TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
Meat sector unity
FARMERS ARE welcoming potential collaboration between the country’s two major meat processors.
Federated Farmers Meat and Wool chair Toby Williams points out that Silver Fern Farm’s willingness to take a positive role in the Alliance Group’s current capital crisis is “really positive”.
Williams says both company’s shareholders needed to consider the ever-shrinking supply of sheep. The chance of sheep farming becoming more profitable is getting less and less.
“We’re spending more and more on processing each individual animal, with the fixed overhead costs and finance costs and all those sorts of things. So, there’s some consolidation needed,” Williams told Rural News.
In a note distributed to its suppliers, Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dan Boulton confirmed the company’s intention to be constructively involved in the support and possible restructure of its rival.
Boulton said Silver Fern Farms’ own past difficulties gave an appreciation for the fact that the success of the whole industry is greater than the sum of all its parts.
“That’s why we want to be constructively involved in achieving the best outcome for the long-term success of all farmers and NZ Inc, and why we’re supportive of an industry solution to Alliance Group’s considerations.
“While we are confirming our
intention to be constructively involved, it would be premature to speculate on the potential specific outcomes of our involvement.
“That detail and those conversations will come in time.”
Alliance revealed in April its need to raise $100-150 million to stay afloat. It had already undertaken some redundancies and other cost-cutting measures and recently confirmed that its oldest meat-processing site, Timaru’s Smithfield, would close by the end of this year.
The company said it faced three main possibilities: raising the money from its shareholder farmers; a part-
sale or hybrid model similar to Silver Fern’s half-ownership by Shanghai Maling; or outright sale. It would also look at partial options such as preference shares.
However, Alliance is not commenting on the Silver Fern approach, or any other specifics, now that the process is underway.
“As we have outlined to our farmershareholders, Alliance has appointed Craigs Investment Partners to explore further capital-raising options,” said Alliance chair Mark Wynne.
“We know there will be speculation regarding our external capital-raising process. While we are at the very
early stages of the process, we’ve seen encouraging interest from both international and domestic parties, but for reasons of commercial sensitivity, we will not comment on specific opportunities.
“It’s important we respect the process and focus on maximising value for our farmer shareholders. We will be assessing each opportunity based on strategic fit, value, and expected benefits before making any decisions.
“Ultimately, the final decision will rest with our farmer-shareholders,” said Wynne.
Williams says that it would be up to the respective shareholders but if there’s not some partnership, the two companies would keep “mining” each other’s stock supply until eventually one collapses.
“That’s what we want to avoid.”
Williams noted that there had been talk of partnership between the cooperatives more than a decade ago, but the shareholders then voted it down.
“But I think we’ve gone past that now.
“The fact that Silver Fern Farms have got a really strong balance sheet and are interested shows you that they believe that a more collaborative approach between the organisations will benefit all of New Zealand.”
Acknowledging the potential complication of their different structures, with Silver Fern’s Shanghai Maling part-ownership, Williams said it would not be easy but “it’s time to have a bigboy conversation around this”.
The companies competing against
each other to sell the same product was very poor for sheep farming, said Williams. “In an ideal world we would have a Zespri or a Fonterra but neither of those is going to happen. Existing trade agreements preclude us being able to form something like that.”
Williams said there were a couple of options for Alliance but hoping for the Alliance shareholders themselves to stump up with the cash was like “putting a Band-Aid on an artery wound”.
Federated Farmers as an organisation was agnostic as to what happens.
“But certainly we think it’s a positive step forward for the industry if they can get it to work,” he said.
Boulton said the decline in stock numbers had been the focus of much recent discussion.
“At Silver Fern Farms, we don’t accept this trend as a given that will continue, but we also know that the industry is going to have to continue to evolve to remain competitive.
“For New Zealand’s sheep, beef and venison farmers to thrive, they need a strong and viable processing and marketing sector that both operates efficiently and can commit the type of investment required to differentiate our products in market.
“With the challenges we face both domestically and globally, we believe Silver Fern Farms’ support is the only way to create truly long-term value for both parties and the broader sector.
“What we do know for certain now is that in the long term, the only place our industry can win is in our global markets.”
NIGEL MALTHUS
Toby Williams says both meat company’s shareholders needed to consider the evershrinking supply of sheep.
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Growers seek regulatory support to boost exports
SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
APPLES AND pears growers, targeting $2 billion in revenue by 2035, are banking on the support of local and central government.
The country’s 288 export growers exported $892 million worth of apples and pears in 2023, compared to $347m in 2012, outstripping national export growth.
New Zealand Apples and Pears chief executive Karen Morrish says the growth in export value has come from increased productivity, investment in high value varieties as well as the diversification of international markets.
Morrish says this means the sector is well placed to further align with the Government’s desire to double export value in 10 years.
However, growth is dependent on the supportive economic and regulatory conditions.
“Since 2020, conditions have not been ideal with growers struggling to access labour due to Covid-19 border closures, and Cyclone Gabrielle decimating the 2023 crop. As a result, industry revenue has declined by around 0.5%, per year from 2020 to 2023,” Morrish told Rural News.
“We want to ensure there is an operating environment that is conducive to growth.
“The general cost of production has increased like most parts of the agricultural and horticultural industry, so that’s squeezed margins and had a significant impact on orchard gate returns.
“We want to focus on improving returns for growers, which could include a change of settings for labour, capital compliance, market access, terms of trade, environmental regulations and water security as well as the ongoing accessibility to tools.”
Last month, New Zealand Apples and Pears released new research from MartinJenkins that showed the industry contributes almost $2 billion of
total revenue impact to the national economy. It found that the industry contributes $918 million to New Zealand’s GDP, comprising of $348 million direct sector contribution and $570 million of industry linkages and spending. Regionally, the industry is more significant again, particularly in Nelson, Tasman and Hawke’s Bay, where it is the second and third largest contributor to regional GDP respectively.
The industry has 10,727ha of land with orchards, and 45 export packhouses send about 18 million TCEs (18kg Tray Carton Equivalents) overseas.
Morrish says they hope the new report will further encourage local and central governments to recognise the value of the industry and work with them to ensure there is an operating environment that is conducive to growth.
“If this is in place, our growers will continue to grow the value of the sector and see our communities further supported.
“With the right settings, the valuable role of our industry to national and regional economies can be secured, and we can continue to produce the world’s best quality fruit right here in New Zealand.”
Irrigation NZ seeks new CEO
IRRIGATION NEW Zealand chief executive Vanessa Winning is stepping down after four years in the role.
The search for her replacement is underway and IrrigationNZ has advertised the vacancy. It says the CEO will build and maintain strong, mutually beneficial relationships with members, stakeholders and government,
and actively seek opportunities to collaborate with other aligned sector organisations to deliver the best outcomes for the irrigation sector in New Zealand.
Irrigation NZ represents over 4500 members nationally, including irrigation schemes, individual irrigators, and the irrigation service sector.
“Our irrigator members include a wide range of farmers and growers: sheep and beef, dairy and cropping farmers, horticulturalists, winegrowers, as well as sports and recreational facilities and councils,” it says.
“We also represent over 120 irrigation service industry members — manufacturers, distributors, irrigation
design and install companies, and irrigation decision support services for both freshwater and effluent irrigation. We are a voluntary-membership, not-for-profit organisation whose vision is water to nourish our community, environment, and economy.”
The apples and pears sector outstripped national export growth, sending $892m worth of fruits overseas in 2023.
Farmers welcome changes to freshwater regulations
jessica@ruralnews.co.nz
THE GOVERNMENT’S
passing of new freshwater management laws has been welcomed by farmers, but could cause some councils a headache.
Late last month, the Government’s Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill passed its third reading through Parliament.
RMA Reform minister Chris Bishop says this marks the second of three phases of the Government’s resource management reforms.
“We repealed the previous government’s excessively complicated reforms through Phase One before Christmas last year,” Bishop says.
