Business Rural Publication Issue 2 2016

Winter 2016

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

Where the rubber meets the hoof DeLaval’s Phill Bloomfield (left) tells Michael Burnett, from DeLaval dealer Canterbury Farm Services, just why cows enjoy milking on a rubber deck.

Balclutha-based CCMP’s decision to use the rubber decking on a custom-built shed drew reports of an instant difference in bovine behaviour. Story: page 40.

WORLD WIDE AGRICULTURAL Traralgon Victoria, Australia, July 20-22

SAM KEKOVICH (AUSTRALIA) VFL Sporting legend and Australia’s lamb ambassador

YORK BAYER (GERMANY) Overuse of chemicals and effects on crop yields

BOB PERRY (USA) Importance of soil analysis to achieve healthy soil

NEAL KINSEY (USA) Magnesium in the soil and how to improve water efficiency

TIM REINBOTT (USA) Cover crops and how soil fertility influences food quality

PETER NORWOOD (AUSTRALIA) Antioxidants in plants, animals and humans

DR. DON HUBER (USA) The overuse of glyphosate and effects on crop yields

AARON WOOLARD (USA) Soil mapping for efficiency of fertiliser and water applications

BO SHROPSHIRE (USA) The management of high sodium and high pH soils

Early bird registration finishes 1 June Farmer speakers from Australia and New Zealand

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To register visit www.wwag.co.nz or email bruce@wwag.co.nz

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Business Rural

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08 Cropping farm thrives with conversion

Higher yields and a more efficient farm are some of the benefits achieved when Dale and Sus Palmer, along with Sus’s father, Rod Clibborn, converted their borderdyked, mixed cropping farm to centre-pivot irrigation.

10 A moveable feast at Mt Arrowsmith

Winning the Canterbury Merino Association two-tooth flock ewe competition two years in succession was a remarkable achievement. What is more remarkable is that the flock moved from Big Ben Station to Mt Arrowsmith Station between the two competitions.

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26 Lupin cultivars key crop at Sawdon Station

Milestone for South Otago A&P Show

Of the stable of plants used at Sawdon Station in the Mackenzie Country, lupin is key, says station runholder Snow Luxton. Sawdon has a plant-breeding programme to improve lupin as a forage crop.

A special feature of the South Otago A & P Show, which celebrates its 150th year in November, is the showing of alpaca and dairy goats alongside the traditional equestrian, sheep and cattle sections.

36 Environmental footprint? It’s a numbers game Tony Coltman assists Dairy New Zealand on a monitor farm for the Forages for Reduced Nitrate Leaching programme. “Having some true numbers around what our environmental footprint is, is going to be instrumental in our business,” he says

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50 Boost predicted for forestry planting

Planting of new forestry has been on a downer for a couple of decades, but forest consultant Allan Laurie maintains that trend is about to change. He bases his optimism on new investment in the industry and government incentives.

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RURAL PEOPLE » David & Alanna Clarke

Business Rural

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David and Allana Clarke run 2000 ewes, 850 predominantly romney/texel hoggets and 4000 lambs on their farm at Glenham, south of Gore.

Double whammy whacks income Russell Fredric Good pasture growth at the right time and improved wool prices have proved minor mitigators during a season of mixed fortunes for Southland sheep farmers David and Alanna Clarke.

The couple run a generational family sheep farm in the rural hamlet of Glenham, about 20 kilometres south of Gore.

David Clarke says despite a generally favourable season, lower than expected lamb prices, combined with lower overall lamb weights, has seen a “pretty

Alanna and David Clarke and their two children.

major” reduction in income for the farm.

The farm covers 300 hectares (effective) on gentle rolling land. Last season the Clarkes ran 2200 ewes, 850 predominantly romney/texel hoggets and 4000 lambs; about 60 per cent of the lambs were sent to the Clarkes’ processor, Alliance Group, in mid-February in a push to “chase the schedule”.

The farm also supports grazing for 85 heifer calves and 85 rising two-year-old heifers each season.

After an often wet, cold winter and spring, last September provided a perfect weather window for lambing in Southland, resulting in the farm tailing a record number of lambs. This year, a combination of heat and rain during the late summer and autumn created plenty of grass.

“It has been perfect, we’ve never been so well set up going in to the winter,” says David Clarke.

“The ewes are all in good nick, so things are looking good.”

About 400 store lambs are bought each December as a means of managing pasture growth during summer and with the hope of adding some fat to the farm’s bottom line.

“It just seems to suit our system with feed coming away,” says David. “The number of lambs we get on the truck at weaning time we try to take on again as stores; we got 400 lambs away at weaning.”

The majority of the store lambs are sent for processing by the end of February to capitalise on the lamb schedule and Easter demand in northern hemisphere markets.

David says a gain of $20 per head for the stores was only marginally worth the effort of fattening them, but income from wool has “probably been the saviour”.

However, the average of about $85 achieved for lambs compared with $93 last season leaves him feeling “pretty gutted”.

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despite some good weights achieved towards the end of the season.

As well as being Alliance Group shareholders, the Clarkes are also shareholders in Wools of New Zealand.

Better wool prices are providing a glimmer of hope, with Wools of New Zealand paying a premium for lambs’ wool with zero vegetable matter and within a specific micron range. Last year WONZ set a contract price of $7.50/kg for lambs’ wool supplied for its EU Ecolabel programme, a 20 per cent increase over the previous season’s price of $6.25/kg, while payment for the Clarkes’ coarse crossbred wool clip was 10 to 15% higher.

“It has been a little bit of a blessing, but at the end of the day, wool’s not a major part of our income,” says David.

Wool aside, sticking to his knitting on the farm means keeping a close eye on pasture management, ewe condition and on the bottom 20% of his flock, which are either culled or preferentially fed.

Being involved in a Beef and Lamb New Zealand monitor programme from 2008 to 2012 proved a game-changer, resulting in increased production and was a catalyst in David becoming more engaged in the industry outside of the farm.

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RURAL PEOPLE » Murray & Gaye Coates

Business Rural

T.E.A.M. Coates: (From left) Murray and Gaye Coates, Andy and Kimberley Butcher, Matt Birchfield, Alex Birchfield, Sean and Kirsty Price.

‘Winning attitude’ key Karen Phelps

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West Coast dairy farmers Murray and Gaye Coates say the winning attitude of their staff is the reason their farm consistently performs at a high level. The couple employ four full-time staff, one of whom, production manager Matt Birchfield, was judged West Coast/Top of the South Dairy Manager of the Year at the 2016 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards.

“Matt wanted to enter and we’re very proud of what he’s achieved,” says Murray Coates. “We have always encouraged our staff and try to give them as much support as possible when they want to further themselves.

“Matt’s win is a reflection of the excellence we strive for. We class ourselves as a high-performing farm, and we strive to meet and exceed industry standards, so this award is a reflection of the general culture on the farm.”

We class ourselves as a high-performing farm, and we strive to meet and exceed industry standards.

Matt, 36, was a first-time entrant to the awards.

He entered to gain experience, to further his farming knowledge and to learn what he needs to improve on.

After leaving school he spent five years in the dairy industry. He then worked for a variety of companies associated with the rural sector before returning to dairying in 2014.

He is presently studying under the Primary ITO, and says his goal is to own his own farm in 10 years. He has a blended family of five children with

partner Kim, who works part-time on the farm.

The wife of another staff member also helps on the farm when needed, and Gaye Coates says having people on hand as required is invaluable because of the farm’s location.

The 315-hectare-effective/420ha total property at Haupiri, an hour inland from Greymouth has been a dairy unit for eight seasons. The farm is supported by a 200ha run-off, which is used for growing winter feed and for rearing young stock.

The Coateses say the farm operates under the acronym T.E.A.M – together everyone achieves more. This underpins everything and includes both on-farm staff and the wider group – veterinarian, farm consultant, dairy company, bank, accountant, technicians etc.

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Business Rural

RURAL PEOPLE » Graeme & Jo Hall

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Contractor eyes more time on the farm Kelly Deeks Southland dairy farmer Graeme Hall is working his way out of the family contracting business to concentrate on growing more grass on his Waikouro farm.

Graeme, his wife Jo, and three children – daughter Alex, 22, and sons James, 19, and Matt, 14 – have had the farm for about 15 years. He was running sheep until six years ago when he converted to dairy.

“I’ve always wanted to be a farmer, but I’ve had to work off farm to sustain the farm,” he says. “Dairying allowed me to work full-time on the farm and gives us a lot more opportunities for succession.”

Last season’s farm manager, Ant Levett, is staying on to contract-milk in the coming season, which will enable Graeme more time to concentrate on improving his pastures and on managing the run-off.

“Ant is doing a really good job,” says Graeme..

“He’s on a mission to get his own farm, and offering him the contract-milking position will help him towards achieving his goals and also allow us to focus on ours.”

There are three full-time staff on the farm plus relief milkers; Jo rears the calves and keeps all the records.

Second-in-command Karl Andrew, who has been with the Halls for three seasons, is staying on under Ant. Kari has been working his way through ITO courses.

Graeme Hall says the 201-hectare (effective) property can be challenging in wet weather.

“When the cows are at home in spring and autumn, we take great care not to damage the paddocks too much.

“We had a terribly wet autumn and spring last year and it made the farm slightly worse last season, but were happy with around 260,000 kilograms of milksolids considering the bad start.

“We have a concrete stand-off pad we built for the farm when we converted, and that has paid for itself about 10 times over.”

Farm manager Ant Levett in the shed on Graeme and Jo Hall’s farm at Waikouro, in Southland.

Graeme runs a 100ha run-off block at Waimatuku, which accommodates young stock and winters the dairy herd of 650 cows.

“There is a lot of sandier country there where we can have the cows without causing too much pugging. The cows are offered about three kilograms of grass per day, and the balance is

silage. We leave the cows at the run-off pretty much until they calve, so we don’t have to have any crop at home.”

It’s an all-grass system, with no crops grown on the dairy platform or on the run-off block. He aims to do 10 per cent pasture renewal per year.

He plans to work on drainage, sub-soiling, and

Staff lifeblood of high-performing dairy unit • From page 4 high performance. The kiwicross herd is milked through a 50-bail rotary shed with automatic cup removers and an Afimilk dairy-herd-management system. Each cow has a leg band with a number, that corresponds to its ear tag. The leg band has a pedometer that provides information for mating to indicate when a cow is in heat.

The system allows each cow to be treated as an individual; the in-shed feeding system links into the AfiFarm system, and the shed is also equipped with milk meters and a weighing/drafting system One of the main focuses on the farm is not wasting grass. Technology, such as a feed reader, helps make the most of the farm’s grass.

“Instead of taking eight hours to walk the farm, plate-metering it takes only 60-90 minutes with the feed reader on the front of the motorbike,” says Murray Coates..”This is done weekly.

“We’ve also set up a report, which is useful for all of us on the farm. It’s useful to have that knowledge when working with the farm consultant

Murray and Gaye Coates farm 135 hectares at Haupiri, an hour inland from Greymouth. as to how we can do the job better.”

Cows are condition-scored with the vet three times a year – pre-calving, pre-mating, and when

at pregnancy testing. Body condition score is the emphasis because a cow in good condition naturally milks well,” says Murray. “That’s why we focus on this rather than trying to feed for milk production.”

The farm supplies the Westland Milk Products factory. It produced 325,000 kilograms of milksolids in 2014-15 and was targeting 335,000kg last season. The best production has been just over 1150kg milksolids per hectare, and the aim is to raise that to 1200kg – if it can be achieved profitably.

Murray and Gaye Coates say knowledge is king on the milking platform, and the lifeblood of a high-performing dairy unit is staff.

“Matt had the fire in his belly to win the competition,” says Murray. “He has grabbed what we’ve got here in terms of technology and learned to use it. This has strengthened both his and other staff’s general farming knowledge.”

mole ploughing to achieve more grass growth. He has about 12 tonnes of dry matter to the hectare going down the cows’ throat and is buying in 350 tonnes of palm kernel and 100 tonnes of silage.

The plan to install an in-shed meal feeding system to boost production a bit is on hold until the milk payout improves.

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RURAL PEOPLE » Andy & Liz Hayes

Business Rural

Land swap catalyst of switch to Karen Phelps

The Haka Valley irrigation scheme has enabled Andy and Liz Hayes to convert a sheep-and-beef unit to dairy. Located in the Hakataramea Valley, the dairy platform is 250 hectare with 130ha of support ground, all under irrigation. The Hayes are milking a 900-cow herd.

A land swap with a neighbour convinced Andy and Liz Hayes to convert to dairy. They exchanged 500 hectares of a dry hill-block bordering the neighbouring farm for 230ha of flat ground, which is now gravity fed from the new Haka Valley Irrigation Ltd scheme, of which Andy is the chairman.

“This last season we saw the short-term benefits of the scheme, but we expect it to get better and better,” he says. ”The scheme has brought a lot more reliability for us.”

Andy was born and raised on Normanvale, the farm that has been in the family since 1878. He completed a degree in commerce (agriculture) at Lincoln University and met Liz, a journalist, while doing six months of work experience on one of her parents’ farms.

After doing their OE the pair returned to New Zealand in 2008 and took over his parents’ farm in 2009. They farmed the property for three years as a sheep-and-beef unit before converting to dairy in 2013.

Located in the Hakataramea Valley, across the Waitaki River from Kurow, the 530ha farm has a dairy platform of 250ha with support ground of 130ha – all under irrigation.

A further 200ha further up the Haka Valley is leased; 140ha of this block is also irrigated to run young stock.

The Hayes milk a herd of 900 predominantly friesian-cross cows through a 54-bail rotary with automatic cup removers and an in-shed feeding system. Their shed has the potential to milk 1200 cows . which allows for growth.

Last season they also milked an additional 150 cows for a neighbour and grazed 200 heifers for

Recipe for success with new farm dairy - tried, tested and future-proofed Andy and Liz Hayes reckon they got the recipe right when they made the decision to build a 54 bail Waikato Milking Systems Orbit rotary platform on their dairy conversion three years ago.

“We were new to dairying – after five generations farming sheep and beef on the property – so we talked to farmers in the area and visited a few dairies,” Andy said.

“There were a number of Waikato Milking Systems sheds in the area. I liked their layout – pretty sophisticated but the layout is simple and clean, and everyone I talked to said they were easy to operate.

“Working with Paul Morrison from Morrison Agri we opted for a basic 54 Orbit concrete platform knowing that, as the budget allowed, we could add technology. Building a new farm dairy is a big investment and it was great to be able to start off with the basics and retrofit technology as the budget allowed. It keeps the shed current and future-proofs the operation.

“In the second season, we added SmartECRs – automatic cup removers – to increase milking efficiency and ensure each of our 900 cow gets individual attention, ensuring they are not under or over milked. SmartECRs are better for overall cow health and enable each cow to achieve her productive potential.”

Reflecting over the past three years,

Andy Hayes says they have “had very few issues with the dairy and the service from Morrison Agri has been very good.”

Morrison Agri’s Paul Morrison said it has been a pleasure to have been involved in the conversion from the days when it was “just a concept.

“The farm has been in the Hayes family for five generations and it was great to see the sensitive and progressive conversion which has delivered a highly efficient and effective dairy unit today.

“We place a very high emphasis on customer service and, while Waikato Milking Systems’ products are very well designed and engineered, needing very little attention, we encourage customers to consider a service plan which means they can forget about maintenance and/or service and get on with what they do best – farming.

“Andy recently signed up for Waikato Milking Systems’ Dairy Minder programme which is a check list of service options which the customer can personalise to the particular dairy and farming system.

