Canterbury Farming, July 2014 by Integrity Community Media

July 2014

29,200 copies distributed monthly – to every rural mailbox in Canterbury and the West Coast.

INSIDE Page 19–30

FERTILISER LIFT OUT Page 3

Canterbury couple take national title

Page 10–11

In search of the drovers

Drone technology could cut farming costs by Kelly M Phillips

Drones have been making headlines around the world for use in warfare and policing but one South Island sheep farmer is adapting the technology and says it could save New Zealand farmers thousands of dollars every year. A documentary on unmanned drones in Afghanistan inspired sheep farmer Neil Gardyne and his son Mark to try out similar technology on their South Island farm. The Gardynes purchased their quadrocopter drone from Aeronavics, a company based in Raglan near Hamilton, and outfitted it with a gopro camera for video and still pictures. The pair recently demonstrated the use of their drone to farmers, academics and other interested groups in the farming industry at Lincoln University near Christchurch. Fourteen-year-old Mark said it is used to monitor stock, measure dry matter and count sheep. He said using Google maps, he can programme waypoints into the drone and it will fly autonomous missions around the farm. All information it gathers is sent to a laptop and the findings can be shared with others on Facebook. The Gardynes have worked with the Dunedin company AbacusBio to develop applications for the drone. AbacusBio engineer Bram Visser designed the programme that allows them to count sheep on the farm.

Mr Visser said his company had seen a lot of interest in the potential of drones but were still wanting to understand what holds some people back from pursuing them. “We get a lot of interest at Fieldays but there is some hesitation. Farmers still like to ride their bikes around the farm,” he said. Aeronavics director Linda Bulk said her company was seeing a lot of enthusiasm around quadrocopters from the farming community. “The idea has moved past its sci-fi feel and now farmers can imagine the benefit of using it,” she said. Mrs Bulk said the drone was easy to use and that model aircraft and helicopters were probably 100 times more difficult to fly. She said her company provides technical support and is able to do on-farm demonstrations to potential buyers so they can see the usefulness of the drone at their own property. “Not having to drive to remote locations means a lot to farmers,” she said. A job which used to take the Gardynes 45 minutes on a four wheeler can now be completed

The battery operated drone — making farmers lives easier

by the battery operated drone in about ﬁve. They estimate this saves them around $15,000 a year in travel and fuel expenses. Neil said cast sheep used to be a real problem on the farm. “The sound of the drone can frighten the livestock and we can buzz a cast ewe to get her back on her feet,” he said.

He and Mark have come up with about 40 on-farm applications for the device and have shared their ﬁndings with AbacusBio. The cost of a basic drone is around $8,000 and it can withstand light rain and winds of up to 65kph. The drone the Gardynes use cost about $15,000 after it

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was outﬁtted with cameras and sensors. Neil said it is expected to last for about three years before the technology will need to be updated. He believes drone technology is exciting to kids his son’s age and will be a good way to get them involved in farming in the future.

July 2014

Canterbury plays host to national trials by Kent Caddick

Little River’s Peter Kidd led the charge for the Canterbury contingent at the New Zealand Sheep Dog Trial Championships held recently at the picturesque Waihi Station, west of Geraldine. The Canterbury Sheep Dog Trial Association (CSDTA) hosted the annual event which was held in conjunction with the South Island Championships. Peter Kidd, who has been trialling for around 45 years picked up his ﬁrst national title, or ‘green tie’, when he and his dog, nine-year-old Huntaway Chief, took out the Short Head and Yard title. The pair was

also runner-up in the event in the South Island championships. The Waihi Station, which is owned by the Reid Family Trust, is also home to the Geraldine Collie Dog Club. CSDTA publicity officer Sally Mallinson said members of the Geraldine club along with sister club, Hilton-Gapes Valley put at least two years’ preparation into the event,

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with help in the latter stages from other clubs throughout Canterbury. “For the most part the weather played ball, the sheep were challenging but honest, and the camaraderie was great. “With close to 300 competitors and 500 dogs from throughout the country entered, the stage was set for some intense competition. “The big entries at Geraldine are a huge testament that our unique sport is healthy and growing, with young men and women with very good dogs taking on the seasoned campaigners,” Mrs Mallinson said. The results were largely dominated by the North Island competitors, but three of the four coveted green ties went to South Islanders. Results for New Zealand Sheep Dog Trial Championships — green tie events: The Long Head (judge Ben Manson, Canterbury; timekeeper Paul Newton): Eion Herbert (Wakefield) with Storm, 1.

After 45 years of competitive dog trialling Little River’s Peter Kidd has taken out his first national title, with his dog Chief. Photo by Vicky O’Connor

The Short Head and Yard (judge Dave Davy, Wanganui; timekeeper Ali Davy): Peter Kidd (Tai Tapu) with Chief, 1. The Zig-Zag Hunt (judge

Peter Manson, Canterbury; timekeeper Doc Prebble): Terry Bould (Gore) with Cash, 1. The Straight Hunt (judge Mel Bolton, Wanganui;

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timekeeper Mary-Jane Bolton): Murray Child (Northland) with Frank, 1. Full Results are available on the website www.sheepdogtrials.co.nz.

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Canterbury Farming prints material contributed by freelance journalists, contributing columnists and letters from readers. The information and opinions published are not necessarily those of Canterbury Farming or its staff. Canterbury Farming takes no responsibility for claims made by advertisers. Canterbury Farming is published by NorthSouth Multi Media Ltd

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July 2014

Big turnout for AgFest West Coast by Kelly M. Phillips

Canterbury couple take national title by Kelly M. Phillips

Mark and Devon Slee have won the national title in the 2014 Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

The West Coast AgFest brings crowds of curious farmers to Hokitika at a time when things are mostly quiet in the coastal West Coast town.

Mark and Devon Slee were awarded the Gordon Stephenson Trophy for sustainable farming practices Visitors to West Coast AgFest peruse the vendor stalls. Photo courtesy of Neil Pluck

As well as talks from industry specialists on farming issues this year’s event featured live music, equipment demonstrations and a gumboot decorating competition. Kiwi chef Jo Seagar was on hand for cooking demonstrations and weather analyst Phil Duncan was available for questions and answers involving weather forecasting accuracy in New Zealand. Organiser Andy Thompson said the event was treated to

ﬁne weather and he estimated a crowd of around 10,000 visited the event over the two days. He said there were 250 vendors in attendance which was double what 2012’s event featured. “We’ve gone from a country fair to a professional ﬁeld day,” he said. Mr Thompson said a unique aspect of this year’s AgFest was some of the community events which occurred without preplanning.

He said one man decided to ride a horse around Cass Square in Hokitika in his boxers as part of a fundraiser and raised $9,000 to buy new saddles for the Riding for the Disabled charity. “We tried to include community groups and couldn’t do an event like this without the support of the local community,” he said. The next West Coast AgFest will be held in 2016.

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and leadership skills necessary to spread the sustainability message to both a national and international audience,” said NZFE acting chair, Simon Saunders. The Slees run Melrose Dairy Ltd in Ealing near Ashburton and were awarded the Supreme Ballance Award for Canterbury in late March. Mark said their goal in entering the competition was to do something positive for the dairy industry.

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July 2014

O’Connor Comments with Damien O’Connor Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture

From the Minister Nathan Guy, Minister for Primary Industries

An issue for town and country Improving water quality No one denies the reality that we have some challenges in maintaining our water quality.

One of the big issues for farmers, and all New Zealanders, is improving how we manage our freshwater rivers and lakes.

The fact is we have been for a couple of hundred years allowing erosion and increasing levels of nutrients to ﬂow into our waterways. This has come from urban environments, agricultural development and deforestation. More recently intensive rural land use and urban development have created bigger problems for our waterways. There has been plenty of public comment on the effect of dairy development and high stocking rates particularly on the lighter South Island Canterbury soils. Through the greater utilisation of irrigation the effects of both the intake and the application of this water is still unknown with regard to its long-term impacts on our soils and aquifers. Less has been said however about urban wastewater issues through inadequate treatment of sewage and runoff from large urban environments. Auckland is in fact the region with the lowest quality water for that reason. Finger pointing however is not achieving real progress on

When it comes to water quality I’ve always said there is no point looking back over our shoulder, blaming council sewer plants, industry or agriculture. What matters is getting on with the job so that we leave a better environment for our children and grandchildren. This month I was proud to announce clear, robust national standards for freshwater with my colleague Environment Minister, Amy Adams. For the first time, New Zealand rivers and lakes will have minimum requirements that must be achieved so water quality is suitable for the ecosystem and human health. These reforms are groundbreaking because this is the ﬁrst time we have consistent measurement and standards across the country. It’s a bit like ‘National Standards’ in education, but for water. Up till now we just haven’t had this consistency. I’m conﬁdent these changes balance economic growth with environmental sustainability. It’s not an either-or situation — we need both.

this issue and until each and every New Zealander takes some responsibility for the impact they have on waterways the problems will remain unresolved. Farmers for the most part have invested huge amounts of money to mitigate the effects the intensive agriculture. However any attempt to deny that the impacts from farming are still very signiﬁcant is burying our heads in the sand. Costs will be incurred through the agriculture sector as farmers lower stocking rates, reduce fertiliser or build expensive concrete pads to capture runoff and reduce the effects of their farming operations on local waterways. However, the net effect of this change management does not necessarily mean lower proﬁtability for farmers who can adapt to the new water quality standards. Urban areas will require huge investment in better treatment of sewage and stormwater runoff from the towns and cities throughout New Zealand. Many councils

and ratepayers are assessing these costs as unaffordable at this point and avoiding the necessary investment to tidy up their discharges. The cost for Auckland alone will be in the order of billions of dollars. No one in New Zealand can deny we have a problem with our freshwater quality. The government’s NPS-FW is a weak attempt at setting a bare minimum standard and many regional councils will be targeting a far higher quality for their local waterways. Unfortunately the debate may lead to lengthy and expensive litigation which is both unnecessary and unproductive. Farmers are not alone responsible for freshwater degradation and neither are the cities. We must all as New Zealanders join together and commit to a water quality standard that allows us to swim in our local rivers, invest in the necessary changes to our industries and lifestyles to uphold the image of New Zealand as a clean green country.

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This will mean changes to some of our farming practices, but I know farmers are up to the challenge. I believe most farmers are environmentalists. They want to leave the environment in a better state than they found they found it. We’ve seen huge progress by farmers over the last 10 years. Over 20,000km of waterways on dairy farms have been fenced, there is widespread riparian planting, and we have the Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord. All of these things are voluntary, with farmers showing leadership. Technology is also playing a big part in reducing our footprint, or ‘hoofprint’. Since 1990 the carbon footprint, or hoofprint, of lamb has fallen by 22% and for beef the ﬁgure is 12%. It’s no surprise the United Nations describes our sheep and beef industry as one of the world’s ‘most efﬁcient and environmentally benign’. The Government is investing heavily in this area with over

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$100 million jointly invested with industry in Primary Growth Partnership projects. One key project with Ballance Agri-Nutrients will improve nitrogen and phosphorus use efﬁciency, and reduce losses to the environment. This good progress by farmers needs to be promoted and celebrated more widely. That’s why I was proud to present the 2014 Ballance Farm Environment Awards to Mark and Devon Slee from Canterbury. While they come from a sheep and beef background, they now run a highly innovative dairy operation. Most of their farm is irrigated using centre pivots, they use GPS technology to monitor water use, and have over 8km of native planting. They are living proof that proﬁtability can go hand-inhand with good environmental practice. Well done Mark and Devon — they will be great ambassadors and role models for the industry.

July 2014

Country Matters

A Green Perspective with Steffan Browning, Green Party spokesperson on Agriculture

Has glyphosate had its day? New Zealand farmers could be facing market rejection of their primary products through continued reliance on glyphosate as a management tool. As I investigate glyphosate the more I am concerned about its long-term effectiveness as emerging research indicates serious problems. Scientific research from overseas is ﬂagging connections between disease and illness and food from the massive plantings of herbicide sprayed crops overseas. Distributors and manufacturers of glyphosate promote its rapid breakdown in soil, and that it is excreted in our urine. However, a US pilot study shows it in human breast milk up to 1600 times higher than the European Drinking Water Directive allows. The study commissioners have asked USA agencies to halt its use for further tests. Research by Caen University molecular biologist Prof Giles-Eric Seralini indicates the more harmful substance actively toxic to human cells may not be the glyphosate but adjuvents, which stabilise glyphosate and help spray

penetration. Seralini’s branded glyphosate feeding trials on rats showed liver, kidney, and reproductive health issues, and increased tumour growth. There are other research studies also linking glyphosate to a range of common health and environmental issues. Dr Don Huber, a former Monsanto chemist, claims glyphosate and other chemicals lead to destruction of soil qualities and reduced quantities of vital minerals in food crops. In Argentina, cranial deformities in babies in heavily sprayed herbicide-tolerant GE soy cropping areas led to research by Prof. Andres Carrasco published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, showing glyphosate and glyphosate herbicides interfere with development of chicken embryos, leading to congenital malformations. Research published in Reproductive Toxicology showed glyphosate herbicide traces in Canadian women’s

blood. Their exposure was likely through food. Other herbicide traces were also found in the foetuses of pregnant woman. Before our trading partners begin banning it we need to be looking at a phase-out of glyphosate and considering the use of different sets of management tools now. I want farmers across all sectors doing well without buying into potential market access or liability problems. There are numerous positive examples around New Zealand of alternative farming practices to counter weeds, or for desiccation, the spraying of pasture and some food crops ahead of harvest. Desiccation is contrary to consumer’s perception of how their food is produced. Herbicide harvests do not ﬁt with New Zealanders or export customers expectations. A clean green 100% Pure export brand needs a more progressive stance.

with Rob Cope-Williams

Country children are winners I saw a sign while I was travelling through a town in the North Island which said ‘kids who play sport, stay out of jail’. Heavy sort of message, but one that took my mind to how very lucky rural children on farms are. Learning to love animals and pets, space to run around in, excellent food and fresh air. No pressure from people with no prospects who want them to drop to the lowest level, and responsibilities such as good honest work and chores on a daily basis. I expect that 80 percent of families who buy a small block do that to offer their children some sort of farming upbringing. Compare the lifestyles of the two: small classroom numbers versus classes that are stretched to the limit; physical activity every weekend plus sport versus going to a gym and hoping to get into a sports team because of the numbers; eating three regular meals a day versus fast food on tap;

tight family atmosphere with parental inﬂuence guidance on hand all day every day versus the distraction of youth based organisations and both parents working away from the home base . . . and so it goes on. Yes I am generalising and there are some city families who do offer that tight support young people both want and need but it’s a natural thing in the country homes. An obvious example is the ANZ Bank adverts on television at the moment. Young Tom Walsh was brought up by his parents in the farming world and he is now a world leader in shot putting. His Dad Peter Walsh admits that Tom’s parents were always there to encourage and nurture his sporting hopes and that living in the country gave them all the chance to develop those skills and determination needed to get to the top.

