Farmers Weekly NZ January 18 2021 by AgriHQ

17 Water supply reform coming Vol 19 No 2, January 18, 2021

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Shipping disruptions continue Neal Wallace

neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz

XPORTERS scrambling to find containers and shipping space are being warned the issue is unlikely to be resolved for this year’s peak export season. Shipping rates to New Zealand have increased fourfold since April, access to shipping containers is being hampered by port congestion caused by resurgent global demand some vessels are not backloading empty containers.

It is serious and likely to go on for at least the first quarter of this year and into the second quarter. Rosemarie Dawson CBAFF The problem has been accentuated by industrial action at Australian ports and capacity issues and a skilled worker

shortage at the Port of Auckland. “This is proving disruptive to the NZ supply chain with congestion and gaps in schedules increasing landside costs and putting pressure on service levels,” Kotahi, NZ’s largest containerised exporter, chief executive David Ross said. In a podcast to shareholders, Silver Fern Farms (SFF) supply chain manager Dan Boulton says key ports in China, the UK and North America were congested or closed due to congestion, disrupting global shipping schedules and forcing some ships to bypass NZ ports. Ross says the value of strong strategic partnerships was coming to the fore during this crisis. “Working collaboratively with our customers and partners, we have been managing this situation for a number of months and continue to operate at close to 99% container availability with good access to vessel space,” Ross said. Ministry of Transport supply chain manager Harriet Shelton describes the situation as the culmination of a perfect storm, which is amplified by NZ entering its peak trade season. “These international and domestic factors combine to result in a backlog in both imports and export containers, and difficulties

SUCCESS: Megan Whitehead acknowledges her achievement of setting a new solo women’s nine-hour record of shearing 661 lambs last week. Photo: Nat Wick

Record-breaking day in wool shed Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz SEVEN months of training – which meant removing bread, caffeine and sugar from her diet – paid off for 24-year-old Gore shearer Megan Whitehead, when she set a new solo women’s record of 661 lambs last week. She began the nine-hour day

in distributing empty containers around the NZ coast for exports,” Shelton said. Strong global demand for shipping has caused an increase in container base rates and

strongly in a hot Southland wool shed, clipping 153 speciallybred Snowline lambs in the first run, then followed that with subsequent runs of 132, 126, 125 and 125. The previous record of 648 was set by Waikato’s Emily Welch in 2007, and she was on hand to watch Whitehead’s successful attempt. Speaking after her marathon

the imposition of congestion surcharges. “As of December 2020, maritime freight base rates to NZ have risen fourfold since April and remain at historic highs,” she said.

day, Whitehead described the feat as unbelievable, but downplayed it saying she was one of many capable female shearers. She also spoke of her sacrifice, going to a gym six days a week even after a day’s shearing, changing her diet and spending recent months working in Hawke’s Bay and King Country to prepare.

And, trade is picking up. “For example, across the country as a whole, for the month of December 2020, full container

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

For Pania and Eugene King and their four boys, looking after Kiriroa Station, their 483ha sheep and beef farm, doesn’t stop at their boundary. The neighbouring rivers, mountains and sea – and the animals, fish and community that live there represent something much bigger in their lives. The Kings are firm believers in the importance of continuous kaitiakitanga (guardianship of the land) and manaakitanga (aroha, hospitality, and mutual respect for all). Pania (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou, Ngati Kahununu) and Eugene (Ngāti Awa) are both from farming families that taught them to look after whānau and the land, and to work hard at both. Pania was raised by her grandparents in Te Urewera, while Eugene grew up on a farm in Taranaki. “Pania and I met at a woolshed in Taupō,” says Eugene, “and now our boys are shearing too. It’s no wonder we’ve ended up on a sheep farm!” This work ethic has stood the Kings in good stead as they continuously strive to look at the bigger picture in all aspects of their life, on and off the farm. Al Brown chats with them and finds out more. Al. What brought you to this beautiful spot? Eugene: We’ve been here for about 20 years, but we originally moved from shearing to farming with my siblings and their partners. The goal was always for each family to own their own farm. It’s the best office in the world! Quarter flat, half rolling and a quarter steep to keep things interesting. It’s got taonga like the river and bush and is great farming country. Best of all, Motu is a wonderful community. Al: And how important is that community to you? Pania: It’s very important to us. We’re still involved with Motu Primary School where three of our four our boys went. Next to the school, the community has also helped establish a predator-free Kiwi creche and we’re also close to opening a tuatara sanctuary. Eugene: The Kiwi are raised within the reserve’s crèche and after being sent to hatch in Rotorua, come back to mature before being returned to their habitat in the Whinray Scenic Reserve. The school kids love it.

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Al Brown: So your boys are important to the future of Kiriroa? Pania: If they want it. I love having my boys here and they love it too. They work hard and they play hard – catching and releasing trout and eel (Kiriroa means ‘long-skin’ in Māori and is a reference to the eels), riding motorbikes, horse riding, and hunting. Eugene: The boys love the land and see first-hand the kai we produce from pasture to plate. They know we are doing our utmost to farm in a sustainable way, that’s kind to our environment and respectful to our animals. Al: Why did you get involved in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards? Eugene: We saw farmers getting rapped over the knuckles by a public that was often misinformed, when the truth is that as famers, we not only take pride in producing high quality products, but in how we grow it. Animal welfare and the health of the environment, and our communities, is all part of that. We realised we needed to share that pride and passion outside of our peers. Pania: So we said, let’s let people in to see what we do. It’s challenged us to be accountable, with the awards acting as a review of what we’ve done, how we’ve done it and providing a clear view of how we want to continue on. Al: Well whatever you’re doing must be working, you’ve won a few! (5?) Pania: We’ve been very humbled by our success with the awards, but more importantly they’ve given us the confidence to lead by example by passing our knowledge onto others. Al: Tell me a bit about the kinds of things you’ve done on farm to protect the environment?

No.4

Pania and Eugene King and whānau. Sheep and Beef farmers, Kiriroa Station, Motu, East Coast.

WITH

Eugene: We’ve gradually fenced off our waterways, and retired some land to create a weka wetland to enable the birdlife to thrive. We’ve completed some big erosion plans and planted a lot of young natives. Pania: That has been our journey so far and it is work that has been done over many years and with a lot of helping hands. But we’re not unique – there are so many other farmers doing the same, and more – or concentrating on different things in their own ways that promote good, healthy practice. They should all be celebrated. Al: Ever take a break? Pania: We’re pretty careful that work doesn’t dominate our life. Wellbeing is one of the keys to success. Eugene: I’m probably happiest escaping to the Mahia Peninsula for some diving and fishing. We only ever take enough for a feed. That’s the way I grew up and it is the way my boys have been taught. There are even a few pāua if you know where to look, Al. Tangaroa still provides but we have to look after him!

Eugene: Roast lamb is unreal, but a Sunday roast hogget with all the trimmings can’t be beat. Al. Ok so who’s coming over to share dinner with you? Pania: Sir David Attenborough to share his knowledge and stories – and I know that another entrant you spoke to said the same thing! Great minds think alike. Eugene: Eddie Murphy. Laughter is good for the soul. And you Al – to cook dinner for everyone because I’m not much of a cook! Al: You heat up the oven, I’ll start peeling!

Al. I’m so jealous! Now this will be a hard one but what’s your favourite food off the farm? Pania: We call it the shearer’s breakfast – mutton chops, bubble and squeak, spaghetti and fried eggs! When we’re really busy, you can’t beat it. The boys and I love it.

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

NEWS

40 Lamb sales fetch decent premium

The struggle to keep lambs through until midJanuary has been worth it for farmers in the Mackenzie Basin selling at on-farm sales this week, with lambs fetching a good premium on preChristmas values.

REGULARS Newsmaker �� 20 New Thinking �� 21

7 Riparian planting project grows Farmer-led freshwater improvement projects, like the one enhancing the Manawatu River near its source, have gained financial support from the latest round of funding from the Manawatu River Leaders Accord.

Editorial �� 22 Pulpit �� 23 Opinion �� 24 World �� 36 Real Estate �� 38-32 Tech and toys �� 33 Employment �� 33 Classifieds �� 33 Livestock �� 34-35 Weather �� 37 Markets �� 36-40

13 New year, new higher milk

14 Partnership to foster rural

ANZ Bank has begun 2021 with an increase of 50c in its forecast of this season’s farm gate milk price, now $7.20/kg milksolids

Two new scholarships are being offered to help develop rural leadership in the Whanganui region.

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

World-first for Beltex-Merino Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz BELTEX-MERINO cross lambs made world history when they sold at the Simon’s Hill on-farm lamb sale last week. The Beltex, primarily bred in New Zealand for its meat producing genetics, has now hit the ground running with potential also for good wool value. “This is a world-first and we are pretty chuffed with how these lambs have sold today,” Beltex NZ director John Tavendale said. “If high country farmers want a terminal sire that will draft lambs quickly, then it appears the Beltex has got quite a lot to offer. “The muscling out of the Beltex has added a lot to the Merino carcase, now we’ll have to see what it can do for the wool.” Simon’s Hill in South Canterbury has been owned and farmed by the Fastier family since they shifted from Central Otago in 1994. While the Merino ewes and SuffTex-Dorper ram have been a successful cross, the opportunity to grow lambs out and more quickly had Fastier keen to trial the Beltex over the Merino. “I think it could catch on and bring a good alternative to the Merino industry,” Fastier said. Continued from page 1 imports were up 18.7% on December 2019 levels and full container exports were up 3.5%,” she said. “Empty container imports were up 17.5% on 2019 levels. “Nonetheless, significant supply chain risks remain as a result of the backlog, including empty containers stuck in Auckland depots. “This could impact exporters around the country in the coming peak growing and export season.” Meat Industry Association

“I only ever thought of the Beltex as a terminal but our Merinos are super fine, so there’ll be no question about the wool being fine enough to make good money.

I think the real value is adding meat to the Merinos, but combined with the white wool, it can only increase the value. John Tavendale Beltex NZ “We only did this out of interest, but it (Beltex) has proved itself to be as good if not better than we do now. “If there’s a terminal sire for the Merino industry then a highyielding Beltex sire will have much to offer Merino breeders.” Tavendale believes the wool prospect is exciting. “The advantage is white wool eligible for smart wool contracts,” he said. “I think the real value is adding meat to the Merinos, but

chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says the supply of refrigerated containers is tight, but companies are managing the situation. Central to that was careful planning of livestock flows into plants and product going out. “It is also important for farmers to plan ahead as much as possible when dispatching livestock to processing plants and to keep talking to their processors,” Karapeeva said. Custom Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association (CBAFF) chief executive Rosemarie

HISTORY: PGW livestock agent Bruce Dunbar, Simon’s Hill station owner Glenn Fastier, Beltex NZ director John Tavendale and PGW livestock auctioneer Joe Higgins check out the Beltex-Merino cross lambs.

combined with the white wool, it can only increase the value.” “The potential is there and all anecdotal evidence we are getting back is really good.”

A total 504 of the Beltex-Merino lambs were sold, all at around 80 days old, with an average weight of 27kgs, selling at $3.30 a kilogram.

Ranging in price from $120 for the tops down to $71 for smaller lambs, the average price at $84.45 compared well with other much older lambs sold on the day.

Dawson says the seriousness of the disruption should not be underestimated. “It is serious and likely to go on for at least the first quarter of this year and into the second quarter.” ANZ agri-economist Susan Kilsby says delays getting product into and out of certain ports, including in China, is increasing shipping times and prompting customers to stockpile product. “There have been some concerns that buyers may have

stocked up on product to limit upside price risks and to ensure they have sufficient supply on hand to counteract any logistical challenges, suggesting weaker demand ahead,” Kilsby said. NZ dairy product is still getting to markets due to strong ties between Kotahi, which includes Fonterra and international shipping company Maersk. Kilsby says port congestion means it is taking longer for ships to unload goods and in some cases goods are being diverted to alternative ports.

Shelton says Ministry of Transport officials are leading an intergovernmental group of officials, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry for Primary Industries, NZ Trade and Enterprise and Customs, to monitor developments and assess how the Government can assist. It is also working with agencies to assist Ports of Auckland with work visas and immigration processes to fill shortages of skilled labour which has created a logistical pinch point.

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Waiting for a ray of sunshine Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz SUMMER is a long time coming for Canterbury arable farmers waiting to get their crops off the paddocks. While little bits of harvest have been done here and there, there are a few farmers getting itchy feet as they wait for the sun to shine, arable industry grains vice-chair Brian Leadley says. “It’s a case of grey overcast days, the ground is full of moisture from the rain over Christmas and New Year, and that’s holding humidity levels up,” he said. “There’s been a handful of harvesters going in earlier – grass crops and a bit of dryland cereal done, but that’s about it. “We need to see the sun with some heat in it all day.” Seed storage and dressing companies are reporting little crop delivered, many nothing, as yet. If the conditions come right from now, Leadley expects it could be a very tight harvest with the pressure coming on machinery in a short window of opportunity. “I’m still comfortable harvest is looking to be good, but clover and crops such as rape on the ground now, really do need to see the sun,” he said. Most other crops are not coming to any real harm just yet. “Summer usually comes somewhere in the season, we just hope that’s very soon,” he said.

“There is a lot of harvest capacity about – when the weather does come right, it will get done quickly and if we get the weather right, it’s still looking to be a reasonable harvest. “Most crops are holding well in the meantime.” Looking for the blue sky and waiting for the sun is frustrating, Mid-Canterbury cropper Andrew Fisher says. “We got the fescue done okay, but we’ve got Nui on the ground, cut now and past ready to get off the ground – these overcast days are not playing the game,” Fisher said. He says the Christmas rain has taken the edge of what could have been particularly good yields. “Crops were looking good, we had high expectations, but that rain with no sun is really doing some damage,” he said. “The Nui is disappointing, we’ll be lucky if we get even an average yield, it’s not coming off as the crop looked. “Hopefully this is not an indicator of what the rest of the harvest is going to be. “There’s a bit of sprout in the clover, we lost the early flowers with the rain, so we are relying on the second flowering now and there’s a bit of late disease coming on the heads in the wheat.” It is early days yet for the vegetable seed crops and potatoes, but they are looking good at this stage. “We don’t want any more rain, we want to see clear sky

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RELIEF: Mid-Canterbury cropping farmer Andrew Fisher welcomed the sun to get his Nui grass crop off the paddock. Photo: Annette Scott

Crops were looking good, we had high expectations, but that rain with no sun is really doing some damage. Andrew Fisher Farmer and sun all day,” Fisher said. Down the road in South Canterbury it’s a mixed bag with the weather bringing in some crops much earlier than expected.

The dry winter and first half of spring, followed by 80ml of rain over Christmas and New Year, is playing out on the harvest, Federated Farmers arable industry chair Colin Hurst says. “We started in ryegrass on New Year’s Day – that would be the earliest ever, but that’s the impact of the dry earlier,” Hurst said. While ryegrass crops have certainly taken a hit, the oil seed rape has gone all right. “We got four tonnes to the hectare, so I’m pretty happy with that considering how dry it’s been,” he said. “Winter wheat is going to be 10 days earlier than normal, we should be in that this week if the

sun is out, but I expect that will be 20% back on yield and that’s the result of the dry.” Reports of winter barley have surprisingly gone all right at eight to 10 tonne a hectare. But it has been devastating for the farmers struck by the hail. “There are farmers who have lost up to 90% of oil seed rape that was on the point of harvest,” Hurst said. “The hail belt hammered about seven farmers, severely damaging brassica crops and wheat with expected losses up to 20%. “We (Feds) and the rural support trust are offering support to these farmers, it’s just been so devastating for a few of them.”

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Riparian planting project grows Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz FARMER-LED freshwater improvement projects, like the one enhancing the Manawatu River near its source, have gained financial support from the latest round of funding from the Manawatu River Leaders Accord.

So far we have planted more than 10,000 plants and done two sessions with Norsewood and Districts School about the awa and local fish life. Arapera Paewai Te Karu Hapu Collective The Manawatu River Road enhancement and access project, jointly run by Norsewood dairy farmers Blair and Penelope Drysdale and Te Karu Hapu Collective, received a grant for the third year running to continue planting and enhancing the river near its source and enable public access for community and school groups. The funding for phase three of the project will go towards more plants and weed control, as well as work on developing a parking area

for buses that bring school and other groups to the location. The project started when the Drysdales moved to the area from Pahiatua in 2018 after buying the property they now farm. After initially concentrating their riparian planting around the farm, they decided to widen their focus to the banks of the river that forms one of the farm boundaries. They were put in touch with Te Kauru Hapu Collective project administrator and coordinator Arapera Paewai and together, with the help of local school children and community volunteers, they have planted thousands of native plants across about eight hectares so far. Penelope says she and Blair were passionate about native plants before they arrived in the area and one of the farm’s goals is to help regenerate a thriving ecosystem, so the project just made sense. Many of the plants have come from Kauri Park nursery in Palmerston North, although the plan is to establish their own small nursery on the farm to grow infill plants. Paewai says it’s a special project that has brought together the whole community. “So far we have planted more than 10,000 plants and done two sessions with Norsewood and Districts School about the awa (river/stream) and local fish life,” Paewai said.

SHELTER: The area also features an information whare, which was installed as part of the Tu Te Manawa project.

TEAMWORK:Penelope and Blair Drysdale, with children Bille, six, and Joe, four, with Arapera Paewai, in some of the earlier native plantings that are part of the Manawatu River Road enhancement and access project.

“The banks of the awa were infested with blackberry, broom and cotoneaster, of which we have cleared 4-5 kilometres. “There is a completely different atmosphere around the awa now with the community, hapu and schools able to park and walk down to explore, do water monitoring and reconnect with their awa.” Nine projects were awarded about $89,000 in grants between them in the latest funding round. The Manawatu River Leaders’ Accord runs a contestable community funding programme once a year with the support of Horizons Regional Council. In 2018 the fund was expanded with help from the Manawatu District Council and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), through the Freshwater Improvement Fund. Horizons group manager natural resources and partnerships Dr Jon Roygard says the grants aim to assist non-profit organisations such as community groups, schools, catchment care groups and iwi/hapu with projects that will help increase engagement with Manawatu catchment waterways and improve water quality.

Farmers leading the way OTHER farmer-led freshwater improvement projects financially supported by the latest round of Manawatu River Leaders Accord community grants included the following initiatives. Seeing, understanding and believing: KapAg managing director Terry Parminter is facilitating a project within the Nguturoa Stream catchment near Linton, where farm plans are being developed and water sampling is occurring, among other things. The funding will enable community meetings and workshops to share information and lessons learnt from sampling. Source of Kiwitea: Mike and Lindsay Will have retired the head of a sub-catchment in the Kiwitea area and are undertaking planting and pest control work to restore the gully head back into native vegetation. It is the second year this project, which involves the local school and community,

has been awarded funding. Waoku Stream Restoration Project: For riparian fencing and planting work along this waterway in the Koputaroa catchment, with the support of the landowner Daniel Okano. Nguturoa Stream Restoration Project: For riparian enhancement work including fencing, planting and weed control. This aligns with the wider project that is being undertaken in the catchment with the local community. Sites for restoration work will be identified through this larger project work. Bioreactor and wetland development at Te Maunga Farms: To construct a bioreactor and further investigate the wetland design. Te Maunga Farms is part of the Upper Manawatu catchment group and is keen to share its findings with the local community and other farmers. The project is also supported by Massey University.

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Pest control bid rejected Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz AN APPLICATION to prevent a possum control programme on a block of land in Hawke’s Bay has been dismissed in the Maori Land Court. Last year an Ospri-backed control programme on the 15,000-hectare Tataraakina C block was put on hold after trust member Nigel Baker applied to the court for an injunction preventing what was described as further damage and injury to the block and associated wahi tapu sites. Baker opposed a proposal by Clinton Hemana, the Tataraakina C Trust’s responsible trustee, designed to control bovine TB emerging from the block. The proposal had two parts: firstly ground control in the western and eastern areas of the block where overgrown tracks would be cleared and secondly, an aerial drop of 1080 over the remainder of the block, which is difficult to access by ground. Baker objected to the track clearing because of the impact that would have on areas of cultural significance. He was also concerned that 1080 would harm Tataraakina’s environment, with waterways, fish and birds poisoned by the drop. He says the proposed poisoning would breach the terms of the Nga Whenua Rahui Covenant and that there was an overwhelming lack of support from the block owners for the proposal. Instead, he called for a landbased trapping programme. Ospri subsidiary TBfree’s chief adviser Mark Neill told the court that using only ground-based control methods in the area over

10 years would cost more than $22 million. A sole aerial programme over the same timeframe would cost about $2m, while a combined aerial and ground approach, like the one proposed, would be about $6.7m for the same period. In his recently released reserved decision, Chief Judge Wilson Isaac noted that two previous applications – in 2004 and 2009 – for an injunction to stop planned aerial 1080 operations were unsuccessful. In 2004 the court found that a clause in the trust’s order gave trustees the authority to deal with the land as if they were the absolute owners and that the Nga Whenua Rahui Covenant did not prohibit the distribution of 1080 on the land. Isaac says nothing has substantially changed in the trust deed or covenant since the previous application. “The Trustee is acting lawfully and within the powers of the Trust and the Kawenata (covenant). There has been no unlawful act to cause injury to the land in terms of the trust or the Kawenata and the application must therefore fail,” he said. In assessing the impact of the proposal on the environment, Isaac says the Nga Whenua Rahui Trust favoured Hemana’s proposal on the basis that the benefits of a 1080 aerial drop are well established, and that the current Hawke’s Bay TB outbreak is a serious matter and must be addressed and effectively controlled. It is confident that, given the terrain of the block, aerial distribution of 1080 is the most effective technique. Isaac says it’s also important to acknowledge that Hemana did

POISON: The proposed pest control programme will target possums by using 1080.

