Country-Wide December 2021

BACKING FARMERS

SHEAR PLEASURE Tararua farmer Justin Bell can’t give up the handpiece as he trains the next generation of shearers, p34

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BACKING FARMERS

2021

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EDITOR’S NOTE Opinion

Why don’t farmers protest more?

Y

ET AGAIN AS WE WENT TO PRINT a farmer protest was about to take place.

It’s a shame some people undermined the protest with their agendas and social media comments.

Groundswell has made it clear it only wants the focus to be on unworkable Government legislation.

They even published a 14-point code of conduct and a list of placard messages to use.

Some ag industry leaders publicly said it shouldn’t go ahead, because the timing was wrong. That antivax and fringe groups might latch on to it. But is there a good time?

Maybe the organisers have struck perfect timing?

Discontent is growing in New Zealand against the Government especially over Three Waters and mismanagement of the Covid pandemic. This may well be the start of the protest season.

Why is the farming industry so reluctant to protest? Others like students, teachers and the French don’t sit around agonising about marching or the right time to march. They just do it.

What is also hard to understand is why ag industry people want to undermine Groundswell.

In 1986 I went on my first protest march with fellow farmers in Timaru against Government policies. It coincided with meat workers blocking live sheep shipments and a battle was expected between the two groups. It didn’t happen as North

Island meat workers were content to stay in a pub drinking. One big Maori chap came onto the street, pointed at me yelling “scab”. I was wearing freezer worker gumboots my uncle gave me. I quickly slipped between two big rugby props.

Back then farmers showed unity, but then they had an ag minister, Colin Moyle, who defended the sector.

Some farmers, maybe many, are under mental pressure brought on by the plethora of rules and regulations. It may prompt them to do or say rash things.

Farmers don’t have too many outlets to vent their frustrations unlike office and factory workers who can chat daily at smokos over a cuppa.

Groundswell supporters warned the Government after its first protest if it didn’t address their issues it would be back. They are keeping their word.

Terry Brosnahan Got any feedback?

Contact the editor: terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz or call 03 471 5272 @CountryWideEd

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Contents

74

UPGRADE STOPS 45% WATER LOSS Pipes replacing an open canal have transformed water supply to a North Otago irrigation scheme.

24

SKINS IN THE GAME The export trade in pelts and hides is picking up.

16 COMPANIES REFUTE TASTE PURE NATURE CRITICISM

6

8 BOUNDARIES

BUSINESS

HOME BLOCK

16 Companies refute Taste Pure

Nature criticism

10 Mark Guscott waits to see which

way the rain and wind blows

18 Beijing tastes NZ beef

11 Blair Drysdale fears mandates are

bringing division

22 Succession: Fair comes before equal

12 Andrew Steven is in Top Gear

with an unlikely champion

26 Science: NZ needs the A-team

13 Fresh from the drafting gate,

Jane Smith lets off a little steam

28 DIY research: Pick your rabbit hole

14 Micha Johansen sheds a tear as

some weaners go to new homes

20 Fertiliser: Buy local, farmers advised 24 Pelts and hides: Skins in the game 27 Scientist challenges ruling 33 Pondering food’s future

15 A warm damp summer means

long waits for David Walston Country-Wide

December 2021

LIVESTOCK 34 Cover story: Shearing sparks life 42 Finishing: Decision time at weaning

Country-Wide is published by NZ Farm Life Media PO Box 218, Feilding 4740

44 Turning less lambs into profit 46 Building for a good lambing 48 Trace elements: It’s elementary,

dear friends

General enquiries: Toll free 0800 2AG SUB (0800 224 782) www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

51 Stock Check: Time to look ahead 52 Growing great two-tooths

Editor Terry Brosnahan 03 471 5272 | 027 249 0200 terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz

54 Overseas: Online and onfarm to

sell sheep 56 Reversing drench resistance

60

DEER 58 Finishing system rethink needed

DOG FOOD GUIDE 2021

DOG FOOD GUIDE

Working dogs are the elite athletes of livestock farming and need to be fed accordingly.

60 Easing the burden of injury 64 Life after the farm 69 A tart treat for dogs

Publisher Tony Leggett 06 280 3162 | 0274 746 093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz Sub editor Andy Maciver 06 280 3166 andy.maciver@nzfarmlife.co.nz Design and production Lead design: Emily Rees 06 280 3167 emily.rees@nzfarmlife.co.nz Jo Hannam 06 280 3168

CROP AND FORAGE

Writers Anne Hardie 03 540 3635 Lynda Gray 027 465 3726 Robert Pattison 027 889 8444 Sandra Taylor 021 151 8685 James Hoban 027 251 1986 Russell Priest 06 328 9852 Jo Cuttance 03 976 5599 Joanna Grigg 027 275 4031

74 Upgrade stops 45% water loss 78 Saving time with technology 80 Winter grazing contingency costs

ENVIRONMENT 82 Freshwater: Looking for

community connection

Partnership Managers Janine Aish | Auckland, Waikato, BOP 027 890 0015 janine.aish@nzfarmlife.co.nz

84 Low nitrogen loss under maize

COMMUNITY

78

86 Tips and tricks for easier computing 87 Advice: Dear Aunty Thistledown

88 SOLUTIONS 90 FARMING IN FOCUS

28 DIY RESEARCH: PICK YOUR RABBIT HOLE

Angus Kebbell South Island, Lower North Island, Livestock 022 052 3268 angus.kebbell@nzfarmlife.co.nz

SAVING TIME WITH TECHNOLOGY

Tony Leggett | International 027 474 6093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz

Automated tank monitoring systems make life easy.

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@CountryWideNZ

OUR COVER Weber farmer Justin Bell sold his shearing business a few years ago, but he’s now back sharing his knowledge as a lead shearing trainer. Photo by Brad Hanson.

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December 2021

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BOUNDARIES

CUT OFF, UP THE AWATERE

Training the next generation LONG-TIME SHEARER JUSTIN BELL THOUGHT HE would ease off, maybe do some casual shearing locally.

Little did he know he was about to be pulled back into the industry – this time in a different capacity.

It was while he was attending a show with daughter Amy, who was competing in the wool handling, that Weber farmer Justin landed his new job as lead shearer trainer for WOMOlife.

WOMOlife stands for Work wise, Move wise, for a longer, more sustainable career in the industry. It is the new government-funded model to deliver training in the agricultural sector and includes courses for wool handling, shearing, wool pressing and shed hands.

His motivation is to help others, and to secure a future of skilled shearers.

He wants to make it easier for them.

“I like the smiles on their faces when you teach them, and they’re rapt.”

The industry has issues with quality and attitude, and that’s a big focus.

Justin would like to see more government funding for training. He says the opportunities are endless, for those who are willing to work hard in the industry.

• See more on the Bells, page 32.

Above: Weber farmer and long-time shearer Justin Bell.

The Awatere Valley Road between Molesworth and Macrae’s Stream has been in some state of closure since July.

Locals expect the gravel road, which follows the gorge, to close for a few weeks a year. Heavy rain took away the road base in one spot, the length of a rugby field. A ‘goat’ track over the top of the slip allowed intermittent 4WD access for brave locals. Most were completely cut-off.

The main slip is now clear but the road will remain open for residents only (Controlled Access) until December 22. One local farmer counted 115 culverts that needed replacing. Truck and trailer movements have to give 24 hours’ notice.

From December 23 to January 16, the road will open to the public, giving a brief window to stations with tourism accommodation. Revenue losses from closed tourism ventures has been in the thousands per week, Susan Macdonald says.

From January 17 to March 31, 2022, it will return to Closed Access, although tourism can run if residents collect and drive visitors.

One evening, Liz arrived home from work to find the children bathed, one load of laundry in the washer and another in the dryer. Dinner was on the stove, and the table set. She was astonished!

Neal had read ‘Wives who work full-time and do housework were too tired to have sex’. The night went very well.

The next day, Liz told her friends all about it. ‘We had a great dinner. Neal cleaned up the kitchen, helped the kids do their homework, folded all the laundry and put it away. It was a great evening.’

‘And later?’ asked her friends.

‘Oh, that ... Neal was too tired.’

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December 2021

CAR TROUBLES

Congratulations to our Country-Wide subscriber winner: Jo and Stretch from Waikato who have won a Softhands LM100 with Euro/Global brackets from our great mates at Hustler Equipment valued at $3690.

PREZZIE IN A BOX There is no need to buy Christmas wrapping paper this year because the best packaging is already in the farm shed. Many companies have moved away from supplying goods in plastic containers and gone back to using wooden boxes.

Wooden fencing staple boxes with twine handles make impressive packaging. Take care opening the box, keep the lid, and peel off any sticky labels. The box could be used like this or be stained to enhance the colour.

Wood shavings, also known as wood wool packaging, can be used in the box to protect your gift, alternatively wool could be used, but avoid any dags. To close the box, replace the lid and tie closed with twine or wire. Cut a gift tag from a cardboard box and attach with string.

DID YOU

KNOW ?

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A loud bang and sudden stop is never ideal with any vehicle, but it is a darn sight easier to deal with onfarm, than on Auckland’s Southern motorway.

Travelling at 100km/h, kids in the car, there was a huge shudder and bang.

Praying I had blown a tire, pulled over, found that was not the case. Back in the car with an aim to get to somewhere safe. Car did not move.

Not good. Cars, trucks zooming past way too close. I phone AA to get a tow.

I am not a member but was willing to join. AA told me to phone someone local. Easier said than done, I had broken down on a Saturday, outside of convenient towing hours.

Starting at 1.33pm, I called seven different companies until at 2.36pm Rodney Wray, owner of Kinmont Motors, said he would be there in about 20 minutes with a tow truck. I cried.

Rodney turned up, took one look at my hand covered in numbers of garages I had called and mused out loud that he really should advertise better, after all he was my eighth number.

It was suggested I could have called 111, because I was a hazard. Though not sure if this would have worked as a police car did drive right on past. I think everything might be documented somewhere on social media though, as a chap at a nearby cattery, stood with his phone and took photos. If I see it, I will be sure to post a comment.

The car? There was a crack in the CV joint, which led to it blowing to pieces, breaking the axle.

Kiwi and Aussie dogs are now taking each other on to see who’s the best.

For the first time ever, the Cobber Working Dog Challenge welcomed New Zealand dogs to compete against their Australian counterparts earlier this year.

The challenge is an opportunity for farmers to measure just how hard their dog works.

Each year, 12 dogs wear a GPS collar to track how far, fast and for how long they work over a three-week period. This year, the challenge ran early September.

Three New Zealand farmer and dog teams competed. Cam Clayton and his heading dog, Pine, were the top-ranked NZ team.

The winner was Skyblue Jack, an Australian Kelpie and owner Ben Jeffery.

Skyblue clocked a challenge record of 1012.6 kilometres over the three-week period.

Cam Clayton and his heading dog, Pine.

The world is full of articulate fools and many of them are in high places.

– Dr Alan Eley Preston, England.

All farmed NZ salmon are female. Salmon growth slows down once the fish reach puberty, this is particularly troublesome for male salmon that tend to mature before they reach market size. So, some female salmon are converted to males with testosterone to sire the next generation. With both parents having XX sex chromosomes, only female salmon hatch for the production stock.

December 2021

TRANS-TASMAN CHALLENGE

AWARD DELAYED Organisers of The Zanda McDonald Award have postponed the interviews and announcement of the 2022 winners until February 2022. This was due to continued uncertainty around travel under Covid. The eight talented finalists - four from Australia and four from New Zealand - were due to be interviewed this month in their respective countries.

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Carterton

Wanted - reliable crystal ball In the Ponotahi Valley, Mark Guscott is waiting to see which way the wind and or rain blows.

I “A neighbour told me once that you either need 500 beef cows or no beef cows.”

10

T’S EARLY NOVEMBER AND I’M trying to decide if we should be stocking up or de-stocking. You see, I reckon in the Wairarapa we have about three weeks a year when everything is close to perfect.

The grass is growing beautifully, there is clover everywhere and soil moisture is decent but not too wet to plant crops. It’s almost like there’s nothing to complain about. But as we say in our workshop… ”just when things are looking good”.

Murphy is alive and well apparently.

We do this dance every November and it’s called the Ponatahi Shuffle (that’s the name of the valley we live in). Generally it means sell everything out the farm gate as quickly as possible because it’s getting dry.

Occasionally it rains a lot in November and the gate swings the other way and we can’t get enough stock. A neighbour told me once that you either need 500 beef cows or no beef cows. At the moment, we’re sitting on the fence but weaning lambs will start soon and that will get things moving.

I’ve always been a bit of an opportunist. But sometimes things get a bit silly.

We’ve been trying to buy some more land with a group of others for a while so there’s a fair bit of work trying to get all our ducks lined up for that. Add to that the offer of another lease block just down the road that will work in nicely with our other blocks. Add to that another tourism business that has appeared on our horizon and it looks pretty attractive with some top people.

I reckon I’ve had a niggling headache for a couple of weeks trying to get the deck chairs sorted with all these options. Thankfully Suz is taking care of the tourism one otherwise I might be driven to drink.

Don’t worry I haven’t actually got a week-long niggling headache, that’s just today as it was a bloody early start to get ahead on some spraying.

These opportunities never turn up when you’re in a quiet patch do they?

The lamb and cattle kill this summer will be interesting. There’s a lot of pressure on the processors with lack of people, chiller/freezer space, shipping and potential Covid shutdowns.

We don’t need an extended dry spell forcing stock off farm before they’re ready.

Seems like the customers overseas are really keen for all our New Zealand primary products so it would be frustrating to have holdups in the supply chain. We’ve planted more forage crops to try and remove a bit of that risk. If it does get dry then hopefully we can hold stock onfarm until there’s an opening at the processors. It might be a bit of a chess game.

There’s another reason for more forage crops as well. I just couldn’t make the growing barley stack up. The cost of fert, sprays, trucking etc have all gone up quite a bit and the early contracts were only up $20/tonne on last year. Compare that to a potential lamb schedule that might be north of $8/kg and beef hopefully over $6/kg it was kind of simple.

No doubt there’s a bit of risk in the summer livestock margins but dryland barley has always been a bit hit and miss. I try not to get shitty with myself when these decisions turn out to be wrong as they often do. You can only make the call with the info you have at the time. Unless someone has that crystal ball I was looking for. I’d pay seriously good money for it.

Good luck and hopefully we all get to enjoy some time with friends and family over the summer.

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December 2021

HOME BLOCK

Balfour

Mandate unkind Blair Drysdale has had his vaccinations but fears mandates are bringing division to the nation.

S

LAM THE CHRISTMAS TREE UP AND call it a bloody year already. I don’t need to highlight why of course, but I’m going to have a damned good rant anyway. We are all just completely over it and want some resemblance of normality back in our lives. But I fear we are only just about to feel the brunt of this pandemic in New Zealand.

What worries me as much as the virus itself is the division and discrimination amongst society due to individuals’ vaccine choice and beyond that the vaccine mandates which I whole heartedly disagree with.

People are being pitted against each other because of their personal choices, friend against friend, colleague against colleague and in some cases family member against family member. Some of the damage being done is going to be very hard to repair.

Those eligible in our house are vaccinated and I have no fear of those that aren’t. If the vaccine was any good, everyone wears a mask and sanitises their hands then there’s nothing to worry about is there?

Maybe I’ve got it all wrong.

It sickens me that any parents that have children in our education system and are not vaccinated can no longer take part in their child’s education. No assembly, pet day or school camp attendance for them now, made to stay outside the school gate like a rabid dog. The unintended consequence of vaccine mandates is losing teachers, doctors, nurses, fire personnel and police and we are in dire need of them all more than ever.

I think if the Government had given us more vaccine options and had ordered them early like they led us to believe, then we as a nation would be in a much better position.

This government couldn’t run a bath without destroying the bathroom, they’re completely and utterly useless with zero ownership or culpability when it comes to their failures. And when the going gets tough another fluff piece appears in our media about Jacinda or Clarke, absolutely pathetic attempts at deflection from a portion of our media that are seemingly nothing more than Labour party shills these days.

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December 2021

“It sickens me that any parents that have children in our education system and are not vaccinated can no longer take part in their child’s education.”

We have a Government that just does what it likes, when it likes without much or sometimes any amount of thought, democracy is crumbling before our very eyes. They’ve broken more promises and told more lies than a disgruntled three-year-old child.

Three Waters is a prime example of this with Nanaia Mahuta mandating her policy weeks before public consultation had ended, ignoring the worries of just about every council in the country and essentially stealing our infrastructure that some of us have paid for and been rated on for decades. It’s plain theft. If I were to take the neighbour’s water tank because I thought I could make better use of it and maintain it better, the police would be knocking on the door.

Who knows what they’re going to do in the last half of what is hopefully their last term.

Anyway, as I write this we’re receiving some very good and much needed rain here which will help all the crops immensely, everything is looking really good right now and it’s only the hemp and swedes left to go in the ground.

We’ve put another relatively unknown crop called Gold Of Pleasure in this season to see what we can do with it as far as pressing it for oil is concerned, which has similar properties to hemp oil but doesn’t have any limiting legislation around it determining the use of it.

As we head towards Christmas just remember to have respect for those that make different personal choices, have different thoughts and share different opinions to yourself. We’re all human and should be treated as such. Have a great Christmas, drive safe and charge a bloody big glass to a better 2022 on New Year’s Eve. Cheers all.

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HOME BLOCK

Timaru

In Top Gear with an unlikely champion Unlike new farmer Jeremy Clarkson, everything is going just fine for Andrew Steven.

H “They have got so strong that they can force their way through a brand new deer fence.”

12

AVE YOU WATCHED CLARKSONS’ Farm? Most likely you have heard about it. I was never a fan of Top Gear. I read one commentator who described Clarkson as a professional pillock.

Whatever. His show about the day-to-day running of his farm is very good viewing and the cast of real-life characters are quite compelling.

I liked the episode where he reported his yearly profit of £144 ($NZ272) from a 400-hectare farm.

Further, he has become an unlikely champion for farming, a breath of fresh air.

On our farm, everything is going just fine.

Our stock numbers are down, so we have ample feed. In fact we have long grass. This is not ideal for ewes and lambs, with the ewes being fat and the lambs mediocre. Looking over the fences, everybody else's lambs look better than mine and on quite short pasture.

The problem with short grass is that you are always on the brink of drought. With our year to date rainfall at 365mm (November 10), we could do with a top up.

Our long grass is being consumed by yearling cattle. They are the calves we raised last year and were unable to sell at an acceptable price in the dry autumn. That meant we had to destock ewes instead. So now we are looking to get value from these cattle.

Long grass means we have an opportunity to be putting some regenerative ideas into practice.

Except I can’t be bothered with shifting fences too often.

The grazing management required to grow young deer is essentially regenerative; i.e. take half of what is on offer. Our yearling deer have come up to weight very well and this is mostly due to the incredible genetic gains in deer growth rates.

Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson has struck gold with his show about his farm and is an unlikely champion for farming.

It doesn’t seem many years ago that in order to kill a hind, she would be a rising two-year-old and even then only kill out about 52kg. Now we can kill rising one-year-old females at better weights.

While the genetics have greatly improved, their ability to cause annoyance has not diminished.

They have got so strong that they can force their way through a brand new deer fence. If their head gets through, they can get the rest of their body through.

By the time you read this, the November Ground Swell protest will have taken place and the commentators will have made their pronouncements. Most likely they will portray an account that suits their own story.

While I empathise with the sense of frustration, I will not be attending the protest. The threat for farming from this action is that the story can be so easily screwed against us. You simply graft some new prejudice on to some old ones. You know; farmers getting rich by polluting rivers and cooking the climate. The final dismissal is to invoke the phrase, “just a bunch of rednecks”.

If you are feeling frustrated, angry, undervalued, you are not alone, but does anybody care?

The alternative outcome from the November 21 action is that it could be a much bigger deal than just farming concerns. There is a vacuum where the opposition ought to be and lots of annoyed people. Of course, where there is a vacuum, watch out for leadership coming from unlikely places to fill the space.

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December 2021

HOME BLOCK

Five Forks

A thankless task in the yards Fresh from sorting things out at the drafting gate, Jane Smith lets off a little steam. ‘

H

E WHO HOLDS THE DRAFTING GATE holds the power’ was in my mind as I sailed through a week of tailing, proudly flying the feminist flag while at the helm of the drafting gate.

It has since been pointed out to me that only a fool accepts the role of drafting through the tailing yards– a thankless task where ewes speed past faster than Three Waters legislation and should you miss a lamb, every bystander will have an opinion.

One drafting gate that needs a firm capitalist grip is the Wellington Kremlin, formerly known as the Beehive. Minister O’Connor was factually correct when he described the Labour party as “a gaggle of gays and self-serving unionists”. We have a cesspool of totally inept socialists and crazy feminazis on a green gravy train of power trips, intent on destroying every single thing that New Zealand (yes, New Zealand) was built upon.

The convenient cover of Covid has been the ideal Trojan horse to swiftly smother socialist fairy dust over every inch of democracy. Democracy that our forebears fought and died for, under the NZ flag.

Our ‘single-source of truth’ leader, hell-bent on creating the republic of Jacindastan - has skipped mindlessly through the socialist handbook, straight to Chapter 12: “Control the media, control the mind”. I bore the brunt of this recently when facebook blocked a Newhaven ram advert as ‘they’ (aka the government) saw it as ‘inciting anger’, when all that I did was mention that we don’t breed socialist sheep.

The Three Waters debacle is a totally unpalatable, fraudulent concept that no NZ citizen should allow to occur. Their taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign along with their unsightly message (and unsightly messenger) are barely fit for human consumption.

If only they had taken the time to fix a few other issues from the smorgasbord of crown negligence – child poverty, the methamphetamine/gang epidemic,

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December 2021

“...facebook blocked a Newhaven ram advert as ‘they’ (aka the government) saw it as ‘inciting anger’, when all that I did was mention that we don’t breed socialist sheep.”

a broken health/mental health system, carbon forestry gangsters and the housing crisis. Somewhat ironic that Clark Gayford has delivered more houses on his new TV show than his fiancée’s cabinet has.

So Rome is burning while James offShaw is dancing around the maypole with Greta and 25,000 other oxygen thieves at Cop26.

I’m considering making a phone call to the UN to see what it would cost for us to ship Ardern, Shaw and Parker over to them a few years ahead of time.

I guarantee it would be a hell of a lot cheaper than keeping them here.

My bullshit barometer is off the scale and climbing. I call for a pause to all illegitimate, unpalatable legislation and a total reset. Thank you to Groundswell for their work – the urban support for their movement has been overwhelming.

A record lambing and calving up in the tussocks at Newhaven has been followed by a pretty robust looking schedule for both lamb and beef. With ram selling just around the corner, it has been pretty heartening to see the demand from all around the country for our Nil Drench genetics.

Zero drenching of our sheep is paying dividends for our ram clients, and as we prepare to celebrate the 50th year of Newhaven Perendales it makes the bold decision to go drench-free over two decades ago, a pretty good one.

Farming is in a great space, if only we weren’t being hunted down by our own Government. We are stoked to have a couple of good young bucks working for us, and we look forward to hosting school groups including a ‘Teacher’s Day Out’ coming up before Christmas.

While Blair isn’t one for quotes, after a tense day together in the norwesterly-blown dusty yards he did declare that we were married for better or for worse.

I’m pretty sure he meant that he couldn’t have done better and I couldn’t have done worse.

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HOME BLOCK

Eketahuna

Getting in shape After a very good start in life for her weaners, Micha Johansen sheds a tear as a bunch go off to new homes.

T “On a positive note, I do enjoy having the occasional ‘oh shit’ test, to see how I cope, and I think I came through that one with flying colours.”

14

Thanks, neighbour. Remains of the boundary fire.

HE FIRST 100KG PLUS WEANER SALE was on today (November 9), so 22 wee beauties have been sent off to new homes, after a few tears from me. I always hate seeing them go, but TJ, and farm size, dictate that go they must.

I do take some solace that I have given them the best start that I possibly can, and hopefully they are off to pastures green.

Of the 22, eight were heifers and 14 we steered.

This is the first time we have steered them prior to sale, so, depending on how well they go, will determine whether we steer the remainder, or not.

TJ, aiming to save himself a job, is hoping not.

(Update – the steers sold for $480, and the heifers for $450, so we will leave the remainder as bulls, for now).

The ratio of 8:14 is pretty much how our calving season went. Bull calves vastly dominated, meaning I ran out of blue tags, and had plenty of yellow left over.

In previous years, when we needed to breed replacements, we would have been tearing our hair out, but with the vast majority of them now being Angus X, we are quite happy to have that ratio.

Here’s hoping the six beauty bulls we have out with the herd currently, provide similar calves next year.

A few months ago, Eketahuna was lucky to have a personal trainer move into town. Having sat growing unfitter (and fatter) by the year, I took a deep breath, and signed myself up.

I finally had the realisation that even though I could save money and just exercise by myself, truth is, I don’t. And maybe, just maybe, it was an investment in my health rather than a cost.

Hopefully investing in my health at this end, will create savings at the other, or some such thing.

