Farmers Weekly NZ October 28 2024

Farmers plead for better drought calls

Fiona Terry TECHNOLOGY Weather

AS SOME farmers in the Top of the South grapple with the long-term effects of the severe drought of earlier this year, calls are going out for more comprehensive weather monitoring systems to ensure those experiencing extreme dry in future receive the government recognition they need.

This year’s weather event in the Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough districts was highly localised. The result was some farmers and growers struggled for months before the official declaration of regional drought on March 14.

It’s like getting information through a dirty windscreen when what they need is a pair of binoculars.

This meant help in the form of tax concessions was delayed, as well as government support to the Rural Support Trust to help bolster the community through events like Drought Shouts.

To assess the level of need, the government uses data from NIWA’s weather stations, said

the Rural Support Trust’s Richard Kempthorne.

“NIWA has very few weather station sites in the region that include soil moisture levels, and if the ones that do exist aren’t in the driest affected areas, then the predictions the organisation’s giving to the government doesn’t provide a clear picture throughout the district,” Kempthorne said.

“As an organisation they are aware of this, and we in the rural sector need to be more proactive with [the Ministry for Primary Industries] in highlighting the lack of adequate monitoring, and the levels of drought being experienced.”

To avoid categorisation of regional drought being delayed again, Kempthorne urged NIWA to work with farmers to find a solution.

“One solution could be to allow people who live and farm in the vicinity and who are capable, to oversee monitoring in their area. It would be essential, though, to have an agreement that those weather stations be recognised by NIWA.”

Some farmers are already bracing for the possibility of another drought this coming summer, he said. “In badly impacted areas a number are taking measures by not fully replenishing stock sold off during the last drought, which means a drop in income further down the line.”

Continued page 3

Shedding new light on strong wool

Creative designer Sophie Poelman and Alain Brideson, a globally recognised industrial designer, have launched Lof, a wool products brand that pushes the boundaries of wool’s design possibilities.

SHEEP & BEEF 17

Leader in the field questions approach taken by NZ Food Safety to drench resistance.

NEWS 5

European market is increasingly prey to adulterated or entirely manufactured ‘honey’.

NEWS 7

Sonja Read

Wetland was ‘ready to explode’: neighbour

Build-up of plant litter left area vulnerable to fire, says retired farmer.

NEWS 8

Drive to double exports is not the sort of ambition to inspire farmers, says Daniel Eb.

OPINION 13

Photo:

Brent Boyce LIC

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News in brief

Former Fonterra CEO dies

Former Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings has died after a brief illness. His family said Spierings’ death, in the Netherlands last Saturday, was unexpected. A Fonterra spokesperson said the co-op was saddened to learn of Spierings’ death and “our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time”.

Alliance board hopefuls

Three candidates have been nominated for the election to fill two positions on the Alliance Group board.

Livestock

43-51 Markets

52-55

56

The candidates are Gray Baldwin from Putāruru in South Waikato, Cameron Black from Riverton in Southland and Matt Iremonger from Tai Tapu in Canterbury. Voting opens on Wednesday, November 13.

Aussie beef influx

Nearly 2000 tonnes of Australian beef were imported into New Zealand from July to September this year, the largest volume over a three-month period since at least 2010.

This was partly due to the low availability of killable prime cattle through early winter and up to mid-August, which drove up prices, causing some retailers to look across the Tasman for lower priced beef.

Ryegrass data out

Plant breeders wanting farmers to make better ryegrass cultivar choices say the justreleased 2024 National Forage Variety Trials results are a great place to start. Now in their 23rd year of operation, the NFVT summaries are updated annually with the addition of new data gathered from the 25 trials operated across the country each year.

The trials are run on industry-agreed standards and independently audited so farmers can have complete trust in the performance data for each cultivar across several regional locations.

AGM elections freshen DairyNZ board

Brown will become DairyNZ chair following a formal board process within two weeks.

RICHARD McIntyre has been elected and Jacqueline Rowarth re-elected to DairyNZ’s board at the organisation’s annual meeting in Christchurch.

DairyNZ chair-elect Tracy Brown said she is excited to have Rowarth and McIntyre on the board.

“They are committed dairy leaders who will play an important role in supporting the progress of DairyNZ and dairy farming in New Zealand,” she said.

Together I feel we have always done what is right rather than what is easy.

Jim van der Poel served his final day as chair where he was formally thanked by DairyNZ and others across the sector and country for 25 years of leadership in DairyNZ and the wider dairy sector.

A video tribute included messages from Sir Dryden Spring, Dame Jacinda Ardern and Barbara Kuriger.

“We wanted to acknowledge Jim’s tremendous contribution to the sector on behalf of the dairy farmers of New Zealand,” Brown said.

“He has been involved in supporting the sector through the Mycoplasma bovis biosecurity incursion, changes in government and environmental policy change.

“Despite the challenges, Jim showed time and time again he was a strong leader for dairy and

Areas like Ward and the Waihopi Valley in Marlborough, and Moutere Valley from the coast to St Arnaud – which were severely impacted by the recent droughts – desperately need their own monitoring, said farm consultant Brent Boyce.

Boyce lives in one of the worsthit areas, Dovedale in Tasman, and has offered to oversee the management of a weather station on his property, he said.

He points out NIWA could also use satellite data from SPACE TM to gain a more accurate picture of drought across the whole of New Zealand.

“This technology’s been accurately measuring the grass growth from space for a number of years so data’s available NIWA could tap into,” said Boyce, a FarmWise consultant for LIC.

“It shows pasture growth and colour and gives visibility of the

situation in all areas, not just those around established weather stations. NIWA could use this to augment their monitoring process.”

NIWA has five categories of measuring drought – dry, very dry, extremely dry, drought and severe drought, said Boyce.

advocated for the best outcomes for farmers.”

Van der Poel said he was grateful for the part he has played in the sector over the years.

“It has been my privilege to not only lead within our sector, but to serve beside fellow dairy farmers.

“Together I feel we have always done what is right rather than what is easy and that is why we continue to be a worldleading dairy nation and a huge contributor to the wellbeing of this country.”

Brown said DairyNZ will consult on lifting the farmer levy investment, with that consultation occurring early next year with levy payers.

All resolutions were approved, including having David Hunt ratified as an independent director. In the absence of any formal nominations for the directors’ remuneration committee, Ellen Bartlett will fill the vacancy for a year.

“During the worst of the weather event earlier this year, according to NIWA, the situation was just categorised at ‘extremely dry’ when clearly some areas were experiencing ‘severe drought’.

“For the government currently it’s like getting information through a dirty windscreen when

actually what they need is a pair of binoculars.”

Even just acknowledgment that a problem exists can bring relief to some, who then feel heard and recognise they’re not alone in their battle, said Tapawera farmer Brent Hodgkinson.

“The Drought Shouts put on by the Rural Support Trust brought people together, which was really good for everyone’s state of mind, and gave access to a consultant to give advice.”

Fifth-generation farmer Hodgkinson, who farms 800 hectares in Tadmor Valley near Tapawera, was so desperate last summer he had to buy in water for his cows and sheep for several weeks.

At $500 a tanker of 14,000 litres, this was no cheap exercise and when it became evident reprieve was nowhere in sight, he sent 60 cows to the works, and moved calves and store lambs off early via a stock agent.

“I feel fortunate I managed to find alternative grazing further south for the remaining 80 cows because that freed up the supplementary feed they’d usually have needed through winter.”

Instead he used it to keep his 4000 ewes healthy at a time of zero grass growth.

“Despite the extreme drought, I believe NIWA’s weather monitoring stations were only recording ‘extreme dry’,” he said. On Peter Moore’s farm in Upper Moutere, some streams remain dry even now. Moore has 460ha in Upper Moutere and due to the dry was forced to destock significantly, selling 1200 winter trade lambs early. In addition, lambing has been down 17% because of the drought – the result being 800 less lambs than last year.

“That’s going to have a big impact on next year. We’re only spending money on the very barest of essentials and cutting costs everywhere we can,” he said.

THANKED: Jim van der Poel served his final day as chair and was formally thanked for 25 years of leadership in DairyNZ and the wider dairy sector.

Jim van der Poel DairyNZ

LACK: The Rural Support Trust’s Richard Kempthorne says ‘we in the rural sector need to be more proactive with the MPI in highlighting the lack of adequate monitoring’.

Photo: Tim Cuff

How pines have chopped away at stock population

Neal Wallace NEWS Land

NEARLY 270,000 hectares of sheep and beef farmland were converted to forestry between 2017 and 2024, removing an estimated 2.7 million stock units.

This is based on estimates by Beef + Lamb New Zealand (BLNZ) chair Kate Acland that for every 100,000ha planted in trees, about 1 million stock units are removed. And more reductions could be coming.

“While on one hand the decline in stock numbers means our sector has already dramatically reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions and warming impact, the way it’s happening is simply not sustainable,” Acland said.

Changing land use to forestry is continuing, albeit at a slower rate, which Acland said will further lower sheep and beef numbers in the coming years.

A report by Orme and Associates for BLNZ found 51,291ha of sheep

and beef farmland were sold for afforestation between 2022 and the first half of this year.

It says 69,750ha were sold for carbon forestry between 2020 and the first half of this year. An additional 78,128ha have been sold for commercial forestry since 2017.

Of the 261,733ha sold into forestry since 2017, 36% or 94,434ha, were bought by overseas investors.

The report notes a slowdown in activity in 2023 and 2024 with figures expected to be much lower than in the previous four years.

This reduction appears to be linked to policy uncertainty about the future role of forestry in the Emissions Trading Scheme.

The Orme report analysed ownership of 758 properties classified as pastoral or forestry which was transferred from January 1 2022 to June 30 2024.

Of those, 140 (18%) were identified as destined for conversion from pastoral land to forestry compared to 22% in the 2020-2022 period.

The predominant land classes

being sold for forestry conversion from 2017-2023 are Land Class 6 (57.2%) and Land Class 7 (29.4%).

We urgently need limits on these whole-farm sales.

Kate Acland BLNZ

In the past year the report found a significant reduction in interest from forestry companies investing in the Gisborne region due to the environmental impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle and discussion there about the future of land use.

The North Island remains the main area for farm sales into forestry, with increases in Taranaki and Waikato.

Acland said in its latest quarterly plan, the government intends to “announce policy direction to limit farm conversions to forestry on high-quality land to protect food production”.

She also noted election promises about placing a moratorium on whole-farm conversions on

land classes one to five. She said she would welcome some restrictions on Land Class 6, the highest proportion of land sold for conversion but also the main class of land used by sheep and beef farmers.

“Our big concern remains whole farms being sold for conversion to forestry, particularly for carbon farming. We urgently need limits

on these whole-farm sales.” BLNZ is not anti-forestry, she said, and acknowledges its role in meeting NZ’s climate change goals and the integration of trees within farms.

“We’re not saying there should be zero offsets available. We just want some limits around the conversion of whole farms into forestry for carbon credits.”

SFF shareholders perk up at Alliance prospect

Neal Wallace NEWS Production

THE Alliance Group’s capital raising programme is attracting both domestic and international interest, according to its chair Mark Wynne.

And it has sparked interest among Silver Fern Farms shareholders after the company offered to assist Alliance with its process of raising between $100m and $140m in new capital.

SFF has recently started its series of nationwide shareholder meetings and chief executive Dan Boulton said feedback on the company’s offer has so far been positive.

Alliance is in the first instance turning to shareholders to source the new capital through increasing stock retentions until they have the required number of shares according to the livestock supply.

We’ve seen encouraging interest from both international and domestic parties.

Mark Wynne Alliance Group

It has also appointed Craigs Investment Partners to explore further capital-raising options should that route be needed.

“We know there will be speculation regarding our external capital-raising process,” Wynne said.

“While we are at the very early stages of the process, we’ve seen encouraging interest from both international and domestic parties, but for reasons of commercial sensitivity, we will not comment on specific opportunities.”

Boulton told Farmers Weekly that farmers and customers are looking for leadership from the meat sector to address its challenges, and now is the time for a NZ Inc approach to address those.

“That time is now and that is why we have put our hand up,” Boulton said in an interview.

He said he is being transparent about his thoughts on the need for sector solutions, but out of respect for the Alliance capital-raising process declined to speculate what those could entail.

One issue the sector is grappling with is falling sheep numbers and Boulton said while he is optimistic in the future of red meat, to reverse that decline means improving returns for farmers.

That can only happen by meat companies focusing on growing demand and returns from international markets.

Boulton said the timing of his offer to Alliance was driven by the start of the company’s shareholder meetings and was designed to

address an issue many were discussing.

Wynne said earlier that shareholder reaction to the capital-raising programme will be gauged once new season stock starts to flow.

Ultimately the final decision on the future structure of Alliance rests with farmer shareholders. Those options include remaining a co-operative, becoming a hybrid company or selling the entire business.

“It’s important we respect the process and focus on maximising value for our farmer shareholders.

“We will be assessing each opportunity based on strategic fit, value, and expected benefits before making any decisions,” he said.

DECLINE:  BLNZ chair Kate Acland says the decline in the national herd and flock is ‘simply not sustainable’. Photo: Clare Toia-Bailey

Drench direction a dead end, expert warns

Richard Rennie TECHNOLOGY Animal health

ALEADING parasitologist has questioned whether a survey on drench sales conducted by New Zealand Food Safety is too little too late to stem the rate of resistance development in cattle and sheep.

New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) has requested seven to 10 years of drench sales data from animal health companies as it aims to better understand drench resistance.

Te Awamutu company EpiVets has been given the contract to collate the data.

Acting NZFS director Jen Radich described the survey as an “exploratory exercise” to better understand how anthelmintics are used, and the decision-making process that drives their use on NZ farms.

The problem is vets there don’t know enough about resistance management and it’s the same here, or even worse as they are incentivised to sell drench.

Dr Dave Leathwick Parasitologist

Rising incidences of drench resistance are estimated to be costing farmers about $100 million a year.

But AgResearch parasitology scientist Dr Dave Leathwick believes the move may come too late, as drench resistance becomes endemic throughout the country and stock types.

Work by him late last year revealed triple drench resistance now exists in cattle, coming only 16 years after double resistance developed.

“They are obviously starting to

take it [resistance] seriously. But drench resistance has now become quite complex. We are still seeing a lot of farmers who don’t test, and only find resistance when they have dead sheep, or now more often cattle, in the paddock.”

Industry insiders believe the move by NZFS may be a first step to making drenches a prescriptiononly product, issued by vets as antibiotics are.

But Leathwick does not support such a move. He has just returned from visiting Ireland, where such a process is underway. The European Union requires drenches to be administered via prescription.

“The problem is vets there don’t know enough about resistance management and it’s the same here, or even worse as they are incentivised to sell drench.”