These owners emphasised the combined effort required across the board for the eradication of pests to stamp out bovine TB throughout Hawke’s Bay. Chief Judge Wilson Isaac Maori Land Court not accept Ospri’s preferred aerial approach to pest control on the Tataraakina C block, and instead looked for a solution that would not only be environmentallyfriendly, but also protect wahi tapu on the block, resulting in the combined aerial and groundbased approach. Baker’s submission that there was overwhelming dissent by

the block’s owners also failed to satisfy Isaac, who said at a special meeting held in August 2020, of the block’s 1143 listed owners, 18 voted against the proposal and 15 voted for it. “The trustee must consider what will be in the best interest of all owners, not just those who vote,” he said. “The Court has heard comprehensive evidence from owners and representatives of both Tataraakina C and neighbouring blocks who have indicated their support for the aerial drop proposal. “These owners emphasised the combined effort required across the board for the eradication of pests to stamp out bovine TB throughout Hawke’s Bay.” Isaac noted that this was the third application of its kind to injunct the trustee from exercising their powers under the trust order. “Should there be another application, there will be an order for security for costs before that application proceeds,” he said.

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Ospri general manager of service delivery (North Island) Daniel Schmidt says Ospri was not party to the court proceedings, but it acknowledged the court’s decision and continues to work proactively with the trust on the next steps to prevent the further spread of TB. “We remain vigilant and concerned about TB in Hawke’s Bay and we will continue to undertake ground-control operations to manage the risk of TB spreading in the region and to reduce the number of infected herds,” Schmidt said. It is not clear when the Tataraakina C block control programme will begin, but in response to a question about whether it would be delayed until winter when there would be less food available for possums so they would be more likely to take poisoned bait, Schmidt says the effectiveness of control operations in the area is not significantly affected by season and available food supply for possums.

News

10 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

More ag challenges ahead Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz AGRICULTURE has performed well during the covid-19 pandemic, but briefing papers to the incoming Cabinet ministers warns the outlook is challenging. Most primary sector businesses were deemed essential and continued to operate during last year’s alert levels three and four, while also maintaining the confidence of New Zealand consumers. But the pandemic has created what the briefing notes call “significant challenges.” These include operation and production constraints due to safe operating practices, supply chain disruptions, falling and changeable demand across markets, especially foodservice, and the inability to access critical foreign workers. The assessment is included in briefings to Primary Industries and Land Information Minister Damien O’Connor, Environment Minister David Parker, Forestry Minister Stuart Nash and Climate Change Minister James Shaw. The papers warn the global recession will weaken consumer demand and soften prices affecting agricultural production and trade volumes unevenly, “with uncertain timing and magnitude.” “Despite this uncertain and challenging outlook, the agriculture sector’s performance over the past few decades through several shocks and downturns suggests it will play a critical role to NZ’s economic resilience and recovery, as it has done previously,” the brief said. The sector is on the road to becoming more environmentally sustainable and the Government’s focus needs to be supporting the implementation of land use practices to protect the climate, water, soil and biodiversity. “Change is well underway within the agriculture sector, including on the focus areas of climate change and freshwater,” it said. The briefing documents also reveal O’Connor faces further unspecified decisions

WARNING: The briefing papers to the incoming Cabinet ministers warn the global recession will weaken consumer demand and soften prices affecting agricultural production and trade volumes unevenly.

Despite this uncertain and challenging outlook, the agriculture sector’s performance over the past few decades through several shocks and downturns suggests it will play a critical role to NZ’s economic resilience and recovery.

on the operation of the Taratahi Agricultural Centre, which was placed in liquidation in December 2018. Similarly, Parker faces decisions on the allocation of freshwater resources. The size of the agricultural sector is also detailed. Agriculture employs 283,000 people or one job in nine; sustains 60,000 enterprises; generates $40 billion in export revenue, which has grown at 4% a year since 2010, while occupying 26.8m ha, about half NZ’s land mass.

The dominance of log exports was graphically illustrated in the briefing on the forestry sector. In 2009, 25% of forestry exports were sold as logs, and that increased to 55% in 2019, with China buying 80% of all forestry exports. Domestic wood processing has remained flat with the number of mills shrinking from 252 in 2006 to 150 in 2019. The area of new exotic forestry is increasing. In 2019, 22,000ha was planted, equivalent to 0.3% of the area of sheep and beef land, with planting concentrated on several districts with cheap, less productive land. “At a national level, afforestation is projected to continue,” the document stated. “Under current policy settings, MPI projects between 0.74 and 1.46 million ha of additional afforestation out to 2050. “This could offset between 26% and 51% of projected gross emissions in 2050.” MPI director general Ray Smith warns forestry planting incentives have grown NZ’s carbon sink, but its role in meeting climate targets will become limited and still require economy-wide emission reductions.

Treasury is due to report on the effectiveness of 2018 changes to the Overseas Investment Act which streamlines the land purchasing process for foreign forestry investors, and a decision is due this year on whether to continue with the billion trees planting incentive programme. Smith’s briefing singles out initiatives requiring further work such as the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund, efforts to resurrect the use of strong wool, working with Maori, growing trade, the He Waka Eke Noa agreement to cut agricultural greenhouse gases, and emissions trading and action on freshwater. The briefing on rural communities states that the 2017 reintroduction of the Rural Communities portfolio has increased the scope of MPI’s commitment to primary industries to include a rural proofing policy lens when considering Government policy. MPI is reviewing the rural proofing policy and will report to Cabinet in June. Also in June, MPI expects to complete a review into recovery assistance decisions for farmers following climatic events,

natural disasters and biosecurity incursions. Two rural community policies that will be a focus are improving internet connectivity and support for mental health and wellness. The briefing document acknowledges communities will need additional help from the effects of land use change which could lead to the loss of jobs, services and social cohesion. “There is an opportunity to work with and alongside rural communities to identify how community aspirations for the future can be realised,” it said. “Identifying what matters to each community allows us to respond to challenges by considering specific mitigations, including potentially publiclyfunded investments.” The Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill, which will end the tenure review of Crown Pastoral Lease Land, is still before a select committee. The briefing from Land Information NZ (LINZ) says if the bill proceeds and tenure review is ended, a consequence will be that the Crown will be a longterm owner of 1.2m ha of the South Island and landlord to 165 pastoral lessees.

Environment taxes considered by Govt Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz FARMERS have long feared the cost of agriculture being included in the Emissions Trading Scheme, but they may also have to deal with a future tax on waterways pollution. Environment Minister David Parker picked up the revenue portfolio when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced her Cabinet appointments following the election.

Treasury’s briefing papers to the incoming Minister of Revenue lists the development of environmental taxes as one of three pieces of tax stewardship and strategic issues it has underway. The papers say that New Zealand currently collects a very low share of revenue from environmental taxes and that the Treasury is involved in developing a cross-agency framework for that form of tax.

Environmental taxes are also mentioned in the Inland Revenue briefing papers. They say one of the key issues in the Tax Policy Work Programme to be considered during the next 18 months is the role of environmental taxes and what an environmental tax framework should look like. An update report to ministers was planned for late last year, with a consultation document expected in 2021.

POSSIBILITY: Treasury’s briefing papers to the incoming Minister of Revenue lists the development of environmental taxes as one of three pieces of tax stewardship.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

SWAG is ready to tackle 2021 Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz THE Strong Wool Action Group (SWAG) tasked with lifting New Zealand’s strong wool industry out of the doldrums has kick started the new year on a positive footing. Since putting the call out in November for financial support, industry contributions have now reached more than $500,000. SWAG, established and incorporated late last year, is targeting a $3 million working budget to fund identified opportunities that will increase the demand and value of NZ produced strong wool. The company aims to raise $700,000, matched with the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) funding, will secure a total operational budget of about $3m. Key seed funding was initially secured from five major meat processing companies with contributions over recent weeks from many national wool interest groups putting the company on track to achieve its $700,000 funding target. Several larger farming operations have all come on board. “We are very pleased with progress, we are moving with pace and everything is gearing up for the new year this week,” SWAG chair Rob Hewett said. “Securing this important industry funding puts us in a strong position to execute the essential strategy we have developed and is a reassuring vote of confidence in SWAG’s strategic approach.” San Francisco-based IDEO, a global research company creating change through design thinking, has been appointed to undertake consumer lead research in the US as the first stage of the company’s “outside in” strategic approach. The research work stream will commence this week with the project expected to be complete by the end of March. Hewett says there is a lot to understand and learn from how the covid era has impacted on consumer behaviour. “We will work with their project team to ensure we capture and clearly understand the market insights,” he said. The second stage of the strategy will be about interpreting the IDEO research and building specific business cases that are desirable, feasible and viable, and can achieve scalability in their use of NZ strong wool on a global basis. “A number of these initiatives are already underway in NZ and with SWAG’s input, we want to amplify their effort and pathways to market,” he said. “We have thrown the boomerang up and we are waiting for it to come back.” SWAG is in the advanced stages of recruiting a business analyst who will be responsible for developing specific business cases to the point of being ready for new industry-commercial investment. This work will commence in late April. The importance of a wool accreditation scheme responsive to increasing consumer demands for sustainable brands offering traceability, animal welfare accountability, environmental impact, and land management, is being considered as a point of differentiation for NZ strong wools, which can also deliver price premiums for growers. The accreditation scheme will be complimentary to and leverage off the Farm Assurance programme

STRENGTH: SWAG chair Rob Hewett says securing important industry funding puts it in a strong position to execute the essential strategy it has developed.

already familiar to sheep and beef farmers. “We are keen not to reinvent the wheel,” Hewett said. SWAG is working closely with the Government and financial support from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFFF) has substantially amplified what it can achieve.

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News

12 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Carbon market to escalate in 2021 Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz THE new year promises to bring intense activity to New Zealand’s carbon trading market with new auction activity and investor interest picking up fast. 2020 closed off with NZ carbon units surging to a new high at $38.10 a unit, well ahead of the year’s starting point of $28.60 and significantly above the prelockdown low of $22.10. With the price cap of $25/unit lifted to $35 mid-year, analysts are anticipating the values will continue to surge further still. The CommTrade carbon trading platform has best offers for April next year at $38.90, rising to $41.05 by April 2024. But analysts maintain prices may yet move beyond the $50/unit mark, as market dynamics shift this year with the Government entering the market with quarterly auctions of additional carbon units. Carbon trading company Carbon Match’s director Lizzie Chambers says now that the market price has been above $35 a unit on a sustained basis, large unit holders will be inclined to roll them forward rather than quit them, while the auctions introduce another level of tension to prices. “Three years ago we were in a $20 a unit market and now we have seen units change hands at more than $38 a unit, it’s been an incredible run,” Chambers said. A couple of factors have driven up prices in the past year. “Forest owners are simply not as keen to sell their units. They are tending to hold onto them, and often owners include investors with diverse portfolios who see

the very low return they will earn if the money is only in bank deposits,” she said. “Meanwhile, we’ve seen likes of Financial Times describing carbon prices as a ‘one-way bet’.” The NZ scheme remains a domestic-only market, but with the Government set to become the biggest actor in that market with the introduction of quarterly auctions soon, Chambers says volatility is likely to increase.

Three years ago we were in a $20 a unit market, and now we have seen units change hands at more than $38 a unit, it’s been an incredible run. Lizzie Chambers Carbon Match To date, supply to the 10-yearold market has been dominated by forest owners. Another factor contributing to tight supply and higher prices is tough new penalties for miscalculating forestry carbon liabilities or inaccurate emissions returns. These are prompting many landowners to hang onto carbon units. In addition, she says greater awareness of the need to deal with global warming, and carbon credits as an instrument to help that has become more ingrained and more politically mainstream in NZ. The result over the past few years has been an almost doubling

of carbon prices in the New Zealand Emission Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) . A so-called cost containment reserve also comes into play this year with the $50/unit mark a trigger to prompt the Government to add more units to the market to help dampen prices. However, Chambers says if bidders are prepared to pay over $50/unit at auction there is nothing to stop the values surging further. “It only takes one big entity to turn up and corner the market. But no one will know where the auction will clear until the auction is over,” she said. The volume of units surrendered under the ETS last year was approximately 40 million units, with about 20% of those purchased from the Government at the fixed price option that moved from $25 a unit to $35 a unit for 2020 liabilities. By contrast, the scheduled auction volume to be sold quarterly throughout the 2021 year will be 19 million units, a considerable percentage of expected annual compliance demand. “We are likely to see the market become more volatile, and depending upon who turns up, the auctions could well be a catalyst for higher prices,” she said. Chambers says while agriculture is outside the ETS for now, it could change in the future, and rising carbon values only create greater opportunity for dry-stock land to drop out of use and into carbon forestry. She hoped the future of forestry’s role in government policy on carbon reduction would become clearer in February

GROWTH: Carbon Match director Lizzie Chambers says NZ’s carbon market is likely to continue heading upwards.

with the Climate Change Commissioner’s report due then. OM Financial director of commodities for carbon trade Nigel Brunel says while it can be difficult to compare international carbon units, NZ’s do appear relatively cheap on the world stage. European units are priced at about 33 Euros a unit ($55.76). He says with the Paris Accord in play and the requirements it brings on carbon reduction, it was likely prices would continue to rise. Ultimately there may be a linking of units between countries, providing further upside to NZ unit value. This is, however, dependent upon Article 6 of the accord coming into play, requiring an accounting framework for international linking of emissions trading between two or more countries.

He says farmers considering planting trees for carbon could grow it for about $25 a tonne, so prospects for profitable returns were good in this environment. Graham West of Bay of Plenty Farm Forestry says in general farmers were not that well informed about the carbon opportunities available, with wariness from farmer groups and less than complete communications from the forestry sector itself. “With investors like the NZ Carbon Forests involved it is signalling to farmers the smart money is seeing opportunities in carbon,” West said. He has been working with dairy farmers who are starting to realise emissions need to be dealt with. “There are some early adopters in this area. We have run some days on how permanent forestry could offer some opportunities,” he said.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Winter grazing costs rise Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz WINTER grazing prices for dairy cows are rising in Southland and Otago as farmers make changes to meet new freshwater regulations. Adapting to those new regulations does not appear to have caused a reduction in graziers for the coming winter, but an Invercargill farm consultant warns that may not be the case in future, as they will require resource consent and face more stringent conditions. “In the medium to longterm there is going to be pressure on dairy winter grazing,” AgriBusiness Ltd farm management consultant Deane Carson said. The regulations were announced in September and some of the winter grazing policies have already been reviewed by a governmentappointed working group which made recommendations prior to Christmas. A government spokesperson says ministers have welcomed the group’s report and are awaiting further advice from officials, which will be considered early this year. Carson says it was too early to accurately quantify dairy cow wintering costs for the coming year, but farming leaders have heard of increases for the coming winter of up to $1.50 per cow per week. Otago Federated Farmers dairy

section chair Luke Kane says he has heard some graziers were increasing prices in part to reflect tougher rules for intensive winter grazing. He has not heard of any exodus of graziers. Hadleigh Germann, his Southland counterpart, agreed saying higher grazing costs reflected uncertainty and the perceived costs of meeting new freshwater regulations.

In the medium to long-term there is going to be pressure on dairy winter grazing. Deane Carson AgriBusiness Ltd “That whole space is quite frustrating,” Germann said. Some of the high fees were to fund portable water troughs and back fencing on grazed crops. Germann says some dairy farmers are looking to exploit a loophole in the regulations that allow cows to be intensively grazed on pasture with baleage and silage. Regulations as they are currently written exclude the pugging rules on pasture that apply to crops, but the Government has said it will plug that loophole.

Carson is aware of many farmers experimenting with crops and feeding systems to try and adhere to the regulations and avoid the need for resource consent. “They are trying to find better ways using a bit of theory and logic,” he said. Carson says the higher regulatory threshold means fewer landowners will be able to provide dairy support in the future. “The pathway is extremely difficult given the regulatory threshold,” he said. “It is a matter of time before pressure will come on to the dairy support.” A wet summer means crop yields were looking exceptionally good and he did not expect there to be any feed shortage. Meanwhile, the Government is still to announce its response to recommendations from the intensive winter grazing working group convened last year to make the implementation of its policies workable. In its report released prior to Christmas, the group recommended the removal of pugging and replanting date conditions and instead identifying and protecting critical source areas such as swales or gullies where runoff accumulates prior to entering waterways.

The group also recommended changes to the slope rule, including removing the requirement to determine the mean slope of a paddock and replacing it with a specific maximum slope of 15 degrees. It also wants an interim approach to the certified freshwater farm plan introduced, what it calls an Intensive Winter Grazing Module, which would make winter grazing a permitted activity if the farmer is undertaking best practice.

PREMATURE: Invercargill-based agribusiness farm consultant Deane Carson says it’s too early to accurately quantify dairy cow wintering costs for the coming year.

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New year, new higher milk price Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz ANZ Bank has begun 2021 with an increase of 50c in its forecast of this season’s farm gate milk price, now $7.20/kg milksolids. It is the first big bank economics team forecast to go above $7 – ASB, Westpac and Rabobank are currently at that level.

BOLD: ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby is the first analyst to suggest a farm gate milk price above $7 this season.

After Global Dairy Trade (GDT) prices increased by 3.9% in the first auction of the new year, NZX senior analyst Amy Castleton’s computer model of the milk price went to $7.36. Both the new ANZ forecast and the NZX estimate are near the top end of the current Fonterra milk price range $6.70 to $7.30. The advance price schedule on which dairy farmers receive their monthly milksolids payments is now based on $7, with a good prospect of an increase in early March. ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby says the milk price prediction was firming up because 70% of the products from this season’s New Zealand milk supply will have been contracted. The rising value of the NZ dollar will not impact this season’s milk price but will hold next season’s forecast to $6.40. Milk supplies around the world are modestly increasing but rising demand has matched the supply improvement. “We do remain cautious about the longer-term outlook and still see scope for dairy commodity prices to soften in the second half of 2021, which will impact the milk price for next season,” she said.

European Union, Australian and NZ milk supplies are forecast to increase 1%, but that rate of growth can be absorbed by demand growth. These are weather and yield-related increases, not expansions of the cow herds. Milk supply growth in the United States is higher but presently being absorbed by food welfare programmes containing liquid milks, yoghurts and cheeses, committed out to April. Kilsby says dairy products sold steadily through the pandemic, helped partly by their longer storage lives. This means dairy products retain their value, should they be delayed by shipping and port disruptions. The prospects of disruption might have caused some buyers to stockpile and limit upside price risk, which would then raise the possibility of compensatory slumping demand in future. “It is not clear at this stage if any significant stocks of product are being stored in-market, but the strength of demand evident at the first GDT event would indicate otherwise. “Buyers were still very keen to secure product – particularly product contracted for immediate supply,” she said.

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News

14 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Orchard investors dig deep for SunGold Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz LOW deposit returns and buoyant prospects in the kiwifruit sector have resulted in an orchard investment group hitting and exceeding its first-round funding target this month.

The lower deposit returns are driving investment strongly, especially for this demographic that may have been reliant upon term deposit incomes. Dominic Jones Origin Capital Partners Origin Capital Partners (OCP) launched in November aiming to

initially raise $50 million in its first round of funding to help finance the purchase of SunGold kiwifruit orchards . “We got to $50 million before Christmas. Funding close off is the end of January and we think we will end up closer to the $80$90 million range,” one of the company’s principals Dominic Jones said. The group has also secured four orchard properties for purchase; two in Bay of Plenty and two in Gisborne. One Gisborne property is an 11ha green-fields orchard site, while the other properties are established seven to nine-hectare properties. “They are all good sized properties and have record volumes of fruit on them this season,” Jones said. The group is also considering two other properties, including one in the Kerikeri district. Origin has been established with the sole initial goal to purchase only SunGold kiwifruit

orchards, but will consider branching into other land based activities at a later date. With funding secured for properties, the group aims to raise 50% of the required orchard values in debt, which is about the industry average. This will be secured over the land itself rather than the company’s cash assets. Jones says the typical investor profile has been older investors with a rural background seeking somewhere to invest that delivers a return better than historically low bank deposit returns. Typical investment amounts have ranged between $500,000 to $1 million, and the oldest investor is 93. “The lower deposit returns are driving investment strongly, especially for this demographic that may have been reliant upon term deposit incomes,” he said. Cash returns on SunGold orchards have ranged from 1013% for the heavy cropping, highvalue fruit.

REAPING IT: Origin investors are seeking returns better than the historically low rates now obtained in fixed-term bank deposits, says partner Dominic Jones.

It is also showing good cropping capacity in areas where Green fruit may not be so prevalent, including parts of the East Coast and in Northland. However, investment costs are high for this variety, with Zespri SunGold licences selling for $400,000 a hectare last year, before land and infrastructure is even factored in. A further 700-plus hectares are due for SunGold licencing tender again later this year. Jones says the group may

consider the new Red variety at some later date, but this crop still carries some risk given its newness, and some issues still to be dealt with around cropping volumes and fruit quality. Meantime, it remains focused on SunGold orchard opportunities. “We have not made a decision yet after this first round how much we will raise after that, but we have had no difficulty finding the orchard assets nor the investors for them,” he said.

Partnership to foster rural leadership

GIVING IT BACK: Alliance Group chair Murray Taggart says while they acknowledge the support the Government provided during the covid crisis, it is now in the position to settle the full amount.

