Farmers Weekly NZ July 22 2019

22

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Vol 18 No 28, July 22, 2019

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Gas plan stinks Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz

A

PLAN to tax livestock greenhouse gas emissions at a processor level has led the primary sector to band together like never before.

Leaders from 11 primary sector groups including Horticulture NZ, the Foundation for Arable Research, the Federation of Maori Authorities, Federated Farmers and bodies representing the livestock industry have hit back at recommendations from the Interim Climate Change Committee over how on-farm emissions pricing should be introduced and have come up with their own system.

The committee recommended on-farm emissions pricing for methane and nitrous oxide from livestock be introduced in two stages.

A first stage will see emissions priced at a processor level through

the Emissions Trading Scheme before farm emissions pricing comes into play in 2025.

Though it supports investigating on-farm emissions pricing by 2025, the primary sector rejects the idea of a processor levy, saying it is little more than a tax and will not change behaviour.

Instead, it proposes a five-year industry-managed programme, to be funded by levy organisations like DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb.

The committee’s recommendation will see farmers pay an emissions tax of 1c/kg MS, 1c/kg for beef, 3c/kg for sheep meat and 4c/kg for venison collected by processors. On average that will cost individual farms about $1500 a year or about $30 a week.

Committee chairman Dr David Prentice said implementing the charges as soon as possible through a processor levy is a good investment for the rural sector.

Not only will it encourage farmers to factor emissions into

Gas tax by the numbers The yearly per-animal tax

$2.30

$0.47 $0.86

$4.60

How much greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide equivalent) animals emit each year

1.84t

0.38t

3.44t

The yearly per-animal cost if farming did not have a free allocation of 95% of emission units

0.69t

$46 $9.40 $17.40 $92 Source: Interim Climate Change Committee

their everyday decision-making, the money raised – around $50m a year – will provide farmers and farm advisers with measurement tools and knowhow to control farm emissions before they have to be handled at the farmgate in 2025, a year chosen because officials said it will take at least five years to get the necessary mechanisms and legislation in place for on-farm pricing.

That includes creating auditing processes and tools to measure emissions on farms, building a system to administer a rebate scheme and registering 20,000 to 30,000 farmers. Even implementing and testing a system is likely to take two years.

Committee member and Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre director Harry Clark says the committee accepts an interim processor levy will not reward farmers who already address emissions.

However, there is no perfect way to get started while moving to better arrangements in future and a processor levy will at least provide certainty for farmers.

Before making its processor levy recommendation the committee did consider a voluntary agreement between the Government and the primary sector as a good way to drive change towards pricing emissions at farm level.

However, while it supported the idea in principle there was a lack of detail and therefore uncertainty over how outcomes might be agreed and monitored and what

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WISE SPEND: Implementing emissions charges quickly through a processor levy is a good investment for the rural sector, Interim Climate Change Committee chairman Dr David Prentice says.

would happen if targets were not met.

At that time it was unaware of the sector’s proposal.

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle said bringing agriculture into the ETS at a processor level amounts to little more than a broad-based tax on farmers before the knowledge, support and tools to drive emissions reductions are available.

“As an alternative we have put forward a proposed five-year work programme to build an enduring farm-level emission reduction framework and work with farmers and the wider rural sector to provide real options to reduce their footprint.

“While appropriate pricing mechanisms for incentivising

on all

deutz-fahr

tractors

emissions reductions at farm level can have an important role to play in incentivising change, creating an environment that enables and supports farmers and growers to make changes on the ground is equally important to prepare for farm-based pricing from 2025.”

Climate Change Minister James Shaw said the Government is seeking public feedback on the committee’s recommendations and the farming sector option over the next four weeks.

MORE: MEASURING GAS ZERO CARBON ADVICE SITE CLIMATE CHANGE JAMES SHAW

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NEWS

WEATHER OVERVIEW Last week we talked about westerlies dominating for this coming week but we have to admit there has been a change. Easterlies now look more dominant.

While this is the opposite wind direction to our initial forecast the theme of what we were talking about remains the same – warmer than average for this time of year in many places. A squash zone of easterlies east of New Zealand this week will push back towards us so showers and lower daytime temps are more likely in Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa and Gisborne but with milder nights. Most places are frost-free this week. Next week high pressure in the north and windier westerlies return once again, dominating for most days.

5 Nait, biosecurity fixes on way The Government is fixing the Biosecurity Act and the National Animal Identification and Tracing Act to ensure they meet future needs, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says.

Newsmaker ������������������������������������������������������22 New Thinking ��������������������������������������������������23 Opinion ������������������������������������������������������������24 World �����������������������������������������������������������������30

ON FARM STORY

NZX PASTURE GROWTH INDEX – Next 15 days

Pasture Growth Index Above normal Near normal Below normal

7-DAY TRENDS

Rain Showers this week have more of an easterly lean to them, mainly around Wairarapa, but at times might spread into the eastern side of Marlborough and coastal Canterbury north of Banks Peninsula. Rain returns to western regions at the start of next week.

Temperature Some in the east will have cooler days this week because of the easterly flow but that might lower daytime highs and lift overnight lows. Even Central Otago, under clear and calm skies, has lows of +1. Any frosts are isolated and light.

Wind Easterly quarter winds will dominate much of NZ this week before westerlies return late week and certainly look likely to take us into August. A few localised southerlies this week and many places will have light winds too.

Highlights/ Extremes A little milder than normal for this time of year this week. More easterlies in the east and most showers/cloud in the east. Frosts are light this week and many regions are frost-free, odd for this time of year.

14-DAY OUTLOOK

Rainfall’s returning to healthier levels and despite the recent westerlies, likely returning again next week, we’re also getting some rain into eastern regions this week, mostly north of Banks Peninsula and south of Gisborne. This easterly flow helps keep temperatures in other regions above normal for this time of year.

We have a distinct lack of frosts considering the time of year. This bodes better for pasture growth. Overnight lows in the Deep South barely drop below zero this week.

SOIL MOISTURE INDEX – 19/07/2019

28 The environment comes first Running a big station with 3500 owners is a big challenge.

But Parengarega Station’s new farm manager Kathryne Easton is adding to the task, with her vision of starting with the environment then working back to the farm.

REGULARS Real Estate �������������������������������������������������������31 Employment ����������������������������������������������������32 Classifieds ��������������������������������������������������������32 Livestock ����������������������������������������������������33-35 Markets �������������������������������������������������������36-40 GlobalHQ is a farming family owned business that donates 1% of advertising revenue to the Rural Support Trust.

Thanks to our Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer advertisers this week: $448. Need help now? You can talk to someone who understands the pressures of farming by phoning your local Rural Support Trust on 0800 787 254.

Source: WeatherWatch.co.nz

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

3

Banks get Westland Milk payout Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz WEST Coast dairy farmers aren’t planning any spending with banks already taking their Westland sale payouts to cut debt.

“We didn’t need to lose our coop. All we needed was directors that had the balls to make the decisions that got Westland on the right path,” Westland Milk shareholder Murray Stewart said.

“I just hope for everyone’s sake that Fonterra has those directors or the whole of the New Zealand dairy industry will be in big strife.”

Debt was just a wee part of the downfall.

“Just 18 cents of the payout aligned to the company’s debt but overheads were at $1.50 and increasing. That’s what buggered our company.”

Looking forward to the shareholders’ payout from the sale?

Stewart said there’ll be no boat, bach at the beach or overseas holiday, not even a new car.

“All of it will initially reduce debt which will save us 20c of our payout in the interest bill.

We have to use it to get ourselves into a position where we are not going to get screwed ever again.

And the future? Stewart isn’t committed to the new owner long term.

“We have to supply for at least

the next two seasons, that’s the way the rules dictate for notice of leaving and yes, if Fonterra comes in, and there’s every chance they will, then yes I could well jump ship.”

Stewart is one of 25 farmers in negotiations with Fonterra to collect from their area.

“If they can get enough to make it worthwhile it looks they will but I don’t want to jump from the frying pan into the fire. We’ll have to see where the current politics of Fonterra go,” Stewart said.

Grey Valley farmer Stu Bland said it’s a relief the uncertainty is over.

“While everyone is relieved there is an outcome there’s no

parties. People have gone quiet.

Everyone voted this way but there was no pleasure in it. We had to,” Bland said.

Everyone voted this way but there was no pleasure in it. We had to.

Stu Bland Farmer He’s not planning any extravagant spending.

“We had no say. The bank

made that decision but it was always our intention to use it to pay back debt and also to reduce debt as much as possible over the 10 years to ensure we are financially in a strong position once the 10-year guaranteed milk price expires.

“This stronger position will give us land use options if dairy isn’t going well.”

And the future – well Bland said Fonterra has showed interest in the past.

“If the blue tankers start driving up our valley who knows what we might do if that option comes up.

“Meantime, we need Fonterra to perform because our payout is linked for the next 10 years.”

Dairy co-op’s sale is finalised Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz IT’S a done deal.

Westland Milk Products is destined for Chinese ownership.

The sale to Chinese dairy giant Yili passed its final test on Thursday with the High Court giving its seal of approval.

“Overall, the proposal appears in the interest of the shareholders.

“In this particular case, for those reasons, the court is satisfied it is appropriate to make the orders sought in the application,” the court finding said.

The sale to Yili subsidiary Hongkong Jingang Trade Holding Company’s Jingang earlier last week got the nod from the Overseas Investment Office.

The OIO approved the sale at $3.41 a share for a $588 million.

Shareholders are also guaranteed a 10-year competitive milk payout.

Earlier this month they voted 94% in favour of the sale, effective on August 1, the date they will be paid and when the directors will be redundant.

All shareholders will receive payment for their shares on the implementation date.

Pete Morrison Westland “Satisfying these two remaining key conditions was an important step in the process and the board is delighted that Jingang has been granted consent,” Westland chairman Pete Morrison said.

“I will be able to get life back to normal,” Morrison said.

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The investment needed OIO consent because Yili is buying 4.8 hectares of residential land and significant business assets worth more than $100m.

The residential land is used for factory worker accommodation at processing plants in Hokitika and near Christchurch and as a noise buffer between the plants and their neighbours.

OIO manager Vanessa Horne said the law is clear and Yili met all its requirements.

A group of former Westland shareholders asked the OIO to put the application on hold until they received payment for the shares they surrendered when they left the co-operative.

“This is a commercial issue for the former shareholders to resolve with the new Westland owners,” Horne said.

“The law is straightforward about what the OIO can take into account when assessing applications and these sorts of issues fall outside it.”

RETURN: Westland Milk chairman Pete Morrison says he will be able to get back to a normal life.

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

There’s no way yet to measure emissions IT IS impossible to measure greenhouse gas emissions on individual farms and it appears modelling will be used to calculate tax bills when farm-level obligations are imposed from 2025.

Scientists are still working to develop technology and systems but earlier this year AgFirst economist Phil Journeaux and AgResearch scientist Cecile de Klein delivered a paper to New Zealand Agricultural Climate Change Conference saying it is impossible to measure farm level emissions.

The Interim Climate Change Committee and the Government both say farmers should pay for emissions from 2025 but the development of simple, cheap and credible technology to calculate those obligations still seems far off.

There are at least four systems developed or under development.

They range from an online dashboard into which farmers

put data to create an emissions profile, to work under way at NIWA that will require farmers to attach canisters around the necks of a sample of their stock to capture actual emissions.

Tweaking data required by Overseer nutrient budgets can also be used to estimate farm gas emissions.

Journeaux and de Klein said to verify management changes that lower emissions farmers will need to provide evidence such as invoices, receipts and records similar to those required by regional councils for managing nitrogen.

They say emissions reductions of 5% to 10% are possible through management changes and farm environment plans should include managing greenhouse gas emissions.

Their paper reveals trials have consistently calculated 21.6g of methane is emitted per kilogram of drymatter consumed while nitrous oxide emissions can be calculated based on nitrogen applied.

NIWA chief climate, atmosphere

and hazards scientist Andrew Tait agrees the time frame to develop accurate and usable methodology is tight.

His research involves attaching canisters to a sample of animals to accurately measure methane emissions. That data is then scaled over the herd or flock.

Tait says such a system would reward farmers who reduce emissions and penalise those who do not but the challenge is to scale up the technology to make it workable for individual farmers.

“We need to have the ability to detect the impact farmers make with their management of animals, pasture, crops and irrigation so we can see if those decisions are making a difference.”

Tait says NIWA and AgResearch are also developing masts or towers with instruments to record methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide levels.

They are unlikely to be installed on every farm but will act as regional reference points to collect localised information to monitor

PROOF: AgFirst economist Phil Journeaux says farmers will have to provide evidence they have lowered animal emissions.

long-term gas emissions trends.

Similarly, satellite images can be used to monitor gases in the atmosphere.

“There are a number of different ways to tackle these problems but nobody has been able to put it all together,” Tait says.

NZ Agricultural Greenhouse Research Consortium principal investigator Peter Janssen told the conference research is focused on low-methane feed, animal genetics, vaccines and inhibitors.

The largest driver of methane is the amount of feed eaten and research has found grain reduces methane while high forage rape has 25% to 35% less methane than pasture for the same animal performance.

Fodder beet reduces methane

Managing pasture performance Managing farm stock performance is like a sitting on a three-legged stool – Pasture growth, Animal genetics and Grazing management – the weakest leg determines the strength of your stock’s performance.

When considering pasture performance, it’s clear that improving pasture quality leads to greater increases in farm profitability than simply growing a larger quantity by throwing Nitrogen at it.

Measuring pasture quantity is easily achieved using a plate-meter.

Calculations can then be used to convert pasture height to dry matter and then to milk solids, protein etc. These calculations are based on a series of assumptions that don’t usually take actual pasture quality into consideration.

To illustrate my point using extremes, if we plate-metered Barley Straw without taking nutritional quality into account, we could reach the same calculated dry matter content as a stand of Lucerne but obviously the nutritional value to stock will be vastly different.

To maximise stock performance, pasture must be, (a) Appetising – if stock find the pasture appetising, pasture

utilisation increases resulting in less trampled feed and more will be turned into protein, (b) Nutritious – it should have a good balance of all minerals and trace elements. Cobalt, in relation to this discussion, plays a big part in stock appetite along with their ability to efficiently digest their pasture intake. (c) High energy content – pasture with increased carbohydrates provide stock with increased energy allowing them to forage more effectively providing them with the energy to efficiently digest and convert their dietary intake into protein.

Laboratory herbage analysis provides an accurate measurement of pasture quality. Herbage analysis clearly identifies any mineral or trace element deficiencies that may be limiting pasture growth or stock performance.

By identifying the limiting factors fertiliser applications can be focused to achieve the greatest return on fertiliser investment dollars. Considering that the cost of a herbage analysis equates to a few shovels of fertiliser, there is no doubt in my mind that they are the most under-utilised tool when evaluating what is usually the largest annual farm spend.

by up to 40% when fed at 70% of an animal’s diet.

Genetic traits for low methane in sheep are heritable and those with that characteristic have about 6% less methane yield than the industry average.

Sheep with the trait will be dispersed to a pilot group of ram breeders later this year.

Heritable differences are also expected in cattle and a NZ dairy genetics collaborative working group has been established with the first round of bull testing expected next year.

Janssen says inhibitors show promise in NZ pasture trials, reducing methane production by 20% to 30% in sheep and cattle.

Getting the technology on to farms will take seven years.

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As one old timer put it, farm profitably is all about “Turning grass into sh.t”. The more effectively you can do it the greater the farm profitability. On most farms, substantial improvements can be easily achieved without increasing fertiliser budgets. There are major opportunities for New Zealand farmers to increase conversion rates of dry matter into protein by simply focusing fertiliser budgets on pasture quality rather than quantity. Healthy pasture equals healthy well performing stock.

PFP Fertilisers’ range of Prilled Ultra-fine Particle products have been developed with quality pasture in mind and can be custom manufactured to suit your farm’s specific requirements. Let us help you, “Turn more grass into sh.t” and identify where to spend your fertiliser dollars to maximise the return on that investment.

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

5

Nait, biosecurity fixes on way Luke Chivers luke.chivers@globalhq.co.nz CHANGES are afoot for the biosecurity system.

The Government is fixing the Biosecurity Act and the National Animal Identification and Tracing Act to ensure they meet future needs, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says.

“Biosecurity is fundamental to the protection of our environment, our economy and our cultural and social wellbeing.”

But the Biosecurity Act is now 26 years old.

“The Act didn’t foresee many of the challenges of increased trade, increased visitor numbers and new diseases through a changing climate.”

In the past few years the primary industries have seen an increase in large biosecurity responses including Mycoplasma bovis, bonamia, myrtle rust and the Queensland fruit fly.

M bovis alone has cost Kiwi taxpayers excess of $200 million, more than a year since the Government decided – in a worldfirst – to try to eradicate the cattle disease.

Earlier this month the Ministry for Primary Industries apologised

SHORTCOMINGS: The Mycoplasma bovis outbreak highlighted flaws in the Biosecurity Act and Nait scheme, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says.

to farmers after two reviews pointed the finger at its poor handling of the M bovis crisis.

“Implementing the programme for M bovis exposed the clunkiness of the Act and its constraints on both action on the ground and compensation systems. Clearly, it’s overdue for an upgrade.

“We need an Act that’s more flexible and more appropriate.

“We need to learn from the M bovis experience and have better

pieces of legislation as a result of it.”

O’Connor released the terms of reference that define the objectives and structure of the Act’s overhaul. The work will be led by Biosecurity NZ. “They have started working with Maori, industry and others to upgrade the Act,” he said.

“We will look at every aspect of the Act, including compensation and funding.”

O’Connor said he has been working directly with Biosecurity NZ and Nait, to fix it and make sure it is fit for the future.

“Nait was brought in with good intent but has failed to deliver.

“Earlier this year I announced a package of suggested changes to Nait and Cabinet has now agreed to them.”

The proposed changes will improve tracing, tighten rules for handling untagged animals, improve the use of data, align penalties with other acts to reflect the seriousness of noncompliance and make changes to the performance framework for the organisation running Nait, he said.

The additional change, agreed

by Cabinet, is to confirm the Crown owns Nait information.

That allows MPI to trace animal movements in the event of a biosecurity response or for food safety purposes and reduces the risk of any potential dispute between parties if the Crown ever chose to change the organisation responsible for Nait.

It follows changes made last year to improve the Nait scheme, including operational changes at OSPRI and some minor technical changes to the Act.

Farmers and the industry were consulted on proposals in late 2018 and the feedback was considerable and overall positive.

“Next week I will introduce an amendment bill to Parliament to improve Nait. The changes we’re making will take New Zealand a step closer to having the animal tracing scheme we need to keep our primary sectors and economy safe.”

The work will progress in two stages.

“We will be looking into issues that affect our economic outcomes first; with a view to public consultation being concluded by the end of this year.

And we will be looking at issues that affect our environmental, social and cultural outcomes over a longer time frame with a view to public consultation in the second half of 2020.

“This longer time frame will give us time to ensure that we have canvassed these complex issues with those most directly affected by them before working with the wider public.

“We’ll be consulting widely with farmers, stakeholders and everyone affected to ensure that what we propose is sensible and pragmatic,” O’Connor said.

New tools, food safety rules will help small firms Luke Chivers luke.chivers@globalhq.co.nz NEW food safety tools will make it faster, easier and more affordable for businesses to follow the rules and keep consumers safe, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says.

O’Connor has launched three tools – Remote Verification, My Food Rules and My Food Plan – to remove compliance challenges faced by small and regional domestic food businesses.

“I’ve been focused on enabling innovation in food production across the whole country, not just the major centres, and that innovation often comes at quite a cost when verification systems require people to travel to check them.

“I asked MPI officials to come up with innovative solutions.”

Remote Verification is believed to be a world-first for regulatory food safety.

It will reduce the need for

verifiers to travel to businesses in regional, rural or other hard-toreach locations.

Reducing or eliminating the need for verifiers to travel to businesses in regional or rural locations could decrease the overall cost of verification, saving small food businesses $200-$1500 a time.

“And sometimes they have to duplicate or triplicate that [cost] depending on the different types of products they’re making. We’ve needed a better

system that supports people.”

The ministry also built two new online tools – My Food Rules and My Food Plan – to make it easier for food businesses to follow food rules.

My Food Rules is an online rule finder expected to help businesses find the right plan or programme, the right registration authority and the right verifier.

My Food Plan is for businesses that make high-risk foods or need to have a plan that covers

multiple Food Act registrations.

It can be registered within 20 days, reducing cost and uncertainty for businesses that could otherwise spend up to $25,000 and nine months developing a custom plan from scratch.

Already, 23 food businesses are in the process of registration.

MORE:

For further detail, visit foodsafety. govt.nz/foodact

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

7

Gas targets a threat to dairy Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz DAIRY farm profits could fall by more than 60% in the next 30 years with farmers becoming insolvent by carrying a disproportionate share of zero-carbon costs, Dairy NZ’s submission on the policy reveals.

It questions the absence of detailed economic analysis on the effects on the primary sector of meeting the Government’s proposed methane reduction targets.

And it describes the Zero Carbon Bill’s regulatory impact statement on the cost to the economy as flawed and significantly underplaying the true cost.

DairyNZ quotes modelling from Economic Research Institute economists putting it at $27 billion and not $5b in the Government estimate.

Meeting dairy sector methane targets will slash farm profits 34% to 42% between 2020 and 2050 assuming a methane vaccine is available from 2030.

With the addition of zero emission targets for carbon and nitrous oxide the impact on the dairy sector will be significant.

“The dairy farming sector in this report is estimated to experience losses of profit that are around 25%, 45% and 60% below baseline levels in 2030, 2040 and 2050 respectively.”

It notes this profit impact analysis by NZIER was made

FUTURE IN DOUBT: Dairy farmers face insolvency with income falling by 60% as they pay for climate change.

available only following an Official Information Act request.

What economic analysis has been published underestimates the costs because it does not replicate the bill’s proposal to reduce methane by 10% below 2017 levels by 2030 and by between 24% and 47% by 2050.

“An absence of comprehensive modelling is concerning because the costs of the alternative methane targets underestimate the national, sectoral and farm level impacts.”

The Government assesses the cost to the sector at $5b a year, including $2500 a dairy farm a year and assumed 95% of free unit allocation under the Emissions Trading Scheme.

But the DairyNZ report considers that figure to be too low

Carbon Bill numbers are not credible Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz SPECIFIC targets in the Zero Carbon Bill have been made with no rigorous scientific or proper economic analysis of the likely impact, especially on regional communities, the Meat Industry Association says.

The association supports the 2050 zero carbon goal but laws aimed at achieving it must be carefully considered and withstand scrutiny.

“It is critical for the meat processing and export sector that targets and budgets for achieving zero carbon are transparent and based on science,” it said.

“In other countries the targets for emissions reductions have been arrived at through an independent, open process. In contrast, the specific targets in the Zero Carbon Bill were set without public or independent input.”

The gross methane target is unprincipled, inconsistent with the treatment of other gases and, given that the Government supports a single point of emissions reporting for farms, impractical.

Methane targets of a 10% cut by 2030 and 24% to 47% by 2050 are not supported by science and are not credible, it said, adding there is no coherent or consistent underpinning rationale for the targets, which are not based on science and have instead been cherry-picked from an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that specifically said its scenarios are not suitable for national strategies and do not indicate requirements.

“While it is possible to derive a global pathway consistent with the 1.5C temperature goal and to take into account all long-lived gases going to zero, translating

given annual economy-wide costs from the Zero Carbon Bill of up to $27b.

