Rural News 25 April 2023

TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS

HWEN has to go!

are going to do a better job of listening to farmers.

BEEF + LAMB New Zealand is under fire from farmers for opting to remain in He Waka Eke Noa – the primary sector’s climate action partnership.

Farmers who successfully moved remits at B+LNZ’s annual meeting three weeks ago claim the organisation is still not listening to its levy payers.

North Waikato sheep and beef farmer Jason Barrier, who successfully moved a remit for B+LNZ to get out of HWEN, told Rural News that tinkering with HWEN is “simply not going to cut the mustard now”.

Barrier points out that in its latest statement, the B+LNZ board says they

Take Welly out!

“That is a welcome change, but actions speak louder than words,” he says.

Barrier says his remit essentially asked the board to ‘get out of HWEN’ and was passed at the annual meeting.

“And yet the first thing we get from the board is an email saying ‘we are not pulling out of HWEN’ – so I’m not sure if they really are listening yet.

“What they are now proposing instead is something between a ‘halfway house’ and ‘a cup of tea’ where we go ahead with emissions reporting and defer the emissions pricing.

“That’s probably a good thing as it buys us a bit of time to get out of this mess and come up with something more workable. But you can’t kick this can down the road forever, and tinkering with HWEN is simply not going to cut the mustard now.

“In my view, the whole thing needs a complete overhaul. We need some new ideas and a plan that is written by our industry for our industry and I’ve not seen any evidence to date that the board is prepared to consider major changes to HWEN.”

Barrier claims the board is also saying they are getting in touch with the remit proposers.

“I’m still waiting for the phone to ring.”

Katikati sheep and beef farmer and chair of Farmers 4 Positive Change, Rick Burke welcomes B+LNZ’s decision to hit the pause button regarding emissions pricing and addressing the disproportionate impact on the sheep and beef sector.

However, regarding all the remits which centred around B+LNZ’s advocacy performance, Burke’s expectation is for an independent comprehensive review.

“This must involve the grassroots farmers who are heavily involved in this discussion, like Waka Adrift and others,” he told Rural News

“It’s important to note these farmers have always been wanting to work with B+LNZ to ensure that change driven by regulation will be positive and incentivise and empower farmers to do the right thing, not price them out of existence!

National last week unveiled its ‘Getting Back to Farming’ package with a promise of cutting red tape and getting Wellington out of farming. Changes flagged include making stock exclusion more practical, deferring central government rules requiring resource consents for winter grazing until freshwater farm plans are in place, and restarting live exports of cattle with gold standard rules set in regulation to protect animal welfare and safety.

National leader Chris Luxon says this is only the start. “The country does not need rules: it needs better regulation.” Full details on page 3.

“We hope the B+LNZ board takes this seriously because we aren’t going away. We are here for the farmers who are often overwhelmed by the complexity of what’s coming at them.”

Burke called on B+LNZ to live up to its mantra ‘by farmers for farmers’.

In a statement last week, B+LNZ called for the staged implementation of an agricultural emissions framework, starting with the establishment of a robust emissions measuring and reporting system, with a price on emissions not introduced until outstanding issues are resolved.

Board chair Kate Acland says the board has listened to what farmers have said at last month’s annual

SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

National’s bold bid to lure back rural voters

PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

CUTTING RED tape, diluting Wellington’s grip on rural sector reforms, reducing the number of regulations, allowing more overseas workers into New Zealand and restoring the option of live animal exports.

These are just some of the key points in National’s just released agriculture policy ‘Getting back to Farming’. The seven-page document released by party leader Christopher Luxon, agriculture spokesperson Todd McClay and environment spokesman Scott Simpson brings together several issues that National has been talking about for some time – and there are few surprises.

Luxon takes a swipe at Labour, saying they have used regulations to wage war on farmers and says his party will end that war by ‘cutting red tape’ which he says has buried farmers. He says farming is the backbone of the economy and last year agriculture exports totalled $41 billion or 63% of our goods exports.

“Since it was elected, Labour has

introduced or changed more than 20 laws and regulations for farmers, adding extra costs on them, often without any environmental gain. For example, wetlands are so poorly defined that farmers are having to go to court to determine whether land is a paddock that can be farmed, or a protected wetland that can’t. National’s Getting back to Farming package will make regulation fit for purpose,” he says.

‘Get farming out of Wellington’ is one of the many catch cries in the policy document clearly aimed at the increased size of the bureaucracy, especially in departments such as the Ministry for the Environment, which has ballooned to meet the demands of its political masters. There has long been concern that the regulations introduced are impractical to implement on farm and that Wellington is out of touch with rural NZ.

“I want world-class regulation for

NEITHER THREE NOR TEN

NATIONAL SAYS it will also repeal Labour’s rebranded Three Waters and replace it with Local Water Done Well, a plan designed to restore council ownership and control of water assets while ensuring water services are financially sustainable.

National is also pledging to make appointments to reference and advisory groups based on skills and experience not politics. It says it will also require local and central government to assess the costs of all new rules on the rural sector and publish the findings.

It also plans to establish a perma-

nent Rural Regulation Review Panel to consider every local and central government regulation affecting farmers and advise the central Government on solutions and introduce a no duplication rule.

There are also some carrots for the horticulture sector with National planning to double the RSE worker cap over five years to 38,000 per year and explore other countries entering the RSE scheme. It says it will also change Accredited Employer Work Visas for agriculture to create a path to residency and eliminate the median wage requirement.

our world-class farmers. Regulation has a role to play, but rules should avoid prescription, target outcomes, minimise compliance, and be clear to provide certainty,” says Luxon.

What could be described as a gimmick is a plan to introduce a 2-for-1 rule – meaning for every new agriculture regulation, two must be removed. The aim, according to Simpson, is to have targeted rules with clear environmental limits so that farmers can work with confidence.

Other polices likely to resonate with rural communities include:

• Making stock exclusion rules more practical to protect critical source areas while avoiding unintended consequences.

• Deferring central government rules requiring resource consents for winter grazing until freshwater farm plans are in place.

• Replacing the winter grazing low slope map and low slope rules for stock exclusion with more effective catchment-level rules to accommodate regional differences.

• Restarting the live exports of cattle with gold standard rules set in regulation to protect animal welfare and safety.

AGRICULTURE MINISTER

Damien

NOTHING NEW – O’CONNOR GETTING BACK TO FARMING

O’Connor says National’s agriculture policy will take the country backwards, not forwards.

He says the changes being proposed around environmental issues will put NZ’s export growth at risk. “NZ relies on its sustainability credentials for its exports and this policy puts that in jeopardy,” he says.

O’Connor says many of the polices in the document are not new but have simply been rolled into a document. He adds that the reason central government has taken a lead in setting national environmental standards was to remove any ambiguity and inconsistency at a local level.

The ACT Party’s spokesperson on Primary Industries, Mark Cameron, gave the National policy a 6 out of 10 rating. He claims it says the right things but has too much compromise and a glaring omission of policy on He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) and protecting property rights from Significant Natural Areas (SNAs).

“ACT has the policy that will bring about real change for farmers. They can’t just water down Labour and the Greens’ anti-farming policies. They need to be scrapped entirely,” he says.

Cameron says doubling the RSE cap is nice, but ACT believes the sensible policy change would be to remove the cap on the number of RSEs completely, like Australia’s scheme.

“It’s good they have adopted ACT’s position on live animal exports. It is a $500m industry that the country needs, and I have a Member’s Bill ready to go,” he says.

National says its Getting back to Farming package will make regulation fit for purpose.

Time for a fresh start

SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

NORTH OTAGO

farmer

Jane Smith says He Waka Eke Noa must be scrapped and Beef + Lamb NZ needs to start again with fact this time, not fiction.

She told Rural News that while HWEN was only one area of concern raised at their annual general meeting, it is “certainly a textbook example of how not to represent your levy payers”.

Smith says it is positive to see B+LNZ finally ‘pausing’ to acknowledge that HWEN is not fit-forpurpose and that it deviates unrecognisably from the original ‘low level R & D levy’ that it was intended to be.

“But having these commendable ‘non-negotiables’ for HWEN while remaining in the flawed HWEN ‘partnership’ are in direct conflict to one other.

“The HWEN that they designed simply cannot function under those conditions.”

According to Smith, red meat sector groups

NO CONSENSUS

KATE

News that the results of the annual meeting remits show there is “clearly not a consensus” among sheep and beef farmers on the issue of remaining within He Waka Eke Noa.