“Now in Phase Two we’re implementing a one-stop-shop, fast-track consenting regime, legislating for a raft of ‘quick fixes’ to the interim RMA through two Amendment Bills and a suite of changes to national direction, and then in Phase Three we’ll fully replace the RMA with a new regime guided by private property rights.”
The move has roundly been welcomed by farmers, says Federated Farmers resource management spokesperson Mark Hooper.
LITTLE IMPACT
MEANWHILE, ENVIRONMENT Southland says the Amendment Bill is unlikely to have a significant impact on the region.
“Environment Southland already has a mostly operative regional plan, the Southland Water and Land Plan, that manages activities like stock exclusion and intensive winter grazing, so the Government’s amendments are unlikely to have significant impact for Southland,” Environment Southland general manager strategy, policy and science Rachel Miller told Rural News
He says that the Government’s approach is a pragmatic, commonsense one that will “allow farmers to get on with farming without a heap of needless cost and complexity that added very little environmental benefit”.
“The Government made it very clear that the national direction for freshwater was going to be changes and that councils should hold off notifying new plans,” Hooper told Rural News
“By continuing to plough ahead implementing the previous Labour government’s freshwater rules, councils left them no real choice but to intervene.”
Miller says that the council confirmed in September that it would focus its freshwater work programme on working with the community directly and making minor improvements to the Southland Water and Land Plan through a plan change. “Considering the RMA amendment halting plan changes in 2025, we are assessing our options,” she says. “Government has signalled a revised National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management will be released in early 2025 which may require some changes to the regional plan.” @rural_news
Hooper says that had the Government allowed councils to continue, there would have been significant duplication, “wasted” ratepayer money, and confusion with constantly changing local rules.
“It’s a big deal for farmers and we’re pleased we were able to get the result for our members,” he adds.
He says the Government has proven that it wants to work collaboratively with landowners and farmers in the RMA reform process.
“In the current RMA amendment bills the Government have been really engaged and responsive to our con-
cerns,” he says.
“They’ve also made some really practical changes where we’ve been able to show things aren’t working, or where the interpretation by the courts has created huge uncertainty or added unnecessary compliance costs.”
The RMA reform process is only just getting underway now, but we’re really comfortable with the high-level direction they’re heading in and think our resource management rules are going to land in a much better place than what we’ve seen in the past,” he says.
One of the actions the bill sets out to limit is local councils’ abil-
ity to notify new freshwater plans from 22 October 2024 until the introduction of a replacement for the controversial National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS-FM).
While this was largely anticipated, with Government Ministers signalling in the initial draft bill back in April that changes to the freshwater management system would be happening, some had gone ahead to include freshwater management regulations in line with the previous government’s rules in their regional plans.
In Otago, this came to a head when Otago Regional Council (ORC)
chief executive Richard Saunders announced that its paper on the council’s proposed Land and Water Regional Plan (pLWRP) would be withdrawn just 24 hours before the plan was set to be voted on.
ORC chair Gretchen Robertson says that while the council had worked with the government in the lead-up to the proposed vote, the bill marked a change.
“We now need to take some time to consider the implications of this for the Otago community who still need these issues to be addressed,” Robertson says.
Current waste and water plans in the region will still be operative so,
for those who are already consent holders, it will be “business as usual”, she says.
“This will give us time to understand the changes the government is bringing in with the review and replacement of the NPS-FM.”
Robertson says the pause on the plan will not stop council from continuing to work with local communities and local iwi to improve freshwater in the region, “it is a pause for the planning process”.
“The good work of protecting and enhancing our environment will continue across Otago.”
JESSICA MARSHALL
Mark Hooper says councils should hold off notifying new plans.
Kiwifruit sector’s big night out
THE TURMOIL and challenges faced by the kiwifruit industry in the past 30 years were put to one side but not forgotten at a glitzy night for 400 kiwifruit growers and guests in Mt Maunganui recently.
The occasion was to celebrate major milestones and achievements in the history of their sector: the 30th anniversary of the formation of the NZ Kiwifruit Growers group (NZKGI), the 35th anniversary of the single desk structure which underpins industry success and the 25th anniversary of Zespri’s commercial operations.
The evening featured plenty of networking time for growers and others to mix and mingle and renew past friendships. On display were photographs and memorabilia of the past and for many it was a chance to talk about the battles and challenges that the industry has faced over the years.
Paul Jones, a grower for 35 years and now a Zespri director, was on the NZKGI board for 19 years and has witnessed many of the changes that have taken place. He says NZKGI has helped a lot to get the right structures in place in the sector.
“It fulfils a very good
role as both a watchdog and advocate for the industry and Zespri uses NZKGI as a sounding board for some of its decision making,” he says.
One of the early executives in the industry was Dr Don Brash, later to become the governor of the Reserve Bank. At one stage he was CEO of the Kiwifruit Authority.
“It’s an extraordinary sensation to be here 42 years since I became involved in the kiwifruit authority industry. In my first year, NZ exported 4.6 million trays of green kiwifruit, now its 50 times that, both green and gold, and it’s great to be here,” he says.
NZKGI chief executive Colin Bond described the evening as momentous in a lot of respects. He says the industry has a great
“We should always remember all those who worked so hard 35 years plus ago to create the wonderful industry we have here today.”
structure and has overcome many challenges because the people come together in a crisis.
“A wonderful success story” is how HortNZ’s chair Dr Barry O’Neil described the kiwifruit sector. He says other sectors within NZ should work to emulate it and get similar success in their sectors.
“But we should always remember all those who worked so hard 35 years plus ago to create the wonderful industry we have here today,” he says.
The chair of the Māori kiwifruit growers, Anaru Timutimu, says his people have been in the industry for 40 years and says the returns from kiwifruit to the Māori community are better than any of the other land-based sectors. He says they provide about 10% of all the kiwifruit grown in NZ.
“It’s an amazing business for us and it provides a lot of opportunity for Māori, not just inside but also outside the orchard gate. It also
allows a lot of our people to come home and work and build a career in the sector, which is good,” he says.
Zespri chairman Nathan Flowerday praised NZKGI saying it has ensured the voice of the NZ grower is heard strongly whether it be by Zespri, the Government or other industry stakeholders. In his keynote speech, NZKGI chairman Mark Mayston emphasised that it was growers’ decision to prioritise the greater good over selfinterest that birthed the revolutionary single desk concept.
“Growers must stay united because if we let selfish interests take over, we risk diluting the value of our industry and the future of generations to come,” he says.
FROM PAST TO PRESENT
A HIGHLIGHT of the evening was panel discussion featuring three pioneering growers, Paul Heywood, John Palmer and Hendrik Pieters who gave an amazing insight into the problems they faced trying to get unity within the sector that ultimately led to the formation of NZKGI.
Pieters said in the early days NZ had something like 11 companies marketing kiwifruit and they were being picked off by wholesalers and supermarkets in Europe, causing prices to fall.
He says some of the older growers had deals with exporters, and new entrants to the market like himself were left on the outer.
“We saw what the Apple and Pear Board were doing as the single seller of apples and thought that this was a better way to go,” he says.
Eventually, after much turmoil, the single desk Kiwifruit Marketing Board was set up with the power to buy and sell all kiwifruit. This led to the brand Zespri being introduced 25 years ago. But for Pieters and other growers, the battles were not over and there was great confusion as to who represented kiwifruit growers, with multiple organisations laying claim to this.
“We had several organisations that were infiltrating growers, government departments, because they wanted to maintain their influence on what was going on.
“So, the issue for NZKGI was [a] wide spectrum of growers who had diverse allegiances to different political and commercial beliefs and what we had to do was to bring all these groups to together. Government made it clear that if we are going to have a single desk operator, we needed a group who could talk on behalf of all growers,” he says.
Pieters says after almost two years of wrangling, the various parties buried their differences and NZKGI emerged as an advocacy group for the whole industry and a watchdog on the activities of Zespri. But according to Pieters, the battle still goes on with different interest groups coming into the industry and some having invested a lot of money, effectively put NZKGI on notice.
