Nelson Marlborough Farming July 2021

15,500 copies distributed monthly – to every rural delivery & P.O. mailbox in Nelson, Marlborough & The West Coast. July 2021

INSIDE Bull sale results Sarah Thompson asks: Who gets the farm?

pg 5 Vintage ploughing pg 8

Lake Station Herefords held their usual Helmsman auction on Monday the 14th June. Top selling bull was Lot 3 Lake R129 selling to Matariki Farms Ltd for $10,000. Fifteen bulls found new owners for an average of $5016. Martin Farming in Wakefield later on the same day sold a strong line-up of Angus and Hereford sires. The entire catalogue was sold with the Angus topping out at $13,000 and the Herefords at $14,000. The average was $7300 for the Angus and $7600 for the Herefords. Blenheim Bull sales sold 22 bulls. Leefield Angus sold 11 bulls for an average of $8045 with top priced bull going to The Jordan for $13,500.

Blackknight Angus sold 9 bulls averaging $5667 with a top price of $10,000. Okiwi Angus sold two bulls averaging $5750.

The horizontal rain at Taimate did not dampen the proceedings. The stud sold 67 out of 69 bulls presented averaging $9873, with a top price of $21,000. Lot 1 was sold to Glen R Angus Canterbury for $18,000. Following the Angus bulls,

Andrew Ritchie

Burtergill South Devon sold 10 strong bulls for an average of $8111, and a top price of $15,000 was achieved. Lot 73 sold to Kaimoa South Devons in Eketahuna, Lot 78 sold to Rosehill South Devons from Rakaia. The remainder sold to Marlborough, Waikato, Hawkes Bay, Canterbury and Te Anau. A minute’s silence was held at the commencement of the sale to commemorate the passing of two of the founders of the studs. Arnold Van Asche and Tom Hickman. The combined Clarence Bridge sale of Woodbank Angus and Matariki Herefords sold on Tuesday 22nd of June.

Woodbank sold 55 out of 58 bulls for an average price of $9204. Four bulls were sold to Angus studs. One each to Kaiwara Angus and Sudeley Angus. Two bulls were purchased by Puke-Nui Angus stud.

Matariki Herefords sold 58 out of 59 bulls to an average price of $8448. The top price was $20,000 for lot 46 to Koanui Polled Herefords. Martin Farming purchased Lot 48 for $18,000 and Lot 67 also sold for $18,000 to Limehills Herefords.

The weather was less than kind to man and beast on sale day

Richard Van Asche selling South Devon Lot 82 for $10,000

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Car Tax

By Stuart Smith MP The Climate Change Commission have released their final report, and although it does take a step back from the Draft Report, it still leaves many unanswered questions as to how New Zealand will reach the netzero emissions target.

The Commission proposed policies such as subsidies on electric vehicles and taxes on some internal combustion engines, which the Government announced last week despite promising no new taxes. This policy will not lower emissions, and it may even drive them up given that ute sales have gone through the roof. Unfortunately, it will cost hardworking Kiwis, especially those for whom there are no practical EV options, such as farmers and tradies.

We live in a free country, and we do not want the Nanny State telling us what we can or can’t drive. It was galling to hear the Prime Minister say that a large number of ute buyers are not using them for “legitimate use”, it shows just how out of touch she is.

We could be heading down a slippery slope here, the Government want to tax our cars now, but what’s next? Will we be restricted on what sized refrigerator we can buy? This is why we should let the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), do the heavy lifting here. The Climate Change Commission in their report said that the ETS will get us to net zero by 2050 with a cost of $50 per tonne, which is very reasonable, the danger here is that these poorly thought-out policies may mean we do not get there at all or we do at a cost that will impoverish us.

The ETS will allow us to reach our 2050 net-zero emissions target through the least cost way. But most importantly it gives people the choice on how they should reduce their emissions, rather than the Government controlling it through taxes. We need to back the market-driven solution, not costly policies that put our country further in debt.

Border class exceptions approved for more farm workers and vets Hon Damien O’Connor The Government has approved border class exceptions for an additional 200 dairy workers and 50 veterinarians to enter New Zealand, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced.

“It is clear from conversations with the dairy and veterinarian sectors that they are facing workforce pressures.

These border exceptions will go a long way towards relieving those pressures,” Damien O’Connor said.

The exceptions will allow up to 150 dairy farm workers in management roles on farms, up to 50 workers in dairy assistant roles, and up to 50 general practice vets to enter New Zealand, along with their partners and dependent children.

“What we have also made clear to sector leaders is that we need to ensure there is a strong incentive for New Zealanders to take up entry level roles and develop careers in dairying.

“The Government and food and fibres sector have been working hard to mitigate worker shortages by training and upskilling New Zealanders, but we know that takes time.

This announcement recognises the immediate need for additional expertise to come through our borders. Dairy managers and vets have specialist skills developed over many years, which we can’t replicate overnight. With the

new dairy season kicking off last week, migrant dairy farm workers will supplement the domestic workforce and provide critical support. Despite the previous border class exception for vets, our domestic vet skill shortage remains acute, including in hard to recruit roles in isolated rural practices. This new class exception will allow veterinarians to enter New Zealand if they have between 3-5 years’ experience and meet the remuneration threshold of $85,000 per year.”

Damien O’Connor said dairy farm workers and vets played a key role in animal welfare, food safety, and safeguarding New Zealand’s international reputation as a producer of safe and sustainable food.

“In making this decision, we’ve balanced the need to keep New Zealanders safe and ensure appropriate MIQ capacity, with seasonal and strategic skills shortages, and seasonal variations for overseas New Zealanders travelling home. To relieve workforce pressures, the Government has previously approved exceptions for vets, along with shearers and rural mobile plant machinery operators, and others. These new border exceptions will help drive New Zealand’s economic recovery from COVID-19,” Damien O’Connor said.

Taimate Bull sale

This pic from Joe Blakiston showing stud principal Paul Hickman in the ring with lot 28 at Taimate Bull sale This was one of a number of bulls sold using the online BIDR system where the live-streamed sale allowed buyers from all over New Zealand bid in real time in bulls in the ring

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As this is supposedly a Real Estate commentary, I will start with a shameless plug for you to contact me or my team if you are contemplating a sale in the near future .

All our Tasman PGGW Real Estate staff have been extremely busy and the SOLD sign has gone up on many properties across the Top of The South to the point we are now looking to secure new properties for the Spring.

The market is strong across the board for all property classes and with our digital marketing packages we can reach a huge audience plus the traditional print media to fill in the gaps.

I have been doing my annual rounds of the local Breeding Bull sales where I love catching up with old and new clients in this relaxed environment. It is always a privilege to be hosted by places like Lake Station at Rotoiti and the Matariki and Woodbank Studs at Clarence – and places in between – we live in such a beautiful part of the world!

A beer with steak sandwich afterwards is always a good way to judge the pulse of the industry and to be honest there was lot of smiling faces out there. Sure, the topic of conversation swayed between real estate updates, rugby, and of course the obligatory unfair treatment of the farming sector by government and the weather, but the true social value of these events is massive.

I have learnt over the years to get away at a reasonable hour as the celebrations can go on for a long time - good sale or bad!

The general mood of the rural sector is much improved after 2 months of good rain so we can look to the coming season with confidence and yes, there are plenty of lambs already born in Marlborough!

Have you all booked some time away from the farm in the coming months? A week away at a sporting event, visiting family or friends, maybe a trip to the West Coast or the Catlins, anywhere to change the landscape from your property is a necessity to provide you with some perspective on what is going on outside the farm gate and appreciate how fortunate we are.

With COVID making an unwelcome appearance again in Australia lets enjoy our freedom within our borders and help keep our local economy going.

Just my thoughts.

Have a great month, Joe Blakiston 0274344069

July 2021

A Modelled Future

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Garrick Batten

It is unknown who first used the phrase ‘Lies, Damned lies and Statistics’ so confusion remains, but many people, many times, have claimed originality that encourages you to favour Statistics. Now we can add Models.

Models used to be train sets that boys played with on the sitting room floor. Or catwalk clotheshorses notable for perceived beauty, targeted by fashion photographers, and richlisters for a trophy wife. Maybe still, but now also the product from computer screens driven by algorithms built by researchers, economists and policy works.

Modelling has been stoked by an increasing number of unemployed young people choosing the pathway to higher education that required more tutors whose academic life depends on publishing research. So run a survey of a few people or situations, plug those results into a self-created framework and publish an answer that social and other media will lap up, especially if it is negative. Computer magic creates these models, so they are taken as gospel for making decisions.

