Farmers Weekly April 11 2022 by AgriHQ

10 IPCC: Ag escapes spotlight Vol 20 No 13, April 11, 2022

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Banks urged to step up Richard Rennie

richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz

N EX-RURAL banker and farm environment group trustee is calling on banks to dig deeper to support their farmer clients needing funding to help meet government freshwater standards and offset their farm’s carbon footprint. Wai Kōkopu Catchment Project Bay of Plenty trustee John Burke said as farmers sought advice across a range of expertise, including forestry and ecology, banks also needed to come to the party, giving clients greater capital horsepower to make the changes. The catchment project near Maketu is based around one of the country’s most degraded estuaries. It has secured $2.7 million funding to improve the catchment’s environment and communicate land management changes to local landowners. “You can look at restoration including trees for carbon as exotics, where the cost to plant is about $5000 a hectare. These projects can prove their business case. What banks could be doing more here is aligning loan repayments to timber and carbon flows,” Burke said. Typically, with exotic plantings, carbon credits can be claimed from year five, ramping up to peak at about year 10 and ending at year 16, still 12 years short of harvest. While exotic plantings do at least provide a relatively early cashflow, it is when native plantings and wetland

NEED HELP: John Burke estimates a 10% land restoration project across all NZ farms could be expected to cost on average $14,000 per hectare restored.

establishments are undertaken that pressure on farmers’ capital starts to really bite. Based on the Wai Kōkopu catchment experience, Burke and his colleagues have calculated the costs for land retirement and ecological restoration can be up to $23,000 a hectare, including fencing, weed and pest control and native seedling plantings. He estimates a 10% land restoration project across all NZ farms could be expected to cost on average $14,000 per hectare restored.

“That means farms can face a high level of funding needs to achieve that. You could be looking at between $400,000 to $800,000 per 400ha farm,” he said. Those figures tally closely with Federated Farmer figures in 2016 on the cost of meeting regulations. This put fencing costs alone on western Waikato hill country as ranging from zero to $500,000 a property. Wetland restoration projects are significantly greater in cost than trees alone, sometimes requiring land reforming and can mount to

Tāmata Hauhā partners with you the farmer, to establish permanent or production forestry projects on your land that align with your needs and your aspirations for your farm. You provide the land, Tāmata Hauhā provides the funding and forestry expertise and carries all the financial risk. As landowner, you will receive 50% of the carbon profits created from the forest for 16-20 years and then 100% after that. Such an arrangement provides you with great returns without having to dip into your own pocket.

$20,000-plus a hectare. Burke acknowledged there were some early efforts in play from banks. This included the ASB’s farm sustainability loans released at Mystery Creek last year. ASB general manager for rural Ben Speedy said the bank has acknowledged the value of forestry and carbon planting on farms by allowing clients to incorporate carbon income into budgets. Alternatively, the bank’s

As a team of ex-farmers we understand the sector and the need to keep our farms producing. We established ourselves to create tailor-made and adaptable solutions for all landowners, especially in a time of ongoing legislative changes. In addition to Tāmata providing the investment, we undertake the necessary land remediation, clearing/excavation, spraying, planting, thinning/ pruning, and pest control. We maintain a clear, transparent, and auditable process to ensure we act as true and effective partners in any arrangement.

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Continued page 3

That means farms can face a high level of funding needs to achieve that. You could be looking at between $400,000 to $800,000 per 400ha farm. John Burke Wai Kōkopu Catchment Project

NEWS

23 Research shifts planting economics

The irony that native tree planting creates a landfill’s worth of plastic waste has not been lost on Dr Heidi Dungey and fellow researchers Craig Ford and Alexander Lloyd at Scion.

REGULARS Newsmaker ��22 New Thinking ��23 Editorial ��24

22 Taking charge of NZ’s beef genetics Gemma Jenkins joined Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) with a clear target as she took the reins to lead the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) genetics programme.

Pulpit ��25 Opinion ��26 World ��29 Real Estate ��30-38 Tech & Toys ��39 Employment ��40 Classifieds ��41 Livestock ��42-43 Weather ��45

5 Work under way to protect

Markets ��44-48

operators

Work is about to step up on a charter that aims to safeguard transport operators in the livestock movement chain by recognising that there are instances where responsibilities are falling unfairly on trucking companies.

16 40 years of IHC Calf Scheme This year marks the 40th anniversary of the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme, which has raised some $40 million in that time.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Feed shortage a concern for dry south Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz DRY conditions continue to grip farms in Southland and Otago, worsening already stretched feed supplies compounded by delays in getting stock processed. Between 8mm and 30mm of rain fell over Southland and southern Otago last week, but temperatures have also fallen. Weather forecasters are offering little prospect of significant regular rainfall for the remainder of April, although another southerly this week could deliver a further 2040mm. “It’s still below average but much better than we have had in the last few months,” WeatherWatch chief forecaster Philip Duncan said. Southland Federated Farmers president Chris Dillon says last week’s rain was a start, but more is needed. “It has changed the colour of the soil and soaked in nicely, but we need follow up,” Dillon said. “It’s a start without making the problem of the feed shortage go away.” Farmers are dipping into feed reserves, sending stock to slaughter or grazing, a oneoff drought sale of cattle was held at Lorneville last week and rural support groups have been activated. Continued from page 1 environmental and social policy will not allow lending for projects where pines are to be planted across viable farmland. The bank’s sustainability loan product has so far lent $12m of its $100m allocation, but Speedy is confident more farmers will engage with it, particularly with He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) carbon sequestration options emerging. BNZ has also undertaken a three-year $50m sustainability linked farm loan to dairy farm

Meatworks are having to reduce capacity on a daily basis as they deal with staff shortages due to covid. Depending on factors such as

cartage, commission and delivery, feed wheat is selling in Canterbury for more than $500/tonne, at least $50/tonne higher than last year. Baleage is being trucked south

from Canterbury at more than $100/bale plus freight, about $20/ bale higher than last year and palm kernel has now reached $510/t, up from $320/t a year ago. Killian O’Reilly’s phone has hardly stopped ringing, peaking at 76 calls in seven hours one day, as Southland farmers sought to buy supplementary feed. O’Reilly works for D Thompson Contracting and said he is linking buyers to feed sellers in Canterbury. D Thompson Contracting director Daryl Thompson describes the feed shortage in Southland as serious, compounded by delays in quitting stock The onset of autumn means time is running out for rain to provoke the usually reliable Southland autumn flush, he said. Winter crops are, in general, well-established due to regular rain during and after sowing. Chris Hughes, another Southland contractor, said his baleage harvest was 30% less this season, which is typical of southern harvests. He is sourcing supplementary feed out of Central Otago for up to $150/bale, which a year ago cost less than $100. He said in general contractors and farmers are helping each other to try and lessen the feed

owner Southern Pastures. This has the company receiving financial incentives for achieving water and biodiversity targets and emission reductions. ANZ managing director for business Lorraine Mapu said discussion between bankers and farmer clients about carbon and land use change was occurring more often. She said there was no “one size fits all” to help farmers adjust, and the bank wanted to take a long-term approach to debt funding new initiatives. Rabobank’s head of sustainable

business development Blake Holgate said the bank was putting the finishing touches on a new carbon loan product planned for farm clients. While still under wraps, he said Rabobank recognises carbon farming will play an increasingly important role in farming clients’ business. The loan would only be available to farmers whose core business was food production. “The loan clearly demonstrates to the market that Rabobank is willing and able to finance carbon farming where food producers

are able to integrate carbon into their broader farming operation, therefore enabling food producers to better utilise less productive land to capitalise on carbon income without having to convert their whole farms to forestry,” Holgate said. Burke maintains banks risk being behind the eight ball on helping farmers with the heavy lifting, given the immediacy of policies like HWEN that kick in from 2025. “It may even just be a case of guaranteeing 50% of a project where the regional council may be

THANKFUL FOR IRRIGATION: Careful management of an aquifer by scheme water users has been a lifesaver for Southland irrigator Jason Herrick. The Mossburn dairy farmer has been able to continue to grow pasture during one of the driest periods in living memory in Southland, but the Federated Farmers dairy section head fears it could be a long winter if it is wet and cold.

pinch, which could be an issue should the south have a slow or cold spring. “If we have winter when we are meant to get winter, we should get through with our winter crops but if we get a wet spring, it will be tight,” Hughes said. He said anyone seeking supplementary feed should start looking now. United Wheat Growers of NZ chair Brian Leadley agrees, saying this year’s grain harvest has been poor through much of Canterbury. While that means poor-quality milling wheat is available for stock, overall yields are lower and demand is greater than last year. Prices are also higher than last year due to higher production costs and are likely to increase further. “There is feed wheat available but I would say to farmers looking for it they should be proactive, because supplies are likely to run out later in the year,” Leadley said. Duncan said forecasts for the coming month indicate the south is likely to be drier and autumn temperatures warmer than usual. Looking further into winter, he said the La Niña is neutralising but sea temperatures are expected to stay elevated, which will underpin above-average temperatures for the coming few months.

paying the other half,” Burke said. But Speedy said there is also a risk for farmer clients being too far ahead in investment in environmental projects, only to have the regulations shift early in the project’s life as has happened with effluent management system rules in the past. Gas reduction options under HWEN are expected to shave on average 5% off pastoral net farm profits nationally by 2030.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

PKE prices at a record high Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz SKYROCKETING farm input prices are creating headaches for farmers trying to plan budgets for the new season. Global uncertainty caused by covid-19 and the war in Ukraine has pushed up prices across the board. Supplementary feed has joined fuel, fertiliser and other inputs, with palm kernel rising to a record $500-$510/ tonne price, lifting from $320 a tonne 12 months ago. The high dairy payout is allowing those costs to be absorbed to a degree, but it was making a budget a challenging exercise for dairy farmers, AgFirst director James Allen said.

Going forward we have a good but very uncertain milk price combined with a definite increase in costs. James Allen AgFirst “The year we are just finishing up, we have had the benefit of a good milk price with moderate feed prices. Going forward we have a good but very uncertain milk price combined with a definite increase in costs,” Allen said. Likewise, Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard said it was a big challenge to keep readjusting a budget when prices kept on changing. “The lucky thing is that while input prices have gone up, what

we are selling has too. It’s just a case of maintaining that margin,” Hoggard said. “If the milk price slips it would be a totally different story.” AgFirst’s farm model for Waikato and Bay of Plenty dairy farms had a budget of $4.60/kg MS for this season. Allen expected that to lift closer to $5/kg MS once its annual survey is reviewed. “It’s about taking stock of this year before making a budget for next year,” Allen said. Farmers should also talk to their accountants about tax because many would have a “pretty solid” tax bill for the year ahead. Stocking rate and feed are the two main drivers of a dairy system and dictated staffing levels and farm machinery or infrastructure. “Once you’re into the system, while you can tweak it a little bit, a lot of the costs are fixed,” Allen said. “Right now – April-May – is the time to review your farm system and ensure you’ve got the right system for the season ahead.” Farmers feeding out PKE at $500/t needed to be receiving a very good production response to make it worthwhile. At an $8/kg MS, it was barely breaking even, he said. Maximising the amount of homegrown feed is an obvious solution to reducing costs. While it was still very early, Allen said he had already heard some maize growers say they were being pressured to increase their crop size for next season so dairy farmers could reduce their costs. “I think there’s going to be pressure on for potentially more maize grown next year,” he said. Maize silage was still a costeffective feed and he said he would not be surprised if more

UNCERTAINTY: Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard said it was a big challenge to keep readjusting a budget when prices kept on changing.

gets used in the year ahead. He would also not be surprised if growers lift their rates because of the increase in fuel, wages and fertiliser costs compared to last year. The doubling of fertiliser costs meant farmers will have to be very strategic with its usage to ensure it is cost effective and farmers will also have to be mindful of rising interest rates and labour costs. Farmers will have to be superefficient with whatever inputs they use, he said. Some farmers are also using the rising costs as a springboard for reviewing their systems for environmental reasons as tighter rules around emissions and freshwater take effect.

“If I flip that around and say, ‘do I see increases in stocking rate and intensity happening?’. The answer is no and when you have really high supplementary feed prices and N prices and all of this environmental pressure, people are starting to think, ‘why don’t I ease back and what does that look like?’ “We have a number of clients asking those questions.” Hoggard said one advantage New Zealand had was that its milk price was a lot more attuned to world prices than farmers from other countries and currently, there is huge demand for dairy. “Their farmers are hurting a lot more than we are, which is driving

a number of them to reduce production, which lifts the (dairy) price even more,” Hoggard said. “By and large, we’re able to maintain that margin to a degree here in New Zealand.” The pressure of high costs was possibly even tougher on sharemilkers and contractors. Farm owners must keep communicating with them if those costs change over the course of the season and what was agreed to at the start of the season was no longer fair, he said. “If you don’t talk to them, you might find yourself back in the cowshed pretty quickly. It’s important for all sides to keep up those lines of communication” he said.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Work under way to protect operators Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz WORK is about to step up on a charter that aims to safeguard transport operators in the livestock movement chain by recognising that there are instances where responsibilities are falling unfairly on trucking companies. Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett said about this time last year the industry brought together members of its livestock sector group to focus on key challenges and risks faced by livestock transporters in their businesses. He said the group recognised early on that it couldn’t solve those problems alone, as many activities in the sector are influenced by the actions of others in the chain. He said they also realised there was a need to involve sector regulators such as the Ministry for Primary Industries, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and WorkSafe NZ in the process. “We want them to understand the priorities that we came up with, the uncertainties that sometimes exist in the supply chain, such as short lead times and notice periods for the need to transport stock and some of the design challenges around the pick-up and drop-off of stock,” Leggett said. The Health and Safety at Work Act contains a chain of responsibility principle but Leggett said that has never really been properly exercised. “What we want is for people at each stage of the supply chain to take responsibility and recognise that what they ask their customers to do, the rates they pay, the conditions they set, has a direct impact on the safety and performance of other parts of the chain,” he said. Background work on provisional wording of the charter is basically completed and he said a number of stakeholders

TIME TO STEP UP: Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett says parts of the livestock movement chain other than trucking companies need to take more responsibility.

Transport operators carry a fair bit of the load right now (but) there’s market power held by … more powerful parts of the chain, and they (transport operators) have essentially been given responsibility for things they can’t control. Nick Leggett Transporting NZ have already indicated that they are willing to take part in discussions to try and make a charter a reality.

They include farmer representatives, meat processing companies, stock agents and regulators. “They’re engaged in this and we expect that it will be a healthy, robust process,” he said. “As an industry we’ve very clearly set out our concerns, brought them to the table, and they have been responded to. “In my mind there is no room for people to wriggle their way out of this discussion.” He has been impressed by the support of Federated Farmers, which has helped with the drafting of the charter, and is optimistic that the issues involved are well understood by everyone involved. “Transport operators carry a fair bit of the load right now (but) there’s market power held by more powerful people, more powerful parts of the chain, and they (transport operators)

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have essentially been given responsibility for things they can’t control,” he said. “That has to stop.” He said if the issues are not addressed it is going to become increasingly difficult to recruit truck drivers in the future for an industry that is already dealing with significant staff shortages, which will affect farmers down the track. “It’s working hours, it’s stress, it’s labour supply, pay rates, they are all wound up with this,” he said. “We want people to drive our trucks, we want them to be paid fairly, we want them to work in good conditions and we want animal wellbeing to be top priority. “We want our businesses to be sustainable.” He said the charter will also include the design of facilities at pick-up and drop-off points, along with the readiness and condition

of animals picked up from farms. The goal of ongoing discussions around the charter is for good communication among all those involved. “We want these things to be clear and on the table so that we can work out some good practice, some agreed practice, between the different sectors in this chain, so that those people who don’t uphold that on all sides know that there will be consequences,” he said. “We’re serious about this because transport operators in different sectors often lack the influence in the chain of responsibility but often get left holding, in this case, the cattle beast.” Waka Kotahi has agreed to chair the group that will discuss the proposed charter in more detail and Leggett expects those discussions to get under way in the next month or two.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Loan landscape shifts for rural bankers Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz FARMERS can expect farm lending in the future to be a more complex affair as climate change, nutrient and water regulations make lending decisions more than a simple cashflow exercise. ASB general manager for rural banking Ben Speedy said as rural bankers talk with customers around kitchen tables, subjects like He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) and farm environment plans (FEPs) are among the subjects coming up, alongside the usual cashflow budgets for the season. “It can be a tricky conversation to get started, but once you get past any political perspectives it’s really valuable, with many of our customers welcoming the discussion and seeing the benefit,” Speedy said. At present only about half the bank’s customers have FEPs, but he puts this partly down to timing. All farms must have an environment plan completed by the end of 2024, under the Government’s policy, and banks are increasingly engaging customers about their understanding and obligations. ASB has focused recently on enabling industry leaders to access innovative ‘sustainable’ finance facilities to help progress their ambitions, with Craigmore and Fortuna Group two of the first rural corporate customers to benefit. ASB found that while many of its larger rural customers had an advanced sustainability vision with work already under way, they required support to develop a long-term strategy with the right metrics and targets to drive positive impact. “We have developed a sustainable transition loan, aimed at providing specific support in developing strategies and plans with measurable targets. Fortuna Group and Craigmore were among the first examples of industry leaders to take advantage of this,” he said. Craigmore is skewed towards overseas shareholders and is one of this country’s largest rural

corporates operating across forestry, farming and horticulture. Speedy said as such it understands what investors are looking for in modern landowning corporates, in terms of sustainability and social expectations. “For Craigmore and Fortuna Group it is going well beyond simple compliance – they both have strong visions in social as well as environmental performance,” he said. He said it is accepted in the finance industry that whatever colour the Government is, carbon policy and emissions reduction targets are not going away. Banks and other financial institutions have had this reinforced through recent legislation, to require them to report in line with the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Acknowledged as a world-first, the law requires the financial sector to disclose the impacts of climate change on their business and how they will manage climaterelated risks and opportunities. For the trading banks, one of their largest exposures lies with dairy farm clients. “That can be tricky to articulate, that’s the banking system’s challenge,” he said. “Agricultural lending is a significant proportion of most banks’ balance sheets. The answer is not banks stopping lending to farmers, but how we support a transition to a lower emissions economy, hence He Waka Eke Noa is of key interest to us.” He said the bank must analyse two main climate change risks in relation to its rural lending. The first, the physical risk of how a changed climate will affect land and productivity through increased extreme weather events, as well as longer-term chronic shifts, for example rainfall patterns. While banks are exploring the potential physical impact of climate change on different regions and farm types in New Zealand, there is a lack of clear data on how this may impact productivity and financial performance.

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CRITERIA: ASB’s Ben Speedy says farm business sustainability will become a far more significant factor in valuing, and lending, to an operation.

Agricultural lending is a significant proportion of most banks’ balance sheets. The answer is not banks stopping lending to farmers, but how we support a transition to a lower emissions economy. Ben Speedy ASB “This underscores the importance of banks working alongside our customers to help them understand the likely impacts and what response will be most effective. We are talking long-term horizons, so there are real opportunities to grow our knowledge and build resilience by investing in the right things early on,” he said.

The second risk area involves the ‘transition’ risk. That is how the entire industry is going to reduce emissions to reach net zero by 2050. He said this is a harder risk to understand, as there are currently limited proven options available to support a sustainable reduction in emissions without impacting financial viability. As such, creating funding to explore and accelerate innovative solutions is extremely important to the industry. He envisages a time when every property, including farms, will carry a risk score that will influence property values and banks’ ability to lend on them. Future farm loans are already likely to be assessed on being the right land-use in the right place. “An example of this is dairying in non-traditional dairy areas. Customers will need to be aware of the risk that when they want to sell the property in the future lending may not be as available for the next buyer if they want to maintain the current farming

system on that land,” he said. As government seeks discussion on carbon forests, Speedy said ASB’s position is not to lend for the establishment of permanent monocultural forests on productive farmland. “We are very much about the right tree, right place. The recent change in government policy has obviously helped on this,” he said. Overall, he emphasises ASB’s commitment to its farming customers and the wider industry. The definition of a ‘progressive’ farmer differs significantly from how one would have been defined 20 years ago, he said. “Farmers are extremely passionate about doing the best thing for their land and with the current high commodity values, many are in a good position to build sustainability and adapt to new requirements and demands,” he said. “Yes, there are challenges – but as we get clarity on policy, I think there are great opportunities to embed the long-term resilience of the whole sector.”

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

EU seeks product rights in trade talks Nigel Stirling nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com NEW ZEALAND has agreed to look at extending any exclusive use of food and drink names it agrees in trade talks with the European Union to British producers. So-called Geographic Indications (GIs) are a form of intellectual property rights for products and methods of production uniquely linked to specific place names and are a key demand for the EU in all of its trade negotiations. In its negotiations with NZ, the EU initially proposed exclusive use for its own producers of the names of 2200 food and drink products it claims are uniquely linked to European places. The NZ dairy industry staunchly opposes the EU’s grab for names such as feta and parmesan on the basis that they are commonlyused terms and are not the exclusive property of any one party. The industry fears significant losses were it forced to give up or significantly modify names of products it has invested many millions of dollars on brands, packaging and processing assets supporting. Those losses would be amplified if NZ agreed to EU demands for its exporters to cease using GIs linked to European place names in overseas markets. Appearing recently before Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade select

committee, the Government’s chief negotiator in the UK talks Brad Burgess told MPs that while there would be no immediate restrictions on the use of product names linked to British locations by NZ dairy companies, a review clause had been included in the agreement. “There are no upfront commitments to implement a GIs regime or to protect UK GIs,” Burgess said. “However, in the future if NZ enters into a trade agreement such as with the EU that includes GI protections then that would trigger a review process under the UK FTA, which would consider whether that protection would also be extended to UK GIs.” Furthermore, if NZ and the EU had still not concluded a trade agreement two years after the UKNZ FTA came into force, then the possibility of GI protections for British product names would be reviewed separately, Burgess said. Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ) executive director Kimberly Crewther said the free use of European GIs in the British market was already restricted for NZ exporters as a result of existing trade agreements between the UK and the EU. She said EU negotiators submitted British cheese names such as Stilton in its list of GIs in its trade talks with NZ while the UK was still part of the EU. DCANZ objected to the EU’s inclusion of Stilton on its list of GI demands at the time and the

TERRITORY: In its negotiations with NZ, the EU initially proposed exclusive use for its own producers of the names of 2200 food and drink products it claims are uniquely linked to European places.

UK’s withdrawal from the EU was another reason why the EU should not be demanding exclusive use of the name in the NZ market. “The EU-NZ talks on GIs started pre-Brexit so we started negotiating under that [list] and we objected under that,” Crewther said. Crewther said the EU’s demands for GI protections had become more expansive as time went by. The potential for damage to the NZ industry would be many times greater if NZ agreed EU or UK producers should be given special rights over common words used to describe NZ locations in describing their own products, for example.

Would either the EU or the UK be able to claim exclusive use of the words “West Coast” as a close imitation of words used to describe its own “West Country Farmhouse Cheddar”, for example, Crewther asked. “Would there, if there was at any point a West Coast Cheddar … would that be too close and therefore deemed an imitation of West Country Cheddar even though producers in both those regions in both those countries would very legitimately use that terminology.” Crewther said. “With any GIs regime that is agreed there is the potential for things like that to come up.”