Of the 22% of farmers who voted, it was evenly split about B+LNZ’s involvement in the process, she says.

“We need to get out there and hear more from all farmers to help us inform the next steps. What is clear

have an identity crisis. They include meat companies, who are set to lose 1 million stock units/ year from 2030 through HWEN’s flawed design.

“Are we a global leader or the methane terrorists

from farmers is that there are significant concerns about the emissions pricing system and process and there are still too many unanswered questions. As an interim step, we have called for a staged implementation of an emissions pricing framework with the deferral of any pricing until outstanding issues are resolved.

“Our message to partners and Government has been that we need to take the time to discuss these issues further with our farmers,

they have made us out to be?

“They have built an admin-heavy, innovationlight white elephant that requires a heavy burden of farmer money even if methane reductions are

listen to their concerns and this will help determine next steps. We will be announcing details of this in the coming weeks.

“We have also been explicit that we will not accept an emissions pricing framework that will disproportionately impact the viability of sheep and beef farms and we will walk away, if necessary.”

Acland says they are currently in the process of contacting all remit proposers.

made, and they have been made in a major way in the sheep and beef industry.

“B+LNZ and their HWEN bedfellows seem to not understand that pricing emissions and

reducing emissions are two vastly different things and [they] appear to believe that pricing every single biogenic methane emission in perpetuity, using the wrong metrics and with-

out proper measurement of reductions, is the right pathway – when in reality, this will escalate land use change and increase food prices for all New Zealanders.”

Smith says there is nothing heroic or innovative in that as a solution.

“Our own industry has painted the sector into a political corner with no science in sight.

“The irony is that, should the correct metrics be used, in line with offshore countries that have surpassed NZ in their leadership in the methane space, then all New Zealanders would benefit.

“If all sequestration and methane reductions are properly measured, then New Zealand is more than meeting its global obligations and this wasted money can go into building roads, hospitals, and the education sector.

“That is not a narrative that politicians who are happy to subsidise diesel generators to charge electric cars while destroying the most carbon efficient pasture-

raised protein producers in the world want to hear.

“Agriculture is the answer, not the problem.”

She says the nine remits passed at the recent B+LNZ annual meeting was a clear indication that B+LNZ directors have taken their own direction on issues on farmers’ behalf, without doing their homework on the implications for provincial New Zealand first.

“We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes and negligent assumptions that have been made on our behalf over the past three years.

“Now is an opportunity to put said naive positions on the current government’s bonfire while it is still hot – then redirect, refocus, rebuild, and listen to grassroots farmers.

“We finally have opposition parties that may be listening to ‘great unwashed’ farmers such as myself, but they cannot do this officially until we have our levy leaders holding the same stance that is reverberating from the gullies and hills around the provinces.

Actions speak louder than words

meeting and over the past few weeks.

“They have significant concerns about the system and processes and are worried that if we go too fast, we risk putting farmers’ viability at risk, when progress is being made on reducing emissions already, as shown

by this year’s emissions figures.

“We know our farmers aren’t anti change – but if change is going to be driven by regulation, it needs to be the right changes, for the right reasons, at the right pace.”

Acland says B+LNZ is not deviating from the principles of a farm-level

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approach and keeping agriculture out of the ETS, as proposed by HWEN.

“We also remain committed to the He Waka Eke Noa partnership approach, but we need to take the time to get this right because the future of our sector relies on it.

“Farmers concerns relate to the

disproportionate impact on the sheep and beef sector and its ongoing viability, the need to develop a robust and practical on-farm system for calculating emissions and fairly recognising the carbon-sequestering vegetation on our farms, the availability of mitigation options, and also the potential

for emissions leakage overseas.

“Given the time we have to resolve these concerns and then stand-up a system, it has become apparent that is not appropriate to price agricultural emissions from the outset.”

@rural_news facebook com/ruralnews

ACLAND, Beef + Lamb New Zealand chair told Rural

North Otago farmer Jane Smith (left) chats with Erica van Reenen, AgFirst, at B+LNZ’s annual meeting last month.

OCD slashes forecast milk price

like to communicate.

THE COUNTRY’S

second largest milk processor has slashed its forecast milk price range for the last third of this season by 50c.

Open Country Dairy is telling suppliers that they will be paid between $7.50 to $7.80/kgMS for milk supplied between February and May. Last month it was forecasting between $8 to $8.30/ kgMS.

If the current forecast holds, then Open Country suppliers will end up receiving $8.33/kgMS for their milk this season.

New Open Country chief executive Mark de Lautour, writing to shareholders for the first time in the company’s monthly newsletter, says this is not the news he would

However, he says it is a timely reminder that this is a tough business.

“And we should all look to take a very prudent look at our day-today costs.”

De Lautour told farmer suppliers that there had been significant price declines on Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auctions. Last week’s GDT recorded its first rise in five auctions. However, despite the rise, overall prices remain 6.1% down since the start of the year.

“While Open Country doesn’t sell on the GDT platform, these auction events tend to set the sentiment with buyers globally,” de Lautour says.

“A major factor triggering these results was the addition of a significant volume of milk powder to the platform at

a time of the year when buyers were expecting volumes to fall.

“This has made buyers assume that there are high levels of unsold inventory around and [they] are therefore waiting on the expectation that prices will be lower going forward. Buyers can afford to wait with

demand dropping as global inflationary pressure reduces expendable consumer income.

“At the most recent event, many non-China buyers stepped away, so while Chinese buyers maintained their buying levels, they made up over 70% of the bids and prices dropped signifi-

cantly.”

This month, Fonterra also reduced its farmgate forecast range for the season by 20c to a new range of $8 to $8.60/ kgMS.

The co-operative says short-term demand for products that inform its farmgate milk price was softer than expected.

Last week’s GDT saw a solid price rise – the price index rose 3.2%, while key whole milk powder (WMP) prices lifted 1%.

Westpac senior agricultural analyst Nathan Penny says skim milk prices led the rises, surging 7%. Milk fat and cheddar prices also jumped, with butter, anhydrous milk fat and cheddar posting price increases in the 5% range.

He says the result was well above expectations.

“The result breaks a run of four consecutive price falls. However, despite the rise, overall prices remain 6.1% down since the start of the year.”

Also, coming late in the season, the result also doesn’t change the outlook for this season’s milk price.

Penny says Westpac is

sticking to price forecast of $8.30/kgMS but adds that the latest GDT price rise bodes well for the new season.

“It does bode well for our positive outlook for next season, albeit it is still very early days.

“As you’ll recall we anticipate that as the Chinese economy gains momentum over the course of the year, following its reopening, we expect improved Chinese demand will lift global dairy prices.

“And very subdued global milk supply will provide additional support for prices.”

Westpac is forecasting an opening milk price of $10/kgMS for 2023/24 season. Open Country is forecasting $8. Fonterra will release its forecast milk price for the new season next month.

SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

Mark de Lautour

No ‘real change’ in policy rebrand

THE GOVERNMENT’S

Three Waters reforms, now rebranded as the ‘Affordable Water Reforms’, is more of a rebrand than an actual policy reset.

That’s the view of Waimate District Council chief executive, Stuart Duncan.

He told Rural News that the rebrand changes nothing in terms of the governance model, balance sheet separation, and exploration of essential community assets.

The changes to the policy will see 10 water entities formed instead of the four entities proposed in the Water Services Entities Bill proposed last year.

Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty says the move will result

in more local representation and avoid a potential 95% rates increase when compared with alternative options.

But Duncan says that councils and the community still have no control or say over the future three waters services, “albeit the Government claims communities hold some administrative form of ownership”.

“The Government’s legislation for three waters has a disastrous blind-spot, and that is any real duty-of-care to the viability and relevance of local councils, their people and their communities,” he says.

He says that while council-run water, wastewater and storm water services will be transferred to one of 10 Crown water entities by 1 July 2026, the transitional unit for the new water entity

is “cherry-picking staff from local government and leaving councils to clean up the mess”.

“The staff likely to be taken also contribute to a very wide range of other council activities,” he says. “Their loss would cripple much of what councils currently do… Staff wellbeing is

affected by the time-hungry demands of dealing with the reform.”

Duncan says he is concerned that employees who aren’t employed by the water entities may need to retrain.

“The connection between all these concerns is the glaring lack of information from Gov-

ernment about what functions may be available to replace three waters activities.”