For example, local body Councillors defining land-use zoning to recognise flood-risk modelled on analysis of historical flood events that ignored 30% that did not fit, then assuming that history foretells the future in a world with a dramatically changing climate. Or government policy based on an opt-in internet-based survey for answers to carefully crafted questions, and modelled as reflecting the majority. The May rolling webinars ‘Growing Kai Under Increasing Dry’ presented necessary policy and decision changes based only on researchers’ climate and drought modelling of land use suitability. With the proviso that those changes must be inferred by Maori social and cultural well being.

Possibly the worst recent example has been the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations for reducing emissions based on models repeating the myth that all farms, farming systems and farmers are the same. And ignoring cost/benefit analysis. It is easy to see flaws in models based on ignorance or bias, so perhaps it is no

wonder that their models were not publicly available to be examined or challenged if the following is an example. A dairy farm model to reduce emissions recommended planting 25% of the farm in maize to reduce methane. Apart from climate, contour and soil limits on maize growing, the crop needs cultivation with associated soil erosion and loss of soil carbon, plus more emissions from building, importing and operating the machinery to grow and utilise this feedstuff. Let alone costs.

Farmers cannot add on costs like urban businesses that modellers are familiar with, and farm business economics is often ignored by the majority who accept added costs as part of life. The expectation of farmers to save the NZ climate change challenge is more nuanced than can be built into models that can now rightly join the well-quoted opening phrase.

Garrick Batten, Brightwater, writes on rural topics from a lifetime professional and practical career. www.ruralscribe.wordpress.com

Headed for divorce? Who gets the farm?

Sarah Thompson, Solicitor, Pitt & Moore

Untangling relationship property at the end of a relationship can be tricky. This is especially the case when family farms are involved – with their unique structures of companies, partnerships and trusts and the reality that family life is often centred around the farm.

There are many aspects of relationship property legislation that are not very well understood by the public. It is not uncommon for separated partners to be surprised that property that they considered to be their separate property is in fact relationship property.

For example, even if the farm was owned pre-relationship and only the farmer works it, their spouse may still have a claim to the increase in the value of the farm. The crucial question is whether a part of that increase was due to the nonfarmer spouse. As many farms in our region have seen significant growth in value in the last few dec-

ades, this is an important risk to consider.

A 2009 decision called Rose v Rose remains the leading case in answering this question. The facts are relatively common. The farmer in question farmed in partnership with his father and brother – a structure established well before his marriage to Mrs Rose. Mrs Rose worked off the farm, earning a wage which allowed Mr Rose to keep the farm afloat, as it was heavily mortgaged. She also looked after the home.

The dispute went all the way to the Supreme Court and ultimately Mrs Rose was awarded 40% of the increase in the value of the farm – a substantial amount as the farm’s value had increased from $300,000 at the start of the relation-

ship to $1.5 million at the end. The Court agreed with the wife’s argument that without her income, the farm would have been in jeopardy, so the Court was satisfied that at least some of the increase in the value of the farm was due to her actions. The Court also recognised that as the homemaker, Mrs Rose had freed up her husband to spend long hours on the farm.

The best advice we can give to a farming client considering separation is to engage a specialist relationship property lawyer to give you advice on your own situation. Depending on the facts, the farm could be subject to a relationship property claim – even if structures designed to avoid such claims are used.

Similarly, if your farming

family is getting larger with a new relationship – the best way to protect the farm’s legacy is through an agreement contracting out of the default provisions of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976. It is an excellent insurance policy against a complicated, expensive and time-consuming process should things not work out.

Contact Sarah Thompson to discuss how Pitt & Moore Lawyers can assist you.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is of a general nature and is not intended as legal advice. It is important that you seek legal advice that is specific to your circumstances.

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Carbon positive – naturally Peter Burton - Functional Fertiliser

Jargon is a mode of speech familiar only to a group or profession.

Its widely used by the scientific fraternity, particularly with respect to agriculture, and its effect, whether deliberate or otherwise, has been to limit open discussion.

When you are unsure of the meaning of technical terms there’s a tendency to say nothing so as to not look foolish.

Carbon, whether lost or gained, is fundamental to the future of agriculture, not only here but worldwide.

The government has a stated aim of carbon neutrality by 2050 and those able to show that their farming enterprise is gaining carbon stand to gain financially, either through

paying less tax and/or receiving higher returns for their produce.

Those losing carbon will be penalized and their future limited and yet farmers currently have no sure way of knowing which camp they fall into.

The dairy industry admits that they are responsible to some extent for the increase in nitrate nitrogen levels recorded over recent times, but are yet to explain how this issue is to be resolved.

At present the blunt tool of fewer animals seems to be the accepted next step and this alone may or may not solve the problem.

Farmers need to know where they stand and be able to plan for the future with a degree of certainty.

Banks also require this

certainty for land prices to be determined allowing the current group of owners aged 60 plus to sell their properties, should they wish.

Younger folk with energy, enthusiasm, and the skill necessary to take pastoral farming to the next level are presently stymied, and without a clear pathway to land ownership will look to other industries for their futures.

Landcare Research has measured carbon on pastoral land throughout the country and I’m told that the measures show that all irrigated land in this country is losing carbon.

Whether that’s right or wrong, the findings should be freely available, because irrigating land does not necessarily result in a re-

duction of soil held carbon.

The loss of soil carbon results from farming practices, however which ones?

As it is under permanent grazed pasture that carbon is sequestered most rapidly it must be a practice or input that disrupts this natural process.

Animals are an essential part of the sequestration process as it is their dung, urine, and treading that contributes not only to the development of soil but also the speed at which it occurs.

An article published by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in 2011 contains the following, “recent research has shown that in intensive lowland livestock systems (e.g., dairying), soils have lost organic matter by an average of

Intensive dairy. Same soil type - split by a fence-line. Brown soil the result of many years of high synthetic N inputs. Darker (black) soil producing more pasture and holding carbon & structure.

1.0 tonne carbon/ha/yr over the last 20 – 30 years while in hilly land soils, organic carbon levels have increased.”

What is unique to dairy land is the ongoing application of urea on a regular basis, and that started around 1990, so fits with the timeline, but alone may not be the issue.

With data going back 30 years the scientific frater-

nity can doubtless provide a hypothesis that can be readily verified.

A term that we feel should be introduced is carbon positive farming, to differentiate between systems that sequester and those that lose carbon.

If farmers were told how to sample their property and what test(s) to request they could develop a benchmark against which

future tests could be compared.

Any single test will only be accurate within quite broad parameters, it will be the trend over time that tells the full story.

If we are to meet the 2050 carbon neutral target it is imperative that the tests and sampling procedures are made a top priority. For more information contact Peter on 0800 843 809.

Beef and Lamb NZ championing the sector Andrew Ritchie Sam McIvor CEO of Beef and Lamb NZ spoke recently to a group of farmers in Marlborough outlining the importance of voting in the upcoming referendum to continue or discontinue the organisation, as well as voting for an increase in the levy. He said that the industry was facing some of the biggest changes in a generation in our overseas markets such as the UK, the US and China. In addition there was a tidal wave of regulations domestically over the environment and climate change, affecting the farming industry. To ensure farming voices were heard and to spread resources Beef and Lamb NZ are working with DairyNZ and Federated Farmers in a joint approach to legislators. The strategy of the organisation is to support farming excellence by assisting to provide an environment where farmers can operate sustainable, profitable farming systems. Beef and LambNZ’s aim is that every farm will have a Farm Plan by 2024.

They are actively encouraging Action Networks and Catchment Groups.

Currently there are 180 groups throughout the country with over 1500 farms involved. Other strategies include research into parasitic resistance and facial eczema. Investment in world class genetics and the provision of an agribusiness curriculum in secondary schools. The focus is on year 12 and 13 students through career advisors and teachers. Currently 100 schools are involved and over 3000 students. Beef and Lamb NZ consider one of their goals is to champion the farming sector by ensuring famers are celebrated as the world’s best red meat producers. To further this goal they aim to influence national and regional policies by improving

the trust and reputation of our farmers by both the NZ public and government. One of the ways these policies have been implemented is by having farm open days where the public are encouraged to come along and observe everyday practices. Success has been achieved by postponing the winter grazing rules to show that farmers can arrive at a protocol without legislation from government. Some exclusions have been arrived at regarding the fencing of waterways in hill country. On climate change there is now a split gas approach and a processor tax has been avoided.

Limits are being set on forestry offsets and recognition is being sought on sequestration on sheep and beef farms. On Significant Natural Areas a pause is being advocated on the introduction of new rules and work is being done to fix the original proposals. Regarding marketing the goal is for farmers to receive increased value from sustainable farming systems and natural grass-fed beef and lamb. To this end new markets are being sought, attempts made to understand the consumer, and a deepening of the ‘Taste Pure Nature ‘brand, plus looking ahead to future trends. The ‘Taste Pure Nature’ brand was begun in the US and China in 2018/19 and now four export companies are using it with others expressing a desire to utilise the marketing tool. Replying to questions regarding the dependency on the Chinese market Sam said that companies report that the Chinese are among their best customers, paying a good price and always paying on time. “Countries are lining up for our product and if they are willing to pay as much as the Chinese they will be very welcome.”