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Food shortages on the horizon Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz THE forecast loss of Ukrainian wheat supplies and the boycott of Russian crops point to shortages of grain globally, along with falling food production and fruit harvesting problems elsewhere. ANZ agriculture economist Susan Kilsby, in the April issue of her bi-monthly Agri Focus newsletter, said food commodities are in short supply. New Zealand will export less than normal as most commodities are affected in different ways. Milk output is predicted to be down 5% this season, that has less than two months to run, and meat production has been cut by lower livestock numbers and delays in processing because of labour shortages. Kiwifruit yields look to be very good, but recruitment of people for picking has taken an edge of desperation and it appears some apples will go unpicked for the second year in a row. The kiwifruit industry estimates a 25% shortage in the 24,000 seasonal workers needed in orchards and packhouses. Grain and grape harvesting have been impacted by bad

PROHIBITIVE: Susan Kilsby says the high costs of feed and the Ukrainian war are holding down milk production in the United States and Europe.

Grain prices are now about 25% to 40% stronger than a year ago. Susan Kilsby ANZ Agri Focus weather and absenteeism due to the Omicron variant of covid-19. Feed wheat and barley are over $500 a tonne and Australian

milling wheat landed in NZ is $600 or more. “Grain prices are now about 25% to 40% stronger than a year ago,” Kilsby said. “The largest increases have come in the higher-grade varieties, which are in short supply locally due to the poor weather at harvest time.” China is also facing its worst grain harvest in decades and may outbid imported supplies that would have gone to other Asian and Middle Eastern countries. She said the lamb kill season-

to-date is about one million behind last season and the average carcase weight has been down slightly because of poorer quality pasture, as lambs take longer to reach target weights. Fortunately pastures and crops are in good supply everywhere except Southland, enabling farmers to hang on to works consignments while the meat companies catch up. Schedule prices are above $8/kg and store prices around $4. “Lamb returns are certainly very strong and record average

farm gate prices for lamb will be achieved,” she said. Kilsby predicts that farm gate prices for all classes of beef cattle will remain elevated during the year, with a less-than-normal dip in winter. As the cow cull kicks in, processing for other cattle classes will be pushed back to winter. “Demand from China for beef is not expected to let up anytime soon,” she said. “A poor grain harvest means they will have less feed than ever for their own cattle and the cost of producing beef within China will also rise.” The high costs of feed and the Ukrainian war are holding down milk production in the United States and Europe and the recent easing of dairy prices, coming off very high levels, is a good thing, on balance. “It was clear these high prices would be unsustainable for consumers, so an easing was expected at some point,” she said. ANZ has a farm gate milk price forecast of $9.70/kg milksolids, increased by 40c in mid-March. She said some easing of dairy commodity prices was factored into that prediction.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Spotlight off ag, but no free pass Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz THE focus on areas of the economy other than agriculture in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report is because the potential to reduce worldwide emissions through agriculture is not as high as it is in other sectors, such as energy and transport, New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre director Dr Harry Clark says. However, that does not give NZ agriculture a free pass to carry on as it has in the past and it will need to keep in mind the pathway that the Climate Change Commission (CCC) has recommended to the Government for it to reduce its emissions. That’s not something that is going to go away. Clark said from his reading of the report, it’s asking the question “what is the major gas (in terms of GHG emissions) and what’s not happening?” He said for most countries the biggest problem is carbon dioxide. “Carbon dioxide (emissions) have to be reduced and we’ve got to have very rapid cuts,” Clark said. “They’re saying that, unless (CO2) emissions stabilise in three years, then we’ve lost the 1.5-degree target,” referring to the goal adopted by signatories of the Paris Agreement of keeping the average global temperature rise from pre-industrial levels to that level if the worst consequences of climate change are to be avoided. He said the reason why CO2 has become the focus is because of the acknowledgement that, even with the reduction targets that countries are working on, it’s not going to be enough. “What they are now saying is ‘actually, we have to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere’,” he said. “When it comes to the other gases (livestock gases such as methane and nitrous oxide), yes, they have got to be reduced but they don’t have to be reduced to zero.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL: NZ Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre director Dr Harry Clark says despite the focus from the latest IPCC report on non-agricultural GHGs, NZ’s ag sector needs to keep in mind changes that still need to be made.

For the majority of countries, it’s not an agricultural issue. For us it may be, but not for the majority. Harry Clark NZ Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre “It (the report) focuses on getting across that, for most countries, carbon dioxide is the major gas, and if we’re going to tackle this problem globally, then it is the gas that has to be reduced. And very rapidly.” Clark’s view is that while it is important for agricultural countries such as NZ to reduce agricultural gases, agriculture does not figure highly with many countries. “For the majority of countries, it’s not an agricultural issue.

For us it may be, but not for the majority,” he said. He said the agriculture chapter of the report acknowledges that it is difficult to reduce methane emissions from the sector. “It says emissions from agriculture are hard to reduce because there is a balance between things like economic growth, food production etc, and the technologies aren’t necessarily there yet, so agriculture is difficult,” he said. “The other point it makes, and this applies generically but it certainly applies to agriculture, is that despite a lot of talk about technologies available, or potential technologies, what’s been happening to agricultural emissions? “They’ve been going up. “There’s this talk about we should all change our diets, but what’s actually been happening? “Meat consumption is going up, so animal numbers have gone up. “There’s a recognition that the (world’s) growing population has driven a number of actions: they

need more food, which has been catered for but unfortunately the consequence of that is emissions go up. “That does pose a big problem for agriculture. “So how do you bring emissions down that arise from food production when there are more mouths to feed and when the diets that people are choosing to have in practice contain animal products? “It doesn’t let agriculture off the hook, but it (the report) does say it’s a difficult problem.” However, Clark said it is still important for NZ agriculture to meet targets that will be set by the Government’s emissions reduction plan, which will be influenced by CCC recommendations made last year and is due next month. He agrees with the IPCC report’s finding that while emerging technology to address methane and nitrous oxide emissions in agriculture is promising, challenges remain. “There are technical issues with some of these things,” he said.

“How many of them have gone beyond the research stage? Yes, some have gone past that, but they are not necessarily applicable to all agricultural systems.” He gives the example of DSM’s Bovaer methane inhibitor, which is designed for housed animals fed through the TMR (total mixed ration) method of feeding dairy cows, not NZ’s pastoral-based system. “You come back to the question of what (farming) systems are they applicable to and quite a lot of things aren’t applicable to all systems,” he said. “I think it is fair to say we’ve got potential, but that potential is far from being realised at the moment. “The idea of a specific technology to reduce emissions, a lot of them are very much in the development phase and it will be a few years before they are available on-farm. “You can’t hand on heart say to a farmer in NZ, ‘here’s the magic pill, just go and feed that once a day’.”

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Emissions options not viable for deer Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz SCENIC, sustainable, great deer country, but no place for trees has deer farmers questioning why they should cough up more in emissions charges than an intensive farm. Independent analysis, as well as He Waka Eke Noa’s (HWEN) own financial model, show that under both HWEN options deer farmers and dry stock hill and high country farmers will carry an unfair burden, typically paying up to four times as much per kilo of meat or milksolids as intensive farmers. HWEN released two options for farmer consideration alongside what it calls the backstop, the entry of farming into the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The worst affected are extensive hill and high country farms where tree planting is not possible because of climate and soil type, or because it is prohibited in a regional plan. Ironically, many of these properties are used by food marketers as showcases of low-impact free-range farming systems. The NZ Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA) has concerns about all three alternatives. Executive committee chair John Sommerville said given none of the HWEN options are politically viable for deer farmers, the association is putting its weight behind Option One Transformed, a suite of policy proposals put

forward by an independent group of concerned beef, deer and sheep farmers. “Sadly, most of the decisions that have formed the HWEN options one and two were undertaken behind closed doors by the HWEN board,” Sommerville said. “That board has representatives from some of the HWEN partners and government, but actually has no grassroots dry stock farmer representation. “They have now provided little time for farmers to get their heads around the implications and provide informed feedback. “If the two options are not modified there will be mass conversions of extensive beef, deer and sheep farms to forestry, yet per hectare GHG emissions from most of these farms are low and importantly, their emissions of methane are either stable or declining. “Also, their impact on stream and ground water quality is the lowest of all farm types.” He said it is critical to have a pathway forward that inspires confidence among farming families that there is a future for them as producers of healthy food products grown with a low environmental footprint. “We prefer HWEN option one as it gives individual farmers the responsibility for managing their farm business and its emissions, but the option needs major changes,” he said. “GHG pricing needs to be tiered, much like income tax, so that as your emissions per hectare

increase so does the rate at which you are levied.” Sommerville said the tiers should be designed to ensure all land-uses pay a similar proportion of their income for their emissions. No one sector should be advantaged or disadvantaged relative to the other. “We also believe that when the environmental impact of a farming system is assessed, an integrated approach is needed,” he said. “It should take into account all impacts on the natural and human environment, including climate change, freshwater, biodiversity, rural communities, amenity and other services of value.” Deer Industry NZ chief executive Innes Moffat says government also needs to adopt a split-gas approach to farm-level pricing based on the long-term global heating potential of the different gases.

NECESSARY: DINZ chief executive Innes Moffat says it is critical to decouple farm emissions from the price of carbon.

He says it is critical, if deer farming is to have a future, for agriculture to remain out of the ETS, with levies on farm emissions decoupled from the price of carbon. DINZ has asked and HWEN has agreed to review the way

emissions are calculated for venison. It is also working on a formula to ensure the deer industry GHG levies are fairly allocated between venison and velvet, as currently all deer emissions are allocated to venison.

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WAIRARAPA-based Phil Holden has taken over as general manager of the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA) from Kirsty Fyfe. Holden brings extensive experience in leadership and strategic roles within the primary industry. He was previously executive officer for the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association and chief executive of the Royal Agricultural Society. He also holds various governance roles including chair of Cycling NZ, trustee of Kaiaka Wool Industry Training NZ and independent director of Harness Racing NZ. The association extended its sincere thanks to Fyfe for everything that she has given to TAMA over the past 12 months, saying she has been a fantastic advocate for TAMA and a huge support to president Kyle Baxter.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Have your say on biosecurity Staff reporter NEW Zealand pig farmers are being urged to have their say on a proposal to sign an agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to help protect the sector in the event of a biosecurity incursion. The proposed Operational Agreement would outline what happens if NZ experiences an incursion of a pig-specific nonzoonotic pest or disease. It covers how joint decisionmaking would occur between the sector and MPI if an exotic disease affecting the pork industry enters the country, who would provide funding and how much funding would be available to undertake the response. NZPork is also asking pig farmers for their views on setting up a biosecurity levy as an option for paying the sector’s agreed share if an incursion response is launched. The biosecurity levy would be zero-rated ($0) until required. “Protecting the high health status of the New Zealand pig herd and keeping it free of diseases such as African Swine Fever (ASF) and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) is paramount,” NZPork incoming chief executive Brent Kleiss said. “In 2014, pig farmers gave their support to NZPork to become a Government Industry Agreement (GIA) signatory with MPI. This ensured that the industry would have a share in decision-making and resourcing for biosecurity readiness and response activities. “NZPork assured farmers it would not commit additional funds over and above its business as usual investment in biosecurity without consulting further with farmers. “The Operational Agreement we are seeking feedback from farmers on provides clarity about how NZPork will work with MPI

SUPPORT: NZPork incoming chief executive Brent Kleiss said that feedback from discussions with farmers had indicated that the majority support the Operational Agreement in principle.

The Operational Agreement we are seeking feedback from farmers on provides clarity about how NZPork will work with MPI to respond to a pigspecific non-zoonotic exotic disease incursion, what additional readiness activities will be undertaken and ensures the agreed arrangement is binding. Brent Kleiss NZPork to respond to a pig-specific non-zoonotic exotic disease incursion, what additional readiness activities will be

undertaken and ensures the agreed arrangement is binding. “It would mean NZPork has a direct involvement in readiness and response decision-making and ensures our industry expertise is used in that process. NZPork is also likely to obtain real benefits from participating in biosecurity decision-making that have not been readily available to it.” As part of the Operational Agreement, MPI and NZPork would work together to ensure unwanted organisms are detected and diagnosed early and cost effectively. Readiness activities, which will improve the ability to understand biosecurity risks and respond to biosecurity events, including early notification by MPI to NZPork, would also be identified and implemented. The agreement would see MPI and NZPork collaborate to ensure biosecurity responses are successful and cost effective by agreeing whether to respond to an incursion,

govern the response effectively and contribute resources and expertise to any operation. Kleiss said that feedback from discussions with farmers had indicated that the majority support the Operational Agreement in principle. “Without an OA, NZPork would only be able to participate in readiness and response activities to the extent MPI allows,” he said. “It would mean the critical first stages of any response would be stalled while agreement on the cost share and decision-making terms were negotiated. Reaching agreement now means we can move faster to limit the impacts of any incursion when it occurs.” NZPork is contacting farmers directly and providing them with information including a voting form. All farmers are encouraged to visit the NZPork website www.nzpork.co.nz for more information and download and complete a voting form before the consultation ends on April 26.

NZPork looks in-house for new CEO BRENT Kleiss has been appointed chief executive of NZPork, the statutory industry body working to support New Zealand’s commercial pig farmers. Kleiss joined NZPork as policy manager last July, bringing widespread experience in the primary sector to the role. Prior to that he spent 13 years with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), most recently as principal advisor – stakeholder and industry engagement for public affairs, and roles covering border clearance and biosecurity assurance. He was in chief quarantine officer at MPI for five years. NZPork chair Eric Roy said Kleiss was already a familiar face for many people in the pork industry and the wider primary sector. “Since joining NZPork, Brent has impressed us with his skills and strategic insight in a range of areas,” Roy said. “We look forward to him making a valuable contribution to NZPork, especially as we face significant regulatory reform associated with farrowing crates and mating stalls and the environment. “On behalf of NZPork, I also want to thank our policy advisor Frances Clement, who ably stepped into the interim chief executive role as we recruited for a permanent chief executive.” Kleiss said he was looking forward to meeting more members of the pork sector. “I’ve already met a number of our farmers and it’s clear to me how much they care about their animals, their products and their communities. I’m also proud of the opportunity to lead the great team at NZPork,” Kleiss said. He takes up the role on May 2.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Ute tax extension not considered Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz

depending on the model and other specifications. Motor Industry Association data reveals commercial vehicle sales in February were 4971 compared to 3776 a year earlier and, for the year-to-date, 9421 compared to 7950 a year ago.

ATTEMPTS to beat the ute tax, which came into force on April 1, have been hampered by supply issues delays. Vehicle retailers reported exceptional interest as potential purchasers tried to beat the levy and replace their utilities, but supply issues have caused delivery delays of up to six months for some models. The Clean Vehicle Act imposes a levy on high carbon-emitting vehicles, with the money used to rebate or subsidise the purchase cost of new electric vehicles (EVs). Implementation has already been delayed from January 1 due to covid. Asked if the Ministry of Transport would further delay implementing the levy given the supply issues, a spokesperson said there have been discussions with the Vehicle Importers Association, but an extension is not being considered. A Ford spokesperson said the levy, part of the on-road costs, adds between $1090 to $4660

CHARGE: The Clean Vehicle Act imposes a levy on high carbon-emitting vehicles, with the money used to rebate or subsidise the purchase cost of new electric vehicles.

It’s not a part of the vehicle cost and none of Toyota’s vehicles have had a price increase or decrease as a result of the law change from the Clean Car Programme. Steve Pragnell Toyota NZ The Climate Change Commission reports that last year 13,247 EVs were registered in New Zealand, and in January and February this year another 2473 were added. The spokesperson said

for many months its dealers experienced an upsurge in queries, with people and businesses considering purchases ahead of the new tax. Supply with availability issues have been a problem and are dependent on specific vehicles and specifications.

“With some models, dealers have access to stock for their customers, in others cases, they could very well be sold out,” the Ford spokesperson said. Toyota NZ new vehicle manager Steve Prangnell said the level of interest in Hilux models since late last year has been unabated.

He said the Clean Car fee is a Government initiative and is levied as part of the on-road costs. “It’s not a part of the vehicle cost and none of Toyota’s vehicles have had a price increase or decrease as a result of the law change from the Clean Car Programme,” Pragnell said.

Century Farms event is postponed again on the families who have elderly members that would like to attend,” Fitzgerald said. “But our main focus has to be keeping our families and communities safe.” The committee has agreed to review again in a few months’ time when they hope the way forward will be clearer. At that time, a decision will be made as to whether it is practical to hold the event later in the year, or whether it is postponed until May 2023. The outcome could also have a knock-on effect delaying the awards ceremony for the 2022

Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz FOR the second successive year the New Zealand Century Farms and Station Awards (NZCFSA) has been postponed. The 2022 awards were scheduled to be held in Lawrence in May. NZCFSA chair Eddie Fitzgerald acknowledges this is a huge disappointment for both the award recipients and the local community. “It’s a tough one as we understand that any delay to the ceremony can have an impact

award recipients, although eligible families are still encouraged to apply to get in the queue. Applications are now open for the 2022 year and any families who have owned and farmed their land since 1922 or earlier are encouraged to apply by the November 30, 2022, deadline. The committee recently introduced a first-in, first-served policy and will use discretion on whether they carry applications over into the following year. The awards programme was launched in 2005, with the aim to capture and preserve the family history which might otherwise be

REVIEW: The committee has agreed to review again in a few months’ time when they hope the way forward will be clearer.

lost through the generations. Families submit narratives of their farm history together with copies of related photographs and supporting documents, which are then archived at the Alexander

Turnbull Library in Wellington, ensuring all records are kept in perpetuity. More than 500 families from throughout NZ have received awards to date.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

40 years of IHC calf scheme celebrated Staff reporter THIS year marks the 40th anniversary of the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme, which has raised some $40 million in that time. PGG Wrightson (PGW) Livestock has been a principal sponsor since the beginning, working alongside the IHC to encourage farmers to donate or pledge stock for auction, with proceeds going to support people living with intellectual disability and their families. Virtual donations are also part of the scheme. PGW livestock general manager Peter Newbold said the company gains great benefit from its relationship with the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme. “We are proud and humble of our long association with this fantastic cause. IHC and PGG Wrightson working together is one of New Zealand’s most enduring charitable relationships,” Newbold said. “From its origins the scheme

has always been about rural people doing their practical best to support a community need. One big advantage is that farmers who give to the scheme can see the impact of their donations put to good use in their local area. ”PGG Wrightson has been there since the beginning, helping people by making the most of the many connections our brand has to the rural sector throughout the country. “Congratulations to IHC on the scheme and the great work it does.” IHC’s national fundraising manager Greg Millar said the charity’s long association with the company has helped the scheme immensely. “That support goes way beyond a straight sponsorship; from the beginning PGG Wrightson has helped us understand dairy farmers and livestock, nationally and at a local level, particularly when selling calves each year

through local sale yards,” Millar said. IHC also acknowledges the many farmers who have supported the scheme. “Some dairy farmers have been giving from the beginning and some have given through generations of farming,” he said. Taranaki farmer Norm Cashmore had the original idea behind the scheme in 1984 when he offered a pair of gumboots to every farmer donating a calf to the local branch of IHC. He organised canvassers to visit other farmers and sign them up to donate a calf. Then he persuaded local livestock agents to auction the calves for free, and transport companies to carry them at no cost. Proceeds raised go toward IHC activities in local areas. IHC has more than 30 community associations throughout the country, supporting local initiatives to meet the needs of people with intellectual

INITIATIVES: IHC has more than 30 community associations throughout the country, supporting local initiatives to meet the needs of people with intellectual disabilities.

disabilities through running online sessions to connect people and help them learn something new; assisting people to meet up through face-to-face and online friendship programmes, a library responding to information needs,

providing a friendly ear all over the country; employing family/ whanau liaison staff in several local communities; supporting online forums and a wide range of community events; and advocating for a good life for all.

Almonds a new high-value nut to crack Staff reporter

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PLANT & Food Research will do a feasibility study to see if almonds can be grown sustainably in Hawke’s Bay. The project has backing from central and local government, alongside Picot Productions Limited, Kiwi producers of the Pic’s brand nut spreads. “We’re already supporting peanut growing trials in Northland, now it’s almonds’ turn,” Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director of investment programmes Steve Penno said. “The first step is to see whether we can successfully produce almonds with a low carbon footprint at scale and for a competitive price in New Zealand.” MPI is investing $67,000 through the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund (SFF Futures) in the $100,000 project. Plant & Food Research business manager Declan Graham said the goal is to provide diversification opportunities for local dry stock farmers rather than trying to replicate the large-scale almond monocrop system of California. “Ideally farmers will be able to set aside some of their pastoral land for growing almonds, as a way of diversifying and deriving better value from their land,” Graham said. AgFirst will undertake a financial analysis as part of the project. They will consider the

economics of setting up a profitable almond orchard system,factoring in market prices, climatic volatility and environmental sustainability challenges. If the feasibility study shows almond growing has promise, the next step would be growing trials. Central Hawke’s Bay District Council Mayor Alex Walker said the aims of the project fit well with the council’s economic development strategy. “We grow great food in Central Hawke’s Bay and it’s initiatives like this that will continue to inspire our vision of a thriving future and a prosperous economy,” Walker said. “All our farmers are looking for ways to minimise their nutrient, water and carbon footprints and diversify incomes, so this project is an exciting addition to our district.” Penno said developing highvalue sustainable products is central to the Government’s Fit for a Better World roadmap for the food and fibre sector, which aims to boost sustainability, productivity and jobs over 10 years. In addition to the MPI funding, further cash and inkind contributions totalling $33,000 are being provided by Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Wairoa District Council, Hastings District Council and Picot Productions Limited.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

NZ leads melanoma death rates Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz NEW research showing that New Zealand has the highest death rate from melanoma in the world is of little surprise, a health researcher says. The disease causes the death of 350 people annually, with the cost of diagnosing and treating melanoma in NZ is estimated to be in excess of $51 million annually. If 2020 rates remain stable, the global burden from melanoma is estimated to increase to 510,000 new cases and 96,000 deaths – a 68% increase – by 2040, the research by international scientists showed. The rates were highest in Australia and NZ, followed by Western Europe, North America and Northern Europe. Amanda Oakley, Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Auckland’s Department of Medicine and dermatologist at the Waikato District Health Board, said the study put NZ’s high melanoma rate in a global context. “It’s of no surprise and we should take every opportunity to promote skin cancer awareness,” Oakley said.

STATS: If 2020 rates remain stable, the global burden from melanoma is estimated to increase to 510,000 new cases and 96,000 deaths.

