ANIMAL HEALTH
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Sheep do well on fodder beet. PAGE 37
Keeping hedges nice and tidy.
PAGE 40
AGRIBUSINESS New Zealand is slacking on climate change according to a UK peer. PAGE 26
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS OCTOBER 24, 2017: ISSUE 640
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Growers take a hit PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
VEGETABLE GROWERS will be taking a hit from lost production this year because of the wet weather, says Horticulture NZ’s chief executive Mike Chapman. “It is catch-up mode and in terms of the normal supply that would be around this time of year, growers will be losing a lot of money; they just can’t supply the quantities going forward,” he told Rural News. Rain is not the whole problem, he says. Warmer weather is also needed so the plants can grow. “Since March we’ve basically had rain, and across the regions, with a few minor exceptions, it has just made working in vegetable gardens very difficult. “The soil is heavy and it is very hard to get tractors in and out; it’s cold and wet and plants don’t grow in that cold and wet. “About a month ago hailstorms came through Auckland, shredding leafy greens. “So [some] plants haven’t been growing, and those that have been growing have been affected by constant downpours of rain and hail,” Chapman says. “The things we are not seeing a lot of are, obviously, potatoes and also cauliflowers, lettuce, spinach, etc.” The current weather difficulties have been across the board, although Southland has had a better spring.
Chapman says among the hardest hit areas is Pukekohe, which traditionally leads vegetable production at this time of the year and then the rest of the country follows. “But in Horowhenua, for example, they can’t even turn the soil to plant. I was up there
about a week ago and it was souldestroying seeing crops shredded and destroyed by continual wet weather.” While it is early days for fruit crops, they could also be put behind “depending on what nature delivers in the next few weeks”.
“Plants are struggling to grow – too cold, too wet,” he says. “Who knows whether it is climate change or not, but we seem to be noticing the weather is a bit more unpredictable… El Nino or whatever pattern, I am just not sure.”
TALK ABOUT WET, TREV
Canterbury market gardener Cam Booker pictured in the field of asparagus he was able to navigate on a paddleboard just a few days earlier. See story and paddleboard photo on page 17. – PHOTO NIGEL MALTHUS
SOME UP, SOME DOWN, SOME FIRM NIGEL MALTHUS
LAMB, SHEEP and deer prices are likely to remain firm, but cow and bull prices could soften, according to the Alliance Group’s projections for the new season. Heather Stacy, Alliance’s general manager livestock and shareholder services, told a recent meeting of shareholder farmers at Little River, Banks Peninsula, that prime beef prices should remain similar to last year at $5.00 - $5.40/kg early season and $4.80 - $5.20/kg post-Christmas. However, she says bull and cow prices are under pressure and softening compared with last season. These are projected to be about $4.00 - $5.00/kg early season and $4.70 - $5.00/ kg post-Christmas. Stacy was outlining the farmer-owned coop’s forecasts during its annual roadshow in which senior executives travel the country, updating shareholders on the co-op’s business. Stacy says cattle give the co-op the most cause for caution. “The influence of global supply out of Brazil, the US and Australia is having a downward draw on prices,” she told shareholders “There is a misalignment between what we are capturing out of the market and an overheated livestock market in New Zealand; so that is where we are counselling caution.” Forecasts for lamb were $5.70 - $7.00/kg early season and $5.50 - $6.00/kg post-Christmas. For sheep, Alliance is predicting $4.05 $4.20/kg and $3.50 - $3.75/kg. Stacy says demand for venison is very strong, but a risk exists that its high price on restaurant menus will prompting diners to substitute other meats. Venison forecasts were $9.85 - $10.20/kg and $9.00 - $9.30/kg. • More on Alliance Group meetings page xx
DON’T LET A BROKER GET IN THE WAY OF OUR ADVICE. At FMG, we don’t sell through brokers. Which means you deal directly with FMG from the time you take out a policy to the time you settle a claim. It also means you have direct access to the knowledge we’ve gained looking after rural New Zealanders for over 110 years. So when you’re looking for great advice and insurance from New Zealand’s leading rural insurer, don’t call a broker. Call FMG on 0800 366 466.
We’re here for the good of the country. FMG0550RNFPS_B