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Marlborough Ploughing Association event held in mild conditions Andrew Ritchie The annual Marlborough Ploughing Association held their Qualifying Match on Phillip Neal’s property in Rapaura Road on the 6th June. Eighteen competitors took part across five classes. Some entrants were prevented from attending due to the flooding in Canterbury. John Booth’s horse team provided extra interest for the great turnout of the general public attending the event. Soil conditions were excellent due to the 50mm of rain which fell during the previous few days. An amount of unevenness in the ground presented competitors with a few challenges on the day, that tested their level of expertise.

Results were as follows: Vintage Class: 1rst Bruce Graham 226 points,2nd Ash Murdoch 212 points,3rd Lyell Parnham 206 points, Henry Cosgrove-Davies 163 points, John Butt 142 points, Jeff Rowberry 133 points.

Conventional/Reversible: 1rst Ian Woolley 215 points,2nd Malcolm Taylor 213 points,3rd Ashley Seaton 199 points, 4th Ken Readman 167 points.

Contemporary: 1rst Paula Jordan 214 points,2nd Richard Cooke 155 points,3rd Ben Cooke 138 points, 4th Alastair Dawson 104 points,5th Chris Laws 97 points.

Farmers Class: 1rst Alan Jones 147 points, 2nd Nick Laws 108 points.

The New Zealand Finals will take place next May.

Above: Winner of Vintage Class, Bruce Graham Left: Winner of Contemporary Class, Paula Jordan

Rare tractor on display at ploughing event Believed to be one of only five left in the world a Chase tractor was displayed by the Tua Marina Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club at the Marlborough Ploughing Championship event last month. Manufactured in Toronto Canada by the Chase Tractor Corporation Ltd the tractor created something of a sensation when it was demonstrated in Blenheim on the 21st December 1917. Powered by a transversely mounted Waukesha 24BHP engine with two forward gears and one reverse the machine was capable of 1.5 miles per hour and could turn round in a radius of forty feet. Importing agents Winteringham and Mitchell claimed that it could dispense with the services of horses on the farm, having the ability to pull a plough, reapers, binders and a variety of other implements. Concessions to driver comfort came with the addition of springs on the single front wheel. The tractor spent much of its life on the Chaytor property at Marshlands until it was rescued from under some trees by club member Rod Clark seven years ago, after extensive negotiations with owner Anthony Chaytor. The tractor has been restored by club members with financial help from the Council and practical assistance from Radiator Services, Spring Creek Engineering and Cuddon who manufactured the missing rear mudguards.

Plans are afoot to move the club to Brayshaw Park where a large shed will be built behind the museum as a workshop and storage area for the club’s machinery.

Spartan conditions for the driver in 1917

Andrew Ritchie

The font spring on the Chase the only concession to driver comfort

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Spreader widens range of services Photographed in the Brooks Spreading yard in Spring Grove near Wakefield: Toby Evans and Dean Brooks.

And below: the custom built spreader in the yard and at work.

Brooks Spreading have been in business in the Top of The South since 2003 providing agricultural fertiliser spreading services.

Dean & Sarah have identified a gap in the horticultural fertiliser spreading services and so have expanded their operation by adding a tractor and custom made trailing fertiliser spreader.

The design of the spreader is narrow enough to fit down rows but still with a large capacity, this allows a larger area to be spread before reloading. Dean says “This creates a saving in time that keeps the costs competitive but also means getting the job done with less disruption for the customer.”

The new expansion necessitated a new tractor - Dean and his 2nd in charge Toby Evans gave this decision a lot of consideration and settled on a Fendt 209

from TRS. “ The Fendt really did tick all the boxes,” says Toby “it’s a quality machine, certainly compact enough to go anywhere we need to but also has the grunt to pull the larger than average load. The Fendt has met all our expectations so far so we’re very happy with it.”

The Fendt and trailing spreader are set up to be able to spread in apple and pear orchards,

vineyards and hop gardens. The latter having undergone a huge expansion in the Tasman region.

If you have any questions regarding spreading, whether it be agricultural or horticultural give Brooks Spreading a call 0800 542 383 And if you’re in the market for a tractor or any agricultural machinery give the guys at TRS a call - see numbers below.

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July 2021

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Environmental Prosecutions Set to Increase under National Freshwater Rules

NZ’s apiculture industry names top honey producers

Hans van der Wal

“I have seen far too many hard-working honest farmers end up with a conviction for inadvertent and avoidable environmental offending” says specialist Environmental Lawyer Hans van der Wal. He sees that trend as only getting worse with the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NESFW20), which were introduced in September 2020, adding extra rules to the already complex maze of Regional and District (or Unitary) council rules.

Hans already acts for rural sector clients in a steady stream of enforcement investigations and Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) prosecutions under current council rules. These include prosecutions for effluent spills, works in waterways and sediment discharges. But he believes the new rules will lead to a wave of new prosecutions unless operators take specific steps to keep up to date.

The NESFW20 introduces new rules that will make many activities on rural production land that were not unlawful under Council rules, offences under the RMA. Take “natural wetlands”, for example. Many farmers know that a certain paddock has always had a “damp” or

“boggy” area, but would never dream that it was anything other than a paddock they could manage and improve.

Now, under the NESFW20, that area is a “natural wetland” if more than 50% of plants in it are not exotic pasture species but plants adapted to wet conditions. It is an offence to do most types of earthworks and vegetation removal within that area and a 10m buffer around it (and drain, take or divert water within 100m of it) unless a resource consent has first been obtained. The NESFW20 makes such consents hard to get and in some cases outlaws applying for them at all.

In addition, as of 1 July this year the NESFW20 puts new limits the amount of artificial fertiliser that can be used on pastoral land, and restrictions on stock numbers and densities that can be held in stock holding areas.

Hans stresses that these are only some examples of the NESFW20’s changes, which came in to ensure the new much higher protection standards required by the Government’s 2020 National Policy Statement for Freshwater (NPSFW) took effect immediately, rather than waiting for Councils to update their plans. They therefore apply (alongside the existing Council rules) until Councils have introduced new rules strict enough to meet the NPSFW’s requirements.

Hans explains that a large part of his existing cases come from rural sector operators trying to keep on top of the rules themselves, rather than getting the outside help they need. He believes that the new rules will only make that worse, resulting in many more honest rural operators being investigated or prosecuted. When it happens, it is essential that the right advice is obtained as soon as possible. The earlier a specialist environmental lawyer is involved in any investigation, the better the chances of either avoiding a prosecution or keeping the fine as low as possible. “The later the advice, the greater the cost”, says Hans.

This article should not be relied on as legal advice, as advice will differ for specific situations. Specialist advice should be obtained that is appropriate for the specifics of each situation.

If you do have any questions relating to this article you can contact Hans van der Wal on 027 787 8052

New Zealand’s best honey producers have been named at the Apiculture New Zealand National Honey Competition held at the industry’s annual Conference recently.

The Conference hosted more than 1000 delegates from the apiculture industry at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre from Thursday 24 June to Saturday 26 June. The National Honey Competition was one of the highlights of the event honouring producers across a range of honey categories and naming the top overall producer at a gala dinner on Saturday evening.

The 2021 Supreme Award winner was Jarved Allan of 100% Pure New Zealand Honey based in Timaru. Jarved received four gold medals and four silver medals for a variety of honeys including liquid honey, naturally granulated honey, creamed honey, honeydew and cut comb.

The runner-up was Rotorua-based, non-commercial beekeeper Kim Poynter who received three gold medals, one silver and a bronze. In third place were Jody and Ralph Mitchell of Kaimai Range Honey from Tauranga who received one gold, two silvers and a bronze medal.

Head judge Maureen Conquer said that the judging panel had been extremely impressed with the quality and taste of the honeys entered. “It was an absolute pleasure to sample these honeys over the past day and a half and extremely difficult to determine the winners. The number and quality of entries is continuing to increase each year, showing the true wealth of talent in our industry,” she told those present at the award ceremony. All entries were blind tasted, and an international scale of points was used to determine the winners across 12 main categories.

Apiculture New Zealand chief executive Karin Kos said the awards were highly contested amongst beekeepers and honey producers. “Our industry knows that a medal in the ApiNZ National Honey Awards indicates the highest quality of honey. We have so many beautiful honeys available in New Zealand, but the National Honey Award winners have produced something truly special.”