“The challenge for NZKGI today is the same as it was 30 years ago. We have to make sure we are bringing all those disparate groups together and there is not division in the ranks,” he says.
From left, Zespri director Michael Ahie, Hort NZ chief executive Kate Scott and chair Barry O’Neil at the celebration dinner.
Sustainability dominates dairy summit
To Kiwi ears, an international conference that talks about a “just and fair transition” to sustainable dairy sounds like a clarion call for better access to valuable markets. ‘Just and fair’ means more to the world than opening up borders to big exporters like NZ. Tim Fulton reports.
THIS YEAR’S International Dairy Federation (IDF) world summit in Paris covered innovations, best practice and responses to economic, social, geopolitical and climate crises.
The common denominator was ‘carbon footprint’. Jean-Michel Javelle, president of French dairy co-operative, Sodiaal, said no agribusiness company or leader could now imagine building their operations or a strategy without “resilient supply chains”.
Nor could they fail to address environmental issues: “financial and
non-financial now go hand in hand.”
Agriculture was intimately linked to ecosystem health and animal welfare, Javelle said.
Farmers felt climate change as much as anyone, seeing changes in growing seasons or damage from extreme weather, which disrupt cows’ rumination and milk production.
Since 2019, Sodiaal had been working with farmers to measure the carbon footprint of their operations. The co-op used telemetrics in its trucks to reduce emissions and had launched
more than 500 projects to cut emissions at processing sites. The aim was a 20% reduction in emissions by 2030.
Making change meant modifying herd diets, which represented a significant cost and a potential risk to agricultural yields.
To offset this, Sodiaal had introduced a “transitions platform” raising funds from clients, banks and other partners.
“The dual objective is to reduce the environmental footprint while improving working conditions for farmers,” Javelle said.
It was clear from IDF
that the European Union will continue to ‘support’ its producers to meet emissions targets. Kiwis call it protectionism. Europeans call it maintaining a vibrant and competitive industry.
Pascal Le Brun, president of French milk producers association, CNIEL, said France was
notable for the diversity of its agricultural models. This allowed it to adapt to the specific conditions of each region, from mountainous areas to fertile plains. On average, a French dairy farm had 70 cows and the country was unusual in Europe for relatively small herds over large areas.
Running a “polyculture-livestock model”, many French farmers grew multiple crops and animals together at the same time. Le Brun said this model gave farmers greater autonomy in terms of feed, fertiliser and energy - creating good environmental and economic balance. How-
ever, French farmers had to be sure it would be effective in the face of climate change, especially water scarcity.
Modernisation of facilities, production and processing tools, particularly through robotization and the use of decision-support tools was essential.
The improvements would not only help address labour shortages but further reduce France’s carbon footprint, Le Brun said.
Projections by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the OECD were for annual dairy consumption to rise by 1.4 to 1.8% over the next decade.
The rise would be sharpest outside of Europe, mainly in Africa and Asia, where rising purchasing power and changing dietary habits were growing demand.
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Attendees at the IDF Dairy Summit sample French cheeses in Paris last month.
National catchment advocacy group elects first chair
A NORTH Canterbury farmer has been elected as the first chair of Aotearoa New Zealand Catchment Communities (ANZCC).
The group has a special status as the voice for catchment groups and communities across New Zealand and has had government support to form. ANZCC hosted their inaugural AGM in September after which Ensor was elected.
Ensor is a sheep and beef farmer in Cheviot and is highly regarded for his role as chair of the Hurunui District Landcare Group, a catchment collective in Canterbury that has been running for nine years. It has 300
“With funding and regulation, there is often a single-issue focus, which may or may not be a problem in all areas. Catchment communities understand their landscapes and take an integrated approach.”
members, mainly farmers running dryland hill country farms covering 320,000 hectares.
Ensor joined the ANZCC working group last year, as it moved towards its official formation. The parent body is made up of members representing 250 catchment groups from around New
Zealand. These groups combined cover over 6 million hectares.
“I’m really encouraged that members of the Catchment Communities are drawn from so many corners of New Zealand and diverse landscapes too,” Ensor said.
“It shows that catchment groups want to con-
tinue to be part of the solution to the challenges we face as a country, such as freshwater, biodiversity, and climate change,” he said.
Ensor said that initial ANZCC research has shown better alignment of objectives and outcomes for those funding catchment group work is required. For example, the funding cycle is typically two to three years but the social and envi-
ronmental goals are far more long-term.
“This leads to a focus on short-term activities such as water testing or trees planted, rather than longer term outcomes, such as water quality improvement or habitat restoration for improved biodiversity.
“With funding and regulation, there is often a single-issue focus, which may or may not be a problem in all areas.
Catchment communities understand their landscapes and take an integrated approach.”
ANZCC has a board and they have agreed on the organisation’s purpose, Ensor said.
It will advocate nationally for continued support of catchment communities to foster place-based, communityled change with longer term goals.
“Over the coming
months we will be working closely with government, funders and other primary sector organisations to start on this,” Ensor said.
“Leading farmers and innovators are already doing good work and this should be incentivised so they are supported to go faster, showing pathways for others to adapt in their communities.”
CUTS INTO STOCK NUMBERS
THERE IS an urgent need for the Government to put a limit on the sale of farms for forestry – particularly for carbon farming.
That’s the plea from the Beef + Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland who says the latest statistics show that since the end of 2022 more than 51,000ha of farmland has been sold to forestry interests. She says this far exceeds the 25,500ha the Climate Change Commission has recommended should be sold in any given year.
Acland adds that between 2017 and the end of June this year, a
total of 261,733ha have been sold and believes this figure will turn out to be higher given the lag time in producing the statistics. She says there’s already been a significant decline in stock numbers because of afforestation over the past few years.
“We estimate for every 100,000 hectares planted close to one million stock units are lost. While on one hand the decline in stock numbers means our sector has already dramatically reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions and warming impact, the way it’s hap-
pening is simply not sustainable,” she says.
Acland says B+LNZ is not antiforestry and says they support the integration of trees on farms. But says they just want some limits around the conversion of whole farms into forestry for carbon credits.
“We welcome the Government’s intention to announce measures before Christmas and note that the National Party’s pre-election manifesto sets out a sensible platform to work from,” she says.
Aotearoa New Zealand Catchment Communities chair Ben Ensor.
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PREACHING TO THE CONVERTED
RE- ARTICLE in September
24th 2024 Rural News edition
“Sheep farmers must learn from downturn, embrace changes”:
My husband recently celebrated his 80th birthday.
He has been a sheep farmer all his working life.
I can’t tell you the number of similar articles he has read, meetings he has attended and strategies he has been lectured about over those 60-plus years in the business.
All giving much the same advice to “embrace changes” and instructions about “taking
a strategic approach” and “must learn” – from those clipping the tickets of the landowners and workers in agricultural business.
He has spent a lifetime of breeding sheep and growing fine wool – the sale of which, and money received, is
entirely at the discretion of the marketplace – not the producer.
That is the reality.
Haven’t seen many investigations into that.
There is absolutely nothing new in this article mentioned above – except extra casual
disrespect for the people doing the work and producing the goods for export and local consumption – in constantly changing conditions.
If he hadn’t “learnt” there is no way he would still be in business.
Liz Evans
STOP FUNDING THESE IDIOTS
GREENPEACE ARE today’s Luddites.
Just like the English men who opposed cotton processing with fancy new machines, so Greenpeace have opposed wind farms, green hydrogen production and us producing our own urea from our own gas, in favour of importing it from halfway around the world and funding more wars in the Middle East.
This country will always run at a loss and with ever increasing deficits with the likes of Greenpeace able to oppose home production, self-sufficiency and security of tenure by manipulating the consenting and environment court processes with their Luddite thinking.
We have the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emission exported dairy and agricultural products in the world, yet they would lower our production and increase the world GHG’s with their Luddite thinking.
