Coast & Country News - May/June 2020

What does a dentist and his wife do when they come to New Zealand seeking a more secure lifestyle? Set up at alpaca farming operation of course! Read about how the couple fell in love with the animal, and how they’ve grown their herd to 160 at Gordonton in the Waikato on pages 6-7. Photo: Catherine Fry.

Welcome to the Districts PG 10-17

Fertiliser PG 23-25

Trade Market PG 26-33

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Country Living PG 39-41

Calving PG 44-45

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COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

An essential thank you!

Welcome to our Coast & Country News’ joint May-June edition.

www.coastandcountrynews.co.nz

We find 2020’s kiwifruit harvest was different to most others but has been flowing well despite Covid-19’s intrusion. See page 4. Now it’s the avocado industry’s turn to find out how to plan for possible operational As most of the country went into lockdown in lateinterferences due to the pandemic. See page 35. Plus, March, we know New Zealand’s farmers, growers and it seems most primary sector research projects survived other essential agricultural services were business as the lockdown too – see page 8. usual.

During lockdown we profiled the first-ever three The cows had to be milked, the kiwifruit harvest Ahuwhenua Trophy horticulture finalists – which wasn’t waiting for Covid-19 to disappear, and neither sadly had their field days were vegetables in the cancelled due to lockdown. ground that were needed What inspiring people and to feed Kiwis. All while stories came from all three drought conditions entrants! See pages 12, 14 lingered on through and 46.

March, April and May. Duckshooting is on.

And so we thank Find out more on page our agricultural and 41. And Moving Day is horticultural sectors for happening on June 1, just working through these with a few more rules due tricky times, where farmers have been Dry conditions have been witnessed throughout the to Covid-19. See page 22.

For those moving to new responding to drought, North Island for months. areas, see our Welcome and operations have often been slowed to incorporate Covid-19 regulations. to the Districts feature on pages 10-17. And if you’re missing the smell of whitebait fritters and a bloody Here at Coast & Country News we’ve been good deal at Mystery Creek – check out our new Trade navigating these unprecedented times ourselves.

Market feature on pages 26-33. Calving is on the way, During Alert Levels 4 and 3 we kept our enquiries so one Te Puke farmer, who faced quite a challenge to the phoneline to keep everyone safe. But as the last season, is sharing his advice on how to make a pandemic alert levels lower you will see us back out nightmare situation a success. See pages 44-45. and about on the land talking to farmers, growers and The Coast & Country News team would like to say all parts of the primary sector about what they’re doing a huge thanks to all of our readers, columnists, writers, on and with the land – which we love doing! interviewees, advertising clients and contacts for all the With so much going on, this edition is a mixed bag. kind phone calls and messages of support since CovidWe start by talking feed shortages going into winter 19 entered our lives. We really appreciate it and have with our regular columnist Bill Webb. See pages 3 and enjoyed putting this new edition together – as we all 42. There’s push for a national water storage strategy enter recovery mode. on the back on this lingering drought. See page 5.

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Feed pinch threatens into winter How much new grass farmers sow and if they get enough moisture and warm soil temperatures to make it come away will dictate how much of a feed pinch the industry will face this winter, says one feed grower and supplier.

Bill Webb with a golf-ball size turnip in May. Photo: Daniel Hines.

Bill says some areas will have feed pinches going into winter, while others won’t be so bad. “For a comparison on May 9 last year I had cows going onto grass up to your thigh, turnips half the size of Redbands and regrowth maize at shoulder-height at Maketu.

“The same paddock mid-May this year – lucky if you could find a turnip the size of a golf ball, I’ve probably got maize about knee-high and grass about Redband-height. And I’ve had to re-drill some paddocks because first-time it never came up being too dry after harvest. So we’re 2000-2500 cover compared to about 6500 this

time last year.” As a result Bill will delay incoming dairy-grazers until end of May. “That puts pressure back on those farmers. But in some areas grass is doing okay. And if we get a bit of moisture and soil temperatures remain warm, we’ll get some growth from winter annuals.”

Free remote feed planning support for farmers is available. Read more on this service on page 20. The Government has a new $500,000 fund to provide advisory services to help farmers recover from drought. See page 5. And the Rural Support Trust can also help with advice and RAPs. See more on page 9.

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Warm up your Winter in a Hot Spring® Spa! Bill Webb, of Paengaroa-based Bill Webb Feed Solutions Ltd, says the widespread North Island drought has caused big headaches for farmers – and whether it will end come winter is still unknown.

“It’s been a really stressful time for farmers. North of Tauranga is really bad – Waihi, Whitianga and Coromandel. Also North Hauraki up to South Auckland,” says Bill, who grows and supplies quality silage and hay in Waikato, BOP, Central Plateau and Taranaki.

He says as the Covid-19 lockdown hit, so did calls from farmers needing supplementary feed due to 2020’s first four months delivering little if any rain to much of the North Island.

And – Bill says – farmers’ reluctance to order maize silage before last spring for the coming season resulted in him planting less maize. “Now there’s a huge demand and we’ve found that we could have sold all that we would normally plant, and more. We’re not sure why the early reluctance took place. If it was advisors or consultants suggesting that feed purchases shouldn’t be made in advance, it was very shortsighted.

“We anticipated, and were warned of, another dry season and were surprised at the lack of interest. Many other growers got the same response,” says Bill.

“Now there’s a real big shortage for good quality feed. It’s hard to find any. We’re bringing it out of other areas and from the South Island. But there’s even limited supply down there.” See Bill’s column on page 42.

Federated Farmers Meat & Wool Industry Group chairperson Miles Anderson says other factors have magnified feed shortages too. “Covid-19’s lockdown meant meat companies were only working at limited capacity. So there was a lot of stock that would normally be processed still on farms and eating into precious reserves during April.”

Cancellation of traditional stock sale forums during lockdown did not help either.

Former Feds Waikato provincial president Andrew McGiven, who farms near Te Aroha, ran out of grass

silage by mid-April – when autumn-calving 165 cows. “We had plenty of maize, which is a starch/ carbohydrate but it’s not protein. To combat this we’ve fed soya bean meal, which is 90 per cent protein, through the cowshed. It’s quite an expensive feed though, and we also brought forward drying off and culling decisions for our spring-calvers.”

Andrew is surprised how long the dry weather has lingered. “While we’ve had some rain now and pasture is starting to recover, we just seem to be missing out on regular rainfall that would keep the soil profile moist.

“In some ways we aren’t out of the woods yet as our water tables are still very low. We’re certainly hoping for a mild winter and spring so any gaps in our feed budget are not too exposed.”

P3 project manager and consulting officer Jaimee Morgan says the average Hauraki Plains farm is sitting at or below 1500kgDM/ha average pasture cover, at least 400kgDM/ha behind where they need to be midway through May and two months from calving.

“New grass establishment has also been very slow even for early re-grassing done in March. With a big deficit in pasture cover and the onset of winter with soil temperatures likely to drop, farmers are very concerned about not reaching pasture cover and cow condition targets.

“They’ve already used up their plan B, and are now reviewing a plan C and D. Grass grows grass so being with realistic with potential growth rates over the next few months in feed budgets, I wouldn’t expect growth rates above 30. Now farms need to consider wintering cows off and sell capital stock given the situation isn’t improving and we’re getting closer to calving.

“It’s going to be a tough couple of months ahead as decisions have to be made. Farmers need to have further plans in place so they’re not rushing to make decisions in the middle of calving, keep monitoring the situation with feed and cashflow budgets – and keep talking to people, their farm team, suppliers, bankers, accountants and neighbours.”

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COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Kiwifruit sports hardy positivity Consumer interest in kiwifruit has grown during Covid-19, according to Zespri International new cultivar innovation manager Bryan Parkes.

“We have found that consumers have become increasingly conscious about supporting their immune systems. There has been a spike in web-searches asking what foods are rich in vitamin C, and kiwifruit is one of the first search results.

“Despite the challenges Covid-19 has thrown our way, it has significantly underscored the benefits of kiwifruit, and the positive effects of our growing relevance to consumers should continue for years yet.”

Focussing on the positives seems to be a shared approach to Covid19 throughout the kiwifruit industry, despite the initially grim forecast.

According to New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated, the industry began the season short 1300 workers who couldn’t enter the country, while expecting an estimated harvest of 155 million trays for the year.

The 2020 harvest. Photo: Jamie Troughton, Dscribe Media Services.

Below: New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated CEO Nikki Johnson.

Positive uptake

Even in the midst of it, NZKGI chief executive officer Nikki Johnson has remained confident.

“We’ve employed New Zealanders who wouldn’t otherwise be employed, and

Above: Trevelyan’s managing director James Trevelyan. earned an income for the regional and national economy when many industries couldn’t do so, which is a great thing,” says Nikki.

“Before Covid-19 became rampant, we already had positive uptake from Kiwis because of our targeted Labour Attraction Campaign, but obviously Covid-19 took that to another level.

“Recognised Seasonal Employer workers already in NZ who were scheduled to go home had their visas extended, which also helped fill the shortfall.”

Trevelyan’s managing director James Trevelyan says staff engagement throughout Covid-19 has been impressive.

“For example, a team member called me just to share an idea about how we could take temperatures more efficiently, which was really going above and beyond their job.

“Having such keen attitudes makes it a great place to work.”

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Going into Alert Level 4, pickers and packers had to quickly adapt to a new working environment that allowed for social distancing and daily health checks. Strict pre-employment checks were also implemented.

James says the cost of meeting the new standards, from doubling security and tripling cleaning staff, to sourcing thermometers for health checks during a shortage, was “significant”.

“Initially we also had a churn over of staff, because we are all different in how we react to situations like this. Some people are happy to work with risk, and others can’t cope with it mentally – and that’s okay. It’s life; you roll with it,” says James.

Resilience shown

“You could look at Covid-19 and think we’ve hit a bottom of sorts. But, rather than dwelling on it, we can focus on the resilience shown in the rebuild.”

The kiwifruit industry still has employment opportunities available across the Bay of Plenty, says Nikki.

For more information and listed vacancies, search ‘Kiwifruit Jobs New Zealand’ on Facebook.

MacKenzie Dyer

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 5

National water storage strategy wanted Primary industry sectors are welcoming a new fund for drought recovery, announced in early-May, but some say prevention is better than cure. And as such, more needs to be done to solve the overall problem of more dry weather affecting farmers in future.

The $500,000 fund has been set up by government to help farmers and growers prepare their businesses to recover from drought as the economy gets moving again, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.

The fund will provide advisory services that usually cost $5000 to equip rural businesses with professional and technical advice to help them recover from and better prepare for future drought. “As we rebuild the economy following the effects of a global pandemic, we have an opportunity to build back better than before and factor in resilience for our productive primary sector,” says Damien.

Beef + Lamb NZ say the fund is appreciated – and while DairyNZ agrees, it believes a coherent and coordinated national water storage strategy is what’s really needed.

IrrigationNZ says any support is good “but, this [fund] is simply putting a plaster on the wound” – and that the Government has missed an opportunity for water investment to aid the Covid-19 recovery in its 2020 Budget.

Reacting to Budget 2020, Hort NZ says it also wants to see government invest in infrastructure projects like water storage that are important at a regional level “and will assist those communities”.

IrrigationNZ chief executive Elizabeth Soal says strategic water storage in key regions could aid a postCovid-19 recovery which focuses on protecting jobs, creating new ones, achieving positive environmental outcomes, and contributing to climate change targets.

“We don’t have enough reliable water storage to support both rural and urban communities during times of drought – as a country, we should be creating an overarching water strategy to futureproof us in these situations,” says Elizabeth. “Budget 2020 has missed the opportunity for water storage to be part of the solution.”

Detrimental impacts

Lack of rain this year has had detrimental impacts on many regions, including environmental and the health of wellbeing of communities – but Waikato and Hawke’s Bay are some of the hardest hit.

IrrigationNZ board member Ivan Knauf, a Hawke’s Bay farmer, says they’re simply running out of water.

“Stock feed is limited, and the lockdown made it difficult to move stock, farmers are already struggling with financial pressure and this doesn’t make any impact in solving the overall issue,” says Ivan.

“In the 20 years I’ve been here it’s the driest I’ve ever seen it. If this is climate change, we need better strategies and policies to provide support during these times, because it’s happening here this year and it will probably happen in another region next year.”

Elizabeth says water storage is not only about sustaining agriculture we already have – “it can unlock opportunities such as land-use change, topping up low river flows and developing underdeveloped land”.

A national water storage strategy is what most parts of the primary sector want to see actioned by the Government.

farmers who are in need of feed due to drought or having to hold more stock on farm due to Covid-19 are assisted to access feed.”

Damien says this year the Government has invested $17 million to help drought-stricken regions recover from what many are saying is the worst drought in living memory.

“Although there has been a bit of rain relief recently, it takes steady rain at the right time to get grass growing again. The flow-on effects of water shortages and low feed availability take a long time to fully recover from and some farmers will be dealing with the effects of this drought for a year or more.

“We know that, with climate change, we can expect more acute weather events so it’s important we help farmers and growers get their businesses ready for future drought.

“Key to recovery is making good decisions, based on sound advice. The purpose of this new fund is to ensure our farmers and growers can tap into this advice. It will address the longer-term issues but there are also ongoing, acute issues that need to be addressed with urgency...so two feed coordinators are in place, to make sure available feed gets from where it is to where it’s most needed.”

DairyNZ general manager farm performance Sharon Morrell says this year’s drought has affected thousands of farmers “and this fund may not extend as far as it is needed”.

Greater investment

DairyNZ says the drought again highlights the urgent need for greater investment in water storage in key regions where dry conditions often has a big impact on farms. “Water storage is essential to giving farmers access to water, when and where farmers need it, in times of drought,” says Sharon.

“It’s promising to see the Government starting to move in this direction with water storage schemes recently announced for both Northland and Hawke’s Bay – but what is really needed is a coherent and coordinated national water storage strategy. In the face of a changing climate, investing in water storage will help build more resilient rural communities.”

Meanwhile, B+LNZ says the fund is a welcome initiative as the sector deals with the ongoing impacts from both the drought and Covid-19. “With first the severe drought and then the disruptions caused by Covid-19, farmers have been dealing with two hugely challenging situations over the last six months and this new pilot fund is welcome news for the sector,” says B+LNZ’s CEO Sam McIvor.

“We’re especially glad to see Minister O’Connor and MPI picked up on the suggestion from B+NZ’s Mark Harris, to have feed coordinators in place to ensure

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Breeding alpacas

Alpaca breeder Sonja Blom with one of her favourites, Verona, and a black alpaca behind her.

South African couple Dave and Sonja Blom came to New Zealand in 2005 seeking a securer lifestyle for their family.

and felting techniques, Sonja makes stunning scarves from the fibre. Alpacas are farmed mainly for their fibre, and sometimes for meat in New Zealand.

Dave, a dentist by trade, comes from a family of farmers, and the couple themselves farmed in South Africa for five years, breeding Nguni – a hardy African beef cattle with gorgeous hides.

They began farming alpacas in New Zealand in 2006, with four females and a cria (baby alpaca) on a four-acre lifestyle block off State Highway 23 near Raglan.

Today their alpaca stud has 160 alpacas between their 10-acres in Gordonton and a neighbouring leased block of 15 acres.

While Dave loves the little humming noise the animal makes to communicate, Sonja fell in love with their sweet natures, hollow wool, known as alpaca fibre, which appealed to her creative nature.

“Their fibre is three times warmer than sheep’s wool, very durable and strong, and beautiful to work with,” says Sonja, who was a self-professed city girl, music teacher, and A recently university lecturer in educational psychology. shorn black alpaca.

Using colourful dyes

The couple have around 28 flat paddocks of varying sizes, and paddock rotation can stretch out to a week in summer and reduce to three days in winter. Alpacas eat the grass very low, avoiding weeds, and have a communal “poop patch” that they eat around.

Additions of lime or seaweed granules are applied as needed after each year’s soil testing.

The pastures are sown with horse mix, as rye grass gives the alpacas rye grass staggers. Supplements include meadow hay, and alpaca and lucerne pellets, which are infused with minerals and vitamins.

“We sometimes add Vitamin B12, and the crias get regular Vitamin A, D and E from age six weeks to two years,” says Dave.

While the alpaca is fairly self-sufficient, they can be bothered by worms and require twice-yearly drenching. The alpacas receive the same yearly 5-in-1 vaccination as sheep. But they are very susceptible to facial eczema, and unlike sheep, show little visible symptoms.

“We opt for prevention with pasture spore count testing from January, and zinc in both the water and lucerne pellets as required,” says Dave.

The herd of huacaya alpacas includes 100 breeding females split into five smaller herds, each with a stud male, and this season’s crias. Around 50 per cent of the alpacas are white or the lighter fawns, as the fibre from these colours can be dyed most easily. ...continued

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Page 7

s in the Waikato continued...

The rest vary from pure black, through all shades of fawn and brown, to silver grey and rose grey. “There are 22 recorded natural colours,” says Sonja.

Breeding programme

The Bloms breed for specific fibre traits, including fineness, density, lustre and shine. Every three years replacement stud males are sourced from other NZ alpaca studs, and imported as live animals from Chile, Peru, the US and Australia.

“We take great care to keep the gene pool fresh, and we have a high success rate with our breeding,” says Dave.

Alpacas are sexually mature from the

Champion fawn stud male, Invincible.

age of two, and females can breed for around 20 years.

“It’s a slow process with a gestation period of 11-anda-half months, and the crias stay on their mothers until they are five months old,” says Sonja.

Female alpacas do not have a specific breeding cycle, but are ‘induced ovulators’. The physical act of mating and the stud’s orgling noise induces ovulation.

To give crias the best start in life, Dave and Sonja keep stud males away from females for some of the year, to try and schedule births to fall outside the coldest and hottest months.

“We are part of the Alpaca Association of New Zealand, with 90 per cent of our herd registered,” says Dave. Showing their alpacas is part of farm life, with several champions to their name, such as the grey stud male, Lord Grey, and the fawn stud male, Invincible.

Sonja works full-time on the farm, and has opened an alpaca product shop onsite, and started farm tours.

Dave works in his private Hamilton dental practice four days a week. The farm requires two other parttime workers.

Shearing is carried out professionally by champion shearer Mike Banks once-a-year.

The Bloms are contract suppliers to Pacific Alpacas in Cromwell, where the fleeces are used for duvets. “We also keep some ourselves for felting and making other products,” says Sonja.

It is easy to see why the silky, soft fibre is a popular choice today as an alternative to sheep wool. For more information, see: www.cornerstonestud.co.nz

The fawn herd with this year’s crias.

Catherine Fry

David Blom with champion grey stud male, Lord Grey.