I am very lucky as, even though I was originally brought up in the city, circumstances meant that at an early age I became a farming boy and although ponies and horses weren’t part of the equation, which is another story altogether, I enjoyed the lifestyle and the experiences of farming. Things such as sowing bags of wheat on the header, driving tractors in clouds of dust, working my way up from sorting the dags and being on the board in the wool shed, through to becoming the chap who pressed it — all part of the wonders of growing up on a farm. There’s a very good reason farming folk don’t come into town very often, even though farming isn’t the relaxed lifestyle it once was, it is still a way of life that is preferred by many and for very good reason

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July 2014

Country Law

Money Talk with Andrew Wyllie

with Ronald W. Angland & Son

Positive global outlook

Diplomatic immunity

The global economic outlook remains positive.

Diplomatic immunity is a very old principle of international law dating back hundreds of years. It provides that diplomats and some foreign government ofﬁcials are not subject to the host country’s court system and certain other laws of the host country. It works both ways. Our diplomats are accorded the same rights and privileges in foreign countries as diplomats from other countries are accorded in New Zealand. The modern authority for diplomatic immunity is set out in the 1961 Vienna convention which most states have ratiﬁed. The rules provide that diplomats are entitled to go about their roles without pressure or interference by the host country. The premises, or embassy, in which the ‘mission’ is located may not be entered by the host

country and all communication between diplomats and their home countries may not be interfered with. Historical incidents show the need that the same rules apply to all countries, as conflict and confusion regularly arose especially when a small or weak state was involved. If a diplomat is charged with a serious crime against the law of the host country, it is usual for the host country to request the diplomat’s home country to waive his/her right to diplomatic immunity. If diplomatic immunity is waived by the home country, the diplomat may then be charged with the crime in the host country. Earlier this century a foreign diplomat in London

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Chinese economic data has stabilised after authorities eased back on their restrictive tightening measures and India may also be set to contribute to global growth, now a more pro-business government is in place. More importantly, the United States economic recovery appears to have achieved some positive momentum with growth, employment and inﬂation all picking up. The United States is expected to lead further recovery in the developed economies, with United States GDP growth forecast to accelerate to 4% in the second quarter of 2014, after a weak start to the year. Conversely, European growth remains the laggard. To stimulate growth the European Central Bank (ECB) resorted to negative interest rate settings for funds deposited with them by their trading banks. While this policy was intended to encourage banks to lend rather than retain their surplus funds, evidence is gathering that this may not be occurring, with banks preferring to redirect funds towards other non-European Central Banks. Global equity markets edged higher over the quarter. This was in contrast to ﬂat

was charged with manslaughter when his home country waived his diplomatic immunity. In the event that the home country refuses to waive diplomatic immunity, the host country is entitled to expel the diplomat. One of the main problems with foreign diplomats relates to their driving and parking offenses. They can and do park wherever they please and drive vehicles in violation of traffic laws. Apparently it is a world-wide issue. Diplomats do not always treat their employees in accordance with accepted labours laws and there is always some risk in taking on a job with a foreign diplomat as employer. The employee has no recourse in the New Zealand courts in those circumstances. Debts, rents and other ﬁnancial arrangements also pose real problems to creditors and landlords, and some financial providers will not lend to diplomats due to difﬁculties of enforcement. Diplomats always seem to have a very privileged mode of life. However, it can also be one of the most stressful jobs to be involved in. This article has been prepared by Bessie Paterson, a Partner with Ronald Angland & Son, Solicitors, who may be contacted on Tel: 03 349 4708 or e-mail bessie@anglands.co.nz

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In Australia, the ﬂat return was a function of the gains over April and May being given back in June. This was in response to a tough ﬁscal budget (more taxes and fewer hand-outs), disappointing economic data and lower iron ore prices prompting analysts to lower their commodity price assumptions. Fixed interest market Looking at the fixed interest market, The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has increased the official cash rate (OCR) twice over the quarter and reiterated comments that further increases are likely. This contributed to the New Zealand dollar edging higher and offset any impact falling dairy prices may have had. However in aggregate, currency movements had only minor impacts on returns from international assets.

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returns in Australasia. New Zealand equities were held back by the Reserve Bank’s raising of interest rates and their forecast for a tighter than expected interest rate policy. A number of earnings downgrades centred on the building and retail sectors also dampened investment sentiment while elsewhere some of the froth came off the ‘high growth’ offerings in the New Zealand market.

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Elsewhere, longer-term New Zealand interest rates declined, driven by global trends. The combination of interest rate movements has resulted in a flatter yield curve, with investors now receiving less yield pick-up for investing in longer dated instruments. However, better United States economic data and the resulting inflation that is beginning to emerge, suggests that the longer-term interest rate lows are now behind us. Recent bond issues from Mighty River Power and ASB Bank have started trading at healthy premiums, as new bond issues continue to be heavily sought. We expect further new issues in the next months and investors should register any interest early. For further details contact Andrew Wyllie, an Authorised Financial Adviser with Forsyth Barr in Christchurch. He can be contacted regarding portfolio management, fixed interest, or share investments on 0800 367 227 or andrew. wyllie@forsythbarr.co.nz To find out more about Forsyth Barr visit www. forsythbarr.co.nz. This column is general in nature and should not be regarded as personalised investment advice.

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July 2014

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July 2014

The ‘Know to make it Flow’ Andrew Curtis, Irrigation New Zealand CEO

Keeping an eye on local and national moves Irrigators, more than any other group of farmers, need to keep their eye on national and local developments and get involved where they can. That’s because the water environment is never static and significant changes are looming. Irrigators in the Selwyn district had the chance recently to attend a seminar discussing the future of the Dunsandel Groundwater Users Association (DGUA). For 17 years the DGUA has been a strong advocate for groundwater users in this part of Canterbury. Now that Central Plains Water (CPWL) is underway, groundwater abstraction will likely reduce as farmers move to surface water provided by CPWL. Because of this, the DGUA was keen to invite feedback about its future shape and direction. With the farming community facing signiﬁcant challenges around nutrient limits, water metering and water efﬁciency, there’s a strong argument to retain the DGUA to represent local irrigator interests. Deputy chair of IrrigationNZ, Nicky Hyslop, chaired the session which was open to all farmers in the area, including

sharemilkers, owners, managers and staff. Some useful feedback and suggestions were made and ideas proposed for the future. Anyone who missed the seminar, who still wishes to contribute, can contact IrrigationNZ’s chairman John Donkers via our ofﬁce on phone 03 341 2225. At a national level, irrigators need to get up to speed with the new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS) which contains the beginnings of the National Objectives Framework (NOF). Don’t be put off by the dull and boring titles. Both documents have the ability to impact signiﬁcantly on your farming operation. The NPS sets out what needs to be considered in the catchment limit setting processes that are already underway in much of New Zealand, and the NOF sets national standards for water

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quality. Eventually (over the next five to ten years) they will affect all irrigators’ lives. There are some good parts about both. National bottom lines should benefit irrigators by preventing unrealistic water quality conditions being imposed on irrigation schemes and irrigators alike. Having everyone work off the same page should mean more efficient resource consent processes and less time and money being wasted on protracted technical negotiations to find acceptable outcomes. The new NPS appears to have introduced a broader suite of water quality values requiring policy makers to have a thorough understanding of all values in a catchment, and the issues impacting on water bodies (including quantifying them), before limit setting starts is well overdue. But a couple of grey areas exist and irrigators should

Lake Coleridge and Central Plains Water will change the face of irrigation in the future in Selwyn District

be concerned. There needs to be greater clarity in the implementation space and how the multiple solutions that create water quality outcomes will be drawn together. Whilst it’s easy relatively to put a nitrate number on something, in reality it’s not the nitrate number that will create change — it’s the actions both at the farm and catchment scale that do this. IrrigationNZ strongly believes a mix of measures is essential. There are many

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examples around the country where habitat restoration and pest management alongside stock exclusion and phosphate management have created thriving rivers, despite relatively high nitrate levels. The current nitrogen fetish isn’t the be all and end all but it’s going to take time for some to see past this. Additionally, IrrigationNZ believes the exception provisions contained within the NPS could pose a risk in the future. There needs to be

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ONCE UPON A TIME, BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN ON HORSEBACK BUILT UP THE NEW ZEALAND ECONOMY BY DRIVING LIVESTOCK THROUGH WILD RIVERS AND TREACHEROUS ALPINE PASSES.

RUTH ENTWISTLE LOW ENJOYED INTERVIEWING NEW ZEALAND’S DROVERS

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Septic tanks and multi-stage septic systems are delicately balanced environments. It does not take much to upset them. Common practice is to ignore the septic system until problems occur. Good and best economical practice is to always keep your septic system well maintained. A malfunctioning septic system can become a health hazard. When a system is not maintained or operated as a delicately balanced environment, problems occur. These problems include nasty odours, leach line blockages, untreated liquid rising to the surface, toilets gurgling and taking time to empty. At this stage your septic system is a serious health hazard to you and your children. Human waste produces faecal coliform bacteria, a source of viral and bacterial gastroenteritis as well as Hepatitis A and other diseases. Hepatitis can be a debilitating condition and cause long-term harm to children. There are only three remedies. One: stop using the septic system until it recovers. This can take over a month and is not normally practical. Two: excavate your septic system and relocate it. This is very costly and time consuming, sometimes requiring new resource consents and different systems. Three: treat your septic system with Septi-Cure™ every six months. Septi-Cure is cost effective. By far the most cost effective solution is to pour one litre of Septi-Cure™ down the toilet bowl every six months. This simple action will help keep your system working at top efficiency by reducing solids and scum. Instead of emptying your tank frequently, the reduction in solids and scum saves you expensive pump out costs. Your irrigation field and leach lines will become clear of slimes and blockages so nature can handle the gradual seepage and evaporation for you. When this is happening

Canterbury author Ruth Entwistle Low set out to capture their amazing stories and the ﬁnished product is her new book On the Hoof. What started out as a 2003 oral history project with 10 participants soon grew to a country-wide search for more interviewees. Mrs Entwistle Low received grants from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and the University of Canterbury which made it possible for her to collect around 60 individual stories. “The language, humour and outlook of the participants made it so interesting. From the outset I wanted the voice of the drover

to be heard,” she said. In 2004 she moved from Manawatu to Timaru were her primary focus was on being a full-time mother to her two young daughters. School holidays were used for travelling with the family to different regions of the country and conducting interviews. “I never took for granted that people have opened their homes to me,” she said. She visited the Alex Turnbull archives at the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington to gather historical information on her topic. Many drovers loaned her their personal photos. With encouragement from friends, family, and her publishers at

Penguin, her book was ﬁnally completed and sent to press in early 2014. “I had a few tears when my copy arrived in the mail but I’m chuffed that it’s done,” she said. The book begins in the mid1800s with drovers looking for livestock routes over forbidding mountain ranges and lonely wave-battered beaches. They faced unknown geography, bitter cold and rainswollen rivers. Sometimes human lives and livestock were lost but the drover was able to persevere and ultimately establish a prosperous sheep and beef industry in New Zealand. While men in oilskin coats ﬁgure heavily in the book,

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BILL PARKINSON’S CREW IN 1953. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: JIM CORFIELD, BOB FRENCH, LES CHANEY, JIM WATSON, DON MONK, BARNEY BROWN AND BERT BORWICK. FROM THE DON MONK COLLECTION.

“I never took for granted that people have opened their homes to me,” women and young children also mount horses and take on the mobs. As the chapters progress, the drover is faced with growing metropolitan areas and the pavement of roads. Cars and gawking tourists become dangerous obstacles and local farmers can either be cantankerous or generous with their fields and food. Christchurch housewives often

have their flower gardens trampled by intrusive bovines and one woman loses her outhouse to a headstrong heifer. Entwistle Low stayed true to her purpose and allowed the drovers to use their own words in sharing anecdotes from the road. The end result is a history book which reads like a thrilling, true-life adventure story. The need for a trustworthy pack

horse and clever working dogs could not be underestimated, while steady and somewhat stubborn temperaments were required from the drovers themselves. A section titled ‘Drover’s Cookbook’ provides a humorous look at acquiring road tucker. Drover Tim Mullally’s recipe for Plum Pudding is as follows: ‘Take plum pudding out of tin. Take little empty bottles and wait until farmer has dropped off cream can at gate. Fill a little bottle with cream-without getting caught! Add cream to plum pudding’.

