Farmers Weekly NZ August 29 2022

Rotten fruit stains brand

“The fruit we are sending to market this year is the worst since the quality and taste issues we faced with Hort 16A in the early 2000s,” he said. That fruit was so bland, Zespri’s Asian GM said he could not sell the “potatoes” being sent to him. Mathieson cited fruit that was soft, stained and rotten, all failing to fulfil Zespri’s long-held brand promise of delivering premium quality fruit. Chinese social media has also started to fire up on fruit qualityQualitythere.issues had been anticipated this year as a result of labour shortages, but this is now described by Mathieson as being at the “worst end”. Growers have been warned to brace for the brunt of the quality hit, with this year’s crop loss forecast to slice off $2.80 a tray for SunGold kiwifruit compared to the $1.68 hit last year, itself labelled a poor one for quality. Based on estimated industry production of 100 million trays of SunGold, losses in this high-value fruit alone are $280 million. Green’s $1.95 loss per tray on 70 million trays adds a further $136m, to total loss costs of $416m, almost double last year’s combined fruit losses. The eye-watering loss figures are set to leave as many as 50% of Green growers in either a breakeven or a loss situation.

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Z ESPRI’s reputation for high-quality fruit supply is under threat with spoiled fruit on shelves offshore and Zespri’s CEO issuing a blunt observation that the produce is the worst seen in 20 years. Growers at Zespri’s AGM were left under no illusions their income is going to take a severe hit this season as a result of quality issues that CEO Dan Mathieson said have left many of Zespri’s hard-won customers genuinely upset.

POTATOES: Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson says the fruit being sent to market this season is the worst since the early 2000s, which were described by Zespri’s Asian GM as ‘potatoes’. The fruit we are sending to market this year is the worst since the quality and taste issues we faced with Hort 16A in the early 2000s.

Dan ZespriMathieson

“This has put immense pressure on growers and post-harvest, and I know it has been an incredibly hard time for you.”

Even some SunGold growers receiving about $11 a tray will face a tightThoseseason.whohave borrowed heavily for their $800,000/ha licences have faced a doubling of interest rates in the past year, and as much as a 20% increase in orchardBehindcosts.thescenes, fruit quality controllers have been scrambling to pull fruit out of storage, regrade and repack prior to export to avoid pushing spoilt product to market.Reports are circulating of growers experiencing up to 50% of their crop being rejected at this re-gradingMathiesonpoint.called for the industry to fix the problem fast, and the first area for examination is around licence release. Licence income from SunGold, which reached a peak of near $800,000/ha this season, has proven a valuable income source for the marketer, totalling $430m in Zespri2021. expects to announce changes to the licence allocation method and the number of hectares available ahead of the 2023 licence release. Borrowing to service loans for SunGold licences has contributed significantly to total horticultural sector debt. Lending by the banking sector to horticulture has grown 30% over the past two years to $6.8 billion this April, and this has come as overall primary sector lendingIndustrydeclines.insiders are citing the shortages in labour supply as the key reason for poor quality fruit outcome, while a rise in Psa infection has been cited as a lesser cause.Mathieson acknowledged that the pandemic and resulting labour shortage exacerbated the tension between meeting demand and maintaining a high value for the fruit.Growers have reported poor quality harvesting techniques from contracted picking gangs, resulting in fruit being “rained” off vines, causing damage that only manifests as fruit ripens, either in cool storage or on the shelf. Mathieson acknowledged that labour problems have also lead to a shortage of people to do proper quality checks on packing lines.

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RISING WATER: Rai Valley’s Ronga Road at the intersection with SH6. Photo: Marlborough District Council

Feds national adverse events manager Julie Geange put out a call for feed, experienced fencers, tractor drivers and machinery operators.“Weneed the people and we need the machines to get the clean-up done and we need to feed stock,” she said.

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“We know farmers are physically and mentally exhausted, they are in survival mode and it’s just adrenaline keeping them going, but getting into recovery mode they have to talk, they have to ask for“It’shelp.apretty amazing community, people are pulling together.“Thishas been a huge knock back and extra-bad timing with calving and lambing,” White said.

Photo: D’Urville Crossings

FERRY BUSY: D’Urville Crossings owner Jana Thorn says the barge is in high demand transporting groceries, general goods, baleage and other stock and farm essentials to flood-hit rural communities.

Stock trucks are among the essential vehicles prioritised for access in order to transport stock off the worst-hit farms. “But still the cows have to be walked out to meet the trucks.” White said the realisation is setting in that “it’s not going to a get better anytime soon”.

Rural Women NZ Top of the South members are working with Feds to deliver food and supplies.

One farmer has plenty of grass on his farm but because of land damage he has no laneways to get his cows to the feed. Fencing and tracks will be a big fix.“We have businesses and volunteer teams rolling up their sleeves to get materials in, clear fence lines and get fences up and diggers working to clear and rebuild tracks and laneways. It’s going to be a big job,” White said. Access and communication are major“Acrossproblems.theregion we spent $100 million on roading after the July 2021 flood. It’s all gone again and some will be a no-go now. “We have a number of farms where phones and all communication is down, we can’t even call them to ask if they are okay, and this highlights the need for more satellite communication for our more remote rural areas.”

MORE: The Feds website is open for offers at www.fedfarm.org.nz

“We have been out every day working alongside Federated Farmers, going door-to-door checking peoples’ welfare and delivering baking. Today it’s 50 fruit cakes and kiddies toys, yesterday it was 500 loaves of fresh bread.“We have got a lot to cover,” RobbFedssaid.provincial president Scott Adams said farmers are frustrated. The Wairau Valley sheep and beef farmer is in the middle of lambing and like most farmers, hasn’t had time yet to assess the full extent of damage. But he said such flood events could be avoided as he called for the return of legislation governing the management and maintenance of rivers and soil conservation.“TheSoilConservation and Rivers Control Act 1941 effective in the ’50s, ’60, ’70s and ’80s has seen us get by, just by the skin of our teeth, up until now,” Adams said. “The basic infrastructure has not been maintained over the past 30 years and consequently has become extremely vulnerable. He said it is time to “bring back the legislation of the 1941 Act where management and maintenance can be undertaken”.

President Melva Robb said more than 500 loaves of bread donated by Couplands Bakery have been among the deliveries.

Annette annette.scott@globalhq.co.nzScott

WITH most farmers still trying to get their heads above water and assess the damage, the Marlborough-Tasman floods have already caused a deluge of insurance claims, and predictions of a lengthy recovery process. Within the first week more than 1000 insurance claims have been lodged.“Itwill not be a five-minute fix,” Federated Farmers Marlborough dairy chair Evan White said. His farm has suffered flooding, but he said he is one of the more fortunate.With43 farms to collect milk from, Fonterra tankers were making it to just nine over much of the first week after the floods. “I was one of those nine that was getting [milk] picked up and while we are slowly adding to that total as roads are cleared to get tankers in, there will be farms that will be isolated for several days yet,” WhiteMeantimesaid. extra milk is getting fed to calves and the surplus diluted as per regulations and dumped on farm. “We are talking quite small farms in these isolated and most affected valleys, not 1000-cow farms; everybody has been able to milk their cows, even if only once a day, so it’s not an animal welfare issue.”White said the feed situation is not“Aflash.lotof baleage has been washed away and we have a priority need list we are working through for any donated feed that comes in.”

“The associate director gains a lot of valuable experience, but they are also beneficial to us. We look for people who will bring a diverse view of the challenges we’re facing. They get a full voice around the table and participate in all our debates,” he said. “It’s fantastic to see the calibre and potential of these young directors like Kate [Acland] and Courtney coming in. It’s beneficial for the whole sector in what they achieve during that one-year term and what they go on to achieve.”

ASPIRING leaders are being urged to put themselves forward for an associate board seat at Beef + Lamb New Zealand (BLNZ). The vacancy comes as south Otago farmer Courtney Nimmo’s one-year term ends in October. The associate director role was established by BLNZ to give aspiring leaders in the agricultural sector the chance to observe and participate in governance.

“This means the findings could guide future decisions about how to further improve our processes to continually provide top-quality NZ pork products that consumers can rely on,” McLaren said.

“The most exciting part about this research is that it’s specific to the NZ pork industry, making it very relevant to us.

RESEARCH is underway into what makes a great-tasting New Zealand-grown pork roast.

“Many New Zealanders may also be unaware of the essential nutrients in NZ pork. It is a great source of quality protein and zinc, and also provides iron, and many B vitamins.”Freshpork NZ project manager Jason McLaren said as a processor and wholesaler of NZ-raised pork, the company is committed to continually improving the eating quality of its products.

CRACKLING GOOD: MPI director of homegrownraisehelpaenjoywhatunderstandingPennoprogrammesinvestmentStevesaysabetterofconsumersmostaboutporkroastwillfarmersapremiumproduct.

The NZ pork industry plans to use the study findings to develop a quality mark for pork so Kiwis can be confident they will have a consistently excellent eating experience every time they cook pork.NZPork chief executive Brent Kleiss said NZ-born and -raised pork is of the highest quality from an environmental and animal welfare perspective, but there is no verifiable programme to measure eating quality.

B+LNZ seeks a fresh face around the board table

Chair Andrew Morrison said the role extends the knowledge and understanding of governance, its environment, the role of the BLNZ board, the legal framework and directors’ responsibilities.

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Consumers will also be asked how likely they would be to purchase the pork.

“The findings will give us valuable information and insights about just how much pig gender and pH factors enhance or lessen the eating experience.

Acland, who became deputy chair of the board this year after being appointed associate director in 2018, said the role enabled her to develop in several key areas.

MPI director of investment programmes Steve Penno said findings about developing a consistently high-quality product will be an especially valuable part of the “Betterproject.understanding of what leads to pork with attributes consumers enjoy most will help farmers raise a premium homegrown product,” Penno said.

AgResearch scientists have launched a study examining how factors such as gender and pH values affect the eating quality of pork.The research is a collaboration between NZPork, the industry organisation for commercial pig farmers, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) through its Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund, and Freshpork. The study is part of an innovative eating quality project, with NZPork contributing $59,875, MPI investing $45,000 and FreshporkConsumer$4,648.testing will enable researchers to evaluate attributes such as aroma, tenderness, juiciness, flavour and liking, and the overall perception of quality.

The successful candidate will join a board of six farmer-elected directors, two meat industryappointed directors and one independent director.

“I couldn’t recommend this opportunity more highly,” she said.“Iwas fortunate to be selected as associate director three years ago and it was a fantastic experience to enter the boardroom for the first time, engage in the governance of the sector and connect with likeminded people.

Wanted: the roast pork with the most

“The skills and connections I gained through my 12-month tenure set me up perfectly to serve and add value in roles at other organisations.”Nimmoencouraged others to put themselves forward for the role and make the most of the opportunity.“I’vegained so much insight and value from this experience.

The BLNZ board has a diverse range of stakeholders and a complete focus on ensuring the future success of the sector,” she said.“Ihave had exposure to a wide range of strategic decision making and being able to observe a high functioning board that is navigating significant regulatory change has provided an incredible environment for me to learn and build“It’sconfidence.givenmeeverything I hoped it would when I applied for theApplicationsrole.” via the BLNZ website close on Sunday September 11.

AgResearch senior scientist Carolina Realini, who has experience in NZ and overseas researching the quality of pork and other food products, said the study will focus on consumer sensory testing with pork loin from different genders and at different pH levels.

The most exciting part about this research is that it’s specific to the NZ pork industry.

“This is about the industry ensuring Kiwis can be confident about the quality of NZ-born and -raisedNZPorkpork.”isalso working hard to bust misconceptions about NZborn and -raised pork. “Pork is one of the most popular proteins in the world, but some people still believe all pork is a fatty meat,” Kleiss said. However, he said, most cuts of pork are quite lean when the easyto-remove external fat is trimmed off, just the same as you might do for other meats.

Jason FreshporkMcLarenNZ

EXPERIENCE: South Otago farmer Courtney Nimmo’s term as associate director comes to an end in October.

“We’ll draw on the eating experiences of a group of consumers to gain insights into what they perceive from different treatments.“Thefindings of this consumer study will then lead to independent written findings that can be drawn on by the industry,” Realini said. This eating quality research is expected to be completed early nextNZPorkyear. also operates the PigCare certification label programme, which provides assurance for shoppers that the pork they are purchasing comes from pigs born and raised in NZ to high standards of welfare.

LAST-minute discussions are underway to ensure farmers can winter livestock on crops next year without swamping regional councils with urgent resource consent councilsFarmingapplications.leaders,regionalandthegovernment are rapidly trying to find a solution after it emerged that officials are unlikely to have finalised Freshwater Management Plan criteria in time for planting intensive winter grazing (IWG) crops.This process is an alternative form of approval for noncompliant winter graziers and without it, thousands of farmers may need resource consent for nextFarmingwinter.groups are calling for a year’s deferral of the new rules, citing the absence of a freshwater plan.The government is also asking regional councils if they have the ability to implement its new IWG regulations, due to come into force on November Environment1. Southland chair Nicol Horrell said work is underway behind the scenes to find a solution, but he thinks deferring the regulations would send the wrong message to the public.“Ifwe delay again it has a lot of negative connotations,” Horrell said.“It is better if we come up with a simple alternative, and we are working through this.”

Nicol EnvironmentHorrell Southland

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WAITING: Southland Federated Farmers winter grazing spokesperson Jason Herrick says farmers need certainty and certainty is not what they have right now.

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 5

Local Government NZ regional chair Doug Leeder said councils will struggle to process the volume of IWG consents. He is urging farmers to meet with councils to find an “Don’talternative.ignoreit,that is the worst option. Tell the regional council what you are doing and seek assistance.”JasonHerrick, Southland Federated Farmers winter grazing spokesperson, said farmers need the issue to be resolved ahead of spring“Farmerssowing.need certainty and certainty is not what they have got rightAgFirstnow.”Consultant James Allen said the new IWG rules apply to all farms and he urged farmers to assess whether their wintering plans comply.

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Dave Harrison, Beef + Lamb NZ’s manager of policy and advocacy, said farming groups are not seeking to re-litigate IWG rules in the short term but need an alternative to having to apply for resource consent.

“We are seeking a delay to the implementation of IWG regulations by a year because the freshwater plans are out of cycle.” The government has told rural leaders it is considering the request.Harrison said there are interim solutions, including an IWG plan developed 18 months ago by the Winter Grazing Advisory Group in Southland.Herricksaid that template could be used in the interim, but in the longer term he wants the government to revisit the 10 degree maximum slope limit for winter crops, beyond which farmers must get consent or follow the still-to-be-released freshwater plan.He thinks the criteria should be increased to 15 degrees as current restrictions apply to any continuous 20m length of a paddock that is 10 degrees or more ,and captures too many crops, he said.Environment Minister David Parker acknowledged issues raised by industry bodies about council readiness.“I’vetherefore directed officials to work with relevant councils to get a full picture of councils’ readiness to implement the IWG regulations. I expect to receive advice on this shortly,” Parker said. He said IWG rules have already been deferred once to give farmers and councils time to prepare.“Iunderstand that key councils are working with farmers now to help them prepare for the coming season,” he Respondingsaid.to questions from Farmers Weekly last week, a Ministry for the Environment spokesperson said IWG regulations were amended in April and will come into effect as planned from November 1. If farmers cannot meet permitted activity standards, they should apply for a resource consent from their regional council. The spokesperson said Freshwater Farm Plans are expected to start coming into effect from 2023 and in stages of three or four regions at a time.

Farming group leaders estimate 1000 Waikato farmers will be captured by the regulations.

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The meat industry – which estimates it is short 2000 workers – is one of six sectors the government last week granted special visa status for low-skilled migrant workers, allowing them to pay $24/hr, 86% of the median wage. The government-approved sector agreement visas apply only to entry-level migrant workers, and last for only seven months.

Neal

Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said the industry is seeking clarification on how they can access the Fijian halal butchers, along with another 20 Indonesians trained before New Zealand closed its border during the latest covid-19 outbreak.

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 7

“For example, the shortage of skilled knife people means that a reduced number of cuts can be prepared for the high-value chilled market, and the product is exported as frozen at a lower value.“Byproducts are also sent to rendering instead of further processing.”

“There is no special provision for these workers, even though they have a unique skill set and are a cohort of people we need,” KarapeevaKarapeevasaid.said they are seeking clarification about which visa to use and companies are concerned about the length of time it takes Immigration NZ to process applications.

Karapeeva said the agreement is a welcome boost to its own domestic recruitment efforts and will allow meat companies to restore some lost productivity. The industry has estimated it had to forgo $100m in lost product and added value last season due in part to staff shortages.

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NewsFate of halal butchers is uncertain

A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Michael Wood said additional migrant staff can be employed but will have to be paid at higher rates. These sector agreements will be replaced from 2024 with a programme in which workers from the Pacific Islands will be able to come and work.

LENDING for livestock by Heartland Bank grew 57% in the financial year ended June 2022 as the number of customers in New Zealand and Australia increased.Aproduct called Sheep and Beef Direct contributed half of the new business, and the whole category of livestock loans was up $62.3 million to $171m. Dairy Direct has also been launched, accessed through a digital device rather than visiting a bank branch. The annual results of the bank included a 17.5% increase in rural receivables to $689.1m compared with $586m in FY21. Heartland has over $6 billion of total lending, a third of which is reverse mortgages in NZ and Australia.Rurallending contributed $30.2m net operating income (NOI) to the bank’s overall NOI of $267m and net profit after tax of $95.1m, up 9.3% on the previous financial year.

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“If we want more qualified and skilled class five drivers, we have to do better at growing what we have got,” Leggett said. He said a heavily subsidised industry trainee programme, Road to Success, run alongside companies, is the best way to solve the driver shortage, “along with improving wages and conditions”.Thegovernment immigration policy also temporarily doubles to 24,000 the number of migrants allowed into NZ under the Working Holiday Scheme, and extends visas to retain labour already in country.

A survey of 400 transport operators revealed that the median hourly rate has increased from $26/hr in 2020 to $31/hr in 2021, which has encouraged some workers to stay.

There is no special provision for these workers, even though they have a unique skill set and are a cohort of people we need.

Heartland Bank’s livestock lending soars

AN IMMIGRATION sector agreement between the government and the meat industry allows companies to employ 320 low-skilled migrant workers at less than the median wage – but that does not cover desperately needed halal butchers, who would have to be paid at a higher rate. The industry needs about 100 halal butchers – and recently trained about 50 Fijian butchers and had them vetted by Muslim religious authorities.

Wood said immigration settings were changed following deputations from sectors seeking more time to transition to the new rules.Sector agreements include an expectation for improvement, including the implementation of workforce transition plans and industry transformation plans. Performance against those criteria will be monitored and fed into reviews and decisions about future access to migrants who will be paid less than the median wage.

The $130m fully underwritten placement has been fully subscribed and $70m is being offered to existing shareholders through a share purchase plan at a price expected to be about $1.80.Managing director Jeff Greenslade said Heartland is looking for further opportunities for growth in Australia and these would be digital businesses, not brick and mortar. One of the company’s major aims is frictionless service at the lowest cost.

neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nzWallace

Road Transport Association chief executive Nick Leggett said migrants supplement the truck driver work force and are not a solution to shortages. He estimated the sector is short about 2500 drivers but said staffing levels appear to have stabilised, going by anecdotal evidence.

The bank’s strategy is to target parts of the livestock market that are being under-serviced by the majorHeartlandbanks.came together as a listed bank 11 years ago with the merger of CBS Canterbury, Marac Finance, Southern Cross Building Society and, later, PGG Wrightson Finance.During the year Heartland completed the acquisition of StockCo in Australia, a leading livestock finance business based in TheBrisbane.purchase cost A$154.4m (about $172.2m), funded with a bridging loan by a major Australasian bank. StockCo has assets of A$358m and a leading position in a market estimated to be worth $7 billion.Heartland has announced a $200m equity raise to repay that bridging loan and provide additional growth capital.

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TAKING forestry’s role beyond carbon sequestration and log exports and into higher value carbon stored processing and biofuels is a key focus of the industry’s recently released transformation plan. Launched by Minister for Forestry Stuart Nash, the plan aims to create a blueprint for the industry to stymie the flow of raw export logs offshore. Key opportunities include the growing demand for lowemissions wood products here and overseas, new tech that enables low-grade logs to become high-value-add products, wood’s role in reducing fossil fuel use, and options for biochemicals, bioplastics and pharmaceutical products.Gainsin forest productivity and diversity are recommended, along with greater investment in value-added product production, and improved support for iwi aspirations in the sector. But it has also identified some of the bottlenecks in New Zealand’s forestry’s value-added evolution, noting the number of logs exported from NZ has almost doubled in the past decade, while wood processing capacity has remained almost stable.

150,000ha-200,000ha of forest. Though he welcomed the plan, Dodson said there are some barriers the government has to work on before its hopes can be realised.“TheResource Management Act is one big roadblock to greenfield investments and has been for years and has to change,” he said. The last greenfields sawmill project built in NZ was back in 2005.He said there is also a need to aggregate forest wood supplies in areas to make its use more economic.Therule of thumb is that a plant requires sufficient forests within a 100km catchment. He said Central North Island remains a key area for further development, followed by Otago-Southland, then East Coast.Hesaid the area of biofuel is one that forestry will move relatively rapidly“Thereon.is the opportunity there to better utilise forest residues, and low-grade export logs can go into this area too.” He said recent global upheavals and surges in energy transport costs are prompting more processors to consider energy sources closer to home, and government policy on banning coal-fired boilers is also playing into“Thethat.challenge now is to implement it. It’s great to have such a positive plan and we look forward to the next steps to attract the investment which is necessary to make the plan an economic and environmental reality.”

Richard richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nzRennie

The ManagementResourceActis one big roadblock to green field investments and has been for years and has to change.