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Page 8

Arable research okay post-lockdown Hundreds of arable research trials were paused for five weeks during the nationwide Covid-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown.

And this has proved challenging for some projects at the Te Puke Plant & Food Research base, which is home to a 40ha research orchard where $35 million is invested

by P&FR, Zespri and the Government every year.

However, the overall impact has been relatively minimal, says Zespri International cultivar innovation manager Bryan Parkes. “While challenging, COVID19 is likely to be more of a bump in the road, than a 2010 Psa repeat for trials,” says Bryan. “There are delays, but nothing is killing the cultivars like PSA did.

“Psa taught the industry how to respond to

challenges, and has given us a resilient mindset. So now that Covid-19 has come along, we’ve stayed optimistic and there’s been a fantastic collaborative approach from the industry to safely get our fruit picked, packed and shipped to market,” says Bryan.

While no ground-level research was permitted during lockdown, cultivars were allowed to be maintained.

And work continued during Alert Level 3, while adhering to social distancing and contact tracing rules.

“Social distancing is practical for us, because we largely operate outside,” says Bryan, who is based at Te Puke P&FR. “The timing has been lucky for most projects, as the harvest time for our cultivars is quite spread-out over late-January to June.

“In some cases we haven’t been able to harvest on time,

Zespri International cultivar innovation manager Bryan Parkes in the research orchard at P&FR Te Puke back in 2018. which has left a few data holes in our programme. [But] the main impact for us is not being able to evaluate the vines and fruit at the time we usually would.”

Not a big knock

Bryan says there are significant gaps in sensory testing data, which is obtained by consumers evaluating the fruit, and storage testing was also affected. “Even though we have data holes this year, we can fill them next year with more robust data. “We may have to delay some riskier cultivar advancement decisions, but not all tests have been impacted.

“We evaluate cultivars for a number years before allowing them to progress onto the next stage. It has certainly set us back a bit, but a year’s delay for a few potential cultivars when you have a decade-view of the world isn’t a big knock.”

Covid-19 setbacks experienced by the Foundation of Arable Research have also been manageable, says FAR research, development and extension general manager Andrew Pitman. Of their 140 nationwide projects, only a handful had to be discontinued so far. “Recent weather events, like drought in the North Island and hail and flooding in the South, have impacted our field trials more than Covid-19,” says Andrew.

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Andrew Grant knows calving is a very difficult time for a lot of farmers. Anything that makes life easier, has got to be good news. His team at Belfield Dairies are feeding up to 1200 calves a day, so he wants a calf milk replacer that delivers.

However, the lockdown wasn’t without its downsides.

“We missed out on autumn planting for some of our crops. We rely on farmers for this, and because they had to continue working they couldn’t delay their autumn sowing to wait for us.

“Ironically, the weather during lockdown was ideal for cereal planting, so we have lost a number of autumn cereal trials going into next season.

“We also lost two spring barley trials in Southland, as the contractors couldn’t get to the field.”

For the most part, Andrew says the timing of the lockdown worked in FAR’s favour. “Five weeks may seem like a long time to people, but we have come out at the tail-end of our autumn sowing period, and we have time to rectify most projects.

“In coming weeks, we’ll be rushing to complete as much autumn sowing as we can. Some trials may fall over due to a number of factors that come with planting later in the season, such as lower soil temperatures. But, by the time we come out the other end, the negative impacts will be relatively minimal.”

But the research sector isn’t out of the woods yet. “At this stage, no spring trials will be affected – unless we move back into Alert Level 4.”

MacKenzie Dyer

A proposal for a spat farm in Mercury Bay has been given the green light by independent commissioners.

The commissioners’ decision to grant a resource consent for 20 years was released in late-April, following five days of hearings last December. A consent term of 35 years had been sought.

The decision imposes 104 conditions that address various matters, including best practice management, structures, noise, lighting, biosecurity, effects on currents and waves, marine mammals and seabirds.

The commissioners were satisfied that the proposal could be “advanced in a manner that is appropriate to the coastal environs that it will exist within”.

The application to establish the spat catching farm at Whauwhau, in outer Mercury Bay, was lodged

by Coromandel aquaculture industry businessman Peter Bull and Joe Davis on behalf of Ngati Hei in February 2019. Spat farming involves free-swimming larvae (baby mussels) attaching themselves to spat catching ropes. The ropes are then transferred to a mussel farm for the mussels to continue growing.

Submitters had 15 days from the decision being received to lodge an appeal.

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 9

Rural support still available As Waikato farmers have felt the pressures of drought, the local Rural Support Trust has had to change the way it reaches out and provides support to those in need during the last two months.

Waikato Rural Support Trust chairman Neil Bateup, who also chairs The Waikato Primary Industries Cluster, says due to the Level 4 lockdown to fight the spread of Covid-19 in New Zealand at least 15 community events – set to happen during a three-week period – to gather people during the drought had to be canned. “These events were a meet and greet for farmers and their neighbours, and a great morale boost for all who attend.”

Instead, WRST has run a lockdown challenge on their Facebook page, offered online webinars of expert advice and support, and has switched all of their face-to-face work for electronic modes of connection.

“We can’t do our usual face-to-face visits to farmers who ring us with stresses.

Instead, we’re doing telephone, zoom or Skype catch-ups with them. So we’re still providing one-on-one support but just not face-to-face.”

Neil says it’s always better to sit down together if you can “but our electronic connections seem to be working so far”.

“We are processing Rural Assistance Payments using emails to process

Waikato Rural Support Trust chairman Neil Bateup encourages farmers to keep planning heading into this winter. documents and taking photos and sending them in.

“It’s just a different way of working – but we are still providing support to people.

Anybody that rings –we will still be here at the end of the phone to chat through the issues and try to get help for people in the way they need it.”

Neil says the trust has been fielding its usual enquiries plus extra calls from people about drought – but none regarding Covid19. “We’ve had a number of phone calls with enquiries about RAPs,” says Neil.

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Day, June 1.” Farmers have been battling a very long hot summer drought, which has been unusually long in duration, says Neil. “Ongoing drought conditions are still proving to be an enormous ongoing challenge for farmers.”

Neil, who dairy farms near Huntly, says the areas most affected by drought in the WRST’s reach are South Auckland, eastern areas of the Waikato, Hauraki Plains and up the Coromandel Peninsula.

“They are the real crunch points. Some western areas and South Waikato have had rain, so farmers there are still affected but not so much as the crunch points.”

Neil says farmers’ main concern heading into winter and the new milking season is feed budgeting. And he says those who are autumn calving will be struggling – and will need to use all of their supplementary feed to keep cows going. “It’s really about budgeting feed to try and get through winter and into next spring. So how do we exist on the feed we have available?”

“Just keep planning and feed budgeting”.

“If you’re unsure of where to go, there is a free feed budgeting service available through DairyNZ and Beef+Lamb NZ, so if anybody is unsure of what their position is please reach out for help. The Trust’s helpline is 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP). Or get in touch online at: facebook.com/ruralsupportwaikato Or access the new free Feed Merle Cave Planning’ service.

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WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - CENTRAL PLATEAU

Budget boost to lure more into dairying Dairy farmers will be particularly pleased to see a $19.3 million investment from the Government’s 2020 Budget to place 10,000 people into primary sector jobs, according to DairyNZ.

DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle says the sector is already facing a 1000-person skill shortage that will be greatly exacerbated by Covid-19 and an inability to recruit migrant staff.

“With unemployment forecast to hit 9.8 per cent by September, we are hoping many Kiwis will consider a career in our world-leading dairy sector.

“DairyNZ’s new career changers campaign, Go Dairy, will ensure new entrants to the sector will hit the ground running.”

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Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says Budget 2020 makes major investments in the primary sector that will support more than 10,000 people into jobs.

“Our farmers, growers and producers will play a critical role in NZ’s economic recovery so we’re making a $232 million investment to boost jobs and opportunities in the primary sector and rural NZ. “This is a significant investment which will grow and transform the primary sector.”

Rapidly retraining people

The Minister says there are significant employment opportunities in our primary industries “and we’re going to be training people to have the skills they need for the jobs we have”. “To that end, we’re investing $19.3 million in a range of initiatives that will partner and support more than 10,000 NZers in primary sector jobs by rapidly retraining and absorbing workers displaced from other sectors like hospitality, tourism and aviation.

“It will be a big change for some, so we’ll be creating familiarisation courses to help new workers settle into primary sector roles and lives.”

A further $128 million is earmarked for wilding pine and wallaby control, providing hundreds of jobs; $20.2 million to help rural and fishing communities recover from Covid-19; $45.3m to help horticulture seize opportunities for future growth; $14.9 million to reduce food waste by redirecting food to people in need; and $5.4 million for critical resources to identify and manage animal welfare issues.

Federated Farmers believes the Budget’s provision for re-training and other support for NZers who’ll be among the forecast 10 per cent unemployment queue by next month is the right step.

Feds vice-president and economics spokesperson Andrew Hoggard says his organisation set up its own apprenticeship scheme to find more workers for the dairy industry “and is looking forward to seeing more government support now for this and other similar schemes to get people into primary sector jobs”.

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“Keeping as many Kiwis in work as possible is obviously a priority. We appreciate the acknowledgement of how important the primary sector will be to economic recovery.”

Other priorities

Andrew says farmers will be pleased with a $1.1 billion environmental jobs spend and specific mention of control of pests such as wallabies and wilding pines.

“Also positive is the increased support for biodiversity on private land through agencies like QEII and Landcare Trust. “But as with so many aspects of the Budget announcements, the devil will be in the detail.”

DairyNZ agrees. Tim says a $3 billion investment in infrastructure is also welcome news for rural NZ – but while the dollars are there, the detail isn’t.

“DairyNZ will engage with government in coming months to ensure water storage, rural broadband and enhanced mobile coverage are priorities.”

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WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - CENTRAL PLATEAU

Why wellbeing matters The most important ‘animal’ on a farm or orchard is the farmer or grower – but often that person pays more attention to the health of their plants or animals than to their own wellbeing, says Joyce Brown of Stay Well NZ. That’s why 10 years ago, the semi-retired dairy farmer and former nurse from Te Rahu, near Te Awamutu, began to offer free health checks for farmers and growers. Four years ago, that service evolved into the Stay Well NZ Trust.

“We know farmers look after their stock and growers their plants, but often forget their own health needs.

Rural people work extremely hard physically and mentally, often without regard to the long-term effects of such pressures,” says Joyce.

Thanks to sponsorship from Rabobank, Joyce and volunteer Sheridan Till of Hamilton offered free blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol testing on the ‘Stay Well’ stand at Zespri’s Momentum Conference at Mount Maunganui in February.

The checks were also a chance for Sheridan and Joyce to chat to growers about the pressures they are under and if necessary, encourage them to see their doctor or health professional.

They also promoted NZ’s new national mental health and addictions helpline number: 1737. This easy to remember four-digit number is free to text or call anytime to talk with a trained counsellor.

Joyce is a keen advocate of the service available through the 1737 number. “Calling 1737 is available to anyone not just rural people, and is governmentfunded. For emergencies, people should call 111. “For non-emergencies this is the number to contact.

“It is staffed by a team of paid counsellors who are

Stay Well NZ Trust founder Joyce Brown on the ‘Stay Well’ stand at Zespri’s Momentum Conference where Sheridan Till checks the height of Alex Murray, who is Rabobank agribusiness manager at Te Puke.

available 24 hours a day seven days a week so there is always a real person to talk to. I recommend anyone who needs to talk for whatever reason, to call 1737.”

Stay Well NZ volunteers offer health checks at a diverse range of rural events including conferences, field days and A&P shows up and down the country.

Joyce says the accent on farmer and grower wellness is important for orchardists, farmers, their industries, communities and our country, especially as the workforce is aging. “We need these people to stay healthy and involved in the biggest export industry we have. Learn more at: www.staywellnz.com or free call Elaine Fisher or text 1737 anytime for support.

WWEOC joins forces with South Waikato and Taupo The Western Waikato Emergency Operating Centre has joined forces with two other Waikato EOCs to provide a combined civil defence response now the country has moved into COVID-19 Alert Level 2.

The new Southern EOC amalgamates Western Waikato, South Waikato and Taupo, and will be based in Taupo. However, staff from all three EOCs will continue to provide assistance to their local communities.

The WWEOC was established on the first day of Level 4 lockdown on March 26, and has been operating seven days a week dealing with the non-health related responses to the COVID-19

pandemic and in support of the Ministry of Health.

Comprising of Waipa, Otorohanga and Waitomo districts, staff from each council were seconded to their civil defence roles in order to operate the centre based at Waipa District Council’s Te Awamutu office.

Strict social distancing and facility sanitation protocols were maintained throughout the operation of the WWEOC. Duty controller Andrew Loe says staff in the WWEOC have been working hard to ensure vulnerable community members were cared for in the best possible way while supporting the Waikato District Health Board’s response to

COVID-19.

“The health and safety of our communities has always been paramount and our staff have been dedicated to ensuring support is provided in the safest possible way.

“This will not change when our WWEOC functions move to Taupo.”

Andrew says following amalgamation many of Southern EOC’s functions will be work remotely and staff will still have a local presence, especially community-based welfare teams.

People requiring assistance in the Waikato region can phone the Waikato Welfare Call Centre on 0800 800 405.

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Page 11

Page 12

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WESTERN BAY

Largest Maori orchard remains people-focused Prioritising people and education has helped the Ngai Tukairangi Trust become the largest Maori kiwifruit operation in the country, and an Ahuwhenua Trophy finalist.

That legacy began with Turirangi Te Kani and his cousins, who converted their ancestral land on Tauranga’s Matapihi peninsula from a dairy farm to a commercial garden, to help protect it from urbanisation.

Now, Ngai Tukairangi Trust has 110 hectares of kiwifruit orchards, including

60ha in Hastings. In total, they produce about 1.7 million trays of kiwifruit yearly.

Turirangi’s grandson, Ratahi Cross, has chaired the trust for 13 years. “Being named an Ahuwhenua finalist, in its first horticulture year, is like getting a tick from my grandparents to say we have maintained what they set out to achieve. It’s a great feeling,” says Ratahi.

“It’s extra special for us, because several great grandkids of the Ahuwhenua Trophy founder, Sir Apirana Ngata, work for us, or are related to trustees.”

Never afraid of new

Ratahi says the trust has never been afraid to try new things, and it continues to progress and innovate. “The land started as a commercial garden but we grew such good veggies, our people kept eating them – we weren’t making much money, but our people were well fed!

“As soon as we realised kiwifruit was a more financially-viable option, we changed direction.

“When vine-killing disease Psa-V hit, we moved to the resistant G3 SunGold variety straight away.”

As well as helping Ngai Tukairangi get through the Psa crisis, being quick to act also gave them a head-start in the market. “We keep the same attitude today. We have an Active Variety Breeding Programme where new types of kiwifruit are tested, so we get to see new strands firsthand and decide whether they’re beneficial to us.”

The seven trustees prioritise good working relationships with their 54 permanent and 300 seasonal staff by being active, fair remuneration and networking opportunities.

Education is their biggest drawcard, says Ratahi.

“There are two ways to succeed, you can win lotto, or give your people an education.”

“Our workers are highly trained. Having their expertise obviously benefits us, but it also lets our staff know they’re valued. Even if they move onto somewhere else, we like knowing that we’ve helped

...continued

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engineering workshop that offers support for those oddball tricky jobs, while also providing us with quality equipment to allow us to get the job done.

“We are easy to approach “We’ve been a local and more than happy to contractor in the Bay of offer advice and provide Plenty for more than 30 no-obligation quotes or years,” says Fotheringhame costing estimates. There is Contractors Ltd manager no job too big or small,” says Tom Fotheringhame. “And Tom. we are now servicing a wider “Also, we’d like to thank area – including Hauraki, our loyal customers for Waikato and Whakatane sticking with us throughout districts.” the years, and our very The Fotheringhame team talented team of staff that specialises in residential and has made the journey rural subdivisions, with the to where we are today Earthworks, civil earthworks or general focus on being able to take contracting and construction, Fotheringhames possible.” on projects from start to If you have a project that can do it all. finish to make the process as needs doing – whether it driveways, retaining and concrete simple as possible for clients. be earthworks, civil earthworks construction, tree removal and “We have found a recipe that or general contracting and transporter/tipper cartage. works very well; having individual construction this Western Bay of “On top of that we have an crews managing a range of different Plenty company can do it all. types of work keeps the skills and equipment available to achieve top quality work efficiently.”

Their crews consist of bulk earthworks, civil earthworks and drainage, road construction and

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Staff education programmes include trips to organic markets in the Northern Hemisphere to help understand the growing demand. They’ve been doing these trips for 12 years, to help the business eventually become completely organic. “Our orchards from Opotiki to the Hawke’s Bay have been great to transition to organic, as the land can produce much better without sprays compared to north of Western BOP. We wish we switched sooner.”

Their goal is to operate as sustainably as possible. “We’re trialling our

Page 13

first electric buggy. Our aim is to eliminate two-thirds of our fossil fuel requirements in the next three years.

“Water has been kaupapa in NZ for some time now. We manage it by using a computerised programme to monitor our usage.”

Offers for the original land, which is 11km from Tauranga CBD, still roll in. The business is almost generating as much money as the multimillion-dollar proposals the trust receives. “The fact this land has been providing for our iwi for more than 700 years is more important than the money.”

MacKenzie Dyer

From left, trust chairman Ratahi Cross, administrator Amanda Ngatai, orchards general manager Colin Jenkins, administration manager Reina Dickson, HR manager Phoebe Riddell and regional orchard manager Andrew Wood. Photo: Alphapix.

continued...

another orchard gain a great asset.” The trust provides grants at almost every level of education, from truck licences to PhD degrees. “My grandfather used to tell his workers: ‘I may not be able to pay you $50,000,

but I can give your children an education grant that will turn them into $50,000 employees’. I still say that today.” As a result, Ratahi says they rarely lose staff.

“Many of our workers have been here longer than me.

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It was Power Farming owner Keith Maber who named the business Capital Tractors all those years ago, so in a sense the Reg Hedges is now the business has been close to the proud dealer principal of Power Farming family. And so, Power Farming Bay of Plenty, a Power Farming Bay of Plenty which cements their strong presence is in line with both the New salesman Owen Jessop with Reg Hedges. association over five years with company’s history and its future. the New Zealand-owned and operated organisation.

The new joint venture means that continuity, consistency and class of service will be better than ever now for customers, and the services and gear available in the Bay of Plenty area from Waihi in the north to Opotiki in the south will increase.

As well as the well-known Deutz-Fahr and Kioti tractors, Power Farming Bay of Plenty will expand the range of available products to include other world Since 1976 famous farming equipment manufacturers such as Kverneland, Maschio, McHale, Merlo, Jaylor and Aitchison to name a few.

