agronomy tour
35 green tractors
Wheat, barley, beans and even lupins on PGW’s Agronomy Tour. page 23
There’s only one make of tractor for Neil Houghton. page 29
Rural NEWS
strong views Fonterra’s newest board member speaks out.
page 10
to all farmers, for all farmers
december 13, 2011: Issue 506
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Beef niche beckons SU DES H K I SSU N
NEW ZEALAND has a unique product and the story to go with it, says an innovative marketer. Gerard Hickey, Firstlight Foods, told farmers at a recent BLNZ field day in Southern Hawkes Bay that New Zealand’s grass-fed Wagyu beef has captured the imagination of affluent consumers in Japan, the US and Europe. Wagyu beef, famous for its marbling, originates in Japan and is normally reared on grain in feedlots. But Hickey says there is an ‘anti feedlot, anti grain’ move taking place, opening the door for our grass fed, free range Wagyu beef. Firstlight is working with a small, select group of farmers including Maori incorporations, family farmers and breeders finishing grass-fed Wagyu beef. Hickey says young, affluent consumers want a free range, natural product rather than animals produced in feedlots, which “tend to be associated with antibiotics, hormones and a whole lot of industrialisation”.
F2 Wagyu heifers.
“So whereas feedlots may be the future to feed the world, the view is that New Zealand’s ideal customer is someone who wants the story; they want to buy something they know has been well looked after and well grown.” The success of New Zealand Wagyu has stemmed from a quest for excellence by all involved. Innovation, R&D, product differentiation and a ‘value
chain’ approach has made the difference, he says. New Zealand is selling steers and heifers; no bulls. Cross breeding gives them extra hardiness to cope with New Zealand conditions. They are grass-fed year round and supplemented in tighter feed periods with silage, hay and some crops. Animals must be finished prop-
erly before they are slaughtered otherwise the meat does not marble fully and starts to lose its ‘structure’, Hickey says. Wagyu is genetically predisposed to marbling, but needs good nutrition as well. Unusual about Wagyu is where the value lies. “Whereas the forequarter of a traditional animal would go to burger meat, the Wagyu has heavy marbling in the forequarter and we make those into premium barbecue cuts which get sold in Japan and Korea. Cuts that from another animal would be ground up for hamburger meat are, in a Wagyu, highly valued for their style of cooking. “In the US the high value middle cuts are sold to steak houses and specialty restaurants looking for a ‘grass fed story’ and great steak. We also do a range of burgers mainly from the leg end of the animal; much of this goes to Europe.” Currently about 6000 Wagyu steers and heifers are slaughtered each year, coming from about 15,000 Wagyu beef animals around the country. Hickey says the aim is to lift the herd to about 50,000 in the next few years.
Council dairy idea ‘misrepresented’ HORIZONS REGIONAL Council chairman Bruce Gordon says his council has been misrepresented in the mainstream media over claims it plans to buy a dairy farm. About two years ago the council sold its 11% shareholding in Port of
Napier for $9 million. It still holds a 23% share in Centreport/Port of Wellington. The interest earned, currently about $1.5 million, eases HRC’s rate demands. The dairy farm idea is to achieve revenue equivalent or better than the bank
investment, but also with an opportunity for capital growth. “It was all generic, but somehow it’s come out that we are buying a dairy farm,” says Gordon. Gordon describes the fallout from the meeting as a nightmare with a lack
of understanding of the issues. He says the council does not want to spend the $9 million on any single project, it just wants to invest the money wisely, protect the capital and use the interest from the investment for the benefit of the community of the region.
Strawberry slip prompts review MAF DIRECTOR-general Wayne McNee says he’s asked for a detailed review of last month’s strawberry growing kit biosecurity incident. Packs containing strawberry seeds were imported from China by Tui Products with nearly 7000 offered for sale by The Warehouse. When this was drawn to MAF’s attention last month they were withdrawn from sale and a media release issued requesting the 1362 packs sold be returned, or, if they were already growing, destroyed. As of Wednesday last week, MAF Biosecurity said 67 kits had been returned and eight calls seeking destruction advice received. With eight kits bought by MAF itself, that’s 83 kits accounted for, or 6.1% of those sold. However, because buyers were given the option of destroying kits or resulting plants themselves, accounting for all those sold will not be possible. “It was important to make compliance easy for purchasers,” Andrew Coleman, deputy director general compliance and response told Rural News. Coleman says the product recall was “thoroughly promoted by widespread advertising in national newspapers, signage in The Warehouse stores, website promotion and a MAF media release which received substantial news coverage.” to page 3
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
news 3 issue 506
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Lamb flow still slow bar bara g ilham
News ������������������������������ 1-10 World ������������������������� 12-13 Agribusiness ����������������� 14 Markets ��������������������� 16-17 Hound, Edna ������������������� 18 Contacts ������������������������� 18 Opinion ������������������������18-20 Management ������������21-23 Animal Health �������� 24-26 Machinery and Products �������������������27-29 Rural life ����������������������� 30 Rural Trader ���������������� 31 Head Office Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622 Phone: 09-307 0399 Fax: 09-307 0122 Postal Address PO Box 3855, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 Published by: Rural News Group Printed by: PMP Print Contacts Editorial: editor@ruralnews.co.nz Advertising material: davef@ruralnews.co.nz Rural News online: www.ruralnews.co.nz Subscriptions: fionas@ruralnews.co.nz ABC audited circulation 80,327 as at 30.6.2011
MEATWORKS NATIONWIDE are still struggling to get a regular flow of lambs in what has been one of the slowest starts to the lamb processing season for years. Alliance chief executive Grant Cuff says the kill is at least 20-30% behind previous years. “There are a number of reasons. Some older [new] season lambs were
killed in September which has reduced numbers and although there is plenty of grass around, the colder weather slowed lamb growth so now the weather is warmer some farmers may be holding on to stock to increase lamb weight.” Cuff says farmers need to be aware that if they hold on to lambs they may face a wait for space. “They could be waiting a week to ten days, having to keep them on the farm eating feed they may want for other
WHILE OUR politicians were busy fighting the election, bureaucrats in Wellington would have been busy preparing ‘BIMs’ for the arrival of new and enthusiastic ministers. BIM is the acronym for ‘briefing for the incoming minister’. A BIM is produced by each government department after every general election. Cabinet reshuffles can prompt interim BIMs. The BIM is a snapshot of what’s
happening in a department and what’s planned. They’re publicly released after the minister and department have had a chance to discuss the content. Of particular interest to the primary sector will be the BIMs for MAF, MfE and MFAT (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade). In the case of MAF, expect to see water matters high on the list along with climate change, food safety, new
from page 1
The Warehouse and Tui Products have picked up the cost of the national advertisements. MAF is covering the retrieval and disposal of unsold and returned kits. MAF is now growing plants from the kits, in quarantine, to test them for viruses. Results are expected in March. The growing medium in the kits was cocopeat (coir peat) supplied from the Netherlands, originally sourced from India or Sri Lanka under a quality system. The accompanying phytosanitary certificate from the Netherlands met MAF’s requirements and a small sample
of the growing media tablets was visually examined by MAF inspectors. McNee says he’s asked the head of his internal audit team to do the review, and to go right back to the import health
THE IMPORT Health Standard for strawberry seed requires tests for six viruses to prevent entry: Fragaria chiloensis latent ilarvirus, Raspberry ringspot virus, Strawberry latent ringspot virus, Tobacco streak virus, Tomato black ring virus and Tomato ringspot virus. The IHS applies to
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strawberry seed from any country. Of these diseases, two are now known to be in New Zealand and three of the others are not reported to be in China, the origin of the strawberry seeds in this instance. The only virus known to be in China is Tomato ringspot virus,
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standards: “How the [strawberry seeds] actually came though the border, who made the decisions, and then how we responded to it? Did we make the right decisions at the right times?
“The person undertaking that review is independent of the people involved in the ‘strawberry incident’ and she will report directly to me.” McNee says he expects to have a report in a week or so.
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regulations, trade and biosecurity. The BIM is also likely to detail the department’s restructuring – the changes and savings made. The MfE BIM will be huge on water and environmental matters affecting farming. There should be synergies with MAF’s in relation to climate change. MFAT’s will focus on trade issues, especially progress on the development of new FTAs.
ONE OF New Zealand’s largest dairy farm operators is seeking investors. Synlait Ltd hopes to use new capital to develop its 13 Canterbury farms. Synlait Ltd’s decision to partially float its subsidiary Synlait Farms follows a similar move involving its Synlait Milk subsidiary last year. Synlait Ltd, founded in 2000 by John Penno, Juliet Maclean and Ben Dingle, sold a 51% stake in Synlait Milk to Chinese dairy giant Bright Dairy for $82 million. Milk from Synlait Farms is processed by Synlait Milk. Synlait Ltd chairman Barry Brook believes it’s an opportune time to seek investor interest due to the positive international demand for protein. The balance sheet remains strong and it will only enter into a transaction on terms that fairly reflect the value of the business, he says. Proposals from potential investors are being sought by December 20.
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stock... They may be caught out especially after Christmas.” BLNZ chairman Mike Petersen echoes Cuff’s comments. “It’s been a cool spring and a lot of lambs haven’t done so well; especially in the North Island, it’s been hard to get their weight up.” Petersen warns last year’s steadily rising schedule through the summer was an anomaly, and predicts a more typical curve to pricing this year.
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of which there are strains already in New Zealand, although not strains that infect strawberries. MAF sees only a low risk of the seeds being infected with one of these viruses, successfully growing and transmitting the virus to other plants in New Zealand.
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
4 news
Beef grazing tips p e t e r bu rk e
WHEN IT comes to measuring pasture there are high tech and low tech options. Rowe relayed one of the latter at the field day: two cans of Speight’s on top of each other. “The concept is to have crude way of knowing when the pasture is high enough to graze and we’d be targeting 2500 kgs/ DM per ha. If you put a can of Speight’s on top of another that equates to the stars on the top can. The ideal height to harvest the plant down to is 30-40mm – to the stars on the lower can.”
More maize with biodegradable plastic mulch PLASTIC WRAP, now a kitchen essential, looks like finding a slot in agriculture too, markedly improving the yield of maize crops. Plant and Food Research scientist Andrew Fletcher told farmers at the Foundation for Arable Research’s (FAR) annual Crops expo last week that Canterbury was at the margin of where maize could be reliably grown, but some Irish technology could make a big difference. Limerick company Samco has developed a plastic film that when laid on the ground raises soil temperatures by an average 5˚C. “It’s about half the thickness of Gladwrap and it’s biodegradable so the sunlight breaks it down,” Fletcher says.
“By increasing the soil temperature, the maize germinates faster, the leaves come out faster. By 30-40 days afterwards it’s all finished, all broken down and you’ve got a much more advanced maize crop.” Fletcher says the film is reasonably expensive, about $350/ ha, but trial work shows it could pay for itself in improved production. “We’ve found you can grow the same hybrid for the same duration and you’ll get about the same yield but you’ll get it three weeks earlier with the plastic and in that system you can then plant whatever your next thing going in is, a cereal crop or going back into grass, earlier. Three weeks in autumn is really important.
