animal health
machinery
Tips on teatsprays to minimise mastitis. page 41
Simple machine impresses Southland contractor. page 50
Rural NEWS
research Farm managers are having to deal with a whole new level of complexity.
page 34
to all farmers, for all farmers
september 3, 2013: Issue 545
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Directors in the gun A N D REW SWA LLOW andrews@ruralnews.co.nz
DIRECTORS OF Ravensdown look set to face pointed questions from shareholders at the fertiliser cooperative’s annual meeting later this month. Whether rumours of a vote of no confidence in the chair or board come to fruition, remains to be seen but several shareholders Rural News spoke to said they would be attending to make
sure the board gets the message it must do better. “I will be going to the AGM because it’s a really disappointing result,” Mid Canterbury cropping farmer David Clark told Rural News. “Shareholders were told all the advantages of going into Australia and how it would help spread our debt and costs etc, and now we seem to be getting exactly the same arguments for why we’re getting out… They’ve come
“They’ve come out of Australia like a heading dog that’s touched the electric fence!” out of Australia like a heading dog that’s touched the electric fence!” Ravensdown last month announced pre-tax profit of $6m, down from $52m
Leadership needed
in 2012, and, for the first time in the cooperative’s 35-year history, no rebate. That bitter pill was made harder to swallow by rival Ballance Agri-Nutrients announcing a $93m profit and record $65/t rebate. “There’s got to be a lesson to the directors that they’ve failed in comparison to the competition,” says Clark. “They’ve cost me a huge amount of money. They’ve taken it off my balance sheet to prop up Ravensdown’s.” Ravensdown described shareholder equity in the company of $358m as “solid” when it announced this year’s result. Last year share capital was shown as $285m in the annual report. Except in case of death or exit from farming, share capital is locked into Ravensdown for five years, a period some shareholders say is too long, arguing that it prevents them switching to a competitor and doesn’t keep the board on its toes. to page 4
The 'i's have it! Hew Dalrymple pictured with a second pair of eyes looking over his – and brother Roger’s – farming operation, near Bulls, Manawatu. Actually the word is ‘i’ – as in smartphone technology. See more about Dalrymples’ use of technology on-farm along with the savings and results, on page 24.
p e t er bur k e
A LACK of leadership in agriculture challenges New Zealand’s primary sector, says Chris Kelly, recently retired from heading Landcorp. He spent 13 years in the role, overseeing a transformation: a rise in assets from $450 million to $1.6 billion, and many significant changes in how the business is run. He told Rural News that farming is a disparate business in which the individualistic nature of farmers shows through. And he sees a great need for more high-level leadership. He recalls the days when the minister of agriculture used to be the deputy prime minister. That’s not to say Nathan Guy isn’t doing a good job, Kelly quickly adds, because he is and is very keen on his role. “We have different bodies like DairyNZ, Beef+Lamb NZ and Fed Farmers, but New Zealand lacks a coherent strategic plan and it’s no better illustrated than in the meat industry where they try to form together and talk and fall apart again and so on and so on. “Another challenge is this emerging issue of environmental sustainability; we ignore that at our peril. This has been no better illustrated recently than by the Fonterra debacle.” @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
IDEATION-DON0327
*Dry matter cost calculations takes into consideration the costs of product, delivery, labour, fuel, spreading and spraying. For more information please visit www.donaghys.com