Ultimately, stock trucking companies made the efforts of the drover unnecessary and their way of life all but came to an end. Gone are the days of sleeping rough under the stars and worrying about getting the mobs to the saleyards in good condition ‘on the hoof’. Although drovers have ceased to travel long distances down dusty New Zealand backroads, future generations of Kiwis can still read about their legendary travels thanks to Entwistle Low’s new book. SAFE - Bait is enclosed and contained safely away from pets, children, working dogs, livestock and non target wildlife.

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WATER

July 2014

Irrigation Issues with Dr Tony Daveron

Will it or won’t it? One and half months of winter down without much winter weather to show for it. By comparison to the autumn the weather has been relatively dry and somewhat mild. The antithesis of the autumn and what was predicted back in February and March. So where have the El Niño conditions gone one might ask? ‘Will it or won’t it’ is a bane or dilemma of farming. Bane because the weather is ‘a cause of great distress or annoyance’ — take the rain and ﬂooding in Northland just as

calving is getting into full swing and grass is needed. Dilemma because weather is often ‘a situation in which a difﬁcult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives’ (often equally undesirable) or it is simply a difﬁcult situation or problem. While less undesirable than Northland, our weather has thrown up alternatives — both alternatives are out of our control, namely:

• Where has winter gone and/or • Is this the mild dry El Niño weather predicted by the climate scientists? El Niño was predicted to strengthen over winter and into spring and early summer. Not just here in Canterbury (or New Zealand) but also in Australia. Having been in Victoria in late June, the talk on the land was all about the pending El Niño and the intensely hot dry windy weather forecast through the summer. And worried they are because green is the colour and long is the vegetation — perfect bush ﬁre collateral.

Figure 1. Southern Oscillation Index (from Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology)

Is El Niño here or is it still arriving? The Southern Oscillation Index or SOI (according to Bureau of Meteorology, Australia — Figure 1) is not very convincing. No dispute that back in early 2014 the SOI was very strongly negative and

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building. Any SOI greater than ±6 for more than a couple of months is considered signiﬁcant, with a high probability of either La Niña (+ve) or El Niño (-ve) occurring. During El Niño, the trade winds weaken, commonly resulting in heavy rainfall and ﬂooding over Peru, and drought over eastern New Zealand and Australia. Broadly speaking we expect it to be wet on the west coast and dry on the east coast. The SOI pattern in 2014 has had two reversals (Figure 2 shows the weekly SOI values): • In January and February the SOI was very strongly +ve or La Niña — remember harvest time weather? Yes, such strong La Niña-like conditions typically bring above average rainfall for many areas such as eastern New Zealand and eastern Australia. One could say, pretty the weather in late February and March. • In early March and into April the SOI reversed and became strongly –ve, about the

time predictions were made for El Niño-like conditions having a high probability of occurrence in spring and summer 2014. Below average rainfall in March and April — no way. There was a predominance of NE, E and SE conditions bringing persistent and heavy rainfall events. Maybe a hangover from the strong La Niña of January and February?? • Since May the SOI has reversed again, with very strong La Niña values in June and July. Can anything be deduced from the pattern of the SOI? Probably not other than to conclude the weather patterns are volatile and that neither La Niña nor El Niño seems set in for a lengthy stay. The next month or two should indicate whether La Niña or El Niño might influence spring and summer. If it stays La Niña the spring (according to NIWA): • Has about an even chance of above average rainfall (based on their analysis of the 10

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WATER

July 2014

Figure 2. SOI trend for 2014 (from Weatherzone)

strongest events in the period 1960-2007); and • Temperatures are equally likely to be close to the average or possibly above average. However, climate scientists are still conﬁdent of an El Niño developing (especially given the sea surfaces of the equatorial Pacific are now warming toward El Niño conditions) despite the SOI being at a positive value that’s close to La Niña conditions. They (the scientists) also use

the development of El Niño events in 1982-83 and 1997-98 to support the development of El Niño in 2014-15. Has this got anything to do with irrigation? Right now in July, probably not. As a company we do consider the long-term predictions seriously. It has a major inﬂuence preparing for the next irrigation season, 201415 (after all September is just six weeks away). In early May we planned on being ‘ready

to roll’ by August 1 and at the odd seminar and workshop, and in CTV interviews discussed preparedness and the likely early start to irrigation. Are we still of that mind? Yes with the caveat that ‘the next two to three weeks will confirm our position’ — if La Niña wanes and El Niño strengthens, we will have made the right decision. It’s all about planning and awareness — ‘will it or won’t it?’

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WATER

July 2014

Weather Watch by Tony Trewinnard Airflow anomalies returned to the east for June, after a more westerly dominated May. However, higher than normal pressures east of the country directed this airﬂow as mostly northeasterly, which tends to bring milder and more humid air over Canterbury. Rainfall well above normal in North Canterbury with a heavy fall mid month contributing to milder totals of 200-250% of normal. In Mid Canterbury totals were a little above normal, around 100-150%, while in South Canterbury and on Banks Peninsula totals were a little less than 100%. Sunshine hours were a little above normal, with totals generally 100-120% of normal. Higher totals were likely in inland South Canterbury.

Temperatures were significantly warmer than usual, with both day time maximums and night time minimums +1.0 to +1.5deg warmer than the long-term average, Consequently there were fewer frosts than usual, and no particularly cold spells. In the tropical Pacific many oceanic indicators are continuing to point towards weak El Nino conditions, with regions of warmer than usual water surfacing near the equator. However, many of the usual trends we expect to see in a typical El Nino event are not occurring, and many atmospheric indicators are failing to show any El Nino development. In particular, the Southern Oscillation Index

remained at positive levels through June and into early July, which is not the usual behaviour ahead of an El Nino event. There is increasing evidence that this El Nino event will be a minor one, which has already peaked and is on the wane. The latest computer models are now showing at best a weak to moderate El Nino event, with some of the most recent suggesting the expected El Nino has peaked at low levels, and will decay steadily throughout the second half of the year. There are some suggestions of a signiﬁcant La Nina event developing early next year. As we are currently in a phase in the Paciﬁc where La Nina events are expected to be more dominant, we too expect this El Nino to be in imminent decline, and likely to be replaced early

Forecast — Canterbury Rainfall

Temperature

Sunshine

Airflow

August

Near normal

Mixed

September

Near normal

Milder than normal

Sunnier than normal

More westerly airflows

October

Near normal

Milder than normal

Sunnier than normal

More westerly airflows

November

Near normal

Mixed

next year by potentially strong La Nina conditions. As the El Nino decays we generally see increased westerly or southwesterly airﬂow over New Zealand and we cautiously expect this through the spring months (which usually see westerlies dominant anyway) and into early summer. However, the presence of warmer than normal ocean

water

with warmer, and sunnier conditions, but regular southwesterly changes still bringing some rainfall, probably enough to keep monthly totals near the longterm averages. While early summer months may be a little drier than usual, there are some tentative indications that the mid to later summer could be wetter.

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Forestry Market Report Allan Laurie MNZIF Laurie Forestry Ltd

Too much wood Export log markets have broken all the wrong records over the last month — the fastest and most significant decline in CIF prices for logs landed in China ever seen has been the order of the day. I spent a week in China in early June and saw ﬁrst hand the impacts of the current situation. Visiting seven factories and three ports, the story was pretty much the same everywhere — too much wood and not enough sales. Last month I reported A grade logs heading down past US$130 per cubic metre from an almost all time high of US$160+ in March/April. Indeed settlements of US$120 have been common place. In this report I focus on China because many readers may not be aware of why these peaks and troughs occur. The following is a combination of fact, and in part my theories on this key market, and basically

how New Zealand really mucks up providing a stable price and volume platform. Firstly it is important to understand that New Zealand and New Zealand-based companies dominate the softwood log market in China. I was going to say controls the market there but control is not something we appear to understand or use to our advantage. Just before Christmas, the United States settlements for radiata pine went past US$145 per cubic metre for A grade. Market hype and a jostle for volume positions saw this price reach the US$160+ mark. The problem was, the usage on the China side was if

anything declining. Therefore the inevitable has occurred. At present, softwood log consumption across the China eastern seaboard is running at about 40,000 cubic metres per day. Not too shabby really. Five years ago we would have marvelled at such a consumption rate. Now we compare it to the 65,000 per day the market was consuming at the same time last year. Trying to get a handle on what is happening right now in terms of New Zealand total production is very difﬁcult. This is because logging crews are parking up all over the country and delivery rates to ports are dropping daily.

July 2014

To allow the market to recover quickly we have to get delivery rates to China below the million cubic metre mark or 35,000 per day. This is a drop in national harvest of 400,000+ cubic metres per month. In early July it appeared a long run of inventory building was starting to slow with an expectation the reported vessel arrivals in June would be way down. Indeed the total inventory crept very close to 5 million cubic metres, close to 4 months’ supply. Importantly, anything over US$140 has the United States and Canada eyeing up this market also. They have higher costs than NZ and will only get in to their work when they see the higher levels being reached. Hence the combined daily deliveries to China ramped in February/March/April to over 70,000 cubic metres per day, more than two million per month. New Zealand supplies 60% of the total volume of softwood logs exported

to China and NZ-based companies 70% when you add in volume we supply from Australia and the US. Of the New Zealand companies there are two that dominate with the largest volume and another three or four which influence CIF settlements. Last year New Zealand produced over 20% of all softwood log volume traded on the planet. Our nearest competitors were US and Russia at about 15% each. An important part of the China culture of marketing is that you will never get an offer of a price from a China factory owner or trader. The seller offers the price and the buyer accepts or declines and that is never a five minute job. Therefore the New Zealand sellers set the price in China. Often, not so clear mirrors are a feature of the negotiations. The better news out of this market in recent weeks has been a significant shift in confidence and continued reasonable consumption levels despite a construction season plagued with hot weather.

Also the China Government have announced credit relief measures which are seen as positive. It certainly looks like June will be the trough in the market although I suspect it will be September before we see a reverse swing. As has been the case since time immemorial and reported by me regularly, the good old domestic market just keeps chugging on with good realistic prices and a steady demand for volume. For Canterbury the Christchurch rebuild is certainly adding some volume and suppliers appear eager to supply. All indications are for a relatively short lived down market and then we shall all rise from the abyss of complacency and selffulﬁlling destiny to ﬁght again another day. Thus it has never been more timely to remember — the only way forward for climate, country and the planet is to get out there and plant more trees.

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SPEND ENOUGH TIME IN THE COUNTRY AND YOU ARE BOUND TO COME ACROSS A HUNTAWAY DOG. This ubiquitous farm helper was ofﬁcially recognised by the New Zealand Kennel Club in 2013 and is currently the only registered New Zealand breed. Brian Harris of the NZKC’s breed standards committee said recognising the dog from within New Zealand was imperative. “If we didn’t do it one of the overseas bodies would and they would control the breed standard,” he said. Huntaways are found in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan but were originally developed in New Zealand more than a century ago. The exact heritage of the Huntaway is unknown but the

NZKC lists it as being a possible mix of Border Collie, Bearded Collie, Labrador, Rottweiler, Gordon Terrier and Smithfield Collie. Mr Harris said defining the breed was a joint effort between the NZKC and the New Zealand Sheep Dog Trial Association and that the two organisations were attempting to preserve the animal’s heritage as a working dog. According to the NZKC, ‘the New Zealand Huntaway is first and foremost a working breed selected solely for its ability to tirelessly work stock day in and day out. The only consideration when breeding should be as

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July 2014

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Gem’s bark gets the attention of the sheep to their working ability and physical soundness’. Hap Wilson grew up in Oxford working on farms and has been familiar with the Huntaway breed for a long time. He said the dog’s deep bark makes it ideal for working with cattle, sheep and deer. “It’s excellent in yards and up hills. A good Huntaway would happily work eight hours a day, ﬁve days a week,” he said. Currently, he works as an agricultural studies instructor at the National Trade Academy on McLean’s Island, near

Christchurch. Students there come from all walks of life, including some who haven’t had a lot of experience with dogs. Wilson’s three-year-old female Huntaway Gem is his constant companion at the academy. “She’s brilliant with the kids. She’s got a gentle temperament and is very calm,” he said. Wilson got Gem as a pup and said training her for stock work was 50/50 effort between the two of them. Although she was given to him for free, fully trained

Huntaways can command a price of around $3,500. He describes Gem as a brainy dog and said he’d love to take her to the dog trails someday. Murray Wilson, who serves as the archives ofﬁcer for the New Zealand Sheep Dog Trial Association, said the Huntaway was a friendly breed.“You get a lot of labour out of them and they are marvellous dogs for clearing a hillside,” he said. “Without a doubt, a good deal of New Zealand farms would not be viable economic units without the Huntaway.”

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HUNTAWAY BACKGROUND

The huntaway was developed as a breed in response to farming conditions found in the New Zealand high country. The vast pastoral runs or stations, such as those in the high country of the South Island, required teams of dogs who could work mustering for days on end, covering great distances on rough steep country.