Dr Liz Shackleton, CEO for Animal & Plant Health NZ, said gathering the drench information may help inform and model use.

“But the bigger picture here is about access to preventative medications and animal health treatments. That includes the R&D cost of bringing new actives to NZ, which are significant. It’s about ensuring we have a regulatory system that will allow farmers to have a broad toolkit that includes old, new and borrowed methods.”

Shackleton has been outspoken about the delays NZ has experienced over the past decade in getting approvals over the line for new treatment products.

The New Zealand Veterinary Association said it is not involved in the data project and is unaware of its outcomes.

Radich said the survey information will inform future decision making on drench use, including what role, if any, the regulator may play in reducing risks for animals and farmers.

But Leathwick said the antibiotic market provides an example of how regulated things could become, should drenches also be prescription only.

Antibiotic sales are monitored year in year out on a tonnes sold basis.

Consultative prescriptions have helped use drop off consistently in the past six years, with fewer dairy herds using blanket treatment.

In Ireland farmers by law will require a vet prescription by mid-year.

But this has raised the ire of rural vets and rural merchants, who described the system as unworkable on both sides of the Irish border, and damaging to competition.

Leathwick said the process in Ireland and the United Kingdom has become very problematic.

“In my mind the whole thing is irrelevant. The future of parasite control is not in drench actives, as most soon won’t be of any use to farmers.

“The future lies in farm system change and the likes of the Wormwise programme’s work.”

New law delays ORC land and water vote

THE Otago Regional Council has deferred a vote to adopt its land and water plan after a lastminute government amendment to the Resource Management Act prevents councils doing so until a replacement policy is gazetted.

The move has been welcomed by Otago Federated Farmers president Luke Kane, who said it is appropriate the decision be delayed until the government’s replacement National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) is confirmed.

“It looks like common sense is becoming common,” he said.

Federated Farmers has concerns about many aspects of the plan, such as stock exclusion and a requirement that activities that cannot be managed by a farm

plan need a consent, but Kane said the farm plan system itself is not yet ready.

“We need a delay until farm plans systems are impacted and enabled.”

The amendment means regional councils cannot notify new freshwater plans before the government’s new NPS-FM is gazetted. Otago was first cab off the rank, but the move impacts every regional council, Kane said.

Last year the government added three years to the requirement for councils to notify their freshwater plans and it advised the Otago Regional Council multiple times to delay notifying its plan as it will be superseded by the new NPS-FM.

A majority of Otago regional councillors have ignored that directive and pressed on regardless.

ORC chair Gretchen Robertson said the council has worked closely with the government, but

their stance “is a change”.

“We now need to take some time to consider the implications of this for the Otago community who still need these issues to be addressed.”

Robertson said Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has consistently said regional councils retain the autonomy to decide when to notify their plans.

She said that “the amendment signals a shift in law and thus government stance”.

The current water and waste plans are still operative and Robertson said the delay will provide time to understand the changes the government is making to the NPS-FM.

Another concern raised by the government is the lack of detail quantifying the impact of the plan on farmers and businesses, and Robertson said more information will be collated and given to the government.

FULL OF WORMS: Scientist Dr Dave Leathwick believes looking back over past drench data will not be a great deal of help to NZ farmers dealing with resistance into the future.

Neal Wallace NEWS Regulation

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Fight against fake Euro honey heats up

Richard Rennie MARKETS Apiculture

EUROPEAN beekeepers are moving to try to knock fake and adulterated honey off supermarket shelves as members go broke amid a wave of the products now on the market.

Apiculture NZ has supported calls by Apimondia, the international beekeepers’ association, to work at an international level to clean up the honey market up to preserve product value – and beekeepers’ futures.

A European Union survey conducted in 2021 revealed 50% of the honey imported to the EU was fake, adulterated or counterfeit.

But more recently the DNA results of honey tested off German supermarket shelves revealed 80% of all samples taken were adulterated honey.

Of particular concern has been the more recent arrival of “nonhoney honey”, made without using bees but sold as the genuine item at significant discount.

In a video presentation, Bernhard Heuvel, president of the EU Beekeepers Association, said the technology now is such that honey of “any colour and any taste” is available and is capable of passing the lab test for honey authenticity.

“Labs look for sugar profiles and if the profile matches honey’s profile, it is a pass regardless of the sugar type.”

He said it is not easy to mimic the sugar profile of honey, and how it is done was still being investigated.

“But what we suspect, it is modern technology using genetically modified bacteria.

They basically programme the bacteria to produce enzymes, and those enzymes can produce any sugar profile you want.”

The bacteria is thought to be Bacillus subtilis.

In 2021 the United States acted against fake Chinese honey imports on behalf of beekeepers.

The global market had experienced a 130% increase in Asian honey export over a decade, despite only small increases in hive numbers. The action was successful, with companies fined for faking.

There was a lot of angst when the Ministry for Primary Industries came out with a scientific definition [for Mānuka], but this has ensured our product is true to label.

Karen Kos Apiculture NZ

However, product importation has since shifted significantly across the Atlantic to Europe.

Some companies that advertise the technique are not adulterating honey but marketing it as “vegan honey” made without bees.

“But criminals are using this tech to produce sugar profiles like honey to adulterate real honey and make money, they flood the market with the stuff,” said Heuvel.

The significant price discount it is sold at is often an indicator of the fakery.

Germany is a significant market for New Zealand’s Mānuka honey, accounting for $30 million sales in 2023.

Apiculture NZ CEO Karin Kos said the greatest assurance NZ

can provide consumers there is through NZ’s certification process, which begins with a formal, scientific definition of Mānuka honey.

“All NZ’s Mānuka has to meet MPI’s scientific definition before export and this assurance applies to any product retail packed in NZ. And here in NZ we do not allow honey imports, so it is not something consumers here have to be worried about.

“There was a lot of angst when MPI came out with a scientific definition, but this has ensured our product is true to label.”

She is unsure about the potential for any bulk exported product to be manipulated once exported.

But honey producer and exporter Jason Prior of Downunder Honey said the global impact of fake honey has been to suppress the price of multifloral table honeys to a less-thaneconomic return for producers.

Multifloral will often be exported as bulk product.

“The multiflorals tend to get forgotten about a bit. But we are now probably only producing 60-70% of what we used to. Table honey prices have been suppressed by at least 20% over the last 15 years due to this Chinese activity.”

An industry insider told Farmers Weekly bulk multifloral honey from NZ could be particularly vulnerable to adulteration.

“If there is a price differential and a will, there is a way.”

In the EU, Estonian beekeepers, many of whom had been forced out of business due to cheap fake product, have pushed back by backing a new method to identify fake honey.

This is now being elevated on a European scale, alongside a “fight fake honey” campaign.

Synlait CEO Grant Watson resigns

Staff reporter NEWS Dairy

GRANT Watson has resigned as CEO of Synlait.

Synlait chair George Adams said there had been a long list of urgent challenges for Synlait in recent months and Watson had ably led the team through them.

“His achievements are extensive and notably include our balance sheet’s recent, successful reset.

“Grant’s tenure has been incredibly busy – notably resetting Synlait’s strategy to reduce our customer and market concentration risk, commercialising plant-based production at Pōkeno and our foodservice business in Canterbury, extending our reach into southeast Asia, maintaining our China market access, and building an outstanding executive team.

“He has set a strong platform for Synlait going forward. The board is extremely grateful for this and wishes him all the best.”

Watson took up the role in January 2022 and has overseen the company through an unprecedented era in its history.

Watson called Synlait “an amazing and agile company”, which he was honoured to lead.

“Working with our passionate employees and farmers who care deeply about Synlait’s success has been a privilege.

“Our team’s determination and dedication to deliver has also been a real highlight. I wish Synlait all the best for a successful future.”

Synlait’s board will commence a global recruitment process.

Dairyworks CEO Tim Carter has been appointed acting CEO of Synlait and Dairyworks’ CFO Aaron Kenny will act as Dairyworks CEO in the interim.

GENUINE: Apiculture NZ CEO Karin Kos says NZ’s efforts to scientifically define and test Mānuka honey prior to retail processing should give European consumers peace of mind they are buying the genuine article in a market full of fakes.

Wetland was ‘ready to explode’: neighbour

Gerald Piddock NEWS Fire

THE large vegetation fire that has spread through the Whangamarino wetlands in northern Waikato came within 100m of retired farmer Peter Buckley’s home on Island Block Road.

The former dairy farmer and Waikato Regional Council chair and wife Judi now

live next to the farm having sold it.

The farm lies adjacent to the southern part of the 7000 hectare wetland, which is a nationally significant site for the Department of Conservation’s Arawai Kākāriki wetlands restoration programme.

The fire came close to his home on October 22 but has since been pushed back and is now burning some 5km away, he said.

The fire has largely kept away from any pastureland with nearby farm and housing infrastructure and livestock not in any danger.

It also stayed away from a wetland Buckley helped create during his time farming thanks to a large, 100-200m long planting of willow trees on the border of this wetland which the flames could not pass.

He and neighbouring houses also had a visit from Fire and Emergency New Zealand staff to make sure they were safe.

“They had fire trucks and services available around all the houses as the fire came down the road to protect them. Out behind my house when the fire came in they had six helicopters controlling the fire.

“They did a really good job.”

He was also thankful to them for stopping the fire spreading to the northern side of the Wetland. The district has had an influx of new people and Buckley said they may not be aware of how the wetland can burn.

I’m 72 and ... I’ve seen it burn about 10 times in my lifetime.

Peter Buckley Waikato

“The fire went through reasonably quickly and up the road, where they were three houses next door to it. There were about 10 appliances there ready to go and it gave the residents a lot of relief that they were around.

“My wife and I, we kept a bag with money and passports so if we had to evacuate we could, and I spoke to a couple of neighbours and they did the same. It’s just a precaution you take.”

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Ash from the fire has covered their home and as a precaution they have disconnected their tank downpipes to prevent potential contamination.

Buckley said the last time the wetland caught fire was 1989 and over the years a large amount of vegetative litter had built up. The wind and recent dry weather had elevated the fire risk.

“From my experience, and I’ve been here all of my life, you could see that at some stage it was ready to explode – and it has.

“I’m 72 and ... I’ve seen it burn about 10 times in my lifetime.”

But he is confident that in time the wetland will recover like it has in the past.

This latest fire has been one of the worst he has seen, with flames reaching 6-9m high – visible over the tops of the trees from his home.

After three days, the large vegetation fire near Meremere is now under control with FENZ crews standing down its air operations on October 23 with the fire now contained and controlled.

The fire remains at 1024 hectares with a 15-kilometre perimeter. Incident controller Mark Tinworth said they will continue to have a presence at the site as the fire will take some time to fully extinguish due to where it is burning in peat and wetland.

The origin and cause of the fire have not yet been confirmed.

BURNING: The fire at the Whangamarino wetlands in northern Waikato spans 15km and has burned more than 1000 hectares of land.

Photo: FENZ

Public Works Act looms over landowners

Richard Rennie NEWS Regulations

THE all-powerful Public Works Act is likely to feature in the lives of more rural New Zealanders as the government ramps up its infrastructure programme in coming months.

Richard Rodden, property law expert and Public Works Act (PWA) specialist and partner with Tavendale and Partners, said there is a lot happening in the PWA space.

This includes the recent release of 149 projects added to the Fasttrack Approvals Bill to address the infrastructure deficit, and the review of the PWA itself to make it easier to build critical infrastructure in New Zealand.

Having worked on the other side of the legal fence for The Property Group assisting Crown and councils on acquisitions for infrastructure, he appreciates the sensitivities that go with such a powerful Act.

The PWA gives the government the ability to acquire land from private landowners to build or develop public infrastructure projects. The PWA outlines the process that must be followed to ensure the rights of private landowners are considered and

protected, including the payment of compensation for any land acquired.

Rodden has dealt extensively with rural landowners impacted by the previous government’s efforts to upgrade rail links, particularly with landowners affected by the Marsden Point Rail Link and the rail stations project south of Auckland.

“But we are now seeing the government’s priority change to roading. This includes the likes of the Brynderwyn Hills highway, the Cambridge to Piarere expressway, and the Woodend bypass in Canterbury.”

I think there will be a few landowners across the country already who have received a letter, or request for a meeting with an accredited negotiator for the Crown.

Richard Rodden Tavendale and Partners

He said the fast-tracking of projects aims to enable the PWA aspect of the consenting process to occur more quickly. Engagement by the Crown on projects like the Woodend bypass and Cambridge to Piarere expressway has

commenced and negotiations are getting underway.

The government-initiated PWA review was for a piece of legislation Rodden described as “not particularly sexy”, but one that unless was used regularly, was full of legal nooks and crannies making it tough to follow.

“And the legislation is becoming quite archaic. There is a lot of discussion around reform of the RMA which came into law in1991, but the PWA was passed 10 years before that. Since then, we have had a new Property Law Act, a new Land Transfer Act and a new Contracts and Commercial Law Act so it is only right that the PWA is also reformed.”

He said the PWA matters because it provides the Crown with the greatest of powers. That is to enable the compulsory acquisition of private property.

The Act contains some clear conditions around timing and expectations for negotiations with landowners.

Once a landowner is notified about a land requirement for acquisition, the Crown has an obligation to negotiate in good faith for three months, after which the affected landowner can object through the Environment Court.

“The fact that land is being acquired for a public work does not affect the land’s value or the

amount of compensation to be paid. The value of your land will be based on the amount the land would be expected to be sold for if sold on the open market. The value does not include the potential public work that will be done to the land.”

Additional compensation on top of that value can amount to as much as $50,000.

His advice to clients is to engage as early as possible when notified, and often the landowner’s legal team will work to maintain the

NOTIFIED:

Lawyer Richard Rodden says more landowners can expect a letter from the Crown about intentions to use the Public Works Act for fasttracked projects in coming months.

momentum the Crown’s first notice initiates.

“I think there will be a few landowners across the country already who have received a letter, or request for a meeting with an accredited negotiator for the Crown. I have enormous respect for the valuers and experts involved.

“It’s a pretty tough job having these conversations with landowners, many who may have been on their land for generations.”

D

Samuel Whitelock – Plant Science Graduate, Lincoln University

of the countr

the

Canada digs in on CPTPP dispute over dairy quotas

CNigel Stirling MARKETS Trade

ANADA shows no sign of backing down in its dairy quota dispute with New Zealand.

Last Friday the NZ government requested formal negotiations in its latest effort to force Canada to meet the commitment it made under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to a minor opening up of its domestic dairy market to imports from NZ.

Trade Minister Todd McClay said retaliatory tariffs against Canadian exports to NZ are not out of the question if the dispute cannot be resolved.

