Rural News 500

crop comeback

new section

A poor harvest has boosted borage demand. page 38

Rural News’ new Rural Life section. pages 56-58

Rural NEWS to all farmers, for all farmers

500 not out Publisher Brian Hight reflects on 500 issues of New Zealand’s best-read farming publication.

page 22 september 20, 2011: Issue 500

www.ruralnews.co.nz

School bus action call BETTER SIGNS on school buses are a must and the recent accident involving a school bus and logging truck near Ruatoki, Bay of Plenty, highlights the need, says Rural Women New Zealand.

The accident happened when the school bus was slowing to let a child off. While the cause is under investigation, the owner of the bus company says the problem is simple: people are driving too fast past school buses.

RWNZ says it’s an issue it’s been campaigning on for five years.

“We are regularly told by bus drivers of the dangerous speeds at which cars are overtaking school buses especially in rural areas,” says RWNZ’s education spokesperson, Anne Finnie.

RWNZ wants flashing 20kmh signs on all school buses.

“We need to use today’s technology to get the message across to drivers.”

The signs have been developed by Transport Engineering Research New Zealand (TERNZ), the Road Safety Trust. Tests show they’re effective at slowing down traffic.

The New Zealand Transport Agency is now considering TERNZ’s research.

“We urge NZTA to approve the signs and make them mandatory for all school buses,” says Finnie.

But NZTA spokesman Andy Knackstedt says a recently concluded trial of

the flashing 20 km/h speed limit signs on school buses gave mixed results.

“Although the trial indicates that the 20 km/h signs encouraged some drivers to slow down, speeds were still in excess of 20 km/h and the distribution of speeds increased,” Knackstedt told Rural News.

“The report still needs to be analysed in detail and any recommendations for policy or rule changes would then go through the normal rule development processes, including consultation with stakeholders such as Rural Women NZ.” Knackstedt says school buses are statistically the safest means of school travel in New Zealand.

A recent amendment to Road User Rules allows 20 km/h signs to be illuminated for 20 seconds before and after stopping, but the limit only applies when the bus is stopped.

“The main reason the 20 km/h speed limit was not extended to the 20 second period before and after the bus stops is that the bus could travel more than 200 metres during that time. This would not provide additional safety as the point of danger is where the bus stops.”

RWNZ is meeting NZTA this week and says any move to raise the 20kmh limit, for example to 40kmh like those outside schools, will be opposed.

“The circumstances are very different. Outside a school there are usually pavements, zebra crossings, traffic monitoring, teachers, parents etc.

“When children get off a school bus in a rural area they are usually standing on the side of a 100kmh road with

no-one to supervise or assist them to cross and no pavement.

“The key issue is that the speed limit needs to be displayed so that there is no need for memorising or interpreting what the speed limit is.”

• Editorial p30

TAF to fore in Fonterra elections SUD ESH K I SSUN

FORMER DAIRY industry leader Lachlan McKenzie is making a tilt for the Fonterra Shareholders Council.

The outspoken Rotorua farmer, voted out of the Federated Farmers leadership two months ago, takes on incumbent Greg Mitchell. McKenzie says he was approached by several people concerned with the proposed TAF (trading among farmers).

Meanwhile in Central Canterbury, farmer concerns about TAF have also prompted Fonterra networker Charles Whitehead to stand. He takes on Frank Peters. The sitting councillor John Nicholls is retiring.

Whitehead has been closely involved with a group opposing giving any powers to potential investors.

McKenzie says farmers want a fresh pair of eyes on TAF. “They have seen my representation skills. I had the top job with Federated Farmers Dairy section for three years and have represented farmers in discussions with regional councils and community groups,” he told Rural News. to page 3

pylon protest

It’s high noon for the last man holding out for compensation from Transpower. Page 4.

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news 3 issue 500 ETS slowdown called for www.ruralnews.co.nz – but farming still in News ��������������������������� 1-20 500th issue ������������ 21-23 World ���������������������� 24-25 Agribusiness ��������� 26-27 Markets ������������������ 28-29 Hound, Edna �����������������30 Contacts �����������������������30 Opinion ���������������������30-33 Management ���������34-41 Animal Health ������42-48 Machinery and Products ����������������49-55 Rural life ���������������56-58 Rural Trader ��������58-59

GOVERNMENT’S ETS Review Panel has recommended a slowdown in the implementation of ETS for industry from 2013, and agriculture’s entry from 2015.

Meanwhile a parallel report released by the Agricultural ETS Advisory Committee recommends layer hens gain an exemption.

“The recommendation to slow down the entry of agriculture by a more gradual introduction is... well considered,” said Environment Minister Nick Smith, releasing the report.

“Government does not support the introduction of agricultural emissions into the ETS before 2015. The Government also needs to consider the advice of the Agricultural ETS Advisory Committee on the practical implementation challenges.”

Smith says agricultural emissions will only be included if practical technologies are available to enable farmers to reduce emissions and more progress is made by trading partners on mea-

sures to reduce emissions.

Smith’s comments seem slightly at odds with the content of the ETS Review Panel’s report – Doing New Zealand’s Fair Share – which says it recommends biological emissions from agriculture (methane and nitrous oxide), as well as emissions from the waste and synthetic greenhouse gases sectors, “enter the ETS on current legislative time scales.”

Agricultural submitters’ concerns that the lack of tools to mitigate emissions, or “abatement Options” are noted in the report but it also says it believes the options available to the sector are sufficient to enable surrender obligations to begin in 2015.

Changing the point of obligation for agricultural emissions from the processor, to the farm, is envisaged, though no indication of when that might occur is given.

Doing so would “ensure those who are best able to reduce their emissions are motivated to do so,” says the panel.

The Agricultural ETS Advisory Committee has been tasked with exploring the practicality doing that, and is set to advise Government in a report due in November 2012.

In a report released simultaneously with the ETS Review Panel’s, the Agriculture ETS Advisory Committee recommended excluding layer hens from ETS; formalising a group of scientists to annually review the emission factor methodologies and calculations; and annual technical updates to emission factors.

Use of nitrification inhibitor DCD as a mitigation tool should be recognised in ETS with farmers as the participants for this activity, it says.

Smith says climate change policy

comes down to a difficult choice between how much and how quickly we want to reduce emissions and how much households and businesses are prepared to pay.

“The [ETS Review Panel] report is consistent with the Government’s climate change policy goal of New Zealand doing its fair share on this global issue.”

The report itself notes it is incorrect to say our international competitors are not taking any action.

TAF to fore in shareholders council election issues Head Office Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622 Phone: 09-307 0399 Fax: 09-307 0122 Postal Address PO Box 3855, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 Published by: Rural News Group Printed by: PMP Print Contacts Editorial: editor@ruralnews.co.nz Advertising material: davef@ruralnews.co.nz Rural News online: www.ruralnews.co.nz Subscriptions: fionas@ruralnews.co.nz ABC audited circulation 80,327 as at 30.6.2011

from page 1

However, the former Feds dairy chairman will face an uphill task against Mitchell, who joined the council two years ago and served as a Fonterra networker prior to that. He chairs the council’s representation committee and is a member of the network steering group committee. He also represents the council on Fonterra’s shareholder relations committee.

Mitchell told Rural News he would need clearance from the returning officer before talking to the media. He did not want to breach the council’s election rules.

The Rotorua ward is one of five council seats contested this year. Eight councillors are returning unopposed.

Whitehead told Rural News he was approached by several farmers a day

before nominations closed. “There are farmer concerns around total ownership and control,” he says “Farmers are concerned about outside investors coming in and getting their foot in the door.

“The worst thing is some farmers don’t realise changes have been made to the original proposal we voted for last year.”

The main concern is around Fonterra Shareholders Fund and handing over control of units in the fund to custodians.

Custodians will be working in the interest of investors who buy these units, says Whitehead. “How can we have 100% control and ownership when custodians control those units?”

The other wards facing elections are central Taranaki, northern Manawatu

Couper returns unopposed FONTERRA SHAREHOLDERS Council chairman Simon Couper (pictured) is one of the eight councillors returning unopposed.

The council has come under fire from some farmers over its handling of TAF (trading among farmers). Couper, who represents southern Northland, says 100% farmer control and ownership is not negotiable. Couper and his councillors will chair farmer shareholders meeting around the country next week.

Other councillors returned unopposed are Dirk Sieling (Coromandel), Graham Hallett (Te Aroha), Grant Wills (Matamata), Phil Butler (Taupo), Philip Palmer (Wairarapa) and Lloyd McCallum (eastern Southland).

and Hawke’s Bay, where it is a six-way battle between Keith Riley, Ivan Knauf, Simon Hunt, Sandra Cordell, Eliot Cooper and Lisa Lyons.

In central Taranaki Robert Poole, Deborah Clough and Noel Caskey are

contesting. Northern Manawatu ward candidates are Lance Gillespie and Ellen Bartlett.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

4 news

Transpower plays court-action threat to pylon protester A N D R EW SWA LLOW

THE LAST man holding out for compensation from Transpower over pylon upgrades in South Canterbury has been threatened with court action.

As Rural News went to press Jeremy Talbot, Temuka, was waiting to see whether Transpower would follow through with its threat to go to the Environment Court to gain access for upgrades.

Talbot has repeatedly refused the state-owned enterprise access to his family’s property to do what he maintains is an upgrade unless it compensates him for the distur-

bance caused to farming operations.

Landowners in Otago with the same powerline (Roxburgh to Islington) crossing their properties have been offered oneoff $4000/pylon payment as compensation for the upgrade work, he understands.

With two pylons on one block of the farm, and lines crossing another block, but without a pylon on that property, Talbot believes he should get the same deal. “We’re only talking about $8000-9000 all up.”

The Otago deal was struck as a result of dozens of South Canterbury farmers digging in

their heels over the compensation issue, Talbot believes. However, as far as he’s aware, none of the South Canterbury protesters have been compensated for the upgrade work which involves strengthening footings of pylons following an earlier doubling of the lines’ capacity, or ‘duplexing’. “Everyone they’ve threatened with court action has eventually caved in.”

Talbot and others in the area have long argued landowners should be compensated for the disruption the pylons cause to modern farming activities – activities very different from when the lines were installed in the late

1950s, he points out.

“You can’t put a pivot irrigator in because of them, and every field operation takes much longer in a paddock where you’ve got to work round a pylon.

Basically all landowners with powerlines crossing their properties are providing a service to the nation for free, at a considerable cost to themselves.

Is that fair?

“We are only seeking what was promised by the old NZED when the lines went in: compensation that will leave us neither better nor worse off.”

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Jeremy Talbot

sands of dollars in legal fees to take him to court – if not hundreds of thousands – rather than do the right thing and pay compensation, is a disgrace and should be investigated by the Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Tony Ryall, says Talbot.

Ryall’s office refused to respond to Rural News’ enquiries as to whether the minister would investigate, referring all questions to Transpower.

Transpower told Rural News it considers the footing work on the towers on Talbot’s property to be “essential maintenance, not an upgrade” even

though it increases the footprint of the towers.

It says it has worked with local landowners affected by this project, including the owners of the land leased by Talbot, and offered to buy easements and to compensate for temporary disturbance caused according to the effects on each property.

“The Electricity Act gives Transpower the right to access the land Mr Talbot leases to carry out this work. If access is denied or disputed, resolution of the situation can be determined by the Environment Court. The work will take 2-5 days per

tower to complete.”

Even though the work in Otago is on the same line and involves duplexing, as did the original work in South Canterbury which led to the need to reinforce the footings of the pylons, Transpower says it is “entirely different” from the work in South Canterbury.

Transpower says it is not involved in court action with any other landowners as a result of the South Canterbury project, however would not say whether it had made similar threats to other landowners who had subsequently allowed access.

Frustrated with Feds TALBOT SAYS he’s been disappointed Federated Farmers hasn’t chosen to lock horns with Transpower on the pylon issue.

“There are probably more farms with pylons on them than there are with paper roads and access issues.

This is just as much a property rights issue as that is, yet Feds has failed to Willy Leferink come up with a national policy on the [pylon] issue, or any action plan.

“Transpower must be thinking their gold sponsorship status with the Federation is money very well spent!”

Landowners around the country will find increasing restrictions on their farming along powerline corridors and for those who think the issue will never affect them, think again, he warns.

“When you look at the long-term plans for new and upgraded powerlines, about half the farmers in the country could be affected.”

Federated Farmers’ board member with responsibility for the issue, Willy Leferink, says there is no lack of support for landowners in Talbot’s situation, “but currently we do not have the law on our side.”

“Under the Public Works Act Transpower can still get their way,” he warns.

Feds’ election manifesto will seek fair compensation for landowners affected by pylons and the restrictions they put on farming, he adds.

“We will not get this through before the election [but] you can be assured we will work on this after November and make sure it will be organised.

We [have] just got to get Parliament behind it. Currently it is not the time to act as everything focuses on the Rugby World Cup and possibly the milk price.”

But Talbot believes the run-up to an election is exactly the time Feds should engage on the issue. “We’ve just got to get on and push this up the tree.

What’s needed is a national policy and action plan. Until that’s sorted we’re all wasting our time and money dealing with this piecemeal and Transpower is picking us off one by one.”

Rural News // september 20, 2011

news 5

Ballance chair seeks to reassure ahead of AGM vi venne h a lda ne

A PROPOSAL to rip up the constitution and start again at fertiliser cooperative Ballance Agri-Nutrients has ruffled feathers among its farmer owners.

But chairman David Graham is adamant the proposals, which will be voted on this week at the firm’s annual meeting, this year in Napier, will benefit the company.

“Most of these changes are about modernising the constitution, including electronic voting,” says Graham.

The major changes are a reduction in the number of elected board members from eight to six and an increase in independents from two to three.

Also heralded is a shift in the ward structure.

“The South Island will stay the same and have two directors and the North Island will get divided through the middle of the Waikato... [with] an even amount of tonnes north and south of that line.”

Graham says downsizing the board makes sense.

“The bigger the board the more unwieldy it is and the more difficult to manage.

“We are well served with independent director David Pilkington who brings real big business experience (NZ Dairy Board and Fonterra) to the table and that’s what we are looking for to complement the elected directors

who are capable people who run good businesses and are strong farmers.

ing out of Ballance’s Waikato/Bay of Plenty heartland, he’s concerned

tion in farmer representation on the board.

“I don’t know why they

“We put a newsletter out six months ago that talked about the changes [now] to the constitution. In theory, people have time to look at this but often it goes in the bin.”

David Graham

“We will look for two or three skills to complement Pilkington, possibly in marketing, entrepreneurial or business expansion.”

Eighteen months ago Ballance underwent a board review with independent agency Governance in Practice. Graham says it concluded too close to last year’s AGM to act on recommendations straight away.

“We put a newsletter out six months ago that talked about the changes [now] to the constitution.

In theory, people have time to look at this but often it goes in the bin. We asked for feedback, but got very little at all. There’s more excitement now it’s getting closer.”

Sheep and beef farmer Mike Ravenscroft, Te Awamutu, is among those raising concerns. He told Rural News he didn’t feel there had been enough information and consultation on the new constitution.

“It sounds like a dramatic change.”

With the annual meet-

“something is being slipped past us”.

He’s particularly unhappy with the reduc-

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need I can’t see why they can’t go out and hire them for a term. Why change directorships? Reducing farmer directors leaves farmer representation thin on the ground.

“Ballance is a cashed up company with a very strong shareholder base and a dominant player in the fertiliser industry in New Zealand.

“It’s a healthy company to be in with, so I hate to be negative, but I’m very nervous about this scenario.”

NAIT tagging guide out THE ANIMAL Health Board (AHB) and NAIT Ltd have produced easy-to-follow guides to tagging requirements on the news that NAIT tags will be mandatory for cattle from July 2012, pending legislation.

The guides cover common scenarios, e.g. movement of animals for grazing, sale or slaughter. They are on both organisations’ websites: www.tbfree.org.nz or www.nait. co.nz NAIT chief executive Russell Burnard says the simple matrix provides farmers with an at-a-glance guide to tag requirements in the run-up to next year’s implementation of NAIT. “Our message to farmers continues to be, keep on tagging your animals with NAIT-approved RFID tags. Tag your animals when they are young and easier to handle to prepare for the NAIT scheme next year and to avoid double handling or re-tagging costs.”

AHB acting chief executive Nick Hancox says the focus is on practicable advice and minimising inconvenience to farmers during the transition.

“Both organisations are working to ensure the transition process continues to support animal identification requirements under the bovine tuberculosis control programme.”

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

6 news

Processors cool on contract backlash ton y benn y

MEAT PROCESSORS say it’s business as usual with lamb contracts on offer this season, despite the prospect of a backlash following this winter’s soaring free market schedules.

Silver Fern Farms CEO Keith Cooper says contracts are good business but that sheep farmers don’t always see that.

“They tend to run the gauntlet and I suppose they’ve seen prices rise

“Things can’t keep going one way but they have seen a consistently rising market for the last two years and they’re probably less enamoured towards contracts.” and they probably have a view they’re going to continue to rise,” Cooper says.

“Well, life’s not like that. Things can’t keep going one way but they have seen a consistently

rising market for the last two years and they’re probably less enamoured towards contracts. Many who’ve signed them, they would argue, are worse off compared to the spot

market.”

But Cooper argues farmers are missing the point if they think contracts are only about outdoing the free market.

“We’re saying it’s not about beating the spot market, it’s giving you certainty of margin on your business. If we’ve got a contract and you’ve got costs and you can make $25 a lamb – or a 15% yield – in most other business environments you’d lock into that because it gives

On contract? Graham Cooney says 95% of Blue Sky’s business is.

you certainty and you know you’ve got income.

Whereas farmers in the sheep sector for some reason think ‘oh well, it wasn’t as good as the spot market’.”

Cooper says Silver Fern Farms doesn’t plan to offer different contracts

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this season from previous years but has its “standard models out there”.

“It doesn’t have to be a priced contract. Even just a contract to supply with a price to be agreed is good progress. It doesn’t have to be prices, just an obligation or commitment.”

Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre chair Jeanette Maxwell says on average over the past few years, 65% of lambs were supplied on contract but that many farmers don’t trust meat companies.

“I know meat companies like to blame farmers and farmers like to blame companies but it’s a bit of a two-way street in my opinion,” Maxwell says. “If you don’t have a good relationship and you haven’t built trust or reliability either way, then you get what you sow.

“There’s been a lot of mistrust in the past and there’s been a lot of abuse of the relationship both ways.”

Southland processor Blue Sky Meats will offer contracts for heavy lambs again this season, says chairman Graham Cooney.

Blue Sky has had contracts for 24 years and Cooney says close to 95% of stock the company buys is under contract.

Feedback from farmers is they want the heavy lamb contracts to continue and “interestingly” they support penalties if either they or the company don’t meet all the terms, he says.

“Those who’ve signed it say they know what they’re letting themselves in for and they were happy with the price on the day.

Therefore they expect to meet it and the same applies in reverse: if the price turns out to be better than the schedule then they expect the company to meet it.”

Meanwhile, Canterbury processor ANZCO says its lamb team is developing a contract strategy for the new season.

Rural News // september 20, 2011

news 7

Target premium niches says UK guru e ren a m ccaw

NEW ZEALAND’S rightful place is at the premium end of global markets says Imperial College of London emeritus professor of food marketing, David Hughes.