Its modelling shows, depending on the carbon price, the cost per farm from 2020 to 2030 could be $28,000 to $71,000 a year, much higher than Ministry for the Environment estimates.

“Together, the estimated costs emerging from the DairyNZ model also appear to challenge the statement by MFE that the change in the financial position of the dairy sector will be less significant, relative to the sheep and beef sector, over 2020-2050 provided it continues to innovate.”

The DairyNZ submission warns the bill will create solvency issues for dairy farmers and reduce the sector’s international competitiveness.

It calculates a 10% reduction in profit from 2020 to 2030 could make 7% of dairy farmers insolvent, rising to 12% insolvency in 2030-2040 should profits fall 37%.

“These results emphasise that even though the 2030 methane target imposes a lower cost to dairy farms in terms of baseline profit, particularly relative to later periods, these losses are still substantive.”

Those affected the most will be young farmers who typically carry higher levels of debt.

The competitiveness of the NZ dairy sector relies on being a low-cost producer and the DairyNZ paper notes the bill’s regulatory impact statement also does not address the sector’s competitiveness.

While acknowledging stronger environmental regulation can encourage efficiency and innovation that can open or grow market share, the report says there are strong indications the bill will affect the sector’s international competitiveness by increasing costs.

“It is highly probable that requiring a marked reduction in methane emissions within the NZ dairy sector will lead to lower production levels, even with the broad-scale adoption of a methane vaccine.”

That risk is heightened should other dairy producing countries not follow NZ’s example and price carbon.

“This negative economic effect

is so great that it will likely require the free allocation of all emissions to offset it, consistent with international evidence.”

The report’s authors reject the notion efficiency gains will offset mitigation costs because the options are limited.

It quoted one report that calculates productivity gains will have to be 1% to 2% greater than has been historically achieved to maintain the existing level of export competitiveness.

“These rates are substantially greater than those estimates of efficiency observed over the last 20 years in the sector.”

The greenhouse reduction targets place NZ well ahead of other nations with productive agricultural sectors and the report notes NZ dairy’s emission intensity, the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to the level of output, has fallen 0.8% each year between 1990 and 2012.

Despite a proposed transition period to soften the impacts the bill will still put significant pressure on dairy farming profitability and solvency, it said.

The dairy sector generated $2.5b in wages in 2017, of which 80% was in rural areas, and it employed 38,700 people with 70% of them on farms.

In Southland, Taranaki, Waikato and West Coast the dairy industry generates the most income and in Northland and ManawatuWanganui it is the second largest income earner.

BIG IMPACT: Cutting stock numbers to meet methane targets will take money and jobs out of small towns that have freezing works, the Meat Industry Association says.

that to the New Zealand-specific target pathway is fraught with risk and uncertainty.”

Without new technologies the only way to make real reductions in livestock methane emissions is to reduce the feed consumed by livestock, which translates into livestock numbers.

A reduction in livestock numbers will have a direct impact on meat processing and on jobs and meat processors are in many cases the major employer in a rural community. Reduced processing capacity, including the closure of chains or of entire plants, will have a significant impact on those communities, the association said.

It gave the example of a processing plant at Moerewa in Northland, a town of about 1400 people, almost 90% Maori.

A 15% cut in stock available

for processing would result in the sheep operation becoming unprofitable and beef production operating on reduced throughput, which would cut equivalent full-time jobs from 243 to 148, removing about $5 million from the local community.

That outcome is likely to be repeated in many small communities around the country.

The meat industry believes any climate policy must be credible in the eyes of an international audience. Other western countries, including Britain and the European Union, are already moving to zero carbon with transparent, science-based emissions targets for their agricultural industries.

“Our members are increasingly conscious of being able to prove the environmental credentials of their products. That is

undermined if the NZ targets and decision-making processes about climate change are not credible.”

NZ is the first country seeking to do anything serious about agricultural greenhouse gases and other countries, as they begin to look at their own emissions, will look to the NZ system.

If the targets of the Bill are based on ad hoc fixes and compromises – such as the methane targets – then it will not be taken seriously.

“On the other hand, a system that is transparent, science-based and goes directly to addressing the temperature impact will be credible and influential.

“It will mean NZ becomes an international rules writer for agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. As an exporting country it is crucial that NZ choose the latter path.”

8

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Doubts persist on lamb numbers Alan Williams alan.williams@globalhq.co.nz UNCERTAINTY over the number of lambs remaining to be processed for export this season is a challenge to pricing expectations, GlobalHQ analyst Mel Croad says.

The Affco Holdings contract at $9/kg for a specific August contract is creating expectations of similar gains into September and October but was caused by low processing numbers and it is a step too far to expect the strong market demand to sustain that price.

Beef + Lamb has reduced its estimate of export lamb numbers for this season by 900,000 to 19 million and by mid-June processing levels were down by 1.08m on last year.

“There’s a gaping hole developed over the last six to eight weeks,” Croad said.

Estimates suggest 3.2m lambs remain to be processed.

However, a good number of lambs are sent in during October so miss out on the September 30 season survey and a lot of lambs are believed to have been sold more than once in the store market as rising prices presented farmers with the chance of good early margins on stock they had just bought.

“It’s hard to see how many lambs are still on-farm,” Croad said.

Farmers start to offload lambs in September and if a $9/kg price is reached on expected higher volumes coming through it will

There’s a gaping hole developed over the last six to eight weeks.

Mel Croad GlobalHQ

MYSTERY: Uncertainty over the number of lambs left on farms this season is not helping price expectations.

be procurement driven, with the risk that involves when average export values have already risen so strongly.

The North Island schedule is about $8/kg and Croad does not see downside from there but says pricing needs to be managed to avoid causing market resistance.

GlobalHQ analysts expect an $8.50/kg average for September.

Traders will want to maximise older season lamb values. Most of them need to be through processing by the time new season lamb supply starts in the second week of November.

“We are comfortable with the outlook but are wary of procurement competition,” she said.

Beef prices have picked up strongly in recent weeks and Croad expects a schedule about $6/kg for prime beef in the North Island in October, compared to about $5.75/ kg now.

China is driving demand and importing increasing volumes of manufacturing beef from NZ. That is taking some supply away from the traditional manufacturing beef market, the United States, even though its

own demand remains strong and encouraging for prices.

B+LNZ expects total beef and veal exports worth $3.45 billion in the year ending September 30.

It expects the average value to be $6900/tonne, down from $7124/ tonne in the 2017-18 year.

US beef production and exports are at record levels but B+LNZ says the expansion in the cow herd has started to slow and is expected to halt in 2020.

B+LNZ expects total export lamb receipts of $3.39b for the year to September 30, up from $3.35b last year.

That is on an expected 4.4% fall in lamb numbers. Increased carcase weights offset some of the lower tally. The forecast value for lamb is $10,360/tonne.

Total mutton receipts are expected to be $692m, down nearly 9% on last year on volumes down 13.4%.

The average value is expected to be up 5.3% to $6801/tonne, driven by limited supply from NZ and Australia.

Sheep at June 30 last year provisionally totalled 27.25m, down 1% on June 2017, mainly because of 3.6% fewer ewes after heavy culling encouraged by high mutton prices. Deep culling is not expected for the latest June year, with ewe numbers expected to be up 0.5%.

June 2018 sheep numbers in the North Island were down 2.2% at 13.3m with the South Island marginally higher at just over 13.9m.

Total beef cattle at June 30, 2018, were provisionally 3.8m, a 5% increase from 2017. North Island numbers rose 2.5% to 2.64m and South Island numbers rose 11% to 1.16m.

Buyers willing to pay up for good quality wool Alan Williams alan.williams@globalhq.co.nz A REFRESHING transformation is taking place in the wool market with a clear price gap emerging between goodquality and poorer wools, PGG Wrightson’s South Island sales manager Dave Burridge said.

The split emerged at the first

Christchurch auction of the new season on Thursday.

For the crossbred wools 35 micron and above well-prepared, good-coloured wool was priced 2% to 7% higher than at the final sale of the previous season on June 27 whereas less stylish wools were 2% to 4% cheaper.

The numbers were similar for 31 to 34 micron wools.

The price gap could be $1/kg on the same micron level and is a signal good preparation will be rewarded, Burridge said.

New season mid-micron wool, about 1500 bales in total, was 2% to 4% dearer with the best gains again being on the better styles.

Demand from China remains strong.

Overall, there was a big offering of 12,500 bales at the latest sale with a 22% pass-in rate following after-auction sales, which is a good result, he said.

With shearing for mid-micron and finer wools through the South Island over the next few months the NZ Merino Co’s commercial manager Keith

Ovens says farmers should be making sure grass seed and other vegetable matter is carefully separated from main fleece lines during sorting and classing.

The main impact will be on half-breed and Merino wool where a $20/kg-plus value could be reduced by up to $4 to $5 if there is too much seed.

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News

10 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Trade war cuts deer skin business Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz A KIWI leather tanning firm caught up in the China-United States trade war says its luxury products business is no longer viable and 35 jobs will go.

New Zealand Light Leathers is considering phasing out the manufacture of finished deer leather at its Washdyke tannery, putting up to 35 jobs in jeopardy.

It has been supplying top-ofthe-market brands including Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton with leather from farmed deer but the burgeoning trade war has thrown the world deer skin market into turmoil, managing director David Cassidy said.

“It’s clear the tannery’s finished deer leather export operation can no longer be sustained.

“The markets are in free fall, which has left us no choice.

“We cannot continue competing in a commercial environment that is no longer viable,” Cassidy said.

Company chairman Gary Monk said the business has been successfully competing at the top of the international luxury deer leather market for many years but a series of distortions convinced the firm it is time to step back and re-align its long-term business plan.

“We have arrived at a point where, for reasons beyond our control, the production and export of our luxury product is no longer a viable option.

“Not only has the supply of fine NZ deer skins become increasingly constrained but the situation is now further compounded by a world deer skin market in turmoil as a result of a burgeoning US-China trade war.”

NZ venison production and the deer herd have fallen substantially in recent years and the consequent decline in the quantity and quality of

VANISHING: The United States-China trade war has put paid to luxury deer skin production at New Zealand Light Leathers with the likely loss of 35 jobs.

We cannot continue competing in a commercial environment that is no longer viable.

David Cassidy NZ Light Leathers skins available has made the marketing of finished deer leather a challenging task.

That problem was exacerbated when Chinese tanners cancelled orders for American deer skins in a response to escalating tariffs imposed by the US. The consequent diversion of American skins into Europe resulted in a distorted market and

the collapse of sustainable returns for high-end NZ deer leather, Monk said.

The firm has been operating in the international market in difficult circumstances for some time but has continued to compete with the support of the company’s British owner, Argent Group Europe Meat Giant.

“We were working on the assumption there would be an improvement in world demand for our unique product.

“However, the realities of a declining supply of quality skins, rising manufacturing costs and an erratic international demand meant that further losses were inevitable.”

Cassidy said the company is well placed to adjust to the export setback and will now reset its business parameters.

That will refocus on extending

the Washdyke operation with a renewed focus on cattle hide and deer skin processing for local suppliers.

It is the only tannery of its type in the South Island and with strong connections to regional meat processors the realignment of business priorities will ensure a sustainable future, Cassidy said.

South Canterbury deer farmer and producer-appointed director on the Deer Industry NZ board Kris Orange said the loss of the global market will affect the venison schedule.

“It will affect what we get in the returns from the whole animal.

“It’s a shame for everyone affected. It’s been a lucrative market for NZLL and farmers but it has been variable over the years and that’s a lot to do with fashion,” Orange said.

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“In the better times the value of the product held up our venison schedule.”

Orange was reluctant to put a price on it but said the loss to deer farmers will be significant.

“NZLL has indicated it will look at trying to get a local market.

It will be at a significantly lower value but we are hopeful there will be a market of some sort in the future for our deer hides.”

The deer industry has a quality assurance programme to ensure the best possible quality supply to NZLL. “We knew over the past couple of years pricing has been under pressure. It just remains to be seen what happens from here,” Orange said.

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News

Up and away for dollar THE dollar might have seen its lows, possibly for the next couple of years or so, against most of the major trading currencies, BNZ strategist Jason Wong says.

The bank expects the kiwi to drift higher this year against the United States dollar then push above US$0.70 next year and higher in 2021.

It is forecasting an €0.62 cross by June next year and a sharper lift to £0.56.

However, a drift downwards to about A$0.93 is expected from the current very high levels as interest rate cuts across the Tasman start to boost the economy.

Wong said the major forecast is based on the assumption the US and China will agree a trade deal at some point or at least that the dispute won’t blow up in our faces.

That would help riskassets and commodity currencies such as the kiwi.

The dispute is affecting growth and he thinks President Donald Trump will settle to avoid the risk of a weak election-year economy in the US. The possibility of a nodeal Brexit later this year or a hangover in sentiment if there are further delays will be negative for sterling and have a spill-over effect on the euro, which is already under pressure from extended monetary easing by the European Central Bank.

– Alan Williams

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

11

British sales still expanding Alan Williams alan.williams@globalhq.co.nz ALLIANCE is still expanding its high-end food service sector business in Britain despite an unclear Brexit picture what its impact will be.

The country’s biggest lamb exporter is on target over the next few months to double the number of London restaurants involved from the 60 or so it had at the start of the year, sales general manager Shane Kingston said.

“We’re slightly ahead of our ambitions and now looking two years ahead. Our confidence is greater.”

We’re slightly ahead of our ambitions and now looking two years ahead.

Shane Kingston Alliance The business is commercially attractive for the group and its partners and the food service focus is also moving beyond the high-end restaurants and hotels into other parts of the leisure/ business economy.

There is no sign yet that higher lamb prices are causing consumer resistance but there is a tipping point so the industry has to work to maintain relative pricing with other meat proteins.

A 30% rise in pork prices in recent months is helping lamb and beef comparisons.

NZ lamb is also more expensive than British lamb with local supply in good quantities and imports lower. But that is not having a significant impact on sales though it will need to be watched.

Britain is still a very important higher-price market for NZ while

China has become the major customer.

So far this year, NZ has filled only 31% of its European Union sheep meat quota, compared to 39% at this time last calendar year, GlobalHQ analyst Mel Croad said.

Kingston said some traditional products, notably frozen carcases, are proving uncompetitive and some ready-meal products are in a similar position.

Alliance is concentrating on adding value to the traditional business and expects further growth.

On Brexit the market is no clearer on the outcome of the new October 31 deadline than it was going into the previous March 31 deadline.

As it did then, Alliance is working with its partners to put safeguards in place. The timing this time might be more challenging with Christmas product on the water at the end of October. The Easter supply had mostly landed by the end of March.

The NZ trade will be helped by having Folkestone as its major destination port. It is a nonEU port so less likely to face disruption.

The main concern in Britain is the fresh food arriving daily from Europe into other ports.

Just back from a marketing tour to China, Kingston said Alliance is pleased with its progress there.

He and Alliance Asia leader Alan Kent and group chief executive David Surveyor met Xibin Chen, president of its in-market partner Grand Farm, to discuss projects in the next phase of the partnership and adding value to products.

He and Kent also toured Grand Farm’s recently expanded processing plant in Inner Mongolia to learn more about the economics, supply chain, processing and products, which will help it add more value.

The key China trends are continuing to build, Kingston said.

Increasing wealth means more

CARRY ON: Key trends in China are continuing to build, Alliance sales general manager Shane Kingston says.

people have more money to spend on dining and the increasing Western influence is pushing consumers from traditional Chinese food items to Western dishes such as racks and loins.

In Shanghai Alliance’s Pure South brand is a significant part of the Swiss Butchery retail

chain offering to a growing mix of expatriate residents and more wealthy Chinese. Swiss Butchery makes in-house delicacies based on Swiss recipes. Its newest store includes an experience centre, combining butchery, grill corner, take-out meals and a cooking academy.

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12 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Scrap material fills northern wool bales Alan Williams alan.williams@globalhq.co.nz CONTAMINATION in North Island greasy wool bales nearly doubled last shearing season.

The number of nonwool objects found in bales delivered to the North Island scour in the March 31 year was 417, up from 219 a year earlier, according to NZ Woolscouring.

That followed a slight fall from 242 the previous year.

The number of plastic object finds rose 300% and there was a doubling of steel objects.

The central North Island is the main problem area, the report from the country’s only wool scourer said.

South Island results were much better with the number of incidents falling to 123 from 175 in 2017-18, and from 252 two seasons ago.

The number of finds and the range of contaminants show it is not just harvesting workers responsible for the high numbers, Wool Classers Association executive officer Bruce Abbott said.

Wool growers and others using the shearing sheds must also take responsibility for making sure they are kept clean and that material does not accidentally get into bales.

The clear message is to clean up the sheds after shearing and again before the next shearing starts, Abbott said.

Otago-based Abbott is quite pleased with the South Island improvement, saying a lot of work has been done at field days on how to prevent contamination and the strength of the finer, higher-value wool sector has also helped, with more

JUST THE JOB: Secondary students, from left, Emma Dunderdale, Izy Greville and Jade Rivers got insight into the variety of careers available during a visit to Mr Apple’s Hawke’s Bay pack house.

Course enhances emerging leaders Riley Kennedy FOURTEEN teenagers began their school holidays learning new leadership skills on a Young Farmers course in Napier.

The course run over three days was designed to enhance the skills of emerging leaders in schools’ TeenAg clubs.

Hawke’s Bay student Izy Greville from Woodford House said “I found it really beneficial, especially the sessions on networking and building an impressive curriculum vitae.

“Those are skills which are extremely relevant as most of us try to line-up part-time jobs during the school holidays.”

The course, Raising the Standards, is run by Young Farmers’ engagement team and is funded by DairyNZ. Students learned about cadetships, overcoming pressure, dealing with conflict, interview techniques and budgeting.

“Many didn’t realise there are jobs in the banking sector which involve working solely with agri-business clients,” Young Farmers school engagement manager Mary Blain said.

Speakers included a banker, vet, viticulturist, a technical field representative and the sustainability manager for a large dairy farming business.

The group visited Bostock NZ’s organic apple orchard and the Mr Apple pack house.

“Going inside the apple pack house where the fruit was graded and sorted

was an eye-opening experience,” Greville said.

“It was a huge, highly-automated operation involving lots of technology and science.”

Greville was one of four Hawke’s Bay students on the course. She was joined by Kaylee Hutchinson, Annabel Bowen and Emma Dunderdale.

“The pack house was fascinating and not what I was expecting. Each apple is photographed by high-tech machinery to check for bruising.”

Mr Apple’s pack house is fitted with multi-million-dollar sorting equipment and an automatic defect grader.

The technology takes 240 photos of every apple in a split second to assess its external and internal quality.

It means the machine snaps about 640,000 photos of apples a minute, stopping defect fruit from being exported.

“The field trip opened my mind to the wide variety of jobs in the horticulture sector, which I was previously unaware of,” Dunderdale said.

The 16-year-old lives on a sheep farm at Onga Onga and chairs the Central Hawke’s Bay College TeenAg club.

The year 12 student is considering studying agricultural science or veterinary technology at Massey University.

“I like animals and science.

“I think studying agricultural science will keep my options open to a larger number of job opportunities once I’ve graduated,” she said.

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RUBBISH: Canterbury Wool Scour production co-ordinator Struan Hulme with some of the items found in wool bales.

It is hard to see how so many wool press-bars end up in the sacks.

Bruce Abbott Wool Classers Assn awareness among farmers of the financial impacts of contaminants.

But the South Island incidence is still a problem.

It is hard to see how so many wool press-bars end up in the sacks, Abbott said.

Stock feed bags, clothing, boots and gumboots, car keys, twine and strapping, wooden pallets, drench guns, cell phones, live ammunition, jugs, and a toilet brush were among other items found.

A problem area is fadges – the part-bales and other pieces of wool waiting for packing into full bales. When left lying round other objects are thrown in with it, Abbott said. The fadge should easily be collected, bagged and

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sealed so nothing else gets in.

“It should be a small job.”

He urged farmers to also ensure they put a rubbish bin in the shearing shed.

The report said there are potentially significant costs to the industry beyond the direct costs of damage to scour machinery and the wool.

With a quarter of the clip being exported greasy, contamination is exported as well, which affects the reputation of NZ wool.

Abbott urged farmers and harvest staff to work together to: • Remove clothing and towels from the wool room or where wool is likely to be stacked; • Remove water bottles and drink containers; • Secure personal items and other stuff in a zipped pocket or bag; • Use only paper as a division in bales where the likes of necks and bellies need to be separated and; • Find press-bars and pins straight away if they’re missing, before doing the next bale.

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14 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

News

Large farms have more eco options Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz

FILTER: Wetlands capture nutrients and provide farm buffers.

HARDER hill country farms have more options for increasing productivity and eco-efficiency than easy hill country farms, AgResearch scientist Alec Mackay says.

Farmers on extensive sheep and beef farms on hard hill country can continue to make production and eco-efficiency gains by increasing

the reproductive performance of ewes and lamb weaning and growth rates, he told the Animal Production Society’s annual conference.

They can shift from breeding cows and older cattle to buying and finishing younger cattle.

However, though there are also options to make further production and eco-efficiency gains in more intensive livestock systems there is less scope to reduce their environmental footprint.

Mackay, who co-wrote a paper with fellow scientists David Scobie and Brian Devantier and agricultural consultant Tim Rhodes, on whether progress has been made in increasing the ecoefficiency of livestock systems, said changes in sheep performance and the shift in cattle policy both represent efficiency gains, with more forage eaten by young, growing animals and fewer lighter animals wintered.

To advance the change to a cattle policy focused on buying and finishing younger cattle on harder country will require expansion of dairy calf-rearing infrastructure and buy-in from meat processors.

The research found reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are small across farming systems compared to improvements in nitrate leaching and phosphorus loss, highlighting the lack of practical options to reduce emissions to air compared to water.

A Productivity Commission report last year suggesting large tracts of hill country be planted in trees to balance livestock gas emissions is a poorly informed approach because it offers only a shortterm offset, the paper said.

Instead, policy should encourage the development of long-term, integrated approaches to land management.

It gave the example of a wetland on a Wairarapa dairy farm to cleanse water leaving the property, which has the potential to reduce nitrate loss, capture phosphate, sediment and microbial contaminants in run-off and accumulate carbon while providing habitat for indigenous aquatic life that has become endangered because of widespread drainage of wetlands.

Returning wetland tree species like kahikatea will accumulate carbon through increased sequestration and add to the indigenous biodiversity in a similar manner to that achieved through remaining vegetation on sheep and beef farms.

Nutrients captured in a manufactured wetland can also be salvaged and returned to farmland as a buffer at the bottom of farmlands to mitigate more than just carbon.

More importantly, each sector will shoulder the environmental cost of its business.

The research also noted in areas where crops like forage brassica, fodder beet or maize silage are grown for animals it might be more profitable to grow vegetables for human consumption. Large areas might revert to growing grain crops where intensive livestock farming has recently been more profitable.

However, a large proportion of the area farmed with sheep and beef is not suitable for cultivated crops and animal-based production will likely prevail on areas not converted to forestry or regenerating native bush. That production might tend towards other species such as goats or deer, depending on relative product values.

Mackay said that in the process of addressing outstanding environmental and animal welfare challenges, pasture area will decline, limiting production gains.

