Looking to light a rocket under science
Jon Hickford saying continued uncertainty ahead of the Gluckman review is leaving the sector vulnerable to losing good people to overseas posts.
SOON-to-be-announced science sector reforms need to address systemic issues rather than offer minor tinkering, say those who work at the coal face.
Scientists and sector leaders told Farmers Weekly the sector is suffering from four decades of policy inaction, a lack of funding, excessive bureaucracy and a lack of long-term certainty.
The Science System Advisory Group chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman will this year release its report on how to strengthen New Zealand’s research, science, innovation and technology system – and those spoken to say it is eagerly awaited.
Private and public sector investment in science in 2022 was 1.47% of GDP, well below the 2.7% average of OECD countries.
Sector leaders said that while science and research need more money, the issues facing the sector go much deeper.
There was also consensus that boosting primary sector research must be a priority.
All this is happening as funding cuts impact staff numbers.
The number of fulltimeequivalent employees at AgResearch fell from 722 in 2019 to 666 last year, for example, with Lincoln University Professor
Dr Troy Baisden, the copresident of the NZ Association of Scientists, said reforms need to rebuild capability, encourage collaboration and attract young people to the industry.
Dr Kate Muise, the chief executive of Science NZ, said longer-term funding and research contracts are required to provide certainty and to encourage a longterm view.
Scion
unveils spectrometer upgrade
Dr Stefan Hill and Dr Hayden Thomas pictured in Scion’s upgraded Nuclear Magnetic Resonance lab. Scion says the $3.6 million upgrade, comprising two new NMR spectrometers, is a significant investment in New Zealand’s NMR capability. Spectrometers allow scientists to delve into the molecular structure of materials.
There is a view that the seven Crown Research Institute (CRIs), created in 1992, should be reformed, with Hickford saying the country needs one super entity with a common vision.
AgResearch chief scientist Axel Heiser said reforms must encourage foundational research that provides the material from which foundational science evolves.
He also wants to see less bureaucracy and less competitiveness among scientists seeking funding.
Lim and Bagrie on honours list
Nadia Lim and her husband Carlos Bagrie are among the farming community’s recipients of New Year Honours.
NZ raw products are ingredients in other’s recipes, says Phil Weir.
Photo: Scion
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News in brief
Mixed GDT results
Global Dairy Trade auctions began 2025 with mixed results among the traded commodities, four of which rose in price and four that fell.
Both skim milk powder and whole milk powder lost ground, down 2.2% and 2.1% respectively. That was reflected in the GDT price index, which fell 1.4%, following a fall of twice that magnitude in the last auction of 2024.
Share move
Fonterra’s share market listing will move to the Main Board of the NZX exchange on Wednesday, January 15.
Since first listing in 2012, Fonterra Cooperative Group (FCG) shares – the milk supply shares – have traded on a special platform hosted by NZX. The last day of trading on that platform will be Tuesday, January 14.
Litigation ends
Bayer’s ongoing battle with litigation over the safety of glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide has ended another chapter, with the Australian Federal Court closing all pending litigation.
The company has been fighting multiple cases spread across United States, Australia and Europe focused on the safety of the herbicide and health implications from its use.
Saleyards sold
PGG Wrightson Real Estate has reportedly sold the 5 hectare Kauri saleyards site in Whangārei to a local property development company.
The site had been on the market for most of 2024, ever since PGG Wrightson and Carrfields stopped weekly cattle sales after 75 years and advised farmers to send their cattle to either the Kaikohe or Wellsford yards.
Make this the Year of the Rural Leader
Neal Wallace NEWS Leadership
THIS year is being designated the Year of the Rural Leader.
Agribusiness leader
Kate Scott said it is more than symbolism to mark the 75th year of awarding Nuffield Scholarships, but recognises the role leadership plays in rural New Zealand, from community groups through to sectors and corporations.
Scott is the new chief executive of Horticulture NZ, having previously been the executive director of environmental consultancy Landpro.
She also chairs the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust and
was a deputy chair of Thriving Southland, a 2018 Nuffield scholar and a recipient of the Rabobank Australasian Emerging Leader award.
She said rural NZ needs more leaders but stepping up may make some people uncomfortable.
“How do we give a pathway that says it is okay to step up and display leadership?”
Leadership comes at different levels, whether that is in farm management or industry or corporate leadership.
The growth of catchment groups has created a new leadership pathway for people to cut their teeth at a community level, but Scott said there still needs to be a pathway.
“How do we give confidence
Swedish family backtracks on NZ farm sales
A SWEDISH packaging dynasty has reversed its decision to sell its New Zealand farms, taking all four off the market before Christmas despite strong interest from potential buyers.
In October the Rausing family, farming as the Ingleby Company, placed its four North Island properties on the market after more than 20 years of ownership.
The properties totalled over 6000 hectares and comprised two in King Country and two on the east coast.
The properties had been marketed by tender through Colliers, with tender offers closing on December 10.
Ingleby’s country manager, Stephen Creese, confirmed the properties were being taken off the market following a board decision to remain committed to farmland ownership in NZ.
“They are good farms, and it is hard to get good farms. We remain very positive about the future of farming in New Zealand,” he said.
The family also owns land in Australia, including wheat farms in Western Australia, dairy in Tasmania and sheep in the eastern states.
Asked why the board had opted for a wholesale reversal of the decision, he said the land market in NZ was not where the company thought it would be for quality farmland.
“We didn’t need to sell them, and the values were not where we
to people to back themselves to give something to the community and put themselves out there and seek new ways to grow their knowledge?”
How do we give a pathway that says it is okay to step up and display leadership?
Kate Scott HortNZ
She said a dedicated Year of the Rural Leader will raise leadership awareness, provide pathways for development and may create a pipeline of potential leaders.
“Hopefully it will help bring to life some of that work and celebrate rural leadership.”
Scott said the leadership needed changes as the sector evolves.
“The way we do things yesterday is not how we will do things in the future.”
She said there are several courses or programmes available, such as those offered by Nuffield, Kellogg Rural Leadership, Agri-Women’s Development Trust and Growing Future Farmers.
Several rural businesses also run director development courses.
This year marks 75 years of Nuffield Scholarships, which were first offered in 1950. That year Brian E Murphy and Sir Charles Hilgendorf received the scholarships.
wanted them to be for the quality of the farms we have.”
Colliers national director of rural and agribusiness James Nilsson said there had been considerable interest in the properties, both domestically and internationally.
This had resulted in 150 inquiries and 50 on-farm viewings, with a “good number” of formal tenders submitted by the mid-December closing date.
“After fielding numerous competitive bids, the vendor has chosen to withdraw the farms from the market and they have made a strategic decision to retain the assets,” he said.
Beyond the Ordinar y: Navigating Challenges and Redefining Success is the theme for Food and Fibre CoVE’s upcoming Research & Insights Forum, which will showcase crucial projects that help address the challenges our sector faces.
18–19 March 2025
The event will feature presentations and interactive workshops, with plenty of opportunities to leverage our collective voice
A source close to a deal being done on one of the properties said tender parties had been notified by letter, confirming NZ remains a strategic investment for the family.
“I think they overestimated the NZ land market’s value, and had a wide range of quotes for the Puketiti property in King Country.”
The source believed the recent changes to the Emissions Trading System regulations on forestry plantings may also have had some impact on the decision to hold onto the land.
“It may have been a different story 18 months ago.
“There had been a lot of interest
Over the course of the forum, you’ll:
UNSOLD: The Rausing family has done a wholesale back-track on its decision to sell all four of its
in the farms, particularly Riverlea Station.”
Riverlea totals 710ha and is located on prime finishing country near Piopio.
The Ingleby Company is owned by the Sweden-born, Britain-based Rausing family, heirs to the Tetra Pak packaging dynasty established by Ruben Rausing in 1950.
The family were ranked as Britain’s sixth richest in the early 2000s.
Farm operations here and in other offshore operations have been overseen by Lisbet Rausing, Ruben Rausing’s granddaughter, for the past 20 years.
> Gain new perspectives on workforce development and the future of skills in the food and fibre sector
> Discover how emerging technologies are shaping the way we work, and how we can harness these innovations to improve our practices.
> Participate in a workshop and panel discussion focused on navigating the uncertainties arising from upcoming reforms and how we can adapt to the changing landscape of vocational education and training.
ZONE: Kate Scott says rural NZ needs more leaders but stepping up can be uncomfortable.
Photo: File
New Zealand pastoral farms.
Richard Rennie NEWS Land
Big national goals must underpin research
Richard Rennie TECHNOLOGY Politics
THE New Zealand Association of Scientists is lamenting four decades of navel gazing on science policy, resulting in a confusing research, science, innovation and technology system with declining performance, capacity and trust.
In submitting on the science system review now in play, the association had to reach no further than for the 2021 review it had already developed.
Co-president of the association Dr Troy Baisden said little has changed in the group’s views on what needs to be done to reshape New Zealand’s science sector.
The association’s submission calls for rebuilding careers and capability, making the sector more attractive to young talent. Secondly, it seeks a more outwardlooking system, capable of addressing New Zealand’s big challenges.
That demands a reconnection across industry, universities and all other research providers and this should be underscored by a research, science, innovation
Continued from page 1
No date has been given for the release of the Gluckman review.
In a 2023 speech to the Life Sciences Summit, Sir Peter described NZ as beset with “a grossly over-competitive and suboptimally collaborative science system” that has provoked a decline in the funding of longterm and large-scale projects in favour of small, disconnected grants.
“So we have developed a low-trust, high-compliance
and technology (RSIT) system that leads the response to climate change – the biggest shift in industry and innovation focus in generations.
“The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, has repeatedly said how all environmental research done has no real outcome result behind it,” Baisden said.
“The Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund is one of the few that has clear outcome expectations with it.”
Baisden and his colleagues point to Plant & Food Research as an exception to past years’ outcomes. Here a successful institution has played a critical role in the development, delivery and maintenance of an industrial strategy for the sector.
“However, it is the sole success from excellent 2007 and 2010 recommendations which worked to guide a self-organising system through the merger of two [Crown Research Institutes, or CRIs] to better achieve their core purpose,” notes the New Zealand Association of Scientists (NZAS) submission.
It says it is best to allow potential future strategy to set the future form of NZ’s science
environment with layers of bureaucracy, some imposed by the institutions themselves but much by the government and the agencies involved.”
Structural change is needed.
“Funding is fragmented across a mix of ministries. The New Zealand science ecosystem is inefficient and unattractive.”
He questioned the long-term suitability of having seven CRIs that are largely separate from the university research sector.
“The university sector is increasingly seen as simply a
system, based on the four areas of primary production, environment, resources and human health.
NZ’s dependence on the primary sector should demand priority, with Plant & Food Research a leading example that could aid AgResearch and Scion towards similar success.
The NZAS maintains each of the four key research areas should have the ability to scale up to fund innovation as required.
Meantime, NZ’s funding needs to be rationalised, supporting a “measure to manage” approach, and questioning the R&D tax incentive’s effectiveness as it soars past half a billion dollars.
Dr Kate Muise is the CEO of Science NZ, the group representing CRIs. She said there is an urgent need for NZ’s research system to offer more certainty and longerterm investment periods, sitting beneath some clearly defined, nationally focused goals.
“When you have set these goals, then you can engage with international investors who are interested if they can see they align with their business. There is a gap there. Different parts of the system are not necessarily all focused.”
vocational training system rather than an instrument of knowledge development and expertise for the benefit of society.”
Gluckman said there is a policy weaknesses in having science and higher education detached from each other, whereas in many countries these two domains are “joined at the hip”.