Farmers, especially those aged over 50, were among the worst affected. “A large proportion of our patients are older farmers and some of them are in tremendously big trouble,” she said. Many of these farmers had been diagnosed with other forms of skin cancer as well as melanoma that are painful, unsightly and can result in surgeries and treatments, she said. Oakley is a member of

Melanoma Network of NZ (MelNet) and said the organisation was disappointed that government funding for promoting skin cancer awareness had disappeared. “That has left charitable organisations and professional organisations and the media to do what should be Ministry of Health work,” she said. The health system continued to be under great strain and organisations like MelNet were

too often the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. “Our health services are under a great strain with far too few dermatologists, surgical specialists and GPs to effectively manage our skin cancer epidemic,” she said. The high levels of melanoma among the older generation are a direct result of their behaviour in 1960-1980, where it was common to be outdoors in the summer months with no skin protection. “People took no notice of the painful sunburns they had,” she said. Reducing the risk of melanoma came down to keeping out of the sun during the heat of the day, dressing appropriately and using sunscreen. People also needed to be aware of their own skin, know what was normal and be mindful of what was new or was changing, she said If there was something different that was concerning, Oakley said it must be checked out and she urged people to get a full skin examination. “Your doctor should be able to say, ‘hey you’ve got troublesome skin, you need to come every year for a skin check,’ or they may say there’s nothing of concern today,” she said. The final part of risk reduction

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A large proportion of our patients are older farmers and some of them are in tremendously big trouble. Amanda Oakley Dermatologist came down to ensuring people who needed treatment can receive it promptly, “It’s very sad when we hear of people who cancel their surgical appointments because they’re just too busy on the farm and they come later when there’s a more difficult problem,” she said. Access to those services varied depending on the patient’s location. In Waikato, for example, GPs are able to email pictures of suspicious looking lesions to dermatologists who can then diagnose it based on the information made available. “We’re proud of our system because it means wherever they live, they can be referred to this service through their local GP,” she said.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Synlait back on profitable track Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz SYNLAIT has reported a good start to its two-year financial recovery plan, including a 300% increase in net profit after tax in the six months ended January 31. The interim results were the first presentation as chair from co-founder and former chief executive John Penno, and the new CEO Grant Watson, only 10 weeks into the role. Revenue was up 19% to $790.6 million and net profit jumped from $6.4m to $27.9m. Directors also remain confident that the full-year results will deliver “robust profitability” and the recovery programme will enable completion of capital works and reduction of debt to comfortable levels. “We have made some big steps in the right direction as we reset

TEAM EFFORT: Synlait’s interim results were presented by former chief executive John Penno and his successor Grant Watson (pictured).

management and governance and rebuild our profitability and balance sheet,” Penno said. Some $5m of the planned $7m of savings from the operational reset was delivered. Net debt is down 19% to $392m, which Penno hailed as perhaps the biggest achievement of the reporting period. Much-reduced sales of infant

We have made some big steps in the right direction as we reset management and governance and rebuild our profitability and balance sheet. John Penno Synlait

base powder to a2 Milk were replaced by higher volumes of milk powders, enabling Synlait to forecast a $9.60/kg milksolids farm gate price for the season. “The turnaround in our ingredients business and flexibility within our product mix has meant that very high dairy prices have had no impact on our ability to pay a competitive milk price,” he said. The Pokeno plant fit-out to produce nutritional adult and paediatric plant-based products for the Asia Pacific region is on track and commercial production will start late in 2022. Synlait’s share price has marked time during the past year between $3.20 and $3.80 as the senior appointments were made and the recovery strategy implemented. Before the collapse of a2 infant base powder orders in mid-2020, Synlait was trading around $7 a share.

Men’s Muster is bringing Buck back Staff reporter THE Men’s Muster is back for a second year, with Te Anau hosting the event from August 25-27. The event will focus on the theme of ‘charge up your engine’, providing men a better understanding of what is under their hood. Spokesperson Sam McBride says the muster is an opportunity for Kiwi blokes to take time out

to think about themselves and refocus in order to thrive in their journey ahead. “This year’s theme is particularly appropriate with the ongoing health, economic and social impacts of covid-19 being felt by individuals, families and workplaces,” McBride said. Keynote speakers include Sir Wayne “Buck” Shelford, who beat cancer 14 years ago and remains a passionate ambassadoroutlines for the

MAN OF ACTION: Sir Wayne “Buck” Shelford, who beat cancer 14 years ago, is among the keynote speakers.

Prostate Cancer Foundation and Associate Professor of Urology at Otago Medical School and consultant at Dunedin Public Hospital Dr Amir Zarrabi. One of the goals set by organisers is to deliver practical health messages, using the

positive drivers of men’s behaviour, such as competition, camaraderie and adventure. Attendees will participate in two half-day performance and wellbeing seminars and a series of team adventures and activities in Fiordland’s

magnificent landscape. There is also a four-course dinner where Shelford will speak.

To book tickets, visit www.mensmuster.com or email: info@mensmuster.com

Excellence thr through science

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Taste Pure Nature eyes NZ market Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz RESEARCH is under way into the merits of launching the Taste Pure Nature red meat branding programme on the domestic New Zealand market. Speaking at the recent Beef + Lamb NZ virtual annual meeting, chief executive Sam McIvor said local consumers have similar concerns to those in offshore markets with climate change, water quality and animal welfare, which the brand can help dispel. A survey showed awareness of US and Chinese conscious foodies of the Taste Pure Nature brand in 2021 was between 60% and 78%. It also revealed they were prepared to pay premium prices for NZ beef or lamb. He said brand recognition has helped position NZ red meat with a segment of US and Chinese consumers who have incomes that will not be adversely affected by global inflation. The brand’s relevance to the domestic market is still to be tested before a decision is made whether to launch it. If it is, he said it will be done with meat companies and NZ beef and lamb. In support of Taste Pure Nature and B+LNZ’s policy work, chair Andrew Morrison said the organisation will soon launch the results of a detailed life cycle analysis of the carbon footprint of sheepmeat and beef. He previewed the findings as “a world-class result”. Morrison also spoke in favour of a remit put to the meeting by Tom Mandeno who sought B+LNZ support for established trees to be included as vegetation sequestration offsets in greenhouse gas emissions calculations when compiling farm plans. Mandeno said a greenhouse gas inventory of his coastal Waikato farm revealed he emitted 2479 tonnes, but under current rules could only offset 17 tonnes. He likened the impact of decisions he faced to balance his emissions to the economic reforms of the 1980s. Morrison said he agrees a greater variety of vegetation should be acknowledged as sequestering carbon, but research shows that pasture may have a limited role. While carbon is sequestered during growth, it is released when eaten by stock. He acknowledged many farmers feel they are being deluged by what he called “complex and often poorly conceived environmental policy”. B+LNZ lobbying had success with two key issues in 2021: limits to carbon farming and getting the Government agreement to split greenhouse gas. In the last couple of months, the Government has changed the Overseas Investment Office rules and the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), although B+LNZ is seeking limits to the amount fossil fuel emitters can offset through the ETS. Morrison also praised the work by staff and the government department in negotiating the free trade agreement with the UK, which he describes as significant. McIvor said it is likely the Government will approve He Waka Eke Noa, but the alternative of the Government including agriculture in the ETS is unpalatable. By the end of this year, every farmer must know how much greenhouse gas their farm is emitting and he said they are on track to meet that goal.

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

To reach its target, B+LNZ is working with accountants, bankers, Overseer, meat processors, farmer councils and catchment groups. B+LNZ reported a pre-tax surplus for the year of $1.1m, up from $384,000 a year earlier, on a total income of $42 million ($40.7m). It is budgeting for two years of deficits due to the timing of funding of several major projects which will come to a conclusion.

SHARED INTERESTS: Beef + Lamb NZ chief executive Sam McIvor said local consumers have similar concerns to those in offshore markets.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Project to simplify data sharing Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz OVERCOMING the barriers preventing data sharing across different online systems is the goal of a new research project funded in part by the Government. If successful, it will allow farmers and growers to collate and share this data by creating a digital solution for farm environmental plans (FEPs). The Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund (SFF Futures) is contributing $493,500 to the $823,500 project, led by Trust Alliance New Zealand (TANZ).

At the end of the day, farmers just want one thing that works for them. Rob Macnab Total Ag Within the next year, the project aims to have completed its study across the country, to find ways to improve data sharing and streamline the process for farmers and growers. Rather than developing a specific tool to create digital FEPs, it will resolve the issues that prevent the plans being shared among different groups and

organisations in NZ, TANZ chair Chris Claridge said. “What we are doing is working with suppliers of these digital tools to work out more efficient ways of utilising the data,” Claridge said. “It will make existing tools more efficient.” TANZ will work with providers of digital FEPs behind the scenes to make the process more efficient and utilise data better to enable farmers to be able to better utilise their existing tools. The project will get parties that use the data at its end point, such as local government and digital systems providers, to collaborate to work out how it can be not only more efficient but also resolve issues such as data security. “This is so farmers are not using multiple systems that don’t necessarily efficiently talk to each other,” he said. “Our key issue is: enter the data once, capture it, secure it, share it by permission. It’s about how do we work smarter here to reduce compliance for farmers because sitting at a computer writing data all day is not something a farmer should be doing.” Claridge said TANZ will rely on Federated Farmers to help with farmer consultation. Getting better efficiency from these systems when its creators have commercial interests was about finding common ground, of which there was plenty, he said. Cellphone makers and mobile plan providers, for example, all

STREAMLINE: TANZ chair Chris Claridge says the project, funded in part by the SFFF, will make the existing tools available to create online farm environmental plans more efficient.

use slightly different systems but operate in the same space. “An iPhone still talks to a Samsung. We have different systems but we can still talk to each other,” he said.

“This is not the current case with digital farm services – at the moment, the iPhones can only talk to the iPhones and the Samsungs can only talk to the Samsungs.”

Waikato-based farm consultancy business Total Ag has just launched its own digital FEP for its clients. Director Rob Macnab applauded the project’s intent, saying making it easier for farmers to collate and share data was a laudable goal. Total Ag’s online FEP was two years in the making and came from an overwhelming demand from farmers and the desire to streamline the process. He said there are too many groups and companies working in silos in the FEP space and this project would hopefully remove some of that mindset. “Nobody’s really coordinating the discussion between them,” Mcnab said. Resolving the issue of duplicity among different systems will take “diplomacy that’s greater than solving the Ukraine war”. This is because so many parties involved in the farm business – the meat or dairy processor or council – have different perspectives of looking at the same problem and often these entities have entrenched positions, particularly around IP and data privacy, he said. “At the end of the day, farmers just want one thing that works for them,” he said. “It’s overdue. This should have been done back when farm environmental planning was beginning to be discussed and put forward as a proposal as part of Fit for a Better World.”

Anzco adds another biotech company MEAT exporter Anzco Foods has strengthened its position in the healthcare industry with the purchase of biotechnology business Moregate Biotech. Moregate Biotech manufactures Australian and New Zealandsourced animal sera, animal proteins, enzymes and

specialty products used in the pharmaceutical, diagnostics, veterinary, vaccine, biotechnology, research and nutritional industries. It operates facilities in Brisbane and Hamilton and exports products to customers in Europe, India, Asia and the United States. Anzco Foods chief executive Peter Conley said Moregate

Biotech is well-established in all its key markets, has a strong distribution network and direct supply to end-users, and has a well-recognised brand in its target markets. “Anzco Foods’ purchase of Moregate Biotech will further grow and differentiate the company’s value-add and healthcare operations for the benefit of

customers,” Conley said. The acquisition is viewed as complementary to Anzco’s existing biotech business, Melbournebased Bovogen Biologicals and both will continue to operate independently. “Both companies source raw blood products from New Zealand and Australia, which are sought after by overseas customers given

their status as some of the most disease-free countries,” he said. “Demand for Oceania origin blood products from the world’s biotech and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies is strong and this is likely to increase in a post-covid-19 environment.” The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, which should be satisfied by May.

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Bryan Gibson talks to Richard Fowler about alternative proteins and the challenges and

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WE ARE CELEBRATING OUR 100TH EDITION BY TAKING A LOOK AT WHAT WAS HAPPENING 100 YEARS AGO HERE IN NZ formed their own group, the Māori Women’s Institute, in 1929. They were associated with the Country Women's Institute and focused on welfare and social concerns. Māori knowledge was disseminated in Home and Country magazine, which regularly published articles on traditional arts and crafts, and the medicinal properties of plants. By 1937 there were 40 Māori Women's institutes.

EDUCATION -

The Department of Education widened the primary school curriculum between 1899 and 1915 to include practical courses, such as science and agriculture. However, by 1920 the teaching of agriculture had declined. To try and encourage interest in farming among children, boys' and girls’ agricultural clubs were established in schools and some stayed active until the 1950’s. Prior to 1900 most children did not progress beyond primary school. In rural areas there were often few local secondary schools but the development of district high schools made secondary education more accessible. The first school in New Zealand to teach practical agriculture was Rangiora High, following their purchase of a school farm in 1920. In 1922 the Department of Education established Feilding Agricultural High School, which also had a farm attached. By the 1950s a number of secondary schools ran agricultural courses and had farms of varying sizes, but these were a minority.

Do you think that agriculture should be taught in NZ primary schools now? Why or why not?

NZ WOMEN'S INSTITUTE The New Zealand Country Women's Institute was largely the work of Bessie Spencer, who farmed fruit and honey in Napier. She was introduced to the Women's Institute movement at a handcraft fair in London. She formed the Rissington Women’s Institute in 1921. In 1922 a second institute was founded at Norsewood. Māori women

Tomoana freezing works in Hawkes Bay had a daily kill capacity of four thousand head of sheep plus one hundred cattle.

Can you find out what the daily capacity is at your local processing plant? (at usual levels and currently with staff absenteeism at high levels due to restrictions related to omicron)

TRADE -

By contrast, Britain took more than 80% of New Zealand exports in 1920. Of the country’s four main exports – frozen meat, butter, cheese and wool – only wool went to a variety of markets.

In 1929 white clover trials were conducted in Palmerston North.

In 1922 there was a major rebuild at Tomoana. A new four-storey slaughter house block was built using reinforced concrete, and the new block was completed in 1924. And upon completion of that work a number of other things happened around the plant, for example, the Works Fire Brigade was formed. Railway sidings were put in right around the plant, not only to receive

Crown became the sole buyer and seller of New Zealand wool; this was all at a fixed price and became known as the Commandeer. In 1920 the Commandeer ended, the United Kingdom had 800,000 bales of New Zealand wool along with other wool unsold in store. To sell the unsold wool without upsetting the market the British Australian Wool Realisation Association Limited (BAWRA) was created who successfully sold all of the wool between 1921 and 1924. Between World War 1 and World War 2 sheep numbers in New Zealand increased but the wool price decreased significantly. Go to https://teara.govt. nz/en/interactive/16621/ sheep-numbers-innew-zealand-1851-2014 and have a look at the number of sheep in New Zealand from 1851-2014.

How many sheep were in New Zealand in 1922? How many sheep are in New Zealand now (in 2022)?

Why did grassland specialists of the time believe that white clover would be beneficial and work well in NZ? (Hint: The reasons are still why it is widely used today).

Dairy Cattle Numbers

What are our main agricultural exports in the 2020’s?

WOOL - Between 1916 and 1920 the

What processing plant is closest to your school or home? When was your local processing plant built? How is stock transported today?

IMPROVING PASTURES

Do you have a local women’s institute where you live? If so, what is it called? What does your local women’s institute do? From the 1870s until the 1950s New Zealand’s trade focused on Britain, and its economic ties with other countries waned. New Zealand’s trade with Australia and the US shrank. Australia took 20% of New Zealand’s exports in 1880, but by 1920 it had shrunk to 5%. A trade agreement with the new Australian Commonwealth was not signed until 1922.

livestock, but also to consign product to the Napier port. The railway wagons were pushed around the plant … or pulled around the plant … by horses in those days, and the first steam locomotive came to the plant in 1931.

Have a go: 1

How do numbers compare in 2005 to 1905?

2 Do you think numbers have increased further since 2005?

d a ir y c o w s ( mil l i o n s )

The 1920’s were just after the end of the first world war. At the end of the First World War, government policy was to rehabilitate servicemen by settling them on farms. The government bought land for this purpose or gave soldiers cheap loans to buy their own farms. The scheme triggered a sharp increase in land values, and when prices for farm produce fell in the early 1920s, some ‘rehab’ farmers who were unable to cover their mortgage or rent were forced off their land. Improvements in transportation and communication in the early 1920’s helped to reduce the isolation of rural communities and the cost of transporting produce.

MEAT PRODUCTION - By 1917

3 List everything you can think of that may be different in dairy farming today compared to 1920.

year

STRETCH YOURSELF: 1

The number of dairy cattle (including animals not in milk, and bulls for breeding) increased steadily in the early years of the 20th century as mechanisation and transport improved. How/why do you think this increased dairy cattle numbers?

2 Numbers remained relatively static from the depression years of the 1930s through the Second World War, until the mid-1970s. Between 1975 and 2005 increased fertiliser use, better pasture species, and expansion of dairying in the South Island all contributed to a steady increase in dairy cattle numbers. How did fertiliser help increase cattle numbers? 3 By 2005 dairying brought in about 20% of New Zealand’s total export earnings. Do some research, how much does dairying contribute to export earnings now?

Kiwi’s have been leaders in the dairy industry from the very start. Did you know a Kiwi farmer, Norman Daysh, invented the vacuum pump milking machine which revolutionised the industry. In 1913 Norman travelled to New York to find a company to take his concepts further. In 1917, De Laval commercially launched the idea and introduced it to the world. The idea has remained relatively unchanged since! 1

What would the benefits have been from the use of a vacuum pump compared to milking cows by hand?

2 Do some research, when were the concepts of the herringbone and rotary milking sheds invented?

Newsmaker

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Taking charge of NZ’s beef genetics Scientist Gemma Jenkins is tasked with informing New Zealand’s beef genetics programme in a bid to boost the sector’s profits. Annette Scott reports.

EMMA Jenkins joined Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) with a clear target as she took the reins to lead the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) genetics programme. Bringing wide-ranging experience in the biotech and food production industries to her new role as genetics programme manager, Jenkins heads up a seven-year partnership between B+LNZ and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). The INZB partnership programme aims to boost the sector’s profits by $460 million over the next 25 years. Born and raised in the south, Jenkins gained her BSc at Otago, followed by a MSc in human genetics and a PhD focused on sheep genetics. She has worked with AgResearch, AbacusBio and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and more recently provided consultancy services as senior science and technical advisor to the NZ Medicinal Cannabis Council. The INZB programme is focused on maximising profitability in the NZ beef industry in a sustainable way by increasing the uptake of the use of genetics in the beef industry. NZ’s beef sector currently relies on an Australian genetics platform that understandably factors in traits relevant to its climate and farming systems. The four main components are building a genetic evaluation and data infrastructure; capturing new data through progeny test herds and the inclusion of commercial farms; developing breeding objectives and indexes; and, most importantly, extension work. The ultimate aim being to provide farmers with the genetic selection tools they need to breed animals better suited to NZ’s farming conditions. The programme is designed to

generate more income for beef producers with an across-breed evaluation of bulls, which will ultimately result in more efficient beef animals that generate less greenhouse gases and are more profitable. It is funded 60% by B+LNZ and 40% by MPIs’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFFF) fund. “The opportunity to drive really good industry engagement and develop tools unique to the NZ beef industry are major attractions of this role for me,” Jenkins said. “While working at AbacusBio, we undertook a major review of the NZ dairy industry’s national breeding objective and engaged extensively with key stakeholders and farmers to get feedback on what traits and genetic tools were important to industry.” There was also great industry engagement in the Medicinal Cannabis Council work, with everyone in the sector motivated to work for the greater good of the industry. “Engagement and extension are something we would like to see done very well in this programme for people in the sector to not just be aware of the INZB programme, but to have a real say in how the indexes are developed and have the skills they feel are necessary to use these genetic tools,” she said. She said in this first year the plan is to carry out an industry survey around trait prioritisation. “That is, we would like to know what traits are important to farmers, how they make selection decisions and what genetic tools they think would be beneficial to their operations,” she said. “We will be building a genetic evaluation and developing the nProve tool for beef, similar to that already used by NZ sheep farmers. “That will support farmers to make good selection and management decisions on-farm.” With the first calves born into the programme now on the ground on Pāmu’s Kepler Farm near Te Anau, attention has turned

LEAD: The opportunity to develop tools unique to the NZ beef industry was a big attraction for Gemma Jenkins as she leads a programme designed to significantly lift the sector’s profits.

We would like to know what traits are important to farmers and what genetic tools they think would be beneficial. Gemma Jenkins Beef + Lamb NZ to finding a North Island farm to expand the project. The right place will ideally have 400 to 600 mixed age cows that can be mated with an AI programme and those cows ideally would be a reasonably even line of cattle. It’s important the cows are reasonably even so when the bulls go over them a fair evaluation is gathered without big breed differences coming in from the cow side. But the most important thing is the people involved and the stability of the business.

The programme is looking for a six to seven-year commitment and someone who has a passion for cattle and is interested in genetics and recording. A lot of support is provided along the way, including assistance with recording, and payment for all costs that are over and above normal farm management. The AI sires used will be selected from the top bulls nominated by breeders from around NZ, so will add quality genetics into the herd during the project. The programme is designed to fit in with the individual farm calendar with as little disruption as possible. Intensive calving beats are not necessary nor are animals required to be tagged and weighed at birth. And for the farm personnel involved, there are important upsides, including access to a range of experts in breeding and genetics and options to be involved in some off-farm activities.

B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor said the programme capitalises on NZ’s world-leading skills and knowledge in sheep genetics and applies them to the beef industry. “The data tells us that our beef industry has been lagging behind in genetic progress,” McIvor said. “Not only will this give the industry better genetic tools, but a major focus of the programme is to work with commercial farmers to increase understanding and grow confidence in using genetic information to drive productivity and profitability.” Dairy farmers will also benefit. “With these new productionfocused genetic selection tools, dairy farmers will be able to select semen from beef bulls for AI in their herd more confident that they will have shorter gestation, easy calving and produce more valuable calves,” he said.

North Island farmers keen to be a part of the programme can contact Jason Archer at Jason.Archer@ blnzgenetics.com

Bringing Native Bush Back to New Zealand Farmland Adam Thompson wants to make it easy for farmers to grow native trees on land not suited for livestock, which led him to start Restore Native Plant Nursery. Watch the video now at youtube.com/OnFarmStory This episode was made possible with support from Rabobank On Farm Story

On Farm Story

New thinking

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

SUPPORT: The Scion project has helped shift the economics of native seedling establishment.

Research shifts planting economics A One Billion Trees-funded project provided the impetus to boost Scion’s research efforts to learn how New Zealand could plant more natives, quickly. Richard Rennie spoke to Scion tree geneticist Dr Heidi Dungey and her research team on how some simple solutions will help hit a big planting target.

