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Chilean collaboration may benefit NZ sheep farmers.
Superbly capable, hard-arse SUV. PAGE 24
Its business as usual for Anzco. PAGE 7
PAGE 21-22
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS JANUARY 16, 2018: ISSUE 645
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Farmers under siege SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
FARMERS ARE under pressure on several fronts and need support to get through extremely trying times, says Rural Support Trust chairman Neil Bateup. Challenging weather is putting extra strain on farmers already facing new compliance rules and public pressure on sustainability and environmental issues. The new Labour-led Government’s focus on water quality isn’t helping. Bateup, honoured for services to farming in this year’s new year honours list, says recent media reports on farmer suicides partly reflect the acute challenges facing the primary sector. “There are a number of factors behind farmer suicides,” he told Rural News. The Coroner’s office released figures following an official information request last month, showing 22 farmers committed suicide in 201617, compared to 18 the year before, but cautioned these were provisional pending official findings. The statistics cover the period to the end of June this year. Farmer suicides reached a peak in 2007-8, when there were 28. Bateup is encouraging farmers to seek help from their Rural Support Trusts. He says the trust has been fielding calls from farmers in Taranaki and Manawatu; these farmers are reeling under the effects of long spells of dry weather. The trust is organising off-farm events for farmers, getting them to talk
to one another and offering technical advice for farmers to tackle the big dry. Minister for Agriculture and Rural Communities Damien O’Connor has extended the medium-scale adverse event classification to the drought-hit Grey and Buller districts of the South Island’s West Coast. Last month, he declared drought in Taranaki and western parts of the Manawatu-Whanganui and Wellington regions. The classification gives Rural Support Trusts extra money to help serve
their communities, such as organising local events, arranging recovery facilitators who work one-to-one with farmers, and recovery coordination. Bateup says the challenging weather is putting extra strain on farmers at an already busy time of year. “A lot of stress is driven by a wet autumn and winter which carried on until summer hit,” he says. “We didn’t actually have a spring and now it’s turned dry, so from a weather perspective too there’s been a lot of pressure on farmers.”
Bateup, who milks 650 cows in Waikato, says dairy farmers have done a lot to improve water quality, and have built new fences and effluent management systems. But farmers feel their hard work is not being recognised. “Farmers are disappointed,” Bateup says. He points out that not all new compliance rules are bad, but farmers running small businesses can’t hire new HR staff so they end up with bigger workloads.
TOUGH GOING SO FAR Rural News caught up last week with Broadgate Harvesting’s Matthew Reed as two of his machines were harvesting a 12.4ha Sanette winter barley crop for Rupert Wright, near Darfield. The crop, contracted for stock feed, was pivot-irrigated through the summer and Wright was hoping for a yield of 8-8t/ha, although he says the yield is down in some areas of the field that had spent “a few days under water” because of heavy rain after sowing. But with rain threatening, the harvest was called off with about half the paddock left to be done another day. Reed says his harvest crews have been dodging frequent showers through early January. “I’m hoping that in another week or so the weather will settle down and let us crack on with harvest,” he says. More page 5
CHANGE OF OWNERS FOR ANZCO PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
ANZCO FOODS is to become 100% owned by its long-time Japanese major shareholder Itoham Foods. The change in the ownership will complete a planned succession process: the founder and current chairman, Sir Graeme Harrison, said in 2015 that he planned to retire. He will step down at the company’s annual meeting in March. Itoham Yonekyu Holdings, through its subsidiary Itoham Foods, has received ministerial consent under the Overseas Investment Act to increase its shareholding in ANZCO Foods Ltd from 65% to 100%. Mitsubishi Corporation has a 39% shareholding in Itoham Yonekyu. ANZCO is New Zealand’s fifthlargest exporter and second-largest meat industry-related business, with an annual turnover of $1.45 billion. The company has 3000 employees, mainly in regional NZ and a network of eight offshore offices. ANZCO Foods is currently 82.35% overseas owned. Itoham Yonekyu’s shareholding will buy all the shares now held by Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd (Nissui) and ANZCO Foods directors and management. Nissui holds 16.76% of the shares; Harrison and management have 18.24%. – Business as usual, pg 7
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
NEWS 3 ISSUE 645 www.ruralnews.co.nz
Nationwide testing for M.bovis planned NIGEL MALTHUS
NEWS ��������������������������������������1-12 AGRIBUSINESS ����������������14-15 MARKETS & TRENDS �����16-17 HOUND, EDNA ����������������������� 18 CONTACTS ������������������������������ 18 OPINION ���������������������������� 18-20 MANAGEMENT ��������������� 21-22 ANIMAL HEALTH ������������������ 23 MACHINERY AND PRODUCTS ���������������������� 24-26 RURAL TRADER ���������������������27
HEAD OFFICE Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622 Phone: 09-307 0399 Fax: 09-307 0122 POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 331100, Takapuna, Auckland 0740 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: subsrndn@ruralnews.co.nz ABC audited circulation 80,580 as at 30.09.2017
THE MINISTRY for Primary Industries will introduce nationwide bulk testing of milk as it struggles to contain the bacterial cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis. MPI response coordinator David Yard says extending bulk milk testing to 12,000 farms nationwide will give a much clearer picture of the spread of the disease. MPI will take bulk milk samples from milk tankers and invite farmers to submit samples, such as from mastitic milk, which is a higher risk since mastitis is one of the symptoms of Mycoplasma bovis. Yard’s comments follow the confirmation of infection on a farm in the Ashburton region. This has brought the total number of infected properties to 14 – nine in South Canterbury, three in Southland, one in Ashburton and one in Hawkes Bay. Another farm in the Ashburton region, already under suspicion, remains unconfirmed. The newly confirmed farm was discovered though district bulk milk sampling by the dairy industry just before Christmas. No signs of illness were found in any of the 600 animals on the property, which is not believed to have any direct connection -- such as through animal movements -- with the stillunconfirmed farm. MPI says the newly confirmed farm and one associated property had been under movement controls since Christmas eve, with no animals or other risk goods – such as used farm equipment
MPI’s David Yard.
– allowed on or off the property since then. It is now tracing previous animal movements on and off the farm and will checks and test some 30 other associated farms. “Farmers in the area who have had some connection with the affected property will be contacted and those who do not hear from us in the next couple of weeks should consider they are under no increased risk from this most recent detection,” yard says. “However, if they have concerns or questions they can contact us on 0800 00 83 33 or by emailing info@ mpi.govt.nz. Asked if he remained confident the disease is contained, Yard says he is, but then qualified that by saying he believes the disease “whose whereabouts we know at the moment” is contained. “It is now evident that Mycoplasma bovis had been established in the country for some time – but a rela-
tively short time, rather than years and years,” he told Rural News. “I think the increasing numbers do not necessarily reflect that the disease is getting away, but is more [a reflection of] the level and intensity of investigations we are doing, that we are finding out the farms truly infected.” Yard said that once an infected farm goes under lockdown there is no further risk of spread from that farm, but tracing previous animal movements is a difficult and lengthy process “not helped by the fact that tracing records are often incomplete”. “It could be becoming bigger than a spider’s web but my belief is that we have it in confined areas. “We will work with farming communities. “As long as they [stick to] good farming practices the majority of farmers shouldn’t be at risk of this disease. So we are not necessarily on top of it, but we are getting on top of it.”
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HUMBLED TO BE HONOURED WAIKATO DAIRY farmer Neil Bateup says he is “pretty humbled” to be made an Officer of New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM). The long-time chair of the Waikato/Hauraki/Coromandel Rural Support Trust, who was recognised in the 2018 new year honours, says the award reflects the hard work and dedication of many people over the years. Neil Bateup “The award may be for the work I have done but it also reflects the good things done by people I have worked with over the years,” he told Rural News. Bateup, who milks 650 cows at Huntly, became the chairman of Waikato Rural Support Trust in 2007. Last year, the Rural Support Trust national council, representing the 14 regional trusts, was set up with Bateup elected chairman. As long-serving chair of the Waikato-Hauraki-Coromandel Rural Support Trust, he leads a team of about 30 people who operate an 0800 number, provide training and counselling, or simply lend an interested ear to a farmers’ worries. Bateup is also a Rural Health Alliance council member and has been in Young Farmers, Waikato Federated Farmers and the Livestock Improvement Association. He has been on the board of the Te Kauwhata Retirement Home. – More rural gongs, pg 9
RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
4 NEWS
Mental health focus coming PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
MENTAL HEALTH in the primary sector is likely to be a key future priority for WorkSafe, says chief executive Nicole Rosie. “Our strategy does have mental health in there,” she told Rural News. “However, WorkSafe will not be focussing on it as a key priority in the next year; it is likely to become a key priority in the following year.” The farming focus this year will be on vehicles, falls and other injuries and hazardous substances, where the data show the most harm occurs. However, Rosie says work done in Europe indicates that mental health issues in construction and agriculture are as high a cause of death -- if not higher -- than quads, she says. “In other words, more people die from mental health-related causes than they do from acute harm. So it is absolutely a key and increasing focus, not just by
Worksafe chief executive Nicole Rosie.
