Rural News June 21 2011

farmer access

treasures galore

WAC’s signs questioned, and other hot topics from Fed Farmers’ High Country Conference. pages 10-11

Old cars and oilcans... just a few of the treasures from this collectors ‘toybox’. page 34

Rural NEWS

wool campaign Pet lambs, shearing and high fashion kick off Wool Week.

page 8

to all farmers, for all farmers

June 21, 2011: Issue 494

www.ruralnews.co.nz

PGW rubber hits road PGW’s new strategy has been triggered by several years of poor performance.

“Some sort of strategic change was needed.”

He isn’t surprised PGW is focussing more on its rural service and ag-bio businesses, with money raised from sales strengthening its balance sheet and funding developments in rural trading.

Anderson admits PGW has under-

SU D ES H K I SSU N

THE RUBBER is hitting the road at New Zealand’s largest rural servicing company.

PGG Wrightson managing director George Gould promised to take the firm back to its roots when he returned to the board and an executive role in February.

Now, in a matter of weeks, a suite of divestments has been rolled out as “non core” assets are offloaded, including a shareholding in FARM IQ. PGG Wrightson (PGW) chairman John Anderson told Rural News the divestments are assets “distracting senior managers and where we don’t get returns”.

He says PGW’s future lies in quality customer service and having good back office support for its rural trading business.

The company is offloading finance, selling its stake in Merino NZ, scaling back involvement in Farm IQ, and is already out of New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay.

Anderson, who took over the chairmanship in April last year, says new majority shareholder Agria supports the new business plan put in place after the departure of key shareholder and chairman Craig Norgate in 2009.

“Agria has confirmed its support for the strategy. Going forward it will be business as usual with our rural supplies and seeds business.”

He plays down media reports of a possible float of the seeds business on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Farmer co-op LIC has invested $10

John Anderson

invested in its rural services division.

Online purchasing and upgrading backoffice operations, including invoicing, are areas where improvements are needed.

“It’s all about getting the back office working like a well-oiled machine.”

The rural supplies business has been kept going by “a wonderful group of people” and going forward, it’s all about quality earnings, he says.

irish eyes on fieldays

Consul Rodney Walshe flies the flag for Ireland at Fieldays, one of many nations looking to forge closer links. More from the Fieldays pages 4&5.

million in Agria’s bid for PGW hoping to get a slice of the seeds division when it is floated. But Anderson says he has never talked to LIC about the seeds business.

“It’s up to the PGW board and shareholders to decide on the future of the seeds business. No decision has been made.”

A special shareholder meeting is being held in Christchurch on June 28, but that is about Ngai-Tahu’s bid for a 7.2% stake in Agria Group, the parent company of Agria Singapore which has taken the 50.01% stake in PGW. Anderson rules out PGW returning to the fine wool or finance sector saying its distribution agreement with Heartland Finance provides a far better range of facilities.

On FarmIQ, PGW is still involved as a partner, but has no financial investment. Employees are seconded to the Landcorp/Silver Fern Farm PGP meat sector joint venture “as a contribution in-kind”.

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

issue 494

www.ruralnews.co.nz

News ���������������������������� 1-13 Agribusiness ��������� 14-15 Markets �������������������16-17 Hound, Edna �����������������20 Contacts �����������������������20 Opinion ��������������������� 20-22 letters ��������������������������22 Management ��������� 23-25 Animal Health ������ 26-29 Machinery and Products ����������������30-34 Rural Trader ��������������35

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MAF outlook buoyant pet er bu rke

CRACK A beer, but keep the champers on ice for now at least, judging by the content of MAF’s annual Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture report released last week.

It predicts dairy exports to June 2011 will hit a new high of $13 billion. Lamb exports will be up 9.7% at $2.7b, despite a volume drop due to storms, with wool prices also expected to remain high.

Beef exports are tipped up 8.1% at $2b.

Forestry is also up 13% at $4.3b. Only horticulture is flat, with the report noting the substantial impact of PSA on kiwifruit.

MAF’s deputy director general Paul Stocks told Rural News the overall picture for the primary sector is very good with a lack of competition and strong demand for our products driving prices.

What’s more, the outlook is strong long-term.

“The food security debate that’s happening internationally means being a food producing nation is an exceptionally good place to be. Especially a food producing nation that’s at the top end of the market with quality and integrity - frankly I can’t think of a better place for this country to be in.”

He says looking at the world economy, China’s forecast to grow at 9% next year, and India at 8%.

“These are the emerging markets that New Zealand is very well wired into. We’ve got a diversified, market mix and we are the only country with an FTA with China. That puts us in good stead.”

Not surprisingly it’s the dairy industry that’s leading the boom. Adverse weather means production this year will be up just 2.7% -- a far cry from the 14% predicted a year ago. However, for next season, MAF is predicting a 5.7% increase in milksolids and slightly lesser increases in the years beyond.

Cow numbers are expected to increase from 4.68m this year to nearly 5m by 2015.

“My only advice to dairy farmers is don’t do all your forecasts on the basis of the present high prices,” Stocks warns.

“Remember what’s happened over recent years with the volatility. I imagine we are in for a prolonged period of good prices for dairying, but having said that, the US can turn on supply pretty quickly.

“My advice for dairy farmers is to be prudent and cautious.”

He adds that for the first time in many years, meat and wool farmers have smiles on their faces. Lamb exports this year are expected up 9.7% to $2.7b and to reach $3.7b by 2015. At the same time, breeding ewe numbers

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 80,488 as at 30.12.2010

Four way poll for Feds pres FEDERATED FARMERS has confirmed four nominations for national president – which is believed to be unprecedented.

Donald Aubrey, Upper Rangitata, Canterbury; Frank Brenmuhl, Christchurch; Lachlan McKenzie, Rotorua; Bruce Wills, Napier, are all vying the rural lobby’s top job.

“This will be the first contested election for the position of president since the early 1990’s,” says Conor English, Federated Farmers Chief Executive and returning officer. The result will be announced July 1.

Nominations for vice-president closed on June 17 and other board nominations close June 24.

will further decline from 23.9 to 23.1million by 2015.

Wool prices are another piece of good news with values predicted to hold.

“You’d have to say wool is a great fibre. It has great characteristics and the fact that synthetic producers are mimicking wool and putting sheep on

news 3 Paul Stocks says the outlook for the primary sector is strong long-term.

their labels suggests there’s a really good opportunity for wool production.”

The report suggests beef export prices in US dollars will fall slowly over the next two years, but export value will rise from the present $2b to $2.6b by 2015. Beef cattle numbers will also increase slightly.

Issue and sector soundbites stocks says there is a particular challenge for Maori agribusiness. They’re making up a larger and larger proportion of landowners.

“We know that there are some very good Maori farmers as demonstrated by the Maori Farm awards. If we could get that kind of productivity across the vast bulk of Maori agriculture it would do a lot for New Zealand a lot for Maori.”

On Red Meat Strategy “The interesting thing about the red meat study is in some ways not what’s in it, but the fact that it exists. We had producers and processors sitting down and saying we have an industry here. What comes next – well who knows?”

On wine “We now export 30% of our wine in bulk. I don’t think that’s a good long term position for the wine industry to be in. New Zealand thrives when we sell at the top end of the market. Selling in bulk doesn’t lead us there and I think it poses a risk to our overall brand.”

On tech transfer “We don’t have the same tech transfer infrastructure we had 20 or 30 years ago. It’s not just a case of the good farmers coming up, but getting all farmers up a notch.”

On farmer demographics “We are keeping an eye on the demographic profile... They are getting older.

It’s expensive to enter farming and got to be thinking about what might happen in the next 20 to 30 years. We need to encourage young people to get into farming.”

On attitude “Think about your market, not just your production.”

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

4 news

PM sets upbeat tone to Fieldays Peter Burke reports from Mystery Creek.

Prime Minister John Key address the Fieldays opening.

“I’VE BEEN coming to this event for many years, but I’ve never come when the weather has been so good and the agriculture sector in such great shape.”

Prime Minister John Key’s comments in opening last week’s Fieldays set the scene for an upbeat event.

“It’s the Government’s view that we’ll see strong prices across all sectors of agriculture for many years to come,” he enthused.

But despite great weather and economic optimism, there was a sense this isn’t the year of

the big, or rash spenders.

The theme of Breaking Barriers to Productivity was most appropriate given the state of New Zealand farming. Wool is trying to regain the ground it’s lost over the past 20 years and the lamb and beef sector are making another attempt (hopefully successful this time) to position itself for the future.

The Leaders Breakfast (see p5) was just one of many such forums run at the Fieldays, several by banks.

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event very highly and reckons it gets better every year.

In line with the Breaking Barriers theme, AgResearch and other science institutions were showcasing their role in technology transfer.

And, once again, Fieldays had a strong international presence.

Flying the flag for Ireland was their Honorary Consul in New Zealand, Rodney Walshe. A highly successful businessman, Walshe is confident that exports to Ireland from New Zealand can expand beyond wine, dried fruit and nuts.

“An unusual cocktail,” he admits, adding superior New Zealand wine is now

starting to displace French wine on Ireland’s supermarket shelves.

Walshe believes Ireland and New Zealand have a lot in common and think in similar ways.

Ireland offers New Zealand a route into the European Union, while Ireland is keen to increase its exports of farm equipment and technologies to New Zealand. A number of Irish companies were represented on the stands.

A “solid” first day gate of 26,467 was 1% up on last year. Fieldays chairman Warwick Roberts predicted “productive investments and deferred maintenance” would be addressed by farmers following a couple of years in survival mode.

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zling array from massive machines to nanotechnology.

But out on the stands the mood was mixed.

Site holders spoken to by Rural News reported sporadic success on the selling front. Some said they were doing good business, others said it was quieter than usual.

Dairy farmer, Mike Kooyman of Otorohanga was among the many farmers filling the Mystery Creek laneways. He was there to see the latest and greatest innovations in farming, but wasn’t going to buy on the day.

“It’s a great way to benchmark products.”

He says he’ll probably buy later, but rates the

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BEING WOOL week, it was fitting a special recent years, and even some of the farming Fieldays Premier Feature was sponsored families visiting the exhibit weren’t fully aware of the benefits of wool.

by Primary Wool Cooperative “We’ve got a generation of with a big display in the main people, both internationally pavilion focused on the fibre. and domestically, that don’t Stuart Chapman, managing understand the values and attridirector of PWC co-owner of butes of wool.”

Elders, told Rural News those He says the only way to who say the wool industry isn’t change that is education and it working well together have got Stuart Chapman has to be targeted. it wrong. He says the Fieldays “We can only do this in conjunction exhibit, with representatives from across the sector, was a reflection of the indus- with our retailers, so we skill them-up on the attributes of wool so when they are try’s unity.

But Chapman admits the industry has selling product to consumers they can ‘up been very remiss at promoting itself in sell’ its values.”

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news 5

Breakfast briefing sets the scene A LEADERS Breakfast organised by KPMG on the first morning of Fieldays provided a valuable insight into the primary sector.

KPMG recently published a comprehensive review of the industry and many of the themes articulated in its report were elaborated on at the function. Attendees were the movers and shakers of the agribusiness sector – bankers, science leaders, economists, researchers, accountants and CEO’s and senior managers.

Agriculture Minister, David Carter says New Zealand should “thank God for agriculture”, especially given its performance during the past year and clear indication that it’s set to repeat the good news for the next

five or so.

However, like many of the speakers and other participants at the function, Carter predicted a ‘rational’ approach to spending at Fieldays. He sees the focus for farmers in the coming months as using any surplus profits to retire debt and take care of the basics such as fencing and fertiliser.

“I don’t believe there will be a huge rush on buying.”

ANZ’s Graham Turley spoke of the need for farmers to focus on profitability and ensure any new developments are properly costed and not left to guesswork. He says sound financial management, forecasting and strategic planning, combined with good farm management

skills are the pathway to profitability.

KPMG’s Ian Proudfoot says while things are looking good for New Zealand, agribusiness has to continue to seek out innovative ways to retain its place in global markets.

AgResearch chairman Sam Robinson says in the past CRI’s sometimes tended to do research that scientists thought the industry needed. But he says under the recent CRI reforms, this is set to change.

“The research will still go on at the bench and in the paddocks, but it will be guided by what the sector is looking for, as opposed to what the scientists think the sector needs.”

Robinson says for this new model to work well, there needs to be a good connection between farmers and scientists to build good relationships and collectively drive science that best benefits the country.