He says that out of its total workforce of 85, Waimate District Council has 13 core three waters staff.

“The new entities need people with a wide range of skills associated with the development and management of three waters infrastructure.”

He says that it isn’t just engineering staff who are impacted by the change, it’s also IT staff, revenue staff, administrative staff, and policy staff.

“It is not just technical expertise; it is also the institutional knowledge base – an awareness of the local environment –especially with infrastructural resilience planning given the severe impact of Cyclone Gabrielle,” Duncan says.

“Take people out of councils and there is no other pool to draw from – there simply aren’t the people.

“The Government’s argument for the reform rests on the claimed benefits for communities: state-of-the-art infrastructure at an affordable cost. The argument is based solely on comparing the financial implications of staying with the status quo or moving to the new delivery model. The glaring omission is the human cost of these reforms.”

When Prime Minister Chris Hipkins took over the premiership, handing over the local government portfolio to McAnulty, the decision was made to refashion the policy.

McAnulty set out on a tour, speaking to 55 different councils on the

topic, and, he says, gaining their perspective on the policy.

He says the reasoning behind the reforms is simple: Local councils need to find up to $180 billion to fix water infrastructure across the country, “and they can’t do it by themselves”.

“Councils are, individually, at their debt cap or if they’re not, their communities can’t afford to pay any higher rates, that’s causing the problem, so individually, they’re stuck,” McAnulty told a press conference when the policy reset was announced.

He says there is a limit to how much councils can afford to fund the necessary changes via a council-controlled organisation (CCO), e.g. Watercare or Wellington Water, because of the debt cap issue.

JESSICA MARSHALL jessica@ruralnews.co.nz

Waimate District Council chief executive, Stuart Duncan.

How to deal with silt

their normal schedule to get stock to the works.

FARMERS AND their advisors are scratching their heads trying to work out the best way to deal with metre deep silt that is sitting on top of high-quality lowland pastures in the Hawke’s Bay region.

Phil Tither says the good prices for stock has at least helped lift spirits.

He says somewhat perversely the heavy rain has resulted in bumper pasture growth and this has made it slightly easier for farmers who have been unable to get stock to the works.

Phil Tither, AgFirst consultant in Hawke’s Bay, says many of his clients are trying to come up with the best solution to deal with this problem. He says the difficulty is that no one has ever dealt with a situation like this before and any solutions are likely to be site or farm specific.

According to Tither, farmers on the flats are dealing with the issue of silt and sediment as well as debris which has been washed down from the hills by Cyclone Gabrielle.

“Hill country farmers also have pasture damage which may take time to fully repair. But for these farmers the biggest problem is damaged infrastructure, with fences still down, farm tracks badly damaged and in some cases, proper road access is still not restored,” he told Rural News

Tither says farmers around Patoka area have been badly affected because the bridge at Rissington was down and this has prevented stock being moved off farm in a timely manner. He says some farmers have managed to get some stock out but are well behind

of individuals. One thing they have done which has proved popular and is well received is organising get-togethers for

and communities.

“We’ve had a great autumn and pasture growth rates are some of the highest we’ve ever seen,” he says.

Tither says hill country farmers are facing a massive task to get their farms back to anywhere near normal and it may take years in some cases to restore the cyclone damage. He says farmers have their heads down and are extremely busy and pushing themselves to the limit.

But he adds that the damage is quite random and farms just a few kilometres apart have not been hit badly while others are badly impacted. He says because of this, some people are able to start moving on while others remain in a crisis mode. For such people there is a high degree of uncertainty about their future.

He says there is an obvious parallel with the Christchurch earthquake where people were left in a limbo not knowing what the future holds.

Rural News is aware that the local rural support trust has been busy dealing with the needs

Phil Tither, AgFirst consultant in Hawke’s Bay.

Geopolitical dilemma for Kiwi exporters

NEW ZEALAND runs the risk of being caught up in the economic war between China and the US, according to Rabobank’s head of global economics and research, Jan Lambregts.

He says this is all part of the new era of disruption of which geopolitics is playing a major part. He says the situation has changed from the time when the world was hypo-globalised and where everyone was chasing a buck and trade was much freer.

“Now you could argue the world is re-globalising – especially with the cold economic war between China and the US and everyone else is being caught up in this including New Zealand,” he says.

The problem says Lambregts is that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for countries to remain neutral in this economic war. He notes for example Australia is inextricably tied to the US. He says both America and China are trying to force countries to take sides and for NZ that is a problem given our high dependence on that market for our primary exports.

He says the US is putting a lot of pressure on China by cutting off their access to American made high end semiconductors.

“That is massive given China’s ambition is to become a market leader in all these sectors in the next five to ten years. But right now, they don’t have access to that sort of technology. It’s a case of both countries wanting to be ‘top dog’,” he says.

Lambregts says he was predicting the proxy economic cold war between China and the US would occur five years ago and says he had trouble convincing his colleagues about this. But says his

predictions have now come true.

He says the other geopolitical issue that is affecting trade is the war in Ukraine. Lambregts believes the Ukrainians have more to gain

by fighting than sitting around the negotiating table and says the Russians are clearly in the war for the long haul and don’t want to negotiate either. He says if both sides think they have

more to gain by fighting than from negotiating, then the outcome is clear – both sides will just keep on fighting even though they are running out of ammunition, people, and material.

“I fail to see a breakthrough for either and I struggle to see them negotiate a ceasefire. The likelihood is this will become a frozen conflict that will last for years, and the disruption will last for years,” he says.

Lambregts says the breadbasket of Europe has been disrupted by the Ukraine conflict, but he says the record grain harvest in Russia has helped mitigate the problem and people, realising the conflict may be long term, are looking at ways of overcoming the disruption.

He says the NZ-China relationship is a delicate

one that requires careful handling.

He says it’s not a case of suddenly ending a very successful trading relationship, rather it’s a case of NZ continuing to find new markets and not become reliant on one market. Lambregts says there are other markets close to NZ which offer opportunities such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. India is another, he says.

Lambregts says his key message is that people now need to be more aware of and better informed about the world re-globalising and the implications of this in terms of trade. He says there is a risk that some customers may demand that exporters choose sides, and that policymakers, politicians and businesspeople need to be vigilant about this.

Jan Lambregts, Rabobank, says geopolitics is playing a major part how countries are trading.

More culls for meat industry

ONE OF the highest numbers of empty cows in recent years could play havoc with the meat industry and will likely cost the dairy industry more than $20 million dollars next season.

This is a probable outcome from the latest statistics from LIC, based on data from 4000 farms representing about 2.5 million cows.

LIC’s general manager NZ Markets, Malcolm Ellis, says the writing was on the wall last year when their data revealed that the national submission rate for dairy cows was down by 1.3%.

a percent (0.3%) but this year’s 1.3% is significant.

Ellis says in past years the highs and lows of regions have evened out the numbers and he says even this year the higher submission rates in the South Island stopped the numbers being even worse. He says the consequences of the low submission rate means that one percent fewer cows in the national herd will not calve in the first six weeks of the spring.

“I calculate that this

of the cows not getting pregnant, says Ellis, is that the empty rate for this coming season is likely to be around 17.2%. He says last year the final empty rate was 16.2% and over the years has hovered between 15% and 16%. Ellis says it’s unlikely the interim numbers for this year will change much, although there is a possibility there will be some very late calvers.

While there is likely to be a significant loss

be a stretch for the meat processing companies.

Ellis says some farmers may retain a few

short of staff and there are ongoing problems with sickness.

“Then there is the

ness of a lower milk price the empty rate will add to the woes of farmers. In light of this, he predicts

As for the reasons for the higher-than-normal empty rate, Ellis says the weather last year was certainly a contributing factor.

“Also, I think there was a lot of farmer fatigue going into the winter and spring. You don’t have to be much off your game to make slightly poorer farm management decisions. We do know there was a genuine skill shortage on farm, and we often had quite junior people making strategic decisions at key times of the year,” he says.

Malcolm Ellis says the interim figures represent the typical bell-shaped curve which means there are farmers with tremen dous reproduction but there are also some that are well below the aver

“I calculate that this will result in 2.7 million kgMS not being produced and effectively lost.”

The potential impact of having 48,000 extra cull cows could be a stretch for the meat processors, says LIC general manager NZ markets Malcolm Ellis.

Not a pay increase?