HE irony that native tree planting creates a landfill’s worth of plastic waste has not been lost on Dr Heidi Dungey and fellow researchers Craig Ford and Alexander Lloyd at Scion. This has partly driven their efforts to seek out a largescale, streamlined approach to germinating and propagating native seedlings and ramp up industry planting capacity. “Typically, natives would be raised in a 1.2-litre polyethylene bag container (PB2) prior to planting. When you look at efforts to plant 120 million natives, that is a lot of plastic waste being generated,” Ford said. The conventional approach of sowing native seed, pricking out and then growing in containers takes 12-36 months, adding significantly to natives’ establishment costs over exotics. “We decided to take some of our exotic seedling experience where they only take 9-12 months to grow out and try it with natives,” he said. The work has been enabled thanks to partners including Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service and collaborators Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Minginui Nursery and Tipu Wai Trust. The researchers identified a number of bottlenecks to native propagation, including seed availability, slow propagation cycle, labour and tree

establishment limitations. Taking the paper pots exotics are grown in, and which are a 10th of the natives’ PB2 size, they have found a simple but vital solution to accelerating the process. The Ellepot paper “Ellebags” and “Ellepots” are made using specialised machines and degradable paper to form the container shape for placing the seed or seedlings in.

We are wanting to challenge the paradigms on how fast you can grow out natives and get them started in the field. Dr Heidi Dungey Scion

Results based on six trial sites around Rotorua show on average a 90% plastic waste reduction and a 50% saving on seedling medium mix, with highly positive tree growth outcomes, when using the Ellebags or Ellepots. Many of the species trialled were proven to grow very successfully in Ellepots as small as 125-310ml. “And from a practical and ergonomic point of view, that is a

considerably greater number of pots someone planting in the field is capable of carrying than the 1.2-litre plastic bags,” he said. In an industry strapped for labour supply, the savings using the paper pot machine are between $30,000 and $90,000 a year for a one million seedling nursery. The technology has already been picked up by three native plant nurseries and more are expected as the impetus to plant natives as permanent sequestration forests grows. Survivability is proven to be at least that of the plastic option, at over 90% and in some cases seedlings in mid-sized 700ml paper Ellebags did better than the bigger plastic option. The research has also alerted researchers to other propagation means, with some species performing very well when established from simple cuttings. “We are wanting to challenge the paradigms on how fast you can grow out natives and get them started in the field. If you use the knowledge gained from exotic forestry practices, you can reduce the growing time. “Success also improves when you use expert planters in the field rather than volunteers,” Dungey said. The top six species exhibiting survivability rates of 90-97% included kānuka, akeake, tōtara and ribbonwood, often pioneer-

FINDINGS: Dr Heidi Dungey of Scion says research has found a relatively simple, low-cost approach to seedling propagation delivers big gains.

type species in regenerating bush canopies. The work is also looking to determine the right combination of native plantings for the right end-use, whether it is carbon sequestration, plantation or remediation. “Ultimately we would like to have a series of demonstration forests to show landowners the outcomes and options,” she said. Ford said the researchers hope more knowledge of planting combinations, their ideal locations, coupled with the smaller degradable paper pots will bring down the cost of native seedlings. Ultimately, he would like to

see native nurseries have the potential to double crop over 12 months, significantly slicing time and production costs down to commercially realistic timeframes. Establishment costs and time to maturity are big brakes on native plantings, with the Scion researchers putting current native costs at between $10,000 and $50,000 a hectare. That compares with about $1500-$5000 a hectare for exotics, which ETS data suggests sequesters about six times more carbon in their first 28 years. “But Pinus radiata also has about 75 years of research behind it, we have not had anything like that for natives,” Dungey said.

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

EDITORIAL

The time has come to work together

HE latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change certainly made for grim reading. Not only do major changes need to be made to the way we live right now, those won’t be enough to stop warming edging over the 1.5degC target that’s been set. The United Nations secretary general went so far as to call world leaders liars for saying one thing but doing another. This latest report comes at a time when farming in New Zealand is wrestling with its own climate change conundrum. There are some options on the table but parts of the industry have splintered off in opposition against them. What the rest of NZ – and the world – sees is an industry that either can’t or won’t do its bit. Meanwhile, other industries are seizing the moment and embracing a cleaner future. The likes of Ford and General Motors have made clear their commitment to transition to electric vehicles by the end of the decade. That will bring disruption to their workforces, supply chains and manufacturing structures, but they’ve read the room and made the same choice that will ensure their longevity. It’s time for farming to read the room as well. It’s one where the number of people demanding action is only growing and they’re not only using their voices and votes to urge change. They’re using their wallets as well. Change is hard, but climate change is worse. The current situation, where there’s a lack of communication and trust, doesn’t bode well for food producers here. And that could mean things get a lot more challenging than the options presented by He Waka Eke Noa. If a proposal can’t be agreed on and presented to lawmakers, they’ll simply agree on something for us. That would be a tragedy because our farms have the opportunity to thrive in this new sustainably-driven world.

Bryan Gibson

LETTERS

Promote wool and all its uses ONCE again we are in the wool doldrums with piles not being sold and with poor quality coming out of the sheds. We hear about insulation for homes being hard to obtain and yet we still can’t go to Bunnings or Mitre 10, for example, and find wool insulation on their shelves. This is a time, where with some wool being almost worthless and being passed in at sales, to get wool used in this way. We hear about being green and promoting the natural way, well, here it is. Wool insulation is just beautiful. Yes, it is more costly than fibreglass, but with shortages in the building industry, perhaps the cost outweighs waiting time? Maybe the more it is used, the cheaper it will be? It is a wonderful weedmat

too, instead of the plastic that tends to be put down. Surely, now is the time to start promoting wool and all its uses, to ramp up production with the few companies in New Zealand that can do this. Denise Gavin Pahiatua

Who protects farmers from contamination? GE-FREE NZ members are pleased with the safeguards that have been imposed on the protection of the soils and ecosystems that the Waikato District Council has put in place. There is also protection for existing farming systems from new technologies. We are disappointed that the Waikato District Council did not ensure that the farmers

outside of the agri-biotech zones have protection from contamination from any potential release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. Many of the big private public partnership GE businesses are centred in the Waikato and this obviously had a big impact on the council’s decision. It is, however, difficult to understand how it can be deduced that the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act will protect farmers from GE contamination and loss of income, as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decisions require minimum safety conditions when approving the safety of a GE plant or animal and no liability protection for contamination. We must not be fooled into

believing that industry science is as robust as independent science. It is in the interests of the GE biotech businesses to look at the benefits of their patented products. Whereas, the farmers have to carry the burden of the costs of the GE plants failure to yield, plant and pest resistance to the tolerated pesticides and the destruction of the soil and aquatic ecosystems. With the introduction of untested and unlabelled gene edited plants this will become a serious issue. We hope that the Waikato Council policies will be strong enough to protect all its farmers and ratepayers from any adverse effects, not just the GE agribiotech businesses. Claire Bleakley GE-Free NZ president

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

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Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Securing feed outweighs price Daniel Calcinai

FEW short months ago, who would have thought we would see the cost of PKE surpass $500 a tonne? The volatility in global commodity markets and fuel pricing has caused chaos and disrupted the supply of most feed products. Initially covid was to blame, but then the fuel price skyrocketed, global growing regions suffered droughts, and Russia invaded Ukraine. There is no way to predict when things will settle down. On the home front, grain supply is tight across both the North and South Islands. When we explore imported replacements, many are either unavailable or too expensive to work into our dairy rations. All the signals indicate this is unlikely to change before next season. However, as we have seen recently, the market is very unpredictable.

While the supply chains for some more established imported feeds are reasonably strong, many others are under pressure, which will create some gaps in the market over the coming months. Daniel Calcinai GrainCorp Feeds Global shipping is still erratic and we are constantly monitoring inventory levels to minimise the risk of feed shortages. While we have experienced some issues, we are weathering the storm well given the circumstances. In many respects right now, farmers having feed secured is more important than the price. While the supply chains for some more established imported feeds are reasonably strong, many

The

Pulpit

others are under pressure, which will create some gaps in the market over the coming months. We have seen significant impacts on feed and fertiliser costs, two significant farming expenses. Combined with increasing compliance costs, the cost of producing a milk solid, at least in the short-term, has increased. The challenges are real and already having a significant impact on dairy farmers’ businesses. Our challenge is to constantly look to the New Zealand market and abroad for cost-effective supplementary feeds and additives to see dairy farmers through. At the moment there are less options available than I have ever seen in my 20plus years in the dairy industry. While we are fortunate that the forecast milk price is strong and will offset some of these cost increases, I urge all dairy farmers to plan carefully. As many of you start to consider drying-off cows and preparing for next season, it is crucial that each kilogram of feed purchased helps you achieve your specific objectives, whether that’s to keep condition on cows or maintain production. More than ever before, it’s

SHEEP JETTER

DECISIONS: Daniel Calcinai says it’s important to provide the right feed at the right time, particularly as the value proposition for each feed has changed significantly.

important you feed the right feed at the right time, particularly as the value proposition for each feed has changed significantly. The adage that cheapest isn’t best certainly rings true right now. In many cases we are seeing farmers invest in higherquality feed to help improve feed conversion efficiency and milk volumes. If managed well, this approach can provide an astounding return on investment. The best feed is not necessarily

the cheapest one. Rather, it is that which provides the greatest return on investment and helps you to achieve your goals. I urge you to make the most of the technical feed planning tools available to help you get the best from your herd and benefit from a high milk price. While I wish I could tell you when we expect prices to soften, it’s just not possible to predict. The best thing we can do right now is plan well.

Who am I? Daniel Calcinai is the general manager of GrainCorp Feeds NZ.

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Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Need to get more value from wool Alternative View

Alan Emerson

I’VE had a ton of reactions from my articles on wool. There are many people and companies doing some amazing things with wool. If anything there is a lack of coordination but that can be remedied if the will is there. I was most impressed by Bremworth and its achievement in getting wool carpet into New York’s highest building. The company will supply over 3000 square metres of New Zealand wool carpet for the 93-storey building that will be home to the rich and famous. That’s in addition to Bremworth carpeting the prestigious Cartier stores in the US with pure NZ wool carpet. It is a credit to the company and a great testament for its decision to only make pure wool carpets. It also left me a little confused that Wools of NZ are getting carpets made in Turkey instead of here. There’s a lot currently happening with wool, much of it

under the radar. Barbie Cassidy makes beds for pets under the VIP, or Very Important Pets, brand. She’s been doing it for 31 years and uses knopped Romney-cross wool. While that is a limited market here, the US market for pet beds, worth over US$5 billion, is huge. Cassidy has also branched into woollen pillows under the Very Important Person brand. Eugene O’Sullivan wasn’t happy with traditional wool measurement devices, so developed his own. His system, Fibrescan measures the entire length of the fibre for factors including micron measurement, crimp and strength. It’s a highly sophisticated system. Ward farmer and builder Dave Buick is passionate about wool insulation, saying it was “the best insulation”. It’s odourless, toxin-free, nonirritant, warm and natural. He wondered why we even allowed fibreglass insulation when we had a good natural product in wool. The NZ home insulation market is worth over a billion dollars. Local wool broker Jeremy Freeth has described the current season as “challenging”. He said the wet weather had produced a lot of discoloured wool, which had created a premium for good coloured product.

He said that sheep numbers were continuing to decline and that forestry was a real issue. He was pleased that Big Save was using crossbred wool in furniture and felt there was more confidence in woollen carpets and insulation. Freeth felt the problem was that a lot of people were talking but few were doing. I could go on but I have absolutely no doubt that wool, managed properly, has an incredible future. The issue is that farmers are losing confidence in the product and forestry is intruding onto good pastures. What that means is less sheep and a move to wool-free sheep. Leading stud breeder Derek Daniell is ahead of the pack. He said that there’s been a decline in farmers’ interest in wool, but he’s still breeding for quality with the belief that the price will recover. For those who want change, he’s importing hair sheep genetics from the UK. That will enable farmers who don’t want to produce wool not to. What that means is that farmers have alternatives. They can continue breeding for wool on the chance the price will recover. In my opinion, to at least $5 in the short- to medium-term and $10 after that. The other options include wool-

PROMISING: Alan Emerson says he has absolutely no doubt that wool, if managed properly, has an incredible future.

free sheep or selling the farm for forestry. Local farming leader Michael Taylor said that he is keeping the faith with wool and continuing to improve his flock. While optimistic, he finds it difficult to see how the Wools of NZ and SWAG mergers will create any difference and that is also my concern. Other farmers I spoke to felt the same. It will be interesting to see the names that the Wools of NZ and SWAG put forward for the new board. It will also be interesting to see if it’s the same old crew recycled or a bright new bunch capable of fixing the industry. As I’ve written, the new name Wool Impact New Zealand is, I find, underwhelming. The issue is that wool is a wonderful product that ticks all boxes. It is sustainable, natural and it doesn’t pollute. The problem is that the price a

farmer gets is abysmal. I believe there are just two options going forward. The first is that wool will continue to languish despite the potential value of the product. Farmers will then cease to consider wool when selecting rams and others will go for wool free sheep. That will, in my view, herald the end of the NZ wool industry as we know it. We’ll still produce wool but as a by-product. Quality will also obviously charge downwards. The second is that we have new, innovative and energetic leadership that can unite the industry and make wool, once again, a premium and highly sought after product. It will be interesting to see which way it will go.

Your View Alan Emerson is a semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath.emerson@gmail.com

An intergenerational farming business From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

I’D BEEN invited to speak to the Marlborough Sheep and Beef Farmer of the Year field day last year, but one of the various covid lockdowns got in the way and eventually a new date was set and so I ended up finally down there a few weeks ago. I hadn’t been to the South Island for four years, so it was good to get back there even if it was only for a couple of days. The winners of the award were the Dawkins family at The Pyramid property, which is further up the road from the Waihōpai spy base. I felt compelled to stop and have a look at these domes and wondered if the spies were keeping a wary eye on me. On the way home, the setting sun lit the domes up turning them from white to pink and they looked quite striking, and I’ve

since learned they have now been dismantled as modern technology has made them redundant. The farming component of the Dawkins family are parents Chris and Julia and one of their sons Richard, along with his wife Jess, who have been leasing the farm for the past few years. Another son is running a firewood business using farmgrown trees with a machine that I saw a video of, where you fed the log in one end and out the other end came split firewood and I immediately wanted one myself. Yet another son has established a honey business, with hives on this property and elsewhere. And on top of this, the Dawkins have established 100ha of vineyards on the property with some of this leased out and the newer plantings under their own management. There is also an established forestry business. I would have been quite interested to learn a bit more about these aspects of their business, but of course it wasn’t part of the award or field day. But they did show a long-term plan on how to best optimise the resources of this property in a challenging climate. There were 468 effective hectares being farmed during the

IMPRESSIVE: Steve Wyn-Harris recently attended an on-farm field day at the award-winning Dawkins family property, The Pyramid, and left feeling pretty impressed at their diverse farming setup.

competition period but by the time of the field day there was 400ha, with the second vineyard development undertaken in 2020. The cattle policy provides flexibility in this uncertain climate and contributes to the bottom line, but it is the sheep performance which is stellar. Not run at high stocking rates, so the per hectare performance is reasonable, but the per sheep stock unit performance is very impressive. They are allowing the modern sheep genetics that we now have available to express themselves and shows all of us what good management, feeding and attention to detail can achieve.

A good example is their triplet management. This has been driven more by an animal welfare concern than for maximising returns and again shows what is possible if the resources allow. A historical lamb death rate measured from scanning to weaning has been 24%, which is high, but if you too are scanning more than 200% and do an honest death rate analysis, you might find you are not far away from this as well. Triplets are problematic, but they are also an opportunity. The Dawkins have focused on this issue and kept immaculate records over several years and have their overall farm lamb death

rates now down to 14%. They can get 2.5 of the triplets through to weaning and at decent weaning weights to boot. They are lambing their triplets under cover using supplements and an attention to detail, with close monitoring of lambing ewes that we are more familiar with overseas. All the ewes are weaning around 160% compared to the average of their land class of 126% and with the use of high-quality legume pastures they are growing these lambs at 330g/day so that the lambs are 38kg at weaning and they can get a very impressive 78% of the works lambs away off the mother. Those of us that attended the field day got a great look into a successful intergenerational family farming business, which has positioned itself for another round of succession. If you want to see an impressive webinar on this family’s business conducted by the excellent Aaron Meikle, it goes live over Easter on Beef + Lamb NZ events page.

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

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Main game drawing to a close The Braided Trail

Keith Woodford

THE biggest game in rural politics for many years is being played out right now. On one side are some key government ministers saying that they are not impressed by current He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) proposals for greenhouse gas (GHG) levies being calculated at the level of individual farms. Their strong preference is that levies, at least initially, should be at processor-level and passed down to farmers from there. On the other side are what is probably a majority of farmers, whose preference would be for no levies at all, but who grudgingly support farm-level levies as definitely preferable to processor levies, and even more preferable than the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). Further out to the side, there is another group of farmers who would like to stop any HWEN negotiations. This group, or at least some of them, are still arguing for no levies at all. Stuck right in the middle are the 11 mainstream industry organisations, with DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) taking a leading role, and getting hammered from both sides. Elsewhere, there is the rest of society, largely oblivious to what is going on. If they have an opinion, it is largely that agriculture must pay its way, but also largely operating in blissful ignorance as to how their own wellbeing is so dependent on primary industry exports. The so-called consultation period between HWEN and farmers is now over. I say so-called, because it was largely a selling exercise. However, in among all of the disquiet, the meetings with some 2000 farmers who turned up the ‘roadshows’, out of about 23,000 commercial pastoral farmers across the country, did indicate a strong preference for farmbased levies that captured the specifics of each farm rather than processor-based levies. The caveat to that was acceptance by many that a hybrid system combining processor and farm-based levies might be necessary initially. As the consultation period was coming to an end, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor called a meeting with HWEN industry partners. That meeting was not public, but the drum beats coming through on the gale from Wellington were more than a little

critical of DairyNZ and B+LNZ. Perhaps influenced by their officials, the ministers indicated big concerns at an emerging consensus that each farm should be levied based on its own specific emissions. Their fear is that getting this in place will delay implementation of the levies and any such delay is politically not acceptable to them. Subsequently, the HWEN partners have decided to continue working on a farm-level scheme. But to get it across the line they will have to do a much better job of designing the system and then convincing government that their plans are administratively feasible. Early in March, I became involved in trying to bring together Groundswell with DairyNZ and B+LNZ. I did so because I was asked to do so. My rural readers at least will recognise that Groundswell has had a strong voice over the last 12 months, led by farmers who feel disaffected over a multiplicity of issues. For a while, I was hopeful of some success in bringing the various parties together. My modest optimism arose from all parties apparently agreeing on fundamental principles within HWEN that included a split-gas approach combined with all levy revenue being used within the sector. I also knew that the Government was open to proposals developed on that basis. That had been stated in public, despite no doubt some diverse views within Cabinet and Caucus. Some of the dissident groups had failed to recognise the foundation that this provided, albeit with a lot further work needed. Alas, my initial optimism, albeit cautious, was misplaced. The level of mistrust between the disaffected farmers in Groundswell and the mainstream industry groups was too great. Then in mid-March I got together with leading Christchurch farm accountant and business mentor Graham Brown, and North Otago farmer and environmental advocate Jane Smith, to see if we could come up with a joint submission to HWEN. All three of us were supportive of HWEN as being the path forward for agriculture, but all had major reservations about the HWEN documents that HWEN was consulting on. Writing the joint submission took about 10 days as we all had other tasks to distract us, but we came up with something that all of us thought provided a path ahead. That document has now been submitted and it has also been widely circulated within the agricultural industries. Now we have to wait and see whether or not we have had influence. The document itself is four pages and somewhat long to provide here.

LACKING: Keith Woodfood believes there are pathways to achieve emission reductions, but say NZ won’t get there without a concerted research, development, extension and education programme.

A key area where HWEN has drifted away from fundamental principles is by advocating for carbon sequestration within the HWEN system. Sequestration issues belong within the ETS. However, it is published at my own website https:// keithwoodford.wordpress.com, and also downloadable from there as a pdf. In essence, we are saying that there are guiding principles that seem to be generally agreed. One of these is that a split-gas approach is essential. The second is that all levies should be used within the sector to reduce emissions. Related to this, the scale of the levies should be determined solely by the need for relevant greenhouse gas levies for research, development, extension and education (RDE&E), together with support as necessary for initial funding of mitigation strategies. We have also emphasised that trying to tax agriculture out of existence through punitive levies in the ETS is inconsistent with the Paris Agreement that NZ signed up to. That agreement is very explicit that climate change policies must not threaten food production. Accordingly, we have emphasised that the path forward is to focus on RDE&E that will reduce emission intensity from each unit of pastoral production. Personally, I am confident that there are pathways to achieve these emission reductions, but we won’t get there without a concerted RDE&E programme. I am also frustrated that the existing RDE&E policies in relation to reducing emission intensities are poorly targeted.

A key area where HWEN has drifted away from fundamental principles is by advocating for carbon sequestration within the HWEN system. Sequestration issues belong within the ETS. It is very important within the HWEN system that there is clear delineation between each of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon. Given that the HWEN system will impose levies on methane and nitrous oxide emissions from dairy and meat production, these levies should be solely used to develop and implement strategies that will reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions from these same meat and dairy products. In contrast, the ETS is already set up for carbon emissions and also carbon sequestration. This is where sequestration belongs. Unfortunately, there are currently important sequestration anomalies within the ETS. In particular, the process for regeneration of native forests is far too bureaucratic and this needs to be addressed. But there is no good reason why that and other anomalies cannot be sorted out as long as the sequestration is authentic. The alternative of trying to bring these sequestration components across into HWEN is greatly flawed. If it is in HWEN, then it will be Peter Farmer being robbed to pay for Paul Farmer’s carbon sequestration, with no net benefit to the sector. Ironically, it will also mean that this sequestration will not be included in NZ’s emission reductions as reported internationally to the UNFCCC. Alas, B+LNZ has got itself in a bind by saying to its sheep and beef farmer members, many of whom have sequestration projects of one type of another, that HWEN can provide them with carbon credits for these forests. What B+LNZ did not communicate to its members was

that this would involve robbing Peter to pay Paul. The situation has been made worse by plans to include what I call ‘rats and mice’ sequestration issues within HWEN, which will have low sequestration but high administration and auditing costs. Those costs will have to be paid jointly by all farmers through their HWEN levies. Walking back from misguided proposals is never easy, but it has to be done. The fundamental principle is that if sequestration is genuine it has to belong in the ETS. And if it is not genuine, then it sure does not belong in HWEN. Another way of saying this is the fundamental principle of a split-gas approach is that levies on methane and nitrous oxide must be used to reduce emissions of methane and nitrous oxide. That is the essence of split-gas approach that gets away from all of the flaws of carbon-dioxide equivalence. In our submission, we laid out further specific issues that HWEN needs to follow to ensure administration costs are reasonable. In essence we think that HWEN lost the plot once it started looking at the specifics of the levy system. The staff working on the proposals need much better insights as to how an administratively simple, fair and accurate system can be made to work. Our fear is that if HWEN does not bring those with necessary insights into the tent, then the HWEN proposals are going to crash.

Your View Keith Woodford was Professor of Farm Management and Agribusiness at Lincoln University for 15 years through to 2015. He is now Principal Consultant at AgriFood Systems Ltd. He can be contacted at kbwoodford@ gmail.com Previous articles can be found at https://keithwoodford. wordpress.com

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

TIME’S UP: Farmer consultations have provided a lot of feedback, which must be analysed to enable the final recommendation to reflect a clear preference while meeting the Government’s climate change policy. The deadline for feedback is May 31, and Allan Barber says there’s no more time for kicking the can down the road.