AgResearch will place more emphasis on ‘Tech-

AgResearch chairman Sam Robinson at Fieldays.

nology Transfer’, but Robinson doubts whether it will get back to the days of the Ruakura Farmers conference, which used to run in conjunction with the Fieldays.

“We are wholesal-

ers of information and the sector is the retailer and the farmer is the customer. So if we go direct to the dairy farmers in say Horowhenua, we are by-passing the middleman who’s collecting the

levy. So we are using Beef + Lamb and DairyNZ to do the tech transfer to farmers,” he says.

Robinson stresses the overall goal is to ensure more technology transfer gets done.

O’Connor notes caution LABOUR’S AGRICULTURE spokesman, Damien O’Connor, told Rural News he was picking up a sense of caution among the crowds at the event.

But he admitted that anyone with spare cash who came to the event could be easily tempted by what was on show.

“What retailers and people around the wider economy are realising is that the money from agriculture flows around the economy.

People here are trying to sell everything from toy helicopters to 300 horsepower tractors. It’s a whole range which is generated from primary production at the farm gate.

“Fieldays is a great opportunity to bridge that urban rural divide and I think they do a really good job.”

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

6 news N OW D A P P R OV E N FOR USE O MERINOS

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“FOR A few years we were hiding in the back blocks and now it’s our turn to shine,” says independent wool merchant and broker, Philippa Wright.

And the Waipukurau-based Wright should know, having been in the business for 35 years and ridden the highs and lows. She started out as a rousie, graduated to work for various wool businesses then went out on her own.

Wright is president of the New Zealand Woolbrokers Association and on the steering committee for the Campaign for Wool – which had its New Zealand launch in Wellington (see p8-9) earlier this month. The launch generated “a surge of excitement” with the wide range of guests, she says.

“Wool has been such a huge part of New Zealand’s heritage. Our challenge now is to take that to the next generation. We need to get that same excitement and pride. If wool is used world-wide it will create wealth for us.”

The great thing about the campaign is it’s the most natural and genuine promotion, making wool fashionable and desirable again, she adds.

“This resurgence is being cre-

Wright’s view on wool partners WITH TIME dragging on, Wright told Rural News she doesn’t believe Wool Partners will succeed in creating a farmer-owned co-operative.

“It doesn’t seem to have any traction and I don’t think they will receive enough financial backing.

They’ve tried to fix the wool industry, but they’ve gone about it in the wrong way.

“Various New Zealand groups have spent millions of dollars on surveys to investigate what needs to be improved from farm-gate to ship and found out it saves very little in dollar terms. Why not concentrate instead on how we sell our product?”

She says even if they rid the

ated by the whole industry working together.

“Having HRH Prince Charles at the helm is huge.”

The NZ wool industry has put $500,000 into it already, though most of the campaign has been created through voluntary effort.

Wright “drew the short straw” and represented the campaign on TV ONE’s Breakfast programme.

domestic industry of “middlemen” such as herself, the job of collating and sorting the clip still has to be done.

“It’s the same for the scouring and shipping; because NZ is so far from the markets, we’ve developed a hugely efficient and professional service for getting wool from farm to markets.”

As for Cavalier’s bid for Wool Services International and its scours, Wright’s watching with interest.

“WSI has been the largest exporter of NZ wool and suddenly the industry is going to have to finance their part of the business.

There’s a way to go before it gets completely sorted.”

“I got a question briefing and it was supposed to be about the launching of Wool Week, the fact that it’s a five year global campaign and talking about wool as a wonder fibre, and that is what I tried to get across.”

However, presenter Corin Dann’s questions about disruption in the sector took her by surprise.

“He was obviously angling for something more controversial.”

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AGRICULTURE MINISTER David Carter will have an audience with Prince Charles as part of a two week trip to Italy and the UK. The meeting with Prince Charles will be to discuss the ongoing promotion of wool.

Prince Charles is the patron of a major international campaign to woo back manufacturers and consumers to wool.

He is a very active supporter of the campaign and at the recent launch of the New Zealand campaign (see

above) gave a keynote speech via DVD. There is talk of a possible visit to New Zealand by Prince Charles at some stage in the future.

On his way to the UK, Carter will visit two woollen mills in the Italian city of Milan, which have a close relationship with Merino New Zealand. He’ll then go to Rome to attend a meeting of the FAO and will represent New Zealand in electing a new Director General of the FAO “While in Rome I’ll be attending the first ministerial conference of the

Global Research Alliance which is the New Zealand initiative around agricultural green house gas mitigation technologies.

“Tim Groser will chair the meeting which will have representatives from 33 countries.

“I will be representing New Zealand as the Agriculture Minister,” says Carter.

After Italy, he will fly to London for a series of meetings with supermarket executives and other buyers of New Zealand primary products.

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

news 7

Political football fear for dairy One way to counter the negative perception of dairying is getting urban New Zealanders to better understand dairyDAIRY PRICES will be a “political footing. ball” in the build up to the election and Van der Heyden says small herd all farmers can help ensure fair play, owners should use their voice says Fonterra chairman Henry to get to New Zealanders. He van der Heyden. dismisses the notion small Special legislation for Fondairy farmers are not heard terra and record payouts don’t in the industry. Every Fonhelp the public perception. terra farmer has a vote in the “They realise Fonterra can co-op, he says. only be controlled by farmers “Whether you proand urban New Zealanders duce 50,000kgMS or cannot be part of the co-op.”

100,000kgMS, whether you Consumers see farmer milk brown or black cows, it’s incomes going up on the back the voice that counts. That’s of greater demand for dairy Henry van der Heyden and motivational speaker Allan Baker what each farmer should products, but they are the chat at SMASH. leverage. ones paying at supermarket “The challenge is to get New Zeabelieves urban New Zealanders should checkouts.

“They feel the pain while we feel the regard dairying as an opportunity. He landers on side with the dairy industold the SMASH meeting being a dairy try and every dairy farmer has a role to gain,” admits Van der Heyden. play.”

MAF recently told a Parliamentary farmer is “a lot of hard work”.

Van der Heyden says while it took “We wake up at 4.30am to milk cows. select committee retail milk prices are driven by international milk powder If the urban dwellers look upon dairy- Fonterra’s first six years to “get the prices. But it is continuing to investi- ing as a privilege, then they should also organisation up and running”, he’s now gate how Fonterra sets the price it pays look at it as an opportunity and join the getting a sense of “spirit, unity and pride in the co-op now” from shareholders. to farmers for raw milk. The Commerce industry.”

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Commission is also trying to establish whether a retail milk price inquiry is warranted.

Fonterra Shareholders Council Northland member Terence Brocx

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“We’ve hit the ground running.

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Barham says after a period of planning, farmers are now seeing the repair work take shape and are consequently feeling a lot more positive.

Although they are: “all pretty damn fragile – they have their good and bad days.”

Fencing to enable stock rotation is the first priority. Some of it will be temporary while the soil remains wet.

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

8 news

Campaign kicks-off in Wellington pet e r bu rke

WELLINGTON’S RAILWAY station suddenly became the Wellington sheep station as the New Zealand industry

ears’ and ‘philo’ – to greet early morning commuters as they headed to their offices in the city.

The sight of cute kids and lambs stopped people in their tracks.

launched its part of Global Wool Week.

Amanda and Charlotte Jephson, from Palliser Bay Station in the Wairarapa, came along with their pet lambs – ‘spotty

So did two models resplendent in special black, fine wool singlets created by some of the country’s leading designers. However for this fashion show, high heels Platform attendants: Amanda and Charlotte Jephson with pet lambs Spotty and Philo met commuters at Wellington station.

gave way to Red Bands, somewhat bewildering onlookers. There were also shearing demonstrations and samples of wool for people to look at and touch.

By mid morning the focus shifted to Wellington’s Lambton Quay and to a popular gathering spot in the city, on a fine day, Midland Park. Until the 1980s, this had been the site of the Midland Hotel, where farmers visiting the capital normally stayed. The hotel is gone and there is hardly a smidgen of grass for the sheep to graze.

The early fine weather

gave way to the inevitable rain, but it didn’t stop champion shearer Tony Dobbs showing his skills to the lunchtime crowds.

MP Colin King, a former champion shearer, one of the active supporters of the event also got in on the act by shearing a sheep or two. Despite the rain, there was a steady stream of onlookers keen to learn more about wool which has almost slipped off the radar of many New Zealanders.

Undoubtedly the organising committee saved the best for last, with a sparkling evening promoting New Zealand

wool. Held in the Grand Hall of Massey University (formerly the National Museum), it provided a unique setting for more shearing demonstrations and a fashion parade.

Twelve, almost unbelievable, rural garments were paraded before an audience that included fashion designers, business leaders, politicians, farmers and wool industry leaders. Wool decorations including couches, plinths and stands with some of the garments set out for guests to see and touch.

Among the guests was the chairman of the Interto page 9

On the stand: Tony Dobbs demonstrates blade shearing in Midland Park.

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

news 9 A first for NZ wool

High fashion: models show some wool wear at the launch.

Feel the fleece: city folk find out where wool comes from.

Campaign kicks off from page 8

national Campaign for Wool – the person who deals with the patron, Prince Charles – John Thorley. He says when the idea of promoting wool was raised in the UK it quickly became apparent that it needed to be a global campaign.

“In the report I put

to Prince Charles, I said if the campaign was confined to Britain it would have absolutely no legs and that it wouldn’t get anywhere. I said it is vitally important that we regard it as a global proposition and one in which every country that has anything to do with wool becomes a subscriber.”

Campaign details THE CAMPAIGN for Wool is a global initiative that aims to bring wool back into fashion.

The goal is to highlight wool as a fibre that is an eco-friendly and durable option compared to cheaper and more disposable alternatives.

Patron of the campaign is Prince Charles, who is Britain’s most notable sheep farmer, launched the initiative in September last year with a Wool Week focused on Saville Row, London.

Research commissioned by the Prince suggests that wool and its outstanding characteristics have been forgotten due to the rise in popularity of synthetic fibres and the rush to embrace all things new.

The Campaign for Wool brings together farming and textile industries with wool organisations from across the world. Countries involved include New Zealand, Australia, UK, Norway, USA, Uruguay and South Africa. Promotional activities have also taken place in China and Japan.

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STEPHEN FOOKES, chairman of the local organising committee, says the New Zealand wool industry has never done anything on such a grand scale like this before.

And more will be done in the future to expose wool to New Zealanders.

Fookes says the New Zealand wool industry has made a cash commitment to the campaign of $2.5 million over the next five years, with an equal amount of ‘in kind’ support as well.

“One of the things we’ve had about

this campaign is for the first time in my 35 years in the industry, virtually all the key parts of the sector working together – co-operating and volunteering, donating their time so it’s really fantastic.”

Fookes says that New Zealand has lost sight of the value of wool.

“This campaign is bringing wool back to where it belongs,” he says.

Fookes reckons the campaign, complete with patronage of Prince Charles, is the best chance wool has of making a comeback.

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

10 news

Bee losses threaten upland productivity Federated Farmers High Country held its annual conference in Christchurch earlier this month. Andrew Swallow reports.

HILL AND high country seed and fertiliser costs will soar, or productivity tumble, if action isn’t taken to maintain bee populations on such properties.

Varroa is sweeping south and it is “only a matter of time before you won’t get any bees on your farm,” AsureQuality’s Tony Roper warned conference delegates.

Without bees, clover won’t seed and will become sparse or absent from swards. While lowland farmers can renew pasture and or apply nitrogen fertiliser instead, albeit at a cost, for those with steeper, less accessible country, such options become prohibitively pricey.

“There is a third option,” Roper’s colleague, Marco Gonzalez says. “Encourage managed hives on your property, either seasonally or permanently. We believe that’s the sensible solution for the high country.”

Roper says in fertiliser value alone, the nitrogen clover fixes is worth nearly $2 billion nationwide, not to mention the nutritional quality it adds to pasture.

But beekeepers face increased costs of $30 to $40/ hive due to varroa, with more frequent checks needed.

That makes more distant sites less economic for them, meaning remote farms are less likely to attract beekeepers.

That’s particularly the case if the farm has little or no vegetation with good pollen and/or nectar for bees, says Roper.

To help the beekeeper, farmers should protect hives from stock, particularly cattle, and offer sunny hive

Making high country farms attractive to beekeepers could be key to keeping pasture pumping.