“The other thing you can do is alter your hybrid around so you’ve got a longer duration hybrid so you can harvest on the same day as you did before and you can get maybe three tonnes more yield. So it’s really about how you want to use it in your system.” Fletcher says the film clearly works on small plots and this year it’s being tried on a larger scale. “You’ve got to get a return to make it work and experimentally we think we’ve got it somewhere there but there are some guys trying it on larger fields this year so that’s the real acid test. “It’s just like a glasshouse; it’s amazing stuff. On a sunny day it can be 12˚C warmer at five centimetres.”
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BEEF FARMERS, and to a lesser extent sheep farmers, could learn a lot about pasture management and feeding stock from their colleagues in the dairy industry, says farm consultant Lindsay Rowe. Rowe spoke last week at a BLNZ field day on Federated Farmers Manawatu/ Ranitikei president Andrew Hoggard’s dairy farm. “Good dairy farmers understand establishing a rotation and then changing that rotation to match what’s going on with the growth rate of the plant. “They also understand grazing to a target residual, i.e. leaving enough of the plant behind to ensure it recovers rapidly.” Dairy farmers are lucky in getting ‘instant’ reward in the vat for doing it well, whereas feedback for beef farmers is slower and more difficult to measure and respond to, Rowe acknowledges. However, there’s no reason why the beef farmer can’t focus on the pasture part of the equation. “Watching the plant, watching how hard the stock are grazing it, is something a beef farmer can easily monitor and respond to more often than many do.” Rowe says a key to monitoring ryegrass pasture levels is the ‘three leaf ’ principle. The aim is to harvest as much quality pasture as possible by getting the ryegrass to grow three leaves. “As the plant gets to the three leaf stage, the minerals we desire – calcium and magnesium in particular – are lifting and the less desirable sodium and potassium are declining. “Also more protein will be produced by the nitrogen that’s been taken up through the plant. So getting that third leaf up is important for getting a better product for stock to eat.”
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
news 5
Record Crops crowd ton y b e nny
A COLD southerly and threatening skies last week didn’t deter a record number of farmers from attending the Foundation for Arable Research’s (FAR) annual Crops expo in Chertsey, Canterbury. Heavy rain fell until the last minute before the expo started but nevertheless 560 farmers came to see the results of latest research by FAR scientists and work by Plant and Food Research staff. “Each year there’s new information; some of it’s a refresher but this year there’re some new concepts too,” FAR chief executive Nick Pyke told Rural News. “One of the great things about arable farming is it’s an annual cropping system so farmers can look at something and say, ‘I’ll go home and try that on a small area of the paddock’. “They don’t compromise a large area of the farm for a long time. We find that seeing something is believing something. Some farmers want to read it, some farmers want to see it, some farmers want a one-on-one talk about it; we try to do a bit of all that here.” This year’s expo covered the usual arable subjects and included results of work on cereal silage; DairyNZ came along to tell dairy farmers what to look for in grain feeds. A major theme was a target of 20 tonnes of wheat per hectare by 2020. “That’s a tall order but if we don’t have a big goal, we’re not going to get any-
Rain prevents machinery demo
Nick Pyke
where near the goal,” Pyke says. FAR scientist Rob Craigie told farmers that over the past ten years yields had increased by an average 2% per annum and he was hopeful of hitting the 20t target with improved genetics, earlier drilling, keeping the canopy greener for longer and keeping disease at bay. “I guess the trick is not to just have it in an occasional paddock but to get everyone up. We’re not saying everyone will be hitting 20 tonnes but if the top guys can get 20 tonnes then hopefully it’ll pull the middle guys up two or three tonnes... It’s just to push us a bit to look at new ways of doing things, to find new avenues of research.” Arable farmers have had it tough for the past few years but with prices up this year, there were more smiles on faces – and perhaps less pressure to convert farms to dairying, adds Pyke. “Dairy farming
is a threat to arable farming but it’s also an opportunity. “I see farms go into dairying and I think, ‘that’s a bloody waste of good land that could be cropping’, but at the end of the day that’s the
farmers’ choice. “Even though there are a whole lot fewer arable farms in the country, we’re actually producing more arable product than ten years ago; what we’re producing off the area of land is way, way higher.”
FAR’s Crops expo was expanded this year with the inclusion of displays and talks from “platinum sponsors” involved in the arable industry, but planned demonstrations of machinery had to be cancelled because after days of rain in Canterbury the ground was too wet.
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6 news
Maori’s first milk No politicians – just 600 ordinary people proudly attended, celebrating in a traditional way the official opening, early December, of the $90 million Miraka dairy factory northwest of Taupo. Peter Burke reports.
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They came from Maori trusts throughout the North Island, and from companies involved in Miraka, to see the plant opened. This is Maori’s first investment in a dairy processing plant; chances are it won’t be the last. Chairman Kingi Smiler says it was a fantastic occasion for whanau and friends who’ve helped build Miraka. A “stunning show” displayed the factory and its products. It was wonderful to see the shareholders’ and owners’ pride in the project, he says. Manuhiri (guests) where welcomed by tangata whenua into a marquee erected for the event; just as well – rain arrived as people were seated for the powhiri and opening ceremony. Miraka is essentially a joint venture between Maori trusts Tuaropaki and Wairarapa Moana. Tuaropaki owns the geothermal power station powering the plant and the site at Mokai. Wairarapa Moana has 10,000 cows on farms around Mangakino. Other shareholders include the Maori Trustee, Vietnam’s largest dairy company Vinamilk (19% shareholder), Wairarapa Moana, other Maori trusts and farmer suppliers. Smiler told guests the project’s history and how it was built on time and to budget. A commemorative plaque was unveiled by Karaihe Rotarangi, Lila
available, Cyrex is deadly on parasites but easy on animals and operator. Cyrex dipwash has no smell and is gentle on wounds. Available in 5L and 10L packs plus a convenient 250ml Flystrike Dressing pack. For more details on this revolutionary new treatment, talk to your animal health stockist now, call us on 0800 ELANCO (352626), or view our website www.elanco.co.nz.
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2 Andrews, Taini Morere Wright and Robert Kinsella Workman. Says Smiler, “The four people that opened it built up the two trusts – Tuaropaki and Waira-
rapa Moana. It was appropriate the benefits we’ve reaped from that work be recognised by them being invited to open the plant.” The 600 guests enjoyed
a sumptuous lunch and entertainment by Maori cultural groups. Not to be outdone, a delegation from Vinamilk fronted with a traditional song. Vinamilk has been very
Rural News // december 13, 2011
news 7
plant opened supportive and is pleased with the operation, Smiler says. The company is keen to buy all the products Miraka makes. “It’s positive for our expansion. We need to build our milk supply because we have customers ready to buy it. We’re getting more suppliers already and are recruiting more.” Other Maori trust are keenly interested in Miraka’s achievement.
1. Milk shake: Vinamilk’s Madam Lien and Miraka chairman Kingi Smiler. 2. Vinamilk’s delegation. 3. Part of the scrumptious lunch.
Rain didn’t stop play.
Vinamilk delighted THE VINAMILK chief executive and chair, Madam Mai Kieu Lien, says she’s happy with the Miraka project, factory and products. “The arrangement with Miraka provided Vinamilk with an excellent opportunity to invest in New Zealand,” she told Rural News. Lien first came to New Zealand ten years ago and has been back several times to view progress on the Miraka project, Vinamilk’s first overseas invement. “The whole milk powder we import from here is reconstituted into other consumable products such as infant formula and condensed milk.” With Vietnam’s population now 80 million there is growing demand for dairy products, hence the partnership with Miraka, to put more dairy products on supermarket shelves. Vietnam’s dairy industry, and dairy consumption, are small compared with New Zealand and other western countries. Potential exists for greater volumes from New Zealand. Vinamilk was formed in 1976 as the Southern Coffee-Dairy company. Since then it’s undergone many restructurings, becoming Vinamilk in 2003. It makes condensed, powdered and fresh milk, yogurts, cheeses and other products derived from milk. It exports powdered and condensed milk to the Middle East, Cambodia and Australia. It’s 47.7% owned by the Vietnamese government, the balance trading on the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange.
4. Kaumatua at the opening.
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
8 news
Frost bites barley a ndr ew swa llow
BARLEY’S YIELD potential on much of the Canterbury Plain looks to have been capped by late frost. “A whole lot of grain’s not developing,” PGW’s Graeme Jones told growers on the firm’s annual agronomy group trials tour. “It’s been frosted.”
Typical symptoms are shrivelled spikelets at the end of the ear which fail to develop. “If you go around Canterbury you’ll see a whole lot of this to varying degrees... especially inland.” Jones says the worst he’s seen could cause 10% yield loss. “I’ve not seen anything more than that.”
Despite a touch of such frost damage in the Tavern crop surrounding PGW’s fungicide trials most ears in the May-sown crop have laid down 16 or 17 pairs of grains. “Fourteen’s reasonably good – it should do 10t/ ha alright. There’s a good head number and density so the grains should fill
well. The question is how the fungicide programme will last.” Ramularia was speckling leaves of untreated Tavern plots, threatening to infect the yield driving awns and upper leaves should the fungicide protection leave an opening. Jones says the key is to be proactive and make
Ramularia starting to take hold in untreated Tavern.
preventative treatments. “If you wait and watch for ramularia you’ll miss it. It was bad last year and it’s setting up to be bad this year.” However, growers may not have noticed it if they used a robust fungicide at ear emergence, he adds. “Proline plus the strobs are very good so you don’t necessarily see it.” Proline (prothioconazole) plus a strobilurin, typically Acanto, has proved itself the “industry standard” in barley. PGW’s trials are exploring tweaks to the timing of this mix, and variations around it, notably integrating last year’s newcomer Seguris Flexi (isopyrozam) and another SDHI fungicide in the registration process from Bayer. “We’re looking at
some later, full ear emergence timings,” explains Jones. “Our thoughts are that under irrigated crops we’re not quite getting the control of ramularia and leaf rust right through to the end of grain fill. We see the disease come in and the crop’s cut short.” Persistent protection against these two diseases is Seguris’ main selling point, he notes. How Bayer’s product will perform remains to be seen. “It won’t be registered next year,” Bayer product development manager Roy Stieller told Rural News. Owing to restrictions on promoting products preregistration, he was otherwise tight-lipped about the product’s features. • More from PGW’s field day on p23.
in brief Seguris in wheat PGW agronomist Chris Nottingham says while Seguris Flexi is “getting a bit of a slot as an awn spray in barley”, PGW’s trials with it in wheat “didn’t really show it as a no brainer last year.” “In wheat the question is what do you mix it with. It’s difficult to position but longevity of protection is one of its main features.”