Stop funding these idiots. Dave Stanton Geraldine
EDITORIAL
Pipfruit success
HATS OFF to our pipfruit sector.
Research carried out by consultancy MartinJenkins unveiled that New Zealand’s apple and pear industry contributes almost $2 billion of total revenue impact to the national economy.
The industry boasts a growth rate that outstrips the national export growth rate, increasing its export value - largely due to productivity increases and value gains - from $347 million in 2012 to more than $892 million in 2023. More than 12,000 permanent and seasonal employees work in the sector.
The industry contributes $918 million to the New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP), comprised of $348 million direct sector contribution and $570 million of industry linkages and spending. Regionally, the industry is more significant again, particularly in Nelson Tasman and Hawke’s Bay, where it is the second and third largest contributor to regional GDP respectively.
In Hawke’s Bay, home to 65% of apple and pear plantings, the industry contributes $424 million to the region’s GDP. In Tasman, where 23% of pipfruit plantings can be found, the industry contributes $166 million to the local GDP.
In Tairawhiti, the third largest region by apple and pear planted area, the industry injected $25.5 million into the local GDP figures – a figure that is expected to grow even further with plenty of new apple varieties in the ground. Apples and pears contributed $28 million to Central Otago’s regional GDP.
And the industry isn’t resting on its laurels. Farmers and exporters continue investing in research and development and are reaping the rewards with innovation in growing systems and post-harvest processes already showing increased productivity.
However, the industry is warning that future growth is dependent on the supportive economic and regulatory conditions.
Since 2020, conditions have not been ideal with growers struggling to access labour due to Covid-19 border closures, and Cyclone Gabrielle decimating the 2023 crop. The sector is banking on local and central government to recognise the value of the industry and work with them to ensure there is an operating environment conducive to growth.
The ball is in the Government’s court. With the right regulatory settings, the valuable role of the apple and pear industry to national and regional economies can be secured.
THE HOUND
Dead in the water
IN A victory for common sense over virtue signalling, David Parker’s National Policy Statement (NPS) work on freshwater is now dead in the water. Parker’s NPS required councils to figure out what the ‘mana’ of the water entailed and how to preserve it.
Trying to introduce a spiritual element to the management of water was already causing massive headaches and ructions at council level, especially in Southland, so your old mate is stoked to see the brakes put on such woke nonsense. Despite the incoming Government making it clear that councils didn’t have to continue work on Parker’s folly, most of them did, wasting millions of dollars and upsetting ratepayers. Finally, they’ve been stopped cold, with a new law compelling them to wait for the revised government Fresh Water NPS.
Mixed legacy
YOU’RE NEVER as good as when you’re dead, and with due respect to Theo Spierings’ family, the Hound can’t let the death of the former Fonterra CEO pass without mentioning the parlous state he left Fonterra in when he exited in 2018 – having pocketed well north of $30 million over seven years.
To be fair, about the same time he resigned, advisory firm TDB had calculated that the ‘mega merger’ that formed Fonterra delivered dairy farmers less than 2.5% annual compound growth in revenue – well short of the 15% industry leaders had pitched to cockies pre-2001.
However, when Spierings departed, with nary a word, but with full pockets, the co-op faced a 20% drop in share value and a $196m loss for 2018, plus a forecast loss for 2019 that turned out to be a massive $605m loss.
PRODUCTION: David Ferguson Ph 027 272 5372 davef@ruralnews.co.nz
Becky Williams Ph 021 100 4381 beckyw@ruralnews.co.nz
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MACHINERY EDITOR: Mark Daniel Ph 021 906 723 markd@ruralnews.co.nz
Know-it-alls
A READER recently had a shot at the various armchair critics that she judged to be more than a bit preachy, telling sheep farmers how they “must learn” and “embrace change” and various other platitudes that armchair critics bandy about on LinkedIn and on the speaker circuit in ‘NZ agbiz’. Our keen-eyed correspondent rightly noted that her farmer husband would’ve gone broke decades ago if he hadn’t “learnt”, and that he’s spent many years enduring such lectures “from those clipping the tickets of landowners and workers”. Too right. There is now an army of quislings and bludgers that make a living constantly opining from the comfort of the bleachers, offering little more than “casual disrespect for the people doing the work and producing the goods for export and local consumption”, as she says. Hear, hear!
AUCKLAND SALES CONTACT: Stephen Pollard Ph 021 963 166 stephenp@ruralnews.co.nz
WAIKATO & WELLINGTON SALES
CONTACT: Lisa Wise Ph 027 369 9218 lisaw@ruralnews.co.nz
Want to share your opinion or gossip with the Hound? Send your emails to: hound@ruralnews.co.nz
Leaky waka
WAS THE ASB Economic Weekly throwing shade on Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr when reporting on his speech in Washington recently? Certainly, the speech warranted some lampooning, with Orr waxing lyrical about the great voyages of NZ’s Polynesian ancestors being similar to the journey of central bankers during uncertain times. Carrying on Orr’s waka analogy, the Economic Weekly notes, “he didn’t seem worried about spending three months in a leaky boat between the November and February OCR decisions”.
As the Weekly report says, Orr warned that people tended to put too much stock in the RBNZ’s “central projection” and not enough in “the storytelling around uncertainties and risks detailed in the full statements”. This waffle is reminiscent of when Orr compared the Reserve Bank to a Kauri tree, and is a hallmark of the widely criticised governor.
SOUTH ISLAND SALES CONTACT: Kaye Sutherland Ph 021 221 1994 kayes@ruralnews.co.nz
DIGITAL STRATEGIST: Jessica Marshall Ph 021 0232 6446
“It’s slower than the horse I drew in the Melbourne Cup sweep!”
Co-ops benefit your business
HOW DO you keep a farming business viable?
In the UK farmers are derisking their businesses by scaling back food production. They’re choosing alternatives with a more guaranteed income such as rewilding or growing crops for biofuels. The British Government has been warned by the National Farmers’ Union that there are two factors at play – the weather and support.
Record rainfall this year has resulted in poor yields (21-32% decrease in comparison with 2023) in some crops. In combination with the 50% decrease in support payments (subsidies), the sector has been finding other ways to make an income. Barns have been turned into wedding venues, storage and offices. Farm cottages
Jacqueline Rowarth
are B&Bs. And fields have been fenced for dog walking. One enterprising farmer calculates that a hectare of dog walking field can make more money in a week (fully booked at weekends and at least 50% booked during the week) than a hectare of wheat in a year.
The UK has over 69 million people. It also has 13.5 million dogs.
In contrast, New Zealand has just over 5 million people and
850,000 dogs – in a country slightly bigger than the UK.
Doggie walkie fields aren’t going to be the answer for many farmers in New Zealand in terms of diversification of income.
In the past, New Zealand de-risking has been through the development of co-operatives. In competing with the world for markets, farmers joined together in ever bigger groups to own processors (for milk and meat, for example) and suppliers (such as insurance and agrichemical companies).
benefits many aspects of the food chain.
The theory that a co-operative can find a better price, either selling or buying, than an individual farmer can achieve is supported by research. A report commissioned by MPI and published in 2021 stated that “farmers now retain about 26% more of the international price for milk than what would be expected based on the previous (prior to Fonterra) historical relationships between the New Zealand farmgate price and farmgate prices in other countries”.
protect farm-gate prices, this benefits farmers across the sectors and regions concerned, not just co-op members”.
This is apparent in the milk sector in New Zealand – Fonterra sets the milk price for private companies.
New Zealand has approximately 330 co-operatives, threequarters of them in the primary sector and most farmers are associated with more than one. This is in considerable contrast to the UK, where only half of all farmers belong to a co-operative.
as a whole. In particular, the social fabric created by co-operative families is absent in the community. In the longer term, UK co-operatives were almost twice as likely to survive their first five years than other companies, with 80% of co-operatives lasting even longer. Co-ops have also been more resilient through economic recessions.
involvement to create a convincing mandate to continue. From a strong membership, good governance enables positive outcomes.