Contrast that with NZ, where science is buried in the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, with the Ministry of Education managing higher education as though it were
She said there is no “off the shelf” example of an overseas funding and research model that can be dropped into NZ.
Like many in the sector she is in the dark about when the system review is coming out. It has already run well over its initial, June 2024 date.
Baisden said he finds little evidence of Science Minister Judith Collins saying the review is advancing.
apprenticeship training.
“There is no longer a minister of tertiary education. No wonder there is little progress on what must be a core policy domain –how to develop and exploit new knowledge.”
Gluckman has previously argued for these two arms to come together into a single ministry of higher education, research and innovation.
He said NZ’s current regulatory approach to science has been neither sufficient nor satisfactory.
Gluckman said there are core
Of all things, science is not something to get hung up on in cabinet.
Dr Troy Baisden New Zealand Association of Scientists
“Of all things, science is not something to get hung up on in cabinet,” he said.
issues for the NZ science and innovation system.
“We need to give greater recognition to the diversity of sciences, including social science and to find a way to promote transdisciplinarity, as well as diversity in our knowledge workforce.”
More Māori need to be attracted to science.
“As a nation, we face a plethora of problems that need science to solve.”
ideas that grow is a Rural Leaders podcast in association with
MORE: See page 5
CRITICAL: Dr Troy Baisden says Plant & Food Research has played a critical role in the development, delivery and maintenance of an industrial strategy for the sector.
Photo: File
Fund foundational studies, scientists urge
Neal Wallace TECHNOLOGY Research
AREVAMP of science needs to invest in foundational research to replenish the pipeline of knowledge necessary to provide material for applied research.
That is the view of AgResearch’s chief scientist, Dr Axel Heiser, who hopes the findings in Sir Peter Gluckman’s eagerly awaited science sector review will be implemented quickly to provide some certainty and remove a major distraction.
DairyNZ chief science adviser Dr Bruce Thorrold said any reorganisation of the sector will not be as effective without additional funding.
“It’s a systemic problem.” He would also like a new structure to be less competitive among scientists and have a lower administrative burden.
Heiser agrees that funding is a fundamental issue facing science, with New Zealand spending less than the OECD average on research and development.
“It’s always funding for science.
If we are supposed to do good science then we need good funding.”
Acknowledging NZ’s financial limitations, Heiser said a new science funding structure needs to be efficient, ensure collaboration between scientists and may require merging the current seven Crown Research Institutes.
Heiser said he has worked in three countries, for both large and small structures, and they all have benefits and issues.
The key is to have a lean management and administration structure, but that has to be balanced with the needs of managing the science and the scientists.
NZ has struggled to balance the in-depth science and disciplined research needed to solve its problems, he said, and he hopes a new structure will reflect the economic importance of agriculture given competition from space, biomedical and other sectors.
“To me it is short-sighted, given how important agriculture is to NZ, that we have not been putting sufficient money into research.”
Science that gives a high return on investment has been prioritised
and Heiser said the risk of that approach is that foundational research – the fundamental work that provides the basis of applied science – gets overlooked. Career pathways and attracting young people to science are other aspects he hopes will be addressed.
Heiser said salaries are well
below those paid internationally while two- to three-year funding arrangements do not allow for career pathways. The uncertainty is driving young scientists overseas.
DairyNZ’s Thorrold hopes a new structure will encourage greater co-operation between the
government and the private sector.
He cites the Pastoral 21 project of 20 years ago as a successful partnership between the government and the pastoral sector to address problems such as nitrate leaching and wintering. It is still paying dividends, he said.
Thorrold said that project avoided much of the competitive bidding process and multiple layers of governance science funders must endure, because it identified and addressed specific issues.
The lack of science funding is across the board, from central and local government and business. As the country’s economic situation deteriorates, research budgets are often the first to be slashed.
Fundamental research provides the foundation for developing policies such as freshwater.
“Science is not just about investing in things, but is the cause-and-effect basis which is needed to run the country.”
Asked if he believes there will be meaningful change, Thorrold said if Sir Peter is true to his earlier comments, he is confident there will be.
Uncouple scientific goals from political timetable
Richard Rennie TECHNOLOGY Research
A LONG-time university professor sees a Dutch or Danish model of funding for primary sector research as one means to preserve New Zealand’s innovative edge in agriculture.
It could involve bundling all this country’s primary sector research groups into one super entity, focused on a common vision and collaborating better.
Professor Jon Hickford of Lincoln University submitted his concerns and solutions to science funding to the science system review. His views are shared by the Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science, of which he is vice-president.
He has called for deep, longliving national research, science, innovation and technology goals that are not subject to three-yearly political cycles and instead look 20 or 30 years into the future.
“They may be like the National Science Challenges in intent, built around scientific expertise and excellence but longer lived, and with better public-benefit auditing.”
Specifying agriculture and horticulture, Hickford said some clear goals for research in these sectors must be determined –particularly for a sector that is so critically important to NZ’s economic wellbeing.
He pointed to greenhouse gas emissions, water quality and environmental impacts as needing more research attention, alongside
WASTE NOT
lifting the value of produce.
“The value of primary sector research is substantiated by a 2006 study determining that the annual rate of return on R&D investment in NZ agriculture has been 17% over 70 years.”
He notes the Crown Research Institute (CRI) model has failed by not focusing on maintaining core scientific infrastructure, or any need to deliver public benefit beyond remaining financially viable.
“No performance metrics were used to ascertain if any core capability was retained.”
He said CRIs became aimless identities with their main aim simply to seek income from any source.
“Unnecessary competition between the CRIs, universities
and private sector for resources and funding was an inevitable outcome.”
The annual rate of return on R&D investment in NZ agriculture has been 17% over 70 years.
Prof Jon Hickford Lincoln University
A better model could be to protect core science infrastructure, holding it within university systems, underscored by longterm, non-political goals.
Hickford pointed to the Netherlands’ Wageningen University as a good starting point.
In a New Zealand context, that could see Lincoln, Massey, Plant
& Food, Landcare Research and AgResearch all merged into a single large entity, promoting collaboration.
The second area Hickford is calling for reform in is for greater value being placed on scientific remuneration. He cites a Grade 1 science technician with a threeyear science degree being on as little as $55,000 a year, compared to the $48,152 pa minimum wage.
A commercially contested fund only adds to this, with scientists “low balling” proposals to preserve jobs and employment.
He said more emphasis on long-term science and research goals and funding a core pool of scientists as part of NZ’s public good infrastructure would improve the attractiveness of scientific careers.
HOPEFUL: AgResearch chief scientist Dr Axel Heiser is eagerly awaiting the science sector review.
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Grass no longer as green in NZ pastures
Richard Rennie NEWS Soil
NEW Zealand pastures are sliding sharply in their productivity growth, with minuscule gains in the past 20 years despite farmers pouring on more inputs, including nitrogen and livestock.
A study published in the New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research has found dairy farms are maxing out on their potential production capacity when it comes to pasture grown, with diminishing returns from any additional inputs.
The review’s authors include some of the country’s most respected researchers, headed up by DairyNZ principal scientist Dr David Chapman, along with AgResearch’s Dr Alec Mackay and Grasslanz CEO Dr John Caradus.
The review found a slide in the rate of gain in pasture eaten on dairy farms, dropping from 1.48% a year at the turn of the millennium, to only 0.26% by 2020.
It concludes that almost all the increase in dairy pasture eaten since 1990 can be explained through only two inputs: more nitrogen fertiliser and higher stocking rates. This is despite multiple plant
breeding programmes, higher CO2 levels and more irrigation use.
Somewhat chillingly, the report authors note many farms may have reached their peak pasture yields within the climate environment – as climate change in northern regions is putting downward pressure on pasture growth and persistence.
Climate change is also highlighted as the main cause of declining production on sheep and beef farms in some regions while the predicted gains in pasture growth from warming and higher CO2 levels have not emerged.
The work underscores the gap between work done in the 1960s to 1990s that delivered sound understandings on pasture growth and good management practices, and today’s farming reality.
The climatic conditions that work was done under have shifted markedly in the intervening 20 years. Warmer, drier and more volatile conditions across the country’s north and east regions are already well reported and coming sooner than predicted by most climate change models.
The slide in productivity gains mirrors international experiences. Globally, agricultural productivity gains have slowed from 2.75% a year from 2001-2010 to 1.94% from 2011 to 2021.
In NZ this has been exacerbated
We have not invested enough. This plays enormously into the issues we have about science funding.
Dr Alec Mackay AgResearch
by this country’s low level of public and private investment in agricultural research and development as a percentage of GDP, something the review notes. NZ’s total R&D investment as a percentage of GDP was 1.47%
MAXED OUT: Work by AgResearch scientist Dr Alec Mackay and colleagues has found New Zealand pastoral systems are failing to continue to make significant productivity gains, and climate change is not delivering the positive outcomes many models anticipated.
in 2022, about half the OECD average.
Mackay of AgResearch said the report’s highlighting of the contrast between modelled gains under climate change and the reality will shock many in the pastoral sector.
“Our whole industry is based upon productivity gains. But dairying is struggling to continue them, while sheep and beef’s has been largely based on ewe fecundity, an area that needs more research work.”
He said the decline also reflects the decline in investment in pastoral R&D over the past 20 years.
“We have not invested enough. This plays enormously into the issues we have about science funding.”
Bridget Maclean, DairyNZ’s general manager for research and science, said the research is important given that pasture-based farming sets NZ apart internationally and is the basis of this country’s cost-competitiveness.
“A big portion of our research and science portfolio continues to focus on accelerating on-farm productivity, including research for improved forage grains and more resilient pastures.
“You will see an even greater focus on this from DairyNZ and its partners in 2025.”
The paper notes there may still be potential to lift stocking rates on some sheep and beef farms while also increasing use of nitrogen fertiliser.
But the report acknowledges this is not an option for dairy farmers, under pressure to reduce N losses and methane emissions, while also now facing a cap of 190kgN/ha on N application.
After the significant gains that cemented NZ’s place as a leader in pasture production through the 1950s-’80s, they note no clear signals of gains in pasture productivity from technology and innovation since 2000.
Thumbs down for high country tree plans
Richard Rennie NEWS Forestry
ROSPECTS of vast areas
Pof iconic South Island high country turned into forestry have farmers and conservationists calling out government tree-planting plans as a misguided exercise in greenwashing.
Prior to Christmas, the ministers for climate change, conservation, land information and forestry announced plans to explore public-private partnerships to plant trees on low-value Crown land.
They described the proposal as a nature-based solution to create forestry jobs, improve biodiversity and boost carbon sequestration to meet Paris Accord goals.
Information documents on the proposal reveal indicative areas that could be suitable for such planting programmes include vast tracts of the Mackenzie Country and Department of Conservationowned Molesworth Station in Nelson-Marlborough.
Ian Anderson, Federated Farmers high country group chair, said the planting areas revealed on the Ministry for Primary Industries maps were a complete surprise to him. He said they indicated what the government’s true intentions are for 180,000
hectare Molesworth Station.
The station, currently managed by Pāmu, has been the focus of significant wilding pine removal in recent years. About $100 million is being spent nationally over four years, with Marlborough-Tasman soaking up 5% of that.
“It is also pretty galling from the point of view much of the map’s land is also land accumulated from tenure review, apparently with significant inherent value, and too valuable to farm.
“So, to have it taken out of production and now go to have trees on it is hard to accept.”
Anderson, who farms at Dansey’s Pass, has himself been subject to three tenure reviews.
“You don’t have a leg to stand on if you had wanted to farm it, so now why plant in pines?”
With high country fire rising over summer periods, the addition of trees would also only make the risks greater in coming years.
“And all the fires we have seen have started on Crown land.”