It’s insurance really, giving peace of mind that the dairy is always performing optimally.”

Morrison Agri is the new name for Ashburton Milking Systems, Oamaru Milking Systems and Rotary Platforms 2010.

Business Rural

RURAL PEOPLE » Andy & Liz Hayes

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dairy another neighbour – both direct benefits of the new irrigation scheme.

The couple say that as a new conversion, they were lucky to get one good year with a high pay-out under their belt before harder times hit the industry.

In their first season they milked 600 cows and achieved 245,000 kilograms of milksolids.

In the second season dry weather, without the benefit of the irrigation scheme, proved a challenge.

They milked 700 cows on once-a-day and grazed 200 cows away as well as de-stocking to cope, finally managing the same total of milksolids as the year before.

Approaching the end of their third season – their first with reliable irrigation – they were on target for 325,000kg.

With water such a major driver of their business, Andy is on the Lower Waitaki-South Coastal Canterbury Zone committee, which has been established to protect the region’s water.

The Hayes operate a virtually self-contained system. Their aim is to avoid buying in feed by wintering the herd on the farm. They grow 30ha of fodder beet and 10ha of turnips and rape.

They employ three full-time staff, and another full-time staff member is in charge of managing the run-off and doing other general jobs on the farm.

Since they converted to dairy, they have employed a manager, but in the coming season Andy will take over this role as the couple seek to become more hands-on in the business.

During the 2016-17 season they want to concentrate on animal health and pasture management. They believe animal health will improve naturally as their new herd comes into its own.

“We didn’t buy top cows when we converted,” says Andy. “At the time it was the right decision not to invest too heavily, but now we are having to cull. We will get natural improvement through better replacements coming through.”

In terms of pasture management, it’s matter of on putting the finances in the right place, he says.: “We can’t cut costs with nitrogen and irrigation application, but we can improve our grazing management to gain on our production per hectare.

We will improve pasture quality by applying less nitrogen more frequently, and keeping round lengths short at crucial times of the year.

“It’s about trying not to compromise production by cutting costs. Because we are self-contained we have the ability to bring calving cows onto the platform as we need to so that we can dry off at lower pasture covers.

“So, the focus in the spring period will be about being on the ball and making sure high-energy grass is used.

“We believe you set your season’s production in a three to four-week window starting from October 1.”

The Hayes are not big fans of feeding supplements.

“I think too many years of high milk payouts has led farmers to throw money at additional feed,” says Andy. “But the returns aren’t there at the

The 54-bail rotary with automatic cup removers and in-shed feeding has a potential to milk 1200 cows. moment, so we need to return to a grass-based production system. The low payout might result in a new breed of dairy farmer, who really focuses on the financials and gets back to the basics of farming.”

The couple have three children – Charlie, 5, Ayla, 3 and Hugo, 1. Liz is the primary child carer, so cannot be involved in the farm as much as she’d like at the moment. But with the oldest off to school, she sees her role increasing in terms of human resources, employment and health and safety.

“I love the business side of it and seeing how small adjustments can make big changes,” she says.

“We’re business partners, so we still make every big decision together about the farm and we’re always open to diversification and opportunities.”

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RURAL PEOPLE » Dale & Sus Palmer & Rod Clibborn

Business Rural

Clibborn Farm clan: Dale and Sus Palmer with children Sam (5), Ali (3) and Jack (6), and Sus’s father Rod Clibborn.

Mixed crop farm thrives with Neil Grant Farm conversions aren’t always from sheep to dairy. At Lyndhurst, near Methven, Dale and Sus Palmer, along with Sus’s father, Rod Clibborn, have nearly finished converting their border-dyked, mixed cropping farm to centre-pivot irrigation.

The farm was a 135-hectare ‘rehab’ block that Rod’s father came onto after returning from World War 2. Neighbouring blocks have been added as they came up for sale. Rod introduced cropping to what was a straight sheep farm when he took over.

When Dale and Sus came on, they bought Rod and Jenny’s 52ha dryland property over the road and am adjacent 58ha block, and developed it by putting a pivot on and a pond in. They quickly saw the advantages of centre-pivot irrigation.

“With border dykes, the best we could get was an average of 15 tonnes (per hectare) of kale,” Dale says. “Spray gets us to 19 tonnes because we can get the water on early to get the crop established.

“The cost of converting was an undertaking, but it will well and truly pay for the investment. It has been great to be able to compare the pivot block and the home block with border dykes. This has given us confidence to invest in the development

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Business Rural

RURAL PEOPLE » Dale & Sus Palmer & Rod Clibborn

The pond and pivot on the pivot block at Clibborn Farm, near Methven.

centre-pivot conversion of the home block with yields and efficiencies that come with flat paddocks. “The width of machinery was restricted by border dykes and we had to rerun the borders up each year with the grader blade. It could take twice as long to work a paddock as a flat one. So there will be a decrease in farm working expenses.”

To some extent, the conversion was forced on them. The local irrigation scheme converted to pressurised pipe, and environmental issues were taken into consideration.

The 248ha home block had 198ha under border-dykes. The new pivots will spray 218ha, and a further 12ha will be dryland, but can still be part of the crop rotation instead of being tied up in ditchbanks and tracks. An average rainfall year still gives respectful yields.

In total, 340ha of the 355ha will be effective production land. This has been at the cost of trees, a hallmark of Mid Canterbury farmland, but the intention is to put tree-lines down the middle of the property and on the boundaries.

The farm’s main source of income is cereals and small seeds. To balance things, they run up to 6000 store lambs and winter 1500 cows from Methven dairy farms. They used to run ewes but Dale says they are now not so profitable, and are a lot of work when they are also spring cropping.

“Up to 100ha of grass is grown for seed production. This includes PG150, Nui and various

turf-grass varieties. We also grow brome grass which is exported to the United States for cattle grazing. We grow malt barley for seed, including a line for Carlsberg – it is interesting to meet overseas plant breeders coming to look at crops.

“When we grow the barley, we cannot grow cereals there for two years, but can put in linseed, radish or peas. If we grow seed wheat or barley – something with a premium – then cleaning combines and associated machinery is most important, and is extra work compared with growing feed wheat or barley.”

Fitting the stock around the variable cropping rotations determines, for instance, whether they will have 4000 or 6000 lambs in any one season.

“We have so much versatility. We can grow a large number of crops, and lambs do well. Dairy grazing supplements that. With three different operations, we sometimes wonder if we are doing anything well, but it seems to fall into place and each complements the others well.”

Sus Palmer does the administration and financial side – the record keeping, accounts, wages, and keeping in touch with the bank.

“We run the farm as one company, although there are the different land-owners. Dad and Dale decide the rotations etc. Farming has always been Dad’s passion, and he is still involved in management, but he’s happy to leave the major decisions to Dale and me.”

Transferring grain from a drying silo to another silo.

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|9

10 |

RURAL PEOPLEÂť Mt Arrowsmith Station

Business Rural

Big shift from Big Ben continues Neil Grant Winning the Canterbury Merino Association two-tooth flock ewe competition two years in succession was a remarkable achievement. What is more remarkable is that the flock moved from Big Ben Station to Mt Arrowsmith Station between the two competitions.

The 2014 competition was won by Big Ben Station up the Rakaia Gorge. The Big Ben homestead is at 400 metres; the 3500-hectare property runs 9000 stock units.

Owners Philip and Wendy Wareing sold the station in 2015. Brian and Mary May and their four sons, Daniel, Josh, Malachi and Sam had been managing the station for 12 years.

There was a lot of change in this time. The first big change was increasing the wool weights from four kilograms to 5.5kg, and dropping the micron from 21 to 18.5. This was achieved by buying in Irishman Creek (Moutere blood lines) and Balmoral Station (Lake Tekapo) bloodlines, allowing them to rebuild and start a new flock. Having spent nine years at Irishmans Creek, Brian May believed these were the right sheep to buy for Big Ben, “The new bloodlines had the great constitution, style, and wool weights that we were looking for,� he says.

In his following years at Big Ben, he also introduced polled merinos, bred by Maryburn Station owner Martin Murray. “They are dual purpose, producing good lamb carcases as well as wool,� Brian says. “They have a better survival rate at lambing, are heavier when born, and are earlier maturing.�

When Big Ben was sold, the new owners didn’t want to keep farming the merino sheep. “Conditions of the sale gave us the opportunity

The new bloodlines had the great constitution, style, and wool weights that we were looking for.

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Mt Arrowsmith Station farm manager Brian May.

• To page 12

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Business Rural

RURAL PEOPLE » Mt Arrowsmith Station

| 11

winning way for Arrowsmith flock

Mt Arrowsmith’s award-winning two tooth ewes.

Mary May looks after the tourist side of the business at Mt Arrowsmith, including a comfortably appointed lodge, sleeping up to 12, with startling views across Lake Heron.

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RURAL PEOPLE» Mt Arrowsmith Station

Business Rural

Moving farms `a massive opportunity’ • From page 10 to shift 3500 of the sheep to Mt Arrowsmith Station, also owned by the Wareings. This was a massive opportunity for me, having spent all the years I have getting the sheep to the targets I set, and now giving me the new challenge of shifting the sheep to Mt Arrowsmith and keeping on improving the flock.”

The 2016 competition was won by Mt Arrowsmith Station, up the Ashburton Gorge.

“This was the flock’s second successive win.

When we won again, I felt very humble, and that all goes back to two very good mentors, Bob Peden, former manager of Irishman Creek, and Andrew Simpson, owner of Balmoral Station. They gave me a lot of confidence and help. I have a lot of respect for them, and the knowledge they have passed down to me is irreplaceable.”

Mt Arrowsmith homestead is at 750m. The property has 9500ha running 12000 stock units, including 2000 merino wethers, 500 breeding red hinds, and 300 breeding angus cows.

The Arrowsmith wool clip is contracted through PGGW to the Japanese market, Konaka Co, which make suits for the mass market.

Mt Arrowsmith, which has been farmed by the Wareings since 1997, is one of the truly historic, high country stations. It not only continues a traditional way of farming life many New Zealanders identify closely with, but its owners and managers, and full-time staff members, Courtenay Petrie and Graham Jones, encourage others to experience and enjoy the environment they live and work in.

Mary May looks after the tourist side of the business, including a comfortably appointed lodge, sleeping up to 12, with startling views across Lake Heron to the snow-capped mountain range “People come and stay to enjoy the scenery, relax, go fishing, kayaking, and go for walks,” she says.

“We have people from all parts of the world, including honeymoon couples from America and Australia. My job is to make them feel welcome and experience our beautiful high country in the best possible way.”

Mt Arrowsmith Station with Lake Heron in the background.

PO Box 28, Methven Phone 03 302 8616 . Fax 03 302 9657 Email philipwareingltd@xtra.co.nz

Business Rural

IRRIGATION » Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation

| 13

Stage two of the Barrhill Chertsey irrigation project saw the construction of a new intake and fish screen, and a pipeline to channel the remaining irrigation water to Mid Canterbury by gravity.

Community benefits claimed Karen Phelps The positive economic impact of the Barrhill Chertsey irrigation scheme will reach further than the shareholder farmers who are part of the scheme, says scheme general manager John Wright.

“The result of allowing farmers to produce

more on their farms will be significant increases in economic activity, as a flow-on effect will be farmers spending more in the local community,” he says.

The scheme is a joint venture between Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Ltd, a co-operative company with nearly 150 farmer-shareholders from within the Mid Canterbury district, and Electricity Ashburton Ltd, a local co-operative lines company.

Other parties involved include Rangitata Diversion Race Management Ltd and Trustpower Ltd. Stage one of the project involved building infrastructure to use up to eight cubic metres per second of water from the Rakaia River at Highbank.

Trustpower installed intake, fish-screening and pumping facilities to provide water to the Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR) by using some of the

facilities at the Highbank power station.

Water-swap arrangements managed by RDR Management allowed the water to be channelled to a pipe network across the upper plains.

The water is siphoned from the RDR to buffer ponds in the Highbank, Methven, Ashburton Forks, Buccleuch, Springburn, and Mayfield areas. The initial distribution network included five main pipelines with a total of 70 kilometres

• To page 14

The result of allowing farmers to produce more on their farms will be significant increases in economic activity, as a flow-on effect will be farmers spending more in the local community.

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14 |

IRRIGATION » Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation

Business Rural

Stage two of water scheme focuses on arable • From page 13

Stage two of the Barrhill Chertsey irrigation scheme delivers 1.4 cubic metres of water per second to 30 shareholders between Barrhill and Dromore.

Irrigation infrastructure services Concept development and strategy through to resource consenting, design and construction.

Steven Woods Tel 03 343 8799, Steven.J.Woods@mwhglobal.com

of pipe, subsequently growing to 110km. Stage one used the first of the consented BCI water take on arable, dairy and intensive pastoral farms.

Stage two of the BCI project, which was completed last November, saw the construction of a new intake and fish screen, and a pipeline to deliver the remaining irrigation water to Mid Canterbury by gravity. Stage two supplies around 1.4 cubic metres per second to 30 shareholders in the area between Barrhill and Dromore.

John Wright says demand drove stage two: “We have always had shareholders of BCI Ltd in the area, but we’ve never had the infrastructure in place to deliver to the shareholders.”

He says the project has received good support from land-owners in the district, including those who were not part of the scheme but whose land needed to be accessed to construct infrastructure.

“Their support was vital, but Mid Canterbury understands the value of water. We have tried to make sure the scheme has surplus capacity in the pipelines in case those land-owners need to take water in future.”

He says the scheme has not only provided an option for farmer-shareholders to gain access to water, but for farmers not in the scheme to enjoy better availability of other water supplies now that some pressure has been taken off underground aquifers. This will give more reliability and resilience to these local businesses, he says.

The driving force behind the scheme has been to avoid drilling more wells and taking more water from underground aquifers, which were coming under increasing pressure.”

The land-use consent the scheme received in 2013 was one of the first granted to an irrigation scheme. This means BCI Scheme, rather than local council, can implement and manage the nutrient

Because it’s a fully piped scheme, you don’t see a lot physically. Even the locals are probably not completely aware of the amount of infrastructure. load and on-farm environmental performance for the scheme shareholders.

It’s a new space for irrigation schemes to be entering, he says.

“We have built a team to support shareholders so that they meet the requirements of environmental regulations. The council, which the BCI scheme reports to, then manages the overall compliance.

We have focused on building processes and being proactive around environmental practices.”

He notes that the majority of shareholders in the scheme are not dairy farmers. In fact, the focus of the scheme, in particular stage two, has been on arable and vegetable farming.

Shareholders have been very pleased with the positive effect the scheme has had on their farms and their businesses, he says.

“Because it’s a fully piped scheme, you don’t see a lot physically. Even the locals are probably not completely aware of the amount of infrastructure that has gone into the scheme.

“But there are very good soils in the area, so we don’t anticipate a lot of change in farming systems.

It just means that now there is a reliable water source, farmers are able to look at other arable and vegetable opportunities.”

Andrew Bird Tel 03 474 3295, Andrew.Bird@mwhglobal.com

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Business Rural

IRRIGATION » Haka Valley Irrigation

| 15

and vegetable farming Benefits flow from reliable water Karen Phelps Hakataramea Valley farmers who are part of the Haka Valley Irrigation Ltd scheme have begun to see the benefits of a reliable water source this year.

But the results of irrigation are expected to get even better as the scheme moves beyond its first year, with time, says Haka Valley Irrigation Ltd chairman Andy Hayes.