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Huntaways are large, deep-chested dogs that generally weigh in the region of 25–40 kilograms. Their coats can vary in colour; colours include black, black and tan (usually) with some white or brindle. Their coats can also come in different textures; they can be smooth, rough, or grizzly and they are generally ﬂoppy eared. A huntaway’s height is

usually in the range of 56–66 centimetres. They are required to have great intelligence, agility and stamina for days of working on steep, rough country over large distances, driving very large mobs of sheep. Their bark is deep and repeating, usually with a short pause between barks, which allows the barking to be sustained for very long periods.

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July 2014

ANNUAL FERTILISER LIFTOUT SPRING 2014

Soil health through the ages Since the dawn of civilisation, farmers have known that the health of the soil is of paramount importance. Indeed, without this knowledge, there would simply be no civilisation at all! The ability to settle down — to build temples, homes, pyramids and castles — all depends on being able to farm rather than to gather, to herd rather than to hunt. It’s little surprise that the first of the great empires of antiquity were situated beside rivers, whose yearly floods spread fertilising silt and mud across the fields, as in Egypt. And while the science would not be unlocked for many centuries, even these very early farmers knew about some of the soil health tricks we use today. They may have had no word for nitrogen, but they practiced crop rotation, and the application of ‘green manure’ (similar to the spreading of effluent fertiliser in modern farming) to help fix nitrogen levels in the soil. Many of these cultures viewed the ‘proper’ means of fertilising and rotating

the use of fields as a religious law, and saw less diligent other tribes’ crop failures as a punishment by the gods of the harvest. Superstitions aside, their methods were sound, and have been used all the way from 6000bc to the present day. In the Middle Ages, an added benefit came from the invention of the three-field crop rotation cycle, popularised by Charlemagne throughout the Holy Roman Empire (modern Germany). This system alternated nitrogen fixing legumes with wheat crops, the third field being left fallow or empty. Once again, the science behind why this worked was unknown, but it was very effective. The longer and shorter rooted plants alternated to aerate the soil at different depths. Nitrogen and other trace elements were replenished. And the life cycle of plant species-

2014

Summer

JANUARY

specific parasites and pests was disrupted, leading to less crop failure and, in a big way, contributing to the success of Charlemagne’s empire. With the advent of the microscope in Holland in the 1600s, the tiny life-forms living in soil were laid bare to the new discipline of science. Englishman Robert Hooke (a contemporary and rival of Isaac Newton) cataloged thousands of insects and other creatures living in water, soil and even in the air. This development led on to the present day — a time when fertiliser application is a science, GPS controlled from satellites in orbit, and when soil tests are meticulously analysed in laboratories to tailor the right blend of elements and nutrients required for better crops and pasture. Soil testers can provide a detailed map of an entire

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3 3 3 3 3 3  Significant reduction in animal metabolic 4 4 4 4 4 4 disorders, particularly during the spring season. 5 5 5 5 5 5  Improved mating performance. 6 6 6 6 6 6  Building my farms ideal physical soil structure by 7 7 7 7 7 7 correcting calcium / magnesium base saturation 8 8 8 8 8 8 percentages. 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10  Increased nutrient storage and availability. 11 11 11 11 11 11  Stronger, more vigorous clover and plant growth. 12 12 12 12 12 12  Reduced reliance on nitrogen inputs. 13 13 13 13 13 13 14 14 or eliminate 14  Reduce the14need for14pasture 14dusting 15 15 15 15 15 15 of MgO. 16 16 16 16 16 16  Consistently lower fertiliser input prices.

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July 2014

FERTILISER ADVERTORIAL

Award winning Smart Maps popular in Canterbury

Smart Maps offers a paperless, every-day management tool for Canterbury farmer Scott Lovelock. Scott is sharemilking 1,130 Holstein Friesian cows on a fully-irrigated 302ha (effective) farm, Pauri Banks, about five minutes west of Darfield, near Christchurch. The neighbouring 170ha support block winters the majority of the herd on kale and whole-crop silage. “We produced 425kg/ MS/cow last year, which included 500 heifers,” he says. “We run a predominantly grass and grain system, known as a Systems Three farm. We use 600kg700kg/cow of crushed barley through the shed. But the focus is to utilise every blade of grass as weather permits as well as maximum pasture intakes without

taking our eye off residues hitting 1,500kg/DM/ha all year.” Another plus of the business is the use of Smart Maps. “The main reason is not needing screeds and screeds of paper,” Scott says. The implementation of the Smart Maps system allows farmers to view an online aerial map of their farm and draw on paddocks, blocks and management zones and integrate this with their fertiliser application and other on-farm events. Farmers access Smart Maps through their personalised online service site called myravensdown.co.nz Scott is a fan of being able to access his farm information and make real-time management

decisions by email, by text or online. His relationship with Canterbury Spreading shows the perfect example of Smart Maps working to his benefit. “I go into Smart Maps, pull up what I want under the applications tab, tick a little box for the last application and it shows me a map of what was done last time so there are no double ups.” Soil test data can be graphically presented on Smart Maps to help customers decide what actions need to take place on which paddocks. Fertiliser plans can also be loaded and details will appear if the farmer hovers the cursor over the planned applications.

Scott Lovelock checking his soil health out in the field

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July 2014

FERTILISER

Smart Maps is available to Ravensdown Shareholders and C-Dax users

Scott says pasture monitoring is done on the farm every 10 days using his C-Dax controller unit, which uploads the pasture measurement data back to Smart Maps. “So I can look at those lower cover paddocks and overlay that with what wasn’t fertilised last time. I send an email to Cath at Canterbury Spreading and say this is what I need, she’ll email me back and says when the truck will be turning up. The truck does the job, and then where it

has been turns up on my map the next time I look at it.” He says within that process, he can check the nutrient status of each individual paddock in terms of making sure they are all being done and whether the application rates are getting to maximum levels or not enough — providing proof of placement for both the farmer and the spreading company. “It creates a great picture for our records — and they’re accurate instead of having piles of paper that

may or may not be out of date. This is our second year of building this data so the performance picture of each paddock is getting clearer all the time.” The Smart Maps process is also used on the support block for crop applications. “Growing grass and utilising grass is everything and a profitable bottom line is also right up there. Smart Maps is helping us to make sure we keep improving grass performance to get us where we need to be.”

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Innovation marks anniversary with international award A year after Smart Maps was launched, the tool has scooped an international Information Technology award, ahead of 100,000 other nominees worldwide. Smart Maps won the 2014 Environment Systems Research Institute Inc (Esri) Special Achievement Award in Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The annual award recognises outstanding work in GIS technology and Ravensdown is the only New Zealand

company to be named among the winners. In just one year, more than 3,400 farmers have transformed the way they record and monitor their businesses. “This award is recognition for the time our team spent with customers to understand their needs and then using the latest technology to create a solution,” said Mark McAtamney, Ravensdown’s chief information officer. CANFARM-JUL14

July 2014

FERTILISER ADVERTORIAL

Animal health comes first

Deer farmer Chris Petersen believes that healthy deer are happy deer. Chris, current holder of the deer industry’s coveted Matuschka Award knows a few things about deer farming. The former chairman of the Deer Farmers’ Association in Fiordland is the first to admit however, that he doesn’t always get it right. Following his move to South Canterbury from Fiordland two years ago one of his first moves was to spread a load of Sulphur Super onto his newly acquired Highden Deer Park, a 126-hectare former cropping farm near Pleasant Point. “Could have been the levels of urea, low lime levels or a whole host of things, but whatever, we basically had very underperforming paddocks the next spring,” said Chris. Following soil tests a local soil consultant suggested using lime and

switching to Viafos, a natural guano-based phosphate. The results exceeded his expectations. “I cut 100 tonnes more silage this spring off the same paddocks as last year — about 26 hectares. The silage contractor was pretty impressed as other farms in the area were only cutting half of what they got last year,” he said. Chris also ran his 33 trophy stags and seven sire stags in two of the paddocks. “The product is easy to use and can be applied even in summer conditions. We also had plenty of clover which was also rare for the area this year as a lot of farmers around me suffered from clover root weevil, and I know other farmers using this product are getting similar results with clover.” But for Chris the end game is about the health

and growth of his 800 plus stock units. “I am looking more for animal health than having heaps of grass. My deer this winter are in the best condition I’ve had with ted hinds coming in at up to 150 kilograms and some of my red fawns close to 100 kilograms.” While Chris doesn’t breed for size, it’s a welcome benefit to the income statement for those deer he sends to the works. “Deer farmers that use a lot of fertiliser have good grass but seem to have more health problems, including worms and Johne’s disease, and it can also affect fawning rates. The vet doesn’t pay us too many visits. I don’t drench and I seem to have generally a healthy herd.” He attributes his fortune to the right inputs. “Healthy soil equals healthy animals. And

Chris believes healthy deer are happy deer

this year with an early winter the farm looked a picture even though I had 100 extra hinds on it.” Viafos Chief Executive Keith Jackson said Chris was one of many farmers

reviewing fertiliser options and starting the change process to more suitable products when considering soil, stock health, environment and production. “There’s definitely been

a groundswell of change to natural, biological methods and the message is spreading year on year.” For Chris it makes for one happy farmer.

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NMPs don’t have to be a four letter word

Astute farmers know that a good Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) can offer business advantages, helping us make more efficient use of our productive soil, optimise production from our nutrient inputs and actually save us money on our phosphate bill.

At Viafos, we can help you hit your NMP goals by providing a range of quality, nutrient rich natural fertilisers. We cover all your nutrient requirements with a range of phosphate, potassium, sulphur and magnesium products including a range of blended products that offer:

• More efficient release of nutrients for plants • No synthetic additives and lower levels of most heavy metal contaminants, especially cadmium • Less soil and biology damage from nonacidic products • Better plant health and disease resistance. Farm smarter. Talk to Viafos today.

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July 2014

FERTILISER ADVERTORIAL

Thinking about fertilisers?

Very few farmers need to be sold on the benefits of fertiliser. The regular application of fertiliser, though expensive, is regarded as an absolute necessity to achieve high levels of production and good economic returns. In fact it is probably fair to say that the advent of manufactured, inorganic fertilisers has completely revolutionised agriculture over the last century or so, enabling levels of productivity that our forebears would never have imagined possible. Every year, New Zealand farmers spend huge amounts of money on enormous quantities of fertilisers, seeking to ride the revolution for all its worth. We’re passengers aboard the fertiliser express, believing it’s taking us to a bold new agricultural utopia. But that’s where our analogy breaks down. Passengers usually know their destination and commit themselves to their crew to get them there. But

does anyone know where the fertiliser juggernaut is heading to or when it will arrive? Most farmers view soil as a medium to which fertiliser should be added to make plants grow bigger and faster. But soil is a dynamic and complex system involving the interaction of numerous chemical, physical and biological components and processes. Soils function optimally and give the best results when these various parameters operate in a balanced way. If one wants to get the best from the soil, one must to work with it, rather than against it. Oversupply or imbalance of fertiliser products is killing the

Dairy Lane Lime Rock that goes down well • High quality Ag Lime • Serpentine/Magnesium • Dicalcic Phosphate • Blending of trace elements Forget the rest, get the best. Call Karl direct 027 5184 707 or 03 318 4707, email splime@xtra.co.nz

essential biological life in the soil, or leads to nutrients leaching into water bodies causing unsightly and expensive environmental damage. This can result in boosted plant growth but with quality so poor that stock prefer not to eat them — or man at the apex of the food chain, eating tasteless ‘pseudo’ food, and increasingly becoming afflicted with all manner of health ailments etc. Isn’t it time to think about fertiliser? If we get things right in the soil, our journey will lead to better plants, better animals, better food and a healthier human population living in a less polluted environment. But if we don’t, who knows what the future will be?

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July 2014

FERTILISER ADVERTORIAL

Farmers take next step in sustainability A group of South Canterbury cropping farmers are taking soil sampling to a new level of precision with New Zealand’s first real-time soil sampler. The Veris MSP3 3150 imported from the United States combines electrical conductivity (EC) mapping of paddocks for soil texture, infra-red measurement of organic matter and constant sampling for soil pH. This data will help farmers fine-tune inputs such

as irrigation, fertiliser and lime, increasing efficiency of nutrient use and reducing the risk of environmental damage. “Grid soil sampling and EC mapping have been available for a couple of years now in New Zealand and we see this as the next

step,” says Colin Hurst, who farms at Makikihi near Waimate. While Hurst and the other three farmers involved — Michael Tayler, Nick Ward and Hugh Wigley are all cropping farmers, they believe the machine will be equally useful in other farming systems including dairy and livestock farms to improve pasture management. “Grass is a crop just like any other — it needs the right soil pH to maintain nutrient availability to plant, and animal and soil texture, and organic matter content are major factors in determining soil water holding capacity.” Traditionally fertiliser, lime and irrigation are applied at one rate across a paddock or even block of paddocks, determined by the average pH or soil water holding capacity. With

the data the Veris machine provides farmers can vary application rates. Smart software is needed, which is where Seaun Lovell comes in. Mr Lovell’s job is to run Smart Ag Solutions, the company the farmers have set up to offer the Veris precision sampling services. While there’s an initial cost for the service, reduced amounts of inputs from more precise applications and/ or increased yields in years to come mean there will be a financial benefit for those on all but the most uniform soils.