Groundswell too late to the party Meaty Matters

Allan Barber

HE WAKA Eke Noa (HWEN), the agricultural sector’s partnership approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, has been a hot topic in recent weeks as the consultation has drawn to a close. Groundswell’s charge that the government is not listening to farmers has been lambasted by Climate Change Minister James Shaw as “total bollocks”. On RNZ National’s Morning Report, Shaw said Groundswell’s desire to do more research before pricing emissions ignored the fact agriculture and government has invested about $200 million on research and development over the course of the last dozen years, and they are therefore offering nothing new. Groundswell opposes the HWEN option because, in its opinion, the consultation process intends to achieve a predetermined outcome which imposes a broad-based tax on farming without incentivising the uptake of new technology, it has no scientific basis and it will force farmers to reduce stocking rates and productivity. Furthermore, it believes it will be exorbitantly expensive and it will have unintended consequences. Agriculture Minister Damien

O’Connor told me this whole process is one of cooperation between government and industry. Farmers’ views will be heard through the consultation process. He points out agriculture’s inclusion in emissions pricing was first discussed 25 years ago, given the increasing urgency of global climate change the present government has pledged to ensure a workable pricing scheme is introduced by 2025. O’Connor recognises this exercise is fraught with difficulties, hence the extended period for the consultation process.

Contrary to some speculative reports, the Government has not already made its mind up on the pricing structure, but is waiting for HWEN’s final recommendations to the Ministers of Agriculture and Climate Change, as well as the Climate Change Commission’s advice on farmer readiness for emissions pricing by 2025.

Contrary to some speculative reports, the Government has not already made its mind up on the pricing structure, but is waiting for

HWEN’s final recommendations to the Ministers of Agriculture and Climate Change, as well as the Climate Change Commission’s advice on farmer readiness for emissions pricing by 2025. HWEN has had to move fast even to meet the Government’s revised timetable, which requires a firm recommendation by May 31. Achieving agreement between 13 partners on acceptable options to put to farmers for their consideration and response has taken a substantial amount of time; for this to occur, the alternative proposals needed to be well developed, but not set in stone. The farmer consultations in February and March have provided a lot of feedback, which must be analysed to enable the final recommendation to reflect a clear preference while meeting the Government’s climate change policy. According to HWEN programme director Kelly Forster, feedback from 7000 farmers and growers has been overwhelmingly supportive of a farm-level levy, which will reward farmers for actions they take on farm, as distinct from a levy at the processor level or, worst of all, inclusion in the Emissions Trading Scheme. Farmers want a system that recognises the steps they are taking (and by implication penalises those farms that fail to take steps) and provides practical tools to reduce emissions rather than simply imposing a price. “At the same time, there are concerns about aspects of this option, including equity and

availability of mitigation options across different types of farming, administrative costs, and the sector’s readiness to implement the system by 2025,” Forster said. There is general support from farmers for the split-gas approach, which clearly differentiates between the life in the atmosphere of methane as distinct from carbon dioxide and for the use of the farm environment plan to ensure integration across freshwater management and biodiversity, as well as emissions reduction. At all costs, multiple plans are to be avoided. Following the consultation process, potential areas of adjustment to the farm-level levy proposal are recognition of sequestration after 1990 instead of 2008 and the opportunity to reduce costs by integrating administration systems. The Meat Industry Association recently published an open letter to New Zealand farmers, which emphasised the importance of the correct policy settings to ensure meat processors and exporters can get the best returns for their suppliers. The emissions pricing system should demonstrate to New Zealanders and global customers that “we are committed to producing environmentally sustainable red meat and our story is backed by science and modern farm management practices.” The letter goes on to say MIA members are committed to the farm-level levy option and argue strongly against putting agriculture into the ETS which would act as a blunt tax on

production without incentivising emissions reduction. Nor would it achieve government objectives, while ultimately having a disastrous effect on the red meat sector and rural communities. Anzco’s Grant Bunting said this is a very complicated exercise and, in spite of alternative solutions being put forward by several organisations, including Groundswell, he firmly believes the HWEN approach is the right one, best able to meet the challenges of implementation. This whole question has been the subject of huge, often heated, debate for the last 25 years and successive governments have tiptoed round it without arriving at a solution. But the pressure from the Paris Agreement in 2015 and last year’s Glasgow Pact mean it is no longer tenable for the NZ government to avoid the issue. HWEN is the agreed process for bringing agriculture into the emissions pricing scheme, without which NZ risks becoming an international pariah, at least among some of our key trading partners. We no longer have a choice but to act and Groundswell must recognise there is no more time to keep kicking the can down the road. It has quite simply arrived too late at the party without a credible and viable alternative option.

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

World

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

MPs warn UK Govt over labour crisis THE UK’s food and farming industry faces permanent shrinkage unless the Government acts quickly to address the acute labour shortage, a cross-party group of MPs has warned. In a scathing report, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee criticised the Government for failing to address staffing shortages in the industry, caused by Brexit and accentuated by the covid-19 pandemic. Without fundamental change, the food and farming industry is facing a chain reaction of wage rises, leading to price increases and food production being exported abroad, leading in turn to increased imports, the report warns. In August 2021, there were an estimated 500,000 vacancies out of 4.1 million roles in the industry, according to advisory firm Grant Thornton UK. The committee has been left frustrated by the “reluctance” of government to engage with the industry over labour shortages. Ministers failed to understand the

issues and even sought to pass the blame onto the sector, it added. The labour shortage in 2021 took a toll on food security, the welfare of animals and the mental health of those who work in the industry, MPs report.

This has serious implications for the wellbeing of the people who put food on our tables today and in the future. Neil Parish Efra The pig industry was hit very badly, with a backlog of more than 150,000 animals on farms and around 35,000 healthy pigs culled due to a lack of skilled butchers to process them. The MPs’ report – Labour shortages in the food and farming

sector – urges government to review the Skilled Workers Visa scheme, including the English language requirement and the complexity and costs involved in a visa application. Defra secretary George Eustice should also use the department’s powers under the Agriculture Act 2020 to provide direct support to pig farmers, urged MPs. “In 2021, farmers faced an extraordinary situation – crops were left to rot in the fields and healthy pigs were culled due to a lack of workers,” Efra committee chair Neil Parish said. “This has serious implications for the wellbeing of the people who put food on our tables today and in the future. “The government’s attitude to the plight of food and farming workers was particularly disappointing.” The committee said government must build on its expansion of the Seasonal Workers Pilot scheme to the ornamentals sector and increase the number of visas available by 10,000 this year, make the scheme permanent

FED UP: The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee has been left frustrated by the reluctance of the UK Government to engage with the industry over labour shortages.

and commit to announcing visa numbers in future on a rolling five-year basis. It must also develop a long-term labour strategy that combines new technology with attractive

education and vocational training packages to entice British-based workers, reducing the sector’s dependence on overseas labour, the report said. UK Farmers Weekly

THINK OF IT AS A STROKE OF GENIUS It doesn’t take long to work out that buying Simmental means you are buying smart. With Simmental consistently dominating the top weaning, yearling and 18-month weights over the last five years of Beef+Lamb Progeny test results, it’s in your best interest to buy Simmental. Learn more at simmental.co.nz

Ohura 9 Prentice Road Tender

Picnic Point Picnic Point provides an outstanding opportunity to purchase a quality sheep and beef property in the well-respected farming district of Matiere, Taumarunui. Available as one farm of 827.99 ha, or as three different properties. • Mt Mable - 198.99 ha • Picnic Point - 324.20 ha • Waikaka - 304.80 ha This property has been well managed by its owners and on further inspection you will appreciate the work that has gone into making this farm perform at the level it does. The infrastructure is evenly balanced over the three blocks, with woolsheds, yards, and houses on each. Water and fencing have been a major focus with significant improvements to give the farm flexibility for stock classes and income streams including dairy grazers.

Omanawa 388 McLaren Falls Road

Tender closes 4.00pm, Thu 19th May, 2022 View Thu 21 Apr 11.00 - 3.00pm Thu 28 Apr 11.00 - 3.00pm Web pb.co.nz/TUR101097

Katie Walker M 027 757 7477

E katiew@pb.co.nz

Hororata 18 Duncans Road Tender

Superior home - Commercial citrus orchard A quality home fastidiously maintained to high standards on a private rural retreat that has a history of generating a good income. The quality family home of modern weatherboard construction and full double-glazing boosts four bedrooms, two bathrooms including master ensuite, a kitchen facing the pleasant rural outlook and a double garage with internal access. You will be cosy in the winter months with the large capacity wood burner heating modern radiators. Relax on the deck enjoying the privacy in this north facing setting with magical sunsets over the Kaimai ranges to the west from your large north facing deck.

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

Tender

Willowmere Organic Farm + business 136 ha Tender closes 4.00pm, Wed 27th Apr, 2022 (unless sold prior), OB 1, 7 Gravatt Road, Papamoa View Wed 13 Apr 11.00 - 12.00pm Sun 17 Apr 11.00 - 12.00pm Web pb.co.nz/TZR14095

Brett Ashworth M 021 0261 7488 Ian Morgan M 027 492 5878

A 115 ha plus adjoining 21 ha horticultural/arable property located at Hororata, Central Canterbury. Vertically integrated organic business supplying a wide range of vegetables and seeds from paddock to plate. The property is BioGro certified and has a quality mix of arable soils with pivot irrigation covering 51 ha with the ability to increase area, water delivered from Central Plains Water scheme. There are two x 3 bedroom homesteads set in established grounds with a full range of farm improvements. Available as a going concern business with established consumer brands with market access to both large supermarket brands. Please refer to pb.co.nz/DFR95461 for information on the 21 ha block.

Tender closes 3.00pm, Tue 3rd May, 2022 (unless sold prior) View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/DFR95507

Gareth Cox M 021 250 9714

Proud to be here

Pirongia 471 Sainsbury Road Deadline Sale

That's quite a view! Here is the fantastic, well maintained grazing property you've been waiting for. Set on the side of Mount Pirongia, just 7 km from the village, the house is positioned perfectly to take advantage of the panoramic views. You'll be hard pressed to find anything comparable. A manageable stand-alone farm or run-off opportunity. • Three bedroom family home, nicely modernized • 129 ha mixed contour land, 40 ha approx. mowable • Excellent shedding and support buildings; good yards with load-out facilities for both sheep and cattle • Reliable water supply, well maintained fencing and races • Very handy location - 19 km to Te Awamutu; aesthetically attractive Our motivated vendors have loved this farm for five years and are now ready to move on.

Deadline Sale closes Thursday 28th April, 2022 at 4.00pm, (unless sold prior), Property Brokers, 138 Arawata Street, Te Awamutu View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/TWR100513 Jo Dennis M 027 657 3310

E jo.dennis@pb.co.nz

John Sisley M 027 475 9808

E john.sisley@pb.co.nz

Tokirima 3779 Whanganui River Rd (State Highway 43) Tender

Hawea Hills Owned by the Tocker family since 1929 and presented to the market for the first time in over 90 years, Hawea Hills is a traditional sheep and beef breeding property located in the Tokirima district, 37 km west of Taumarunui • 955 ha contained in 19 titles; 910 ha effective, wintering 8,800 – 9,000 stock units, 61% sheep 39% cattle • Predominantly class 6 and 7 hill country with a small proportion of class 3 and 4 flats • Consistent fertiliser history and well subdivided into 82 main paddocks • Extensive road frontages bound and dissect the property enabling good access • Good level of farm infrastructure including six-stand woolshed and three brick dwellings This offering represents a superb opportunity to acquire a genuine hill country block with good scale. Contact Dave for open day details. Pre-registration with agent required, 4WD quad bike & helmet essential Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 | pb.co.nz

Tender closes 4.00pm, Wed 27th Apr, 2022, Property Brokers, 138 Arawata Street, Te Awamutu View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/TWR13954

Dave Peacocke M 027 473 2382

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

Central Hawke's Bay, 20 Blackhead Road Tender

Kokomoko - 553 ha 30 km south of Waipukurau in the well renowned farming district of Wallingford. The easy medium contour is complemented by some alluvial flats, ideal for finishing bulls or lambs. Several blocks of Pines and plantings of Poplar trees (timber varieties), not only provide shelter but add to the aesthetic appeal. Well-watered by a reticulated system and numerous dams. A large wetland in the centre of the property is a feature providing for excellent recreation opportunities. Improvements include a three bedroom homestead, set amongst a well-established garden, featuring large English specimen trees. A second three bedroom home. Both homes will be on separate titles. 2 x three stand woolsheds, implement shed, 3 x sheep yards and 2 x cattle yards. Presently Kokomoko is leased and utilized as a breeding and finishing block for both sheep and cattle. With the dwellings on separate titles, several purchasing options are available including with or without the homes.

Tender closes 2.00pm, Thu 12th May, 2022, Property Brokers, 98 Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/WR15153

Pat Portas M 027 447 0612

E patp@pb.co.nz

Waipahi 532 Waipahi Station Road New Listing

Sheep and beef unit with scale - 508.08 ha Farmed organically since 2007 and certified organic since 2009; this tidy sheep and beef farm is sub-divided into 26 paddocks with the central road giving access to both the sheep and cattle yards. Very sound post and wire fencing and electric throughout. Four stand woolshed and ample implement sheds throughout the property. The property is centrally located between Clinton and Gore, just out of Waipahi. This farm provides an opportunity for organic farming from day one, or an increased intensity with a conversion to traditional farming. This farm is on the market for the first time in 70 years. Don't miss your chance to own this fantastic property and build your business as you see fit.

For Sale $6,800,000 View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/GOR100400

Ryan Osborne M 027 340 4333 Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 | pb.co.nz

E ryan.osborne@pb.co.nz Proud to be here

AUCTION

OPEN DAY

Late Season Opportunity

Open Day: Wednesday, 13 April 11.00am - 1.00pm

An interesting and versatile property, situated in a great location midway Te Awamutu and Otorohanga, and very close to SH3,is now available for 1 June 2022 settlement. • • • • • • • •

83 Te Kawa Road, R D 3, Te Awamutu 116.4791 hectares - current land use dairying contour varies from flats to easy rolling to smaller area of steeper hill soil types include mairoa ash, puniu silt loam and clay loam well subdivided; v.g access via a ring race system with additional side races water supply - 2 x deepwell bores to tank; hp pump to the farm and dwellings calving approx. 310-315 cows; av. production approx. 123,000-124,000 kgs ms good 36 a/s farm dairy; spacious yard & sufficient concrete to hold the total herd

Ph Brian Peacocke 021 373 113

• a good range of implement shedding, calf rearing facilities & supporting buildings • two dwellings including:(i) 4 brm homestead, ensuite, kitchen/dining, lounge; separate double garage (ii) 3 bedroom dwelling; open plan living; separate double garage • very well located with utility services in close proximity and a great range of primary and secondary schooling within easy reach • versatility of land use is a significant feature; options could include a mix of dairying, dairy support, intensive beef finishing and / or maize growing

TradeMe search # R1409

Sale by Auction: Thursday, 28 April 2022

OPEN DAY

AUCTION

Prestige Property - Prime Location

Open Day: Thursday, 14 April 10.30am - 12.30pm

A lovely quality dairy farm, situated in the Ohaupo district within easy reach of Te Awamutu, Cambridge & Hamilton, is now being offered for sale for the first time in 50 years. 427 Ryburn Road, R D 3, Ohaupo for sale for the first time in 50 years 67.72 hectares - extensive road frontage; multiple titles access from Ryburn Road, Sing Road & Lake Road; stream on the southern boundary flat contour, sandy loam and silt loam soils very attractive with a scattering of mature specimen trees, v.g. races & subdivision calving approx. 240 cows on a high input system, under a split calving basis, 50/50 autumn and spring • average production approx. 140,000 kgs milk solids

• • • • • •

Ph Brian Peacocke 021 373 113

PRL Enterprises Ltd t/a PRL Rural Licensed REAA2008

MREINZ

• numerous buildings; 16 a/s farm dairy with 23 sets of cups, 2 x large herd homes, extensive concrete area with feed pad; multiple feed bunkers; v.g. effluent system • two dwellings including:(i) 5 yr homestead, 3 brms, ensuite, open plan living, dble gge, additional shedding (ii) 3 brm home with usual amenities including heating, insulation and garaging • excellent central Waikato location enhanced by superb views to the spectacular bush-clad mountains of Pirongia and Maungatautari • a great district with multiple options for schooling

TradeMe search # R1410

021 373 113

Sale by Auction: Thursday, 28 April 2022

bjp@prl308.co.nz

Katikati 55 Pukakura Road

Love at first sight - this waterfront villa

9,204sqm

If you love architecturally designed homes, prepare to fall for this superbly sited, perfectly private and peaceful waterfront villa. Your heart may be even more warmed by the knowledge that while this home displays the craftsmanship, character and charm of the era it is only twelve years old. Savour the atmosphere while enjoying contemporary comfort and a myriad of modern benefits within a traditionally verandah wrapped exterior with French doors galore and sash windows to flood it in light. The big country kitchen links a large lounge with sliding doors to a second more intimate space; both have bi fold doors for wide outdoor exposure. Loads of scope for family or guests when every bedroom has an ensuite. A small avocado orchard for income. An array of fruit trees and vines on this serene spot with views over Tauranga Harbour and to the Kaimai Ranges.

Asking Price $3,195,000 View by appointment Brent Trueman 021 607 718 brent.trueman@bayleys.co.nz

SUCCESS REALTY LIMITED, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

bayleys.co.nz/2502536

NEW LISTING

Hawke’s Bay 3627 Puketitiri Road, Patoka

'Raumati' organic Patoka dairy

458.614ha

A dairy of 458 hectares with excellent summer rainfall. Located 41 kilometres north west of Napier city, a very well set up farm with a 2008 built 60 bail rotary, 600 cow feed pad and large calf rearing shed. A large colonial four bedroom villa beautifully set in established gardens, two three bedroom cottages and implement sheds complete this top quality property.

Price by Negotiation View by appointment Tony Rasmussen 027 429 2253 tony.rasmussen@bayleys.co.nz

Historical production of 300,000 kilograms of milk solids has been achieved. Excellent fertiliser history, coupled with the easy contour and free draining ash soils fenced into 108 paddocks. Since June 2019, under new ownership the farm has undergone an organic conversion programme. In that time it has been used as a runoff and calf rearing operation, for stock trading and finishing, with some milk supply to Fonterra.

bayleys.co.nz/2852928

bayleys.co.nz

EASTERN REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

NEW LISTING

Boundary lines are indicative only

Canterbury 181 Andersons Road, Leeston

Big on location, land, irrigation, living and options

18.8625ha

Cattle farming, horticulture, dairy support, horses and country living? Walk into your new lifestyle on this wellmaintained and irrigated 18.8 hectare (46.6 acre) property. Offering all the essentials plus great schools, Leeston Township is just 2.7km away. Lovely grounds envelope the immaculately presented home. Well-subdivided into 20 paddocks, the land has top soils, plentiful shelter, cattle yards, an 800m horse training track, access lanes and an irrigation consent in place. A wide range of outbuildings include a four-bay lockable shed, two-bay open shed; stable complex with six loose boxes plus tack and feed room, horse washdown area; single bay open shed, lockable workshop/storage shed with electricity; three-bay open hay shed and horse shelters. Become a part of this wonderful family focused community - call us today to discuss further or arrange a viewing.

Deadline Sale (unless sold prior) 1pm, Wed 27 Apr 2022 Phone for viewing times Chris Jones 027 220 5043 chris.jones@bayleys.co.nz Sam Sidey 027 346 3500 sam.sidey@bayleys.co.nz

bayleys.co.nz/5518086

WHALAN AND PARTNERS LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Kaukapakapa 382 and 415 Jordan Road Hi-tech waterfront setup! Superbly positioned on the banks of the Kaipara Harbour lies this 179ha (approximately) dairy farm in three titles. The farm employs four state-of-the-art Lely "Astronaut" milking robots, which provide a 24/7 service. This high-tech "autonomous" system not only milks the cows, it will also draft, feed, and keep a full animal record - allowing more time out on the farm, or on the water! The farm currently milks 200 cows, producing a high of 69,564kgMS, and rears 200 calves (on whole milk). The property is well subdivided into 67 paddocks with an extensive race network and a full range of support infrastructure including herd homes.

179ha

Masterton 2858 Masterton-Castlepoint Road 6

Tender (unless sold prior) Closing 4pm, Wed 20 Apr 2022 41 Queen Street, Warkworth View by appointment John Barnett 021 790 393 john.barnett@bayleys.co.nz

Beauley

Take a virtual tour: vimeo.com/689496282 (turn on your sound)

Beauley is situated on the Masterton-Castlepoint Road, approximately 30 kilometres from Masterton. Consisting of some 750 hectares of which 41 hectares are in QE11 Trust. Contour is varied with silt flats in the front of the property with the balance medium hill which features sheltered basins and spectacular taipos. The farm is well laned and subdivided into some 85 paddocks for easy management. Fences are of a good standard with traditional wire and baton complemented by electric. With excellent facilities including the character homestead and a consistent history of inputs and proven stock performance in a handy location with good access to Masterton and the beautiful Wairarapa coastline including Castlepoint and Riversdale.

bayleys.co.nz/1202899

bayleys.co.nz/3151097

MACKYS REAL ESTATE LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

750ha Tender (will not be sold prior) Closing 4pm, Thu 12 May 2022 186 Chapel Street, Masterton View by appointment Lindsay Watts 027 246 2542 lindsay.watts@bayleys.co.nz Andrew Smith 027 760 8208 Simon Clinton-Baker 021 953 909 EASTERN REALTY (WAIRARAPA) LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

bayleys.co.nz

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

FOR SALE

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 11, 2022

ELSTOW FREE RANGE POULTRY

Te Aroha, Waikato

SIGNIFICANT FREE RANGE POULTRY OPPORTUNITY

+ Consistent monthly and inflation-

linked cashflows + Long-term grower contract with right of renewal + 8 free range, fully convertible, broiler sheds covering 16,460m²*

+ Freehold land: 22.56ha* of flat, free

draining, versatile land + Golden Triangle location, proximity to Inghams supply chain, competing poultry processors and large population centres

Deadline Offers:

Friday 20 May 2022 at 4pm (NZST)**

Chan Singh +64 27 767 7113 Wyatt Johnston +64 27 815 1303 Jeremy Keating +64 21 461 210

*Approximately **Unless sold prior

Arotahi Agribusiness Limited, Licensed Real Estate Agent REA Act

152.9 ha that is approx 80% grass, balance bush. Subdivided into approx 45 paddocks by mainly electric fences & well raced to 70% of the farm.

EAGLESHAM 2530 Whanganui River Road, Taumarunui First time on the market for over 110 years is the opportunity to purchase an outstanding sizable breeding/finishing sheep, beef and deer farm. 725 hectares located 26 km west of Taumarunui. Perfectly balanced property comprising of 110 ha easy cultivatable contour with the balance of clean medium to steeper hill country subdivided into 62 paddocks. The deer unit encompass 225 hectare with top infrastructure throughout. 4 bedroom main dwelling set in established grounds, tidy 3 bedroom cottage 4 stand woolshed/cover yards 1100NP, cattle yards, deer handling complex and 4 set of satellite yards.