Seeking bee-friendly farms How bee-friendly is your farm?

If you think it has most of the features Roper and Gonzalez outline as being good for bees, they’d like to hear from you.

“We want a high country farm where people can visit and see how it has become beefriendly,” says Gonzalez.

sites with shelter and nearby clean water.

They should also avoid spraying crops where bees are working, or where they are likely to be working before the spray dries.

Even herbicides and fungicides can be lethal to bees because the surfactants in the mix effectively suffocate a foraging bee, explains Roper.

Longer-term, when planting for shelter, amenity, erosion control, timber or riparian protection, look to

plant species which have high quality pollen or nectar for bees and flower at times of year when other food sources are scarce, typically early spring and late autumn, he advises.

Many trees do just that, such as the Sydney blue Gum (Eucalyptus saligna) which has 28% protein pollen. However, some other widelyused species, such as Radiata pine, are useless from the bee’s perspective because the pollen has just 9% protein.

“Ideally we want over 25% protein but over 20% is good.”

Ironically, gorse, which features on many regional plant pest strategies, is an excellent source of pollen for bees, particularly in winter and early spring. “So maybe there is a place for gorse within the farm system,” suggests Gonzalez.

A MAF Sustainable Farming Fund project, Trees for Bees, joint funded

by Feds and now in its third year, is building an extensive list of such multi-purpose species. Preliminary advice, region by region, is already available on www.treesforbeesnz.org

Get together to get geese IF YOU think you are going to control Canada geese on your own – now they have been declared a pest and are no longer Fish & Game’s responsibility – think again, delegates at Federated Farmers High Country conference have been told.

A coordinated approach to culling the cunning bird is essential to avoid creating gun-shy and well-nigh impossible to kill flocks, Hugh Robinson, a high country farmer and pilot with considerable aerial culling experience, says.

“If we all shoot the hell out of them we probably won’t kill a lot, but we will change the way they behave. To contain geese numbers will become incredibly difficult.”

In Robinson’s experience, waiting until

flocks are on water and then shooting from the air is the most effective strategy.

“You get just about every bird.”

He says aerial shooting of mobs on land only has about a 50% success rate.

A motion was passed at the conference to form a goose control group, with all stakeholders invited to join, including DOC, Airports Authority, LINZ and Fish & Game.

Feds High Country chairman Graham Reed told Rural News he’s hopeful Fish & Game will still want to contribute to culls, albeit with fewer geese to shoot at if the strategy is successful.

“We’re aiming for eradication, but everyone accepts that’s probably unachievable.”

Hieracium group had its day?

TWENTY YEARS ago hieracium was the new bane of the High Country While it is still a widespread problem, research into its control has fallen on hard times.

“Hieracium has lost its sex appeal, if it ever had it and the funding has dried up on us,” Hieracium Control Trust chairman John Aspinall told Feds High Country conference.

The situation is so bad the Trust has a $16,500 deficit and Aspinall proposes it be wound up – even though its work is far from done.

“It’s had its time and wilding trees and rabbits are coming back.”

Since the Trust’s formation in the early 1990s it has attracted over $2 million from a diverse range of organisations, most of which has been invested in biocontrol research by Landcare. From a global search, five insect species which attack the five main varieties of the weed were selected, imported and released.

“There’s not much point taking out one species [of hieracium] if it is just replaced by another. That’s why we wanted a range of biocontrol agents that attack all five

main species.”

A strain of the fungal disease rust which favours hieracium as its host has also been released.

“There’s also a powdery mildew out there now doing its own thing,” notes Aspinall.

Just how effective these controls will be remain to be seen. Hence the frustration with the funding failure.

“We set about bringing in biological control agents and we’ve achieved that. It would be nice to be able to monitor their releases.”

But with such small insects released into vast landscapes, initial monitoring is like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

“When you go back and can’t find them it doesn’t mean they’re not there. It may take 10-15 years for populations to reach a detectable level.”

Some, such as the hieracium gall wasp, which was released at 166 sites, have shown up in monitoring already. But others, which had more limited releases, are yet to be detected.

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

news 11

Access sign liability warning andr ew swa l low

THE WALKING Access Commission’s signs indicating when and where people may cross farmland could land you in hot water under the Health, Safety and Employment Act. Speaking to last week’s Federated Farmers High Country conference in Christchurch, Queenstown-based solicitor Maurice Maxwell warned that if such a sign is displayed, landowners or managers also have a duty to warn

people of any out-of-the-ordinary hazards they may encounter.

“If you’ve not identified any hazards, arguably – and it’s not happened yet – if there was a hazard that you’d not made someone aware of and they’re injured, you could be held liable...

“It seems to me if you are going to have one of those signs up you need to have one saying beware live fences, angry bulls, etc as well.”

Maxwell says the level of care needed is ramped up when people are

paying for access, for whatever purpose.

“Then you have to take all practical steps to ensure people are not harmed on your land.”

In that situation, simply identifying a hazard is inadequate. A suitable plan on how to react should that hazard come into play is needed. Walking Access Commission chief executive Mark Neeson told Rural News it is the first time Maxwell’s point has been raised and it will be “taken on board.”

“What we’re trying to do is encour-

age farmers to identify access ways or points they would prefer people to use for access.”

Neeson says uptake of the signs has so far been slow, but neither the Commission nor Feds has promoted them.

That will soon change, and a range of other organisations, including Fish & Game, Landcorp and Rural Women, are keen to have signs made for members with the appropriate organisation logo in the corner.

At last year’s High Country con-

ference, Neeson’s revelation that the Commission put all paper roads on its mapping system attracted sharp criticism. As a result of the concerns raised, the system is still in “test mode.”

“We hope in one month to make a formal release, but it is open to use by anyone at this stage.”

He justifies the publish-all policy, regardless of whether the road is on the grounds it is not the Access Commission’s job to sift the Land Information data.

Biodiversity NPS biggest threat THE MINISTRY of Environment’s National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity is “an ideology that could have a huge negative impact” on hill and high country farming, says Federated Farmers High Country chairman Graham Reed.

Delivering his address to the section’s annual conference he slammed the proposal as “alarming” and “potentially the biggest threat we face.”

“No-one would argue against protecting our native biodiversity but... the right to remove re-growth shrub is essential for pastoral farming on many of our farms. Without it we lose most of our grazing within a generation or so. It’s that simple.”

Reed fears the NPS will be used by local council planners to discourage indigenous vegetation clearance.

“We have made a submission on this document and suggested that when the authors of the proposal return to the planet they want to save they look for some sensible solutions.

“Crown land, for instance, could be used for offsetting vegetation removal elsewhere.”

Reed notes, as it stands, the proposal specifically exempts Crown land from the NPS. “This seems very much like a case of ‘do as I say’ rather than ‘follow my example’.”

Feds High Country recently met with Ministers for Conservation and Biosecurity promoting the advantages of grazing retired pastoral land now in the conservation estate. The response was encouraging, says Reed.

Carter questioned on biosecurity AGRICULTURE MINISTER David Carter spoke on three issues – Government plans for high country management; biosecurity and emissions trading – provoking questions; particularly on the last two.

Feds’ South Canterbury president, William Rolleston, asked whether making “exacerbaters” of biosecurity risks pay is still on the agenda.

Carter stressed $80m to $125m is recovered from importers every year, but dismissed an incoming passenger levy, especially as half the passengers coming in “are probably returning New Zealanders anyway.”

Feds national vice president, Donald Aubrey, questioned the fairness of Government Industry Agreement (GIA) cost sharing proposals. Carter maintained making sectors share the cost is about sending “the right signals as to what is important.”

“What I’ve found from the incursions that have occurred in my time is that as soon as they’ve happened the industry affected has come running saying this is going to destroy us.

“We can’t afford to eliminate everything. What we need to do is find out what’s important.”

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

12 news

Export ban reignites beef row a l an harman

AMID THE chaos of a ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia, the Australian Beef Association (ABA) has renewed its civil war against Meat and Livestock Australia – calling for a judicial inquiry into its operations.

The association unsuccessfully attempted to

have MLA wound up during its annual meeting last November and says big vote holders are calling for an extraordinary general meeting of the MLA to reconsider the motion.

“Indonesia represents our fourth largest international market and through their inaction the MLA has lost it,” ABA chairman Brad Bellinger says. “MLA

is responsible for the scandal through their astounding incompetence in sending people to Indonesia with flawed equipment and ignorance of humane slaughter procedures.”

Bellringer maintains MLA cannot be relied upon to fix the problem, “when they themselves are part of the problem,” and the Indonesian issue is

just one of many examples of incompetence.

He says eight MLA managers have salaries over $A300,000 and the organisation has a A$171million budget, yet Australian cattlemen get the lowest prices in the developed world, “with further drops expected over their latest stuff up.”

“A retired judge must

be found to do a fully independent review of the whole appalling meat industry structure.”

The ABA also wants government to allow an $A40-million Industry Reserve Fund to be used to compensate northern cattle producers who face bankruptcy following monsoon floods and now the export ban.

Bellinger says the fierce debate over the appalling slaughter procedures in Indonesia shows Australia’s meat industry governance is “totally dysfunctional”.

Processors support the ban because they want cheap northern cattle to kill, he says.

“They haven’t shown the initiative to rebuild any of the long closed northern meat works and now call for producers to pay $A200 plus per head to send their cattle 2,000 to 3,000km to their southern abattoirs. The impact on the domestic market will be diabolical.”

Bellinger also blasts the Cattle Council of Australia, which is meant to represent beef producers’ interests.

“Their silence over this serious issue has been deafening.”

MLA says the live trade ban won’t result in a rush of cattle into Australian processors because the cattle placed on ships to Indonesia are typically

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“Therefore, the most impact for the entire beef industry will be felt in the medium term if the situation is not resolved quickly, as heavier cattle move through to slaughter in 6-18 months time.”

MLA chairman Don Heatley says the industry is confident it can work with the Australian and Indonesian governments to deliver a solution.

“We are pleased that the government has indicated it will work with the Indonesian Government, as well as the Australian and Indonesian industries to implement a solution.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig hasn’t ruled out an inquiry into the MLA, saying he first needs to see evidence about the organisation’s activities.

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

news 13

Wheat breeders battling rust a l an harman

US SCIENTISTS believe they are close to producing varieties of wheat resistant to the virulent stem rust, Ug99.

David Hodson, of the international cereal rust monitoring system at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, told a global wheat rust symposium in Minneapolis last week that Ug99 is now in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen, Iran, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eritrea. Yemen is a particular concern as Ug99 is well-established and pre-

“We have made tremendous progress on the science side, but now we need to see progress on the development side.” a single variety which can withstand the disease.

More than 20 countries now contribute data to the Ug99 surveillance and monitoring system, compared to only two in 2007. Efforts are underway to add 10 more.

However, Coffman and his colleagues say significant obstacles still have to be overcome before new varieties can replace the susceptible wheats grown across about 225

ment have resistance to all three rusts of wheat: stem rust, yellow rust and leaf rust. Some new varieties yield 10% to 15% more than current cultivars.

“We have made tremendous progress on the science side, but now we need to see progress on the development side,” Singh says. “Scientists can only do so

much. We need to see national governments making the investments in seed systems development, including seed production and distribution.

In many areas there will need to be support and leadership from wealthy countries and international institutions to carry these innovations into farmers’ fields.”

Yellow rust now common NEW DATA presented at the symposium confirms yellow rust is now common in the world’s warmer wheat-growing regions, causing up to 40% losses in countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Scientists from the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas say yellow rust epidemics have spread rapidly into areas where the disease has not previously caused economic losses, they say.

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vailing winds could carry the pathogen towards South Asia.

“Future spread of these variants is inevitable,” says Hodson.

India, Pakistan, and even Australia and the Americas could eventually be hit.

Ronnie Coffman, who heads the durable rust resistance in wheat project at Cornell University which is co-ordinating the fight against the disease, says we are facing the “prospect of a biological firestorm”.

“But it’s also clear the research community has responded to the threat at top speed and we are getting results in the form of new varieties that are resistant to rust and appealing to farmers.”

Work on breeding resistance to the rust started five years ago. The focus is on finding genetic resistance that can be transferred to local varieties, rather than creating

million ha of South Asia, the Middle East, China, Europe, Australia and North America.

“Now it’s a question of whether nations are willing to invest the political and economic capital necessary for agricultural research to secure the world’s wheat supply.”