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WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - EASTERN BOP

Prioritising land and people Having an orchard backed by the Kaituna River makes for quite a site – one that Ahuwhenua Trophy finalist Otama Marere are very proud of.

What used to be a golf course, until the 1980s, has been transformed to reflect how Otama Marere ancestors used the property – to benefit the land and its people.

Otama Marere (Paengaroa North A5) Block was one of the first Maori-owned orchards to grow organic SunGold G3, starting in 2018.

Now they’re considered leading organic growers by Zespri, which invite overseas growers to tour the orchard.

Otama Marere dedicate 7ha to growing organic SunGold, which produces around 418,435 gross kg per year. They also grow 11.87ha of non-organic Hayward Green, and 2.21ha of non-organic SunGold.

Leading the mission is Otama Marere trustee, orchard manager, and one of the orchard’s 452 beneficial owners, Homman

Whakaue iwi, and his whanau. The pa’s surrounding wetlands thrived with an abundance of vegetables and tuna, before being converted. “The area was used for many things over the years, including for grazing and corn in the 1980s,” says Homman. “It’s so wet, we decided that returning it, so it can function to its full potential, just made sense.”

The wetlands are now home to 7600 Trustees Rhys Rushton, Gemma Mills and Homman native plants. The trust has a forestry block, where they’ve replaced pine trees Tapsell. Photo: Alphapix. with Kauri and Manuka. And just as Tapsell. He’s been working on his ancestral they take care of their land, Otama land since 2006. “This year we’ll convert a Marere prioritise their people. “While we further 2.1ha of our SunGold kiwifruit to get most of our workers through Seeka, we organic. I’d love to be completely organic, employ as many whanau as we can on a but unfortunately the Hayward Green variety semi-permanent basis. Giving them a place doesn’t produce well in organic conditions. of employment is part of our contribution to “Finding out how the fruit grows best is them.” A percentage of profits are designated part of the challenge. We’re looking forward to the people of Otama Marere through a to taking on Zespri Red to see if it’s a viable variety of avenues. “Our education funding organic option.” The name Otama Marere has helped people achieve at all levels – we originates from a pa site once occupied now have a few doctors and engineers.”

by Rangiiwaho, a koromatua of the Ngati MacKenzie Dyer

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Eustace Farm Services’ new Goweil G1 baler and In-Line G5020 wrapper in action.

Husband-and-wife team Neil and Tina Eustace have been operating their small local contractor business in the Eastern Bay of Plenty for nine years.

“We’ve been servicing the Rangitaiki Plains and surrounding areas, offering a variety of services for farms and lifestyle blocks – including muck, fert and lime spreading, round silage and hay, and conventional hay.

“We also offer a zero-turn mowing service for orchards and grassland areas.”

The couple say for Eustace Farm Services, their business goals are simple: reliability, quality service, and competitive rates. So two seasons ago we invested in a new Goweil G1 baler and In-Line G5020 wrapper with the aim of providing a top-quality bale and more efficient service,” says Neil.

“We’re more than happy with our

investment; it gives us great density and shape of bale. The efficiency of the whole process means we pass those savings onto our customers.”

Neil says an optional feature of this round baler may interest farmers feeding pit silage. “We can chop your grass to 35mm as it is baled.

“With this clean fine cut, you will effectively have pit silage in a bale. We can also run it as a combi machine – or split the baler and wrapper to operate them with two separate tractors, which gives us massive versatility,” says Neil.

To find out more about Eustace Farm Services offers, call Neil today. See their advert on this page for contact details.

Or check out Eustace Farm Services on Facebook.“We welcome all newcomers to the Eastern Bay of Plenty, and we hope to hear from you soon.”

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - KING COUNTRY

Page 15

King Country kiwifruit Most kiwifruit growers keep frosts at bay with expensive protection systems.

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your eggs in one basket and to learn something new.”

What did they know about kiwifruit? “Absolutely nothing,” laughs Bridget. “We only knew that it grew really well,” says Richard.

Bridget and Richard Neeson set fire to big bales The Neesons say being one of the last orchards to be of hay. The Neesons harvested means they get a little bit more growth. “But don’t recommend their then we’re getting into frost territory and watching method for everyone weather and waiting, waiting to pick at the end.” and say it’s only their The origins of the unusually-located orchard is that isolation that makes it Bob Powell planted it in 1975. “An original vine came an option. “So there’s no up from Whanganui from that lady that brought them expensive irrigation, no out from China,” says Richard. “Apparently there was bringing choppers in; it’s quite a big vine out the back of the shed, but it’s not very basic but it works there anymore. So obviously they knew it would grow well.” here.”

The couple’s orchard The location’s advantages include very good winter is deep in a valley off chilling, says Bridget. “So that’s key with kiwifruit.” the Forgotten World “We don’t quite get the Highway, 30km length of summer that south of Taumarunui. they do in the Bay of Surprisingly kiwifruit Plenty but we certainly thrives there. Not get the warmth; and surprisingly, the crop Bridget Neeson with usually we get quite good gets phenomenal winter hay bales on hand. moisture and rainfall. It’s chilling and that means Photo: Carol Stiles of RNZ. a little bit light this year; the Neesons don’t have but the winter chilling is to spray chemicals to phenomenal. promote bud burst in vines and can grow organically.

“Chilling hours are The orchard is the only one in the area and pickers anything under seven arrive from Te Puke for the harvest, which is one of degrees Celsius. So we the latest in the country. Fruit is transported four don’t have to put on a hours by truck-and-trailer to a Te Puke packhouse.

Bridget and Richard brought up their four children Richard Neeson loves rural hydrogen cyanimide, a chemical spray to bring in the valley of the Forgotten World Highway. life. Photo: Carol Stiles of RNZ. on bloom, which is really They moved there 24 years ago onto a sheep and beef farm that’s now run by one of their sons. The farm good and means we can be organic here.”

That was decision was made very early on. “We used is a winding 22km from the highway. Twelve years ago chemicals for one year and thought: ‘Oh, we don’t their family relocated a few kilometres down the road really want to do this’. So we stopped. to a kiwifruit orchard they’d passed every day on the “Then we thought: ‘Actually, we’re ticking all the school run. boxes here; let’s just do the paperwork to go with it. So “It was a really nice spot on the river,” says Bridget.

“We like the idea of diversification and the horticulture we went organic.”

The first few years of organic production was 6000 and agriculture actually go very well together. trays/ha. “We’re now doing 10,000 trays/ha so we’re “Workwise they balance out – busier times and not a high-producing orchard. But that’s still quite a slower times – they complement each other. And good average for organics.” certainly cashflow-wise it’s really good. When you get that quieter time on the farm when you’re not Source: Story courtesy of RNZ Country Life audio recording. selling stock that’s when I get the big payments for the See: www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/ orchard,” says Bridget. “And it’s nice not to have all of audio/2018742188/king-country-kiwifruit

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Page 16

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WAIKATO

Waikato farmer’s switch to Jerseys a win When Simeon Ward started out with his first farm 10 years ago at Taupiri, the milking herd was Friesian.

“We experienced bad mating performance, high empty rates, a lot of lame cows, and trouble at calving.”

So he began crossing the herd to Jersey. Fast-forward a decade and Simeon co-owns five farms in a triangle between Taupiri, Tahuna and Te Kauwhata, milking roughly 2000 across the properties. And all of his five spring-calving herds are continually bred to be Jersey.

And every cow bought is Jersey.

Why? “They are just a much easier animal to farm,” says Simeon, who milks his herds Twice-A-Day until early-summer then switches to Once-A-Day milking.

According to Jersey Advantage – a not-for-profit group of dairy farmers committed to promoting the economic, environmental and animal welfare advantages of the breed – he is not alone.

Jersey Advantage committee chair Ben Watson says if you look at stock and semen sales, the Jersey breed is on the rise. “The economic benefits are undeniable and we’re seeing the market respond to that.”

Link Livestock general manager Ross Riddell says demand for Jersey herds and stock lines have been significantly ahead this season. “Prices for in-milk stock are at least as high as the other breeds but in many cases higher due to shortage in supply.”

Jersey sales of LIC’s flagship AB product – Premier Sires – ended the season two per cent ahead of last year while their frozen product was also up two per cent to 21 per cent of total frozen straws.

And with increased demand for Jersey semen, LIC is extending their fresh sexed semen offering next season to include Jersey.

Far less issues

Simeon says since by breeding his herd to Jersey, many past issues have nearly disappeared. He gets less lame cows – literally a handful each season across five farms – the number of CIDRs he uses has dropped

Waikato farmer Simeon Ward, with wife Linda and sons Callum and Hunter. dramatically, there’s lower empty rates, and more compact calvings.

He also believes it’s much easier to convert feed into milksolids with Jerseys. “We were putting quite a bit of feed into our Friesian herd – now we’re dialing the system back and actually getting more production.”

Simeon can only yardstick against his first farm.

“We’re consistently doing about 10,000 kgMS more than we were with the Friesian herd and overall we’re now using about 80-90 tonne less feed.”

Simeon believes he’s harvesting more grass from Jerseys too. “They do better on this heavier country and are a lighter animal.”

And Jerseys require less feed to keep them going in tough conditions, such as this year’s drought.

“Jerseys are smaller animals so require less feed to put a condition score on – as such we use less feed to get them into good condition and less feed for maintenance compared to a Friesian, for example.”

Calving cows is easier and the rate of assisted calvings is much lower. “Out of a 300-cow herd we might calve five per year,” says Simeon. ...continued

WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT - WAIKATO

Jersey cows on one of Simeon Ward’s co-owned five Waikato dairy farms.

About 60 per cent of NZ’s entire Jersey herd carry the A2A2 gene, say Jersey Advantage.

continued...

“And if you do have the odd Jersey that goes down they’re not hard to get back up – some Friesians that are 600kg, it can be a challenge to get them back on their feet and enthusiastic about life again.”

All these factors allow Simeon’s farms to produce a surplus herd each year, which they sell – and this combats the loss of residual value in cull cows some argue Friesians hold over Jerseys.

“There is a massive win in that. We also rear 50-60 Jersey bulls yearly. One farm we have is an equity partnership – so this is an avenue to try to create value out of calves that everyone thinks are worth nothing.”

Challenging to rear

But Simeon does admit Jerseys are more challenging to rear. “They take more care in the first three-four months of life because they’re smaller. But once they’re through that they become hardier.

“We run all of our own young stock, and from 12 months Jerseys are very easy to manage.”

Ben says farmers should consider Jersey genetics when making breeding decisions next season. “There’s long been acknowledgment of the ability for Jerseys

to convert feed into milksolids more efficiently than any other breed, and we’re seeing renewed interest in Jerseys due to strong milkfat prices. All indications are that a Value Component Ratio of parity to 1.2 is the new normal.”

Ben says last spring the majority of Jersey herds reported non-pregnancy rates in the 7-12 per cent range, whereas a typical Holstein Friesian herd was around 11-17 per cent. “This variation makes a significant difference to year-on-year replacement rates, farm carbon emissions and the cost of rearing young stock.”

The Jersey breed also has advantage for those wanting A2 animals. “About 60 per cent of the Jersey population carry the A2A2 gene, compared to 44 per cent for Holstein Friesian and 53 per cent for crossbreeds,” says Ben. Simeon is about to put an A2 herd together. “I think our average across our herds is 65 per cent A2 gene, so we just have to move a few cows around to establish an exclusive A2 herd.”

Merle Cave

Feds wins time for Waikato farmers and growers The Environment Court’s decision to allow more time for the filing of appeals on Waikato Regional Council’s Plan Change 1 has Federated Farmers breathing a sigh of relief.

Feds Waikato president Jacqui Hahn says this means individual farmers and growers have 70 working days from May 11 to file appeals. “These are tough times for farmers, dealing with Covid-19 restrictions, drought, meat processing issues and even things like home schooling with a poor internet connection. Extra time to work on this process is a help.”

Federated Farmers sought the extension for farmer and grower submitters based on the alarming and mounting challenges farmers are facing right now that are severely limiting their ability to engage on important issues

like PC1. Feds Rotorua/Taupo president Colin Guyton says the timeframe given was simply unachievable given the huge implications of the plan change. “We now have time to get advice, consider the implications and consider how to participate in the Environment Court process.”

In its decision, the Court gave considerable weight to Federated Farmers’ views about what time is needed, highlighting the group as the “specialist representative body with significant experience around the country in plan change appeal processes affecting its members”.

Feds Auckland president Alan Cole says it’s good to be heard, and even better to be understood.

“We are after a PC1 that is reasonable, practical and affordable.”

Page 17

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SHEEP & BEEF

Bull sale with something for every breeder Snake Gully Limousin own the only son of the record-breaking Dolcorsllwyn Fabio, pictured, in NZ.

Limousin cattle are known for their muscular build that produces high quality meat, which is why Snake Gully Limousin owner Natalie Roberts has never considered breeding anything else.

They own NZ’s only Dolcorsllwyn Fabio son, Snake Gully Lucas. Dolcorsllwyn Fabio made headlines in 2012 when he sold for 120,000gns – breaking the breed’s world record, and the UK’s overall bull record.

The Snake Gully Lucas progeny will be up for auction at the stud’s annual Bull Sale, which is held on the second Tuesday of June every year.

“They are well natured and easy to manage. To “People from Kaitaia to Gore attend the sale. At this anyone thinking of breeding Limousins – you won’t be stage, this year’s event will feature disappointed,” says Natalie.

16 bulls, and a few females.”

The Stud is a 365-acre property Snake Gully Limousin has in Northland’s Waiotira, started

by Natalie’s parents Dannie and something for every breeder, Bethley O’Shea in the 1980s. with other featured bloodlines Natalie continues her parent’s including Flemington Legend, as legacy by running the farm fullwell as Full French, Polled and time, where she lives with her Pure. Both black and apricot husband David Roberts, who is a bulls are available. crane operator.

The sale will go ahead under There aren’t many Limousin Alert Level 2. “If we are not Snake Gully Limousin’s bloodlines breeders in New Zealand, and some bloodlines are exclusive to include Flemington Legend, pictured permitted to host our sale this Snake Gully Limousin. year, we will sell privately.” at 15 months old.

Beef cattle numbers up, but sheep tally down again New Zealand’s beef cattle numbers rose five per cent to about 3.9 million in 2019 as beef prices and exports increased, according to new data from Statistics NZ. “The increase in beef cattle numbers was widespread in 2019 in almost every region,” says Stats NZ agricultural production statistics manager Stuart Pitts.

“The beef cattle breeding herd has risen in the last three years, with an even larger increase in one-year steers, up 14 per cent in the last year.

“This coincided with sharply rising quantities of beef exports to China and the US from late-2018.”

In this period, for the first time, China overtook the US as the primary destination for beef exports, says

Stuart, who points to beef prices also rising in recent years. “In the year to June 2019, the rise in beef cattle numbers coincided with a lift in total exports of meat, up nine per cent to $7.7 billion. In total, beef exports, both fresh and frozen meat, were worth more than $3.3 billion.”

Meanwhile, national sheep flock numbers declined again slightly in 2019, down two per cent to 26.8 million, continuing a long trend down. The national sheep flock peaked at more than 70 million in 1982.

“In the early-1980s there were about 22 sheep for every person in NZ. Now it is down to about five sheep for each person,” says Stuart.

In 2019, sheep numbers fell strongly in Waikato, down seven per cent; Manawatu-Whanganui dropped five per cent; and Southland dipped five per cent.

Page 19

SHEEP & BEEF

Page 20

Feed planning help on offer to farmers How to access the Knowledge Hub 1 Visit www.knowledgehub.co.nz

Learning Modules Work through the sections of a module over multiple visits.

The average module will take around 40 minutes.

2 Search by topic using search bar or simply browse the sections

Feed resources

Scan this QR Code with the camera app on your phone or QR Code reader

Videos A large selection of videos including conference recordings and webinars.

Factsheets Access hundreds of fact sheets containing valuable information.

Podcasts Collection of audio content from workshops, presentations, meetings, conference calls and other sources.

Find out what feed planning assistance is available to you.

Please call one of these toll-free numbers:

Dry stock sector – Beef + Lamb New Zealand 0800 BEEFLAMB (0800 233 352) Dairy sector – DairyNZ 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 324 7969)

0800 BEEFLAMB (0800 233 352) www.beeflambnz.com

Beef + Lamb New Zealand has seen farmers all over the North Island struggling with drought conditions this year.

of useful information on their websites, in different formats, to help farmers get information about their options, says Maria.

“Farmers know that the repercussions of a drought do not end when it finally “The situation has been exacerbated by rains and it is important to plan for the Covid-19, which has had an impact long-term effects of drought. on their ability to get stock “Beef + Lamb NZ has off-farm,” says B+LNZ’s produced a number of mid northern North articles and podcasts Island extension to help farmers manager Maria through the current Shanks. conditions and “To assist plan for the farmers, the coming season, Ministry which can be for Primary Industries found on their together with website: www.

Beef+Lamb New beeflambnz.com.

Zealand, DairyNZ, “Farmers can Deer Industry also join the weekly Association, AgFirst Waikato Hauraki and Federated Farmers Coromandel Rural is providing remote feed Support Trust webinar planning support to B+LNZ mid northern ‘Drought Recovery farmers – which includes North Island extension Matters’. a free assessment of their manager Maria Shanks. “This is on every feed planning by their Wednesday at 1pm with relevant industry.” different speakers each week until July.

To access this service are two toll-free For more details on the speakers and to numbers: for the drystock sector call register, check their website: www.ruralBeef + Lamb NZ on 0800BEEFLAMB (0800 233 352); for the dairy sector call support.org.nz The Rural Support Trust has local, DairyNZ on 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 4 rural people who understand farming 3247969). issues. They can be contacted on Maria says this service will be available 0800 787 254 and Maria encourages until June 30, 2020, at which time farmers “to pick up the phone and talk farmer need will be revised. to them”.

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SHEEP & BEEF

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Push the ‘reset’ button This event will rewrite all the history books that’s for sure.

In my 2019 columns, I was hinting that we were at the end of a huge bull-run, but I never ever expected a virus to cause the slide.

So, how is it going to look? We’re fortunate to have several excellent commentators who also have an eye on the future, not to mention Mike Hosking, Jamie McKay and Paul Henry. We’re also lucky to have Adrian Orr in charge of the Reserve Bank.

Love them, or hate them these guys are able to receive information, sort it in their heads and then tell it how it is without any packing on bull.

Once we get through to winter, it’s going to look a whole lot different. This will be the biggest event since the Great Depression but will not resemble it.

Deep strife

Many businesses will have failed and most tourist businesses will be in deep strife. People will have lost jobs and there will be many properties on the market because they just cannot service the debt. My heart goes out to them, but there seems no way around it.

