Farmers Weekly NZ June 24 2024

Supply runs down after early kill

WINTER supplies of prime lambs and cattle are rapidly declining following a larger than usual kill in late summer and early autumn.

AgriHQ senior analyst Mel Croad said a higher lamb kill was due in part to many areas being dry and short of feed.

AgriHQ data up to mid-May shows the North Island kill was 7.1% ahead of the same time last year (6.12 million compared to 5.8 million) and 9.6% in the South Island (7.91million compared to 7.22 million).

A lengthy autumn cattle kill saw weekly slaughter rates exceed 80,000 head a week by late April as the cow kill peaked.

Nationally, the prime cattle kill is 5% ahead (847,000 compared to 803,000).

The high early kill also reflects that for the first time in several years processing companies have not been short of staff.

Alliance livestock manager Murray Behrent said more stock have been killed this year on five

sheep chains at its Lorneville plant than on six and a half chains last year.

The prime lamb kill has been well above the five-year average, prompting some meat companies to now start paying procurement premiums and to seek mutton to fill chains.

Croad said the dry conditions, combined with low farmgate prices, created a weak store market with those lambs killed earlier than normal, which has created a shortage of finished lambs.

Another factor is that unlike previous seasons, meat processors have had ample staff so were able to ramp up production when it was required.

Croad said because of the lower demand from store lamb buyers through April, lambs that have made their way through to processors have lower conditioning.

Compared to a year ago, May average weekly lamb weights were back nearly 1.5kg in the North Island and 300 grams in the South Island.

Growing conditions have been more favourable in parts of South Canterbury and finishers from there have in recent weeks bought store lambs from the North Island to secure the numbers they require.

Meat companies have in recent weeks lifted mutton prices,

Continued page 3

Saved by farming: Ben Purua’s story

Ben Purua, the 2024 Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer of the Year, was on a pathway to a life of crime until he stumbled across farming while in prison serving a sentence for manslaughter.

DAIRY 17-28

Alliance says its farmer woolshed meetings are proving to be invaluable.

NEWS 3

Photo: Alphapix nz/Ahuwhenua Trophy

New Zealand’s seven top young farmers are preparing to do battle in Hamilton in the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final, held over three days from July 11.

Australian fertiliser company Marnco compensates its Kiwi customers.

NEWS 7

From hiking blisters to rally car bumpers, NZ fibre finds new applications.

TECHNOLOGY 15

Neal Wallace MARKETS Sheep and beef

EDITORIAL

Bryan Gibson | 06 323 1519

Managing Editor bryan.gibson@agrihq.co.nz

Craig Page | 03 470 2469 Deputy Editor craig.page@agrihq.co.nz

Claire Robertson

Sub-Editor claire.robertson@agrihq.co.nz

Neal Wallace | 03 474 9240

Journalist neal.wallace@agrihq.co.nz

Gerald Piddock | 027 486 8346

Journalist gerald.piddock@agrihq.co.nz

Annette Scott | 021 908 400 Journalist annette.scott@agrihq.co.nz

Hugh Stringleman | 09 432 8594

Journalist hugh.stringleman@agrihq.co.nz

Richard Rennie | 027 475 4256

Journalist richard.rennie@agrihq.co.nz

Nigel Stirling | 021 136 5570

Journalist nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com

PRODUCTION

Lana Kieselbach | 027 739 4295 production@agrihq.co.nz

ADVERTISING MATERIAL

Supply to: adcopy@agrihq.co.nz

SUBSCRIPTIONS

0800 85 25 80 subs@agrihq.co.nz

PRINTER

SALES CONTACTS

Andy Whitson | 027 626 2269

Sales & Marketing Manager andy.whitson@agrihq.co.nz

Andrew Fraser | 027 706 7877

Auckland/Northland Partnership Manager andrew.fraser@agrihq.co.nz

Jody Anderson | 027 474 6094

Waikato/Bay of Plenty Partnership Manager jody.anderson@agrihq.co.nz

Palak Arora | 027 474 6095

Lower North Island Partnership Manager palak.arora@agrihq.co.nz

Omid Rafyee | 027 474 6091

South Island Partnership Manager omid.rafyee@agrihq.co.nz

Julie Gibson | 06 323 0765

Marketplace Partnership Manager classifieds@agrihq.co.nz

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National Livestock Manager livestock@agrihq.co.nz

Real Estate | 0800 85 25 80 realestate@agrihq.co.nz

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PUBLISHERS

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Farmers Weekly is Published by AgriHQ PO Box 529, Feilding 4740, New Zealand Phone: 0800 85 25 80 Website: www.farmersweekly.co.nz

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

This is a countr y that is driven in large par t by the most efficient and innovative ag sector in the world, and yet somehow we’ve made it too difficult for them to get the basic tools their competitors have I hope we’re going to solve that problem.

Regulation Minister David Seymour

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10-13

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15

Focus

17-28 NZ Young Farmer of the Year

29-36

Farmers . 37-40

41-42

43-45

45

TRADE-OFF: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton says the green growth vision of the future will continually trade one environmental issue for the next.

P8

Food and fibre export revenue is tipped to reach $54.6 billion this year and hit a record $66.6bn in 2028, according to the latest Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries report.

This year’s forecast result is a 5% dip on last year’s record $57.4bn. However, export revenue is expected to lift significantly, with sustained growth forecasting a record $66.6bn in 2028

News in brief Exports to rise Confidence mixed

The latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey has found that farmers are more pessimistic about the broader agri economy’s prospects.

After rising strongly in the previous two quarters, farmer confidence in the broader agri economy reversed course, falling to a net reading of -25% from -16% previously. However, farmers’ expectations for their own business performance improve

Global campaign

Zespri has launched a global campaign focused on encouraging people to eat better to help tackle health challenges.

The campaign has been launched in Japan with the support of the Japan Dietetic Association and Tokyo Seika, Japan’s largest fruit and vegetable wholesaler, and focuses on encouraging people to swap out one unhealthy food for a serving of fresh fruit or vegetables every day.

Kiwifruit growth

Rural investment manager MyFarm is creating a $190 million kiwifruit investment vehicle following agreement by 11 of its orchard-owning partners to amalgamate. This will allow wholesale investors to participate in the industry via the fund, which will own a broad portfolio of properties across key New Zealand kiwifruit growing regions.

Minister eyes up rural red tape

Bryan was on the ground at National Fieldays, where there has been a flurry of government announcements including Minister for Regulation David Seymour telling farmers he’s going to cut the red tape that’s holding them back from doing what they do best Seymour says farmers will be given the chance to highlight what roadblocks they’d like cleared.

Farmers put Alliance through the wringer

WOOLSHED

meetings with shareholders are proving invaluable but Alliance Group chair Mark Wynne said it will be the coming season before he knows if the co-operative’s capital raising programme is successful.

Wynne has endured bitterly cold mid-winter weather and grumpy farmers at 25 woolshed meetings so far around the country, explaining the reasons the co-operative needs an injection of capital, and answering questions.

Attendance has varied from 15 to 50 and Wynne said his goal is to ensure no one leaves without their questions answered, even if they disagree with that answer.

“They start off a bit grumpy but as we work through the issues, their understanding improves.

“Whether we have won the hearts and minds and secured their stock supply will play out over the year ahead.”

Shareholder equity in Alliance has not kept pace with the growth of the company.

Continued from page 1

adding 20-25c/kg to the AgriHQ mutton indicator, which Croad said appears to be driven by procurement needs rather than improved market prices.

A lengthy autumn cattle kill saw weekly slaughter rates exceed 80,000 head a week by late April as the cow kill peaked.

Croad said higher than anticipated slaughter rates for prime cattle earlier in the year has exhausted market-ready supplies,

To strengthen its balance sheet the co-operative announced in April that suppliers with insufficient shares to match the volume of stock they process will have $4/livestock unit processed deducted.

It has also increased the number of standard shares required to be held for each livestock unit processed from 12 to 16.

For those already shared up, the total deduction will be $3/livestock unit processed to reach the new minimum shareholding.

Whether we have won the hearts and minds and secured their stock supply will play out over the year ahead.

Mark Wynne Alliance

The co-operative is seeking between $100 million and $150m over the next few years from increased shareholder equity but also from cost savings, changes to the business and selling some surplus assets.

Wynne said the meetings follow a similar pattern of questions: How

leading to a recent surge in farmgate pricing.

Based on Beef + Lamb NZ forecasts through until the end of September, there could be significantly fewer cattle left for processing than at the same time last year.

Behrent said companies have killed the same number of lambs, it’s just that they have killed earlier.

Dry summer and autumn conditions in Canterbury saw fewer store lambs flow into the

did the co-operative get to where it is? What will be different should the capital rise be successful? What is the future of the co-op? Farmers also point out that the timing could not be worse.

He described the mood as subdued.

Shareholders are also given options on possible new ownership structures and the fact is reiterated that they will decide by vote which option, if any, will be adopted.

“They’re doing it hard, there is no question. Sheep and beef farmers are under enormous pressure and this is terrible timing to ask shareholders to put capital back into the co-operative,” said Wynne.

Shareholders have also taken the opportunity to tell directors and management that they want a competitive schedule, equitable pricing without favour to thirdparty traders, and to ask about stock flows and market trends. They also ask about plant efficiency, industry rationalisation and industry collaboration.

Wynne said the key lesson he has learnt is the importance of transparency and communication so shareholders understand operational and industry issues.

region and these were killed earlier at 18.5-19kg instead of 22-23kg over winter.

Behrent said other than an early closure of the second chain at Smithfield, Alliance is following its normal winter plant shutdown programme – but sourcing stock to keep plants operating until the bobby calf season next month will be challenging.

Companies have product to fill orders.

Silver Fern Farms chief supply officer Jarrod Stewart said

PLANS: Alliance Group chair Mark Wynne has been holding woolshed meetings around the country to explain the proposed capital raising plans.

Wynne said he hopes shareholders leave the meetings with sufficient information.

“I’d like to think no one leaves the room without having their questions answered and they understand where Alliance needs to go.”

The degree of shareholder support will be demonstrated by the volume of stock they supply, but Wynne said that is currently

following a few years of a flat supply profile, this season has been markedly different with a more advanced kill and lower than usual livestock flows heading into winter.

“Contributing to this season’s supply profile was our ability to have greater capacity during peak season combined with a drier autumn.”

In the coming months, he said, the focus will be on striking a balance between supply, capacity, labour and cost.

difficult to measure given this processing season is well ahead of last year.

“We won’t know until next season the degree of support.”

The Alliance board has also held three online information and interaction sessions, which each attracted between 100 and 200 people and Wynne said the intention is to do more of those alongside woolshed meetings.

Croad said in-lamb ewes have been excellent buying at significantly lower prices than last year, but tight feed conditions mean few farmers have been able to take advantage.

“They can’t make it work because some key breeding regions have very little excess feed.”

Surprisingly, given low farmgate lamb prices, Croad said, some heavily-processed cuts such as boneless legs are making higher prices in export markets than bone-in legs.

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Neal Wallace NEWS Production

A look inside the banking books

FNigel Stirling NEWS Finance

OR one former banker it all started to go wrong for rural borrowers after the downturn in the dairy payout in the 2014-15 and 201516 seasons. Until then the banks had been comfortable taking an ever-larger bet on the rural sector.

Agricultural lending swelled from $35 billion in 2008, to $57bn by the end of 2015, accounting for 15.5% of the banks’ total loan books, up from 13.6% before the Global Financial Crisis.

After all, with the payout comfortably above break-even, and most farmers in profit for the best part of a decade, there was little to cause alarm at bank head offices.

“I was at a major bank at that stage and the risk models were being touted by modelling teams in Australia as being some of the best performing risk models out there because rural lending had so few losses,” said Scott Wishart, managing director at debt advisory business NZAB.

But the precipitous fall for Fonterra farmers from the record $8.40 milk payout in 2014 to $4.40 in 2015, followed by a further step

COMPARISON: This graph shows lending by sector as a proportion of total lending. It shows faster growth in home lending relative to farm lending over the last decade.

Source: NZAB

NON-PERFORMING: This graph from a recent RBNZ Financial Stability Report shows high non-performing loans for agriculture when compared with residential mortgages.

down to $3.90 a year later, pushed many into the red, and seriously spooked the Reserve Bank, Wishart said.

“The regulator used that as evidence to say the models were wrong.”

Consequently, the risk weighting used to calculate the capital the banks were required to come up with to back their agricultural loans pushed steadily higher from the middle of 2015 until mid-2019.

At the same time risk weightings for residential mortgages barely moved, tilting the capital requirements ever more in favour of residential mortgages, and disadvantaging farm lending.

A former director of one of the Australian banks told Farmers Weekly this left them with a choice: either ramp up interest margins on their rural loans, and maintain the same returns as before, or redeploy capital to less capital-hungry, more profitable residential mortgages.

The former director said it was easier to shovel more money into housing.

“They can force higher margins onto their farmer clients to cover the cost of extra regulatory capital but that is the hard stuff where you have to front up to your farmer clients and say ‘Oh, by the way, your loans are now going to cost you more.’”

Analysis of Reserve Bank lending data by Federated Farmers shows rural debt adjusted for inflation has dropped 23% since January 2019, and by 29% for dairy loans. Even in nominal terms, unadjusted for inflation, dairy loans are down 12%, from $41.6bn in July 2018, to $36.5bn today.

The former director believes the Reserve Bank’s decision in 2019 to force a doubling of the minimum capital the big banks must hold to help withstand a once-in-200year financial crisis risks further skewing lending away from agriculture.

BNZ and ASB estimate they will need $7bn in new capital to meet the higher standards.

Because of their higher risk weightings, agricultural loans will soak up a larger share of that new capital relative to residential mortgages.

While central banks globally

were quick to ramp up capital minimums for their banking sectors after the GFC, the Reserve Bank has gone further than most.

Ratings agency S&P believes NZ banks will end up having some of the strongest balance sheets of any banks in the world once the new capital minimums are fully implemented in 2028.

Advice provided by Reserve Bank officials to Grant Robertson when he was finance minister estimated the impact on rural lending rates of between 50 and 120 basis points.

Based on current total farm lending of $62bn, that equates to between $310 million and $472m in extra interest costs annually, or between $21,000 and $51,000 per farm based on an average debt of $4.26m.

Federated Farmers national board member Richard McIntyre questions the financial stability rationale of higher capital requirements for rural loans when the most likely outcome would seem to be increased borrowing costs and risk of default by the borrower.

“You have to question whether the juice is worth the squeeze and whether or not it hamstrings farmers’ ability to reduce debt and get themselves into a less risky position or fund things that will meaningfully give them more resilience to things like climate change,” McIntyre said.

You have to question whether the juice is worth the squeeze and whether or not it hamstrings farmers’ ability to reduce debt.

Richard McIntyre

Federated Farmers

Federated Farmers has identified the impact of Reserve Bank capital requirements on rural lending rates as a key question for the upcoming parliamentary banking inquiry.

NZAB’s Wishart isn’t a fan of the risk profiles attached to farm loans and thinks the capital required to back them is way over the top.

That’s even though Reserve Bank data shows non-performing or stressed dairy loans currently sit at

EQUITY: Scott Wishart, managing director at debt advisory business NZAB, says while farm incomes are more volatile than those of homeowners the banks compensate for that higher risk by requiring more equity upfront to fund a farm purchase.

6%, compared to just 0.5% of home loans, and the rate is even higher for non-dairy agricultural loans at over 10%.

“Look at the stats on nonperforming loans, which is the potential loss, and you look at the actual loss,” Wishart said.

“One is a model and one is real.”

Wishart said while it is true that farm incomes are more volatile than those of homeowners, banks compensate for that higher risk by requiring more equity upfront to fund a farm purchase.

That’s not the case for homeowners, who can borrow up to 90% or 100% of the price of a home.

“You can have a farmer that is 90 days past due on their mortgage payment but they have still got 60% equity.

“The bank might be holding a provision for that because they are made to from a regulatory capital perspective but the actual loss to the bank if it came to it is non-existent.

“The reality is that nonperforming loans – because of the way the banks are told to rate them – always makes agriculture look a lot worse than what actually happens.”

Licensed gun owners put stock in law reforms

Neal Wallace NEWS Firearms

LICENSED firearm owners hope reform of the 40-year-old Arms Act will see them treated as responsible gun owners and not the criminals they say they are treated as under the current legislation

Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has announced the Act, which she describes as outdated and complicated, will be rewritten during the term of this government.

McKee said the Arms Act has been amended several times but in a piecemeal and rushed way, resulting in outdated and complicated legislation that unfairly targeted licensed firearm

We need to find simple, workable solutions that deliver tangible safety outcomes for New Zealand communities.

Nicole McKee Associate Justice Minister

owners but did not improve public safety.

“We need to find simple, workable solutions that deliver tangible safety outcomes for New Zealand communities.”

Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) spokesperson Hugh Devereux Mack said recent reforms have made his members feel like criminals for legally owning and using firearms. They are exhausted and disillusioned, having contributed to reforms under the previous government, only to have their views mostly ignored.

“The key message is that we have a different government and this one wants to work with the firearms community.”

He hopes anyone with an interest in firearms will participate in the public consultation process Devereux Mack said his members want common sense and effective laws. “We want gun laws that stop treating gun owners as criminals.”

He said reforms prompted by the Christchurch Mosque attack have targeted licensed firearm owners but failed to reduce gun violence as promised.

One aspect he would like

considered in a new Act is to follow the Australian model of requiring licence holders to be members of a shooting club such as a deerstalkers or a gun club. This will provide safety training in the handling of firearms and provide a degree of self-policing. He would also like to see a graduated licensing system, where the type of firearms licence holders can access is determine by factors such as experience.

The rewriting of the Act will follow four overlapping phases and be completed before the end of the Parliamentary term.

NETWORKED:

Harriet

Mellish

of

AgriFutures

GrowAg programme says the opportunities for NZ startups to link up with funders and partners in Australia are going to grow.

Australia offers tech funding hook-up

Richard Rennie TECHNOLOGY Finance

NEW Zealand agritech startups and innovators can now look across the Tasman to tap into funding options and partners on their journey to becoming commercially viable businesses.

Harriet Mellish, general manager for AgriFutures

Australia’s global innovation network GrowAG, paid a quick visit to the E Tipu conference in Palmerston North to give insights into opportunities lying across the ditch, thanks to the network’s connecting platform.

“Australia has some fantastic research and development work coming out of our R&D labs and universities. But when you look at it on a global scale, we are only 2% of the world’s R&D so we can’t do it all on our own.

“So, for us it is about how do we build out those global strategic partnerships that really support our agriculture, the export of our tech, but also bringing in the best of our ideas. We can’t do everything on our own.”

While not a funding entity in itself, the AgriFutures network opens the door to those that are.

“Our role is really around how we join up partners.

“In the three years since we launched, we have supported over NZ$168 million in startup investment, featured over 3000 research projects and welcomed visitors from 190 countries.”

The platform has already worked alongside a number of NZ companies.

These include six projects “live” on the AgriFutures digital platform seeking research partners, suppliers and investment.

One of those is Fleecegrow, a wool waste innovation company researching turning wool waste into a plant-growing medium, as well as fertiliser.

Another startup, Map and Zap, is an artificial intelligencedriven early growth stage startup using AI for weed identification and then using lasers to destroy the weeds as an alternative to conventional chemical treatments.

Mellish said NZ and Australia share a common thread in having innovative, unsubsidised farmers drawing on strong shared pastoral experience and the tyranny of distance from northern hemisphere trade partners and competitors.

Live exports back on table, says lobby group

Annette Scott NEWS Exports

LIVE animal exports look set to get back on the table under proposed new, world-leading, animal welfare regulations.

Subject to the government delivering on the coalition agreement and the implementation of new industryagreed gold standard regulations, the industry is confident the ban will be repealed, says lobby group Live Export New Zealand (LENZ).

National, ACT and NZ First all committed during election campaigning to reversing the ban on live exports and putting enhanced animal welfare standards in place.

“We are confident government has good mandate from the election, and with new highest world-standard regulation, to reinstate live export as soon as next year,” the newly appointed chair of LENZ, Glen Neal, told Farmers Weekly.

“We are working with [the Ministry for Primary Industries]

OPPORTUNITY COST: LENZ chair

Glen

to ensure the rules governing the export of live animals overseas reflect the high expectation New Zealanders have around animal welfare.

“The key job ahead is for industry and MPI to draft regulations that clearly ensure we are world-best-practice with the highest possible standards aligning with world animal health standards.

Neal acknowledged there has been concern in the past around animal welfare standards.

He said LENZ exporters work hard to ensure the world’s best practices when they select, prepare and transport animals internationally and in doing so work with the MPI to support continuous improvement to assure the welfare of all exported animals.

“Government laid out a clear signal around that [public concern] and new regulations address that concern with the job ahead of us clearly focused on world-best standards.

“The job ahead for LENZ is to pull the sector together to make sure regulation is grounded in the realities of farming and trade and in line with world standards for the confidence of the wider community.

“NZ farmers already have high standards for animal welfare on farm, and we expect the same with exported animals.”

New gold standard world-aligned regulations are not just about protecting NZ’s international reputation, but also about maintaining a reputation in local communities.

LENZ has been undertaking consumer research “with full results to be revealed shortly”.

“At this stage there’s clear indication that the majority of the public favour the restoration of [live export] trade with suitable

rules and regulations in place.”

Neal said live exports are a significant earner not just for farmers and the primary industry sector but for all of NZ.

Live exports have earned NZ up to $400 million a year.

“That’s up to $400m we are leaving on the table not having this trade in place and that’s across the entire primary industries sector from farmers to transporters, stock agents, graziers, vets, the lot.”

At this stage there’s clear indication that the majority of the public favour the restoration of [live export] trade with suitable rules and regulations in place.

Glen Neal LENZ

In addition to fetching premium prices, if export cattle are sold as yearlings, Neal said, it generates income earlier giving younger farmers an earlier than normal return on investment, meaning they can reduce interest and pay off debt.

In the 10 years to 2021, about 5000 farmers across all regions of NZ had supplied breeding cattle for export.

“We are not going to turn the light on overnight but we are going to keep working hard as all this helps NZ as a whole to earn its way in the world.

“It’s about helping countries to feed themselves; have less people in poverty and that means more demand for protein and that will be a problem on the planet in 25 years’ time.

“The forward-looking countries are looking at addressing this now. NZ needs to be focused there.”

BIGGER CALF GAINS

Neal says the live export ban is leaving $400m on the table that NZ needs to help pay its way in the world.

Marnco still in play after rocky start

Richard Rennie MARKETS Fertiliser

UPSTART Australiabased fertiliser company Marnco has moved to make changes to its product’s name and compensate farmers after a rocky start to its entry into the New Zealand market.

The company entered NZ late in autumn with a shipload of largely super phosphate, aiming to prise some market share from the two big incumbent co-operatives Ballance and Ravensdown.

However, it found itself drawing fire from the Fertiliser Association of NZ (FANZ).

The association moved quickly to seek a court injunction against Marnco for selling what it said was not valid superphosphate.

This was on the grounds that the product failed to meet the 8% standard set for super by the FertMark code. Marnco’s was testing at 7.4% phosphate and was also claimed to be lower in solubility than what the FertMark standard was.

Marnco managing director Mark Been said the company has acknowledged the discrepancy and had moved to rename its fertiliser “SulPhos”.

Meantime the company also continued to investigate the discrepancy between its content and the targeted content.

“And every farmer customer who purchased product off us has been compensated for it, with us paying the difference in the content, plus any re-application costs. The feedback we have received is that everyone is happy with this.”

Acknowledging that it was not a “fun entry” to the NZ market, Been said he is confident Marnco’s actions should mean the impending court case is no longer necessary.

“We can hold our heads high that we have addressed the issue. We have owned the issue, customers have said they are happy with the outcome. We also have to remember that FANZ is not a legal entity or regulator.”

Dr Vera Power, chief executive of FANZ, said it is no longer necessary to proceed with legal action against Marnco in light

of the changes the company has made.

And every farmer customer who purchased product off us has been compensated for it, with us paying the difference in the content, plus any reapplication costs.

Mark Been Marnco

last few weeks to his company’s presence in NZ.

“Urea started out at $895 a tonne, we put it at $850 at King’s Birthday weekend, then Ballance came down to $795, we went to $787, and Ravensdown to $799. We have already seen $100/tonne come off, and $70/t on sulphate of ammonia.”

Prices in the south provide bull highlights

SOUTH Island Angus studs provided highlights for week five of the 2024 winter bull sale season, pushing average prices towards $10,000 and obtaining some top prices to compare favourably with those of recent years.

The coastal Marlborough Angus stud Taimate, where the Hickman family combine beef with grapes and equine bloodstock, had a top price of $70,000 for Taimate T150 paid by Kaharau and Ratanui studs, on the east coast.

He is sired by Taimate R257 and has brothers who have sold well; one to Elgin Angus for $34,000 in 2022 and another to Muller Station for $17,000 in 2023.

Taimate had a full clearance of 88 bulls, 10% higher than last year, and averaged $11,072, close to last year.

Earlier in the week Andrew and Anna Laing at Sudeley Angus, Leeston, Mid-Canterbury, had a full clearance of 55 bulls on offer and averaged $11,100, close to the highest average so far this sales season.

The best price was $43,000 for Sudeley Angus T32, bought by Gisborne stud Kaharau Angus. As well as the Kaharau purchase, Red Oak Angus, Waipara, paid $32,000 for Lot 30 and Stern Angus, Geraldine, paid $12,500 for Lot 9.

Continuing the run of South Island successes Woodbank Angus, Clarence River, had a top price of $40,000 for Lot 120 in a combined

catalogue with Matariki Herefords.

Oregon Angus and Romneys, Wairarapa, paid the top price, followed by Riverlee Angus at $17,000 and Grampians Angus and Meadowslea Angus both at $15,000. The clearance was 63 from 68 and the average $9039.

Matariki Herefords sold 60 from 61, averaged $9141 and had a top of $18,000 paid by Mahuta Herefords, plus $14,000 from Wilencote Herefords.

Te Mania Angus, Parnassus, had a top price of $42,000 for Lot 33, Te Mania 22335, purchased by a syndicate of Elgin and Pine Park studs.

The Te Mania success was 109 sold out of 114 offered and an average of $9577, slightly ahead of last year.

Kakahu Angus, Geraldine, recorded a top price of $22,500 for Kakahu T145, paid by Glenthorne Station, Lake Coleridge.

The Kakahu clearance was 62 from 69 and $9800 the average.

Koanui Polled Hereford, Havelock North, sold 47 out of 48 and had an average price of $8800. Their top was $20,000 made twice, one being Lot 18 to Sarona Herefords, Tauranga.

Hemingford Charolais, Culverden, had a top price of $20,000 paid for Lot 1 by Potaka and Tawa Ridge Charolais combined. Hemingford sold 61 of 62 and averaged $7836.

Red Oak Angus, Amberley, topped at $12,000 paid three times and averaged $7666 with 30 out of 40 sold.

Glen Anthony Simmental, Waipukurau, marked 50 years

“Our action was about the product, not the company. We were never in opposition to Marnco selling or promoting its product in NZ. Our concerns related to any representations made about the fertiliser, especially when these are not consistent with the FertMark code.”

of cattle breeding for Tony and Glenys Thompson, with a fine sale and BBQ without rain.

Top price was $14,500, paid by Central Livestock as agents, along with three stud transfers. The average was $7625 and 16 bulls were sold out of 18 offered.

Elgin Angus, Havelock North, sold 22 out of 23, averaged $8660 and had a top price of $13,000.

Grampians Angus, Culverden, had a full clearance of 60 bulls, averaged $10,200 and made $15,000 three times, including by Turihaua and Hallmark Angus studs.

Te Kupe Angus, Stratford, sold five from six and averaged $10,000 with a top of $15,000.

Tawanui Herefords, Stratford, had a top price for Lot 1 Tawanui Hawk of $18,000, paid by Glenbrae Herefords. The average was $6750 for 18 out of 22 bulls.

Been said he was conscious of the need to “choose your battles” and hoped to see business start to take off come springtime.

Meantime he attributed the significant drops in fertiliser prices farmers have witnessed in the

He said the irony is that prices are tumbling just as the global market is starting to head north again in prices. China has put an export ban on its nitrogen products, tightening supply again. Been said Marnco is still considering whether it will join FANZ.

Dandaleith Angus, Hawke’s Bay, sold Lot 12 for $14,500, Dandaleith Charlie T673, and averaged $7720 for 26 sold out of 30 offered.

Riverlee Hereford and Angus, Rangiwahia, sold 16 out of 20 Angus averaging $5250 and 8 out of 10 Herefords, averaging $5900. The top prices were $8500 and $8700 respectively.

Snake Gully Limousins, Waiotira, sold 14 from 16 and averaged $5564, with a top price of $9000 paid by a commercial farmer.

Oregon Angus, Masterton had a full clearance of 33 bulls, averaging $8363, with a top of $18,000 paid by Ratanui Angus, Wairoa.

Butter slides by as GDT rally halts

Hugh Stringleman MARKETS Dairy

THE three-month rally in Global Dairy Trade prices has halted, with market leaders whole milk powder and anhydrous milk fat both taking hits.

WMP was down 2.5% in the most-recent auction and AMF fell 1.2%.

Cheddar was also down 1% and the combined effect was to reduce the GDT price index by 0.5% after an upwards trend

totalling 10% from the middle of March until the beginning of June.

Dairy commodities to rise in price this time were butter by 6.2%, skim milk powder by 0.7% and lactose by 1.9%.

Butter sold at an average price of US$7350/tonne, surpassing its recent peak in early 2022 and now, surprisingly, more than AMF, which slid from $7400 to $7300. AMF is the more refined milkfat product with wider commercial uses than butter and

usually sells at a premium over butter.

It was the first fall in price for AMF since August last year, NZX dairy analyst Rosalind Crickett said.

The main buying activity came from southeast Asia and Oceania, with a total volume of WMP, SMP, AMF and butter double that of China.

Crickett said China’s domestic raw milk prices are the lowest since 2012, creating incentive for companies to make powder instead of importing it.

READY FOR SPRING: Marnco founder and managing director Mark Been says the company is doubly determined to make a dent in NZ’s fertiliser market.

TOP OF THE SOUTH: Marlborough bull Taimate T150 is going to the east coast of the North Island after making $70,000 for the Hickman family.

Hugh Stringleman MARKETS Livestock

Upton’s environmental ‘inconvenient truths’

Neal Wallace NEWS Environment

FOR environmentalists to have the moral high ground, they need to confront several inconvenient truths and listen to people they disagree with, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton says.

He told a recent Environmental Defence Society conference there is a danger environmentalists “get into a bubble of clear-sighted, righteous agreement that if only other people had sufficient political will and shared our views, we’d be well on our way to the promised land”.

He said environmentalists must stop talking across the divides, including urban and rural, and find solutions that work on the ground and work for everyone.

“Of one thing I am clear, we won’t mobilise change in a polarised society. If you’ve stopped listening, you are halfway down the road to the polarised society that we have in the United States today.”

Upton said environmentalism is much harder than a few slogans and he listed what he called five “inconvenient truths” that need addressing.

His first is that closing polluting industries will in most cases result in imported replacement goods unless there is an equal focus on curbing consumption.

“Telling consumers they can’t have stuff is an altogether more difficult conversation to have.”

His second inconvenient truth is that society must entertain some environmentally damaging activities like mining or the provision of infrastructure.

“The question is how much damage? If we are not prepared to examine trade-offs critically, we will be dismissed as the dog that barks at every passing car.”

Environmentalists oppose extractive industries but in the transition to zero emissions energy, demand will increase for metals needed for batteries, wind turbines and solar panels.

The metals have to come from somewhere and Upton said provided extraction does not take us past irreversible tipping points, then it is a case of weighing up the environmental degradation caused against the value of the minerals gained.

He gave the example of mining coking coal, which is needed for steel making.

Upton’s third inconvenient truth is the call for green growth, which he said isn’t the easy economic and environmental win some people imagine.

Tourism is not environmentally benign and renewable electricity is usually far more efficient and therefore less damaging than fossil fuels but will result in ecosystem damage.

“The green growth vision of the future will continually trade one environmental issue for the next. We can’t escape that.”

The fourth inconvenient truth is that change is costly and not the win-win it is pitched as.

Upton quoted an extract from his latest report, Going with the Grain, citing studies that repeatedly showed on-farm efficiency gains could improve environmental outcomes by 10–20% and improve profitability.

Not all farmers have the skills to do this and could be forced from the industry, while farming lobbies, like all lobbies, move at the pace of their slowest members.

“Environmentalists have to be conscious of the social impacts of these sorts of transitions.”

Environmental regulations can be unnecessarily complex and he said regulations should be driven more from the bottom up.

“Meeting environmental

TRADE-OFF: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment

Simon Upton says the green growth vision of the future will continually trade one environmental issue for the next.

standards cannot be optional. But neither do the means of achieving them need to be monolithic, if only because no two catchments are the same physically or socially.”

His last inconvenient truth is that arguing for degrowth, as Upton said freshwater ecologist Mike Joy did at the conference, is not an easy sell either.

“As a student of human nature, my hunch is that if we tell people that they can’t have the stuff they’ve grown to expect, they will turn to thinking about how they can take it from others.”

Upton said his list of inconvenient truths maybe confronting but are descriptions of the world as it is for many people rather than the world environmentalists would like it to be.

“If we want to avoid the dirty growth on offer from doubling mining or agricultural exports, then we have to say how else we will maintain our living standards.”

Look beyond ag status quo, urges PCE

Neal Wallace NEWS Environment

CLAIMS that New Zealand farmers lead the world should be used to leverage research and add value, says Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton. He said the country cannot and should not ignore the biological economy but he told the recent Environmental Defence Society conference that, in a climatically disrupted world with fraying ecosystems, reducing the environmental impact and transforming the way we produce food would be a winner for the country and the industry. But so much of our current thinking and planning is short term.

In his recently released Going with the Grain report, Upton calculated the government spends

almost $700 million a year helping primary industries, of which about half are subsidies to reduce environmental impacts.

Comparatively little is being spent transforming farm systems.

It is a similar story with research.

“Instead of playing a long game, we seem to have short attention spans and fail to capitalise on real progress when it is made.”

After 10 years, the National Science Challenge on the environmental impacts of farming, Our Land and Water, is about to end without any follow-through.

“The only related investment I’m aware of in something potentially transformative is the $400m allocated to the search for technologies that can reduce methane emissions from the livestock industry,” he said.

Government policy has picked the primary sector as a winner,

and Upton said he does not have a problem with that provided its investment does not perpetuate the status quo.

“NZ could be leading the world on monitoring and modelling the environmental impact of land use, by applying our intellect to how we might do things differently on the land.

“But without a long-term commitment to bring research, business and finance together with this specific priority in mind, we won’t build the critical mass needed to change the game.”

In his report Upton suggested increasing payments to landowners for ecosystem services such as biodiversity credits.

“The big question is where the money should come from. The logical answer is by increasing levels of environmental taxation over time.”

EU ambassador unfazed by FTA breach claim

MARKETS Trade

EUROPEAN Union ambassador to New Zealand Lawrence Meredith has played down suggestions that new legislation such as the Fast Track Approvals Bill could put NZ in breach of its free trade agreement with the bloc.

The NZ-EU FTA, which came into force on May 1, is thought to deliver new quota opportunities worth more than $600 million in annual export earnings. In March, Forest & Bird said the fast-track legislation would breach clauses in this agreement.

Speaking at the EU’s stand at Fieldays, Meredith said the FTA has ambitious levels around sustainable development and both parties are strongly committed to climate neutrality by 2050 but have different ideas in how to get there and the speed moved.

“We’re committed to 2050, I have got three boys and it’s really important that we have climate-friendly policies, but it’s also important that we do it in a sensitive way. I come from a

dairy farming background, I do understand the challenges, and I think it’s really important that we listen to farmers and find the best way on delivering on those goals.”

The agreement states that both parties are committed to their international obligations under the Paris climate agreement and deliver on climate neutrality by 2050.

There’s big opportunities. Tariffs have come off kiwifruit, apples, onions and pears and that’s a big gain.

“As long as the commitment to that goal is maintained, we’re on track.”

He quashed speculation that agriculture will be included in the EU’s border carbon tax, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

This will apply a carbon levy to certain products in the cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity

sectors when these products are imported into the EU.

The CBAM is still in its transitional phase until January 2026, before it enters its definitive phase where producers will be required to pay a levy on the direct and indirect emissions embedded in these products.

Meredith said it is designed to ensure that goods coming into the EU have a high level of environmental protection and there are no plans to extend it to agriculture.

In the several weeks since the FTA has come into force, Meredith and his colleagues have been out on the road promoting the agreement across the country, including spending time at Fieldays with farmers and sector leaders.

It had caused a lot of excitement in the horticulture sector and Meredith said he has had “good conversations” with Zespri and Horticulture NZ.

He acknowledged that the red meat and dairy sectors would have wanted more out of the deal, but both are taking advantage of the modest increases on the table.

“The priority now is to optimise those gains that are on the table.

“There’s big opportunities. Tariffs have come off kiwifruit, apples, onions and pears and that’s a big gain. MFAT and the NZ government estimates $100m straight from tariff reductions.

“It could even be more than that because I understand from conversations with Zespri that it’s a bumper crop and those estimates were based on last year’s more modest crop.”

When asked about how it had been received among EU countries, he said there are three areas that excite them: firstly, the green transition where there were big opportunities around green energy, aviation and shipping. Secondly in the tech industries – not just in agriculture but

across the board; and thirdly in infrastructure and building materials.

“If the market is open, we’re open for business.”

Meredith said the agritech and innovation on display at Fieldays is what really excited him.

“We’re also keen to have a strong part in innovation.”

It was the ambassador’s first time at Fieldays and he said he was “super impressed” with the innovation on offer as well as NZ farmers’ resilience and agility.

“I want to come out and meet farmers. I’ve come to Hawke’s Bay in the onion and apple packing sheds and I’ll be very keen on going out to a farm,” he said.

Gerald Piddock

IMPRESSED: European Union ambassador Lawrence Meredith says he was super impressed with the agritech on display at Fieldays.

Lawrence Meredith EU ambassador to NZ

From the Editor

DNeal Wallace Senior reporter

IRTY dairying, halving the dairy cow herd – short, sharp sound bites that slip off the tongue, the tactic of choice for pressure groups.

Factually correct or realistic? That is optional or, in some cases, irrelevant. Of more importance is that these factually deficient messages resonate with as many punters as possible.

Such tactics are understandable, given that the average attention span of someone born between 1997 and 2015, a member of Gen Z, is eight seconds.

But it avoids the inconvenient reality that debates about biological farm systems, economics and community sustainability are complex and intertwined.

It is much easier to dismiss that reality by chanting “halve the dairy herd”, or blanketlabel every one of the New Zealand’s 11,000 dairy farmers as polluters.

These groups are also prepared, for the

wider good, to ignore the risk of being labelled hypocrites.

Anti-oil protesters will blatantly use petroleum-based plastic sheets or kayaks to display messages of protest. Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman was widely criticised for reading a speech off a mineral-dependent cell phone at a recent protest that included opposition to mining.

Against this backdrop, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, delivered what he called five inconvenient truths in a speech to the recent Environmental Defence Society’s annual conference.

In short, he told environmentalists that if they oppose mining or farming they need to say how they will maintain our living standards, a question those in the productive sectors regularly ask.

As Upton says, the growth of renewable or “green” energy, such as batteries, wind turbines and solar panels, requires the mining of minerals, including coking coal for steel manufacturing.

He warned the environmental movement risks polarising the public with the notion that if it can garner sufficient support from those who share its political will and views, the promised land beckons.

The reality of the world for many people is quite different.

Turning to the idea that closing polluting industries will solve many environmental problems, Upton said it will simply result in

imported replacement goods unless there is an equal focus on curbing consumption.

He said that in resisting some environmentally damaging activities like mining or the building of infrastructure, environmentalists risk being dismissed as the dog that barks at every passing car.

Letters of the week

GE regs make sense

Elvira Dommisse Christchurch

THE article in Farmers Weekly, “GE leaps up agribusiness priority list” (June 17), tells us we should be prioritising GE, which includes all forms of gene editing, because “low morale, fatigue and anxiety are taking a toll on everyone in the food and fibre sector and industry leaders must step up to give people confidence to stay the course”.

Seriously? This is the reason we must gene-edit our animals and crops? Low morale cannot be attributed to regulations surrounding the release of GE organisms. Regulations are simply there to prevent genetic contamination of non-GE crops and animals. That makes perfect sense.

Scientists carrying out this work are not to be pitied. They are there to make detailed, honest observations about the results of their experiments.

In the past there has been a significant number of conditional, field trial releases of GE crops and animals in NZ. The reason these GE organisms weren’t commercialised? They were not only unsuccessful in terms of commercial potential, but they were cruel to animals, resulting in hideous deformities.

One need only look up what happened to the GE sheep (PPL) at Whakamaru (engineered to produce human protein in their milk) and the GE cows that ended up with disfiguring and painful deformities. The GE sheep were all destroyed, as the experiment was a failure. Some of the GE cows died and more were euthanised to put them out of their suffering.

We have field-trialled GE potatoes, asparagus, tamarillos, trees and many more crops in New Zealand. Are they more nutritious, faster-growing, healthier, stronger and more high-yielding?

The often touted claim that change is cheap and a win for all was dismissed because not everyone can make the transition, and telling people they can’t have goods and services they have become accustomed to will not win public support.

He said that to make genuine progress, NZ needs to adopt long-term thinking and planning on research and development.

Other than agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, he said, comparatively little is spent researching issues such as land use.

Upton’s speech shone light on some vexed issues.

His comments to environmentalists were simple reality, providing a description of the world as it is for many people rather than a world some would like it to be.

That is a message that cannot be relayed in an eight-second sound bite or three word slogan, but which needs to be told.

No, they are showing signs of plants that are compromised, because metabolic pathways have been disrupted by the changing of enzymes, structural proteins etcetera. Unforeseen changes to pathways in the cell, however small, can frequently result in biochemical and structural abnormalities.

We in NZ have an excellent reputation for producing non-GE horticultural and agricultural exports of the highest quality.

Let’s keep it that way.

Send your letter to the Editor at Farmers Weekly P.0. Box 529, Feilding or email us at farmers.weekly@agrihq.co.nz

Unravelling the mystery of wool’s decline

Gerrard Eckhoff

Eckhoff is a retired Central Otago farmer and former Otago regional

councillor and ACT MP

THE story of wool is almost as old as recorded history.

Wool has been used since 10,000 BC, when it was recognised as a most remarkable fibre. It still is. The demise of the crossbred wool industry, therefore, is hard to fathom given the qualities wool possesses, yet today crossbred wool is almost worthless. There was a time when wool was worth a pound sterling in currency for a pound in fibre weight.

Meantime wools’ great qualities have been captured by the synthetic (oil) industry using the word “polar” to promote warmth and “fleece” to allude to sheep who produce a fleece annually.

During World War II, wool was the only material our soldiers could wear, from socks to tunics in the Middle East where extremes of heat and cold were a constant. Wool kept you warm when needed at night and cool during a hot summer’s day when other materials next to the skin become sticky and unpleasantly odorous.

Those of us with too many years attached will recall woollen bathing suits, which probably caused a number of neardrownings in one inch of water

due to the weight of that garment when wet, so some synthetics may have a place – somewhere. The difficulty is that wearing of a Speedo by those of us over 60 is considered a crime due to matters of visual good taste in a public place.

Another fashion garment of yesteryear but guaranteed unlikely to reignite the industry is the “long john”. Some readers will need to pause while googling “long johns”, which are still a particular favourite of the western movie genre. Clint Eastwood was likely to engage in a photo shoot while wearing long johns – a single-piece woollen undergarment from neck to toe – which probably made him even more menacing.

In the early 1970s another natural fibre, cotton, was having similar problems as wool in competing with synthetics. Unlike wool, cotton began its mission to improve demand for, and the profitability of cotton.

Fifty years on Cotton Incorporated continues to fulfil that promise through research and marketing activities. Wool? Well, we developed a symbol, the wool mark, that most will now not even recognise.

The difficulties facing the sheep/ wool industry were never due to a desire to start work at 4am every day and milk cows. A sheep farm converted to dairying may well

support three families instead of one, so it’s pure economics.

These days, carpet is the main use for crossbred wool, yet nobody knows whether a floor covering is a natural, free-range product or an amalgam of micro plastics once it’s nailed to the floor. No brand is ever shown on the visual side of the carpet laid on the floor of a house.

We all blithely admire the floor covering without knowing what it is made from, which hardly adds to any differentiation between the competing fibres. Carpet is, well, carpet, yet in the unfortunate event of a fire or even just a hot ember or two, wool is resistant, whereas the product from the petro-chemical industry positively welcomes the chance to spread its properties and quickly.

Despite this obvious advantage of safety within houses, hotels, airlines and so on, wool’s properties in this aspect are rarely promoted.

Given the warming and breathing properties of wool, it became obvious the difference wool can make to a person’s health with poor blood vessel circulation. Woollen socks are not just helpful but an essential

item of clothing to warm a foot with sciatica. It is rare to see any promotion of this wonderful property of wool; those of us who fully value wool for this wellbeing attribute can only wonder why this aspect is not just promoted but shouted from the roof tops.

Despite this obvious advantage of safety within houses, hotels, airlines and so on, wool’s properties in this aspect are rarely promoted.

Instead of sheep farmers looking forward to receiving what was once called a wool cheque, where they derived at least half their income, they now receive a substantial invoice from the shearing contractor. Crossbred wool therefore is now a liability and not an asset, despite being one of the most sustainable items known to humankind.

Given the massive environmental concerns displayed by the “stars” of our TV screens such as Greta Thunderberg, who is determined to save us all from ourselves, it seems reasonable

to assume she and her fellow travellers would demand an end to the use of the fossil fuels industry products next to their skin. Alas no. Trendy clothing kit is essential if one is to draw attention to oneself on the world stage. The wearing of the synthetic Lycra while riding a bike (pedal or electric ) appears to be even more essential than two wheels. A deep dive into wool’s history by artificial intelligence would likely provide the answer to why wool, this great fibre, cannot compete.

Maybe it comes down to what cotton did and what wool didn’t do 50 years ago. One of the biggest reasons for this situation was a telling comment made quite some years ago at a wool industry meeting by the Wool Board chair in response to this question:

Me: “Chairman, why do we still dump our wool on the auction room floor and hope like hell some buyers might turn up and buy?”

Chair: “It’s still the best way to get rid of the stuff.”

I guess sometimes the problems of the industry are truly represented by its own false prophets.

BILLED: Instead of sheep farmers looking forward to receiving what was once called a wool cheque, where they derived at least half their income, they now receive a substantial invoice from the shearing contractor.

LOST GENERATIONS: Maybe wool’s woes come down to what cotton did and what wool didn’t do 50 years ago, says Gerrard Eckhoff.

A Fieldays to remember for all the right reasons

Alternative view

Alan Emerson

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

THIS month has been massive for the farming sector. We had Fieldays with politicians abounding and some major announcements aimed at helping our sector go forward.

I attended some of the early Fieldays as a young (relatively), rural reporter in the 1970s. While it was spectacular in its own way back then it bears no relationship to the event of today.

We took a free bus to Fieldays, which worked well as we were dropped off at the gate. There were thousands of cars parked there and I could imagine the situation later in the dark with punters trying to find their vehicles.

Fieldays this year was even more important by virtue of all the political statements that were made. I believe they were positive.

It started with the ACT leader, Regulations Minister David Seymour, saying he was going

to review the red tape that was being suffered by our sector. He wanted to review how new farming and horticulture products were approved. He went on to add that the current processes and red tape barred productivity and prevented farmers from accessing products already used in other OECD countries.

He added that farmers overseas were using innovative products that we don’t have access to.

I agree with Seymour, with the biogenic methane inhibitor, Bovaer, being a case in point.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has been making a meal over its acceptance in NZ and taking an interminable amount of time in the process. Bovaer has been around for ages and is used in 59 countries including the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, which begs the question as to why the EPA is reinventing the wheel here.

Having said that, I’ve always found the EPA’s position is one of “I’ll always know what’s best for you.” It doesn’t.

I also agree with the Seymour statement, “If we don’t remove these barriers to productivity we will fall behind our global competitors when we need to grow our productivity through trade.”

Federated Farmers obviously agreed too as it quickly issued a statement supporting the initiative.

It was a bad day for the bureaucracy with Animal Welfare Minister Andrew Hoggard’s announced plan to reform the sacred cow that was the National Advisory Committee on Animal Welfare, NAWAC.

His statement that he wanted NAWAC “to consider the practicality and economic impact of its decisions” would have been considered rampant heresy at NAWAC HQ.

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay also rode into the fray with the welcome statement, “Where the cost of a regulation is greater than the benefit of the outcome that’s red tape and the government won’t go there.” That would have been music to farmers’ ears.

Charitably, He Waka Eke Noa was a good idea but naïve considering farmer politics at the time. It’s been nuked to be replaced with the Pastoral Sector Group, which is a slimmed-down, more focused organisation.

Feds immediately released a statement on HWEN saying “goodbye and good riddance”. I’d agree.

I’m also pleased agriculture won’t be in the Emissions Trading Scheme.

There was considerable discussion at Fieldays on the rural banking inquiry, which I found positive. ACT MP and Primary Industries Select Committee chair Mark Cameron has been driving this for some time and has been highly successful in his endeavours. We now have National, Labour, ACT and NZ First all coming out in strong support so it shouldn’t take long to get the rubber on the road.

I can’t wait to see the terms of reference.

There have been many changes at Fieldays and many things that remain the same.

The exhibitors have changed a lot over the years. For example, we still have all the farm equipment

on display but this year we must have had 20 tiny, portable homes. I believe that the way costs have come down, a tiny house on a remote paddock will give a farmer an additional income stream.

If we don’t remove these barriers to productivity we will fall behind our global competitors.

I’d congratulate Federated Farmers on its Hub. There were many staff and board members there and it was done in a collegiate way with Groundswell, Rural Women, Young Farmers and Farmers Weekly. That provided a pulpit for

various politicians, including McClay, Simeon Brown, Hoggard, Mark Patterson and Jo Luxton that I was aware of.

Patterson is impressive and on top of his portfolio, and I respect Luxton as Labour’s agricultural spokesperson. Like her colleagues from the other parties, she understands agriculture.

I’ve spoken to Bryce McKenzie often enough but met him for the first time at the Feds Hub. He is a massive asset to our sector and unlike many in the political sphere, what you see is what you get.

So a really positive event and a great outlook for the primary sector. While I totally accept that life on the farm is currently tough, I do see several bright lights on the horizon.

Bright future for solar grazing in NZ

Alan Brent & Catherine Iorns

Brent is a professor and chair in sustainable energy systems and Iorns a professor of law, both at Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington.

NEW Zealand plans to commission about eight gigawatts of solar photovoltaic projects

– more than the maximum power demand of the whole country on a typical winter’s day – by 2028, according to the government’s latest generation investment survey.

Eight of these solar farms are already operational and spread across the country. More than 40 are in various stages of development, with the construction of the largest single project, in excess of 150 megawatts, due to start this year. Solar farms are not without challenges, though. They can use up farmland and change the rural landscape. However, we argue that more

efficient farms can integrate solar panels and agricultural production, with economic benefits for farmers.

Given Aotearoa New Zealand’s current generation capacity of just under 10 gigawatts, the increased generation is a significant development in the electricity sector and a positive contribution to the 2030 target of 100% electricity generation from renewables.

However, opposition has focused on the potential changes to the rural landscape and the use of productive soils.

This is especially because solar farms are likely to be proposed for fast-track consenting.

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop has signalled the process will “make it easier to consent new infrastructure, including renewable energy”.

We advocate a suitable option for New Zealand lies in “agrivoltaics”

OUTLOOK: Alan Emerson says he sees ‘several bright lights on the horizon’ for farmers after a ‘really positive’ Fieldays.

Fodder for Elephant on Nuffield global journey

Eating the elephant

Daniel Eb

Daniel Eb helps Kiwis connect with farming through his agency Dirt Road Comms and Open Farms. His family farms in Kaipara. eating.the.elephant.nz@gmail.com

the lads reflect on a year of Eating the Elephant.

FOR four weeks in MayJune 2023, my Nuffield farming scholarship sling-shotted me and 11 other scholars across Singapore, Japan, Israel, the Netherlands and the United States. In a jet-lagged blur of skyscraper gardens, rice paddies, desert kibbutzes, hitech greenhouses, family farms, government boardrooms and endless almond trees, we saw, touched and tasted our way through an incredible menu of food and farming systems.

On reflection, it probably wasn’t the best time to start a Farmers Weekly column. But, like most things, this one also righted from a wobbly start and a year later, here we are.

Thanks for sticking with us. For me, that Nuffield global experience and Eating the Elephant are inextricably linked.

Continued from previous page

– using agricultural land for both renewable electricity generation and farming.

In a country where half of its area serves agricultural purposes, land-use change is an obvious concern.

The answer may well be agrivoltaics, which is gaining traction globally.

It means using rural land for both electricity generation and agriculture (including horticulture). Large areas of the country have been shown to be suitable for this dual land-use approach.

The major benefit of agrivoltaics is the micro-climate created under the solar arrays, with cooler temperatures during warm days and warmer temperatures at night. This results in less heat stress and less frost damage for crops. Soils also retain more moisture, which means certain crops grow better, even with more shading. Pastoral production has seen the greatest benefits globally because

Much of the fodder for this column started life as scribbles in page margins and “aha” moments in some farm, factory or hotel lobby abroad.

In looking back on a year of Eating the Elephant, I thought I would share my two big takeouts from that once-in-a-lifetime food and farming experience.

The first take-out struck as we ambled the 50 metres between a 16 hectare greenhouse capsicum operation and a small artisan goat cheese farm and café. Thank you Holland.

Both of these places are farms and both farms are profitable. But their core features, strengths and challenges couldn’t be more different.

I started using the terms “calorie farms” and “connection farms” as a rough mental model to investigate these side by side, but worlds apart operations.

“Calorie farms” generally innovate through hard skills (for example, technology), can be reliant on immigrant labour, thrived through covid, run high capital, high energy, high return business models and sell into long supply chains.

“Connection farms” generally innovate through soft skills (community collaboration,, for example), can attract volunteers, were very exposed to covid and seasonal downturns, operate low capital, low energy, low returns models and capture value with direct to customer sales.

Coming from a young country geared toward Calorie models, it was interesting to see how older societies value these smaller, citizen-orientated Connection farms. These nations had generally developed policy frameworks (some better than others and never without

animals are better protected from the elements, need less water and can access pasture in dry conditions.

The integration of solar arrays with sheep farming is a major opportunity for New Zealand. Indeed, it is common practice to utilise sheep to maintain vegetation between and underneath the solar panels.

This is a growing business in its own right, known as solar grazing.

The economics are quite compelling. A case study on a Canterbury farm shows the profitability of the solar assets with an additional revenue stream for the farmer from leasing agreements.

Given the economic worries sheep farmers are facing, this should be a definite consideration. There are hurdles to realising this opportunity in a just manner. One is the upgrading of the grid to accommodate new generation capacity, estimated to cost $1.4 billion a year until 2030. This figure is largely associated with the required high-voltage transmission network.

pushback) that tried to strike a balance between the two.

We’ll need both types of farms as we hit the environmental, social and economic challenges ahead.

Calorie farms keep food affordable, can resist shocks and support global food security needs. Connection farms serve as places for citizens to learn, recreate and engage with nature – driving the cultural transformations we desperately need like redesigning waste, deriving wellbeing through community and nature and seasonal eating.

In New Zealand, our leadership structures, support systems, policy frameworks and infrastructure are all set up for the export-oriented Calorie systems. We are pretty unbalanced here.

My second big take-out came under the beating sun of the Sinai desert. At Neot Samadar, hundreds of people have farmed together for 50 years in some of the toughest conditions on earth. Like other kibbutzes across Israel, this community collectively manage their land.

Their greatest challenge isn’t water, heat, markets or disease. It’s each other.

They understand that their business and way of life run on soft skills.

Members are hyper aware for signs of conflict, faction building, loneliness or other signs of tension. When these do arise, members intervene softly – only progressing to formal interventions like meetings as a last resort. Leadership roles change regularly to give emerging members opportunities to grow. Time together as a group is prioritised above anything that happens on farm. Big decisions are made only with full consensus, necessitating long periods of

Transpower’s net zero grid pathways programme aims to address this issue. However, many of the smaller utility-scale solar assets will be connected to lowvoltage distribution networks, which will be a significant constraint.

Not all farmers will be able to capitalise on the opportunity. It will be a case of ‘first come, first served’ and a potential gold rush.

None of this required infrastructure upgrade is included in the 2024 budget. Lines companies are left to manage this issue.

Effectively it means that not all farmers will be able to capitalise on the opportunity. It will be a case of “first come, first served” and a potential gold rush.

This plays into the reforms of the Resource Management Actcurrently underway. The Fast-

TOGETHER: Farming in the Sinai desert, one of the most inhospitable regions on earth, the community of Kibbutz Neot Samadar relentlessly, unapologetically prioritises relationships and people, says Daniel Eb.

The community’s greatest challenge isn’t water, heat, markets or disease. It’s each other.

discussion and perspective sharing. Their culture is the engine of their business success. They talk little of corporate strategy. Instead, individuals are encouraged to explore new diversifications, with their business case reviewed from every perspective through the long consensus decision making. When they move, they move with the full weight of the community. Today the kibbutz’s business stretches across hospitality, tourism, renewable energy, horticulture, art & design education and a thriving consumer health drink brand. All done in the heat of the desert, two hours away from nearest major town.

We love a strategy in food

track Approvals Bill is going through the select committee and may limit comprehensive consultation with stakeholders and the careful consideration of any implications of solar projects.

A recent notification decision by the South Wairarapa District Council, for example, concluded that a proposed solar farm “is inconsistent with the other activities taking place in the rural (primary production) zone, and as such the amenity values of the rural environment would be adversely impacted”.

Conversely, in the context of an application for a solar farm in Selwyn, a decision-making commissioner observed that our resource management system allows for, and even expects, changes in land use.

“Whether changes are permissible depends on ... the planning [documents], the consideration of environmental effects and ... balanced judgement as to whether the changes meet the legislative and other requirements.”

and fibre in New Zealand. We tend to focus our time trying to understand our markets, design products or refine our systems –and we’re pretty good at it. We’re less adept at reflecting on our teams or sector culture and dedicating resources specifically to nurturing it. Indeed the places where culture forms – field days, one-to-one time, team and community forums, catchment meetings, open days, days off – can be some of the first things to slip in favour of more “productive” work.

With its relentless, unapologetic, structured prioritisation of relationships and people, Kibbutz Neot Samadar demonstrates what relentlessly focusing on culture looks like, and what it can achieve.

A huge thank you to Nuffield New Zealand for this incredible opportunity. I highly encourage anyone considering it to have a go. The 2025 deadline for registrations closes August 18. Get among it.

New Zealand’s national policy statement for renewable electricity generation acknowledges competing values associated with the development of renewable energy resources. But it does not identify how to resolve any conflict.

The protection of highly productive agricultural land is covered by the 2022 National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land, and planning officials may view conventional solar farms to be in conflict. We argue that well-designed agrivoltaic systems will resolve this conundrum.

Indeed, the decisionmaking panel in one agrivoltaic application in the Waikato commented that “its members have seldom observed a project that delivers such significant benefits with such comparatively few adverse effects”. – This article was previously published on The Conversation. Olivia Grainger and Anna Vaughan also contributed to this research.

In this series,

Zespri head swaps out kiwifruit for berries

Richard Rennie talks to Dan Mathieson as he leaves Zespri to pick up the role of president of the Americas for berry giant Driscoll’s in the United States.

ZESPRI’S outgoing CEO, Dan Mathieson, is adamant that, had he chosen to leave his post two years ago, he would probably have been hauled back by growers, demanding Zespri put its problems right before he left the building.

During the 2022 harvest the industry faced dire labour shortages that played into poor harvest practices, which in turn manifested in its worst ever fruit quality.

Rejected fruit and disgruntled overseas distributors who described some of the fruit as “hairy potatoes” had the Zespri executive team scrambling to right its quality wrongs.

“We had a period there where labour was in dire short supply post-covid, and there were harvest practices that simply were not up to scratch, and that came through in fruit quality.

“What we learnt was that fruit can turn in quality very quickly, and demanded more care from right across the supply chain,” Mathieson says.

He and his exec team stepped up with a series of grower and post-harvest industry roadshows across the country, pulling together an immense collaborative effort to lift quality and preserve

the Zespri premium in the process.

It was an effort that has come to typify the tenure of Mathieson, as someone capable of recognising a wrong, owning it, and working hard to fix it.

The lessons from that dire harvest are now templated into Zespri’s operations.

“We now have more good people in the right places to bolster quality checks, to see signs early and make course corrections as needed.

“We are also conducting many more audits through the process. A bill for $500 million in quality losses certainly increases your focus.”

Like that of his predecessor Lain Jager, Mathieson’s time at Zespri has been marked by a roller coaster of fortunes, of which he says the 2022 harvest was the lowest point.

For Jager it was dealing with the prospect of industry ground zero with the discover of Psa disease.

But with this season showing a record harvest of 190 million trays of high quality, well-sized fruit already filling supply pipelines globally, Mathieson leaves Zespri justifiably confident the singledesk seller has retained its licence to operate with its growers.

With that comes even more

We had a period there where labour was in dire short supply post-covid, and there were harvest practices that simply were not up to scratch.

Dan Mathieson Zespri

potential in both a new and existing markets.

“We still have quite low penetration across our core markets including China and Asia, we want to get more consumers eating more kiwifruit, and give them more reasons to have it in their fruit bowl.”

Meantime he sees significant market opportunities existing in the United States and Vietnam.

To that end Zespri has expanded its Vietnam office across two cities in the developing nation, and increased its US staff from five to 30.

Meantime South Korea has recently recorded its largest ever single week of sales.

“Our two super performers this year are Japan and South Korea.”

The sector faces the challenge of keeping its valuable and

hard-earned shelf space in the fruit sector year round, and this demands greater northern hemisphere production.

Currently standing at 30 million trays a year, the potential to grow close to New Zealand’s 180200 million tray production is significant.

“That is coming off about 5000 hectares largely in Italy, France and Greece. We are seeing other brands of kiwifruit from other companies pressing into this space and we want to get enough to not

only grow the category, but to keep Zespri quality fruit on shelf.”

A key effort for the Zespri team this year is to gain grower acceptance here at home of this need, and get the 75% approval vote over the line to enact it.

Mathieson has taken on a USbased role with Driscoll’s, the largest berry company in the States.

His replacement, internal appointment and previously chief operating office Jason Te Brake, picks up the reins in early July.

Farmer panel ousts Mandy Bell from DINZ board

DEER Industry New Zealand is looking to appoint a new chair following the industry’s ousting of current chair Mandy Bell.

DINZ announced last week it will appoint a new chair following the outcome of the NZ Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA) selection and appointment process.

The DINZ board is made up of eight members, four appointed by producers through the NZDFA selection and appointment panel and four appointed by processor-exporters.

The NZDFA selection and appointment panel has advised that Bell has not been reappointed as a director to the DINZ board.

Deputy chair and exporter

representative Gerard Hickey said Bell will remain as chair until a new chair is announced, “as appropriate”.

“No one has worked harder than Mandy Bell to advance the interests of the sector and support the transition of DINZ to better support the deer industry in NZ.

“On behalf of the DINZ board, I want to thank Mandy for her dedication and hard work,

particularly in recent months as we have been working through our organisational changes and new industry strategy.

“She leaves DINZ, and our industry much better positioned to tackle the challenges and capitalise on the significant opportunities before us,” Hickey said.

While Bell’s expertise will be greatly missed, Hickey said, the board is determined to ensure it does not lose its momentum in executing its strategy to maximise value for all industry players.

DINZ farmer-elected director Paddy Boyd of Haldan Station said Bell’s strategic expertise and focus has brought real value to the industry.

“I have worked with Mandy on industry good projects, which have delivered significant positive outcomes for deer farmers,” Boyd said.

Owner of Criffel Station in Wānaka and a deer farmer for more than 30 years, Bell has been a DINZ director since 2021.

Bell said she is “disappointed not to be re-appointed to the DINZ board”.

“However, I am confident that the organisation is well-placed to continue the great progress we’ve made in the last few years.

“I am also grateful for all the support I have received from the

“The many calls from deer farmers and industry partners in the days following the selection

outcome have been humbling.

“The DINZ board and management have successfully developed a new strategy for the industry and DINZ’s passionate and hard-working team is making excellent progress on leveraging opportunities across the full value chain.

No one has worked harder than Mandy Bell to advance the interests of the sector.

Hickey DINZ

“My focus will now return to my commercial interests, but my 30-year association with the deer industry will continue as others take up the governance role for this organisation.”

DINZ is also currently recruiting a new chief executive following the departure of Innes Moffat earlier this year after his 18 years at the helm.

The organisation spent three months searching for a new leader, eventually appointing a new chief executive last month to start the role in June, but a last-minute glitch with the new appointee before starting the role sent DINZ back to the drawing board to renew its executive search.

BERRY BOUND: Dan Mathieson leaves Zespri to pick up the role of president of the Americas for berry giant Driscoll’s in the United States.

DINZ board, staff, farmers and the wider industry during my time on the board and as chair.

Annette Scott PEOPLE Tag

OUTCOME: Ousted chair Mandy Bell says she is humbled by the support she has received in the days following the selection outcome.

Gerard

Fibre from flora, fauna first at Fieldays

From hiking blisters to rally car bumpers, home-grown NZ fibre from plants and animals is finding new applications. Gerald Piddock reports.

FINDING new ways to create value from fibre was a theme among winners of this year’s Fieldays Innovation Awards, featuring in three of the four winning entries.

Two of these three winners had wool products, with the third using flax to create textiles.

New Zealand National Fieldays Society programme manager Steve Chappell says the winners represent incredibly hard-working and creative teams who have seen a need in the market and done what they can to fill it.

“As our primary industry is met with new and different challenges, it’s innovations like these that will equip us with the tools that we need to thrive.”

Taking out the Early Stage Award was Christchurch’s KiwiFibre for its work in creating textiles made from harakeke fibre (flax).

This textile can replace or complement conventional carbon fibre and fibreglass materials in high-performance applications.

New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon’s new electric rally car uses KiwiFibre for its front and rear bumpers and roof.

“We turn plants into race cars,” co-founder William Murrell says.

KiwiFibre has three growers around Canterbury that it sources the harakeke from. The plant is processed into raw fibre before being refined further into a textile.

Murrell came up with the idea with Oscar Goodman while studying at university, where they were using carbon fibre and fibreglass and knew the health and environmental issues that came with those materials.

I could buy a smart wool T-shirt, but I couldn’t buy a 3cm piece of fabric to heal wounds.

“We realised in our backyard there is an incredible resource that can solve all of our problems,” Murrell says.

They consulted with the Harakeke Community Alliance about how to grow, harvest and best use the plant. They harvest the plant’s outside leaves, and Murrell estimates the racing car seat on display at KiwiFibre’s Fieldays site contains about six leaves.

“A big mature leaf, you would get as much as 200 grams of fibre.

“KiwiFibre profiles a potential new primary industry crop that uses an abundant plant in marginal farmland and supports planting for waterway protection,” Murrell says.

The next step for KiwiFibre is to slowly scale up the manufacturing and growing of the business and expand its uses into areas such as skis, snowboards and further into race cars.

Fleecegrow from Auckland won the Prototype Award for its sustainable strong wool replacement for the rockwool and peat used in greenhouse growing.

The wool used comes from oddments and is scoured to remove the potential for seeds, pests or disease contaminating the plants.

It is shaped into seedling pods for trays to help plants get established in an indoor greenhouse.

Woollen rectangular blocks have also been created to act as a medium to support root growth once the plants get bigger.

“What we are aiming for is that it will be as good as its current product, which is rockwool,” Fleecegrow chief researcher Jacinta Penn says.

It was also much more sustainable than rockwool because it can biodegrade after or compost into fertiliser once it has been used, whereas rockwool is dumped into landfills.

Penn has teamed up with Turners and Growers to trial the product at their greenhouses in Pukekohe and also has a waiting list of growers interested in testing the pods.

From there, the product will be refined and Penn hopes to find angel investors by the end of the year to make a small production line to create small quantities

for the commercial market.

“Hopefully by next year we’ll be selling,” she says.

Penn says the strong wool industry has been hugely supportive of the venture.

WoolAid won the Growth & Scale Award for its hyper-fine Merino wool plaster bandages.

The breathable plaster can absorb large quantities of moisture, moving it away to evaporate into the open air. The plasters biodegrade in the soil in four months.

Founder Lucas Smith says he came up with the idea while working as a mountain guide in the South Island high country and Fiordland.

When the hikers he was guiding got blisters, their only option was plastic bandages. In 2016, he decided to explore whether Merino sheep wool could be used as an alternative.

“I could buy a smart wool T-shirt, but I couldn’t buy a 3cm piece of fabric to heal wounds,” he says.

WoolAid’s main market is the United States, to which it has been exporting the product since 2022.

The bandages are sold in that market through outdoor recreation retail store REI.US people understand the advantages of using bandages made from Merino wool, he says.

Keeping tabs on who’s just been drenched

Gerald Piddock TECHNOLOGY Livestock

ST PETER’S School, Cambridge, student Penny Ranger’s simple solution to a drenching headache was recognised at Fieldays when she won the Young Innovator Award.

Ranger created the Mark-It, a tool designed to streamline the drenching process for sheep by leaving an ink mark on the side of the sheep’s mouth.

The tool is an attachment that holds an ink-saturated sponge that slips onto the drench gun. The attachment is close enough to the drench dispenser to ensure

the sheep gets an ink stain on its mouth – letting the farmer know that it has received the drench, preventing sheep being missed or doubling up the dosage.

Ranger grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Waikato and inherited the idea from her sister and refined it further to make it usable for farmers.

My personal experience is in the race drenching at home and not knowing whether I had got that sheep or not.

“My personal experience is in the race drenching at home and not knowing whether I had got that sheep or not,” Ranger said.

The feedback had been extremely positive from sheep farmers she had spoken to at Fieldays.

“I’ve had farmers say it’s a great idea and a retired farmer said that he wished it was around 20 years ago.”

The three head judges said Ranger is well down the road towards commercial success with a product that solves a sheep farming issue in a remarkably simple way.

“It is a classic Kiwi solution that simplifies an important task while helping save money and waste,” they said.

Penny Ranger St Peter’s School

DRENCH: Penny Ranger has developed the Mark-It, which fits on a drench gun and marks a sheep with ink after drenching, letting the farmer know the animal has been dosed.

HARAKEKE: KiwiFibre founders William Murrell, left, and Oscar Goodman won the Early Stage Award at the Fieldays Innovation Awards for creating products made from harakeke as a replacement for fibreglass and carbon fibre.

BANDAGES: Woolaid founder Lucas Smith has been exporting bandages made from Merino wool to the US since 2022.

ODDMENTS: Fleecegrow chief researcher Jacinta Penn has found a way to use strong wool oddments in greenhouses.

Lucas Smith WoolAid

Sector Focus

Saved by farming: Ben Purua’s story

IT’S no exaggeration to say that farming saved Ben Purua.

The Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer of the Year was on a pathway to being another negative statistic in his youth, growing up in Pukekohe in an environment where gangs, substance and sexual abuse and domestic violence were the norm.

In 2010 he was found guilty of manslaughter and sent to Waikeria Prison. He was 16 years old. It was there, working on the prison’s dairy farm, that he had his first brush with farming.

“That’s where that passion started for me. Getting the opportunity to work on the farm at Waikeria was huge. But it was a lot of hard work – you don’t just get to go out on the farm.

“I just found this love for the freedom, for being with animals and I think it just brought out something in me. I didn’t know I’d enjoy being out on the whenua, working with animals so much and other people,” he said.

He left prison in 2015 and immediately started looking for employment on a farm. It was not easy because of a lack of a support network with most employers reluctant to hire someone with a criminal record.

The stigma that comes with having that record is enormous. After about 20 applications he received a call from Roger Wolfe, who ran a service bull farm in Morrinsville. He wanted to interview him.

“He asked me when I can start, and I said ‘tomorrow’.”

Since then, Purua has worked as a dairy assistant and is currently managing the 187 hectare property of Jack and Tiz Scheres and Chap and Ashleigh Zwiers, milking 550 cows on a high input

I just found this love for the freedom, for being with animals and I think it just brought out something in me.

System 5.

Looking back, Purua describes his home life as a child as crazy.

When he met his wife, Nikki, she had four children and he cannot fathom having them in that kind of environment.

“At the age of seven and eight I was already smoking drugs and drinking alcohol. I look at sevenand eight-year-olds today and I think, ‘Shit, how is that possible’, and going through sexual abuse at

that age – it affected a lot of things in my upbringing.”

As a teenager, he had zero boundaries and with no father figure, he joined a gang at 13 and started committing crimes.

He said Nikki has been a huge part of his success, acknowledging that he would not be where he is today without her support.

“She play a huge part of where we are heading with this transition farm behind the scenes.”

She was also instrumental in helping establish their own clothing brand as a separate business – Kāmu to Pāmu (Calm Your Farm) – which was launched at the start of the year.

The clothing aims to advocate for culture, wellbeing and positivity, he said.

Purua was a previous finalist of the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer in 2021. Prior to entering that he sought out the family of

the person whose death had led to his conviction, asking forgiveness for his role in it. It allowed Purua to move forward and was hugely transformational.

“It was only a few years ago that I got to meet the family. From that moment, it was a huge weight off my shoulders.”

It also empowered him to be more than just a farmer and a husband but a role model for change.

“There’s a reason I’ve done this – that reason being is that there are so many guys just like me – growing up in the same environment and my family is a prime example of it.

“All of my family are gang members and drug addicts and me doing this shows my family and other people going through the same thing that it is possible to change and get out of that lifestyle if you want.”

Over the years he has also had numerous mentors that have helped him along the way, including Wolfe, Graeme Lucas and Shane Robinson.

“They were just awesome, loving farmers.”

Purua’s ultimate goal is to establish a transition farm to help people recently released from prison find and maintain employment.

“That’s my dream, to set up a farm for people who have just come out of prison or have community-based sentences.”

This would give those people the support they need to stay out of prison and fill a much-needed gap that he sees in the system for people post-prison.

It would give these people not just farming skills to further their employment aspirations but also

Continued page 18

DEHORN AT CONCEPTION

World-leading high genetic merit polled sires have arrived Samen NZ has the largest collection of PP, A2A2 sires specifically selected for New Zealand farming systems.

Photo: Packer-PP-ET

Gerald Piddock PEOPLE Skills

Ben Purua Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer of the Year

PROUD: Ben Purua won the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer of the Year and was named Dairy Manager of the Year for the Central Plateau region at the NZ Dairy Awards.

Photos: Alphapix nz/ Ahuwhenua Trophy

‘My dream’s a farm for people just out of prison’

Continued from page 17

impart life skills such as setting up bank accounts, IRD numbers and more – none of which Purua was taught in his upbringing.

The wider farming industry could play a huge role in supporting this farm.

KIWI-AS,

“I believe iwi can play a massive part in it, as well as our farming communities, but there’s such a huge stigma around guys with criminal records.”

It means many are denied an opportunity before they are even employed, he said.

Purua sees the transition farm as a means of breaking down the stigma ex-prisoners face by showing potential employers their capabilities.

He is also actively engaged with the community both inside and outside the farming sphere. He serves as a council member on the Food and Fibre Youth Network and is a member of Piarere Young Farmers.

He also helps ex-prisoners deal with alcohol and drug addictions by using his own experience as an example to them. He is a presenter when Waikeria Prison has open days.

“I’m just using the same experience that I got with these guys.”

His high profile since winning the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer award as well as winning the Farm Manager of the Year for the Central Plateau in this year’s NZ Dairy Awards gave him a boost with networking opportunities

to start putting that dream into reality.

“A lot of the organisations that sponsor these awards, they know where we want to head and they’re behind us.”

Purua said the huge outpouring of emotion he showed when receiving the award had been a long time coming, as he reflected on his upbringing and where he is today.

“Realistically, someone that has come from my sort of background shouldn’t be here.”

He said he has been overwhelmed with the messages of support and congratulations since the awards night.

Being able to win the award in front of his iwi on his whenua made it especially poignant for him.

“Also, having all my whanau there, family that I grew up with and are still struggling, it just lets them know that it is possible if you do want to chase your dream.”

INTRODUCTION: Ben Purua had his first brush with farming when working on the Waikeria Prison dairy farm.

SUPPORT: Ben Purua says his ultimate goal is to establish a transition farm to help people recently released from prison find and maintain employment.

TEAM WORK: Ben Purua says wife Nikki has been a huge part of his success, acknowledging that he would not be where he is today without her support.

DairyBase data set reaches through time

Richard Rennie TECHNOLOGY Data

ALMOST a generation’s worth of dairy farming data has been captured by DairyNZ’s DairyBase platform as it marks its 20th year of existence this season.

Kicking off in 2005-06, DairyBase launched as a system for collecting dairy farmers’ financial and physical farm data. It came into being just as the internet’s penetration was starting to hook deeper into farm businesses albeit often a slower process, thanks to dial-up modems.

Today the system captures data from about 20% of the country’s dairy farmers, identifying them by region, farm system type (1-5) and overall performance.

It provides a way for farmers to compare their financial and

physical performance with their peers, within region, system and the country.

Mark Storey, DairyNZ’s head of economics, says 20 years of data collection also makes DairyBase an invaluable long-running longitudinal data base that not only provides dairy farmers with an idea of how they are performing, but also generates industry meta data for identifying trends and doing deep research dives.

His efforts in dissecting the data and comparing farm revenue, cost centres and profitability today against 20 years ago also provide some insights into how the country’s top-performing farmers channel their expenditure.

“Looking back in time to compare the top farmers of 200506 with 2022-23, there are some really notable differences in their budgets.”

He said the top quartile farmers

in 2022-23 are spending more on feed supplement expenses. Back in 2005-06 that was about 45c/ kg milksolids, compared to over a $1.00/kg MS today.

Adjusting for inflation that amounts to an additional 80c/ kg MS, representing 20% of their operating expenses.

“I think this reflects that in those good payout years farmers were able to optimise their farm’s viability by utilising supplements more intensely.”

He notes, however, that this has tended to subside in recent seasons, partly in response to the inclusion of the Fat Evaluation Index test in 2018.

The overall increase in supplements also partly reflects farmers’ response to some tough seasons. He cites his own family’s experience in north Waikato, where summers can hit hard.

INVALUABLE: Mark Storey, DairyNZ’s head of economics, says 20 years of data collection makes DairyBase an invaluable long-running longitudinal data base.

“Supplements have been quite critical for farm performance in the last 10 years and pure grassfed systems can’t always cut it in those conditions.”

But the fact the top 25% of farmers in 2022-23 also spend about 30c/kg MS more on labour and pasture management than in 2005-06 indicates they are combining good grass management skills with smart supplement use that enhances production, rather than simply replacing grass with bought-in feed and wasting their cheapest resource.

The top quartile of farmers, by making investments in supplements, labour and pasture management were also delivering to their bottom line a healthy $1000/ha (inflation adjusted) more operating profit, compared to their 2005-06 peers.

“We do have to remember though that operating profit is only one indicator of financial performance, for example it

does not reflect expenses like interest costs, which have grown significantly in the past few years.”

Fertiliser costs as an inflationadjusted percentage of farm costs have also dropped for the top performing farmers, from about 12% of farm expenses in 2005-06 to about 8% in 2022-23.

Looking back in time to compare the top farmers, there are some really notable differences in their budgets.

Mark Storey DairyNZ

“We saw especially with the post-Covid- Ukraine conflict price spike how fertiliser use dropped. It is one of the things farmers do have immediate control over and can respond to the quickest.

“They also have a lot more information now regarding their nitrogen surplus, and

understanding what their optimal application is.

“I think there have been some marked signs of improved practices.”

Regionally, Canterbury proves to be the most profitable area to dairy farm in, coming out top for Systems 5, 4 and 3. Bay of Plenty claims the top profitability for System 2, and nationally across all systems, while Taranaki is winner for all-grass System 1 type dairying.

With DairyBase accounting for about 20% of dairy farmers nationally, Storey said it represents a very robust sample providing invaluable industry data cross-tabulated by region and system type.

However, in an effort to get even more farmers on board, DairyNZ is removing the $100 a year fee.

“DairyBase has been a great example of DairyNZ bringing our farm systems and credible evidence-based approach together to benefit all farmers,” said Storey.

COMPARISON: DairyBase provides a way for farmers to compare their financial and physical performance with their peers, within region, system and the country.

Biosecurity Lev y rate to reduce by 66%

A s the Mycoplasma bovis programme star ts to move into a sur veillance phase, costs are reducing, thank s to a combined sector effor t .

We appreciate that the road to eradicating Mycoplasma Bovis (M bovis) in New Zealand hasn’t been easy, and there is still work to be done, but this is an impor tant milestone to acknowledge

Thank s to the commitment of farmer s to biosecurit y and the M bovis eradication plan, the Biosecurit y (Response –Milk solids) Lev y will reduce from 2.4 cents per kilogram of milk solids to 0 8 cents per kilogram of milk solids from 1 July 2024

This is a 66 percent reduc tion in the lev y rate and a reflec tion of the g ood progress we have made as a sec tor in response to M bovis D air y farmer s will notice this change reflec ted in their payments from August

O ver the nex t few year s, we may still see a few more cases we have to deal with However, as the great work by our sec tor continues, costs have reduced, and it is impor tant that those savings are passed onto farmer s

Programme success to date

Currently, we are in a good place, and this lev y reduc tion will provide some welcome relief for dair y farmer s Six year s ago, a 10 -year plan to eradication was launched, with New Zealand set ting out with the ambition to be the fir st countr y in the world to

eradicate M bovis , to protec t our national herd

The spirit of collaboration is a key par t of New Zealand’s response to eradicate M bovis from New Zealand and it ’ s great to see the success of this approach affirmed

It is positive that there are currently no ac tive, confirmed cases in the countr y

While we appreciate the costs and impac ts to many farmer s have been high, the cost of let ting M bovis spread throughout the countr y would have been more costly

The M bovis eradication programme has cost around $722 million to date, while it was estimated the cost of let ting it spread would have been $1 3 billion in lost produc tivit y in the fir st 10 year s alone

Implementation of National Pest Management Plan

The Governemnt recently confirmed its commitment to implementing a National Pest Management Plan (NPMP) for M bovis

To date, the eradication programme has been the responsibilit y of the Government Industr y Agreement (GIA) par tner s, MPI, D air yNZ and B+LNZ, but with the response

Managing biosecurit y risk s on your farm

Help protect your farm business from pests and diseases with Dair yNZ’s Biosecurit y Planner

From identif ying new threats in your environment, to managing on farm access and new and existing risk s to your animals, make biosecurit y planning easy for you and your farm team

Download this tool free on the Dair yNZ website: dair ynz .co.nz/biosecurit y

shif ting to a focus on sur veillance before eradication is confirmed, it ’ s appropriate that full responsibilit y transfer s to OSPRI

A s a par tner, D air yNZ will continue to suppor t this work to help protec t our national dair y herd and ensure that OSPRI has the tool s needed to continue to work towards the goal of eradication

The National Pest Management Plan will come into effec t by the end of 2024, with the Biosecurit y (Response – Milk solids) Lev y that farmer s pay being replaced by the NPMP Lev y

Keeping up the good work

It could be said that 9 8 percent of New Zealand dair y farmer s have helped 2 percent of farmer s affec ted by M bovis This is an enormous collec tive effor t and without it, we wouldn’t be where we are today with a stronger, more resilient biosecurit y system

While this change reflec ts the positive and great work that has been done, it is al so a timely reminder of the positive i mpac ts that strong biosecurit y systems have on our sec tor

It is impor tant to ensure we keep up good biosecurit y prac tices on the farm including keeping NAIT records up to date to ensure the risk of M bovis and other livestock diseases are minimised

We thank all dair y farmer s for their dedication and effor t towards eradicating M bovis It ’ s an incredible effor t that helps not only the agricultural sec tor, but all of New Zealand

Kind regards,

About the levy

The Biosecurity Response Levy is in place to fund the Mycoplasma bovis Programme and while Dair yNZ is responsible for collecting it via the dair y companies, we pass it straight on to the Ministr y for Primar y Industries. It is separate from the Dair yNZ milksolids levy which we invest on farmers’ behalf. The Biosecurity Response Levy came into effect in September 2019, after consulting with farmers who told us they wanted Dair yNZ to manage the levy on their behalf.

More information is available online at dairynz.co.nz/ biosecuritylevy

Campbell Parker Jim van der Poel

GENEZ sees huge dairy-beef opportunity

Hugh Stringleman TECHNOLOGY Genetics

GENETICS company

co-founder Ben Watson sees massive potential in technology helping farmers be more prescriptive with mating lower-genetic-merit dairy cows.

The potential is there with cow collars and wearables allowing for elite beef genetics, perfectly suited for use on dairy cows, to improve profitability for both dairy and beef farmers.

GENEZ is Watson’s start-up AB company selling reasonably priced semen from six breeds and 12 of New Zealand’s leading beef studs at $8 to $13 a straw.

It has supply agreements with the leading stud breeders, and semen collection and dispatch agreements with two independent AB facilities, ABS in the North Island and Xcell in the South Island.

In just its second year in business, GENEZ is providing a comprehensive dairy-beef service, generally to dairy farmers with larger herds in competition with the more traditional AB companies.

Frozen semen volume discounts take the per straw prices towards the bottom of the price range quoted above.

The estimated breeding values (EBVs) have been interpreted with a new sire rating system to simplify comparison for farmers, within and across breeds.

Where possible bulls have been selected for early maturing and finishing and the right carcase composition, including eye muscle area and intramuscular fat.

Short gestation and calving ease focus on the needs of the dairy cow.

The online catalogue has bulls from leading beef studs nationwide; four Angus studs, three Hereford, two Simmental, two Charolais, a Belgian Blue and a Wagyu (some studs have two breeds).

Watson said the quick uptake of cow wearables or collars and the identification of cow heats enables farmers to selectively and proactively draft cows with lower genetic merit to beef AI.

In many large herds this could be half the cows or more and the expense of beef semen through traditional companies mounts up.

The planned replacement matings are becoming more and more prescriptive with sexed semen and wearable heat detection.

With all the other demands on their time, farmers want their AI technician to be available and armed with the preferred semen.

“Some farmers don’t realise that AI technicians are allowed to apply straws from any source, not only the companies they work for,” he said.

“By utilising the ease and accuracy of heat detection through wearables, it opens the door to

highly tuned mating programs.

“Our elite beef on dairy offering is designed to work with these tools, adding far more value back to farmers.”

Calf rearers and finishers are also very keen to target their efforts into dairy-beef cattle that are strongly marked, grow quickly and will marble well at slaughter to gain premiums where appropriate.

GENEZ is encouraging farmers to tag their dairy-beef calves born to the selected sires so that calf purchasers can buy with confidence in the saleyards and the paddock.

This is called the Dairy Beef Traceability Programme, with distinctive black and white panel tags to aid NAIT traceability.

Watson is currently running trials and is in discussions around how dairy beef could have premiums available from meat processors for prime, marbled beef to provide better returns along the supply chain to farmers, rearers and finishers who use the programme.

“Finding a purpose for the volume of non-replacement calves is a massive hill to climb and it will take some time with a really good, multi-faceted plan otherwise NZ Inc will take a big hit.”

Watson has a strong interest in industry good trials and initiatives, having followed closely the Beef +Lamb NZ Genetics and the Dairy-Beef Progeny Test with several sires and breeders in their catalogue having been involved.

Some farmers don’t realise that AI technicians are allowed to apply straws from any source, not only the companies they work for.

Ben Watson GENEZ

He is a dairy farmer with a Jersey herd and crossbred dairy-beef cattle and a keen desire to see the interface between dairy and beef cattle working well and being highly productive for everyone involved.

“New Zealand has a lot of very elite beef genetics which have never had exposure to the dairy industry, and in many cases they have EBVs and traits better than available through traditional channels and allegiances.”

GENEZ runs a low-costs model by using the services of other specialist companies like ABS and Xcell, where most of the industry’s top beef sires have been collected and semen distributed to leading AB companies for the past 25 years.

Dispatches are going out currently to autumn-calving herds that are into winter mating.

Two GENEZ products have been introduced for the spring mating season – a Conception Plus multisire semen straw and a sire from Kerrah Simmentals containing the dilution gene called the Diluter Simmental.

Watson said overseas research shows multi-sire straws give a 3-5% conception rate boost, both in frozen and fresh semen.

GENEZ is offering straws containing multiple sire in both Charolais and Hereford breed options, for $13/straw delivered on farm for fresh and $11 for frozen, with volume discounts further reducing this pricing and available on other products.

He has a trial underway on a large Waikato dairy farm, comparing fresh Conception Plus Charolais multi-sire straws, to the frozen version of the same product, and standard single sire straws of frozen Charolais semen.

“All of the sires in the multi-sire offering are assured for what dairy farmers want, not just random inclusions.”

The Charolais offering is Kakahu Gerry 140506 and a son and grandson, all carrying the “Team Gerry” performance that sees Gerry still remain the all-time, across the cohort leader in weight gain and carcase weight, performing above all 190 elite beef sires

testing in the Dairy Beef Progeny Test [DBPT] over the past nine years.

The other new product, Diluter Simmental, containing the dilution gene, stems from the chromosome of Kerrah Lucrative L303, ensuring that Simmental marking will be present in all calves.

“He marks calves by washing the colour out of his progeny – like a

Charolais – and he is homozygous polled.

“He carries two copies of the diluter gene, meaning all calves will be variations of a washed-out straw colour and carry some white on the face,” Watson said.

“Double diluter means all dairy farm staff can positively identify the dairy-beef calves born amongst dairy replacements.”

Kerrah Lucrative is a world first homozygous diluter and polled bull to be available in an AI programme.

GENEZ is building relationships to have slaughter data from finishers of traceable calves released to the farmers and industry good organisations like BLNZ.

This will trace progeny performance and build on data to increase the accuracy of genomics for dairy beef.

“Genomics are significantly increasing the accuracy of measurements and breeding values and adding to selection pressure and shorten generation intervals.

“Our bull breeder partners are forward thinking types. They recognise that a product offering good value for dairy farmers, while ensuring better performance for the beef farmer, is good for all New Zealanders,” Watson said.

GROWTH: In just its second year in business GENEZ is providing a comprehensive dairy-beef service, generally to dairy farmers with larger herds.

Dairy can help smooth maize’s wild ride

Annette Scott NEWS Costs

TWO years of maize season volatility has growers calling for earlier signalling by the dairy industry to help gauge supply and demand and stabilise pricing.

Foundation for Arable Research general manager business

manager of business operations

operations Ivan Lawrie said knowing the area of maize silage required each season would assist maize growers to better plan their planting programmes.

This follows an unprecedented roller-coaster ride for prices and demand in the past two years, with the market disruption caused by the war in Ukraine in early 2022 spiking prices of grains internationally.

In New Zealand, the market highs quickly turned downwards as maize growers sought to catch the tail-end of soaring prices, just as the dairy market reduced demand for silage and international prices plummeted.

Given maize not taken up by dairy farmers for silage is taken through by growers for grain, this led to an oversupply of maize grain in the North Island, which was exacerbated by a shortage of storage facilities.

Data from the NZX Grain and Feed Insight shows maize grain values have fluctuated from October 2022, peaking at $750 a tonne in the North Island down to almost half that at $360/t in May this year.

Data from the Arable Industry Marketing Initiative (AIMI), a survey of grower intentions, sowings, harvest tonnages and sales, shows the area planted in

maize has remained stable since 2019 at around 55,000 to 58,000 hectares intended for silage and 15,000 to 17,000ha for grain.

“These are survey figures of course, and the final use of the crop can vary according to the season, but on the whole that proportion did not vary too much until the 2024 season,” Lawrie said.

Tonnage figures show that production of maize silage is less variable on an annual basis than grain production, with grain yields more vulnerable to seasonal conditions.

The 2023 harvest in particular saw tonnage of both crops plummet significantly because of the extreme weather conditions, notably Cyclone Gabrielle.

AIMI figures show most of the

maize grain, around 90%, is sold under contract with prices fixed well ahead of harvest.

“NZ local grain prices do not necessarily follow the international trend due to our isolation, but this only happens to a point.”

Lawrie said while the local dairy payout prices correlate more closely to all grain prices in NZ due to demand, if there is an availability of cheap imported grain this drives the price down, “especially for maize grain where the poultry industry has quite a concentrated power over the market”.

In a situation where demand for silage has decreased, the North Island especially is not well furnished with storage and drying

capacity for grain, meaning that growers have little ability to “hold grain” until price opportunities improve.

“Investing in infrastructure development would help the ability to smooth out peaks and troughs in the local market at least.”

The feed market is dairy focused, with 60% to 80% of NZ’s maize grain crop sold into dairy channels. NZ has a deficit of 3.5 million tonnes in animal feed products, which is met by imports.

Dairy accounts for about 68% of total imported feed, which is dominated by palm kernel. Poultry accounts for about 12% of total imports, but 48% of grain imports. Milling accounts for 7% of imports, but 33% of grain imports.

Fonterra spends big money keeping plants on

Hugh Stringleman NEWS Energy

FONTERRA is spending

$56 million across its 26 manufacturing sites in New Zealand over the winter shutdown.

A large share of the planned capital expenditure goes on major maintenance of critical powder plant buildings at Clandeboye, Edendale and Te Rapa.

Fonterra’s director of manufacturing, Alan van der

Nagel, said the powder plant work is mainly cladding replacement to keep the buildings weathertight.

In notes provided for the media on the shutdown, Fonterra said it has 600,000 assets on the 26 sites, all numbered and scheduled for routine maintenance.

“Winter maintenance will take about 300,000 labour hours, involving mechanical, electrical, building and equipment specialists, who will be on sites every week until the end of July,” Fonterra said.

The biggest single project is the first 20MW electric boiler at Edendale, Southland, where four boilers have been using coal as fuel.

Van der Nagel said the first electric boiler is one-third of the way through installation and a second has been ordered from NZ manufacturers.

A big part of the changeover is building the power lines and sub-stations.

The electricity comes from big hydro generators in Southland and

the new machinery fits well inside the old footprints because there is no need for automatic fuel loaders.

Fonterra has resolved to do away with coal completely by 2037, replacing boilers with electricity, biomass-fuelled equipment or heat pumps.

The 2023-24 season was one of the least eventful in Van der Nagel’s time at Fonterra in terms of plant breakdowns and transport.

Ongoing highway closures in Northland and Taranaki had caused tankers to take longer routes,

but without major incidents.

Commenting on Fonterra’s continuous cost improvement drive in manufacturing, he said the most efficient plants operate at full capacity without stoppages. “The past season was very good and that’s a major reason why we have such a structured winter maintenance programme.”

Should Fonterra go ahead with divestment of value-add consumer products and brands, the ingredients plants will supply the new owners, he said.

INVESTMENT: FAR general

Ivan Lawrie says investing in infrastructure development would help the ability to smooth out peaks and troughs in the local market.

UP AND DOWN:

Data from the NZX Grain and Feed Insight shows maize grain values have fluctuated since October 2022.

OUTLOOK: The 2023/24 season has ended, and the New Zealand dairy sector continues to face challenges, says Cristina Alvarado

NZ dairy season ends on a mixed outlook

Growing trend of recent months changed in April with total volumes decreasing by -10.1% year on year.

Sector perspective

Cristina Alvarado

Alvarado is commercial manager, data and insight at NZX

THE global dairy market experienced various changes in May 2024, from production across key regions and New Zealand showing shifting trend results in exports. In the auctions that have taken place so far in this period, the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index increased in both May events and also in June’s first event. GDT saw a 1.8% increase in the index at May’s 255 event, followed by a 3.3% rise in event 356, and a 1.7% surge in June’s 357 event.

Prices for whole milk powder (WMP), skim milk powder (SMP), butter, and anhydrous milk fat (AMF) rose across all three events, mainly driven by lower volumes offered and sustained demand from the Middle East and southeast Asia, and occasional buying from north Asia.

Milk production in New Zealand had a decline in April with 1.46 million tonnes of total milk collected, down -4.1% yearon-year (YoY). On a milk solids basis, the drop was -2.6%. Despite this, the season-to-date production is down only -0.5%, with a 0.8% increase in milksolids.

Our NZX milk production predictor has estimated a -5.7% YoY drop for May. The NZX farmgate milk price forecast for the 2024-25 season was revised on June 6 up to $9.09/kgMS, reflecting the latest GDT results, while the forecast for the 2023-24 season closed at $7.80/kgMS. In other regions, milk production growth remains sluggish, not at the levels of growth expected at the beginning of the year. The United States keeps reporting YoY decreases (-0.4% in April), Argentina and Uruguay are facing significant production drops (-16.2% and -6.6% YoY, respectively), and Europe has reported a modest 0.8% increase in March production. Australia saw a 2.5% YoY increase in April, continuing its recovery with a 3.0% season-to-date improvement.

New Zealand’s dairy exports’ growing trend of the last months has changed in April with total volumes decreasing by -10.1% YoY. WMP exports dropped by -16%, mainly due to reduced demand from China and North Africa. However, year-to-date (YTD) exports remain up by 6.6%. Skim milk powder exports also declined by -35% YoY. In contrast, whey, and

whey protein concentrate (WPC) exports rose significantly, up 37% and 63% YoY, respectively.

China’s dairy imports fell by -12.5% YoY in April, with significant drops in SMP (-39%) and infant formula (-36%), but notable increases in AMF (88%) and butter (31%). The US saw a -6.7% decline in export volumes in March, while Argentina’s exports rose by 11.3% YoY in April. Australia’s exports surged by 19.9% YoY in March, driven by substantial increases in butter and cheese. Total dairy export volumes out of Europe decreased -12.8% YoY in March, down -3.7% YTD.

Fonterra announced its opening farmgate milk price forecast for the 2024/25 season, with a range of $7.25 to $8.75 per kgMS and a midpoint of $8.00/kgMS. The co-op also narrowed its range for the 2023/24 season to $7.70-$7.90/kgMS. These cautious forecasts reflect ongoing market volatility and uncertainty, particularly regarding Chinese demand. Additionally, Fonterra’s recent Q3 results showed a slight increase in profit from continuing operations, attributed to strong performance across its product channels.

The 2023/24 season has ended, and the New Zealand dairy sector continues to face a mixed outlook. While production and export figures present challenges, improved commodity prices and strategic adjustments by key players like Fonterra offer cautious optimism for the coming months.

Good for earnings and environment

DON “Bush” Macky and his sharemilker Andrew McPherson are showing that environmental and economic sustainability are not mutually exclusive.

Macky said his relationship with McPherson has been important to their success.

“He walks the walk, we’re both on the same page.”

And while they have disagreements, they maintain a level of professionalism and never get personal, he said.

“Bush is also at a different stage of life than I am, and you have to strike that balance,” McPherson said.

“You see different through 80-year-old owner eyes than to do with 50-year-old sharemilker eyes,” Macky said.

“Andrew’s a good worker. We’re lucky to have someone who wants to do it – and then does it; he doesn’t just talk about it.”

McPherson has run the farm as a 50:50 sharemilker since 2010.

Over the course of the past 13 years, they have run a farm system that centres on environmental and economic sustainability.

“You can have both and we’re proving that.

“We’re Level 4 input, which is reasonably high. We’re high production, but we also maintain a very high environmental standard.”

It’s a System 4 farm and Macky said that level of input is the best balance between inputs, increasing production and keeping a lid on costs.

The 140 hectare effective farm near Paterangi has around 3.7 cows per hectare, producing 1700kg MS/ha, supplying Open Country.

It has two staff plus McPherson. About 1.8 tonnes of dry matter per cow per annum is used in the

nearby, milking 190 cows.

We’re producing with reduced fertiliser input because we have created a healthy biological soil that mineralises the inputs far better than conventional fertilisers.

‘Bush‘ Macky Paterangi

form of maize silage, PKE and trace elements and minerals. As well as sharemilking the Macky’s farm, Andrew and wife Michelle have their own 59ha farm

Macky’s farm is a winter calving farm running 500 cows split into an older and younger mob with calving getting underway from about late June.

The replacement calves are sent off to a grazier in King Country with the heifers returning to the farm in May.

The cows are wintered on the farm and split into three mobs according to condition and age and are fed maize over that period.

They also grow 9ha of chicory as a summer crop for feed, pasture rejuvenation and to help reduce bristle grass on the farm.

Other species, such as plantain,

are part of their permanent pasture. Macky puts a lot of his success down to pasture growth and utilisation.

His farm is also the site for trials by seed companies Barenbrug and Pioneer. Metal cages are placed in two paddocks over spring and summer so the cows cannot graze the pasture. Macky then removes the cage and mows it, collecting the sward.

It is then weighed, and a sample is kept for analysis of dry matter (DM). This exercise is undertaken by Barenbrug.

The trials provide a great insight into how many kilograms of DM a

hectare is being grown.

According to the trials, the two paddocks with the cages grow around 23t of dry matter once error rates are taken into account. McPherson is quick to point out that the paddocks being tested are some of the best on the farm.

Macky said the average kilograms of DM produced on a pasture in Waikato is around 14t/ DM/ha but their farm uses well above that figure.

It shows a healthy biological soil, which he believes is in part a result of using controlled-release dicalcic phosphate fertilisers such as superphosphate, which is highly acidic, highly water soluble

Gerald Piddock ON FARM Sustainability

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Bush’ Macky next to the wetland developed on his farm.

Photos: Stephen Barker

and has a negative impact on the microbial activity on the soil, he said.

Macky said single superphosphate (SSP) and urea fertilisers have not been used on the farm for over 20 years.

Around 70ha is also irrigated via effluent.

Macky said this highlights one of the shortcomings of Overseer because it does not recognise

PLANTING:

‘Bush’ Macky is heavily involved in helping to establish the Taiea te Taiao project to create an ecological corridor linking Maungatautari and Mt Pirongia in the Waipa district, and has planted around 18,000 trees on the farm.

controlled-release polymer-coated N or dicalcic fertilisers in its calculations.

As a result, leaching numbers for nitrogen came to 37kg/ N/ ha although in reality he believes they are lower.

There is a total of around 80kg N/ha applied annually in controlled-release form that is released annually, he said.

“We can’t be growing that

We’ve added value to our farm, we’ve added value to our community, we’re helping to protect waterways and it’s a winwin situation.

‘Bush‘ Macky Paterangi

amount of grass and producing that amount of milk if those figures are right. It’s impossible for us to be doing what we are doing.”

The polymer-coated N he uses is more expensive but has much higher utilisation compared to conventional fertiliser.

“You get what you pay for and when it comes to fertiliser, pay the extra and get the better because you’ll grow more dry matter.”

That extra income from the use of controlled-release fertilisers equates to about an extra $400 income per hectare, he said.

“We are getting payback now because of it. We’re producing with reduced fertiliser input because we have created a healthy biological soil that mineralises the inputs far better than conventional fertilisers.”

McPherson said he is not doing anything too special with his pasture management apart from protecting pastures over winter by using their two feedpads and ensuring cows hit a 1500kg DM residual.

They are also getting reimbursed for half of the costs of tree planting thanks to a partnership OCD with Nestlé.

Macky had been planting trees and segregating the farm’s waterways and wetland long before that.

In total, he has planted close to 18,000 trees. He has been heavily involved helping establish Taiea te Taiao project to create of an ecological corridor linking Maungatautari and Mt Pirongia in the Waipa district.

It aims to create this corridor by planting alongside the Mangapiko Stream and its tributaries, on farms and other properties. The project is now into its third year.

Macky remembers the state of the stream during the 1950s, having suffered the impact of being a dumping ground for milk waste off dairy farms in the previous century.

It had been over-clearfelled and replaced with willows for stream bank stabilisation; these over time fell into the river, clogging it up.

It would stink through summer as the water dried up, forcing the eels to compete for oxygen from fresh water coming from the drains to stay alive.

“The stream was totally polluted. It was dead.”

They created a duck pond, surrounded by planting and retired 2ha without impacting production.

“We’ve added value to our farm, we’ve added value to our community, we’re helping to protect waterways and it’s a winwin situation.”

McPherson came with his herd when he started sharemilking 13 years ago. While the farm system is slightly less intensive, nothing too much has changed in terms of how the farm has been run over that period, apart from shifting the cow’s calving date earlier.

Along the way, he and his wife won the Waikato Share Farmer of the Year in 2013 on Macky’s farm. Looking ahead, Macky said succession is a work in progress with his children. He is the fourth generation and wants to keep the farm in the Macky name.

McPherson is also involved in those discussions. When he can no longer sharemilk the farm, Macky wants the herd to remain on the farm – all that will change are the people.

MILKING: Andrew McPherson, right, has sharemilked Don ‘Bush’ Macky’s farm since 2010.

TRIALS: ‘Bush’ Macky’s farm is the site for trials by seed companies Barenbrug and Pioneer.

Know your downer cows and how to prevent them

It’s an issue that can undermine the health and productivity of the entire herd – and getting help starts with identifying the type of downer cow you are dealing with.

Chris Balemi Balemi is founder and managing director of Agvance Nutrition Sector perspective

DESPITE our best efforts, downer cows are still too common an occurrence, presenting a concerning challenge. Normalised on many farms, these clinical cases are the tip of a much larger iceberg and unless prevented, this issue can undermine the health and productivity of the entire herd. There are different types of downer cows. Not all downer cows are caused by a lack of calcium, hence correct diagnosis of the disease and any other complicating factors can be critical.

• Calcium downer

Milk fever and the “sleepy cow” are symptomatic of a lack of calcium at calving. These cows are non-responsive upon approach, generally weak, staggering, and sometimes unable to stand. The

root cause? A lack of calcium in the blood due to an inability to activate calcium reserves during a stress period, for example calving, as opposed to a calcium deficiency.

• Phosphorus downer

Often referred to as the crawler cow, phosphorus deficiency can lead to similar downer cow scenarios and in some cases the two deficiencies take place concurrently. These cows are typically bright in the eye, can be agitated, and often crawl while trying to get up, lacking the coordination to stay on their feet. Identifying this type quickly is essential for effective intervention.

• Magnesium downer

Grass tetany, or magnesium deficiency, is a particularly alarming concern. Most common in early lactation, these cows show muscle tremors and uncoordination, leading to a staggering gait. Despite efforts to prevent it, sub-clinically affected cows still exist.

• Ketosis

Both ketosis and milk fever are metabolic diseases. They can be hard to differentiate and can

also occur concurrently. Milk fever raises the risk of the same cow suffering ketosis into early lactation. Complications from milk fever interfere with appetite and energy production, which can lead to the over-mobilisation of fat stores for energy. Ask your vet to test the cows for high beta hydroxy butyrate (BOHB) levels in the blood in order to eliminate this as a factor.

How can mineral supplementation prevent downer cows? Mineral supplements are formulated to provide essential nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and other trace minerals that may be lacking in the cow’s diet, especially during critical periods like spring or times of stress such as pregnancy or lactation.

Calcium supplementation, along with a good pre-calving negative DCAD diet for springers, helps prevent milk fever by ensuring adequate calcium levels in the bloodstream. Calcium supports proper muscle function and nerve transmission, and successful stimulation of calcium into the bloodstream can help prevent

PREVENTION: Specific mineral supplementation is a vital component of preventive healthcare for dairy cows, leading up to the calving period, and during early lactation.

Is it possible to have zero downer cows? Yes, with the right approach.

cows from becoming downers during the calving period.

Magnesium is essential to produce the hormones that aid in calcium absorption and mobilisation. Supplementing magnesium at adequate rates precalving and then boosting levels post-calving is important.

Most people know phosphorus supports good bone health, but few consider how important it is in energy production. Basically, the more energy in the diet, the more phosphorus is needed to convert the energy into forms the body can

use. Adequate phosphorus levels will prevent crawler cows at any stage in the season, and can also reduce risks around ketosis. Is it possible to have zero downer cows? Yes, with the right approach. Specific mineral supplementation is a vital component of preventive healthcare for dairy cows, leading up to the calving period, and during early lactation. By identifying and addressing mineral deficiencies and supporting the nutritional needs of your herd, you can significantly reduce the risk of a downer cow, as well as other related metabolic syndromes.

MORE: Read more: https://agvance.co.nz/ all-you-need-to-know-about-downercows-and-how-to-avoid-them/

Your future herd needs all the help it can get to go from good to great Calf Max with its high starch content is just what a calf needs to energise rumen microbes and develop the rumen to ensure good nutrients in grass can be utilised So max out where it counts with Calf M ax.

Olam factory ready for the next stage

Gerald Piddock NEWS Production

OLAM Food Ingredients

has had an extremely successful first season processing milk from its factory in Tokoroa and is already planning the second stage of the factory’s development.

But it has not been without its learning curves as it meant commissioning both the plant, people and its supply chain, Ofi operations director Paul Rennie said.

“We have managed to do all of those things successfully this year,” he said.

The company has had good feedback from the market and met all the quality standards it had targeted.

Feedback from the supplier base has also been very positive. The company had kept its promise to farmers, listened to them and responded when required, he said.

Ofi bases its payout on Fonterra’s, paying its suppliers $8/

kg MS for the new season.

“We see the market relatively similarly. At the end of the day it’s how you come through at the end of the season, not what you forecast.”

Heading into the new season, the plant is now 100% full after taking on more suppliers. That has prompted Ofi to head into Stage 2 of the factory’s development, Rennie said.

“We are just finalising the approval process, so we are hoping we will be ready for the 2026-2027 season.”

The second stage will double the site’s drying and overall capacity and add the capability within the factory to produce functional proteins.

Rennie said the timing of the second stage is in line with what had been planned.

“It was always determined by how successful it would be in Stage 1– could we run the plant, could we do it successfully, could we attract a farmer base and get momentum there and as it stands today, we have been successful on those counts.”

However, further expansion in New Zealand, such as purchasing Synlait’s factory at Pōkeno, has been ruled out. Ofi senior vicepresident of dairy Naval Sabri said the company is not interested in buying the plant while it is still establishing itself at Tokoroa.

“For now, our focus remains on the Tokoroa site. We announced previously that we will be scaling

up our operation there, and it’s now at the stage where we are taking action to do that. We are hoping that in the next 1-2 years that the second project will be up and running.

At the end of the day it’s how you come through at the end of the season, not what you forecast.

Paul Rennie Ofi

“For now, I don’t think we have considered it.”

Sabri said they also want to prove their capability to farmers before taking steps to scale up in NZ.

“That’s really important to us.”

Rennie said Ofi is not interested in purchasing any of Fonterra’s consumer brands that are being divested because as a company, it targets ingredients in the farm-tocustomer chain rather than food brands.

Miraka, Theland ink A2 milk product deal

Staff reporter MARKETS Export

MIRAKA has signed an agreement with Chinese dairy company

Theland to produce a new range of low-carbon, A2 milk products for export to China.

Miraka chief executive Karl Gradon signed the agreement in Auckland this month with Milk New Zealand managing director Tony Nie on behalf of Theland at a ceremony attended by Trade Minister Todd McClay.

The signing coincided with the visit of Chinese Premier Li Qiang to New Zealand.

“Premier Li Qiang’s visit was hugely significant for New

Zealand. It was a privilege for Miraka, New Zealand’s second largest Māori-owned global export business, to play a part in supporting the trade relationship between China and Aotearoa New Zealand,” Gradon said.

“Theland is a cornerstone customer of Miraka. We have entered into a new supply and research agreement with Theland to produce a new range of premium low-carbon, A2 milk products.”

Theland strives to be a sustainably focused business that produces goods with minimal impact upon the taiao / environment, he said.

“This approach aligns closely with our kaitiakitanga values.”

CONFIDENCE: Ofi senior vice-president of dairy Naval Sabri says the company wants to prove its capability to farmers before taking steps to scale up in NZ.

The Miraka dairy plant is the world’s first to use geothermal energy. It has one of the lowest manufacturing carbon emissions

footprints that there is globally, emitting 92% less carbon than traditional coal-fired factories. Following the signing ceremony

Gradon attended Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dinner in honour of Premier Li Qiang at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

VISIT: Miraka chief executive Karl Gradon, in the second row behind Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, along with Trade Minister Todd McClay at a dinner in honour of Premier Li Qiang’s visit to New Zealand at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Schnurigers’ quest for quality pays off

PAT and Shelley Schnuriger’s decision to reduce their Holstein Friesian herd to 100 cows has proved to be the right one, backed by exceptional per-cow production.

On their 80 hectare property in the Waikite Valley, the Schnurigers reduced their cow numbers to lower input costs this season on the back of the forecast lower payout.

In doing so, they had the opportunity to feed their cows substantially better, and as a result, they are estimated to produce a total of 64,000-65,000kg MS on a predominantly pasturebased system, with some in-shed feeding and grass silage.

Pat grew up on a dairy farm with his parents, and as an adult he worked through the contract- to sharemilking system before finally purchasing the Waikite Valley farm in 2001.

Shelley’s passion for farming stemmed from growing up on a sheep and beef farm, and then the dairy farm her parents sharemilked on.

The Raetea stud was first established around 16 years ago when Shelley bought her first show cow, Tahora Nelson Lark VG85, from the Tahora Topshelf Sale. Shelley got a taste for showing

cattle while helping friends show their Brown Swiss cows.

“I always had the idea I wanted to get into showing cows myself. I had an eye for Holstein Friesian cows, and so my dad helped me buy a couple of Holsteins. I really didn’t have anywhere to put them because I didn’t own a farm.”

Pat and Shelley met 14 years ago, when Shelley was looking for someone to take care of her cows. Shelley was encouraged by friends to ask Pat to do so, and the rest is history.

Once Shelley’s Holsteins arrived on the farm, they made their way into Pat’s crossbred/Holstein Friesian herd.

“I changed Pat’s outlook on pedigree Holsteins and what they’re capable of. That’s how our stud has evolved over the years; because of my passion for showing these pedigree cows.”

The first cow Pat and Shelley bought together was Fantastic Lartst Like S2F EX4, purchased from the 2011 Waipa Club sale.

“She has been a massive foundation cow in our herd. We bought her as a rising three-yearold and showed her until she was nine or 10. She won many of the local championship shows, and she passed away at 14 years old,”

Shelley said.

As a result of their exceptional per-cow production, the Schnurigers have received the Nutritech Performance Award (for Ward 3, Bay of Plenty) for

They are magnificent animals. If you look at the breed you will truly appreciate their capacity and the great udder under her.

five years in a row at the annual Holstein Friesian NZ Awards.

Over the past few years, Pat and Shelley have altered their mating process significantly.

“Our empty rate was getting

worse and worse and no matter what we did, it didn’t get any better. We noticed that it was the same cows returning; we were essentially wasting semen.

“These cows were often our overseas-bred animals, and we have found that we can milk them through winter empty and get a second lactation from them. These cows often milk just as well, if not better than they did when they were freshly calved.

“So, we have reduced our workload by only doing seven weeks of AI, and no bulls. We saw no change in our empty rate, and we now have only seven weeks of calving.”

They milk 20 cows over winter and still send milk, but through June they put these cows on once-a-day.

“We start calving on July 1 and dry off around mid-May, so it’s only about five weeks between dry-off and calving. We try to get 305 days in milk from all of our cows,” Pat said.

The Schnurigers don’t “blanket bull” their herd; they look at “each and every one” of their cows. They look at their traits other than production scores and consider which traits need to be improved on each cow, and then look at which bulls will fit what they want to improve, production being their top priority.

“Sometimes we pick 10-15 bulls for the entire herd. We couldn’t do this if we had a bigger herd; it would take forever. At the moment, our biggest problem is finding bulls that are good enough to meet our criteria,” Shelley said.

The Schnurigers have an undeniable love for their Holstein Friesians. The Holstein Friesian cow is Shelley’s favourite breed due to their “sheer presence”.

“It’s her size and her overall being,” she said. “They are magnificent animals. If you look at the breed you will truly appreciate their capacity and the great udder under her.”

Pat says: “For me, it is their ability to milk; they just keep on milking. It especially shows when they are able to carry over and milk a second lactation.”

Farm facts

• Owners: Shelley & Pat Schnuriger trading as Schnuriger Family Trust

• Location: Waikite Valley, Rotorua, Bay of Plenty  Farm size: 80 hectares

• Cows: 100 (98% registered Holstein Friesian)

• Production: 64,000kgMS

• Stud name: Raetea

Staff

SHOW: Pat Schnuriger with one of their show cows,GWLN-06-142 Fantastic Lartist Like S2F VG89.

STUD: Raetea Holsteins is a 100cow stud based in Rotorua.

Pat Schnuriger Rotorua

Preparing for the ‘ultimate challenge’

AS CONTESTANTS prepare for the annual showdown, the organisers behind this year’s FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final are pledging to lay down the ultimate series of challenges.

Grand Final convenors Nicole Cooper and Dannielle Imlig have spent countless hours behind the scenes to bring the event to life and ensure contestants finish up knowing they’ve given it their all.

“These contestants are the best young farmers in the country, so we’re not going to be making it easy. To win, they’ll have to show they have a wealth of farming

knowledge, demonstrated by their ability to navigate the series of tasks thrown at them,” says Nicole.

Dannielle agrees.

“We’re not giving anything away, so it’s important our Grand Finalists brush up on a broad range

It’s important our Grand Finalists brush up on a broad range of skills – because they won’t know what’s coming until it hits them.

Dannielle Imlig FMG Young Farmer of the Year grand final convenor

of skills – because they won’t know what’s coming until it hits them.”

The pair have been involved in Young Farmers for a number of years – Nicole having been a participant in the annual contest twice before, and Dannielle convening her fair share of regional finals.

“We work together really well as a team and it’s been really good having each other to bounce ideas around. It’s been a lot of work, but so much fun,” says Dannielle.

The pair have worked hard to make this year’s event a “must see” for spectators; in addition to the on-field action there’ll be live music and plenty of food.

Dannielle says she’s looking forward to showcasing the Waikato region to the rest of the country.

“Hamilton has got so much to offer. While we’re renowned for our dairy farming, we’ve recently been branching out into other areas, including horticulture, blueberries and kiwifruit,” says Nicole.

“And if you go further afield to the coast you’ll find mussel farms, so we’re a lot more diverse than people realise,” Dannielle adds.

MORE:

To find out more about the Grand Final and purchase tickets to the Evening Show, please visit www.youngfarmers. co.nz

ALL THE STOPS: Grand Final Convenors Nicole Cooper and Dannielle Imlig have done everything in their power to make it a final to remember.

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: The FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Finalists are, from left, back row, Gareth McKerchar, Zayn Jones, Caleb Eady and George Dodson and, front row, Archie Woodhouse, Zac Thomas and Dennis Main.

Working smarter not harder is the ticket

ON ANY given day, you’ll find 22-year-old Archie Woodhouse working alongside his dad and brother on a sheep and beef farm sandwiched between Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa.

“It’s just east of Eketāhuna,” he explains.

“I work on medium to steep hill country that covers 1000 hectares, and the land is only 15% flat. I work up a sweat, that’s for sure.

“Lately, we’ve been finding ways to minimise environmental impact, whether that be around winter grazing management, strategically pulling stock in certain areas, or retiring other areas to be as profitable and efficient as possible.”

The South Wairarapa young farmer says it’s about working smarter, not harder.

“Making these changes is about recognising the opportunity that where you can remove one area, you can intensify another.”

Sustainable farming is his passion and the recent graduate says the time he’s spending with his family to talk constructively about the farm’s future has been great. Before working, Archie spent four years at Lincoln University studying for a Master’s of AgriBusiness.

“I think studying and working in other places has given me a different perspective on what I see as sustainability. It may be a buzzword in the industry, but it’s important that, as farmers, we’re doing our best to care for the land.

“It’s about finding the balance, which is a great challenge.”

Competing in the East Coast regional final was a different challenge Archie faced this year. He says while sitting down to do theory was familiar, he’s had to put his hands to work in preparation to outsmart his counterparts.

I’ve always worked on farms, but being away at university ... your hands aren’t as calloused as they once were.

“I’ve always worked on farms but being away at university ... your hands aren’t as calloused as they once were,” he laughs.

“Touching up on the practical skills for the last few months has been nice. Things like fencing and dealing with water, it’s been good to put those skills to the test.”

Working alongside his parents, who bought the farm just before he was born, has helped him soak

Archie Woodhouse

Region: East Coast

Occupation: Sheep and beef farmer

Age: 22

Club: South Wairarapa

up some knowledge before the competition. Following in his father’s footsteps, he says it’s nice to be competing in the Grand Final, just like Dad did, 30 years later.

“I’ve made a plan on how I’m approaching study and I’m well into a bit of theory already. I’m learning as much as I can, as there’s such a broad range of things that the competition can focus on.

“It’s nice touching up on a bit of stuff I learnt at university, while learning new skills along the way. I’ve reached out to a whole lot of people who have really wanted to help me on my journey. I’m so grateful for that.”

Considering he didn’t think he’d be back to farming so soon, his sixmonth stint has been timely. After the Grand Final, Archie hopes to try something new, and find a position in the rural professional sector.

“There’s some pretty exciting innovation and technology going on and I’d like to delve into that for a few years and do something a

little bit different, before I go back to on-farm work and get stuck into my penultimate goal of farm ownership.”

View from the other side of the clipboard

PLEASANT Point young farmer Gareth McKerchar is living the best of both worlds.

Spending his week split between the office and on farm, Gareth works as an agri manager for Ravensdown, recommending fertiliser to farmers across the Canterbury high country and the Waitaki Valley.

Travelling from Timaru to Fairlie to as far as Glenavy and Ōmārama, the 25-year-old has seen many different farms, using a variety of systems. Working with farmers on a day-to-day basis, he says, is what he’s always wanted to do.

Hopefully, my theory and practice, and the conversations I’ve had with farmers, will help lead me to success.

“I’m out on farm running soil tests, then analysing lab results to come up with a nutrient plan that meets the farmer’s goals.

“Working this job, I’ve realised there are so many ways to do things, and no two of my farmers

Gareth McKerchar

Region: Aorangi

Occupation: Agri manager Age: 25 Club: Pleasant Point

run the same system. Each relies on their team on farm and beyond to support them, and it’s awesome to be part of that help.”

In preparation for the Grand Final, Gareth hopes to draw on his different experiences to bring something new.

“One day I can be on an irrigated dairy farm at the coast, and then be on a big cropping farm or high country station the next day. Hopefully, my theory and practice, and the conversations I’ve had with farmers, will help lead me to success.”

He’s also hoping that his Bachelor of Agriculture, with a focus on plants and soils, will give him a leg-up for the quizzes and modules. Although he’s helped run the theory side of things before with Ravensdown as a sponsor, this season he has no idea what he’s in for.

“The challenge I enjoyed the most in the regional final was the Farmlet, so I’m looking forward to giving that another crack in July. It was good fun, because it meant I could focus on the things I was good at and prioritise them, and it made me realise what I might need to improve on before the Grand Final.

“I know there’ll be things that will leave me absolutely stumped, but fingers crossed, I can prepare enough.”

Growing up on the family farm in Fairlie, Gareth always knew he wanted to be a part of the agricultural industry.

“Almost every day I was doing something on the farm, filling my weekends giving an extra pair of hands to my parents.”

With an Australian harvest under his belt too, his plan now is to work hard to get further ahead –whether that’s at home, abroad, or with Young Farmers.

“I’m entering the Grand Final with a mindset to win, but at the same time learn something new,” he says.

“It’s a big opportunity to put yourself forward and create a bit of a personal brand for yourself.”

NEW GENERATION: Archie Woodhouse is following in his father’s footsteps in competing for the Young Farmer title, 30 years on.

THEORY: Gareth McKerchar has helped run the theory side of the Young Farmer competition before with Ravensdown as a sponsor, but this season he has no idea what he’s in for.

Early rise and a great view for early achiever

BEFORE daylight breaks over the Canterbury Plains, 22-year-old

George Dodson is out at the milking sheds, milking the cows for a few hours before he comes in for breakfast.

“It may be an early rise, but you get a ripper view of the Southern Alps and the Port Hills,” he says.

Now a 2IC on a 430-cow dairy farm between Darfield and Dunsandel, George isn’t afraid to step up to the plate – at age 20, the Canterbury farmer was already managing a farm in Southland.

“Managing from a young age was really good for me because I had to learn quickly. But now, coming back in a 2IC role under a great operator has given me a much better perspective on what is important and what I can improve on.”

Taking a step back has also given George time to work on the other important things in his life, including a new initiative he has helped to create, the Canterbury Young Dairy Leaders Network.

“It’s about getting good people together to share great ideas, and

it gives us a place to connect and support one another,” he says.

Alongside this mahi, George has been working hard on his game for the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final.

“I’m really looking forward to the fast-paced side of the competition. I work well under pressure.

Thinking on the spot relates well back to farming, because you often have to solve problems quite quickly.

Thinking on the spot relates well back to farming, because you often have to solve problems quite quickly.

“I’m trying to increase my general knowledge across the board, so I can turn up on the day and have a strong idea of everything from fertilisers to fencing, to soils and other industries.”

Having worked on the farm since he was a kid, George hopes his experience will put him in a good position when it comes to

George Dodson

Region: Tasman

Occupation: Dairy farming Age: 22

Club: Darfield

the practical side of the competition.

“I’ll be trying to dig deep, drawing on my experiences at work but also pulling from the learnings my old man taught me growing up.

“As a kid, I spent a lot of time on the farm and saw how hard my dad worked – he really has been my biggest inspiration heading into this competition.”

Looking ahead to the future, George hopes to leave New Zealand’s farmland in a better place for the next generation.

“I want to bust the myth that farmers don’t care about the environment, because that’s simply not true. We love our cows, and we want to look after our land and our property because that’s our livelihood.”

Coming in to land on the family farm

FOR 30-year-old Zac

Thomas, becoming a farmer was a no-brainer.

Ever since he was little, he had known it was what he wanted to do.

“Farming is always something

I’ve really enjoyed. Even after three years in the Air Force, I always had the goal to come back.”

So, in 2017, that’s exactly what he did. Returning to the family farm just outside of Mataura in

Gore, Zac began working alongside his grandfather and aunt farming sheep and beef and growing arable crops.

Eight years later, the young farmer is still working alongside his grandfather, the farm running 2,500 ewes, 80 cattle, and growing 100 hectares of cereals. It’s a family affair – everyone pitches in at different times to help get the job done.

“Our family has created lots of memories working together,” Zac says.

“Growing up, we’d always have the six cousins come out to help with tailing and all that. You’d get up to a bit of mischief, driving three tractors and a header together doing groundwork and harvest.

“It’s fun, we all know how each other works.”

Like on any farm, no two days end up quite the same. Zac keeps busy with livestock, the grain operation and the daily running of the farm.

Spring is the season he looks forward to most, after the rain lifts and the grass grows.

“Lambs are being born, you’re planting crops in the ground. In some ways, you’re seeing the fruits of your labour, and by the time tailing rolls around you can see how your management has gone.”

On any given day, Zac will look up from his work to see the rolling hills of the Mataura Valley in the distance.

His mum a preschool manager

and his dad an accountant, Zac spent much of his childhood on his grandfather’s farm. The views are as familiar to him as the back of his hand.

However, it’s at moments like these that he feels the weight of what’s changed since he was a kid.

“You look around and remember the fences you’ve pulled out, or the big trees you’ve taken down, where you’ve planted new ones, and now they’re growing. You think it wasn’t that long since you planted those trees, but realise 15 years have passed,” he laughs.

Planning those changes and seeing them improve the land you get to work on every day, yeah, that’s what’s cool to me.

“The one thing I really like about farming is having a positive impact on the environment. Planning those changes and seeing them improve the land you get to work on every day, yeah, that’s what’s cool to me.”

Zac, a member of the Waitane Young Farmers Club, is marking his eighth entry into the competition this year. July will be his first Grand Final after three prior attempts to qualify at the annual Otago Southland FMG Young Farmer of the Year Regional Final.

He topped the podium this year,

Zac Thomas

Region: Otago Southland

Occupation: Sheep, beef and arable farmer Age: 30

Club: Waitane

though winning the regional title was not something he expected.

“The Grand Final has always been something that I’ve looked at and gone, ‘That’s good for those people but that won’t be me.’ It was quite a surprise to come first this year.”

While he doesn’t have any expectations for the Grand Final, Zac says it doesn’t mean he’s not working hard.

“It’s my chance to give it all I’ve got, and either way, every contest is a learning experience. No matter where you place, you get something good out of it. It’s a whole new stage to be on.”

If not a win, another takeaway he’d like from the contest is an opportunity to meet other young farmers following a similar path to him. His goal is to one day farm in his own right – whatever that looks like.

“Whether that’s in partnership with my family or not, I just want to be my own boss. To be able to work for myself, to provide for my family, and create the opportunities I’ve been given from my family by paying it forward –that’s the biggest goal for me.”

LONG VIEW: George Dodson was already a farm manager by the time he was 20. Now 22, he gets to take the dawn patrol in a 2IC role ‘under a great operator’.

GOOD GROUNDING: Zac Thomas spent three years in the Air Force before taking up farming, as he had always wanted to.

Many arrows to this farming bow

GROWING up on the family farm in Tīrau, Dennis Main always knew farming would be a part of his life.

Going from farming to engineering, back to farming and then to building, the 30-year-old has never quite escaped rural life. He even met his partner at a Young Farmers Club meet-up.

Thankfully, the Piarere Young Farmer wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I like to try new things, I’m never in one spot for too long,” he says.

“I ran the family farm for a few years before getting into building, where I’ve been for the last 12 months. I’ve got a few arrows to my bow now – you never know when you might need them.”

Before his family sold the farm last year, Dennis was managing a bit of everything, including sheep and beef. He’s a builder now, but owning a block of land is still on his wish list.

“It doesn’t have to be a big farm,” he says.

“But buying a block of land and putting some animals on it is the dream. It’s a lifestyle I’ve always wanted – on the farm is where I feel most at home.”

Surrounded by rolling hills since he was a kid, some of his earliest memories are feeding the calves amongst the lush green of Tīrau farmland. Running around on motorbikes when he and his siblings were a bit older, he spent much of his childhood outdoors.

“I still miss farming some days,” Dennis says.

“But I know it will be something I’ll always be involved with; I’ll never be out of the farming industry.”

Now the Grand Finalist for the Waikato Bay of Plenty region, Dennis is drawing on his breadth of skills to outsmart his competitors. It’s time to put his farming background back to work, he says.

“A few people in the club have offered to help out in some way or another. I’ll definitely talk to some of the past winners and finalists, to get some tips on how to navigate the Grand Final.”

Last year’s FMG Young Farmer of the Year was Emma Poole, hailing from the Waikato Bay of Plenty region. Will the region win another season?

“I’ve got some big shoes to fill,” Dennis says.

It’s his last chance to compete for FMG Young Farmer of the Year

Dennis Main Region: Waikato Bay of Plenty

Occupation: Builder

Age: 30

Club: Piarere

before he ages out. With the local community and Young Farmers Club rallying behind him, he’s excited to tick the Grand Final off his bucket list.

“Apart from competing, I’m really looking forward to making more connections in the farming community,” he says.

“It will be nice to meet some new people who are on similar and different paths to my own.”

With his partner and family travelling to Hamilton to support him, Dennis says alongside his immediate support, he owes it to his Young Farmers Club and his mates for encouraging him to enter it.

“Young Farmers has always been a good place to meet likeminded people. You don’t have to be farming full time to fit in, it’s full of a good bunch of people who are all wanting to get places in the farming industry one way or another.”

BUILDING: Though he has gone from farming to engineering, back to farming and then to building, Dennis Main has never quite escaped rural life.

His advice for any keen young farmers wanting to enter the next season is to “just give it a go”.

“You never know what might happen or who you may meet along the way,” he laughs.

“I’m the best example of that.”

Bigger picture won over graphic designer

MANAWATŪ good sort Zayn Jones has a lot on his plate.

Spending his days contract milking on a 540-cow dairy farm, and evenings as chair of the Fitzherbert Young Farmers Club, the 31-year-old knows how to balance work and play. It’s not so hard, he says, when you love what you do.

“Before my partner and I were contract milking, I was managing, so this new step is quite exciting for us,” he says.

“The Young Farmers Club keeps me busy, and at the moment, we’re working with the leadership team to direct where we want the club to go in the future, getting people involved in the community, and developing some strong leaders and good people who really fit into the rural community we have here.”

Being a member of Young Farmers has been huge for Zayn’s personal development, building his confidence and pushing him outside his comfort zone. Zayn says the club gave him opportunity after opportunity, including a spot on the Taranaki Manawatū regional exec committee as the Manawatū vice-chair.

“Their support encouraged me to

enter regionals for the first time, compete with my partner Natalie in tournaments, and come away with titles – and that’s all from joining the club and taking the first step. When I entered regionals for a second time this year, I really gave it everything, hoping I would come away with an entry to the Grand Final.”

Getting his name read out, he says, was the cherry on top after a couple of busy but rewarding days.

“I’m really grateful to be able to represent our region amongst the country’s best young farmers this year,” he says.

He’s hoping to support other shy young farmers, like he once was, to get out of their shell –especially those who, like him, didn’t grow up on a farm. Zayn trained as a graphic designer before he fell in love with the farming lifestyle.

“I got out into the ‘real world’, then realised it wasn’t what I wanted to pursue. I was staying with a mate on his parent’s farm and tried out a bit of shearing, a bit of fencing, farming maintenance and that sort of thing, and I haven’t looked back,” he says.

“I found that you can work really hard with design, but you don’t see what you’re creating at the time.

Whereas with farming, you could shear a sheep, you can build a fence, and get the direct reward for what you’re doing.”

After graduating with a Diploma in Agriculture and Farm Management from Lincoln University, Zayn moved to the

Zayn Jones

Region: Taranaki Manawatū

Occupation: Dairy farmer

Age: 31

Club: Fitzherbert

Kāpiti coast to switch up his career.

“I worked for a really awesome boss who had a huge impact on my life. He took me under his wing, gave me so many opportunities to grow my skills, and understood where I came from, as he had come from an urban background too.”

Zayn hopes he can take a similar approach with the younger generation, and pass on the favour.

“When I first got into farming, it was incredibly rewarding to take that first step at Lincoln, and then watch my horizons broaden with roles on farm,” he says.

“The Young Farmer competiwtions, the clubs, and just being a part of the community all help to support young farmers to get out there and connect with one another. To now be a part of that support and help others like they helped me, and to know you are making a difference, that’s the biggest reward.”

DRAWN TO FARMING: Zayn Jones, who contract milks on a 540-cow dairy farm, trained as a graphic designer before he fell in love with the farming lifestyle.

Good fences and even better neighbours

ON A frosty weekend morning you can find Caleb Eady and his family out on the farm, his two young daughters clutching cups of hot chocolate.

“It’s a bit hectic on a weekday getting us all out there before daycare, but after a busy week of my wife and I contract-fencing, getting out on our farm is exactly what’s needed,” he says.

Thirty-year-old Caleb and his wife India lease a 120 hectare beef farm nestled in the natural beauty of Whangārei, with dairy grazers, a small calf-rearing operation, and their own fencing business.

The two have a lot on their plate with work, study and raising a young family.

Caleb, who is spending his evenings studying for the competition, says he owes a lot to his wife for supporting his preparation for the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final.

“I couldn’t be doing it without her,” he says.

Raised in Whangārei, Caleb spent his childhood much like his own kids are doing now. But

instead of living on a farm, he grew up on a 2ha lifestyle block among rolling farmland. With the help of the community, his passion for farming grew.

“I went to a rural school, and many of my friends lived on farms. I’d go visit them and help milk cows. We’d just hang out on the land. I started competing in Young Farmers at 16, took a break for a bit, and then got back into it once I started farming full-time after school.”

From farming in Wairarapa to shepherding in Scotland and Australia, Caleb spent much of his twenties working and travelling.

On his return home he joined the Bay of Islands Young Farmers Club and set up his fencing business, eager to get stuck in and find his footing in the community again.

“Community has always been such a big part of my life,” he says.

“Whangārei is really strong and supportive, there are some very successful and experienced farmers up here that are pretty keen to help young farmers out.

“My fencing clients talk a lot

to me about farming, and we have good camaraderie, sharing experiences and asking each other for advice on what’s going on.”

There are some very successful and experienced farmers up here that are pretty keen to help young farmers out.

In preparation for the Grand Final, Caleb is getting as much advice as he can from Young Farmers alumni.

“In the Northern region of Young Farmers, we’re pretty lucky that we have such a strong network of alumni members, especially older guys who have done a lot of convening. Some have even competed in the Grand Final themselves.

“I’ve kept in regular contact with a few of those guys and they keep me motivated to keep studying and give it all I’ve got. It is my last chance, after all.”

With his wife and kids coming to Hamilton to support him in

Lincoln University are proud to have three alumni who are finalists for FMG Young Farmer of the Year 2024.

Archie Woodhouse

Bachelor of Agriculture

Masters of Management in Agribusiness

Zayn Jones

Diploma of Agriculture

Diploma of Farm Management

Gareth McKerchar

Bachelor of Agriculture

SUPPORT: Caleb Eady says community has always been a big part of his life, and ‘Whangārei is really strong and supportive’.

July, Caleb thinks it’s high time to reflect on his journey and look forward to the future.

“Our ultimate goal is to own a farm in the sheep or beef industry. I never want to stop upskilling and being involved in the industry, however I end up contributing.

Caleb Eady Region: Northern Occupation: Fencer/beef farmer Age: 30 Club: Bay of Islands

“This journey to the Grand Final has made me think of what I want to get out of my career going forward. It’s an exciting place to be in, and you never know what’s around the corner – especially with the competition.”

The youngsters who are in it to win it

THE future of farming is shining bright as 14 FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year teams prepare to battle it out in one of New Zealand’s biggest annual farming showdowns.

The two-day Grand Final contest for secondary school students will see the top two teams from each region come together to tackle challenges designed to test them on farming know-how, practical skills, and their ability to excel under pressure.

The winning pair will be crowned FMG Junior Young Farmers of the Year on July 12 in Hamilton.

It’s the third time running that Mount Hutt College students James Clark and Jack Foster have qualified for the Grand Final, and as it’s their last attempt at winning, the pair say they’ll be giving it all they’ve got.

“Although we’ve competed before we never know what’s in store. We need to develop our skills and keep putting in the effort if we want to win,” says James.

“There are really smart and skilled people who enter the Grand Final, so it’s definitely going to be tough competition.”

Growing up on arable farms in the rural region of Methven, the pair have been calling on their family and community to help prepare them for the mammoth task ahead.

“Nothing beats going out and seeing farming in action,” James says.

“It’s been great being able to build connections with our

community. The most amazing thing is that people will drop everything for an afternoon to show us around and share their knowledge. We’re really grateful for their help.”

Equal parts thinker and doer, James and Jack will be bringing their master tactics to the Grand Final – an easy feat after competing together for the past three years.

These contestants are the future of farming, and by the looks of what I’m seeing, our country is incredibly lucky to have this level of talent and expertise on our doorstep.

Lynda Coppersmith NZ Young Farmers

“We play to each other’s strengths and work well alongside one another.

“We can separate and delegate and just know we can get on and do stuff,” James says.

Hoping to improve their standing for a spot at Lincoln or Massey university next year, winning FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year would mean “the world”.

“If it helps brighten our chances for future employment or studies, that would be great, but winning the Grand Final would be a huge stepping stone to get into the Young Farmer’s movement itself,” he says.

“I hope we do better than last year,” Jack laughs. “The top spot is what we are aiming towards.”

Farmers’ youngest contestants are just as excited for the big day ahead.

As the top primary-aged teams from around New Zealand eagerly prepare for the AgriKidsNZ Grand Final, two teams from a Feilding primary school hope they’ve found the secret recipe for success.

Pupils from Halcombe School have arranged coaching sessions with FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Finalist Zayn Jones to help boost their confidence ahead of July’s final showdown, where 63 primary-aged contestants will battle it out for the title of AgriKidsNZ Grand Champions.

“We asked the kids what they weren’t so confident about, and Zayn kindly offered to come along to school and help them out on a few skills around the farm,” says Di Simpson, who supervises both teams, Halcombe Red and Halcombe Black.

“While the kids are representing our school, they also feel pride in representing their region.

“Our teams have enjoyed meeting other schools and the Waituna West kids as well as we prepare for the challenge ahead,” she says.

Halcombe finalists Max Ireland, Maggie Lintott, Taylor Lane, Maisie Johnstone, Jonty Howland, and Max Staples agree.

“We’re excited and a bit nervous,” Maggie and Max, from team Halcombe Black, say. The two 12-year-old students

have been hard at work helping their parents out on the farm whenever they can.

“I’ve been out on the farm until after dark helping with fencing, and the other day I did some tie downs,” Max says.

“I’m helping my dad out on the farm and spending my time at home studying and going to training sessions,” Maggie says.

Max, Maisie and Jonty from the Halcombe Red team are spending their weekends helping with “bits and bobs”, too.

“We’ve been doing lots of stuff to prepare,” Maisie says.

“Max is really good with fertilisers and Jonty is good with sheep. I’ve been helping my dad out with drenching, and I’m studying as much as possible.”

NZ Young Farmers chief executive Lynda Coppersmith says it’s heartwarming to see the youngest generation of Young Farmers compete with such knowledge and enthusiasm.

“These contestants are the future of farming, and by the looks of what I’m seeing, our country is incredibly lucky to have this level of talent and expertise on our doorstep.

“They’ve learnt from the best, that’s something I love about this competition – seeing that knowledge passed down through the generations.”

The winning team will be crowned the 2024 AgriKids NZ Champions at an award ceremony on Friday July 12 in Hamilton.

Young

SEASONED: James Clark and Jack Foster are hoping that third time’s a charm when they compete in the FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year in July.

RED, SET, GO: Halcombe Red, one of two teams from Halcombe School in Feilding, have been studying hard and learning from the best to take on their rivals in the AgriKidsNZ Grand Final.

FEDERATED FARMERS

Vol 2 No 24, June 24, 2024

Bird flu here to stay if it arrives: MPI

Eradication is unlikely to be an option if a highly contagious strain of bird flu reaches New Zealand and establishes itself in wild birds, the Ministry for Primary Industries says.

Mary van Andel, MPI’s chief veterinary officer, says New Zealand has never had a case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is highly contagious and deadly in poultry.

With the H5N1 strain now detected in wild birds in Antarctica, the risk has increased and we must be prepared for how to manage it, she says.

“I think we need to be realistic that we might not be in a position to eradicate this disease if it is established in wildlife in New Zealand,” van Andel says.

“It’s not something that’s going to go away. It’s something we will need to be able to work through and adapt to over time.”

Van Andel, who recently joined the Federated Farmers Podcast to discuss bird flu, says MPI and other agencies are “keeping an extra close eye” on what’s happening in Antarctica.

“We’ve seen it emerge in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s tracked down the Americas into South America, now to the Antarctic Peninsula.

“We’re very concerned about that because there are lots of colonies of birds on Antarctica, and these birds will be mixing with each other. “The virus could then move with wild birds into New Zealand via the subantarctic islands.

“So, we do need to be very alert. We don’t need to be alarmed, but we definitely need to prepare.”

HPAI could have significant impacts on our poultry industry and wildlife, she says.

“Our preparedness planning has a strong focus on supporting the poultry industry to respond to HPAI, and also on protecting New Zealand’s native species. This means we’re having to work really closely with poultry industry bodies to support their preparedness.

“Chicken and eggs are an important food source for New Zealanders, so it’s really important that we work together to make sure that we have this domestic supply continuity.”

Although HPAI has crossed over into dairy cattle in the US, van Andel doesn’t expect that to happen here.

“HPAI is not a cattle disease. In the US, there was one spillover event from wildlife into cows, and then the cattle were moved around the US.

“Now the virus is being transferred between cattle through milk in the milking parlours.

“That’s a very particular thing that’s happened in a particular production system.

“It’s not something we would expect to happen as a matter of course should the disease arrive in New Zealand.”

Even so, she urges all Kiwi farmers to be prepared for the possibility of HPAI’s arrival, and to be vigilant about on-farm biosecurity.

“We have to take this seriously, and there are things we can do.

“We need to maintain good

It’s not something that’s going to go away. It’s something we will need to be able to work through and adapt to over time.

Mary van Andel Chief veterinary officer, Ministry for Primary Industries

biosecurity practices at the farm level and we also need to be vigilant for signs of HPAI and reporting early.

“Knowing as soon as possible if there is a case in New Zealand is one of the things that will help us to deal with that effectively.

“So, for poultry farms, this means making sure your flocks don’t have contact with wild birds. It means keeping equipment sheds and yards

clean, maintaining good hygiene, and restricting people going on to farms to those who are necessary.”

Those on dairy and other livestock farms should follow biosecurity guidelines from the industry bodies and MPI, she says.

“And then of course, we want everybody to be monitoring the health of their herds and getting advice from their vets if animals become unwell.

“In the US, affected cattle mostly had nonspecific clinical signs, like decreased milk production because they weren’t eating well, and the milk they were producing was kind of thick and colostrum-like, and they had fevers.”

She says it’s very important for people to understand that properly cooked chicken and eggs, and pasteurised milk, are 100% safe

SIGNIFICANT:

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) could have significant impacts on New Zealand’s poultry industry and wildlife, says MPI’s chief veterinary officer Mary van Andel.

for human consumption.

Van Andel says the first case in New Zealand will likely be in wildlife or poultry.

“This does remain a disease of birds, and so we do expect it will be found first in birds.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t be alert to other types of presentations, but we really need to be focused on sick birds at this point.

“Should HPAI become present in New Zealand, then we’ll make sure we’re very alert to spillover events into mammals.”

If you see three or more sick or dead wild birds in a group, report it immediately to 0800 80 99 66. Do not handle the birds.

MORE:

Hear the podcast interview on fedfarm.org.nz/podcast

Rural banking issues to see some ‘sunlight’

Federated Farmers’ calls for an independent inquiry into rural banking have paid off, with the Government finally giving the go-ahead.

“The Government’s announcement of an independent inquiry is a great first step towards a fairer banking system for farming families,” says Federated Farmers board member Richard McIntyre.

“They say sunlight is the best disinfectant, and I think rural banking issues are about to see their fair share of light.”

McIntyre is quick to add that the announcement is only the first step.

“I’m only cautiously optimistic at this point. There’s still a lot of hard work needed to ensure the inquiry results in real change for farmers.”

McIntyre says the terms of reference, and who ends up sitting around the table, will make or break the inquiry.

“The Government need to make sure this inquiry is set up to succeed

from day one, because farmers can’t afford for them to get it wrong.

“It’s absolutely critical that MPs are

able to look under the right stones, speak to the right people, and ask the right questions that allow them

Talent, commitment recognised among PINZ Award finalists

Achievements as diverse as biodiversity monitoring via eDNA, championing open trade on the global stage, and recycling vineyard posts feature among finalists in the 2024 Primary Industries New Zealand Awards.

The awards are a highlight of the PINZ Summit in Wellington, July 2-3, and celebrate and recognise innovation, excellence, collaboration and success in the farming, forestry and fishing sectors.

Up for the Rural Hero of the Year Award are Alastair Macgregor, Craig Hickman, and Cara and John Gregan. Macgregor, a Farmy Army volunteer, put in many hours with Commence the Re-Fence.

As a retired farmer, with more than 40 years’ practical agricultural

experience, his fencing and other skills were a real asset to Cyclone Gabrielle-hit farmers.

“He’s a real good bugger,” as one farmer put it.

The other finalists are columnist and social media identity Craig ‘Dairyman’ Hickman, and Waimate dairy farmers John and Cara Gregan, who have donated more than 5000 mince meals to foodbanks through the Meat the Need programme.

South Taranaki farmers Jane and Damian Roper prove that dairy farming and biodiversity can work well together.

The Ropers are a finalist for the Guardianship & Conservation (Kaitiakitanga) Award, alongside the Otago South River Care’s catchment collective team and AgResearch’s

eDNA Water Quality Team.

The Ropers have built up their riparian planting programme to around 12,000 plants a year, restored an entire wetland, and have constructed a unique plant nursery with the input of local iwi.

They’ve done all this alongside reducing stock numbers by about a fifth while growing per-cow production from 400kgs of milk solids to 620kgs, and increasing profitability by 20%.

Vangelis Vitalis, who has put in more than two decades’ work advocating for agricultural trade liberalisation and reducing barriers to trade for New Zealand primary industry exporters, is a contender for the Outstanding Contribution Award.

The Government need to make sure this inquiry is set up to succeed from day one, because farmers can’t afford for them to get it wrong.

Richard McIntyre

Federated Farmers banking spokesperson

to get to the bottom of things.

“That means looking at more than just the level of competition in our rural banking, but also things like how Reserve Bank rules and regulations affect farm lending.”

McIntyre is also concerned farmers’ banking issues might end up buried under a pile of problems with mortgages and personal banking.

“There’s a very real risk here that rural issues end up playing second fiddle to wider concerns about general banking.

“That would be a disaster for Kiwi farmers.”

Federated Farmers are seeking assurances from the Government that rural issues will be given sufficient scrutiny and prominence during the inquiry process.

“We also want to ensure real gumboot-wearing MPs, who understand these issues at a deep level, have the opportunity to question the banks,” McIntyre says.

“Farmers have been well served by the MPs on Parliament’s primary production select committee, who initiated a briefing into rural banking at Federated Farmers’ request.

“It’s important the likes of Mark Cameron, Jo Luxton, Suze Redmayne, Catherine Wedd and Miles Anderson are able to continue to make a contribution as the inquiry progresses.”

Federated Farmers have told the Government what they want the inquiry’s Terms of Reference to be, McIntyre says.

Vangelis Vitalis is one of three finalists for the Outstanding Contribution to NZ’s Primary Industries Award.

Other finalists in that category are The Country radio host Jamie Mackay and Nelson farmer Julian Raine, who has served on a multitude of agriculture and community boards and organisations.

See details of all 27 finalists across nine award categories by searching ‘PINZ 2024’ on your web browser.

The REX4, winner of the Specialised Tractor of the Year 2024 award, is setting a new standard for compact specialt y tractors With a range of drivetrains and wheelbases across six models it’s the per fect addition to your orchard or vineyard

First-class ergonomic comfort and 360° visibilit y from the cab make this machine a pleasure to work in

INQUIRY: Finance Minister Nicola Willis dropped by Federated Farmers’ stand at Fieldays to discuss rural banking issues with board members (left to right) Sandra Faulkner, Wayne Langford, David Birkett and Richard McIntyre.

TENACIOUS: Veteran trade negotiator

Mohair wins ad boost to convert sheep farmers

Winning a $10,000 advertising package couldn’t have come at a better time for Mohair Producers NZ, which is on a drive to encourage struggling sheep farmers into goats.

Michael Woodward, chair of Mohair Producers NZ, thought he’d have a crack at Southern Cross Country radio station’s competition, but was blown away to get the liveon-air winning call from host Mike Puru on June 5.

“I was caught totally off-guard because it was just a random chance to win it. To win this kind of advertising value for our organisation is awesome.

“We’d already been working on a separate marketing plan and then this came through at the same time.

“This is so helpful to us,” says Woodward, who also chairs the

We really want to help get more sheep farmers into goat farming and give them a few more dollars in the bank.

Michael Woodward Mohair Producers NZ chair and Federated Farmers Goats chair

Federated Farmers Goats Industry Group.

Southern Cross Country’s $10,000 package, which it offered to mark its six-month milestone, includes 1200 commercials, a website banner, and sponsorship of the Breakfast show with Mike Puru, all for three months.

“With an estimated 50,000 unique listeners across over 16,000 unique devices, your message will resonate like a breeze through a February cornfield,” the station said on

its competition entry page.

Woodward says Mohair Producers NZ, a voluntary, levy-based organisation, had recently identified that it needed to lift its marketing game.

“That’s not marketing to consumers, because we have another body doing that. This about marketing to other farmers in New Zealand.

“We really want to help get more sheep farmers into goat farming and give them a few more dollars in the bank.

“There’s a real need for more education about not only the income opportunities presented by farming angora, but what it takes to run them.”

With the international mohair market vastly undersupplied, there’s huge potential for New Zealand to help meet demand, Woodward says.

“There’s a big opportunity for anyone wishing to enter the industry.

“We could easily double our supply out of New Zealand, and it wouldn’t influence the price at all.

“The worldwide shortage of mohair is why the prices we’re getting paid are right up there.”

Woodward says, at a time when returns for wool and sheep meat are so poor, it’s well worth sheep farmers giving thought to running angora goats.

The animals are easy to incorporate into existing farms, he says.

“For a sheep farmer to go and take on a few goats, they don’t have to change their system.

“Whereas, if a sheep farmer or wool breeder puts a Wiltshire or self-shedding sheep over top, all of a sudden they’ve potentially changed a whole line of their flock.

OPPORTUNITY: Michael Woodward says high demand and strong prices for mohair are good reasons for sheep farmers to consider trying angora goats.

“They can easily try goats and find out if it’s not for them.

“There’s just a bit more husbandry involved with the goats. You’ve got to feed them a bit better because they don’t carry the fat that sheep do.”

There are currently around 100 to 150 farmers running roughly 10,000 angora goats total in New Zealand. Of those farmers, around 15 to 20 have 80-90% of the animals.

New Zealand’s mohair industry peaked in the late 1980s, when worldwide mohair production reached 24 million kg per year. Today, mohair production sits at just under 3 million kg.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is the strong returns for mohair, Woodward says.

“Prices have always been good. It was the value of the goats that turned a lot of people back in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, when the market crashed.

“At the moment, we’re probably 5% off record prices. Our kid goat fibre is mid-$40a kilo; young goat mid-$30s; and the adult fibre is $2530 a kilo.

“Our last payout averaged around $30 a kilo for the farmers.”

He says angora goats produce an average 4kg of mohair each per year, over two shearings.

Woodward says about 20% of New Zealand’s mohair is bought domestically to be used in yarn and blankets.

Much of the rest goes to South Africa, which then sells it on to

customers in Europe, where it’s used in things like high-end suits.

“It’s nicknamed the ‘diamond fibre’ because of the way it reflects the light. If you put it in with a wool or a cotton, and it really enhances things.”

Woodward says Mohair Producers’ advertising campaign with Southern Cross Country is now live.

“It’s quite a simplified campaign. We’re mainly trying to drive farmers towards the website, so they can get our contact details and start getting information about how to run angoras.”

Later in the year, Mohair Producers will then launch its other marketing campaign – already planned with Grassroots Media – which will also target sheep farmers.

Rules loading stress on truck drivers

Do you risk a hefty fine, or look after the welfare of animals you’re transporting?

That’s a regular dilemma for livestock truck drivers, and Federated Farmers Southland president Jason Herrick says there needs to be less bureaucratic stringency and more common sense.

“There’s no autonomy and no trust given to drivers and transport companies,” Herrick says.

“The whole industry is being punished for the bottom five percent.

“The stress being put on experienced drivers will ultimately have serious fallout for us all unless there’s change.”

Federated Farmers wants to see better alignment between animal welfare requirements and Land Transport rules.

Those rules require drivers to take a rest break of at least 30 minutes after working five-and-a-half hours, and the break must be continuous rather in than two 15-minute breaks, for example.

Under the rules, loading and unloading stock is counted as work

time, and a driver must not work more than 13 hours in any work day.

But Herrick says unforeseen delays can easily arise and disrupt drivers’ schedules, even with the best of planning.

“These drivers are very aware there are live animals in their trailers, and that ventilation and cooling is achieved by airflow when the truck is moving.

“On a day with temperatures in the early-20 degrees, it could get up to twice that in the crate without that cooling air.

“This is a real animal welfare risk –animals can die.”

Herrick says roadworks, heavy traffic, delays at pick-up or something else unforeseen often put a driver behind on their timeline.

“Then you end up with situations where the driver’s only 15 or 20 minutes from the processing plant, or where they planned to pull over safely and in shade, but that fiveand-a-half hour rule kicks in and they have to stop for 30 minutes.

“The best thing for the animals would be for the driver to get them to their destination, not make them sit in the heat for 30 minutes.”

Electronic logbooks and driverfacing cameras means enforcement police can easily detect a breach.

Herrick says drivers have told him that officers in many districts are sticking to the letter of the rules.

“Fines can be up to $2000. Drivers are being forced to choose between looking after the animals and being able to pay their mortgage.”

Dom Kalasih, chief executive of Ara Aotearoa/Transporting NZ, joined Herrick and other Federated Farmers leaders recently to talk to Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard, who holds the animal welfare portfolio.

“He understood the challenges. I think he’s quite supportive of some sort of pragmatic approach being applied.”

Kalasih is keen to build better awareness that transport services are heavily influenced by others in the supply chain.

“Farmers not being ready at pickup time, issues with loading facilities, missing ear tags, the problem of on-board effluent tanks getting filled if animals haven’t been sufficiently stood off – delays like that impact the regulated work hours.

“With processing plants that have moved to ‘just in time’ operation, it

can be a very small window of time for drivers.”

Is enforcement being applied more strictly now?

“Let’s say a better, more pragmatic, risk management approach could be taken,” Kalasih replies.

The rules mean, at the end of a working day, a driver only a few more kilometres from home is required to sleep in their truck cab.

Drivers are being forced to choose between looking after the animals and being able to pay their mortgage.

Jason Herrick Federated Farmers Southland president

An ongoing Waka Kotahi/ transport companies trial of new technology could provide answers.

One tool is a phone app that provides a cognitive behaviour assessment. Once a baseline is set for the individual driver’s capability, they can check the app during their work day for an assessment of their alertness.

Results can be integrated into

IMPROVEMENT:

Federated Farmers wants to see better alignment between animal welfare requirements and Land Transport rules.

the driver’s scheduling and journey management system.

“If a driver needs that little bit more flexibility in their work time, the transport company’s operational team can use this science to say, ‘yes, he’s still good to go’ or ‘no, he’ll need to take that mandated break’,” Kalasih says.

Another software tool uses an algorithm that takes into account circadian rhythms and total time awake to give predictive advice on rostering.

Such technology, already used overseas, is expensive.

Kalasih says Ara Aotearoa is working with Waka Kotahi “to find the right balance to manage the risk but not go whole hog and make it so damned expensive and complicated the operators aren’t going to take it up”.

While there isn’t a driver shortage right now, times are volatile and that could change pretty quickly, Kalasih says.

He agrees that the hassles could damage the livestock sector and put companies off taking some jobs.

“Drivers hearing all this background noise may think, ‘do I need all this extra stress, or should I just go and drive some other truck’?”

DELAYS: Jason Herrick says roadworks, heavy traffic, delays at pick-up or something else unforeseen often put a driver behind on their timeline.

This property at 158 Ohura North Road, Matiere is a 49.94 ha (more or less) farm located just 5km from Ohura and 44.7km from Taumarunui. The property is well situated in a warm and sheltered valley with some steeper hills however, these are well balanced with good fertile flats. It is well fenced and subdivided into smaller paddocks. There is an existing four bedroom original weatherboard home. Although the home needs some maintenance and renovating, it is well situated in an elevated position with a sunny rural aspect and ready for a new owner to add their own personal touch. There is a four stand wool shed with covered yards which are perfect for a block of this size.

This 22.40 ha property has fantastic contour and is a perfect option for those looking for a small farm with purchasing options. With all flat to rolling contour across the property, there are not many blocks like this in the area. The farm is

1910 and has nice character features throughout. It is well sized with a spacious living room with a wood burner and open plan kitchen and dining room, and the bathroom has been recently renovated

Prentice Road

Beautifully positioned

Ohura 158 Ohura North Road

Ohura North Road

Ohura 106 Waikaka Road

Waikaka Road

Katie Walker M 027

Ohura 9 Prentice Road

Hakiaha Street, Taumarunui

Built approx. 17 years ago by our Vendor this naturally built rammed earth, rambling ranch- style home blends in seamlessly with the surrounding natural environment of over approx. 6000 m2 of land

If you are lucky enough to buy this sustainable lifestyle property bursting at the seams with a myriad of fruit trees including approx. 15 mature avocado trees, 2 paddocks, and a vegie patch to die for you will be the envy of many market gardeners and townies wanting to create a more sustainable lifestyle for themselves and their families. As a matter of fact, some of the produce grown here has supplied the Tauranga Farmers Market!

Nestled in a Micro Climate

10th July 2:00pm at Tremains Tauranga (unless sold prior)

Web ID www.tremains.co.nz/TG03800

Located approx 20min (21km) from Feilding, 25.899ha finishing/lifestyle property that would suit a range of farming options. Cropping, dairy support, sheep and beef. The soil types on the top roadside terrace are Kopua stony loam complemented with Kairanga silt and clay loam on the bottom flats which support this farming enterprise. Contour is mainly flat with some small sidlings. The Kiwitea stream forms the back boundary. New cattle yards, 3-wire lane-way make easy management A three bedroom character homestead, with two lounge areas and large kitchen area. RV $1,425,000

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008 Helping grow the country

Group Managers – BEL Group

The increasing business focus of dairying, an eye on the future, and the qualities of innovation, strategy and planning for success underpin BEL Group’s campaign to find the best Group Managers in the land and attract them to the sunny Hawke’s Bay. With two newly formed roles, these are a conscious shift away from traditional operational management and, although you’ll still know your stuff when it comes to cows and grass, the main emphasis of your job will be on coaching and guiding Farm Managers to achieve, keeping an eye on future opportunities and bringing fresh ideas into the business.

Taking their seats at the senior leadership table, these two roles truly reflect the requirements of modern day businesses to have strong, dextrous and capable business leaders at the helm providing guidance, innovation and the smarts that are needed to thrive.

To be in the hunt for one of these roles you’ll have leadership and cows and grass experience, but more importantly you’ll have a wider background to your CV, likely including corporate or large business experience and you’ll already have proven your ability to find, absorb and analyse information and make good decisions. You’ll be able to adapt quickly to short term challenges and opportunities, and you’ll have an eye to the future, always asking yourself what’s on or over the horizon that could be an opportunity for us?

In terms of personal qualities, you’ll be in touch with your own capabilities, understand and leverage your personal strengths and be aware of and addressing or mitigating your work-ons. You’ll understand how to get performance in teams where everyone brings their own skills and experiences; and you’ll be an excellent communicator.

If you’re looking for a senior leadership role in a dynamic and progressive dairy farming business with strong values that support profitable, repeatable, productive performance, then you can’t afford not to consider BEL Group. With a corporate structure that has worked hard to maintain a family-feel culture and that recognises it’s importance to a thriving local community, this is NZ business at its best.

Take a look at the business at www.belgroup.co.nz and get more details about the job and how to apply at www.no8hr.co.nz. If that’s not enough, phone us on 07 870 4901 for an informal and confidential conversation about how this opportunity might suit you. www.no8hr.co.nz

Farm Supervisors – Canterbury

Growing businesses grow talent and Dairy Holdings Ltd is focused on doing both. With further acquisitions planned in the Canterbury area and a strategy that talks directly to the importance of breadth and depth of leadership skill, the time is now for the business to fill an immediate farm supervisor vacancy and also shore up its operational leadership talent pool by growing ahead of further planned land purchases.

With diversity a key driver, Dairy Holdings is looking for well-connected agri-business professionals who are interested in leadership roles where operational excellence and business nouse intersect. Maybe you’re currently in a rural professional role or are working outside of the agri-sector but grew up on a farm, whatever your background you will be looking for is a leadership role with scope to grow and develop people as well as capitalising on business production and profit opportunities.

With one role waiting for a seasoned and ‘ready to go’ farm supervisor who will support up to nine farms already within the Dairy Holdings stable, and the second role for a ‘supervisor in waiting’ with more scope to grow and develop into the role as business acquisitions continue. What’s critical about these opportunities is the scope to grow and lead within an established, successful and forwardthinking business that knows its greatest challenge is finding and keeping the right people.

To be successful at Dairy Holdings you’ll be smart but humble with it, you’ll be genuine and won’t shy away from taking the good and bad that comes with responsibility, you’ll be respected by the people you work with and won’t be afraid to stand up for your opinions, and you’ll be well connected and have a reputation for reliability and delivering business outcomes.

Your work experience and business competence will already include leadership and budget responsibilities, either directly as a team leader or via project or other responsibilities. You’ll have studied to a tertiary level and will have work experience that’s likely to include corporate or largescale business exposure.

And with two roles on offer where a range of experience and backgrounds are being actively sought, we’re looking to scope widely for these roles and consider applications from people who are interested but may not have traditionally considered this type of opportunity. What’s not negotiable is your enthusiasm for people and the dairy sector, your commitment to achieving outcomes and your ambition to work hard to realise your own dreams and those of the team you support.

For more information about Dairy Holdings and to fully understand the scope of these opportunities in this growing business take a look at www.dairyholdings.co.nz. To confidentially discuss these roles and how your circumstances and goals might fit call recruitment and talent acquisition specialist Toni Trusler from No8HR on 0275 998 909, or to apply go to www.no8hr.co.nz/Ref#8HR32260.

■ Ideal for shearing sheep, alpacas, goats and cow tails

■ Variable speed from 2600-3500rpm

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Spring in the step of beef prices

Farmgate prices lifted for all classes of cattle through May, even though slaughter rates tracked higher – thanks to US appetites.

Mel Croad MARKETS Production

FARMGATE beef prices are finally gathering some momentum. The return of procurement competition has partly influenced this upside as slaughter-ready supplies have slumped.

High slaughter rates developed in late summer and stretched right through autumn. The ability to turn on capacity as needed resulted in national kill rates varying between 78,000-80,000 head per week for five weeks between April and May. Despite this, reports during early May indicated processors could have handled more cattle, especially cull cows.

AgriHQ data shows farmgate prices lifted for all classes of cattle through May, even though slaughter rates tracked higher than the five-year average.

The hunt for cattle has intensified in the weeks since, with prices following suit. While procurement might be influencing some of this recent upside, the intensity wouldn’t be there if

there wasn’t strong support from our export markets.

When we spread the net wider, we can see that the real driver to market gains since January has been increasing export returns in our largest beef market – the United States.

The US market continues to go from strength to strength. Imported beef prices have lifted by 34-41USc/lb on average since the start of the year to be sitting well ahead of the five-year average for June.

Whereas US imported beef prices were falling this time last year, there is currently a resurgence in buying. NZ exporters are expecting further pricing upside as our export volumes tighten into winter.

Reduced US domestic beef supplies and solid consumer demand have been driving the US beef market higher. Fed cattle supplies are set to reduce, but weekly cow slaughter rates have already slumped, pushing domestic 90CL cow prices to sit above US$3.50/lb. Over the past 10 years, this indicator has only pushed over US$3/lb a handful of times.

Whereas US imported beef prices were falling this time last year, there is currently a resurgence in buying.

However this year, it’s maintained a plus US$3/lb level since early February. This highlights the strength of beef demand within the US, and its ability to withstand the high cost of living while trumping other meats competing for consumers’ attention.

To take advantage of the strong US market, total NZ beef exports there have climbed by over 20,000 tonnes to 129,000t this season. That additional beef has come at

the expense of exports to China, which have fallen by 19,000t. This has been achieved by reducing the volume of manufacturing beef and frozen boneless cuts to China, the latter which has butted heads with cheaper Brazilian cuts. As a result of these changing trading dynamics, the US and China now equally account for 70% of NZ beef trade (based on volume) this season.

As you would expect, other beef exporting countries desperately want a slice of the action within the US and have therefore ramped up exports to gain that advantage.

Recent industry reports indicate the US hasn’t seen these sort of import volumes for nearly a decade. Yet this has failed to dampen import prices. In the past

five months, at 126,000t, Australia has shipped almost double the volume to the US compared to the same period in 2023. On top of that Brazil seems intent on supplying a steady stream of beef to the US, despite now incurring hefty tariff charges.

The supply side of the equation within the US appears one-sided but fortunately the market is transversing a heavy demand period. History would suggest that US import prices will continue to edge higher to spring, given their falling beef supplies.

This would cement a strong pricing result for those with finished cattle in spring. AgriHQ’s latest Livestock Outlook backs this up with forecasts pointing to spring prices lifting above last year and the five-year average.

SHIFT: Thanks to changing trading dynamics, the US and China now equally account for 70% of NZ beef trade by volume this season.

Weekly saleyards

Better late than never, the surge of store lambs continued at Feilding on Friday, June 14 when another 19,300 lambs went under the hammer. The significant number drew a large crowd and areas from Auckland to the South Island were represented in the buying gallery. Compared to the previous week, the average return was up $4 per head on a similar average weight. There is still a large range in returns based on the quality and health of the lambs. Stortford Lodge also posted a positive result. Average returns of $98 and $83 went to male lambs and ewe lambs respectively, though males were 2kg heavier on average.

A HOT START: Buyers were willing to pay a bit extra for quality ewe lambs at Feilding on Friday, June 14. These ewe lambs from the back of Palmerston North were just a tad over 30kg and reached $99.

Stortford Lodge | June 19 | 129 cattle, 6872 sheep

Mixed-age Angus, Hereford cows, VIC Angus, Hereford, 543-702kg

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Romney ram lambs, shorn, light to medium

DAMP

AgriHQ market trends

State of the nation as we near mid-year

Philip Duncan NEWS Weather

DESPITE all the rain in some parts of New Zealand, most regions are still drier than they should be for this time of year – although, granted, it is getting much wetter underfoot for many.

The North Island has had the most amount of rain relief in recent weeks, and over the past week it’s been the upper South Island’s turn to get some too.

While rainfall has started to return to normal, most parts of the country are still not where they should be, following on from a dry summer and autumn. Canterbury remains the driest part of NZ from a soil moisture point of view, being in the rain shadow for most of the rain events this year.

While Canterbury and Otago are often two of our driest regions in winter, they are both drier than normal – but it’s especially Canterbury that is dry.

Highlights this week

• Low pressure finally breaks up and clears (for a time)

• High pressure returns mid to late week (briefly)

• Messier forecast from this weekend onwards (more low pressure around NZ)

The lower North Island is also still leaning drier than usual – southern coastal Taranaki, Manawatū, Horowhenua and Wairarapa are all drier than usual right now. East Cape and Gisborne are also still leaning drier. Hawke’s Bay is looking pretty good – but also is leaning a little drier west of Napier and Hastings into the ranges.

However, rain has returned to many other districts, with Northland having intense rain in the past week – and the Far North also getting rain after missing out on other rain events.

Temperatures have been down by day, but up by night for some. The cloudier, sometimes windier, weather can make for cooler than average days – but also milder than normal nights as it removes the clear skies and calm conditions that produce frosts or near freezing temperatures.

Sometimes we can have warmer than average weather that feels cold and bleak because the days are miserable, but the nights are milder – so overall the monthly temperature for your region may not be as far below normal as you might think.

Low pressure has been affecting NZ for over a week and may have more days to go.

A lot of people have asked me what has broken or gone wrong with our weather –but to me this is the usual chaos we get in a neutral season, especially as we come out of the El Niño weather pattern.

If you think of high pressure zones as slow

moving trucks, and lows as cars that can’t overtake them, then it can perhaps make more sense as to why we can have a low pressure zone stuck over NZ for almost two weeks.

In May we had high pressure that lingered

for weeks – but if you lived in Sydney you had cloud, rain and colder air. For every action there is a reaction, so the low stuck over us usually means there are highs stuck nearby too, giving somewhere else the settled, sunnier, weather.

investment oppor tunities

DRY: Historical soil moisture deficit vs current soil moisture deficit shows much of NZ is drier than we usually are – even if it has been raining lately.