Waikato Farming Lifestyles, September 2011

Wa i k a to

Farming Lifestyles

September 2011 Edition

Phone: 09 439 6933 | Freephone: 0800 466 793 | Fax: 09 439 6930

2011 All Breeds Stallion North Island Parade

More tax to pay?

See our column on page 18

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Living the dream in fields of lavender

Great Animal Health Product Deals!

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Page 8-9

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September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

Equine industry exhibition

by Annette Lambly Robinson

Momentum is building in the equine industry as exhibitors book their spaces for New Zealand’s first major equine industry exhibition — Equidays The inaugural event will be held at Mystery Creek Events Centre between November 18–20 and will cover the full spectrum of the country’s equine industry.

The exhibition will highlight the industry on a national level, bringing the New Zealand horse community together as well as attracting international visitors and exhibitors.

The three-day event includes exhibitions, demonstrations and a range of equestrian activities. All disciplines within the industry will have equal opportunity to showcase their areas of expertise at the event.

Racing great Sir Patrick Hogan is among those in the equine industry supporting the event.

“The equine industry is very lucky to have an events organisation such as the Mystery Creek team, with its reputation and events expertise now focussing on our industry with the development of a specialised equine event.’’

Sir Patrick believes the event will be well supported and will build in momentum as time goes by.

Mystery Creek Events Manager, Vanessa Richmond, urges exhibitors to book in quickly as the events kicks into the final stages.

“If you’re involved in the equine industry, you can’t afford to miss Equidays. We’ve had great response to the event so far and it’s gaining momentum,’’ she said.

“The Waikato is world-renowned for its bloodstock and sporthorse industries and has more horses than any other region in New Zealand.”

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Competition has boosted their farming goals

Waikato Farming Lifestyles September 2011

s r e v o c e l b a t c a r t Re Feed bins

by Annette Lambly Robinson

With preparations already gearing up for the 2012 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards this year’s winners extol how the competition has boosted their farming goals.

Waikato’s Jason and Lisa Suisted won the New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year title in May. They say the competition has broadened their perspective of the country’s dairy industry and has helped move their sharemilking business forward sooner than expected.

Just over 10 years ago, Jason Suisted was a builder and foreman for a building company and Lisa Suisted Waikato’s Jason and Lisa Suisted won the was a hairdresser with her New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year title in May own salon.

They chose to enter the dairy industry your business improving and as a result the finances flowing.’’

— rather than the building industry They now plan to increase their 50 percent sharemilking because they thought it would be better business, ‘sooner than anticipated’ by doubling their herd size for their family. The couple has three to between 800-1000 cows by the beginning of next season. young children, Ryan, aged six, Fern, two, “We really believe sharemilking is alive and well in New and Beau, three months. “We love kids Zealand and it’s the path we are going to continue down,’’ and this is such a great industry to raise she said. a family,’’ said Lisa.

Preparations are underway for the 2012 New Zealand Dairy “Winning the title after entering for the Industry Awards programme, with a launch planned for Monday, third time was a dream,’’ she said. “Once September 26. The awards, also include the Farm Manager of you get involved in the dairy awards and the Year and Dairy Trainee of the Year competitions. start the process, it’s addictive. You can see your systems becoming more refined, Visit www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz for more information.

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September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

Reaches out a hand of friendship

by Annette Lambly-Robinson

Living a rural lifestyle can be isolated and lonely especially for women

While rural menfolk often have social contact through events such as sale days, farming consultants and representatives and maybe a few beers at the local pub, the ladies may not be part of this circle.

Tirau farmers Kaylene Aubrey and Sian van Heuven believe rural women need and deserve the occasional time out from the farm — whether it be for a coffee, a nice meal, a glass of wine, a night at the ballet, taking in a movie, even a cheesemaking course, the opportunity to meet, share and enjoy other women’s company is important to wellbeing.

To this end the two women are keen to set up a women’s networking group to explore the concept of not only meeting on a regular basis, but organising events which cater to the needs of the group.

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Kaylene manages a 290-herd dairy farm near Okoroire about six kilometres for Tirau. She is in her third year on the farm and says she has been lucky that she had great neighbours who made themselves known and have become friends, but she is aware for many other women this is not the case.