Environmental Defence Society chair Gary Taylor labelled the scheme an exercise in greenwashing, soon seen for what it was.
“The lack of specificity in it reinforces this. We do not want to see further proliferation of exotic pine plantings on public conservation land.
“The Mackenzie Country’s
You
don’t have a leg to stand on if you had
wanted to farm it, so now why plant in pines?
Ian Anderson Fed Farmers High Country Industry Group
ecologic and landscape values are derived from tussock. It is not somewhere you would want to see widespread tree planting,
Veggie burgers may make you sad
VEGETARIANS opting for plantbased meat alternatives may run a greater risk of suffering from depression than those opting for a traditional vegetarian diet, a world-first study has found.
The University of Surrey research project studied the health markers of 3300 vegetarians, comparing the outcomes of those opting for a typical vegetarian diet and those who included plantbased meat alternatives (PBMAs).
The study extended over 14 years and measured different biomarkers used to monitor a person’s health or disease risk.
The non-PBMA vegetarians were on a traditional vegetarian diet that included the likes of natural whole fruits, vegetables, grains legumes, nuts and seeds.
The PBMA products included vegetarian sausages and burgers made with the likes of wheat gluten and pea protein, which have become more available in recent years on the back of the altprotein rise.
Until now these ultra-processed foods have been subject to little if any scrutiny on their health grounds.
The researchers determined that vegetarians consuming PBMAs had a 42% increased incidence of depression compared to those who did not consume them.
Aside from the depression risk, researchers found there were also indications of higher blood pressure in PBMA consumers, and an increase in a marker for inflammation.
But there was also a 40% reduction in the risk of contracting irritable bowel syndrome by consuming the PBMA products.
“The overall findings are reassuring, suggesting PBMAs may be a safe option when part of an overall balanced diet.
“However, the potential link between these types of food, inflammation and depression warrants further investigation,” said Professor Nophar Geifman, a professor of health and biomedical informatics at the university.
The researchers also found it was possible for non-PBMA vegetarians to obtain their necessary nutrients without resorting to the PBMA products.
The depressive impact of the PBMAs matched the findings of a 2023 study that found people consuming higher amounts of ultra -processed foods had a greater risk of depression. That link was strongest for consumption ofartificial sweeteners and artificially sweetened beverages.
The results of the latest study did, however, contradict a 2024 study that found high consumption of ultra-processed plant-based foods may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Professor Tony Whetton of University of Surrey said the ultraprocessed PBMAs can be a useful way for people to transition to a vegetarian diet effectively, and that it helped with sustainable agricultural practices.
“But further research with more diverse populations was necessary to confirm the findings and the relationship between vegetarian foods and mood.”
Elizabeth Hegg, CEO of NZ Forest Owners Association, said several members are “kicking the tyres” on the proposal.
She conceded most of the South Island locations identified may not be economic for forestry, and altitude may also make planting unsuitable.
“It often comes down to ‘location, location, location’ for production forestry.”
Taylor said offering farmers biodiversity credits or incentives for planting poorer parts of their farms into native trees is a far more constructive, targeted means to achieve reforestation.
MPI’s director of primary sector policy Alastair Cameron said the potential risk of wilding pine spread would need to be considered and managed as part of a planting project.
particularly given the problems already experienced there with wilding pines.”
He said there could be options for some native plantings on Molesworth. The proposal allows for both native and exotic planting projects.
“But I fail to see why anyone would want to do forestry projects in these other areas. The government is not putting any money in, it’s likely to be excluded from ETS [the Emissions Trading Scheme], and distance to port is an issue.”
“Decisions by the government on where and what species will be planted, and any conditions that might be put around planting, will be subject to further advice based on the suitability of the land, demand from potential partners and the opportunity to manage risks through conditions set for planting.”
He said the land shown on the map was simply indicative of potentially available area.
The government is seeking feedback from interested parties until February 28.
Final sales for S Otago sheep genetics outfit
Hugh Stringleman TECHNOLOGY Genetics
AT ITS final on-farm ram sale, Wharetoa Genetics at Balclutha, South Otago, sold 262 rams in four breeds for an average price of $1543, similar to the previous year.
The sale – its 24th – was well supported after a very wet and difficult spring and early summer, PGG Wrightson southern livestock genetics representative Callum McDonald said.
Wharetoa principals Garth and Chris Shaw are winding up their stud sheep business after 50 years and have the 400 hectare farm on the market.
About 2000 ewes and hoggets will be dispersed in two sales, on February 13 (terminals) and 20 (maternals).
Stud sheep are run in four separate SIL-recorded
flocks: Wharetoa maternals, a Coopworth-Texel cross; SuffolkTexel terminals; Meatmakers, a stabilised Poll Dorset-Texel cross; and straight Texels.
Garth’s late parents bought the property in 1966 and started breeding Coopworth rams in 1975. After marrying in 1979 Garth and Chris had three children, who have careers outside farming.
“Our passion for the sheep industry continues and we certainly believe that the industry has an important and lasting role in providing protein for the world’s population,” Garth said.
“If you weren’t able to make it to the sale and are still looking for rams then we have a few left so please get in touch.”
When the recorded sheep are sold, commercial sheep farming will continue until the Wharetoa Downs property in the Clutha valley goes to a new owner.
TREES NO OPTION: Feds high country group chair Ian Anderson says the indicative areas for tree planting suggested by the government make a mockery of years of tenure review processes that stymied farming.
CONCLUSION: Wharetoa Genetics had its 24th and final ram sale in December, ahead of the stud dispersal and farm sales for Garth and Chris Shaw.
Richard Rennie NEWS Food and fibre
VEGGIE DOWNER: Vegetarians consuming high levels of plant-based meat alternatives may have a 42% greater risk of suffering depression, a study has found.
Settled warmth will bring harvest home
Annette Scott NEWS Arable
RAIN across much of the country’s arable production area has helped rather than hindered crops as farmers now look for some settled warmer days with sunshine.
“There’s been quite a variation of how much rain has fallen and where. Along the hills it’s been up to 120ml, further down the plains anything from 40-70ml, but it’s just early enough to not cause any major problems,” Federated Farmers arable chair David Birkett said.
“Grain-wise it won’t be too much of a problem. Grain is generally ahead of where it would normally be given the hot dry spell in early December putting pressure on, leading to an earlier harvest.
“Clover will now grow bulkier, which is not what we want.
“There’s been some grass and vegetable seeds and a bit of winter barley done but we will see drying systems starting to be used.”
On his own property near Lincoln in Canterbury, Birkett is
hoping to get peas and beans off the paddock in the coming few days.
“It’s time to get underway and we will be taking every window of opportunity now to get crops in.”
Birkett said crop values are holding similar to last season and with not a lot of carryover grain about, farmers are hopeful of a good harvest result.
We will be taking every window of opportunity now to get crops in.
David Birkett Federated Farmers
“With the record dairy payout we are expecting there should be increased demand for grain, which will be welcome,” Birkett said.
Further down the road, South Canterbury cropping farmer and Federated Farmers grains chair Andrew Darling is happy to see the sunshine as he gets the harvester started on winter barley.
“It’s hard to put a broadbrush over all the region but generally south of Timaru crops have
survived [the rain] pretty well with just enough rain and sunshine mix up to now, but we are looking for settled weather from here to get into the thick of it.
“The next week or two will be the telltale as hopefully the weather settles.”
Most farmers are optimistic that they will have a reasonable harvest, Darling said.
A dryland mixed cropping and sheep farmer in his family operation at Kingsdown just south of Timaru, Tim Douglass is pretty chuffed to get the Earnslaw swede seed crop off the paddock, unharmed by the Christmas-New Year rains.
“It worked out quite well with the swede seed but being non irrigated we have a nothing really coming ready to carry on with just now.
“The triticale and the autumnsown wheat should be ready in late January, followed by some Chinese peas and the rest of the springsown crops, so the rain we have had will be a bit of boost for our crops for now.”
Heading north to the heart of Hawke’s Bay, the rain has been welcomed by many, Feds provincial chair Jim Galloway said.
SWEDE: Set to roll with the draper front in place on the Claas
Tim
swede seed off the
“It has been very dry, we’ve had 90ml of rain in the last three weeks, more than the total from August to November, so the rain has helped the grain-fill, and maize was looking very sick, rain has refreshed that.”
Galloway said yields weren’t brilliant in autumn-sown cereal crops harvested before Christmas.
“Irrigators have slowed right off now which is great as some had been going flat tack, and getting through water allocations was a big concern.
“Grass is coming away quickly, even the summer safe was showing the signs of dry, so it’s been a good rain to set things up for some settled warmth now.”
Lexion, South Canterbury farmer
Douglass is very happy to have the specialist
paddock. Photo: Tim Douglass
Lim and Bagrie on New Year Honours list
to be included on the New Year Honours list.
NADIA Lim and her husband Carlos Bagrie are among the farming community’s recipients of New Year Honours.
Bagrie becomes an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the food and rural industries.
Bagrie, one of the co-founders – with Lim – of meal-kit company
My Food Bag in 2013, was recognised for regenerative, ethical farming practices at the couple’s Royalburn Station in Arrowtown, Central Otago.
Under Bagrie’s leadership, Royalburn won a New Zealand Food Award for its premium lamb, which was supplied to restaurants nationwide.
Along with Lim, he starred in three seasons of the TV series Nadia’s Farm (2022), showcasing the challenges and successes of rural farming on the station.
He focused on minimising waste and creating value from excess produce, including a collaboration with Garage Project to develop a beer made from surplus barley.
Lim – who was also made an ONZM, for her services to the food industry – said they were thrilled
“We are blown away to be receiving this recognition. And even more so because we are on the list together this year. We are stoked that farming and food production are receiving some of the spotlight.”
Bagrie received the 2024 Nuffield Farming Scholarship and spent six months travelling, studying innovative agricultural systems and exploring how New Zealand exporters can position themselves for success in global markets.
Also on the Honours list, King Country farmer Richard Steele receives a King’s Service Medal for services to the rural community.
health committee, working to eradicate TB through possum control.
In 2008, as farmers faced drought-like conditions, he helped form and later chaired the mental health charity Rural Support Trust. Steele was also a life member of the Friends of the Whanganui River.
Southland sheep farmer Robin Campbell has become an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for more than 40 years of service to the farming community and governance.
The JP from Ōwhango, in the Ruapehu district, helped launch the local Federated Farmers branch in 1990, serving three terms as president.
He was instrumental in educating farmers about controls during bovine tuberculosis outbreaks and advocated for compensation for the loss of cattle. Between 1990 and 2006 he served on the regional animal
He was founding chair of the Sheep Council, which established the Focus Farm programme that helped lift sheep productivity.
In 1996 he was inaugural chair of the Sheep Research Foundation, where he advocated for research funding specific to the sector.
Campbell was also a board member of AgResearch, and was a founding director of Ovita and Sheep Improvement Limited, the national animal performance recording programme.
Campbell was voted Agriculture Communicator of the Year in 2000. He was also chair of Presbyterian Support Southland, among other organisations, for a number of
years and served as a JP for 40 years.
Former Waipā district councillor and deputy mayor Grahame Webber receives a King’s Service Medal for services to local government and farming governance since the 1980s.
Webber chaired the dairy section of Waikato Federated Farmers from 1989 to 1991, and was
director of the New Zealand Dairy Group from 1991 to 1994. While serving on the town-based Cambridge community board from 1998 to 2022, he led an annual tour of rural communities in the area to learn of their specific issues. He has served on a number of local committees, including the Waikato River and catchment committee.