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July 2014

FERTILISER

Certification of nutrient management advisers — the icing on the cake Article supplied by the Fertiliser Association of New Zealand

The Nutrient Management Adviser Certification process has now been available for just over six months and has achieved an impressive level of uptake. To date there are more than 40 certified advisers in the field, with another 60 currently in application phase. Jason Griffin, Ballance AgriNutrients key and corporate accounts manager for the lower North Island, described the certification programme as ‘the icing on the cake’ which brings together years of training and experience in nutrient management. He said he is grateful the certification programme is available to formalise the level of knowledge and skills involved in effective nutrient management, and to ensure farmers are receiving advice

from qualified people. Likewise, Sue Quilter, Ravensdown key account manager for the East Coast of the North Island said after 16 years in the field she found the certification process a valuable experience. “It gives me more confidence that what is being advised is indeed in line with the latest research and industry standards,” Quilter said. “Working in an isolated area on the East Coast for so long it’s easy to feel that you’re going down your own track at times, but the certification process was very reassuring for me personally. It’s great to have a stamp of

approval for my practice. “It certainly wasn’t without its challenges; with a large dairy farming component it required a great deal of learning for someone like me who hasn’t worked with dairy farms for decades, but it was relevant and a good mind broadening experience to understand the latest science and terminology in dairying.” The annual continuing professional development requirements of the certiﬁcation programme also ensure that knowledge is kept up to date. “As more and more farmers learn about the certiﬁcation programme it will become the

benchmark and be demanded by them,” Griffen said. Quilter said the certiﬁcation process provided the reassurance and seamless future prooﬁng necessary to meet evolving council requirements. Both certified nutrient management advisers agreed

that the endorsement provided by the certiﬁcation process is critical in ensuring their clients know that resources are being managed in ways that don’t compromise the environment, that are evidence based, and that, ultimately, provide the best outcomes for farmers. The

Nutrient Management Adviser Certiﬁcation Programme is an outcome of the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) through DairyNZ and is coordinated by the Fertiliser Association of New Zealand with a range of partners.

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July 2014

FERTILISER From a messy problem to a fertile solution

ROAD SAFETY

As dairy farming becomes more prevalent across the Canterbury region, issues regarding the storage and dispersal of cattle effluent have come to the fore, both in council regulations and in the ongoing debate about the role of the eco-conscious farmer.

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While the messy by-product of a profitable dairy industry is seen by many as a chore to store and treat, it can also prove a bonus for those who wish to cultivate a lush crop of green grass. Effluent treatment systems have come a long way in recent years, rendering an excellent product for use as fertiliser. After all, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice that the grass really is greener where the cattle have gone about their ablutions! Effluent slurry — both from cattle and from pigs — contains abundant phosphorous, potassium, nitrogen and sulphur, along with trace elements and nutrients. Of course the levels of these elements present in effluent varies according the herd’s diet, the time of year, and the biological cycle of calving season, but there is no doubt that cattle and pasture have adapted to operate in symbiosis, feeding off of each other in a way mirrored in many other natural ecosystems. Studies have shown time and time again that the correct application of slurry to pastureland not only improves soil condition, but also boosts moisture retention, and is even known to promote higher earthworm numbers. Of course, these little soil-munchers

working hard below the surface are a big benefit to soil health. There are two big benefits to using a slurry tanker system to spread effluent on the farm — namely, the reduced cost in fertiliser application from other sources, and the ability to flexibly manage the amount of effluent stored in ponds. But the key to investing wisely

in such a system is to choose the right tanker, and, for some, to pair up a mobile, tractor-pulled slurry tanker with an irrigator system, taking care of pasture both near to the pond and in far-ﬂung corners of the farm. Durability is king when it comes to choosing a slurry tanker. Look at the volume able to be processed by its inbuilt vacuum

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pump — you don’t want to be standing next to the ponds all day waiting for a reﬁll! And consider, as well, the volumes you will need to spread — repeat trips back and forth can be obviated by purchasing a larger tanker, though going too big can have diseconomies of scale if it spends too much time in the shed and not behind the

July 2014

FERTILISER

tractor. Another core issue is the terrain you’ll be traversing, and of course the machine which you will use both to haul and to power the tanker. A good match with your tractor is vital, and it pays to consult your tractor dealership so as to make sure the tanker you are considering ﬁts into a broad range of implements able to be powered by the same machine. Of course, it also goes without saying that consultation with your local or regional

council should be taken into consideration, as different areas have their own dictates about the volume you are permitted to spread, and how the weather may affect your ability to cover ground with your tanker or irrigator. With a wide range of locally built and imported slurry tankers on offer, many dealers in farm machinery will be happy to demonstrate their latest wares on your farm. Take advantage of their knowledge in picking

a machine which will see you through many seasons, and balance the cost of investment against the cost of fert — 100 cows can produce up to 590kg of nitrogen and 540kg of potassium a year, for example. Factor in the potential ﬁnes which come with effluent storage non-compliance, and a slurry tanker may very well be the perfect addition to your machinery shed. Top brands of slurry tanker include those designed for the ever more

stringent conditions of the EU’s farming market, where effluent spreading is extremely tightly regulated. Variables such as the size of particles in a liquid spray, and the distance of the spray ‘fan’ from the vehicle can all be controlled, in some cases from within the cab of the tractor. It’s been noted that these more advanced slurry tankers can enjoy a secondary role — reports of farmers on the continent using their highpressure reversible pumps to take up water and douse fires show a certain kind of lateral thinking! More importantly, a versatile approach to managing the levels of effluent stored in ponds can mean a respite from worries about heavy rain in winter — putting out a fire in the more colloquial sense.

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July 2014

FERTILISER ADVERTORIAL

Grid Sampling pays benefits to all farming sectors Five years in from when Agronomy Solutions first introduced grid sampling to New Zealand the first adopters of this technique are seeing the benefits of reduced fertiliser inputs and more importantly the correcting of problem areas and yield limiting factors.

PRECISION NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT “Put your inputs where they are needed”

Choose our GPS, variable rate fertiliser system for: NZ-KCL Application Rate

• Healthy balanced soil. • Identifying problem areas. • Improved crop and dairy pasture health. • Fertiliser cost savings. Acitivity Plan: 2012 Onions - NZ-KCL Boundary Area: 32.07(ha) Minimum: 0.00 (kg/ha) Maximum: 190.00 (kg/ha) Min Non-Zero: 80.00 (kg/ha) Average:72.32 (kg/ha) Est. Total: 2,319 (kg)

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• Flexible to suit any farming system. • Recommendations supplied independent of inputs. • Specialist technical team with over 18 years experience in precision farming systems.

The system Agronomy Solutions use is gridding each and every hectare of farms to produce targeted fertiliser recommendations for lime, phosphate, potassium and magnesium. All these nutrients are crucial for yield and quality. Agronomy Solutions have the expertise to produce recommendations for a range of crops and dairy pasture. They are also happy to work with parameters set by a client’s chosen nutrient adviser. Farmers who have been using this system for a few years are now experiencing a more consistent soil nutrient level, balanced nutrient profile, along with reduced fertiliser inputs. This shows great savings not only to their pocket but also to the environment. We have tested many thousands of hectares in New Zealand and have found more often than not variations of nutrients across paddocks for a number of reasons. Fields are larger due to amalgamation of boundary changes because of irrigation systems. Variation from crop removal over the years, inaccurate spreading of

nutrients, spreading of effluent on dairy farms and old stock camps, as well as changes in soil type, are all good reasons for paddock testing this way. With our experience we could almost guarantee that the cost of sampling would be covered several times over with fertiliser savings,

whilst addressing deficient areas and identifying areas of excessive nutrients from effluent spreading which can lead to animal health issues. For more information contact Julie Lasham at Agronomy Solutions — Tel: 027 445 0170 info@ agronomysolutions.co.nz.

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July 2014

FERTILISER ADVERTORIAL

Cost effective natural alternative

EITHER WAY IT’S 20K

MIND YOUR SPEED AROUND SCHOOL BUSES

Poulfert (chicken litter) has long been recognised as a cost effective natural fertiliser, sought after not only for its nutrient value (NPK) but also the benefits of organic matter. The family owned company has operated from its Templeton base since 2004, specialising in the bulk supply and spreading of Poulfert (chicken litter) throughout the greater Canterbury area. The product is sourced from chicken raising farms strategically placed around Canterbury. Company manager Marty Peoples says “ Poulfert has really gained favour as a natural fertiliser, customers in dairying horticulture and cropping are all seeing the benefits of using the product. In addition to the NPK nutrient value the organic matter of the product is especially beneficial in it’s soil conditioning capacity, particularly in Canterbury where organic matter is often light.” Much of the Canterbury farmland has suffered from years of cultivation which has allowed organic matter to be eroded through prevailing winds. Conventional fertilisers by their chemistry base are not able to replace this vital ingredient. Poulfert is based on a dry wood shavings base and has a dry sawdust/sand texture. Upon application the product adds to the soil structure breaking down slowly providing nutrients to plants in keeping with their ability to absorb. Organic matter is added to the soil by the products’ structure helping the micro organisms within the soil to

If you’re reading this, then so are your customers Please call

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develop and grow, vastly improving soil structure. While there are other products available, they are a compost with a small nutrient element. Poulfert is a fertiliser high in nutrients with a large organic element. Marty says: ‘The use of the product can be seen in the growth experienced and the colour of the plant’. A further benefit of using the product is the additional growth experience due the slow release characteristics of the product more in keeping with the plants ability to use. Many clients comment about

the additional ‘hit’ they get regarding the longevity of the product not seen in solid fertiliser. Application rates depend on ground type, fertiliser history, and crop type. A typical application as a maintenance fertiliser is 2.5 tonne to the hectare, increasing as the need for the nutrient value dictates. The product is very successful on all pastures either established or prior to drilling. And prior to drilling for cereal and fodder crops including maize and kale. The product is available all year

around with the company operating specialised bulk cartage and spreading equipment with GPS accuracy and proof of placement now they are spreadmark certified and offer proof of placement through livetime precision tracking. Their dedication to service with experienced staff make the process of choosing Poulfert as a cost effective natural alternative very real. Simply call Marty and Tracey Peoples on 0800 NPK NOW and they will happily discuss any questions regarding the use of Poulfert on your farm.

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July 2014

FERTILISER ADVERTORIAL

User-friendly equipment Italy is famous for its engineering expertise. Now, a South Canterbury company is making that available right here. Rata Industries Group Limited, based in Winchester, has been appointed the New Zealand distributor of the Italian Agrex brand of professional chemical and organic fertiliser spreaders. “This is to complement our well-known Vogal range of high quality ATV/UTV

fertiliser spreaders,” Rata sales manager Glenn Walton said. “Rata now distributes a full range of fertiliser spreaders from a small 45-litre single spinner up to the 14,000-litre capacity auger and twin spinner spreaders. Rata has a great line-up

of stock available for the coming season. “Agrex fertiliser spreaders have been designed to respond to the requirements of professional operators and contractors, distributing chemical and organic fertilisers with higher demands for accuracy and

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sustainability on large blocks of land,” Glenn said. Their tank has a high loading autonomy, which guarantees a daily working performance of several hectares. The solid construction of the bearing frames allow for speed and durability. All Agrex professional spreaders have been put through their paces at the Institute of Agricultural Engineering fertiliser test hall research centre in Bygholm, Denmark, where they demonstrated they could accurately place and spread numerous different types of fertiliser across the entire spread width. “There are many options available to suit every

operator’s needs, from manual operation to full computer control,” Glenn said. The forward speed and the weight of the discharged fertiliser were monitored, revealing fertiliser savings of up to 15%. Tw i n centrifugal spreading discs and threeposition adjustment made it possible to regulate the spreading width accurately from 12 to 36 metres, with accurate placements according to the variety of fertiliser used. “Specialised lime and other organic spreaders such as the Agrex KALKO and MAGNUM spreaders are a big focus with Agrex,” Glenn said.

Glenn said the whole Rata team was committed to providing customers with user-friendly equipment that was proven in New Zealand conditions. The family business began in 1981 when Peter Walton found a need for tractor attachments that would make it easier to lift bales and grain in his own agricultural work. As the farming environment changed, Mr Walton’s gear was adapted and demand increased. Rata continued developing innovative loader attachments, cultivators, spreaders and hay gear, sourcing the finest brands from around the world to accompany what it manufactured at Winchester.

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July 2014

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July 2014

ADVERTORIAL

Asian cycling adventure Fancy the idea of cycling from Lhasa to Kathmandu, taking in the Tibetan Plateau and Everest Base Camp? Then this could be your year.

Cycling through this kind of scenery certainly beats traversing the busy streets of Auckland

Departing at regular intervals throughout the year, this fantastic 25 day journey starts in Nepal for sightseeing and acclimatisation, before flying to Tibet to acclimatise and visit the famous Potala Palace. The 1,000km ride begins along the Tibetan Plateau, via Everest Base Camp and travels 160km down the world’s longest downhill ride, before ending back at Kathmandu. This rare opportunity to mix with the locals, visit Buddhist monasteries, ride the Himalayas and observe the traditional labours of rural Tibetans, is a once in a lifetime experience. Trekking Adventures offer trips in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia, India, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Africa and New Zealand. The next presentation will be held in Hawkes Bay on June 28. Contact Ann: ann@trekkingadventures.co.nz, phone 06 356 7043, 027 35 67043 or visit www.trekkingadventures.co.nz.