JESSICA MARSHALL jessica@ruralnews.co.nz

THE 15% pay increase for community nurses, announced by the Government late last month, is not in effect an increase, according to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO).

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall announced 8000 community nurses would start receiving pay rises of up to 15% over the course of April.

“The Government is committed to ensuring nurses are paid fairly and will receive parity with others doing the same or similar work, especially given the current cost of living pressure faced by workers and their families,” Verrall says.

“This is good news for health services which have been impacted

by a flow of nurses to jobs in hospitals. It also means the Government is directly supporting nurses caring for people and whānau in very real need.

“While the amount each nurse receives will vary, for some it’s as much as a 15% increase in base pay. Most will now receive base wages at about 95% of hospital-based colleagues,” she claims.

Community nursing covers many of the nurses working in rural and provincial New Zealand.

However, NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter says the increase only brings community nurses up to 95% of what those employed by Te Whatu Ora Health NZ earn.

“It is attempting to level the earnings of simi-

larly qualified nurses and it is not in effect a pay increase,” he told Rural News

“We also note that 95% won’t close the gap completely but it will go a long way towards it.”

Goulter says the deci-

sion to leave GP practice nurses out is ‘regrettable’.

“We note that General Practice nurses are not covered by the Government’s announcement and that’s a real concern to us,” he says. “We will continue to press

the case strongly for GP practice nurses to be covered,” he says.

The Government needs to do more to assist those in the profession, Goulter adds.

“Nursing is chronically understaffed.”

He says the Government needs to keep nurses in the profession and attract more by paying enough to show nurses they are valued for the work they do and the incredible pressures they face every day.

“The Government needs to honour the promised back pay from the Pay Equity… negotiations of 2021,” he adds.

In April last year, NZNO initiated a legal review of the Government’s pay equity settlement, due to issues with the back pay settlement. At the time, it was claimed the settlement was not what was expected based on

the understanding that nurses would be back paid to 31 December 2019.

Goulter says the issues around the back pay settlement has caused many in the profession to lose faith that the Government has their backs.

“Or sees their value – let alone the fact that they’ve been denied thousands of dollars that they were promised,” he adds

“The same goes for Pay Parity… Their [the Government’s] continued hesitancy to extend funding for that to practice nurses is another kick in the guts and the last straw for many who are considering leaving.”

“We will continue to press the case strongly for GP practice nurses to be covered.”

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) chief executive Paul Goulter.

Aussies stung by manuka claim

exists in New Zealand,” he says.

THE AUSTRALIAN Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) is calling a recent study by the Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA) “reprehensible, misleading and laughably self-serving” and has served the NZ team a cease-and-desist notice.

Back in early February, the UMFHA published a study in which they sourced and tested over 40 foreign samples claiming to be manuka honey. The study found that all foreign samples failed to meet New Zealand government manuka identification tests and concluded that only New Zealand honey was thus able to claim to be true manuka honey.

Manuka honey is produced by bees that forage nectar from varieties of the Leptospermum scoparium plant, commonly known as manuka trees. Leptospermum is native to New Zealand and parts of southeastern Australia.

However, recentlyappointed AMHA chairman Dr Ben McKee has called foul on the methodology.

“The circular reasoning is that they cannot be authentic because the honey is not marked as a product of New Zealand and is not exclusively collected from the Leptospermum species that

McKee claims that the campaign is deliberately misleading, anti-competitive and contradicted the findings of several international court authorities, which say that manuka honey can be gathered from any of the 85 subspecies of the Leptospermum family.

“It’s simply sour grapes.”

McKee adds that consumers buy manuka honey because of its unique antibacterial properties caused by its MGO (methylgyoxal) content, not because of its country of origin. He says the campaign could have serious consequences for Australian beekeepers.

McKee adds that while the Australian industry doesn’t enjoy conflict with New Zealand, they will stand their ground.

“We will not allow them to portray our product as somehow inauthentic or inferior, especially when the scientific evidence shows Australian manuka is as potent, if not more than, New Zealand manuka honey,” he added.

“Consumers and retailers deserve to have a clear understanding of what they are buying without the New Zealand industry resorting to dirty tricks, and I would encourage them to do their own research.”

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McKee claims that Australia has a larger diversity of Leptospermum cultivars which can be used to create honey with higher MGO count than New Zealand manuka, thus having stronger anti-

microbial benefits. The international manuka honey market is forecast to be worth around $1.27 billion in annual trade by 2027, with products selling for up to A$500 per kilo.

Relationship between Australian and New Zealand manuka honey producers has turned sour.

Will National make farming great again?

THE NATIONAL Party’s election pitch to farmers will likely bring much joy to a primary sector that feels drained by over-regulation, labour shortages, rising interest rates, inflation, and the terrible woes of a series of climatic disasters.

National’s agricultural policy ‘Getting Back to Farming’ announced last week is heavily targeted against the Wellington bureaucracy and their political masters.

“Get Wellington out of farming” is a phrase that will resonate with the whole of the primary sector who have been stunned by the expansion of government departments, such as the Ministry for the Environment.

The primary sector has long been critical of some dumb decisions and policies from Wellington which have been proved to be impractical to implement down on the farm.

It will be interesting should National become the government how Christopher Luxon’s promise to reduce the ‘mountains of red tape’ will materialise and how it will reduce the number of regulations. The point made by many commentators is that it’s not so much the number of regulations, but the poor quality of these which is the problem.

Luxon makes a good point when he says that “when farmers succeed, NZ succeeds”. That is true and the role of central and local government should be there to facilitate that in a practical way without compromising the need to meet high environmental and sustainability standards.

What is clear in the policy is that National is committed to the country’s climate change goals. It seems that their policy is to achieve much the same goals but in a more farmer friendly way.

They talk about targeted rules with clear environmental limits, making appointments to reference and advisory groups based on skills and experience, not politics, and making changes to stock exclusion and winter grazing rules.

For horticulture the big news is doubling the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) worker cap – a move to help a sector that is facing one of the biggest crises in its history following the devastation caused by cyclone Gabrielle.

The policy is clearly a pitch to capture or recapture rural voters who feel they have no friends in the political system. Many farmers have talked openly about voting ACT in the upcoming election, and it remains to be seen whether Luxon can woo back or consolidate the rural vote come November.

THE HOUND

Gay old time!

The Hound notes how Fonterra proudly boasted about participating in Auckland’s recent Pride Parade.

The dairy co-op even had its electric vehicle, Milk E, which apparently identifies as a real milk tanker, take part in the event.

This was alongside members from Fonterra’s GLOW (Gay, Lesbian, or Whatever) community and their allies. “The annual Rainbow Pride parade is an opportunity to continue the legacy of creating visibility and pride for our LGBTQIA+ heroes. It is important to recognise that their advocacy, representation, and drive have paved the way forward for us all,” a Fonterra media statement said. All well and good, and very woke, but your old mate is not sure how Fonterra participating in the Pride Parade will help lift the falling payout to farmers or sell more dairy produce to our overseas customers.

Viva Italia!

Your old mate notes that Italy’s government has backed a bill that would ban laboratory-produced meat and other synthetic foods, a move it believes highlights Italian food heritage and health protection. If the proposals go through, breaking the ban would attract fines of up to €60,000 (NZ$106,000).

The Italian farmers’ lobby praised the move and has collected half a million signatures in recent months calling for protection of “natural food vs. synthetic food”, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also signed.

Ministers have cited Italy’s prized Mediterranean diet as their motivation for both measures. The proposed bill came hard on the heels of a series of government decrees banning flour derived from insects such as crickets and locusts in pizza or pasta.

PRODUCTION: Dave Ferguson Ph 027 272 5372 davef@ruralnews.co.nz

Becky Williams Ph 021 100 4381 beckyw@ruralnews.co.nz

Acland dynasty

This old mutt suggests that the election of Kate Acland as chair of Beef+Lamb NZ – after the electoral demise of former chair Andrew Morrison – has seen many people miss the family link to producer board organisations. Acland’s uncle (by marriage), John Acland, was the chair of B+LNZ’s predecessor Meat NZ back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Meanwhile, John’s father, Sir Jack Acland, was chair of the Wool Board during the 1960s and early 1970s. It seems the Acland family have had a long association with farmer levy funded bodies over the years, with Kate now the third generation of the family to take the reins. The Hound reckons Kate will in time probably want to emulate the efforts of John Acland at Meat NZ who left the organisation on his own terms, rather than Sir Jack who resigned after a farmer-led coup against the organisation. Sound familiar?

