Farmers Weekly NZ August 19 2024

Energy costs slice into sector yields

Richard Rennie NEWS Energy

ADAIRY processing head is warning that milk prices this season are under real threat of being pushed downwards thanks to surging energy prices swamping the country.

Open Country Dairy CEO Mark de Lautour told Farmers Weekly dairy processors are unable to continue to absorb the increases coming at them from all key energy suppliers.

While his company is relatively insulated for now from electricity price contracts, these will eventually end.

“We are fully aware of what is coming. We are in a tunnel with a big light coming down it.”

The squeeze of energy costs on the primary sector’s processors is already being felt.

Ruapehu District mayor Weston Kirton has signalled the closure of two timber mills in the Central North Island as they grapple with a 600% increase in electricity costs since 2021.

The mills’ closure will put 300 people out of work. Kirton said it is vital that the government top up such significant employers in the regions until a solid energy plan is formulated.

“We are not experts on the electricity market and how you can resolve the issue. But we

are on the receiving end of its outcomes, which are bringing grief to our communities,” he said.

Electricity spot price increases continued unabated last week, up 33% on average, a further leap on the 50% increase on the spot market a week earlier. Most industry users are reporting power prices that are double what they were 18 months ago.

We are concerned that the high wholesale electricity prices and uncertainty in the gas market are impacting New Zealand’s export competitiveness.

Anna Palairet Fonterra

The major energy cost surges are coming as the dairy industry gears up for peak spring milk flow, and farmers start to rebalance budgets after two years of double-digit on farm inflation.

De Lautour said the fact the price surge extends across electricity and gas supplies indicates the problems causing it go beyond any seasonal volatility in hydro lake levels. They reflect, he said, a major flaw in New Zealand’s ability to adequately plan for its energy needs.

Continued page 3

Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation general manager Rebecca Whillans says the company has invested heavily in its scheme operations to future-proof its 240 irrigatorshareholders against soaring electricity prices.

SECTORFOCUS

Dairy trade tensions with Canada continue as NZ industry demands legal action.

NEWS 3

Landing big rewards with embryo transfer

The excitement of landing a big fish is how Emma Poole describes the reward of landing a healthy calf on the ground from an embryo transfer.

DAIRY 22-30

A rewrite of gene tech rules could help stem the flow of NZ scientists overseas.

NEWS 7

There’s no margin in resting on your laurels in ag or athletics, says David Eade.

OPINION 19

Photo: Annette Scott

EDITORIAL

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

Becks Smith, Chair of Quorum Sense

News in brief FMG profit

FMG has posted an after-tax profit for the 2023/24 financial year of $76.7 million, an improvement on the previous year’s record loss.

The result was bolstered by external factors playing into the insurers’ favour, chief executive Adam Heath said. “Almost half of this profit is due to the favourable performance of investment markets, coupled with the fact the Mutual has not had to tackle any major catastrophic events over the course of the 2023/ 24 financial year.”

New chair

The Canterbury A&P Association has a new board chaired by former Speaker of Parliament Sir David Carter.

The other board members are Peter Engel, Ethan Hill, along with general committee members Bryce Murray and Brent Chamberlain. The 160-year-old event looked to be over but in June it was announced the association, along with Christchurch business Event Hire, would host the Christchurch Show from November 13-16, albeit with some differences.

Bateup retires

Neil Bateup, the founding chair of the National Rural Support Trust, will retire from the role in September.

Bateup has chaired the trust since its inception in 2017, having earlier helped to establish the Waikato Hauraki Coromandel Trust. Michelle Ruddell, the current chair of the Northland Rural Support Trust, replaces Bateup.

Entries open

Entries are open for the 2025 Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

The awards recognise and celebrate excellence and innovation in sustainable farming and growing. Entries are open until October. Regional awards events will follow in March and April with the Trust’s National Showcase to be held in Wellington on June 18, 2025.

A feature documentary film, Six Inches of Soil, has been screening in NZ cinemas recently It follows three young British farmers through their first year of transitioning to regenerative practices The film has been brought here by regenerative farmer network Quorum Sense and its chair Becks Smith talks with Bryan about the network, the film and why we’ve been talking about regen the wrong way.

“There is a bigger issue at play here. We have moved from coal to gas and electricity. We have increased demand for gas and electricity, and we have not got alternative sources in place. We have taken a big slug of stored energy out of the system by stopping coal use.”

Fonterra chief operating officer, Anna Palairet, said concerns about NZ’s lack of energy resilience have been raised by the co-op for some time. Fonterra runs a mix of energy types in its boilers.

“We are concerned that the high wholesale electricity prices and uncertainty in the gas market are impacting New Zealand’s export competitiveness.”

In the meat processing sector ANZCO Foods and Silver Fern Farms (SFF) have experienced a doubling of their electricity costs in the past 12 months, while also working to reduce reliance upon coal as an energy source.

SFF has managed to negotiate cheaper rates for the coming season that will still be materially higher than 2022 rates, and both it and ANZCO have doubled down on energy saving steps where possible.

Energy expert Jonathan Pooch of consultants DETA has warned NZ will have to adapt to what is going to be a “new normal” of high energy costs, with little in the pipeline of new supply to suggest they will be coming down any time soon.

He said the country is paying the price for failing to have a broad energy strategy, and any reactive response is going to cost significantly more than having planned ahead when also decarbonising the energy supply.

“This is really just indicative of the lack of infrastructure investment in general.”

He said whatever approach the government takes to rectify the problem, large amounts of money will need to be spent.

MORE: See pages 4, 5, 9

Another dairy stoush with Canada looms

DAIRY trade tensions with Canada continue to mount, with the New Zealand industry demanding the government take legal action to head off a billiondollar threat to high-value milk protein exports.

The Dairy Companies Association has written to Trade Minister Todd McClay pressing him to “urgently” take a case to the World Trade Organisation to stop subsidised Canadian dairy exports undercutting its members in the United States and other global markets.

DCANZ has longstanding concerns about Canada’s Milk Class 4 (a) system of subsidising milk production and its impact on international skimmed milk powder markets.

But the surpluses of subsidised milk protein created by the milk classification, previously converted into SMP by Canadian processors, are spilling over into markets for higher-value milk protein concentrates and isolates.

That threat has grown since the Canadian government last September earmarked $400 million to invest in the country’s dairy factories over the next 10 years.

“We are seeing increased investment to expand Canada’s production capacity and Canadian exporters targeting our members’ high-value customers.

“We anticipate this will continue so long as Canada’s policy goes unchecked, and result in increasing losses to unsubsidised NZ dairy exporters,” the letter said.

Unless action is taken, DCANZ

said, there is an “immediate risk” to $500m in sales of milk protein concentrates and isolates to the US, while $400m of casein sales would also eventually come under threat. Total NZ dairy exports to the US in the year to May 2024 were $1 billion.

The average export price for milk protein concentrates was $13,000 a tonne in 2023, compared to $4800 for SMP.

“Our experience is that export subsidies significantly erode market opportunities and export returns, particularly where there is a trend of rising volumes,” DCANZ wrote.

“We therefore consider this issue as increasingly urgent.”

DCANZ said the issue also has the potential to derail one of the government’s key economic goals.

“The market values involved for NZ are such that any delay to action will result in an increasing drag on ambitions to double the value of total exports,” DCANZ said.

McClay told Farmers Weekly he had raised these concerns with his Canadian counterpart at the WTO trade ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi in March.

However, he wants to meet industry representatives before committing to a WTO lawsuit.

“We will be able to have a better idea of the impact it is having on them at that stage.

“It is clear, though, that what Canada is doing is having an impact on some markets, or could.”

Canada is known as a stout defender of its supply management system, of which Milk Class 4 (a) is the latest iteration.

NZ needs to be sure it has a sound case, McClay said.

“We have got to be sure in

whatever we are doing we quantify and demonstrate harm but I am more than sympathetic to the concerns of the sector.”

Meanwhile, NZ is continuing to fight Canada over its refusal to abide by a legal ruling to open its domestic dairy markets to NZ exporters.

Both sides entered into CPTPP knowing their obligations and Canada has an obligation to meet those just as we do to them.

Todd McClay Trade Minister

A panel of judges last September ruled against Canada, finding it had failed to meet its obligations under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TransPacific Partnership (CPTPP) by allocating the bulk of import quota created for NZ exporters to local processors instead.

Exporters estimated their failure to get their hands on the low-tariff quota cost them $120m in lost

earnings in the trade agreement’s first three years.

In response to the ruling Canada created a new allocation method, which came into effect on May 1. McClay said he told his Canadian counterpart last month that NZ believed it had still failed to comply with the CPTPP’s rules.

“I made it clear to them that we are looking at what other action we can take and we would like formal consultation.”

Article 28.20.1 of CPTPP states where one country believes a ruling hasn’t been complied with it can request formal consultations with the non-compliant country. Consultations would be to agree “mutually acceptable compensation” by the noncompliant country.

If there is still no agreement, retaliatory tariffs can be imposed. McClay said: “The amount of trade we are missing out on might not seem significant in the scheme of things but it is still a matter of principle.

“Both sides entered into CPTPP knowing their obligations and Canada has an obligation to meet those just as we do to them.”

Nigel Stirling MARKETS Dairy

BLAME CANADA: The Dairy Companies Association has written to Trade Minister Todd McClay asking him to ‘urgently’ take a case to the World Trade Organisation to stop subsidised Canadian dairy exports undercutting its members in global markets.

Dairy steaming mad over energy fiasco

Richard Rennie NEWS Dairy

OPEN Country Dairy

CEO Mark de Lautour describes surging energy costs as the light of a big train in a dark tunnel heading for the dairy processing industry, and New Zealand as a nation.

While Open Country Dairy (OCD) is insulated from the rapid rises at present thanks to contracts already in place, he said he and his executive team are fully aware of what is coming once those contracts end.

And, rather than simply being the result of volatile hydro lake levels, he said, there are much bigger issues at play impacting the energy market and costs.

“As coal and fossil fuels became unacceptable, NZ moved away to electricity and gas, or switched from coal to electricity as we have done.

“But the increased demand for gas and increased demand for electricity is what has caused this, not just what’s in the hydro lakes. Demand has increased and NZ has not got alternative sources in place.”

Removing coal from high energy uses like dairy factory boilers and

replacing it with electricity meant a big slug of stored energy has been removed from the system.

He agreed with OCD’s chair Laurie Margrain, who has described NZ as having “sleepwalked” into this crisis.

OCD has commissioned a new electric boiler in its Southland Awarua plant, with two more being installed.

“But we are retaining our coal boilers as required to do so by the electricity companies as back-up.”

The increased demand

for

gas and

increased

demand for electricity is what has caused this, not just what’s in the hydro lakes.

Mark de Lautour Open Country Dairy

Despite having the new assets, the company will be operating coal in the high-cost electricity environment, and wearing the Emissions Trading Scheme charges that go with that.

While it is easy to start getting political about the issue, de Lautour said, the country badly needs a long-term energy strategy that takes politics out of it.

“We may have electricity prices locked in for now, but we certainly do not feel insulated in any way shape or form.”

In the immediate future gas prices are of even greater concern to him, with the company’s Horotiu and Whanganui sites having gas supply that cannot, unlike coal boilers, be converted to the likes of biofuel.

“In some ways we do have one advantage, we own biofuel company Nature’s Flame that supplies wood fuel pellets for our Waharoa plant.

“But we are having our hand forced, to spend capital that should be instead spent on the likes of a new cheese plant, which actually adds value.”

De Lautour said it was inevitable the high energy costs will remain for some time, and they will put downward pressure on market prices for milk solids this season.

Fonterra’s chief operating officer, Anna Palairet, said Fonterra has been raising concerns about the lack of energy resilience and cost effectiveness in the energy sector for some time.

It has been concerned the high wholesale electricity prices and uncertainty in the gas market are impacting NZ’s export competitiveness.

“We are confident that energy

remains available to process milk over the coming seasonal peak, but the current situation is adding significant cost to both the co-op and our shareholders as we cannot simply pause operations,” she told Farmers Weekly.

Linda Mulvihill, Fonterra’s GM for energy and climate, confirmed the co-op runs sites on a mix of gas, coal, electricity and wood biomass. She said when moving out of coal, the cost implications both of the build, ongoing running costs

and surety of fuel supply are key considerations.

Antony Heywood, general manager of Vegetables NZ, said South Island hot house growers do not have gas as a fuel option, with coal or waste oil often the main choices.

Biofuel replacements are being used or considered by some, but these are proving problematic due to a lack of scale, and there is a need for more wood waste to be pelletised to be suitable as an economic fuel source.

Irrigators reap future-proofing rewards

INVESTMENT in sustainable water management is proving a saving grace for hundreds of Canterbury farmers amid soaring electricity prices. With spot energy prices skyrocketing more than 50%

this month in the South Island as hydro lakes and alpine rivers run low, irrigation companies are weighing up the value of futureproofing investment.

“It really has been a case of taking away the risk of the ups and downs and insulating from the increase in energy prices for most of our farmers,” Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Ltd (ALIL) scheme chair Colin Glass said.

Based out of Mid Canterbury, ALIL is a farmer-owned cooperative that delivers water through a network of pressurised pipes to 240 shareholders irrigating more than 30,000 hectares of farmland.

“As we collectively pave our way toward a sustainable, locally grown future, our scheme has adopted modern telemetry that aids us in achieving efficient water use and delivery via pressurised pipelines.

“There’s no disputing electricity is a big issue but we have moved to above-surface metering, operating with smaller pumps, on nonhalf hourly hubs under different pricing contracts, many of which roll out two- to three-year cycles taking away the pricing ups and downs.”

Glass is also chief executive of Dairy Holdings, Fonterra’s largest milk supplier, with 70 farms across the South Island, a large number of which come into Canterbury irrigation schemes.

“It has become important for Dairy Holdings and ALIL as because of the pressurised pipelines and gravity we are mostly insulated from increases in energy charges.”

Several other large schemes across Canterbury are also gravity pressurised, including Central Plains Water, lessening the exposure to increasing electricity prices.

“There’s been quite an invest-

ment by irrigation companies to future-proof for anticipated rising electricity prices.

“With these big projects complete we are looking more closely at interest rates, being more exposed now to changes in interest rates rather than electricity prices.”

Glass said the same goes for Dairy Holdings.

“We moved away from deep ground water to surface water takes, which considerably lowers electricity costs and leaves us less vulnerable to energy increases.

Because of the pressurised pipelines and gravity we are mostly insulated from increases in energy charges.

Colin Glass Dairy Holdings

“I’d like to think it is all less of a risk over time.

“Electricity has been rising greater than the rate of inflation over the past two decades and the reality is New Zealand’s economy and population have continued to grow and we have been slower investing in electricity generation.

“We [irrigation companies] know our electricity prices will increase but we hope with our future-proofing investment it will

not have a major impact on our businesses.”

Ashburton-based Ruralco Energy, which lines up power contracts for farmers looking to fix irrigation electricity farm costs, encourages farmers exposed to spot pricing or renewing contracts into the future to look at options.

“While spot pricing is the highest it’s been for some time it will not really impact anyone locked in fixed price variable volume contracts,” Ruralco Energy key account manager Glenn McWhinnie said.

“When market prices are this high, we would not be looking at locking in longer term contracts. Wait for the downward; while the forecast is for prices to remain high, it will drop at some point, I just don’t have a crystal ball to say when.”

McWhinnie said farmers renewing contracts over the past two weeks are paying 50-60% increases in what they are coming off, but retailers are flexible and can do shorter term to ride out the high.

Glass believes the greater risk facing irrigators right now is water availability with very little water in the hydro lakes and alpine rivers.

Environment Canterbury surface water science manager Elaine Moriarty said lakes and rivers throughout Canterbury are at record low levels and there’s no saying when this will improve.

TRAIN: Open Country Dairy CEO Mark de Lautour says rising electricity prices are the light of a train in the tunnel heading straight for dairy processors.

Annette Scott NEWS Energy

INVESTMENT: Colin Glass, chair of Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Ltd and CEO of Dairy Holdings, says there’s been quite an investment by irrigation companies to future-proof against anticipated rising electricity prices.

High power prices the new normal for NZ

Richard Rennie NEWS Energy

AN ENERGY expert has warned that there is unlikely to be any significant relief in New Zealand’s electricity prices any time soon as processors roll off old contracts onto new ones that are more than double what they were paying three years ago.

Jonathan Pooch, the managing director of energy consulting firm DETA in Christchurch, warned that the current environment is likely to be the new normal, and New Zealand is paying the price for not having a clear national strategy on energy generation and use.

His caution came as the latest spot energy prices leapt over 50% in a week while South Island hydro lake storage continues to shrink to less than 50% of the five-year average.

Fundamentally, the electricity market is working as it is designed. The spot price is increasing due to scarcity of supply and increased demand.

Jonathan Pooch DETA

The surge in prices comes as primary sector processors are poised to enter their peak energy demand period for milk and meat processing.

“There is nothing fundamentally in the market that will see prices fall in the next 18 months,” Pooch said.

He emphasised the power cost surge goes deeper than simply a dry winter depressing hydro lake levels and is more like “the holes in the Swiss cheese lining up”. Those “holes” comprise the move to not go ahead with the giant Onslow hydro battery project, a lack of gas supply, lower lakes, and the Tiwai aluminium smelter continuing operations. If anything, gas shortages are

underpinning the strong price rises that are unlikely to abate.

“The gas shortage is setting the price as it is the incremental energy source. We have always expected, and had, hydro lake volatility, but this is not that.”

He said the last Labour government’s decision to ban gas and oil exploration had had some effect on that shortage, but even without that exploration NZ’s existing reserves had proven to be over-estimated.

Data provided by the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment show there was a 20% reduction in NZ’s proven and probable reserves in the past year; 30% of that was due to reserves being downgraded, and others removed altogether as companies better understood that they held less than expected.

To rectify that there have been discussions about NZ importing containerised liquid natural gas, which would cap the price of natural gas.

“It would still be more expensive but could be one response. Another longer term one is to build an LNG terminal, but that of course takes time.”

Biogas generated through crop, food and landfill waste is also a viable option, but dependent on location.

Bioenergy Association director Brian Cox said estimates are that biogas could supply about 10% of NZ’s renewable energy and could be easily piped into the national gas grid. He said estimates are ultimately that, by 2050, 40% of NZ’s fossil fuels could be replaced by biogas.

Biofuel has been a go-to option for some large processors as they move out of coal, but even this has lacked a clear direction, and consolidation among suppliers to help bring down the cost of the fuel sources.

“So it becomes a bit of a chicken and egg situation,” said Pooch.

He said biogas and biofuels have suffered from the country’s lack of clear strategy.

There are, however, processors who took a riskier position when securing their electricity contracts

and who were now getting profile for the impact it is having on them.

Politically the high electricity prices will start to have an impression if processors have to

lay off staff. Pooch noted that responses to crises can often be better than planning ahead, but NZ’s reactive response to this one will always cost more than being proactive years earlier.

“This is really just indicative of the lack of infrastructure investment in general.”

Large amounts of money are going to have to be spent to get NZ in a better position.

“Whether that is third party finance, private public partnerships, overseas investment, there are good options, but none can be done without good vision and foresight.”

Greater generation capacity, more storage to enhance the limited hydro storage, and a more interactive market where pricing reflects users higher or lower daily load demands are all components of a revised system, he said.

Processors face soaring electricity bills

Neal Wallace NEWS Energy

ELECTRICITY prices paid by meat companies are on track to double in just one year.

ANZCO Foods and Silver Fern Farms have both warned their electricity costs have doubled, although SFF has negotiated cheaper rates for the coming season.

ANZCO chief executive Peter Conley said rates have increased significantly over the past two years and it is closely watching its electricity use and seeking savings where possible while still operating all sites.

“We are managing our assets and production capability as normal and haven’t reduced production as a result of the higher electricity costs,” Conley said.

Brenda Talacek, the chief operating officer at SFF, said rates

doubled between 2022 and 2023 but the company has negotiated lower charges for 2024. However, these are still materially higher than in 2022.

She said the company has focused on reducing electricity use.

As part of its Streamline programme to improve its business operations, SFF has introduced initiatives to reduce electricity use which include putting freezers into sleep mode during weekends and other periods of non-use.

This alone saved $172,000 in electricity costs this year at its Te Aroha site.

“We’ve also been replacing sterilisers with more energy efficient ones at our Belfast site, which has saved over $80,000 in the past year from heating water for processing.”

SFF has a policy of halving coal emissions over the next two years and exiting the use of coal completely by 2030.