WorkSafe; it is a multi-agency approach.” The WorkSafe board has discussed it, she says. “We are very interested in moving into that area, but it is not something you can rush into. You need a different skill set to manage psychological harm and a different group of people to sup-
port it than you would to, say, inspect a quad,” Rosie explains. “There is a build-up for WorkSafe and I think New Zealand needs to give increasing support to that; certainly it is an increasing area of focus but it will not be our primary focus next year in the agriculture sector.” She says WorkSafe does not
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keep figures on farm suicides at present. “It is really hard at the moment; the data is not good on work-related causes of suicide. That type of thing is why we need to start to move into that space... over the next year or two: what are the actual numbers? how do you track it? who is best to track it? and who is best to provide support? “There is work we need to do behind the scenes to support WorkSafe to be able to support the agriculture sector in leading into and responding to that issue.” Provisional figures from the Coroner’s office show 22 farmers committed suicide in 2016-17 and 18 the year before. The figures were provisional, covering to the end of June. Other figures show 107 farming-related suicides from 201213: almost half (50) were 40 and younger; the largest number (16) were aged 20-24. @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
Research, Science and Immigration Minister Megan Woods.
PRODUCING TO SAVE THE PLANET FOOD PRODUCTION will be central to efforts to control climate change, claims Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Megan Woods. “We have a duty to act and to put New Zealand on a path to net zero emissions by 2050 and that is what our government intends to do,” Woods says. “Looking at the way food production comes into that is incredibly important.” The new minister was speaking at the culmination of the ‘Feed The World 2030 Power of Plants Hackathon’ held at Lincoln University. Reiterating some already-announced policies of the coalition agreement, Woods says the Government will set up a green innovation fund, and is committed to increasing R&D spending to 2% of GDP within 10 years. She conceded this would not be all public sector spending, but would include the private sector ‘lifting its game’. “We want to help innovators and entrepreneurs by bringing back an R&D tax credit; that work I’ve already begun with my officials and I hope to make good announcements about that soon.” A business manager at Plant and Food Research before entering Parliament, Woods said she could not then have imagined such an event -- bringing together a broad range of people, not just scientists. “I’ve been struck by the breadth of the value chain embraced here,” she said. There had been a lot of discussion not just about the science of plant-based proteins, but also about the needs of the consumer. Woods said the world is changing fast in growing, manufacturing and processing, and what consumers are demanding. “It’s being driven by health, environmental and commercial imperatives. New Zealand is well-placed to take advantage of these opportunities and the new markets opening in a lot of exciting new areas.” – Nigel Malthus
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
NEWS 5
Wet, dry conditions challenge harvest COMING FROM a wet winter to one of the driest summers on record, weather extremes are making the harvest season tough for Canterbury’s crop farmers. Joanne Burke, Federated Farmers Mid-Canterbury arable chair, says farmers had delayed planting because of sodden soils, “then it went completely dry”. “I understand that the grape growers are doing very well, but that extreme dry hit some of the autumn-sown cereals so some of us lost that for grain and we just did whole-crop silage,” she told Rural News. “They grew stacks of stalks, but... they just couldn’t fill [the kernels], so we had to make that decision before we lost it altogether.” Burke says the cyclonic rain during the first week-
end of January – which brought flooding and damage in the north and again closed the Kaikoura coastal highway – brought about 45ml of welcome rain to Canterbury. “That’s been a great help and it will sort-of flush things up again. Our options are fairly limited at this time so we are certainly hoping across the sector that we get a good harvest window. We had a bit of shocker last year so we are hoping for better things this year.” But irrigators have been going “hell-forleather” through the summer and irrigated crops are looking good, Burke says. Leeston farmer David Birkett, chairman of FAR, called the season a “mixed bag”. “Obviously the wet start to autumn put a lot of people on the back foot. Many couldn’t actually get crops in during
the autumn because it was too wet. “Then we got into spring and it was still wet and then we’ve had the dry since. So it’s a mixed bag. “Some crops are looking really good and some struggled through that time,” he says. Darfield farmer and contractor Matthew Reed, who owns Broadgate Harvesting, says it’s a hard season, with even irrigated crops struggling.
Farmers who had yields of 8-9t/ha of barley last season were recording only 4.5t this season. Reed had an autumnplanted barley crop of his own which was “salvageable”, but about the same day he was harvesting a neighbour with a springsown crop was cutting it for silage. “If you weren’t Johnny-on-the-spot and getting it in during autumn you had no crop this year,” Reed says.
Richard Goldie of PGG Wrightson, farmer Rupert Wright and contractor Matthew Reed of Broadgate Harvesting, discuss moisture content after rising humidity and threatening rain forced a halt for the day. RURAL NEWS GROUP
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
6 NEWS
Weather holds the key to milk production SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
THE WEATHER will dominate milk production around New Zealand in the coming months, says Rabobank senior analyst Michael Harvey. While other key dairy exporting countries are producing more milk, NZ is facing unfavourable seasonal conditions: a wet winter followed by a dry spring and early summer. Harvey says milk production during
August and September was affected by wet weather, and while milk production was more solid in October and November, the season-to-date production is up by only 1.7%. “Milk flows have now peaked and production levels during the remaining months of the season will hinge largely on the weather,” says Harvey. “The latest profiling from NIWA shows moisture levels well below average and the threat of drought and weather disruption present significant
NZ EXPORT VOLUMES DOWN DAIRY EXPORT volumes were sluggish from August to October and were 12% down on the same period in 2016. Rabobank’s Michael Harvey says the drop in export volumes on the previous year is largely attributable to a large decrease in shipments to Algeria, with export volumes to this market down 80% on the same three months in 2016, a reduction of 40,000 tonnes. “The fall in NZ dairy exports to Algeria has been partially offset by increased volumes into China. Exports to China totalled 133,000 tonnes between August and October, a jump of 24% versus the same period in 2016.”
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
NEWS 7
Business as usual for Harrison’s baby PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
FROM A New Zealand farmers’ point of view, no change is anticipated in Anzco’s relationship with its long-time major Japanese shareholder Itoham Foods as the latter takes 100% ownership, says outgoing chair Sir Graeme Harrison. “It is just part of a process of evolution,” he told Rural News. Harrison, after 34 years with the company, is among those selling their shareholdings and stepping down in March. He says Anzco was once owned by the NZ Meat Board, which invested $350,000 in the company and walked away with at least $40 million to cover its losses and other investments in the NZ meat industry. “You could say those other investments received the benefits of their time in Anzco, so that’s the way it is,” he says. “Farmers owned Anzco once, just as they owned Affco, just as they also owned Silver Fern Farms and as they now own Alliance; so I just say it’s an evolution.”
He says every shareholder in Anzco over the years has made money. “I don’t think that is true of many of the major companies in the NZ meat industry.” He says parent company Itoham Yonekyu Holdings is publicly listed, it is one of the 10 biggest meat companies in the world. Harrison claims this makes it the biggest investor in the NZ meat industry in the post deregulation phase. “It is bigger than what has gone on with Silver Fern Farms: it is capitalised on the Japanese stock market at well over US$3 billion. Its largest shareholder is Mitsubishi Corporation -- one of the top-20 corporates [compared to all others]... banks, insurance, etc. “And remember Japan is the world’s third-largest economy. So this is a big call in terms of them making an investment and seeing a future in the NZ meat industry. But they’ve had a long time to see Anzco… and it’s just a logical progression.” Harrison says he would “absolutely” see it as a positive move. “Anzco has actually had majority overseas ownership since the time of the NZ Meat Board selling out way
Outgoing Anzco chairman Sir Graeme Harrison has sold his stake in the meat company.
back in 1995. The company has operated as if it is NZ-owned in terms of management and governance by the two Japanese shareholders. “In the case of Nissui, it has never attended a board meeting since 1997; in the case of Itoham, very rarely until after the discussions in 2011 about Itoham increasing its shareholding.”
The current shareholding structure has been in place from 2001 until 2015 when Itoham moved from 48% to 65%. Harrison says he has had a close association with both companies. It began in 1985 when Nissui became a purchaser from Anzco. “From there we built personal relationships and that is the way it works,”
he says. “This is rather strange in a NZ context because people don’t imagine you can have trust on such a basis with big investments. But that’s the way business used to work once and that’s the way it has worked between us.” Harrison will completely retire from the company at the end of March. “You could say Anzco has been my baby: I started it and I finish any association at the end of March other than being a farmer supplier. “The reality is we all get older. I don’t think it often happens in NZ that for 34 years someone leads a company of the scale of Anzco,” he adds. “But you recognise that we are all mortal and this has been a pretty well planned process and we move onto the next stage in the company’s life. “We have had a change in chief executive, put in place a year ago with Peter Conley. Anzco has only had three chief executives in its 34 year history. I was the first chief executive of course, for 20 years, and then we had Mark Clarkson and now Peter Conley.” Harrison has been chairman of Anzco since quitting his role as managing director.
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
8 NEWS
More Chilean needle grass finds NIGEL MALTHUS
Laurence Smith
A NEW find of Chilean needle grass (CNG) is confirmed on a property in Waipara, North Canterbury, taking the total infestations in the
region to 17. The new infestation was identified in December. Environment Canterbury (Ecan) principal resource management advisor biosecurity Laurence Smith says biose-
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curity staff were on the property that same day to establish the extent of the infestation and to kill the plants before they set seed. “This involved removing seed heads and spraying the plants with herbicide.” Smith believes the pest arrived about ten years ago on a digger that came from Marlborough, a region of high CNG infestation. It was used to clean out a creek then was parked and washed down in a particular spot. “It’s in a fairly confined area. “There are three patches within close proximity, each about the size of a car, so it’s not a huge site.” Surrounding properties will now be checked for signs of spread. CNG is an invasive pasture pest that reduces crop yields, causes animal welfare issues and places
some restrictions on infested farms, such as not being able to make and distribute hay outside of the property. The seeds are not easily windborne but spread by attaching to anything that brushes past them including machinery, vehicles, stock, hay and footwear or clothing. The needle-sharp barbs work into the fleece and flesh of stock, causing suffering and reducing meat, pelt and wool value. The new find is about 10km from the nearest previous infestation at Omihi. The furthest-south find was at West Melton two or three years ago. Smith believes that landowner has found just two plants in the past year and none this season. “We’ve got that infestation well down already to only a handful of plants,” he says.