Congr atulations to the 2024 Growing Future Farmers Gr aduates
TAIHAPE
Emma Dudley
Samuel Matthews
Lana Shuker
Kaya Bowers
Saul Abernethy
Ben Newman
KUROW
Reese Sanders
Josh Cronin
Laine Hickey
GERALDINE
Indigo Skilling
Lucy Byars
GISBORNE
Odin Bremner
Grace Jonasen
Hamish Simcock
Cameron Pihama
Josh Cowan
Gemma Hill
Lily Scully
Kahnn Gush-Pekin
Ethan Thompson-Sheridan
WAIRARAPA
Brett Eastwood
Emma Lewis
Cameron Judd
Chania Pieterse
William Billing
KING COUNTRY
Alex Dixon
Jodie Piggott
Abby Snodgrass
Treye Geater
WEST WAIKATO
Jessica Cameron
Sean By de Ley
Monique Wrathall
Finn Coburn
TARANAKI
Peta Fearon
Gus Waite
Ryan Williamson
Joel Dodunski
Zoe Jordan
NORTH CANTERBURY
Kate Galbraith
Emma Fissenden
Louis Kiamtia-Green
Caitlyn Hey
HAWKE’S BAY
Finn Barker
Matthew McLaren
Lucy Buchanan
Lily Jefferey
SOUTHLAND
Kaitlin O’Neill
Amyee Gutsell
Philippa Stratford
Lilly Cole
Samantha Ollenshaw
RECOGNISED: Nadia Lim and Carlos Bagrie on their Central Otago farm, Royalburn Station. Photo: Supplied
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From the Editor
Knowing the value of good science
Richard Rennie Senior reporter
NEWS last week that New Zealand’s pastures are skating close to zero when it comes to annual productivity gains mirrors a wider chilling malaise within our scientific research sector.
In 20 years our much-valued pastures’ ability to grow more grass year in, year out has slipped away to mere points of one percent.
The past two generations of pastoral farmers enjoyed early, healthy productivity gains built on the solid research work done since World War 2 through to the mid-1980s, when Rogernomics tipped research centre funding on its head.
Until then those research centres, such as Ruakura, had been churches of pastoral understanding and application. They would draw farmers far and wide for conferences and updates on how to apply the latest learnings in the paddock, and on livestock.
Scientists like Dr Mike O’Connor and Dr Arnold Bryant were household names, at least in farming homes, respected for their contributions to areas like soil fertility and animal production.
From their work came those major productivity gains, which consistently set agriculture above New Zealand’s nationally mediocre figures.
They came from farmers jumping on board with smarter fertiliser applications, or learning new management practices, like break feeding.
All were lessons born from the work by engaging scientists.
News that those gains are petering out to close to zero reflects the competitive, at times combative, funding environment scientists have had to work in since the early ’90s.
Often broader, blue-sky research that may have delivered the next wave of pastoral innovation capable of handling challenges like sustainability and climate change was compelled to take a back seat to short-term work.
Science has also been marred by a lack of clear vision and made hesitant by a lack of long-term funding certainty.
Over that time the slide in our pastures’ productivity has been matched by NZ’s slide further and further behind on its scientific investment.
Our total research and development spend is now almost only half the OECD average as we languish near the bottom
of the rankings behind the likes of Greece, Hungary and Portugal.
Mid last year funding officially ceased on NZ’s leading research mission, the National Science Challenge, with no word on what will take the place of the $80 million-a-year funding source across its 11 big areas.
They included Our Land and Water, aimed specifically at enhancing the production and productivity of the primary sector.
Scientists as a group are typically reticent about raising the roof on issues over funding.
But this has clearly shifted, as they speak with one voice on the real risk NZ now faces of having disabled, hollowed-out and ineffective research capacity.
Sir Peter Gluckman, tasked with reviewing NZ’s scientific funding model, has described the ecosystem as inefficient and unattractive and raised the possibility of folding seven Crown Research Institutes together into a super entity.
Due out last June, his review is overdue and much awaited.
Hanging in the balance is the country’s ability to better understand and adapt to climate change, while for the primary sector it also requires a need to maintain its muchvaunted pastoral superiority, a vital selling point in competitive international markets.
Letters of the week
Keep us free of GE
Claire Bleakley
President, GE-Free NZ
WITH reference to “Genetic tech – economic choice is for farmers” (December 5), the claims made by William Rolleston must be challenged.
The economic regulatory assessment report released by Organic Aotearoa NZ details a potential $10-$20 billion drop in export demand if we deregulate GE crops.
This highlights the dangers that such deregulation would pose to our GDP, and to the livelihoods of farmers, growers and the rural economy.
It could quite possibly lead to economic collapse in some regions.
Rolleston says there have been nine genetically modified organism (GMO) environmental releases. This is incorrect.
The GE releases Rolleston refers to are medicines and illegally introduced plants. As soon as the unauthorised GE plants were found, the Ministry for Primary Industries worked with industry to trace and destroy all seed stock and unsold plants existing in New Zealand.
Other animal and human GE live virus vaccines are only approved for people travelling overseas.
He has ignored the high cost to the taxpayer of the New Zealand GE field trials, all of which failed to be commercially viable. GE plants have failed to show reliable performance in yield, or resistance to pests and diseases.
Globally, the increase in the use of multiple herbicides and pesticides on GE food crops has resulted the emergence of “superweeds”, and of pests resistant to GE plants engineered with the insecticidal Bt toxin.
Farmers of GE crops are often eligible for subsidies, so that they continue to grow them. In India, for example, the growing of the GE brinjal (eggplant), engineered with the insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is heavily subsidised, and certain communities have reported poor performance.
The GE canola premiums in Australia are deliberately misleading. Currently, the December 2024 prices reported a NZ$115$130 premium for non-GE canola.
US farmers are now moving back to growing non-GE corn seed, but unable to find pure seed that is not GE contaminated. In NZ, contamination via wind, floods, insects, birds etcetera will spread GE uncontrollably. The Gene Technology Bill throws out the Precautionary Principle and exempts GE crops from labelling or regulation.
New Zealand’s growing environment is still GE free and for the sake of the economic livelihoods of farmers, growers, consumers and markets, we must stay that way.
A billion-dollar lesson from a lemon
Eating the elephant
WANDERING around Warragul in Victoria’s Gippsland region, I passed a lemon tree spilling over its owner’s fence and into the footpath. Having had a fair evening prior and keen to return the favour of Australians knicking anything from the Kiwis they like the look of, I decided to pinch a lemon to squeeze into my drink bottle.
The subconscious may have been reminded of a fad lemon detox diet of the mid 2000s. If you need reminding of the lack of logic of fad diets, this one entailed drinking only lemon water, with a little cayenne pepper as the treat
on top, for a week or two as a way to create a better you. A few weeks passed, my skin turned yellow and when I returned to the normality of meat, vegetables, rice and the odd Anzac biscuit, the lost weight magically returned.
Slicing my stolen Australian fruit at the motel, I got to thinking about lemons. What is it that makes a lemon appealing? Few of us bite into one like an apple and the taste is generally detested. But yet, they’re everywhere and in everything.
Packed full of antioxidants and bioflavonoids, lemons have been enjoyed for centuries and in hundreds of ways, either as zest, juice or garnish on everything from salads to meat, fish or to tart up a pudding.
Despite the taste when eaten whole, lemons are good business it seems.
With lemons on the brain and now in my drink bottle, I reflected on the alternative proteins conference that had brought me to Australia.
The conference was a flat affair – reflective of the bursting of the fake meat investment bubble.
Global investment in alternative proteins dropped 42% in 2022 to $1.2 billion, down from $3.1bn in 2021.
Funding for cultivated meat startups also dropped 78% in 2023 to $177 million, down from $807m in 2022.
The zest had definitely left the
shaggy-haired vegans lusting over a sausage that was not a sausage at the smorgasbord lunch.
What was also apparent, however, was a tangible shift in the business models underpinning alternative proteins. Where once these businesses were focused on replacing milk, steaks and chicken breasts outright, now they’re asking how plant-based proteins produced in broadacre Australia could be desirable ingredients for the world’s food service industry.
Speakers pondered how plantbased protein powders could be used in hospitals, old folks homes and sporting stadiums around the world. How these ingredients might synergise with others –including meat – to create foods with shelf life, acceptable taste, competitive price and lower environmental emissions.
What became immediately apparent was that my personal diet (mostly meat, vegetables, some pasta, beer and convenient sauces) is just not aligned to the multibillion-dollar food service industry.
In this world, consumers exercise less choice, with complex corporate customers in control. Shelf life, safety, taste and sustainability credentials drive the manufacture and purchasing decisions of these people. The savvy alternative proteins businesses at the conference were targeting this market – not Phil Weir’s grocery basket.
The key takeaway from the conference was that, while alternative proteins may have come off the boil, it’s too soon to turn our backs on the potential for disruption. Listening to all this talk of high-value ingredients, it was hard not to think of Fonterra’s ingredient focus and brand sell-off.
As producers, we are used to thinking about the food we produce in its simplest, rawest form. Butter, porterhouse, skim powder, logs, French racks or 34 micron Romney wool for example.
But in a world of ever-evolving food technology, maybe value is increasingly limited in that raw form.
Our food and fibre raw products will increasingly be used as ingredients in other people’s recipes. These ingredients create value, whether as bull beef ground and boxed 95CL for hamburgers, as lactoferrin extracted from milk to support the immune system or hopefully, soon, the repurposing of wool into powders for filtration, cosmetics and personal care.
The recipes of the global food system are unlikely to simplify and, to remain competitive, our Kiwi ingredients will need to stand out, whether as a powder in a formulation or the centrepiece of an exquisite meal.
The lemon can teach you a great deal, it seems. Its value is created by taking the time to understand the merits of the parts. The juice or zest alone are ingredients that,
manufactured well, are usually worth more than the raw fruit form. The alternative is selling the lemon, which my memory suggests was a ute Dad purchased and soon after returned in the ’90s. Despite all this talk of breaking the lemon down, this time of year the use is simple. Take a thin slice, slip into a cold Corona, flip upside down, re-right the bottle and enjoy the beauty of this fantastic ingredient by your favourite water body with your family and mates.
Bishop has to put his foot down on carpet
Alternative view
Alan Emerson Semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath.emerson@gmail.com
THE year has started well for us in rural Wairarapa with plenty of rain and warm temperatures, so instead of the usual burnt-off look at this time of year the area is positively lush.
The downside of the weather is that I’ve had plenty of time sitting inside to consider what is irritating me most.
It is without doubt Kainga Ora’s dumb decision to exclude wool carpet from its houses, all 72,000 of them.
Ignoring the stupidity of that decision for a moment, I’d like to consider the harm to the human body and the environment that
the Kainga Ora decision will encourage.
Primarily synthetic flooring releases microplastics into the home and subsequently the environment. Microplastics come from other synthetics as well but studies have found that having synthetic carpet in your house can double the amount of microplastics in the air.
There has been considerable research on the issue but one telling piece from the University of Portsmouth showed that of the 24 carpet manufacturing companies it interviewed, none had a publicly stated position on microplastics. So while synthetic carpets release microplastics the carpet manufacturing companies that were interviewed didn’t seem to care.
On December 21 last year the Wairarapa Times Age ran an article about an Australian study warning that microplastics are linked to lung and colon cancer. They also affect sperm quality and ovarian follicle development.
In an additional study in March, people undergoing surgery for clogged arteries were found to have arteries filled with microplastics.
Our own Public Health Communications Centre advised in October last year that microplastics had been found in the human “lung, liver, brain, breastmilk, placenta, blood and uterus”.
Last October Science Direct reported that microplastics are “significantly impacting plant growth” and “impeding the plants’ whole performance and response”. That will have a massive effect on farming and subsequently our economy.