There will be forced sales of distressed assets. Despite Finance Minister Grant Robertson promising the world and demolishing LVRs, banks will know their limit, and they will have to be sold. With many businesses gone unemployment will jump, and we’re likely to see a new poor, sadly.

The Government will print about $50 billion to try and stimulate the economy, but it will be like a ‘dead cat bounce’. The economy will fall, lift a fraction and then go into a long slow recovery. With pressure on everywhere if you have a dollar are you going to spent it, or save it? Saving it is just what the Government does not want you to do. This is where the ‘multiplier’ comes. Does that dollar disappear into your bank

account or get used and passed around the community three times in a day? The Government wants the latter.

Tourism is largely over, so stay home and see your own country. Don’t use find search engines like Trivago to fi accommodation, pick up the phone and call the motel direct and cut out money being siphoned overseas by these online companies. Buy local, make your own stuff; employ local people.

Farming backbone remains

Farming will still be, I repeat, ‘still be’ the backbone of the NZ economy. And yes, there’s an oversupply of milk in the world, but my pick is with all the distortions the food chain will be broken, and we’ll face a world food shortage. What will our product be worth then?

China is the elephant in the room. It’s very concerning how they’re taking over the South China Sea and there seems finally to be some pushback on that. Are they opening up better transport lines to come and collect the food direct from strategic assets in and around the Pacific that they have been steadily purchasing while we’ve been asleep at the wheel?

Look, like it or lump it, this next 12 months is going to be challenging, frightening and for some just downright terrifying. We need to be aware and look out for these people and reach out to them. For many it will be business as usual, but you need to ‘press the reset button’ and hold it down long enough to try and shift the way your brain sees the world. Going forward nothing, like nothing, is going to stay the same.

Disclaimer – these are the opinions of Don Fraser of Fraser Farm Finance.

Any decisions made should not be based on this article alone and appropriate professional assistance should be sought. Don Fraser is principal of Fraser Farm Finance and a consultant to the farming industry. Contact him on 021777675.

Smartrace proves to be a great option Giving ewes a slow-release dose of important trace elements makes sense to Jeremy Pitts.

So, he switched to dosing ewes with a Smartrace capsule of selenium, cobalt and iodine.

“I’ll definitely do it again this season.”

“We’ve had the best ewe survival rate over winter and lambing for several years.”

The extensive nature of Jeremy and Hayley Pitt’s 5500-hectare high country property, Mt Gladstone Station, means limited trips through the yards for ewes.

“I really like that we can give the ewes what they need with two capsule doses – prior to tupping and then at shearing in late pregnancy,” said Jeremy.

The property runs mediummicron Merino ewes, hoggets and wethers. Smartrace really fits the animal health plan for the ewes, and has potential for wether flocks who require long term supplementation.

The capsule is two pills of trace elements, held together with a biodegradable paper. The paper dissolves and the pills rub together.

As they scratch together the elements are released.

“I like the fact that there is no plastic going into the sheep.”

The Awatere property in Marlborough has a proven issue with low selenium soils. Cattle showed up with selenium

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Jeremy Pitts on his high country property. Photo: Hayley Pitts

“We’ve had the best ewe survival rate over winter and lambing for several years.” deficiency 15 years ago and resolving it made a huge difference to fertility. Ewes have always had selenium, iodine and cobalt supplementation, but Jeremy was

keen to try a product that gave a longer-acting dose.

“Selenised drenches are more short-term and we don’t drench often enough.”

“I decided against the injection as it’s another needle for ewes, when they are already getting two or three vaccinations.”

Jeremy read about Smartrace in the Vet Marlborough newsletter and grabbed a sample pack of capsules from the vets when in town.

The capsules were given to ewes in

the race using an adapted capsule gun, and Jeremy estimates only 12 or so capsules were immediately coughed up out of 3200 ewes. Any ewes seen doing this in the race were given another.

Smartrace has released a new applicator that will make the dose process even faster.

Research by Agrimin (the manufacturer) shows the capsules deliver all three ingredients for up to at least four months, but potentially beyond. Jeremy noticed that a ram killed for dog

tucker still had the capsule inside after four months.

“It was still breaking down.”

“It was really interesting to see.”

Like many treatments, proving the benefits of a supplement is hard to do, Jeremy said.

“But I feel that they are going better.”

“The lambing percentage in the ewes was the same but the ewe survival rate was much improved.”

“We only lost three ewes from ram joining in June to September.”

“Our wool clip was also up but that could also be the season too.”

Iodine regulates ewe body temperature and helps foetal development.

Jeremy said iodine is really important pre-lamb so this is probably the key time to give a capsule, if farmers just wanted to give one. His ewes typically graze high country oversown-top dressed pastures, which are of moderate quality for much of the year.

Giving long-acting selenium means the Pitts have to make sure they give only unselenised drench to the ewes.

“It takes a bit of planning to make sure staff know not to drench ewes with selenised drench, but we write it all on a whiteboard in the shed.”

Jeremy’s advice to other farmers is to give Smartrace a go, as it’s a great option.

Page 22

CARTAGE & EARTHWORKS

The Agriculture Minister is confident farmers will apply careful behaviour to this year’s Moving Day.

Moving Day will go ahead under any Covid-19 alert level, according to Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor.

Damien, who made the announcement on April 22, describes the June 1 tradition, where farmers move at the beginning of the dairy season to start new contracts, as “vital”.

“This annual movement is a critical part of the dairy industry – an industry that contributes more than $18 billion per year in exports to our economy, and provides jobs for around 46,000 people in our rural communities,” says the Minister.

“Since the Alert Level 4 lockdown was announced, and dairy farming was deemed an essential service, the Government has been committed to finding a way to enable it to proceed.”

The Minister says his government has been working with sector leaders from organisations including DairyNZ, Fonterra, Federated Farmers and FMG to find solutions that work for those in the sector and protect the economy, without jeopardising anyone’s health and safety.

“MPI then worked with the Ministry of Health and MBIE and found solutions that allow Moving Day to proceed under any alert level.”

Who is allowed to assist with the move depends on what alert level the country is in come June 1.

In Alert Level 3 and 4, DairyNZ advised that farmers would only be able rely on their bubble and

businesses with formal health and safety regulations, such as movers and cleaners, to assist.

Now that New Zealand is in Alert Level 2 family and friends are allowed to help – but they need to follow social distancing and good hygiene practices as much as possible.

While DairyNZ is still working with MPI to confirm what businesses can be used in different alert levels, they encourage famers to book movers and cleaners and prepare to transfer stock.

The announcement gave thousands of dairy farmers a peace of mind, says DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle.

“Moving Day is a key time in the dairy calendar, so it’s great that a solution has been secured with Government. It means we’ll move into the next dairy season in a way that keeps them and the public as safe as possible,” says Tim. “Industry groups will be providing further guidance and information to support dairy farmers who are shifting this season, including ensuring their moves are safe and within their bubbles.”

Kiwi farmers are no strangers to disease eradication programmes with strict movement controls, says Damien. “There were already really strong precautions in place around Moving Day as a result of the Mycoplasma bovis programme.

“This gives me confidence that farmers will apply very careful behaviour to Moving Day.” MacKenzie Dyer

Colin Amrein CONTRACTING Ltd

FERTILISER

Page 23

All sides of the triangle have to perform Recently, Kiwi Fertiliser has added a crucial string to its bow, a biological stimulant and fertility enhancer called Terragen Great Land.

Please check out the website, Terragen Biotech. It makes interesting reading with the product having been created and tested by the University of Queensland. Testing has included many properties in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Farming enterprises include dairy, maize, sugar cane, lucerne, banana, vineyards, cotton, potatoes, avocados and many more with kiwifruit currently under trial in NZ. It mattered not what the crop was, results were positive. Of real interest though was the fact that the Great Land product worked best where the properties involved were following the Albrecht system of soil fertility. This cements our long-held belief that soil fertility is a combination of chemistry, biology and physics (soil structure).

If one partner of that triangle is not performing, then full soil, plant and animal potential cannot be realised. GL is organically certified.

The latest information we have is that a vineyard in SA applied GL three times before harvesting the crop. The results of soil applied with Great Land at 10 litres/ha at each application showed a 72 per cent in yield over the control, having no GL. Botrytis count was also reduced.

When it comes to dairy farms, one of the first signs of success is an increase in clover growth, a decrease in insect attack and increased pasture vigour during times of stress. New pastures, lucerne and crops have established extremely well despite recent dry conditions. Animal health and production have also increased, while mastitis cases, Somatic Cell Count and empty cow rates have all declined. In most cases empty cow rates have halved. This gain alone is worth thousands of dollars.

Lucerne trials showed increased yield of between 16 and 40 per cent, returning an extra $358/ha to $908/

A soil with very low microbial life despite reasonable chemistry.

A productive soil with good biology, chemistry, and physical structure.

ha net gain after costs. Maize trials showed an average increase of 20 per cent across replicated sites. The gross margin advantage being $537/ha. Other trials have measured insect infestations that all decreased when GL was applied.

With Diamondback moth, this reduction was 61 per cent. When

kelp was added to GL, it was 72 per cent. Effluent ponds have also been treated and pathogen loads reduced. Pathogenic effluent was one of the factors allowing Mycoplasma bovis to become a problem recently.

Although mostly a bacterial product, GL enhances the

beneficial fungal spectrum in the soil. This has huge benefits in enabling the minerals in the soil to be more available to plants.

Just having good soil chemistry does not guarantee top results.

Soils sequester more carbon and hold more water when the soil is properly balanced.

FERTILISER

Page 24

Robin Boom

CPAg MBSPC

Independent Agronomy & Soil Fertility Consultant

Nitrogen options post-drought I’m generally not a great artificial nitrogen advocate, particularly when there are other glaring soil deficiencies, as money spent on N fertilisers often eats into the budget of other elements required for pasture growth.

Addressing known soil deficiencies of P, K, S, lime and trace elements will give a much better financial return in terms of the cost per kg of dry matter grown long-term compared to nitrogen. However, artificial nitrogen can give a temporary ‘get out of jail’ card when feed demand is greater than supply, and seems to have a kind of antifreeze effect in reducing frost burn.

As a result of drought, many farms are going into winter with a lot less cover than ideal. Research institutions and farm advisors are quick to point to nitrogen as the cheapest form of dry matter to fill this feed gap, so the question is what are the best products to consider? Straight urea is the cheapest form of nitrogen at about $560 for 46 per cent N, which works out to be about $1.20/kg N. SustaiN is 10 per cent

 Sweeten horse paddocks and improve pasture utilisation  Minimise application costs by using smaller volumes of highly effective product (typical rates = 250kg/ha)  Pelletised and ultra-fine for rapid response  Easy, effective application either by hand or spreader  Enhance nutrient cycling and nutrient availability  Lime-based for sustainable, healthy soils (includes Mg, S, P, Se)

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more expensive, but has half the volatilisation rates of Urea. If 20 per cent of the N in urea volatilises, then the extra cost of SustaiN is justified. But this is unlikely to happen between late-autumn and late-spring. Volatilisation is mainly an issue during drier sunny periods. To avoid volatilisation, apply urea early-morning or in evenings, or just before, during or after rain.

Gibberellic

Dissolving urea in water and spraying it on with gibberellic from late-autumn to mid-spring can be the cheap source of dry matter, but with gibberellic acid it should ideally be applied within five days of grazing and grazed again within 45 days to get the benefit. During late-spring, summer and autumn, plants produce plenty of gibberellins naturally, so its benefit at these times is questionable.

DAP (Di Ammonium Phosphate), CAN (Calcium Ammonium Nitrate) and SOA (Sulphate of Ammonia) products lose very little N through volatilisation, so are not so weatherdependent on when they should be applied. During the summer-autumn drought there will have been an accumulation of sulphate sulphur from the oxidisation of organic matter, so sulphate of ammonia will be of little value going into winter compared to urea. Coming out of winter and during spring is the best time to consider sulphate of ammonia as soil sulphur levels are normally at their lowest then.

Phased N from Ballance is a good autumn option on soils with known sulphur deficiencies, as sulphur is in elemental form and not subject to leaching like sulphate sulphur, so should be working during late-winter and spring when sulphur levels are lowest.

As straight nitrogen sources, SOA and Phased N work out to be between $1.90-$2.35/kg depending on supplier.

But when sulphur is considered they can work out to be $1.20-$1.70/kg DM depending on supplier.

DAP should really only be considered when phosphate and N are required.

DAP has 20 per cent phosphate, which at $3/kg is worth $600, so when being sold for $700/tonne the N only costs $0.55/kg N of if being sold for $800/ tonne costs $1.10/kg. And being high analysis can give significant savings

on cartage and spreading compared to some low analysis phosphate fertilisers.

MAP (Mono Ammonium Phosphate – sometimes sold as Ammophos) has 22 per cent phosphate, which is worth $660/tonne, so when being sold for $700/tonne, the N cost is $0.40/kg. But if being sold for $900/tonne the N cost is $2.40/kg N. MAP is the most common fertiliser used in parts of Australia, but has been rarely used here, mainly because of its high price from the co-ops. In recent years there’s been several private importers bringing in SOA and DAP for around $100/tonne cheaper than the two big fertiliser co-ops, whereas MAP is up to $200/tonne cheaper.

CAN and ASN (Ammonium Sulphur Nitrate) both have nitrate nitrogen, which is very susceptible to leaching but can be of value in cooler conditions when ammonium nitrogen uptake is slowed. Because of this, ASN has historically mainly been sold in the South Island where its elemental sulphur has particular value. CAN is popular in horticulture with its two forms of nitrogen and calcium makeup, but as straight nitrogen sources, CAN and ASN are quite expensive at $2.40/kg N.

Horticultural crops

For horticultural crops, cereals and vegetable growing the use of artificial nitrogen is generally a must if you want high production. Vegetable growers are often very high N users, and a good crop of maize and crops like avocados are very N responsive. However N leaching rates are very high for vegetable and avocado growers, and with increasing awareness of environmental degradation from high N inputs some of these practices are coming under more public scrutiny. Similarly, for dairy farmers with high stocking rates and N inputs, there is increasing regulatory pressure to lower these, so water quality is improved. Artificial nitrogen does nothing positive for the soil. It increases acidity, lowers soil organic matter, lowers moisture retention, removes positive cations from soil, increases shallow rooting and pasture pulling problems and produces greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide. But it can be a short-term ‘get out of jail’ card.

Robin Boom, CPAg, member of the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists. Phone 027 444 8764.

FERTILISER

Page 25

Prevent metabolic disorders at calving Hands up if you’ve recently read the health warnings on a bag of magnesium oxide.

It’s widely used for dusting of pastures to help prevent calcium/magnesium-related metabolic disorders.

From now until October the sight of quad bikes with small spreaders whizzing around paddocks in front of white clouds is common.

I know that either the warning on the bags hasn’t been read or has been ignored because most of the drivers are not wearing a face mask and protective clothing.

And there’s other reasons for thinking carefully before purchasing magnesium oxide, and one of those is where it comes from.

Misconception

Can we be certain that the analysis is accurate, and there’s not traces of other stuff in the product that could over time be harmful?

That question is relevant when there’s a New Zealand product that is so safe you can eat it. It’s sold as a health supplement and it would be near impossible to overdose on it.

It’s Golden Bay dolomite and it is way more effective at preventing calcium and magnesium related metabolic disorders in lactating animals prior to and after calving.

It’s only necessary to apply it once, typically in autumn, and the recommended application rate is 200kg/ha for intensive dairy. However, it may be applied at any time of the year.

Applying at a heavier rate will not improve animal health, although there may be soil health benefits, and that’s a different discussion.

One of the common objections is that dolomite is less soluble than MgO with the inference that it takes longer to work. That’s not our experience in 30 years of providing it for farmer clients.

Where there’s been an SOS due to cows going down and not responding rapidly to treatment, an application of dolomite at 200kg has alleviated most of the issues within a fortnight.

For even more immediate effect it can be placed in a bin, by itself, somewhere animals have access to and are able help themselves, and they will if they are short of magnesium.

Dolomite has a range of other benefits due to it being originally a seabed deposit. The Golden Bay deposit, the only one in the country, has been compacted due to land movement over time and is mined in the most environmentally-friendly manner incorporating the planting of thousands of native trees and shrubs.

Due to the weathering effect primarily of rain, soil steadily loses

There’s a misconception that because it also contains calcium it can’t be used close to calving.

Dolomite applied to pasture at 200kg/ha can do no harm to animals unless they are already receiving excess magnesium directly, which is easily remedied.

Dolomite, technically a marble, and therefore extremely hard, is finely ground to ensure excellent bio-availability, with the added advantage that what is not ingested by animals remains in the soil.

Effective solution

Long-term soil testing of farms receiving 23kg/ha of magnesium (200kg of dolomite), shows a steady rise in plant-available magnesium over time.

I’ve yet to see a long-term increase in soil magnesium levels as a result of application of highly soluble magnesium oxide.

We don’t fully understand how it works as effectively as it does, nor have I found any explanation that does. However, that doesn’t alter the fact it is the most effective solution to metabolic disorders at calving.

Experience over many years indicates the annual maintenance magnesium input for intensive dairy properties is around 20kg/ha, with properties receiving 23kg/ha having a steady increase in soil test numbers.

mineral content and that impacts on the food produced, lowering our own immunity and increasing the likelihood of contracting exotic diseases.

A single application of dolomite each year replaces many of the lost minerals, strengthening our own health and resilience, from the ground up.

For more information, call Peter on 0800 436 566.

TRADE MARKET

Page 26

See what’s on offer With chilly air kissing the skin as we head outdoors and into June, rural folk usually begin to pack their gumboots and wallets to head to Mystery Creek for an event we all know and love.

But, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year we can’t graze our way round Fieldays, testing products, negotiating deals, bargainhunting, and eating whitebait fritters as we go.

However, with the rural sector still working through the pandemic, farmers, growers, lifestylers and even townies still need to stock up on items and book services for rural projects, operations and jobs this coming season.

Enter Trade Market – Coast & Country News’ new dedicated feature for those readers looking for products, services and items at good prices that get the job done – and keep the staff happy.

Take a look at what’s on offer – and remember to shop local to support those agribusinesses we know, trust and need to be operating for us in future.

Strong position will help reboot ecomony Strong international demand for New Zealand food, despite global effects of Covid-19, could help provide a springboard to get more Kiwis into primary sector jobs, according to the Agriculture Minister.

“The latest provisional trade statistics show our apples and kiwifruit continue to be star performers, with $890 million of fruit exported between February 1 and April 22,” says Damien O’Connor.

“Our dairy and meat sectors are also holding their own into April and shipped products to overseas customers worth $6.18 billion during the same period.