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
news 9
Biosecurity on DG’s mind PETER BU R K E
MAF DIRECTOR-general Wayne McNee says the one thing that keeps him awake at night is biosecurity. Speaking exclusively to Rural News recently he said that while his overall job is big, it’s manageable. But the consequences of a serious biosecurity incursion are so huge that managing that risk keeps him awake. One new measure he believes has cut the risk is an electronic system to identify people and cargoes more likely to pose a threat. It’s been put in place by MAF and Customs. “In the past if somebody went through the border and was identified as carrying a risk to biosecurity, we relied on a paper based system to identify them the next time they came through to pick them up. We now have a system that flags ‘risk’ characters – people who have previously offended or people identified as a risk.” Just two days after they installed the system someone smuggling seeds in ballpoint pens was apprehended at Auckland airport. “A person carrying an apple is a risk, but the people actively trying to breach the border, bringing in goods they know are illegal are the ones we have to get,” he stresses. To that end, MAF is taking a new look at how it can police the border better. McNee says it’s a fresh approach with new ideas
On the road MCNEE IS spending a day or two a week out of his office meeting people involved in the primary sector. It’s a response to feedback that MAF was too ‘transactional’ in its approach. “We were told we only talked to people when we wanted something, or they talked to us when they wanted something. Everybody said they wanted us to build long-term relationships. All my deputies and directors have now been given responsibility for building long-term relationships with different sectors.” It’s important MAF connects more effectively with the sectors, he adds.
and new people. While he doesn’t mention it, the former director of MAF Biosecurity, Barry O’Neill, is no longer with the department and Peter Thompson, another with a major role in that group, now has a position elsewhere in the organisation. Discussions over government-industry agreements (GIAs) are ongoing
with various primary industry groups and McNee hopes an agreement which will meet the needs of all parties, including government, can be reached. The aim is to have a paper on the subject up to the Cabinet in March. He praises Federated Farmers’ initiative in calling a meeting of inter-
FMD exercise planned
MAF IS planning a major biosecurity exercise in March, simulating a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak with other government agencies and primary sector bodies involved. It will last about a week and will run as a ‘real time’ simulation, building on desk top exercises on such a situation. Media will also be involved because in such an event, communicating to farmers and the wider community is critical, says McNee.
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“We need a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges. This is important because when we are regulating and developing standards, we want to enable them to do what they need to do, rather than putting barriers in the way.” MAF’s also looking at secondment opportunities. “We want to have some of our staff spend three or six months working out in the real world and have people from the primary sector working within the department for periods as well; obviously not in areas where there would be a direct conflict, but the idea is for both sides to get a better understanding of how the system works and to get some new ideas into the mix.”
ested parties some weeks ago and says Feds played an active role in getting people to acknowledge GIAs are coming and that people need to work together. As a result of that meeting, a small working party has been set up to thrash out an agreement. Meanwhile McNee and a leadership team have
met Horticulture New Zealand’s board to discuss biosecurity. He says their concerns are understandable given the nature of the industry and what has happened with PSA in the kiwifruit sector; indeed, he shares them. “I’m concerned because it’s their livelihood. We have committed to working with them
MAF director-general Wayne McNee.
and making sure they are involved in the process. “They are saying they want to get involved in
discussions about the whole biosecurity system, not just the GIA and I am open to that discussion.”
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10 news
Getting the minority to perform A ten-way tussle last month for three seats on Fonterra’s board saw Taranaki council chair and businessman David MacLeod elected, alongside incumbents John Monaghan and Jim van der Poel. Peter Burke asked MacLeod what his priorities are. SOME DAIRY farmers are performing poorly on environmental matters, but Fonterra’s new director David MacLeod,
Taranaki, is confident they’re in the minority. However, for the industry, those poor performers are the priority because the
whole sector gets tarred with their brush. “We need to identify those weakest performing farmers and somehow
assist them and encourage them or whatever it takes to improve their farming performance,” he told Rural News.
“Until we do we will never be able to have a discussion with New Zealand society and say we are worthy of being supported. By far the majority of our dairy farmers are good performers environmentally, but unfortunately we have a minority who need to do better.” MacLeod says Fonterra
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David MacLeod
“ I gained huge understanding of the process side of things in those early days as an electrician on farms and at some big dairy factories such as Kiwi in Hawera.” has done a good job with ‘Every Farm Every Year’, identifying farmers who need to lift their performance. But he urges care in such an approach. “You have to be careful you don’t double dip. It would be inefficient to audit every farm again next year. You need to identify where the issues are and deal with those but leave the rest of the dairy farmers to get on with their business.” Farming must be as strong as possible given the unknown times ahead, MacLeod says. Last year was great but there are potential problems. “Many dairy farmers are highly geared. The days for high gearing have gone. Banks don’t want it any more. It’s now about sustainability and profitability.” Production is not everything. Farmers went through a period of wanting to be the biggest rather than the best, but now “there’s a difference between who is the biggest and who is the best. A lot of people have got into strife because they focused on growth rather than performance.” MacLeod has been connected to the dairy industry all his life. His family have farmed for 130 years near Manaia, South Taranaki, and have run their present farm since 1904. After secondary schooling he took an electrical apprenticeship with a view to returning one day to the farm, but that never happened. Instead he worked for, and eventually bought, Greaves Electrical, Hawera, one of the province’s largest electrical contractors. Now half his company’s business is
electrical work in the dairy industry, for farmers and dairy companies. “ I gained huge understanding of the process side of things in those early days as an electrician on farms and at some big dairy factories such as Kiwi in Hawera. I knew the chairman of Kiwi Dairy at the time. That’s when I got my appetite for governance – looking at those guys and thinking, ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful to be at the decision making table of a great company like Kiwi’.” With his business well established, MacLeod sought a new challenge, winning a seat on the Taranaki Regional Council in 2000. For the last four years he has chaired that council, seen as progressive and responsive to community – urban and rural. He is also a director of the Port of Taranaki. Then came election to the Fonterra board and to the committee of management of Parininihi ki Waitotara (PKW), a large Maori incorporation in Taranaki with 8500 beneficiaries or shareholders. It has 13 dairy farms and two support blocks. About 7000 cows are run on the 2160ha milking platform and they produce 2.3 million kgMS/ year, making PKW Fonterra’s single biggest milk supplier in Taranaki. Most farms have 50/50 sharemilkers. His family are beneficiaries of PKW, which in 2006 won the Ahuwhenua Trophy for Maori Dairy Farming Excellence. “My mother and father were keen for me to take an interest…. It’s an elected position and you have to get voted onto the board.”
Rural News // december 13, 2011
12 world
25% of world land ‘highly degraded’ LAND DEGREDATION and water shortages pose a profound challenge to the task of feeding a world population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, says a recently released UN Food & Agriculture Organisation report, The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW). In the first ever global assessment of land deg-
redation, it says 25% is highly degraded, 8% moderately degraded, 36% stable or slightly degraded, and 10% ranked as “improving.” The remainder is either bare land or inland water. While the last 50 years saw substantial increases in food production, “in too many places” it has been with management practices that degraded
land and water systems upon which food production depends. A number of those systems “face the risk of progressive breakdown of their productive capacity under a combination of excessive demographic pressure and unsustainable agriculture use and practices,” warns the report. No region is immune: systems at risk can be
found around the globe, from the highlands of the Andes to the steppes of Central Asia, from Australia’s Murray-Darling river basin to the central United States, says the FAO. New Zealand is listed with a group of nations at risk from pollution of soils and aquifers, loss of biodiversity, degradation of freshwater ecosystems, and increased crop failure
No exception: New Zealand farmland.
due to increased climate variability. There are particularly high incidences of degradation down the west coast of the Americas, across Mediterranean Europe and North Africa, across the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, and throughout Asia. The greatest threat is the loss of soil quality, followed by biodiversity loss and water resources depletion. Some 1.6 billion ha of the world’s best, most productive lands are currently used to grow crops. Parts of these land areas are being degraded
change is expected to alter the patterns of temperature, precipitation and river flows upon which the world’s food production systems depend. As a result, the challenge of providing sufficient food for an ever-more hungry planet has never been greater, says the report. FAO director-general Jacques Diouf says the systems at risk may not be able to contribute as expected in meeting human demands by 2050. “The consequences in hunger and poverty are unacceptable. Remedial action needs to be taken now.”
through farming practices that result in water and wind erosion, the loss of organic matter, topsoil compaction, salinisation and soil pollution, and nutrient loss. As natural resource bottlenecks are increasingly felt, competition for land and water will become “pervasive,” the report suggests. This includes competition between urban and industrial users as well as within the agricultural sector – between livestock, staple crops, nonfood crop, and biofuel production. Meanwhile climate
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
world 13
Aussie report reveals FMD risk a l an h a r m an
AUSTRALIAN PORK producers are in shock following revelations meat from South Korea was illegally shipped to Australia at the height of an extensive foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. The imports were reported in a review of Australia’s preparation for FMD. It warns an outbreak might not be detected early and could quickly spread, leaving authorities overwhelmed as they try to slaughter and bury diseased livestock. The Department of Agriculture commissioned Ken Matthews, a former department secretary, to provide the assessment. He found that in 2010 an Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) investigation uncovered substantial illegal importation of animal product including pigmeat from South Korea, then battling widespread FMD. “The operation uncovered a long-term, established supply chain dedicated to the illegal importation of pig meat
into Australia, involving importers, brokers and the operators of quarantine approved premises,” Matthews says in his report. The operation involved resale of illegally imported material at retail level. “The case has been treated as a top priority considering that illegal smuggling of animal products is thought to have caused FMD outbreaks around the world, including the outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001.” Australian Pork chief executive Andrew Spencer told ABC he was in shock reading the Matthews report. “My confidence in AQIS’s ability to protect the health of our livestock industries is flowing out my office door,” he said. The report also says the sheep industry’s lack of an individual identification system makes it vulnerable and this should be quickly rectified. Matthews’ team “fears it may be weeks before an outbreak is detected and reported by which time the disease could have spread extensively.”
US farmers coin it AMERICAN FARMERS’ net farm income and net cash income this year are, for the first time ever, forecast to exceed US$100 billion. The US Department of Agriculture says it expects net farm income to be up 28% to $100.9b while net cash income is seen rising 18.8% to $109.8b. Net value added is expected to increase by almost $23.9b to $153.7b, the highest recorded since 1974. Sales of crop and livestock are expected 16% up, with gains spread out among many different categories. Price rises and drought have played a major role, beef exports being up 27% from last year, pushing predicted cattle cash receipts up 21% to US$62.3b. Dairy receipts are forecast to increase more than 25% to US$39.4b as milk prices have risen. Hog producers are expected to benefit from strong demand for US pork products, especially from Japan and China, with up receipts up 23% to US$21.9b. Crop sales are expected to exceed US$200b for the first time in US history, with record or near-record levels across different crop categories. Sales of wheat are expected to increase by 30%, reflecting USDA’s forecast of more than 51.7 million tonnes sold at an annual average price of $270/t. US wheat production for 2011 is forecast to be down more than five million tonnes from last year. The USDA expects the 2011 corn harvest to turn out to be the fourth largest on record with more than 261 million tonnes sold by US farm operations at an average price of $238/t. Offsetting the price increases, production expenses are seen jumping 12% or US$34b to nearly US$320b, driven by increases in input prices. This is the first time expenses will have exceeded US$300b. The increase was only 1.5% in 2010.
An FMD outbreak could be more demanding than any previous animal disease outbreak. State, national and industry resources could quickly be overwhelmed. Human and physical capacity for large-scale slaughter and burial would quickly be exhausted.