The Apiculture New Zealand Conference also was an opportunity to celebrate other successes within the industry with awards presented to those making outstanding achievements in apiculture science, innovation, sustainability and photography. Dr Phil Lester of Victoria University of Wellington was awarded the Peter Molan trophy for his exceptional contribution to apiculture science, while New Zealand-based firm Ecrotek received the Roy Paterson Trophy for apicultural innovation for their plant-based, carbon-neutral bee frames.

Hantz Honey, from Leeston, South Canterbury received the Apiculture New Zealand Sustainability Award for their commitment to sustainability within their business and Hawke’s Bay beekeeper John Berry received the ‘Unsung Hero Award’ for his outstanding contribution to the industry.

The Supreme winner in the ApiNZ National Photography competition was Hazel Moran, a non-commercial beekeeper from Auckland, while the People’s Choice Award was given to Lindenberg Gomes for his bee-filled portrait.

Grow tonnes of extra feed Article supplied by OsGro Seed Services After a tough Autumn, Winter has finely arrived and we are starting to get some significant rainfall events and the odd frost. At this time of year there is always the opportunity to sow a cereal crop into your winter crop paddocks once you have grazed off your winter feed crop.

History has shown us that cereals sown in the winter can grow up to 5 + tonne of dry matter by the start of November.

This crop not only grows you an extra 5 tonne of feed it has also used up any excess nutrients left from your winter feed crop. We have found in the past there have been limited windows to get these cereal crops established and direct drilling has been the favour method of sowing these crops.

Although getting these crops sown in Winter can be a challenge, once sown they do create opportunity in the later part of Spring where they can either be grazed off or turned into supplementary feed such as baleage or silage.

Benefits of using a cereal Cereals can be direct drilled and can be sown into a fairly rough seed bed due to the seed size and seed vigour.

Cereals are not overly sensitive to soil temperature, so cereals can be sown throughout the Winter.

Cereals can be grazed, or made into silage, baleage and or hay. So very versatile for use in the Spring.

Cereal options Oats are a Winter/Spring sown green crop option that have the ability to produce a significant yield and can be sown during the Winter months through to the Spring.

Triticale is a good way of producing large volumes of whole crop cereal silage to replenish supplies, these can be sown during the Winter through to early Spring.

Barley is a very user-friendly whole crop cereal silage, it has a large planting window from Winter through to November.

Oats/Peas mixes are common and by adding peas it is a good way of increasing protein and overall yield of the supplement.

July 2021

Wool Procurement Manager, PGG Wrightson Wool

Wool Market Improvement Another wool selling season will have just been completed by the time this wool update is read! At the time of writing the final auction for North Island brokers had come to an end whilst catalogues for South Island brokers’ final auction of the 20/21 season, to be held on 30th June, were going to print. (Yes, the tradition of printing catalogues for wool exporters to cherish and study whilst comparing printed wool test results with wool samples and record notes in pencil, and in a variety of hieroglyphics and codes that no-one else can understand, remains a key part of the pre-open-cry auction process currently). North Island brokers reported a strong auction market on 24th June with less than one percent of the total offering passed-in by the auctioneers for failing to reach reserve price. All wool categories offered on June 24th, were quoted as being well ahead of the previous Napier auction held two weeks prior, with some categories recording increases of more than ten percent, signaling a better tone and depth to the market and the confirmation that the market has at least lifted from the bottom.

Coarse wool prices have improved every week for the past few months and whilst each increase has been minimal in percentage terms, improvement has been welcomed by all involved from growers to manufacturers. Compared to a similar time last year, coarse body wool types have improved by between fifty-five and sixty percent, with some probably even better than that range, and I’d suggest that if we compare movements of other agricultural crops during the same period, coarse wool’s rebound would out-scale most others? Whilst recognizing the rock-bottom levels of the market prevailing prior to about December 2020, and with a wide range of both old and new seasons’ wools continuing to come onto the market, improvement may have surprised some observers but, in my view, has

certainly reinforced the desire of many manufacturers for New Zealand grown wool due to its characteristics, most of which cannot be replicated by wool from any other origin.

Mid-micron wool types have been more erratic in the marketplace during the past month or so with an obvious requirement from most exporters for wools measuring finer than around twenty-eight microns. It would appear that the stronger edge of the mid-micron types have not enjoyed as much demand as those in the medium to fine areas. Australian auctions have delivered a similar result recently for what they refer to as their crossbred types with the finer edge enjoying most demand.

With limited numbers of Merino wool types available in New Zealand of late, those which have been offered for sale have enjoyed a very robust marketplace with several lines of mainly second-shear wools selling at extremely healthy levels during early to mid-June in the Christchurch wool auction room. Australian brokers have experienced very strong demand for all Merino types during the past few weeks, but, in particular, the extra-fine wools measuring finer than around seventeen microns. Recent quotes from AWEX, reporting on daily Australian wool auction results, for sixteen-micron wool types have appeared to be at levels almost double those ruling a year earlier, with all other micron categories also moving well ahead as demand has remained very, very high. This bodes extremely well for local New Zealand growers of Merino wool types as the new season beckons, and with a few early clips appearing in broker catalogues for the Christchurch auction on June 30th, expectations are for similar, if not stronger, demand to be shown by exporters representing all countries of manufacture.

That’s my view.

Face to face meeting delivers significant progress on NZ-UK FTA Hon Damien O’Connor New Zealand and the UK have committed to accelerating their free trade agreement negotiations with the aim of reaching an agreement in principle this August, Trade Minister Damien O’Connor announced.

“We’ve held constructive and productive discussions towards the conclusion of a high-quality and comprehensive FTA that will support sustainable and inclusive trade, and help drive New Zealand’s economic recovery from COVID,” Damien O’Connor said.

The UK’s International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and Damien O’Connor concluded a day of detailed talks in London and issued a joint statement.

Negotiating teams will now accelerate talks and spend the coming weeks finalising details with the aim of reaching agreement in principle in August.

“My visit to London has been timely and constructive.

There’s been real value in meeting face to face with Secretary Truss. During our discussions I reaffirmed New Zealand’s wish to see a high quality agreement concluded with the UK as swiftly as possible,” Damien O’Connor said.

“For New Zealand that means receiving a market access offer that eliminates tariffs and provides commercially meaningful access from day one of the agreement.

“Achieving an ambitious deal remains our priority.

Building on the outcomes of our discussions in London, we are both confident that our negotiating teams will be

able to make important progress over the coming weeks,” Damien O’Connor said.

In London, Damien O’Connor also met with Minister of State in the Cabinet Office Lord Frost, and had engagements with key Parliamentary and industry representatives.

In his capacity as Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor also had a valuable meeting with UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice. They discussed the challenges and opportunities for our respective primary and food producing sectors and the valuable role that an FTA could play in our economic recovery.

Joint Statement from New Zealand and UK governments: The UK and New Zealand held constructive and productive discussions towards the conclusion of a high-quality and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement that will support sustainable and inclusive trade. Both countries are confident that the remaining issues will be resolved, with talks on track to deliver a fantastic agreement.

UK International Trade Secretary and New Zealand Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor concluded a day of detailed talks.

Negotiating teams will now accelerate talks and spend the coming weeks finalising details with the aim of reaching agreement in principle in August.

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14

Federated Farmers

Marlborough River and Waters Feature at Local Fed’s Meeting Tony Orman Marlborough Federated Farmers strongly believes water security all-year round is vital for Marlborough’s economy. At the monthly June meeting, immediate past president Phillip Neal tabled and outlined submissions made to the Marlborough District Council’s Long Term Plan 2021-2031.

“Farming is an integral part of Marlborough region with agriculture one if the largest industries contributing to the local economy,” he said. ”Year-round water security is a vital aspect for all of Marlborough people and Marlborough Federated Farmers is concerned that the Marlborough District Council has not included any proposals for the inclusion of freshwater storage infrastructure.”

The submission said water storage and water security would be a necessary investment for the region. Phillip Neal called on council to investigate options to develop new infrastructure and assets for water storage such as that of a community water scheme.

“Freshwater storage options like dams create long term security opportunities for both residential drinking water, through to irrigation for farmers. Another benefit for the development of a community dam would be the environment through increased river health where the amount of river discharge and water height could remain at optimum levels even through dry

summer months.”

Phillip Neal referred to the recent extreme drought due to below-average rainfall over 18 months. “Drought has negatively affected many farmers particularly in the Flaxbourne area with sleepless nights and difficult farm and finance decisions for one of Marlborough’s largest industries. A largescale community dam could reduce or remove all of these pressures,” he added.

Marlborough Federated Farmers’ submission also expressed concern that the Long Term Plan had no inclusion of droughts in the rates remission for land affected by natural disasters.

Rating System Phillip Neal expressed concern that the Marlborough District Council was not utilising the uniform annual general charge (UAGC) to the maximum allowable rate of 30 percent.