Under CPTPP rules NZ would be entitled to levy tariffs equal to the damage done to its exporters by Canada’s failure to follow through on its commitments to open up its domestic dairy markets to NZ.

NZ exporters estimate $200 million in lost earnings so far through Canada’s failure to equitably distribute import quotas for 16 different dairy categories since CPTPP went live on December 30 2018.

Canada has already lost one round in the dispute after a panel of international judges last September ruled it had contravened the terms of CPTPP by distributing the bulk of the quota created for NZ exporters to local processors instead.

In response to the panel’s findings, the Canadian government changed up its system for allocating the quota but NZ remained unsatisfied.

In a statement the Canadian government gave no indication it is ready to bend to NZ’s latest demand that it must make fresh efforts to comply to the terms of the 12-country trade agreement it signed up to.

“Canada is very disappointed that NZ has decided to continue to challenge Canada’s dairy tariff rate quota policies under the CPTPP,”

Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said in a joint statement on Sunday.

“We have been through this before and have consistently and successfully defended our dairy sector and supply management from trade challenges under CUSMA [the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement] and CPTPP.”

Canada’s supply management uses a system of high tariffs and domestic

production quotas to protect existing domestic producers from competition from imports and new sources of domestic production.

The system keeps prices for both Canadian farmers and consumers higher than they would be in a market where there was more competition.

As well as NZ’s complaint, Canada has faced similar allegations from the US for its failure to allocate dairy import quotas according to the terms of the CUSMA.

In the CUSMA dispute, however, an independent panel of judges recently ruled in Canada’s favour.

“The government of Canada will always defend our supply management, firmly standing up for Canada’s dairy industry, farmers and workers and the communities they support,” Ng and MacAulay said.

“NZ continues to be an important, like-minded partner for Canada and we will engage in the process in good faith.

“We are confident that Canada’s new policies fulfill Canada’s obligation to eliminate the non-conformity identified by the panel.”

Canada and NZ have 15 days from NZ’s notification of negotiations to commence talks to resolve the dispute.

Top China honour for Plant & Food scientist

Staff reporter PEOPLE

Food and fibre

PLANT & Food Research

principal scientist Dr Brent Clothier has received a top award from the Chinese government

The Friendship Award is the People’s Republic of China’s highest award for “foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s economic and social progress”.

This year there were 73 awardees from 26 countries who the “Chinese government recognised as foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China’s modernisation drive, reform, and opening up”.

The awards were presented last month in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by Shen Yiqin, state councillor and president of the All-China Women’s Federation.

Clothier has worked with Chinese collaborators for nearly 20 years, having especially close links to Beijing Forestry University (BJFU) and China Agricultural University, where he holds adjunct distinguished professor positions.

He has published more than 20 papers with Chinese collaborators on soil-water dynamics, plant physiology, plant wateruse, climate change and water resources.

Clothier was elected an Academician (International) of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2019, the only Academician from New Zealand.

Following the awards ceremony, the awardees and their guests joined 2000 dignitaries for dinner in the Great Hall of the People to celebrate 75 years of the People’s Republic of China, hosted by President Xi Jinping.

Some 1900 foreign experts have been presented Friendship Awards since they were established in 1991, including Plant & Food Research’s former chief scientist, Dr Ian Ferguson.

From the Editor

Following sheep into a new era

Neal Wallace Senior reporter

ADECADE of relative stability in the meat industry appears to have come to an end.

For 130 years this bloodiest of industries was run by equally bloodyminded men who wouldn’t blink twice at preying on weak and vulnerable competitors to enhance their commercial advantage.

The influx a decade ago of senior managers from outside the industry softened that ruthlessness, and news last week that Silver Fern Farms is willing to be involved in a NZ Inc solution to help Alliance Group recapitalise appears to confirm that collegial attitude.

Securing fresh capital is never easy for a co-operative, doubly so for an ovinedominant meat company like Alliance when lamb prices have taken a dip.

In the first instance, Alliance has turned to its shareholders and taken a microscopic look at cash and asset management to raise between $100 million and $140m.

It has provision to look for an outside investor should extra funds be needed.

In a carefully worded statement last week, SFF offered be involved in a solution to assist Alliance to recapitalise, but what form that will take is unknown.

In an equally carefully worded response, Alliance points out the obvious – that it is too early to say what assistance, if any, it would need.

Prior to 2016 when Shanghai Maling took a stake in Silver Fern Farms Ltd, it was in a dire financial state weighed down by debt and with banks calling the shots.

The local solution touted by some farmers at the time was a merger of the two southern companies, SFF and Alliance, to create a strong single entity.

The continual decline in sheep numbers will have the ultimate say in the sector structure.

It never eventuated.

The reality is that the fundamental challenge of the continual decline in sheep numbers will have the ultimate say in the red meat sector structure.

As Farmers Weekly has reported in its Meeting the Market series in recent weeks, lamb faces challenges from its high retail price, the need for new consumer products and the difficulty in getting noticed in a cluttered protein segment.

Alliance has certainly shown innovation.

Its aged beef steak has won awards and new lamb products are being launched in the United Kingdom, but these initiatives take money.

In the coming months it will become obvious whether the capital raising has the support of Alliance shareholders.

The co-operative’s chair, Mark Wynne, has correctly said shareholders will ultimately decide whether that future is to remain a co-operative, become a hybrid or be sold to another entity.

Those options open up some intriguing scenarios.

Could a New Zealand meat company take a stake? Could the previously-touted merger with SFF occur? Could a Fonterraor Zespri-type sector entity be created? Is there a Shanghai Maling equivalent wanting to invest?

Radical change is unlikely and odds are that a mix of Alliance’s extremely loyal Southland-dominated shareholders and management savings will get it over the line.

As we have said, looming challenges remain.

As Meeting the Market discovered, there are people willing and able to eat lamb, albeit not every day or even every week.

Unless we find a way to capture more of those affluent lamb eaters, Alliance’s capitalisation issue could be a precursor to a new suite of issues appearing in the next decade.

Letters of the week Wool: it’s

a stitch-up

Naomi Broadbent Ōhaupo

IN LIGHT of the fact that farmers work hard to produce high quality wool, but lose money in doing so, who is getting the profit?

Knitting and craft wool sells at an exorbitant price for 50 or 100g.

It is immoral and should be investigated.

Bang on target

Chaz Forsyth Dunedin

ALAN Emerson’s column about the current firearms controls, “Current firearms law is wide of the mark” (September 30), concisely hits the nail on the head.

I recall talking with then-MP Peter Hodgson in 1996 (he was in opposition then) about what I’d like to see in law, if starting from a clean slate; I simply said, “Enforce the Arms Act of 1983, its provisions are all there.”

Demonstrable failures to enforce the law and subsequent diversion(s) of funding from the arms programme in 2018, followed by allowing electronic “vetting” in late 2018, [satisfied only] those who believe that the passing of highly prescriptive firearm control laws fixes criminal behaviour. It’s all a bit of a lost cause when (a) almost all (except a score or two annually) licensed firearm owners are compliant, and (b) criminals by definition do not obey laws! We all want the same thing, but some think piling law on top of existing law does it, while the rest of us believe that such a “belt and braces” approach is a waste of public money!

Hunters become the hunted

Simon Gough Warkworth

AS AN ex dairy farmer (and glad to be out of it), I’m pleased to see Southland Federated Farmers pushing back on Fish & Game by denying access across farms to these people. Yes, we all want clean water and most farmers have spent thousands achieving this, with the odd exception.

But good on Southland Federated Farmers. I think they should take it a step further and start fining Fish & Game for Canada geese, paradise ducks etcetera fouling their pastures, not to mention the lead shot that will still be in the rivers from years ago from mis-shots at these introduced species.

Doubling export value is not a great goal

Eating the elephant

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

IMADE a mistake in my last column. I suggested that the new goal for the food and fibre sector – to double the value of our exports in the next 10 years – was a good one. I was wrong. It’s not.

I think I got swept up in the ambition and clarity of it. It’s big, hairy, audacious and clearly measurable. What’s not to like, right?

But on reflection, it’s half-baked. A missed opportunity to really get to grips with the kind of future we actually want.

I have two issues with the goal. First, it’s not actually a great approach to achieve rapid growth. Look at the organisations that have actually achieved a doubling of value in a decade. None of

their goals talk specifically about growth.

Tesla’s ambition was to drive the global transition to electric vehicles. Rocket Lab exists to remove barriers to space. Allbird’s goal was to make the world’s most sustainable and comfortable shoe. Apple’s aim was provide the best user experiences across hardware and software devices. Netflix’s goal was to entertain the world.

For these organisations, value growth wasn’t the goal – it was the byproduct of extraordinary ambition. To just shoot for unprecedented growth without an unprecedented new value proposition is to daydream that business as usual will get you there. In other words, get the goal right and the growth will take care of itself.

Issue No 2: the goal devalues the human side of farming.

Few farmers do it just for the money. It’s about being part of a community, carrying on a legacy, a deep passion for animal and place, autonomy, pride in producing food or any other number of deeply held reasons.

So setting a sector goal to get richer strikes me as something that comes from a board of executives (with performancetied bonuses), not farmers. Great goals – like putting a man on the moon or universal voting rights –get people in behind because they appeal to our values and emotions, not our wallets.

So what’s the alternative? If I had to Venn diagram these two characteristics of great goals –unprecedented value and deeply

held motivation – with what I hear from farmers, a good example of a genuine goal would be the repopulating of rural communities. Turning the tide on urbanisation and returning to the glory days of three families to a farm is a big challenge to be sure. But it may be possible through a redesign of succession pathways, zoning regulations, home and business loans and pathways for on-farm diversification.

I can see a 2030 where young families with shared values club together to lease-to-buy a property from an exiting farmer. The farmer stays on to guide the next generation as they run the existing operation and layer new high-value enterprises onto the farm – agri-tourism, directto-customer food businesses, educational and health services or niche food and fibre products. Throw in some affordable modular housing, favourable zoning regulations and bank loans and presto – you’ve got a growing rural community (and maybe a doubling of sector value too).

Sounds far-fetched? Italy just passed a legislative package of land/equipment grants and favourable tax rates for young people starting agri-businesses. This year’s Ballance Farm Environment Award Canterbury champions are High Peak Station – run as an eight-way partnership running four businesses between two families.

But it’s not about what I think, or what the Italians do for their young farmers. A genuinely great goal will never come from one

more than 10,000 citizen debates across the country.

Setting a sector goal to get richer strikes me as something that comes from a board of executives, not farmers.

person or a boardroom. It has to come from the ground up. People have to lend their voice to it and see themselves reflected in it. Building a goal from the ground up is hard and expensive. But it’s not impossible.

In the wake of the Yellow Vests protests in 2019, the French initiated the Great National Debate to hear the voice of the people. The project included community questionnaires and

It’s hard to say what impact the Great National Debate had. Outside of a poll bump for the president and a diffusion of national tension, the good work seems to have become jammed in the gears of politics. As usual. Despite that inconclusive result, I can see a similar great food and fibre debate taking place here –potentially facilitated through our catchment groups.

Goals are powerful things. Done right, they can kick-start entire industries and build movements. They tell us a lot about who we are, what we value and how brave we are.

Our goal to double export value doesn’t reflect very well on us.

On methane, elephants and Tina Turner ...

In my view

Jason Barrier Waerenga

AS THE “great and the good” gather, behind closed doors, to ruminate on revised methane targets again, one wonders what questions these scientists, politicians and rural leaders will be asking themselves. Here are a few from a sheep and beef farmer they might like to consider.

• Will New Zealand reaching net zero make any significant difference to global warming?

Absolutely not. At 0.17% of total gross emissions (and a lower again percentage of warming if methane is treated sensibly) our efforts won’t even be noticed by the climate and so we need to proceed with caution on the basis that we should not damage our farming economy if we are too small to influence the trajectory of accumulated carbon in the atmosphere.

• New Zealanders will no longer be contributing to climate change once we achieve net zero – correct?

Total bollocks. We could de-

industrialise and de-agriculturalise and reach our national emissions target tomorrow – but we will still be importing food, plastics, clothes, steel, concrete, phones and a huge array of digital services – all manufactured in other

We simply need a pragmatic methane target that allows us to keep our farming industry intact and prosperous.

countries from carbon-intense energy sources. Therein lies the nub of the problem: until carbon is priced at a consumptive level, instead of a national territorial level, much of our carbon production will simply move from one country to the next.

• What are other countries doing about their agricultural emissions?

Not very much. There are presently 193 countries in the world – NZ is the ONLY one with a target to reduce methane from ruminant sources. Norway and

Canada have targets to reduce methane leakage from their fossil fuel pipes. Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland also have targets for total ag GHG reductions but these are largely funded by repurposed subsidy mechanisms. The only non-subsidised food-exporting country with a target that can be compared with New Zealand is Uruguay, which has promised to “cap” methane – allowing it to produce more food if it does so more efficiently.

• Can/should we do anything at all? Why?

Absolutely we can and probably we should. Regardless of any “scientific consensus”, there is a growing political consensus around net zero. Politicians from most countries have signed up to net zero and would be reluctant to walk it back. Additionally, surveys of the general population consistently show that most people are concerned about climate change and think we need to do something about it (so long as somebody else pays for it).

So, notwithstanding the rank hypocrisy of climate protesters in polypropylene vests armed with plastic drink bottles, the masses who descend upon COP each year (leaving a vast cloud of jet exhaust emissions in their wake)

and a government that tells NZ farmers to reduce emissions and then imports plastic carpets from the United States – we can make a contribution to reducing New Zealand’s tiny impact, through the relative carbon footprint of our meat and the carbon sequestration on our lands. We just need a policy that delivers rewards and incentives for those actions.

None of this is denialism of the global problem at hand – only a dose of realism in the part we can play. Sadly, we in little old NZ can’t cause any significant reduction in climate change and to pretend otherwise is bonkers. But we can certainly cause significant carnage in the one globally competitive industry we have –food production.

Tina Turner says it best in her rock anthem We Don’t Need Another Hero. We don’t need to be a “climate change hero”. We simply need a pragmatic methane target that allows us to keep our farming industry intact and prosperous, while making a small contribution to New Zealand’s inconsequential efforts, until the real players in global warming – India, China, the US, Indonesia, Nigeria and consumers worldwide step up to the plate.

Let us hope sanity prevails.

Daniel Eb

TARGET: The only non-subsidized food exporting country with a target that can be compared with New Zealand is Uruguay, which has promised to ‘cap’ methane – allowing it to produce more food if it does so more efficiently.

PEAK GROWTH: Business models that bring like-minded people together to run diversified enterprises, like those at High Peak Station, may be the future of food and fibre, says Daniel Eb.