WOODEN WONDER: Multi-rise timber buildings, like The Lake Mjøsa Skyscraper in Brumunddal, Norway, were not possible 15 years ago. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

POSITIVE: The CEO of the Forest Owners Association, Grant Dodson, welcomes the industry’s transformation plan, but is calling on the government to remove delays caused by the Resource Management Act.

Grant AssociationForestDodsonOwners

The report also points out that the capital barriers facing iwi are slowing further forestry development, and flags a reliance upon single-species tree plantings and the lack of a cohesive single voice throughout the industry.

NZ’s increasing reliance on raw exported logs has been attributed in the past to subsidised processing and taxation credits offered to processors in countries where those logs are sold, including China and the United States.Over half of NZ’s logs are exported and of those threequarters are China-bound. The timber processing industry has long lobbied the government to take a complaint to the World Trade Organisation as the sector gets squeezed by heavily subsidised offshore processors. Forest Owners Association CEO Grant Dodson said that in traditional areas like plywood and pulp markets, NZ stands little chance against huge and often subsidised offshore mills, but there are emerging areas that do offer more “Manufacturedpotential.wood products are coming to the fore, including for use in multi-rise timber buildings that was just not possible 15 years ago. And they also have the ability to store carbon in structures. As products they are carbon sequesters, not carbon emitters like steel and concrete.”Somemajor recent timber initiatives highlight the increased use of timber, including Nelson airport, and plans for Tauranga City Council’s central office. The transformation plan envisages an increase in valueadded wood product exports to $3.1 billion a

fromplants.replacetonnestoindustrialdecarboniseandissteelthecumecsmetreswillworldwideagencyInternationalyear.investmentGreshamHousepredictsconsumptionoftimberrisefrom2.2billioncubicperyearto5.8billionayearby2050,drivenbyneedtodecreaseconcreteandconstruction.AnothergrowthareaforforestryasasourceofbioenergybiofuelsasNZlookstotransportandprocessing.FonterraaloneisestimatedrequirethreetofourmillionayearofbiomasstocoalacrossprocessingIfthesupplyweretobelargelywood,thiswouldequateto

Effectively our timber processing sector is subsidising the higher carbon emitting sectors we are supposed to be reducing.

THE CEO of New Zealand’s largest timber processing company says the goals of the forest industry transformation plan could work positively for farmers concerned over land loss to trees. However, this will require a change in the government’s approach to carbon credits. Red Stag boss Marty Verry said the plan’s broad aim to reduce reliance upon raw log exports to China is laudable.Buttofulfil the plan’s goals, the government needs to recognise the value of carbon credits held in processed wood products. The harvested wood product component makes up about a third of total forest carbon accounting credits, and tree-growing two-thirds. But while foresters have received payment for credits over the years, prompting rapid forestry expansion, wood processors have received none. Exotic afforestation rates have ballooned well beyond government expectations in the past two years. About 60,000ha are scheduled to be planted this year, more than twice the Climate Change Commission’s per annum recommendations. But no greenfield timber processing sites have been built since 2005.“Basically, the government has just added the wood processors’ carbon credits back into its ledger. They are then used to allocate as credits to emitters like steel and cement producers who receive them free.

It would also encourage more mass timber building projects here, as the 2024 Building for Climate Change regulations require, something needing investment by processors to undertake.Atpresent 60% of NZ logs are exported and 80% of these are sold to China.

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“At present we are hugely reliant upon Chinese purchases of logs. If we can create a better processing sector here, with new plant and products, you reduce that reliance.”

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Marty Verry Red Stag news?

“Effectively our timber processing sector is subsidising the highercarbon-emitting sectors we are supposed to be reducing,” said Verry. He said the government has been “hopelessly” slow and reluctant to address the disparity. This is despite a recommendation in a Scion report in 2019 to Climate Change Minister James Shaw and the then-minister of forestry, Shane Jones, to grant processors carbon credits.Verry said recognition of the credits to processors would be a game changer. It would unlock the industry plan’s wider goals, releasing about $100 million a year in carbon credit payments to facilitate processors’ expansion here with new plant. It would also help level a playing field where Kiwi processors are having to compete with heavily subsidised overseas mills able to pay a premium for NZ raw logs. And it would also be well received by farming communities feeling under siege from tree-planting. Verry said the government has over-allocated forestry credits, and reducing them to foresters and re-allocating to processors would take the heat out of farmland loss to forestry in many districts. “They could also look at reducing the ability to plant trees on land that is within 100km of a port and is pastoral quality, even if it is iwi land. “The reality is more and more farmland will get converted if they do not address pines as a permanent category.”Hesaid it could be a case of a farming district supporting a forest processing plant, rather than vast areas of farmland converted to trees. The government recently opted to keep allowing permanent forests to include exotic plantings, after initially signalling a “natives only” policy.Forfarmers keen to put some forestry on their land, such a change could also deliver greater certainty when harvest rolls around.

August 29, 2022 9News Richard richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nzRennie ‘Make

Breaking

We want to know: 0800 85 25 farmers.weekly@globalhq.co.nz80

Ensure young stock become future high producers through improved health, growth and energy at: futureproducers.co.nz

HARD BARGAIN: Wood processors’ carbon credits in effect get allocated for free to emitters like steel and cement producers, Red Stag’s Marty Verry says.

Going gets tough for kiwifruit packer Seeka LISTED horticultural operator Seeka Limited has made an interim report on a tough six months with extreme labour shortages, adverse weather, lower fruit yields and poor quality. In the first half of its financial year to June 30, Seeka managed to increase revenue by 10% to $247 million and maintain net profit before tax at $30m. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were $49.4m or 52c a share, but directors said they will not pay an interim dividend and reconsider the possibility later in the year. This contrasts with the previous corresponding periods in the past two financial years, when fully imputed interim dividends of 13c and 10c were paid. The directors have also made guidance for the full year of net profit before tax between $9m and $11m, approximately half of the full-year result in FY21. Seeka said earnings are heavily weighted towards the first half of the year from fruit harvests in New Zealand and Australia. It said earnings in the first half were affected by increased costs and lower-than-expected fruit volumes.Labour was extremely tight through key main harvest periods, with Seeka having to innovate to maintain operations.

Loyal personnel were redeployed to play out of position at peak stress load to ensure the continuity of operations.

POOR HARVEST: Fruit volumes were lower than expected reflecting a late 2021 storm in the Ōpōtiki region along with a seasonal reduction in yields across all catchments. Fruit quality in 2022 is unseasonably poor and this has created industry-wide issues.

Borland said growth in pet ownership and the humanisation of pets are driving demand for quality, sustainable and ethical products.“Ourstrength in global proteins lies in supplier and customer relationships coupled with our logistics network, and a reputation for quality products,” he said.

“We are continuing to give attention to the issues of increasing labour costs and difficulties in labour availability and our packhouse automation project, which partially addresses these issues, is progressing well,” Borland said. He said 1200 Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme workers were employed earlier this year and after recent government announcements he is confident that a further 100 to 200 will be recruited for the next harvest.Henoted the recent media publicity about working conditions, wages and housing for RSE people, saying that Mr Apple had been a pioneer for the scheme and had always complied 100% in accommodation and treatment.

“We need these people to pick our fruit and it is in our DNA to treat them well,” he said. Following the publication of the interim results the Scales share price rose 3% to $4.47 but that is still $1 lower than the trading level late last year before the apple crop and harvest problems were known.Total dividends in respect of the 2021 year were 19 cents fully imputed, paid in two parts, in January and April this year.

INGREDIENTS: Scales managing director Andy Borland says there are offshore opportunities to grow its Global Proteins division.

Hugh hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nzStringleman

Andy ScalesBorlandCorporation

Ian Campbell 021 271 ian.campbell@omya.com5963Nevan Ofsoski 021 935 nevan.ofsoski@omya.com379 Calciprill leaves all other limes for dust! A 2-6mm lime granule made in Waikato from finely ground high purity limestone. • Cost effective • Low in dust, easy to spread • Breaks down rapidly in moisture • Can be applied using your own equipment • 95% < 75 microns www.omya.com/nz-en Application rate guide (kg/ha)* Soil type 0.5TopdressedpHincrease Direct drilled or air seeded Sand/loamy sand 300 75 Sandy/silt loam 500 125 Clay/loamy clay 625 150 10-15% organic matter 750 175 +25% organic matter 1000 200 *Omya recommends you soil test recularly and seek advice from independent agricultural professionals Look for Calciprill on LK0109940© 10 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 News Petfood, apples swap around for Scales EXTRAORDINARY growth and profitability in petfood ingredients offset a number of problems in apple production and exporting for listed Scales Corporation in the first half of the 2022 financial year.The newly named Global Proteins division, midway in the supply chain of meatworks byproducts to EBIT(earningsrevenueprovidingGlobalopportunitiesBorlandmarginsStates,Australiaperiod.onearningsmanufacturers,petfoodliftedunderlyingto$30.4million,up88%thepreviouscorrespondingScalesoperatesinNewZealand,andintheUnitedwhereverygoodoperatingweregainedthisyear.ScalesmanagingdirectorAndysaidmainlyoffshoreexisttogrowtheProteinsdivision,currentlyjustunderhalfofgroupand64%ofreportedEBITbeforeinterestandtax).Thecontributionstoreportedfromthehorticultureand

petfood ingredients divisions were reversed in the interim results this year compared with 2021. Last year horticulture was 66% and this year 35%; last year petfood was 34% and this year is 64%.

Scales directors provided an update guidance for the full year of net profit towards the upper end of the previously advised range of $23.5m to $28.5m, compared with $29.7m in 2021. Because of a slowdown in demand, Scales is not confident that the second half for Global Protein will be as spectacular as the first half. The company still has 40% of the autumn apple harvest left to sell, valued in full for the interim result, and Borland said he is confident of clearing the crop. It was one of the most difficult seasons. Underlying earnings for the horticulture division were down 37% to $24m and the gross pick down 9% to 4.3 million tray carton equivalents (TCEs). The national apple crop was down 6%, affected by adverse weather, insufficient labour, logistical problems and increased shipping costs.

Fruit volumes were lower than expected, thanks to a late 2021 storm in the Ōpōtiki region along with a seasonal reduction in yields across all catchments. In addition, the Gisborne region was later than normal in maturing and then was hit with persistent rain events.“Fruit quality in 2022 is unseasonably poor and this has created industry-wide issues,” SeekaSeekasaid.packs about 25% of the NZ kiwifruit harvest and its depressed interim comments from the 2022 harvest echoed the reduction in forecast tray returns to growers announced by Zespri.

“We source and supply premium protein ingredients and deliver on time, in the desired form, for our global customers.”

Hugh hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nzStringleman

We need these people to pick our fruit and it is in our DNA to treat them well.

• Decreased milk production • Poor

ULTRAVAC is a registered trade mark of Zoetis Inc. or its subsidiaries. ACVM No. A10730: RVM; Available only under Veterinary Authorisation.

rates • Persistently

Private control of 70 water schemes on the cards

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 11News

THE government is to offer users the ownership and management of about 70 council-owned water schemes that are primarily used for agriculture.Hamiora Bowkett, the executive director of Three Waters reform with the Department of Internal Affairs, said the move is consistent with a recommendation from the Rural Supplies Technical Working Group, which provided advice on the policy earlier this year.“The government has decided that users of mixed-use schemes that exist primarily to provide water for agricultural purposes should, through a process to be set in law, be able to seek to directly own and operate their schemes, independent of a water services entity.”Bowkett said a change in ownership would require the agreement of 75% of scheme users, both farming and domestic.

Stop BVD in its tracks.

CHRIS Rowe will act as chief financial officer at Fonterra while the cooperative continues its search for a permanent replacement for Marc Rivers, who is leaving at the end of 2022. Chief executive Miles Hurrell said Rowe, who has worked for Fonterra since 1988, has undertaken a number of commercial and finance leadership roles.Rowe is currently the co-op’s group finance“Chrisdirector.isahighly competent leader who has considerable knowledge of the co-op and the management of its physical and financial portfolios, as well as its mergers and acquisitions,” Hurrell said.“Iam pleased that Chris has agreed to act as our CFO, and he will continue to provide strong direction and leadership while we continue our recruitment process for a permanent CFO. The recruitment process for a permanent CFO is well underway and I hope to announce the successful candidate in the coming months,” Hurrell said. Rowe will join the Fonterra management team as the acting CFO from October 1, and Rivers will move into the role of strategic advisor to the CEO from that date until his departure.

GO WITH THE FLOW: Clutha mayor Bryan Cadogan says privatisation recognises the fact that the primary purpose of some water schemes is to serve farm businesses.

R Packianathan, WJ Clough, A Hodge, DK Holz, J Huang, GL Bryant & C Colantoni (2017): Prevention of fetal infection in heifers challenged with bovine viral diarrhoea virus type 1a by vaccination with a type 1c or type 1a vaccine, New Zealand Veterinary Journal, DOI:10.1080/00480169.2017.1291376. Zoetis New Zealand Limited. Tel: 0800 963 847; www.zoetis.co.nz.

Protect

actingannouncesFonterraCFO

The initiative is being driven by the Clutha District Council, where there are 17 council-owned schemes, and Bowkett said a recent meeting between government officials, the council and farmer representatives resulted in an agreement to establish a joint governance group to explore the costs, benefits, and risks with user schemesoptionsassessmentsoundintendsusers,Districtcollaboratively“Throughownership.workingwithCluthaCouncilandruralthedepartmentdevelopingamethodologyfortheofownershipformixeduseruralthatcanbeapplied to schemes in other parts of New Zealand,” Bowkett said. This process will also help provide the legislative mechanisms for inclusion in the second Water Services Entities Bill to be introduced later this year. Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan said 17 of the 70 councilowned rural water schemes in the country are in the Clutha district. Users, he said, should be jumping at the opportunity to take Managementcontrol. of the schemes will be removed from the four entities being established by the government under the Three Waters proposal to manage drinking, storm and wastewater systems.Cadogan said privatisation recognises the fact that the primary purpose of these schemes is to serve farm businesses, and underpinning that is the need for certainty of supply.“Initial indications are rural water scheme users are looking strongly at the privatisation option, they’re saying, ‘Let’s do this,’” Cadogan said. He described this opportunity as “a phenomenal breakthrough”.“Ruralpeople should be screaming out, ‘How do we get on board with this?’” One option being considered in the Clutha district is a hybrid model for water schemes that supply farms and rural towns. Under a proposal being considered, scheme owners will control water to a town reservoir, after which the Three Waters entity takes over management.Cadoganwarned there are risks associated with privatised schemes, as any liability will rest with Equally,governors.thoserelying on schemes to supply water fear they will lose control under Three Waters, and the ability to call a local engineer when there is a “Therebreakage.isaperception and lack of trust that something spooky could happen,” he said.

• Abortions,

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A BVD outbreak could cause:

Neal neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nzWallace

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Restoring the mauri of the Waiau Uwha River

DR LYNDSEY Dance has been appointed chief executive of agricultural industry safety group SaferSheFarms.takesup the new role in September following seven years at Stats NZ, most recently as the general manager of strategy and investment.Dancecomes on board as the group finalises its Farm Without Harm strategy to protect farming people from preventable harm, everyTheday.agriculture sector is one of the most dangerous places for New Zealanders to work, with high harm statistics and an average of 17 workplace deaths a year. Safer Farms chair Lindy Nelson said Dance has the skills, passion and intellectual horsepower to bring the Safer Farms vision to life.

This episode was made possible with support from Rabobank

GREATER co-operation between Australasian agricultural researchers and the giant Californian agricultural sector is likely in coming years following a letter of intent signed between Wharf42 tech incubator and WesternWesternGrowers.Growers is a farmer group representing about 50% of the United States’ fresh produce production, covering fruits, vegetables and tree nut production, and almost half the US organic production.

In any response to an outbreak, rapid access to accurate information about animal movements will be vital to contain it.

Andrew Morrison

John Faulkner is working to restore an 18km stretch of the Waiau Uwha River, after realising that some farming systems are not as friendly to the environment as they could be. Watch the video now at youtube.com/OnFarmStory

It gives me confidence that I am doing everything I can to protect my farm, my neighbour and the industry.

On Farm Story On Farm Story

Forward said movements recorded using paper-based ASDs are not kept in a centralised database, and this fact would slow the ability to trace a rapidly moving disease such as FMD. Paper ASDs will still need to be used for saleyards, however.

Beef + Lamb NZ SAFEGUARDS: OSPRI head of traceability Kevin Forward says sheep farmers can play their part in protecting the industry from exotic diseases by signing up to the new online portal, MyOSPRI.

ORGANIC: The accord signed with California farmers will provide a major platform for New Zealand and Australian agritech, Peter Wren-Hilton, founder of Wharf42, says.

12 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 News

Beef + Lamb NZ chair and Southland sheep and beef farmer Andrew Morrison said while the risk of FMD arriving in NZ is still considered to be very low, everyone needs to play their part in helping to prevent its arrival and spread. “I encourage sheep farmers to sign up to MyOSPRI and use electronic ASDs so the industry can move quickly in the unlikely event of a disease outbreak,” Morrison said. “I have personally found using the electronic system is much easier and faster. It also gives me confidence that I am doing everything I can to protect my farm, my neighbour and the industry.”

Peter Wren-Hilton, founder of Tauranga-based Wharf42, said the agreement includes intentions to hold a grower summit in Salinas, California, in mid-2023 to enable growers, researchers and companies to discuss researchersandplatformchallenges.approachesbiological-basedtoagriculturalHesaiditwillprovideamajorforNewZealandAustralianagritechandtofocusonwater management and quality tech in particular, engaging directly with key entities across California.Adelegation of Californian growers, processors and producers will be attending the 2035 Oceania Summit on agritech being held in Auckland in October.

‘boost

Staff reporter

SHEEP farmers are being encouraged to sign up to help speed up the response time in the event of an exotic disease outbreak in New Zealand. OSPRI head of traceability Kevin Forward said sheep farmers can play their part in protecting the industry from exotic disease by registering with the new online portal MyOSPRI.

Web tools FMD defences’

“In the unlikely event of an outbreak such as foot-andmouth disease (FMD), it’s extremely important to keep the tracking and tracing of animals accurately recorded and up to date,” Forward said. “Not only will sheep farmers benefit from using MyOSPRI, but we’ll have a better picture of all locations where cattle, deer and sheepMoremove.”than1000 sheep farmers have already ditched paper-based Animal Status Declarations (ASDs) and are now using MyOSPRI to send both farm-to-farm and farm-to-meat processor electronic ASDs. These eASDs provide accurate, reliable and readily accessible data about movements of sheep mobs and where animals have been or are located. The MyOSPRI system will vastly improve the sector’s ability to launch an effective response in the event of a disease outbreak, Forward said. “This is particularly critical for movements of mobs of sheep, which unlike cattle and deer are not covered by the National Animal Identification Tracing programme (NAIT).”

US growers engage with Australasian researchers

“The agricultural industry has stubbornly high harm statistics and at Safer Farms we are on a mission to rewrite our story of harm and keep New Zealand farmers safe,” Nelson said. “Lyndsey has experience in the public and private sector as well as having worked alongside the agricultural industry in the UK. She is an expert problem solver and is the perfect person to lead our mahi helping keep Kiwi farmersDancesafe.”said Safer Farm’s vision is inspiring.“Farmers are under immense pressure currently with regulatory change, ongoing covid-19 impacts and unrelenting staff shortages. It’s now more important than ever to ensure as an industry we are doing everything we can to keep each other safe and prevent harm.“For me, it is really about people not paperwork. We need to work with our farming communities to listen and understand how to keep them safe in a way that actually works for them, without adding further load to their working days,” she says.

Safer Farms welcomes new chief executive

Failing this, we will be faced with little choice but to consider the Special Meeting pathway available to us as levy payers to reinforce the key principles of any future emissions pricing – including as a last resort, a Vote of No Confidence in our industry representatives for failing to advocate in accordance with these principles.

Waka adrift – Farmers urgent call for change

The simple truth is that those tasked with finding a path forward have so far faltered and resigned themselves to conflicted compromises while departing from their stated aims of enabling sustainable food and fibre production for future generations. Instead, the current proposals are conservatively expected to drive one-in-four extensive, low environmental impact sheep, beef and deer farms out of business and strangle the remainder, resulting in massive community displacement and social upheaval - all while He Waka Eke Noa proudly claims to be building farmer resilience to climate change.

It is ironic that our industry leaders are currently voicing their “concerns” about unbridled planting of potentially 3 million hectares of extensive sheep, beef and deer farms by corporate businesses looking to offset their emissions - while openly acknowledging and accepting that this will be a consequence of their proposals in He Waka Eke Noa.

* Blair Smith (Five Forks)* Tom Hayman (Cattle Creek)

Drew & Carolyn Dundass (Paerau) Jan Loney (Katikati) & Robyn Ruddenklau (Five Forks)

*Marcus

*Roger

Farmers must get involved in this conversation by seriously questioning their levy bodies, reconsidering their support of Federated Farmers if they continue to endorse pricing mechanisms based on politics rather than science, and ask their Red Meat processing company and Bank whether they accept the projected impacts on the red meat sector.

If our farmers concerns are not being heard or responded to by the very people that are tasked for speaking for us, we must be prepared to act unilaterally to protect our sector’s future. We cannot afford to wait. We need action now, not impotent handwringing media releases.

There has been no recognition or honesty regarding this sacrifice or its consequences, including driving food prices up, increasing global emissions (as less efficient countries fill the void) escalating the next wave of intensive agriculture and destroying biodiversity by further fueling the already frenzied rates of afforestation using introduced species.

The sad irony of He Waka Eke Noa is that far from being ‘all in this together’ our sector spokespeople instead propose to throw extensive sheep, beef, and deer farmers overboard to save other sectors from having to paddle harder. We note that DairyNZ and Fonterra submitted in support of a 10% Biogenic Methane target, knowing full well that it would be sheep, beef and deer farmers paying the ultimate price – the destruction of their sector. This is not an effective, fair, or equitable way to achieve the Government’s emission reductions targets and shamelessly works against the goals of the National Policy Statements for both Freshwater and Biodiversity.