Hughes told a Methven gathering of Rabobank clients that New Zealand’s future lies in a balance of both developed and emerging markets.

“Premium products require buyers with income, and rich people live in the developed world. European and North American markets may be slow-growing and dopey but they are important markets while you wait for emerging markets to catch up as regards personal income.”

The world’s population is expected to increase from 7 bn to 9 bn by 2050, then stabilise and plateau.

The extra 2 bn people will live in Asia and Africa but are unlikely to have suf-

ficient wealth to buy premium products, says Hughes.

California, the world’s fifth largest economic block, has an economy the size of Italy’s. Texas and Russia are equally matched while Wisconsin has the same economic clout as greater Shanghai.

“But Wisconsin has a population of 5.5 m compared to 30 m in greater Shanghai. New Zealand must sell into rich markets while emerging markets catch up in personal income.”

Accessing wealthy markets will require exporters to ‘crank up’ stories illustrating the quality, safety, provenance and integrity of New Zealand food products.

British surveys show only 10% of shoppers are willing to pay for ‘green’ production but 41% will pay for quality.

“Consumers expect the food industry to have food safety issues sorted

and are outraged when they find this is not so.

New Zealand must be green, sustainable and low carbon in order to access premium markets.”

Success on emerging

Professor David Hughes

markets is dependent on knowing and understanding consumer preferences and values, says Hughes.

“It’s naïve to think that as emerging markets develop, they’ll become more like western markets. Asian cultures have more sophisticated food traditions than we do and value foodstuffs quite differently.

“Offal is more highly

prized than hind quarters and smoke-blackened chicken heads fetch the same price as boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

In China, where marinated chicken feet and turtles are delicacies, it’s unlikely that when Mr Yang’s household income flips over US$5000, he will suddenly start fancying lamb chops.”

Unless Asian shoppers can be persuaded there are good reasons to pay three times as much for beef and lamb as they would for pork and chicken, they will not buy.

Halal production and slaughter is a priority.

New Zealand must convince shoppers of the integrity of its Halal claims if its product is to be accepted.

Hughes says marketing perishable foodstuffs is inherently more difficult and less profitable than marketing long-life grocery products such as tobacco and soap. Few

food products can go global because of differing cultural tastes and preferences.

Profits for the top 15 big brand global grocery companies typically range

from 19-40%. Profits for ‘second division’ performers, (food companies such as Nestle and Kellogs) range from 12-16%. Third and fourth division players (dairy and meat com-

panies) are lucky to reach five per cent profit.

Hughes also spoke at the Red Meat Sector Strategy conference in Rotorua earlier this month. See report p26.

Double-dip recession threat IF THE world goes into a double-dip economic recession it will have short-tomedium impacts on demand from developed countries for New Zealand lamb and dairy products, with knock-on effects on emerging markets, says Hughes.

Of longer-term concern is that high food-price inflation will have a severe impact on demand from countries such as the Philippines where households

spend 50% of income on food. This compares with 12-14% in New Zealand.

Rice is part of the staple diet in the Philippines. A doubling of international rice prices would severely impact households, causing much lower spending on red meat and dairy products. Food price inflation is linked to oil price inflation says Hughes, who predicts oil will reach $200 per barrel in the foreseeable future.

Agriculture not immune WHILE WORLD agricultural markets have withstood global economic volatility better than their financial parallels, they’re not immune, says Rabobank’s Ashburton bank manager, George Lumsden.

Consumption of goods, including food, may drop if developed western economies go into a full-blown recession. Reduced consumption and demand would drive New Zealand export product, particularly dairy product, ever more into emerging economies. To some extent that’s already happening.

“New Zealand has come to rely increasingly on the

emerging sector as buyers of our products. To date, these markets have been holding well, as reflected in our farm gate prices,” he notes.

Lumsden says the fundamentals in agricultural markets are good. There’s confidence and the medium-term outlook is sound for all commodities.

But producers need sufficient business resilience to withstand volatility in financial returns. Resilience will come from financial buffers and the usual primary production buffers which prudent farm businesses build and protect annually.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

news 9

Glitches in ETS exemption emerge V IV IE N NE H A LDA N E

SOME LANDOWNERS seeking ETS exemptions on pre-1990 forestry are finding it easier said than done as the September 30 deadline approaches.

Among them is Mark Bracey, Whangerei. He called Rural News to relay his frustration after reading the Sep 6 article outlining owners’ options. He wants to exempt 6ha of pre-1990 forest on 70ha of land he bought in 2008 near Dargaville, but the previous owners won’t sign the affidavit saying what was there in 2007, so MAF won’t grant him an exemption.

“The people I bought the property from put a value on those trees and were paid that value at point of sale when the property was transferred. Now they are saying they don’t want anybody in future to remove those trees and not replant them.”

Bracey says MAF told him they were unable to process the application without the necessary paperwork.

“The crazy part is I went to a MAFinitiated seminar that disclosed the details of the ETS scheme and it was very thorough. Now I feel, on one hand they are telling me how to fill out the appli-

“If a group of landowners in Mark Bracey’s situation got together such action could be feasible.” cations form and on the other they are telling the 2007 owners they don’t have to sign the declaration.”

Chancery Green environment law and strategy senior solicitor Lisa Wilkinson suggests Bracey lodges an incomplete application by September 30 and details his attempts to contact the absent or reluctant prior owner. “Then lobby the relevant officials and write to the relevant ministers.”

There may be scope to apply for an emissions ruling from MAF on this point, she says, but it would be a big cost for a small forestry block owner. “If a group of landowners in Mark Bracey’s situation got together such action could be feasible.”

Bracey’s property is in an area that’s becoming popular for lifestyle blocks because of its proximity to the coast.

“We wanted this exemption because it would allow greater diversity for future land owners to do what they desire without financial penalty,” he says.

“MAF charges around $14,800/ ha if you want to de-forest land and change the land use. That amount is worked out equivalent to the amount of carbon stored in the trees. Unfortunately you have to have all the signatures of all the owners of that land in 2007.”

Bracey has been to Whangerei MP Phil Heatley over the issue, and was referred to Minister for Climate Change Nick Smith. He was asked to write a forwarding letter minus the declaration to put in with the application due September 30, but he’s not confidence of the result. “I can’t see any contingency within MAF to process applications that haven’t been signed, for whatever reason.”

Bracey wonders what’s the situation if the 2007 owners are deceased, overseas, part of a liquidated company or simply can’t be found. “It’s a bit late in the piece [for MAF] to get this organised. I’ve lost a month trying to deal with the 2007 owners and got nowhere. My

Lobby officials and ministers, suggests solicitor Lisa Wilkinson (inset).

only avenue is to do what they’ve advised and see what happens. I’ve been given no guarantees that it will be processed.”

Clive Lilley , MAF director of sustainable programmes, told Rural News MAF has worked with Bracey and the previous landowners to resolve the situation, but the issue comes down to one of the relationship between current and former landowners.

“The legislation which governs the pre-1990 forestry exemptions is clear and MAF is unable to proceed with an

application without the Statutory Declaration. We are, however, hopeful of finding a solution which will see Mr Bracey retain the flexibility of land use on his small block of pre-1990 forest land, and have been in contact with Mr Bracey to confirm his options.”

Lilley says MAF is aware of only two or three situations where a previous landowner has refused to provide supporting material for an application for a pre-1990 forestry exemption, out of about 900 applications.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

10 news

Dairy in Enviro Southland’s sights ma ry wi tsey

ENVIRONMENT SOUTHLAND is determined to improve the province’s water quality and is setting its sights on dairy farmers to achieve it. That was the message

from the regional council’s chairwoman Ali Timms at last week’s launch of its new ‘State of the Environment’ report.

The 10-year, fourpart technical document focuses on the state of the region’s waterways over

the past decade. Parts one to three have now been publicly released and Timms says it is sobering reading. While the report can’t fully quantify the impact farming has on freshwater ecosystems, scientists say some of the

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water quality issues have arisen because of it.

“It can’t be denied the cumulative effects of intensified land use are contributing to the province’s water quality issues.”

Almost half of the river and stream sites monitored – 48% – in the report show increasing nitrate concentration trends, one of the highest rates in the country, alongside Canterbury and Waikato.

Environment Southland’s policies to date haven’t achieved the water quality it wants and “there has to be a collective willingness by everyone for change,” Timms says.

That means working with dairy farmers and introducing tighter effluent consent application rules as they come up for renewal. In the Waituna catchment new regulations for farming, such as consents for winter grazing, intensification of land use and fertiliser application above certain levels, will be needed.

These proposals could be mirrored for dairy farmers elsewhere in the province as soon as 2014 when a region-wide policy framework would be put in place. “These will eventually be rolled out in other sensitive catch-

Environment Southland chair Ali Timms.

ments around Southland.”

And while Timms acknowledges farmer concern at the radical changes she insists farming practices in Southland have to change. “If they want to continue to work in the Southland environment, they need to change some of their practices to be sustainable.”

While some improvements have been made by farmers, she says the report is a clear indication more work is required, particularly on some of the province’s more sensitive soils types. “Southland’s a difficult environment to farm in intensively and people need to recognise that.”

And while council does not have the ability to cap dairy numbers in the province, it is responsible for protecting water quality, she points out. “It’s not about us telling them how to run their businesses, but it is about ensuring those businesses don’t have a detrimental effect on the environment.”

Nitrate levels rising at alarming rate WATERWAYS IN Southland have nitrate levels increasing at an alarming rate, says one of the authors of a new report on water quality in the province.

Environment Southland senior scientist Jane Kitson says Southland has one of the highest rates of increasing nitrate levels in its waterways in New Zealand, rating alongside regions such as Canterbury and the Waikato, with farming responsible for many of the issues.

“It can be attributed to agricultural land use and so it’s about finding ways of mitigating the nitrogen loss through farm-

ing. We recognise farming is Southland’s backbone and that it’s a valuable part of the province. However it depends on what people want for the future of their waterways.”

The findings were released last week as part of the council’s ‘State of the Environment’ report, a snapshot of the wellbeing of life in Southland’s freshwater ecosystems. It illustrates an emerging and worrying trend, says Kitson.

“Of particular concern was the deteriorating water quality in Southland’s to page 11

Rural News // september 20, 2011

news 11

Farming restrictions loom ma ry wi tsey

TOUGH NEW environmental regulations proposed for Southland’s Waituna catchment have farmers in the area up in arms. Winter grazing, intensification of land use and fertiliser application above certain levels could all require resource consent in future.

Farmers say the proposals, set to be introduced by Environment Southland as soon as next month, have the potential to change the face of farming in the area. They’re rallying support to fight the proposals.

Environment Southland wants to introduce the new farming rules to address pollution problems. Farmer concerns have seen the deadline extended to October to allow for more consultation.

In the meantime local farmers, concerned at the

increased bureaucracy and regulation, have set up a website and run advertising in local newspapers alerting the rural community to the proposals.

The new rules will require that further intensification of land use, winter grazing, expansion of the drainage network and fertiliser application above certain levels all need resource consent. Drainage of natural peat lands will be prohibited.

A just-released ‘State of the Environment’ report from the council suggests the region cannot continue to deal with the effects of intensified farming as nitrate levels increase and water quality deteriorates and the new rules aim to address that.

Environment Southland director of environmental management Warren Tuckey says there has been strong farmer concern about the new

Levels rising from page 10

rivers and streams and low lying areas, including Waituna Lagoon, and estuaries with elevated nutrient levels recorded in a number of fresh water bodies.”

She dismisses suggestions from the farming community that the research is flawed.

“We’ve been peer reviewed... and there’s no doubt there are issues in our waterways. We don’t just pluck numbers out of the air. We’re not trying to tell farmers what to do; these are merely the facts, with low lying waterways, such Waituna Lagoon, showing real signs of stress.”

Kitson says the data show most of the indicators suggest the nutrient concentrations have either shown no change or were deteriorating. One of the specified targets of the ten-year report is a minimum 10% improvement in water quality with regard to nitrogen, phosphorus, water clarity and faecal contamination in Southland’s water bodies by 2010. It may not be met.

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proposals, with the council in danger of losing the support of those in the catchment.

“We need to work with Federated Farmers to get that relationship going and get proposals together for staff to take out to the wider stakeholders for consultation.”

But Waituna Farmer Joanne Crack says the regulations go too far. “Talk of whole-farm resource consents and having to get consent to eat off forage crops in the coming season have angered and upset farmers.

“There will be severe implications for some

farmers and these rules will be the difference between surviving and getting squeezed out the door for some.”

But Tuckey says the changes have to happen.

“We’re not anti-dairying, but we need to protect the interests of those farmers that are already there.

Joanne Crack

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

12 news

Trojan horse for investors?

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IN THE past few months Fonterra farmers have been seeing TAF (trading among farmers) for what it is: a Trojan horse. Though superficially attractive on the outside, it contains those very things which will destroy their life.

The overwhelming vote last year in favour of TAF appeared to open the door to non-voting investment in the cooperative by outsiders. The case from the board of Fonterra was that institutions and small investors would welcome the opportunity to put money into an established business with world-wide markets. Control would remain with farmer suppliers.

This no longer appears so. Institutional investors have made it plain that if they put money into a business they want some control.

In May 2011 Fonterra’s chief financial officer, Jonathan Mason, had secret meetings with institutional investors in Auckland and Wellington ‘tweaking the terms’ of the rights which outside investors would buy.

Undoubtedly this ‘tweaking’ has involved making the conditions more attractive to the institutions – and probably less attractive to Fonterra’s suppliers.

In June Mason spoke at a seminar for 600 clients of Craigs Investment Partners. His address can be found at http://www.craigsip.com/about-us/news/articles-cw/fonterra-highlights.html Farmers who have followed the debate on TAF should be asking themselves “How does TAF and the presence of non-suppliers benefit me?”

The answer is that it will not.

Membership of a dairy cooperative benefits the farmers by ensuring they get the best possible return for milk supplied. This involves minimising costs, not the least of which is the cost of capital. Investors seek the maximum return on capital. This involves minimising payments for inputs, such as milk. The interests of suppliers and investors are diametrically opposed.

Members of dairy cooperatives seek stability and certainty. By working cooperatively they have traditionally reduced risk and sought to capture a greater percentage of the value added to their product.

Fonterra’s decision, when it was formed, to depart from the customary share-capital basis of ‘a dollar in and a dollar out’ introduced an additional level of risk with its so-called ‘fair value shares’.

Until now its shares have fluctuated annually. Farmers faced the risk (and reality) that they could get back less than they contributed after a year if excess shares had to

Alan Robb

be surrendered because of reduced milk supply.

TAF will result in greater fluctuations in share values.

The market makers will want share values to fluctuate.

They stand to make more money in a fluctuating market than in a stable one. Greater fluctuations in share prices would mean greater risk for farmers.

Share price would undoubtedly dominate milk prices.

The prime concern of Fonterra must be to get the best possible price for farmers’ milk and protect its markets.

TAF appears to have consumed considerable amounts of executive and board time but remains as impractical and unattractive as Fonterra’s peak notes.

Peak notes were dumped after farmer protest in 2004, despite the board’s support for them.

The rising swell of voices against the TAF proposal suggests farmers are becoming well aware of the downside of allowing non-members to have even an indirect interest in Fonterra shares.

The Trojan horse should not be allowed inside the gate.

Alan Robb is an adjunct professor in the cooperatives programme at Saint Mary’s University, Canada, and an independent financial analyst and commentator based in New Zealand.

• Editor’s note: Fonterra was given the opportunity of a column in Rural News to put the case for TAF but declined in light of next week’s shareholder meetings.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

news 13

TAF death by thousand cuts?

CARO L I NE G I LB E RT

IS TRADING among farmers (TAF) the first step towards a public listing, and the demutualisation of Fonterra? This is the key question dairy farmers have been battling with, at the time of the June 2010 vote and again now.

While practically every dairy farmer wants to retain the cooperative status of our company, we are aware the economic world is rapidly changing

what I am seeing.

My main concern stems from the fact there has been little communication between the Shareholders Council and members regarding TAF. We are being told there is little happening, so nothing to communicate. I don’t dispute this. Perhaps the changes were so insignificant on a piece-bypiece basis that it would have looked silly discussing them all with members.

When small details evolve, they mark the first steps to change.

The real risk now is that the Shareholders Council fails to see the wood for the trees. and we believe our leaders when they tell us the business needs more capital to grow. So how do we take the steps towards trying something so far removed from a traditional co-operative, without risking it all?

For me, the argument that TAF is a step in the direction of public listing is compelling. The previous Shareholders Council was clever in building into the June 2010 vote a longer timeframe for the roll-out of the changes.

This has allowed dairy farmers to be sure we really do need TAF for the long term. It has also allowed farmers to see how the investor community has been behaving in the lead-up to its introduction. 15 months on, I have serious doubts about

But when the chairman, Simon Couper, finally did come out and update farmers, what we saw was that the small changes over the 15 month period actually amount to significant change of control of the shares within the proposed fund. Although Couper dismisses this as evolution, farmers need to see that this process, if applied to the whole concept, is exactly how our co-operative could ‘evolve’ into an investor-owned business without us being aware of where it began to unravel.

So exactly how significant is this evolution of control of the shares within the fund? Any farmer who uses the fund by design or need will have already taken that first step towards letting go

of the cooperative ethos.

This group of farmers, who will receive the full benefits of being a cooperative member without the full financial commitment, will be able to vote to increase both the percentage of shares an individual farmer can put into the fund and the percentage of total Fonterra shares held by the fund. Given the relatively low percentage of shares that will initially go into the fund, it is highly likely the fund in its current form may not fulfil the purpose for which it was set up for. Although it could be argued that this group, who will not receive a dividend payment, would work to protect the milk payment through their voting rights, they won’t protect

the cooperative ethos and the non-financial benefits of being a cooperative.

Now mix this with the far more sinister threat on the horizon – the Fonterra ‘guardian’ controlled shares in the fund.

We were originally told control of the shares within the fund would remain with the farmer.

This small evolution has meant control of these shares will be blocked together under a single body.

So now there would be a group of farmers with full voting rights who, in practice, don’t associate full shareholding and financial commitment to the cooperative as the only way to access member benefits. The only penalty would be loss of divi-

dend. This will not have been of major concern as this group primarily cares about the milk price, and this has been protected by

Caroline Gilbert

the constitution through their voting rights – which they may, or may not, be using. It would not be too difficult to convince the

majority of this group to give up these shares entirely, especially if th price was high enough.

This means there would be a nicely packaged chunk of Fonterra shares with their farmer owners wondering if they actually need them. Controlled by a single entity, this bloc of shares is marketable and valuable.

When small details evolve, they mark the first steps to change. The real risk now is that the Shareholders Council fails to see the wood for the trees.

Because it was voted on, the council may now be convinced TAF is the only capital structure option available, so they tweak it to fit until it’s no longer of value to anyone.

Fonterra was set up as

a consolidated cooperative to provide the best returns to New Zealand dairy farmers. Reducing export competition, sharing resources and being the largest processor all help make this happen because cooperatives are always the price setters at the farmgate. This comes about because cooperatives return their profits, after retentions for growth, back to their member-suppliers. Without the profits being returned to suppliers, are we still a true cooperative or will we be seeing the death of our cooperative by a thousand cuts?

• Caroline Gilbert is a Fonterra shareholder from Taranaki and an associate member of the NZ Co-op Association.