It is something of an irony that the UK is suggesting increased membership in co-operatives to help farmers survive, at the very time that questions on value are being asked in New Zealand.
• Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Adjunct Professor Lincoln University, is on the board of directors of DairyNZ, Deer Industry NZ and Ravensdown. The farms in which she is involved have shares in six co-operatives. COMMENT
These co-operatives have built up assets and services in a manner that has not generally been copied by non-cooperative companies. Further, the co-operatives fund research that
Similarly, a report commissioned by the UK Government in preparation for Brexit found that dairy prices in the EU were higher in the regions where co-ops had significant market share. Further, “where co-ops
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Reasons given by UK farmers for not joining a co-operative included lower prices from independents and entrepreneurs.
The lower prices might work in the short term for a few, but society does not benefit
Until recently, it would have been difficult to find a farmer in New Zealand that isn’t involved in a co-operative in some way. Increasingly, however, compressed margins and increased hours spent on paperwork and compliance are encouraging farmers to think of other options and business models.
To be strong any group requires enthusiastic membership
To stay ahead, New Zealand farmers wanting an improved outcome for sales of valuable food should read the research; getting involved in co-operatives is the way to add strength.
GE release ‘will taint NZ’s reputation, cost $billions’
PAUL BOSHER
AT THE September Fonterra results meeting in Waihi, I raised concerns about the viability and risks of releasing GE in New Zealand.
I asked what marketing case studies had been done to confirm that our customers will accept GE foods from New Zealand and still pay the premium we enjoy from our non-GE food exports. I asked Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell if he’d seen a cost benefit
analysis in favour of Genetically Modified Organisms (‘GMOs’). He said he had not.”
So why give away our competitive advantage?
New Zealand’s current GE regulations say any GE organism must be proven commercially viable, low risk and OK with New Zealanders to use in our agriculture and environment. Our regulations are like, not tougher than, everyone else’s.
The proposed changes to GE regulations would allow gene-
edited organisms into our agriculture with no testing of market acceptance and
contamination risk. Why would we do that?
Why would government rush a
Young Horticulturist
regulation change through Parliament taking away control measures that have served New Zealand so well?
Zealand. Any GE scientist that tells you otherwise is misleading. You’ll find that out if you ask them for a personal guarantee!
Adding to the risks is the fact that we can’t clean up a GE mess. Once mutated genes are out, they’re in the environment forever.
From that point on, 100% Pure New Zealand will be history. Our food integrity status that’s long sustained us will be gone for good.
NZ doesn’t need GE to innovate
nature, it’s not natural. Swapping animal, plant and microbe genes and removing gene sequences in a lab (CRISPR), does not happen in nature.
And GE is not just a simple, single swap or snip.
Sophisticated genemapping tools are showing multiple unintended changes in CRISPR gene structure. And many are linked to the risk of cancer.
As agricultural innovators, we’ve been world leaders for over a hundred years. We’ve got the sophisticated biology tools to stay ahead without scaring our customers by manipulating genes.
The science lobbyists also don’t want labels on our exported food to tell our customers it’s genetically modified. Yet many overseas retailers demand GE foods be labelled ‘Genetically Modified’.
Since New Zealand is entirely neighbour-free, what country is better placed than us to keep our food GE-free and the demand that goes with it?
Why would we trade away this oceanic competitive advantage?
Especially without doing proper commercial due diligence on the impact on our brand and premiums?
Farm viability at risk
Getting our foods to faraway markets is expensive. To offset those high packaging, freight and distribution costs, we have to charge a premium.
But what if GE costs us a big part of our reputation and strips us of that premium? Will we still be able to afford to export? Will farmers, market gardeners and orchardist be able to survive?
What work has been done to confirm consumers will still pay the New Zealand premium when the New Zealand product is no longer GE-free?
Not enough
Releasing GE into our environment risks contaminating food products grown in New
Potato plant breeders are using the same molecular biology assessment techniques as GE. They can commercialise beneficial traits in potato varieties within 18 months without gene editing. That’s the sort of use we need to be putting innovation to.
GM Grasses – for good reasons we haven’t gone there. Genetically modified ryegrasses have been in the New Zealand research pipeline for decades. GM grasses haven’t been allowed field trials here. Why not?
Not because the laws are too strict. But because Fonterra and others pulled the plug on proposed trials in 2009. Why? Because of their concerns about contamination risk and brand reputation damage. Since then, nothing has changed. No grass traits have been developed to make those GE ryegrasses less of a contamination risk. Nor except for greater demand for GE-free and Organic Foods has the market changed. Yet at the rate things are going GE ryegrasses could be released into our environment in 2025. Why the rush to remove safeguards now?
If it doesn’t happen in
This is not a natural technique. New Zealand geneticist Prof Jack Heinemann explains in a recent podcast interview that it’s not possible (using the latest GE science and technology) to stop or claim that GMOs don’t contaminate other plants and organisms with which they come into contact.
This fact may be lost on government and some industry players. It could put at grave risk our food industries’ hardwon reputation for food integrity.
Farmers stand together
The pressure for law change has not come from food consumers or customers.
No farmer should be ok about GMOs being released in New Zealand if:
• we get no assured long lasting commercial advantage and;
• it could destroy our brand.
Our cooperative needs to step up again to safeguard our premium and economic viability. This is our livelihood on the line. Farmers need to work together. Call your regional cooperative reps, tell them what you think.
• Paul Bosher - born in Te Kuiti and raised on his parents’ sheep and beef farm on the outskirts of Auckland – now heads his family’s diversified investment fund. In March 2021 the fund acquired a dairy and beef farm in Taupo milking some 1200 cows.
Paul Bosher says proposed changes would allow gene-edited organisms into NZ agriculture with no testing of market acceptance and contamination risk.
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Samuel Whitelock – Plant Science Graduate, Lincoln University.
New ag degrees at Massey
WRONG IDEA ABOUT HORT
CHANGING SKILL demands and new job opportunities in the primary sector have prompted Massey University to create a new degree course and add a significant major into another in 2025.
The deputy head of the School of Agriculture and the Environment, Professor Danny Donaghy, says the new degree course is the Bachelor of Earth and Environmental Science which replaces two degrees that have been run at Massey – one on earth science and the other on environmental science.
He says making a single degree creates more synergy between the two areas. Donaghy says the new degree is
PROFESSOR DANNY Donaghy says Massey is having an ongoing problem trying to convince potential students, their parents and other advisors that a career in horticulture is about having a highly paid exciting job dealing with technology and innovation and not about just picking fruit.
He says one of the big misconceptions they have to counter is when the media runs stories that NZ can’t get enough pickers from the Pacific or Southeast Asia.
“So, parents have sort of got it in their heads that if you do a hort degree you’ll just end up picking fruit. But as well as fruit pickers the industry is crying out for people to manage factories, packhouses and to develop new export markets. They don’t realise the vast array of exciting jobs the sector offers,” he says.
Donaghy says changing these miscon-
aimed at giving graduates the skills they need in dealing with managing resources at a catchment level and includes a focus on geo science,
ceptions is very hard and says we have to remember that NZ is a very urbanised society which has little connection to what happens beyond city limits. He says a lot of people aren’t connected to where their food comes from. They have little idea of how chickens are raised, how cows are milked and vegetables grown.
He says this disconnect has an impact on attracting young people to make a career in the primary sector. Danny Donaghy says it was interesting to note at the recent prizegiving for the top agricultural students – many were from cities. He says once they know about the career opportunities in the primary sector they are hooked. “What we need in this country is some gentle education of more people to connect them up with where their food comes from,” he says.
climate change and natural hazards. He says Massey University has a lot of expertise in this area and says the degree is very relevant to devel-
oping environmental regulations and supplying hard data to support NZ’s claims around the provenance of its primary exports.
The other change is to incorporate a horticultural management major within the existing Bachelor of Agribusiness.
