BULLETIN ISSUE 27: 2020 29: Autumn Spring 2020
I HAVE HAD A BIT TO DO WITH ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST PROFESSIONS RECENTLY... A F E W W O R D S F R O M TO N Y E G A N I have had a bit to do with one of the worlds oldest professions recently. A trade that has been intrinsically human since ancient times, it liberated Adam and Eve from the fig leaf and by the 14th Century Old English gave us the word ‘Fell’, meaning skins, and ‘Monger’, meaning dealer, to describe this precursor to leather making. We wear it, sit on it, carry it around, and now I am a proud fellmonger myself at its latest iteration … ‘The Waitoa Tannery’. Some might say it is a dirty business … there is certainly more competition these days from those who believe the fig leaf should be front and center. The cat walks of the world are struggling to come to terms with the fact we use animals and pollute the planet. Many view our oldest of professions with a weary eye and a moral indignation that could become a Greek tragedy if we let it. The fig leaf is on the rise and fellmongers are feeling the pinch … our old profession is no longer as sexy as it once was … punters are not paying what they once did … clearly it’s time to lift our game! The first thing I have learnt about the hide business is that size matters. Our industry is full of people who like to go it alone, not sure what the word is to describe them, but I do know that we can do a better job cleaning up our act if we get together and scale up. We invited all our traditional enemies to join us, turning this old profession into a veritable love fest. So far, it has given birth to several beautiful JV’s. These have us collaborating … not just in hides, but in composting for paunch grass and perhaps most encouraging of all pet food, where the red meat partners have formed a jolly triumvirate with poultry and seafood! With all this modern thinking going on, there is hope yet for this our oldest of professions. If we keep it up for long enough the fig leaf will be forced to concede that we have the job covered!
www.greenlea.co.nz
MUDGEY’S COLUMN Well, it’s hard to believe with all we’ve faced this season, that Spring is upon us and we are about to start a new meat season. It hasn’t been a great grass-growing start, but I’m sure plentiful grass growth is just around the corner and it is pleasing to hear the weatherman suggesting it could be a warm, wet one ahead of us. Firstly, I must say a big thank you to all those who followed the suggestion in the last newsletter, who made plans to go with a few cattle over the winter or have made plans to go in the next few weeks. This has kept plants busy and also appears to have worked well on farm. One wise old farmer from the billy goat country sent a truck load every week which he said allowed him to get back into the store market a bit quicker. Another culled his surplus heifers at 270kgs and replaced them with well-priced 20-month steers. A smart thinking bull farmer dropped his tail end 20-month bulls into a techno system and replaced with very buyable yearlings, putting smaller animals on when feed was tight and banked a good margin. Also, have a number of commitments and kill programmes written down and worked out to start processing a percentage of cattle early. Well done and thank you. The way the season is looking, any cattle early will be worth good money. Might be a different story if everybody wants to go in December. Now when you need your tractor fixed, call a mechanic; if you need your roof fixed, call a roofer, but I’m sorry, fixed prices aren’t my cup of tea. I like fixing your margin, killing today, replacing today and banking the difference. Also like fixing a deal on the number of cattle to kill over a couple of weeks’ period, but the issue I have is putting a mark in the sand with a low price; get enough signed up and then that becomes the price. Not sure why, but this job has always been relatively simple – let’s not complicate it too much. The general rule of thumb: 5cpk on kill price is worth roughly $15.00. A couple of percent on yield is worth up to $60-$70. Paying too much for your replacements or getting unsuitable cattle could cost you plenty. Work with your trusted livestock rep, feed cattle well and you will get sound returns without too much drama. Remember, it all starts on farm and at Greenlea we have your best interests at heart! We are in this together.
MUSTAR D & GARLIC C R U ST
Roast Beef RECIPE BY @BUNNYEATSDESIGN
SERVES 6 TO 8 Ingredients: 1.5kg Greenlea topside roast 2 tsp sea salt ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 tbs cooking oil ¼ c breadcrumbs ¼ c fresh parsley, chopped ¼ c wholegrain mustard 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 tbs olive oil Take topside roast out of the fridge for 1 hour before cooking to come to room temperature.
frying pan and sear 1-2 minutes per side until browned. Place the rest of the ingredients into a bowl with 1 tsp salt and mix until combined. Put the seared topside roast onto a rack on a baking tray and spread thickly with the crust mixture. Place into the oven and roast for 20 minutes at 230°C, then turn heat down to 170°C and roast for a further 40 minutes. Remove from oven and and rest for 15 minutes. Gently remove ties and carve. Serve with your favourite vegetable sides.