First domino tips as capacity cuts beckon

Meaty matters

Allan Barber Meat industry commentator: allan@barberstrategic.co.nz, http:// allanbarber.wordpress.com

THE closing of Alliance’s Smithfield works signals a South Island processing capacity reduction of 900,000 lambs and ewes, brought about by the persistent decline in sheep numbers through a combination of forestry conversions, drought and poor returns.

Alliance has come reluctantly to its decision because it can handle existing and potential volumes more efficiently at its Lorneville and Pukeuri plants.

South Island processing numbers are forecast to be around 9 million lambs and 1.5 million ewes in the coming season, with the remaining processing capacity able to handle this, although another drought may make for delays at the peak of the season.

The North Island’s combined kill is slightly lower at just under 10 million, but there is a better spread of plants across the island under different company ownerships, while the peak is not as pronounced as the South Island’s.

All the processors will be viewing the closure of Smithfield and the declining sheep population in

both islands with nervousness, no doubt looking very hard at their capacities and cost structures. At 139 years old, Smithfield was vulnerable to considerations of closure versus expensive capital works necessary to bring it up to standard. But it is not the only ageing plant in both islands, although some have clearly had substantial amounts reinvested to ensure they remain competitive.

Not since the early 1990s has the critical importance of efficient processing facilities, positive cash flow and low debt levels been so obvious, although Silver Fern Farms struggled for several years under high debt levels, inadequate cash flow and high fixed costs before Shanghai Maling came to the rescue in 2016. Alliance must now be wishing for a similar white knight, but industry conditions are nothing like eight years ago.

The intention to close Smithfield indicates a successful renegotiation of its banking facilities for the new season starting on October 1, but a repeat of last year’s $97.4 million pre-tax loss will test banks’ patience. New equity, whether from shareholders or external investors, would appear to be essential.

Before the Smithfield announcement I had already spoken to several meat company CEOs or senior managers and they were unanimous on two matters: the Emissions Trading Scheme creates an artificial market that makes forestry conversion a more profitable option without contributing to long-term economic wealth, and any reversal of the decline in sheep farming demands consistently higher returns.

Silver Fern Farms’ CEO Dan Boulton said our markets are starting to recognise New Zealand sheep and beef farms do more than produce red meat and wool, also

providing more holistic benefits because of their ability to work alongside nature and biodiversity. It is important to continue to promote these benefits, although this requires government policies and regulations to work in the same rather than opposite direction.

Boulton emphasised the folly of current government policy.

The processors’ senior executives are clearly concerned at what appears to be an irreversible downward trend.

“It doesn’t make economic, environmental or social sense for fossil fuel emitters to be able to easily offset their emissions through planting on productive land rather than work towards gross emissions reductions.”

He also pointed out the increasing availability of technologies to reduce gross emissions, but the comparative lack of immediate options for reducing on-farm emissions which SFF is committed to finding and supporting.

“This is a longer term play,” he said.

From an operational perspective, SFF has reconfigured much of its capacity over the past 10 years to ensure it remains fit for purpose

and its strong financial health allows it to be tactical in its approach to site infrastructure and capacity settings.

Ovation CEO Willem Sandberg is keen to see the government appreciate the economic and social damage being done by forestry conversions for no long-term gain, while he wants to see farming recognised for its net emissions instead of being penalised for its gross emissions.

He is concerned the government’s emissions reduction plan, which aims to offset emissions with more trees, will further ignite the trend to forestry conversions, while a review of the ETS is unlikely to reverse it.

Ovation is an important North Island sheep meat processor with plants in Gisborne, Feilding, Te Kuiti and Taylor Preston in Wellington, although it has small plants by industry standards with comparatively low fixed costs, which can be operated flexibly depending on stock flows.

Sandberg said high market returns over the covid years masked the increase in all costs to processors and farmers, which are now proving impossible to absorb.

AFFCO’s Tom Young told me the forecast reduction in lambs next season was roughly equivalent to half a chain in each island, which was subsequently underlined by Alliance’s announcement about Smithfield.

He also said the reduction in ewe lambs would have a flow-on effect on the breeding ewe population. He is convinced the latest downturn will result in capacity rationalisation in both islands, although AFFCO is well placed to handle the situation.

ANZCO CEO Peter Conley expressed the view the movement of lambs between North and South Islands depending on seasonal weather factors means the capacity challenge is a national rather than island-specific issue.

From ANZCO’s perspective the company is committed to maintaining investment in its plants, but considers itself fortunate just to have one processing facility in each island.

The processors’ senior executives are clearly concerned at what appears to be an irreversible downward trend, although they are determined to maximise their efficiency and work towards higher market returns.

But despite its comforting words about taking actions to assist the sector, the government does not yet appear to grasp fully the fact that the sheep population is at risk of reaching the point of no return.

The longer it delays, the harder it will be to recover.

AGEING: At 139 years old, Smithfield was vulnerable to closure versus expensive capital improvements – but, says Allan Barber, it is not the only ageing plant in the country.

Sector Focus Sheep & Beef

Mate more beef heifers for better returns

Hugh Stringleman NEWS Livestock

SHEEP-farming budgets are stretched but there is a real opportunity to capitalise on the buoyant beef market by mating more beef heifers, PGG Wrightson stud stock auctioneer John McKone says.

Farmers who bought weaner heifers back in autumn can consider mating them to sell as in-calf heifers, or calve down once or twice before slaughter, still grading prime with six teeth.

McKone said about 80% of commercial beef farmers do mate the yearling heifers destined for the cow herd but there is golden opportunity right now to mate more of the non-replacements.

Beef+Lamb New Zealand figures show that one-third of all beef heifers over one year old but under two years old at June 30 2023 were in calf.

The two-thirds not in calf represent the opportunity.

McKone pointed out the widespread availability of beef genetics with calving ease and good growth rates in the calves.

The economics of once-bred heifers are looking very attractive right now.

“We have a shortage of beef cows nationally and beef schedules are $1/kg more than last year.

“Even in drought conditions in Canterbury last season we were undersupplied with good beef calves.

“When we look ahead, these good beef and store cattle prices make breeding an animal so much more attractive.”

When buying yearling bulls this spring, McKone advises looking back through the calving histories of the dams, not just the EBVs of the bulls being offered.

“You should see a family history of calving ease,” he said.

Most beef bulls with proven genetics would cost around $4000 to $5000 and serve two years of 20 to 25 heifers a mating, then kill out at $2500.

Mating programmes should aim at mid-90% pregnancies from heifers that are at least 300kg liveweight when they go to the bull or artificial insemination.

McKone said the seasonal patterns and weather conditions are taken into account when planning mating and weaning

DO IT: PGG Wrightson stud stock auctioneer

John McKone says there is a shortage of beef cows nationally and beef schedules are $1/kg more than last year. Photo: File

dates, but they shouldn’t influence bull buying.

The vendor of one of the largest yearling bull offerings each spring in the South Island, James Fraser of Stern Angus, Geraldine, underscored the weight targets for heifers to be mated as yearlings.

“A 180kg-200kg weaner in the autumn will likely be 250kg LW at September 1 followed by a kilogramme a day for 50 days to hit the minimum 300kg target weight.

“The optimum time to breed them is around mid-November for a late-August calving.

“If the pregnant heifers are being sold, this timing of mating makes the heifers more marketable to a range of buyers.

“It is important to foetal-age the pregnancies if the bull is out longer than a month.

“Those that don’t get in calf can be fattened as usual.”

One of the keys to a successful once-mated programme is to wean the calves early if feed is short so the heifer has a good opportunity to be fattened.

OPPORTUNITY: John McKone says about 80% of commercial beef farmers do mate the yearling heifers destined for the cow herd but there is golden opportunity right now to mate more of the nonreplacements.

These good beef and store cattle prices make breeding an animal so much more attractive.

John McKone PGG Wrightson

If they are put back in calf, the market is generally stronger for R3 second-calving heifers than R2 heifers.

Last year in-calf heifers sold around $1500 in a drought, but with high demand prices may strengthen significantly this summer, probably to around $2000.

Stern stud owners Rob and James Fraser said the bulls selected for their October 9 sale rank in the top percentiles of the breed for calving ease and are genomically tested for enhanced EBV accuracy and confidence.

The stud has been using yearling bulls and mating heifers for more than 50 years.

DESIGN, BUILD, INSTALL.

From concept to completion, we offer reliable, long-lasting steel sheep yards in both permanent and semi-permanent options.

Shedding new light on strong wool

RETURNING to New Zealand after years of international work with design brands, creative designer Sophie Poelman took up a job designing a tech power clothing range.

At the same time, she set about creating a home for her young family on Waiheke Island and it wasn’t long before she realised an opportunity to freelance her creative designing skills.

“I had been working with synthetics then did some work with Mons Royale, worked with wool in different ways and discovered opportunities to work with this beautiful fibre, whether it was 20 micron or 40 microns; any wool is good.”

Then came covid.

“Freelancing dried up, no more work.

“I had time to read newspapers.

I read an article from an exLincoln professor who said what wool needs is less meetings, less

government groups; it needs more R&D.

“Yes, yes, Yes! Let’s do this, the person to do this is a designer. I need to find a way and make this happen,” Poelman said.

In 2020, she began delving into the challenges facing the New Zealand strong wool industry, leading her to question the low prices received by growers amid a rising issue of plastic textiles waste.

NZ wool is the most functional natural fibre on earth and a magical fibre with exceptional qualities, making it perfect for healthier interior environments.

She connected with a local Waiheke farmer early on in her journey, recognised the untapped potential of wool as a magical fibre for interior spaces.

This led Poelman to experiment and explore wool’s possibilities through a design-led approach.

With R&D backing from the government’s Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund and an AGMARDT innovation grant, she collaborated with her life and work partner, Alain Brideson, a globally recognised industrial designer passionate about creating dynamic products, to push the boundaries of wool’s design possibilities.

“As a designer, I believe in selecting materials that not only meet high standards for aesthetics and functionality but also uphold a deep responsibility to the environment.

“Wool, with its natural beauty and sustainable credentials, perfectly embodies this ethos.”

The new design studio, Lof, is this month launching its first product with the aim of tackling some of these issues and ensuring fair compensation for farmers.

Lof is a new-generation wool products brand focusing on offering functional interior textile products that are healthier for the home and the planet.

The first product is an innovative woollen light hoop that uses the natural softness, and acoustic dampening properties of wool in a new context.

“NZ wool is the most functional natural fibre on earth and a magical fibre with exceptional qualities, making it perfect for healthier interior environments.

“We need to move away from a micron-based value system. All NZ wool is a premium product, even the coarsest clip.”

Lof focuses on functional design for healthier interior spaces, using gold standard wool in innovative products that allow a fairer business model where value is spread across the chain.

Working closely with local suppliers from Palliser Ridge in Wairarapa, Poelman ensures transparency in the supply chain

and values farmers for their expertise and products.

In 2023 Lof paid a mutually agreed “twice the market price” and is in regular communication with growers to ascertain fair market pricing as the economy shifts.

“In return, Lof gets a guaranteed ethical supply of certified regenerative wool, marketing support, and a trusted partner on this journey.”

Lof’s commitment to local production extends throughout the value chain, with every part

of the wool’s processing and manufacturing done in NZ.

“I do believe we are on the cusp of something incredible, adding value through design to strong wool.

“We are just scratching the surface; the future is exciting as we work together with farmers in a powerful way to get a premium.”

Poelman said brands need wool and can afford to pay more.

“Significantly more, as design brands take off with value added product, up to $10-$12 [a kilogram] should be achievable.”

Lambs killed at 40kgs and above.

300gm/day liveweight growth rates achieved on hillcountry FE Testing for 25 years

FEC testing 186% scanning this year

Annette Scott PEOPLE Food and fibre

STANDARDS: Lof founder and creative designer Sophie Poelman says she believes in selecting materials that not only meet high standards for aesthetics and functionality but also uphold a deep responsibility to the environment.

Photos: Sonja Read

HEALTHY: Lof is a wool products brand focusing on offering functional interior textile products that it says are healthier for the home and the planet.

Sophie Poelman Lof

Mīti sees opening in bobby calf problem

TFood and fibre

HE first batch of New Zealand’s pioneering Mīti Beef Bites will be made in November with an opportunity via PledgeMe for farmers to back the creation of a low-carbon beef ingredient unique in the meat industry.

Mīti co-founder Daniel Carson of Oamaru has big plans for his protein snack, formed from lean dairy beef and honeydew honey.

“It should be just the first of many manufactured products using sustainable young beef to help tackle our bobby calf problems,” he said.

Ten-month-old dairy cattle have

the lowest carbon footprint in beef production, being a by-product of their mother’s milk production and taking into account the increasing maintenance feed requirements as cattle age.

“We have the opportunity to launch a new beef class, which I have called Mataora (life cycle) grass fed, that will be unique to New Zealand.

“No other country has the huge numbers of non-replacement calves and we can use them in many innovative manufactured foods.

“With the likes of McDonald’s seeking a 30% lower carbon footprint in their ingredient supply chain, Mataora could be an answer.”

Carson said the intellectual

property behind sustainable young beef, which could significantly reduce New Zealand’s overall farming footprint, will be released soon.

Mīti’s supporters include Fonterra, AgResearch, AGMARDT, SPCA, Alliance, Duncan Venison, the Bioresource Processing Alliance, Pāmu, and Mt Somers station (Kate and David Acland).

The co-founders are Carson, food technologist Dr Lily Liu, and meat market researcher Hugh Good.

Some 35,000 packs of Mīti Beef Bites, each containing 84g of bites, will be manufactured in November at the Food Bowl in Auckland and available for pre-orders on PledgeMe, the crowdfunding site in October.

The absence of any contract manufacturing meat plant in New Zealand presents a hurdle that Mīti will need to overcome to expand and export into the global US$20 billion ($31.3bn) meat snack market.

Carson plans to form a datasharing value chain that begins with farmers from the dairy and beef industries collaborating to rear and grow non-replacement dairy bull calves to the optimum 10 months of age, at approximately 270kg live weight.

He aims to contract $8/kg for the 135kg CW cattle, which is $1040/ head after deductions and before GST.

“Working backwards from that $8 on the hook ensures farmers are the main beneficiaries in the value chain.”

All of the 92CL boned-out beef goes into Mīti, without the need for premium cuts to be extracted, therefore lending itself to chain automation.

But with 1.8 million nonreplacement calves in the NZ dairy industry every year, many types of Mataora products will be needed.

Chomps, the third biggest beef snack manufacturer in the United States making 10g protein sticks, would require only 50,000 young cattle a year, Carson has calculated.

It should be just the first of many manufactured products using sustainable young beef to help tackle our bobby calf problems.

Daniel Carson Mīti

His concept for building volume scale in Mataora is to have a single-desk marketing structure, no doubt a topic for conversation with Beef + Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland.