Alliance Group to refund full wage subsidy grant Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz ALLIANCE Group Ltd (AGL) is to refund $13 million in wage subsidy grants it received last year as part of the Government response to assist businesses through the covid-19 crisis. Alliance has already repaid $21m of the $34m it received, but retained the balance as it assessed the impact of the crisis on its accounts and whether that

would meet the Government’s criteria. Chair Murray Taggart announced just before Christmas that it will now refund the full amount it received to the Ministry of Social Development. “From the outset, Alliance has been clear that we would only use the wage subsidy in the way it was intended by the Government and our previous repayments reflect this commitment,” he said. “Following the filing of

our company accounts (in November), the Alliance Board believes the co-operative is in a position to repay the remaining balance. “We acknowledge the support and certainty the Government provided to help us keep many of our people in jobs.” Separate to the wages subsidy, the co-operative has retained $1.9 million in Leave Support Scheme payments for employees required to self-isolate or were unable to work, he says.

TWO new scholarships are being offered to help develop rural leadership in the Whanganui region. Whanganui & Partners has entered into a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust to offer the scholarships, worth $2500 each, annually to build entrepreneurial capital in the region’s food and fibre sector. The scholarships will be granted to Whanganui residents or scholars who directly contribute to the region’s agribusiness sector, who are undertaking a Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme or a Nuffield Farming Scholarship. Whanganui & Partners strategic lead for agribusiness Colleen Sheldon says the partnership aligns with the agency’s aim to deliver a thriving and resilient regional economy. “Whanganui’s strong primary sector heritage fits well with the Kellogg and Nuffield programmes, which have created positive change in agribusiness and rural communities for generations,” Sheldon said. “It is enormously important that we support rural leadership development so our region’s agrifood sector is in the best position for the future.” The Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme has a national focus and provides participants with skills and confidence to work strategically. It is run up to three times a year with 24 participants

NURTURE: Whanganui & Partners strategic lead for agribusiness Colleen Sheldon says the new scholarships will help to support the development of rural leadership in the region.

in each programme. Nuffield Farming Scholarships, which have an international focus aimed at keeping NZ’s food and fibre sector at the global cutting edge, are awarded to five people a year. The Whanganui & Partners scholarships will be administered through the NZ Rural Leadership Trust, allowing recipients to reduce their course or travel costs. Whanganui & Partners is the economic development arm of the Whanganui District Council.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Daigou trade dragging A2 down THE a2 Milk Company (a2MC) is stuck with a systemic problem of reliance on daigou trading of infant formula to Chinese consumers, analysts say. Just before Christmas the company substantially downgraded its revenue guidance because covid-19 disruptions had impacted daigou sales revenue. The daigou channel consists of Mandarin-speaking agents buying infant formula cans in Australia and couriering them to customers in China. It accounts for half of total infant formula sales for a2MC, some $745 million in FY2020.

The daigou channel has allowed a2MC to rapidly scale up its move into the Chinese market, however the flipside of this equation has been a relative lack of control over the supply channel. Mohandeep Singh Craigs analyst The company has been trying to diversify away from daigou, but it remains a profitable way to attract customers as new mothers come to need infant formula. Craigs analyst Mohandeep Singh has called the daigou channel a double-edged sword for a2MC. “The daigou channel has allowed a2MC to rapidly scale up its move into the Chinese market, however the flipside of this equation has been a relative lack of control over the supply channel,” he said. It appears the loss of sales due to the disruption in the daigou

channel has not been offset by increased sales in other channels. Singh says the outlook is uncertain given regulatory risks, political tensions and closed borders. A2MC seems to be facing declining demand and loss of market share overall and it is unclear when or if this will reverse. Forsyth Barr senior analyst Chelsea Leadbetter says the sharp and protracted downturn in daigou sales was not being made up in other channels. While the much lower recent share price made a2MC a good punt, the forward path was not likely to be smooth. “Channels to market are opaque, the geopolitical risk is higher and the company’s credibility is dented,” Leadbetter said. A rebuild in market confidence will take time, but a2MC does have a large cash balance that could be used for a share buyback. She says a2MC appeared to react to a downturn in daigou sales by putting more products into the cross-border e-commerce alternative channel, but this made the diagou margins worse for the sole operators. “Price discounting on some platforms created even more pressure on daigou margins,” she said. The daigou practice began in the wake of the melamine horror in China in 2008, when expatriate shoppers in Australia and New Zealand bought our unadulterated infant formula cans and sent them to family, friends and contacts in China. NZ’s Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) then made the exporting of infant formula in any quantities subject to export licencing, which cut out the private operators. With the huge growth of trading websites such as WeChat, the Australian diagou trade expanded and became semi-structured, from which a2 infant formula sales soared.

PREMIUM: A2 Platinum infant formula sells in China for more than twice the retail prices in Australia and New Zealand.

Before covid-19 impacted travel there were an estimated 150,000 daigou traders in Australia, a guess that appeared to include pretty much every student supplementing their allowances and funding their studies. Larger internet operators bought supplies from Australian wholesalers such as Chemist Warehouse, where a2 Platinum Toddler stage 3 is currently advertised at $33.49. But a potential customer comments that it is always out of stock. The going rate for a 900g can in China is equivalent to A$90, so a good margin can be made after the freight is paid. Daigou traders don’t have a good public image as they are often blamed for stripping supermarket shelves of the latest must-have products and even causing panic buying episodes. One Australian commentator said, “these shelf clearers are a highly organised and malignant global syndicate.” Another consumer said: “Sorry a2 and other organisations like yourselves, but I’m

“It can say it doesn’t want infant absolutely grateful that hordes formula to come in through the of shoppers aren’t descending post for whatever food safety on supermarkets and stripping reason,” he said. shelves, leaving regular He thought that travel for consumers desperate to get a education was not going to normal volume of their preferred resume quickly and that other product.” destinations than Australian One NZ sales consultant in would be preferred. China said a2MC was being challenged by other a2 products and differentiation would be difficult in the future. “Daigou is good for small companies AWDT Next Level 2021 just getting Your community and sector needs change-makers started, but a big – women ready to make a positive difference for the company like people and places they love. a2MC shouldn’t In 2021, is that you? be using it any Run by our friends at @AgriWomensDevelopmentTrust, longer,” they said. Next Level is a six-month leadership and governance The Chinese development programme empowering you to make a positive impact in your world. government Registrations are now open – the first step on your didn’t like losing journey to understanding your ‘why’ and building the the sale taxes or mindset and skills to make change happen. import duties and Learn more at https://www.awdt.org.nz/programmes/ could crackdown next-level/ on the trade in many different AWDT Understanding Your Farming Business 2021 ways. There’s a place for you in your farming business; A place

Masterton Saleyards to be upgraded THE Masterton Saleyards are getting an upgrade after not being used since the first covid-19 lockdown. Co-owners PGG Wrightson and Carrfields Livestock Limited felt it was time to assess the future of the long-standing Wairarapa livestock selling centre. Having considered all the options, they have agreed to a capital investment to right-size and upgrade the sale yards. PGW general manager livestock Peter Newbold and Carrfields general manager livestock Donald Baines said “this recognises the importance of the selling centre to the farmers in Wairarapa and we’re

pleased to announce this upgrade.” The upgrade will include installing a new effluent and storm water system that will meet consent requirements, plus an upgrade of the selling centre rostrum and associated walkways. Given lower overall stock numbers being sold through the yards, areas no longer required will be demolished, but there will still be more than enough capacity to meet demands in the foreseeable future. Work commenced at the sale yards in early December and all things going to plan sheep sales should commence early this year.

Agrievents

where you feel confident, where your passion inspires you to learn and your voice matters. Let’s find it! Back by very popular demand, Understanding Your Farming Business (UYFB) – from our friends @ AgriWomensDevelopmentTrust – equips women in the sheep, beef and dairy farming sectors with the skills and confidence to fully participate in their farming business. Launching with a new ‘hybrid’ face-to-face and online programme structure, it’s about learning what drives your farming business, developing the confidence to step-in to decision making and connecting with likeminded local women. Registrations are now open. Join the 2,200 Kiwi farming women who have graduated from UYFB and sign-up at https://www.awdt.org.nz/programmes/uyfb/ Thursday 04/03/2021 – Saturday 06/03/2021 The Golden Shears The Golden Shears has become an inter-nationally recognised competition for its quality and excellence in the skilful art of shearing and wool handling. The three days of competitions encompass open shearing, wool handling, wool pressing as well as the coveted triathlon award. Where: 2 Dixon Street, Masterton Time: 8.00am – 5.00pm For more information: www.goldenshears.co.nz

PLAN: The Masterton Saleyards’ upgrade will include installing a new effluent and storm water system that will meet consent requirements. Photo: CarrfieldsNZ/Twitter

Should your event be listed here? Phone 0800 85 25 80 or email adcopy@globalhq.co.nz

LK0105355©

Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz

RIGHT? THAT’S ALRIGHT! NOT ALL

5 ways to wellbeing

Neil Bateup, Rural Support Trust

Goals had to be fair to our employees as well as us!

Start the year by making memories you can look back on throughout the years…

We have always set targets and goals in our farming business. We would set 1 year, 5 year and 10 year goals and had a plan to help us achieve them. Our farming team and family have always been a big part of this. Goals had to be fair to our employees as well as us! Planning professional goals was always the norm but over recent years we have learnt how important it is set goals and make plans for our wellbeing too. After all, people are our greatest business asset. Remember to celebrate the “wins”, take time to reflect on what when went well along with lessons learnt. You should be proud of the things you achieve.

Goal setting Keeping your year on track by setting some reasonable goals for yourself and/or your business can motivate you when things are a bit tough. Don’t make them too so small that they’re too easily achieved or too large that they overwhelm you. They need to be just right. Some tips on goal setting can be helpful.

For Example:

our 1. Wr iteowyn – goals d e date s wit h sogmet t ing f or done t he m aid to 4. Don’t be afrbe par t ask ot her s toset t ing – of your goal member s maybe familyer s can se e or your wor kt hat would somet hing ur life in help move yodir ect ion t he r ight

2. Put them somewhere you’ll see reasonably often – on the fridge, in your bathroom or set alarms on your phone or calendar to remind yourself 5. Be kind to yourself - sometimes things happen in life and you need to adapt or change your goals. That ’s okay – go with the flow and set a new one that works better

3. If your goals are likely to rely on the actions of others – let them know so that they can support you

Don't forget to plan breaks with family and extended whānau!

pa 6. Set tuim e to r la u g e r r goals r eview eyroualone, or – eit hh ot hers wit

0800 787 254 www.ruralsupport.org.nz

rural people helping rural people

Planning your own wellbeing checklist Often we expect our wellbeing to take care of itself, but like everything else in life, it's more likely to happen when you plan for it.

When you’re busy, it’s easy to overlook both our physical and mental health. Setting up good habits or making plans to support your wellbeing is important and the start of the year is a good time to do that. Some ideas are below for how to keep your health and wellbeing in check; Commit to bringing wellbeing activities into your daily routine. A healthy breakfast, a daily walk, early nights and joining a singing, dancing, craft or book club are all easy ways to care for yourself every day. Think about how you might be able to give back to others in an ongoing but not onerous way. How about offering to help set up a community function or give time to a local team or group school? Not only are you helping others, but it also helps you feel good. Build relaxation into your week – something you do that you enjoy – whether it’s visiting friends or taking a break; being part of a sports club or taking the kids to the local pool. Give your mind a rest as well as your body.

If you’re struggling for whatever reason and you’re worried about how you’ll get through another year, then make a commitment to talk to someone about this. It could be a family member, your GP or a mental health or addiction helpline.

Remember that you matter and asking for help is a sign of courage, not a sign of weakness.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Water supply reform coming Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz MAJOR reforms proposed for the water supply sector will pose significant implications for irrigation schemes that provide domestic water supply. The new Water Services Bill currently before the Government’s Health Select Committee sets out new regulations that will need to be followed by rural agricultural drinking water supplies. The reforms are designed to provide clear leadership for drinking water regulation through a new dedicated regulator. They will also strengthen compliance, monitoring and enforcement related to drinking water regulations and equip the new regulator with the powers and resources needed to build capability, support suppliers of all kinds to meet their obligations and take a tougher, more consistent approach to enforcement where needed. While the detail is not yet clear, the reforms will be significant for some irrigation schemes and rural communities, Irrigation New Zealand policy manager Elizabeth Soal said. “We are not entirely clear on what the reforms will mean for irrigation schemes providing drinking water, and for rural

MURKY: While the detail is murky, IrrigationNZ policy manager Elizabeth Soal says major drinking water reforms will be significant for some irrigation schemes.

community drinking water supply,” Soal said. “Just how the definition of a drinking water supplier will play out we don’t know for sure yet, but these are major reforms and we are expecting significant impact.” The Water Services Bill has been introduced as part of the broader package of the Government’s Three Water Reform programme that has seen the establishment of Taumata Arowai as the Crown agent to provide objectives, functions, operating principles

and governance arrangements, including the appointment of an independent board and Maori advisory group. Taumata Arowai will become New Zealand’s dedicated regulator of the Three Waters – drinking water, wastewater and stormwater. Former Environment Canterbury chief executive Bill Bayfield is the establishment chief executive for Taumata Arowai. Bayfield will lead the first six months of going live as the new drinking water regulator with his

fixed-term appointment set to finish on December 31 this year. The board will then consider a permanent appointment for 2022 and beyond. From mid-2021, Taumata Arowai as the regulator will administer NZ’s drinking water regulatory system promoting drinking water safety and help build and maintain capability among drinking water suppliers across wider industry. The reforms come following the Havelock North drinking water contamination event in 2016 that drew the nation’s attention to the gravity of the problems facing drinking water in New Zealand. About 5000 people became ill, with four deaths associated with this event. The economic costs of the event have been estimated at $21 million. The subsequent Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry found the contamination was a result of systemic failure across service provision, regulation and source protection. This Bill comprises a significant part of the Government’s response to the inquiry report and is modelled on the core fundamental principles of drinking water safety as identified by the inquiry. “We will be looking at quite a different approach to what has been, there will be a whole

new range of duties, power and functions on water suppliers in the future,” she said. “The bottom line is to protect public health.” All drinking water suppliers will have to be registered under the new Act with the new drinking water standards, including a whole raft of new compliance, risk assessment, management and reporting practices. “Currently irrigation schemes delivering drinking water do this through the district council, we are not sure what status schemes will have as a supplier under the reforms, either way the new regulations will have significant implications,” she said. Rural properties with their own individual domestic self-supply, such as a bore or rainwater, will not be affected. IrrigationNZ will be consulting with schemes and all affected members in the next couple of weeks. “There are significant changes, with potential major implications for those involved with the drinking water sector,” she said. “We want to make sure we consult widely with the irrigation sector before we formulate the industry’s submission to the Health Select Committee.” Submissions close on March 2. Soal said this shows the pace of regulatory reform is not letting up.

Exploring deer velvet health benefits A NEW deer velvet project recently approved for research could provide evidence that velvet extracts can boost immune response. Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) markets manager Rhys Griffiths says the research is planned to determine whether velvet can boost innate immune cell function in humans. The project comes under the post-farm segment of the new co-innovation model for deer research. It is one of the industry’s projects recommended in a research Learning Phase report looking at deer velvet antler and immune function. Timely as it is, the project was under investigation pre-covid. With all the talk of covid vaccines, there is plenty of attention focused on immune function, while a coincidence, the timing turns out to be excellent, Griffiths said. DINZ and AgResearch had agreed back in the pre-covid days of 2019 that immune function should be a high priority velvet property for investigation. This was after immune support, together with anti-fatigue properties, had been identified as a principal reason for consumer use of velvet in core Asian markets. “There have been small parcels of research done in this area over the years, but it wasn’t until 18 months ago that we

commissioned the Learning Phase (report) on immune function and AgResearch scientists went out to investigate,” Griffiths said. “The report was reviewed in May 2020 and in this new world, a virtual meeting with core markets in Asia and China found velvet use had increased in terms of immunity, particularly with consumers in South Korea and China.

We can’t be assured yet of an outcome but the Learning Phase looks promising. Rhys Griffiths Deer Industry NZ “We got the message that our core markets for velvet products will be very receptive to good evidence that velvet extracts could help boost the immune response when covid vaccines are given.” The Learning Phase project report details the current state of knowledge and health claims made for velvet products. It also outlines what is known about the anti-inflammatory and immune function properties of antler velvet. Four different research options that could help support health

claims for NZ deer velvet’s antiinflammatory and immune function capabilities have been identified. Compiled by a team of AgResearch scientists, the report notes that velvet antler extracts have demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects and that in animal models at least, velvet antler treatment has been shown to have immune-boosting properties. While research so far has been encouraging, Griffiths said it is now about providing evidence to support marketing claims for natural products. “All going to plan, this will help underpin NZ’s position with new rigour and confidence in the market,” he said. “We are excited about where we are at, but there will be challenges ahead. The concept of healthy functional foods can be difficult to pin down. “We can’t be assured yet of an outcome but the Learning Phase looks promising,” he said. The pathways to market for new velvet-based products with substantiated health claims are complex. “But with good science behind them, the rewards could be significant with a lift in the consumption of velvet in our core markets,” he said. The report details the experimental models used to build evidence to support claims.

Animal models are a next step in the process of assessing safety and efficacy. This will be followed by human clinical trials and that is where the biggest research investment comes as the trials need to be large scale. Much of the research supporting claims of positive biological effects from velvet has been done in Asian countries, but the report notes that the way bioactive peptides are extracted from velvet plays a big part in how they work. Four key areas of study have been identified to fill the current knowledge gaps about the extracts

and their positive health effects, especially in boosting the immune function. These include: does velvet act as an anti-inflammatory; does velvet antler improve innate immune cell function; does it improve adaptive immune cell function and is it protective against influenza. “We have all his research now approved, the work is scoped up, preparation is well underway to get the research started. Griffiths expects the research work will take about 12 months. “This time next year, we would hope to have a paper published,” he said.

STATUS QUO: A report compiled by a team of AgResearch scientists details the current state of knowledge and health claims made for velvet products.

News

18 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Anxiety over freshwater rules Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz THE one size fits all approach of the Government’s freshwater policies may be counter to its aims of improving water quality, according to researchers. A team from the University of Otago was interviewing farmers for a study on rural decisionmaking on biodiversity issues, but such was their concern about the impact of the Action for Healthy Water rules, the researchers shifted their focus to the impact of the legislation. Associate Professor Sara Walton from the Department of Management at the university’s Otago Business School says it became apparent during the interviews that the policy would create unintended consequences. “There is uncertainty around the way the policy statement is being enacted,” Walton said. “The feeling is that the onesize blanket, top down approach will not meet the desired outcomes in terms of farm production or environmental outcomes.” The researchers have interviewed 12 farmers in Otago and they are concerned about the compliance costs of the water

CONCERN: University of Otago associate professor Sara Walton says the policy’s current approach removes the autonomy of farmers to manage their land using knowledge built up from multiple generations.

legislation, and fear they are being disempowered. Walton says the policy’s current approach removes the autonomy of farmers to manage their land using knowledge built up from multiple generations. “Reading the transcripts, farmers feel as if they have not been listened to and they feel that policy requirements are unworkable on their land, land about which they have acquired

knowledge and understanding over decades and often generations,” she said. Those being interviewed told researchers they know owners of intergenerational family farms who are looking to sell rather than try to comply. She says this could lead to corporate ownership, without the same family linkage to the land, or a change of land use to forestry, with environmental

outcomes at odds with the policy’s intentions. “As they (those being interviewed) tell us, intergenerational farmers know their land well and have been striving to farm sustainably for many years,” she said. “They still have wetlands and thriving biodiversity in some cases, but now feel they are being penalised for this.” The farmers in the study also warned that fencing off wetlands will allow weeds to thrive that had previously been controlled by light grazing. Researchers say their work suggests the policymakers do not appreciate the implications of different farm types and multiple forms of ownership and the perverse incentives that could arise for some farmers. Another issue highlighted in the interviews was concern about farmer wellbeing. This stems from stress and tension from having to comply with a policy they believe will not work, but also from being universally labelled as environmental vandals. “Everyone has been lumped together as dirty farmers and some are suffering as a result,” she said.

Survey reveals rise in NZ’s food waste Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz A SURVEY released with festive consumption in mind has revealed the level of food waste from New Zealand households is equivalent to about a sixth of every home’s food budget, with fresh produce accounting for one of the most wasted categories. The amount equated to about $25 a household a week, out of a total average weekly food budget of $150 a week. The total amount wasted each year is estimated by this research at $3 billion. Survey results were weighted to Statistics NZ household data to arrive at the estimate. The study of 1000 NZ households by food company HelloFresh found cooked food comprised 30% of waste, closely followed by 27% uneaten produce. The waste has also left a wash of guilt in its wake, with almost 80% of females reporting guilt at throwing food away, compared to an average of 73% of respondents. The main reason given for the waste was a lack of meal planning, something predominant

in single person households. However, one silver lining from the covid lockdown was the 30% of households reporting a reduction in food waste as a result of the pandemic. But the waste estimate is considerably greater than that made in earlier work by Love Food Hate Waste NZ, an initiative supported through the government’s waste minimisation programme. Done in 2015, this work identified that about 160,000 tonnes of avoidable food waste is going to landfill every year, the equivalent to about $1.2b of food a year and sufficient to feed Dunedin’s population for three years. This survey found beef and poultry totalled almost $100 million a year, while produce comprising potatoes, lettuce, apples, oranges and bananas was about $70m. The produce estimate is about only a tenth of HelloFresh’s estimates of almost $800m, or 27% of the claimed $3b estimated waste. But measuring household food waste has proven particularly

The feeling is that the one-size blanket, top down approach will not meet the desired outcomes in terms of farm production or environmental outcomes. Sara Walton University of Otago The degree of concern about the freshwater policies has prompted the researchers to seek funding to undertake further research. Walton says they want to look at alternative policy or market mechanisms, the way farmers identify with the land and how that affects their management. The research group included Walton, Associate Professor Janice Lord from the Botany Department, Dr Viktoria Kahui from the Department of Economics and research assistant Aleisha Lord. Walton says if they extend their research, they may add a mental health researcher to the team.