I started with 30 minute sessions, once a week, for four weeks. After the very first session I could barely walk for four days afterwards. Six weeks later I am now up to one 45-minute personal session, and one 45-minute group session a week.

My squat technique has vastly improved, my run

is less of a shuffle, and I’ve only nearly puked twice.

Still a long way to go, but I am enjoying it. I really do need to kick myself in the pants, to do some exercise at home now as I don’t think a few holes of golf with Dad, once a week, is quite cutting it.

Today, however, I got two rounds of exercise. I had just returned home from my personal training session, when TJ appeared at the door in somewhat of a panic. TJ never panics.

My first thought was ‘my calves!’, but no, it appears a neighbour was burning tree debris, a spark must have flown into our boundary trees, and the undergrowth was now on fire. My first question was, of course, ‘have you phoned 111?’

‘No, it's not that bad’, was the reply, so off we went.

TJ jumped on the tractor, with bucket, and I headed down on the quad. We bucketed water from the swamp (I fell in, which did not help my mood), into the tractor bucket, then headed down to the fire. We bucketed said water on to the fire, all the while swearing at the non-existent neighbour.

The neighbour eventually re-appeared and, after some bellowing by me (I can be frighteningly loud) they finally looked up, whereupon they received some gestures and words involving ‘fire’, and another one that begins with ‘f’.

We then headed off for another bucket load of water, and when we got back the neighbour was there, thankfully with a water tank and sprayer on the bike. They still got told that I was not impressed, which they agreed that I had every right not to be.

Once all the embers were extinguished TJ stayed behind for a bit of a neighbourly chat, as I headed home for some lunch, which is how our partnership works. I am the screaming banshee, and TJ is the jovial sane one.

On a positive note, I do enjoy having the occasional ‘oh shit’ test, to see how I cope, and I think I came through that one with flying colours.

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December 2021

HOME BLOCK

Cambridgeshire, England

Wet harvest, but little rain High humidity mid-summer meant long waits for crops to dry enough for combines to work on David Walston’s Cambridgeshire farm.

Although there was hardly ever any rain, the relative humidity rarely dropped below 100%.

T

HIS YEAR WAS THE WETTEST DRY harvest anyone has ever seen. It actually started out as a wet wet harvest, and a decent weather market opened up for new crop wheat at the end of July and start of August.

At one point there was a £30/tonne ($NZ57) premium for wheat that could be collected by the first week of August, compared to that which was available later in the month.

This meant there was a big incentive for farmers such as myself - with an ability to dry grain, to fire up their burners. We sold about 1000t of wheat, almost a third of the entire crop, to be moved in this period of early August, which is two or three times as much as normal.

There were some nervous moments, waiting for the weather to come right enough to allow the combine to work, but also leaving it long enough to get as much natural drying as possible. In the end it all worked out well, with a nice sense of satisfaction for tapping into a lucrative little market for the short time it was available.

It was after this first week of August when the weather really got weird. Although there was hardly ever any rain, the relative humidity rarely dropped below 100% for more than a few hours in the middle of the day.

This meant huge dews every morning, and then no actual drying until well into the afternoon, even though it was very warm, and very windy. One memorable day saw us testing the wheat at 17% at 10am, but then taking until after 6pm to drop below 16% so we could get going.

With only a few hours per day when it was actually possible to cut anything, harvest dragged on until August 29 - a good two weeks after it would have finished under more normal drying conditions.

Still, we were some of the lucky ones, with a combination of having our own drying facilities, and not having to wait for (often non-existent) lorries to take away already harvested grain to make enough

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“Really what stands out from this harvest, particularly for the wheat and oats, was the difference between how the crop looked, and how it yielded.”

space to keep on cutting more.

Many farmers out here in the east were still harvesting well past the middle of September, which is normally unheard of.

Yields were generally about the long term average, which was a quite pleasing contrast to the past two years. Unusually for us, we grew a few varieties of malting barley, including the ancient Maris Otter, whose headline yields don’t look great, but financially they produced the same return as 8.5-9t/ha of feed barley.

Oilseed Rape again yielded much better than for the past two years, but still only averaged 2.66t/ha.

However, at an average sold price of £480/t, ($NZ911) the financials look pretty decent here too. Wheat managed to come in at 9.2t/ha, which is significantly easier to look at than the sub 8t/ha averages from 2019 and ’20. Spring oats produced 5.5t/ha, which may be okay if we can make seed grade, otherwise it’s fairly mediocre.

Winter field beans had some decent crops (4.1t/ha) and some poor (2.6t/ha), making an average of 3.4t/ ha. Spring vining peas, grown for seed, again failed to impress, making only 1t/ha, with half the crop left on the ground.

Really what stands out from this harvest, particularly for the wheat and oats, was the difference between how the crop looked, and how it yielded.

Although I’m reasonably satisfied with the end results - especially given the current values - everything looked so excellent before harvest, and just never actually yielded when the combine got stuck in.

Crops that looked like 12t/ha did 10.5, oats that I had hoped would be 7t/ha would only end up at six.

Everything was just 15% down on how it appeared. I guess it was some combination of the spring drought, or the lack of radiation for grain fill, as there was a huge amount of straw but not a lot of seed.

Right now, at the start of November, all of the crops are drilled and emerged, and everything looks pretty good. Aside from the fertiliser price, of course.

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China

COMPANIES REFUTE CAMPAIGN CRITICISM Meat processors have strongly defended the Taste Pure Nature campaign following claims there is little awareness of New Zealand grass-fed beef and lamb in the Chinese market.

Glenys Christian reports.

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eat companies have doubled down in their defence of Beef + Lamb’s Taste Pure Nature campaign in China.

They say it’s a crucial part of their being able to build awareness of grass-fed New Zealand red meat in that market.

ANZCO Foods general manager of sales Rick Walker said it was an investment by NZ farmers and processors.

“It is absolutely the right thing to do.”

Taste Pure Nature was very much part of the strategy to get NZ products to be seen as premium, which had been proven around the world.

He was responding to an opinion

by Shanghai-based NZ marketer, Hunter McGregor (Country-Wide November, p22).

In it McGregor claimed there was little awareness of NZ grass-fed beef and lamb in the Chinese market, and it was sold at a discount to grain-fed products, including Angus grain-fed beef from Russia. He believed Taste Pure Nature would achieve very little as Chinese consumers no longer saw foreignproduced food as being superior to that produced locally.

But Walker said repeat promotions of chilled beef ANZCO Foods had run over the past 10 months with retailers in Beijing. It exceeded expectations both in sales and consumer feedback.

It planned to refresh the promotion through two key retail chains every six months to draw in more customers.

It had already benefited from Taste Pure Nature because a wider range of consumers were directed to where they could find the company-branded product.

Grain-fed beef was perceived to be premium as the United States and Australia were first into the Chinese market so had a head start. They’d also spent a lot of money on their product promotion. While five years ago the message was not to try to sell grass-fed beef and lamb in the US, consumer perceptions were altering as they increasingly saw sustainability of farming systems as an important factor.

“We are going to see the same thing in China.”

They were starting the educational process and by connecting with consumers they would go and try grassfed.

Over the past 18 months the company’s Chinese sales had increased.

Although it was expected there would be a spike in demand coming out of the first promotion, it was pleasing to see that the baseline was higher, meaning more customers were likely to try grassfed meat for a second time.

Starting at the top A recent promotion in the high end City’Super supermarket chain had concentrated on educating shoppers about cooking chilled French racks of lamb. Because the market was very small ANZCO Foods was starting its marketing at the very top end. And while such a cut might appeal to only a very small proportion of the population who wanted to learn how to prepare it, the hope was that by doing so they would gain an appreciation of lamb generally and want to continue to learn more about other cuts.

Walker said with beef most frozen exports had been sold into food service rather than chilled. Many Chinese were not confident or comfortable about being able to cook Western cuisine such as a rib-eye steak. Secondary cuts were more suited to local cuisine to be used in dishes such as hot pots.

While it is hard to put a timeline on how rapidly Chinese customers might follow those in the US in their appreciation of grass-fed red meat Walker said it was a very fast growing market.

“Our only limitation is that we don’t have enough plants licensed by the Chinese to supply what’s required.”

Silver Fern Farms’ (SFF) chief customer officer, Dave Courtney, said the company is working with Beef + Lamb and Taste Pure Nature reinforced what was good about the NZ product.

“They complement each other,” he said.

While the campaign built awareness of the grass-fed red meat category

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December 2021

‘There’s no doubt there’s work to be done to build awareness of grass-fed.’

Left: Many Chinese were not confident or comfortable to cook Western cuisine.

Secondary cuts were more suited to local cuisine to be used in dishes such as hot pots. Below: Packs of NZ beef in the chillers of a Chinese supermarket.

allowing potential customers to learn a little about it, companies could then follow up by offering their branded product.

“There’s no doubt there’s work to be done to build awareness of grass-fed,” he said.

“But we see great potential in building on that. All the signs are, this is the right way to go and we have to invest.”

In the US there was much faster growth now in grass-fed rather than grain-fed red meat as well as the emergence of a small local grass-fed industry.

SFF had a team of 20 based in the Chinese market so there was plenty of opportunity to build awareness of the New Zealand product. At present 85% of that sold in China was handled from this country and just 15% there. But from the middle of next year that would switch to 100% of business being conducted out of China. There were big advantages with being in the same time zone, having the same language and intimacy with the market.

Expanded product range While SFF had started selling frozen beef through Goodfarmer outlets several years ago, that had now expanded to 15 different products such as lamb racks, shoulders, hot pot rolls and chilled beef. It had more recently begun selling through premium retailer, Hema, which is owned by AliBaba and combines four retail stores, restaurants and online distribution in the southeastern city of Shenzhen. It promises that once meat is ordered it will be delivered within 30 minutes to the waiting customer.

As well as using online channels Tik Tok and J.D.Com the company is also selling through 280 offline stores. And advertising on television screens in 5000 elevators in selected city areas allows it to target a potential audience of 5.8 million people.

It was involved with Taste Pure Nature in both online and in-store channels where messages were aligned quite clearly, he said.

“There’s real value in the relationship because we can drive it together. And the grass-fed story underlines everything we’re talking about.”

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Alliance Group sales general manager Shane Kingston said as NZ’s largest lamb processor and exporter it had been operating in China for more than 20 years, alongside its partner Grand Farm, and had an intimate knowledge of the market.

The campaign is helping to underpin the company’s marketing programmes in China and enhancing the positioning of their product portfolio so they can capture more value for NZ farmers.

Its marketing campaign with Taste Pure Nature began in China in September with feedback from partners, customers and consumers being positive.

“Our initial focus has been in premium

outlets in Hangzhou, Beijing, Tianjin and Grand Farm’s flagship store in Shanghai,” he said.

“Our lamb product range has included flap cubes, barbeque ribs, lamb skewers, shoulder racks, Silere lamb skewers and legs.”

In conjunction with the launch of its Pure South produce in these supermarkets, Alliance partnered with Beef + Lamb New Zealand to introduce Taste Pure Nature themes in-store. This included extensive point-of-sale material on the freezers, floor and tasting booths, and creating clear Taste Pure Nature zones.

“Promotional staff were also trained on

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key attributes such as grass-fed, taste and nutrient-density.”

Greenlea Premier Meats managing director Tony Egan, who is also a Beef + Lamb director, said McGregor raised some valid points.

“But anything that increases the awareness of New Zealand’s grass-fed beef and lamb is good."

Taste Pure Nature had been the catalyst for Greenlea’s collaboration with SFF and ANZCO in a supermarket chain promotion of their products in Chengdu, which was helping to develop the market.

He said they have some good stories to tell.

“We’re doing that more and taking our products to a more sophisticated level.

While meat companies needed to take responsibility for themselves, wider promotions also had a role to play in reinforcing marketing messages.

“A rising tide lifts all boats.”

Exports

The ANZCO Foods display at the Beijing supermarket tasting stand, showing Taste Pure Nature imagery as a way to promote grass-fed beef and the NZ story.

Targeting 1% of a billion Walker said the Taste Pure Nature campaign was exceptionally important.

“There aren’t many markets like China left and we have the opportunity to educate consumers from the ground up.”

Despite the strong affiliation of NZ’s image with quality dairy products there was poor understanding of what the country was doing in beef production.

“We aren’t trying to target one billion people,” he said.

“One percent of the population is a big enough market for us.”

Taste Pure Nature had a full suite of communication tools available to meat companies such as in-store tastings and videos. Chefs and influencers were used as well on social media site WeChat. And out of store advertising such as advertising on elevator doors in apartment blocks and commercial offices was being used within a two to five kilometre radius of where the NZ product could be tasted.

While ANZCO Foods had cancelled a planned promotion in 2020, this year it was finding China an easier market than the United Kingdom or Europe when it came to supply chain challenges.

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Beijing tastes NZ beef BY: JOANNA GRIGG

R

ick Walker, ANZCO Foods General Manager of Sales and Marketing, says the meat company has seen an upswing in demand for their premium chilled beef products.

This follows in-store promotions in Beijing. In late 2020 ANZCO Foods partnered with Beef + Lamb New Zealand to promote beef, using levy-funded Taste Pure Nature branding and digital platforms.

The company is one of four that have used the country-of-origin brand Taste Pure Nature to grow consumers' awareness of NZ grass-fed beef in China.

“Due to Covid-19 we’ve only had the opportunity to complete one promotion so far, so the data set is small, but it met our expectations,” Walker said.

“After a spike in sales during the promotional period, we saw demand return to a higher average level, meaning new consumers had taken advantage of the promotion to try our products and they liked what they tasted.”

ANZCO Foods ran promotions in two mid-premium range supermarket chains.

Free samples were cooked onsite and given directly to shoppers to try.

“Round cuts work best with Chinese cuisine – they are ideal for hotpot and stir fry.

“We are also trying to educate consumers about western-style cuisine, which lends itself more to the traditional steak cuts.”

Signage is placed on meat chillers and Taste Pure Nature stickers are added to the ANZCO Foods-branded products.

Alongside the in-store tastings, a social media influencer was used to promote NZ beef, although Walker describes using influencers as more variable in its success rate.

Walker describes Chinese consumers as often being naïve to NZ’s grass-fed beef and lamb story.

“While the typical consumer in North America may have more of a negative perception based on history around of the quality of grass-fed beef, the opportunity in China is that most consumers aren’t as

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December 2021

“Due to Covid-19 we’ve only had the opportunity to complete one promotion so far, so the data set is small, but it met our expectations.” tarnished by those misconceptions.”

“They just don’t know about it.”

“If they think about agriculture and food production in New Zealand, their initial reaction is to think about milk.”

Prior to 2017 only frozen NZ beef was imported by China and NZ did not have a national origin brand used internationally.

Walker says NZ missed the boat somewhat following China providing NZ with new market access for chilled beef in 2017.

Investment in marketing was low compared to the Australians; B+LNZ spent NZ $4.4 million that year compared to $64m by Meat Livestock Australia (MLA).

“Australia invested heavily in China and their industry logo connected consumers with the perception of highquality grass-fed beef, even though their

story is weaker than ours.

“We needed to get in there and sell our story in order to give us a chance.”

The Taste Pure Nature brand was created in 2018 and, since its release, all NZ companies have had the opportunity to leverage the Taste Pure Nature imagery alongside their own marketing in China.

An overarching country-of-origin brand is the better option to teach consumers about NZ beef and lamb, Walker says, rather than going solo.

“Consumers can then contemplate the merits of what ANZCO Foods offer through its specific brands and products.”

Walker says no one NZ importer really has a strong presence in the chilled market in China. “I’d call it an emerging presence, but one that we are all very focused on

given the massive opportunity that exists long term.”

Walker says the team at Beef + Lamb NZ has done a great job in developing the Taste Pure Nature brand and messages.

“The challenge, as always, is executing it within the budget.”

ANZCO Foods plans to promote their chilled beef within Chinese supermarkets every six months. It works, Walker says.

“But you can’t just do this sort of promotional activity once. As a company and as an industry we need to be willing to see Taste Pure Nature as an investment, which means taking a long-term view of the benefits.”

“When it comes to branded products, you’ve got to be willing to spend money to make money.”

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19

BUSINESS

Fertiliser

Buy local, farmers advised BY: GLENYS CHRISTIAN

W

ith big recent increases in the cost of some fertilisers consultant Dr Doug Edmeades is steering farmers in the direction of those which are locally produced.

“If they stay with generic products which are New Zealand made, they’ll be fine,” the AgKnowledge founder says.

Rabobank’s November Agribusiness monthly showed local urea prices climbing from $775 early in October to $950 a tonne later in the month while Cropmaster DAP went from $975 to over $1100/t. It predicted prices would stay high at least until next autumn as some Chinese provinces blocked exports to boost domestic food production.

China was responsible for 30% of traded phosphate worldwide last year, with some of the largest producing provinces affected.

With nitrogen (N) the rise in natural gas prices in Europe has seen urea prices also increase. Production has dropped as a result but Russia recently announced it would

20

Dr Edmeades says super is still the cheapest form of P and sulphate of ammonia, followed by N Rich Ammo and urea are the cheapest forms of N.

supply more gas to the European Union, bringing hopes of lower prices.

Late in October Ravensdown announced price rises from $845 to $950/t for urea, $899 to $999 for N-Protect and $915 to $1020 for Flexi N. The co-operative exists to shield NZ farmers from the worst of the volatility, but some impacts in terms of price and availability were inevitable, it told farmers in a September briefing, Managing the Supply Strain.

A Ballance spokesperson said global commodity prices were close to a 10-year high across all food categories.

“Fertiliser is no different. In the last three months the import price for nitrogen (N) has increased by close to US$200/tonne.

Freight-costs and energy prices have also increased substantially across all globally traded products.

“And Chinese fertiliser manufacturers, that produce a large part of international supplies, have been told to focus on the domestic market to assure food security.”

Farmers and growers formed the co-

operative more than 70 years ago to assure security of supply in NZ. “As a result demand for our locally manufactured products has increased, as these have not been as impacted.”

Generic cheaper Edmeades says the cost of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and triple super has increased significantly, making them both very expensive products compared with the more standard generic products used by farmers as a source of nitrogen (N) or phosphate (P).

“Super is still the cheapest form of P and sulphate of ammonia, followed by N Rich Ammo and urea are the cheapest forms of N,” he says.

It is “disturbing” that both of the country’s largest fertiliser cooperatives have introduced more expensive branded products, to which they add margins, he says.

While using triple super and DAP has in the past been justified based on lower

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transport and spreading costs, this now doesn’t appear to be the case. On a hill country farm at maintenance where small inputs of 27kg P and 32kg of sulphur (S) are needed and where the transport and spreading costs are about $100/t the onground cost of superphosphate is $133/ha.

But a special mix of triple super (140kg/ha) and Sulphur Gain (50kg/ha) would apply the same amounts of P and S and cost $210/ha.

While it is tempting to think of applying DAP as a source of N, with the intention to get some N on the farm ahead of lambing, he believes this is an expensive option.

Applying 65kg/ha urea (30kg N/ha), cost $55/ha ex-works, with transport and spreading at $200/t gave a cost of $68/ha.

But to apply the same amount of N as DAP requires 166kg DAP/ha, costing ex-works $190/ha, with transport and spreading $33.20/ha meaning a total cost $223/ha.

The added cost is rationalised on the basis that the annual P requirement is applied at the same time. But this assumes no other nutrients, such as potassium (K) and S are required to maintain soil fertility and clover growth, which he believes is a false economy. His advice now, more than ever, is to stick to the generic products such as super, urea or potash.

‘If possible, stay away from branded products and compound fertiliser.’

“If possible stay away from branded products and compound fertiliser.”

Ravensdown’s briefing paper highlighted what it called unprecedented supply chain challenges for essential fertilisers. It listed 10 disruptive trends and how it was mitigating them, with a strong reliance on the good relationships it had previously built up across the supply chain.

Not buying on spot market There are a number of source country risks alongside China prioritising domestic food production over nutrient exports which affected N, P and K. The United Nations is struggling to resolve the Western Saharan situation which impacts P and EU sanctions

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Go local when spreading fertiliser, farmers are advised.

are having a similar effect on K exports.

But the co-operative’s long term partners have prioritised its needs and didn’t sell on the spot market. Its Moroccan supplier shipped phosphate rock at short notice and K came from Malaysia in containers, Korea and Russia with granular from Belarus and Canada.

Environmental regulations are also limiting production with China restricting P and magnesium supply, but Ravensdown is able to use an established supplier code of conduct to closely monitor the effect as well as look to alternative sources.

While there is more undernourishment worldwide this is countered by pent up demand for food in affluent countries where most people are vaccinated against Covid-19. This means strong commodity prices driving big fertiliser orders from countries such as Brazil, where there is high demand for potash, making the market tight.

With fewer, larger ships and premium prices on trade between Asia, Europe and the Americas there were reduced services to Australasia, but the Ravensdown Shipping Service (RSS) joint venture is able to improve logistics.

Port congestion has resulted in shipping reliability dropping from 80% in spring 2020 to half that at the same time this year.

But this has been eased by collaboration

with ports and transport so there is more efficient offloading and intake. There are choke points in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and the Malacca Strait in the South China Sea with the effects of the Suez Canal blockage earlier in the year still being felt. But the RSS is able to schedule the optimum routes and help with insurance.

With the use of containers rising due to consumers buying online during lockdowns, the lift in revenue between China and Europe meant shipping lines were sending empty containers there to be filled rather than product into Australasia.

No containers were available for reactive phosphate rock (RPR) from Egypt until late October. Ravensdown says it is less exposed to these issues because it focuses on bulk shipments, and when a container shipment of Nitrophoska was in doubt RSS collaboration with the supplier saw it arrive on a bulk vessel.

In this country trucking problems were caused by alert level changes, driver shortages and lockdown border delays, but were countered by coastal shipping in some instances and efficient dispatch for faster throughput. Longer lead times has put pressure on the available storage and inventory turnover is down because of unreliable shipping, meaning accurate forecasting and management is more critical than ever.

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Succession

The third pillar: Fair comes before equal BY: PETER FLANNERY

T

he third pillar to creating a successful succession plan is that it is more important to treat everyone fairly, rather than equally. Fair and equal can be the same thing depending on a range of factors.

The underlying principle is you should only treat your children equally if it is fair to do so. As a parent myself, that principle applies to more than just succession.

This underlying principle is so important, I will repeat it: You should only treat your children equally if it is fair to do so.

If none of your family are interested in coming home to the farm, and no one has contributed any more to the success of the business than anyone else, then it is absolutely fair to treat them equally. But if that is not the case, treating them equally would not be fair.

How do you work out what is fair and who decides it? Every family is different, and every business is different, so there is no “off the shelf” solution. What was fair for your neighbours, your cousins or your best mate’s family, may not be the same for your family.

Working out what is equal is relatively easy. You only need to know the size of

the pie, how many mouths there are to feed and have a pretty simple calculator.

Knowing what is fair, is an altogether different kettle of fish.

The only way you can work out what is fair in your family’s situation is to talk about it and listen to what is being said.

Refer to my previous article on the second pillar – communication. Discovering what is fair can only come from understanding, and understanding can only come from communicating.

No professional can come into your family and tell you what is fair. A professional can facilitate, challenge and offer insights, but it is not their role to tell you and your family what is fair.

Follow a process An accountant can offer clear cut accountancy advice, a lawyer can offer clear cut legal advice and a farm consultant can offer clear cut management advice. But none can dictate to you what is fair for your family. However, they all have a role to play, and that is ensuring an appropriate process is followed.

If you are to use a professional, their role is to facilitate an appropriate process to allow you and your family to define fairness. Having an independent professional to lead the family through a

There are four pillars to any successful succession plan. They are: 1. Build a strong business first 2. Communication 3. Fair comes before equal 4. Understanding the difference between ownership and control.

process can be hugely valuable.

The problem is, there will be conflicting needs, wrapped up with some considerable wealth, love and affection, family competitiveness and most probably some financial constraints. Therefore, you need to have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve and how to prioritise them.

Most families have the following objectives: • Look after Mum and Dad. • Keep the family together so they can all still enjoy family gatherings and continue to support and love each other.

• Keep the family farm/home within the family.

• Allow a successor to succeed.

• Non successors not to be excluded from fair and timely financial help.

If the business is not strong enough (pillar one) to allow those objectives to be met, it is going to be difficult to achieve a successful and fair succession plan.

Secondly, if the order of priority isn’t quite right it is going to be challenging to find the right solution to meet all objectives.

If the successor is not able to succeed, the farm will not stay in the family for long,

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and family unity will most probably take a hit. Conversely, if the successor gets it too easy, jealousy and suspicion will rear its ugly head and once again family unity will take a hit.

Keep end in mind It gets complicated even further when the opportunity or time cost of money comes into play. Let’s say, for example, there is a family of three, and the middle child is the successor. The older child is seven years older than the youngest.

Let’s say seven years ago the farming business helped the oldest into their first home. A good house back then might have been $400,000 and let’s say the farming business “gave” the first born $200,000 being 50% of the purchase price.