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Angela Fullerton and Glen Clarke 516 State Highway 3,Te Awamutu Dairy Supply No. 74254

October Wednesday 5th 11.00 a.m.

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7.30 p.m. Tokoroa Club Inc. Chambers Street, Tokoroa Tuesday 11th 11.00 a.m.

Warren and Sue Gill Sandstone Farms 547 Lepper Road, Inglewood Dairy Supply No. 26135 7.00 p.m. TET Multi Sports Centre 65 Portia St., Stratford Wednesday 12th 11.00 a.m.

Andrew Mueli Alpen Rose Farms Ltd Tempsky Road, Matapu Dairy Supply No. 41916 7.00 p.m. Waverley Racing Club Waverley Thursday 13th 11.00 a.m.

Grant Barber Himatangi Station, 637 SH1 Himatangi Dairy Supply No. 26223 7.00 p.m.

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For lasting benefits to your pasture contact your local Donaghys Territory Manager on 0800 942 006, your rural supplier or visit www.LessN.co.nz

Friday 14th 11.00 a.m.

South Wairarapa Working Mens Club Main Street South, Greytown Thursday 20th 12.00 noon George and Sue Bruce 231 Walton Road, Walton Dairy Supply No. 76994

Keep an eye out for the dates, locations and times for the South Island LessN Fielddays happening in late October and November.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

news 15

Fonterra CFO upbeat about outlook rate of US83c. The exchange rate has fluctuated between US79c and US88c over the last three months.

Under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA), Fonterra is required to publish an updated forecast milk price by early September.

Mason points out that it is still early in the season, which started June 1. He says the co-op has heavy bookings over the next three months, not surprising since its production peaks in spring.

At the same time, Fonterra is keeping an eye on the financial crisis in Europe and the US. The worry is higher in Europe, he says.

“The financial market uncertainty doesn’t have a direct effect on dairy but it affects the availability of credit.

Europe is a key source of credit. Watch the North America and Europe space.”

Europe is facing a possible collapse of its euro and fresh doubts are emerging on Greece’s ability to service debt.

Concerns are also swirling around Italy, Span and Portugal.

Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden says in volatile economic and market conditions it could face a range of factors that may affect the season’s milk price. But at this early stage of the season we see no reason to alter the forecast, he says.

“We will continue to monitor possible slowing global economic growth that might translate into weaker dairy demand.”

SUD ES H K I SSU N

DAIRY IS not a bad place to be as talk emerges of another recession, says Fonterra chief financial officer Jonathan Mason.

While another global financial crisis would force the co-op to review its forecast payout, right now dairy’s outlook is strong, he says. Demand is growing in China, India,

Asia and the Middle East.

Mason says recession affects many consumer goods but dairy is stable. People need food and protein daily. “Consumers may defer purchases of cars and refrigerators but they buy food every day. So dairy is not a bad place to be in right now,” he told Rural News.

His comments follow Fonterra holding its 2011-12 forecast payout of $7.15-$7.25/kgMS before retentions. This includes a forecast milk price of $6.75/kgMS and forecast distributable profit range of 40 – 50c/share. While the forecast is lower than last year’s forecast record payout of $8-$8.10/kgMS, it reflects a drop in dairy prices recorded in Fonterra’s globalDairyTrade (GDT).

Mason says Fonterra had anticipated a drop in dairy prices when the 2011-12 opening forecast was announced in May. The recent forecast was based on additional data on dairy prices between June and August and exchange rate trends.

“It has largely played out as we thought,” Mason says.

The co-op has been projecting its forecast on an exchange

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The announcement on September 22 will be the final act by outgoing chief executive Andrew Ferrier before he hands over the leadership to Theo Spierings.

Ferrier says Fonterra has finalised its budget for the new financial year. Forecast distributable profit for 2011-12 remains at $570-$720 million – 40-50c/share. Dividend payments will square with Fonterras policy of paying 65-75% of underlying profit adjusted for one-off items and other factors.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

16 news

$35m for irrigation schemes SUD ES H K I SSU N

IRRIGATION PROJECTS have received a $35 million boost from government.

Tapping into this Irrigation Acceleration Fund will allow a number of irrigation projects already under way to make rapid progress, and kickstart

new ones.

Irrigation New Zealand chairman Graeme Sutton says IAF marks a new era of community irrigation infrastructure development in New Zealand and in particular will help develop schemes up to the investment stage.

“The new future is

about three key principles: ensuring new schemes are economically viable, environmentally sound and supported by the community.,” he says.

Government hopes smart irrigation infrastructure development will boost economic development of the primary

sector. Agriculture Minister David Carter says MAF is welcoming proposals to the fund.

NZIER research suggests the fund could support 340,000ha of new irrigation, which could boost exports by $1.4 billion a year by 2018, rising to $4 billion a year by

2026.

All successful projects will need to be committed to good industry practice that promotes efficient water use and environmental management, particularly around land-use intensification.

“Irrigation good practice is essential if we are

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LAWF re-engaged GOVERNMENT HAS asked the Land And Water Forum to continue its policy work on setting limits on water quality, quantity and allocation.

Announcing Government’s response to LAWF’s April report last week, Agriculture Minister David Carter said progress on fresh water reform stalled for a decade because of highly polarised positions, but LAWF has managed to bring together farmers, environmentalists, industry and iwi to develop an agreed way forward.

Carter and Environment Minister Nick Smith say they are engaging LAWF to do further work on the complex issue of setting water limits and improving systems for allocation. The Government has agreed to provide an additional $1.1 million to advance the next stage of work.

LAWF is to report to Government by May 2012 on methods, tools and governance arrangements for setting limits for water quality and quantity and by November 2012 on methods and tools on allocation.

to protect our vital water resource for tomorrow,” says Carter.

Federated Farmers RMA and environment spokesperson Ian Mackenzie believes the fund could unlock billions of dollars in benefits.

“The guidelines for applicants will be a template.

“Aspiring irrigators can check off all the necessary steps and hurdles needed to achieve success, not only in applying for money from the fund, but in developing new irrigation schemes.

“Large schemes may save millions of dollars from having this sort of advice let alone time.

“Given the hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth generated for New Zealand by agriculture since the 19th century, just a little is being put back into remedying the past. From the roads we drive on to schools, hospitals and public buildings, we have all benefited from this past income.”

Sutton says it’s about providing social and economic resilience to both urban and rural communities.

“This is not just about water for irrigators – this is about multi-purpose water development projects that will grow the economy with tangible benefits for everyone.”

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THE FOUNDATION for Arable Research has taken on Hannah Priergaard-Petersen full-time following growers backing its continued levy mandate in the recent referendum (see p38).

Priergaard-Petersen, originally from a sheep and beef farm near Te Anau, did a summer scholarship stint as a trials officer for FAR last summer and recently completed a Bachelor of Science at Canterbury University majoring in biological sciences.

She will work mainly in the South Island with occasional visits to Australia and the North Island. Her interest in biosecurity and bio-controls will see her work closely with chief executive Nick Pyke, while assisting FAR project manager Rob Craigie with development of AquaTRAC™, FAR’s irrigation decision support tool. “Having the opportunity to work with the arable sector, whilst still having the ability to work in the area of biosecurity is a fantastic opportunity for me to upskill in this area to which I am so passionate about.”

Priergaard-Petersen is currently researching biosecurity risks which could have adverse effects on the NZ arable industry if introduced, including weeds, pests and diseases which have had major impacts on arable industries in other parts of the world.

Rural News // september 20, 2011

news 17 Horticultural finalists ready for showdown

WHEN IT comes to growing things, these guys know their plants. They’re this year’s Young Horticulturist of the Year finalists, from left: Ben Smith, Nick Paulin, Paul Southan, Jenn Noakes, Rangi Green and Michael Scott. Each won their sector heat – winegrowers, nursery and garden, landscaping, vegetable, fruit, and arboriculture/parkland amenity. They now face the ultimate test on November 9-10, culminating in an awards event in Auckland, say organisers. “We are looking for someone who knows how their business works,” says Richard Bawden, national manager of PGG Wrightson subsidiary Fruitfed Supplies.

“They must also be aware horticulture is more than just growing and harvesting. It involves so much more in terms of technology, industry trends and risk management.” The competition carries a prize pool worth $40,000.

NIWA says no La Nina - yet WHILE meteorologists in the US say a La Nina weather pattern is returning to the Pacific, NIWA says it is too early to say what New Zealand can expect.

“It’s a bit premature for us to make any comment,” senior scientist Brett Mullan told Rural News.

“The Australians are saying there is an increased chance of La Nina but they are not calling it that yet [either] although the US has.

“We won’t have anything to say until after our next climate outlook meeting at the end of the month.”

If La Nina does develop it will bring warmer and wetter weather from the tropics to parts of New Zealand, typically the north, but for parts of the east coast, especially in the South Island where mountains shelter the plains from the northerlies, it’s likely to be drier than usual.

Already some South Island east coast irrigation schemes are warning of restrictions due to a dry winter.

In the US climatologists say the strong 2010-11 La Niña, which contributed to record winter snow, spring flooding

and now drought, is re-emerging in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

They’re predicting it to gradually strengthen and continue into the northern winter.

“This means drought is likely to continue in the droughtstricken states of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico,” US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction Centre deputy director Mike Halpert says.

The centre upgraded the status of the Pacific from La Niña Watch to a La Niña Advisory after average sea surface temperature anomalies for the week centred on August 31 indicated the re-emergence of the weather system.

It says it is not yet clear what the ultimate strength of this La Nina will be.

La Niña results from interactions between the ocean surface and the atmosphere. During La Niña, coolerthan-average Pacific Ocean temperatures influence global weather patterns. La Niña typically occurs every three-tofive years, and about half are back-to-back episodes.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

18 news

Germans buying big in Southland ma ry wi tsey

GERMAN INVESTORS, through Aquila Group, have spent at least $100 million snapping up thousands of hectares of Southland dairy land in the past 18 months.

Their most recent acquisition includes a 417 ha property at Riversdale ($14 m) and a 220 ha farm at Otautau ($6.5 m), publicly approved last month by the Overseas Investment Office.

Since March 2010 the OIO has approved 12 dairy farm purchases in Southland, totalling 3643 ha, for $105 million.

Aquila Group manages various funds, providing investment management services to hundreds of German investors. It uses New Zealand-owned dairy investment and management company MyFarm to

oversee capital development and manage its Southland operations.

MyFarm director Andrew Watters says though Southland land is no longer cheap, it appeals to investors because it is productive, the size of the farms is economic and the climate is favourable.

“A farm system will perform in Southland year in and year out at relatively high levels.”

And despite local farming community worries he believes the German investors are good owners. “These funds are here for an investment purpose; it’s not about land-grabbing. So as long as the investment goes in... and they’re good local citizens, it should benefit New Zealand.”

MyFarm currently manages 30 farms in Southland – the majority owned by New

Foreign owned: Farms around Southland, like this one near Winton, are attracting interest from German investors.

Zealand syndicates – and in the past year has employed eight extra staff in the province.

“The real estate market simply tends to be more active in Southland than in other areas.”

He also points out most Southland farms bought by German investors are larger, milking 700 or more cows.

“The sales evidence shows New Zealand interest lies in farms of 600 cows or fewer, so this gives us an opportunity in a part of the market that hasn’t been active. Some of

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chases created four new jobs on farm, with $2.5 million in capital development, including the construction of a cowshed, housing and effluent management systems.

Although he admits returns from the farms will flow back to the German investors “all of the economic activity happens in Southland.”

And none of the sales occur without the scrutiny of the Overseas Investment Office. “They’re tough, but fair. The thresholds are high. It’s a good process.”

Farmer concerns mount AS THE push by German investors to buy Southland dairy farms continues, concern amongst local farmers is mounting.

Farmers spoken to by Rural News are uneasy at the growing number of overseas investors interested in local farms. One of those is Federated Farmers Southland provincial president Hugh Gardyne, a sheep farmer in Gore, who says he is personally opposed to foreign land sales.

“I have absolutely no stomach for the sale of farmland to overseas investors. It prompts the question why are we giving away our potential capital gains to overseas interests when there

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these farms need $10 m to $15 m in equity and other than the New Zealand Super Fund there’s been no fund interest in New Zealand, so you’ve got to find larger investors overseas in the absence of New Zealanders.”

He also suggests if these farms had not sold to overseas investors the deals might not have proceeded. The sales bring financial benefits to Southland. “There’s a lot of economic activity happening in Southland that might otherwise not have occurred.”

The two most recent farm pur-

The 2012

are huge numbers of keen, energetic young New Zealanders who would love to get into farming?”

He argues without these external influences distorting farm values, the entry level for young farmers wanting to buy land would be lower. “I see that as good – short- and long-term.”

Overseas Investment Office consents show German investors have gained approval to buy 12 dairy farms in Southland in the past 18 months, totalling 3643 ha, for $105 million.

And Gardyne is concerned about the impact these sales could have on farming communities.

“People in rural areas have a tan-

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gible investment and are interested in enhancing the communities in which they live, better by far than off-farm investors highly motivated by returns.”

He suggests regulations to ensure would-be owners of New Zealand farm land are residents and citizens would allow the market to be determined by Kiwis, “not overseas investment managers.”

The amendments to tighten the rules applied by the Overseas Investment Office “are proving to be a whitewash.”

Central Southland dairy farmer to page 20

OP/7/10

Rural News // september 20, 2011

20 news

Give dairying a break, says Dean WAITAKI MP Jacqui Dean says she wants to give the dairy sector a vote of confidence following recent media attacks.

“I’m tired of dairy farming being demonised over environmental issues,” she told Rural News.

“I believe dairy farm-

ers are acutely aware of the challenges ahead of them and how they might manage the effects of industry growth alongside keeping the sector green.

“We are a country of innovators in New Zealand and I believe that the industry can work through these issues, without

affecting the value dairying brings to the nation.”

She says she’s confident safe-guarding the environment and growing the economy can go hand in hand.

“I believe we can have a growing dairy industry at the same time managing fresh water quality in

a way that doesn’t cause irreparable damage to our waterways – but farmers must follow the rules.

“I would like to see farmers and the industry working collaboratively with wider stakeholders to achieve negotiated outcomes which will give real solutions, based around

science.”

Dean says Fonterra’s “Every Farm Every Year” effluent management checks are achieving positive results in building industry sustainability, while DairyNZ research is also helping.

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dairy, and the Lion’s share coming from Fonterra, the value goes “right back to the farm gate where dairying plays a huge role in keeping rural communities strong,” she stresses.

“We all know that the Greens and Labour are both anti-farming and

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their input hasn’t helped the debate, but I’m concerned that this issue has spread into the wider community and is causing dairy farmers concern.

“Nothing will be achieved by finger-pointing and I want to see the debate focus on the facts.”

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and Federated Farmers dairy section spokesman Russell MacPherson agrees and says he doesn’t like seeing overseas interests buying Southland land.

“It’s wrong. New Zealand’s wealth is based on family farms, not corporate farms. Our ancestors came from England, a land of tenant farmers. New Zealand is quickly going back to that and I don’t think it’s good.”

He acknowledges checks and balances are there through the Overseas Investment Office, but he has concerns about the future. “People might think it’s good they’ve sold their farm to a foreign buyer, but I want us to hold on to our land for our young people.

“Certainly we need foreign investment in some areas of the country; but we don’t need it in farmland. The profit generated by these farms is going overseas and that’s what hurts the most. The profit MyFarm director Andrew from family farms stays in Watters. the local community.”

New Zealand owned dairy investment and management company MyFarm oversees the management of most German dairy farm sales in Southland and director Andrew Watters says foreign investors are filling a gap in the market.

“It’s business, isn’t it? If you’ve got a farm to sell, you’ll take the opportunity. I can understand the concerns; it would be nice if the farms were owned by New Zealanders, but that comes back to another problem: there’s just not the investment capital out there.”

Overseas Investment Office manager Annelies McClure says special criteria were applied to the Aquila Group’s two most recent purchases because they resulted in “the investors owning or controlling an area of land that was more than ten times the average dairy farm size in Southland.”

Rural News // september 20, 2011

rural news 500 issues 21 The Hound hits town and country NOT LONG into editor Ron Clarke’s tenure ‘The Hound’ turned up.

He wasn’t christened ‘The Hound’ in those early days. Instead the column was called ‘Sniffing Around’ – a grab-bag of veiled criticism, sharp observations, news too true to be

good, and outright speculation.

No one knows where Ron found him; probably pissing against the wheel of his Mk III Ford Zephyr.

But he got busy on farming’s bull-artists, public relations obfuscators and bureaucrats.

‘The Hound’ earned

Rural News a fair chunk of its reputation for stirring where no other media had stirred before.

To this day the rule stands: anybody who reveals the identity of ‘The Hound’ must go out the

back as the dawn breaks and do the honourable thing.

Ballsy, old school reporting gained keen following

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WITH HEADLINES such as ‘Bullswool!’ and ‘Meat crisis’ Rural News announced its intentions early: no-nonsense reporting in defense of farmers would be its stock in trade.

Launched in 1989, Rural News is now celebrating its 500th issue and the team has revisited those early tabloid days in this issue, tracing its progression from ‘racy’ tabloid to business paper.

Publisher Brian Hight concedes the editorial stance in those early days cost him some advertising revenue: the farming establishment was used to rural newspapers toeing the line. But fearless reporting earned Rural News a following among farmers and ensured its success.

Editorial tone was set early by founding editor Tom Clarke, then his successor Ron Clarke – no relation.

Old-school, ballsy reporting was the order of the day and the many scoops were announced with loud and proud tabloid headlines.

The issue of September 18, 1989, for example, led with the story ‘Sneaky tax grab’. Proposed changes to tariff rules were going to hike the cost of locally assembled farm machinery, whacking farmers with up to 30% increases in machinery costs.

Machinery importer and manufacturer Dan Cosgrove told Rural News at the time: “It’s bloody bad news and local importers are upset in a big way. It means prices will take a massive upswing.”

That particular story combined two of Rural News’ main strands – hard news and farm machinery – that still feature today alongside comprehensive on-farm content.

The production technology has changed massively since the early days when type was set by hand and pages literally ‘pasted up’. Today computers do all the heavy lifting.

Rural News was not Hight’s first farming publishing success. His first was Farm Equipment News, launched in the mid 1970s as the first national farming newspaper to utilise the rural delivery network for free distribution to all farmers, rather than just a few paying subscribers as was typical at the time.

Hight had to negotiate directly with the Postmaster General of the day and the Government minister in charge of the postal service to get access to the RD network. Rural News continued using the RD network and that is now the standard distribution model used today by most publishers serving farmers.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

22 rural news 500 issues

Farmers taking nothing for granted neil keat ing

RURAL NEWS Group owner Brian Hight – once a Waikato dairy farmer, and since 1972 a publisher – has witnessed an important evolution in New Zealand farming.

“It’s the changing stance of farmers to information and ‘authority’,” Hight says. “And a large part of this change has been thanks to a huge improvement in farming news gathering and

reporting, and the comment that goes with that.

“When I left the farm in the early 1970s and moved into publishing, farmers largely mirrored New Zealand society in accepting what was told them – often mutely.

“Then as they got hold of more information they realised they also had plenty of theoretical knowledge along with their practical knowhow.

“Now they’re in a new phase: they’re savvy

and question everything. Partly that’s a sign of a younger generation coming through, partly the fact more farmers – the younger ones – have more formal education than the older farmers had. Regardless, farmers now have masses of experience and they intend to be heard.”