It was more than a decade ago that farmers in the valley came together to look at how to irrigate the area. Various ideas were tossed around until about three years ago, the scheme pushed ahead when consent was received to take water from the Waitaki River.

The scheme now has consent to take 1000 litres

per second – or enough to irrigate 1900 hectares – with the final stage of the scheme becoming operative by April last year.

Bosch Irrigation built the scheme, which involves 20 kilometres of pipe and 24 pumps in two separate sheds supplied by 2000 kiloWatts of power pumping to a lift of 145-150 metres.

Andy Hayes says the scheme, which includes three wet shareholders and two dry shareholders, has proved very economical.

Water is pumped during the night when rates are cheaper, filling up a 20,000-cubic-metre storage pond. The pumps are shut off during the day, as around 80 per cent of the water is gravity-fed from

• To page 16

The Haka Valley Irrigation scheme includes 20 kilometres of pipe and is consented to take 1000 litres per second, enough to irrigate 1900 hectares.

John Wright, general manager of the Barrhill Chertsey irrigation scheme.

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16 |

IRRIGATION » Haka Valley Irrigation

Business Rural

Environmental impacts of Haka scheme ‘closely monitored’ • From page 15 the ponds. Installation costs for stage one were around $4000 per hectare. Stage two was largely funded by one wet shareholder located further up the valley. Annual operating costs are around $700 per hectare.

It is the reliability of the access to the water that has been the main benefit of the scheme, says Andy, who is one of the wet shareholders. He had a system pumping water out of the river with the capacity to pump 50 litres per second distributed by a k-line system, but says he was trying to irrigate too much land with too little water.

In the 2014-15 season, when he and his wife, Liz, had just put a dairy shed on the land, it was terrible: “The land had been sown with new grass.

We couldn’t irrigate it all, so we grazed some cows away.”

Last season, the ability to irrigate all of the dairy platform made a vastly apparent difference. When the weather dried out, they were able to milk and graze 150 dairy cows from a neighbouring farm, graze 200 heifers for another neighbour, and sell 200 tonnes of silage made on the property.

Andy says Haka Valley Irrigation aims to be proactive in terms of potential environmental impacts. Nutrient discharge allowance is monitored each year with all flows and on-farm environmental plans audited. Water testing is done monthly

SURVEYING |

PLANNING

Water for the Haka Valley irrigation scheme is pumped at night to this 20,000 cubic metre storage pond. both on farm and in the local river. Andy says shareholders are being proactive in terms of onfarm management such as fencing and waterways.

Haka Valley Irrigation built a scheme with

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potential for growth, and Andy says there has been interest from other dryland farmers in the area.

“At the moment it’s a very economic pumping system. If we were to sell the extra capacity, the

scheme would have to pump around the clock and become more expensive to operate. So, as a scheme, we’re consolidating right now before deciding where we want to go with it.”

Southern Land has its roots firmly set in the Waitaki Valley. Managing Director Vergne Wilson began the business nearly a decade ago, initially as a sole practitioner working on the many vineyard developments around Kurow.

The drone is yet another tool for the survey team and supplements the state of the art software, GPS and robotic total stations the company already owns.

The practice has grown substantially over ten years and is another success story from the Waitaki. Now employing ten staff, Southern Land has offices in Queenstown, Wanaka and Auckland and is involved in a huge variety of projects from rural subdivisions and easements through large scale residential subdivision and topographical surveys, and extensive rural tenure review surveys.

Southern Land has worked hard to earn a reputation for timely delivery and quality results. A commitment to investing heavily in the latest technology means that the company operates state of the art hardware and software, and the acquisition of a quad copter drone earlier this year means that Southern Land can now offer the latest in medium scale mapping solutions. One of the first jobs for the drone was at the new Manukau Golf Course adjacent to New Zealand’s busiest aerodrome at Ardmore. The flight was a testament to the versatility of the equipment enabling 60ha to be contoured in less than half a day under difficult weather and air traffic conditions.

Although technology is an important part of the job, the core business of Southern Land is land development.

With over twenty five years of experience Vergne sees his role as adding value to a project. “The cost of utilising the skills and experience of a Registered Professional Surveyor is often dwarfed by the return on investment including minimising costly mistakes and issues with non compliance” says Vergne.

Working with Vergne in the multi-disciplinary team are two resource management planners, three licensed surveyors and an in-house engineer.

The team is small enough to offer a personal service, but flexible enough to tackle larger projects.

At Southern Land enquiries are welcome. An initial conversation costs nothing but potential problems can often be identified and avoided.

Southern Land is proud to have worked with the Haka Valley Irrigation team and look forward to continuing to be of service into the future.

Business Rural

SHOWTIME » South Otago A&P

| 17

Show reflects Kiwi culture Russell Fredric

Because we’ve got our 150th, they’ve chosen us to come to this year.

Ayrshires are mentioned in the very early shows. The ayrshire milking breed is a very old dairy breed that was around years ago.

The South Otago A & P Society will mark a major milestone when it celebrates its 150th anniversary in November.

Committee member Katy Button says the show continues to be an event with wide appeal for all ages, and reflects Kiwi culture – such as livestock competitions, equestrian events, show queens, and trade displays remain a big drawcard.

For this year’s sesquicentennial show, the society is hosting the South Island ayrshire championships.

“Because we’ve got our 150th, they’ve chosen us to come to this year,” says Katy Button.

“Ayrshires are mentioned in the very early shows. The ayrshire milking breed is a very old dairy breed that was around years ago.”

A special feature of the show each year is the showing of alpaca and dairy goats alongside the traditional equestrian, sheep and cattle sections.

All section champions compete for the title of Ravensdown supreme animal of the show.

Research for a book being written about the South Otago A & P Society’s history has revealed a twist about the timing of the sesquicentennial.

Ploughing matches were part of early social and agricultural events, and discussions on creating an A & P society were held before 1867. But nothing formal was decided until the middle of that year.

At the dinner following that first Clutha ploughing match, it was decided to form an A & P society. Those gathered planned the first show for December 31, 1867, but they forgot there were Caledonian games and horse races on at the same time. The show date was moved to January 3.

Having two annual shows in the one year threw out the chronology. While the 2016 show will be 150th, this will not be 150th year of years; it is the 149th year.”

Researcher Neil Clayton, of Dunedin, who has been commissioned to write the book which will be.

• To page 18

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18 |

SHOWTIME » South Otago A & P Show

Business Rural

The pet lamb bottle feeding race (left) and alpaca judging (right) in full swing at the 2015 South Otago A & P Show. Photos: Richard Schofield.

Modern-day show has its roots in early ploughing matches • From page 17 published in time for the sesquicentennial. He has spent about 18 months delving into the history of the formation of the society.

Like many other agricultural and pastoral associations, the South Otago A & P Society was spawned out of a desire among Scottish immigrants, who had to re-learn farming in a different country, to make it more economic and “less subsistence”, he says.

“A lot of South Otago folk, of course, came from Scotland and they brought with them this self-improvement tradition and they struggled for the first 10 years or so, and then they finally had

enough leisure time and enough surplus income to be able to start thinking about things like ‘How do we improve our stock, how do we improve our produce?’”

The context of the origins of the South Otago A & P Society was a Balclutha, then a town of a few hundred people, without a bridge, without railway transport, but a significant base for ferrying people, livestock and freight by ship through Port Molyneux.

The first 10 years of the association were somewhat fragile. The area’s low population was widely spread, and people were often involved

in other committees, which resulted in a lot a responsibility falling on hard-working secretaries of A & P societies.

Almost 150 years on , there have been many changes, but some aspects of the South Otago A & P Show have changed little – innovators and manufacturers still want to show the latest technology, and farmers are still keen to see them.

Trades-folk in Balclutha also were offering some of their own implements as prizes in the show just to get them out in front of the public.

The show, like others, showcased changes in

machinery as horsepower gave way to steam in the form of traction engines, followed by internalcombustion-engine tractors.

A modern-day feature of the show that adds both culture and colour is the various dance events and live music which are always popular with show-goers.

• See www.showdayonline.com for the show schedule, and the society’s Facebook page for information.

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Children with their show calves (date unknown) Photo: South Otago Historical Society and Museum.

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Business Rural

PHOTOS: Above left: The crowd in the grandstand for the grand parade at the South Otago A & P Show 50th anniversary show in 1916. Above right: Show officials (from left): J Begg, G.H. Gilroy, W. Dallas and T.McDonald. Below: The 1916 show livestock champions. Photos: South Otago Historical Society and Museum. Right: Southland Shaft & Wheel members provide free horse-carriage rides.

SHOWTIME Âť South Otago A & P Show

| 19

20 |

SHOWTIME/RURAL GROWERS » South Otago A & P Show/Meadows

Labels, punnets

All the fun of the fair at show

Kim Newth

The chair-o-plane ride is a perennial favourite at the South Otago A & P Show.

WAIWERA ALPACAS Proven Genetics

Business Rural

SOUTH OTAGO GRAIN Co Ltd Manufacturers of high quality VITAL Stockfoods Any rations made to order Bagged or Bulk

Not sure how to use mushrooms? You’re not alone, but Meadows’ new mushroom punnet and label designs can help remove the guesswork.

Last year, Meadows launched new biodegradable mushroom punnets made from recycled card. Now the company has gone a step further, with a design makeover designed to make mushrooms more accessible to consumers. From the end of May, punnets have carried “occasion cues”, “inspirational titles”, recipes, tips and nutritional pointers.

“We did a large consumer research survey and found that many people were scared to purchase mushrooms as they were unsure how to use them,” says Meadows marketing manager Melanie Rushton.

“The new packaging designs are much more consumer friendly, so when people walk into the supermarket and they don’t know what to make, these will provide a bit of inspiration and encouragement.”

New Zealand still lags behind Australia when it comes to mushroom consumption, she observes.

Across the Tasman, the average consumer gets through 3.3 kilograms of mushrooms a year compared to 2.2kg in this country.

“They eat a lot more mushrooms in the United Kingdom and continental Europe as well, so we’re also trying to educate the New Zealand consumer.

We think this is a good opportunity to do so.”

Meadows core range is comprised of white and brown button mushrooms, two types of portabello and sliced white button mushrooms.

The new look will see packs of white and brown button mushrooms labelled for ‘pasta’ and ‘sauté’ while big portabellos will be labelled ‘large’ and suitable for ‘burger’ and ‘barbecue’. Smaller

portabellos will bear the words, ‘stuffing’ and ‘breakfast’, while packaging for white, sliced button mushrooms will feature the words, ‘pizza’ and ‘sauce’.

“We’re also including tips for people who are more confident at cooking mushrooms so, for example, the large portabellos will also include tips that they go well with a balsamic vinegar and herb marinade and are great for kebabs, or with baked eggs. So there will be a few more things people can try.”

Meadows is New Zealand’s largest supplier of the humble mushroom, acknowledged as a lowenergy density, low-fat, cholesterol-free, gluten-free and nutrient-dense ‘super food’.

Short of a brunch idea? Try out this recipe – more options at: www.meadowmushrooms.co.nz/ recipes Best-ever bacon, mushroom and tomato brunch croissants Ingredients • 4 x fresh croissants • 2T olive oil or butter • 1 x 250g pack of Meadows White/Brown Button Mushrooms • 8 x cherry tomatoes • 1 x packet of your favourite bacon Method With only five ingredients these are a simple, tasty treat for a brunch!

1: Pre-heat oven to around 150 degrees. Prepare the croissants by cutting in half across the middle.

2: Heat oil in the pan and add the sliced mushrooms, stirring constantly. Continue to cook until the moisture from the mushrooms is absorbed and they just start to brown (5-10 minutes) 3: Meanwhile, pre-heat the grill. Cook bacon till

• To page 21

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Business Rural

RURAL GROWERS » Meadows

| 21

help make mushrooms easy

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New labelling on punnets is designed to make mushrooms more accessible to consumers.

Short of a brunch idea?

• From page 20 crisp and tomatoes starting to colour.

4: Add croissants to the oven and heat for 2-3 minutes.

5. With a fork, mash a cherry tomato into the bottom half of the croissant. Top with two rashers of bacon, then mushrooms.

5. Serve with a side or sliced avocado or a dash of tomato relish.

Hints and tips: • In a rush? Using Meadows sliced mushrooms can help save you time • We recommend a free-range farmed bacon

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22 |

RURAL GROWERS » Eurogrow

Business Rural

Potato disease ‘manageable’ in Canterbury Karen Phelps They’ve been a problem in the North Island for years but it is only recently that tomato-potato psyllids have made their presence felt in the South Island. But the tiny insects needn’t wreck havoc with the industry, says Eurogrow quality assurance manager Iain Kirkwood “The evidence we have had so far is that it is manageable – it’s just a matter of how,” he says.

“The North Island has developed ways to manage the disease and I’m sure we can do the same in Canterbury.”

Tomato-potato psyllids have increased in numbers in the South Island in both the process industry and some seed crops. The bacterium is transmitted via the psyllids to potatoes. The disease is thought to have originated in Mexico before spreading to the United States.

The bacterium appeared in New Zealand in the North Island around a decade ago. It is problematic in that it causes zebra chip disease, which affects the end-product by forming a striping across the tuber that is unattractive to the potato-chip industry, for example.

While the prevalence of the insect in the North Island had led to the belief the creatures thrived only in humid, warm conditions, the increased numbers in the South Island is proving problematic for Canterbury farmers who are struggling to keep the insect out of their crops.

Iain Kirkwood says that because complete eradication is impossible, the best way to manage the problem is to monitor psyllid populations in crops through a variety of methods, including insect trapping and crop scouting. He says that Plant & Food Research is also developing a model based on average daily temperatures to predict when psyllid levels are likely to increase.

“The aim is to try to limit seed-potato production to periods when the psyllid populations are low,” he says. “Typically this involves restricting production of crops to before the first or second week of January.”

The industry is still learning about how to manage the problem in the South Island, he says.

“For example, while the temperature monitoring method has worked well in the North Island, it hasn’t worked so well in the South Island. Scientists don’t really know why, but it’s probably something to do with the different climatic conditions. The most effective and accurate method in the South Island so far has been crop scouting – physically going and counting the number of psyllids and predator numbers in the crop.”

Another problem growers are having is controlling crop desiccation. If any regrowth occurs after the crop is sprayed it can provide opportunity for reinfection of the bacterium. He says that to try to eradicate the problem, farmers sometimes

The North Island has developed ways to manage the disease and I’m sure we can do the same in Canterbury. have to spray more than double the times they would have in the past, which is not only timeconsuming but also expensive for growers. It is also problematic identifying the symptoms of the bacterium in crops as it can present in a number of different ways, some of which are hard to detect.

“We are learning a lot in terms of what the bacterium does to seed-crops and the symptoms it causes. One hundred per cent positive identification can be achieved only with an expensive DNA test, but this is too costly to be undertaken on a large scale.”

As a supplier of seed potatoes, Eurogrow contracts most of its seed production in Canterbury, says Iain. Although the company recognises the disease is present at low levels in several seed crops in the South Island, it receives few reports from customers who believe they are seeing the disease as a result of seed borne infections.

“Now that it’s here, it is difficult to eliminate the disease, so the best approach is to learn how to manage it. At the moment this seems to be to plant during the low psyllid periods, as once psyllid numbers start to take off, chemicals are not sufficient to get rid of them from the crop.”

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the industry.

Eurogrow is also investing heavily in importing new genetics, which are showing qualities that Iain Kirwkood believes will eventually change the landscape for potato producers in New Zealand.