“Overall primary sector export revenue remains higher into April than for the same period in 2018, despite the forestry sector

essentially being shut down for a month.

“Now industries such as forestry and wool are back into action and that will help.”

Damien says the strength of NZ’s primary sector coupled with the success of our health response to Covid-19 gives us a head-start on the world as we get our economy moving again. “Our primary sector contributes more than $46 billion a year in exports to our economy and provides jobs for hundreds of thousands of people in our rural communities.

“These latest stats show the sector is in a strong position to help us reboot our economy.

There is no shortage of demand. The world wants our high quality product. We now need a skilled workforce to help us seize the opportunities that are currently before us.”

Damien says the primary sector will need about 50,000 more people in a postCovid-19 world.

“There are jobs going all over the country ranging from hands-on work in orchards, on farms, in forests and fishing boats, to professional roles in engineering, science and management.

“The Government is working alongside the primary sector to help ensure workers get to the places they are needed. We’re currently investigating further ways we can boost the primary sector workforce through the Government’s $100m redeployment scheme.”

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Page 27

FOOTWEAR

MANUFACTURERS z it co.n Vis rite. lity a t las qu w. ore cts ww r m odu fo pr

Despite many initial questions about how farming in a bubble would work, especially with the Alert Level 4 lockdown coinciding with autumn calving, it seems the industry has taken the regulations in their stride.

In the Waikato, immedieate past Federated Farmers provincial president Andrew McGiven says not too much has changed in his dairy farm’s operation, besides social distancing with suppliers and delivery people coming on-farm.

A contract-milker milks the cows, while Andrew and his wife, Jen, rear the calves. They’ve recently finished autumn calving about 165 cows, and will later spring-calve around 360.

“Luckily, Jen is a vet and takes care of our on-farm veterinary needs, unless she needs back-up. This has been great, as we’ve been able to maintain our farm bubble quite well.

“We still converse daily with our family and contract-milker’s family – so the farm boundary is a bubble rather than our household.

“With deliveries, we stay two-plus metres from drivers, and if unloading I give the guy a wave and don’t go outside the door until he’s gone.”

For Galetea farm owner Gerald Mathis, life hasn’t changed much either.

His work bubble includes his worker, and occasional on-farm help from the family.

“There are instances on the farm where you can’t keep two metres apart, like when an animal needs attending to,” says Gerald.

“But, keeping distance from people when we pick things up from Farm Source and the vets, is easy. We

just call in advance, and it’s left outside the building for us.” The farm hasn’t been completely immune to the dystopian world of Covid-19.

“We had people come to the farm to do some blood tests, all masked up. Two of them arrived in the same car but were still trying to keep their distance, so one sat in the back as far as they possibly could from the driver. It was a funny sight.”

Federated Farmers BOP president Darryl Jensen says farmers have been relying more on delivery services to get their supplies during lockdown. He describes it as “Uber Eats for farming”.

“It’s as easy as calling and having things delivered, or calling a shop in advance and picking it up,” says Darryl.

“The protocol for picking things up is certainly a longer process, but farmers know that the regulations are there for a reason, and retailers have been great at accommodating.”

As the country went into Alert Level 4 lockdown farmers with five or more workers had to register with the Ministry of Primary Industries, to ensure work could be conducted without risking the spread of Covid-19.

Darryl says open communication has been key to keeping everyone safe. “It’s about having those conversations, so you can trust that those in your work bubble are following the rules when they go home, and when they travel to work.”

While now in Alert Level 2, Gerald says it’ll be a long time before the industry goes back to normal.

“Even after Alert Level 2, there will still be a level of uncertainty, with predictions indicting next year’s payout will drop significantly. It’s a still waiting game.”

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Page 28

This autumn boost your pasture growth and improve your milk solids production with ProGibb® SG. It’s proven to boost dry matter yield in ryegrass and clover pastures by 30-60% within just 3-4 weeks of application. Tested by New Zealand’s tough climate, ProGibb SG, stimulates rapid pasture growth so you can improve your livestock performance and condition.

For information on ProGibb SG, contact your local Rural Supplier.

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Page 29

Beat weeds while small

Undersown pastures have the potential to grow invaluable feed during the coming months, but they also have the potential to grow plenty of weeds.

“Controlling weeds while they are still small gives the best result,” says Matt. “As undersowing situations don’t normally include new clover seed, this offers more flexibility with herbicide options.

“Spraying these areas not only helps minimise weeds, but also supports higher ryegrass plant density. And removing weeds means improved pasture utilisation, and more feed for your stock.”

As a general rule, a tank mix of Baton 800WSG or Sprinter 700DS with the addition of Valdo, plus Bonza spray oil, gives the best results.

Both Baton 800WSG and Sprinter 700DS are non-volatile 2,4-D amine herbicides, and effective for a range of broadleaf weeds, while offering improved

Fortunately, there’s a way to stop this happening, and to help ensure your investment in seed delivers the best possible return.

That’s the advice from local pastoral specialist Matt Strahan, who is territory manager for Nufarm.

Matt says regardless of the type of ryegrass used for undersowing, a timely weed spray can make all the difference.

There are two opportunities for this – a pre-graze spray, four-six weeks after drilling; or a post-graze spray, seven-10 days after grazing.

Nufarm pastoral specialist Matt Strahan. clover safety over some other options.

Valdo contains flumetsulam as a water dispersible granule and is great for weeds that are tolerant to phenoxy herbicides like Baton 800WSG or Sprinter 700DS. These include weeds such as chickweed, spurrey, stinking mayweed, perennial buttercups, and mallows.

For more advice on recommended rates and timing, talk to your rural retailer.

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TRADE MARKET

Shop local, save jobs, be positive It’s been an extraordinary time for New Zealand since March.

For some, Covid-19 Alert Levels 3 and 4 have been stressful, scary and confusing. Others have taken a compulsory break from their day-to-day lives and used the time to embark upon new hobbies or exercise regimes. Many have kept working as their roles were deemed essential – those people on the front lines have done an incredible job dealing with difficult situations in hospitals, call centres, supermarkets, rubbish trucks and packhouses, to name just a few.

Volunteers step up

Others in our community have stepped up on a volunteer basis, helping out with shopping and errands for the elderly and vulnerable people in our society, delivering food and medication to those who can’t leave their homes. I’ve felt great pride knowing that the people of the Bay of Plenty are so caring and supportive of each other under such difficult circumstances.

Our country’s lockdown has left some industries bereft of customers. I fear we will see many small businesses close down unless special aid is targeted towards helping them when our export markets are not buying

and overseas visitors are not coming. I’ve received many requests for help from employers having difficulty accessing wage subsidies due to the massive queue of applications the Ministry of Social Development is dealing with. It’s great this support was rolled out so quickly after Level 4 commenced, which allowed employers to keep paying staff salaries despite having to close. Now employers are asking for support to pay other outgoings and I will continue to advocate to the Government for tailored support to help businesses innovate and adapt, to employ new staff and to access local markets.

Support local

All of us will find our lives altered by the effects of Covid-19. New Zealand is better positioned than many countries for a swift economic recovery, with our primary industries continuing to be in demand overseas but the reality is that, for the foreseeable future, we might be our own largest market. We must support our own local and domestic producers, service providers and retailers.

Challenging times lie ahead, without a doubt.

But I’m confident that, here in the Bay of Plenty, we are in a great place to support, if not lead, New Zealand’s economic recovery and regeneration.

Shop local, save jobs, be positive.

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Page 31

New product stops rust long-term farmers to Great Barrier Island engineers.”

Prolan manufactures a number of different grades of Prolan to suit varying needs. A coating of ‘Prolan Lanolin Enduro Heavy Grade’ on a vehicle chassis will provide a longterm environmentally-friendly protective coating that will help it pass WOF and COF checks.

“Many vehicle stations are now recommending a coating of Prolan to cover existing rust and seal it off from air and moisture.

Prolan cannot be removed by cold-water blasting – this allows vehicle chassis to be cleaned without removing the rust protection.”

Prolan ‘Enduro Medium Grade’ is excellent as a general workshop lubricant and corrosion inhibitor for coating quadbikes and farm machinery. “Many farmers find Prolan so versatile as a general workshop lubricant they use it to sort out seized locks, bolts, chains and squeaky door hinges.

“Also, as an environmentally-

STOP RUST Prolan products have the unique ability to adhere to metal and stop rust in its tracks.

Prolan, a New Zealand-made lanolin-based lubricant and corrosion inhibitor, is becoming increasingly popular with farmers, engineers, panelbeaters, motor-homers and boaties for its unique ability to adhere to metal and stop rust in its tracks.

Now Prolan has just launched a new product called ‘Prolan Extreme’ that it was due to be promoted at the National Fieldays at Mystery Creek.

Prolan director Murray Shaw says this product is the Rolls Royce of the lanolin products. “Not only is it environmentally-friendly, it leaves a clean waxy coating and provides longer rust protection.

‘Prolan Extreme’ is attracting much interest for those with machinery and equipment exposed to harsh environments, such as salt, sand and mud, says Murray.

“The results are excellent – we’ve trialled it within industries throughout NZ from mussel spat

friendly corrosion inhibitor, you can spray it over existing rust on machinery or to coat a quadbike or farm mule to prevent the chassis from rusting out.”

As a result, Prolan saves time on maintenance and component replacement and long-term will increase machinery life and resale value.

“It is hard to believe it is off the sheep’s back – taken from nature to protect nature! With the added bonus, it is made in NZ by Kiwis,” says Murray.

TRADE MARKET

Page 32

Holistic approach best for soil If soil is a farmer’s natural capital, its value can’t be underestimated. That’s why BioAg takes a holistic approach to soil function and address imbalances starting at a microbiological level.

BioAg has been active in New Zealand for 13 years, distributing their unique biological stimulants and providing a regenerative biological fertility system with 40 years of background knowledge.

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BioAg managing director and technical manager Steven Haswell, Tessa Waldin, and Hawke’s Bay farmer Dirk Waldin.

The programmes are based on results from soil sampling, visual soil assessments and indicators seen in crops, pasture or stock.

BioAg’s integrated approach aims to not only achieve the farmer’s desired results in one area, but to create opportunities for overall improvement including profit, farm potential and personal fulfilment.

The key starting point is to generate optimum biological soil function, says managing director and technical manager Steven Haswell.

“We start with the soils bio state and structure. If you look at only one aspect of a farm, you potentially miss root causes. We address causes rather than treat symptoms.”

After assessing all information of a

BioAg believes soil health is the foundation of successful farming. farm, they provide biological system guidance from there.

“We help the farmer achieve their objectives, but the benefits of a holistic approach go much further than that.”

Steven has worked in soil health and plant nutrition for 25 years.

“My passion is a food chain that doesn’t rely on poisonous chemistry. All aspects of farming are interconnected – the health of our environment and wider community starts under our feet.”

Pesticide usage in NZ below compliance level A recently-published survey confirms that the Kiwi diet is safe and any pesticide residues on food are extremely low, far below recommended safety levels.

The Ministry for Primary Industries released results of the Food Residues Survey Programme, which tests for residues in plant-based foods.

The survey collected 591 fruit and vegetable samples during two years and shows compliance of greater than 99.9 per cent. The survey tests residues from commonly used agrichemicals: insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides.

0800 224 624 info@bioag.co.nz

“These results are unsurprising,” says Agcarm chief executive Mark Ross. “Agcarm members work hard to satisfy the stringent requirements set by regulators. They also work with food chain partners to achieve the lowest possible residues in food.”

The 591 samples collected were analysed for more than 500 agrichemicals and their metabolites.

Food safety risk assessments did not find any risk from dietary exposure.

The Food Residues Survey Programme Final Report can be found at: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/ dmsdocument/40274-2017-2019plant-based-foods-survey-final-report

TRADE MARKET

Farmers under pressure to transition to climate and freshwater-friendly farming practices can access farm advisors and financial support from the Calm The Farm marketplace, launched in March

by Toha Foundry Ltd. Calm The Farm is developing new financial products and connecting farmers with advisors and impact investors keen to accelerate New Zealand farming’s shift to regenerative agriculture, known as regen ag.

For the last two years the Calm The Farm team has been working with farmers, regenerative agriculture advisors and scientists, to understand regen agriculture practices and how data can unlock impact investment and speed up the transition to more sustainable farming.

“Farmers have told us they want their social licence back,” says Mike Taitoko, who is co-founder of Toha Foundry Ltd and acting chief executive of Calm The Farm.

“Calm The Farm wants to support farmers to build resilience into their businesses by improving the health of the soil, water, animals, the economics and, ultimately, the wellbeing of our farmers.”

Carbon sequestration

Emerging scientific evidence shows regenerative agriculture farming to

be better for the environment and climate. Regenerative agriculture practices are able to enhance carbon sequestration, reduce soil erosion, restore biodiversity, replenish soil nutrients, and increase soil water retention and fertility. Such practices also minimise the leaching of excess nutrients into waterways, thereby improving freshwater quality.

“We are seeing an increasing sense of urgency to act now on climate and freshwater. Globally, impact investors are leaning in to support farmers to make the move to regenerative agriculture,” says Mike.

“Calm The Farm’s impact measurement and verification framework creates confidence and trust between farmers and investors, by proving actions and tracking outcomes.”

Track and monitor

Data that proves actions and outcomes is the key to unlocking global impact investment funds.

Through Calm The Farm, investors can track and monitor the environmental impact of their investment. Farmers can request investment to support their regenerative agriculture journey – from capital infrastructure costs all the way through to incentives that encourage collective efforts towards a cleaner river catchment.

The new venture’s platform helps farmers co-ordinate their on-farm data to measure changes in soil

Page 33

“The methods I’ve developed over time see my clients making this shift within cash flows, but gradually as their operating margins allow. A channel for support and investment to accelerate the work on the farm means we can transition more of the farm faster.”

Facing one of the driest Faster transition summers on record, farmers are Greg Barclay, the first asking for urgency and practical regenerative agriculture advisor solutions, says Mike. “Big climatic to partner with Calm The events are only going to get worse Farm, says he sees first-hand and we know that regenerative the difference in the land agriculture is a way to build Calm The Farm acting and animals. “But crucially, resilience back into the farm.”

CEO Mike Taitoko. regenerative agriculture also The Calm The Farm team is makes good business sense. now focused on ensuring the Calm The Farm is showing it’s possible to improve footprint of regenerative agriculture scales up as the environment and the books at the same time.” quickly as possible.

With impact investment matched to individual Farmers, investors and advisors wanting to find farms transitioning inside of priority catchments for out how to benefit from Calm The Farm can cleaner freshwater, Greg expects his clients to tackle register their interest at: https://www.calmthefarm. their transition faster with greater confidence. nz/take-action

health, ecosystem and animal health and productivity as a result of new practices. Calm The Farm uses the latest tools and technologies to measure the long-term impacts of regenerative agriculture for waterways and climate, says Mike.

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Page 34

After a nine-year process the Environment Court has ruled how rural subdivision is to continue in the ThamesCoromandel District.

LIFESTYLE FARMING

The proposed District Plan was initiated in March 2011, notified for public submissions in late-2013 and council’s final decision was released April 2016. Since then it’s been under appeal.

Many people objected to TCDC’s decisions, resulting in several court appeals. These were heard during the subsequent four years.

Following some stringent council proposals and some very strong argument against, we’re now pretty well back to where we started on subdivision. In fact, the rules even hold more opportunities for many.

The Court ruled that the boundary adjustment provisions contained in previous rules will carry on, removing TCDC’s proposed limit to the amount of land that could be exchanged. This eliminates significant uncertainty for many.

Another rule reinstated by the Court permits an average block size of 20ha for a rural subdivision.

That rule has been used for many years under the old plan.

Given the potential for protection of vast tracts of forest throughout the peninsula, the most significant change from TCDC’s proposal is reintroduction of rural conservation lot subdivisions across the district.

Council’s proposal allowed these subdivisions only in certain priority

areas. I believe the final outcome is significantly better than the old rules and TCDC’s initial proposed change. It’s much fairer to all landowners and encourages rehabilitation rather than just maintaining the quality ecological features.

While there is requirement for increased areas of lowland forest to be protected in order to qualify for subdivision compared to past rules, this is balanced by reduced areas of other forest and introduction of additional categories. The development of this rule has seen significant input by some of NZ’s leading ecologists to create, what I consider, rules that could be beneficially adopted nationwide.

Features qualifying for protection to create a subdivision now include wetland and duneland (.5ha minimum), floodplain forest (1ha minimum), coastal forest

(5ha minimum), coastal escarpment forest (2ha minimum) and lowland forest (10ha minimum).

Larger areas of protection are needed in order to subdivide multiple lots and there’s a limit of two new lots in the Coastal Zone, with four in other rural areas.

As predicted, the Environment Court’s final rules bear little resemblance to those proposed by council. After nine years we now have a concrete set of rules to work with. Plus, there’s a host of other considerations in presenting a compelling subdivision application to council. If you have any plans for subdivision in future and want to make the most out of your land, please feel free to call me for a quick chat first.

Brent Trail, managing director of Surveying Services, specialises in resource consent applications for subdivisions across the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty.

For further information, call 027 499 3778 or email: btrail@surveyingservices.co.nz

Cooperia parasite challenge in cattle Cooperia, also known as the ‘small intestinal worm’, is regarded as being the most prevalent roundworm found in New Zealand cattle.

They are reddish in colour and quite small, growing up to 10mm in length.

Eggs in faeces may hatch in as little as 20 hours, while infective larvae can develop within four days. Like most parasites infective larvae are ingested by the host while grazing.

The importance of drenching against Cooperia is well known in young cattle, because in certain conditions Cooperia can cause thin, scouring weaners that can die if not treated quickly. While this is one obvious undesirable form of the disease, productivity trial work has also shown that seemingly healthy yearling cattle can also be affected. Weight differences

between groups were noted by Dave Leathwick and others at AgResearch in a study published in 2012. This study suggests even relatively low levels of Cooperia in healthy nine-monthold cattle may have a detrimental effect on growth. This challenges the traditional reputation that Cooperia parasites normally need to be present in high numbers to cause disease.

Dry seasons favour all parasites when autumn rain comes. Grazing animals’ natural immune defenses are weakened by drought and they are forced to graze low where the parasite larvae live. A wave of larval contamination can occur after a long dry spell and young cattle need to be drenched soon after decent rain.

When used on their own the simple ‘pour on’ drenches (endectocides) are not highly effective at killing Cooperia. Levamisole, however, continues to have excellent effect against Cooperia – so using this active ingredient as part of a dedicated drench treatment is a reasonable approach.

In general the recommended practice of using combination drenches that contain levamisole is preferred, especially in cattle less than 15 months old.