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YELLOW PERIL! MEANWHILE, CANTERBURY farmers are been encouraged to look out for and report sightings of the yellow flowering thistle, Saffron thistle (Carthamus lanatus) to Environment Canterbury (Ecan). The biosecurity team at Ecan is working with the farming industry to eliminate Saffron thistle from the region. The weed competes with pasture species, forming large dense stands and when it gets established it can reduce stock carrying capacity which in turn impacts production. Its sharp spines can cause injuries to the eyes and mouths of stock and get stuck in wool. Ecan spokesman Laurence Smith says anyone who suspects they have Saffron thistle should let the regional council know as soon as possible. “It will be flowering and easily identifiable with its yellow flowers from December to April. We want to eliminate it to protect their property, as well as to protect the rest of the region, which is at risk of it spreading further afield.” Smith says Saffron thistle been established in Canterbury for some years.
RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
NEWS 9
New year gongs for ag notables SEVERAL PEOPLE in the wider agricultural sector were recognised in the 2018 new year honours list. Former Federated Farmers president Dr William Rolleston was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for his contribution to farming and science. He was Feds leader from 2014-17. After training and working as a medical doctor, Rolleston coestablished the biotechnology company South Pacific Sera (SPS) in 1988 with his twin brother John, producing blood products used in cell culture and other laboratory applications for export. He also oversees the farming of the 4000ha sheep and beef Blue Cliffs station. He was elected vicepresident of the World
Farmers Organisation in July 2015, appointed acting president from September 2016 until June 2017 and is continuing as a board member. Rolleston was also the founding chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation and of the Life Sciences Network, an umbrella organisation which advocated for science-based regulation of genetic modification. Waikato dairy farmer Neil Bateup was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to agriculture, especially his championing of rural support trusts. He was appointed the first chairman of the National Council of Trusts in 2006, having been a founding member of the Waikato-Hauraki-Coromandel Trust. He has been involved
Former Federated Farmers president William Rolleston was one of a few primary sector people awarded in the new year’s honours list.
with Young Farmers, Waikato Federated Farmers, the Livestock Improvement Association, the NZ Co-Op Dairy Company and Fonterra’s shareholders council. After 52 years dairy farming, Bateup recently handed the reins over to a contract milker, but retains an active interest
in the business. Former dairy farmer Penny Mudford was made ONZM chiefly for her work in dispute resolution, although she has held other leadership roles in the primary sector. In 2000, Wellingtonbased Mudford became chief executive of the
Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of NZ, a role she held for seven years. She has since gone into private practice as a dispute resolution practitioner specialising in resolution in rural disputes, farming contracts, livestock agreements and farm equity partnerships. She was elected pro-
vincial president of the Manawatu/Rangitikei branch of Federated Farmers in 1999 and has served on the Eastern and Central Community Trust, the Ministerial Committee on Land Access, the Veterinary Council of NZ and as chairwoman of the Electrical Workers Registration Board. She is a member of the NZ Walking Access Commission and is chairwoman of the Racing Safety Development Industry Working Group. Southlander Stuart Collie was made ONZM for a lifetime of service to Federated Farmers and local government. Collie was vice-chairman and chairman of the arable section of Federated Farmers between 1981 and 1990 and vicepresident of the Feds from 1990 to 1996.
He was chairman of Environment Southland until 2010 and during this time he was on the United Wheatgrowers electoral committee and helped set up the Agrichemical Education Trust and the Grow Safe accreditation system to raise the standards of agricultural chemical use. Melissa Jebson from Darfield was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to agriculture and the community. She has been the Central Districts president of the Royal Agricultural Society since 2016, a member of the national executive committee of the NZRAS and has been involved with the Malvern Agricultural and Pastoral Show for 25 years. Jebson is a national judge for equestrian events including horse of the year and other shows.
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
NEWS 11
Former ag minister earns tributes THE FORMER agriculture minister Jim Anderton, who died in early January, has been acknowledged by the primary sector. Federated Farmers president Katie Milne says farmers will remember Anderton as a pragmatist who “got things done”. Milne says eyebrows went up in 2005 when Helen Clark appointed Anderton as agriculture and biosecurity minister. “Three weeks into the role he told a meeting of the Federated Farmers national council that while he didn’t know as much about farming as his audience, as economic development minister for the previous six years he had expertise in bringing industries together to improve their economic performance,” she says. “He was a strong advocate for the sector, and regularly reminded New Zealanders that farming was the most important source of export income for NZ.”
Milne says she was greatly impressed and inspired as a young leader when accompanying Anderton on his visits to the West Coast in
Former agriculture minister Jim Anderton who passed away earlier this month.
his early days as the new minister. “My lasting memory is of Jim Anderton as an approachable and accessible man who listened and got things done.” Milne adds that Anderton championed the importance of irriga-
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ing a range of initiatives seeking to reduce the primary sector’s carbon footprint, recognising that bringing livestock emissions into the ETS was problematic.” Meanwhile, the forestry sector has also paid tribute to the former minister. The Forest Owners
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
12 NEWS
Will it be the last of its kind? A LAST-MINUTE bid for support, late last year, has given the proposed South Canterbury Hunter Downs Water irrigation scheme the push it needed to get it over the line. In December, the proposed multimillion-dollar South Canterbury irrigation scheme was at risk of being abandoned. However, the last-ditch effort has proved successful, with enough farmers and investor support for it now to proceed. The Hunter Downs Water Ltd (HDWL) board had said a decision on whether to continue – or return funds to those who had already made the commitment to take water – must be made at its annual meeting on December 14. Following the meeting, HDWL chairman Andrew Fraser confirmed the company now has the shareholders needed to proceed with the $110 million scheme, albeit smaller than first proposed. “HDWL has secured sufficient farmer uptake to now enable it to proceed and finalise the funding structures and contractual arrangements in order to make this project a reality.
Hunter Downs chairman Andrew Fraser.
The board has received many messages and calls from shareholders since the meeting, and the overwhelming message has been that we now have a pathway forward and that the board just needs to get on with it,” Fraser said. A Crown Irrigation Investment Ltd (CIIL) $1.37m development grant was approved in March 2016, but it was dependent on securing sufficient farmer interest in water shares. Shares
were offered in March 2016, but by the end of April too few had been sold to proceed as planned. The scheme was redesigned and reduced from the proposed initial 21,000ha to now cover 12,000ha. CIIL then agreed to provide $70m termdebt funding dependent on shareholder uptake of 9500 shares. A final push was needed when, leading up to the annual meeting, HDWL
farmer commitment was still 10% short. That shortfall was dealt with just before Christmas. The scheme will take water from the Waitaki River to irrigate farmland in the Waimate and Timaru districts. Fraser said the decision was landscape-changing for the region, both for the community and the environment, as well as among other things the ability to augment the Wainono Lagoon
and to take pressure off the region’s smaller waterways. “This is a milestone for the project and I would like to highlight the unanimous support from shareholders, and specifically acknowledge Gary Rooney and the Rooney Group’s role and participation in enabling us to get to this stage.” Fraser says the company is now working with CIIL, Rooney Group, Morven Glenavy Irrigation, shareholders and other key stakeholders and interested parties to conclude the details and bring the dream to a reality. Construction of the scheme is expected to begin early this year. A proposed irrigation scheme in South Canterbury has been in the pipeline for many years. The current proposal began as a collaborative project by Meridian Energy and the Hunter Downs Irrigation Scheme Trust 10 years ago. Meridian withdrew from the project in 2016. The involvement of CRI in Hunter Downs may well be the last of its kind, as the new Labour-led government has indicated it will no longer support irrigation schemes.
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
14 AGRIBUSINESS
Old poplars and willows could provide a windfall for hill country farmers PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
NORTHLAND HAS about 1500 hill country farms with poplars 40-60 years old and needing to be replaced – and the problem is probably even bigger in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay, says Bob Cathcart, a land and environmental management consultant with AgFirst Northland. “They shade pasture, they become unstable, they are toppling and they are not performing the function they were put in for in the first place,” he told a Beef + Lamb NZ field day in the Kaipara region. The field day, which looked at erosion issues in the Kaipara Harbour catchment, was held at the White Rock Hills Ltd farm Te Opu, now trialling ways to deal with some of these ageing trees. “The scale of the problem is that we have 1500 hill country farmers in Northland with poplars 40-60 years old. If you took an average of 300-500 trees per farm that is a helluva lot of timber scattered all over the north,” he says. Cathcart, who worked for 44 years in land and water resource management in Northland, says the main runoff issue in Northland is sediment, and bound to that sediment is phosphorus. “That will be the challenge for farmers to keep the phosphorus in the paddock where it is doing some good, not in the harbour. It gets bound to the
AgFirst consultant Bob Cathcart (left) with Bryce Lupton (centre) of White Rock Hills farm, in the Kaipara region, discussing the willow problem there.
clay particles and it’s the clay particles that wash off.” Kaipara has always had sediment coming into it, creating dunes and flats. But when you have grass cover, the finer sediment is coming off. “You are not getting the sand and silt; now it is fine sediment that’s carrying phosphorus.” He says this shows how each catchment must very carefully define the problems specific to its area and work out ways of dealing with it. In the 1970s when big erosion problems were occurring the then Catchment Commission encouraged farmers to plant poplars and willows. Thousands of poles were trucked into the area. “A lot of very good work was done by farmers.”