“The use of UAGC creates fair rates for all district ratepayers, as the majority of council services create equal district wide benefits.

We are also concerned that the rating system based on Land Value instead of Capital Value will lead to unfair and extremely high rates for farmers due to high land values associated with farms, which may create financial instability.

Simply put, rates based on land value result in farms paying much more than other types of property for the general services of local government.”

Freshwater Rules Chairman Scott Adams in his monthly report said that Marlborough Federated Farmers attended the Marlborough District Council’s hearing for the proposed charging for the monitoring of permitted activities around the freshwater regulations. A number of farmers also submitted.

“Fingers crossed that the bureaucrats have not already instructed the councillors in what they want the decision to be with the submission and hearing process being only a ‘feel- good tick the box’ exercise in public consultation,” he said.

River Management Chairman Scott Adams expressed concern on the lack of maintenance of the Wairau River and weaknesses in Wairau River stopbanks. “It needs a lot of thought as another flood like in 1983 would be disastrous,” he said. “ECan may say to leave the Canterbury rivers to where they changed course, but this is not also a good idea.”

River management must be reinstated as an important top priority work. Disestablishment of Catchment boards has led to increased damage from floods. “Today’s local government does not see river management as a top priority and instead seems to see ‘vanity projects’ as more important,” he added.

Scott Adams said the Wairau catchment did not stop at the Waihopai confluence and considered there

was no return for ratepayers above the Waihopai/Wairau confluence as no work has been done on the river past that point.

Significant Natural Areas A paper from Federated Farmers NZ on Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) was tabled. In it, Gavin Forrest, general manager policy and advocacy said Climate Change minister James Shaw was in error in saying SNAs had Federated Farmers Support.

“This is not the case,” said Gavin Forrest. “For many years Federated Farmers had been battling in district plan hearings and in courts for the criteria for determining SNAs and controls placed on landowners including, in some cases total prohibition of any farming activities.”

Federated Farmers did not support a current draft National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity. Among concerns were SNAs should only apply to those areas that are truly significant and existing use rights must be provided for, plus government needs to ensure a suite of measures like rates relief for SNAs or QEII covenanted land, among other concerns.

Dairying Dairy section chairman Evan White reported all herds were now dried off.

Dairy farmers were generally happy with the payout on the 20/21 season which sits at $7.55 - back 5 cents on recent forecasts which was surprising.

Cull cows continue to be difficult to get into the works with some being sold on a liveweight basis to the works and sent to grazing until the backlog clears.

Other concerns include the flooding in Canterbury affecting those dairy farmers shifting farms and the labour shortage which is affecting farmers both directly and indirectly. Farmers are being encouraged to write to both the Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture saying how serious the labour shortage is and how it is affecting farm and personal life.

Good result Meat and Wool sector chairman Richard Dawkins said latest data from the Meat Industry Association shows that monthly red meat export returns pushed through the one-billiondollar mark for only the second time in March. The only other month to top $1 billion was last March at the start of the pandemic.

“This is pretty good going considering the supply chain issues at play,” he said.

There were positive indicators that fine merino wool prices may be better than last year. Strong wool has slightly improved on last year as indicated by the schedule and there is quiet confidence prices will slowly improve. Encouraging was that Bremworth, the premium brand in New Zealand flooring, has ceased manufacturing synthetic carpets and is putting its

faith back in wool.

The prime ewe market is very strong and 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 way off, $300 was on the table for very heavy ewes recently.

Forestry Report Forestry sector chairman Chris Dawkins said the Climate Change Commission has calculated 380,000ha of new plantation forests are needed within 15 years for NZ to reach its greenhouse gas reduction targets.

“That represents about 4% of existing sheep and beef farmland. I ask, why not each and every one of those farms, plant just 5% of that property in suitable trees to attain the target, without loss of employment, and an improvement in animal production and welfare?”

Chris Dawkins recalled AGM guest speaker Alan Emerson had expressed concern at the loss of productive farms to carbon trading investors often foreign based speculators.

“Foreign investors already own nearly 70% of NZ forest plantations. Since 2018 when the government made it easier for foreign investors to buy pastoral land for conversion to forestry, foreigners have purchased 30 farms covering 32,644ha, along with another 35 existing forestry blocks covering 111,517ha.”

Rural Women Glenda Robb reported Marlborough Rural Women NZ had worked together to support the Drought Events, catering for the Ward Drought Meeting, providing a sausage sizzle at the Ward Cricket Match and donating the Swazi night supper money. Kenepuru Branch donated proceeds from the Lockdown cookbook to various charities in Marlborough. Marlborough Provincial is working on a calendar to fundraise for cancer which is the National RWNZ chosen cause this year.

At a recent provincial meeting, a host of concerns were aired, such as the loss of landline telephones, the poor quality of teaching basic writing, reading and arithmetic, lack of funding at Wairau Hospital, the poor rollout of Covid vaccinations and the push for SNA’s and mapping farms.

Some of these issues will be taken as remits to Regional Conference.

Sharon Parkes Tribute Scott Adams paid tribute to the passing of former president Sharon Parkes.

“Marlborough Farmers have lost a passionate and active voice of reason in fighting many issues,” he said.

“Thank you, Sharon for all your dedication and hard work.” The meeting stood in silence as a mark of sorrow and respect.

companying resources. Nor are all national policies set.

This in turn conflicts with actions and requirements from other national plans and local needs such as roading that is vital for rural communities.

There is a need for local action, firstly by individual

landowners to protect their property rights, and also from the strength of group action. The situation is fluid and RMA reforms are still awaited. Members’ suggestions included discussion with Golden Bay FF, clear definitions around wet lands and wet areas, the compatibility of farming and conservation, and Martin committed to getting more information and from his upcoming National Council meeting to better advise members and future actions.

Much information on this topic (and the huge range of others that are currently overwhelming FF staff in the tsunami of legislative proposals) is available to members from one: one contact with Board members with regular confidential HO reports on their multitude of activities. This would also be available to all farmers who joined and saw how FF is working actively on their behalf in practically every area that concerns them.

The organisation will be driving increased membership to not only help to

relieve staff of work overload but to better represent all landowners’ issues and educate them about the organisation and all its work on their behalf. A national tour is planned for later in the year with upgraded Territory managers, but the need for local follow-up was emphasised during discussion.

One local issue was better education and provision for fire protection especially in St. Arnaud region where there is good liaison with DoC despite possible conflict between conservation and fire risk reduction, and an active Fire Brigade.

Gavin O’Donnell noted that most rural communities are well organised and carrying out fire safety education as well as making changes to lessen the fire risk; there are challenges but overall are making great progress.

Feed supplies and the needs of both recently flooded and drought-affected Canterbury farmers, and Marlborough droughtaffected farmers were discussed at length. Already significant supplementary

feed supplies have been sent out of the district, especially from Tapawera, and the need in Canterbury is now for grazing. Jenny Ridgen MPI recommended that Marlborough should now be priority for further support and that FEEDLINE was the appropriate vehicle.

Barbara Stuart, Rural Women, noted how successful coordination between RW and RST had been such as the Swazi Guy’s evenings, with 80 people attending Tapawera. They are looking for continued results with another event in Murchison 2nd July and suggested encouraging current members to attend.

RST is looking at different events as well as up and coming events and seek ideas or suggestions.

A similar format is planned for the next Branch meeting Tues 3rd August 2021 at 7pm at Tapawera Fire station with some catering. Members can attend in person or via Zoom. Rural Women have their Region 3 Top of the South Conference in Westport 20/21st July.

Nelson Federated Farmers Report Although both Section chairs, Kerry Irvine (Meat&Wool) and Stephen Todd (Dairy) reported a reasonably positive end to the season end and current situation, with more encouraging meat and milk prices, and ewe scanning reported at 10-15% ahead of last year, there were un-

derlying concerns expressed throughout the meeting on industry level matters.

Discussion on land use planning involved in SNAs, Outstanding Natural Areas and the Coastal Environment Plan was led by President Martin O’Connor who canvassed available information now in circula-

tion for the planning and development stages to be finalised by 2024/25. Information from TDC is out and circulating, although Council staff have not been particularly helpful, no doubt constrained by the extra costs imposed by central government without ac-

July 2021

Minor Breach of District Plan Provisions Made Easy

15

To reduce reliance on nitrogen fertiliser, we need to look at the soil Rik Mulder, Soil Matters

Anna Bensemann, Senior Planner, Baseline Group Marlborough, Ph 03 578 7299 Email: anna@blg.nz

In the face of increasing frustration over minor breaches of planning rules, Government introduced in a simplified process for resource consents when you have the written approval of your neighbour.

When looking at creating an extension on your house, establishing a shed out back or any structure in close to your boundary, then a deemed permitted boundary activity is a fast-tracked and straight forward resource consent process.