So why would you?
What’s interesting is that in March 2022, 175 nations –including New Zealand – voted to adopt a global strategy on plastic pollution.
A cabinet paper from 2024 makes the additional point that “an effective treaty that reduces transboundary plastic pollution would support a more stable and resilient Pacific and is aligned with our strategic interests in the region”.
Obviously no one told the brains trust at Kainga Ora.
What further frustrates me is the coalition government’s seeming inability to sort it.
The coalition agreement specifically states that government agencies should use woollen carpet “where practical and appropriate”.
The minister responsible for Kainga Ora, Chris Bishop, reiterated that point while criticising the decision to only use synthetic floor covering.
So what’s going on?
We have a minister seemingly unable to direct an agency to use a sustainable, eco-friendly product
in preference to a pollutant. That minister changed the Kainga Ora board last year, presumably to his satisfaction. Does the board have no influence on the direction or behaviour of the organisation?
I vote for a politician and for a political party. I don’t vote for a purchasing clerk in a government agency – but it would seem that clerk has more power than the minister or the coalition government.
It additionally appears the government’s happy letting the agency pollute at whim rather than protect the environment with a sustainable woollen product.
Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Toby Williams nailed it with his comment. “Whatever happened to the government commitment to back our farmers and use sustainable woollen products in government buildings?”
I totally agree.
It seems the government can cancel Cook Strait ferry purchases, seemingly on a whim, and approve 149 fast-track projects including wharves, mining, fish farming, tunnels and shipyards yet is totally incapable of directing one of its agencies to purchase a sustainable product.
I’m confused.
According to Bremworth chief executive Craig Smith, in 2023 Kainga Ora stated it “was pursuing
a more sustainable path for its housing”. That statement would appear to me as meaningless headline grabbing.
We’re not talking petty cash here, either. In 2023 Kainga Ora admitted that it had used over 600,000 metres of synthetic carpet over the previous six years. That required importing 1.7 million kilos of plastic.
Think of what the purchase of 1.7 million kilos of strong wool would have done for our wool industry and the country.
I also wonder if our gold-plated Wool Impact would be more effective if it started with the local market, government agencies and politicians rather than attending international conferences and having offshore meetings.
I believe the Kainga Ora decision to use synthetics rather than wool makes a mockery of our supposed clean, green image.
Did anyone suggest that they do a cost-benefit analysis of their decision as it affects our human health and the environment? They should have.
Finally, we have a minister and a coalition government bowing to the Kainga Ora bureaucracy. The solution is simple: they need to stand up and show leadership.
Phil Weir Weir is an associate trustee of AGMARDT and a Beef + Lamb New Zealand farmer-elected director
BREAK IT DOWN: A lemon teaches the value of taking the time to understand the merits of a product’s parts, says Phil Weir. The juice or zest alone are usually worth more than the raw fruit form.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Happy New Year, I hope you all had a relaxing and rewarding time over Christmas and were able to recharge your batteries for 2025.
The changing of the calendar leads many people to make some changes in their lives as well, with varying degrees of success.
I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, but this year the word itself seems appropriate.
In 2025 we should all pledge to be resolute – to be purposeful, determined and unwavering as we navigate the world.
Society has a whole bunch of problems to fix and chief among them is the way we engage with each other.
The other day I heard something I’m still thinking about – that our information technology has improved exponentially in recent years but our information has not.
Information is the fruit of our labours here at Farmers Weekly. A new year is a great time to renew our commitment to sound, sceptical and clear-eyed journalism.
Bryan Gibson, Managing Editor
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Sector Focus
Oaks could complete local liquor source
Richard Rennie ON FARM Viticulture
OAKS, the grand trees of Europe, could provide a valuable income source for New Zealand farmers with uses as varied as flooring to flavouring wines and spirits, if planting trials here prove successful.
Eric Cairns, president of Oaks New Zealand, said until now oaks have been cast in the shade as a tree preference by fastergrowing pine trees, despite work being done almost 80 years ago investigating their potential.
“The thought was that oaks were simply too slow to grow, but that was following northern hemisphere wisdom that they took 150 years,” Cairns said.
“They actually grow twice as fast here, and even faster if you can improve their genetics.”
He points to trials in Eastwood Hill arboretum and east of Masterton with red Mexican oak
to determine varieties suitable for commercial growing.
A Nelson nursery is also trialling development of a hybrid white oak, combining French and English oak genetics for propagating.
White French oak is the traditional source for barrel making for use in wine and spirits production, while United States bourbon makers use American oak for their barrel manufacture.
Cairns said it is not as silly as it may sound to consider the potential of oak plantings here as a source for wine and spirits production.
“Of course it is an industry that plays a lot to tradition, and it could be it only sees French oak as its sole source.”
Pāmu is in the final year of a four-year programme to plant multiple oak species across its entire farm estate.
These will be production forests in the longer term and are providing an opportunity for Oaks NZ to measure growth rates.
All up, more than 16,000 oaks
have been planted on 20 farms from Titoki in Northland to Dawson Downs in the south, including a mix of European, US and Mexican varieties.
Dr Edwin Massey, sustainability manager for New Zealand Wine, said the NZ industry is known for its innovation and departure from tradition, and sourcing homegrown oak barrels could provide a useful point of difference.
“It could be something that becomes part of the scene here, and we encourage all our members to go and innovate where they can. It would be something to do due diligence on.”
He knows of members who have planted trees to use for barrels, only to find they took longer than anticipated to grow.
But Cairns said early indications are NZ hybrid-grown oaks exhibit density and strength that is “right up there”, capable of holding liquids even better than slowergrown European oaks.
The global surge in demand for
dark spirits such as bourbon has created a shortage of barrels that are recycled by whisky distilleries. Barrels are charred prior to use in bourbon production and the lingering bourbon flavours are responsible for giving whiskies their taste characteristics.
Sarah Elsom, master distiller at Otago’s Cardrona Distillery, said NZ oak is an exciting prospect. She had no doubt distillers would be interested in working with NZ wood.
She knows of one who has already trialled a totara cask for his spirit. For now, her distillery values the spirit originally contained in the barrels they use for the flavours it imparts.
“Scapegrace are newly live in Central and do work with virgin
BARRELLED:
oak, as do the New Zealand Whisky company and Divergence. What I am saying is, you have a market.”
Cardrona also stores some spirit in French oak pinot noir-infused barrels, and she can see the potential to link the two spirits using NZ oak.
Cairns said forestry economics will dictate oak forest values as much as market trends.
“The economics are not as good as they are for pines due to the slower growth rates.
“For every 10 years in the ground, you need to double the return to make it pay. So, at 40-50 years old you must get almost four times as much for your product.”
However, many farmers may like to leave an oak forest legacy rather than a pine one.
Barrels made from NZ sourced oak could provide a valued point of difference for NZ wine and spirit producers.
FEDERATED FARMERS
Immigration reforms a Christmas gift
Federated Farmers say Santa Claus needs to move over, because it’s Immigration Minister Erica Stanford who really delivered for farmers this Christmas.
In late December Stanford announced important immigration reforms that include much-needed changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa requirements.
“These changes are a significant and positive step forward – some might even say a Christmas miracle,” Federated Farmers immigration spokesperson Richard McIntyre says.
“Any changes to immigration settings that will help us address persistent gaps in our provincial workforce will be welcome news for many farming families across New Zealand.
“It’s been an incredibly tough few seasons, with huge pressure on farmers who have been unable to find the staff they need to run their businesses.
“Federated Farmers have raised concerns directly with the Minister, she’s listened, and now she’s made some changes that will make a real difference on the ground.”
Critical changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa settings include removing the requirement to pay new migrant staff at least the median wage ($31.61/hour).
Ministry of Social Development requirements have also been streamlined to speed up processing times, and the 21-day mandatory waiting period has been removed.
Visas for jobs assessed as skill level
4 or 5 on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) will be extended to three years.
The work experience requirements for skilled migrant staff will also be reduced from three years down to two years, increasing the pool of farm workers who qualify for the visa category.
“These are big changes that will have a meaningful impact for the upcoming farming season, particularly during busy periods like calving and lambing,” McIntyre says.
“It never made sense to have to pay what are essentially entry-level farming staff the median wage, particularly when that’s more than what a Kiwi in the same role would be earning.
“All that did was inflate the wage bill for farmers who were already under huge pressure, desperate to find staff and unable to find suitable Kiwis who wanted to do the work.”
McIntyre is particularly pleased to see the length of visas for ANZSCO level 4 or 5 roles extended to three years – a shift Federated Farmers had specifically requested.
“What this means is a staff member can stay in the country for three years on one single visa, instead of needing two visas by the time you apply for the one-year extension,” he says.
“This will cut thousands of dollars in costs for farmers, but it will also mean a lot less stress and uncertainty for both the farmer and the employee who just want to get on with their farming.”
Federated Farmers have raised concerns directly with the Minister, she’s listened, and now she’s made some changes that will make a real difference on the ground.
Richard McIntyre
Federated Farmers immigration spokesperson
McIntyre says building the farmer workforce was one of Federated Farmers’ 12 policy priorities before the 2023 General Election, so it’s great to see the Government make some changes.
“We really wanted the incoming
Government to review the immigration settings, because the simple fact of the matter is farmers are really struggling to find good staff when we need them.
“Of course, we want to hire Kiwis if we can, but unfortunately that’s not always possible, particularly in some of our more remote rural communities.
“When you’re short-staffed, the pressure really comes on, but the cows still need to be milked, the sheep still need to be shorn, and the tractor work still needs to get done.”
Stanford says she’s been working with Federated Farmers to try and understand the challenges farmers have been facing.
“That’s included looking at what the sector’s specific needs are, the
PRIORITY: Richard McIntyre says building the farmer workforce is a pressing concern, which is why Federated Farmers made it a key policy request before the 2023 General Election.
seasonal variability of farm work, and where there might be pain points or friction in the immigration system,” she says.
“Federated Farmers have been very constructive to deal with and my officials have taken the issues raised seriously as we’ve worked towards a solution.
“I’m confident the changes we have made strike the right balance of ensuring New Zealanders are prioritised for job opportunities whilst also attracting the higherskilled migrants farmers need.”
Stanford says the changes will come into effect from March 2025.
Federated farmers will continue to engage with the Minister on immigration issues to ensure the system is meeting farmers’ needs.
Federated Farmers
Calls for less policy ping-pong
Self-described ‘glass-half full’ sharefarmer Danielle Hovmand has a request for politicians – could they dial back the “political ping-ponging”?
The Federated Farmers Waikato sharemilker vice chair radiates positivity and wouldn’t be working so hard to achieve her dream of farm ownership if she didn’t have faith in the future of dairy.
But she believes farmers – the younger ones struggling to achieve farm ownership in particular – want some longer-term policy stability on issues like land use restrictions, water quality and biodiversity.
“We’ve just seen a Labour Government leave, and we’ve swung to other extreme in terms of industry regulation.
“Will it just swing back again the next time the balance of power changes?”
Hovmand wants to see more effort go into building consensus that’s practical and affordable.
“I’m not a hugely political person but I do think we have to reduce this ping-ponging because it creates so much uncertainty.
“With agriculture being so vital to our economy, and with the ageing population at farm ownership level, the next generation need to be able to see a future in it.
“Even for those already farming, there can be a feeling of ‘I don’t want to do anything because a new regulation might come in that completely turns it around, and it turns out it was the wrong thing to do’.”
Hovmand, 28, was raised in Katikati in the Bay of Plenty, and “grew up” on her grandparents’ Hereford stud farm nearby.
By the time she’d finished school, she knew she wanted to be a farmer.