FINDINGS: The study of 1000 NZ households by food company HelloFresh found cooked food comprised 30% of waste, closely followed by 27% uneaten produce.

problematic, with the Love Food Hate Waste group estimating the variance between 224,000t to 500,000t a year for households. The difficulty has been compounded by NZ conducting relatively few deep studies on waste levels. Differences between the figures comes down to different methodology, with HelloFresh respondents estimating their losses, while the Love Food Hate Waste estimates are based upon 1000 bin audits in 2015. A spokesperson for Love Food Hate Waste says despite efforts by the organisation, total food waste going to landfills was estimated to have increased with population growth in the past five years. The organisation is seeking funding in 2021 to conduct another detailed survey on waste. “We believe we have a good case to get some more funding when the Climate Change

Commission comes out with recommendations, this is one of the key areas emissions can be reduced,” they said. Food waste in NZ is estimated to generate 326,000t a year of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of annual emissions from 120,000 cars. Globally food waste in 2011 was estimated to account for a third of all production, prompting the Target 12.3 initiative aimed at halving per capita global food waste at retail and consumer levels by 2030. A 2008 study in NZ estimated organic waste including food comprised 28% of landfill content. Emissions from global food waste are estimated to be the third largest source in the world, after the United States and China and four times greater than that produced by the aviation industry. Food rescue company KiwiHarvest’s general manager

Blandina Diamond says following the economic fallout of the covid pandemic, demand for food from food charities has soared. “Latest figures suggest the new normal could see increases in demand from those facing financial hardship of 40% per annum,” Diamond said. KiwiHarvest is saving 170,000200,000kg of quality surplus food every month. In 2020 The NZ Food Network was established to ensure surplus food was better targeted to needy families, and produce waste in particular was minimised. The network aims to centralise the work being done by multiple agencies around the country, providing a common point for them to source food supplies. High profile primary sector processors supporting the network include T & G Fresh, ANZCO Foods, Fonterra and Fresh Pork NZ.

AginED Ag ED

FOR E FUTURIA G R R S! U PR EN E

Volume 39 I January 18, 2021 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I www.farmersweekly.co.nz

Staying safe on your farm Do you think about how to do things safely when you are playing or working on your property? Has anyone ever pointed out potential hazards and ways to make sure you stay safe when you are out doing the things you love? We asked Harriet Bremner to share with us some of her tips on keeping safe on your farm

Conversations with kids… the ones that really matter. We want our children to grow up being adults who are able to think for themselves and make good decisions that will keep them and others around them safe, no matter what situation they find themselves in. As adults, it is our responsibility to engage in practical conversations with our children about the ‘why’ and asking them questions so that they have a full understanding of what we are saying. Questions you can ask: When you have a conversation with your children on the farm ask them some questions like this before you start the job, so they are aware of the risks involved:

"What do you think could happen if you went behind a tractor that is reversing in the yard? ”

1 Go to www.farmersweekly.co.nz 2 Find and watch the OnFarmStory of Mairi Whittle “Everything we do has a reason” and read the article “Bring on the tough challenges” 3 Where in NZ is Makatote?

Why do you neve bottles that are in r drink out of the workshop?

Before riding your motorbike, what should you dress yourself in and why? If we walked into this paddock with cattle what could go wrong? Why should you never go somewhere on the farm without talking to an adult first?

(Put a bucket in the blind spot behind a tractor and run it over showing what could DO NOT ASSUME that other children visiting your farm happen to them if they stand in the have an understanding of the dangers around them! blind spot behind machinery).

Learn at home with Gurt and Pops. Reading stories with your children is one of the most powerful tools for learning while having fun. Let books start the hard conversations with your children and visit www.gurtandpops.com to get your copies today.

N B E I IN ! TO W

‘Be Safe, Be Seen’ and the whole Gurt and Pops collection- We want to see how you stay safe on the farm. Send us in a photo of you being safe on the farm these holidays, along with your answers to two of the questions above to get yourself in the draw. Let Ted and Pops teach your children how to use their ‘Think Safe Brains’ to keep the little ones safe this summer! Send your entries to: agined@globalhq.co.nz (we will draw the winner on February 8th)

1 Go the AgriHQ market snapshot page 2 What was the South Island bull price last week? 3 How is this tracking compared to year-ago levels?

STRETCH YOURSELF: This graph shows total NZ beef exports in thousand tonnes. 1 December was a strong month for NZ beef exports. How many more tonnes of beef was exported in December compared to the previous year and the five-year average? 2 Australian beef exports have continued to contract in recent months as farmers rebuild their herd numbers. Do you think this is helping to support NZ beef? If so, why?

4 What does Mairi see as the biggest challenge of farming at Makatote?

STRETCH YOURSELF: 1 What degree did Mairi study at University? What job did this lead her to at the end of her studies? How has that experience helped her now that she is farming on her own? 2 What improvements does Mairi hope to achieve to make farming at Makatote easier? How will these help improve her farming? 3 What is Mairi’s advice to young kiwis looking at getting into farming? 4 Mairi uses instagram and other online platforms to share her farming life and connect with others in the “outside” world. She strongly believes that there is a need to share farmers stories with the urban population, to help minimise the rural/urban divide. Do you think this is important today and in the future? If so, how? If not, why not? vLet us know your thoughts at: agined@globalhq.co.nz

FILL YA BOOTS: 1 Go outside and find two different types of grass and see if you can identify them. 2 Do some research, what are some benefits of these types of grass and why would a farmer plant these? For more related content please head to our website at: www.sites.google.com/view/agined/home

20 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Newsmaker

PROGRESS: Rural Women New Zealand president Fiona Gower says rural women are also being taken more seriously because of the role they had in making financial decisions in farm businesses and in communities, but there’s still work to be done.

More than just tea and scones Fiona Gower spent four years leading rural Women New Zealand, an organisation her mother and grandmother were also a part of. Now, she tells Gerald Piddock she’s looking to spend some time at home on the farm.

T’S the opportunities and experiences money can’t buy that Fiona Gower remembers when she looks back at her four years as Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) president. Gower’s two two-year terms in the role and as a RWNZ board member ended in November. It was a lot of hard work, but there was a lot of fun along the way, she says. “If you didn’t have fun, you wouldn’t do it and I think that’s been a part of it, enjoying what we do because the people we work with and work for, we make it fun,” she said. Gower also remembers the people she met, including the Queen of Malaysia, prime ministers, the governor-general, Camilla Parker-Bowles and lots of other amazing people. “And every time you have these experiences you learn something,” she said. “A leader doesn’t have to be the best at everything but should bring out the best in their team, and hopefully that’s what I have done.” In doing so, she’s watched and supported other women at RWNZ grow and that has given her a huge amount of satisfaction. RWNZ now has a new board with Gill Naylor elected as new president. Gower has also finished up in her role on the board of the New Zealand Landcare Trust, having been president since 2018 and a trustee since 2016. She remains the Waikato Conservation Board’s deputy chair, is a scout leader at

Waikaretu, south of her home in Port Waikato, and is a lifeguard and instructor at Port Waikato surf lifesaving club. In the meantime, Gower says she is looking forward to taking a break and spending more time with her two teenage children Anthony, 14, and Emily, 16, and partner Terry on a drystock farm near Port Waikato, where he is employed as a fencer. Emily is already following in her footsteps, having joined RWNZ and accompanied her mother on events, making her the fourth generation of the family to be involved with RWNZ. Gower says Terry has been hugely supportive during her time as president. “He doesn’t always understand what I do or why I do it, but he’s happy for me to do it because he sees the value in it.” Her family has a long history of involvement with RWNZ, dating back to her mother and grandmother being members when it was known as the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers. It was changed to Rural Women New Zealand in 1999. Gower rejoined RWNZ soon after having her two children, when she lived near Piopio in King Country. “I rejoined as something to meet people and to get to use my brain a little bit more,” she said. “They saw something in me that they liked and have been really good in supporting me and helping me grow in the organisation.” Gower says she always wanted to get more involved in RWNZ,

having been inspired by members when they visited her mother when she was young. “I had no plans for where it was going to take me and it wasn’t until I started doing leadership training I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s see where this can take me’.” That training included a Kellogg Leadership Course and an Escalator programme. Gower set goals, wanting to be a RWNZ national executive in three to five years.

We want to be seen as more than being just a bunch of middle-aged farmers’ wives. We’re leaders, we’re decisionmakers, we’re involved in policy and we’re a respected voice. Fiona Gower RWNZ Then a vacancy arose on the board nine months later, which she succeeded in getting. “My 10-year goal to become president came after three years. Be careful what you wish for, is what I tell people when they’re goal setting,” she said jokingly. She says the organisation and the perception of rural women has changed immensely during her time on the board. “We’re more than just the tea and scones brigade,” she said.

“We want to be seen as more than being just a bunch of middle-aged farmers’ wives. We’re leaders, we’re decision-makers, we’re involved in policy, we’re a respected voice.” RWNZ’s membership extended beyond the farm gate. It included women in cities working in agribusiness roles or are ex-rural and want to be involved. Changing that perception and the demographics of its membership was something RWNZ had worked hard on. Rural women are also being taken more seriously because of the role they had in making financial decisions in farm businesses and in communities. In the past, that had not been recognised and it was frustrating. Gower says there was still further work to be done to change that perception. She has heard stories from members who are making major spending decisions at events such as field days and not taken seriously by businesses. “They go to buy calf meal or a tractor and the salespeople laugh at them. These women have got money and if you don’t treat them well, they’ll walk away and buy it somewhere else,” she said. RWNZ has also become a much more influential voice in the corridors of Wellington in the past few years. “We’re getting asked for our opinions and people are coming to us and valuing what we have to say because we bring a very balanced side,” she said. “We’re looking at things from a

community point of view rather than a farming point of view. It’s a different picture when you realise how many people live rurally and are not actively farming.” Gower also travelled to the United Nations as part of a NZ contingent to speak at a gathering on equal opportunities for women and human rights. While she was proud of where NZ ranked alongside other countries in regard to these issues, she realises the country still had a long way to go. Gower was also equally proud of the relationships and partnerships she has managed to build over her two terms, as well as how the profile of the RWNZ Business Awards has grown. One of her swansongs in 2020 was the Mighty Morning Tea Shout event in July, which RWNZ initiated to thank essential workers during the covid lockdown. “It was such a great event around the country. The kindness shown by our members is incredible,” she said. Gower says the emphasis on kindness was etched into RWNZ’s creed. “Our members are incredibly kind and it’s all about the giveback and supporting others,” she said. “I’m so proud of what we do when I see what we do during adverse events and people needing support. The kindness that is shown by our members is incredible. “I’m really proud of being part of the organisation. It’s been a privilege to be their face for four years.”

New thinking

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Downside of robots on-farm Most media articles on robotics in agriculture focus on the “gee whiz” aspects of the technology, but two Monash University philosophy academics have shone an ethical torch on how their future application could raise some challenges for what it means to farm. Richard Rennie reports.

T A time when New Zealand is poised for the new season’s harvest but thousands of hands short, the concept of an army of robots to harvest it all could seem an appealing one. But Professor Robert Sparrow and co-author Dr Mark Howard have attempted to look beyond the immediate economic appeal of robots. They maintain robots could risk affecting our relationship to food, nature and farming in ways not yet appreciated. The researchers presented their findings in an article in the journal Precision Agriculture in December. One of their main concerns is that the highly capital-intensive nature of robotic systems is likely to lead to ever more intensive, larger and monocultural production units. “Most proposed applications of robots are clearly an extension of existing industrial food production systems,” Sparrow said. “For people concerned about the future of food, that is the exact opposite of where we should be heading.” Sparrow challenges the claim robotics could offer a solution to staffing issues in rural areas, maintaining that having more people in rural areas can come down to a social choice, made at a government level. “One thing we have seen with covid-19 is how much scope governments have to incentivise social and economic changes. Perhaps rural repopulation could be the policy goal of governments, rather than letting the people simply leave the landscape as robots arrive,” he said. Meantime the technology, with its big-ticket price, can also mean smaller owner-operator farmers are prevented from accessing

it to assist with growing and harvesting. He points to subscription and contract conditions that could disempower farmers. Such terms require them to become reliant upon an exclusive technology, and beholden to terms and conditions that may not allow for “right to repair” or customisation for their particular farm situation. He agrees it may become a similar situation to when farmers contracting into the Roundup Ready seed crops felt they were locked into the seed technology and the company’s proprietary conditions on their use. “There is also the issue of the data collected by the technology about soil moisture, crop coverage, or nutrient levels. That is information you as a farmer may not wish to share with the companies you are purchasing inputs from,” he said. He likened it to a situation in which personal data collected by fitness devices is shared with an insurance company that might then refuse to insure the individual, based on what the data has shown. “When people have access to information it changes the relationship between parties, and not always in a good way, ” he said. Sparrow says much of the work involved a review of studies and research already completed, along with input that drew on his own background studying the role of robots in the military and in social settings. “Killing people turns out to be relatively easy for robots, and the military are not under the same budgetary pressures food producers are,” he said. He has also studied the social use of robots in industries like aged care. “My expectation is that when it becomes easier to use robots,

NOT IDEAL: Professor Robert Sparrow says there is potential for robots to undermine the human link to food and farming systems.

For countries like NZ or Australia, where provenance and the product story are becoming integral to marketing success, growing crops with robotic tech could threaten the human side of that story.

people will vacate the sector, but it is human beings that the aged want to have around, even if they are there to clean the rooms,” he said. Similarly, there is a risk that

the farm of the future will become an even more solitary place. Issues about mental health and loneliness already plaguing the sector may only multiply. For countries like NZ or Australia, where provenance and the product story are becoming integral to marketing success, growing crops with robotic tech could threaten the human side of that story. But Sparrow also says the technology could help with traceability and proof of source. “And in defence of robotics, some of the jobs on farms are dangerous, and better left to machines if possible,” he said. But the challenge is to avoid robots only contributing to

larger, more remote, corporatised farming systems by making them accessible to smaller farmers too. “Can you make them small enough, flexible enough and easy to operate, even for smaller farm owners?” he asked. Ultimately, Sparrow believes the use of robots in agriculture will both reflect and shape the way we think about our relationship to the land. The choices we make about robots are likely to determine how large the gap between urban and rural areas will grow, and the relationship between consumers and the food they buy. “Robots speak to human anxieties, and the technology is often just a conversation starter,” he said.

Golf tournament raises $64k for Farmstrong THE Norwood and Miraka Annual Charity Golf Tournament, hosted at Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary in Taupo in September has raised $64,000 for Farmstrong. Ninety-six players took on the challenging Wairakei course in sunny conditions, followed by an evening function and charity auction at the clubhouse. Norwood chief executive Tim Myers expressed his gratitude to the businesses who got behind the event. “2020 has been a tough year,

and lockdown restrictions meant that a lot of charities missed out on fundraising opportunities. We’re hugely grateful to all of the Norwood and Miraka business partners who supported the event and whose generosity helped us to raise this money for Farmstrong,” Myers said. Mental health and wellbeing is an important area of focus for the rural sector and it was a drive to be a part of the efforts around lifting wellbeing standards in rural communities that lead to the creation of the annual charity

golf tournament, according to Miraka chief executive Richard Wyeth. “Farmstrong does such impressive work supporting farmers and growers, giving them tools to help cope with the demanding and unpredictable nature of this industry,” Wyeth said. “If our ambition is to demonstrate leadership within the agriculture sector, it is important to both Miraka and Norwood that we do our bit to support rural communities, and

Farmstrong is a great channel to do that through.” Farmstrong project lead Gerard Vaughan played alongside Myers and Wyeth in the tournament and acknowledged the difference that the funds raised will make. “The money raised will mean that Farmstrong’s resources will be able to reach even deeper into rural communities, giving more farmers and growers access to tools to strengthen and maintain their physical and mental wellbeing,” Vaughan said.

Farmstrong does such impressive work supporting farmers and growers, giving them tools to help cope with the demanding and unpredictable nature of this industry. Richard Wyeth Miraka

Opinion

22 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

EDITORIAL Adapt or fall behind

T’S been 47 months since New Zealand experienced lower than average temperatures for a month. A couple of weeks ago apple and hop crops were devastated by hail, while Central Otago’s cherry crop was ruined as parts of the region got a third of their annual rainfall in a week or so. This is not normal and we’re going to have to redefine what that word means when it comes to the weather. Climate scientists say the trend of a dry north and a wet southwest, coupled with strong westerly winds is something we’re going to have to get used to. Farming’s always been at the mercy of the weather but its malevolence is growing, with more extremes every season. That has major implications for food producers looking at their long-term prospects. Water storage, intensity and land-use change all become part of the equation. In the short-term, farmers are confronted with new regulations to try and curb emissions. For some, there’ll be financial pain involved in meeting them. But it’s pretty clear that this is only the beginning and the conversation around climate change is only going to intensify. The difficulty we’ve had for some years is having a civil and respectful conversation about the problems and solutions. In drought-prone Australia farming groups have been begging the Government to do much more to curb emissions and reduce heating. But Aussie farmers aren’t singled out as the worst emitters like they are here, which of course makes having these conversations easier. It’s difficult for the primary industries to engage meaningfully when they are constantly on the back foot. Interestingly, scientists and researchers who study the climate and environment for the most part understand that it’s better to work with food producers. Those who game the algorithms of social media to get a quick pile on? Not so much. It’s long past time to put the finger pointing aside and work towards sustainable emissions reduction for the good of us all.

Bryan Gibson

LETTERS

Duck shooting should be free WE AS farmers are being held responsible for creeks and waterways on our land. While we are responsible for the stock run on our land, we cannot be held responsible for winged vermins – ducks and geese that spread E.coli in our waterways. It’s the responsibility of Fish & Game NZ. They charge $95 for a licence to shoot these flying vermin that destroy thousands of hectares of swedes and grain. No one should have to pay to partake in duck shooting; they would be doing a service and help reduce pollution in waterways. What does Fish & Game do, and how do they justify charging people to shoot ducks? What do they do for fishing that the Department of Conservation (DoC) couldn’t?

These are costs that hunters could well do without – and we could’ve done without the damage thousands of ducks did to our swede paddocks in December 2019. David Mackie Kuriwao Downs

Positive depiction of wool THANK goodness for Annette Scott. I read her front page article in the December 7 edition with interest. Then I was staggered to find two more articles on wool. Now, stories on wool are not rare but what was exceptional about these was that they did not mention the past. These stories did not chew over the same piece of gristle that has been chewed and rechewed, but all three looked

to the future with enthusiasm. For goodness sake, even Alan Emerson was cheerful and effusive about wool. The wool industry may no longer be the wool industry of old, daunted by its former success and burdened by its sustained fall, but a new industry on a new day with a new dawn. David Scobie Leeston

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Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Challenge and opportunities ahead in 2021 Sirma Karapeeva

EW Zealand’s sheep and beef sector emerged as a hero for many New Zealanders last year. The industry was classified as essential by the Government and our plants continued processing under strict operating protocols. And while the likes of international tourism and education suffered significant blows, NZ farmers and meat processing and exporting companies continued delivering for the country. The sector performed strongly, exporting almost $10 billion of lamb, beef and co-products across the globe, while at the same time taking unprecedented measures to keep our people safe. This success was in large part to the sector’s resilience and adaptability, which meant we were able to weather the covid-19 storm. The agility of our meat companies in the global marketplace and NZ’s strong trade networks through bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements also proved crucial. Fortunately, the sector regained some of its social license to operate as public perceptions of the agribusiness started to improve. Our revised red meat sector strategy, released in December, was born from the need to tackle the challenges and make the most of the opportunities facing the sector with better coordination and focus on the priority areas that matter most. The strategy sets out a clear road map to help navigate the future and ensure we stay on course. This blueprint is now more important than ever because many of the challenges that we faced in 2020 remain. As an export-focused nation, trade is of course our lifeblood. The UK has now left the EU and the disruptions in the marketplace will have ripple effects globally. Fortunately, we have been preparing for a range of scenarios since the UK voted in favour of Brexit in 2016 and had solid contingency plans ready to roll out to ensure our valuable exports to the UK and EU face minimal disruption. While we continue to strongly oppose the split of our World Trade Organisation (WTO) sheep and beef tariff rate quotas, companies have the practical tools to continue to trade under the new environment. We also have free trade negotiations in play with the EU and the UK respectively, which are opportunities to set a high benchmark for modern trade rules that encompass market access for sheep and beef products, as well as our best practice around

The

Pulpit

food safety, animal welfare, environmental stewardship and inclusivity. Unfortunately, many parts of the UK and EU are continuing to experience covid-19 lockdowns. This will impact how our products are sold and consumed. Food service channels will be disrupted once again and we will see the effect in the price we are likely to get for our exports and potentially a build-up in certain products. Similarly, there will continue to be covid-19 spikes in the US and this is likely to further impact the food service trade. It is possible we will see a repeat of US domestic production disruption as well as supply chain disruptions. China will continue to be a significant market for our sheep and beef. It is expected that Chinese demand for safe and high quality food will continue to grow as the country recovers from covid-19. Demand around the Lunar New Year holidays will be key to maintaining the current strength in this market. We are in a good position to help meet some of that demand. The whole industry’s Covid-19 Safety Processing Protocols have kept the virus out of our plants and have been instrumental in keeping our exports flowing. We now need to remain vigilant and capitalise on our excellent track record. We are planning a multi-discipline cooperation programme to partner up with our Chinese counterparts to advance the economic development of China’s red meat industry through the application of a robust, certified supply chain performance system. This is an exciting development and we hope it will lead to a stronger mutual understanding and relationship. More broadly, the work we completed with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) last year on market access analysis and prioritisation provides a solid base for maintaining and opening global markets for our products,

WORK TO BE DONE: Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says while NZ’s red meat sector fared the covid storm well, we now need to remain vigilant and capitalise on our excellent track record.

especially in these uncertain times. Domestically, last year we saw the introduction of a number of major policies around climate change, freshwater, workforce and immigration. If these are not managed carefully, they will significantly impact the sector. We are advocating for a pause on new policies to allow time for proper implementation, because in absence of that, even the best policies run the risk of not achieving the desired objectives. Despite these significant challenges, the sector is well prepared and is ready to continue to engage and partner with the Government to find practical and effective solutions. The He Waka Eke Noa Climate Change Commitment Partnership is making progress on approaches and tools to measure and reduce greenhouse gases. Independent research is being done on the carbon footprint of NZ sheep and beef to provide credible evidence to support our environmental stewardship credentials. Covid-19 saw an increase in the unemployment rate, however we are still facing a labour shortage, which needs to be tackled. Immigration is part of the solution and will continue to be important for the future prosperity of the sector, particularly in specific skills areas such as halal workers, which cannot be easily filled domestically. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) released a suite of visa extensions in December 2020. While this alleviates the immediate concerns, it is not a permanent and sustainable solution. We are also focused on workforce development to attract, train and retain skilled New

Zealanders in a wide range of roles in the processing sector. As one of the largest employers in the regions and the largest on-the-job training provider, we have a real opportunity to fix the skills gap and to work with the Government to ensure that the new vocational training system is fit for purpose. Ultimately, we have a window of opportunity to work with the Government on a workable and cost effective solution to critical workforce shortages. How the general public, both in NZ and internationally, perceives animal farming and the role of red meat in a healthy and sustainable diet will continue to warrant attention. Covid-19 has helped to draw consumers back to healthy and wholesome foods, including pasture-raised NZ beef and lamb. The opportunity ahead is to use this to our advantage and we are eagerly anticipating the results from a major new research programme assessing the health and wellbeing benefits of eating pasture-raised beef and lamb compared to grain-fed beef and plant-based alternatives. Much of the global research on the health, nutritional and environmental aspects of red meat is based on intensive grain-finished farming systems. The Pasture Raised Advantage research programme brings together leading researchers from AgResearch, the Riddet Institute and the University of Auckland, and includes two groundbreaking clinical trials to look at the impact of including red meat in a diet within the NZ context. We know there are myths and misinformation about the production and benefits of eating red meat, so we have turned to research to help bring balance

This blueprint is now more important than ever because many of the challenges that we faced in 2020 remain.

to what consumers are hearing and to help them make informed choices. This important research is supported by Meat Industry Association Innovation Ltd (MIA Innovation) and jointly funded with Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd (B+LNZ), the High-Value Nutrition National Science Challenge and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). 2020 was an extraordinary year with many unprecedented developments. It took a great deal of energy and hard work to navigate the “new normal” and we all sighed a breath of relief when the Christmas break began. And while 2021 will no doubt be different – there are headwinds ahead – we are resilient and prepared to achieve our goal of growing sustainable value together.