RURAL WOMEN

Milk-based acne cream offers safe alternative A new product developed in New Zealand and made with cow’s milk, is offering a safe and effective alternative to improve acne and problem skin. Hamilton-based company Quantec Personal Care Ltd launched Epiology in June, after seven years of rigorous research and testing, at a time in which consumers are being warned about common acne products containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. The active, patented ingredient in Epiology is derived from New Zealand cow’s milk, which manager of Quantec Personal Care and Epiology, Grant Washington-Smith said is a breakthrough in skincare and represents a completely new approach to improving acne and problem skin. “We’ve used a 100% natural complex of bioactive enzymes and proteins from milk, which reduces redness, provides a clearer and brighter complexion, and is particularly suitable for those with sensitive skin,” said Mr Washington-Smith. “While it still has unique properties that make it very powerful against certain types of disease-causing bacteria, it is

less likely to cause the adverse effects that products containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide might cause.” The Food and Drug Administration publicly announced that ‘certain overthe-counter topical acne products can cause rare but serious and potentially lifethreatening allergic reactions or severe irritation,’ including throat tightness, difficulty breathing, feeling faint, swelling of the eyes, face, lips, or tongue and the development of hives. During 2012 Quantec completed randomised, doubleblinded trials on 84 subjects with mild to moderate acne in the United States. The performance of the milk-ingredient based Epiology cream was compared against two other formulations with FDA-approved acne active ingredients.“After six weeks, both the leading US brand and Epiology demonstrated exactly the same results in reducing acne lesions,” said Mr Washington-Smith.

“This is the sixth year we’ve run the awards and we’re already ﬁelding enquiries from women keen to enter,” says Rural Women NZ national president, Wendy McGowan. Last year’s supreme winner, Diane Coleman of Treeline Native Nursery in Rotorua, says

business is booming after the publicity that followed her win. She acknowledges that entering the awards may be outside some people’s comfort zone, but urges rural business women to pluck up the courage as she did. “Winning this award has been a once in a lifetime

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natural product, it also proved to be a great option for those with sensitive skin.” The Epiology range of products can be purchased online at www.epiology.co.nz and in pharmacies throughout New Zealand.

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“However, the Epiology cream showed greater results in the overall reduction of acne related redness and inﬂammation. Subjects had a clearer and brighter complexion without irritation or redness, and being a

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opportunity — it was challenging, exciting, scary, fun, humbling, and has really put my business on the map.” There are four award categories this year: Love of the Land is for all landbased business from animals to agriculture; Help! I Need Somebody is for businesses providing any type of service from retailers to agricultural contractors; Making it in Rural is for businesses that involve manufacturing or creativity, and Stay, Play Rural is for businesses

engaged in rural tourism or hospitality. To enter the awards, women have to own and operate a small business with less than 10 fulltime equivalent staff based in a rural area. The business must have been running for at least two years and, if in partnership, women must be an active partner of 50 per cent or more in the business. Entries close Friday, September 5. Entry forms and further information are available on www.ruralwomen.org.nz/ enterprisingruralwomen.

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DAIRY

July 2014

Nutrition of plants — potassium by Dr Tim Jenkins

In Canterbury pasture based farming, potassium has often been overlooked. There’s some sense in this as greywacke sandstone is the parent material of many of our soils and this forms clay minerals and silt that contain naturally high levels of potassium. Potassium taken up by pasture is then mostly recycled in the paddock as dung urine and decomposing uneaten plant parts. Potassium deficiencies can start to show where there is significant loss of potassium through crop harvest, hay or silage being taken repeatedly from just a few paddocks or effluent not being evenly returned to all paddocks. Common daisies are indeed common in pastures that have become potassium deficient since this plant is hardier than most pasture species to the low availability of the essential mineral. Potassium is the nutrient required in the highest amount of all mineral elements. Nonmineral elements such as nitrogen, carbon and oxygen may be required in even higher amounts but pastures are typically getting most of those from the atmosphere (including the nitrogen ‘fixed’ in legume nodules). Potassium is unique in the essential plant minerals in that it is not incorporated into the structure, carbohydrates or proteins of plants. It is generally

present as free ions and provides the main basis for regulating the movement of water into and out of plant parts as well as the transport and storage of nutrients. Adequate potassium levels are also required for cell elongation and fundamental functions for good plant growth including photosynthesis and root growth. Some crops have a particularly high potassium requirement. In the pasture clovers will show potassium deficiency before grasses. So if a pasture has generally poor legume growth but in the urine patches (where potassium as well as nitrogen is concentrated) there is good clover growth, suspect low potassium status in that field. If the urine patches are grass rather than clover and the clover is growing fine between patches, then suspect nitrogen shortage in the field. Tuber forming and fleshy fruited crops can have high yield responses in receiving adequate potassium. This is because there is a lot of potassium in the tubers but also because adequate potassium is required for the action of enzymes that build starch from glucose and the transport of glucose from the leaves to the tubers and also critically involved in the

photosynthesis of glucose in the ﬁrst place. The link between potassium and photosynthesis is that potassium is required to maintain good chloroplast pH (pH 7 to 8) for enzyme activity, is required in high for the production of proteins involved in photosynthesis, is used to regulate stomata openings in the leaf, helps orient leaves to maximise photosynthesis and is required in the production of energy rich ATP in photosynthesis that is then used to form glucose. Old gardening lore recognised that potassium was important for fleshy fruited crops like tomatoes. The mechanisms are better understood now. A shortage of potassium limits the ability of the plant to transport energy to the fruits resulting. Glucose instead remains in the leaves, reducing the potential for further photosynthesis and leaving the fruit inadequately supported. Within the fruit too, low potassium levels A further piece of old gardening lore was that adequate potassium reduced potential for insect and pathogen damage. This has been shown to be the case but the mechanism is not so well understood. Low potassium levels can lead to the accumulation of freely available nitrogen and energy sources in plant leaves which potentially make the plant more susceptible to pest establishment. Adequate potassium is also important for extra stability of plant structures

perhaps physically protecting against pests (and perhaps explaining the beneﬁcial effect of potassium in reducing cereal susceptibility to lodging). Potassium has been shown to reduce the effect of drought conditions permitting photosynthesis to continue when it would have shut off under low potassium supply. The element is also important in allowing plant leaves to respond better to low light conditions (enhancing photosynthetic efﬁciency) and excessively high light intensity (reducing potentially destructive oxidation). The caveat to all these pointers for potassium requirement is that excesses of potassium can lead to magnesium and calcium shortages affecting the metabolism of both plants and (at times dangerously) of animals. Potassium applications should be soundly based on soil or herbage tests and be done in moderation and with consideration of magnesium and calcium requirements. Avoid grazing soon after potassium applications.

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DAIRY

July 2014

Farm recycling booming in Canterbury by Kelly M Phillips

The farm recycling industry is booming if the figures released by leading recycler Agrecovery are anything to go by.

In January Environment Canterbury enacted a ban on burning certain products on the farm and land owners had to find other methods of waste disposal. A g r e c o v e r y, which specialises in the collection of on-farm waste such as silage wrap, chemical products and crop protection netting, says 190 tonnes of containers have been collected in the current financial year. “In the first four months after the ban came into force, we saw recycled container collections in the Canterbury region increase by 70% compared to the same period last year,” Agrecovery marketing manager Douglas Scotland said. The containers are recycled at plants in Auckland and with ADVERT most of AUGUST Christchurch, 2013—hANhAm 1/2PG the plastic being used to make underground cable covers. In May, the rural recovery effort hit a record high of 30,000kg of recycled material.

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money is being spent in the right area increasing the recycling of their containers,” Mr Peters said. Seed orchard manager Jayne Arscott at Proseed NZ Limited in North Canterbury said they use Agrecovery to dispose of the business’ herbicide and fungicide containers. “It ﬁts with our clean green image,” she said. “It’s really simple-we have a set group of staff who do the spraying — they triple rinse the containers as they’re emptied and then when there’s enough, they take them down to the Amberley collection site.”

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“The 30,000kg equates to a 20ft shipping container being filled with recycled plastic every day of the month so it was a lot of containers diverted from burning or dumping,” Mr Scotland said. “It is a signiﬁcant positive change in behaviour away from harmful burning practices that

are fast becoming a thing of the past.” Agrecovery foundation chair Graeme Peters said the focus was removing more plastic from rural areas. “The 60 companies which support Agrecovery through paying a levy on plastic containers will pleased that their

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DAIRY

July 2014

Soil Matters with Peter Burton What old cars and urea have in common My love of cars and enjoyment of driving stems from the exquisite sense of freedom achieved as a result of purchasing my own vehicle as a teenager. Summers of picking up hay provided sufﬁcient money for the restrictions of push bikes and unreliable bus services to be released. At that time a new car entering the neighbourhood was a special event, but it was the smell that indelibly etched itself into the memory. New cars of 50 years ago had a unique pungency of fresh

polish, new rubber, and hot oil — quite unlike any today. As a result I’ve never wanted to accept that oil is a ﬁnite resource and my support of offshore drilling is purely emotive and selfish. Logic provides a different perspective but emotion always wins. Emotion is at the base of every action, logic is simply the tool used to justify the

decision, and so it is with the use of fertiliser nitrogen. The best long-term data shows that annual pasture production was signiﬁcantly higher in the years prior to the widespread regular applications of nitrogen, particularly urea. However there is now a second generation of farmers who believes their ability to grow sufficient

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pasture relies on its regular application. Recently a farmer becoming increasingly concerned at where the discussion on its use was heading tried to end the session by saying that he didn’t care what the question was the answer was ‘more nitrogen’. But what if the answer to generating more pasture is ‘less nitrogen’ or ultimately ‘no nitrogen’? The measures from properties using CalciZest/ DoloZest based total nutrient programmes over the last 10 years clearly show more pasture is grown than on properties using comparative conventional fertiliser nitrogen driven programmes. The cost is less and the increase has always been

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spoken with recently cited the knowledge that they already had the ability to farm under the pending nitrogen regulations as a genuine positive. These overseer-based regulations are designed to reduce animal numbers as cow urine is considered to be the greatest contributor to excess Nitrate-N leaking below the root zone of plants and less cows means less urine. The model will doubtless be refined over time as data that shows the concentration of urea in urine can be markedly influenced by the diet of the animal. In the short term reducing animal numbers will help balance the equation. There’s profit to be made from producing a genuine 1000kgMS/ha from pasture alone. An increasing number of ESI clients are achieving this and with per cow production around 500kgMS a high level of per hectare production is achievable within the regulations. For more information contact Peter Burton on 0800 843 809.

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DAIRY

Be my Guest Rural New Zealand needs to wake up and take an active interest in the forthcoming general election. The National government is 22% ahead of their rivals Labour, but that majority can erode and disappear altogether by election day. History has shown that where voters are lethargic and don’t bother to take an interest, the outcome can be quite different to pre-election polling. Examples in the British election of Harold Wilson’s government against polling odds, the election of Jim Bolger’s National government in spite of prior poor polling where Jim Bolger declared, ‘bugger the polls’, demonstrates that in this year’s forthcoming election, everyone should make an effort to exercise their democratic right to vote. In Australia the law requires all eligible voters to exercise their democratic right and maybe it’s time for New Zealand to have the same requirement. The rural community have much to lose in the coming election if the majority of urban voters support the Labour party’s proposed policy of expanding the current capital gains tax law,

which currently is paid by developers and individuals who make their living by buying and selling properties, other than the family home. Labour is planning to extend the capital gains tax policy to affect farm sales. I believe Labour ’s proposed tax rates are clearly designed with a Robin Hood mentality to attack the rich and distribute the gains to their voters. The Greens’ tax policy of hitting dairy farmers with a green tax of between $12,000 and $13,000 and distributing this money as tax breaks to persuade voters to vote for them, reeks of the same policy of taking money from the country’s wealth creators. The National government claims that their current tax system is the envy of the world. While I don’t profess to be an economist and we all welcome tax cuts, how is it that while we seem to receive tax cuts on one hand, on the other we have consumer costs like electricity, local government

rates and compliance costs increasing due to government moving costs directly on to the consumer, by seeking higher dividends from state-owned enterprises. When political parties promise to give you the world, the ﬁrst question is, where is the money going to come from? Some of us do remember the architect of the Labour government’s Black Budget that was introduced by Labour’s then Finance Minister Arnold Nordmeyer, where the wealth creators were unfairly treated to fund that government’s social policies. The following election Labour was relegated

July 2014

Bill Guest Farmers of New Zealand

Membership Services: 09 439 5219 • 09 430 3758 www.farmersofnewzealand.com Email: newzealandfarmers@xtra.co.nz to the Opposition benches for a number terms. We need a ‘steady as you go‘ approach by a government that has clear direction, stimulates wealth creation and has a fair, balanced social policy. Since the 2008 world ﬁnancial crisis that hit the western economy, New Zealand has been protected from bank collapses by government guarantees and the government borrowing heavily to maintain the New Zealand economy. The National government has maintained its promise of presenting a surplus budget which will be used to repay government debt. Every three years at election time the nation’s voters become important when our politicians suddenly forget about the comfort and smell of the leather seats in the

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It is incumbent on all of us to take an interest in this forthcoming election, to speak out and ask the hard questions parliamentary limousines and the cuisine at Bellamys and go out looking for voter support. With the many promises that are being made by aspiring politicians, one would indeed think that New Zealand was the land of ‘milk and money’ and that New Zealand’s economy can afford their policy promises — that we voters will be looked after. They have our interests at heart and they know best. Urban and rural voters, this is not a time for shortterm memories. A lot of effort

has gone into expanding New Zealand exports into new markets with national exports to China now reaching $20 billion annually. However, we are still subject to high exchange rates and our economy is affected by the actions of the world’s major economies and our trading partners. It is incumbent on all of us to take an interest in this forthcoming election, to speak out and ask the hard questions and challenge the policies that are being put forward by aspiring politicians.