But one mistake made was that willows started to be used for stabilising slips; that is not what they are designed for. Another mistake was that all the emphasis went into planting trees but not into whole farm plans to plant the best plants in the right situations. Willows’ massive fibrous roots are suitable to control stream bank erosion and gully erosion but not hillsides. A strong Farm Forestry Association through the 1970s held field days for farmers to learn how to trim and prune and look after their poplars. “We hoped that would continue but it didn’t.” Now options are being considered and trialled to deal with the overgrown, ageing willows and poplars. Each method has pros and cons.
Cut, stack and burn is one option: it makes a lot of mess, the farmer still has to regrass, etc. Poison them standing: willows growing along streams can be sprayed. If you spray with glyphosate the roots die and the trees topple. With metsulfuron they stay standing and break up slowly. Another method is to mulch them in situ, but this carbon sits in the field breaking down and could cause nitrogen deficiency for the next 10-20 years. The other option is to cut the wood, chip it and take it away. “That sounds expensive except there can be some uses.” He cited a number of instances where farmers had been able to get a return for willows and poplars now
needing to be removed. “We know it is being used in calf rearing areas; it can be used for making high quality paper.” There are possibilities for animal feed if it is mixed with something else. There may be possible biofuel uses. Garden mulch is another huge possibility. He even cited a big mulch ‘playground’ created in Invercargill where people to play with diggers, etc. A trial is underway to determine ways of removing trees and possible returns; they know how much it costs to remove the trees, mulch them, burn them, etc. They will be comparing various methods and fitting the work in with the New Zealand Poplar and Willow Research Programme which involves regional councils. The right trees now need to be planted in the right places with farmers managing them. “When agro forestry was one of the options we found we had bloody good stock farmers and bloody good tree growers but very rarely did you get someone who could do both. And very rarely do you have the scale where you can afford to employ both. “So someone needs to provide that ongoing advice and support. I am suggesting that if the council is pushing this poplar planting etc, they need to keep working with the farmers with ongoing management.” The trees do have value if managed properly.
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
AGRIBUSINESS 15
Dietician database proves a winner NIGEL MALTHUS
AN ONLINE database offering dieticians up-todate science-based advice on mixing and matching nutrients for balanced meals has been chosen the winner of the twoday ‘Feed The World 2030 Power of Plants Hackathon’ held at Lincoln University. The Hackathon aimed to develop ideas for the New Zealand agricultural and food industries to play their part in feeding a growing world population. It brought together about 80 participants, most of them strangers to each other, to brainstorm ideas and sort into groups around the ideas that attracted them. Thirteen teams managed to develop their ideas into embryonic but commercially workable products to pitch to the judges at the end of the weekend. While still keeping some possibly commercially sensitive details under wraps, the overall winners, ProTeam, said they had already prototyped their app during the event. It will initially aim at the aged-care industry, then sports nutrition, followed by ‘food nerds’, food service industries, food-kit compilers and retailers. It hopes to eventually use artificial intelligence to develop personalised nutrition plans, including plant and animal-based proteins. ProTeam formed around an idea by Dr Simon Loveday of the Riddet Institute, a national Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) hosted by Massey University. He was joined by Anand Mohan of Auckland University, Nico Van Loon of the Cawthron Institute, and Anson Koothur and Kylie de Vries, both of Foodstuffs. “I had an idea about the science. I had no idea how to connect it to the consumer, make it valuable and usable,” Loveday says. “That user-experience journey was really useful to think through.” Pitching the concept
to the judges, De Vries used the example of an aged-care nutrition specialist who was highly educated and spent a lot of time keeping up with advances in nutrition but was never truly confident of having all the information needed. “Science is developing too fast and attitudes to food are changing. How can we know people in aged care are getting the best nutrition possible?” Not all proteins are equal, de Vries says. “Chick peas are a great source of protein for vegans, but they’re lacking in lysine. Wheat germ is a good source of lysine and with ProTeam it is easy to calculate that you need just 12g of wheat germ with 88g of chickpeas to make it a complete amino-acid-balanced meal. “ProTeam is a platform for menu planners that delivers up-to-date food science information for optimum digestibility. It puts information at your fingertips when planning plant-based menus. “Through a web portal and an app you can investigate specific products and their digestibility score in order to get the best nutrition for your customers. A monthly subscription will get you started and with a team of the best food scientists in New Zealand providing global insights and the most up-to-date publications in the background, you can be assured your dietary recommendations are on-point.” Van Loon says producers will be able to come to ProTeam to offer a product for inclusion in the database. It would be analysed for its amino acids and protein content then added to the app so users can choose it in the combinations they need. Winding up the weekend, Callaghan Innovation chief executive Vic Crone, who headed the judging panel, said that with world population likely to hit 8.5 billion by 2030, the Hackathon was important not just for NZ but for the world.
“We need to do more of this. The NZ agriculture sector does not collaborate enough.” The Hackathon was hosted by the Lincoln Hub with support from FAR, Agmardt,
Callaghan Innovation, Plant and Food Research, Lincoln University and Creative HQ. Overall winners ProTeam toast their success at the close of the two-day Hackathon at Lincoln University: (from left) team mentor Kelvin Whall, Nico Van Loon of the Cawthron Institute, Anson Koothur of Foodstuffs, Simon Loveday of the Riddet Institute, Anand Mohan of Auckland University and Kylie de Vries, of Foodstuffs. RURAL NEWS GROUP
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n/c
5.40
P 2 Co w - 230kg
-5
3.90
3.95
3.85
B u ll - M2 300kg
-5
5.20
n/c
5.25
M Co w - 200kg
-5
3.90
3.95
3.85
n/c
10.15
n/c
10.70
Lo cal Trade - 230kg
-5
5.25
5.30
5.30
n/c
5.40
5.40
5.20
M 2 B ull - 300kg
n/c
5.25
5.25
4.70
P 2 Co w - 230kg
n/c
4.15
4.15
3.85
M Co w - 200kg
n/c
4.15
4.15
3.80
Lo cal Trade - 230kg
n/c
5.45
5.45
5.20
Ve n is o n - AP 60kg
P 2 Steer - 300kg
North Island 17kg M lamb price
6.5
Slaughter
5.5
7.5
6-Dec
6-Feb
6-A pr
South Island 17kg M lamb price
Thousand head
40k60
4.5 6-O ct
6.0
6-Dec 5yr Ave
6-Feb
6-A pr
Last Ye ar
This Ye ar
North Island 300kg bull price
6-Dec
6-Feb
6-A pr
South Island 300kg steer price
5yr Ave
Last Year
n/c # N/A
2 Wks A go 0 0
3 Wks A go 0 # N/A
Last Year 192 601
8.0 7.0 6-A pr
200 615
10.0
9.0 8.0 7.0
20 Oct
10 Oct
20 Dec Last Ye ar
10 Nov
20 Feb This Ye ar
UK Leg p/kg
n/c
Last Week 0.00
NZc/kg
n/c
0.00
2 Wks A go 0.00
Last Year 5.40
0.00
8.14
5yr A ve 5.34 8.49
Export demand indicator - UK CKT leg
550 450
350 9 Dec
9 Fe b
9 Apr
Procurement Indicator
Procurement Indicator Change - 0 .9 - 0 .9
2Wks A go 79.4 79.4
3 Wks A go 80.3 80.3
Last Year 81.7 76.0
5yr A ve 80.2 73.7
P rocu rement Indicator Procurement Indicator -- North North I.Island 95 90% 85% 80% 75% 75 Last Year 70% This Year 65% 60% 55 0… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 3… 3… 3… 2… 3… 3… 6-O ct 6-Dec 6-Feb 6-A pr
Procurement Indicator - South Island
90 P rocu rement Indicator - South I. 85% 80% 75% 70 70% 65% Last Year 60% This Year 50 6-Dec 6-Feb 6-A pr 55%6-O ct 19-Jun 26-Jun 3-Jul 10-Jul 17-Jul 24-Jul 31-Jul 7-Aug 14-Aug 21-Aug 28-Aug 4-Sep 11-Sep 18-Sep 25-Sep 9-Oct 16-Oct 23-Oct 30-Oct 6-Nov 13-Nov 20-Nov 0-Jan 5yr ave Last Ye ar This Ye ar
% of export returns
South Island 60kg stag price
10 Sep
5yr Ave
250 9 Oct
% Returned NI % Returned SI
9.0
6-Feb
k 10 0Aug
Change
5yr A ve
Export indicator - US 95CL D edemand mand Indicator - US 95CL Beefbeef
This Ye ar
North Island 60kg stag price
6-Dec
200
Export Market Demand
This Year
USc/lb Last Ye ar
6-A pr
S outh Island Weekly Lamb Kill
200k 300
20-Oct 10-Oct20-Dec10-Nov 20-Feb 10-Sep 5yr Ave Last Ye ar This Ye ar
Last Year This Year 150 $1.509-O ct 9-Dec 9-Feb 9-A pr 5-Jun 12-Jun 19-Jun 26-Jun 3-Jul 10-Jul 17-Jul 24-Jul 31-Jul 7-Aug 14-Aug 21-Aug 28-Aug 4-Sep 11-Sep 18-Sep 25-Sep 9-Oct 16-Oct 23-Oct 30-Oct 6-Nov 13-Nov 20-Nov 5yr ave Last Ye ar This Ye ar
6-Feb
South Island w eekly lamb kill
400 250k
20 Aug
$2.00
6-Dec 5yr Ave
10 Nov 20 Feb
100 50k
% of export returns
$/kg $/kg $/kg
250 $3.00
This Year
10 Oct 20 Dec
150k
$2.50 200
10.0
$/kg
10-Dec 20-Feb
Last Year
10 Sep 20 Oct
100k
95CL USc/lb NZc/kg
4.5
11.0
10-Nov 20-Dec
South Island Weekly Cattle Kill
Change
5.0
6.0 6-O ct
This Year
Export Market Demand
5.5
11.0
10-Sep 10-Oct 20-Oct
0 k 20-Aug 10-Aug
4.5
4.0 6-O ct
Last Year
5yr Ave
k 0 1020 Aug Aug
5k 5
5.0
6.0
5yr Ave
S outh Island Weekly Cattle Kill
5.5
4.0 6-O ct
200
100 50k
Thousand head
$/kg
4.5 6-O ct
15 10k 10
300
100k
10 k 0 10-Aug 20-Aug
15k20
Last Year 4.91 4.93 4.95 4.96 3.00 5.08 5.08 5.08 5.08 3.00
150k
20
5.5
2 Wks A go 6.76 6.78 6.80 6.81 4.40 6.93 6.93 6.93 6.93 4.50
200k
50
40 20k30
6.5
- 10 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 10 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5
Last Week 6.66 6.68 6.70 6.71 4.30 6.88 6.88 6.88 6.88 4.45
North eekly lamb N ort hIsland Islandw Weekly Lambkill Kill
250k 400
North N ort hIsland IslandWeekly Weekly Cattle Cattle Kill Kill
Change
Slaughter Thousand head
$/kg
7.5
SI
c/kgCWT NI Lamb YM - 13.5kg P M - 17.0kg P X - 19.0kg P H - 22.0kg M utto n M X1 - 21kg SI Lamb YM - 13.5kg P M - 16.0kg P X - 19.0kg P H - 22.0kg M utto n M X1- 21kg
UKp/kg
c /kgCWT
S o u th Is lan d C h an g e L as t c /kg We e k -5 6.88
6.0 6-O ct prices are reported 6-Dec 6-Feb 6-A deducted). pr Beef & venison as gross (before normal levies & charges are Lamb & mutton prices are reported nett (after levies & charges are deducted). 5yr Ave Last Ye ar This Ye ar
% Returned NI
n/c
2Wks A go 70.4
% Returned SI
n/c
70.9
Change
85 80%
3 Wks A go 70.4
Last Year 64.4
70.9
65.0
5yr A ve 65.0 62.9
Procurement P rocu rementindicator Indicator-- North North Island I.