“My mum and stepfather live in a separate house on the property so I have been lucky in that we can sometimes go to the local pub for a meal and a few laughs,” said Kaylene. “The Okoroire pub offers a $5 roast meal on a Tuesday night, it’s a lovely friendly atmosphere and well supported by the locals but I would never have gone alone — without Mum and George,’’ she said.

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Kaylene, whose husband works overseas, says she is aware moving in to a new area where you know no-one can be very difficult, especially for those who come on international exchanges — a regular occurrence in the south Waikato.

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but for those without a family this is less likely,’’ she said.

Kaylene and Sian have taken the ‘bull by the horns’ and are keen to set up a women’s networking group.

The news has spread wide and far with women from as far afield as Matamata, Pataruru and Waharoa already responding with interest.

“Our group will not be restricted to just rural women, and we are not planning to make it too structured. What we do and

how we do it will be up to the group, so we want lots of ideas,’’ said Kaylene.

“At this stage we will be looking at a monthly catch-up and alert emails sent to members advising them of events and activities which could be of interest to them.”

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Waikato Farming Lifestyles September 2011

Kiwi riders shine at Burghley Horse Trial

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Kiwi eventers have dominated the top twenty placings at the prestigious Burghley Horse Trial this year, taking out three of the top five spots.

Within a whisker of winning, both Andrew Nicholson and Caroline Powell were in with a chance, with one show jumping rail between the top four after the cross country event.

But after a very sticky show jumping course it was Great Britain’s William Fox Pit on his kiwibred steed Parkland Hawk who took the title for the sixth time, a new record for the event.

World Champs bronze medallist Andrew Nicholson had two horses in the top five, going into the final show jumping phase, but three rails on Avebury saw them slip from second to eighth spot, and even a clear on Nereo just wasn’t enough to edge out Fox-Pitt.

Defending champ and crowd pleaser duo, Caroline Powell and Lenamore, had two rails down in the show jumping, and finished fourth. First time Burghley competitor, Jonathan Paget, finished fifth on Clifton Lush, and was twelfth on his World Championship horse, Clifton Promise.

Mark Todd rode Major Milestone to a brilliant clear round to finish in fourteenth spot, with Clarke Johnstone and Incognito III also going clear to finish in seventeenth position. Equestrian Sports New Zealand eventing high performance leader Erik Duvander told Country99TV reporter Emma Jones the Kiwi team had high expectations.

“We arrived at Burghley with a whole bunch of horses that were looking really competitive. I would say in general we did very, very well. Having four riders in the top eight is brilliant, but I know the riders all really wanted to win.”

Mr Duvander said it was just devastating to see Caroline Powell and Andrew Nicholson just miss out on the win. “When you see horses like Lenamore having rails, who is a legend, is just devastating, obviously.

Caroline is such a great rider, she deserved another win at Burghley, and same thing with Andrew Nicholson on Averbury, who was very well positioned before the show jumping.

“We had a lot of rain on the day and the conditions worsened, and the final horses that went into the ring, they get the worst ground compared to the earlier horses. I feel sorry for them because they put everything into it, but it didn’t come off for them today, that’s for sure.”

Mr Duvander says the strength of the placings at Burghley show a team that looks promising heading towards the London Olympics for 2012. “Four New Zealanders in the top eight is brilliant.

The NZ team is really getting momentum here and they are looking very good. We’ve still got a bit more work to do and there is still a lot of improvements to be done, but we are in a good place.

“If you’d asked me two years ago, or even a year ago if we could do this . . . the way I’m looking at it now, we’re in a very good position. Keep moving on and we should be looking reasonably good.”

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September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

Living the dream in fields of lavender Diane Bush’s dreams of beautiful purple fragrant fields of lavender became a reality 10 years ago when after a few hit and misses her little venture began to ‘bloom’

by Annette Lambly-Robinson

When Diana, a social worker and counsellor, first bought her 10-acre Pukekohe plot she was in paradise. Farming sheep, a few cows and her beloved horses, which are a business in their own right, she mused over what she wanted from life, and what she else she might do with the property.

In 1996 she shifted an old St Heliers home onto the property and has been ‘doing it up’ ever since.

A year later while working in Palmerston North, Diana, visited a lavender farm in Bulls.

She followed this up by attending the Lavender Association conference in Christchurch the same year and was ‘hooked’.

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boyfriend were distilling lavender from a few patches of lavender they had growing at their Northland property.