Hight points out that in earlier times the dairy company manager or the bank manager were assumed to have knowledge and authority ‘from

Message to advertisers: THANK YOU RURAL NEWS Group would not be where it is today without the enthusiastic support of a huge band of advertisers, says publisher Brian Hight.

“We know it’s stating the obvious, but we couldn’t have done this without the suppliers to New Zealand’s farmers – our advertisers.”

Founding supporters of the early editions included Power Farming Group, Dan Cosgrove Ltd, AES, CB Norwood Distributors, Ancare, Pfizer, Gallagher Group, Wrightsons, Skellerup, Farmers Mutual Group, Suzuki and Lyco.

Most of these – with some coming and going – remain in Rural News today.

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on high’.

“If a farmer went to his bank manager with a project idea, and the bank manager said ‘go’ – it was go, you went ahead. You didn’t question him, you just assumed he knew best. Well, look where that got us.

“The farming news media have championed farmers’ cause and must take much of the credit for showing up all sorts of nonsense. Farmers are now better served with information than any other industry.”

Recycling press releases was the sad reality of much farming media – and daily business news media – until the era in which Rural News was launched: March 1, 1989.

In general business news, The National Business Review had from the mid1980s begun to set a new tone in no-fluff, investi-

Brian Hight: “The farming media have championed farmers’ cause...

Farmers are now better served with information than any other industry.”

gative reporting, further championed by The Independent Business Weekly.

Buoyed by his success with his 1974-86 venture Farm Equipment News, Hight and colleagues Marcia Hatton (accounting and finance) Tony Hopkinson (ad sales) and the cartoonist Malcolm Evans kept the pressure on. The tame stories and wool-pulling were blown away as, first, founding editor Tom Clarke got busy, followed in 1991 by Ron Clarke (no relation) – see page 23.

From early days cartoonist Malcolm Evans’ character Edna has entertained readers – and pointed out some unpalatable truths.

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Typical of Ron Clarke’s front pages was his August 1991 story ‘Meat crisis’ – $12 million profit from $3 billion turnover. Clarke knew the meat industry from the inside: he was PR man for Affco. Politicians, producer boards, public relations people – and farmers, all took notice.

Founding advertisers included Power Farming Group, Dan Cosgrove Ltd, AES, CB Norwood Distributors, Ancare, Pfizer, Gallagher Group, Wrightsons, Skellerup, Farmers Mutual Group, Suzuki and Lyco.

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The business and product news that poured out of such companies were part of the impetus for National Fieldays. Rural News got into this too, for five years publishing Fieldays Dailies.

In 1997 a new editor took charge – David Anderson, from a Canterbury farm and with a Lincoln University qualification. Schooled as a Rural News reporter by Ron Clarke, he worked elsewhere then returned as editor with a stance similar to Clarke – no bull!

Rural News // september 20, 2011

rural news 500 issues 23

‘Stick it to them, Ron’ the late Ron Clarke wasn’t the first editor of Rural News, but he sure was the most colourful.

Fighting the entrenched, staid oppo-

Ron Clarke

sition farming papers, Ron dug up, as often as he could, the ‘news too true to be good’ stories that gave his front pages their colour.

He’d learned this craft in a Rupert Murdoch newsroom in Sydney, then later applied it in helping launch Sunday News.

‘Bullswool’, said one on Ron’s front pages.

‘Meat Crises...’, ‘Robbery’, ‘It’s Mad-

ness’, etc.

And when he got onto a story that someone, somewhere, would prefer not to see published, he was hard to shake off.

This reporter once turned in such a story and he nagged me for weeks for another.

As Rural News gained traction in the early 1990s, opening an office in a CBD building, Ron quit his

dingy Kitchener Street digs and moved in next door, together with Warren Berryman’s The Independent Business Weekly.

He was ready with a compliment for those he liked: “a good bastard” for those who impressed him moderately, and “you mad prick” for those in the inner circle.

Ron was a smoker, but finally saw the light: “I went on one of those stop-smoking courses – it didn’t bloody work.

Then they told us how tobacco companies con you into smoking so you feel cool, sophisticated. This was right at the end of the course. When I heard that I jumped up and shouted ‘You bastards’. I never smoked again.”

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

24 world

UK public fear EU feed proposal AL AN H ARMA N

The BSE epidemic, and links to new variant CJD, is still fresh in UK consumers’ minds, it seems.

A MAJORITY of people surveyed in Britain, remembering how Mad Cow Disease began in cattle, reject the idea of relaxing a ban on using processed animal protein in livestock feed for chicken and pigs. The survey for the Food Standards Agency followed European Union (EU) proposals.

The animal protein was banned from pig feed in 1996 and in other livestock in 2001.

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groups supported keeping the ban, one group was neutral, the other preferred relaxing it. The main reasons for opposing a relaxation were about health risks, a lack of scientific knowledge about how diseases like Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) spread and concern about whether there were any benefits to the consumer.

Respondents forsaw economic and environmental benefits in the proposals, e.g. less wastage of meat by-products and lower carbon emissions from importing soya – now an alternative to processed animal protein – but they felt relaxing the ban would be a backwards step.

The research involved focus groups in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.

An earlier study, commissioned by the FSA in June, also found a majority of consumers opposed relaxing the ban.

The ban on the use of mammalian meat and bone meal in feed for all farmed animals was introduced in the UK in 1996, after a link was discovered between BSE and variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD) in humans. Feeding cattle protein to cattle caused the spread of BSE and in 2001 led to an EUwide ban on feeding processed animal protein to all farmed animals.

Following the decline of BSE in the EU and the

development of improved animal feed screening tests, the European Commission is calling for the ban on using pig and poultry processed animal protein in feed for pigs and poultry to be lifted.

Restrictions preventing the use of cattle and sheep animal protein in all livestock feed, and the ban on intra-species recycling – feeding processed animal protein to the same species, such as pig processed animal protein to pigs – would remain.

At the peak of the BSE epidemic in 2002, some 37,000 cases were identified in UK cattle. By 2010, only 11 BSE cases were identified in the UK and this year just four cases.

Global food prices stable over last three months WORLD FOOD prices were stable between July and August though cereal prices rose reflecting production growth failing to keep pace with demand, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Its food price index averaged 231 points in August, 26% higher than a year previously, but on par with July’s 232 and back on Febuary’s all-time high of 238.

Within the index, cereal prices are up 2.2% on July and 36% on a year ago with production in 2011 now forecast at 2,307m tonnes. While that’s 3% up on

2010, it’s a 6mt reduction on July’s forecast, mainly due to cuts in maize crop prospects in the US following a hot July and August.

Average wheat prices are up 9% due to strong demand for feed and shrinking supplies of higher quality milling wheats.

Production is forecast to increase 28mt, or 4.3%, to just 4mt short of 2009’s record output.

World coarse grain production is still heading for a record level of 1,148 million tonnes, up 2.4%, 27mt on 2010.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

world 25

Overseas ownership steady at 11% across the ditch A L A N H ARMA N

FOREIGNERS OWN 11% of Australian farm land and 9% of water entitlements for agricultural purposes.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says all states showed high rates of Australian ownership of agricultural businesses, ranging from 99% in Queensland to 96% in Tasmania.

The state with the highest proportion of land held entirely by Australian owned businesses was Victoria, with only 1% of its 12 m ha not Australian owned, while the Northern Territory had the lowest proportion with 24% of its 59 m ha foreign-owned.

Local ownership of water entitlements for farming is 100% in NT, 98% in SA, 89% in NSW and the ACT and 69% in Western Australia.

With Australians concerned over an apparent Chinese agricultural land rush for dairy farming and coal mining, Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten says the bureau survey provides hard data about

the true extent of foreign ownership of agricultural businesses, land and water for the first time since 1984.

“It is vital we protect the national interest and continue to strike the right balance between attracting foreign investment and ensuring Australia’s agricultural sector and food security are maintained,” he says.

“We will continue to ensure foreign investment remains appropriate to Australia’s current and future policy challenges.”

The Senate rural affairs and transport references committee is looking at the Foreign Investment Review Board’s national interest test that does not consider investments worth less than A$231 million.

The review includes how the test was applied to purchases of Australian agricultural land and agribusinesses by foreign companies, foreign sovereign funds and other entities in the past 12 months; the role of foreign government funds in acquiring Australian

assets; the global food task and Australia’s food security in the context of sovereignty; and how similar national interest tests are applied to the purchase of agricultural land and agribusinesses in countries comparable to Australia.

The bureau’s land ownership estimates are based on a survey of 11,000 agricultural businesses. It says the survey results are broadly comparable with levels of foreign ownership of agricultural businesses and land collected in the agricultural census of 1983-84.

Estimates from the survey indicated the total area of agricultural land in Australia on December 31, 2010 was 398 m ha. Of this total, 353 m ha, or 89%, were entirely Australian owned, 45 m ha had some level of foreign ownership and 0.3 m ha had an unknown ownership status.

Of the land with some foreign ownership, 168,500 ha were owned by businesses which had less than 10% foreign

ownership, 22 m ha were owned by businesses with between 10% and 50% foreign ownership and 23 m ha were owned by businesses which had more than 50% foreign ownership.

The industry group reporting the highest proportion of some level of foreign ownership was the sheep, beef cattle and grain farming group with 11% with some level of foreign ownership

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covering almost 44 m ha, leaving about 88% or 329 m ha entirely Australian owned.

The bureau says it estimates the number of agricultural businesses at 135,600 with 133,600, or 99%, entirely Australian owned. That left 1,300 with some level of foreign ownership and 732 with an unknown ownership status.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

26 agribusiness

RMSS conference reveals templates to learn from SUE E DMO NDS

THE RED Meat Sector Strategy report, issued in May, said what needed to be done. Now Beef + Lamb NZ and the Meat Industry Association have run up another clutch of signal flags.

Others in agriculture are seen to be doing some of the things the RMSS report suggested, so they were invited to tell their stories at a recent conference. Their successes stemmed from growers and consumers being in harmony.

Take green-lipped mussels for instance. New Zealand is the only place they are found, and there were plenty working in aquaculture growing them. But nobody was making any serious money doing it.

These days most of them are cooperating, having created themselves a brand (Pure New Zealand Green Shell Mussels), discovered how the various

markets want to see and use them, and they are now even working on mussel genetics, breeding from their own spat. The markets are growing and are happy to pay more per pound, those in the group are making money, and it hasn’t mattered that some chose to go it alone.

Merino wool has done the same thing. Starting in 1996 they set up NZ Merino Company, combined their wool and defined six market segments to focus on which utilised all the sheep’s best qualities. They also connected customer to farmer through traceability. Their latest effort is a brand they call Zque (zeekew) and they’re beginning to look at marketing Merino meat as well as the wool. Their only problem now is finding enough Merinos in New Zealand to meet market requirements.

Tatua Co-op Dairy is a small group, surrounded by the huge facto-

ries of the opposition. So they focus on margin rather than volume, export 95% of product, have set up six niche businesses within the main structure and focus on adding value to their farmers’ milk. So far it’s worked fine.

The presentation by Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing David Hughes really woke people up. If New Zealand is aiming for premium prices in developed and emerging markets, we need to improve our storytelling about our products, something he insisted we aren’t good at.

We need to study the demographics of our markets: developed – ageing; emerging – much younger; use traceability hugely; and present our products as ‘sustainable’, ‘green’ and ‘safe’ with confidence these statements are true.

We also need to focus, as processors and farmers, on how our products will be turned into meal ingredients by our consumers. If the

This month’s RMSS conference built on May’s report.

Chinese and other Asians present 15 dishes to feed 11 people, they certainly won’t look like the cuts we’re used to, and the meat is more likely to have been bought from a

market than a supermarket.

Getting beef and lamb farmers in touch and in tune with their end customers hasn’t been a focus – until now.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

agribusiness 27

Co-op model works SUD ES H K I SSU N

INDEPENDENT DAIRY processor Tatua has no plans to quit its cooperative structure. Chairman Steve Allen says being a co-op works well.

The Waikato processor adds value to 12 m kgMS produced annually by 112 shareholder farmers from 80 families. It exports specialist ingredients, casein-

Steve Allen

ate, anhydrous milk fat (AMF) and whey protein concentrate. “Our strategy is simply to add value to our farmers’ milk; our focus is on margin more than volume,” Allen told Rural News.

He believes Tatua has a good future as a co-op.

There will be challenges but Tatua is determined not to get wiped out. “We can’t control the waves, and we know we need to surf really well,” he says.

Allen was among the speakers at the recent Meat Industry Confer-

ence in Rotorua (see article opposite) where he spoke on Tatua’s role. He believes New Zealand is a great place for food producers to operate from.

“We produce good quality food and are renowned for our food safety. Our closeness to growth markets like China, India and Southeast Asia also helps.”

However, Allen cautions that volatility is the new norm in international markets. Climate shocks like the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, economic upheaval such as Europe’s financial crisis and political unrest such as the Middle East revolutions can impact trade.

Being “leaders on the ground’ during disasters counts, he says.

Japan is a key market for Tatua and Allen was there with Tatua executives shortly after the disaster to help key customers.

He says businesses must learn to operate in a volatile market. “At Tatua we have to be prepared and treat shocks as business as usual.”

Despite its relatively small size, Tatua is agile.

“Our roots are in Tatuanui but our opportunities are global,” he says.

“We are mindful of our market concentration,

financial strength, investments, understanding our customers and our community and farmers,” he says.

Tatua started as a co-op 97 years ago. It earns about $200 million annually and employs 200 staff.

Allen says as a co-op

Tatua “unashamedly” tries to increase milk power for its farmers. He points out that a commercial processor views milk as a raw material and pays to ensure steady supply from farmers. However, a co-op strives to add value to milk and boost returns to farmer shareholders.

New ceo for Crop Solutions CROP SOLUTIONS, Pukekohe, has appointed Martin Riegel as its new chief executive.

“With increasing resistance to traditional methods of insect pest and disease control, I believe that biotech and green tech need to provide a sustainable future for the agriculture and food industries,” says Riegel, who comes to the crop and pest bio control specialist from touch screen technology firm, NextWindow.

“New Zealand is extremely well placed to lead the way in this area.”

Crop Solutions develops and markets products including insecticides, fungicides, bactericide, phytoplasma controls, growth regulators, and molluscicides. It describes itself as an industry leader in effective, sustainable solutions for horticulture and says Riegel’s appointment strengthens its global profile as it gears up for overseas growth.

The firm was formed in 2009 and in 2010 won Auckland University’s Business School Entrepreneurship Challenge.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

Market Snapshot North Island

South Island

Change c/kg

Last Week

Change c/kg

Last Week

Lamb - PM 16.0kg

+2

7.80

n/c

7.45

Steer - P2 300kg

+5

4.50

+10

4.20

c/kgCWT

Lamb Market Trends

Meat

Bull - M2 300kg

+5

4.30

+10

4.00

Venison - AP 60kg

+5

8.70

+10

9.10

Lamb Prices

Mutton SI Lamb

Mutton

$4.5 $3.5 Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

7.78

7.76

5.46

P2 Steer - 300kg

+5

4.50

4.45

4.27

+2

7.80

7.78

5.83

M2 Bull - 300kg

+5

4.30

4.25

4.10 3.40

+2

7.82

7.80

5.84

P2 Cow - 230kg

n/c

3.40

3.40

+2

7.83

7.81

5.84

M Cow - 200kg

n/c

3.20

3.20

3.30

MX1 - 21kg

n/c

4.60

4.60

3.45

Local Trade - 230kg

+5

4.57

4.52

4.45

YM - 13.5kg

n/c

7.45

7.45

5.06

P2 Steer - 300kg

+10

4.20

4.10

4.08

PM - 16.0kg

n/c

7.45

7.45

5.68

M2 Bull - 300kg

+10

4.00

3.90

3.80

PX - 19.0kg

n/c

7.45

7.45

5.69

P2 Cow - 230kg

n/c

3.05

3.05

2.88

PH - 22.0kg

n/c

7.45

7.45

5.69

M Cow - 200kg

n/c

2.95

2.95

2.80

MX1 - 21kg

n/c

4.08

4.08

3.10

Local Trade - 230kg

+10

4.30

4.20

4.10

Change

2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

105

Cattle NI

+9%

13.1

12.0

14.3

43

58

Cattle SI

-13%

4.8

5.5

3.4

3.4

Lamb NZ

-5%

170

180

134

163

Cattle NZ

+2%

17.9

17.5

17.7

16.8

Mutton NZ

-7%

17

18

14

20

Bull NI

0%

0.8

0.8

1.0

1.2

Bull SI

+50%

0.3

0.2

0.2

0.3

+4%

7.3

7.0

8.3

7.7

Str & Hfr SI

-13%

3.9

4.5

2.4

2.5

Cows NI

+19%

5.0

4.2

5.0

4.6

Cows SI

-25%

0.6

0.8

0.8

0.6

NZ Weekly Lamb Kill

Str & Hfr NI

Last Year This Year

0 Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

40

Sep

Oct

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

n/c

2.45

2.45

1.88

1.45

+5

10.33

10.28

8.83

8.21

Last Year This Year

0 Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Export Market Demand

Demand Indicator - UK Leg Price This Year

Last Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

n/c

1.96

1.96

1.75

1.55

+9

5.17

5.08

5.32

5.00

Change

Last Year 95CL US$/lb NZ$/kg

£2.00

Nov

Demand Indicator - US 95CL Beef £1.50

South Island 300kg Steer Price

$5.0

20

Last Week

£2.50

$2.5 Aug

NZ Weekly Beef Kill

60

Nov

Export Market Demand

£3.00

Jul

13.4

92

NZ$/kg

Jun

5yr Ave

60

$4.0

$3.0

Last Year

119

UK Leg £/lb

5yr Ave Last Year This Year

3 Wks Ago

70

Change

$3.5

2Wks Ago

101

North Island 300kg Bull Price

$4.5

Change

-16%

$3.5 Jun

1000s

Estimated Weekly Kill

+16%

150 5yr Ave Last Year This Year

SI

NZ Slaughter

Estimated Weekly Kill

300

$4.5

NI

PX - 19.0kg

$7.5

$5.5

Last Year

Lamb SI

450

$6.5

2 Wks Ago

Lamb NI

South Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$8.5

Last Week

Change

c/kgCWT

+2

1000s 5yr Ave Last Year This Year

Last Year

PM - 16.0kg

NZ Slaughter

$5.5

2 Wks Ago

PH - 22.0kg

$8.5

$6.5

Change

Last Week

YM - 13.5kg

North Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price $7.5

Beef Prices

c/kgCWT NI Lamb

Beef Market Trends

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

$2.00 $1.80

$4.5

Procurement Indicator

$4.0

Change

$3.5

5yr Ave Last Year This Year

$3.0 $2.5 Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

$1.60

2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

% Returned NI

+1%

76.5%

75.7%

66.3%

51.5%

% Returned SI

-0%

72.3%

72.7%

65.1%

60.1%

$9.0

60%

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

% Returned NI

+1%

82.2%

80.7%

77.06%

77.4%

% Returned SI

-0%

75.4%

75.8%

69.9%

70.0%

Last Year This Year

50%

$8.0

Jun

Change

70%

North Island 60kg Stag Price

This Year

$1.20

Procurement Indicator

Procurement Indicator - North I.

80%

Last Year

$1.40

Jun

Aug

Procurement Indicator - North I.