“This is responding to industry demand for more work ready graduates and to focus on the business and management aspect of the horti-
cultural industries.
“It’s really targeting careers in consultancy and management within the hort industry,” says Donaghy.
He says the new major is also based on the feedback of agribusiness students who want to work in horticulture and keep
asking if they need to do a hort degree to do this. The new major will address those issues, he says.
“Both these changes are responding to national priorities and about training the next generation of consultants and managers,” he says.
Danny Donaghy says a new degree aims to give graduates the skills they need in dealing with managing resources.
Regular monitoring of worm levels in lambs is
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s wormwise programme manager Dr Ginny Dodunski offers advice on preweaning lamb management and factors to consider before giving a pre-weaning drench.
Grazing management
After tailing, the amount of energy and protein a lamb requires from pasture goes up every day as mum’s milk production declines and its own requirements increase.
Offering easily harvested pasture, where lambs are not in competition with their mums (especially for the good stuff, ewes will always find this first!) is important for both growth and worm management.
Plenty of green leaf and clover will drive better lamb growth if milk production is dropping off in light ewes but will also maintain high milk production in ewes that have lambed in good condition. Lambs on these better ewes get a double whammy of continued good milk supply, and lots of good green feed. All of these factors mean they take in less
worm larvae as well.
Starting a rotation or shuffle-graze system is a great way of ensuring lambs get access to fresh green feed, with the ability to drop paddocks out to maintain control when growth really takes off.
Lambs also learn about being moved and are easier to manage after weaning. It’s also a great time to get poo samples when encouraging the last of a mob into the next paddock!
Worm monitoring
The cost-benefit of a pre-weaning drench can be a hotly debated topic. Where ewes have lambed in good condition and been well fed throughout early lactation, it’s likely they will have created less pasture contamination, and the lambs themselves will have lower worm burdens from grazing better covers and having a higher milk intake. A pre-weaning
drench in this situation may do little to improve lamb growth.
In areas that have come out of drought, or been hit by weeks of wet, a pre-weaning drench of lambs may help shore things up until lambs can be weaned and the ‘reset’ process begun.
Faecal egg counting of lambs pre-weaning can be a useful tool. Where everything is going well and lambs have low FECs, this data can reassure that a pre-lamb drench is not needed. In Southland, faecal egg counts can help determine the challenge from Nematodirus. In the upper half of the country, larval cultures on preweaning faecal samples can also give you a steer of early levels of Barber’s Pole worm, so you don’t get caught out later. Very high FECs at this time are also a warning sign that Barber’s Pole is
about early in the season. Drench use
Drenches given in late spring have the potential to set up the first ‘wave’ of drench resistant worms for the season. They’re given at a time when worm egg-hatching and larval development are optimal from high numbers of young animals (who are the biggest worm contaminators on the farm). For three weeks after a drench, the only worms laying eggs and contributing larvae
to pasture are those that have survived that drench. It makes no sense to use a partially effective drench at this time, both from a financial and efficacy point of view. Ideally, choose a product that, in the last 12 months, has been shown to be highly effective on the worms on your farm. If this information is not available, seek advice from someone who knows their stuff in this space, and be sure to do a 10-day drench check on
treated lambs to assess the efficacy of this first drench.
Planning ahead
Now is a good time to make a worm management plan for the summer. Look for ways to avoid having a monoculture of lambs going around and around on the same area for many months – can cattle and ewes be integrated into their grazing area?
Short-term crops are
an easy way to ‘break’ the worm cycle on a small area. Longer term crops provide better nutrition than perennial pasture but require more careful drench management to avoid building up a population of ‘drench survivor’ worms. Areas that have grazed another species over the lambing period can also provide ‘cleaner’ feed for lambs so lambs may be able to go longer between drenches. Some farms are able to grow lambs well on perennial pasture with extended drench intervals – presumably via very good nutrition, high grazing residuals and with close observation. In all cases, never assume – make sure regular monitoring of worm levels in lambs is part of the plan. This includes post-drench FEC checks on a regular basis.
One good result in January may not suffice, as the predominant worm species, and balance of resistant and non-resistant worms in stock, changes through the season.
Faecal egg counting of lambs preweaning can be a useful tool. Inset: Dr Ginny Dodunski.
Developing traits for BCS, udder scoring and fertility
NEW TRAIT development work is well underway in Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme focusing on three areas - body condition scoring, udder scoring and fertility.
Body condition scoring and udder and teat conformation were identified as important to beef farmers through the industry-wide Trait Prioritisation Survey carried out in the early stages of the programme.
B+LNZ is encouraging stud breeders to contribute data to support the work and benefit the entire sector. These will be provided with estimated breeding values
(EBVs) for body condition scores for their cows.
During February, B+LNZ ran four body condition and udder scoring workshops for stud breeders. A ‘how to’
video on condition scoring is also available on the B+LNZ Knowledge hub.
Dr Jason Archer, head of genetics for B+LNZ, said a genetic evaluation
for body condition score is in development using data from B+LNZ’s Beef Progeny Test herds.
“An evaluation to be able to select bulls to produce cows with the best
condition scores would be of significant benefit to the sector,” says Archer.
“Analysis of the progeny test has found that for every step up the condition score scale, the pregnancy rate increases up to condition score 7 (a 10-point scale is used). The heritability of cow condition score is 0.26 so around 26 per cent of variation in cow body condition can be attributed to genetics.
“Developing an EBV for body condition scoring would mean that when farmers go to buy a bull, they will have extra information on how its daughters will hold condition.
“Currently farmers look at fat depth EBVs to achieve this, but these measures are taken on young bulls and heifers and the research showed that they were not very useful predictors of cow condition score.
“A much better tool is needed to achieve farmers goals, and given that cow condition is easily assessed and at very low cost, why not simply measure directly what we are trying to change?
“We need breeders to collect condition scores on their cows once a year. Any time of year is fine and you just need to look at and feel the animal and then do a score on the New Zealand one-toten scale on how much tissue (fat and muscle) it is carrying – basically how much energy reserves it has.”
TRIALS UNDERWAY
FERTILITY TRAITS are economically relevant and identifying animals with superior genetic merit for fertility is of interest to beef breeders and commercial farmers.
“However, the current fertility evaluation used in New Zealand is based on information that was available when it was created in the mid-1990s – which was basically the calving dates of cows - whereas we now have access to new tools and technologies which we can use to do a better job,” says Jason Archer.
INZB has trials underway on two pilot farms, and in November last year, yearling heifers and rebreeding heifers at these sites were tagged with CowManager cow health monitoring systems.
This was used to determine factors including heat/ cycling dates and foetal age scanning was also carried out. Outcomes are being analysed by INZB’s genetics team
“As a trait, fertility is lowly heritable and so genetic progress is slow,” says Archer. “Results that have come out of New Zealand dairy industry research suggests that if you break fertility down into its components, then often they are more heritable. So we should be able to make gains by having more detailed descriptions of the factors that make up overall fertility.
“We need to get data that tells us about the cycling activity of heifers. For instance, how old a heifer was when she first cycled, the day she conceived, her calving date, how long she spent calving, how long after that first birth she cycled again and what date she conceived as a two- to two-and-a-half-year-old.”
This data would be fed into the genetic evaluation to help develop the EBV. B+LNZ is also working with a company to develop software to process the data provided.
Over 240 sires have been assessed for cow body condition score through the test and more than 4500 cows have been measured prior to mating, at weaning and prior to calving.
The biggest gains from a management viewpoint have been found in getting low conditioned cows closer to a condition score of seven prior to mating.
Archer says udder scoring is also fairly easy.
“We have provided access to an udder scoring system. Breeders can score their cows within 24 hours of calving for teat score and udder suspension.
“If enough people do that, we will have the data to do the same thing we are doing with condition scoring, to do the science and create an evaluation. We hope breeders take this opportunity to work with us and support us in creating that as a new trait.”
Dr Jason Archer, head of genetics for B+LNZ, says that a genetic evaluation for body condition score is in development.