Researchers at Penn State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are adapting a system used to forecast soybean rust movements to track how Ug99 might travel from Africa by wind into wheat-growing regions of the US. Wheat breeding expert Ravi Singh of the Mexicobased International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre and colleagues from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and the USDA, told the symposium new varieties under develop-

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

14 agribusiness

Grape growers’ pain persists SU D ES H K I SSU N

THE WINE industry is in for another challenging year, with more business failures, according to KPMG’s Agribusiness Agenda 2011.

The report, prepared after interviews with 80 business leaders, warns liquidity remains the biggest challenge for winer-

ies.

KPMG head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot says there will be pressure on many distressed wineries to consolidate into larger groupings. This will give wineries scale to compete effectively in global markets with specialisation in production and marketing. He adds that bulk wine exports’ role

needs reviewing.

“Work needs to be done to understand what a two-tier branded and bulk model will look like in the long-term. So that value can be extracted from bulk business by moving the price point up from breakeven or below, making bulk wine a profitable business.”

The wine indus-

try enjoyed a decade of unstoppable growth on the back of the global success of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. It achieved great success securing premium price points for NZ wines and attracted premium prices in key export markets, particularly the UK and Australia.

Prices paid for grapes reflected the limited

supply of high quality product and profits were good in the industry right along the value chain from grower to retailer.

This success attracted many investors to the industry, pushing up land prices significantly, with much land investment and development being debt financed.

However, all this

changed in 2008 when the largest vintage ever – a result of new plantings coming on stream – occurred at the same time as demand for premium wines collapsed.

The global financial crisis changed the dynamics of the New Zealand wine industry forever, says Proudfoot.

“The most notable change is the growth that

has occurred in the export of bulk wine rather than bottled branded wine,” he says.

Bulk wine represented a small proportion of exports before 2008, but today accounts for around a third of all exports. Many wine producers got into bulk exports in order to realise cash from their excess stocks of wine, he says.

Debt servicing struggle FALLING REVENUE and excess inventory saw the prices paid for grapes fall.

Profits have turned to losses leaving many in the industry struggling to service their liabilities to the banks and unable to sell their land.

Proudfoot notes there has been almost no market for vineyard land at any price in recent years.

“Many borrowers have only managed to service their debt by clearing aged inventory, an option which has been exhausted for many wineries heading into 2011,” he says.

But even with inventories back in balance, liquidity remains the biggest challenge for the wine industry.

The report says it’s likely the industry has at least another year of challenging trading conditions ahead, and more business failures can be expected.

“Many companies in the sector have weak balance sheets and are being forced to pick and process all the grapes they can this year to try to balance the books.

This creates long-term risks to the industry if quality is sacrificed.”

Challenges acknowledged NEW ZEALAND Winegrowers’ chief executive Philip Gregan accepts challenges still remain for the industry, but says there’s cause for cautious optimism.

He says more grapes were picked in response to rising sales and the vintage should support sales growth of up to 7% for June year end 2012.

“New Zealand wine sales have been very strong in the past year (equivalent to 310,000t of grapes) and a larger harvest was needed in 2011 to rebuild inventory and support current and future sales.”

This year’s harvest, at 328,000t, is slightly up on the predicted 310,000t intake. The gain came mostly from Marlborough, Nelson, Waipara and Central Otago, fuelled by generally good weather yielding larger crops of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Sauvignon Blanc quality is expected to be good.

By comparison North Island output of varieties such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah fell.

“Nevertheless, we expect some excellent wines to be produced, albeit in slightly smaller volumes than last year,” Gregan concludes.

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

agribusiness 15

Overseas directors lacking?

SU D ES H K I SSU N

NEW ZEALAND’S agricultural exporters may be missing out on subtle changes in consumer demand because they lack overseas directors, according to an agribusiness report released earlier this month.

KPMG’s Agribusiness Agenda 2011 includes an analysis of the Companies Office list of directors. It shows only 10% of directors in key agribusiness companies live overseas and some of our major exporters have no international directors; Alliance, Silver Fern Farms and Zespri included.

Fonterra has two Australian directors – John Ballard and Ralph Waters – on its 13-member board, while PGG

Wrightson, now majority-owned by China’s Agria, has two overseas directors out of eight.

KPMG head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot says getting the director mix right was a recurring theme during interviews with 80 agribusiness leaders in preparation for the report.

“One area it was suggested that boards are often lacking is the level of in-market international business knowledge and experience which enables a board to guide the strategy for marketing.”

While Proudfoot accepts local directors may have international business experience, companies are not appointing directors “who are

Dairy driving debt down LATEST LENDING figures show farm debt is down by a billion and dairy is most likely the driver, says DairyNZ. Painting a positive outlook for last week’s National Fieldays, chief executive Tim Mackle said the reduced debt burden and increased production has cut Tim Mackle average term liabilities on dairy farms 7%, from $21.65/ kgMS in June 2010 to around $20.15/kgMS in June 2011.

“Should the current high international demand for New Zealand dairy products continue, it’s likely we’ll see more debt reduction this coming season, along with some increase in discretionary expenditure.”

But he cautions against complacency.

“The only thing certain in global markets today is volatility, so we’re continuing to encourage farmers

to keep focusing on producing milk more efficiently and sustainably, reducing the cost of production to remain competitive and lowering debt levels,” he says.

DairyNZ provisionally puts national production up 5.3% in 2010/11 at 1.5bn kgMS. “The end result is excellent for dairy farmers and positive for the country as a whole.”

That’s acknowledged by TV One Breakfast presenter Corin Dann.

In an opinion piece headed ‘Why shaky Christchurch needs wealthy farmers’, he says: “So don’t dwell on those high cheese prices when you see farmers smiling at Fieldays this week. It’s not often they get good prices and good growing conditions at the same time in this country.”

See www.tvnz.co.nz and enter Dann’s name in the search box.

living on a day-to-day basis in their key markets.”

“Consequently they are not in a position to pick up on the subtle changes in consumer demand that are continuously occurring.”

Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden told Rural News he believes it is less about where the directors are living, than them having a global business perspective.

However, he says an Asia-based director is being considered as exports to the region grow.

As for local directors, KPMG says low fees and the time demanded by governance roles means many talented, potential leaders are unwilling to commit to them, preferring to

focus efforts behind their own farm gate.

“For these individuals, even the remuneration offered does not compensate them for the opportunity cost that the time taken in a leadership role represents for their own business,” says Proudfoot.

“We received numerous comments suggesting that in order to attract the best talent onto boards, the remuneration being offered to these individuals for taking the role needs to appropriately reflect what they sacrifice to become a director.”

Catastrophic year but solid result says FMG RURAL INSURER FMG’s $10 million profit for the year ending 31 March 2011 is a solid result from a “catastrophic year” for the insurance industry, says FMG chief executive Chris Black.

At a Fieldays breakfast briefing Black said Canterbury’s earthquakes and three major storms had made 2010/11 the worst concentrated period of natural disasters in FMG’s 106 year history.

The after tax profit of $10m was down on the previous year’s $19.3m.

Black says FMG’s total gross cost of earthquake claims was $50m, less than 15% of FMG’s reinsurance cover, and the net earthquake cost was $7.2m.

The earthquakes led to 1660 claims of which 40% have so far been resolved.

FMG chairman Greg Gent compares the tough year to riding the mechanical bull FMG had on its Fieldays site.

“But I have massive pride in what our people have done during what has been the most testing time we’ve had in

a long time.”

Gent says signs for agriculture are improving and in all his years working in agribusiness he has never seen all sectors buoyant at the same time, as they are now.

Black says FMG aims to grow its current 40% rural market share and increase earnings from the sector from Greg Gent $76m/year to over $100m.

Total revenue for 2011 was $131.4m, so FMG’s growth aspirations are bold.

The company’s strategy is to build its capital base to reduce reliance on reinsurers.

Rating agency AM Best recently reaffirmed its credit rating of FMG as “A” (Excellent).

in brief conversions coming?

LATEST FARM sales figures suggest another wave of dairy conversions is building for 2011/12.

Real Estate Institute NZ says 364 farms sold in the three months to May 2011, with Waikato, Canterbury and Southland leading the way.

“The upturn in farm sales that came through in the April data has continued into May, with a further lift in grazing and dairy support property sales in the South Island,” says REINZ Rural Market Spokesman Brian Peacocke.

“However, farm prices are not moving up as yet. Buyers remain cautious and are clearly doing their due diligence. There is also further anecdotal evidence of finance becoming easier to source for good quality farms.”

Winter sheep management 2011 Set your farm up for a productive lambing season Winter is here, which means it’s time to think about the body condition of your ewes.

At PGG Wrightson we’ll help you choose the right treatments for the best results in the months ahead.

Get your free Winter Sheep Management guide in-store now!

Winter sheep management

2011

Pyrimide®

sheep management Your essential guide to the winter months through

Expert advice on: 03 Ewe condition page 04 Internal parasites page 06 Drench & vaccine page Sheep lice page 08

> Stable Suspension Technology for a consistent dose every time. > Abamectin, albendazole, levamisole oral combination drench. > Flows well through drench guns.

Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No A10016

COOPERS® MULTINE® Plain or Selenised

Cydectin® LA Injection

COOPERS MAGNUM®

> Clostridial vaccine (5-in-1). > Protects the ewe against ‘blood poisoning’ at lambing and protects the lamb with passive immunity for up to 12 weeks.

> Moxidectin, high potency. > Easy to use - one quick jab! > Great upfront kill to susceptible worms. > 112 day Ostertagia Persistent activity.

> Water-based IGR pour-on that prevents flystrike and controls lice. > Diflubenzuron. > Nil meat withhold. > Guaranteed lice control when you follow the COOPERS 10 Point Lice Management Plan.

Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No A934, A935

Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No A9926

Registered pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997, No A7704

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

  



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 

 

 



 

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

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

 

    

 

 

 



  

 

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 











  

     









 

 

 



 

















































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

















































































 













  



 

 











 







 



 

 

 























  















 





















 























 



 

  

 

 

































 

 





























 





 



  

  



 



 



















 





 

 







 











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















 

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

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 

 





 

 

 

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

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

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  





 



 

 



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 

 

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 

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

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  





 



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 

 







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 

 

 











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













 

  

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

 

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011 

  



                                                                                              



 







 

 

 











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

























































 











 

 







 

 







































 













 

 















































 











 





 

 



















 



  









 



 





                                                                          





                                                                                               



 



















 









                                              



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 

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

20 opinion editorial

edna

Reports the easy part IF YOU work in agriculture, on farm or in the allied trades, two recent reports are well worth a flick through.

Make that three, if you haven’t yet picked up a copy of the Red Meat Sector Strategy.

MAF’s annual Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry, aka SONZAF, was released last week. It’s somewhat staid compared to KPMG’s Agribusiness Agenda which preceded it by a week, but nonetheless invaluable.

SONZAF tells us where we’re at and provides reliable facts and figures showing long-term trends.

It also makes predictions for returns to 2015 which make reassuring reading. Or at least they are until you spot the currency assumptions.

MAF’s calculations are based on the Trade Weighted Index for the New Zealand dollar dropping 17% by 2015, and that’s from March 2011’s exchange rates. If you calculated the fall from last week’s US81c, Sterling 50p etc, it would be even greater.

It means MAF’s financial figures beyond 2012 have to be taken with a large pinch of salt. To be fair, the Ministry is just using the Treasury’s currency predictions. Those assume a return to long-term averages, such as US58c. That hardly seems likely if MAF and other industry commentators are correct in their forecasts for ongoing firm agricultural commodity prices.

MAF would be better, as Beef & Lamb New Zealand now does, to provide “what-if ” type tables for sector returns at a range of exchange rates, rather than rely on Treasury’s simplistic prophecy.

So if you are dipping into SONZAF, looking at just one or two sectors as it is tempting to do, beware of the currency assumptions which are only mentioned up front. If you don’t read the whole thing you’re liable to miss them, and come away with an unjustifiably warm-fuzzy feeling about where agriculture’s returns are going.

KPMG’s Agribusiness Agenda report is an altogether different beast: where SONZAF is strong on figures, the AA is short. But when it comes to ideas on how we might actually improve our lot, the AA comes up trumps.

Admittedly, most of its 38 recommendations are easier said than done, but some are already starting to happen, such as consolidation in red meat genetics, and others, such as “shadow directorships” as a stepping stone to board seats seem so obvious it’s a wonder it hasn’t already been done. A biosecurity levy on passenger and product arrivals, while hardly a new idea, is certainly worth a revisit, though it needs to be carefully implemented to avoid creating a lasting negative first impression on tourists.

