Farmers Weekly May 31 2021

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Fonterra announces $8 forecast

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ONTINUED strong demand for dairy relative to supply has prompted Fonterra to forecast a record opening milk price for the 20212022 season.

The $7.25-$8.75/kg MS forecast with a $8/kg MS mid-point beats the previous record high of $7.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell said it was great news for farmers.

“The farmgate milk price is a key driver into their financial performance and it’s the highest opening price we’ve ever come out with and from our perspective, farmers will be rapt to hear it at the start of the season.”

Global demand for New Zealand dairy continued to grow and China is leading the charge as its economy continues to recover strongly.

“Prompted by covid-19, people are seeking the health benefits of milk and customers are wanting to secure their supply of New Zealand dairy poducts and ingredients. Growth in global milk supply seems muted and the global supply of whole milk powder is looking constrained.

We’re expecting whole milk prices to remain at current levels for the near future.

Miles Hurrell Fonterra “The ag sector’s kept its head down and done what it’s done very well for a number of years, and shows that we can contribute to help get New Zealand through this from an economic perspective.”

However, the 75 cent forecast range was a signal to farmers that it was still early in the season and there were still a number of risks in the marketplace.

Continued page 3

GOOD CALL: Dairy farmer Melissa Slattery says while she’s concerned about Fonterra’s capital restructure timing, she appreciated the opportunity to engage with its directors.

Fonterra-farmer consultations fruitful Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz TE AROHA dairy farmer Melissa Slattery says she appreciates Fonterra was being proactive and having this conversation now and listening to the views of its farmers before it became a serious issue.

It was not ideal seeing the share price drop, and Slattery was concerned it could result in losing security over those shares and it becomes a nominal value purchase between farmers.

“But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before that potentially happens. There are lots of things to consider and it’s good to be able to have that conversation,” Slattery said.

Slattery understood the reasoning behind the calls for capital restructuring.

Her main concern was some of the ‘what if’ scenarios that the options presented, including buying back the share fund or losing security over the shares.

Grant McCallum, Maungaturoto, said he reluctantly supported the proposal and its share value disruption in the short term to achieve a long-term, intergenerational co-operative.

“We need the best transition, for the lowest cost, to help those farmers who want to retire.

“If you accept that the challenges of falling milk supply are real, then the solution seems

to be along the lines proposed.”

McCallum said that before Fonterra the share value was arbitrary but over time the company had allowed itself to be defined by share value.

“We have lost sight of the real principles of a co-operative.”

Geoff Crawford, Hikurangi, lamented the lack of willingness to fight back and regain milk supply.

“The milk payment system is confusing compared with Open Country and we need a contract supply option.

“The new generation of dairy farmers will be immigrants and for many land ownership is not the main objective.”

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“Based on these supply and demand dynamics, along with where the NZ dollar is sitting relative to the US dollar, we’re expecting whole milk prices to remain at current levels for the near future,” Hurrell said.

The high milk price meant the co-operative would be contributing more than $12 billion to the New Zealand economy next season.

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5 Farmers urged to get writing Farmers are reverting to good old fashioned letter writing so they can keep running their farms.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

3

Need to look to the future FARMER ownership and control sustainability is the primary objective of the capital restructuring proposal being discussed in the co-operative, Fonterra chair Peter McBride says.

The Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund (FSF) is at risk of blowing out and the preferred option for capital restructuring casts forward four or five years to avoid that risk, before a fix becomes unaffordable.

We are trying to balance competing objectives across a really broad stakeholder group.

Peter McBride Fonterra During the consultation period, McBride wants farmershareholders to look further ahead than the current share price, down to $3.40, $1 lower than before the proposal was published.

Right now, the markets for FSF units and for Fonterra supply shares (FCG) are thin and newly uncertain because of the restructuring proposal.

“It is important to remember that the economic rights of shareholders and unitholders haven’t changed,” McBride said.

Milk supply sustainability, financial stability and farmer

Continued from page 1 “We have confidence around $8, but at the same time, we do talk about things like covid, which is still front and centre in the markets that we deal in.”

There was also the impact of governments winding back their economic stimulus packages, foreign exchange volatility,

ownership and control are the three critical principles for evaluating the future structure.

He suggests that farmer ownership and control of the processing and exporting is incongruous with maximising the share price.

“If you want a maximum share price, then you go down the corporatisation pathway, but if you want maximum returns from 90% of your assets – land and cows – then you want an intergenerational co-operative giving the best milk price possible,” he said.

McBride defended the decision to put up the preferred option as a straw man, because otherwise the consultation became an unsatisfactory multichoice exercise.

Many farmers haven’t welcomed the proposal, such that 75% support was always going to be hard to achieve.

A main objection has been the different effects on types of farmers – those with historical shareholdings, indebted recent share purchasers and younger farmers yet to join.

McBride says more time to let the share price re-establish would be crucial for farmers closer to retirement and looking to sell shares.

“We are trying to balance competing objectives across a really broad stakeholder group,” he said.

Fonterra’s directors spoke to 4000 farmers and rural professionals during a series of 70 meetings in the first wave of consultation on capital restructuring.

changes in the supply and demand patterns that can enter dairy markets when prices are high; and the potential impact of any geopolitical issues around the world.

Regarding covid, Hurrell said markets are starting to get on top of the disease as vaccines were slowly being rolled out and he predicted the world

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All discussions at farmer meetings and in webinars have been captured and are being collated.

The co-operative will gather farmer feedback through June, for example, at the National Fieldays, and publish suggestions, ideas and any amendments in July.

If the appetite for change remains, a refined preferred option or options would then be discussed during a second round of farmer consultation before a vote in November.

Fonterra is encouraging farmers to speak to directors and area managers, ring the 0800 number, email, contribute to a Farm Source community discussion group, or go online with their inputs.

McBride spoke about the concerning downwards trend in Fonterra’s milk supply, which critics have said must be addressed.

Models have included upsides from genetics gains and on-farm productivity improvements

against losses from changes in land-use in milk catchments and competing processors.

He was aware of one new processing site being built by a competitor and another proposed, which might lead to surplus stainless steel for the industry.

“The reality is no one knows where New Zealand milk supply will go,” he said.

“The heart of the discussion is, can the current Fonterra framework sustain this uncertainty?

“We are making every effort to retain as much milk supply as possible.

“But at the structural level the company must deal with its requirement for compulsory share capital.

“We have farmers at all ages, objectives and capital structures and we say ‘you must’, which just doesn’t work.”

McBride said this was a turning point for the dairy industry.

Loss of dairying land, no more conversions and some restrictions on intensification, along with steady increases in demand for dairy products added value to farmers’ licence to supply milk.

He agreed with one submitter who said a supply share could be very valuable in future.

“We need to lift our heads and look out beyond the now,” he said.

After several years of good milk prices and with a strong outlook, this was the right time to talk about structural change.

The present government’s willingness to facilitate an intergenerational co-operative was also timely.

would be in a better shape by 2022.

Fonterra also narrowed its 2020/21 forecast from $7.30$7.90/ kg MS to $7.45-$7.65/kg MS and reduced its midpoint by 5c to $7.55/ kg MS. An update on Fonterra’s dividend will be made in September.

Hurrell said the $7.55 mid-point would be the second year in a row

with the forecast above $7/kg MS. “Since March, we have seen prices settle, somewhat, which is why we have revised our midpoint down 5 cents.”

In the last three GDT auctions, whole milk powder prices have reduced to US$4100 a tonne following the “extraordinary” March auction where prices jumped 15% to an average $4350/

tonne, prompting Fonterra to increase this season’s forecast.

Butter prices have also softened from almost $6000 per metric tonne to below $5000 per metric tonne for the first time since January, he said.

“Even when you look at that reduction from the short to midterm, we still see the international market in a strong position.”

RIGHTS: Peter McBride says despite Fonterra’s capital restructure proposal, it is important to remember that the economic rights of shareholders and unitholders haven’t changed.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

Pastoral property sales bounce back Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz RURAL real estate continues to perform strongly, with a swing in the total sales value of more than $1 billion for pastoral properties of more than 20ha in the rolling 12 months to April 2021.

Property Brokers general manager for rural Conrad Wilkshire says his research into sales of properties of that type shows it’s an even stronger performance than those figures suggest, with the rural market back more than $630 million in the 12 months to last May compared to the same period a year earlier.

He says during the turnaround over the 12 months to April there were 1326 pastoral farm sales, with a total sales value of just over $3b, compared to 921 sales for the year prior, at a total value of about $2b.

The figures to April this year include 232 dairy farm sales.

Wilkshire attributes the rebound to a number of factors.

He says despite a lower number of sales between 2016 to 2020, the Waikato and Southland markets continued to operate at levels only slightly lower than usual.

However, other parts of the country have picked up.

“The lower North Island has seen beef producers paying dairy prices for dairy farms, including those on the best soils, and the Canterbury market has reignited again as the obvious value and strong profitability helps offset some of the uncertainty with environmental production constraints,” Wilkshire said.

He says covid has helped to reset the pastoral sector’s worth in the public psyche, while there has also been a softening in banks’ risk appetite, particularly in favour of dairy farms.

Wilkshire says there is still a lot to be done to meet environmental challenges facing the sector, but the market is now seeing those in a different light.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) data released this week shows there were 220

more sales of properties of all sizes and farm type for the three months ended April 2021 than for the three months ended April 2020, an increase of almost 90%.

REINZ rural spokesperson Brian Peacocke says sales figures for the three-month period ending April reflect the strength and resilience of the rural economy, with the majority of categories registering significant increases in volumes for the 12-month period just ended compared to the preceding 12-month period.

“Improving product prices, particularly for the dairy and horticulture sectors, are part of the story, but of equal significance is the fact that after several years of boardroom-induced restrictions, most banks have for the past six months been coming back to the rural market,” Peacocke said.

“This mix of support, backed up by a low interest rate regime, has assisted in a positive way, purchasing decisions for those farmers with the necessary performance and equity

BOOM: The total sales value of pastoral properties bigger than 20 hectares has jumped $1 billion in the year to April, Property Brokers general manager for rural Conrad Wilkshire says.

credentials to expand their operations, and where the opportunity has become available, to acquire additional land.

“Equally, such increased activity, which has applied to the pastoral, horticultural and forestry sectors, has allowed a number of older landowners to either bring equity partners into their operations, or in many cases, to exit their respective sectors altogether,” he said.

Peacocke says covid-19 continues to affect some parts of the supply chain, particularly at the point of cargo discharge, but a mix of careful planning and innovation has allowed most

sectors to deal with those issues reasonably successfully.

However, some eastern parts of the country have been affected by drought conditions and while many other regions have enjoyed good spring and autumn growing conditions, an overall shortage of rain across the country has resulted in diminishing supplies of surface water, as well as that in underground aquifers.

“Labour and compliance issues aside, water in all its components, quality and quantity, is one of the major issues facing the rural sector and for that matter, most of the urban centres throughout the country.”

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

5

Letter campaign gains momentum Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz A LETTER writing campaign aimed at highlighting the effects staffing shortages are having on the primary industry has revealed the heart wrenching decisions being made by farmers to keep their businesses running.

The campaign launched by Federated Farmers in May came as frustrations at the Government’s refusal to allow more overseas workers into New Zealand to ease staffing shortages for the new milking season boiled over.

The organisation urged farmers to email their concerns directly to the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor or Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.

Federated Farmers employment spokesperson Chris Lewis says there had been a good response so far. Many of the messages from emails and on social media highlighted what farmers were doing to keep their farms working without the staff they needed.

“It just reinforces why we’re doing this,” Lewis said.

“For example, we have had one

RESPONSE: Federated Farmers employment spokesperson Chris Lewis says there had been a good response to the campaign so far, with most coming from the South Island.

couple who have to take their three young kids to the cowshed every day because both husband and wife have to milk because they can’t get staff.”

In another case, a contract milker is stuck in India instead of Southland where he is supposed to be starting a contract milking job.

“He’s an Indian-Kiwi who went to the wrong place at the wrong time, and his absence puts strain on a wide bunch of people,” he said.

It highlighted the impact the shortage was having on families.

While there had been responses from all over NZ, the bulk of the emails and messages had come from Southland.

He says anywhere more than 30 kilometres away from a major city or town was affected.

The shortages could see some farmers reduce their milking from twice-a-day to once-a-day or every 16 hours, which will reduce their production and income.

“Farmers could also be taking shortcuts. It could mean two things: the existing workforce will have to work even longer hours with no time off, which is not ideal for health and safety, or they’ll cut corners,” he said.

Lewis says this could potentially hurt New Zealand’s farming brand.

“I’m not just concerned about the wellbeing of staff, I’m also concerned about the wellbeing of employers and everyone who works on a farm,” he said.

For example, we have had one couple who have to take their three young kids to the cowshed every day because both husband and wife have to milk because they can’t get staff.

Chris Lewis Feds

He urged farmers to keep the emails coming and called on other industries also affected by shortages to join them.

“We aren’t only in the team.

Truckies, café owners, rest homes and everyone else who is struggling with not getting the support they need to join us.

“Let’s put our boots on and kick the ball down to Wellington for a better response to the worker shortage than we’ve had already,” he said.

Farmers urged to get writing Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz FARMERS are reverting to good old fashioned letter writing so they can keep running their farms.

In a last ditch effort to be heard by immigration decision-makers Federated Farmers has put the call out to farmers to get writing.

South Canterbury dairy farmer Rebecca Miller took up the challenge.

Miller and her husband Brent are equity dairy farming in a mix of contract and sharemilking businesses, taking in a total 2600 cows.

They employ 10 fulltime staff and at calving take on an additional six calf rearers.

They have had their ups

and downs over the years but not being able to fill their full complement of staff at a critical time is seriously worrying, Miller said.

At the end of the day we will not have enough people.

Rebecca Miller Dairy farmer “For our staff, we want them to be happy, healthy and safe, that is number one for us.

“We are desperately advertising for three more staff, but the

people are just not there.”

The Millers work in the strategic sector of their business across both farms.

“For us not to have calf rearers we will have to go back into operational ourselves, and we will have to do the strategic at nights, that will impact on our family, we have three children, and for me I will be doing the job of two to three people.

“It hits us at all levels, it impacts on our staff and their families too.

“At the end of the day we will not have enough people, we will all be stressed out of our nuts (heads). What are the coping mechanisms? We will be at the bottom of the cliff.

“We have been in the good employer awards, we have a

SHORT-STAFFED: Calving is just around the corner and Rebecca Miller is worried.

Photo Annette Scott

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Up to 4000 workers are required for the coming season,

1800 in Southland alone.

“Dairy farmers are doing their bit – come on Immigration you are the stumbling block.”

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

7

Upside of EU-UK carbon surge Richard Rennie richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz SOARING carbon prices in the European Union point to continuing upside in the New Zealand market, which continues to sit significantly below its Continental counterparts.

The EU carbon market has gone on a record-breaking run in past weeks, pushing above €50 a tonne ($84) for the first time, almost doubling where it was before the covid pandemic began.

Only in December the price had been sitting at €30. The surge comes as estimates are that carbon prices will need to reach $200/t (€117) to have the desired effect of achieving tough European targets of 55% carbon reductions by 2030.

In the meantime, NZ’s carbon market has enjoyed a run of its own, coming off a peak of $39.20 last month to its latest spot price of $36.55.

The surge in EU prices has been partially attributed to speculative investment, but has also been welcomed by environmental groups as hastening the development of genuinely cleaner technology as a result.

Jarden director of institutional commodities Nigel Brunel says the United Kingdom, now decoupled from the EU, is also experiencing a surge in carbon values.

The UK had its first post-Brexit carbon market auction on May 19, exceeding £50/t ($98), making the cost of polluting there even greater than in the EU. “Some of this is speculative, but there is also a view that carbon prices need to be higher to achieve the emissions reductions being sought,” Brunel said.

If $200 a unit is a benchmark for tipping into new technologies, the upside from the present $84 value is significant.

But Brunel pointed out that not all carbon markets around the world are as high as the UK and EU. Californian carbon units are priced at US$17/t, and Australia’s units at AU$23.

“If you look at NZ and Australia,

CHASING TARGETS: Beyond Carbon director Lizzie Chambers says the European carbon market is being driven in part by major reforms and targets set on reductions.

But if you look at most established cap and trade schemes, such as the EU, you would expect NZ to move in the same direction. The difference will only be when, and how quickly.

Phil Taylor Forest Owners Association they do look too cheap,” he said.

NZ’s price has been partly held back by last year’s emissions being at $35 a unit and emitters holding onto units.

He says while there may be an element of speculative purchasing by non-emitters on the NZ market, it was likely to be well under 50% of trade.

“We have the NZX exchange traded fund the CO2 Carbon Fund as an example,” he said.

The CO2 fund is trading at $1.33 a unit, up from 90c a unit prelockdown.

NZ had its first governmentsponsored carbon trading auction in March, with the next one scheduled for June 23. The last one cleared $2 a unit below the market price, but Brunel was uncertain how the next would shape up.

Beyond Carbon director Lizzie Chambers says call options to buy units by year’s end at €100 suggested investors could see significantly more upside in that market.

“There are some big targets

being set and big reforms occurring in that market to drive it,” Chambers said.

She says changes next year to NZ’s unit auction prices where the floor price and trigger prices were lifted from $20 to $30/unit and $50 to $70/unit respectively, would only raise the corridor that NZ unit prices would move into over time.

The EU is also considering a carbon border tax to ensure imported goods from countries without an equivalent carbon price would not put EU manufacturers at a disadvantage.

Brunel says under Article 6 of the Paris Accord there were plans to link individual carbon markets globally, which would result in prices converging, but this was still several years away at best.

Forest Owners Association president Phil Taylor says an

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overhang of NZ units in the national register will mitigate some of the likely price increases.

“But if you look at most established cap and trade schemes, such as the EU, you would expect NZ to move in the same direction. The difference will only be when, and how quickly,” he said.

He says the prospects for farmers wanting to participate in the carbon market are highly positive, with integrated farmforestry looking like an appealing option.

“If you look back at the integrated farm-forestry work done back in the late-80s on South Otago drystock farms, those farms are now among the most profitable sheep and beef units in the country, and that was done before carbon was an income factor,” he said.

8

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

Workshop on rural mental health Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz

SURVIVAL SKILLS: Pup Chamberlain, Matt Chisholm and Craig “Wiggy” Wiggins digest the powerful messages delivered in the Agri Connect workshop aimed at helping rural folks survive.

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ASKING a mate how they are feeling is saving a life, specialist suicide prevention counsellor Pub Chamberlain says.

Speaking at the Agri Connect Rural Professionals’ Wellbeing workshop in Ashburton, Chamberlain told the audience suicide is nothing new.

“But finally, we have given ourselves permission to talk about it,” Chamberlain said.

More than 150 rural professionals and others servicing the rural community turned out to the Agri Connect workshop.

Organised in conjunction with Whatever with Wiggy and Farming Families, and supported by the Mid Canterbury Rural Support Trust, the workshop aimed at equipping rural professionals and those working within rural communities with the tools they need to help farmers struggling with stress.

Rural advocate Craig “Wiggy” Wiggins was inspired to organise the seminar after being approached by rural professionals and farm service providers saying their staff are regularly finding farmers who want to discuss their mental state of mind.

“The people I have spoken to have realised that they are dealing with a turning point in a client’s life, a cry for help to relieve the pressure,” Wiggins said.

“As a rural representative you may be the first to recognise when a client or colleague needs support.”

Chamberlain says this is when you need to have the conversation.

“Don’t be scared, you can’t do any damage by caring about someone,” Chamberlain said.

“But hey, don’t ask the question if you don’t have time to listen.

“And it’s not the question ‘you are not thinking about committing suicide?’

“You don’t commit suicide, you die by suicide. Try asking how they are feeling about issues on the farm, financials, marriage – you have opened the door, then go by your gut feeling and don’t be afraid to call 1737 for help.”

Chamberlain revealed figures that showed 700 people died from suicide last year, twice the number of those who died on roads.

In 1973, 800 people died on New Zealand roads.

“What does that tell you? There is not a lot of cavalry coming over the hills to help us; it’s our job, rural communities, we have to do it,” he said.

Rural GP Anibal Martinez says there is not an identified specific problem for rural suicide.

“There are many, many factors, but it is definitely genetic,” Martinez said.

“Farmers breed more farmers, and farmers are very differently genetically wired to the rest of the world in how they think and how they work.

“Instead of finding a solution, they work harder and burn out.”

In a powerful keynote address, well-known media personality

Matt Chisholm shared his experience and struggles with anxiety and depression.

“I was an outside boy at home on the farm, in the bush, but I’m also curious and I also love communicating. I could talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything, I thought I’d be good at journalism,” Chisholm said.

“I always said yes to work and no to everything else. I became a perfectionist. Eventually I had nothing more to give (and) I discovered booze.

“Getting pissed and getting nude for me went together like bacon and eggs, but privately the booze and my behaviour was gradually killing me; the anxiety, shame and guilt was tortuous.

The people I have spoken to have realised that they are dealing with a turning point in a client’s life, a cry for help to relieve the pressure.

