15 minute read
Nats move ag to front bench
FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – December 13, 2021 7 ‘More from less’ in record year
Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz
NEW Zealand dairy farmers have set a new record for milk production, producing 1.95 billion kilograms of milksolids (MS) for the 2020-21 season.
The 2.7% lift in milksolids from the previous season was achieved from 4.9 million cows, a small 0.36% decrease from the 2019-20 year, according to the annual New Zealand Dairy Statistics report, released by DairyNZ and LIC.
DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle says it is great to see a continuation of the ‘more milk from fewer cows’ trend because it shows a continuing focus on milking better cows and farming even more sustainably.
“Farmers are focused on developing more productive and efficient cows and farming systems, with a lighter environmental footprint. They want to retain our unique pasture-based farming system and remain world leading,” Mackle said.
Favourable weather conditions also contributed to good grass growth, while higher milk prices meant many farmers extended their milking season in 2020-21.
Per cow production also lifted from 385 to 397kg MS.
Herd numbers fell for the sixth year in a row, with 145 fewer than the previous season, totalling 11,034. The average herd size was 444, which was four cows higher than the previous season.
The percentage of cows mated to artificial breeding rose to 71.3% (up from 70.8% in 2019-20), and the number of cows herd tested is the highest on record (3.735 million cows, or 76.2%, of the national herd).
LIC acting chief executive David Hazlehurst says the greater uptake of herd improvement services demonstrates farmers’ intent and focus on producing the most sustainable and efficient animals.
“Mating season has always been an important time to get cows in-calf but now with a focus on cow quality over quantity, more farmers are investing in premium genetics to help ensure their next generation of replacements are more efficient than the last,” Hazlehurst said.
He says young, genomicallyselected bulls and sexed semen, which generates female replacements from top cows, are examples of the high-impact tools farmers are adopting to increase the rate of genetic gain in their herds.
“It’s really pleasing to see these stats provide farmers with reassurance that the tools they’re investing in to increase their herd’s production efficiency and reduce their farm’s environmental footprint are working. Increasing milksolids with a reduced cow population is an achievement the whole sector should be proud of,” he said.
Mackle says the report showed that despite a range of challenges such as the covid-19 pandemic and staff shortages, farmers are working hard to keep milk production flowing, benefitting the whole country.
Increasing milksolids with a reduced cow population is an achievement the whole sector should be proud of.
David Hazlehurst LIC
Nats move ag to front bench
Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz
NEW National Party leader Christopher Luxon has made clear his intention to win back disillusioned rural voters by promoting Shadow Agriculture Minister Barbara Kuriger to the party’s front bench.
Luxon has in media interviews since taking over leadership of the party last week, spoken of the economic importance of the primary sector and his intention to rewin the support of rural voters who deserted the party at the last election.
He appears to have put that into action this week by announcing that Kuriger will retain the portfolio she was given by previous leader Judith Collins and promoted from number 14 in the shadow cabinet to number 10.
She is also responsible for biosecurity and food safety.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor is ranked number 14 in Labour’s cabinet and has the heavyweight portfolios of trade and export growth and biosecurity.
National’s David Bennett has progressively slipped down the National Party’s hierarchy since appointed shadow agriculture spokesperson in 2020, with a ranking of 11.
He lost agriculture to Kuriger in February, but kept horticulture and biosecurity and in Luxon’s reshuffle has slipped to number 20 with oversight of economic and regional development.
Scott Simpson is ranked 11 by Luxon and picks up the shadow climate change portfolio from Stuart Smith, while retaining environment.
Smith, ranked 17, retains viticulture, and Judith Collins (19) gets research, science, innovation and technology.
Of those unranked, Ian McKelvie keeps forestry, Jacqui Dean conservation and Todd McLay trade and export growth.
Luxon has appointed three associate agriculture spokespeople, Tim van der Molen, Nicola Grigg and Joseph Mooney.
In addition to those roles, Van der Molen is also responsible for horticulture, Grigg for rural communities, land information and animal welfare and Mooney water.
RANKING RISING: Shadow Agriculture Minister Barbara Kuriger is now 10th in National’s shadow cabinet, having moved up from 14.
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News Methane inhibitors not in rulebook
Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz
NEW Zealand farmers’ adoption of methane inhibitors risks having the brakes go on as regulations fail to keep up with emerging inhibitor technology.
Several major interests are trialling methane inhibitors in on-farm trials through NZ. This includes Dutch company DSM, with its patented Bovaer formulation that has achieved methane emission reductions of 30% in feed rationed dairy cows, and even greater in beef cattle.
Trials are under way in grassbased NZ systems, while approval to use the product has already been granted to farmers in Chile and Brazil.