90% 85%

Oct

80% 75%

$7.0

5yr Ave Last Year This Year

$6.0 Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

South Island 60kg Stag Price

$9.5

Procurement Indicator - South I.

85%

Last Year

65% 60%

75% 65%

This Year Jun

Aug

Oct

Last Year

55%

Procurement Indicator - South I.

This Year

45% Jun

$8.5

70%

Aug

85%

Oct

75%

Venison Prices $7.5

5yr Ave Last Year This Year

$6.5 Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Change

65%

Last Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

NI Stag - 60kg

+5

8.70

8.65

7.80

7.37

SI Stag - 60kg

+10

9.10

9.00

7.90

7.63

Last Year This Year

55% Jun

Aug

Oct

Beef & venison prices are reported as gross (before normal levies & charges are deducted). Lamb & mutton prices are reported nett (after levies & charges are deducted). Note: Freight is paid in the North Island but not by all companies in the South Island.

Rural News // september 20, 2011

Beef Wool Price Watch Spring rally in cattle prices Export cattle prices generally firmed in the North Island last week. Stronger local trade prices have kept the pressure on the export steer market and this has resulted in a 5c/kg lift for this class of cattle. Overall 300kg cwt steer prices averaged $4.50/kg with 300kg cwt bull prices at $4.30/kg. The flow of cattle into the processing plants has picked up as a result of the higher prices being paid but numbers still remain well below average for this time of the year. Export cattle prices also lifted on the back of the stronger local trade market in the South Island last week. 300kg cwt steers are achieving $4.20/kg with similar weighted bulls earning $4.00/kg.

Indications are some local trade plants have had to compete with some buyers from the North Island who are searching for killable cattle from the South Island. This is helping add pressure to the market and prices have lifted as a result.

Slaughter rates mixed A lift in slaughter prices in the North Island has seen an increase in the number of cattle coming forward for kill in recent weeks. However despite this recent lift, overall slaughter numbers remain well behind previous years.

Current weekly slaughter rates are trailing last year by 10% or 1500 cattle in the North Island. The tighter slaughter rates reflect the lack of cattle around the North Island with expectations supplies could tighten further in the months ahead. It is a different story in the South Island where the cattle have been flowing freely in the last month. This high offload reflects the number of cattle that were signed up to supply contracts earlier in the season.

Dairy Price Watch Change

08-Sep

Coarse Xbred Indic.

+8

6.13

6.05

3.86

Fine Xbred Indicator

n/c

6.53

6.53

4.33

Lamb Indicator

-

-

-

-

Mid Micron Indic.

-

-

9.58

7.13

Indicators in NZ$

01-Sep Last Year

Wool Indicator Trends

750

Change

Last 2 Wks

Butter

-240

5177

5417

Skim Milk Powder

-86

4236

4321

4344

Whole Milk Powder

+57

4353

4296

4641

Cheddar

-181

5236

5417

5500

Indicators in NZ$/T

5745

Dairy Prices Trends

7,000

650

Prev. 2 Last Year Wks

6,000

550

5,000

450

4,000

350

CXI

250 Sep

Nov

Jan

FXI

Mar

SMP But.

LI

May

3,000 Sep

Jul

Nov

Coarse Xbred Indicator

750

Jan

Mar

WMP Ched.

May

Jul

Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$) Last Year

650 550

Last Year This

5,500

This Year

4,500

450 350 250

3,500 Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Jun

Nov

Overseas Price Indicators Indicators in US$/kg

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Overseas Price Indicators

Change

08-Sep

01-Sep Last Year

Indicators in US$/T

Change

Last 2 Wks

Prev. 2 Last Year Wks

-5

5.11

5.16

2.79

Butter

-50

4400

4450

-13

5.44

5.57

3.14

Skim Milk Powder

+50

3600

3550

3100

Lamb Indicator

-

-

-

-

Whole Milk Powder

+171

3700

3530

3313

Mid Micron Indicator

-

-

8.17

5.16

n/c

4450

4450

3925

Coarse Xbred Indicator Fine Xbred Indicator

Cheddar

4100

Lamb Wool Indicator in US$ Dairy Prices in US$/Tonne Export lamb prices holding for now 685 Export lamb prices in the North Island lifted fractionally 585 4,500 last week. Prices for a 16kg cwt lamb firmed to an average 485 of $7.78/kg (nett). The flow of lambs into the processing 385 3,500 plants has begun to taper off with current slaughter rates SMP WMP 285 CXI FXI LI dropping to just over 100,000 head. A lot of the lambs But. Ched.

185 2,500 now being offloaded are clean-up jobs, though a good Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul number are still coming off crops. Diminishing supplies should keep the pressure on export slaughter prices in Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$ Whole Milk Powder Price in US$/T 750 4,000 the coming weeks but any increase is expected to be Last Year Last Year 3,800 minimal as overseas demand remains sluggish and new This Year This Year 550 3,600 seasons lambs are just around the corner. Export lamb prices held steady in the South Island last week with a 3,400 350 16kg cwt lamb earning $7.44/kg (nett). The number of 3,200 lambs coming forward for slaughter remains well above 150 3,000 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct average for this time of year. Although reports indicate enquiry from processing plants is lifting which is a sign that supply could be about to drop off. Lambs are coming forward in top order with carcass weights currently 2.3kg heavier than the same time Currency Watch US Dollar Last 2 Wks 4 Wks last year.

0.95 vs. NZ Dollar Last Year Week Ago Ago Last Year High lamb slaughter fuels export levels This Year US dollar 0.836 0.850 0.826 0.723 0.85 New Zealand exported 16% more lamb in August than it did a year ago.

Euro 0.600 0.596 0.582 0.571 0.75 High slaughter rates and heavier lambs through late July and into August UK pound 0.523 0.525 0.509 0.470 provided more lamb for the export markets. Overall New Zealand 0.65 Aus dollar 0.787 0.795 0.800 0.785 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov exported 15,600 tonnes in August, focusing on the UK and Chinese Japan yen 64.81 65.34 63.50 60.82 markets. It was a similar situation in Australia where an increase in the lamb supply saw Australia export 22% more lamb than 12 months ago. At Euro UK Pound 0.55 0.65 14,000 tonnes Australia sent most of their lamb to the lucrative Middle Last Year Eastern market, with good demand also coming from China and the US. 0.50 0.60 This Year

Wool

Strong buyer demand underpins wool prices Wool prices have continued their steady rise as strong buyer demand forces prices up further. Coarse crossbred wool prices are still close to 60% higher than this time last year while fine crossbred wool prices are still holding at over 50% than last September.

0.45

0.55 0.50

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Last Year This Year

0.40 Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Rural News // september 20, 2011

30 opinion editorial

edna

School buses vital service ASK AN English family how their children get to school and there’s a fair chance it will be by car. Parents over there regularly talk about “the school run”. It’s a morning and night chore during term time for many households and eats up hours of their week, not to mention gallons of fuel.

The streets outside schools are all but impassable at the start and end of the school day and for miles around there’s a noticeable increase in traffic, and consequent delays. It has to be seen to be believed.

There are many reasons why this phenomenon has developed, but the main one is there’s no alternative, particularly in rural areas. Fortunately, here in New Zealand, we still have school buses, and parents have the confidence to put their kids on them. But too many more incidents like the one at Ruatoki, Bay of Plenty, earlier this month, and that will change. While the causes of the crash are still under investigation, reports from the scene indicate a logging truck barrelled into the back of the bus as it slowed to drop a child.

It sounds inexcusable, but nonetheless it happened. And it’s not as though it’s a one-off.

According to Rural Women New Zealand there’s been a child fatality associated with a bus dropoff or collection every year, on average, for at least 30 years. And there have been many more kids injured, in some cases disabled for life. The cost to the country is immense; the emotional cost for those involved, unimagineable.

RWNZ’s campaign to improve road safety in this area deserves all our support, whether we’re parents or not. What they’re asking is simple enough: 20kmh signs on the front and back of every bus which can be illuminated when it’s in service. At an estimated cost of $2.5m to do the entire fleet, Transport Minister Stephen Joyce should see to it that NZTA does it tomorrow. It’s not as if the funds aren’t available: there’s $10m in the coffers from personalised plate sales.

If school bus safety doesn’t improve, parents’ confidence in them will be eroded and the car will come out of the garage. If that happens, everyone loses: children lose the social interaction and degree of independence the bus delivers; parents pay in the time and fuel they feel forced to commit for the safety of their kids; other road users run into more traffic and journey times mount.

And one other thing. Regardless of whether you agree with the 20kmh signs or not, next time you pass a school bus, slow right down, and give it a wide birth. It might save a child’s life.

RuralNEWS Head office Postal address: PO Box 3855, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 Publisher: Brian Hight...................................................... Ph 09 307 0399 General Manager: Adam Fricker.................................................... Ph 09 913 9632 Editor: Andrew Swallow............................................. Ph 03 688 2080 editor@ruralnews.co.nz................................... Ph 021 745 183

“Here’s Rural News issue 500 Edna – when are you starting on the kitchen?”

the hound Have you lost all legitimacy?

HOW OFTEN have you heard someone has “lost all legitimacy.” As a silvertongued TV hack trotted out the cliché about Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi the other day, Your old mate couldn’t help wondering whether what he really wanted to say was he’s a b*****d!

Of course, they wouldn’t dare say that on air, anymore than Rural News is likely to print it here, but next time you hear one politician accuse another of losing all legitimacy, you’ll know what he’s really saying.

Want to share your opinion or gossip with the Hound?

Send your emails to: hound@ruralnews.co.nz

First-half fireworks

Indi 500 edition

WHAT A festival, and what a fiasco! The opening of the Rugby World Cup was a great spectacle seen from the comfort of my dogbox. But for the poor buggers stuck on the quayside (or even off it), the memories probably aren’t so sparkling. Then the All Blacks added insult to injury by letting off all their best fireworks in the first half so latecomers to Eden Park missed out.

Still, even the second half was better than dullas-dishwater England’s outing against Argentina. Shame the Puma’s couldn’t quite put those black-shirt poms away.

YOUR OLD mate is reliably informed that this is the 500th edition of this rural mag, so I guess congratulations are in order, not only on reaching such a momentous milestone but doing so with your independence intact.

Must make this the Indi 500 edition. Scott Dixon eat your heart out!

Butter best for marriage guidance

ReJoyce road rules changed

YOUR OLD mate had to do a double-take when he heard Anchor is bringing back divorced parents Phil and Donna to mark the brand’s 125th birthday. It’s promised to reunite them and ten other families. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me: couples get divorced for good reason and no amount of buttering up will bring them back together.

HOORAY! AT last! The lefthand turn anachronism of New Zealand’s road rules is to be abolished. Hats off to Stephen Joyce for finally doing what should have been done long ago.

No more stupid stand-off situations at junctions; no more tourists unaware they’re in the wrong. Only one question: why on earth wasn’t it done in time for the RWC? Your old mate reckons NZTA’s tail has been wagging the ministry dog.

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ABC audited circulation 80,327 as at 30.6.2011

Website Producer: James Anderson . .........................Ph 09 913 9621 Rural News is published by Rural News Group Ltd. All editorial copy and photographs are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of staff, management or directors of Rural News Group Ltd.

Rural News // september 20, 2011

letters 31 Rodale work shows organic yields up there IN RESPONSE to the question from Robin Dicey (Rural News 6 September) regarding yields from organic production of corn wheat and soy, the most authoritative research I am aware of is an ongoing 30 year comparison of organic/conventional corn and soybean by the Rodale Institute, a not-for-profit research institute set up in 1947 in Pennsylvania.

After 27 years of the project (2009-2010 updates are due to be released shortly) findings on yields were that in regard to corn they were equivalent between conventional and organic. With soybeans two different organic methods – one manure based and the other legume based – were compared with conventional. The manure based method matched conventional while the legume base method was slightly lower.

Some additional findings are worth noting. In four of five years of moderate drought the organic systems had 31% higher yields than conventional and also tolerated much higher levels of weed competition than the conventional crops.

Soil carbon and nitrogen increased significantly in the organic systems but not in the conventional system.

The build up of soil carbon in the organic system was most significant in the first 13 years of the trial but has continued, albeit slower.

The economic research run in conjunction with the trial show, over the life of the trial, that the net returns from the two systems have been much the same.

The detailed findings of the research can be found on the Rodale Institute web site.

Derek Broadmore Chairman, Organics Aotearoa

findings not about being organic

carbon taxes

Rural News’ article (Sep 6) on antibiotic resistance and organic poultry gives us solid, scientificbased evidence of what the continuous use of antibiotics in poultry feeds can lead to.

We should not debate whether the antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in poultry are of any

WE HAVE been faithfully served by the Inland Revenue Department, whose motto is “It’s our job to be fair”. Equally, it could be “We take your tax and give you refunds for free; after all you don’t pay when we audit you and you don’t pay for staff time and travel when we process your tax returns.”

Not so with MAF’s carbon taxes and credits. MAF outlines a raft of exorbitant administration charges for staff time and travel to be levied for claiming or registering carbon credits. Refer to page 22 of MAF’s ‘Forestry and the Emissions Trading Scheme’. It also reserves the right to audit, check and monitor CAAs at the applicants’ cost, but at MAF’s discretion.

Never before have we as taxpayers been charged to put in tax returns or access refunds of taxes we are entitled to. Why should we accept this now: paying the wages of tax men to tax us?

Dave Stanton, Geraldine

human relevance from an epidemiological point of view or whether historically any antibiotic-resistant bacteria ever found in hospitals has been firmly associated with poultry, because the article does not establish these associations.

However it should be pointed out that the claims for the

absence of antibioticresistant bacteria are laid upon the principle of organic farming, when that is just a false perception or allegation. This was a comparison between the use of antibiotics in feeds against the non-use, and not organic against nonorganic.

Eduardo Bernardi Christchuch

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AgTwit cynicism unfounded AS A pork producer and director of NZ Pork, I feel compelled to respond to Rural News’ AgTwits column, Sep 6.

The cynicism in respect of NZ pork producers is unfounded. Fact: 45% of the pig meat consumed in NZ is imported (700,000kgs per week). NZ pork producers’ opposition to the proposed new Import Health Standard (IHS) will not materially affect that volume of meat still coming in.

It’s not about a ban on imports at all (unlike apples in to Australia).

Of the 45% of imported pigmeat currently consumed

by New Zealanders, about 50% comes from PRRS infected countries. Currently this trade is safe because it has treatment to inactivate the virus before the border or in transitional facilities so that risk product is not given biosecurity clearance and released freely into New Zealand.

MAF wants to remove the requirement for treatment that deactivates the virus. That’s what is at the heart of our industry’s concern: keeping our herds safe from the PRRS virus entering this country. There is a high risk of the PRRS virus entering NZ with the lack of treatment.

Regardless of the outcome of our industry’s current challenge to the IHS, win or lose, there will still be imported pig meat in substantial volumes in NZ. Ruth Lee Te Puke

ag twits

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Correspondence should be brief and to the point. Rural News reserves the right to edit letters as necessary. Please supply name and locality for publication, plus contact details in case of need for clarification.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

32 opinion

Reflecting on personnel changes IN 2008 I sadly wrote a farewell piece when Katherine Rich decided to quit Parliament just as she had made it to the top.

After three terms she had already given the Nats a touch of class, glamour, a social conscience and charisma.

With her strong farming background, rural New

Zealand had looked forward to having a friend in any National government.

After all she is Dr Jock Allison’s daughter.

Her reason for leaving Parliament was to care for her young family. However she was quickly snapped up by the Food and Grocery Council as chief executive.

eye on the issues john stirling

Then out of the blue she’s back as a member of

the Red Meat Sector Strategy team – the one that’s going to bring together all those recalcitrant sectors of the meat industry that believe they can go it alone.

Given the present excellent returns to meat producers, it’s difficult not to be a little cynical when talking about the need for

collaboration by all sectors. Without some exceptional persuasion the exercise seemed unlikely to get past lip service. But then the chairman of the RMSS – that ever-ready bunny Mike Peterson – played what may be a winning card, warning that current prices may not last forever. This is the fear

of all my sheep farming mates.

Having Katherine Rich on board though is a smart move. She had a highly successful career in marketing before entering Parliament. Her work

ing called to discuss global warming. It was a sparse gathering as most of those intending to be there were snowed in.

The horrific southern storm last September that led to the adverse

Katherine Rich

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with the Food and Grocery Council must have sharpened her corporate skills. When talking to her recently I couldn’t help but be impressed with her enthusiasm for the meat industry and some of the ideas she’d support or try to develop.

Since my old mate Gerry Eckhoff left Parliament and turned his talents to local government there has been a gap which no one has been able to adequately fill. Gerry was at his best when adding colour to gray convoluted issues.

Gerry drove a bus throughout the country fighting the animal emissions legislations, he opposed the rightto-roam legislation and the confusing inequitable sections of the RMA. Although in the ACT party Gerry became the opposition’s farmer spokesman.

Is it possible we have another Gerry in Don Nicolson, the former president of Federated Farmers who has put up his hand to represent ACT in the Bill English (South Otago) seat? I think he’d get a hunk of the party vote.

In full flight he certainly gets his message across, and it sounds not unlike Gerry on many issues.

I first met Don at Invermay about 2003, at a meet-

event meeting programme was the work of Federated Farmers. They were led by then national president Don Nicolson whose Southland farm near Woodlands was in the thick of it. As such Don had tremendous credibility and this has flowed on to the organisation.

Even with its reduced state, Federated Farmers has come out of that disaster with flying colours, showing it is still a body capable of looking after farmers’ interests in a crisis.

Don has drawn a line in the sand, stating his opposition to the RMA, the animal emissions legislation and the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) Bill.

He says NAIT will railroad farmers, stock agencies and truckers into wasting thousands of dollars in administration time on something they don’t need, with threats of $10,000 fines for failure to comply.

The Nicolson influence will obviously be pro-farmer. But ACT has been rather astute in its list selection, ranking Don number four. This allows them to seriously claim they are the true farmers’ party.

• John Stirling is a South Otago farmer who has also been an agricultural journalist for over 30 years.

Rural News // september 20, 2011

opinion 33 Beware of linking US findings with NZ

ag twits Rural News’ irreverent and hypothetical look at what’s happening in the farming world Top Bleats view all bwillsfedfarmers: Yippee-ki-yay, Federated Farmers. Time for another change, now we’re going to back NAIT. But be warned we will be watching you! #changeoftune rburnardnait: Good stuff Bruce, we will be keeping tags on you as well. #mandatorytagging philfargoffmp: Hello, hello... is anyone there?

How come no one is taking any notice of me?

I blame John Key for hosting the Rugby World Cup! #toast

WHILE ALAN Harman’s story (Rural News, 6 September) on antibiotic resistance in poultry in the United States is of interest, Rural News’ New Zealand consumers should be wary of linking US findings to the poultry industry in New Zealand.

The US and New Zealand industries are different, especially as in New Zealand we are fortunate to be completely free

of the three main avian diseases that require poultry industries in other countries to use many more antibiotics than we use in New Zealand.

The latest MAF report into antibiotic resistance in New Zealand’s commercially produced flocks shows that levels here are among the lowest in the world and trending downwards.

The report notes that

the risk of transfer of resistance between animal and human populations is low, with the detection of resistant strains of bacteria being at the lowest end of the scale internationally.

The poultry industry in New Zealand rarely uses any antibiotic treatment that comes from the human class of drugs.

(Zinc bacitracin, the most common antibiotic in use

in the poultry industry, comes from a spectrum of antibiotics hardly ever used to treat humans; it is toxic to humans when given orally. Zinc bacitracin makes up about 97% of the antibiotics used in our industry.)

The fact that antibiotic use and bacterial resistance are both trending downward would indicate consumers [need not] be concerned about

the transfer of resistance.

For example, vancomycin resistance, first detected 12 years ago at low levels in New Zealand, was not found in this latest study.

Healthy animals, like healthy people, grow better and produce better quality products.

Michael Brooks Executive Director Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand

henryfonterra: Luckily I was re-elected last year. Sorry John and Jim, but this TAF kerfuffle might make things a bit tougher going this year. #outonyourarse

scoupershareholderscouncil: I can assure all Fonterra shareholders that if Sir Henry and the board say TAF is ok, then TAF is ok. #lapdog henryfonterra@scoupershareholderscouncil: Good boy. Sit. Fetch. Lie down. Roll over and say TAF is good for shareholders. #doasyouaretold ipalmerpipfuitnz: Some apple exporters will not back banding together to tackle the Australian market. I won’t name names, but bloody Turners&Growers. #traitors jeffwesleyt&g: We look forward to doing to Zespri’s export monopoly exactly what we did to Enza’s. #destroyit

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dcarterminofag: World’s most popular agriculture minister is loving the RWC and getting to watch all the games while not being bothered by mundane things like doing his job! #partytime

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

34 management

Get to grips with financial as well GRAH AM T U R LEY

AUGUST’S COLD snap and heavy snow at the start of the lambing season is a stark reminder of the importance of understanding and managing on-farm risks. Recent financial events in Europe are ‘unsettled weather’ of another type, reminding us we live in an uncertain world. This needs to be taken into account as an ongoing part of the environment for all businesses, including farmers.

While many farmers clearly understand the operational risks of their businesses, putting a dollar figure on those risks is important to determine the best way to mitigate them.

The first step is to understand your farm’s normal ‘cash flow cycle’, i.e. know-

ing when cash comes in and goes out of your farm’s bank account. For farmers, a cash-flow cycle will typically be one ‘season’ or a year (although account needs to be taken of effects over a number of years, such as destocking for droughts).

Once you know what a normal cash flow cycle looks like for your farm, start to consider how to manage unexpected issues that will affect the cash flow cycle.

The most important scenario to understand is the ‘break-even point’ – the minimum cash that you can receive during one cash-flow cycle without requiring introduction of external cash such as more borrowing.

Knowing when and how much cash is going in and out of your farm means you can then start to identify the risks likely

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to affect that cash flow, and identify a solution appropriate to managing those risks.

One risk for farmers is interest rate changes. Interest rates are now low so it would be prudent to assume they will soon rise. So a buffer should be built into budgets for that likely increase.

Also, several ways exist to limit the affect of interest rate increases, such as fixed rate loans and various hedging instruments. If your business is particularly sensitive to interest rates, this increases the priority for using surpluses to pay down debt.

First, understand what interest rate you are able to afford and for what duration. Knowing this will help you to identify the appropriate solution.

The other big risk is about production levels; knowing the breakeven point is crucial. Many things could affect your individual produc-

tion rates, such as unseasonal snow falls, drought and availability of feed.

Broadly speaking there are two strategies for mitigating these risks.

First, having a ‘capital solution’ in place. Essentially that means having access to cash or borrowing capacity to cover any unforeseen expenses. By using surplus cash to pay down debt, you create debt capacity within your overdraft facility that can then be redrawn to cover unexpected costs that may arise. This type of working capital solution will typically provide relatively easy access to cash at short notice.

Alternatively, invest in a permanent solution, such as irrigation for drought-prone farm areas or conserved feed to call on. This solution usually requires a larger amount of expense upfront and the payoff will

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management 35

as production risks come via more consistent and probably increased productivity, as well as potentially reducing the impact between seasons. For example, by maintaining stock condition and retaining capital stock in drought conditions you may produce more in the seasons that follow.

This is often the differentiating feature that separates high performing farms from those at a medium and low level. Climatic or economic

events do not disrupt the business, and the focus on the long term plan and the concentration on the things that contribute to high performance is maintained.

There’s no one solution to on-farm risk management. Every farmer needs to identify the risks on their farm and determine how much they are prepared to pay to address that risk.

Remember there is always a cost to risk-mitigation and it’s important to

understand the cost of the solution and the cost of doing nothing.

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There’s scope for improvement in many cases, says ANZ’s Graham Turley.

Pasture renewal competition THE HUNT is on for the best dairy pasture in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, says Dairy NZ. The Pasture Renewal Leadership Group which it heads is running the Pasture Renewal Persistence Competition again, with an new category added this year.

Up for grabs are two pasture renewal prizes of $1000 each, including seed and herbicide.

“Our aim is to find the ‘best’ managed and recently renewed pastures in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty,” says competition organiser and DairyNZ Farm Systems specialist, Chris Glassey.

“Farmers can enter in two categories; Best Waikato/ BOP first year pasture sown this year and Best Waikato/ BOP pasture sown more than three years ago.”

The Pasture Renewal Leadership Group is a DairyNZled industry group, including researchers, the seed industry, farmers and agricultural contractors, and was formed to develop better tools, resources and advice for farmers.

“We want to encourage discussion between farmers from throughout the region on best management practice for persistent pastures in this environment.

“This is part of the Pasture Renewal Leaderships Group’s role of ensuring that farmers receive consistent, timely messages on pasture persistence and renewal from throughout the industry,” says Glassey.

Judging will involve a short interview about the soil fertility and the paddock’s history prior to and since re-sowing. Management practices such as grazing management, endophyte selection, weed control, and nitrogen use will be discussed.

Entries are open until October 31 with judging during November and a winners’ field days in December.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

management 37

Pasture persistence not a black art Dereck Ferguson P E T ER BU R K E

ACHIEVING PASTURE persistence is not a ‘black art’, says Agricom pasture specialist Dereck Ferguson.

He told farmers at a recent Beef + Lamb New Zealand field day in Central Hawke’s Bay it should be possible find out what’s causing the problem and then work out a remedy.

A key factor in making sure a pasture is persistent is to get rapid establishment following the sowing of seed. He concedes that would not have been easy during the last four years in Hawke’s Bay, due to a lack of autumn rain.

But Ferguson points out that if you start off with poor establishment, those pastures will never make good permanent pastures. They will usually be get run down by lesser quality species such as brown top, Yorkshire fog and barley grass.

The other requirement for getting a good quality pasture is choosing the correct pasture species. “What’s realistically going to survive in your environment? When you

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“You may need to go for AR37 which can defend against the biggest number of insects such as porina, Argentinean stem weevil, root aphid, pasture mealy bug and black beetle, especially in a northern environment.”

The means of sowing the pasture is a horses-forcourses approach, Ferguson says. Much will depend on rainfall and soil type.

“People in dry areas need to think carefully about making sure their seed is covered by soil. Generally the drier it is – particularly with lighter soil types – the deeper you have to go. Not silly deep, but deep enough to make sure your seed is in moisture.”

In this case something that drills the seed into the ground is probably more appropriate than roller drilling, particularly if the soil is not harrowed or rolled afterwards, because the seed is in effect left on the soil surface and if so it won’t take.

Correct application of fertiliser also affects getting a good strike. Ferguson has seen the most spectacular results with new pasture where fertilser was sown with the seed.

“It’s placed right next to the seed. It’s essential phosphate, which is responsible for a lot of root growth early in the plant’s growth, is right with the seed It’s not a very mobile nutrient in the soil.”

The least effective way of applying fertiliser is when it’s broadcast on the surface of the soil, he says. Farmers may have high expectations of new pasture species, but these are only as good as they are sown and managed.

Farmers must understand clearly what a particular cultivar will do and make sure they manage it to the specifications set by the plant breeder.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

38 management

Borage area set to bounce back? ton y benn y

PURPLE PADDOCKS look likely to grace the Canterbury countryside again this summer with several firms seeking increased

areas of borage this spring.

One company, Smiths Seeds, Ashburton, is returning to borage for the first time in three years, thanks to rising demand in Europe following short

harvests in Canada and England.

“We’re looking for a couple of hundred hectares – it’s not a huge amount but it’s quite substantial considering

we haven’t grown it for a few years,” says Dayle Jemmett, who oversees Smiths’ field production.

Borage production has been down in New Zealand mainly because China now grows and processes a huge amount, leading to a surplus on world markets. But now there’s a demand for counter-season production.

“Ours is all on multiplication and re-export,” says Jemmett. “We’re growing it for a company in Europe and we get told where the customer wants it shipped and then it’ll be processed into oil from there. We’ve got good growers that can grow it, they‘re set up and we get very good quality here.”

Midlands Seeds are also looking for more growers this year, both for seed production and also for its own oil extraction business.

Rural News understands contracts as high as $9/kg have been offered by some firms. That’s competing with $825/t for spring oilseed rape and around $380/t for feed barley.

Jemmett says a good borage crop can gross $4000-$5000/ha. “The variable with it is yield.

Low-end yields can be anywhere between 200kg and 300 kg/ha whereas the top end can be around 500-600 kg/ha. The net return they’re making on that is quite a bit higher

s R E m R A f L A RE

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than other crops.”

It’s relatively easy agronomically, and requires fewer inputs than other crops, he adds.

“There’s a good window to plant, anywhere from about early October right up to mid to late November. It doesn’t require isolation which is always a bonus and it’s a low cost crop to grow.

“The main factors that affect yield in a negative sense would be environmental conditions – the weather. When the guys windrow the borage, if we get a bad spell of weather, the harvest delays can cause a few issues.”

So far, Jemmett says, finding growers is proving a challenge because there have been relatively large plantings of wheat in autumn and winter.

“There’s not so much spring ground available so it’s just a matter of hunting around. There’s always a few guys with a free paddock available or perhaps there’s a grass crop that hasn’t made it so they need to plant something else.”

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THE FOUNDATION of Arable Research’s future seems secure for five years at least, having received solid support from arable and maize growers in its referendum.

The Lincoln organisation also now has a mandate to apply to the minister to charge a levy on cereal silage area, following an inaugural poll of growers on whether they supported a $10/ha levy for research into such crops. The silage levy only just scraped over the bar at 51% in favour but the maize levy, charged at 90c/10,000 seeds purchased, received 70% support and arable 86%.

Both those latter results are improvements on the previous referendum five years ago.

The levies support FAR’s research and extension work in the respective crop areas.

FAR chief executive Nick Pyke says a balanced portfoto page 39

Rural News // september 20, 2011

management 39 Buy the Best!

■

Don’t chop and change feeds ton y benn y

DRYLAND FARMERS planning to plant forage rape to finish lambs this summer should plan to use it as the sole feed rather than combining it with other forage such as grass, says PGW agronomist Rachael Russell.

“The key to success is keeping the stock on it rather than taking them on and off to grass,” says Russell.

“Make sure they have water and some sort of roughage available as well,” she stresses.

Keeping the sheep on

the crop is better for them, consequently they’ll perform better.

“It takes roughly between 10 and 14 days for their rumen to adjust to the different type of feed.

It’s kind of like us going from our standard diet to straight jelly – high water percentage, not very nutritional – it’ll start going through them and they start getting sore stomachs and things like that initially.”

Russell recommends planting faster maturing cultivars such as Titan (70-90 days) in conjunction with longer growing

form really well, says Russell.

“People don’t always identify the fact that the

ones such as Goliath (90110 days).

“Imagine a square paddock cut into quarters with a fence,” she says.

“They defoliate Titan, move on to the next break of Titan and then their Goliath will be ready so you can then move them on to that – you’ve got staggered plantings coming mature.

“The benefit of your rapes is that they regrow so if you just remove the leaf the plant is going to recover faster than if you eat it to the ground.”

Handled properly, stock on forage will per-

■

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lio of production, environmental and social research will be maintained.

“The outcomes of investment will deliver benefits which can be measured in the increased productivity, profitability and the retention or opportunity for the farm to use certain practices.”

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

40 management

Pros and cons of tails on who farms with his brother Scott, decided to leave a 75cm tail on their lambs rather than dock to a tail stub. Sheep are born with tails for a reason, even though, he acknowl-

V IV IE N NE H A LDA N E

AT THE Stortford Lodge stock sale a pen of Trelinnoe lambs with long tails attracts a fair amount of attention. Hawke’s Bay farmer and Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills is used to this and has developed a couple of strategies to deal with it. One is to eavesdrop on conversations to gauge reaction and the other is to ask the auctioneer to give a simple explanation before he begins. “Just say we’re doing a meat industry experiment and that’s why they have longer tails,” he says.

Four years ago Wills,

lift a longer tail out of the way to do its business and therefore keep cleaner.

Says Wills, “We took a couple of inches off and it worked rather well. We had a bit less flystrike and

The build-up of muscle in the rear end as the result of tail movement also improves meat yield and there’s talk that the price of the tail stub to the Chinese market has quadrupled. edges, “it’s a pretty hopeless instrument.”

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the animals were ok, so over the next couple of years we went longer and longer. If we’d been scientific about it we would have done half the tails

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“We are requiring our sheep to do a whole lot more in lambing percentages: at Trelinnoe we’re doing 160% compared to 80-90% in the past. So Scott and I thought let’s try this longer tail, build up the posterior muscle and see if it helps. I’d estimate the bearing problem costs the New Zealand sheep industry millions of dollars. There’s been research done but nobody has come up with a logical reason as to the exact causes and that’s appalling, given the sheep nation we are.”

Wills says since they’ve gone for longer tails they’ve noticed a big drop in the number of prolapses in their ewes prior to lambing. “But I don’t pretend we are running a hugely scientific experiment here. Its more of a practical farmer test in a commercial environment.”

English supermarkets for years have been unhappy with the way

New Zealand lambs’ tails are chopped so short.

“I was conscious of the fact we had to listen to our high paying market.

In Europe, lambs are required to have longer tails. It’s a welfare requirement.”

The build-up of muscle in the rear end as the result of tail movement also improves meat yield and there’s talk that the price of the tail stub to the Chinese market has quadrupled.

Shearers don’t necessarily share the positive aspects of a 3/4 length tail because it means more work. “It took us a while to get them trained and they weren’t entirely happy. It’s a couple of extra strokes for shearing and it takes them longer to crutch as well,” says Wills.

“We’ll be watching closely this season to see if other farmers have problems with prolapses in their ewes and if we don’t, we’ll mark one up on the board and say this is a little idea that may help solve this nation-wide problem.”

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

management 41 Southland dairy farmers claim New Zealand first SOUTHLAND ORGANIC dairy company Retro Organics is claiming a New Zealand first with its launch of lactose free fresh milk and yoghurt.

“They’re the perfect solution to what is a growing market need,” says dairy farmer and processor Robin Greer.

He and wife Lois say having spent considerable time developing these specialised products, being the first in New Zealand “is real bonus.”

Modern society is increasingly aware of food allergies and intolerances, of which lactose intolerance is one of the most common.

However, it can be difficult to find appropriate substitutes to lactose, and

most milk substitutes feature a flavour profile much different from fresh cows’ milk, not to mention often being considerably more expensive.

“Our lactose free milk is fresh and organic, so the taste is close to that of standard milk. We’ve also worked hard to ensure it is really price competitive,” says Robin.

Lactose free fresh milk has been produced and sold overseas for a number of years, but up until now it has not been available in New Zealand.

Based in Tuturau, Retro Organics produces a range of boutique dairy products that revisits the ‘good old days’ of natural food.

The company employs

ethical and sustainable organic farming practices, with an on-site factory to process the dairy products.

“Having the factory on the farm where the milk is produced enables us to be able to process the milk within a short time of it being produced. It also enables us to guarantee where the milk comes from,” says Robin.

“For us it is all about providing transparency in our process to deliver products that are honest to nature’s goodness,” he adds.

Retro Organics Lactose Free Whole Milk and Lactose Free Traditional Greek Yoghurt is available from speciality supermarkets and organic stores.

We’ll drink to that: Robin and Lois Greer.

Nitrogen booster roadshow rolls of dissolved urea plus 3 litres of LessN matches that of 80kg/ha of solid urea.

Recent results show such liquid treatments provide a nitrogen response out as far as 50-60 days, matching and in some trials exceeding the residual effect of the 80kg solid application.

Trials in North America have also shown significant effects on the production of a number of broadacre crops such as potatoes, corn and cotton, says Donaghy’s.

The roadshows begin in Northern Waikato late September, move through the rest of the Waikato, Taranaki and lower North Island in October, with South Island events in late October and November.

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COMING TO a paddock or hall near you: sessions on how to halve your nitrogen use without impacting pasture output.

Christchurch-based Donaghys is running 30 field days across the country from late this month to “update and educate all in the agricultural industry on the benefits of Donaghys LessN.” Updates on independent trials with the liquid nitrogen fertiliser additive, including long-term residual effects and financial benefits, will be included.

To date 67 individual trials have been conducted with LessN, one of the largest nitrogen response studies ever conducted in New Zealand, says the firm.

The mean response of independent work matches in-house findings that adding the product to dissolved urea doubles the nitrogen response, meaning the dry matter boost from 40kg/ha

Rural News // september 20, 2011

42 animal health

Don’t let guard down on TB BARBARA G I L LH AM

the AHB, easily done online or by telephone. (Even a lifestyle farmer with one animal must still have it registered.)

Once registered, the AHB will advise if and when an animals need to be tested.

All cattle and deer must also be identified with eartags from an approved ID system before they can leave a property.

Farmers must provide testers with suitable facilities where animals can be restrained during testing and tagging.

If cattle or deer are being moved,

FARMERS MUST not to be lulled into complacency about monitoring stock for bovine tuberculosis, says an Animal Health Board spokesman.

Farmers must never buy cattle without eartags and Animal Status Declaration forms and they must check animals’ TB status and testing history.

Danny Templeman, northern South Island coordinator for the board’s TBfree New Zealand, says though infected-herd numbers are down, farmer complacency is a big risk to the strategy.

“TB control has gone well in the North and South Island over the past 15 years but farmers still need to be diligent.” TB remains a problem for cattle

farmers must supply a completed Animal Status Declaration form, except for bobby calves going direct to slaughter.

Farmers must never buy cattle without eartags and Animal Status Declaration forms and they must check animals’ TB status and testing history.

Templeman says it is vitally important farmers check where they are buying stock from or where they are grazing it.

Latest statistics

While vector control is delivering results, farmers and lifestylers must keep up with tagging and testing requirements, says the AHB.

and deer herds while it’s present in the wildlife population.

TBfree NZ is three-pronged, Templeman says: disease control (testing cattle and deer herds and culling tubercular animals), movement control (restricting movement of animals in high risk areas), and vector control

(killing wild animals – mainly possums – and sometimes ferrets).

Rules apply which, if farmers stick to them, “will go a long way to helping with the control of the disease and prevent it from spreading.”

By law farmers must register cattle or deer and obtain a herd number with

WITHOUT DOUBT the TB control programme has been extremely successful. In 1998 the Nelson/Marlborough region contained at least 50 infected herds; today there is one in Marlborough and two in Nelson.

The same success was seen in Wairarapa: in 1995 it contained 320 infected herds; by late 2010 this number had dropped to four.

