’s just “one disappointment”.

“I am disappointed we haven’t been able to reinstate the brassica seed export to China, but I am hopeful in the very near future we can get the market reinstated, not just for exporters – the whole value chain is set to benefit.

“China is a big place with a large market, it moves at its own discretion.”

One of the highlights of his time was hosting the 2023 International Seed Congress, the biggest seed event ever with 1100 delegates from 30 different countries.

“This was a golden opportunity to showcase the world to NZ production, setting the seed industry alight at the top of the global stage.”

Chin said there is never a good time to leave a place that has so many rewarding and happy memories.

“I hope to leave behind me a legacy of transformation and industry headway for the next leadership to take the business forward.”

Chin attributed the achievements of the past decade to teamwork.

“It’s not about just me, it’s been to do with the secretariat staff’s passion and dedication that make this place work.

“I want to express my deepest thanks for the opportunity to work alongside you all.

“Thank you to all the people in the industry and sector who supported me, encouraged me and

believed in me; the friendships made across the sector and association are very special for me and will last forever.

“As I transition into retirement, we plan to return to Auckland, not next week or next month but eventually, and pursue travel and family commitments.”

In a joint statement, New Zealand Grain and Seed Trade Association president Charlotte Connoley and NZ Plant Breeders Association chair John Caradus said Chin’s leadership and professionalism have played a pivotal role in building relationships with the government, public service agencies and throughout the membership, navigating the challenges and opportunities within the sector, leaving a lasting impact on the association and its members.

“Thomas has overseen the

Agrichem shift will take touch of speed

Annette Scott TECHNOLOGY Arable

A $27 MILLION project developing alternatives to agrichemical pest management will need biologicals to be assessed and approved in New Zealand faster than they are now. Alternative tools are becoming increasingly available for growers looking to reduce their reliance on agrichemicals in response to market and resistance challenges. Many of these, including biologicals and digital decision support tools, have been outlined at a Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) facilitated series of events titled A Lighter Touch (ALT), a new approach to crop protection.

The $27m, seven-year ALT programme, jointly funded by industry and the government, was established in 2020 to develop and promote arable and horticultural

pest management options that reduce reliance on synthetic chemistry.

FAR chief executive Alison Stewart said FAR has had a crop protection research programme centered on the use of agrichemicals since its inception almost 30 years ago.

But, she said, “we will not necessarily have that luxury into the future”.

In the United States, it is predicted that the biologicals market could be as big as agrichemicals in 20 years.

Stuart Davis ALT chair

“The challenge is how do we take our intensive arable agrichemical system and transition that to something that has a lighter touch.”

While agrichemicals are critical to management of pests and

diseases in arable production systems, Stewart said their use and availability is being challenged by increasing consumer pressure, the build-up of resistance to existing agrichemicals and a reduction in new chemistry being registered in New Zealand.

ALT industry stakeholder advisory group chair Dr Stuart Davis told the Ashburton event that an impetus for the programme is the rapidly growing availability of biological products that will assist growers to transition into softer chemistry.

While new synthetic chemistry can cost US$300m (about $487m) and 11 years to develop for market, biologicals can be available in less than five years at a development cost of around US$5m.

Already in the US, about 70% of biologicals are sold to conventional farmers.

FAR senior cereals researcher Jo Drummond said that while

evolution of the seed industry office from a small two-person administration through to the current day with a busy office providing services for many of the key industry bodies that make up the seed and grain industries of NZ.

“He has dedicated the last 12 years to advancing our associations and supporting the activities of the seed and grain and plant breeding industries.

“During his tenure he has been a driving force in advocating for our industry to enable the effective import and export of seed, enhancing collaboration among industry stakeholders and providing value for our membership.

“Whilst we will greatly miss his vision and guidance, we wish him all the best in this new chapter of his life.”

attracting premiums for using less and softer chemistry may be easier in sectors like horticulture or wine, for arable it may be more about market access.

STANDBY: Thomas Chin’s retirement plans include being ‘the seedsman on standby’ as he and his wife, Janette, pursue their passion for travel.

TRANSITION: FAR chief executive Alison Stewart says the challenge is how to take an intensive arable agrichemical system and transition it to something that has a lighter touch.

PREMIUMS: FAR cereals researcher Jo Drummond says attracting premiums for using less and softer chemistry in arable may be more about market access.

FEDERATED FARMERS

Feral animals costing farmers a fortune

Goats, pigs, deer and other wild animals are costing farmers huge sums and taking a significant toll on indigenous biodiversity, Federated Farmers say.

“This is a very serious problem that’s costing Kiwi farmers almost a quarter of a billion dollars every year,” Federated Farmers pest management spokesperson Richard McIntyre says.

“These pests aren’t just chewing into farmers’ bottom lines; they’re also chewing into our native bush and completely undermining conservation efforts.”

A recent survey of more than 700 Federated Farmers members from across the country shows feral animals are costing farmers at least $213 million a year.

That figure includes a direct spend of $5.45 per hectare on pest control ($74 million per year) and $10.22 per hectare in lost production ($139 million per year).

“That is a huge cost for rural communities to be carrying at a time when many farming families are already struggling to turn a profit,” McIntyre says.

“It’s also a very conservative estimate and doesn’t include things such as the cost of restoring damaged pasture, fixing broken fences or the loss of trees.”