Craig Wiggins Whatever with Wiggy “After a decade in the game I was buggered, broken, wondering how I would get off the treadmill.

“I’d had enough, I wanted to die, my New Year’s resolution was to survive.

“Then, for the first time in my life I was asked if I needed to see a doctor. I said yes.

“Not being okay is surprisingly normal and we have to open up to that.

“I no longer have to prove anything to anyone, this stuff is real, I’m in my happy place back home on the farm in Central Otago. I should have put my hand up sooner.”

Southland dairy farmer Jason Herrick talked of his experiences as a farmer and what drove him down a rabbit hole, how he clawed his way out, highlighting the impact it had on his family.

He is helping other farmers now.

“We all need to talk, and we all need to do something about it. I would like to see these (Agri Connect) meetings go nationwide to encourage and educate,” Herrick said.

Presentations were also heard from organisations specialising in physical, mental and business wellbeing.

MORE:

Suffering from depression or stress, or know someone who is? Where to get help: RURAL SUPPORT TRUST: 0800 RURAL HELP DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757 LIFELINE: 0800 543 354 NEED TO TALK? Call or text 1737 SAMARITANS: 0800 726 666 YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 or text 234

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

Free health assessments at Fieldays Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz THE Glob healthcare caravan will be at Fieldays, offering farmers free health checks.

Farmer health checks project manager Michelle Thompson says given the high number of people who visit the Fieldays Health and Wellbeing Hub where the caravan will be located, the aim is to target self-employed agricultural people.

She says the rationale behind that is that they are the people who often find it most difficult to take time off work for a health check and when they do become ill they are the hardest people to replace, or the business falls over.

Anyone who receives abnormal test results at other organisations within the hub, such as a suspicious skin lesion from Melanoma NZ or abnormal

blood pressure from the Heart Foundation, will also be referred to the Glob.

Thompson says the GlobalHQ healthcare initiative has partnered with the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network (NZRGPN) for Fieldays to provide a comprehensive, credible and valuable service for the target audience.

It also provides a unique training opportunity for the next generation of rural health practitioners, as the pre-work-up components of each check will be completed by a group of sixthyear rural medical students.

She says the partnership will also draw attention to the dire workforce shortages for rural general practices across NZ. About 600 farmers have already had farmer health checks at events around the country, with

9

PRIORITY: The GlobalHQ healthcare initiative has partnered with the NZ Rural General Practice Network for Fieldays to provide a comprehensive, credible and valuable service for farmers, specifically for self-employed ag workers.

one in four “fit” farmers identified as having a health condition that needs further intervention.

The health checks include measures such as blood pressure, pulse, weight, lung capacity, smoking status, blood sugar, cholesterol level, BMI and significant family history.

Each person is also given information on current alcohol intake recommendations, a mental health “how are you” screening questionnaire, as well as the 1737 Need to Talk free phone information.

There is also the opportunity to discuss other health-related concerns, including stress, prostate symptoms, and cervical and breast screening.

Those who have a check are given a written record of their

visit and where areas of concern or abnormal results have been identified, they are encouraged and supported to make an appointment to see their own GP. NZRGPN chief executive Dr Grant Davidson says the team are looking forward to coming together with GlobalHQ and Students of Rural Health Aotearoa to offer a valuable health service.

“As a network concerned with encouraging healthy rural communities, we want to promote the benefits of farmers and their families having regular health checks with their GP. Catching problems early leads to long and healthy lives,” Davidson said.

“We are happy to be working with our partners to offer free health checks at Fieldays to show how easy and non-

threatening doing this is.”

This year Fieldays is also being utilised as an opportunity to introduce the new collective organisation Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network.

Davidson says it will be the first time the network is working under the umbrella of Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network.

“It will give us a good chance to talk to people about the network’s transition to the new collective organisation and how it will put us in a stronger position to advocate on behalf of rural health,” he said.

“More importantly, it provides the opportunity to hear from people we may not usually be in contact with about their struggles with healthcare in their areas and what changes they would like to see in rural health.”

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News

10 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

MOVEMENT: The Maersk Shams collected a record number of containers from the Port of Tauranga last Monday.

Shipping bottleneck beginning to ease Neal Wallace neal.wallace@globalhq.co.nz THE country’s exporters received some welcome relief from ongoing congested global shipping services last week, with a record 5326 containers loaded aboard a vessel at the Port of Tauranga.

This was the largest single shipment of containers to ever leave New Zealand following the visit by Maersk Shams, with another sizable consignment planned for June 11 when the Sally Maersk is due to call at Tauranga.

Two smaller Maersk vessels will make oneoff visits to South Island ports in June to ease congestion.

Freight logistics company Kotahi, shipping line Maersk and the Port of Tauranga collaborated to allocate extra space for NZ cargo aboard the Maersk Shams, which is part of a service linking Latin America with North Asia via Tauranga.

Kotahi chief executive David Ross says the worst supply chain issues in 25 years continues to plague international trade, causing problems for ports and exporters, which prompted Kotahi, Maersk and the Port of Tauranga to combine and provide extra capacity.

The service usually collects 2000-2500 containers in a visit to Tauranga, but the arrangement enabled Maersk Shams to receive a record 5326 TEU (20-foot equivalent) containers, of which 1914 were refrigerated.

“It is exciting to be loading vessels to this capacity at a single port and to set a record.

“It is a very good time for that to happen,” Ross said.

It was opportune to provide some relief for congested ports and for exporters.

“Exporters are seeing constant schedule slippage, loss of capacity and shortages of containers from lengthening cycle times as the global supply chain disruption continues.”

Ross says 80% of the containers were Kotahi customers, with the balance customers from other freight logistics companies.

He says trading conditions are currently as bad as they have ever been and the hope is that the traditional winter slowdown could provide a reprieve.

“Traditionally there is breathing space from the end of July to early October when demand eases,” he said.

“We hope that will give the supply chain some breathing space.”

Ross says this week’s consignment was mainly dairy products, meat and fish, while the vessels calling at South Island ports will predominantly load dairy cargo.

“That is where it appears there are gaps we are dealing with,” he said.

“We are aiming to reduce congestion and allow regular services to function.”

Maersk Oceania managing director Henrik Jensen says the shipping line has added a seventh vessel to Maersk’s Southern Star Service, boosting reliability and capacity for exporters.

Have your say on this issue: farmersweekly.co.nz

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

11

Striking the right safety balance WORKING on massive farming operations in the United States highlighted the importance of New Zealand’s focus on health and safety for Aorangi FMG Young Farmer of the Year Dale McAlwee.

McAlwee grew up near Timaru on the farm that’s been in his family for over a century. After gaining a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, he headed to the US for a year. He is now assistant manager at Singletree Dairies, a 2500-cow farm five minutes northeast of Ashburton.

“In the US, I was working in massive farming operations for the wheat harvest. There were very large staff teams and the main focus was on employing experienced people who were expected to already have the knowledge to work safely with heavy machinery,” McAlwee said.

“At Singletree, there is an emphasis on ensuring people are well-trained for all the tasks they need to do, including using vehicles and machinery and working with livestock – and that’s ongoing. There’s also a focus on ‘shared responsibility’ and everyone knowing the rights and wrongs and how to mitigate risk.

“We are very strong on maintenance of machines and vehicles. If there are any problems

There is an emphasis on ensuring people are well-trained for all the tasks they need to do, including using vehicles and machinery and working with livestock.

Dale McAlwee Farmer with these, staff are expected to report it right away and to stop using the vehicle/machine until it can be checked or repaired. We only have one quad bike on-farm and that has crush protection fitted,” he said.

McAlwee says working with large animals is a critical risk and it’s important to consider the dangers of zoonoses as part of that.

“Leptospirosis is the biggest concern,” he said.

“We make sure all the animals are vaccinated, but that isn’t enough on its own. You need to have a focus on good hygiene and make sure you provide facilities for people to wash properly.”

HOLISTIC: Aorangi FMG Young Farmer of the Year Dale McAlwee says there’s more to on-farm health and safety than ensuring people know how to use the equipment.

McAlwee says fatigue is another risk factor which farmers need to be aware of, on their own behalf and that of workers – and sometimes people need to be reminded of the importance of managing that.

“It’s a big issue, particularly in spring. You need to keep an eye on people, talk with them and check

in on them, be aware of individual personalities and recognise if there is a drop in enthusiasm or motivation, which might indicate they are tired or struggling in any way,” he said.

“If someone is tired, they’ll need to take a break and get some rest but if it’s caused by doing too much out of work – such as

socialising – then you need to have that conversation about striking the right balance.

“You don’t have control over people’s lives or social lives but they do have a responsibility to turn up for work in good shape and if their lifestyle is affecting their work, then it’s not appropriate.”

LEFT TO RIGHT: CALVIN BALL NORTHERN, JAKE JARMAN TARANAKI/MANAWATU, KIERAN MCCAHON WAIKATO/ BAY OF PLENTY, SAM HODSELL OTAGO/SOUTHLAND, ROSHEAN WOODS TASMAN, DALE MCALWEE AORANGI, JOSEPH WATTS EAST COAST

GET IN BEHIND YOUR FAVOURITE YOUNG FARMER. Vote for the FMG Young Farmer of the Year People’s Choice Award and you’ll go in the draw to win a Black GoPro Hero 8.* Plus you could win $2,000 for your local Young Farmers Club. So vote now at fmg.co.nz/peopleschoice *Terms and Conditions apply. See website for details.

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12 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

Nitrate link in adverse births Colin Williscroft colin.williscroft@globalhq.co.nz NEW research released by the University of Otago has highlighted growing evidence linking nitrates in drinking water with adverse birth outcomes.

A blog written by Dr Tim Chambers, Professor Nick Wilson, Professor Simon Hales and Professor Michael Baker of the university’s Department of Public Health says while there is growing evidence that nitrates in drinking water are a risk factor for bowel cancer, there is also emerging evidence concerning adverse birth outcomes, such as prematurity.

They say nitrate is one of the most common drinking water contaminants in New Zealand, largely driven by agricultural activity (nitrogen fertiliser application and livestock urine) and that nitrate leached into water from dairy farming has increased substantially since 1990.

The blog says recent studies linking nitrate levels as low as 0.87 milligrams per litre in drinking water to bowel cancer have raised public concerns about nitrate contamination, with a recent study of current nitrate levels in NZ showing as many as 800,000 people could be on water supplies with a nitrate level above 1mg/l.

However, that is well below the current World Health Organisation

CONTAMINATION: Nitrate leaching into water from dairy farming has increased since 1990.

(WHO) limit of 11.3mg/l, a level the university researchers say is only designed to prevent methaemoglobinaemia (where tissues cannot get enough oxygen) in infants.

“Attracting less public attention is the link between nitrate exposure during pregnancy and poor birth outcomes,” the authors said.

It says two studies published this year link prenatal nitrate exposure to low birth weights and preterm births.

“These studies build on existing evidence linking prenatal nitrate exposure and adverse birth

outcomes, including neural tube defects, small for gestation age, low birth weight and preterm births,” the authors said.

The blog’s authors say what differentiates the new studies from previous research is their scientific quality, with one a US study that looked at 1.4 million births between 2001 and 2011.

That study found nitrate above 5mg/l increased the odds of a preterm birth (20-31 weeks) by 47%, while exposure above 10mg/l increased the odds of a preterm birth 2.5 times.

The Otago University

researchers say a recent study of current nitrate levels in NZ drinking water estimated that up to 138,000 people could be on water supplies with nitrate above 5mg/l.

They say another study, published earlier this year in the international journal Agricultural Water Management, has shown that the push for increased water efficiency through pivot irrigators has actually accelerated the rate of groundwater degradation.

In NZ, around 6% of live births have a low birth weight (OECD average is 6.5%), while around 6% of births are preterm (before 37 weeks).

Low birth weights and preterm births are associated with adverse health, social and educational outcomes in later life, including cerebral palsy, visual and auditory deficits, poor respiratory outcomes, impaired motor and cognitive ability, and psychiatric disorders.

NZ has an average of 4400 preterm births a year, which works out at a cost of $396 million a year.

They say the latest evidence reinforces the need for a precautionary approach to setting lower nitrate limits in drinking water for human and ecological health and they have called for better reporting systems for nitrates in the environment and drinking water, and more research

into the health implications of nitrate contamination internationally and in a NZ setting.

DairyNZ strategy and investment manager responsible dairy Dr David Burger says the industry agrees that there is a need for further study and a comprehensive review of current research findings.

“If we are going to review current drinking water standards, we need robust and independent information to support that and this needs to be led by the Ministry of Health,” Burger said.

Burger says the dairy sector is actively reducing its environmental footprint and farmers use farm environment plans (FEPs) to manage their footprint and ensure best practice nutrient use.

He says a new nitrogen fertiliser cap will soon take effect under Action for Healthy Waterways regulations and many farmers are already making significant reductions in nitrogen to meet local requirements, for example in Selwyn-Hinds.

“Providing peace of mind to our communities is important – we all want safe drinking water,” he said.

MORE:

To read the blog, go to https://blogs. otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/nitratecontamination-in-drinking-water-andadverse-birth-outcomes-emergingevidence-is-concerning-for-nz/

Farmers work for a sustainable balance Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz NORTH Canterbury farmers have banded together to investigate practical solutions that balance farm profitability and environmental sustainability.

The three-year, farmer-led sustainability project launched in the Waimakariri district will see farmers working together to identify and monitor new onfarm practices to help address environmental concerns.

The Waimakariri Landcare Trust (WLT), formerly Next Generation Farmers, initiated the $700,000 project that has attracted a 60% funding boost from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund.

Industry bodies and local authorities are partnering with WLT and contributing additional funds.

Project partners include Environment Canterbury, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Waimakariri Irrigation Limited and Ballance AgriNutrients.

WLT chair and fifth-generation dairy farmer Sam SpencerBower says it is an opportunity to investigate practical solutions

that balance farm profitability and environmental sustainability.

“Waimakariri farmers face significant water, environmental and sustainability challenges,” Spencer-Bower said.

“Environmental stewardship is already part of our daily operations, it is part of our social licence and responsibility as caretakers of the land.

“We are bringing the farming sector together to investigate and test new on-farm practices and tools to help farmers continue reducing environmental risk, while still remaining profitable so they can farm into the future.”

Farmer confidence and farm viability plays a key role in achieving environmental improvement.

“There are lots of fancy ideas out there, but they need to be practical and proven to give farmers the confidence to invest in them,” he said.

“We are serious about making a difference and driving change from the farm gate.”

During the past few weeks, farmers involved with the project have been meeting in groups and collaborating with industry experts to brainstorm ideas.

These include demonstration sites for application of liquid

fertiliser, using exemplar farms as case studies to showcase the journey towards a highperforming, sustainable system, investigating the concept of an informative walkway between town and country to increase community engagement and working with industry specialists to undertake research on the economic value of environmental mitigation.

For dairy farmer and WLT member Richard Stalker the project is an opportunity to understand future options and new technologies, while promoting the value of farming to the wider community.

“Farming is an integral part of this district. My family has farmed here for 140 years, and my two daughters are sixth generation,” Stalker said.

“It’s important that we adopt sustainable land-use practices to ensure the community continues to thrive for future generations.”

He says addressing environmental issues is just good business.

“Farmers are already investing in new technology to reduce their environmental impact,” he said.

“We are very receptive to sensible, pragmatic solutions that are supported by science|

LOOKING AHEAD: Annabelle Stalker is the sixth generation on her family’s Waimakariri dairy farm, with her father now joining dozens of other local farmers in a project to ensure the community continues to thrive for future generations.

and research.

“For the past eight years, I have been applying reduced rates of nitrogen with an online GPS tracking system, which means I can apply precise amounts to certain areas of the paddock, instead of a blanket approach.”

Stalker has partnered with rural electricity company Solagri Energy to install a first of its kind solar panel system, which has greatly reduced the farm’s energy requirements.

“WLT is now providing us with a vehicle to communicate our

progress and share what we are doing with other farmers and the wider sector,” he said.

MPI director investment programmes Steve Penno says the project is a great example of the farming community rallying together to tackle a shared challenge.

“Reducing environmental impacts is a key goal in Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Recovery, the roadmap for the food and fibres sector launched last year to boost NZ’s recovery efforts from covid,” Penno said.

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News

14 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

Hemp industry needs partners Gerald Piddock gerald.piddock@globalhq.co.nz FIND trusted partners through the supply chain and put the customer at the core of everything.

That is the advice New Zealand Merino (NZM) marketing and development manager Hadleigh Smith has for the hemp industry as it looks to capitalise on the worldwide megatrends around heath and sustainability.

In many ways, the industry is at the same point the fine wool industry was 20 years ago, before it embarked on its own and partnered with companies such as Icebreaker and Swanndri.

“It’s an infant. We’ve seen massive growth in it all around the world,” Smith said.

It also needed a cohort of the willing – a passionate group to band together and drive change in the industry, he said at the iHemp Summit and Expo in Rotorua.

He says customer intimacy – understanding what customers wanted – was critical.

“We really do believe it is about getting as close as possible to your customer. We’re a relationship business and those relationships are what stands the test of time,” he said.

Only through working together and long partnerships can you make a shift to value.

Hadleigh Smith NZM

“It’s about listening to your customers and realising what they want, what are their paying points and what are their consumers asking them – and delivering solutions for them,” he said.

That connectivity enabled companies to ask for market premiums.

He says one of the early initiatives the merino industry did was hold a conference to bring the industry together in a way similar to what the hemp industry was doing in Rotorua.

“What we learned is that we had to do something different.

We couldn’t rely on the traditional industry and players who wanted to keep rolling on as they were,” he said.

Smith says it was good to see people from different parts of the supply chain at the event because one of the early challenges NZM faced was its traditionally combative and isolated nature.

“Only through working together and long Friday 11/06/2021 partnerships can Future Farming Expo 2021 you make a shift Brought to you by the ACE Catchment Groups. to value,” he said.

With increased awareness of our impact on land “Creating and water as well as shifting consumer behaviour,

Agrievents

there is a real opportunity for the food & fibre sectors to meet these challenges.

Time: 12.00-5.00pm Venue: Otautau Combined Sports Complex 20 Hulme Street, Otautau Tickets: www.thrivingsouthland.co.nz/ace

that value in the wool industry was complex, sophisticated and resource-intensive.”

The industry needed to create the fibre and materials that would perform for their customers, but with substance – a deep connective story – behind it.

He says NZM was open to working in partnership with the hemp industry, given that one of NZM’s philosophies is “blend with friends”, which was to look at ways of building partnerships with growers of natural fibres, such as the hemp industry.

NZ Hemp Industries Association chair Richard Barge says the

current political and regulatory environment was a “perfect storm” for the hemp industry to continue its growth.

Licences for growing hemp have soared from 72 in 2015 to 1335 nationwide in 2020.

The Government was looking to shift away from fossil fuels and consumers looking for more sustainable products.

“And we’ve got an industry based on a natural fibre. Industrial hemp has a lot to offer in that space,” Barge said.

Barge believed the industry’s biggest issue was perception.

People still confuse hemp

with marijuana and medicinal cannabis.

It was not an easy industry to be profitable in currently, but he expected that to change as a result of that perfect storm.

“Until we get full plant utilisation, it’s always going to be an uphill struggle.

“We need the revenue streams from all parts of the plant,” he said.

“It’s a wonderful fibre to be using and when people wake up and see these inherent qualities in hemp, they’ll be saying that’s where we need to be in the natural fibre world.”

New regional fund announced THE Government has launched a regional strategic fund to replace the provincial growth fund.

Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash told the annual conference of economic development agencies, local government representatives and chambers of commerce the new fund is a vital part of

Wednesday 16/06/2021 – Saturday 19/06/2021 National Agricultural Fieldays® 2021 Time: Gates open daily Wednesday to Friday 8am to 5pm and Saturday 8am to 4pm.

Tickets on sale now.

For the latest information regarding COVID-19 and our event please see our venue site https:// mysterycreek.co.nz/covid-19/ Wednesday 04/08/2021 – Friday 06/08/2021 The Horticulture Conference Wellness in all aspects of our lives – health including mental health, our relationships, work, and the environment in which we live and grow our food – is increasingly seen as a must, not a nice to have. The Horticulture Conference brings together People, Land and Innovation under the imperative of Growing Wellness.

Venue: Mystery Creek Events Centre 125 Mystery Creek Rd, Ohaupo

Our regions are a vital part of New Zealand’s economic strength but have been neglected in the past, stifling economic growth and living standards in regional communities.

LK0105355©

Wednesday 10/11/2021 – Friday 12/11/2021 The New Zealand Agricultural Show 2021 The New Zealand Agricultural Show brings a touch of tradition to the city and celebrates all that is great about rural life.

Venue: Canterbury Agricultural Park 102 Curletts Rd, Hillmorton, Christchurch Show office for general enquiries: 03 343 3033 Email: info@theshow.co.nz Should your event be listed here?

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

NETWORK: The hemp industry has to find trusted partners and get as close as possible to its customers if it is to grow.