Over Christmas dinner the coincidence was revealed and since Diana ‘had the land’ the two sisters decided to try a small commercial venture producing lavender oil and Pooks Landing Lavender was born.

The name has a double meaning — the farm is situated on Pook Rd — and the local Pukeko population caused havoc with the newly planted seedlings pulling them out three times before Diana netted the plants to protect them. No wonder she has a stuffed Pukeko (imitation) as a mascot on the kitchen table!

Perhaps with a little tongue in cheek, the pesky birds now feature in the branding — there in the foreground surrounded by a field of lavender is a stylised Pukeko peeking out from each label.

The first year, in order to determine which species was best suited to the soil and climate Diana planted various species of lavender around the house.

“It’s really too humid to grow lavender in Franklin,” said Diana, “so we needed to trial a number of varieties.”

The following summer they planted out 1,000 `Grosso Lavindin’ plants.

Since lavender don’t like wet feet they used a strawberry planter to mound the row and planted into weedmat.

The following summer another 1,000 plants were added and over the next two



Diane Bush 

years a further 2,000 plants were added, made up of about five varieties. Over the next couple of years it became apparent the angustofolio varieties were not suited to the conditions and apart from a few rows these have been replaced with two varieties  being retained.



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In 2004 Diana (a bit of a traveller) headed to London  to work for awhile. Not one to miss out on an opportunity she arranged her trip around Europe to coincide with the Lavender Festival in Sault in Provence as well as the dressage competition at the   Athens Olympics — thereby satisfying both her passions.

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Waikato Farming Lifestyles September 2011 Diana now operates the business herself with the occasional help of WWOOFers and friends.

While she has been known to do the whole harvest by herself she admits to being ‘over this’ — after all she does work full-time off the farm.

She and a friend usually space out the harvest doing row by row, picking and distilling — a row a summer evening or four or five rows over a weekend. Each row nets about 40 kilograms of lavender, so It’s quite tiring work.

Diana admits her enterprise is still pretty basic using a French designed still that produces about 7–8 litres of essential oil each year.

She says the flowers have to be dry when harvested, but swears the best yield is just before a ‘thunderstorm’.

The flowering season is pretty short, usually starting around December and continuing for a couple of months, and then the plants are pruned back in readiness for the next season.

The two flower types are distilled separately and the essential oil stored for a year before being decanted into small bottles.

Linen water and summer spritzer is made from the water left ‘in suspension’ after the oil has been distilled.

The water has a “beautiful fragrance and is softer than essential oil,’’ says Diana.

She makes bags and sachets herself and also has glycerine soap made by a soap manufacturer.

These products along with fresh-cut flowers are sold at summer markets throughout the district and around the Coromandel.

“You have to be careful when you are driving because the blooms are very soporific

and I need to stop and ‘flush’ the car out or I would fall asleep behind the wheel before I knew it,’’ she laughs.

She also sells natural face and body creams, made by a herbalist and sold under the Essential Earth label — a business she bought from another lavender grower about seven years ago.

“I love going to the markets and sort of treat them as a bit of a holiday,’’ she said.

“There’s nothing better than being able to go out there and grab a big bunch of lavender and cut it off myself with my own special little scythe or even better taking a glass of chilled white wine and wandering amongst the purple on a summer evening with my beautiful black cat ‘Gee Whizz’ and my equally beautiful golden retriever ‘Abbie’.

“I really am living my dream,’’ she said.

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8

September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

THE BOYS WERE BACK IN TOWN...

The 2011 All Breeds Stallion North Island Parade was held at Cambridge Lodge on Sunday August 28. The 33 stallions on parade represented many of the breeds being used for breeding sport horse in New Zealand. Good crowds enjoyed the beautiful weather and magnificent facilities, many making their final breeding decisions for the year, while others purely enjoyed the sheer beauty of fine horse flesh.

Kaycee Markis — a four year-old riding pony stallion stands at stud at Kaycee Perfromance Ponies Stud at Ohin ewai.

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Waikato Farming Lifestyles September 2011

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F or

Rural Women

11

Hamburger salad

Rhubarb and the winter garden

by Annette Lambly-Robinson

My veggie garden is a little in disarray to say the least.

Because my veggie plots are all raised beds they have survived the long wet spell pretty well, but weeds are started to tower above the onion plants.