McIntyre says goat, pig and deer populations are booming in most parts of the country, but things are particularly bad on farms bordering Department of Conservation (DOC) land.

“DOC are widely regarded by farmers as the neighbour you really don’t want to have because they don’t fulfil their obligations to control wild animals and weeds,” McIntyre says.

“Farmers are spending huge sums of money trying to get wild animal populations under control, but until we see more investment on public land, nothing is going to change.

“Unfortunately, DOC are spending just $13 million a year managing large browsing animals like goats, pigs and deer.

“This simply isn’t addressing the problem, with DOC monitoring showing deer and goat prevalence increasing 28% in just the last 10 years.”

McIntyre says DOC’s efforts are a drop in the bucket, with the annual cost to farming families being more than 15 times the Government spend.

“Farmers could spend all the money in the world on pest control, but if we don’t see similar efforts on public land, we’re never going to make a dent in these populations.

“Hordes of wild animals will simply keep walking out of the bush, where they’re breeding like rabbits and destroying forest understories, and onto our farms.”

National parks comprise about one-third of New Zealand, but a quarter of the country’s indigenous biodiversity is located on farmland.

“If the Government continues to under-invest in pest control, we’re all going to pay the price of declining biodiversity, lost production and

DOC are widely regarded by farmers as the neighbour you really don’t want to have because they don’t fulfil their obligations to control wild animals and weeds.

Richard McIntyre

Federated Farmers pest management spokesperson

reduced exports,” McIntyre says.

“We need to get on top of this problem now.

“If we allow these animals to keep breeding, their populations, and the cost to control them, will only continue to grow.

“We appreciate the Government is

under huge financial pressures, but this isn’t something New Zealand can afford to scrimp and save on.”

McIntyre says it isn’t necessarily about the Government having to spend more money; it could simply be a case of reprioritising existing spending to deliver better outcomes.

“DOC should be performing exceptionally well given their budget has increased from $402 million in 2017 to $710 million in the last financial year.

“Perhaps they should be spending more of that money on hunters and trappers on the ground controlling pests, and less on back-office staff and expensive Environment Court lawyers.”

The Federated Farmers survey found just on half of farmers reported pest populations

Keen to st ar t your digit al journey ?

expanding in the last five years, and 28% said numbers are ‘significantly higher’.

More than 30% of those surveyed said their shooting, trapping and poisoning efforts are making no inroads into reducing feral pest numbers.

“Farmers just don’t have the resources to keep rabbits, deer, wallabies, Canadian geese, feral cats and all the other pest populations at sustainable levels,” McIntyre says.

“Recreational hunters are doing a great job of supporting farmers, but things are now nearing crisis point and will only continue to get worse.

“It’s time for a serious intervention.”

The full results of Federated Farmers’ pest survey can be found at fedfarm. org.nz/PestSurvey

PAYING FOR PESTS: Farmers are spending huge sums of money trying to get wild animal populations under control, Richard Mcintyre says.

Federated Farmers

Farmers want coordinated pest action

Alexander and Rebecca Hunink say Akitio Station has always had a deer problem, but recently numbers have gone through the roof.

“We can look out over the paddocks here and spot 30 or 40 wild deer,” Alexander says.

“At night, when we get out thermal gear, there might be 200.

“One night this month I shot 24 deer in three hours.”

Alexander, who helps Rebecca’s parents on the Tararua coast station, says the damage being caused is immense – and costly.

The station’s annual bill for pest control, loss of production and damage from wild deer and pigs, including in the forestry blocks, would top $75,000.

Meanwhile, at Pārengarenga Station on Aupōuri Peninsula, Northland, Canada geese and wild pigs are stretching the annual pest control budget to $30,000.

“Trying to get on top of geese is frustrating,” farm manager Julian Peters says.

“On the peninsula there’s so much water, lakes and Crown land that if there’s any disturbance, the geese just fly off and hide out.”

We can look out over the paddocks here and spot 30 or 40 wild deer.

Alexander Hunink Tararua farmer

They’re facing different challenges, but these farmers – among the 700 others who responded to Federated Farmers’ pest survey – say better cooperation is needed between landowners, the Crown, councils and recreational hunters.

Peters attended a recent hui with local iwi Te Aupōuri, who are keen to tackle Lake Wahakari’s water quality.

“I said you’re not going to get on top of water quality when there’s 600 to 1000 Canada geese dumping

Te Mana o te Wai costs still unclear

Federated Farmers have once again called for Otago Regional Council (ORC) to delay notifying its new freshwater rules and to lay the full costs bare.

“It’s been well over a month since we first called for transparency about the potential impacts and costs of these rules,” Federated Farmers Otago president Luke Kane says.

“Unfortunately, the council has been about as transparent as a brick wall. Our requests have been met with nothing but contempt.

“Despite repeated questioning and intense media scrutiny, our community is still none the wiser about what these rules might cost us.”

Federated Farmers say ORC has failed to give straight answers about how it plans to apply the principle of Te Mana o te Wai under new water regulations.

“The council has been totally dismissive of Federated Farmers’ concerns,” Kane says.

“First they said we were wrong and we didn’t understand, then they said it’s complicated and we were only partially correct, and now they’ve gone totally quiet.

“I think that’s because they know Federated Farmers have hit the nail on the head and that these expensive new rules are going to go down very poorly with local ratepayers.”