Who am I? Sirma Karapeeva is the chief executive of New Zealand’s Meat Industry Association.

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

Opinion

24 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Nothing short of remarkable Alternative View

Alan Emerson

I ENJOY all sports but rugby and cricket in particular. I played both at a social level well into my 60s. In both cases enthusiasm outdid ability, but I enjoyed every minute. In the case of cricket, failing eyesight meant I was a danger to both myself and everyone else on the paddock, so I gracefully retired. The upside was I became popular as an umpire, which I still enjoy. My enjoyment of cricket has increased over the decades and this year has been special. For a start, we’re now number one in the world. It’s a position I’d never thought was possible. Just seven years ago we held eighth spot. In that year we were bowled out by South Africa for a mere 45 runs. I can’t imagine that happening today, no matter how bad the track was. It’s not just the men’s game either. The women’s game at local and international level has become a must-watch. The talent there is quite amazing. I’ll certainly be following our team in next year’s World Cup to be held here. Another fact to consider is the spirit the games have been played under. Both Pakistan and the

Windies were superb ambassadors for the game. It was great to see. We’ve just enjoyed a great season of cricket locally where New Zealand played incredibly well. I spent the entire West Indian Test at the Basin Reserve sitting behind the wicket, watching every ball. Putting our 460 first innings total in perspective, we batted first on an absolute dog of a pitch. The West Indians have a great bowling attack, but what was more impressive was the commitment of our batters. The ball turned hugely for the first two sessions and it turned into the second day. In seasons past, we’d have been lucky to have made 100. With the Pakistan series we again performed superbly well in all aspects of the game – our batting, bowling and fielding were all world-class, as our status reflects. It hasn’t always been like that. The first Test I remember was against the English at Carisbrook in 1966. We had our stars Dick Motz, the fast bowler who could also bat, and Bevan Congdon, but the others, they were good players, not stars. I was also at the Basin in 1978 when we defeated England for the first time. We had a good lineup, including Hadlee, Boock, John Wright and Richard Collinge. The English team had mega stars, the likes of Willis, Botham and Boycott. Victory was sweet. Over the years we’ve had our stars, but the difference is that now we don’t have one or two

LEGENDS IN THE MAKING: New Zealand beat England in a cricket test for the first time at Wellington’s Basin Reserve in February 1978. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Over the years we’ve had our stars, but the difference is that now we don’t have one or two stars in our team, we have 11.

stars in our team, we have 11. Add to that the players in the wings like Conway, Young, Kuggeleijn, Bracewell and Sodhi, and we have an amazing depth of talent unlike any lineup I’ve ever seen. That the NZ A initiative gives them international exposure is excellent. That depth wouldn’t have

just fallen from the sky, it was developed over decades by the board and management of NZ Cricket. I can remember back in the early 2000s when the so-called big three of cricket – England, India and Australia – decided they’d do their own thing and just play each other. The remaining countries including NZ, South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan would be a second-tier competition, such was the arrogance of the three. Martin Sneddon was chief executive of NZ Cricket back then and attended the ICC meeting in London. Nobody knows what really happened, but the plan was killed and since then we’ve had a variety of top teams here, all helping to develop NZ Cricket.

If that hadn’t happened, we would never have got to the position of being the world’s number one. The best we could have realistically hoped for would be number four. Martin Snedden was chief executive from 2000 to 2007, followed by Dr Justin Vaughan until 2011 when the current incumbent David White was appointed. As well as being highly-qualified chief executives, they all played for NZ. They’ve all performed with distinction. Putting our achievement in further perspective, we have an extremely small population, smaller than the cities of Sydney, Mumbai or London. NZ has just 170,000 registered cricket players, Australia has almost 10 times as many with 1.4 million. India has 20 times our players, with over three million. That makes our achievement of going from eighth to first in the world in just seven years nothing short of remarkable. I went to the NZ Cricket website to check out NZ Cricket’s board members. The chair is Martin Snedden and the president since 2016 has been Debbie Hockley. They are a highly-qualified, extremely diverse bunch who are obviously extremely focused. They’re an incredibly successful board and a role model for sport and business alike.

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

US political drama is far from over From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

IS THAT the last we are going to hear of Donald Trump? I doubt anyone thinks that. His impeachment for incitement of the insurrection which saw the mob of his followers storm Congress and lead to five deaths has been so surreal that no script writer could have written anything that bizarre. He becomes the first president to be impeached twice. Most of us can remember the drawn-out process as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives impeached Bill Clinton in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice. The Senate acquitted him as happened to Trump in 2019 when he was impeached the first time. Clinton’s impeachment backfired on the Republicans as Clinton had one of the highest approval ratings ever at 67% at the end of the impeachment process

and when he finished his eight years, he was still polling at 65% approval by Americans. The only people to lose their jobs were Republicans who lost seats in both the House and Senate, although regained the presidency when George W Bush beat Al Gore by a wafer-thin result that hinged on those hanging chads we learnt about. The other president to be impeached was Democrat Andrew Johnson in 1868 who constantly vetoed the Republicans who finally reacted when he fired one of his own Cabinet members without approval from the Senate. The fired guy then locked himself in his office and refused to come out, showing now is not the first time US politics has had weird twists. Johnson, however, did do the deal of the century when he bought Alaska off the Russians for a meagre $7 million. Who would have thought all that ice and snow hid such riches? The Republicans then impeached Johnson in the House but narrowly failed to adjudicate or pass sentence in the Senate by one vote. Richard Nixon was in the process of being impeached over the Watergate break-ins but when

DIVIDED FRONT: Ten House Republicans voted for President Donald Trump’s second impeachment, with one of them saying, “If this is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable.” Picture: Wikimedia Commons

the tapes of him ordering the deed were released, he resigned before being impeached. He remains the only president to have resigned. So, let’s return to our mate Trump. This impeachment business will now go to the Senate for adjudication sometime in the

next few months when Biden is president. The Democrats will have a one-vote majority because Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris has the casting vote but as we know, a two-thirds majority is needed to complete the impeachment process. Ten House Republicans voted for Trump’s impeachment with one of them, Adam Kinzinger saying, “If this is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable.” That very well sums up the whole sorry business. We know that some Senate Republicans plan to vote against Trump as well, but 17 are needed to get the two-thirds majority. If the Senate adjudicates the impeachment, then the Senate can pass a simple majority vote barring Trump from ever holding any sort of public office. This includes being a librarian, dog catcher or president. It’s quite possible that the Republicans may see this as their chance to cut Trump adrift and make sure he doesn’t seek the nomination again next time around causing chaos and further dividing their party. But then again, doing this will infuriate millions of Trump-loving and Republican-voting supporters

and split their party anyway. But what will Trump do now? I doubt he’s going to disappear and just keep working on that dodgy golf handicap of his. It’s possible that he will set up a news channel to rival Fox News for the right-wing conspiracy theorists, which would get several million followers. He would use that to keep himself in the public view and continue to fan his lie that the election was stolen, which continues to erode Americans’ faith and confidence in their own democratic processes. Or he might set up some sort of exile court down in Florida and continue to behave as though he is still a president. The Chinese, Russians and other totalitarian states, which have much to gain from a weaker and destabilised US, are loving this sad state of affairs. There is more theatre to come on this, so fear not that just because calm, old Biden is president, things will become boring in the States.

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

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

SHIFT: Keith Woodford says that in a post-covid world, the focus will likely shift from production forests to permanent forests that will be planned on the basis of never being harvested.

Pivoting to permanent forests The Braided Trail

Keith Woodford

DURING 2019 I wrote five articles discussing land-use transformation that would be driven by forthcoming forestry investments. One of the key themes of those articles was that New Zealand’s forestry policies are a mess. The rules are complex and confusing. Also, the alignment of those rules with the overall public good is at best debatable. I wrote about how policy communication by the Government has been driven by public relations spin about the so-called billion trees programme. It has been virtue signalling but little else. I also wrote that the investor focus to date has largely been driven by production forestry with that focus shaped by proximity to ports rather than the most appropriate land-use. In that context, selling carbon units has been seen as a bonus. In contrast, I suggested that the future would be dominated more by the price of carbon than the value of production forests. And I stated with some fervour that I would much prefer NZ’s carbonforestry investments to be funded by New Zealanders, with there being no need for overseas funds for forest-land development. It is now 13 months since I wrote the last article, so what has changed since then? The biggest change is that the price of carbon units (NZUs) has

risen from around $25 to $37.50 per tonne of carbon dioxide. That in itself is not a total surprise. But there is always a difference in the decision-making weight to be placed on what might happen and what is happening. So, this price rise is a big reinforcement of the upward trend. Conversely, in the past year the focus on climate change and the Paris Agreement has been dulled. This is because covid-19 has crowded out other issues. However, the Paris Agreement has not gone away. The focus will come back, and NZ has committed. In the past year I have also become increasingly cautious as to the long-term value of production pine forests. Right now, most of the trees go to China where they are used for formwork on big infrastructure projects. Then they get burned for energy. By my reckoning, the Chinese infrastructure programme may well have another 10 years to run with more roads and skyscrapers still to be built. By then, the Chinese population will be declining. There will still be more apartments to be built as old buildings are torn down, but the overall pace of infrastructure growth will by then be much slower. Hence, the demand for NZ timber will also be lower. Not everyone will agree with that perspective on future log prices. Perhaps we will find new uses for logs at a scale that replaces formwork and paper. However, I see increasing caution from investors until those new uses become embedded in the economy. More immediate, there is a flood of international capital looking for a home. This is a key reason why interest rates are so low. Look forward another year or two as covid-19 recedes, and

international investors will be clamouring for business-class seats to come, look-see and invest in carbon-trading activities. Pulling those factors together, the consequence is that the focus will soon shift fundamentally from production forests to permanent forests that will be planned on the basis of never being harvested. That means that investors can afford to look at the hinterland, without worrying too much about road access and proximity to ports.

Look forward another year or two as covid-19 recedes, and international investors will be clamouring for business-class seats to come, look-see and invest in carbon-trading activities.

The shift in thinking from production to permanent forests creates an associated shift in the financial assessment framework. In a physical sense, a permanent forest is there forever. In a financial sense, the investment is like a mine with a limited life. The value of land for permanent forests is the assessed present value of a carbon annuity that extends for around 50 years, perhaps a little more, and then stops. That is because the forest is no longer producing new carbon. The notion that a permanent forest is a short-term investment seems incongruous, but in a financial context it is true. It is a direct consequence of carbon trading being a market for carbon

sequestration, not maintenance of existing carbon. As to where these permanent forests might be located, as a starting point I went to Beef + Lamb NZ’s Sheep and Beef Survey, focusing initially on Class 3 North Island hard hill country. There are about 920 of these farms averaging 670 hectares (6.7 square kilometres) per farm and totalling about 600,000 hectares. These farms have land and buildings valued at about $8300 per hectare. This gives a gross value of about $5 billion across 600,000 hectares, something that international investors could snaffle up in a few bites. Some quick calculations suggest this hard hill-country land, at current carbon prices of $37.50 per one-tonne unit, could earn at least $750 per hectare per annum over a 50year time horizon after allowing $25 per hectare for rates, but with minimal other expenditure needed. As a comparison, these sheep and beef farms net around $330 per hectare on a similar basis. Of course, this comparison is not quite the full story. If planted in permanent trees, then the land has minimal further market value after 50 years. But this is not a big deal for international investors who have long recouped their investment and made nice profits along the way. That is the nature of any mining investment. This comparison also does not allow for sheep and beef farms providing ongoing employment, whereas carbon farming provides minimal employment once the trees are planted. Nor does it account for the fact that each hectare of these sheep and beef farms earns more than $1000 per annum of export income once the products have been processed. In contrast, the carbon farm is

providing carbon units to balance NZ’s internal carbon emitting economy, with the proceeds becoming a foreign exchange outflow if owned by international investors. These numbers illustrate that the issues go much deeper than simple cashflows. Also, when it comes to fixed assets like land, international investors may beat to a drum that does not necessarily align with the greater public good back here in NZ. Although my focus here has been on the hard-hill country, that is really only a start. Another part of the needed debate relates to natives versus exotics. The problem with natives is that they are much slower growing than exotics, be that pine or eucalyptus. Natives are also expensive to plant. No investor is going to favour natives. I often walk through a small exotic forest near my home that has an understorey of natives. It has convinced me that exotics can indeed be a transition phase. However, in my local forest the transition has been helped by man doing some plantings. Also, birds have been assisting with transfer of seed. That will not happen in a big forest. The big message of this article is not that there is a clear path ahead. Rather, exactly the opposite. That is why there is a need for an informed and wideranging debate as we search for the path that will lead to the right trees in the right place, planted and owned by the right people.

Your View Keith Woodford was Professor of farm management and agribusiness at Lincoln University for 15 years to 2015. He is now principal consultant at AgriFood Systems. He can be contacted at kbwoodford@gmail.com

World

26 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Delving into the detail of Brexit deal ON CHRISTMAS Eve, just one week before the final deadline for the end of negotiations, a historic trade deal was agreed between the UK and EU. The agreement has been broadly welcomed by the agricultural sector, because it goes further than any other trade deal in the world by keeping all tariffs and quotas at zero. But in order to take advantage of the zero-tariff, zero-quota nature of the deal, Great British goods will need to meet rules of origin requirements. This means imported cane sugar refined in the UK or basmati rice from India milled in the UK will not qualify for tariff-free access to the EU market. The elimination

of tariffs and quotas also does not remove the need for sanitary and phytosanitary checks, with frequent physical inspections and specialist paperwork required for products of animal origin. The UK had wanted an “equivalence mechanism” to be established as part of the deal, which would have limited checks to 1% of goods, similar to the EU-New Zealand veterinary agreement, but this was not included as the EU wanted more regulatory alignment in this area than the UK was prepared to concede. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has estimated that these

AGREEMENT: The UK and EU trade deal will keep all tariffs and quotas at zero.

checks and additional paperwork will add costs of between 5-8% for livestock products and 2-5% for crops, with farmers likely to bear the brunt of the expense. There is also the possibility that entire pallets or loads of product will be rejected, leading to a 100% loss. Other important aspects of the deal include specific

arrangements for the organic sector, which avoid businesses trading in the UK and the EU having to comply with two sets of rules and regulations, and an agreement to continued cooperation on antimicrobial resistance, sustainable food systems and animal welfare. There will now be opportunity for divergence from EU rules, with

the Prime Minister suggesting the UK could ban farrowing crates and slap a tariff on EU pork products which do not meet domestic standards – a move the pig industry has raised concerns about. All aspects of the deal will be up for renegotiation in four years’ time. UK Farmers Guardian

Nifty turntable prevents pipe tangles

IMPACT: Wool prices remain under pressure as a result of covid-19.

Covid hits British Wool market BRITISH Wool has announced a major cost-cutting programme on the back of an “extremely challenging” market as it looks to maximise the value of producers’ wool. Four of its grading depots will close next season: Irvine, Ayrshire; Porthmadog, Gwynedd; Stamford, Lincolnshire; and Liskeard, Cornwall. Wool will be reallocated to its eight other grading depots. The annual savings were estimated to be £1.5 million (about $2.8m) each year, or 6p-7p /kg. Despite managing to clear the 11 million kg of unsold wool British Wool held at the end of April, which had placed pressure on prices to farmers, acting chief executive Andrew Hogley

says prices were still severely depressed. “The global market faces an oversupply of crossbred wool, mainly from New Zealand but also from other European markets,” Hogley said. “Although we have seen some more positive signs in recent auctions on some wool types, carpet wools remain under a great deal of pressure.” He highlighted the contract carpet market which served the hospitality trade was “extremely depressed” due to closures during the pandemic. Hogley emphasised the service level to producers would not change. “Where we close a grading depot we intend to replace this with a new intermediate depot in the nearby area,” he said.

“This will ensure producers still have a local drop point for their wool with no onward haulage charges.” All affected producers would be contacted ahead of the new season and he confirmed they would continue to take all types of wool from any producer. He also urged producers to stick with British Wool. “Without British Wool returns for wool would be permanently low and many producers would have no market for their wool,” he said. “Rest assured things will improve and British Wool will be working hard to support the recovery of the wool trade in order to maximise the value of your wool.” UK Farmers Guardian

A NORTHERN Irish farmer has come up with an ingenious way of avoiding the stress of dealing with awkward rolls of water or drainage pipe. Donal O’Donovan had been looking for a tool to help him unfurl loops of pipe on his farm in Coleraine, County Londonderry, but found nothing on the market that suited his needs. Along with a friend, he came up with a design that allows the reels to be loaded in an upright position and then rotated through 90 degrees to sit horizontally on the central turntable. The towing vehicle then drives forward at a steady pace, causing the reel to spin and the pipe to uncoil at the rear.

It can be used to lay all types and sizes of water and drainage pipe, although a bigger 63mm water pipe requires a larger central hub to be fitted. The implement can also be used to unravel high-tensile wire. With O’Donovan’s original put to work on the farm, word got around and he has produced almost 30 in the past six months. Assembly takes roughly a day and the welded frame is sent away for galvanising before the hubs and wheels are fitted. The standard model costs £995 (about $1875), while the version suitable for bigger-bore water pipes is £1175 (about $2215). UK Farmers Weekly

ON A ROLL: The home-made structure allows the reels to be loaded in an upright position and then rotated through 90 degrees to sit horizontally on the central turntable.

World

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

British food appetite is growing BUYING British food is predicted to become more of a priority for shoppers there, according to a new report on consumer food trends. Waitrose has published its 2021 Food and Drink Report, which reflects on the way that the covid-19 pandemic has changed people’s attitudes to food and how they buy it. Its conclusions are based on the results of an independent survey of 2000 people across Britain – not just Waitrose shoppers – along with the retailer’s own sales data. The report highlights that concerns about product shortages at the start of lockdown has given the nation a new appreciation of food, with 57% of people surveyed reporting they now value food more than they did in the precovid world. This figure rises significantly among 25 to 34 year olds. It also also notes there is evidence that more people are worried about food and farming standards post-Brexit, so 2021 could be the year of them choosing to buy more British produce. More than half of the people surveyed said they would only buy meat from British-reared animals in the event of a trade deal with a country outside of the EU and 61% said they were worried there will be a rise in factory-farmed meat coming into the UK if standards are not safeguarded. “The appetite among the British public to support homegrown produce is high – standards and

There could be simple messaging instore to remind people why they enjoy meat, give them a bit of inspiration and remind them it’s versatile and convenient.