DAIRY

July 2014

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DAIRY

July 2014

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Services is a family owned company that has over 40 years experience in effluent disposal, run by Murray Robson and his two sons, Keiran and Justin. They have a fleet of 12 vacuum trucks, two water carts and a 20,000lt vacuum tanker, towed behind a 200 horsepower tractor. With the takeover of Charlies Takeaways, the fleet has gained a further five vacuum trucks plus a water blaster jetter unit with camera. This has given the company plenty of extra vehicles available for any work required and covering

the greater Canterbury area between the Waiau and Rangitata Rivers. Robson Environmental Ser vices specialise in all facets of liquid waste removal including: Dairy sumps, saucers, weeping walls, wedges, pig sumps, septic tank emptying and servicing, pumps supplied and fitted, commercial wash sumps, grease traps, interceptor pits. Robson Environmental Services are more than happy to provide a no obligation free quote. Rakaia 0800 372468 Christchurch 03 349 8871

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more stable ride, especially pleasing for novice riders and for traversing truly rugged terrain. While rival brands make much of their electronically assisted t e c h n o l o g y, incorporating push-button this and electronically actuated that, the Honda TRX420 is still available with chunky, foolproof (and waterproof) levers to manually shift up from two to four wheel drive. A double-clutch automatic is included in the model range, but many farmers will still favour a proper shifter in their hand — though by now, even the crustiest traditionalists are coming round to the beneﬁts of Honda’s clever power steering system! When one fully expects to traverse streams, wallow in axle-deep mud, bounce over rocks and grind across gravel, simplicity and toughness are a hard combo to beat. And that really sums up the TRX420 as the model passes 1.5 million sold worldwide. A new look which takes the best of the old and combines it with extra durability, listening to what farm workers want out of a quad bike. This improvement on a classic has a good shot at continuing the dominance of the big red machines on Kiwi farms for another generation.

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It’s an intelligent move by the back-room brains trust at Honda. After all, what farmer doesn’t want the peace of mind afforded by beefier chassis construction, more durable components and ‘bulletproof’ suspension? A new doublecradle steel frame adds stiffness not just for taking the hard knocks, but for added handling performance too. A low centre of gravity was demanded by the developers of this latest TRX, and they got it — meaning a

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The nation’s most popular rural quad bike brand only attained the pinnacle of popularity because of nononsense performance, and the challenge for Honda’s engineers is not to re-invent the wheel with each new model, but to carefully improve on a formula which is already reaping great rewards. Enter, therefore, the new TRX420 — the latest incarnation of a quad that will be familiar to most farmers and their families. Sitting in the ‘sweet spot’ of the power range between light and nimble agility and big-bore grunt, the 420cc machine in Honda’s stable has always been seen as a smart choice, providing a winning mix of fuel economy, load capacity, terrain-busting power and ground clearance. The new model seeks to capitalise on these strengths while also adding a new strand to the mix — even greater toughness and durability.

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forget it and hope that everything is OK. But that’s dangerous If you can’t clean the bottom of your mower, grass and debris will accumulate. The blades will have to work harder and will be less effective. If that happens you won’t be getting the best value from it. The solution is something so simple you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself. It’s the Ezy Up ride-on mower lift that lifts your ride-on mower, so you can get underneath. It’s simple to operate and conveniently sized, so you can store it in your garage or shed. What are you waiting for? Go to www.ezyup.co.nz and order today. It’s quick and easy — just like the Ezy Up.

blades and maybe get them sharpened. But the problem with ride-on mowers is that they are so darned heavy. Unlike a conventional lawn mower you can’t just pick them up and turn them over. So, the solution adopted by many owners is to

If you’ve got a rideon mower you’ll know it will need a clean once in awhile. That especially applies to its underside, which is the part that comes into closest contact with the grass. And occasionally you want to check the

by Andy Bryenton

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July 2014

Green machine dominates the dirt by Andy Bryenton

When it comes to big air and high speed action, few names stand out together like Kawasaki and Monster Energy. The combo come together in the form of an internationally dominant motocross team, and it’s not just their matching bright green livery which has lit up tracks since the inception of this alliance. The successes of the Monster Energy Kawasaki team comes down in no small part to the skill of riders like Blake Baggett, Dean Wilson and Justin Hill. But there’s a huge investment in engineering and power at their command each time they race — and now the next generation of Kawasaki’s track-proven tech is being offered to the Kiwi market. First out of the blocks is an evolution of a model which ﬁrst saw the light of day in 2008, come roaring out of Kawasaki’s back-room development labs to critical and rider acclaim. The KLX450 boasted a lightweight 449cc single cylinder four stroke engine mounted in a well-balanced frame, and its overall performance capabilities

made its ‘F’ designated variant a favourite on the track. At the same time, Kawasaki developed an ‘R’ model, an enduro-spec alternative which blends the hard-core moto elements of the KLX450F with a little practicality. For 2015 they have re-imagined this popular enduro bike, releasing the new KLX450R early — in fact, it’s here already! The new member of the KLX family has electric start, a powerful headlight and taillight, and digital instruments, everything to make it road legal. It’s learner approved too, making it a nice stepping stone for motocross riders to get into some highway action. Then again, this is not simply a frugal way to commute. The KLX is a true enduro machine, retaining the narrow, easy to handle frame, high ground clearance and torquey gearing of a real off-roader. So, perfectly legal to nip down to the shops or into work

in the morning, but with the chops to carve up the trails in the afternoon? Check. In keeping with Henry Ford’s old mantra, the KLX450R is available in ‘any colour you like’, so long as it’s Kawasaki’s traditional racing livery — bright lime green!

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Animal Health & Nutrition

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extra vitality; and thirdly enzymes to improve the utilisation of feed provided by you. Your calves get all the ingredients necessary to really thrive in a modern calf rearing environment. Calf Supreme is very easy to use. No messy powders — it comes as a pre-activated liquid with the consistency of water. It is simply added to milk, drenched directly if the calf won’t suckle, or sprayed onto solid food. A small amount contains enormous volumes of beneficial microbes. One of our many clients in their first year of using Calf Supreme on their calves went from a traditional

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July 2014

Animal Health & Nutrition Fodder beet an important winter crop by Kelly M. Phillips

Rumen scientist Dr Jim Gibbs is so impressed by the potential of the fodder beet that he refers to the crop as a game changer. The fodder beet has been known to farmers for thousands of years but was viewed with suspicion from medieval times until very recently. Dr Gibbs said New Zealand farmers were the ones to discover its usefulness as a winter feed because many of them mistook them for swedes. The Lincoln University professor has spent time on 70 farms around the country in an effort to get a better idea of beef ﬁnishing. He said New Zealand only has quality grass for about three to four months out of

the year and is still far behind competitor countries when it comes to getting the best beef to the market. In the United States beef cows go to market at around 14 to 16 months old. In Europe its around 12–15 months. Gibbs said New Zealand sends its cows to market at around 26–36 months and he referred to these cows as ‘pensioners’. “Right now you can’t ﬁt the energy into them at a price that makes them pay,” he said. In order for the country to have a competitive advantage he

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said animals need to be fattened with a cost effective winter feed. “The use of fodder as a primary feed for cattle grazed behind a wire is a Kiwi invention. It took NZ farmers less than 20 years to do what the Europeans had not worked out in 500 years — it’s a genuine Kiwi innovation,” he said. “The fodder beet tide surge is entirely Kiwi. It is the fastest growing forage in the country, not because it has had the most research, but because the farmers can see the value in the crop. They are driving the use of it, discovering new applications,

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and inventing new equipment for it.” He cautioned that cows must be transitioned onto fodder beets gradually and perfectly. Introducing too much at once can create a condition known as rumen acidosis which can be fatal to the animal. “The fodder beet is like a sugar bomb which is why transition is so important,” he said. According to Dr Gibbs, adult stock start at 1–2kg of dry matter fodder beet per day with 6–8kg supplements of either hay, straw or silage.

Dr Jim Gibbs in a field of fodder beets

The fodder beet increases by 1kg of dry matter every second day for 14 days while the supplement falls to 4kg in week two and then 2–3kg from 14–21 days forward.

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From day 14–21 the diet is kept stable with no changes. After, the amount of fodder beet is increased until the cattle aren’t eating anymore. The supplement remains at 2–3kg. For younger cattle weighing between 220–300kg, the transition rate is half a kilogram of fodder beet on day one plus 4kg of supplement followed by half a kilogram increase every second day. The supplement falls to 1–2kg by day 14 and thereafter. Once cattle are transitioned the advantages are numerous. Dr Gibbs said the beet grows everywhere and is cheap to produce. It has a 20 to 30 tonne yield per hectare, cost about 4 to 10 cents per kilogramme of dry matter, is sown in spring and can be fed to cattle from March to December. Other advantages are low supplement inputs — the cows can eat as much as they like and monster crop production is possible in New Zealand soils. In future, Dr Gibbs plans to start a Fodder Beet Club where growers and farmers can share information online.

LIVESTOCK

Wool Perspective

July 2014

From Rob Cochrane GM, Procurement, PGG Wrightson Wool

New wool season begins A surging Kiwi dollar reaching levels just short of a post-float high against its $US counterpart, played an important role in slowing market momentum at the last wool auction of the season in Christchurch on June 26. While the previous auction held on June 5 had been a rather buoyant one with the dollar trading at around $US0.84, the June 26 auction was a more subdued affair and a much more difficult task for auctioneers who worked extremely hard to clear approximately 80% of the Christchurch catalogues, totalling around 12,300 bales, with the remaining 20% failing to meet grower reserve prices. A North Island auction was also held in Napier on the same day as the South Island auction, with a total of approximately 12,200 bales catalogued and a clearance of around 90% was achieved. The Kiwi dollar’s level of approximately $US0.875 on auction day (after strengthening each day for the couple of days leading up to the auction) made trading for exporters difficult and, when coupled with 24,500 bales nationally due mainly to a South Island auction originally scheduled for June 19 having been cancelled as the result of bad weather interrupting shearing, buyers struggled somewhat and prices eased. It must be noted however, that the previous auctions of June 5 (South Island) and June 12 (North Island) were extremely strong sales where prices had reflected exporters’ prompt shipping requirements to satisfy forward sales, plus the cancellation of the June 19 auction had possibly created further urgency. At the time of writing the new season had already commenced in Napier with an auction held there on July 10, where crossbred wool prices remained fully firm on the previous season’s close, apart from a few very short second-

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the time of writing, wool market predictions for most types remained reasonably healthy due mainly to the (still) low volumes expected on the back of the reduced sheep population. Although Northern hemisphere dwellers have been enjoying their summer holiday period of late, demand for

shear types which eased slightly. The ﬁrst Christchurch/South Island wool auction for the 2014-15 season was scheduled to be held on July 17 with approximately 10,000 bales on offer including a reasonable number held over from the previous season for failing to reach grower reserves. At first glance the new season’s crossbred full length fleece wools on display appeared extremely well grown, of great style, character and colour, and in my opinion many clips catalogued would equal the best quality offered for a number of seasons. A good quantity of well grown second-shear pre-lamb shorn ﬂeece also opened up in fantastic order with most of those being free of vegetable matter contamination and very well prepared. Halfbred and Corriedale wool types were

also well represented in PGG Wrightson’s catalogue of July 17 drawn from both the Canterbury and Otago regions and once again, the majority of

these reﬂected excellent shed preparation when displayed for sale. Despite the Kiwi dollar ﬂying high at around $US0.88 at

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wool has remained steady with sales negotiated for deliveries throughout the current and next calendar years at least. I guess this provides us with some conﬁdence that New Zealand wool is held in high regard world-wide as we begin the new wool season. That’s my view.

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LIVESTOCK

July 2014

Hoof Print

with Fred Hoekstra

HOOF TRIMMING SERVICES, EQUIPMENT & TRAINING

Stress and tracks Last month I showed you some evidence that stones are not the likely culprit of making cows lame. Coming back to my original question where I asked to be shown some real evidence of stones being a cause of haemorrhage — well, I still haven’t been convinced. I am thinking up ways to show more evidence to prove my point and I will keep you informed on that one, so stay tuned. If stones are not the cause of the bruising, why does it make a difference if we improve our tracks?

Most farmers tell me that after they have spent money on their tracks they have less lame cows. It is also scientiﬁcally shown that bad tracks and bad animal handling increase lameness. That seems pretty good evidence that stones are the culprit of bruises. Or does it? I don’t believe so. There is more to tracks than the stones on them. Like I said in an earlier article, I believe that the main

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contributors to lameness in New Zealand are nutrition and stress. So how can a bad track cause stress on cows? Well, there are a few things that I can think of. Firstly, if cows don’t ﬂow well because of bad tracks then the likelihood for pushing cows is greater. I know you don’t have to have bad tracks to push cows, and many of you have had experience with people who push cows even on good tracks, but pushing does cause stress. Cows are ‘ﬂight’ animals — their instinct tells them to run from trouble. Can you imagine what it must be like for a cow when they can’t get away fast enough? That is stress. Secondly, another stress is caused by not getting enough resting time. No, I am not suggesting resting areas along the tracks with an umbrella and a café. I am saying that when the tracks are bad, the cow

ﬂow is slower. This means that cows take longer to commute to and from the cow shed and as a consequence will spend less time in the paddock resulting in less time for laying down and resting. It is scientiﬁcally proven that there is a strong correlation

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between resting time and lameness. Just look at a well fed herd in the paddock. What are the cows doing? They graze, lie down, drink water or socialise. Look at cows on the track or in a holding yard. What are they doing? They are walking for long periods of time and standing still in the yard. Both of those behaviours are unnatural for cows to do for the length of time that we force them to do it. That is stress.