On the upside, in addressing outstanding sustainable land management practices, the potential exists to offset more than 20% of livestock greenhouse gas emissions on the hard hill country farming system beyond that already offset by woody vegetation on those farms.

A greenhouse gas budget for sheep and beef farms needs to include carbon sequestered by vegetation to obtain a complete picture.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

15

Hort fund stutters but starts Tim Fulton timfulton050@gmail.com

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THE Kakariki Fund has missed a $100m investment target but can still get cracking in apples, kiwifruit, hops and manuka.

The fund, controlled by the syndicated investment group operating MyFarm and its parent company, AgInvest Holdings, originally sought $100m for investment in orchards, vineyards and farms.

MyFarm chief executive Andrew Watters said it wanted to raise $40m-$100m. It raised $30m from 170 investors at the deadline for a 25% deposit on investment on June 26.

The capital raise was “little bit lower than expected at the outset but will allow the investment fund to progress several investments.

The fund is seeking approval to proceed with four initial assets – Rockit apples, kiwifruit, hops and manuka honey.

“We would have liked to have raised more but we are really happy with our investor response with a high degree of repeat investment,” Watters said.

“The assets we have assembled are also high quality.

“This will be the first diversified horticultural investment and there are plenty of examples of investments which have started small and have grown successfully.”

Rural Funds from Australia is an example.

The Kakariki properties are to be co-managed by horticulture processors and exporters including apple growers Rockit Global and Freshmax, Sacred Hill wines, craft beer hop grower Hop Revolution, manuka honey producer Comvita and kiwifruit grower and packer DMS Progrowers.

Some of those businesses are competitors to Kakariki for property, markets and

experienced staff but links to them are also valuable to Kakariki as it enters fast-growing, emerging industries where intellectual property is golden.

At launch Kakariki said it will target annual investment returns of 10%, made up of earnings from the sale of crops through the partners and any increases in land values.

The fund will benefit from exposure to all ventures in the portfolio, reducing the risks that come with investing in a business in a single geographic location and focused on a single crop.

Kakariki’s initial call of 25 cents in each $1 invested aims to buy four initial assets: • An 11 canopy-hectare SunGold kiwifruit orchard in Bay of Plenty; • A 50% share in a large-scale, 130 canopy hectare hop garden in Nelson; • 35 canopy hectares of Rockit apples in Hawke’s Bay and; • A 2000ha manuka plantation.

Watters said it will keep accepting applications until August 9.

Kakariki is a departure from MyFarm’s established syndications, which allow individual investors to pool their resources. MyFarm has raised $165m for syndicated investment into 18 orchard, vineyard, hop garden and manuka plantation businesses since 2015.

In partnership with MyFarm industry newcomer Hop Revolution is planting 116ha at its Tapawera hop garden and expects its first harvest in March 2020.

Hop Revolution will be responsible for breeding, managing plant variety rights and marketing hops directly to craft brewers. It has bought new harvesting equipment and kilns in preparation for the investments.

MyFarm describes Tapawera as a growth story of controlled supply through plant variety

GOING PUBLIC: MyFarm plans to list its diversified investment fund on the NZX within three years, chief executive Andrew Watters says.

rights, a customer-focused approach to breeding and production and niche marketing to build a premium global brand.

Cash returns are forecast to start in 2021 rising to 15% a year in 2023. The total capital raise was $17.64m including a $3m share in Hop Revolution. The minimum investment was $100,000.

Watters said 80-90 of the Kakarirki investors already have some type of exposure to MyFarm’s agriculture or horticulture investments. Just over 20% of the investment came from Auckland, 18% from Bay of Plenty and 15% from Wellington.

A plan to list the fund on NZX within three years remains intact, Watters said.

Conflict is no problem AT A recent Kakariki Fund investor roadshow MyFarm sales head Grant Payton said prospective investors had asked Kakariki how it would handle conflict of interest.

A director, former Zespri chairman John Loughlin, is also a director of Rockit, Hop Revolution and packing firm EastPak. Another high-profile Kakariki director is former Horticulture NZ chairman Julian Raine, a director of NZ Hops, the industry’s grower-owned cooperative and a competitor to Hop Revolution.

Payton invited Loughlin to explain his approach.

“Basically, the way I handle

conflict of interest is when I’m conflicted and when others are conflicted, the conflicted person gives their point of view and then must leave the room and not participate in the discussion,” Loughlin said.

“Over the years I’ve had some really interesting insights from conflicted people who have participated in the decision.”

The agribusiness veteran is comfortable Raine can add valuable insight from the point of view of an industry competitor.

“By having both views the directors are well-placed to weigh that information to make an objective call,” Loughlin said.

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News

16 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Stinginess upsets plant breeders THE Government has been accused of leaving plant breeders short when it comes to addressing Treaty of Waitangi issues around plant variety rights.

Policy makers are in the process of seeking breeder input on the revised Plant Variety Act to better protect breeders and their seed and germplasm.

Maximum fines are only $1000 and offer little disincentive to the theft of plant intellectual property.

Also included in the act’s review is a need for the Government to ratify UPOV91, an international plant variety standard to ensure New Zealand falls into line with its trading partners in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership.

The standard ensures far tougher penalties and protection for plant breeders’ rights than offered under NZ law. It also requires NZ to ratify Treaty of Waitangi obligations relating to flora and fauna, known as the Wai 262 claim.

The claim seeks to give iwi protection of intellectual property rights to native plants and animals.

Tauranga germplasm import consultant and facilitator Andy Warren said the Government has been leaning hard on the expertise of industry players like himself to advise iwi and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment policy makers.

His company oversees the importation of high-value crop germplasm for the likes of apple and summer fruit companies.

“And in doing so the Government is expecting us to

travel to Wellington without any charge for our travel or time on an issue that is vitally important not only to us but to iwi as well,” he said.

Warren says MBIE staff told him iwi were paid to attend a critical meeting but he and his peers would not be paid on grounds they were already rich enough.

He was scathing of what he describes as a dual standard.

“And in conversation with iwi, they are as surprised as us we are not being compensated.

“They have said they want us around the table, given the level of knowledge we have that is needed to get this over the line.”

Northland iwi member Rio Greening, who has been closely involved in plant variety protection discussions, said iwi welcome having the expertise of long-time experts like Warren.

“We value their expertise in helping us understand the industry.

“We are all part of the solution and need to work together. It would help if the Government contributed to them being there.”

The changes to the act to incorporate Wai 262 are going to affect species that are sold for both food production, such as manuka, and for ornamental purposes, such as pohutukawa.

But Warren said with growing iwi investment in horticulture Maori also stand to benefit from seeing UPOV91 ratified to protect any modern crop hybrids they might want to commercialise.

A written response from MBIE said the agency paid for flights of all attending an earlier hui in April, held to discuss options for the act.

And in doing so the Government is expecting us to travel to Wellington without any charge for our travel or time on an issue that is vitally important not only to us but to iwi as well.

Andy Warren Bloomz NZ The industry’s final options paper was launched this month on the act’s reforms.

A hui in August to discuss Treaty and UPOV91 options will have funding available to assist only Maori organisations and individuals for travel.

Grain and Seed Trade Association general manager Thomas Chin said the relevant chapter in the CPTPP has to be ratified by December 2021.

“While this may seem some time away, we will have an election come along before then that will delay the entire process and the act will have to pass through consultation and select committee before being passed by Parliament.

“The Government really needs to move now on this.”

The Treaty issue is a gnarly one for the Government to face, given the implications it has for other natural resource claims, the most predominant being water.

“And it’s because of this that governments have dragged their feet for almost 20 years.

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SHORT CHANGED: Bay of Plenty plant importer Andy Warren maintains the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is seeking expertise but is not prepared to pay for it.

“However, with the CPTPP there, they cannot wriggle their way out of this unless they want to incur the wrath of their trade partners.”

NZ’s plant variety laws are already archaic compared to all its trading partners, with this country one of few that has not subscribed to the latest iteration of the standard.

Warren said for some species the time that has taken to resolve is almost too long.

“If you look at manuka, that’s

virtually gone. It’s been crossed and gone offshore too.

“Overall, indigenous plant variety rights are small. They form less than 10% of the total market and are not the main focus of the act but they are important to iwi to be accounted for.

“MBIE have found it hard to get industry on board about this.

It does not affect many but for 15 years it’s been the elephant in the room and we want to sit down with iwi on it but we expect to be compensated for our time.”

Website gives emissions advice

It’s Island Time...

A NEW website aims to equip farmers and rural professionals with the knowledge they need to assess and manage on-farm emissions.

The website, www. farmingmatters.co.nz, has been created by the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre.

Director Dr Harry Clark, who is also a member of the Interim Climate Change Committee, said the website’s launch is timely in light of the Government’s signal it will implement farmlevel accounting and pricing of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.

Initially, the site focuses on methane but will soon expand to include information on nitrous oxide and strategies for adapting to climate change.

Methane belched out by ruminant livestock such as cows and sheep is a problem for New Zealand, Clark said.

“While methane breaks down in the atmosphere a lot faster than other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, every tonne emitted is 28-34 times more effective at trapping heat than a tonne of carbon dioxide

98614 150 x 110 (15x3) 07/19

Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz

over the first 100 years after an emission occurs.

Researchers here and overseas are investigating a number of technologies that might help reduce livestock methane emissions.

They include breeding for lowemitting sheep and cattle and developing methane vaccines and inhibitors.

The new website will keep farmers up to date with the latest scientific advances but until those technologies become available Clark encourages farmers wanting to cut emissions to keep looking for small improvements across their operation though not all farms have the same potential to reduce emissions.

“Some farmers have already done what they can.

“Others are limited by their unique climate, topography, markets and infrastructure.

“But there are a number of steps they might like to consider and every small step is a step in the right direction.”

They can include getting more production from pasture to reduce reliance on imported

feeds, trying alternative forage crops, reducing animal numbers but increasing productivity per animal, achieving greater longevity in the breeding herd or flock and applying nitrogen fertiliser using precision technologies.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution and individual farmers are in the best position to work out how they might best be able to reduce their emissions without compromising profits – particularly as the framework for managing farm emissions takes effect.

“NZ’s emissions reduction targets and ongoing response to climate change will be the outcome of a range of complex interacting factors, not just science and technology.

“Our goal with Farming Matters is to ensure farmers have the information they need to weigh up their options and take steps towards reducing farm-level greenhouse gas emissions.”

MORE: CLIMATE CHANGE EXPLAINED P19

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

19

Revolution changed the climate In the first in a series of four articles about climate change and agriculture in New Zealand Dr Harry Clark of the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre lifts the lid on the origins and science of climate change, explaining how human activities are dramatically increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases and triggering major environmental changes. limit the warming to just 1.5C. So, what are the main greenhouse gases, where do they come from, what effects do they have and how much have they increased since pre-industrial times?

There are seven recognised greenhouse gases.

Three of them account for most of NZ’s emissions. They are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

In NZ carbon dioxide is released from the use of fossil fuels.

Our methane and nitrous oxide emissions come mainly from agriculture and are described as biological gases because they’re by-products of microbial processes.

Globally, all these gases exist at extremely low concentrations in the atmosphere.

For example, carbon dioxide is about 400 parts per million (ppm) and methane is less than 2ppm.

The problem is they’re highly effective at trapping heat and their concentrations are increasing rapidly.

Carbon dioxide has increased by about 46% since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

In the 10,000 years prior, its concentration was less than 300ppm. We know this from ice core measurements. Most of the increase is from burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

Carbon dioxide is a big problem because every emission stays in the atmosphere for many centuries and the warming continues for millennia.

Carbon dioxide is the dominant greenhouse gas from human activities driving climate change.

Methane has more than

PROBLEM: Carbon dioxide and methane are highly effective at trapping heat and their concentrations are increasing rapidly, Dr Harry Clark says.

The implications for our natural world and for humanity are significant.

doubled in the same period from less than 1ppm to nearly 2 ppm now.

Globally, methane is the second most important greenhouse gas contributing to the observed increase in global temperatures.

Not all of the increase is from agriculture. Fossil fuel exploration and extraction also release methane.

While methane is present in much lower concentrations than carbon dioxide every tonne emitted traps heat 28-34 times more effectively when considered over a 100-year timeframe.

On average, methane lasts in the atmosphere for about 12 years, but its warming effect continues at a low rate for centuries.

Nitrous oxide is a tiny component of the atmosphere – less than one-thousandth as abundant as carbon dioxide – but every tonne emitted is 298 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 100year timeframe.

Nitrous oxide has increased about 16% since pre-industrial times from the burning of fossil fuels and wood, increased use of nitrogen fertilisers and increasing amounts of animal manure.

It lasts in the atmosphere for over a century and the warming it causes continues for several centuries.

Scientists around the world are working hard to find ways

Carbon dioxide

Source

Burning of forests and fossil fuel

Portion of NZ emissions

Longevity

44%

Centuries

Effect in atmosphere Traps heat

Nitrous oxide

Information and video at www. farmingmatters.nz/farming-matters/ what-is-climate-change/

JOBS BOARD 2IC Agribusiness Agronomy Farm Manager

Fossil fuel exploration and extraction Methane

MORE:

farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz

Gases at a glance Gas

of reducing emissions of all greenhouse gases. Most of the global effort is centred on carbon dioxide.

In NZ, an agriculturedominated economy, a large research effort is focused on reducing methane and nitrous oxide from livestock farming operations.

The challenge is to find ways of reducing emissions without compromising the viability of individual farming businesses or adversely affecting the national economy.

In the next issue I’ll take a closer look at methane – probably the most misunderstood of NZ’s three major greenhouse gases.

Livestock Specialist Manager

Ruminant livestock (cows, sheep and deer)

42.8%

Nitrogenous fertiliser manufacture and increased animal manure

12%

12 years

100 years

Traps heat 2834 times more effectively than carbon dioxide Traps heat 298 times more effectively than carbon dioxide

Operations Manager Shepherd / General Stock Manager Technical Sales Representative *FREE upload to Farmers Weekly jobs: farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz *conditions apply

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

LK0096815©

A

BOUT 250 years ago a revolution began in Europe that would drastically alter the lives and lifestyles of millions, eventually billions, of people worldwide.

Clever industrialists discovered that by extracting and burning fossil fuels like coal and oil they could power machines capable of producing goods and food on an unprecedented scale.

Soon they discovered the same fuels could drive vehicles of previously unimaginable might, carrying their goods to market faster and in larger quantities than ever before.

Fortunes were made.

The population exploded.

Forests made way for towns, roads and railways and farms to feed the hungry masses.

Little did those pioneering industrialists know their revolution would reverberate in a very different way centuries later.

The unconstrained burning of fossil fuels and rapid deforestation that characterise the industrial era have significantly disrupted the cycles of elements like carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, which are found naturally in the earth and atmosphere. Atmospheric concentrations of some of these elements in their gaseous form – named greenhouse gases or GHGs – have increased rapidly, causing the atmosphere to warm up and our climate to change.

Average and extreme temperatures around the planet are rising, resulting in reduced snow cover, melting glaciers, extended growing seasons and shifting rainfall patterns.

At the same time the oceans are warming, causing water volume to expand and sea levels to rise.

The implications for our natural world and for humanity are significant.

Changes to the climate have occurred naturally before.

They’ve triggered massive environmental changes.

The last time the polar regions of Earth were at least 2C warmer than now for an extended period was about 125,000 years ago when sea levels were about six metres higher than today.

That’s how we know the impacts of human-induced climate change are likely to be very serious.

And greenhouse gases haven’t been as high as they are now for at least 800,000 years, possibly even several million years.

In response, 185 countries including New Zealand have signed an agreement that commits them to setting emissions-reduction targets.

The goal is to keep the global temperature increase to well below 2C and pursue efforts to

News

20 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Families enjoy a day at races Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz NOT only the horses came out winners at the Ashburton Trotting Club’s midwinter race meeting.

Farming families from all over Canterbury turned out by the hundreds, leaving farming stresses at home and enjoying a family day out.

Organised by the Farming Families Day at the Races Trust in conjunction with the Mid Canterbury Rural Support Trust and the Ashburton business community the day toted up more than 500 visitors through the gates.

“It was quite simply a winner all round and we thank the Ashburton Trotting Club and raceway for donating the facilities and allowing us to run this farming family day out as part of their race day,” co-organiser and event emcee Craig Wiggins said.

“We have had amazing feedback about how great the day was from the farming families that came along as well as the sponsors of the day.

“It’s just been such a good success, a winner through and through,” Wiggins said.

The day is designed to allow the rural

community a day off the farm in a fun and relaxed setting where they can socialise with like-minded people.

It included fun activities for children, food, and a variety of family entertainment including a fashion in the field competition, sulky races and spot prizes for losing tote ticket holders.

“A lot of these people have been doing it pretty tough with any number of farming challenges including Mycoplasma bovis and to see the smiles on their faces is fantastic.

“We figure that this is the future of rural wellbeing,” Wiggins said.

StayWell, doing blood pressure, heart and cholesterol checks, was kept busy with a number of people told to follow up with their doctor.

“To run events like this will do more to fix rural mental health than talk fests,” Wiggins said.

Any overflow of funds from the day will be spent in the rural community.

“If the trustees of the Farming Families Day at the Races can support any farmer in any way, shape or form we look forward to doing that with any overflow from the day,” Wiggins said.

FLUTTER: Farming families enjoyed a flutter and other entertainment at their day at the races.

DRESSED TO IMPRESS: Winner of the male section of Fashion in Field, Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury dairy chairman Chris Ford, right, left the stresses of the job at home and enjoyed a family day at the races with his daughters Leah and Tayla and friend Brady Hughes. Photos: Annette Scott

HURRAY: The McLeod Family eagerly awaits a winner on the track at the farming families day at the races.

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News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

21

Co-op status limits finance options FONTERRA is limiting its financial options by remaining a co-operative, Milford Asset Management director Brian Gaynor says.

Co-operatives are an ideal structure to raise capital to establish processing businesses such as dairy companies but a hinderance when future capital injections are needed. They, therefore, have a greater reliance on bank borrowing because they seldom get funds from shareholders, potentially starving them of capital.

Bank debt leading to other financial issues plagued Westland Milk and resulted in its sale to Chinese company Yili.

Fonterra owes more than $7 billion and faces similar challenges of debt and accessing capital from its members, with claims shareholders want the maximum milk price, which can limit reinvestment.

“Outsiders see this as a flaw in

?

Fonterra’s

future

the co-operative model,” he says.

While co-operatives are important to the economy, their tight shareholding structure limits investment from other funders.

“In the modern world the cooperatives all handcuff themselves.

They have limited options.”

That means Fonterra now relies on asset sales to strengthen its balance sheet rather than retaining earnings or seeking an equity investment from a cornerstone shareholder while meeting the financial expectations of shareholders.

Gaynor says that contrasts with the publicly listed a2 Milk Company, which is yet to pay a dividend despite being profitable and growing market capitalisation to nearly $12 billion.

Fonterra is New Zealand’s most important company and must

stay viable but its ownership structure can change, as happened to several of Ireland’s dairy companies where the ownership model has evolved from being dominated by co-operatives to members becoming shareholders in those companies, some publicly listed, but which allow easier access to capital.

Kerry Group has split its structure so Kerry Co-operative Creameries owns a cornerstone shareholding in the publicly traded company, with the balance of investors being institutions and the public.

Carbery Group is an international food ingredients and cheese maker owned by four Irish co-operatives with its dairy division processing milk on behalf of farmer shareholders.

Gaynor says though it is costly and requires significant resources, value add is the correct strategy for Fonterra, unlike buying stakes in Chinese companies.

Westland made the wrong move building a processing plant in Canterbury under the nose

SPEND WISELY: Fonterra should invest the money from asset sales into big, valueadd projects rather than repaying debt, financial adviser Brian Gaynor says.

In the modern world the co-operatives all handcuff themselves.

They have limited options.

Brian Gaynor

Milford Asset Management of Fonterra. The Westland plant does not operate to capacity and requires milk to be carted from the West Coast.

Co-op’s problems run deep

?

Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz FONTERRA’S problems run deeper than debt and profitability, Lincoln University’s agri-food systems expert Professor Keith Woodford says.

May’s 10c/kg drop in the milk price, early forecasts next year’s payout will be less than $7/kg and a drop in the underlying forecast profit of 10c to 15c a share, the second decline this year, have captured the headlines.

“So, things are not going at all well. Can the big ship be turned around and if so, when?”

Those deeper issues start with this year’s forecast operating profit before asset sales of about $200 million.

In September last year the operating profit was $480m.

He believes Fonterra is caught between looking after its corporate needs and looking after its farmer shareholders who, facing new banking guidelines, are under cashflow pressure.

Woodford notes Fonterra goes into the new international dairy trade season with fundamentals the strongest for six years, with static production in Europe and the United States and declining output in Australia.

The only question is global demand, especially in China.

Fonterra’s performance has

Fonterra’s

future

LOW: Fonterra’s share price says its shareholders are uncertain about its future, Professor Keith Woodford says.

Can the big ship be turned around and if so, when?

Professor Keith Woodford Lincoln University attracted the attention of Fitch Ratings.

In February Fitch downgraded Fonterra’s outlook to negative after its

half year results, reflecting what it saw as structural issues that weaken the defensive traits underpinning its historically strong business profile.

It said assets sales are crucial for Fonterra to retain its A-negative rating though the negative outlook and lower earnings forecast will not immediately affect its rating, the agency advised.

Woodford says Fonterra’s asset sales prompted by last financial year’s $196 million loss largely on the

back of asset write downs and burgeoning interestbearing debt show nonfarmer investors any financial turnaround is a long-term game.

They are also wary other assets are not selling as easily as Tip Top, which fetched $380m.

Fonterra’s stake in German nutritional business Goodminton AG sold for $64m while the sale of its share in Corporacion Inlaca in Venezuela recorded a book loss of $123m.

Similarly, the closure of the Dennington plant in Victoria, Australia, and the agreement with Beingmate to end a joint venture at the Darnum site, also in Victoria, will require funding.

Fonterra has agreed with Nestle to look at options on the future of Dairy Partners Americas Brazil and has launched a strategic review of its China farms.

Fonterra says it is on target to meet its $800m in asset sales but shareholders are uncertain, evidenced by the share value.

“That tells us something about what the market thinks is happening to Fonterra’s net assets,” Woodford says.

“Value add is still the way to go but doing it the right way is the key.”

Selling assets like Tip Top will not be a setback for Fonterra provided it invests the proceeds correctly.

Gaynor would rather see the money invested in its new strategy than repaying debt.

“If it is being used to repay debt because the banks are telling them to, then that is not great.

“If they are doing it to put the money into capital, big valueadded products then it could be good for them.”

agrievents Tuesday 30/07/2019 Women’s Enviro Evening – Connecting, Inspiring and Empowering Speakers: Penny Clark-Hall, Kate Scott, Sinead Leahy and Janet Gregory Time: 6.30-9.30pm Venue: Clinton Town Hall, Clinton Free event – Supper – Raffles – Cash bar RSVP: By Friday 26 July to Libby, Clutha Development libby@cluthanz.com AWDT Understanding Your Farming Business 3 full-day workshops and an evening graduation ceremony run over four months. Equips and supports women involved in sheep and beef farming to lift business performance.

Registrations for 2019 programmes are now open, visit the website for more information and to register.

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Phone 0800 85 25 80 or email adcopy@globalhq.co.nz

LK0096008©

Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz

Newsmaker

22 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Grice winds down now he’s 93 At 93 Ashburton farmer Keith Grice has decided it’s time to hang up his hat on sheep farming but the true dinkum landlubber is not ready yet to leave his land. He talked to Annette Scott about his 70 years as a sheep farmer.