• Leading spring barley in FAR CPT trials with great yields and consistenc y

• Suited to all sowing times and conditions in both spring and autumn.

• Good all-round disease resistance profile especially powder y mildew and net blotch.

FOCUS: ANZCO chief executive Peter Conley says it is closely watching its electricity use and seeking savings where possible.

In 2022-23 it installed heat pumps at three South Island plants.

While it replaces coal furnaces, the new system uses waste heat from its refrigeration units to heat water, a task previously performed by coal.

Wayne Shaw, manager of processing and safety at Alliance Group, said the co-operative is not impacted as it has long-term supply contracts.

SHRINKING: South Island hydro lake storage continues to shrink to less than 50% of the five-year average.

GE shift will strengthen science sector

Neal Wallace TECHNOLOGY Research

AREWRITE of the rules governing the use of gene technology could stem the flow of New Zealand scientists overseas.

Science and Technology Minister Judith Collins said she has met several scientists who felt they had no option but to work overseas because of NZ’s effective ban on the use of genetic engineering (GE) outside the laboratory.

“I have met scientists overseas and they tell me they can’t do this kind of research in NZ so they have to move overseas,” she said.

Collins told Farmers Weekly that the technology is widely used in all our key markets and those growers who want to remain GEfree can still do so.

The government last week announced an end to a nearly 30-year ban on using gene technology outside the laboratory, which made field trials of plants here impossible.

By the end of this year the government will introduce legislation, based on Australia’s Gene Technology Act 2000, to allow the technology to be used outside the laboratory,

with applications overseen by a dedicated regulator.

Collins said the technology has advanced significantly since the ban was implemented 30 years ago, potentially offering solutions not previously thought possible.

She said AgResearch scientists have developed grass cultivars that will not only enhance the performance of livestock but are more resistant to drought and can reduce methane emissions by 15%.

I have met scientists overseas and they tell me they can’t do this kind of research in NZ.

Judith Collins Science, Innovation and Technology Minister

Because of the difficulty getting approval to conduct trials here, AgResearch has had to conduct its field trials in the United States and Australia.

Collins said there could also be significant environmental gains, such as finding a way to make NZ’s burgeoning possum population sterile and confronting the wilding pine issue.

The technology has advanced significantly since the original legislation, she said.

For example, CRISPR technology developed in 2012 allows a gene or part of a gene within an organism to be tweaked to respond to new conditions or to act in a different way.

Collins sees opportunity in the development of medicines using the CAR T-cell therapy, which has been clinically proven to effectively treat some cancers.

In addition to new pasture cultivars in agriculture, the technology enables the accelerated development of new horticultural varieties.

To conventionally breed a new fruit variety takes six to seven years but to use genetic technology will dramatically shorten that and potentially enable trees to bear fruit earlier.

Collins said all our major markets use genetic technology, making NZ an outlier and economically poorer for not being able to use the productivity gains it offers.

China, Japan, India, Europe and the United Kingdom are all major users of genetic technology.

“Who are we kidding?” she said.

Legislation will be introduced later this year followed by select

Collins said the Environmental Protection Agency will house the

dedicated regulator to oversee applications for the use of gene technology.

Researchers are raring to go on genetic trials

Neal Wallace TECHNOLOGY Genetics

SCIENTISTS are poised to take advantage of an easing in rules governing the testing of genetically modified organisms, with several projects ready to be advanced.

AgResearch is continuing plans to seek approval for an outdoor trial of ryegrass with geneedited endophytes and Scion has several streams of biotechnology development that it can now pursue.

Scientists were in celebratory mood with news the government will introduce legislation freeing up the application of genetic

engineering (GE) from what is effectively a ban on its use outside the laboratory.

The planned proportionate approach means organisms that have been gene edited and considered low risk will have less stringent rules on field trials and release than organisms where genes have been inserted.

Alec Foster, the head of Scion’s bioproducts and packaging research is unequivocal about what the decision means.

“I don’t think people realise what a game changer biotechnology can be.

“It will be a disrupter for many sectors but in a positive way for efficiency, helping the environment and will be beneficial

for all New Zealanders.”

He said that by 2040, Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, expects $19.2 billion in economic benefits and 31,200 new jobs from GE in the food and agriculture sectors alone.

The United States is investing billions of dollars and aims to replace 30% of chemicals and 90% of plastics with biotechnologyderived alternatives that use GE technology. The European Union and the United Kingdom have eased regulations, citing benefits from maintaining crops yields, reducing chemical use and assisting food security.

Foster said Scion has projects using GE technology to sterilise pine trees and to make them grow

faster and absorb more carbon.

Other projects include bioplastics, renewable chemicals, engineering microbes for wastewater remediation and carbon sequestration.

Technology to convert biomass from the forestry and dairy sectors for feedstock is another avenue.

AgResearch science team leader Richard Scott said if approved under current legislation, the contained outdoor trial of gene edited endophyte-containing ryegrass could be underway next year.

“This knowledge would be complemented by outdoor trials already taking place in Australia,” he said.

While welcoming the change

in legislation, Scott said it will take time to be passed and a new regulator appointed and then to fully understand the regulatory process.

AgResearch can now design trials for its other GE-modified pasture programmes such as its high metabolisable energy ryegrass and high condensed tannin white clover.

Plant and Food Research chief scientist Richard Newcomb said they can use GE technology to accelerate and enhance the conventional plant breeding research they have been working on.

Newcomb said they need to work with growers to determine what traits and attributes they want and need.

committee hearings next year.

GAINS: Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins, pictured at the gene technology announcement with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, says the move will deliver economic gains and improve the lives of New Zealanders.

Costly drench resistance getting worse

Neal Wallace TECHNOLOGY Diesease

MORE than a third of NZ sheep farms are resistant to triple combination drenches, which is costing the average farm $70,000 a year in lost production.

The problem is growing with the latest drench efficacy test survey from animal diagnostics company Techion revealing 34% of farms are resistant to triple active drenches, up from 30% last year.

Techion founder and managing director Greg Mirams estimates that nationally the annual cost of lost production to the sheep industry from drench failure is $110 million.

He said the problem has reached such a scale that it requires a united industry approach.

“The industry needs to look at this issue. We need everybody to

realise what we have got here.”

Every year Techion analyses more than 50,000 faecal egg count (FEC) tests at its Mosgiel laboratory through its network of FECPAK users, and Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT) tests through its DrenchSmart service.

Results for the first seven months of this year reveals that triple drenches Benzimidazoles (BZ), Levamisole (Lev) and Abamectin (Aba), were failing on 34% of NZ sheep farms.

Mirams said other common drench options fared no better with BZ-Lev combinations failing on 47% of properties and Lev-Aba combinations failing on 39% of properties tested.

Mirams said it is unclear why this is happening, but there appears to be an increasing failure of the Abamectin active on properties that have a parasite population that is highly resistant to other drench actives.

Until now the newer novel active

drenches, such as those containing Monepantel and Derquantel, have been considered the gold standard for quarantine drenching livestock or an effective option when farmers have widespread drench resistance.

He said these actives are expensive and, at times, challenging to source but without access to effective drenches, farmers have limited options.

Also of concern is the growing resistance to triple drenches of the trichostrongylus parasite in autumn, which could result in lower conception rates for hoggets and two-tooth ewes.

Without access to effective drenches, Mirams said, farmers may need to consider integrated parasite management systems such as using novel forages, genetics and grazing management.

He said the issue need not be a disaster but requires a change in mindset to first establish if there is a problem and, if so, what management options they have.

RSE changes strike balance

Richard Rennie NEWS Employment

ADJUSTMENTS to the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, including removing the 10% wage premium paid to workers, have been welcomed by the horticultural sector.

The latest changes also include a lift in worker numbers for the coming season, with an additional 1250 staff taking the total to 20,750.

Other key changes to the scheme include the lifting of the requirement to pay Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers a 10% wage premium above the minimum wage. This will now only apply to experienced workers. Employers will be able to average out workers’ minimum

30 hours a week over four weeks, while the pause on accommodation cost increases has been lifted and allows a capped increase to be applied.

The accommodation and remuneration changes were particularly welcomed by Horticulture NZ CEO Nadine Tunley.

“These were only bought in by the previous government as temporary measures during covid when RSE workers were able to come to NZ under managed isolation and quarantine. The reset will be appreciated by growers.”

Meantime, averaging out RSE workers’ minimum 30 hours a week over four weeks provides more certainty for them, and better reflects the weatherdependent nature of the seasonal jobs they undertake.

The 10% premium had

reflected the shortage of staff and difficulties recruiting New Zealanders, particularly post covid.

Tunley said a pay disparity had developed between NZ works and RSE workers, even when the job’s skills were not at the “median skill” level.

Growers will also welcome the improved flexibility for RSE workers to return home in the event of family emergencies, and the ability to move among regions and employers more easily.

NZ Apples and Pears CEO Karen Morrish welcomed the changes coming before the new season kicks off. She said the changes strike a balance between local industry and Pacific Island communities’ needs.

“It will have considerable impact upon the continued viability of the scheme.”

Drier weather slows Skellerup boot sales

Hugh Stringleman MARKETS Agribusiness

SLOWER footwear sales for the iconic Red Band gumboots contributed to 10% revenue and earnings reductions in FY2024 in Skellerup’s agri division, compared with the previous year.

Agri division revenue was $105 million and earnings before interest and tax were $30.7m.

New chief executive for the listed Skellerup, Graham Leaming said New Zealand sales of footwear and other consumables for the dairy industry were subdued as farmers milked longer, deferring maintenance.

Footwear was also impacted by more benign weather conditions compared with 2023.

“Our agri division remains a world leader in the design and manufacture of essential consumables for the global dairy industry and rubber

footwear for farming and speciality applications including electricity, fire and forestry.

“We are well positioned and resourced for future growth. During FY24 we have made important investments in equipment, people and facilities.”

Skellerup’s overall results included revenue of $330m, down 1%, and earnings of $72.7m, up 1%.

The industrial division earnings were $46.9m, a record result, up 9%.

Net profit was also $46.9m, after deducting a non-recurring, non-cash tax charge required for the change in legislation to remove tax depreciation deductions on buildings.

Skellerup will pay a final dividend of 15.5c a share 50% imputed, bringing the total dividend for FY24 to 24c, up 9%.

Record operating cashflow meant a further reduction in what was already a low level of debt – $15.4m, down 43%.

LOSS: Techion founder and managing director Greg Mirams estimates that nationally the annual cost of lost production to the sheep industry from drench failure is $110 million.

Mayor calls govt out on power crisis

Richard Rennie NEWS Energy

THE mayor of Ruapehu District Council is pushing government ministers to step in with a support package to keep processing businesses in his region afloat as they grapple with soaring electricity costs.

Earlier this month mayor Weston Kirton drew attention to a rapidly emerging national crisis, highlighting two timber processing factories in his district that are facing closure due to exorbitant increases in their energy costs.

The Tangiwai and Karioi mills on State Highway 48 between Ohakune and Tangiwai are critical employment sources for the region with almost 300 staff between them. Many of these people either live in Ohakune or travel from as far afield as Taumarunui.

Winstone CEO Mike Ryan had told Stuff the plants are no longer viable, having suffered a 600% increase in their electricity prices since 2021.

“We simply need to put the call out to [Associate Energy Minister] Shane Jones and the government. We are not experts on the electricity market and how you can resolve the issue, but we are on the receiving end of its outcomes which are bringing grief to our communities that will need to be propped up as a result of this,” said Kirton. He said regardless of which government is responsible for the position the energy market is now in, it was up to the current government to deal with it.

“We need a Band-Aid to deal with this, and we need it now.

“We now have some of the highest electricity prices in the western world, we are not in a good place and options are limited. I understand government is talking about importing liquid natural gas, but that would be at least six months away.”

Jones told Radio NZ the Electricity Authority is a “chocolate teapot” when it comes to enforcing generator-retailer pricing behaviour.

Kirton and his council are supposed to be meeting this week with their local MP Barbara Kuriger, who was in discussion with Finance Minister Nicola Willis.

“We are hoping to get some sense of where they are heading, but as we see it there is only one way and that is to prop it up until a longer-term solution is found. The ‘do nothing’ option is far worse.”

Meantime in the background the energy sector is in discussion on how to avoid blackouts in coming months, including how to free up more water from the hydro lakes for generation.

These are themselves compromised, running at only 50% of their long-term average for this time of year, while gas supplies remain constrained.

The lakes now sit at the bottom 5% of their historic recorded levels.

This winter has also been particularly calm, reducing wind generation’s contribution.

“There is some irony here in a country with so much water, while wind is not doing it. Sustainables are not enough. From what I understand NZ needs to double its

electricity supply to meet future needs. Things are biting us now,” said Kirton.

The Ruapehu district has been hit hard in recent years with the financial issues that struck the operator of the Whakapapa ski field. A $7 million grant was made in March to Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, also by Jones and cited by him as the last the field would get.

An additional $3.05m has been pledged in equity and loan funding to enable the sale of Turoa ski field.

ECLIPSE® and MATRIX® are right at home in engineered to deliver optimum protection. Just like this oilskin vest - they stand the test of time when you need them most

GOING DARK: Ruapehu District Mayor Weston Kirton says with 300 staff employed at the local Winston mills, loss of jobs due to high electricity prices forcing their closure will be catastrophic for his district.

WorkSafe sounds alarm on quad bikes

FOUR farmers have been killed in quad bike roll-over accidents in recent weeks, promoting WorkSafe to “sound the alarm” over the dangers the vehicles can pose.

WorkSafe said the fatalities coincided with the start of the lambing and calving season and it is urging rural New Zealand to focus on the risks associated with quad bikes.

WorkSafe principal inspector

Graham Bates said all four fatalities are under investigation.

The first occurred on July 18 in Wairarapa. It was followed by another on July 22 in Canterbury, one on July 26 in Southland, and most recently in Northland on July 30.

“Our sympathy is with every family and community mourning these sudden deaths,” said Bates.

“Although our investigations are in their early stages, the trend is

worrying enough for us to sound the alarm already.”

He said carrying out a risk assessment of terrain and tasks should be the top priority for farmers before getting on a quad bike.

“This is a time of year when we are experiencing variable weather and growth, and variable ground conditions. Sloped surfaces and steep terrain can be especially problematic and have sadly been a factor in some of the recent cases.”

Farm vehicle incidents are one of the top two causes of workplace deaths in New Zealand, which is why agriculture is a priority sector under WorkSafe’s new strategy.

Bates said WorkSafe is targeting the biggest risks and working with the sector to improve health and safety in agriculture.

“Farming consists of a neverending list of tasks and constant reprioritisation. However, we cannot let those challenges contribute to loss of life or injury. The people with the most power to influence this are those on the

ground each day doing the work,” said Bates.

Safer Farms chair and Farm Without Harm ambassador Lindy Nelson said it is “heartbreaking” to learn of the deaths.

“These people are all farming partners who didn’t come home. This has a massive impact on families, communities and the industry. We don’t want to lose our great people.”

Nelson said farmers often think their experience will keep them safe but it is vital they have a “fail safe” strategy in place for when things go wrong.

Safer Farms is pushing for farmers to use engineering control, effectively safety equipment “designed to take the harm out of our system”.

Crush protection or roll bars on quad bikes are one option.

A programme aimed at encouraging farmers to install crush protection devices on their quad bikes was recently launched and attracted strong interest.

The Safer Rides programme has had 110 farm businesses from across the country sign up to the pilot scheme, which offered a discount of up to 75% on crush protection devices (CPDs) from retailers Trax Equipment and Quadbar.

The initiative is being driven by Safer Farms in conjunction with partners Rabobank, ANZCO Foods, LIC, Craigmore Sustainables and PGG Wrightson as part of the Farm Without Harm strategy.

Nelson said they are hoping to obtain more funding to expand the programme.

“It costs to have safety equipment in place but it also costs if it’s not there.”

WorkSafe’s recommendations for reducing the risks of harm on farm include:

Consider installing a crush protection or rollover protection device on your quad bike.

• Choose the right vehicle for the job and ensure that the driver is competent.

• Always use your seatbelt and helmet.

• Consider undergoing quad bike training. Prioritise maintenance. That should cover attachments, good tyres and brakes. Remember, tired people make mistakes. Ensure that the vehicle is safely stopped and brakes are fully engaged before getting off. Don’t be afraid to seek assistance when you need to – neighbouring farmers are always more than willing to lend a hand.

OSPRI gives farmers say on NAIT strategy

Gerhard Uys TECHNOLOGY Livestock

OSPRI has changed tack on how it develops NAIT strategy.

Head of traceability at OSPRI Clifton King said usually the company develops a strategy, then consults farmers and stakeholders about funding and implementation, but it is now following a new approach.

“Instead of doing one round of consultation towards the end, we’re doing two rounds. The first round, which is currently underway, will enable us to understand farmers’ viewpoints before we start strategy development. Farmers’ views will be front and centre in our minds,” he said.

NAIT and its funders review the scheme every three years to shape the next three-year strategy and to calculate funding, including any levy adjustments.

The next three-year period starts on 1 July 2025.

First round submissions for the NAIT 2025–2028 Traceability Operational Strategy Consultation close on Sunday, August 11.

The submissions document asks, for instance: “What changes would make it easier to comply with NAIT scheme obligations, what changes do you believe would increase people in charge of animals’ awareness of their NAIT obligations, and what changes to compliance and enforcement would be an effective deterrent [for non-compliance]?”

Said King: “In light of the feedback received in this round of consultation, OSPRI will then work to develop the strategy for the next three years. We’ll be putting that strategy back up for consultation in the second round in 2025.”

King said OSPRI has already received 177 submissions.

The chance to submit on the new strategy was announced in July, with OSPRI asking participating farmers, PICAs (Persons In Charge of Animals), saleyards, stock and station agents, meat processors, livestock exporters, transport operators and tag manufacturers for their input.

An Official Information Act request showed noncompliance declined between 2022 and 2023. Glen Burrell, director of compliance and response at the Ministry for Primary Industries, said in 2022 a total of 2073 infringements were served, with only 1340 served in 2023. The decline was due to lower levels of offending and more animals being registered, Burrell said.

Craig Page NEWS Safety

PROTECTION: A Safer Farms programme aimed at encouraging farmers to install crush protection devices on their quad bikes attracted strong interest.

CONSULTATION: Head of traceability at OSPRI Clifton King says OSPRI will put farmers’ views front and centre when it develops NAIT strategy for the next three years.

The spies in the sky: know your rights

Neal Wallace NEWS Regulation

TAKING videos or photographs over a farm fence does not necessarily constitute a breach of privacy – but how those images are used can fall foul of the law.

Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster said the Privacy Act is designed to protect personal information that can identify a person, their address, contact details, employment or medical records, bank details or facial images.

Technology has evolved, with drones and cameras with powerful lens that can take detailed images from vast distances – and spread them on social media.

Webster declined to talk specifically about a case in Southland where an animal welfare activist is alleged to have posted images of a cows being wintered and identified the address of the property through Google Maps.

This provoked a flood of complaints, which led to an investigation by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Webster said that, in general,

publishing images that can identify a person or their address without their permission can be a breach of privacy.

“As a golden rule, don’t do anything that your neighbour would view as creepy,” he said

The Privacy Act is backed by 13 principles or governing rules such as knowing when your information is being collected, how it is being used and shared appropriately, that it is kept safe, and that you can have access to your information.

As a golden rule, don’t do anything that your neighbour would view as creepy.

Michael Webster Privacy Commissioner

Webster said in the first instance a complainant should approach the agency or individual who is alleged to have breached their privacy.

The activist in the Southland case published on social media a letter from the farmer’s lawyer. It stated the published images were taken without the farmer’s knowledge, were made public

Guerin glimpses hints of rural recovery

Hugh Stringleman NEWS Economy

THE rural real estate market is particularly challenging at present, perhaps the quietest in 30 years, PGG Wrightson chief executive Stephen Guerin says.

He noted some signs of recovery in Southland and in the dairy industry nationwide, while horticultural properties are in demand but listings are fewer than expected.

“Momentum in this market remains subdued, with farm sales significantly down on the prior year,” PGW said in its annual results announcement.

“The economic climate has impacted farm and agricultural land prices and produced a mismatch between vendor and purchaser expectations.

“Interest rate and inflationary relief is expected to come as global economic conditions

rural servicing.

stabilise.

“This should lead to more manageable debt servicing costs and predictable inflation.’

Commenting on the results, Guerin said receivables have held up well, being mostly connected with the company’s Go-Stock livestock products for farmers.

Not counting the Go-Stock advances, PGW net debt is almost nil, he said.

Total group revenue was down 6% and was the lowest since 2017-18.