For context, it is important to understand that our sector’s existing Biogenic Methane cuts and subsequent targets go well beyond the ‘no further warming’ mantra set for other business sectors. In reality, the Government is asking farmers to offset the wider emissions of the nation, and furthermore, within He Waka Eke Noa’s current parameters, it demands extensive sheep, beef and deer farmers carry the vast bulk of this burden by subsiding warming emissions generated by intensive farming systems. These key points have been allowed virtually no public scrutiny. Few understand that of the Government’s 10% methane reduction target, only a 3% reduction per decade is required to balance current warming from Biogenic Methane (because Biogenic Methane is a cyclic ‘flow’ gas). The remaining 7% reduction will produce a cooling trend that the Government has deemed necessary to offset warming from other sectors of the economy.

While our industry ‘leaders’ and government bask in political glory, in truth, it will be roughly 6500 sheep, beef and deer family farmers, their communities, their schools and small provincial businesses who pay the price. Far from “unproductive” as the sector is conveniently labelled, our sector has delivered $10b in revenue this year, all while hosting a quarter of New Zealand’s native biodiversity and wetlands. He Waka Eke Noa’s proposed settings would penalise these farmers for working in harmony with the natural capital of their farmland, instead of stretching it to its environmental limits through intensification.

This letter has been released by Graeme Gleeson (Pukeatua), Rick Burke (Katikati), Jane Smith (Five Forks), Simon Hales (Weber), Jason Barrier (Waerenga), Ben Ensor (Cheviot), Kirsten Bryant (Kirikau) and Kerry Worsnop (Gisborne) and is endorsed by: Hamish & Amy Bielski (Waiwera South)

*

We, a group of concerned sheep and beef farmers, are releasing this open letter at the eleventh hour, having abandoned any hope that He Waka Eke Noa recommendations would deliver any value for our country beyond widespread afforestation, community devastation and the further intensification of land remaining in pastoral use.

We are now left with no choice but to call on the Public of New Zealand, and our fellow farmers to act where our leadership has not. This is Our Call to Action to those purporting to represent sheep, beef and deer farmers in this country.

Bob Meghan Sutton (Waihaorunga) & Sharelle Creswell (Tiniroto) & Jane Johnson (Matawai) Dalrymple (Rangitikei) Webby (Ruakituri) Williams (Tokomaru Bay) Sally Loffler (Ngatapa) Worsnop

*

However, given the gravity of the consequences of this issue, it is our expectation that this call to action be addressed and acted upon on behalf of all extensive sheep, beef and deer farmers of New Zealand without delay.

*Svarn

*

*Richard

*Graeme

We request that you reject the untenable emissions pricing options proposed and immediately support sheep, beef (and deer) farmers to form a sustainable emissions scheme based on the principles of warming, equity, environmental sustainability and on farm viability - under a practical, low-cost alternative.

For this reason, we unequivocally reject the proposition that extensive agriculture be required to pay for the warming effects of Biogenic Methane from other sources. We support a basic pricing mechanism for CO2, N2O and Biogenic Methane where this exceeds warming neutral, though all on-farm sequestration must be recognised, and on the same net emissions platform that other sectors are allowed to work from. We reject the threat of the ETS as an industry ultimatum, and firmly believe that both paths lead to the same disastrous place, because neither price Biogenic Methane as short-lived gas.

Furthermore, we call on the sheep, beef and deer industry to reject any alternative which will grandparent concessions to other sectors.

It is an affront that the Meat Industry Association, Red Meat Processors, Federated Farmers and Beef and Lamb have supported the proposal as delivered to the government - when Beef + Lambs’ own modelling has stated that “this would see a significant number of farms exiting red meat production”.

&

*Joe &

As a group we acknowledge all the good work that B+LNZ undertakes on our behalf.

*David

We do not take these steps lightly – however the viability of rural communities, towns, iconic pastoral landscapes, and thousands of farmers may depend on it.

(Rere) *Brett & Wendy Loffler (Ngatapa) *Barbara & Dennis Phillips (Horohoro) *Dan Griffin (Matawai) *Sam Charteris (Otoko) * David & Sarah Smith (Waikouaiti) * Andy & Sue McNab (Albury) * Willie & George Lawson (Kilmog) * Phil & Trudi Baird (Otautau) * Preston & Victoria Hope (Deep Stream) * Phillip & Sarah King (Mangaweka) * Marcel van Reenan (Cheviot) * Stephen & Charlotte Dykes (Middlemarch) * Georgie Cameron (Waitaki Valley) * James & Debbie Paterson (Gimmerburn) * Tim & Sue Anderson (Conway Flat) * Sean & Belinda Williams (Kuriwao) * Brad & Sarah Stalker (Danseys Pass) * Ken & Fiona Bowmar (Cattle Creek)* Warren Ayers (Wyndham) * Mark & Sherrie Stokman (Waikete Valley) * Hamish & Julia Mackenzie (Lake Pukaki) * Bruce and Kirstie Hill (Waerenga)*Brett and Amanda Harvey (Waerenga)*Graeme & Sue Maxwell (Tutira) * Aaron & Emma Bell (Hakataramea Valley) * Grahame Stewart (Wyndham) * Duncan & Georgie McGregor (Nenthorn Valley) * T & R Stewart (Wyndham) * James & Jessica McKee (Waikaia) * John McOviney (Waitomo) * Dallas & Sarah Newlands (Kauru Hill) * Peter & Jane Evans (Pareora Gorge) * Derek Daniell (Masterton) * Nat & Shelley Small (Cattle Creek) * Kent & Rebecca Tisdall (Moonlight) * Mark & Gillian Evans (Athol) * James & Janey Lindsay (Nenthorn Valley) *Lyn Neeson (Kirikau) *Michael and Joan Petersen (Kaitieke) *Paul Bryant (Kirikau)*Donald and Liz Polson(Mangamahu) (Katikati) *Leveson & Vicky Gower (Ngaroma) *Leith Chick (Ngaroma) *Bill & Sue Garland (Maungatautari) *Dave & Pip Gow (Waiterimu) *Rod Calver (Katikati) *Allen Coster (Kaimai)*Kate Broadbent (Waikaretu)*Malcolm & Pam Harding (Glen Massey)*Neil Aicken (Onewhero) *John Burke & James Burke (TePuke) *Elliot Kent (TePahu) * Reon Verry (Puketutu) *Richard Scholefield (Gisborne) *Darcy Hooper- Smith (Dannevirke) * David & Charlotte Short (Waerenga) *Francis Turton (Matahuru) *Brendan Balle (Pukekohe) *Hamish Thompson & Leigh Fodie (Cattle Creek) * Cascade South Westland (Westland) * Mark Paterson (Gimmerburn) Malcolm & Sally Lee (Matira) *Hamish Macdonald (Cambridge) * Charlie & Helen Lea (Whitehall) * Cambrilea Riparian (Toatoaroa) * Nick Riley (Kawhia) *Dan & Emmy Maxwell (Cheviot) *Andy & Nicky Newton (Cheviot) *James & Maria Hoban (Waipara) * Lachie & Jo McKenzie (Hakataramea Valley) * Dan & Wendy Hodgen (Hawarden) *Dan & Mandy Shand (Culverden) *Horace Smith (Auckland) 26th August 2022 OPEN LETTER ADVERTISEMENT

*Mark

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© Copyright 2022 Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health New Zealand Limited. All rights reserved. NZ-BOV-0009-2022.

CREAM RISES: The combined 2021 turnover of the top 20 companies jumped by 9.2% in US dollar terms as dairy product demand and prices rallied, Rabobank senior agri analyst Emma Higgins says.

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Fonterra’s annual results for the 2022 financial year are due to be announced next month.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 15

The combined 2021 turnover of the top 20 companies jumped by 9.2% in US dollar terms, following the previous year’s modest decline of “Supported0.1%. by the recovery in foodservice channels after the initial covid pandemic and continued strong retail channel sales, global dairy demand firmed during the course of 2021,” Higgins said. “And this, combined with lowerthan-anticipated milk production growth in the main two exporting regions and exceptionally strong Chinese import demand, saw dairy product prices rally to elevated levels.” While 2021 sales were up, Higgins said that what is designated as dairy is becoming much more blurred. “Dairy alternatives from beverages, yogurts, frozen desserts, cheese and hybrid products have become more common in the product portfolio of top 20 companies, making it more difficult to extract pure dairy revenues.”

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FONTERRA has retained its spot as the sixth largest dairy company in the world for the third consecutive year. Ahead of it are French dairy company Lactalis, Switzerlandbased Nestlé, French-owned Danone, Dairy Farmers of America and China-owned Yili, according to Rabobank’s latest Global Dairy Top 20 Fonterra’sreport.2021 sales of US$14.8 billion (about $23.6b)were up by $1.2b on a year earlier, Rabobank senior agri analyst Emma Higgins said.“During 2021 we saw Fonterra complete the sale of its two wholly-owned China farming hubs. The company’s disposal of DPA Brazil and Soprole, along with potential changes in the Australian-based business, are still pending.“Despite the sales of its Chinese hubs, greater China remains an important market for Fonterra –particularly for foodservice sales – as do other countries in the broader Asia Pacific region.”

A Yili spokesperson said the report highlights the intense competition across the industry.

“Due to its acquisition of Ausnutria Dairy and strong domestic sales growth, Yili has become Asia’s first dairy producer to exceed US$14.85b in turnover,” the spokesperson said. In 2021, Yili achieved 8% growth in overseas revenue, with its products covering more than 60 countries and regions across five continents.InNewZealand, Yili has upgraded production and doubled capacity of its Hokitika butter plant at Westland Milk Products, effectively expanding the market share of Westgold butter.InIndonesia, Yili’s first selfbuilt ice-cream production base has been put into production, forming a “dual centre”, with Thailand targeting Southeast Asian consumers.

Higgins said the acquisition spree continued into 2022 with the recent purchases of Australiabased Jalna Dairy Foods and Germany-based Bayerische Milchindustrie’s Fresh Dairy Division.Initsclimb to third place on the list, Danone swapped places with Dairy Farmers of America. Yili remained in fifth despite its acquisition of infant milk formula producer Ausnutria, which helped increase its 2021 turnover to $18.2b, up from $13.8b the year before. Yili, which operates Westland Dairy Company and Oceania Dairy, retained its position as the leading Asian dairy company for the ninth consecutive year.

Staff reporter

FonterraNews holds on to global dairy ranking

Lactalis’s turnover rose to US$26.7b in 2021, an increase of $4.7b or 16.2% on the previous year. It sits well clear of secondplaced Nestlé, which recorded turnover of $21.3b during the same percentageLactalis’speriod.double-digitsalesgrowth was driven by the acquisition of the KraftHeinz’s United States natural cheese business and Groupe Bel’s Royal Bel Leerdammer, Bel Italia, Bel Deutschland and Bel Shostka Ukraine, with these purchases adding a combined estimated annual turnover of about $2.1b.

Pāmu chief executive Mark Leslie said: “Pāmu and Focus Genetics have an important role to play bridging the gap between science and commercialisation for the benefit of industry. We are pleased to see such positive results from the first year of this trial. It is vitally important that the agri-sector continues to move forward on emission reduction initiatives, and this trial is an exciting further step.

After accounting for differences in feed intake we’re still seeing genetic variation in their ageneticsemissions,methaneprovingdoplayrole.

Staff reporter BELCH: LIC chief scientist Richard Spelman says the farmers.differencetotheprojectaresearchmethaneislong-termthathaspotentialmakearealto

Richard Spelman LIC

The news follows the first year of a research programme run by major New Zealand artificial breeding companies LIC and CRV.The research, funded by the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC), measures methane emissions from the burps of young bulls set to father the next generation of New Zealand’s dairy cows.

Results from year one, where the feed intake and methane emissions from 281 bulls were measured, found there is genetic variation in the amount of methane emitted after accounting for the feed eaten by the bulls, with the lowest bulls emitting about 15%-20% less methane than the average.

NEW research has confirmed that bulls’ genetics play a role in how much methane they emit, highlighting the potential for farmers to breed low-methaneemitting cows in the future.

“The findings in New Zealand are a significant step forward in our work to develop tools to help New Zealand dairy farmers reduce their emissions. They give all of us even more confidence genetics can be part of the NZAGRCsolution.”director Harry Clark is equally pleased with these early“Breedingresults. represents a long-term and cumulative way that farmers can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Low-methane selection is now available to sheep breeders and the signs are positive that we might be able to deliver the same for the dairy sector,” he said.Spelman said the next step in the research is to see if the genetic variation responsible for methane emissions in growing young bulls is replicated in their daughters.“Thisyear, in partnership with Pāmu, we will breed from bulls that we’ve identified to be high or low methane emitters. After their daughters are born, we’ll measure their emissions as growing yearlings and during their first milking season to ensure they’re representative of their fathers. This is where the rubber will really hit the road in our aim to offer farmers a lowmethane breeding solution.”

16 farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 News

Breeding out burps possible in bulls too

“This trial fits well alongside the dairy beef Progeny Trial at Renown Farm and the Informing New Zealand Beef Progeny Trial at Kepler, which rely on our

CRV’s300measuredwithresearchprogrammes.”methanedevelopingpluspartnershipslongstandingacrossindustry,theprogresswehavemadebreedingvaluesforefficiencyinoursheepThesecondyearoftheisnowunderway,methaneemissionsbeingfromapproximatelyyoungbullsfromLICand2022SireProvingScheme.

LIC chief scientist Richard Spelman said the results are a big step forward for the research. “The amount of methane a bull or cow produces directly relates to the amount of food it eats – generally speaking the more an animal eats, the more methane it will emit. “But after accounting for differences in the bulls’ feed intake, we’re still seeing genetic variation in their methane emissions, proving genetics do play a role. We have a sliding scale from bulls that are lowmethane emitters (less than 18g of methane/kg of dry matter eaten) to bulls that are on the higher end (more than 28g of methane/kg of dry matter eaten). This is the variation we were wanting to see and we’re excited to use it to our advantage.”Although the research is in the early stages, Spelman said the results show promise to help farmers meet environmental challenges.“Thismethane research is a long-term project but it has the potential to make a real difference to farmers in the future by providing another tool to reduce their farm emissions,” heCRVsaid.grass-fed genetics manager Peter van Elzakker said it’s pleasing to see that the first-year results of the trial align with the company’s methane trial work with Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

COUNTING CUBES: The young bulls in the research help themselves to feed throughout the day. They eat lucerne hay cubes via feed bins that tell how much each bull eats.

WHAT IS AN INFILTRATION TEST? Follow this link co.nz/how-to-do-an-infiltration-test/https://www.farmersweekly. to learn more and then answer the following questions. You can also have a go at conducting your own test.

1 Which lambs made the top per head price?

These two pens started the lamb section and, while of similar weight near 60kg, the short wool line sold for $230 while the woolly pen made $208 Photo credit: Suz Bremner

In NZ we frequently see this on the West Coast - super wet in Fiordland (one of the wettest places on earth) and yet just 100km away is Central Otago - by far our driest region. Why is that? The mountains not only do a good job at blocking the rain from moving over them, but they tend to dry out the weather on the other side. This can lead to flooding on one side of the hills and not much to talk about on the other.

STRETCH YOURSELF:

1 What equipment do you need to conduct an infiltration test?

2 Did this line also make the top $/kg price?

Are you a parent or teacher and want to receive AginED every week directly to your email inbox? Send us an email to sign up at agined@globalhq.co.nz Volume 120 I August 29th, 2022 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I www.farmersweekly.co.nz/agined

Can you find examples of this in the coming week?

3 Why is it wise to conduct these tests in several different places on farm?

2 When is the best time to conduct an infiltration test?

Have you been in one town where it feels like it is always raining but then just over the other side of the ranges/ mountains it feels like they are often needing rain. How does this work? Read on to find out; Orographic Rainfall can cause flooding in NZ Rainfall seems to follow a feast or famine analogy. We are often complaining that we have too much or not enough. Infiltration tests can be very useful to those using land for productive purposes.

1 Can you outline what you think has contributed to such a high collective tally at a time where lamb numbers are usually easing? What makes this year different from prior years levels? (Hint: what may have impacted processor space and think about this years local climate in Hawkes Bay and growth rates)

Looking at these tables:

2 Looking at the following tables from a recent sale at Stortford Lodge was this a trend that continued throughout the sale?

Above is the store lamb throughput graph from a recent sale at Stortford Lodge Lamb throughput swelled to 9000 lambs on the 17th August which is well above usual levels.

3 How do farmers and horticulturalists prepare for forecast heavy rain events?

4 What should ideal soil look like? Why are these soils ideal?

2 Now visit RuralWeather.co.nz and start searching for locations in those wettest areas

3 What are the biggest daily rainfall totals you can find?

3 Do you think buyers at the sale are more interested in per head or $/kg prices? Explain why you think this is the case.

1 Why do you think that the short wool line managed a $22 premium on the similar weighted woolly pen?

1 What is an infiltration test measuring? 2 Why is this test useful to farmers and horticulturalists?

How are lambing and calving fairing?

4 Now look for the nearest mountains/ranges to that wet location - can you find much lower rainfall totals on the other side, where it's much drier? What goes up, must come down. The recent Nelson and Golden Bay/Takaka flooding is an example of "orographic rainfall" - this is when rain clouds run into a mountain range, so the moist air is lifted up over the mountain tops and this process cools the air and condenses it - or put simply, it makes the rain heavier and more prolonged.

5 Define the following terms: Aggregate, microbiome.

1 See our rain accumulation maps here: radars/rain/accumulative-rainfallhttps://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/maps-

3 From the tables give two examples that follow this pattern? Find and record one example that does not follow that trend and give some possible explanations for why this may be.

Conditions have been challenging in several areas throughout New Zealand in the last few weeks. Listen to the following “Wrap up of farming conditions around NZ” from Radio NZ at 1the-farm-a-wrap-of-farming-conditions-around-nzprogrammes/regional-wrap/story/2018854365/on-https://www.rnz.co.nz/

2 What are some of the challenges on farms and orchards from recent weather conditions?

2 Why is it likely that there will be a push to offload lambs

The un-learning of that for me has been just as valuable as trying to understand the value system that guides my dad’s generation.”Thebigchallenge is finding a way to have those conversations and finding common ground. Harvey hopes that urban critics of the farming industry reading her book realise that there is not just one solution to changing the industry’s environmental footprint.Shealso has hope that this bridge is starting to be built across that divide. She recalls the vitriolic conversation when she started the book two years ago, because of the focus on veganism and a plantbased diet. “I am hopeful that the conversation will shift because I already see signals that it’s moving in a direction where we get a sense that we’re all in this and we all have to help each other.”

The generational divide is a battle over whose knowledge is valued most, and why. It’s a complex issue. Harvey says she came into farming with very lofty and pre-conceived ideas influenced by her time living in cities; these rubbed up against her father’s views. “I didn’t understand why they couldn’t see it my way, and that’s a bit of naivety and arrogance which I’m happy to acknowledge.

Photo: Joel McDowell

Nicola AuthorHarvey

This means they recognise that farming is not just about profit, and that their actions affect those otherThreadedstakeholders.through the book is the at-times strained relationship with her father, who was sceptical of the changes being made on the farm and the values and philosophies the couple espouse. Harvey says its an issue many in the farming sector can relate to as they try to navigate the many obstacles around family relationships in a farm business.

“

18 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 Newsmaker

A new book by journalist and farmer Nicola Harvey offers a unique perspective on New Zealand farming and how it can find common ground with its critics, writes Gerald Piddock

Harvey’s world view – unlike her father’s – is guided by her experience living in cities. She says he has become more interested in their work as the changes become more noticeable on the “He’sfarm.curious to understand what we did and why we did it.

The book evolved out of her shift from living and working as a journalist in Australia to rearing calves on a leased farm close to Taupō inprosaboutdocumentaryonhadaofferedofTheinwhilemiscarriagehadHarveyafterchangemadePathusbandAustralianandHarveybornZealand-NewLeddenthealivingAustralia.prospectfarmingthemfreshstart.Workshedoneanaudiotheandconsthepushtowards veganism had put her in contact with farmers who were testing different farming methods that were less environmentally harmful. That would contrast with what she would see when she began rearing calves.Thecouple arrived on the lease block, run by her father Roger, in February 2018 and reared calves for the next two seasons starting that“Thatautumn.wasthe start of the book. I came back home to the farm and at the time we were learning to farm on this small place – 130ha. We were thrown in the deep end.” They believed rearing calves would be a good way for them to learn about animal health and the business of farming. “We did two seasons back-toback and had really good seasons. We were excited about it and thought it was the industry for us.” Harvey finished her documentary in time for autumn rearing in 2019. However, that year a combination of higher input prices, health issues with the calves and a fall in the price that finishers were willing to pay for reared calves led to them considering a switch to finishing beefTheycattle.continued to rear calves that spring, but that proved to be their final season before making theTheychange.reached a tipping point where they were both exhausted after two very dry summers and the effect this had on the farm, as well as by caring for their newborn daughter, Clara. Harvey says she came to realise that the way they were farming was affecting her relationship with the people who mattered most in her “Therelife.was a documentaryofcombinationeventsthatrequiredustositdownandforceourselvestomakeanotherbigdecisiononwhatweweredoingonthelandandtochangeourbusinessmodel.”Shereturnedtotheideasfoundinmakingthe and started talking to farmers looking to change. It was from here that the idea for the book took hold. “I started writing out our story and what life had been like coming onto our small farm with a very particular viewpoint around what farming was, a city-driven viewpoint and being constantly confounded and surprised about what I discovered.” Her publisher liked the concept and Harvey spent the next 18 months during the covid-19 lockdown writing it. Their new farming strategy – on hilly terrain that is not suitable for heavy cattle – involves them buying in about 350 beef or dairy-beef weaner heifers and either selling them as yearlings or finishing them at 18 months. The strategy has the concept of “enoughness” at its core. It’s a term she heard during an interview with former Commissioner for the Environment Dr Morgan Williams. “Enoughness” says that farmers can have control over their destiny by drawing a line in the sand that recognises that “this is where we are“It’shappy”.inthat moment, as Dr Williams suggests, you turn your back on endless productivity,” Harvey says. For Harvey, it has become a key feature of what she and her husband strive to do on their farm.That does not mean they believe they have settled on a farming system that is perfect. The nature of farming means they will constantly be reviewing the system and will forever be adjusting their business plan whereDoingnecessary.anything other than that means taking on too much risk, she“Everysays. year brings up new concerns and considerations that we don’t have control over. The line in the sand of enoughness may shift as the years progress.” They also know the context of their farm – the hapū that manages the nearby waterways, the landowner and the wider community.Theirherd may be their core business, but the environmental improvements they have made have seen the return of bird and insect life, and those ecosystems need to be taken into consideration when it comes to making decisions that affect the land, she says.