725 hectares Tender

nzr.nz/RX3231696 Tender Closing 11am, Thu 5 May 2022, NZR, 1 Goldfinch Street, Ohakune. Jamie Proude AREINZ 027 448 5162 | jamie@nzr.nz

_____________________________________________

Rotten rock quarry, lots of outbuildings, cattle & sheep yards. Tidal river runs through the property, good natural water & HP to troughs. Currently running approx 200 breeding cows & replacements & 50 ewes. 4 bdrm home with open plan living.

Alan Blackburn 027 203 9112 | alan@nzr.nz NZR Central Ltd | Licensed REAA 2008

Far North Real Estate (2010) Ltd . All information contained herein is gathered from sources we consider to bereliable. However, we cannot guarantee or give any warranty about the information provided. Interested parties must solely rely on their own enquiries.

RURAL | LIFESTYLE | RESIDENTIAL

TENDER

TURAKINA, WHANGANUI 417 Turakina Valley Road

TENDER

Quality Soils 92.33ha approximately (subject to survey). Situated 25km from Whanganui and 16km from Marton, is this bare land property in two titles (subject to survey). Featuring quality soil types consisting of Te Arakura silt loam and Halcombe silt loam hill. Good water from two bores. An opportunity to suit all farming operations, finishing, cropping, in a great location.

Plus GST (if any) Closes 11.00am, Friday 29 April PPGWRE, 18 Manchester Street, Feilding

VIEW 10.00-12.00pm, Wednesday 13 April Wayne Brooks M 027 431 6306 E wayne.brooks@pggwrightson.co.nz Michael Campion M 027 454 5829 E michael.campion@pggwrightson.co.nz

pggwre.co.nz/FDG35184

NEW LISTING

TE MAPARA, WAIKATO 786 Tikitiki Road Production Plus in Piopio 289 hectares (more or less). This very well located farm is running at the top of its game, approximately 53 hectares of maize country, 23 hectares easy rolling, 190 hectares medium hill, 40 hectares steep and 12.5 hectares of bush. Excellent livestock production due to the management of this property utilising the good fertiliser history, good water, fencing is very good, all with the great contour balance. Three bedroom dwelling and more than ample farm shedding. A very well farmed and balance of property. Please bring your own bike to Open Day.

AUCTION

(Unless Sold Prior) 11.00am, Friday 6 May Panorama Motor Inn 59 Awakino Road, Te Kuiti

VIEW 10.00-12.00pm Wednesday 20 April

Peter Wylie M 027 473 5855 E pwylie@pggwrightson.co.nz

pggwre.co.nz/TEK35489

TAUMARUNUI, WAIKATO 889 Tapuiwahine Road - A Top Performer 429 hectares (more or less). Aesthetically pleasing property due to the very good farming practices being implemented, established mature planting of trees, metal lane-way, good fencing, very good water, solid fertiliser history and very good stock production. This farm ticks a lot of boxes. Approximately 340 hectares effective, approx 150 hectares of flat to easy rolling, balance is medium to steep hill. Seven hectares of QE2.2021 stock figures 72 cows, 17 R2 I/C heifers, 65 R1 bulls, 72 R1 steers and 1500 MA ewes. Two dwellings. Please bring own bike to Open Days.

(Unless Sold By Private Treaty) Closes 3.00pm, Friday 13 May PGGWRE, 57 Rora Street, Te Kuiti

VIEW 10.00-12.00pm

Tuesday 12 & 19 April

Peter Wylie M 027 473 5855 E pwylie@pggwrightson.co.nz

pggwre.co.nz/TEK35859

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008

NZ’s No. 1 national rural property magazine ‘Property Express’ is out now. Read it here: www.pggwre.co.nz/property-express www.pggwre.co.nz

TENDER

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under the REAA 2008.

Helping grow the country

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 11, 2022

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Tech & Toys

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 11, 2022

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Enjoy easier farm finances with Figured We’ve combined years of farming experience with accounting expertise and intuitive technology to create a world-class solution that meets the needs of today’s farmers.

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Primary Pathways – Jobs, Education & Training

OWL FARM DAIRY FARM MANAGER

TE HAPE STATION – TWO ROLES

farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz

Te Hape Station is a 3040ha effective property situated in Benneydale, 35 minutes from Te Kuiti and part of the Tiroa Te Hape group of farms covering 7300ha. The station winters 32,000 stock units made up of a high performing breeding ewe flock and breeding cow herd. Due to staff departure and a role change, we have two fantastic opportunities available.

Area Manager Farm Manager

Head Shepherd

General Hand and Station Cook

The Head Shepherd role requires the right person who is willing to become part of the leadership team to run this well performing farm. The successful applicant would require 4-5 good working dogs and have had experience handling large numbers of stock. You will need to have excellent stockmanship, clear written and oral communication, and be able to work both independently and in a team environment including the ability to manage staff. The position comes with a three-bedroom home.

General Manager Livestock Co-Ordination Manager Sheep and Beef Manager Stock Manager

Fencer General / Tractor Driver

Sub-Editor

This role will be based around 80% fencing and tractor work and 20% general work including stock/yard work and other farm maintenance. The successful applicant will have a good level of fitness and the required skills to get on with the job either working alone or alongside the rest of the team. To be a good fit you will be an excellent communicator and a strong team player with a sound awareness of H&S requirements for your role but above all else we are seeking someone energetic and keen. The position comes with quality machinery for you to operate, competitive remuneration, a great work environment and a three-bedroom home.

Supply Chain Coordinator Te Hape Station - Two roles Tractor/Truck/Machinery Operator

*FREE upload to Primary Pathways Aotearoa: www.facebook.com *conditions apply

LK0111350©

• 380 cow showcase farm with education at its heart • Unique opportunity to lead a team implementing future focused farming practices • Grow your career, profile and knowledge in one smart move Owl Farm, Cambridge, is working at the forefront of industry best practice. It is an integral part of the St Peter’s School campus, providing a diverse environment for learning. The farm is set up for success there’s no doubt: • Great on-farm and support team in place • Top 6% BW herd in NZ • Use of technology on farm includes ACRs, Auto-teat sprayer, Pro-track drafting and Halter • Modern effluent pond and extended effluent area • 160ha nestled in beautiful grounds between the school campus and the Waikato river • Prime dairy land on fertile Allophanic soils But more importantly, it is a place where a smart, mature leader can shape the next stage of their career in a high profile role that is much more than you’d expect. On offer is: o a great salary and work vehicle o 10-yr old 4-bed Lockwood house o access to school facilities (eg pool, gym) o the ability to develop leadership skills within the industry o 12/2 roster Jul – Dec then 10/4 roster Jan – May o a supportive farm management team o guidance and technical expertise from industry partners o the ability to bring new ideas and thinking and shape the farm systems and environment of the future If the thought of influencing the future is spinning your wheels, then find out more apply though our People partners No8HR today at www.no8hr.co.nz (Ref#8HR32099).

JOBS BOARD

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 11, 2022

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

All applicants must have NZ residency or a valid NZ work visa and will be required to have a clear pre-employment drug test.

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

Please contact Ian Valler 07 878 4748 or email your CV to: camilla@tiroatehape.maori.nz Applications close: 5pm Friday 29th April 2022

Gain some traction with Tech & Toys Farmers Weekly delivers news and insights relevant to farmers, for farmers. Feature in the publication farmers read, value and advertise in every week. Let's talk Tech & Toys! Contact your partnership manager to discuss your options today!

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Northern Territory

Travel further with Farmers Weekly

Adventures - 4WD Tours Information packs are available for the 2023 season

LK0111280©

Kakadu National Park, Darwin, Katherine, Lake Argyle

Travel & Tourism

For details ph 0800 38 38 747 info@farmtofarm.co.nz

www.farmtofarm.co.nz

info@nzadventures.co.nz Ph: 03 218 8569 027 550 6727 or 027 435 4267

www.nzadventures.co.nz

Promote or find your next adventure in our Travel & Tourism section published monthly. Next issue – May 9 Booking deadline: Wednesday May 3 – 12 noon

To advertise your travel products and services contact: Debbie 06 323 0765 or email classifieds@globalhq.co.nz

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DOGS FOR SALE 2-YEAR-OLD Heading dog, been run at dog trials,will make a good farm dog. 2-YEAR-OLD Handy Huntaway, suits a small property. Phone 027 243 8541. BUYING AND SELLING Heading Dogs, Huntaways. Delivering NZ wide. Trial, guaranteed! www. youtube.com/user/ mikehughesworkingdog/ videos – 07 315 5553.

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

FARM MAPPING SIMPLIFY YOUR farm planning with practical, affordable and accurate maps from www. farmmapping.co.nz – contact us for a free quote.

GIBB-GRO GROWTH PROMOTANT PROMOTES QUICK PASTURE growth. Only $6.50+gst per hectare delivered. 0508-GIBBGRO [0508 442 247] www. gibbgro.co.nz. “The Proven One.”

NZ KELP. FRESH, wild ocean harvested giant kelp. The world’s richest source of natural iodine. Dried and milled for use in agriculture and horticulture. Growth promotant / stock health food. As seen on Country Calendar. Orders to: 03 322 6115 or info@nzkelp.co.nz

LEASE LAND WANTED BAY OF PLENTY AREA. Anything considered. Phone 021 204 6151.

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE ANGORA GOATS. 28 young wethers. $55+gst each. Phone 07 552 4835. Tauranga.

LOG BUYER

SHEEP SCANNING AVAILABLE SERVICING SOUTH WAIKATO, King Country, Ruapehu, Taihape areas. Ten years experience, NZ & UK. Fully Pneumatic, 3 Way drafting, EID available. No mob too big or small. Wet/dry to Triplet and foetal ageing. Phone for prices and availability 027 479 4918.

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

HOUSES FOR REMOVAL. North Island. Phone 021 455 787. SAWN SHED TIMBER including Black Maire. Matai, Totara and Rimu etc. Also buying salvaged native logs. Phone Richard Uren. NZ Native Timber Supplies. Phone 027 688 2954. WHAT’S SITTING IN your barn? Don’t leave it to rust away! We pay cash for tractors, excavators, small crawler tractors and surplus farm machinery. Ford – Ferguson – Hitachi – Komatsu – John Deere and more. Tell us what you have no matter where it is in NZ. You never know.. what’s resting in your barn could be fattening up your wallet! Email admin@ loaderparts.co.nz or phone Colin on 0274 426 936 (No texts please)

Selling something?

Call Debbie 0800 85 25 80

0800 436 566

w w w. e l e c t r o t e k . c o . n z

Phone: +64 6 357 2454

DE HORNER

HOOF TRIMMER

021 441 180 (JC) frigidair@xtra.co.nz

When only the best will do!

12HP, diesel, electric start, 50 ton Heavy duty construction for serious wood splitting. Towable. Supplied flatpack or inquire for assembled pricing

Splitter with hydraulic lifting table $4800

Splitter

$4200

To find out more visit

Phone 028 461 5112 Email: mowermasterltd@gmail.com

Pests out of control? No job too big, I offer efﬁcient and conﬁdential service. CONTACT: 0275258321

Cost-effective pest control using the latest thermal equipment & technology. I am an experienced hunter and ex farmer, I can get rid of the pests eating down your farm, disturbing your stock, and frustrating you and your neighbors.

Rural Disputes Expert Available to assist with resolving rural disputes, or for appointment as a Sharemilking Conciliator, Rural Arbitrator or Farm Debt Mediator

NEW HOMES SOLID – PRACTICAL

She has grown up on the land and enjoys the farming lifestyle. Wendy has blonde hair & hazel eyes. She enjoys cooking, camping, ﬁshing and spending her time with a special man.

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

0800 446 332

Heavy duty long lasting Ph 021 047 9299

Ph: 07 345 9050 | e-mail: copeland@copelandlawyers.com

Call or email us for your free copy of our plans Email: info@ezylinehomes.co.nz Phone: 0800 399 546 (EZYLINE) Web: www.ezylinehomes.co.nz

Under Woolshed/Covered Yards Cleaning Specialist www.underthewoolshed.kiwi

SCOTTY’S CONTRACTORS

Get your April 25 Farmers Weekly bookings in by midday Thursday, April 14.

We also dig out and remetal cattle yards & calf sheds

TAIHAPE AREA [BOOK YOUR SHED NOW!]

Material deadline: Thursday April 14 - 4pm

FROM THIS

BTZ Forestry Marketing and Harvesting

LK0111257©

(Obtaining the best profits for our customers)

✁

Contact Debbie DDI: 06 323 0765 Mob: 027 705 7181 classifieds@globalhq.co.nz

udly NZ Made Pro Since 1975

Mark Copeland LLB, CMInstD

Alone & Seeking Love. A country girl who is loving & down to earth.

Easter Early Booking Deadline

Plenty of driveshafts available

Become self-sufficient

MOWER MASTER

Introducing Wendy

Seniors welcome.

EARMARKERS

Looking For & Selling All Farm Machinery Market Gardening Valuations Cropping Dairy Orchard Contracting Machinery Brokers Pukekohe Contact Ph Brian Healey 027 231 5913 healag@xtra.co.nz

LK0111083©

ZON BIRDSCARER

electro-tek@xtra.co.nz

See TradeME #2251190054 [For farmers and hunters]

T H IN K PRE BU IL T

PERSONAL

Call now for more details.

STOP BIRDS NOW!

www.moamaster.co.nz

classifieds@globalhq.co.nz

HAULER CREW available for harvesting. Wairarapa area. Phone 027 489 7036.

0800 85 25 80

lk0111286©

WANTED TO BUY

Call Debbie

P.O. Box 30, Palmerston North 4440, NZ

CHILLERS & FREEZERS

HEALEY AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT

JW109881©

RUSTY NO 8 WIRE. www. wireart.co.nz Wanted for Art Work. In coils, not rotten please. Will Pick up for $$. Please phone 021 129 9439. South Island only.

Selling something?

LK0109814©

40c/50c PER KG dags fadges/bales. Replacement woolpacks. PV Weber Wools. Kawakawa Road, Feilding. Phone 06 323 9550.

HORTICULTURE

BOOK AN AD. For only $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classifieds. Phone Debbie on 0800 85 25 80 to book.

WANTED RUSTY BARBED WIRE

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

LK0109918©

ATTENTION FARMERS

DAIRY SUPPORT OR OTHER. Good Facilities and experienced grazier. Long or short term options. Waikato area. Call Mike for further details 027 487 8633.

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

JOHN DEERE 6620, 6410, 6800, rollover damage,dismantling Andquiparts.Phone 027 524 3356.

DOLOMITE

✁

ANIMAL HEALTH www.drench.co.nz farmer owned, very competitive prices. Phone 0800 4 DRENCH (437 362).

GRAZING AVAILABLE

RAMS FOR SALE

TRACTOR PARTS

Phone Scotty Newman 0800 2SCOTTY 0800 27 26 88 Mobile 027 26 26 27 2 scottnewman101@gmail.com New Zealand’s Number 1 service provider since 2004

Farmers/Woodlot owner Tired of waiting for someone to harvest your trees? TO THAT LK0111324©

CRAIGCO SHEEP JETTERS. Sensor Jet. Deal to fly and Lice now. Guaranteed performance. Unbeatable pricing. Phone 06 835 6863. www.craigcojetters.com

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

HIGH PRESSURE WATER PUMPS, suitable on high headlifts. Low energy usage for single/3-phase motors, waterwheel and turbine drives. Low maintenance costs and easy to service. Enquiries phone 04 526 4415, email sales@hydra-cell.co.nz

LK0109558©

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

PUMPS

GOATS WANTED

FERAL GOATS WANTED. All head counted, payment on pick-up, pick-up within 24 hours. Prices based on works schedule. Experienced musterers available. Phone Bill and Vicky Le Feuvre 07 893 8916.

LK0111338©

ANIMAL HANDLING

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

LK0111197©

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 11, 2022

We are not committed to one buyer that is how we get our customers the most profit we can. Set up to do the smaller, trickier wood lots. No job too big or too small.

Free quotes • Markets for all species Email: BTZforestry@gmail.com

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

Livestock Noticeboard

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 11, 2022

FOR SALE

• DR2532 – 85 x Frsn/Xbred I/C Heifers BW66 PW99 DTC 1/7 Predom Frsn, Capital Line $1680 Call Matthew: 027 601 3787 (Waikato)

•

• DR2523 – 76 x Jrsy I/C Heifers BW253 PW227 DTC 1/7 Capital line, 50yrs AB, LIC $1700 Call Grant: 021 775 848 (Northland)

• • LK0110881©

•

COMPRISING: 300 x Predom Xbred Herd – BW194 PW246 R/A 100% 79 x R1 Heifers BW252 PW273 Outstanding Heifers (Heifers to be sold in 4 equal LIC computer split BW groups) Never been offered for sale prior to Auction

• • • • •

DETAILS: Calving 12/7 to LIC nominated sexed semen – AB 5wks HB shed, 485 MS/Cow & 100,000 SCC consistent for years System 3.5 feeding, TB10, Lepto Vacc, salmonella vacc Herd T/O with Jersey bulls out 20/12/21 all mating dates confirmed First 3wks AB are all sex semen Herd has 75% 6wk in-calf rate this season – no feed pad

AUCTIONEERS NOTE: The farm has been sold – this high-class herd has outstanding dairy type and excellent udders. Extremely valuable replacement heifer calves guaranteed with sexed semen. Consistent performance – reliability from selected genetics – focused management and loved dairy cows for 60+ yrs. Totally recommended – sold in-milk on auction day. All cows and heifers in great order. This is an outstanding opportunity to purchase from a top-of-the-line herd. Please note: This auction will be conducted under the current Covid-19 rules & regulations.

PAYMENT TERMS:

VENDORS: Neil (Flick) & Donna Gaskell Neil 027 437 7943 VIEW OUR CATALOGUE AT

COMPLETE DISPERSAL AUCTION Long Established Quality Friesian Dairies A/c BUSHVIEW HOLSTEIN PARTNERSHIP Tuesday 19th April 2022 at 252 Opunake Rd, Stratford Taranaki – D/C OC 26144 Start Time: 11:00am will be available for online bidding

C/- Lloyd & Sonia Holloway & Family 348 Brooks Road, Te Pohue Thursday 21st April 2022 11am viewing 12pm start Comprising of: 2500 Perendale Wether lambs 1500 Perendale Ewe lambs Auctioneers note: Quality line of late September born Hill Country lambs. Undrafted, with excellent Stock health. Renowned for shifting ability. Have been farmed on property rising up to 4200ft above sea level. Anti-biotic free.

Contact: Chris Martelletti 027 497 3802 Shaun Bicknell 027 221 1977 Hybrid Auction Sale streamed live via MyLiveStock Visit MyLiveStock for photos and videos

• • • •

VIEW OUR CATALOGUE AT:

Need to mooooove stock? Advertise your stock in Farmers Weekly. Contact Javier: 06 323 0761 / 027 602 4925 livestock@globalhq.co.nz farmersweekly.co.nz

NZ’s Virtual Saleyard

PAYMENT TERMS:

VENDORS: Mark Rowland & Jo Dorn 027 495 7728

Auctioneers note: Quality late October born East Coast high country lambs with Excellent health. Lambs renowned for shifting & eligible for Anti-biotic free Programs. FAP property.

Helping grow the country

DETAILS: Sold in-milk – calving dates scanned, TBC10, Lepto Vacc DTC from 23/7 – 6wks Nom AB matingtailed Frsn/Hfd – out 20/12/21 570 kg/ms avg. production – 100,000 SCC – in shed feeding Herd established 35yrs – specifically bred for type and production Top cow has BW242 PW510 due 23/7 to Avatar

CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENTS: Colin Dent 027 646 8908 or colin.dent@carrfields.co.nz Luke Gilbert 027 849 2112 or luke.gilbert@carrfields.co.nz

C/- Anaru & Winnie Harmer 500 MS Romdale Texel x Store lambs

Enquiries: Sam Wright PGG Wrightson 027 247 9035 Duke Loe Hazlett Ltd 021 363 755

COMPRISING: 94 x Spring Calving in-milk cows 11 x In-milk MT cows 20 x In-calf heifers 20 x R1 heifers 3 x Maiden 3yr heifers 126 x Semen straws comprising – EX2-1, EX-3, VG89-1, VG88-6, VG87VG86-7, VG86-7 VG85-14, GP-42

50% within 14 days – 50% due 20/10/22 – deliveries immediate or to suit transport

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

COMPLETE HERD DISPERSAL Tuesday 19th April 2022 ON A/C: PJ & JM CROSSAN 255 Kaituna Rd, Maketu 12 Noon Comprising 136 Crossbreed Cows BW173 PW212 Calving from 20th July 2022 to Forward Pack Tailed with Friesian Bull 6 Contract Mated 38 R2Yr Incalf Heifers BW212 PW244 Calving from 20th July 2022 Mated to Jersey Bulls 1 Contract Mated 38 YEARS OF BREEDING If you are looking for quality you will not want to miss this sale.

HINEURU PROPERTY LTD

Please note: This auction will be conducted under the current Covid-19 rules & regulations.

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CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENTS: Pat Sheely 027 496 0153 or pat.sheely@carrfields.co.nz John Price 027 594 2544 or john.price@carrfields.co.nz Kelly Higgins 027 600 2374 or kelly.higgins@carrfields.co.nz

VIEW OUR CATALOGUE AT

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

•

Delayed payment is due on 1st June 2022. Grazing to end of May for farmers without access to farms.

LK0111285©

Payment due by 20th May 2022 CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT: John Price 027 594 2544 or john.price@carrfields.co.nz

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

A LIFETIME OF BREEDING

PAYMENT TERMS:

A/c 7OFUS LTD – GASKELL FAMILY Wednesday 20th April 2022 160 Hinuera Rd, Matamata D/N 77466 Start Time: 11:00am will be available for online bidding

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381

WAITARA STATION ON FARM LAMB SALE

Please note: This auction date is scheduled subject to any changes due to Covid-19 regulations

LIC Nominated Bred Herd for 60+ yrs

R2YR BULLS 400-460kgs

Contact Vendor Agent Mark Howells 027 664 8832

AUCTIONEERS NOTE: Due to the sale of their milking platform portion of the farm, these quiet capacious very well uddered cows of above average type will be presented in top condition. The heifers are very well grown. This sale is highly recommended.