Holiday and summer jobs on a Katikati neighbour’s dairy farm in between gaining an agricultural science degree at Massey kicked off her dairy journey.
She moved to Waikato for better dairying prospects and contract milked for three years.
Last season she and her partner Harry, a builder in Te Aroha, purchased their first herd. They’re now 50/50 sharemilkers, milking about 250 cows just north of Morrinsville.
“Our generation tends to think we’ve had it really hard, and with the financial climate it might be a bit harder. But it has always been difficult,” Hovmand says.
“Finding a business partner, going in with parents, equity partnerships and the like are quite common now.
“We all just need to be more open to those different options to make it happen.”
Federated Farmers has a role there too, she says.
“One is education, such as the series of sharefarming workshops we held around the country recently.”
Hovmand is also pleased
Federated Farmers’ advocacy spurred MP Suze Redmayne’s member’s bill that would allow someone to withdraw their KiwiSaver funds to buy a first farm.
It would also open the door for those currently living in service tenancies, such as farm staff, to use
their KiwiSaver to buy their first home without having to live in it straight away.
“We just need the legislation to go that step further to allow KiwiSaver funds to be used for purchase of a
first herd,” Hovmand says.
“By the time a younger farmer gets to the point of wanting to use their KiwiSaver to buy some land, they’ll probably have been putting money into it for quite a significant time.
“It could easily get them across the line a year or two earlier. I think it could be quite significant.”
Hovmand sees a need to combat negativity with accurate information and looking for solutions.
“I get asked ‘why should younger farmers join Federated Farmers?’.
“I tell them we are the future of the agriculture. We need to be sure that we’re involved in creating the kind of industry we want to be in.”
She recommends the Federated Farmers’ free ‘Young Farmers’ membership option.
“I joined the Morrinsville-Ngarua Young Farmers Club when I first moved to the Waikato.
“I lived quite a way of out of town. I didn’t know anyone and it was my way of meeting people.
“Being part of a community is big for me; I think that’s what makes you feel you belong.”
Hovmand met Harry through
Young Farmers and it’s still a big part of their lives.
She’s just been crowned the NZ Young Farmers Contiki Local Legend, winning a $5000 Contiki voucher, in recognition of her work on fundraisers and a Foodbank drive.
With agriculture being so vital to our economy, and with the ageing population at farm ownership level, the next generation need to be able to see a future in it.
On the Federated Farmers Waikato leadership team, she presents a younger person’s view.
“I also try to gauge from other young farmers what’s concerning them, and what Federated Farmers could do to help them on their journey.
“I like to think it’s working out for both of us.”
STAND WITH US.
CERTAINTY: Kiwi farmers need some longer-term policy stability on issues like land use restrictions, water quality and biodiversity, Danielle Hovmand says.
Danielle Hovmand Federated Farmers Waikato sharemilker vice chair
SUPPORT: Danielle Hovmand says legislation needs to go further to enable KiwiSaver funds to be used to purchase a first dairy herd.
Titan of farming advocacy farewelled
When Chris Allen stepped down after eight years’ service on the Federated Farmers national board in 2022, he said it had been an absolute privilege to advocate for the sector on some quite tense and critical topics.
“Hopefully I’ve represented farmers’ views with an authentic tone and left the emotion out.”
At his packed funeral service in Ashburton on December 14, his championing of rural causes – and much more – was acknowledged and celebrated.
“Every farming family in New Zealand owes Chris a huge debt for his many years of advocacy,” longtime friend and fellow Mid Canterbury farming leader Phil McKendry told the more than 1000 mourners present and on-line. Chris was electrocuted in an accident at Annadale, the sheep, beef and cropping farm at Ashburton Forks he and wife AnneMarie purchased in 1994 and built up to be a Silver Fern Farms Plate to Pasture Award winner.
In all, Chris represented Federated Farmers as an elected leader for 14 years, including stints as Mid Canterbury provincial president and on the Meat & Wool Council.
Chris Lewis served on the national board for the same years and the pair were dubbed C1 and C2.
Lewis said when he consulted his peers for their thoughts on what he could say in his eulogy “we were reminded why C1 always got the jobs at Federated Farmers that the rest of us didn’t want or couldn’t handle”.
With the environment and water portfolios, there was a risk others might have told some of the green groups exactly what Feds thought of them from day one, Lewis said.
“C1 was chosen for a reason: he had a unique style with his humour, his collaborative nature and his incredible knowledge.
“He could strongly disagree with people but he’d still leave the room with everyone liking him. He had that rare ability to stand firm on his principles while building bridges.”
Lewis said Chris also loved – and
often led – the fun and banter at Feds.
“He inspired a cheese roll tour of
- Rober t Har ding
FRONT OF HOUSE: As Federated Farmers spokesperson on water issues for a number of years, Chris Allen was kept busy addressing impractical regulation, including appearing before the Environment Select Committee in 2020.
Southland at a time when farmers in the deep south were seriously disgruntled with government policy.” C1 and C2 visited many farms to hear farmers out face to face, and also indulged in a cheese roll in each town and small community they passed through, initiating a live crossover to The Country radio.
“Chris brought those learnings and solutions back to Wellington bureaucrats – cheese rolls and all,” Lewis said.
“C1 had good Kiwi steel on the spine. He was the right person for the job every time.”
Federated Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland said farmers had lost a “titan” of rural advocacy.
“Not only was Chris hugely knowledgeable on agriculture and environment issues, he was respected for his fairness, collegiality and open-mindedness.”
When a stakeholder-led Biodiversity Collaborative Group was set up in 2016 under the National Government, and continued its work under the Labour-Greens
Government, it was co-chaired by Chris and Forest & Bird’s Sally Gepp.
The group’s 2018 report helped steer national policy on biodiversity.
Copeland said Chris’s decision to fly from his Canterbury home to Napier following Cyclone Gabrielle was a mark of his concern for fellow farmers.
“As someone who had experienced serious flooding on his own farm, he wanted to offer fellow farmers support and his personal experience that times would be tough, but there was light at end of the tunnel.” Chris and another former Mid Canterbury Feds president David Clark highlighted to then-PM Jacinda Ardern the river gravel build-up and other reasons for the devastating 2021 floods at Ashburton, and why there should be government support.
Chris even baked the scones for Ardern and her entourage when they visited his farm.
Though he’d grown up on a sheep and beef farm in Tirau in the North Island, Chris followed
PRIDE: One of Chris’s ties, featuring sheep, underlined the pride he took in the sector.
Federated Farmers
(Chris) could strongly disagree with people but he’d still leave the room with everyone liking him. He had that rare ability to stand firm on his principles while building bridges.
Chris Lewis Former Federated Farmers national board member
his older brother Tony into aircraft engineering and became a lead hand in Air NZ’s big hangar at Christchurch, working on Boeing 737s and Hercules.
He returned to farming not long after meeting Anne-Marie, who came from a Geraldine farming family.
At the funeral service, his children Natalie and Jono, and his friends, drew laughter and tears as they told stories of Chris’ love for technology, how he could fix anything, his frequent pranks, his discovery of ChatGPT as a way of short-cutting writing tasks, the family camping trips, how he excelled as a loving father.
Tony Allen recalled the time Chris bought a clapped-out Datsun diesel farm truck, ex-Japan, one lady owner.
“Chris developed a secret formula fuel – 50% diesel, 50% Jet A 1 kerosene – for the ute. No black smoke anymore. More power, less noise.”
Another time, Chris’s longtime farm helper Nicky Norrie rang him when he and Anne-Marie were holidaying in the Cayman Islands because she couldn’t get going a part of the complicated irrigation system Chris developed on Annadale.
No problem – Chris simply got out his cellphone and within a minute had re-started the whole system remotely from the other side of the world.
Chris’s service to fellow Kiwis was by no means limited to farmers. Good friend and neighbour Richard Wright said at his service that Chris had been a member of Mayfield & Districts Lions since 2002. Chris’s perseverance into the wee small hours fixing a cooling issue at the Stavely Ice Skating and Curling Rink when a German plumbing engineer had given up allowed the new facility’s opening season to go ahead.
“Chris was instrumental in making sure our school stayed open, and the roll grew from 40 to 100 pupils.
The government at the time was trying to close small rural schools, and Mt Somers lost funding for five years.
FORESIGHT: Chris Allen, seen here with farm dog Ace, set up a water storage lake and irrigation system on his awardwinning farm near Ashburton to boost production and get through dry periods.
There would have been few dry eyes at the service at Hotel Ashburton as Tony Allen farewelled his charismatic and fun-loving brother.
“May you fly high. Cleared for takeoff, little brother.”
“He was the driving force behind the school buying its own buses, something that had never been done before. This provided a great money-earner for the school, enabling funding of extra teachers.”
Wright said Chris served for 10 years on the Mt Somers Springburn School board, the last three as chair.
SERVICE: Chris Allen’s service to fellow Kiwis was by no means limited to farmers.
DAMAGE: Chris Allan and brother Tony stand among debris after the Ashburton River took a path through Chris’s farm in 2021.
Gisborne 98 Taurau Valley New Listing
Owner has purchased
• 5.23 ha
• Gisborne 16 km
• 3.36 ha of citrus
• 3 bay implement shed
• Garage/workshop
This stunning property located in the popular Taurau Valley is an easy commute to Gisborne. The well producing orchard consists of 3.36 canopy ha, including the following varieties, Encore mandarins, Meyer lemons, Navel oranges, Valencia oranges. If you are looking for a home with income potential, then this fantastic property should be at the top of your shopping list.
Shannon 58 Mangahao Road New Listing
Quality bareland - 35 ha
An opportunity to invest in a 35 ha block of productive soils, 2 km from the rural village of Shannon. Historically the farm has supported cropping and sheep/cattle finishing; of note the Kiwitea loam soils on the top terrace are excellent for intensive cropping. A small sidling in the middle of the farm bisects the flats adjoining Mangahao Road at the front and Engles Road at the rear of the property. Improvements include a woolshed, cattle yards, utility shed and manure bin - there is also an airstrip on farm There are excellent sites available should you wish to build your dream home. Purchase options - Both titles are available for individual purchase or as a whole.
Tender
3 1
Auction 12.00pm, Thu 13th Feb, 2025, (unless sold prior), Property Brokers, 66 Reads Quay, Gisborne View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/GIR14684
Shannon 141 Okuku Road
Tom Lane M 027 866 5263 E toml@pb co.nz
Ted Shannon M 021
A versatile unit - 85 ha in three titles
Located 30 km south of Palmerston North, this well located farm represents an opportunity for the discerning buyer as a true dairy support unit, a sheep and beef finishing unit or a cropping farm. This extensively novaflo drained, flat contoured property is subdivided into 24 paddocks, most of which are serviced off fenced metalled lanes. The farm is presented in good heart with its strong soils and historic annual fertiliser applications. Farm improvements include two dwellings a variety of support shedding plus loadout facilities. A great opportunity in a great location to watch - your heifers grow, your cattle and lambs fatten your crops flourish. Purchase options are available.
Springs Junction 225 State Highway 65
Affordable Large-Scale Dairy - More Cow 1
More Cow 1 offers exceptional value and potential providing a solid foundation for your farming future 407 ha freehold, with approx 350 ha effective, featuring a 70-bail rotary dairy shed with ACR s a meal feeding system and grain crushing facility with a comprehensive range of tidy outbuildings and 3 quality homes Low-cost irrigation system covering approx 98 ha under centre pivot Supplying Westland Milk Products, with peak milking of 900 cows achieving 218 197kgMS in the 23/24 season With strong foundations in infrastructure and pasture renewal established by the vendor, extensive winter brassica with cows wintered on the potential for production growth is undeniable
Maruia 2434 State Highway 65
Gareth Cox M 021
Anna
M
Jason
Value = Second to None - Shingle Creek
A significant opportunity to secure a large-scale, well supported dairy operation in the supportive farming community of Buller. 808 ha freehold, with approx. 454 ha effective, infrastructure includes a 70-bail rotary cowshed with meal feeding system and ACR’s, modern calf sheds and four homes Two centre pivots cover approx. 78 ha, allowing for a low cost, semi self-contained system supporting consistent production. Peak milking 1,025 cows, producing 255,440kgMS for the 23/24 season supplying Westland Milk Products. Modern pastures with a focus on fertility provides an excellent springboard for the incoming purchaser. A large area of ineffective land opens up possibilities for alternative land-use options.