FINDINGS: A consumer report has highlighted how the covid-19 pandemic has changed people’s purchasing behaviour.

value are no longer an ‘either/or’ but part of the same package,” Waitrose executive directorJames Bailey said. The report highlights how there has been a revival in cooking over recent months, with many of the people working from home reporting that cooking dinner has become their new “commute,” providing a break between working time and home life. This has implications for the type of food people are willing to buy. For example, there has been a

rise in sales of slow-cooked meats, with sales of traditional cuts such as oxtail increasing. In fact, sales data across all the major retailers shows the homecooking trend has helped to reverse a decline in sales of meat and dairy, with products such as beef mince, chicken breast, cheese and cream showing particularly strong growth over recent months. In the 52 weeks to 6 September, sales volumes of meat, fish and poultry were up 8% year-on-year. Meanwhile, new analysis from

AHDB sheds fresh light on why sales of meat had been falling precovid. It suggests that a lack of inspiration among shoppers, rather than people consciously embracing trends such as veganism, has led to consumers “sleepwalking” away from eating meat. The research, based on data collected by analysts Kantar, shows that before the pandemic struck, 7.8m (35%) households in Great Britain had unwittingly

purchased less meat, fish and poultry products. These “unconscious reducers” were mostly people of retirement age, living with fewer people and who were less likely to want to experiment with cooking. Just 29% said they enjoyed browsing the meat aisles in supermarkets, with only 31% finding them inspiring. AHDB said the analysis showed the meat industry should focus its efforts on winning this group back as they offered a better route to boosting meat consumption long-term than those consciously looking to reduce their meat consumption. “The key thing the report highlights is those people are wanting a better in-store experience,” it said. “There could be simple messaging in-store to remind people why they enjoy meat, give them a bit of inspiration and remind them it’s versatile and convenient.” UK Farmers Weekly

Green agenda causes forestry values to soar

DEMAND: The latest UK Forest Market Report produced by Tilhill and John Clegg and Co, highlighted a 39% increase in forestry values.

COMPETITIVE bidding for forestry and woodland has seen values surge to record levels across the UK. Forestry property worth £200 million (about NZ$378m) was traded in 2020, with the average cost of a forest property more than doubling from £1.56m ($2.9m) in 2019 to £3.28m ($6.2m) in 2020. The latest UK Forest Market Report produced by Tilhill and John Clegg and Co, highlighted a 39% increase in forestry values from £11,749 ($22,246) per stocked hectare in 2019 to £15,962 ($30,223) per stocked hectare in 2020. “We have seen a truly astonishing year for forestry values,” Tilhill’s head of investment and property Bruce Richardson said. “Despite the problems with the covid-19-related restrictions, the UK forestry market has performed robustly through 2020, producing record results in scale and unit prices.

This year most properties were sold above guide price.” Demand for younger restock sites as opposed to mature forests has been higher this year, with Richardson putting this down to investor confidence in the future of the timber market. This is because improved varieties of spruce, a result of many years of genetic research, have been planted in recent years and are performing well. Other significant drivers for people owning forestry include moves to decarbonise the economy which are backed by government policy, the emphasis on renewable and sustainable raw materials and the desire for positive environmental PR. Scotland provided the largest share of the commercial forest market at 69% (by value). Planting in England has increased by 2,330ha, up from 1,420ha last year. Wales planted 80ha, the lowest annual figure seen in 50 years. UK Farmers Guardian

NZ rural real estate all positive for 2021 General confidence to invest in the rural real estate market heading into 2021 is very positive, in stark contrast to the last three years’ market headwinds. While the challenges that have been present for some time remain, particularly the uncertainty with environmental planning and bank credit, the market is responding, driven off the back of proven returns. This is reflected in the significant role our primary sector now plays in NZ’s economic recovery, as other export sectors recalibrate post the impact of Covid-19. In addition, very low bank deposits continues to drive investment from the city in favour of the country, notably horticulture. Our top five picks that will underpin the demand for land this year include: 1.

Demand for quality horticultural land will continue to outstrip supply particularly for Kiwifruit gold where momentum buying for quality orchards has yet to find a ceiling. Origin Capital Partners went to the market seeking $50m for kiwifruit investment and now expects to have $80-$90m. MyFarm had an unprecedented year in 2020 with $185m invested, most of which was in horticulture. The auction price of carbon will underpin the land market for traditional sheep and beef hill country farms as the carbon price tracks to $50 a unit over 2021. Currently, at $38 a unit up to $10 on a year ago, and demand for permanent forest land continues to exceed supply.

The Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No3) 2020 we anticipate will find support, where NZX listed companies will be allowed to go from 25% to 49% foreign ownership and rural lease terms extended from a maximum of three to ten years. Both measures would encourage new investment, retain NZ ownership/control and accelerate repayment of NZ Agri borrowing.

Irrespective of any changes to OIA policy our view is long-term leasing of NZ farms, particularly large-scale dairy farms, is likely to feature more this year than any prior period. The separation of the land-owning entity from the operations makes the land-owning entity attractive to new city investment, including an outright sale, similar to the commercial sector.

Both economically and politically, the tide is changing in favour of our primary sector. Labour has captured a significant share of the rural vote and has the prerogative now to reset the pace of change, with a more measured environmental approach, particularly the timeline to achieve freshwater standards and associated farm practices. This will underpin confidence more generally.

There are always forces at play with commodity cycles, currently its the exchange rates and the unintended quota consequences with Brexit. The biggest and most obvious however is the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on our international markets. To date, our NZ primary products have held-up well. So, as our land owners look to their own objectives and priorities for 2021, if a land sale or purchase is on the radar, rather than relying on the crystal ball and New Year predictions, give us a call. We have invested more into our rural team the last 12 months, than at any time in our 35-year history, and its showing in our results, and the confidence vendors have placed in us. Our qualified rural consultants independently assess every property, with the appropriate marketing campaign options recommended, backed by our national True Team coverage and our strategic Farmlands Cooperative partnership. Please take the opportunity to consider participating in our Autumn Rural Outlook; we sold 68% of listings presented in this format last autumn. Our Rural Outlook closes on the 26 February so don’t hesitate to get that professional second opinion, we are all back on deck and here to work through the options. Conrad Wilkshire General Manager Rural

Coming to a letterbox near you Expressions of interest for our Autumn Rural Outlook are open now, for delivery in March 2021. Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your property to 75,000 letterboxes and businesses nationwide.

Talk with your local Property Brokers Team today 0800 367 5263

pb.co.nz Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 PB046376

Te Awamutu 105 Chamberlain Road Open Day

Opportunity knocks A mid-season bonus presents itself with the emergence of a cracking little dairy unit, oozing versatility with location to boost, approx 8 km north of Te Awamutu, 18 km to Cambridge • 105 Chamberlain Road, situated on the northern edge of the Hairini and Puahue districts • 58.785 ha - two titles - mainly flat contour; sandy & silt loam soils • Currently calving 210 cows plus 65/70 calves reared on whole milk, six year average 68,288 kgMS • Extremely versatile - options include dairy, dairy support, maize growing or an easy conversion to sheep milking • Neat & tidy 16 ASHB dairy; ample support shedding • Good water, v.g. computer controlled effluent system • Four brm homestead, v.g. garaging, attractive backdrop of trees • Excellent location, access to v.g. schooling; first-class road allowing quick travel to the support centre of Te Awamutu

Auction 12.00pm, Thu 11th Feb, 2021, Te Awamutu Sports Club - Albert Park Drive, Te Awamutu View Thu 21 Jan 10.00 - 11.30am Web pb.co.nz/TWR03122

Brian Peacocke M 021 373 113

E brianp@pb.co.nz

Rotoorangi 231 Grice Road Open Day

Excellent location - excellent contour Excellent location and contour with aesthetically pleasing mature trees are some of the features of a quality dairy farm now available in the Roto-o-Rangi district, 10 km from Cambridge. • 231 Grice Road, Roto-o-Rangi, 17 km north of Te Awamutu • 100 ha - two titles; strong silt & sandy loam soils; flat contour provides for a variety of land use options • Well raced & subdivided with a v.g. water reticulation system • Calving 360 cows, 120 calves reared on wholemilk, six year average of 103,072 kgMS • 32 ASHB dairy, normal range of farm buildings plus a good functional effluent system • Two x 3 brm dwellings in good, well maintained condition • Nicely situated on a private no-exit road, 3 km from a v.g. primary school, secondary schooling and sporting facilities within easy reach, in a first-class long established farming district Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 | pb.co.nz

Auction 12.00pm, Thu 11th Feb, 2021, Te Awamutu Sports Club - Albert Park Drive, Te Awamutu View Thu 21 Jan 12.30 - 2.00pm Web pb.co.nz/TWR03124

Brian Peacocke M 021 373 113

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

Oringi 189 Gaisford Road Tender

Gaisford Road - 64 ha + 56 ha Gaisford Road provides the ultimate entry or add on to the dairy industry with 64 ha of some of best soil types in the Tararua District well supported by 56 ha of long term lease. The property has been utilised as a well established virtually self contained dairy business milking 240 cows for a 5 year average just under 100,000kgMS. Centrally located just south of Dannevirke with Palmerston North under 40 minutes drive.Farming improvements are of a very high standard with a 19 aside HB shed , purpose built calf rearing facility and various implement sheds. A four bedroom 2 bathroom brick home set in mature grounds completes a well presented package. Gaisford Road provides the astute investor a desirable mid-scale asset in a well sought after location.

Tender closes Wednesday 24th February, 2021 at 2.00pm, to be submitted to 129 Main Street, Pahiatua View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/PR80801

Jared Brock M 027 449 5496

E jared@pb.co.nz

John Arends M 027 444 7380

E johna@pb.co.nz

Peebles 261 Peebles Siding Road

High performing dairy This very productive 165.8967 ha Waitaki Plains dairy farm offers good infrastructure including a near new 34 ASHB dairy with GEA Milfos plant and ACR's.

For Sale By Negotiation + GST (if any) View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/OMR80292

No runoff is required with this huge 160x36m wintering shed which ensures very content cows with no wastage. Currently milking 450 cows producing 243,000 kgMS with 120 winter milkers. Reliable low cost irrigation applied by 70 ha pivot, 66 ha k/line and 19 ha borderdyke. Plenty of accommodation with a four brm + office home with double garage, three BR cottage and a one BR selfcontained unit. Quality sheds including six bay calf shed, large haybarn, four bay and three bay storage shed with workshop and 30 tonne grain silo and crusher. Property Brokers Pahiatua Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 | pb.co.nz

Merv Dalziel M 027 439 5823

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

FARMERS WEEKLY – January 18, 2021

Real Estate

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Opiki 579 Opiki Road

Dairy goat farm opportunity Located in the Opiki District, 93.93 hectares in three titles currently utilised as a dairy goat milking platform and producing high quality supplements. The farm is a new conversion in its fourth season with production lifting each season and the opportunity to increase further. Improvements include a purpose built 24 a-side milking shed and feed system, two 66 x 25 metre barns, converted potato shed and implement sheds plus an older style two bedroom home. This season there are 870 goats in milk plus replacements housed in the barns and Bucks outside. Supplements made on farm support the milking operation with surplus balage and hay sold, additional goat milking pellets are fed through the in shed feed system. The opportunity is available to purchase as a going concern including land, buildings, stock and machinery with a flexible settlement date.

Tender (unless sold prior) Closing 1pm, Thu 25 Feb 2021 View by appointment Mark Monckton 021 724 833 mark.monckton@bayleys.co.nz MID WEST REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

bayleys.co.nz/3100365

Excellent medium-sized Dairy Farm For sale as a going concern or land only 135 Whataroa Road, Te Kuiti

Full Information packs available from Jeni at jeni@osbornesca.co.nz or 07 873 8189

Waverley Stewart Road Two blocks - dairy, grazing or lifestyle - 85.8047ha Two blocks, with flat and easy contours, located approximately 5km from Waverley, South Taranaki on Stewart Road, with a total area of 85.8047ha.

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• 215ha dairy farm. Milking platform 209ha • 80% flat and 20% rolling contour. 85 paddocks in total. The soils are Mairoa Ash (25%) and clay/sedimentary soil mix (75%) • Milks 525 cows. Three-year average production of 165 000kg MS • 40-bail rotary platform cowshed. Waikato Plant with near new pre-cooling system • Recently upgraded effluent system • New 5-bay implement shed and four other hay/storage sheds • Two 3-bedroom houses recently painted and in good condition • TradeMe Property Number GZE631 Buyer inquiry over $6,200,000

NEW LISTING

They can be purchased individually or as one unit. The smaller block consists of 21.6633ha and the larger one is 64.1414ha. Both of these blocks could be utilised as dairy run-off’s, beef finishing, or possibly as cut and carry units. The smaller block could potentially make an ideal larger lifestyle block.

bayleys.co.nz/3001386

For Sale by Deadline Private Treaty (will not be sold prior)

12pm, Thu 18 Feb 2021 158 Wicksteed Street, Whanganui View by appointment Knud Bukholt 027 222 6161 knud.bukholt@bayleys.co.nz BARTLEY REAL ESTATE LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

1818 TAIRUA-WHITIANGA ROAD

Whitianga

1818tairua-whitianga.co.nz

Auction: Thursday 4 February 2021, from 1pm - 247 Cameron Road, Tauranga

(Unless sold prior)

SUBSTANTIAL AVOCADO & KIWIFRUIT PRODUCTION BLOCK This substantial 37ha (more or less) production block has genuine scale and diversity through a combination of 5 ca/ha mature Hass avocados trees, 11.05 ca/ha of Gold 3 and 3.5 ca/ha Green kiwifruit plantings. Located only 20 minutes from Whitianga or the quaint white sands of Hahei, Cathedral Cove, Cooks or Hot water Beach, and all the splendours Coromandel has to offer.

For further information or to inspect this exceptional horticulture property, contact Durrelle Green (The Green Team) - Orchard and Rural Specialist, today.

This premium north facing, easy to manage, flat contour, horticulture land with high-quality Waihi ash soil is well sheltered with high annual rainfall. The lifestyle here promises so much; a quality orchard experience on a substantial scale, combined with great country living on a riverside site just minutes to so many great Coromandel beaches. Sale price is Plus GST (if any).

Durrelle Green Orchard and Rural Specialist 027 949 3725 durrelle.green@eves.co.nz HMH Ltd, EVES Katikati & Waihi, Licensed under the REAA 2008

203 H OT WAT E R B E AC H R OA D W H E N UA K I T E

2 03 h o twa te r b e a c h .co. n z

Massive kiwifruit property portfolio for sale This well structured G3 & Hayward production orchard is situated at 203 Hot Water Beach Road, Whenuakite. An address conducive to holiday makers and horticulturists with a great growing climate in close proximity to Hot Water Beach, Hahei and Cooks Beach- some of Coromandelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most stunning beach destinations. Split into two separate titles. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opportunity to add an additional dwelling to one of the titles. This property has been in the same ownership for over 40 years. This orchard offers 34 hectares total land size (approx.) with 11.24 canopy hectares of G3 and 3.17 canopy hectares of Hayward kiwifruit. In addition, there is approximately 10 hectares of grazing.

DURRELLE GREEN Orchard and Rural Specialist 027 949 3725 | durrelle.green@eves.co.nz

This is an extremely tidy orchard, well set up with great assembly structures and all agbeam pergola. Currently the orchard is leased. This combination of a large scale kiwifruit orchard combined with such an idyllic location so close to so many Coromandel beaches is rare to find. Sale Price is Plus GST (if any).

Contact Durrelle today for more information or to view this stunning holding. Auction: Thursday 4 February 2021, from 1pm 247 Cameron Road (unless sold prior)

HMH Ltd, EVES Katikati & Waihi, Licensed under the REAA 2008

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FARMERS WEEKLY – January 18, 2021

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Agri Job Board

Noticeboard

GROWER HERD SUPERVISOR Paranui Piggery is a closed herd commercial piggery located 20 minutes from Palmerston North.

Ag jobs at your fingertips Connecting rural employers and job seekers - follow Farmers Weekly Jobs on Facebook and view primary industry jobs first! farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz

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Duties include nutrition and dietary formulation, grower stock care, gilt selection, adhering to regulatory breeding and farrowing protocols and general farm duties.

For further details enquire via: livestock@cabernet.co.nz

ANIMAL AND HUMAN healer, also manipulation on horses and dogs. Canterbury 18th-23rd January. Mid South Canterbury. North Otago, Dunedin area, South Otago, Gore area, Southland, Central Otago. 25th January-5th February. For more information phone Ron Wilson 027 435 3089.

ATTENTION FARMERS

The farming operation is looking to recruit a herd supervisor who has had previous experience with porcine animal husbandry.

Applicants must demonstrate their capabilities associated to the role as described in the job description.

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

JONES DAG CRUSHING. Buyers of wet and dry dags, we also buy sheep manure from under woolsheds and covered yards. Pick up service available for loose and baled. Phone Andrew 027 208 5270 FOR ONLY $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classifieds. Phone Marie on 0800 85 25 80.

BIRDS/POULTRY PULLETS HY-LINE brown, great layers. 07 824 1762. Website: eurekapoultryfarm.weebly. com – Have fresh eggs each day!!!

CONTRACTORS GORSE AND THISTLE SPRAY. We also scrub cut. Four men with all gear in your area. Phone Dave 06 375 8032.

DOGS FOR SALE DELIVERING, BUYING DOGS South & North Islands 23/1/21. www. youtube.com/user/ mikehughesworkingdog/ videos. email: mikehughesworkingdogs@ farmside.co.nz ONE 7-MONTH Huntaway dog, very good noise. THREE Heading pups. Phone 027 243 8541.

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

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

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE BELTEX ROMNEY 2th Rams for sale. Massive muscling high fertility. Phone Doug 021 0250 4996.

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FORESTRY WANTED

NATIVE FOREST FOR MILLING also Macrocarpa and Red Gum, New Zealand wide. We can arrange permits and plans. Also after milled timber to purchase. NEW ZEALAND NATIVE TIMBER SUPPLIERS (WGTN) LIMITED 04 293 2097 Richard. WORD ONLY ADVERTISING. Phone Marie on 0800 985 25 80.

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

Nominate a school on booking and we’ll donate $100 on payment of your account.

GST INCLUSIVE

✁

$3900 GST INCLUSIVE

✁

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

SADDLERY BRIDLES THREE TYPES. Heavy leather. Breastplates two types. Hobbles. Leg straps. Cruppers etc. Phone Otairi Station. 06 322 8433.

GENUINE REDUCTION

Start the New Year with someone special

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

WILTSHIRE RAM LAMBS. Good sires. Offers. Phone 027 243 8541.

FOR ONLY $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classifieds section. Phone Marie on 0800 85 25 80 to book in or email wordads@ globalhq.co.nz

12HP, Diesel, Electric Start

GENUINE $300 REDUCTION $4200

POLL DORSET CROSS ewes wanted. Phone Robert 06 756 8597.

50 TON WOOD SPLITTER

PERSONAL

0800 446 332

26 WHITE DORPER, 16 stud and 10 commercial grade, 5 and 6-yearold ewes for sale at the Taranaki Ewe Fair, Stratford, 20th January. These ewes have been inspected and passed by breed inspector. For further details and photos on sales page of ratapikodorpers. co.nz. Also two 16-month White Dorper rams for sale from website.

0800 436 566

FOR ONLY $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classifieds. Phone Marie on 0800 85 25 80.

FARM MAPPING

LIVESTOCK WANTED

LK0105684©

or alternatively email your CV to lee@schort.co.nz

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

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE

✁

Call Lee Du Preez : 021 114 1827

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

HAY FOR SALE HAY ROUNDS $75+gst; squares $60+gst. BALEAGE $75+gst. Unit loads available. Top quality. Phone 021 455 787.

Phone Scott Newman Freephone 0800 2SCOTTY (0800 27 26 88) Mobile 027 26 26 27 2 scottnewman101@gmail.com

New Zealand’s Number 1 service provider for under woolshed and covered yard cleaning since 2004

TO THAT

LK0105663©

We will provide in house training and development to support your change of industry.

GOATS WANTED

LK0105449©

TALK TO US TODAY !!

DEERLAND TRADING LTD

LK0105486©

ARE YOU A DAIRY FARM MANAGER INTERESTED IN CHANGING FROM COWS TO KIWIFRUIT?

ANIMAL HANDLING

LK0105551©

DAIRY FARM MANAGER

Livestock Noticeboard

STOCK FOR SALE 350 ROM PERE 2TH EWES

TE KUITI SELLING CENTRE

STOCK REQUIRED

MA EWE FAIR

STORE LAMBS 25-35kg

Friday 22nd January 2021 12 noon start

FRSN BULL CALVES 140kg+

340-380kg 15MTH FRSN BULLS

500kg 2YR ANGUS STEERS

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381 A Financing Solution For Your Farm E info@rdlfinance.co.nz

ANNUAL LINES to be offered 2950 x 5Yr Romney Ewes 1200 x 5Yr Coopworth Ewes 1050 x 5Yr Perendale Ewes 1550 x MA - 6Yr Rom. & Coopworth Ewes 800 x 5Yr Romdale Ewes 320 x 5Yr Highlander Ewes 330 x MA - 5Yr Wiltshire Ewes

TE KUITI EWE FAIR FRIDAY 22ND JANUARY 2021 12 Noon Start On A/c: K & D Marshall Kawautahi Road, Owhango 1600 x 2th/4th/6th/4Yr Peren. Ewes (T.B.D.) Hill Country, Proffit Bred Sheep, FE Tolerant Farm sold.

Beef up your bull knowledge Subscribe to our bull sales eNewsletters to receive updates with the latest results from across the country direct to your inbox.