Federated Farmers aren’t the only ones concerned, with Environment Minister Penny Simmonds writing to ORC chair Gretchen Robertson on 8 August to raise concerns and request further information.

“It’s bad enough the Minister has had to write to the council demanding more detail on the costs of Te Mana o Te Wai,” Kane says.

“But to turn around and say,

‘sorry Minister, we’ve got other stuff to work on, and you didn’t really provide a deadline’, is laughable.

“You’d have thought it would be a fairly simply exercise. It’s simply not good enough that the information hasn’t been provided.

“The council clearly either has no idea what the full cost to the community will be, or the costs are

The council has been totally dismissive of Federated Farmers’ concerns.

Luke Kane

Federated Farmers Otago president

so astronomically high they don’t want to release them.

“I’m not sure what would be worse: trying to notify a plan without

potentially a tonne of poo in the lake every day.

“They were 100% open to

cooperation with landowners.”

Peters says the Crown and councils also need to front up with more funding for pest control programmes if they’re serious about biodiversity.

“We’re fencing our waterways, we’re cautious about spreading fertiliser and we do a lot of work to protect native bush on the station.

“But where are the government bodies regulating us? They’re doing next to nothing.”

Akitio Station is also trying to coordinate with their neighbours.

“Rebecca is on the local catchment board and pest control is on their priority list,” Alexander says.

“People are realising just how much damage is being done.”

He says he’s glad Federated Farmers has done its pest survey.

“We need more data about how big this problem is.

“We also need to make a bigger noise about these challenges and get coordinated action and better resourcing going.”

WAITING: Luke Kane says he and the community are still wanting answers from Otago Regional Council about the cost of new freshwater rules.

understanding the true costs, or understanding those costs and pushing ahead anyway.”

Kane says Federated Farmers want

ORC to delay notifying the new freshwater rules and release the full plan, including costs, for further consultation.

HAVE A GANDER: Canada geese are a widespread problem for rural communities, from Pārengarenga Station in Northland to Horowhenua, where Federated Farmers pest management spokesperson Richard McIntyre farms.

Bex Green: ‘A real dairy leader’ emerges

Given dairy earns New Zealand $26 billion a year in exports, it baffles Bex

Green why farmers have to jump through so many hoops to secure suitable staff.

“It’s well-proven that, in many rural areas, there aren’t enough willing and suitable Kiwis to fill dairy farm roles. That’s not going to change in the foreseeable future.

“But farmers desperate to plug workforce gaps have to grapple with unnecessary costs, delays and bureaucracy to bring in migrant workers,” says Green, Federated Farmers North Canterbury senior vice-president and dairy chair.

“Lengthy vacancies are taking a huge toll on farmers’ mental health, team rosters and production efficiency.”

Green, who farms in Culverden, was recently named Federated Farmers’ Dairy Advocate of the Year for speaking out on these sorts of issues.

She says Federated Farmers was grateful when Immigration Minister Erica Stanford made urgent changes to immigration rules to help relieve pressure on dairy farmers this calving season.

“We welcomed those concessions, but the reality is they’re band aids when the whole system needs surgery,” Green says.

“We can’t stumble along season by season with this uncertainty over our workforce.

“Our sector is looking for longterm, practical solutions.”

Still unexplained, Green says, is the “gobsmacking” hike in Immigration

New Zealand’s fee for an Accredited Employer Work Visa, from $750 to $1560.

Green is now on the Federated Farmers national dairy executive and says getting in the room with officials to thrash out practical, stable migrant worker policy settings is a top priority.

“That includes ditching the onerous requirement that a dairy worker from overseas, who may have little or no farm experience, must be paid the median wage.”

Green’s work fighting for farmers is what earned her the Advocate of the Year award, says Richard McIntyre, Federated Farmers national dairy chair.

“Bex is one of those people who actually gets stuff done.

“She sees the challenges farmers are facing and she feeds those concerns up to us in the dairy executive so we can advocate strongly with decision-makers.

“She’s incredibly good at speaking up for farmers around her – both in her district and wider – on immigration and other issues like challenges around non-replacement calves.”

McIntyre says Green isn’t someone to appear a lot in the media, but her work behind the scenes is exemplary.

“She’s a real dairy leader and she’s going to go a long way in Feds.”

Green and husband Blair contract milk 1000 cows and own 10% of the herd.

As essentially first-generation farmers, without family land to fall back on, the couple hope to move from contract milking to sharemilking or an equity arrangement.

“I’ve found in Canterbury that there’s a lot more corporate farms, and you’ve got to forge the right relationship with the right farmer to help you progress,” Green says.

She’s a real dairy leader and she’s going to go a long way in Feds.

Richard McIntyre

Federated Farmers dairy chair

“The key is a relationship that benefits both parties. That’s the way to move forward.”

Aside from her focus on farmer advocacy, Green’s a big believer in having interests off the farm.

“I think it makes you a better partner and parent.”

In recent years, since she and Blair moved from Cheviot to Culverden, one of her main off-farm activities has been road cycling.

“I came under the wing of a multisport trainer and progressed from regarding bunch riding as a scary thing, to absolutely loving it.”

In February this year her team competed in the iconic Coast to Coast and won their open mixed category. Blair kayaked, a fellow farmer completed the run over the mountain range, and Green cycled 140km.

She says she felt part of the Federated Farmers “family” more or less as soon as she joined five years ago.