W

HEN the trucks rolled out from Keith Grice’s sheep yards, loaded with his capital stock ewes bound for the annual in-lamb ewe fair at Temuka on July 10, they marked the end of a very long era.

After 70 years farming sheep and at the ripe old age of 93 Grice has decided it’s time to put away his shepherd’s crook.

Finishing on the land where he started he said it’s been passion and freedom that have kept him going.

“Farming’s in my blood. You are your own master.

“I have loved every year of it but at my age now it is getting harder.

“My eyes and my ears aren’t as good as they used to be, I’ve got a new knee joint and a new hip joint – getting around the farm and the sheep is a lot harder for me these days.”

But it’s only in the past six years he has had to employ help for the day-to-day work.

“I’ve been lucky. It’s been a great partnership, married to Betty for 64 years and she’s worked too, offfarm as a mental health nurse, so we have just got on and done what we have to to keep on top of it all.

“There’s been no highlights.

“It’s been one long, happy journey.”

Grice grew up on the family farm at Pendarves in Ashburton District.

He and younger brother Bevan took over their father’s 388-hectare farm in 1951, farming in partnership on the land their

father bought in 1906.

Fifteen years into the partnership the brothers decided it was time to branch out into their own businesses.

They split the land evenly and Grice progressively bought land to build his own farming business, getting up to 404 hectares at its peak.

“I’ve bought a lot and sold a bit along the way and here now I’m finishing up on about 500 acres(202ha).”

Grice puts his success down to buying only what he could afford, paying as he went.

In his 70 years farming he has never had a mortgage.

“When we split into two the farm was still in a LIP (government) lease from when my father got the land.

“I decided I wanted to freehold immediately and got the right to do that for the cost of two years lease rental. I was one of the first in the country to freehold government lease land.

“It cost me 60 pounds.

“And I have a bit of advice here for the young fellas farming these days – never over-spend and only buy something, whether it’s land or gear, if you have the money to pay for it.

“If you farm every year as a crisis year then you’ll keep your head above water, otherwise you will end up in shit street.

“Some of them listen but most of them don’t.”

Over the years Grice has juggled the breed and genetics of his ewe flock, in the peak years averaging about 2500 ewes.

SAD DAY: Standing before his breeding ewe flock in the sheep yards for the last time marks the end of long, happy journey for 93-year-old sheep farming veteran Keith Grice and his wife Betty.

Photos: Annette Scott

“But while I’ve had some good sheep over the years I would say these sheep I am finishing up with and selling today (Romney and Romney-Texel crosses) are the best sheep I’ve had in my 70 years.

“I hardly had to lamb a ewe last year and that was fortunate as I can’t catch too many these days.”

His right-hand farming mate, dog Nigel, also feeling the bite of his elderly age in his work with the sheep these days, will agree, Grice said.

“Old Nigel, he’s been a great mate and a great worker, he’s a

GREAT MATES: Keith Grice with is great mate and worker Nigel, who he says is a bit like himself – still trying his best but he’s seen better days when it comes to farm work.

bit like me, he still tries his best but he’s seen better days when it comes to farm work.”

Wool has been the biggest challenge.

“I went for the meat in the end.

We have been fighting for survival in wool since the 1950s.

“We spent thousands of dollars on wool and it’s worth less now than it’s ever been.”

Over the years Grice has farmed his land single-handed, just getting in the contractors for shearing, tailing, more recently ploughing and six years ago employing a shepherd to help with the sheep work.

“In the early days when we were refencing the farm with crowbar and shovel we could put money in the bank.”

They were also the days when Grice was ploughing an acre an hour with a three-furrow plough and a 23hp tractor.

“Twenty-five acres was a very large size paddock back then. Now 50 acres is a small paddock.”

A great believer in lucerne to get stock through the drier times, he’s never been a fan of irrigation.

“I’m too bloody old for that now.”

But that will change as his son Robert takes over the farm.

“He doesn’t want the sheep. He’s putting in irrigation and going for cropping.”

Farming for Keith has not been about having the flashest gear and being the flashest man in the district. It’s been about passion, loving what you do and putting money in the bank.

The only sheep farm surrounded these days by dairying and a spot of cropping, he acknowledges economics and politics have made modern farming tough.

“I do wonder how younger farmers these days enjoy what

they do when it’s full of stress and debt.”

Farming needs to be coupled with a good hobby, he said.

“You must have a hobby but the farm must take priority.”

Passionate about standard bred horses and partners in the racing hobby, the Grice brothers have had their share of successes over the years, being proud owners of several notable breeding mares and their progeny.

There’s been no highlights. It’s been one long, happy journey.

Keith Grice Farmer “If the hobby can prop up the farm then all the better. We haven’t had to sell the horses to do that.”

And the retiring sheep farmer has no plan to let his horses go.

He’s keeping 40 hectares and he’s not moving from the farm, staying put in the house where he’s spent most of his farming life and where he plans to spend his retirement with Betty.

“It will be about our time together now, not about putting money in the bank.

“It’s sad to see the sheep go, it’s a good life – hard work at times but it has its rewards.”

Grice has no desire to wander the streets in town looking like an old ewe with sleepy sickness.

“I still have the horses and I’ll still fatten a few beef cattle and one thing for sure is I’m not moving from here.

“You can come back and visit me right here when I’m 100.”

New thinking

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

23

New strategy to boost agri-tech A joined-up approach to an agri-tech strategy has got a positive reaction for its emphasis on collaboration rather than regulation. Now agri-business leaders hope it will ease the path from good idea to commercialisation. Richard Rennie reports.

A

NEW strategy to kick-start the agri-tech sector has been welcomed by industry leaders for its positive support of farmers feeling increasingly under the pump from regulation and compliance demands.

The agri-tech industry transformation plan aims to unblock some of the bugbears in the sector around funding, fragmented government departments and skills development.

It was the final act by David Parker as economic development minister before handing the portfolio to Phil Twyford in a Cabinet reshuffle.

In contrast to his tumultuous relationship with the farming sector over policies as environment minister, Parker’s initiative has been met with a positive response from industry.

Ravensdown chief executive Greg Campbell welcomed the Government’s positive commitment to the sector with the initiative, rather than seeing another set of regulations for farmers to comply with.

“Anything that creates a culture of greater collaboration is very welcome.

“There is a strong recognition that agri-tech is one of the bright lights of agriculture’s future here and anything that sustainably boosts productivity is great.”

He also welcomed any moves that help grease the rails to getting good ideas, something NZ is not short of, commercialised.

“We have this chasm to commercialisation as one of the hardest issues.

“Every 10 ideas you may get one commercialised. We need to be open to this idea of failing fast. You will still learn from it.”

The strategy highlights some of the key bottlenecks to the $1.5 billion worth of agri-tech exports advancing further, having plateaued in growth over recent years.

Report authors describe the figure as static and relatively unimpressive considering the primary sector’s strength while investment in agri-tech globally has increased by 52% a year for five years to 2018.

One of those road blocks to growth has been NZ’s pastoral systems differing so much from most farming systems globally, meaning tech developed here is not always relevant on a world stage.

A level of complacency generated by a belief NZ is already ahead of the game in agri-tech has also slowed uptake while trade competitors all have clear strategies in place to accelerate farmer uptake.

The initiative intends to streamline Government support, which is fragmented.

Smoothing companies’ access to the Government will mean six different agencies are working together, among them the Primary Industries and Business, Innovation and Employment Ministries and Trade and Enterprise.

TECHY: Ravensdown chief executive Greg Campbell welcomes moves to boost agri-tech development in New Zealand.

One of the strengths identified in NZ is the openness of farmers to try and experiment with new technology.

Campbell says Ravensdown’s awardwinning ClearTech effluent purifying technology has had an enthusiastic reception from farmers who can see the benefits of using significantly less water and generating less effluent from washdown when hosing their dairy sheds.

“The feedback we are getting now is very good and this sort of technology provides them with assurance they do not have a compliance issue.”

Agritech NZ executive director Peter Wren-Hilton said in contrast to a working group document, this initiative’s recommendations will be in place in months not years.

“Farmers and growers have seen a lot of regulation come in over the last 18 months or so.

“Now they want to see the Government help them with some of the challenges created by that regulation. This is the carrot, if you like, to that stick.”

Wren-Hilton welcomed the initiative’s intention to ramp up capital investment paths for the sector.

We have this chasm to commercialisation as one of the hardest issues. Every 10 ideas you may get one commercialised. We need to be open to this idea of failing fast.

You will still learn from it.

Greg Campbell Ravensdown A focus on early-stage capital to encourage development is also a key part of the strategy along with greater skills development to build talent in a sector that lacks a clear skills development path.

Financing agri-tech start-ups in NZ has long been problematic and constrained, he said.

“The timing is good in light of two other major announcements in the area.

At the National Fieldays agri-investment company Finistere Ventures said it was making funds available focused entirely on agri-tech in NZ. “Then we had the $300 million venture capital fund announced in the Budget and we are assured a portion of this will be going into agri-tech. Between these two announcements we see access to more funds than ever before for agri-tech.”

Wren-Hilton said skills shortages are the second main area to address under the initiative.

While NZ has good ideas generators the skill set to carry those ideas to commercialisation on a large scale is lacking.

“This is particularly the case when it comes to better understanding overseas markets.”

The agri-tech initiative will have workshops run nationally over coming weeks to seek feedback from key industry players on its recommendations.

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2019

Emptiness worries meat man $3.95

Incl GST

April 2019

Outlook is rosy those commodity prices will continue to stay up unless we coordinate and collaborate our sales N A global environment efforts. characterised by increasing “And farmers must still work uncertainty the primary hard to make sure they get a good sectors are continuing to profit.” deliver, Agriculture Minister Despite economic and political Damien O’Connor says. uncertainty affecting world Joined by 100 farmers and markets, New Zealand’s returns industry leaders at the National have remained solid and though Fieldays O’Connor launched there is continuing risk it is offset Outlook and Situation the latest to some extent by the weak report for Primary Industries dollar.

(SOPI) produced by MPI. “This export performance by sector the across “It’s great news NZ’s primary sector producers with headline figures showing is all the more impressive continued growth.” the weakening global considering risen Agricultural exports have economic environment and $7.5 billion in the last two years the high degree of uncertainty but returns are expected to soften creating tensions across his year before growing again, international markets,” MPI O’Connor said. director-general Ray Smith Export returns for primary said. produce in the year to June 30 are However, given the uncertain expected to be $45.7b. international backdrop The report also predicts a slight and despite strong export fall in the coming year before performance the downside risks returns start climbing again, to to the forecast are heightened reach $48.5b in 2023. over the next few years.

“Horticulture has continued Production and returns are to be the star performer with its the in expected to fall slightly in focus on the customer resulting next year before resuming its success,” O’Connor said. moderate momentum in the “The meat sector is solid and is medium term in meat, dairy and given way that continue to likely horticulture. the challenges in China with their Sustained Chinese and pork production. southeast Asian demand is aquaculture seeing “We’re also supporting strong prices and grow which is a real positive. the weak dollar is expected to “But farmers can’t assume

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Incl GST

Luke Chivers and Stephen Bell

I

than 7% this year to $45.6 billion, Agriculture revenue is expected to jump by more CHALLENGING: Primary industry export he attended with Prime Minister Jacinda leaders at the National Fieldays when Minister Damien O’Connor told industry Ardern.

We are moving into challenging economic environments and trade is being kicked around like a football.

Damien O’Connor Agriculture Minister continue supporting export returns.

“Strength in prices supported by an increasing proportion of higher-value products is expected

to sustain growth in dairy export revenue despite constraints on milk production growth,” Smith said.

“NZ’s current run of export success over the past two years has occurred despite a rising sense of uncertainty in global markets.

“This is in part because the products we trade in haven’t been directly affected so are and in part because the NZ dollar has fallen over the past two years.

“However, these issues do provide an increasingly uncertain backdrop to the otherwise positive outlook.”

global economic growth expectations, rising protectionist sentiment and uncertainty caused

by Brexit, United States-China trade tensions and outbreaks of African swine fever.

But the bigger concern for NZ is their potential impact on consumer demand in Britain, America and China.

“We are moving into challenging economic environments and trade is being kicked around like a football,” O’Connor said.

“Our sector shouldn’t assume anything and will need to

Breeding top bulls for NZ

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Opinion

24 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

EDITORIAL

Government gets its gas tax right

I

T’S been a long time coming but agriculture will join the rest of the productive sector in paying for its greenhouse gas emissions. Last week the Government and farming leaders announced an interim processor tax will be introduced until 2025 when farm-specific taxes and rebates will be implemented.

The industry is on board with the farm-level monitoring but is balking at the processor tax. It’s come up with its own plan to address the emissions problem but indications are the Government won’t take up that plan. Of course, the Government’s plan has been condemned by both sides. Greenpeace called it laughable and some in the farming sector say it’s too onerous. That suggests it’s probably hit the right note overall.

It’s important agriculture addresses the cloud over the farm. While New Zealand’s emissions profile is skewed by our abundance of renewable power generation the optics – at a glance – don’t look good for farming. And the level of scrutiny is only going to increase.

Just last week the European Union appointed a new leader who campaigned on, among other things, introducing a carbon border tax that would add cost to those wanting to sell products into that bloc.

Of course it’s not all optics. We’re beginning to see the effects of the changing climate now and keeping that change as negligible as possible is vital to preserving our farming legacy. But it needs to be practicable. It’s no good to anyone if we reach a destination having left half an industry broken down at the side of the road while getting there.

For instance, farming has a 95% discount on its emissions now but will that survive the next election or the one after that? What happens if the price of carbon skyrockets? There’s a lot to think about but there are opportunities here as well. Every farmer should be working out how they can get a rebate or at least minimise their loss come 2025.

All farmers need is a framework that is fair and transparent. This is not a bad start.

Bryan Gibson

LETTERS

Spill is being investigated I WRITE in response to the opinion piece of Alan Emerson, which has aspects that are inaccurate and misleading to your readers.

Waikato Regional Council has a number of roles that it fulfils. Yes, as is appropriate and expected, we did work alongside Taupo District Council at the time of the recent and unfortunate discharge of sewage and sediment into Lake Taupo.

We were initially involved in the incident response, water sampling and providing advice to the public and water users. However, we also have regulatory responsibilities and I can confirm that incident is the subject of a formal investigation. These investigations are thorough and take some time to complete.

Your readers may be interested to know that this council is currently

investigating and taking enforcement action, in respect of environmental breaches across such varied industries as food processing, power generation, waste management, earthworks and farming.

There are 11 local councils within the Waikato region.

There are currently two of these councils facing prosecution for unauthorised discharges of wastewater into the environment.

I trust that this brings some balance to the article of July 17 enabling your readers to be more fairly informed.

Patrick Lynch Acting director – resource use Waikato Regional Council

Nasty crusade A MOST clever and potentially very nasty public relations crusade is being waged by the Australian-owned trading

banks against the Reserve Bank’s proposal to raise the capital requirements of the trading banks.

The banks predict they will be forced to raise lending rates to farmers. Estimates vary from 50-120 basis points.

That has unleashed a torrent of criticism from the farming community against the proposals of the RBNZ. We are told indebted farmers will be driven from the land, property prices will fall and chaos will reign.

Not only that but several banks have been quietly raising margins on farm loans, hinting that is a necessary reaction to the coming RBNZinitiated regulatory change.

And this is before the RBNZ has even made a decision on the subject.

It is time to recognise what is happening there. As we all know, banks are very

profitable businesses with large profit streams to protect.

The outrage towards the RBNZ and, on occasions, fear from the farming community suggests the Australian banks have won the first round by creating a wall of political indignation they hope will persuade the RBNZ to back off.

This shock, horror, doomsday rhetoric is being reported without analysis by far too many in the agriculture media.

We have in NZ some very good and financially literate business journalists along with economists in private practice and academia.

Let’s hear some objective analysis around the selfserving propaganda of wealthy Australian banks.

Graham Robertson Christchurch

Letterof theWeek EDITOR Bryan Gibson 06 323 1519 bryan.gibson@globalhq.co.nz EDITORIAL Stephen Bell 06 323 0769 editorial@globalhq.co.nz Neal Wallace 03 474 9240 neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz Colin Williscroft 06 323 1561 colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz Annette Scott 03 308 4001 annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz Hugh Stringleman 09 432 8594 hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz Alan Williams 03 359 3511 alan.williams@globalhq.co.nz Richard Rennie 07 552 6176 richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz Nigel Stirling 021 136 5570 nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com PUBLISHER Dean Williamson 027 323 9407 dean.williamson@globalhq.co.nz

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Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

25

Food producers of NZ unite Gord Stewart

A

DAIRY farmer friend told me “Just go to a cafe, look at the menu and what people are eating and you know things are changing.”

That was years ago. Change continues and the pace of change is accelerating.

The Craft Meat Co of Dunedin, for example, has 100% plantbased No-Meat Mince. Sunfed Meats offers Chicken Free Chicken Wild Meaty Chunks made from premium yellow pea protein – high protein, high iron, high zinc.

Air New Zealand has served Impossible Burgers to its business class travellers.

Green Vie’s dairy-free delight is mozzarella flavoured and free from dairy, gluten, soya, lactose and palm oil.

And there’s lots of mylk available now – almond, coconut, oat, rice and soy included.

Kiwi Quinoa grows high protein, Andean superfood quinoa on its Central Plateau farm, distributing it to stores throughout the country.

A new study by a global consultancy based on expert interviews predicts that 60% of the meat we eat by 2040 will either be grown in vats or replaced by plantbased products.

To increase production of plant protein, more chemical-dependent, monoculture cropping isn’t the answer.

Transformative change is needed on many agricultural fronts.

And if that’s not enough, I discovered recently another dairy farmer friend with 50 years on the land under his belt is now following a vegan diet. Things are, indeed, changing.

The most significant of dietary changes is a move away from animal products for reasons of personal health and care for the environment.

Red meat has long been known to increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancer. Newer research implicates animal protein of all sorts.

It’s now known we don’t need animal protein for a healthy diet.

In fact, a whole food, plantbased diet is arguably healthier.

Credible research and practical experience support this.

The impact of livestock farming on the environment ups the ante.

A study published last year in the journal, Science, thoroughly documents the effects. Five environmental indicators including land use, water quality and greenhouse gas emissions were examined.

The

Pulpit

Grass-fed beef, obviously of interest to us, is shown as responsible for higher environmental impact than a range of plant-based alternatives.

Similarly, the impact of producing milk is significant, with that of soy milk, or mylk if you like, modest by comparison.

So, how do we do things differently to protect a rapidly deteriorating planet and to meet changing consumer demand?

We can start with a change in mindset – by no longer considering ourselves dairy farmers or beef farmers or sheep farmers but as food producers.

This opens doors – to converting to or at least diversifying into the likes of kiwifruit, avocados, apples, berries, quinoa, hemp, almonds under certain circumstances, bananas and possibly other tropical fruits.

Climate, terrain and soil type will be among the factors farmers need to consider in weighing their options along with conversion costs and incentives and investment returns.

An open and flexible attitude will be important.

Dan and Jacqui Cottrell of Kiwi Quinoa were on to it when expanding beyond their traditional sheep operation.

Reflecting on their efforts with quinoa and the complementary and crucial role they feel livestock play in its production, Jacqui said “Every move is an experiment. It’s hugely rewarding to try something new.”

Hugh Rose, of Tallyman Bananas, agrees.

New Zealand imports about $140 million worth of bananas annually and he contends we should be producing more here at home.

He notes interest in the crop is growing in Northland, Bay of Plenty and down to Gisborne.

“It’s a great complement to dairying. Dairy effluent is high in nitrogen and phosphate, exactly what bananas love,” he says.

One commentator says “A more diversified pattern of land use would make for a more resilient, shock-resistant economy.”

It will make for more resilient and shock-resistant individual farmers, too. And a healthier planet.

But change will not be easy.

DIVERSIFY: Farmers must consider themselves as food producers and diversify into crops like fruit, berries, quinoa, hemp, almonds and bananas, Gord Stewart says.

To increase production of plant protein, more chemicaldependent, monoculture cropping isn’t the answer. Transformative change is needed on many agricultural fronts. Support for farmers keen to play their part will be crucial.

The climate is our biggest challenge – a crisis now because we have done so little for so long to address it.

We can help turn the tide by enacting a strong and appropriate Zero Carbon Bill.

National’s climate change

spokesman Todd Muller is asking us to push for less.

Our children and grandchildren will not thank us if we heed his call.

Pamu Farms chief executive Steven Carden summarises things nicely, saying we need to move on from traditional farming practices to a new, yet to be fully defined farming future.

He envisions a future for Pamu that should be embraced industry wide: One, he says, with more crops and trees in our soil and fewer hooves on it.

Who am I? Gord Stewart is a sustainability consultant with a background in environmental management and economics.

Your View Got a view on some aspect of farming you would like to get across?

The Pulpit offers readers the chance to have their say. farmers.weekly@globalhq.co.nz Phone 06 323 1519

Opinion

26 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Levy bodies must back their farmers Alternative View

Alan Emerson

I WAS surprised last Tuesday to hear Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Climate Change Minister James Shaw had launched a discussion document involving farmers and the Emissions Trading Scheme.

Like most farmers I do accept the climate is changing and everyone needs to do their bit.

I’d argue farmers do more than most.

Where I remain unconvinced is the science behind many of the decisions.

Will any of the myriad of socalled initiatives make one whit of difference?

With the agriculture into the ETS discussion document there is some good news, bad news and a bit of the believe it or not.

Submissions on the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee’s report close in a month.

On the good side I’m pleased the ministers are making an effort to find a consensus.

We’ve know methane will be treated differently from carbon

dioxide and we’re told farmers can mitigate their own emissions.

Those emissions will, from 2025, be assessed on-farm, which has advantages and disadvantages.

Any tax collected will be used to investigate methods of mitigating methane, which is positive.

On the negative side the tax from 2021 to 2025 will be at processor level making it merely a cost of production.

They’re going to tax nitrogen fertiliser as soon as they can get the processes in place, which will get approval from no-one except Landcorp, which has long argued for such a tax.

I have an issue with taxes on nitrogen fertiliser because, Landcorp’s misguided belief aside, they don’t work.

If a farmer doesn’t use nitrogen fertiliser to promote growth he or she can mitigate that loss of growth by feeding supplements, palm kernel for example.

Feeding supplements will have little effect on any nitrogen runoff but could reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, if that what the Government wants.

On the negative side taxing processors is nothing more than a cost for farmers and consumers.

The on-farm assessment from 2025 I agree with in principle because it might change behaviour.

My concern is with process.

Will the Government do what the Irish have done and rely on farmer returns?

The only alternative is to

depend on an army of advisers and consultants, which will cost the earth while achieving little.

Another complication is to consider New Zealand cutting production to reduce our gases.

All that would achieve would be to transfer production from an efficient regime in NZ to an inefficient one somewhere offshore.

Net world greenhouse gases would rise.

I don’t accept the Government argument that being carbon neutral is an asset when it comes to marketing our products.

For a start, it will have absolutely no effect in America or China and the only country I know of that is trying that approach is Ireland with Origin Green and that is fully funded by the Irish government.