Seven years on, the youngest puts their hand up and asks, can you help me into my first home? In the art of being fair, you probably should. The problem is, a similar first home is now twice the price at $800,000. So how much do you provide? $200,000 or $400,000 or somewhere in between.

What happens if the farming business has recently either expanded and is now “fully lent” or has taken a financial hit from drought, flood or a drop in commodity prices or all three? What then? Don’t make the mistake of starting something you can not finish, which is another of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind.

Be seen to be fair In a similar vein, don’t make promises or give expectations you cannot meet. That is the job of the Government.

Another point, not only do you need to be fair, you need to be seen to be fair. That again, comes with good communication. I was recently contacted by a woman whose elderly parents had both recently died. They had four children. Once the dust settled, her older brother “got the farm” and also an equal share of off-farm assets. How is that fair she asked? I was employed by her to do some investigation.

It turned out her brother didn’t “get the farm”. He in fact bought the farm in four stages starting in the early 1980s, before finally acquiring the last of it in the mid 2000s when he bought his parents a house off the farm.

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Working out what is equal is relatively easy. You only need to know the size of the pie, how many mouths there are to feed and have a pretty simple calculator. Knowing what is fair, is an altogether different kettle of fish.

The capital he borrowed to buy into the farm over the years was invested in the sharemarket by his rather astute father, which led to a significant share portfolio, which, along with the house, was then split four ways.

There was nothing unfair with that in my view. But because none of this had ever been discussed she assumed she was being cheated out of something she was owed.

Sadly, because her attitude had become so entrenched based on an incorrect assumption, I don’t think she ever believed me which unfortunately will probably lead to strained family relationships.

This starkly highlights the importance of being seen to be fair.

What if you work out what is fair, but the financial constraints are too great to allow a fair plan to be put into action? It is not a

good place to be, and this all links back to the first two pillars.

First, build a strong business and effectively communicate with your family.

There will have to be compromises for sure. So have a clear understanding of the objectives you want to achieve as discussed above and don’t start down a path that has no exit.

Start with the end in mind. It’s not easy, but as I say to the families I work with, if you ignore it long enough, it will not go away. So if you haven’t already, you need to make a start.

• Peter Flannery is a Southland and Otagobased agribusiness consultant, specialising in business planning, financial management and family succession.

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BUSINESS

Pelts/hides

Skins in the game BY: GLENYS CHRISTIAN

P

rospects are looking up for hide and pelt export prices after some time in the doldrums. But there are clouds on the horizon with shipping delays and price increases, a drop in car manufacturing due to component shortages and wool prices slipping back after recent lifts.

Until about 25 years ago cattle and calf hides as well as sheep pelts were processed locally, but with increased investment required to keep competitive with China and Vietnam, domestic manufacturing shrank. Most finishing work is now carried out overseas with only one local tannery carrying out that operation in Wanganui.

From January to August 2021 exports of hides and skins were worth $112 million, an increase of nearly $10m on the same period in 2020. Beef hides accounted for all this increase, and were worth $89m, up $11m from the same period last year. The two major markets were Italy, taking $46m worth of mainly wet blue hides, where the leather is tanned but not dried, dyed or finished. Salted hides generally go to China.

Wallace Group’s tannery operations general manager Ted Hulbert says prices have bounced back since the middle of last year when he described the situation as “just horrible”.

Then farmers were warned they might have to pay the company to collect dead calves and cows, which make up a quarter of its processing throughput. That was due to international leather prices being the lowest in almost 50 years. Since then not only have prices increased but industry rationalisation had seen more processing of hides and pelts closer to their source.

Lighter-weight cow hides were still under pressure from alternative footwear such as Allbirds, made from wool. And many people were wearing casual shoes, particularly if they were working from home rather than in an office through Covid-19 lockdowns.

Heavier bull and steer hides had found a good market in the automotive industry

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Hides are taken off the dryer at Tasman Tanning’s works in Wanganui, the last remaining tannery in the country.

“There’s always pressure on leather to prove that processing is environmentally friendly.” but less were now being used, magnified by a widespread backlash by some consumers against the use of animal products.

“There’s always pressure on leather to prove that processing is environmentally friendly,” he says.

That means some consumers prefer to spend $100 on a cheap man-made jacket they would throw away after just a year rather than a more expensive leather one that would last.

The increase in shipping costs is affecting returns with jumps from $US2000-7000 to ship a container to Italy which can add from $US6-$7 a hide.

Prices rebound With high-end accessories such as handbags made from calf skins, prices have rebounded to where they were two years ago, with Italy taking 60 to 70% of exports.

Tony Egan, managing director of Greenlea Premier Meats, which has co-owned Wallace Group’s tannery operations with WilsonHellaby since last year, says the improved prices for pelts and hides provides a counter

to recent increases in freight rates. While more demand is being seen as the confusion of Covid-19’s effects last year subsides, shipping delays present logistical challenges which are likely to last into the new year.

“And dry goods make an easy target when there’s pressure on the system,” he says.

Greenlea is working on marketing initiatives, emphasising sustainability, to move hides to a higher level of sophistication in the marketplace. This involves identifying companies with suitable branding in order to further enhance the good reputation New Zealand hides, especially those from the North Island, already had. It is early days but already one suitable United States company has been identified, and it is hoped to extend that to a range of others in different countries.

Alliance Group specialty ingredients and materials general manager Derek Ramsey says hide prices have increased from 69135% and pelts by 28 to 100%, so fewer skins have been composted than in previous seasons.

Global shipping costs, delays and shutdowns have seen a reset of the marketplace, so China now views NZ as a closer and faster option for supply than South America. It is also more confident in its trading outlook with the US under the Biden administration. But intermittent power cuts have seen tanneries close

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December 2021

without planning or warning.

Demand from the automotive industry is down due to the long-term trend of moving to vegan interiors, with BMW and Volvo the latest car companies to say they will reduce the use of leather in future models. And production is constrained due to a shortage of semi-conductors.

The trend over the next 10 years is for a decline in use and price for skins.

“Fast fashion prefers synthetic, which delivers faster timelines and cheaper input costs,” he says.

Alliance’s strategy is to find key partners who value the circular economy of animal products rather than synthetic options, which often have similar carbon footprints.

The company is encouraging its leather industry partners to move to more sustainable practices such as vegetable or eco-tanning, which use natural tannins.

Combining that with sustainable farming practices, regenerative agriculture and traceability gives NZ an extraordinary story to take to the market.

Exports of bovine hides, year ending September 2021

Australia 2%

Romania 1% India 1%

Vietnam 2%

Other markets 2%

Italy 49%

China 43%

Exports of ovine pelts, year ending September 2021

Italy 6%

France 5%

Other markets 8%

Turkey 7%

Prices up 35% Ramsey says calfskin demand is strong with pricing up 35% on last year. Consumers have been spending lockdown savings on luxury goods such as handbags, with Alliance supplying Italy’s €6 billion ($NZ9.8b) luxury handbag industry which is home to global brands such as Gucci and Prada.

Silver Fern Farms (SFF) decided to bring sales for its hides and skins back in house earlier this year, as part of a strategy to get closer to customers and markets. It wanted to better understand market dynamics and how it could work with current and future customers to deliver products and share value, a spokesman says.

While there was good demand for hides and skins earlier in the year with strong discretionary spending on items such as leather furniture, there has been a dip in the final quarter of the year. Part of that was due to recent constraints with automotive industry. But while that is having an impact on demand for hides for premium automotive upholstery, the longer-term outlook for sheep pelts demand is positive.

In contrast to hide exports, those of sheep pelts have decreased, worth $23m in the year-to-date, down $1.6m on the same period last year. But the major market, China, saw an increase in exports, up $400,000 to total $13.6m.

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December 2021

Pakistan 7%

India 8%

Bruce Reay, chief executive of Hawke’s Bay specialised ovine skin processor, Progressive Leathers, says there had been a general lift in demand for sheep and lamb skins along with the rise in wool prices. Previously the number of skins de-woolled had been reduced because of the cost of doing so, the drop in slipe wool prices and strengthened environmental constraints. But with wool prices lifting over recent months that had meant a return of about $3.20/kg clean on the floor for slipe wool. Under Level 4 lockdown conditions wool scours couldn’t operate as they weren’t regarded as essential business. So with wool accumulating onfarm prices have come back to about $2.70/kg, he says.

But lamb pelts had been giving a positive return to farmers over the last 12 months after being negative for many years. Demand from France has dropped to be replaced by Pakistan and India. With salted pelts being a commodity product the supply chain timeline is tight, so there

China 59%

are challenges around the lack of shipping space as well as hold ups with containers in Singapore.

Sheep pelts which had been difficult to sell went mainly to be processed into chamois leather in Turkey to then be sold in large US retailers. Italy also took some of these skins as well as Poland. But with no demand for skins with less than an inch of wool on them, many had been shredded or composted. Previously they had gone to landfills but are now rejected for environmental reasons.

About 95% of salted wool skins had been going to Chinese tanneries which are coming under pressure to convert from coal to natural gas, causing a reduction in demand. South American countries have taken some of these skins in the past but freight costs are now higher, reducing the return received. And white sheepskin rugs sourced from NZ but processed in India have also been hit as tariffs imposed by the US in recent years are still in place.

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BUSINESS

Science

Capping nitrogenous fertiliser inputs won’t work says Doug Edmeades.

NZ needs the A-team BY: DR DOUG EDMEADES

T

he Government’s decision to cap nitrogen fertiliser inputs at 190kg N/ha/year is doomed to failure because it ignores the basic

science.

When an animal urinates, it applies N at the rate of about 500 to 1000kg N/ha.

This is too much for the pasture and soil to accommodate and hence results in a huge excess of soluble N in a localised spot of soil, which is then subject to leaching into waterways. It is for these reasons that the animal urine patch is the source of most (about 95%) of the nitrogen getting into waterways. Thus, the key to controlling the amount of N leached is to control the number and frequency of urine patches, especially in autumn/early winter.

There are three sources of N in the animals’ diet and hence in the urine: The largest is the clover N. Clover is a legume and it converts atmospheric N into plant protein. This ‘fixed N’ feeds the soil with N, which is taken up by companion grasses. Other two sources of N come across the farm boundary on to the farm, as either fertiliser N and the N in supplementary feeds.

Racing now to the point: If fertiliser N is capped there are two likely

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outcomes. Farmers will simply import more supplementary feed to maintain production, and/or, the clover component in the pasture, and hence the amount of fixed N, will increase compensating for the decline in fertiliser N. Can you see the problem?

Either way the total amount of N in the soil/plant/animal system will remain unchanged. Ipso facto the amount of urine N and hence N leaching will remain the same. Water quality will not be improved.

The proposed fertiliser N cap is technically flawed. This is what happens when policy development is undertaken by those who have no understanding of the science of farming.

There are other more philosophical and political reasons to reject this piece of flaky policy.

We had - or at least I thought we had - rejected the European approach to developing and implementing environmental policy, based on controlling inputs. Our approach was, I thought, to be focused on managing outputs. The difference is very important in terms of the growth and development of society.

Consider the current dilemma. The goal is to change on-farm behaviour to improve water quality. Fair enough. The input controllers say cap fertiliser N. If that does

not work (as predicted above) then we will control something else, like, cap stock numbers, or, get rid of all fertilisers, or reduce farming activity, or become vegan and get rid of animals – and so on, and so on - control, control, control.

The output control approach says: we (i.e: society) will set limits on the concentration of nitrogen in waterways.

Indeed, this is exactly what has already been done, in many regions in New Zealand. With the limit set, the farmer can do whatever he likes on the farm providing the freshwater N goal is achieved.

This approach encourages inventiveness and entrepreneurship. It allows the farmer to think of other options: Put the animals in a herd home, especially during the rainy season, so that the urine can be collected and returned to the soil at an appropriate agronomic rate. Or, tile drain the flats so that the N moving down through the soil is intercepted, captured and returned to the soil.

You can probably see where this is going: Input controls restrict the growth, development and progressive evolution of society. Output controls encourage growth and innovation. The choice is often dressed up in the various political colours: green, red or blue. More precisely the choice is between progress or extreme environmentalism.

The proposed fertiliser N cap is technically flawed. This is what happens when policy development is undertaken by those who have no understanding of the science of farming.

To add insult to injury, this N cap policy is contemptible, at this Covid time. To control the pandemic, we have accumulated significant debt. This debt will have to be confronted at some point and the one industry that has the size and capacity to deal with this is the pastoral sector. And so, at the very moment when you need your “A” team “pumped and motivated” you kick them in the guts again! Why? Why do you do that?

• Dr Doug Edmeades is a scientist and managing director of agKnowledge.

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producing erosion on tough hot sites, plus es 2% of an income. Marlborough produc the highest the world's pine nut supply. It’s is sack small a world the value nut in hopper worth $3000 and a typical grain takes them ing $70,000. However, produc investment and patience.

Entrepreneurs Andy and Barbara n, have Wiltshire, together with Lee Paterso y for NZ, carved a completely new industr in pinea Pinus of s planting 550 hectare Valley. eastern Marlborough and the Wairau ted conver a ly Through trial and error (initial Spanish ive expens then mixer) t cemen

Scientist challenges ruling LINCOLN UNIVERSITY SCIENCE professor Jon Hickford has taken umbrage with the New Zealand Media Council.

Hickford wrote to the NZMC following a ruling against a story in Country-Wide about the Regenerative Agriculture White Paper, in which he had expressed his views.

He felt those views had been misrepresented by the NZMC. In the story, Hickford commented he would have hoped the White Paper authors had taken greater care to ensure the credibility of what was released under Landcare Research’s name.

The lead author of the paper titled, Regenerative Agriculture in Aotearoa New Zealand – Research Pathways to Build Science-Based Evidence and National Narratives, was Dr Gwen Grelet, a senior

a state-of-theequipment, they have created s nut from a art factory to extract the preciou shell. stubborn cone and Pine Nuts Their company Pinoli Premium of the won the business innovation section 2021.

Awards nment Enviro rough Marlbo ltshire Speaking at the winner’s field day,Wi in said his trees yield well above those 60 cones and Europe. Each tree grows 50 to six years takes It each holds about 180 seeds. produce to grow a crop and the trees can 400 are beyond 100 years. Some in Rome years old.

is that What excites him about the tree need pestic loves hard dry sites, it doesn’t wilding a as spread or herbicide, doesn’t g and pine and each stage of the prunin ucts fo extraction produces useful co-prod . biofuel mulch and grow “They don’t acidify soils and roots

six metres down.” and The total world crop is 25 tonnes ire Pinoli produces three tonnes. Wiltsh would like and t produc more love would ETS. They see stone pines eligible for the ineligibl classified as orchard trees so are

e Research complaint Media Council upholds Landcar RULED THE MEDIA COUNCIL HAS ed in the the editorial and an article, publish resented April issue of Country-Wide, misrep research conducted and were unfair. tion of Both pieces followed the publica paper a Landcare Research discussion a New Aotearo in ture Regenerative Agricul paper. The Zealand. Both were critical of the h was Researc re complaint lodged by Landca upheld. h The editorial referred to poor researc [the white saying “Reputable scientists say research. paper] is nonsense based on poor of searching The paper admits to five hours opinions and tes, anecdo of full is It .

Google referred incorrect facts”. The article also as if this to the five-hour Google search, relied shallow search of Google was being s. on as research for scientific finding In fact, the reference in the white strate paper to Google was to demon period what was found during a 5 hour and using Google Scholar, Web of Science little how show to Google searches. It was there in information about RA was out out comparison to what could be found

researcher at Landcare Research.

Hickford also confirmed in the story some of the authors of the White Paper had been contracted in, and questioned the reason for this.

Hickford put forward an alternative suggestion to the adoption of Regenerative Agriculture. He said NZ should develop its own brand of agriculture and did not need to follow the regenerative agriculture fad, or the next fad which came along.

A simple concept of healthy water, healthy land, healthy food and healthy Country-Wide August 2021 people was really good and there should be formal recognition for what farmers did.

He felt a collaborative discussion about how we best manage land, to make the most effective use of it was needed.

Hickford’s letter to the NZMC was

er, if funding of a research paper. Howev about mainstream farming. pers attacks against named professional release The Media Council in a ruling nden indepe their where are to be made, te the denigra tly implici “To said ned today and professional integrity is questio as bogus content of the paper in this way ble they should be given a reasona c research work containing scientifi d to such persona respon to unity opport was conclusions based on Google clicks ed. allegations before they are publish of the seriously misleading to readers not The Council also noted it was paper’s white the to unfair and article engaging in the merits of the debate contributors.” as again about regenerative agriculture over The article also made allegations think traditional agriculture. It did not against the funding for the research paper oblige was that Country-Wide magazine authors, Dr Gwen Grelet and the other publish before re Landca with to engage essentially that Dr Grelet and other paper. scientific criticism of the white ation a authors were in the pay of an organis Critiques of scientific publications and ture agricul rative regene of supportive aking. undert proper entirely ture. e not supportive of traditional agricul criticis the of However, summaries Lash Out In the article headed “Scientists works must be accurate, and not ely alleged o at RA White Paper”, it is effectiv antly misrepresent the nature signific $8,000 d receive that it is likely Dr Grelet has inedresearch carried out. The compla rative regene of tive suppor ution for a contrib h, articles did misrepresent the researc agriculture. unfair in a damaging way, which was support”.

Money has been used to “buy have misled would and writers report not put to These serious allegations were own readers.

Dr Grelet before publication. legitimate was it that noted il Counc The nci • The full ruling is at www.mediacou the ies into for a magazine to make enquir

discussed at the October Media Council meeting.

The council responded to Hickford’s letter by saying - The Council does not normally engage with someone who is not a party to the complaint. Our mandate is to deal with the complainants and editors. But given the detailed nature of your correspondence it was fully considered. The Council discussed at length the points you raised and reviewed the material.

It came to the same conclusions, and stands by its decision and the reasons given.

Hickford took exception to his views being dismissed.

“I am disappointed in this response and not least because my opinions have been publicly misrepresented by the NZMC,” Hickford said.

Ag Minister poorly briefed SCIENTISTS ARE CONCERNED THAT proven soil research has been dismissed.

They are also concerned no one has checked to see if the scientific research has already been done.

The concern was raised after Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor commented that the emphasis regenerative agriculture placed on the importance of soil health was a new focus for agriculture.

Scientist Dr Doug Edmeades said the minister had been poorly briefed by his advisers and he would gently remind him the study of soil health was not new.

“The current interest in soil quality and health in New Zealand soils is not as new as he and the RA enthusiasts think, and that the biological activity in our soils is second to none,” Edmeades said.

Twenty years ago, a group of about 20 NZ soil scientists were challenged to develop a robust definition of soil health and quality.

The scientists came up with seven soil tests which could be used collectively to define soil health and quality.

Soil quality depended on what the soil was to be used for and was the soil fit for the purpose intended. Therefore, functionally

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December 2021

defined. The seven tests were regarded as the minimum set for the major soil uses in NZ. The tests developed into soil quality indicators (SQI). These SQIs were used in national surveys conducted between 2014 and 2017 by regional councils. The results were instructive.

The practical conclusion was the biology of soils was good, but there needed to be more accuracy in the way fertiliser P was recommended. Over-cropping and running high stocking rates on vulnerable soils needed to be avoided.

Dr Robert McBride, who holds a PhD in soil science from North Carolina State University, has made his past decade of soil science research in NZ easier to access. Since 2010, McBride has visited more than 500 farms gathering information about soil fertility and advising farmers. He has summarised this information and published the paper in The Journal NZIPIM, December 2020.

O’Connor made the remark in a response to a letter written to him by plant science academics Dr Derrick Moot and Dr Warwick Scott. They called for the establishment of an expert panel of scientists to review claims made about regenerative agriculture.

Table 1. The suite of soil quality indicators required to define soil health and quality.

Soil property

Soil test

Soil chemistry

Olsen P (mg/L) Soil pH

Soil physical

Bulk density (t/m3) Macroporosity (%)

Soil biology

Carbon (%) Nitrogen (%) Mineralisable N (kg/ha)

27

BUSINESS

Searching science

PICK YOUR RABBIT I

Geneticist Nicola Dennis thinks doing your own research makes sense and offers some tips on going about it the scientific way.

HOLE

t says a lot that I feel a crushing sense of responsibility to reveal my Covid-19 vaccination status before I can deliver you an innocuous article on vaccine research.

I know I should resist and keep you guessing because it is so far beyond the point that it is a mere speck on the horizon.

But I don’t want to spend eternity trying to shake off the social media immune system once it has labelled me this or that. So, pigeonhole me in “double vaccinated, but wary of vaccine mandates”, please.

Despite the overwhelming majority of Kiwis rolling up their sleeves to get their jab, we seem to feel the need to ramp the political pressure up to fever-pitch and scream at each other.

I don’t care if you plan to get the vaccine or not. I know you have your reasons for your choices. I take the vaccine for my own personal safety and try to avoid the moral panic about what other people do with their own deltoids. Less hand wringing and more hand washing, I say. Oh, and how about properly funding the health sector, eh? Couldn’t hurt.

Doing your own research, why not?

I am very much in favour of doing your own reading. The near entirety of human knowledge now sits within arm’s reach at all times. It makes sense to take a peek.

But, when someone starts talking about new world orders and lizard people, I have to assume we aren’t looking in the same corners of the internet.

Let me tell you how I find my information. The University of Otago has given me a few fancy certificates that say I have some proficiency in this area. Who knows, maybe I can be of some help.

Google Scholar and Wikipedia Hands and feet inside the bus of impartiality at all times, while we take a quick tour through some vaccine literature on Google Scholar (scholar.google.com).

Before we begin, I want to point out that, for most people and most topics,

Google Scholar is overkill. Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) is a decent source of information for most things.

You shouldn’t trust Wikipedia for hardto-source or very fresh information. Don’t use it to find out how many kids Boris Johnston has, but it’s usually pretty solid for medical or scientific topics.

Overt medical misinformation/ politicking is unlikely to get past the eagled-eyed crowds of interested parties (researchers, medical practitioners, activists, political science majors etc) that watch the Wikipedia pages.

While anyone can log in and change a Wikipedia article, the process is deterring enough that only the most invested will bother. Wikipedia is basically a crowdsourced method of peer review and I think it does it fine.

Finding peer reviewed articles Google Scholar is a sacred place in which to search science journals, patents, court cases and textbooks. You could type anything in here and be offered a smorgasbord of peerreviewed content.

Whenever I am looking into a topic I am unfamiliar with, I like to start with a review article. As opposed to general science articles which are reporting on new scientific findings (recognised by the methods, results, discussion layout that we were all subjected to at school), a review is designed to summarise the findings to date.

In contrast to general science papers which can be the reading equivalent of eating glass, reviews usually have to be well written and understandable to make it past the editorial gatekeepers at the scientific journals.

I am interested in mRNA vaccines so I type mRNA vaccines review into Google Scholar.

The first article1 is “Brief review of the mRNA vaccines Covid‑19” available on springer.com. I like it’s promise of brevity, but I am a bit put off by the grammar in the title. I can see from the green text just under the link that it was published in 2021 which is usually what I want.

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There’s no point having an outdated review.

But, for now, I would like something a bit more general and something that pre-dates the pandemic. I want to know what the scientists were discussing before they had ever heard of Covid-19. So the second search result2 “mRNA vaccines - a new era in vaccinology” published in Nature in 2018 looks more like my cup of tea.

Nature is a well-known journal and I can see that this review has been cited (mentioned in other articles) over 1000 times. This looks like a good bit of literature to cut my teeth on.

Even better, it is available for free. In an ideal world they would always be free. It is an annoying quirk of the scientific process that publicly funded science often lives behind paywalls even though the journals extract their publishing costs out of the authors submitting the work. It’s a very bizarre business model that, quite frankly, could only have been dreamed up at a university.

If an article can’t be found for free, it is dead to me. Let the toffs clinging to their outdated paywalls wail into obscurity. Plenty more fish in the sea.

Reading the first review – focus on the messenger (RNA) If you are following along at home, you have probably noticed that my chosen review is 19 pages long. Hey, I never said this was easy. If you want it easy, then chat with the bot on the Ministry of Health website. There is a reason why university professors often look like Gandalf the White.

Besides, we will not be delving deep into all 19 pages. Four of those pages are references to papers the authors have cited. The authors have thoughtfully put comments on their best references - you usually don’t get that kind of service. But, we don’t need these references unless we find a rabbithole in the main text that we would like to follow.

Also, quite a bit of the review is dedicated to mRNA cancer treatments. The review lists nearly 60 clinical trials with mRNA vaccines against cancer taking place in some 19 organisations around the world. It seems that there are some advanced melanoma patients that have been given a new lease on life after some of their immune cells were treated with anti-tumor mRNA vaccines. This is thanks to trials that have been taking place in mice since-1996. It’s all fascinating

stuff, but it’s not what we came for.

Instead let’s jump into the introduction of this review. As per tradition, the authors start by framing the problem.

Vaccines are useful to prevent or treat disease, but vaccines that rely on weakening or killing the pathogen are not suitable for the proper nasty stuff like HIV and Ebola. And, vaccines that rely on synthesising certain proteins of the pathogen are difficult to make.