This fast-tracked process only applies if you breach only a rule with a neighbour’s boundary, and not any other rules of the District Plan.

So, what is a boundary rule? In most districts, these rules include: Daylight recession planes Setbacks from the boundary of a neighbouring property Rules controlling the length of a building relative to a boundary However, before you start drafting plans for a dream extension located next to your neighbour’s boundary, there are still a few hoops to jump through. An application for the activity needs to be applied for, and it must show that you do not breach any other rules.

You need to get the formal written approval from your neighbour.

Like any resource consent process, information needs to be supplied to Council for a deemed permitted boundary activity to be certified, and correct fees paid. Unlike typical resource consents which involve 20 working days, through the processing of a deemed permitted boundary activity Council only has 10 working days and must provide written notice as to whether the activity is permitted.

They cannot stop the clock and ask for further information, which is one of the key frustrations with a standard resource consent process.

Council still gets to have a good look at your proposal with a fine-tooth comb to make sure it meets the criteria for being a deemed permitted boundary activity. If they identify any other non-compliances that boots it out of the fast-tracked process, then a full resource consent application will be required.

The deemed permitted boundary activity was introduced as a measure to simplify the consenting process for minor non-compliances where a neighbour has provided written approval. Much of the skill is working out if this provision actually applies, and then ensuring you can get your written approval from a neighbour.

If you do not get on with your neighbours or are unable to get their approval for some reason, then a full resource consent process is required. The time and cost difference between a deemed permitted boundary activity and a full resource consent is sufficient enough to ensure you seek professional planning advice before proceeding.

Meeting the government’s new regulations needn’t be costly or difficult for farmers.

They simply need to look at their soil, believes Soil Matters general manager Rik Mulder.

“The majority of our clients are not seeing these new regulations as a problem because they’ve focused on their soil health and need to apply a lot less fertiliser as a result so they are well below the thresholds,” he says.

So why is soil so important?

Rik explains that soil is complex system of microorganisms, fungi, bacteria and more. Soil Matters focuses on three key aspects: physical, biological and mineral.

By addressing all three in tandem it can help farmers make the right decisions. The physical aspect of the soil cannot be changed and is identified via a physical assessment, combined with comprehensive plant and soil testing to give insight into the soil structure characteristics. Soil biology is all about breakdown and UP-cycling of carbon and other nutrients.

Rik says that some farmers have traditionally been told that nitrogen is good and therefore the more the better, but this is far from the case.

“Nutrients in the soil interact both synergistically or antagonistically. You can’t add one without improving or reducing the availability of a different nutrient. N, P and K are the popular ones as they boost plant growth like no other. But the ones ‘at the back of the class’ are just as, if not more, important for nutrient efficiency. We focus on reducing reliance on synthetically produced nitrogen, enhancing carbon sequestration and providing the right balance for nutrient dense crops in New Zealand.

He says it’s a delicate balancing act but by more precision and getting it right farmers can really see results fast and often save money in the process. New testing methods, such as sap testing, which tests the ‘blood’ of the plant for greater accuracy compared with tissue testing, provides accurate information on which to base decision so farmers know what nutrients their soil actually needs. Rik says the aim is to ensure the plants provide the animals with the nutrients they need rather than relying on methods such as adding nutrients to water.

“If the water tastes strange animals will not drink as much and get dehydrated, which of course ultimately affects production,” he says.

For arable farmers the lessons are just as specific. The need to cultivate the soil can disturb fungal networks so careful consideration is required when formulating the right plan for the farm including recommendations on cover crops to improve soil health by increasing organic matter, fixing nitrogen, breaking up compact soil, outcompeting weeds and stopping fallow ground from eroding.

“Fungi is essential for the breakdown of complex organic materials like cellulose and boosting availability of nutrients like phosphorous,” explains Rik. “Worms help with aeration and drainage of the soil, and the digestion and transportation of organic material. This allows the efficient utilisation of the organic material by soil microbes, that fix N and provide other nutrients in plant available forms, supporting photosynthesis. If the process is efficient, more nutrients are

Rik Mulder stored than lost. This is where UP-cycling begins and resilience is built.”

The right advice about crop and stock rotation is also important: “Different crops deplete or unlock different nutrients in the soil. Simply by rotating crops or cover crops, or putting stock in the most beneficial place, you can change the productivity of a farm. We work with each clients’ farming rotation to put cover crops in the rotation or simply add plant diversity in the paddock to give them more diverse pastures.”

He says Soil Matters believes that with the right advice and products farmers can improve any plant’s environment and by lifting the quality of a crop, lift the quality of everything that feeds from it.

“We believe that these new regulations present a lot of great opportunities for farmers to improve their profitability. At Soil Matters we identify what those opportunities are to create an outcome that is good for the bottom line of the farm and farmer, good for people and good for the environment.”

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Investment underway to help farmers tackle facial eczema Herd improvement co-operative, LIC, is developing new methods to help farmers tackle facial eczema, a disease which is costing the dairy industry around $30 million in lost production each year.

Facial eczema (FE) is caused by a fungal toxin which is mainly found in summer and autumn pastures in the North Island and Upper South Island. When cattle eat this pasture they ingest the toxin which causes liver damage, lowered production and in some circumstances, skin irritation and peeling.

LIC Chief Scientist Richard Spelman says the co-operative is leveraging its expertise in genetics and diagnostic testing to help farmers combat the effects of the disease.

“We’re focused on helping our farmers optimise value from their livestock by enabling them to produce the most sustainable and efficient animals,” says Spelman.

“There’s no cure for facial eczema so we’re working on developing a milk test and a breeding value to give farmers more effective options to help prevent and detect the disease.”

Head of VetEnt Research and Te Awamutu Veterinarian, Emma Cuttance, says the humid and wet weather created the perfect conditions for the fungus and resulted in a lot of facial eczema in the Waikato.

“We had farmers with whole mobs of cattle with clinical symptoms which is really tough to see. On the whole this shouldn’t be happening but the problem is, 95% of the time there is liver damage but you can’t see it. It’s an iceberg situation.”

DairyNZ estimates that for every clinical case of facial eczema, there will be 10 cows that are subclinical – they don’t show any physical signs but they have liver damage and milk production can be depressed during the season of damage and the following season as well.

Spelman says LIC is developing a milk based diagnostic test to

give farmers early insight into the facial eczema status of their herd before clinical signs are apparent.

“We’re working on a milk test which detects liver damage when the herd is exposed to a medium to high toxin level.”

Spelman says how this test will be delivered to farmers hasn’t been confirmed but the co-op is collaborating with Fonterra to validate whether the test is effective with a bulk milk sample.

“We’re also looking into the potential for an individual milk test which could be an add-on to a routine herd test. The individual milk test would provide farmers with a less invasive, more efficient alternative to blood testing.”

Cuttance acknowledges the current options for farmers to prevent facial eczema are falling short.

“Zinc is the most common way to prevent facial eczema but the vast majority of the country don’t give enough for it to be effective.

There’s lots of different areas to be worked on in terms of providing farmers with alternative ways to mitigate the effects of facial eczema – one of those has to be breeding.”

Spelman agrees and says the co-op’s long-term aim is to develop a facial eczema breeding value, which would allow farmers to breed cows that are more resistant to the disease.

“We know that facial eczema resistance is a heritable trait. If we’re able to generate a facial eczema breeding value, we could rank our artificial breeding bulls based on their resistance for farmers to select from.”

To gather the data needed to generate a breeding value, the co-op has collected blood and milk samples from 4,000 cows that have been naturally exposed to facial eczema.

“We’re using ground breaking milk testing alongside traditional blood tests to develop a facial eczema breeding value based on

Beef and Lamb NZ Six Yearly Review Voting closes on 9 July for the six yearly opportunity to commit to further B&LNZ financial support of its work for sheep and cattle farmers. Levy payers got mailed information, and opportunities at Blenheim and Upper Moutere meetings with disappointing attendance to review past activities and question the future.

There was roughly equal investment in the sheep and cattle sectors last year, with overall about a quarter spent on increasing market returns, a similar amount on championing building trust and reputation, and a half on R&D and extension. Dramatic industry changes in recent years will continue as international and politically driven regulations influence changes in farm management options

and decisions. B&LNZ work and investment in these and associated areas has reduced R&D activities.

Some levy payers are questioning increasing initiatives and emphasis on increased responses to political and policy pressures seen as better coordinated within other opportunities, and that penalises R&D needed to cope with inevitable future on-farm changes. However, there is no doubt there have been some major successes, especially led by current CEO Sam McIvor.

Late July will tell whether sheep and cattle farmers want to continue support of their organisation’s use of resources in the same way and a slight sheep meat levy increase.