B+LNZ is encouraging stud breeders to contribute data to support the work and benefit the entire sector.
The show is on!
IT WAS bringing in a new Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show board, more in tune with the CAPA general committee, that has ensured that Christchurch will have a show this year, says CAPA general committee president Bryce Murray.
While some details are still being finalised, the show is scheduled to go ahead at the Canterbury Agricultural Park on November 14, 15 and 16.
Traditionally the largest of the country’s A&P Shows and a highlight of the Christchurch calendar for more than 150 years, it was in doubt following the old board’s announcement in April that it would be financially unwise to proceed with a full-scale public show for 2024.
While livestock judging would still go ahead –as it did through the two Covid cancellations that largely contributed to the board’s financial woes –there would have been no public show.
However, the lifeline came in the form of Christchurch hospitality and events company, Event Hire, which approached the general committee offering to run the public side of the show.
Murray said they also managed to sack the old board “who were all doom and gloom”.
“It’s come about basically through a change of the guard.”
Event Hire were in the entertainment business, said Murray.
“They could see an opportunity to run a show. So, we’re doing it
sort of in partnership, but they are running their part and we’re running our part,” he said.
A major change is that the show traditionally ran Wednesday-Thursday-Friday, Friday being ‘Show Day,’ Canterbury’s statu-
tory Provincial Anniversary public holiday.
At Event Hire’s request, the public show will now run ThursdayFriday-Saturday so that the public would have two non-workdays to attend.
Murray said the downside of that was that much of the A&P side of the event such as livestock judging would still run from Wednesday and there would be some things that the public won’t see if they come on
To Give A ‘Better Use Of Water’
the Saturday.
“And we’ve got to tell the public that, so they’re not disappointed when they come on Saturday.
“But Event Hire are very good entertainers, and instead of the horses going in the ring on the Saturday, there’ll be some really good entertainment in the ring to entertain the public.”
Murray said they hoped to re-jig the calendar to better co-ordinate the two sides in future years. A North Canterbury sheep and beef farmer, Murray is ex officio a member of the board as president of the general committee, and is the only survivor of the old board.
Also on the new board from the general committee are Brent Chamberlain and Lex Peddie.
Three new indepen-
dent board members are former National Government Agriculture Minister Sir David Carter (who is the new chairman), Peter Engel, operations manager of mid-Canterbury agronomists Hazlett, and Ethan Hill, of BDO’s audit division.
Murray said the old board believed it would cost $2.1 million to run the show but the new board is confident they can run it for a third of that at $700,000.
“That’s really the long and the short of it. They’ve cut the costs to the absolute sliver,” said Murray.
“Peter Engel gave us a budget through the end of 2025 at our last board meeting. And we are in the black all the way through to the end of 2025, which the other board couldn’t manage.”
•
and environmental
NIGEL MALTHUS
Canterbury A&P Association general committee president Bryce Murray.
Protecting brassica seeds by keeping pests at
FORAGE BRASSICA
crops provide an excellent source of energy and protein for grazing livestock at critical times of the year when the quantity and quality of pasture on offer is limiting livestock production.
A high yielding crop doesn’t just magically appear, good planning and management are absolutely critical to the outcome, particularly in the lead up to sowing and in the early stages of crop development.
One very important area for farmers to address is pest management. The first four to six weeks after sowing is a
critical period in the life of a new crop, as seedlings emerge and develop their physical makeup. The longer a plant remains small the more at risk it is to attack from both insects and fungal disease. The loss of plants early can have a major impact on crop yield. The application of seed treatment agents onto seed helps mitigate against these risks, providing a low-cost early crop protection solution, helping ensure the crop is on its way to reaching its full genetic potential.
PGG Wrightson Seeds Ltd offers two different seed treatment options on brassica products supplied through its
forage seed brands, PGG Wrightson Seeds and Agricom. The company has applied Ultrastrike and Gaucho to brassica seed for over 25 years, with both products market leaders in the seed treatment space. Of the two treatments, Ultrastrike is very much the premium product with its inclusion of systemic insecticide, two contact fungicides and molybdenum in the formulation, making it a more comprehensive offering than the insecticide-based Gaucho treatment.
The application of systemic insecticide in Ultrastrike provides protection against both biting and sucking insects, includ-
ing Springtails, Aphids, Nysius and Argentine Stem Weevil. The active ingredient is released into the soil profile at germination. As the seedling develops it is taken up by the young plant roots and is translocated throughout the plant providing protection against the target insects for up to six weeks.
safeguarding seedlings through the plant establishment period. The scientific trial compared the plant establishment and subsequent crop yield of Ultrastrike treated kale seed and untreated kale seed.
An invasion of Springtails in the first three to four weeks after sowing cleaned out a large percentage of seedlings in the untreated plots, while the Ultrastrike treated plots established very well. When the crop yield was measured six months later, the untreated seed plots averaged 8100 kg DM/ha and the Ultrastrike treated plots averaged 15,900 kg DM/ha. The seed treatment provided a net financial return of over $1,500/ha. Forage brassica crops play an important role in pastoral farming systems. Mitigating risks during early crop development is crucial to the success of these crops. Investing in seed treatment products such as Ultrastrike is an important step in the process.
Evo Shearing Plant
The fungicide activeingredients are also released into the soil profile at germination, creating a barrier around the root zone, blocking infection from the soilborne fungal pathogens; pythium, fusarium and rhizoctonia that cause ‘Damping Off’ disease
in seedlings. The addition of molybdenum in the Ultrastrike treatment provides a startup supply of nutrient, that is available for fast uptake by the
germinating seedling.
A field trial undertaken by PGG Wrightson Seeds Ltd in Canterbury highlighted how important seed treatment is in
• Tim Redfern is sales manager at Branded Products for PGG Wrightson Seeds Ltd
AGRONOMIC AND FINANCIAL IMPACT OF INSECT PESTS ON FORAGE BRASSICA PRODUCTION
Steers grazing Ultrastrike treated Pallaton Raphno
Next generation dual command tractor
RECENTLY SHOW-
CASED in France and set for a wider release at the upcoming EIMA Show in Bologna, the latest New Holland T5 Dual Command tractor range offers five models from 80-117hp, all powered by FPT F36 3.6-litre four-cylinder engines.
The renewed T5 Dual Command comes with a broader rear tyre offering and a choice of front axles, including a standard unit for lighter work and narrow applications, or a new HD version for tractors expected to perform heavy loader work.
In addition, a SuperSteer option
unique features a 76° steering angle to enhance manoeuvrability and productivity on tight headland turns, small
fields and in farmyards. With a 2.35m wheelbase, tractors fitted with the standard front axle see a 20% increase in
steering capacity under load for faster turns, while the HD axle offers an increase in permissible gross vehicle weight
to 7000kg.
When fitted with 38in rear tyres, T5s offer 480mm ground clearance, with an overall height below 2.67m, minimising crop damage risk and maximising building accessibility.
T5 Dual Command also gains a rear lift capacity boost of 7% to 4700kg, while a new 82 l/ min hydraulic pump provides 30% more hydraulic flow, for fast implement headland engagement and quick loader cycle times.
Transmission in the new T5 is the established Dual Command 24F/24R unit, with four speeds, three ranges and a twospeed powershift, plus electronic shuttle. A new
AN IDEAL SOLUTION FOR LARGER FARMS
DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY for large farms that want to drill with maximum flexibility, efficiency and power, the new Lemken Solitair ST seed drill offers a useful entry into precision farming.
With a working width of 12 metres and a choice of front implements, it ensures high efficacy by combining several operations in a single pass and the ability to apply different seeds or treatments, in conventional ploughed or mulch tillage regimes.
Depending on conditions, the forward gang of the Solitair ST can be fitted with a range of implements to provide an optimum seedbed
ahead of the double disc coulters. Where a defined row pre-consolidation is required, a plastic trapezoidal roller can be fitted, while if the seedbed needs to be levelled and further crumbled, a levelling tine section is an option.