As we have discussed in previous articles about fake meat etc, protein chemistry is difficult.

Humans can make proteins in the lab but the speed at which we can devise a production system for each new protein is comparable to a toddler learning to assemble a Ferrari. There needs to be, says the review, a quicker way to come up with new vaccines in response to new pathogens.

Our bodies are experts at making proteins, what if we just temporarily tricked our bodies into making the vaccine protein? If we could work out a reliable method of doing that then all we would have to worry about, for each new pathogen, is the genetic information for the protein we want.

We would not have to burn years trying to work out which methods of protein expression, purification and chemical environments suit this protein in the lab. And, by the way, we can use the same methods to train our immune system to attack cancer cells.

I can only imagine the dismay of the authors when it transpired that rapid vaccine development also breeds a fair bit of public distrust.

The review says that scientists have been testing DNA and RNA vaccines in mice using reporter genes since 1990. Reporter genes are simply genes that have very obvious effects. Yes, I have found a way to talk about glow-in-the-dark animals again.

If we look up that reference3 next to the reporter gene statement (it is listed as reference 5) using Google Scholar or the link provided, then we can see that the firefly luciferase was one of the genes used. Glow, mice, glow.

According to our review article, the science hype cycle backed the wrong horse for a while and focused on DNA, rather than the RNA side of things. This was because RNA was considered to be too unstable. Now, after a lot of poking and prodding, we understand more about RNA and we are in a better position to tame it for our use.

References 1. Vitiello A, Ferrara F. Brief review of the mRNA vaccines COVID-19. Inflammopharmacology. 2021;29(3):645-649. doi:10.1007/s10787-021-00811-0 2. Pardi N, Hogan MJ, Porter FW, Weissman D. mRNA vaccines — a new era in vaccinology. Nat Rev Drug Discov.

2018;17(4):261-279. doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.243 3. Wolff JA, Malone RW, Williams P, et al. Direct Gene Transfer into Mouse Muscle in Vivo. Science. 1990;247(4949):14651468. doi:10.1126/science.1690918

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DNA AND RNA EXPLAINED Let’s power through some biology basics.

DNA contains the genetic information for the proteins needed to build us, but for very good reasons, it is trapped in a protective castle inside the cell called the nucleus. DNA sends coded messages out through the nucleus, into the main body of the cell to tell its workers what to do.

These messages are made of RNA. There are a few different types of RNA, but the one we are interested in is messenger RNA (mRNA). This is literally the message for a protein. I would like one protein please, it needs to be this long, with these amino acids in this particular order and when you are done can you tie it up into a birdnest of knots and send it to this address, thanks.

Smuggling RNA into the body

EmilyinWonderland

Sending an RNA shopping list to someone’s cells was obviously very appealing back in 2018, even without the pandemic. There was just the small problem of how to sneak the mRNA past the very immune system they were trying to tickle.

Your body does not want to be tricked into making foreign proteins. Rather poetically, tricking your body into producing proteins is exactly what viruses do. So, one of your body’s first lines of defence is to detect RNA that doesn’t belong and destroy it.

Getting past the immune system to make the protein was the chief technical challenge holding back mRNA vaccines when this review was written. The review goes over 12 different methods of mRNA vaccine delivery that might be promising.

It also details methods of cleaning the mRNA (if your mRNA is loitering with random misfigured bits of RNA and DNA that is going to look suspicious) and modifying the mRNA so that it looks less foreign and the protein actually gets sent to the correct place. For vaccine purposes, we want the protein exported to the bloodstream where it can run an futile OJ Simpson-style police chase around your circulation and get every authority on high alert.

The second review and beyond Through the power of hindsight, and the brief review1 of mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 paper mentioned earlier, we can see that encapsulating the mRNA in lipid nanoparticles was the golden ticket to getting past the immune checkpoint and into the protein factory.

This other review is brief, as promised.

But it gives us some good articles that we might like to look up. It gives some references for the rate of severe allergic reactions following the vaccines (2.5 to 11.1 anaphylaxis events per million doses, mostly in people with a known history of anaphylaxis) and points to some preliminary findings on the duration of the protective immunity. Pick your rabbit hole and choose your own adventure from here on in.

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December 2021

BUSINESS Opinion

Pondering food’s future BY: ANNA CAMPBELL

MY ELDEST SON IS FLATTING AND WHEN HE comes to visit, one of the first things he does is open our fridge and moan about the price of cheese. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? I remember doing the same to my parents. What we eat and the quality of what we eat, is correlated with what we earn and this is a global phenomenon. All over the world, as wealth increases, so too does consumption of proteins, particularly meat and milk and fancy cheeses.

We have seen this in China, as the country’s wealth has increased, so too has their consumption of dairy and meat products. This has been hugely important for New Zealand’s economy and ongoing standard of living. This year, close to 50% of our meat production has been exported to China - no wonder our exporters shake in their boots when politicians start laying down principles, but that is another matter.

According to Irish economist, David McWilliams, if the global population were to live by the standards of those living in Europe, the earth’s resources would only feed two billion people. Given the global population is expected to increase from seven to 10 billion between now and 2050, we would need the resources of five earths to feed all those people at European standards.

We know most of this stuff, but perhaps what we don’t understand is the degree to which food

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December 2021

“How we manage population changes, labour, land-use and capital land values will be a headache for many years to come.”

security impacts international politics and trade and how this might play out in the next 30 years. David McWillams uses the Irish potato famine in the 1800s as an example of food scarcity driving mass migration from Ireland to all parts of the world. Similarly, I have spoken to data scientists who tell me they can predict migratory movements in African communities based on satellite data showing drought incidence. In parallel, in some areas, childhood bride rates increase as families look to sell their daughters in times of scarcity. Simply put, as food becomes scarce, people move or find other mechanisms to survive.

Underlying all of this and the changing climate, is the fossil fuel cost of foods – as countries increase in wealth and move from rice to meat, energy requirements increase in terms of land use, water and fertiliser needed. In NZ, we produce food which relies on the consumption of fossil fuels. Does this mean we should be solely growing plant staples? Well no, because much of our land is not suitable for cropping or horticulture. In fact, the conversion of non-edible cellulose (high-country grasses), to edible protein (meat), remains a sensible path.

Is the answer then to convert all of our productive dairying land to crop and horticulture production?

Perhaps partially, however, we are fossil-fuel efficient in terms of dairy production by comparison to many other countries. Where there is demand for nutritious dairy products, there will be production and surely that demand should be met in the most fossil-efficient way. Reducing fossil-fuel expensive, indoor dairy production systems is a better path.

In Bill Gates’ latest book (I recommend it by the way), he hypothesises that part of the solution is that developed countries should not eat beef (the most fossil-fuel expensive meat). Many people I know are incorporating this kind of thinking into their everyday living already, adopting a ‘flexitarian’ approach to meat eating by eating more vegetarian meals. This to me seems sensible, most of us in developed countries don't eat enough in the way of fibre and phytonutrient rich vegetables anyway, so a little less protein won't hurt our waistlines.

Looking to the future - we don’t have five planet earths, so what we produce and what we eat has to change or we will see more political disruption, mass migration and even childhood brides – a genuinely miserable prospect.

I have no doubt that NZ’s abundance of food will mean we will continue to be a desirable place to live and invest. How we manage population changes, labour, land-use and capital land values will be a headache for many years to come. Politically, food and agriculture need to hold the same gravitas as health and education - we need the very best brains to engage in finding solutions that are more than knee-jerk political point scoring.

• Anna Campbell is the co-founder of Zestt Wellness, a nutraceutical company and a partner in AbacusBio, a Dunedin-based agri-technology company.

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LIVESTOCK

COVER STORY

SHEARING SPARKS LIFE

Shearing has been a way of life for Weber farmers Justin and Diane Bell.

It’s been a way to see the world and achieve their goal of farm ownership.

Story by Rebecca Greaves.

Photos by Brad Hanson.

A

diverse sheep and beef farming operation, coupled with off-farm income has provided the Bells with the life they dreamed of.

The farm at Weber, in the Tararua district, is a breeding operation and they aim to finish all lambs. They also have a small elite Texel flock, selling 15-20 rams annually.

Justin (48) describes the stud side as a bit of a hobby.

While raising a young family the couple also ran their shearing contracting business alongside the farm.

Justin was off farm shearing and Diane undertaking most of the farm work. Diane also spent 12 years working at the local pub.

The shearing business was sold two and-a-half years ago, but despite his best intentions, Justin can’t seem to stay away. He recently took on a role as lead shearer trainer for newly formed WOMOlife, which is tasked with delivering training for the industry.

They bought Waipatiki 17 years ago and, five years later, the neighbouring farm came up for lease, which they took on. After several years they bought the lease farm too. Until recently, they had leased Diane’s family farm in Feilding, which was predominantly flat and used for finishing.

Continues

››

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December 2021

35

Waipatiki has established manuka blocks, which are utilised for bees, as well as pine trees for harvest.

FARM FACTS • Weber, Tararua District • 272 hectares (223ha effective), 15ha forestry – pines trees for harvest • About 32ha established Manuka for honey bees • Mix of medium to steep hill country about 50% cultivable • Ran a shearing gang for 14 years until 2019 • Still shearing and both work on the farm

STOCK Sheep: 1300 breeding ewes, 450 hoggets. Cattle: 30 Angus breeding cows.

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Justin grew up in Taihape, while Diane is from Kimbolton. Shearing and farming is in the blood for both.

“Our goal was to own our own farm but still be able to work off-farm.”

Justin says he couldn’t have been on a hand piece if it weren’t for Diane.

“All the dogs work for her, she drenches and dags.”

There are 1300 breeding ewes and the aim is to finish all lambs. Recently, they have introduced a Coopworth cross in a bid to lift the lambing percentage.

“We’re looking for a meaty breed and, with the Coopworth, more wool but to still have the bulk of the Texel. And hopefully more lambs.”

They have 450 hoggets, which are

lambed. Anything over 42kg goes to the ram.

The lambing is usually 130-140% and Justin hopes they can lift this to 150-160% with the Coopworth cross. Scanning is 160170% including two-tooth ewes.

He says the good thing about the Texel is they yield and can be killed at lower weights.

It was a big decision to go to Coopworth.

“We’re looking for the best of both worlds.”

They lamb in early September and start weaning in the second week of December.

The Texel lambs yield about 51% in lambs off mum. A 38kg liveweight lamb will generally kill out at an average 19kg carcaseweight. Once weaning starts they

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December 2021

Right: Justin has recently taken on a job as lead shearer trainer for WOMOlife.

keep chipping away and the aim is to have everything gone by the end of March.

Cropping plays an important part in getting lambs up to weight and they have 10-12 hectares in Pacer leafy turnips. The Bells regrassing programme is into turnips and then back into new grass.

Summers seem to be getting drier so they are looking at different options. This year they are trying raphanobrassica because of its long tap root and ability to hang on in the dry. It is a hybrid between kale and radish.

Apart from lamb finishing, the crops have been used to lift tail end ewes. Anything

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December 2021

“We’re looking for a meaty breed and, with the Coopworth, more wool but to still have the bulk of the Texel. And hopefully more lambs.” that’s light goes on there after weaning.

“That’s our number one priority and I reckon that’s our best investment.”

In terms of the cost of the cropping versus the gains in productivity Justin admits he’s not much of a facts and figures man.

“When I was in the shearing gang, the last thing I felt like doing was sitting down and working out figures at night.”

The cattle policy is simple and works

well. A herd of 30 Angus breeding cows, bought from Kiwi Station in Wairoa. They use an Angus bull and calving is at the end of September. They calve at about 90% and all progeny are sold at the weaner fairs in March.

Justin says they don’t have enough room to winter R1 cattle. The main objective for the cows is clean-up, and they make a good job of it.

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3.38 Geldard, H, Scaramuzzi, R.J., & Wilkins, J.F. (1984) Immunization against polyandroalbumin leads to increases in lambing and tailing percentages. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 32:1-2, 2-5

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December 2021

The Texel breed has been a good performer for the Bells and they love the high yield in lambs off mum.

The Bells keep a tight rein on expenses, they do their own shearing, and animal health is minimal.

Justin tries to minimise the use of drench, though ewes are drenched for barber’s pole pre-tup and lambs are drenched.

Ewes are vaccinated for Toxo and Campy and receive a five-in-one. Cattle only get a salt lick and a dip annually.

Their faecal egg counts have always been low.

They have poured most of their profits back into farm development, with a focus on establishing good pasture through drainage and regrassing. All development is funded through cashflow.

No honey no money Alongside the stock, the Bells have created an income stream from honey on the established Manuka blocks through a partnership with Hinterland Foods.

They have also replanted an area that previously had pine trees with Manuka.

Justin says the previous owner retained

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December 2021

the cutting rights on that bit of land. They harvested the trees and the whole hill was slipping into the river. They decided to plant about 10,000 Manuka stems.

They already had about 32ha of established Manuka.

“I don’t mind forestry, but pines aren’t what I want to look at.”

There is also 15ha of harvestable pine trees, which they hope will be logged this summer.

Diversity has been the couple’s key to success.

“It’s about spreading the risk and not having all the eggs in one basket or on one market.

They will keep chipping away with the Texel rams and shearing is well paid.

Setting records Justin doesn’t do a lot of shearing because he is busy training shearers around the country. He is happy to spend less time on the handpiece.

“I don’t want to be out there smashing it

every day, I’ve been there, done that.”

And he certainly has done almost all there is to do at the highest level of the shearing industry, winning the senior title at the Golden Shears and setting two world records (one of which still stands).

It all started when he was 19. He was stacking boxes at Watties and decided there had to be more to life. His father was a shearer and it seemed logical to pick up a handpiece.

“Pretty much the day I walked in the shed I knew, that was me.”

He started as a presser and progressed to shearing. For Justin, the industry represents the whole package. “I like the fitness, endurance, the people, the friendships and camaraderie, the banter.”

It’s taken Diane and Justin all around the world, she was wool handling and he was shearing.

The couple worked down south, in Australia and the United Kingdom.

“Hopefully someone reading this will decide to go shearing so I can retire.”

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Above: The diverse operation includes sheep, cattle, manuka, forestry and a small Texel stud. Below: Angus cattle do a good job on clean-up duty.

His credentials speak for themselves.

Justin competed on the show circuit and won the Senior Golden Shears title, before the pull of endurance and chasing records became his number one focus.

He set his first world record in 2002 which still stands. It was a two-stand eighthour strong wool lamb record and the pair shore 1406 lambs. Justin’s tally was 731 lambs, breaking the individual eight-hour record on the same day.

In 2004 he set a solo world record, shearing 851 lambs in a nine-hour strong wool record.

He likes setting goals and achieving them.

“That tally thing, you do your first 100, then 200, then 300 and you think ‘I could do another hundred’.

“It keeps growing and becomes even more of a driver.

He gets an adrenaline buzz when attempting records and has to manage it.

“You have to wind down or you just fatigue out.”

He has done a lot of work on mental control, “...when you’re close to a record, you have to have that control.”

In 2005 when the Bells moved to Weber, they decided running a shearing

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contracting business would be a good complimentary income. They ran it for 14 years and it was time to enjoy a slower pace of life.

Their three children Daniel, 20, Hayden, 18, and Amy, 16, have nearly all left home and are embarking on their own careers.

They were also leasing Diane’s family farm in Feilding for a period. Without the

support of Diane’s parents, they couldn’t have done it, Justin says.

He says selling the shearing business was a huge decision but something had to go.

But he loves shearing.

“It’s in the blood and I don’t think I will ever leave the industry.”

There are still improvements to be made, and more goals to meet.

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LIVESTOCK

Feeding

Decision time at weaning Tim Abbiss discusses knowing when to take your finishing hat off and put your breeding hat on.

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or much of the North Island spring has been both late and slow which is leading to a potential headache come weaning time. On the back of good scanning and lamb survival, feed demand is greater than usual combined with slow pasture growth rates. This is being reflected in generally light ewe condition and lamb performance.

With a strong forecast lamb schedule, the temptation is to maximise the weight of every lamb post weaning but is this the right decision?

To achieve consistent performance, capital stock are the number one priority.

Therefore, ewe condition needs to be a key driver around weaning decisions in a tight year to influence next year’s production.

Understanding the feed requirement of ewes in order to increase their body condition score is fundamental to making decisions about how many lambs need to be sold at weaning and during the following months.

Typically, weaning is completed about 90 days post birth leaving about 115 days for ewes to increase their body condition

score (BCS) to the optimum of BCS 3 at mating. Allowing for 90 days to increase ewe weights is more likely to account for management factors (eg. shearing) and weather checks. The difference between BCS 2 to 3 is 8kg and will require the following feeding requirements - assuming that pasture over summer has an energy content of 9.5 megajoules of metabolisable energy (MJME)/kg drymatter (DM).

It is important to allow as much time as possible to increase the BCS of ewes.

Allowing 90 days to increase BCS from 2 to 3 requires 89g liveweight gain (LWG)/ day. Shortening the period to achieve this liveweight gain will require over 100g LWG/day. To achieve this, forages above

10 MJME/kg DM are required, which over the summer months are only available in legume dominant pastures, improved forages, or high energy supplements such as grain. A good option to increase the body condition of light ewes is to mix them undrenched with lambs on high quality pasture for refugia.

The importance of driving ewe condition is well documented, but what effect does this have for next year’s lamb crop? Ewe condition pre-tupping maximises ovulation rates in ewes.

If ewe condition is an issue pre-weaning what options are out there?

Lambs reach peak growth rates between 20-40 days of lactation and are a fully functional ruminant at 60 days old. From 60 days until weaning, lamb growth rates are reliant on pasture quality and these growth rates will be maintained if pastures or forages exceed 10.5MJME/kg DM. Ewes will preferentially graze quality pastures but will maintain weight when pasture quality drops and will be more reliant on pasture quantity.

Early weaning

“...the return on increasing the BCS of ewes is 41 cents/Kg DM versus the return on increasing the live weight of weaned lambs which is 18 cents/Kg DM.”

Early weaning is an option particularly post-70 days if ewe condition is light and pasture covers are low creating ewe - lamb competition. Research demonstrates that competition stressed lambs will grow quicker when weaned early compared to equivalent unweaned lambs. This option also creates the ability to control ewe intake early and increase the return/kg of lambs and ewes sold. Typically lambs which are growing at less than 180 - 200g/ day on mum are showing signs of lack of feed allocation and quality due to ewe competition and would be better off weaned.

Split weaning

Decision time: Lambs are weaned off mum.

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Split weaning can be a valuable tool to reduce feed demand and/or transition different stock classes onto appropriate feed types. Weaning check is important to keep in mind especially with marketable weight lambs. Research shows heavier lambs (30kg plus) have the greatest weaning check.

Therefore, these lambs benefit remaining on mum to maintain their yield until marketed or killed. Lighter lambs have less of a weaning check so would be a better weaning option to reduce feed demand.

Some split weaning options include:

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RETURN ON PASTURE

Table 1: Increasing BCS BCS 2

BCS 2.5

BCS 3 (Optimal)

Liveweight gain required to achieve BCS 3

8kg

4kg

0kg

Liveweight gain/day

89g

44g

0g

KG DM required (90 days)

149

122

96 (Maintenance)

Table 2: Lamb Marketing Normal year, 1000 ewes mated (130% lambing)

This year, 1000 ewes mated (135% lambing)

Average value

Store lambs (28kg at sale)

1000 (77%)

1150 (85%)

$3.70/kg LW

Prime lambs (17kg at sale)

300 (23%)

200 (15%)

$8.40/kg ccw

Total lamb crop return

$146,440

$147,700

• Weaning terminal lambs early.

• Weaning ewe lambs early to reduce demand on the ewe and leave saleable lambs unweaned.

• Weaning light lambs onto alternative forages whilst leaving heavy lambs on mum to maintain yield.

• Weaning 5yr ewes and lambs early.

Marketing With more lambs on deck but a tough spring, it is important to recalibrate your lamb exit weight and value expectations.

The farm system is likely not going to

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be able to handle finishing the extra 5% of lambs to previous expectations unless alternative quality feed is allocated, especially with more tail end ewes to lift.

Table 2 demonstrates that accepting a greater percentage of lambs sold store does not have an adverse effect on total lamb returns due to the increase in lambing percentage. The benefit of securing next year’s ewe performance by controlling BCS will outweigh the margin of putting more weight on lambs.

As previously stated, the return on increasing the BCS of ewes is 41cents/Kg

Lifting the ewe condition of a 65kg mature weight ewe from 60kg is expected to have a 12% increase in scanning percentage. For a return on pasture, the increase in BCS from 2 to 2.5 requires 26 kg DM above maintenance with a return of 41 cents/kg DM. Additionally increasing the BCS of ewes from 2 to 3 from January 1 to March 31 requires 53kg DM above maintenance and has a return of 39 cents/kg DM, considering the benefits over a calendar year. In comparison, a lamb trade (140g/day) from Dec to April has historically returned 18 cents/ kg DM, ranging from 7cents/kg DM to 25 cents/kg DM.

DM versus the return on increasing the live weight of weaned lambs which is 18 cents/ kg DM. Ultimately, it is a trade-off between increasing the weight and return of this year’s lamb crop or allowing a decreased rate of ewe performance in the year ahead.

A slow season for many has brought its own challenges, but with a strong lamb outlook there is great advantage in maintaining the performance of capital stock and consistency of output.

• Tim Abbiss an agribusiness consultant with BakerAg.

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LIVESTOCK

Lambs

TURNING LESS LAMBS INTO PROFIT BY: RICHARD GAVIGAN

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etting things right between now and weaning can help maximise the profit potential of a weather-affected lamb crop.

Lambing in the Tararua region has been impacted by tight feed conditions and rough weather this year. Reduced late winter, early spring pasture growth and widespread damage due to porina have resulted in low feed covers, light ewes and lower ewe milk production on many farms in the area.

While docking results are not yet fully in, a prolonged spell of cold, wet, windy weather has affected lamb survival.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Wairarapa Farming for Profit programme ran a lateSeptember workshop on turning lambs into profit. It was held at Mangamaire just south of Pahiatua.

The workshop was facilitated by Ed Harrison and Richmond Beetham from BakerAg, and

featured practical tips from local farmers Peter Apthorp, Royden Cooper and James McKay. Pasture quality is key post-docking, and all of the farmer panel adjust paddock stocking rates after it, typically with cattle, based on paddock tailing percentages.

The decision to drench lambs before weaning is made on the basis of feed covers, ewe condition and milk production.

While most agree that drenched lambs have fewer dags at weaning, some are not sure they are getting a liveweight response. Most use tape drenches, but a number simply use triplecombination products.

Many on the panel weigh and/or condition score ewes a month or so prior to weaning as an indicator of potential early weaning. Some also weigh lambs at this point as an annual benchmark and to forecast potential weaning weights and numbers of lambs prime off mum.

A tip is to dazzle (write) the weight on a lamb and re-weigh it at weaning so growth

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during the previous month can be calculated.

Some farmers rotationally graze mobs of ewes and lambs after docking to allow clover to develop in pastures and set up country for weaned lambs.

Planning the rotation is important, with mobs of 200 twin ewes and 300 single ewes on fast rotations (15 days) using five or six paddocks the preferred approach.

To reduce mismothering, farmers often open a gate between paddocks, let ewes and lambs drift, then go back and finish shifting the mob the next day. Mobs quickly become used to this system, coming to the gate to wait for it to be opened after a few shifts.

Weaning date decision

Pasture quality is crucial postdocking.

“One farmer has a trigger point where they will wean if lambs are found to be growing at less than 200g/day in the last 30 days of lactation.”

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Most businesses wean lambs about day 90, but some wean fast-growing terminal lambs at day 6070 to take advantage of heavy carcaseweights and a high early works schedule.

These terminal ewes and lambs have often been run on crops such as plantain/clover or pure clover prior to weaning. The keeper lambs are weaned back on to similar feeds where they continue to grow at very high rates.

Breeding farmers often monitor pre-weaning lamb growth rates and ewe condition and use this information to make weaning date decisions.

One farmer has a trigger point where they will wean if lambs are found to be growing at less than 200g/day in the last 30 days of lactation. Ewe condition is also important in deciding when to wean, weaning when the proportion of tail-end or lighter ewes exceeds 40% in a mob.

Minimising stress on ewes and lambs at weaning time is a key consideration, with some farmers spreading weaning over several weeks.

The number of lambs to be killed or sold store is often predetermined by monitoring and good record keeping at pre-wean drenching.

Some farmers weigh, mark and put lambs back with their mothers to make booking space and the day of weaning easier. This also offers farmers more control over lamb marketing and frees up time for dagging lambs on the day.

All of the farmer panel avoid shearing lambs at weaning due to the stress and associated risks to animal health. Some dag all lambs at weaning and shear later to avoid flystrike, while others apply chemicals to provide short-term fly protection.

‘Dazzling’ at its best.

communicate closely with the buyer or agent.

Farm weighing must be fair for both parties, with scales properly calibrated. It is important to manage time off feed when truck weighing lambs.