“Mataora is a scalable beef protein manufacturing ingredient for others to innovate from when the claims are nailed,” Carson said.

Mīti bites are all natural, and high in protein and energy, and contain honeydew from the South Island’s beech forests; this adds

sustainability and flavour, and extends shelf life to 12 months at room temperature.

Another unique ingredient is kānuka liquid smoke, a product developed by the University of Auckland.

Earlier formulations by Liu included kawakawa, horopito, kiwifruit and seaweed, and they could be re-introduced as flavour variations in the future.

In his three-year development period, Carson has spent about 30% of his time on the formulation and packaging of the bars and bites and 70% on the structural side of building the value chain, supply requirements, scientific research, and processing efficiency.

“We have had many investors express support, but they want to use already available beef and do the manufacturing offshore.

“Our goal is to stay in Aotearoa, manufacture here, and create a whole new low-carbon beef stock class that benefits farmers, moves us higher up the value chain, and offers innovative product opportunities for NZ around the world.”

Hugh Stringleman MARKETS

ENTREPRENEUR: Mīti co-founder Daniel Carson is launching a new beef snack as the pioneer of a low-carbon, young beef category called Mataora.

WHOLESOME: Mīti Beef Bites will be manufactured in November and farmers can pre-order through PledgeMe.

Project closes a gap in wool education

Annette Scott NEWS Food and fibre

THE last gap has been filled in the Campaign for Wool New Zealand’s drive to cover wool in education right across the learning spectrum.

Building on the momentum generated by the launch of its tertiary education pilot earlier this year, Campaign for Wool NZ (CFWNZ) has, in a first, clinched a partnership collaboration with the Wool Research Organisation of NZ (WRONZ).

The collaboration will see the initial stage of a secondary school wool education programme begin development during the final term of this year.

WRONZ is on board to fund the planning stage of a three-phase project that will take secondary school students on a wool journey, educating them about the advantages and benefits of using wool in a variety of applications and ways.

The WRONZ funding support for the project comes from the organisation’s charitable arm, the NZ Wool Industry Charitable Trust.

Education is a key strategic pillar for CFWNZ, so this collaboration is extremely significant,

CFWNZ general manager Kara Biggs said.

“This enables the missing link in our education offering to NZ students to be fulfilled.”

Since 2023, CFWNZ has successfully refitted and relaunched its Wool in Schools (WIS) containers for primary aged students; planned a WIS programme for small or remote schools unable to access a container; launched the Wool Dynamics pilot for tertiary learners and planned and launched resources for little learners at early childhood education level.

Next up will be webinarbased professional development programmes to continue education for architects, planned for 2025-2026.

The WRONZ funding will move the secondary schools’ piece along, with CFWNZ completing the planning phase by Christmas, with the programme pilot launched scheduled for term three of 2025.

Biggs said the secondary schools are the final link in the chain after being held back while wider NCEA changes were cemented in.

Current and former secondary school teachers are working on the pilot’s module format to be rolled out to five schools across the country.

“The aim right across the education spectrum is for future

Photo: Supplied

generations of Kiwis to bring their own innovative ideas to the wool industry as they more deeply understand the properties of natural, locally grown wool.”

Initially, phase one funding at $8000 will cover costs for an external education expert, with phases two and three creating the resources, rolling out the pilot programme and eventually the full rollout in 2026.

“The hope is that we might see further support from WRONZ for

future stages of the education programme.

“It’s exciting but the cool thing, and what I’m really excited about, is the collaboration with WRONZ that means we can work together on some really big, grunty programmes.

“It is industry coming together and opens the door for more conversations down the track,” Biggs said.

WRONZ general manager Tim Lonsdale said the collaboration for

The aim right across the education spectrum is for future generations of Kiwis to bring their own innovative ideas to the wool industry.

Kara Biggs Campaign for Wool NZ

the secondary schools’ programme with CFWNZ is a new venture for WRONZ.

“We have a history of active involvement with tertiary education activity and the likes of the woolclassers’ association.

“The general feeling of growers and the wider sector is there is not as much collaboration as there needs to be so we see working together with likeminded CFWNZ as another plank in education, and we need more of that.”

Lonsdale acknowledged a “whole generation gap”.

“We are playing a long game with wool education, and this is a vital step, a good opportunity to broaden our network.

“There are commonalities opening dialogue to lots of ideas between the two (CFWNZ and WRONZ) and where the stars align, we will further collaborate where it makes sense.”

EDUCATION: CFWNZ general manager Kara Biggs says the industry is coming together to bring education about wool into the classroom.

FEDERATED FARMERS

Calling for end to Fish & Game advocacy role

Federated Farmers Southland has called for the Government to strip Fish & Game of its advocacy function and refocus the organisation on the management of hunting and fishing.

“Fish & Game are a statutory body but in some parts of the country they’re acting like an environmental activist group,” Federated Farmers Southland president Jason Herrick says.

“As an organisation they’ve gotten so far away from their core purpose of managing, maintaining and enhancing sports fish, game birds and their habitats.

“Farmers are sick of their obstructive behaviour, unnecessary litigation, and anti-farming rhetoric – and so are everyday hunters and fishers who just want to enjoy their sport.

“Unfortunately, Fish & Game’s advocacy positions, particularly in Southland, are increasingly at odds with the views of most reasonable hunting and fishing licence holders.”

Federated Farmers say many farmers are keen hunters and fishers, more than happy to pay an annual licence fee to support Fish & Game’s important work.

This includes assessing and

monitoring species populations, maintaining and improving habitats, and promoting hunting and fishing activities.

“All of that good work is completely undermined by the advocacy positions Fish & Game takes, which is why we are asking for that function to be completely removed,” Herrick says.

“As a farmer, and a fisher, it’s incredibly frustrating to see money raised through a compulsory licence fee used to fund political activism and litigation that I fundamentally disagree with.

“The issue is that if you want to hunt or fish, you need to buy a licence. You’ve got no choice but to fund their activism and court action – that’s why I no longer fish despite loving the sport.”

Recent examples include Fish & Game Southland opposing resource consents for things like the opening of the Waituna Lagoon and the extraction of gravel from clogged waterways.

Fish & Game have also taken unnecessary court action that will require more than 3000 Southland farmers to get expensive resource consents for no environmental gain.

This has led Federated Farmers Southland to call for a boycott of

Fish & Game in the province and for farmers to withhold fishing access across their land.

“For generations farmers have allowed hunters onto our properties, or for fishers to walk across private land to access fishing spots, as a gesture of goodwill,” Herrick says.

“Unfortunately, that goodwill has been completely eroded by the political activism of Southland Fish & Game. That’s why droves of farmers are now denying fishing access.

“While I appreciate this will be frustrating for many of Southland’s fishermen, who are generally very decent salt-of-the-earth people, Fish & Game have left us no other option.

“The obstructive litigation and anti-farming advocacy need to stop.”

Council caves on road narrowing

Farmers, transporters and rural contractors will be able to move freely through the main street of Cave again after a back-down by Timaru District Council.

To reduce driving speed on Elizabeth St, the council recently installed speed cushions, concrete islands and new signage, reducing the lanes to only three-metres wide at some points.

The move angered members of the agricultural community because it meant anyone carrying wide equipment like direct drills and mowers could no longer fit through the busy arterial route.

Matt Simpson, South Canterbury Federated Farmers meat and wool chair, says a meeting on October 7 has led to a good outcome.

Continued next page

STRIPPED: Jason Herrick has taken down the Fish & Game access sign on his property, and now he wants the group’s advocacy function removed.

New share farmers urged to do the math

Dairy farmers weighing up a move into share farming next season should take time to know their numbers before signing on the dotted line, Federated Farmers leaders say.

“Going sharemilking or contract milking is a really exciting step, but it’s crucial to crunch your numbers and make sure a job will be profitable before you sign,” Federated Farmers national sharefarmer chair Sam Ebbett says.

“I know budgeting and financial stuff isn’t everyone’s favourite thing, but it’s probably the most important step before you move from a wagepaying farm manager job into share farming.”

He says having a crystal-clear understanding of all the income and expense figures, and checking them with someone you trust, like an accountant, could make all the difference.

“You simply have to make sure the role is financially viable – that you’re actually going to make profit from the job.

“Knowing your numbers first could well prevent you from getting into the season and suddenly discovering you’re not making any money.” Ebbett says he’s seen too many

Continued from previous page

“A group of us got together, including National MP Miles Anderson and people from Timaru District Council, and we’ve had the right result.

“The council has agreed to remove a lot of the road furniture that was restricting large agricultural equipment moving though Cave, so now everyone can go about their business again.”

Simpson believes Federated Farmers’ article in Farmers Weekly

contract milkers, in particular, get into trouble because they haven’t done the financial groundwork beforehand.

“It’s not uncommon for new contract milkers to get a massive overdraft and then, by the time August comes around, they’re $50,000 in the hole before they’ve even started making money.

“Then they get a $40,000 paycheck from Fonterra or the farm owner – whoever is paying them – and they’ve never had that much money in their hand at once, and they go and blow it on a new ute.

“That kind of stuff is still happening, unfortunately.

“You need to be able to budget well and set aside money to pay for your costs, including tax and GST, or you can end up over your head.”

Federated Farmers national sharefarm owner chair John Numan says there are great opportunities for progression in the dairy sector, but a lack of basic financial skills is holding some share farmers back from succeeding.

He agrees with Ebbett that knowing your numbers inside out is critical to succeeding in share farming and continuing to progress through the industry.

His personal view is that young farmers should focus on saving and

on October 7, combined with public pressure, made the difference.

“This shows how Federated Farmers’ work can really help to influence councils’ decisions.

“It’s great that TDC have listened to the community and changed their minds, deciding to remove the barriers on Elizabeth St.”

Robert Cleland, who owns Cleland Transport in Cave, says it’s very positive result – and a relief.

“This street narrowing was a real nuisance to our farming community here.

investing hard before moving into contract milking or sharemilking.

“It’s my belief that, if you need an overdraft to take on your first contract milking or lower-order sharemilking position to cover the first few months when there’s little income, perhaps you continue managing for a while longer.

“I think it’s better to have saved some surplus funds to get you through that period, unless you require an overdraft facility because you’re investing your savings into profit-making opportunities.”

Numan says there are plenty of excellent resources available to help young farmers upskill in finances, like DairyNZ’s contract milker premium calculator.

“That’s been developed to show your potential earning ability in a contract milking role compared to a management role.

“It tells you the premium you’d expect to receive for being selfemployed and covering for your own time off, all the costs involved and so on.”

DairyNZ business specialist Paul Bird, one of the developers of the contract milker premium calculator, agrees there are still many farmers who don’t crunch their numbers properly before signing agreements. He says the premium calculator is

“It would have made life very difficult for people to move to and from the big agricultural area behind Cave with wide vehicles and machinery.

“We’re breathing a sigh of relief that Timaru District Council have changed their mind.

“So, on the whole, I think we’ve had a pretty good win.”

Simpson says Federated Farmers’ taking a stand on the issue has resonated well with farmers, with one person signing up as a member because of it.

like DairyNZ’s contract milker premium calculator.

you’d receive over and above a management wage.

You simply have to make sure the role is financially viable – that you’re actually going to make profit from the job.

“If the premium for being selfemployed isn’t enough, then working with the farm owner, you can tweak it by lifting the contract rate or negotiating some of the costs until the premium is satisfactory.”

Federated Farmers is running a number of ‘Managing risk in share farming’ events (fedfarm.org.nz/ events) around the country this November.

an easy and sure-fire way to do it.

“Farmers need to be very careful before going into a partnership – it can be an amazing opportunity, or it can be disastrous.

“With the calculator, you plug in the offered contract rate or variable order percentage, and the costs you think you’ll pay. It will then provide an estimate of the premium

New and existing contract milkers and sharemilkers are invited to come along and learn how to navigate business and individual risks for both share farmers and farm owners. Industry experts will talk through contractual changes, farm assessments, and how to build and main strong, enduring working relationships.

UPSKILLING: John Numan says there are plenty of excellent resources to help young farmers sharpen their financial know-how,

Sam Ebbett Federated Farmers national sharefarmer chair

WIN: Road ‘furniture’ installed on Elizabeth St in Cave will be removed thanks to stiff opposition from local transport operators, Federated Farmers and other affected parties.

Federated Farmers invites new and existing contract milkers, share milkers & farm owners to

Don’t miss this chance to g r ow your knowledge and connect with pr ofessionals in the field!

30am12 30pm Morrinsville Rugby & Sports Club, Campbell Park, Thames Street, Morrinsville Te Awamutu

Rugby Club, John Street, Winton

Never too early to think of succession

His youngest child starts primary school soon, but Thomas Read is already determined to follow in his parents’ footsteps by mapping out how to help his children succeed.

“Farming is very much a generational thing for me,” the Federated Farmers Tararua president says.

“You want to do your best for the land, for your animals, to innovate and to do your bit to maintain the position of New Zealand farmers as among the best in the world.

“You’re also looking to create that space for the next generation to be able to prosper.”

Read says it’s easy to keep pushing out succession conversations as day-to-day issues running the farm business can seem more pressing.

But when investment decisions are based on assumptions about who will take over the farm one day, or what other family members aspire to, things can go wrong, he says.

Read was born and raised by parents Shane and Lydia on the family dairy farm on the edge of Dannevirke, with a brother and sister.

“My parents cracked into planning for the future early, even if it was just jotting certain points down on paper,” he says.

“They wanted things to be fair for me and my siblings, and they thought about how to build a future where all of us, as individuals, could succeed.”

Now that Read and his wife Jennifer have an eight-, a six- and a four-year-old of their own, “we’ve got quite a nice little template we can use for our children as they come through”, he says.

After working in other districts, and a bit of travel, Thomas and Jennifer returned to the Tararua property to farm in partnership with his parents. His brother and sister pursued careers in construction and roading and, while they’re not involved in the daily running of the farm, they have input on the board set up to oversee the family interests.

Farming is very much a generational thing for me.

Thomas

Read Federated Farmers Tararua president

The original family farm grew to encompass two neighbouring properties for a total of 466 hectares, and the herd from 260 to around 1000 cows.

As a youngster, Read was the teat sprayer in the dairy shed until robotics took over.

“Now my kids are doing the same. They’re helping with calf rearing, or getting on the motorbike to get the cows in.

“The middle child, Johnny, is all about tractors and machinery, so

there might be a future contractor in the mix one day.

“The eldest likes numbers and desktop stuff, so she sits in my office when I do the accounts.

“We’re in a very fortunate industry where there’s not just one task. You can be adaptable to so many things, whether it’s cupping cows, driving machinery or office work – and you’re still a farmer.”

Succession planning featured in Read’s journey with Federated Farmers too.