% of export returns
No rth Is lan d C h an g e L as t c /kg We e k -10 6.68
75 70% 65 60%
Last Year
This Year
50% 55 11-Aug 6-O ct 11-Sep 11-Oct 6-Dec11-Nov 11-Dec 6-Feb11-Jan 11-Feb 6-A pr 75 80%
% of export returns
Me at
LAMB MARKET TRENDS
BEEF MARKET TRENDS
Thousand head
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Procurement indicator - South Island P rocu rement Indicator - South I.
70% 65 60% Last Y ear
This Year
50% 55 11-Aug 6-O ct 11-Sep 11-Oct 6-Dec 11-Nov 11-Dec 6-Feb11-Jan 11-Feb 6-A pr 5yr ave Last Ye ar This Ye ar
Venison Prices NI Stag - 60kg
n/c
Last Week 10.15
SI Stag - 60kg
n/c
10.70
Change
2 Wks A go 10.15
Last Year 8.10
10.70
8.10
5yr A ve 6.89 6.97
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
MARKETS & TRENDS 17 PRICE WATCH
INTERNATIONAL BEEF: The US
beef market held its ground through the Christmas and New Year period, going against earlier fears that it may fall by the wayside into 2018. Despite the heavy cattle in NZ, exporters were able to move much of the beef they were producing through December, meaning there shouldn’t be any major backlogs of product hitting the market anytime in the short-term. Whether it’ll continue to stay flat is too early to call, especially given we are still in the peak period of the NZ
SHEEP: The situation for the sheep
sector is a little better than was the case in the tail-end of 2017. Recent rains have taken the pressure off many areas, particularly in the North Island. This impact has been felt immediately through the store lambs, which are often trading 30-50c/kg above the end of last year. Schedules have softened just a little, but this is in-line with the usual trend at this point in the season. Many are gearing up for the various ewe fairs throughout the country too, and all signs suggest they’ll be strong. The previously mentioned rain, mixed with increased confidence in the sheep industry should see values at least onpar with a year ago. Interest in mutton from local processors has stabilised too, and it’s likely that buyers for the meat companies will underpin the market too as a result. Beef + Lamb NZ’s recent lamb crop report indicates 2% more lambs were reared this year due to strong lambing percentages, increased hogget mating and generally positive survival rates.
WOOL PRICE WATCH Indicators in NZc/kg Coarse Xbred
Overseas Wool Price Indicators
Change
14-Dec
07-Dec
Last Year
n/c
297
297
396
Coarse Xbred
-
310
-
555
Ewe - 35 micron
Ewe - 35 micron
Indicators in USc/kg
Ewe - 37 micron
-5
295
300
555
Ewe - 37 micron
2nd Shear 37M
+20
265
245
475
2nd Shear 37M
850 600
Wool indicator trends Wool Indicator Trends
600
LI
550 300
CXI
600
Last Year
-5
216
221
286
-
226
-
400
-8
215
223
400
+11
193
182
342
Second shear - 37 micron
400 300
450 200 15-Dec 15-Feb 15-Apr 15-Jun 15-Aug 15-Oct WeekNo 42110 42124 42138 42152 42166 42180 42194 42208 42222 42236 42250 42264 42278 42292 42306 42320 42334 42348 42376 42390 42404 42418 42432 42446 42459
600
07-Dec
500
FXI
650 400
650700
14-Dec
Change
CXI
750 500
c/kg
bull kill. Unfortunately the exchange rate hasn’t moved in exporters favour.
FXI
200 14-Sep
LI
- 37 micron Coarse Ewe Xbred Indicator Last Year
700 This Year
14-Nov Last Year
14-Jan 14-Mar This Year
Ewe - 35 micron
600
500 c/kg
changed over the Christmas and New Years holidays when it comes to cattle. Renewed grass growth has caused a small lift in store cattle values for the most-part, but it is difficult to gauge the significance of this lift on such small numbers being traded. Schedules were primarily steady-to-slightly weaker through the break. With many killing bulls earlier this season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a more subdued January for processors. Not all data is publically available yet, but all signs suggest the December cattle kill was the largest on record for NZ.
c/kg
BEEF: Not a lot appears to have
c/kg
NEWS
550
400
500300
500 400
300
450200 14-Sep Dec 14-Nov Oct Feb Apr 14-Jan Jun 5yr ave Last Year
OUR INSIGHT. YOUR EDGE. AgriHQ is the leading source of independent agri market analysis and advice that farmers can bank on. For the latest market reports visit agrihq.co.nz/farmer or call 0800 85 25 80.
Aug14-Mar
This Year
200 14-Sep 14-Nov 14-Jan 5yr ave Last Year
14-Mar This Year
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
18 OPINION EDITORIAL
EDNA
Not a record to be proud of FARMING IS again topping the league tables, but for all the wrong reasons. WorkSafe statistics on workplace fatalities between 2011 and 2017 show that of the 233 deaths recorded in New Zealand, a shocking 124 (53%) were in the agriculture sector. Of that number, 34 (15%) were related to the use of quads. By contrast, the next-deadliest industry was construction which reported 35 fatalities -- 15% of the total. Federated Farmers president Katie Milne suggests that drones might sometimes be substituted for quads on terrain where the latter would be unsafe. Milne also suggests that safety modifications such as modifying wheel tracks might have benefits, although modifying any machine from its original design could be fraught with complications. WorkSafe chief executive Nicole Rosie is reported as saying “the challenge for the new year is to [get industry leaders moving faster] to find viable and safe alternatives to quads where possible. This might include opportunities to use drones, install safety devices or move to travelling on side-by-side machines”. She is also calling for a cultural shift on workplace safety in small-to-medium farm businesses. Rosie adds that leadership, risk management and engagement are the three pillars of successful health and safety improvement. “The farm owner, the farm manager, the people who manage the farms and their families – the key part of that is changing the language we use.” There is already a lot of change on farms, e.g. younger farmers are wearing safety helmets and appropriate clothing. However, as an industry, the agriculture sector now needs to accelerate a culture change for everyone. Farmers and landowners need to realise that using any type of machinery, including quads, brings with it the risk of people not returning to their families at the end of the working day. Meanwhile, the rural sector also features much too high in the suicide and mental health statistics. As an industry we cannot allow this tragic loss of mainly young men to continue. A culture change is needed here as well. We all must be prepared to talk and listen to people feeling under strain and guide them to seek help when it is needed. That would be something we can be rightly proud of.
RURALNEWS TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
HEAD OFFICE POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 331100, Takapuna, Auckland 0740 PUBLISHER: Brian Hight ......................................... Ph 09 307 0399 GENERAL MANAGER: Adam Fricker ....................................... Ph 09 913 9632 CONSULTING EDITOR: David Anderson .................................. Ph 09 307 0399 davida@ruralnews.co.nz
“Where do I sign?”
Want to share your opinion or gossip with the Hound? Send your emails to: hound@ruralnews.co.nz
THE HOUND For what?
Change the record
Saint Jim
Sucking up
A MATE of the Hound was cynical about a new year gong awarded to the former Feds national president William Rolleston. While yours truly didn’t have too much of a problem with this year’s list of recipients his pal went almost apoplectic on hearing of Rolleston’s honour. “What the hell did Rolleston do to deserve such recognition?” the upset confidant asked. “Except sit on his butt for three years at the top of Fed Farmers and being the scion of one of the first four-shippers.” A little harsh, this old mutt suggests, but he reckons his mate’s cynicism over the former top Fed’s gong reminds him of the unkind way people rate these kind of awards. In the past, the former OBE award was often cruelly dubbed ‘Other Buggers’ Efforts’, rather than ‘Order of the British Empire’, which it actually stood for.