Stuart Nash Regional Development Minister

post-covid recovery efforts.

“Today we are launching the $200 million Regional Strategic Partnership Fund (RSPF), which delivers on a manifesto commitment to keep supporting economic recovery in the regions,” Nash said.

“Over this Parliamentary term the RSPF has three goals. It will work in local partnerships to enable economic and business development, accelerate Māori economic aspirations, and support sector transformation. Each region will help decide its own priorities.

“Central government will partner with local government, iwi, businesses, community organisations and other agencies to identify priorities and co-funding opportunities.

“Regions will identify priority investments which support the Government’s vision of creating more productive, resilient, inclusive, sustainable and Māorienabling regional economies.”

REGION-SPECIFIC: Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash says the new fund will give each region the scope to help decide its own priorities.

The first year of funding was set aside in Budget 2021 from reprioritised funding administered by the Provincial Development Unit (PDU).

Further reprioritisation will occur by the PDU to reflect the Minister of Finance’s expectation of value for money and targeted investment where it is most needed.

Nash says the $200 million fund will be seed funding for regional priorities, with further funding decided on a case by case basis.

The investments will be strategically designed to unlock various other sources of capital to get projects under way.

“The PGF invested more than $3.11 billion in regional economic development in its three-year life. Existing PGF projects will continue to be progressed,” he said.

“Our regions are a vital part of New Zealand’s economic strength but have been neglected in the past, stifling economic growth and living standards in regional communities,” Nash said.

The PDU will adopt a new name to reflect its new focus.

It will be known as Kānoa, or the Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit. Kānoa has a broad meaning through proverbs and whakataukī, with reference to home fires, and to the guardian of the storehouse who helped others to thrive.

AginED Ag ED

#

FOR E FUTURIA G R R S! U PR EN E

G

Volume 58 I May 31, 2021 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I w w w.farmersweekly.co.nz

This AgriHQ graph shows the North Island bull slaughter price ($/kgCW).

STRETCH YOURSELF: 1

Brent runs a finishing operation. What exactly does this mean?

2 Does Brent prefer heifers or steers? Why is this?

3 His system needs to have flexibility. What is the main reason for this?

Have a go: 1

Go to www.farmersweekly.co.nz

2 Find and watch the OnFarm Story of Brent Lilley “Very precise at the one thing we do“ and read the article “Doing what works for you “ 3 Where in NZ does Brent Lilley farm?

4 How does Brent monitor his cattle’s weight gain? What information does he record from his cattle? How does this/will this help his business?

5 What is one of the biggest challenges on their farm?

How do they deal with this? Would there be a reason why their farm may have more prevalence of this problem compared to a farm somewhere else in NZ? 6 Due to the close proximity of their farm to beaches and several rivers, estuaries and waterways they are very aware of helping to maintain the cleanliness of all of these. How do they actively do this on their farm?

Have a go: 1

When has the bull price been at the highest level on this graph?

2 When has the bull price been at its lowest level on this graph?

STRETCH YOURSELF:

4 How many generations of his family have farmed this land?

1

A farmer has paid $2.50/kg for a 450kgLW R2 Friesian bull on the current store market. How much per head would they have paid for this bull?

2 If that farmer was to hold onto the bull until September when current predictions expect the price to hit $5.70/kg, how much would be paid for a 300kgCW? 3 Without taking expenses such as grazing into account what would the margin be for that bull?

4 What would the margin be if the farmer had to pay $2.60/kg for the same bull?

Head to https://www.recipes.co.nz/ people/marty-shanahan to view the recipe and watch the video.

FILL YA BOOTS: NEW ZEALAND INVENTOR CREATES WORLD’S FIRST BOAT MADE FROM WOOL A Kiwi inventor has developed a product called Keravos, which is made from an acid derived from corn starch and strong wool. Which could be a replacement for some current plastics.

Last Monday (24th May) marked 139 years since New Zealand’s first frozen sheep meat shipment successfully arrived in Britain. A trip that was so successful, it kickstarted what is now a multi-billion-dollar export industry.

To mark this anniversary Marty Shanahan ‘The Backyard Cook’ was inspired to bring the two kiwi classics of lamb chops and L&P together, in celebration of all things Kiwiana and our proud heritage of producing the best food and drink in the world.

1

Approximately how much plastic is ordinarily used to manufacture a boat the size of the one that they developed?

2 What is strong wool? What is fine wool? Is there a price difference between the two?

Newsmaker

16 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

Turning a problem into profit Global dairy industry research innovator and leader Dr Kevin Marshall was recently awarded the Massey Medal, the university’s most prestigious honorary award. He spoke to Colin Williscroft about his career and the future of the NZ agri-food industry.

H

ELPING to turn a one-time problem into billions of dollars of annual profit will be part of Kevin Marshall’s enduring legacy to the New Zealand dairy industry.

And for providing his opportunity to do that, you can probably thank his desire to make sure his then fiancée, now wife, Julie had a job to go to.

It’s been quite a journey from the young man who graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in the early 1960s knowing nothing about farming or the dairy or food industries.

On graduation Marshall had a couple of job offers but chose the NZ Dairy Research Institute (DRI) in Palmerston North over a job at a lactose company in Kaponga, Taranaki, because Julie, a nurse, would be more likely to get a job in Palmerston North.

“That’s why I went to the dairy research institute. It’s as simple as that,” Marshall said.

“I knew absolutely nothing about dairying.”

Marshall says when he started at the DRI it was undergoing a major expansion.

“There had been a realisation amongst NZ dairy farmers that Britain was going to go into the EEC and there was a threat to the major exports we had, which were butter and cheese, pretty well all of which went to the mother country, the UK,” he said.

“So the industry decided that rather than go out of business, that instead it would boost its research to try and make new products.”

That was in 1963 and Marshall was part of an intake of researchers tasked with developing the number of products the industry could produce.

“It was a very exciting and interesting time to start there,” he said.

“There were a lot of naysayers saying the industry is going to have to go, we’re just going to have to get out of dairying. It’s not going to continue.

“But the senior people in the industry were absolutely determined that wasn’t going to happen.

“We were just starting our work on drying milk powder. There had been a little bit of drying going on in the industry but not a lot.

“There was some roller drying but spray drying had started overseas and we started to bring that into NZ.” In his early days at the DRI, whey was something that was either disposed of into streams, which helped grow big eels, or fed to pigs, neither of which helped dairy farmers.

How times have changed, with the work Marshall was involved in during his early days at the DRI now worth billions of dollars a year to the NZ dairy industry, thanks to the products and

RECOGNITION: Dr Kevin Marshall was awarded the Massey Medal for his contribution to the university and the New Zealand food sector in multiple leadership, advisory and governance roles.

technologies it helped develop downstream.

Marshall says his work helping develop whey protein concentrate in the mid-60s and early 70s is among his many career highlights, as finding a use for whey was a significant issue facing the dairy industry as it was a pollutant.

At that time, Coca Cola was looking for a protein they could add to their beverages and the company approached the NZ dairy industry to see if it could produce significant quantities of whey protein concentrate.

“We had no idea how we were going to do it,” he said.

One of his colleagues who was in the States doing a PhD was asked to look into what technologies might be available to help.

He recommended ultrafiltration, a membrane technology that could separate protein from the other whey components.

“We got money from the dairy board and we built a pilot plant at the DRI and proceeded, after many trials and tribulations, to produce enough whey protein concentrate for Coca Cola to test,” he said.

SUPPORT: Kevin Marshall with his wife, Julie Marshall (third from left) and daughters (from left) Nikki Taylor, Alana Wilson, Kerry Marshall and Debbi Hurley after being presented with the award.

“We learned a huge amount about ultrafiltration. We learned a huge amount about beverage manufacture. And we were successful. We produced a product that they required.

“They then changed their marketing plan.

“So, we were left with this wonderful product, with absolutely fantastic technology, but with nowhere to go.

“We spent another two years after that finding uses for it and were eventually very successful.”

Today whey protein concentrates are now used in a wide range of products, including sports drinks.

On top of that the ultrafiltration technology has been adapted and used in a variety of other applications in the industry.

Marshall says during a review of the work that was submitted for a chemical engineering award in 2015, Fonterra said that the combination of the technologies involved and the products produced were worth about $5 billion a year to the co-op.

“We’d gone from something that was a waste product, through a completely unknown technology, and wondering what the hell we were going to do with it, to something that was that valuable,” he said.

He says there is plenty of scope for the dairy industry to develop new products, but it should not ignore its core business.

“I get very tired of people who say the industry should get out of commodity milk powder. I’m sorry, but commodities can make a lot of money if you do it right and on the whole the NZ dairy industry does it right,” he said.

He says because the NZ dairy herd is grass-fed, its milk is seen as desirable for a variety of reasons, including its nutritional value and climate change benefits.

“The net effect is that NZ’s so-called commodities of butter, cheese and milk powder have a premium in world markets. It ain’t great, but it’s over a significant tonnage and therefore it makes a difference.”

Having said that, he says there

is still opportunity for new products.

“That’s why we have got to continue to invest in fundamental science for a start, because when it came down to the crunch the work that we did with whey protein concentrate was informed by fundamental protein science that had been done for some years beforehand,” he said.

“Then we need applied science, we need technology development – all of those things still have to happen.”

He says an example of how that works is the mozzarella cheese made at Clandeboye, which had its genesis in work done more than 20 years ago.

“That science was built on and then the technology was developed in more recent times as the market need arose,” he said.

“That’s a very valuable product to us now.”

Marshall is very optimistic about the future of the NZ agrifood industry, saying it has builtin advantages over the rest of the world, especially in the areas of climate and water.

“Because of that there will always be a demand for our product if we pitch it right,” he said.

He does not buy into the argument that international markets for meat and milk will disappear because of increasing demand for plant-based alternatives.

“I think there will be a significant increase in plant-based alternatives but it won’t stop some parts of the world’s population continuing to eat meat and drink milk,” he said.

Although NZ can play a part in developing some of those alternatives and some farmers will diversify into that, Marshall says it would be a mistake if as a country we turned our back on our traditional primary products.

“There’s no question in my mind that if we stopped producing milk at all, tomorrow that milk will be produced somewhere else in the world at a significantly higher impact on the environment,” he said.

New thinking

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

17

New cropping opportunity As the nation decarbonises and does away with coal-fired boilers, a little-known crop could hold the key to fuelling those boilers and the nation’s diesel fleet in the near future. Richard Rennie spoke to Miscanthus NZ founder Peter Brown about the all-round super plant offering farmers a new cropping opportunity.

W

HEN Peter Brown started investigating establishing miscanthus in New Zealand in 2009, decarbonisation was barely in the lexicon, biofuels had been given the boot by the National government and dairying was seen as the growth answer for the primary sector.

But a lifetime spent in the energy sector had left Brown convinced the planet was on borrowed time for hydrocarbon sources and the impact it was having on climate systems, so he set out to find an alternative fuel source that could be grown here as a viable crop by farmers.

His answer is miscanthus grass.

Grown across a range of climates from Sweden to Greece in the Northern Hemisphere, it is used as a bulk biofuel source for boilers to replace burning coal and is also capable of being turned into renewable diesel and generating gas for electricity production.

At considerable personal expense, Brown imported tissue culture of the plant that he has managed to multiply across several field plantings today, growing as a sterile triploid hybrid.

Lincoln University trials with centre pivot irrigation have the plant consistently yielding 30plus tonne a hectare, but Brown conservatively quotes 20t/ha, similar to a maize crop.

While less known in NZ, miscanthus has become a biofuel staple in the United Kingdom since the early 1990s.

Recently, interest has lifted further as the UK’s Committee on Climate Change called for a lift in perennial energy crop plantings to accelerate to 30,000ha a year by 2035, ensuring 700,000ha

would be planted by 2050.

From a farming perspective, miscanthus could offer some physical and financial benefits as a perennial crop that can be planted once and left growing and harvested for multiple seasons.

“The biggest cost is up front, getting it established and keeping the weeds out for the first year until the plants grow high enough to shade them out,” Brown said.

The crop is suited to a wide climatic regime, requiring only 600mm-plus of rainfall a year.

Harvest can commence economically at year two, and crops have been known to last for over 20 years.

Lincoln University and Fonterra trials indicate miscanthus absorbs high levels of nitrogen into its rhizome system, and the Fonterra research indicates that N losses under miscanthus crops were less than a tenth of low-loss pine plantations.

As the crop senesces the moisture level drops below 20%, and harvesting is over winter using conventional harvesting headers. This makes it a “dry” source of fuel compared to forestry biofuels that can be as high as 50%-plus in moisture.

As an energy source it also ranks well.

Research by ex-Plant & Food scientist Dr Rocky Renquist cites an “energy use ratio” – gross output of energy divided by energy required to produce it – of 129:1.

Miscanthus NZ has a stand of miscanthus growing next to the Oji Fibre mill at Kinleith, which supplied a mill boiler with a miscanthus-sawdust fuel mix.

Brown says interest in the crop from farmers has grown strongly in the past two years, partly driven by demand for it as a bedding in bloodstock and indoor

®

We could easily have sold two to three times more than we have had in the past 12 months, and we have already sold this year’s winter harvest.

Peter Brown Miscanthus NZ Limited

SUPER PLANT: Peter Brown standing in a crop of maturing miscanthus near Helensville.

dairy/calf rearing operations.

He counts Spring Sheep Dairy as a major client, using it in their dairy sheep operation.

“We could easily have sold two to three times more than we have had in the past 12 months, and we have already sold this year’s winter harvest. We are desperate for an increased area to grow on,” he said.

Brown says cropping miscanthus could include a fiveyear supply contract, working on $200-$250/t payment.

His company has about 25ha of its own land already growing the crop, with an additional 40-50ha growing elsewhere around NZ. Brown says plantings of 10ha-plus would be welcome additions to their inventory.

He is also encouraged by what the Climate Change Commission’s views on renewable low-carbon fuels may mean for miscanthus as a future crop. The commission is recommending 140 million litres of low-carbon liquid fuels be sold by the end of 2035.

The crop is an ideal feedstock for renewable diesel, with low moisture content and low natural sulphur levels compared to other crops.

“And along with the benefits of not importing hydrocarbons while reducing carbon dioxide emissions, is the benefit of highquality biochar, which can be used for soil improvement, effectively permanently sequestering carbon, with possible carbon benefits under ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme),” he said.

Brown says it may take underwriting by a large energy-using processor to give miscanthus the critical mass it needs for farmers to get on board with it as a long-term crop.

Bio Energy Association executive officer Brian Cox says of the possible biofuel crops, miscanthus offers some multiple income streams and could integrate well into many farm systems.

“In Canterbury, for example, where irrigators mean you can’t have high shelter trees, miscanthus is ideal,” Cox said.

He is keen to see farmers pick up on crops like miscanthus and start looking at fuel as a third income stream to complement their traditional fibre and food income streams.

Opinion

18 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

EDITORIAL

Big decision for Fonterra farmers

F

ONTERRA’S record opening forecast of $8/kg (midpoint) is a high note in the drawn-out dairy season, made more momentous by the rumbling capital restructure.

In this issue, Fonterra chair Peter McBride appeals for farmers to keep a perspective on the horizon, not the choppy waters of the sharemarket.

Some 90% of dairy farmers’ capital is in land, livestock and machinery, upon which a high milk price is the greatest return.

Since the dismal seasons of 2015 and 2016, farm gate milk prices beginning with 6, then 7 and now maybe 8 have extended the good times in dairying.

McBride also points out the proposal hasn’t harmed the economic rights of shares or fund units, and a modest dividend guidance applies to this financial year.

But 10% of capital is in shares, wet or dry, and it will take a far-sighted farmer to see beyond the present slump in price to a stable capital base and more co-operative future.

The decline has caused $150,000 harm to the balance sheet of a farmer with the average milk production, which rural accountants and bankers will lament.

The proposed dilution of the share standard may cause more price pain.

However, the net tangible asset backing of the share hasn’t changed.

The steady expansion of dairy demand and the static, possibly falling milk supply should over time restore the share price.

Higher milk prices are already lifting land and cow values.

It is the right time to consider weighty matters raised in the consultation documents and go beyond the present hybrid co-operative structure into something that will last generations.

Performance remains the key determinant of share price and the company’s balance sheet.

It is a rarity to have right now, a wellperforming company with an undervalued share price.

But it remains to be seen if 75% of Fonterra’s farmers are prepared to leap across the gap to the other side, where they are told the grass is greener.

Hugh Stringleman

LETTERS

More letters P21

Let’s agree to disagree YOUR correspondent Wayne Doran (Farmers Weekly, May 24) completely misunderstood the message that Clive Dalton was expressing. He had the wrong end of the stick and his comment is irrelevant.

Neither Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor nor Clive Dalton were trying to harm hard working farmers. The minister was doing his duty, he was upholding the law and the Animal Welfare Act. That the consequence of upholding the law is that some farmers are now missing out on a profitable business is beside the point.

As so often is the case, in between middle businessmen out for quick buck are duping farmers.

Look at the facts; the

business of live exports to China has expended fairly rapidly and I doubt that any of the transport ships are built from the ground up as an animal transport ship. Most of them will be converted cargo ships, with several extra decks on top of the original decks, which make the ship top-heavy and wind sensitive. These ships will look like cruise liners, but won’t have the extras needed to keep them safe and stable when things go wrong.

Have you ever heard of a cruise liner disappearing in a storm? And yet that is what has happened with a transporter – only one survivor, who could tell us that the ship capsized and the engines had stopped.

Many seamen and 6000 head of cattle died.

Before that, reports of multiple animal deaths in other ships due to bad weather, others with deaths because of neglect, bad organisation and the list goes on.

That the majority of transporters did get their animals to the other side alive, is just as well and possibly only good luck. As Dalton, a retired animal researcher reported, no research has been done on transporting animals. Health provision, needed space per animal, stress and other factors are unknown or have been established by trial and error.

Did you know that most farm animals, like humans, are prone to seasickness?

The minister had to dance the fine line between the economic factors and the

protesters – and the declining consumers of red meat.

So the Animal Welfare Act was neglected and the minister responded, in my opinion, correctly. Maybe now farmers can insist on animal research and properly developed ships before animal transport can be resumed. Or do we want to be compared at the same level as Brazil, Mexico or Argentina on animal health issues?

I am a sheep and beef farmer, who before farming spent 10 years as a merchant navy officer and has a Master Mariner certificate, where cyclone navigation and ship stability and safety are important subjects.

Edward Dinger Cambridge

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Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

19

Combating biocontrol resistence Prof Stephen Goldson

I

T CAN be difficult to quantify the benefits of long-term fundamental science research programmes.

What have they achieved?

How have they made a difference beyond the laboratory and lecture theatre?

Sometimes, however, it is easier to see.

The Bio-Protection Research Centre’s (BPRC) investigations into why previously effective biological control against a ubiquitous, damaging pasture pest was failing is one such programme.

The Argentine stem weevil is a major pest of ryegrass, the backbone of New Zealand’s pastures. In the 1990s AgResearch began investigating biological control of the weevil, successfully identifying Microctonus hyperodae, a parasitoid wasp that lays an egg inside the weevil and kills it. As a result of this research, eight populations of the wasp were collected from across South America and released in NZ. They rapidly spread throughout the country, reducing the weevil’s impact.

All seemed well for 15 years, until the BPRC decided to advance the science to include rapidly improving genomic analyses and population modelling. Its first discovery was genuinely surprising: in just 14 generations since Microtonus was introduced, the Argentine stem weevil had developed resistance, rendering biological control ineffective in many parts of the country.

Further research showed the resistance resulted from the sexually-reproducing weevil’s superior ability to evolve, compared to the asexual wasp.

The weevil had evolved to evade the wasp in areas where it had put the weevil under strong pressure.

The non-evolving wasp could not keep up.

Answers keep emerging Continued research answered other questions about pasture management, biological control of other pests, the viability of conservation biological control, and even when and how pest insects make it across the border.

At first, the wasp had been extremely effective in controlling the weevil, not least because it had escaped most of its own natural enemies, which were left behind in South America. Its very success forced the weevil to adapt.

Added to this, NZ’s pasture was, and is, almost entirely exotic. As well as comprising just a few plant species, it has very low insect biodiversity. With 20 million years of evolution

The

Pulpit

separating this pasture and our indigenous ecosystems, very few indigenous natural enemies have moved into the pasture, raising questions about the usefulness of conservation biological control in such a setting.

There were also questions about when, and how often, the Argentine stem weevil had arrived here.

Often invading species have narrow gene pools resulting from ‘bottlenecks’ at their sites of introduction. But the weevil’s rapid evolution suggested it had enough genetic variation for resistance traits to become dominant.

The species was first described in NZ in 1927, but there is now good genomic evidence that it entered the country several times.

For example, weevils from the Chatham Islands and Stewart Island are significantly smaller than those on the mainland.

Sequencing of the weevil and wasp genomes, combined with analysis of gene expression, now strongly indicate complex mechanisms leading to the weevil resistance.

