MANAGEMENT Environmental showcase ‘good farm practice’. PAGE 26-27
ANIMAL HEALTH Trial looks at improving hogget reproductive performance. PAGE 31
RURALNEWS
NEWS Talk of a billion dollar sheep dairy industry is not helpful says Maui Milk chief.
PAGE 15
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
APRIL 19, 2016: ISSUE 605
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Feds in meltdown?
FRESH LAMB PAM TIPA
PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
A NUMBER of senior Federated Farmers staff careers have recently ended abruptly, making the organisation appear more like a blood-soaked episode of the television fantasy programme Game of Thrones than a farmer lobby. It seems Feds management is in something of a meltdown mode with another two senior managers suddenly leaving the organisation last week. Communications manager Philip Clark and provincial engagement manager Jodie Campbell both left within days of each other amid speculation as to why. This follows the sudden departure late last year of Fiona Thompson-Carter, the policy manager. All three were appointees of chief executive Graham Smith who took over the
reins at the farmer lobby nearly two years ago. Smith’s restructuring of the organisation also saw other staff made redundant. Since Thompson-Carter departed no new policy manager has been appointed, causing upset amongst staff and farmer members, as Feds is still trying to work out how best to manage internal policy. However, Feds president William Rolleston plays down the issue, telling Rural News it’s not helpful to speculate. “Ever since I have been in Feds there
have been people happy and others unhappy. I guess when you have a big change of senior staff you don’t always get it right first time,” he says. But other Feds sources tell Rural News they have real concerns about the restructuring and the resulting fallout. It is now likely that Smith himself will be under pressure to explain why things have gone so wrong and the cost in dollar terms and staff morale. Another issue creating tension is that Smith is not based full time in Wellington, preferring to work part of the
time out of the Hamilton office. This has led to claims that Feds is ‘leaderless’ in Wellington. For years Federated Farmers has seen a high turnover of senior staff and these latest departures are seen continuing that trend, reducing the organisation’s ‘institutional memory’. Staff issues could be on the agenda at the Feds annual conference in Wellington in June. Mindful of the catch-cry in Game of Thrones – famous for killing off its key actors – one wonders if indeed ‘winter is coming’ for Feds.
PHOTO RICHARD COSGROVE
WATER BRINGS LIFE Jim Dennison was in his element, last week, telling journalists at the Irrigation NZ conference in Oamaru how water has turned his farm around. The North Otago property has been home to Jim Dennison for all of his 90 years and the farm is now run by his son Chris. Jim told the assembled journalists how irrigation has transformed it from a subsistence business into arguably one of the best cropping farms in the world: they have gained two Guinness World Records for crop production. See more on the Dennisons’ farm on page 14 and more on Irrigation NZ’s conference in this issue.
pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
AN INITIATIVE selling fresh spring lamb into Countdown supermarkets was kicked off by Helensville farmer Richard Kidd, the supreme winner of Auckland’s first-ever Ballance Farm Environment Awards. Kidd approached Countdown with his proposal to bring back the celebration of new season lamb in New Zealand, merchandise manager meat and seafood, Alton Gullery, told Rural News. “Traditionally the first spring lamb of the season is shipped to the UK so consumers in the northern hemisphere can enjoy Kiwi lamb in time for Christmas,” he says. “As part of the Kaipara Lamb cooperative, Kidd and seven other family farms have been able to provide new season spring lamb, exclusively for Countdown. “New season lambs are born around June/July in the Kaipara region north of Auckland before making their way to shelves in selected Countdown stores by late October. New season lamb is very special, with only around 200 lambs being supplied to select Countdown supermarkets per week,” Gullery adds. “While the first season of Kaipara Lamb was relatively small, Countdown sold over 9000 packs of the lamb in 14 weeks -- great for customers who love lamb.” Kidd says they will start the TO PAGE 4
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