Preheat oven to 230°C. Season the roast with 1 tsp salt and black pepper. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a heavy
Order your topside roast and more at
www.greenleabutcher.co.nz
www.greenlea.co.nz
SUSTAINABILITY – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GREENLEA AND TO YOU AND YOUR FARM? In September part of the team travelled to Taupo to take part in a field day at Pamu’s Rangitikei Farm. The occasion was to mark the conclusion of the McDonalds ‘verified sustainable beef’ proof of concept. In previous issues of the Bulletin we have discussed our participation in this pilot with fellow processors ANZCO and Silver Fern Farms. Participating farms included Rangitikei as well as several farmers who process with Greenlea. This pilot was just the starting point in what is sure to be a journey for both ourselves and our farmer suppliers. As a business we have looked at our own sustainability position and have created a framework that incorporates the three key pillars of ‘people and communities’, ‘environmental stewardship’ and ‘product integrity’. Despite what many people think, sustainability is about people and planet … not just the environment. A sustainable business must consider all these pillars as well as economic sustainability to be successful now and into the future. To capture this thinking, we have modified our vision statement… “Quality foods that grow people and the planet”. This vision indicates our intent to continue the journey to be a value-add food company. Another key piece of our sustainability work has been developing a greenhouse gas calculator that will provide our total carbon emissions footprint (CO2e). We are still finalising this calculation and look forward to sharing that with you in the next issue of the Bulletin.
used a set of standards that were developed as part of the Red Meat Profit Partnership. These standards are now known as NZFAP+. Many of you will be familiar with the NZ Farm Assurance Programme (NZFAP) … the Plus (+) is a new set of standards that include environment (water, soil and biodiversity) as well as people/community. As we look across the farming landscape, we see an opportunity to help farming to satisfy not only customer requirements (like McDonalds) but also the New Zealand public. We recognise that everyone is at a different place on the journey and that every farm is different. For this reason, we announced the Greenlea Farm Plan Initiative late last year. This fund is intended to assist our suppliers in creating and maintaining an active farm environment plan. We recently attended a workshop with new resource materials created by Beef + Lamb NZ, and we are excited by this opportunity. We got our hands dirty evaluating and scoring soil health, and we got wet learning how to determine water quality. We will soon be putting our own livestock buyers through the workshop, so that they can help you identify what you need to do to create a farm plan. We envision hosting a number of these workshops around our catchment areas to facilitate this process. We look forward to working with you to create a farm plan that prepares you for the future while giving you tremendous insight into the health and vitality of your farm.
So, what did the McDonalds pilot tell us about what sustainability means for our farmers? For the pilot we
www.flightforlife.co.nz
Forever grateful after Tongariro fall On August 26th last year, the Bowron family from Wellington set out in Tongariro National Park to explore the northern circuit. Srey, her husband Tim and their two boys Oscar and Leo were staying at Waihohonu Hut.
rod in Oscar’s thigh is a stark reminder of his ordeal. Although Oscar says his scar ‘tickles’ sometimes, he barely notices the serious impact the innocent slip had on his body. The rod from Oscar’s thigh will be removed later this year.
That night six year old Oscar accidentally slipped on the hut’s icy deck surface. Oscar was in immense pain and struggled to move. Although Srey and Tim had a personal locator beacon, they assumed it could only be activated in life or death emergencies, not realising their situation was important.
Srey expressed the incredible relief felt when she saw the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter that day in August. To commemorate Oscar’s courage during his ordeal, his parents gave him a Greenlea Rescue Helicopter replica for Christmas. Last month Oscar and his family even called into the hangar to thank the team in person.
The 90-minute trek in the dark carrying Oscar to their distant vehicle to get medical care seemed unwise, so the family decided to stay in the warmth of the hut. Srey settled Oscar and tried to keep him comfortable through the night, although he had mild pain relief, the agony persisted.
“a great team of fun guys with great personalities who genuinely love their work. It was awesome to meet them again when we weren’t under stress and Oscar wasn’t in pain.”
The next morning Oscar’s dad Tim prepared to set out carrying Oscar the 90 minutes to their vehicle to drive his brave boy to the nearest medical facility. Two DOC Rangers visiting the hut saw the family with an injured Oscar and offered to radio for help. Within minutes 111 had dispatched urgent assistance and Greenlea Rescue Helicopter was on its way.
Srey
When the helicopter arrived Oscar’s mobility had declined and the pain escalated. The Greenlea Rescue Helicopter Pilot, Crewman and Intensive Care Paramedic (ICP) were all hands on deck, they put Oscar’s leg in a splint and sedated him for the flight to Rotorua Hospital. The ICP suspected Oscar had broken his femur, later an x-ray confirmed this was spot on. While his Dad drove two hours to Rotorua Hospital, Oscar had already landed, seen a Fracture Specialist and was being prepared for urgent surgery. Brave Oscar had suffered a spiral fracture and broken his femur, the largest and one of the strongest bones in the human body. During surgery, a steel rod was screwed into Oscar’s femur to support the bone as it healed. Oscar spent the night in Rotorua Hospital’s ICU, then was moved to the Children’s Ward for the week. Over the following weeks at home, supported by a walking frame, Oscar gradually regained mobility. Four months after the accident Oscar and his family even managed an overnight tramp. The steel
MISSION COUNT
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
35 54 52
The Greenlea Rescue Helicopter is dedicated to serving the central North Island community 24/7, 365 days of the year. Thank you to Greenlea Premier Meats and their farmers for continuing to support the lifesaving service of the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter. You’re helping us touch the lives of many people.
Discover more and donate today | 0800 11 10 10 | info@rescue.org.nz rescue.org.nz | @rescuehelicoptersNZ | @rescuehelicoptersNZ