This raises questions about the genetic diversity of other invasive species and their ability to similarly evolve resistance to introduced biological control, including the parasitoids currently controlling the lucerne and clover root weevils.

Beyond the laboratory What started as a BPRC programme to investigate genomics and population modelling, based on AgResearch’s initial success, has led to major advances in defining what makes biological control agents successful.

In collaboration with the University of Otago Biochemistry Department (Genomics Aotearoa),

CRITTER: The Argentine stem weevil is a major pest of ryegrass, the backbone of New Zealand’s pastures, and research has shown that it has evolved against initial countermeasures.

The weevil had evolved to evade the wasp in areas where it had put the weevil under strong pressure.

The non-evolving wasp could not keep up.

we can now determine which Microctonus strains and their associated traits have survived the original nationwide release experiment and which disappeared.

We can further investigate which genes, genomic features, genome structures and microbial complements are associated with good outcomes. This will greatly advance our understanding across pest species of what is likely to offer effective and more precise biological control.

Lessons learned Perhaps nowhere else in the world has there been a biological control experiment of such dimensions.

We now understand: • How low habitat biodiversity affects the risk of invasion and, conversely, the success of biological control; • The threat of evolved pest resistance to biocontrol; • How genetic diversity affects the probability of a pest species becoming resistant;

NOW AND THEN: Bio-Protection Research Centre deputy director Professor Stephen Goldson recounts decades of research into the Argentine stem weevil and the biological efforts to try to control it.

• How introduced ecosystems affect the ability of indigenous species to exert biological control; • The probability that biological control of the lucerne and clover weevils could also fail.

What started as a programme of fundamental science has significantly advanced our understanding of our agricultural ecosystems and the risks involved in managing them. And so, it is clear to see what has been achieved and just what difference it has made – well beyond the laboratory and across NZ’s agricultural landscape.

Who am I? Professor Stephen Goldson is deputy director of the Bio-Protection Research Centre. The Bio-Protection Research Centre is a Centre of Research Excellence funded by the Government. It was established in 2003, with funding ending on June 31. It will then be replaced by a new Centre of Research Excellence, Bioprotection Aotearoa.

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

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

Opinion

20 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

Teamwork will make the sector stronger Alternative View

Alan Emerson

THE calls for the primary sector to come forward with a single voice are growing. It’s a subject I’ve written about over the years but it gained little traction. Hopefully, its time has come.

Farmers aren’t a single voice, we’re a collection of tribes. We’re our own worst enemies. Unlike conservationists and greenies who present a united front, we’re all over the place.

The exception is Federated Farmers who punch well above their weight. They have an income of less than $8 million and how they do the work they do on that budget is beyond me.

Feds scrutinise every council plan in New Zealand and, when required, make submissions on them. That allows us to farm.

In addition, Feds are nonpolitical. I believe Andrew Hoggard was masterful in that regard in the run up to the general election.

We now have both Beef + Lamb and DairyNZ getting into policy work, which I oppose. Their role is extension, not picking and choosing on policy issues.

Beef + Lamb told me that they asked levy payers if they wanted to get into policy and the levy payers

said yes, so they are.

Of course levy payers would say yes if they were offered something.

It’s a bit like asking a kid if they’d like an ice cream.

What we immediately have is a duplication of effort with the resultant waste of levy payers’ money. If they felt the levy payer was important their organisations should have sat down with all farming groups and agreed on a single plan, along with the necessary funding.

The bottom line is that the Feds have $8m to fight for rights.

Against them are Greenpeace, the Environmental Defence Society, Forest & Bird and Fish & Game, with a combined income of over $36m.

For every dollar Feds have to fight for your rights, the environmental organisations have five to take them away.

Greenpeace International has an annual budget of around $140m.

I’d argue those organisations aren’t as answerable to their members as Feds need to be, so they can make outlandish statements.

An example was the billboard “Ballance and Ravensdown pollute rivers #toomanycows”.

I appealed to the Advertising

Standards Authority and won – they counter appealed and lost.

That took hours, but no one else seemed interested.

The statement is still on the Greenpeace website proving, beyond reasonable doubt, the organisation’s total disregard for facts.

So, for every dollar Feds have to fight for your rights, the environmental organisations have five to take them away.

What’s the answer?

Beef + Lamb have a total annual income of $42m, DairyNZ $84m, Horticulture NZ $10.6m and the Foundation for Arable Research has $10.5m, plus a bevy of other product groups.

By my maths the big levy organisations control $147m made up mainly of your money and all they have to do is to promote themselves every six years to get a majority vote in what is generally a low turnout election. Add the various product groups and you’re talking nearly $200m annually.

Putting it in perspective, that’s $2 billion, most of it your money, taken out every 10 years.

I’d love to see an independent cost benefit analysis completed on the main levy organisations.

By some of their moves they’re even embarrassing. Why would the chair of DairyNZ join the PM and several other ministers talking with regenerative farmers in southern Hawke’s Bay? I wonder why the head of DairyNZ endeavours, by his very attendance, to give them credibility.

ONE VOICE: Alan Emerson believes that the organisations representing the primary sector need to show a united front to reap better results.

Why did Beef + Lamb pay a poultice to Otago University to do a report on regenerative ag that they’ve told no one about? If they were ethical and serious, I’d have thought they’d have gone to Lincoln, Massey or Waikato.

Recently DairyNZ worked with Feds over the Horizons environment plans. What came out of that was an infinitely better result for all involved. Iniquitously, in my view, Beef + Lamb offered a differing opinion. Even more ridiculously was that the area concerned was dairy, not sheep and beef.

The divisions are dangerous for our sector. An example was the previous government coming out with their zero carbon policies. Feds rightfully opposed them. Minister Shaw’s response was that Feds didn’t speak for all agriculture and that he had differing opinions. It’s called

divide and conquer.

My basic position is that we have the resources, all $200m of them, to fight for agriculture, to run better advertising campaigns than Greenpeace and to take legal action supporting the primary sector.

That the levy organisations are ineffective is little more than a wasted annual tax on farmers.

If the Government imposed that we’d be up in arms. As it is, we regularly volunteer.

We have the resources. What we lack is a team mentality. We have a group of tribes pushing their own agendas. There is no single united front organisation and that’s an indictment on our sector.

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

Smart planning reaps max profits From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

HERE in Hawke’s Bay, we have a long-running and successful Farmer of the Year competition.

It began way back in 1972, 49 years ago, when Gerry Sainsbury on Highway 50 near Tikokino was the first winner.

In 1982 and 1987 no competitions were run, I think because of a lack of entries. That hasn’t been a problem ever since for this well-regarded title.

It’s run under the auspices of the HB A&P Society, was sponsored by Richmond and continued by Silver Fern Farms.

In 1994 it progressed to hosting a dinner at the end of the evening, where the winners were announced. Bloody nerve wracking for any finalists, but everyone else has a great time.

The numbers and the various awards have grown since that time so that it is now across all the primary sector, and the function itself is called the Napier Port HB Primary Sector Awards. Up to 500 people attend, so it’s a big deal.

This year’s winners were Andrew and Maddy McLean, and I’d heard the figures and operation were smart, so I wandered along to their field day a couple of weeks ago.

They live at the end of Bush Road in the Wallingford district, which you pass through on the way to Porangahau out on the coast.

They have a breeding ewe flock not performing at anything startling, run Friesian bulls which are killed at 320kg and then a trade lamb operation that can run anything from 0-5000 lambs depending on the season and prices, which brings a great deal of flexibility.

It was a great farming operation, the financials were excellent and more importantly, it made me think and question what I do myself, as they weren’t doing all the things I’d been trained to do by decades of consultants and

seminars. Being unsettled after a field day is a lot more beneficial than going home smug or thinking you hadn’t learned anything.

I’ll put down some of the financials, but remember this is good old fashioned dry land hill country, although with a small finishing block close to Waipukurau.

These are three-year averages, including this year just finishing, and includes two nasty droughts.

The gross income is a decent $1387/ha and was consistent across all three years. Now, here’s the interesting bit.

The total farm expenses were a paltry $447/ha or just 32% of gross income leaving an EBITDA of $940/ha.

I’ve always believed that to make money, you must spend it.

I have a higher gross, but spend 40 to 50% to achieve it. I doubt spending money on luxuries or unnecessary stuff but obviously, nor do the McLeans.

Thinking about it later, I think they have bought a welldeveloped property off Andrew’s parents, with great subdivision and fertility levels, meaning that spend doesn’t need to happen

as it has for many of us when we started and allows them to debt service and pay off debt from what has been a rapid farm purchasing programme.

It was a great farming operation, the financials were excellent and more importantly, it made me think and question what I do myself, as they weren’t doing all the things I’d been trained to do by decades of consultants and seminars.

Did I mention they work extremely hard? I know plenty of us do, but it seemed theirs was effective hard work.

Adding expenditure in, such as depreciation, land rental and wages for management, also totalled $447/ha, leaving a surplus of $493/ha.

I asked John Cannon, the consultant running the field day, that given fellows like him had me employing consultants, feed budgeting and squirting a bit of nitrogen on in times of need, how come the McLeans didn’t and still knocked out figures like this?

First time I’ve seen him stuck for words.

The other great feature of the day was the succession planning that Andrew’s parents Hamish and Janine had planned and undertaken that first gave Andrew and Maddie the opportunity to lease for five years and just last year purchase the home block.

They had built up off-farm assets to also be able to help their other non-farming children.

They too must have been making good profits during their farm career to be able to do this.

The day showed that smart thinking, clever short and longterm planning and plain hard work pays dividends.

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

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

21

FPAs a return to the dark ages Meaty Matters

Allan Barber

THE Fair Pay Agreements Working Group report contains some horribly familiar concepts, which strongly reminds me of the days before the 1991 introduction of the Employment Contracts Act (ECA) and its 2000 successor the Employment Relations Act (ERA).

It is supremely ironic that the chair of the working group Sir Jim Bolger was Prime Minister, previously Minister of Labour, at the time the ECA was passed into law.

The Great Helmsman, as he was nicknamed, has shown great flexibility throughout his career, having initiated the referendum on MMP, served as Ambassador to the United States and been appointed by Labour to chair several SOEs and working groups.

The outcome of his latest role suggests a well-deserved retirement may be overdue.

Analysis of the Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) recommendations indicate any industry is at risk of being required to participate, provided 10% of the workforce or 1000 workers in that industry vote in favour of negotiations, with the employers having no choice in the matter.

The purpose of FPA legislation would be to lift the wages of workers in low-paid sectors, most of which are likely to be

either local or national public service, but it does not require much imagination to see a similar situation arising in the private sector to the detriment of industry competitiveness.

The proposed introduction of FPA appears to be ideologically, not practically driven, as a gesture of solidarity by a Labour government towards the union movement, which still retains a strong element of control over the party.

In coalition with New Zealand First before last year’s election, there was no chance the Government could bring in FPA, so the new Minister of Employment Relations Michael Wood has seized the opportunity of a large majority to work towards putting a Bill before Parliament by the end of 2021.

BusinessNZ was represented on the working group, but has since withdrawn its support for the final report, stating it contains several elements of concern, notably the return to pre-1991 award systems, which impose compulsory outcomes on both parties and the focus on equality at the expense of productivity and efficiency.

While some of the more draconian provisions of the ECA were modified by the ERA, there will be no private sector businesses that would support the backward move to the bad old days when strikes were frequent and companies were forced to close for days or weeks at a time, before the parties reached a grudging agreement.

The meat processing industry is a prime example of one in which systemic inefficiency had been preserved by a combination of farm subsidies, union power and

LACKING: Apart from the obvious conclusion about paying its dues to the union movement, Allan Barber says it’s hard to see what the Government hopes to achieve from introducing FPA legislation.

aging infrastructure.

Meat works occupied huge areas of land, housing slaughter chains designed to process on single shifts more livestock than was profitably available, with minimal further processing facilities and too much freezer capacity. Great Britain’s entry into the Common Market, which led ultimately to the removal of subsidies by the 1985 Labour government, was the trigger for a major reduction of livestock, rampant procurement competition, capacity closure, workforce layoffs and company receiverships and takeovers.

The ECA and its successor ERA have made possible what was painful, but inevitable. The meat industry, which has evolved over the last quarter of a century, could never have arrived where it is today if unions had retained their previous powers under the law.

The industry employs a workforce of 25,000 in a wide variety of jobs, including slaughtermen, boners, butchers and cold store operators.

Many of these are covered by collective agreements, negotiated with their union representatives, while others are employed on individual contracts. All of these agreements pay above the minimum wage and provide fair terms of employment.

Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says FPAs would be totally unsuited to meat processing, which is spread across the whole country under a variety of different union or individual agreements covering a wide range of jobs. She sees this as tilting the field in favour of unions, as well as being about centralisation of control.

Earlier this month the NZ Initiative stated there is no evidence NZ’s employment settings or wage rates would benefit from the “flawed FPA recommendations” of the working group, but on the contrary average wages are increasing faster than inflation across all deciles and are not being bid down by

LETTERS Nimbyism at its worst THERE is an issue with just about every paragraph Michael Birch wrote in the May 24 issue of Farmers Weekly.

Large dams, which Birch objects to, powered the heating and cooling systems of the Ruamāhanga Whaitua Committee (RWC) and kept their computers running.

Perhaps Birch is off-grid? But this is nimbyism at its worst.

Birch worries about greenhouse gases when a dam is filled, which are minuscule compared with imported coal to fire Huntley.

He worries about evaporation and the “flushing effect”.

Obviously, the Whaitua Committee never stood on a bank near the Ruamāhanga when one of these “flushing” events took place.

A huge release of sediment and vegetation and Birch thinks this can be slowed down – “leaky dams”?

We are fortunate that managed gravel extraction means that the Ruamāhanga will not join up with the Waipoua to run through Masterton.

This would have been a late

employers. The only beneficiaries of implementing FPAs would be the unions.

BusinessNZ has produced a commentary in response to the working group’s report, which offers a series of alternatives to the recommendations with two overarching principles: firstly, participation is voluntary and secondly, FPAs are industry/ sector/occupational codes of practice that become binding on parties that sign it, like collective agreements.

The alternative approach proposed is less prescriptive than the working group report, but provides guidance to the participants on the clauses that would be binding and who would be bound by them.

Apart from the obvious conclusion about paying its dues to the union movement, it is hard to see what the Government hopes to achieve from introducing FPA legislation. The stated reason for reducing inequality does not appear to stack up against the disadvantages of reduced productivity and efficiency, especially when a relatively small range of mainly public sector occupations is involved.

The Government would be better occupied in building bridges rather than hijacking private sector employers, particularly agricultural businesses which consistently demonstrate their value to NZ’s current and future prosperity.

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

More letters P18 legacy of the 1855 earthquake; is this a “natural character” Birch would have endorsed?

Yes, we need a detention dam for the Wairarapa, not on some tinpot creek, but on the Ruamāhanga, some 250 metres above sea level, feeding all the towns and a substantial area of irrigation, paid for largely by capitalising river rates.

Until Birch has witnessed a large flood, he shouldn’t talk about water quality and there is no point in talking about biodiversity when I see a wild cat every two months on 500 hectares.

Really, is increasing soil organic matter in the soil going to solve our water problems?

I suspect that the Ruamāhanga Whaitua was another talkfest following close behind a Ruamāhanga review that cost $400,000.

DJ Barton Wairarapa

Balancing farming perspectives I RECEIVE your paper weekly and look forward to reading all the positive stories on what farmers are doing to enhance their farms.

Those who endorse regenerative farming, planting out gullies with natives, planting riparian strips, preserving wetlands and enhancing stands of native bush they already have.

I was heartened to read your letter of the week in the May 24 issue disparaging the planting of Pinus radiata (Death to the land) and Robert Liverston’s article that set out a few facts regarding some claims in Matt Walsh’s Undercover Success Story article.

I was a practicing landscape architect and from time to time I was invited to speak to many groups about my work and philosophy about the landscape. I always included with my talks many quips about the preservation of native trees for their intrinsic qualities. The important part they play in enhancing all things associated with them.

At one particular meeting an old chap put up his hand and said, “I have another one for you John, the pine tree is a communist tree.”

When I asked, “Why is that?” He replied: “Because nothing grows under it.”

I also read Michael Birch’s letter regarding dams.

I think this letter also sounds the alarm of the damage dams can cause to the catchment dynamics.

For example, the lack of sufficient water flow to flush our rivers and hold back sea water from intruding further inland.

The effect of this can be seen in the Kaiapoi River at its confluence with Waimakariri. All the willows are dying.

John Archer Canterbury

Farming sector needs realistic heroes AS A former New Zealand dairy farmer, I marvel at the unbridled lust for land that seems to overwhelm the mindset of those few malcontents that are not satisfied with owning just “one economic farm unit”.

The farming magazines are replete with these faux examples of agricultural heroes that live in a fantasy land of “look at me”, “aren’t I wonderful” and “please take my picture”.

Those same magazines display these debt-ridden heroes as people to pay homage to as if they were the epitome and

embodiment of all that the community and industry should look up to.

I want to ask these self-seeking egotists just how much food can you stick into your mouth?

Ask yourselves of how many young farmers you have deprived of future farm ownership as you guzzle up land for nothing more than to display to everybody “how wonderful I am”.

I can imagine the hackles rising on the backs of these fantasisers that someone would dare challenge their world of selfimportance and self-indulgence, but the farming industry would be better off without you prancing around displaying your debtladen selves as examples to emulate.

Dan Watkins Perth, Australia

Letters to the Editor Letters must be no more than 450 words and submitted on the condition The New Zealand Farmers Weekly has the right to, and license third parties to, reproduce in electronic form and communicate these letters. Letters may also be edited for space and legal reasons.

Names, addresses and phone numbers must be included. Letters with pen names will generally not be considered for publication.

On Farm Story

22 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

GROWING BUSINESS: Southern Paprika founder Hamish Alexander and general manager Blair Morris say they’re focused on sustainable and financially efficient production in aspects of energy use, waste, transport and health.

Stringing bells in glasshouses A business that began in a field in Matakana has grown into a global operation with a sophisticated glasshouse enterprise producing seven million capsicums a year. Hugh Stringleman found out how they do it.

S

OUTHERN Paprika (SPL) of Warkworth is the largest single-site glasshouse grower of capsicums in New Zealand, with nearly one million plants at any one time under 26ha of cover.

Each bell pepper plant produces 40 fruit per season, as the plants grow up strings to 4m in height.

It’s called Southern Paprika because it is in the Southern Hemisphere and paprika is the Northern Hemisphere word for capsicum.

It is a joint venture between privately-owned Alexander Croppling Ltd (ACL), from nearby Point Wells in the Matakana district, and The Levarht Produce Company of Holland, which needed Southern Hemisphere supply for its customers in Japan.

Southern Paprika began in 1998 with a 2.5ha glasshouse and it is now 10 times that size, along with a separate 1ha site leased from ACL. It now has four complexes at Warkworth, employing more than

People may think capsicums are easy to grow, but they are not.

Blair Morris SPL 160 full-time staff members.

It has invested more than $60 million in capital cost and the annual wage bill is over $7m,

BIG TIME: Southern Paprika has four complexes at Warkworth, employing more than 160 full-time staff members.

much of which is spent in the Warkworth area.

ACL was started by Hamish and Robyn Alexander in 1984, leasing land around Matakana and growing crops of melons and field capsicums for the domestic market.

After five years ACL moved production under cover for reasons of quality, marketability, and increased yield, and a 1ha glasshouse was built at Point Wells.

Then came the joint venture with Levarht, and Hamish

continued at SPL as founder and director.

Levarht’s international expertise has helped SPL expand rapidly with the growing demand domestically, along with export markets in Japan, Australia and Canada.

Levarht is a third-generation marketing company established in 1933 and it imports and exports produce from Europe, including NZ apples, onions and kiwifruit.

SPL and Levarht are partners in a FreshMex production site Queretaro, two hours north

On Farm Story

of Mexico City. It has 7.5ha of glasshouses with Dutch technology, close to the capsicum export markets of America and Canada.

Levarht has ownership of businesses in Holland, Belgium and Costa Rica, and supplies capsicums from its growing partners to Japan, the US, Canada, Russia, the Far East and into Europe.

SPL is focused on sustainable and financially efficient production in aspects of energy use, waste, transport and health.

“Although our philosophy is to keep it simple, we have implemented the best available techniques and systems and we are always looking to integrate new technology and innovation into our entire growing, picking, packing and supply chain management process,” Alexander said.

The colour ratio is around 60% red, 30% yellow, and 10% orange.

Green production is usually from coloured varieties harvested before colour change occurs.

Specific varieties of bell peppers are chosen to produce different fruit colours and sizes to suit various domestic and export market requirements.

Seedlings are planted progressively from May and harvesting begins in July, continuing year-round.

All plants are hydroponically grown with fertigation and CO2 is delivered to each plant to enhance growth.

The houses are heated with natural gas that warms water, which is then circulated.

The heating system also delivers humidity between 85% and 90%, and the daytime temperature is 21-28degC. Skilled crop maintenance staff prune and twist the plants around supports to maintain general plant health and encourage fruit setting. Incorrect

techniques can reduce yields.