Registering Stock Numbers There is some confusion about the need to record all cloven-hoofed animals, including sheep, pigs, goats, llamas, alpacas, emus and ostriches on each farm under the National Animal Identification (NAIT) scheme run

by OSPRI. The obligatory recording date is 31 July for 30 June numbers. This applies only to farmers with cattle

and deer. However, failure by those farmers can incur a $400 infringement notice.

Nevertheless, all landowners should know the numbers of all animals on the property, even on small lifestyle blocks, that are critical to managing disease outbreaks such as the ever-present threat of foot and mouth disease.

genomics.”

The research into a facial eczema milk test and breeding value is being undertaken through the $25 million Resilient Dairy research programme. The seven-year Sustainable Food and Fibres Futures programme seeks to enhance the health and wellbeing of the national dairy herd.

“The Resilient Dairy programme strengthens our existing research and development work to keep our farmers and New Zealand leading the global pastoral dairy system.”

MPI Advice to the Incoming Minister for the New Government After the first few months since the election, it is interesting to relate the following to subsequent world and NZ effects such as BREXIT, COVID, CHINA and CLIMATE MPI staff briefing included significant advice to balance some of the incomplete input from other government departments that has not recognised agriculture’s importance. Approximately 85percent of our agriculture production is exported to over 150 countries, representing 70percent of our total goods export by value,

plus an important provider of services such as science expertise.

Advice headlined lifting productivity as a persistent challenge that must become an increasing focus for the agriculture sector and government because the sector’s performance will play a critical role in our economic resilience and recovery. This can be seen against a global economy that is now beginning to grow again, but the recovery to pre COVID-19 levels is now expected to be longer, more uneven, and less certain than previously anticipated. Over the next few years, the global recession is likely to result in weaker consumer demand and lower product prices, both in New Zealand and overseas, especially once fiscal and monetary stimulus recedes in the coming months.

Agriculture production and trade volumes are expected to be unaffected in aggregate, although impacts will be felt unevenly across sectors, markets and products, with uncertain timing and magnitude. However, the high level of change means that wellbeing support for farmers and growers will be important.

Profitability is also seen as a key issue for the sector and lack of capital or willingness to invest creates further challenges to productivity. Investment capital is also critical to success as it enables innovation, practice change and technology adoption, all of which are required for the sector to achieve transformation, build resilience and better deliver for New Zealanders.

Advice noted that successive governments and the agriculture sector have been working on several fronts to improve environmental performance, and the past three years have seen further significant advancement in ambition for environmental regulations. Our focus now needs to be on supporting the implementation of land use practices and manufacturing systems that better protect our climate, water, soils and biodiversity and ensuring farmers, growers and landowners can continue to innovate and boost productivity.

It is to be hoped that MPI is able to balance the topdown regulatory tsunami driven by MfE and other sectors that ignore farmers’ ability to manage their own land.

Agriculture floats the economy Farms half of New Zealand’s 26.8m ha Largest export earner > than $40b pa Dairy $20b, Meat&Wool $11, Hort $6.5b Export growth 4.6% pa since 2010 60 000 agriculture focused enterprises 283 000 people employed – every 1:9

July 2021

17

Education resource highlights NZ dairy and Groundswell NZ red meat’s role in feeding global population Marlborough A n ew c l i m a t e c h a n g e e d u c a t i o n resource has been released by New Z e a l a n d ’s p a s t o r a l fa r m i n g s e c t o r.

The resource, ‘The important role of New Zealand dairy and red meat in feeding a growing global population’, has been co-authored by Beef + Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ and Federated Farmers of New Zealand.

It explores the complex relationship between environmental, economic, nutritional, social and global food security outcomes in New Zealand’s food system.

Written in a straight-forward and sciencebased style, it will provide secondary school students, in particular, with balanced information.

As a producer of food for around 10 times its own population, New Zealand has a unique emissions profile and consequently has a unique challenge in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to considering the environmental impact of agricultural products, we must also consider their n u t r i t i o n a l va l u e , F e d e r a t e d Fa r m ers President and climate change spokesperson Andrew Hoggard says.

“As the world’s population increases and climate change impacts the ability for many nations to produce nutritious food, efficiently produced red meat and dairy will become

even more important,” Andrew says.

New Zealand pasture-fed beef, lamb and dairy provides high-quality protein and micronutrients.

New Zealand’s red meat and dairy products consumed overseas can result in less greenhouse gas emissions than the same food produced locally in other countries, even with the transport emissions involved in shipping the product calculated.

DairyNZ general manager of responsible dairy, Jenny Cameron, says New Zealand dairy is currently the most emissions efficient milk producer in the world.

“Providing students with this information is important, to showcase the work of all our farmers, while highlighting our continued journey to remain world leading, which is the result of farmers’ hard work and investment over decades,” Ms Cameron says.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Head of Nutrition, Fiona Windle says: “As the resource outlines, it is important to consider the nutritional density of foods, including the amount of amino acids (units of protein) a food delivers within a varied and balanced dietary pattern, alongside the environmental impact when determining a healthy and environmentally-friendly diet.”

The sector partners want to use this education resource to highlight

Book Review “Historic Homesteads of Hawkes Bay”

by Angus Gordon, published by Mary Egan Publishing, Price $50.

Book Reviewed by Tony Orman Hawkes Bay is not dissimilar to Marlborough with its east coast location, propensity to droughts and a rich history of early European farming.

Often gracious homesteads were built on the initial settlement of sheep stations and farms and trees planted so that today, homesteads often have settings of giant trees such as enormous oaks, gums or Norfolk pines. Hawkes Bay was prominent in the establishment of the country’s early pastoral farming development.

Author Angus Gordon has lived all his life - on and off - at Clifton Station, on the Hawkes Bay coast, near Cape Kidnappers. As a former Hawkes Bay resident many names were very familiar for me, i.e., Matapiro, Ashcott, Akitio, Glenross, Guavas, Matapiro, Tutira, Rissington and quite a few others. But I was perplexed with other names as to little or no indication of the local-

ity of others. Also, the book lacks an index, very much needed in a book of this nature.

However, this is a well-researched and presented book, a credit to the author and publisher.

o u r wo r l d - l e a d i n g p r o d u c t s , w h i l e also working hard to make great N ew Z e a l a n d fa r m e r s eve n b e t t e r.

“It is also important to remember that the emissions footprints of New Zealand red meat and milk are dominated by methane. Methane is a short-lived gas that does not need to reach net zero in order to be warming neutral,” Dylan Muggeridge, Environment Strategy Manager at Beef + Lamb New Zealand, says.

While the education resource has not yet been tailored for specific year levels or subjects, the secretary and treasurer of New Zealand Horticulture/ Agriculture Teachers Association (HATA), Ke r r y A l l e n , c a n s e e i t s p o t e n t i a l .

“This is a great science-based resource for our senior students to really sink their teeth into. It contains some fantastic graphs, videos and facts, to ensure a thorough understanding of all the issues. It is based on facts and scientific data, and removes the emotion out of the discussion.

I look forward to using this resource with my students,” Kerry says.

The online education resource is a great way for young people and the wider general public to explore the complex and ongoing climate change, food production and nutrition issues.

“New Zealand farmers are not shying away from the immense challenges posed by climate change.

We’re eager to have challenging but fair conversations,” Andrew Hoggard says.

“Our pastoral industry is keen to work with the Ministry of Education to make this resource fit-for -purpose for classrooms.”

Standing up against unworkable regulations Educating, supporting and talking common sense with our rural communities throughout New Zealand.

Groundswell NZ is a volunteer group of farmers and rural professionals advocating for our grass root farmers and rural communities.

It all started with a tractor protest about the National Policy on freshwater. With overwhelming national support it has grown to encompass: Seeking a halt to and rewrite unworkable regulations on freshwater, indigenous biodiversity, climate change and Crown Pastoral land reform bill affecting high country farmers.

A stronger advocacy voice on behalf of farmers and rural communities.

Seeking solutions to environmental issues that are tailored to regional districts and their differences.

Supporting the hundreds of grassroots initiatives like catchment and land care groups, QEII covenants and biodiversity and conservation trusts.

If this sounds like you and something you would like to be part of please go to our website Groundswellnz,co. nz and join up. You can also take part in the discussions on Facebook.

We are planning a meeting with Bryce McKenzie and Jane Smith in the near future. Bryce is one of the founders of Groundswell NZ and Jane Smith is a North Otago farmer and freshwater policy critic who has urged farmers to replace apathy with vocal opposition and to share information about the environmental work they have done.

If you would be interested in attending a meeting please email your interest to Coordinator Lone Sorensen, okifarm@farmside.co.nz or text or phone 0220971892

A Howl of a Protest!