“Further, there may well be unanticipated community opposition on animal welfare and perhaps food security/food wastage grounds.” That FMD would most likely reach Australia through conventional, legal import processes is also disputed. A more
likely pathway is through non-transparent, illegal import channels not subject to routine AQIS intervention, says the report. It acknowledges the strengths in Australia’s biosecurity system but highlights 11 areas for improvement.
Rural News // december 13, 2011
14 agribusiness
Turbo charge theme for business conference SU DES H K I SSU N
THE CREAM of New Zealand’s large dairy farmers will gather in Palmerston North in March for their annual conference. The New Zealand Dairy Business Conference – formerly Large Herds Conference – will hear from top industry and
business leaders. Fonterra’s new chief executive Theo Spierings is one of the speakers. Hosted by the New Zealand Large Herds Association and Altum, the 43rd annual event runs from March 27-29. Its theme is ‘Turbo charge your knowledge’. Organising committee
chairman Phil Butler says being designed by farmers, for farmers, makes the event stand out. “We address the topics that come up outside of the formal discussion groups, on the opportunities for progression and improvement, rather than the mechanics of cows and grass.
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“As the country’s biggest export earner, the dairy industry is vital to the New Zealand economy. As participants in the industry, we need to ensure we are up with research, technology and global trends, to help drive continued progress and improvement,” says Butler. The conference theme will inform farmers on
key business and industry leaders’ views of research, technology and brand opportunities. Organising committee member Owen Greig says the opportunity to network with dairy farming business colleagues and agribusiness professionals is another draw card. He farms with his family south west of Palmerston North, milking 2000 cows
Phil Butler
on a self-contained unit of 1500ha. He is also a Fonterra shareholders councillor. The conference begins with an overview of the dairy industry by Adrian Foster, Rabobank AsiaPacific, and business commentator Rod Oram. Field trips include visits to Massey University, AgResearch and Fonterra research centres and
Landcorp farms in the Motua basin. Final day speakers include 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year Tim Alpe, DairyNZ’s newly elected board member Ben Allomes and Spierings. Greig says farmers will get maximum value from attending the whole conference. But they may register for single days if that’s all time allows.
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FORMER FONTERRA Shareholders Council chairman Blue Read has been elected chairman of the New Zealand Cooperatives Association. “I look forward to the opportunity to work with cooperative leaders and Government over the coming year as they help lead the celebrations for the UN International year of Cooperatives 2012 by developing a deeper understanding of
cooperatives for themselves and the people whom they represent,” says Read. “I am confident that by celebrating the International Year of Cooperatives in 2012 many more people will get the opportunity to appreciate what is special and specific about the cooperative business model and its importance to the New Zealand economy.”
The NZCA promotes discussion and cooperation with government, research in support of cooperative business models, and collects and publishes information relevant to co-ops and mutuals. There are 200 such memberowned businesses in New Zealand generating aggregate revenue of $30b. Of the world’s 300 largest co-ops and mutuals, six are in New Zealand.
EID growth spawns new role GROWTH IN weighing and electronic identification (EID) products has prompted Gallagher Animal Management to create a new position of technical support manager. Product manager for weighing and EID systems Geoff Pooch has been appointed to the role. “Gallagher products are designed to be simple to use and it’s my job to ensure that farmers can use them to their best advantage,” he says. Pooch has an extensive background in computer programming and training for a number of organisations, including Hill Laboratories. He joined Gallagher in 2006 as a business analyst/ software designer.
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
16 markets & trends Market Snapshot North Island c/kgCWT
Lamb - PM 16.0kg
Lamb Market Trends
Meat South Island
Change c/kg
Last Week
Change c/kg
Last Week
-12
7.68
-10
Beef Prices
c/kgCWT
Change
Last Week
2 Wks Ago
Last Year
7.78
5.95
P2 Steer - 300kg
-5
4.53
4.58
3.90
7.78
7.80
5.98
M2 Bull - 300kg
n/c
4.68
4.68
3.80
PX - 19.0kg
-12
7.70
7.82
5.99
P2 Cow - 230kg
-5
3.65
3.70
2.95
PH - 22.0kg
-12
7.71
7.83
5.99
M Cow - 200kg
-5
3.50
3.55
2.85
MX1 - 21kg
n/c
4.70
4.70
3.95
-10
7.78
7.88
5.66
PM - 16.0kg
-10
7.78
7.88
5.68
M2 Bull - 300kg
+5
4.20
4.15
3.60
PX - 19.0kg
-10
7.78
7.88
5.70
P2 Cow - 230kg
+5
3.45
3.40
2.60
-10
7.78
7.88
5.71
M Cow - 200kg
+5
3.25
3.20
2.50
n/c
4.58
4.58
3.70
Local Trade - 230kg
+5
4.30
4.25
3.60
Bull - M2 300kg
n/c
4.68
+5
4.20
-5
8.35
-10
8.75
NI Lamb
YM - 13.5kg
Mutton SI Lamb
YM - 13.5kg
North Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price $8.5
PH - 22.0kg Mutton
$7.5
New season price
MX1 -
1000s 5yr Ave Last Year This Year Nov
Dec
21kg
NZ Slaughter
$5.5
Oct
Jan
Feb
Change
2Wks Ago
3 Wks Ago
Last Year
5yr Ave
New season price
$6.5
$3.5 Sep
Oct
Dec
Jan
+20%
27.8
23.1
37.7
Cattle SI
-1%
9.7
9.8
9.7
10.3
Lamb NZ
+16%
287
246
380
501
Cattle NZ
+14%
37.5
32.9
47.4
45.8
Mutton NZ
+32%
85
64
159
145
Bull NI
+48%
9.6
6.5
9.7
12.0
Bull SI
-7%
1.4
1.5
1.7
2.3
+13%
13.3
11.8
18.0
16.4
600
Last Year
450
This Year
Str & Hfr NI Str & Hfr SI
-2%
6.3
6.4
6.2
6.5
Cows NI
+2%
4.9
4.8
10.0
7.2
Cows SI
+5%
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.5
NZ Weekly Beef Kill Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Last Year
60
Feb
This Year
40
Last Week
2 Wks Ago
Last Year
5yr Ave
£/lb
n/c
1.95
1.95
2.35
1.55
NZ$/kg
-33
8.63
8.96
10.70
8.53
20 0 Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
NZ$/kg
Nov
Dec
Feb
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
3 Wks Ago
Last Year
5yr Ave
% Returned NI
+2%
91.8%
89.3%
57.7%
53.0%
% Returned SI
+3%
91.5%
88.7%
55.1%
56.9%
100%
$8.0
n/c
2.06
2.06
1.77
1.41
-31
5.81
6.12
5.17
4.46
$2.00
Last Year This Year
$1.60 Sep
Oct
Change
Last Year This Year
70% 5yr Ave Last Year This Year
5yr Ave
Jan
2Wks Ago
3 Wks Ago
Last Year
5yr Ave
80.6%
75.5%
73.54%
77.7%
% Returned SI
+4%
71.4%
67.3%
69.7%
73.2%
Procurement Indicator - North I. Last Year
Jan
This Year
80% $7.0
95%
Procurement Indicator - South I.
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
South Island 60kg Stag Price
70%
Last Year
85%
$6.0
This Year
75%
Feb
+5%
90%
Nov
Dec
% Returned NI
60% 50% Sep
Nov
Procurement Indicator
Procurement Indicator - North I.
80%
$9.0
Last Year
$1.80
2Wks Ago
90%
North Island 60kg Stag Price
2 Wks Ago
Demand Indicator - US 95CL Beef
This Year
£1.60 Sep
Jan
Feb
Last Year
Feb
5yr Ave Last Year This Year
Jan
Last Week
Change 95CL US$/lb
Nov
Dec
Export Market Demand
Demand Indicator - UK Leg Price
Change
Oct
35.6
Cattle NI
Procurement Indicator
Sep
5yr Ave
259
£2.10
$4.0
$3.0
Last Year
242
Change
South Island 300kg Steer Price
$3.5
3 Wks Ago
196
$3.0
$4.5
2Wks Ago
184
£2.60
Oct
Change
132
$4.5
Sep
Estimated Weekly Kill
114
UK Leg
$3.5
3.70
136
North Island 300kg Bull Price
5yr Ave Last Year This Year
3.80
4.30
151
Feb
$4.0
4.45
4.35
+3%
0 Sep Nov
4.45
+5
+32%
Export Market Demand $5.0
1000s
150
5yr Ave Last Year This Year
$4.5
n/c
P2 Steer - 300kg
Lamb SI
300 $5.5
Local Trade - 230kg SI
Lamb NI
NZ Weekly Lamb Kill
$7.5
NI
NZ Slaughter
Estimated Weekly Kill
South Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price
$8.5
Last Year
7.68
4.35
Sep
2 Wks Ago
7.66
+5
$3.5
Last Week
-12
4.53
$4.5
Change
-12
-5
$6.5
c/kgCWT
PM - 16.0kg
Steer - P2 300kg Venison - AP 60kg
Lamb Prices
Beef Market Trends
60%
Sep
Nov
Jan
65%
$9.5
5yr Ave Last Year This Year
$8.5
55%
Procurement Indicator - South I.
85%
45% Sep
Nov
Last Year This Year
Jan 75%
Venison Prices
$7.5
Change $6.5 Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
65%
Last Week
2 Wks Ago
Last Year
5yr Ave
NI Stag - 60kg
-5
8.35
8.40
7.70
7.01
SI Stag - 60kg
-10
8.75
8.85
7.80
7.37
55% Sep
Nov
Jan
Beef & venison prices are reported as gross (before normal levies & charges are deducted). Lamb & mutton prices are reported nett (after levies & charges are deducted). Note: Freight is paid in the North Island but not by all companies in the South Island.
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
markets & trends 17 Beef Wool Price Watch Mixed week for export cattle prices North Island export cattle prices were mixed last week. 300kg cwt bull returns held at $4.68/kg but 300kg cwt steers eased 5c/kg to average $4.53/kg. Kill numbers have been picking up with delays of up to a week reported in some regions. Many farmers have decided to cash in now with some wary about the lift in the dollar and the number of kill days left until Christmas. Slaughter capacity is lifting with most plants set to introduce extra shifts. This could help to hold the market in the coming weeks although as supplies seasonally ramp up prices may start to come under pressure. Export slaughter prices in the South Island actually firmed last week. 300kg cwt steers are now earning $4.35/kg with 300kg cwt bulls making $4.20/kg. Slaughter rates have been above average for the last month so supplies could be an issue in the coming weeks, particularly given the abundant feed supplies most currently have on hand. Processor demand remains strong, underpinned by solid US market demand and the lack of supplies out of Australia which are currently being affected by heavy rainfall and flooding in some states. Confidence remains high in the store market With cattle slaughter prices nationally feeling little pressure to ease, confidence in the store market remains at an all time high. Also driving store values higher is the abundant feed that many farmers are contending with, something that has been lacking in recent years for this time of the season. Buyers have been competing strongly for all classes and age of cattle. Yearling cattle have been favoured with 1yr steer prices skipping over $1000/hd at numerous sale centres in recent weeks.
Lamb
Dairy Price Watch Change
01-Dec
24-Nov
Last Year
Coarse Xbred Indic.