So, if we improve the tracks, we improve the cow ﬂow, resulting in more resting time. For example, if you could take 10 minutes off each walk then you have given the cows 40 minutes more each day for lying down, because cows walk four times a day if you are milking them twice a day. Of course, this is not the only reason why we have lame cows, but it is certainly an important factor.

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July 2014

the ‘last’ word with Rob Cope-Williams

History repeats The long term farmers are musing about this winter as it seems it’s exactly what happened in 1974 when there was a winter that was very wet and there was feed everywhere despite a smattering of frosts. So wet in fact that they weren’t able to drive over the paddocks without getting stuck, but the feed was growing faster than the cattle could swallow it. Now fifty years on, and again we have the same scenario. The floods in the north island apart, and that’s a different story, the season here does seem to be one out of the box. Interestingly there are few memories after the winter of 1974 apart from the huge wind in the following August that took out trees and, as some would say, blew the whiskers off the rabbits. Hopefully Mother Nature will spare us the wind as she sent us one last year but predictions seem to be pointing firmly to a long dry and hot summer. The same people who remember 1974, and farming in

Rob Cope-Williams

those times, will remind us that Nature provides and has a very good ability to balance things out. Mother Nature has given us lots of moisture now and given her trees and pastures a very strong boost to give them strength when and if the dry hits. Years ago an old timer told me to watch the trees in the spring. He said the pioneers learned to plant an ash tree and a oak tree close together. The

reason being that if the ash tree burst into leaf first there would be just a dash of rain as in a dry season, but if the oak burst into leaf first there would be a soak, as in a wet summer. I have monitored it over the past 20 or so years and can assure you that it works so I will be watching the oaks and ash trees very closely this spring. As far as the northern reaches are concerned my heart goes out to them. While we in Canterbury are used to earthquakes, high and destructive winds, flash floods, droughts, fires and snow storms, they aren’t. Thankfully we have a great support system in place and a community that pulls together at a drop of a hat. Apart from anything else we have the Crusaders, and we certainly wouldn’t want to have to support the Blues would we?

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Helping Polymyalgia I was speaking with one of my Hawke’s Bay clients last week who had been really struggling with Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR). This is an increasingly common inflammatory auto-immune disease causing muscle pain and fatigue. The standard treatment for PMR is based around the powerful antiinflammatory steroid medication prednisone. Many make a full recovery, usually over 12–18 months but others do not. It is of course the second group that often come to me for help. In my client’s case, each time he reduced medication doses below a certain level there would be a relapse of symptoms. For these people it is like a barrier that they cannot get through. I put him on my standard PMR nutrition programme of diet and supplements and after six months he has been able to completely come off prednisone and is now symptom free. My PMR recovery plan involves adoption of a strongly anti-inflammatory diet and an intensive supplement programme. Our goal is to help shut down production of inflammatory chemicals called prostaglandins and cytokines. Research (Alvez-Rodriguez et.al, 2010) shows that affected muscle tissue releases these chemicals

and causes the inflammation of muscle fibres. We reduced inflammatory foods such as saturated fats, omega 6 oils, sugars especially high fructose syrup in fizzy drinks and refined carbohydrates. We balance this with lots of anti-inflammatory foods such as oily fish, green and low starch vegetables, whole grains, avocado, olive oil, and some nuts and seeds, especially almonds, walnuts and flax seeds. The supplement regime needs to be initially quite aggressive with a cocktail of minerals, antioxidants, vitamins (especially B complex and vitamin D) and energy nutrients such as co enzyme Q10 and acetyl-l carnitine. We monitor progress closely and generally people start to feel benefits after three months. Give me a call if you need more information. John Arts (B.Soc.Sci, Dip Tch, Adv.Dip.Nut.Med) is a nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health Ltd. Contact John on 0800 423 559 or email john@ abundant.co.nz. Join his full weekly newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz.

Spring News 2014

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July 2014

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Quality

Used

CHRISTCHURCH Pre-Owned Tractors New Holland T7.170, Range command transmission, very tidy with only 1500 hours on the clock ��$87,995 New Holland TM120 supersteer, 6200 hours, 2 owners, very tidy��$37,500 New Holland TS110, 1 owner from new, well serviced, loader available for additional��$39,995 New Holland TS100, Cab, 4wd� L/H shuttle, very clean and tidy ��$39,995 New Holland T6070 Elite, power command transmission, super steer ��$82,995 New Holland T6020 Elite, c/w MXT12 loader, tidy well serviced, 1 owner, common rail��$61,995 New Holland T6030 Plus, 1 owner from new, MX loader �� arriving New Holland TM130, c/w loader��$69,995 New Holland TS115 SR, approx� 4850 hours by 1 owner, very tidy ��$45,995 John Deere 6600, 110 hp , loader, 4wd��$44,995 John Deere, ride on mower, catcher, very tidy, X300 model�� $4,995 Case MXM 190, front linkage and PTO, rear duals, 4950 hours��$69,995 Case MXU125, stoll loader, front suspension, 6750 hours ��$47,500 Case MX90C, 1 owner from new, 4700 hours ��$38,995 Case 585, 2wd ROPs, ideal lifestyle tractor in good tidy condition�� $8,995 Kubota GR2100, hydrostatic, diesel, rear catcher, 370 hours, very tidy ��$12,495 Kubota ZG227, zero turn mower, 54 inch deck��$12,000 Deutz Agritron, 105, stoll loader, tidy well serviced unit��$27,995 Taska RTV, Tidy alternative to the quad bike, 4wd, go anywhere�� $7,995 Case CVX120, Pearson loader�� arriving Case CVX120, Pearson loader�� arriving Pre-Owned Machinery Stocks AG, Air Seeder unit to fit roller, cultivator etc , demo use only��$10,000 Duncan 720 Arable Drill, 19 run , twin boxes (stainless fert), new points ��$13,000 Sulky Reguline SPI drill,3 mtr airseeder, 25 run, 5 ¼ inch ��NOW $13,500 Simba Lexicon discs, 4�4 mtr working width offset discs, good metal ��NOW $15,000 Vaderstad CR650 Carrier, trailed disc cultivator�� arriving Vaderstad CR500s Carrier, new rollers being fitted��$59,995 Lemken Terradisc, 4 mtr wide tine cultivator �� $9,995 Kverneland BB100 conventional plough, 6 furrow, auto reset, hydraulic vari width ��$20,000 Vaderstad RDA 600, 6mtr airseeder drill, system discs, super tidy ��$135,000 UFO 3100, trailing mower, reconditioned last year, strong reliable drum mower�� $5350 Haybob 300, tidy tedder rake, approx� 3 seasons use�� $4,500 Combines / Forage New Holland FX58, 355W grassfront, serviced and ready to go��WAS $135,000 NOW $65,000 Balers Case LBX432, Rotorcut, 4 x 3 baler, tidy and well serviced, year 2007, 82,000 bales ��$69,995 Case LBX 431, another tidy one with only 52,000 bale count, 4 x 3 bale ��$49,995 Case LBX 333 year 2010, 1 owner with approx� 42,000 bales, rotorcut, 3 x 3 bale size��$109,995 Massey Ferguson, 185 series 1, money spent, 74200 bales ��WAS $36,995 NOW $23,000 All prices exclude GST • Finance available

Machinery WEST COAST C-Dax Goldline, 1100LT, 12m hydraulic boom, foam marker, elec controls, induction probe, hose and hand gun�� $8,995 Claas DISCO 250 MOWER, 6 disc mower, hydraulic lift �� $3,500 Giltrap MSX160 SUPER SILA, 16m3, Sold as traded, needs some tidy up work done �� $6,500 Giltrap SUPER M90-80X, Tandem axle, side feed, hydraulic, New Elevator Bars, new belt��$13,950 Giltrap SUPER M90-80X, Side Feed, Tandem Axle, Hyd drive, s/steel sides, elevator bars straight��being prepared Read Bale Feeder, Reed 3PL bale feeder new hydraulic motor in goood condition �� $3,750 GALLAGNANI G3200 baler, Rotocut, done approximately 10000 bales, very good farmers machine�� $5,950 Robertson Super combi, Complete, Maze Elevator Kit, Hydraulic Side Tilt, Electric Joystick Control��$28,000 Discs TANDEM HYD WHEEL, A-Line, Hydraulic Wheel control, �� $6,500 20.8 DUALS, Cobra Duals, 520/85R38, Alliance Radial Tyres, 85% rubber still remains, save on new �� $4,750 DUALS, TRS, Snap-lock duals, good rubber �� $4,500 SAM SPREADER, as traded�� $2,150 SILVAN 800L SPRAY, 800L Linkage sprayer, 6m Galvanised boom, hose real and gun �� $2,750 U UFO MOWER, UFO 2070, new belt, new blades �� $2,950 Tractors John Deere 6220SE, 90hp, 5830hrs, John Deere 631 Loader, Front Tyres 50-60%, Rear Tyres 70% ��being prepared John Deere 5525, John Deere 542 Loader ��$27,995 McCormick MC90, 6094hrs, pearson loader, wet clutch, shuttle, powershift, rear tyres 40%, front tyres 20% ��$28,500 MF4245S, 85hp, 3250hrs, wet clutch, 12x12 plus hi/lo transmission, stoll loader, good genuine tractor��$39,500 MF 4270 TIDY CON, Genuine tidy tractor, Maileux T12 loader with flexi-pilot, 3rd service��$33,500 New Holland TL100, Cab, Wet clutch, Maileux Loader ��$41,950 New Holland TM190, 6526hrs, 50K PowerCommand Transmission, Front Suspension, front brakes, Front Weights, Super Rear Singles 710/70R38 & Fronts 600/65R28 ��$44,950 New Holland TSA125, C/W MX120 LOADER��$51,995 New Holland TSA125, C/W MX120 LOADER��$56,995 New Holland TS100, 4x4 Cab, loader��$35,995 New Holland TS100 with loader, 4x4 cab and loader ��$33,995 New Holland TSA115, Tidy machine, workshop serviced ��$57,995 New Holland TN75S, loader, cab, 4x4 ��being prepared John Deere 6220, Loader, cab, 4x4 5825hrs Tidy Machine Workshop Serviced ��$44,000 Sam Spreader 4 Ton, Plastic Bin model, 550/60-22�5 Large Flotation Wheels, swivel hitch�� arriving Duncan 3m Drill�� arriving MARLBOROUGH – TASMAN U883 ATV SPREADER CDIT 300, side discharge shute �� $1,100 V54628 Massey Fergusson 6485 DYNA, 1 owner, 4500 hours, front weights, very tidy ��$52,995 U874 13 TINE CULTIVATOR repainted, very tidy �� $750 U893 G2 GRAPE SPRAYER Silvan 2 row, 2000 litre �� $6,000 U931 WEED SPRAYER Sprayrite, 3pt linkage, vineyard sprayer�� $2,295 U932 UNDER VINE SWEEPE, Single row sweeper �� $2,200 U821 TRANSPORT TRAY, 3pt linkage with cage�� $500 U919 2009 VBC LEAF PRU �� $3,500 U854 TN75F, REG # A4P 2wd, approx 5500 hours ��$16,000 U943 TN95F, 4wd, FLPTO, supersteer, 6600 hours ��$22,000 U916 U SILVAN SPRAYER Silvan 2 row G3 sprayer, 2000 litre, new controller��$17,000 U928 U SILVAN SPRAYER 600 litre , 3pt linkage, under vine�� $2,100 U879 U TRIMAX warlord, 2�1 mtr with twin rollers �� $2,500 U910 USED BERTI MULCHER 2mtrs wide, heavy duty, tidy �� $4,995 U809 USED CASE CX70 2wd cab, no loader, 4800 hours ��$29,995 V55400 Case IH585 Vineyard tractor, sound condition�� $3,995 U915 Can-am quad bike Can-am outlander, very tidy �� $5,995 U813 USED NH TN85 3800 hours, 2wd ��$24,000 U886 USED NH TN85 6000 hours, 2wd ��$18,000 V57208 Case 2140, Vineyard narrow tractor, loader ��$14,000

CHRISTCHURCH 03 349 5089 726 Main South Road, CHCH

AGRICULTURE

MARLBOROUGH - TASMAN , WEST COAST, CHRISTCHURCH

Henley Street, Westport

Rennie Barnes 027 433 7714

Cyril Murray 027 432 5640

www.norwood.co.nz/christchurch e: salesch@norwood.co.nz

WEST COAST 03 788 9050

Farm Machinery Centre Agricultural Equipment

James Blackler 0274 794 374

Gordon Storer 021 891 253 www.norwood.co.nz/westcoast

MARLBOROUGH - TASMAN 03 578 1021

Craig Soster 027 371 7171

e: saleswc@norwood.co.nz

Sales - Graeme Morgan 0274 473 781

12 Nelson Street, Blenheim www.norwood.co.nz/marlborough-tasman e: salesmt@norwood.co.nz

REGIONAL MANAGER JASON PRENDERGAST 027 433 4272