HIGH INDEXED – CLOSED HERD

•

DETAILS: All cows are In-Milk & In-Calf to AB (Breed to Breed) 8wks AB, DTC from 15/7/22 – 15/9/22 The heifers are I/C to low birthweight Angus Bulls. DTC 15/7, some early calving heifers I/C to AB B/Blue & Jersey TB C10, BVD clear, Bovis clear, Low SCC Fully recorded, 3-digit herd code – never been offered prior to auction Updated profile & HT data will be available after the herd test on 5/4/22

UPCOMING AUCTIONS

TUESDAY 12 APRIL 11.00am Jersey & Crossbreed CRV In Milk Clearing Sale G & J Lochhead 11.00am Matawhero Weaner Sale 11.30am Feilding Weaner Steer & Bull Sale 12pm Taranaki Holstein Friesian Breeders Sale 12pm Wellsford Saleyard - Grown Female & Supplementary Weaner Heifer Sale THURSDAY 14 APRIL 10.30am High Performance In-Milk Herd: DM Harris

SOUTH ISLAND CALF SALES LK0111201©

Contact your local agent or call: Paul Kane: 027 286 9279 (National Dairy & Live Export Coordinator)

R2YR BEEF HEIFERS 350-400kgs

LK0111342©

• DR2526 – 59 x Mixed breed I/C Heifers DTC 20/7 Capital line $1650 Call Craig: 027 292 6828 (Northland)

On A/c Jack & Gladys Stuart Friday 22nd April 2022 12noon 923 Oeo Road, Awatuna Comprising of 2 complete replacement lines 120 Frsn & F/x G3 incalf heifers Auctioneers Note These heifers are vetted incalf to the Jsy Bull due to calf from 20th July 2022 The top condition heifers are TB clear & Lepto vaccinated Grazing available for new & shifting farmers until 30/05/22 at your own risk. Light luncheon provided. Catalogues available from 8th April at Stratford office and online

60 1YR FRSN/HERE HEIFERS >300kgs

COMPRISING: 80 x Frsn Cows 40 x Frsn Heifers 35 x FrsnX Cows 7 x Ayrshire Heifers 12 x Ayrshire Cows 4 x Frsn Heifers 8 x Jersey Cows 4 x Jersey Heifers 1 x Brown Swiss Cow 28 x I/M MT Cows (Vetted sound for breeding)

• DR2527 – 45 x Crossbred I/C Heifers, Semex, CRV breeding DTC 1/7 $1700 Call Di: 027 508 2932 (Otago)

• DR2513 – 42 x Frsn/FrsnX R1yr Heifers Capital line, CRV breeding $1000 Call Mike: 027 674 1149 (Waikato)

MALE ENTIRE LAMBS 32-38kgs

LK0111194©

A/c PENOAK FARM LTD Thursday 21st April 2022 Matamata Saleyard – 114 Waharoa East Road, Matamata at 11:30am, in the Dairy Pavilion will be available for online bidding

SELECTION OF LISTINGS:

75TH ANNUAL IN-CALF HEIFER SALE

STOCK REQUIRED

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL 1.00pm Coalgate Calf Sale THURSDAY 14 APRIL 10.00am Waiareka Calf Sale

Regular Livestream coverage of five North Island Saleyards Head to bidr.co.nz to find out more.

LK0111229©

Visit: www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz Login to register your requirements and be informed when new listings arrive. • DAC2528 – 77 x Autumn Calvers in-milk, Semex, CRV breeding Profile available on request $1800 Call Di: 027 508 2932 (Otago)

170 R3YR Hereford HEIFERS VIC 10/03 200 R4-8YR COWS VIC 25th Nov

END OF AN ERA Final In-Milk & In-Calf Auction

NATIONWIDE DAIRY SPECIALISTS

Livestock Noticeboard SALE TALK

My husband, who is an auto mechanic, received a repair order that read: “Check for clunking noise when going around corners.” Taking the car out for a test drive, he made a right turn, and a moment later heard a clunk. He then made a left turn and again heard a clunk. Back at the shop, he opened the trunk and soon discovered the problem. Promptly he returned the repair order to the service manager with this notation: “Remove bowling ball from trunk.”

CAPITAL STOCK VIC COW FAIR TE KUITI SALEYARDS Thursday 21st April 2022

If you’ve got a joke you want to share with the Farming community (it must be something you’d share with your grandmother...) then email us at: saletalk@globalhq.co.nz with Sale Talk in the subject line and we’ll print it and credit it to you. Conditions apply

Easter Early Booking Deadline

Bloodline ex Mount View Polled Hereford Stud, Oropi Tauranga, Est 1940s. 23x R3 $1,500, 19x R4 $1,500, 25x MA $1,400. Calving 31/8/2023 to 20/11/2023. Vet PT dates available. R3s have had calves. BVD free & vac. C10. Contact: Joe (CM) Hodge – 027 280 6747 Benneydale

6th Annual In-Calf Female Production Sale Wednesday 4th May 12pm

Get your April 25 Farmers Weekly bookings in by midday Thursday, April 14. Material deadline: Thursday April 14 - 4pm Contact Javier DDI: 06 323 0761 Mob: 027 602 4925 livestock@globalhq.co.nz

COMPLETE DISPERSAL SALE - FARM SOLD OFFERING: 120 fully recorded stud females 60 R2yr stud heifers 20 R4yr stud cows 20 R3yr stud heifers 20 R10yr stud cows All PTIC to top stud bulls

LK0111341©

COVID CERTIFICATES AND MASKS MANDATORY

HEREFORD HEIFER & COW HERD Dispersal Private Sale

Here at Farmers Weekly we get some pretty funny contributions to our Sale Talk joke from you avid readers, and we’re keen to hear more!

JW111101©

Commencing 12 Noon A/c: BEAULY TRUST E & J FRASER 200 x M/A Angus Cows 40 x 21⁄2Yr Angus Heifers 50 x 11⁄2Yr Angus Heifers VIC Angus Bull - 12th Dec. - 7th Feb. Herd based on Springdale & Shian Bloodlines Capital stock, farm sold, C10 A/c: BANCROFT TRUST G & A CARMICHAEL 78 x M/A Angus Cows 21 x 21⁄2Yr Angus Heifers 37 x 11⁄2Yr Angus Heifers VIC Angus Bull 5th Nov. - 5th Jan. Herd based on Atahua-Merchiston Bloodlines •Both lines are Hill country Cows with great temperament and will be drafted into age groups to suit all purchasers• Contact: Alan Hiscox 0274 428 434 Hybrid Auction Sale streamed live via MyLiveStock

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

LK0111339©

FARMERS WEEKLY – April 11, 2022

Sale to be conducted on line via Bidr.

JERSEY HERD COMPLETE DISPERSAL SALE HYBRID BIDR AUCTION Outstanding – Long Established – High Production

Tuesday 26th April, 10.30am A/C L & A Wilson On Farm: 26 Taihoa South Road, RD3, Matamata Comprising 264 head: • 173 Jersey Cows •

44 Jersey In Calf Heifers

•

47 Jersey R1yr Heifers

TB Status C10, Lepto vaccinated and BVD tested. This herd was first established in the 1950s. The very best Jersey genetics available from around the world have always been used culminating in an outstanding conformation herd that consistently produces in the 450-500 kgs ms per cow range with low inputs. Production per hectare of 1000-1100 kgs ms is achieved with all replacements run on the home farm. Cell counts rarely exceed 100,000. DNA profiling has been done more than 20 years to verify parentage of replacement females. Calving is due to start from early July. All cattle are fully recorded and transferable. Delivery by arrangement as soon as possible after sale day. Our vendors are engaging a 50/50 sharemilker from 1st June 2022. Catalogues giving all details are available from the auctioneers, PGG Wrightson, Brian Robinson Livestock Ltd, online at www.bidr.co.nz & www.jersey.org.nz Andrew Reyland (PGW) 027 223 7092 Brian Robinson (BRLL) 027 241 0051

Watch and Bid from anywhere. For more info visit www.bidr.co.nz Hybrid Livestreamed Auctions Helping grow the country

Wednesday 20th April Thursday 21st April Friday 22nd April

David Giddings 027 229 9760 giddingsfamily@xtra.co.nz George Giddings 027 656 3323 george@yourbid.org

starting at 12noon each day. Vendors: Dick and Faye Post 130 Scotsmans Valley Road, Tauwhare RD7 Hamilton 3287

Outstanding High Index Jersey Herd BW 250 PW 260 RA 98% • 268 Jersey Cows, BWs up to 485, PWs up to 722. Cows sold first 2 days •

86 Jersey in calf heifers, BW average of line 286, in calf heifers sold 3rd day

TB C10, Lepto vaccinated, BVD negative & calves vaccinated for IBR. An outstanding herd of strong constituted Jersey cows bred by the use of nominated AB sires since the herds inception in the 1980s. Several bulls have gone to AB companies with Posterity prefix. Several females being offered carry LIC contracts. The herd is within the top 5% for all Jersey herds. Run under System 3 at a stocking rate of 4.6 cows/ha averaging in excess of 1900kgs ms/ha & in excess of 400kgs ms/cow. Calving commences early July & after AB all were run with DNA profiled Jersey bulls. Bulls out 17/12/21. Several lines of heifers have been sold over the years with very good results. Open day viewing for interested people: Monday 11th April and Tuesday 12th April from 12.30pm. These top quality high index Jersey females are recommended to those in need of genuine replacements. Catalogues are available online at www.jersey.org.nz or www.agonline.co.nz or from the auctioneers, PGG Wrightson Hamilton & branches. Contact: Andrew Reyland (PGW) 027 223 7092 Brian Robinson (BRLL) 027 241 0051

Watch and Bid from anywhere. For more info visit www.bidr.co.nz

Key: Dairy

Cattle

Sheep

Other

HIGH BW CARRYOVER COW SALE

COMPLETE FRIESIAN/ FRIESIAN X HERD SALE

Tuesday 3rd May 11.30am

Wednesday 27th April 11.00am

Morrinsville Saleyards A/C Tui Glen Farm • 200 Frsn/Frsn x/Jsy x Incalf Cows BW 164 PW 249 Calving 15th July to purebred Hereford & Angus bulls (bulls x Craigmore, Big River & Wards) Bulls out 15th Dec 2021. Vetted in calf 15th March with any late calvers identified. BWs up to 316, PWs up to 1287, young cows majority 3yr to 6yr. All cows were blanket dry cow at drying off. These cows were purchased from top herds in the Waikato last Feb/March as young MTs, milked through, & mated back to spring calving. Due to late farm sale vendor now needs these top cows sold. Cows in fantastic condition. TB C10, EBL Free, BVD clear. Payment 14 days from sale & delivery on sale. Catalogue’s available online, Bidr operating on sale day. Contact: Regan Craig 027 502 8585

Morrinsville Saleyards A/C Mucche Ltd

Watch and Bid from anywhere. For more info visit www.bidr.co.nz

FEILDING WEANER FAIR - SUE BROTHERS

Comprising:

• 170 Frsn/Frsn x & Jsy x In-milk, In-calf Cows BW 160, PW 193, RA 96% BW’s up to 323, PW’s up to 562 A genuine herd of cows that have not been offered for sale before. Owned by the current owners for 16 years & with a strong history of 30+ years AB breeding. Previously part of the LIC Sire Proving Scheme for 12 years. Approx 85% G3 DNA verified. Calving from 15th July 2022 for 5 weeks to AB Friesian & Crossbred. Tailed with Angus bulls, bulls removed 15 Dec 2021. On track for 430kg MS/cow from feed system 3. Current SCC 130,000 TB C10, BVD free, M-Bovis undetected. This is a great opportunity to buy genuine cows that will shift. Payment 1st June. Immediate delivery or at the end of May by prior arrangements. This sale will be available for online bidding on sale day with Bidr. Catalogue’s available on www.agonline.co.nz

Hamish Wills 027 232 4813 Watch and Bid from anywhere. For more info visit www.bidr.co.nz

Wednesday 20th April, 11.30am Feilding Saleyards Complex A/C Sue Brothers, Ohakune Comprising approximately:

• 450 H/AX Wnr Strs TBD • 400 H/AX Wnr Hfrs TBD Enquiries to: Gareth Williams 0275 264 613

Secure Your Dairy Herd Now Contact your local rep

Hybrid Livestreamed Auctions

Helping grow the country

Freephone 0800 10 22 76 | www.pggwrightson.co.nz

Helping grow the country

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Market Snapshot brought to you by the AgriHQ analysts.

Mel Croad

Suz Bremner

Reece Brick

Fiona Quarrie

Hayley O’Driscoll

Caitlin Pemberton

Deer

Sheep

Cattle BEEF

SHEEP MEAT

VENISON

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.95

5.10

NI lamb (17kg)

8.30

6.65

NI Stag (60kg)

7.95

5.35

NI Bull (300kg)

5.90

5.05

NI mutton (20kg)

5.75

5.10

SI Stag (60kg)

8.00

5.35

NI Cow (200kg)

3.90

3.95

3.50

SI lamb (17kg)

8.10

8.15

6.40

SI Steer (300kg)

5.75

5.80

4.60

SI mutton (20kg)

5.50

5.05

SI Bull (300kg)

5.65

5.70

4.55

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

SI Cow (200kg)

3.70

3.85

3.20

UK CKT lamb leg

13.41

13.43

10.78

US imported 95CL bull

9.76

9.98

8.14

10.0

US domestic 90CL cow

8.94

9.00

7.38

9.0

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

North Island steer slaughter price

7.0

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

North Island lamb slaughter price

9.0 8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0

7.0

5.0

9.0

5.5

9.0

South Island steer slaughter price

7.0

South Island lamb slaughter price

5.0

5.5

Oct

Dec 5-yr ave

4.5 Apr

Jun

2020-21

Dairy

Feb

Apr

Jun

Aug

2020-21

2021-22

Feb

Apr 2020-21

Jun

Aug 2021-22

Two weeks ago

Prior week

Last year

Coarse xbred ind.

2.46

2.52

2.41

37 micron ewe

2.40

2.65

30 micron lamb

2.40

2.50

Last week

Prior week

Last year

Urea

1205

672

2.25

Super

373

319

2.60

DAP

1420

1390

990

Grain

Data provided by

MILK PRICE FUTURES

Fertiliser FERTILISER

(NZ$/kg)

Feb

Dec 5-yr ave

WOOL

5.0

Dec

Oct

7.0

6.0

5-yr ave

7.0 6.0

8.0

5.0

Oct

8.0

6.0

6.5

4.0

$/kg CW

10.0

4.5

South Island stag slaughter price

11.0

6.0

10.0

Last year

10.0

8.0

5.0

Last week Prior week

North Island stag slaughter price

11.0

6.0

4.0

$/kg CW

Last year

6.5

$/kg CW

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

Last week Prior week

$/kg CW

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Sara Hilhorst

Ingrid Usherwood

NZ average (NZ$/t)

Top 10 by Market Cap

CANTERBURY FEED WHEAT

Company

YTD High

YTD Low

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd

24.64

33.4

23.48

Meridian Energy Limited (NS)

5.08

5.36

4.33

7.7

7.935

6.88

600

Auckland International Airport Limited

9.50

550

Spark New Zealand Limited

4.695

4.795

4.3

Mercury NZ Limited (NS)

6.12

6.36

5.45

9.00

$/tonne

$/kg MS

10.00

8.50 8.00 7.50

500 450 400

7.00

Mar-21

May-21

Jul-21 Sep-21 Sept. 2021

350

Nov-21 Jan-22 Mar-22 Sept. 2022

Mar-21

May-21

Jul-21

Sep-21

Nov-21

Jan-22

Mar-22

Mainfreight Limited

81.5

94.4

75.11

Ebos Group Limited

41.29

43.13

36.11 7.55

Contact Energy Limited

7.88

8.42

Infratil Limited

8.18

8.34

7.5

Fletcher Building Limited

6.25

7.44

6.13

Listed Agri Shares Company

DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) Nearby contract

CANTERBURY FEED BARLEY

Last price*

Prior week

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

4300

4595

5050

SMP

4600

4680

4675

AMF

6800

7140

7170

Butter

6930

6840

7135

Milk Price

9.60

9.66

9.77

600

$/tonne

550

450 400 350

Mar-21

* price as at close of business on Thursday

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

May-21

Jul-21

Sep-21

Nov-21

Jan-22

Mar-22

WAIKATO PALM KERNEL

YTD High

YTD Low

ArborGen Holdings Limited

0.22

0.27

0.215

The a2 Milk Company Limited

5.49

6.39

5.31

Comvita Limited

3.36

3.78

3.22

Delegat Group Limited

13.02

14.45

12.5

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

3.43

3.78

3.29

Foley Wines Limited

1.5

1.57

1.42 0.151

Greenfern Industries Limited

0.155

0.25

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

1.66

1.73

1.3

Marlborough Wine Estates Group Limited

0.235

0.26

0.21

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

0.92

1.38

0.9

PGG Wrightson Limited

4.43

5.76

4.37

Rua Bioscience Limited

0.4

0.53

0.39

Sanford Limited (NS)

4.78

5.07

4.38

Scales Corporation Limited

5.02

5.59

4.75

Seeka Limited

5.05

5.36

4.99

3.44

3.54

3.12

T&G Global Limited

2.9

3.01

2.77

5500

550

Synlait Milk Limited (NS)

5000

500

S&P/NZX Primary Sector Equity Index

13476

14293

13195

12079

13150

11733

4500

450

S&P/NZX 50 Index S&P/NZX 10 Index

11606

12725

11311

$/tonne

US$/t

500

5pm, close of market, Thursday Close

4000 3500

400 350

Apr

May Jun Latest price

Jul

Aug 4 weeks ago

Sep

300

Mar-21

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR EQUITY

May-21

Jul-21

Sep-21

Nov-21

Jan-22

Mar-22

13476

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

12079

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

11606

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

Analyst intel

WEATHER

Overview Thanks to high pressure, settled weather is on the cards to start this week, although there is a front lying across the lower South Island and a low in the tropics is looking to descend southwards towards the North Island; this low will be ex Tropical Cyclone Fili. The low moves closer on Tuesday then Wednesday moves in. The most likely path at the time of writing appears to be moving past the northeastern portion of the North Island and away to the southeast on Thursday. Friday and the weekend look mainly settled with high pressure, although a southeasterly airflow brings in a steady stream of showers for the eastern North Island.

14-day outlook High pressure means a mainly settled start to this week, with the main feature being an ex Tropical Cyclone (Fili) which moves onto or near the North Island midweek. At the time of writing, this low appears to brush the northeastern side of the North Island on Wednesday and away to the southeast on Thursday. While winds may get strong around this low, it will be heavy rain for northeastern parts of the North Island that could potentially cause issues. A high starts to push in from Thursday and gradually expands through till early next week. Later next week a northerly airflow develops with rain in the west, dry weather out east.

Soil Moisture

Mel Croad mel.croad@globalhq.co.nz

Highlights

06/04/2022

Wind

Any strong winds will be associated with the ex Tropical Cyclone Fili brushing the northeastern North Island on Wednesday. Easterly winds strengthen for the upper North Island from Tuesday, winds tend to the south on Wednesday, blustery in places then ease from Thursday. Source: NIWA Data

7-day rainfall forecast

Temperature Highs in the late teens or early 20s for eastern regions and the North Island early this week. From Wednesday we see a cool down for many as the airflow tends to the south. Temperatures will start to bounce back from Friday.

Rain for Fiordland today, dry elsewhere. Rain for the upper North Island later tomorrow, rain continues for Fiordland. Most of the North Island has rain on Wednesday, heaviest in the northeast. Meanwhile, rain moves into the eastern South Island. Expect showers in the east Canterbury northwards on Thursday, spreading into the western North Island. Showers clear most of the North Island on Friday, but remain in the east and continue there this weekend.

NI store lamb prices strong

Highlights/ Extremes The main feature will be a low for the North Island, strong winds and heavy rain could be on the cards. More than likely heavy rain appears to be the main issue, especially for East Cape, Gisborne and perhaps Hawke’s Bay midweek.

THOSE in the market for store lambs may have noticed how different prices are to the last couple of years. After fumbling through weaker starts to 2020 and 2021, store prices continue to dance to the same tune as current slaughter prices, which are the strongest they have ever been for this time of the year. Given the correlation between store and slaughter it’s not hard to understand why store prices are tracking at record levels. North Island store lamb prices in the paddock averaged in a range of $3.95$4.10/kg through March. This compared with $3.30-$3.45/kg last March. Prices are well ahead of early 2020 too, when NZ went into covid lockdown – store lamb prices then were well below $3/kg. At an average buy-in of $4.10/kg in the paddock for a 32kg lamb currently, the per head price sits at just over $131. This means the capital outlay compared to last year is significantly larger and the question remains, will decent margins still be there at the other end? This time last year North Island store lamb buyers were paying $110/hd for a 32kg male lamb. This turned out to be good shopping as by May slaughter prices were staging an impressive recovery. Come August last year, 21kg CW lambs were averaging $9.18/kg. Therefore looking at a simple trade from those lambs purchased in April at $110/hd to being offloaded in August, the gross margin equated to $82/ hd before associated costs. Those that delayed purchasing store lambs (and there were a few due to feed restrictions) had

to stump up more money and the margin would have reduced at the other end. Right now average store lamb prices are tracking higher on a percent of schedule basis and aren’t far away from the July 2021 peak. Improved feed conditions and confidence going forward has created a platform whereby those looking for lambs have been prepared to step out more than needed relative to flat slaughter prices. Last week 32kg store lambs were trading at 49% of schedule in the North Island. The fiveyear average is 47%. This means prices are roughly 20c/kg higher than normal. Upside at the farm gate is usually getting under way by now, but three short processing weeks will likely delay that upside until processing supplies start to thin out. And given the processing disruption endured through March, it may take longer to work through autumn slaughter numbers. AgriHQ data shows that store lamb prices invariably lift through autumn, driven by increasing slaughter prices. It’s a 50:50 call if store lamb prices can continue to lift when slaughter prices remain unchanged. If anything, there’s a sense that current slaughter prices are erring on the softer side. Those with a buying order for store lambs need to keep an eye on slaughter prices. If they continue to flatline then chances are it will stall the usual autumn upside in the store market. However, this window of opportunity may be short-lived. ArgiHQ’s March Livestock Outlook report noted slaughter prices would start to firm from May, which will inject some life into store lamb prices. Typically store lamb prices trade at 50% of slaughter prices through July, meaning that upside could be sustained, leading to hotter store prices than what we are seeing now.

TOPS: Store lamb prices are the strongest they have ever been for this time of year.