AUCKLAND SALES REPRESENTATIVE: Stephen Pollard Ph 021 963 166 stephenp@ruralnews.co.nz

Sticky mess

Your canine crusader sees that NZ Manuka industry has upset its Australian counterparts – again!

The Australian Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) has responded to a recent study published by NZ’s Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA), calling it “laughably self-serving”.

The offending UMFHA ‘study’, conducted back in early February, tested over 40 foreign samples claiming to be manuka honey. The study found that all foreign samples failed to meet New Zealand government manuka identification tests and that only New Zealand honey was thus able to claim to be true manuka honey.

The AMHA has now upped the ante by serving its NZ counterpart with legal correspondence ordering it to “cease and desist”. It looks like, this time, it is the Aussies accusing us of underhand – or is that underarm –tactics when it comes to marketing manuka honey.

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The Waka is sinking!

I AM sure most people would have heard the old saying regards “Nero fiddling while Rome Burnt”. Well this is in my opinion a classic case of the minister fiddling while the Coromandel Peninsula is rapidly dying. I believe his Waka (NZ Transport Agency - Waka Kotahi) is sinking.

The minister has announced that the Government will do all it can to re-open the road, yet Waka Kotahi (a large part of the minister’s portfolio of responsibilities) is telling us it will more than likely be after next Christmas before the road is opened and that a temporary access through this area is not an option.

This is just not true!!

One of New Zealand’s largest earthmoving contractors, which has completed many contracts both nationally and internationally, approached Waka Kotahi soon after the slip occurred, with a credible, viable and detailed proposal to put in a temporary access round the slip area and at the same time they would form a working platform to allow remedial works on the slip area to begin from that platform.

The contractor had commitments for: the entire infrastructure needed to complete this temporary access road to be made available; aggregate resources supply; cartage both from and to the site; and the staff with many years of practical experience to allow them to complete this job.

Yet what have we seen from Waka Kotahi?

Commitments to have the road open sometime next year.

And the manager of this project going off on holiday for a couple of weeks when residents and businesspeople from the peninsula are desperate to find a way to get this road open to prevent their region dying.

I suspect the Waka may have some rot in its hull and this is causing it to slowly sink. Like every case of rot setting in, the first remedy is to get it opened and let the sun in and then to take all required remedial measures needed due to the prevailing rot found.

The contractor has assured me that their proposal was easily do-able, and they were not measuring their completion time in months or next year but were talking about having a temporary road open in three to four weeks!

So why have we not heard anything of this proposal?

Has Waka Kotahi looked at it and rejected it out of hand, and if this is the case, on what basis have they made this judgment?

It’s time Waka Kotahi came out and told us why it has rejected this proposal and who was responsible for making that decision.

In my honest opinion, these contractors would have more knowledge of the practicalities of large earthmoving jobs than Waka Kotahi and their history of successful completions both nationally and internationally over many years backs up this claim.

If the minister thinks that it is acceptable to take a “minimum of two months” to reply to a letter related to such a serious issue, then he is failing in his duties as the minister and I am sure there will be many on the Coromandel Peninsula that will be prepared to tell him so.

It is time that Waka Kotahi was made to explain just why it is not possible (in their opinion) to provide a temporary access road round this slip site.

Let’s open it up to the sunlight and stop the rot setting in and the Waka sinking.

• Andy Loader is Co-chairman of P.L.U.G. (Primary Land Users Group)

With Moving Day on the way, we are encouraging Farmers to do their bit to maintain the integrity of our biosecurity system.

1 Create a new NAIT location number.

2 Create a movement within 48 hours of moving.

3 Deactivate the old NAIT location number. Register any new grazing blocks you are in charge of and record movements in NAIT for any animals sold or sent away to grazing.

If you have followed all of the instructions to update your NAIT details and are still struggling, our Support Centre is geared up to assist you. Call 0800 482 463

Complete and sign a PICA change form at your current NAIT location and make sure you become the registered PICA if you are moving to another farm.

For more Moving Day information see OSPRI.co.nz

ANDY LOADER

Cyclone Gabrielle damaged many state highways including SH25A.

Moving with the herd?

Moving farm without the herd?

A longtime friend who has never let me down

I HOPE this finds things well at your place today.

Early April I read a column on website Stuff

writer was Sunday

conspiracy?

odd to me that someone in the media was actually critiquing the current government. Well done,

She went on to say, and I quote: “This was an administration obsessed with keeping an iron grip

mation, despite farting out promises to be the most open, honest, and transparent in history.” She rightly pointed out this Nash thing was, in my words, everything but any attempt to keep those promises.

A government being open, honest, and transparent, you ask? When many of us in the rural sector hear comments like that, our first reaction is to think ‘yeah rig ht’.

It would make a great line for a new Tui ad, don’t you think?

Now, what really grabbed me was her closing line: “When will we learn that we can’t trust politicians to police themselves?”

Most of us in the rural sector already know that, Andrea. We’ve known it for decades! No surprises there. It’s just that we don’t get bankrolled by the government to ‘help’ us write the news week after week.

After all, survey after survey, year after year, informs us that politicians consistently fight it out for the title of being the least trusted group in our society!

I have one such survey in my files, from 2007. Out of the 40 professions offered to choose from in that survey, telemarketers came in 39th and yes, politicians came in 40th.

Today I want to take her closing question one step further, to its only logical conclusion.

If we cannot trust politicians to police themselves, then we would have to be extremely naïve to ever think we could trust them to police us… to police “we the people”. Why would we ever do that? C’mon, I might have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night!

Perhaps I should comment on all the chatter

about conspiracies and disinformation while I’m here. If you know just a little something of global history, governments have conspired against their people since governments began. That’s right. Examples abound! And they have fed disinformation to their people like no member of the public has ever managed to equal.

So now, in today’s world, they expect us to trust them as the only reliable source of truth? And they’re even prepared to police us to make that happen! Personally, I don’t think we the people are that gullible.

Like you, I have people in my life who I trust implicitly. I try my best to live on the generous side, and believe the best of people. But I am also smart enough to know that real heart trust is something that is earned over time. You certainly can’t legislate it.

Yes, the people I trust implicitly have proven themselves trustworthy multiple times through the years. And I both trust and respect them. Trust naturally brings respect. Neither can be legislated, nor can they be policed into people.

In my life’s journey to date, yes there is one above all others that I trust implicitly. We have travelled together now for more than five decades. He has always been there for me, and never let me down. What a friend!

Keep safe and God bless.

The

Star Times columnist Andrea Vance. It was the heading that piqued my

There is a more obvious explanation to the Stuart Nash scandal.”

In my life’s journey to date, yes there is one above all the others that I trust implicitly.

FARMER’S CHAPLAIN Colin Miller

Digital currency on the rise

FARMERS COULD benefit from a proposed digital currency usable during a temporary disruption to network connections as experienced in Hawke’s Bay in February.

The Reserve Bank is looking into a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and how it could allow transactions in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster.

A RBNZ spokesperson told Rural News that

one of the high level design considerations for a CBDC that the Reserve Bank will be exploring relates to transacting offline.

“This is when there is a temporary disruption to network connections such as in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, or simply because people need to

make transactions in remote areas without network connections.

“This feature would allow people to access and use their money as needed.”

Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard says the proposal “sounds useful”.

“We would be interested in how that would

CONFIDENCE BOUNCE BACK

RABOBANK’S LATEST Rural Confidence survey has found that while farmers’ sentiments are still in deeply negative territory, they have crept up from historic lows in late 2022.

Conducted since 2003, the survey is administered by independent research agency TNS, interviewing a panel of approximately 450 farmers each quarter.

Completed in late March, the recent survey found farmer confidence was up on the previous quarter – with net confidence reading rising from -71% to -58%.

The number of farmers expecting conditions in the agricultural economy to improve in the coming 12 months had risen for 4% to 5%, while the percentage expecting conditions to worsen fell from 75% to 63%. A total of 31% were anticipating the agricultural economy to remain stable, up from 19% previously.

Rabobank says the higher confidence in the broader agri economy has been partly driven by improved sentiment among sheep and beef farmers and horticulturalists. It put this down to improved demand for New Zealand red meat from the Chinese market following the abandonment of China’s Zero-Covid policy late last year and subsequent reopening of their food service sector.