My suggestion is for a separate agreement with the Government that is aside from the ever-increasing and complex bureaucracy that is the ETS. Reportage of the announcement has been interesting and shows beyond all doubt much of the media has little understanding of agriculture.

Stuff, never reluctant to bash farmers, led with agriculture, the most polluting sector of the economy looks set to join the ETS but under a sweetheart deal that will see it pay just 5% of its total emissions cost from 2025.

My advice on that would be to stay in the shallow end.

The NZ Herald had farmers

NOT TARGETED: Taxing processors makes the gas emissions charge merely a cost of production.

agreeing to emissions pricing in its headline.

Really?

Has no-one read the Paris Accord that exempts food production?

Shaw described the discussion document as recognising historic consensus.

Not from some of those I’ve spoken to but any effort to reach consensus is appreciated.

I found the economic analysis

by DairyNZ facile and strongly believe both DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb need to step up a lot better than they have done if either is serious about having any future.

The ever-eloquent Forestry Minister Shane Jones accused farmers of exaggerating the impact of the Government’s climate change legislation and pouring bile on the Government’s plans.

For the record, the Government’s zero carbon legislation has united the provincial sector like little else over the last 10 years.

I was further confused with

the Government on one hand wanting agriculture in the ETS while making the earth-shattering announcement it won’t die in a ditch over the goal of 100% renewable energy generation by 2035.

Achieving the renewable energy goal is easy; just pull the plug on Tiwai Point.

So, we have a document that needs debate.

We need facts.

We need champions like Federated Farmers dairy chief Chris Lewis who said “NZ towns and cities are in for an economic hiding if dairy farmers are forced into the ETS”.

Statements like that will win the battle.

Others like Beef + Lamb and DairyNZ should learn from it and join Feds in supporting their levy payers.

Your View Alan Emerson is a semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath-emerson@wizbiz.net.nz

Waking up all excited and in love with Guppy From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

DIARY of a cricket tragic.

Sunday July 14, 7am. Woke up all excited. Plan to watch World Cup Cricket final all night. New Zealand’s time has come.

Work on farm all day but all thoughts on the night ahead.

9.30pm. Sat down in front of tele with wife. Williamson wins toss and chooses to bat.

Remember back four years when Jeremy and I, full of adrenaline, alcohol and euphoria had immediately booked cheap flights across the Tasman after the South African semi win only to sit there and watch McCullum recklessly throw his wicket away in the first over having won the toss. Deja vu all over again?

10pm. Nervy start by openers.

Remind wife of my cricketing highlight, 106 not out for Norsewood CC.

OBJECT OF DESIRE: Steve Wyn-Harris thought about writing a love letter to Martin Guptill.

She reminds me of her uncle Guy playing cricket for NZ. Lose boasting battle.

Seventh over and Guppy and Nicholls starting to look like settling in for a big opening innings for a change. Guppy out. Yelled at television for them not to review his LBW decision, obviously plumb. But no one listens to me.

Wife gets Turkish Delights, gratefully accepted.

Twenty third over. Steady-theship Williamson starting to look like settling in for a long innings.

Williamson out. Wife goes to bed.

Feel surprisingly good and realise Dry July pledge is working to good advantage. Fourteen days sober. Would normally have dozed off by now spilling red wine from relaxed hand.

Over 34 and Taylor given out LBW for a ball that wasn’t out.

Want to yell out “I told you so” but wife asleep and from past experience know to keep quiet.

Decide to drink some coffee just in case. Some friends not answering texts. Turns out progressively fell asleep spilling wine.

Find wife’s phone, have to wake her (not pleased) for her phone’s pin number so can ring her friend, Jeremy’s wife so can discuss game with someone. They are in a motorhome in Belgium and he’s watching on his phone but with a minute of latency must be careful with information that is in his future.

1.30 am. NZ innings limps to a finish. Not enough runs but miracles happen. Go to fridge but slim pickings. Eat three sticks of

celery and half a bag of prunes.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

English innings nearly starts with a wicket on first ball. Shout into pillow. Then Roy gone in the sixth, we can do this.

Skyping Jeremy and decide to have fun with him given the latency. Yell that Ferguson just finally bowled Bairstow and it happens. Is this pure co-incidence or some sort of superpower?

Jeremy doesn’t believe my story.

Over 24 and we get their fourth wicket, 89 for 4. Celebrate with another stick of celery.

Butler finally out in the 45th, was starting to despair. We are going to win again. Wake up wife and make her come and watch.

She hears that Wimbledon is very close and wants to change channels and pulls the “I’m a tennis coach card” but I remain staunch.

We go through those agonising last five overs. Difficult to believe.

What’s a Super Over?

Strong feeling of being robbed.

So full of adrenaline go back out farming without feeling too bad.

Think about writing a letter to Guppy to tell him I love him.

Could be misinterpreted. Think about writing to Laura but

probably inappropriate.

Sudden need to get back to toilet. Remember celery and prune consumption.

Later in the day, an insect crawling in my sock. Take sock off a couple of times but can’t find the insect. Then feel it while sock off being inspected. No sign of insect on shin. Is this some sort of sleep deprived hallucination?

Remember reading about a doctor who pretends to amputate the limbs of people who have phantom limb pain from limbs that have previously been removed. Not sure if my phantom insect would qualify.

Go home to tell wife but she is watching a repeat of Wimbledon and not very interested.

Hear the Stokes deflection was actually only five runs.

Pleased this whole thing was against the Poms and not the Aussies.

The Poms need a break given Brexit and the imminent crowning of Boris.

Go to bed at 9pm.

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

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

27

Agriculture a tough challenge James Shaw HOW to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture is surely the most difficult and contentious challenge New Zealand faces when it comes to tackling climate change, even while we increase food production to serve a growing population here and around the world.

It has always been contentious for us, for lots of reasons – from the huge contribution agriculture makes to the nation’s income, to the fact the sector is made up of tens of thousands of farms and businesses across the country, to the limited technological options available for lowering agricultural greenhouse gases.

You can dramatically reduce transport emissions by swapping your car for an EV, for example, but the EV equivalent of a cow is yet to be invented.

This week we’ve released the Interim Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on agricultural emissions along with the Government’s proposed response.

Since we received the committee’s report we have been talking to the Primary Sector Leaders Group, representing dairy, sheep and beef, horticulture and Maori landowning interests through the Federation of Maori Authorities on where we go from here.

What is remarkable is the degree of consensus from farming leaders that a farm-level emissions pricing system will be part of the solution to reducing emissions from agriculture by 2025.

WE’LL HELP YOU: The Government will look at ways of reducing regulatory barriers getting in the way of new scientific and technological developments being adopted, Climate Change Minister James Shaw says.

What’s up for discussion is how we get there and where the funding and other resources will come from to equip farmers to manage emissions under a pricing system at the farm level.

Everyone acknowledges greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture need to come down – along with steep reductions in industrial, transport and energy emissions – if we are to have any hope of limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

There is obviously some debate about the level and speed at which emissions need to reduce but we’re agreed on the general trajectory.

We’re also agreed a pricing

mechanism, which rewards those who reduce emissions, has to play a role. And, importantly, everyone agrees for that pricing mechanism to work most effectively it needs to apply at farm level. Farmers need to see what’s what on their farms, they need to have control over their own farm systems and be able to make their own choices about how to deal with it and they need to be rewarded directly for what they do about it.

For that to work, every farm essentially needs its own integrated farm plan, which accurately calculates both the emissions and the offsets and ideally also integrates that information with other data about nitrate leaching, biodiversity, animal welfare and farm economics. And that piece of kit needs to be a user-friendly onestop shop.

Alongside the on-farm information technology we’re going to need refreshed extension services and rural professionals who can provide independent advice to farmers about their options and what support is available. And that support also has to be there – some of it will need to be financial and focused on supporting new investments to reduce on-farm emissions.

We now have a couple of options up for public consultation through to August 13.

The committee has recommended that, in the interim, we price emissions via processors like Fonterra and Silver Fern Farms through the existing Emissions Trading Scheme. That will encourage factoring emissions

pricing into investment decisions.

All the money collected will return to farmers, creating a fund administered by the agricultural sector to lead these changes.

That will mean putting farmers in charge of allocating resources to the mix of investments and incentives for farmers that has to happen over the coming five years. It’s estimated it could raise about $47 million a year – roughly a quarter of a billion dollars by 2025.

All the money collected will return to farmers, creating a fund administered by the agricultural sector to lead these changes.

Bringing the processors into the ETS with a 95% free allocation, guaranteed by the NZ First-Labour Coalition Agreement, will add about 1 cent a litre of milksolids, 1 cent a kilogram of beef or 3 cents a kilogram of sheep meat – though farmers who reduce emissions could see financial benefits under the scheme.

The second option is agricultural industry bodies will pay for the transition themselves.

So far they’ve committed about $25m each year over the next five years. That means processor companies wouldn’t come into the ETS in the short term while the farm-level system is being rolled out over the next five years. The money would come directly from

the levy farmers pay to industry bodies like Beef + Lamb and DairyNZ. The committee also recommended the Government look at ways of reducing regulatory barriers that are getting in the way of some of the new scientific and technological developments being adopted.

We’re going to do that – and we’re also going to examine ways for farmers to get recognition for all the good work they’re already doing, for example, with riparian planting and regenerative farming techniques that encourage soil sequestration.

This is going to take concerted effort over the course of the next five years – both from the sector itself and from the Government.

We’re going to need incentives to start the change now, as well as serious investment in all those things I’ve listed – information technology, research and development, science and innovation, extension services, investment support, incentives for early adopters and so on.

We have an incredible offer to make to the rest of the world – not just high-quality, high-value food products but also the tools and techniques the world is going to need to feed an ever-growing population from a slowly reducing global arable land resource at a dramatically reduced output of greenhouse gases.

It’s an incredible challenge. But if anyone can do it, I reckon it’s us.

This is one of most important decisions we take as a farming country. So please tell us what you think and make a submission.

Bike safety is not an either-or situation Tony Watson ANDREW Stewart’s Off the Cuff column (July 15) raises valid points about quad bike use – many of which have long been strongly advocated by health and safety experts.

He also refers to ACC’s plan to partially subsidise crush protection devices (CPDs) for some farm businesses as the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

There’s no doubt CPDs or rollover protection devices (ROPs) deal with the consequences of an action rather than the cause.

My concern with Stewart’s column is it seems to indicate approaches to the safe use of quad bikes as an either-or situation, pitting CPDs versus good training, diligence around using helmets and safe driver behaviour.

We need both approaches because neither quad bikes nor people are perfect.

Many New Zealand farms are already doing all the things Stewart advocates as an alternative to CPDs. Increasingly, farmers are ensuring people are well trained and supervised until they are competent operating quads.

They have good maintenance programmes and check vehicles before use. They ensure riders wear helmets.

Many farmers are taking the time to plan the safest approach before they take the quad out or they’re switching to a more suitable vehicle for towing or carrying a load.

Organisations like ACC and WorkSafe have not made a decision to go against manufacturers’ instructions lightly.

All these behaviours help to reduce the risk of a roll-over.

However, despite this, about four farming people a year are still dying from crush injuries where quads have rolled and many others are injured.

The reality is we all make mistakes.

ACC data shows many people who suffer fatal injuries on farms are mature people doing jobs they have done many times. About 90% of fatal injuries on farms

involve a vehicle or machinery.

It’s estimated there are about five quad bike roll-overs a day in NZ. As Stewart points out, quad manufacturers don’t recommend putting CPDs on vehicles.

Manufacturers rely on overseas research they commissioned, which has many critics. There is another body of research, notably much of it done on this side of the world by academics and safety experts, which comes to different conclusions.

In my view, organisations like ACC and WorkSafe have not made a decision to go against manufacturers’ instructions lightly.

Their approach is based on all the sound, peer-reviewed expert research and analysis they can get their hands on including data collected in Australia and NZ. When all those findings are taken into account the argument comes down on the side of installing CPDs because riders are less likely to be killed in a roll-over on a quad bike with that protection.

My organisation, Federated Farmers, Beef + Lamb NZ and DairyNZ have all expressed support for the WorkSafe and ACC position.

It’s interesting Stewart used

to sit on the fence regarding use of helmets on quad bikes but made them compulsory after his shepherd rolled his quad while distracted and suffered a head injury.

Heaven forbid it should take another fatal accident for anyone to get off the fence about CPDs but it’s too late to make that decision when you, your family member or worker is crushed or suffocating under a quad.

Stewart says “It might seem stupidly simple but when you are driving a quad bike, just drive it.

The other stuff that is on your mind, put it to one side to allow you to concentrate on the task in hand.”

Good advice in a perfect world but, as the data shows, even the most careful, experienced farmer can be distracted. It might be down to stress, fatigue, dehydration or distraction. You’re driving across a paddock, you see a sheep caught in a fence, for a split second your attention shifts from the vehicle.

Finally, Stewart notes the “Most powerful tool in quad bike safety is the top two inches between the ears”.

I’m with him on that too.

I appeal to eligible farm

BOTH NECESSARY: Accident prevention is the aim but sometimes the ambulance is needed, Agricultural Leaders Health and Safety Action Group chief executive Tony Watson says.

businesses to collectively put their top two inches into giving full consideration to ACC’s subsidy offer.

It’s not a case of either-or but both. That’s based on extensive investigation of sound, peerreviewed, credible research, some using information collected on farms on this side of the world – because sometimes we do need an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

On Farm Story

28 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

The environment comes first Running a big station with 3500 owners is a big challenge. But Parengarega Station’s new farm manager Kathryne Easton is adding to the task, with her vision of starting with the environment then working back to the farm with her best-use-of-land philosophy at the same time as coping with pest, pasture and weather issues. She told Andrew Stewart her environmental and biosecurity plans include not just the farm but the entire Far North.

I

T’S fair to say many Kiwis forget how far the country stretches north past Auckland.

The reality is they can travel another six hours before reaching the tip of New Zealand at Cape Reinga and the further north they go the more diverse and challenging the land becomes.

Just half an hour south of the Cape lies Parengarenga Station, a diverse, nearly 6000-hectare operation that stretches between both coasts of the country.

Northland is a deeply tribal region with strong links to the whenua and Parengarenga Station is no different.

This mainly sheep and beef farm is part of the larger corporation of the same name that also owns some 11,000 hectares of forestry, has an extensive manuka planting programme and has strong interest from its 3500 shareholders.

Farm manager Kathryne Easton started her role just six months ago but is already putting her stamp on this significant property.

Though born and bred on a farm, Easton studied agriculture at university before working overseas in various farming roles. When she returned to New Zealand she spent most of her career working as a rural professional for the fertiliser industry, core agricultural producers, environmental agencies and consultants.

She had worked with Parengarenga Station as an adviser but admits she was still surprised when she was approached to apply for the manager’s job. She also runs her own small landholding of 160 hectares near Maungatapere but knew she would never own a farm anywhere close to the scale of Parengarenga.

So, she decided to throw caution to the never-ending Northland wind and loves her new life on the station.

One of the big attractions was the chance to improve all aspects of the station’s performance. She could see the potential.

Now she has changed from consultant to game player, as she puts it, the environment is a key focus.

“I just see there’s so much potential here to be achieved.

There’s the opportunity to subdivide paddocks down, get better control of pastures, to grow better quality and more quantity of pasture and be able to actually run a high stocking rate.

“There is huge potential just in the land itself through the basics of fencing, subdivision, fertiliser and pastures with the key focus being best use of land for the longevity of the station.

“Just by doing those few things we’ve got options without doing anything too fancy just yet.

“When I was rural consultant with WSP Opus we worked closely with a number of iwi around best use of land studies and that’s really identifying a property and what are its strengths, its weaknesses and its capabilities and identifying what are the opportunities,” she said.

The width of the farm between the two coasts is about 7km at the narrowest point, with most of the forestry along the western corridor and a smaller block to the east.

DIVERSE: The cattle are primarily Angus with a Hereford/ Charolais cross.

BIG TASK: Kathryne Easton decided to throw caution to the never-ending Northland wind and loves her new life on the station.

Photos: Nara Maw

The farm surrounds Parengarenga Harbour and Easton takes responsibility for what flows into the harbour from the farm very seriously.

So, she begins planning with a much broader vision than just farm production.

“Let’s look at the environment and work backwards. So, what is the harbour looking like? What is our potential impact on that harbour and how can I mitigate it? We’ve got a lot of peninsulas that run down into the harbour.

So we are looking at what we can run down those peninsulas with the least impact. Sheep are an obvious choice with a smaller all-round footprint and have our cattle further up the catchment

and manage these areas so there’s less impact,” she said.

Farming in such an environment is not without its challenges.

Being so far north on a narrow part of the country there is little to protect from any weather rolling in from the surrounding stretches of ocean.

Hot, dry summers can also be windy ones and the farming calendar is split between two sixmonth seasons – growing grass and not growing grass.

The latter normally starts around Christmas so lambing starts early in winter to get all lambs away before the New Year.

The station runs about 30,000 stock units with about 9000

breeding ewes and 1800 breeding cows.

The sheep are Texel/Dorset, which grow lambs fast and early and the cattle are primarily Angus with a Hereford/Charolais cross.

They have grown numbers of Friesian bulls on the farm in the past but with Mycoplasma bovis purchases have stopped with more focus on growing their cattle progeny out to heavier weights.

Easton must be very organised with any stock movements because the nearest processing plant is nearly five hours south.

Parengarenga Station, similar to many Northland farms, has a mosaic of different soil types.

“We’re dealing with the absolute white silica sand on the

BIG NUMBERS: The station runs about 30,000 stock units with about 9000 Texel/Dorset breeding ewes.

On Farm Story

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

29

Turning trash into treasure PARENGARENGA Incorporation is not just focused on producing quality sheep and beef.

General manager Jon Brough, assisted by farm manager Kathryne Easton and others, has wide-reaching visions of what the future holds to make the best use of the land.

One initiative they are investigating is the use of a carboniser machine to turn forestry waste into charcoal, BioChar.

They have researched what is happening in Australia with the technology where the product produced can be used to offset carbon emissions.

All going well, Parengarenga would like to see the same results on this side of the Tasman.

The machine is fed with slash and waste from a forestry skid site, which is then turned into something far more useful.

“Basically, it’s a cooking process where we load it to a certain temperature and then hold it at that temperature till it pyrolyses and produces a carbon product. From there we’re going to look at options around utilising the carbon either by applying it to the pasture or using it as an animal feed in terms of an animal lick,” Easton said.

She suggests they will look at adding molasses or something

There’s nothing better than being out on the farm with the animals and being able to see an achievement or an outcome which is good for everyone.

Kathryne Easton Farmer

SKILLS: Kathryne Easton has changed from consultant to game player and the environment is a key focus.

east coast to a coarse sand on the west coast. In between we’ve got the combination of sand, peat, clay, an almost ash soil combined with a very heavy, hard pan at varying depths.” There are about 24 different soil types on the farm with eight in the main soil group. Such diversity makes farming challenging but Easton’s background makes her the perfect person for the job.

In the Far North the main native

pasture is kikuyu, which takes some managing.

“It can be a blessing and a curse but it’s actually knowing how to manage it and keeping it in that vegetative state and not letting it get away,” she said.

In her experience kikuyu can grow anywhere from 30kg/dm/ day to 130kg/dm/day, which is a huge variation. She is working hard to make sure her team has the skills to manage the grass and

uses professionals to run staff training days to give them the knowledge needed.

Easton has her fair share of unwanted guests.

“My biggest bugbear at the moment would have to be the Canadian geese followed closely by the turkeys, paradise ducks and the pigs.

“Thankfully the black swans, which are a significant pest in the harbour, do not venture on farm.”

She estimates there are thousands of geese eating the new grasses and crops she is trying to establish. Despite attempts by willing hunters to shoot the geese the numbers have remained high and she is now looking at employing professional pest controllers to cull them.

Being such a big farm Parengarenga relies heavily on human resources.

“Parengarenga is a Maori incorporation managed by the trustees with the structure being a chairperson, the committee of management, a general manager, myself and then the team on the farm.”

Easton manages 15 staff, of which 12 are full time.

“Additional to that we also have a forestry division now because we’ve moved into doing our own forestry in terms of harvesting.

We have a full-time workshop that looks after both farm and forestry machine servicing needs.”

She also relies on a trusted group of specialists to provide advice from accounting to

similar to encourage stock to eat it and by offering the stock access to the mix they could reduce the need for drenching.

The carboniser they are trying is a small machine but if successful they will look at bigger machines that could also provide usable energy to power houses.

For environmentally focused Easton the project fits well within her mantra and the incorporation’s values of doing the right thing by the soil.

“You’ve grown a tree, you’ve got a waste product. We turn that waste product into a valuable product, add it back to our pasture and the cycle continues. The land becomes more effective on the next forestry rotation as well so you live with a minimal amount of trash.

“So, it’s a really nice cyclic evaluation of a product that would otherwise just been waste.

“We see this project as an exploration into our future as we analyse our own capability to head towards a carbonneutral, methane-reduced future. This is a unique part of the country with a Maori incorporation on a journey with their whenua with aspirations to make a difference in the national and international agricultural market arena.”

agronomy and everything in between.

Easton admits the shareholders like to keep an eye on what is happening.

“Every day there’s people driving up and down the road because the main road intersects the station. You soon hear the jungle drums beating if they’re not happy,” she said.

Development work on the station is clearly visible and has been great advertising to show the progress being made. Despite a dedicated plan to plant 80,000 to 100,000 manuka stems a year, Easton would also like to see a plan to plant more natives. She believes with careful planning and co-operation with other like-minded landowners they can build an environment in the Far North that will not only rekindle the bird life but provide a biosecurity corridor to encourage greater biodiversity.

Her new role means she has had little time to stop and really enjoy her new surroundings to the full.

But Easton grew up on a farm from day one and admits she has always loved farming and the outdoors.

“You’ve got it in your bones really and you either love it or you hate it. And I really love it. There’s nothing better than being out on the farm with the animals and being able to see an achievement or an outcome which is good for everyone.” >> Video link: bit.ly/OFSeaston

World

30 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Forest talk upsets highland farmers FARM groups in Scotland and Wales have hit out at a suggestion to afforest half the United Kingdom’s uplands to help tackle climate change.

The recommendation was made by Compassion in World Farming chief policy adviser Peter Stevenson who also suggested some upland land now used for grazing could be given over to peatland restoration in future.

The proposal has been met with anger in the devolved nations, where industry bodies have pointed out blanket afforestation would completely neglect the financial needs of hill farms and the rural communities surrounding them.

Speaking at an Agroecology All-Party Parliamentary Group meeting in Parliament, Stevenson said “Climate change is going to dominate, rightly, our thinking.

“Maybe we are going to have to accept, and I am thinking aloud here, particularly in Scotland, in the uplands, part of the least good land in terms of pasture may have to be given over to afforestation and peatlands because of its storage capacities but another half of it must stay.”

National Farmers Union Scotland vice-president Martin

Kennedy, a hill farmer from highland Perthshire, said Scotland’s iconic upland farms are essential to enhancing the land’s natural carbon capture and maintaining sustainable economic activity.

“In addition to capturing carbon extensive grazing also provides varied habitats which allow for biodiversity to flourish.”

Farmers Union of Wales president Glyn Roberts said replacing upland areas where species are reliant on grazing livestock with trees has already happened in vast areas of Wales with catastrophic consequences.

“However, there is definitely a conversation to be had about agroforestry, which may enhance agricultural production while improving sustainability.