Get in touch with Ella to discuss the best advertising options to suit your needs this sale season!

No shearing Very meaty Growth rate recorded Ideal for hogget mating Enquiries phone Greg or Charles 06 388 7555

6TH ANNUAL

SOUTHDOWN RAM SALE LK0105645©

Contact: Alan Hiscox 0274 428 434

For Sale Wiltshire Rams

13,710 Ewes comprising CAPITAL STOCK lines to be offered 1850 x 4th-5Yr Romney Ewes 360 x 2th Peren. Ewes (FE tolerant) 1600 x 4th-5Yr Peren. Ewes (FE tolerant) 750 x 4th-4Yr Peren. Ewes 650 x MA Romney Ewes 300 x 4th-4Yr Romdale Ewes

15MTH HEIFERS 250-350kg

On A/c: E & R Parkes Waitwehenua Road, Ohura 700 x 4th/6th/4Yr Peren. Ewes (T.B.D) Change of farm policy.

Are ewe looking in the right direction?

06 323 0761 / 027 602 4925 livestock@globalhq.co.nz farmersweekly.co.nz/advertising

Pinnacles Wiltshire 2-Tooth Rams for Sale

Friday 22nd January 2021, 1pm Inspection from 11am On Account of A D Gillespie 56 McGraths Road, Oxford

We will offer 40 Southdown Rams Contact Anthony Cox (RLL) 0272 083 071 Brent Macaulay (RLL) 0212 200 850 Aaron Leckie (RLL) 0274 730 808

• No shearing • All born twins

www.rurallivestock.co.nz Catalogues available online

LK105494©

farmersweekly.co.nz/enewsletters

Phone 06 346 6230 or 027 416 8188

Do you want the best? The latest generation Wairere ram lamb sires are available to you in February/March: Wairere has sold 17,000 ram lamb sires since 1997. Wairere Romney, Composite, FE Challenger (.55 test level), Tufguy (Texel/Romney), Wairere Merino.

Book now

0800Wairere | 0800 924 7373 North Island, Rob Stratton 027 271 0206 South Island, Andrew Herriott 027 240 0231

Success breeds success | www.wairererams.co.nz

LK0105622©

(CS & High Country)

FARMERS WEEKLY – January 18, 2021

LK0105639©

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

LK0105652©

Livestock Noticeboard

FARMERS WEEKLY – January 18, 2021

Check out Poll Dorset NZ on Facebook

Stay ahead of the rest

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

SALE TALK One day, Einstein has to speak at an important science conference. On the way there, he tells his driver that looks a bit like him: “I’m sick of all these conferences. I always say the same things over and over!” The driver agrees: “You’re right. As your driver, I attended all of them, and even though I don’t know anything about science, I could give the conference in your place.” “That’s a great idea!” says Einstein. “Let’s switch places then!”

Sign up to AgriHQ’s free upcoming saleyard notifications to find what’s on offer before sale day. Choose which sale yards you want to follow and find out the number and class of stock being entered at the next sale.

So they switch clothes and as soon as they arrive, the driver dressed as Einstein goes on stage and starts giving the usual speech, while the real Einstein, dressed as the car driver, attends it. But in the crowd, there is one scientist who wants to impress everyone and thinks of a very difficult question to ask Einstein, hoping he won’t be able to respond. So this guy stands up and interrupts the conference by posing his very difficult question. The whole room goes silent, holding their breath, waiting for the response.

Wiltshire On Farm Auction

The driver looks at him, dead in the eye, and says : “Sir, your question is so easy to answer that I’m going to let my driver reply to it for me.

9th Feb 2021 at 12pm Light Luncheon provided

Approximately

1019 Mangaorapa Rd. Porangahau

LUSCOMBE FARMING

Email: taylors@glenbraestud.co.nz www.glenbraestud.co.nz

130 x M/A Wiltshire Ewes 200 x 5yr Wiltshire Ewes 100 x Wiltshire Ewe Lambs 15 x Wiltshire Ram Lambs

Mary Taylor - Ph: 068555322 Andy & Emma Martin - Ph: 068555348

farmersweekly.co.nz /enewsletters

Terms: Cash on the day unless PGG Wrightsons current a/c holders. Eftpos available

Simon Smith, Genetics Specialist - 027 444 0733 Callum Stewart, National Genetics Manager - 027 280 2688 Sam Wright, Livestock Representative - 027 247 9035

Chrome Hills O/a Irvine Farms Ltd MR & DK Irvine Brightwater, Nelson

Tuesday, 19 January 2021 10.30am South Island Perendale & Cheviot Stud Ram Fair 11.30am & 1.00pm Gore A&P 2021 Premier Ram Auctions 1.00pm Clachanburn Elk Sale Wednesday, 20 January 2021 1.00pm Mt Cass Station, Wiltshire Lamb and Ram Sale 7.30pm Te Awaiti Perendale Stud Ram Sale For more information go to bidr.co.nz or contact the team on 0800 TO BIDR

Key: Dairy

Light lunch provided

For further information contact: Derek Mickleson 027 471 9025 or 06 388 1715 or Vendors Greg, Jocelyn and Charles Bennett 06 388 7555

WAITUI WILTSHIRE TAIHAPE

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

COURTENAY SUFFOLK FEMALE DISPERSAL SALE

WAIKATO PREMIER RAM FAIR

A/c Seaton Farming On Friday 5th February 2021 at Canterbury Park, Christchurch Viewing from 10am Sale commencing 1pm

Thursday 21st January

COMPRISING OF: 59 x 1 shr 44 x 2 shr 38 x 3 shr 15 x 4 shr 13 x 5 shr 5 x 6 shr 94 x Ewe Lambs

Meat Breeds 11.00am Wool Breeds to follow

For more information please contact:

PRELIMINARY NOTICES: McMillan Shedding Sheep - Total Flock Dispersal Thursday 18th February Te Kuiti Saleyards - 12pm 3000 Wiltshire Sheep comprising: • 950 Ewe lambs • 600 2th Ewes • 1450 MA Ewes

King Country Wiltshire Sale Friday 19th February Te Kuiti Saleyards - 12pm • 2500 Wiltshire Sheep from multiple vendors Enquiries: Marty Cashin 027 497 6414

Other

28TH ANNUAL ON FARM WEANED CALF AUCTION A/C Invernia Holdings 140 King Road, Georgetown, North Otago Tuesday 2nd February, 2021 - 1.30pm Comprising approx: • 1000 Friesian Bull Calves • 90 Friesian 18 month Bulls • 20 Friesian 18 month Steers All cattle on offer are owner bred & reared within a closed farming operation. All calves de-horned, drenched and weaned off nurse cows in December. TB Status C10. 1% Rebate to outside companies. Further Enquiries: Wayne Fisher-Hewitt 027 405 8248 Mark Yeates 027 590 4217 PGG Wrightson Oamaru

MATAWHERO CATTLE SALE, GISBORNE Tuesday 26th January, 2021 - 11am Special Entry: A/C Tangihau Stn - 200 1yr Ang Strs

90 Top rams from Breeders throughout the North Island.

Friday 22nd January - 12pm

FEBRUARY MATAWHERO CATTLE SALE

70 Poll Dorset 2th Rams 45 Suffolk 2th Rams 10 South Downs 2th Rams 20 South Suffolk 2th Rams

Brent Bougen 027 210 4698 Cam Heggie 027 501 8182 LK0105140©

This will be the last opportunity to buy rams from McMillan Shedding Sheep. They will be sold in lines to suit all purchasers.

Sheep

TE KUITI EWE FAIR

45 Dorper, Texel, Texel X, Beltex, Beltex X

Carrfields Livestock Agent: Callum Dunnett 027 587 0131

850 Wiltshire Ram Lambs Wednesday 20th January, 2021 Te Kuiti Saleyards - 1pm

Cattle

Frankton Saleyards • • • •

Courtenay Suffolk flock was first registered in 1980 and has been at the forefront of the breed for a long time. This sale gives all intending purchasers a great opportunity.

MCMILLAN SHEDDING SHEEP

JW105611©

LK0105644©

All mobs to be drafted into sale lines to suit all purchasers

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

Vendor Warwick Seaton 027 460 2276

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

FOR SALE: 700 Ewe Lambs 400 Cast for Age Ewes 20 2th Ewes 10 Ram Lambs

This is a great opportunity to buy quality females. Flock founded in 1962. Fully recorded on SIL with NZTW up to 3500. These are for private sale.

PGG Wrightson Agent: Simon Eddington 027 590 8612

Monday, 18 January 2021 3.30pm Tikana Wapiti Stag Sale

WEDNESDAY 27th JANUARY 2021 at 11am

COMPRISING OF: 80 Mixed Age Ewes 30 Ewe Lambs

Please Contact Carrfields Agent: Callum Dunnett 027 587 0131 Or Vendor: Malcom 027 422 4353

UPCOMING AUCTIONS

Enquires to: Andrew Jardine 027 397 7005

WAITUI WILTSHIRE ON FARM SALE

FOR SALE ROMNEY STUD FEMALES

NZ’s Virtual Saleyard

TE KUITI EWE FAIR 22/1/21

150 Cast for age ewes 30 Ram Lambs

LK0105670©

600 Ewe lambs, 120 2th ewes,

Helping grow the country

Special Entry: A/C Mark & Ruth Coleman (Farm Sold) Capital stock. December shorn. By Totaranui/Waimai Rams.

Special Entry: A/C Morunga Stn, Matawai

• 552 Top 4th Romney Ewes • 515 Top 6th Romney Ewes • 440 Top 4yr Romney Ewes • 323 Top 5yr Romney Ewes Enquiries: Len Sheeran 0274 735 859

• 400 2.5yr Ang Strs • 200 2.5yr Exotic Strs • 150 2.5yr Ang/Hfd Strs Contact: Jamie Hayward 027 434 7586 Chris Hurlstone 027 598 6542

Rescheduled to 16th February, 2021 - 11am

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

Helping grow the country

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Market Snapshot brought to you by the AgriHQ analysts.

Mel Croad

Suz Bremner

Reece Brick

Nicola Dennis

Sarah Friel

Caitlin Pemberton

Deer

Sheep

Cattle BEEF

SHEEP MEAT

VENISON

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

4.90

5.60

NI lamb (17kg)

6.50

6.60

7.75

NI Stag (60kg)

5.50

8.50

NI Bull (300kg)

4.90

5.65

NI mutton (20kg)

4.80

4.85

5.40

SI Stag (60kg)

5.60

8.50

NI Cow (200kg)

3.50

4.15

SI lamb (17kg)

6.40

6.50

7.70

SI Steer (300kg)

4.60

4.65

5.35

SI mutton (20kg)

4.80

5.40

SI Bull (300kg)

4.60

4.70

5.55

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

SI Cow (200kg)

3.40

3.45

4.20

UK CKT lamb leg

9.72

9.48

11.40

US imported 95CL bull

7.17

6.94

7.72

US domestic 90CL cow

7.17

6.55

8.07

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

$/kg CW

6.50

5.50

5.0

$/kg CW

4.00 South Island steer slaughter price

6.50 $/kg CW

10.0

South Island lamb slaughter price

Oct

Dairy

Aug 2020-21

Feb

2.02

2.71

37 micron ewe

30 micron lamb

$/tonne

6.00 May-20 Jul-20 Sept. 2020

Sep-20 Nov-20 Sept. 2021

Last year

Urea

619

614

616

2.65

Super

300

314

DAP

799

787

Top 10 by Market Cap 9.94

7.42

410

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd

32.28

33.87

31.9

405

Auckland International Airport Limited

7.68

7.99

7.485

400

Mercury NZ Limited (NS)

7.1

7.6

6.48

Spark New Zealand Limited

4.87

4.96

4.71

395

The a2 Milk Company Limited

11.2

12.5

11.15

390

Ryman Healthcare Limited

14.75

15.75

14.75

Contact Energy Limited

9.69

11.16

8.84

385

Mainfreight Limited

65.1

69.98

64.9

380

Infratil Limited

7.28

7.675

7.21

WMP

3320

3210

3235

400

SMP

2835

2830

2825

395

Feb-20

Apr-20

Company

Jun-20

Aug-20

Oct-20

Dec-20

4100

4050

Butter

3500

3460

3430

405

$/tonne

4140

390 385

7.09

380

Dec-19

* price as at close of business on Thursday

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

Feb-20

Apr-20

Jun-20

Aug-20

Oct-20

Dec-20

400

3350 $/tonne

3250 3200 3150

300

5pm, close of market, Thursday Close

YTD High

YTD Low

ArborGen Holdings Limited

0.165

0.181

0.161

The a2 Milk Company Limited

11.2

12.5

11.15

Comvita Limited

3.2

3.1

Delegat Group Limited

14.8

15.4

14.8

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

4.4

4.42

4.35

Foley Wines Limited

1.94

1.92

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

0.81

Marlborough Wine Estates Group Limited

0.59

0.44

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

1.62

1.72

1.58

PGG Wrightson Limited

3.32

3.46

3.26

Rua Bioscience Limited

0.57

0.61

0.56

Sanford Limited (NS)

4.9

5.23

4.9

5.05

4.88

Seeka Limited

4.76

4.9

4.7

Synlait Milk Limited (NS)

4.82

5.24

4.81

2.9

S&P/NZX Primary Sector Equity Index

15115

15491

15099

S&P/NZX 50 Index

13116

13558

13116

S&P/NZX 10 Index

13342

13978

13342

250 Jan

Feb Mar Latest price

Apr

May 4 weeks ago

Jun

200

Dec-19

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR EQUITY

Feb-20

Apr-20

Jun-20

Aug-20

Oct-20

Dec-20

YTD Low

Company

T&G Global Limited

350

3300

Listed Agri Shares

Scales Corporation Limited

WAIKATO PALM KERNEL

3400

3100

Prior week

YTD High

vs 4 weeks ago

AMF

NZ average (NZ$/t)

7.94

Prior week

7.04

Aug 2020-21

Last week

CANTERBURY FEED BARLEY

7.10

Jun

Last price*

Milk Price

Apr 2019-20

Meridian Energy Limited (NS)

Dec-19

DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) Nearby contract

Feb

FERTILISER Last year

CANTERBURY FEED WHEAT

6.50

Mar-20

Dec

Fertiliser

Aug 2020-21

Prior week

7.00

Jan-20

Jun

Last week

7.50

5.50

Apr 2019-20

Grain

Data provided by

MILK PRICE FUTURES

US$/t

Dec 5-yr ave

Coarse xbred ind. 2019-20

Oct

5-yr ave

(NZ$/kg) Jun

7.0 5.0

WOOL

Apr

8.0

7.0

4.50 Feb

9.0

6.0

8.0

5.00

Dec

South Island stag slaughter price

11.0

5.50

5-yr ave

$/kg MS

5.0

Oct

7.0

6.0

6.00

4.00

8.0 6.0

9.0

4.50

Last year

9.0

7.0 6.0

Last week Prior week

North Island stag slaughter price

11.0

8.0

6.00

5.00

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

10.0

North Island lamb slaughter price

9.0 $/kg CW

North Island steer slaughter price

Last year

$/kg CW

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

Last week Prior week

$/kg CW

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

William Hickson

Ingrid Usherwood

15115

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

13116

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

13342

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

Pulse

WEATHER Soil Moisture

Overview This week will be dominated by storms in the Southern Ocean bringing windier westerlies, periods of rain or showers and cooler/colder changes. The Southern Ocean has had a particularly unsettled weather pattern – something we exclusively forecast in November – and even though we’re now entering peak summer, there may be a few road bumps this week. Neither storm centres will reach New Zealand, they are well south, but both bring rain and showers to the west of both islands and a surge of strong west to north west winds – gale for some. Southland and Otago will have daytime maximums of just 10 or 11 degrees in some locations mid-to-late week, with snow on the ranges. High pressure returns this weekend.

Focus needs to be on the long game

14/01/2021

Mel Croad mel.croad@globalhq.co.nz

Source: NIWA Data

Highlights

Wind

Westerly winds will dominate much of NZ this week, with the windier change especially noticeable on Tuesday from the west due to another bigger low south of NZ, which will generate strong, even gale, westerly quarter winds, then a colder southerly. Calmer by Friday.

Highlights/ Extremes

Temperature More hot days coming with temperatures leaning above-average for many, but that does change this week with a much cooler change coming by Wednesday. In Southland and Otago it’s highly likely some will fail to even reach the teens by Wednesday or Thursday.

14-day outlook

An uptick in windier weather with marine and land gales coming for a time this week. Winds will mainly be from the westerly quarter, then turn colder southerly by mid next week. We may even get a dusting of snow on the Southern Alps.

7-day rainfall forecast

High pressure is fading over NZ, with low pressure south of the country dominating across this week until about Thursday. The weather pattern will be calmest in the north and windiest in central and southern parts of NZ. This week is quite unsettled for the middle of summer with a more spring/autumn look to the weather pattern. However, more settled high pressure should return by Friday/this weekend with temperatures increasing again.

100

200

400

We see showers and some periods of rain moving in from the west over the next week or so due to these Southern Ocean lows and westerly airflows. For the western side of both islands, up to about Auckland, rainfall over the next several days will be around normal for this time of year. For those in the east of both islands and from about Auckland northwards, rainfall still looks to be slightly below normal.

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

HE rate of decline of sheep farms in recent years has been swift and, in many cases, permanent. At the same time, demand for lamb or mutton in our export markets hasn’t declined. If anything, longterm demand has been on an upward trajectory. Yet that is not translating into increased confidence within the sector. We can’t create more land and those farms being swallowed up by pine trees or urban sprawl will never be returned to pasture. According to Beef + Lamb New Zealand, breeding ewe numbers have fallen by over 5 million head in 10 years. Productivity gains in lambing percentages have somewhat offset that drop, but ultimately breeding ewes are the victim of declining support for sheep. Many farmers had their chances to capitalise on record returns over the last three years, but some have endured drought while others have had pine trees dangled in front of them. It is warming to see current breeding ewes being purchased for the sole intent to breed from. Is this the start of a longer-term rebuild, or are many just replenishing numbers? Some will view lower ewe numbers, and therefore lower lamb numbers, but higher returns as a way of justifying the current state of the sheep industry. This is simply a short-term advantage, but a long-term disadvantage. China’s taste for mutton has moved up a gear, which on killing sheets is welcome when you can offload a cull ewe and replace it with a young 2th or experienced breeding ewe for not a lot more. It’s a viable way to replenish flocks and improve productivity. But this can only be achieved if replacements are bred. If China’s demand for our sheep meat is stronger than our desire to ensure the survival of our breeding flock, then we are in trouble. Some will question the industry’s reliance on China – simply put, if China is demanding our products it lifts the game of other key markets. It’s time to start understanding you can only play the short game for so long before there’s no game to

play at all and you have to resort to selling your soul to pine trees. If you are game enough, cast an eye across the Tasman to our Australian farming counterparts. As AgriHQ has reported on frequently, Australian farmers have finally cut a break, and many are enjoying their first decent rain in a very long time. They have no option but to rebuild. The vastness of their continent restricts forestry plantations from springing on up on their best country given the distance to ports. It also puts a nail in the coffin of any subdivision of prime farmland to lifestyle blocks or urban sprawl. Hence their need to continue to farm, to play the long game, to understand that after a few tough years the rains will come, the grass will grow and they will once again farm.

Some will view lower ewe numbers, and therefore lower lamb numbers, but higher returns as a way of justifying the current state of the sheep industry.

Their confidence to rebuild breeding numbers encompasses not only sheep but cattle. Industry forecasts show a depth of rebuild and therefore expanding export volumes beyond what NZ is scheduling. Returns for NZ lamb and mutton have survived the challenges of covid-19 and 2020 in general. Average export values for both were higher in 2020 than two and three years ago. The recent dip in farm gate prices is partly seasonal but also recoverable. Quality, safe food is one thing that has not been completely ripped apart by covid-19. Consumers still have to eat, and this is supporting our industry as many look to NZ products. However, the rate of decline in confidence from NZ farmers is impacting our ability to see the need to retain productive land and breeding numbers, ensuring Australia will be the one to capitalise on this long-term export demand curve.

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

SALE YARD WRAP

Bit more life about lamb sales There’s usually a bit of a reset in the store lamb market after the holidays. Last year it was all downhill, whereas this time around interest is outstripping supply. Roughly $10/hd has been added to prices nationwide, give or take a few dollars depending on the sale in question. This hasn’t drawn lambs out to the yards yet though, with tallies at most centres remaining below last year.

NORTHLAND Kaikohe cattle • Yearling Angus-cross steers made $2.50-$2.60/kg • Weaner Angus-cross and Hereford-cross calves traded at $450$480 • Angus cows with Angus calves-at-foot sold at $1040 per unit • Beef and Friesian boner cows earned $1.60-$1.65/kg There was a small sale at KAIKOHE last Wednesday with around 280 head, PGG Wrightson agent Vaughan Vujcich reported. The best of the 2-year steers were Charolais-cross and South Devon-cross which earned around $2.54-$2.56/ kg. Wellsford store cattle • The majority of annual draft Hereford-Friesian steers, 353-396kg, managed $2.86-$2.96/kg • Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 322-383kg, lifted to $2.94-$3.00/ kg • Yearling Angus and Angus-Hereford steers, 322-325kg, strengthened to $2.94-$2.95/kg A smaller yarding of 348 cattle kicked off the year at WELLSFORD last Monday. Several buyers were back for annual draft lines and good competition lifted returns for many. Two-year Angus-cross steers, 428-463kg, lifted to $2.68-$2.77/kg and Hereford-Friesian, 411-468kg, $2.77$2.82/kg. Heifers held value with most 327-452kg earning $2.43-$2.53/kg regardless of breed. Traditional yearling heifers, 290-332kg, returned $2.70-$2.76/kg. Dairy-beef weaner steers, 95-123kg, earned a softer $320-$450. Friesian bulls, 110-136kg, also sold at reduced levels of $300-$415. Read more in your LivestockEye.