He started on the Tararua executive as sharemilker chair, then progressed to vice-president.

“Sally Dryland was looking to wind up her tenure as president but, as a young farmer, I wanted to ease into taking the reins.”

So, they worked as co-presidents for a year – a useful model other

provinces might consider, Read says.

“It’s a big role to be president and you’re not always available to pick up tasks straight away.

“Having someone there to take on the responsibility 50/50 as you adjust is quite helpful.

“I’m blessed with a very competent executive as well. We take our advocacy role seriously.”

Tararua has suffered adverse events year on year, with Cyclone Gabrielle and then drought.

“With one bad year it takes two years to recover, so we’re going to need a few good years to see our way through.”

He says the pressure on farmers isn’t helped when Tararua District Council comes up with unnecessary red tape.

That includes a new proposal that farmers will need a permit, and to

FORWARDTHINKING: As Thomas and Jennifer Read oversee a dairy operation that’s expanded from 260 cows to 1000, they keep in mind how decisions today will affect the next generation.

pay annual fees of up to $500, to walk any livestock across a public road.

“It might also require a traffic management plan, and if you need a consultant to do that, that could be $1500.

“It’s bureaucratic overreach,” Read says.

“Fortunately, I married quite a positive person, and her attitude has turned out to be slightly infectious.

“I’ve come to understand that when you’re seeing the world in a negative state, you’re almost paralysed, so I try to look for the positives.

“Not all the problems we face as an industry are going to be fixed next week, but as long as we keep moving forward in the right direction, we’ll get there.”

Cheltenham 1678 Kimbolton Road

Excellent large dairy farm with versatile soils

This outstanding large scale 272 hectare (more or less) offering, currently milking 1100 cows on a split calving system, on soils that are extremely well regarded brings a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase scale and productivity The property has high quality well maintained infrastructure with an 80 bale centrally located rotary cow shed, alongside a 450 cow concrete feed pad which was built ready for expansion if required An outstanding farm water supply to compliment the scale of the property and the adjoining 96 hectares of lease land which is also available to prospective purchasers In addition to the 272 hectares there is 22 hectares approximately of accretion land which is currently utilized in the milking platform Buildings include two staff houses and third one on the lease block, workshop, implement shed, hayshed's and calf rearing sheds bayleys co nz/3100705

ha Tender (will not be sold prior)

3pm, Wed 27 Nov 2024

Manchester Street, Feilding

for viewing times

Bonnor 027 941 7630

bonnor@bayleys co nz

Karapiro lakeside, a very rare opportunity

Luxury lifestyle and farming collide with this prominent 64ha lakefront property set against incredible views of Lake Karapiro and Mt Maungatautari This well established and popular area is home to high end residences equine estates and horticulture properties Located alongside the Karapiro rowing course this dress circle location is further favoured by private schooling options and a 10min drive to Cambridge Explore a multitude of future uses with fertile pastures and high producing soils across all flat land Currently run as a dairy farm supplying Fonterra an average production of 85,000kgMS from 79ha Complimenting the 36ASHB and 260 cow yard is a range of quality farm shedding and a comfortable three bedroom home Very rarely do lakeside parcels of land become available bayleys co nz/2316069

(unless sold prior)

2pm, Tue 26 Nov 2024

Ulster Street, Hamilton View 11am-12pm Tue 29 Oct & Tue 5 Nov or by appointment Peter Kelly 027 432 4278

Kelly 021 165 5031

Situated only 6 kilometres from Feilding town centre are 65 hectares currently utilised for finishing beef cattle and deer farming The properties location is an asset being only minutes from town and is in an attractive setting with the Oroua River situated to the rear of the farm Improvements on the property include a comfortable three bedroom home located back off the road with detached double garage, utility room and three bay carport Multiple sheds include a three bay enclosed shed, three bay implement shed, deer shed, hay barn and additional storage sheds The property is situated in a great location, has excellent access and could suit a range of farming activities with good quality soil types and flat contour bayleys co nz/3100698

1pm,

Waitotara Makakaho

Coastal Taranaki Dairy Farm A Surprisingly Attractive Opportunity

189 Namu Road, Opunake

Located on the north side of Opunake above SH45 is a very productive farm milking 185 cows on 67 ha of freehold land and 8 ha private lease and consistently producing more than 90,000kg/ms.

If you are wanting lifestyle and consistent farm performance Opunake is the best place to raise a family with mountain or surf very close and strong community values. The area is known for its fertile early growth and this farm is on the Oaonui water scheme. Farm improvements include inshed feed system for meal and molasses, 4 bedroom large family home, workshop and calfsheds as well the new effluent consent all the work has this farm up to standard.

Open Farm Thursday 31st October 12.30-2pm, Thursday 7th November 12.30-2pm, Thursday 14th November 12.30-2pm and Thursday 21st November 12.30-2pm.

Tenders Close Friday 29th November 2024 4pm at the office of Matthew & Co Real Estate Ltd 246 Broadway Stratford.

503 York Road, Midhirst

Unlock the potential of a thriving dairy operation with this 78 hectare dairy farm and the opportunity to lease a further 60 hectares, this enables the owners to graze all young stock and make 403 bales of supplements while producing 89,500 kg/ms. This property combines quality, value, and potential, featuring abundant infrastructure, modern in-shed feeding, robust storage facilities, you’ll have everything you need to hit the ground running.

The very warm three bedroom home is renovated and double glazed, with a self contained unit the choice to accommodate family or possible income.

The well appointed farm buildings and fertile pastures are there to support a high-yield but not highly stocked dairy operation while ensuring the ability of a single farmer operation. With ample room for expansion, this farm offers significant growth potential to increase production and profitability.

Whether you’re a seasoned dairy farmer or just starting out, this farm is a golden opportunity to build a successful business with solid infrastructure and a prime location.

Act fast and secure your place in the dairy industry today! Contact us to learn more and schedule a viewing.

Open Farm Wednesday 6th November 12-2pm, Wednesday 13th November 12-2pm, Wednesday 20th November 12-2pm, Wednesday 27th November 12-2pm.

Tenders Close Friday 29th November 2024 4pm at the office of Matthew & Co Real Estate Ltd 246 Broadway Stratford.

TENDER

TENDER

Autumn Calving Dairy Farm 211 Maiseys Rd, Matamata

Welcome to 211 Maiseys Road Matamata. This dairy property offers a fantastic opportunity to add to your portfolio or be a first Dairy Farm on 69.34 hectares of land (more or less).

Producing 104,00kgs/ms last season, farmed to a high standard you can just step in and continue on One person unit milking 200 cows through a 22 aside De Laval HB shed with meal feeders Inputs purchased includes 750kgs per cow of meal, 70kgs per cow of straw and 6 ha of maize. Supplement grown on farm is 4.5 ha of maize and 3ha of lucerne

Contour is flat with 44 paddocks on Waihou Sandy Loam. The effluent is irrigated over 12 ha using a travelling irrigator drawn from a 500,000 litre Flexitank.

matamata.ljhooker.co nz/KQAHR1

Auction Thursday 7th Nov, 11am (unless sold prior)

Agent Jack Van Lierop 027 445 5099

LJ Hooker Matamata 07 888 5677 Link Realty Ltd

Licensed Agent REA 2008

Woodville

This property has been in the ownership of the Ormond Family for 148 years and features:-

• 270,100kg milksolids 5yr average production from 620 cows off milking platform of 245 hectares

• Predominantly flat to undulating quality fertile silt loam soils

• Impressive infrastructure and improvements include:-

- Superior 3 bedroom manager’s residence

- 2 bedroom + sunporch home

- 2 bedroom home

- 50 aside Herringbone cowshed

- 500 covered cow 1990m2 cow feed pad

- Array of calf shed and haybarns

- Excellent network of races and water reticulation system

For Purchasers looking for consistent production, appeal of farming a picturesque property, Ormond Farm will deliver as it has for the last one and a half centuries. We welcome your viewing by appointment.

www.forfarms.co.nz - ID FF3871

$8,950,000 +

Te Aroha 298 Rawhiti Road

Te Aroha Dairies

Here is a fantastic opportunity to secure a farm with location and scale minutes away from the Te Aroha township. This 242 ha (more or less) dairy unit has it all with cow numbers around 670 and production from a low input farming model being around 170,000 kgMS with OAD milking from Christmas. Farm buildings and infrastructure is significant and includes four homes, a state of art 70 bail rotary dairy, 700 cow feed pad, large concrete bunker, fully lined effluent storage facility, implement sheds, calf sheds and numerous other farm support buildings The property is subdivided into approximately 86 paddocks and serviced by well formed and maintained race system Contour of the property varies between flat to undulating with some sidlings. Compliance is all ticked off with this farm The property is in twelve titles and is being sold including five lifestyle lots. If it is scale and location that you are looking for this farm presents a real opportunity.

257 ha (more or less) farm with approximately a 127 ha dairy platform, 40 ha of Pines and the balance native bush. Waitoki farm produces around 85,000 kgMS from 375 cows with 120 calves reared year on year on a mainly grass input system. Infrastructure is very good and includes two homes, a 36 ASHB shed, 180 cow capacity feedpad, fully lined storage pond with weeping wall, large calf sheds, haybarns and implement sheds The property is subdivided into approximately 54 paddocks and is serviced by a well formed and maintained race system The property is fully compliant in every respect and is nicely presented The farm will be sold in three titles (subject to final survey) including one lifestyle lot. There is plenty of upside here and you will not be disappointed

Tender closes 2.00pm, Wed 20th Nov, 2024 (unless sold prior), Property Brokers - 78 Studholme Street, Morrinsville View Tue 29 Oct 11.00 - 1.00pm Tue 5 Nov 11.00 - 1.00pm Web pb.co.nz/MAR188366

Ian Morgan M 027 492 5878 E ian.morgan@pb.co.nz

Chelly Aitchison M 022 697 8779 E chelly@pb.co.nz

Tender closes 2.00pm, Wed 20th Nov, 2024 (unless sold prior), Property Brokers - 78 Studholme Street, Morrinsville

View Tue 29 Oct 11.00 - 1.00pm Tue 5 Nov 11.00 - 1.00pm

Web pb.co.nz/MAR188364

Ian Morgan M 027 492 5878 E ian.morgan@pb.co.nz

Chelly Aitchison M 022 697 8779 E chelly@pb.co.nz

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Te Aroha 386 Rawhiti Road

Waitoki Dairies

Te Aroha 407 Rawhiti Road

Rawhiti Dairies

143 ha (more or less) dairy farm located minutes north of Te Aroha township. This dairy farm milks around 470 cows spring calving OAD milking from Christmas and consistently produces around 125,000 kgMS on a mainly grass feed system. The property is flat to undulating contour and subdivided into approximately 86 paddocks serviced by well formed and maintained internal race system Farm infrastructure is well maintained and includes a 44 ASHB shed, 300 cow capacity rectangle yard, 300 cow feedpad with adjacent large feed bunker and fully lined effluent storage facility. There are numerous implement/calf sheds and haybarns located on the farm The property is fully compliant in every aspect. Homes consist of a large four bedroom Hinuera Stone managers residence and two other well maintained staff homes. The property is in five titles and is being sold with two lifestyle lots included.

Located just 23 km from the centre of Rotorua is this immaculately presented 144.46 ha property, made up of approximately 100 ha of milking platform (97 ha effective) and the remainder being an attached support unit of approximately 34 ha effective. The milking platform is flat to gently undulating with the support unit being mostly moderate hill with approximately 3.5 ha being mowable. Significant work has been carried out during the current ownership to fence off sensitive areas and a full upgrade of the effluent system has been undertaken to meet present and future requirements. Farm infrastructure includes a 22 ASHB shed complete with in-shed feeding, AB facility as well as a full range of other farm buildings, all presented in good condition, as is the four bedroom home plus office, complete with garaging. This property is the pick of dairy farms in this locality and the milking platform has some of the best contour in the district.

Tender closes 2.00pm, Wed 20th Nov 2024 (unless sold prior), Property Brokers, 78 Studholme Street, Morrinsville View Tue 29 Oct 11.00 - 1.00pm Tue 5 Nov 11.00 - 1.00pm Web pb.co.nz/MAR188363

Ian Morgan M 027 492 5878 E ian.morgan@pb.co.nz

Chelly Aitchison M 022 697 8779 E chelly@pb.co.nz

4 1

Tender closes 12.00pm, Fri 15th Nov, 2024, Rotorua Office, Redwood Shopping Centre 5 Tarawera Road, Rotorua View Wed 30 Oct 10.30 - 12.00pm Wed 6 Nov 10.30 - 12.00pm Web pb.co.nz/WTR167807

Phillip Berry M 027 478 8892 E phillip.berry@pb.co.nz

Phil Badger M 027 357 5704 E phil.badger@pb.co.nz

Taumarunui 66 Kirton Road

Ribbonwood

This mostly flat to rolling dairy farm on the outskirts of Taumarunui is an outstanding opportunity for sharemilkers to buy their own farm or an excellent addition to an existing farming business. The property is 100.37 ha (STS) (approx.) plus two lease blocks that make up the 125 ha (approx.) milking platform carrying 300 cows. Located just 8.5 km from Taumarunui township, on the edge of the Whanganui River, the dairy platform has an excellent layout with short walks on the easy contour. The cow shed is centrally located and is supported by a range of farm buildings. The main home is a comfortable four bedroom home plus there are 2 x one bedroom studio units for staff.

Opunake 1528 Wiremu Road

Tidy dairy farm 258 ha dairy farm with 235 ha (more or less) effective milking platform. The contour varies from flat to rolling. Heifers are grazed on year round as a self contained unit so there is potential to milk more cows with heifers grazed off. Infrastructure includes a 31 ASHB shed equipped with a DeLaval plant numerous sheds including calf sheds and a workshop and three hay barns. There are two water pumps that supply the 76 paddocks which are all accessible by way of well maintained races. The main house is a three bedroom brick and weatherboard home with a sleepout attached to the double garage. The second three bedroom home (with car shed) has recently had the interior painted.

Utuwai 3764 Pohangina Road

Deer, sheep and cattle

With a great balance of alluvial flats, easy rolling downland and medium hill this 409 ha property is the complete breeding and finishing package Carrying a mix of breeding hinds, mixed aged ewes and breeding cows the property has a diverse range of income streams, protecting your business from the vagaries of the different markets.

Located at the upper end of the Pohangina Valley, an area highly regarded for its productive capability and reliable climate, the property is 15-20 minutes from Apiti, and 50 minutes to both Feilding and Palmerston North.