She’d met Tyler and Wayne Langford through the Dairy Women’s Network and put her hand up for a seat on the North Canterbury executive when there was a vacancy.  Green is relishing the networking and support Federated Farmers offers, and the opportunities to get stuck into relevant issues.

“It takes you outside of your farm and business to do something for your community and wider district.

“You’ve got to have a strong voice and I certainly don’t mind using mine to help fellow farmers.”

OPERATION: Federated Farmers Dairy Advocate of the Year Bex Green says New Zealand’s immigration settings for agricultural workers need surgery, not band-aids.

CERTAINTY: Dairy farmers can’t stumble along season by season with uncertainty over their workforce, Bex Green says.

Farmers fume over school bus cuts

AHawke’s Bay farming leader says plans to axe school bus routes in the region could end up gutting rural communities.

The Ministry of Education is ending a number of rural bus runs, and restructuring others, that take students to Napier and Hastings.

Hawke’s Bay Federated Farmers president Jim Galloway says the rural families affected are both outraged and devastated.

“Making these cuts to rural school bus routes will make it incredibly difficult for farming and rural families to send their kids to school each day.

“There’s a real risk we’ll see more and more rural families moving into town for schooling, although I’m certain our towns don’t need more people moving there.

“Getting your kids to school each day to receive a decent education is pretty bloody important.”

One community affected is Te Pōhue, about 40 minutes’ drive from Napier, where residents are scrambling to figure out what they’ll do when the bus service ends.

“Although locals successfully fought to delay the bus cuts until the end of the year, we’ve already seen one family leave the community over the issue,” Galloway says.

“That’s four kids gone, taking the local school down from 19 students to 15. If more families follow suit, we’ll see serious knock-on effects.

“Farmers will struggle to find new farm staff and people will be put off purchasing properties in rural areas. This could totally gut the community.”

In another community, Putorino, secondary school students will face an hour-long drive just to get on a bus, and the same on the way back home.

“That’s four hours a day for parents to drive to and from the bus, which makes life very, very hard if you’re trying to work or run a business,” Galloway explains.

“To add insult to injury, there’s a

family up there trying to get their son into Napier Boys’ High School as a boarder next year – but it’s full.

“Some people say, ‘just homeschool the kids’, but that doesn’t suit many children or parents and isn’t that easy.”

The Ministry of Education says its review of bus services in Napier and Hastings found a number of students using the services are ineligible.

This is because they’re not attending their closest school and/ or they have other public transport options.

“The closest secondary school would be William Colenso College, but most of these students are going to other high schools only a few minutes down the road,” Galloway says.

“What difference does it make if they travel a few hundred metres down the road to a school they’d rather go to?”

Galloway takes issue with another Ministry rule that students in Years 1-8 must live at least 3.2km from the school, and students in Years 9-13 at least 4.8km from the school, to qualify for transport.

“That means some of these kids

will have to make their own way to school by biking or walking along some very busy roads.

“Who would want their five- or six-year-old walking along State

Highway 5 with no footpaths on a dark winter’s morning?

“It’s potentially very dangerous.”

Galloway says the Ministry doesn’t give communities enough notice when it makes changes to school bus routes.

Getting your kids to school each day to receive a decent education is pretty bloody important.

Jim Galloway Hawke’s Bay Federated Farmers president

“They normally give one to two terms’ notice if a route is changing, which is totally inadequate.

“You need way more time than that – at least one year’s notice – to work out how the hell you’re going to get your kids to school.

“Also, if route changes are made part-way through the year, causing students to change schools, it could

really disrupt their education.”

The issue has left members of Hawke’s Bay Federated Farmers executive fuming.

“We had a meeting recently and the team were just totally wound up about this,” Galloway says.

“One of them said, ‘our communities are screwed’ – although he used less polite language than that.

“Living in the country is one thing, but not having access to education is totally unacceptable.”

Galloway hopes it’s not too late for the Ministry of Education to change its mind about axing the bus runs.

“Federated Farmers are working on getting the Ministry to be much fairer about any changes and to spend more time listening to affected communities.

“I believe the Ministry needs to review its criteria for who’s eligible for transport, and they need to give communities a lot more notice if they do make changes.

“Here’s hoping they listen to reason,” Galloway says.

STRANDED: Jim Galloway is staggered that the Ministry of Education would leave country kids without a way to get to school easily.

STOP: The road to Te Pōhue in Hawke’s Bay will be missing its school bus after the route was cut.

GALATEA, BAY OF PLENTY 170 Whirinaki Road

Your First Farm

The Galatea Valley has long been recognised as a first farm destination. Galatea could be described as a snapshot of rural New Zealand at its best with all the attributes that provincial communities are recognised for and Galatea’s dairy community rating the area's ability to achieve outstanding industry recognised performance

• 140.2377 total hectares with 134ha effective with a best production of 221,296kg MS, milking 500 mixed age Kiwi Cross cows

• Irrigated area of 70 hectares (more or less) K-line system

Effluent discharge resource consent compliance in place until 2038, surface water resource consent compliance in place until 2033