“Unfortunately, unfounded attacks on agriculture and concepts such as rewilding have often polarised the debate and replaced the sensible discussions we need to have about conservation, communities and agriculture being inter-related.”

Meanwhile, Rothamsted Research science innovation director Professor Angela Karp said there is huge potential for farmers to become climate heroes

despite an increasing reputation for being the bad guy.

She made the claim following the launch of a £3.5 million fund to identify innovative solutions to tackle climate change linked to the agri-food sector.

Karp said the contribution of agri-food to the world’s climate footprint is much more complex than the environmental impact of eating meat.

“The way soils are managed can have a huge effect – not just on carbon dioxide or methane but nitrous oxide emissions too.

“Then there is the whole issue of how agricultural wastes can be reduced or recycled, moving towards a circular economy.

“In many people’s eyes, food and farming are fast becoming climate villains but there is huge potential for this sector to ultimately become the heroes.”

Over the nine-year Shake Climate Change programme, 15 successful ventures will receive up to £140,000 each, plus two years of training and mentoring from leading experts in business and science.

The scheme was designed to attract entrepreneurs or startups with early stage science or tech ideas that could have a

BAD MOVE: Farming bodies say blanket afforestation would completely neglect rural areas’ financial needs.

significant impact on climate change, as well as to form the basis of a sustainable and socially responsible business in the sector.

And Country Landowners Association president Tim Breitmeyer said farmers must be recognised as leaders in achieving net zero emissions as the 2050 target will not be reached without their help.

He told the association’s Climate Change Summit while the industry needs to combat its negative effects on the climate there is opportunity to curb the challenges through business resilience.

The industry could reduce emissions by promoting sustainable farming practices and systems, planting trees and better managing existing woodland

or restoring peatland and maintaining permanent pasture.

“This will require longterm government support supplemented by new private environmental payments to ensure increasing planting of trees and the uptake of technological solutions for water management and emissions reduction.

“Those business owners who build climate change resilience into their business models will be the ones best placed to tackle the challenges climate change will present for business stability and profitability.”

There is little doubt the businesses that recognise climate change messages at an early stage will build resilience to survive and thrive in years to come.

UK Farmers Guardian

Huge gene-editing benefits can’t be ignored RAPID advances made by the crop biotechnology sector offer huge benefits for farmers, the economy and the environment, plant breeders say.

New breeding technologies – including using molecular methods to edit or alter genes – promise higher yields, health benefits for consumers and climate change mitigation, they argue.

Supporters say it is important to highlight the broader benefits so new breeding techniques are more readily accepted by regulators – as well as by as the public.

Prospects for improving plant breeding using technologies such as gene editing were discussed by more than 50 scientists and growers at a seminar organised by the British Crop Production Council.

Increasingly cost-effective gene-editing techniques mean agriculture is in the middle of a DNA revolution, John Innes Centre scientist Professor Cristobal Uauy said.

Big yield increases are possible using targeted editing techniques such as Crispr-Cas9 – which enables genes to be changed using molecular scissors to cut DNA. “We have to be careful not to overhype (the technology) and we have a long way to go to know which genes to target,” Uauy said.

“We still need to keep traditional breeding going – it is

not going to disappear – but this is a very important tool that we need to incorporate for breeders to use.”

Agricultural economist Graham Brookes said biotechnology has already seen a 671,000t reduction in the amount of pesticides applied globally since 1996.

New breeding techniques have increased global food and fibre production by 659m tonnes – and seen a reduction of 27.1m tonnes in carbon emissions from agriculture.

Niab genetics and breeding head Alison Bentley said the industry faces a big regulatory hurdle before farmers are allowed to grow gene-edited crops.

It is a year since the European Court of Justice ruled products from gene-editing techniques should be considered genetically modified organisms – and restricted accordingly.

That is despite the fact gene editing involves altering plants by slicing genes to remove undesirable traits rather than inserting foreign DNA. “As an industry, we need to come together to develop the narrative around the potential benefit and the benefits for the economy, the environment and for society as a whole.”

Those benefits include celiacsafe wheat and other exciting new products, she said.

Syngenta senior regulatory

MUST HAVE: Gene editing is a very important tool breeders need to use, Professor Cristobal Uauy says.

affairs manager Karen Holt said good regulation should be transparent and proportionate to any perceived risk.

Gene-edited crops are indistinguishable from conventionally bred plants, which begs the question why they need to be regulated so tightly.

The National Famers Union says the new breeding techniques are vital but the industry faces a challenge to get them accepted by society.

Describing climate change as the challenge of the generation, Essex grower and NFU combinable crops chairman Tom Bradshaw said plant breeding is absolutely critical to mitigating global warming.

At the same time, plant breeding and varietal selection can help growers feed an increasing global population while growers face the prospect of lower crop yields because of a diminishing number of available agrichemicals.

But there is an ongoing lack of acceptance of new breeding technologies, largely because of the way the biotech sector tried to introduce genetically modified crops in the 1990s, he said.

“The way we tried to sell it to European Union consumers was just wrong.

“It wasn’t about consumer benefits – it was about this is a wonderful technology, it’s the way forward and there was no thought process about what the benefits might be for society.

“If we tackle this again – which we are going to have to, because novel breeding techniques are a critical part of our future – we are going to have to tackle this challenge head on.”

Farmers cannot ignore the antiscience bent in society, Bradshaw said.

But it is a relatively small part of the population, albeit with a very loud voice.

“One way to build trust is to increase transparency, including by making farm records more accessible.

“If that is going to help build confidence in what we are doing at a farm level then I think it is something we are going to have to embrace because what we need to do is enable the professional grower to be farming in 10 years’ time.”

UK Farmers Weekly

Real Estate

FARMERS WEEKLY – July 22, 2019

Te Mata 20 and 156 Waimaori Road Must view! Options abound This impressive 142.9ha dairy unit is located in Te Mata, a popular farming district with above average rainfall located only 15kms to Raglan and 45kms to Hamilton. The self contained farm has fertile pasture, modern improvements and five titles leaving you plenty of options in a beautiful setting. The extremely well presented property has been faithfully farmed by the same family for 40 years. An excellent 20ASHB supplies Fonterra with a production average of 92,180kgMS, milking 260 cows and retaining all young stock. With the forecast payout predicted to rise, get in quick for this early season opportunity. Great locality, great contour and great community, our retiring owners are committed and this property is unconditionally for sale.

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

31

Mid Canterbury 172 Flynns Road 3

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Tender (unless sold prior) Closing 4pm, Thu 15 Aug 2019 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton View 11am-12pm Wed 24 Jul & Wed 31 Jul or by appointment Peter Kelly 027 432 4278 peter.kelly@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Bare land opportunity in Staveley This 58.2792 hectare block, subject to final survey, could be well suited to a sheep, cattle or deer grazing operation. Well fenced and divided by a central lane, the property features extensive native riparian plantings and stunning sites to build your new home.

Located in Staveley, just off the Inland Scenic Route 72, approximately 20 minutes from the rural service town of Methven.

Deadline Sale (unless sold prior) 2pm, Wed 21 Aug 2019 View by appointment Fee Ensor 021 705 014 fee.ensor@bayleys.co.nz WHALAN AND PARTNERS LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Multiple options available here.

bayleys.co.nz/5510329

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REPUTABLE RIVER RD

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farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate

For Sale by Tender Call now to view

Contour + Soil Types 206 hectares (509 acres) that range from river flats to medium hill country located in the reputable farming district of River Road, Waione. With approximately 100 hectares cultivatable, the property comes with a good fertiliser history, 4 stand woolshed and yards as well as additional ancillary buildings, finished off by the four bedroom homestead.

Tender closing 4pm, 14th August 2019 (if not sold prior).

Jerome Pitt M: 027 242 2199 O: 06 374 4107 E: @jeromep@forfarms.co.nz

LK0098461©

Land is the biggest asset to any farming business so it pays to stay up to date with the market.

Waione

www.forfarms.co.nz - FF2854 www.forfarms.co.nz

Property ID FF1299

LK0068450©

THE DESTINATION FOR RURAL REAL ESTATE

206 HECTARES

Agri Job Board

Noticeboard

We are looking for a motivated shepherd/general to join our team on our 1000 hectare coastal sheep/beef breeding and finishing farm in central Hawke’s Bay. We are located 10 minutes south of the Porangahau village and 40 minutes south east of Waipukurau.

You’re different. You don’t just work hard.

You work to win. Are you ready to be part of a global team that’s driving one of the most successful Super Premium wine companies on Earth?

This position is primarily stock work with general duties making up around 30% of the job. Three to five working dogs are required along with a keen attitude and willingness for involvement in the various other aspects of our farming operation, including fencing. Some previous farming experience is desirable.

Grower Liaison Officer Marlborough Delegat has earned a reputation as one of New Zealand’s leading winemakers achieving global success with our Oyster Bay brand.

LK0098605©

If you are looking to develop your career within a high performance team environment then please apply – www.delegat.com\careers

A tidy three bedroom cottage is provided with plenty of hunting and fishing opportunities at your doorstep. We have a friendly and active community with plenty of sporting and social activities on offer. There is a school bus past the gate to the local Porangahau primary school.

Please send your CV to: Stoddart.tom@gmail.com or ring Tom Stoddart 06 855 5184

LK0098409©

Our successful applicant will be tertiary qualified with a thorough understanding of horticulture or viticulture gained from experience in a structured environment. Previous experience in an agri-business development or sales orientated role would be advantageous.

ANIMAL HEALTH

We can offer the right applicant an opportunity and platform to extend and develop their farming knowledge and skill set. A competitive salary will be negotiated based on experience.

An exciting opportunity exists to represent our Grower Programme providing operational and technical advice on viticulture matters to our grower partners. Reporting to the Grower Business Development Manager, this position is responsible for building collaborative, enduring business relationships to assist growers in maximising their potential to produce quality fruit with varietal intensity and character.

FLY OR LICE problem?

Electrodip - The magic eye sheepjetter since 1989 with unique self adjusting sides.

Incredible chemical and time savings with proven effectiveness.

Phone 07 573 8512 w w w. e l e c t r o d i p . c o m CRAIGCO SHEEP JETTERS. Sensor Jet. Deal to fly and Lice now. Guaranteed performance.

Unbeatable pricing.

Phone 06 835 6863. www.craigcojetters.com

The successful candidate will be: • Honest and reliable • Friendly and enthusiastic • Hard working

The foundation of our success is world class viticulture practices delivering Super Premium quality wine. We are investing in substantial future growth and we continue to invest in our established industry-leading grower programme which is integral to our long-term success.

ANIMAL HANDLING

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

ATTENTION FARMERS FAST GRASS www.gibb-gro.co.nz GROWTH PROMOTANT Only $6.00 per hectare + GST delivered Brian Mace 0274 389 822 brianmace@xtra.co.nz DAGS .25c PER KG. Replacement woolpacks.

PV Weber Wools.

Kawakawa Road, Feilding. Phone 06 323 9550.

Noticeboard Tamarillos DOLOMITE 8kg ctn direct ex-grower

www.fromthefarm.co.nz

EnviroMate100™

The smart feeder that outsmarts pests – possums, rats & mice, stoats and more. www.ecoland.co.nz – 021 326 563 –

WANTED FORESTRY/ WOODLOTS

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

(All volumes – big or small)

EARMARKERS

We purchase standing trees, land and trees or harvest and market on your

0800 436 566

BIRDSCARER

behalf. Working the Waikato area

DE HORNER

Feral Goat Control Specialists

2019/2020.

HOOF TRIMMER

All paper work is done for you around

SELLING SOMETHING?

Experienced and professional team of cullers available.

Advertise in Farmers Weekly LK0098610©

Contact: Jason 027 478 7274 E-Mail: jaseh@xtra.co.nz

health and safety, resource consent application and management.

FO SALR E

Phone Debbie Brown 0800 85 25 80 or email classifieds@globalhq.co.nz

GUARANTEED PAYMENTS Call or email LK0098228©

• Farm control • Forestry • Conservation projects

Aaron West 027 562 3832 aaron@westtreenz.co.nz for a no obligation appraisal

SELLING

Expression of Interest

Nominations are called for candidates to stand for election for the director positions to represent Areas 2 and 8 as described below. The incumbent directors for these areas are due to retire by rotation later this year. Kate Alexander has confirmed her intention to stand for re-election in Area 8. Tony Howey has served his maximum term as a director of Ravensdown and accordingly will not stand for re-election in Area 2.

Area Number 2

8

Current Director

Area Description

Tony Howey

Waimate, Timaru, MacKenzie, Ashburton Districts, and part Waitaki District (that portion including and north of Kakanui).

Kate Alexander

Waikato, part Waipa (that portion excluding the Te Awamutu area), Matamata-Piako, Thames-Coromandel, part Western Bay of Plenty (that portion west of Te Puke), Hauraki, Kaipara, Whangarei and Far North Districts and Hamilton, Auckland and Tauranga Cities.

Nominations must be made on the official form, which can be obtained from the Returning Officer. Each nomination form must be signed by the candidate and two nominators who must be transacting shareholders of Ravensdown and who are eligible to vote for the relevant Area (2 or 8) election. Nominations must be received by the Returning Officer by 5pm on Friday 2 August 2019.

For further information or nomination documents please contact the election helpline 0800 666 044 or email iro@electionz.com.

Anthony Morton Returning Officer - Ravensdown Limited PO Box 3138, Christchurch 8140

0800 85 25 80

SOFT, DURABLE, FREE draining rubber mats. Easy to clean. Call to order on 0800 686 287 – www. numat.co.nz

CONTRACTORS GORSE SPRAYING SCRUB CUTTING. 30 years experience.

Blowers, gun and hose.

No job too big. Camp out teams.

Travel anywhere if job big enough. Phone Dave 06 375 8032.

DOGS FOR SALE BORDER COLLIE PUPS, 12 weeks. Vaccinated. $300 each. Phone Paul 07 322 2497.

VIEW SIXTY DOGS. Deliver NZ wide, trial, guaranteed. www. youtube.com/user/ mikehughesworkingdog/ videos 07 315 5553.

HEADING DOG PUP, 9 months, very well bred, ready to start. Trial potential. Phone 06 388 0212 or 027 243 8541.

WHATATUTU DOG SALE. Saturday 24th August at Otara Station, 319 Whatatutu Road. Te Karaka, Gisborne. Sale starts 12 noon. Entries close 18th August.

Dosing clearance required.

Enquiries to Allen Irwin. Phone 06 862 3618. Email: toromirostation@gmail. com

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

QUICK SALE! No one buys or pays more! 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

FARM MAPPING FOCUS ON YOUR strengths with a farm map showing paddock sizes.

Contact us for a free quote at farmmapping.co.nz or call us on 0800 433 855.

FORESTRY WANTED

NATIVE FOREST FOR MILLING also Macrocarpa and Red Gum, New Zealand wide.

We can arrange permits and plans. Also after milled timber to purchase.

NEW ZEALAND NATIVE TIMBER SUPPLIERS (WGTN) LIMITED 04 293 2097 Richard.

Our company has over 30 years’ experience as a manufacturer of agricultural equipment and we export to the USA, Canada,NZ and Asia.

We have a global reputation for innovative equipment that is tough and reliable.

PURCHASING FERAL DEER

We have an exciting opportunity for a dedicated New Zealand organisation or individual to be our representative for our proven range of innovative small farm implements.

Our aerial operation can selectively cull your feral deer population and pay a royalty.

FACT: New Zealand has a burgeoning small farm agricultural market that are world beaters in innovative farming practices.

(FROM PRIVATE BLOCKS)

Contact Lance McNicholas PHONE 027 294 7504 EMAIL mcnicholas@xtra.co.nz

FACT: The UTV and ATV are increasingly being utilised for work in small farm settings and our implements are specifically designed for these vehicles.

FACT: Our range of implements are innovative and world class quality.

FACT: Our sales projections have been exceeded due to demand for our product range.

Want to know more? www.greenpro.com.au In the first instance please make contact via email: www.info@quikcorp.com.au Attention: The Sales Manager LK0098643©

Notice of Election 2019 Board of Directors Election

SOMETHING?

CALF TRAILER MATS

FOR SALE 24 ASIDE HERRINGBONE cowshed plant. Phone 027 818 7840.

GOATS WANTED GOATS WANTED. All weights. All breeds.

Prompt service. Payment on pick up. My on farm prices will not be beaten.

Phone David Hutchings 07 895 8845 or 0274 519 249. Feral goats mustered on a 50/50 share basis.

HORTICULTURE NZ KELP. FRESH, wild ocean harvested giant kelp.

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

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

B R O O K L A N D SIMMENTAL, LBW, short gestation, bulls, suitable for beef or dairy, EBV’s available. Phone 06 374 1802.

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

PROPERTY WANTED HOUSE FOR REMOVAL wanted.

North Island.

Phone 021 0274 5654.

SHARE FARMING

SHARE FARMING opportunity with experienced farming group, who will supply stock.

Steers, heifers, bulls, sheep. Looking for astute progressive farmers experienced in adding weight and value to stock.

Phone 021 228 2573.

STOCK FEED HAY 12 EQUIVALENT squares $70. 15 equivalent rounds $75. STRAW 12 equivalent squares $55.

BALEAGE at $80. Unit loads available. Phone 021 455 787.

WANTED TO BUY TOP PRICES PAID for old motorcycles or parts.

Basket cases welcome! Old fella retiring, needs project.

Phone Mark 027 806 1651.

WORK WANTED SHEPHERD LOOKING FOR position on drystock farm/station,North Island.

Preferably horseback country. Have small team of dogs. 027 800 6769.

SINGLE COUNTRY LADY! Who is looking for a likeminded country gentleman to share her life with. 5’3, brown hair, green eyes, fit and active with a slim build.

She loves the country life and the challenge it throws at her. Enjoys horse riding, camping, fishing and cooking. To meet, please call 0800 446 332 quote code 57 www.countrycompanionship.co.nz

LK0098647©

Shepherd/General

Livestock

FARMERS WEEKLY – July 22, 2019

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

SALE TALK

S

STOCK FOR SALE

After having their 11th child, an Irish couple decided that that was enough, as they couldn’t afford a larger bed. So the husband went to his doctor and told him that he and his wife didn’t want to have any more children.

Here at Farmers Weekly we get some pretty funny contributions to our Sale Talk The doctor told him there was a procedure called a vasectomy that would fix the joke from you avid readers, problem but it was expensive. A less costly alternative was to go home, get a large and we’ve keen to hear more! firecracker, light it, put it in a beer can, then hold the can up to his ear and count to 10.

The husband said to the doctor, “B’Jayzus, I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but I don’t see how putting a firework in a beer can next to my ear is going to help me with my problem.”

“Trust me, it will do the job”, said the doctor.

So the man went home, lit a cracker and put it in a beer can. He held the can up to his ear and began to count: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5,” at which point he paused, and placed the beer can between his legs so he could continue counting on his other hand.

This procedure also works in Australia.

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

Supplied by Lindsey Thompson

Ruapehu Speckle Park purebred bulls for sale

33

Conditions apply

120 AUT FRIESIAN BULL CALVES 115kg

STOCK REQUIRED

R1YR FRIESIAN BULLS 160-240kg

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING

R2YR TRADITIONAL STEERS 400-500kg

HAVE A SALE COMING UP?

STORE LAMBS 30-40kg

R2YR FRIESIAN BULLS 420-480kg

SIL EWES DUE Aug/Sept

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Call Nigel

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381

0800 85 25 80 livestock@globalhq.co.nz

AUSTREX NZ LTD

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

L I V E TOC K EXPORTER S

BUYING NOW

All progeny from Canadian blood lines.

LK0098583©

HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN Yearling Heifers FOR CHINA EXPORT

Has Facial Eczema had an impact on scanning this year?

Enquiries to: Paul Tippett 027 438 1623 Colin Jordan 027 667 0903 David Kelk 027 644 1285 or contact your Agent www.austrex.com

Weekly Auctions

Heather-Dell & Black Bear Yearling Angus Bull Sale Comprising of 30 Yearling Angus Bulls Taupo Sale yards 1pm Monday September 23rd

High performance genetics for health traits 

Top rams on NZGE Maternal Worth + FE

“Nikau Coopworth bloodlines are consistent high performers at scanning time; notably in the more challenging seasons.”

Andrew Noble-Campbell Pregnancy Scanner

www.nikaucoopworth.co.nz  09 2333 230

Phone: 07 895 4730 Ray 027 365 4641 Email: raynjanbrown@outlook.co.nz

PRELIMINARY NOTICE

Breeding for tolerance is the solution.

Secure your bull team with no upfront cost

Tuesday night - Lower North Island Wednesday night - Upper North Island Thursday night – South Island

Dairy service bulls. Buy now. Pay later.

For more information go to bidr.co.nz or contact the team on 0800 TO BIDR Bid, buy, sell all things rural

Contacts Neil Heather............................. 0274 214050 Kevin Davenport ..................... 0272 454106 Steve Wattam ...........................0274934484

Altrive Red Deer Hind Sale Helping grow the country

FROM HERE...

Auction starts 7.00pm, 30th July 2019

pggwrightson.co.nz/ deferabull 

THIS SEASON’S CROP FIRST LIGHT WAGYU IS QUIETLY GROWING IN LINE WITH DEMAND FROM OUR DISCERNING NEW ZEALAND AND INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS.

THIS YEAR WE HAVE A LIMITED RELEASE OF HEALTHY, WAGYU DAIRY CALVES AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE.

• • • • •

90kg+ calves to purchase Proven sustainable premium returns Guaranteed buy-back of finished cattle Producer group of NZ’s elite cattle farmers Bred and reared under strict bio-security protocols

NO

ANTIBIOTICS OR ADDED HORMONES EVER

Talk to us - 0800 4 Wagyu (0800 492 498) livestock@firstlight.farm www.firstlight.farm

...TO HERE

Takapau

Taumarunui

Gisborne

Dannevirke

Masterton

Clinton

Alexandra

Elsthorpe

Ngapara

Pahiatua

Mosgiel

Brookwood

Colvend

Cricklewood

Dandaleith

Dandaloo

Delmont

Earnscleugh

Elgin

Fossil Creek

Glanworth

Glenwood

Taumarunui

BlackRidge

17

Stratford

South Westland

Aywon

Bannockburn

32

Kiwitea

Atahua

9

No.

No.

30

61

21

91

26

39

27

10

11

29

26

9

17

28

3

10

32

63

24

107

26

41

27

10

14

31

32

9

3

Gisborne

Alpine

No. No. BULLS SOLD

LOCATION

STUD

VERY strong bull selling season came as a surprise to some in the beef industry.

“One or two sales struggled a bit but it was a generally outstanding season and prices were in front of expectations,” PGG Wrightson genetics specialist and auctioneer Cam Heggie said.

“Why, I don’t really know. I thought it might have gone the other way with land use changes and stock numbers down.”

Poverty Bay breeder and commercial farmer Sam Hain wasn’t so surprised prices were higher on average but was surprised at the very high clearances because of the changing land use to forestry in some areas and lower stock numbers.

Both men attributed the strong season to farmers having plenty of cash because of the high lamb returns this season, reflecting the old saying that when lambs are up farmers buy good bulls.

A

alan.williams@globalhq.co.nz

Alan Williams

ANGUS

AVE.

5950

7316

9847

8309

6750

7750

8489

7366

7750

5100

7289

8730

7200

5052

7500

11000

AVE. PRICE ($)

Hain, head of Federated Farmers Poverty Bay-Wairoa meat and wool, said it’s been one of the best earnings years on record and that boosted both prices and clearances.