IT MAY be a new year, but it appears the same old, tired rhetoric is being spouted by the moaners and whiners who are anti-farming. Quicker than they dodge paying tax, Greenpeace was out of the blocks early in 2018 criticising the $180,000 awarded to Irrigation NZ from MPI’s Sustainable Farming Fund. Greenpeace mouthpiece Gen Toop said she was “appalled” by the decision. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the trout torturers at Bitch & Complain (Fish & Game) were quick to disseminate a survey to media in early January claiming that “75% of New Zealanders were concerned or very concerned about the pollution of lakes and waterways”. However, there was not a peep from either group about raw sewage flowing onto Takapuna beach during the Christmas break.
THE HOUND was sad for the family of former agriculture and forestry minister Jim Anderton on hearing of his death earlier this month. However, your old mate had to take a bit of a double-take at some of the almost hagiographic tributes given out to him by media and other commentators. This old mutt reckons even Anderton – who had a sizeable ego at the best of times – would have been embarrassed at some of the over-the-top claims made about him. It reminds yours truly of the joke going around when Anderton was in parliament: ‘What is the difference between God and Jim Anderton? God does not think he is Jim Anderton’. Meanwhile, your canine crusader can only shudder at the thought of the exaggerated tributes the commentariate will come up with when the fags and whisky finally catch up with Winston Peters.
YOUR OLD mate has to tip his hat to the forestry sector, which – in his opinion – has been brownnosing the new government so hard it would make even lifetime civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby blush. In fact, the sector has been sucking up to the new government faster than a pine plantation sucks up CO2! Any media release it issues has been full of praise for the government and its policies and the industry is even running a radio ad that makes admiring noises about Shane Jones’ tree-planting proposals. Mind you, the Hound can hardly blame the forestry sector for all this brown-nosing. If the new administration comes through on its promises it is likely to be a huge beneficiary of taxpayers’ largesse.
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
OPINION 19 RAM BREEDERS NEED TO STEP UP I WOULD like to comment on Dave Robinson’s article ‘Getting the best from ram genetics’ [Rural News, Dec 5, 2017]. Good advice from Dave Robinson, but his first two points reveal two flaws in NZ ram breeding. While there are individual ram breeders doing a great job in breeding for a more resilient ram for commercial conditions, ram breeders in general are extremely reluctant to put their rams under pressure because of the demand from their clients for big, perfect looking rams. This lack of pressure has led to a situation where Dave Robinson advises that adult rams should receive two drenches a year. However, as an industry we should be moving toward sheep that only need a drench as an adult under exceptional conditions, not as a matter of course. It is important that ram breeders’ clients demand [and are prepared to pay for] their breeders to weed out the highly susceptible sheep from their flocks. Even a small proportion of susceptible sheep in a flock lead commercial farmers to drench the whole mob to avoid an animal welfare issue, so we are left in the position where most sheep are regularly dosed many times as adults. There is feed trial work -grazing and stall fed condi-
tions -- to show that top animals are much more efficient converters of grass to meat. Under ad-lib feeding regimes these efficient animals perform no better than the very worst converters. Under a feed budget designed to allocate maintenance feed to a mob -- or under good feeding, but expanded demand such as a ram working hard to cover 100 ewes or a ewe feeding multiple lambs -- suddenly these individuals are revealed: their low efficiency means that their supply of energy is inadequate even for maintenance of body condition score. As any high performance-sheep farmer will tell you, the 10-20% of animals that constantly need preferential feeding are a pain and a real cost to their operation. Post mortems of these recurrent low conditionscore sheep typically only identify a cause (Johnes disease; Liver damage; impacted molars; etc) in 20% of cases. Although I am not aware of any specific research into the effect of feed efficiency on condition score, it is just logic that low feed conversion efficiency must be a large factor, especially when we are feeding to the average. However, the ram industry – in general – breeds on some of the
most favourable country for sheep (cool, cold or low humidity combined with a better class of hill country, or in some cases flat to rolling contour, with better quality pastures).Their sheep, and certainly their rams, are rarely fed a sub-maintenance diet. Contrast this with commercial farmers aiming to conserve feed in the mid trimester and so feeding to mob average maintenance,
or even slightly below for high condition score mobs, or with East Coast farmers dealing with high summer temperatures and the associated drop in ME content of pastures. It is easy to see why a substantial minority of rams sold are not fit for an industry that must aim to produce more with fewer resources. Dave Read Waiau Station, RD3, Wairoa
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
20 OPINION
Award-winning farmers to speak at expo The Subtils also won the Massey University Innovation Award, the Waterforce Integrated Management Award, the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award and the Environment Canterbury Water Quality Award. They run the 12,000ha Omarama Station, a family-owned property previously farmed by Annabelle’s parents Dick and Beth Wardell. In the family since 1919, the property is also home to
TIM WARRINGTON
A FARMING couple recognised for their sustainability practices will be keynote speakers at the 2018 East Coast Farming Expo on April 11 and 12. Richard and Annabelle Subtil were the 2015 supreme winners of the Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Award. They will speak at the A&P Muster on April 11, an evening social event and an expo highlight.
“We are flattered to be invited to the East Coast Farming Expo. We are passionate about the challenges facing New Zealand farming in an age of innovation and change.”
the couple’s two children Emma and Henry. The Subtils were required to show that their farming operation
would stand scrutiny in 100 years, Richard says. Their station is a multigenerational business and Annabelle’s family
Richard and Anabelle Subtil.
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has felt strongly about the need to “leave it better than they found it”. Among their stock are 19,000 Merino sheep producing high quality fine wool. Subtil is passionate about Merinos, saying the operation is profitable, a point highlighted by the farm environment award judges. They also run 1000 beef cattle, 310 AngusHereford cows, 10,000 lambs finished on the property, and 700 steers and heifers which are grown out each year. The Subtils generate extra income from farmstay accommodation and hydro electricity generation. They have worked with local iwi and the Department of Conservation for 11 years to promote the regeneration of native longfin eels. “We are flattered to be invited to the East Coast Farming Expo,” says Subtil. “We are passionate about the challenges facing New Zealand farming in an age of innova-
tion and change. “We’ve experienced the highs and lows of trying to promote agriculture in an area regarded as a high-profile environment that should not be changed.” The couple work to ensure their children can enjoy a life in farming, hopefully centred on Omarama Station, but expect their future to be radically different from the present. Expo director Dave Martin said organisers are thrilled to be hosting the Subtils at this year’s event. “It’s great the Subtils will share their experiences and knowledge, particularly regarding financial, environmental and social sustainability,” he said. “We hope farmers will hear their messages about proven farm business operations and realise these practices will help famers farm smarter, farm longer.” www.eastcoastexpo.co.nz @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
MANAGEMENT 21
Chilean collaboration may benefit NZ Collaborating New Zealand and Chilean scientists are working to solve the problem of the lower survivability of twin and triplet lambs. Dr Sue McCoard, from AgResearch, Palmerston North, is working with Dr Francisco Sales, a researcher for INIA, near the Chilean city of Punta Arenas, to make this happen. Peter Burke explains. A RESEARCH project aimed at improving lamb survival in very harsh environments is underway, run by New Zealand and Chilean animal scientists. In Chile, such environments are found in Patagonia, near Punta Arenas. Sue McCoard says the region is flat, with some rolling hills, except in the mountains of the nearby Torres del Paine National Park. She reckons the landscape is similar to the South Island high country or the North Island central plateau. There are very few trees because of the high winds, rainfall is low, and there is lots of tussock, small shrubs and weeds, in addition to the largely unimproved pasture with lower feed quality which serve as forage for the sheep. Therein lies the problem in this harsh environ-
ment, and there is also limited ability to utilise crop production. McCoard says low lamb survivability is not only challenged by the harsh environment but also by the sheep having to share the environment: geese and ducks also compete for feed resources. And there is predation by foxes and pumas, some of which are protected. A challenge for the research team is to develop strategies to support a productive sheep industry while also maintaining biodiversity. The collaboration had its genesis when Francisco Sales did his PhD at Massey University and AgResearch; Sue McCoard was one of his supervisors at AgResearch. “He spent four years here looking at amino acid regulation of muscle development in lambs,”
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she told Rural News. “We were interested in what we feed our animals and in particular the components of the feed such as amino acids, and how they affect the growth and development of our young animals. Amino acids are important building blocks for proteins,” McCoard explains. “Meanwhile, some specific amino acids are important because they regulate key physiological functions, including muscle and brown adipose tissue development, both of which are used to keep young lambs warm following birth. “Sales’ focus was on the lambs to see whether we could use specific amino acid supplementation strategies to improve lamb birth weight, growth rates and muscle development,” McCoard says. Back in Chile, having completed his PhD,
Sue McCoard and Francisco Sales are working on improving lamb survivability.