34 ASHB with 535 cow capacity yard, excellent fertiliser history and application

Well-presented three-bedroom family home and three-bedroom cottage with sleepout

• 70.3km to Rotorua CBD, 73.9km to Whakatane CBD

It’s all here at 170 Whirinaki Road with its location and consistency of production and you must consider this farm if you have been looking for your first farm, or a property to add to your dairy investment portfolio. Call Phil now to receive an IM and make a plan to view. 7 2 3

pggwre.co.nz/WHK40005

SHEFFIELD, CANTERBURY Dalethorpe Rd

Desirable New Dairy Farm - 162ha* 162ha* with 151ha effective located only 5km from Sheffield. Wintering 560 cows with production increasing each year since converted 2023/24 season achieving 243,000kg MS supplying Fonterra. Modern seven year old 44 aside herringbone cowshed and numerous support buildings. Irrigated via CPW (Sheffield) - fully shared Executive main 5 bedroom homestead with other modern staff housing. Multi use renovated function venue, with own kitchen/toilets. Available as a standalone 162ha* block or with a 27ha* adjacent support property. *subject to survey

TENDER Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) Closes 4.00pm, Thursday 17 October VIEW 12.00-1.00pm Tuesday 17 & 24 September

M 027 494 1844 Phil Goldsmith pggwre.co.nz/ASH39843

E pgoldsmith@pggwrightson.co.nz

Qualifications

• Chartered Accountant

• Bachelor of Business Studies

• Diploma in Agriculture

Why am I standing for the Board?

• Promote a farmer first culture and focus

• Identify cost efficiencies that shareholders can benefit from

• Restore shareholder confidence in semen production quality

• Establish a single National animal breeding Index

• Delivery of transformational technology and Innovation with potential for sizeable productivity, profitability and sustainability benefits for shareholders

• Accelerate genetic gains for sustainability such as feed conversion efficiency, Fertility and heat tolerance

• Solve the fragmented demands for data and information I aim to address these areas through influencing strategy, investment and partnering with the right organisations to develop and deliver real solutions.

I appreciate your support.

I can be contacted

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KEITH ABBOTT, RAGLAN 027 463 9859 | www.waiteikaromneys.co.nz @waiteikaromneys

16TH Annual Service

Bull Sale

DL & LJ Swap

Thursday 12TH Sept 2024 11am start 1461 Morrinsville-Walton Rd

ORDER OF SALE

• 40 2yr Purebred Hereford (Swap bred)

• 10 2yr Angus (Swap bred)

• 50 2yr Jersey (very well grown)

• 10 2 yr Recorded Friesian

• 40 1yr Purebred Hereford (Swap bred)

• 14 1yr Angus (Swap bred)

• 65 1yr Jersey (average weight 400kg)

• 17 1yr Recorded High BW Friesian (DNA profiled, average weight 490kg)

• All Bulls EBL, TB and BVD Tested Free

• All Bulls are double inoculated for BVD

• All Jersey and Friesian Bulls are purchased from selected farms at 4 days old

Contact: Regan Craig 027 502 8585 PGG Wrightson

JERSEY SERVICE BULLS FOR SALE OR LEASE

Lease Jersey bulls from $500

Yearling, 2-year and 3-year bulls available

TB and BVD tested, negative BVD vaccinated Waikato location

Phone Ian Wright 027 493 7133

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“Well, I was walking on the beach,” says the man with an orange for a head. “I found an old lamp in the sand, and I picked it up. When I polished the lamp, a genie came out and offered me three wishes in return for setting him free. Thinking it was some sort of trick, I offhandedly wished for a million dollars. Instantly, my phone rang. A man called to tell me I’d won a mail-order sweepstakes for exactly a million dollars. Next, I told the genie I wanted to fall in love with the most beautiful woman in the world. Just, then, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen came walking down the beach, strolled straight up to me, wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. I knew I had one more wish, so I thought long and hard about what my final wish would be. I think this may have been where I messed up.”

“What did you do?” says the bartender. “I wished to have an orange for a head.”

17th ANNUAL IN-MILK AUCTION

HIGH INDEXED – A2/A2 COWS

VERIFIED – BW318, PW441, LW444

A/c FINCH CONTRACTING

(Darcy & Rachael Finch)

Date: Thursday 19th September 2024

Address: 972 Paterangi Road, Te Awamutu DN 73654

Start Time: 11:30am (undercover, luncheon provided) will be available for online bidding

COMPRISING:

261 x Friesian & Friesian Cross and Jersey & Jersey Cross Cows

DETAILS:

• BW318, PW441, LW444, Herd Tested, x 158 A2/A2

• 20th August 2024 herd test – 2.0KG/MS/ COW – SCC 118,000

• BWs up to 439, PWs up to 844 (7 x Cows with PWs above 700)

• Breed breakdown – 25% Friesian, 50% Crossbred, 25% Jersey

• TB CM – the cows are BVD Bulk Milk tested and Lepto Vaccinated AUCTIONEERS NOTE:

Due to a robust selection by Brian Slater and Darcy, Rachael Finch, this will be one of the highest offerings to be presented. Selected from top end empty cows out of elite herds. Cows calved from May onward. Young, all sound, these cows will be presented in optimum condition for mating.

Annual buyers have confidence in the standard of cows being offered. All breeds to suit all buyers, A2A2 cows can be selected.

PAYMENT TERMS:

Deferred payment is 20th October 2024 –deliveries immediate to suit trucking

CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT:

Ben Deroles 027 702 4196

QUALITY IN-MILK COW AUCTION

Date: Thursday 12th September 2024

Address: Cambridge Saleyards Start Time: 11:30am

will be available for online bidding

A/c Bayliss Farms

Spring Calved Friesian/ Friesian Cross cows

130 x In-Milk Frsn/FrsnX cows. BW245 PW295 RA97%

A spring calving herd with some outstanding indexes.