Mangamaire 431 Mangamaire Road and State Highway 2

Tender

Taree and Clover Pastures - 239 ha

Discover a rare opportunity to own 239 ha of prime flat land located in the heart of the lower North Island This expansive property features fertile soil types, perfect for all agricultural farming practices including intensive finishing cropping, dairy and support. The properties are made up of two former dairy units of 138 ha and 101 ha in a total of 17 Records of Title, providing purchase options for all sectors of the market. The farming infrastructure is well apportioned over the properties which includes 2 x HB cowsheds, handling facilities and a huge range of shedding to suit. Three well maintained family homes provide excellent accommodation or future sell down options With intensive land use and effluent consents still being in place allows for all purchasers to take advantage of the reliable growing climate the Tararua District offers.

Hororata 145 Aitkens Road

Deadline Sale

Central Canterbury dairy

Located in the heart of Central Canterbury just 50 minutes to Christchurch, Aitkens Road provides an opportunity to purchase a mid-scale Fonterra supply dairy business. The 54 bail rotary cowshed is centrally located and serviced via capped lanes. It has in-shed feeding capability along with a 600 cow yard which is complemented with two contiguous feed pads Two homes plus staff quarters on elevated sites overlooking the Canterbury Plains. Due to a change in direction this property is for genuine sale and advise an early inspection.

Deadline Sale closes Tuesday 19th November, 2024 at 1.00pm, (unless sold prior) View By

Gareth Cox M 021 250 9714

Tender closes 2.00pm, Tue 26th Nov 2024, Property Brokers Pahiatua, 129 Main Street Pahiatua

View By appointment

Web pb.co.nz/PR191930

Jared Brock M 027 449 5496 E jared@pb.co.nz

Jamie Smith M 027 220 8311 E jamie.smith@pb.co.nz

John Arends M 027 444 7380 E johna@pb.co.nz

Mount Somers 212 Prices Road

'Rutland' - Mt Somers

The sale of 'Rutland', held in the vendor's family since 1962, presents an exciting strategic acquisition or standalone farm purchase opportunity This attractive Mid Canterbury foothills farming unit is situated in what is considered a reliable climatic zone close to Mt Somers, in a historically tightly held farming area. This quality and versatile 194 ha farm has a history of dairy support, sheep breeding, and livestock finishing. Rolling contour and flats, plus paddock subdivision with lane access, allow for efficient stock movement. Start your journey and build your legacy on this generational farm unit which is well positioned and ready for new ownership. 3 1 2

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MATAMATA, WAIKATO 4548A State Highway 29

Entry-Level Farming Opportunity

PGG Wrightson is proud to present this exceptional property to the market. Owned and farmed by the same family for nearly 100 years this is a rare opportunity for a keen young farmer and their family to take over a well-established operation. Located in the renowned Hinuera/Te Poi district, this property spans just under 70 hectares (more or less) and operates as a smaller dairy unit. It’s an ideal starting point for a young farmer looking to begin their dairy farming career in a prime location, close to towns and schools. The property also offers potential for dairy support and maize cropping. Currently run as a 220-cow dairy farm with approximately eight hectares of maize cropping, there is also an eight-hectare lease block currently integrated into the dairy platform. The 220 cows are milked through a 20 ASHB shed with in-shed feeders, with effluent collected in a pond and irrigated out to the farm via a travelling irrigator. Other buildings include a 6-bay implement shed, a 4-bay calf shed, and two hay barns. The home, featuring three bedrooms, has two log burners with insulation and is conveniently located near the dairy shed The land contour is predominantly flat to easy with a small balance in steeper sidlings. Included in the farm is a cut-and-carry block.

pggwre.co.nz/MAT40257

DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY Plus GST (if any)

(Unless Sold Prior)

Closes 4.00pm, Friday 22 November VIEW 11.00-1.00pm Tuesday

WAIPUKURAU, CENTRAL HAWKES BAY

Carlyon - 474 Hectares

Carlyon is a genuine breeding property carrying 2100 ewes plus replacements and a 130 Angus cow herd, Waiwhero bloodlines, plus replacements. As part of The Farm Road Water Scheme, stock water is guaranteed in any given season. The easy rolling country interspersed with flats and some steeper sidlings runs up to a height of 394masl. A full range of farm infrastructure with a comfortable three bedroom Summitstone home with double integral garage, an easy 15km drive east of Waipukurau. Held in three titles, the owner will consider options. A well presented economic unit.

pggwre.co.nz/WPK40229

3 2

DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY

Plus GST (if any)

No Prior Offers

Closes 4.00pm, Wednesday 20 November Waipukurau

VIEW By Appointment Only

Wills Buchanan

M 027 462 9716

E wills.buchanan@pggwrightson.co.nz

Paul Harper

M 027 494 4854

E paul.harper@pggwrightson.co.nz

TAPAWERA, TASMAN 42 Sherry River Road

Large Scale Premium Tasman Dairy

Sherry Farm comprises 274ha. It is a well-presented property offering, scale, excellent infrastructure and proven production Located in the Tadmor area, this immaculate property offers a high level of improvements including four homes in excellent condition, a 50-bail rotary dairy with an in shed feed system, and great support buildings. Currently 115ha are irrigated via K-line irrigation. The contour of the property is predominately alluvial river flats and a few undulating areas with about 60ha of easy to medium hill all used as platform. DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) Closes 2.00pm, Thursday 28 November 18 Estuary Place, Richmond VIEW By Appointment Only E douglasjcsmith@pggwrightson.co.nz M 027 543 2280

pggwre.co.nz/NEL39963

WAIPUKURAU, CENTRAL HAWKES BAY

Droxford - 480 Hectares

Droxford presents as a well farmed unit comprising a mix of medium hills with some flats incorporated into a bull unit. A centrally located set of sheep and cattle yards besides the existing airstrip with 120 tonne bin capacity.

Located 10km east of Waipukurau, the farm has good access by way of ROW through a retained title. Outstanding water from the Farm Road Water Scheme allowing trough reticulation across the block.

Great add on unit or a standalone farm close to town.

pggwre.co.nz/WPK40184

DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY

Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior)

Closes 4.00pm, Thursday 21 November, Waipukurau

VIEW By Appointment Only

Wills Buchanan

M 027 462 9716

E wills buchanan@pggwrightson.co nz

Paul Harper

M 027 494 4854

E paul.harper@pggwrightson.co.nz

SPRINGSTON, CANTERBURY

Doug Smith pggwre.co.nz/RAN40228

Stop Admiring & Be Admired 'Eastlake', situated in the heart of the Selwyn district, approximately 9km to Lincoln township and 31km to Christchurch International Airport is being offered for sale by our retiring vendors. During the tenure of their ownership, Eastlake has been very faithfully and conservatively farmed and is ready for a new owner to take it to its next level. Comprising 100.1958ha subdivided into 45 paddocks currently fattening beef cattle. In the past there has been some dairy grazing and sheep breeding Eastlake has good infrastructure and a spacious modern homestead. 4 2

• 515 Candy Road, Pokuru district, Te Awamutu

• 129 6 hectares

• contour varies from easy rolling country, to strong fertile flats: some sidlings

• soil types include mairoa ash and Puniu silt loam

• very well subdivided with an extensive network of well -maintained races

• very good water reticulation system provided from 2 deepwell bores

• 380 cows calved; 2 year average of 169,000 kgs milk solids

• 24 a/s farm dairy, doubled up with 48 sets of cups; extensive areas of concrete with an adjoining feed-pad; large concrete silage bunker; substantial calf-rearing shedding

• very good 4 brm homestead with ensuite off master brm and attached double garagelovely north-facing outlook across the farm to Mount Pirongia; additional 3 brm dwelling, extensively renovated

• very good options for schooling both within the Pokuru district and the nearby bustling town of Te Awamutu

One -Man Dairy Unit

•

• 24 a/s herringbone dairy

• quality 5-bay implement shed / workshop - 3-bays lockable

• well-maintained 3 bedroom homestead plus adjoining 2 bedroom sleepout

• good options for Primary and Secondary Schooling

• great road appeal enhanced with attractive specimen trees

The availability of a well -developed and well-managed kiwifruit orchard provides a unique opportunity to acquire a significant i ncome-producing investment with potential for growth, situated in a great location 11 k ms from Te Awamutu - available as a stand-alone entity or can be purchased with the adjoining Mangahana dairy unit

• 150 Cruickshank Road, Tokanui district, Te Awamutu

• 26 7 hectare land area; 19 24 canopy hectares of green kiwifru it

• attractive flat to gen tle contour; free -draining mairoa ash soil

• significant production currently; potential for increase as newer plantings come to full production

• 2024 harvest - 201,107 class 1 trays - 814,822 to tal kgs of kiwifruit

• 2 x deepwell bores supply an extensive irrigation system throughout the orchard

• large packhouse / workshop building

• an attractive 2 storied 5 brm homestead, nicely positioned with lovely north -facing views

Following two generations of diligent ownership, a once -in-a-lifetime opportunity is now presented with the availability of an e specially good, larger scale dairy unit, situated in a great location, 11 kms from Te Awamutu

• 130 Cruickshank Road, Tokanui district, Te Awamutu

• 269 2 hectares (s t s) - free-draining mairoa ash soil

• high percentage of easy rolling country suitable for hay, silage or maize

• very attractive presentation with deciduous trees producing shade and shelter and native plantings occupying some less productive areas

• well subdivided & raced; extensive water reticulation system supplied by several bores

• buildings and amenities include a 50 bail rotary dairy shed; adjoining feed -pad; extensive areas of concrete; substantial calf-rearing shedding; 2 additional disused h b cowsheds utilised for vet work and stand-off areas

• quality 5 brm brick homestead in a prominent site with spectacular panoramic views; 3 additional 3 brm homes

• an excellent location, a very good district, well -situated for a variety of schooling options

Ph Brian Peacocke

Grow your dairy career with Pāmu: Sharemilking & Contract Milking Opportunities

With a long-standing commitment to growing talent in the food and fibre sector, Pāmu are taking the next steps in this journey, transforming a selection of dairy farms to business opportunities through contract milking, lower order sharemilking or herd owning sharemilking available for the 25/26 season.

• Quarry Farm 405 cows - Taupo, Central North Island

• Otago Farm 905 cows – Taupo, Central North Island

• Waimakariri Farm 1,000 cows – Rangiora, Christchurch

• Ruru Farm 780 cows – Greymouth, West Coast

To be successful in any of these high profile roles, ensuring you set the standard and lead the way for the success in this new business model for Pāmu, you’ll likely already have business ownership experience, have successfully lead a high performing team and embody the Pāmu spirit of community, respect and learning. Technically you’ll know your numbers, have exceptional grass management skills and a care for animals will be engrained in your business ethos.

We’re seeking expressions of interest by way of a covering letter and CV, telling us which of these opportunities you’re interested in, why and your preferred structure.

To register & apply now, follow the link: https://no8hr.vincere.io/careers/ or visit our website at www.no8hr.com.

To find out more, visit Pāmu’s website https://www.pamunewzealand.com and for a discussion about any of these opportunities reach out to nicola@no8hr.com or call the team at No8HR on 07 870 4901 for a confidential discussion.

SALE TALK

A turkey was standing in a field chatting to a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of yonder tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven’t got the energy.”

“Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.”

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Whereupon he was spotted by a farmer who dashed into the farmhouse, emerged with a shotgun, and shot the turkey right out of the tree.

Moral of the Story: BS might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

Batley Beltex Ram Sale

Wednesday 6th November

Viewing from 11am Sale 1pm

593 Rehai Road Ruawai, Northland

Contact: Sterl Roadley 09 974 7575

Email: sterlr@outlook.com

Cam Heggie, Wrightsons 027 501 8182

NZ virtual saleyard

TESTING SINCE 1985

• 5 star rating

• Bred on challenging hill country

• Robust functional sheep that survive

• Structurally sound

• Selecting for parasite tolerance and less dags

• No ewes worm drenched, dipped or vaccinated

KEITH ABBOTT, RAGLAN 027 463 9859 | www.waiteikaromneys.co.nz @waiteikaromneys

ADELONG POLL DORSET STUD

- FLOCK NO. 74 NC & DM Greenwood, Ellesmere

NZ’s Top 200 Facial Eczema Rams

• FUTURE FOCUSED - 30 Years of Performance Recording Shedding Sheep.

• FIRST for FACIAL ECZEMA - Ramguard™ since 2006, 0.55.

• FIRST for PARASITES - Carla™ antibody test since 2012.

• FIRST for MEAT, FERTILITY - AnimalPlan/SIL recording since 1995.

• TOP MEAT YIELDING RAMS - Low Input Trial Results.

• HOOF SCORING - Every Ewe and Ram Hogget.

KAAHU GENETICS

- Friday 15th November,

Approximately 100 rams for sale by Auc tion 11am rams penned ready for viewing On farm @ 154 Whakamaru Road, SH 30, Whakamaru. Livestreamed on Open Day - Monday 4th November, 1-3pm

• 3 x 4 th Stud Sires Texel x Wiltshire & Exlana x Wiltshire

• 55 x Wairere Nudie x Kaahu White

• 14x Kaahu White RamGuard F E tested

• 31x Kaahu White

• SIL recorded

KAAHU GENETICS

Murray Sargent 027 392 7242 | murraysargent@hotmail.com

• Top Production

• Carcass meaty and high yielding EMA muscle scanned

• Great eating quality

• Eczema tolerance Ramguard testing @.40

Wairoa for Shedding Fleece Survivability Good feet No Dags Growth rate High Fertility Carcass yield

Approx. 70 Two Tooth Rams available for sale

Wednesday 6th November 2024 11.30am

Annual Yearling Sale

On A/c John Ward

Peninsula Pastoral, Colville

21 x R1 Yr Hereford late spring Yearling Bulls

To be sold in pens of 4.

Double vaccinated against BVD. Vetted & scale weighed. For further information please contact: Rod Harper 0274 515 321

Mataro Wiltshire’s have been breeding for eczema tolerance since 1989. On the eczema prone hills of Taranaki these Rams are breed tough and ready for any climate.