and following lambing is also essential for lactation, which is also key for lamb survival. So three years ago McCoard began working with her former PhD student to see how they
could work together to research ways to enhance lamb survival in this environment. The project aligns with other existing research initiatives in both countries focused on nutritional supplementa-
tion strategies. “What we wanted to do was first of all try to understand the physiology of the animals that are in that environment and what TO PAGE 22
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Sales leads a project that builds on his expertise and knowledge gained in NZ to tackle issues in his home country – namely lamb survivability and trying to find new ways to do this in a harsh environment. The problem in the Punta Arenas region, McCoard says, is that because of the feed resource issues the nutrient requirements in the ewes are not fully covered during mid-late pregnancy. This is a critical time for the dam to deliver the nutrients to the developing lamb to achieve good lamb birth weight and brown fat stores, which are important for thermoregulation and survival, especially in very cold and windy environments. Further, meeting the feed requirements of the ewes during pregnancy
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
22 MANAGEMENT
Chile research link could pay off for NZ sheep farmers FROM PAGE 21
are some of the contributing factors to lamb mortality,” she explains. “The first study we did was to look at twins and singleton pregnancies to understand more about the physiology of the dam and offspring in their natural environment.” McCoard says they have found that the ewes, mainly Corriedales, were making use of their body reserves (notably muscle) during the latter part of gestation to meet the high protein requirements of foetal growth. The twin lambs born from these ewes had very low birth weights. This is common in undernourished lambs, but dispro-
The team of scientists from NZ and Chile collaborating on the lamb survivability research project.
portionately more brown fat (used by lambs during their first hours of life as fuel to survive) which was intriguing. Through collaboration with Professor Victor Parraguez at the University of Chile, they have also found that the lambs born to undernourished ewes had lower levels of blood oxygen, which
can also influence foetal growth and new-born lambs. McCoard says having defined the nature of the problem they are now focusing on various supplementation strategies, such as melatonin, which regulates brown fat, and vitamins which have antioxidant properties, aiming to improve the amount of oxygen in
the blood which may provide strategies to increase lamb growth and viability. “Professor Parraguez’s research has shown that vitamin supplementation can help improve low blood oxygen in sheep and body weight at birth in pregnancies at high altitudes (the Andes),” she explains. “One aim of the work is to deter-
mine if improving blood oxygen content saturation in the foetuses can improve their survival in the Patagonian environment.” McCoard says this research is relevant to NZ’s ongoing problem of the survival of twins and triplets: multipleborn lambs are also more hypoxic than singletons. In NZ, researchers are working on the potential for amino acid supplementation strategies to improve lamb survival. “Delivery strategies are also important, with the long term goal being to incorporate it into a supplementary feed in a formulation that can be used in extensive farming environments,” she says.
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THE MORE THE MERRIER WORKING WITH researchers in other parts of the globe will help to accelerate research outcomes that will contribute to solving this important global problem, claims McCoard. She says the payback for NZ in assisting with this project will be that if some of the interventions they are trialling in Chile work, these can then be quickly tested here in NZ and may speed up finding a solution to improve survival of lambs on NZ farms. “There is also potential to trial our research findings in both the NZ and Chilean environments,” she adds. “What it means for AgResearch, and also for NZ, is that we can speed up the generation of knowledge if we work together, and accelerate outcomes for our farmers [more so than if we work on our own].” McCoard says that while her assistance to Chile does not bring in dollars, the benefits of such collaborations can be priceless. • This research work has received FONDECYT project funding from CONICYT (No. 1150998 and1160892) and AgResearch’s Strategic Science Investment Fund.
RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
ANIMAL HEALTH 23
Tougher approach on NAIT promised “Overall, compliance with the system is good for animals passing through saleyards and going to slaughter; however, big improvement is needed in other areas.”
Agriculture minister Damien O’Connor is promising a tougher stance on recalcitrant NAIT farmers.
the system that are stopping people from complying.” NAIT was set up in 2012 to rapidly and accurately trace animals from birth to slaughter or live export. Federated Farmers
able to demonstrate our high standards of food safety and traceability,” she says. “We know there is generally very good NAIT compliance relating to animal movements through saleyards, and to meat processors. It’s not so good with farmto-farm movements for grazing and the like. “The Mycoplasma bovis incursions have shown up gaps in recording animal movements that could have been serious had that been a fastmoving disease. We need
!
friendly, we will be consulting widely with farmers and industry on the proposed recommendations in the new year,” he says. “It’s important we know what is working for farmers and industry, and if there are any barriers in
president Katie Milne says making NAIT easier to comply with -- such as by changing the current requirement for both seller and receiver to enter animal movement details in the system to receiver only, and linking the NAIT number with a property identifier rather than a person -- would be “a great step forward”. “The vast majority of farmers understand the importance of NAIT for biosecurity, and for our ability to command premium prices in the world’s markets by being
to lift our game.” She says the 18 NAIT review recommendations are aimed at tidying up niggles and inefficiencies, such as tag replacement, consistency of information on tags, the NAIT and Minder system interface, and future options on ultra-high frequency RFID. A related topic is the potential to switch paperbased Animal Status Declaration (ASD) cards to a digitised system that will tie in with NAIT and enhance our level of information if there is a serious animal disease outbreak. To help solve stock rustling problems, Milne says Feds would also like to see police able to more easily access the NAIT database when dealing with suspicious movement of animals.
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the tracing of animals has been quick and accurate, whereas those who haven’t complied have made this a lot more difficult,” O’Connor says. “With outbreaks like this, speed of response is vital to contain a disease, so it’s more important than ever that our farmers and industry use this system. “Overall, compliance with the system is good for animals passing through saleyards and going to slaughter; however, big improvement is needed in other areas.” He says OSPRI and MPI will take a tougher approach on non-compliance to support wider changes to NAIT and to ensure improved traceability of animals. Recommendations from the review and a discussion document will be available when consultation begins this year. The NAIT review was done by a technical user group including farmers, and was overseen by a steering committee of people from MPI, DCANZ, Deer Industry NZ, Federated Farmers, OSPRI, Dairy NZ, Beef + LambNZ and the Meat Industry Association. NAIT review steering committee chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden says international experience shows that implementing animal tracing systems is challenging and it takes several years to get a fully functioning system. “To make sure NAIT is fit-for-purpose and user
NE
IF THE Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor had his way, farmers who continue to ignore their animal tracing obligations would face prosecution and fines of up to $10,000. O’Connor says he wants officials to get tougher on farmers not complying with the National Animal Identification and Tracing Scheme (NAIT). NAIT has worked for nearly five years to educate farmers about the importance of the scheme for biosecurity and food traceability. O’Connor has also announced that recommendations from a longrunning review of NAIT will be available soon for comment by farmers and ag groups. Preliminary data shows most animal movements to saleyards and meat processors are recorded within the required 48 hours after they are completed. However, many farm-tofarm movements are not recorded at all. O’Connor says a review of NAIT, which started in mid-2016, provides a good opportunity to highlight how important it is to have a fully functioning animal tracing system and for all farmers and industry to comply with NAIT requirements. “The recent Mycoplasma bovis response has shown us that where farmers have complied with the requirements,
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
24 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Superbly capable, hard-arse SUV! MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz
WHILE THE Kiwi love affair with SUVs normally revolves around ‘soft-roaders’ that may encounter a kerb in Kohimarama or a berm in Bayswater, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that ‘heavy duty’ SUVs still have a loyal following among drivers who need to tow weight or go bushbashing. One such vehicle, the Toyota Prado – now in its fourth incarnation in New Zealand – clocked up a healthy 775 sales in 2017and is expected to top the magic 1000 in 2018. Many of those 775 are said to have been to Toyota converts lured away by smoke and mirrors, but who quickly realised there is no substitute for the real thing – an old-school ladder chassis with a boltedup body, rather than the modern monocoque construction. To understand what ‘tough’ really means, late last year journalists were invited to drive the 2018
Prado range in the South Island’s Oteake Conservation Area – between Omarama and St Bathans. Following the route of the Maherikia Track to Broken Hill Road, then on to the Hawkden Runs Road, our route came within 2km of the Omarama Saddle, with an offered lunch stop at the Top Hut provided by the local search-and-rescue team. The route saw us take a long uphill section close to 1000m above sea level, in low range with the diff lock activated to deal with heavily rutted tracks, and washouts caused by recent rain, before dealing with rock-strewn cattle tracks and 28 river crossings that in some cases came to mid-door level. Not for the fainthearted, considering the drops to the valley floor, the Prados took it in their stride without incident. However, a support Hilux dropped a wheel into a deep rut, got grounded and needed a pull and a support Prado picked up a side-wall puncture from a sharp piece of
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bends. The only negative observation is about the need to plan overtaking manoeuvres early, because building up a head of steam takes a while. Body-wise, the front hood is re-sculpted downward, aiding forward vision, and a new front grille smartens things up; this is joined at the rear by new light clusters and additional trim. In the cabin, fit and finish is as you would expect from Toyota, with comprehensive