Lepto Vacc, TB Status C10.

Herd testing on the 4th September 2024.

Catalogue will be updated prior to the sale once the herd-test data is available.

All cows guaranteed sound in milking quarters.

PAYMENT TERMS:

Payment to be made within 14 days of the sale. Delivery on sale day.

CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT: Kelly Higgins 027 600 2374

Tuesday 10th September

KM Flower Annual Hereford Bull Sale

Dargaville Saleyards, 12.30pm

Agent: Haydn Evans 021 985 863

Tuesday 10th September

Waitangi Angus Yearling Bull Sale 98 Bayly Rd Waitangi, 12pm

Agent: Reuben Wright 027 284 6384

Tuesday 10th September

Fowler Farms 14th Annual Mixed Breed Service Bull Sale 470 Wilford Rd Hurleyville Patea- South Taranaki, 11am

Agents: Brent Espin 027 551 3660 Daniel Hornby 027 636 2090

Thursday 12th September

Bayliss Farms Quality In-Milk Cow Sale

Cambridge Saleyards, 11.30am

Agent: Kelly Higgins 027 600 2374

Monday 16th September

Hillcroft Angus & Hereford Annual Bull Sale

820 Waiterimu Road Ohinewai, 11.30am

Agent: Craig Chamberlain 027 532 0253

Thursday 19th September

Finch Contracting 17th Annual In-Milk Cow Sale

972 Paterangi Road, Te Awamutu, 11.30am

Agent: Ben Deroles 027 702 4196

Friday 20th September

Maungahina ylg Hereford & Spec Park Bull Sale

45 Maungahina Road Masterton, 1pm

Agent: Chris McBride 027 565 1145

Stokman Angus

Yearling

Bull Sale

Tuesday 17th September 2024 at 12 30pm

To be conducted at Rolling Heights Farm 500 McDonald Mine Road, Waikokowai, Huntly

Comprising of:

12 x 2yr Purebred Hereford Bulls

32 x 1yr Purebred Hereford Bulls

BEXLEY HEREFORDS Yearling Bull Sale

Friday 27th September 2024 at 12.00 noon

To be conducted at Bexley Station, 3715 State Highway 3, Awakino Gorge, Mokau 4376

Registered and Unregistered Bulls comprising of: 39 Yearling Pedegree Herefords, 15 Yearling Purebred Angus, 3 Purebreed Speckle Park

Live Streamed with online bidding available on MyLiveStock (please register 48 hours before auction) www mylivestock co nz

Top yearlings (460kg+) grown to suit heifer mating, cow mating or beef mating

VENDORS: Colin & Carol King P: 06 752 9863 | E: ccking@farmside co nz

Contact Vendor: Cory Norman 021 024 12686

NZFLL Stud Stock: Brent Bougen 027 210 4698

All bull purchasers enter a draw for 2 x lots of 30 native trees from Cambrilea Riparian Services Light luncheon & drinks provided Signposted from Mobil Karapiro SH1 FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT:

VENDORS: HELEN & CHARLIE LEA - 07 827 6868 OR 021 833 221 info@ratanuifarm co nz

NZ FARMERS LIVESTOCK - BRENT BOUGEN - 027 210 4698 GARETH PRICE - 0274 777 310 FINDLAY LIVESTOCK - ANDREW FINDLAY - 027 273 4808

Top yearlings (460kg+) grown to suit heifer mating, cow mating or beef mating

VENDORS: Colin & Carol King P: 06 752 9863 | E: ccking@farmside co nz

NZFL Stud Stock - Brent Bougen M: 027 210 4698

NZFL Agent - Stephen Sutton M: 027 442 3207

Carfields Agent - Grant Ross M: 021 174 8403

Advertise with

us

Reach every farmer in New Zealand every week

Call Andrea 027 602 4925

MT MABLE ANGUS

SALE BY PRIVATE TREATY

Fully performance recorded, registered and vaccinated Yearling bulls suitable for heifers and cows

Enquiries and inspec�on welcome. Contact Kevin or Megan FRIEL ph: (06) 376 4543 625 Jackson Road, Kumeroa kev.meg.co@xtra.co.nz www.mtmableangus.co.nz

Glen R Angus

Monday 16 September

11.30am | Owairaka Valley Rd, Te Awamutu

Comprising:

44 Recorded Well Grown Yearling Jersey Bulls

G3 profiled bulls, Average BW 420

PGG Wrightson in conjunction with Bidr are pleased to be holding this 1st Annual Sale

The Riverina herd and young stock are farmed on a large challenging contour farm which has certainly sorted out the weaklings and developed a no nonsense, robust and productive herd whose offspring will preform in any environment

Thus, these bulls can be used with confidence to sire replacements and are G3 tested so no nasty surprises in 9 months time

Some of these bulls dams/sisters will be on display on sale day to further endorse their breeding qualities

Bulls can be picked up over the following 10 days after the sale

TB C10, BVD tested and vaccinated

Catalogues available on:

www.agonline.co.nz/upcomingsales

Warren Berry ( Vendor) 027 478 2509

Chris Ryan 027 243 1078

Andrew Reyland 027 223 7092

63RD NATIONAL HOLSTEIN

BULL SALE

Wednesday 18 September

11.00am | Te Awamutu Saleyards

Comprising:

• 30 x 2yr Recorded Friesian Bulls

9 x 15/18 Month Recorded Friesian Bulls

• 30 1yr Recorded Friesian Bulls

BW’s up to 452 (17 Bulls over 400 BW )

Dam s production up to 1125 MS

Fantastic line-up of exceptionally well-bred Friesian bulls that can be used with confidence in your mating program Most are G3 profiled so their offspring can be fully recorded as replacement heifers Whether you are looking for bulls from high BW - NZ bred cow families that have supplied numerous sons to AI - or overseas genetics that have proven conformation and production traits needed in a higher input system, you won’t be disappointed when you look through this catalogue Bulls are predominately owner bred/reared & will come forward in excellent order These bulls give you different options at mating time & would be great running with a non-cycling herd & condensing the calving pattern

Catalogues available on: www.agonline.co.nz/upcomingsales

Andrew Reyland 027 223 7092

101ST NATIONAL JERSEY BULL

Thursday 19 September

11 30am | Te Awamutu Saleyards

Comprising:

• 12 x 2yr & 3yr Recorded Jersey Bulls

• 45 x Yearling Recorded Jersey Bulls

BW’s up to 514 (46 Bulls over 400 BW )

• 20 Straws of semen

This year’s line-up of well-bred & presented Jersey bulls are backed by many generations of high-quality female bloodlines

Sired by the best type & production bulls currently available They have been selected by their owners from the top individual cows within their herd

Take a look at the footnotes in the catalogue

- a large number of these sale bulls have brothers already at AI centres

Heifer calves by this year’s offering can be kept as replacements with confidence

Farmers requiring well recorded high genetic merit bulls should attend this sale

Bulls have been BVD tested & vaccinated

Catalogues available on:

www agonline co nz/upcomingsales

Andrew Reyland 027 223 7092

Thursday 12 September | 11am

PGG Wrightson will offer a top yarding of approx 900 station-bred cattle made up of:

• 350 2yr steers

• 400 1yr steers

70 1yr heifers

Including:

A/c Rangimoe Stn

• 150 2yr strs (x Waimaha & Marewa Stns)

A/c Okare Stn

• 150 2yr strs

A/c Kohouroa Stn

• 50 2yr strs

• 40 1yr strs

A/c Cricklewood Stn

• 300 1yr strs

A/c

•

A/c

•

Key: Dair y Cattle Sheep O ther

RIVERINA JERSEYS 1ST ANNUAL BULL SALE

FRIESIAN

SALE

• Map is based on faecal FE spore counts from the B+LNZ sheep poo study

• Results are from 202 farms

• Presence of spores indicate potential FE risk Data provided by:

Facial eczema spores identified across NZ in 2023/2024 season Highest number of faecal FE spores observed

Lowest number of faecal FE spores observed

Markets

Proudly sponsored by

Producers meet Aus at every turn offshore

There’s been some positive movement in export markets, but Kiwi beef and lamb venturing abroad is bound to run up against the same challenge: Australia.

Sara

Hilhorst MARKETS

Beef and lamb

IT IS safe to say that the winter season has been atypical of the normal trends.

Typically a quieter time for the markets, August in particular was anything but.

Store and slaughter prices rocketed up as supplies began to dwindle, setting up an even busier start to spring.

The elephant in the room has been lamb, where a large early kill this year has left processors scrambling for numbers.

This spike in competition sent schedules upwards by 35-65c/kg through August.

This resulted in some hefty prices paid on forward-store lambs that can be finished quickly.

While most of upside has been procurement driven recently, there has been some positive movement in export markets.

There is no denying that the Chinese market has been below par for almost a year, but buyers are beginning to show a bit more interest in securing lamb for the Chinese New Year celebrations in late January 2025.

The high inventory China had

on hand has been chipped into and buyers are now looking to top inventory up for the festive period.

As our supply is limited, orders for the European chilled Christmas trade have been reasonably successful as buyers have had to be competitive to secure lamb.

The United Kingdom market is steady, but sales have been limited there as lamb weights are increasing beyond their desired weight range.

Australia continues to be our largest competitor and current weather conditions may see their new-season lambs processed around the same time as our newseason lambs come on stream. This will increase supply and potentially make for a harder job for our exporters.

When it comes to the beef market, procurement pressure has been evident on slaughter prices. This has boosted confidence, leading to record high store prices in August.

But while the domestic market has been hot, export markets have had a quieter period of trading.

Procurement pressure has been welcomed by farmers, driving schedules higher, but the lower inventory has meant that New Zealand exporters have less beef available to offer export markets.

There continues to be a lack of demand from Asian markets, with limited sales.

Although China is purchasing beef, it is in limited quantities, and they are not prepared to open their pockets too wide.

Japan has been a bit more positive, as the recovering tourism industry has supported some hospitality demand.

Export volumes to Japan for the three-month period May-June were nearly 45% stronger than the five-year average at 13,770 tonnes.

As with lamb, Australia continues to pose a risk to the New Zealand beef market, posting record-high exports in July of 130,000 tonnes. Exports eased slightly to 121,800t in August but this is still a record high for the month.

Australia continues to target the United States market, shipping nearly 80,000t there in the past two months.

US beef production continues to decline and Australian exports to the US have been progressively

MOVEMENT: While most of upside has been procurement driven recently, there has been some positive movement in export markets, says Sara Hilhorst.

increasing since February, buoyed by stronger prices.