To succeed in the New Zealand market, new genetics must bring significant advantages over varieties currently used, he says. Eurogrow puts new varieties through extensive testing and trialling each year.

And varieties to watch out for? Here are Iain’s tips: Nectar, an Irish variety, is showing improved taste and yield; Jelly, a German variety, is similar to Agria but produces bigger tuber numbers; and two varieties from the United States, Lamoka and Waneta, two crisping varieties. Both are high yielding round tubers with shallow eyes and the right colour. Lamoka’s other big advantage is that it has cold-temperature sweetening resistance, which means potatoes can be stored longer without forming lots of sugars that can affect their appearance in foods.

Iain believes market opportunities will arise as the new varieties are developed in New Zealand.

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Business Rural

ON FARM » Matt & Keryn Luke

| 23

Couple enjoy best of both worlds Russell Fredric Otago dairy farmers Matt and Keryn Luke say they have the best of both worlds as lower-order sharemilkers and equity partners in two separate farms on the Taieri Plains.

The couple, who have three children (aged five, three and one) launched into lower-order sharemilking when they took up a position on a 110hectare farm owned by Keryn’s parents, Ian and Denise Bryant, for the 2007-08 season.

A herd of 350 holstein friesians is milked through a 46-bail rotary shed while the equity partnership comprises a “baby”-sized 65ha farm which supports 155 cows and typically produces 65,000-70,000 kilograms of milksolids a season.

Peak milking through its equally small-scale 28bail rotary shed, built in 1980, is done and dusted in about an hour and a half.

Matt recalls how the fair winds blew after they first launched in to the industry: “We bought and sold young stock early on that we made a good profit on. There was a huge shortage of heifers coming through, so prices went sky high. We’ve always sold heifers to China, so we’ve made good money there.”

With the benefit of a buoyant dairy economy over several years and two incomes, the Lukes did well, with Keryn also working full-time as a radiographer at Dunedin Hospital and providing a good source of off-farm income.

Despite their fast-track entry into dairying, there were a couple of flies in the ointment on the sharemilking farm.

At 130,000kg milksolids, production was not as high and the herd’s 20 per cent empty rate, a result

Keryn and Matt Luke – with their children, aged five, three and one – treasure the balance of work and family time. of having previously been winter milked, was not sustainable.

Changes to improve production included importing more feed, and the installation by the Bryants of automatic cup removers in the near-new milking shed to reduce the Lukes’ labour costs.

“With the bought-in feed, we were able to ramp up production reasonably quickly,” says Matt.“From that first season through to about the third or fourth season, we increased production to

North Aucklander sold on Culverden environment Kelly Deeks Dairy farm manager Naish Massey has something of a dream job on a farm converted two years ago in Culverden. The the investor-owners set the farm up with the best technology avail;able at the time.

The Oaks, which runs 880 jersey cows, is pretty far removed from where Naish Massey started his career in the dairy industry – on a 180-cow farm in Northland, which had no technology at all.

He has been working on George and Susie Gould’s Culverden farm since it was converted.

“The technology George put in includes the irrigation, which is pivoted with set sprinklers, and a 60-bail rotary shed that one person can operate, with automatic cup removers, Protrack, individual feeding, and three feed-heads.”

He has just completed his seventh season in the South Island since moving from Northland: “Culverden is a great community. ”Big enough that it has got all the tools and resources we need, but still small enough to be a really close community.”

The Goulds’ farm was set up on an $8 payout, but has been run on the basis of a low payout.

Naish says that although he started the job thinking the payout would be $7 or $8, he had to change things as he went along.

“One of the good things about the past two years is that we haven’t been allowed to form any bad habits spending wise, and we’ve got a pretty good system that we’ve been careful to build.”

His aim is to produce 500 kilograms of milksolids per cow.

“In 2014-15 we did 480kg per cow from 700kg of bought-in supplement; in 2015-16 we did 460kg milksolids per cow from only 500kg of bought-in supplement. Last season was more profitable in this climate, but if the payout had a six in front of it, we would look at changing our system a bit.”

The dairy farm is supported by an 800ha farm at Waipara, which runs sheep and beef as well as providing dairy support.

Naish says that in Canterbury, bought-in feed is a must-have, otherwise cows won’t peak and milksolids will drop.

“Dilution is the solution. We’re going to farm through the low payout and we’re in a good position here as my boss isn’t in debt up to his eyeballs. ”We’re also pretty lucky as, as a new conversion, we haven’t had maintenance issues.

Everything is pretty much brand new.”

Naish says the Goulds are incredibly supportive farm-owners: “We have a great team of staff who have been on the farm since it was converted and are staying on for next season. George and Susie Gould hope to give them opportunities to progress.”

about 160,000kg (millksolids). Last year we did 170,000kg.”

Empty rates have reduced from 20% to an average of 12%. while the calving period has tightened from 13 weeks to 10 or 11 weeks.

Managing pasture involves a farm tour three or four times a week and measuring with a plate meter, when appropriate, to provide accurate dry matter per hectare figures.

The Lukes are in the third season of their equity partnership; the business arrangement with the Bryants means they can channel any profits from their share-milking position to increase their equity in the partnership with the goal of eventually taking full ownership of the farm.

A lower-order sharemilking position was created when they entered the partnership as, despite the farm’s small size, running two farms was not workable for Matt.

The partnership also installed automatic cup removers in its 28-bail rotary shed to reduce labour costs.

The Lukes have been the benefactors of good planning and good timing and continue to work towards their goal of farm ownership, but Matt emphasises the over-riding ethos that drives them.

“We are a business, but we really value keeping a balance of work and family time. “It’s just one of our values. We always try and make it sustainable rather than work, work, work and burnout.”

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24 |

ON FARM » Simon Rooney

Business Rural

‘A great learning opportunity’ Karen Phelps Working for Purata (formerly known as Synlait) allows access to good resources, but with the freedom to make decisions on individual farms, says Simon Rooney, new manager of Riverlands.

The 640-hectare, which backs onto the Rakaia River Te Pirita, is divided between 519ha of milking area and 92ha of dryland. The herd of 1650 crossbred cows is milked through two dairy sheds – a 54-bail rotary with meal feeding system, and a 44-bail herringbone.

Riverlands is in its seventh year of production and this season, Simon is focusing on “small but important” improvements.

He considers the biggest gains will be made through improvements to water and grass.

Water intake is from the Rakaia River and, when restrictions hit in summer, he needs to prioritise where to put the water on the farm.

Around 520ha of the farm is under irrigation via five centre pivots and five Roto-rainers. Long term, Simon would like to see the Roto-rainers replaced with centre pivots to irrigate the dryland section of the farm Large areas of the farm have been devoted to growing kale in the last three years as part of a re-grassing strategy. While this has reduced per hectare production, it will assist performance, he says.

This season 12ha of fodder beet and 20ha of kale will be grown. Fodder beet will be break fed and Simon is expecting a crop of around 20 tonnes per hectare. He has been making use of the Purata

Group’s agronomist to grow the notoriously tricky crop. He will do 60ha of re-grassing and the same the following season, permanent to permanent pasture.

As Riverlands sits on the northern terraces of the Rakaia River at Te Pirita, the farm is spread over five terraces, which rise gently in height. In terms of logistics, this means cows cannot be moved easily,

so herds tend to be kept on certain terraces.

One priority has been to get cows in calf by feeding them well, mainly on grass with grain as required. Two kilograms of peas per cow per day has been fed over summer from November to the end of March.

The lowest-production-worth cows are put to wagyu bulls and these cows are sent to another PHOTOS Top: The bottom of the five terraces on which Riverlands is spread on the north bank of the Rakaia River.

Left: Cows on kale. Large areas of Riverlands have been devoted to growing kale over the last three years as part of a re-grassing strategy.

This reduces per hectare production, but assists performance, says Simon Rooney.

Purata farm. Keeping all of the group’s lower producing cows on one farm allows for better culling and management, says Simon.

“Riverlands uses no interventions – cows either get into calf or they don’t. We get them in the best condition we can, and then it’s up to them. Protrack allows us to feed the cows appropriately.”

Born and bred in Ashburton, Simon completed a commerce degree at university while relief milking part-time to finance his studies. Deciding he preferred cows to business, he embarked on a dairy career. It has largely been with Synlait – second-in-charge to a manager on a 1000-cow unit at Dunsandel for four years before moving to Riverlands seeking a bigger challenge.

Synlait Farms, which is owned by Chinabased Shanghai Pengxin, was renamed Purata in February this year. It operates 14 farms on nearly 4000ha in central Canterbury. This season, 85 staff and around 13,000 cows are producing a total of 5.7 million kilograms of milksolids. The farms are within 20 kilometres of the group’s processing factory at Dunsandel.

In the 2013-14 season, 1575 cows produced 420kg milk solids each on Riverlands; this season Simon is targeting a similar figure with 1650 cows.

He has relished the opportunity to further his career. Purata is “very open about what is going on” and he can tap into a wide range of talent.

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Business Rural

ON FARM » Edwin Mabonga

| 25

Irrigation proves its worth Russell Fredric Southland is not generally known as a region of high need for irrigation, but for Otautau dairy farmer Edwin Mabonga, it has made all the difference during the past season.

Edwin, his wife Fungai and their two children emigrated to New Zealand from Zimbabwe 13 years ago; a third child, who is now nine, was born in New Zealand.

The Mabongas are sharemilking for an equity partnership in which they are partners on a 270-hectare milking platform bordering the Aparima River in Western Southland.

The farm comprises 200ha owned by the partnership and 70ha leased, plus an 85h runoff for raising young stock. A 48ha lease block has recently been acquired to provide additional support.

The farm’s herd of 800 kiwicross cows is wintered about 100 kilometres away in Northern Southland.

Although grass is supplemented with crushed barley and palm kernel, the home farm is largely self-sufficient.

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Otautau dairy farmer Edwin Mabonga is now growing`three or four times more grass per hectare’ in his irrigated paddocks.

Four full-time staff, including a herd manager, are employed.

Although farming in New Zealand is a reversal of Zimbabwe where there are four months of rainy season and eight months of drought, inland Southland is not exempt from dry periods.

“We always dry out in summer,” Edwin Mabonga says. Consequently the decision to invest in irrigating 67ha is paying off – he is now able to grow grass for Africa, so to speak, and there has been a corresponding increase in production.

“Last (2015-16) season we grew three or four times more grass per hectare (in the irrigated paddocks).’’

He was expecting a 4 per cent production increase to 321,389 kilograms of milksolids for the season just ended – a farm record.

Because of the cows wintering off the farm and good grass growth rates in non-irrigated paddocks in favourable conditions, a high stocking rate of 3.1 cows per hectare can be supported.

The winter-grazing strategy remains a viable option despite the present dairying economy.

“If you winter on farm, you are taking paddocks out, so you lose that production from those paddocks. It’s just trying to get the right balance.”

Last year’s plummet in the farm-gate payout has not resulted in any significant changes in the way the farm operates.

We’ve got everything running on a lean budget and there wasn’t much we could do to cut anything out. There’s a lot of talk about resilience these days, but when you’ve been farming in a drought all your life, you get used to running lean.

From day one we’ve really been monitoring what we put in and when. We’ve got weather stations and soil probes and effluent monitoring, so we’ve been really proactive. Some of that we’ve been doing for the past five years.

“We’ve got everything running on a lean budget and there wasn’t much we could do to cut anything out. There’s a lot of talk about resilience these days, but when you’ve been farming in a drought all your life, you get used to running lean.”

With a river bordering the farm, Edwin and the farm’s equity partners are strongly aware of the need for good management practices.

“It has put extra pressure on managing nutrient run-off and stocking rates around those areas; fencing them off and riparian planting. Every year we have done 200 metres (riparian planting) and 300 metres of shelter belts, and we’ve done river

protection, planting willows along the riverbank.”

“From day one we’ve really been monitoring what we put in and when. We’ve got weather stations and soil probes and effluent monitoring, so we’ve been really proactive. Some of that we’ve been doing for the past five years.”

With the satisfaction of a good season behind him, Edwin is continuing to look to genetics and the farm’s breeding programme to achieve further gains in per cow production.

From a base of 380kg milksolids per cow six years ago, he believes 450kg is now a realistically achievable goal.

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26 |

ON FARM » Sawdon Station

Business Rural

Lupin cultivars a key crop Lake Tekapo’s lupins go back to the late 1940s when Connie Scott, of Godley Peaks Station, scattered seed along the roadside near Sawdon Station. Photo: George Empson.

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Neil Grant Come to the Mackenzie Country from November to January and you will be among hundreds of tourists making a special pilgrimage to see the region’s russell lupins. In paddocks, alongside roads, in river beds, in carparks, people stand, sit, lie, roll and get photographed among the brightly coloured plants like moggies in a garden of catnip.

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Two thousand years before Christ, Egyptians cultivated lupins for food. Lupin seeds have been found in pyramids.

Early Greek civilisations grew them for food, cosmetics and medicine. Later lupin variants passed through Rome and the Middle East to Europe as human and animal feed. In the 7th century BC, pre-Inca civilisations used an American strain, as did later Aztec and Mayan peoples.

In the 18th century Europeans began experimenting with the plant as an agricultural product, especially for its ability to improve soil fertility and organic matter for stabilising light, acidic, sandy soils.

In New Zealand, white lupins stabilised sand dunes in Northland, and enriched the soil sufficiently to allow the vast pine forests to become established. Beaches throughout the country have lupin keeping their dunes in place.

Lake Tekapo’s russell lupins hark back to the late 1940s when Godley Peaks Station’s Connie Scott resolved to brighten up the rather monochrome area after extensive road works and scattered seed along the roadside near Sawdon Station.

The vast areas now enlivening the verges are testament to how well the plant naturalised into the landscape Connie’s son, David Scott, a DSIR scientist at Lincoln, established lupins at the Ag Research’s Mt John research site in 2011. Then, along with New Zealand Merino, the Ministry of Primary Industry’s Primary Growth Partnership and local farmers, trials began of lupin varieties as a forage crop.

Established hieracium (hawkweed)-infested areas

Growing lupin is like slow cooking. It works; it just takes time. Of the stable of plants we use, Lupin is key.

We have a plant breeding programme to improve lupin as a forage crop.

were of interest, and animal stocking rates, along with fertiliser application rates, were examined Parts of the Mackenzie, as well as having light, poor soils are also high in aluminium. Lupins perform well compared with other legumes in highaluminium soils.

Among the results, it was found that lupins flourish more rapidly than the others under cold spring conditions, that growth was similar to or better than clovers, that less fertiliser was needed for lupin, but at these lower fertiliser levels, stock growth was comparable. Lucerne, which has been successful in many areas, needs plenty of lime to do as well as lupin, and is less tolerant of cold and soil aluminium.

Gavin (Snow) Loxton is the Sawdon Station runholder where Connie’s seeds had flourished so

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Sawdon Station was the winner of the fine wool section in the 2013 New Zealand Ewe Hogget competition. Photo: George Empson.

Business Rural

ON FARM » Sawdon Station/Fonterra

| 27

at Sawdon well. From 2003, he planted trial sites of various lupin types. Although some researchers pulled out, Lincoln carried on, with compelling results, Loxton says.

“There was no eureka moment, we progressed slowly. Lupin is not palatable to animals at first – it tastes bitter because of the alkaloids, like coffee does to us at first.

“To get rid of the alkaloids sheep need to pee, so need access to water. Lupins become more palatable in autumn after seeding.”

Like all legumes, lupin is nitrogen-fixing.