If weaning starts at 6am, lambs may have been off feed for nine to 10 hours by the time the truck makes the weighbridge. This is not fair for the breeder. Weighing and marking lambs earlier, running them back in on the day of weaning, and trucking with only three hours off feed may be a more effective strategy.

Lamb finishers do not want to receive stressed, drought-affected lambs that have been standing in dusty yards for a long period of time, so are often happy with a farm weight as long as it is accurate.

• Richard Gavigan is a farmer and wool technology teacher.

Marketing lambs at weaning The panel offered a number of practical tips for effective lamb marketing. Carrying out a yield test 10 days prior to the main weaning was considered a good idea. Underestimating yield can mean killable lambs are left behind, while overestimating it can result in lambs killing under the cut-off weight and getting penalised on price.

All farmers book space well in advance and

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LIVESTOCK

Management

Ewes which lose body condition score late pregnancy and lactation need to recover it before the next mating.

Building for a good lambing BY: KEN GEENTY

A

s this year draws to a close it’s time to think about preparing your breeding stock for a good performance next year. Summerautumn is often when production is pretty much ‘set’ for the coming year.

Of crucial importance is maintenance or increasing of ewe body condition score, even though pressure often relaxes after weaning. This may mean a compromise between working ewes on cleaning up rougher paddocks but not letting them slip backwards at the same time.

In particular breeding ewes will probably have lost body condition during late pregnancy and lactation which needs to be recovered before next mating. It’s extremely difficult to avoid this loss in ewe body condition over pregnancylambing, particularly with higher lambing percentages.

The desired recovery in ewe body

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condition score (BCS) over summer in relation to the rest of the year is shown in the diagram.

The scenario portrayed is for a 55-60kg ewe maintained at BCS 2.5 or above, and having lost one condition score from mating to lamb drop. Similar principles will apply to lighter or heavier ewes. Also shown are ewe liveweight changes, allowing for the additional weight of developing lambs.

Changes in maternal body weight, ignoring weight of conceptus, being 5-7kg for each condition score.

The important rebuilding of ewe BCS over January-February prior to mating will require quality pastures about 3cm in average length meaning over 1200kg drymatter (DM)/ha, or the equivalent amount of tucker in rougher pastures or supplements. Your ewes will need about 15 megajoules of metabolisable energy, or 1.5g of pasture drymatter a day for liveweight gain.

The importance of gradual ewe BCS

recovery over summer is pretty much an insurance against relying on more rapid liveweight gain during March-April leading up to ram joining. This may not be possible if the season doesn’t come up to expectations. Ideally ewe BCS at joining should be about 3, often meaning a required increase of up to one condition score or 5kg liveweight since weaning.

Suddenly requiring 3-4cm pastures or 1500 kg DM/ha can be a big task unless autumn is being kind.

If feed supply allows it’s much more efficient and productive to hold ewe liveweight and BCS year round close to BCS 3 than to lose and regain. Over summer ewes will require 1-1.3kg of quality pasture DM a day, or the equivalent, to hold body condition score near 3.

The main determinant of the coming season’s lambing percentage is ovulation rate at mating. As well as ensuring BCS is 3 or above, an increasing level of nutrition immediately around the mating period,

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EWE BODY CONDITION SCORE (BCS)

SUMMER Rebuilding of BCS

AUTUMN: MATING BCS determines ovulation rate and lambing percentage

WINTER: PREGNANCY Up to one BCS can be lost especially with high lambing percentage

SPRING: LAMBING Ewes should slowly regain BCS for good milking and lamb growth

SUMMER: WEANING More BCS should be regained to at least three by mating

EȨwe condition score

65kg LW

60kg

4

Liveweight (LW) changes including weight of conceptus

10kg

4

Lambs born

Minimum condition score

3

3

55kg

10kg difference in liveweight

2

2

Pasture length (cm)

PASTURE LENGTH (cm) FOR EWES AND LAMBS

6

6

3

3

JAN

FEB

MARCH

known as the dynamic effect, will help ensure maximum release of eggs to be fertilised. A benefit of 5-10% in lamb drop can come from the additional eggs shed.

To nail this a change to fresh paddocks or ensuring existing pasture on offer is at least 1500kg DM/ha as rams go out will do the trick.

The ewe liveweight and BCS profile for your farm may be quite different to the one illustrated in the diagram. The key points to remember are achievement of good BCS of 3 or above at mating, minimizing losses over pregnancy and lactation to less than one condition score, and re-building to 3 plus by the following mating.

That’s the girls taken care off now for the boys. Having your rams in good nick is of paramount importance as each will sire up to 100 lambs.

As for the ewes, try not to let your ram team slip below BCS 3, whether newly purchased or retained from previous years. This means keeping an eye on them including regular shifts for exercise and ensuring feed is up to scratch. Then eight weeks before mating it’s recommended you have a veterinary check, or if competent done yourself, for things such as: • Wounds or fly-strike

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December 2021

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUG

Use closer to 50 ewes per ram with younger ewes and/or rams.

• Genital health including epididymitis, scrotal mange or pizzle rot • Foot problems which may compromise mobility • Sperm development takes about eight weeks so all sperm used at mating has been made well beforehand. During this eight week period good feeding and exercise, as well as the above health checks, are essential.

A contagious disease to be wary of

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

is brucellosis which may manifest as epididymitis. It reduces ram fertility and may cause abortion. Vaccination is generally not practiced so buying rams from accredited brucellosis-free flocks is the answer.

All the above become relatively more important in high-serving capacity situations where ram:ewe ratios are up about 1:100. Or where single-sire mating groups are used in ram breeding flocks.

Serving capacity and libido tests can be designed or carried out by reproductive experts in the above cases.

It is recommended to use lower ratios closer to 50 ewes per ram with younger ewes and/or rams.

Use of synchronisation or hastening onset of breeding activity can be done close to the start of mating using vasectomised rams which are put out with the ewes.

This is often used to stimulate hogget cycling. Identification of ewes in oestrus for artificial insemination can also be done with harnessed vasectomised rams carrying marking crayons. Vasectomies should be done by a vet at least six weeks before use.

• Ken Geenty is a primary industries consultant.

47

LIVESTOCK

Trace elements

It’s elementary, dear friends Deficiency of the trace elements cobalt, iodine, selenium, and copper are major factors in the raising of healthy livestock. Tom Ward writes.

T

race elements in animals, not in the soil, are the subject of this article although the two topics can be interrelated. It is not exhaustive in its scope and I caution against relying on it for onfarm decisions – consult your vet or other animal health professional before deciding on a course of action onfarm.

Cobalt essential Cobalt is essential for the synthesis of vitamin B12. A deficiency of vitamin B12 prevents conversion of propionic acid to glucose, meaning energy cannot be ingested, causing appetite loss.

Symptoms are usually low growth rates and loss of appetite in lambs, and in some cases discharges from the eyes. It is often misdiagnosed as worms.

48

Deficiency tends to occur in growthy seasons when trace element levels in pasture are diluted, and less soil is ingested.

Prevention by injection is generally cheaper than testing although liver biopsies from slaughtered animals could be worthwhile.

There are short acting injectables, e.g.

Prolaject B12 which lasts six or seven weeks with 1-2ml required; or long-acting injectable, for example Smart Shot, which contains selenium and lasts six or seven months which requires 0.5ml at docking (lasting six or seven weeks) followed by 1ml at weaning lasting another eight months.

Also, there are rumen capsules which last a year, and a 10g implanted pellet.

Cobalt sulphate can be applied with the fertiliser in spring (70g cobalt), although this can be unsatisfactory on soils where

high manganese can interfere with cobalt uptake by plants. Pasture must be spelled for four weeks. Cobalt deficiency is common on greywacke and sandstone soils.

Iodine deficiency This is rare, can be very seasonal and is often associated with pregnant ewes grazing brassicas. Iodine is an element of the thyroid hormones, which control metabolism, heat, and growth of various tissues such as the brain, and foetal development.

Clinical signs are an enlarged thyroid (goitre). There will be an increase in lamb mortality, especially in cold weather and lambs will be small and possibly hairless.

There are no reliable tests for iodine deficiency in the live animal.

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December 2021

“In my view (and others) there is a degree of paranoia among farmers with respect to molybdenum-induced copper deficiency.”

The best test is to post-mortem new-born dead calves/lambs to determine the ratio of thyroid weight to body weight; any lamb with thyroid greater than 0.80g/kg is deficient in iodine.

In addition, general observation of the weight of the dam’s thyroid as compared to bodyweight of the newborn, to determine if the dam was iodine-deficient during her pregnancy, is useful.

Deficiency in ewes can be treated by iodine drenching from mid-pregnancy, or long-acting iodine injection (Flexodine) pre-mating.

Importance of selenium Selenium protects cells and the immune system. About 30% of pastures contain insufficient selenium for livestock requirements. Clinical signs in sheep are poor lamb growth rates, white muscle disease in lambs, infertility in ewes (increased embryonic loss) and poor quality ram sperm. Selenium deficiency is more prevalent in growthy summers for sheep.

An increased risk of selenium deficiency can be alerted to by pasture analysis. Less than 0.03mg/kg DM suggest both sheep and cattle are at risk however this should be confirmed by blood or liver analysis.

For sheep, lambs should be sampled before weaning and ewes 4-5 weeks

before mating. Serum concentrations less than 50nmol/l are deficient, greater than 100nmol/L are adequate. Liver selenium levels of less than 250nmol/l are deficient, and greater than 450nmol/l adequate.

For cattle, selenium deficiency reduces conception rate, calf survival and growth rates. Calves become stiff and unable to stand (white muscle disease) and will be affected from one to four months after birth. Monitoring should occur just before calving and at least three months after any selenium treatment has been done. Cattle are deficient when selenium concentration in the blood is less than 130nmol/l.

Warning – selenium toxicity is possible if treatments are administered incorrectly.

You should confirm there really is a deficiency.

For cattle, selenium can be replaced with an oral drench, an injection, a pour-on, or added to the water supply through a

NANOMOLE/LITRE One nmol/l is an abbreviation for the words nanomole/litre. One nmol is one billionth (10 to the power of 9) of a mole, a mole being a measure which contains a large number of molecules or atoms (6 followed by 23 zeros).

Andy McLachlan of Brooklands Station, Tararua, administering vitamin B12.

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December 2021

dispenser. The drench and short-acting injection will give a rapid response and last six to eight weeks. Longer-acting supplements, lasting for 12 months, can be applied as injection or as a rumen bolus.

For sheep, a long-acting injection three or four weeks before mating will give protection until weaning. If the ewe is not treated, and their lamb deficient, the lamb can be treated at docking which gives 10 months protection.

If treatment is by drenching, the recommendation is four weeks pre-mating and again four weeks pre-lambing, then drench the lamb at docking. Lambs will require ongoing drenching at six to eight weeks.

Ewes can also be treated with a 10g pellet four weeks before mating. For both sheep and cattle selenium can be applied as prills to pasture with fertiliser, and care needs to be taken with both length of withholding periods (minimum four weeks) and the length of time the sheep get to graze on fertilised pasture (minimum eight weeks over mating, preferably 16 weeks).

Copper requirement Sheep have a lower requirement for copper than beef cattle, which have a lower requirement than deer. Deer are poor absorbers of copper due to their browsing habit. Deficiencies are more prevalent in poor summers as clover contains high concentrations of copper and can also be low in fast-growing new pasture due to dilution.

Deficiencies in lambs can often correct themselves as the grass naturally restores high copper levels. Nevertheless copper can get very low in sheep and cattle. In the central North Island some farms have copper deficiency which make remedying a molybdenum deficiency challenging, as very excessive molybdenum levels cause copper deficiency.

Liming has also been implicated as increasing pH increases the availability of Mo in the soil. In my view (and others) there is a degree of paranoia among farmers with respect to molybdenum-induced copper deficiency.

Clinical signs of animal copper deficiency include “swayback” where the animal loses control of its movement, similar to ryegrass staggers, and there can be a high incidence of broken legs when handling lambs.

Sub-clinical effects can include unexplained poor growth rates.

Low copper levels can be initially detected

Continues

››

49

by clover herbage analysis in the spring. Animal tissue analysis (Optigrow) or liver biopsy (postslaughter in sheep) would be more accurate – the liver has a large capacity for holding copper, so much can be held in reserve, buffering copper deficiencies while soil or animal deficiencies of molybdenum or copper are remedied.

Deficiencies can be corrected with a short term injection (three month), which is not very reliable, or with copper bullets (5g for adult sheep). Deficiencies in ewes are best corrected mid pregnancy rather than treating lambs.

Copper deficiency in cattle is usually expressed as poor growth rates in heifers or poor conception rates in cows. There is a certain risk in administering excessive copper – I have seen dairy calves die within 10 minutes of a copper injection. So “little and often” is the advice. That is moderate levels of copper applied as: copper sulphate in stock water system if possible, orally (copper sulphate with or without worm drench), rumen bullets, injection, or copper sulphate in solution on feed supplements. Copper in the fertiliser is very expensive.

• Tom Ward is a South Canterbury farm consultant.

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JEFF PEARSE

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LIVESTOCK

Stock check

In many high-performing flocks that difference is non-existent or within 5%. But in tougher summers this difference is bigger in many flocks. Two-tooth ewes, like their year-younger sisters, are weight sensitive.

We talk a lot about body condition score, but for these young age classes their real weight is very important.

Typically the weight range in two-tooths at mating is wide which usually means that too many are just too light to have multiple ovulations. This wide range is often an outcome of a ewe hogget lambing which did not get fed enough. That enough has to start in the winter, not just in the spring. But also in flocks in which the ewe hoggets are not lambed, unless there has been intervention to give preference to the lighter quarter or half, there will be a wide spread in mating weight.

The age class that suffers most from lack of care is two-tooth ewes.

Time to look ahead BY: TREVOR COOK

A

t discussion groups over the last month or two I have been getting lambing outcome figures from members - the number of lambs at scanning compared to the number that have tails cut off.

Most were between 78% and 83%. A small number were 84% to 86%. One outlier was a 3000+ ewe flock scanning 190% being left with 167%. So 88% survival.

All of those above 83% fed ewes well, particularly in the weeks coming into lambing. The mantra I quote so often is being applied to these flocks: “If a lamb stands and suckles within 20 minutes of being born it has a 95% chance of being alive 90 days later”.

Managing ewes to deliver vigorous lambs is the key to high lamb survival. Good body condition and not being in a negative energy balance coming into lambing allows ewes to deliver those vigorous lambs.

Those management inputs buffer the impact of bad lambing weather.

Both of these key ewe factors are totally manageable. Not taking lighter ewes into the winter and taking off lighter condition ones at pregnancy scanning minimises the number that are lighter at lambing.

Increased feed demand in late pregnancy

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December 2021

is predictable and can be planned for.

Therefore lamb survival does have a huge management component.

Obviously the starting point of the scanning percentage sets the potential. That had been explored with the groups a couple of months ago. That range was 150% to 200%. This is a huge range and the lower ones mostly blamed the dry summer. But in all groups that range existed so among the low were high ones, all farming in much the same area.

Protect scanning percentage When we know that the profitability of the flock is extremely sensitive to lambing percentage and with the scanning percentage being a major factor determining that, why is not more done to protect that scanning?

In some parts of the country supplementing ewes when the feed is not there in the autumn is standard practice.

The outcome is amazingly consistent ewe scannings. In other areas with just as uncertain summer/autumn feed supply, why is supplementing not standard practice? The cost benefit is well-known.

The age class that suffers most from lack of care is two-tooth ewes. My target is that the two-tooth ewes should scan within 10% of the mature ewes.

Setting the outcome Too often two-tooth ewes are not given enough attention over the summer to minimise the number that mate too light. This is a very good example of the minimum weight setting the outcome, not the average.

As this breeding season comes to an end the attention goes back to setting up the next. The genetic options are getting bigger as the standard production traits are beginning to take a back seat. Not that we can afford to not have ewes producing lots of heavy lambs.

Just being able to deliver the high outputs in the presence of unreliable summers and autumns is a genetic option to look for.

As well though, their ability to cope with worms, their methane output, their tail length, them not having wool, or just plain low input needs are all in the mix of what is available.

Some breeders have managed to incorporate some of these alternate traits while maintaining their basic production.

Thought has to be given to all of these alternatives as drench failure, animal welfare standards and environmental expectations have to be met.

It takes at least five years for new traits to filter enough through a flock to make a difference. Depending on the trait that could be over seven years. It is time to be looking ahead at what our sheep flock needs to look like in the future and considering if there are genetic options that can help get to that point.

The sooner any genetic change begins the sooner any benefits can be reaped.

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LIVESTOCK

Planning

Growing great two-tooths BY: RACHEL JOBLIN

their mature weight at mating time.

Weaning a good ewe lamb (over 28kg) makes reaching the targets more achievable.

What about keeping only twin-born ewe lambs? Ewes born and reared as twins may reach puberty at a similar age to single born lambs but at up to 3kg lighter. Research has shown that beyond hogget mating that bodyweight and condition score are more significant to achieving higher two-tooth scanning.

Breeding from well-grown hoggets provides benefits such as more lambs from the same number of sheep, faster generational turnover and the ability to use excess spring feed.

Massey University Professor Paul Kenyon’s research has demonstrated that ewes which showed hogget oestrus and/ or conceived have more lambs in their lifetime. The advantage may be up to 23 additional lambs/100 ewes over three matings, more than those that did not

P

roducing a high-performing twotooth generates significant value for the life of that sheep. The reality is a good two-tooth starts as a good ewe lamb and hogget.

What does experience tell us about getting a two-tooth flock that produces the maximum amount of lamb weight at weaning?

Setting liveweight targets and feeding to meet them is the foundation of sheep performance. With a target of 64kg at tupping time for a two-tooth, the monthly targets required to achieve this would look something like the table below for a traditional breed ewe. This is irrespective of whether ewe hoggets are put to the ram or not.

The targets are body weight – exclusive of wool and pregnancy-related weight. At mating ewes should be body condition score 3 or better. Hoggets should be 65% of

show oestrus as a hogget.

The potential 7.7 lambs/year/100 ewes is an opportunity that relies on achieving target liveweights and feeding through to two-tooth breeding.

As hoggets have less time between weaning and breeding as a two-tooth than mixed-aged ewes, consider weaning lambs at 60-70 days of age if lambs are 20kg or more. Hoggets under the target weight at weaning will have difficulty reaching target by two-tooth mating if fed poor quality summer pasture.

Gaining 10kg from weaning to twotooth mating requires a growth rate of at least 120g/head/day. This is often difficult due to both the quantity and quality of feed available during summer and early autumn. If management practice is to run the two-tooths with mixed age ewes it is difficult to visually monitor the weight and body condition of the two-tooths during this time.

Ewe hogget tupping

Table 1: Growth and weight targets

2th tupping weight

Weaning weight 30th Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Target bodyweights (end of month) kg

28

31

34

36

38

40

44

46

48

50

51

55

59

62

63

63

64

Target growth rates g/day

100

100

80

80

80

70

100

80

80

50

50

120

120

100

30

20

20

Ewe lamb birth

Utilise crop for improved growth

Hoggets under the target weight at weaning will have difficulty reaching target by two-tooth mating if fed poor quality summer pasture.

52

If faster growth is needed to reach the target two-tooth mating weight a summer forage crop should be considered. Some of the advantages of a crop include a bulk of feed, higher-quality feed, lower incidence of internal parasite larvae and toxins impacting ewe growth rates, health and fertility. Some client results have showed liveweight gains of 280g/ day are achievable on crop around mating time.

Does mating a portion of the lightest ewes on crop every year change how we plan and allocate crops?

Grazing out young sheep is an alternative.

As well as ensuring you end up with a twotooth that is up to weight it may provide the opportunity to divert the feed that they would otherwise have eaten to another class of stock.

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December 2021

A summer forage crop is a good option if faster growth is needed to reach the target two-tooth mating weight.

Depending on how the opportunity is used there may be a net zero cost or even better. Timing could be from weaning as a lamb and returning the following weaning, or in winter as a hogget and returning after weaning. This option comes into its own when there is no opportunity to grow crops on the home property, or it has unreliable growth patterns.

Two-tooth performance should not be affected by mating hoggets if they are well fed. Massey University has undertaken controlled studies that have shown either no effect or a positive effect on two-tooth breeding performance when two-tooths that lamb as a hogget are of a similar liveweight to those that did not lamb.

The results highlight the importance of adequate feeding in pregnancy and lactation.

The potential performance of an animal is determined by its genetics. Management determines how the potential is expressed; ‘10% breeding, 90% feeding’

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December 2021

serves as a reminder that feeding and ewe condition are critical to getting the desired performance. Without a doubt top performance requires top animal health to support it. Create a robust annual plan, implement the plan, and modify it if your management changes.

To be a top performer requires more planning, monitoring and measuring, and reviewing.

Make a plan that allows flexibility around whether hoggets are mated and the subsequent feeding and weaning decisions. Set some lines in the sand about lamb growth rates and ewe condition as the driver of the weaning decision.

Select the best ewe lambs and prioritise feeding from when they are weaned until they are bred as two-tooths and you have the best chance of a great two-tooth entering your flock, whose potential lifetime contribution is maximised.

• Rachel Joblin is an agribusiness consultant with BakerAg, Masterton.

Breeding from well-grown hoggets provides benefits.

53

LIVESTOCK

Northern Ireland

Online and onfarm to sell sheep BY: CHRIS MCCULLOUGH

H

osting his own onfarm annual sales of breeding beef heifers and sheep has proved to be a major success story for Northern Ireland farmer James Alexander.

Following a major farm restructuring back in 2014 James sold off the farm’s herd of 450 suckler cows, and steered the business into a new direction of supplying in-calf beef heifers and breeding sheep to other farmers.

This means buying in top-quality beef heifers to AI and as well as the best ewe lambs he can find in Scotland to use as his own flock replacements and as breeding stock for sale.

James farms in partnership with his parents Nelson and Anne, wife Ruth and their young family on their 1000-acre

(404ha) farm near Randalstown in County Antrim. As well as the livestock business trading under the name Jalex Livestock, James and Nelson have also run a used tractor and 4x4 business since the 1970s.

About 800 to 1000 heifers are on the farm at any one time and this year’s sheep flock consists of 550 Cheviot mule ewes and over 100 pedigree Suffolk sheep.

“I have always preferred breeding females and quality females, sheep or cattle, as replacements to sell for breeding, rather than producing the end product,” James says.

“This way, I have a goal in mind of what I want to produce and have to focus on the various elements to make up that animal, rather than solely on the quality of finished animal.”

With so many sheep to sell each year, in 2019 James decided to host his own sale

auction on his farm, setting up a ring and pens in one of the big sheds. The event was a resounding success and that set the benchmark for future sales.

However, when Covid-19 hit, the 2020 sale was very different as James took to the internet to help keep buyers safe. About 1000 sheep were sold on the farm through the ring but the sale was streamed online via the livestock mart app MartEye and with auctioneer Richard Beattie taking the bids in the ring.

MartEye was developed during the Covid-19 era to help livestock marts facilitate the sales of livestock for farmers when the markets were closed to the public.

This year’s August sale of sheep went very well again for James who continued the trend using the app, but this time the regulations allowed more buyers to be

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40 2th Dohne Rams Micron/Wool Weights, EMA/LW, Foot scores.

Imported Sires:

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Lambing % + 150% year in. At scanning average liveweight 78kgs (11 months) Ewe clip 20.5 micron average. Ram Hogget 18-18.5 micron. Pre-sale micron test average 21.9

Vendor: Richard Loe 027 208 5185 54

Agent: Hazlett Livestock - Geoff Wright Country-Wide

December 2021

physically present on the farm.

“An onfarm sale is more relaxing for the buyer as they get a chance to see round the farm and what type of stock you are keeping. It’s also easier on the stock with less haulage involved, and the online bidding adds that extra precedence which is needed with Covid-19,” James says.

“Online bidding makes a huge difference as people can either bid on the day at the sale, or from their own homes, or they can leave a proxy bid.”

With sheep trade prices well up this year in the United Kingdom and Ireland it was no surprise that the bidding was fast and furious at the sale held by James.

Passing through the ring were 500 Suffolk x Cheviot mules, 100 Suffolk x half-breds, 300 Cheviot mules and a selection of Beltex x Cheviot mules ewe lambs.

“We sold over 1000 sharp-headed hoggets with tight skins, plenty of character and bred to have plenty of lambs and milk, that we know will go on and be an asset to any flock. They are naturally grass-fed and will mature into super ewes.”

All of the sheep sold had high health status on Heptavac P system, were Enzo and Toxo vaccinated, dipped, and dosed ready for work. All of them were MV Accredited and quite a few were sold to buyers on the UK mainland.

“The sale went very well again this year, with prices slightly up as expected with the fat lamb and cull ewe trade being so good.

Around 300 sheep went to buyers across the Irish Sea in Scotland, England and Wales.

“Our Suffolk lots sold from £220 (NZ$437.58) per head to a select batch at £440 (NZ$875.16) per head. Cheviot Mules made from £220 each to £420 per head for a pair of show quality sheep. Most lots were £240 to £300 per head,” he says.