Change of climate city-dwellerfor

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: Nicola Harvey’s farming strategy has at its core the concept of ‘enoughness’ – drawing a line that says ‘this is where we are happy’.

MORE: “Farm – the making of a climate activist” is out on August 30. I started writing out our story and what life had been like coming onto our small farm with a very particular viewpoint around what farming was, a city-driven viewpoint, and being surprisedconfoundedconstantlyandaboutwhat I discovered.

F ARM – the making of a climate activist” is both a memoir and a call to action for the farming industry and its critics to look beyond seeing the issues affecting food production in black and white, with single solution answers.Itencourages people to recognise the nuances in the food system. For farmers, it’s a view of their industry from the perspective of someone who has spent much of their adult life in cities. Harvey says it was deliberately written from a nonrural person’s perspective. She stresses it is not a definitive story of farming, nor representative of farming in New Zealand. It’s an approach “that I hope will help people working on the land and those living in cities find a space where they can have a little bit more understanding of each other”, says Harvey.

“When we talk about a generational divide, I think it’s also about the way knowledge is transferred and valued in the farming space. “You can talk the talk and try and argue a point – and I did a lot of that – but it’s not going to persuade anyone who has had a lived experience that proves their point.”Harvey realised she had to show visible examples to her father so he understood what they are trying to achieve.

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She said the increase in drought frequency in the region is prompting farmers to consider all options. Weir said as the cost of bought-in feed continues to increase, on-farm fodder solutions are even more critical for drystock farmers in particular.

“As climate change makes farming more challenging, how can we think of options that are not themselves more difficult?”

Trial adds to summer feed mix thinking

The project’s key findings are that simple mixes provide a viable alternative to a single brassica crop, based on the energy it yields and the energy cost. The most promising option was a simple rape-dominate mix containing rape, plantain and cereal oats.

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“What surprised us the most about the trial was how the plantain sat there during summer while the rest of the species were eaten, and then did better in late February, both in the plots and in Phil’s paddock,” said Tozer. She said the plantain also delivered multiple benefits, with its ability to lower nitrogen losses and generate lower greenhouse gases.“You could potentially see it remaining and being able to transition to a permanent pasture with reduced cultivation through autumn.”The11-species or “hyper diverse” mix trialled at a paddock level cost over 60% more in terms of the energy it delivered.

A GFIRST Waikato farm consultant Phil Weir has had more than a consultant’s passing contact with recent dry-year feed challenges in his province.Asco-owner of a 240ha drystock farm, he appreciated what he could learn from the AgResearch Summer Safe multispecies trial, funded by Our Land and Water National Science Challenge.

Katherine AgResearchTozer

For drystock farmers, summer feed shortages in Waikato are happening almost every year and a recent forage trial has highlighted some options that may help dodge the deficit bullet. Richard Rennie reports on the Summer Safe forage trial’s initial results.

Tozer said the ability of the oats in the rape-dominate mix to spread early and rapidly helped significantly reduce weed growth. This helped reduce the need for herbicide application, something that can be tricky when trying to establish a variety of different plant types at once. “But the oats’ flowering date was not as well matched to the other species. It went to seed while the rest of the species were in good feed condition. In future it may be an option to consider something like triticale instead of oats.” She said more research on resilient pasture swards would become critical in coming years as farmers’ need for quality summer feed is relatively immediate. Ideally, she could see the potential for having a “pasture matrix” in the future that gives drystock farmers a good steer on the right mix to plant, based on location and farm type. Weir said he would be cautious about recommending the mix to a client without further work over more years to qualify the results. But he said it does prompt farmers to think about how they could have a single grazed crop and include an understory crop for ground cover and extra grazing feed.He said trialling different mixes and ultimately developing ones that are successful will also be important for empowering farmers, giving them a tool in the here and now to respond to climate change’s impact, at a time when much focus appears to be on mitigation of future climate change effects.

FURTHER RESEARCH: AgResearch scientist Katherine Tozer, on farm with AgFirst consultant Phil Weir, described the one summer, one farm trial as a “gutsy case study” that requires a longer period and more work across the region. What surprised us the most about the trial was how the plantain sat there during summer while the rest of the species were eaten, and then did better in late February.

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 19New

The project, also involving Agricom, PGG Wrightson Seeds and Farmlands Co-operative, took a 700m2 plot study and two case-study paddocks in spring last year on Weir’s drystock finishing property at Te Pahu. It trialled a range of simple multi-species forage mixes, and super-diverse fodder mixes containing over 10 species.These were compared to a control rapeseed brassica crop for their dry-matter production, energy yield and relative cost per megajoule of AgResearchenergy.scientist Katherine Tozer described the one summer, one farm trial as a “gutsy case study” that requires further work across the region and across more summers to provide definitive advice to farmers. “But it was a chance to trial some forage seed mixes and to work on making the most of the potential they had and getting the most out of the livestock you have on hand over summer.”

Lindsay Brown Outram Put forestry in its place AT $170-$200 per carbon credit, forestry trumps every other agricultural land use. Eight billion people can’t eat trees. Some will starve and we will watch it happening on our TV screens knowing we caused it. Andrew Hoggard and Andrew Morrison are absolutely right in “Baffled by backflip on carbon farming” (August 15): trees absolutely have a place and that’s on the vacant, barren, thyme- and rabbit-infested country of Central Otago. Trees grow lovely and straight there, producing good timber – and it’s currently only producing thyme and rabbits anyway. Preserve our food production.

of theWeekLetter Farmers Weekly is published by GlobalHQ, PO Box 529, Feilding 4740. New Zealand Phone: 0800 85 25 80 Website: www.farmersweekly.co.nz Best letter each week wins a quality Victorinox Hiker knife WRITE TO The Editor, Farmers Weekly P.O. Box 529, Feilding EMAIL farmers.weekly@globalhq.co.nz • FAX 06 323 7101 So go on! Stickknifethein MANAGING EDITOR Bryan Gibson 06 323 1519 bryan.gibson@globalhq.co.nz ClaireEDITORIALRobertson claire.robertson@globalhq.co.nz Neal Wallace 03 474 9240 neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz Annette Scott 021 908 400 annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz Hugh Stringleman 09 432 8594 hugh.stringleman@globalhq.co.nz Gerald Piddock 027 486 8346 gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz Richard Rennie 07 552 6176 richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz Nigel Stirling 021 136 5570 nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com DeanPUBLISHERWilliamson 027 323 9407 dean.williamson@globalhq.co.nz AndyADVERTISINGWhitson 027 626 2269 National Sales and Marketing Manager andy.whitson@globalhq.co.nz Steve McLaren 027 205 1456 Auckland/Northland Partnership Manager steve.mclaren@globalhq.co.nz Jody Anderson 027 474 6094 Waikato/Bay of Plenty Partnership Manager jody.anderson@globalhq.co.nz Donna Hirst 027 474 6095 Lower North Island/international Partnership donna.hirst@globalhq.co.nzManager Grant Marshall 027 887 5568 Partnership Manager South Island and Real Estate South Island realestate@globalhq.co.nzRealgrant.marshall@globalhq.co.nzenquiriesEstateenquiries Debbie Brown 06 323 0765 Noticeboard/Word Only/Primary Pathways classifieds@globalhq.co.nz Andrea Mansfield 027 602 4925 National Livestock Manager Salesforce livestock@globalhq.co.nzDirector LanaPRODUCTIONKieselbach 027 739 4295 Advertisingproduction@globalhq.co.nzmaterialadcopy@globalhq.co.nz SUBSCRIPTIONS 0800 85 25 80 subs@globalhq.co.nz LK0107425© ISSN 2463-6002 (Print) ISSN 2463-6010 (Online) Printed by Stuff Ltd Delivered by Reach Media Ltd 20 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 Opinion EDITORIAL LETTERS No good will come of bad climate rules Weathering another policy debacle AS MANY predicted, government policies to address the environmental impact of intensive winter grazing are a shambles. The absence of common sense means that in the past two years the government has backed down on four elements of the intensive winter grazing (IWG) component of its Essential Freshwater policy: crop resowing dates, slope maps, pugging limits and now consent conditions.Government officials are running out of time to have Freshwater Management Plan criteria for IWG, an alternative to resource consent, ready by the November 1 deadline as promised. This means thousands of farmers will require resource consent to winter stock on crops next year – but councils warn they will not be able to process the expected volume of applications in time.This poorly constructed policy sheets back to what was an inadequate eight-week consultation period in 2020 that coincided with calving and lambing.Claims at the time that the consultation was window-dressing, that Wellington policy makers had their minds made up, appear valid. The government achieved the desired headlines – that it was cleaning up the waterways – but in reality the IWG policy was destined to fail because it lacked common sense, it was confusing, and, importantly, it never had farmer buy-in because it was rushed. Uncertainty caused by the constant tinkering has accentuated a very obvious decline in farmer confidence towards regulators and the policycreating process. There is little doubt some intensive wintering practices needed improving, but encouraging change was made harder because of the approach of the government and the poor quality of its policies. In their rush, policy makers failed or refused to acknowledge that some of their requirements, such as pugging depths and resowing dates, were impractical and that changing farm systems does not happen overnight, let alone in none year. Under this and the previous term of the government, the Wellington bureaucracy has grown substantially in size and influence. But as is evident going by IWG and multiple other polices, increased size hasn’t always resulted in workable or better legislation. Perhaps the lesson from the IWG policy debacle is for those bureaucrats to listen more.

Neal Wallace UNLIKE Geoff Prickett, Andrew Luddington’s opinion piece, “New regs? Bring them on, we can’t wait” (August 8), made me seethe. For the record, I am not a member of either Groundswell or Federated Farmers, but I resent the way they were characterised as moaners and a demented donkey.Ibelieve they have some very pertinent points to make to a government that has no time to listen because the next election is looming. What we face is rightly termed an avalanche of legislation, much of which is poorly thought out, unscientific, impracticable and will not even produce the outcome for the environment we all need. Federated Farmers are not trying to resist change, they are trying to get those changes to be sensible, applicable and most importantly based on science so that the environment is enhanced. Some of the ministers and their officials seem to have lost all touch with reality, if indeed they were ever in touch in the first place! They believe they can sit in an office and make rules to fix any problem by adding multiple layers of bureaucracy and without any knowledge of the reality on the ground. I believe that the following proposals are all deeply flawed and need serious work: Three Waters as it affects rural schemes, the proposed health reforms, Significant Natural Areas legislation, agricultural emissions targets and surrounding legislation, essential freshwater legislation, and winter grazing rules, to name a few. I think the relentless positivity of Geoff Prickett and Mr Luddington is hugely misplaced in this case. No good ever comes of bad rules that are conceived in ignorance, no matter the perceived urgency.

Dave Stanton Geraldine Letters to the Editor

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WHAMMY: A pricing mechanism to reduce emissions must be introduced in such a way as to avoid a double whammy to agriculture, Graham Pinnell says.

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Agrievents

Timing will be everything on emissions plans

The CCC notes that mitigations must be able to be captured in the annual National Greenhouse Gas Inventory to be recognised as contributing to our legislated reduction targets and our international obligations. I fully agree, as farmers doing the mahi must have their efforts officially recognised. The downside of incorporation is that the process can be lengthy, as it requires scientifically robust evidence and international peer review. That was a reason why the CCC recommended against the HWEN sequestration proposal. If they had been consistent in their advice, they would have also noted that measurement of agricultural mitigations require the same rigour, and therefore it would be unfair on farmers if agricultural emissions were charged before mitigations could beApparently,remitted. the standards for incorporation into the Inventory are not impossibly high. Two examples come to mind. Forestry interests have been very critical about the inaccuracies in the look-up tables for sequestration rates. Livestock populations are derived from agricultural statistics and used to estimate biogenic methane emissions for the Inventory. Statistics NZ are very persistent in ensuring farmers file returns, but the veracity of the data provided is never questioned. The incentive is to file with minimal effort and without diligence.Nowfor compliance, the last subject of ministerial discretion mentioned above. Charging at the marginal price level creates incentives to evade the charge, so an effective compliance and enforcement policy needs to be developed and implemented. Sometimes this problem can be avoided, such as a processor collecting a levy from farmers based on the quantity of product supplied. However, let’s think about compliance around a few on-farm mitigations. At the most basic level of a pricing system, livestock numbers will have to be filed. To audit them sometime after the filing period is not a trivial exercise and leaves plenty of scope for under-reporting. My guess is that we will see a steep reduction in national livestock numbers when filing commences. For the wrong reason, that will provide a useful contribution to the initial 10% methane reduction target. Sire breeding services may be able to produce reliable breeding indexes for low emission, but how will that translate into emission reporting of commercial farmers who buy those sires? Some assumptions will have to be made about how virile Cecil is over his working life. Perhaps Cecil will be kept alive on sheep nuts long into his retirement for his sterling service in generating carbon credits for his master. Whatever biological system we attempt to manipulate to reduce emissions, we invariably are faced with complex systems that take a lot of research effort to understand. This applies to the above mitigations and equally to inhibitors, vaccines and alternative fodders. Each have their peculiar compliance challenges that require specialised knowledge for effective compliance.Somebold assumptions have been made to date on the costs to farmers and the Crown of scheme administration and compliance. Until a cost-effective compliance regime has been designed and costed, those estimates should be taken with a grain of salt. My pick is that this will form a significant if not fatal barrier to the implementation of a marginal pricing system. In my view, a marginal price scheme in the short term fails all grounds of ministerial discretion. But what can we do in the interim? The first observation is that in the absence of any intervention, significant progress will be made by the free market, as efficient ensurepowersdiscretionaryconsiderefficient.wouldfundprocessoremissions.agriculturalonknowledgetoolsdevelopanddevelopmentinwillingthatthedemonstratingfarmersresponse.strategicallyenableresponseopportunitytherehighlightfromtheirforemissionbenefitwithmaximisequalityanimalsnewcontinuingFarmersclassicweightsandpercentagesImprovedemissionleadsproductiontolowerintensity.lambingslaughteraretheexamples.aretofindwaystofeedonhigh-foddertoprofits,thesideofloweringintensity.Therequirementfarmstoreportemissions2024willwhereisgreatestforandwillfarmerstoplanaIalsothinkshouldbetocommunitytheyaretoinvestresearch,extensiontomitigationandimprovereducingAlevytosuchactivitybethemostPlease,Minister,yourcarefullytothereisan effective and affordable scheme before committing farmers to a costly nightmare. The Pulpit

Who am I?

U SING a eloquentemissionsreducemechanismpricingtoagriculturalisantheoryin search of a practical means. The recent Climate Change Commission (CCC) critique of the He Waka Eke Noa proposal was a stark reminder that the task of HWEN was to find a grassroots solution on behalf of the government. As such it needed to fit within the legislated framework and in a way that would contribute to our international commitments. To wander from these constraints would be to ignore the strong cross-party support in the passing of the greenhouse gas legislation and the growing public recognition of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.So,let’shave a look at what might be possible within those constraints. The next step is a report by the ministers due by the end of this year that “outlines a system to put a price on” agricultural emissions as an alternative to the emissions trading scheme, and is to discuss a list of nine matters. Given the complexities and controversy of the issues, the outline will likely be blurred and skeletal. There is no requirement to consult or take a collaborative approach, so the potential for another centrally planned train wreck is high. Farmers are being kept in the dark, so my only hope is that the HWEN partners have secured seats at the table. By some stroke of magic, from this report a pilot of a “farmlevel accounting and reporting system” is to be in place one year later, and all farms are required to report on emissions from January 2024. Importantly, this does not necessarily mean that emissions must be priced at this stage. If the decision is to stage implementation, the minister appears to have three options: to initially strike a zero price, to start with a simple system, or to delay the date of participation of farmers with respect to agricultural emissions. Before taking the latter route, the minister must have regard to the likelihood that the system will be effective in reducing emissions, the desirability of minimising compliance and administrative costs borne by farmers and the Crown, and the effectiveness of compliance. That provides some comfort to me that our representatives can push for a robust process. If there is a delay in pricing, the obligation for farmers to report from 2024 would provide a useful dry-run while the government irons out bugs in the reporting system and farmers get up to speed with record-keeping.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 21Opinion

Should your event be listed here?

Graham Pinnell

Your View Got a view on some aspect of farming you would like to get across? The Pulpit offers readers the chance to have their Phonefarmers.weekly@globalhq.co.nzsay.063231519

Graham Pinnell is a retired farmer and professional engineer. He has served on two Crown regulatory boards.

The CCC recognises that rushing into a basic farm-level pricing system would only achieve emission reductions through reducing production or changing land use, and that a more complex system would be required to enable production to be maintained while reducing emissions. The stark reality is that an effective pricing signal must be strong enough to provoke a mitigation response that reduces emissions – called marginal pricing. In the absence of approved mitigations other than reduced production or land-use change, and in the knowledge that already there are farm businesses that are marginally economic, any effective greenhouse gas charge will force the weak businesses to change land use, probably through forced sales. These are in the same communities that are suffering from absentee investment in the gold rush that is whole-farm carbon forestry. Please, government, avoid this obvious double whammy by delaying the marginal pricing of agricultural emissions until viable mitigations are available.

From the Ridge

EmersonAlanView

IF THE activities of the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) are anything to go by, farmers are about to be inundated by a deluge of paperwork, much of it duplication between the requirements of central and local government.Ononehand we have central government coming out with a list of requirements to handle climate change and water quality, and on the other we have regional and local government doing their own thing.That creates duplication as reflected by the statement from GWRC that “we’ve gone further than Central Government” on climate change. It’s a little like a couple of adolescent boys suggesting mine is bigger than yours.The entire saga puts a ridiculous load on farmers but I remain unconvinced that many in central or local government actually understand the rigours of farming. Despite all the central government discussions over climate change, back in 2019 GWRC declared a climate emergency. That was followed by a GWRC climate change strategy that said a lot but didn’t do much. Then in September last year it released a “new report” that “starkly outlined Wairarapa climate change”. It was completed in conjunction with NIWA. That was followed by the Greater Wellington Climate Change Committee chair, one councillor Thomas Nash, telling me that “hammering home the climate message is vital”. He added that one thing was certain: “Natural infrastructure, like healthy soil, forest and wetlands, will be more and more important in a climate-stressed world.”Idon’t know councillor Nash, but he hasn’t impressed me this far, especially when he told me “some preliminary consulting has been done with other councils”. Why not get them on board at the start?Inaddition, I don’t believe anyone has to hammer anything regarding climate change to anyone. Most acknowledge the climate is changing and we need to do something about it. I was, however, intrigued by his comments about healthy soil, forests and wetlands. For example, is he supporting the use of synthetic fertilisers to improve soil health? His subsequent statement regarding wetlands also annoyed me. For a start the GWRC wetlandscrusading employees could do with a reality check. We’ve already had a million-dollar example of GWRC employees enthusiastically claiming there was a wetland when the court decided there wasn’t. Some honest, sciencebased research would have saved the ratepayers a packet. The GWRC Climate Change Strategy told me there’s going to be a move away from private vehicles and a maximizing of public transport. They’re also going to change urban design rules to minimise private transport. I found that intriguing, as GWRC doesn’t have much of a track record running bus services. Then came the King hit. Agriculture was also a focus and the plan called for “an increase in permanent forest cover, with a focus on native species”. Spare me. For a start there’s a massive increase in forest plantings in the Wairarapa now with the resultant loss in good food-producing land. That will have a considerable effect on the future income of the region, not to mention GWRC revenues. Natives are fine but they don’t absorb the carbon that exotic forests do. The GWRC document details the effects of climate change and I don’t have a problem with any of them. Basically that we’re going to be dry on the East Coast, have more extreme weather events and fewer frosts. So what needs to happen to assist agriculture help mitigate climate change? The answer simply is water storage. I didn’t see that mentioned in any of the documents, and when colleagues attempt to develop dams GWRC is excessively enthusiastic about putting barriers in their way. Public transport, intensifying urban living and creating cycleways are all well and good but have absolutely no effect on the productive rural sector. Water storage does. What also has an effect on the productive rural sector is the GWRC Natural Resources Plan, and that is a Nationally,‘mare.thegovernment is talking about Farm Environment Plans – but the GWRC has picked up the mantle. It’s developing a system for “certifying” those plans. Then in 2024 there will be another plan released and with it a series of requirements. Federated Farmers understands it will address water quantity plus quality and biodiversity. It will include provisions to increase minimum flows and reduce allocations. So what we have is a central government strategy, a standalone regional government strategy and a plethora of local government strategies on climate change all being pursued in isolation and with missionary zeal, and little if any practical understanding of agriculture.Atthebottom of that pile, the people who have to play the silly games are farmers. Farmers who aren’t adequately consulted on those plans but have to jump through hoops to appease the will of an army of office-bound bureaucrats.

another layer

WAIRARAPA MOANA: GWRC wetlands-crusading employees ‘could do with a reality check’.