-9
6.28
6.37
4.85
Fine Xbred Indicator
-8
6.55
6.63
Lamb Indicator
-
-
+19
9.40
Indicators in NZ$
Mid Micron Indic.
750
Change
Last 2 Wks
Prev. 2 Wks
Last Year
Butter
+165
5119
4953
5923
5.10
Skim Milk Powder
+337
4647
4310
4015
-
5.09
Whole Milk Powder
+184
4815
4631
4640
9.21
7.92
Cheddar
-321
4664
4985
5528
Wool Indicator Trends
Indicators in NZ$/T
650
6,000
550
5,000
450
4,000 CXI
350 Dec
750
Dairy Prices Trends
7,000
Feb
Apr
FXI
Jun
SMP But.
LI
Aug
3,000 Nov
Oct
Coarse Xbred Indicator
Jan
WMP Ched.
Mar
May
Jul
Sep
Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)
5,500 Last Year
650
This Year
550
4,500
450
Last Year
350
This Year
250 Sep
3,500 Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Indicators in US$/T
Sep
Overseas Price Indicators
Oct
Change
01-Dec
24-Nov
Coarse Xbred Indicator
+17
4.89
4.72
3.61
Butter
Fine Xbred Indicator
+19
5.10
4.91
3.79
Skim Milk Powder
-
-
-
3.78
+50
7.32
6.82
5.89
Lamb Indicator Mid Micron Indicator
Dec
Jan
Feb
Overseas Price Indicators Last Year
Indicators in US$/kg
Nov
Wool Indicator in US$
Last 2 Wks
Prev. 2 Wks
Last Year
-50
3800
3850
4500
+100
3450
3350
3050
Whole Milk Powder
-25
3575
3600
3525
Cheddar
-413
3463
3875
4200
Change
Dairy Prices in US$/Tonne
685 Lamb prices feel seasonal pressure 585 4,500 North Island new season export lamb prices continue to 485 slip with a 16kg cwt lamb averaging around $7.66/kg 385 (nett) last week. Numbers are finally starting to 3,500 seasonally lift and with only a few weeks until Christmas, SMP WMP 285 CXI FXI LI But. Ched. space will likely be tight into the New Year as more 185 2,500 Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Nov Jan Mar May Jul Sep farmers are pressed to offload. Prices could well be pressured at this time with processors expected to claw Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$ Whole Milk Powder Price in US$/T back some margins while supplies allow. Some farmers 4,000 600 are hedging their bets and are drafting off their top end Last Year 3,800 This Year now to counteract any price drops if they do eventuate. 3,600 New season lamb prices in the South Island slipped by 400 3,400 another 10c/kg last week with a 16kg cwt lamb now Last Year 3,200 earning $7.77/kg (nett). Larger lines have been attracting This Year 200 3,000 slightly more money in the last few weeks though for how Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb long this continues is unknown. Most farmers are in little hurry to get a draft away which is keeping a tight hand on killable supplies. The bulk of the lambs that are flowing are coming out of Currency Watch US Dollar the earlier northern and central regions with the bulk of the lambs in Last 2 Wks 4 Wks Last vs. NZ Dollar 0.85 Week Ago Ago Year Otago still a few weeks away from making their way to the plants. US dollar 0.781 0.742 0.795 0.755 China and South East Asia hungry for New Zealand lamb 0.75 Euro 0.580 0.557 0.575 0.572 Despite the fall in lamb numbers this year New Zealand continues to hold Last Year UK pound 0.498 0.480 0.495 0.484 the bragging rights over Australia in the Chinese and South East Asian This Year 0.65 Aus dollar 0.764 0.765 0.764 0.774 markets. In the last 10 months of 2011 NZ exported 63,000 tonnes of Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Japan yen 60.78 57.44 62.03 63.23 sheepmeat to these destinations, an increase of 14% compared to the same period in 2010. Australia on the other hand saw exports ease by 3% Euro UK Pound to 47,000t driven by a 28% fall in mutton exports due to their tight 0.62 Last Year Last Year This Year supplies this season. This Year
Venison
Market eases as chilled season over for another year Venison prices have started their seasonal decline as the chilled season has wrapped up for another year. Weekly slaughter prices for 60kg AP stags have dropped below $9.00/kg in the South Island with North Island prices easing back to average $8.35/kg last week
0.50
0.57
0.52 Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
0.45 Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
18 opinion editorial
edna
Dairy punt not worth it HORIZONS REGIONAL Council’s mooted investment in dairying copped flak last week from many quarters, but the idea isn’t as daft as it sounds. With $9m to invest, from a financial perspective the return on capital should knock spots off a bank deposit at current interest rates, assuming the farm or farms are well managed. Then there’s the opportunity for capital growth. Okay, farm values have eased in the past two or three years, but they’re at a level now where sales activity is picking up and it seems unlikely values will go lower; long-term the trend is bound to be up. But the merits could be more than monetary. With its fingers in some dairy pies, council staff would have involvement with practical farming, even if only at a directional level. If the council went the whole hog, or should we say ‘whole cow’, they might even have some colleagues who manage and work on the farm(s). Inherent themand-us barriers of communication between farmer and regional regulator could be broken, allowing policy makers and enforcers an inside line on the impact of their actions or proposals at a grass roots level. Granted, there are farmers or former farmers at the Horizons’ council table already, but this proposal could enhance understanding among council rank and file. However, it’s this inside line the nay-sayers – mostly environmentalists – have leapt on, crying in near unison “conflict of interest”. How could a regional council, whose primary function is environmental regulation, police a business on consent criteria if it owns that business? Clearly, there’s not a lot of trust in the integrity of the council. Then again, these nay-sayers are mostly the sort of people who would rather we didn’t have dairy farms in New Zealand, or at least, not at the scale and intensity needed to be efficient at today’s land and milk prices. So should Horizons listen to them, or go ahead with its dairy investment and be damned? Sadly, the answer is it would probably be better to go elsewhere with its money. The perception of conflict of interest would be hard to shake off, particularly if for some reason one of the farms it did invest in happened to have a lapse in its effluent management, or some other activity that caused a breach of consent conditions. Horizons’ recent history has been controversial enough. It shouldn’t court further agro. If it does, and things go wrong, the people of Palmerston North and the wider region could suddenly find themselves in the situation of Cantabrians, with commissioners, rather than elected councillors, ruling the roost.
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Work smart, not hard
What’s a Cow Frow?
Activists’ annual outing
Grain import insult
KORDA MENTHA, receivers of the Crafar farms, certainly knows how to generate a good return from dairy land with minimum effort. It’s just taken another $1 million fee out of the portfolio of 16 farms. That makes over $6 million in two years. Spread over the 8000ha portfolio, that’s circa $750/ha, or $375/ha/year. Dairy NZ figures show the average dairy farm’s operating profit in the bumper 2009-10 season was $834/ha; the previous season it was $127/ha.
THIS PAPER’S last edition had a heading that left your old mate chuckling. “Good cow frow saves time” it read. Was it a story about a particularly efficient Austrian milk maid? Sadly not, and as my more educated missus pointed out, that would have been frau, not frow. It was all good stuff though, with tips on how to improve cow flow from a Dairy NZ Milksmart programme.
YOU KNOW summer is here when Greenpeace digs out the old dirt on dairy farm use of palm kernel. It’s almost become an annual event you can set your clock to. This time it’s the carbon footprint of PKE that’s the problem, but as usual, the ‘facts’ are selective, to say the least. The palm oil industry isn’t driven by dairy; it would be going gutbusters without a cow on the planet so adding its greenhouse gas emissions to dairy farmers’ ‘account’ is absurd. You can rely on Greenpeace not to let the facts get in the way of a good story.
YOUR OLD mate has heard from a mainland mucker that feed grain is being imported through Timaru to supply a major user further south. Now, I’ve no problem with free trade, but I’m told the stuff that’s coming in is of questionable quality, and there was plenty of opportunity to do a deal with local suppliers earlier in the season. Sadly, the buyer opted for overseas material. It will serve them right when they find they’re surrounded by dairy cows and are at the whim of the world grain market.
Small world? HAS ANYONE else noticed how a certain other farming publication’s ‘World’ pages are nearly always packed with reprints from one of the UK’s agricultural papers? Now, your old mate doesn’t mind reading the odd piece about the problems faced in the old mother country, but ‘world’? Hardly.
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
opinion 19
TAF second vote still vital L eo nie Guiney
MOST EVENINGS I get calls from concerned Fonterra shareholders asking what progress we are making on getting another vote on TAF (trading among farmers). We are steadily adding signatures to petitions making that call, but from the board, as yet, there’s been no signal they’ll agree to it. On Friday (Dec 16) Fonterra will broadcast about TAF on Sky 950, scheduled for noon and 8pm. Perhaps things will change then. In the meantime, I want to reiterate why another vote is needed. TAF has changed from the original proposal we voted on, the key difference being farmers will no longer hold the share title: it will be transferred to a custodian. Fonterra will own the custodian, which, Fonterra maintains, means we will retain 100% ownership and control. But our legal advice is that we won’t. This custodian will issue units corresponding to the shares to a unit trust. Investors will buy those units, which entitle them to the dividend on the corresponding Fonterra share, and any capital gain or loss on the value of the unit. It will not give them voting or supply rights. At a recent Shareholders Council meeting, Fonterra business development manager Chris Pearce explained shares sold into the fund will be held by the custodian
but they have no value there. The cash has been provided by the investor or unit holder and is on the farmer’s balance sheet. The asset – or unit – against which that cash was provided will show on the trust balance sheet. I asked him to repeat this for clarity. The asset would be on the trust’s balance sheet, he said. This means company law would apply, and trustees must act in the interest of the beneficiaries of the trust, which would be the unit holders. These unit holders hence have rights to influence Fonterra and even remove Fonterra as manager of the custodian. If the asset stays with the farmer this can’t happen. So TAF, as currently proposed, would compromise both ownership and control of our cooperative. Fonterra’s new chief executive says the co-op is reviewing this problem but how much time and money has been spent on a structure that could never deliver on the promised 100% ownership and control? Do we really need it? The redemption risk argument for TAF was well addressed by the first stages of our capital restructuring. Dry shares give some headroom so there’s no obligation to redeem, and dividends make it more logical to retain those shares. Sharing up at the start of the season also prevents the ‘gaming’ that was occurring on share value. These changes were sensible, inexpensive, effective and presented no risk to our
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cooperative’s principles. Suggestions TAF is still needed because Fonterra’s capital is unprotected are also flawed. If there is more than a 5% run on capital our constitution allows Fonterra to issue capital notes instead of cash to those redeeming shares. TAF gives up the right
to redeem shares for the right to trade them. It encourages short termgain behaviours that may benefit individuals today, but ultimately weaken the cooperative and future farmers’ returns via inevitable downward pressure on milk price. I urge all shareholders to watch Friday’s broad-
cast. If changes haven’t been made which will guarantee the 100% ownership and control we were promised, then we need that second vote. • Leonie Guiney, with husband Kieran, are fully shared up Fonterrasuppliers with four dairy farms near Fairlie, South Canterbury.