Terry Hynes, AHB’s TBfree NZ coordinator for the southern North Island, says there are now no problems in the lower North Island.

AHB will soon kill possums in the Tapawera area of the Tasman region, called the Pinchback Range. Previous kills there succeeded, but possum numbers have climbed since the last operation in 2006/07.

Templeman says a recent five-yearly review of the national TB strategy will see possums targeted in 2.5 million hectares known to contain wild animals with TB.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

animal health 43

DNA tool helps detect hidden bone disorder

Marble bone disease carriers? A new gene test in the US means cattle can now be screened.

A L A N H ARMA N

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US SCIENTISTS have developed a DNA test to detect carriers of the rare but deadly disease marble bone disorder.

In cattle, the disorder, also known as osteopetrosis, causes calves to be born with deformed skulls, receding lower jaws and protruding tongues. They usually are stillborn or die within 24 hours of birth, however it is a recessive trait, so healthy carriers are also born.

“Calves have to inherit the mutation from both parents,” explains Larry Keenan, director of breed improvement at the Red Angus Association of America.

Though not common, it has been reported in Hereford, Simmental, Holstein, and Angus breeds.

A spike in cases in the northern plains three years ago caused considerable concern with the RAAA as the breed’s most popular bull was related to some of the animals affected.

Breeders were keen to make sure they hadn’t created carriers in their herds by using him. In the past, culling was the only solution, but DNA technology allowed researchers from the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), University of Illinois, University of Nebraska and University of Wyoming to identify the gene mutation responsible and develop a diagnostic test instead.

DNA from affected Red Angus calves and their carrier parents was compared to DNA from unaffected animals.

The entire genome of all calves was searched for chromosomal segments common to the affected animals, but different from the normal animals.

The Illumina Bovine SNP50 BeadChip was used to identify suspect genes.

The BeadChip, a glass slide containing thousands of DNA markers, identifies relationships between markers simultaneously.

It found a segment on cattle chromosome 4 contains SLC4A2, a gene necessary for proper osteoclast maintenance and function. Osteoclasts are types of cells responsible for breaking down old bone during bone development and remodeling.

In the osteopetrosis-affected calves, researchers found that some of the SLC4A2 genetic material had been deleted.

At the same time, scientists studying bone development in mice intentionally created a similar mutation in SLC4A2 to determine the function of the gene and it was observed to cause the same marble bone disease.

ARS geneticist Tara McDaneld says the fact the exact same gene in mice was responsible for the osteopetrosis mutation confirmed the findings in Red Angus.

Scientists were then able to develop a polymerase chain reaction PCR) test and have it available to breeders in less than a year. The popular bull was cleared.

“The mutation had crept into the pedigree of the offspring of the bull by his mating with a carrier heifer,” ARS chemist Tim Smith says.

Scientists also looked at the genetic makeup of 450 normal Red Angus bulls and all were negative for the mutation, as were 570 Black Angus bulls.

“What’s really important is that with the rapid response time for putting a test like this into the hands of producers, they don’t have to be as afraid of genetic defects anymore,” says Smith. “We can create tests relatively fast now and prevent these kinds of diseases from spreading throughout the herd.”

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

44 animal health

MAF targets works’ MAF IS aiming to make staff at meat processing plants better able to recognise and respond to a foot and mouth disease outbreak. A new poster and 11-minute DVD describes FMD lesions may be less obvious in sheep, says MAF, like this one on the hard palate.

the disease symptoms and action to take should meat workers suspect an animal has FMD. Verification programmes manager Di Carter says because New Zealand has never had the disease, processing staff have never seen its symptoms in livestock.

“We want to get the message across to all meat processing staff that what they do matters. Their actions in quickly reporting their suspicions to the appropriate person will make a huge difference in containing any possible spread of the disease.

“The sooner suspicious symptoms are reported, the better it will be from New Zealand’s point of view.”

MAF verification staff are distributing the DVD and poster and asking facility operators to show the footage as part of induction or training programmes. The supporting poster, which shows FMD symptoms in a range of stock, ideally should be displayed in an area such as a smoko or common room where it will be seen daily by staff.

MAF is also working with plant operators to ensure they have robust

processes in place to prevent spread if an animal infected with FMD were to arrive at their premises.

All export animal product operators, excluding poultry, egg, seafood and bee products, are required to have a risk organism response plan (RORP) onsite and available to key staff.

FMD is caused by a highly contagious virus and affects cloven-hoofed animals such as sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, deer, llamas and alpacas. There is no cure and while vaccination offers protection, it can make eliminating outbreaks harder and has trade implications.

Clinical signs vary between species, but blisters on the nose, mouth and feet are consistent.

Animals stop eating, become depressed, lame and salivate a lot.

MAF says if FMD reached New Zealand, vir-

FMD infected cattle get small blisters on the tongue, and the lining can slough off.

Don’t let BVD undermine your profitability this season

Ask your vet to use Gribbles Veterinary Pathology, New Zealand’s leading provider of BVD testing and advice.

Rural News // september 20, 2011

animal health 45

FMD awareness tually all exports of meat, animal by-products and dairy products would stop and not resume until at least three months after the slaughter of the last infected animal.

It has been estimated an outbreak would cause the loss of around 20,000 jobs and $10 billion of gross domestic product (GDP) over two years.

The virus can spread in saliva, mucous, milk, faeces and on wool, hair, grass, footwear, clothing, livestock equipment and vehicle tyres. It can also leap long distances on the wind.

Loss of skin and sores between the hoof claws in cattle, caused by FMD.

FMD from a farm perspe ctive

WOULD YOU recognise Foo t and Mouth Disease if you saw it?

MAF told Rural News promo ting awareness of the disease’s symptoms is “an ongoing project ” and that anyone who identifies sy mptoms that could be FMD, or any other exotic disease or pest in anim als or plants, should call its biosecu rity phoneline 0800 80 99 66.

Material on FMD and the 080 0 biosecurity phoneline is pro moted at Fieldays as well as in media and on website www.biosecurity.govt .nz A pamphlet on exotic disease investigations was produce d in association with Federated Farme rs and primary organisations, and funded

by MAF’s Sustainable Farmin g Fund.

In addition, farming industry organisations raise awaren ess through their own communica tions

with members, says the min istry.

Veterinarians have an important role as primary animal health care providers and MAF awa reness raising and training of vets incl udes: • Ads in professional press (eg Vetscript) to ensure they’re aware of the 0800 number.

• Training Verification Agency vets in exotic disease recognition.

• Presentations to veterinarians from a network of vets (Initial Investigating Vets) retained by AsureQuality to investigate reports of suspect symptoms for MA F. • Training fourth-year veterina ry students at Massey University in exotic disease recognition.

• Presentations to vets at NZ Veterinary Association con ferences.

A sheep’s tongue showing sores due to FMD.

in brief PregSure withdrawal update THE NUMBER of confirmed cases of Bovine Neonatal Pancytopenia (BNP), or bleeding calf syndrome, had climbed to 18 confirmed, with four more under review, as of last week, says Pfizer.

The syndrome has been associated with use of the PregSure BVD vaccine which, in light of the BNP cases, Pfizer withdrew from sale early last month.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

46 animal health

Pup has 50/50 chance with Parvo THE WORD dog owners and dog breeders dread is PARVO. This is wee Faith’s story.

It was a Friday morning with feeding the pups the first chore. There were seven: six Huntaways and one Heading; all just over five weeks old and beautiful, happy, healthy pups.

The ritual was a relay,

“I have always known Parvo to be horrendous, but until now have never had a firsthand experience.” head ‘n hunt anna holland

feeding half at a time, with the smallest being fed first; they were the girls

and my favourite pup was one of them. I might add here that her arrival is a story in itself, but to cut it short, she was planned, wanted and special.

Everything was as usual. Faith and her two sisters trotted over to the dish and started devouring the delicious meal I had prepared. But then

Faith stopped eating after a couple of mouthfuls and slinked off away from the food. She was not a happy pup. Her head was down, her eyes were sad, there was something wrong.

I kept a close eye on her as the others ate and saw her bring up some food.

Rather than putting her back in the pen, I took her up to the house, put her in a cage and watched her like a hawk. She vomited several more times, and because she was so special it called for an immediate trip to the vet.

A part of the examination was a swab from her rectum to test for Parvo, using a device similar to a pregnancy testing kit. We waited for the blue line. It was positive.

The drive home was full of sadness, with me praying for her recovery.

Faith had a 50/50 chance, she was with experts, and on a drip and antibiotics.

The vet came out later that day and vaccinated all our dogs, and the remain-

ing pups were vaccinated and put on a course of antibiotics.

I have always known Parvo to be horrendous, but until now have never had a firsthand experience.

I suppose it was just a matter of time.

I grilled the vet because I knew it was going to be in my next Rural News column. People need to be made aware: it can happen to you.

This is my understanding: if a bitch has been regularly vaccinated the pups will gain immunity from her milk, however the most vulnerable time is after weaning and it is recommended pups be vaccinated at six weeks of age, nine weeks and 12 weeks, followed by a booster shot at six months old.

If you want to be safe rather than sorry an annual vaccination is recommended.

I strongly advise discussing a worming and vaccinating programme

for your dogs with your vet.

Many people do not realise the severity of Parvo or how contagious it is. It can come from anywhere, anytime. The spores can be transported by dogs and on your feet, car tyres, in fact anything; they also lie in the ground for years without your knowing.

It can be a killer and your best insurance is vaccination, but do be aware that even though a pup is vaccinated it is not immune, it can still contract the disease, and it is not safe until it has had a booster shot.

As for wee Faith, she is home, happy and healthy.

She is the seventh generation going back to my clever old dog Bruce and hopefully one day she will carry on the bloodline.

• Anna Holland is teaching people dog training. For more information www. annaholland.co.nz or tel (06)388 1687 or annaholland@xtra.co.nz

It’s time to ensure they are protected Review your on-farm sheep measles programme NOW!

For more information contact your veterinarian, phone Ovis Management on 0800 222 011 or go to www.sheepmeasles.co.nz

Rural News // september 20, 2011

animal health 47

Grandson of SAMM Plan latest mastitis move First there was SAMM Plan, then Smart SAMM. Now Dairy NZ has released another generation of tools in the battle to beat mastitis: the SmartSAMM Gap Calculator.

Barbara Gillham reports THE NEW Zealand dairy industry each year loses millions of dollars due to mastitis. Despite control measures routinely practiced on farms, mastitis remains one of the most costly diseases affecting the industry.

A Dairy Insight report in 2005/06 estimated the disease cost dairy farmers $36.50/cow or $11,500 for an average 315-cow herd – about $180 million annual

appropriate options for their herd and review their progress to their goals.

The benefits of minimising mastitis: lower cost, reduced stress and risk of grades, increased

milk sales and better animal welfare.

Lacy-Hulbert says many of these benefits lie within the farm gate, but to date there has been no easy method for

calculating the benefits for an individual farm business. To overcome this DairyNZ has developed a simple calculator to help farmers

Jane Lacy-Hulbert

to page 48

of each cow milked by that cluster. Between milkings it gets into the teat canal and mastitis ensues.

DairyNZ’s SAMM Plan (Seasonal Approach to Managing Mastitis) was launched 18 years ago and is a familiar resource for reducing mastitis and controlling milk quality. But as the figures above show, it’s still a big problem.

Recognising the need to provide more support

“Many of these benefits lie within the farm gate, but to date there has been no easy method for calculating the benefits for an individual farm business.” loss to the industry. Those figures have not changed much, though they change depending on the current payout, says Jane LacyHulbert, a senior scientist at DairyNZ and a member of the group that wrote the report.

Mastitis is caused by bacteria picked up from the environment or infected cows. It is most commonly spread during milking when the bugs from an infected cow can contaminate the liners and milking cluster, enabling it to be passed to the teats

to farmers and reduce the impact of mastitis on productivity, DairyNZ last year launched SmartSAMM to help farmers improve udder health in their herds.

Building on the success of the SAMM Plan, SmartSAMM was designed to enable farmers to ‘benchmark’ their herd’s mastitis performance, identify the ‘gap’ in performance, or potential for improvement, and explore options to achieve improvements.

It also helps them to select and implement the most

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

48 animal health

Latest mastitis move from page 47

assess the benefits of lifting performance for bulk milk SCC (BMSCC) and mastitis.

Called the SmartSAMM Gap Calculator, it is now on the DairyNZ website, with different formats available to suit different needs.

“We are trying to move

away from the strict cost of mastitis, and that side of things, and move farmers to understanding the value of their gap performance.

“It’s about closing the gap between your ‘actual’ performance compared with your target,” says Lacy-Hulbert.

“Farmers will know

or have some idea of what their actual performance is now, which they simply enter into the calculator, then they type in what they would like to be getting and the calculator works out the value of that gap or of closing that gap.

“One of the values of the gap calculator is

people actually going through the process and filling it in and finding some of those hidden benefits they hadn’t thought about.

“Some people don’t like computers so there is a PDF version that consultants and advisors and people in the field can print out and ‘do on the

bonnet of the truck’. Then there’s an electronic version with three different levels of complexity, so you start at the basic or entry level and just work up to the intermediate and advanced version. People will start to see the costs and the gap, and the size of that gap actually grows as more

The new SAMM Gap Calculator can be used at three levels to help manage mastitits on farm.

detailed costs are taken into account.

“It gives them an idea of where they are exactly.

They can tailor it to their own circumstances; it’s

quite an eye opener.”

The SmartSAMM Gap Calculator is available from the DairyNZ website www.dairynz. co.nz

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To reduce the impact of mastitis on productivity, DairyNZ has produced a new training tool - SmartSAMM Healthy Udder.

Developed in consultation with vets and milk quality advisors, it provides industry agreed ‘good practice’ in a simple, visual, easy-to-follow format.

Healthy Udder is all about improving systems and procedures on the farm, and is designed to encourage all members of the ‘farm team’ to use the ‘right’ procedures.

It explains the importance of good udder health for cows, the farm team and the whole business and can help prevent, find and treat mastitis.

A one page ‘prevent-find-treat’ matrix provides a navigation guide and reminder of the SmartSAMM recommended good practice that needs to be applied at each stage of lactation, including springers and dries.

It’s been built for use in the cowshed with clear images and graphics printed on waterproof card and will go out in this month’s issue of DairyNZ’s Inside Dairy magazine.

Rural News // september 20, 2011

machinery & products 49

It’s time for those flaming tractor claims RURAL INSURER FMG is campaigning to alert farmers to the risk of tractor fires during the bird nesting season. And the National Rural Fire Authority is right behind it.

FMG insures 20,000 tractors for 12,000 customers and sees bird-nest fire claims pour in. In recent years 500 such claims have cost the company at least $7.5 million.

September to November is the worst time, says head of claims Sean Beattie. A starling can build a nest in a tractor engine in one hour or less, he says.

“A tractor engine fire can put a tractor out of action at one of the busiest times of the year. Enclosed engine bays are sheltered, cosy spots for a starling to build a nest.

“The heat of the engine soon ignites the nesting material, and as the bonnet is lifted to investigate the smoke, the influx of oxygen sets the tractor well alight. Fires also start in stationary tractors, as the engine and exhaust components are still hot, but no longer being cooled by incom-

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ing air as the tractor drives.”

FMG assessor Mark Ashby recently saw a loss where the tractor wasn’t the only item damaged. “When the tractor went up, the fire spread; it destroyed hay bales and damaged the covered yards and a woolshed. It went from a tractor claim to something much larger and that’s why prevention is so important. It’s much simpler than dealing with the fallout from a fire out of control.”

FMG recommends fitting a fire extinguisher in every tractor. To avoid accelerating the fire, poke the nozzle of the extinguisher into a gap alongside the engine bay and pull trigger, rather than lifting the bonnet. But if the fire is blazing, stand back and call for help.

Fire extinguishers are the best defence once the fire has started. Here’s what you can do to lessen fire risk: Stop and pop Check for nests under the bonnet before starting. Birds can build nests during a to page 51

See how well a tractor burns at www.youtube.com/fmgtractorfire.

13/09/11 12:40 PM

Rural News // september 20, 2011

50 machinery & products

Rugged new loaders for ‘green’ NEW HEAVY-DUTY loaders from John Deere equally suit many sizes of the company’s new and older model tractors.

The new H Series loaders, which replace the previous loader models, have more cast-steel connecting points and better visibility, and they have integrated components that make installation and removal easier.

The H Series loaders, compatible with many John Deere tractor models, have different levelling options, non-self levelling (NSL) or mechanical self-levelling (MSL), depending on customer needs and legal/ safety requirements.

More cast-steel com-

ponents in high-stress, high-load areas of the loaders helps them handle big jobs with ease and

‘These are the most rugged, durable and versatile loaders on the market today.’ extend working life, a JD spokesman says.

“All major boom pin connection points are cast-steel for better pin alignment and reduced load stress which is an improvement over traditional bushing-type joints.

“We’ve also designed the H Series with a lower torque tube and concealed oil lines within the loader boom to give it a cleaner look, improve over-thehood visibility for the operator and to reduce potential for damage to oil lines during use.”

In addition, John Deere has added integrated parking stands and pins into the loader which, combined with a single-point hydraulic connection system, allows the loader to be quickly removed or reinstalled with virtually no oil loss. To give customers access to a wide variety of John Deere loader attachments, the company uses a common global carrier

that standardises equipment compatibility worldwide.

“These are the most rugged, durable and versatile loaders on the market today,” says JD. “They are

engineered to fit a wide variety of John Deere tractors quickly and easily and provide years of troublefree operation.”

Tel. 0800 303 100 www.johndeere.com.au

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Exact weight on frontloader TAKE THE guesswork out of feeding silage, hay, grain or palm kernel with a newly developed farm version of Loadrite’s ‘Weigh It’ hydraulic weighing system for tractors with front-loader attachments. It was launched this year at National Fieldays.

Says managing director Steve Alloway, “If a farmer wants four tonnes of silage fed out, he can tell the farmhand to put four tonnes on the wagon. Whereas before, he would say ‘go to the pile and put 10 grab loads onto the feedout wagon’ and who knows how much that really was?

It’s all about consistency.”

Farm advisers are pushing a more scientific approach to farming and feeding out, Alloway says.

“Once you know the product dry matter ratio to wet matter weight, a farmer can calculate how many kg of silage, baleage or hay are required for their stock numbers per day. Then it is just a matter of weighing that amount of feed into the wagon each day and feeding out with confidence.”

With Weigh It “you lift up your load to the marker , press the ‘weigh’ button and press ‘add’ to add it to a cumulative total, press ‘clear’ to reset.”

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

machinery & products 51

Goo rushes to fix flat PERMANENT REPAIRS to punctures in almost any pneumatic tyre: that’s the latest from TRS Tyre & Wheel Ltd, promoting its Puncture Proof.

The point is: prevention is way better than cure. ‘Install’ this stuff in your vehicle tyres and when the inevitable happens – you run over a whopping great nail – the product rushes to fill the gap.

Says TRS sales supervisor Nikki Penman, “We saw a video clip in which a mining vehicle ran over a large spike.

The product sealed the resulting large hole. The air pressure forces the liquid (with rubber chips) into the hole, creating a permanent repair.”

Puncture causes are many and varied, TRS points out.

Common to them all is the costly downtime and hidden costs, plus the call-out charge and puncture repair.