Production staff harvest the fruit before the company’s packhouse grades by colour, quality and size, and puts through up to 60 tonnes a day at peak.

It delivers a variety of packaging and branding according to buyer needs.

General manager Blair Morris says production was just under 7m capsicums a year, 80% of which went to the domestic market and the rest export.

Employees include a big community of Tuvaluan and Kiribati workers who want to work in the hot and humid conditions, many of whom have NZ residency in Warkworth and others at peak season under the RSE scheme.

The seasonal workers stay six to nine months and are family members of those who are residents and they stay with those families during their time here.

Morris says the company has good relationships with Tuvalu and Kiribati authorities and is one of the largest employers of this Pacific Island community in NZ. “The whole team has a great pride in producing good, healthy food for all New Zealanders,” Morris said.

“Without the community which we employ and support, we wouldn’t have a business that operates this well.

“Only by working together do we achieve the low-cost efficiencies and the quality of product.

“From the get-go Hamish could see the need for strong relationships between the business and its local community.

“He maintains great connections with everyone in the business and now we have second generations coming through.”

Business sustainability includes rainfall captured from the glasshouses and reused in the hydroponic systems.

The heating system generates CO2, which is delivered to the plants for added growth.

Growing media, compostable strings and the plants and leaves are all mulched after a production season, composted and then taken to the avocado orchards developed by part-owners SPL

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

23

COLOURS: Specific varieties of bell peppers are chosen to produce different fruit colours and sizes to suit various domestic and export market requirements.

Although our philosophy is to keep it simple, we have implemented the best available techniques and systems and we are always looking to integrate new technology and innovation.

Hamish Alexander Founder on the Tapora Peninsula in the Kaipara Harbour.

Fruit not suitable for sale is supplied to local cattle owners and surplus water for nearby paddock irrigation.

“We want to reduce our reliance on external inputs and their associated risks, like fossil fuels,” he said.

“What will be our energy source in the future when natural gas is no longer available? Will it be

geothermal, our preferred option, or something like biomass from a wood-burner?”

Morris says fruit must be produced at viable prices for the consumer, to underpin the volume of production and make sustainability attainable.

“People may think capsicums are easy to grow, but they are not,” he said.

“They are quite tricky to do well at the right price.”

Hamish and Robyn are thinking ahead to the next stage of SPL expansion, as well as giving back to the environment, for example, through a forest of redwood trees planted at Te Arai, where they live.

They have embraced avocados, first at Mangawhai and then Tapora, by way of a joint venture of SPL with Glen and Joanne Inger in Harbour Edge.

Part-way through development there are 25,000 trees growing on 150ha, with plans to double that planted area with avocados and perhaps citrus.

Southern Paprika is packing and selling the avocados as they come into production.

SPL has a further 10ha of land at Warkworth and room for two more glasshouse complexes and the company is currently evaluating that development potential.

It is trialling cucumbers for one customer by way of diversification because the NZ capsicum market is now fully supplied.

Glasshouse production gives much better productivity per square metre of land and betterquality produce than field cropping, but that productivity can be lost by heavy regulation and overhead costs.

“If it becomes too costly for us to operate due to central government policies then produce will be imported, with considerable supply risks,” Morris said.

The Warkworth site faces some of the pressures of urbanisation currently in the news in South Auckland, but there are benefits also in getting closer to Auckland, the biggest market for fresh produce. >> Video link: bit.ly/OFSpaprika

PRECISE: Production staff harvest the fruit before the company’s packhouse grades by colour, quality and size, and puts through up to 60 tonnes a day at peak.

UNDER COVER: Glasshouse production gives much better productivity per square metre of land and better-quality produce than field cropping.

Tolaga Bay 899 Tauwhareparae Road

An immaculate farm and reputable Stud

5+2

Ratanui Angus, 9km from Tolaga Bay, combines a remarkably appealing combination of farming components that provide for an impeccably balanced farm and accomplished Stud operation. A pinnacle of presentation and balance, encompassing 374ha, including 85ha of fertile flats, 35ha leased flats, with the residual largely easy to medium sheltered hill country. Ratanui Angus established in the 1950’s, has grown to be one of the bastions of Gisborne Bull week, offering genetics sought after countrywide. A modern bull sale complex replicates the standard across the entire Ratanui operation. The highly regarded Suffmax Ram Stud also adds appeal.

Infrastructure is impeccable. The 5+2 bedroom homestead is supported by the large self-contained sleepout.

Investment into improvements, fertility and stud stock genetics, are a priority under Ratanui ownership.

Tender (will not be sold prior) Closing 4pm, Wed 23 Jun 2021 10 Reads Quay, Gisborne View by appointment Simon Bousfield 027 665 8778 simon.bousfield@bayleys.co.nz Stephen Thomson 027 450 6531 stephen.thomson@bayleys.co.nz

bayleys.co.nz/2752167

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Glen Murray 2702 Wairamarama Onewhero Road

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Auction (unless sold prior) 1pm, Wed 16 Jun 2021 84 Walton Street, Whangarei View by appointment Catherine Stewart 027 356 5031 catherine.stewart@bayleys.co.nz MACKYS REAL ESTATE LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

End of season opportunity Available for the first time in over 60 years, this well developed 582ha drystock property is held within five titles. Traditionally wintering in excess of 2,200 M/A ewes and 250 cattle with all stock finished on the property, the traditional sheep and beef country comprises limestone hill with good fertiliser history.

Infrastructure includes a four stand wool shed, three implement sheds, hay barn, yards and loading race. The homestead is nestled peacefully in established gardens with beautiful views over the surrounding countryside. Centrally located within an hour to the popular towns of Pukekohe, Te Kauwhata and Tuakau. With size, scale and scope, this outstanding farm provides many options and is a must see for serious farmers and investors.

bayleys.co.nz/2312370

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BOUSFIELD MACPHERSON LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Tangowahine 163 Tangowahine Valley Road This picturesque and picture-perfect property is now on offer and awaiting its new owners to take advantage of the options available. Containing three titles on 41 hectares (more or less) and located only 47km south of Whangarei or 15km to Dargaville, this property is one not to be overlooked. The quirky Kauri, character style, bungalow home features high ceilings with wooden polished floors and consists of three large bedrooms with office.

There is a tandem garage/storage shed and carport which is surrounded by an abundance of fruit trees. Complementing the infrastructure is an array of shedding including a large five bay (30x15m) implement shed with concrete base, mechanics pit and mezzanine floor, fully compliant 15ASHB cowshed.

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Tender (unless sold prior) Closing 4pm, Tue 22 Jun 2021 96 Ulster Street, Hamilton View 11am-12pm Tue 1 Jun & Tue 8 Jun or by appointment Peter Kelly 027 432 4278 peter.kelly@bayleys.co.nz SUCCESS REALTY LIMITED, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Oamaru 43 Murray Road Tender

A real change in real estate.

Dairy support & beef - 305 ha • Affordable scale starting from $10,000/ha • Multiple land use options - dairy support, beef, sheep, forestry • Excellent location only 4km from Oamaru • 3,200 - 3,500 SU wintered annually • Moderate climate & all year-round production • Great balance - productive paddocks & rolling/hill • Good fertility & soils • Large 530 m2 family home • Good infrastructure, yards & sheds • Reliable water scheme, 9 units lower Waitaki scheme + well

Tender closes Friday 11th June, 2021 at 4.00pm, (unless sold prior), 217 West Street, Ashburton, 7700 View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/AR84915

The Property Brokers and Farmlands partnership means great things for provincial real estate Together our combined strengths complement each other to create bigger networks, more buyers and better results.

Proud to be together

For more information call 0800 367 5263 or visit pb.co.nz/together

Greg Jopson M 027 447 4382

Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008

Wanaka 474 Wanaka-Luggate Highway

Equestrian and lifestylers dream come true!

Option 1: Entire Property 23.5199 ha approx: Two titles with two consented building platforms.

Option 2: 3.4136 ha - $2,200,000: Titled and with consented building platform. Two paddocks with horse-safe fencing.

Power and water to the boundary. Bore water.

For Sale $2,200,000 - $7,200,000 View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/WAL85851

Option 3: 20.1063 ha - $5,000,000: Fully fenced with horse safe fencing. 10 one-acre paddocks all irrigated each with yard, tack shed and concrete wash down area. Bore water. Show jumping & dressage arena, ten individual day yards with two wash bays. Hacking track. Titled with consented building platform.

Angela Cross M 021 900 665 Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 | pb.co.nz

E angela.cross@pb.co.nz Proud to be here

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FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

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Primary Pathways – Jobs, Education & Training

DRYSTOCK FARMER WANTED

JOBS BOARD Aviation

A stunning 540ha farm, situated on the Kawhia coast, is requiring the services of a diligent farmer with a minimum five years experience. This property is currently a breeding station consisting of 200 Hereford breeding cows and replacements and 850 Breeding ewes plus replacements. You will be a critical part of leadership of the farm and need to be honest and reliable. A proven knowledge and experience growing young stock, best practise animal health standards, feed budgeting and the ability to work autonomously and collaboratively is essential. You must have a high level of communication and good planning skills. Health and safety is a priority.

For more details about this role please contact Julia Smith on 021 145 6704 or email your work experience and contact details to: grasshut@xtra.co.nz

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An exciting and unique position is available at Kawhia for a person who has experience in running a small farming operation.

Key attributes 1. Effective time management skills 2. Extensive experience in handling stock, yard work and pasture management 3. Excellent animal welfare values and practises 4. Ability to identify animal health issues 5. Knowledge and ability to maintain water reticulation and electric fence systems 6. Basic mechanical skills and the desire to keep all machinery and tools in well maintained condition 7. Diligent in weed control 8. 3-4 working dogs under good control 9. Full drivers license essential and no criminal convictions

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FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

Havelock North 06 876 7159 Central Hawkes Bay 06 857 8901

We’re hiring Are you a dynamic team player?

We have a new role in our driven and fun sales team!

Telesales Classifieds - Six-month fixed term contract We have a role in our Feilding head office for a people person who is a real go-getter.

You’ll be talking to farmers and other business clients all over New Zealand who want to market their products and job vacancies in the classifieds section of Farmers Weekly, Dairy Farmer and our websites.

You’ll be busy on the phone and email, building trust, discovering needs, and then presenting great solutions that work across our print and digital assets.

Our team will support you every step of the way as you learn the range of products, systems, processes and industry-good activities at GlobalHQ that combine to make this a great place to work.

An empathy with the farming sector and the media world would be an advantage, and a proven record of sales success is necessary. You will use your skills and customer service experience to reach sales targets using the world-leading Salesforce CRM system. You will require a good understanding of the G Suite cloud computing tools and usual computing tools, along with highly accurate and efficient administration skills.

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Noticeboard

ANIMAL HANDLING

DOGS FOR SALE

FARM MAPPING

FLY OR LICE problem?

Electrodip – the magic eye sheepjetter since 1989 with unique self adjusting sides.

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BEARDIE AND COLLIE Pups. https://www. youtube.com/channel/ UCFyzfLgzI8py3Gc2iZPo DNQ/videos Email: hughesfamilydogs@ farmside.co.nz 07 315 5553.

HUNTAWAY DOG – 11 months old, big dog, big noise, plenty of go. Needs lots of work. Phone 021 022 41610.

HUNTAWAY PUPS, 8 weeks, two male. Will be good cattle dogs. $150 each. Phone 07 871 9934 / 027 476 2579.

FOR ONLY $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classifieds. Phone Marie on 0800 85 25 80.

SIMPLIFY YOUR farm planning with practical, affordable and accurate maps from www. farmmapping.co.nz – contact us for a free quote.

DAGS .25c PER KG. Replacement woolpacks.

PV Weber Wools.

Kawakawa Road, Feilding. Phone 06 323 9550.

CONTRACTORS GORSE AND THISTLE SPRAY. We also scrub cut. Four men with all gear in your area. Phone Dave 06 375 8032.

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

BUYING, SELLING DOGS NZ Wide. www. youtube.com/user/ mikehughesworkingdog/ videos email: mikehughesworkingdogs@ farmside.co.nz 07 315 5553

PROMOTES QUICK PASTURE growth. Only $6+gst per hectare delivered. 0508-GIBBGRO [0508 442 247] www. gibbgro.co.nz. “The Proven One.”

GOATS WANTED 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.

GRAZING AVAILABLE TAURANGA AREA. suitable for 80-100 R1 dairy heifers. Phone Paul 027 629 2452.

GRAZING AVAILABLE, large numbers. Weekly rate or weight gain options.

Waikato/BOP area. Phone 021 863 320.

HORTICULTURE NZ KELP. FRESH, wild ocean harvested giant kelp.

The world’s richest source of natural iodine. Dried and milled for use in agriculture and horticulture. Growth promotant / stock health food. As seen on Country Calendar. Orders to: 03 322 6115 or info@nzkelp.co.nz

LEASE FARM WANTED DRYSTOCK LEASE FARM or equity partnership.

Sought by hard working progressive young family.

North Island. Phone Gav 027 347 5103.

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE WILTSHIRES-ARVIDSON. Self shearing sheep. No1 for Facial Eczema. David 027 2771 556.

FOR ONLY $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in Farmers Weekly Classifieds. Phone Marie on 0800 85 25 80.

MUSTERING GOAT MUSTERING. 50:50 split with farmer. Based in Whanganui. Small numbers okay.

Experienced in forestry/steep country.

Phone William 027 950 4907.

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, email sales@hydra-cell.co.nz

PERSONAL

WANTED TO BUY 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.

WORD ONLY ADVERTISING. Phone Marie on 0800 85 25 80.

WORK WANTED

CRUTCHING, SHEARING and fencing work wanted.

South Auckland / Waikato / Coromandel. Phone Brian 027 236 5409.

DOLOMITE NZ’s finest BioGro certified Mg fertiliser For a delivered price call ....

0800 436 566

Country Beauty!

Rachel is full of life, love and laughter.

She loves the country lifestyle, swimming, horse riding and cooking. Rachel is now looking for a man who is genuine and affectionate.

For more details on Rachel and many other beautiful ladies in your local area, please call

0800 446 332 Quote code 62

EARMARKERS

BIRDSCARER DE HORNER HOOF TRIMMER

BARLEY & WHEAT STRAW RYE GRASS STRAW MEADOW HAY LUCERNE & MEADOW BALEAGE

MOWER MASTER FIELDAYS SPECIAL - JUNE ONLY SPECIAL ®

TOWABLE FLAIL MOWER

Available in Squares & Rounds

13.5HP. Briggs & Stratton Motor.

Electric start. 1.2m cut

Phone Mark 0800 478 729 or Tracey 027 554 1841

QUALITY Feeds You Can TRUST

GST $4400 INCLUSIVE

$4100

T HI NK P R E B U I L T

To find out more visit www.moamaster.co.nz

Ph 028 461 5112 • Email: mowermasterltd@gmail.com

LK0106798©

GST INCLUSIVE

LK0105415©

Under Woolshed/Covered Yards Cleaning Specialist www.underthewoolshed.kiwi

SCOTTY’S CONTRACTORS FROM THIS

Nominate a school on booking and we’ll donate $100 on payment of your account.

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

BTZ Forestry Marketing and Harvesting (Obtaining the best profits for our customers) Farmers/Woodlot owner Tired of waiting for someone to harvest your trees?

TO THAT

✁

New Zealand’s Number 1 service provider for under woolshed and covered yard cleaning since 2004

We are not committed to one buyer that is how we get our customers the most profit we can. Set up to do the smaller, trickier wood lots. No job too big or too small.

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

Free quotes Markets for all species Email: BTZforestry@gmail.com

Waiinu Beach Quarry Expressions of Interest – purchase of mining right, resource consent, access agreement and associated quarry plant and machinery.

Travel further with Farmers Weekly

Consent to Mine Limestone Shellrock Location: 263 Waiinu Beach Road, Waitotara – South Taranaki 36.2 hectare Survey Quarry Located 7km off State Highway 3, Waitotara, the property has consent to excavate shellrock from 36.2 hectare with right to extend mining permit and land.

Promote or find your next adventure in our Travel & Tourism section published monthly.

Quarry has provided quality shellrock to dairy farmers, sheep and beef farmers, local contractors, forestry, all roading requirements, river erosion work in the Waverley, Waitotara and South Taranaki region since 2004.

Next issue – June 14: Booking deadline Wednesday June 9 - 12 noon

To advertise your travel products and services contact: Debbie 06 323 0765 or email classifieds@globalhq.co.nz www.farmersweekly.co.nz

LK0105453©

✁

Phone Scott Newman Freephone 0800 2SCOTTY (0800 27 26 88) Mobile 027 26 26 27 2 scottnewman101@gmail.com

LK0107293©

S AREA UITI NOW] K E T SHED IO & PIOP K YOUR [BOO

✁

We also clean out and remetal cattle yards – Call Us!

NEW HOMES

LK0106909©

ATTENTION FARMERS

GIBB-GRO GROWTH PROMOTANT

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.

HAY FOR SALE 15 EQUIVALENT ROUNDS $75+gst; Shed stored squares $75+gst.

BALEAGE $75+gst. Unit loads available. Top quality.

Phone 021 455 787.

Heavy duty long lasting Ph 021 047 9299

For more information regarding the Deed of access call 027 232 7763 View by appointment only.

Justine Alexander 027 232 7763

LK0107246©

CRAIGCO SHEEP JETTERS. Sensor Jet. Deal to fly and Lice now. Guaranteed performance.

Unbeatable pricing.

Phone 06 835 6863. www.craigcojetters.com

GOATS WANTED

FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

LK0107006©

classifieds@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

LK0107287©

28

Livestock Noticeboard

FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

29

“ A Consumer orientated breeding programme

using proven performance genetics to enhance commercial returns for our clients

”

Thursday 10 June 2021 th

58 rising 2yr bulls at Waitangi ALL Bulls are i50K tested for enhanced EBVs

Enquiries and Inspection Welcomed:

Contact John, Joss or Phil Bayly M

027 474 3185,

Email

jbayly@xtra.co.nz

Sale Catalogue link: www.waitangiangus.co.nz/upcoming-sales

www.waitangiangus.co.nz

41 ST

Annual 2 yr old Angus Bull Sale

THURSDAY 10TH JUNE 2021

TUESDAY, 8th JUNE at 1pm

On farm sale at Karamu Wanganui at 3.00pm BULLS SIRED BY: LD Capitalist 316, Hoover Dam, MF Theodore 2305, MF Edmund 2136, Matauri Reality N150

Contact Lindsay or Maria Johnstone today 027 445 3211 or 027 610 5348

ranuiangus.co.nz All bulls i50k and structurally assessed.

NGĀPUTAHI 14 JUNE

On the property, Wairere Road, off the Meremere Road, Hawera.

Bulls available from the top 20% of Australasian TACE

AngusPure

and

qualifying bulls

All enquiries to Stock & Station companies or Cedric Lander, RD 12, Hawera. Ph 06 272 2899 or 021 144 3862 Email: cedric.lander@yahoo.co.nz

MERCHISTON ANGUS

Viewing from 1pm AUCTION 3pm

BULL SALE

Online on Bidr.com or

LK0107306©

Waitangi Angus

EST 1955

JOIN THE CLAN These Bulls run with 6400 ewes, 640 Cows and a total 16500 su.

We Breed ‘em, you Feed ‘em.

ASCOT HALLMARK H147 [15 SONS IN THIS YEARS SALE]

43 ANGUS BULLS

Scan our QR code to see our Sale Bulls data

Forbes Cameron 06 329 4050 • 027 259 4050 or Angus Cameron 06 329 4711

LK0107238©

TOTARA RESERVE POHANGINA VALLEY

9TH June at 2.30pm on farm and on BIDR Putorino Road, Rata Enquiries to: Richard Rowe 027 279 8841 e: mercang@farmside.co.nz or see ebook online at Angus NZ

LK0106864©

BULLS AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION AT ALL TIMES WITH APPOINTMENTS

Interested in receiving the bull sale results?

Head to farmersweekly.co.nz/e-newsletter to sign up today.

47 Rising 2yr bulls Friday 11th June @ 1.30pm on farm, Pahiatua

www.totaranuistud.co.nz Email for a catalogue: bulls@totaranuistud.co.nz Daimien & Tally 06 376 8400 or 021 430 710

Got a result to share? Email Ella at livestock@globalhq.co.nz or text 027 602 4925.

www.farmersweekly.co.nz/bullsales

Mark Crooks – PGG Wrightson 027 590 1452

Ready to talk some Bull?

Contact Ella: 0800 85 25 80 or email livestock@globalhq.co.nz

LK0106856©

Subscribe to the Farmers Weekly bull sales e-newsletter and receive commentary and up-to-date results from sales across the nation, direct to your inbox.