He said growth factors for the agency business over the past six years were higher commodity prices, sales of dairy herds and increased activity in the property markets during the covid pandemic years.

“Input costs for farmers were higher during those covid times, which generated margins and commissions, and they have now come down.”

Over the past year spending has been down in fencing, irrigation equipment and fertiliser, he said.

PGW highlighted the growth in its bidr online sales platform, saying that 13 saleyards are now livestreaming sales, and total auctions conducted over the year were just under 1000.

Guerin said there is room for more expansion, with Kaikohe yards coming on stream shortly and some prospects of wool being auctioned online.

without comment from the farmer and used in a way that “fundamentally violates our client’s privacy and identify the property location”.

It said the footage is being used for anti-dairy farming purposes.

“The photos/video have been put out in the public domain with associated commentary that makes it plan there is a blatant misuse of the recorded footage and images for a political purpose, i.e. the furtherance of an agenda your agency has about perceived issues with dairy farming.”

The complainant sought copies of all “personal information” held by activist, the immediate cessation of all photographic activity of his farm, an unreserved apology and a contribution to the farmer’s legal costs.

News media are not covered by the Privacy Act, so they can undertake news-gathering activities. Complaints of privacy breaches against the media can be lodged through entities such as Broadcasting Standards Authority.

To assess whether a breach has occurred, Webster said questions to ask include, Why was the image or information gathered? Did it infringe on your privacy? Was it offensive or done in a way to harass?

If an approach for redress to the alleged holder of the offensive material is not successful, then a complaint can be lodged with the commissioner, the Human Rights Commission or Netsafe. They each have different sanction powers. Individuals can also seek access to information held by an agency about them.

Last year the Privacy Commissioner dealt with 1000 complaints, most of them from people refused access to their own private information.

Webster said farmers who are employers also have privacy obligations.

They are obliged to ensure that personal information held on staff is relevant and securely stored.

Ravensdown foresees drop in fert demand

IT COULD be another year before fertiliser sales recover – and even then, Ravensdown believes, demand will be lower. It is realigning its production capacity accordingly.

The co-operative’s chief executive, Garry Diack, thinks a combination of sheep and beef being likely to take longer to recover, land use change, the greater use of technology, and competition mean volumes will fall.

In the short term he expects it will be a year before unfavourable exchange and interest rates and on-farm inflation ease and demand and confidence recover.

The company has started discussions with staff on a proposal to close its Dunedin manufacturing works at Ravensbourne, retaining it as a bulk store and distribution site.

“It is unlikely volumes will get back to 1.1-1.2 million tonnes for us,” Diack said.

Ravensdown has manufacture capacity for 700,000-800,000 tonnes of superphosphate a year at its three plants – Napier, Christchurch and Dunedin – but needs only 400,000t split between a plant in each island.

“It’s an efficiency step in a lowvolume market,” he said.

The Ravensbourne plant

requires renewal of its emissions consent and although the Hornby plant is surrounded by homes and businesses, Diack said it is closer to more diverse fertiliser markets.

Ravensdown is also looking at whether ownership of six lime quarries is the best use of shareholders’ capital.

Diack said it could buy lime from a manufacturer, as it already does with urea.

The co-operative made these announcements as part of its annual results presentation, in which is reported an operating surplus of $27.4 million from continuing operations and before impairments and tax, which compares to $5.9m in 2022-23.

The net profit after tax from

continuing operations was $2.8m ($2.9m).

Sales were 891,000t, down 0.4% compared to the previous year and significantly lower than 2021-22 when Ravensdown had sales of 1.2 million tonnes. These lower sales were reflected in a revenue drop of $186m, to $757m, ($977.5m in 2022-23). Inventories at year-in were $57m lower at $150m, debt was $76m, down 41%, and operating costs were flat.

Chair Bruce Wills said balance sheet equity has lifted to almost 80%, but the level of profitability in an environment of low demand and sales means the co-operative cannot pay a shareholder rebate this year.

BREACH: Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster says that, in general, publishing images that can identify a person or their address without their permission can be a breach of privacy.

GREEN SHOOTS: PGG Wrightson chief executive Stephen Guerin is waiting for interest rate and inflationary relief to reboot

Neal Wallace MARKETS Fertiliser

SHORT TERM: Ravensdown CEO Garry Diack expects it will be a year before unfavourable exchange and interest rates and on-farm inflation ease and demand and confidence recover.

Medicinal marijuana company up for review

ABLENHEIM-based organic medicinal cannabis company is up for a review by the Ministry for Primary Industries as the agency’s multimilliondollar Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund partnership with it reaches its mid-point.

Puro was the sole company to have the MPI commit in 2022 to providing $13 million over five years for the “medicinal cannabis playbook, genetic breeding and organic production” project. Puro itself committed to $19m in funding.

As of March this year the MPI has committed $2.93m to the project, with Puro injecting $4.35m.

Puro’s production is based outdoors on the fifth-generation MacFarlane family farm near Blenheim, with Sank MacFarlane in the chief executive role and brother Winston as chief operating officer.

Multiple SFFF projects were commissioned by the previous government, either late last decade or early this decade, most with five- to eight-year timelines.

Projects totalling $61m are either a year from completion or starting to fall due for mid-term reviews on investment to date and project direction.

This includes a joint dairy industry study into plantain as a nitrate mitigator that has had $12.6m committed to it, and has been recently criticised for its research direction.

Other projects include $8m committed over five years to a sustainable high value sheep milk project in 2022, and a further $8m the same year committed to Ngai Tahu for a North Canterbury project on regenerative farming.

Ballance Agri-Nutrients was the sole recipient of $10 million over five years from 2020 to develop 12 nutrient technologies

to meet environmental challenges.

Canterbury company Leaft Foods headed up by Synlait founder John Penno was the sole partner to have $8m committed over five years from 2020, for developing leaf protein concentrates.

Steve Penno, the MPI’s director of investment programmes, confirmed a mid-term review of Puro is currently underway, with results to be publicly available early next year.

“An independent reviewer was chosen by the programme governance group through a selection process. The review will assess how the programme its tracking against its intended outcomes,” he said in a written response to Farmers Weekly.

Medicinal cannabis industry sources have expressed surprise that Puro, which was founded only in 2018, was the sole recipient of the $13m SFFF grant.

The grant is the second largest single grant in the $75m-a-year SFFF programme, coming after the $17.5m granted to the “Nurturing the Land” project in 2022.

I think NZ’s Brexit moment for medicinal was when the recreational marijuana referendum was defeated.

Professor Craig Bunt

University of Otago

In contrast, that project’s funding was spread across multiple industry partners including Massey University, Fonterra and Livestock Improvement Corporation.

SFFF modelling has Puro due to capture $100m in revenue by 2031 and be employing 200 fulltime staff by 2026. Puro employed about 80 seasonal staff for its 2022 harvest.

In a written response to Farmers Weekly, Puro chair Tim Aldridge said the sector has faced significant challenges due

to regulatory restrictions, which have only recently changed. He said it will take time for these to positively affect revenue and growth.

Industry insiders have said much rides on Puro’s success given the scale of the grant and the focus it places on a single company operating in the relatively new and still to be proven medicinal cannabis market.

Approved last month, the regulatory changes have removed the unintended consequences of the earlier regulations that made it difficult for medicinal cannabis companies to export products.

“This is a chance for everyone, including Puro to get the revenue they really need,” said one insider.

Two years into the SFFF project, the funding provided on an annualised basis from the MPI has been relatively constrained. It amounts to $2.93m so far, only 22% at the halfway point, out of the $13m committed.

The MPI’s Penno confirmed activities in some workstreams had changed, resulting in lower budget requirements in years one and two.

Aldridge said slower than anticipated approval of the regulatory changes had demanded the company adapt to that challenge. He said investment is expected to increase in response to the ability to now export material and innovate new products.

Craig Bunt, Otago University’s inaugural professor of agricultural innovation, said outdoor cannabis growing for medicinal purposes is a risky area, with issues around background microbial loads being one risk area.

He acknowledged the challenges the recently changed regulations had meant for export growth efforts in a sector aiming to be the country’s next wine industry.

“But I think NZ’s Brexit moment for medicinal was when the recreational marijuana referendum was defeated. Companies looking to enter the market were clearly expecting it to go the other

way and had to pivot towards medicinal marijuana.”

He maintains NZ will struggle to compete globally in the $25 billion-a-year medicinal cannabis market but one area could be in generating quality genetics, similar to what has been done in the hops sector.

Puro has not pursued plant variety rights for cultivars under development, but may do so in future. Aldridge said Puro continues to provide new genetics to NZ partners and hopes to expand this internationally now that seed export is permitted.

Carmen Doran, CEO of Helius, a key purchaser of Puro extracts, told Farmers Weekly the partner-

ship between her company and Puro has always been based on a medicinal focus, with Puro contracted to supply organic outdoor-grown compounds to Helius.

While acknowledging the sector is due for more consolidation and possible failures, she said Helius and Puro continue to maintain a solid relationship.

A multimillion-dollar supply agreement was signed between the two in January 2022 for Puro to supply 10 tonnes of cannabis over five years.

“We continue to progress with the five-year contract and our goal is for it to continue beyond that.”

GROWTH: Tim Aldridge, chair of medicinal marijuana company Puro, says the company is now on track for positive growth and revenue, partly thanks to a recent change in export regulations in NZ. Photo: Puro

Richard Rennie NEWS Health

They know our business, and we know theirs

John and Sue Upton, along with their children, own 785 hectares in Rissington, Hawke’s Bay. The property is farmed by the family of John’s late brother-in-law as part of the Rissington Cattle Company. When Cyclone Gabrielle arrived in Hawke’s Bay, John and Sue were more than 300km away in Wellington.

CYCLONE Gabrielle sent torrents of rain into the hills above Rissington, damming the Mangaone River and sending water over the river flats and the Upton’s property.

Like most of the region, the farm was left with no power, no water, no telephone and no road access. John and Sue were in Wellington with little insight into what was going on on the farm. The images on the television providing some daunting clues.

They made it to the farm two weeks later via a local’s IRB (inflatable rubber boat) across the river. The Mangaone River bridge had bowed out under the weight of water and debris. The water having risen 19 metres above its normal height.

There were slips and animals losses on farm and water was being pumped into cattle troughs via dams.

Their home was safe with its elevated vantage point but the farm office and shepherds’ quarters destroyed; and there was a large question mark hanging over the woolshed’s future viability.

A career lawyer and Kings Counsel no less, John has seen his fair share of insurance dealings in and out of courtrooms over his career representing both sides of proceedings.

He was taken aback in the days following the Cyclone when he received a call from FMG. It was Carolin, the Rural Manager who looks after his account.

“The first things she asked was are you ok and what can we do to help?” said John. FMG had actually made more than 6000 calls to clients that had been in Cyclone Gabrielle’s firing line. John and Sue’s was just one of those.

“We got the claims lodged and we were then assigned an assessor, Paul. You could not have met a nicer guy and his first question was - how can we get you back on track?”

The questions that came next were those faced by many across impacted regions.

What would the local bodies agree about future use of the land? Should they reinstate the shepherds’ quarters and office where they were? Could they lift them up or was a new site required? Was the 140-year-old woolshed repairable or not?

“Ultimately, we were paid out as a total loss for the woolshed and the shepherds’ quarters and farm office were paid out on its sum insured. The woolshed is now being rebuilt elsewhere, we have had a relocatable house come down from Auckland to replace the shepherds’ quarters and the future of the farm office is still a work in progress.”

The woolshed is now being rebuilt elsewhere, we have had a relocatable house come down from Auckland to replace the shepherds’ quarters and the future of the farm office is still a work in progress.

John Upton Farm owner

A loss of rent policy kicked in as well helping provide some additional income while the office, accommodation and amenities were unusable.

“FMG’s approach was different from the very beginning and of my experience with other insurers. It was personal service, with personable staff,” said John.

“They came out and saw us at the point of joining as a client. We went around the farm. They learnt about our business and our family and we learnt about theirs, the mutuality was present in every conversation.”

With the bridge at Rissington back in action, John and Sue are enjoying more visits to the Hawke’s Bay, enjoying some sunshine as opposed to rain and watching the repairs and recovery unfold with every trip.

EXPERIENCE: A career lawyer and

Ben & Samantha Tippins

Sharemilking 950 cows in Tokoroa

Par tnering wit h farmers like t he Tippins to reach milk quality targets.

Dairy farmers like Ben and Samantha know that being proactive with udder health from the star t of calving is crucial for a successful season.

With 950 cows and a switch to once-a-day, maintaining a consistently low somatic cell count was always going to be a challenge But by teaming up with FIL and implementing a 10-step milking routine, they ’ve seen significant results: fewer mastitis cases, lower SCC, and more milk in the vat.

They ’ve also shaved an hour and a half off milking time, giving them and their team more family moments.

Now that ’s what we call a successful par tnership.

Learn more about Ben and Samantha’s success by scanning the QR code or visiting FIL.co.nz.

Kings Counsel, John Upton, pictured here with wife Sue, has seen his fair share of insurance dealings in and out of courtrooms.

Fences to mend and bridges to build

As the Opposition face of the farming portfolio, Jo Luxton has to rise at dawn and put in some hard yards. Eric Frykberg reports.

LABOUR’S agricultural spokesperson, Jo Luxton, has a hard job in politics. She has to win friends in a farming community that often tends to be Tory almost by default. She has to do as much as or more than her predecessor, Damien O’Connor, who had 30 years in parliament and two separate stints as cabinet minister to learn the tricks of the trade.

And she has to somehow move on from a drawn-out battle between farmer groups and the previous government, which ended in stalemate.

But she has the advantage of a temporary “blank slate” on rural policies, a recognition of the vital role of the primary sector in the economy at large, and a readiness to learn what farmers want.

“I think you just have to be willing to listen and be open to the conversations that they have with you around the pressures that they face,” she says.

As a small business owner in the early childhood sector, Luxton is not exactly a daughter of the paddock. But she lives in rural Mid Canterbury and has had two stints in farming, once as a child on a farm at Ngakuru, near Rotorua, and five years as the wife of a dairy farmer in the Bay of Plenty and the South Island.

“I didn’t get up at 5am every day to milk the cows – my husband did – but I certainly understand the pressures and the different requirements when you are out on the farm,” she says.

“For example, it’s calving time, and it’s late at night, and you have to go out into the paddocks to check the cows to make sure they are not having any difficulties. I think this gives you an understanding of the challenges farmers face.”

Luxton has another advantage. Around 90% of all primary production is exported, and Labour supports trade deals just as much as National. Luxton says she would be delighted if

current negotiations for a free trade agreement with India are successful.

“We are all supportive of doubling our exports in 10 years,” she says, referring to a National Party pledge.

Luxton has approached Agriculture Minister Todd McClay to try to smooth out some policy differences. The context for this is deep public resentment at three-year flip flops in parliament, which can be damaging to ordinary members of society who are trying to develop long-term plans.

“I approached him a couple of months back ... and asked if we could have a conversation about areas where we might be able to agree and provide some certainty and longevity of policy and regulation for farmers,” she says.

“He seems open to it and thought that we could just start off with some small things, and I said to him I think that’s great.”

Luxton admits, though, that this process is in its early stages.

I am just a person who is genuinely interested in other people’s points of view. I am not holding onto any way of thinking.

Jo Luxton Labour spokesperson on agriculture

Before it lost power, the last Labour government was bogged down in conflict with farmer groups on several fronts. One area was government opposition to new irrigation schemes. Another was the empowerment of local councils to curtail farming on land that was deemed a significant natural area.

There was an extra problem with tough winter grazing rules.

Farming groups said these would penalise careful farmers who need to protect grass growth on vulnerable slopes in winter, on the basis of highly publicised

STRIKE FLIES AND LICE

mistreatment of animals by a neglectful few.

There was also the threatened inclusion of farmers in the Emissions Trading Scheme. Then there were stock exclusion rules under freshwater regulations, which were condemned as unworkable. There was also a requirement for a lot of paperwork, which could make the pen and the desktop important pieces of farm equipment, like a tractor or milking shed.

There is some resentment in the Labour Party as to just how adamant farm groups were in opposition to all this. Party members argued many of these reforms were necessary for environmental reasons. They would have an extra benefit in protecting New Zealand products from being undermined in foreign marketplaces by disingenuous attacks from commercial rivals.

But at any rate, many of these changes brought in by the last government have been either reversed or put on hold by the current administration.

Luxton is keeping her powder dry on the merits of these arguments, or perhaps the party as a whole is keeping it dry for her.

“We don’t have policy in the agricultural space at the moment and we’ve got time to develop policy over the next 12 months or so. I guess since we’ve come into opposition, the focus is around building relationships and listening to farmers and finding out what they might want from us when we’re next in government.

“From there, we will look to develop our policy on things that we can work together on.”

Luxton won’t be drawn on why she was chosen to replace O’Connor, who had been the face of agriculture for Labour for much of his three decades in parliament. That was a matter for the leader, Chris Hipkins, she says, though she adds she let Hipkins know she would be interested in the job.

Meanwhile, aged 51, she is a decade and a half younger than O’Connor, and is far more likely to be a potential cabinet minister after the next election or the subsequent one than O’Connor would be,

She entered Parliament in 2017 and is a list MP. She is an active member of the Primary Production Select Committee, which she formerly chaired. She also works hard to get fellow party members

BID FOR CONTINUITY:

better acquainted with agriculture.

“The last government did get a bit of a bad rap from some farmer groups, such as Federated Farmers. Perhaps it was wrong to say we should not have all those irrigation schemes, when some farmers thought they needed to keep their productivity up.”

So, does that mean there should be more irrigation?

“I am not saying that, we don’t have a policy at the moment. I am open to having those conversations and discussions with people, but I’m not committing to anything at this stage because we don’t have any policy, we’ve pretty much got a blank slate now.”

Luxton has been seen by some commentators as being on the right of the Labour Party spectrum.

National MP Miles Anderson actually declared she was really a National Party supporter but had been captured by Labour and had “shown signs of the Stockholm Syndrome”. Luxton laughs off that suggestion, saying she is neither Labour left, right nor centre.

“I just describe myself as Labour ... I am just a person who is genuinely interested in other people’s points of view ... I am not holding onto any way of thinking.”

Labour spokesperson on agriculture Jo Luxton, pictured with Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Toby Williams, has approached Agriculture Minister Todd McClay to try to smooth out some policy differences.

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From the Editor

Consider each step on GE path

Bryan Gibson Managing editor

IT HAS been several decades in the making, but New Zealand is finally getting an update to its rules around genetic modification.

Legislation will be introduced by the end of the year and, if passed, will end the ban on using gene technologies outside of the laboratory.

The law will be based on Australia’s Gene Technology Act 2000.

NZ has been working under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 when it comes to regulating genetic technologies.

The legislation has had a couple of amendments over time, but it essentially still treats genetic editing the same as genetic modification.

Interestingly, Australia’s regulations are still more stringent than those in the United Kingdom, United States and those proposed in the European Union.

The biotechnology sector has welcomed

the move, saying it will help us develop the tools needed to combat climate change and stay competitive in the global market.

Our expertise in plant and fruit development would suggest we’re well placed to capitalise on being able to use these new tools.

Many believe that having the ability to field-trial genetically edited organisms will accelerate work on finding crops, fruit and animals that can better withstand the changing climate.

Biocontrols would also be more easily found to combat the new range of pests that will come with a changing climate.

But the swift advance of these technologies means public understanding of them is murky.

A recent report from the Australian Office of the Gene Technology Regulator shows support for using gene technology has dropped in the past decade.

Tools like CRISPR, which is a far cry from the frankenfood GM opponents warned of in the past, are still being debated by the scientific community, with some seeing unintended consequences elsewhere in society.

Public understanding of these different techniques is poor and there needs to be good communication of what is being allowed and why, both here at home and in our export markets.

In a world where transparency in the supply chain is becoming a cost of entry into

many markets, we need to be sure that the high-end consumers we aspire to feed know what they’re eating and are comfortable doing so.

Our food is known for being produced in a natural, sustainable environment and damaging that reputation, whether that damage is based on fact or fiction, would be a terrible outcome.

As always, the key to all of this will be to have clear rules and strict oversight.

The new legislation is being developed with input from a technical advisory group, Māori and industry.

When it is published, the public will get to submit on it at the Select Committee stage.

A dedicated regulator to oversee new applications to use gene technologies here will determine the risks involved in any new innovation.

But what we need to remember is that a risk for us is different from a risk in other countries.

We don’t want to be low-cost, low-quality food producers who don’t have to worry too much about the provenance story that accompanies goods to market.