Hieracium does not like nitrogen, so lupin gradually replaces it and allows the soil to build up organic matter.

If proof is needed as to lupin’s worth, Sawdon was the winner of the fine-wool section of the 2013 New Zealand Ewe Hogget competition “Growing lupin is like slow cooking,” says Snow Loxton. “It works; it just takes time. Of the stable of

plants we use, lupin is key.

“We have a plant breeding programme to improve lupin as a forage crop. What we are planting is a low alkaloid, perennial lupin hybrid, a cross between two species, a new cultivar that is different from the russell lupin on the side of the road, and more palatable for sheep.”

Such work is not cheap. Agmardt provides some funding to extend research done by Callaghan Innovation.

If modern technology enables farmers and researchers to come up with a hardy hybrid that is palatable to sheep and allows good animal growth rates, suppresses unwanted pest plants like hieracium, but doesn’t spread into sensitive environments, then stock, farmers, environmental groups and tourists may all be happy.

If those early civilisations had had today’s technology to apply to lupin development, who knows how history might have changed?

PHOTOS Above: ‘There was no eureka moment, we progressed slowly. Lupin is not palatable to animals at first – it tastes bitter because of the alkaloids, like coffee does to us at first.’

Runholder Snow Loxton (with microphone) expounds on Sawdon Station’s involvement with lupins.

Left: A selection of Some of Sawdon’s prize merino rams.

Photos: George Empson.

New plants open in South Island Fonterra has cut ribbons to celebrate successful opening seasons for its new mozzarella plant at Clandeboye, near Timaru, and three new plants at its southernmost site at Edendale.

The co-operative’smanaging director global operations, Robert Spurway,, says the projects have created 60 full-time jobs and provided work for tradespeople, consultants and contractors in South Canterbury and Southland during the builds.

Spurway says the development allow Fonterra to shift milk into more products with higher returns.

He says that at the opening, the mozzarella plant was referred to as “the jewel in the crown” because of its ability to add value to milk.

Fonterra director Leonie Guiney, who attended both events, says the expansions have contributed to Fonterra’s improved performance in the first quarter of the current financial year.

“Our new plants enabled our co-op to avoid incurring additional costs at the peak of the current season. We are achieving higher yields and quality, and the flexibility to vary our product mix is enabling us to earn margins above the prevailing market prices.”

Deputy prime minister Bill English with Fonterra’s managing director global operations, Rob Spurway, and Edendale project staff.

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28 |

ON FARM » Matt & Vanessa Greenwood

Business Rural

Hunting leads yo Karen Phelps

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His passion for hunting led Matt Greenwood to begin a career in farming. Now he and wife Vanessa have placed third in Share Farmer of the Year for Canterbury/North Otago.

“I was always keen on hunting and that led to contacts in farming. It was also a good way to get out of school, which I wasn’t very fond of, and into the outdoors,” says Matt.

He worked in shepherding on high country stations around Canterbury for 10 years. Meanwhile Vanessa, who grew up in Fairlie, made a career as a customer services officer for AMI Insurance in Timaru.

In 2009 they went travelling overseas for two years. When they returned to New Zealand, they decided to make the shift into dairy.

“The next step for me at the time was a stock-

manager position and I didn’t see that I could make much progress in the industry after that. It would also have meant that we would have had to move around the country to find a job,” Matt says of the reasoning behind their decision to move into dairy farming. “ We wanted to start a family, so we didn’t want to move around too much, and we also wanted opportunities for progression.”

In 2011 he took on a dairy-assistant position on an 800-cow, irrigated farm in the Fairlie Basin.

Just two months later, an opportunity arose to manage a dairy farm that was in its second year of conversion.

That was the Hillcrest property at nearby Sherwood Downs, and was owned by Kieran and Leonie Guiney. The Guineys own three other dairy farms and a run-off, and Leonie is on the Fonterra board of directors.

The Greenwoods are still on the 175-hectare

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Business Rural

ON FARM» Matt & Vanessa Greenwood

| 29

PHOTOS – Far left: Matt and Vanessa Greenwood. Left: The herd makes sure every bite counts in cold conditions in the Fairlie Basin. Above: The Greenwoods’ daughters, Pippa and Molly.

ung farmer to greener pastures effective/200ha total unit which peak-milks a herd of 580 kiwicross cows through a basic 40-a-side herringbone shed.

In their first season there, Matt was the manager; in the second season the Greenwoods were contract milkers; and by the third season, they were lower-order sharemilking.

Their biggest challenge is that the farm is not irrigated – which has been especially challenging in the drought conditions over the last two seasons.

The farm has a virtually all-grass system with a maximum of 300 kilograms of palm kernel or bought-in grass silage fed to each cow per year.

They adjust their herd to fit the conditions – by early culling, drying cows off when necessary, or going on to once-a-day milking.

Pasture management is vital, which is why they were particularly pleased to win the Ravensdown pasture performance award at the Dairy Industry Awards.

They do weekly farm walks with all the staff, recording grass covers by eye and entering the figures into MINDA Pasture on their cell phones.

This allows them to make informed decisions – important because winters on the property (which has an average altitude of 550 metres above sea level) can be extreme, and snow is the norm.

The cows are wintered off the property in June and July, but this year they hope to winter some cows on farm by growing fodder beet.

They have done body condition scoring four times a year for the last two years, and find it an important management tool. Cows with scores falling to low are drafted off until they reach the Dairy New Zealand standards.

This monitoring has resulted in empty rates dropping from an average of 11-15 per cent to 7.8% this season. The Greenwoods don’t use any interventions and do a 10-week mating.

The new season marks major change as the

neighbouring Greenburn farm, in which the Guineys have an equity partnership with some associates) has been taken over, essentially doubling the milking platform and cow numbers.

The Greenwoods have taken on contract milking positions on both units, which will be run separately. Matt says the change in contract will help them minimise the risks of their business: “We won’t be at risk of the payout. Also, we will have a fixed-price contract and not a per-milksolid contract, which will also safeguard us against drought, particularly important as this is a nonirrigated farm. It should also mean we can progress faster by making consistent profits.”

The change will also allow Matt to move to a less hands-on role of overseeing the business.

He recently broke his ankle in a hunting accident and says this has brought home the importance of creating a system that is not reliant on one person.

As first-time entrants to the Dairy Industry

Awards, the Greenwoods say it was a great opportunity to really scrutinise their business and it also prompted them to establish good operating systems.

With the scale of the farm is about to double, he says they will be able transfer these systems to the new farm, which will help in making the larger job easier.

The Greenwoods have two children – Molly, four and Pippa, two. They say dairy farming has allowed Vanessa to be involved in the business through calf rearing and running the office. She no longer needs to work off farm, which allows her to balance work and children.

The couple’s next goal is to buy land, and they are open to whether this is dairy or some other type of agricultural land.

Their main goal though is personal: “Our true goal is to enjoy life and spend time with our kids,” says Matt.

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30 |

ON FARM » Kintore Farm

Business Rural

An aerial drone that measures pastures is just one example of new technology being developed at Kintore Farm. Cattle strip graze on fodder beet. Drone photos by Nick Hoogeveen.

Innovation part of ‘growth mindset’ Kim Newth Kintore Farm is actively pursuing new technology as a way of fine-tuning and improving farm operations.

Since 2000, the original 110-hectare dairy farm has evolved into a 450ha (effective), 1500-cow, seasonal dairy operation based at Carew, in Mid Canterbury.

Investment in development has led to higher production with lower operational costs.

Environmental compliance has been another key priority, along with staff development and leadership coaching.

Kintore Farm’s general manager, Nick Hoogeveen, says the board is strongly focused on innovation in both the short and long term.

“Farmers in general are not very quick to take up technology. What we’re trying to do is get alongside some innovators to help them develop ideas that could assist farmers and result in potential economic benefits.

“We like to think we have a growth mind-set here. We’re always trying to improve what we’re doing, rather than being happy with the status quo.”

One example of new technology with potential, which is being developed, is an aerial drone that measures pasture.

“Most companies know what their inventories are every day. In farming, that pasture inventory is something that’s harder to grasp. If we were able to get an aerial snapshot of that inventory every

Sowing fodder beet at Newparks support block. Drone photo by Nick Hoogeveen. day, we could start using that to make some pretty powerful decisions.”

Electric motorbikes are also being trialled.

Day to day, Kintore Farm reviews all its decisions with the aim of remaining profitable and sustainable, even in challenging economic times.

“We’re trying to cut costs but aiming to do that sustainably,” says Nick..”It comes down to good governance and still doing the maintenance that needs to be done on farm tracks and so on. We are well set up and don’t have huge debt levels, so we’re not under huge pressure.”

In total, 75 cows were dropped from the herd last season, another 40 last season, and another 30 to go in the coming season.”

In terms of pasture harvested per cow per year, Kintore Farm is tracking reasonably close to the rates being recorded at the Lincoln University dairy farm. Production was around 793,000 kilograms of milksolids last season, compared with 827,000kg the previous season.

“However, we are trying to shift some production from May into June so that we can get the Fonterra mozzarella pay-out for June.”

Growing fodder beet on the dairy platform has proved very successful, with nine hectares planted in the 2014-15 season, 16ha last season and 18ha planned for next season.

“We’re using fodder beet as part of our regrassing programme on the dairy platform, planting out two paddocks. It has been a game changer.

Every consecutive year we have used fodder beet, the cows have taken to it easier and better.

“We are harvesting about 28 tonnes of fodder beet per hectare, which is double what we would get from grass. But the big thing is that we have shifted harvesting of the crop from a time when we have surplus pasture to the autumn shoulder.”

Kintore also aims to reach the top 5-10 per cent of farms for nitrogen leaching.

Fostering strong work relationships and valuing people is a core part of the approach, and a new manager has been employed for the coming season.

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Business Rural

ON FARM » Chris Rathgen

| 31

Insights from a two-farm operation Russell Fredric Running two separate dairy units at St Andrews in South Canterbury has provided some interesting insights and opportunities for livestock manager Chris Rathgen.

The farms are two of four family businesses run

by Chris’ father, Ross Rathgen, brother Nigel and sister Stephanie: Rathgen Farms Ltd comprises about 650 hectares of arable land and specialises in small seed production.

Glenriver Seeds Ltd is a seed dressing plant which processes Rathgen’s own seed, plus seed for outside clients and export.

The two dairy farms run by Chris are St Andrews Dairy Ltd, which supplies Fonterra, and Otaio Dairy Ltd, about five kilometres away, which supplies Oceania.

All the farms have extensive irrigation facilities.

Chris returned to the family farm about 18 months ago after working as a contract musterer and, along with managing their dairy herds and young livestock, is responsible for about 10 staff.

St Andrews is on 290ha and last season, its eighth, it produced about 480,000 kilograms of milksolids from its 1000 friesian/friesan crossbreed herd while Otaio produced 450,000kg milksolids, or 460kg per cow from a herd of 980.

Otaio’s rolling contour means it is more suited to running lighter jersey/jersey cross cows.

As well as focusing on individual cow production, Chris is looking to achieve genetic improvements in traits such as structural conformation and milk solids to live-weight.

A significant achievement for the farms during the past season has been to keep production close to the previous season’s figures despite reducing the herds by 12 to 15 per cent as a cost-saving measure in labour and supplementary feed.

“A lot of people now are zeroing in on the most cost-efficient production rather than income production,” says Chris..

“If you’ve got fewer cows, less inputs, and you are producing more, it has got to be better for the bank balance and the environment at the end of the day.”

The quest for cost-efficient production led to Chris altering the way the herds on the farms are managed.

“One of the first changes I made was to split the cows into large animals and small animals. I think that has probably been one of the biggest gains in milk production as well, allowing those small animals to milk to their potential because they’re not being bullied by bigger cows. It has made a huge difference.”

“Probably the biggest thing we’ve noticed with the smaller and crossbred animals is that while they eat less, per body weight they are actually producing more like 110 to 120% of their body

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Re-grassing has also been under the spotlight and has included adding more plantain, clover and chicory in the mix, with the programme targeting 10% per year; however, 30% of St Andrews pastures were re-grassed during the past season.

“It needed to be done and I think that’s been probably one of our biggest benefits in terms of production.”

“Growth rates on the young grass have been probably a quarter to a third more than the older grass. It pays off in the vats; when the cows graze in those paddocks, milk production comes up.”

With the results of changes implemented showing through, Chris is optimistic about the coming season.

“I am quite excited and looking forward to seeing what production we can do with the cows and get our farm systems running better.

“In terms of the payout, I suppose it’s just a matter of making sure we are doing the most we can to try and stay efficient and sustainable.”

An important part of the Rathgens’ operation is their staff.

Chris believes it is important to gain feedback from staff, to involve them in management decisions, and to support their ongoing development to “let them grow as well so that they become valuable assets in the dairy industry.”

“Without the support of the farm managers and staff, we wouldn’t be able to achieve our results.”

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32 |

ON FARM » Ashley & Shonelle Townsend/Richard Ray

Business Rural

Builder ‘jumps into’ new life Russell Fredric A former Auckland builder sorting out the wheat from the chaff while running a South Otago sheep and beef farm might sound a little confusing.

However, for Ashley and Shonelle Townsend, a change of lifestyle made good sense when they decided to cut and run from the super-city rat-race in 2011 to take over the family farm at Lovell’s Flat, near Balclutha. “(Farming) was always in the blood and I guess I was enjoying my building, but to be able to go farming was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Ashley Townsend says.

In hindsight, he concedes he could have done more due diligence in weighing up the implications of becoming a farmer, but “jumped into” something he always wanted to do.

The couple have three children aged from eight months to five years old.

“We were thinking about having a family and the thought of bringing kids up in Auckland wasn’t that appealing for us.”

The home farm supports 2500 stock units on 165-hectare (effective), with an adjacent 50ha lease-block used to finish store lambs and cattle and to provide a feed bank.

“We finish store lambs and it gives me extra space in the winter time to be able to spread things out a bit, and it gives me more room on the home farm to be able to fatten store lambs on a good year, or to make sure we get our own lambs up to a decent weight on a bad year.”

About 98 per cent of the stock units are coopworth/texel ewes; a maximum of 30 friesian bulls are fattened from stores, typically over 18 months.

One of the challenges of farming, compared

with building, is that most changes you implement happen slowly, particularly with genetics.

The farm’s flock was straight coopworth when the couple took over, but they have introduced texel genetics to “try to get a bit more yield out of them” as their processor, Alliance Group, pays a premium for carcasses meeting specific criteria.

For Ashley, figuratively sorting out the wheat from the chaff has at times involved determining the biases of those vying for their dollar, whether related to fertiliser, genetics or other aspects of the operation.

His decision to engage consultant Hamish Bielski, former sheep genetics manager at Mount Linton Station in Western Southland, two years ago is paying early dividends.

Hamish has helped him navigate through the myriad of options showcased by stud breeders to select rams with traits needed in his flock, as making the right or wrong choices could influence the farm’s profitability for years to come.

“For a small fee, in my opinion, I’m getting expert advice from someone who’s not a ram breeder.

“It has been a huge learning curve, but I think I’m starting to see results, such as a higher percentage of lambs this season, even after what seemed to be a pretty tough start to spring.”

“I’m pretty excited about what’s in store for this year from the wee taste we got from the rams we put out last year.”

Shonelle helps with budgets and finances as well as on the farm when needed.

The couple added a 50ha property at Maitland, near Gore, last September.

However, Ashley has not hung up his tool belt just yet. He continues to do small building jobs and renovations, which is handy for some quick cash-flow.