Wyn-HarrisSteve

22 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 Opinion

Sir Keith Holyoake gave first-term MPs good advice back in the 1960s when he told them to sit there and breathe through their noses.

Your View Alan Emerson is a semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and dath.emerson@gmail.combusinessman: Alternative

Further back in history, John A Lee was finally expelled from the Labour party in 1940 after getting stuck into PM Michael Joseph Savage. He published a piece titled “Expelled from the Labour Party for telling the truth: psychopathology in politics”. Written 80 years before Sharma’s opinion piece but not too dissimilar. The one thing all these men have in common is their belief that it was the party that went rogue, not them. Now we wait to see if this newly minted independent MP has the stomach to hang around parliament for the next 14 months or will Labourresign.won’t want a byelection, which they are likely to lose, but nor will they want this man continuing to cause trouble from his lonely seat at the back known as NationalSiberia.andAct will be content with either scenario. If anyone asks you to stand at the next election, ask your partner, mates, and the dogs what they reckon. Your View Steve Wyn-Harris is a Central Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer. swyn@xtra.co.nz

Yet of bureaucracy for farms

SHARMA drama or Sharmageddon? Whatever you call it, the past few weeks of New Zealand politics reminds us all what a tough and bruising career it can Let’sbe.begin with a story. A wonderful farming stalwart has recently died in the Wairarapa. Ross Seymour was an innovative and good farmer and a great fellow.Herang me back in 1999 and asked me to stand for National in the Wairarapa seat. He said they were looking for a “credible” farmer. I doubted I fitted the bill and although it was nice to be asked, politely declined. Good thing too, because Paul Henry ended up standing for National in this usually rightleaning seat and got walloped by Labour’s Georgina Beyer, who became the world’s first transgender MP. Not long after Ross’s call, I had Labour get in touch saying they too were looking for a farmer to go up high on their list to give back up to Jim Sutton as he was to become minister of agriculture but also trade and needed a safe pair of rural hands onshore while he travelled and secured trade deals.Aminister outside cabinet for someone who hadn’t troubled themselves to attend a single political meeting was a decent offer, but I pointed out that we had three small boys and a farming business that needed me and so turned down their offer as well. Undoubtedly the best thing I never did, and for certain I would have been a rubbish politician. It’s a pity more don’t have this same self-awareness, and let their personal ambitions overcome goodGauravsense.Sharma has within two years shown that he, like many others before him, is completely unsuited to politics. He had a successful life outside politics, where he was a big deal, but to find yourself suddenly a little fish on the back bench of the biggest caucus in history requires fortitude and patience, both of which he appears to lack. Sir Keith Holyoake gave firstterm MPs good advice back in the 1960s when he told them to sit there and breathe through their noses.Not only has Sharma destroyed his own brief political career, he has done some decent damage to the party that put its faith in him by selecting him for his seat. Like National, Labour will be looking hard at their own candidate selection procedures. However, his timing was so good that he might well have saved Sam Uffindell’s political career. Sam should shout him a few drinks in Bellamy’sSharmasometime.joinsalengthy list of MPs who have gone rogue. Jami-Lee Ross was a hard watch when he imploded, and he was a factor in ending Simon Bridges’ career. He also had been accused of harassment and bullying of staff, and resented being pulled into line by his Winstonparty.Peters went rogue in 1991 after Jim Bolger sacked him from cabinet. He resigned from National and became a rare example of someone who fell out with their own party but continued with a political career. He ended up as deputy prime minister, but it is believed that if he’d stuck with National he may very well have become a PM for thatJimparty.Anderton is the other politician I can recall who, after splitting from Labour in 1989 over Rogernomics, also continued a political career and, like Winston, eventually became deputy PM as well.One of the sadder examples of a rogue MP was Rob Muldoon, who, having lost the 1984 election to David Lange, was deposed as National’s leader and consigned to the back benches. Asked if he would be a thorn in the side of the new leader Jim McLay, he replied, “More like a little prick.” He then spent the next couple of years agitating against McLay when he should have retired from parliament and maintained some dignity.

Sharma karma? Stick to being a farmer

Dairy and meat tightly linked FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 23OpinionTHEdairyandmeatsectorshavelongenjoyedasymbioticrelationshipinwhicheachbenefitsfromandprovidesvitalservicestotheother.Themostobviousserviceiswheremeatprocessorsslaughtercullcowsthathaveexceededtheirproductivelife,mainlyduringtheautumn,whilealsoprocessingbobbycalvesbetweenJuneandSeptember.Inreturnforthisservice,whichenablesdairyfarmerstogetstockoffthefarmpromptly,meatcompaniesgainalargeproportionoftheirannualthroughput.Anotherequallyimportantfeatureoftherelationshipisthefactuptothreequartersofallcattleprocessedareactuallyofdairyorigin,withprobablyonlyaquarterderivingfromprimebeef.TheannualbullkillcomprisespredominantlyFriesianbullcalves,whiletheprimesteerandheifernumberscontainasignificantproportionofwhitefacedairy/beefcross.Itislogicaltoexpectthetwocomplementaryindustrysectorstoworkcloselytogethertoensuretheyeachgetwhattheyneed.However,onepartoftherelationshipisshowingsignsofstrain,probablybecauseithasalwaystendedtoworkautomaticallywithouttheneedforanyoutsideassistance.Thisseasoncalvessoldforrearingtobesoldontobullfinishersat100kgareanecdotallywelldowncomparedtothenormalvolume.Althoughthereistalkofthiseveryyearasapotentialproblem,thedrumsarebeating louder suggesting this year will be different.Forthe past five seasons about 550,000 bulls have been processed for export, up by nearly 20% above the level five years ago, but demand from China in addition to traditional exports to the United States has soaked up the extra volume.Themarket returns are also at a historically high level. A decline in calf-rearing appears likely to cause a substantial drop in bull beef available to supply market demand in two years, while it will be interesting to see if this trend starts to show up in 12 months. Stock agents, meat processors and large rearers all agree fewer calves are being sold for rearing this year, with one estimate putting the decline at 35%.

Deb Kirkham from Waikatobased Kirkham Group Dairy and Rearing is more optimistic, saying there aren’t as many rearers around this year, but they have had more inquiry for contracts than last year at higher prices; that said, the extra money will be eaten up by higher costs. Kirkham Group rears 30% of its calves from its own herd and buys in the balance, but she wonders whether more dairy farmers will have to decide to add a beef-finishing leg to their business to offset the reluctance of finishers to commit. According to Kirkham there is a definite advantage to rearing from their own herd. She also reports a trend to more beef calves early in the season, compared with traditional practice of a beef bull covering the tail end of the herd. This is also consistent with Southern Pastures’ contract with LIC and Rissington Cattle Company to increase the percentage of calves with superior genetics for prime beef production to more than 50%, compared to less than 10% at present. The purpose is to reduce wastage and increase profitability by ensuring every calf born will be channelled towards its most productive outcome. This matches Fonterra’s objective of ensuring all nonreplacement calves enter a value stream – beef, veal or pet food – instead of being euthanised, with a particular emphasis on the potential for using Wagyu beef genetics to meet demand for highvalue beef. According to Charlotte Rutherford, Fonterra’s director of on-farm excellence, the cooperative “will also be providing farmers with information about other tools which can increase the value and/or optionality for non-replacement calves, such as sexed semen and rearing or selling calves to meet the demand for roseThereveal”.is clearly quite a bit of work going on to address the problems of too many unwanted calves and reluctance to pay a realistic price for calves either to rear or finish, but it will take quite some time for enough dairy farmers to adopt the benefits of high-value beef production. In the meantime, if market forces behave as usual, the immediate problem will resolve itself next year or the year after, when presumably the current shortage will result in finishers being prepared to contract for supply at a realistic price.Meat processors also play a substantial part in processing bobby calves, but this year labour shortages have reduced capacity, which in many plants must also process lamb and mutton on the same chains, both to satisfy market demand and loyal supplier needs. At least two major processors have refused to accept any new suppliers, which will place serious pressure on dairy farmers who traditionally rely on being able to get calves taken away when they wish. Fonterra says it is working with the Meat Industry Association and Beef + Lamb NZ with the aim of “aligning processing capacity with demand and maintaining continuity of service”, although the challenging environment makes this problematical. The dairy industry might be about to discover just how much it depends on the meat industry, a fact the latter has known for many years.

candles

breeds

Fonterra will be providing farmers with information about tools that can increase the value and/or optionality for veal.thesellingsemencalves,non-replacementsuchassexedandrearingorcalvestomeetdemandforrose

Meaty

PGG Wrightson Northern regional manager Bernie McGahan told me saleyard calf volumes at Wellsford and Kauri are about half the usual level and prices being paid are below expectations, but yearlings are currently selling well, suggesting the margin is there. According to McGahan calves are more likely to be bobbied than reared, so he expects a serious drop in trading volumes in 18 months’ time. Waikato regional manager for PGW Dean Evans reckons the number of dairy farmers who would normally rear 20 calves is drastically reduced this season because of increased costs and a shortage of staff. Over the past two years, he confirmed, rearers have not received enough money for 100kg calves for which they wanted contracts at $540$560, although the asking price in the Waikato is now at $580.

MattersAllanBarber

Charlotte Fonterra well this month take a look at beef adding to talk to the farmer who sells alongside farming.

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we

DOWNSTREAM EFFECTS: A decline in calf-rearing appears likely to cause a substantial drop in bull beef available to supply market demand in two years, Allan Barber says. Your View Allan Barber is a meat industry commentator: allan@barberstrategic. co.nz, http://allanbarber.wordpress. com

as the new boss at Miraka. Also

Rutherford

value

dairy farmers and

THE ALL NEW COOPER RUGGED TREK® 0800 453 418@coopertiresnz www.coopertires.co.nz 24 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 World

“There is no doubt the introduction of the 170kg organic nitrogen limit from January 1 2023 will reduce our food-producing capabilities.”

National Farmers Union deputy president Tom Bradshaw said there is an “urgent need to underwrite our food security and for government and its agencies to better plan for and manage the nation’s water resources; prioritising water for food production alongside environmental protection”. He said this will “help build resilience into the farming sector and provide investment opportunities for irrigation equipment and to build more on-farm reservoirs’. “We are also calling on the government to enable the Environment Agency to further support the industry with flexible abstraction measures that will potentially give more farmers the ability to trade volumes of water with other farmers.”TheWildlife Trusts has raised concerns about the impact of dry weather too, which it claims has left habitats “parched”. It has called for a fixed target under the Environment Act for reducing water use and said specific objectives to help nature cope with drought, fire and flooding need to be part of the next set of climate adaptation programmes.AliMorse,water policy manager for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Water companies must also invest in water storage infrastructure, tackle leaks and improve water efficiency. It is a scandal that so much water is wasted.”Current figures show almost 2,400 million litres of the water abstracted is lost to leakage every day. UK Farmers Guardian

A Welsh pollution.”thosetakingResources“WefarmingpollutionwithremainspokespersonGovernmentsaidministerscommittedtoworkingindustrytoreducewaterwhilesupportingtheindustry.Thespokespersonsaid:willdeploytheWaterRegulations2021,anapproachtargetedatactivitiesknowntocause

Farmers call for agri water plan

Alan Wyn Jones, South Caernarfon Creameries’ managing director, expected suppliers would take some action to mitigate the worst impacts of the regulations, but warned the co-operative’s £15 million (about $28.5m) investment programme – to boost cheese production by 50% and create 30 new jobs by 2024 – is being put at risk.

THE British Government is being urged to put together a water strategy to protect food security as farmers struggle with drought conditions across the south and east of the United Kingdom.Thedriest July in England since 1935 has forced farmers to use up their winter feed for livestock, and irrigation water has run out in some places. At the moment, the government appears reluctant to pay for new reservoirs, believing water companies should stump up the cash, but their remit is mainly focused upon drinking water as opposed to agriculture.

The union’s Pembrokeshire county chair Roger Lewis said: “Given the multiple challenges global food supply chains currently face, it has never been more important to ensure that here in Wales we are able to maintain and enhance our productive capacity.

UK Farmers Guardian Staff reporter

Welsh co-op flags milk threat

TOO GREEN WAS MY VALLEY: New nitrate rules will end up slashing milk volumes in Wales, Roger Lewis of the National Farmers Union of England and Wales warns.

“We are very concerned about the situation,” he said. “If our volume was down by about 25%, clearly it would have a massive impact on the business. Our turnover last year was £70m, so that would reduce to just over £50m.“We would have to radically restructure accordingly and take cost out of the business.”

OVERALL milk volumes across Wales could be slashed by more than a quarter as farmers seek to comply with new water regulations due to come into force in January 2023. The worst-case scenario figure of 27% comes from high-level analysis carried out by South Caernarfon Creameries, Wales’s leading farmer-owned dairy cooperative.Thebusiness, which takes 150 million litres of milk from 147 suppliers in North and Mid Wales every year, has warned that farmers are likely to exit the sector if they have to cut cattle numbers to meet the requirements of the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone-style rules.Atleast three farmers are planning to downsize their operations, and a recent National Farmers Union Cymru survey found 44% of members considering reducing production were doing so on account of the rules, which have been designed to tackle water pollution.

The £15m investment included a £5m grant from Welsh Government’s Food Business Investment Scheme. Jones also pointed out processors in Wales would have to compete for a smaller pool of milk if farmers cut production, making it difficult to recruit new suppliers and affecting the whole of the UK dairy sector.InMarch, the High Court dismissed a judicial review NFU Cymru had brought against the Welsh Government on the introduction of the regulations.

RUNNING DRY: The British Government should prioritise food security, says the NFU’s Tom Bradshaw, as England endures its driest July in more than 85 years. We would have to radically business.costaccordinglyrestructureandtakeoutofthe

Conrad Wilkshire, GM Rural for Property Brokers Ltd conrad@pb.co.nz

This notion of a bioeconomy and its impact on rural land use change is far less understood. As the world sets about dramatically reducing its reliance on fossil fuels, New Zealand Inc has just got to the start line. Recent headlines with Emirates Team NZ taking flight with its hydrogen chase boat is a great illustration that changes are happening faster than we think. The same can be said for leading heavy transport companies such as HWR and their future plans for dual fuel (hydrogen).

All indications are that the bioeconomy will be huge for NZ landowners over the next decade, but it will require change; not all of it is welcome. Our farming outlook is very robust, and for those looking to exit this season or next, should have no stigma attached to their decisions. These are windfall capital gains, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Many of these owners have farmed for little cash return, most of their farming lives. Previously these same stations five years ago would often go on the market from one season to next without an offer tabled. Our hope is that more farmers continue to be on the other side of the buy/sell agreement. The outlook has never been stronger for NZ land-based industries, and our primary sector continues to underpin our economy.

For rural and lifestyle property advice from a national team of committed salespeople, supported by our expert marketing team, right across New Zealand, call 0800 367 5263 or visit pb.co.nz.

Last season we had over 10,000 ha sold outright to forestry and carbon interests, and solar has been part of this too. We don’t see this trend changing; in fact, demand continues to strengthen. NZ timber as a renewable product and associated potential bioenergy capture is a dramatically different story to the forestry returns promised to farmers but never received back in the 1980s and 1990s. Today many of the future scenarios envisaged are far less about exporting saw-logs and much more about renewable higher-yielding products. Distance to port which dictates so much of the current valuation modelling today, may change dramatically as new processing develops. ln the interim, the ETS offers an immediate hedge on what may or may not occur in the future, significantly shortening investment pay-back periods on new planting.

The opportunity for farmers with large tracts of land to actively look at; forestry and associated carbon or leasing to solar, wind, biofuels, and other yet-to-be-established land use options are now very real. These opportunities are not solely the domain of large energy companies or corporations looking to offset carbon emissions. Farmers, large and small, are likely to have a much bigger say over what tree gets planted where in support of their farming business. Farmer groups with a shared long-term commitment to their district may even end up collaborating (e.g. mini forestry and carbon cooperatives) to strengthen their local pastoral businesses. Not unlike what has happened in the past with locally owned farmer-controlled irrigation schemes.

Rural updatemarket

Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 0800 367 5263 | pb.co.nz PB062472

This next decade will see ongoing demand for land, everything from urbanisation on town boundaries to bioeconomy pressures impacting our more extensive hill country. Neither are short-term trends.

The pressure from urbanisation on local government infrastructure is now at a critical tipping point, but rural land continues to be re-allocated in favour of urban communities. This is generating record capital gains for rural properties adjacent to town boundaries, often at the expense of our best soils and even some of our most revered research farms.

Today as the notion of a bioeconomy becomes a reality, the quantum of the potential land use change, particularly on the North Island’s East Coast farming communities, is akin to the mid-eighties and early nineties, where the forestry land use change was felt for many years after. What was clear then, and still is now, is that there is no going back.

Our recent Property Brokers national rural conference held this August helped our business gain a much better appreciation of the forces at play driving land use change across rural New Zealand and reflected in the 55,000 ha of rural land Property Brokers sold last season.

For those farmers with a growth mindset, the cliche of buying and selling on the same market applies to all land uses, not just pastoral. So, take advice on the full extent of your current property rights, including carbon, and any opportunities to hedge these returns for the future.

Finishing as we started, land is a finite resource; this has never been truer than today. Farmers who choose to hold their land over the next decade are likely to benefit significantly from both the very apparent need for sustainably produced food, and the obvious value capture as demand for land exceeds an ongoing shortening of supply.

Stuart

Tender closes

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pb.co.nz/

Located only 20 minutes from Feilding, Horo-Rata represents an opportunity to own an outstanding property that has few peers in the Manawatu. The property boasts a five bedroom homestead, outstanding balance of free draining alluvial soils and quality infrastructure. The three terraces have an excellent fertiliser history and modern pasture species, this affords the property the ability to grow a wide range of crops, finish any livestock class, or operate as a breeding unit for sheep or cattle. Improvements are of an exceptional standard, the homestead is set on mature grounds with fantastic north facing views. Farm buildings include a three stand woolshed, two haysheds, a drive in chiller, plus a five bay implement shed with workshop. Properties of this scale, versatility, appeal and location seldom come to the market, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Ted Shannon

View By appointment

ted.shannon@pb.co.nz Blair Cottrill M 027 354 5419

Tender closes 11.00am, Tue 27th Sep, 2022, Property Brokers, 54 Kimbolton Road, Feilding View Tue 6 Sep 11.00 - 12.00pm Web pb.co.nz/FR107036 Sutherland M E stuarts@pb.co.nz M E E

027 452 1155

Tom

Wharerata 489 Paritu Road Tender

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• Traditional

021 833 536

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Pohangina 85B Te Awa Road New Listing

blair@pb.co.nz Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 pb.co.nz Proud to be here

Paritu Station - 1,109.86 ha Gisborne 45 km Coastal farm Mixture of contour breeding country Paritu Station is located southwest of Gisborne in the Wharerata district with an estimated 650 ha of effective grazing. Altitude ranges from sea level to 480 m. The property is subdivided into 15 main paddocks and 6 holding paddocks. There is no home on the farm. Improvements consist of five stand woolshed and covered yards, cattle yards and loading facilities, two sets of satellite sheep yards and shearers quarters. This is an opportunity you need to sea. 2.00pm, Thu 22nd Sep, 2022, 66 Reads Quay, Gisborne Web GIR105480 Lane M 021 058 7018 E toml@pb.co.nz

Horo-Rata - 152.34 ha (more or less)

Tender closes 12.00pm, Wed 21st Sep, 2022 (unless sold prior), Property Brokers Ashburton View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/AR85829 Greg Jopson M 027 447

4382

195.11 ha - When quality counts 'The Willows' presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a quality farm in one of Mid Canterbury's most tightly held and premier farming areas. Held in the same family for over 100 years, the sale is a unique offering of a generational farm. A 195.11 ha irrigated intensive arable farm unit which features highly productive Rakaia and Templeton soils. Soils of this quality together with an efficient irrigation system enable growing a diverse range of specialist high value and yielding crops including yams, flower bulbs, small seeds and cereals plus lamb finishing. The farm demonstrates above average reliable yields with the ability to take production to another level.

Rakaia 113 McKays Road

Together Stronger Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 PB053815 Our combined strengths complement each other, creating more opportunity for our customers and Farmlands shareholders across provincial New Zealand. • A nationwide network from Northland to Southland • Sound, trustworthy advice from market-leading experts • Shareholder benefits and preferential commission rates means • more money in your pocket Bigger networks, more buyers, better results For more information call 0800 367 5263 or visit pb.co.nz/together Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 | pb.co.nz Proud to be here

Tender

434.56 ha - Large scale dairy support Located in the favoured farming location of Anama/Mayfield area of Mid Canterbury this large-scale pivot irrigated dairy support property is well worthy of inspection. This unit has two homes, plus near new single person one bedroom unit, large set of cattle yards, excellent lane system, silage pit and excellent range of farm improvements. With a solid history of dairy support over many years this unit has all the requirements for sustainable environmental and resource parameters that is required in today's new world. Irrigated by seven pivots the farm has approximately 357 ha irrigated by Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation (BCI) water. This is a great opportunity for large scale dairy farmers.