The broccoli are already heading and being harvested, the cauliflower are starting to form nicely, but the silver beet and cabbage are being invaded by pesky slugs and have holes in the leaves, and it won’t take them long to find the caulis if I don’t take action.

Something (not hard to guess what) has already polished off all the half grown lettuce.

I’ve been put off planting any more seedlings until I have had time to make a clean sweep of the weeds harbouring the greedy beggars. As they say, a gardener’s work is never done.

Unexpected guests arriving the other day had me scratching my head to think of what I could make for a quick dessert without having to make a trip to town for ingredients.

It was while I was grabbing the washing I caught sight of the rhubarb flourishing in the corner near the plum tree and decided on a rhubarb crumble — nice with either custard or cream or both.

My two rhubarb plants are prolific, which may surprise some people since they don’t usually do well in warm climates.

Oddly — they need the sun, but not the heat, so rhubarb plants love cooler weather. Perhaps mine do well because it gets shaded a little by the plum tree in summer. They seem to thrive all year round and the more I pick it the more it seems to grow.

For those without a tree you could try covering your rhubarb with shade cloth in the very hot weather.

They require well drained, fertile soil — a good base of horse or sheep manure before planting is helpful — and mostly full sun to reach their full potential.

Rhubarb is best grown from root divisions planted in spring or as soon as the soil is workable.

Don’t harvest the plant in its first season to give it a chance to get well established.

Keep rhubarb beds well weeded to avoid competition for light, water, and nutrients. To grow rhubarb with longer, thicker leaf stalks; cover the plant with a bottomless box in early spring.

Cut flower stalks as soon as they appear to stop your plants from going to seed.

Re-new rhubarb by dividing roots every four years and replant divisions in another part of the garden. It’s a good time to do it now.

When making a pie, shortcake or crumble, I like to mix it with seasonal berries just to give it a bit more zing and a stronger colour. Even apple and a packet of red jelly crystals, in place of some of the sugar, give it a nice colour.

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September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

Landscaping

BUILDING

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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.

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One: stop using the septic system until it recovers.

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Waikato Farming Lifestyles September 2011

Landscaping

BUILDING

Red Tape Country

The trend in New Zealand, as far as some district councils are concerned, is towards great rural landscapes. For the farming community, that leads to some restrictions on building and construction.

But what exactly is the philosophy that drives some of our planners — perhaps all too often city-bound and highly paid consultants with little appreciation of the factual side of farming.

According to one school of thought, landscape design in rural settings generally involves working in places where buildings may be seen as intrusions.

Rural landscapes can vary from those close to towns — where an urban influence is present or where the residents tend to have urban values through to more rural locations where buildings are few and far between.

The scale of the landscape may also vary, from small and intimate to large and open so that buildings can easily look out of place if not anchored into the landscape.

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September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

9 R d for ncy 0 r e 20NNtaEl AweaEffici I en urc Wronm eso

vi s R En nes si u B

By Peter J Lester © 2010

Get all your ducks in a row for spring now

The potential performance of the milking cow is set now.

Feeding it right at this stage will increase the animal’s potential to reach its full production. To starve or restrict the animals feed intake at this stage will not only decrease its production, but will also mean that the animals defence against disease and metabolic disorders will be compromised. Full feed is not measured by a full gut, but by the fact that all its requirements are met. This means a management program sufficient to meet not only its protein and energy requirements but also its vitamin and mineral requirements as well.

When spring strikes, farmers are inclined to stop feeding hays and silages, and put the animals on protein rich/energy short rye grass and clover. The animal on such feeds will be forced to meet its energy requirements by mobilising its own reserves. Animals calve down fat and then there is a dramatic decline in condition as it strips its own reserves to make up for the increased demand for energy. As the foetus is also a potential source of energy, cows starved of energy after mating will reabsorb their potential offspring and begin to cycle again (long returns.) Feed them, breed them and then weed them. Too often the animal is culled because they weren’t fed right in the first place.

This level of conversion is obtained only in a non-stressed animal, a very rare beast in New Zealand. New Zealand animals at best are able to convert around 10% of incoming carotene and that is if they have a healthy liver and adequate energy. If the liver has been damaged then the conversion will be much lower and the animal will reveal all the signs of photosensitivity, (wrongly referred to as facial eczema here in NZ).

Proof that the carotene is passing through is evidenced in our butter.