On August 20 James also held another farm and online sale, this time selling 75 tups he had bred including pedigree Suffolk rams and some Border Leicester rams among them.

Top price of the sale was £4300 (NZ$8552) a real eye-catching Suffolk ram.

“It was another super sale with big demand for quality rams,” James says.

“There was a ram for everyone at various prices to suit both the larger and smaller sheep farmer.”

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December 2021

Left: James Alexander: ‘I have a goal in mind of what I want to produce’.

Below: An onfarm sale is more relaxing for the buyer. Farmers give sheep a makeover to enhance their looks for showing or selling hence the yellow look.

Covid killed farmers’ social hub Livestock markets across rural Ireland form a vital social hub for farmers but this network collapsed when Covid-19 hit.

The industry quickly realised cattle and sheep needed to be sold to maintain a sustainable food chain and thus the digital mart was born to facilitate sales and generate much needed income for farmers.

Onfarm sales in Northern Ireland are mostly used for herd dispersals, usually dairy animals, and machinery sales. For James Alexander, it was the perfect solution to the challenging logistics of moving so many head of sheep and cattle to markets frequently throughout the year.

Pre-Covid-19 the digital sale from a livestock mart was uncommon but even

now when farmers can physically attend, the online version is still very much in play as a new tool for buying and selling livestock.

James ensures his sheep have a high health status before selling to buyers.

He used vaccinations like Heptavac P to help control clostridial diseases and pasteurellosis in sheep. Enzovax is used to reduce abortions. Toxo vaccines used to prevent ovine toxoplasmosis.

The Maedi Visna Accreditation Scheme is where farmers continue to test for the Maedi Visna virus. Ireland is free of MV but Great Britain is not therefore any sheep going to or from the mainland must come from a MV-accredited flock.

55

LIVESTOCK

Parasites

factors considered and discussed include: stocking policies, grazing management, fertiliser use, and cropping/regrassing strategies.

Your animal health adviser should not be working in isolation. They should be aware and involved with discussing the wider production strategy of the farm so that their recommendations are effective, relevant to your system, and practical to implement.

Core principles

Drenches used must be known to be effective against all worm species (at least 95%).

Reversing drench resistance BY: BEN ALLOTT

T

he steady progression of drench resistance in New Zealand sheep and cattle parasites has been highlighted in previous articles by myself and other Country-Wide contributors.

In recent years farms with triple resistant parasites have been reported regularly across the country.

A common question I encounter from farmers is, “can I reverse drench resistance or am I stuck with it?” In the past my answer was the industry accepted view at the time, “Once present on a farm, resistance to anthelmintics can be considered permanent”.

More recently, published studies have given me much more confidence that if the right steps are taken, and the problem is identified early enough, reversing drench resistance is a real-world possibility and should be the stated goal of parasite management plans.

Let’s start with the good news and the

56

motivation for change. In the article referenced (see Good oil), seven NZ farms were identified as having Teladorsagia (Ostertagia) worm populations resistant to more than one drench family. In year 1, faecal egg count reduction tests showed the average efficacy (across all seven farms) of the three major drench families against this worm to be: Albendazole 66%, Levamisole 66%, Ivermectin 55%.

After five years of being enrolled in a best practice parasite management programme the average efficacy across all seven farms had improved to: Albendazole 90%, Levamisole 85%, Ivermectin 86%.

These are truly game-changing improvements in efficacy over very short periods. How were these changes achieved?

First, the parasite management programmes implemented take a wholeof-farm approach. All aspects of livestock management were considered in a collaborative approach by the farmer, farm vet/parasitology adviser, farm consultant, livestock agent, and agronomist. Important

The parasite management plans differed between farms but were designed to align with the following core principles: • Always use effective anthelmintic products. Drenches used must be known to be effective against all worm species (at least 95%). This is far easier and cheaper to achieve when resistance is identified at an early stage when only single families are effective. It is much more challenging and expensive when combination drench resistance is found. Test your farm’s drench resistance status this season to identify resistance issues as early as possible.

• Maximise the opportunities for the provision of refugia. If you do not really understand refugia you must get an understanding of it. The provision of adequate refugia while maintaining a high level of stock performance and welfare is the number one priority to achieving a reversal of drench resistance.

In these seven farms the main way this was achieved was to minimise the treatment of adult sheep, ensuring treated lambs and untreated ewes grazed over the same pastures as much as possible.

• Avoid over-use of anthelmintics. Every use of drench on the farm should be based on demonstrated need. Discuss with your adviser how you should be assessing if a stock class definitely needs a drench.

Take the guesswork out of it. Ask your adviser to discuss options for: FEC-driven drenching, extending drench intervals in young stock while maintaining productivity, targeted selective treatment.

Adjust policies • Maximise the use of cross-grazing (cattle, deer, sheep) and the use of crops to minimise parasite challenge to young stock, then adjust drenching policies as a result of lower parasite challenge.

When you implement stocking policy changes, grazing management changes, or integrate larger cropping areas to reduce

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December 2021

GOOD OIL For those interested in reading a more detailed article on the subject I recommend, “Evidence for reversion towards anthelmintic susceptibility in Teladorsagia circumcincta in response to resistance management programmes”. At the time of writing this article could be found in full, for no cost, at https://www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/ pii/S2211320715000020

parasite contamination of feed, these are done with the key purpose of allowing you to reduce the amount of drench used in the system. If you implement these changes but do not reduce the amount of drench you use you will not see a reversal of resistant parasites.

• Do not administer anthelmintic treatments at intervals shorter than 28 days to allow for some limited contamination of pastures with susceptible genotypes (refugia). This

policy relates directly to lamb drenching.

Note: this principle does not state that 28d intervals is the optimum timing for every situation. In many cases, e.g. effective cross-grazing, lamb finishing on crop, or FEC-resistant sheep genetics, lamb drench intervals can be successfully extended past 28 days with minimal production loss. Discuss this with your adviser in detail.

Long-term impact • Reduce and avoid the use of anthelmintic products with persistent activity. The most common products that come to mind are long-acting injections, capsules, and oral products that have extended control claims. If you are in the habit of routinely using long-acting products across large numbers of stock for pre-lamb treatments in the spring, barbers-pole protection in the summer/autumn, or to reduce the number of times you get lambs in during the summer you need to consider the long-term impact on selecting for resistant parasites.

• Use a knockout drench, containing a new anthelmintic class, to lambs in late summer to remove resistant genotype worms which have accumulated over previous treatments.

• Ensure animals are not drenched on to new/clean pastures (low refugia areas) unless other strategies are in place to ensure adequate refugia is provided (e.g. treated lambs followed by untreated adult sheep).

• Implement an effective quarantine process to prevent resistant parasites entering the farm with stock purchases.

The final comment I want to make is that while the above process may seem daunting it will be far easier to implement, with fewer drastic farm systems changes if it is tackled while drench efficacy is high.

Do not ignore drench resistance if your drench tests look good. It is far easier to maintain high efficacy than to reverse out of a problem once it is severe. Oh, and go book a drench efficacy test now.

• Ben Allott is a North Canterbury veterinarian.

WIN

One of two $500 CopRice dog food prizes We’d love to see your best photos of your dog being active, playing or working hard. We’ll pick two of our favourites and each will get to top up their dog bowl with $500 worth of CopRice dog food.

Get your photos to us either online or by email.

You can check us out on social media too, see who’s amongst it all - and be part of the conversation!

Entries close Thursday December 16, 2021.

Winners will be drawn on Friday December 17

Enter anytime between Monday September 30 - Sunday October 27.

Facebook - CountryWideNZ Young Country

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Instagram - @nzcountry_wide @youngcountrynz

Email - competitions@nzfarmlife.co.nz

57

DEER

Finishing

System rethink needed BY: LYNDA GRAY

T

hink about an alternative weaner finishing system.

That was the message from Southland farm consultant Graham Butcher following the presentation of gross margins for a range of livestock enterprises at a Southland Advance Party Deer Group meeting in November at Otautau.

The Farmax-based analysis is a broad comparison of Southland sheep, beef, deer and dairy support systems based on c/kgDM consumed and average pricing/costs.

Gross margins (c/kg DM) for Southland deer-based enterprises Red hinds, selling weaners 6.9 Red hinds, weaner finishing 9.4 Velvet (non selected) 9.5

58

Buying weaner deer for finishing 11.0 Wapiti/Elk early kill 11.7 Velvet (industry average) 14.1 Velvet (elite) 23.5 Source: Graham Butcher, Rural Solutions Of the 26 enterprises modelled, Red hind/ selling weaners was the worst performer recording a gross margin of 6.9c/kg drymatter (DM) consumed. A Red hinds and weaner finishing system achieved a gross margin of 9.4c/kg DM, which was in a similar range to the finishing of autumnbought steer calves (8.9c/kg DM) or heifer calves (8.3c/kg DM) both finished as R2s; or breeding cows calved at two years old and their progeny finished (8.8c/kg DM).

Butcher said deer farmers tend to focus on finishing yearlings for the spring chilled market after the first winter, but in Southland that was often too difficult.

“When you think about it, venison production is possibly the most difficult enterprise to get right in the Southland climate and growing environment.”

He said hinds fawn in November, which was not a good match with pasture growth and quality factors. Their reproductive performance was still not brilliant, and in winter a deer’s growth rate naturally declined so the opportunity to grow weaners post weaning to premium spring values were limited.

Model 1: Standard Southland Red breeding hind/R1 weaner finishing with limited Spring premium sales.

540 MA hinds 60 R2 hinds 262 R1 hinds 262 R1 stags 20 breeding stags

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December 2021

Gross Revenue kg CW

$/kg

Total*

Red breeding hind & R1 finishing for chilled market

Red breeding hind & R1/R2 finishing for chilled market

Cull hinds

63

$6.60

$19,167

195

R1 hinds

60

$6.80

$74,845

Total feed consumed

1,219,973kg DM

1,313,330kg DM

184

R1 stags

62

$5.20

$54,816

Gross income

$195,771

$231,625

R1 stags (premium)

62

$7.20

$29,956

Direct expenses

$81,476

$93,769

Breeding stags

105

$5.00

$988

Gross margin

$114,295

$137, 856

kg velvet

$/kg

Gross margin

9.36c

10.49c (+12%)

49

71 2

20

Breeding stags

4.3

120.00

$10,045

92

Spikers

0.4

165.00

$ 5,954

Total

$195,771 *less fees/levy

Less Direct costs/interest on stock capital @ 3.5%

$114,244

kg DM consumed

1,219,973

GM per kg DM

9.36c/kg/DM

Venison production 30,807kg Total venison income $179,772 Average venison price/kg $5.84 (net fees & levy)

Under the revised system the goal was to kill R2s at an average of 72kg CW, meaning that half would exceed this weight. Stags likely to exceed 85kg CW, the weight at which carcases are typically discounted because they exceed cut size specifications, could be kept until velvet is harvested to offset the drop in schedule price. Butcher calculated the marginal benefit based on October 2021 schedule prices.

Gross margin for heavyweight stags 72kg CW stag @ $7.20 $518 80kg CW stag @ $6.60 $552 99kg CW stag @ $5.80 $574 Keep 99kg CW stag 60 days, achieving 300g daily LWG, consuming 3.8kg DM/day, total consumed: 228kg DM

Sensitivity Average venison price/kg

c/kg DM

$4.84

6.84

$5.84

9.36

$6.84

11.89 Source: Graham Butcher, Rural Solution

Butcher suggested changing the timing of finishing to increase net income and the resulting gross margin. In practical terms that meant focusing on the top line of weaners - those that may make the chilled market following their first winter - and holding the rest for selling into the chilled market after their second winter.

This approach had the potential to lift the gross margin by 12% to 10.5c/kg DM.

Kill at 109kg CW @ $4.40 $480 Cut 2kg velvet @$110 $220 Total $700 Less velveting, killing charges/freight $49.35 Total $650.95 ($650.95 - $574)/228kg DM = 33.7c/kg DM He said the model would mean heavier carcases arriving in the cutting rooms so processors would need to be consulted.

Some farmers questioned growth rates used in the analysis but the point of the exercise was to show how a change from the standard to an easier system more suited to the Southland environment could increase venison production and income.

CRUNCH TIME AT WEANING The venison-based results of the gross margin analysis came as no surprise to deer farmers, including NZDFA chair John Somerville.

A second year of depressed venison prices had some, especially those in mixed sheep, beef and deer enterprises, questioning their future with deer. It was likely that some would start swapping out hinds for more sheep or cattle.

“The crunch time will be weaning next year, so it’s crucial we have some positive indications in the New Year that prices are lifting,” Somerville said.

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December 2021

Farmer frustration had led to a letter in August from him, on behalf of NZDFA members, to the five venison exporters and DINZ board.

The letter acknowledged the effort venison companies went to following the onset of Covid to clear farms of late season stock, as well as the effect the pandemic had on traditional foodservice markets. However, many farmers felt alternative markets had been slow to develop given the focus on new market development over recent years under the industry’s P2P programme.

Somerville said venison exporters had responded, most pointing to early signs of market recovery and price improvement in the New Year, although there were no indications as to what exactly that meant in dollar terms.

“We don’t want to be negative; we want to be constructive but also echo our member concerns… we want exporters to see it from our point of view.

He said they wanted more direct communication.

59

r d u en o b e h t f g

y jur in

Eas in

DOG FOOD GUIDE

Good working dogs are more than trusted companions – they’re valuable team members too. Rebecca Greaves looked at insurance for working dogs.

What’s available and is it worth the cost?

W

hen Alice Beamish and Simon Franklin’s dog required an emergency caesarean, they were intent on saving the bitch’s life. Having insurance removed the financial burden of the procedure.

Insuring their working dogs gives them peace of mind that if injury or even death happens, some of the cost is removed.

Alice and Simon are sheep and beef farmers at Weber, and have 15 dogs.

Alice says Simon enjoys starting young dogs and breeding. They tend to keep a few from each litter.

60

“We insure because with that many dogs, within a year, something is bound to happen.”.

In the past year, they have had the caesarean, an operation on a leg and a young pup with a stomach upset. She says the insurance premium is always well and truly covered.

The caesarean was an emergency and a risk to the dog’s life. They needed a vet certificate, but it was covered.

“She’s back working now and some of her pups are even working.”

All of their dogs are covered with FMG under an unspecified policy. They usually

have young dogs rather than buying older established dogs that are more valuable.

Alice says they spend $819 a year in premiums with a total insured value of $17,000 for 10 dogs.

“We wouldn’t have another piece of machinery or equipment on our farm worth upwards of $5000 that’s not insured.

Dogs are valuable tools, it pays to have them insured.

“Also, we are relatively new farm owners and our debt is quite high.”

She says there is some financial pressure and they don’t want to have to make an animal welfare decision based on finances.

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December 2021

Southland farmer Olivia Weatherburn works for B+LNZ. Her husband is a stock manager on a sheep and beef block at Mossburn. Between them they have six working dogs (one retired), five of which are insured with FMG. As well as providing funds towards any vet bills, it gives them cover of up to $3000 in replacement value (for one dog) should it die.

“We had one get hung up in the yards at weaning a few years ago and it needed to have a leg amputated.”

This was covered by FMG and prolonged his working life, he’s still at work.

They also claimed on another dog that did a cruciate ligament and, although he is no longer able to work, he is fully recovered.

Olivia says they had no problems with either claim and the process was straightforward, with a vet certificate.

She says taking out insurance for the dogs is about lowering the risk. If one dog a year had to go to the vet, that’s more than the annual cost of the insurance.

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December 2021

‘We wouldn’t have another piece of machinery or equipment on our farm worth upwards of $5000 that’s not insured. Dogs are valuable tools, it pays to have them insured.’

Oliva says insurance lowers the financial stress, “it’s stressful because they’re out, and you’re worried about them – they’re your companion every day.”

What's on offer?

FMG rural segment manager, Angela Hogg, says the company’s policy covers dogs used as part of farming operations, for both owners and employees.

If specified farm dogs need replacing during the period of insurance, FMG will cover the new on the same terms and for the same amount, until the next renewal date.

Additional dogs would be automatically covered for up to $5000 each, if notification was within 30 days of buying.

Specified farm dogs would be paid fair market value and unspecified farm dogs, up to $3000. One event that may affect more than one unspecified dog payment is limited to the amount shown on the certificate.

She says fair market value is the price if the dog was to be sold immediately before the loss.

Hogg says there are more than 200,000 working dogs in NZ and in the past four years FMG has averaged about 459 dogrelated claims a year.

61

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Freecall 0508 267 742

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® Registered trademark of CopRice, a division of RiceGrowers Limited 62

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December 2021

DOG FOOD GUIDE

Summary of general information provided by dog food suppliers Product name

Type

AAFCO status

Ingredients list (first 3 only)

Refrigeration needed?

Chicken meal (25%), steel- cut oats (23%), fresh chicken meat (5%)

N

Lamb meat meal, beef meat meal, oats

N

Formulated

Wheat, meal and bone derived from beef and lamb, animal fat

N

Kibble

Approved

Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef, lamb and/or pork), legumes, wholegrain barley

N

Cobber Complete Puppy

Kibble

Approved

Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef, lamb and/or pork), legumes, wholegrain barley

N

Cobber Working Dog

Kibble

Approved

Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef, lamb and/or pork), legumes, wholegrain barley

N

Cobber Active Dog

Kibble

Approved

Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef, lamb and/or pork) and fish and fish by-products, legumes, wholegrain barley

N

Cobber Senior Dog

Kibble

Approved

Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef, lamb and/or pork) and fish and fish by-products, wholegrain wheat, wholegrain barley

N

CopRice Working Dog Adult Beef

Kibble

Formulated

Beef and chicken meat with by products, rice, cereals

N

CopRice Working Dog Adult Chicken

Kibble

Formulated

Chicken meat with by products, rice, cereals

N

CopRice Working Dog Puppy

Kibble

Formulated

Chicken and beef meat with by products, rice, cereals

N

CopRice Working Dog Senior

Kibble

Formulated

Chicken meat with by products, rice, cereals

N

Eukanuba Premium Performance

Kibble

Approved

Chicken, chicken by-product meal, corn meal

N

Hills Science Diet Adult Active

Kibble

Formulated

Whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, pork fat

N

K9 Natural Frozen Beef Feast

Frozen raw

No

Beef, beef liver, beef tripe

Y

Mighty Mix Frozen Concentrate

Frozen concentrate

No

Fats, meats and products derived from meat (beef, mutton, pork) salmon, cereal

Y

Mighty Mix Large Dog Formula

Biscuit

Formulated

Cereal; meat products and fats (beef & mutton); honey

N

Nutrience Performance 30/20 Formula

Kibble

Formulated

Chicken meal, oatmeal, chicken fat

N

Kibble

Formulated

Meat and meat by-products (poultry, beef &/or lamb), wheat, wheat bran

N

Dog roll

Formulated

NZ Possum meat, lamb & beef, semolina

O

PRO PLAN Performance All Sizes/Ages

Kibble

Approved

Chicken, animal fat, brewers rice

N

PRO PLAN Performance Extreme 32/30

Kibble

Approved

Chicken and fish, animal fat, oats and wheat protein

N

Royal Canin Endurance 4800

Kibble

FEDIAF

Dehydrated poultry protein, animal fats, rice

N

Superior Chunky Original

Dog roll

Formulated

NZ beef and lamb, semolina

O

Tux Energy

Biscuit

Approved

Cereals &/or cereal by-products, meat & animal by-products and fats derived from beef/sheep/poultry/goat or venison

N

TUX Energy Extra

Kibble

Approved

Chicken and beef products and fats (dehydrated chicken and beef protein, beef fat which may contain sheep, venison and goat); cereals and cereal products; natural flavour and vegetable oil

N

Ultra Active Working Dog

Kibble

Exceeds

Beef meal, ground corn, dried blood

N

Wag Garlic & Rice

Dog roll

Formulated

Chicken, lamb, rice

Y

Wag Original

Dog roll

Formulated

Chicken, beef, lamb

Y

Acana Prairie Poultry

Kibble

Formulated

BlackHawk Working Dog Adult Formula

Kibble

Approved

Champ Max Biscuits

Biscuit

Cobber Complete Puppy

Pedigree Working Dog Formula Possyum Supreme

Y

Yes

NZ

N

No

Australia

O

Once opened

France Canada USA

Country-Wide

December 2021

Made in

North

NOTES • AAFCO status: Approved-has passed independent AAFCO testing, considered non-toxic, a complete and balanced diet.

Formulated-good intent to meet AAFCO standards but not AAFCO tested.

• FEDIAF:- indicates the product complies with the European Federation of Pet Food Manufacturers’ (FEDIAF) standards.

AAFCO standards.

• Ingredients are listed in order of proportion, highest listed first. Only first three are listed in this table. In general, where the first is a high-quality ingredient, the shorter the full list, the higher the food quality.

• Mighty Mix recommends feeding their frozen concentrate with Mighty Mix large dog formula, either together or alternately.

• All products listed are claimed to be complete and balanced diets

63

DOG FOOD GUIDE

m

Li

r the f e t f a ar e f

Former working dogs are finding new lives with domestic pet owners after a life of toil on the hills thanks to the work of a former vet nurse. By Rebecca Greaves.

H

undreds of retired working dogs have found loving new homes thanks to the tireless efforts of the Retired Working Dogs New Zealand (RWDNZ) Charitable Trust.

When dogs come to the end of their working life, have injuries that mean they are no longer able to do the job, or even those dogs that simply don’t want to work, farmers face the problem of what to do with them. Many of these dogs are more than just valuable workers on farms, they are loyal and trusted companions.

Founded in 2012 by Natalie Smith, who was then working as a vet nurse in Pahiatua, the trust provides a platform for farmers to advertise retired, injured or failed working dogs, and pig dogs. The trust also takes into foster care those dogs

that are unable to stay onfarm.

Former working dogs make wonderful pets and are so popular that they have a long waiting list of people wanting to rehome one, Natalie says.

“These dogs have the most beautiful farm working manners. Someone said to me once, ‘you know what you are getting with a working dog’, and I think that’s true.”

From small beginnings, Natalie started rehoming local dogs and things slowly grew from there. It was when Totally Vets got involved and vet Helen Sheard and vet nurse Kayla Groves came on board as trustees that they launched as a charitable trust, and things really shifted up a gear.

Natalie vividly remembers being thrilled when the Facebook page had received 50 likes – today the page has more than 27,500

followers and page views on their website have clocked more than 903,000. The trust has rehomed well in excess of 500 dogs and, since 2016, has listed 1343 dogs on behalf on its website.

The trust relies solely on volunteers, sponsors and donations to run. Feed is the biggest expense and Coprice is the feed sponsor, providing food for all the dogs in foster care.

“We couldn’t do it without them. Feed is our biggest cost, followed by vet bills. We’re really lucky that Totally Vets does us a great deal there. As for money coming in, it’s all donations.”

Natalie was thrilled this year to be included as one of the charities people could opt to donate to as part of the Landcare Trust Rural Partners Survey.

Photo above: Minty, who retired after a long career, now spends her days as a much loved pet. Photo: Lucia Zanmonti Photography.

64

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December 2021

Summary of nutritional information provided by dog food suppliers

"People also really like the failed dogs. They’re perfect because they don’t want to chase sheep and are ideal as a running or adventure buddy.”

While it’s not possible to claim a 100% success rate, as most dogs are advertised on behalf of their owners, Natalie says they always tell farmers to let them know if they’re having trouble rehoming their dog, and RWDNZ will happily take it into foster care.

Farmers fill out a form to apply, which generates an ad for the dog that is shared to the Facebook page and website.

“There’s a huge demand, dogs tend to find homes really quickly and we have a huge waiting list of people looking for dogs.

Where possible, we reserve space in foster for failed, retired or injured working dogs.”

The most popular dogs are those ready for retirement, but still able to potter around a few sheep on a small block, which appeals to lifestylers and retired farmers who may still have a small landholding.

“My advice to farmers is, if your dog is slowing down, rehome them now when they can still cruise around and enjoy a nice retirement. People also really like the failed dogs. They’re perfect because they don’t want to chase sheep and are ideal as a running or adventure buddy.”