The challenge for us all is to look at these recommendations, and those of the Red Meat Sector Strategy, and ask ourselves what little bit can we do to move our industry forward as a whole.

Rural NEWS 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

“We saved heaps on Fieldays specials this year – we didn’t go!”

the hound

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Going off organic

Hats off to Hawkes Bay

READING ABOUT Germany’s recent E.Coli outbreak, which has been fatal for some, your old mate came across the following quote from a UK-based veterinary researcher. “It is most likely that the use of manure as a fertiliser in organic salad vegetable production has lead to contamination of cucumbers and other vegetables.” Maybe that inorganic, urea fertiliser isn’t so bad after all!

MUCH AS this old mutt resents Central Hawkes Bay’s usurping the title Lamb Country, you have to hand it to those East Coasters. The programme they’ve put together to promote our prime sheepmeat during the Rugby World Cup looks like a lot of fun. My only worry would be the ‘Mutton dressed as Lamb Ball’. Kind of sends the wrong message.

Don’t give it if you can’t take it HARRY POTTER looka-like and Labour Party associate finance spokesman David Parker is now whingeing that his colleagues are getting heaps of “unreasonable correspondence” in the wake of recent attacks

by Labour on the rural sector. Parker even claims farmers have teamed up with the National Party to orchestrate a media campaign defending farmers and attacking Labour. But what does he expect when farmers are accused of being tax dodgers and ETS bludgers? This old Mutt says if you can’t take it, don’t dish it out.

Jetstar just tight?

HOW CAN one airline keep flying, when another cancels all its departures?

Jetstar claimed it was for safety, but your old mate reckons the real reason

is cheapskate Aussie management refusing to accept higher fuel use at lower altitude. Good on Air New Zealand for flying below the ash cloud.

Shame on JetStar for being economic with the truth! Then again, those who booked with the overseas-owned operator have only themselves to blame.

Commerce Commission exporting industry SO THE Commerce Commission thinks a monopoly wool scourer “may lead to some price rises”, but these will be “outweighed by likely cost savings in the sector.”

There’ll be cost savings alright – cost savings because more business will be exported to China.

We might as well bung all the greasy bales on the boat now and be done with it.

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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 // JUNE 21, 2011

opinion 21

An audience with Shrek Clark, who decided she would rather spend time with him than the 1500 -2000 protesters who had converged on Parliament to express their anger at the Labour government’s foreshore and seabed legislation.

Not wanting to talk about himself, John Perriam is more than happy to introduce me to Shrek. We walk from the homestead to a structure which seems purpose built. Shrek has several pens at his disposal and a patio for entertaining, complete with nibbles and drinks – for sheep.

Shrek is wearing his colourful cloak and his eyes are bright. John introduces us. I’m given a royal sniff. I give his jowly neck a friendly pat. I have no doubt that given time we could have become mates.

John opens the pen

eye on the issues john stirling

door and Shrek walks out and together we stroll to another building to view the fleece that was six years’ growth. It weighs 22kg. Shrek after shearing weighed 44kg. Since then he’s been living the high life, lunching on lucerne hay and is putting on weight.

There’s no questioning the bonding between Shrek and John.

It’s touching to see them together. John tells him what a great fellow he is and I swear Shrek knowingly nods his head. There is a trust that has allowed them to travel together

throughout the country.

Much of this is due to Shrek’s placid nature; he just follows John, even through the streets of Wellington and downtown Auckland. He shows polite interest in everything and everybody he’s introduced to, from children, to the Prime Minister and a Chilean president. He maintains this composure throughout, seemingly enjoying celebrity status with TV cameras, photographers and everyone wanting a pat.

John says the Shrek story is inspirational.

Here is an animal that has survived for six years in a beautiful, but harsh environment. He was wool blind and relying on smell to find something to eat.

The Government’s high country tenure review is forcing pastoral lease runholders to give up high altitude country, which

was where Shrek and his mates grazed. They’re almost a thing of the past, John notes.

My visit to meet Shrek was seven years ago, but it seems like only

yesterday. He went on to become a symbol of high country resilience. He travelled the country, by plane, SUV, helicopter and private jet. He was shorn on an iceberg and the Sky Tower, had two books written about him,

graced a book launch at Eden Park, visited countless schools and raised $150,000 for Cure Kids.

Behind the creation of the Shrek icon were John and Heather Perriam.

Hats off to them for recognising the unique potential of the story.

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IT’S A cold frosty morning in May 2004 and I’m at Bendigo Station in Central Otago about to meet an overnight celebrity – Shrek – a very woolly Merino wether.

By now, the story of this unshorn nine-yearold hermit sheep has hit the airways, accompanied by some spectacular pictures. It’s a heartwarming tale that resonates round the globe. The sheep is famous.

This is to be a oneon-one meeting, just me and Shrek, with Bendigo owner John Perriam in the background. This will be bigger for me than almost touching John Lennon when the Beatles came to town, sharing a lift with Stephen Fry or chatting to David Lange or John Key. Shrek has just returned from Wellington where he had an audience with the Prime Minister, Helen

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

22 opinion Methane a bulls-eye on wrong target

Rowarth’s ‘omissions’ of interest

RE: SOCIO-POLITCS cloud methane science.

(Rural News, June 7). I enjoy reading Jacqueline Rowarth’s articles, but still remain unconvinced that we are any closer to deducing any facts on this contentious issue.

Science is a process of discovery, but very much directed by who gets to ask which questions. At the moment the biggest science show in town is the $80m Govt-sponsored

I NOTE with interest the opinion piece by Jacqueline Rowarth in the June 7 Rural News. It is not so much what she says that is interesting, but more what she omits to say.

Farmers have drained a lot of wetlands. These produce marsh gas which is the common name for methane. I have seen estimates that these drained wetlands would have produced more methane than all

greenhouse gas consortium. To keep the show on the road it has to be a given that methane in the atmosphere is a problem, as so well articulated in this article.

Next, put the ruminant in a gas chamber and quantify the “problem”.

By plonking the ruminant in the gas chamber we have already by-passed the most obvious question. To what degree does the whole rumi-

nant ecosystem (animal/vegetation/soil) contribute to methane found in the upper atmosphere?

I’m sorry I cannot remember who to attribute the statement “mankind is expert at hitting the bull’s eye of the wrong target”, but cannot shake the sense of here we go again.

Malcolm White Puketitiri, Hawkes Bay.

the livestock in NZ. If we are going to be charged for our livestock why do we not get a credit for the wetlands we drain?

Rowarth states that ‘the impact of methane on atmospheric radiative forcing is significant.’

It can be demonstrated* that if all the farmed livestock in the world doubled their output of methane the temperature would only rise by

one 100th of a degree.

Her article was designed to maintain the lake of male bovine effluent this whole sorry saga is floating on solu-

tions to the biggest non problem in modern history.

Neil Henderson Matawai, Gisborne.

Write and Win! Got a gripe? Want to air an issue?

Rural News welcomes your letters on all matters affecting farming and/or the rural community. To boot, Skellerup has thrown in a pair of classic Redbands for one lucky letter writer every issue.

So pull out the pen or keyboard and write, e-mail or fax The Editor.

The winner of this issue’s Redbands is Malcolm White, Puketitiri.

ENGINEERED TO SET YOUR HEART RACING

NEW MF 5400: SUPERIOR DNA www.masseyferguson.com/dna

Send to: Letter to the Editor PO Box 3855, Auckland 1140.

Email: editor@ruralnews.co.nz. fax: 09-307 0122 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.

ag twits Rural News’ irreverent and hypothetical look at what’s happening in the farming world Top Bleats

view all

ljagerzespri.com: Bad news, I’m afraid people. It looks like PSA will do a fair bit of damage to the NZ kiwifruit industry. Sorry about that! tonygibbs:@ljagerzespri.com: Typical of what a useless monopoly Zespri really is.

Letting bloody unionists – PSA – ruin our industry. henryfonterra: Can someone at BBG explain to me what the hell this new ‘sustainable’ dairying campaign is all about? fonterrapr: @henryfonterra: Thought we could use a diversion from calf inductions, cows crapping in rivers, the ETS and high local milk prices with a nice, fluffy, new sustainable dairying campaign. jperrimambendigo: I really should have been a dairy farmer by the way I am milking Shrek’s death. Looks like another TV camera coming this way, better put on my sad face. abollardrbnz: Naughty dollar! Down dollar!

Bad dollar! Why won’t the money market listen to me? doconnormp: I really, really, really believe that an ETS won’t increase local meat and dairy prices. Just like I believe in the tooth fairy and Darren Hughes’ innocence!

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

management 23

Waipapa 9 wins Aruwhenua trophy pet e r bur ke

GOOD GOVERNANCE, management and an excellent farm surplus per hectare are among the many reasons the judges of the Ahuwhenua awards for excellence in Maori sheep and beef farming chose the Waipapa 9 Trust as this year’s winner.

The Ahuwhenua Trophy competition, established in 1932 by Sir Apirana Ngata recognises excellence in Maori farming. Each year the award alternates between beef and sheep and dairy farms – with this year’s competition for sheep and beef farmers. Last year, Waipapa 9 won the award for its dairy farming oper-

ation.

The Trust’s farms are based on pumice country just west of Taupo where it administers 6,537 ha, a mix of ancestral lands and land purchases made between 1997 and 2009. A total of 6000 ewes are run on the property together with 1200 cattle, mainly bulls.

Taupo chartered accountant Steve Bignell, who’s the financial advisor for the Trust, says the fact that all the Trustees at Waipapa are involved in the operation and they all have portfolios which spreads the load and contributes to its success.

He adds that in chairman Dawson Haa, the Trust has got strong leadership.

“We’ve put a lot of time into the team thing. Some Maori Trusts are run by a farm advisor or a financial advisor, whereas ours is actually a management team. Everyone concentrates on what they are good at for the benefit of the one.”

Bignell says another factor, and one noted by the judges, is the management of Waipapa Station.

“We have a really good farm manager in Denys Gayton who has consistently produced good results. He’s done it every year for the last 10 to 15 years, which has

which they said is very significant for a farm of the size of Waipapa Station. They also praised the Trust’s overall goal to grow the business in a sustainable way and to maximize returns through better use of land and increased productivity.

In recent years, the Trust has done two dairy conversions, bought a major commercial property and invested in a regrassing Steve Bignall programme on their sheep and beef unit. given us a good base.”

Winning the award is The farm surplus of no easy task. After an ini$345/ha drew praise from tial judging process, the the judges as did the 125% three finalists are selected lambing percentage,

Things are looking up around Taupo AFTER FIVE tough years, a farm consultant in the Taupo region is predicting sheep and beef farm incomes will, at last, be up next season.

Geoff Burton’s been a consultant in the region more than 25 years and says budgets for next season show a lift of about $10 to $20 a stock unit.

But he says the lift in incomes will mean different things to different people.

“Those with high debt will still struggle. In fact, this will be an opportunity for some of them hopefully to find some buyers for their land and exit the industry.”

beef going to the works.

While elsewhere sheep However, he says the and beef incomes turned weather effects have, the corner this season, for thankfully, been masked pumice country 2010 was by improved prices for probably the most diffilamb and wool since the cult season climatically. A beginning of the year. dry autumn was followed “Most people sufby a hard winter, capped Geoff Burton fered a 20% drop in by severe storms at lamblambing percentage during last ing, then a terribly dry October.

Burton says that in the past two spring throughout the central years it’s not been uncommon for North Island. The hope is that next the amount of pasture produced season we’re going to get normal on farms to be down by between weather again and normal production and normal lambing per10% - 20% which “is massive.”

This will have an ongoing effect centages.”

Burton says most people are for a while yet. Breeding ewe weights are down, so are lambs and down 20% in their capital stock

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numbers which they had to drop because of less pasture dry matter.

So things are not going to be rebuilt overnight. Another factor for farmers around Taupo is the pumice soil. The soil is very young – less than 2000 years old.

“They have a low water holding capacity. So you are talking about not much nutrient in the soil and very little water holding capacity. You’ve got to treat it very differently from most soils in terms of not stirring it up too much and diluting that tiny bit of topsoil.”

With such shallow and porous soils regular rain is a pre-requisite for good pasture growth.

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and they are then subjected to a further rigorous judging process. Field days are held at all the farms and their operations subjected to further scrutiny.