Springs Junction 44 West Bank Road
Vendor Says Sell - More Cow 3
An outstanding 371 ha freehold dairy farm with an adjoining lease option of 27 ha, delivering an effective milking platform of 330 ha. Featuring an impressive modern 70-bail rotary dairy shed with ACR’s, a comprehensive range of outbuildings and 4 well-maintained permanent-material homes. An extensive winter brassica program, pasture renewal and a cost-effective irrigation system covering 100 ha via a centre pivot, ensures reliable production. Achieving production of 211,327kgMS for the 23/24 season from 870 cows peak milked supplying Westland Milk Products Vendor has given clear instructions to sell and for the right candidate are prepared to consider sensible vendor options. Offering potential for an excellent return on investment for an owner operator.
Gareth
Gareth Cox M 021 250 9714
Affordable Dairy Farming Portfolio
Property Brokers is privileged to offer to the market this large scale semi self contained dairy operation consisting of three dairy farms based in the Buller region.
Providing an outstanding opportunity for both owner/operators or investors seeking to acquire individual assets or the complete portfolio Modern rotary cow sheds with ACRs, partial irrigation across all farms, these properties offer the complete package.
• More Cow 1 – 225 State Highway 65, Springs Junction – 407 ha
• More Cow 3 – 44 West Bank Road, Springs Junction – 371 ha
• Shingle Creek – 2434 State Highway 65, Maruia – 808 ha
Properties are available individually or in any combination, including consideration for sensible vendor support to enable a first farm purchase.
For more information about these properties please contact:
Anna Hart 027 294 9678
Jason Rickard 027 245 8495
Indigo Heights
Indigo Heights is located approximately 21.2km West of Waipukurau with a land area of 280 182ha The property is held in two titles with access from both Highway 50 and Blackburn Road and is only 3km to the Onga Onga village with a local cafe, school and garage workshop Currently run as a Dairy support block with calves and R1 heifers along with grass and maize silage harvested for BEL Group dairy units Significant development has been carried out by the current owners with roading, pasture renewal along with water reticulation and subdivision The contour would be best described as flat to easy rolling This Spring 50ha of Maize and 30ha of Chicory have been sown Infrastructure includes two three stand woolsheds, two sets of cattle yards and auxiliary shedding Indigo Heights represents a turn-key farming opportunity offering a range of farming options in an ideal location bayleys co nz/2871095
Thu 30 Jan 2025
26 Takapau Road, Waipukurau
View by appointment
Andy Hunter 027 449 5827 andy hunter@bayleys co nz
Tim Wynne-Lewis 027 488 9719
tim wynne-lewis@bayleys co nz
ANNUAL RAM SALES
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025
>
>
GORE
>
>
MT CASS STATION WILTSHIRE SHEEP ON FARM SALE
Wednesday 22nd January
47 Symonds Road, RD 3, Waipara Commencing at 12 noon
Capital Stock being offered due to sale of property
Ewes & Lambs:
> 1800 Wiltshire 2th Ewes
> 1500 Wiltshire Ewe Lambs
> 900 Wiltshire Annual Draft Ewes
> 200 Wiltshire Mixed Age Stud Ewes
> 27 Wiltshire 2th Stud Rams
Cattle:
> 120 Mixed Age Angus Stabiliser X Cows with Calves at foot - run with Red Devon & Hereford Bulls from 23/11/24
Capital Stock in 3 lines
TB Status C10
Bidr® online bidding option available. To register please go to www.bidr.co.nz.
If you would like assistance please call the bidr team on 0800 86 2437
Further Enquiries: Alby Orchard (Hazlett) 027 534 5753 Alex Horn (PGGW) 027 591 8449
6TH ANNUAL POLL MERINO RAM SALE
FRIDAY 17TH JANUARY - 2PM
Glenallen Merinos, JS & PA Butters Ltd 226 Glenallen Road - Viewing from 11am
> 70 grunty, good shifting Poll Merino 1 Shear Rams, bred to work
Sale will be sign posted from Waikari Township
Further enquiries: Jimmy Butters (Vendor) 027 755 4065
Travis Dalzell (Hazlett) 027 202 0196 Callum Dunnett (Hazlett) 027 462 0126
SALE TALK
A farmer was heading to town in his horse-drawn wagon when a car veered over and hit him head-on. The car’s driver was found to be at fault but their insurance company wouldn’t compensate the farmer for his injuries, pain and suffering.
The farmer sued. On the witness stand, the defence attorney asked him, “After the accident didn’t you tell the Highway Patrol officer you ‘Never felt better in your life’?” The farmer replied “Yes, I did.” The attorney responded, “So you said you were feeling fine then but you are here before the court claiming compensation. Do you think that it’s fair considering what you said to the officer?”
“Well, after the accident, the officer came upon the scene and saw that my horse had two broken legs and he was in great distress so he pulled out his gun and shot him dead. He came closer and saw my dog was run over and was howling and also in pain. The officer shot my dog.
hazlett.nz
HOLLY FARM SOUTHDOWNS
NJ MOORHEAD
Leeston Founded in 1935
REDUCTION SALE
>150 Southdown Mixed Aged Ewes
My vendor has decided to sell these stud ewes which are available for transfer
If you are interested in viewing, please contact Callum Dunnett.
Further enquiries: Callum Dunnett (Hazlett) 027 462 0126
“After that, with the gun still in his hand, he approached me and asked me how I was doing.”
hazlett.nz
LINKING BUYERS AND SELLERS
HERDS FOR SALE
NORTHLAND
240 cow Frsn/FrsnX herd BW 178, PW 173. Very tidy herd.
Contact: Cory Bellamy 021 1131968
230 cow XB herd, BW 314, PW 346. Calving 20th July
A must see herd!! $2,000+gst
Contact: Grant Aiken 027 2458821 WAIKATO
49 XB Autumn calving cows (mostly black)
Contact: Ross Riddell 027 2111112
BUYING OR SELLING A HERD? CONTACT ONE OF THE LINK TEAM OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.linklivestock.co.nz
Check out Poll Dorset NZ on Facebook nzsheep.co.nz/poll-dorset-breeders
PRELIMINARY NOTICE
DISPERSAL SALE OF HIGH PERFORMANCE CAPITAL STOCK MIXED AGE ROMNEY EWES On account of MOANA DOWN PARTNERSHIP VIEW HILL
Thursday 13th February
1300 Mixed Age Romney Ewes Peters easy care genetics
All ewes in Toxo, Campy Vax 5in1 programme 5yr Av scanning 203% with 163% survival rate
100 Angus & Angus Hereford X 18mth Heifers Prime & forward store condition
For enquiries please contact: Donald Cooke – 0274 730 854
We have been favoured by
THORNFIELD DAIRIES LTD
To Offer Herds for Delivery 1st June 2025 (or sooner by negotiation)
Comprising:
272 Autumn Calving Mixed Aged Friesian Cows Due 1/3
434 Spring Calving Mixed Age3 Friesian Cows Due 1/8
60 R2 Autumn Calving Friesian Heifers Due 1/3
95 R2 Spring Calving Friesian Heifers Due 1/8
99 Autumn Born 2024 Friesian Heifer Calves
Tuesday 21st January 2025 1pm Start
A/c: Guy & Cushla Fraser 504 Waituhi Road, Taumarunui
Approximately:
400 x 2th Ewes 330 x 4th Ewes 300 x 6th Ewes 750 x M/Age Ewes 10 x M/Age Wiltshire Rams
x Elite Ram Lambs
750 x Ewe Lambs
WAEWAEPA STATION ON FARM SHEEP AND STEER SALE
Tuesday 14 January, 2025 | 12pm 1731 Waitahora Road, Dannevirke
• 150 Angus 15-month Steers
Best of Grampian and Meadowslea bulls used October/November Born AB Free
• 2000 Romney 2th Ewes
Forbes Cameron bred
Rams selected for Survivability and Growth Flock Scanning 175 - 180%
Excellent drench activation AB Free
• 4500 Undrafted Romney C/O Lambs
• 3500 Undrafted Suff X Tex, Hampshire Down & Dorset Down MS Lambs
FAP Approved GAP Approved
All Stock are home -bred with an excellent reputation.
Enquiries:
Bjorn Andersen (PGW ) 027 440 5888
Lars Hardy (PGW ) 027 289 9872
Tim Stevenson (Farm Manager) 027 322 2330
Wiltshire Stock Sale
Tuesday 28th January
Bidding starts at 11am 12 Wairepu East Road, Taihape
• MA ewes • Rams
Contact Charles Bennett (farm owner) 027 753 2099 Tama (stock agent) 027 287 4010
59 Spring Born 2024 Friesian Heifer Calves
Herd is consistently producing 550 kg MS p.a
In Calf to Friesian AI
Will be sold in lines as above.
A once in a lifetime chance to acquire top bloodlines with scope and breeding. Would grace any front paddock. Herd Tests and Breeding Records available. Video on Request Outside Agents enquiries welcome to Sole Agents
Contact the Sole Agents: John Cheesman 027 494 6604 Ross Wilson 027 441 2139 Mark Cheesman 027 469 5391
MASTERTON EWE FAIR
Wednesday 15 January 2025
11:00am
This high performing hill country shedding flock has been bred from a Grow bulk Romney Base with Wiltshire crossed for the past six years. The flock scanned 175% last year with all lambs finished to good weights. This resilient flock has had no vaccinations, no long acting drenches, only mineral supplements and dipping has been minimal.
A 2% purchasing rebate will be paid to recognized Companies making arrangements prior to the sale.
See full details on mylivestock.co.nz and our Facebook page
For more information contact:
NATIONWIDE DAIRY SPECILISTS
Visit: www.carrfields.co.nz
Friday 17 January, 2025 | 12.30pm
Held at Tuakau saleyards
A/C Waipuna Valley Farms
Comprising 1250 head:
• 820 x 15 month Angus Heifers
• 200 x 15 month Hereford/Angus Heifers
• 160 x 15 month Exotic Heifers
• 70 x 15 month Hereford (some horned)
Approx 300-370 kg liveweight
Farmed in large mobs on genuine hill country
Heifers guaranteed empty
Cattle renowned for shifting ability 2% buying rebate paid to outside companies by prior arrangement.