Of some conciliation to stock is that by their second autumn, about 12-15 months of age, the immunity of cattle against Cooperia is normally well established.

AVOCADO

Page 35

Gearing up for new season’s challenges Produce exporter Darling Group and its New Zealand avocado supply arm, Just Avocados, are gearing up for the 2020-2021 season with optimism despite the challenges of Covid-19.

Darling Group’s general manager of sales and marketing, Jacob Darling, says the primary matters are increased freight rates, interrupted port operations and altered supply and demand trends affected by the slowdown of food service.

“But then in contrast we see online and offline retail are operating quite well.”

Jacob says Darling Group is working with their freight service providers and communicating directly with airlines to better understand what they can control for the coming season. “There is also discussion happening on possible collaboration with other exporters to ensure growers are not disadvantaged in uncertain times.”

Asia focus

Jacob says the 2020-2021 export marketing strategy for Just Avocados will continue to focus on Asia and the building of Darling Group’s consumer brands Darling Avocado and Jake’s Avocado.

“Positive progress has been made towards our aim to put 50 per cent of export volume into Asia; the total volume shipped last season increased from 28 per cent in 2018-2019 to 42 per cent in 2019-2020.”

Jacob says Darling Group’s Australian business operation continues to add value to their NZ avocado exports. “Darling Group’s new warehousing and logistics facility in Brisbane, due to be completed August 2020, is positioned to help ease the challenges of import handling and throughput. Australian import protocols continue to be challenging so our investment in technology and capability to

providing a model with multiple supply options means growers can consider market dynamics and their orchard management preferences and decide what option best fits their business model.”

Supply contract options for Just Avocados growers are ‘On consignment’, ‘Pool 1/Early season pool’ and ‘Pool 2/Late season pool’.

Jacob says the primary reason for the move away from a season-long pool in 2019 was to drive better

work in with a grower’s goals for their orchard.”

Each marketing option is designed to suit needs which Just Avocados has identified among its growers.

“The purpose of the consignment option is to offer a solution to growers with early maturing orchards that are of significant scale and can focus on

maximising early market outcomes.

“Pool 1 caters to growers who place importance on harvesting pre-flowering to optimise their return crop. Pool 2 offers the opportunity to hold crop late if that is in the grower’s best commercial interest.”

Read this article in full at www.coastandcountrynews.co.nz

Negotiating freight rates following increases during Covid-19 is a current focus for Darling Group as the company gears up to market the 2020-2021 Just Avocados crop.

handle this well for our growers is important.”

Jacob says Just Avocados’ focus on accommodating growers’ needs in regards to harvest timing, tree health and ongoing fruit production has driven Darling Group’s plan to place 50 per cent of their NZ avocado export volume into Australia and 50 per cent into Asia.

“Targeting key ‘premium’ markets in Asia, having a stable operation on the ground in Australia and

understanding of profitability.

“Having growers pick late in the season and convince them that they are getting a better financial outcome needed to be addressed.

“The national grower base is also changing; there are new participants and the timing of each region is changing. With this comes a more commercially-focused approach required from exporters to accommodate all growers.

“Hence, the need for a variety of marketing options which can

Learnings from this year At last, the rains have arrived after the dry.

My orchard records indicate we’ve had 77mm rain since November. This has been in doses of 1ml-2ml quick showers. We had one of 5ml, so no real impact.

We don’t irrigate the avocado trees. Talking to an old-time local he’s quoted as saying this year is the worst rainfall in the 100 years. We notice Kauri Point, Ongare and Tanner points are amongst the dried area in the Western Bay of Plenty. The issue is what do we do now? I feel this dry will impact my orchard for up to three years.

We’re carrying very heavy crops in that district.

Probably typical of over-cropping. With no rainfall we’ve had no sizing. Fruit on my tree are very small. I’ll be looking at a very late harvest.

In addition to this we’ve had six spotted mite impacting trees late in the season. Defoliation was starting to occur not only from the pest issue but also lack of water and over-cropping. The trees are super stressed.

So we are doing the following. Injecting to prevent further winter issue; pruning to reduce tree mass load on the root system; and lightening the cropping load significantly to reduce nutrient demand. We’re also have a targeted nutrient programme, with Nitrogen, other minerals, both foliar and ground applications, and we’re are using seaweed, fish fertiliser, compost and soil conditioners to help with recovery. We’re watching the timing of all this to ensure we get it on with good rainfalls and improved moisture. We will review again after winter and are likely to inject all trees.

It’s been very interesting watching the drought grow, expand and impact with time. Initially, you take some small actions as you recognise the impact of lack of soil moisture; and increasingly you take more and bigger actions as the time without rainfall increases.

Crystal ball gazing – this is one year we all wish we had irrigation. So keeping the fruit growing steadily across the whole season is the key. This season has required a real rummage to the bottom of the toolbox to pull out all the tactics, knowledge, experience that can be useful.

It’s also been beneficial talking to others to check your own actions are the best and what we can do better.

We now look forward to steady rains during coming months, and also to the learnings from this last year.

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AVOCADO

Page 36

Improved quality leads to satisfying OGR Collective efforts to deliver quality fruit to Australia and an industry-leading retail-first marketing strategy has resulted in another satisfying Orchard Gate Return for growers supplying Avoco.

In late-April more than 800 growers who export their avocados with Avoco received their Pool Statements and final payments for the 2019-2020 season. Another solid performance by the grower-led company has ensured growers have banked healthy returns for their fruit, enabling them to advance the success of their own orchards and the

NZ avocado industry.

The result reflected committed efforts across Avoco’s supply chain to improve the quality of fruit supplied to customers, especially in Australia, where a record 76 per cent of Avoco’s pool volume was sold directly to supermarkets.

Avoco marketing and communications manager Steve Trickett says Australia’s major retailers trusted Avoco to consistently deliver good quality fruit and the company rewarded that faith with tighter picking and packing disciplines and in-market quality checks, ensuring the seven-month supply programme to Australia met the expectation of discerning shoppers.

“We achieved a vastly better fruit quality result in Australia this past season compared to the previous one,” says Steve. “We benefited from favourable weather conditions across the harvest season and our OGR result can also be credited to massive efforts put into improving quality by growers, harvesters, packers and our in-market fruit handlers in the Australian market especially.”

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At AVOCO, we have enduring customer relationships built up over 20 years. Our experienced team is best positioned to safely handle your crop at every stage in the supply chain.

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In 2019-2020 Avoco shipped 2.3 million trays – a 23 per cent increase in volume on what Avoco handled in the previous season. It also recorded a further lift in its share of the overall industry crop, ending the season by accounting for 64 per cent of total industry exports.

About 85 per cent of fruit was sent to Australia, with the remaining volume shipped to Asia where its avocados are marketed under the Avanza brand.

Last season, Avanza supplied nine markets across Asia including Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Taiwan and China – a market where NZ was granted access in 2018. Avanza also initiated a small retail programme in Hong Kong with good prospects for future growth.

The Asian market arena delivered a mixed bag of results this past season with quality issues the main influencing factor on outcomes in markets served by ocean freight, involving 15 to 21-day transit times.

Avanza, together with other exporters, is turning its attention to implementing new shipment protocols and tighter disciplines in specific parts of the supply chain. These are designed to replicate the turnaround in quality performance enjoyed in Australia last season following poor quality outcomes in the two seasons prior.

Next season early estimates suggest the total industry export crop will increase by between 15-20 per cent, resulting in an indicative forecast volume of between 4.15-4.3 million export trays.

With harvesting due to start in about three months, Avoco is busy refining its export market plans factoring in contingencies for each, given the uncertainty that remains around the impact Covid-19 will have on supply chain logistics as well as market demand, particularly across Asia.

Lively marketing activity in China engaged shoppers and increased awareness of the Avanza brand in this growing market for New Zealand.

While there’s a great deal to learn from the likes of the kiwifruit and apple and pear industries, which are exporting to Asia through the Covid-19 period, market dynamics are changing weekly, says Steve.

“Our team is planning with even greater vigilance and our eyes wide open to what we face in the next export season. Avanza remains committed to development of Asian markets and necessary futureproofing for the projected crop increases.

“As more is known about supply chain logistics and customer behaviours in each market, our experienced market managers will reset volumes and flows to ensure we optimise grower returns from the export pool.”

Encouragingly for growers supplying Avoco, the outlook for 2020-2021 across the Tasman remains positive. Australian growers are projecting reduced crop volumes and Avoco already has firm and significant retail chain commitments in the order book.

More fruit

Steve says Avoco needs more fruit and welcomed new growers. He encouraged anyone wanting to make the switch to talk with a grower representative at any of the four packhouses that Avoco partners within the Bay of Plenty – Kauri Pak, Trevelyan’s, DMS Te Puna and Apata.

“Now, more than ever, growers need to partner with businesses that can provide secure channels for their fruit to market.

“At Avoco, we are fortunate to have strong retail chain demand in Australia and the scale to build contingencies into our planning in Asia to reallocate volumes where necessary in a worst-case scenario.”

AVOCADO

Page 37

Plant prep for the chilly season photosynthesis by 20 per cent.

The BdMax range continues to artificial birds, and ‘peppers’, which has reduced the frequency of passion vine hopper and cicada in kiwifruit for many years.

Glen’s interest in biodynamic agriculture began when he entered the horticulture industry in 1976. He’s been developing BdMax products since 1991, all of which are BioGro-certified for organic growers.

MacKenzie Dyer

BdMax director Glen Atkinson.

Winter is coming, so it’s time to prepare crops and orchards for frosts.

ThermoMax by BdMax has been a frost-fighting staple in the kiwifruit industry since 2002, and can be applied to a range of plants, including avocadoes and citrus.

It works by stimulating a plant’s phosphorous activity, causing internal warming, says BdMax director Glen Atkinson. “ThermoMax gives the plant the experience of a warm spring, so you can get an early start to the season,” says Glen.

“There’s not much like it on the market. Other products, such as seaweed and urea, basically just

change the water to mineral content – the plant doesn’t freeze because it contains less water.

“Urea can cause soft growth, leaving plants vulnerable to fungal attacks.”

SilicaMax is BdMax’s ‘sunshine’ product, which enables plants to utilise light more effectively.

“It strengthens a plant’s cell wall and helps with photosynthesis, creating healthy growth. Silica transports calcium and other minerals, upwards, to meet above ‘light’ substance.”

SilicaMax is therefore ideal for low-light situations such as under shade cloth or during a cloudy season. The product’s sister is PhotoMax, which, according to some studies, can increase the rate of

Statistics back up industry boom comments The booming industry of avocados is in fact booming, according to new data released by Statistics New Zealand.

In its Agricultural Production Statistics for the year to June 2019, data shows New Zealand’s avocado export volumes increased 35 per

cent, with values up six per cent to $104 million.

Nationally, there were more than 4500 hectares of avocado orchards in 2019, with fruit-growing mainly in the Northland and Bay of Plenty regions.

In comparison, apple exports rose

six per cent by volume in the year to June 2019, with export values up 10 per cent to about $741 million.

There were about 9800ha of apple orchards across New Zealand in 2019, with most fruit grown in Hawke’s Bay followed by the Tasman region.

Thermo Max Thermo Max

Page 38

RURAL HOMES & BUILDINGS

Kudos for helping keep talent in the system The training industry that upskills and qualifies people in building trades is welcoming the Government’s budget injection into the sector.

Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation chief executive Warwick Quinn says the real strength of Budget 2020 is that the Government has recognised various sides of the

training industry.

“The residential sector is by far the largest training ground for construction skills, and construction firms having work is critical to apprentice numbers.

“The extra 8000 new public and transitional homes, and the Warmer Kiwi Homes package, is a nod to help maintain the supply of work and drive skill demand by employers who will also be supported if they take on apprentices.”

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Warwick says the government investment also acknowledges that New Zealand needs to continue to develop and grow our skills during recessionary times “as historically we’ve struggled to have sufficient skills when the market recovers”.

“Free fees for all for two years, support for group training schemes, support for Maori and Pasifika trades training and trade academies in schools is all targeted at this,” says Warwick.

“Finally, the fast-tracking of the Reforms to Vocational Education and the establishment of the six Workforce Development Councils by the end of the year will pave the way for industry training organisations and polytechs to work closely together and form the NZ Institute of Skills and Technology.

“For too long we have been competitors and we have to remove those incentives, so we work together for the best interests of employers and learners.”

While the nature of the current crisis is in many ways

unprecedented, Warwick says the construction sector has been through recessions many times before – the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, Canterbury earthquakes, the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the stock market crash of 1987 – with similar results.

“The core challenge for the

construction sector is retaining apprentices in the system. This package goes a long way towards breaking the ‘boom and bust cycle’ and keeping talent in the system.”

Warwick stresses now is a great time to enter the trades. “There will be roles available, and we need to stress it is not all about being ‘on the tools’. As people look to their next career move, the building and construction sector offers a range of opportunities.”

Apprentice numbers in construction are tied directly to the health of building and construction firms, and particularly to residential construction firms, says Warwick.

Currently, BCITO has more than 13,000 active trainees and apprentices. Last year, building and construction was NZ’s third largest sector, directly contributing $19 billion to the country’s GDP. Residential building forms the backbone of the sector, accounting for 60 per cent of its revenue, and employing 80 per cent of apprentices.

A rural gem up for grabs in Hawke’s Bay A rural farming station – with an impressive characterful homestead boasting modern perks – has come on the market for the first time in northern Hawke’s Bay.

Having been faithfully farmed by the Powdrell family for the past four generations, the 471ha Opoho Station, which is located 22km from Wairoa, is now for sale.

In addition to the 471ha of freehold land, Opoho includes another 218ha of co-owned land, bringing the total to 690ha.

Included is Opoho’s homestead – a classic standard for hill country A peek inside the beautiful kitchen, with its stations, with characterful early-1900s charm. early-1900s charm meeting part of the station’s income.” modern day living demands, complete In the last few seasons Opoho has with French doors, four bedrooms and a run circa 9250 stock units, split almost stunning established garden offering an 50:50 between sheep and cattle. The oasis after a day of farming demands. property has enjoyed a good level of Bayleys agent Simon Bousfield says infrastructure investment over the years, Opoho holds considerable appeal including 81 subdivided paddocks. because of the flexibility and land use Temporary four-wire electric fencing opportunities its location, contour and is used on the flats as required and allclimate bring. weather access throughout the property “Land use has included town supply via metalled tracks. dairying, kiwifruit during the 1980s, On top of Opoho’s homestead is a and more recently growing significant second weatherboard dwelling, while areas of maize for both grain and feed a third four-bedroom property is supply. well positioned for a farm manager “Dedicated crops including chicory, or farm staff member. The property’s lucerne and silage production are shearers’ quarters are also in exceptional testimony to the flats’ productive condition near the main home. capacity. Honey production also forms

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COUNTRY LIVING

Page 39

Creating a native bush wonderland Two decades of planting are paying off for Jim Robinson and Nikki Slade Robinson, who are slowly converting their Eastern Bay of Plenty block into a native bush wonderland.

Jim and Nikki moved onto the 3ha Ohiwa block in 2003, but had purchased and started controlling pest species like gorse from the mid-1990s. “The property has always Nikki Slade Robinson and Jim Robinson, happy in had half a hectare of their native planting endeavours. mature forest featuring amongst those gifted like these.”

A kereru. kohekohe,” says Jim. “But from friends and A big part of the Ohiwa project initially farm stock could get in family over the years. Trees is accessibility, and the ability to – the damage was obvious.”

That Count is a programme of enjoy the bush once planted. To Fifteen years later the block has charitable organisation Project this end, Jim has built around 2km closed in and got much more Crimson Trust, and runs the of networking tracks. dense. “There’s a lot of mahoe, ti country’s first tree marketplace that They’re functional in not only kouka, and flax, which I’ve moved connects funded and gifted trees simplifying planting and invasive around to establish that first to deserving community groups, weed removal of wild ginger, generation covering,” says Jim. iwi, local councils, schools and honeysuckle, pampas, but in “It’s ideal now to start getting the individuals looking to strengthen allowing them and visitors to enjoy kind of trees that’ll last hundreds their own planting projects. it. The fruits of two decades’ labour of years; we’re ready for the next “The opportunities through Trees lend themselves to this kind of layer.”

That Count are so accessible for enjoyment.

Jim and Nikki will receive 315 people who have big plans, but not “I could walk down to the trees from Trees That Count this the money to carry it out alone. letterbox now and see two kereru, year, to be planted early-winter It’s awesome that the world is six kotare, piwakawaka, waxeyes... to plug many gaps around the property. The new trees will sit changing to provide opportunities so much bird life.”

The best wood products available Beams & Timber Direct is a premium timber manufacturer specialising in Interlock fencing, gates, bollards and larger squares of radiata pine.

Serving clients nationwide, both urban and rural, it is rather fitting the company is located on Bollard Rd in Tuakau.

On August 1, 2019, the business was purchased by new owner Pete Till.

He believes the key values that set them apart from the competition are quality, excellence, being genuine and passionate, along with their great service and support.

“We source high grade wood and, along with our high-quality control standards, we believe our products are the best available,” says Pete.

“We can custom produce orders to your specifications across our range of products.”

Beams & Timber’s main product is the stylish post and rail kitset that has precisely machined components where the rails simply slot into the post rebates, making for an easy to install, long lasting and appealing fence.

Options include one, two, three and four-rail fences, with a range of post and rail sizes in a variety of lengths.

“The company was set up 20 years ago, has always maintained a high level of service and support, and

Beams & Timber Direct’s new owner Pete Till on the job. were the originators of Interlock fencing,” says Pete.

“We’ve inherited a wealth of experience from the previous owners’ extensive knowledge and will continue to uphold the high standards the business has become known for.

“We can help with a wide range of projects involving fencing, gates, bollards and larger squares of radiata pine. Just touch base to check what is possible.”

The company employs seven staff – all skilled in the manufacturing process.

Pete has more than 15 years’ business experience to call on. For more information, see Beams & Timber’s advert on this page.

Steve Edwards

Jim is frank about his other motivation. “I’m a nutcase! I’m a multisporter and runner, so I’ve always used this like training. I love the hard work; it’s entertainment and it’s fun.”

Nikki – award-winning author of ‘The Little Kiwi’s Matariki’ – also gains professional inspiration for her books from the bush surrounds. “The birds and the native bush on our property inspire ideas and feature heavily in a lot of my books.”

The couple had always been native tree enthusiasts, before moving to the BOP. They love that their goal to restore their property to native bush is shared by many in the area.

“This whole area has so much happening with planting.

“If you draw a 2km radius around our place there’d be about 10-15 landowners and two care groups planting and

trapping. Within a 5km radius, about six care groups planting and trapping, with the Ohiwa Headland Sanctuary leading the way.”