Carotene is bright yellow, whereas

Peter Lester

Vitamin A which is derived from carotene is virtually colourless. Animals starved of Vitamin A will reveal all the signs of stress including watering from the eyes, retained placenta, rough hair coat, stunted growth, and reproductive disorders, including poor conception, diarrhoea, and death of foetus.

Make sure all animal’s energy needs are met and that they receive sufficient vitamin and mineral supplementations. Call us for free advice on this on 0800 85 77 33 and we will send you a free DVD as well.

Vitamins will also be in short supply, especially Vitamin A. This vitamin is derived form carotene a product found in all green vegetables and very high in pasture plants. Unfortunately, a ruminating animal such as a dairy cow, can only convert 24% of ingested carotene to true vitamin A at the best of times.

N

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15

Waikato Farming Lifestyles September 2011

The Answer is in the soil

is based on the potential for toxicity to grazing animals or the soil micro flora.

“The ‘how much fertiliser should I apply’ scenario can be likened to taking a course of antibiotics; you can elect to take the whole bottleful at once, which in turn could be fatal, or go along with doctors’ recommendations taking only the recommended amount over the recommended period of time.

Management is the overall key to maintaining farm pastures, the key component at the end of the day, for our commodity-led export sector.

continued on page 16 . . .

Healthy, productive pastures lead to increased production and add up to greater farming returns — a better bottom line.

But New Zealand’s pastures are a mix of fertile soils and a helping hand, with fertilisers playing a key role.

Occasionally there has been some confusion in regards to how much fertiliser to apply. Peter Lester, of Quantum, says that when soil tests are carried out, they reveal, via multiple calculations, an estimate of the total amount of plant available nutrient required to theoretically bring your soil into balance, or to full fertility.

“The test results are for the specific sample as submitted at that time and it is not intended that this amount of fertiliser is necessarily to be applied,” he says.

“Without any fertilisation, with or without

interference from man, there is a continued weathering and changing in the soil, a natural evolution that continually changes the soils fertility status.

Farm Irrigation

“In conjunction with this natural evolution of the soil, the application of fertilisers will further stimulate nutrient levels to various degrees by releasing, or making more available, those elements which are currently ‘locked up’ or retained in an unavailable form. Unfortunately, there is no mathematical formula to predict this change; therefore, the future requirements of your soils cannot be easily predicted.

As soils are undergoing continued change, with or without man’s intervention, each soil type should be retested on an annual basis.”

He adds that secondly, with the recommended maximum application rate, there is a warning, this amount need not necessarily be applied either, as it

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RUAKURA RESEARCH CENTRE East Street, PO Box 281, Hamilton Phone: 07 838 5920 hamilton@nz.bureauveritas.com

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16

September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

. . . continued from page 15

The Answer is in the soil “Things may begin to improve after just the first dose and by the time you have completed the course you should have obtained the desired result. However, an interim checkup and change of treatment may also be required.”

A likening to this scenario appears in the book ‘Super in the South’, by Clive A. Lind, published by the old Southland Cooperative fertiliser Co Ltd, in 1983. It states that ‘estimates were

Make the most of what you got

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that it would take three years for soils to reach adequate P levels’.

“We are not concentrating just on your soil’s P levels, but also the rest of the plant nutrients, S, Mg, Ca, B, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Co, in which case is it not likely that we can achieve 100% overnight.

What it boils down to is that if you stick to your fertiliser budget, spending only the same amount of money per year, by working with nature you will end up getting more bangs for the same bucks.”

On the farming front, using livestock to harvest forages effectively leads to improved soil fertility, a varied ecology and an extended grazing season, and in turn this supports healthy animals.

Of course, different livestock have different feed requirements.

The Farm Environment Trust offers a number of guidelines to good pasture management and this boils down to these effective bullet points:

• Keep a healthy residual cover to protect the soil, by avoiding overstocking and overgrazing.

• Keep stock pressure light during wet periods to reduce pugging.

• Use grazing management and different stock types to control weeds.

• Establish pasture species that thrive in your local climatic conditions they’ll do better!

Thus creating a mixture of feed coming ready at different times means a longer grazing season that is also capable of being sustained.

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Waikato Farming Lifestyles September 2011

17

Ask The Professionals PROTECT YOUR SEATS!

Invest in Seat Protection!