We want the world to know NZ food is good for the body, the land and the conscience.

Gene technologies could well help us achieve that, but we need to be sure that’s the likely outcome before embarking on the journey.

Letters of the week Look before we leap into GE

Phyllis Tichinin

True Health Ltd

CRSPR “gene scissor” technology has been touted as better than the other genetic engineering options that New Zealand has so far rejected for our agriculture. Should we embrace patented genetic manipulation in our cropping and livestock on the promise of better yields, or should we heed the signals from our international markets?

Either way, this is a “follow the money” situation: who pays for and benefits from the gene-editing (GE) research vs who is stepping up to pay us more for providing genetically modified crops.

Are we getting unbiased information on GE traits and their stability? Or are we naively relying on geneticists hoping to secure patent royalties and get paid by biotech investors?

Biotech investment burn-up and turnover is a business in itself, always dangling the next lucrative breakthrough before investors willing to lose all for an illusory “big win” next time, while researchers crank out papers and questionable possibilities, always scrambling to secure the next biotech grant. How does this help NZ farmers profitably produce the world’s best food while healing human health and the environment?

Which of our high-end markets is stepping up to pay us more for genetically modified food? Chinese consumers have increasingly focused on safe, quality foods and the Chinese government just announced a major shift toward a circular green economy. Unlikely they’ll be interested.

We may think we’re seen as the best, but recent Kantor research for MBE demonstrates that we’re consistently behind Australia, Japan, Italy and France in consumer perception of our food taste, quality and trustworthiness. Shockingly, we’re seen as last when it comes to producing world-leading quality worth paying a premium for.

Will opting into genetic engineering improve our image and premium when highend consumers are showing a preference and paying a premium for organic food? Unlikely.

A May 24 article in Nature Genetics cast a shadow on CRSPR promoters’ claims that it is more accurate and stable than earlier gene modification techniques. Although jawdroppingly complex, the gist of this research is that extensive, artificial intelligencebased sampling of CRSPR modifications to date shows a statistically highly significant occurrence of unintended genetic changes: loss of large DNA segments, inappropriate gene insertions and gene reversions

Letters of the week

Continued from previous page

that adversely affect organism function.

The authors are clear that these unwanted changes can in no way be compared to random mutations. They are a direct result of CRSPR manipulations.

It appears that these sorts of alterations in human genes are associated with risk of cancer. In plants these genetic changes are associated with negative environmental effects and changes in food composition, along with impairing genetic stability and plant suitability for agriculture.

Are these risks worth it? How many other times have we been sold a bill of goods on the latest ag innovation that was a fizzer or actually became a serious and costly problem?

If we allow genetic modification, do we put at risk our environment and our reputation for no benefit? Do our markets actually want it? Does it actually help us grow premium nutrient-dense food that restores soil, human health and farm profit? Let’s look before we leap.

A burning question

Stephen J Lindsay

Morrinsville

JILLIAN Ambrose, energy correspondent of the Guardian, that erstwhile left-wing English newspaper, reported on August 9 that the Drax power station in North Yorkshire had four times more carbon emissions than the coal-fired power plant at RatcliffeOn-Soar in Nottinghamshire.

The Drax power station burns wood pellets.

Fonterra recently spent millions and millions of dollars converting its Waitoa plant from coal to wood pellets. The possibility exists that Fonterra might be better at burning shareholder wealth than it is at burning wood pellets.

In my view ... Downplaying pesticide risks fails farmers

JR Bruning

Bruning is a trustee of Physicians & Scientists for Global Responsibility New Zealand

ALAN Emerson’s article “A debate that’s more fiction than fact” is a disservice to farmers and growers.

The reassessment of glyphosate has been extraordinarily political. New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) hasn’t reassessed glyphosate, and the more toxic glyphosate-based herbicide formulations that farmers are exposed to, since the 1970s.

No, the European Food Safety Authority has not classified glyphosate as a carcinogen. But the finding by the International Agency for Research on Cancer that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen still stands.

Applicators might keep in mind the fact that the European vote to renew glyphosate occurred after a vote deadlock.

Certain issues were left as “outstanding” or “could not be finalised” by the assessment due to gaps in the available data.

Emerson fails to mention that farmers are often the plaintiffs in court cases. Blood cancers are a known occupational disease for people who use pesticides.

The science is not settled, it’s extraordinarily contested.

I am not saying don’t use glyphosate. It is an important herbicide. Cockies need to spot spray and arable growers need to prep before seeding. Many herbicides are much more toxic. But the regulator abstaining from proper risk assessment and a lack of funding for science fails farmers. Europe has much more rigorous rules around application on and around crops, and they don’t pour glyphosate down roadsides, and into freshwater environments.

Send

Our drinking water levels for glyphosate are based on an unpublished 1981 Monsanto study. The World Health Organisation in 2022 based it finding on its 2003 assessment, where the principle reference relates to a 1981 Monsanto study. Science, hey?

We find it easy to dismiss a weight of evidence. Regulatory agencies including the European Food Safety Authority historically primarily base their findings on a narrow group of studies supplied by industry. Industry data becomes the weight of evidence. In Europe’s recent review, many studies were excluded because the formulation studied by independent scientists is not a guideline; the formulation is the real-time mixture that applicators and farmers are exposed to.

Europe has much more rigorous rules around application on and around crops, and they don’t pour glyphosate down roadsides, and into freshwater environments.

The EPA has just dismissed a request for the first reassessment in 40 years because “what we received from the applicant does not meet the criteria for significant new information and does not justify a reassessment of this substance”.

But the EPA did this by strictly keeping to regulatory protocols, while excluding important white papers, and court documents. The EPA does not conduct reviews of the published literature.

Regulatory science is political. In this gap, with $52 billion in agricultural exports, we could have long-term funding for scientists to do this sort of publicgood research.

The ESR and the Centre for

CONTESTED: Jodie Bruning says the science around glyphosate is not settled, it’s extraordinarily contested.

Public Health Research struggle to access funding to assess pesticiderelated risks. The Ministry of Health is not interested. As all the lab testing is privatised, universities won’t run studies without funding. AgResearch is letting staff go and the board has confirmed that the Crown Research Institute must never run at a loss. This is after years of frozen funding levels.

The shifting of science to prioritise private-public partnerships and patents that return royalties is part of the story. Toxin-related research is outside government funding agendas.

This is important research that might show harm, but when it’s politically controversial, it’s dead in the water.

The United States Roundup trials revealed “the importance of multiple exposure episodes per year, over multiple years, including a certain percentage of high-exposure episodes caused by application equipment problems, leaky hoses and valves, spills, wind, spray patterns and equipment clean-up and repair”.

Court transcripts show how glyphosate pools in the epidermis, resulting in longerterm exposures for accidentally exposed workers. Applicators take off gloves to drive, to answer the phone or eat lunch or when they use a backpack. Unfortunately, unintentional pesticide poisoning is all too common.

Other contaminants in the retail formulation include heavy metals and synergists.

Ironically, because glyphosate is such a golden child we were late

More than just an educational

Wendy Paul Paul is CEO of Growing Future Farmers

IN MY 18 months as CEO of Growing Future Farmers, I have been astounded by the truly life-changing impact of on-farm training – and perhaps not in the way you think. GFF offers on-farm training alongside one-day-a-week of courses and training to achieve NZQAs. This combined focus on qualifications with practical learning just makes sense. Our students leave their two years with

GFF work-ready and highly sought after.

Eighteen months ago I understood this practically but not emotionally. One of my first experiences in the role was attending an orientation day, where the new students were quiet, insular and unsure. Fastforward to attending a graduation of students who’d done their two years: the difference was startling. These students were proud, confident, they clearly had integrity and passion. They knew their worth. It was nothing short of transformative.

But it didn’t stop there. I watched the farm trainers, the families who’d taken these students into their lives for two years and I saw the tears, the pride, the community. These stoic farming teams, often husband and wife teams, raved about how amazing it was to have these young people come to their farms and how proud they were to have seen such growth in these young farmers from the unsure students that came to them two years earlier.

I know practical skills are great, but in my opinion it’s the

recognising glyphosate resistance in weeds. Now it’s common to mix herbicide formulations. Herbicide resistance is a global problem. Investment in integrated pest management, and scoping of global research to inform farmers and growers of best practice is simply not in government science budgets, which revolve around methane mitigation while ignoring climate adaption.

Synergies from mixtures are not studied in New Zealand. Do residues of pesticide mixtures bioaccumulate at such a level where earthworms and honeybees are put at risk? Or, due to glyphosate’s binding properties, are soil minerals less bioavailable in frequently sprayed paddocks? Do herbicide-sprayed feed-crops impact livestock fertility? Which spraying patterns tip applicators into occupationally related chronic health conditions? Digestive tract, mental health and autoimmune conditions will be more likely to be considered unrelated, and just bad luck. Applicators can’t even get their blood tested to assess exposure levels.

Ultimately, if we have an agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review, and officials continue to fail to address mixture synergies, while dismissing the fact that farmers, growers and soils are frequently unavoidably exposed to mixtures, we can miss issues which drive disease and suppress productivity. Farmers and growers are in a double bind. This sci-knowledge gap leaves farmers and growers as the bad guys, damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.

experiences they get on farm that gives them a different world view and opens the door to understanding their potential and all the opportunity that awaits them.

I know as humans we’re all different, but genuinely I work with farmers who just have good human values. They are salt of the earth, and they have boundaries grounded in hard work and achievement. Our students thrive when they know what’s expected of them.

Continued page 19

Sugar crash and medal flash in Australia

Alternative view

Alan Emerson

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

I’VE recently been visiting Australia’s far northern Queensland, and the challenges facing that area and Australia in general are the same as many of those facing rural New Zealand.

My reading of the Australian livestock industry is that it is facing a crisis similar to what is occurring here. The country’s dairy and cropping industries are thriving, particularly on the larger farms.

Generally when you drive either north or south of Cairns you see a frenetically busy sugar industry at this time of year.

Currently there is no activity at all. The railway tracks carrying sugar cane to the mills are overgrown, many crops are past harvest date and the freight cars carrying the cane to the mills are in a state of decay.

Investigating further we are told via the media that “politicians are stopping work on a crop that may never be harvested”. The Mossman Sugar Mill closed last year and any cane harvested needs to be trucked south. No cane trucks were obvious on the roads despite

SLUMP: Generally when you drive either north or south of Cairns you see a frenetically busy sugar industry at this time of year, says Alan Emerson. ‘Currently there is no activity at all.’

warnings to expect one every eight minutes.

On the broader agriculture front, Aussies tend to like their farmers more than Kiwis do. The media coverage of farming issues is generally both informed and supportive.

I read in The Australian that the local cattle industry is facing “its greatest existential threat from activists peddling green ideology and spreading misinformation about the industry”.

The article went on to quote David Harris, the head of the 200-year-old Australian Agricultural Company. He made the point that “Australian beef producers were ‘fighting for [their] very existence’ against global forces pushing agendas on climate emissions, animal welfare, the environment, water use and diets.”

Where have we heard that before?

So from an agricultural

perspective the issues facing Australian farmers are similar to those facing you and me. The major difference is that Australians have a greater respect for their farmers and the mainstream media is infinitely better informed on rural issues.

The railway tracks carrying sugar cane to the mills are overgrown.

Those similarities continue to the general economy with the Australian cost-of-living crisis as big an issue there as it is here. As in New Zealand, there is a lot of talk but little real action. It is the same with inflation.

There is also major conflict between the Reserve Bank of Australia and the government over the state of the economy. As with NZ, one would hope that hard

economics will rule over political expediency.

The energy issue does have differences. Australia doesn’t enjoy the hydro capability NZ does and it has many coal-fired generators it is trying to retire.

That has brought some major issues to light. A large problem is that when you close down a lot of smaller coal-fired plants for a bigger, more central solar generator, the reticulation of that electricity becomes a challenge.

There’s only one solution and that is power lines over private property and that is causing major ructions.

It has also created much media coverage with the only solution I can see being the heavy hand of the government. It will be an interesting debate, coming up as it has just before a Federal election.

While the current government is talking solar, which makes sense in a country like Australia, the

Opposition is talking up nuclear power. It will be an interesting discussion as both solar and nuclear are considered renewables. It will have ramifications in NZ as well as in my opinion we have the choice of either building more dams, burning more coal or investigating nuclear power.

What I did find iniquitous is that on one hand there is considerable media coverage of the need for renewables when it comes to electricity generation while on the other it is exporting coal by the shipload.

Coal mines that were destined for closure are now up and running with a vengeance.

The hypocrisy wasn’t lost on the Victorian Farmers Federation, which waded into the fray with a passion claiming that farmers are forced to carry the burden of the renewable energy targets. They claimed the government is “blatantly ignoring concerns that its transition plan will compromise food security”.

Where have I heard that before?

Reading all the fine print, it seemed to me that bureaucrats decreed from on high what was going to happen without any practical on-the-ground knowledge.

As I’ve said, Australia has similar problems to those we have.

On the lighter side, going onto the media and trying to find an Olympic competitor that wasn’t Australian was incredibly difficult. One Ocker boasted to me that Australia had more medals than NZ. My simple response was to ask him to consider the difference in the population and the medals per capita, and NZ was well clear. The debate ended there.

One positive is that Australian limes, certainly those in northern Queensland, are a lot juicier than ours.

The downside is that gin is more expensive.

This new era will demand better policy

Straight talking

Cameron Bagrie Managing director of Bagrie Economics and a shareholder and director of Chaperon

AN UNDERAPPRECIATED factor supporting the New Zealand economy in recent decades has been the terms of trade, which represents the ratio

of export prices to import prices. Farmers are more concerned about the former, but it is the combination that matters.

New Zealand’s terms of trade rose almost 45% between 2001 and 2021. This allowed us to purchase more imported goods for every unit of export that we sold.

The terms of trade are now down almost 11% since 2021. This means New Zealand must export a greater number of units to purchase the same number of imports to keep our trade balance and current account in check.

The finger can be pointed at commodity prices (weak), and oil prices moving around, but the real issue is, has New Zealand’s terms of trade hit an inflection point? If it has, where should we turn for growth?

Many decades ago, the PrebischSinger hypothesis stated that the price of primary commodities should decline relative to the price of manufactured goods,

which causes the terms of trade of primary-product-based economies to deteriorate. As incomes grow, we are assumed to spend more on manufacturing items, which have a higher income elasticity compared to food.

At face value this was bad for New Zealand, but the outcomes did not mirror the hypothesis. Our terms of trade rose.

A key reason was the rise in globalisation, which reduced the price of manufactured goods, particularly as outsourcing took hold and China became the epicentre for lots of manufacturing.

As the world became more and more connected, accessing cheap labour, and outsourcing to cheaper and low-cost producers took place, manufacturing goods become the new commodities.

New Zealand also benefited from lower prices for many capital goods, which incorporated falling prices for computer equipment. A

computer built in 2001 is far less powerful than the ones we have today.

Other factors, such as relative inflation rates, trade policy and the currency, can play a role too, but the defining factor appears to have been globalisation and shifts in manufacturing pricing relative to commodities.

A debate is now raging over whether globalisation is over, or are we just moving into a different version of it? I side with the latter. Globalisation has a tailwind in the form of technology. This reduces the tyranny of distance. The economics of trade is also clear – a more globally connected world boosts growth. The global economy will need interdependence and co-operation to crack climate change objectives and reduce poverty.

However, globalisation was always going to face challenges at some point. There was always going to be a stage where the

integration of world views, products, ideas and culture into a universal set of values would face realities. Not everyone wants to be like the West who have modernised the most, and nor should we expect them to be.

Convergence is now divergence. Geopolitics is moving against globalisation and potentially a world dominated by two or three trading blocs. The economics of trade now has a security overlay, especially in technology.

Just-in-case is replacing justin-time, our rules-based trading system is being challenged by the use of power, and protectionism is rife. As New Zealand’s chief trade negotiator Vangelis Vitalis puts it, “the golden era is over”. How this impacts export and import prices over the medium term (looking beyond the current period) is open to debate. Supplydemand balances within various

Continued next page

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

How to keep going past gold

Eating the elephant

David Eade

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

WATCHING the Olympics from the couch, it can be easy to forget that for every gold-medal dream realised, the lives of dozens of athletes just hit a brick wall.

The talent of these athletes is something to marvel at. Someone wise once likened this talent to being graced with a black stallion – full of raw power, but it takes a lifetime to learn to ride the thing.

As spectators, we witness thousands of hours of repetitive training come down to a single

performance. For many athletes, the outcome of that race is everything, and it can all be over in seconds.

It’s easy to miss as one surfs the channels. Before I know it, the camera pans off the athletes and it’s onto the next race – or I’m off to the next channel. Their time in the spotlight is over.

The spotlight lingers a little longer for those who win a gold medal. And so it should. That athlete has just reached the pinnacle of their career, capping years of discipline and sacrifice.

Over the course of their sporting career, an athlete refines a process that drives their success. This process becomes almost automatic in the heat of competition. Each day offers a chance to fine-tune this process in pursuit of those critical seconds – a small tweak in nutrition, a change in technique or a new pre-race routine.

As the Paris Olympics come to a close, many athletes will enter a period of deep reflection and face the inevitable question, ‘What comes next?’

What does the future hold after reaching the heights in a very specialised discipline?

Some will chase further glory. Others will choose retirement and accept that the time has come for a new life. Often, this means going from the peak of one profession to the bottom of another. A shift that comes with operating in the “real

I can’t help but feel like New Zealand’s primary sector is at a similar point to hundreds of highperformance athletes in Paris right now.

world”, with entirely different expectations. The sporting world is straightforward, it has a clear purpose and a simple goal: win. Goals in the real world are much harder to measure.

I have witnessed many who have gone from the top of their game to struggling with the mundane realities of life after

Continued from previous page

markets for commodities will remain influential.

However, we would be amiss not to acknowledge that if globalisation was one driving factor behind a rising terms of trade, even a partial reversal will not be good. The PrebischSinger hypothesis finds some favour in the literature but the 2000s commodities boom saw the terms of trade of most developing countries improved, while east Asia (which exports mostly manufactured goods) saw deteriorating terms of trade (though that was the booming China driving commodities, not the current China).

Where is the good news?

The primary sector is primarily

concerned about absolute prices rather than relative ones, yet it is the relative prices that matter for the overall economy.

A lower terms of trade will need to be counteracted by a currency that supports exporting over importing. We are seeing that.

The terms of trade is one of many “old” drivers of the economy that have likely reached peak-influence. China’s growth prospects have weakened though India’s era is here. Interest rates will fall over coming years, but the trend will not be lower for the next 30 years like the previous 30. That will dampen capital gains.

A housing-centric growth model of 30 years just exacerbated unaffordability, inequality and division. Tourism is struggling to recover to pre-covid levels.

Migration has been an easy lever not a substantive one. This model allowed us to get away with average (at best) policy and business practices. Sub-par practices and policies are now being exposed. Witness electricity. Our “new” growth model likely has four essential components. Address poor productivity. Get the right settings for capital investment, which includes examining banking and the pricing of risk relative to the taking of it. Natural resource endowments need to be unlocked. Government policy and business execution needs to step up. It’s a more substantive model than previous ones. We need the tough times to embed the shift to the new model and especially better policy.

the competition stops. This is not ring-fenced to sport. Talk with many in the farming community who have achieved serious accolades or awards, and you will hear similar stories. Some were burnt out. The time, effort and intense focus they had placed on success took the love from what they do.

A transition can be messy. In the short term, many look like a dog chasing a car as they learn a new job or non-competitive workplace relationships through trial and error.

In my view, those who make a successful transition learn how to play the long game and recalibrate their meticulous process to match.

Continued from page 17

Every student is different but many of them haven’t enjoyed school and, for whatever reason, have come away believing they’re not good enough. And then when someone believes in them, gives them tools, experience, knowledge and permission – it’s transformational.

Working closely with the trainers, I’ve noticed that for some, it’s almost like a second chance to invest in their kids, and our students become an extension of the family. Something I hear all the time from trainers is the surprise when they realise that they are learning as much from the students as the students are from them.

Ultimately, what works is that everyone is invested in the outcome. It’s not milk and honey all the time, but even gaining the skills to navigate tension is invaluable. I liken it to being in a big family.

Our role at GFF is to make sure

When someone believes in them, gives them tools, experience, knowledge and permission – it’s transformational.

They craft a new vision, away from competing with peers to making big leaps in their new chosen area. Much of this comes with finding new purpose within their chosen pursuit.

I can’t help but feel like New Zealand’s primary sector is at a similar point to hundreds of highperformance athletes in Paris right now.