Bignell says the process itself is beneficial to the finalists and he expects, as a result, some changes will be made.

“I think there are a lot of little things.

“I don’t think there are going to be any sweeping changes, but farming is a long term thing and it’s evolution rather than revolution.

“The small changes we may make would be in relation to stock management, some tweaking of our genetic things and a look at our fertiliser policy, which we are doing

anyway,” he says.

Meanwhile Waipapa 9 Trust chairman Dawson Haa says he hopes its historic win encourages other Maori farmers to make the most of their land.

“And to know that with a great team, hard work and a commitment to improving the land for future generations, excellence in farming is within their grasp.”

Ahuwhenua Competition chair, Kingi Smiler describes Maori farmers as an economic force to be reckoned with.

“We’ve made history here with Waipapa’s extraordinary success. It is indicative of the strength and systematic growth of the Maori agribusiness sector.”

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

management 25

Getting in and out of farming SU E E D M O N DS

WANT TO know how to get started in farming or how to pass it on to the next lot as age creeps up?

Beef + Lamb NZ’s new regional councils are listening to their levy payers and providing seminars based on what is most relevant for each.

Recent evening seminars on exit and entry strategies have been well attended in Hamilton and Te Puke.

Ben Allomes of Wairarapa, ex-President of Young Farmers and former Sharemilker of the Year, has made stunning progress in just 10 years – starting out with a new wife, $5,000 and a big dream.

“The first five years are spent acquiring skills, knowledge and getting to know the sort of people who know what’s what and can help you along the way,” he explains. “I find it sad that many young people work very hard for those five years and then give it away because they can’t see where to go next.”

Allomes showed a graph which mapped his own progress, based on what he expects to achieve, and what actu-

ally happened, particularly after the five year mark.

“I inherited my father’s tight approach to managing money. But I’ve also got my generation’s approach to taking risks, which has probably made the difference to what we’ve achieved.”

So how is it done?

• Create a ‘team’ which includes all you work with, plus find a set of professionals who share your values.

• Write a living business plan from the start to give a framework to your decisions.

• Develop a ‘system’ for how to run your business which can get you up and running fast, either when you make a move or take on another property.

• Adopt a ‘whole community’ approach, and get involved wherever you live in both industry related and community activities.

Allomes says opportunities are more likely to be offered if people know and trust you. These may include getting a chance at a local lease farm, or the opportunity to buy reliable stock.

Roger Wilson, ex-Morrinsville farm accountant, is now a partner in Price Waterhouse Coopers, spoke about the various

structures used in farm business ownership, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Wilson says companies have long been popular, but warns that being a director carries a level of personal responsibility and liability which many are unaware of when they assume the role. However, company structure is a good system to use for succession planning.

Wilson says trusts have multiplied hugely in recent years, but urges caution in how they are used. “They still have a role but the regulations around and IRD’s views on how tax should be calculated, on them have changed.”

He says partnerships mean all parties carry a joint responsibility on how they carry out business, but are not a good system when succession planning arises.

Limited partnerships are a new format, created only three years ago.

Wilson explains these have no directorships and a limitation of liability to each partner’s own contribution. So far they have worked well.

Meanwhile, Mandi McLeod – who spent her Nuffield Scholarship

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If you want to pass the business on to the next generation, you need to ask yourself some critical questions.

studying succession planning and now advises on business continuance – told the seminar those involved in family businesses must communicate in open and transparent ways.

“Family businesses have three interconnected roles of ownership, busi-

ness and family, and the intersection points of these have the potential to create conflict.”

She adds there is also a need to include the daughters and sons-in-law in talk of expectations, planning and sharing of values.

McLeod says those considering how to hand

a farm business on should ask themselves a number of critical questions: • Do you want to pass this on?

• Is the business viable?

• Would you hire your kids if they weren’t family?

• Would you stay in it if it weren’t family?

• Do you feel you are walking on eggs in negotiating it?

She recommends bringing in a non-involved person as a facilitator for the all important first discussions, and getting clarification on what each party wants and expects to get out of it.

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

26 animal health

Porch retirement just not practical MY LAST article (May 17) infuriated someone so much that their dinner grew cold as they wrote a scathing letter to the editor.

The writer would like to see all old farm dogs ‘parked on the porch with a bone’ until the day they die, which is lovely but unpractical. If you have only one or two dogs and own your property this is feasible, but in most cases it isn’t.

Most farm workers are only allowed a certain

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Most people would like to care for their dogs in old age. head ‘n hunt anna holland

roll, it has to go in order to make room for another.

It’s sad but a fact of farming life, particularly when you are employed and have no say in the matter.

Also, some properties require large numbers of dogs. They may retire at nine and live another five years. You would need a very large porch and lots of bones!

I love dogs, but the idea of several, big retired working dogs shedding hair, gnawing bones at the back door, cocking their legs and leaving large droppings on the lawn is not one I would relish.

Another problem is that most farmhouses don’t have dog proof fences. Especially for working dogs, which are trained to jump, go through, or under any-

and barks will tell of the stress, frustration and/or boredom.

Letter writer C Lawrence’s neighbour’s old dog may be lucky enough to ride on the back of the bike giving pointers (yeah right) to the young dog, but here, like many other steep hill country properties, there is barely enough room for the working dogs let alone a retired bitch along just for the ride.

Most people would like to care for their dogs in old age, but often this just isn’t possible.

Most old farm dogs can’t live at the back door and although they may have a warm dry kennel, clean water, good food and health issues taken care of, they want to be working dogs. I feel it is kinder to put them to sleep, rather than have them confined to living a life of boredom.

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somewhere where Tui can’t hear Gordon doing the stock-work that she loves, but can’t do.

If anyone has a problem with something I have written you are welcome to contact me: I’d rather clarify things over the phone than waste this valuable space. You will find that I write from the heart with a love and respect for working dogs.

I have always struggled with farming: it can be cruel, often sad, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do – whether you like it or not. And everything I write about dogs is for dogs – their mental and physical wellbeing.

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

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thing in order to do their work. The boss will constantly be heading to and from work, going past with stock, or working within earshot and the old dog will try to follow.

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

animal health 27

Veterinarians head for Hamilton NEARLY 1000 veterinarians, veterinary nurses and industry delegates from around New Zealand and Australia hit Hamilton this week (June 21-24), for the New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) Conference.

“This Conference is the leading continuing education event for the New Zealand veterinary profession,” says NZVA chief executive, Julie Hood. “It’s also the largest multidisciplinary veterinary conference in New Zealand, with 12 NZVA Special Interest Branches in attendance.”

The conference theme is: Back to the Future.

“Plus 2011 marks World

Veterinary Year – celebrating 250 years of the veterinary profession working to improve animal and human health worldwide,” says Hood. “So the conference will be a historic event celebrating the past, present and future of the veterinary profession.”

Delegates will learn more about leading edge veterinary science, what’s happening within the profession, not to mention networking with their peers.

The four day conference includes workshops as well as formal papers and speakers.

Jacqueline Rowarth, director of agriculture at Massey University, will

Alternative pig and possum poisons

“So the conference will be a historic event celebrating the past, present and future of the veterinary profession.” discuss the future of sheep and beef cattle farming in New Zealand and the role vets play, while other speaker topics include global perspectives and economic realities for New

Zealand farmers, animal welfare in the dairy industry, exotic diseases and the vet’s role on the farm.

Liz Schneider, founder of Holistic Vets, Tauranga, will speak on nutraceu-

ticals which may be used as a primary therapy or adjunct to conventional treatment.

Meanwhile MAF’s Brendan Pollard will bring delegates up to speed on

exotic diseases and how early notification means earlier diagnosis and greater likelihood of successful treatment, control or eradication. He points out with trade, both imports and exports, gradually increasing, so is the associated increase in the level of risk.

“The increase in risk occurs as a result of a

number of interrelated factors, but includes the development and implementation of free trade agreements with countries that have a different risk status.”

A serious disease outbreak could cost the country between $12-15 billion in first two years and could have ongoing future impacts, Pollard says.

HI MINERAL COMBINATION SHEEP CAPSULES

NEXT TIME you pick up a packet of salami, take a look at the ingredients.

Chances are sodium nitrite will be one of the preservatives. It’s also one of a number of alternative pig, possum, stoat and possibly rabbit poisons being considered by researchers and commercial companies.

“Sodium nitrite is very, very salty,” Steve Hix, product manager for Connovation, told Federated Farmers’ High Country conference delegates. “It tastes even more salty than salt: that’s how salty it is.”

And it seems pigs love it, wolfing down baits in a trial sufficient to kill eight out of nine animals in 39 to 101 minutes.

The fact it’s been through heaps of tests for use as a food preservative means much of the science which needs to be presented to gain approval for use as a poison has already been done, says Hix. The other advantage over the likes of pindone and 1080 is there appears to be no anti-feeding property and the pigs died “very humanely”.

“The whole pig goes white. That’s because there’s no oxygen going round in the body... This product is looking very good for pigs.”

Lincoln University wildlife management specialist James Ross says new poisons such as sodium nitrite are needed because the current reliance on just one or two actives – 1080 and pindone – is “risky”.

While many molecules are being considered, another one close to commercial use is zinc phosphide which is widely used overseas.

“It’s now in the final stages of registration for use as a paste bait for possum control.”

Horizons hears TB concerns A PROPOSAL to cut TB vector control funding has been ditched by Horizons Regional Council in light of overwhelming opposition to the move.

Of 678 submissions on the planned $200,000 cut to rate collections on behalf of the Animal Health Board, 648 were against.

“The community’s response on this issue was clear and we will meet their needs by continuing to collect the full $750,000 for the 2011-12 year,” says council chairman Bruce Gordon.

The AHB lobbied rural residents to oppose the cut.

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RURAL NEWS SURVEY OF TREATMENTS FOR INTERNAL PARASITES OF PRE-LAMB EWES Product

Company

Available through

Active Ingredient (s)

Nilvax Injection

Coopers

All outlets

Exodus Lai

Merial Ancare

Genesis Injection

Concentration

Ingredient Dose Rate

Formulated Dose Rate

W’Holding Safety Period (Meat) Margin

Ovicidal Parasite Maturity

Levamisole phosphate 68g/L Levamisole base Plus 5 in 1 vaccine

N/A

20-25kg = 3.5mLs, 26-65kgs = 4mLs, 66-80kgs = 4.5mLs, 81-90kg =5.0mLs, 91-95kg=5.5mLs, 96-105kg =6.0mLs

21 days

3x dose rate

No

mature immature

Veterinary Clinics

Moxidectin

20g/L

1mg/kg

1ml/20kg

91 days

5x

No

mature immature

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Clinics

Abamectin

10mg/mL

0.2mg/kg

1mL/50kg

28 days

5x

No

mature immature

Ivomec Injection

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Clinics

Ivermectin

10g/L

0.2mg/kg

1mL/50kg

35 days

10x dose rate

No

mature immature

Dectomax Injection

Pfizer Animal Health

Veterinary Clinics

Doramectin

10mg/mL

0.2mg/kg

1mL/50kg b.w.