Invest in Protection that Protects your investment!

Invest in protection that protects your investment!

The seat covers are tailormade to fit so they don’t shuffle on the seat when you hop in and out of the vehicle unlike the cheap stretchy covers – these stop wear and tear! Along with this they are waterproof so they stop the mud, dirt, grease and grime going through to the seats, therefore preventing damage.

They are the ultimate protection!

Rugged Valley canvas seat covers are designed to withstand tough use from passengers, wet weather Farm vehicles are worth a lot and therefore worth protecting to keep them performing and to help the gear, dirty boots, tool boxes, dogs, hunting gear – resale value long term. Protection is foremost to get the works! They can be made to fit all utes, trucks, the most out of the vehicles. This can be a big outlay vans, excavators, tractors, quads, SUV’S etc. Fleet deals are available for those with a lot to consider for. if you have a lot of vehicles but Rugged Valley can work with you to specifically answer to your needs.

‘Invest in protection that protects your investment’ This seat cover investment is minimal compared to and work with people that are with you every step of the replacement of the vehicle or even just the seats. the way.......

Rugged Valley is a business that understands what farmers and contractors – saving money, saving time, and protecting investments that are worth a lot. Rugged Valley has the answer! The NZ Made heavy duty seat covers they make do all of that. With Rugged Valley seat covers you save money and time by only purchasing once and you don’t have to keep going into the shop every 6 months to replace them – these seat covers last for years!

NZ Made fits best!

“Very impressed by the detail and the custom fit.

The workmanship is excellent. An excellent kiwi made product!”

The ultimate seat cover for utes, trucks, vans, wagons, SUV’s, excavators, tractors, quads ENQUIRE ABOUT YOUR VEHICLES AND ORDER NOW! 0800 4 RUGGED (0800 478 443) E: sales@ruggedvalley.co.nz

For more info or to start protection, ph 0800 4RUGGED (0800 478443) or email sales@ruggedvalley.co.nz

Family dental team, Drs Henk and Nettie Eksteen have a lot to offer their patients. Being one of the first Dental Practices in the Waikato to introduce Pain Free dentistry to their patients, the team have now added a free Velscope cancer test as well as a (NEW) free jaw joint instrument test to their detailed annual examination which includes digital, low radiation xrays as well as treatment prioritizing.

“We’re a friendly bunch of people who believe in prevention. Our dentists and hygienists are lovely and practice up-to-date dentistry,” says daughter, Luanne Eksteen, who is a qualified Dental Therapist.

Henk, who grew up on the family farm, loves a good yarn. His patients describe him as gentle,

Mud, water and rot proof Superior tailormade seat covers Heavy Duty 12oz Canvas Extremely hard wearing and durable NZ Made Prevents Damage/Protect your Investment Easy to clean, easy to fit Range of colours available Optional map pocket Increase resale value/save money Over 30 years of textile experience

confident, enthusiastic and efficient, while daughter-in-law Nettie, always the perfectionist, is as calm as the ocean on a very good day!

Both dentists are very gentle, with patients often commenting “What! Have you injected me already!

I didn’t feel a thing!”

Both Henk and Nettie believe there is nothing as perfect as maintaining optimal oral health. A core value, is that in most cases, with the right home care and dental plan for your family, you are able to keep your teeth healthy and in your mouth until you don’t need them any more!

Add to that your expectation of Painless and High Tech Dentistry in a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and call us on 07 856 4116.

Old Villa Dental 24 Grey St, Hamilton eaSt

Call now 07 856 4116 www.drhenkeksteen.com

Are you annoyed about the KiwiSaver cuts?

You’re not alone. There are a lot of annoyed people out there, thinking the Government has done an about-face on KiwiSaver, depriving them of a decent retirement by cutting the member tax credits in half, removing tax breaks, and making savers put in more of their own money. That’s not what you signed up for, is it?

We hear you — But we want to ask you three questions.

• What retirement plan, other than KiwiSaver, comes with $1,000 from the Government just for joining?

• What retirement plan, other than KiwiSaver, comes with $521 a year from the Government, just for saving $20 a week?

• What other retirement plan is your employer required to contribute 2% and soon to be 3%?

Think about it. Your retirement will probably still be rosier with KiwiSaver.

Time to stop whining and get on with saving.