Ashley and Shonelle Townsend, with children Boston, Riley and Mason. The couple moved from Auckland in 2011 to take over the family farm at Lovell’s Flat near Balclutha.

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As the progeny of Holstein Friesian New Zealand board member Stephen Ray, son Richard is taking the family’s passion for breeding cows into the next generation.

Richard is building his own herd under the stud name, Array, on his parents’ farm at Clydevale, in South Otago.

Stephen and Judith Ray run the 456-cow Raymac holstein friesian herd, which has more than 95 per cent registered animals, on their 250-hectare farm.

The Rays’ philosophy is to breed good functional dairy cows with a high protein percentage, that are easily managed. The herd achieves consistent production around 500 kilograms of milksolids per cow with a 90% protein-to-fat ratio.

The main bloodlines in the herd are Telesis Euon Firenze daughters and sons, plus Fairmont Mint-Edition and O-Bee Manfred Justice. These

three bloodlines are mated to one of the others to maintain diversity in the herd.

Richard Ray, who is also a member of Holstein Friesian New Zealand, works as the farm’s manager and owns 75 of the herd. His interest in breeding started about five or six years ago at the age of 20.

While the farm is a commercial dairy platform, the stud is “our passion”, he says. “You have to have a profitable business, you have to make money, to be able to do that (stud) side of things.”

Traits Richard looks for are: capacity, including chest width and depth, which is scored as part of conformation; good udders; and above-average protein showing in breeding values.

“I use about 50% North American genetics and 50% New Zealand bulls.”

A high and wide rear udder with a strong central ligament, a well blended fore-udder and teat placement is also important. These traits contribute to a cow’s production and longevity in milking.

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a lot of production there’s more stress on the udder, so it needs to have strong ligament to hold it all in place so that the udder doesn’t fall apart.”

Cows with good udders are less likely to suffer from problems such as mastitis because of milking stress, while protein breeding value is important because it is the component of the milk that “we get paid the most for”.

Because Richard milks the herd every day, he has targeted traits that result in practical benefits and which he enjoys improving.

Cows are scored each year for T.O.P – traits other than production – to create a base score (in addition to annual herd testing).

Richard explains the logic behind using North American semen for artificial insemination.

“As a rule, they have better udders and the best conformation. Also, you get a lot more diversity in to the herd in terms of genetics and different blood-lines.”

Outside of what he can change through science and genetics, feeding the herd well is another

Business Rural

ON FARM » Brent & Juliet Nish

| 33

‘Timing, hard grunt’ behind farm buy Russell Fredric Good timing, good management and a strong focus on goals have enabled former Canterbury sharemilkers Brent and Juliet Nish to achieve ownership of their own farm at Owaka, in South Otago, just over a year ago.

Brent Nish tracks the journey they took to build up their herd and create equity over five years, after starting as 25-per cent sharemilkers at Te Pirita, near Christchurch, in 2010.

“Our first season we sharemilked 357 cows, the second season we went up to 800, the third season we went up to 1200 cows and sat there for two seasons, milking 1200 cows within the 1600-cow herd. But in the meantime we built up enough cows so that we could go sharemilking 1600 cows the following season.”

After achieving ownership of the 1600-cow herd the Nishs sold 1380 cows over three years to gain equity.

Because of the sell-down, they had to resign from their sharemilking position and sharemilked nearby with a herd of 1000 for a season as they continued to build equity to get their goal of farm ownership “across the line”.

A low cost of production at Te Pirita – $3.15 per kilograms of milksolid in a low input system – contributed to their ability to build equity.

“We went through a phase when we had to pay reasonably good money for animals, but when we exited, our first year when we sold, we sold 800 and we probably would have averaged $2200. That was some good timing. I think if we were trying to get in to farming this season, obviously selling cows at the moment isn’t that great.”

Following a two-year search, a 180-hectare (effective) Owaka dairy farm came up for sale and met the Nishs criteria, particularly as there was an opportunity to buy an adjacent 76ha run-off block.

“The big thing for this farm for us was that it has size and scope to grow and also that we were self-contained, so that we weren’t going to be faced with that wintering bill, and also we could self-

Size and scope to grow were the main factors in the Nish family buying their first farm at Owaka, a 180-hectare dairy platform with a 76ha run-off. contain our young stock.”

Infrastructure includes a modern 50-bail rotary shed built in 2009, with automatic cup removers and automatic teat-sprayers.

The lack of a good water supply has been rectified by the addition of a new bore.

The young kiwicross herd the Nishs brought to Owaka comprised 315 rising-two-year “first calvers” and 225 mixed-age cows. It also included were 215 rising one-years, which are now two year-olds.

Brent Nish says it was a struggle to support a stocking rate of three cows per hectare, but about

170 cows have been sold to reduce debt while introducing cashflow and helping the move towards an ideal stocking rate of 2.5 cows per hectare.

He says last season’s production was “challenging”, because of a wet spring and dry summer, necessitating periods of once-a-day milking.

Despite these challenges, the farm is expected to produce about 135,000kg milksolids for the season, “but we know the farm has the potential to reach 180,000kg, however it will take a few seasons to achieve.”

Re-grassing older pasture is an initial focus,

both as a means of increasing milk production and to maximise the supply of grass to avoid the cost of supplementary feed.

Juliet is a former aircraft engineer who also holds a degree in microbiology.

“She adds a big strength to the business with financial support; Juliet handles the financials and I do the grunt out the door.”

With a near three-year-old son in the family, Juliet says they hit the mark in finding a farm in an extremely supportive and helpful community, which was another important consideration for their choice of location.

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34 |

ON FARM » Paul & Sarah Smith/Wedderburn Cottages

Business Rural

Development drives gains Kelly Deeks With development finished on their North Otago dairy farm, Paul and Sarah Smith are now growing more than 20 per cent more grass. The second of their two centre-pivots was installed last year, replacing the farm’s border dyke irrigation.

The Smiths bought the 650 cow, 174-hectare (effective) farm at Papakaio, in the Lower Waitaki Valley, from Paul’s parents, David and Mary, in 2001 after sharemilking it for three years.

“By 1998 Dad had two farms and asked me to go contract milking here, but I said ‘It’s either sharemilking or nothing’,” Paul says.

“After three years, the next step was to buy the farm. We got two valuations and split them down the middle.”

Paul and Sarah ran the farm until 2008 when they employed lower-order sharemilkers and moved to their 300ha lease block, where in partnership with Paul’s parents, they run 300-400 killable and export cattle.

“It is all dry land so, if we get dry, I offload everything I’ve got, then start buying again in the spring,” Paul says. “I’m buying and selling beef cattle for most of the year. We get paid very well for them at the moment, so it balances out our bottom line quite nicely.”

Stepping back from the dairy farm has also given him more time to work on the nearby 150ha block he leases from his parents, where he rears young stock, winters the dairy cows and makes silage.

Four years ago the Smiths decided it was time to redevelop the dairy farm with a new centre-pivot irrigation system to replace the old border dykes.

They moved back to the farm to run the redevelopment which started with one new centrepivot, then saw the whole farm re-fenced and re-laned, about 90% of the trees and all the border dykes removed. The installation of the second centre-pivot was completed last season.

Paul and Sarah then had the farm as they wanted it, and with just a few trees to plant, they put it back in the management of three staff and moved away once more, this time to the run-off just around the road from the dairy farm.

“The first centre-pivot paid for itself in the first two years,” Paul says. “We’re using less water more efficiently, less fertiliser more efficiently, and we’re now growing 20%-plus more grass.”

The redevelopment was mainly paid for out of cashflow, so things are ticking over nicely.

Production is four per cent up on this time last season.

The Smiths are now focusing on improving animal fertility and general health, closely monitoring mineral levels after this season’s empty rate jumped from 7.5% last season to 14.5%.

“We were trying to save a dollar and it has come back to bite us,” Paul says.

“We didn’t do trace-element checks before calving or mating, so we didn’t know where we were, and the cows missed out on some vitamin B12 and selenium. When high performing cows aren’t getting everything they need, they crash and burn quickly.”

PHOTOS: Farm manager Mark Gibbons and Paul Smith (top). The latest centre pivot on the 174ha farm at Papakaio in the lower Waitaki.

Cottages prove an oasis Russell Fredric

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Weary cyclists on the 152-kilometre Otago Central Rail Trail, are undoubtedly relieved when they first sight Wedderburn Cottages and see a place to relax and recover for the night in a comfortable bed.

For motorists, the complex, on State Highway 85 between Ranfurly and Alexandra, is an ideal place to be based for exploring the Maniototo and its attractions, for enjoying shorter bike trips, or for hiking on the rail trail in the heart of Central Otago.

The cottages offer a range of accommodation options to suit all budgets, and a high standard of service, says family operating the business.

They are the Duncans – Lorraine and Stuart, Alison and Graeme. They’re a fourth-generation farming family who have been operating Wedderburn Cottages on Penvose Farms, a 2000-hectare station, since the rail trail opened in 2000.

From being a blip in the back of beyond amidst the dramatic Maniototo landscape, Wedderburn has emerged as a busy stop-over at the half-way point of the trail. Its rising profile also came on the back of artist Grahame Sydney’s painting of Wedderburn’s former railway goods shed.

“Wedderburn has become a destination as a result of that really,” says Stuart Dunecan. “Every time you see something about the rail trail on TV it’s usually a shot of the goods shed.”

While the numbers of cyclists on the trail were relatively sparse to begin with, the Duncan’s were increasingly fielding inquiries for accommodation on their sheep, beef and deer farm. As a result it became a logical move to expand in to hospitality, starting with a farm house, dubbed The Lodge, and two relocated cottages.

The business benefited from the National government’s push to create a network of cycle trails through New Zealand, which subsequently increased the profile of the Otago Central Rail Trail and led to an increase of up to 100 per cent in bed-nights.

Today, Wedderburn Cottages have an occupancy of about 5000 bed-nights annually, with accommodation available for up to 55 people a night in its complex of 14 en suite cottages, The Lodge, a former farm house, and four miners-style huts.

The location – about an-hour-and a half’s drive from Queenstown airport – brings a high percentage of rail-trailers from Australia, with peak months from February to April.

Business Rural

ON FARM » Nick & Gabrielle Love

| 35

‘Economies’ in expansion plan Kelly Deeks Instead of putting their expansion plans on hold because of tight times, Central Otago dairy farmers Nick and Gabrielle Love have employed two young farm managers straight out of university to step up and help them manage their current and new contract-milking jobs.

The Loves have just finished their third season on an 800-cow dairy farm at Patearoa on the south edge of the Maniototo basin, where they own half of the herd. They’ve taken on another 800-cow farm next door for next season.

“There will be economies of scale for us as we can use the same gear between the two farms and share staff if we need to,” Nick says.

“We can’t afford to put in high-end managers, but employing young managers will allow us to develop our business sustainably and get a bit of work/life balance so that we can enjoy spending time with our kids, Xavier, three, and Greta, six months.”

He says an 800-cow farm is quite busy, especially in Central Otago with irrigation requirements and the 50-a-side herringbone shed both very labour intensive.

He already has a good understanding of the neighbouring farm as the previous sharemilker was also new three years ago when the Loves arrived on their farm. The two families grew close and have spent a lot of time together over the past three seasons.

As on the Loves’ farm, the biggest challenge is water.

“When we hit peaked-out demand at the end of December and through January and February, it doesn’t matter how good your irrigation is because in Central Otago, the water can’t keep up,” he says.

Central Otago dairy farmers Nick and Gabrielle Love are finishing their third season on this 800-cow farm at Patearoa, where they own half the herd.

The couple have also signed up to run an 800 cow farm an a neighbouring property. by a frost in early January so we ended up cutting “Our climate is so extreme it’s a matter of harder and thinks twice about everything he spends. it for silage,” Nick says. “It’s still a worthwhile feed managing through that period as best you can. The “We cut back about 20 cows, and we’ve made crop. It’s an easy crop to grow, it doesn’t require a things we’ve implemented on this farm, in terms of sure we haven’t scrimped on animal health,” he lot of inputs and it was still profitable.” fodder-beet crops and pasture renewal, have also says.

On the 235ha milking platform, the Loves also been done next door.”

Another reason for cutting back cow numbers put in 11ha of fodder beet and 16ha of turnips.

In this low-milk-payout season, Central Otago was to trial 11 hectares of blue pea for the Asian Nick and Gabrielle have signed up on both farms is also battling a dry that has lasted for two seasons market. for the next two years. And, if running both places . Nick Love says that he doesn’t have a lot of fat “It was meant to be a cash crop, but again with works out, they are keen to stay on and continue to trim in the system, so instead he pushes that bit Central Otago’s extreme climate, it was buggered along their path to farm ownership.

for Rail Trail cyclists

Wedderburn Cottages is a haven for cyclists on the Otago Central Rail Trail.

The farm’s wool shed area has been converted into an events centre for businesses, which has created a further stream of business for the Duncans,.

As well as helping towards hosting events year round, the winter off-season brings another set of visitors including a mid-winter photography school and hunt clubs.

Tours of the farm are also offered, taking in the Maniototo views and the opportunity to learn about

the history and heritage of the farm, which has been operating since the 1880s.

“We are negotiating now with a big Australian company for farm tours,” says Stuart.

The Wedderburn Tavern, where you can a country meal and local pub atmosphere, 200 metres from the cottages.

Wedderburn Cottages’ website includes a webcam showing views of the complex, and several angles up and down the valley.

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36 |

ON FARM » Tony Coltman & Dana Carver/The Glen Charolais Stud

Business Rural

Environmental impact a numbers game Kelly Deeks Tony Coltman is busy monitoring and recording as he assists Dairy New Zealand as a monitor farm for the Forages for Reduced Nitrate Leaching programme, and as a case study for the Tactics for Tight Times campaign.

The leaching programme is now into its third year. For two years, Tony has been monitoring and recording on his 335-hectare, 1400-cow farm at Dunsandel where he is equity manager. Now, it’s on to the modelling phase of the programme.

“Now that we know what our system is doing, we’re looking at what our options are to maintain or increase our current level of financial and physical performance, and to reduce our environmental footprint,” he says.

Tony is happy to be part of the programme, saying it is helping step up his knowledge of his farm’s environmental impact, and bring him up to date with environmental issues, which he concedes has not been one of his strengths.

“Having some true numbers around what our environmental footprint is, is going to be instrumental in our business.”

The focus-farm phase of Tactics for Tight Times campaign, which has involved Tony in sharing his experiences of running a high-profit system to help other Kiwi farmers, is coming to an end.

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Tony Coltman (left) and Dana Carver (below) believe that even in tough times, ‘you still have to drive the top line as well as the bottom line’.

While Tony says he may have a bit more time to himself, he is keen to continue to raise his equity, to get through these tough times, and to strengthen his position so that he can take up opportunities.

He says he has harvested more grass, produced more milk, and run more stock than last season.

“We’ve also had carry-overs on the platform from September to the end of March, and we kept more calves on through to the beginning of May. “Last season (2014-15)we harvested 17.6 tonnes of dry matter to the hectare; this season (2015-16) we achieved 18.9 tonnes.”

The farm produced 698,000 kilograms of milksolids – just on 2084kg per hectare, or 502kg per cow. Supplement use sits between 750kg to 800kgs dry matter per cow. Costs came in at $3.60-3.65/kg, up from the previous season because the farm has joined the Central Plains Water scheme.