With a mantelpiece full of previous golds in the agriculture race, do we choose to chase further glory with a simple goal of doubling the value of our primary exports over the next 10 years, or pivot to some new vision –prepared to be a novice again, as we reach for a new purpose?

it’s working between the student and trainer, but also to allow them the space to navigate the complexities that come with onfarm training. And it works! The pride, the tears, the energy and the passion at the graduations is the proof.

MORE:

You can find out more about becoming a student or farm trainer at www.growingfuturefarmers.co.nz

POTENTIAL:

David

CHANGING LANES: Olympian Peter Snell, number 466, enjoyed a successful career after track and field, becoming director of the Human Performance Centre at the University of Texas. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

LOSING HEAT: The terms of trade is one of many ‘old’ drivers of the economy that have likely reached peakinfluence, says Cameron Bagrie.

Photo Wikimedia Commons

Growing Future Farmers CEO Wendy Paul says the experiences the students get on farm give them a different world view.

Applying right mix for sustained growth

After more than 30 years selling New Zealand’s dairy products to the world, Kelvin Wickham has moved up the value chain in his new role as chief executive of Ballance Agri-Nutrients. Bryan Gibson caught up with him recently.

THE first eight months of Kelvin Wickham’s time at the helm of Balance have been a bit trickier than he would have liked.

International fertiliser prices were high and even as they fell, the co-operative had a fair bit of inventory to get thorough.

“Just like all our farmers and growers out there, we would see the higher interest rates. We had to take that into account and manage our debt levels down, carrying the inventory through.

“So that took a bit more time than I expected. And I’m really pleased to see we’ve come through our financial year in a strong position.

“The balance sheet’s in a good place, we’ve paid down some debt. And most importantly, we cleared a lot of that high-priced inventory. And you’ve seen that reflected now – being able to pass on those lower prices.”

The highs and lows of international commodity prices are nothing new to Wickham, though.

At Fonterra he held a number of roles that included working in international markets and here at home with its farmer-shareholders.

“I really enjoyed that aspect of bringing the goodness of New Zealand dairy to the world.”

During that time Wickham was based in Singapore, Germany and China, and his last role was working in Amsterdam across a wide region of the Americas, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Japan and Korea.

“I was out there in the world trying to do my best for New Zealand farmers, but at the same time you’re still connected really strongly to New Zealand.

“When you come back and talk to farmers and growers at some of the shed meetings you have, you get real direct feedback. I’ve always enjoyed that part. New Zealand’s in your heart while you’re out there doing your best in the world.”

Being so close to the consumers buying NZ dairy emphasised the importance of our brand story, Wickham said.

“I think that helps you get a perspective on why it’s important, why we’ve really got to protect New Zealand from biosecurity incursions, protect the brand reputation and ensure that we actually deliver on the promise of high environmental standards.

“When they see our product on the shelves, they read about New Zealand, when they see the logos and the brands that we have out there across the food and fibre sector, it comes with an inherent stamp of quality.

“We do have to be conscious of that and make sure that we deliver on that promise.

“More and more it’s not about what you say – they’re looking under the covers, they’re checking, they’re looking on the internet to see if you are delivering that.”

Ballance has a massive role to play in ensuring that story rings true, he said.

“We sell plant food and without wanting to be too punny you need to get the balance right in terms of how much you put in and using it correctly.”

And with increasing regulation of the amount of fertiliser farmers can apply, Ballance is now much more than a retailer – it’s an adviser and data manager as well.

The right products must be there for farmers, of course, but

It’s more about helping add value to the farmer and grower. We have to make sure we’re relevant to our customershareholders, farmergrowers.

Kelvin Wickham Ballance Agri-Nutrients

Ballance’s strategy isn’t just selling as much of it as possible.

“It’s more about helping add value to the farmer and grower. We have to make sure we’re relevant to our customer-shareholders, farmer-growers. That starts with doing the basics right – making sure you have the fertiliser available when they want it, in the right format.

“But more and more it’s about precision.

“We’re actually comfortable with people using less if they’re using it well and they get better yields from it.”

Efficiency and yield are the focus of one of the co-operative’s big research and development projects.

A $25 million partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries is looking at farming practices and how waterways can be better protected through more efficient nitrogen and fertiliser use.

While many farmers and growers are doing it tough right now, Wickham is confident about food production’s future, if we approach it right.

“I feel it’s really going to have to be a value play. We’re going to have to help our farmers and growers produce quality food

Much-loved Canty livestock agent dies

CANTERBURY livestock agent and Ashburton

A&P Association

stalwart Victor Schikker has died following an incident at the Staveley ice rink in Mid Canterbury.

Schikker was airlifted to Christchurch Hospital and later died after falling backwards and hitting his head on the ice at a private curling event.

A keen curler, Schikker had organised the competition as part of a social function attended by a number of his PGG Wrightson colleagues.

Schikker, who grew up in Mt Somers, would have marked 50 years working with PGG Wrightson in January next year.

PGW chief executive Stephen Guerin said: “It was a tragic

accident at a social curling event, a sport which Victor loved.”

Schikker, 67, started with the company in the legacy Wrightson’s business in January 1975, as a young livestock agent.

His initial focus was sheep and beef before moving into the dairy sector of the livestock business, an area he grew to have considerable passion for, including co-ordinating the Mid Canterbury region’s annual IHC calf and rural scheme from its inception in the 1980s.

Thanks to the generous support of New Zealand farmers nationwide, the PGW rural donation scheme has raised over $40 million in more than 40 years to help transform the lives of people with disabilities in rural areas, something communityminded Schikker was proud to be a part of.

Schikker spent his entire career with the company in and around

the Mid Canterbury region and was passionate about what he did in his role in the business.

He loved his curling. Loyalty and pride were among his biggest attributes.

He was highly respected in his job and in the community and described by his colleagues as “a real good bugger”.

“He will be remembered as a man with a big heart and for his sharp-witted sense of humour,” Guerin said.

“He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

“Our thoughts are with Victor’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.

“We are offering support to those affected including Victor’s family and his PGW work colleagues.”

In a statement reported by Stuff, Schikker’s three children shared their gratitude for all their father had done for the family.

“The support that he gave us

He will be remembered as a man with a big heart and for his sharp-witted sense of humour.

Stephen Guerin PGG Wrightson

throughout all our years so far, we could just never be more thankful,” they said.

Schikker was a huge part of the Mid Canterbury farming community as well as the Ashburton A&P having served the past two years as show president.

“This is a very sad loss; his untimely death is hurting our community,” a colleague said.

“He was just everyone’s mate; he was a great man in the community,” said another.

“He’s going to leave a big hole in a lot of peoples’ lives, in the community and the show as well.”

to chase premium markets and premium segments in those markets. That’s either through brand presence or the top class ingredients inside or the wonderful products we’ve found on the chef’s table.

“Our part in that story is top quality nutrients. It’s never a straight line and all the sectors have their moments. We have a heavy reliance on China and the US, the two big key markets and they have their ups and downs. That will continue.

“Obviously there’s a lot more life coming through in the dairy sector at the moment. Sheep and beef will follow.

“No one’s going to select New Zealand products because it’s some right that we have. We have to support across the value chain and fight hard in those markets day in, day out.”

real good bugger’, livestock agent Victor Schikker, is fondly remembered by his community.

LIFE: Kelvin Wickham says there’s ‘a lot more life coming through in the dairy sector at the moment. Sheep and beef will follow.’

REMEMBERED: ‘Just a

Annette Scott PEOPLE Livestock

Bigger drones rise to meet crop challenge

FAR will be taking a closer look as larger tanks and sharper tech make the airborne machines an option for spraying. Annette Scott reports.

DRONE spraying is on the rise with broadacre crop spraying becoming more popular as drones get bigger.

Canterbury-based founder of Drone Spray Jono Scott says arable applications are becoming more common as drones grow in size and get more efficient.

“Drone spraying is on the rise across all sectors and agriculture is no exception,” Scott told farmers at a Drone Spray demonstration event organised for arable farmers by the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) grower group focused on future proofing farm systems.

Built specifically for spraying and seeding, the latest Drone Spray, complete with a 50-litre tank, can cover up to 14 hectares an hour, compared to two years back when Scott says his first drone had just a 16-litre tank.

Lower water rates are a key factor in the efficiency of spraying by drone.

“For some applications we can spray as low as 25% of the water rate of a helicopter operator.

“This is because of the even

droplet size of the atomising spray nozzles and precise, even application.”

Drones and their capacity are expected to get bigger as batteries improve, and they will also incorporate more smart technology for applications such as spot spraying of weeds.

Currently, chemical labels are unable to keep up with technology.

Chris Smith FAR

While arable farmers will continue to use ground spraying rigs, drones provide an alternative for aerial spraying.

Spraying by drone has strong advantages in paddocks with hedges, trees and high wires or when crop or land damage is best avoided. Drones can also be used at night.

“It is a similar pricing to a helicopter, but more accurate, particularly around the edges.”

While wind can be an issue, as it can with other spraying

applications, drone operators have ways to limit drift on the boundaries, such as going slower, flying lower and increasing droplet size.

Before a job is started, an automated flight path is prepared for the drone. This sets a preplanned route, boundary limits and no-go areas around any obstacles.

Parameters such as height, width, speed and nozzle spray settings can be adjusted during flight.

Drones used by Christchurchbased Scott and his Methvenbased colleague Scott Rix can spray a width of 5-8m, depending on the height that the drone is operating.

The drones operate at a height of around 3m for general crop spraying and around 5m on hilly terrain for woody weeds such as gorse and wilding pines, and roof spraying.

The strong downwash from the propeller blades ensures all the spray reaches the target area.

A spreading and seeding attachment is available for slug baiting, spreading and hill seeding.

FAR technology manager Chris Smith says the drones offer another tool in the application toolbox and are particularly useful in areas that are challenging for a ground sprayer – but there are issues to consider.

“While drones have their place and are becoming a commonly used method of application, they may require changes to application rates, which in turn may impact on agchem efficacy and the risk of resistance in pathogen, pest and weed populations.

“Currently, chemical labels are unable to keep up with technology.”

FAR is planning to explore the use of drones for spraying to reduce vehicle use at its Future Farms Systems demonstration site at Chertsey.

A drone will be used on the half of the site that is adopting a more experimental, futurefocused approach, while a groundbased boom sprayer will continue to be used on the best practice conventional arable side. Water-sensitive paper will be used to analyse differences in spray coverage. Agchem efficacy will also be monitored where possible, Smith says.

Live methane trials for daffodil extract

Staff reporter

AN EXTRACT derived from daffodils will be tested in New Zealand after United Kingdom research discovered its potential to cut methane emissions from livestock.

Welsh research company

Agroceutical Products has discovered that haemanthamine, a naturally occurring compound from daffodils, may be effective in reducing methane production in cattle after conducting lab trials.

The company is partnering with AgriZeroNZ in a publicprivate joint venture investment of up to $4 million to trial haemanthamine on animals in New Zealand . If successful, its development will be accelerated as a new emissions-cutting tool for Kiwi farmers.

Agroceutical Products is known for its work extracting naturally occurring compounds from daffodils, most notably galanthamine, which is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

The early-stage investment presents an exciting opportunity to bring the pioneering research to New Zealand, which has the ideal conditions for growing daffodils, AgriZeroNZ chief executive Wayne McNee said.

“It’s been widely acknowledged

that a technology-led approach is the best way to support farmers to reduce emissions without compromising on profitability.

“We’re scanning the world for cutting-edge tools that could work on New Zealand farms and we’re excited to leverage the knowledge and expertise of Agroceutical Products for the benefit of Kiwi farmers.”

The daffodils’ methane-reducing abilities will be put to the test at Lincoln University where animal trials are planned to take place from February next year.

Following lab trials conducted on artificial rumens, it’s estimated the daffodil compound could reduce livestock methane emissions by 30% when consumed as a feed additive.

Further development could see the compound being administered via a slow-release bolus within the rumen, which would make the tool accessible to a wider range of ruminant animals including sheep, deer and goats, McNee said.

Agroceutical Products managing director and founder Kevin Stephens said he is looking forward to taking their research to the next step in New Zealand.

“This investment from AgriZeroNZ significantly accelerates our development programme, which will ensure the resultant feed additive is available in New Zealand at the earliest available opportunity, all the while providing New Zealand

We’re scanning the world for cutting-edge tools that could work on New Zealand farms.

Wayne McNee AgriZeroNZ

sheep farmers with an opportunity for an additional income through growing daffodils required to produce the additive.”

If successful, McNee said, the joint venture will support Agroceutical Products with any

regulatory approval required to enable the daffodil-based inhibitor to be used on farm.

AgriZeroNZ has committed more than $33 million across a range of emissions reduction tools and technologies for New Zealand farmers, including a methaneinhibiting bolus, novel probiotics, low methane pasture and methane vaccines.

“There isn’t going to be a onesize-fits-all approach when it comes to reducing emissions across our agricultural sector, so we’re investing in a range of different tools to give us the best chance of providing our farmers

with access to affordable, effective solutions,” he said.

In order to produce haemanthamine, daffodils need to be grown in challenging, highaltitude environments, like the Black Mountains in Wales.

Given the limitations of the daffodil growing season in the UK, Agroceutical Products has investigated growing locations in the southern hemisphere to provide a year-round supply.

“New Zealand’s rugged hill country provides the prime growing conditions needed for daffodils to produce the compounds we’re looking for,” Stephens said.

Most recently, Stephens was involved in a trial that found daffodils grown on South Island sheep farms produced commercial concentrations of galanthamine.

Stephens, himself a sheep and beef farmer, initially started growing daffodils on his hill country land to diversify the farm’s income.

He said he is pleased to bring that same opportunity to New Zealand farmers.

“Daffodils are easily integrated into sheep farming systems as sheep don’t eat the plants, and simply graze around them.

“The daffodil bulbs can be planted directly into pasture and then harvested for extraction with no significant capital expenditure or damage to surrounding pasture.”

FIELD TRIALS: The methane-reducing abilities of daffodils will be tested at Lincoln University where animal trials are planned to take place from February next year.

EFFICIENT Drone Spray founder Jono Scott says arable applications are increasing as drones get bigger and more efficient.

Sector Focus

Leading change through example and collaboration

Gerald Piddock PEOPLE Dairy

TRACY Brown is determined to ensure the dairy industry is fit to thrive in the 21st century, when she takes on the role of DairyNZ chair in October. For Brown, that comes down to taking others on the journey through collaboration, inclusion, transparency and leading by example.

It’s a far cry from when she started her leadership journey in 2010. At the time, she was a full-time mother to four young children and assisting husband Wynn on their 310 hectare, 700 cow farm Tiroroa near Matamata. That year, they entered and won the Farm Environment Awards for Waikato, and Brown was asked to be regional coordinator for the awards. The part time role also allowed her to step back into the workforce.

“Dairy was seen in a really poor light at that time because that was around the time of dirty dairying. I had all of these little kids and I thought I had to do something about the public perception of dairy.

“I was getting angrier and annoyed and I thought that there’s got to be something that can be done.”

She decided on a two-prong approach of telling good farming stories while getting farmers who needed to change to change their on-farm practices.

“I literally woke up one morning and thought, ‘What can I do to help those two things?’”

Brown also started to look for other roles and she got her first experience with governance when she chaired the Matamata Kids Toy Library.

“I was president of that. What’s interesting about those community governance roles is that it gave me a really good set of transferable skills to go on and do other things later on.”

She then went on the Matamata Intermediate School board for six years and chaired that for three. The school’s enrolment encompassed a whole range of people with different socioeconomic backgrounds, and the experience further enhanced her governance skills, particularly around setting objectives, creating change and measuring outcomes.

“I’ve had a lot of roles where there have been challenges where I have had to lead change processes and I’ve learnt transferrable skills, from the school board to some of the environmental roles later on.”

After encouragement from the Dairy Women’s Network (DWN), in 2017 Brown completed an AWDT Escalator programme, which helped grow her network and get her out into the sector more.

Brown said her leadership journey was a combination of transferrable skills learnt in community governance along with training and opportunities.

“It was never about having a role, it was always about, ‘What change can I make?’”

Another major influence on her was Sir Dryden Spring, who she interviewed as part of the AWDT programme.

“I told him I wasn’t a leader, I just wanted to help people. He said to me, ‘For goodness sake Tracy, those are the best leaders – the people that want to help other people improve. If you don’t do that, you can never be a good leader. It can’t be all about yourself.’”

Brown now acts as a mentor for many young people wanting to get into leadership. One of the first

FIRST WOMAN: DairyNZ chair designate Tracy Brown takes over in October this year, when she will become the first woman to have filled the role.

and be relatable role models in their community.

What’s interesting about those community governance roles is that it gave me a really good set of transferable skills to go on and do other things later on.

Tracy Brown DairyNZ

questions she always asks them is what difference they want to make in the world.

“If they can’t tell you, I say ‘Go away and think about it and if you still want my help, come back.’”

The ones with good leadership potential take that on board and once they can articulate that, Brown can help them. If they are in it just for the title, they are in the wrong business, she said.

“It’s got to be about taking people on the journey with you and I’ve always remembered that.”

At a farm level, convincing farmers to make positive change comes down to role modelling what is possible and empowering other people to share their stories

This also personifies what the Dairy Environment Leaders Forum is about and why Brown got involved.

“It’s about building enough people that believe in what you believe in.”

Brown will become DairyNZ’s first female chair after Jim van der Poel steps down at the organisation’s annual meeting.

She said representation has come a long way. Groups like AWDT, DWN and Rural Women NZ have done a lot to support women.

“The pendulum has fully swung in a lot of ways.”

Brown missed out on her first attempt to get elected to the DairyNZ board, in 2018. She initially decided not to stand again but changed her mind the following year after a former DairyNZ chair, the late John Luxton, told her the board needed people like her.

“He was a huge role model for me in terms of his leadership style. He was always very collaborative and inclusive and led from a place of humility.”

At the same time, she was

offered a role by the then environment minister, David Parker, as a member of the Independent Advisory Panel for Essential Freshwater.

“It was a really challenging time when I first came on the board because I was also on that Essential Freshwater panel. I considered stepping off, but I was the only farmer voice on there.”

Being on both boards was a difficult tightrope to walk as she tried to manage potential conflicts of interest, she said.

“It was the most challenging role I’ve ever been involved with, but it was a really important role because it was so essential that there was some farmer voice in there.”

Brown noted that many of the issues that she raised but was unable to influence at the time have since been relooked at.

The lesson that the role taught her was that often people want the same thing, they just come from a different place. Finding the middle ground is key.

“Everybody wanted better water outcomes for New Zealand, but people came from different perspectives of how that can be best achieved.”

Brown comes into the role at a time when DairyNZ launches its new strategy in June. Senior staff and board members have spent a lot of time focusing on how they can ensure DairyNZ is best placed to tackle the future challenges the industry faces.

The strategy change needed to happen because the political and economic environment in which the industry operates has changed so markedly in the past decade.

“DairyNZ needed to evolve as well and we need to be able to continue to deliver on the value that we deliver to farmers.

“We only have a limited pool of levy investment, so we need to make sure we are investing in the right kinds of projects to get the best outcomes.”

A legacy of efficiency and production

Staff reporter ON FARM Succession

WAIUKU dairy farmers Nick and Nikki Ruygrok are passing a dairy farming legacy to their sons that they can be proud of.

The Holstein Friesian breeders have spent their farming careers perfecting the art of efficiency in their dairy herd – with everincreasing production from 140 well-bred and well-fed cows.

The couple is in the early stages of succession planning with their sons Justin, Daniel and Mark. With Justin and Daniel dairy farming, Nick and Nikki are looking at how they can provide business opportunities for all three children in the future.

Nick has had a long career in farming. Born in Waiuku, he was brought up on dairy farms around the area by his Dutch immigrant, sharemilking parents.

“Farming has always been my passion, ever since I was young. Around the farm, I was always Dad’s main man.”

After he achieved Bursary and completed high school, he took jobs around Waiuku, taking advantage of the contacts he had around the area.

At 21, Nick bought his first block of land and at 24 he secured a good sharemilking job in the area, where he ended up staying for 27 years.

At 27, he met Nikki, also a Dutch immigrant. They were married in 1989, and that was when Nick said their dairy farming career started to progress.

“I was pretty focused on saving, but it was when Nikki and I got together that things really started moving forward. As a single sharemilker you can make progress, but with a partner it’s far easier.”

Two years after they met the couple bought their first dairy

When we dry off in autumn there is a group of freshly calved cows waiting. It keeps the milk flowing steadily throughout the year.