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

Livestock Noticeboard

FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

STOCK FOR SALE

SHIRE®

PINE PARK ANGUS

Lines of MA COWS refer to online listings

STOCK REQUIRED

MALE LAMBS 30-38kg EWE LAMBS 28-38kg SIL EWES Feb/Mar Ram R2YR FRSN BEEF BULLS 370-430kg

35 2-year-old bulls Sale Thursday 10th June – 11.30am

SHIRE® (hair) & WILTSHIRE (shedding) Rams NO FLY STRIKE, NO DAGGING, NO SHEARING, NO DIPPING, NO DRENCHING SINCE 1989 Wiltshire Stud established 1987 • SHIRE® Stud discovered 1998

ANGUS and/or XBRED COWS Nov & Dec Bull LK0107324©

30

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381

Catalogue of rams available. See link below: https://organic-rams.co.nz/images/2021RamCatalogue-22May2021.pdf

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

LK0107149©

Phone Tim, Helen & Bob Gow 03 225 5283 www.organic-rams.co.nz • Email: tim@organic-rams.co.nz

Please call to arrange a viewing Phone: Edward 021 704 778

ARE YOU GETTING TOO MANY BULL BREAKDOWNS?

RIVERLEE HEREFORDS 5th Annual Bull Sale 9th June 2021, 1pm

Waigroup bulls are backed with a rigorous guarantee. CALL US TODAY

Held on farm 2354 Rangiwahia Rd, Manawatu

LOT 6

20 R2yr Polled Hereford Bulls

Pinebank Sales: 2-Year bulls by private treaty through June Glanworth On-Farm Auctions: 2-year Bulls Thursday 24 June at 2.30pm

HILL COUNTRY BRED FOR HILL COUNTRY FARMERS

Selling Agents Carrfields Livestock: Bruce Orr 027 492 2122 Dan Warner 027 826 5768 NZ Farmers Livestock: John Watson 027 494 1975 Brent Bougen 027 210 4698

www.herefords.co.nz

P: 06 8747844 M: 027 4888 635 E: info@koanuiherefords.co.nz

Enquiries & Visitors Welcome Murray & Fiona Curtis 06 328 2881 or 027 228 2881

www.koanuiherefords.co.nz

Email: mfcurtis@farmside.co.nz

VISITORS & ENQUIRIES WELCOME

PINEBANK Established 1919 Willie Falloon Ph: (06) 372 7041 E: falloon@xtra.co.nz GLANWORTH Established 1952 Shaun Fouhy Ph: (06) 376 8869 E: glanworthfarm@gmail.com

www.anguswaigroup.co.nz

Red Oak ANGUS STUD

14th Annual Bull Sale

Friday 16th June 2017Bull 3pm on-farm 18th Annual Sale 40 meaty hill-country 2yr old bulls

Friday 18th June 2021 – 3.00pm

38 Meaty hill country 2-year Bulls. A lot by 3 exciting new sires, breeding well at Red Oak. Top sons by carcass sire R.O. 644

Stud cow with a hill-country bull calf from this season

All seasons at Red Oak - dry and snow

R.O. 802 Lot 10

At Red Oak we breed cattle that are run commercially on hill country up to 2600 Ft . They compete with large sheep numbers, 66% sheep to 33% cattle stock units, and are exposed to all conditions from 2 year droughts to snow as the pictures indicate. We select cattle that thrive in this environment and deliver top actual growth and scanning data. We are proud of the raw actual data our cattle achieve which is always available for potential clients to observe.

Top sons by We don’t believe in, or hide behind estimates as they have failed to deliver results under our conditions.It is easy to breed pieces of paper butMeadowslea a bit harder to breed decent cattle! The results of this, breed bulls like Herdsire ; Red Oak High Country 770 (pictured), Outstanding sons will be available for sale this season.

429

Combining old NZ bloodlines, common sense stockmanship and modern technologies to produce functional high performinghill country cattle!

Rick & Deb Orr

R.O. 735 Lot 1

Red Oak, Weka Pass, RD3, Amberley Phone: 03 314 6759 Mobile: 0272 457 751 redoakstud@amuri.net

INSPECTION & ENQUIRIES ALWAYS WELCOME

R.O. 825 Lot 2

Sound well fleshed sires, Excellent temperament 200 Fully Breedplan recorded cows • 20 Bulls Catalogued

Sons of R.O 619

BULL OPEN DAY: WEDNESDAY 2ND JUNE, 1 - 5PM • ALL ENQUIRIES WELCOME

R.O. 772 Lot 8

27TH ANNUAL SALE THURSDAY 10TH JUNE, 1PM, TE KUITI SALE YARDS

Supplying Bulls from Tolaga Bay to Urenui, from Hawke’s Bay to Wanganui hill country, from Marlborough high country to Southland, from Haka Valley to the Lees Valley and a lot of spots in between.

Rick and Deb Orr Red Oak, Weka Pass RD 3, Amberley Phone: 03 314 6759 Mobile: 027 245 7751 Email: redoakstud@amuri.net

LK0107273©

For no nonsense bulls that last, ask someone near you using Red Oak Genetics

PETER & CAROLINE FOSS

also online bidding with

495 Potaka Road, RD 1, Aria, King Country Ph/fax (07) 877 7881 • Email: pcfossy@xtra.co.nz

LK0107128©

811 Maraetotara Road, Havelock North

64 Rising Two Year Bulls - Semen & service tested - DNA tested 100K SNP - Performance recorded - Proven genetics

LK0106699©

ON FARM AUCTION 1pm Thurs June 17

Livestock Noticeboard

P

A

OKARO

SPECKLE PARK Waiuku

Bulls and Females for sale by private treaty

MYLIVESTOCK STUD SALES

Stratford Saleyard Wednesday 9th June 2021 12 Noon start

ONLINE PLATFORM OPERATING 1st June Tarangower Angus Rockend Hereford 11.30am Mahoenui 2nd June Hingaia Angus 4pm Te Awamutu 3rd June Shian Angus 11am Taumarunui Blackridge Angus 2pm Taumarunui Puke-Nui 4.30pm Taumarunui 4th June Limousin Sale 12 Noon Matamata 9th June Riverlee Hereford Stud 1.30pm Kimbolton 10th June Ipurua South Devon 1pm Te Kuiti Saleyards 11th June Rolling Rock Angus 10am Te Akau 17th June Waitawheta Angus 1pm Paeroa 18th June Tawanui, Te Kupe & Aywon Combined Hereford & Angus

12.30pm Stratford 5th July Te Puna Hereford Kerikeri GUIDE TO USING OUR ONLINE LIVE AUCTION PLATFORM Getting Started - how to get verified to participate in an Auction.

Create an account with MyLiveStock. Login to MyLiveStock.

Once you have created an account you can go to the Live Auction and be a viewer only user. If you wish to bid on the Live Auction portal, submit your NZFL Account Number/Code (8 digit numerical account code found on an invoice or credit note on the top right hand side).

We will allocate a unique online Permanent Bidder ID number. You will be notified of this by email once complete.

If you are not a current NZFL account holder you are required to apply and complete the necessary documentation and credit checks. If you cannot remember your NZFL Account Number/Code or Permanent Bidder Number phone 0800 695 483 and we will get you set up and verified. You can now access the Live Auction page.

You must agree to the Terms & conditions to enable bidding and before each auction begins.

JUNE TO JULY 2021

LK0107265©

2 yearling heifers

50 x R3yr Hfd/Frsn Steers Hill country Steers with frame Liveweight 530 to 590kg approx.

Sold in lines of 10.

LK0107309©

Special Entry Account W & K Petersen F/T Annual Draft

2 incalf heifers

ENQUIRIES: Stephen Sutton 0274 423 207

All enquiries welcome Ph: Geoff 027 495 6617 • E: gachitty@ps.gen.nz

Livestock advertising?

SPECIAL ENTRY

WAITAWHETA ANGUS 2-YEAR BULL SALE

CAPITAL STOCK HILL COUNTRY EWES

FINAL SALE THURSDAY 17TH JUNE 2021 – 1PM 86A THAMES ROAD, PAEROA 23 x Top Quality 2 Year Angus Bulls 3 x Yearling Angus Bulls Last chance to purchase the Waitawheta Prefix.

Bred for calving ease, short gestation and quality carcass.

Hybrid Auction Sale Streamed Live via MyLiveStock

Going Going Gone!

(In conjunction with Te Kuiti Winter Ewe Fair)

11 am Friday 11th June 2021 ON A/C: WAIRAMA DOWNS 700 x 2th Coopworth Ewes 633 x 4th Coopworth Ewes (Above Ewes In lamb to Coopworth 1st March) 1080 x 6th & 5Yr Coopworth Ewes (In lamb to Suff/Tex 16th February) Flock scanning 175% 900 x Coopworth Ewe Lambs These hill country flock ewes are bred by Nikau Coopworth Rams focusing on high fertility and eczema tolerance. The 2ths are toxo & campy vaccinated each year.

Contact Ella:

0800 85 25 80

livestock@globalhq.co.nz

LK0107310©

LK0107285©

ENQUIRIES: Vendor: Pat Sharpe 07 863 7954, 021 0237 9817 Agents: Kevin Fathers 0272 799 800 Brent Bougen - NZ Farmers Stud Stock 0272 104 698

31

TARANAKI AUTUMN CATTLE FAIR

800 Cattle. Full details to follow.

– Female starter pack –

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

ENQUIRIES: Brett Wallbank 0274 881 299

O D O RICHON W H C E E B NZ’s Virtual Saleyard

WOODBURN

LEES VALLEY

UPCOMING BULL SALES Monday, 31 May 2021 2.00pm Umbrella Range Angus Tuesday, 1 June 2021 11.00am Peters Genetics Angus 11.30am Tarangower Angus & Rockend Hereford 2.00pm Limehills Polled Hereford 2.00pm Rauriki Charolais 7.00pm Duncraigen Hereford Wednesday, 2 June 2021 1.00pm Storth Oaks Angus 4.00pm Hingaia Angus Thursday, 3 June 2021 11.00am Shian Angus 11.30am Monymusk Polled Hereford 2.00pm Black Ridge Angus 2.00pm Glenbrae Polled Hereford 4.00pm Waikaka Hereford 4.30pm Puke-Nui Angus 7.30pm Hiwiroa & Tahuna Shorthorn Friday, 4 June 2021 12.00pm Kay Jay Angus For further information go to bidr.co.nz or contact the team on 0800 TO BIDR

Grassmere Gallant 244

45 For sale Hereford bulls Lots

Speckle park bulls M/A Commercial cows

thursday, 10th JUNE 2021 11:00AM

77 Maskells Rd, Amberley

ROB & JULIE STOKES

ROZLYN STOKES

Tim & Helen Molloy

ROB & MARY ANN BURROWS

77 MASKELLS ROAD RD 1, AMBERLEY 7481 Ph: 03 314 8251 M: 0277 571 673 e: rstokes@xtra.co.nz

2283 CARLETON ROAD RD 1, OXFORD 7495 Ph: 021 136 2298

POLL HEREFORD & SPECKLE PARK 897 MARSHMANS RD RD 7, RANGIORA Ph: 0272 033 854 e: mollyfordltd@gmail.com

200 MARSHMANS ROAD RANGIORA, 7477 Ph: 03 313 2857 M: 0272 633 582 e: rj.ma.burrows@xtra.co.nz

LK0107279©

FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

32

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

Livestock Noticeboard

FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

OREGON angus

Tim Coombs NZ Wide Studstock

0097594

Local & Inter-island transportation of your Stud Bulls

35 BULLS 130.71x100

Angus Tuesday 8thOregon June 2021 – 2pm

Your Studstock Specialist

TIM COOMBS Owner/Manager P: 027 444 1937

E: coombs@vetta.net.nz

95

timcoombsdeerandstock.co.nz

HEREFORD BULLS FOR SALE

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

BULL WALK THURSDAY 20TH MAY, FROM 1.50PM

Wednesday 9th June 2021

TE WHANGA ANGUS power plus performance

ORARI GORGE

35 BULLS 11.00am Orari Gorge Station Geraldine Graham & Rosa Peacock 03 692 2853 Robert & Alex Peacock 03 692 2893

BULL VIDEOS ON

PRACTICAL PRODUCTIVE CATTLE

2021 FRIDAY 11 JUNE SALE DATE 10.00

JW0107000©

60 BULLS 2.30pm Okawa Mt. Somers Nick & Penny France 03 303 9749, 027 567 8019

JASON COFFEY 691 Te Kopi Rd, RD4, Masterton te_whanga@borthwick.co.nz

26, Rising 2 year old Angus Bulls P. 06 372 77 20 M. 0274 570 526 www.borthwick.co.nz

All enquiries and visitors welcome

DON’T SETTLE FOR AVERAGE WEANING WEIGHTS Weaning weight - 447kg (68% of cow weight)

O N - FA R M B U L L S A L E T U E S DAY 1 5 T H J U N E 2 0 2 1 , 9 . 3 0 A M 1 0 2 L AW S R O A D , D A N N E V I R K E INSPECTIONS WELCOME Willy Philip 102 Laws Road, Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 8857 Email: anui@xtra.co.nz @AnuiStudLivestock

George Philip 923 Mangatuna Road Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 2861

CHECK OUT MCFADZEAN MEAT MAKER YEARLING BULLS Open day - 25th August Sale - 9th September 2pm 216 Wiltons Road, Carterton

Johnie McFadzean 0274295777 Andrew Jennings PGG Wrightsons 0275946820 www.mcfadzeancattlecompany.co.nz

LK0107012©

OREGON DYNAMITE

FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

Livestock Noticeboard

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

33

“A Taste of Waipiri”

SALE

Thursday June 17th 2021 on farm Star Lot sells as Lot 3 WAIPIRI’S best will go under the hammer from what is considered NZ’s leading herd on genomics. International cow families proven under NZ conditions.

One chance as WAIPIRI Holsteins is handed on to the next generation, Alex and Dean Fullerton.

This is the icing on the cake for David and Pip as 95 elite individuals go under the hammer of the World’s Best Dairy Auctioneer Mr Brian Leslie (Australia).

The WAIPIRI herd has had few parallels the past few decades in the fields of hight production, high genomics. Premier Breeder Banners at every show exhibited the past few years.

• Leading vendor at National Bull Sale on all but one occasion in the last years 25 years.

• NZ’s leading exporter of embryos, bulls, heifers to all parts of the world.

Farmers, whatever your agenda is in the Dairy Sector, you can’t afford to miss an opportunity to secure a truly special addition to your farming operation. The future is genomics and WAIPIRI has well and truly plenty of it. Ten – sixteen generations in the catalogue is the norm, rather than the exception.

BRED FOR BALANCE

Experience the Difference at WAIPIRI – see you all June 17th

Are you looking to improve your beef breeding programme? Then you can’t go past the balance offered by Angus.

AngusNZ congratulates our breeders on the positive sale results already achieved.

With a strong maternal influence, consistent growth and high marbling traits the Angus breed is ideally positioned to positively impact your beef herd.

Future sales include:

The AngusNZ indexes and EBV’s provided by our breeders is specific to New Zealand conditions, climate and market to give you greater assurance and decision-making capabilities.

TARANGOWER ANGUS 75TH

For further understanding on NZ indexes and EBV’s visit angusnz.com

31 MAY - 4 JUNE UMBRELLA RANGE ANGUS PETERS ANGUS COLVEND ANGUS PIKOBURN ANGUS HINGAIA ANGUS SHIAN ANGUS BLACK RIDGE ANGUS PUKE-NUI ANGUS KAYJAY ANGUS

PRIVATE TREATY

LK0107318©

MOANAROA ANGUS KOWAI ANGUS

angusnz.com

PINEBANK ANGUS

Hinewaka Shorthorns 18th ANNUAL BULL SALE Wednesday 9th June 2021, 3pm – on farm

SIRES OF 2021 BULLS INCLUDE: TAIMATE LAZARUS

LK0097818©

20 R2YR BULLS View online catalogue at www.hinewakashorthorns.co.nz and visit our facebook page

David, Pip & Mitch Blackwood – Ph: 06 372 7615 456 Te Wharau Road, Masterton

Ready to talk some Bull?

Contact Ella: 0800 85 25 80 or email livestock@globalhq.co.nz

MUSGRAVE STUNNER RANGATIRA TAURUS RANGATIRA 91

TUESDAY

15th JUNE 12:30PM

*New Sale Date and Time*

BULLS ALSO AVAILABLE BY PRIVATE TREATY JUSTIN & MEG KING, 34 PAULSEN ROAD, TAKAPAU

P: (06) 855 8288 | M: 027 248 8400 | E: justin@brookwood.co.nz

www.brookwood.co.nz

34

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

Livestock Noticeboard

FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

SALE TALK

KAIRURU

Here at Farmers Weekly we get some pretty funny contributions to our Sale Talk joke from you avid readers, and we’re keen to hear more!

We went right up to him and said, “Come on, how about giving a senior citizen a break?”

If you’ve got a joke you want to share with the Farming community (it must be something you’d share with your grandmother...) then email us at: saletalk@globalhq.co.nz with Sale Talk in the subject line and we’ll print it and credit it to you.

He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a disgrace.

He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires.

My wife called him worthless, so he finished the second ticket, put it on the windshield and started writing a third. This went on for another 20 minutes or so. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

Personally, we didn’t care. We came into town by bus

Conditions apply

Top quality bulls bred for NZ Farmers ● ● BVD Tested Clear, BVD and 10 in 1 Vaccinated ● Calving ease, moderate birth weight bulls suitable to mate 1 or 2 year olds or cows ● Breedplan Recorded ● TB Status C10 ● Herd completely free of known genetic defects ● Only proven NZ bred bulls used in last 10 years ● Renowned for great temperament ● Three year comprehensive guarantee

POLLED HEREFORDS

SINCE 1979

ON FARM 30TH ANNUAL SALE

JUNE - 1PM at Kairuru,9 Reporoa (m

26th March a In conjunction

LK0106589©

As a retiree, I’m often asked what I do to fill my days. Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town for a little shopping. After visiting one store for about five minutes, we emerged to find a cop writing out a parking ticket.

with BIDR

28 R2YR BULLS

LOT 2

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

SNAKE GULLY LIMOUSINS... have the missing pieces!

Enquiries and inspection welcome. Contact

36th Annual Bull Sale

Kevin or Megan FRIEL ph: (06) 376 4543 625 Jackson Road, Kumeroa

Monday 14th June 2021

kev.meg.co@xtra.co.nz

www.mtmableangus.co.nz

Reduce Carbonn Footprint with High Yielding Limousin

High Dressing Percentage More Money In Your Pocket

Efficient Conversion Means More Meat

ual n n A h t 27 LE21 A S L L U B es 15 June 20

Breed Plan Recorded EBV's

for Docility

Tu On Farm 1:00 pm a Road,

an nd R2yr heifers 13 in-calf 493 Om Northla a ir t io a W 13 heifer calves 16 Rising 2 Year Bulls

For m more info contact Natalie 09 4377944 or 021 02386518 Catalogues available Mid May or www.limousin.co.nz

Registered Polled A Selection of Females CLIENT

BREED

AREA

AGENT CONTACT

BIDDING OPTIONS

1 June

Peters Angus

Angus

Beaumont

Roger Keach

027 417 8641

Bidr, On-Farm

1 June

Rauriki Charolais

Charolais

Waipukurau

Tom Suttor

027 6164504

Bidr, On-Farm

3 June

Ngakouka Hereford

Hereford

Dannevirke

Tom Suttor

027 6164504

On-Farm

4 June

Kaingaroa Simmentals

Simmental

Lake Ohia

Bruce Orr

027 4922122

On-Farm

8 June

Hain Hereford

Hereford

Gisborne

Tom Suttor

027 6164504

On-Farm

9 June

Riverlee Herefords

Herefords

Rangiwahia

Bruce Orr

027 4922122

On-Farm

9 June

Dandaloo Angus

Angus

Masterton

Tom Suttor

027 6164504

Bidr, On-Farm

10 June

Maungahina Stud

Hereford / Speckle Park

Masterton

Chris Mcbride

027 5651145

AuctionsPlus, On-Farm

11 June

Twin Oaks Angus

Angus

Te-Akau

Callum Dunnett

027 587 0131

AuctionsPlus, On-Farm

15 June

Brookwood Angus

Angus

Takapau

Tom Suttor

027 6164504

Bidr, On-Farm

16 June

Silverstream Charolais

Charolais

Lincoln

Callum Dunnett

027 587 0131

On-Farm

18 June

Grampians Angus

Angus

Culverden

Callum Dunnett

027 587 0131

Bidr, On-Farm

18 June

Waiterenui Angus

Angus

Hastings

Tom Suttor

027 6164504

Bidr, On-Farm

20 June

Brackenfield Angus

Angus

Blenheim

Callum Dunnett

027 587 0131

Bidr, On-Farm

21 June

Taimate Angus

Angus

Ward

Callum Dunnett

027 587 0131

On-Farm

21 June

Burtegill South Devon

South Devon

Ward

Callum Dunnett

027 587 0131

On-Farm

®

KEVIN & JANE McDONALD

MAUNGAHINA STUD 07 333 8068

SALE DATE: 10th June 2021 – 1pm 36 Polled Hereford bulls 18 Polled Speckle Park Bulls

mark.maungahina@xtra.co.nz • +64 27 415 8696

www.maungahina.co.nz

LK0107127©

DATE

Herefords

Livestock Noticeboard

FARMERS WEEKLY – May 31, 2021

35

ROLLING ROCK ANGUS

SILVERSTREAM

CHAROLAIS.HEREFORDS

ON-FARM SALE – Friday 11th June 2021, 10am 20 TWO-YEAR-OLD ANGUS BULLS

BULL SALE

Advertise your livestock in the Farmers Weekly.