Rabobank New Zealand chief executive Todd Charteris says while sector confidence was still very low, it was pleasing to see it improving. The uptick in confidence came despite incredibly challenging conditions for many primary producers in the early part of 2023 with Cyclone Gabrielle and South Island droughts.

He added that strong demand for fruit and vegetables in domestic and international markets have helped to hold up prices after inclement weather disrupted production in several regions. On the other hand, dairy farmers were now even more pessimistic about the broader agri-economy than they were

last quarter.

“Demand out of China has been slower to return for dairy products than it has for other food products and we’ve also seen increased global supply act as a constraint on prices,” he admitted.

“As a result, Fonterra lowered their milk price forecast. The prospect of a lower payout, coupled with ongoing elevated farm input prices, has further eroded the already dwindling confidence of the country’s dairy farmers.”

Among farmers with an optimistic outlook across all sectors, the survey found overseas markets (54%), demand (34%) and rising commodity prices (31%) were the major sources of optimism, while major concerns continued to be rising input costs (65%) and government policy (53%).

Farmers’ confidence in their own business performance was up marginally on last quarter, with the net reading rising from -53% to -45%. 26% of those with a negative outlook nominated ‘other’ factors as a reason for holding a pessimistic view on the agri-economy.

Charteris says while farm input prices had been a key concern for several quarters, Rabobank was seeing some softening of key input prices in global markets – particularly fertiliser – which was expected to filter through to New Zealand prices in the near term.

“As with confidence in the broader economy, the latest survey found growers and sheep and beef farmers are more upbeat in the prospects for their own businesses, with dairy farmers now more pessimistic,” Charteris says.

“You have to go all the way back to 2006 to find a lower result for dairy farmers on this measure. This survey also found labour issues cited frequently in the verbatim responses as well as several new concerns including weather events and economic recession.”

Farmer investment intentions were back slightly from last quarter, while farm business viability marginally improved. – Leo Argent

actually work,” he told Rural News

Speaking at the University of Waikato 2023 Economic Forum last month, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr described a CBDC as “an electronic signal that sits

in the central bank that says I owe you something”.

It’s no different to an electronic signal that sits in a retail bank, Orr says.

“Except this time, it’s with the central bank and because it’s with the

central bank, its narrow money, the true feared currency rather than broader money: created by the retail banks themselves through fractional banking,” he explained.

“So, it’s a true equivalent of a physical note: you’ve got an electronic signal with the same insider high-powered one-to-one relationship.”

Orr told the forum that the CBDC is all about helping build resilience.

He says recent events like Covid and the North Island floods last month highlighted the need for resilience.

“We are all so thinly spread. It’s all just-intime, not just-in-case mentality in our society,” says Orr. “We need to build up that resilience, need to have a simple cash management side.

Yes, you may not use it day-to-day and all the time, but when you need it, it has to be available and immediately.”

Orr points out that a CBDC won’t remove the need for that resilience.

“You will have to be able to operate without power and without communications and without the law of the gun deciding who gets the loaf of bread.”

A CBDC could still be some time away. Last year the Reserve Bank announced it was commencing proof-of-concept design work, taking into account the public’s feedback received during recent consultation. The work will be a multi-stage and multi-year effort, and no decision has yet been made on what form of CBDC was right for New Zealand, it said.

SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

“This feature would allow people to access and use their money as needed.”

Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr.

Autumn chill hits markets

Dairy

GLOBAL COMMODITY

markets have continued to soften in March. There were falls across all products except butter.

All products are now between 30% to 40% lower than at the same time last year.

The weaker fundamentals are keeping a lid on any major price recovery, with Chinese imports remaining cautious alongside broader demand

rationing in other markets.

Softer commodity prices are seeing forecast milk prices tumbling. Fonterra have trimmed the pay outrange for 2022/23 for the second time this calendar year, to NZ $8/kgMS to NZ $8.60/ kgMS.

The new mid-point for the 2023/23 season sits at NZ$ 8.30/kgMS, down from NZ$ 8.50/kgMS.

Beef

TOTAL PROCESS -

ING numbers continue to track behind for the season, with colder temperatures impacting cattle growth rates in many areas, plus the disruption caused by Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle.

In particular, the North Island bull kill at the start of March was sitting 31,000 head (or 11.6%) behind year-onyear.

With the sudden switch to cooler temperatures in March, more cattle are being prompted to come forward for processing. Additionally, cull

dairy cows are starting to flow, with the South Island cow price dropping NZc30 through March. February beef export volumes were steady, sitting

2% higher YOY. Total export earnings were back 18% YOY, with returns on exports to China and the US back 15% and 19%, respectively.

RaboResearch expects schedule prices will remain around current levels through April, as three short processing weeks and a lift in cows

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and prime cattle will mean processors are not likely to need to bump prices up to keep plants full in April.

Sheepmeat

THE LIFT in lamb schedule through the first three months of 2023 have been welcomed by farmers. However, the export numbers continue to paint a messy picture in New Zealand’s key markets.

February sheep meat export volumes were back 10% YOY and earn-

ings were back 27% YOY. China and the US provided some bright spots –Chinese imports lifted 4% YOY and US import volumes grew 8% YOY.

While China’s reopening has resulted in a lift in volumes, export earnings continue to be hampered by a slower Chinese economy.

The average export value to China in February was NZ$ 6.27/kg FOB, which was NZ$ 1.70 lower than the average for February 2022.

The US was the only

market where export earnings increased yearon-year, underpinned by continued demand from the high-end foodservice sector.

Farm inputs

UREA PRICES dropped 22% MOM in January, 9% in February, and 9% in March, for a total decline of 36% in Q1 2023.

DAP showed a similar though lesser fall, dropping 8%, 4%, and 5% MOM per respective month, totalling a 15% drop. For farm inputs, one of the main causes is that natural gas prices for manufacturers are

‘stable,’ compared to 2022’s volatility.

The short-term contract for Dutch TTF natural gas is down 48% since 1 January 2023, to EUR low-40s/MWh, with a forecast trade value of around EUR 60/MWh for Nov 23. This is 50% less than the Nov 22 value and under one-fifth of the Aug 22 peak. The price surges from the RussiaUkraine war are gone. There are few signs, if any, of nitrogen fertiliser prices bouncing back soon.

Interest and exchange rates

RBNZ SURPRISED the market with another 50bps increase, while expectations were calling fora 25bps rate hike at the 5 April meeting. Inflation is still considered too high.

This is despite some ugly economic data released during the month of March showing that the Kiwi economy contracted by 0.6% in the Q4 2022 and also notched up its worst current account deficit since 1988. RBNZ itself was forecasting growth of 0.7% in the quarter.

That made the 0.6% figure look particularly

ugly and saw market expectations of the future path of the Official Cash Rate adjusted lower. The poor current account data prompted a warning from S&P Global Ratings that New Zealand could find its credit rating downgraded. If that were to come to pass, it would result in higher cost of debt for the New Zealand government, banks, and businesses. Despite the bad economic news plus an

offshore banking crisis weighing on broader risk sentiment the New Zealand dollar managed to eke out a gain of USc 0.73 against the US dollar in March and it gained further following the RBNZ rate hike decision. The Kiwi dollar ended the month at 0.6258 and is well poised to continue the run as jitters about the banking crisis in the US seem to be abating and markets tilt back toward optimism.

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Sensor on tractor’s roof helps drive down N use

NORTH CANTER-

BURY farmer Roscoe

Taggart has reduced his use of nitrogen fertiliser by approximately 80 kilograms this season through trialling a Yara N sensor.

Taggart has been using the technology on his family’s 730 hectare arable and sheep farm over the past two years. He is participating in Next Generation Farming; a project to help farmers meet tough nitrate caps while maintaining their viability.

As part of this project, farmers like Taggart are using innovation and demonstrating its productivity and environmental benefits to their neighbours in the region and

beyond.

Waimakariri Landcare Trust (WLT) and Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL) have partnered with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) for the project, with support from MPI’s Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund along with Environment Canterbury, Ballance, and DairyNZ.

The significant savings on fertiliser, the ease of use of the N sensor, and the environmental benefits make the N sensor a tool that Taggart sees himself using well into the future.

“We have saved around three units of N per tonne of grain so on a twelve-tonne paddock you are saving 36 units of

N per hectare which gives us an overall saving of 80 kilograms of urea for the season,” he explains.

“While you are saving on costs you are also obviously lessening the impact that your farming operation is having on the environment. It is a

win-win.”