For more information contact: Curtis Lockley 022 412 0660, 06 752 3084

Young Wet & Dry Ewes, prefer Romney 100kg Fries & Fries Beef X Bull Calves

Aut or 1YR Fries Bulls 150-300kg

2YR Exotic X Heifers 400-450kg

1YR Angus Steers 250-320kg

info@dyerlivestock

• Over 150 clients purchased and leased Paki-iti rams last year

• Breeding for constitution, longevity, structural soundness and then performance

• Bred for Growth, Meat Yield, Survival and Meat Quality Traits (Tenderness and Intramuscular

• 14 years of wintering ram hoggets on steep hill country

• Over 500 Suffolk and Suftex rams sold and leased every year

NORTH ISLAND

AWAROA - Brandon, Philip & Audrey – Otorohanga. P: 07 873 6313

RUA PEKA PEKA - Bryant, Maree – Urenui. P: 06 752 3701

NORTH ISLAND

LONGSPUR - Frank, Wayne – Waitara. P: 06 754 4311

GREEN ACRES - Jury, Chris Waitara. P: 06 754 6672

AWAROA - Brandon, Philip & Audrey – Otorohanga. P: 07 873 6313

AWAPIKO - Langlands, Neil & Linda – Taumarunui. P: 07 896 8660

RUA PEKA PEKA - Bryant, Maree – Urenui. P: 06 752 3701

GLENOCHY - MacFarlane, James & Rochelle – Whangamamona. P: 06 762 5880

LONGSPUR - Frank, Wayne Waitara. P: 06 754 4311

RAUPUHA – Mahoneui. P: 027 355 2927

GREEN ACRES - Jury, Chris – Waitara. P: 06 754 6672

WAIOTANE - Brosnahan, Sean – Ohope. P: 06 864 4468

AWAPIKO - Langlands, Neil & Linda – Taumarunui. P: 07 896 8660

KERRYDALE - Robyn Harding Woodville – P: 021 133 7533

GLENOCHY - MacFarlane, James & Rochelle – Whangamamona. P: 06 762 5880

OTOI - Brickell, Ian & Bobbie – Wairoa. P: 06 838 7398

RAUPUHA – Mahoneui. P: 027 355 2927

LONGVIEW - Maxwell, Graeme & Sue Tutira. P: 06 839 7412

THE HEIGHTS - Gaskin, Rob & Heather – Levin. P: 027 481 6924

WAIOTANE - Brosnahan, Sean – Ohope. P: 06 864 4468

KERRYDALE - Robyn Harding – Woodville – P: 021 133 7533

HAUTERE - Henricksen, John & Carey – Pongaroa. P: 06 374 3888

KAREREVALE - D’Ath, Warren – Palmerston North. P: 06 354 8951

OTOI - Brickell, Ian & Bobbie – Wairoa. P: 06 838 7398

LONGVIEW - Maxwell, Graeme & Sue – Tutira. P: 06 839 7412

OTAPAWA - Robbie, Douglas & Dara – Eketahuna. P: 06 376 7765

HERANGI - Spellman, John – Te Awamutu. P: 07 870 1433

THE HEIGHTS - Gaskin, Rob & Heather – Levin. P: 027 481 6924

TE AWAITI Wakelin, Sarah – Martinborough. P: 022 607 5968

HAUTERE - Henricksen, John & Carey – Pongaroa. P: 06 374 3888

ASHBY - Timms, Gilbert – Shannon. P: 06 362 7829

KAREREVALE - D’Ath, Warren – Palmerston North. P: 06 354 8951

OTAPAWA - Robbie, Douglas & Dara – Eketahuna. P: 06 376 7765

HERANGI - Spellman, John – Te Awamutu. P: 07 870 1433

TE AWAITI - Wakelin, Sarah – Martinborough. P: 022 607 5968

ASHBY - Timms, Gilbert – Shannon. P: 06 362 7829

+

ISLAND

From the slopes of the Tararuas

• Perendale, Cheviot and meat breed sires

• 60 years of breeding

• For fertility, bone & muscle

• Conformation & True Breed Type

Enquiries welcome ASHBY Gilbert & Diana Timms

06 362 7829 • 027 348 3365 e: ashbystud@xtra.co.nz Pretoria Rd, RD 4, Palmerston North

On farm & Public Auctions

Glenochy Perendales – Whangamomona

North Island Perendales – Te Kuiti

Raupuha Perendales – Mahoenui

Snowdon Perendales – Canterbury

November 8th

November 11th

November 12th

December 6th

South Island Perendale Ram Fair – Gore January 21st

Island

For information on private treaty sales visit www.perendalenz.com

Follow us on Facebook & Instagram E: perendalenz@xtra.co.nz

Flock 489 SIL Recorded

Is our business in trouble? That’s a question we’ve been getting from a few people worried about the future of Farmers Weekly since our call out for contributions/donations.

The answer is no, we’re in strong shape.

It’s just that we are determined. We work best when we’re growing and building on our strengths. In the current tight economy, we looked at costs, and we’re also developing new revenue streams.

We looked at making Farmers Weekly a subscription publication, but if you had to pay for it, it wouldn’t reach every farmer. Reaching every farmer every week is important.

We looked at putting a paywall on our website, but paywalls are annoying and would create a barrier for many farmers and stakeholders. Agriculture is our biggest export sector, and quality news builds business trust.

So we chose voluntary subscriptions, or contributions, or donations, or whatever you want to call them. Simply put, we’re asking our readers to support the work we do, because we’re doing it for you. It takes a team.

YOU

Supporter of the week: Anna Tarver, dairy farming in Mid Canterbury.

I get a lot of information for dairy, so it’s nice to have news of the farming industry as a whole.

Spring 2024 Bull Sale Review

Hugh

Stringleman MARKETS Livestock

PRICES exceeded expectations in the spring yearling bull sale market, underpinned by strong commercial cattle demand, PGG Wrightson national genetics manager Callum Stewart says.

Prior to the increase in milk payments, dairy farmers had enjoyed good returns for week-old calves, sold at the gate or in the saleyards.

The requirement to do more with bobby calves has opened up the chequebooks for service bulls, Stewart said.

“Purchasers have been prepared to go beyond their normal pricing, which in previous years has been hard and fast.

“The dairy and beef industries are definitely positive compared with nine months ago.”

Most vendors got close to $4000 price averages, which they would consider a good return on the time and effort of rearing yearling bulls.

The yearling bull spring market is now a busy time of the year for livestock agents and their clients, Stewart said.

The growing market for dairy-

RECORD SETTER: Colraine Washington 23 421 set a breed price record of $37,000 for yearling Hereford bulls early in the spring sale season.

beef cattle is helping rebuild the beef industry after the losses of land to forestry.

“It will rebuild over a couple of years and then persist for the future,” he said.

As farmers reduce their ewe numbers, potentially there is more

room for cattle, including beef cows.

Towards the end of the selling season Meadowslea Angus, Fairlie, made $14,000 for a two-year bull called Meadowslea T206, which went to Ratanui Angus.

The top yearling bull price was

Young bull prices lift spring spirits

$8000 for lot 34, a Rainstorme son, sold to Glen R Angus.

Vendor George Giddings said overall 11 R2s sold to beef farmers, averaging $5400, and 10 to dairy farmers, averaging $3235. In total 30 yearlings went to beef operations at an average of $3900 and 41 to dairy at $2500.

“Overall, we had a great clearance of 96 out of 102 penned up on the day.”

Sudeley Genetics, Leeston, sold 28 of 29 lots, both yearling Angus bulls and heifers, with a top price of $10,000 for Lot 13, Sudeley U135, paid by Minzion Farming, Miller’s Flat.

The average price for bulls was $4160.

Silverstream Charolais sold a complete clearance of 22 yearling bulls, averaging $3909.

As with near-neighbours Sudeley Genetics, the top price was $8000 paid by Minzion Farming, Miller’s Flat.

Kane Farms, Tapanui, sold 30 out of 30 Westholm Hereford bulls, with an average of $3028, and eight out of eight Blue Mountain Angus bulls, averaging $2956. Fifteen Polled Hereford heifers were also sold, averaging $1640.

OLDER: Two-yearold Meadowslea T206 sold for $14,000 to Ratanui Angus, Wairoa, and will be going on a long journey from his origin farm at Fairlie, South Canterbury.

Bexley Herefords, Mokau, had a complete clearance of 32 averaging $3843 with the top price of $6000 made twice by commercial farmers.

A stud transfer of Bexley 23045 went to Rolling Heights Herefords, Huntly, for $4000.

Bexley followed up with 12 Angus yearling bulls sold for an average of $2575, and three Speckle Park yearlings sold for $2733 with a top of $3100.

The dairy and beef industries are definitely positive compared with nine months ago.

Callum Stewart PGG Wrightson

Waiohine Hereford and Hollow Top Angus, Havelock North, had a combined clearance of 25 from 35 offered and an average price of $3790.

At his first yearling bull sale, vendor Dave Warburton said the top price of $12,100 for Lot 19 went to Monymusk Herefords and $11,100 was paid for Lot 11 by Te Kupe Angus.

Spring 2024 Bull Sale Results

Spring 2024 Bull Sale Results

Markets

HB hosts a full day of on-farm lamb sales

At four sales in Central Hawke’s Bay, eager buyers from near and far were invited to see lambs in their natural setting.

Alex Coddington MARKETS

Livestock

FROM the limestone backdrops of Te Aute to the rugged coastal hill country of Elsthorpe and Omakere, the best of Central Hawke’s Bay was on display for the attendees at the four onfarm lamb sales taking place on Tuesday, October 22.

Onlookers, including many repeat buyers from outside the region, were treated to a spectacular display of 8300 thumping new season lambs across multiple farms – all in a single day. The presentation and results of the lambs on offer reflected years of dedicated breeding efforts by vendors, and ideal growth conditions in the early-lambing parts of Central Hawke’s Bay.

Even before noon, attendees knew it was a day to keep the sunblock and water on hand. As deceiving as it was to be surrounded by green, most Hawke’s Bay farmers have very little feed ahead of them.

The beauty of the on-farm sale and appeal for many vendors was getting to see all the lambs leave the farmgate at once, avoiding the

costs of transport and yard fees – a cost-effective option for breeders looking to minimise expenses.

The day began at Waikareao Station, a first for these vendors. These mixed-sex lambs are typically an annual highlight at the Stortford Lodge saleyards. However, this year buyers were welcomed on farm to witness these freshly weaned Southdowncross lambs in their natural setting.

PGG Wrightson agent Neil Common, overseeing the Waikareao sale, said: “The overall result for lambs today was great, especially for the top cuts. These young lambs, only 12 weeks old, have plenty of weight.

They are also antibiotic free and have had their B12 injections already. With all the breeding in the world, they truly deserved a strong result.”

The top cut of 156 fetched $144.50, bought by a repeat buyer willing to go to war to win the line. Most of the following 2100 lambs headed to Manawatū and averaged $119.

The tail-end of younger lambs made $82-$92. In the ewe pens, a top cut of 507 mixed-age ewes sold for $123 to a local buyer while the following 884 averaged $103.

The second sale of the day took

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With all the breeding in the world, they truly deserved a strong result.

Neil Common PGG Wrightson

buyers to the first of the Hazlett on-farm sales held at Mangakuri Station, so close to the beach that you could feel the sea breeze in the yards. Visually it seemed like much harder country, but one wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at the lambs.

The top cut of 392 Suftex

and South Suffolk lambs out of Romney ewes fetched $134, won by a keen buyer from Bay of Plenty. The following 2800 lambs averaged $103 and the 480 castfor-age Romney ewes on offer averaged $108.

Just over 2500 Suffolk and Kelso Prime lambs out of Romney ewes were up for grabs down the road at Te Manuiri Station. A large line of 503 young lambs, known for their shifting ability and prosperity on harder country, fetched $130. These lambs stayed local, while the rest were sent out of the region, averaging $100.

The final sale of the day

took buyers further inland to the rolling green pastures of Hollycombe in Otane. By the size of the cattle in the roadside paddocks it was clear these lambs would be looking well fed. Arguably the largest lambs of the day, the top cut of 150 Romney cross Sufftex fetched $165, while the following 1200 averaged $125, won by multiple buyers from Manawatū. Staying local were the mixed-age Romney ewes. The tops of these ewes were in very good condition and encouraged an onslaught of bids, finally settling at a strong price of $146 while the rest made $115.

STORM: Calm before the storm at Waikareao Station, where the top cut of 156 fetched $144.50, bought by a repeat buyer willing to go to war to win the line.

Cattle Sheep Deer

Weekly saleyard results

These weekly saleyard results are collated by the AgriHQ LivestockEye team. Cattle weights and prices are averages and sheep prices are ranges. For more detailed results and analysis subscribe to your selection of LivestockEye reports. Scan the QR code or visit www.agrihq.co.nz/livestock-reports

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FINAL CALL: The late wave of late-born, finewool store hoggets is starting to drop off through the South Island. These shorn Merino wethers sold for $121 at Temuka last Monday.

Paparangi, Welling ton

New Lynn, Auckland

Lynfield, Auckland

Is the weather outside quite frightful?

Philip Duncan NEWS Weather

FOR the first time this season I’ve had more than just one or two regions telling me things are starting to dry out. Now, more than a month since the spring equinox, we are certainly leaning more into summer, even if we do still have the unsettled weather pattern that spring brings us.

Farmers in parts of Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay have been most vocal about how dry it’s becoming, although some rain was expected across Canterbury over the long weekend to help things there. But not so wet for the eastern North Island.

Now we’re starting to see other regions showing signs of leaning drier. Keep in mind I was looking at these maps before the long weekend low-pressure zone and associated rain, but at the time of writing this, even parts of the West Coast were technically drier than normal soil moisturewise –including Fiordland, Westland and around more populated places like Greymouth.

No doubt that has changed now since the recent rain, but it shows the drying-out phase lately was becoming more widespread.

In the North Island it’s regions like King Country and Waitomo that are tilting drier now. Much of Waikato and Taranaki has about normal soil moisture levels for this time of year – but it won’t take many more days before some areas are drier than usual. Not everyone in Waikato has had the rain they might want.

Finally, the Far North has also recently been leaning drier than usual from a soil moisture point of view.

But it’s Hawke’s Bay that is by far seeing the biggest drying out phase now, especially south and southwest of Napier.

This area was also expected to miss out on much of the Labour Weekend rain too.

So what lies ahead? Our November ClimateWatch update will be issued this week on Thursday, October 31.

It will be a busy day for us in our Auckland studio, not because it’s the day we issue our November outlook, but also because it’s

Halloween, which has really become a thing here.

So what wicked weather lies ahead? Scary showers, creepy clouds, wild winds, terrifying temperatures, frigid frosts, frightening fog, haunting hail, hellish humidity, ghoulishly grey, livid lightning, deadly drought, freakish floods, miserable mist, or sinful sun? Knowing New Zealand, probably the perfect mix of all the above.

As my mother always says, “everything in moderation”, so if the frosts stick to the mountains and the floods stick to the rain forests, and the fog burns off fast, most of us will be happy.

It is worth noting that November looks to kick off with low pressure in the Tasman Sea moving in and potentially dragging down more tropical air (and some wet weather) into the country. But there’s still a lot of high pressure around plus further storms over the Southern Ocean.

November can often be the calmer of the three months of spring and the forecast for November’s first week looks changeable but not too spooky at this stage.

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DRY SPOTS: How much has changed over Labour Weekend? Soil moisture maps from last week show the dry spots. Did weekend rain help you out?

Paparoa