It’s no bull.

Visit us https://www.facebook.com/Rolling-Rock-Angus-Poll-Dorset-101014681620488

LK0107269©

Breakfast and Inspection from 7.30am

WEDNESDAY 16TH JUNE 2PM On Property Greenpark, Christchurch

livestock@globalhq.co.nz – 0800 85 25 80

For enquiries and pre-sale inspection John Harrington – Ph 07 210 1486 Mobile 021 276 9557 johnnyoharrington@gmail.com 856 Mangiti Rd, Te Akau

Contact Ella: 06 323 0761 027 602 4925

livestock@globalhq.co.nz

farmersweekly.co.nz

LOT 2

BULL SALE: 42 ANGUS BULLS

FRIDAY JUNE 18 – 1PM 839 VALLEY ROAD, HASTINGS

LOT 4

Contact: Tom Suttor, Carrfields 027 616 4504 or Dean Freeman, Redshaw Livestock 027 445 1944

LK0107263©

LOT 3

Open for Viewing Everyday

BULL SALE - 8th JUNE 2021

LOT 15

40 High Performance Poll Hereford Bulls Auction Starts 12 Noon

LOT 47

Are You Missing Out?

Steer

CWT (kgs)

Angus

300

0

Hereford x A

300

+45kgs

Live Auction On bidr

Angus Pure 15c/kg*

Alliance Handpicked $1.00/kg*

Total $ Value

$1575

$45

-

$1620

$1811.25

-

$345

$2156.25

Heterosis CWT Value 15% Gain $5.25/kg*

*examples

Join us at the Otapawa Sale to find out how our Bull Clients are benefiting from using Hereford Bulls and the Alliance Handpicked Premium Programme

LOT 48

Sons of Feature Sire

TH Frontier 174E

Multi Trait Leading Low Birth High Growth

LOT 54 70 Charolais . 14 Herefords BRENT & ANNA FISHER 03 329 0994 027 251 4791 silverstream@farmside.co.nz www.silverstreamcharolais.co.nz

otapawa@xtra.co.nz www.otapawa.co.nz

Otapawa Focusing on Profit Driving Traits Low Birth, Calving Ease Genetics. All Heifers Calved at 2yrs Longevity, Fertility, Sound Square Structure, Carcass Quality BVD Tested and Vaccinated, Semen and Serviced Tested All Bulls Fully Guaranteed, Complete Bull Back up Service Stuart Robbie 027 8484408 or Douglas Robbie 027 9197150 Robbie Family - 351 Haunui Road Tiraumea

Need to mooooove stock?

Call Ella: 0800 85 25 80

MARKET SNAPSHOT

36

Market Snapshot brought to you by the AgriHQ analysts.

Mel Croad

Suz Bremner

Reece Brick

Nicola Dennis

Sarah Friel

Caitlin Pemberton

Deer

Sheep

Cattle BEEF

SHEEP MEAT

VENISON

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.30

5.25

5.10

NI lamb (17kg)

7.70

7.50

6.75

NI Stag (60kg)

5.35

5.35

5.40

NI Bull (300kg)

5.25

5.20

5.15

NI mutton (20kg)

5.90

5.90

4.60

SI Stag (60kg)

5.50

5.45

5.40

NI Cow (200kg)

3.50

3.50

3.55

SI lamb (17kg)

7.45

7.15

6.55

SI Steer (300kg)

4.75

4.75

4.50

SI mutton (20kg)

5.70

5.60

4.20

SI Bull (300kg)

4.70

4.70

4.45

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

SI Cow (200kg)

3.20

3.15

3.00

UK CKT lamb leg

11.93

11.77

9.95

US imported 95CL bull

8.69

8.77

9.52

US domestic 90CL cow

8.69

7.80

10.91

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

6.50

4.50

8.0

$/kg CW

10.0 South Island lamb slaughter price

Oct

4.50

Dec 5-yr ave

Feb

Jun

Dairy

Aug 2020-21

Apr 2019-20

Jun

Oct

Dec

MILK PRICE FUTURES

Apr

Jun

Aug

2019-20

2020-21

FERTILISER Prior week

Last year

2.33

2.33

1.89

37 micron ewe

-

2.10

30 micron lamb

-

-

Last week

Prior week

Last year

Urea

672

672

567

1.95

Super

319

319

314

-

DAP

990

990

787

Grain

Data provided by

Feb

Fertiliser

Aug 2020-21

Last week

Coarse xbred ind.

Apr

7.0

5-yr ave

(NZ$/kg)

2019-20

8.0

5.0

WOOL

Feb

9.0

6.0

5.00

Dec

South Island stag slaughter price

11.0

5.50

5-yr ave

7.0 5.0

7.0

5.0

6.00

Oct

8.0

6.0

South Island steer slaughter price

6.50

9.0

6.0

$/kg CW

9.0

Last year

10.0

7.0

5.00 $/kg CW

$/kg CW

5.50

Last week Prior week

North Island stag slaughter price

11.0

8.0

5.0

4.00

NZ average (NZ$/t)

Top 10 by Market Cap

CANTERBURY FEED WHEAT

Close

YTD High

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd

29.7

36.55

27.1

405

Meridian Energy Limited (NS)

5.24

9.94

5.04

400

Auckland International Airport Limited

7.01

7.99

6.65

7.50

Mercury NZ Limited (NS)

6.94

7.6

5.79

7.00

395

Spark New Zealand Limited

4.55

4.97

4.37

8.50

$/tonne

8.00 $/kg MS

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

6.0

6.00

4.00

Last year

North Island lamb slaughter price

9.0 $/kg CW

North Island steer slaughter price

Last week Prior week

$/kg CW

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

William Hickson

Ingrid Usherwood

6.50

…

Sept. 2022

Nearby contract

Mainfreight Limited

76.22

77

64.85

Ryman Healthcare Limited

12.82

15.99

12.82

385

Fletcher Building Limited

7.4

7.62

5.67

Contact Energy Limited

7.84

11.16

6.6

Infratil Limited

7.65

7.9

6.74

May-20

DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T)

YTD Low

390

380

M

…

J…

M

Sept. 2021

N …

S

…

J…

M

5.50

…

6.00

Company

Jul-20

Sep-20

Nov-20

Jan-21

Mar-21

May-21

CANTERBURY FEED BARLEY

Listed Agri Shares

5pm, close of market, Thursday

Company

Close

YTD High

YTD Low

ArborGen Holdings Limited

0.183

0.195

0.161

The a2 Milk Company Limited

5.7

12.5

5.42

Comvita Limited

3.3

3.6

3.06

Last price*

Prior week

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

4215

4220

4130

400

Delegat Group Limited

14.95

15.4

13.75

SMP

2835

2830

2825

395

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

3.93

5.15

3.75

Foley Wines Limited

1.75

2.07

1.68

390

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

1.18

1.18

0.81

Marlborough Wine Estates Group Limited

0.26

0.65

0.24

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Ltd

1.62

1.72

1.43

PGG Wrightson Limited

3.35

3.65

3.11

Rua Bioscience Limited

0.4

0.61

0.37

Sanford Limited (NS)

4.63

5.23

4.3

Scales Corporation Limited

4.55

5.09

4.22

Seeka Limited

5.07

5.68

4.66

Synlait Milk Limited (NS)

3.1

5.24

2.85

4140

4100

4050

Butter

3500

3460

3430

Milk Price

7.61

7.74

$/tonne

AMF

405

385

7.72

380

May-20

* price as at close of business on Thursday

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

Nov-20

Jan-21

Mar-21

May-21

400

4200

T&G Global Limited

350

4000

$/tonne

US$/t

Sep-20

WAIKATO PALM KERNEL

4400

3800 3600 3400

Jul-20

300

2.86

3

2.86

S&P/NZX Primary Sector Equity Index

13035

15491

12865

S&P/NZX 50 Index

12243

13558

12085

S&P/NZX 10 Index

11817

13978

11776

250 Jun

Jul Aug Latest price

Sep

Oct 4 weeks ago

Nov

200

May-20

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR EQUITY

Jul-20

Sep-20

Nov-20

Jan-21

Mar-21

May-21

13035

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

12243

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

11817

37

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

Pulse

WEATHER Soil Moisture

Overview On the meteorological calendar Tuesday June 1 is the first day of winter, although the astronomical start to the season is still three weeks away, on winter solstice, which this year is Monday June 21.

This week kicks off with a very large low pressure system over the North Island, which is pushing rain into the eastern South Island and a colder southerly up over the country.

This low moves away over the next day or so and by midweek (Wednesday) we expect high pressure from Aussie to start building. While this week does kick off colder (and the week is generally quite cool) nothing too extreme is likely for the end of the week thanks to high pressure.

More upside for store lamb prices

27/05/2021

Mel Croad mel.croad@globalhq.co.nz

S Source: NIWA Data

Highlights

Wind

Generally speaking a southerly quarter air flow kicks in for the start of this week as the big low moves east of NZ. Winds will turn more SW then fade out as high pressure starts to expand over the NZ.

Highlights/ Extremes

Temperature Colder to start with this week, then daytime highs should creep up a little as the week goes on.

However, overnight lows may drop as high pressure expands after the southerly flow eases.

Frosty weather more likely late this week/weekend.

14-day outlook

Low pressure kicks off this week, eases by mid-week and then high pressure returns late week.

This weekend will be dominated by high pressure although a few coastal showers are possible in the North Island. Next week we expect that high pressure zone to slowly drift eastwards - allowing a milder north to north east flow by the middle of next week.

This may also allow heavy sub-tropical rain to push in to the upper North Island (not yet locked in, but possible).

Heavy rain in Canterbury should finally ease by Tuesday. Still leaning drier than average for Hawke’s Bay. High pressure (and frosts) return later this week and weekend. A chance for sub-tropical northern rain (not locked in) mid-next-week.

7-day rainfall forecast

0

5

10

20

30

40

50

60

80

100

200

TORE lambs have been the victors of the strong upside in slaughter prices recently.

Winter supply contracts have quickly established pricing expectations through to early spring, which has buyers facing a much more promising outlook than a few weeks ago. Prices in both the paddock and sale yards have surged, allowing vendors to cash-in on the higher returns as buyers scurry to secure winter trading numbers.

Unfortunately, not all winter traders are in their usual position to lift numbers.

Much drier conditions, particularly through Hawke’s Bay and parts of Canterbury, mean many only have a fraction of their normal numbers on-farm.

If weather conditions turn for the better and feed levels improve, we may see a lastditch rush to secure store lambs. But that will only occur if margins stack up.

It begs the question whether lamb prices still have some gas left in the tank. In the last 10 weeks, AgriHQ data shows slaughter prices have lifted by 90c-$1/kg while store prices over the same timeframe have lifted by 65-70c/kg in the North Island and 40c/kg in the South Island.

To determine how buyable these lambs are, calculating the relativity between store and slaughter prices is an easy place to start. Paddock prices will be used as each

400

Generally speaking drying out over the next several days, once the big low departs. Heavy rain still likely in eastern NZ to kick off this week (Monday) then turns more showery

by Tuesday, clearing by Wednesday. High pressure then looks set in for about a week.

After this high there is a chance for heavier rain in the upper North Island and West Coast (too far out to lock in just yet - so keep an eye on your local rainfall chances at RuralWeather. co.nz).

Weather brought to you in partnership with weatherwatch.co.nz

RETURNS: Although a further lift in store lamb prices is forecast into September, early expectations point to softening values through October.

selling centre has its own set of influences unique to them. However, the same principals apply.

In the paddock at this time of the season, South Island store lamb prices generally track at 47% of schedule. Based on current AgriHQ data, store lambs are tracking at 45% of the slaughter price, meaning prices are undercooked by at least 10c/kg.

Dry conditions plaguing major lamb finishing regions is generally behind the slower upside in South Island store lamb prices.

North Island store lamb prices generally track at 48% of schedule in May. Based on current AgriHQ data, store lambs are tracking at 50% of the slaughter price – indicating they are overheated by as much as 20c/kg.

However, current buyers are looking at the finish line and the margins they stand to make, rather than worrying about the additional 20c/kg needed to acquire lambs.

For this upward trend to continue buyers will need to maintain confidence of further pricing upside. Winter contracts and spotmarket upside support this theory.

Those who are buying store lambs now without a signed contract must be content with the additional risk this brings.

AgriHQ’s North Island Livestock Outlook is forecasting 21kg cwt lambs to average $177 in August. Based on current store values for a 38kg male in the paddock that will leave a gross margin of just over $30/ hd. In the South Island the margin extends out to over $50/hd gross based on the softer buy-in price.

If buyers were to push out purchases until August or manage a second trade, they would be looking at a range of $4.15-$4.30/ kg in the North Island and $3.95-$4.10/kg in the South Island for a 38kg store lamb. This is based on the historical relativity of store lambs to slaughter prices in August.

A tightening supply of lambs, processor competition, and supply contract prospects could easily push prices to the higher end of that range. Under this scenario margins are likely to be slimmer than purchasing earlier on, and the opportunity to maximise returns will be tighter.

While AgriHQ forecasts a further lift into September for prices, it’s worth keeping in mind that early expectations point to softening values through October.

Hybrid auction achieves record levels for top dairy genetics A recent North Otago on-farm clearing sale set new records, drawing a nationwide and international online following via bidr®.

Busybrook Holsteins Platinum Edition sale on 21 May turned over $863,000. Featuring mixed age cows, heifers, calves and the

Hybrid Livestreamed Auctions

buyer’s pick of unborn progeny, all 85 lots sold at an average of over $10,000 each.

Top price of $38,000 was paid for lot 14, a high BW heifer.

Caitlin Rokela, bidr® National Territory Manager, was at the PGG Wrightson managed sale, which she said showcased the power and reach of New Zealand’s virtual saleyard.

“Our hybrid live streamed events, where sales are held simultaneously on farm and online, and therefore open to a nationwide gallery of buyers, are gaining strong traction, as demonstrated at Busybrook.

Approximately 200 people attended the auction at the Kokoama, Waitaki property of Nathan and Amanda Bayne. Some

100 buyers registered via bidr®, with an additional 40 to 50 logged in to watch.

“Twenty-four of the 85 lots sold via the bidr® livestream, with plenty of others receiving bids. Successful online purchasers ranged from South Auckland to Southland, while in a first for bidr®, registered buyers logged in from Australia. Phone bids were also received from the United States,” she said.

Jamie Cunninghame, PGG Wrightson National Dairy Livestock Manager, was also at the sale, which he said underlined what a fantastic year dairy farmers are having.

“Surplus stock is in short supply, demand for good dairy genetics is rising and confidence in the sector is once again heading upwards.

:Baynes family, purchaser and PGG Wrightson Representatives along with top price heifer.

“While the market is in great shape, such a notable sale also heavily endorses Nathan and Amanda Bayne’s breeding philosophy.

Based on 18 years of elite breeding, Busybrook utilises international standard dairy genetics to produce New Zealand cattle for extreme BW, functional type, high components and fertility while retaining a medium body weight. This sale showed what a great job they are doing to meet strong demand from the dairy sector,” he said.

38

SALE YARD WRAP

Prime ewes hit $300 Holes in sheep supply to processors is putting the spotlight firmly on the prime ewe market at present and the record levels set in 2019 are starting to be challenged at South Island yards. In 2019, prime ewe prices reached astronomical heights of $320-$372 at the end of November and, while those levels are a long way off, the fact that $300-plus is already on the books in May is a sign that this market will likely continue to strengthen. Mutton schedules are climbing at a steady rate and coupled with the need to fill space processor buyer budgets are being stretched. That meant that at South Island yards $300 was on the table for very heavy ewes, but the highlight was at Canterbury Park where a line of 10 exceptionally heavy ewes achieved $319 and five more followed at $317.

These were the highest results posted for Canterbury Park in the AgriHQ database. Demand for prime ewes is unlikely to waver either, though supply will temporarily increase as scanning gets under way and dry ewes enter the market. But in the meantime, prime ewe prices are expected to stay at these high levels.

NORTHLAND Wellsford store cattle • R2 Angus-Friesian steers, 396-458kg, firmed to $2.53-$2.59/kg • R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 295kg, reached $2.73/kg • Weaner Hereford-Friesian steers, 165-167kg, earned $560 • Weaner Red Devon steers, 208kg, returned $670 A slightly larger yarding of 402 head was penned at WELLSFORD last Monday and heifers made up half of that tally. R2 cattle sold to solid demand. HerefordFriesian steers, 361-457kg, strengthened to $2.54-$2.60/ kg with same breed heifers, 314-450kg, up to $2.46-$2.55/ kg. Weaner Hereford-Friesian heifers, 153-252kg, traded at $430-$660. Angus-cross steers, 218-265kg, softened to $550-$660. A consignment of weaner heifers with flightier temperaments met the market and Angus and AngusHereford, 226-300kg, earned $400-$450. Limousin and Limousin-cross, 109-228kg, realised $295-$350. Friesian and Friesian-cross bulls, 217-270kg, traded at $465-$580.

Read more in your LivestockEye.

AUCKLAND Pukekohe cattle • Lighter R2 steers sold to $2.30/kg, $780 • Boner cows fetched $1.62/kg, $1160 The market was solid at PUKEKOHE on Saturday 22nd.

Medium prime steers made $2.520$2.60/kg, $1480-$1625m and heifers $2.47-$2.55/kg, $1140-$1300. Light R2 heifers sold in a wide range of $2.29/kg to $2.70/kg, $620-$840.

Small weaner steers sold to $350-$500, and heifers $320$380.

COUNTIES Tuakau sales • Hereford-Friesian steers, 506kg, made $2.73/kg • Boner cows, 480-570kg, sold at improved levels of $1.52/kg to $1.89/kg • Prime ewes reached $190 About 550 store cattle were yarded at TUAKAU last Thursday and the market firmed, Carrfields Livestock agent Karl Chitham reported. Angus-cross steers, 390kg, made $900 and 167kg Hereford-Friesian, $630. Friesian bulls, 340kg, fetched $765, with 189kg at $535. The heifer section included 430kg Hereford-Friesian, which managed $2.56/ kg while 323kg Angus earned $840 and 146kg HerefordFriesian, $435. Prime steers lifted 10c/kg last Wednesday.

Heavy steers, 630-740kg, traded at $2.76-$2.82/kg and medium, 550-600kg, $2.68-$2.77/kg. Prime heifers, 430500kg, returned $2.55/kg to $2.71/kg. Top prime lambs made $186 last Monday, with medium-good at $144-$163 and store lambs, $85-$148. Medium-good ewes fetched $135-$190.

WAIKATO Frankton cattle 25.5 • R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 389-440kg, firmed to $2.60-$2.73/kg • Better R2 red Hereford-Friesian heifers, 394-433kg, improved to $2.36-$2.44/kg • Weaner Angus-Friesian and Hereford-Friesian steers, 129-190kg, firmed to $480-$605 Just under 400 store cattle were presented by PGG Wrightson at FRANKTON last Tuesday and weaners accounted for half of that tally. All R2 Angus-Friesian steers, 304-391kg, fetched an improved $2.41/kg to $2.60/kg.

Hereford-Friesian heifers, 353-486kg, held at $2.45-$2.58/ kg, as did red Hereford-Friesian, 282-331kg, at $2.27$2.30/kg. Weaners found good demand and HerefordFriesian heifers, 122-214kg, returned $440-$610. Friesian

bulls, 138kg, held at $350. Prime Angus-Friesian steers, 570-616kg, held at $2.64-$2.67/kg. Hereford heifers, 476558kg, realised $2.58-$2.64/kg with Hereford-Friesian, 438-506kg, at $2.60-$2.66/kg. Boner Friesian cows, 436495kg, improved to $1.52-$1.66/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Frankton cattle 26.5 • R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 393-399kg, firmed to $2.56-$2.57/kg • R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 300-337kg, improved to $2.50-$2.58/ kg • Weaner Friesian bulls, 147-232kg, realised $445-$550 Store throughput lifted to 490 head at FRANKTON for New Zealand Farmers Livestock last Wednesday. R2 heifer numbers doubled to 126 head and most enjoyed improved returns. Hereford-dairy, 276-373kg, improved to $2.41$2.48/kg. Shorthorn, 412-417kg, realised $2.57-$2.59/ kg with Hereford, 328kg, $2.44/kg. Better Hereford-dairy steers, 362kg, pushed to $2.64/kg while 364kg held at $2.42/ kg. Weaner numbers tripled on last sale and Angus steers, 238kg, firmed to $790. Hereford-Friesian, 162-203kg, held at $510-$620 with same breed heifers, 190-205kg, $500$510. Prime steers, 505-671kg, held at $2.57-$2.67/kg while beef-dairy heifers, 435-477kg, were mainly $2.53-$2.63/kg.