Natalie says it is a great feeling to have made a difference for so many dogs and their owners. “I have met the most incredible dog people doing this. Together

Continues p67

››

(%)

Moisture (%)

M Energy (k/cal kg)

5

29.5

12

3493

32

3

23

10

4090

15

20

2.5 max

40

10

3200

Cobber Complete Puppy

15

30

4

10

3500

Cobber Complete Puppy

15

30

4

10

3500

Cobber Working Dog

18

26

4

10

3600

Cobber Active Dog

13

24

4.5

10

3300

Cobber Senior Dog

10

24

4.5

10

3100

CopRice Working Dog Adult Beef

15

25

3.8

37

12

3850

CopRice Working Dog Adult Chicken

15

25

3.8

38

12

3850

CopRice Working Dog Puppy

15

29

3.8

36

12

3550

CopRice Working Dog Senior

10

24

4.5

43

12

3200

20 min

30 min

4 crude max

31.3

10 max

3768

9

4211

Product name

Fat (%)

Protein (%)

Fibre (%)

Carbs

Acana Prairie Poultry

17

29

BlackHawk Working Dog Adult Formula

22

Champ Max Biscuits

Eukanuba Premium Performance Hills Science Diet Adult Active

35 min

2.6

3.7

8 max

5269

Mighty Mix Frozen Concentrate

53

25

5.1

11.7

31.1

5800

Mighty Mix Large Dog Formula

12

23

1.9

42.3

11

3729

20 min

30 min

3.0 max

23

10 max

3920

15

24

2.5

45

7

3600

8 min

21.5 min

1.09 max

65

No data

4000

PRO PLAN Performance All Sizes/Ages

21

30

3 max

31.1

8.5

3900

PRO PLAN Performance Extreme 32/30

30

32

2 max

22.6

7

4640

Royal Canin Endurance 4800

30

32

6

15.9

8 max

4549

10 min

21 min

1.1 max

62

No data

4000

Tux Energy

18

20

4 max

46.4

8.7

3750

TUX Energy Extra

20

25

4 max

36

8.5

3840

15 min

30 min

4 max

No data

10 max

3187

Wag Garlic & Rice

28

39

3.7

17

Dry basis

4400

Wag Original

28

39

3.7

18

Dry basis

4350

Nutrience Performance 30/20 Formula Pedigree Working Dog Formula Possyum Supreme

Superior Chunky Original

NOTES

December 2021

1.8 DM% 33.2 DM%

37 min

K9 Natural Frozen Beef Feast

Ultra Active Working Dog

Country-Wide

27.2 DM% 31.7 DM%

• Content of fat, protein and other ingredients may be specific i.e 20%; or vague i.e at least 20% or up to 20%.

• Fat provides the energy for endurance work. Veterinary Enterprises Group (VetEnt) guidelines say hardworking farm dogs should have at least 20% animal fat.

• Good-quality protein is needed for repair and recovery. VetEnt’s recommends a minimum of 30% animal protein.

• Fibre is the indigestible carbohydrate portion and as a general rule should not be more than 10%.

• Carbohydrates are needed for sprint type energy.

• Energy: Farm dogs get most of their energy from fat. Energy may be quoted as “energy”, “gross energy”, “digestible energy” or the most relevant, “metabolisable energy (ME)” which is the energy available to the dog.

Energy requirements should consider the intensity, frequency and duration of work.

• The consensus of most veterinarians is that a working dog’s diet should be based on high fat and protein and “low” or “low to moderate” carbohydrate.

• Nutritional data is presented on a drymatter basis.

65

THE NEXT ADVENTURE STARTS WITH COBBER. Cobber is a range of nutritionally balanced dog foods developed to provide our four-legged friends with all the vitamins, minerals and prebiotics they need to fuel their next adventure. The range includes Cobber Working Dog, Cobber Active Dog, Cobber Senior Dog and Cobber Complete Puppy. So, regardless of the type of dog you have, the Cobber range has the product to have them feeling fit, healthy and happy.

Try Cobber today and let the next adventure begin.

Please email sales@cobber.co.nz for your nearest stockists of Cobber

cobber.co.nz 66

Country-Wide

December 2021

we have saved so many dogs and you can see farmers really appreciate it too.”

Her message to farmers is that the demand for these dogs is there.

“Don’t think no one will want your oneyear-old useless heading dog – they will. It might not be the dog for you onfarm, but it might be someone else’s new best friend.”

Natalie is always keen to hear from people with knowledge of working dogs who might be able to provide farm-based foster care. If you would like more information about RWDNZ or to donate, visit retiredworkingdogs.org.nz

Spur and Ace both had workplace accidents resulting in leg amputations.

These boys have been adopted and are living a wonderful active life with two other retired working dogs. Charlotte Rundgren Photography.

Summary of daily rations recommended by dog food suppliers Product name

25kg highly active dog required/day

Pack/price details

Grams of food/day

$/day

Pack size (kg)

RRP ($)

Acana Prairie Poultry

335

3.44

17

$174.50

BlackHawk Working Dog Adult Formula

478

3.34

20

$139.90

Champ Max Biscuits

510

1.33

25

$54.99

Cobber Complete Puppy

Puppy food/ Age Dependent

Puppy food/ Age Dependent

8

$59.99

Cobber Complete Puppy

Puppy food/ Age Dependent

Puppy food/ Age Dependent

20

$109.99

Cobber Working Dog

295

1.33

20

$89.99

Cobber Active Dog

320

1.44

20

$89.99

Cobber Senior Dog

270

1.21

20

$89.99

CopRice Working Dog Adult Beef

400

1.09

20

$54.50

400

1.09

20

$54.50

CopRice Working Dog Puppy

Puppy food/ Age dependant

Puppy food/ Age dependant

15

$43.50

CopRice Working Dog Senior

400

1.09

20

$54.50

Eukanuba Premium Performance

355

2.57

20

$145.00

Hills Science Diet Adult Active

297

2.75

20.4

$188.99

K9 Natural Frozen Beef Feast

500

4.87

20

$194.99

CopRice Working Dog Adult Chicken

Mighty Mix Frozen + Large Dog

288.5

1.36

25 + 20

$101+103

Mighty Mix Frozen Concentrate

225

0.94

25

$104.00

Mighty Mix Large Dog Formula

352

1.85

20

$105.00

Nutrience Performance 30/20 Formula

347

2.54

15

$110.00

Pedigree Working Dog Formula

500

2.00

20

$79.90

Possyum Supreme

400

1.50

2

$7.49

PRO PLAN Performance All Sizes/Ages

508

4.32

20

$169.99

PRO PLAN Performance Extreme 32/30

543

5.09

18

$169.99

Royal Canin Endurance 4800

550

4.63

20

$168.44

Superior Chunky Original

400

1.51

2.2

$8.30

Tux Energy

490

1.57

25

$79.99

TUX Energy Extra

410

1.74

20

$84.99

Ultra Active Working Dog

200

1.35

20

$135.00

Wag Garlic & Rice

1200

3.20

3

$7.99

Wag Original

1200

3.20

3

$7.99

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December 2021

NOTES • A dog’s nutritional requirements vary with size, age, workload, reproductive status and climatic conditions.

• Daily rations quoted are those recommended by suppliers and may be based on different nutritional assumptions.

• Monitoring body condition is the best way to fine-tune ration sizes for a particular food.

• Farm dogs should ideally have a condition score of four on the Nestle Purina Body Condition System: • Ribs easily palpable, with minimal fat covering.

• Waist easily noted, viewed from above.

• Abdominal tuck evident.

• Recommended retail prices from suppliers may vary from those seen at retailers, and bulk purchasing and specials reduce costs. Prices may vary from those in this table.

• Prices include GST. PRICES CAN BE MISLEADING • Different bag sizes make the price for each bag irrelevant. Price per kilogram also has little relevance because daily rations vary widely between products. The calculated cost for each dog per day must be balanced against food quality, which should be the major consideration for working dogs.

• For hard-working farm dogs, energy is an important factor in assessing rations. A 25kg dog has a resting energy requirement (RER) of about 820kcal per day.

For dogs’ mustering, it’s more likely to be three to five times their RER, equating to about 2500kcal4000kcal.

• This is a wide range but then so is their workload. Knowing the ME of a specific food means a daily energy requirement (DER) can be used to determine the daily ration of a food needed to provide this energy.

• Daily ration (kg) = DER (kcal) /ME (kcal/kg) • For example, the daily ration of 4000kcal/kg to provide 2500kcal: DER = 2500 / 4000 = 0.625kg or 625g.

67

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December 2021

at for e r t t d r a

A

s og

t

DOG FOOD GUIDE

There is a saying, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but after turning to pet food production after 50 years of farming, John Newlands may beg to differ. He talks to Ashley Smyth about how Radical Dog started, how it is going and where it is heading.

W

hen it comes to food for dogs, Radical Dog could be the pick of the crop.

The dog biscuits are made using Montmorency tart cherries and are the brainchild of John and Maureen Newlands, of Incholme, near Maheno.

In the late 1980s, the couple were considering options to integrate something different into their farming business which used their irrigation more efficiently, and they wanted to grow something high yielding and profitable, within a small land area. ‘‘We had a prerequisite when we started that whatever we grew had to be healthy for the human body, had to be mechanically harvested and there had to be a demand for it,’’ John Newlands says.

Before Google existed, hours were spent

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December 2021

coming up with a list of ideas, and years were spent trialling those ideas to differing degrees. Montmorency cherries eventually came out on top, and the Cherryvite business was established. ‘‘So we put [the cherries] in a lot of highend supermarkets in New Zealand. But one of our problems was we didn’t realise how difficult it would be to educate the New Zealand people on the health benefits of tart cherries. ‘‘They all knew about sweet cherries — nice to eat, but not a lot of goodness — whereas tart cherries are, as they sound, bitter to eat, but packed full of healthpromoting properties.’’

The Newlands found a niche market among Eastern Europeans living in NZ, especially Christchurch, as it was part of their staple diet. ‘‘But, unfortunately, when the

69

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December 2021

earthquakes came, that turned everything on its head and we lost most of our business, just like that.’’

Meanwhile, the NZ beer industry was also exploring the use of tart cherries, after seeing the success sour beers were having overseas. ‘‘They consumed everything we could produce ... So that went very well, and then our dog biscuits came along.’’

The dog biscuits were a bit of an accident, Newlands says. ‘‘The farm dogs and our companion house pet would come with us when we were picking cherries. And the first year, we didn’t realise, but they were just scoffing all the cherries under the trees, stones and all. ‘‘It wasn’t until the second year, we realised ‘wow’, these dogs were looking brilliant.’’

They talked to companion dog breeders, to gauge interest in dog biscuits using the cherries. They showed interest, provided the dogs would eat them, he says. ‘‘At that stage I’d been farming in excess of 50 years, so I thought I still had some life left in me yet for a new venture, and we decided to give it a go.’’

It was by no means a straightforward exercise and animal nutritionists, told them they were ‘‘dreaming’’ — ‘‘you couldn’t put fruit into dog biscuits, and all the rest of it.’’

But eventually they found someone willing to help.

The next couple of years were spent perfecting the product. They would make a batch in the kitchen, send it to Massey University for testing, and when it was sent back, try again.

Once the right recipe was found, a factory was established onfarm, in an existing building.

The next hurdle was how to market a product that was completely new to the pet food market. They had ‘‘perhaps

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December 2021

John Newlands.

Photo: Otago Daily Times.

underestimated’’ that difficulty, Newlands says.

The year they launched, ‘‘hundreds and hundreds’’ of samples were handed out at the Wanaka A&P Show, but they had very little response. ‘‘That really was an expensive publicity exercise and it didn’t go down too well. All people wanted was freebies.’’

Production ticked over slowly. Biscuits were baked one day a week. And then TVNZ’s Country Calendar came calling. ‘‘Of course, the family said, ‘No way. No. Definitely not’,’’ he says. ‘‘Everybody was totally against it, didn’t want to do it. ‘‘We’re not extroverts, we’re all introverts as a family, we all like to keep low-key.’’

But after some gentle persuasion, the family came around.

Filming lasted four days. The crew came for the spring blossom, and then again for the summer harvest.

The show screened on April 9, 2017. ‘‘They had pre-warned us that it would be a boost to our business.

But we never in our wildest dreams realised what it would do. ‘‘On our website, there’s a place where you can put a wee tick, ‘where did you hear about us’, and I think 50% would still be Country Calendar. ‘‘So it just went gangbusters. It was the weekend before Easter weekend, and we just spent the whole week dispatching. So that really put us on the map.’’

There was still work to be done, but as time went on, less of it was spent chasing new customers, he says. ‘‘Now we have prospective customers coming to us.’’

Radical Dog is stocked South Island-wide

by Foodstuffs supermarkets, and they ware ere looking to do the same in the North Island. It is also exported to Singapore.

It took customers some time to appreciate the product is NZ-made.

As well as being a treat, it is a suitable complete food and supplement and is very high in natural antioxidants, Newlands says.

It is accredited by the American Association of Feed Controls, which means it contains a ‘‘certain level of goodness’’.

Radical Dog now has two team members producing biscuits full time, and their Oamaru-based daughter, Kathryn Kawau, is in charge of dispatch.

The Newlands, their son Snow and his wife Nicola all own quarter shares in the business, while Snow and Nicola continue to run the farm.

Options for the future of Radical Dog are landing on Newlands’ desk and ‘‘look exciting’’, he says.

• Courtesy of Otago Daily Times.

71

Grant McMaster General Manager, Closeburn Station Central Otago

Farm life is unpredictable.

72

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December 2021

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Country-Wide

December 2021

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73

CROP & FORAGE

CROP & FORAGE

UPGRADE STOPS 45% WATER LOSS Pipes replacing an open canal have transformed water supply to a Waitaki Valley irrigation scheme.

Story: Terry Brosnahan Photos: Chris Sullivan

74

A

56-year-old North Otago irrigation scheme has become so efficient it has more than doubled the area which can be irrigated and has water on tap.

The Kurow-Duntroon Irrigation Company (KDIC) spent $45 million on changing from an open canal to a pipe scheme. This has stopped up to 45% water loss before it makes it to the paddocks. It has enabled an extra 3500ha to be watered and given users surety of supply.

At this time of the year irrigators in the Waitaki Valley would be flat out irrigating even if soil moisture was fine.

Farmers were on a rostered rotation and would irrigate just in case it became dry and the water allocation was not available.

Now the water is available all the time.

The water comes out of Lake Waitaki and is piped to Duntroon with an outlet at each farm.

Geoff Keeling is one of the dairy and red meat farmers using the community scheme.

Keeling has a lower order sharemilker milking 1550 cows and has eight centre-pivots. When Country-Wide visited in early November there was just one running. Normally all would be running.

He said farmers can now be more proactive in not irrigating

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December 2021

Above: The Waitaki Dam is the water source for the irrigation scheme. Right: Duntroon farmer and former KDIC chairman Geoff Keeling.

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because they know the water is always there when required.

“It is now just in time whereas it used to be just in case.”

The KDIC director and former chairman said after 20 years of mucking around with rostered water and making sure the water allocation was used, he doesn’t have to worry about access to water.

The Keelings’ farm was at the end of the scheme so if anyone upstream went outside their allocated time they suffered.

The original scheme was built to deliver less water further down the scheme. Often in peak demand there would be times when users did not receive their full allocation.

Back in 2014 Environment Canterbury granted the KDIC a 35-year consent to take 26 million cubic metres/a year but the efficiency of the scheme had to be improved within five years.

The company decided to upgrade and expand the scheme.

Money to pay for the work was raised by selling more

December 2021

shares and existing shareholders contributed significant capital.

KDIC decided to invest heavily and improve the scheme by using the latest technology.

Monadelphous Engineering NZ were contracted to build the scheme and work started in 2019.

Keeling said there was some difficulty getting the small block users on board but many knew the rules and regulations were coming for water users.

“Doing nothing wasn’t an option.”

Shareholders are charged a ‘per share’ price payable on a monthly basis, of $600/share/year.

They also pay fixed monthly charges that cover the cost of running the scheme and financing any debt – regardless of whether they use all their water.

Any shareholder who receives water that has gone through a pump station pays their proportion of the electricity used for that month – on a water used basis.

He said with the rebuild of the scheme the fixed charges are triple what they were previously.

Keeling said an electricity component was considered

75

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COR-CWPSTBR-CTA0019 December 2021

briefly, however the scheme has minimal fall and any generation would have cost more than it delivered in benefits. A larger siphon and pipe was needed along with an improved rotary fish screen.

Chairman Jock Webster said there was an agreement in place for KDIC to obtain more water by buying shares in the Mackenzie Irrigation Company.

“We are so lucky the water in the Waitaki is 100% reliable all year round.”

After the scheme was built later that year complaints arose. Part of the pipeline was above the ground and blocked the view of the Waitaki river. It was next to SH83 and a bike trail.

The Waitaki District Council issued an abatement notice. KDIC claimed it wasn’t done correctly and Monadelphous hired a company to put the pipes underground.

Webster said the cost of the remedial work was in negotiation.

Efficiency is also happening behind the farmgate. Farmers are using improved technology and practices to grow more with less water.

Farmers have gone from wild flooding to border-dyke which changed to k-line and centrepivots. Now fixed grid irrigation is used, ground sprinklers on posts in a grid pattern.

Keeling said efficiency comes with a price which the users bear.

“It costs a lot of money to be efficient.”

In other irrigation areas less border-dyking and irrigating had lowered well water levels.

Anecdotally he heard there had been, but so far in the first year of the piped scheme operating about 300mm rain had fallen. There had also been minimal levels of winter snowpack in the tributaries.

Top: Irrigation pipes from the Kurow-Duntroon Irrigation Company project in the Waitaki Valley area, North Otago. Above: Geoff Keeling at one of the scheme outlets on his farm.

There are larger pipe schemes but they were built from scratch.

He said KDIC was the first of the governmentbuilt schemes of the 1960s and ’70s that went through consent renewal and had to effectively undertake a complete rebuild.

The Ministry of Works built the scheme in 1965 to water 1600ha. A pump and an extra 400ha were added in 1971.

The government sold it in 1989 for $1 to the community’s Upper Waitaki Irrigation Company which changed its name to KDIC in 2015.

The upgrade of the scheme has extended the scheme’s life which initially was for 80 years.

Webster said when the scheme was first built there was no consideration for farm plans and environmental regulations like today. It is quite a challenge for irrigators to adapt to changes but they do to meet consent.

The efficiency of the improved scheme was good for farmers and the environment.

One of the eight on centre-pivots on the Keelings' farm.

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December 2021

• More photos p90.

77

CROP & FORAGE

Technology

SAVING TIME WITH TECHNOLOGY BY: JOANNA GRIGG

D

uncan Grigg from Meadowbank Station, Marlborough, said he can’t imagine living without an automated tank monitoring system.

Using technology from Knode, the water level of six tanks across 800 hectares of the hill country are measured every 15 minutes. If any drop below a set level, an alarm is sent to Duncan’s smartphone and computer.

“I can see the levels at any time and the alarm system sends an alert if a tank is emptying below a trigger-level.”

With a high-pressure water system feeding 150 troughs, leaks can spill water quickly.

Knowing which tank has the problem has been a huge saving in time and money.

“It takes a long time to refill eight tanks plus water stock, so catching issues early saves a lot of money.”

The electricity cost to pump water to tanks and the seven houses on the system

is about $1000 a month.

Six of the eight 30,000-litre tanks have a pressure-sensitive measurement device inside the tank. Outside the tank is a transmitter that sends messages to a cloud platform accessed by Grigg and his stock manager Simon Peake. They can see which tank is emptying, how quickly it’s emptying and how much water is left.

The type of package Meadowbank bought means they own the equipment outright.

The Griggs pay a monthly subscription fee for data sent to the platform and two users.

The water system feeds 250 cows, close to 3000 ewes, and young stock including, at times, 100 bulls and 270 yearling cattle.

He said it had made it easy to work out which troughed area is causing the problem.

“In the past it would take up to two hours just to drive around all eight tanks.”

The pump is set to start-up when tanks are 88% full.

“It takes a long time to refill eight tanks plus water stock, so catching issues early saves a lot of money.”

Six tanks over 800 hectares of Meadowbank’s Marlborough hill country are being monitored every 15 minutes. The transmitter should last more than three years on three AA batteries.

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December 2021

He said in the old days, the only warning there was a problem was the light being on at the pump.”

“But it was guesswork where the problem was.”

Low power radio networks allow real-time tank data to be transmitted to the home office computer or phone dashboard.

Real time tank info The peak time for discovering stock water issues is usually right at the end of a summer’s day. Locating and fixing a bust ballcock, with thirsty cattle as spectators, can make for a stressful evening’s job.

There are several tank monitor systems on the market that can give farmers warning of decreasing levels. Some require line of sight (tank to house) while some require WiFi coverage to reach from the house.

Richie Wildman, mechanical engineer, has created a real-time monitoring system that sends data via low power radio networks. This means it works over much of NZ’s farmland and can cover distances of up to 140km. The newer transmitters can run for more than three years on three AA batteries. The technology, known as Knode, was created by Wildman along with a farm consultant, farmer and tech founder.

The water node devices measure tank levels, pipeline flow and pressure. These very small pieces of data are sent over whatever system is best for the farm area.

This could be SigFox, LoraWAN, NB-iOT or Cat M1. Subscription fees range from $12.50 to $25 a month.

“The important thing is we find the right solution that works best for the farm situation,” Wildman said.

To get the text alarm message or email on a phone, farmers need to be within cell network coverage, or in a WiFi area.

Richard Wildman, developer of Knode is pictured with water measuring gear. Photo supplied.

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December 2021

Wildman saw the hassles water systems can cause after growing up on a hill country farm in Te Kuiti. After 15 years in the oil and gas and insurance industries he returned to NZ and went into business with friends to create automated monitoring options for farmers.

As well as farm water monitoring, Knode can monitor irrigation, effluent systems, weather and soil information.

“It can alert users if they are close to exceeding consent thresholds.”

Wildman said there had been a lot of interest from sheep and beef farmers who wanted to be able to snooze their water pump remotely.

“So they can sit down for dinner and not have to get up and turn off the pump.” “We are looking to provide this capability in the near future.”

The company has a soil moisture probe which takes measurements of temperature, salinity and moisture at 10 cm intervals down to 80cm.

He said it was valuable information in dairy, horticulture and vineyards.

Another application of the technology is asset tracking for contractors who hire out plants, or for onfarm security reasons. A matchbox-sized node attached to machinery can update its location at regular intervals, or when moving.

He said testing it in the ag world had meant it has been highly successful when bought to other market sectors, based on the operating environment and the need for something affordable and reliable.

“Farms are a great proving ground for any type of technology.”

Knode is working with councils and industrial facilities to apply the technology to remote monitoring of larger water networks.

79

CROP & FORAGE

Management

Cows on wintering feed.

Winter grazing contingency costs BY: KERRY DWYER

R

ecently I have had some conversations with clients about the cost of dairy grazing for next winter. Maybe this is more a southern South Island issue than for the rest of New Zealand, but how do we factor in the cost of contingencies to meet environmental regulations?

Leaving cattle on crops when it gets too wet is not what the world wants to see, so what are the options and costs if we have to get the cattle off?

Farmers who graze dairy cows over winter may be looking at the figures in Table 1, showing an income of $35/cow/

80

week will net about 17c/kg drymatter (DM) depending on the crop growing cost, feed ratios and balage costs.

We have not allowed for any transitioning of the cows from a grass diet to crop and back again, so maybe this alters the figures, depending on how you value the grass consumed. And maybe the $1200/ ha direct cost for growing kale will not stack up for the coming year due to the rampant cost inflation we are facing.

Tweak these figures to your business and see how they look.

If we put the grazing price up to $40/week the net rises to 22c/kg DM. Also, we have not factored in the total cost of providing the crop, which is the lost

pasture for the time the paddock(s) is out of pasture. That may be as high as 10c/kg DM depending on your system, but most farmers will keep it simple and look at the direct costs only.

The conversations with my farmer clients have then focused on contingency planning for a repeat of this year’s wet winter – they have to take the cows off the crop due to extremely wet soils and provide them with alternate grazing. Leaving them on the crop and potentially incurring the wrath of the regional council is not an attractive option, especially when they are someone else’s stock.

Taking the cows off the crop means either feed padding them or offering a pasture

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December 2021

Table 1: Example wintering costs and income Grazing 500 dairy cows for 8 weeks over winter Feed required

500 cows at 8 weeks at 15kg DM/cow/day = 420,000kg DM Assume 3/4’s crop = 315,000kg DM/15t DM/ha kale crop = 21ha Assume 1/4 balage = 105,000kg DM/200kg DM/bale = 520 bales

Feed costs

Kale growing costs of $1200/ha = 8c/kg DM Balage at $80/bale = 40c/kg DM Overall average feed cost = 16c/kg DM

Income

$35/cow/week / 105kg DM/cow/week = 33c/kg DM gross Less direct costs = 17c/kg DM net

Table 2: Cost of contingency plans to get cows off crop area

“In my view (and others) there is a degree of paranoia among farmers with respect to molybdenum-induced copper deficiency. area at a lighter stocking rate to lessen soil damage. Table Two shows likely costs of either of these options.

If the cows come off the crop on to a feed pad, with a whole diet of balage, then allowing the same feeding level the grazier loses money feeding the herd. In the worst case scenario of 20 days off the crop that totals $12,000 lost as against the remaining profit $46,000. The overall profit drops to $34,000 or 8c/kg DM for the wintering experience.

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December 2021

Worst case scenario

Cows off the crop area for 20 days 500 cows @ 15kg DM/cow/day = 7500kg DM/day

Feed pad and balage diet

7500kgDM/day = 38 bales/day

38 bales @ 20 days = 760 bales

@ $80/bale = $60,800 balage @ 40c/kg DM = minus 7c/kg DM net from the grazing income Cost of feedpad construction & compliance?

Offering pasture area only: to lighten stocking rate allow 100m2/cow/day?