FRIDAY 16 JULY Meet in your local town centre at 12 noon Reading of Groundswell Statement 12.15pm Howl (bark-up) starts 12.30pm

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Paparoa Great Walk

Book Review

Karen Bingham

“Hunting Life” subtitled “Moments of Truth”

by Peter Ryan published by Bateman Books price $39.99 Reviewed by Tony Orman Peter Ryan is now established as a fine author of outdoors books after his earlier books “Wild South” and “Hunting NZ”. When I say “fine”, I mean he writes with class and sensitivity and respect for the wild animals and birds as opposed to the Gung-ho style of too many authors of hunting books.

In this latest book, the author recounts hunting experiences both here and overseas that often involve close encounters with animals. A warm enhancement to the fine writing are beautiful illustrations by several artists around the world.

A great, heart warming book that captures the essence and the greater experience of sporting hunting and “just being there.”

The new Paparoa Great Walk from Blackball to Punakaiki had been on my list for some time. Unfortunately, our plans to walk the track in January were scuttled by the weather, when heavy rain closed the track. Undeterred, we rebooked for Queens Birthday weekend, with fingers crossed for fine weather.

Alas it was not to be, but we delayed a day to avoid the worst of the West Coast precipitation.

The walk from Pukakaiki to Pororari Hut is beautiful, with views of limestone bluffs and stunning rainforest containing every shade of green you can imagine. I had forgotten how much I loved the nikau palms and punga ferns with dominated the steep sided gorge. There are numerous new bridges to cater for mountain bikers as well as walkers and we arrived at the hut after 4½ hours in the drizzle.

The next day we wandered up towards a waterfall cascading down a vertical bluff, wondering how we would negotiate this obstacle to climb onto the tops. The answer was another long swing bridge traversing high above the stream with a gorgeous view of the waterfall above. The track then zig-zagged up through the bluffs to gain the open tops and walk alongside “the escarpment”. For us, there were no views of the escarpment, just the feeling that a couple of metres to the right there was a huge drop into nothingness. The Moonlight Tops Hut was a lovely sight for three soggy trampers.

The huts are warm and modern with LED lighting, gas stoves and firewood provided. We had no problems drying out our wet gear each night in front of the wood burning stove.

Due to our change of plans, instead of walking out to Blackball, the next day we tramped the 35km all the way back to Punakaiki. As forecast, the weather was fine and clear and we set out at 7.15am by torchlight, knowing we had a big day ahead. The weather was stunning and the views were to die for – this is what we had come for! Many photos were taken as we hurried along, arriving at Punakaiki at 4pm with high-fives and thoughts of takeaways in Westport.

Estuary gold

Sam Boothroyd

With short days and long cold nights upon us and the depressing lack of snapper and kingfish in the bay, there isn’t much to get excited about. However, winter does have one thing that gets the blood pumping and the mouth watering, and that wonderous thing can only be described as estuary gold or more commonly known as flounder.

With the tides aligning perfectly for an after-school floundering mission, it was game on. For the next few nights leading up to the ‘mud hunt’, I found myself staring off into the darkness wondering what creatures lay waiting for us in the thick blackness.

Finally, it was the day of the hunt. Dan, Fergus and I layered up in all our warmest clothes, grabbed our makeshift flounder torches and spears, and set off into the sludge. After several hours of seeing nothing but murky water and countless flounder shaped rocks, we were starting to lose hope. However, luckily for us, my mate Fergus was keeping us entertained and the mood positive. His decision to bring waders was seeming to be a mistake for him but a massive success for our amusement. Eventually he caught up to us and it was if he had brought the flounder straight to him. Within several minutes we had four big fat yellowbelly flounder nestled in Dan’s school bag, alongside his math’s books and pencil case.

An awesome start to the flounder season and hopefully many more to come. Possibly my favourite part about floundering, other than the pure adventure of wading around in the dead of night with only the torch’s beam to guide your path and a spear in hand, is eating flounder!

July 2021

Fieldays and Facts The talk at Fieldays, at least with journalists and the motoring fraternity, was about EVs and the tax that will be applied to Utes regardless of the fact that there is no alternative at present. Toyota and Ford chiefs in NZ have both categorically stated they have no plans to enter the EV or PHEV market with a Ute in the next two years.

Despite knowing that, the Prime Minister at the Press conference to Ag journalists I attended on Wednesday, at the Fieldays, said “.... in 12-24 months Ford and Toyota have said they would have new EV utes”. The Prime Minister mentioned Ford’s Lightning full sized electric Ute, which Ford has already said will not be manufactured in right hand drive, as a posible Ranger replacement. Hmm wonder who to believe!

Worse still, during that week it was reported that at times 42% of electricity in the upper North Island was produced from coal burning, at Huntly, imported dirty coal, not the high energy lignite, we used to mine in NZ. It’s already obvious that the Japanese 2nd hand import EVs are going to increase in price, as the exporters reap the benefit of lower prices in NZ due to the rebate, which in all likelihood will negate its effect, meaning prices

will not drop. On the more positive side new EVs and PHEVs are likely to drop in price in line with the rebate. However, if you do any towing there just aren’t any alternatives as say 1.6 litre PHEV Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe lose the 2500kg tow rating dropping to just 1350kgs braked. So, if you want to tow more than a garden trailer you need a diesel or big engined petrol vehicle. Also becoming evident is the rush to buy new Utes before 2022 and that the existing fleet, your trade in has increased in value.

A new kid on the block, GM SV’s Z71 Silverado, was launched in New Zealand and is pictured at Mystery Creek. Like the Ram 1500 this is a large American truck. The Silverado 1500 LTZ Premium powered by a 6.2-litre EcoTec3 V8 petrol engine, has 313kW 624Nm and tow rated up to 4.5-tonnes.

I met up with my old Holden mate Ed Finn who handles media and communication now for GM NZ. He was effusive in his excitment about the latest model.

“It builds on one hundred years of Chevrolet truck building know-how, and now the latest and greatest iteration is available for kiwis to make their own.”

Silverado offers a number of features, the proven technology of Trailer Sway

Control, Hill Start Assist and Auto Grade Braking.

There are also segment firsts like Trailer Theft Alert, Electric Parking and Brake Hookup Assist.

An innovative Drive Mode selector enables the performance of the Silverado to be adjusted to suit different needs and requirements.

Modes include Normal, Sport, Tow/Haul, Off-Road, Terrain and Snow/Ice. “It also comes standard with 13 unique camera views - all working to improve your towing job from start to finish. They can make it easier to get hitched up, provide confidence while on the road, and even help manoeuvre into tight spots when ready to park,” said Finn.

The engine is coupled to a 10-speed automatic transmission with a columnmounted gearshift selector, which provides space for a large centre console.

The vehicle has a durabed tray, a 2.5-cubic metre cargo bed volume, 12 tie-down points, as well as the innovative power-up-anddown tailgate which can be operated remotely with the key fob.

Inside. Silverado LTZ Premium steps up with refinement and technology features including head-up display, power sunroof, dual-zone climate control, heated steering wheel, heated front seats and rear

heating on outboard seats.

Safety: standard forward collision alert, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, front pedestrian braking, lane change alert with side blind zone alert, rear cross traffic alert and lane keep assist with lane departure warning.

Priced at present, until the Jacinder tax bites in January, $127,990.

As mentioned above Hyundai launched their new PHEV Santa Fe claiming a 1.9 litre petrol burn per 100km. Looking exactly the same as the Limited model we tested in March the timing was great, though the price wasn’t mentioned it’s picked to be only slightly higher than the equivalent diesel models.

Pictured at right: 132776 people attended the 4 days of Fieldays 2021 huddled at times under a sea of canvas to avoid the frequent rain. The big building in the centre of the picture is the Exhibitors centre with the media section on the first floor where the Prime Minister ushered in her 26 caucus members who circulated the event. Chief Executive of Fieldays Peter Nation was pleased with the attendance and the positive feedback from the nearly 1100 trade exhibitors.

Middleweight with a big reputation The Yamaha YFM450 Kodiak is fast earning a reputation for being the king of the middleweights.

ATVs are farm tools – they need to be ready to go when you want them and be reliable and cost effective in the long term. The Kodiak 450 has proven itself as one of the most trusted vehicles in its segment with the midsize engine capable of handling a wide range of tasks without stress and still return good economy and reliability – Riding position and comfort also gets a big tick and is important when the operator is spending long periods in the saddle – long travel well damped suspension helps here as do the userfriendly controls and instrumentation.

The YFM has heavy duty carry racks front and rear and will tow a 600kg load.

Filco Farm and Sport

are the longest serving Yamaha agents in the Top of the South and can answer any questions you have regarding the Kodiak 450 or any other Yamaha for that matter.

Give them a call on 03 547 2420 or call into the showroom in Annesbrook Nelson.

GM SV’s Z71 Silverado

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