A consignment of Limousin and Limousin-cross cows, 494558kg and vetted-in-calf to Limousin, were purchased to calve down at $1000-$1155. Read more in you LivestockEye.

KING COUNTRY Taupo cattle fair • R2 Simmental-Friesian steers, 343kg, realised $2.83/kg • R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 380-390kg, fetched $2.40-$2.46/kg • R2 Angus heifers vetted-in-calf to an Angus bull made $2.51$2.52/kg, $970-$1105 • Weaner beef-Friesian steers above 320kg were secured for $940$970 • Weaner Hereford-Friesian heifers, 229kg, returned $630 It was a chilly start to the day at the TAUPO cattle fair last Thursday though buyers were rewarded with a good line up of 460 cattle. Quality R2 Angus and Angus-Charolais steers, 308-411kg, were sought after to reach $2.82-$2.92/ kg, with the remainder mostly $2.72-$2.80/kg. Quality R2 Angus-Charolais heifers made $2.69/kg. Weaner steers, 210243kg, traded to $3.46-$3.56/kg, $745-$840. Traditional and Hereford-cross heifers over 240kg achieved $645-$760 and lighter types $500-$610. Read more in your LivestockEye. Te Kuiti sale • Heavy prime ewes sold to $176-$183, medium $150-$155 and light $120 • Heavy prime lambs earned $166-$169 and medium $140-$155 • Top ewe lambs fetched $130-$140, medium $120-$130, and light $95 • Vetted-in-calf cows, 625-637kg, traded to $1150-$1200 • R3 heifers achieved $2.45-$2.52/kg There was a good yarding of 3500 sheep at TE KUITI last Wednesday. The store lamb market performed well with a good bench of buyers present. Top male lambs realised $151-$155 with the next cut around $147. There were 800 cattle penned on Friday and first up was R3 beef bred steers, 545-600kg, which fetched $2.68-$2.75/kg. Most of the better R2 steers sold at $2.65-$2.70/kg and a good lineup of Angus steers were secured for $2.84/kg. Please note this sale was still going at the time of writing.

BAY OF PLENTY Rangiuru cattle and sheep • R3 Hereford-Friesian steers, 566kg, traded at $2.76/kg • R3 Angus steers, 505kg, made $2.75/kg

The last sale of May at RANGIURU last Tuesday was very small with less than half the usual volume penned. Results in the R2 pens were mixed and the biggest offering was a consignment of close to 50 334-413kg Angus heifers, run with an Angus bull, that ranged from $2.07/kg to $2.57/ kg. Other steers and heifers sold within a similar range.

Weaners were a mixed-bag but a few Angus and AngusHereford, 206-282kg, performed well at $490-$570. Prime volume halved and most were Friesian cows, 535-605kg, that often made $1.71-$1.81/kg. Lambs fetched $105-$158 while run-with-ram ewes traded at $139-$164. Read more in your LivestockEye.

POVERTY BAY Matawhero cattle fair • Mixed-age vetted-in-calf exotic cows mostly earned $875-$990 • R3 vetted-in-calf Angus heifers, 535kg, reached $1500, $2.84/kg • Top R3 Angus steers firmed a few cents to $2.73/kg with the bulk at $2.68-$2.69/kg • R3 heifers held with better types at $2.31-$2.40/kg • Quality R2 Angus steers fetched $2.69-$2.72/kg Focus was on the 600 in-calf heifers and cows at the MATAWHERO cattle fair last Tuesday. This included a few hundred head of vetted-in-calf capital stock cows.

Good mixed-age vetted-in-calf cows, 475-605kg, typically achieved $1370-$1420, with lighter types at $560-$790.

Traditional and exotic run-with-bull cows, 415-500kg, achieved $700-$890, $1.69-$1.78/kg though lighter exotic sold down to $590, $1.57/kg.

Matawhero sheep • Heavy store ram lambs fetched $129 and lighter types $75.50 • Run-with-ram Romney ewes earned $130 • Heavy prime lambs sold to $167, medium $130-$145 and light $119 • A limited number of prime ewes achieved $146 The market strengthened across the board at MATAWHERO last Friday. Heavy male lambs firmed to $150-$153.50, medium $121-$135 and light $100. Ewe lambs weren’t able to reach the highs of the previous sale.

The top end traded to $120-$125.50, medium $103.50-$119 and light $80-$92. A large consignment of Perendale-cross run-with-ram ewes were offered. The top end achieved $170, medium $140 and lighter types $116. Read more in your LivestockEye.

TARANAKI Taranaki cattle • R3 heifers, 495-552kg, made $2.55-$2.56/kg • R2 Speckle Park-cross heifers, 476kg, earned $2.54/kg • Dairy-beef steers, 186-280kg, traded at $590-$630 • Prime steers sold in a range of $2.72-$2.78/kg • Friesian boner cows mostly fetched $1.59-$1.64/kg The market firmed at TARANAKI with enthusiastic competition for heavy, older cattle. R3 steers were of good weight with many above 600kg and sold to $2.67-$2.73/ kg. The top end of R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 462-500kg, were able to reach $2.62-$2.63/kg. Buyers were selective in the weaner calf pens. Belgian Blue-cross topped the steers at $640, just short of the $3.00/kg mark. A nice line of Speckle Park-cross heifers met solid demand to reach $590 and heavier dairy-beef, $430-$500. Read more in your LivestockEye.

HAWKE’S BAY Stortford Lodge prime cattle and sheep • Heavy to very heavy ewes held at $169-$200 • Good ewes were steady at $138

39

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021

sell well. A few Friesian bulls earned $175 while HerefordFriesian fetched $140-$200. Good heifers of this breed made $160 with Speckle Park $100. Read more in your LivestockEye.

RECORD PRICE: This line of 10 very heavy ewes set a new record for prime ewes at Canterbury Park when they sold for $319.

• Light to medium ewes all held at $70-$116 • Very heavy mixed-sex lambs improved to $160-$160.50 Ewe numbers almost doubled last Monday at STORTFORD LODGE and included a consignment of heavy to very heavy run-with-ram ewes which traded at $161-$183. Ewes traded at steady to improved levels. The top end of very good ewes firmed to $160.50-$164.50 with the balance steady at $141-$155. A small yarding of 266 lambs sold to increased competition which lifted results for most. Very heavy male lambs fetched $168 and heavy male lambs firmed to $140-$153. Good to heavy mixed-sex lines returned $130-$143. No cattle were offered. Read more in your LivestockEye. Stortford Lodge store cattle and sheep • R2 Angus steers, 417-502kg, held at $2.78-$2.85/kg • R2 Angus heifers, 376-411kg, firmed to $2.63-$2.67/kg • Six-year capital stock Romney ewes, scanned 197% to Sufftex, sold well at $215-$217 • Heavy male lambs came back to $143-$150 • Medium ewe lambs held at $113-$123 STORTFORD LODGE offered up enough volume and quality in both sections of the sale to draw a good crowd last Wednesday. A moderate yarding of cattle featured R3 Charolais-cross heifers, 482kg, at $2.61/kg. Second cuts of R2 traditional steers, 387-436kg, eased to $2.64-$2.68/ kg. R2 beef-cross heifers from Wairoa were discounted to $1.90-$1.94/kg for 230-271kg. Two pens of weaner Angus steers, 177-201kg, returned $680-$735 and heifers, 222kg, $600. Exotic-cross heifers, 213-238kg, made $490-$645.

Over 10,000 sheep were penned which included 9900 lambs. Prices reduced on the previous week’s big lift though vendors were still rewarded. Good males held at $130$140, though medium types eased to $115-$128. Good and heavy ewe lambs sold for $122-$138. Read more in your LivestockEye.

MANAWATU Feilding prime cattle and sheep, feeder calves • Friesian cows over 480kg earned $1.60-$1.65/kg • Very heavy lambs made $185-$198 FEILDING featured big line sizes amongst the lamb pens last Monday. Most were heavy lambs that traded at $157-$178 while medium-good types earned $126-$141.

Mixed-age ewes numbered under 500 and the main pens fetched $134-$162. In-calf beef cows were available in big numbers and most sold within a tight range of $1.68-$1.81/ kg. Limited numbers of singleton steers, heifers, and bulls earned up to $2.74/kg with $2.52-$2.61/kg common for those close to specifications. Good calves continued to

Feilding store sale • Well-conditioned R3 Angus steers, 540-700kg, were $2.85-$2.90/ kg • R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 295-370kg, were $2.25-$2.35/kg • Store male lamb average eased to $136 • Store ewe lamb average held at $126 • Shorn 5-6 year Romney ewes, SIL 158%, were $166 Low quality kept prices down at the 1200 head FEILDING store cattle sale. Run-with-bull traditional cows from Blenheim, 405-455kg, were $640-$770, $1.60-$1.70/kg.

Traditional 525-585kg R3 steers were mostly $2.75/kg. R2 dairy-cross steers, 310-485kg were mainly $2.45-$2.60/ kg with straight-beef lines $2.65-$2.75/kg. R2 heifers were tough selling, often $2.10/kg or less for off-types, but some 390-435kg straight-beef pens were $2.50-$2.65/kg.

Some 150-155kg traditional weaner steers were $460-$500.

Around 14,000 store lambs were yarded. Heavy males were $150-$160, followed by good lines at $135-$145, mediums making $125-$135, and the lighter end mostly at $105$115. The heavier end of the ewe lambs were $140-$150, with $125-$135 covering good lines, $115-$125 paid for mediums, and a few light pens at $105-$110. Read more in your LivestockEye. Rongotea cattle • R3 Charolais heifers, 550kg, sold to $2.60/kg • Better R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers achieved $2.51/kg • Yearling Speckle Park-cross bulls, 184-355kg, made $2.00/kg to $2.36/kg • Yearling Hereford-Friesian heifers, 188-285kg, returned $1.46/kg to $2.10/kg • Friesian boner cows, 510kg, fetched $1.37/kg A big consignment of South Island cattle provided good buying at Rongotea, NZ Farmers Livestock agent Darryl Harwood reported. Yearling Hereford-Friesian steers, 130155kg, made $2.22-$2.32/kg, 190-293kg Angus sold up to $2.48/kg and 144-164kg Simmental-cross $2.86/kg to $3.05/ kg. Hereford-Friesian cows with calves-at-foot fetched $1060, and crossbred cows with calves-at-foot $810. R2 Hereford-Friesian steers, 523kg, achieved $2.46/kg.

CANTERBURY Canterbury Park cattle and sheep • Prime Angus steers, 490-535kg, traded at $2.62-$2.72/kg • R2 Limousin-cross steers, 362kg, made $2.51/kg • R2 dairy-beef steers, 264-376kg, achieved $2.16-$2.26/kg • R2 Angus and Angus-Hereford heifers, 292kg, fetched $2.22/kg There was strong competition for all classes of sheep at CANTERBURY PARK last Tuesday. Prime ewes reached $300-$319 while a quarter of the tally were other heavy types that made $191-$298. The balance mostly ranged from $110 to $183. Half of the prime lambs were priced from $150 to $197 while the remainder fitted into a tight bracket of $131-$149. Heavy store lambs often earned $120$139 while lighter pens did vary at $88 to $117. Most prime steers and heifers over 480kg earned $2.32-$2.44/kg. Read more in your LivestockEye. Coalgate cattle and sheep • Prime Charolais-cross heifers, 453kg, earned $2.58/kg • R2 Angus steers, 391kg, made $2.65/kg • R2 Angus and Angus-Hereford steers, 396kg, fetched $2.63/kg • 1200 capital stock Romney-cross ewe lambs managed $122-$135 • Other store lambs traded at $100-$138 Most prime beef steers over 550kg earned $2.50-$2.60/ kg at COALGATE last Thursday, although the best price of the day went to a 488kg line of Angus at $2.74/kg. Second cuts, as well as the better heifers, consistently made $2.20/ kg to $2.35/kg. R2 dairy-beef pens sold in two main cuts: a level of $2.10-$2.18/kg covered the top end at 331-347kg while Angus-Friesian, 314-381kg, made up the balance and

returned $1.91-$1.99/kg. R3 traditional heifers, 351-362kg, managed $1.99-$2.07/kg while R2’s were mostly $1.64/kg to $1.96/kg. Many prime lambs achieved $190-$209 and the vast majority earned more than $150. The top 10% of the ewes sold at $204-$270 and the remainder were evenly spread out from $130 to $198. Read more in your LivestockEye.

SOUTH-CANTERBURY Temuka prime cattle and all sheep • Prime Angus steers, 540kg, traded at $2.63-$2.73/kg • Prime heifers, 435-583kg, made $2.29-$2.39/kg regardless of breed • Hundreds of Friesian and Kiwicross cows generally made $1.25/ kg to $1.40/kg • Traditional cows, 501-635kg, fetched $1.50-$1.59/kg The store lamb section was very well-received at TEMUKA last Monday. Some high prices were posted, and many forward stores earned $131-$157 while a level of $115-$130 covered most mid-range pens. The heaviest prime lambs fetched $180-$218 and the lion’s share made $130-$177. A good portion of the ewes sold in excess of $200 and included the best pen that touched $300. The balance was spread out from $110-$194. Read more in your LivestockEye. Temuka store cattle • R2 Angus and Angus-Hereford steers, 401kg, earned $2.59/kg • R2 Charolais steers, 393kg, fetched $2.55/kg • 15-month Speckle Park, 319-455kg, traded at $2.26-$2.31/kg R2 cattle made up two-thirds of the tally at TEMUKA last Thursday. Dairy-beef steers over 400kg sold from $2.25/ kg to $2.38/kg while 300-400kg pens were typically $2.10/ kg to $2.24/kg. Charolais heifers, 428-436kg, mostly earned $2.47-$2.50/kg with 363-465kg priced at $2.30-$2.34/kg.

Some traditional pens, 411-465kg, managed $2.30-$2.34/kg and half of the section were Hereford-Friesian, 317-405kg, that ranged from $1.42/kg to $1.93/kg. Weaner Angus steers, 275-295kg, sold for $670-$750 and their sisters, 239-288kg, managed $520-$600. Hereford shipped from the Chatham Islands included steers, 201-263kg, that fetched $520-$615 and heifers, 188-238kg, $425-$490. Read more in your LivestockEye.

OTAGO Balclutha sheep • Prime ewes sold well with heavy types at $170-$220, medium $130-$150 and light $100 There was a moderate yarding of prime lambs at BALALCUTHA last Wednesday. Prime lambs lifted $5 to $7 with heavy types up to $160-$170, medium $130-$140 and light $120. Around 800 store lambs were offered, and demand lifted. The top end firmed to $120-$130, medium $100-$110 and light $70-$90.

SOUTHLAND Lorneville sale • Heavy local trade rams made $80-$90 and medium $58 • Store lambs lifted to $115-$130, medium $105-$110 and light $90-$100 • Boner cows, 500kg, fetched $1.20-$1.27/kg • R2 Friesian and Friesian-cross steers, 500kg, earned $2.02/kg • R2 Hereford-cross heifers, 296kg, traded at $1.66/kg Prime lambs strengthened to $156-$180 at LORNEVILLE last Tuesday. Medium types earned $138-$154 and light $121-$134. Heavy prime ewes also firmed to $166-$242, medium $124-$142 and light $100-$120. Prime cattle sold on a similar market to the previous sale. Prime steers, 550kg, earned $2.20-$2.25/kg, and better heifers 520kg and above matched their returns. Demand for older store cattle continued though younger cattle were stickier to move. R2 beef-cross steers, 455kg, sold to $2.15/kg, and Herefordcross, 291kg, $1.89/kg. Weaner Hereford-cross bulls, 219kg, traded to $455, and 183kg Speckle Park steers $445.

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Markets

40 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – May 31, 2021 NI BULL

NI LAMB

SI LAMB

($/KG)

($/KG)

($/KG)

5.25

7.70

7.45

AVERAGE STORE LAMB PRICE AT TEMUKA

133.70

Store lambs in demand Annette Scott annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz

S

OARING store lamb values have lambs flocking to the Temuka sale yards to meet strong buying power.

The annual pilgrimage of store lambs at this time of the year from Otago, Southland, wider Canterbury and as far north as Marlborough has been trending over the past three to four years but this month has been just a bit busier, PGG Wrightson livestock manager Joe Higgins said.

A total of 8000 store lambs were sold at Temuka this week and 50% of those were from Otago and Southland.

The yarding was well received and bidding very strong, with buyers hunting for numbers as winter contracts fuelled demand.

“The big buying power is Mid Canterbury and Temuka is at the back door of that with a good reputation to sell lambs and benefit that buying power,” Higgins said.

Dry on-farm conditions have escalated numbers this month with rising schedules and good contracts for growing lambs through to spring boosting farmer confidence.

“Do the sums and the margins are there now and traditionally we’ve never really missed the price going up from now to spring,” Higgins said.

A quarter of the store lambs sold at Temuka exceeded $4/kg with the top price at $4.36/kg paid for a line of 400 Romdale lambs from Otago.

The mixed-sex pens offered a good number of 35-40kg lambs that sold from $3.65-$3.68/kg, while a lift of 20-30c/kg for 32-34kg lambs pushed most of these to $3.88/kg.

Big lines of Otago halfbreds were offered, with a couple of feature

TOP DOLLAR: Store lambs were hot property at last week’s sale at Temuka.

The big buying power is mid Canterbury and Temuka is at the back door of that.

Joe Higgins PGG Wrightson livestock lines of ewe lambs selling at $4.41/ kg and $4.07/kg.

AgriHQ analyst Reece Brick says it is quite common for the South Island store lamb market to lift through the second half of May. “Around this point schedules usually start their seasonal lift, injecting a bit of confidence into the market, while finishers tuck into the last wave of store lambs coming out of the harder hill country areas.”

This year’s jump of 65c/kgLW within two weeks at Temuka is more extreme than usual though, he said.

$303-$319 high heavy prime ewes lights Very at Canterbury Park

($/HD)

Part of this was the muted state of the market going into May, more than anything else.

“The dry was a big issue which has at least been partly remedied in some areas since, but strongerthan-expected winter contracts have been the main factor adding confidence to buying.”

On average store lambs were making 53% of schedule at Temuka this week, which is in-line with what was being paid the past two years.

Going back to 2014–2018, the market used to hold around 50% of schedule at late-May, which only makes lambs 20c/kg stronger than those levels on the current market, equivalent to $6-$7 a head on 30-35kg lambs.

Schedules should follow a much steeper trajectory than usual this winter, covering the extra outlay for finishers.

For 2014–2017 the average lift in schedules between May and August was 55c/kgCW. It is likely this year will be around $1/kgCW, similar to 2018 and 2019, Brick said.

$1370-$1420 Mixed-age Angus cows, 510-525kg and in-calf to Angus bulls, at Matawhero

ACROSS THE RAILS SUZ BREMNER

Positive start to bull sales AUTUMN bull sales have kicked off across the country and this year studs can operate with a greater sense of normality.

Although drought and land-use changes do pose challenges, early sale results have been positive.

Last year, autumn bull sales were affected by lockdown and studs had to be adaptable, employing online selling platforms, switching to private treaty formats, and even postponing sales.

Post-lockdown, auctions were fizzing with nervous energy and vendors were armed with QR codes and sign-in sheets for buyers.

East Coast Simmental studs have had a successful start over the past two weeks. Kerrah was an especially strong sale, selling 72 bulls with a top price of $45,000 to a bidr user.

Gold Creek Simmentals had a strong result for their inaugural on-farm auction, breaking a New Zealand breed record for R1 bulls with a top price of $27,000. PGG Wrightson Livestock genetics rep Emma Pollitt said those studs had accrued loyal clients from around the country and the bulls offered were “very marketable”.

In Northland and Wairarapa, clearance rates have been somewhat affected by lower cow numbers throughout the regions, a consequence of forestry conversions.

Several vendors said that a couple more buyers would have made a difference on the day. Reportedly, some commercial breeders are shifting away from hybrid vigour and are instead pursuing bulls whose progeny will secure premiums at the farmgate.

In the South Island, stud clearances are back a touch on last year.

A higher number of lots offered at some studs, and extremely dry conditions in Canterbury and Otago, were contributing factors, as buyers must balance demand for bulls with herd number restrictions.

As a result, buyers are approaching auctions very astutely, showing selective buying over quality offerings. Overall, PGG Wrightson Livestock genetics rep Callum McDonald felt vendors had achieved healthy averages and buyers and sellers would be happy with results.

South Island Angus bull sales have made a good start, with Delmont Angus and Kincardine Angus both achieving a full clearance. Delmont was able to break-in an impressive new selling venue and Kincardine opted to sell exclusively through bidr with three lots selling for $11,000 each.

Any judgment on trends for this season will need to be reserved until bigger studs have held their sales. However, with a highquality selection of King Country and Waikato bulls on offer next week and several studs utilising online platforms this season to widen the net of buyers, the outlook appears positive. sarah.friel@globalhq.co.nz

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