Heggie thinks farmers accept the need to pay for the best genetics to improve their herds.

“It looks like we’ve reached new levels.

“In the old days the commercial guys were paying $6000 to $8000 for a bull and now it’s in the $10,000 to $12,000 range. For the studs it was $60,000 to $70,000 and now it’s $70,000 to $80,000.”

A good sign for the industry is that two of the best priced Angus bulls of the season, selling at $85,000 and $86,000, scored highly on both phenotype and genotype – that is looks and stature and the breeding data.

“It’s not just a high EBV and not just a strong traditional bull. The data and the strong bull-type have now merged a bit.”

Breeders are aiming to achieve both and a couple of studs look to have found it.

In the latest round of sales prominent studs paid good money That applies just as much to commercial farmers who are the people setting the prices for the sector.

Though average prices were higher this year for most vendors and his own average for Hereford bulls was up $1400 on a full

TOP

10,500

21,000

16,000

13,000

15,000

12,000

16,000

15,000

12,500

7500

11,500

15,000

10,000

7500

15,500

13,000

TOP PRICE ($)

Deans Family, Central Otago

G Gower

Commercial

Commercial

Carrick Station, Bannckburn

Rossland Farming, Gore

Bullock Hills Ltd, Pahiatua

Marewa Station, Gisborne

Commercial

Corney Partnership, Taumarunui

Commercial

Melrose Station

Commercial

Marawera

BUYER

Irwell Alexandra South Westland Middlemarch South Westland Porangahau Cheviot Cheviot Gisborne Reporoa

Earnscleugh Flagstaff Foulden Hills Glacier Glenbrae Grassmere Capethorne Hain Kairuru

Northland

Ranfurly

Christchurch

Waipukurau

LOCATION

Beechwood

Whananaki

Taiaroa

Silverstream

Rauriki

STUD

No.

27

29

10

11

27

10

9

21

107

18

25

28

66

22

No.

23

26

10

11

27

9

9

18

91

18

25

25

64

17

No. No. BULLS SOLD

Farmers Weekly 2019 Bull sale results

for bulls from other studs.

That is a sign top bulls are harder to find and people are prepared to pay for them, Heggie said.

ALL BULL: Hemingford New Design, a Charolais bull, sold for $31,000 at Sam and Viki Holland’s Hemingford Charolais bull sale in June where all 42 bulls were sold for an average price of $8615. He is off to a very good home in Te Kuiti with the Grainger family at Kia Toa Charolais. Semen has been retained by Hemingford for in-herd use.

AVE.

5,750

7,846

8,500

10,770

6,700

11,533

5,444

4,816

6,750

7,200

HEREFORD

5785

6640

8968

6585

CHAROLAIS

AVE. PRICE ($)

TOP

11,000

11,500

15,000

20,000

11,000

16,000

8,000

9,500

15,000

11,000

10000

12500

22,000

9000 x 3

TOP PRICE ($)

He’s hoping the price strength might be part of a structural change for the sector.

Angus and Hereford continue to dominate the sale tallies and returns.

They’ve built up strong brands over a long time and it was a bit of a struggle for the newer or minor breeds to catch up, he said.

Cam Heggie PGG Wrightson

It was a generally outstanding season and prices were in front of expectations.

“You need the commercial guys there to do the buying and they’re setting the price.

“If a stud wants a bull it will just go and buy it, but where you’ve got 60 in the sale then the commercial farmers will be buying 50 of them.”

Commercial

Jefferis, Ngapuke Ltd

Stud

Beechwood/Richon

Willencote Hereford, Gisborne

Excelsior Farms, Owaka

Strathaven, Middlemarch

Hills Bros, Ikamatua

Carrick Station

D and J Timperley, Albury

Pukemoe Charolais, Hawera

The Paton Family, Dunback

Gold Creek, Carterton

Taiaroa Charolais, Ranfurly

BUYER

clearance, Hain noticed one significant change from previous years at a number of the bigger sales where higher prices were paid at the top end but lower prices later on, rather than being consistently strong throughout.

“You might have had a top at $15,000 and then a lot at $5000 or $6000, whereas last year there would have been most at $9000 to $12,000.”

An explanation, in his own region at least, was the high number of bulls put up for sale and once buyers had met their requirements the market dropped.

“There was some good shopping for those who waited and also the chance for some to buy one more bull.”

After very good weather in the region bulls were exceptionally well presented, Hain said.

Heggie said it was still a painful exercise in some areas to pay high money for genetics but overall there is an acceptance they have to pay more now to make more later from an improved herd.

There has been some talk about how far prices can rise before meeting resistance.

Lamb bonanza buys a lot of bull

Nelson

Fairlea

Angus

Kumeroa

Middlemarch

Ashhurst

Masterton

Gisborne

Wedderburn

Millers Flat

Marton

Taumarunui

Patearoa

Te Karaka

Martin Farming

MeadowsLea

Merchiston

Mt. Mable

Nethertown

Ngaputahi

Oregon

Orere

Penvose

Peters Genetics

Pine Park

Puke-Nui

Puketoi

Rangatira

11

8

Gisborne

Masterton

Mahoenui

Stratford

Tangihau

Tapiri

Tarangower

Tawanui

71

50

Masterton

Pahiatua

Gisborne

Te Whanga

Totaranui

Turihaua

23

Kaikohe

Culverden

Geraldine

Te Kuiti

Masterton

Coleman Farms

Hemingford

Kakahu

Kia Toa

Maungahina

36

Gisborne

Clarence Valley

Whangara

Woodbank

23

Waipukurau

Waiwhero

26

5

37

17

42

20

58

41

Paeroa

Hastings

Waitawheta

64

26

27

Waiterenui

Hawera

Paihia

Gisborne

Waimata

Wairere

Palmerston

Waimara

Waitangi

9

Waikaia

Umbrella Range

45

Wairoa

Ngaruawahia

Turiroa

Twin Oaks

36

29

132

Stratford

Conway Flat

Te Kupe

Te Mania

38

18

23

65

45

85

Irwell

Otorohanga

Storth Oaks

101

Ward

Pleasant Point

Stern

43

Sudeley

Taumarunui

Springdale

42

19

38

26

28

32

29

28

30

6

30

43

24

45

43

76

32

37

38

99

26

56

32

Taimate

Ohakune

Taumarunui

Ruaview

Shian

Weka Pass

Nuhaka

Kenhardt

Red Oak

39

Masterton

KayJay

Wanganui

Geraldine

Kakahu

Tolaga Bay

Culverden

Kaiwara

Ranui

Gisborne

Kaharau

Ratanui

57

Te Awamutu

Hingaia

45

25

Culverden

Hastings

Grampians

6

34

15

42

15

58

36

16

37

26

61

23

8

25

27

45

50

68

30

19

131

6

11

38

18

23

65

45

80

95

43

41

19

33

26

38

55

28

32

23

24

30

6

29

40

24

44

43

69

25

37

38

98

25

56

32

22

45

BULLS SOLD

Hallmark

LOCATION

STUD

4416

5262

5013

8615

4000

CHAROLAIS

10508

7625

7312

7123

6865

7475

6100

6125

8000

9,740

10,500

10,490

11,283

7250

6700

10,996

4700

8450

8210

8111

20,913

13892

10,038

9400

9,500

9616

9060

7031

7850

12740

7,450

9,990

8600

7312

6400

5900

8600

11000

11656

8170

7000

8,886

9506

9365

8508

8648

10,945

10700

8,456

13,009

9359

8103

9800

PRICE ($)

10000

7,500

31,000

4,900

32,000

14,000

12,000

11,500

16000

16,000

12,000

10,000

15,000

24,500

28,000

40,000

35,000

12000 x 2

9,500

56,000

6000

15000

11000

11,500

86,000

85,000

16,000

38,500

28,000

16,500

36,000

10,000

13,000

42,000

14,400

72,000

11,000

13000 x 3

12,000

9,500

14000 x 2

13,000

45,000

14,500

15000 x 2

13,000

31,000

22,000

15,000

14,000

28,000

30,000

13,000

78,000

14,000

14,500 x 2

16,000

PRICE ($)

Meads Farming Ltd, Feilding

Kia Toa, Te Kuiti

John Guy, Kaeo

MeadowsLea, Fairlea

Commercial

Commercial

Commercial

Ranui, Wanganui

G Lovell, Whangarei

Commercial

R Pattison

W Heckler, Palmerston

Kaharau Angus

Wilkins Farming Ltd

Kay Jay

Oregon Angus

Commercial

Commercial

Stern Angus

Commercial

Commercial

Brooklands Station, Alfredton

Rangatira

Turihaua Angus, Gisborne

Hallmark Angus, Hastings and Ngaputahi Angus Ashhurst

Riverland J Angus, Cheviot

R Alabaster Family Trust, Taihape

Tangihau Angus, Gisborne

Maungatotara Station

Commercial

Brookwood and Elgin Angus Studs

J Hayward, Turangi

Umbella Angus

Mount St. Bathans Station

Commercial

Taihape

D McAughtrie, Omarama and S Francis Naseby

Taimata Station

Waiterenui

Sudeley Genetics

AL Wilson, Owaka and Deep Hill Farm Ltd

Kim Young and Son, Raetihi

Shian Angus

Gunton Farms, Waikaia

Ranui Holdings

Stern Angus, Pleasant Point

Commercial

Atahua Angus and Merchiston Angus

Commercial

Whakararumaru Station and Pareroa Partnership

R Reid

BUYER

Dannevirke Mayfield Geraldine Tiraumea Otautau Christchurch Rangiwahia Mahoenui Palmerston Stratford Ohaewai Ohaewai Lilburn Valley Gore Gisborne

Ngakouka Okawa Orari Gorge Otapawa Pourakino Downs Pute Riverlee RockEnd Stoneburn Tawanui Te Puna Te Puna [yearlings] Waiau Hereford Westholm Wilencote

Ohakune

Ruaview

Eketahuna

Maungahina

Masterton

Otautau

Kaimoa Wainuka

Ward Te Kuiti

Burtergill Ipurua

Middlemarch

Pio Pio

Potawa

Foulden Hills

Roxburgh Albury

Lone Pine Opawa

Wairoa Mosgiel

Kerrah

Waitahuna

Glenside Leafland

The Catlins

Ranfurly Takapau

Rough Ridge Tahuna & Hiwiroa Beresford

Katikati Mahoenui

Morton Shorthorns

Kerikeri

Longview Raupuha

Tapanui Masterton

Glendhu Hinewaka

Taumarunui

Winton

Colvend

Torrisdale

Matamata Whangarei

Te Anau

Monymusk

North Island Sale Snake Gully

Cave

Kaikoura

Masterton

Timaru

Nelson

Lowburn

Millers Flat

Amberley

Nelson Lakes

Havelock North

LOCATION

Merrylea

Matariki

Maungahina

Matatoki

Martin Farming

Locharburn

Limehills

Lees Valley

Lake Station

Koanui

STUD

15

3

23

25

10

4

10

22

19

17

24

82

21

18

10

11

9

11

22

19

11

9

7

11 18

33

19

8

13

11

26

25

18

12

16

31

29

53

18

38

22

62

28

8

11

37

53

12

20

63

LIMOUSIN 4200 4000

9,650

5,500

5,470

2380

$5,500

8450

7,250

64,230

5,262

7388

5,533

6,711

7,400

10,154

6,000

9,511

8,100

10309

10,600

4,583

5,833

8,100

10,300

6,500

5,000

10,088

PRICE ($)

5500

4800

4800

4809

5463

4250

8312

6136

4128

7148

7133

6233

5300

7000

15

11,766

SPECKLE PARK

3

21

19

10

SOUTH DEVON

18,000

8200

10000

11000

13000

10500

10500

9500

7000

16000

7365

6500

6083

4500

11000 16,000

7771

7

7888 6475

7000

7000

7000

7000 x 2

5,500

23,500

11,000

600

7,000

7,500 6,000

20,500

10,500

3700

8500

15,000 x 2

12,500

11,500

6500 x 3

10,500

15,000

12,000

14,000

60,000

8,000

17,000

25,000

57000

28,000

5,000

7000 x 2

37,000

34,000

10,000

8,500

21,000

PRICE ($)

SANTA GERTRUDIS 4 7000

22

18

12

15

81

20

18

SIMMENTAL

7

9

8

11

17

17

11

7

SHORTHORNS

5

MURRAY GREYS

10 18

30

13

8

12

11

24

23

16

9

15

26

97

50

16

36

21

62

30

6

7

27

51

6

16

62

BULLS SOLD

Parkvale/Australian Syndicate

AJ Nolan, West Coast

Dean Wason, Sheffield

Dargaville

Aitken and Sons, Tutira

Ben Lomond, Hastings

Lone Pine Simmentals

Gold Creek, Matawai

Simon McCrae, Waimate

Wilden Station, Cheviot

Widen Station, Tapanui

McFadzean Cattle Company, Carterton

Kerrah Simmentals, Wairoa

O and T Evans, Longridge

Blackwell Ltd

J Tapp, West Coast

Commercial

Kelvin and Barbara Stoke and Fraser Fletcher

Rough Ridge Shorthorns, Ranfurly

M Helm, Maniototo

Crown Rock Station

Bruce Parry, Waiuku

A Thompson, Fairlie

Maungakaramea M and K Child, Maungakaramea

Mokairau Polled Herefords

Glenlapa Station

Commercial

Iona Hill Top, Mokau

Commercial

S and E Miller, Lawrence

B and K Bayley, Matawai

Ngai Tahu Farming, Culverden

A and A Richardson, Turangi

Grant Family, Gore

Otapawa/Hukaroa Herefords

S and E Joblin, Greenhill Station, Dannevirke

G and D Chamberlain, Capethorne Stud, Cheviot

Monymusk, Te Anau

Okawa Herefords, Ashburton

Mokairau Stud

Commercial

Lake Station, Hawarden and Limestone Farm, Golden Bay

G Shearing, Pourakino, Otautau

The Chestermans, Hastings

G Inch, Hawarden

A and L Hannah, Nelson

James McKerchar, MerryLea, Cave

BUYER

MARKET SNAPSHOT

36

Market Snapshot brought to you by the AgriHQ analysts.

Suz Bremner

Mel Croad

Nicola Dennis

Cattle

Reece Brick

Caitlin Pemberton

Sheep

BEEF

William Hickson

Deer

SHEEP MEAT

VENISON

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.75

5.70

5.45

NI lamb (17kg)

8.00

7.90

8.00

NI Stag (60kg)

9.00

9.00

11.30

NI Bull (300kg)

5.45

5.40

5.35

NI mutton (20kg)

5.45

5.45

5.15

SI Stag (60kg)

8.95

8.95

11.30

NI Cow (200kg)

4.45

4.40

4.40

SI lamb (17kg)

7.75

7.70

7.85

SI Steer (300kg)

5.55

5.50

5.40

SI mutton (20kg)

5.45

5.45

5.35

SI Bull (300kg)

5.10

5.10

5.20

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

SI Cow (200kg)

4.10

4.00

4.25

UK CKT lamb leg

9.99

9.99

9.14

Export markets (NZ$/kg) 8.07

7.94

6.74

US domestic 90CL cow

7.45

7.36

7.19

North Island steer slaughter price

5.5

4.5 South Island steer slaughter price

$/kg CW

6.0

Feb

Apr 2017-18

Dairy

Jun

4.5

10.5 South Island lamb slaughter price

7.5

Oct

Dec 5-yr ave

Feb

Apr 2017-18

Jun

Last week

Prior week

Last year

-

-

3.26

WMP

Last price* 3120

2940

320

Jun-18

AMF

5620

5830

5900

Butter

4750

4955

5100

Milk Price

6.41

6.40

6.40

Aug-18

Oct-18

Dec-18

Feb-19

Apr-19

783

750

* price as at close of business on Thursday

Close

YTD High

Meridian Energy Limited (NS)

4.9

5.03

3.38

The a2 Milk Company Limited

16.79

16.98

10.42 7.065

Auckland International Airport Limited

9.66

9.85

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd

15.85

16.69

12.3

Spark New Zealand Limited

3.94

4.18

3.54

Ryman Healthcare Limited

12.98

12.98

10.4

Mercury NZ Limited (NS)

4.63

4.75

3.51

Contact Energy Limited

7.89

8.08

5.82

Fletcher Building Limited

4.91

5.55

4.57

Port of Tauranga Limited (NS)

6.05

6.4

4.9

Listed Agri Shares Company

Close

YTD High

YTD Low

The a2 Milk Company Limited

16.79

16.98

10.42

Comvita Limited

3.14

5.42

2.92

Delegat Group Limited

11.75

12

9.4

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

3.85

4.85

3.45

Foley Wines Limited

1.83

2

1.47

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

0.9

1.05

0.75

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

2

2.98

1.76

340

PGG Wrightson Limited

0.55

0.58

0.47

320

Sanford Limited (NS)

6.83

7.06

6.35

Scales Corporation Limited

4.7

5.13

4.34

SeaDragon Limited

0.002

0.003

0.001

Seeka Limited

5.07

5.35

4.2

Synlait Milk Limited (NS)

9.64

11.35

8.45

Aug-18

Oct-18

Dec-18

Feb-19

Apr-19

Jun-19

T&G Global Limited

350

$/tonne

US$/t

3100 3000 2900 2800

Aug

Sep Oct Latest price

Nov

Dec 4 weeks ago

Jan

5pm, close of market, Thursday

360

WAIKATO PALM KERNEL

3200

YTD Low

Jun-19

380

Jun-18

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

783

Company

440 400

2530

304

Top 10 by Market Cap

400

420

2455

485

313

DAP

2860

2425

616

313

4.75

vs 4 weeks ago

SMP

616

-

CANTERBURY FEED BARLEY Prior week

Aug 2018-19

Urea

-

$/tonne

Nearby contract

Jun

Last year

30 micron lamb

360

DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T)

Apr 2017-18

Prior week

3.35

Apr-19 Jun-19 Sept. 2020

Feb

Last week

-

6.75

Feb-19

NZ average (NZ$/t)

-

440

Oct-18 Dec-18 Sept. 2019

Dec 5-yr ave

FERTILISER

37 micron ewe

480

Aug-18

Oct

Fertiliser

Aug 2018-19

Super

7.25

5.75

7.5 6.5

CANTERBURY FEED WHEAT

6.25

8.5

5.5

$/tonne

$/kg MS

MILK PRICE FUTURES

South Island stag slaughter price

9.5

6.5

Grain

Data provided by

8.5

11.5

Coarse xbred ind.

Aug 2018-19

9.5

6.5

(NZ$/kg) Dec 5-yr ave

10.5

7.5

WOOL

Oct

Last year

North Island stag slaughter price

11.5

5.5

5.5

4.5

Last week Prior week

6.5

4.5

5.0

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

7.5

8.5

5.0 $/kg CW

$/kg CW

6.0

Last year

North Island lamb slaughter price

8.5 $/kg CW

US imported 95CL bull

Last week Prior week

$/kg CW

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

$/kg CW

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Ingrid Usherwood

S&P/NZX Primary Sector Equity

300

2.7

2.81

2.6

16487

17434

15063

S&P/NZX 50 Index

10741

10741

8732

S&P/NZX 10 Index

10516

10516

8280

250 200

Jun-18

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR EQUITY

Aug-18

Oct-18

Dec-18

Feb-19

Apr-19

Jun-19

16487

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

10741

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

10516

37

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019 NI SLAUGHTER BULL ( $/KG)

5.45

SI SLAUGHTER STEER ( $/KG)

5.55

NI SLAUGHTER MUTTON ( $/KG)

5.45

R2 HEREFORD-FRIESIAN STEERS, 427-435KG, AT FRANKTON ( $/KG LW)

3.18

DON’T STOP HERE...

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PANORAMA: The pens were full at last Monday’s prime sale at Feilding.

LivestockEye

C

NORTH ISLAND ALVES are arriving onto dry paddocks in Northland.

We’re told the region has had absolutely sterling conditions.

Forty to 50mm of rain did arrive last week but it all soaked in.

There’s no pugging, plenty of feed and cows haven’t needed to eat too much to keep warm. However, farmers are being warned not to be complacent – winter will come.

The Pukekohe district in Auckland’s south had an unsettled week with rain and showers. Temperatures were higher than expected in mid July, which means crops are growing steadily.

Waikato has been damp but isn’t drenched. Water tables are still low and if it could be arranged for the warm temperatures to remain farmers would be happy to have more rain. Pasture growth rates have even lifted a fraction, which is most unusual for July. Calving’s under way and the first lambs are appearing. On the financial front dairy farmers are starting the year cautiously – they’re hoping Fonterra will stick to its forecast payout.

Last year it didn’t. On sheep and beef farms there’s confidence beef prices will hold and farmers are looking forward to an improvement on already good prices for their lambs.

Bay of Plenty has been showery and cool. Kiwifruit pruners have had to dodge the rain – they don’t work in the wet because there’s a risk of spreading Psa. A few more avocados are coming onto the local market. Avocados, which usually have an on-year and an off-year, were due to have an on-year this year but while it will be bigger than last it won’t be a bumper season.

King Country’s seen rain – 100mm plus in some parts. That should have been very good news because to the end of June the region was 50% behind in rainfall for the year to date. However, farmers would much rather have catch-up rain in November and December and not in the middle of winter. It has been nice and mild though. A few early lambs are

arriving in northern King Country.

Taranaki has been wet and windy but still not that cold. The province has already had its usual rainfall for July. It seems the weather gods are making up for a dry June. Grass is growing well and coastal dairy farms, which calve earlier than inland farms, are in the thick of it.

The East Coast was tropical last week – unseasonably warm. There’s been rain and grass growth and the region is set up for a good spring. The farmer we rang says lambing won’t start on his property until early September. Scanning results of 200% indicate it should be a good one.

Hawke’s Bay was a bit cool on Friday but has been beautifully mild with one day midweek hitting 18C. Grape growers would like the temperatures to take a plunge to kill the bugs. They are busy with pruning. It’s about half way through.

The hill country is dry – good for getting around the farm but growth has been slow. Farmers are a bit nervous the lack of moisture now means it will all come in August when they are in the thick of lambing.

One of the ag consultants we speak to in Manawatu was selling raffle tickets for Scouts at Feilding’s farmers’ market when we rang on Friday and had very cold toes. He says people have forgotten what winter usually feels like. It has come as a bit of a shock after an eight-week run of good weather. In the last week or so 100mm of rain has fallen. He says there’s still a bit of grass around and cow condition going into calving is good.

Wairarapa has had some rain, ground temperatures are creeping slowly up and the days are a bit longer. One farmer says his farm’s not comfortable for feed so he’s put fertiliser on three weeks earlier than usual. He’s looking forward to August when a bit more grass will grow.

SOUTH ISLAND It’s been wet in Nelson and Motueka so grape pruning has slowed right down. In apple orchards tree planting is on hold as growers don’t want to pug up the ground

with machinery so it’s frustrating for them but, on the upside, the rain is helping to replenish aquifers.

A Marlborough farmer says there was 100mm of rain in the gauge last week. He farms about 30km north of Blenheim and is well into lambing. So far survival rates have been good. Pruning and wrapping continue in the province’s vineyards.

A Grey Valley dairy farmer on the West Coast says there have been a few fine days but it’s mainly been wet. He’s not due to start calving for another three weeks but there have already been a couple of early arrivals. As well as being on grass, the cows are also eating fodder beet, silage and swedes.

The very dry conditions this winter in Canterbury seem to have ended with rain last week and more forecast. Dairy farmers are right on the cusp of calving, which will become their focus for the next couple of months. Other farmers are busy completing winter maintenance jobs before the busy spring period.

Tree planting efforts on the plains have ramped up with a lot of natives being planted under and around irrigation systems.

Central Otago’s warmed up a bit since we spoke to our contact in the Oturehua Valley three weeks ago. He was hoping to go curling as the ice was nearly thick enough on the Idaburn dam but now there’s hardly any ice. There was 16mm of rain last week. Usually that would be snow. Farmers are getting into pre-lamb machine shearing while blade or hand shearing is all done. Some farmers like blade shearing because it leaves more cover so the sheep can stand the cold better. Stock are on brassicas but it’s sticky underfoot.

The sun has been competing with rain showers over coastal Southland. With temperatures reaching 10C, grass keeps growing. A farmer at Wallacetown says it’s still quite wet underfoot but he can still get his tractor onto paddocks. Sheep are being moved regularly to stop them pugging the ground and are behind wire with a menu of kale, swedes and balage.

Courtesy of Radio New Zealand Country Life You can listen to Country Life on RNZ at 9pm every Friday and 7am on Saturday or on podcast at rnz.co.nz/countrylife

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Every week, we explain the context of the current market situation, drivers which are impacting the livestock markets and what to expect in the coming week.

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38

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

Big jump in North Island lamb prices North Island store lamb prices are up $40 to $60 a head on five-year averages.

Another strengthening in the store lamb market widened the price gap further with fiveyear average levels to the largest in AgriHQ historical data.

Price trends at Stortford Lodge have put store lamb prices up $15-$20 a head on last year’s levels while Feilding is trading at a $10 a head advantage.

However, compared to the five-year average prices have come a long way in a short time with Stortford Lodge trading at a $50-$60 lift and Feilding, $40-$50.

NORTHLAND Wellsford store cattle • All R3 beef-dairy steers, 499-576kg, lifted to $2.93-$2.95/kg • Most R2 beef-dairy heifers, 282-373kg, earned $2.61-$2.87/kg • R1 beef-cross and exotic-cross steers, 195-276kg, improved to $705-$870 • R1 beef-dairy heifers, 164-237kg, lifted to $520-$700 • R1 beef-dairy bulls, 143-266kg, traded at $540-$650 A strong cattle sale was held at WELLSFORD last Monday, with mild winter conditions keeping buyers enthusiastic.

Most R2 beef-dairy and dairy steers, 397-445kg, traded at $2.76-$2.91/kg. R1 Angus-Friesian steers, 152-270kg, lifted to $600-$670, with Charolais-Friesian and HerefordFriesian, 195-227kg, improving to $720-$770. Herefordbeef heifers, 203-215kg, were solid at $625-$660, while traditional, 138-233kg, traded at $400-$660. Twelve R1 Friesian bulls, 285kg, sold well at $815, while Hereford bulls, 226kg, managed $660.

Autumn-born dairy-beef weaner heifers, 123-126kg, earned $455-$485, while bulls of the same breeding and 111-133kg varied from $480 to $630. Mixed-age Hereford cows, with week old calves-at-foot, were picked up for $1200 per unit, with Hereford-Friesian and same age calves-at-foot earning a similar $1250.

AUCKLAND Pukekohe • Best prime steers strengthened to $2.83-$2.93/kg • Best prime heifers sold for $2.80-$2.83/kg • Medium forward heifers earned $2.70-$2.87/kg Cattle prices remained very solid at PUKEKOHE last week as demand for killable stock is strong and steers lifted.

Boner cows strengthened at the top end, earning a wide range of $1.53-$2.46/kg, while bulls made $2.58-$2.73/ kg. There is also good confidence for farmers to restock as the weather remains mild, with R3 and R2 steers trading at $2.75-$2.85/kg. There were a few nice yearling cattle on offer, which met good demand and the top heifers earned up to $800-$860.

COUNTIES Tuakau sale • Heavy store steers sold up to $1300 • Prime beef cows made $2.30-$2.56/kg • Heavy prime ewes returned $165-$190 Prices for a small yarding of store cattle firmed at TUAKAU last Thursday, PGG Wrightson agent Craig Reiche reported. Hereford-Friesian steers, 413kg, made $3.14/ kg and 370kg Angus earned $3.13/kg. In the weaner section, Hereford-Friesian, 300kg, fetched $890, with 196kg Hereford-Friesian and 199kg Angus making $745.

Hereford-Friesian heifers, 422-493kg, sold at $2.96-$3.06/kg and 301kg Hereford-Friesian earned $890. Weaner heifers, 187-243kg, returned $670-$790. Last Wednesday’s prime cattle market was strong, with most heavy steers trading at $2.95-$3.12/kg and medium, $2.85-$2.90/kg. The best of the heifers made $3.00-$3.02/kg, with medium types selling at $2.80-$2.90/kg. Most boners earned $1.71-$2.34/kg and heavy bulls, $3.00-$3.02/kg.

Good-medium prime lambs sold at $160-$193 on Monday, and the bulk of the store lambs made $100-$135.

WAIKATO Frankton cattle sale • R2 beef-dairy steers, 398-468kg, strengthened to $3.12-$3.20/kg • R2 Hereford-dairy heifers, 363kg lifted to $3.03/kg • Autumn-born one-year Hereford-Friesian heifers, 286-346kg, held at $875-$1010

• Twenty R1 Charolais heifers, 272kg, sold well at $910 • Traditional in-calf cows, 553-558kg, earned $2.20-$2.28/kg Continuing mild winter conditions helped strengthen the market at FRANKTON last Wednesday. Most R2 steers improved, while Hereford-dairy heifers, 384-410kg, held at $2.81-$2.88/kg. Hereford-Friesian heifers, 381-430kg, firmed to $2.86-$2.95/kg, as did Friesian bulls, 412-441kg, up to $2.74-$2.79/kg. Quality was mixed throughout the R1 section, and beef-dairy steers, 174-179kg, softened to $520-$550, while 205-220kg, improved to $685-$770. Bulls were solid with beef-dairy, 151-219kg, at $560-$660, and nine Belgian Blue, 215-242kg, $680-$750. Friesian bulls, 230-290kg, improved to $750-$845. Autumn-born beefdairy weaner heifers and bulls, 93-132kg, held at $395-$525.

Hereford-Friesian bulls, 95-101kg, softened to $490, while Friesian, 92-126kg, managed $380-$540.

The prime market was strong with all heifers, 457-570kg, improving to $2.91-$2.99/kg, while all steers, 594-675kg, held at $2.90-$2.94/kg.

BAY OF PLENTY Rangiuru cattle and sheep sale • Prime steers, 576-650kg, sold for $2.98-$3.03/kg, regardless of breed • Angus cows, 390-461kg and run with an Angus bull, made $838$990 • R2 steers sold well, the best Hereford-Friesian, 397kg, at $3.20/kg • R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 401-436kg, were close behind at $3.05-$3.09/kg Mild winter weather continued at RANGIURU, allowing savvy buyers at last Tuesday’s sale to get a jump on spring pricing. Prime heifers sold at similar levels to the steers, rising to $3.04-$3.08/kg. Boner cows varied; a line of 456kg Friesian earned $2.26/kg, and 511kg, $2.07/kg. R2 HerefordJersey steers, 441kg, achieved $3.08/kg, and Hereford-Jersey heifers, 278-373kg, $2.41-$2.52/kg. R2 Hereford-dairy heifers, run-with-bull, sold for $640-$760. Feeder calves started appearing last week and varied from $20 to $145.

It was a solid sale for the lambs and ewes yarded. The top price for prime lambs was $170, and store, $128.

TARANAKI Taranaki cattle • R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 388kg, sold for $3.16/kg • R3 beef-cross heifers, 477-500kg, made $2.66-$2.74/kg • Top R1 Jersey bulls, 254kg, earned $900 • Prime steers fetched $2.94-$3.10/kg Last week’s TARANAKI cattle sale was small, although the market held. Steers continued to have strong demand, with 3-year-plus beef-cross, 537-547kg, selling well at $3.03-$3.04/kg. R2 Hereford-cross steers also made good money, with 365-372kg, fetching $3.05-$3.07/kg. R2 heifers were typically Hereford-cross and better types made $2.70$2.74/kg. R1 steers strengthened with the majority making $710-$785, while heifers were mainly $500-$600. Prime steers strengthened, while boner cows varied, with in-calf crossbred, 706kg, topping this category at $2.33/kg.

POVERTY BAY Matawhero sheep • Very heavy male store lambs made $177 • Medium ewe store lambs sold for $154 • Prime lambs earned $130 There was a reasonably small yarding of store lambs last week at MATAWHERO and local buyers had to compete for what was available. There was a good-quality line up of medium to heavy lambs on offer and the average price jumped $10 to $165.34. Heavy store ewe lambs made $159$175, with male lambs just above this. Prime numbers were

limited, mixed age ewes made $133-$145, with 4th ewes at $151.

HAWKE’S BAY Stortford Lodge prime sale • Angus steers, 574kg, held at $3.11/kg • Angus-cross cows, 664kg, lifted to $2.45/kg • Very heavy male lambs held at $157.50-$189 • Very heavy ewe lambs earned $162-$190 • Very heavy mixed-age ewes improved to $182-$187 Quality was high in the cattle section of last Monday’s prime sale at STORTFORD LODGE, and Angus and AngusHereford steers, 589kg, held at $3.08/kg. Lamb throughput lifted to 600 and continued to sell to strong demand. Top ram and male lambs both improved to $203.50-$220, as did heavy types up to $159.50-$167.50. Mixed sex lambs softened with the top end earning $168-$190.50, and medium, $132-$136, while good to heavy ewe lambs traded at $139-$153. A mixed quality ewe yarding sold to strong demand. Heavy mixed-age ewes lifted to $149-$169, with very-good and medium-good types easing to $131-$143.

Medium ewes improved to $121-$129, as did light to lightmedium up to $80-$119.

Stortford Lodge store cattle and sheep • Heavy male lambs firmed to $160-$173 • Heavy ewe lambs sold for $152-$166 • Good ewe lambs lifted to an average of $154-$161 • R2 Simmental-cross heifers, 326-386kg, fetched $2.93-$3.01/kg • R1 Simmental and Angus-Hereford steers, 283-301kg, made $1060-$1140 Store lamb prices improved at STORTFORD LODGE last Wednesday, with males gaining $5-$10, and ewe lambs, $3-$17. Throughput was higher than expected at 6300 head, but some buyers still left empty handed. Most male lambs traded at $150-$173. Two heavy pens of Romney ewe lambs sold for breeding at $164.50-$166, with few in this class below $130. Extra competition for breeding ewes meant two lines of scanned mixed age and five-year Romney reached $217-$220. Though cattle volume was low at 200 head, the sale included an annual draft of Simmental and AngusHereford-cross steers and heifers. With R1 heifers returning $700-$880. R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 393-416kg, reached $3.04-$3.08/kg, while Angus-Friesian heifers, 400-415kg, made $2.71-$2.81/kg. Two big lines of Friesian cows, 512582kg, sold for fattening at $2.27-$2.32/kg.

MANAWATU Rongotea cattle • Two-year Angus-cross heifers, 341kg, made $2.40/kg • Yearling Speckle Park-cross bulls, 202kg, earned $650 • Yearling Angus heifers, 289kg, sold well at $850 • In-calf Friesian heifers made $950-$1100 • Friesian-cross boner cows, 437-479kg, fetched $1.78-$1.94/kg While the cattle pens remained quiet at RONGOTEA last week, the calf pens were busy with a good selection of Friesian bull calves as spring calving gets underway in the Manawatu, NZ Farmers Livestock agent Darryl Harwood reported. Friesian bull calves made $180-$265, while Hereford-Friesian bulls earned $290-$355, and heifers were $160-$200. Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers were of heavier weights this week and 198-230kg made $2.17-$2.77/kg, while the same breed heifers, 145-184kg, earned $2.41$3.10/kg. Yearling Angus-cross heifers, 160-256kg made $2.70-$2.83/kg.

Feilding prime cattle and sheep sale • Very heavy mixed-sex lambs were $198-$206 • Boner heifers, 450-660kg, traded at $2.62/kg For the second week in a row, the highest prime sheep tally for the year at FEILDING was achieved last Monday.

This included the highest ewe tally for the season with scanned dries boosting entries. Demand for prime lambs remained high. Very heavy male lambs traded at $195-$207, with heavy lines $180-$193. The bulk of the mixed-sex lambs were heavy lines priced at $176-$193, while mediumgood sold at $156-$173. In the cattle pens the volume of boner cows was high, with prices for 475-525kg lines down 14c/kg to $2.24/kg. In-calf were slightly above this at $2.29$2.32/kg.

Feilding store cattle and sheep • Top male and cryptorchid lambs sold to $184-$193 • Most male lambs firmed to $151-$177 • Five-year Romney ewes with high scanning percentages reached $226-$229 • R2 Angus steers, 440-470kg, firmed to $3.10-$3.30/kg • R1 Friesian bulls, 224-283kg, earned $810-$880 There was no let-up in the store lamb market at FEILDING last Friday, with most pens full yet again.

Ewe lambs featured more as the season marches on and included a big entry of capital stock Romney. Hawke’s Bay dominated these pens, with top cuts making $150-

SALE YARD WRAP

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019

FIRST UP: Pen one at Feilding on Friday was this mob of 140 capital stock 5-year Romney ewes, SIL 175% to Suffolk and Suftex rams. They sold for $226. For more visit agrihq.co.nz. $161, which covered a large portion of the pens. Much of the balance made $110-$149. Very few male lines sold below $150. Breeding ewes were mixed, and while good strength was seen for high percentage lines, bidding was selective on lesser types. The best of the mixed age made $175-$186, though were either singles or had low scanning percentages. Sellers started to push annual draft cattle into the yards, with a big boost to R2 steer entries. Quality lines had a firm tone, and traditional steers, 380-400kg, managed $3.35-$3.39/kg. Charolais-cross, 450-495kg, sold for $3.11$3.13/kg, and Hereford-Friesian, 306-441kg, $3.10-$3.13/kg.

R2 Angus heifers, 410-460kg, firmed 5c/kg to $3.12-$3.17/kg and 403-424kg held at $2.97-$3.03/kg.

Decent line sizes were attractive to buyers of R1 Friesian bulls, and a quality 318kg pen made $985.

CANTERBURY

• Good prime lambs firmed to $154-$188 Boner Friesian cows, 599-675kg, firmed to $1.88/kg An in-lamb ewe fair was calendared at COALGATE last Thursday, though only five lines were penned, bringing the total to 885 head. Five-year Merino, scanned 144% to Romney and Sufftex, sold for $155, and two lines of Corriedale, $155-$168. Prime lambs outnumbered store by 340 head, with high entries continuing. One line of store male lambs made $155, and most ewe lambs, $135-$137.

Very heavy prime lambs sold to $192-$223, though similar ewes were absent and most traded at $130-$188. Cattle volume and quality was limited. R1 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 180-185kg, sold for $400-$470, and Friesian bulls, 218-247kg, $475-$580.

SOUTH-CANTERBURY

Canterbury Park sheep and cattle • Top traditional prime steers sold for $2.89-$2.95/kg • Prime Hereford heifers, 600kg, made up to $2.85/kg • Heavy mixed sex store lambs earned $125-$148 • Top prime ewes made $210-$232 The prime cattle market at last week’s CANTERBURY PARK sale was steady to lifting. Dairy-beef typically sold in a tight range of $2.81-$2.89/kg, with traditional lines above this. Prime heifers also strengthened with beef types above 400kg trading for $2.70-$2.80/kg, while HerefordFriesian, 423-535kg, mostly made $2.65-$2.75/kg, with heavy types above this. Store lamb tallies lifted back up to 1820 head and a good number of quality lambs lifted the average price to $123.60. Prime ewes were steady despite a lift in numbers, with the majority earning $120-$204. Prime lambs strengthened with the top end earning $190-$221.

Temuka prime and boner cattle; all sheep • Mixed-sex store lambs firmed to $133-$153 • The best mixed-age ewes made $214-$232 • Boner Friesian cows, 645-716kg, firmed to $1.90-$1.98/kg • Boner Friesian cows, 458-539kg, firmed to $1.60-$1.72/kg A third of the cattle yarding at TEMUKA last week were boner cows, and prices for this class of stock rose across all weight bands. Prime steers were mostly traditional and prices were robust, with 485- 660kg at $2.71-$2.78/kg. More bulls were offered, and most made at least $2.30/kg. Buyers were focused on yield in the prime heifers, where the majority of the traditional and beef-Friesian sold for $2.60$2.70/kg. Store lamb throughput rebounded, with large numbers of heavy store lambs available, especially mixedsex. Prime lambs sold on a good market with top pens at $235-$240, and the remainder $142-$199. A big variance in ewe quality meant most ranged from $70 to $187.

Coalgate cattle and sheep sale • Four-five shear Romney ewes, scanned 173% to Suffolk and Sufftex, sold for $199 • Mixed-sex store lambs firmed to $124-$145

Balclutha sheep • Heavy prime lambs made $150-$170

OTAGO

39

Photo: Reece Brick

• Heavy prime ewes earned $160-$180 • Top store lambs sold for $120-$135 • Heavy prime rams fetched $100 There was a small yarding of prime lambs at BALCLUTHA last week, and prices were on par with the previous sale.

Prime ewes were also steady, with all earning over $100. The store pens were also limited, although the market held with mediums at $110-$115.

SOUTHLAND Lorneville • Heavy prime lambs lifted to $170-$184 • Top two-tooth ewes earned $160-$192 • Store lambs made $100-$125 • Two-year Hereford-cross steers, 507kg, made $2.84/kg At LORNEVILLE last week prime lambs lifted again, with light to medium types making $139-$166. Two-tooths sold well and prime ewes strengthened, with heavies at $151$188 and light to mediums making $112-$143. Local trade rams sold in a range of $83-$118.

There was a small yarding of prime cattle, where 540590kg steers sold well at $2.86, and 380kg heifers made $2.00-$2.20/kg. Store cattle were also limited, Herefordcross, 377kg, were bought for $2.76/kg, with heavier types above this.

Charlton sheep sale • Heavy prime lambs made $160-$175 • Heavy prime ewes earned $160-$185 • Heavy local trade rams sold for $80-$100 There was a medium sized yarding of prime lambs sold well at CHARLTON last week, with the tail end earning $130-$148 and mediums at $150-$158.

Heavy ewes made good money, while lights were around $90-$130.

There was a small to medium yarding of store lambs, and prices slightly eased. Top lambs made $120-$135, while light to mediums were $90-$118.

Markets

40 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – July 22, 2019 NI SLAUGHTER STEER

NI SLAUGHTER LAMB

SI SLAUGHTER LAMB

($/KG)

($/KG)

MEDIUM MIXED SEX LAMBS AT TEMUKA

($/KG)

($/HD)

8.00

7.75

136

SIL 209% to Sufftex, at Stortford Lodge

China now big beef buyer Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz

C

HINA’S hunger for manufacturing beef has pushed New Zealand exports there up by 30% while those to the United States have fallen 50%.

And that is a positive signal for farmgate prices, AgriHQ senior sheep and beef analyst Mel Croad said.

Two things have happened in the beef export market this season.

“We have seen an incredible increase in demand from China and that has clawed manufacturing beef, which is dairy bull beef and dairy cows, away from the US. “As a result the reliance on the US market has reduced.”

Since October Chinese imports are up 49,000 tonnes on the previous season.

In the whole of last season Chinese imports were only 17,500t.

Improvements in the discretionary incomes of Chinese consumers have driven up consumption of beef, which, in the past, was considered a luxury item.

A looming pork shortage caused by the African swine fever epidemic has also encouraged Chinese wholesalers to stock up on beef in anticipation of a hike in retail beef prices.

Strong demand from China has NZ exporters favouring that market.

“In fact, 49% of NZ beef exports in June went to China.”

That equates to 26,000t of NZ beef, well up on the 12,000t that was shipped to China in June last year.

Total NZ beef exports for June were slightly less than last year at 52,800t, down 1032t or 2%, meaning some longer-established markets lost out.

In particular, there was a 50% drop in June beef exports to the US. “Up until this season the US always secured the lion’s share of NZ beef, however, trade dynamics are quickly changing,” Croad said.

“China’s move into the NZ

CHANGE: China has replaced the United States as the biggest buyer of New Zealand manufacturing beef, AgriHQ analyst Mel Croad says.

If the United States chooses to remain competitive with China it will bode well for farm gate manufacturing beef prices.

Mel Croad AgriHQ manufacturing beef market has increased the competitive tension with the US, who until recently had this market solely to themselves.

“The upside of this is that US imported beef prices have held well this season and are 14%-16% above year-ago levels.

“This is due to less manufacturing beef entering the US and the need to remain competitive with China.”

Imported 95CL bull is trading at

RAIN GEAR

$2.43/lb while 90CL cow prices are $2.22/lb.

June export statistics show only 10,000t of manufacturing beef was exported to the US market from NZ, which is 12,000t less than the five-year average.

High Chinese manufacturing beef prices mean June exports to China and Hong Kong surpassed the traditional US market.

In total, NZ shipped 11,000t of manufacturing beef to China and Hong Kong in June.

Typically, the US market relies on NZ and Australia to supply lean meat to balance out the fattier feedlot beef in burger patties.

While the US has been receiving plenty of beef from Canada and Mexico this year, very little of it is lean enough to substitute NZ and Australian manufacturing beef.

“If the US chooses to remain competitive with China it will bode well for farmgate manufacturing beef prices,” Croad said.

ACROSS THE RAILS MEL CROAD

The world demands more New Zealand lamb products NEW Zealand lamb has always been in a class of its own. Sheep farmers across the country have invested heavily through the decades to perfect a protein that is demanded around the world. We thought we had seen the best of it in 2018 only to find markets are even hungrier this year. Despite a decline in the breeding ewe flock NZ farmers are maximising production and helping feed the global demand for lamb.

Combined, NZ and Australia have delivered more lamb products into export markets in the last 18 months than for several years. While NZ has consistently delivered, even as breeding numbers have fallen, Australia has come at it from another angle – influenced by drought and a trend to reduce domestic supplies to target the strong international market. Despite the increase in supplies global markets remain competitive in their quest for lamb.

This strong international demand for NZ lamb continues to fuel export values. May’s average export value soared to $10.42/kg. That is 37c/kg up on April’s price and well ahead of last May when an average value of $9.90/kg was recorded. That indicates overseas markets are paying substantially more for NZ lamb. At this level May values were higher than Easter trade levels when the focus was on chilled lamb. May exports were predominately frozen cuts.

While there is an element of key markets scrambling to secure the volumes they require as we head toward winter production levels the overriding theme is simply a continuation of strong demand for lamb. AgriHQ expects June’s export values will show a further improvement. While there has been plenty of chatter about the strength of Chinese demand all key markets are now stepping up to the plate and paying more for our lamb than in previous years. This has been spread across chilled and frozen lamb exports.

As farmers come under increasing regulation both inside and outside of the farm gate they should take a moment to stand up and be proud of the products they showcase to the global market and the demand these products generate. mel.croad@globalhq.co.nz

Find out more about AgriHQ at agrihq.co.nz

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