Leonie Guiney
Rural News // december 13, 2011
20 opinion
Publish science behind product claims SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH validates product claims. The Department of Scientific and Industrial research (DSIR) was established in New Zealand in the 1920s to push back the frontiers of understanding and the Ministry of Agriculture was the independent assessor of new developments, testing them on farm.
The New Zealand Grassland Association (NZGA) was formed shortly afterwards (1931), bringing agribusiness professionals together for interchange of ideas and information flow from farmers, consultants, field officers, scientists, rural businesses, academics and (recently) levy bodies in every direction. Overcoming barriers to sustainable production through the process of scientific research and technology transfer was the purpose. Eighty years from formation, NZGA is still going strong and the purpose is the same. The organisation’s strap line is ‘fuelled by science; tempered by experience’. In these days of funding shortages, NZGA plays a vital part in research evaluation.
“On-farm research has an advantage because it has to fit into an existing system. In contrast, research farms can set up isolated trials in ways commercial farms might not be willing to do.”
Te r m D e p o s i t s
Past president Warwick Catto, who manages research funding at Ballance Agri-nutrients, says “the NZGA conference provides a valuable forum to have our science peer-reviewed and communicated within a key group of scientists, extension agents and farmers. This scrutiny of science, especially of commercially orientated work, is an important role NZGA must continue.” Scrutiny is more than ‘has the trial been set up rigorously and have the results been analysed and interpreted correctly?’ It also involves the appropriateness of the interpretation and the applicability of the work. Results from metre-square plots mon-
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period. Furthermore, the economics of potentially improved efficacy of nutrient uptake against the increased costs of application need investigating. These are the sorts of issues NZGA considers before accepting any paper for publication in its proceedings. Anders Crofoot, immediate past president, similarly emphasises the value of NZGA. This year Anders used his presidential address to speak about the importance of research farms, as well as on-farm research, for exploring options and validating developments in a real-life situation. “On-farm research has an advantage because it has to fit into an existing
the cost to the country of using products which have not been properly evaluated is high. Past president Catto says Ballance Agri-Nutrients values the endorsement that comes with publication of results in the NZGA proceedings. He suggests “more pressure should go on companies to have product claims published in a forum such as NZGA so the correct scrutiny can be given.” NZGA has thought so for 80 years, and is delighted to assist. • Jacqueline Rowarth is Professor of Pastoral Agriculture, Massey University. She is also president of the New Zealand Grassland Association, www.grassland.org.nz
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itored during spring for two months in one area on one soil type should not be extrapolated for the whole of New Zealand, for instance, however exciting the data. The debate about the efficacy of fine particle analysis fertiliser centres upon such an experiment. The research formed part of the work of a doctoral student, and though the results look promising, they need validation in more than a small plot trial over a short time
system,” he said. “In contrast, research farms can set up isolated trials in ways commercial farms might not be willing to do, or long-term trials where commercial farms might not be willing to carry out the same practice for many years – particularly if it isn’t seen to be profitable.” The problem is that research, and maintaining research farms, is expensive. Increasing confusion about what type of research is being done by which organisation is not helping efficiencies within the system. And things – such as products – can fall through the cracks. Although some companies will pay for independently run trials of their products, others will not. The taxpayer should not have to pay for the research yet
Rural News // december 13, 2011
management 21
Selling store an opportunity
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number-wise. This will be done by the time the agent arrives.” These farmers have the animals looking bright and healthy, some having had health treatments three weeks prior to sale to ensure they are at their best. Agents will then be positive about marketing that line of lambs. As Christmas nears, farmers are busy like everyone else making sure things are right for that special day. But, without wanting to put a damper on Christmas, Garland notes the 10-day holiday falls in the middle of the main marketing period for a lot of stock. So the market often loses some momentum. “There’s a lot of pressure on selling stock that would normally be kept. They end up
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good money in the bank and redirect that feed to growing out young replacement stock and getting capital stock up to speed. There is some good thinking out there now on differential feeding of stock based on condition score.” By putting feed into capital stock they can set themselves up better for next season. The store market has turned in favour of breeders, away from finishers, Garland says. This began last year, but a dry November put a lot of breeders under pressure to sell and some missed out on what might have been higher prices. But the market picked up in February and that trend has continued into this season. “In the last three or four years things have been pretty tight. The
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“The store lamb market is strongest it’s been for about 30 years.”
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Chris Garland was among speakers at a recent Beef and Lamb New Zealand field day in Southern Hawkes Bay. He told Rural News the store lamb market is strongest it’s been for about 30 years. He believes producers should grab the money with both hands and effectively de-stock their properties faster than they normally would. Good 28kg lambs are fetching $3.70 - $3.80 and 25kg lambs up to $4/kg – very good money, he says. “They would still have
Christmas.” But this year may not be problematic, he says. There is so much feed around the country nobody’s under pressure.
FROM
Chris Garland
marketing product they might not otherwise have marketed and it causes a supply stretch. As far as marketing goes you could just about do without
FROM
STRONG STORE lamb prices present a huge opportunity for breeders to raise flock performance, says a Wairarapa farm consultant.
breeders have been forced to finish lambs to get the bottom line right and have done that to one degree of success or another. But sometimes it’s been a cost to their overall performance because finishing those lambs has taken feed away from other classes of stock such as replacement ewe lambs.” Garland is surprised to hear some stock agents say there are farmers not doing as well as they could in having store lambs well presented and ready for sales. This might change a bit now lambs are worth more, he says. Stock agents say farmers who present their stock well tend to get better money and the agents work better for them. “The farmers the agents like to work for are those who plan their weaning and selling threefour weeks in advance. They know what weight ranges they’ve got and they have the mobs lined up in different age groups so they can programme their sales and tell their agent pretty much what they’ve got weight- and
FROM
PETER BU R K E
Rural News // december 13, 2011
22 management
Spare some sheep for dog training I HAVE been surprised to hear farm workers say their bosses won’t allow them any sheep to train their dogs on. I suppose it isn’t surprising as sheep prices have never been so high.
In the past it has been a common practice to have a few dry sheep or some hoggets available on farms for dog training, but it seems that on today’s market, some places feel sheep are worth too much,
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and they aren’t prepared to leave even half a dozen close at hand, for this important purpose. Mind you, I have seen some pretty poor stockmanship, non-existent dog training skills and dogs being allowed to get away with near murder on some undeserving sheep, so I don’t blame the farmer; they have probably seen it as well. However, farm dogs do need training. Yes, there is a certain amount you can do without sheep but a dog will perform more efficiently if it has some experience of handling sheep and any problems are ironed out before it gets to the job. Bosses, consider for a moment: isn’t it better for a dog to run amuck on six sheep rather than 600? I have to say though, if people adopt training methods similar to mine the sheep won’t be abused and injury to them is highly unlikely. If you employ staff to handle stock with dogs, it is in your interest to allow them the use of the facilities and a small number of healthy sheep to train a dog on. Dogs can get injured, sick and sometimes die prematurely and shepherds need to have a young dog coming on as insurance. They need x
number of capable dogs to do their job, so it is a win-win situation for both employer and employee. If you are concerned for the sheep, you need to point out to your worker that if the sheep are harmed or mistreated you will take away the privilege. But staff should be allowed the opportunity to prove they will treat stock with humanity, and respect your generosity. I cannot put a high enough value on my training sheep; they are worth their weight in gold to me and I don’t allow any dog to terrorise them; the last thing I want is for them to panic at the sight of a dog. Dog-training sheep need to be healthy; it is cruel to hound lame or sickly sheep around day after day with a young dog. And there is no need for sheep to be crashing into fences and rails and being chewed up by an unruly dog. Incidentally, I do a large part of my dog training in the sheepyards, and when that is going well I move into holding paddocks. If you don’t have control of a dog in the confines of a sheepyard how are you going to control it in a holding paddock? And if you can’t get a dog to run, stop, go left and right and work sheep calmly in a holding paddock, how are you going to be able to command and control it on hundreds of valuable animals in a big paddock? • For more see www. annaholland.co.nz or Ph 06) 388 1318 or annaholland@xtra.co.nz
SHEEP CONVEYORS
It can be tough for ambitious young farmers starting out in the business. But, with the right plan and a Farm Start-up package from The National Bank it is achievable. With special lending facilities and banking benefits, it could be just what you need to get going. And with hard work, good management and the support of our experienced Agri Business Team, you can be confident about your future. To find out more contact your National Bank Agri Manager or call 0800 807 711 to speak to an Agri Manager near you. Our lending criteria, terms, conditions and fees apply. Our Reserve Bank disclosure statement is available from any National Bank branch. The National Bank, part of ANZ National Bank Limited.
• Unique lead up race helps loading by 15% • Power draw 3-5 amps • No belt tensioning • No belt slippage • Fully sealed electrical system • Full length foot stop/start bar on both sides • Adjustable speed • Tare weight 400kg
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
management 23
PGW grain product development manager Nick Brooks.
Lupins and more on PGW agronomy tour A N DREW SWAL LOW
PGG WRIGHTSON’S recent cereal agronomy group annual field day saw busloads of growers shuttled round six trial sites in Mid Canterbury. New chemistry, cultivars, even crops, were on the menu. “We’re thinking lupins might handle a sub-optimal environment PGW grain product development manager Nick Brooks told one of the groups as they took in a FAR and industry protein crop trial near Ashburton. “Low pH, drought. Maybe we can grow them where beans won’t?” With both crops the goal is a home-grown alternative to soya, but with the latter’s consistent 40% plus protein, and price of about $590/t at present, it’s proving a challenge, says Brooks. Beans have proven less consistent here than in the UK with yields across the 5000t grown for PGW last year averaging 4t/ha. Also protein slipped from the usual 25-28% to average 22%. This year’s crops are on contract at $470/t at 25% protein, but with soya prices at their present level, beans would have to be below $400/t to compete, he says. “We don’t want to go there but soya is very, very competitive.” Lupins have higher protein and in a good year have done 6-7t/ha in Australia. “The protein level’s 30-40%. It’s closer to soya so if we could get 5 or 6t/ha at that sort of protein it’s an option worth considering.” In one of PGW’s wheat cultivar trials, part of the CPT series, growers had the chance to look at some of the first South American origin varieties ever grown in New Zealand. “It’s another germplasm source for us,” milling wheat breeder Ger-
Wheat fungicide timing work PGW’S WHEAT fungicide trials presented on the tour are investigating tweaks to timings, delaying the first application to either leaf two emergence, or flag leaf. The thinking is that on varieties such as Sensas where leaf rust is the only real worry there’s little point protecting the crop until later in the season when
rard Pile told Rural News. “We’ll see how they compare and whether they’re worth trialling.” The spring sown plots also feature Swiss material – “from the same programme that produced Bakker Gold” – plus a range of other European and New Zealand origin varieties. In barleys it’s a similar story with UK and Danish material dominating, but Dutch and – for the first time – Czech lines also in the ground. “They’ve got a new breeding system we thought we should have a look at.” But it was new cultivars Garner and Chronicle that PGW’s John van den Bosch chose to highlight, presenting the barley CPT1 & 2 site. “Garner’s one of the most consistently high yielding in the south of the North Island as well as Canterbury,” he said of the Syngenta, UK-bred variety developed here by Cropmark and PGW. In this year’s FAR cultivar evaluation booklet it was coded NFC406112, showing high yields dryland and irrigated, with stiff, moderate to tall straw. Disease data is limited: it appears moderately resistant to scald and
that disease typically comes in. “The majority of the programmes started at flag leaf,” Nottingham explained. Half a dozen of the 15 plots have programmes starting at leaf two, followed by ear emergence and another application three weeks later. “T one-and-a-half, T two-and-a-half, and T three-anda-half.”
mildew but moderately susceptible to leaf rust. “Most of the seed will be for multiplication but we may have enough for a limited commercial release,” he added. Chronicle is a new malting-type from the UK, though Van den Bosch stressed “that doesn’t mean it will meet the maltsters’ spec here.” “It’s only had two years’ trials here.” On the UK’s HGCA recommended list it’s the second highest yielding variety. “It’s only beaten by a variety from Limagrain which we discarded because the yield ranking was the reverse here.” In wheat PGW’s focus was on Sensas, both as a cultivar and for plant growth regulator (pgr) and fungicide work (see panel). “It’s potentially a premium one milling wheat to compete with Conquest,” said PGW agronomist Chris Nottingham. “It will really depend on the quality of this harvest as to the way it goes.” Bred in France, it’s fast developing so shouldn’t be drilled before July, with good disease resistance bar leaf rust.