A softening in demand from China has also been a catalyst for a refocus on the US.

This could suggest Australia is accepting lower money to try to offload surplus beef.

However, more recently, the US has been trying to barter down imported beef prices, which could suggest Australia is accepting lower money to try to offload surplus beef.

Australia’s national cattle slaughter is tracking 13% ahead of the five-year average from the beginning of the year to the start of August.

Weekly saleyards

A favourable end to winter, good prime returns and knowledge of a shorter supply of traditional cattle came together to create record-breaking returns at the Matawhero cattle fair last week. AgriHQ records go back to 2008 and last week’s Matawhero 2-year Angus steer returns of $4.11-$4.20/kg were the highest. This lifted the average return for 2-year steers from last month by $200, or 46c/kg, and $455 above year-ago levels. This strength transferred to Stortford Lodge, where steers came in just short of these figures. The heaviest pen were Angus and Angus-Hereford at 561kg and they fetched $2300, $4.10/kg.

wnr traditional, exotic-Friesian heifers, 116-166kg

Prime Hereford-Friesian, Red Devon-Friesian heifers, 420-515kg 3.66-3.67

Boner Friesian, Friesian-cross cows, 439-545kg

Tuakau | August 29 | 500 cattle

2-year dairy-beef steers, 450-540kg 3.59-3.70

2-year Hereford-Friesian heifers, 375-418kg

Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 273-278kg

Yearling dairy-beef heifers, 205-251kg 740-820

Aut-born wnr Hereford-Friesian steers, 112-138kg

Rangiuru | September 3 | 342 cattle, 5 sheep

2-year dairy-beef steers, 390-527kg 3.56-3.59

Yearling dairy-beef, South Devon bulls, 298-355kg

Aut-born wnr Hereford-Friesian, Hereford-dairy steers, 113-143kg

Prime beef, dairy-beef steers, 515-665kg

2-year Angus-cross, dairy-beef steers, 480-588kg

2-year Hereford, dairy-beef heifers, 330-415kg

Yearling Angus-Hereford, dairy-beef steers, 262-345kg

Yearling Angus-Friesian, Friesian bulls,

Yearling dairy-beef heifers, 247-310kg

Aut-born wnr Hereford-Friesian, Friesian bulls, 101-133kg

Aut-born wnr Hereford-Friesian, Angus-Friesian heifers, 94-112kg

Rongotea | September 3 | 261 cattle

Yearling Hereford-Friesian, Speckle Park-dairy heifers, 193-310kg

Aut-born wnr Hereford-Friesian heifers, 90-173kg

Boner Friesian cows, 460-575kg 2.25-2.55

Coalgate | August 29 | 309 cattle, 1487 sheep

Store ewe lambs, good

Store ewe lambs, medium

Feilding | September 2 | 108 cattle, 3025 sheep

Hereford-Friesian

Prime mixed-sex lambs, heavy

AgriHQ market trends

Cattle Sheep

Waikato

With spring sprung, big systems linger

Philip Duncan NEWS Weather

E’RE in the second week of September and New Zealand’s early spring weather continues. Monday, September 9, kicks off with yet more windy westerlies, which will be strong and gusty and may even reach severe gale in some places, south of the lower North Island. Heavy rain on the West Coast and rain or showers for many other western and southern areas. Tuesday is similar although it becomes colder in the South Island with snow levels lowering for a time around the mountains and ranges. Wednesday may be another windy day for some of you in the south of the country. After more than two weeks of strong winds coming from the west these conditions will finally ease by the time we get to Thursday or Friday of this week. But the weather pattern beyond this is starting to look messy. As we’ve been saying for a number of months now, we’re in a “neutral” season and while

there is a lot of chatter going on about a possible La Niña, that doesn’t mean that our weather here in New Zealand is going to be affected yet. (And it’s possible La Niña may still not even officially be declared this year.)

The Southern Ocean has been especially stormy this year, creating one major storm after the other.

The Southern Ocean has been especially stormy this year, creating one major storm after the other. Storms in late winter/early spring are normal, but this year it is the frequent nature of so many deep air pressure lows that’s made things different.

Not only that, but many of these storms and low-pressure zones have been brushing the lower part of NZ – they haven’t all been well south down towards Antarctica. In fact this week some of the severe gales around NZ are due to more deep low pressure just south of Stewart Island.

I’ve said a few times that winter

this year was defined by the word “big”. We had big high-pressure zones and big low-pressure zones and many of them lasted for two weeks in the NZ area at a time.

Now that we’re going through September we are still seeing big systems, perhaps not lingering as long as they did in the depths of winter, but they are still large and we are seeing large lows around Australia and around New Zealand coming up too – whether they hit us is a different question, but they are likely to be around.

Last week WeatherWatch issued our September ClimateWatch update where we track things like La Niña and temperature trends and rainfall trends for the month ahead. The month of September is looking generally warmer than average but with an increased risk of a snowstorm or frost event this year, and while that’s normal most springs, the chance of one being a strong one is a little elevated due to the storms south of New Zealand.

Spring may be a bit warmer than average but could still bring some stormy and severe weather at times, which hasn’t always been the case in recent years.

RAIN IT

Rainfall accumulation over seven days starting from 6am Sunday, September 8 through to 6am Sunday, September 15.

THE

FALLETH: