Farmers Weekly NZ May 28 2018 by AgriHQ

3 M bovis eradication plan tipped Vol 17 No 21, May 28, 2018

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Farmers’ delight Hugh Stringleman

hugh.stringleman@nzx.com

M Co Y S m TE e R S I a nd Y C TE s R F 4 ee u E E 6 s K at

ONTERRA’S farmers are delighted with its $7/ kg milksolids opening forecast for next season but the co-op’s dividend this financial year has been slashed. Six years after declaring a Fonterra following his strategy could pay both a high milk price and a good dividend in the same season, chief executive Theo Spierings will depart without that achievement. Only two months ago the interim results included a dividend guidance of 25-35c/ share but the board has cut that expectation to 15-20c, compared with 40c paid last year. After posting a net loss in the first half Spierings said he expected earnings to be weighted in the second half but that didn’t happen. “The earnings challenge that comes with the higher milk price is compounded by the timing and significance of this particular increase,” Spierings said. “It has been rapid and late in the year, making it difficult for these higher input costs to flow through into our sales for this financial year. “We can see our sales margins are not where they need to be at this point in the year to achieve our original earnings forecast.” He cited stronger competition in China’s food service market and falling sales volumes of dairy foods in Australia and New

Zealand, both new and unsettling causes. Abnormal items, the $183 million Danone settlement and the $405m Beingmate investment impairment, along with the sales headwinds affected the gearing ratio. It is now expected to be above the target 40-45% range. It was 51.6% on January 31. In this season’s payout farmers gained about 10c/kg when Fonterra increased the milk price by 20c to $6.75 but took 10-15c off the forecast dividend.

New Zealand farmers get the lift straight away. Earl Rattray Farmer Total forecast payout is now $6.90-$6.95, the third highest in the past decade, Wilson said. Should the $7/kg 2019 milk price forecast eventuate, the average milk price for the decade of the 2010s will be $6.20 versus an average of $4.20 in the previous decade, not adjusted for inflation. ASB rural economist Nathan Penny said Fonterra is being bullish with its opening forecast about 50c higher than most market commentators. He was more cautious, factoring in some lift in NZ milk production that will weigh against world product prices and some possible strengthening of the NZ dollar later this year.

Penny also pointed out the average movement from opening forecast to final price is $1.50. In May 2014 Fonterra opened with $7 and ended the 2015 season with $4.40. AgriHQ dairy analyst Amy Castleton also predicted a $7 opening in early May after running her computer model with the futures prices, the latest Global Dairy Trade price and a US70c exchange rate. Former Fonterra director Earl Rattray, Otorohanga, said he is very pleased to see strong world prices fully reflected in next season’s forecast, something he had been able to verify for himself with the AgriHQ milk price calculator. “NZ farmers get the lift straight away but dairy farmers in other countries do not have our transparency and their processing companies are more likely to take a boost in profit.” Share broker First NZ Capital rerated the FSF units from neutral to underperforming and cut the 12-month target price from $6.12 to $5.09. FCNZ research head Arie Dekker said the mounting concerns include earnings from value-add business that are inverse to the milk price, the poor proposition for Fonterra farmers to hold shares, continued loss of market share and environmental restrictions on milk growth. They could flow on to Fonterra’s already vulnerable capital structure and he could not see any signs from the company of introspection or change of direction. “The poor experience for

UNFULFILLED? Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings will leave without achieving a a high milk price and good dividend in the same year.

outside investors since Fonterra listed will have them questioning whether it is worth being a liquidity provider for Trading Among Farmers,” he said. Dividends, at 10 to 25c, were low in three of the six financial years with TAF and there is no upwards trend. Fonterra chairman John Wilson

Hot price offer.

said the co-operative’s job is to maximise the total available for payout and the structure of the Milk Price Model delivers the milk price and earnings. “These are not decisions by the board and management and we understand how frustrating and disappointing it is for shareholders and unit holders.”

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NEWS

WEATHER OVERVIEW THE next big cold change, which started on Friday, is today peaking over New Zealand with pretty miserable temperatures, especially in southern and eastern facing regions most exposed to the wet weather. The very large high from Australia that has changed shape and is now moving into western NZ will also encourage the colder southerly to linger, especially in the eastern North Island, potentially as late as Wednesday. As winds fade in the first half of this week expect severe frosts to develop in the South Island’s interior. Places like Alexandra to Queenstown and surrounds might drop as low as -3 to -8 in the next night or two. Mainly dry this week and potentially next week too.

NZX PASTURE GROWTH INDEX – Next 15 days

Pasture Growth Index Above normal Near normal Below normal

7-DAY TRENDS

4 Tough year hits Anzco profits A difficult year in beef procurement and processing caused a big fall in profit for Anzco Foods. EU free-trade talks are to start �� 5 Gold values fly high in tenders �� 7

Rain

Wind

As the southerly fades out this week over NZ the bulk of the wet weather will hit the eastern side of the North Island. As high pressure builds these showers will fade to the east. Mainly dry elsewhere.

Good clearance at online sale �� 8

Newsmaker ��24 New Thinking ��25 Opinion ��26 World ��30

REGULARS Real Estate ��31-35

Southerlies dominate the first half of this week, mainly in southern and eastern facing regions. Winds might be a little more southeast for a time in the North Island. It is very sunny for the west. Light winds affect NZ from Wednesday onwards. For further information on the NZX PGI visit www.agrihq.co.nz/pgi

Highlights/ Extremes

Temperature Colder than average for a number of places today and tomorrow as southerlies continue but as high pressure builds this week and winds fade temperatures will reset back to average. Northerlies late week might even be warmer than average for some.

Heavy snow possible on Monday and Tuesday in the eastern North Island ranges might affect some roads. Cold winds for livestock Monday and Tuesday in the east. Severe frosts possible next couple of nights in Otago and around the Southern Alps.

14-DAY OUTLOOK

Southerners had a great run of extra pasture growth but the snow late last week now coupled with cold southerlies and potentially severe frosts for South Islanders this week is quite likely the nail in the coffin for further positive growth, especially as we slink towards the shortest day of the year in just over three weeks. The colder air in the North Island will also slow down growth but dry/sun might be more positive later this week.

SOIL MOISTURE INDEX – 24/05/2018

Employment ��36 Classifieds ��37 Livestock ��37-43

48 Little risk to deer prices The deer industry is in a great spot but industry leaders urge farmers to beware of complacency.

Source: WeatherWatch.co.nz

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For more weather information go to farmersweekly.co.nz/weather

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Cure worse than the disease Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz THE Government is tipped to run with eradication as its preferred option to deal with the growing scale of the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis that could result in the cull of up to 66,000 cattle. Since the Government and industry bodies met last week sources have leaked clues that all parties have finally reached agreement on eradication as the best option.

“MPI does not have the logistical capacity to manage this. Professor Keith Woodford Lincoln University A 10-year phased eradication is the speculated plan with a review in November to make sure it is working. Cabinet will today decide on eradication or management. By the end of this month the Ministry for Primary Industries will have culled close to 30,000 animals from infected properties since December. With 300 farms across the country already under restriction more infected properties are expected to double that number. Eradication and management are equally pricey with both estimated to cost $500 million with economic impact adding another $500m, potentially leaving the

The options Eradication: Ongoing restrictions including locking down infected properties. Culling infected animals on infected properties. Ongoing surveillance, testing and tracing. Containment: Long-term management. Completion of the cull programme to give a head start managing onfarm risk. Supporting farmers to manage the disease effectively should it appear in their herds. Ending ongoing surveillance. Source: MPI

country facing a $1 billion hit. While it is a serious disease Professor Keith Woodford of Lincoln University is not convinced continuing to slaughter animals is the answer. “My hope is they will stop the slaughter and try to change some of the movement regulations for cattle, especially in the South Island where there are huge animal welfare issues trying to get cows to their winter feed platforms. “The risk at the moment is the cure is becoming worse than the disease.” Woodford said. “Over reaction? – I suggest maybe. “It is a serious disease but everywhere else in the world they manage it without a centralised slaughter programme so we probably need to be doing the same thing.” Woodford acknowledged there is no easy or perfect solution but suggested MPI lacks the ability to adequately manage it. “MPI does not have the logistical capacity to manage this. There are huge delays before they recognise a farm to be traced and farmers cannot get the decisions they need out of MPI to make management calls. “There is very real prospect that trying to do a mass cull of healthy cattle at this stage is going to be counter-productive,” Woodford said. Tavendale and Partners specialist agribusiness lawyer Tim Silva said the crucial key to any future decision on M bovis is transparent information. “MPI must be perceived to be the one source of truth for all matters relating to the M bovis response and it is critical that information flow immediately improves at all levels.” While industry bodies were involved in the decision there were apparent differing views between the North and the South Islands. “Industry sentiment, particularly in this region (Canterbury) is that M bovis is a management issue.” Federated Farmers dairy chairman Chris Lewis said “To get a Cabinet paper there must be an extensive cost modelling and that must be backed with a science report from both New Zealand and overseas technical experts who confirm this (eradication) is the best option and feasible.

MPI opacity flabbergasts farmer FRANK Peters is flabbergasted his perfectly healthy cows and calves have gone for slaughter because his Nait records revealed a purchase of animals from Alfons Zeestraten going back to April 2, 2014, yet the Primary Industries Ministry is failing to acknowledge any source of Mycoplasma bovis infection earlier than December 2015. Comments by MPI about farmers abusing the Nait stock identification system are insulting when MPI itself cannot provide transparent information and give straight up answers, he said. Peters got nervous when news of Zeestraten’s southern farms M bovis infection came out in December – he had bought from there in 2014. But testing didn’t start on the Peters’ Ashburton farm until March with a notice of direction issued on March 22. On April 24 the farm was declared an infected property and the herd cull ordered.

“To eradicate we need to front-foot the testing component to assure monitoring and management – that’s an essential part of the decision jigsaw.” But a decision to live with it would be at huge cost to the industry, the country and directly to farmers.

By May 25 close to 900 animals had headed to slaughter and still Peters awaits MPI to confirm the infection pathway to his farm while he continues to hear MPI report that tracing goes back to December 2015. “We have worked it out for ourselves – we have it in our Nait records and MPI told us when they got us that it was traced through that (2014) purchase. “We have milked these cows for four seasons and had absolutely no signs. We have sold stock in that 21-months-time difference yet it doesn’t appear to be significant. “What is frustrating is that they won’t or can’t answer any further questions to justify killing my cows.” MPI was still working on a response to Farmers Weekly’s request for clarification when it went to print on Friday.

“It would severely impact other farmers versus an eradication scheme where individual farmers bear the cost and a fair bit of pain but not affect the majority of farmers. “So, as an industry, do you want to protect the masses with a few individual farmers suffering

as opposed to having the whole industry in the same boat?

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Tough year hits Anzco’s profits Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz A DIFFICULT year in beef procurement and processing caused a big fall in profit for Anzco Foods. Intense competition for stock and uneven livestock flows increased costs while consumer market prices were just steady, chief executive Peter Conley said. Anzco’s pre-tax profit fell to just $1.8 million in the year ended December 31, from $17m a year earlier. Because the group’s international trade offices are required to pay tax in the countries they’re based in, overall group tax took up $1.7m of the earnings, leaving an after-tax operating profit of $100,000, down from $12m previously. The seven overseas offices are performing strongly and extending their market reach. Beef processing and exporting make up 60% of the Anzco business. The uneven flow of beef livestock into processing plants in the group’s mid South Island and lower North Island regions means

plant costs were incurred for periods without full throughput gains, chief financial officer Paul Loke said. Total revenue at $1.46 billion was marginally higher than the 2016 year. Anzco’s sheep meat business performed well in a year of increasing consumer market prices but makes up only 30% of the business and couldn’t offset the beef impacts. The spike in pre-Christmas processing demand from farmers also affected the result, lifting costs going into year-end balance date with the resulting product being sold in the next year. The balance of the overall business is in the food and solutions division covering food, nutrition and healthcare, which achieved a 30% lift in sales and made a positive contribution to earnings, Conley said. Food and solutions had aggressively pursued its strategy to create net value from what were traditionally lower-value parts of the carcase. The Angel Bay manufactured food business has good sales into Australia.

GROWING: Anzco will continue to expand its 5-Star beef lot and diversify its markets while avoiding competing with American-style feedlots.

Growth was strong and expected to be sustainable but that part of the business still remains a long game in terms of investment and returns, especially in nutritionals and healthcare, he said. Because of the challenging times Anzco finished the year with an operating cash outflow, higher inventories, higher working capital demands and increased debt, Loke said. Those figures will be released in the final accounts filed with the Companies Office. Inventory levels can be worked out as they were $50m higher than in 2016, when they were $159m. The bigger pre-Christmas kill

contributed but Anzco generally keeps inventory at higher levels to ensure supply for its food and solutions activity, the seven international businesses and to meet specific customer programmes. Loke said the business model, in which Anzco supplies its international offices and they then supply their retail customers, also means a slower path of revenue back to NZ. The annual accounts will include a $15.1m non-cash charge reflecting the loss of deferred tax available due to the change in ownership when Japanese group Itoham Yonekyu Holdings moved to a 100% shareholding. The adjustment will result in a $15m

accounting loss for the year. Conley said Anzco will continue its expansion of the 5-Star beef lot in Mid Canterbury and growth in the premium Wakanui beef brand in the domestic and international markets including China and also used in the group’s restaurants in Tokyo and Singapore. As well as expanding livestock numbers 5-Star is continuing to diversify its markets, working to avoid competing with United States-style feedlots and to tell the NZ-story of quality farming with no growth promotants. Itoham Yonekyu is one of the world’s 10 biggest meat companies. It reported a net profit of $205m on turnover of $10.9b in the year ended March 31.

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

EU free-trade talks are to start Stephen Bell stephen.bell@nzx.com TALKS for a free-trade deal with the European Union are going ahead after the union’s council approved the move last week. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker said it is a major step forward that the talks have been given a mandate by all EU member states while meat industry people said it is significant in the face of growing protectionism around the world. The European Union said preparations, including impact assessments, for talks with both New Zealand and Australia are complete and formal negotiations can now begin. While agriculture will be a tricky issue with Europeans wanting to protect their highly-subsidised farmers and their geographic indicators or product names NZ will have some leverage because the EU sees the deals as more than just rules for two-way trade. It expects increased free trade will help its exporters by giving them an antipodean foothold from which to launch into other AsiaPacific markets and will put them on a par with members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership. “Australia and NZ are important allies and these agreements will offer significant economic gains by getting rid of obstacles and boosting trade further,” EU trade commissionere Cecilia Malmstrom said. “Despite the distance, trade

BIG MOVE: Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker says the European approval for free-trade talks is a major step forward.

between the EU and these two countries is already roughly the same as with Mexico or Canada. “Having trade agreements with Australia and NZ would provide EU businesses with a valuable entry point into the wider AsiaPacific region. “They will also put European companies on an equal footing with those from the other countries in the area that have signed up to the CPTPP or that already enjoy better access to Australia and NZ through other preferential trade agreements. Parker said it opens the way for a free trade deal with one of the largest economies in the world that will boost jobs and incomes. “Credit must go to Prime

Minister Jacinda Ardern whose strong advocacy for NZ’s interests during her recent trip to Europe helped tip the balance. “It is also an endorsement of our strong backing for the talks as the next priority on our extensive free-trade agenda that includes the CPTPP, the Pacific Alliance and Regional Comprehenive Economic Partnership. “These negotiations offer significant economic gains for NZ and the EU. “They are an example of like-minded countries working together at a time when the world faces a rising tide of protectionism,” Parker said. “The EU is our third largest trading partner, with two-way

trade worth more than $20 billion. Even excluding the United Kingdom, our trade with the EU is worth about $16b annually. “At the start of negotiations, we’ll be releasing a package of information outlining our negotiating priorities for this agreement and how we will be engaging with New Zealanders as negotiations progress,” Parker said. Malmström will be in NZ in June to launch negotiations. The first rounds of talks is set for July in Brussels. Beef + Lamb NZ chief executive Sam McIvor said the agreement is a significant milestone for the sector in the face of growing protectionist rhetoric worldwide. “The FTA will create a stable and level playing field which is crucial to the growth and future prosperity of the sheep and beef sector and NZ as a whole. “Over 600,000 NZ jobs directly depend on international trade with the red meat sector alone employing over 80,000 people. All these jobs depend on our ability to export competitively and in a stable and predictable trading environment.” The European Union bought $1.8b of NZ red meat last year. It is NZ’s largest market by region for sheep meat exports and secondlargest for wool and chilled beef exports. Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie said the sector still faces a range of significant tariff and non-tariff barriers in Europe.

“NZ pays approximately $53 million in tariffs per year on its red meat exports to the EU. However, removing them will not be easy. “The EU’s agricultural sensitivities will be fully reflected in the negotiating strategy, in which the EU will seek to protect vulnerable sectors,” it said in papers accompanying its decision.

It is clear that the EU does not envisage full liberalisation of trade in this (agriculture) sector. Background paper European Union “At the same time we will maximise Europe’s positive agricultural interests whenever possible. “It is clear that the EU does not envisage full liberalisation of trade in this sector. “Specific treatment for sensitive agricultural products may include long tariff dismantling periods, tariff rate quotas or any other arrangements which the sides agree to be appropriate,” it said. “Open trade must go hand in hand with open and inclusive policy making,” European Commission president JeanClaude Junker said.

Low prices lure weaner bulls north despite disease risk Glenys Christian glenys.christian@nzx.com ABOUT 3000 weaner bulls have gone from Canterbury to Northland in the last few months, Dargaville vet Brian Lowe estimates. He told dairy farmers at the Northland Agricultural Research Farm field day a $50 a head

difference in price caused farmers to buy South Island stock rather than those produced locally. And the one high-risk farm identified by the Ministry for Primary Industries in the Dargaville area had received stock not only from Canterbury but also from a Mycoplasma bovis infected farm.

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That happened after the Dargaville farmer was assured by a stock agent the animals were from Waikato. About 3000 farms are now considered at risk of having the disease but because of the difficulty of determining whether stock are carriers it is likely quite a few of the farms now on watch by MPI would eventually

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be found to be clear, he said. “There is a high amount of false positive and false negative tests.” Mud and manure on boots are a low risk of spreading the disease. “But milk and mucus is a bigger risk so cow-to-cow spread is important. “The bacteria does not survive

for long periods outside the cow.” “There were joint infections and around 200 cases of mastitis when the cows were dry,” Lowe said. A problem that will have to be addressed before mating for spring calving, done around October, is making sure bulls are clear of the disease.

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News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

There’s more risk on moving day Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com SEVERAL hundred sharemilkers and their cows will move farms on Moving Day with extra timeconsuming and costly animal health precautions because of Mycoplasma bovis. The spread of at-risk properties shows precautions must be taken for cattle movements in all dairying regions of the country, DairyNZ extension general manager Andrew Reid said. About 3000 of the nation’s 12,000 dairy farms have sharemilkers and the standard contract length is three years. Therefore up to 1000 herds could move at the end of the season though more likely several hundred will move on June 1, Reid said. It will not be until relocated herds start supplying milk to their preferred processors, mainly after calving, that the authorities will know how many moved. The prospect of a third season of $6-plus milk price, of which sharemilkers get up to half, might have prompted a larger number

TAKE CARE: Farmers moving stock this Moving Day need to take extra precautions and keep cattle out of road paddocks.

of contract changes and herd movements. The opposite was shown to be true during poor payout years with fewer relocations for sharemilkers and herd managers. The main precautions to take because of M bovis include avoiding cattle contacts, especially

over boundary fences along droving routes, the cleaning of stock trucks and all transferred machinery, the viewing of bulk milk test results and any control and surveillance notices. They would be in addition to the standard Nait animal movement recording and the

usual animal health questions by farm owners of sharemilkers and vice versa. “Farmers need to be aware of things they might have taken for granted in the past,” Reid said. “Carrying on as we have always done is no longer an option in the M bovis climate.

“It is going to take longer to do the things necessary to mitigate the risk. “M bovis is largely spread through nose-to-nose cow contact so farmers need to know what they can do to protect themselves and not rely on others.” Among the suggestions on the DairyNZ M bovis web page are requests to dairy farms en route to leave roadside paddocks vacant or buffered with power fencing and no back-loading of stock trucks while a herd is being moved. A seven-day quarantine of incoming cattle from those already on a farm is advised. “Have a really good understanding of where your stock have come from and where they are going to. “The bulk milk testing results and the Ministry for Primary Industries tracing of cattle movements show that no region of the country is exempted from the need for precautions against the spread of the disease,” Reid said. MPI said sharemilkers and contract milkers are particularly vulnerable should M bovis get onto a farm.

Kiwifruit boosts export growth

We expect agricultural production to increase over the year and to boost export volumes while export prices remain firm. Nathan Penny ASB Across all markets, Gold kiwifruit was up $148m or 86% in value compared with April 2017, led by an $85m increase to China. Green kiwifruit also rose, up $50m or 83%, led by a $25m

increase to the EU. Annual exports of kiwifruit lifted 9% to $1.9b in the year ended April 2018. The other main contributors to April’s export rise were meat and edible offal, which lifted 15% or $94m to $723m and milk powder, butter and cheese exports, which advanced 6.2% or $68m to $1.17b. Meat exports were affected by higher prices for lamb and higher quantities of beef while dairy exports were buoyed by higher prices for butter, StatsNZ said. Imports also lifted in April, up 15% or $629m, to reach a new high for the month of $4.8b. The leading contributor to the rise was the increased value of petroleum and its products, up 56% or $221m, led by crude oil imports which increased by $130m. The other main contributors to the higher imports were vehicles, parts and accessories, which lifted by $179m, and mechanical machinery and equipment, up $108m.

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LIKE HOT CAKES: Overseas sales of kiwifruit have boosted New Zealand April exports to the second-highest level ever.

The monthly trade balance in April was a surplus of $263m or 5.2% of exports, which is lower than the average monthly surplus in the last five April months of $344m. The statistics agency revised the deficit for March, the first deficit for the month in a decade, to $156m from $86m. The annual trade deficit for the year ended April was $3.76b compared with a $3.51b shortfall in the year to April 2017.

“Looking at the year ahead we expect the annual trade deficit to narrow,” ASB Bank senior rural economist Nathan Penny said. “In particular, we expect agricultural production to increase over the year and to boost export volumes while export prices remain firm. “At the same time, growth in import values is likely to be more subdued as economic growth remains soft over 2018.” – BusinessDesk

www.pukemiro.co.nz

Japan,” Stats NZ international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. “In April, the first month of the export season, the Gold variety made up nearly three-quarters of the total value of kiwifruit exports.”

more information on our website

A RECORD month for kiwifruit exports helped push the country’s overall exports in April to the second-highest level ever, according to monthly trade data. Kiwifruit exports surged 82% in April to $438 million, a new high for any month, Statistics New Zealand said. The rise in kiwifruit exports was the leading contributor to a 7.3% lift in overall goods exports for April to $5.1 billion, the secondhighest for any month after December 2017’s record $5.5b, the statistics agency said. The fruit is NZ’s fastest-growing horticultural export and the Ministry for Primary Industries is forecasting more growth in the next two years with exports slated to reach $1.8b in 2019. Zespri, the kiwifruit marketing body, is aiming for $4.5b of global sales by 2025, with faster growth picked to come from its more profitable Gold kiwifruit. “Kiwifruit exports were up for all NZ’s principal kiwifruit markets – China, the European Union and

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

NEWS BRIEFS Jager joins DMS DMS, the leading kiwifruit and avocado orchard management and post-harvest operator based in Tauranga, has appointed former Zespri chief executive Lain Jager as a director. Zespri, the $2.3 billion kiwifruit marketing and innovation company, exports 450,000 tonnes of kiwifruit a year to 53 markets from five supply locations. During his nine years in the job Jager won international recognition as a proven leader in marketing and innovation management, international business relations, supply chain logistics and human resources. Since leaving Zespri in December Jager has been involved in several agribusiness and tourism investment projects and worked with businesses in governance and strategic advisory roles.

New AWDT boss AGRI-WOMEN’S Development Trust patron Mavis Mullins has stepped in to chair the primary sector women’s development organisation as it expands to meet growing demand. Three new trustees were also appointed at the annual meeting. Jenni Vernon MNZM, Damian Buckley and Jessica Smith were appointed to the board through a national recruitment process in late 2017. The trio replace outgoing chairwoman Charmaine O’Shea and trustees Hinerangi Edwards and Ross Verry who have each served five years on the board.

Correction A BULL offered by John and Joss Bayly’s Waitangi Angus Stud achieved the third highest price for the Angus breed in the first national online video bull sale in Palmerston North on May 14. The price was $22,000, paid by Lane Brothers’ Whangara Angus near Gisborne. The Farmers Weekly last week reported a bull from Storth Oaks was the third highest price. Its price of $18,000 was the fourth highest.

Hill-country group set up Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz A NEW high-country advisory group will be a step towards a better public understanding of tenure review, a land reform process in which the Government is reviewing South Island high country pastoral leases. The advisory group, being created by Land Information, has potential to boost constructive discussions among stakeholders and increase the wider public’s understanding of tenure review, Federated Farmers high country chairman Simon Williamson said. “It’s always a good thing when a government agency aims to be more transparent.” Federated Farmers believes the tenure review process and all issues related to the management of Crown land in the South Island’s high country are widely misunderstood, primarily because they are complicated. “A more visible process should help the whole community understand what’s going on,” Williamson said. But the new group should not be about reopening debate on

IN FAVOUR: Federated Farmers high country chairman Simon Williamson welcomes the chance for stakeholders to discuss issues constructively rather than taking pot shots at each other. Photo: Annette Scott

the Crown Pastoral Land Act. “This has already been tested in the Environment Court before being enshrined in legislation.” The advisory group will have Conservation Department and Federated Farmers representatives and three to six people with experience in sectors such as the environment, farming, industry, iwi and central or local government. “It’s always a good thing when different stakeholders can sit together as a forum and discuss

issues constructively as opposed to taking pot shots at each other through the media,” Williamson said. “Over recent years we have asked a number of individuals and groups to provide factual and non-emotive reasons for claims that tenure review is not working. “The advisory group may provide an opportunity for this.” Applications for appointments to the advisory group close on June 14.

A more visible process should help the whole community understand what’s going on. Simon Williamson Federated Farmers

Good clearance at online sale Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz ABOUT 96% of the wool offered in the first Natural Fibre Exchange (NFX) online auction was sold. Indications are the sale was in line with the improving tone in wool prices at the latest open-cry auctions. Six sellers provided lots for sale and a good cross-section

of New Zealand’s major wool buyers were bidding online for the 1525 bales offered on May 22, Wools of NZ chief executive Rosstan Mazey said. WoolsNZ and Alliance Group are the shareholders of NFX and are working with CRA International, a global company in online trading platforms. Initial feedback on the first

sale was positive, Mazey said. CRA spokesman Brad Miller said the first live trading event went smoothly with bidders actively bidding round by round. Bidding continued until there was a round with no new bids. WoolsNZ, 353 bales, and Alliance, 460 bales, provided more than half the offering. Other meat processing

companies, Affco, Lowe Group and Progressive were also sellers with significant bales of slipe wool. Sales included: (clean price per kg): 31.7 micron, $4.07; 31.6 micron $4.18; 37.7m $2.63; 28.7m $6.07; 31m $3.77; 31m $3.69; 34.8m $3.25; 35.9m $2.32; 37.4m $3.69; 25.1m $9.50; 29.6m $3.86. The next NFX sale is scheduled for Tuesday, June 5.

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News

10 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Farmers asked to pay for fight Glenys Christian glenys.christian@nzx.com

NO GOOD: Parts of the Healthy Rivers plan are unworkable and others too strict, Federated Farmers North Island regional policy manager Dr Paul le Miere says.

FARMERS are being asked to give $1000 each to help pay hundreds of thousands of dollars Federated Farmers is spending to oppose the Waikato Regional Council’s Healthy Rivers plan. North Island regional policy manager Dr Paul le Miere told the Auckland Federated Farmers conference the proposed plan changes will affect 1.1 million hectares, of which 950,000ha is farmed. The lobby group has four major objections to the proposals around land use changes being halted, nitrogen reference points based on benchmark years being established and a

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requirement for farm environment plans, which it believes could be subject to micro-management by the council. A big and it believes costly sticking point is the proposed exclusion of stock from steeper hill country, fencing of waterways on lesser slopes and a 5m setback for cultivation. Le Miere said a study of 11 hill country farms showed an average cost per landowner could be $48,000 as the plan stands. It is too strict on nitrogen leaching and the minimum standards set are unworkable so the federation has developed an alternative plan, AF1, based on a sub-catchment approach. “It’s looking at industry issues, more flexibility and certainty and uses a most practicable actions framework for farm environment plans,” he said. “It’s effects-based and takes a consistent approach.” The federation is still working on paths for change and minimum standards, which it is talking about at member meetings. One change it could suggest would be a move to a maximum stocking rate rather than degrees of slope to determine management of steeper country. And ways are being looked at to accommodate vegetable growers who under the council plan can’t rotate crops as they do now for good soil management. Le Miere said hearings on the plan are due to start at the end of the year with a decision expected halfway through next year but then the matter could end up in the Environment Court. “It will cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars and we have a limited budget,” he said. A planner has already been employed to deal with the proposed plan changes but money is needed for a soil scientist as well. The federation has set up a donation page on its website suggesting all farmers donate $1000 each. Former Auckland president Wendy Clark asked whether the plan is achievable. Le Miere said it is estimated 6500 farmers will be affected by 2026 as the plan stands and council staff well realise the problems involved in achieving compliance from all of them.

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FINDING workers is an issue for dairy farmers around the country, Federated Farmers president Katie Milne says. Part of the answer is to keep communication channels open and make them more flexible, she told the Auckland Federated Farmers conference. One approach is to get young people onfarm as young as eight. “There are many ways of getting people interested.” And the federation is working hard on immigration problems. Milne said there are a number of ways the lobby group is trying to reach out to urban New Zealanders to tell them they can trust farmers. “We’re having some interesting interactions with people who we didn’t used to,” she said. One such group is the Walking Access Commission, which is helping in the federation’s push for better resourcing for the upkeep of public walking tracks through farms. “We go down the back of our farm and there are people camping who we didn’t know were going to be there,” she said. “They realise we’re good buggers to let all that go on when there are people with properties close to Mt Cook who have 50,000 people going through their property every year.”

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Too late to stop spread of disease Glenys Christian glenys.christian@nzx.com CATTLE movements between the North and South Islands must be controlled to limit the spread of Mycoplasma bovis, Auckland Federated Farmers says. Rodney sub-provincial president John Glasson said a stand has to be made quickly because the number of animals crossing Cook Strait is astronomic. “Let’s have a crack at it or otherwise it’s going to become endemic,” he said. Hauraki Plains-Coromandel president Kevin Robinson said there are many different views. Testing is very difficult with the disease often not showing in a blood test. “You can’t treat it with antibiotics and cows won’t show symptoms unless they’re under stress,” he said. “The horse has bolted.” The remit was carried but national president Katie Milne later said animals had spread near and far from the original herd and it appears the disease spread to the North Island 18 months to two years ago. Good reports are being put together based on expert information from overseas but there is a division between farmers with some wanting

to cull infected animals hard and others saying that is no longer an appropriate control measure. “Work is ongoing and we wish it would be quicker,” she said. “It’s a horrible position to be in. “We really are at crunch time in the South Island. “We need to be able to give some clarity on how we go forward.”

Farm tax move gets support Glenys Christian glenys.christian@nzx.com AUCKLAND Federated Farmers is putting pressure on its leaders over interactions with the Government on the Emissions Trading Scheme. At the Auckland executive’s meeting on Thursday Rodney sub-provincial president John Glasson and former dairy chairman John Sexton said net not gross agricultural emissions had to be considered for individual farms. The pasture, crops and trees farmers grow sequester carbon dioxide, balancing emissions in some cases. “A lot of farms are doing a good job of it,” Sexton said. Glasson proposed the federation, when dealing with Government proposals to put farmers in the ETS, make sure any tax plans are based on the net not gross carbon emitted. But immediate past president Wendy Clark said that was too directive, too narrow and put the national board in an awkward position. “What we do want to be ensuring is that the federation isn’t sitting on its hands with the new Government,” she said. The federation’s position is that as farmers increasingly have ready access to sensible, practical and affordable onfarm tools and technology and while other countries’ farmers are excluded from climate change reduction measures there must be a level field. But it believes all practicable and logical environmental measures should be implemented. “I’d like some feedback on what the board is doing,” she said. President Andrew Maclean will take the remit, which was supported, to the next board meeting.

STOP: Federated Farmers Rodney subprovincial president John Glasson wants controls on cattle movements across Cook Strait.

READY FOR MOVING DAY? REMEMBER TO RECORD ALL FARM MOVEMENTS

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Avoid any unnecessary livestock movements to minimise risk of introducing disease into your farm

Establish quarantine measures on-farm including minimising the mixing of herds until animal health status is observed

Keep your NAIT records up-to-date, including your contact details, tagging and registering your animals and recording their movements

Check the TB status and any other testing requirements of the animals purchased or that may apply to the area you’re moving to

Complete an animal status declaration (ASD) form when shifting stock and provide to the next person in charge accurately

Make sure that the stock moved from a TBfree Movement Control Area have a pre-movement TB test up to 60 days before the move

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News

12 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Welsh want NZ lamb import limit Colin Ley

DANGEROUS: Increased imports of New Zealand and Australian lamb risk undermining Welsh farmers, Hybu Cig Cymru chairman Kevin Roberts says.

NEW Zealand lamb exports to Britain should be limited to recent sales levels of about 65,000 tonnes a year after Brexit rather than being based on much higher historic entitlements, Welsh meat promotion chief Kevin Roberts says. “No doubt NZ and Australia will be aiming for the best deal possible for their agricultural sectors after Brexit but it’s important that agreements are based on what’s fair for farmers in Wales,” he said during a House of Commons select committee session on possible future trade deals between the United Kingdom and both NZ and Australia. “Although NZ lamb has a very high tariff rate quota of 228,000 tonnes (into the European Union) at the moment, negotiations on what the UK share of this should be after Brexit should not be based on historic entitlements but rather on how much lamb has actually been exported here in the past few years. That is around 65,000 tonnes.” Roberts, who chairs Hybu Cig Cymru (Meat Promotion Wales) said trade between the UK and NZ and Australia had traditionally involved the two southern hemisphere countries exporting agricultural and other primary produce and importing British manufactured goods and services in return. “It’s vital that Welsh farmers’

voices aren’t ignored in any rush to find new trade agreements after Brexit. “Increased imports from the southern hemisphere risk undermining Welsh farmers, who have to adhere to extremely high environmental and welfare standards. Any future trade deal must take full account of the needs of the Welsh red meat sector.”

No doubt NZ and Australia will be aiming for the best deal possible for their agricultural sectors after Brexit but it’s important that agreements are based on what’s fair for farmers in Wales. Kevin Roberts Hybu Cig Cymru Roberts addressed the committee as an expert witness, called by the influential International Trade Committee of British MPs amid fears that postBrexit trade agreements with NZ and Australia have the potential to harm the UK’s red meat industry unless safeguards are put in place and until there is clarity on the future trading relationship of Britain and the EU.

Kiwi meat too expensive Richard Smith in Tokyo

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SOUTH Korean imports of lamb topped a new record high last year on the back of rising demand, official data shows. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Korea Customs Service data shows imports of lamb hit $151 million, up 81.5% from $83m in 2016. In the first two months of this year inbound shipments of lamb surged 20% yearon-year to reac $30m. Over 91% of the lamb was from Australia, the data shows, Yonhap reported. Yonhap reported barbecued lamb chops and skewered lamb with a mixture of spices have become ever more popular in South Korea in recent years, leading to more restaurants that serve Chinese-style roasted lamb, which used to operate only in local Chinatowns. Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, meat importer and distributor Shilla International director Sean Kang said one explanation for the import surge is the increase of Middle Eastern workers and of the Chinese

population in South Korea. Another factor is the increasing number of lamb meat restaurants in South Korea because of higher demand as the country’s consumers get more familiar with the meat, perhaps through the Middle Eastern and Chinese resident populations, Kang said. Also, as consumers’ life standards get higher they are able to afford more meat options, which has led to increased demand for alternative meat choices. Lamb exporters eyeing the South Korean market should be wary, though, because import volumes were overly high last year and there is too much inventory in South Korea so prices have started to come down, Kang said. “So, the forecast is not so hopeful but we’ll have to keep an eye on consumption this summer,” he said. Asked why NZ lamb is so little in demand compared to the Australian product, Kang said “Price, price, price.” Australian lamb is much cheaper than NZ Lamb. “Although most NZ lamb quality is slightly superior the price gap is too big,” he said.

News

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

NZ needs a food integrity story

GET IN QUICK: New Zealand must be in the first six countries to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade envoy Mike Petersen says.

Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz NEW Zealand has a role in helping other countries deal with their food security, business futurist and innovation expert Mike Petersen says. “It’s not an opportunity but a responsibility of ours. “Food security is a real issue. We have an abundance of food in NZ and we don’t actually take it seriously,” he said. Addressing the deer industry conference Petersen said NZ has a huge opportunity to capitalise on that. “It’s about exporting our products but also about exporting our farming systems to help them. “It’s our comparative advantage and something we can really share and use offshore to advance NZ’s interests.” Petersen, a former Beef + Lamb NZ chairman and the Government’s special agricultural trade envoy, said there’s momentum for a whole lot of changes not just in the deer industry but the whole farming sector. That’s why NZ needs a new story. “My call for a new story is because there is not a story that relates to NZ. “People like us – we are more humble with more trust but it’s about the integrity of our products and of our systems. “The NZ story as it is known has three themes – open hearts, open spaces, open minds. “That does not link with the products we take from NZ.” NZ needs to promote the big alternative, talk about the agri-food sector, not the primary sector. “A story talking about working up front, working with nature and all our national credentials and attributes to create a value food from the most beautiful and trusted place in the world. “NZ needs access to the most affluent markets in the world if we are going to get true value from our top end products. “There are opportunities in that for the deer industry,” Petersen said. They would come post-Brexit from the United Kingdom and Europe and through the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership. The CPTPP is a new free-trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, NZ, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Once the CPTPP comes into force it will be one of the largest free-trade agreements in the world and will provide enhanced market access to key Asian markets. As soon as new trade opportunities with the UK and Europe and through the CPTPP are sorted work can begin to form new agreements. “We want that to happen quite quickly. “We are hopeful by the end of the year the first six countries will be in and NZ needs to be in that first six,” Petersen said. “When you go to countries overseas there is real concern about where the food will come from to feed their people. “When we talk about food security it is really about water and having enough to produce food. “We have opportunity and we can help feed their people. We need to be there to take that opportunity.”

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News

14 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Catching up with love mat FOUR men and four women from around the country have been named as the 2018 Fieldays Rural Catch finalists, vying for the coveted Golden Gumboot and an impressive prize pool. Fieldays Rural Catch, formerly known as the Rural Bachelor competition, has been a popular fixture on the Fieldays calendar for 13 years where eight talented rural competitors from around New Zealand and Australia have

had the chance to test their skills both on and off the farm to find the ultimate champion. Fieldays Rural Catch event manager Lynn Robinson is impressed with the applicants this year. “We had an encouraging number of entries from all over New Zealand and from various agri-sectors including dairy and sheep and beef drystock. “The calibre of entrants is

very high and it was challenging to narrow it down to just eight finalists. “The women are especially talented. I’m sure they’ll give the guys a run for their money,” Robinson said. Not only are the finalists a catch for any potential love interest but their rural skills and knowledge of agricultural business makes them a catch for any employer, business partner and the wider ag-industry.

and dog handling as well as challenges involving tractors and cooking – but with a twist. The popular fittest farmer challenge, introduced last year, testing finalists’ strength and fitness will feature again this year. The finalists’ financial skills will also be tested in a Nail Your Numbers challenge.

The all-expenses paid competition starts for the Rural Catch finalists on Sunday June 10 with the Farmlands Roadtrip, which gives the contestants the chance to get to know each other and try their hand at various challenges before the serious stuff begins on the first day of Fieldays, Wednesday June 13. This year the competition will feature traditional challenges such as fencing, quad bike skills

fieldays.co.nz/ruralcatch

The calibre of entrants is very high and it was challenging to narrow it down to just eight finalists. The women are especially talented. I’m sure they’ll give the guys a run for their money. DINNER: Ben Fisher is a DairyNZ farm manager in Ohaupo passionate about the rural sector and animal welfare and whose ideal date involves a nice dinner with good chat then home to watch a movie and relax.

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HONEST: Fiery redhead and former Gumboot Girl Eira Lloyd-Forrest of Geraldine is passionate about animal health and supporting the agricultural industry and is looking for an honest, caring and hard-working farming guy who can make her laugh.

Lynn Robinson Fieldays Rural Catch UP TO

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News

Decisions ch contestants made. For today.

FUN: Berny Hall is a dairy farmer from New Plymouth who isn’t afraid to put himself out there and have a bit of fun and is looking for someone loyal, passionate, supportive and encouraging.

farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

OUTGOING: Lilly Newton is a trainee helicopter pilot and drystock farmer from Urenui. Lilly is outgoing, loves a good yarn, is caring and thoughtful towards animals and passionate about women in male-dominated careers.

Feed budget

SPORTY: Mairi Whittle, a former rural bank manager, works as a shepherd on a sheep and beef farm east of Taihape. She would love to find someone funny and sporty who gets along with her friends and is loyal and respectful to share her amazing lifestyle with.

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PICNIC: Renae Flett of Palmerston North is a sole contract milker passionate about animal health and pasture management and whose ideal date would be something simple like a picnic overlooking a nice farm view.

HUMOUR: Dairy farm manager Sam Hughson from Hawera enjoys working with cows and machinery and seeing the land develop and is looking for someone with a good sense of humour willing to try new experiences, who has a positive mindset and appreciates the rural lifestyle.

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News

16 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

FOOD: Ground hemp seed hulls are used as a nutritional supplement.

LABOUR SAVING: Commercial hemp crops can be harevested mechanically.

Summit looks at $75b industry Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz NEW Zealand’s first industrial hemp summit aims to kick-start an industrial hemp economy projected to be a $75 billion global industry by 2025. Co-ordinated by the NZ Industrial Hemp Association the summit will look at iHemp business opportunities for NZ in food, fibre and medicine. Summit chairman Richard Barge said building on global interest in hemp businesses fuelled by changing legislation, the summit will explore the potential for NZ to be the best in the world at growing and using hemp for food, fibre and medicine. “NZ has a fantastic opportunity to create a brand new primary industry based on hemp and now is the time for an informed discussion,” Barge said. “IHemp is being recognised as a sustainable source of food, fibre and medicine and this creates opportunities for companies

LUCRATIVE: iHemp Summit chairman Richard Barge says the industry could be worth $75 billion a year.

to make it part of their future business plan and be part of what is projected by analysts to be a $75 billion global industry by 2025.” The iHemp Summit is open to companies, farmers, scientists, funders, community

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leaders, economic development representatives, regulators and others wanting to look at opportunities to collaboratively develop the NZ industrial hemp economy. Experts will share local and international knowledge on hemp, identify the local and export opportunities available to companies entering the industry, highlight the barriers to success and develop strategies and relationships that will help the industry overcome them. “Serious momentum is beginning to build globally in the iHemp industry as people become aware of the potential and Kiwi ingenuity has a lot to offer the emerging industry,” Barge said. “We have talented people that can create solutions and improvements for growing and processing our annual crop into a wide range of exportable products and technology in food, fibre and medicine. “To make the most of the opportunity we need to set the vision for our country’s industrial

hemp value chain and the summit can play an important role in this.” Ashburton-based Midlands Nutritional Oils director Andrew Davidson said demand for cold pressed hemp seed oil is being fuelled by interest in its beneficial health properties.

New Zealand has a fantastic opportunity to create a brand new primary industry based on hemp and now is the time for informed discussion. Richard Barge iHemp Summit “It’s rich in essential fatty acids such as Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, Omega 3) and Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and these are the sort of speciality products that

are also attracting the rapidly growing market of vegetarian and vegan consumers looking for new protein sources.” “There is enormous potential in hemp food products and the market is growing about 25% year on year. “Legislative changes that will allow other hemp seed based foods will open up new sources of income and markets for the crop, potentially tripling plantings in the next few years,” Davidson said. “New business opportunities are being created by legislative changes in areas such as hempseed law for food and the use of cannabis in medicine,” Deloitte partner Andrew Gibbs said. NZ food safety authorities are looking to follow Australia to allow hemp seed to be used in food by changing regulations under the Food Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Medicines Act. The law changes expected later this year will allow hemp seed to be sold as a food in NZ in addition to legislation allowing the local sale of hemp seed oil.

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farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Decisions made. For tomorrow.

Micro training to fix shearing Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz THE shearing industry is anxiously waiting to see what short-term training formula Primary ITO comes up with to replace programmes it has ended. There was widespread disappointment it ended the Te Ako shearing training programme without having a replacement plan, Wool Classers Association executive officer Bruce Abbott said. “They’ve thrown out something that might not have been working very well but it was working and there’s nothing else in place.” Primary ITO is now considering developing a suite of micro-credentials or bite-size learning to meet the challenges of an industry where seasonality, worker mobility and the lure of better paying jobs in Australia work against full-year or multi-year qualifications, chief executive Linda Sissons said. Primary ITO is waiting for Government decisions on the approval and funding of microcredential trials. That type of learning enables more flexible and faster recognition of knowledge, skills and experience in the workplace, Sissons said. “The enduring commitment of the industry leaders to credentialised training deserves an imaginative and flexible response by us as the standardsetting body.” The industry is very keen to see what is proposed, Abbott said.

ON HOLD: Primary ITO is waiting for Goverenment decisions on funding before testing microcredential training for shearing, its chief executive Linda Sissons says.

“Right now we’re not sure what track the industry’s on because we haven’t seen any detail. We’re disappointed the way things have gone so far.” Ahead of something definite from Primary ITO there is a lot of talk about the industry needing to get shearing training up and going on its own account. He has some sympathy for Primary ITO, saying it had to work within the Government’s funding constraints because the funding model doesn’t suit the way the industry works, with shearers moving from farm to farm on contract to different farmers each time. Abbott made the same point in his report to the wool classers’ annual meeting in Christchurch in early May, saying the fact is “our industry does not fit the mould that is set by Government and unless there is more input from the wool industry we can only see the problem recurring”. Classers need well-trained wool harvesting staff otherwise their own task of preparing wool for market becomes very difficult.

Of major concern is that official plans for training appear to cover strong wool but training programmes for the fine wool appear to have been put on hold indefinitely. There has been more progress in development of the Certificate in Wool Technology, through the Telford and Taratahi arrangements. About 30 people have enrolled for this year’s programme, which can lead to qualifications for wool classing, as well as careers in the wider sector, such was with merchants and brokers. An advisory group has been set up to assist Taratahi deliver its programme. Course tutor Laurie Boniface is one of the group, along with four members of the Taratahi team, Wool Industry Education Group facilitator Allan Frazer and four industry representatives, Jeremy Wear of SGS Wool Testing Services, Maureen Chaffey of Kells Wool, Scott McLeod from Segard Masurel and Wool Classers executive officer Abbott.

Predictive feed wedge • Predict pasture production and consumption • Slide to a future date or animate changes in pasture cover/growth over time HawkEye’s interactive feed wedge tool enables you to predict your future feed situation.

Action groups want more profit registered with another 40 being formed. Issues being addressed include farm transition and succession planning, business planning, feed planning and building resilience into dryland farming systems. The Action Network was developed after research identified the characteristics of top-performing farm businesses. It found farmers are well catered for with access to information and events but lack support to convert ideas and knowledge into action. “This came through the research as a missing component. “However when this support was in place, it resulted in confidence to tackle change in their farm business.”

Support to convert ideas into action and results was often lacking and farmers were often left scratching their heads about how to do it. They either didn’t understand or under-used valuable information available from rural professionals. Now the facilitators will ensure group members hold each other to account and make sure famers are implementing their promised business or management changes. Experts supporting the farmers cannot just supply information but must ensure action that meets financial goals. So far about 600 farms are involved. The target is 3000.

www.actionnetwork.co.nz

See more. Go to hawkeye.farm or call 0800 73 73 73

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FARMERS achieving higher farm profit are the focus of 16 action groups focusing on how to convert ideas and knowledge into action. The groups of seven to nine farmers were launched last year by the Red Meat Profit Partnership Action Network to identify common opportunities to lift farm profit and work out an action plan to meet the goal. Each farm gets $4000 for expert advice and trained facilitators. Unlike participating in a discussion group, the group must commit to an action plan to meet goals. After a year the farmers start paying the group’s costs. Project manager Brendon Patchett said 16 groups had plans and funding approved and more than 60 groups had

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News

18 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Performing as a co-op should Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com FONTERRA gets a pass mark from industry observers for its performance as a co-operativelyowned business. But they warn it cannot rest on its laurels given challenges connecting with 10,500 owners and plans for further investment in added-value and consumer products. Fonterra Shareholder’s Council chairman Duncan Coull said Fonterra has performed as a co-operative should. It is owned and democratically controlled by members, it serves its members, returns surpluses to members and strives to operate profitably. “Fonterra has performed but it is not perfect. But that is the reality of business.” Shareholders should celebrate Fonterra and New Zealand’s 148year co-operative ownership of the dairy sector, which outperforms dairy industries overseas. Fonterra members have safeguards such as an independently assessed milk price and separate governance and representation, protection not available to dairy farmers elsewhere. But Fonterra can do better and in two areas in particular, he said. The tough economic conditions of the last three to four years have eroded shareholder belief and purpose in Fonterra. “We need to re-establish purpose and vision in the industry and the co-operative so we stay relevant for current and future generations.” Coull said the connection between shareholders and the cooperative needs to be more than a blue sign with a supplier number at the gate but something that unites shareholders behind a clear purpose. It is what gets people out of bed in the morning, the legacy they want to leave and a sense of belonging. This connection needs to be attractive to future generations, a return to what the small, local co-

operatives had before they started merging. “It needs to be more than milk price and dividend,” he said. Addressing the sense of connection could also stem Fonterra’s milk supply leaking to competitors. Another issue to be addressed is the need for greater flexibility to help those entering and exiting the co-operative. A sustained period of growth has provided shareholders with the ability to financially leverage their businesses but created entry and exit issues for members. “You could say this is a challenge but I think it is an opportunity. The reason we have been around for 148 years is that we have always had challenges but we have had discussions and found solutions.”

Co-operatives do provide functions well beyond their financial performance of their members. Lisa Callagher Auckland University Finology pincipal Alex Duncan, who previously worked in corporate finance at Fonterra and implemented Trading Among Farmers, said the co-operative has performed well given the demands made of it. Fonterra is a much superior alternative to the option being considered of two competing cooperatives, he said. It has had to deal with growing and substantial milk flows while also being what he calls the grid operator for the industry, providing milk to competitors and accepting milk from any shareholder. That obliged the co-operative to fund and have processing capacity ready ahead of new milk arriving. Duncan said Fonterra members have benefited from intentional

Fonterra ? Pass ? Fail measures to be transparent. The establishment of TAF was in response to fears of large-scale share redemption but also to help establish a share price. Similarly, the 2008 launch of Global Dairy Trade was a transparent process to help determine a milk price. Both were successfully tested in the 2013 botulism scare and record prices for whole milk powder in 2014. “They were tested and I think survived that test.” Shareholders require a high payout to earnings ratio that helps maintain Fonterra’s financial and processing discipline, he said. That requirement includes any exceptional profits to be reflected in the high milk price. Duncan believes some Fonterra shareholders could start to question the extent and nature of owning shares in companies such as Soprole in Chile and China’s Beingmate. Auckland University business school senior lecturer Lisa Callagher, who has studied cooperatives, said Fonterra has performed financially, socially and environmentally. She believes it will have a much greater role environmentally but is already active helping members, such as meeting Water Accord expectations. “Co-operatives do provide functions well beyond their financial performance of their members.” Socially, Fonterra’s recent Richie McCaw television advertisements are an acknowledgement the cooperative is not connecting with members as well as it had done previously.

WAVELENGTH: Fonterra has performed well but needs to strengthen its connection with shareholders to re-establish purpose and vision, Shareholders’ Council chairman Duncan Coull says.

space or investing offshore. The challenge is getting consensus from 10,500 individual members who have diverse risk appetite for such investments. Co-operative Business NZ chief executive Craig Presland said Fonterra’s stock exchange listing of supplier investment shares is a successful way of raising capital while also retaining the criteria of being a co-operative.

The milk in schools programme is another example of it performing a socially responsible role. Financially, Fonterra has performed reasonably well given the international pressures on export dairy prices. Callagher said being a cooperative will not hinder Fonterra’s pursuit of growth, pushing more product in to the value-added

Flexibility gives Fonterra edge Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com FONTERRA has a silver lining in a cloudy forecast for a declining share of milk collections, former employee Alex Duncan says. First, Fonterra has an unmatched ability to produce the most profitable basket of dairy products from a bucket of milk. Historically, when processing volumes approached capacity Fonterra had to produce whatever it could, whether profitable or not. Second, the co-operative is no longer faced with huge extra investments in ingredients capacity simply to deal with

increasing peak milk production. That will free up Fonterra to invest retentions in complementary value-add processing. Duncan was a strategy and economics general manager at Fonterra. He was at the centre of market development for over a decade, initiating Global Dairy Trade and conceiving Trading Among Farmers. He is now a principal of Finology, a financial economics firm. “Co-operatives are like bicycles … they fall over when you stop pedalling,” Duncan said as he made the case for Fonterra continuing to lead development of global dairy markets.

Development will be not only in physical product markets but also related markets of financial contracts for dairy products. “Deeper physical and financial derivative markets will be of particular value for Fonterra given its unmatched product mix flexibility and likely significant ongoing price volatility.” In volatile markets having wider options in processing increases the value of the co-operative’s manufacturing assets compared with smaller processors that have less mix flexibility. Duncan noted the fall of Fonterra’s milk market share to 82% and forecast static milk flows need not therefore be an

impediment, particularly with its capacity expansion to more than 90 million litres a day at the peak. Fonterra’s regulatory context is now being examined by a Government review of the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act, to be done by the Primary Industries Ministry. In the 17th year of what was intended to be temporary regulation, it is even more apparent to Duncan the domestic dairy market has the dynamism to mature and take on a life of its own with much less reliance on regulation. New domestic milk processors are emerging and market participants other than milk

processors and domestic food producers are a strong influence. What he calls the Fonterra experiment has nurtured innovative development across the dairy sector while facilitating substantial growth in New Zealand dairy farming since 2001. “Due to the highly seasonal milk production this is not the natural place to convert every litre of milk into consumer products or specialty ingredients. “It is highly cyclical because milk flows when grass grows and the predominantly pasturebased system means that farmers typically incur among the

Continued next page

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lowest costs per unit of milk production globally.” Milk production in June 2017 was only 6% of that in October. “Such a supply profile isn’t a viable platform to build a consumer or specialty business that can profitably use every litre that arrives at the factory gate,” Duncan said. “Besides, as noted in the recent report by TDB, billions of dollars would have been required to build a consumer and specialty ingredients business to absorb all milk supplied by farmers. “This would have been high risk and difficult to finance.” Duncan considers many farmers regard Fonterra as an extension of their farms, with the co-operative expected to collect and process milk as volumes grow. Not having sufficient capacity to process milk simply isn’t acceptable. The vibrant farmgate market environment puts the onus on those wanting to make the case for continued farmgate regulation, he said. “What is the purpose of the open entry and exit obligations on Fonterra now that farmers in most areas have choices of processor?”

Setting a single, annual milk price may not be optimal given continuing volatility in commodity prices. Alex Duncan Finology

Decisions made. More informed.

UNFAIR: Dairy regulations should not impose a cost on Fonterra alone when competition has intensified and barriers to entry appear to be low, Finology consultant Alex Duncan says.

review is a revamp of onfarm environmental and other obligations. “While that may be appropriate, any new obligations should be neutral across all suppliers, not just those who supply Fonterra.” The competitive market for milk here and in offshore markets will require Fonterra to be more nimble. Farmers can already supply Fonterra on contract without being shareholders. But if and when they buy shares, should they be compelled to invest in offshore businesses, particularly if they don’t have a strong synergy with NZ operations? “Fonterra’s market share of just over 80% suggests that a substantial proportion of farmers consider they don’t need exposure to downstream investments to operate a profitable farming business at prevailing farmgate milk prices.” Since 2012 Fonterra has typically distributed about 80% of earnings as dividends. “Distributions of this magnitude imply that Fonterra is perceived by its shareholders to be more akin to a cashgenerating infrastructure asset than a downstream growthoriented entity.” Duncan also notes potential merit in introducing more flexibility in how the milk price is structured. “Setting a single, annual milk price may not be optimal given continuing volatility in commodity prices.

“For example, an annual milk price may induce farmers to increase or reduce production late in a season, contrary to prevailing market signals. “Fonterra already pays less for milk at peak production than shoulder milk. “It also pays premiums to induce higher seasonal production in certain areas to support value-added production or for differing milk attributes such as organic. “But explicitly setting more than one milk price within a season is likely to convey better signals and increase long-term returns. “Regardless of what I or anyone else suggests, in a well-regulated and increasingly competitive market for milk Fonterra’s shareholders and board should be left to refine the co-operative’s operations and strategy.” The temptation for politicians or outsiders to use DIRA or regulation to displace the role of shareholder-owners should be firmly resisted, he said.

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He thinks Fonterra’s obligation to take all milk has been an aggravation in a small number of cases rather than a major impediment. “Fonterra would largely have evolved the way it did regardless of the DIRA obligations to serve the needs of its farmershareholders as they expanded their milk production. The co-operative will continue to compete strongly for milk, as it should. “But why risk imposing a cost on Fonterra alone when competition has intensified and barriers to entry appear to be low?” Duncan notes a possible outcome of the regulatory

farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

CONNECTED: Finology consultant Alex Duncan says famers regard Fonterra as an extension of their farms.

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Decisions Orchard plot points made. to new prospects Made smarter.

farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Tim Fulton tim.fulton@nzx.com

NGAI Tahu Farming is dabbling with horticulture in North Canterbury’s Amuri Basin. The iwi-run livestock and forestry business has planted apples, blueberries and a smattering of stonefruit and nut trees on a 2.5ha trial orchard near Culverden. Most of the orchard is in four apple varieties supplied by Turners and Growers. If the test plot turns commercial Ngai Tahu Farming could become a fairly significant employer in the region, commercial development manager Ben Giesen said. “All those things are big positives for us.” The district has converted strongly to irrigated dairy farming on the basin flat in the past 20 years. The shift from sheep and beef has brought jobs, wealth and new families but horticulture would be a different jolt again. A Plant and Food Research study of alternative land use found the area’s soils and temperature extremes suit most types of horticulture except viticulture. Giesen said there is enough to do on the orchard already without grapes. Whatever the theory, there is nothing like putting the trees in the ground and giving them every chance to grow as they should, he said. “We had a big block of land up here so what else do we do apart from dairy and beef farming. “They came up with a few ideas and one of those ideas really just confirmed what we were already doing, which was to plant a trial block and see how we get on.” Hot summers and frosty winters work for Central Otago so it is worth trying. “Long, hot, fine days, low rainfall, soil types right. The only thing up here that’s not as good as other areas (like Central

HARD AT IT: Work proceeds on Ngai Tahu’s horticulture block.

Otago) is the growing degree days. The data that we’ve got shows we’re at the lower end, which is going to mean the fruit isn’t going to grow to the size they do in other regions.” A handful of farmers around Culverden had a couple of hectares of non-commercial orchard and were keen to see how Ngai Tahu went on a similar scale, Giesen said. “When we got talking to a few of them they said some years it went really well and other years they got nothing. One of the catalysts for that seemed to be the frost.” One of the hobby orchardists had several apple varieties, stonefruit and nuts. “That mirrors what we are looking to do a little bit as well.” The investment didn’t come cheap. “With the trial block there’s obviously sunk costs there,

you’re putting your irrigation in, the pumping systems and stuff like that. There are all kind of one-offs that you’d normally put in for a block that’s four or five times the size.” Ngai Tahu Farming has applied to the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment for a grant to closely monitor the orchard’s performance. After two years it will probably be clear whether commercial growing is a goer. “We’re pretty confident they’re going to grow because they already are in the region. It’s how well do they grow and what do they yield.” The orchard design replicates wood and steel trellis systems in Nelson and there will be the usual drip-feed irrigation and frost protection systems. “It’s all been tailored to what we’ve seen out there and what we think is best practice.”

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COMVITA has pulled out of talks with an unnamed third party looking to take over the NZX-listed manuka honey company because it couldn’t reach a deal on price. The stock fell 7.1%. Last month Comvita said the third party was doing due diligence to assess the potential acquisition of all or substantially all the shares in Comvita and would update the market in mid-May. According to Comvita the deal “could have been very positive for the company and NZ Inc in driving the

Comvita brand forward into new markets and new sales channels”. However, in negotiations “we could not bridge the considerable distance between us on price and therefore Comvita directors unanimously agreed to withdraw from the process”. As a result discussions between Comvita and the third party have now ended with no agreement. “The due diligence process and further consideration of any proposal to acquire Comvita is now at an end.”

The stock fell 48 cents to $6.29 on the news and is now down 19% so far this year. Comvita’s flagship manuka honey business can be volatile as weather conditions affect honey production. Last month it said after-tax operating earnings for the year ending June 30 are expected to be $8 million to $11m, down from an earlier forecast for earnings of more than $17.1m as adverse weather in the second half of the 2018 honey season hurt its honey harvest. – BusinessDesk

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Comvita pulls out of sale deal

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THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Farmers must prompt solutions THE staunch man-alone approach to innovating for farm and market solutions is redundant and agriculture needs to hold hands with a broader community of disciplines and personalities if it is to keep up with the quickening pace of global change, Nuffield scholar Mat Hocken says. He spent a year examining how farmers in the United States and Europe have responded to greater consumer-driven demands and a need for more inclusive solutions and brought home some recommendations, which he is starting to put into practice himself. In exploring how innovation can deal with farming’s wicked problems of producing more food for more people off less land with a smaller environmental footprint Hocken said the traditional No 8 wire approach is now as unsuitable as more institutionalised, long-run research and development. It’s a problem manifesting in continued low productivity growth inside the farm gate, particularly in the dairy sector, and the erosion of the sector’s right to farm, its social licence facing more scrutiny than ever. The reliance on research that drives more protein from pastures and genetics has been outstanding but harder to maintain as a topdown innovation model because of the speed of technology advancement and the pull of consumer demands for transparency and sustainability. “The lone researcher, institution or company is now at greater risk of missing the next big thing that could be an opportunity or could be a disruptive threat. “Over time what we see is people, and consumers particularly, have been left out of the equation when it comes to innovation and planting that innovation in a social context

is not something we have really done and that is just as we have about 80-plus percent of the population now urbanised and further than ever from those on the land.” Hocken, a dairy farmer, found growers and farmers are missing from the innovation process as much as consumers and there is a need to collide ideas across disciplines rather than leaving them to ferment in a single silo of interest if they are to ultimately see the light of day as practical solutions. “I think what we have now is a good strategy for New Zealand agriculture. “It’s becoming clearer, the direction is good but the bit missing is how we can create the platform for groups to innovate, to get past that first creative frontier to the next practical frontier.” While innovation centres dot university campuses and the outskirts of most major centres in NZ he maintains farmers and growers are still the key component missing from most and having them at the front of the problems these centres are addressing will help speed up the process with shorter runs between conception and usable solution. Hocken visited a number of innovation groups. In Holland he visited a university group employing a process called reflexive interactive design, recognising sustainable farm systems require not only technical innovation but also social buy-in capturing all groups engaged with farming. Putting farmers at the start of the process means farmers are requested to submit even the most absurd looking ideas for solving problems and should be prepared to undergo a grilling on how and why they are offering the solutions. An example is taking farmers to a zoo to observe how a zoo deals with challenges of effluent, animal welfare and public perception.

EXAMPLE: Nuffield scholar Mat Hocken, with wife Jana, is already putting into practics the ideas he developed from his studies.

The onus is on farmers as much as institutions to come to the party. Mat Hocken Nuffield scholar “A key part of the process is to connect producers with consumers and understanding what consumers want.” He agrees the investment in sending NZ farmers, so disconnected by distance and sometimes product type, to supermarkets abroad could be one type of investment worth making for the same reasons.

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29, 2017

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Cond.

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grants was removed and instead a Dragon’s Den style application process was developed, becoming far more accessible to millennial innovators and entrepreneurs. In trying to walk the talk Hocken has helped establish a collaborative innovation network in Manawatu. Comprising like-minded farmers hungry for change and innovation, the group includes SPROUT agri-tech staff, Massey University researchers, Microsoft and staff from the regional development group, all examining five different wicked problems including water quality and emissions. “The idea has been bubbling away for three years or so but there has been some push-pull from the Nuffield work for doing this.

And the onus is on farmers as much as institutions to come to the party. “We are not encumbered by subsidies and support so, as a group, we do have farmers that are very innovative and entrepreneurial so farmers need to step up too. They have to be open to trials, to having new, innovative approaches and be prepared that someone is likely to want to collect a whole lot of data on them and the process. Then they let that happen.” Hocken’s recommendations for fostering a more innovative ecosystem in NZ seek a more spontaneous, informal and inclusive approach. He cites a European Union example where the phone-book sized application for innovation

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Developing friendships and spending time with your mates makes a big difference to how you feel. Even in a busy life, you should try and make it a priority. When you do, the rewards are huge. Having a good circle of friends has lots of benefits including reducing stress and even lowering your risk of heart disease. Of course, friends also provide you with happiness and can help you perform better in life and business too.

Taking notice of the small things in life that make you happy makes a big difference. We all get busy and our minds get cluttered with all kinds of stuff. Paying attention to the world around you, even for a few moments, can help you feel calm and relaxed. Each day take a few moments to stop and think about what’s most important to you, and what you have that you really appreciate.

When you give to oth they benefit, but it m

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Farming, like professional rugby, is a job with plenty of challenges and rewards. There’s always u you will have some to draw on when you are under pressure. It will also make you healthier and things in common. I call them the Big 5 and they’ve made a huge difference to my life and wellb

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As a professional sportsman, learning keeps me fresh and creative. Farming is the same. Being curious and learning about all sorts of things on or off the farm will help you farm smarter. At whatever age, setting goals to learn new skills is good for your brain and keeps your thinking flexible and open.

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ups-and-downs. That’s why you’ve got to look after yourself. Investing in your wellbeing means d more productive on the farm. International research found that people who thrive had five being. The key is to lock them in as small but regular improvements so they become a habit.

Newsmaker

24 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Muddy boots man gets reward Geoff Yule has been dabbling in deer for close to 40 years. Described by his colleagues as the unsung hero in their industry – deserved recognition has totally taken him by surprise. Annette Scott spoke to him.

OR the past 40 years Geoff Yule has quietly gone about his business following his passion for deer, first as a farmer then as a transporter. Behind the scenes he can tell many a tale but the tail turned on the muddy boots at the New Zealand Deer Industry annual conference in Timaru where he was named the Matuschka Award winner for 2018. It is presented to someone who has made a significant ongoing or lifetime contribution to deer farming and the Deer Farmers’ Association. The award recognises the grassroots farmer and unsung contributor to local activities, functions and the core spirit of deer farming. The judges said Yule fit every criteria of the award – typically unheralded, never seeking recognition, consistently supporting branch activities and targeting fellow deer farmers’ enjoyment, comradeship and value in being involved in local and regional activity. “When I first thought about the award and why we should have it this is just the sort of bloke that we were seeking to recognise,” judge Murray Matuschka said. When nominator Tony Gray phoned to break the news of his win, Yule was totally surprised. His response? “I don’t deserve it.” Gray said “He’s truly deserved, a muddy-boots man who always just got on and did what he did, never one for the limelight – I can only wish you luck getting a story out of him.”

NOT UNNOTICED: For nearly 40 years Geoff Yule has quietly gone about his business as a deer farmer and transporter and now his efforts have been recognised. Photo: Aaron Davies

You were always suspicious when you arrived at a cockie’s yards and there was one stag in each pen and not a person in sight.

That was challenge enough, persistence paid off and despite Yule being as modest as they come he did open up with a few hearty tales. Initially a deer farmer Yule got off the farm when the going got tough after the 80s. Not sure what he would do his deer agent and close friend made a suggestion. “He suggested perhaps I could

Pay $115,000

buy a truck and cart some deer for him. “So I did buy a truck and 27 years later I had carted more deer than just for him, I carted deer all over the North Island.” The beginning of Geoff Yule Transport was a trailer with a crate in 1990. “Of course, a truck to tow it before the truck and crate came along.” Based in Manawatu with no processing plant in Feilding in those days Yule would cart to Rotorua, then it was Hastings when a plant opened there and eventually to Feilding. “I still had interest in some deer and a few of us were talked into becoming shareholders (of the new Feilding plant). At first we were paid cash rebates then they gave us shares.

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“Then it went broke so I toddled on with the trucks.” Over the years Yule’s business grew in line with the industry. “I got to four trucks but just one permanent driver. Drivers were hard to get for the deer so the rest were casual. “I’d round up some deer farmers and when one couldn’t drive I’d just ring another, if he couldn’t do it I’d just keep ringing until I got one.” Yule lent his trucks to farmers at times and they repaid him by driving for him when he was caught short. “It was like that back in the day. We did favours for each other.” Yule has a reputation for always doing his best to accommodate farmers and agents – he knows the region and its farmers inside out. Sometimes farmers found it easier to get information from him than from their agents about when and where their deer were going to slaughter. He carted hinds and stags all over the North Island and even the odd trophy stag to Marlborough. “But my trucks never went further than Marlborough.” And it wasn’t all smooth trucking. “We had some bloody dramas I can tell you. “When the industry perked up everyone wanted to try a few deer. “They were always put at the back of the farm, the yards would be at the back of the farm too and usually there wasn’t a real track. “We would get stuck many a time and the tractor would have to come to pull us out.” And the loading ramps were doozies. “We had a lot of makeshift (ramps made) from anything possible – many were just hay

bales and it’s not that long ago that the last of those went.” Health and Safety has smartened up farm practice in more recent times. “Even so, over all my years with the deer I have had only three lots of stiches and they were all from hinds. You do tend to take the hinds a bit more casually.” The stags were treated with more caution. “You were always suspicious when you arrived at a cockie’s yards and there was one stag in each pen and not a person in sight. “You knew what a fiasco that was going to be.” There was many a job that cost Yule more in time and money to pick the stock up than he made in carting them. At the peak of his business in the late 90s Yule carted 40,000 head of deer one year but from then there had been a gradual industry decline, last year he carted 28,000. “It’s a good industry. It’s been all over the place but it’s survived. “It’s on a high now and God knows where it will go from here but if they have got the markets and don’t get overpriced it will always be a survivor.” Yule sold his business because of ill health last November to South Canterbury-based Downlands Deer. “So what now? I’ll go out and scratch in the garden then light the fire and put my feet up.” A keen supporter, firstly of the Manawatu branch of the DFA and latterly the Central Regions branch, Yule sponsored velvet competitions and provided the wine for the Christmas and midwinter functions. He will be officially acknowledged for the award by the branch at a function on July 20.

New thinking

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Cannabis firm has high hopes Of all the recreational drugs available marijuana is one of the most prolific in terms of its descriptors – wacky baccy, electric puha and dope to name a few, with Wikipedia crediting more than 1000 terms to one of the planet’s most popular drugs. But an Auckland company is intent on taking marijuana from the illegal to the legitimate as a drug of choice, not for recreation, but for medicinal use. Richard Rennie spoke to Paul Manning, one of the men behind the move.

HE likelihood of marijuana becoming a crop that can legitimately be grown in New Zealand has improved after the passing of the first reading earlier this year of the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Act. With that comes the chance for NZ to be a world leader in the development of plants, their intellectual property and treatments, creating a pharmaceutical industry that is experiencing rapid growth globally. Ex advertising mogul Paul Manning is one of four entrepreneurs leading the charge in what he describes as the riskiest start-up to be in, establishing Helius, a pharmaceutical company producing products based on marijuana extracts.

We are looking at a start-up business in a start-up industry currently working as a black market. Paul Manning Helius

“We are looking at a start-up business in a start-up industry currently working as a black market so it could really be described as the ultimate entrepreneurial challenge and all a bit wild west. “There is little experience in NZ in this industry, except for around hemp production, and only some academic work has been done and even the law itself is still an unknown. We believe it will become legalised for medicinal uses but the question is when will that happen?” But Manning is no fool. Having established, at the tender age of 22, a full-service ad agency, Metro Media, he went on to build it into the country’s largest privately owned agency worth about $15 million at its peak, which he ultimately sold. As an ad man he admits he is conscious for the pharmaceutical marijuana industry to succeed in NZ it needs something of a rebrand.

Repositioning the crop as a valued, horticulturally grown input for a burgeoning therapeutic market dispelling the wacky-baccy sniggers is vital to attract the skill sets spanning horticulture, pharmaceuticals, marketing and science the industry will demand. Despite being a marketing whiz Manning has come up to speed quickly with the components and science that make marijuana a legitimate drug component, equalling and even exceeding other grown crops like poppies for its effectiveness in certain treatments. “And when we consider the opioid sector, with 63,000 people a year dying in the United States from addiction, and its effects starting to be felt here, it makes you question why it is that cannabis is so stigmitised compared to opioids.” As a treatment cannabis is difficult to overdose on and while having addictive characteristics it sits lower on that scale than society’s other addictive options. “In a population you will get 8-9% of people addicted to cannabis, that rises to 14-16% for alcohol and 30% for tobacco so cannabis sits low on the scale.” As a pharmaceutical ingredient cannabis contains two main therapeutic compounds, THC and CBD, which, when mixed in varying ratios, are effective for epilepsy treatment, burns, pain management, arthritis and sleeplessness. “There is what is known as the entourage effect where the combination of the parts can be greater in therapeutic effect than each individual component.” There is also a strong interest by Helius’ founders around horticulture and growing productive crops. Manning grew up on the outskirts of Auckland around market gardens and his father Mike Manning is one of the Plant and Food research team recently awarded $500,000 for their work on Psa diagnosis and testing. “Dad has just retired so he is proving a valuable source of information when it comes to growing processes.”

ADDING VALUE: Former ad man Paul Manning wants to lead New Zealand into the world of medicinal cannabis.

With 15,000 strains of cannabis in existence globally, Helius aims to start up growing 12 strains hydroponically once the legal green light is given. The selected strains are to be sourced from Helius’ US partner that has so far established six medicinal marijuana growing facilities and the company already has a portfolio of products with brand names and packaging all set to go. Funding such an excercise is not for the faint-hearted but the venture has managed to raise $15 million in only four months. A significant portion has come from low profile local rich-listers keen to be involved in an industry they view as ultimately about improving people’s quality of life. “We have proven we have the ability to sell a high-grade

therapeutic cannabis based product at almost one fifth the cost of the equivalent product brought in from the United Kingdom and about the same price as what people may buy illegally here on the black market, of unknown origins.” The value of the market in NZ is estimated at over $1 billion, based on Department of Health estimates that 250,000 people a year access medicinal cannabis. But beyond NZ is where the serious money lies with estimates the market will ultimately be worth $200b, more than double today’s value. Production will initially come from a 6500 square metres facility in Auckland, under 24-hour, three-man security guard with state of the art security and hydroponic growing capacity

geared around the 10-week growing cycle cannabis requires. The facility will start with Good Manufacturing Practice certification, the Rolls Royce ticket for manufacturing standards, sitting even higher than Food Grade standard. Manning expects the site to employ about 60 people and is excited about the opportunities the business opens up for young horticulturalists who want to work in a cutting-edge industry, turning their growing skills to a crop previously shoved to remote forests and farm corners. “This is an opportunity for people who may have shown their skills growing tomatoes or capsicums hydroponically and for people out of university, all who want to be part of an exciting sunrise industry that NZ has the skills to lead the world in.”

Opinion

26 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

EDITORIAL

Fonterra fails fund investors

HE long-suffering Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund unit investors, of which I am one, received another blow from the company last week. Trading Among Farmers might have been a technical success, achieving most of the structural intentions, but the relationship of the company with the equities market has not been great. The substantial earnings and dividend guidance downgrade confirmed investors’ fears that Fonterra can pay a high milk price or a good dividend, both not both in the same year. In six years of TAF there have been three low dividends and three only adequate ones. It is, after all, a farmers’ co-operative and the Milk Price Model runs on high octane, made from milk fat this year, leaving little for the poor unit investors. If the company were to throttle back on the mixture or make sure its value-add strategy delivered more power, both farmershareholders and investors would benefit. Low yields on the considerable capital that farmers have invested in supply shares incentivise flight from the co-op and constrain capital-raising. In the New Zealand operating environment of nil to low milk supply growth and successful competitors paying similar milk prices without the need for share capital Fonterra farmers are tempted to leave. They had better hope the Fund is sufficiently liquid to pay them out. Fonterra is exposed to a downwards spiral that only farmers themselves can arrest, Shareholders’ Council chairman Duncan Coull recently warned. In this context the men from the Ministry for Primary Industries will examine the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act. Best they find ways to take the brakes off Fonterra and encourage the mighty machine to go faster. We all want the dairy industry to do well because sustainably high milk prices flow right through the regional and national economies. FSF investors believed they would get a good return from backing NZ’s largest industry in which we have world-leading influence and expertise. That has not been the outcome so far. Hugh Stringleman

LETTERS

M bovis not hard to deal with once or twice a week. That went on for three months and from then on we would see the odd flare up around any period fo stress, eg calving time. The ongoing cost to the business was no worse than Johnes disease and theileria are to our industry. It is simply another cost of doing business. Our better farmers will not find it difficult to deal with at all. It is actually yet another timely reminder of the importance of focusing on our in-calf rates so we can replace stock from within our own systems in the most economic way. Keep calm and carry on.

WINSTON Churchill once said “Fear is a reaction, courage is a decision.” Our farmers need not fear Mycoplasma bovis. We dealt with M bovis in a large corporate business of about 5000 cows over eight farms in Australia for three years. While it is a frustrating and difficult disease to deal with, it is a far far cry from the end of the world it is being portrayed to be. Once we learned to recognise the signs we were able to cull our way out of it incredibly quickly. Cows with clinical signs, mostly very swollen joints, were drafted out and culled

Grant Hall Cambridge

Toxic farmers I WAS delighted to read C Walker’s letter, Landfills avoid same scrutiny as farms, in your May 14 edition. We’re on 38 hectares and one of the first things we had to do 28 years ago was gather all the farm-related rubbish off the stream banks after the regular flooding. Then we discovered that farms have landfills, which are not scrutinised by any authority, an as-of-right activity I presume. Then we are told by the pig hunters that all the farms have their own tips, there for all the rubbish including plastic drench and oil containers. With the city folk moving north and more properties being subdivided and sold one wonders how long it will

be before a family finds toxic leachate oozing out of the land into their garden? We recycle practically everything with very little going to the recycle centre for the landfill and I guess all those who dump their crap into the land and onto the sides of the roads have no respect whatsoever for the future of the environment or their offspring. To some folk the land is sacred and they don’t dump in their own nest. If certified organic properties can run to a set of standards it is time for conventional farm management to take the leaching problem into consideration. Kristen Khaine Kaitaia

Letterof theWeek EDITOR Bryan Gibson bryan.gibson@nzx.com EDITORIAL Stephen Bell editorial@nzx.com Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com Nigel Stirling nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com

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Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

M bovis farmers are on their own Kerry and Rosie Dwyer

EAR Steve, I read your article published in the Farmers Weekly with some interest and feel it needs some comment. The article illustrates a few issues that have been apparent in this Mycoplasma bovis disease response from July last year. It has been and is a difficult time for those farmers who have had the disease confirmed on their farms. It has been equally difficult for a larger number of farmers who have not had the disease but have been caught up with it as trace properties. To date there are almost 3000 of them as against maybe 50 with the disease. Those trace properties have all spent time having animals tested and dealing with the uncertainties of the Primary Industries Ministry. The disease itself has not shown symptoms except on fewer than 10 farms so the problem for most concerned has been MPI rather than the disease itself. When we relate this to others the general response is disbelief – surely MPI cannot be that bad? Ask those who have dealt with EQC for the past seven years and it is easier to believe. Industry bodies have all given good publicity to the theory they have been working with and supporting affected farmers. That might be true in some cases but certainly was not as true in 2017 as in 2018. Support has been slow coming and still non-existent for a lot of farmers. MPI has also given good publicity to how it is helping farmers get back on their feet. Again, untrue in most cases. As regards sheep being infected with M bovis, the disease came to our farm in March 2017, in calves that were subsequently mixed with sheep for six months with shared yards, paddocks, water troughs and farm machinery movements. There were some very wet periods in that time, which was

The

Pulpit

ideal for bacterial type diseases. We had 400 calves killed in September 2017 and were told they had 80% infection with M bovis though none showed any symptoms of the disease. Our sheep were tested in September and October in two rounds of testing with blood tests, nasal swabs, milk samples and pizzle swabs being taken. No tests showed M bovis in the sheep. Subsequently, we took some rams to the Canterbury A&P Show in mid November with full clearance from MPI.

MPI has been very meagre on passing real and useful information to farmers.

And then we sold almost 100 rams to a large number of farms in early 2018. MPI did not require any tracing of those animals or any other restrictions. At that time we were still under a Notice of Direction, having been a Restricted Place until 60 days after the cattle left. There have been other infected properties where sheep might have been exposed to M bovis. As far as I am aware no other sheep have been proven to be

ALONE: Suppord for M bovis farmers has been slow or non-existant, Oamaru farmers Rosie and Kerry Dwyer say.

infected and maybe not even tested for the disease. All the information I have been able to find from other countries says the disease either does not infect sheep or it dies in them, ie they momentarily show infection before the organism dies in their system. Nowhere in New Zealand have transmission of this disease occurred through movement on dirt, dung, machinery, trucks or people. It might be possible that dirt of sheep’s hooves might move the organism but by comparison MPI protocols say similar transmission on dogs’ feet is not possible. This is evidenced on all farms under MPI restrictions. MPI might or might not have passed the information gathered from our sheep to AsureQuality or any other organisations. It has been interesting that we did not have a debrief with MPI as to the behaviour or epidemiology of the disease and as far as I am aware they have not done so with other affected farmers.

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When we ask for test results we have generally hit a brick wall. As regards your not taking calves from a possibly infected source – I suggest you did the right thing for the wrong reasons. The disease itself is not going to be crippling to your business. Being placed under a Notice of Direction, or worse a Restricted Place Notice will hurt your business. The question is to what degree? Also, the farming community has displayed a general attitude of feeling sorry for the affected farmers while really saying “thank God its not me”. The reality for the affected farmers is that we are on our own. Having business stopped is our reality until MPI gets on top of this disease or pulls out and lets the industry come to grips with it. Both options will take some time and there is going to be more uncertainty and disruption until farmers get their heads around a few issues. Not buying or reneging on deals might help safeguard your

business but knocks the shitter out of some one else’s. MPI has been very meagre on passing real and useful information to farmers. I think this is because it started the response with the idea it was totally its problem and it would fix it. As time has gone on the secret squirrel mentality has been shown to have a lot of flaws when it comes to longer-term cooperation or collaboration with the farming industry. MPI staff are well trained in minimising any potential liability to their organisation. However, that, along with being PC, ends up negating much potential usefulness to the community they are meant to serve.

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

Opinion

28 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Hard questions will help Fonterra Alternative View

Alan Emerson

IT WAS interesting to note the demise of Australian dairy mega co-operative Murray Goulburn passed with hardly a whimper here in New Zealand. That surprised me because the rise and fall of MG contains some salutary lessons for the NZ dairy industry. MG is a co-operative no more having been bought earlier this month by Canadian corporate dairy giant Saputo. Fonterra had made an offer for MG to form a super co-operative and to retain the co-operative ethos but that was rejected in favour of an offshore corporate bid. Suppliers had obviously had a gutsful of co-operatives. MG co-operative was formed in 1950 by “passionate dairy farmers seeking a better deal for their milk”. Dozens of small factories laterr joined the co-operative. Its original headquarters was in the heart of the Victorian dairy industry at Cobram, on the Murray River 262km north of Melbourne. The head office is now in the plush South Bank in the goldplated heart of Melbourne. MG had more than 2500 shareholder suppliers, revenue of A$2.4 billion and has more than 2000 employees processing over

35% of Australia’s milk. In 2007 MG China was formed. It produces a range of infant nutrition projects. It wasn’t a successful venture. In 2015 in an effort to raise capital MG unit trusts were listed on the ASX. That funded some expansion including the acquisition of Caboolture Cheese and Tasmanian Dairy Products. Considering the reasons for the MG capital structure is interesting. Suppliers were assured they’d retain 100% farmer control. Debt funding would be reduced and suppliers would be guaranteed a market price for their shares. It would strengthen farmer balance sheets and fund the co-ops growth strategy. Finally it would ensure MG would remain competitive, both nationally and internationally. At the time of the capital restructure former MG chairman Ian MacAuley said “We are stealing from the graves of our founding fathers and the cribs of our children.” He was to be proved correct. Comparing the MG unit trust outline with Fonterra’s Trading Among Farmers summary sheet was interesting. It reinforced farmers’ 100% control and ownership of the coop, more so than today. It removed the redemption risk under DIRA and locked in the farmgate milk price as a robust and transparent process. It lets farmers share up when cashflow is strong and redeem when times are tough. Finally, TAF provided a solution to Fonterra’s capital structure needs for the foreseeable future. As the Fonterra chairman John Wilson said at the time “It reduces

Fonterra ? Pass ? Fail the redemption risk once and for all.” What it did was to shift it off the Fonterra balance sheet and on to that of the shareholders. There was one major difference in that MG guaranteed investors it would link the dividend yield to the milk price. That created several major problems with the primary issue being if the price of milk goes up the profit goes down. Margins are squeezed when the milk price rises. In addition MG’s senior executives were paid short-term incentives to keep the milk price high. That proved unsustainable and burdened the trust with high debts. Murray Gouldburn came to grief in April 2016 when it admitted it had overpaid farmers and wanted its money back, all A$200m of it. The drop in price from $A6 to $A5 meant the payout was less than the cost of production. Soon after that Fonterra slashed its price to its Australian producers and was accused of sheer opportunism. Farmers culled herds and left the dairy industry. Others lost their farms. In the 2015-16 year MG collected 3.5 billion litres of milk. Two years later that dropped to

SOFT: Murray Goulburn didn’t have a shareholders council to ask the hard questions but neither has Fonterra, Alan Emerson argues.

just over half at 1.9 billion. The less milk MG collected the less profit it made. This meant it became impossible to pay a high milk price and remain competitive. So MG had gone from being a strong co-operative to a basket case. It went onto the market with the preferred bidder being Saputo. Ninety six per cent of shareholders in MG agreed to sell to the Canadian owned corporate for A$1.3b. One farmer described it as sad but the best outcome. Australian mates describe the demise of MG as a self-inflicted wound. The board and management had become arrogant and removed from grassroots farmers. When governance and management fails the cooperative will invariably follow. MG didn’t have a shareholders

council to ask the hard questions but I’d argue neither has Fonterra. As one described it: “Poor governance, bad decisions and the milk walked.” I believe there are several lessons for NZ from the MG demise. The first is that co-operatives aren’t sacrosanct. Things can go wrong. Board and management need to keep their feet on the ground and the farmer shareholders on side. Co-operatives have to be wary of increasing debt. Finally, if Fonterra shareholders want their co-operative to grow and prosper they need to become more involved and be prepared to ask the hard questions.

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

It’s just one road trip after another From the Lip

Jamie Mackay

THE countdown to the 50th Fieldays from June 13-16 at Mystery Creek is well and truly on. I know this because I’ve been roped in to ride shotgun for the hired gun Doug Avery, affectionately known as the Resilient Farmer, for the four weekends leading into Fieldays. The idea is we travel around the country to connect with locals who have a real connection with Fieldays. By the time you read this our roadshow will have taken us to the Winton War Memorial Hall in heartland Southland and to the Newbury Hall just north of Palmerston North. Over Queens Birthday weekend we’re at Kerikeri in the beautiful Bay of Islands then we wrap it at the kiwifruit

capital of Te Puke on June 9 before I fly back to Palmerston North to join The Country’s roadie to Mystery Creek. We’re hoping, along the way, to call in to two leading stud breeding operations, the Whitelock and Barrett farms. Winton was chosen for the first stop because it’s near the home of former Otorohonga cow cocky Bill Johnston who holds the distinction of having been to all 49 Fieldays so far. When he first turned up to the Te Rapa racecourse in 1969, Fieldays was known as the Town and Country Fair and was held in summer. Palmy North was picked because nearby Feilding is the home of young dairy farming couple Mike and Ryley Short. Mike entered the 2009 Fieldays Rural Bachelor competition on a whim and duly took home the title. But it was a year later, when he returned to judge the competition, that he took home the big prize, his future wife Ryley who was working as an events co-ordinator for the VIP Centre at Mystery Creek. The next month for me is going to be hectic after a couple of really tough weeks. But Avery’s a top bloke. He loves a beer and a good

yarn and it’s a pleasure to go on the road with him. He’s doing God’s work around mental health and told us in Winton “there’s only one bugger I haven’t been able to help” and that’s because he was suffering from dementia and couldn’t take the message in. Doug’s message is very much to share your problems and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Burying your head in the sand and simply working harder is not the answer. I wish my great boyhood friend John had spoken to Doug. I spoke at his funeral recently. I want to leave you with an edited excerpt from my eulogy: Fast forward to the turn of the millennium and a wonderful tradition was about to unfold. The boys from that primary school class of 1972 had grown up, gone their separate ways but stayed mates and kept in touch. Fate and good fortune saw them regroup some 30 years later to go duck shooting on the old Mackay home farm pond. This annual ritual and bonding session was where I spent most of my quality John time. Early on John decided he was going to be the flamboyant star of duck

shooting. This was achieved by turning up at the Riversdale pub on duck shooting eve wearing progressively more garish, outrageous, dare-I-say camp outfits. I once described him as looking like a cross between Rambo and Liberace and was recently reminded of another occasion when I suggested he was like Princes Charles about to go out for a quail shoot. But what he wore was not the only highlight of duck shooting. A close second was the fine fare he brought for us to feast on. Typical maimai tucker is red meat in its various manifestations. There’s usually a choice of steak, steak or steak. Not for John. He introduced us to delicacies of English pork pies, the finest of boutique cheeses, the most expensive of wines and ports and he introduced me to the delights of imported craft beers before it was ever trendy to drink them. John, my old mate, you died tragically but your duckshooting mates are never going to let your memory die. Come the first weekend of May 2019 your son is coming to the pond to present your inaugural memorial trophy.

MESSAGE: Sharing problems is the message Doug Avery and Jamie Mackay will be taking to the grassroots.

Rest in peace my old friend and rest assured we’ll be having an English pork pie and an expensive Belgian beer in your honour on the morning of May 4.

Your View Jamie Mackay is the host of The Country that airs on Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport, 12-1pm, weekdays. jamie@thecountry.co.nz

Opinion

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Taste Pure Nature excites farmers Meaty Matters

Allan Barber

THERE is an air of excitement among farmers about the launch of Taste Pure Nature, the result of an exhaustive research and brand design programme by the market development team at Beef + Lamb New Zealand. Importantly, processors support the concept though they are awaiting more details of how it will be implemented as well as cautioning not to expect too much too soon. The development of what is essentially a country of origin brand is in response to competition from other meat exporting countries, notably Australia, Canada and Ireland, which have more advanced programmes and, in a number of markets, greater awareness than NZ. This isn’t a new idea, when one remembers the NZ Lamb Rosette from the 1980s, but the latest campaign signals a more ambitious and coherent exercise in building the total red meat brand

based on NZ’s particular points of advantage: wide open spaces with lush green grass for animals to graze, a gentle climate and light touch of the natural environment. The overall objective of Taste Pure Nature is to build a strong brand image for NZ beef and lamb as a premium product with unparalleled taste and raising practices by establishing culinary legitimacy and advocacy among chefs and food influencers, leveraging brand equity to expand the footprint and spreading the brand story through retail partnerships. This objective clearly recognises the need to work with key food ambassadors and retailers if the message is to achieve a significant level of awareness. Social media will also be an important factor in spreading the word as mass advertising is an impossibility, either because of cost or media fragmentation. The NZ Lamb Rosette was entirely funded by producers through B+LNZ and its predecessors while meat exporters promoted their company brands and previous attempts to get meat exporters to contribute to a market development programme in addition to their own brand marketing activities have largely been unsuccessful. The new brand will now be unambiguously a levy-funded

origin brand, owned by B+LNZ, which provides the context within which the individual company brands can be promoted. The companies will pay a licence fee to participate in the programme and will receive a toolkit including trademark and brand for use on packaging, consumer insights, promotional and educational material as well as a co-ordinated marketing programme in the pilot markets. Meat companies contacted are positive about the origin brand. Greenlea chief executive Tony Egan expressed the company’s position enthusiastically, saying “We are totally in favour because of the mutual benefits to be gained and we see a strong possibility of it leading to further co-operation between meat exporters.” Alliance chief executive David Surveyor said “We welcome the initiative as it will support the growth of the entire red meat sector. It’s also an example of the entire industry, B+LNZ, the Meat Industry Association, farmers, processors and Government coming together. “NZ’s Red Meat Story highlights who we are and what we do from farm to consumer. We need to protect our natural food production systems and ensure consumers globally recognise NZ farmers are in the natural food business. “This is one of the great things

about the Red Meat Story. B+LNZ deliberately designed it as a platform we can all get behind but use as a springboard for our own unique customer propositions.” Surveyor and others noted the critical aspect of participating processors having a NZ Farm Assurance Programme or equivalent in place with which their suppliers will be required to comply. It will serve as a guarantee of the growing conditions under which NZ beef and lamb have been raised, ensuring the integrity of the claims behind the brand. In addition to a large amount of quantitative research B+LNZ has had 85 focus groups in six countries to test the concept for Taste Pure Nature as a country of origin brand. Key findings were the potential increase in consumer price expectations for product backed by an origin brand and an even larger increase if the origin brand includes a story but, while there are great prospects for naturally raised, grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic-free red meat, NZ red meat suffers from low awareness. The immediate plan is to restrict

promotional activity for Taste Pure Nature to China and the United States, specifically Shanghai, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, which will be the initial pilot markets. Market segmentation has identified the Conscious Foodies as the prime target group because they are keen to try new experiences, are quality conscious, mindful of the environment and animal safety and are aware of origin and animal raising claims. This provides the opportunity to build trust in the NZ brand using influential chefs as the first brand champions in the selected target markets. It will be essential to maintain and, as permitted, increase the investment year after year. This will gradually enable NZ red meat to move up the value chain and earn what it’s really worth.

Your View Allan Barber is a meat industry commentator: allan@barberstrategic. co.nz, http://allanbarber.wordpress. com

Trees double poor land return Steve Wyn-Harris

BACK in February I told you about the dramas and disruption to a farming operation that a forestry harvest brings. Since then I’ve had a lot of queries of how it all ended, so here we go. I planted these nine hectares of trees myself 29 years ago. I bought the seedlings off my old Lincoln mate Gary Hope, who, in those days, ran the successful Puha Nursery at Te Karaka. He talked me into buying cutting-grown GF 28 seedlings, so they were great genetics. I planted the rows five metres apart with two metres between trees as was the recommendation. I remember having thousands of little trees bedded in the garden and would take several hundred up at the end of the farming day and plant until dark. I was listening to my Sony Walkman as I clambered up and down the hills.

Four years later I was pruning and did the low prune myself. I was halfway through the medium prune a couple of years on and mindful my next blocks were coming up for their first prune when young Michael Cassidy appeared and wanted to know if I had any pruning needing doing. He got the job on the spot and did most of my silviculture work thereafter. I did the thinning and came to believe the fellow who plants and prunes probably shouldn’t be the one making the thinning decisions. I kept seeing all the good trees and didn’t thin hard enough and ended up with a high stocking rate of around 350 stems a hectare. I fussed about that for the last 15 years. However, Bruce Gerdes from Pan Pac reassured me that while I didn’t have the larger diameter pruned logs I had a lot of trees per hectare with good second and third logs with very modest branching due to the competition. The harvest took two months and in that time we had just the one rain event that made a bit of a mess but the logging trucks were rolling again within several days. The total volume harvested off the 9ha was 5070 tonnes or 563t/ ha. The pruned percentage was 26%. Bruce reckoned I’d nailed

the silviculture and final stocking rate as I got a high percentage of pruned but not to the detriment of total volume. Unpruned sawlogs amounted to 54%. That left 20% or 1000 tonnes as pulp. I have a photo of a whole truckload of pulp weighing 30 tonnes heading away from the skid site and sent it to a mate about to harvest with the cautionary note that it was a zero return to me. We are 90km from the pulp mill and the gross return on pulp now is just high enough to cover the harvest and transport costs. If you live closer you make money and further away or when the prices are lower, it costs you. But I didn’t want it here and it is a by-product of the other 80% and is needed to help cover the harvest cost. The gross payment was $375,000 excluding GST and deducted from that was the modest $2500 needed to put in a crossing and $1400 Forest Owners Levy. The remaining $371,000 meant the per hectare return was $41,000. I’ve anecdotally heard of other folk’s returns being well north of $50,000/ha but I was well pleased with this as for the last three decades I’d

had $30k/ha in my head. Of course, Grant Robertson will Your View be looking forward to a bit more than $100,000 to assist in keeping Steve Wyn-Harris is a Central the country going and it’s the least Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer. I can do and it will be nice to get a swyn@xtra.co.nz note of thanks. We have good plans for the balance, which I might tell you about at some time. The return works out at $1400/ha/ year and if you farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz disregard the 30 year wait and Agribusiness (2) the time use of Assistant Manager (1) money is nearly Dairy (1) twice what my Farm Manager (6) economic farm Farm Positions (2) surplus/ha is each General Hand (1) year. And this is Livestock Operations (1) Manager (2) off my poorest Regional Manager (1) country. Shepherd (2) I won’t bother Shepherd General (1) to refence the Stock Manager (1) small grazing Tractor Driver (1) areas I nurtured through this Employers: Advertise your vacancy in the rotation but will employment section of the Farmers Weekly replant all the and as added value it will be uploaded to 15ha and look farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz for one month or close of application. forward to my next small harvest Contact Debbie Brown 06 323 0765 in three or four or email classifieds@nzx.com years.

RURAL SECTOR

JOBS BOARD

LK0092630©

From the Ridge

World

30 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Britain considers NZ model BRITISH politicians are considering giving farmers control of their levy moneys in a system that follows the New Zealand model. Farmers there could be one step closer to having more say over how Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board levies are spent as MPs open an inquiry into the work of the board. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select (Efra) Committee is set to look closely at the role of the board as part of its new probe into the future of Brand Britain. The inquiry will consider whether lessons can be learned from NZ, where a body elected by farmers decides how to spend the levy. Committee chairman Neil Parish said “I have got to be careful I do not second-guess which way the report goes but we will be looking at the NZ model where farmers are actually much more in charge of their own levy boards. “There could well be an argument for this. “The government actually may not be averse to it as farmers will then be much more in command of their own destiny. “It may suit the farmer and the government as well.” The industry has for several years questioned whether the board is spending enough on promoting British food and the concern has ratcheted up since the vote to leave the European Union.

CONTROL: British MP Neil Parish has suggested his country might follow New Zealand’s example and give farmers control of their levy moneys.

“AHDB spends quite a lot of money on research,” Parish said. “In the new agricultural world this will be necessary but we also want to make sure there is some promotion and farmers are getting value for money.” In 2015 board chairman Peter Kendall, a former National Farmers Union president, suggested the board’s small budget would not allow it

to compete with big brand promotional campaigns. His comments followed the resignation of Stuart Roberts, now NFU vice-president, as AHDB Beef and Lamb chairman. Roberts said the government was getting more involved with decisions over how levy-payers’ money was spent. The board has focused more on knowledge exchange under the leadership of Jane King.

Its chief communications officer Christine Watts said “We would welcome the chance to back Brand Britain but EU State Aid rules prevent this. “As such the promotion work we do is based on product rather than country of origin,” she added. “Brexit could change this, which may then prompt our boards to revisit the allocation of funds to promotion but we

US a threat to British farming LARGE parts of British farming are at risk if the United Kingdom forges a post-Brexit free-trade deal with the US, a joint British and American report says. The report issued by the Harvard Kennedy school of business and government in Massachusetts and King’s College London was co-written by former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, who is now affiliated to both institutions. It said the UK will be in a particularly weak bargaining position given its relatively small size and inexperience and agriculture is especially vulnerable. The report found that, despite the government’s enthusiasm for a quick win post Brexit, the UK will have little to gain from a free-trade deal. It will have to concede more on tariff reductions, given UK tariffs, especially on food, are generally higher than US tariffs. It also suggests the UK will have to go further than the 97.5% tariff reduction offered by the European Union in the recent Transatlantic

Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations given the smaller scale of opportunity the UK market offers. “For the US, removing or sharply reducing tariffs on agricultural products will be a key objective. “However, while consumers would certainly see lower prices, opening the UK market to much cheaper US food, produced under what is perceived to be lower health and environmental standards, could destroy large parts of British farming and face intense consumer resistance.” The report quotes a senior board member at the Food Standards Agency as saying “Those of us in agriculture feel vulnerable that we will be sacrificed in exchange for a better deal in services. “The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is filled with rabid free-traders who will sell us aspects of a better deal that will hurt agriculture.” Key demands from the US are

are not yet in that place.” However, committee members were left disappointed by the Government’s failure to set up a fund to help farmers adapt to a post-Brexit world. The committee in its report, Brexit: Trade in Food, recommended the industry be given extra cash to adjust to the huge changes but ministers rejected the suggestion. In its response to the recommendation the government pointed to its commitment to maintain financial support for agriculture at the same level until 2022. It also claimed the Industrial Strategy, led by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), would be central to driving the productivity agenda for the agrifood sector. But Parish said the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is palming off responsibility for supporting farmers to another government department. “Brexit brings many opportunities for farmers and with these opportunities are challenges. “I find it disappointing Defra is unwilling to invest in our farmers to give them a competitive edge in the global market and promote Brand Britain overseas. “I am absolutely certain palming off farmers to BEIS is not the answer. Defra should take responsibility and support farmers.” UK Farmers Guardian

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is filled with rabid freetraders who will sell us aspects of a better deal that will hurt agriculture.

QUELLE HORREUR: British post-Brexit adherence to European Union regulation will limit the scope for any free-trade deal with the United States, a report cowritten by former shadow chancellor Ed Balls says.

likely to include relaxation of regulations on labelling, food safety and use of genetically modified organisms. “Such demands will almost certainly spark strong public opposition in the UK, illustrated by the already intense concern about possible imports of chlorine-washed chicken,” the report said.

It quotes a senior UK government official as saying “Defra has made it clear they will not accept a deal which lowers food standards for the sake of a deal.” Another sticking point is that the UK has already indicated it will adhere to large swathes of EU regulation to secure access to that market and that will limit the

scope for any free-trade deal with the US. But sustainable farming group Sustain is concerned other interests might come to the fore. “The report is clear on risks all round and trade secretary Liam Fox is mistaken if he thinks British people want to trade away food standards,” Sustain’s campaign coordinator Vicki Hird said. “We need affordable food, not cheap food. “Cheap, poor-quality, imported food will come at a cost – to the farmer or food producer, to animal welfare, to the environment or jobs in UK food and farming. “Our UK farming industry has worked hard to clean up meat production and while more is needed we don’t want their farms and jobs put at risk by competition with cheap, poorquality and lower-standard imports.” UK Farmers Weekly

bayleys.co.nz Contributor to realestate.co.nz

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

FARMING, BEES AND HUNTING 724 Ruatiti Road, Raetihi - www.nzr.nz Ref: RX1482703 A versatile 371 ha property to be offered by way of auction in two options. The Farm Block - A 290ha farm currently operating as a dairy support block and with all the attributes to keep it status quo or further develop into a solid fattening/ breeding unit. The Recreational Block - A 81ha block offering potential as a lifestyle or recreational hunting block with an option for beekeeping. An older style villa is set amongst mature gardens and overlooking the trout filled Orautoha mountain stream. Auction (unless sold prior) 11am, 14th June 2018, 1 Goldfinch Street, Ohakune.

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28, 2018

371 Hectares Auction nzr.nz Ref: RX1482703 Jamie Proude 06 385 4466 | 027 448 5162 jamie@nzr.nz Juliane Brand 06 385 4466 | 027 515 5581 juliane@nzr.nz NZR Central Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

FIRST FARM GEM

IMMEDIATE OFFERS REQUIRED – SELF CONTAINED DAIRY, WESTLAND

122ha F/H + 48ha L/H – Little Wanganui, Karamea Under Vendor’s instructions this property is being sold with immediate possession. Currently milking 240 cows 3yr ave 85,640kg MS. Approximately 114ha milking platform including 48ha lease and further 38ha F/H support. Excelllent standard improvements. Large 4 bedroom permanent material homestead with attached ﬂat. 28 A/S shed with ACR’s. Excellent compliment farm buildings.

www.gregdalyrealestate.co.nz Real Estate Agent REAA 2008

“50 YEARS SERVICE TO FARMERS ON THE WEST COAST”

Productive farm with a number of infrastructure improvements including a new calf shed. We welcome your inspection by appointment. Call today to arrange a viewing. LK0092925©

Greg Daly AREINZ Mobile 027 478 3594 or A/H 03 762 6463

Easy hill country (some steeper sidings) and only 24km from Dannevirke, fully tarsealed all the way.

Jerome Pitt M: 027 242 2199 O: 06 374 4107 E: jeromep@forfarms.co.nz

$1,500,000 + GST if any www.forfarms.co.nz www.forfarms.co.nz

ID FF2286 Property ID FF1299

LK0068450©

Web Ref: GDR3287541

205 hectares (507 acres).

LK0092879©

Available going concern. Options to purchase with property in four titles. Your chance to purchase in this great location and enjoy the lifestyle on offer. All offers to be submitted by 7 June 2018.

Ngapaeruru Rd, Dannevirke

LIS TI N G N EW

BUSHGROVE - 1086 HECTARES 72 Adams Peak Road, Tinui, Masterton Located in a sheltered valley just 20 minutes drive east of Masterton sits this picturesque economically sized sheep & beef unit. Bushgrove & Glentarn have been in the same family since 1884 over four generations. The two units have been farmed as one for many years and together carry 7,140 su (5 year average) There are around 845 hectares effective with the majority being medium hill accentuated by a small area of productive flats and a very attractive 58 hectare block of QE2. There are around 60 hectares of developed forestry on the property. The balance of the property being around 120 hectares of bush & bee hungry manuka scrub gullies. A real feature of the property are the lanes, tracking & access. An attractive character homestead and supporting shearers quarters, four stand wool shed with covered yards and other support buildings all being very tidy. With this scale a stock manager can take the pressure off an owner and a partner can work in town, kids are easily schooled in quality local & Masterton primary & secondary options and the sports fields and cafes aren’t far away! There is a video on the websites. A detailed property report is available- please contact Blair for a copy.

HISTORIC TYNESIDE- ATTRACTIVE SCALE, LOCATION AND BALANCE 1052 Te Wharau Road / Ruakiwi Road, Carterton, Wairarapa Tyneside has been farmed by the Duffy family since 1946 and presents an opportunity for those looking for a smaller sheep and beef unit in a desirable district being 20 minutes equidistant to Carterton and Masterton. Tyneside is 335 hectares that is well balanced with around 40 hectares that is fertilised by truck and the balance mainly medium hill on a mix of mudstone and limestone soils. Subdivided with permanent fencing into 33 main paddocks and 15 holding paddocks there are around 320 effective hectares. An oak lined driveway leads to the large character 1920´s four bedroom Tyneside homestead, set in mature grounds including a tennis court. Other buildings include an older three-bedroom cottage, four stand woolshed, covered yards, stables, hayshed, and central cattle yards. A second block, Moons, is located 5km from Tyneside on the Ruakiwi Road. Moons is 155-hectare hogget block with around two thirds effective grazing land, the balance is a mix of attractive bush and some scattered scrub. There is a set of combination sheep and cattle yards and it is subdivided into six paddocks, with natural water sources and dams. Moons has a real X-factor and features a 100-foot waterfall and hunting opportunities. The vendors´ intention is to sell the whole property, as one, or separately offers will be considered for each block individually. Sound like you? - give Blair a call today to arrange an inspection - a detailed property report is available.

1,086 hectares Video on website www.nzr.nz ref: RX1506959 Tender, Closes 1pm Fri 22 June 2018 NZR 1st Floor, 16 Perry St, Masterton Blair Stevens AREINZ 06 370 9199 | 027 527 7007 blair@nzr.nz NZR Real Estate Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

490 hectares (335ha & 155ha) Video on Website nzr.nz / RX1456847 TENDER Closes 4pm, Thurs 14 June 2018 NZR Office, 16 Perry St, Masterton Blair Stevens AREINZ 06 370 9199 l 027 527 7007 blair@nzr.nz NZR Real Estate Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28, 2018

RURAL rural@pb.co.nz Office 0800 FOR LAND

Property Brokers Limited Licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008

Punawaitai - coastal 466 ha

NEW LISTING WEB ID WR62173

CENTRAL HAWKES BAY 3340 Pourerere Road After over a century, Punawaitai is ready for its next custodian. Located at stunning Pourerere Beach on Hawke’s Bay’s east coast is this strong bull and lamb finishing farm. 41 paddocks, most with reticulated water supply. Modernised main home with tennis court and salt-water swimming pool. Two other rented homes, a former shearers’ quarters provides holiday accommodation. The titles offer numerous options:

- Main farm 453 ha (bareland) - Main dwelling, cottage on 1.7 ha - Woolshed and quarters on 2.0 ha - 3rd house on 965m2 - Front flats 6.5 ha - 0.7 ha and 1.0 ha vacant lifestyle blocks Buy one, or any number of combinations, better still, buy the lot!

DEADLINE SALE

VIEW By Appointment DEADLINE SALE closes Tuesday 17th July, 2018 at 4.00pm, (unless sold prior)

Bevan Pickett

Mobile 027 220 2766 Office 06 928 0520 bevanp@pb.co.nz

Pat Portas

Mobile 027 447 0612 Office 06 928 0521 Home 06 855 8330 patp@pb.co.nz

www.propertybrokers.co.nz

RURAL Office 0800 FOR LAND

Property Brokers Limited Licensed REAA 2008

Finishing, location, first farm

TENDER

WEB ID WGR61871 FORDELL 146 O'Leary Road View By Appointment TENDER closes Friday 8th June, 2018 at 4.00pm, at Well located and in 2 titles this 80.1917 ha (more or less) finishing farm offers a good balance of fertile flat Property Brokers Ltd, 51 Taupo Quay, Whanganui country, with a balance of medium hills. Fencing is all conventional and in generally tidy condition. The farm has aesthetic appeal, with a scattering of established trees and an area of bush in the gully. A former milking shed and yards have been converted to handle sheep and cattle. There are 2.1 ha of well-tended pine Richard White trees valued and ready for harvest. A three bedroom Mobile 027 442 6171 Office 06 281 3720 home is located near the front of the farm.

TENDER

richardw@pb.co.nz

www.propertybrokers.co.nz

THE DESTINATION FOR RURAL REAL ESTATE

Land is the biggest asset to any farming business so it pays to stay up to date with the market. Connect with the right audience at

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate

Real Estate

DAIRY FARM WITH OPTIONS

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

CHOOSE THE FARM’S FUTURE

TOP QUALITY

L A N FI

E C I T NO

• Situated in Konini, Pahiatua is this quality 66 hectare dairy farm with excellent soils. • Very nice four bedroom family home set in lovely grounds. • Current dairy infrastructure includes a modern herringbone dairy with a 300 cow yard. • Currently supplies Open Country, has produced up to 1220 kgs/ms/ha consented for dairy farming. • Shedding includes machinery shed and calf rearing facilities. • Your opportunity to own this outstanding dairy farm. Call Les.

• Situated due North of Foxton Township and North West of Foxton Beach is this premium 110 ha of flat to gently undulating sand-flats. • Planted in 25 year old pine trees which are currently being harvested and expected to be ready for you to de-stump and develop into permanent pasture at your leisure. • Two good driveway accesses and 7-8 wire post and batten road and boundary fencing. Great Wylie Road access and golf course views. • Your chance to own this great investment opportunity. For sale by Tender closing Wed 30th May at 2pm (if not sold prior). Call Les.

OUTSTANDING DAIRY FARM

BELLA VISTA OLIVES

DAIRY, CROPPING, BEEF?

• Situated in the farming district of Konini south of Pahiatua is this 153ha property in five titles, can be split into three properties. • Modern 30 aside herringbone dairy positioned in the middle front of the property, which suits a split herd system. Consented for intense agriculture and some of the best river silt soils in the area. • Excellent race system and upgraded effluent system. • Two well maintained family homes set in their own grounds. • Truly a turn key operation, with a June 2019 settlement available. • Plan your next step into a top operation. Call Les to inspect.

• Situated only minutes from Foxton Village is this quality 2.75 hectare lifestyle property with excellent sandy loam soils. • There are 600 mature olive trees on the property planted in 2002 with this seasons crop still to be harvested. • Large modern five bedroom family home with outstanding indoor/ outdoor living featuring an in ground swimming pool. • With the fifth bedroom set up as a separate unit this would be great for extended family or Air B&B. • Call Tina on 022 697 2479 to inspect.

• Situated on Rangitikei Line west of Palmerston North is this 91 ha parcel of land with option to purchase the adjoining 40 ha. • Exceptional soils that are currently used for dairy farming and growing maize, but would suit a number of uses. • Deep lead irrigation bore to supply top quality water for up to 70 ha. • Current dairy infrastructure in place including a modern 30 aside herringbone dairy and 400 cow feed pad. • Very good road access with central laneway system. • Call Les to inspect.

Sallan Realty

Google ‘Sallan Realty’ Your Farm Sales Specialist

colliers.co.nz

• • • • • • •

Situated south of Whanganui is this 175ha farming opportunity. 20 aside herringbone dairy and 300 cow yard with adjacent feed pad. Herd is split calved, milked all year round, supplying Open Country. Bore water supplies water to stock troughs, dairy and houses. Large machinery shed, large silage bunker. There are two three bedroom family homes set in treed surrounds. Your chance to buy this farm with a flexible takeover date and take advantage of the coming season, current RV $3 mil. • Price reduced to $2,995,000. Call Les to inspect.

LES CAIN 0274 420 582

Licensed Agent REAA 2008

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company

AUCTION

Trees, Bees, Beefies and Hunting! • 375ha (more or less) - what more could you want? Whakatomotomo Rd, Pirinoa • Plant more trees, add more hives, graze stock or go hunting - all bases are covered • Approx. 23ha in three woodlots planted 1993, 1999 & 2003 plus another 33ha planted 2011, 2013, 2016 • Two levelled beehive sites with more options available and a good set of cattle/sheep yards • Excellent quad bike access with the balance of the property steep to rolling grazing, giving plenty of scope for investment and income pggwre.co.nz/MAS28242

South Wairarapa AUCTION Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) 11am, Tues 12 June Pirinoa Hall, Lake Ferry Road Pirinoa

Bevan Edwards B 06 370 1889 M 027 204 2895

bevan.edwards@pggwrightson.co.nz

Accelerating Success

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008

pggwre.co.nz

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THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28, 2018

classifieds@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Employment

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28 2018

Tractor Driver

Estate & Farm Manager

EMPLOYMENT REACH EVERY FARMER IN NZ FROM MONDAY

Agricultural contracting business near Waimate.

Lone Star Farms, Takaka

Experienced in maize/fodder beet precision drilling: reversible ploughing and bale wrapping.

• Unique diverse leadership role with plenty of scope • Property, farming, people and environmental focus • Stunning property and residence in the heart of Golden Bay

Wanted September to January. Prepared to work long hours. Remuneration negotiated dependent on experience.

The new dual role of Estate & Farm Manager with Lone Star Farms (LSF), Puramahoi in Takaka has been created to both: • manage the property and grounds, which are home to the residence of LSF’s Owners, and • optimise the performance of the farm.

LK0092923©

Apply to brandrethcontracting@hotmail.co.nz

Advertise in the NZ Farmers Weekly Name: Phone:

This is a truly unique opportunity to play a key role in the future of this highend estate and farm located in Golden Bay, a fabulous lifestyle location.

Address:

Applications close Monday 11 June 2018.

Email:

To view the job description and to apply visit www.intepeople.co.nz

Regional Manager Livestock

For further enquiries contact Jessica Rolinson 027 316 8888.

Advert to read:

Alliance Group is the only 100% locally owned, red meat co-operative in NZ, and it is quietly going about completely overhauling the way it does business. Reporting to the GM Livestock, they are seeking a strong leader to mentor, manage and grow their livestock team in the Canterbury region. Sales driven, the Regional Manager Livestock will draw upon their strong knowledge base of farming, grazing and livestock management to build strong relationships within the rural community to achieve planned livestock volumes and financial targets. Prior experience with livestock in the rural services sector with a successful track record of leading sales teams is essential.

YOUR FUTURE IS BRIGHTER WITH INTEPEOPLE

LIVESTOCK OPERATIONS

Farmers Weekly 12 x 3

Due to exciting developments within our Livestock enterprise we have a new role available which will provide senior level management and coordination support for our multi-farm operation. This Assistant Manager role offers a good mix of practical farming as well as higher level monitoring, planning and pasture and feed management. Reporting to the Operations Manager, you will: • Provide management support and cover for the Operations Manager • Play an active part in the Livestock leadership team helping set and implement policy and direction • Manage and coordinate a team of Shepherd Generals which will operate as a centralised team across all farms with a focus on animal handling activities • Plan and coordinate workloads which see optimal use of people and equipment • Measure monthly pasture covers, monitor grazing management and maintain farm maintenance plans • Understand how livestock finishing systems operate and have insight into how to maximise these Role requirements: • Hands-on pastoral farming experience with a focus on pasture management and high-performance livestock systems • Strong people leadership and sound time-management skills • A desire and ability to train and develop others • Affinity for technology and intermediate level computer skills • An appropriate tertiary qualification is desirable • Driver licence essential

For a confidential discussion, please contact Geoff Lucas on + 61 8 8201 9999 quoting ref GL3047, or apply online www.lucasgroup.com.au

Experienced General Castlepoint Station is an iconic and progressive 25,000su sheep and beef hill country property in coastal Wairarapa, 64km from Masterton. The successful applicant will possess the following: • Be honest, reliable and have a high standard of workmanship • Be comfortable working in a team environment and alone • Competently operate a tractor, bulldozer and machinery including a spray rig on hills and flats • Understand and maintain water system and pumps

This is a role with huge potential requiring experience, drive, an outgoing nature and a passion for farming and its people.

• Fence, weld, and maintain machinery and buildings

You will be well rewarded, get to farm in a great environment and will be exposed to a wide range of innovative farming practices and passionate people.

• Help with stockwork at busy times, including handpiece and knife work

On-farm accommodation is available and, being close to town, gives opportunities for those with family and singles alike with a wide range of schooling, sports, social and outdoor pursuits in close proximity along with employment opportunities for partners.

• Computer competency to record information on Farm IQ and Quip

• Be a good communicator

• HT license preferred

A full Position Description is available upon request from: jobs@brownrigg.co.nz To discuss, phone HAYDEN ASHBY on 0272 931 682

Excellent working conditions and equipment provided. Remuneration will be negotiated with successful applicant and will reflect their experience. Excellent recreational activities available e.g fishing, diving, hunting etc. A comfortable 4 bedroom house is provided. Start date negotiable.

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Learn more about our business at www.brownrigg.co.nz APPLY NOW with CV and Cover Letter: jobs@brownrigg.co.nz

Heading:

Senior leadership position Flexible base location, Canterbury region

Please e-mail or post CV with two referees: emily@castlepoint.co.nz or phone 06 372 6465 Emily Crofoot Castlepoint Station, RD 9, Masterton 5889

RUN OFF YOUR FEET? Advertise your vacancy in Farmers Weekly Phone Debbie Brown 0800 85 25 80 or email classifieds@nzx.com

Return this form either by fax to 06 323 7101 attention Debbie Brown Post to NZX Agri Classifieds, PO Box 529, Feilding 4740 - by 12pm Wednesday or Freephone 0800 85 25 80

Livestock

ANIMAL SUPPLEMENTS APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, GARLIC & HONEY. 200L - $450 or 1000L - $2000 excl. with FREE DELIVERY from Black Type Minerals Ltd www.blacktypeminerals. co.nz

www.gibb-gro.co.nz GROWTH PROMOTANT $5.85 per hectare + GST delivered Brian Mace 0274 389 822 07 571 0336 brianmace@xtra.co.nz

DOGS FOR SALE FORTY DOGS $500$2500. Thirty day trial. Ship NZ wide. Trade-ins welcome. Buy back any dog we sell*. 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes. ONE 4½-YEAR Huntaway. $3000. ONE 2½-year Heading dog. $3000. Phone 06 370 2250 or 027 275 7884. KELPIE BITCH 6 years old, works sheep and cattle, prefers cattle $1300. HUNTAWAY bitch 7 years old, good worker $1000. Phone 06 374 3567 evenings.

FREEZERS

NORTH ISLAND BUYING trip. Running, Handies, Fully broken. No trial or breeding required! No one buys or pays more! 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

udly NZ Madew Pro Since 1975

021 441 180 (JC)

JOHNNY GRAY

frigidair@xtra.co.nz

FOR FARMERS & HUNTERS

Ph: 027 959 4166

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Specialists in mustering Wild Goats, Cattle, Horses and Sheep across New Zealand

When only the best will do!

johnnyanderin2017@gmail.com www.aotearoastockman.com maiexperiencejohnnygray

YOUR FARM MAPPED showing paddock sizes. Priced from $600 for 100ha. Phone 0800 433 855. farmmapping.co.nz

FERTILISER DOLOMITE, NZ’s finest Magnesium fertiliser. Bio-Gro certified, bulk or bagged. 0800 436 566.

FOR SALE DOG/PET FOOD. Lamb/ Beef and chicken products. All natural - raw - no preservatives or additives. NOSLOC PRODUCTS. Ex-freezer Te Kuiti. For information and prices www.nosloc.com or phone 07 878 6868. NEW SLEEP-OUTS. North Otago and South Canterbury. $9000 inclusive GST. Call / text 027 967 6881.

FERAL GOATS WANTED. All head counted, payment on pick-up, pick-up within 24 hours. Prices based on works schedule. Experienced musterers available. Phone Bill and Vicky Le Feuvre 07 893 8916. GOATS WANTED. All weights. All breeds. Prompt service. Payment on pick up. My on farm prices will not be beaten. Phone David Hutchings 07 895 8845 or 0274 519 249. Feral goats mustered on a 50/50 share basis.

LEASE LAND WANTED LOOKING FOR LAND in the south to mid Canterbury area. Short or long term lease, any size. Great references available. Phone 027 313 7258.

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE

EARMARKERS

HOUSE FOR REMOVAL wanted. North Island. Phone 021 0274 5654.

DE HORNER HOOF TRIMMER

AYS

T FIELD

Do you have something to sell? Advertise in Farmers Weekly

Call Debbie

62 SITE RL

classifieds@nzx.com

FOR SALE

WAGYU CROSS GRAZING CONTRACT

195 Jersey cows (RA 98%) BW 108 PW 97 Plus 50 in-calf Jersey heifers BW 140 PW 123 • Long established fourth generation herd • OAD for the last ten years • A2 profiled • DTC 22 July 2018 • Free grazing available to 1 July 2018 A quality OAD herd that will shift extremely well

Enquiries to Bruce ph 027 441 0924 SALE TALK

There was a papa mole, a momma mole, and a baby mole. They lived in a hole out in the country near a farmhouse. Papa mole poked his head out of the hole and said, “Mmmm, I smell freshly cooked sausage!” Momma mole poked her head outside the hole and said, “Mmmm, I smell freshl cooked blueberry pancakes!” Baby mole tried to stick his head outside but couldn’t because of the two bigger moles. Baby mole said, “The only thing I smell is molasses.”

• Steers and heifers at competitive per kg weight gain rates • Wagyu Dairy Cross steers and heifers, minimum 90kg on arrival - Autumn born from June 2018 - Spring born from November 2018 • Simple no-fuss agreements For further information please contact: Tim or Erin O’Brien Phone: 06 857 8305 Mobile (Tim): 0272 780 496 Email: tim@brownrigg.co.nz

BULL SALE Thursday 7th June 2018 2pm at Benmore, Cheviot Riverlands J Angus – 15 bulls – Grassmere Poll Herefords – 11 bulls – Capethorne Poll Herefords – 15 bulls – Capethorne: Greg & Debbie Chamberlain P: 03 319 8500 M: 021 549 229 Riverlands J and Grassmere: Chris & Amanda Jeffries P 03 319 8585 M: 027 460 8849

8th JUNE, 1PM

OPEN DAY 24th May 10am – 4pm Waipapa Station, 163 Clemett Road, Te Akau

www.twinoaksangus.co.nz E: twinoaksangus@gmail.com Contact Roger & Susan: 07 8282 131 AGENTS: Richard Johnston, PGG Wrightson 0274443570 Callum Dunnett, Carrfields 027587013

NEW HOMES

• 750 Cow herd selection pressure • Extensive performance recording • Balanced performance figures • Bulls health, service and semen tested

SALE DATE: Thursday June 14th, 2018 @ 1.00pm 66 Rising Two Year Bulls On farm auction Fred, Chris, Jennifer Chesterman & Family @ 811 Maraetotara Road, RD12, Havelock North 4294 Ph: 06 874 7844 or 06 874 7728 Mobile: 0274 888 635 or 0274 777 637 Email: kphp@xtra.co.nz

• Do you need new farm tracks or upgrade existing ones? • Or have you metal that could be used for crushing? We do: • On site metal crushing • Metal supply and cartage • Upgrade existing tracks and drainage • Retaining wall construction • River protection and stream maintenance • All types of earthworks and metal contracting LK0091108©

Our homes are built using the same materials & quality as an onsite build. Easily transported to almost anywhere in the North Island. Plans range from one bedroom to four bedroom First Home – Farm House Investment – Beach Bach

LK0092882©

PERFORMANCE•MATERNAL•PRODUCTION

SOLID – PRACTICAL WELL INSULATED – AFFORDABLE

Call or email us for your free copy of our plans Email: info@ezylinehomes.co.nz Phone: 07 572 0230 Web: www.ezylinehomes.co.nz

GRAZERS WANTED

2 YEAR BULL SALE

0800 85 25 80

FARMERS

T H IN K P R EB UILT SA VISIT U

NILB LIMOUSIN BULL sale. 7 June 2018, 1 pm. View 16 R 2YO bulls from noon. 234a Te Tuhi Road, Matamata 3471

PROPERTY WANTED

BIRDSCARER

Rockhill Jerseys

FOR SALE

FARM MAPPING

GOATS WANTED

DOGS WANTED

CHILLERS &

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

Tim McColl Contracting Ltd Tim McColl, Owner / Operator

Ltd

Kiwitea, Feilding

Mobile: 027 446 3383 | A/hrs: 06 328 9851 Email: timmccollcontractingld@xtra.co.nz

All types of earthwoks and metal contacting

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING Are you looking in the right direction? farmersweekly.co.nz

LK0092858©

CRAIGCO SHEEP JETTERS. Sensor Jet. Deal to fly and Lice now. Guaranteed performance. Unbeatable pricing. Phone 06 835 6863. www.craigcojetters.com

ATTENTION FARMERS

DOGS WANTED

LK0092591©

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

www.drench.co.nz farmer owned, very competitive prices. Phone 0800 4 DRENCH (437 362).

CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING

ANIMAL HEALTH

ANIMAL HANDLING

LK0092913©

Classifieds

Annual Bull Sale

Livestock

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28, 2018

Tuesday 4thJuly 2017

Waitangi

RANUI Bull Sale

BULL SALE 50 ANGUS 2-YEAR-OLD BULLS FRIDAY 15TH JUNE AT 1PM 839 VALLEY ROAD, HASTINGS Contact: Will MacFarlane 06 874 8762 will@waiterenui.co.nz

Angus

3.00pm Thursday, 7th June Karamu, 662 Rangitatau East Rd,Wanganui • All bulls are semen and service tested • Scanned for carcase • Independently inspected • Cow herds run under commercial conditions • Bulls displayed on concrete

• Hard surface in sale ring. Feet visible • BVD Tested Antigen Clear & Vaccinated • 3-year Guarantee for soundness & fertility

LK0087799©

“Internationally proven from sea level to snow line” Enquiries to:

Strathmoor Polled Herefords and Iona Angus

TOTARANUI ANGUS

38 BULLS INCLUDING: ROYAL M94

Bull sale June 7th, 2018 2.00pm at Te Kuiti Saleyards 6 Hereford rising 2-year bulls 6 Angus rising 2-year bulls for sale Te Kuiti Combined Bull Sale

2-YR BULL SALE 36 BULLS

Totaranui Angus sale bulls avg

Wairarapa Angus Bull Walk Thursday the 17th of May

Enquiries and viewing welcome, contact:

Neil & Joan Kjestrup 06 372 2838

Friday 8th June 1.30pm on farm, Pahiatua

Rod & Sam Kjestrup 06 372 2495

Check us out on Facebook: KayJay Angus

2018 Breed avg

Angus Pure index

+$153

+126

Self replacing index

+$130

+$108

600-day weight EBV

+107

+103

EMA EBV

+5.2

+4.8

Westwood Shorthorn

Email for a catalogue: bulls@totaranuistud.co.nz Daimien & Tally 06 376 8400

Pierre Syben 027 625 9977

Mark Crooks PGG Wrightson 027 590 1452

Audrey and Bruce Bevege 07 877 7541

or agents: John Grainger PGG Wrightson 07 878 8969

Brent Bougen NZ Farmers Livestock 027 210 4698

Cam Heggie PGG Wrightson 027 501 8182

Richard Bevege NZ Farmers Livestock 027 453 9824

Bill Harrison PGG Wrightson 07 877 7778

• BVD tested and vaccinated • C10 status • Carcase scanned • Independently assessed • i50k

www.totaranuistud.co.nz

Enquiries: Bruce Masters 07 878 8502

Brent Wallbank NZ Farmers Livestock 027 488 1299

FROM THE NOTED COUNTRY CALENDAR DIRECTOR RICHARD LANGSTON AND HIS CREW

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ROYAL M101

Ph: 0274 743 185

www.waitangiangus.co.nz

Sale Catalogue online: www.ranuiangus.co.nz

FRIDAY THE 1ST OF JUNE 12 noon

Contact John & Joss Bayly Email: jbayly@xtra.co.nz

Lin Johnstone Phone: 027 445 3213 Lindsay Johnstone Phone: 027 445 3211 ranui.w@farmside.co.nz PGG Wrightson Agents Callum Stewart Ph: 027 280 2688 Ken Roberts Ph: 027 591 8042

ANNUAL BULL SALE:

20 18 Th ur sd ay 7t h Ju ne at 1.oopm on farm nds Waitangi, Bay of Isla

ROMNEY

HEREFORD

POLLED HEREFORD

Chris McBride Carrfields 027 565 1145

ANGUS

A hill country classic.

86a Thames Road - Paeroa - 21st June 2018- 1pm

Bulls for sale by Private Treaty until 10th June

Wa i t aw h e t a A n g u s On Farm 2yr Angus Bull Sale Bulls Sired By:

Waitawheta H8 ET - Waitawheta D12 - Waitawheta K44AB Kowai Trust 484 - Te Atarangi C Man I003 Plus 6 Waitawheta Pure NZ Sires

7TH ANNUAL ON PROPERTY BULL SALE @ 3PM GISBORNE.

JUNE 5TH w w w. h a i n . c o . n z

SAM, GEMMA, LILLA & TOM HAIN SID & MERRAN HAIN

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING

See www.shorthorn.co.nz to view bulls for sale https//www.facebook.com/westwood.shorthorns.and.coloured.sheep/

Anita Erskine, Westwood, Papatotara, Tuatapere RD 9691 Phone: 03 226 6713 Email: westwood.farm@xtra.co.nz (Or PGG Stud Stockman Callum McDonald 027 433 6443)

Are you looking in the right direction?

LK0092711©

All bulls’ blood tested negative for BVD and vaccinated, TB C10

Contact: Alistair & Pat Sharpe 07 863 7954 or 021 054 7862 Kevin Fathers 0272 799 800 - Brent Bougen 027 210 4698

NZ Farmers Livestock Stud Stock: If you are looking for Pure NZ Genetics with substance and constitution we recommend you attend this sale.

LK0092629©

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

LK0092491©

To advertise Phone Nigel 0800 85 25 80 or email livestock@nzx.com

Livestock

BW 143/50 PW 161/67 RA 100% (in top 10 All Breeds for NZ )

• •

•

170 In-Calf Friesian Heifers Will sell in smaller lines with options to suit.

Estimated to Jersey be 420Herd cowsand after non pregnant, culls, older cows & 5% rejection Replacements For Sale Production last season 347kgs ms/cow, 1000kgs on rolling steeper 150 fullyms/ha, recorded Jersey cows, duetoto commence contoured farm, no meal, palm kernel or maize calving from mid July to nominated AB and tailed fed. Jersey bulls. Herd BW 68 PW RA 95%, BWs Young replacement stock also87available

Please call Brian Robinson Brian Robinson BRLL 0272or410 PH: 0272 410051 07051 8583132

TURIWAI STUD

Friday 29th June 2018 Commencing 10.30am Location: Falveys Road (near entrance to Timaru International Motor Raceway)

“The proven exotic”

Entry forms for the above sale are now available. Please contact our Seadown Oﬃce, your local PWA Broker or visit our website for a copy and more sale information. Entries close Monday 25th June at 5:00pm

In-lamb Hampshire Ewes “They weigh like lead”

Philip Webb: 027 801 8057 Central & Southern NI Dairy Coordinator

Contact your preferred

For extensive listings for all types of dairy stock visit:

Michael and Sheryl Vette

www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz

06 857 8108 • 027 2100 485

MACHINERY & SURPLUS PLANT AUCTION

In-lamb Poll Dorset Ewes For Sale

Paul Kane 027 286 9279 (North Waikato/ Northland) National Dairy & Live Export Coordinator

LK0092916©

up to 185, PWs to 364, many young cows by Outstanding genetics & potential to be one of leading CRV and LICsuppliers sires. Milked a day for the countries leading of once Genetics to the dairy for years to come. details lastindustry five seasons. Nice cows with tidyFull udders. available. Complete replacement line of in calf heifers (30) Enquiries the sole marketing agents: also to available.

DTC 28th July. Vetted in-calf to Jersey Bulls (9weeks). BW70 PW60, 100% ancestry. Located central North Island. Grazing options available.

LK0090091©

• •

LONG ESTABLISHED SECOND GENERATION Many cows contracted to LIC for 2011 matings Due to calve from 16-7-12, 6.5 weeks SAME FAMILY AB Jersey and Kiwi cross

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

LK0092700©

NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28, 2018 HIGHTHE INDEXING JERSEY & JERSEY CROSS HERD

Stock Agent or

For further information: Wayne Andrews • 027 484 8232 PWA Oﬃce • 03 687 4440 PETER WALSH & ASSOCIATES LTD www.peterwalsh.co.nz

Gary Falkner Jersey Marketing Service PH: 027 482 8771 or 07 846 4491

COMPLETE DISPERSAL SALE

High Quality Jersey Herd and Replacements Wednesday 6th June 2018 at 11am INDEXING JERSEY & JERSEY Vendor: Mr Graeme Collins, CROSS HERD 243 Waiteitei Road, RD 4, Wellsford 0974 Herd BW 84 PW 100 RA 98% SIRES OF 2018 BULLS INCLUDE:

An outstanding offering comprising: W 143/50 PW 161/67 RA 100% 83 Jersey cows, 32 Jersey in calf heifers, 37 in topJersey 10 All Breeds for NZ ) yearling heifers and 2 Jersey yearling bulls

WHENUAPAPA CRUMBLE 8-10

Plus 9 Jersey in calf heifers from Northern Wairoa y cowsJersey contracted to LIC for 2011 matings Club members to calve from 16-7-12, 6.5 weeks The Complete Dispersal of this outstanding herd rare opportunity Jersey offers and aKiwi cross to purchase from one of herds. Long established mated Northlands to bepremier 420Jersey cows after non by our vendor this herd is recognised within gnant, culls, older cows & 5% rejectionthe breed and by AB companies who have purchased duction several lastbullsseason 347kgs ms/cow, and contracted many females. 0kgs Several ms/ha, onin this rolling to ABsteeper females offering carry company oured farm, noCows meal, palm kernel maize contracts. on offer have BWs upor to 183 and PWs to 278. The herd is dry, has been dry cow therapy treated and teat sealed. Calving is due to ng replacement stock also available commence from mid July to nominated service. These cattle are recommended to shift well. nding genetics & potential to be one of All details available online at untries leading suppliers of Genetics to www.brianrobinsonlivestock.com o y industry for years to come. Full details www.jersey.org.nz

NORTHLAND COMBINED SIMMENTAL BULL & HEIFER SALE

Contact for more details: Rhys Dackers 0272 415 564 Carrfields Livestock Vaughan Vujcich 0274 968 706 PGG Wrightson Livestock Kris Sturge 027 510 438 Carrfields Livestock

RATANUI ROCK 226

WEDNESDAY

13th JUNE 9AM

JUSTIN & MEG KING, BROOKWOOD STATION 34 PAULSEN ROAD, RD 2, TAKAPAU 4287, CENTRAL HAWKES BAY P: (06) 855 8288 | M: 027 248 8400 | E: justin@brookwood.co.nz

www.brookwood.co.nz

F I R S T O N - FA R M SALE T U E S DAY 1 2 T H J U N E 2 0 1 8 , 1 0 . 3 0 A M 1 0 2 L AW S R O A D , D A N N E V I R K E

28 bulls and 3 heifers

ANAHERA, ASHCOTT PARK, IDESIA, LYNBRAE, ORIPAK

HAWKES BAY

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Tuesday 5th June 2018 Kaikohe Saleyards 12.30pm

A selection of the top bulls from five of Northlands renowned studs –

C E N T R A L

RANUI I650

BULLS ALSO AVAILABLE BY PRIVATE TREATY

LK0092651©

alkner Marketing Service 7 482 8771 or 07 846 4491

Auction TAKAPAU

PHOTO TO BE SUPPLIED Kate Taylor (2/3 Feb 2015)

Enquiries to the auctioneers, Brian Robinson Livestock Ltd.marketing Phone Brian Robinson es to the sole agents: 0272 410 051, Kevin Hart 0272 915 575, Neil McDonald 0272BRLL 188 904, Selwyn Robinson Donald O274 378 375,or 72 410051 07 8583132 Jerseyor Marketing Service. Ross Riddell 0272 111 112, Grant Aiken 0272 458 821

SECOND ON FARM

Home of - Zalta / HB#13615012529 | HD50K curvebender Limited semen available

INSPECTIONS WELCOME Willy Philip 102 Laws Road, Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 8857 Email: anui@xtra.co.nz

John Philip 923 Mangatuna Road,Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 2861

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Livestock

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28, 2018

Real farmers breeding real hill country cattle for real farmers! BVD Tested Clear 45 Top Quality hill BVD Vaccinated Country bred bulls Breedplan Recorded TB Status C10 Herd completely free of known genetic defect Only proven NZ bred bulls used in last 10 years Renowned for great temperament

PETER & CAROLINE FOSS

R.D. Aria, King Country Ph/fax (07) 877 7881 pcfossy@xtra.co.nz

Sound well fleshed sires, Excellent temperament Fully breedplan recorded on Commercial hill country 20 Bulls Catalogued

Enquiries and inspection welcome. Contact

Kevin or Megan FRIEL ph: (06) 376 4543

33rd Annual on-farm sale

Monday 1 1

June 2018

625 Jackson Road, Kumeroa kev.meg.co@xtra.co.nz

www.mtmableangus.co.nz

ANNUAL SALE THURSDAY 7TH JUNE 1PM, TE KUITI SALE YARDS

BULL OPEN DAY ALL ENQUIRIES WELCOME WEDNESDAY 30TH MAY 1 - 5PM

MERCHISTON ANGUS

TE WHANGA ANGUS power plus performance

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Annual Bull Sale – 6th June at 2.30pm at Hunterville – LOT 30

2018 FRIDAY 8 JUNE SALE DATE 10.00

24, 2 year old Angus Bulls

Selling 50 Angus Bulls

JASON COFFEY 691 Te Kopi Rd, RD4, Masterton P. 06 372 77 20 M. 0274 570 526 ROBIN BORTHWICK P. 06 370 3368 M. 0274 412 728 www.borthwick.co.nz te_whanga@borthwick.co.nz

See online – angusnz website – go to catalogue or phone Richard Rowe 027 279 8841 or email mercang@farmside.co.nz

AUCTIONS

DATE: Tuesday 5 June 2018 ADDRESS: 192 Nopera Road, Coastal Taranaki START TIME: 11.30am. D/no 42204 VENDORS: a/c P A Myers

DATE: Friday 8 June 2018 ADDRESS: Cambridge Sale yards, Hickey Road, Cambridge START TIME: 11.30am VENDORS: a/c Clients

COMPRISING OF:

COMPRISING OF: 135 very good in-calf dairy hfrs:

•

240 top cows (50% Fsn, 50% FsnX)

•

BW 111, PW 174, R/a 100%

DETAILS: •

Calving from 15 July, LIC PSS mated 6 weeks

•

Tailed Hereford bulls, out on 24 Dec, vetted in-calf

•

TB C10, lepto vac, BVD free, M/ Bovis bulk test clear

•

Woodland Trust - 63 Fsn/FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 107, PW 117

•

BJ & AT Bird Partnership - 43 Fsn/ FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 98, PW 103

•

Luke Bird Trust - 29 Fsn/FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 112, PW 109

570ms/cow 2017, 490 ms/cow 2018, OAD since xmas

Calving from 20 July to Jsy bulls, out 20/12

•

Condition score 5+, som cell avge 180,000

All vetted in-calf and have in-calf warranty

•

HB shed, dry cow Bovaclox, blanket teat seal

Farmed on Taihape rolling country from weaner hfrs

•

BW‘s up to 185

for you

Wairarapa Bull Walk 17th May, 2018. All visitors welcome.

FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK AGENTS: Pat Sheely 027 496 0153 Kelly Higgins 027 600 2374

FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK AGENT: Brent Espin 027 551 3660

EARN FARM SOURCE REWARD DOLLARS ON ALL FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK PURCHASES & SALES* T&Cs apply. See nzfarmsource.co.nz/rewards

COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS

DETAILS: •

PAYMENT TERMS: Payment due 21/11 2018. Great vendor consideration. Delivery asap following auction. Catalogues available from auctioneers or online. Contact your local Farm Source agent for details and photos.

Angus Cattle bred and tested under

ANNUAL AUCTION OF OUTSTANDING FRIESIAN AND FRIESIAN X IN-CALF HEIFERS

LK0092257©

OUTSTANDING HIGH-INDEXED FSN/FSNX HERD AUCTION BW 111, PW 174, R/A 100%

GLANWORTH

PINEBANK

Joe Fouhy (06) 376 7324 Shaun Fouhy (06) 376 8869

Willie Falloon (06) 372 7041

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING Advertise your stock sales in Farmers Weekly

farmersweekly.co.nz

Livestock

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28, 2018

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Looking for a Beef Shorthorn?

Maungahina Sale date 7th of June 1pm

at Maungahina Homestead. 111 years breeding.

Check them out

Maungahina Storm (sons in Sale)

Longview

Kerikeri Bull and Incalf Heifer sale 30 May, 11.30 09 401 9633 - Shane & Dot

Glenrossie

Whangarei Heads Sale June 29, 1pm 09 434 0987 - David 09 434 0718 -Will

Lochburn

Taupiri Private Sales 07 824 6751 - Kelvin

Katikati Sale May 24, 1pm 07 552 0815 - Ken 021 520 244 - Craig

Waimai

Lot 44

Waitomo Private Sale 07 873 6968 - Ron Smith

35 polled Hereford bulls - 5 Horned Hereford bulls - 14 Charolais Bulls - 15 Speckle Park Bulls - 8 pure breed elite yearling Speckle Park Heifers - 10 commercial Hereford/ Speckle Park 20 month Heifers Elite Speckle Park Embryo and Semen Packages Ph Mark or Bruce Mckenzie: 027 415 8696 or (06) 377 4836

Waitara Private Sales 06 754 6699 - Roger

SPRINGDALE ANGUS

Raupuha

Tahuna Sale

Waipawa Sale June 7, 11am 07 378 8979 - Tim

Hiwiroa Sale

Waipukurau Sale June 7, 11am 06 858 5369 - Jim 06 855 4737 - Nick

Corsock

Ongarue Bulls for sale from 1st May-30th June 07 894 6030 - Allan

Mangaotuku

Hinewaka Sale

Stratford Private Sales 06 765 7269 - Jack

BULLS WITH SCALE – TEMPERAMENT – SOUNDNESS – CONSTITUTION – FERTILITY

Masterton Sale June 6, 3pm 06 372 7615 - David

Tall Poppy

Maerewhenua

Blenheim Private Sales 03 572 4013 - Mike

On Farm Bull Sale

Oamaru Private Sales 03 431 2871 - Norman

Westwood

Tuatapere Private Sales 03 226 6713 - Anita

Thursday 31st May 2018 Ngakonui – 12 Noon Lot 4 – Springdale Thor 555

Sires of sale bulls:

Rough Ridge

Ranfurly Sale May 18, 11am 03 444 9277 - Malcolm

PGG Wrightson Livestock National Video Sale Palmerston North Sale May 14, 4pm

Using a n bull in Shorthor eeding ss-br your cro l increase wil program line up bottom to 20%

Glendhu

Heriot Private Sales 03 204 2052 - Fraser

Catalogue available online at: www.springdaleangus.co.nz or www.agonline.co.nz

ENQUIRIES AND INSPECTION WELCOME

Ian & Karenne Borck – RD 4, Taumarunui Ph/Fax: 07 895 3452 – Email: springdaleangus@outlook.co.nz www.springdaleangus.co.nz – or your local agent

Renowned for great marbling producing top quality meat

www.shorthorn.co.nz

Farmers Weekly will be launching Bull Sale results e-Newsletter from the 25th May. Contact Nigel on 06 323 0761, 027 602 4925 or livestock@nzx.com to sign up or feature your sale results and receive weekly updates today.

farmersweekly.co.nz

2353FW

Lot 3 – Springdale Latitude 572

LK0092444©

Rangatira 13-38 Rangatira 13-118 Kaharau 11-831 Kaharau 12-40 Kaharau 13-179 Springdale Clarion 244

Browns

Morrinsville Private Sales 07 889 5965 - Hamish

Mahoenui Sale June 1, 10am 07 877 8977 - Russell

Bullock Creek

Email: mark.maungahina@xtra.co.nz www.maungahina.co.nz

• • • • • •

Ngaruawahia Private Sales 07 825 4763 - John

Aubrey

Orena

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Semex Bred 18 Years

FOR SALE

190 x 6-‐8YR STN bred heavy ANGUS 1/12 2 cycles COWS SIC ANG 50 x 8YR STN bred top ANGUS COWS SIC ANG 5/12

STORE LAMBS 28-‐40kgs B reeding EWES Due Jul/Aug SIL 18MTH FRIES BULLS 400-‐480kgs X STEERS 380-‐430kgs 18MTH A&AH R3YR ANGUS STEERS 520kgs+

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

POLLED HEREFORDS

• 330 Jersey Cows • 75 I/C Heifers • DTC 27th July • Farm Sold • Very Nice Herd • Contact Ross

at Kairuru,28Reporoa (midway Rotoru R2YR BULLS GOING

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A Financing Solution For Your Farm E info@rdlfinance.co.nz

26th March at 1:0 FREE DELIVERY

Contact Grant Aiken Whangarei – 0272 458 82 Ross Riddell – 0272 111 112

Ross Dyer 0274 274 333 333 381

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING

ON FARMGOING SALE JUNE 6 AT 1PM

View on website www.jersey.org.nz/jersey-marketing

SINCE 1979

27TH ANNUAL SALE

All classes of dairy cattle available

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – May 28, 2018

KAIRURU

LOT 4

GONE!

GET THE WHITEFACE ADVANTAGE

Call Nigel

0800 85 25 80

KEVIN & JANE MCDONALD (REPOROA) 07 333 8068 • 027 451 0640 JEFF & NICOLA McDONALD 021 510 351 • kairuruNZ@gmail.com

livestock@nzx.com

For High Performance Moderate birthweight Cattle Bred for the hills

SUDELEY

RICHON/BEECHWOOD

2018 Bull Sale 7th June 11.30am

Tuesday 12th June, 2pm At ‘Meadowbank’ 546 Selwyn Lake Road, Irwell, Leeston

76 Rising 2-year-old Bulls Andrew and Anna Laing Rob Stokes 03 329 1709, 027 253 5625 03 314 8251, 027 757 1673

Rob & Mary Ann Burrows 03 313 2857, 027 263 3582

Hillcroft Angus Hill Country Specialists

Est. 1960

Registered Polled Herefords

7 heife 7 bul

Registered

KEVIN & JANE McDONALD

LINDSA

45 Quiet Meaty Bulls 07View333 8068 0274 5 Catalogue: www.angusnz.com EDWARD SHERRIFF 06 3276591 or 021 704778

OREGON angus 30 BULLS

Tuesday 5th June 2018 – 3pm

PICTURED: Rangatira 13-4

Annual Bull Sale

Tues 5 June 2018, Midday 735 Matahuru Rd, Ohinewai

All bulls fertility tested and fully guaranteed BVD tested clear and vaccinated twice

Sires of Sale bulls: Rangatira 13-50

Rangatira 13-4 (son of Cobra) Stern 358, Meadowslea 176

Malcolm & Fraser Crawford: Matahuru Rd, Ohinewai. Malcolm Ph 07 828 5709; Fraser Ph 0272 85 95 87

HillcroftAngus

OREGON DYNAMITE

AT MORLAND 1464 MASTERTON STRONVAR ROAD KEITH & GAE HIGGINS 06 372 2782

BULL WALK 17TH MAY 1.50PM

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STOCK REQUIRED

Livestock

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Your source for PGG Wrightson livestock and farming listings

Key: Dairy

Cattle

Sheep

Other

HAIN BULL SALE

SPECIALISTS IN GENETICS PERFORMANCE

7th On Property Bull Sale Waikura Station 1620 Pehiri Road Gisborne Tuesday 5th June 2018 at 3.00pm Comprising: 22 Polled Hereford 7 Horned Hereford Enquiries to Steve Goldsbury 06 868 8113 027 446 9969

FRSN/ FRSNX INCALF HEIFERS Wednesday 6th June, 11.00am Start Morrinsville Saleyards A/C Client 70 Frsn/ Frsnx Incalf Heifers, BW109, PW113 Calving 14th July, Jsy Bull. Capital Stock Line. Catalogues available. Contact Tony Blackwood – 0272 431 858

FRSN/ FRSNX HERD DISPERSAL

SOUTH ISLAND DAIRY HERDS

INCALF HEIFERS FOR SALE

Wednesday 30th May, 11.00am Start (Note Change of Day) Morrinsville Saleyards A/C Kung Bros Comprising: 100 Frsn/ Frsnx Incalf Cows, (Recorded)

180 Frsn/Frsn X InCalf Heifers

130 Frsn/ Frsnx Incalf Heifers, BW81, PW83, Calving 1st Aug, Wagyu Bulls, Bulls Out 22nd Dec Contract on Wagyu Calves. $995.00 Contact Dean Evans – 0272 431 092

BW 86

$1,550+GST

PW 101

•

RA95% Amongst this Line are Capital Stock that can be purchased on their PT Codes or as One Line. Stu Walsh – 0274 344 093 Agonline ref: 063797

Calving 10th July to 5 wks LIC Frsn, tailed off Hereford & Friesian Bulls, Bulls out 10th Jan.

34 3-5yr A2/A2 Cows

TB C10, Blanket Dry Cowed, EBL Free, BVD bulk tested neg

RA48% Very Tidy Line of A2/A2 Young Cows Andy Cunningham – 0275 668 243

Catalogues available. Contact Shaan Featherstone – 0276 661 198

BW 8

PW 48

FOR SALE

$1,750+GST

•

Agonline ref: 064679 For photos and more information visit: www.agonline.co.nz

Purebred 114 Cheviot Ewes RW Cheviot Ram 16/4 2th, MA and Ewe Lambs available. Contact Callum McDonald – 027 433 6443

NORTH ISLAND JUNE

BULL SALE DATES SPECIALISTS IN GENETICS PERFORMANCE PGG Wrightson Genetics is a nationwide team of livestock breeding professionals, passionate about improving farm productivity through genetics.

To find out more contact your local genetics specialist or head to www.pggwrightson.co.nz

NATIONAL TEAM. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE.

1 1 1 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 15 18 22 25 25

Raupuha Shorthorn, 10.00am Tarangower Angus & Rockend Hereford, 12.00pm Kay Jay Angus, N & J Kjestrup, 12.00pm Hillcroft Angus, 12.00pm Hain Hereford, Shorthorn & Angus, 3.00pm Wairere Angus, 1.00pm Otapawa Hereford, 12.00pm Oregon Angus, 3.00pm Kairuru Hereford, 1.00pm Merchiston Angus, 2.30pm Dandaloo & Tapiri Angus, 12.00pm Hinewaka Shorthorn, 3.00pm NI Limousin Bull Trail, 1.00pm Ipurua South Devon, 1.00pm Strathmore Hereford & Iona Angus, 1.30pm Pine Park Angus, 11.30am Ranui Angus, 3.00pm Waitangi Angus, 1.00pm Tahuna & Hiwiroa Shorthorn, 11.00am Glenanthony Simmental, 12.30pm Totaranui Angus, 1.30pm Te Whanga Angus, 10.00am Twin Oaks, 1.00pm Atahua Angus, 11.00am Mt Mable Angus, 2.30pm Ngaputahi Angus Bull, 3.00pm Danaleith Angus Sale 9.30am Snake Gully Limousins, 1.00pm Dannevirke Combined Bull 11.30am Motere Angus, 3.00pm Brookwood Angus, 9.00am Riverlee Down Hereford Waiwhero Angus, 12.00pm Elgin Angus, 3.00pm Hallmark Angus, 10.00am Koanui Hereford, 1.00pm Waiterenui Angus, 1.00pm Okupata Hereford Tawanui Hereford Ratanui Angus, 12.00pm Kaharau Angus, 4.00pm

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

Mahoenui Mahoenui Masterton Huntly Gisborne Hawera Masterton Masterton Reporoa Rata Masterton Masterton Cambridge Te Kuiti Te Kuiti Marton Wanganui Waitangi Flemington Waipukurau Pahiatua Masterton Te Akau Kiwitea Dannevirke Pohangina Dannevirke Mangakaramea Dannevirke Waipukurau Takapu Rangiwahia Waipukurau Elsthorpe Stortford Lodge Havelock North Hastings Oparau Stratford Matawhero Gisborne

26 26 27 27 27 28 28 28 29

Whangara Angus, 11.30am Turihaua Angus, 3.00pm Rangatira Angus, 9.00am Matawhero Combined Angus, 12.00pm Turiroa Angus, 4.00pm Forrestview Charolais Matapouri Hereford 12.30pm Mokairau Hereford, 10.30am Wilencote Hereford, 2.30pm Glenrossie Shorthorn/Santa Gurtudra 1.00pm

Gisborne Gisborne Murawai Gisborne Wairoa Marua Gisborne Gisborne Whangarei Heads

SOUTH ISLAND JUNE 1 1 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 11 11 12 14 14 14 15 15 15 18 18 18 19 19 20 21 22

Locharburn Horned Hereford 1.00pm Peters Angus Nethertown Angus, 2.00pm Foulden Hill Polled Hereford Okawa Hereford, 2.30pm Orari George Hereford, 11.00am Grassmere & Capethorne Hereford, Riverlands J Angus, 2.00pm Haldon Station Hereford & Angus, 1.00pm Earnscleugh Angus, Hereford, Composite Martin Farming, 2.30pm Lake Station Herefords, 10.30am Sudeley Angus, Richon & Beechwood Hereford Bull, 3.00pm Fossil Creek Angus & Roseville-Moonlight Charolais, 2.00pm Kaiwara Angus Bull Hemmingford Charolais Bull, 2.00pm Blue Duck Angus Grampians Angus, 11.00am Red Oak Angus, 1.30pm Blenheim Angus, 11.00am Taimate Angus & Burtegill South Devon, 2.30pm Kakahu Angus & Charolais Bull, 1.30pm Centrewood Charolais, 11.00am Matariki Hereford & Woodbank Angus, 1.00pm Te Mania Angus, 12.30pm Stern Angus, 1.00pm Meadowlea Angus, 1.00pm

Lowburn Millers Flat Middlemarch Mayﬁeld Geraldine Cheviot Mackenzie Alexandra Wakeﬁeld St Arnaud Irwell Ngapara Culverden Culverden Agonline Culverden Weka Pass Ward Geraldine Geraldine Clarence Bridge Conway Flats Totara Valley Fairlie

Helping grow the country

MARKET SNAPSHOT

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Grain & Feed

MILK PRICE FORECAST ($/KGMS) 2017-18

6.55

6.32

AS OF 21/03/2018

AS OF 01/05/2018

Prior week

Last year

6.0 5.5 Nov 17

Jan 18 AgriHQ Spot Fonterra forecast

Mar 18 May 18 AgriHQ Seasonal

What are the AgriHQ Milk Prices? The AgriHQ Seasonal milk price is calculated using GDT results and NZX Dairy Futures to give a full season price. The AgriHQ Spot milk price is an indicative price based solely on the prices from the most recent GDT event. To try this using your own figures go to www.agrihq.co.nz/toolbox

WMP GDT PRICES AND NZX FUTURES

7.45

6.25

378

357

333

NI mutton (20kg)

5.00

3.90

379

323

SI lamb (17kg)

7.30

7.20

6.10

Feed Barley

379

378

330

SI mutton (20kg)

5.10

5.00

3.90

218

Export markets (NZ$/kg) 9.20

9.31

9.22

280

276

UK CKT lamb leg

Maize Grain

421

406

PKE

279

273

217

* Domestic grain prices are grower bids delivered to the nearest store or mill. PKE and fertiliser prices are ex-store. Australian prices are landed in Auckland.

INTERNATIONAL Last week

Prior week

Last year

Wheat - Nearest

266

268

227

Corn - Nearest

226

223

209

CBOT futures (NZ$/t)

2500 2000 Jul 17 Oct 17 Jan 18 C2 Fonter r a WMP

APW Wheat

408

321

ASW Wheat

421

408

311

Feed Wheat

321

291

Feed Barley

351

276

PKE (US$/t)

Apr 18 Jul 18 NZX WMP Futur es

South Island 1 7kg lamb

7.5

Ex-Malaysia

120

122

7.0

NZ venison 60kg stag

6006.5

$/kg

3000

North Island 17kg lamb

8.0 7.5 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 8.0

c/kkg (net)

3500

5006.0

5.5

400

5.0

300

4.5

OctOct

DecDec

FebFeb

5‐yr ave NZX DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) Nearby contract

Prior week

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

3215

3205

3340

SMP

1915

1890

AMF

5900

Butter

5660

Last week

Prior week

Last year

Last week

Prior week

Last year

1895

Urea

523

507

Coarse xbred ind.

3.51

3.38

3.75

5900

6125

Super

307

317

Nth Isl 37m

3.60

3.50

3.80

5505

5250

DAP

739

Sth Isl 35m

5.20

5.00

3.90

775

3200 Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

4 weeks ago

Sharemarket Briefing IT WAS another busy week on the corporate front in both New Zealand and Australia as the local reporting season ramped up. After reaching a record high last week the NZX 50 met weakness after a number of results dragged on the index. Comvita said its discussions with an unknown third party ended after they couldn’t agree on a price. The share price is at a ninemonth low and has retreated 30% this year. A2 Milk’s full year 2018 revenue and margin guidance fell short of the market’s high expectations. The company saw selling pressure in subsequent days, however, started to see some respite of late as value begins to emerge following the recent period of weakness. Fonterra increased its 2017-18 forecast Farmgate Milk Price by 20 cents to $6.75 thanks to improved farming conditions in March and April after a challenging spring and summer. Its opening forecast for 2018-19 is $7. However, it downgraded earnings guidance for the full year on the back of lower than expected volumes and higher input costs. The company cut full-year dividend guidance to 15-20 cents per share, down from 25-30 cents. The share price tumbled 6.79%. Market commentary provided by Craigs Investment Partners

16375

S&P/FW AG EQUITY

22233

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

8591

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

8180

$/kg

250 150 May 14

NZ venison 60kg stag

4.5

600

c/k kg (net)

350

NZ$/t

US$/t

3400

Coarse xbred wool indicator

5.5

CANTERBURY FEED PRICES 450

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR

This yr

(NZ$/kg)

3600

Latest price

Last yr

AugAug

NZ average (NZ$/t)

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

Jul

JunJun

WOOL

* price as at close of business on Thursday

Jun

AprApr

FERTILISER

Last price*

3000

Last year

7.50

Australia (NZ$/t)

4000

Last week Prior week

NI lamb (17kg)

Feed Wheat

Waikato (NZ$/t)

6.5

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Milling Wheat

PKE

7.0 $/kgMS

Last week Canterbury (NZ$/t)

MILK PRICE COMPARISON

US$/t

SHEEP MEAT

DOMESTIC

AGRIHQ 2017-18

FONTERRA 2017-18

Sheep

$/kg

Dairy

May 15 Feed barley

May 16

May 17 PKE spot

Auckland International Airport Limited

300

2.5

Oct Jul

Dec Sep

Feb Nov

Apr Jan Last yr

Jun Mar

Aug May

Jul

This yr

Dollar Watch

YTD High

YTD Low

6.55

6.77

6.11

Meridian Energy Limited

3.06

3.07

2.75

The a2 Milk Company Limited Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd Spark New Zealand Limited Ryman Healthcare Limited Fletcher Building Limited Mercury NZ Limited (NS) Contact Energy Limited Air New Zealand Limited (NS)

10.66 13.21 3.47 11.46 6.47 3.23 5.63 3.30

14.62 14.39 3.68 11.70 7.96 3.45 5.66 3.43

7.66 11.92 3.28 10.27 5.74 3.08 5.15 2.86

Listed Agri Shares

3.5

400

5‐yr ave

Top 10 by Market Cap Company

500

5pm, close of market, Thursday

Company

YTD High

YTD Low

The a2 Milk Company Limited

10.660

14.620

7.660

Comvita Limited

5.800

9.210

5.750

Delegat Group Limited

8.650

7.510

Foley Family Wines Limited

1.560

1.600

1.400

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

5.340

6.660

5.340

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

2.950

3.000

2.250

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

2.310

2.450

1.840

PGG Wrightson Limited

0.680

0.690

0.560

Scales Corporation Limited

4.850

5.000

4.350

Seeka Limited

6.900

7.010

5.800

Synlait Milk Limited (NS)

10.160

10.770

6.260 3.100

T&G Global Limited

3.150

3.300

Tegel Group Holdings Limited

1.120

1.240

0.810

S&P/NZX Primary Sector Equity

16375

17332

14417

S&P/NZX Agriculture Equity

22233

23669

18488

S&P/NZX 50 Index

8591

8713

8059

S&P/NZX 10 Index

8180

8451

7640

NEW Zealand dollar This Prior Last NZD vs exchange rates are in a week week year resting mode after sharp USD 0.6930 0.6885 0.7018 falls from mid April to mid EUR 0.5913 0.5834 0.6272 May, Westpac currency AUD 0.9154 0.9167 0.9436 strategist Imre Speizer said. GBP 0.5182 0.5096 0.5452 “The cross rates Correct as of 9am last Friday against the United States dollar and the other major currencies we measure ourselves against have been resting during the past week before what we expect will be a resumption of the NZD downwards trend.” Over the period the NZD fell from UD73.5c to 68.6c briefly on May 15 before recovering slightly to sit at 69.35c at week’s end. US President Donald Trump’s unilateral cancellation of peace talks with North Korea on Friday set off a mild bout of risk aversion in currencies and share markets, Speizer said. He believes the NZD rate against the Australian dollar is the most likely to keep falling because, before Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr’s latest OCR comments, the market thought NZ interest rates were more likely to rise earlier than Australian rates. Since Orr pushed out the time horizon for rate rises pressure had come on the NZD, he said. The NZD had been steady with a slight downwards movement against the Euro all year. Against the British pound the NZD has fallen from 53p to around 51p as initially the market thought Brexit would not be as bad as feared but that sentiment changed recently and the cross rate had steadied. Hugh Stringleman

Markets

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

NI SLAUGHTER LAMB

SI SLAUGHTER COW

NI SLAUGHTER BULL

($/KG)

3.65

7.50

BEEF Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.40

5.35

5.65

NI Bull (300kg)

5.25

5.20

5.55

NI Cow (200kg)

4.25

4.20

SI Steer (300kg)

5.25

5.50

SI Bull (300kg)

4.90

5.15

SI Cow (200kg)

3.65

3.95

US imported 95CL bull

6.88

6.86

7.54

US domestic 90CL cow

7.02

7.03

7.11

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

North Island steer (300kg)

$/kg

6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0

South Island steer (300kg)

6.0

NZ venison 60kg stag

5.5

c/k kg (net)

$/kg

600

5.0

500

4.5 400

300

4.0

Oct Oct

Dec Dec

Feb Feb

5‐yr ave

Apr Apr

Jun Jun

Last yr

Aug Aug This yr

VENISON Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week Prior week

Last year

NI Stag (60kg)

10.60

8.80

NI Hind (50kg)

10.50

8.70

SI Stag (60kg)

11.10

8.80

SI Hind (50kg)

11.00

8.70

New Zealand venison (60kg Stag)

$/kg

11 10

NZ venison 60kg stag

500 8

400 7

300

6 Oct

Oct

Dec Dec 5‐yr ave

Feb Feb

Apr Apr Last yr

Jun Jun

Aug Aug This yr

135

high lights

$110-$125

$134-$152

Medium to good mixed sex lambs at Temuka

Good male store lambs at Feilding

Cattle markets shut up shop; lamb prices rise

he country felt the first real bite of winter that feels like it might stick around, and store cattle sales have virtually shut up shop for now, with most yards reporting low throughput and winter prices. Store lambs are moving in the opposite direction, however, with yet another increase in price, seeing some yards push to historically high levels. NORTHLAND NORTHLAND Unseasonal warm temperatures and frequent heavy showers is keeping grass moving in Northland and brought extra buying power to WELLSFORD last Monday. Selective bidding was evident in the R2 steer pens, where a consignment of 43 Angus-Friesian sold in three lines, with the top two nice clean types which sold for $2.82/kg and $2.99/kg while a third line of more mixed quality made $2.77/kg. Murray Grey-cross, 326367kg, managed $2.84-$2.87/kg, while Hereford-Friesian, 458-532kg, sold for $2.71-$2.72/kg. Friesian and Friesiancross lines earned $2.20-$2.50/kg. Heifers sold on a solid market with a small line of Angus-cross, 340kg, making $2.75/kg, while most other lines of quality returned $2.55-$2.66/ kg. Results were mixed in the weaner pens. A feature consignment of well bred, spring-born Hereford-Friesian saw steers weighing 287kg sell for $1025, $3.57/kg while the top heifers had more weight at 292kg and sold for $900, $3.08/kg. The second cut, 266kg, made $860, $3.23/kg. Other lines of heifers made similar $/kg but were much lighter, and a few lines dropped below $3.00/kg. Lighter steers pushed over $4.00/kg for Hereford-cross, 142161kg, and Angus-cross and HerefordFriesian, 192-198kg. A small yarding of Friesian bulls made solid returns as 191-217kg

PGG Wrightson livestock auctioneer Tim Kyle looks for bids at Canterbury Park last week. More photos: farmersweekly.co.nz

earned $635-$695. A very cold day was a shock to the system at KAIKOHE last Wednesday with a small yarding of 400 head, PGG Wrightson agent Vaughan Vujcich reported. In the R2 steer pens a mix of Shorthorn and beef-cross lines sold for $2.55-$2.68/kg, though dairy-cross only managed $2.30/kg. Traditional and good dairy-beef heifers traded at $2.50-$2.60/kg, while a line of R3 Angus returned $2.45/kg. Interest was limited on weaner cattle and none more so than the heifers. Steers were mainly traditional-cross and exoticcross, and heavy lines hovered around

$3.00/kg, with medium lines slightly improved on that at $3.00-$3.20/kg. Heifers however were a hard sell, with beef-cross lines making R2 money at $2.50-$2.60/kg. One line of good Hereford-Friesian did manage $640, $3.29/kg. A small entry of cows had the better lines at $1.70-$1.75/kg, and medium $1.60/kg. COUNTIES COUNTIES A small yarding of store cattle at TUAKAU last Thursday made the market for good beef steers and heifers was slightly stronger than the

Continued page 45

0088139

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Does arranging livestock finance feel like the tail wagging the dog? HBA 1062R

c/k kg (net)

600 9

($/HD)

5.25

Cattle & Deer

GOOD EWE LAMBS AT STORTFORD LODGE

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Markets

46 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018

Autumn cover encouraging for North Island beef farmers as bull sales proceed With the bull sale season proceeding, North Island beef livestock sales have been boosted by one of the best autumns farmers have experienced for several years. PGG Wrightson North Island Livestock Manager Tom Mowat says ideal climatic conditions have produced abundant feed across most districts. “Farming beef cows is a positive business to be in at present, and plenty of cover on paddocks after an excellent autumn provides even more encouragement to farmers. Selling a weaner calf is a profitable way to farm right now, and makes raising red meat a viable enterprise. There is plenty of quiet satisfaction in North Island saleyards this year,” he said. This year’s national bull sale, in Palmerston North on 14 May, was held for the first time as a video sale. Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn were the three breeds represented. Tom Mowat said steady demand for the bulls was evident. “This sale helps to set the scene each year for bull sales throughout the country in May and June. There appear to be more cows around this season as herds start to rebuild, so demand for bulls should be strong. Prices in Palmerston North were similar to the corresponding sale last year, and the volume of bulls traded was also consistent with previous years,” he said. Top prices among the main breeds were $35,000 for an Angus bull from Te-Mania; $22,000 for a Hereford offered by Capethorne; and $11,000 for a bull from Longview Shorthorns. Aside from the bull sales, Tom Mowat said demand for other livestock is variable. “Weaners are selling at solid prices, especially steers, which are proving more popular to farm than heifers. Trading margins for the latter are under pressure. “Demand for in-calf cows has softened, and prices are down by 10 to 15 per cent on last year’s sales. “Meanwhile sheep traded well in autumn, approaching record prices across all lamb and mutton categories. In mid-May some processors were paying around $7.20 to $7.50 per kilogram for lambs, and trends suggest good demand for sheep will be maintained,” he said.

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week before, Peter Pembroke of Carrfields Livestock reported. Good Hereford-Friesian 1-year steers at 345kg made $1050, with others of 200-280kg earning $610-$860. Lighter steers in the 160-170kg range sold at around $675. A pen of Angus-cross bulls, 215kg, fetched $670, and 177kg, $610. R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 350-385kg, returned $975-$1005 and 1-year heifers, 240-325kg, $670-$850. Younger heifers, mostly Hereford-Friesian in the 140200kg range, traded at $510-$550. At Wednesday’s prime cattle sale boner cows made up the bulk. The best prime beef steers, 580-610kg, sold at $2.70$2.78/kg, and light-medium crossbred steers, 450-550kg, averaged $2.35/kg. Most of the heifer offering was in the 450550kg range and sold for $2.65-$2.75/kg. About 280 boner cows were yarded and the heavier Friesian, 500-640kg, made $1.73-$1.99/kg, while medium types, 400500kg, earned $1.50-$1.70/kg, and lighter $1.30-$1.40/kg. With about 650 ewes and lambs at last Monday’s sheep sale the prime lamb market remained firm with the heavier types selling at $150-$178, and medium $125-$145. Store lambs traded at $105$120, and the best of the prime ewes made $120-138. Lighter ewes returned $80-$115. WAIKATO Specially advertised traditional weaner bulls brought some new faces to the rails at FRANKTON last Wednesday, and the market was solid. A line of five R2 Hereford steers, 418kg, were strong at $2.82/kg, whilst Hereford-Friesian, 447-494kg, softened to $2.71-$2.76/ kg. Hereford-cross heifers, 439-461kg, realised $2.61-$2.65/kg, with HerefordFriesian, 334-470kg, lifting to $2.50$2.66/kg for most. Autumn-born one-year HerefordFriesian steers, 252-292kg, traded at $825-$930 for varied $/kg, whilst their sisters, 264- 326kg, were marginally softer from last sale at $700-$840, $2.58$2.69/kg. Weaner throughput more than doubled and heifers included Hereford, 206-214kg, which made healthy returns at $590-$605, and lighter 168kg, $535. Hereford-Friesian, 222-253kg, were solid at $590-$670. Traditional weaner bulls drew a good crowd and they were not disappointed. Three Angus, 288kg, fetched $1000, $3.47/kg, and the remainder, 197-227kg, earned $600- $655. Hereford, 247- 269kg, were chased to $1040-$1060, with the top end earning $4.29/kg, whilst 185-259kg lines achieved $695- $770, and 151-163kg, $575-$580. The prime market was steady, with Hereford-Friesian steers, 543-570kg, consistent at $2.68-$2.71/kg. Traditional prime cows, 577-611kg, traded at $1225$1305, and Friesian boner cows, 425552kg, lifted to $1.65-$1.88/kg. BAY OF PLENTY BAY OF PLENTY Much of the yarding at RANGIURU was small lines of mixed quality, with few bigger pens. In the store pens 12 R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 363kg, sold well at $2.77/kg, while most of the section was made up of Friesian, 417-454kg, which made $2.45-$2.52/kg. One small line of Hereford-Friesian heifers made $2.70/ kg, while the remainder sold on a firm market at $2.49-$2.59/kg for 377-456kg. Lines of weaners were mainly small, though 24 young Angus-Friesian heifers did feature but lacked weight and quality and sold for $400. A line of earlier born 305kg Hereford-Friesian sold for $820, and Hereford-cross, 200kg, fetched $710. The only steers were Friesian and at 176kg sold for $480. Prime steer prices were very consistent at $2.83-$2.88/kg for all breeds, and one line of Hereford-cross heifers returned $2.64/kg. The boner market enjoyed a lift

as numbers lowered the small offering was much easier to absorb. The top lines, 495-507kg, made $1.81-$1.87/kg, with second cuts of Friesian, as well as Friesian-cross and crossbred all sold over a tight band of $1.72-$1.79/kg. TARANAKI TARANAKI A small yarding between the fair days at TARANAKI last Wednesday received limited interest from the bench. One area that did show strength was a small yarding of Friesian cows which, at 380505kg, sold for $1.67-$1.70/kg. Crossbred, 395-446kg, realised $1.51-$1.58/kg, while two prime Angus-Friesian cows sold to $2.25/kg. Prime numbers were very low but what the section lacked in size it made up for in prices. A price match of $2.86/kg was spent on the only two lines penned – nine Angus & Angus-Hereford, 569kg, and two Devon-cross heifers, 587kg. Store numbers came to a tidy 200 head, with the bulk weaners. A limited number of older cattle made respectable results, with R3 Friesian steers, 516-525kg, earning $2.42-$2.48/kg, and R2 HerefordFriesian steers selling on a steady market at $2.75-$2.79/kg. The heifer pens were more dairy dominant which was reflected in the fact that most lines sold below $2/kg. Buyers picked the eyes out of the weaner pens, though there was not a lot to choose from. In the steer section a line of 235kg Angus-Friesian returned $720, with a few other lines managing $650$680, and the remainder, $530-$570. All beef and beef-Friesian heifers sold in a $550-$620 range, with Hereford-Friesian, 175-180kg, making $3.39-$3.46/kg. POVERTY BAY POVERTY BAY A little over 3000 store lambs were found at MATAWHERO, and these sold on a strong, but marginally weaker market. In general lambs were in quite good condition which pushed the average per head price up to $128. Good ewe lambs were regularly bought for $125.50-$129.50. Medium lines were largely $100-$104, though two pens with big numbers to them made $115 and $125.50. Heavy male lambs were bought at $149-$150.50, with other good lines making $128.50-$141. Medium lines were quite varied, anywhere in the $93-$120 range. Prime lambs weren’t that much more than the store selection, usually $138$158, but a few very heavy types were at $170-$174. Prime ewes were at $110$137, with two lines of light breeding ewes making $80-$95. KING COUNTRY TAUPO The TAUPO sale last Thursday was described as a clear the cupboard out yarding by Central Livestock agent Shane Scott. A few highlights in the pens included R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, which made reasonable money on today’s market at $2.56-$2.74/kg for 365426kg, while Angus & Angus-cross, 458kg, were pushed to $2.84/kg. HerefordFriesian heifers of very similar weight to the steers sold for a 20c/kg discount on them, making $2.37-$2.53/kg, and again it was Angus & Angus-cross that topped the section at $2.68/kg for 414kg. Eight Hereford-Friesian weaner steers, 236kg, returned $800, while two small lines of Angus, 133-195kg, fetched $570$710. The heifer section had more in the pens but a larger instance of dairy-cross. Most lines traded at $440-$600, though two pens of heavier Hereford-Friesian and crossbred pushed to $650-$680. A line of Speckle Park bulls, 290kg, made $750, and Friesian, 195-236kg, $550-$680.

HAWKE’S BAY HAWKE’S BAY The first glimpse of the scanned-inlamb ewe market came at STORTFORD LODGE last Wednesday, while lamb

prices continued to climb at both sales. With cattle on the menu last Monday the focus returned to the rostrum for a short time. A consignment of Angus ox made solid returns with 584-638kg trading at $3.04-$3.05/kg. All other steers, 480-681kg, earned $2.68-$2.78/ kg regardless of breed, and heifers, 510571kg, managed $2.61-$2.66/kg. The sheep section continued to go from strength to strength. Very heavy cryptorchid lambs were strong at $187$191 with similar males at $169.50- $203 and ram lambs, $192-$211. Medium ram lambs made $161.50-$162. Top mixed-sex lines lifted to $185-$198, with mediumgood to heavy types trading at $130-$160. Very heavy ewe lambs earned a solid $145-$187, with good types returning $135-$145. The ewe market strengthened. Twotooth ewes traded at $110.50- $112. Very heavy mixed age ewes achieved $165-$175.50, and heavy $150- $164. Medium-good to very good types fetched $134.50-$148, and light-medium to medium earned $115-$129, with the tail end improving to $80-$106. Two lines of ewes offered the first glimpse of what the scanned-in-lamb market is going to look like, up $20-$30 at least on 2017. The first pen of very good mixed age Romney ewes were scanned-in-lamb 155% to a Poll Dorset ram and were very early lambing. They sold for $186 while older ewes from the same camp and 140% returned $171. Just over 6400 store lambs were penned. While the cryptorchid and male market was phenomenal, the ewe market went to another level. Most lines sold for $122-$145 on a lifting market, with the medium types trading at $105-$125. These prices were only just shy of the cryptorchid lines as similar weights made $140-$160 and $125-$140 respectively. Medium-good ram lambs sold for $130$145, and good wethers, $137-$145. The sale did offer up a larger number of mixed sex lines and it did seem to slow as it passed through these pens, but prices were still very solid at $116-$151. Winter mode hit the cattle pens after a very busy few months. Just 167 cattle were penned, the smallest yarding since mid-February. A consignment of 18-month South Devon steers and heifers were a highlight, with eight steers weighing 310kg and making $3.01/kg, while their sisters, 344kg, returned $2.76/ kg. Autumn-born Angus-Hereford steers, 279kg, made $970, while a line of wellpresented Hereford-Friesian bulls, 325kg, sold exceptionally well at $1025, $3.15/ kg. Some small lines of good weaners were offered in the heifer pens, with three pens of exotic and traditional selling for $800-$880, while a lighter line of Angus & Angus-Hereford steers, 145kg, sold for $640, $4.41/kg. MANAWATU MANAWATU The much anticipated second in-calf fair at FEILDING lived up to expectations, with top Hereford heifers selling over $2000. Big lines of lambs on Monday were the feature of the nearly 4500 head sheep yarding and the market had a firm tone. Very heavy lines of males and mixed sex traded up to $170-$177. Forward store lambs mostly sold over $140. Ewe prices were again solid. One very good line sold to $167, though most made $102-$137. Better-yielding heavy Friesian cows made prime value at $1.78/kg for 535-700kg but 485-530kg averaged $1.72/kg, and 425450kg, $1.67/kg. VIC Friesian, 450-519kg, made $1.67-$1.73/kg. Results were solid for 40 feeder calves. Hereford-Friesian bulls made $200-$355 and Angus-Friesian, $220-$240. Friesian sold for $190. Heifers were good buying with all trading at $80-$170. Bull dates at the second in-calf heifer and cow fair on Thursday suit more in the region. Good demand meant buyers

Markets

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018 $2.80-$2.84/kg, while heavy unfinished lines made $2.70-$2.78/ kg. Unfinished beef-Friesian made $2.51-$2.65/kg. Angus and Hereford heifers and the better HerefordFriesian were steady at $2.60-$2.70/ kg. Local trade lines traded more in a $2.46-$2.55/kg range. The best for bulls was $2.50-$2.52/kg with one Angus, 540kg, selling to $2.66/kg. Other bulls were well off that pace. Both prime and store lambs at COALGATE on Thursday were subject to strong competition and prices pushed higher. The main feature of the store lambs was a consignment of Corriedale cryptorchid and Downcross mixed sex lambs from Rakaia Gorge. The top line of cryptorchids made $147 while 460 head sold for $125 and the lightest line made $109. Most other lines made $100$148.

PGG Wrightson livestock auctioneer Bryce Ferguson sells prime ewes at Canterbury Park last week. More photos: farmersweekly.co.nz

looking for replacement cows kept the heat in the market and the processors at bay. Traditional cattle dominated, with most coming down from the hill country around Taihape, Pahiatua and Dannevirke. An annual draft consignment of 160 R3 Hereford heifers to an Angus bull on December 1 sold in six lines. The first pen sold for $1970 but the following two pens reached $2140-$2270. Other lines in the consignment sold for $1450$1800. Angus heifer numbers were high and they sold in two main price ranges, $1550-$1610 for the better lines, and $1400-$1540 for the rest. This was $30-$90 down on the first fair while most Angus & Angus-Hereford made $1320$1650. R2 Angus heifers tended to trade at $1100-$1160. There was a noted improvement for cows with few lines dropping below $1000 or $2.00/kg. Per head buying was in play. Traditional lines, 470kg and under, sold to $2.74-$2.81/kg for the majority. Most Angus sold for $1130-$1300, and Angus & Angus-Hereford, $1170-$1280, at an average $2.31/kg. There was a half-decent selection among the 1000 head of store cattle yarded at Friday’s sale. A mixture of straight-beef R2 and R3 steers accounted for nearly half of the numbers available. Traditional R3 steers, 480-600kg, were all bought at $2.80-$2.90/ kg, with a line of 510kg Charolaiscross a little firmer at $2.95/kg. The only R3 heifers was a line of 485kg Herefords at $2.45/kg. Traditional and Charolais-cross R2 steers, 460-520kg, were making $2.85-$2.95/kg, while the 395515kg Hereford-Friesian options were only a down a little on straight-beefies at $2.75-$2.85/kg. Most of the R2 heifers were beefFriesian types, with 340-450kg usually $2.60-$2.70/kg. A small number of 380-425kg Friesian bulls lifted a little again to $2.70$2.85/kg. Friesian bulls were again a feature of the weaner lines. The heavier end of these, 245-300kg, all sold at $810-$950, $3.15-$3.35/

kg, and the rest, 190-235kg, made $690-$810, $3.50-$3.65/kg. Some 195-240kg Angus steers returned to the market at $3.55-$3.65/ kg. The better quality 205-225kg weaner heifers were $2.95-$3.30/ kg across all beef and beef-Friesian breeds. There were 19,000 store lambs to bid on, and these were either steady or weaker than the week earlier. The average price for the sale slipped down to a $132/hd. Generally the male lambs were locked in at the same level as a week ago. A few very heavy types made $152-$169, but the heavy males were mainly $144-$149, easing to $137-$144.50 for the rest of the good lines. Other lighter male lambs were $115-$131. The crowd thinned out by the time the ewe lambs roll around, pushing these down a few $/hd. Heavy ewe lambs were mainly $130$149, good lines made $118.50$136, and the medium pens were still solid at $109-$129.50. CANTERBURY CANTERBURY Heavy cattle are being offloaded into CANTERBURY PARK as winter sets in, while lamb numbers start to run out. Most store lambs were Romney-cross, plus a few Corriedale-cross and Texel-cross lines. Weights were heavier and the market lifted by $25. Two lines of well-bred Romney-Corriedale males met keen interest and sold for $121-$129 while their sisters almost matched at $121-$127. Mixed sex prices were right up there too as the top lines made $116-$136, with just a small portion selling for $80-$115. Most prime lambs sold for $131-$189 though a few pushed to $197. A good percentage of the ewes required at least $140. Top ewes made $170-$252, and the remainder $111-$169. Of the 168 prime cattle penned, nearly 100 were steers, with one Charolais up to 810kg and a number of other lines in excess of 600kg. Traditional and exotic types with the weight made a premium, with $2.80-$2.88/kg found. A few Hereford-Friesian with good yield also reached

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Prime lambs could have been sold twice over. A heavy line of Suffolk lambs topped the section at $198. Very few traded outside of a $140-$198 range, with the cheapest lambs at $125. Most ewes traded at $100-$147, and a small heavier end earning $150$168. A batch of 240 R2 Friesian bulls sold in 14 lines of varying size. Budgets were strictly adhered to as nearly all lines fell in a 304397kg range and sold for $2.37$2.40/kg. A few lesser lines made $2.21-$2.24/kg and a better line pushed to $2.50/kg. The same $/kg was paid for weaner Friesian bulls, 184-247kg. Two lines of R2 heifers and one of bulls sold for $2.27-$2.29/ kg, though the heifers lacked weight at 262-278kg and so the per head outlay was only $600-$630. Angus steers and heifers from one property looked out of place and made a good premium. Steers, 246kg, sold for $840, $3.41/kg and heifers, 188kg, $600, $3.19/kg. Hereford-Friesian steers also hailed from one property and at 120-144kg sold for $360-$400 while heifers of same breeding and 142-201kg made $375-$590. A few lines of prime beef steers managed to push to $2.87-$2.89/ kg, but in general prices eased to $2.60-$2.72/kg. A small line of Speckle Park heifers, 488kg, made $2.62/kg, while all other lines with weight eased to $2.50-$2.56/ kg, regardless of breed. Local trade types sold for $2.30-$2.36/kg, and dairy $1.30-$1.40/kg. Sire bulls sold up to $1.80/kg, while better yielding types made $2.53-$2.58/kg. Boner cow prices eased to $1.44-$1.50/kg, while beef types made $1.78-$1.88/kg.

SOUTH CANTERBURY SOUTH CANTERBURY High prices drew another big yarding of lambs to TEMUKA last Monday while lower numbers in the rostrum on both Monday and Thursday saved the cattle market. More half-bred and Corriedale were offered in the store lamb pens and while there was an overall easing in prices, some sections were steady to lifting. The easing was due to a softer tone for heavy mixed sex at $119-$133, and medium, $99-$114, but those in between were steady to lifting at $110-$120. Heavy male lambs were consistent at $115-$131 with most others making $104-$110 while good ewe lambs were steady at $112-$126. The prime lamb market was very solid at $120-$169 for the majority, with a few lines making it to $170-$180. In the ewe pens a wide variance in prices reflected the range on offer. Top lines made $190-$250, light ewes $80-$107. Most male sheep traded at $110-$150, with 15 wethers making $179. The saving grace for the prime and boner market was that numbers are unusually low. There were two main price brackets for Friesian cows – better types, 496578kg, sold for $1.45-$1.53/kg, and 420-484kg, $1.39-$1.49/kg. Boner heifers made cow prices as most traded at $1.40-$1.52/kg. Smaller tallies worked in favour of the bull section, where 28 Friesian, 554-606kg, firmed to $2.40-$2.44/kg, with 493-650kg Angus and Hereford making $2.36$2.42/kg. The prime market struggled, even with just 27 steers and 18 heifers. Steers made $2.57-$2.66/ kg, though one line of two Angus did manage $2.70/kg. Five Angus heifers, 520kg, sold for $2.63/kg, with Hereford-Friesian, 402-585kg, selling over a tight band of $2.45$2.51/kg. Store cattle numbers dropped to just over 300 head last Thursday. The biggest section was the R2 heifers, with just over 100 head in the pens. It was split between beef-Friesian and dairy though, and so while half the section sold at reasonable levels in the current selling environment, the balance struggled to hit $2.00/ kg. Hereford-Friesian heifers had a slightly firmer tone and most 293-458kg sold for $2.48-$2.56/kg, with one better line making $2.66/ kg, though lesser types dropped to $2.33/kg. A line of six Speckle Park topped the section, selling for $1205, $2.63/kg. Friesian & Friesian-cross, 358-372kg, were discounted to $1.75-$1.80/kg, though a better quality line of straight Friesian, 307kg, made $2.31/kg. One line of R2 traditional steers, 480kg, managed to push to $2.81/ kg, but Hereford-Friesian, 416461kg, eased to $2.50-$2.59/kg. Angus-Friesian, 377-410kg, did improve on that at $2.68-$2.71/ kg to be some of the better selling cattle on the day. The weaner heifer pens was the only section in the younger pens to offer up any decent lines or numbers and a nice line of purebred South Devon, 264kg, topped the section at $730. A line of Friesian bulls, 219kg, managed $520, but the rest of the yarding were unwanted and sold for $90-$150 at well below $1.00/kg.

OTAGO OTAGO All news out of the sheep pens at BALCLUTHA was positive, with lambs lifting at least $10 a head in prime and store pens, with ewe prices also firm, PGG Wrightson agent Alex Horn reported. A cold snap drew out over 3500 store lambs. There were plenty of buyers and prices lifted $10 across the board. The better lines sold to $120-$130, medium $100-$120, and light, $70-$100. The lift was then repeated in the prime pens, though for the better end of the sale some lines increased by up to $20 per head. That meant heavy lines traded at $160-$190, and medium $140$160, with third cuts making $125$140. Strong demand for ewes also meant prices improved. Heavy lines fetched $150-$170, medium $120-$150, and lighter $90-$120. Tail end ewes sold for $40-$70 and rams, $80-$115. SOUTHLAND SOUTHLAND Good quantities of stock continued to flow into LORNEVILLE and there was adequate demand last Tuesday. Heavy store lambs firmed $5 to $105-$120, while prices were steady for medium types at $90$100 and light, $75-$85. Tail end lambs made $60. A medium yarding of prime sheep also met solid demand, and there was a noted improvement in prime lamb prices. Heavy lines sold to $160-$177, up $5-$10 on the previous week, with this margin holding for medium lambs at $135-$155, and lighter, $115-$130. Ewe prices stabilized at $140-$160 for heavy types and light, $80-$100, but medium types firmed to $120-$140. Rams sold for $80-$100. Cows featured again in the prime pens and there was an improvement in the market. Heavy types sold for $1.30-$1.40/ kg, medium $1.20-$1.30/kg and lighter, $1.10-$1.20/kg. Steer prices also firmed with 450kg plus earning $2.45-$2.60/kg, while heifers of same weight held value at $2.40/kg. Bulls, 490kg, made $2.22/kg. Better store cattle met keen interest, though lesser lines proved a harder sell. R2 Hereford-cross heifers, 399-428kg, returned $2.33/ kg, but beef-cross, 360-390kg, only managed $1.94-$2.05/kg. Demand for bulls was limited, and Hereford, 305kg, made $2.29/ kg while Friesian, 534kg, returned $2.15/kg. A consignment of Hereford weaners were good shopping as the bulls, 223kg, made $635, and heifers, 192kg, $575. Friesian bulls, 185kg, earned $470. There was no faulting the sheep markets at CHARLTON with another strong sale last Thursday, PGG Wrightson agent Andrew Martin reported. Top store lambs made $100-$115, medium $90-$98 and light, $80-$85. Top prices of $180 was reached in both the prime lamb and ewe pens. Prime lambs made steady returns at $150-$180 for the heavy lines, while medium types sold for $130-$145, and light, $110-$120. That was almost repeated in the ewe pens, where heavy ewes sold for $150-$180, medium $110-$140 and light, $80-$100. Rams returned $70-$130 to finish off a successful day.

Markets

48 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 28, 2018 COARSE CROSSBRED WOOL INDICATOR

SI SLAUGHTER LAMB

NI SLAUGHTER STEER

($/KG)

BONER FRIESIAN COWS, 420-480KG, AT TEMUKA

($/KG)

($/KG LW)

7.30

3.51

5.40

1.44

high $2.37-$2.40 lights R2 Friesian bulls, 300400kg, at Coalgate

Little risk to deer prices Annette Scott

annettescott@xtra.co.nz

HE deer industry is in a great spot but industry leaders urge farmers to beware of complacency. “We can see the past 12 months as a win for years of ongoing work. It’s been a great team effort and we are happy to have a good year in the industry,” Deer Industry New Zealand chairman Ian Walker told more than 200 people at the annual conference in Timaru. “But while we have made progress there are a lot of work-ons and challenges ahead to keep tackling. “We have made good, solid, measurable progress in terms of industry goals – now it’s about staying ahead of the game.” Walker cited the Government as one of the challenges on the horizon. “With a new Government and an increasing urban voting base it’s going to get more challenging. “As an industry we are going to have a lot more to do in environmental stewardship that will be critical to maintain that social alliance.” Maintaining market premium placements is another crucial challenge. “We are seeing some good gains for the industry but we will need to increase investment through P2P, invest more into farmers – more investment in boots

POLITICS: The Government is a challenge farmers must face, Deer Industry New Zealand chairman Ian Walker says.

on the ground to help environmental stewardship.” Rabobank analyst Blake Holgate said NZ agriculture had generally experienced a good year but farmers should spend the proceeds wisely. “NZ agriculture is very much deciding where it wants to go at the moment – lowcost, nimble producer or high-value, niche market seeker.” Duncan NZ marketing manager Glenn Tyrrell said venison prices are at historic highs and fully priced and the downside risk is low. “What we are seeing today is reward for 30 years of longterm investment, particularly the growth in the United States market. “There’s been a constant

The social licence concept is about solving conflict for future survival. Blake Holgate Rabobank evolution of product, quality, customers, markets and marketing.” Venison should continue to outperform all other dryland livestock farming options. “This is $4/kg higher than lamb, which is also well priced, and we believe it is a sustainable situation.

The US economy is strong with consumers having developed a desire for natural, grass-fed proteins with little competition for professionally farmed deer. “What we are seeing today is the reward for long-term investment with the US now the number one venison market,” Tyrrell said. Velvet is also recording strong demand and prices driven by the maturity of the Korean market and growth in China. DINZ market manager Rhys Griffiths said $30 million worth of velvet was exported to China this season and the timing is right to promote NZ velvet and improve confidence in its use. “Keeping ahead of the game will be about strengthening our premium position, diversifying markets through strategic partnerships. “These strategic partnerships give a connection of the brand to consumers. “A new market established in the past year is now consuming 25% of NZ velvet. We are now sending 720 tonnes to South Korea. Before, it was 450t.” Velvet exports have more than doubled from $30m in 2014 to $70m in 2018. In future, the new Regulatory Control Scheme (RCS) providing a pathway to China will play a big part. “The timing is right now to improve the confidence of these influential Chinese companies and what you do as farmers on your farm matters to RCS,” Griffiths said.

$1970-$2270 Good R3 Hereford heifers, VIC to Angus Bull 1st Dec, at Feilding In-Calf Fair

It’s a good start to in-lamb ewe market SCANNED-IN-LAMB ewes are starting to trickle into the sale yards and with such high prices this year expectations for this market are equally as high. We caught a glimpse of Suz Bremner what will be for this market at AgriHQ Analyst Stortford Lodge last Wednesday as a consignment of mixed age and 5-6 year ewes were offered. There were not big numbers but enough to get a gauge of where prices might lie. The first pen up was a line of 82 mixed age Romney in very good condition and scanned 155% to a Poll Dorset ram. As these are early lambing ewes (rams went in early February) they will suit only a limited buying bench but with two genuine buyers interested it was enough to push them to $186. The successful bidder was Geoff Alexander from Puketapu and I caught up with him after the hammer fell. For Geoff it is an annual practice to top up numbers after his own scanning and having sold his dry ewes recently for $168 he had a fairly good budget to play with. He typically expects to pay about $25 more than his top dries made, which is processor value, and he was prepared to go to $190. The early-lambing ewes suit him and he targets the first few sales that offer up what he is looking for. “In my experience they only get more expensive from here on in. I need the ewes so it is best to get in early.” The older ewes with a one-year mouth and 140% scanning sold to a different buyer for $171. Just to put these prices into perspective, last year similar ewes at these early sales were making $130-$150. If you are planning on selling in-lamb ewes the best practice is to have them scanned and better still have a lambing percentage, as they make an obvious premium over run-with-ram lines. suz.bremner@nzx.com

MORE FROM AGRIHQ: MARKET SNAPSHOT MARKET WRAP

Bag a Tractor 2017 promotion results: There was unfortunately no exact number plate match and therefore no major prize winners for the Bag a Tractor promotion. We would like to congratulate Japie Jordaan, who entered the closest number plate guess and received a runner-up prize. Japie is pictured at his prize handover with Pioneer Regional Manager - BOP, Robin Billett and PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative - Te Puke, Ben Webster.

For more information on the results of this promotion, visit: www.pggwrightson.co.nz/Bag-a-Tractor Freephone 0800 10 22 76

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