Phone us on 0800 GARETH or visit us at www.gmi.co.nz Adviser Disclosure Statements and the Investment Statement for the Gareth Morgan KiwiSaver Scheme are available at www.gmk.co.nz or 0800 472 384.

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18

September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

It’s been a good year so, more tax to pay?

The 2010/2011 tax year certainly was a good one for farmers across most sectors — and 2011/2012 is also looking to continue tracking well — so does that inevitably mean more tax to pay?

With just a little bit of tax planning, you might be better off than you think. Take a look at some of these strategies and make sure you’re implementing them in conjunction with your accountant.

Income Equalisation Scheme The income equalisation scheme allows farmers to even out fluctuations in income by spreading gross income from year to year through depositing funds with Inland Revenue — which become tax deductible, if not drawn on.

And this is a great year to consider depositing cash on hand with Inland Revenue, but only if debt levels have been adequately reduced.

According to Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard, farmers have been using those “very good” commodity prices to reduce farm debt.

Which is the best thing to do with that extra cash, given that farmers carry 200%–300% as a percentage of total annual turnover on average, according to Bernard Hickey, Editor, Interest.co.nz.

Holding a small percentage of your mortgage in a revolving credit facility is a good way to put aside money for tax as this cash can still sit against your mortgage and reduce interest rather than gaining interest in a savings account, until you need to draw on it.

But for larger sums that need to be

Notes from the shed with Mark McKewen Winter is a great time for bulk milk chilling systems, chilling water temperatures are low and milk volumes are small.

It won’t be that way for long, summer will arrive and temperatures will rise, not the least of which will be the milk going into the Vat.

put aside for later, as long as your debt is under control, consider depositing with Inland Revenue to gain the tax benefit of the income equalisation scheme over the next tax period.

Shelter belts Environmental shelter belts are deductible up to a maximum $7,500 of up-front costs related to planting and maintaining trees, and a 100% deduction for fences, providing shelter or erosion management spending — as long as your initial intention is not to cut these trees down and sell them at a later date.

Income splitting Depending on the way your farm operation is structured, you may be able to split income between yourself and your partner or children to reduce tax. Again, make sure you talk to your accountant about this.

Despite all of the above, although tax planning is important, remember that the point of farming is to make a profit, which means you’ll be paying tax, says Mr Hickey.

“It’s not a popular message but if you do the tax avoidance thing too aggressively, you’re taking money out of public services, and one day you’ll have to use those services. If you want a civil society, you have to pay tax,” he says.

I looked up the NZFSA (New Zealand Food Safety Authority) NZCP1: Code of Practice for the Design and Operation of Farm Dairies.

On page 38, 7.14 Milk Cooling it states: Milk must be cooled to 18 Deg C or less at the completion of the first milking into the bulk milk tank, and should not exceed 13 Deg C at the completion of subsequent milkings and milk must be cooled to and maintained at 7 Deg C or below within 3 hours of the completion of milking and kept at7 Deg C or below until it is collected or the next Milking.

This is a tough call for a lot of Dairies with Primary chilling water for some over 23 Deg C during summer and very ordinary chillers. It is a reality however that the Dairy Companies are toughening up around the Code of practice and quickly.

The solutions are not cheap and cheerful, they have to be designed to suit the Dairy and the load to get the milk into the vat and maintained properly and be cost effective. No8 wire or “she’ll be right” isn’t going to measure up.

At Milfos we have the iCONVERTER Chilling Solution that can Snap chill the milk into the vat at around 5 Deg C, maintain the Vat temperature and supply free Hot water up to 85 Deg C in abundance. It should save you around 35% Of your electricity costs.

You don’t need to have a Milfos Dairy to enjoy the benefits, so check out our website www.milfos.com for details or a consultation.

SEE OUR BACK PAGE ADVERT

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New STIHL Cordless equipment makes it easier for you to get out on the job and away from the socket. Although it’s cordless, it’s definitely not powerless. Quite the opposite actually. The 36V Lithium-Ion battery fits into every STIHL Cordless product and has the grunt to tackle your toughest jobs, no matter where they are.

June’s GST-free!

To celebrate Fieldays, we’ve knocked the GST off STIHL and Masport equipment instore.*

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Remember, every STIHL SHOP™ Retailer is an Outdoor Power Equipment expert. You’ll get good advice that will last for years.