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
24 animal health
Grass to blame for ‘cranky cows’? SU DES H K I SSU N
NEXT TIME your cow kicks off cups and strikes out, don’t dismiss this as another case of temperamental behaviour, says Australian rumen nutrionist Damian Moore, in New Zealand speaking to dairy farmers courtesy of Nutritech earlier this month. Crankiness in cows often results directly from perennial ryegrass toxicity, he says. “Affected cows will be temperamental and tend to strike out, kick the cups off and be frightened easily.” Toxins produced by ryegrass endophytes – more prevalent in older pastures – are to blame for such irritability, as well as the better recognised symptoms of staggers, heat stress, lower feed intake and reduced milk production. Moore says New Zealand dairy farmers lack knowledge of this, an issue DairyNZ could more actively address. ‘Cranky cow’ syndrome is a much misunderstood and misdiagnosed problem in New Zealand, he told Rural News. “It is a seasonal problem, occurring usually when soil temperatures rise in October/November. It will normally start in the north and move south during November and December. It is
about the same time as the ryegrass goes to head. “What most farmers probably know is ‘staggers’ caused by the endophyte, but this will normally happen later in the season – February/March.” The endophyte is a microscopic fungi which grows between the cells of the plant. Its symbiotic relationship protects the plant against insects, nematodes and drought. But there is “an unfortunate side”. In protecting the plant it produces toxins including ergovaline and lolitrom-B. Moore says ergovaline tends to rise early in the season and is responsible for much cranky cow behaviour. “Work by Lincoln shows animals fed a diet free from ergovaline could graze in temperatures about 40˚C, yet when the toxins were introduced this temperature reduced to about 23˚C. “Ergovaline will also act similar to a neurotransmitter, hence all the problems associated with temperament, udder sensitisation. It also prevents the production of prolactin, a hormone needed for the production
of milk. Local work has shown there could be up to a 9% reduction in milk production when cows graze an endophyte positive pasture.” Other problems associated with ergovaline include lower feed intake
and ergovaline has also been associated with increases in cell counts. Lolitrom-B is a neurotoxin responsible for causing the staggers in animals. It will also affect the white muscle movement and feed digestion.
Damian Moore
(cows put in a paddock with what appears plenty of feed do not eat much of it), scouring (cows tend to be very loose when, in fact, the manure should be firm when grazing a high fibre diet),
Moore points out New Zealand leads the world in pasture research with the introduction of the novel endophyte like AR1 and AR37. Although these reduce the production of some of the
toxins, a specific programme is needed for re-grassing to prevent ‘wild’ endophyte types re-emerging. “There have also been some questions about the persistence of these [novel endophyte] pastures, particularly when faced with long dry conditions,” Moore says. An alternative to reduce the impact and severity of the toxins is using binder. “Binders will actually bind to these toxins in the feed and prevent the animal adsorbing them thus reducing the effect.” Moore’s company Meriden Animal Health’s product Fusion is a new generation mycotoxin binder which contains a cliptinolite that can help reduce the direct effects of perennial rye grass toxicity. Moore admits the product is not a magic bullet but commercial field results on dairy and sheep farms in Australia and New Zealand show a decrease in symptoms associated with ryegrass toxicity 24-48 hours after treatment. Fusion contains inorganic and organic binders which lock onto 95% of the ergot alkaloids in vitro.
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I CAN’T CONTROL THE WEATHER. I HAVE NO INFLUENCE OVER THE COMMODITY MARKET.
ELE-00138-RN
BUT I CAN SECURE MY LAMB NUMBERS AND BE IN THE BEST SHAPE FOR THE FUTURE.
If you want better lamb numbers, then focus on two factors you can easily control: Toxoplasma and Campylobacter. Toxoplasma and Campylobacter are present on nearly every New Zealand farm. The risk for your farm is that these diseases will increase the number of dry and late lambing ewes and reduce your number of lambs overall. In serious cases, they can cause losses of 20-30% through abortion storms. Preventing these from affecting your numbers is simple – vaccinate with Toxovax® and Campyvax4®. And if you want to boost lamb numbers fast, also use Androvax® plus. To find out more, talk to your vet now about a sheep performance plan for your farm.
VACCINATE AND SECURE LAMB NUMBERS
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
26 animal health
Planned weaning can cut parasites PETER BU R K E
PLAN LAMB grazing and monitoring when weaning them to minimise the worm impact once they’re off their mum, says parasite specialist Trevor Cook, of Totally Vets and Wormwise. “It’s not just about what to drench and when
to drench – it’s got to be part of a plan,” he says. Lambs have little immunity to internal parasites and as they approach weaning or are weaned that is the time farmers must act, he told Rural News. “To some extent they’ve been protected by the amount of milk they
Trevor Cook
are getting from the ewe.
It’s not necessarily a large amount of milk, but any milk seems to have a protective effect.” Once weaned, without that milk effect they become much more vulnerable due to the combination of stress of weaning and change in diet to all pasture. Cook warns worm
burdens can accumulate rapidly, so managing the whole weaning process and the risks to lambs needs planning. He believes a combination drench at weaning is essential, and it is pretty much common practice. “The expectation after that depends entirely on where they are going to
graze. A common practice is to put them back on the paddocks they came from. So the lambs are going back onto what we know are contaminated pastures so they will start accumulating a worm burden straight away.” A better approach, if possible, is to put weaned lambs on pastures that don’t have a recent history of sheep grazing. This will slow down the accumulation of worms in a lamb compared with those that go back onto contaminated pasture. As for a drenching programme, on North Island farms the rule of thumb is drench every four weeks. But he says it will vary from farm to farm depending on the level of worm challenge. Regular monitoring to keep a
track of worm burdens is important for determining any drenching programme. Cook says cooperia will tend to dominate in summer and trichostrongylus can appear at any time. Looking at the present season, he doesn’t see the parasite issue being any different from normal, though with more pasture available to lambs they may suffer less exposure. The caveat on that is the rain. “If it carries on raining throughout the summer that will present a risk. The worm cycle just loves wet summers. “When it’s hot and moist they hatch and develop very quickly. The worst problems occur in wet summers.”
ELE_22847_RN
Pinkeye pointers from across ditch
THE COOPERS BIG THREE. YOUR TICKET TO BIG, FAT, HEALTHY LAMBS. The more fat lambs, the more you benefit and now is the time to protect your lambs so you get the rewards you deserve! Buy the ‘COOPERS big three’ to control the diseases and parasites that can impact your return. MULTINE® is New Zealand’s first choice 5-in-1 for protection against clostridial diseases. And as lambs are also susceptible to blowflies at this time, use ZENITH® Spray-on, because it has a 7 day meat withhold, kills maggots and prevents flystrike. Then maximise production by controlling worms with ALLIANCE®, your smart, low-dose, triple combination oral drench – which also controls tapeworm. Trust COOPERS to have what you need to keep lambs healthy and fat. Ask for COOPERS at your local animal health retailer. www.coopersonline.co.nz ACVM Registration No’s: A7705, A10249, A934 and A935. ®Registered trademarks. Schering-Plough Animal Health Limited, 33 Whakatiki Street, Upper Hutt. Phone: 0800 800 543. WEAN-357-2011 Priority Partnership is a registered trademark of Nufarm Limited.
COOPERS IS warning Australian farmers that warm, wet weather has heightened the risk of the highly infectious cattle disease pinkeye. The disease, also seen in New Zealand, causes eye inflammation and ulceration and temporary or permanent blindness. It can also cut growth rates and cause rejection from certain markets, points out Coopers veterinary technical advisor Damian O’Brien. “Given the recent weather an increase in flies is highly likely and we know flies play an important role in transferring disease causing bacteria from infected to non-infected stock.” The causal bacteria is Moraxella bovis. Coopers says vaccination of young stock with Piliguard helps prevent the onset of the disease and is best used as part of an integrated approach. Avoid yarding of animals in dry, dusty conditions; use fly-repellents; minimise use of eye-irritating supplementary feeds such as seedy hay, and promptly segregate and treat any pinkeye affected animals, it advises.
Flowmetering causing you a headache?