Nick Ruygrok Waiuku

farm at Putaruru, on which they employed a sharemilker. They sold the Putaruru farm a few years later and bought a 130ha bare block at Waipango, western

Southland, which they converted to dairy. Four years later they sold the Waipango farm and bought 148ha at Lumsden, northern Southland.

They slowly added on three neighbouring blocks until the property reached a total of 327ha.

“We’ve had the same sharemilker on that farm for the last 17 years.

Over that time we’ve managed to hit our target of 380,000kg MS,” he said.

Nick was in his early fifties when the hard graft of farming started to catch up with the couple, and they re-evaluated their farming career.

The couple gave up their

Farm facts

• Owners: Nick & Nikki Ruygrok

• Location: Waiuku, North Waikato

Farm size: 50 hectares (plus 50ha runoff)

• Cows: 140 (98% registered Holstein Friesians)

• Production: 92,000kgMS

• Stud name: Nou En

sharemilking job, cashed in their surplus cows and bought a small 30ha farm in Waiuku.

“We sold the entire sharemilking herd, keeping the replacement heifers, empty cows and older cows. We started milking 100 cows on the Waiuku farm and over the next seven years, we managed to increase milk solids from 40,000kg MS-70,000kg MS.”

During this time, the couple’s sons were following their own careers.

Mark, the eldest, became a pilot; Justin, the youngest, sharemilks on a property 3km from the family farm; and Daniel, who qualified as a builder, came home to farm and is now sharemilking for Nick and Nikki.

Nick bought a 20ha neighbouring block across the road and, with an additional 50ha lease block, Daniel increased milk production to 92,000kg MS with 140 cows.

Daniel does the day-to-day work on farm, including herd management and milking, while Nick takes care of the runoff, transferring dry and fresh cows as required.

Although Nick’s herd was crossbred throughout his sharemilking years, he said when it came time to reduce cow numbers it made logical sense to start breeding to Holstein Friesian.

“We haven’t had bobby calves for 15 years. Every single Holstein Friesian calf that is born has value. They always make good money, and they have the best

return. There is also options for dairy beef ... there is no waste.”

Nick also works as an AB technician, inseminating around 4000 cows in the area annually. Having the resources to AB his own herd has allowed for greater flexibility and experimentation in their AB schedule, resulting in better outcomes.

Their high milk production – 650kg MS/cow, with a goal to hit 700kg MS/cow – udder traits, capacity and strength are crucial when selecting sires; particularly important is breeding cows that are free milking and move through the shed quickly.

“I figure that if we have that right, everything else will fall into place. I got caught up using only A2 bulls, and I’m not sure of the full benefits yet, but there was enough selection that we were able to do that.”

Now the Waiuku farm is performing well, Nick said his focus is to reduce debt by selling the Lumsden farm and create business opportunities for his sons.

He doesn’t like the word “retirement”, but a succession plan will give them the chance to ease into it.

“We want to focus on giving Daniel and Justin the opportunity to buy into small farms they can handle themselves.

“To have an interest in the properties while the boys slowly buy into them, allowing them to grow and eventually take over, would be great.”

He would encourage Daniel and Justin to stay reasonably small in their farming endeavours.

“I would discourage them from going big, particularly when their parents are in the position to help them along.

“Why push for numbers? It all comes down to cost per cow. They don’t need the hassle of staff that comes with a larger farm, or to burn themselves out. I would say, stay small and efficient.”

CAREER: Waiuku dairy farmers Nick and Nikki Ruygrok spent their career perfecting the art of efficiency in their Holstein Friesian dairy herd.

What’s in you toolbox?

r Springtime

By Mark Williams, Dair yNZ Farm Systems Specialist

“Happiness? The colour of it must be spring green.”

A seasonal quote fit for the period we ’ re in as the calving season

peak s and begins to ease over the next few week s, especially for those in the Nor th Island

It ’ s a good time to get the springtime toolbox dusted off and for good reason Proactive management during spring helps set the stage for a successful year on farm, and this early planning can help to keep costs low and improve your profit margins

Dair yNZ can help

With decades of science and research behind us, and a range of knowledgeable specialists informing our present-day work, we focus in on what specifically suppor ts dair y farmers to remain

profitable, sustainable and internationally competitive That star ts on the farm, with par ticular attention paid to springtime preparation

We have a range of springtime tips, tools and resources to help with pasture management, mating preparation, biosecurit y and your own wellbeing to help set up for a positive year ahead

Pasture management

The crucial component for optimising dair y production

Our Dair yNZ Spring Rotation Planner can help you manage pasture af ter calving It provides guidelines for allocating pasture

to cope with the growing milking herd and shrinking dr y herd

It focuses on the optimum balance that exists bet ween daily pasture allocation and intake, and whole season performance

Heat detection strategy

Heat detection can significantly influence your herd’s reproductive performance It ’ s crucial to revisit heat detection strategies each season, including careful planning, effective use of aids, keen obser vation, accurate record-keeping, and regular staff training

Reviewing your mating strategy before mating star ts gives time to ensure your team is ready to go Our heat detection tool helps you assess heat detection efficiency and the likely benefit of improving heat detection on your herd’s overall reproductive performance

Strong biosec

You have lots of p farm at this time o never mean to but risk – including to of your animals b bringing diseases,

urit y eople on the f year and they they do bring the health y potentially weeds or pests along for the ride

Stock truck drivers, vets, and AI technicians are indispensable while also posing some of the biggest risk We can help you take simple steps to reduce risk on farm to protect your people, animals and land

Wellbeing

Question How will you recharge af ter calving? How will your team? Give your body and mind time to rest and recharge

An investment in wellbeing is an investment in the longevit y and performance of your business When we rest and have less stress, it improves our abilit y to focus and reduce injuries on farm

We are always happy to help fill your spring toolbox fur ther

Discover our spring season tips, tools, and resources on our website dair ynz .co.nz/spring Essential tips & tools for a successful season

Set the stage for a successful year on your farm with proactive spring management You can reduce costs and boost profits by concentrating your effor ts on essential task s like grazing management, mating preparation, team-wellbeing, treatment plans for non-c ycling cows, and managing mastitis, ensuring your farm thrives throughout spring and beyond

Landing big rewards with embryo transfer

TTECHNOLOGY Breeding

HE excitement of landing a big fish when out fishing is how Emma Poole describes the reward of landing a healthy calf on the ground from an embryo transfer.

This is her third season operating an embryo recipient business, where high genetic value embryos are implanted into cows with lower breeding worth.

She said it is a risky, stressful business but it can be really rewarding. The idea came about after buying 150 high genetic merit cows. Some had contracts with LIC and some became part of the Generate programme.

“We are testing the waters and getting to know the cows and processes,” she said.

“It is tricky to manage and there is a lot of money involved, and it requires intense skills but between my husband Chris and I we seem to be covering the bases well.

“Our priority is the welfare of the surrogate cow and the embryo transfer calf. We wouldn’t be doing it if we couldn’t assure that.”

They rear the calves to 100kg and then send them to their owners. The concept is popular and they are at capacity this year. It is also contributing to minimising the number of bobby calves in the system.

“We rear about 1000 calves each year, mostly beef along with

the replacement calves and the embryo transfer calves too,” Emma said.

“The home farm is split calving so we start rearing calves in March and keep going till October, November.”

Emma and Chris are in equity partnership with his parents, John and Anne Poole, on their family farm 10 minutes from Te Awamutu in Pirongia.

They have reduced cow numbers in recent years, from 750 to 620. They focused on reducing the amount of imported feed, growing more maize on the platform and growing crops in the back paddocks to reduce how far the cows have to walk.

They also purchased another farm last year that milks 400 spring calving cows.

Chris oversees both farms with his brother-in-law, Ben Shilt, working on the new block and his father running the support block where all the young stock go. Emma manages the embryo business and they have two young boys, Beau, who is two and a half, and Sullivan, who is three months old.

Emma is a veterinarian by trade, having asked her father so many questions on the farm growing up that he suggested she go find out the how and why of things – so she did.

She didn’t make it into vet school on her first attempt at Massey’s Albany campus, so she moved to Palmerston North to pursue an agricultural degree,

Our priority is the welfare of the surrogate cow and the embryo transfer calf. We wouldn’t be doing it if we couldn’t assure that.

which was where she met Chris.

He coaxed her into joining Massey Young Farmers in 2014. She had heard about the organisation and her brother, Tim Dangen, was involved in the Lincoln club.

She entered her first FMG Young Farmer of the Year district final by default; the region had organised

one specifically before exams to suit the Massey club, but nobody entered. Emma was on the club committee at the time and had to step up.

“I remember being super scared on my way there. I was putting myself out there in front of all these people I had just made friends with.”

She soon realised everyone was in the same boat, and enjoyed giving it a crack.

In her final year of university she made it to a regional final, which was a whole new level of competition. She underestimated her workload during the weeks leading into the contest so didn’t prepare as much as she wanted, but still placed second overall.

And she knew she wanted to give it a better shot the following year.

“It was my first year of work after uni so I knew it would be tough, but I also knew I would soon lose a lot of the general knowledge we gained at vet school.”

By this point she had moved to the home farm with Chris and was working for VetOra in Te Awamutu. She won the Waikato Bay of Plenty Young Farmers regional final and competed in the national final in Hawke’s Bay.

She then went on to compete again in 2023 and won the national final title, making her the first woman in contest history to win.

“Being the first female winner bought a lot of media attention, it was quite overwhelming to start with.”

This year, she and Chris, who has also been a grand finalist, have been involved with organising the contest, which was held in Hamilton in July.

“Chris and I have both got a lot out of the contest ourselves so we wanted to give back.”

She has also recently been awarded the Young Veterinarian Award for 2024 by the New Zealand Veterinary Association.

Between having the boys Emma did some veterinary consulting work with Fonterra. Part of her work involved travelling around New Zealand to deliver some emissions roadshows, largely to a veterinary audience.

“It was really insightful as a Fonterra shareholder to work for them.

“I enjoyed being on the inside and it built my confidence around the direction of the business.”

She was able to demonstrate first hand some of the challenges dairy farmers face trying to juggle so many things, and got a lot out of it herself.

“It’s been cool to practice what we preach and show that reprioritising can have an impact and it is achievable.”

Going forward, the focus is driving efficiency within the farming business, spending time together as a family and supporting other young farmers to give the contest a crack.

Samantha Tennent

TOP VET: Emma Poole was recently awarded the Young Veterinarian Award for 2024 by the New Zealand Veterinary Association.

FAMILY TIME: Emma Poole and husband Chris have two sons, Beau, pictured with his mum, and Sullivan.

PARTNERSHIP: Emma Poole and husband Chris are in an equity partnership with his parents, John and Anne Poole, on their family farm 10 minutes from Te Awamutu in Pirongia.

Emma Poole Te Awamutu

When dairy thrives, so does New Zealand

POLICY: DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel says the organisation has 17 years of science and research to benefit dairy farmers – and ‘it’s important we share our knowledge with decision-makers to ground policy in reality’.

At the end of the day farmers and politicians surely have a similar end goal – a prosperous, safe, secure country and strong links to the outside world.

Sector perspective

Jim van der Poel

Van der Poel is chair of DairyNZ

RIGHT now on dairy farms around the country farmers are managing feed, animals, budgets, machinery, weather. They’re having conversations with their bankers and

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insurers. Finding time for their kids. That is just life for farming families and everyone has to balance their own challenges.

In the background for farmers, as with other industries, are pending political cycles. These can bring changes to regulation, uncertainty while policy is decided upon, and a disconnect between national and local level while decisions are made.

And to paraphrase Nuffield Scholar Kylie Leonard, it’s best for farmers to be at the table, rather than on the menu.

DairyNZ is an industry-good organisation representing all 10,600 dairy farmers. Our duty is to help keep them and their farming businesses moving forward.

In the past nine months of a changed government, we’ve seen several policy changes begin to roll out around methane targets, ag out of the Emissions Trading Scheme, further reform of the Resource Management Act, and the beginnings of a new pastoral sector group.

Much of this we’ve advocated for on behalf of farmers and we welcome it – particularly in a time of high inflation and input costs. It is our job to keep engaging, and we do so with information that is supported by worldclass scientists and farm system expertise. We are submitting on behalf of farmers in regard to climate targets and emissions reduction plans, immigration and workforce development, the Biosecurity Act and freshwater standards.

We are following closely impending government changes to genetic technology regulation.

We do what we can to help get bipartisan support for regulations that are logical and support good farming practices. Hopefully then we can bed down those rules and not have them disrupted every few years.

DairyNZ has 17 years of science and research to specifically benefit dairy farmers. It is important we share our knowledge with decision-makers to ground policy in reality.

Much of our knowledge aligns with the realities of the global market, which is changing the way we farm.

Just recently at the Primary Industries NZ Summit we heard from Rabobank that 80% of New Zealand’s exports are destined for countries with mandatory climate-related disclosures either in force or on the way.

New Zealand dairy farmers have always innovated and will continue to do so.

This is the basis of New Zealand’s prosperity and today we stand proud as an internationally competitive dairy farming nation.

We produce over 20 billion litres of milk a year and bring in $25 billion in export revenue. Dairy employs 55,000 people and last year accounted for about 36% of all New Zealand’s goods exports.

New Zealand dairy farmers have a solid reputation as producers of safe, lowemissions, high-quality milk who uphold the highest standards of care for animals and environment.

The success of dairy underpins the success of the New Zealand economy and the wellbeing of New Zealanders.

At the end of the day farmers and politicians surely have a similar end goal – a prosperous, safe, secure country and strong links to the outside world.

It’s good to be at the table so that on behalf of our farmers we can chart a more enduring course for sustainable growth. Because at the end of the day, when dairy does well, New Zealand does well.

FDA APPROVED:

Superbrewed’s patented postbiotic cultured protein recently received a United States market green light from the Food and Drug Administration.

Fonterra partners up on protein journey

Staff reporter

NEWS

Food and fibre

FONTERRA has signed a deal with natural ingredient manufacturer Superbrewed Food to develop additional nutrientrich, functional biomass protein.

The collaboration addresses the rising global demand for protein, reflecting both companies’ commitment to delivering sustainably sourced, functional proteins that meet customer and consumer needs worldwide.

The collaboration uses Superbrewed’s patented biomass protein, called postbiotic cultured protein, a non-GMO, allergen-free, nutrient-dense bacteria biomass protein that recently received a United States market green light from the Food and Drug Administration. In ingredient evaluations, Fonterra determined that the excellent function and nutrition of postbiotic cultured protein complement dairy ingredients in food applications with growing consumer demand.

Superbrewed has demonstrated its non-GMO, fermentation platform can be adapted to ferment other

inputs and the multi-year joint effort seeks to develop new biomass protein solutions based on the fermentation of multi-feedstocks, including Fonterra’s lactose permeate, which is produced during dairy processing.

The objective is to add value to Fonterra’s lactose by converting it into high-quality, sustainable protein with Superbrewed’s technology.

Bryan Tracy, CEO of Superbrewed Food, said he is excited to be partnering with a company of Fonterra’s stature, “as it recognises the value in bringing postbiotic cultured protein to market, and is a pivotal step towards expanding our offerings of biomass ingredients that further contribute to sustainable food production”.

Fonterra’s GM for innovation partnerships, Chris Ireland, said partnering with Superbrewed Foods is a fantastic opportunity.

“Their cutting-edge technology aligns with our mission to provide sustainable nutritional solutions to the world and respond to the global demand for protein solutions, thereby creating more value from milk for our farmers.”

Farmer developing edible bale net wrap

Gerhard Uys TECHNOLOGY Environment

AFARMER from Orepuki in Southland is developing an edible bale net wrap.

Grant Lightfoot is using flax to manufacture Kiwi Econet.

The netting can be used for the inside net on baleage or hay and straw bales, and doesn’t need to be removed from bales for feeding.

Lightfoot came up with the idea for the netting five years ago while sitting in a decompression chamber on a commercial diving job.

He said he no longer has time to do commercial diving as he runs his velveting deer farm, has a 242 hectare cow calf run-off block and carts logs.

Lightfoot’s invention won the Southern Rural Life Farm Innovation Awards at the Southern Field Days at Waimumu this year.

Since then he has been fielding calls from potential buyers daily, he said.

He wants the edible netting to be a success for the sake of the environment and for animal health reasons.

Many farmers do not realise the scale of plastic manufacturing, he said.

Some overseas companies produce over 5 million rolls of plastic net wrapping per year, and it often ends up completely or partially in the environment, he said.

Rolls are often longer than 3000m.

He also wants to put a stop to the damage it does to stock that eats netting when it is not completely removed from the environment after feeding out.

Lightfoot has many photo examples of animals put down

by veterinarians because of complications suffered from digesting plastic bale net wrap stuck in their gut.

The Econet has been thirdparty tested, with Eurofins Food Analytics testing a milk sample from a cow fed the wrap, with no heavy metals found.

Lightfoot has also not found any trace of the netting in cows fed the netting and killed as homekill.

Eurofins Food Analytics also confirmed availability of nutrients in the netting.

The netting not only eliminates plastic waste, but saves on personnel hours as it requires less of the handling needed for wrap removal and disposal.

Lightfoot said he had to look for funding overseas as there wasn’t

any interest locally to fund the project.

He has also had difficulty getting permission to use local flax, and has resorted to using flax from overseas.

To test his idea he initially handstitched the net and put it through a baler.

Manufacturing is now done “offshore”.

The net works on baleage, but he is having some teething problems when wrapping hay and straw as it expands considerably after wrapping.

He hopes to have the hay and straw problems solved when he next receives a prototype from the manufacturer.

Netting that isn’t eaten simply rots, he said.

GUT: Lightfoot has many photo examples of animals put down by vets because of complications suffered from digesting plastic bale net wrap stuck in their gut.

Milk production falls in key countries

Sector perspective

Cristina Alvarado Alvarado is commercial manager, data and insight at NZX

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AS WE get further into the current new dairy season, different tendencies continue to emerge across the industry. During July, reported production numbers for key regions varied, Global Dairy Trade results showed diverse movements within core products, and trade patterns fluctuated worldwide.

In New Zealand, the season began with 227,751 tonnes (20,334,000 kgMS) of milk collected in June, marking the lowest start of a season in tonnage since 2019.

The total milk collected was down 1.1% year on year (YoY) and 2.2% on a milk solids basis YoY.

The United States, Argentina, and Uruguay also experienced YoY declines in their June milk production, with decreases of -1.0%, -7.1%, and -13.1% respectively. Conversely, Europe and Australia reported YoY increases of 1.1% and 3.5% respectively in their May production.

July’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auctions revealed mixed price index results, with a -6.9% drop in Event 359 and a 0.4% increase in Event 360. Although powders, including whole milk powder (WMP) and skim milk powder (SMP), saw declines in both events, the increase in the second event was driven by rises in anhydrous milk fat (AMF) (4.0%), butter (0.8%), and cheddar (6.2%).

In the three pulse auctions held throughout the month, WMP experienced declines in the first two auctions and a slight increase in the last one on July 30, while SMP saw an increase in the first auction followed by two drops.

There may be a continued scarcity of certain dairy products until milk production numbers show a positive trend.

The mixed results continued into August’s first Event, 36,1 with an overall increase of 0.5% for the GDT Price Index, with WMP seeing a lift of 2.4% and SMP a drop of -2.7%.

Trade data for the past month showed varying trends. New Zealand reported an -7.1% YoY drop in total exports for June, totalling 285,287t of dairy products, with 38% of that being WMP. Argentina saw a 3.1% YoY growth in June, exporting 22,150t, and Australia reported a 22.3% YoY increase in May, with 40,842t of dairy exports. On the declining side, Europe recorded an -6.9% YoY drop in May, exporting 516,070t of dairy products, while China reported a -21.3% YoY decline in June, with total dairy imports amounting to 225,552t.

With production remaining tight in key regions reporting YoY drops, there may be a continued scarcity of certain dairy products until milk production numbers show a positive trend. If significant demand persists from regions such as southeast Asia and the Middle East, varied trade trends may continue in the coming months.

However, only time will tell if these shifts will persist and how they will impact future dairy prices.

LOW: In New Zealand, the season began with 227,751 tonnes (20,334,000 kgMS) of milk collected in June, marking the lowest start of a season in tonnage since 2019.

All about the people, processes and pathways

FROM air cargo demands in the pandemic to sea freight diversion around the Persian Gulf, Fonterra’s new chief operating officer, Anna Palairet, has a strong logistical bent.

She is responsible for all New Zealand manufacturing site and global supply chain operations, technical excellence, and global safety, quality and regulatory teams.