AUCKLAND Pukekohe cattle • Medium prime steers made $2.45-$2.48/kg • Prime heifers sold at $2.38-$2.45/kg • Boner cows earned $1.45/kg The first sale at PUKEKOHE was strong and good-quality store cattle were met with solid demand. Small yearling whiteface steers traded at $2.90/kg, with good yearling heifers at $2.40/kg to $2.63/kg. Better weaner steers and heifers fetched up to $440-$520 with lesser types at $340$440.

WAIKATO Frankton cattle 12.01 • Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 260-275kg improved to $2.81$2.87/kg • Prime Hereford-Friesian steers, 491-525kg, made $2.48-$2.51/kg • Prime beef-dairy heifers, 467-545kg, were consistent at $2.32$2.34/kg • Prime Hereford bulls, 493-540kg, realised $2.72-$2.76/kg PGG Wrightsons prime offering of 105 head at FRANKTON came close to matching the 113 store cattle yarded last Tuesday. Two-year steers, 362-380kg, held at $2.57-$2.62/kg. Most dairy bred bulls, 338-435kg, realised $2.24-$2.34/kg. Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 330336kg, earned $2.47-$2.58/kg, and same breed heifers, 292kg, strengthened to $2.67/kg. Angus-Friesian, 231241kg, varied from $1.73/kg to $2.26/kg. Most prime beef-cross and beef-dairy steers, 486-573kg, realised $2.42$2.52/kg, while Friesian bulls, 455-500kg, returned $2.00$2.28/kg. Hereford-Friesian and Friesian bulls, 483-505kg, returned $2.47-$2.48/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Frankton cattle 13.01 • Yearling dairy-beef steers, 413-489kg, returned $2.40-$2.42/kg • Hereford-dairy heifers, 318kg, fetched $2.45/kg Just 115 cattle were presented by New Zealand Farmers Livestock last Wednesday at FRANKTON. Prime cattle made up close to 70% of the yarding and sold to solid demand. The only 2-year cattle presented were three 433kg Jersey bulls which managed $2.18/kg. Yearling Angus-cross heifers, 311-336kg, earned $2.32-$2.39/kg. Steers held the lion’s share of the prime pens and most traded at steady levels with beef-dairy, 577-658kg, at $2.44-$2.45/kg. Heifers were close on their tails on a $/kg basis and beef-dairy,

463-490kg, returned 2.37-$2.41/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Frankton dairy-beef weaner fair • Weaner Hereford-Friesian and Simmental-Friesian steers above 150kg made $535-$595 • Weaner Hereford-Friesian heifers, 234kg, earned $410-$480 There was just over 800 head at the FRANKTON dairybeef weaner fair. Overall, the market improved with some good-quality calves on offer. Better Friesian bulls around 150kg were popular pushing to $518, while 152-174kg Hereford-Friesian traded at $565-$570. Read more in your LivestockEye.

BAY OF PLENTY Rangiuru cattle and sheep • Two-year Angus and Hereford bulls, 497-527kg, fetched $2.62/kg to $2.76/kg • Two-year dairy-beef steers and heifers, 356-505kg, consistently earned $2.34-$2.44/kg • Yearling Jersey bulls, 313-345kg, were $2.70-$2.75/kg • Prime Hereford bulls, 525kg, managed $2.65/kg • Prime lambs ranged from $95-$133 Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers were available in good number at RANGIURU last Tuesday. Over 50 head of 328383kg earned $2.71-$2.79/kg, with lighter second cuts, $2.52-$2.67/kg. Two 323kg and 340kg heifer pens were a highlight at $2.62-$2.63/kg, while the best bulls were Jersey, 313-345kg, priced at $2.70-$2.75/kg. Hereford bulls, 188kg, topped the weaners at $610. Most prime cattle were steers over 500kg that earned $2.51/kg to $2.53/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

POVERTY BAY Matawhero sheep • Mixed-sex store lambs traded at $101-$105 • East Friesian-cross store ram lambs sold at $80-$91.50 • Prime lambs fetched $101-$105 • Prime two-tooth ewes earned $121 • Prime two-tooth wethers sold at $90-$100 There was just under 1500 store lambs on offer at MATAWHERO last Friday. The top end of the male lambs earned $85-$100 with lighter lambs at $70-$77.50, while ewe lambs sold at $51-$71. Heavy prime ewes made $144$150, with the balance at $120-$126. Read more in your LivestockEye.

TARANAKI Taranaki cattle • Better 2-year Angus-Friesian steers made $2.60-$2.65/kg • Two-year Angus-Friesian heifers, 375-519kg, mostly achieved $2.39-$2.47/kg • The top end of the yearling heifers was secured for $2.56-$2.65/ kg The market was strong at last Wednesday’s TARANAKI cattle fair with local buyers joined by presence from Manawatu and King Country. Two-year steers included a good volume of 441-569kg hill country Herefords which sold well at $2.64-$2.73/kg. Hereford-dairy steers varied though better types, 485-530kg, reached $2.85-$2.95/kg. Better-quality yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 295-314kg, fetched a premium at $3.05-$3.12/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Taranaki dairy-beef weaner fair • The top end of Hereford-Friesian heifers above 130kg traded at $450-$500 • Friesian bulls above 170kg fetched $490-$570 Quality calves improved values at the TARANAKI dairybeef weaner fair last Thursday. There was good demand for Hereford-Friesian steers above 120kg which firmed to $580$650. Bull numbers lessened and the best of the HerefordFriesian realised $640. Read more in your LivestockEye.

KING COUNTRY Ongarue ewe fair

• Top 5-year ewes fetched $177 There were around 500 head of good-quality ewes the ONGARUE ewe fair last Tuesday and locals were joined by buyers from King Country. The bulk of the yarding was 5-year-olds and most traded around $160-$170. Te Kuiti sale • Yearling bulls mostly earned $2.55/kg to $2.67/kg • Heavy prime lambs made $120-$140 with medium $104-$115 and light $88-$97 There were just over 1000 head of store cattle at TE KUITI last Monday. The majority of the 2-year heifers fetched $2.50-$2.60/kg, with 513kg Angus able to reach $2.75/kg. Yearling heifers weighing 371-437kg typically traded at $2.70-$2.79/kg, with 331-340kg at $2.85/kg to $2.99/kg. There were approximately 520 store lambs penned and the top end achieved $83-$94 with medium types at $76$90 and light $35-$62, while better ewes sold at $127-$150 with lighter types at $70-$98. Around 6200 head was yarded at the 2th ewe fair on Friday and ewes headed off to mostly local homes. Capital stock Romney earned $230-$242, with Coopworth at $200-$240. Romneys fetched $186-$234 and Perendale $190-$230.

HAWKE’S BAY Stortford Lodge prime cattle and sheep • Very heavy ewes held at $138-$146 • Heavy ewes were steady at $130-$131.50 • Heavy cryptorchid lambs returned $114.50 • Good mixed-sex lambs fetched $100-$116 Ewes made up almost 90% of the yarding at STORTFORD LODGE last Monday numbering 2711 head and most traded at steady levels. Medium through to very-good ewes mostly held, though the top end of each section gained around $2 on average on last sale and earned $109-$128.50. Light-medium ewes were well sought after, fetching $97$109. Just 359 lambs were penned and heavy mixed-sex returned $122.50-$130. No cattle were offered. Read more in your LivestockEye. Stortford Lodge store cattle and sheep • Yearling Angus heifers, 313kg, managed $2.78/kg • Two-year Friesian bulls, 546kg, eased to $2.39/kg • Weaner Simmental-Friesian heifers, 104-107kg, returned $410$460 • Medium-good male lambs traded at $98.50-$110 Cattle throughput lifted to 217 head at STORTFORD LODGE last Wednesday. Heifers made up the majority and most 15 to 18-month heifers were traditional and exotic bred. A lighter pen of Hereford beef-cross, 235kg, took top honours at $2.93/kg. A consignment of Exotic-cross heifers, 282-306kg, sold at a softer $2.73-$2.79/kg. Weaner Friesian bulls, 118kg-162kg, realised $385-$455. Close to 45% of sheep offering were medium-good lambs and mixed-sex earned $98-$104. The first pen of 281 shorn ram lambs fetched the top price for the day at $114.50, with smaller males generally $84-$89 and similar ewe lambs, $71.50-$88. Mixed-sex lambs traded at $98-$104. Read more in your LivestockEye. Stortford Lodge two-tooth and mixed-age ewe fair • Capital stock 4-tooth Romney topped the sale at $266 • Top 2-tooth Romney fetched $243 • Most heavy to very heavy two-tooth Romney returned an improved $216-$240 • Top end 5-year Romney ewes strengthened to $187-$200 • Romney topped the mixed-age pens at $200 There were plenty of buyers on the rails for the 2-tooth and mixed-age ewe fair at STORTFORD LODGE last Tuesday. Just on 12,365 ewes were penned and most ewes were in very-good to very-heavy condition. Better twotooth ewes improved to $185-$226, with lighter types at $125-$162. Good five-year Romney lifted to $141-$158, while very-good types held at $175-$178. Better Perendale managed $137-$140 and lighter types held at $118. Heavy Romdale managed $196, with the balance at $155-$159. Mixed-age Romney fetched $169-$198. Read more in your LivestockEye

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021

PAYDAY: The struggle to keep lambs through until mid-January has been worth it for farmers in the Mackenzie Basin selling at on-farm sales this week, with lambs fetching a good premium on preChristmas values.

MANAWATU

CANTERBURY

Feilding prime cattle and sheep • Angus bulls, 675-690kg, fetched $2.76-$2.78/kg • Top lambs earned $141-$144.50 • Top ewes realised $148-$165 Bulls were the main feature at FEILDING last Monday. A quarter were Hereford, 634-813kg, that sold from $2.74$2.76/kg, while the majority of the balance were either Friesian or Jersey and generally sold from $2.54-$2.60/kg. The bulk of the lamb tally was medium good types that made $111-$125. Medium-good to good types provided the lion’s share of the ewes and traded at $117-$139. Read more in your LivestockEye. Feilding store sale • 2-year Hereford and Angus bulls, 570-760kg, made $2.70-$2.75/ kg • Yearling Simmental steers, 465-545kg, were mainly $2.80-$2.85kg • Yearling Angus and Simmental-cross heifers, 355-395kg, were $2.70-$2.80/kg • Store lambs averaged $98 • Only the lightest lambs were below $80 A little more than 900 cattle sold to a somewhat flat market. Older cattle were in short supply, with 480-485kg traditional steers at $2.85/kg. Big exotic yearling steers were a highlight (prices above) while a run of 345-435kg Angus made $2.85-$3.05/kg. Yearling Friesian bulls, 275-480kg, were $2.45-$2.60/kg. Mixed-marked dairy-beef heifers, 280-315kg, were all $2.40-$2.55/kg. Almost 8500 store lambs met a bit of a mixed market. There was a clear premium for shorn lambs, and other times seemingly comparable lines sold for differences of $5/hd or more. As a rough rule the top tier of lambs made $113.50-$118.50 while other good lines were $100-$110. The mediums worked around $90-$100 and only the lightest few pens sold below $80-$90. Read more in your LivestockEye. Feilding dairy beef weaner fair • Weaner Friesian bulls averaged $455 and 140kg • Weaner Hereford-Friesian bulls, 105-120kg, were $375-$410 • Weaner beef-cross heifers averaged $405 and 115kg A yarding of 1100 calves at FEILDING were mainly soft selling, with around a quarter of the pens passed in. Topend Friesian bulls, 180-220kg, were $570-$660, moving to $480-$525 for 145-160kg and $395-$430 for 120-135kg. Good lines of beef-cross bulls and steers mainly traded around $3.50/kg. There was a bit of a spread on the beefcross heifers, but $400-$450 was normal for 110-130kg.

SOUTH-CANTERBURY

Canterbury Park prime cattle and all sheep • Charolais steers, 685-770kg, achieved $2.60/kg to $2.73/kg • Charolais heifers, 515-705kg, fetched $2.54-$2.58/kg • Gelbvieh-cross heifers, 513-600kg, made $2.51-$2.58/kg • Hereford cows, 557-624kg, returned $1.95-$1.96/kg, while 492493kg managed $2.03-$2.10/kg • Better lines of prime lambs made $139-$154 with the majority $101-$138 A decent sized gallery of buyers snapped up store lambs at CANTERBURY PARK last Tuesday. Bidding was very consistent and medium pens earned, $78-$99, while lighter pens were often $70-$77. The best pens of ewes made $170-$200 with the lion’s share at $100-$169. Most steers and heifers were dairy-beef types over 500kg and earned $2.35/kg to $2.51/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

Temuka prime cattle and all sheep • Hereford bulls, 522-707kg, were $2.44-$2.54/kg • Hereford-Friesian and Friesian bulls, 525-590kg, fetched $2.42$2.46/kg • Jersey bulls, 553-570kg, made $2.33-$2.37/kg • Angus and Hereford-Friesian heifers, 490-545kg, earned $2.30$2.39/kg • Traditional cows, 515-635kg, returned $1.88-$1.93/kg Good demand at TEMUKA last Monday encouraged buyers of light and medium store lambs to pay prices of $83-$94, while one heavy pen pushed to $105. Most prime lambs traded at $120-$139. A small top end of ewes sold up to $200, while the rest were evenly spread out across $80-$173. More steers were offered in the cattle pens and most over 500kg traded at $2.38-$2.50/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

Canterbury Park store cattle • Yearling Hereford and Angus-Hereford steers, 226-309kg, achieved $2.93-$2.99/kg Most cattle in the first store offering at CANTERBURY Park last Wednesday were yearlings. Good numbers of Angus-Friesian steers, 292-351kg, made $2.59-$2.68/kg. There was a bit more variation amongst the HerefordFriesian and Hereford-Jersey pens as 321-348kg ranged from $2.45/kg to $2.70/kg. Forward store dairy-beef heifers consistently earned $2.41-$2.51/kg, while Charolais, 297kg, stretched to $2.54/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

Temuka calf sale • Hereford-Friesian steers, 190kg, managed $590 • Belgian Blue-cross heifers, 106-137kg, fetched $355-$450 • Friesian bulls, 120-170kg, were $370-$470 The usual store sale at TEMUKA was transformed into a calf sale last Thursday. There was plenty of buyers actively bidding through the beef-cross pens but once the Friesian bulls started both buyers and bids thinned out. Whiteface cattle provided the bulk of the tally with pens of Hereford-Friesian over 160kg frequently $455-$510 regardless of sex, but lighter pens of these and HerefordJersey were more varied and typically $280-$440. Read more in your LivestockEye.

Coalgate cattle and sheep • Prime Angus heifers, 451-630kg, made $2.46-$2.50/kg • Prime Hereford-Friesian steers and heifers over 500kg were mostly $2.37/kg to $2.51/kg • Prime Hereford bulls, 488-665kg, achieved $2.49-$2.57/kg • Prime Angus cows performed well at $2.00/kg. Store lambs proved popular at COALGATE last Thursday as a good gallery of buyers meant business. Over 500 lambs sold from $101-$115, with a similar number at $79-$85. Heavy prime ewes earned $180-$204 and medium $128$159. Values of $100-$150 covered most prime lambs with a few stretching to $161-$170. The best yearlings from a mixed quality store cattle offfering was 232kg Angus-Friesian heifers that made $2.24/kg, while Hereford-Friesian, 295-306kg, managed $2.00-$2.06/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye.

SOUTHLAND Lorneville sale • Yearling Jersey bulls, 260kg, made $1.92/kg • Weaner bulls and heifers traded at $360-$370 • Heavy prime lambs earned $128-$136 with light to medium types at $100-$126 Prime cattle were limited at LORNEVILLE last Tuesday and boner cows, 380-540kg sold at $1.20-$1.30/kg. Store cattle sold on a similar market as before the Christmas break and yearling Angus-cross steers, 390kg, made $2.26/ kg and 316kg Friesian realised $2.15/kg. Heavy prime ewes fetched $113-$130, with medium $98$108 and light $80-$91. Top store lambs returned $85-$90, with medium at $75$80 and light $60-$70.

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Markets

40 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – January 18, 2021 NI BULL

SI STEER

NI MUTTON

($/KG)

4.90

4.60

4.80

TWO-YEAR HEREFORD-FRIESIAN STEERS, 530KG AVERAGE, AT TARANAKI CATTLE FAIR ($/KG LW)

2.95

$600-$660 high $243 2-tooth Romney ewes Weaner Friesian bulls, lights Top 182-219kg, at Feilding at Stortford Lodge Ewe

Dairy-Beef Weaner Fair

Fair

Lamb sales fetch decent premium Annette Scott

annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz

HE struggle to keep lambs through until mid-January has been worth it for farmers in the Mackenzie Basin selling at on-farm sales this week, with lambs fetching a good premium on pre-Christmas values. While the dry weather has been challenging in what is described as one of the most difficult seasons in 30 years, farmers reaped the benefit of managing their lambs through until the annual on-farm lamb sales. Rain over the Christmas-New Year period has been the saving grace. “This would have to be one of the most trying seasons in 30 years, it’s only turned around in the past two to three weeks and all credit to the farmers who have managed to bring these lambs to sale in the condition they have,” PGG Wrightson livestock manager Joe Higgins said. “It’s been very challenging, and we appreciate the way these lambs have come to condition in the trying conditions of this season.” The Mackenzie on-farm run sold lambs at The Grampians, Streamlands, Maryburn and Simon’s Hill stations. While the rain arrived too late, The Grampians farm manager Lindsay Paton and owners the Hope Family, who have farmed The Grampians since 1914, were satisfied they achieved the best they could. “It’s been a very strange and difficult season but while less than an average sale, under the circumstances, we have to be happy with the result,” Henry Hope said. “I’m pleased with the way the lambs came in, it was so dry November and

STEP UP A

CLAAS

LAST CALL: PGW auctioneer Rod Sands takes the final bid of the day at The Grampians. Photos: Annette Scott

December, it was very difficult,” Paton added. Farm manager Joe White says because of the dry Streamlands, lambs were put out earlier this year. “We just had to, we couldn’t see our way clear to keep them on into March,” White said. “It’s been a positive sale, I’m pretty happy. The market on the day, at all four sales, fetched above $3/kg, up 20 cents or more on pre-Christmas sales. “These lambs will go well on the green clover of the Canterbury pastures where the majority of the lambs were headed,” Higgins said. On-farm lamb sales in North Otago also reflected the 150-200ml of rain over the New Year period, livestock agent Gerard Shea said. The Nicholson sale was a strong sale, despite one of the tougher springs many farmers have ever been through. The tops of the run fetched $111 with smaller lambs down to $50, but

all 2200 lambs sold averaged $3/kg and were up 20-30c on pre-Christmas values. “The lambs were good considering the season they have come through, the agents and the vendors were happy,” Shea said. At Surrey Hills in the Ashburton high country, one of the best yardings ever of the annual sale went under the hammer on Thursday, PGW livestock area manager Greg Cook said. A total 5500 Romney, black face and Suffolk-cross lambs were offered, with male lambs selling from $93-$148 and ewe lambs $91-$131, with a sale average of $106.75 at $3.20/kg. “It was a very pleasing sale overall, the big difference being we didn’t see the massive premium for the ewe lambs as we did last year,” Cooke said. “The buyer gallery was pretty much all regular buyers back for what they know are good quality, well-bred lambs, with the bulk of them going on to the Canterbury Plains pastures.”

EARLY ORDER

ACROSS THE RAILS SUZ BREMNER

Ewe fairs give insight to market EWE fairs were approached with an element of trepidation this season and no one was prepared to play a betting game on how they would go. Most people were in agreement that they could not be as good as year ago levels, given that those prices were some of the best seen. Too much hypothetical muddy water had passed under the bridge in 2020 for that to happen, though in some regions it was the notable lack of muddy water that added either caution or optimism to this market, depending on what side of the fence you were on. By that I mean some thought the need to replace ewes and other livestock sold during the drought would help this market, but the water was muddied by covid-19 and its impact on international markets and subsequently farm gate prices. So, it was almost with a sigh of relief that the ewe fair season got underway and farmers could start to set benchmarks on ewe prices, whether it was to sell at upcoming fairs or to gauge the value of those at home. To date, ewe fair action has been centred along the east coast of the North Island, as Stortford Lodge kicked off the fairs prior to Christmas, and Matawhero and Dannevirke got in on the action in the first week of sales for 2021. These areas of course were very dry and that had a mixed impact on numbers at these early fairs. Stortford Lodge volume grew to nearly 12,000 as farmers chose to offload early rather than hold off for the later fairs. That gave a false sense of supply and even though the next fair at Stortford Lodge will have over 13,000 that is a far cry from the 21,000 offered in 2020. Matawhero and Dannevirke numbers were more in line with expected outcomes as both fairs offered up only half the previous year’s tallies. Prices for most classes were well back on last year, but for the majority held resiliently enough that they were better than any sales prior to 2018. One highlight to date has been the strength of the five-year market as it appears that buyer preference is for older, proven ewes to put more lambs on the ground. At Dannevirke, prices for most annual draft lines only trailed 2020 by $10-$20 per head and one consignment bettered the 2020 offering. It is still only early days for these fairs with plenty more calendared in the next month and there is still more of this story to tell, but overall the fairs have got off to a better than expected start. suz.bremner@globalhq.co.nz

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Farmers Weekly NZ January 18 2021

Articles inside

Riparian planting project grows

Lamb sales fetch decent