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schist. Throughout the trek there was no dust, no water and no hint of not getting to our destination. Looking at the nuts and bolts in a little more detail, the 2.8L turbo diesel pushes out 130kW and 450Nm torque, offering plenty of grunt between 1600 and 2400rpm and couples with a six-speed auto to return 8L/100km consumption. Three trim levels -GX, VX and VX limited -- all offer 3000kg towing capacity (up from 2500kg). The range includes a host of standard safety features such as autonomous emergency braking, pedestrian detection, active cruise control, lane departure warnings and auto-dimming headlights. The VX and VX Limited also offer panoramic view cameras, multi-terrain monitors, blind-spot detection and rear crosstraffic alerts. On the road, the Prado seems a little quieter, more stable on the straights and assured into and through the
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A CENTURY OF JD TRACTORS A CENTENARY is a special event for any business, so expect plenty of bells and whistles from global giant John Deere, which marks 100 years of producing tractors on March 14. This was when the company bought the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company, in Waterloo, Iowa in 1918. Back then Deere and Co had been in existence for about 70 years, concentrating on cultivation and harvesting equipment, in 1913 selling US$30 million of stock — about US$750 million at today’s prices. With mechanised ‘tractors’ just starting to gain some interest, Deere and Co initially thought about acquisitions, but in 1912 decided on in-house R&D to develop its own ‘tractor plow’. It set an initial budget of US$6000. The arrival of the new technology saw the tractor market move from 14,000 units in 1913 to 63,000 in 1917, hastened by the start of World War 1
and a shortage of labour. Unfortunately for Deere and Co the deaths of two of its design leaders – Charles Melvin and Joseph Dain – stalled the arrival of its own tractor in the marketplace. So JD decided to buy the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company for US$2.1 million, resulting in the arrival of the iconic green, yellow and red Waterloo Boy Tractor. Sold in the same guise until 1923, the Waterloo Boy brand was eventually replaced by the arrival of the John Deere Model D. Then followed many other models as farmers worldwide took up the technology. Today the Waterloo factory is still the home of green and yellow tractors, building well-known models such as 8R and 9R tractors in wheel and tracklaying configurations. The centenary events have started with a Waterloo Boy being displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 25
Condor flying high and fast RECENTLY ARRIVED in New Zealand, the Howard Condor mower, distributed by Power Farming, should prove versatile. It can tackle parklands, sports grounds and turf farms, and tough stuff like reserves and roadside verges. Offered in cutting widths of 1.78, 2.50 and 3.61m, the hot-dipped, galvanised body provides an extended service life, while an open design resists debris collection
that also benefit from cutting height indicators for easy set-up. With safety in mind, hydraulic wing locks prevent inadvertent lowering during transport and in use requires
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and promotes easy routine maintenance. It is typically powered by tractors in the 30-70hp category. The heavy-duty driveline can also take units up to 110hp if the extra power is needed. Large drive pulleys give good ‘belt wrap, helping to eliminate slip in heavy or wet conditions, while an over-dimensioned blade beam and blade set-up ensures a clean finish in all conditions. Precision height control is ensured by easily adjustable rollers
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MATERIALS HANDLING specialist Manitou has released details of its MC18 rough terrain forklift – a 1.8 tonne, 5.5m machine. It is said to offer a compact design with an overall width of only 1450mm, making it ideal for tight spaces in agriculture, horticulture and viticulture. Redesigned to offer greater operator visibility, the MC18 has a panoramic glazed roof without any metal structure, with triple-layer laminated glass for safety and meeting ISO 6055 FOPS standards for falling objects. The machine also has a ‘double skin’ over the engine bay and operator station to ensure cab noise is kept to about 79dB, compared to a sector average of nearer 86dB. Ground clearance is a useful 30cm, said to be the highest on the market, allowing greater versatility on all types of terrain. It also still retains an easy reach floor height, without the need for steps – said to be achieved by improved drive train component layout. The Mc18-4 offers selectable 2 or 4WD which helps driveability and traction in difficult conditions. Selecting 2WD also allows speeds up to 25km/h, increasing productivity and reducing fuel consumption by 12.5%. The company, usually known for its red and silver paint schemes, has delivered a MLT X741 telehandler to Central Machine Hire, Wanaka, in patriotic all-black livery. Nicknamed Black Jack, the 124hp Perkins powered unit has a manual gearbox and can lift 4.1 tonnes to a maximum height of 6.9m, which it is now doing at the Three Peaks subdivision in the region. – Mark Daniel
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RURAL NEWS // JANUARY 16, 2018
26 MACHNERY & PRODUCTS
Making orange the new black! series; these will be built in the company’s tractor plant in northern France. The 7002 series is expected to have a six-speed, semi-powershift transmission from ZF, an increased payload capacity, an improved joystick for implement control and an updated headland management system. Improvements are likely in suspension and sound deadening, and the operator will get a new suspended air seat with dynamic damping, and electrically operated rear-view mirrors to make life easier.
MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz
THE GIANT Kubota Corporation has taken the agricultural sector by storm, particularly in the northern hemisphere, advancing its intention to be a global ‘long-line’ supplier. This has seen it roll out the 7001 series tractors to 170hp and buy the Kverneland Group. This gives it a full range of grassland and cultivation machinery, which is now being delivered in the familiar orange colour scheme. A soon-to-be-seen replacement for the 7001 series is waiting in the wings and will logically be called the 7002
Kubota is advancing its intention of becoming a global ‘long-line’ supplier to the agricultural sector.
Gross operating weights are likely to climb to a maximum of 11.5 tonnes and the choice of 710-60R38 will join the options List. Expect also the company’s latest tractor implement system using the latest Class3 ISOBUS technology to allow ‘intelligent’ communication between the tractor and implement to automate repetitive tasks. Also waiting in the wings is Kubota’s new ‘e-Power’ attachment system that will allow tractors to power electrically driven implements such as fertiliser spreaders or seed drills. The system is said to be easily retro-fitted, with no major modifications required to the base tractor.
Processor handles bigger crops more reliably NH AGRICULTURE says its all-new DuraCracke crop processors deliver high-level processing scores and reliability, ensuring productivity with the widest rolls in the industry aimed at high crop throughputs. Weighing 40% more than the standard crop processor, a 7-rib belt drive handles higher
loads at longer lengths. A choice of conventional or spiral cut profiles offers operators the best solution for differing crops. These come in three configurations, including 100/130 straight saw teeth, 110/138 saw teeth with a spiral groove, or complete crop processor — without rolls – to allow installation of
aftermarket rolls for customers with special requirements. The DuraCracker comes standard on model year 2018 -- the FR850 -- and is optional on the FR650 and FR780 models. Standard features include heavier tie bolts and springs for 50% more clamping force on the rolls. It also has a cam
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bility and reliability. Meanwhile smaller roll end-to-frame clearances reduce the passage of small kernels. That helps with servicing and reduces cleaning times. www.newholland.co.nz
S E M I -VA R I A B L E R O U N D B A L E R Comprima F 155 and F 155 XC with semi-variable bale chamber are the first round balers that operate on the fixed chamber principle whilst producing bales of variable diameters that range from 1.25m to 1.50m. Combining the functions of both fixed and variable chambers, the semi-variable chamber is a unique system on the world market. Relying on the new NovoGrip system, the design combines quiet running with high baling pressure. Comprima F 155 XC features the X-Cut rotor cutter.
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TOP DOG BOX Accommodates up to 4 dogs 6 individual air vents Removable centre board 2 lockable galvanised gates In-house drainage Tie down lugs on each side Fits all wellside & flatdeck utes (2 models) ❱❱ Raised floor for insulation ❱❱ ❱❱ ❱❱ ❱❱ ❱❱ ❱❱ ❱❱
$797
$565 A trusted name in Poultry Industry Tel: (09)GST 236 8414 Poultry for over 50 years PO Box 73 Tuakau PO Box 1892 73 Tuakau 1892 Fax: (09) 236 9321 Equipment Tel: (09) 236 8414 Tel: (09) 236 8414 Poultry Poultry Email: PPP.LTD@xtra.co.nz Phone 0800 625 826 P H 0 8 0 0 8 6 0 0 1 6 - www.jder-cintropur.co.nz Fax: (09) 236 Fax: 9321(09) 236 9321 www.mckeeplastics.co.nz Equipment Equipment Email: PPP.LTD@xtra.co.nz Email: PPP.LTD@xtra.co.nz
* Chlorine Removal
SHOP ONLINE
incl GST
❖
FLOOR IT
SHOP ONLINE TO PROTECT YOUR VEHICLE FLOOR WITH OUR HARD WEARING FLOOR MATS RUGGEDVALLEY.co.nz
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YOUR ADVERT HERE For details contact: JULIE BEECH Ph 09-307 0399 julieb@ruralnews.co.nz
FOOTWEAR LTD
NZ MADE BOOTS
Visit www.lastrite.co.nz for more quality products
HUNTER BOOTS Comfortable, durable and stylish.
The heavy duty sole construction makes this a robust boot designed for climbing over rugged ground. This boot has a soft toe and is made from a thick Mad Dog Nubuck Leather, stitched and screwed construction with a rubber, replaceable sole, that is glued and screwed. Soft padding for ankle support and D-Rings for your laces are an added advantage. Great fitting boots full of comfort, ideal for those long hunting and tramping trips.
FARMER BOOTS Lastrite’s Farmer boots are made
OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD Cridge Seeds Ltd – Doyelston, Canterbury
SEED DRESSING SPECIALISTS - WHOLESALERS AND RETAILERS Top quality ryegrass – High priority delivery nationwide Ph 03-324 3951, 027-432 3834 or 0800 4seeds (473337) Website: www.cridgeseeds.co.nz
for comfort. Constructed from Reverse kip leather they are an ideal farmers, fencers and builders boot. Very sturdy and made to last this boot is robust with a heavy duty construction. It has a leather insole and midsole that is stitched and screwed construction with a rubber, replaceable sole, that is glued and screwed. Update your old boots now and you will never look back.
10 HALL ROAD, RD5, WHANGAREI Phone 09 438 8907
$15,648
EX GST
+ FREE SPORTS ROOF & WIPER READY GLASS SCREEN AWD Mode Turf Mode
44 HP
ON DEMAND TRUE ALL-WHEEL-DRIVE (AWD)
UNLOCKING REAR DIFF
ENGINE BRAKING SYSTEM & 4 WHEEL DESCENT CONTROL (4WDC)
ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING
HEAVY DUTY FEATURES
SEAT BELT INTERLOCK
SPEED KEY READY
IRS WITH 25.4CM OF TRAVEL
DUMP BOX CAPACITY - 227KG
*Offer ends 31/3/18 or while stocks last. Roof and Screen are to the value of $2,100 inc GST. Offer only available at participating Polaris Dealers. Not valid with any other Offer. Excludes fleet clients
0800 440 290 | www.polarisnewzealand.com |
/PolarisNZ