35 days

15x dose rate

No

mature immature

Cydectin Injection

Pfizer Animal Health

Vets, OTC outlets

Moxidectin

10g/L

0.2mg/kg

1mL/50kg

28 days

10x dose rate

No

mature immature

Cydectin Long Acting Injection for Sheep

Pfizer Animal Health

All outlets

Moxidectin

20g/L

1mg/kg

1mL/20kg

91 days

5x dose rate

No

mature immature

Eweguard, Eweguard Plus Selenium, Eweguard Plus SeB12

Pfizer Animal Health

All outlets

Moxidectin Plus 6 in 1 vaccine

5g/L

0.2mg/kg

1mL/25kg

49 days

10x dose rate

No

mature immature

Concur Sheep Himin

Bayer NZ Ltd

Allied Farmers, CRT, Farmlands

Oxfendazole, Levamisole

22.7g/L, 40g/L

4.5mg/kg, 7.5mg/kg

1mL/5kg

10

3x

YES

mature immature

Evolve Sheep Himin

Bayer NZ Ltd

Allied Farmers, CRT, Farmlands

Abamectin, Levamisole, Oxfendazole

1g/L, 40g/L, 22.65g/L

0.2mg/kg, 8mg/kg, 4.53mg/kg

1mL/5kg

21

3x

NO

mature immature

Saturn Sheep Himin

Bayer NZ Ltd

Allied Farmers, CRT, Farmlands

Levamisole, Abamectin

40g/L, 1g/L

7.5mg/kg 0.2mg/kg

1mL/5kg

21

3x

NO

Converge

Coopers

All outlets

Levamisole Abamectin

80g/L Levamisole 2g/L Abamectin

80mg/mL Levamisole 2mg/mL Abamectin

1mL/10kg

21 days

3x

mature immature

Scanda

Coopers

All outlets

Levamisole Abamectin

80g/L Levamisole 45.3g/L Oxfendazole

80mg/mL Levamisole 45.3mg/mL Oxfendazole

1mL/10kg bodyweight

10 days

3x

mature immature

Q-drench®

Jurox NZ Ltd

Selected resellers

Abamectin, Albendazole, Levamisole HCI, Closantel

1.0g/L Abamectin, 25.0g/L Albendazole, 40.0g/L Levamisole HCI, 37.5g/L Closantel

0.2mg/kg Abamectin, 5.0mg/kg Albendazole, 8.0mg/kg Levamisole HCI, 7.5mg/kg Closantel

1mL/5kg

28 days

3x

Yes

mature immature

Trokia™

Jurox NZ Ltd

Selected resellers

Abamectin, Albendazole, Levamisole HCI

1.0g/L Abamectin, 25.0g/L Albendazole, 40.0g/L Levamisole HCI

0.2mg/kg Abamectin, 5.0mg/kg Albendazole, 8.0mg/kg Levamisole HCI

1mL/5kg

21 days

3x

Yes

mature immature

Bionic

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Outlets

Abamectin, Albendazole

160mg Abamectin, 4.62g Albendazole, 26mg Selenium, 120mg colbalt per capsule.

20µ Abamectin, 0.5mg Albendazole/kg/day

1 cap 40-80kg

128 days

3 capsules Yes

mature immature

Extender 100

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Outlets

Albendazole

3.85g/capsule

0.5mg/kg/day

1 cap. 35-65kg

Nil

5 capsules Yes

mature immature

Extender SeCo

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Outlets

Albendazole, Selenium & Cobalt

4.62g Albendazole capsule, 24mg Selenium, 118mg Cobalt

ABZ 0.5mg/day Se 0.24mg/ day, Co 1.18mg/day

1 capsule 40-80kg

Nil

5 capsules Yes

mature immature

Ivomec Maximizer CR (for adult sheep)

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Outlets

Ivermectin

160mg/capsule

20µ/kg/day

1 cap. 40-80kg

126 days

5x capsules

No

mature immature

Matrix Hi Mineral Oral Drench for Sheep

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Outlets

Abamectin, Oxfendazole, Levamisole

1g/L Abamectin, 22.7g/L Oxfendazole, 40g/L Levamisole

0.2mg/kg Abamectin, 4.5mg/kg Oxfendazole, 8mg/kg Levamisole

1mL/5kg

21 days

3x

Yes

mature immature

Matrix Minidose

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Outlets

Abamectin, Levamisole, Oxfendazole

2g/L Abamectin, 80g/L Levamisole, 45.4g/L Oxfendazole, 1g/L Selenium, 4.4g/L Cobalt

0.2mg Abamectin, 8mg Levamisole, 4.54mg Oxfendazole/kg

1mL/10kg

14 days

3x

Yes

mature immature

Switch Hi Mineral

Merial Ancare

Veterinary Outlets

Abamectin Levamisole

1g/L Abamectin, 40g/L Levamisole, 0.5g/L Selenium, 2.2g/L Cobalt

0.2mg Abamectin, 8mg Levamisole/kg

1mL/5kg

14 days

3x

Yes

mature immature

Cydectin Oral Drench Vetdectin Oral Drench

Pfizer Animal Health

Vets, OTC outlets

Moxidectin

1mg/mL

0.2mg/kg

1mL/5kg

10 days

> 10x dose No rate

mature immature

Startect

Pfizer Animal Health

Vets, OTC outlets

Abamectin Derquantel

1mg/mL 10mg/mL

0.2mg/kg 2mg/kg

1mL/5kg

14 days

3x

mature immature

INJECTABLE

(SeB12 vet only)

ORAL

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SaM Von DaDeLSzen hinerangi Station hawkeS Bay

f o r 1 0 0 d ay s l o c k d o W n o f a l l m a j o r pa r a s i t e s

PROUDLY AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL VET. Merial is a sanofi company. BIONIC Is a regIstered trademark Of merIal NZ ltd. merIal NZ ltd. leVel 3, merIal BUIldINg, OsterleY WaY, AUCKLAND, NeW ZealaNd | WWW.merIalaNCare.CO.NZ | regIstered PUrsUaNt tO tHe aCVm aCt 1997 NO a9646 | see WWW.NZfsa.gOVt.NZ/aCVm/ fOr regIstratION CONdItIONs | NZ-10-BIO-085

No

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Trichuris

★★★ ★★★

TAPEWORMS: (Monziezia)

★★★ ★★★

★★★ ★★★

FLUKES: (Fasciola)

★★★ ★★★

★★★ ★★★

MITES (Psorergates ovis)

★★★ ★★★

★★★ ★★★

KEY TO SURVEY

BLOW FLY (Lucilla cuprina)

Chabertia

★★★ ★★★

★★★ ★★★

Dictyocaulus

Oesphagostomum

★★★ ★★★

Bunostomum

★★★ ★★★

Strongyloides

★★★ ★★★

Cooperia

★★★ ★★★

Nematodirus

★★★ ★★★

Tric. Axei

★★★ ★★★

Ostertagia

Trichostrongylus

Lungs

NASAL BOT Oestrus ovis: (Larvae)

Lge Intestine

Small Intestine

Haemonchus

Abomasum

★ ★ ★ - 95% to 100% efficacy ★ ★ - 75% to 95% efficacy ★ - 50% to 75% efficacy Blank- No registered claim N/S – Information not supplied N/D – No data N/A – Not applicable

COMMENT

ND

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Contains minerals Cobalt, Copper, Iodine, Selenium, Zinc.

★★★ ★★★

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Oral low-does combination drench for cattle and sheep.

★★★ ★★★

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Oral low-does combination drench for cattle and sheep.

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2. Also for use in cattle & pigs, effective against itchmite and inhibited L4 stage Ostertagia.

3. Additives: contain antigens of 5 clostridial diseases and cheesy gland.

Effective against inhibited stages of Haemonchus, Ostertagia and Trichostrongylus.

4. Non-irritant injection, prevents re-infection with Haemonchus contortus and Ostertagia circumcincta for at least 35 days and Trichostrongylus colubriformis for at least 7 days following a single subcutaneous injection. Use in sheep that have been vaccinated against footrot is not recommended.

5. Levamisole is a short acting drench.

Also contains a 5 in 1 vaccine.

Note 4

6. Also available with 1.25mg/ml Selenium

Note 8 Also effective against itchmite (Psoregates ovis)

7. 1: Includes inhibited stages and BZresistant parasites. 2: 1st, 2nd & 3rd instars. 3: AIP Aids in Protection.

Contains minerals Cobalt, Copper, Iodine, Selenium, Zinc.

Contains minerals Cobalt, Copper, Iodine, Selenium, Zinc.

★★★ ★★

1. Effective against L3 stages.

Note 2 & 7

Note 3 & 4

Note 2

Note 1 Also contains 5g/L Selenium 2.2.g/L Cobalt

8. Injection site is high on the neck, at the base of the ear. Prevents reinfection with Haemonchus contortus for 91 days, Ostertagia circumcincta for 112 days and Trichostrongylus colubriformis for 42 days.

Product Comment (ORAL)

1. Aids in control of dags and blowfly strike in the breech area and reduces pasture contamination from worm eggs for at least 100 days. Effective against strains of H.contortus,O. circumcincta and T.colubriformis resistant to benzimidazole, levamisole and morantal drenches and strains of T.axei and N.spathiger resistant to benzimidazole drenches. 1.Effective against L3 stages. Effective against itchmite and keds.

2. Gives continuous protection against all major species of worms for at least 100 days. 1. Efficacy not yet established.

3. Prevents reinfection wth Haemonchus contortus for 35days and Ostertagia circumcincta for 21days The Rural News Pre-Lamb Ewe Internal Parasite Control Survey is compiled from information supplied by animal health companies. Although the information has been checked by our independent animal health advisor, Rural News accepts no responsibility or liability for inaccuracies. The efficacy classifications relate only to where no resistance is present. If a concern exists please contact a veterinarian.

Note 3 Also effective against itchmite (Psoregates ovis) Note 4. Also available with 0.5mg/ml selenium. ★★★

“we goT beTTer laMbs using bionic capsules. seleniuM and cobalT were an added bonus.”

“bionic coMbinaTion capsules give us cleaner ewes, and less concerns abouT resisTance.”

RichaRd GloaG Buscot station omaRama

PeteR hall BlackRock station outRam

b i o n i c TM

ND AIP 3

Product Comment (INJECTABLE)

Effective against adult and immature (L4) stages of sensitive strains of parasites including those resistant to levamisole, benzimadazole, macrocyclic lactones and closantel drenches and combinations of these. 2. Also controls itchmites

“using bionic MeanT our ewes were Much heavier pre-MaTing.” ken FRaseR oPuha downs FaiRlie

f o r 1 0 0 d ay s l o c k d o w n o f a l l M a j o r pa r a s i T e s

PROUDLY AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL VET. Merial is a sanofi company. BIONIC Is a regIstered trademark Of merIal NZ ltd. merIal NZ ltd. leVel 3, merIal BUIldINg, OsterleY WaY, AUCKLAND NeW ZealaNd | WWW.merIalaNCare.CO.NZ | regIstered PUrsUaNt tO tHe aCVm aCt 1997 NO a9646 | see WWW.NZfsa.gOVt.NZ/aCVm/ fOr regIstratION CONdItIONs | NZ-10-BIO-085

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

30 machinery & products

Shifting health back home vices Ltd, of Christchurch, has for ten years driven its surgical bus constantly from Kaikohe to Gore, visiting all rural centres in the area.

Now, says general manager Mark Eager, this brainchild of “some good buggers” – Sir Stephen Tindall (The Warehouse), Eion Edgar (Forsythe Barr), Inky Tulloch and others – backed by the Ministry of Health and dis-

neil keat ing

SOME ‘GOOD buggers’ are upping the pace of moving primary health care back into rural homes.

They took a prime site beside the Pavillion at National Fieldays to show their huge ‘surgical bus’ (39 tonnes, 20m long, 5m wide open) and related vehicles and display.

Mobile Surgical Ser-

TRAILERS

• Low profile 13 inch or standard 14 inch wheel give a deck height of 60 or 72cm • Comes complete with spare wheel and jockey wheel • Hydraulic disc or electric braked front axle • LED lights

SHEEP CONVEYORS

• Unique lead up race helps loading by 15% • Power draw 3-5 amps • No belt tensioning • No belt slippage • Fully sealed electrical system • Full length foot stop/start bar on both sides • Adjustable speed • Tare weight 400kg

BALE FEEDERS (FEEDS ROUNDS & SQUARE)

CALL STUART ON 0274 387 528 124 Lincoln Road, Masterton Email: daytech@wise.net.nz www.daytech.co.nz

Leaders in farm machinery design

trict health boards, is helping spearhead a revolution in primary healthcare in rural New Zealand.

Two things are happening: Kiwis are being encouraged to take more responsibility for monitoring their health – including existing disease or disability; and isolated and often under-resourced rural doctors and their staff are being encouraged and upskilled in partnership with MSS. Says Eager, “Strong community partnerships are the key. Rather than replace existing health services, we act as a catalyst for communities and rural health professionals to develop better health systems.”

In plain language, that means gathering doctors and nurses in big a room, switching on a big screen, then using their ‘SatVan’ (satellite van) to beam two-way video-conference teaching lectures to the audience.

The van has all the gear necessary.

The talks to the doctors and staff occupy about 15 minutes each morning, before the team goes on to the work of day surgery.

New at Fieldays in the MSS display is their health ‘one-stop shop’ (integrated family health centre).

Clinical nurse manager Denise Saussey – while displaying the inside of someone’s knee joint – told Rural News “We come

Denise Saussey with mock patients and farmers in the surgical bus.

to a town and ask ‘what do the guys need here?’

“Mobile surgical staffer Angela Desborough says “People don’t need to be referred to a district health board [to be put right].

The key issue is treatment without having to go to a hospital.