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Offer valid until 30 June 2011 at participating STIHL SHOP™ stores or while stocks last.

Right into Outdoor Power Equipment 9 Conveniently located stores in the Waikato!

STIHLSHOPTM Cambridge • 42 Victoria Street, Cambridge • Ph: 07 827 6763 STIHLSHOPTM Hamilton • 720 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton • Ph: 07 849 9966 STIHLSHOPTM McLarens • 10 Ralph Street, Huntly • Ph: 07 828 0011 STIHLSHOPTM McLarens Rural Services • 8 Allen Street, Morrinsville • Ph: 07 889 6053

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STIHLSHOPTM Matamata • 91 Firth Street, Matamata • Ph: 07 888 8272 STIHLSHOPTM Putaruru • 15 Taupo Street, Putaruru • Ph: 07 883 8935 STIHLSHOPTM Te Awamutu • 494 Sloane Street, Te Awamutu • Ph: 07 871 6134 STIHLSHOPTM Thames • 317 Pollen Street, Thames • Ph: 07 868 8730 STIHLSHOPTM Tokoroa • 12 Campbell Street, Tokoroa • Ph: 07 886 6612

www.stihlshop.co.nz

Waikato Farming Lifestyles September 2011

New website launched

Waikato CLASSIFIEDS

New Zealand Young Farmer’s new look, easy to use website is now live.

The new NZYF website boasts features such as individual pages, with meeting times and contact details, for each of the organisation’s 86 Clubs.

It is also up to date with the 2011 National Competition results along with photos from the TBfree NZYF Annual Conference earlier this year.

A strong focus of the website is on the opportunities NZYF offer its members; from tertiary scholarships to industry opportunities such as international scholarship tours and representing New Zealand abroad.

Head to www.youngfarmers. co.nz to see the new site.

Reach 30,000 Rural Homes • Phone 0800 466 793 For Sale

Services

CALF MILKPOWDER $78.50 per 20kg bag +GST. Call 07 825 5812 or visit www.mirofeeds.co.nz.

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CHICKEN INCUBATORS for 7 eggs to 20,000, Quails to Ostriches. Guaranteed Good Results, plus 1 Year Warranty. DOMINION INCUBATORS, 11 Prospect Place, Hamilton. Phone 07 846 5569. Email: info@ dominc.net.

Rural Supplies WATER TANKS! PROMAX. SPECIAL PRICE! PLUS BONUS FREE CHANNELLOCK PLIERS with every TANK this month only. Fittings, valves, troughs, pipes, taps.

Shop online at www.nzplumbingsupplies.co.nz or call 0800 428 376.

It pays to advertise in the Waikato Farming Lifestyles

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Phone: 07 847 2221 Toll Free 0800 466 375

Diesel Generators to keep you milking!

Our generators are • Ready to go on delivery just push the button • Available with custom-made tandem trailers for easy movement around your farm

Items currently in stock

• Any size of generator, anywhere in New Zealand

ASK US FIRST! Talk to John Titter

Email: john@cowpower.co.nz Mobile: 027 491 7299 Website: cowpower.co.nz

Cow Power Generators

Cowpower Generators Ltd Office and Service: Barry Hayes 03 235 8333

Accord airseeder, 6 metre D - $15,000 SOLtynes - new rear harrow Lemkin Smaragd 4 metre, one pass cultivator - new steel fitted - $17,000 KUHN GMD 66 disk mower 1.9 metre cutting width - $2,000 Lemkin 5 furrow plough - being prepared - $17,000 Monzentra's fodder beet drill, 6 metre - end tow kit and marker arms - $15,000 Kongskilde grain vac and pipe work - $15,000 Prices exclude GST.

For further information and viewing phone

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20

September 2011

Waikato Farming Lifestyles

Agricultural Accounting “I want an accountant who really understands farming...”

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WIN A TRIP TO RAROTONGA! NZ Accounting can be reached on 0800 000 674 – and just to entice farmers in this issue, there are two trips to rArotoNgA up for grAbs. “We’re giving away two double ticket flights and accommodation to Rarotonga.

All new clients to NZ Accounting in the months of September and October are in to win.”

For further information about the competition visit www.nzaccounting.com NZ Accounting | 22 Wilson St Cambridge 3434 0800 000 674 | Fax 0800 000 974 Email theprincipal@nzaccounting.com www.nzaccounting.com