She re-joined the dairy industry in October 2022 as the director, global supply chain before being appointed acting COO in June 2023 and confirmed permanently in April.

She started at entry level with Fonterra around 2000 out of Massey University with a science degree as a market service officer for two years, matching orders from the Middle East with available stocks.

People who do that same role, although it has since been renamed, are within her global operations division and its 9000 employees.

She left to join Amcor, where a lot of Fonterra’s packaging materials come from, then to Carter Holt Harvey, followed by 16 years at Air New Zealand, in positions as general manager of cargo, property and infrastructure, head of sustainability and head of procurement.

The Air NZ roles were great rehearsals for the Fonterra COO position, especially GM of cargo during the covid pandemic.

“It was only two years by the calendar but worth 10 years of experience,” Palairet said.

Why a graduate in genetics and microbiology should make a career out of logistics, human resources, risk management and health and safety was explained through references to her character.

Palairet is a self-confessed

people person with an engaging personality who loves the complexities, planning and leadership demands of her job.

“I have always had a love of solving problems, and found my interest captured early on by supply chain optimisation.”

Nearly 25 years later not only is she back at Fonterra as chief operating officer, but she has been appointed chair of Kotahi Logistics, the Fonterra-Silver Fern Farms joint venture.

At a recent partnership resigning between Kotahi and Maersk shipping line, Palairet said the 10-year collaboration had kept NZ produce moving through significant and ongoing disruptions of global supply chains.

Farmers are doing an enormous amount of work on sustainability and we have to be doing the right thing by them and the company.

Anna Palairet Fonterra

Among the aptitudes and skills needed in her role, she led with people management and the striking of balance in project management and expenditure control.

The main key performance indicators in her role are delivery in full on time – which has considerably improved since the end of the pandemic – plant optimum run times, reducing losses and increasing operating efficiencies.

“All the food safety and quality requirements are absolutely key.”

At the top of the risk hierarchy are cyber security and food safety, now even more tightly regulated since the 2013 botulism scare and the subsequent internal and external reviews of procedures and responses.

WASTE NOT

Crisis management is an ongoing priority in training after the lessons of past experiences, Palairet said.

She visits all Fonterra sites to meet managers, technicians and staff members.

A milk pickup run with one of 1500 tanker drivers has been a recent highlight to gain insight into the drivers’ working environment and interactions with farmers.

National Fieldays on the Fonterra site was another highlight, when “farmers never leave you wondering”.

Major upgrades of all business management software are underway in what is called the digital value chain, with expenditure of under $100 million.

“We are rebuilding these systems from the ground up, reducing 17 systems down to one, enhancing all our operations, lowering costs and delivering more for farmers.

“Our systems are by no means bad at present, but this is a big opportunity to simplify.

“This work is a big part of the cooperative’s commitment to annual cost savings.”

The disciplines and departments under Palairet’s wing are milk collection, processing, testing, packing and the technical and engineering support, including food safety and quality, employee health and wellbeing, and the processing improvement and environmental sustainability of all company operations.

Operating costs from business as usual are coming down but the transformational aspects do come at capital expense, she said.

“We are spending $1 billion on sustainability before 2030, twothirds of that on decarbonisation and wastewater treatment at processing sites.”

Sites and plants are being decommissioned, three last financial year and a further four this year.

Last year it was Brightwater (Nelson), Edendale cheese and

Longburn (Palmerston North).

This year two powder plants at Te Rapa and two at Waitoa are being retired along with 80 jobs, with redeployment available to all employees should they want it.

“All these moves are because of ageing assets and ensuring that efficiency of the remaining plants increases.

“We are also upgrading at two sites – for lactoferrin at Hautapu and caramelised milk powder at Pahiatua.

“Lifting skills and giving new opportunities for those skills is how we develop people in the plants.”

Palairet emphasised the regulatory control aspects of her division, working very closely with the Ministry for Primary Industries.

“All of that work is for the benefit of our customers and for the reputation of New Zealand in food

safety and quality.”

Food safety is rigorously governed right up to board level, enacting the findings of the post-2013 review conducted by former director Sir Ralph Norris and a team of investigators.

Decarbonisation of processing is on track for the 2030 goals, where there is surety of electricity supply or energy alternatives.

Coal plants have resource management terms until 2031 and so Fonterra must phase out coal’s use in boilers by then.

“Farmers are doing an enormous amount of work on sustainability and we have to be doing the right thing by them and the company.”

Palairet’s predecessors as COO were Robert Spurway, from 2014 to 2020, now CEO of Graincorp, the listed company in Australia, and Fraser Whineray, from 2020 to 2023, now executive chair of Jarden.

Hugh Stringleman PEOPLE Fonterra

LOGISTICS: Chief operating officer Anna Palairet says she loves the complexities, planning and leadership demands of her job.

Worm-ridden calves warrant closer study

Gerald Piddock TECHNOLOGY Animal welfare

ACTIVITY sensors can detect differences in behaviour between groups of animals infected with gastrointestinal parasites, but new research indicates that more studies are needed to identify changes in calves affected with a worm burden that requires drenching.

The study, published in the New Zealand Veterinary Journal, found that while calves do show small signs of behavioural differences, these differences are not large enough for researchers to be able to confidently say which individual animals are growing more slowly because of their parasite burden.

Long term, it is hoped that by identifying changes in the behaviour of cattle that are negatively affected with parasites, farmers will be able to develop a more targeted approach to drenching, so reducing the buildup of drench resistance.

Currently, many farmers apply drench universally across all of the animals in a mob, but with drench resistance increasingly becoming an issue on cattle farms in New Zealand, a targeted approach to drenching could maintain

effective worm control and prevent the spread of anthelmintic resistance.

The study was authored by Andrew Bates, Bowen Fan, Andrew Greer, Racheal Bryant and Amanda Doughty.

Bates said people have been looking at different ways of judging which animals should be drenched and this new research further develops that concept under New Zealand’s pastoral farming system.

“We thought the behaviour of animals that are clinically wormy would be different to animals that are not.

“The rationale was that if you could say that animals that are wormy eat more or less, or lie down more, you could use that knowledge to identify which animals to worm.”

Technological advances including animal monitoring systems and developments in data analysis could make that possible, he said.

To investigate the association between parasites and animal behaviour in dairy calves, they used animal-mounted, accelerometer-based sensors provided by SCR Engineers and distributed by MSD.

The research took 36 FriesianJersey 5-6-month-old heifer calves fitted with the sensors to track

ONWARDS: A Vetlife NZ study has found that more research is needed before a link can be found between the behaviour of calves and the fact that they have worms.

behaviour, with calves randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups.

Half of the animals were challenged with an oral dose of 20,000 larvae of Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophera once a week for three weeks, and half were unchallenged.

Bates said the research showed small and subtle differences in the behaviour between the wormy and control calves.

For an average calf in each group, these differences could be detected at a group level. However, at an individual calf level the result were not as clear cut as they had hoped.

“The drivers of animal behaviour are extremely complicated and at present there don’t seem to be simple measures that, at an individual calf level, say, ‘This is a wormy calf’ or ‘This isn’t a wormy calf’.”

The behaviour of calves will be influenced by the weather, pastoral variations, genetics and variations in response to worm burdens among the animals – two animals affected with the same dose of parasites may not necessarily suffer the same level of disease, he said.

“The things that drive that behaviour can be very multifaceted, there’s lots of them, they are changing all the time and most of them are outside the farmer’s control.”

However, Bates was confident that sensor and analytical technology would continue to develop and one day it will be used to reliably individually identify parasite-affected animals.

“It’s highly likely that as AI and other data systems develop, the issue of identifying individual animals that are infected and affected with parasites will be solvable.

“Behavioural changes are real in parasitised animals and it’s a case of refining the technology and developing its accuracy so it’s better able to correctly classify which individual animals are affected, and which are not.”

The study was funded and managed by Vetlife NZ along with funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund.

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FEDERATED FARMERS

Fears plan changes could ‘choke’ farming

Otto Dogterom worries he’ll barely be able to farm his land if the council goes ahead with over-the-top new land protection rules.

The North Otago Federated Farmers president says Waitaki District Council’s (WDC) draft district plan has the potential to leave farmers needing multiple consents just to get on with their everyday work.

“It’s hard enough for many farmers to make a living right now without the council proposing this barrage of new restrictions, which could just choke landowners with more cost, complexity and red tape.

“These rules could also have a negative impact on the value of our properties, so it’s fair to say that farmers are really worried.”

WDC’s draft plan outlines new or extended areas of land that would have environment protections placed on them, restricting activities such as intensive farming and forestry.

These property zones, known as ‘overlays’, include areas considered as being of outstanding natural features (ONF) and outstanding natural landscapes (ONLs).

Many local farmers have taken issue with the overlays on their land from day one of the district plan review, Dogterom says.

“The sheer breadth of what these rules cover is total overkill. Farmers

feel like the council are completely overreaching.”

He says, under an initial draft of the plan, about 200ha out his 450ha farm was deemed an ONF area.

He pushed back on the council, only to see their next version of the draft plan had 425ha out of the 450ha as an ONF.

“That means only 25ha of my farm isn’t subject to ONF restrictions, which is absolutely ridiculous,” he says.

“These rules are intended to protect areas of true national significance like The Remarkables, Tongariro Plateau or Te Mata Peak, but my farm and others caught up in this plan are what you would call typical Otago countryside.”

With more than 10 different consents already applying to his farm, he’s concerned more conditions and restrictions could be applied when it comes time to renew them – if he gets permission at all.

“One example is that I shifted an existing small shed from one part of the farm to another part that, unknown to me, was already subject to an ONF.

“When the council found out, they said I’d have to get a resource consent for it or remove it entirely.

“I offered to paint it green, so it’d be barely visible in the ‘natural landscape’, but that wasn’t good enough.

“I ended up having to hire a

consultant to help me get a consent, but it cost me over $15,000.

“That was the moment the penny dropped for me just how much cost and hassle these kinds of overlays can create for the most basic farming activities.”

Dogterom says the capital value of local farms could also take a serious hit if these kinds of rules go ahead.

“The value of my two farms alone could fall by as much as $4 million and other farmers will be in the exact same boat.”

Local farmers thought they’d won a breakthrough last year when council voted to remove the ONL classification from any land modified for agricultural use.

But in June, council staff – on the advice of a consultant landscape architect – said this was contrary to Resource Management Act legislation and should be revoked.

“We asked the council, ‘Who should be making these decisions?” Dogterom says.

“Should it be council staff and outside ‘experts’, or the representatives our community have elected to weigh up all the factors and priorities?”

The good news for farmers is WDC appears to have heard their concerns, deciding to hit pause on its draft plan and seek more feedback from landowners.

“Federated Farmers has made a hell of a racket calling for the council

Keen to st ar t your digit al journey ?

and try to come to a compromise.

It’s hard enough for many farmers to make a living right now without the council proposing this barrage of new restrictions.

Otto Dogterom

North Otago Federated Farmers president

to delay notifying its long-term plan,” Dogterom says.

“We seem to have got the result too. The council have decided to go back to affected landowners

“Farmers have no issue with trying to restore our natural environment or improve visual landscapes, but there needs to be some practicality and balance.

“We need to make sure we don’t undermine economic activity, food production, local employment, or the rights of landowners in the process.

“That balance has been completely missing in WDC’s approach to date.”

Dogterom says the situation shows why the Government’s promises to improve resource management legislation can’t happen soon enough.

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OVERKILL: Consent hassles over shifting this small shed to another part of his farm highlighted to Otto Dogterom the pitfalls of Outstanding Natural Feature overlays.

Emissions tools coming 2026/27

Tools to help reduce agricultural emissions are in the pipeline but farmers will still need to wait a little longer, AgriZeroNZ chief executive Wayne McNee says.

Speaking on the Federated Farmers Podcast, McNee says the various tools AgriZeroNZ is investing in, ranging from a methaneinhibiting bolus to low-emissions pasture, are underway but not ready yet.

“All of these things are early stage, but some are further ahead than others.

“Some of the technology looks pretty promising and we’re optimistic there’ll be two or three tools farmers will be able to use by 2026/27.”

AgriZeroNZ is a private-public partnership half owned by the New Zealand Government and the other half owned by major agribusiness companies.

Some of the technology looks pretty promising and we’re optimistic there’ll be two or three tools farmers will be able to use by 2026/27.

Wayne McNee

AgriZeroNZ chief executive

With $191 million to invest over its first four years, the partnership aims to deliver tools that work in our pasture-based system without affecting profitability or productivity.

McNee says one of the first products in farmers’ hands could be the low-emissions pasture being developed by ag biotech company BioLumic.

“They treat seeds with ultraviolet light to raise the lipid levels in pastures and other things.

“They’ve done some good work there, and high-lipid pastures should reduce methane per kilo of milksolids.

“There’s still more work to do but

that’s one of the ones I see as being available early.”

A methane-inhibiting bolus for ruminant livestock, being developed by Kiwi startup Ruminant BioTech, should also be ready by 2026/27, McNee says.

The bolus sits in the animal’s rumen for up to six months while active ingredients are released slowly, with initial trials showing an up-to-70% reduction for up to six months.

“They’ve still got further research underway here and in Australia, and they’ve still got to get regulatory approval,” McNee says.

“But I think they’re one of the furthest ahead in terms of having it available to some of the market – not necessarily all of it.”

Farmers have for years been hearing that a vaccine is just around the corner, and McNee agrees it’s been a long and complex process.

AgriZeroNZ is trying to push this along by investing in two projects to develop a methane vaccine: the local research which has been underway for more than 15 years, and a US startup ArkeaBio.

“Based on the data we’re seeing at the moment, that ArkeaBio vaccine might be available by 2028. Whether it’ll be available in New Zealand first, that’s a different question.”

The good thing about vaccines is they’re generally cheap to manufacture and relatively easy to use on-farm, with an injection maybe every six months or once a year, he says.

Another potential tool is a probiotic being developed by Hoofprint Biome, which aims to reduce methane emissions by up to 80%.

“They’re just starting their first animal trials, so we’ll know the results of that soon,” McNee says.

“Some of these things work great in the lab but don’t work so well when you put them in the animal, so we’ll find out.”

McNee says AgriZeroNZ’s latest investment is in Agroceutical

Products NZ, which is working on a methane inhibitor for cattle from a daffodil extract.

The initial goal is to offer farmers a range of tools that help them meet a 30% reduction, he says.

“We’re not trying to get that 30% methane reduction all in one go. You can try different things and apply them differently.”

Genetics will be one tool in the kit, he says.

For example, LIC and CRV should have a product in the market soon to help dairy farmers breed cows that produce less methane, he says.

“The good thing about genetics is you get that incremental gain over time, and you can add other things on top.

“While some of the products will have a modest effect – genetics is probably about 1% a year of reduction, and the (BioLumic) pasture product might be 10% –farmers should be able to add some of them onto each other because they’re using different ways of affecting the rumen.”

McNee says a big driver for Kiwi farmers to lower emissions is because premium customers, like Tesco, Nestlé and McDonald’s, are demanding it.

“They all have ambitious Scope 3 targets and they are asking New Zealand processors to work with their farmers to reduce emissions.” If we fail to do so, those premium customers may simply work with farmers in other countries or stop using meat and dairy in their products, he says.

OPTIONS: Wayne McNee says the goal is to offer farmers a range of tools and technologies to adopt.

ULTRAVIOLET: Dr Jason Wargent, BioLumic founder and chief science officer, observing rice seedlings under UV light.

Drinking water rule changes a win for farmers

Changes to drinking water rules are a major win for farmers, rural communities and common sense, Federated Farmers say.

The Government has announced that those supplying fewer than 25 people with drinking water will no longer be required to comply with onerous new rules or register the details of their water supply arrangements.

Federated Farmers local government spokesperson Sandra Faulkner says farming families across the country will be breathing a sigh of relief at the news.

“The drinking water rules introduced by the previous Government were a massive regulatory overreach that would have made life incredibly difficult for 80,000 rural and remote households.

“The process of registering,

says.

testing and reporting on their water supply would have added significant cost, risk and hassle for absolutely no gain.”

Faulkner says the rules would have also applied to milking sheds, wool sheds or anywhere else drinking water is supplied on a farm.

“When the regulator arrives, the goodwill leaves,” she says.

“It never made any sense to try and capture thousands of very small shared domestic supplies of fewer than 25 people under these regulations.

“People would have been forced to turn the tap off, quite literally, on their staff, neighbours and communities to avoid unnecessary cost and the risk attached to penalties within these rules.”

Faulkner says rural families have been supplying safe drinking water for generations and that protections are already in place through processor quality assurance programmes.

“There is no practical or realistic way these obligations could have been enforced.

“It would have just created a situation where very small suppliers were reluctant to make use of services such as information and guidance provided by Taumata Arowai.”

Faulkner says these changes show the power of grassroots advocacy.

“Federated Farmers have been calling for these changes for a number of years and we’ve worked collaboratively with local iwi and primary processors to achieve this result.

“That detailed, comprehensive and persistent work has paid off.”

‘Common

sense’ now prevails in consent saga

Federated Farmers have welcomed swift action from the Government to urgently clarify discharge consenting provisions in the Resource Management Act.

“A recent High Court decision ruling that discharge consents are unlawful has created huge uncertainty for farmers,” says Federated Farmers Resource Management Act (RMA) reform spokesperson Mark Hooper.

“Hundreds of consents coming up for renewal would have faced an uncertain future, and getting any new consent would have been simply impossible.

“It’s great that the Government have recognised the significance and time sensitivity of this issue, moving quickly with common sense to deliver a pragmatic solution.”

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says clarifications to discharge consenting provisions in the RMA will provide certainty for agricultural and horticultural producers, ensuring councils continue to manage discharge

consents in a practical way.

He says recent High Court decisions on sections 70 and 107 of the RMA threaten to make the law unworkable by reducing councils’ ability to manage discharges from a range of activities.

This whole saga has benefited nobody but resource management lawyers.

Mark Hooper Federated Farmers RMA reform spokesperson

“This would restrict councils’ ability to issue, or re-issue, consent for discharges from activities by industry, farming, meat processing, as well as wastewater discharges.

“Cabinet this week (August 9) agreed to make time-critical amendments to section 107 of the RMA so that councils and consent applicants have legal clarity, and the certainty they need to plan ahead.

“This needs to be addressed urgently because a large number of consents could be declined or put on hold, which will cost councils, industry and many primary sector producers, and could mean activities such as large-scale irrigation schemes can’t operate,” McClay says.

Hooper says that, without a law change, huge parts of New Zealand’s productive economy would simply grind to a halt.

Environment Canterbury estimate in that, in their region alone, 525 consents would be affected over the next 12 months.

“This whole saga has benefited nobody but resource management lawyers, costing ratepayers millions of dollars, only for the law to be changed,” Hooper says.

“It shows just how slow, broken and cumbersome our resource management laws have become.

“New legislation is desperately needed to cut through these litigious processes and return control to local councils to make sensible decisions about resource consents.”

WIN: Farming families will be breathing a sigh of relief at the easing of drinking water rules, Sandra Faulkner

BROKEN: The issue has shown how slow and cumbersome our resource management laws have become, Mark Hooper says.

Feds win saves Kaikoura farmers $900 a year

Kaikoura farmers are celebrating a much-needed saving on their rates bill this year after a successful challenge from Federated Farmers.

The District Council has agreed to charge semi-rural and rural ratepayers slightly less than their urban counterparts, saving the average farmer almost $900 a year.

Karl Dean, Federated Farmers North Canterbury president, says it’s an incredible result at a time when farmers are under huge pressure financially.

“A dollar saved is a dollar earned, so it’s great to be able to get this kind of win for our local members in the Long-Term Plan,” Dean says.

“Farmers are really battling with high costs and low returns this season, and I know they’ll appreciate

having a little bit more money to go around.

“In terms of a return on investment, we’ve been able to save local farmers more than the price of the Federated Farmers membership each year on this one issue alone.”

We made a strong case that farmers don’t really benefit from things like parks, walkways and playgrounds in the same way urban ratepayers do.

Karl Dean Federated Farmers North Canterbury president

The win comes after Kaikoura District Council set out last year to review its funding sources, known as the rates review, and asked the public for feedback.

The initial review didn’t include any change to the general rate ‘differential’, which is the difference what urban and rural ratepayers pay for the general rate.

“Federated Farmers spoke up, calling for a reduction in the rural contribution to general rate income,” Dean says.

“We made a strong case that farmers don’t really benefit from things like parks, walkways and playgrounds in the same way urban ratepayers do.”

Kaikoura District Council agreed, reducing the differential on the general rate from 90% to 80%,

which means Kaikoura farmers pay rates on 80% of their property value compared to urban’s 100%.