“We’re encouraging GPs to do their own lumps-and-bumps surgery and stopping the log-jams at hospitals.”

MSS staff half-jokingly agreed with a suggestion their service will decimate the paper-passing bureaucracies clogging up the health service.

Meanwhile this reporter, after having his two cataracts examined at the MSS site by University of Auckland optometry

student Katie Bennetts, was told he’d have to continue waiting [to go virtually blind in both eyes]

before the public hospital system would fix him, or pay $4000 per eye to have it done in a Remuera pri-

Lumps and bumps “YOU KNOW the big red emergency button you see in operating theatres?”

MSS general manager Mark Eager asked.

“Well, in our operating theatre, that red button gets pressed only to order morning coffee.

“We’ve never had a death in the theatre and we’ve never had a chopper evacuation, after 13,000 operations in 10 years.”

Operations include ‘lumps and bumps’, bones and joints, women’s reproductive, eyes, teeth, ear/nose/ throat and ‘waterworks’.

The bus, driven by its ‘steerologist’, carries an anaesthetic technician and

For your free catalogue of all our products. Please Contact M

A

N

U

F

A

C

T

U

R

I

N

G

vate clinic.

“No wonder tax avoidance is a national industry,” your reporter replied.

Mark Eager

a clinical nurse leader on its rounds each week. These co-ordinate the day and oversee the nursing teams in the places visited.

Each day four rural nurses from the host site work on the bus.

Don 027 433 2212

Robertson Manufacturing • PO Box 6 Hinds, Mid Canterbury • Ph 03 303 7228 A/hrs 027 433 2212

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

machinery & products 31

Ready for upgrade THREE NEW sprayers use a common framework, making the smaller models easily upgradeable to larger, says manufacturer Croplands.

The RetraSpray range is “built tough to suit New Zealand conditions,” the company says.

Electric powered hose retraction comes standard with all units and a range

of tank sizes suit needs.

The key benefit is you can upgrade as your needs change; no need to buy a whole new

More power in farm utility HIGHER TORQUE is achieved by variable hydro transmission VHT Plus2, new in the Kubota RTV900XT farm utility.

This is the latest version of Kubota’s RTV900 workhorse. Towing and hauling is better, so is braking and gear shifting, the company says.

“The Kubota RTV900XT marks an important evolutionary step for our popular RTV900 line, says Shaun Monteith, sales manager “We grew the utility vehicle market in 2004 with the original RTV900 and its diesel engine and hydraulic transmission combination. The RTV900XT has tangi-

ble improvements in quality, durability and performance.

“Utility vehicle owners are a diverse group, and this enhanced workhorse will satisfy their various needs.”

The RTV900XT is powered by a 21.6hp 3-cylinder, liquid-cooled Kubota diesel, has an “extra large” steel cargo bed and an optional hydraulic bed-lift system operated by a single lever.

Hydrostatic power steering makes for “exceptional comfort, control and manoeuvrability”. A new seat design is more comfortable.

spray system.

RetraSpray electric 12V powered hose reels come standard on all units, with the option of upgrading to remote control retraction for increased productivity of up to 50% with the simple push of a hand held transmitter.

RetraSpray electric 12V powered hose reels can be bought separately and fitted to existing spraying systems where required.

RetraSpray units can be easily mounted on a vehicle by choosing one of two styles: either the standard top-mounted configuration (motor/pump/hose reel) that sits on top of the tank or the optional side-by-side configuration (motor/pump/hose reel) which is mounted on the vehicle tray beside the tank using the mounting rail kit.

Both frame options allow for easy forklift access or slip-on/slipoff loading.

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DON’T PUT GOOD FERTILISERS ON COMPACTED SOIL WHICH CAN’T ABSORB IT If your soil can’t support 15cm root growth and good worm population check for compaction, you could need aeration.

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Maitland RD5, Gore Ph/Fax: 03-207 1837 Mobile: 027-628 5695 www.jamesengineering.co.nz

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

32 machinery & products

Pods, pipes now handle effluent neil keat ing

DAIRY FARMS large and small are offered a new, low-cost means of spreading effluent.

RX Plastics, maker of the popular K-Line irrigation system, has used its pod-and-pipe concept in its K-Line Effluent range launched nationally last week at Fieldays.

K-Line Effluent comes in four ‘sizes’ so a farmer can find the right system regardless of farm size or budget, says sales and marketing manager.

He says the lack of effective, low cost options for effluent disposal inspired the new range.

“We knew there was massive potential for a New Zealand-made solu-

tion based on the K-Line concept.”

Like K-Line irrigation, K-Line Effluent comprises plastic pods connected by flexible polyethylene pipe. The pods and pipes are easy to install and move, and may easily be adapted as a farm

expands.

Less time and effort to manage effluent disposal translates directly to a lower cost, RX Plastics says.

“Effluent disposal is a new area for us,” says RX’s manager for irrigation and effluent, Tony Atwool.

“But we’ve covered all types of farm setups with our four solutions.”

The range includes K-Line Std, K-Line Mid, K-Line Max70 and K-Line Max80. Each addresses a different need, depending on a farm’s resources.

Whether a farm has

only a stone-trap filter or a big filtration systems, RX Plastics offers a suitable K-Line Effluent option.

K-Line Mid and K-Line Std are for farms with developed solids-separation systems, such as two-pond storage (for the

K-Line Mid) or a weeping wall (appropriate for the K-Line Std).

Notably, liquid quality need not be especially high. Large sprinkler heads in the K-Line Max70 and Max80 can dispose of effluent containing some solids.

Tel. 07 829 9350 www.rxplastics.co.nz

just keep driving LOST COUNT of the number of times you’ve climbed down to open that bloody gate?

You can stop counting, thanks to a product launched by Gallaghers at National Fieldays.

Otago territory manager Nick Abbott (seen holding the end of one of the two gate sections) says a mere $212.75 incl. GST will buy you a 4.88m-wide gate, with hardware, that allows you to drive through non-stop -- and keep driving.

Also new on Gallaghers’ site was its highconductive Electromax electric fence wire, up to 15% more conductive than standard fencing wire and zinc-alu coated for better corrosion resistance. $108.50 incl. GST for a 620m coil.

Designer Tony Atwool with RX plastics K-Line effluent gear.

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Spraysmart have the most comprehensive range of sprayers in New Zealand. Built super-tough especially to withstand New Zealand conditions, these sprayers will last and last.

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

motoring 33

Brick sent flying

CAMBRIDGE FARM ROLLERS

NEW 10ft Roller with Extension Drawbar & Screw Jack $6200 Vee Ring Roller Seeder Drill with Vee bottom seed box, hydraulic clutch, ext. drawbar, ...................... $17,000 Special rollers made to order, • All prices ex-Factory, Excl GST • Spare parts, Rings and Bearings. Competitive freight rates to the North Island 26"dia rings ................... $79.00 24"dia rings ................... $73.00 Ph: 0800-838 963 AUSTINS FOUNDRY LTD 131 King Street, Timaru www.austinsfoundry.co.nz

PTO Driven Concrete Mixers

Volvo 850: it was innovative and great, says its maker.

TOP EUROPEAN SPEC 603 COMMANDO 4x4, 60Hp, tyres: F:12.4x20 R:16.9x28, R: 12 speed F/3R Transmission, fitted PRICE Euro Series II Loader.

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TIGER 75.4 4x4, 75 75Hp, best tyres: F:11.2x24 R:16.9x30, 12 F:11.2x speed, F/3R F Transmission, n, indepen independent PTO, fitted with Eur Euro Series II Loader.r.

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EXPLORER R3 85 GS CABIN 85Hp Deutz Engine, gine, 4x4 power shuttle/shift, wet clutch, tyres F:420/70x24 420/70x24 R:480/70-34, R:480/70-34 fully spec’d, fitted with latest Euro III 360HD loader, you won’t buy better for the 85-90Hp class!

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Some photos may show optional extras.

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PF8930

NO SINGLE Volvo model has spun the company’s wheels like the Volvo 850 – at least for technical innovation.

Ahead of its time, right for its time, The Volvo 850 car, launched 20 years ago this month, brought Volvo Car Corp into a new era.

Between 1991 and 1997 no fewer than 716,903 cars bearing the 850 badge were sold. The last Volvo built on this ‘old’ platform was the C70 coupe and convertible in 2005.

It had four motor-industry firsts – one front and rear, two in the middle. And it parted company from predecessors and other models.

Innovations included a new, modular all-aluminium engine – first a 3-litre in-line six fitted to the Volvo 960 in late summer 1990, then a 5-cylinder 170 hp variant. It was installed transversely in a separate sub-frame, and drove the front wheels via an unusually compact gearbox fitted alongside the engine. World-first number one.

Rear suspension included a new type of multilink axle (Delta Link), giving comfort and the pliant ride of independent suspension with live rear axle stability and constant track. World-first number two.

Safety was high-priority – in the middle of the car a side-impact protection system and automatic heightadjustable safety belt mechanism.

Volvo says it spent “immense effort designing a lively car for keen driving pleasure, even tuning the exhaust note to ‘sporty’.” Design showed only relatively modest departures from classic Volvo lines. There was no doubt this was a Volvo, yet it looked entirely new.

A sporty GLT version had a 20-valve naturally aspirated engine producing 170 hp. Car testers were unanimous: the new Volvo appealed to everyone and the 850 won almost 50 international awards.

Development came quickly. By summer 1992 a 140hp detuned model (GLE) was introduced with a 10-valve version of the 5-cylinder engine. Then came an estate car version of the GLT and GLE. It was first with large vertical tail lamp stacks from the lower edge of the tailgate window up to the roof line.

Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

34 vintage

Treasures click when he presses ton y h o pkinso n

AFTER HIS wife Andie and the Model A Ford car they owned when first married, Peter Webster loves his collection of antique oilcans – the ones that click when you press the underside.

His 50 oil cans are the pride of his collection in their house and shed at Opoutere, 12km north of Whangamata.

They also own another Model A Ford rebuilt from the ground up, candle holders, six ‘gizunders’ (bedside potties), bottles, a bar with glasses and fittings from the former White Heron Lodge at Mount Wellington, Auckland, and a Ministry of Transport ‘traffic cop’s’ uniform.

Andie calls their shed

“his ‘toybox’ and it’s bigger than our house.”

Websters lived 40 years at Manurewa, Auckland, and Peter worked

life,” Peter says. “One was to be a welder, the other to be a boss. The stress of being a boss as the business grew from 7 to 50

Peter Webster, Opoutere, collecter.

for Southward Engineering owned by the late Len Southward of vintage car fame.

“I had two ambitions in

staff was nearly the death of me.”

Their Opoutere home they bought in 1961, retiring there ten years ago in

a move made hectic by having to shift 40-plus years of treasures in 10 days.

Says Peter, “Opoutere began as a shed then grew to a bach and finally a house, plus the ‘toybox’ and a studio for Andie’s spinning and weaving.”

Their first Model A sedan (price£ 85) they’ve owned 50 years.

“We brought our newborn daughter home in that so we know where this car is going when we pass on.”

The car they’ve restored is a 1927 Model A AR. Their search for parts has turned up parts for at least another car plus bits and pieces they keep “just in case.”

“Peter has my full support in his interests, and I hand him spanners and

act as his gopher,” says Andie.

She’s also Peter’s extra eyes at swap meets and sees things he might miss.

She buys if the price is right.

They don’t buy so much stuff these days, preferring to develop their

section and help people in the community. Peter is president of Whangamata Vintage Club.

Andie Webster spends hours weekly spinning and weaving.

Looms loom large LOOMS LOOM large in Andie Webster’s life. She began spinning wool in the late 1960’s, later also taking up weaving.

Andie, born in Canada, suffers from multiple sclerosis and spinning and weaving suit her energies and abilities, she says.

“I’ve spent some time in a wheel chair but my health has improved here, I believe because of the salt air 24/7.”

Andie has six spinning wheels, all different, and two looms – 610 mm and 1219 mm models.

Most days she spends up to two hours in her studio, spinning or weaving, making scarves, wraps, throws, mittens and socks. Her work is well known; she regularly sells from home or at local craft markets.

Finding suitable wool is a challenge; regular suppliers help. Commercial dyes give consistent colours.

Andie belongs to Whangamata Spinners and Weavers Group, 20 members meeting regularly to swap ideas.

– Tony Hopkinson

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Rural News // JUNE 21, 2011

rural trader 35 DOLOMITE

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