As the scheme was in its first year and Tony needed to test and upgrade the farm’s internal infrastructure, he kept his pumps and electricity connected. This fail-proofed his system so that he could use underground water if CPW water was not available. It also increased the running costs of the irrigation system, but he will be able to use solely CPW water this season. More of the operational costs were spent on grazing, because the farm carried more replacement stock.

“It’s about trying to drive the top line as well as the bottom line,” he says.

Tony Coltman’s work was recognised at this year’s Canterbury Dairy Industry Awards. He finished second in the Share Farmer of the Year, and won the leadership and farm environment awards.

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Proud to support Tony Coltman

Russell Fredric

Full-french charolais stud Russell Fredric It is both business as usual and a time of transition for New Zealand’s only full french charolais beef cattle stud.

Geraldine Hassall ran the North Canterburybased stud with her husband Bill until he lost his battle against cancer in August last year.

The Hassalls’135-hectare farm has been sold recently and the stud, which was based on the property, has been taken over by their son, Scott, who is a New Zealand Charolais Cattle Society judge.

The Glen Charolais is now operating from a 960ha sheep, beef and deer farm Scott manages in the nearby Waikari Valley.

The farm has been in the grip of a serious drought, and a drastic feed shortage has seen Scott grazing his cattle at The Glen. He has been looking for off-farm grazing for the farm’s ewes and hoggets.

“You’ve got to see it to believe it. It’s about as bad as it gets,” he says of the drought conditons.

While Scott is now the stud manager, Geraldine remains active in a recording and administration role.

She says Scott has built up a “very nice” herd of angus cattle with excellent genetics, introduced over many years through artificial insemination, which he runs alongside the charolais herd.

The Glen Charolais Stud’s buyers range from a wide area, but Scott sees potential to increase its client base.

“It’s pretty well known that the charolais over the angus is one of the best cross-breeds you will get in terms of hybrid vigour and growth.”

Geraldine Hassall recalls how the family’s passion for the large, cream-coloured, continental cattle started when Bill bought a newly weaned charolais bull calf from Kaiapoi for $75 in 1974 The bull was mated with their mixed herd which included crosses of friesians, herefords, angus and shorthorns.

“We got a wonderful line of creamy calves,” she says. “They did so well, so we used this bull for quite a long time.”

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Business Rural

ON FARM » David McAtamney & Paula Lalich

| 37

Couple to broaden their experience Kelly Deeks Canterbury dairy farmers Daniel McAtamney and Paula Lalich will be running their own business this season after only two years in the industry, with a move from assistant farm managers to contract milkers.

The couple have a contract-milking position on Paula’s family farm, also near Darfield, where they will milk 580 cows.

Two years ago, Daniel left sheep and beef farming while Paula finished studying nursing, and the couple jumped straight into the dairy industry, Daniel on a 1150-cow farm and Paula on a 650cow farm.

In their second year in the industry they jointly took up an assistant-manager role on a 1600-cow farm at Darfield, where they were unit managers for 198 hectares and 750 cows.

Both have been active in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards over the last two years. In 2015 Paula won the Canterbury/North Otago dairy trainee farming knowledge merit award, and Daniel was

We’ll be running our own budget in the contractmilking job, and we’ll have full access to the farm’s budget. We’ll be able to see all the costs involved and gain some experience there.

third in the dairy trainee of the year.

This year the couple made the top five for the Canterbury/North Otago dairy manager of the year, and won team-management merit award.

They say the competition has helped them focus on what they do on a day-to-day basis, and why they’re doing it.

“We’re analysing everything we’re doing on the farm and learning about the things we know we’re not quite there with,” Daniel says. “We’re also doing a lot of training.

“Both of us are doing AGITO level five, and Paula is also doing a Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce.

I did the Diploma in Farm Management at Lincoln a few years ago, so we’ve got separate skill sets, and between the two of us, we know more.”

While learning is key for the couple, so is the work environment they provide for their staff. They spend time making sure everyone gets along well together and can have a laugh while getting their work done.

They are also starting to think about the financial side since they’ve not yet been involved in a budget.

They will be in the coming season on Peter and Sue Lalich’s farm.

“We’ll be running our own budget in the contract-milking job and we’ll also have full access to the farm’s budget,” Paula says. “We’ll be able to see all of the costs involved and gain some experience there.”

Next time they enter the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards, they will be in the share-farmer category.

They are looking forward to running their own business, employing staff, and having full involvement with the accounts.

And they believe that being paid for their milksolids will be a driver to achieve the best possible production

passes to next generation

Daniel McAtamney and Paula Lalich will be running their own business this season.

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The Glen Charolais Stud runs a herd of 50 full french charolais, including 35 breeding cows.

Brookfield Umpire, and an in-calf cow with a heifer at foot, The Glen Charolais Stud was registered in 1985.

“We are the only stud in New Zealand that’s exclusively full french. Charolais came into New Zealand in 1968 and they were graded up using mainly angus,” says Geqsraldine.

“So they’ve had that angus infiltration whereas we’ve never done that. We sourced full french semen, mainly from Ireland.”

The stud runs a herd of 50 full french charolais – 35 breeding cows plus replacement stock.

Many studs use polled charolais, but the original charolais were never polled, she says.

The transition to Scott taking over the stud means that while a pure bloodline will be maintained, it will have to deliver on the bottom line.

“We really like the conformation and constitution

of full french, so that’s why we stuck with it,” says Geraldine.

“That was Bill’s and my passion. Scott’s going to look at it from a commercial point of view and, if he chooses to put a polled bull over the cows, then that’s his choice. But he will always have the base of these full french cows.”

Geraldine Hassall is a former president of the New Zealand Charolais Cattle Society. involvement in the society led to her and Bill travelling internationally to biennial world congresses and connecting with breeders in Ireland, Canada and France.

These connections opened up opportunities to diversify their stud’s bloodlines, particularly by using semen from bulls in Ireland.

The Hassalls’ daughter, Vicki, was formerly a nationally rated AI technician.

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38 |

RURAL SERVICES » Merv McCabe

Business Rural

PHOTOS: Oamaru’s Merv and Jill operate a contracting business, North Otago Ditching and Baling, with their son, Dave – as well as running a tractor-and-machinery business, and a 1320-cow dairy unit at Omarama.

Contractor with a lifetime in dairying Kelly Deeks Dairy farmer, agricultural contractor, and machinery salesman Merv McCabe may be wearing a number of hats, but if it’s to do with the dairy industry, he has probably experienced it.

Merv grew up on a small North Otago farm and cut his teeth in agricultural machinery working in his father’s contracting business.

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Twenty-six years ago he branched out with his own contracting business, and bought one of the first medium-square balers in the district.

“Square bales had been around for a while in Canterbury, but not down here,” he says. “North Otago farmers loved the ease of handling of square bales, and mostly they could shift feed around with the equipment they already had. They didn’t have to gear up like they would with pit silage, and they could still feed silage for better feed quality and no wastage.”

A year later, business had grown so much he bought a second square-baler.

The business continued to grow steadily and by 1998, Merv needed a workshop to service his equipment and his own mechanic.

The owner of Waitaki Tractors and Machinery contacted him and suggested that instead of wasting money on building a new workshop out in the bush, he should make an offer for the firm’s premises in Oamaru.

Merv made the invited offer, and North Otago Ag Centre was born. He now works with his wife, Jill, and son, Dave.

The business was originally an agency for Massey Ferguson, but Merv wasn’t exactly in love with the brand.

“The previous owner had done some research into Valtra tractors, so I did some more research and really liked what I saw,” he says. “They are great quality, well-built machines, and the different features they have really make them stand out from the rest.”

It took two years to sell the first Valtra tractor, as the brand was still virtually unknown. But a

• To page 39

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Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » Southland Concrete Construction

| 39

Commercial work plugs dairy void Kelly Deeks Demand for concrete agricultural products has slowed down with this season’s low milk payout, so Southland Concrete Construction is filling the gaps with more commercial projects.

The business was established about 16 years ago by Scott Gordon. A carpenter by trade, he has been building with concrete since he was in his 20s.

Sixteen years ago the dairy industry was taking off in Southland, and Southland Concrete Construction was doing mainly dairy conversions.

The company grew and has maintained its presence in the concrete-construction business, both for the rural sector and in town. Scott says a loyal client base of more than 500 uses its services repeatedly.

“We have staff who are very skilled in what they do,” he says. “It’s important for farmers to have the work delivered on time and at the right cost, and this is something we pride ourselves on.”

The commercial side of the business also grew.

Company projects include: pouring concrete for many driveways and concrete slabs for residential construction and the plant upgrade at Wreys Bush Concrete Products in 2010-11.

“As well as pouring the concrete foundations for the new concrete-production plant, the main batching bay consisted of three concrete-tilt panels, each weighing 20 tonnes, and 18 panels which joined together to form the main bin loading ramp,” Scott says. “The panels were all cast on site.”

Also in 2010, Southland Concrete Construction entered a joint venture with Winton Engineering to form Advanced Cow Barns.

Scott says this has allowed the two companies

Southland Concrete Construction specialises in feed pads, silage bunkers, troughs and lanes. to capture a larger slice of the growing market for dairy-farm wintering barns, and to deliver them faster.

While both Southland Concrete Construction and Winton Engineering have a long history of building dairy wintering sheds, jointly and individually, the joint venture provides clients with a turnkey package –, design and consent stage, all concrete work, cow mattresses, scrapers, bail and watertrough manufacture, and installation.

In 2014, Scott Gordon and Advanced Cow

Barns completed one of the world’s largest robotic dairy sheds – for Aad and Wilma Van Leeuwen,. at Makikihi in South Canterbury A Hynds Hypond – a site-assembled, precast effluent tank that provides a leach-free result – was also built by Southland Concrete Construction on the Van Leeuwen property to contain the effluent generated in the robot shed. Scott Gordon says the current low payout cycle is not as bad as in 2008, when the company went from 32 staff to six in six weeks.

“All our work got cancelled overnight,” he says.

While the more expensive work, such as building wintering barns, is affected by the milk payout, Southland Concrete Construction is still doing silage bunkers, feedpads, lanes, and other things that need to be done, he says.

The company has also increased its involvement in commercial work, which includes the recent upgrade and maintenance projects for Craigpine Timber’s Winton sawmill, Mobil Oil New Zealand, and Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

Square bailing in progress. This one of the agricultural contracting services offered by Merv and Dave McCabe. Merv has more than 40 years of contracting experience under his belt and helped introduce square baling to the North Otago region.

• From page 38 combination of hard work and passion for the brand saw him sell 25 the following year. Valtra has continued to be a success for the firm – in 2008, the company sold more Valtra tractors than any other dealer in New Zealand and Australia.

Merv says it was far easier to sell a tractor in those days: “There are a lot more brands available now and the industry is very cut-throat, particularly in the current economic climate. You don’t really sell a tractor at the moment, you’re virtually giving it away.”

This economic climate has everything dictated by the dollar, so price has become the most

important aspect. But the cheapest option is rarely the best, he says.

In North Otago, dairy farmers are not only battling a milk payout that keeps on dropping, but also a dry that has lasted for two seasons.

Merv’s fully irrigated dairy farm at Omarama, which he developed in partnership in 2011, handled the heat very well this year and has grown more grass than ever before in a dry season.

Cow numbers have been cut back from 1400 to 1320, with late calvers and problem cows culled.

“The next challenge is to increase the quality of our cows, rather than the quantity. I hope we can look forward to a more prosperous season both weather-wise and financially.”

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40 |

RURAL SERVICES » CCMP

Business Rural

Custom-fit rubber deck proves it worth Russell Fredric Late last year DeLaval presented Balcluthabased CCMP with a unique challenge – to custombuild a 60-unit rotary platform for Camelot Dairy Farm, near Ashburton, that would suit the farm’s large cows.

The decision was made to build a heavy-duty prefabricated-steel (rather than concrete) platform and to cover the deck surface with rubber from DeLaval’s cow-comfort products.

“We upgraded one of our original, steel-deck platforms using the DeLaval rubber product last August,” says CCMP owner Hamish Keith.

“The platform was more than 21 years old, but had done closer to 30 years’ work and had been very reliable.

“The client sand-blasted and painted the top of the deck and we installed the custom-fit rubber to the existing platform.

“As long as the platform is maintained properly, it could easily have another 30 years of serviceable life.”

Its operators reported an instant difference in cow behaviour – the rubber platform was quieter and the cows did not slip when standing on it.

“I was that impressed with it I knew we could build a platform around this rubber,” says Hamish.

“I checked with the operators and they said the platform is very quiet and the cows actually (defecate) less which is an indication that they’re happier.”

Trials elsewhere in cow barns have shown cows prefer to walk on rubber rather than concrete if given the choice.

The design of the Camelot rotary platform allowed for combining the durability of a steel rotary platform with a rubber deck specifically designed for cow comfort.

The rubber surface is 18 millimetres thick and is note secured in position by fasteners or glue. The rubber is cut in sections by a computer-controlled profile-cutter with the sections locking to each other, much like a jigsaw puzzle.

Most of the platform was prefabricated in Balclutha, which meant work could be started while the rubber was being shipped to New Zealand from DeLaval’s supplier in Canada.

“We had a tight time frame,” says Hamish Keith.

“The platform had to be built to fine tolerances so that, when the rubber came, it had to be a very good fit.”

“We’ve got a purpose-built workshop for building steel platforms. That means we can have

PHOTOS: Top: The custom-built, 60-unit rotary shed constructed by Balclutha-based CCMP uses a computer-cut, 18-millimetre rubber surface for the cows to stand on. Above: The heavy-duty prefabricated steel used in the rotary platform on its way to the shed site. up to five people welding on it at one time. The onsite time is less; prefabrication means that we can meet tight deadlines.”

He hopes the Camelot contract will lead to more rubber-surfaced platforms being built.

Despite many farmers putting capital expenditure

on hold, and Hamish Keith being cautious about his expectations of the company’s workload in the year or two ahead, there has been some interest in the innovation already.

“We’ve had more interest in that type of platform,” he says.

“We’ve got another one going up to Canterbury.

I didn’t think we’d be building another one so soon.”

For CCMP, the present dairy pinch follows on the back of some hectic times: “We built 13 (platforms) last year, but in a big year we’ve done 35. We must • To page 41

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Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » David O’Neill Contracting

| 41

Omarama based David O’Neill Contracting has recently updated his fleet to include a self-unloading fertiliser trailer and a nine-metre set of disc harrows from Australia.

Mobile service provides a quick fix Kelly Deeks Omarama’s David O’Neill Contracting has expanded its workshop operation with a mobile service and a third mechanic to provide a service for local farmers who have, until now, had to send repairs to Timaru or Oamaru.

David O’Neill says he is responding to the demand for plant and equipment repair and maintenance services in the local area this season.

“Seeing as we’re based so far away from major centres, we have been doing a lot of things for farmers like fixing tyres and air conditioning units, and welding jobs,” he says.

“I know what it’s like when you’re trying to get

a hydraulic hose fixed out here...you have to go for miles. So we’ve employed a third mechanic and set up a truck to complete all of these services on a mobile basis.”

David O’Neill has been driving a tractor since he was 10 years old. By the age of 16, while still at school, he owned two tractors and had started David O’Neill Contracting, based out of his parents’ farm in the Bay of Plenty.

As farms in the area started turning into lifestyle blocks, David’s parents sold their farm, and he stayed for a few more years in the workshop.

“I was 25 and I wanted to get bigger, but all the farms were getting smaller,” he says.

He found a contracting business for sale in Omarama and moved south in 1999.