For more information:
David Short ( Vendor) 027 472 3441
Stephen Hickey (PGW ) 027 444 3570 ANNUAL 15MTH TRADITIONAL BEEF HEIFER SALE
Comprising approx: 12,700 ewes
• 3300 2TH’s
• 750 4TH’s
• 1100 M/A
• 200 4yo
• 7200 5yo
• 200 6yo
Entries include multiple lines of genuine capital stock
Helping grow the countr y
For further enquiries: Andrew McKay PGG Wrightson Livestock
027 419 7366
Carey Ashwell
Carrfields
021 433 274
Full list of ewe entries can be found on the website. www mastertonsaleyards com
Login to register your requirements and be informed when new listings arrive READY TO ROCK INTO THE NEW YEAR? CHECK OUT THIS SELECTION OF CURRENT LISTINGS:
• DAC3536 – 114 Quality AUT Frsn-FrsnX Cows; 3 – 5yrs, BW 272 PW 340 DTC 10/03/25 to Charolais; (B.O.P) $1900. Contact: Val Ditchfield (027 5737480)
• DH3549 – 260x Great quality Frsn/FrsnX herd. Very Quiet herd; BW 187; PW 222; RA97%; DTC 25/07/25 to CRV Frsn. $2,000 P/H. (Wairarapa)
Contact: Max Hutchings (027 538 4961)
• DH3553 – 110x Pedigree Jersey cows, with a handful of Ayrshires. Great confirmation, low SSC, high fertility. BW 257; PW 244; RA91%, 450 MS/Cow, DTC 20/07/25 to LIC jersey. $2,140 P/H. (Manawatu)
Contact: Luke Gilbert (027 849 2112) or Hamish Manthel (027 432 0298) DR3554 – 18x Pedigree Jersey R2 Heifers from a good herd. BW 300; PW 272; DTC 10/07/25, DNA tested. Consistent line, $1,700 P/H. (Manawatu)
Contact: Luke Gilbert (027 849 2112) or Hamish Manthel (027 432 0298) DR3570 – 126x Frsn/FrsnX R2 Heifers. BW 329; PW 337; DTC 15/07/25. Nice line with a wow to them, $1,900 P/H. (Bay of Plenty)
Contact: Andrew Gordon (027 487 2044)
• DH3520 – 300 x Frsn/FrsnX Cows; BW195 PW 218 DTC 25/07/25 to CRV Frsn; tailed Hereford. 373ms (Northland) Contact: Craig Couling (027 2926828) For more listings visit: www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz
Contact your local agent or call: Paul Kane: 027 286 9279 National Dairy & Live Export Coordinator
Oamaru
Key: Dair y Cattle Sheep O ther
Notice of Movement Controls for Bovine Tuberculosis (TB)
Pursuant to section 131(2) of the Biosecurity Act 1993, TBfree New Zealand declares those parts of New Zealand shown as Movement Control Areas in the maps published with this notice to be Controlled Areas for the purpose of limiting the spread of bovine tuberculosis.
Pursuant to section 131(3)(a) of the Biosecurity Act 1993, TBfree New Zealand gives notice that the movement of cattle and deer within the Controlled Areas is restricted and regulated to the extent of and subject to the conditions specified below.
Notice
1. Definitions
In this notice, unless the context otherwise requires: Herd means:
a. One or more cattle, or deer, or cattle and deer, managed as one unit; or
b. One or more cattle, or deer, or cattle and deer, kept within the same enclosure or behind the same fence.
Herd of origin means the herd with which a cattle beast or a deer is, for the time being, grazing.
Order means the Biosecurity (National Bovine Tuberculosis Pest Management Plan) Order 1998.
Controlled Area means any area shown as a Movement Control Area in the maps published with this notice.
2. Testing Prior to Movement From or Within Controlled Areas
2.1. No cattle beast or deer aged 90 days or more may be moved:
a. from any Controlled Area to a place outside that Controlled Area; or
b. within any Controlled Area from its herd of origin, or the place or establishment at which the animal is being kept, to a place other than a place occupied by the owner or person in charge of the cattle beast or deer unless it has undergone, within 60 days prior to the date of movement, a negative test for bovine tuberculosis in accordance with the Order.
2.2 The restriction on movement in 2.1 does not apply where an animal is being moved directly to a place of slaughter.
2.3. Notwithstanding 2.1, an animal may be exempted from the requirement for a test in accordance with the TBfree New Zealand Operational Plan.
2.4. Where a herd is managed or kept on a property, or group of properties, divided by the boundary of a Controlled Area, then the requirements to test cattle or deer described in 2.1 above apply to the whole herd.
This declaration takes effect from 1 February 2025.
Dated at Wellington on 2 December 2024.
Sam McIvor, Chief Executive, OSPRI New Zealand Limited
Detailed maps and information on the location of properties within Controlled Areas are available from TBfree New Zealand, freephone 0800 482 463 or visit ospri.co.nz/disease-control-map
General Information
Any animal moved in contravention of this notice may be seized by an inspector or authorised person and destroyed, treated or otherwise dealt with, if it is reasonable in the circumstances to do so. TBfree New Zealand Limited may also recover the cost of testing for bovine tuberculosis pursuant to the Biosecurity Act 1993 and the Biosecurity (Deer and Other Testing Costs) Regulations 1998.
Failure to comply with the requirements of this notice may result in prosecution under the Biosecurity Act 1993.
If convicted, an individual will be liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months, or a fine not exceeding $50,000.00, or both. A corporation convicted of an offence is liable to a fine not exceeding $100,000.00.
Revocation
This declaration of Controlled Areas for bovine tuberculosis hereby revokes any previous published declaration of Controlled Areas, with effect from 1 February 2025.
Summary of Changes
This declaration has the effect of extending movement controls for bovine tuberculosis to include an area to the east of Lake Taupo, and to reduce testing frequency requirements in areas in the Northern Waikato, Central North Island and lower North Island. There are no changes introduced in the South Island.
TBfree is an OSPRI programme proudly funded by:
East Taupō
Disease Control Areas from
1 February 2025
New Movement Control Area
New Special Testing Area – Biennial
New Special Testing Area – Surveillance
Current Movement Control Area
Special Testing Area – Annual
Special Testing Area – Biennial
Surveillance Area
Further information
For more information about the different types of disease control area, and the frequency of on-farm TB testing of cattle and deer in each.
Markets
Here’s looking at ewe, kid
With the early ewe fairs done and dusted, it’s time to take stock – and the signs are promising.
Fiona Quarrie MARKETS Livestock
WITH weaning out of the way and castfor-age ewes tallied up, now’s the time to start looking for replacements to repeat the breeding cycle. Both vendors and buyers are therefore eager to hear the results from ewe fairs in early country.
With two of the three fairs at Stortford Lodge ticked off, it is a good time to take stock of the situation.
Throughput at the early fair in December does tend to fluctuate more than others. In the past decade, the highest number yarded was in 2020 at almost 12,000. At the other end of the scale was 2023 when only 1300 were sold.
Even though this season’s number settled in the middle at 6100, it was still significant due to the dry conditions at the time. Good interest from outside of the region, including Dannevirke and Waikato, added to the locals and made a solid gallery.
The outlook for sheep is still far from shining, but there is much more positivity than last year, and it showed in results.
Romney 2-tooths from Onga Onga fetched the top price for the early sale at $235 and 2-tooth Wiltshire from the same stables
collected $230, up from $185 last year.
The good condition and reputation of these ewes was a factor and there were plenty of medium types due to feed shortages. On the 5-year ewes, returns ranged from $78 to $126 depending on condition.
It was a month between fairs, and a fast one at that with Christmas and New Year in the mix along with plenty of moisture. This sale is typically supplied by a very regular list of vendors and therefore the tallies don’t tend to vary as much. Even so, at 12,600 head it was the smallest yarding for this fair in the last decade by 2000 head.
Just as predictable as the vendors are some of the buyers.
Redshaw Livestock agent Will Maxwell explained that “some of the key consignments are often purchased by regular buyers and it just so happens that we have
OFF WITH A BANG: These 2-tooth Romney ewes were the first cab off the rank at the Stortford Lodge 2-tooth and mixed-age ewe fair on January 7. From Onga Onga, they were Forbes Cameron-bred and boasted a flock scanning of 174%. A Feilding-based agent was successful in purchasing them at $255.
It just so happens that we have grass now, so the competition was higher.
Will Maxwell Redshaw Livestock
grass now, so the competition was higher”.
A repeat buyer from Waikato had to pay $34 more than in December for a line of Forbes Cameron-bred 2-tooth Romney ewes. They were the top selling
pen of the day at $269.50. Another cut from the same vendor went to Feilding for $255. Half a dozen more pens of 2-tooths traded north of $220 and the next tier realised $180-$206.
Later in the sale, 5-year ewes with condition on their side collected $144-$167.
The grass may be greener but the impacts of the dry start to summer were still evident through some of the ewes.
On the upside, “traders are short on options since most of the lambs have already been shipped
out of the region”, Maxwell said, “so ewes are an option instead”.
This, along with a stronger schedule, meant that the tail end made similar returns to the last season, in the vicinity of $90 to $120, but as Maxwell explained, “last year’s tail had an extra 10kg on them”.
The supplementary ewe fair for Stortford Lodge is calendared for Tuesday, January 21. In the meantime, Ongarua, Masterton, Feilding, Te Kuiti, and Tuakau saleyards all have ewe fairs this week from January 14 to 17.
Cattle Sheep Deer
Weekly saleyard results
These weekly saleyard results are collated by the AgriHQ LivestockEye team. Cattle weights and prices are averages and sheep prices are ranges. For more detailed results and analysis subscribe to your selection of LivestockEye reports. Scan the QR code or visit www.agrihq.co.nz/livestock-reports
Seems we were right to downplay La Niña
Philip Duncan NEWS Weather
NIWA is calling the weather this summer “a head scratcher”, according to a Stuff headline last week. Maybe NIWA should’ve been reading our Farmers Weekly columns across 2024, when La Niña was downplayed and I went out of my way to stress that Southern Ocean storms were driving a westto-southwest pattern into New Zealand for early 2025.
That has been happening and is fuelling a cooler and windier summer. Some are loving this weather, but there have been a fair few holidaymakers tired of the cooler ongoing wind – and now more farmers concerned at how dry it is generally becoming. It’s surprising that NIWA has come out sounding so confused about why its La Niña forecast was just so wrong.
Across 2024 Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) never had much confidence in La Niña based on its “model of all models”. This is where BoM showed what various
nations were forecasting La Niña-wise. It was clear all across 2024 that not only was La Niña borderline and therefore pointless to focus on much, but storms south of NZ have been really big (hugging Antarctica).
It’s this broader area of lower pressure south of NZ, coupled with high pressure around Australia and the Tasman Sea, that has fuelled NZ’s cooler and windier summer –something that, to WeatherWatch anyway, looked so obvious over the past few months.
This has fuelled an often-spring like weather pattern (changeable and windy) and that will continue in January – although we do expect some hotter days, and a chance of some rain in dry areas. (We’ll focus more on dry/wet areas in our column next week).
Now BoM has made a big change to its monthly/seasonal forecasting. It has dropped its fortnightly updates on La Niña and El Niño, saying that to focus just on whether La Niña or El Niño will form is the wrong way to look at how our local weather may shape up.
The bureau told WeatherWatch in December that it is improving the way it communicates its
This has fuelled an often-spring like weather pattern, and that will continue in January.
climate information to help the community better understand forecasts for the seasons ahead.
“We are encouraging the community to follow our short-
term and long-term forecasts, rather than focusing on the outlook for climate indicators such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Climate systems are complex and cannot be explained by just one influencing factor,”
BoM told WeatherWatch via email.
“We [BoM] will refer to ‘climate indicators’ when discussing their impact on seasonal forecasts rather than ‘climate drivers’, as there is not one factor that ‘drives’
NEUTRAL: Long range, NZ looks to remain in neutral territory – no La Niña or El Niño – which is where we’ve been since April 2024. This often encourages a messier forecast in our part of the world (more spring or autumn like at times).
Image: BoM
climate patterns on its own. There are many factors that collectively influence global weather and climate patterns.”
It’s a smart move by Australia’s BoM and it’s something New Zealand’s NIWA could learn from. NIWA’s big headlines across 2024 about La Niña were embarrassing and distracting and showed the Australian government is the clear “grown-up in the room” in our part of the world.