Ashburton 150 Anama Station Road, RD 8 Tender

Tender closes 12.00pm, Mon 19th Sep, 2022 (unless sold prior), Property Brokers Ashburton View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/AR105873 Chris Murdoch M 027 434 2545

Contact your local salesperson today, or get in touch on 0800 BAYLEYS bayleys.co.nz/country / Property Services

FARM, SPECIALTY AND LIFESTYLE COLLECTION

2022 Marketing options Premium Feature + Digital Package Four pages with premium positioning at the front of the Country magazine and e-book Professional design, copywriting and photography ($1,500 for photography) Feature in the Country release eDM Note: The booking deadline for Premium Feature property days prior to the deadlines noted below. Double Page Advert + Digital Package $5,800 GST Double page spread advertisement in Country magazine and e-book Country digital listing package Full Page Advert + Digital Package $3,800 GST Full page advertisement in Country magazine and e-book Country digital listing package Half Page Advert* + Digital Package $2,200 + GST Half page advertisement in Country magazine and e-book Country digital listing package Country Digital Listing Package Your advertisement in the Country magazine is complemented by a comprehensive digital listing campaign. Your property will receive listings on the below websites: realestate.co.nz gold package interest.co.nz Facebookhougarden.comlistinglistingdynamiccarousel listing Key dates #1 Booking and material deadlines 5pm, Friday 4th March 2022 5pm, Friday 23rd September 2022 Friday 18th March 2022 Friday 7th October 2022 organic dairy

Secure your space in the upcoming Bayleys’ Country portfolio, New Zealand’s multi-channel leading campaign showcasing the latest rural and lifestyle properties for sale. Get in front of motivated buyers and have a well-seasoned nationwide team of rural agents put in the hard yards for you. For over 22 years, Bayleys has delivered our customers an extensive network of qualified buyers, more audience reach and ultimately better results in a highly cost-effective marketing campaign. That’s why we’re New Zealand’s #1 rural real estate brand. Whether you’re moving on from a farm, orchard, forestry block, vineyard or lifestyle property, or growing your rural property portfolio, securing your spot in Country will ensure your property is among the pick of the bunch this spring.

Bayleys’ Country is New Zealand’s premier rural property marketing publication showcasing quality farms, horticulture, viticulture, forestry and lifestyle properties for sale throughout New Zealand. For over 22 years, Bayleys’ Country has provided an altogether better way for potential buyers to find their next rural or lifestyle property. Country is published biannually and holds a unique position in the market as much for its quality, as for its variety and geographic spread of properties. Utilising a combination of printed distribution and digital promotion, the multi-channelled Country campaign ensures your property receives maximum exposure to all key markets. Be part of Bayleys’ next Country campaign and entrust us to achieve an altogether better result. bayleys.co.nz/country

LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008 Call 0800 BAYLEYS or visit bayleys.co.nz/country-portfolio

Residential / Commercial / Rural / Property Services

We’re altogether better at rural real estate – so put your stake in Country to get the best result for the sale of your property.

colliers.co.nz Accelerating success. Breeding, Fattening, Trading or Hunting For Sale By Deadline Private Treaty closing Thu 15 September 2022 at 4pm (unless sold prior) 23 Mahoe Road, Waitomo InfrastructureQualityLand421.7Area:Ha Sheep and Beef unit colliers.co.nz/p-NZL67020179 This 421.7 ha sheep & beef unit has opportunity stamped all over it. Set in the proven Waitomo farming district offering 311 ha grass subdivided into 17 main paddocks with a mixture of contour, predominantly rolling with some steeper sidings. The balance of 110 ha is in native bush. Water is via creeks, dams and springs, and the property is well tracked for stock movement. Our vendors want action! CRTGA Limited Licensed under the REAA 2008 ContourMixed Clint Brereton 027 897 1161 Chris Meban 027 484 4574 KIRIKAU A FARM LAND Taumarunui Manawatū-Whanganui SMALLER SCALE FARMING OR AFFORESTATION OPPORTUNITY Arotahi Agribusiness Limited, Licensed Real Estate Agent REA Act Chan Singh +64 27 767 7113 Deadline Offers: Thursday 15 September 2022 at 4pm (NZST) + ½ share of 120ha* freehold land + 65*ha farm land suitable for afforestation or ongoing grazing + Flat to medium hill country contour + Attractive native bush with potential for hive income + CV of $390,000 (whole property) + Attractive setting near Whanganui river A unique smaller scale farming or afforestation opportunity, being a ½ share in 120 hectares* total land area. Located in the established farming district of Kirikau, 20km* south-west of Taumarunui, the property includes attractive native bush, flat to medium hill country contour and approximately 65*ha of farm land currently grazed. The Kirikau district benefits from favorable climatic conditions, including high sunshine hours and rainfall in excess of 1500mm per *Approximatelyannum. Boundary lines are approximate only. FOR SALE FARMERS WEEKLY – August 29, 2022 farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80 29Real Estate Yourdestinationforruralrealestate. www.farmersweekly.co.nz Add another touchpoint to your campaign on the website built for farmers, and align your brand with the content they Geotargetting,read.print packages, and premium positions are available. Market your property to an audience that counts. Contact your agent to advertise today!

FREEWANTEDDOGSCRATE!When I buy a working dog from you! 07 315 dogs@farmside.co.nzmikehughesworking5553.

Our vision for the sheep, beef and dairy industry is Sustainable and profitable farmers, thriving rural communities, valued by New Zealanders. Our priorities are focused around three key areas: Supporting farming excellence; Championing the sector and Increasing market returns.

All prospective Associate Directors must have a direct connection to a levy paying farm, e.g., through family or iwi and strongly committed to furthering the farming sector, have the highest levels of integrity, be collaborative in nature, possess sound judgment, and be innovative and strategic in their thinking.

ATTENTIONFARMERS

co.nz GOATSGIBBOOSTWANTED GOATS WANTED GOATS WANTED. All weights. All breeds. Prompt service. Payment on pick up. My on farm prices will not be beaten. Phone David Hutchings 07 895 8845 or 0274 519 249. Feral goats mustered on a 50/50 share basis. FERAL GOATS WANTED. All head counted, payment on pick-up, pick-up within 24 hours. Prices based on works schedule. Experienced musterers available. Phone Bill and Vicky Le Feuvre 07 893 8916. NAKI GOATS. Trucking goats to the works every week throughout the NI. Mustering available. Phone Michael and Clarice. 027 643 0403. NZHORTICULTUREKELP.FRESH,wild ocean harvested giant kelp. The world’s richest source of natural iodine. Dried and milled for use in agriculture and horticulture. Growth promotant / stock health food. As seen on Country Calendar. Orders to: 03 322 6115 or info@nzkelp.co.nz LEASEWANTEDLAND LAND WANTED to lease, Lower North Island for Sheep and Beef, around the 1000su or more. Contact Aidan 021 0464 077. RED DEVON BULLS. Well grown, purebred. Feilding. Phone 027 224 3838. LIVESTOCKFORSALE PUMPS HIGH PRESSURE WATER PUMPS, suitable on high headlifts. Low energy usage for single/3-phase motors, waterwheel and turbine drives. Low maintenance costs and easy to service. Enquiries phone 04 526 4415, sales@hydra-cell.co.nzemail WILTSHIRES-ARVIDSON. Self shearing sheep. No1 for Facial Eczema. David 027 2771 556. HAIRFORRAMSSALESHIRE® Low input meat rams! www. organicstud.nz 027 225 5283. tim@organicstud.nz SAWN SHED TIMBER including Black Maire. Matai, Totara and Rimu etc. Also buying salvaged native logs. Phone Richard Uren. NZ Native Timber Supplies. Phone 027 688 2954. WANTED TO BUY WHAT’S SITTING IN your barn? Don’t leave it to rust away! We pay cash for tractors, excavators, small crawler tractors and surplus farm machinery. Ford – Ferguson – Hitachi – Komatsu – John Deere and more. Tell us what you have no matter where it is in NZ. You never know.. what’s resting in your barn could be fattening up your wallet! Email admin@ loaderparts.co.nz or phone Colin on 0274 426 936 (No texts please) 30 classifieds@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80 FARMERS WEEKLY August 29, 2022Noticeboard EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST WELCOME We are a growing bull beef finishing enterprise, currently farming 1050ha effective of owned and leased farms near Whangarei, wintering 3000 head. We are looking for opportunities to expand our enterprise and would welcome expressions of interest from prospective farmers in Northland looking to lease farmland suitable for bull finishing. We have a proven record of building/ maintaining relationships, are financially sound, and are excellent custodians of the land. JAMES DONALDSON – 027 601 4559 k8towen@hotmail.com LK0112987© Colleen is an attractive lady looking to meet a genuine Apartner.slimlady with light brown hair & hazel eyes who takes pride on her appearance and her home. She loves the outdoors, cooking, fishing, gardening and looking after her lifestyle Toblock.meet Colleen or one of our other ladies please call & quote code 62. 0800 446 332 A RomanceCountry LK0112988© LK0105354© JOBS farmersweeklyjobs.co.nzBOARD Associate2IC Director Farm LabourerGeneralManagerManager Livestock StockSeniorOperationsProgrammeTalentManagerAgronomistsManager *FREE upload to Primary Pathways Aotearoa: www.facebook.com*conditions apply Contact Debbie Brown 06 323 0765 or email classifieds@globalhq.co.nz WORD ONLY ADVERTISING. Phone Debbie on 0800 85 25 80. FOR ONLY $2.30 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classifieds. Phone Debbie on 0800 85 25 80.

PURINA PROPLAN WHATATUTU dog sale. Saturday 10th September. At Otara Station, 319 Whatatutu Road, Te Karaka, Gisborne. Sales start at 12 noon. Dosing clearance required. Enquiries and to enter go to: Whatatutu Dog SaleFacebook page or phone 027 443 8350. SEE VIDEOS OF dogs I’m selling at the Whatatutu Dog Sale, 10/9/22. videosmikehughesworkingdog/youtube.com/user/www.073155553. 12 MONTHS TO 5½-yearold Heading dogs and Huntaways wanted. Phone 022 698 8195.

NZFARM

TWOFORMAPPINGFARMSALEPERSONALISED

• Passion and commitment to the farming sector • Highest of ethical standards and behaviours Independence in thinking; be prepared to challenge, and be challenged • Innovative and values continuous improvement and responsiveness to the sector’s challenges and opportunities

Please apply via the B+LNZ job site andsustainabletheAtASSOCIATEApplicationsopportunityTohttps://beeflambnz.com/about-blnz/work-for-usrequestfurtherinformationonthisAssociateDirectorpleaseemailhrhub@beeflambnz.comcloseonSunday,11September2022.DIRECTOR–1YRTERMBeef+LambNewZealand(B+LNZ)wearepassionateaboutsheep,beefanddairyindustryandcommittedtogrowingaandprofitablefutureforoursector.Wearefarmerownedfundedandworkontheirbehalf.

PASTUREPROMOTESPROMOTANTGIBB-GROGROWTHQUICK

WOOLY Tthe WEARABLES www.kellswool.co.nztheWOOLYT RANGE BY KELLS WOOL NZ WEARABLESMERINOMADEWOOL SHOP PRODUCTS AT Pests out of Nocontrol?jobtoo big, I offer efficient and confidential service. 0275258321CONTACT: Cost-effective pest control using the latest thermal equipment & hunterItechnology.amanexperiencedandexfarmer, I can get rid of the pests eating down your farm, disturbing your stock, and frustrating you and your neighbors. THINK PREBUILT NEW HOMES SOLID – PRACTICAL WELL INSULATED – AFFORDABLE Our homes are built using the same materials & quality as an onsite build. Easily transported to almost anywhere in the North Island. Plans range from one bedroom to four bedroom First Home – Farm House Investment – Beach Bach LK0109918©Call or email us for your free copy of our plans Email: info@ezylinehomes.co.nz Phone: 0800 399 546 (EZYLINE) Web: www.ezylinehomes.co.nzPh 021 047 9299 Heavy duty long lasting LK0109558© VETMARKER LAMB DOCKING / TAILING CHUTE With automatic release and spray system. www.vetmarker.co.nz 0800 DOCKER (362 537) LK0112439© DOLOMITE NZ’s finest BioGro certified Mg fertiliser For a delivered price call .... 0800 436 566 Primary Pathways FLY OR LICE problem? Electrodip – the magic eye sheepjetter since 1989 with unique self adjusting sides. Incredible chemical and time savings with proven effectiveness. Phone 07 573 www.electrodip.com8512 ANIMALHANDLINGANIMALANDHUMAN healer, also manipulation on horses and dogs. 29th to 31st August, South Canterbury, North Otago and Dunedin areas. 1st -5th September, Gore and Southland areas. 6th8th September, West and Central Otago, Maniototo. Phone Ron Wilson 027 435 3089. CRAIGCO SHEEP JETTERS. Sensor Jet. Deal to fly and Lice now. www.craigcojetters.com06ableperformance.GuaranteedUnbeat-pricing.Phone8356863. www.drench.co.nz farmer owned, very competitive prices. Phone 0800 4 DRENCH (437 362). ANIMAL HEALTH 40c/50c PER KG dags 9550.Feilding.KawakawaPVReplacementfadges/bales.woolpacks.WeberWools.Road,Phone06323

FARM FARMWANTEDLEASEWANTED to lease. North Island. No less than 150ha. Sheep and Beef or dairy. Top references available. Will take pride in your farm. Phone 027 298 2207. ACCURATE AND PRACTICAL farm maps showing area sizes of paddocks and vegetation. Visit farmmapping.co.nz for a free quote. plates available for sale. AND FARMNZ. Search TradeMe “Personalized License Plate” for listings. growth. Only $6.50+gst per hectare delivered. 0508-GIBBGRO [0508 442 247] www. gibbgro.co.nz. “The Proven One.” GIBBERELLIC ACID growth promotant. Increase pasture growth and dry matter. From $5.50 per/ha. 0508 733 343, sales@vernado.

CONTRACT PIG CULLING. Stock proof dogs. SI. Can travel. Phone 027 353 0661. #2251190054.SEECHILLERSATTENTIONFARMERSANDFREEZERSDOGSFORSALETradeME Phone JC: 021 441 180. Email: frigidair@xtra.co.nz - when only the best will do.

• Effective, persuasive and respectful communicator Empathy with sheep, beef and dairy farmers and their rural communities • A role model for the values of the organisation. The commitment required will be on average one to two days per month with the majority of the six-weekly meetings held in Wellington. This is an unpaid position however all expenses related to fulfilling this position will be covered.

B+LNZ has an Associate Director position available commencing November 2022. The purpose of this Associate Director position is a developmental opportunity to provide governance experience and mentoring to aspiring farming leaders in the sector. It specifically intends to extend the knowledge and understanding of governance, its environment, the role of the B+LNZ Board, the legal framework and Directors responsibilities, and offers a unique opportunity to experience strategy and governance in action from within a sector organisation.

The qualities we are looking for are:

hillcroftangus hillcroftangus.co.nz Hillcroft 1-21 pictured, son of Stern 18711 Fraser Crawford 07 828 5755 • 0272 85 95 87 Malcolm Crawford 07 828 5709 • 0274 721 050 32 Angus 2yr olds 95 Angus yearling 38 Hereford 2yr olds OUR TOP YEARLINGS, SELECTED FOR CALVING EASE, LOW BIRTH, AND GROWTH MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19TH, FROM 11.30AM 3RD ANNUAL SALE 60 Hutchinson Road, Walton Tuesday 13th September 2022 – 12 Noon 40 x Registered 1yr Hereford Bulls All bulls have been DNA tested and all are Homozygous Polled. 39 bulls have all passed Genomic Testing. Exceptionally quiet and very good low birth weight bulls. Live Streamed with online bidding available. (please register 48 hours before auction) Contact NZFL Agent: Chris Martelletti – 027 497 3802 Contact NZFL Stud Stock Agent: Brent Bougen – 027 210 4698 VALDA ROSE HEREFORD BULL SALE LK0112720© 1ST ANNUAL 1YR ANGUS BULL SALE THURSDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER 2022 - 12.30pm 51 KARAPIRO ROAD – CAMBRIDGE 20 X TOP 1 YEAR ANGUS PEDIGREE BULLS Having purchased Waitawheta cows Piquet Hill Farms Ltd are pleased to announce their inaugural sale of quality Angus bulls. Bred for low birthweight and great calving ease. If you require Angus heifer mating bulls we highly recommend you attend this sale. Live streamed with mylivestock & bidr. Delivery up to 1st November If required deferred payment 20th December. For further information please contact: Vendor: Will Jackson – 07 825 4480 or 027 739 9939 Contact Agents: Warren Charleston – 027 496 3007 NZFL Stud Stock: Brent Bougen – 027 210 4698 Contact Agents: Steve Hickey – 027 444 3570 Tony Blackwood – 027 243 1858 LK0112823© YEARLING BULL & HEIFER SALE A QUALITY SELECTION OF 30 IMPRESSIVE YEARLING BULLS WITH LOW BIRTH WEIGHT & EARLY GESTATION + HEIFERS WHICH ARE SOLD IN LOTS. NON-TRANSFERRABLE THURSDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2022 12 NOON, 662 RANGITATAU EAST ROAD, WANGANUI DON’T MISS OUT – ENQUIRIES TO: LINDSAY JOHNSTONE 027 445 3211 MARIA JOHNSTONE 027 610 5348 OR YOUR LOCAL LIVESTOCK AGENT LK0112761© SHADOW DOWNS POLLED HEREFORD STUD PGG WRIGHTSON Mark Neil: 027 742 8580 LOWER HERENGAWE ROAD, WAVERLEY NZ FARMERS LIVESTOCK Mark Howells: 027 664 8832 Selling online with My Livestock in the app for the online auction IAN & DANIEL SMITH P/F: 06 762 7899 • Mobile: 021 749 235 • Email: shadowdownsnz@gmail.com “The beef breed for every need” Offering Merit Sires • Low Birth Weights Easy Calving • Whitehead Premiums Performance Recorded • BVD & Lepto vaccinated/tested Owner Bred - Closed Herd WEDNE SDAY 14th SEPTEMBER 2022 - 12 HOME-BREDNOONGENUINEBEEFBULLS52 - 2yr Hereford Bulls 16 - 1yr Hereford Bulls 4 - Hereford/Speckle Park X 1yr Bulls FARMERS WEEKLY – August 29, 2022 livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80 31Livestock Noticeboard Monday 12th September, 11.30am 105 Tahaia Bush Road, Otorohanga 160Comprising2yrJersey Bulls Bulls ideal for both Heifer & Cow mating’s • Come forward in excellent condition • Farmed on hills, fit & active rearing to go Double vaccinated & booster shot for BVD Delivery Option 1 – 50kms transport subsidy if purchaser takes bulls day after sale date. Option 2 – Free grazing until 20th October, nominated delivery days (every Monday and Thursday) until 20th October, pick your delivery date. Great opportunity to purchase quality Jersey Bulls for Herd & Heifers. Shay Egan 027 473 5856 Dean Evans 027 243 1092 Helping grow the country 25TH ANNUAL 2YR JERSEY BULL SALE A/C TETLEY AGRICULTUREJONESLTD Want to get the most out of your bull? Start by pairing him with the best females in your herd by using DNA powered testing portfolio 027 386 2410 ella@pbbnz.com 0800 248 247 pbbnz.com GoingGoingGone! Contactadvertising?LivestockAndrea:0800852580livestock@globalhq.co.nz 2021 Angus Heifers (price on approach) October pre mating delivery. Please contact your local agent for further information. BEEFGEN : Brian Pearson : 021 0907 1688 BEEFGEN : Jess Crow : 022 074 1210 BEEFGEN Office : 06 927 7154 LK0112593©

polledcraigmoreherefords We’ve done the work for you! All bulls are: • Performance recorded • Genomics tested to improve accuracy of EBVs • Polled gene tested • Sire verified YEARLING BULL SALE On farm bull sale plus online sale at bidr Sign up at www.bidr.co.nz Monday 12th September 2022, at 12.30pm Luncheon available On A/C D.B & S.E Henderson At the stud property: 429 Rukuhia Road, RD 2, Ohaupo 110+ registered well grown bulls Craigmore has been breeding Hereford cattle for over 50 years! We have bulls that will suit beef and dairy farmers www.craigmoreherefords.co.nz For further information or inspection, please contact: Vendors: David 021 166 1389 or the selling agents: PGG Wrightson: Vaughn Larsen 027 801 4599, Cam Heggie 027 501 8182 LK0112525© All bulls are ready to perform! SALE DATE 2022 MONDAY 12 SEPT 10.00 47 stud bulls 5 performance recorded bulls JASON COFFEY 691 Te Kopi Rd, RD4, Masterton P. 06 372 77 20 M. 0274 570 526 te_whanga@borthwick.co.nz www.borthwick.co.nz Te Whanga Calving Ease Sires. LIVE BIDDINGavailable www.bidr.co.nzat 104 TuesdayBullsYearlingforSale13September@12noon82318StateHighway2,PahiatuaDaimienandTally021430710www.totaranuistud.co.nz Specialist low birth weight bulls averaging birth weight EBV of 1.8, top 10% of the breed, compared to the breed average of 4.1. LK0112736© ENQUIRIES AND INSPECTIONS WELCOME Graeme Brown P: 021 037 2350 Like us on Facebook @MaranuiHerefords E: maranui.stud@xtra.co.nz HEREFORD & ANGUS YEARLING BULL SALE Thursday, 8th September 2022 @ 12.30pm 282 Trig Road North, Waihi 3681 WANTED 2021 FRIESIANBORNHEIFERS F12+: $1950 + GST / head F8-F11’s: $1850 + GST / head F7/Unrecorded: $1650 + GST 190 kgs min live weight Delivery – September SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: • True to type Friesian Heifers, including the F8-F11 unrecorded heifers. • Standard Chinese Protocol, heifers must have been on the property for a minimum of 6 months at the time of delivery. NORTH & SOUTH ISLAND PHONE TIM ON 027 443 7420 FOR MORE INFORMATION or email timbrandonlivestock@outlook.com LK0112893© 32 livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80 FARMERS WEEKLY – August 29, 2022Livestock Noticeboard MATAWHERO CATTLE Tuesday 6 September, 11am Grand opportunity to purchase well bred lines of hill country station bred cattle. Jamie Hayward 027 434 7586 TURIHAUA ANGUS SPRING BULL SALE Tuesday 20 September, 10.30am (note - 1 day earlier than calendared) Emma Pollitt 027 597 5821 Freephone 0800 10 22 76 www.pggwrightson.co.nz GoingGoingGone! Contactadvertising?LivestockAndrea:0800852580livestock@globalhq.co.nz THE CHOICE IS Safe, Quiet, Performance Bulls AIMING FOR ZERO SALEVALUEANDBOBBIESHIGHCALVES?300BULLSAVAILABLEMIKECRANSTONE0272180123Thursday22Sept,12noonRivertonHerefords,WanganuiWILLMORRISON0276401166SALETuesday27Sept,12noonArdoHerefords,Martonwww.ezicalve.co.nz LK0112824©

SALE TALK As they stopped at a cheese farm, a young guide led them through the process of cheese making, explaining that goat’s milk was used. She showed the group a lovely hillside where many goats were “These,”grazing. she explained, “are the older goats put out to pasture when they no longer produce.” She then turned to the group and asked “What do you do in America with your old goats?” A spry old gentleman answered, “they send them on bus tours.”