Fonterra is also working on its in-house developed inhibitor Kowbucha, derived from milk cultures, and achieving 50% methane reduction in lab modelled rumen systems.
But Dr Julia McNab, director of regulatory consultancy group Intuit Regulatory, says the current Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) regulations need to be changed before farmers will have approval from the likes of dairy and meat processors to use them.
“At present, methane inhibitors are not considered an agricultural compound, nor are they a veterinary medicine,” McNab said.
“The ACVM Act is based on four key risk areas: animal welfare, public health, agricultural security and trade requirements. There is nothing there for ‘environmental protection’”.
McNab said she had been seeking changes to the regulations for over a year in light of the surge in inhibitor products likely to come as NZ pushes for a 10% methane reduction by 2030, and 24-47% by 2050.
“There has been a lack of any sense of urgency around it, although I understand they (MPI) are due to have a workshop in the new year,” she said.
Initial plans to change the regulations to cover any product that inhibits greenhouse gases has been advised as not being specific enough and requires products to be listed by active ingredient.
“There are companies doing trial work now on a number of compounds and we need to know what type of trial work needs to be done in order to meet regulatory requirements, which at this point do not exist,” she said.
Technically it would be possible for a company to launch an inhibitor now and be free of regulations that make no allowance for it.
“But processors may have something to say about how they would view the use of it by farmers,” she said.
Back in 2013 export markets were spooked by residues of DCD, a nitrate leaching inhibitor, detected in samples of Sri Lankan milk powders exports. This scare came on the back of the Chinese melamine scandal in 2008 and promoted the banning of further DCD use.
In light of those high-profile residue issues, industry sources are adamant Fonterra in particular will not give the green light to farmers to use any methane inhibitor unless it is validated by ACVM regulations.
McNab fears timelines may stretch out to over two years before regulations and efficacy requirements are finalised.
That risks the first target of 10% reduction in methane by 2030 becoming harder for farmers to achieve without one of the tools to do so.
“And we also need a method to include these inhibitors into our greenhouse gas inventory. Farmers want to be able to look at all these products and know they are comparing apples with apples,” she said.
Her concerns are shared by Mark Aspin, manager for the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium.
In a webinar on inhibitor development this week, he said a clear regulatory pathway for the emerging technology was critical.
“For us it is important for animal welfare and food safety,” Aspin said.
Fonterra chief science and technology officer Dr Jeremy Hill confirmed the company is also wanting MPI to clearly define “methane inhibitors” under ACVM and that both scientific evidence and efficacy data would be needed to support each inhibitor.
Hill also confirmed Fonterra would be seeking validation for its own Kowbucha inhibitor, should it move to commercial production.
He said having a framework in place within the ACVM regulations as soon as possible was the ideal, but noted each product would need to undergo appropriate assessment.
McNab says she knows of at least five other inhibitor product projects under way in addition to Bovaer. This includes a red seaweed project with Australian researchers.
Karen Booth, ACVM manager at NZ Food Safety, said last year MPI consulted on increasing regulatory oversight of inhibitors, with strong support to do so.
In March this year, Cabinet agreed there needed to be strengthening of regulation of inhibitors under the ACVM Act, including a two-year transition period.
“MPI is working through the best legislative approach to regulate inhibitors effectively, including what changes may be needed to the ACVM Act and regulations,” Booth said.
“The timeframe has not been finalised, but this is a high priority for MPI.”
Once regulated, inhibitors will require registration for the product formulation and most of the existing guidelines for registration would be applicable for inhibitors.
UNRESTRAINED: Regulatory consultant Julia McNab says there is nothing to legally stop a company launching a methane inhibitor now, given its absence from the ACVM regulations.
Karen Booth NZ Food Safety
PGG Wrightson ups guidance to $58m
FIVE months into its current financial year, rural services group PGG Wrightson has beefed up its full-year operating earnings guidance by $5 million to $58m, on the strength of buoyant spring trading.
Chair Rodger Finlay says the retail part of the business had a strong first quarter, prompting the board to upgrade its projections for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda).
In October, Finlay had forecast Ebitda at a more conservative $53m, but the board upgraded that after taking a look at “record” November numbers.
He says while the livestock business has been hit by covid restrictions, confidence in the meat sector remains high and beef and sheep schedule pricing is expected to remain positive.
While external influences such as supply chain disruptions and ongoing covid uncertainty continue to temper expectations, the “fantastic” November and market share gains made a better prognosis highly likely.
Going forward, Finlay expected results to be driven by the livestock division, which has its peak trading period over the second half of the year.
The company reported operating Ebitda of $56m for the year to June 2021, up one-third or $13.8m on the prior year from operating revenue of $847.8m.