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WIND FORECAST

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SALE YARD WRAP

Dry sale lightens load for farmers Lorneville held a special dry sale last Thursday to help farmers in Southland lighten the load on parched paddocks. The sale started with PGG Wrightson auctioneer Andy Yule congratulating vendors on the quality of the cattle they put forward, particularly in trying conditions. Yule also reported that this was the last opportunity to buy 18-month cattle out of Southland, as most have already been offloaded out of the region. Cattle were yarded overnight and sold on an empty weight to local, Central Otago and Palmerston buyers, with plenty of support offered via bidr. Just under 650 cattle were penned and buyers met the market. Top traditional steers, 350-355kg, sold well at $2.99-$3.14/ kg and exotic-cross, 420-470kg, $2.63-$2.69/kg. Beef-dairy, 410-460kg, made $2.40-$2.50/kg and lighter lines $2.05-$2.35/kg. Charolaiscross were the pick of the heifers at $2.60-$2.67/kg for 420-445kg and traditional lines, 390-408kg, sold for $2.33-$2.38/kg. Top beef-dairy lines made similar levels though most were 310-385kg and returned $1.95-$2.03/kg. NORTHLAND Kaikohe store cattle • R2 bulls fetched $2.65-$2.70/kg • Boner cows made $1.40-$1.50/kg • Weaner Angus and Charolais steers traded at $3.20-$3.50/kg • Better weaner heifers sold for $3.00/kg Around 400 cattle were yarded at KAIKOHE last Wednesday, PGG Wrightson agent Vaughan Vujcich reported. R2 steers were mostly whiteface and beef-cross at $2.90-$2.95/kg and the next cut $2.80-$2.85/kg. Nice R2 Angus, Charolais and whiteface heifers reached $2.68$2.70/kg. Wellsford cattle • The top end of R2 steers earned $3.00-$3.11/kg • R3 purebred Angus steers, 540-600kg, sold well at $2.95-$3.00/kg • R3 Friesian-cross and dairy-beef steers typically made $2.72$2.84kg • R2 Friesian bulls, 408kg, lifted to $2.93-$2.96/kg • Autumn-born yearling bulls were secured for $2.93-$3.14/kg There was a good line-up of cattle at the WELLSFORD grown steer and bull fair last Monday and there was solid demand from local buyers for quality cattle. The bulk of the yarding contained R2 dairy-beef steers which averaged $2.83/kg with lesser types around $2.60/kg to $2.75/kg. The lion’s share of the autumn-born yearling steers were Murray Grey-Friesian and Simmental-Friesian, 223-252kg, which earned $750-$815, $3.05/kg to $3.36/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

AUCKLAND Pukekohe cattle • Light R2 heifers earned $2.68-$2.72/kg, $980-$1020 • Boner cows achieved $1.10/kg to $1.78/kg, $450-$1050 Prime heifers lifted at PUKEKOHE on Saturday 2nd April firming to $2.85/kg to $3.00/kg while steers sold on par with the previous sale at $2.96-$2.97/kg. Medium weaner heifers traded at $458-$540 and medium whiteface weaner steers fetched $4.03-$4.06/kg, $572-$580.

COUNTIES Tuakau sales • Prime heifers reached $2.89/kg • Heavy boners made $1.54-$1.63/kg • Good prime ewes sold up to $200 A small yarding of prime cattle was presented at TUAKAU last Wednesday and the market was steady, PGG Wrightson agent Craig Reiche reported. Heavy steers traded at $2.81$2.86/kg, with medium at $2.60/kg to $2.81/kg. Heavy heifers managed $2.80-$2.89/kg and medium $2.60/ kg to $2.80/kg. Beef cows earned $1.75-$1.86/kg. Wellconditioned boner cows returned $1.54-$1.63/kg, medium $1.41-$1.54/kg and light, $1.11/kg to $1.41/kg. Numbers were low at Monday’s sheep sale. Medium-heavy prime lambs in the 550-head yarding made $133-$189. Store lambs realised $50-$122. Heavy prime ewes fetched $151$200 and medium, $138-$151.

WAIKATO Frankton cattle 5.4 • Top R2 steers, 366-490kg, realised $2.93-$2.96/kg • Quality R2 Murray Grey-cross and Angus-Friesian heifers, 335340kg, reached $2.90-$2.94/kg • Weaner Hereford-Friesian steers, 152-179kg, firmed to $680-$760 A 675 head store cattle yarding was penned at FRANKTON last Tuesday. R3 dairy-beef steers, 497-544kg, realised $2.78-$2.84/kg. The balance of heifers, 305-432kg, managed $2.70-$2.82/kg. Well-marked Friesian heifers, 321-284kg, earned $1.80-$1.93/kg. Weaners provided over half of the offering and Simmental-Hereford steers, 235-287kg, finished at $840-$950 with same breed heifers, 232-265kg, $710-$810. Most Hereford-Friesian heifers, 153192kg, managed $525-$655. Same breed bulls, 167-209kg,

earned $620-$670. Quality Friesian, 177-221kg, held at $545-$680. Prime cattle numbered 42 head. Angus-Friesian steers, 450-596kg, earned $2.60/kg to $2.79/kg. HerefordFriesian heifers, 450-468kg, traded at $2.51-$2.66/kg. Boner Friesian cows sold in two bands with 520-551kg at $1.52$1.62/kg and 430-451kg, $1.37-$1.49/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Frankton cattle 6.4 • R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 297kg, reached $3.27/kg • Better R2 exotic and exotic-cross heifers, 302-314kg, earned $2.58-$2.60/kg • Weaner Hereford-Friesian steers, 112-126kg, firmed to $525-$580 Store cattle numbers lowered to 435 head last Wednesday at FRANKTON for New Zealand Farmers Livestock. R2 Angus-Friesian steers, 342kg, earned $2.91/kg. HerefordFriesian heifers, 399-412kg, traded at $2.52-$2.57/kg while a few heavier and lighter options earned $2.78-$2.82/kg. Hereford-dairy, 239-329kg, held at $2.40-$2.41/kg. Weaners numbered 194 head. Hereford-Friesian heifers, 115-149kg, realised $475-$530 while same breed bulls, 109-143kg, sold to per head budgets at $510-$550. Just over 60 prime cattle were offered. Steers, 544-642kg, realised $2.75-$2.86/kg and heifers, 451-557kg, $2.76-$2.80/kg. Prime cows, 476-597kg, were consistent at $2.04-$2.10/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Frankton PGG Wrightson feeder calf • Top Hereford-Friesian bull calves reached $340-$370 PGG Wrightson penned a sizeable yarding of 736 feeder calves at FRANKTON last Wednesday which met with a sizeable bench of buyers. Medium to good Friesian bulls traded at $110-$180 with smaller types $80-$105. Small to medium Hereford-Friesian realised $120-$280. CharolaisFriesian featured, and good calves earned $280-$310 and small to medium $160-$260. Good Hereford-Friesian heifers managed $170-$220 and small to medium $60-$160. Top Charolais-Friesian fetched $200-$245 and small to medium $130-$210. The average calf price was $146. Read more in your LivestockEye. Reporoa feeder calf sale • Top Hereford-Friesian calves reached $270-$290 Good buyer support held the market at the REPOROA feeder calf sale last Thursday. Top Friesian bulls made $160-$185 and medium $140. Smaller Hereford-Friesian bulls sold well at $180-$235 and better red types, $160$185. Angus-cross sold for $130-$190. Heifers had a better sale and top black Hereford-Friesian made $192-$210 and medium, $167. Red Hereford-Friesian sold for $125-$195.

KING COUNTRY Te Kuiti sheep and weaner steers • Two-tooth to 4-year breeding ewes made $139 • Mixed age run-with-ram Wiltshire ewes earned $169 • Small to medium store lambs typically fetched $85-$124 • Top weaner Angus steers, 278kg, traded at $3.81/kg, $1030 • Weaner Hereford steers, 260kg, achieved $3.76/kg, $980 There was a quality yarding of sheep at TE KUITI last Wednesday. The best of the prime lambs reached $196, medium $142-$167 and lighter types $130-$133. Heavy male Romney store lambs fetched $147 and other good males $130-$142. There was a good yarding of approximately 1100 weaner steers on Thursday. The best of the Charolais-Simmental steers were 300kg and made $3.73/kg, $1120. A lot of Charolais and Simmental-cross steers were 200-220kg which typically made $3.70/kg to $4.00/kg. Angus steers around 230-240kg mostly traded around $4.00/kg and 180-210kg $4.20/kg.

BAY OF PLENTY Rangiuru cattle and sheep • Four Angus steers, 612kg, collected $2.68/kg • R2 Hereford steers, 456kg, realised $2.74/kg • Heaviest lambs made $170.50

There was an increase in throughput of cattle at RANGIURU last Tuesday, but demand was low and this impacted markets. Prime dairy-beef steers, 500-550kg, traded from $2.43/kg to $2.62/kg and Friesian and Jersey bulls, 560-582kg, $2.77-$2.82/kg. From the large offering of boner cows Friesian, 485-515kg, eased to $1.27/kg and 560581kg fetched $1.64/kg. R2 Angus steers traded a touch over $2.60/kg while better Hereford-Friesian collected $2.73$2.77/kg across all weights. R2 heifer returns were varied but two better pens of Hereford-Friesian, 360kg and 406kg, made $2.69/kg and $2.59/kg respectively. Amongst the 116 weaners quality was improved by a selection of Hereford, of which the steers and bulls made $600-$690 for 193245kg and $800 for 295kg bulls. In a small offering of sheep, medium prime lambs earned $130-$148 and store lambs collected $99-$128. Ewes traded at $118-$125. Read more in your LivestockEye.

TARANAKI Taranaki cattle • Top R2 steers lifted to $2.88-$2.96/kg, and the next cut $2.65$2.69/kg • Better weaner steers earned $510-$615 and the next cut $330$465 • Weaner heifers mostly achieved $380-$480 and heavy ¾ Hereford $660 A bit of rain has helped improve confidence at TARANAKI and the top end of the market strengthened. The best of the R3 steers achieved $2.84-$2.92/kg though most were $2.20/kg to $2.40/kg. Very good R2 Friesian heifers, 496kg, reached $2.78/kg, though the majority traded at $2.40$2.50/kg. The bulk of the dairy cows were 360-381kg Jersey at $1.18-$1.28/kg. Boner Friesian cows achieved $1.45$1.52/kg and 514-571kg heifers $2.51-$2.61/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

HAWKE’S BAY Stortford Lodge store cattle and sheep • R3 traditional steers, 465-565kg, held at $3.00-$3.08/kg • R2 Angus steers, 350-425kg, came back to $3.14-$3.19/kg • Capital stock Romney mixed-age ewes, run with a Suffolk ram, made $208 • Good wether and cryptorchid lambs lifted to $140-$154 STORTFORD LODGE offered up good entries of store cattle and lambs last Wednesday which mainly sold to local buyers. The cattle market was subdued, and top R2 Angus heifers reached $2.94-$2.97/kg but the balance made $2.60$2.75/kg. Friesian bulls of same age and 348-453kg eased to $2.95-$3.06/kg though a 323kg line reached $3.18/kg. Strong competition for a quality yarding of lambs lifted the market $10. Good ewe lambs sold for $126-$146. Read more in your LivestockEye. Stortford Lodge prime sheep • Very good to heavy mixed-age ewes earned $147.50-$162.50 • Medium to medium-good mixed-age ewes realised $127-$140 • Heavy ram lambs fetched $168 Ewe throughput lifted to 817 head at STORTFORD LODGE last Monday. Good mixed-age ewes held at $141143.50. Light-medium types managed $100-$114. Good ram lambs earned $150 and good to heavy mixed-sex, $150$167.50. Read more in your LivestockEye.

MANAWATŪ Feilding prime cattle and sheep • A Murray Grey-Friesian steer, 655kg, fetched $2.89/kg The bulk of cattle yarded were boner cows at FEILDING last Monday and the top tier of Friesian, 615-710kg, collected $1.69-$2.00/kg while a middle cut traded at $1.41$1.50/kg. The best of the bulls was a Hereford-beef, 655kg, at $2.78/ kg and lighter Red Devon realised $2.60/kg. Exotic cows with better condition made $1.51-$1.52/kg. The prime lamb market held as top pens made $180-$185 and the

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022

next tier realised $173-$176. Ewes met a slightly firmer market as good types earned $122-$141. Read more in your LivestockEye. Rongotea cattle • Three-year Speckle Park-cross bulls, 780kg, fetched $3.01/kg • R2 Friesian and Speckle Park-cross bulls, 440-555kg, made $2.73$2.79/kg • Boner Friesian cows, 385-544kg, realised $1.27/kg to $1.43/kg • Yearling Angus bulls, 320kg, traded at $2.38/kg • Weaner bulls achieved $305-$540 There was a good number of cattle and buyers at RONGOTEA last Tuesday, New Zealand Farmers Livestock agent Darryl Harwood reported. R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 358-420kg, achieved $2.31/kg to $2.80/kg and 243406kg heifers $2.31/kg to $2.67/kg. Weaner steers, 115240kg made $302-$580 and 108-213kg heifers $300-$550.

CANTERBURY Canterbury Park cattle and sheep • R2 Charolais-cross steers, 471-486kg, fetched $3.19-$3.29/kg • Charolais-cross steers, 610kg, made $3.03/kg • Medium-good shorn ram lambs collected $137 Quality store cattle created some competition at CANTERBURY PARK last Tuesday and R2 traditional steers, 384-440kg, made $3.02-$3.05/kg while Hereford-Friesian of similar weights collected $2.87-$2.92/kg. Most R2 HerefordFriesian heifers earned $2.49-$2.58/kg. Most beef steers over 550kg just managed to exceed $3.00/kg while $2.80$2.90/kg covered the rest. Three heavy Friesian, 690-700kg, collected $2.75-$2.78/kg and Hereford-Friesian, 540-790kg, realised $2.70/kg to $2.95/kg depending on condition. Returns of $2.63-$2.71/kg covered most beef-cross heifers 480-500kg while Hereford-Friesian needed an extra 100kg for similar money. A small but quality yarding of store lambs lifted returns on last week, despite a small gallery. Medium mixed-sex collected $113-$124 and ewe lambs were discounted. The prime lamb market firmed, and a large portion earned $160-$170. Ewes were lighter types which made $53-$80 on a steady market. Read more in your LivestockEye.

SOUTH-CANTERBURY

North Island weaner fairs

Temuka prime and boner cattle, all sheep • Heavy male store lambs sold for $159-$171 • Good mixed-sex lambs came back to $91-$118 • Prime Charolais steers, 660-730kg, realised $2.90-$2.98/kg A few more buyers at TEMUKA last Monday provided some well-needed support to the boner cow market and the Friesian cow average firmed to $1.18/kg. Prime beef steers typically sold around the $2.80/kg mark and the top dairy-beef steers $2.84-$2.93/kg. Better prime heifers above 540kg achieved $2.60-$2.65/kg though the bulk made $2.40-$2.50/kg regardless of breed. Interest on store lambs was divided as short term types sold well but longer term met limited demand. Otago and Chatham Islands lambs were present and light to medium mixed-sex were buyable at $70-$106, though lacked condition. Ewes were mainly light to medium and sold for $90-$140 while most prime lambs held at $144-$178. Read more in your LivestockEye.

The MARTINBOROUGH and MASTERTON weaner fairs met expectations last Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday 1900 calves were offered and black traditional cattle dominated though Hereford and a few exotic lines were also penned. Quality was slightly back on last year and regular buyers from Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay were joined by a bigger bench of locals. Heavier lines traded around $3.80/kg and lighter lines crept over $4.00/kg. Top steers, 290-300kg, sold for $1080-$1100 and 250-270kg, $1000-$1050. A nice rhythm was set on the lighter steers at 220-240kg which consistently sold for $900-$980. Sister of many of the steer were penned on Wednesday and equated to 700 head. All stayed local and most made $3.30/kg and better as the weights dropped. Top prices reached just over $800 and 170-190kg $600-$650. Almost 1900 weaner steers and bulls were yarded at FEILDING last Wednesday. Traditional steers were mixed at 225kg and heavier, mainly $3.65-$3.95/kg, but some consignments went all the way to $4.00$4.30/kg while 175-225kg were usually $3.85-$4.15/kg. Purebred Simmental were fought for heavily, getting as high as $4.40-$4.45/kg at 265-280kg while numerous Charolais-cross lines were typically $3.60-$3.75/kg at 205-330kg. Some 325kg Simmental bulls made $3.90/ kg and 215-260kg purebred Hereford were $3.60-$3.80/ kg. A further 1100 heifer calves were sold last Thursday. About half were exotic, mainly Charolais-cross, and these typically moved for $2.85-$3.05/kg at 230-290kg with $3.10-$3.25/kg common for 200-230kg. Prices in the $3.10/kg and $3.30/kg range was the standard for 180-260kg traditional heifers, though a subset of goodquality lines reached $3.35-$3.40/kg.

OTAGO Balclutha sheep • Prime rams fetched $65-$85 • Store lambs ranged from $25 to $118 Prime lambs sold by PGG Wrightson made $125-$181 at BALCLUTHA last Wednesday and prime ewes ranged from $30 to $160.

SOUTHLAND Lorneville cattle and sheep • R2 Hereford-cross heifers, 365-435kg, earned $2.05-$2.07/kg • Top store lambs held at $110-$120, medium $95-$105 and light $80-$90 • Prime 2-tooth ewes achieved $124 • Local trade rams realised $40-$80 There was a small yarding of prime cattle at LORNEVILLE last Tuesday. Better prime steers firmed a few cents to $2.50-$2.60/kg. Dairy heifers earned $1.30/kg to $2.50/kg and boner cows $0.80/kg to $1.02/kg. Weaner Herefordcross bulls, 195kg, made $470 and 152kg Speckle Park-cross

$350. Heavy prime lambs lifted to $155-$195, medium $130-$148 and light $110-$126. Heavy prime ewes eased to $130-$159, medium $100-$120 and light $80-$98.

Angus herd dispersed readily Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz REGISTERED Angus female cattle sold freely, with keen competition among stud breeders and commercial farmers when Merchiston Angus in Rangitīkei held a foundation female sale. More than 150 in-calf cows and heifers went under the hammer when stud master Richard Rowe decided to downsize and disperse the herd, which has a foundation back to 1955. The average price paid for 116 mixed-age cows was around $3000 and for 24 first-calvers the average was $5000. There were eight lots passed and 17 withdrawn between the printing of the catalogue and the sale day. Top price was $12,500 paid

by Ranui Angus, Whanganui, for six-year-old cow Merchiston Elda L117 with very good figures, including short gestation, low birth weight and very good intramuscular fat. She is in-calf from AI that was carried out on November 12 to Baldridge Goalkeeper. Her dam, nine-year-old Elda 27, was also sold to Ranui Angus for $4000. Another featured female of the Elda family, four-year-old Elda N45, made the secondtop price of $9500, this one being in calf to Baldridge Alternative. She was bought by nearby Angus stud Atahua. Top price among the first calvers was Merchiston Erina Q29 at $9000, with a bull calf at foot, followed by $8500 made twice for

FOCUSED: Members of the PGG Wrightson team at the Merchiston Angus foundation female sale, from left, Ryan Shannon, Cam Heggie and Ben Wright are ready to take bids. Photo: Alistair Thom

consecutive lots, Maria Q03 and Fiona Q06. Ruanui Station, Wairarapa, paid the top price for heifers. The 30-month first calvers

made consistently good money, including $7000 for Pride Q01 and $7700 for Duchess Q02, sold at the start of the run. PGG Wrightson national

genetics manager Callum Stewart said there would be no more Merchiston females sold at auction, but there will be a bull sale later in the year.

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Markets

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – April 11, 2022 NI PRIME STEER

NI LAMB

SI COW

($/KG)

5.95

8.30

GOOD MIXED-SEX LAMBS AT TEMUKA ($/HD)

3.70

102

high $1170-$1225 $3.68-$3.74 Angus steers, 274-300kg, steers, 264lights Simmental 279kg, at Feilding weaner at Canterbury Park calf sale

fair

GDT falls 1% but outlook positive Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz

EDUCED demand from locked-in China trimmed commodity prices in the latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction by 1%, the second such fall in the past month. Skim milk powder (SMP) prices bucked the market trend, up 1%, and are now in the very unusual position of being higher than whole milk powder (WMP). NZX dairy analyst Stu Davison said that had only happened once before in 2013, when China had a particular short-term need for SMP. This time the European Union’s production of milk and SMP exports are falling rapidly and demand is strong. “Demand for WMP is good but not as strong as for SMP and butter at this time,” Davison said. ASB economist Nat Keall said the fall in GDT prices was against the futures market expectations. Covid has caused disruption to domestic supply chains in China, with local dairy production redirected away from fresh milk and into less-perishable powders. The Chinese slowdown is not expected to last and tight milk supply should keep prices well supported, he said. His milk price forecasts are $9.50 for the current season and $9.20 for next season. Westpac senior agri economist Nathan Penny noted the second small fall in GDT prices, but raised his milk price forecasts anyway. This season went up 10c to $9.60 and next season went up a hefty 75c to $9.25.

SUSTAINED: Westpac’s Nathan Penny says this season’s record milk price looks likely to be followed by another high price.

Demand for WMP is good but not as strong as for SMP and butter at this time. Stu Davison NZX He said this milk price cycle looks like a boom followed by an echo boom rather than the boombust of previous cycles. The major factor is the prolonged drop in milk production, especially his forecast of minus 4.75% for New Zealand this season. A similar combination of bad weather and high feed and other costs has hit production in other

key exporters such as the EU and US. The Ukraine conflict has added additional supply issues to the mix. Due to rising feed grain and fuel costs, some northern hemisphere dairy producers are now running at a loss. He said that previous high milk price seasons were followed by low prices. This time a record price looks likely to be followed by another high price. “The upshot is that as it stands the boom bust milk price cycles are behind us,” Penny said. “Unless there is a major unwinding in regulations and compliance around land-use the milk price has moved structurally higher, averaging $8/kg in today’s dollars in the long-term.”

ACROSS THE RAILS SUZ BREMNER

Good results for SI calf sales IT SEEMS strange that one island could have polar opposite events going on but the South Island has just that – first rounds of calf sales have been cancelled in regions with better than normal feed levels, while in Southland a specially calendared dry sale at Lorneville was held to help relieve stock pressure for farmers in the region. Both Culverden and Canterbury Park cancelled their first round of calf sales as good feed levels gave farmers the luxury of more time to grow calves out and it paid off as weights at both the first sales held were up on last year. Once these sales did get under way, results have also reflected the extra feed. Hazlett livestock manager Ed Marfell said the Culverden sale was not as strong as Cheviot was, but prices were still good. “Vendors were very happy with the results, especially when you compare them to what is happening at other yards,” Marfell said. The next Culverden sale is expected to be quiet but the last one on April 22 will be full. “Farmers have held off a bit because of the feed levels but already tallies for the last calf sale are high,” he said. One thousand and two hundred mainly traditional calves were offered and top steers sold for $770-$980, $3.60-$3.80/ kg, and lighter lines $655-$765. Heifers made $570-$690, $3.15-$3.30/kg. At Canterbury Park PGG Wrightson agent Tim Kyle noted that most of the calves in the 1350-head yarding were steers. “Farmers are opting to keep heifers on until spring due to the softer market for them. And the motto ‘black is best’ clearly worked as Angus and Angus-Hereford cattle were the highlight,” Kyle said. The traditional steer average was $875, compared to $670$705 last year. Heifers also came up in price, but on lower budgets at a $670 average. Temuka calf sales have been ticking along as expected and Hazlett agent Snow Buckley said it was a strong market for the Eastern and Southern section. “Exotics and Angus sold well, especially those with weight. Buyers left happy with the quality of their purchases, but had to pay more than they were expecting,” Buckley said. Demand did waver as weights decreased in both the steer and heifer pens. Traditional weights were up 25-30kg on last year and exotic 10kg down on average. But prices were notably stronger as steers lifted $190-$225, 50-80c/kg and heifers $60-$165, 35-45c/kg. Traditional steers averaged $945 and exotic, $995 while traditional heifers averaged $680 and exotic, $700. suz.bremner@globalhq.co.nz

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