For targeted soil loosening, corrugated discs can be used in front of the OptiDisc seeding coulter to create a finer seedbed for optimum seed placement. At the same time, targeted loosening of the soil only in front of the seed coulters ensures water-saving seedbed preparation.
The machine features a pressureresistant double hopper in either a
•Ideal for Cattle Troughs
•High Flow
•Side/Bottom Mount
•Detach to Clean
•Compact/Robust
6000-litre version divided into two 3000-litre hopper sections, or a 7000litre version divided into 3000 and 4000-litre sections.
The combination of plastic hopper and modular metering system has the advantage of making the whole system fertiliser resistant, while the 600mm openings utilise a screw lid and container filter for easy and safe filling.
The basic version of the Solitair ST comes with four metering units per hopper section, each supplying one distributor with seed, allowing manual width section control to be implemented. At the same time, the
auto differential lock and auto 4wd engagement simplifies headland turns, while a new maintenancefree, quieter, and easy to engage wet disc front PTO delivers more comfort and versatility.
Externally, the new tractors feature fresh styling with new front and side grilles, new decals and a new U-shaped exhaust is said to deliver unimpeded forward vision, while upgraded work lights and headlights, with an optional LED light package, enhance vision and safety in-field.
T5 DC tractors benefit from mechanical Comfort Ride cab suspension, for a smoother ride in field and on road, while also
four modular metering units also provide the basis for the single-shot process with two different components.
Distributor heads are positioned directly above the OptiDisc coulter bar to ensure optimum transverse seed distribution, while the coulter bar features parallelogramguided double disc coulters and trailing depth control rollers, which place seed or fertiliser at a 12.5cm or optionally 16.7cm spacing.
The coulter system is available in the hydraulic (H) version, offering up to 70kg coulter pressure, or the mechanical (M) version that allows up to 45kg coulter downforce. Both
•Ideal for Small/Low Demand Troughs
•Low Flow
ve/Below Water Mount
•Built in Check-Valve
featuring a new digital instrument cluster with a revised design making information easier to read.
Increased demand for the precision farming technology seen in higher power models means the new T5s can be equipped with a full suite, including auto-guidance, the IntelliView 12 touchscreen terminal and ISOBUS Class 2 implement connection. Real-time data machine monitoring, including precise location and duty status, plus remote viewing of in-cab displays and visualization of agronomic data layers can be managed for numerous machine ranges through the New Holland Field Ops system.
coulter pressure and seed depth can be adjusted independently of each other, ensuring seed is always placed at the same depth, particularly at high forward speeds or in changing soils. A rearward, trailing depth control roller presses the seed into the soil for fast, even emergence.
Given the working width, contour following is an important consideration, so the coulter bar is divided into two sections supported by a central section.
At the headlands, the coulter bar is raised and runs on side support wheels, allowing quick and gentle turning. – Mark Daniel
•Ideal for Compartment Troughs/Tanks
•High Flow
•Top Mount
•Detach to Clean
•Compact/Robust
MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz
New Holland T5 Dual Command tractor
Solid performer at a sharp price
WAIKATO DAIRY farmer
Dan Hinton reckons the main reason he hasn’t bought a side-by-side yet is the purchase price, with many brands offering little or no change from $30k to $40k.
After a week with a U10 Pro demo unit from CF Moto, he says, given its retail price of $23,990, he would consider buying one.
The U10 Pro comes with a 998cc 3-cylinder, 90hp engine and CVT transmission, a powertrain capable of towing 1134kg and tray payload of 454kg. Dan was surprised at how well it towed things like his large mobile calf feeder and effluent spreaders, even coming to the rescue of a ute on road tyres that got stuck in the mud.
“It is a lot sturdier and more stable than I
was expecting,” says Dan. “It towed everything, no trouble, especially in low range 4WD with the front diff locked.”
He also noted the very tight turning circle, with the U10 turning in nearly the same space as his quad, and liked the fact that the tow hitch wasn’t tucked right under the back of the vehicle, making it easier to lower drawbars onto.
Additions he’d like to see include a reversing camera aimed at the tow hitch for hooking up heavy trailers and a windscreen. Rural News understands from CF Moto that the camera is a work in progress, and windscreens are already available for purchase.
CF Moto’s Anton Giacon says a major selling point for the U10 Pro range is the electric push-button gear selection. Mechanical shift
A major selling point for the U10 Pro range is the electric push-button gear selection.
levers can be hard to move if the drivetrain is loaded up, such as when on a slope, he says. The push button system easily selects gears under such loads.
CF Moto has specified and finished the U10 Pro well, underscoring the value proposition of
these Chinese designed and built machines, which are becoming a more common sight on NZ farms as the company grows its dealer footprint. Now part of the Forbes & Davies network, expect to see further expansion of the brand in NZ, along with growing parts and
service availability. During the photo shoot, Rural News took the controls for a spell, noting the good grunt from the 3-pot engine and seamless transmission operation (none of the usual CVT jerkiness). The U10 has long legs, if you leave your foot in,
but it can also be speed limited for staff, using a PIN code system on the touch screen.
Handling and ride benefits from a very well-balanced suspension tune. Dan also says the suspension is set up as a good compromise between compliance and
SEED DRILLS CARRY A NEW DISTRIBUTOR HEAD
VÄDERSTAD’S RAPID A 400-800S, Rapid A 600-800C, Spirit 400C/S and Spirit 600-900C/S pneumatic seed drills have received a new distributor head that can be fitted with motors for all outlets.
As well as increased operational control of the product flow, the new distributor head enables dynamic tramlining and the ability to switch from 125mm to 250mm row spacing on the move, with the touch of a button.
Dynamic tramlining makes tramlining easier to use and more reliable than ever before, with setup achieved via Väderstad’s iPad-based control system, E-Control. During seeding, the drill automatically shuts off spe-
cific rows as required, to match the tyre tracks of machines for subsequent activities like fertiliser applications or spraying.
During set-up, track width and tyre spacing information is entered into the E-Control, which then calculates which rows need to be shutoff to create the un-seeded tramlines. Tramlining will be controlled automatically, shutting off the rows independently of where they are on the seed drill.
“Dynamic tramlining allows the seed drill’s full working width to be used, even when the drill does not match the sprayer width,” said a company source, “with operators able to switch quickly between paddocks
stability, absorbing the rough tracks but never feeling sloppy or unstable.
Adding to the value of the U10 package are the standard 29-inch tyres, the 8-inch MMI screen with Apple Play, proximity key, front and rear diff locks, auto-hold, audio system with roof mounted speakers and an electric tilting tray.
The interior fit and finish feels premium, even though U10 Pro is the lower spec of the two models available and retails at $23,990 plus GST.
The higher specification Highland model soon features a fullyenclosed cab, a wiper/ washer system, electric windows, air-con and premium sound – all the fruit and some for just $29,990 plus GST. And certainly on our list for a future review.
where different sprayer and fertiliser application widths are being used.”
The new distributor head also makes changing row spacing easy, offering the ability to change from 125mm to 250mm spacings via the touch of a button on the E-Control terminal, while the system is coordinated with the SeedEye sensors, for full functionality.
In addition, the new distributor head enables half-machine shut-off for the 4 metre Rapid A 400S and Spirit 400C/S, helping to decrease input costs and reducing doubleseeded areas.
The new distributor head is available to order now, for delivery in spring 2025.–
ADAM FRICKER
Mark Daniel
Reliable Trough Valve
Now includes 15, 20 & 25mm Adaptors in Superflo Standard Adaptor Pack
The Hansen Superflo Valve has been design and built from the ground up to produce a High Performance Super Low Maintenance Valve. With it’s proven success it’s not difficult to see why so many farmers have embraced it. High Performance 188 L/min @
Slipper Fit Piston Helps Eliminate Stuck Valves
Multiple Size Options
Threaded Outlet for Portables, Washdown, Tanks, Irrigation
HAND TESTED