M C F A D Z E A N C R U I Z Y C A L V E M C F A D Z E A N S U P E R A N G U S M C F A D Z E A N M E A T M A K E R Superior weaning weight % Instant impact on calf size, growth & muscling Higher carcass yields High EMA scores Strong milking & maternal traits At least 7/8 s Angus Moderate framed hill country cattle Excellent growth rates and superior muscling Positive fats & high IMF % Strong milking & maternal traits 100% Registered Angus Positive for calving ease Short gestation Positive fats & good growth Suited for heifer mating Thursday 8th September 2022 at 1pm 216 Wiltons Road, Carterton www mcfadzeancattlecompany co nz Johnie McFadzean 0274295777 | Andrew Jennings PGG Wrightsons 0275946820 Lot 8 McFadzean SuperAngus 1306 EMAWeaningIMF83sqcm-2.5Weight-382kgsYearlingWeight-526kgsDailyGrowth-1.35kgs A group of 2022 Cruizy Calves born 10 14 days before official due date weighing between 27 32kg Featuring for the first time 'McFadzean Cruizy Calve Heifer Mating Specialist, Positive for Calving ease, Short Gestation Angus bulls 45 Years of Proven Performance • Top Quality Yearling Bulls A L L B U L L S H A V E P A S S E D S E M E N T E S T I N G P L E A S E C O N T A C T U S F O R A C A T A L O G U E A N D / O R V I E W I N G Affordable Bulls "I purchased Super Angus bulls at a average price of $2700 and sold September born weaners for a $1000 Great Cattle" George Fountain Waikaramu Station CONSIDER THIS . . . Fully registered 300 cow herd Specialising in ease of calving and heifer mating All our best bulls offered at our annual yearling sale Full EBVs on all animals AngusGS 72K SNP tested Excellent temperament Our complete program (all 300 cows) is focused on ease of calving and heifer mating Good selection of bulls with growth and carcass attributes without compromising ease of calving FERTILITYCalveas 2 yr old Only 43 days mating - cows Only 30 days mating - heifers Cull everything that doesn’t rear a calf 100 Yearling Angus bulls On Farm Sale and Hybrid bidr Auction Tuesday 6th September 2022, 12.30pm Chris & Karren Biddles, RD1, Te Kopuru, Northland P: 09 439 1589 | M: 021 795 929 e: chris@teatarangi.co.nz WHO ELSE IN NZ TICKS ALL THOSE BOXES? Need Angusanbull?SpecialisinginEaseofCalvingandHeifermating NZ’s Virtual Saleyard UPCOMINGAUCTIONS Regular Livestream coverage of seven North Island Saleyards Head to bidr.co.nz to find out more.

LK0112950© A SIMPLE BUY NOW PAY LATER PLAN FOR YOUR SERVICE BULLS • PURCHASE AS MANY BULLS AS REQUIRED • FREE UP CAPITAL • NO UP-FRONT FEE • NO FURTHER PAYMENT UNTIL FEBRUARY 20, 2023 • SELL CULL COWS OR OTHER LIVESTOCK TO SETTLE THE DIFFERENCE • LOW ADMINISTRATION AND SERVICE FEES * Terms and Conditions Apply Live Export Carrfields are agents for multiple live export companies and have all the latest shipment opportunities at their fingertips. Don’t miss out on these competitive opportunities! Contact your local Carrfields agent for more details. UPCOMING AUCTIONS www.carrfieldslivestock.co.nz Date Client Information Sale Location Agent Contact 1-Sep Waimaire & Otengi Polled Herefords 49 x 1yr Hereford Bulls 20 x 2yr Hereford Bulls (Kaeo)Northland Neil 0274Miller973492 2-Sep Matapouri Herefords 50 x 2yr Hereford Bulls 70 x 1yr Hereford Bulls Whangarei Tim 0275Williamson117778 9-Sep Kokonga Herefords 52 x Top Quality 1yr Hereford Bulls 500kgs+ North Waikato Reuben Wright 027 2846384 BULL POWER PLAN

TUESDAY AUGUST

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1pm Cambridge Calf Sale THURSDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 12pm Waimarie & Otengi Herefords Annual Bull Sale 12.30pm Piquet Hill Farms Yearling Angus Bull Sale MONDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 7pm Kay Jay Angus Heifer Sale 7.30pm Matai Mara Angus Bull Sale TUESDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 12.30pm Te Atarangi Angus Yearling Bull Sale 1pm Cambridge Calf Sale FARMERS WEEKLY – August 29, 2022 livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80 33Livestock Noticeboard

CHARWELL 22HEREFORDPOLLEDSTUDNDANNUALSPRINGSALE Wednesday 14th September at 11.30am at 659 Matahi Road, Manawahe Near Lake Rotoma, SH 30 Representing 103 years of pure bred genetics All TB & BVD clear & vaccinated For more information Contact Peter or Penny Davies - “Taharoto” 716 Matahi Road, RD 4, Whakatane 3194 Phone 07 322 1080 or email: pstdavies@ruralinzone.net LK0112885© These animals are from a CLOSED herd and have never left the property or been leased out. We welcome clients, friends and visitors to our sale which comprises approx: 60 2-year old bulls 13 18-month bulls 38 Well yearlinggrownbulls Limehills Boss 180099 www waitangiangus.co.nz Enquiries and Inspection Welcomed: Contact John, Joss or Phil Bayly M 027 474 3185, Email jbayly@xtra.co.nz Sale Catalogue www.waitangiangus.co.nz/upcoming-salelink:s Waitangi Tuesday 13th September 2022 12 noon on farm with bidr 88 YEARLING BULLS Top rated proven genetics Semen tested : BVD vaccinated Well grown and ready to go! Angus LK0112809© STOCKRosswww.dyerlivestock.co.nzDyer0274333381REQUIREDG.A P MALE or EWE LAMBS 36 42kg R2YR FRSN/FRSN X BULLS 360 430kg 1YR ANG ANGX STEERS 280 320kg 1YR FRSN BULLS 180 250kgs 2YR ANG & ANGX STEERS 420 500kg Contracts on FRSN & EXOTICX BULL CALVES >100kg E info@rdlfinance.co.nz A Financing Solution For Your Farm Check out PollFacebookNZDorseton 34 livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80 FARMERS WEEKLY – August 29, 2022Livestock Noticeboard Limehills Stardom 190158 Top 20% calving ease. Top 1% growth. LK0112484© Mahuta Hereford Stud Offering specialist bulls for heifer mating – beef and dairy • High calving ease • Above average growth, meat, and fat Annual Yearling Bull sale on the farm, Glen Murray, Waikato Friday 16th September 2022 Open Day Friday 2nd September Auctioneer Cam Heggie 027 501 8182 Local Agent Stephen Hickey 027 444 3570 Enquiries contact John Allen 027 440 7504 or jvmeallen@xtra.co.nz HEIFERHEREFORDSMATING Going going gone Contact Andrea: 06 323 0761 / 027 602 4925Advertiselivestock@globalhq.co.nzyourbullsalewith the publication that farmers read Enquiries to Richard and Christine 027 353 5693 Linking Buyers and Sellers 11:30am Monday 12th S eptember 2022 6 LivestockLink FINANCEABULL BID ONLINE WITH Quality, Well Grown, High BW, Low Risk Delivery every Wednesday with prior arrangement until the 20th October 2022 Bulls staying will be at purchasers risk. Richard and Christine Lansdaal and Family 200 Luck at Last Road, Karapiro, Cambridge Sale Held under cover with lunch provided + free coffee van on site ON OFFER FROM LYNRICH JERSEY HERD NZAEL BW 316 | PW 329 MINDA BW 304 | PW 311 60 R1 ELITE BULLS ave BW 349 + 10 R2 Elite Jersey Bulls ave BW 373 NZAEL All G3 profiled, BWs to 435, A2A2 tested to be sold by Link Livestock Ltd Finance A Bull Available 140 R1 JERSEY BULLS My Livestock live auction hybrid platform. All fully Recorded, BW’s up to 379, G3 profiled to be sold by NZ Farmers Livestock Limited. Bull Plan Finance available. ALL BULLS ARE: Bred/Reared/Grazed on our own properties. TB Tested (Herd Status C10, EBL Free) BVD tested negative and double vaccinated, lepto vaccinated. Ollie Carruthers – 0274 515 312 Ross Riddell - 0272 111 112 Catalogue available soon, on mylivestock.co.nz and http://www.linklivestock.co.nz/upcoming-sales/ LK0112948©

www.herefords.co.nz 1SEPTEMBER Waimaire & Otengi Hereford Studs Kaeo 2 Matapouri Hereford Stud Hikurangi 8 Maranui Hereford Stud Waihi 8 Penny Lane Hereford Stud Stratford 9 Kokonga Hereford Stud Waikaretu Valley 12 Craigmore Hereford Stud Ohaupo 13 Valda-Rose Hereford Stud Walton 14 Charwell Hereford Stud Whakatane 15 Shadow Downs Hereford Stud Waverley 15 Kairaumati Hereford Stud Thames 15 Mangaotea Hereford Stud Tariki 16 Mahuta Hereford Stud Glen Murray 20 Hillcroft Hereford Stud Huntly 22 Hurstpier Hereford & Horizon Hereford Studs Waitara 22 Riverton Ezicalve Hereford Stud Fordell 26 Riverlee Hereford Stud Kimbolton 27 Ezicalve Morrison Farming Marton 28 Herepuru Hereford Stud Whakatane 28 Bushy Downs Hereford Stud Te Awamutu 28 Shrimpton’s Hill Hereford Stud Cave 30 Bexley Hereford Stud Mokau 4OCTOBER Matariki Hereford Stud Kaikoura 5 Bluestone Hereford Stud Cave 10 Okawa Polled Herefords Ashburton 10 Orari Gorge Herefords Geraldine 12 Richon Hereford Stud, Beechwood Hereford Stud & Woodburn Hereford Stud Amberley 13 Kane Farms Hereford Stud Tapanui 19 Pyramid Downs Hereford Stud Gore SUPERIOR BULLS CREATE SALEABLE CALVES. To find out more about buying a registered Hereford bull, view our breeders online sale catalogues at herefords.co.nz SOLID DATA, SOLID DECISIONS. Proven calving ease, white face recognition, great temperament. Select using reliable data for growth rates and strong carcass quality. It pays to capture the HerefordX advantage

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX 11349 S&P/FW SECTORPRIMARYEQUITY 12492 S&P/NZX 50 INDEX 11655 Company Close YTD High YTD Low ArborGen Holdings Limited 0.23 0.27 0.205 The a2 Milk Company Limited 5.36 6.39 4.2 Comvita Limited 3.3 3.78 2.98 Delegat Group Limited 12 14.45 10 Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS) 3.13 3.78 2.75 Foley Wines Limited 1.44 1.57 1.38 Greenfern Industries Limited 0.146 0.25 0.089 Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS) 1.35 1.73 1.3 Marlborough Wine Estates Group Limited 0.178 0.26 0.155 New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd 0.225 1.38 0.187 PGG Wrightson Limited 4.38 5.76 3.93 Rua Bioscience Limited 0.3 0.53 0.29 Sanford Limited (NS) 4.4 5.07 4.03 Scales Corporation Limited 4.5 5.59 4.07 Seeka Limited 4.2 5.36 3.96 Synlait Milk Limited (NS) 3.33 3.54 3.04 T&G Global Limited 2.69 3.01 2.63 S&P/NZX Primary Sector Equity Index 12492 14293 11724 S&P/NZX 50 Index 11655 13150 10588 S&P/NZX 10 Index 11349 12725 10291 Company Close YTD High YTD Low Meridian Energy Limited (NS) 5.1 5.36 4.32 Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd 20.25 33.4 19 Auckland International Airport Limited 7.52 7.95 6.88 Spark New Zealand Limited 5.375 5.4 4.3 Mercury NZ Limited (NS) 6.22 6.695 5.2 Mainfreight Limited 77.5 94.4 66.11 Ebos Group Limited 38.5 44.3 36.11 Infratil Limited 9.08 9.165 7.33 Contact Energy Limited 7.88 8.42 6.82 Vector Limited (NS) 4.7 4.82 3.67 Listed Agri Shares Top 10 by Market Cap 5pm, close of market, Wednesday Sheep SHEEP SlaughterMEATprice (NZ$/kg) Last week Prior week Last year NI lamb (17kg) 9.35 9.30 9.20 NI mutton (20kg) 6.10 6.10 6.60 SI lamb (17kg) 9.40 9.40 9.10 SI mutton (20kg) 6.10 6.10 6.75 Export markets (NZ$/kg) UK CKT lamb leg 12.11 12.08 12.11 (NZ$/kg)WOOL Two weeks ago Prior week Last year Coarse xbred ind. 2.62 2.62 2.86 37 micron ewe 2.85 30 micron lamb Cattle SlaughterBEEF price (NZ$/kg) Last week Prior week Last year NI Steer (300kg) 6.55 6.50 6.20 NI Bull (300kg) 6.30 6.25 6.10 NI Cow (200kg) 4.75 4.75 4.60 SI Steer (300kg) 6.40 6.30 6.10 SI Bull (300kg) 6.20 6.15 5.90 SI Cow (200kg) 4.75 4.75 4.90 Export markets (NZ$/kg) US imported 95CL bull 9.66 9.44 9.22 US domestic 90CL cow 9.59 9.41 8.86 NZFERTILISERaverage (NZ$/t) Last week Prior week Last year Urea 1340 1340 844 Super 495 495 339 DAP 1794 1794 1135 FertiliserDeer SlaughterVENISON price (NZ$/kg) Last week Prior week Last year NI Stag (60kg) 8.25 8.25 6.20 SI Stag (60kg) 8.40 8.40 6.30 Dairy Data provided by MILK PRICE FUTURES WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO Grain CANTERBURY FEED WHEAT WAIKATO PALM KERNEL DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) contractNearby Last price* Prior week vs 4 weeks ago WMP 3550 3480 3695 SMP 3430 3400 3595 AMF 5140 5530 5530 Butter 5250 5120 5530 Milk Price 9.31 9.31 9.34 * price as at close of business on Thursday CANTERBURY FEED BARLEY MARKET SNAPSHOT36 Market Snapshot brought to you by the AgriHQ analysts. Reece Brick Fiona QuarrieMel Croad Suz Bremner Hayley O’Driscoll Caitlin Pemberton Ingrid Usherwood Sara Hilhorst 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 CW$/kg North Island steer slaughter price 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug CW$/kg South Island steer slaughter price 5-yr ave 2020-21 2021-22 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 CW$/kg North Island lamb slaughter price 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug CW$/kg South Island lamb slaughter price 5-yr ave 2020-21 2021-22 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 CW$/kg North Island stag slaughter price 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug CW$/kg South Island stag slaughter price 5-yr ave 2020-21 2021-22 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 A… O… D… F… A… J… A… MS$/kg Sep-22 Sep-23 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 Aug-21 Oct-21 Dec-21 Feb-22 Apr-22 Jun-22 Aug-22 $/tonne 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 Aug-21 Oct-21 Dec-21 Feb-22 Apr-22 Jun-22 Aug-22 $/tonne 38003700360035003400Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb US$/t Latest price 4 weeks ago 300 350 400 450 500 550 Aug-21 Oct-21 Dec-21 Feb-22 Apr-22 Jun-22 Aug-22 $/tonne

A few showers for northeastern North Island areas, also the West Coast today and Tuesday. The odd shower lingers for Northland and Auckland on Wednesday. Meanwhile some heavy rain moves into the West Coast. Rain eases for the West Coast on Thursday, and showers eventually reach the western North Island. Showers in the north clearing on Friday, a few entering Southland. Rain for the West Coast in the weekend, showers in the Rainfalleast.accumulation

Soil Moisture 24/08/2022 OverviewWEATHER

NEW Zealand’s reliance on the export market for lamb means it has a significant impact on farmgate returns. With two months left in this export season, its timely to have a look at just how well our export markets have been performing. One thing is clear, earlier processing difficulties mean lower export volumes. Only 259,000 tonnes of lamb meat has been exported this season, 20,000t off the pace of last season and the five-year average.Theexport scorecard shows China has held onto top spot as our largest export destination for lamb. However, it hasn’t been plain sailing in this market. So far this season NZ has shipped just over 100,000t of lamb to China. This is down 41,000t on last season, dropping China’s market share from 51% to 39% over this period. The drop-off in export volumes hasn’t encouraged any upside in asking prices either, indicating their demand for lamb is much softer than through 2021. Revolving covid-19 lockdown strategies in the country have done little favours to maintaining demand for Fortunately,lamb.moving up the scorecard this season have been our more traditional markets. Key mainland European countries, alongside the United Kingdom and the United States, have all had a solid season, buying larger volumes of NZ lamb. Remember, this has been achieved in a season where total NZ exports have been much lower than normal. Combined, the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the US have imported almost as much lamb from NZ as China has this season, falling only 2000t short. To put it in context, last season China took 55,000t more than these countries combined over the same period.Notonly have these combined markets taken more NZ lamb this season, they have also scored extra points for accepting the higher prices. Again, some of this is down to the cuts shipped to these markets. They are higher value and often boneless cuts. With staffing shortages at a processing level, the more labour-intensive boneless cuts have been attracting premiums due to their tighter availability. In both NZD terms and in the currencies these sales are completed in, export returns have remained at the top end of the pricing range. Given our reliance on these markets, this season has been beneficial to overall export returns for NZ lamb.However, in the broader picture it has been a year of ups and downs for lamb export values – a far cry from the consistent upside witnessed through 2021. Part of the reason is that market weakness and price reductions into China since March have balanced out the gains into the US, UK, and European Union. Export values to China have also dipped this year, despite the lower volumes being shipped there, cementing their weaker placing within our global export market this season. Fortunately, there are early but encouraging signs of prices into China starting to slowly track higher. Admittedly they have some way to go to get back to levels attained this time last year, but this is a step in the right direction.

Mel mel.croad@globalhq.co.nzCroad

A ridge of high pressure covers New Zealand early this week. The ridge loses its strength over the South Island on Wednesday with a northerly airflow moving in ahead of a front pushing in from the southwest. This may bring some heavy rain for the West Coast but temperatures in the east should be warm. Overnight and into Thursday the aforementioned front moves northwards over the country, clearing the North Island on Friday with an anticyclone moving in behind. A cold front moves onto the South Island on Saturday but as it moves further northwards on Sunday it looks to weaken and then a high pressure system engulfs the remnants of this front.

VOLUMES DOWN: So far this season New Zealand has shipped just over 100,000t of lamb to China, down 41,000t on last season.w

14-day outlook

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A northerly airflow brings some heavy rain to the West Coast on Wednesday, temperatures are warm in the east. Thankfully the week ahead is not looking overly eventful, which is what we need considering the unsettled weather so far this winter. Weather brought to you in partnership with WeatherWatch.co.nz 7-day rainfall forecast

Analyst intel

over seven days starting from 6am Sunday, August 28 through to 6am Sunday, September 4, forecast generated at 12am Thursday, August 25 Highlights Average temperatures for the time of year today and tomorrow, warm in the east on Wednesday and again on Thursday. A return to more average temperatures on Friday. A southwest change over the South Island on Saturday brings in some cooler

WindHighlights/Extremes

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Mainly settled today and Tuesday thanks to a ridge of high pressure extending out from a high to our east. Wednesday sees a front push in from the southwest with northerlies over the South Island. This front moves northwards on Thursday then clears from the North Island on Friday as high pressure follows closely behind. The weekend sees another cold front move in but it weakens on Sunday as a big high looks to kill its momentum. Looking quite settled next week thanks to high pressure however a front or two may tease the far south during this time and a low perhaps to the north.

Export

Northerliesweather.TemperaturefortheSouthIsland on Wednesday but apart from Cook Strait and Foveaux Strait winds shouldn’t be strong. Northerlies ease through Cook Strait later on Thursday, light winds Friday. Northwesterlies change southwest over the South Island on Saturday and may be a little gusty.

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• Good ewe lambs lifted to $170-$195 There was a real spring in the step at STORTFORD LODGE last Wednesday where both markets exceeded expectations. Nine-year Angus cows, vetted-in-calf to Angus, sold well at $1445-$1510 and R2 steers sold to high demand from regular local and outside buyers. R2 Friesian bulls, 520-529kg, firmed to $3.53-$3.62/kg. Second cuts of the R2 Angus heifers were still very strong at $3.31-$3.43/kg with Charolais-cross and a good line of Hereford-Friesian also in that range. One pen of R1 Angus-Hereford steers, 350kg, reached $1540, $4.41/kg and Angus from the same vendor and same weight made $1480, $4.23/kg. Strong demand for lambs pushed prices up $12-$17 though the yarding did not have the weight of the previous week. Top males reached $191-$208 and medium ewe lambs, $151$175. Lighter ewe lambs traded at $135-$160. Read more in your LivestockEye. Stortford Lodge prime sheep • Very heavy ewes sold across three pens at $200-$204.50 The usual set of buyers battled it out in the lamb pens at STORTFORD LODGE last Monday. The lambs were very heavy, and a high proportion struggled to meet ideal specifications. Most very heavy pens managed $206-$243 while heavy generally earned $185-$197. One pen of heavy ewes made $187, good condition $153-$171 and medium types, $135-$147. Read more in your LivestockEye.

