ahuwhenua trophy Tarawera Station head off contenders to take out the top prize . page 14
machinery A new sprayer with a bigger, wider boom lifts productivity for Taupo farmers. page 33
conservation Out-going DoC chief suggests ripping up and starting the tenure review all over again.
Rural NEWS
page 6
to all farmers, for all farmers
june 18, 2013: Issue 540
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Pig’s ear for MPI NZ PORK won an interim decision late last week in the Supreme Court banning raw pork imports from countries which carry Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). The decision stops Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) using a proposed new Import Health Standard which would allow raw pork meat up to 3kg from the EU (other than Sweden and Finland), Mexico, Canada and the US into the New Zealand market. Only the current health standard can now apply, which allows import of meat which goes through further processing such as heat treatment or curing such as bacon or ham. The interim order is in place until NZPork’s ongoing battle with MPI on pork imports returns to the Supreme Court on June 26. “We are pleased with this decision,” NZPork chairman Ian Carter says. “The court decision allows fresh pork to come in under the current import health standards which requires further processing before release into the New Zealand market, but the new import health standard cannot be introduced except at the discretion of the court.” The PRRS mutates constantly so a vaccine cannot be developed for it, NZPork communications manager Sarah Crysell told Rural News. If a farmer gets the virus in the herd it is likely to require slaughter of the whole herd. – Pam Tipa • See background on court battle P17
Sheep data questioned peter bu rke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
THE INTEGRITY of some data contained in the MPI Situation and Outlook report has been questioned by Beef + Lamb New Zealand chair Mike Petersen. Rural News asked Petersen for comment on the report in relation to the projected lamb prices, which estimate
the schedule price for lamb for 2013 will be $4.75 cents/kg increasing to just $4.80 next season. “This doesn’t sound right to me. Certainly the expectations we have been given from meat companies are that we are going to see a significant rebound in pricing on the back of short demand,” Peterson says. “The key thing is that farmers
need good data to make good decisions. If farmers saw these numbers and believed they were only going to receive effectively the same price as they received this year, then it doesn’t provide any confidence for the sector and for people to invest in the sector.” While some of the data in the MPI report is sourced from B+LNZ, other data is what’s known as ‘aggregate data’
– data based on various models. This contrasts with the B+LNZ farm survey which Petersen claims is statistically robust. He says B+LNZ is also well ‘connected’ to the meat industry. Petersen hopes that B+LNZ and MPI can work together to ensure more accurate data is put out in the public arena. However, it should be noted that the MPI data in the report is based on estimates in May, while the B+LNZ report, due out in July, will be based on end of season data. Meanwhile, Petersen expects high demand and prices for store stock in spring. He says a lot of capital stock were sold during the drought and many farmers will be looking for stock to eat the grass that will hopefully be there in spring. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
a first for the fieldays It was a first time trip for Gary and Ginny Downs and their children Peter, Anne, Esther and Marcy who have come all the way up from the Chatham Islands where Gary flys for Air Chathams. Ginny says that their son Peter came up in 2013 with his grandparents and had so much fun that the family decided to come up again. More Fieldays page 4
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We haven’t spent the last century sitting around with our feet up. We’ve been working hard to protect rural New Zealanders by advising them on the risks out here. And with more farmers and growers insuring with us than ever before, it’s a good thing we’ve got that experience to call upon. Ask around about us, or for some advice call 0800 366 466.
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