It reported a fully imputed dividend of 28 cents a share.
– BusinessDesk EARNINGS: PGG Wrightson chair Rodger Finlay says the retail part of the business had a strong first quarter, prompting the board to upgrade its projections.
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NZ meat eaters losing appetite
Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz
DESPITE continuing to uphold the perennial claim of having more cows and sheep than people, New Zealand appears to be well past “peak meat” and is now one of only six countries globally to be eating less meat now than it was 20 years ago.
An academic paper published in zoology and veterinary sciences peer-reviewed magazine Animals has highlighted the world’s continuing hunger for meat.
The researchers from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia identified a co-relation between GDP growth and meat consumption in 26 countries. With every US$9795 increase in GDP per capita, an additional 1kg of meat was consumed per capita a year.
Overall, they estimated that once a country hits average GDP per capita of US$40,000, GDP growth is no longer as much of a determinant for increased meat consumption.
They suspected dietary changes and greater environmental awareness were prompting lowered consumption in NZ, Switzerland and Canada.
The drop of 11% in per capita consumption over the 20 years meant NZ has experienced by far the greatest decline in meat consumption of the six countries.
In 2019 NZ’s GDP per capita was US$42,084, Canada’s US$46,195 and Switzerland’s US$81,994.
Only three other countries globally had experienced a decline, namely Paraguay, Nigeria and Ethiopia. The decline in consumption of meat in those countries was linked to economic unaffordability.
With its US$54,907 per capita income, Australia is the world’s top meat-eating nation, averaging 89kg per capita, an increase from the 88kg eaten per capita back in 2000.
It is a claim shared by Israel, closely followed by Argentina.
Between 2000 and 2019 total meat consumed in NZ dropped from 86kg to 75kg per capita.
Red meat took the biggest hit, with sheepmeat down from 25kg a head to 3.6kg and beef from 23kg to 11kg.
Poultry had filled a lot of the gap, surging from 24kg per head to 41kg in 2019, while pork came up from 13kg to 19kg a head.
Beef + Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) data lead Dr Ben Hancock says while obtaining exact per capita domestic consumption data was difficult, the trend identified by the academics was accurate.
“We are seeing some shifts in the type of meat consumed, driven in part by costs. Twenty-five years ago, chicken was expensive and its cost has dropped. But internationally NZ’s sheepmeat is now a premium, special occasion meat, making it more expensive here too,” Hancock said.
He says B+LNZ was working on getting more specific domestic data on red meat consumption, a difficult task when carcases were portioned across multiple markets globally.
Long-time food author and critic Lauraine Jacobs says she was not surprised to see the slide in red meat consumption here. But she noted that overall, New Zealanders’ total meat consumption had not dropped too significantly over the 20-year period.
“Twenty years ago, it was hard to get much pork, chicken or fish or even venison,” Jacobs said.
“So, a lot of that shift from traditional red meat has come down to there simply being other protein choices. No one offering ‘substitute meat’ could claim a win from this. I have seen those products getting only the same space in supermarkets as they were getting when they first came out.”
She also attributed the ubiquitous sushi roll to having an impact upon traditional meat choices, particularly for day-time dining and convenience eating.
“I know that here in NZ farmed salmon sales are through the roof to sushi retailers,” she said.
She also noted that, on average, New Zealanders were simply consuming smaller portions of all food components in their diets in response to health messages.
B+LNZ head of nutrition Fiona Windle says the jump in poultry consumption also reflected that sector’s ability to offer a wide range of convenience-focused products.
“And often when we ask people if they have changed from beef and lamb, they will say it is on grounds of price. Many consumers have a limited food budget and need some form of meat protein and opt for cheaper chicken,” Windle said.
“Many will make health and environmental claims, but price usually comes up as the number one factor.”
Dr Ben Hancock B+LNZ
FISHY: Food critic and author Lauraine Jacobs attributes part of the decline in traditional red meat consumption to a wider, high-quality availability of alternative protein meats, including fish.
Golden Shears cancelled due to covid restrictions
Staff reporter
NEXT year’s Golden Shears, which was to be held in March, has been cancelled because of restrictions and the unknown future caused by covid-19.
Event administrator Deb Keats said the difficult decision was made at the event’s recent AGM.
“One of our many reasons was that we could not possibly present our prestigious event in the manner we aspire to with the current restrictions and the many checks that would have to be put in place,” Keats said.
“Our major consideration is the welfare of all our volunteers, competitors, spectators, sponsors and service providers.
“As this event is staged indoors, this increases the demands we need to follow in order to keep everyone safe from the pandemic.
“We consider our decision as being responsible to all people involved with Golden Shears.”
Keats said organisers are now preparing for the 2023 event.
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