500 cows = 5ha/day times 20 days = 100ha Pasture cover of 1500kg DM/ha available = 15kg DM/cow/day Costing the grass at 10c/kgDM gives net return of 23c/kg DM

Offering pasture area and balage: to lighten stocking rate to 50m2/ cow/day

500 cows = 2.5ha/day times 20 days = 50ha Pasture cover of 1500kgDM/ha available = 7.5kg DM/cow/day Balage required of 3750kg DM/day = 19 bales/day Costing the grass at 10c and balage at 40c gives net return of 8c/kg DM

Stocking rate on crop

500 cows / 21ha crop over 60 days = 0.35ha/day = 7m2/cow/day = serious pugging in wet conditions

What we haven’t factored into this job is the cost of providing a compliant feed pad, for a facility capable of handling 500 cows that may be in the six to seven digit range which doesn’t really stack up when the net income from the deal is $71,000 on the basis of eight weeks on the crop paddocks.

If the case of taking the cows off the crop and providing a whole pasture diet at a low stocking rate then the economics are preserved, depending on what price you put on the pasture. At 100sq m/cow/ day pugging damage should be minimal except keeping the cows spread out will be difficult. Daily shifts and back-fencing might be essential to preserve pastures.

Taking the cows off the crop and providing half their diet as pasture and half as balage is a possible contingency plan also. While showing a net income half that of the on-crop feeding it is a better option than large fines for not being compliant with grazing regulations.

There is no clear-cut easy answer to

planning for the contingency of getting cattle off crop paddocks when it gets too wet.

Get a handle on the costs and options before you get hurt facing that reality.

You can tweak the figures for a beef cattle finishing system: what is the likely income to be gained by winter weight gain on beef cattle versus the normal rise in store cattle prices over winter?

My clients tend to agree that having 50-100ha of pasture saved as a contingency plan does not stack up for them (for a 500 dairy cow wintering plan); the likelihood of having 5-7ha of kale ungrazed because the cows have to go home does not stack up for them either.

The contingency of having another 380760 bales of balage on hand and possibly not used doesn’t excite them, nor does spending a few hundred thousand on a covered or uncovered feedpad. Neither does the possibility of being in the Environment Court.

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ENVIRONMENT

Freshwater

The upper Taieri scroll plain is unlike any other inland river habitat in the Southern Hemisphere. By definition, a scroll plain occurs where a river snakes its way across an area with a very low gradient. In addition to meanders, scroll plains are also characterised by many oxbow lakes and bogs which help store water and release it slowly into the river system, buffering low and flood flows.

Looking for community connection BY: VICTORIA O’SULLIVAN

B

uilding a multi-million-dollar water care project in a year has been no mean feat for a group of dedicated Maniototo locals. Each is ardent about preserving and enhancing the values of the upper Taieri Catchment in Otago.

The five-year Tiaki Maniototo project run by local catchment group, Upper Taieri Wai, received $4.55 million from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) towards freshwater improvement in the Taieri catchment this year. When combined with the in-kind support from other agencies and farmers, the total budget amounts to about $6m.

Project manager Morgan Trotter says the project is about improving freshwater quality, ecosystem values and biodiversity in the Upper Taieri catchment. Trotter previously spent 17 years working for Fish & Game in the region and has more than 20 years’ experience in freshwater

82

environmental management. While the focus of the project is creation of jobs and environmental outcomes there is a “massive” opportunity to help farmers through upcoming regulatory changes.

He says perhaps the most important part of the project is developing a catchment management plan to improve water quality while maintaining the financial viability of the farms.

“There are a lot of regulatory changes coming, and we want to help farmers through those.”

With the project now off the ground, they are looking to gain the support of the community and stakeholders around them, as they realise this is crucial to influencing the larger outcomes brought on by regulation.

The funds will be used for 16 projects which will eventually lead into the formulation of a large-scale catchment management plan. These include the establishment of 90,000 riparian plants,

200km of fencing, pest control, water quality monitoring (specifically around E. coli and sediment loss). So far they have undertaken a large-scale geese cull, planted 1000 trees on a local dairy farm and fencing is about to get underway.

The river is known for its brown trout fishing and the group is working with the walking access commission to improve recreational and amenity values.

“There are a few old picnic areas that have become run down and we would like to revitalise them,” Trotter says.

One of the major hurdles they face is the redelineation of the wetlands surrounding the Taieri River scroll plain.

“We are hoping to work closely with Otago Regional Council (ORC) when it comes to ground truthing what’s wetland and what’s pasture on the ground and have some influence there.”

Once they have worked through this with the ORC it will allow them to get the 'right fences in the right place’.

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December 2021

regulation to achieve the right outcome.”

Cutting through the bureaucracy is an ongoing challenge for the project team.

Regulations are evolving within Otago and at this stage they are not sure how government direction will be interpreted on the ground, which creates a lot of uncertainty, Project administration officer and Patearoa farmer Janine Smith says there is still some denial in the community that regulation is coming, and the shifting goal posts don’t help.

‘There are a lot of regulatory changes coming, and we want to help farmers through those.’

Top: Morgan Trotter, Emma Crutchley and Janine Smith of Tiaki Maniototo. Above: Riparian planting.

Bringing the community along Puketoi farmer Emma Crutchley’s family has had a long association with water in the Maniototo. Her father, Geoff Crutchley, instigated the Upper Taieri Wai Catchment group, one of the first large-scale integrated catchment management projects in New Zealand. He was awarded a Queen's Service Medal in 2019 for services to water management.

Emma has taken over the mantle from her father, advocating for farmers in the areas of irrigation and freshwater management. She spent countless hours pulling together the Tiaki Maniototo submission to the Freshwater Improvement Fund and it isn’t lost on her how important the community buy-in will be to the success of the project.

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December 2021

“One thing that is front of mind is giving everyone involved ownership of the programme. If you’ve got everyone together, you’ve got buy-in.”

She says a common misconception around environmental issues is that they will be solved by regulation alone.

The research is quite clear that outcomes are driven by people working together and buying into solutions around water quality.

“We can chip away for five years and do some planting and fencing and that would be nice… but the real win will be when we can bring everyone together for outcomes that are going to last longer.”

They want to preserve the hydrology and other key values.

“With all those factors interacting it’s going to take more than just one blanket

“I think sometimes it seems like [change] is all too big, too much for people, and to a certain extent there is a lot of it that isn’t logical and doesn’t make sense.

“But [with the project] we are able to try and do something about it.”

Smith says it is not about convincing anyone, it’s about reassuring people the project is all about assisting landowners to find their way through regulations.

“To even have the energy to find out what stands to be lost – because once [regulation] happens there is no going back.”

Trotter agrees. He says the fencing subsidy is perhaps a good foot in the door. They will be able to meet with farmers and talk to them about the project, helping them financially in different areas. Hopefully it will encourage them to join.

Success to him would be getting a pragmatic management plan over the greater scroll plain that allowed grazing over the higher, drier areas to manage long grass and willows, while taking a closer look at the impacts of intensive farming in the area.

In the meantime, the group is committed to gaining traction.

Crutchley says it has been difficult making decisions when they don’t have all the information at hand.

Smith says they held a community workshop and got some positive feedback from the 100 people that attended.

Project support is being provided by ORC, DOC, B+LNZ, Fish & Game, Walking Access Commission, University of Otago and Otago Catchments Community.

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ENVIRONMENT

N leaching

Low nitrogen loss under maize Researchers have gone to great depths to see how deep maize roots will grow to reduce nitrogen loss.

Raewyn Densley reports.

A

n increasing focus on the environmental sustainability of farming led a maize seed company to embark on a comprehensive research programme.

“We started off with four key questions and then we set out trials and demonstrations to help answer them,” says Dr Rowland Tsimba, National Research and Agronomy Manager for Pioneerbrand seeds.

The questions were how deep maize roots grow, can they extract nitrogen from depth, what are the nitrogen leaching losses under maize and what is the impact of a winter catch crop (vs a winter fallow period) on reducing nitrogen leaching losses?

To quantify how far maize could root in unimpeded soils, the research team built a rhizotron - a soil-filled box with doors which could be opened to reveal a transparent perspex window. Maize seeds were planted at the top and their roots could be viewed as they grew down through the soil profile.

The first rhizotron was around 2.5 metres deep but within 10 weeks of planting the roots had reached the bottom so the next season a larger, 3.8m deep rhizotron was constructed.

“We used a fork-lift to plant the maize seeds in the top and we monitored the root depth on a weekly basis,” Rowland says. “At 70 days post-planting the maize plants were

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Rhizotron showing the rooting depth of maize.

about 95cm high, but the roots were almost double that and within a week of the maize plant tasseling, the roots had reached the bottom of the rhizotron.”

“We all knew maize roots went deep, but we were all surprised just how fast they grew and what the potential rooting depth was in an unimpeded soil. The next question was whether those deep roots were actually capable of taking up nitrogen.”

N-15 trial work Naturally occurring nitrogen is a mix of two stable isotopes: the vast majority (99.6%) is N-14 with the remainder being N-15. In the 1930s researchers developed a method of concentrating N-15 and today N15-

enriched nitrogen can be purchased, at high cost, for research purposes. N-15 has been used extensively in nitrogen uptake studies across a range of agricultural and horticultural crops.

Maize was planted using a conventional planter and a starter fertiliser of DAP was applied at 40kg N/ha. When the maize was about shin height (V6) urea was broadcast at 75kg N/ha across the trial area.

“Within a week of applying the urea, we injected 30kgN/ha of N-15-enriched nitrogen to a depth of 60, 90 or 120cm under each plant within the centre row of each treatment plant,” Rowland says. “An equivalent amount of standard urea was broadcast on the centre row of the control

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Figure 1: Percentage of N-15 recovered in the grain when applied at 60, 90 and 120cm depth.

Control

0.37%

1.07%

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B

90cm

1.31%

1.21%

120cm

0.00%

0.20%

0.40%

0.60%

0.80%

1.00%

B

B 1.20%

1.40%

% of N-15 in maize grain

*Means with the same letter are not statistically different

Nitrogen leaching under maize In last month’s Dairy Exporter, we reported on a nitrogen leaching trial which has been conducted in the Waikato for the past three seasons. It has demonstrated very low (6-7kg N/ha) annual leaching losses from maize and a winter crop system but higher losses (around 64 kg N/ha) when the ground was left fallow after maize silage harvest.

“An annual N-loss of less than 10kg/ha is extremely low,” Ian says.

“While some historic trials and modelling may have suggested that maize contributed to N-leaching, we now have hard data to show that it can be part of the solution for local dairy farmers.

“The Waikato N-leaching trial was replicated at Ashley Dene in Canterbury where an existing infrastructure with suction cups inserted at 70cm was used.

During the 2019/20 season, 26kg N/ha was recorded at 70cm under the catch crop.

Based on our research in the Waikato, we know that measurements conducted at 70cm will overestimate loss by about 350%

A

60cm Soil depth (cm)

plants at the same time.”

Ten consecutive plants were marked, and ears, leaves and husks were dried and finely ground. A representative sample was collected and sent to the University of California Davis Stable Isotope Facility for analysis.

The results showed uptake of N-15 into the grain was the same regardless of whether it was inserted at 60, 90 or 120cm depth.

This research showed that roots not only grow to 120cm or beyond, but that they are also capable of extracting N at depth.

“This was an exciting result because it shows that maize is a great option for removing nitrogen which has dropped below the rooting depth of shallow-rooted pasture species like ryegrass and clover,” Ian Williams, Farm Systems and Environment Specialist for Pioneer says.

“It is further evidence of the value of maize to mop up surplus nitrogen in grazed winter crop and effluent paddocks.

“We also know that regardless as to whether you direct drill or cultivate, when you take out a permanent pasture to regrass it there is a nitrogen loss associated with the mineralisation of root material. Spraying out the paddock you want to regrass and planting it in maize in the spring could be a better option than going directly from grass-to-grass in the autumn.”

Maize leaf showing the punch holes for sampling for N-15 analysis.

for a deep-rooted crop like maize. This means the actual N-loss from the South Island maize plus catch crop trial are likely to be less than 10kg N/ha.

Winter cover crops One of the key take-home messages of the nitrogen leaching trial work was the importance of having something in the ground and growing over the winter months.

“Whether you are growing maize for silage or grain, it is really important to get a crop or pasture established and keep it growing over the winter,” Ian says. “Any crop will require nitrogen and water and therefore it will reduce both the amount

of nitrogen in the soil and the drainage volume.”

In the period October 22, 2020, to August 31, 2021, the Waikato trial site had a rainfall volume of 1021mm.

A drainage volume equivalent of 265mm rainfall was collected from under the maizefallow plots while just 90mm was collected from under the maize-ryegrass plots.

“The reduction in water drainage through the soil profile really surprised us,” Rowland says. “We knew plants used water through the transpiration process but before we did this trial, we did not have a good grasp of the magnitude, especially during the winter period.”

Over the past decade maize breeders have made significant advances in the grain and silage yield potential of short maturity maize hybrids.

“Grain growers throughout the country, and maize silage growers in cooler districts used to view maize silage as a 12-month crop because it was harvested too late to allow the establishment of a winter crop,” says Ian. “That has changed, and shorter maturity hybrids can now offer growers from Canterbury north the ability to get an economic yield and still get the crop off in time to plant something else.”

• First published in NZ Dairy Exporter October 2021.

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COMMUNITY

Computers

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for

s Window

users

used to t e g u yo years, ks that c r i o r f t r d e put s an ws com are many tip ills. o d n i W e used a ut ther By Kirstin M b e , v ’ y a u o w . y When certain ng life easier a s g n i i t th pu doing ur com o y e k a can m Navigation in web browsers

Wifi password

• If you have a mouse with a wheel, you may use that to scroll up and down a web page, or perhaps use the page up and page down buttons. But did you know you can just use the spacebar to scroll down and hold the shift key and spacebar to scroll up?

• Holding the Ctrl button and pressing the T key opens a new tab, while Ctrl W closes it (the latter also closes files in many software products). Ctrl shift T will reopen a tab you accidentally closed down (you can also find such tabs in your browser History, but the shortcut is much faster).

• Ctrl + and Ctrl - lets you zoom in and out.

Ever bought a new device and realised you can’t remember your wifi password? If you have not changed it from the default one on the bottom of your modem, then you can find it there, but if you have changed it, there is a way to find out what it is. Click the Windows button and type “Control Panel”. Click on the Control Panel when it appears in the search results and then use its search function to search for “Network and Sharing Centre” and click on it in the search results list. Click on your wifi name and then the Wireless Properties button that displays in the “WiFi Status” box. Then choose the Security tab and check the Show characters box to see your password.

Microsoft navigation

+

D

• If you have a lot of windows open on your computer and you want to minimise all but the one you’re working on, try clicking on the title bar and shaking it back and forth. All the other windows will minimise, leaving you with the one programme and less clutter around it.

• You may already know the Windows key and the D key used together will take you to your desktop. But if you’re more of a mouse user, then you may prefer to click the thin line on the very right of the taskbar (just beside the notifications icon).

=

Display and hide your desktop

• Did you know that you can pin a file you are working on regularly to the top of your recently used files list in Office products like Word and Excel? Click File > Open > hover over the file you want to pin and click the pin icon (or right click on the file and select Pin to list). When you no longer need the file so often you can unpin by following the same process: click the pin icon on the pinned file and it’ll be removed from your list (or right click and select Unpin from this list).

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Checking the “Show characters” box allows you to discover a lost wi-fi password.

Managing space The longer you have your computer, the more files you will have, including many you do not need. To purge some files, click the Start button, select the Settings cog on the left and choose System and then Storage from the list on the left-hand side. You’ll see your drive listed. You can click on Temporary files to remove unneeded files and can even configure Storage Sense to automatically or manually run (see the on/off button) at the top of the page. This will free up space by ditching files you do not need. You can also click on things like apps and features to see what programmes are taking up the most room on your computer.

Finally, getting rid of temporary files or large apps you no longer use can free up valuable space on your computer.

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COMMUNITY

Advice

Dear Aunty Thistledown, I fear the supermarkets will drive me over the edge. The queues, the bouncers, stumbling down the aisles with fogged up glasses to elbow in for the last of the dairy products.

It’s the world’s most tedious night club. Please, I beg you, there has to be a better way.

Regards, Shopper on the edge

Dearest Shopper, I don’t want to admit defeat too early, but, reading between the lines, I think this might be a matter for the police. Who is making you go to the supermarket?

Do they have weapons? Should I call someone on your behalf?

I, for one, very rarely go to the supermarket. Not after the first lockdown when our weekly online order of six litres of milk and 3kg of yoghurt was swiftly recategorised as “panic shopping”. We learned that our entrenched shopping habits, which had always been celebrated in the past, were morally bankrupt and we were left to fend for ourselves.

Thankfully, we discovered that there is a vast array of local businesses that provide the same goods as the supermarket. If you ask around, someone will tell you their dealer.

We struck it lucky with a local food wholesaler who supplies bakeries and

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restaurants. Kaans could not possibly look down on us for buying multiple bottles of milk when they were brazenly dealing 2.5kg cans of tomatoes and four-litre flagons of olive oil.

But, we have a dedicated milk supplier now. It’s a slippery slope, this shopping around thing. We have turned to harder stuff. We are now buying milk powder.

We get it delivered 8kg at a time from Milligans.co.nz. Yes, it’s the same people who make your pet lamb’s milk, but I promise you this stuff is for humans. A delivery costs us $86 and it makes up 64 litres of the sweet white stuff. That’s about $1.35/L for milk. We just wanted the milk, but we will take that 50% discount too.

We mix it up in a 2L Sistema juice jug with an electric whisk and pop it in the fridge. Visitors will often assume that we keep a house cow or that we know where to find a milk vending machine. Either way, it tastes the same as whatever milk people have decided they are drinking.

We also use the powder to keep us in yoghurt. Ruapehu District Council, for reasons unknown, has detailed information on turning milk powder into yoghurt on its website. We have one of those easy-yo makers which is basically a glorified thermos for holding a jar in boiling water. If you look in your “just in case” cupboard of clutter, you probably own one too. If not, Ruapehu DC says you can get by with a jar wrapped in a blanket.

The more milk powder you put into your yoghurt mix, the sweeter and thicker it will be. Although sweetness is in the eye of the beholder, you may like to add some sugar or berries to your yoghurt once it’s done.

We make a thick Greek-type yoghurt 1L at a time. This is two cups of milk powder (about $2.70’s worth) into a 1L jar with a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt retained from the last batch.

Or, a sachet of starter culture (about

$1.40 each from www.countrytrading. co) for the times when the old yoghurt fails the sniff test. Top up the jar with water and mix well. Place it somewhere warm (i.e. the yoghurt maker) for about eight hours or until you remember you were making yoghurt.

The internet says you can also make butter by blending milk powder, oil and water. The internet sometimes lies.

The resulting table spread is all right.

But, I would not call it butter outside of wartime.

Hmm wartime. Oh dear! I completely forgot about your potential hostage situation! Let’s see... How about you fill your trolley with bales of toilet paper?

That should be enough to alert the authorities.

Aunty Thistledown

Cali Thistledown lives on a farm where all the gates are tied together with baling twine and broken dreams.

While she rarely knows what day it is, she has a rolodex of experts to call on to get the info you need. She’s Kiwi agriculture’s agony aunt. Contact our editor if you have a question for her terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz

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SOLUTIONS

GLYPHOSATE’S ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

Looking after the MVP TO GET THE BEST OUT OF YOUR DOG, it is important they are in peak condition, both inside and out.

Mostly housed outside, they have additional nutritional requirements to keep warm in winter (via shivering) or cool in summer (via panting). Feeding a high quality dog diet provides a concentrated, palatable and nutritionally balanced source of energy.

Dry food is by far the most practical format, being up to four times more energydense than other pet food types. In general, working dog food contains higher levels of protein and fat compared to family dog foods.

The feeding guide on packaging provides a guide on how much to feed your dog depending on its workload. The best way to know if your dog is getting the right amount is by regular observation of the dog’s body condition.

Ideally, the dog’s ribs and spine should not be visible but can be easily felt by running your hands over its body. The dog should have a noticeable waist. An ideal body condition – neither under nor overweight – means the volume and quality of food eaten matches the dog’s needs.

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The easiest health indicator is to look at the dog’s physical condition. Illness, stress, and an inadequate diet can impact the skin, eyes and overall temperament of the dog.

A healthy dog will have bright and clear eyes, with no signs of redness, soreness or discharge. The coat will look healthy and shiny as opposed to dull and patchy, and the skin will not be itchy, flaky or irritated.

Promoting muscle recovery by feeding a high quality diet within two hours of hard exercise, regular rest and recovery time and reducing physical risks to the dog will aid in sustaining peak condition and prolonging their working life.

Puppies need nourishment for optimal brain, bone and muscle development to prepare them for a life of hard work, stress and mental alertness.

Adults need diets high in fat with balanced and highly digestible carbohydrate sources to provide the sustainable energy required for gruelling workloads.

Seniors need nutrition to maintain bones, cartilage and joints, and quality proteins for sustaining muscle and body condition to enable an active lifestyle.

FOOD AND PASTURE GROWERS as well as the forestry industry rely on glyphosate to prevent deeprooted weeds from taking over their crops and decimating productivity, according to a report by the NZIER on the benefits of glyphosate to New Zealand.

The world’s most widely-used weed management tool has extensive economic and environmental benefits.

It enables farmers and growers to deliver food and fibre efficiently, costeffectively, and to a higher quality allowing access to safe and affordable food.

The report estimates herbicides are worth up to $8.6 billion to NZ agriculture, with an average impact on output of up to 20%.

Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide that can eliminate nearly all weeds, which many other herbicides cannot. Without it, producers would face substantial weed pressure - as weeds compete with crops for light, water and nutrients. An even greater pressure exists with climate change and the need for farming practices to become more sustainable.

Farmers can reduce their environmental footprint by minimising tillage - benefiting soil health, lessening carbon emissions, conserving water and reducing labour and fuel costs. Glyphosate can be applied with fertiliser, seeds and cover crops in one go - saving time and money.

If glyphosate was not available, farmers would need to use three to four other herbicides in its place, leading to more tillage and more resources to manage weeds.

Substitutes are often more toxic or less effective, the report says.

• More? Visit www.coprice.co.nz

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Joining forces on The Bucket Test app IRRIGATIONNZ AND INTERNATIONAL farm management company CropX have entered a joint venture for the Bucket Test app.

CropX has opened an office in New Zealand and acquired local company Regen, which provides cloud-based, precision effluent and irrigation decision support tools - including developing the irrigation efficiency app The Bucket Test for IrrigationNZ. The Bucket Test is an irrigation efficiency tool that has been used thousands of times to determine application depth, rate and how uniformly water is being applied during an irrigation event. The simple method is based on collecting irrigation water in strategically placed buckets and measuring water collected over a certain period. The app is used to collate this data and provides the results instantly to your phone, and emails a summary report to the user.

CropX plans to take the Bucket Test technology global, with ambitions to bring it to the Australian and United States markets, where CropX is already well-established.

Eitan Dan, managing director of CropX New Zealand

Putting wool into fences WOOL IS JUST ONE OF THE ‘secret ingredients’ in a new Kiwi-made fencing batten which is also completely recyclable at the end of its life.

Newly launched, the Styx Batten SE uses a polymer blended with wool fibre, and features a patented locking system, this fencing product is a future-forward alternative to traditional wood battens.

The high-quality, UV resistant material is designed specifically for use on farms and to replace treated wooden timber battens which cannot be recycled (and have traditionally been used on thousands of hectares of farmland around the country).

The Styx Battens SE flex and bend, absorbing animal impact and creating a stronger, more durable fencing solution for farmers. Because of the plastic construction, these 100% recyclable

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battens also act as a giant insulator, allowing any wire - or all wires - to be hot.

Designed and made in Christchurch, the Styx Batten SE is a collaboration between two NZ companies, Styx Solutions and ShearEdge.

Barbed wire is not needed to stop battens moving along the fence, as the tapered slot locking system makes it very difficult to move the batten once installed.

Lightweight and requiring no additional fasteners, the battens can be installed in just seconds by one person, offering a highly efficient solution to repairing or replacing existing batten fences.

• Visit www.styxsolutions.com

A matrix of wool fibres embedded in the batten provides added strength and durability.

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FARMING IN FOCUS

Top left: Homeblock columnist Jane Smith at the helm of her capitalist drafting gate. Top right: Harvest dragged on for Cambridgeshire farmer David Walston. Centre left: Aerial views of established Manuka on Justin Bell's farm in Weber. Centre right: A natural waterway is a habitat for eels. Above left: Justin Bell onfarm. Above right: Justin sharpens his shearing equipment.

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Top left: Lake Waitaki, source of the water for the Kurow-Duntroon Irrigation Company's project in the Waitaki Valley, North Otago. Top right: Irrigators fed by the scheme's water supply. Centre: Duntroon dairy farmer Geoff Keeling monitors irrigation equipment on his farm in the Waitaki Valley.

Above: The Waitaki Dam.

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the traditional

Festive Feast

Enjoy a delicious ham on the bone or boneless leg ham. Yours this season, when you purchase selected Boehringer Ingelheim products from your local vet clinic.

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