Jim is also involved in the Motu Trails cycleway, which each winter has community planting days to restore the coastal environment of Opotiki’s Dunes Trail. Through this project, he met Trees That Count regional advisor Wayne O’Keefe, who has given advice for their plantings.

Restoration of their Ohiwa block is underpinned by a keen environmental awareness. “All you can do is your own little bit. If you do your little bit and 10,000 others do theirs too, that’ll make a difference. None of us can change the world single-handedly, but we can all do our own little bit towards the whole.”

Learn more about Trees That Count at: https://www.treesthatcount.co.nz

Page 40

COUNTRY LIVING

The joys of mushroom collecting Nothing sums up the joy of country living like picking wild mushrooms that have popped up on your land during autumn.

Picking them from the cow paddocks was a simple pleasure I enjoyed as a child growing up on the farm– and it’s a pleasure my youngsters got to enjoy for the first time this season while spending lockdown at Grandad and Grandma’s farm in Northland.

“Stop the truck!” yelled my four-yearold as Grandad’s farm truck trundled across a paddock homeward bound.

She’d spotted one big white-capped field mushroom – and she wasn’t leaving without it.

We jumped out of the truck for her to pick it up gently – to take home

for a very appreciative Their earthy smell was amazing and transported grandfather, who loves me back 30 years to when I reveled in picking to saute them in a knob the brown-gilled morsels for the adults to dine butter before adding a on – back then I didn’t appreciate their taste like little cream or milk and I do today. devouring them on toast.

With nothing to carry them, we bunched up Then she spotted our shirts and made a ‘mushroom container’ more – and so we went, til we headed back to the truck. Next time, we from paddock to paddock, journeyed out more prepared – on the four-wheeler spotting white caps with a bucket in hand. And boy did Grandad and sprouting amongst clusters Grandma get well-fed while we were visiting! of grass, growing It seems throughout New Zealand’s on mounds where countryside many have enjoyed bountiful possibly the fert amounts of the morsel this season. Reports spreader had missed, coming from home in the Western Bay of and speckled along Plenty reveal so many mushrooms growing newly-shaped throughout lockdown that country chefs drains and banks have had to get inventive to clear the thanks to an glut. I’m told they grow well after earthmover’s autumn rain following a long dry New mushroom hunter, Isla Cave, aged 4. spell – that we’ve certainly had! And earlier toils. so mushroom risottos, frittatas, pies and much more have come out of the oven as we’ve all been at home of late. But be warned – many wild mushrooms are poisonous. According to Landcare Research’s website fungi are one of the largest groups of organisms in NZ. And while it’s estimated 20,000-24,000 different species of fungi exist here, only about one-third have been discovered so far.

New So, if in doubt throw it out. And if you’re keen to forage enhanced for edible fungi, go with someone who knows how to identify edible mushrooms, or take a guide book to help formula Merle Cave identify species.

Eden Cave, 2, and Isla Cave, 4, taking a close look at mushrooms that have magically grown in the wild on their grandparents’ Northland farm.

Can my joints improve? – Part 1 I’ve been working with someone who has had problems with his knees.

Abundant Health

He had damaged one knee some time ago. In more recent times his ‘good knee’ had started to deteriorate from osteoarthritis.

Eventually his ‘good knee’ became worse than the knee damaged in an accident.

I contacted him this month and in his own words he thought the results were amazing. He has much less pain and is more mobile. He has come from a position where working was becoming increasingly difficult to now being more confident about the future.

There are several lessons we can learn from this. The first is that our bodies have an extraordinary ability to heal. However, this healing is dependent on the smooth operation of the healing systems.

In many cases healing is restricted because the body system that is designed to heal the damage is somehow faulty or has just stopped functioning.

The outcome of this is always disease.

In this case we made a number of changes.

The first was to try and identify foods that either cause inflammation or in some way restrict healing. Two of the most important groups of nutrients are fats, because they govern the inflammatory pathways and antioxidants because they protect our cells from damage.

We can also cheat a bit. Actually, we can cheat a lot. I see effective joint health supplements as the ultimate cheat. We can target very

specific compounds that have a direct therapeutic function in the body.

For example, with joints we can add therapeutic levels of Chondroitin Sulphate to greatly impact the health and stability of cartilage. Adding significant amounts of curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric can reduce inflammation and swelling in the joint capsule. Next edition we’ll continue this discussion and look at the second lesson we can learn.

For more information, give me a call or email john@abundant.co.nz You can read my all new newsletter at: www.abundant.co.nz John Arts is a qualified nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health.

Contact John on 0800 423 559.

To read more go to: www.sunlive.co.nz

COUNTRY LIVING

Game-on for duck hunters Covid-19 delayed this year’s duckshooting season by three weeks.

Photo: Richard Cosgrove.

After much anticipation, this year’s duck hunting season has begun. The season began Saturday, May 23 – nine days after the country moved into Covid-19 Alert Level 2.

“That was enough time to ready the dogs, the boat and the maimai,” says Fish & Game NZ chief executive Martin Taylor.

“The Alert Level 2 conditions for gamebird hunting are more practical for hunters compared to Level 3, which proves the benefit of waiting.

Extended seasons

The length of the season varies with every region.

The Auckland and Waikato duck season has been extended to close on June 28, giving duck hunters an extra weekend.

At the time of printing this edition of Coast & Country News, an extension for the rest of the Eastern Region, which includes Rotorua, hadn’t been made public.

Alert Level 2 allows hunters to travel interregionally and stay overnight at their hunting spots.

Conditions include no personal gatherings above 10 people. “I’m confident duck hunters will abide y this,” says Martin. “Not many maimais can hold 10 people, so I don’t see this being much of an issue.”

Fish & Game’s start-date confirmation came just one hour after the Government’s Level 2

Page 41

Duck hunting season is underway during Alert Level 2. Photo: Richard Cosgrove.

announcement on May 11.

Martin says F&G ensured they were ready for any outcome by working with government during the lockdown period.

“We already had things in place to give the season the best possible chance of going ahead.

“To make up for mark-up (pegging) day, which was due to take place during the lockdown, we decided that last year’s claims will count for this year.

“We also indicated to hunters what the dates may look like in advance, so they already knew the season was likely to begin on the second Saturday after we moved into Alert Level 2.”

Still keen

Despite the season’s three-week delay, Martin says hunters were stoked with the announcement.

“Hunters were happy that they still had the chance to participate – especially since it could have been cancelled all together.”

It’s believed that the last time the longstanding Kiwi tradition was cancelled was during WWII, due to an ammunition shortage.

“That shows how dear this tradition is to Kiwis – it’s only hindered by wars and pandemics.”

Martin says hunters have remained patient, openminded and optimistic throughout the lockdown.

“They understand the reasons the regulations were put in place, and continued to take the updates well.”

This attitude is shared by Arapuni duck hunter, Hardie Singh, who is now able to host his mates on his farm’s maimai.

“When we heard the season was being pushed back we were a bit gutted, but with what we have been going through as a country, it really isn’t a big deal.

“I don’t think the delay will affect many people, we’re still keen to get out there.”

For duck hunting 2020 season updates, see: https:// MacKenzie Dyer fishandgame.org.n

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DAIRY

Page 42

A double-whammy nightmare The four months of January, February, March and April have been the driest in Tauranga in 131 years!

As of mid-may we’d had 17ml of rain in the yard – we thought we were going to get 70ml one weekend.

Rotorua and south of there seems to be getting more rain than we are.

Tauranga’s four-month tally is 85ml.

Last year we got 235ml. At Paengaroa we had a bit more rain with 141ml this year and 204ml last year. As a result

there’s a real big shortage for good quality feed. It’s hard to find any. We’re bringing it out of other areas and across the ditch from the South Island. But there’s even limited supply down there; the Southerners feel they must keep some for their own this winter. Also, with Covid-19 it’s restricting truck movements, so it’s difficult getting loads up. We’ve had a six-week delay on some feeds from the south. We hit the straps with Covid-19 lockdown and feed enquiries simultaneously. It was a double whammy – we’ve been rushed off our feet. We’ve been trying to work

around Covid-19 regulations – all on top of having the busiest months we’ve had. It’s been incredible.

Covid-19 rules

We had to re-think how we’d run the operation around Covid-19 rules. Now we have one person per vehicle, two metres social distancing, we’re staggering our smoko breaks, the front door is still locked, we’re taking phone orders, and people have to sign in.

Loadings happen by drivers staying in their machine, we stay distanced from them when they jump out to put paperwork down. We both sign individually and sanitise and carry on. Those who want to collect feed have to first phone order, then pay online and then organise non-contact collection.

Any staff with symptoms were to stay home and get tested. And we did have one staff member with symptoms. He had trouble being tested to start with but we eventually got him tested and thankfully that came back negative.

We did get audited by MPI in lockdown. That shocked me but it was good to see them out and checking up on businesses to make sure they are complying. We had one little thing to sharpen up on which was good. I’m so grateful we’ve been able to keep going – and I really sympathise with all the businesses that haven’t been to operate and are now struggling. Every day during lockdown I was on the road carrying loads, checking crops, paddock etc and through town and everywhere there was nobody about – it was surreal.

High demand

Most people wanted silage for a start. When you can’t get silage then it’s hay, then straw. And with farmers not able to get cull stock off-farm, there’s been many ringing us very stressed. In week one of lockdown our call-taker had people almost in tears on the phone wanting feed. It was terrible. There’s also high demand for grazing. Last year we had a surplus.

This year it’s all gone. We could have supplied our numbers twice-over this year. One call from a farmer was because he’d been let down by a supplier he used last year. They milked on thinking ordered feed was coming and it never turned up. There’s been some real serious situations going on and while it’s still dry, it’s only getting worse. Autumn-calvers would have been under the pump – although they might have

secured feed earlier having their pinch start earlier, but we’re still getting the odd call. Predictions are slightly belowaverage or normal rainfall for May. Some predict we’re in a neutral phase, with talk it will continue to spring. One weather predictor says it might weaken and go towards a La Nina spring. It’s certainly weird one. Going forward will be hard for businesses, the economy, for NZ, and the world. There will be dramatic changes – but more resilience will come out of it. Kiwis react well when you put them in a corner and see what they can do. There’s been respirators made from milking machine companies, different ways of making masks etc.

Next season’s payout, everyone is talking it back a bit. Whether NZ, with its cleangreen image and low-cost farming, and being early out of Covid-19 – we might be the star everyone aspires to and wants some of what we’ve got. They might be happy to buy our products being a little ray of sunshine at the bottom of the world. You never know, it could happen.

Nitrate levels and caterpillars

Farmers now need to be mindful of those bloody army caterpillars because they don’t know Covid19 is around and they won’t be isolating. They’ll be attacking our crops and grasses. The other issue is nitrate levels with new grass. If farmers have sown or renovated pastures after a prolonged dry spell – that’s when you’re most vulnerable to nitrate poisoning. So before putting stock onto new grass you must test it.

Don’t graze too low, keep residuals up a bit on normal; don’t put cows on new grass or annual winter crops hungry – feed silage or hay first and monitor regularly. We monitored some mobs and pasture all last winter. This year could be worse. So be warned and be careful. Don’t get complacent and stay focused. Keep planning and keep up with feed budgets so you can identify any shortfalls early and can act immediately before you get caught out and sacrifice production of milk or protein. At time of writing, we have threshed rye and barley straw in big bales and some conventional meadow hay. We also hope to have a new supply of grass silage shortly. Feel free to get in touch and we’ll help with the stock we have on hand. And don’t forget to buy local, support NZ-grown businesses and not to take the biosecurity risk of imported feeds.

DAIRY

The world as we know it has been turned upside down during the last few months.

But through it all farmers have felt as though they have been largely untouched by the implications of Covid-19. Time will tell how well markets and the balance of supply and demand stacks up and treats New Zealand agriculture.

Farmers are accustomed to working in relative solitude. Their work is their home and their home is their work, and they don’t wander into town each day for a coffee or nip out on their lunchbreak for a sandwich.

Farming is an essential service, with business running as usual. Fertiliser is still being spread, milk is still being collected and processed, and meat companies are still operating.

But farmers are being affected; or rather, they will be, because despite the distraction of Covid-19, the discussion around water pollution will eventually reappear on the horizon.

Regional councils already require farmers to operate within strict nitrogen leaching limits and environmental compliance programmes, and limits will only become tighter in future.

So now is the time to start the journey to a better way of farming before non-compliance has drastic financial implications.

Shining a light The Total Replacement Therapy team is shining a light on the system that will mitigate environmental issues without causing financial hardship to farmers.

It aims to: Meet the environmental standards of the Government and the consumer; increase farmers’ integrity by exceeding government expectations; and help farmers remain profitable while achieving that integrity.

Our team is doing this by regenerating NZ’s soils cost-efficiently and quickly, introducing biology and enhancing their activity, and reducing farmers’ reliance on synthetic nitrogen, therefore reducing water pollution.

And it’s working. Six months after implementing the Total Replacement Therapy programme on his Whakatane

dairy farm, Alan Law has achieved increased pasture cover while reducing his synthetic nitrogen use by 55 per cent – from 180 units/ha to 80 units/ha – in a drought.

And that’s just the beginning.

He’s expecting to be able to reduce nitrogen application to 30-50 units/ha/year – which we believe would be acceptable by any authority – while maintaining profitable production.

Act now Now is the not the time to sit on our laurels and hope the environmental discussion will go away. Exceeding expectations set out by regional council and government is possible, and not just by cutting cattle numbers and losing production in the process.

Our team is helping farmers make this journey before it is required of them.

We can’t predict what will happen in the future, but wouldn’t it be nice to see farmers who are exceeding high environmental standards rewarded with exemption from any potential levies or penalties that may be implemented in the future?

Page 43

Page 44

CALVING

Surviving a calving season Calving is not the easiest of times on-farm.

But if you’re up against it, Te Puke farmer Andre Meier says having fine-tuned clear systems in place and ensuring all staff can perform all duties and work independently, when required, is key.

And he’d know. Andre, who is 2020’s Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year and Te Puke Young Farmers Club president, had a nightmare situation unfold before spring calving last season.

The 30-year-old farm manager on Ao Marama Farms’ 250ha Te Puke farm had multiple staff injuries as calving approached – but while they were a huge challenge, they made for a successful season.

At the time Andre was managing the 800-cow farm on Bush Rd he’d worked on for seven seasons, and also overseeing another 350-cow farm on Allport Rd for his employers that has since been sold.

“My manager, Lindsay Williams, at Allport Rd broke his ankle a week before calving. Ao Marama Farms owners went to Allport Rd and I stayed at Bush Rd with three young guys.”

But in August one guy hurt his shoulder in a bike accident. “That afternoon the other guys, who were brothers, came to me and said: ‘We realise we’re going to have do more work now, so we’re leaving as well’.”

Help and OAD milking

In 24 hours the two young men were gone, reducing Andre’s calving workforce from three to zero. “I rang up the farm owners and they decided – because they’d put Allport Rd on Once-A-Day milking – that they’d give the 800-cow farm the opportunity to go OAD as well.”

Andre also asked semi-retired farmer, Steve Dobbs, to help him for Bush Rd’s calving season. “Between the two of us we pushed through the whole calving season and got the best mating performance in the Te Puke district. “The in-calf rate was 86 per cent and the empty rate was seven per cent. We had no deaths or calving problems – and there was no sacrifice because of staff numbers dropping.”

Calving is usually 11 weeks at Bush Rd. “But last season we’d calved 94 per cent of the herd in the first

Te Puke farmer Andre Meier with stock at his job for the 2019/2020 season. six weeks, including the rising two-year-olds.”

Andre admits they were extremely busy for the first three weeks “but we found with our systems in place, everything works”.

He says it’s also key to delegate the correct jobs to staff members. “And all staff should be upskilled as quickly as possible so anyone can do a job – if required. That makes it easier to delegate jobs.

“I also work beside my staff every day – so I lead by example.”

Andre and Steve also ensured they had time off to recoup from their big workload where they could.

“Especially after mating, you can nearly run the farm as a one-man show if you really have to. So you can

...continued

nightmare

continued...

everything low-stress.”

Plus with the farm run it with two people, being steep, OAD has but with the second benefitted cows by person knocked off at keeping their condition 9am sort of thing.” on, and with mating.

Andre says his “This year our six-week staff also work with in-calf rate is 76 per efficiency. “For example, cent with an eight per when I set a task for the cent empty rate – with day and think it will no intervention used at take four hours – if the all,” says Andre. staff member finishes it For the upcoming in three hours and he’s season Andre and done a good job, I don’t his partner Natalie throw him another Cameron are moving to job. He can knock off. a contract milking job We don’t muck around Andre Meier is 2020’s Bay of on her parents Bruce here; we get it done.”

Plenty Dairy Manager and Gillian Cameron’s Another huge strength of the Year in the Dairy 400-cow dairy farm at to the business is OAD Industry Awards.

Otamarakau, east of milking, says Andre.

“We’ve seen an improvement in animal Te Puke, and will also manage a 350ha drystock farm for them. “We want to health, mating and staff morale. And build a good foundation and grow our because you’ve got no afternoon business to achieve our long-term goal milking you’re not pressured to get of farm ownership.” jobs done beforehand. This keeps

CALVING

Page 45

Mats for farmers, by farmers As farmers, Agri-Tech owners Kyllee and Paul Henton know exactly how their rubber mats need to function.

all covered areas, from barns to horse floats.

Installing matting over existing concrete has many health benefits for animals, says Kyllee.

“Concrete is slippery – so it’s easy for animals to fall and injure themselves.

“We needed a heavy duty, The mat’s cushioning gives comfortable and easy-to-install hooves a soft surface to sink product, and our Comfy Cow into and grip, reducing issues and Comfy Equine products like lameness and white line tick the boxes,” says Kyllee. disease.

“We designed them for our “And they’re comfortable own farm, and went to market enough for animals to sit on, in 2018.” which is essential for their Kyllee says Comfy Cow welfare requirements.” mats are thicker than most on When the Henton farm the market, at 30mm. “The flooded, their matted, thickness means less bedding is covered feed pad gave them a needed in calf sheds and horse place to move their herd and Agri-Tech make durable rubber matting protect the pasture. stables, saving money and for cows and horses. cleaning time.”

“We kept our cows on the The heavy weight and interlocking design makes mats 24/7 for up to three weeks pre-calving, with them easy to self-install, and that they don’t require excellent results,” says Kyllee. fastening-down in most areas.

“Comfortable cows means increased milk Plus, a built-in UV stabiliser makes the mats ideal production and profit. With calving on its way, it’s a great time to invest in rubber matting.” for outdoor spaces such as uncovered feed pads, and

Merle Cave

Cows calving can be a stressful time on-farm but Andre Meier says having fine-tuned clear systems in place is crucial.

2.