Taggart says the N sensor is quick and easy to set up with little input required before he starts applying fertiliser.

“We just put in the crop growth stage and expected yield and parameters around the limits you would like the sensor to spread to. It is remarkably simple.”

The N sensor has two operating modes; target

rate mode where farmers provide the N sensor with a figure to work towards and absolute mode where the sensor fully controls the application rate by measuring the crop’s light reflectance which is connected to the crop’s biomass and chlorophyll content.

The N sensor then calculates the crop’s nitrogen uptake and applies the correct amount of fertil-

iser directly to the plant.

Taggart begins his first fertiliser application in target rate mode and then switches to absolute mode for subsequent applications if these are required. He has been surprised by the variability of fertiliser required by crops throughout his farm which is something that he didn’t have the ability to refine when using the previous variable rate system.

“I noticed a lot of variability in the first season, and it was not what we were expecting. Areas that I would have expected to require quite a bit of fertiliser didn’t require quite so much and then areas that I thought wouldn’t need as much ended up with a bit more,” he explains.

“You must trust in the technology when you switch it to absolute

mode, and it helps you become more efficient with farming when you try new things and move ahead with technology.”

Taggart says it’s not just about saving money, it’s also about reducing the environmental impact and learning how technology can be a tool in the toolbox for the future. Taggart will continue to focus on precision agriculture by measuring and quantifying the benefits of his N sensor over coming seasons. He believes that using technology wisely can enable efficient farming.

“Weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable, and we are seeing more extreme weather events occurring closer together than in the past. We have to look at what we can control and focus on farming as efficiently as we can.”

Facing the FE problem

A RAPID antigen test (RAT) aimed at early detection of facial eczema (FE) in ruminants may help manage a disease that costs the New Zealand economy millions of dollars each year.

The Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund is investing more than $35,000 in a project with Tokaora Diagnostics to develop a prototype FE RAT and undertake field testing. The test could be used with sheep,

cattle and deer, but initial trials will focus on dairy cattle.

FE is caused by a toxin found in fungal spores that grows on dead and dying plant matter in warm, moist conditions The damage is does to the liver causes the body to be unable to process waste and, along with a breakdown of chlorophyll in the skin, leads to heightened photosensitivity. This gives the pronounced sunburn and cracked skin that gives the disease

its name.

MPI’s director of investment programmes Steve Penno says that, as a liver disease, facial eczema often doesn’t show physical symptoms until it’s too late to save the animal.

“FE is a long-standing issue for our agricultural sector and with climate change it’s expected to get worse as the spores that cause the disease are more likely to grow.”

– Leo Argent

The Yara N-sensor fitted to the roof of Roscoe Taggart’s tractor allows him to apply the precise amount of nitrogen required for his crops which has resulted in significant savings on fertiliser costs while also reducing his environmental impact.

Getting ready for mating

RAMS ARE getting ready to fulfil their life’s purpose as mating gets underway around the country.

Most ewes will start ovulating from early February and will continue cycling every 17 days through until late May. Oestrus, when the ewe will accept the ram, occurs once every cycle and averages 24 hours.

A ram to ewe ratio of 1:150 is adequate for mixed-age ewes in good condition. This should be reduced to 1:100 for ewe hoggets or when using ram hoggets.

To help maximise ewe ovulation, ewes should be going to the ram at an optimum body condition score of over 3 and on a rising plane of nutrition.

As a rule of thumb, for

every kilogram of extra ewe weight there will be a 1 to 2% increase in lambing percentage.

Synchronisation can be used as a tool to get as many ewes as possible ovulating at the same time.

A teaser (vasectomised) ram should be put out with the ewes 17 days ahead of the planned start to mating for at least 10 days.

While CIDRs can be used, these are not typically used in commercial flocks.

Ram harnesses can be used to identify the timing of ewes mated and the expected spread of mating. They can be very valuable for helping save feed in autumn and spring. In autumn, ewes can be put straight back onto maintenance (not underfed) as soon as they

have been mated and in late winter and early spring. The early and later lambing ewes can be managed strategically.

For example, later lambing ewes can be setstocked later than their earlier lambing flock mates.

Even when ewe lambs are not being mated, ram harnesses can be used on teaser rams to identify the early cycling ani-

HIGH ALERT FOR FOOT AND MOUTH

BIOSECURITY NEW Zealand says it has implemented revised border measures to manage any possible threat of foot and mouth disease (FMD) from air passengers arriving directly from Bali.

This comes with the resumption of flights from Bali to NZ with the first direct flight from Denpasar arriving in Auckland on March 30. The resumption of the seasonal service, which runs until 27 October, will bring up to 1000 passengers a week into Auckland.

Biosecurity NZ says passengers from Bali will use a dedicated biosecurity lane and baggage carousel at Auckland Airport. They will also face footwear disinfection measures, including footbaths at the

arrival gate when they step off the plane.

“Biosecurity New Zealand has been working with Air New Zealand to ensure travellers receive information about the revised requirements throughout their journey – including at departure from Denpasar, during the flight and at the baggage collection area on arrival,” says Mike Inglis, Biosecurity New Zealand’s northern regional commissioner.

“Passengers should expect additional questioning from our officers. If need be, they will be directed to undergo full baggage searches. The revised measures will minimise potential delays and disruption for air travellers while

providing strong biosecurity protection for New Zealand.”

Inglis says the revised measures build on enhanced clearance processes introduced in July last year for travellers arriving on indirect flights from Indonesia, due to an FMD outbreak. The measures included a ban on personal consignments containing meat products.

“Biosecurity New Zealand takes the FMD threat very seriously, given the damage it could inflict on producers and the New Zealand economy,” he adds.

“We will continue to assess the situation in Indonesia and modify our border checks as required.”

– Leo Argent

mals. Studies have shown that these animals will be more fertile and fecund in their lifetime so will be valuable for retaining as replacements. Facial eczema will

suppress lambing percentages as will the phyto-oestrogens produced by some plants such as older varieties of red or subterranean clover.

While lucerne produce some phyto-oestrogens, the benefit of feeding ewes high quality feed at mating, particularly when feed supplies are tight, will usually outweigh the presence of the oestrogen.

The phytoestrogen effect wears off after about 4 weeks so if concerned, take animals off the feed a month before mating. Where pasture supplies are not tight, ewes should be mated on grass.

To help maximise ewe ovulation, ewes should be going to the ram at an optimum body condition score of over 3 and on a rising plane of nutrition.

Valtra Unlimited clocks up 10 years!

VALTRA UNLIMITED, the specialist division of Finnish manufacturer Valtra, is celebrating its first decade, over which time around a third of all tractors produced have passed through its doors, taking customisation to a new level, so that bespoke machines are created to suit individual customer’s exact requirements.

Valtra Unlimited works closely with other companies to supply factory-fitted implements and systems. The origin of the Valtra brand-follows on from Valmet tractors being fitted with bespoke systems or

accessories. The name Valtra stuck, so from 1997, Valmet was shelved and the new name applied to all new tractors onwards.

Part of the AGCO stable, at one time, the parent company toyed with the idea of merging its Valtra, Massey Ferguson, and Fendt brands to form the AGCO tractor brand. This idea met fierce opposition from the companies concerned, who still defend their independence with vigour, resulting in Fendt building a premium tractor, MF focused on improving the everyday machine and Valtra providing a tractor tailored to the individual.

As part of the Valtra

IN A move that sees further realignment in the New Zealand farm machinery market, Palmerston North headquartered Norwood and German manufacturer Horsch have announced they will end their exclusive distribution and retail agreement.

Having enjoyed a 15-year relationship, both parties say they recognise the need for change, given Horsch’s expanding product range and the conflict created between brands that Norwood represents.

“Globally, Horsch is looking to work with partners who provide exclusive support for our expanding product range.

“We are thankful for the work that Norwood have done to establish the Horsch brand in New Zealand, but we both agree that it is time for change,” says Micha Trotzky, Horsch’s Southern Europe, Oceania and Africa territory manager.

Horsch products will continue to play a part in the success of New Zealand farmers and growers, with the brand announcing a

Unlimited psyche, things started out with a myriad of colours, large arrays of extra lighting and off course an air horn, while also expanding the mechanical capabilities of the tractors. More recently, the installation of digital systems over and above standard spec

new partnership with the Ashburton-headquartered Carrfields Group.

“We’re excited at what this development means for Carrfields,” says Craig Carr Carrfields group managing director.