Depending on farm type and location, the reduction will save the Long-Term Plan’s benchmark farm $896 per year – and potentially more the higher the farm’s value.

RESULT: At a time when farmers are battling high costs and low returns, every saved dollar counts, Karl Dean says.

“This kind of advocacy by Federated Farmers shows the true value of what we do, going in to fight for rural people and getting these kinds of results,” Dean says.

“I also want to thank all the local landowners who helped with the submission.”

Sharemilkers lose industry ‘guiding light’

STALWART: Jeff Bolstad in 2021, when he was presented with the NZDIA Lifetime Contribution Award.

Family, friends and farming colleagues are mourning the death of former long-serving Federated Farmers sharemilkers chair Jeff Bolstad.

The Morrinsville farmer, the inaugural winner of the NZ Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) Lifetime Contribution Award in 2021, died in a tragic accident in his cowshed on 27 July, age 69.

Bolstad was instrumental in developing the awards and, when he won the Lifetime Contribution Award, NZDIA Trust chair Natasha Tere described him as the “bonding strength” behind the organisation.

“Jeff has a pure love and passion for aspiring dairy farmers and has been a guiding light, a father figure and confidante to many while on their awards journey,” she said.

Andrew Hoggard, Federated Farmers president in 2021, said it was great to see such a humble bloke, who had given his time with no thought of

getting anything in return, receive national recognition.

“Jeff has been an institution within the Federated Farmers sharemilker section over many years,” Hoggard said at the time.

Jeff was a fella who flew under the radar – a good bugger, a heart and soul of the community.

Brian Steele Federated Farmers Waikato sharemilker farm owners chair

“He’s contributed hugely to not only the Dairy Awards, but to the Feds sharemilking agreements, and all the issues dealt with by our dairy industry group and the Waikato province.”  Long-time friend and fellow Waikato farmer Brian Steele, who is currently

the Federated Farmers Waikato sharemilker farm owners chair, described Bolstad as a caring family man.

“He did a lot for other people – an absolute salt of the earth,” Steele said.

“Jeff got on with the job, whatever was needed. Sometimes it was helping sort out a dispute; he would approach it with common sense and looking for what was fair.

“He had charisma and leadership.”

Dad to four daughters and ‘Oompa’ of 13 grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren, Bolstad was active with primary school parent-teacher associations, and then the Elstow and Te Aroha College boards of trustees.

“They say behind every good man there’s a super-good woman and that’s certainly true of Jeff’s wife Annette,” Steele said.

“Jeff was a fella who flew under the radar – a good bugger, a heart and soul of the community.”

Next steps in a stately passage to India

ENigel Stirling MARKETS Trade

XPORTERS say they are relaxed about the time it is taking for the government to nail down a commitment from India to resume negotiations for a free trade deal.

Trade Minister Todd McClay travelled to New Delhi last week to continue to build New Zealand’s case to resume talks that ground to a halt nearly a decade ago.

It was McClay’s second trip to the Indian capital in less than a month, his third since last year’s election, and his fifth face-to-face meeting with his counterpart.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters visited the country in March and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is expected to follow later this year, though a date is yet to be fixed.

Despite the flurry of high-level contact, agreement between the two sides on when formal negotiations might resume has yet to emerge.

“Both sides are talking about opportunities to increase trade and that includes formal trade architecture,” McClay said before the latest trip.

“We will continue to engage and talk about opportunities and when the time is right the decision will be made.”

McClay said there have been some wins for NZ exporters despite the lack of formal trade talks.

The $250 million log trade was allowed to resume after Indian authorities agreed to waive fumigation requirements earlier this year.

However, getting to the start line for talks to dismantle high tariffs on key pastoral exports will take more effort.

The Australians have an advantage over NZ because their government prioritised the relationship and did a trade deal.

Todd McClay Trade Minister

McClay said the government is mindful of the experience of Australia, which signed its own free trade agreement in 2022 after years of trying.

“The Australians have an advantage over NZ because their government prioritised the relationship and did a trade deal.

“The previous Labour government didn’t and that is the reason why we want to make the relationship a strategic priority.”

As well as making improving relations with India a strategic priority, during last year’s election

Red meat’s new BFF a bit temperamental

Neal Wallace MARKETS Export

NORTH America has emerged in recent months as New Zealand’s largest red meat market and a major NZ exporter says although its market fundamentals remain sound, there could be some volatility.

Alliance Group global sales director James McWilliam has recently returned from visiting the United States and says ongoing fiscal and geopolitical issues and the pending election could all create challenges in the coming year.

“Demand fundamentals are sound in North America but there remains a lot of volatility.”

He said North America emerged as a “good news story” last year, taking product diverted from poor-performing markets.

“In a very short space of time we were able to pivot product

In a very short space of time we were able to pivot product away from less positive markets such as China.

James McWilliam Alliance Group

away from less positive markets such as China.”

In April exports to the US alone were up 19% on the previous year to $261 million, NZ’s largest market for the month. There was also a large increase in exports to Canada, up 105% to $32 million.

This was repeated in May when the US took $358m, up 28% on a year earlier. In contrast, exports to China were $231m for the month, down 37% on the previous year.

McWilliam said NZ red meat has found favour with affluent North American consumers, attracted by its free range, grassfed, antibiotic-free attributes.

The Lamb Company, jointly owned by several NZ and Australian processors, has been crucial in leveraging those attributes and finding markets throughout North America.

“It has procured significant volumes of primal cuts and, through its three processing facilities, added value by supplying retail-ready products,” McWilliam said.

Looking ahead, McWilliam described the global economy as volatile.

Inflation and geopolitical issues are still front of mind for many consumers but in North America there is added issue of the presidential election.

campaign Luxon went further in a televised debate and promised a trade agreement before the end of the government’s first term. Set against the typically glacial pace of trade negotiations, alongside India’s highly protectionist track record, and sensitivities surrounding key items of importance to it, such as dairy market access for NZ exporters, aiming for an agreement in such a short time is ambitious. It has become even more so given there is still no commitment from India to even start formal negotiations.

Asked whether the PM’s trip later in the year was being targeted for an announcement of a start to talks, McClay refused to be cornered.

“No. It is just a key date in the terms that we are taking the relationship seriously and we are investing in it.”

It is not just government ministers that are increasing their focus on the Indian market.

Dairy Companies Association of NZ executive director Kimberly Crewther attended a conference there last month along with other NZ industry figures.

Representatives of the Indian dairy industry have also travelled to NZ in the past year.

She was relaxed about the government’s gradual approach to getting India back around the negotiating table.

The shortfall between Indian

milk supply and its consumption would only grow as time went by.

“That relationship building is going to form the foundation for positioning for NZ to be at the front of the queue when India starts importing.

“We support the strategy.”

The Labour government came in for criticism from some meat exporters for not having done more to re-engage India in trade talks.

That criticism became louder after Australia’s deal, which scrapped 30% tariffs on sheep meat imports.

NZ exporters still face those tariffs and continue to struggle to make headway in the market.

Despite that, Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said she backs the approach the government is taking.

“Government-to-government engagement is an important part of building a solid foundation for any future trade talks, so the meat industry is happy to see the government is engaging with India.

“It is an important market with the potential to grow.”

beef market the primary goal, says Halter founder and CEO Craig Piggott.

Halter technology launches in US

Gerhard Uys TECHNOLOGY Exports

HALTER’S virtual fencing technology has just launched in the United States.

This month a team from Halter exhibited the technology at the AgMedia Summit in Kansas City, Missouri, where the product was launched to US agriculture media. The virtual fencing tech has already been rolled out to farms in California, Oregon, Colorado, Texas and Louisiana.

Halter Founder and CEO Craig Piggott said: “For years farmers in New Zealand and Australia have generated significant benefits from utilising the technology, and we’re excited to bring these same benefits to US cattle ranchers.”

There were now 200,000 cattle under Halter’s management in the US, New Zealand and Australia.

One of Halter’s first US customers is a dairy farm, but the rest are beef operations, which will make up the lion’s share of the

target market in the US. Halter is advertising three roles in the US, including two business development representatives and a country manager.

The business development roles will be located in either Colorado or Texas, with the country manager a flexible location. There will be more roles advertised in future.

Piggott said the US represents a huge market for Halter.

It is the second largest beef market in the world after Brazil, and the addressable market is nearly 50% bigger than NZ.

“In December 2023, we expanded from dairy into beef, the US market opens up this beef market at a significant scale.”

New Zealand was still a priority target for Halter, with 4 million pasture based beef cattle.

In the US there are roughly five times this amount of beef cattle.

“While there’s a mix of pasture and feedlot systems in America, at least 60% of all cattle spend time grazing pasture – which equates to about 20 million cattle.

“We are targeting the pasture market, which is sizeable, and will largely be working with cow-calf and backgrounding beef operations.”

Pasture used for cattle, either grazing or feed production, is the largest single land use in the US.

The US has 263 million hectares of land used for cow pasture, plus nearly 52 million hectares for livestock feed.

“We can have a big impact on making that both more productive and more sustainable.

“The US is a big step towards our goal of helping pasturebased farms and ranches run more productive and sustainable operations.

“We have customers in the hundreds across New Zealand, Australia and the US, and for the last two years we’ve doubled our customer base and revenue, and we’re on track to do this again this year.

“Since we expanded into Tasmania 20 months ago, Halter is on 20% of Tasmania’s dairy cows.”

TARIFFS: Getting to the start line for talks to dismantle India’s high tariffs on key pastoral exports from New Zealand will take effort.

MARKETS: Halter collars are already active on dairy and beef farms in the US, with the US

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Deadline Offers: Thursday 12 September 2024 at 4pm (NZST)

Agricultural Contractors Auction

134 Station Rd, Matamata

After 60 years of the family contracting business it is time to move on and pursue other interests. The equipment is off high quality, has been well maintained and purchasers can buy with confidence.

Tuesday 27th August – 10.00am

Viewing: Monday 19th & 26th August 10.00am – 4.00pm and 8.30am day of sale

Sale includes: ‘14 John Deere 7380 Forage Harvester, ’22 McHale Fusion 3 plus Baler, ’19 Krone Baler Big pack 1270, ’22 Horsh Pronto 4DC Drill, John Deere 6215R Tractor, ’16 JCB Loader, ’11 John Deere 6930 Premium Tractor, ‘22 Claas Liner 2800, Vaderstad Tempo TPF Planter, ’05 Hino FY dropside Truck, ’14 Lely Loader Wagon, ’17 Lely Tigo PR60 Loader Wagon, ’19 McHale Fusion 3 plus Baler, ’21 MF Quad Rake, ’09 John Deere 6930 Tractor with FEL, ’02 John Deere 6920 Tractor, ’07 McHale F560 Baler, ’04 McHale HS2000 Bale Wrapper, ’17 Donnelly 14t Tip Trailer, ’12 McHale 998 Bale Wrapper, ’11 Kuhn HR5004DR Harrows, ’13 & ’19 Claas Liner 2800 Rakes, ’03 Total Transport 4 axle Tip Trailer and much more.

Auction will be Live & Online, Online bidding opens Friday 16th August

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SALE TALK

The guy with the Dalmatian says, “Let’s get something to eat.”

But the guy with the Chihuahua says, “We can’t go in there, we have dogs with us.”

So the first guy says, “Just follow my lead.” He puts on a pair of sunglasses and walks into the restaurant.

“Sorry,” says the owner, “no pets allowed.”

“But this is my seeing-eye dog,” the guy with the Dalmatian says.

“A Dalmatian?”

“Yes, they’re using them now.”

The owner says, “Very well, then, come on in.”

The guy with the Chihuahua repeats the process and gets the same response from the owner: “Sorry, pal, no pets allowed.”

“But this is my seeing-eye dog,” says the second guy.

“A Chihuahua?” asks the incredulous owner.

“A Chihuahua?!,” says the man in the dark glasses. “They gave me a Chihuahua?!”

Two friends are walking their dogs; a Dalmatian and a Chihuahua, when they smell something delicious coming from a nearby restaurant.

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Markets

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Yards jumping as spring market bounces in

Five-year averages have been falling like flies with demand responding to tightening supply.

TFiona Quarrie MARKETS Livestock

HE old game of trying to beat the spring market has been played once again and it has turned out much the same as in other years. Instead of beating it, high demand has brought on the market and suppliers have responded.

For five weeks through July and into August, Feilding has yarded just over 1000-head of cattle.

For the four sales from July 12 to August 2, this meant a tally over and above the five-year average for the corresponding sale. These large numbers have in no way assured buyers that there are plenty of cattle beasts waiting in the wings as everyone is well aware of the shrinking beef herd. Solid results for these sales and a seemingly insatiable appetite from buyers instigated the large yarding of 1537-head that went under the hammer at Feilding on August 9. Such a tally is not uncommon at these yards, but it has come four weeks earlier than normal.

There was strength through the whole sale and R2 traditional steers averaged $3.87/kg and 445kg. Traditional heifers in the same age bracket had no trouble keeping up and averaged $3.83/kg, granted they were lighter at 360kg on average.

Excitement built when the R1 steers entered the rostrum and the traditional boys averaged a round $1200, $4.71/kg at 255kg. Also hot property were the 217-head of R1 Friesian bulls. They averaged

235kg and $4.99/kg but peaked at $5.24/kg for a pen of 22-head at 254kg.

By late last week, advertised numbers for the August 16 sale sat at 1581-head, much to the delight of hopeful buyers.

Te Kuiti held its yearling cattle fair on the same Friday, August 9, and offered 1484-head of R1 cattle. It was strong throughout, but the result of R1 Angus steers got the grapevine working in overdrive. Modern technology meant word of returns reaching $5/kg quickly spread around the country.

King Country NZ Farmers Livestock agent, Brett Wallbank, said: “A highlight of the sale was a line of 100 14-month AngusFriesian steers from one vendor. They were well grown at 350390kg and fetched $1380-$1650 which topped the sale on a per head basis and equated to $4.40/ kg for the 355kg pen.”

Charolais steers were also popular and the best of them ranged from 300kg to 330kg and traded from $4.55/kg to $4.85/kg, $1360-$1605.

The heavier portion of Angus steers, 253-292kg, traded from $1230-$1440. This mostly calculated to a range of $4.83$4.99/kg with a few outliers. The lighter portion, 200-240kg, made $1100-$1225 and for the 200kg pen this meant $5.50/kg.

Putting this into perspective, last year the 250-300kg Angus steers made $1035-$1120 and 200-240kg options realised $855-$1045.

Wallbank attributed the sale’s success to “strong schedules, a genuine shortage of quality cattle and having a significant number

being left out of the early spring rush.

Modern technology meant word of returns reaching $5/kg quickly spread around the country.

yarded in one place”. Those buyers looking for a unit load of black steers were willing to push the boat out a bit more to secure them.

“A lot of cattle went to Taranaki and South Auckland but Hawke’s Bay, Waikato and Northland buyers also got a few,” Wallbank said.

The South Island is certainly not

After a very quiet winter, Temuka had a 1250-head yarding on August 8, which kicked off the spring store cattle market a good two weeks earlier than normal. They made a good job of it too as the tally exceeded the five-year average throughput for end of August sales.

Despite the large yarding, there was no shortage of buying power and returns lifted across the board. A line of R2 Angus and Angus-Hereford steers at 398kg reached $3.74/kg and most Angus heifers in the same age bracket realised $3.51-$3.60/kg.

Good numbers of R1 Hereford

steers and heifers came forward and the boys, 151-229kg, traded from $4.03/kg to $4.30/kg. The heifers, at similar weights, ranged from $3.86/kg to $4.15/kg. The next sale a fortnight later, on August 22, currently has bookings for 1400-head.

The financial pressure being felt by breeders in the hill country and the encroachment of forestry is having a visible effect on the availability of cattle for finishers.

This is creating a squeeze on margins due to competition and it is a good reminder that without the breeders, there is nothing to finish.

The same equation is playing out in the sheep industry.

SNAPPED UP: These four pens held 111-head of Angus and Angus-Hereford heifers. The near pen averaged 376kg and fetched $1455, $3.87/kg. The lightest of the consignment were sold in a double pen of 50-head and at 338kg they collected $1330, $3.93/kg.

Weekly saleyards

Daffodils are a sure sign that spring has arrived, but for those involved in the saleyards scene it is the higher throughput and special sales that herald the new season. Feilding has followed up a month on 1000-head store cattle sales with two nearer 1500, and the first Te Kuiti yearling cattle sale also added 1500 to the market. The annual Feilding Marton Hogget Fair had a yarding of 8800 lambs, which averaged 48kg and $173 per head and left vendors happy. Nothing says spring like feeder calves, which have been penned and sold throughout the country to good demand.

Hereford-Friesian (black) heifers,

Hereford-Friesian (black), Charolais-Friesian bulls, small to

Hereford-Friesian (red) bulls, small to good

Angus-Friesian bulls, small to good

(black)

Hereford-Friesian (red), Speckle-Friesian heifers, small to good

Charolais-Friesian, Angus-Friesian heifers, small to good

bulls, small to good

heifers,

AgriHQ market trends

Cattle Sheep

Having a blast before spring arrives

Tkicks

with an Antarctic blast for some, but for the rest of August a new pattern is forming – a spring weather pattern. This is different to the astronomical seasons, which are evenly spread around the year as the earth rotates around the sun. Instead, a spring weather pattern is when we as weather forecasters start to both see and feel a shift from the “dark and dormant” winter to the “windy westerlies and injections of warmth” that spring brings.

In previous years we have declared the spring weather pattern to be here by late July. This year we’re running a few weeks later, which, to southerners especially, won’t come as much surprise.

One of the biggest pushbacks we get to any early spring weather declaration is that any snow or frost is “proof we’re still in winter”. But that’s not proof of winter. Winter is defined as a season with death and decay and

the coldest weather ... spring is defined as “moving, rising, life beginning, blossoms, buds, newborn animals”.

In the northern hemisphere some of the biggest snowstorms in places like Canada or Russia or northern Europe can occur in early spring. This is due to the coldest air of the year now meeting longer hours of daylight and more warmth. After all, we’re now officially out of the solar winter – the three months of the year with the least amount of available sunlight. No wonder you’re noticing the longer, brighter, early evenings now.

As Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr said last week, “it’s darkest before dawn ... and it’s dawn now”. That sums up the current weather pattern. We’re still in winter technically, but we’re seeing hints of spring’s weather arriving.

So what is a “spring weather pattern”? I define it as being dominated by more westerlies, more injections of Australian and/ or subtropical airflows, and still stormy at times. In winter we tend to have more southerlies, more injections of sub-Antarctic air.

BLAST: Monday’s Antarctic blast for the South Island, one of only a handful of polar blasts in the past year.

It does feel a bit weird to be writing about spring weather when, at the time of writing this, a significant Antarctica blast was possible on Monday, the day we publish Farmers Weekly! But to anyone who says “so much for spring” when you get a frost or heavy snow, that is PART of spring! If spring was warm, dry and

BREEZY: Look at those early spring westerlies arriving after the blast.

sunny it would be summer. If it was snowy, cold, and had little plant life or growth, then we’re in winter. But I think many of you will see over the rest of August that we do have a more westerlydriven, milder at times, weather pattern – but spring brings that added risk of moisture + cold, which can lead to snowstorms and

Images: WeatherWatch/Weatherzone

sudden severe weather events. We generally usually see New Zealand’s weather pattern calm down in two months from now, by late October.

So we’re in a moderate to high risk for frost and snow events until then – but the weather is likely to have more of a spring in its step moving forward.

Philip Duncan NEWS Weather

Spring 2024 Bull Sale Dates – Lift Out

BLACK RIDGE ANGUS G

25 low birth, positive calving ease bulls for your heifer mating season Inspection and Enquiries always welcome All bulls HD50K and BVD tested. Lepto v accin ated. TB C10.

Spring 2024 Bull Sale Dates

HEREFORD

Spring 2024 Bull Sale Dates

300 Bulls for sale

September 19 & 24

High Performance Bulls

• High growth rate, high carcase – Ezicalve sires have made five of the eight B+LNZ progeny test “Top AllRound Sires” lists.

Bulls For Heifer Mating

• Calving Ease, Low birth weight, Short Gestation Length – Ezicalve have eight of the Top-Ten NZ Hereford BH Indexing sires.

Guaranteed quiet bulls, breeding quiet temperament cattle – Safe and easy to handle for you, your family and your staff.

William Morrison, Marton 027 6401 166, ardofarm@xtra.co.nz

Mike Cranstone, Whanganui 027 218 0123, crannyandcath@outlook.com