• Prime beef-cross steers, 600kg, made $3.57/kg

A handful of vendors offered up decent-sized consignments of quality cattle at WELLSFORD last Monday and that meant pleasing results. R2 traditional steers, 376448kg, made $3.24-$3.35/kg and a pen of Shorthorn-cross, 454kg, returned $1510, $3.33/kg. Quality was good in the R1 heifer section and three of the five pens offered were traditional, 249-269kg, which sold for $800-$820. Read more in your LivestockEye.

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Top R1 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 350kg, reached $1050

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NZFL Frankton cattle

POVERTY BAY Matawhero sheep

Last Monday’s sheep sale drew a small yarding and lightmedium prime lambs made $140 to $188 and store lambs, $83 to $130. Heavy ewes fetched $150-$180 and medium, $125-$150. About 650 cattle were yarded at the store sale on Thursday, August 18 and included 459-550kg HerefordFriesian steers at $3.47-$3.52/kg. Charolais steers, 325kg, made $3.77/kg and 251kg Hereford-Friesian, $935. In the heifer section, Hereford-Friesian and Angus at 404-465kg earned $3.33-$3.38/kg while 307kg Charolais-Angus made $970 and 155-256kg Angus, $580-$890.

Pukekohe

Top R2 beef-cross and dairy-beef heifers, 345-393kg, reached $3.05-$3.13/kg

NORTHLAND

TARANAKI Taranaki cattle

• Five to 6-year Romney ewes, scanned-in-lamb twins, sold for $219-$220 More than a thousand store cattle sold on another strong market at FEILDING on Friday, August 19. A large line-up of R2 steers included a consignment of 440-476kg Red Devon which sold for $3.32-$3.41/kg while 493kg R3 Angus steers made $3.38/kg. R2 Red Devon bulls, 363kg, were $3.25/kg. All breeds of 400-472kg R2 heifers returned $3.09-$3.25/ kg. Most R1 traditional steers made $4.00-$4.24/kg at 187301kg with $3.50-$3.76/kg covering all R1 Friesian bulls, 174-220kg. It was a solid market for the 3000 store lambs.

Dannevirke sheep

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• R2 Angus heifers, 398-424kg, reached $3.49-$3.55/kg

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• R1 Angus-Friesian steers, 268-302kg, made $3.25/kg to $3.41/kg

• Prime lambs reached $208 A smaller yarding of lambs greeted those that attended the DANNEVIRKE sheep sale on Thursday, August 18. Nearly 770 were penned and most were found in the store pens. The top prices of the previous week could not be achieved but that was due to fewer very heavy lambs penned. Wether and cryptorchid lambs reached $152-$154 and averaged $137-$147. Ewe lambs made up most of the yarding and sold from $97 to $150 to average $129.

This time last year the sale yards were eerily quiet as the country was plunged into yet another lockdown. While it was short-lived for most – just one or two weeks of sales were missed – Pukekoe, Tuakau, Wellsford and sale yards further north faced five weeks of closed gates. This year could not be more different as high demand for cattle and an intense last flurry of activity around the old season lamb pens are resulting in some impressive sales, which are attracting more offloads into the sale yards.

BAY OF PLENTY Rangiuru cattle and sheep • R2 Hereford-cross heifers, 365kg, earned $3.45/kg • Angus-cross and Hereford-Friesian steers, 510-557kg, realised $3.41/kg A few buyers made purchases at RANGIURU last Tuesday in a bid to beat the spring rush, and the quality store cattle sold well. R2 Hereford-cross and Angus-Friesian steers, 395453kg, made $3.31-$3.32/kg and Friesian bulls, 317-382kg, traded at $2.93-$2.96/kg. R1 steers with weight had a mix of colours and traded from $3.15/kg to $3.45/kg. Lighter but well-marked Hereford-Friesian, 187kg, managed $4.28/kg and same breed heifers, 190kg, collected $3.79/kg. Autumnborn weaners were all Hereford-Friesian and ranged from $365 to $500. Local trade heifers managed $3.22-$3.25/kg and 518kg Simmental-Friesian fetched $3.36/kg. Friesian cows, 449-462kg, realised $1.84-$1.85/kg. Heaviest prime lambs reached $186, and stores came down to $90. Read more in your LivestockEye.

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Nice autumn-born yearling Charolais-Hereford steers, 383kg, sold well at $1320, $3.45/kg

• Small lines of R2 dairy-beef steers achieved $3.36-$3.49/kg

Medium prime steers lifted to $3.20/kg to $3.33/kg Weaner whiteface steers earned $535-$670 Prime heifers lifted to $3.17/kg to $3.31/kg Yearling and weaner cattle sold well at PUKEKOHE on Saturday, August 20. Very light R2 heifers returned $3.12/ kg to $3.29/kg while light crossbred heifers made $3.01/kg to $3.22/kg. Medium weaner heifers were able to achieve $480-$580 and cull cows made $1.75/kg to $1.98/kg.

AUCKLAND cattle

• Autumn-born weaner Hereford-Friesian bulls, 109-178kg, fetched $590-$720 Heavy cows had a turn in the spotlight at PGG

KING COUNTRY Te Kuiti sheep • Prime 2-tooths sold to $120-$127 • Heavy prime lambs made $214-$222 There was a smaller yarding of sheep at TE KUITI last Wednesday. Prime lambs earned $144-$188 for light to medium types and prime ewes made $90-$198. Good store male lambs were able to achieve $172-$206 while ewe lambs returned $140-$150.

Wellsford store cattle R2 Charolais-cross steers, 472kg, sold well at $1605, $3.40/kg R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 325-496kg, firmed to $3.28-$3.31/kg

• Large numbers of R2 Angus steers, 435-565kg, were $3.46-$3.59/ kg

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MANAWATŪ Feilding store cattle and sheep

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Wrightson’s FRANKTON sale last Tuesday although much of the section was made up of medium-condition Angus-cross whose best pens managed $2.27-$2.31/kg. Most of the store cattle were dairy-beef types and $3.35/kg to $3.47/kg was achieved by two-thirds of the R2 steers while the top cut of the R2 heifers was generally $3.11/kg to $3.25/kg. Type was mixed in the R1 heifer pens and ranged from light Anguscross to 272-278kg Angus-Friesian which made $820-$840. Read more in your LivestockEye.

COUNTIES Tuakau sheep 22.8, prime cattle 24.8, store cattle 18.8 Prime steers reached $3.56/kg Boner cows sold up to $2.70/kg Heavy prime lambs made $188 to $219 R2 Simmental-cross steers, 492kg, sold well at $3.60/kg About 350 prime cattle were offered at TUAKAU last Wednesday, PGG Wrightson agent Craig Reiche reported. Medium-heavy steers, 550-720kg, sold well at $3.43/kg to $3.56/kg while 480-600kg heifers returned $3.36/kg to $3.52/kg. Heavy boners, 500-580kg, earned $2.30/kg to $2.70/kg and medium, 450-520kg, $2.00/kg to $2.30/kg.

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• Most R2 dairy-beef heifers sold for $3.15-$3.28/kg A limited yarding sold in small lines at TARANAKI last Wednesday though there were pockets of strength. Boner cows sold on a slightly softer market at $2.29-$2.31/kg for most, though one better yielding line managed $2.38/ kg. Pen sizes were small in the R1 pens, but buyers were prepared to pay good money for better cattle. That meant some steers reached $890-$980 and managed to exceed $4.00/kg. Lesser lines traded at $560-$740. R1 heifers were also variable and varied from $510 to $890 for quality Hereford-Friesian. Read more in your LivestockEye.

Yearling Angus steers sold for $3.88/kg

• R2 traditional steers, 512-560kg, lifted to $3.59-$3.66/kg

Kaikohe cattle R2 beef-cross steers made $3.15-$3.20/kg R2 beef-cross bulls returned $3.00-$3.15/kg

• Prime ewe ranged from $99 to $182 and averaged $121-$142

• R1 Angus-Hereford heifers, 250kg, made $3.62/kg

There was another good-sized yarding of cattle to move at New Zealand Farmers Livestock’s FRANKTON sale last Wednesday. Many of the R2 steers featured good weights and $3.28-$3.34/kg covered most dairy-beef pens that were 465-475kg. Charolais-cross heifers were the main highlight of the R2 pens with one line of 362kg a step above the rest at $3.67/kg while 333-388kg were priced at $3.30/kg. The R1 section included 208kg Hereford-Friesian steers that made $3.94/kg, and 201kg Limousin-cross at $3.58/kg. Momentum continued into the autumn-born weaner bull pens were 101kg Belgian Blue-cross and 117kg Charolaiscross were the main talking points at $610. Read more in your LivestockEye.

Increased buyer interest held prime lamb returns at FEILDING last Monday and the bulk traded at $182-$232.

SALE YARD WRAP38

• R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 473kg, returned $3.49/kg

One year on from lockdown

Very heavy wether lambs fetched $248 The first of the ewes with lambs-at-foot went under the hammer at MATAWHERO on Friday, August 19 and the 25 Romney ewes with their 32 lambs earned $120 all counted. Scanned in-lamb Romney-Perendale ewes realised $182. There was more demand for store lambs but supply, especially in larger lines, was limited. Heavy male and ewe lambs collected $176-$183 while good options earned $140. Most prime lambs traded at $170-$210 and ewes, $166$225. Read more in your LivestockEye.

• Seven sire Angus bulls, 602kg, reached $2280, $3.79/kg

Prime Angus-cross steers, 604kg, earned $3.70/kg

• R2 Angus heifers, 409kg, sold well at $3.30/kg

HAWKE’S BAY Stortford Lodge store cattle and sheep

• Prime South Devon-cross steers, 567kg, fetched $3.53/kg

Prime males were $227, heavy store lines $171-$179, goodto-medium $126-$155 and light, $116. Good ewe lambs made $164-$174, medium $137-$167, and light, $100-$127. Read more in your LivestockEye. Feilding prime cattle and sheep • Heaviest prime lambs fetched $240 • South Devon bulls, 660-730kg, returned $3.45-$3.49/kg

An end to the wet weather strengthened the market at KAIKOHE last Wednesday, PGG Wrightson agent Vaughan Vujcich reported. R2 heifers were able to achieve $3.10$3.20/kg. Yearling whiteface and Angus heifers returned $3.20-$3.28/kg while beef-cross heifers sold for 3.00/kg.

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• All store lambs averaged $156

WAIKATO PGG Wrightson Frankton cattle • Prime Hereford-Friesian cows, 596kg, managed $2.94/kg

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• Most R1 traditional steers sold for $1200-$1390, $4.10-$4.23/kg

• Prime lambs sold for $142-$278 Prime ewes offered by PGG Wrightson at BALCLUTHA on Wednesday, August 17 ranged from $104 to $198. A small yarding of prime rams returned $90.

• Heavy prime lambs lifted to $198-$267

Canterbury Park cattle and sheep • A 670kg Simmental-cross steer fetched $3.76/kg • Angus heifers, 470-495kg, reached $3.44-$3.46/kg • R1 Speckle Park-Friesian steers, 216-238kg, made $880-$890 Prime steer returns were still strong at CANTERBURY PARK last Tuesday despite lesser condition. The top cut traded at $3.55/kg and above, but the bulk fell into the $3.20-$3.30/kg range. Any heifers over 450kg generally made $3.30/kg or more. Speckle Park and Angus bulls battled for the top spot at $3.39/kg and $3.40/kg respectively and reasonable beef cows started from $2.32/ kg. R2 Angus steers, 474kg, were the best of a mixed bunch at $3.40/kg and more consistent heifers, beef and dairybeef, traded from $2.70/kg to $2.82/kg. Prime lamb returns held, and the bulk earned $140-$213 while much of a small ewe yarding collected $141-$210. Good store lambs with potential traded well, up to $145, while medium types were discounted. Read more in your LivestockEye.

The larger pen of ewes collected $110, but a similar number spread across four other pens returned $133-$179. Much of the cattle yarded were boner cows and these were mostly Friesian which weighed 463-557kg and made $2.10/kg to $2.30/kg. Angus-cross steers and a Hereford heifer could have done with more condition and earned $3.20/kg at 500kg and $3.11/kg at 470kg respectively. Read more in your LivestockEye.

• Heaviest prime lambs collected $300 A spike in condition fetched good returns at COALGATE on Thursday, August 18 and 542-615kg Angus steers made $3.68-$3.70/kg. Other reasonable beef options traded at $3.54-$3.60/kg and most Hereford-Friesian realised $3.40/kg to $3.58/kg. Beef-cross heifers over 500kg started from $3.44/kg while $3.20-$3.30/kg covered most local trade dairy-beef options. Boner cows ranged from $1.80/ kg to $2.10/kg and a 770kg Hereford fetched $2.60/kg. R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 462kg, managed $3.10/kg and the reds, 450kg, were $30 less, or $3.11/kg. Other R2 dairy-beef cattle, steers and heifers, traded at $2.93-$2.98/kg. New store lamb buyers added some spark to the sale and $136$169 was paid for good and heavy types. Most prime lambs returned $140-$236 while the lion’s share of ewes made $123-$178. Read more in your LivestockEye.

SOUTH-CANTERBURY Temuka prime and boner cattle; all sheep • Angus steers, 538kg, increased to $3.55/kg

THROUGH THE MIST: Temuka store lamb tallies were boosted to 3000-head as good pricing attracts more in and fine-wool lambs add volume.

There were 190 calves offered at MANFEILD PARK last Monday and attention shifted to dairy-beef options. Good Hereford-Friesian bulls collected $180-$220 and others, $80-$150. A single pen of Angus-Friesian was exemplary and fetched $360 and Simmental-Friesian realised $260. The 50 Friesian bulls ranged from $50 to $110. Hereford-Friesian heifers traded at $60-$125, Angus-Friesian reached $180 and Charolais-Friesian managed $150-$205. A yarding of 230 calves sold to increased interest at REPOROA last Monday and all pens were sold. Aside from the smallest, Friesian bulls made $95-$120 while the pick of Hereford-Friesian reached $230. Red HerefordFriesian and Angus-Friesian realised $40-$95 while medium Charolais-Friesian collected $142. HerefordFriesian heifers topped out at $130 while a mixture of others traded at $57-$65. A much smaller yarding of approximately 500 calves were penned at FRANKTON last Tuesday. A few new faces were evident in the buying gallery which added to the buying power. A few older Friesian bulls of around 65kg earned $270-$310 but $100-$130 was typical for the best of the recently born pens. Once the Friesian bull calves had been sold bidding picked up and the top Hereford-Friesian made $280-$340, although like the Friesian before some were a little older than typical and around 60kg. Medium Hereford-Friesian made $170-$220 and SimmentalFriesian, $150-$170. Top Hereford-Friesian heifers returned $90-$130 and medium, $45-$70. Simmentalcross reached $100-$150 and Angus-cross ranged from $45 to $110. RONGOTEA also had a spirited sale last Tuesday. Friesian bull calves made $40-$100, Hereford-Friesian $130-$245 and beef-cross, $155$195. Good exotic-cross reached $180-$295. HerefordFriesian heifers traded at $80-$115 and Charolais and Simmental-cross, $95-$130. Angus-cross made $80.

Rongotea cattle • Top R2 Hereford-Friesian and beef-cross steers, 527-560kg, reached $3.03-$3.14/kg • Hereford-Friesian and Speckle Park-cross cows, 565kg, made $2.21/kg Small sales continued at RONGOTEA last Tuesday as sellers hold off for September markets, New Zealand Farmers Livestock agent Darryl Harwood reported. R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 361kg, returned $2.85/kg and R1 steers of same breed and 140kg made $3.79/kg. There was more action in the R1 bull pens and Friesian, 287kg, made $2.82/kg and Belgian Blue-cross, 255kg, $3.33/kg. HerefordFriesian heifers, 176kg, sold for $2.64/kg. A small dairy section had in-milk Friesian cows at $850-$960 and heifers, $810. Boner Friesian cows, 352-551kg, traded from $1.56/kg to $2.02/kg and Jersey, $1.63/kg.

• The best of the store lambs earned $148

The most comprehensive and independent sale results you can get your hands on Only AgriHQ sample-weighs store lambs to give you $/kg LW benchmark pricing Informed commentary to support the trends Emailed directly after the sale Choose from 10 sale yards across the country REPORTS ACCURATE,TAKETHEACCURATE,SOEVENLIVESTOCKNOTICE.EVEN Contact us today about receiving your LivestockEye reports, and get all the independent insight you need. 0800 85 25 www.agrihq.co.nzinfo@agrihq.co.nz80

• R1 beef-cross steers, 249-279kg, earned $870-$925

• Top Merino wethers made $159 Cattle throughput increased at TEMUKA last Monday to 512-head. A smaller steer yarding helped the Angus steer market strengthen by 10c/kg. Most prime heifers returned $3.30/kg and the best Angus-Hereford reached $3.39/kg. Prime cows held and Angus, 518-713kg, returned $2.73$2.85/kg. The first of the Merino lambs helped push sheep tallies to 4930-head. They sold on an adequate market and pricing was reciprocated by quality. The best store lambs were mixedsex and achieved $199. The prime lamb market eased $5 with the top return going to mixed-sex lambs that sold for $242. Read more in your LivestockEye.

CANTERBURY Coalgate cattle and sheep • Angus heifers, 492-556kg, returned $3.64-$3.66/kg

OTAGO Balclutha sheep

• Top store lambs eased to $125-$135 There was a larger yarding of prime cattle which sold on a strong market at LORNEVILLE last Tuesday. Prime bulls, 690kg and above, earned $3.23/kg. Prime dairy heifers, 380kg, made $2.45/kg. R2 Friesian bulls, 469kg, returned $1410 and R2 Hereford-cross steers, 415kg, earned $1220. R2 beef-cross heifers, 334kg, made $865 while R1 Herefordcross heifers, 243kg, made $730. Heavy prime ewes lifted to $170-$246 and $90-$164 was paid for lighter types.

Charlton sheep • Better store lambs made $150 • Prime lambs earned $151-$238 There were 319 prime ewes offered by PGG Wrightson at CHARLTON on Thursday, August 18 which averaged $142 and reached $250.

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 39

• Boner Friesian cows, 570kg, averaged $2.45/kg

• Prime beef cattle, 450kg and above, made $3.20-$3.30/kg

Feeder calves

SOUTHLAND Lorneville cattle and sheep

R2 dairy-beef steers have averaged $3.34-$3.40/kg and look set to continue to climb. Traditional cattle have been the focus for many at recent Feilding and Stortford Lodge sales, and prices have already reached levels not seen until late September-early October last year. Next step in the spring equation is the yearling market, and early results point to a very strong season ahead. Find out more about AgriHQ at agrihq.co.nz

Rabobank New Zealand’s Client Councils were set up to bring farmers together. That’s exactly what they do. They include some of our leading clients, so we listen to what they say. Helping us to advance farming and support rural communities, our Client Councils are focused squarely on the issues facing the food and agribusiness sector. Learn more about our Client Councils at Rabobank.co.nz/client-councils/ or scan the QR code Client Councils

A group of farmers telling the bank where to go!

keep us in touch with the issues that matter RAB0131 Client C 28-4-22 40 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – August 29, 2022 Markets $3.49-$3.55/kg $221-$240 Top R2 Angus heifers, 398-424kg, at Stortford Lodge Very heavy prime lambs at Feildinghighlights NI ($/KG)BULLSLAUGHTER 6.30 NI ($/KG)LAMBSLAUGHTER 9.35 SI ($/KG)STEERSLAUGHTER 6.40 BONER FRIESIAN COWS, 570KG AVERAGE, AT TEMUKA ($/KG) 2.45 No such thing as a cheap cattle beast Suz suz.bremner@globalhq.co.nzBremner

Our

T HE spring season is shaping up to be a profitable one for cattle farmers as early results for store cattle leave eyes watering, and prime cattle prices continue to set new records.Bothislands have recently recorded prime cattle prices that have not been seen before and, while it is for a certain type, the levels have been consistent and so are not considered one-offs. Angus steers at Canterbury Park recently reached $3.86-$3.87/kg, while at this yard and Coalgate levels of $3.60-$3.75/kg for those that fit the brief have quickly become the norm. Rural Livestock agent and auctioneer Mick Withers said there are a number of factors driving the high prices.

HIGH PRICES: Angus cattle, such as this 615kg steer at Coalgate, are attracting very high prices around the country.

“Supply, contracts and the season are responsible for the higher levels we are seeing. There is very limited supply of finished cattle and so any that are available are being chased. Good premiums are also available for certain types at the processors, like the Angus premium but also others, and budgets are therefore higher than current schedule levels. Some buyers will also have contracts that they are required to fill and so while they may be paying more at auction, they are avoiding penalties, which would be more costly.”Withers also noted that some local trade cattle have yielded higher than is typical and that has meant that the margins are better, which in turn means budgets are more flexible. All factors combined have led to a consistently stronger prime cattle market.North Island is playing catch-up on South Island prices as pockets of very high pricing start to appear. At Frankton, seven 600kg Angus-cross steers made $3.70/ kg, which is the highest prime steer price recorded in the AgriHQ database for a North Island saleyard.Thedemand and high pricing are now flowing into the North Island store cattle pens, and this market is also being pushed along prematurely by early spring growth as it finds its way through the mud. The high demand for cattle at auction has meant that a few more farmers have eyed up the yards as a very viable option as it has a multitude of benefits. Most recent sales on older store cattle have been above current schedule and it has meant that farmers can get heavy cattle off wet paddocks, avoiding any further pasture damage. It also means that cattle are off farms earlier than anticipated at levels budgeted for, which opens the door for other options or creates more room for remaining stock. After a very dry summer in Waikato, which meant many farmers offloaded, grass is now moving and buyers from the region have been very active in local markets, but also dipping their toes in further afield.