3.

Page 46

KIWIFRUIT

Growing fruit and soil health at Te Kaha

OPAC Te Kaha orchard manager Ray Karauria, Te Kaha Gold Sprayers general manager Aaron Kurei, Te Kaha 15B chairman Norm Carter, Te Heriko Nursery manager Ron Clarke, and OPAC Te Kaha orchard manager Royce Hau. Photo: Alphapix.

“Stoked and humbled” sums up the reaction of Hineora Orchard on Te Kaha 15B, when they were announced one of three finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy for top horticultural enterprise.

“It’s an award that ensures Maori are at the forefront of doing the right thing. We entered because that’s the benchmark we want to hold ourselves to,” says Te Kaha 15B board chairman Norm Carter.

“We’re a small organisation so we didn’t think it would happen. We were surprised to say the least.”

Te Kaha 15B is a freehold Maori land block near the Eastern Bay of Plenty township of Te Kaha, with an 11.5ha gold kiwifruit orchard producing 133,000 trays per year. The land includes a packhouse, a fourbedroom house for workers’ accommodation, and a shareholding in spraying business, Te Kaha Gold Sprayers. They’ve also piloted a plant nursery called Te Heriko, with a larger development on the cards with assistance from both the Provincial Growth Fund and philanthropic investors.

Norm says overcoming vine-killing disease Psa-V is what he’s most proud of, as it helped Te Kaha 15B remember the importance of how their ancestors farmed the land. “To be blunt, Psa kicked us in the butt, as it did many others. We had to go back to the practices our ancestors used, by making the land our priority as the land looks after everything else.

Organic approach

“Our elders fed the community from this land by giving back what they took from it. Since Psa we’ve taken a more organic approach to help the land recover, which is much more in line with what our ancestors did.”

Many trials of fertilisers and introducing worm viticulture followed. They now test soil three-four times a year and use Totalfert organic fertiliser. “The worms were hard to keep up in terms of cost, but we’re always finding new ways to invigorate the soil and bring it

back to life. This will remain our approach going forward,” says Norm.

Like many lots across the BOP, this year’s dry summer has also posed a challenge. “In saying that, we’re reasonably lucky in Te Kaha because we have a microclimate, so it will rain here even when it isn’t raining anywhere else. We get support from above.”

No-one is directly employed by the orchard, rather indirectly within OPAC, and Te Kaha Gold Sprayers and pilot Te Heriko Nursery.

Four managers and leading team members who work on-orchard became qualified with support from Te Whanau-a-Apanui Fruit Growers Sustainable Labour Initiative, which Te Kaha 15B Trust helped to establish.

The initiative has funded 59 students from the area to study horticulture at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Tauranga. “It’s allowed our people climb the ladder into better employment and better the wider community, who they become role models for.”

Te Kaha 15B will also have a hand in several upcoming community development projects, after the Te Kaha Landowners Group was given a $370,000 grant from the Provincial Growth Fund.

Community development

Community development has been a fundamental value of Te Kaha 15B, since the Hineora Orchard project began in 1999. That vision was especially held

by Norm’s older brother, John Lawson Snr. “He was a part of the original group who set up the trust, and he passed away eight years after it started. I’m glad we’ve been able to uphold the vision and hopes he had for it.” Being whanau-minded is a moral shared by current trustees too – they have each dedicated more than 15 years to the board. The Te Kaha 15B trustees attended Parliament on February 21, where they were announced an Ahuwhenua finalist for 2020.

“It’s a shame that Covid-19 affected the Ahuwhenua Field Days events, but such is life,” says Norm. “If there is an event to announce the winner at the end of the year, Te Kaha 15B will be there with bells on.”

MacKenzie Dyer

My Name is Neil Woodward.

I am a director of Z-Contracting- we are family run business, our team consists of three, being myself, my son and my brother.

Our organisation has been established for over 18 years. I have been involved in applying crop protection programmes within the horticultal industry since 1966.

We specialise within the kiwi fruit industry, We have the equipment to spray orchards with our two Atom sprayers and one recently purchased Tracatom Formula tractor which is also available for mulching and mowing.

My Name is Neil Woodward.

I am a director of Z-Contracting- we are family run business, our team consists of three, being myself, my son and my brother.

Our organisation has been established for over 18 years. I have been involved in applying crop protection programmes within the horticultal industry since 1966.

We specialise within the kiwi fruit industry, We have the equipment to spray orchards with our two Atom sprayers and one recently purchased Tracatom Formula tractor which is also available for mulching and mowing.

Our Atom combined three noz accuracy.

We also u applicatio

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Our Atoms are set up with radar speed sensors, this combined with fully automated sprayer controllers and three nozzle rings enhances application efficiency and accuracy.

We also use a quad bike for strip weed spray applications.

We hold all certificates needed to meet Globalgap compliance.

We look at all challenges to help ensure we protect your crop with excellence.

Ph E-ma

FORESTRY

New scheme challenged A new log registration scheme and practice standards will bring us one step closer to achieving ‘value over volume’ in our forestry sector, says Forestry Minister Shane Jones.

recovery period. “Having a more transparent market will better connect owners of land and owners of trees – particularly for first-time entrants to the market – to timber processors and marketers of forest resources to domestic and overseas customers.”

New legislation – introduced as part of Budget 2020 – will require forestry advisers, log traders and exporters to register and work to nationally-agreed practice standards that will strengthen the integrity of New Zealand’s forestry supply chain.

But the Forest Owners Association sees the Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisers) Amendment Bill very differently – saying the industry anticipates an unacceptable and pointless bureaucratic cost to all parts of the sector if the Bill becomes law.

Disincentive

Build demand

FOA president Phil Taylor says the first details forest growers saw of the scheme was when it was introduced to Parliament for its first reading on May 14 – the Government’s 2020 Budget day.

It will now go to the Environment Select Committee. “The Government speakers in its first reading debate seem to think that giving a certificate to someone who buys and sells logs, is going to lead to more logs being processed in NZ and not exported.

“That means, for instance, that the Government appears to have no confidence in its own $5 billion spending for new housing units. We hope the Government will make sure timber is used extensively for this. Labour promised a wood preference policy in the last election.”

“That’s how to build demand for timber. You can’t make processors buy more logs without someone to sell their processed timber too. Someone with a clip-board register isn’t going to work.”

Critical foundations

The Forestry Minister says the Covid-19 crisis showed us how an overreliance on log exports to a small number of markets makes our forestry industry less resilient and more susceptible to global forces.

“An enhanced domestic wood processing sector will play an important part of the recovery for our regional economies, helping create new export products, new jobs for Kiwis and a renewed sense of ownership of our forests. Industry consultation identified that improved professional standards, market assurance measures and better information resources were critical areas to enable a more integrated system. The quality of advice from forestry advisers and interactions with log traders is critical to the financial returns forest growers receive, and to the operation of the broader log market.”

The Minister says the new regulatory system will provide critical foundations to help the industry navigate what is anticipated to be a more volatile and uncertain trading environment during the Covid-19

But Phil says the new law is either going to be a pointless system of adding costs and inefficiencies into the timber supply pipeline “or there is some other hidden intent further down the track in regulations under the new law, which is meant to tie trees in red tape and direct timber growing, harvesting and processing”.

“Either way, it’s a disincentive for anyone to invest if it goes through,” says Phil. “Just when we have planting picking up again, mostly driven by small-scale NZ investors and farmers, the Government is trying to restrict it. If ethical behaviour is the problem, there’s plenty of contract and criminal law to deal to that. If bad advice about planting and selling is the problem, then let Te Uru Rakau step up and provide good advice to forest owners – not persecution.”

The Minister says NZ’s log supply market is in transition, with smaller owners playing an increasingly important role in the annual harvest. “Knowing only registered professionals can provide forestry advice is expected to give growers greater confidence in recommendations they receive on management and valuation of their investment, and the financial returns achieved through the sales and purchase process.”

Forestry advisers will need to demonstrate they have relevant skills, experience, and qualifications to advise growers, and undertake training and professional development in their specialist areas.

Read this story in full at: https://www.coastandcountrynews.co.nz

Page 47

FARM VEHICLES, MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT

Page 48

An International love Coroglen man Graeme Browne, or Sonny as he’s better known locally, hasn’t seen an International tractor he doesn’t like.

And with 35 tractors in his collection – all International – including 18 that are fully restored, he knows what he’s talking about.

His oldest tractor dates from the early1900s, and the collection traces the history of International tractors, which

started life under the McCormick brand, before moving to International, and is more recently know as the Case IH brand. “I bought my very ďŹ rst tractor for 100 pounds – a Farmall H – in the 1950s and I’ve been collecting tractors ever since.â€?

Graeme Browne, or ‘Sonny’, with one The Farmall H is a two-plow tractor, of his toys – an International All Wheel and features the distinctive red colour Drive C 1300 series pick-up truck. that International tractors are known for. The H model was so well-liked All photos: Sharon Wright photography. that by the time it ďŹ nished its 14-year engine rebuilding to bringing the tractor production run in the mid-1950s exterior back to its former glory with a almost 400,000 had been sold, making sandblast and paint. it the most popular individual model He sources decals and parts from the International ever built.

United States, and also strips down the Sonny started collecting tractors as a unsalvageable tractors for spare parts. by-product of his work as an agricultural “Getting new parts is reasonably easy. and earthmoving contractor. “In days Genuine parts are available from the States gone by I was burying old tractors for – even for the older models. And it’s often my clients, but I didn’t like seeing them cheaper than restoring an old part,â€? says getting buried so I’d take them home Sonny. “One of the great things about and start ďŹ xing them up. And it went Internationals is that the parts often ďŹ t more from there.â€? than one model, which makes restoration While he has purchased tractors, many easier.â€? have been gifted to him. Reluctant to While most of the tractors have been pick a favourite tractor, Sonny highlights Some steel tractor the 50â€? tall Fairway Model A as one wheels at Sonny’s place. retired from work on Sonny’s 500-acre Whitianga property, a couple still earn their of the more unusual models in his keep raking hay. collection.

Does your farm or boss have a pet tractor? Or a pet “It was used during the war to pull aeroplanes out of digger or bulldozer? If so, we’d love to hear about it! the hangar, so had to be quite low. It was also used for Email: merle@sunmedia.co.nz with a photo of it and a mowing golf courses.� contact name and phone number. We might even throw a Sonny taught himself about tractors, and undertakes Josephine Reader most of the restoration work himself – everything from prize your way for a good yarn.

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FINANCE FOR 36 MONTHS* across the BX & B Series FINANCE PROVIDED BY

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B S e r i e s Tr a c t o r R a n g e

Photo - BX2680 complete with optional front guard

COMPACT TRACTORS

25 - 66HP

B2601

B3150

HST 23 & 26 Hp

HST 31 Hp 3 Range HST

3 Range HST

*This finance offer from UDC Finance Limited is only available to eligible business applicants on loans with a term of up to 36 months. The 3.5% p.a. interest rate is fixed for the term of the loan and is only available with a minimum 20% deposit and applies to new BX & B Series models UDC Finance credit criteria, fees, terms and conditions apply.

The finance offer are valid to 30th June 2020.

R & R Tractors 4 Te Puke Quarry Road, Te Puke Ph: 07 573 9107

rrtractors.co.nz

KUBOTA.CO.NZ

FARM VEHICLES, MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT

Page 49

Farm safety training goes online Taking time off the farm for Health and Safety machinery training can be impractical at the best of times, and impossible in the midst of a pandemic.

But, after a lifetime of farming and teaching safe machinery practices, Graham Foote knows that doing so is a nonnegotiable lifesaver.

Graham and his partner Donna Clarke created SmartHS, an online farm machinery training provider that makes disruption, travel and needing minimum numbers a thing of the past.

Participants receive training compliant with the Health & Safety at Work Act from within their work bubble, meaning SmartHS courses comply with rules under all Covid19 Alert Levels.

“When we launched the site last year, we never imagined that contactless training would become the necessity it is today,” says Graham.

“SmartHS allows farmers to get the training they need as soon as they need it, removing the barriers that prevent people from prioritising safety.

“With Gypsy Day coming up on June 1, it’s

a great time to register.”

SmartHS offer practical and theory training courses for tractors, motorbikes, quadbikes and side-by-sides.

The theory component is completed online, and the practical course can be assessed by competent farm owners and managers, guided by the course material.

“We recommend that anyone assessing takes our SmartHS Assessors course, but this is not a requirement.

“There is always a risk with self-assessment, but A SmartHS practical course, demonstrated by Scott Edwards. the truth always comes out. Most farmers know “Training is not just about getting that it’s in their best interest to train their WorkSafe off your back, it’s about making workers properly.” sure people get home to their families.”

Course content and results, including pass Donna knows this from experience. and fail history, are easily accessible.

She broke a hand and foot in a near-fatal “You get a separate certificate for the quadbike rollover accident while on a theory and practical component, so showing recreational trip, prior to meeting Graham.

WorkSafe NZ that you are taking steps to become qualified is easy,” says Donna.

Graham, too, lost three fingers in a saw mill

Unearthing efficiency on the farm With a never-ending list of jobs, using time on the farm efficiently is always a high priority.

Unearth Ag specialise in a wide variety of technologically-advanced equipment centring on efficiency and automation – the most popular being their GPS products.

Using Ag Leader, Raven and ARAG GPS systems, guidance and rate control information, including proof-ofplacement maps, are available through a free app.

Their Sprayer Control systems record already covered areas, so when the machine is there, the sprayer automatically turns off.

Customers report this feature alone can improve efficiency by three to five per cent, says Unearth Ag owner Matthew Gray.

“Controlling the rate and sections ensures you never use more than you need to,” says Matthew.

“As well as saving money and manual labour, it’s a very environmentallyfriendly option.”

GPS also allows for automatic steering.

Ag Leader and Raven Steering systems do the driving for low speed jobs,

JD750a Direct Drills and industrial electric mowers.

“Anything that betters farming and growing, we’re interested,” says Matthew.

Unearth Ag’s GPS systems allow for automatic steering, spraying, and information at your fingertips. including harvesting bedded or specialty crops, and planting that requires millimetre performance under 1km/h.

Users can specify where the machine needs to go, plan paths around obstructions like irrigation ditches, and use the same guidance lines year-afteryear.

Unearth Ag’s Electrical Conductivity (EC) Mapping takes the guesswork out of treatment by providing in-depth soil information, often used as a base map for nitrogen application.

GPS only scratches the surface of Unearth Ag’s offerings — with other products including planter modifications for no-till maize planters,

accident in the 1980s. But, his main motivation comes from the fatal stories he’s heard from teaching H&S throughout the country, and tragically, experiences from within his own family.

“Machinery fatalities can happen so fast,” says Graham.

“We are passionate about the safety and wellbeing of NZ’s rural community, and want to contribute to keeping people safe in this time of uncertainty, and into the future.”

MacKenzie Dyer

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 50

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Rebuild help from Te Puke

Thanks to a Te Puke-based charity, local seasonable workers from Vanuatu and the Bay of Plenty’s horticulture industry, one Northern Vanuatu island is rebuilding after a cyclone ripped through in April.

Amid the global Coronavirus pandemic, when many countries were in lockdown, Tropical Cyclone Harold caused widespread destruction across the Pacific – including Vanuatu.

Photos that have surfaced paint a grim reality for many islands and communities in Northern Vanuatu – some medical centres were left in ruins and many people have been left without food and are relying on aid packages. Today, the Northern Vanuatu island Malo is seeing community buildings being rebuilt after Te Puke charity Fruit

The first day milling for the Mill for Malo team. kindergartens, medical clinics, churches and marketplaces.

Te Puke-based companies Baygold and EastPack, as well as their RSE staff from Vanuatu, were quick to partner with the project.

“They have provided donations supporting the first three weeks of milling costs, a full repairs and maintenance kit as well as the reconnaissance trip for Joe to identify communities and rebuild

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school auxiliary rooms and one teacher’s house. To start with, the Mill for Malo team milled and delivered more than 280 lineal metres of wood for the rebuild of this school.

Make a donation

“During their time on Malo, the team hope to serve between five to 10 communities and provide them with a much-needed rebuild resource,” says Kylie.

She says the swift support from the kiwifruit industry for this project highlights the incredible relationships built through Najariwelu School had classrooms the RSE scheme. completely destroyed by the tropical cyclone.

“They are strong and tangible community-toof the Pacific began working directly with community partnerships kiwifruit seasonal workers from Vanuatu to and there is a real deploy a sawmill to the affected island. commitment Fruit of the Pacific CEO Kylie Dellabarca to supporting one Steel says it’s a challenging environment to another in times of crisis deliver and distribute relief and rebuild aid. and disaster.”

Vanuatu currently has no reported cases of Fruit of the Pacific is Covid-19. But Fruit of the Pacific has found putting out a call for a way to lend a hand from afar. They are donations from the getting behind The Mill for Malo project. public, saying 100 per This is led by an EastPack RSE worker, cent of funds raised Joe Iautu, who has managed a sawmill will cover operational The devastation at Najaraiwelu Kindy and programme for the last five years. and travel costs of Primary School. Photo: Berry Johnson. the sawmill team. It’s Milling timber estimated it will cost projects,” says Kylie.

Kylie says in early-May, Joe and his team approximately $1500 per week for sawmill The sawmill team have started on projects operations to be delivered in communities. were deployed by Vanuatu’s National Disaster for two local schools on the west coast of This includes wages for an operations team Management Office to Malo to support their Malo. One school is Najariwelu School. The of four-five men, fuel, running costs, travel nation in a time of need. classrooms were destroyed by the tropical costs, accommodation and food. The The Mill for Malo team is milling fallen cyclone, one being completely flattened. But timber and providing that free of charge to now the school’s leadership team has plans to hope is to raise $15,000 to cover 10 weeks of work. Donations will help make the the communities so they can rebuild schools, rebuild the two destroyed classrooms, three milling and provision of timber completely free for affected communities, says Kylie.

To donate to the cause, visit their Givealittle at: https://givealittle.co.nz/ cause/tc-harold-sawmillfor-vanuatu-rebuild Does your rural community have a project underway to help a charity, commmunity group or an individual in need? We’d love to hear about it! Maybe we can help promote it? Email: merle@sunmedia.co.nz with a contact name and phone number. And we’ll be in touch!

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Page 51

Page 52

COAST & COUNTRY NEWS

Best little calf-rearer Perry Williams, aged 7, helping mum feed their autumn calves in Tirau.

Twm Davies, aged 2, helps to keep the country going during lockdown in Rotorua.

One-year-old James: ‘Gearstick and steering sorted, someone hit the gas!’ - Te Awamutu.

Bruce, aged 5, being a big helper ticking off numbers.

Ryder Holmes, aged 13 months, wants to help let the ‘girls’ out.