“The cost of salaried staff and overtime required to get machinery up and running has to be considered. These costs multiplied by the number of punctured tyres per year will quickly add up to thousands of dollars.

“And if a puncture – or continued running of the tyre while it’s flat – destroys it prematurely, this will cost the business even more.”

Puncture Proof is a non-toxic, water soluble compound good for mending wheelbarrow or tractor tyres.

And it differs from competing products, the company says. Instead of one product for all fix-it jobs, this one comes in two formulations: Puncture Proof 50 for low speed industrial or farm use; and Puncture Proof 100 for high speed tyres.

Puncture Proof 50 is “cost-effective” in fixing sidewalls and tread areas of low speed and off road tyres, often prone to larger and/or more frequent punctures than occurring in on-road tyres.

In contrast, Puncture Proof 100 is less viscous and flows freely around the inside of high-speed tyres, allowing them to maintain their balance and pressure, and protecting the tread area.

The product is pumped into the tyre, where it remains in liquid form. When tyre is punctured, the Puncture Proof is forced into the hole and immediately sets to provide a permanent repair. Unlike many other products, Puncture Proof contains 10% recycled rubber and it is this rubber, in conjunction with the other Puncture Proof ingredients that creates a successful repair.

TRS has five branches and offers overnight delivery to most areas of the country.

When a tyre is punctured, the Puncture Proof is forced into the hole and immediately sets to provide a permanent repair.

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lunch break so look before every start-up.

Pop and store Pop the bonnet and store the tractor with it lifted. Birds like sheltered spaces when nesting; a raised bonnet will deter them.

Keep it clean Service and maintain your tractor regularly. Nests aren’t the only cause of fires so ensure engine components are clear of dust and debris.

Put it out Fit your tractor with the appropriate fire extinguisher and get the recommended maintenance and pressure checks done.

Watch FMG’s new tractor fire video at www.youtube. com/fmgtractorfire.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

52 machinery & products

Bio-fert man ‘too excited not to stay’ ton y benn y

YOU COULD call John Morris ‘The King’ of alternative fertiliser in New Zealand. And he’s not about to leave the building.

Well, actually he is... but only because he’s about to build a bigger, better building for his Agrissentials business.

The company has resource consent for a new building in in Te Kauwhata and will soon open a new plant in Otago to meet southern demand.

“I thought about retiring when I got to 65 but the thing’s so exciting, I just want to stay in it,” Morris (68) says.

Morris insists conventional, chemical fertilisers

are killing New Zealand’s soil and causing metabolic and fertility problems in stock – problems he says his Agrissentials products prevent or cure.

He once was a commercial vegetable grower, using conventional methods and fertilisers. “One year I planted my plants as normal and they grew a little bit and they wouldn’t grow any more so I asked MAF to come out and have a look,” says Morris.

“They arrived and said ‘just put on a bit of superphosphate’. I said I’d already done that and they’re still not moving.

They couldn’t really tell me what the problem was.”

That started Morris on what he calls a natural

path. “What I discovered after some time was that I’d destroyed the biology within the soil and there’s a synergy between that biology and the plant.

it over completely.

In 1998 he started using ground-up basalt rock as fertiliser, based on his belief world’s best soils are formed from rock dust.

Morris says although his product is ‘alternative’, his customers are “99.9% conventional” farmers.

“Obviously with the chemical fertiliser and the hoeing I’d destroyed the life. The more you turn it over the less it survives and then the toxicity of the chemical fertiliser knocks them over anyway.”

He stopped using superphosphate and got on to a fish and seaweed fertiliser. He became a partner in a fertiliser company and eventually took

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“Through ice ages the glaciers have scraped the rocks while they’ve been expanding and when they recede they leave rock dust metres deep.

“Then bacteria with an affinity for rock dust inhabit that and so the whole thing happens – you end up with metres-deep real live soil.”

From quarries Morris gets basalt rock and grinds it down and blends it with a special fish and kelp mix.

“We don’t wait for the ice age, we grind them down and what’s happen-

ing is we first revitalise the soil and then with the microbes and rock dust we start building topsoil or building humus in the soil which is your carbon content.

“We’re bringing that soil back to life, we’re increasing the topsoil depth which is your engine room for production.”

Blending the fish and seaweed with the rock dust creates a solid fertiliser that can be applied by conventional spreaders or by aerial top dressing.

Agrissential’s products are proving popular with farmers and Morris says since 2006 business has increased 10% each year “In 2008 we thought it might slump a bit but the business is growing and it appears it’ll grow a little quicker because the farmers are now starting to hook onto it.”

John Morris

Morris says although his product is ‘alternative’, his customers are “99.9% conventional” farmers.

“They have a lot of problems. They’re using more and more chemical fertiliser with less result and their metabolic prob-

lems are through the ceiling and they see farmers on our programme that aren’t having the same problems,” says Morris.

“Their infertility rate is climbing whereas with farmers on our programme, it’s declining.”

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

machinery & products 53

Nifty change to suit your grass SEEKING TO make life easier for farmers and contractors, Pottinger champions its quick-change facility that allows a driver to quickly adapt his mower to changed grass conditions.

New Zealand distributor OriginAgroup says this allows swapping the conditioner for swath discs “within the shortest possible time.”

Quick-change is available for all Novacat mounted

mowers, front- or rear-mounted.

The conditioner can be removed by one man in a few minutes in four simple steps: 1) release the quick-release pins, 2) remove the drive belts, 3) Attach the storage transport wheels and pull out the conditioner, 4) Fit the rear cover hood with the quick-release pins. That’s it!

Says Origin, “If weather conditions and/or crop quality and type allow either a finger or roller conditioner to be dispensed with, you can then save fuel by lowering the power requirement of the mower unit.”

This quick-change system also makes it quicker and easier to clean the mower, the company says.

Simply remove the conditioner so that the mower can be cleaned more easily.

“With this practical system, Pottinger makes a considerable contribution to harvesting quality forage.”

Tel. 07 823 7582, www.originagroup.co.nz

Better for rumens A NEW monensin rumen modifier, made in Europe by Huvepharma NV, is said to provide not less than 10:1 return on cost from milk protein production, says distributor AgriVantage.

Monotec 100 microGranulate premix (10% monensin) is claimed the most efficient rumen modifier available for NZ dairy herds.

AgriVantage says during 17 independent trials in New Zealand and Australia since 1988, an average 40 grams extra milk protein was produced by cows consuming 300mg of monensin per day, compared with untreated cows.

Research shows 5-7% more energy is utilised from feed by cows treated with monensin – an extra 1kg DM for a cow eating 16kg DM/day, for a cost of 3 cents, the company says.

Monotec 100 is seen to increase milk production in cows, and to help control ketosis and reduce bloat.

Tel. 0800 64 55 76, www.agrivantage.co.nz

Pottinger’s Novacat mower can be fitted with a quick-change facility to allow rapid swapping from conditioner to swather, and vice versa.

Rural News // september 20, 2011

54 machinery & products

Cut, slice for better soil LOW-COST CROP planting gets a push from Origin Agroup’s latest from US implement maker Great Plains Manufacturing.

The Alpego Rotopick singlepass powered cultivator is “an ideal one pass solution,” Origin Agroup says.

The machine has a series of knives bolted on flanges

mounted in a spiral fashion along a rotor which results in a smooth anti-vibration effect.

The straight knives are designed to cut and slice the soil with a special curvature at the end which allows the knife to penetrate hard ground and mix the soil leaving a pan free base.

This ensures air and moisture freely moves throughout the soil

structure.

The machine’s centre-drive gearbox means a minimum of moving parts and lowest-possible power requirement, and it provides extra support to the rotor. The absence of a protruding side gearbox means less likelihood of limits to ground penetration and no soil ridging.

Difficult hard soil is easily

penetrated and the machine works particularly well direct into pasture or after cropping, Origin says. When fitted with a Hatzenbichler Air 8 broadcast seeder it is possible to re-grass or sow fodder crops in a single pass at low cost.

Tel. 07 823 7582 www.originagroup.co.nz

New 35hp keenly priced

tulloch farm machinery 18x4

A COMPACT utility (35hp) tractor newly added to the Kioti range offers an ideal replacement for “maintenanceprone older machines,” says local distributor Power Farming.

The South Korean company – now said to have sold at least 9000 tractors in New Zealand and Australia – is reckoned the world’s fastest growing utility tractor maker.

The new Kioti DS3510 compact utility uses the same chassis and componentry as the Kioti CK35, offering similar features but favouring “the end user strapped by today’s

maxam 10x7

challenging economy,” says national sales manager Brett Maber.

The DS3510 35hp Daedong diesel engine drives through a constant-mesh shuttle transmission with 8F/8R. It has 4WD, power steering, wet disc brakes, rear diff lock, a comfortable and adjustable seat, foldable ROPS, seat belts and an option of ag, turf or industrial tyres.

Heavy-duty PTO and three-point hitch enable implements and attachments. The hitch comfortably and safely lifts up to 1015kg at a point 600mm aft.

Optional attachments include front loader, 4-in-1

bucket, backhoe, sunroof, rotary slasher, and rotary and finishing mowers.

Brett Maber says the tractor is “basically a premium line CK-series machine with manual transmission. It is designed to be a high quality, value-priced machine to help start-up companies and existing organisations find a better deal on a solid, reliable tractor.

It’s a brand new machine at a second hand price.”

Warranty is two years or 2000 hours ‘bumper-tobumper’ coverage.

Kioti makes at least 30 tractor models 22–100 hp.

Tel. 0800432 336 www.kioti.co.nz

Rural News // september 20, 2011

machinery & products/vintage 55

Tag too good to be true?

AN RFID eartag with HDX capability, priced similarly with competing FBX-B tags with a lesser read distance? It sounds too good to be true as we hurtle towards the NAIT cattle start-up on July 1 next year.

Better believe it, says Leader Products (NZ) director John Dumbrell.

“Our Leader triangular HDX tag is out on its own. To get the best value you need a tag that reads at maximum distance but doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg.

“At a recommended price of $4.20+GST for a minimum compliance budget set it saves you the better part of $1 per animal.

Even more if you have the Leader NAIT EID tag supplied with a brass tag.”

Dumbrell told Rural News the tag has been out on Australian farms by the millions since 2003 when that country’s scheme became mandatory. The Leader tag is one of only two fully accredited tags available under that scheme, he says.

“Full accreditation is achieved only by passing a checklist after three years of trials showing a tag to be, most importantly, at or below a 1% loss rate per year. Continued accreditation depends on this level of compliance being maintained.”

Dumbrell says his company’s tags’current levels of retention in New Zealand have shown similar results.

“Compare before you buy,” he quips. “We understand CRV sells them with participant codes for dairy cattle and PGGW and other farm stores sell them with the AHB markings.”

Tag retention is good, Dumbrell says, because the tag hangs in such a way that air gets to the application wound straight away thus promoting quick healing.

The tags can be applied using Leader’s quick-release applicator or, for that matter, “most of the applicators you probably have in your tool shed.”

Vintage vision

A VINTAGE machinery club that started with its six founding members each stumping up $5, has recently opened a building valued at $550,000.

Northland Vintage Machinery Club opened its new facility at Harding Park, Dargaville, with a big turnout of members and supporters. And already the extra exhibit is filling, says club president Bruce Galsworthy.

“We’ve had an offer of a collection of magnetos offered to us – stuff people look at and say ‘I haven’t seen one

of those since I was a kid’.”

Vintage enthusiasts attended the opening from near and far, Galsworthy says, including Whangarei, Hauraki Plains, Otorohanga and Manawatu. The building, costing $260,000, was paid for with cash from ASB Bank ($80,000) and “several generous gifts by supporters.”

The club’s founders (from left): David Dreadon, Bruce Galloway, Edie Yakich, Basil Cole, Peter Fisher and Eric Burgess.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

56 rural life

Farmers turn hands to support p e te r bur ke

THEY FARM at Koputaroa just outside Levin in Horowhenua. Already their product is being sold in 26 stores and more are signing up. Soon they’ll be launching in Australia and Germany. A big challenge,

nearly 10 years from concept to market.

Sounds great for two people who’ve milked cows most of their lives.

Trouble is, the product likely to secure their future in heartland New Zealand has nothing to do with farming, though

Kylie and Darrell Gibbard with an Emkay number.

it was developed on farm.

It’s a necessity for every woman – a bra. But it’s not just any bra; it’s one designed especially for women with large breasts, something Kylie Gibbard has, and which presented her with a problem. So she and partner Darrell Strat-

ton decided to design and make what they couldn’t buy.

Kylie has a degree in business studies from Massey University, Darrell says he’s self taught.

As well as the dairy farm Darrell has run pigs, had a go at sheep and beef, managed a dairy in Levin and Kylie has run a garden centre, so doing something completely different is not unusual for this amazing couple.

Kylie says since puberty she’s always been a bigbusted girl and has always had problems with bras.

“The idea of making my own bra came literally one day when I came in from the farm and I was rubbed absolutely raw. Darrell said this was ridiculous because with all the thousands of bras out there surely there must one that will fit you.

“But the reality was, there wasn’t. The bras were designed for smallbusted ladies and so we started a worldwide search on the internet to find a bra that fully supported me but we could find nothing.”

Being a practical, inventive couple they set out to design one. They had to start from scratch because, says Kylie, no one would take them seriously.

The way they designed the first bra would no doubt have had heads turning in the fashion design houses of the world. No castle in the south of a France, just a simple living room on a farm in Koputaroa.

“I literally stood there in my bra and Darrell stood there with a marker pen drawing on the bra what was wrong and what needed to change,” says Kylie.

“We knew what we had to achieve, we knew what the final result needed to be, so then we went on a search to find somebody who could help us make a pattern, “ says Darrell.

Luckily they found a local woman who could do this and so began the transition from farmers feeding the world, to bra makers supporting a large part of the population. No design school training, just a good old-fashioned farming fix-it mentality, “that practical way of fixing things, no different from fixing something on a farm,” says Kylie.

“Thinking outside the square, where our farming background kicks in, says Darrell. “A farmer is builder, plumber, veterinarian. They’re everything, so in that sense we are both self teaching and that’s how this has come

about, resulting in a practical solution.”

Kylie says from what she’s seen, bra design has changed little in 80 years, improving somewhat in the past 10 years. Women tend to blame their own bodies for ill-fitting bras rather the product itself, she says.

“If men’s boxer shorts were so ill-fitting, men would have redesigned them years ago.”

Apart from the challenge of designing the new bra, there’s been the sourcing of special fabrics, buying machines to manufacture their products and trying to get help from anyone who would take them seriously.

They managed to get machines from Lane Walker Rudkin which had closed, then they had to learn how to use and adjust them for their spe-

Rural News // september 20, 2011

rural life 57 farmers go down the road for discussions and to help each other out. But the manufacturing industry is closed industry, rather a contrast coming from farming.”

According to Kylie, younger and smaller women these days have larger breasts than was the case in the past so have a complete range of sizes.

“We do basically from a size 10 to a dress size 40 which is a metre and half around. That’s big, but no one caters for that market.

We initially started with D cups and DD’s but we quickly added Cs and are about to add A and B cup sizes as well.”

The bras are competitively priced – about $100 each, but cheaper than some imported bras. Feedback from customers and retailers has been positive, encouraging the pair to follow their dream.

So after 10 years trialand-error and now success, Kylie and Darrell have given up the lease on the family dairy farm.

Dairy farmer turned seamstress, Margaret Collis.

cific needs. Oh, and keep running the farm and a trucking business and look after four children.

They looked for someone in New Zealand to make the bra, but no one makes these products here. China is where it all happens. So in true kiwi spirit, Kylie and Darrell

converted their modest double garage into a factory where six women now make the bras. The stock goes into two storage containers. It’s not fancy, but it works.

They find the rag trade a closed industry, unlike the dairy industry with its cooperative spirit, “where

Models displaying a Gibbard garment: “It’s not just any bra...”

But they are not moving.

Instead they will keep the house, a few acres of land and the factory/garage, and become full time bra makers. They admit the profits have still to flow, but the signs are great and they are confident of success.

And as you might expect, this story would not be complete without a little romance. The name of their company is ‘EMKAY girl’ which is ‘Darrell speak’ for ‘my girl Kylie’.

Farm Funny WELCOME TO Rural News Farm Funnies. Every issue in our new Rural Life section we’ll bring you one or more farming anecdotes, jokes or poems. There’s even a place for photos if they’re amusing or quirky enough. Every reader-supplied item we publish will get one of these super Rural News 500th edition Skellerup T-shirts. So sharpen your wits and e-mail editor@ruralnews.co.nz with Farm Funny in the subject line. To get the ball rolling, here’s one we had on file: Paddy is passing by Mick’s hay shed one day when through a gap in the door he sees Mick doing a slow and sensual striptease in front of an old red Massey Ferguson.

Buttocks clenched he performs a slow pirouette and gently slides off first the right welly, followed by the left.

He then hunches his shoulders forward and in a classic striptease move lets his braces fall down from his shoulders to dangle by his hips over his corduroy trousers.

Grabbing both sides of his check shirt he rips it apart to reveal his tea-stained vest underneath and with a final flourish he hurls his flat cap on to a pile of hay.

“What the **** are you doing Mick” says Paddy.

“Jeez Paddy, ye frightened the livin’ bejasus out of me,” says an obviously embarrassed Mick. “Me and the Missus been having some trouble lately in the bedroom, so the therapist suggested I do something sexy to a tractor.”

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

58 rural life / rural trader

Funding boost for rural medic training RURAL MEDICAL services should get a boost down the track from a $4.5m training scheme announced earlier this month.

“Many New Zealand rural communities and hospitals have struggled to attract and retain health professionals,” said Education Minister Anne Tolley, announcing a partnership between Government and the universities of Auckland and Otago.

“Over the next three years an estimated 300-plus student doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and dentists will train side by side, in the classroom and out on the job at Whakatane and Gisborne Hospitals.”

The idea is that by training in rural areas they’ll want to work in rural areas.

Health Minister Tony Ryall says the scheme “will open up new career opportunities for students from rural areas, as well as encouraging students to work in rural areas once qualified.

“Experience overseas suggests health students who train in rural

areas are more likely to return to work in rural areas.”

Ryall says that for the first time the University of Otago and the University of Auckland Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences are collaborating in multidisciplinary training at Gisborne and Whakatane hospitals.

“The University of Auckland programme will be based in Whakatane and will provide training for about 144 medicine, nursing, pharmacy and

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physiotherapy students over three years. The University of Otago programme will be based in Gisborne and will provide training for about 168 medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy and dentistry students.”

The Government will spend $4.5 million over three years from 2012 to develop and deliver the programme.

Both universities will also contribute financially, working with Health Workforce New Zealand.

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Women on the land call GOT A story of life on the land, ladies?

If so, South Canterbury Rural Women would like to hear from you. The province is collating a book celebrating ‘Women on the Land’ which it aims to publish early next year.

“The writing in this collection will touch the readers because it will be about everyday rural women for everyday rural women,” says provincial RWNZ president Margaret Chapman. About 320 pieces of poetry or prose have already been submitted, ranging from witty ditties to moving stories about remarkable pioneers and women farmers today.

E-mail mgchapman@xtra.co.nz

Place the onions, butter, oil and thyme in a large saucepan over medium heat, cover and cook for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 3 minutes. Add the brandy and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the mustard, stock and water, simmer for 15 minutes.

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Rural News // september 20, 2011

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