“[We] look forward to developing the work that Norwood has done over the years. We are also excited to be partnering with a global leader in the development of agricultural equipment technology and believe Horsch will be a fantastic addition to our current stable of premium machinery brands.”

Expecting the process to be finalised by the middle of the year, all three businesses will work together to ensure the transition to the new distributor is as smooth as possible for existing Horsch customers, which includes Norwood continuing to sell and support the brand and its customers over the coming months, until the transition is completed. –

Mark Daniel

has become an important part of its business.

As an example, the VIEW safety feature increases safety for people working within proximity of the tractor. Using front and rearmounted cameras and artificial intelligence to detect objects moving

in front of the tractor, the operator can switch between camera views displayed on a high-resolution screen and alerted to potential hazards by warning lights and sounds.

In other news, while fire suppression systems are popular on forest

machines, Valtra believes there might also be a market for such items on farm tractors.

Due to the enclosed nature of key components such as engines, hydraulics, fuel lines, electrical installations and exhaust after treatment system, tractor fires

spread quickly but are also difficult to put out with a handheld extinguisher.

Claimed as a fast, compact, and efficient technique to extinguish a blaze, Valtra’s automatic fire suppression system comprises an agent storage tank linked to a network of hoses and nozzles located under the bonnet and cab. Fitted at the Unlimited Studio at the Suolahti factory in Finland and available for fitting to the N5, T5 and Q5 ranges, operators release the extinguishing agent by pressing a button on the in-cab control box, while remote activation is also available to operate the system remotely.

Valtra Unlimited makes bespoke machines to suit individual customer’s exact requirements.

Horsch machines like the Avatar SD drill play a part in the success of New Zealand farmers and growers.

Customers are the big winners

CNN BUYS TECH FIRM

NEARING TWELVE

months since CNH Industrial cancelled its distribution agreement for Case IH and New Holland products with CB Norwood Distributors on July 1, 2022, followed by the establishment of a new retail footprint for New Zealand, with Norwood now having departed from the CNH Industrial dealer network in January 2023, the events have ushered in some big changes that are creating more positive outcomes for customers across the country.

For the remaining CNH Industrial dealers – many of them Case IH dealers, with the exception of R&R Tractors in Te Puke – the departure of Norwood meant they assumed responsibility for the NH brand in a caretaker capacity, to ensure customers continued to receive the service and support they needed.

For Andrew Giltrap, dealer principal of Giltrap Agrizone, it’s meant some dynamic changes and added responsibility, alongside some reflection on the fact that the busi-

ness was a NH dealer at one time.

“It has been a time of enormous change that’s been challenging at times, but my team have stepped up and are doing everything they can to meet the needs of both our existing customers and former Norwood customers,” said Andrew.

“Up to now, we’ve had really good feedback from customers on the service we’ve been able to provide and the issues we’ve been able to resolve, which has been very pleasing.”

Andrew said they also want their Case IH customers to know it is “business as usual” for them, and they could be assured the high level

DRAINAGE AND SOIL AERATION PAY BIG DIVIDENDS

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of service and support they had come to expect would continue.

Dealer principal of Cochranes, South Island, Chris West agrees it’s been a big few months, but like Andrew, he can see the changes bring some big opportunities for dealers, and for CNH Industrial, as a whole.

“Since the changes in July, it’s been great having more CNH Industrial staff on the ground and supporting the dealers, and customers. Moving forward now with both Case IH and New Holland brands, I expect that support will only become greater,” Chris said. “The customers have been positive about the changes, and are looking forward

CNH INDUSTRIAL has bolstered its satellite guidance systems’ accuracy after purchasing Hemisphere GNSS, a part of the UniStrong Science and Technology Co. Ltd., of Beijing.

UniStrong was founded in 1994 to develop Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for all sectors of industry and commerce and is now a parent company for many smaller businesses, including Hemisphere GNSS.

Tractor manufacturers, in a race to adopt digital technology, are increasingly keen to present their software suites as being seamlessly integrated into the machine’s operating systems and hardware.

Along the journey, many manufacturers are suggesting that third-party solutions became less focused upon their individual requirements. To remove this problem, one answer is to develop expertise from within, or to purchase existing companies that already have the necessary digital capabilities.

CNH Industrial has chosen to pursue the latter, having recently bought Raven Industries, and complementing it with Hemisphere GNSS.

to receiving the service and assistance they need and expect. We have had a number of New Holland customers ordering new equipment in the past

few weeks, so it’s great to see that level of confidence already there.”

Good levels of stock are available in their dealerships at present, and a

new finance deal is said to be fuelling additional interest and opportunities.

Both dealers have taken the opportunity to recruit more staff, particularly in their technical and service teams, with both looking to further expand their teams once CNH Industrial finalises the New Holland retailing arrangements over the coming months.

Since July 2022, CNHI has also introduced parts hubs at CNHI dealerships around the country.

“The Case IH hub being in place meant we’ve had a lot of slowmoving parts, that we may not usually stock, sitting here ready for harvest if required for combines and balers,” Chris said.

Andrew said for customers it means there’s always more parts in

stock, so there’s a faster turnaround when there are issues.

“We obviously can’t have everything, but the inventory that we have to pick from is much more, with substantial additional parts holdings. There’s a more robust level of support for customers than compared to 12 months ago, there is a more robust level of support for customers, so when there’s a breakdown, there’s a greater chance of turning it around straight away,” he said.

Aaron Bett, general manager for Case IH Australia/New Zealand, said it had been gratifying to see Case IH dealers respond to the need to support New Holland machinery and he said there was no need for concern from existing Case IH customers.

Andrew Giltrap, dealer principal of Giltrap Agrizone, says it’s been a time of enormous change.

Tractor maker backs methane capture

MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz

ALREADY AN emerging leader in alternative fuels for use in tractors with its T6 Methane tractor, New Holland recently raised its stake in the rapidly emerging sector by taking a majority interest in Bennamann, a company specialising in methane capture.

While using methane produced by capturing dairy herd effluent makes perfect sense, the tricky part is capturing the gas before cleaning and compressing it ready for storage, the latter a problem seen in the T6 unit that needs multiple storage vessels around the tractor.

Bennamann, based in Cornwall, was founded

in 2011. It has developed what it describes as the Bennamann cycle, a circular model which reclaims fugitive methane from cattle and uses it to power machinery.

This is a similar cycle to that being suggested by New Holland. Bennamann have solved the problem of clumsy gas cylinders bolted around the extremities of the tractor.

The next part of the equation will be the development of methane capture at a commercial level on-farm, now likely to be addressed with the resources that New Holland can bring to the table.

Following the acquisition, a New Holland statement suggests it does not expect to confine itself to the prospect of powering tractors from effluent, explaining the captured methane might also play a role in generating electricity and heating homes.

By already collaborating with Bennamann previously,

development has led to the introduction of the world’s first liquefied fugitive methane tractor prototype, the New Holland T7 Methane Power LNG, which is operationally carbon negative when fuelled by Bennamann’s system. Research has found that a 120-cow farm operating with shared methane capture technology can reduce the CO2 equivalent of 100 western European households –about 780 tons annually.

Looking at the science of Liquified Fugitive Methane more closely, due to its high energy density, liquefied methane (a natural gas) is much easier to store and efficiently distribute than renewable energy sources such as hydrogen and compressed natural gas. This makes liquefied methane a direct and suitable replacement for fossil fuels in high power applications, even in the most remote locations such as construction sites.

In other news, CNH

Industrial, having already secured a minority stake in Augmenta in March 2021, has recently bought the remainder of the business for around US$110m, to accelerate the growth of precision technology on sprayers and fertiliser spreaders.

Augmenta focuses on developing precision farming solutions based on computer vision and artificial intelligence. These include a real-time solution that uses roofmounted, multispectral 4K cameras that scan the field ahead of the vehicle. Artificial intelligence calculates exactly what the crop needs in terms of fertiliser or crop protection products.

Augmenta will operate within CNH Industrial’s Raven brand (acquired in June 2021) as part of the company’s precision farming technology offering. It will maintain its existing employees and offices North America and its R&D facility in Athens, Greece.

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New Holland is already an emerging leader in alternative fuels for use in tractors with its T6 Methane tractor.

• A flexible joint that allows the bar to flex rearwards in the event of contact with an overhead obstacle

• The joint facilitates some sideways flexibility before locking and becoming more of a traditional crush protection device