Consider Ultrasonic Clamp-on meters as your first solution PROSOL PCS Ultrasonic flowmeters are simple to install, reliable and suit standard council metering requirements. The transducers mount to the outside of the pipe, and will suit most pipe materials 15mm to 3m diameter. Onsite display, datalogging or telemetry options available. Transducers can be mounted up to 100m from display. Call now for more information for a 1 week obligation free trial 09 414 1028 www.prosol.co.nz
Rural News // december 13, 2011
machinery & products 27
Bale bundler tony h opkinson
Versatile in pasture, soil or pug SOW GRASS into existing pasture, or
sow grass or forage crops into cultivated ground, or over-sow and fix pugged paddocks – it’s over to you, says Orgin Agroup of its new Hatzenbichler tine harrow with broadcast air seeder. Versatility is the main thing about these Austrian machines, Origin says. “The 6m working width at 10-15km/h gives high productivity. Weight (before seed) of only 550kg, and three point-linkage mounting with a hydraulic folding frame to 3m, makes it suitable for smaller tractors and easy to use on hills.” The harrows is made up of three flexible sections that “float and flex” with changes in the ground contour for even pressure on each tine. The spring tines are made from 8mm thick x 450mm long, oil-hardened spring steel said to give three times the service life of a normal spring steel tine. They suit ripping or “gentle cultivation.” The harrows can be fitted with an 8-outlet or 16-outlet air seeder capable of sowing small seeds at 1kg/ha or grass seeds
at up to 40kg/ha. Seed distribution is via distributor plates across the full width of the machine, giving even overlapping spread via twin fans driven by 12V motors. An optional hydraulic fan is available for heavier seeds or greater working widths. Hopper capacity is 400L. Calibration is quick and simple, Origin says, with seeding application rates being maintained via a ground driven wheel. An optional computer controller allows the operator to know the amount of seed being applied during operation and the amount of seed remaining in the seed box. It allows up to 19 separate seed varieties to be stored in its memory, eliminating the need to calibrate the machine each time. Broadcast air seeders are also available separately, allowing them to be fitted to Cambridge rollers, discs, power harrows, etc. Other features: powder coat finish, central tine-angle lever adjustment, and a platform for easy filling of the seed box. Tel. 07 823 7582 www.originagroup.co.nz
HAY BALE ‘bundling’ (collecting, stacking, tying) is said to be easy with a new machine from Giltrap Agrizone, Otorohanga and Cambridge. The Arcusin B14 multipack stacker, made in
Spain, collects 10, 12 or 14 conventional bales and ties them ready for collection. It can gather 500 bales an hour – hay, straw or haylage. “It is fully automatic but can be operated manually from the cab or from the machine when it is
stationary,” says product specialist for AgriZone, Greig Singer. Tied bales can be wrapped or, if necessary, lifted by a Stolle Pro-H attached to a frontloader onto a truck. Says Singer, “Throughout New Zealand lots of conventional bales
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are pressed. With this machine the labour intensive part of collecting and stacking can be mechanised to reduce labour and costs.” The machine is gentle on the bales, efficient and “dead easy” to operate. Minimum power 95hp. Tel. 027 266 7897
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
28 machinery & products
‘Too stupid to know they were beaten’ neil keat ing
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‘WISH ME luck as you wave me goodbye’ go the words of the old song. South Coast Productions’ DVD offerings for this holiday season include Wish Me Luck: New Zealand Families at War, a chron-
ological account of men who fought and women who worked and waited. Lots of archive film and many interviews, narration by the familiar voice (Radio NZ) of Wayne Mowat. The heading above is a jest by Sgt Eric ‘The Ferret’
Beauty of the South MURIHIKU, THE Southern Land, is another DVD new from South Coast, showing the splendours of Fiordland, the Southland plains, the Catlin mountains and Stewart Island by means of aerial film, set to music. Here are the region’s people in the landscapes they know as home. Here is the South as we seldom see it.
Batchelor, DCM and bar, who attributes Kiwis’ soldiering prowess to their dogged ability to keep going with skill, courage and good humour – always a help in a tight spot. For example, Southlander Pat Hamlin, prisoner of the Italians, noticing a chicken scratching near the compound wire, grabbed and killed it and sought to hide it under his greatcoat – but they spotted him. Off to the guard house! “What were you doing with that chicken?” “Well sir, the chicken attacked me, so I killed it in self defence.” Even better, the captors sent him and a mate to fetch ‘vino’ in a big flagon. On the return trip they both decided they felt like a pee. Yes, you guessed it…. “The Italians will sing better tonight,” they quipped. Hamlin had earlier (during the fighting) been treated to some German
humour, albeit grim. His truck was buzzed by a German fighter plane. “Don’t worry, he’ll be out of ammo by now,” he assured the others. Sure enough, on a second flyover the German fired nothing – he simply dropped a toilet roll. But this is, of course, an account of pursuing determined enemies with fire and steel, destruction and death. Pat Harris, merchant seaman gunner recounts the terrors of sinking by bomb and torpedo. Especially demanding were the convoys to Murmansk, Russia. He was dragged from the sea, frozen and injured, by a German
destroyer crew, who treated them well. Less chivalrous were the Russian allies Harris’s convoy was supplying. In a hushed-up episode, the Russians refused to allow British doctors to treat British naval wounded at Murmansk. They relented only in the face of threats by British destroyer captains to turn their guns on the Russians’ shore establishment. They were, says Harris, a less-than-ideal ally. DVD (55 mins) by South Coast Productions, PO Box 58, Riverton. Tel. 03 234 8109. da.southcoast@xtra.co.nz www.videosouth.com
Landini to Agtek TAURANGA MACHINERY company Agtek Ltd has been appointed distributor of the Italian tractor brand Landini, made by Argo Tractors SpA. Effective Jan 1, the deal includes after-sale and spare parts service for McCormick products, Agtek becoming a “dedicated reference point for McCormick end users,” says Argo Tractors export sales director Mario Ribolla. “We are extremely satisfied…. New Zealand is a most important market to our company and finding a company with the same ethos as our own is a strategic result to increase Lan-
dini market share.” Argo Tractors has been in business at least 120 years, selling here at least 30 years. Agtek will sell Landini tractors 25-225hp – wheeled, crawler, isodiametric and specialised tractors for vineyards or orchards. Agtek managing director Gayne Carroll, “instrumental in the original success of Landini in New Zealand, knows the product well and has a strong passion for it,” Ribolla says. “The opportunity… was a natural progression for both companies.” Tel. 07 544 2911 www.agtek.co.nz
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Rural News // december 13, 2011
vintage/motoring 29
Green tractors a godsend TON Y H OP K I N SO N
AN UNKOWN tractor collector has said “All machinery and tractors are man-made, except John Deere; God sent them direct.” “My association with their products suggests the statement has a strong element of truth,” says Neil Houghton. Neil and Shirley Houghton have been on their 137ha farm at Ngarua for 40 years and “everything you can see we have put here,” says Neil. His long association with tractors and machin-
ery dates back to age ten, when he drove a Farmall F20 towing a two furrow Reid and Gray trailer plough. Neil is from Manawatu and Shirley from Waikato. They sharemilked before settling at Ngarua. In thoseTITLE days he had a standing order with a salesman – not John Deere – to buy, each March, his company’s latest model, trading the old one. “Those days tractors came with a two year unconditional guarantee and the tax system for new machinery enabled farm-
ers to write off 40% in the first year.” When the franchise changed hands he bought his first John Deere a 2040S 4WD and the rest is history. He has updated his farm tractors, meanwhile collecting vintage models. Now he has 35, most restored and working, a few ‘in progress’. With the tractors are 40 John Deere and other stationary engines as small as 3hp – a Lister programmed to instantly start and drive a generator to supply all the farm’s
Neil Houghton on one of his favourite steeds.
NICKY EADE
Postal: Po Box 58 Winton 9741 Phone: 03 111 1111 Fax: 03 111 1111 Email: admin@southernfielddays.co.nz
electric motors in case of power failure. “I’ve always had a hankering for the vintage models and over the years acquiring and restoring
them has given me a lot of enjoyment.” Many visiting groups and individuals have also enjoyed them. He bought his first vintage machine from Athen-
ree – a John Deere model “G” 2-cyl. in 1976. His latest acquisition from Opunake is a model JD 2120, 79hp 4cyl, made in 1968.
“The ageing owner told me that he had used it to pull the mortgage off his farm and now that was gone he had decided to sell it.”
‘Dear Santa...’ TEXT SANTA, beg, borrow, do whatever, to get a Polaris RZR at Christmas. This advice from the maker of some of the world’s hottest sports ATVs. And their Polaris RZR 170 is a cool way to get into powersports, they say. “It’s easier to drive than any car – with a CVT automatic gearbox, steering wheel and car-like pedals. The parents will like the olds-only adjustable speed limiter, so they can control your top speed as you get some skills.” And like the award winning fullsize version, two seats means double the fun. Unlike bikes and single-seat ATVs, invites for a ride are not limited to only those that have their own. With a Polaris RZR a different mate can always come along for a ride every weekend. The RZR 170 comes standard with two helmets, full cab frame, daytime
running lights, rear tail light, front and rear hydraulic disc brakes, and an adjustable driver’s seat. RZR 170 is also stable thanks to its wide rear axle and low centre of gravity. Tel. 0800 440 290 www.polarisindustries.co.nz
Key Specs
• 2 bucket seats with 3-point seat belts. • 169cc 4-stroke petrol engine. • CVT automatic transmission with reverse. • Adjustable driver seat.
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www.southernfielddays.co.nz. Contact: The Secretary, PO Box 58 Winton. Ph/Fax 03 236 7200
With working widths of 2.40, 2.80 & 3.20 metres the Vicon mower discs are evenly paired and contra-rotating providing the cleanest cut available. • Heavy duty Kverneland Taarup cutterbar • Fully welded overlapping C-profile cutterbar provides a stiff and strong design • Low noise - the quietest operation in it’s class
See your local Vicon dealer today or call National Product specialists: Simon Borck 021 190 2362 (Nth Is) or Nigel Prattley 021 975 533 (Sth Is)
www.powerfarming.co.nz
Rural News // december 13, 2011
30 rural life
Cutting trees is OK PETER BU RK E
NEW ZEALANDERS lack understanding of the role forestry plays in our society, says a leading scientist and New Zealand United Nations commissioner. Andrew Matthews says there is a gap in the education system whereby children are encouraged to plant trees, but then there is widespread concern when it comes to cutting them down. Matthews’ comments were made to Rural News at a function last week in Wellington to celebrate the UN International Year of Forest. He says while New Zealanders understand the recreational value of forests, they don’t seem to realise the contribution they make to water quality, erosion control and replacing construction materials that require fossil fuels to be produced such as concrete and steel. “New Zealand’s exotic forests are in fact sustainably managed. We cut trees down and we plant a fresh growth, but that message is not getting through.” People also don’t appreciate what can be done with wood fibre, a field in which Scion (forest research) has done excellent research, Matthews says.
Log exports are expected to earn New Zealand $4.7 billion in 2011/12. Meanwhile FIRST Union, which represents 1600 wood processing workers, says there’s a crisis in the after-harvest wood industry. “For years wood production has been declining, sawmills closing and workers losing their jobs,” says union general secretary Robert Reid, in light of Eurocell Timber’s Upper Hutt mill closure with the loss of up to 40 jobs. Eurocell blames the closure on a lack of pick-up in the Christchurch rebuild, trou-
ble sourcing affordable logs, a weak housing sector and competition from exporters of raw logs. Reid estimates 1200 wood processing jobs have gone since 2008, and that’s perhaps less than half the true figure when attrition and unreported job losses are counted. A crisis meeting with Forestry Minister David Carter, the EPMU and wood industry representatives was held earlier this year, putting forward six ideas to help the wood processing industry. “The government cannot sit back and do nothing.”
And now the weather forecast – to 2020 IRRIGATORS AND water resource planners should expect the next 10-20 years to be a bit drier than recent times, says NIWA. Principal scientist Ross Woods is studying variability in river flows over decades and the influence of cyclical changes in the Pacific Ocean atmosphere system, the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). “If you had to guess about the coming 10 years, expect a slightly drier South Island. It certainly affects Canterbury and has implications for the design of irrigation and hydro power schemes.” Understanding variability in river flows over decades can be critical for the design of water infrastructure, he stresses. “Without this understanding, it is difficult to use river flow data from the past as a guide to the future.” An IPO phase typically spans 20-30 years, then the system changes to a different circulation pattern. The IPO was in a negative phase from 1945-77 and positive from 1978-99. During a positive phase, El Nino events and westerly winds are more frequent, with more rain than usual in the west and south of the South Island. The Bay of Plenty is drier than usual and has fewer floods. The opposite applies during a negative phase. “The phase we are currently in has only been going for ten years, so there is a reasonable chance that it has another ten years to go.” Woods’ research is Ministry of Science and Innovation funded and was presented during last week’s 2011 NZ Hydrological Society Conference, “Learning From The Past : Creating The Future”.
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