He started with no staff, two tractors, and one

self-propelled chopper. As the new kid in town, his farming background on his parents’ sheep and beef and dairy farms, as well as his contracting experience, helped him to get clients. All he had to do was get used to the Omarama dry and the rocky ground.

He is now running 16 tractors, a chopper, a combine harvester, nine trucks, and a range of loaders. In the peak of the season, David O’Neill Contracting employs about 22 staff.

David has recently updated his fleet with a self-unloading fertiliser trailer built by McMaster Engineering at Winton.

He says the fertiliser side of the business is growing and the new, larger trailer was necessary to meet local demand.

The new trailer is separated into three

compartments, which allows it to carry a mix of three fertilisers, or loads of fertiliser to three clients.

Another new plant upgrade is a nine-metre set of disc harrows from Australia’s Kelly Engineering.

Designed.

David O’Neill says the discs have been and tested under some of the harshest ground conditions in Australia, and offer farmers a quick and cost-effective method of cultivation.

For the past two seasons, Omarama has been facing drought conditions, with the second dry year somewhat unexpected and unprepared for.

However, While the drought has affected the amount of grass on farms to make into silage, it has led to a increase in the trading of feed as farmers without irrigation and little feed on their own farms seek feed from irrigated farms.

Interest in rubber-surfaced deck • From page 40 have done 150 to 200 over the past 20 years. In the peak-crazy years, we’d install six platforms in a big month.”

Based in Balclutha with a branch at Momona, just south of Dunedin, CCMP began by manufacturing farm gates, tailing pens and loading races.

As dairying began to make an impact in the area it made sense to expand into designing and building rotary and herringbone milking sheds, something

the company has been engaged in for more than 35 years.

CCMP installed its first dairy shed in 1979 and has developed a track record as one of the most prolific builders of rotary dairy platforms in New Zealand, says Hamish Keith.

With the experience of building hundreds of rotary milking platforms, the company’s long relationship with DeLaval has resulted in contracts throughout the South Island, as well as in the United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa, Chile and Russia.

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42 |

RURAL SERVICES » Norwood Farm Machinery

Business Rural

Try before you buy with the Karen Phelps Norwood Farm Machinery’s Demo in the Dirt programme allows customers to try out New Holland equipment for a week before they decide to buy.

Norwood branch manager Tim Pow says this allows customers to use the equipment in their own time for different aspects of farm work and in different weather conditions. The programme comes on the back of the launch of the New Holland T7 heavy-duty tractors – which offers 313-horsepower engines, plus technology, to help keep fuel costs low.

Kubota has also released a new heavy-duty tractor. The M7-1 Series comes in three models with engines ranging from 131 to 171hp. Tim says the new line features, powerful performance, easy operation, technological advances and best-in-class base weight make the tractor a strong choice for row-crop, commercial livestock, and hay market customers.

Established in 1948, tractor and machinery distribution group C B Norwood Distributors

Photos: Norwood’s Demo in the Dirt promotion allows customers to try out New Holland equipment for a week before they decide to buy. represents a portfolio of brands through separate operating divisions and three national dealer networks, which include a national footprint of

company-owned, retail farm machinery centres.

Norwood now supplies one in every three tractors sold in New Zealand, says Tim Pow. The company employs more than 330 staff, while its independent dealer-partners employ a further 400. It also runs a servicing and parts division employing a technical support staff, and has the largest agricultural-parts warehouse in the country.

It has recently aligned its sales staff around specific brands with the aim of give customers better information and service. Sales staff manage the customer up to and post delivery of the product, and an after-sales manager will then assist with any questions about set-up, servicing etc.

Tim says these changes will help ensure farmers’ equipment is always in good condition and performing at optimum levels. It also ties in with changes to technology such as GPS.

“For example, new technology allows us to identify fault codes on a piece of equipment remotely. This technology also allows us to see when servicing is due.”

Norwood Farm Machinery also stocks Sulky, Vaderstad, Lemken, breviglieri, MX, Horsch, Vredo, Fella and Stocks Ag implements and attachments.

Plus local equipment, including Rata, McIntosh and Hansa.

Through Kubota New Zealand, Norwood can also supply and service construction equipment.

The company has a full-time construction service technician and offers on-site servicing, repairs and maintenance.

Next year Norwood is due to move into a brandnew yard in Yaldhurst, Christchurch. The yard, showroom and workshop will occupy a four-hectare site and will have more space for showcasing products

Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » Norwood Farm Marchinery

| 43

Demo in the Dirt option

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44 |

RURAL SERVICES » South Otago Grain

Local grain firm stands strong in its fifth decade Karen Phelps South Otago Grain has been instrumental in assisting farmers in the South Otago region to feed their stock for more than 45 years.

“We fill the gap,” says company manager Mike Maley.

The company was started in 1970 by a group of local farmers to meet their own needs for grain drying and storage facilities. The company later bought a stockfeed business, which allowed it to offer a second service. South Otago Grain is now owned by a group of local shareholders.

The company offers a coal-fired dryer capable of drying three to four tonnes of grain per hour. Also offered are storage facilities with capacity to hold around 3500 tonnes of grain. Silos are prepared before the grain is stored.

South Otago Grain also buys some of the grain to manufacture its own stock feed products, which means all of its products are freshly sourced locally, says Mike Maley.

The company manufactures a selection of products, including sheep nuts, dairy feed, calf

feed, hen mashes, pig feed and whole grains. All products have been designed by a nutritionist.

Individual mixes can also be produced as required to meet specific animal-health requirements.

The company can put customers in contact with a nutritionist if they have a specific animal-health issue them and need help in finding a formula to suit.

Feed requirements vary according to season and market, says Mike. For example, the dairy market is quieter at the moment because of the payout, but the longevity of the business can be attributed to the fact it works in a lot of markets.

It is the only grain-dryer, provider of grain storage, and stockfeed manufacturer in Balclutha.

And, according to Mike Maley, because the company has been in business for so long, it has a good name and a reputation for providing goodquality products.

Three full-time staff are employed, some of whom have been working for South Otago Grain for more than a decade. Mike himself has clocked up

• To page 45

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Business Rural

Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » North Canterbury Ag & Silage

| 45

Contractor knows tough times Kim Newth North Canterbury Ag and Silage Limited is a hard working rural contracting business that claims a strong reputation for reliability and service.

Owner Johnny Miller started out in partnership five years ago with Mike Earl Contracting before setting up on his own as North Canterbury Ag and Silage Limited.

Having worked on dairy farms before moving into rural contracting, he says he knows how important it is to meet clients’ expectations, when and where required.

He has combined his work on farms with contracting over many years.

“I was a dairy farmer for 13 years, so that really helps you to know how the client thinks. I have been there myself and know the quality of feed they want. I know what it’s like when times are tough as well.”

In the current environment of a low dairy payout combined with a dry autumn, Johnny and his manager, Chris Allan, say they are well aware of the pressures facing many farmers.

“Everyone’s just trying to survive at the moment,” says Johnny. “Nothing has been growing because it has been so dry, so we haven’t been doing as much drilling.

“Anything that has been planted has not grown as well as it should have. The farmers are not putting the extra feed in the sheds or silage pits.

There really is not as much grass around. We’ve had the two things come at once: the drought and the low dairy pay-out.

“So we’re keeping our prices down to where they have been for the past few years to reflect the way things are right now.”

North Canterbury Ag and Silage offers a full range of silage services – from grass and pit silage

North Canterbury Ag & Silage offers the full range of silage services. to whole-crop silage, along with drilling and full cultivation services.

“We also operate an earthmoving company – North Canterbury Rutbusters Ltd – with diggers and trucks that are available for jobs such as dairy lanes and other projects.

“On top of that, we supply a lot of straw, hay and balage,” says Johnny. He and Chris co-ordinate and work with a group of contractors.

“If the weather is right, the boys will do the work with no weekends off,” says Johnny. “They are experienced guys, and it makes a big difference.

They will do what has to be done.

“We are well stocked with vehicles and machinery. So, for example, if one of our silage harvesters breaks down, all we need to do is go back to the yard and get another one out.”

The firm operates out of a yard at Medbury, and

has a suite of contracting equipment that includes four silage harvesters, eight truck-and-trailer units, three tractors (with provision to hire another three at the height of the season), three types of drill, a range of cultivation gear, and various attachments for the harvesters for whole-crop and maize.

North Canterbury Ag and Silage works in the area from Culverden, Cheviot, Hawarden and Waikari through to Rangiora.

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South Otago Grain is a member of the New Zealand Feed Manufacturers; Association.

• From page 44 more than 30 years with the business – “I know my customers pretty well,” he says.

South Otago Grain is a member of the New Zealand Feed Manufacturers’ Association, which represents the interests of almost all stockfeed manufacturing companies in the country. The association works to establish industry standards for the production of compound feed that complies with food-safety requirements, and develops and administers industry codes of practice and internal audit documents.

The NZFMA also collects and circulates technical information and statistics to members, promotes research and development and industry training, which Mike says helps keep his business up-to-date.

South Otago Grain largely services clients within 60 to 70 kilometres of Balclutha. The company has its own small track and can deliver or provide bulk delivery into silos.

Mike Maleyu says he is is looking to expand but aims to continue to offer the personal, local service for which the business has been renowned since it started more than 45 years ago.

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46 |

RURAL SERVICES » Carran Scott Contracting

Business Rural

Farming family apply talents Karen Phelps The Scott family knows a thing or two about farming – and they believe this experience has been a major factor in the success of their Carran Scott Contracting Ltd business.

Barry and Val Scott and their sons, Aaron and Mark, are all farmers. The family was farming sheep and beef near Tuatapere before branching out into agricultural cultivation and silage in 1996. In 1998 they sold their farm and bought the contracting business.

In 2006 they bought 140 hectares about 10 kilometres out of Te Anau at Ladies’ Mile, built a concrete wintering pad there, and started dairy grazing. It proved so successful they bought another 135ha block, which they use for wintering and making silage. They winter 2800 cows over both blocks.

There is also a quarry here, which, combined with the contracting company’s crushing gear, provides a ready supply of aggregate for projects.

They say this helps them deliver on time and speeds up project completion.

This hands-on farming experience also gives them a good understanding of the needs of their contracting clients, says Barry Scott.

All of the family are actively involved in the business. Aaron manages the construction side, Mark is in charge of the transport division, Barry concentrates on the agricultural aspects, Val is in charge of the office with assistance from Aaron’s wife, Kym, and Mark’s wife, Shannell, helps wherever needed.

The business also employs non-family staff – described by Barry as multi-skilled, with a wide range of experience and knowledge. All company employees have completed the national certificate in general civil infrastructure through InfraTrain, and health and safety to bronze card level. They also have the appropriate driver’s licences, hazardoussubstances qualifications, traffic-management certificates, first-aid certificates and bridgeengineering self-supervision (BESS) certificates.

All of this is backed by extensive practical experience and many years of involvement working on road and urban contracts, says Barry.

The company has ACC workplace safety management practices certification to tertiary level and is a member of Civil Contractors New Zealand and the Road Transport Association.

Barry stresses that the company’s skills are not limited to the rural sector. It has also worked on some high-profile civil projects in the region: “We have worked with a wide range of clients, helping them to craft roads, develop sub-divisions and infrastructure, and much more. For example, we have just crushed and supplied the gravel and built the track for the first part of the cycle trail from Te Anau to Manapouri.

“We are proud to have a lot of loyal customers in many industries, and we aim to build up really good relationships and look after their needs for the long term.”

Roading, both urban and rural, is among the services offered by Carran Scott Contracting.

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Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » Te Pirita Enterprises

| 47

to contracting A Te Pirita Enterprises tractor at work with the leveller and roller combination.

Bigger is better with new disc cultivator Kelly Deeks Agricultural contractor Te Pirita Enterprises may not have a large client base, but it does have a number of clients with large businesses. Two years ago, this prompted the firm to bring in New Zealand’s first Bednar 10-metre disc cultivator – quite a step up from its 6.5m machine, and capable of handling a wider range of soil conditions and higher output.

Te Pirita Enterprises director Steve Roberts says he was looking for a better finish and a more versatile and flexible machine.

“Te Pirita is not renowned for having the best soil around by any stretch of the imagination,” he says. “We wanted to achieve more and do a better job. With a mixture of stony ground and heavier soil types, we needed a machine that could keep up with the really rough stuff as well as the good stuff.”

His research took him to the home of Bednar in Czech Republic to see the Swifterdisc XE 10000.

He decided it could deliver what he wanted, and he bought it from 4AG. He wasn’t sure what to expect when operating such a wide machine, but was pleasantly surprised byhow simple and manoeuvrable it is for its width.

“I was expecting to take some time adjusting to the extra width, and not to be able to take it as many places. But we found that because of the machine’s design, we could go most places we could with our old cultivator.”

He says the designers have done a brilliant job of getting a machine that is so wide when working Carran Scott Contracting supplies aggregate for road works and farm tracks, and has recently crushed and supplied the gravel and built the track for the first part of the new cycle trail from Te Anau to Manapouri.

down to very manageable and compact dimensions for road travel.

The Swifterdisc XE 10000 has two rows of 520mm scalloped discs, which are mounted in pairs off one central arm. This design gives a more even load on the disc hubs as well as providing a lot more trash clearance when working in heavy quantities of straw or crop stubble.

“The increased throughput of this machine allows us to keep ahead of schedule during the busiest periods of the season,” says Steve.

“When the pressure is on, work rates of eight to 10 hectares per hour mean we can blow a lot of ground out in one day.”

Te Pirita Enterprises has been around for more than 30 years, starting as a syndicate between dryland sheep farmers wanting to share machinery for their own agricultural work.

The business has now developed from a one-tractor operation to four tractors, with about 80 per cent of its work done for clients outside its shareholder owners.

Steve Roberts says the business is experiencing growth this season as fodder beet gains in popularity around Canterbury.

“With fodder beet, farmers can grow more feed on less area, providing they get it done right,” he says. “We are experts in cultivation and planting, we’ve got the right machines and the knowhow to do the job.”

The company is running two fodder beet planters, recently bought from Norwood Farm Machinery Centre.

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48 |

RURAL SERVICES » Andrew Trounce

Business Rural

PHOTOS: Left: The stall barn on the Trounce farm at Seadown is 110m long, has cushion mats, a full length feed lane and back scratchers. Above: Andrew Trounce delivers the message.

Advice ‘make or break’ Neil Grant In economically challenging times, farmers face difficult choices to ensure their and their farms’ survival. Deciding what can be reduced or disposed of, what must be maintained, how to maintain production, are all things for consideration. At times like this, getting the right advice can be make or break.

Andrew Trounce lives on the family dairy farm at Seadown, near Timaru. He has been there most of his life. His day starts early, feeding the cows in the recently-built stall barn, helping with the milking, then having breakfast. The rest of the day will be specific on-farm tasks, or consultancy work for Dairy Business Centre (NZ) Ltd, an Ashburtonbased company that provides consultancy services to farmers, On leaving school, he gained a B Comm (Agriculture) from Lincoln University, and started work as a ruminant nutrition consultant in 2010.

His interest in pedigree cows has seen him join the Holstein Friesian NZ Black and White Youth Committee, and compete successfully in competitions.

“As well as specialisation, we do full farm consultancy,” he says. “We work with farmers to build a plan meeting the requirements of the cow to get the milk out. If a cow is short of protein, there’s no point in throwing maize silage at it.

“Always, grass comes first. Grass is king and is lowest cost. Then we look at what we need to do for a specific farm by finding out what the farmer’s goals are.

“We do farm walks, then pasture tests with the company’s NIR (Near Infrared spectroscopy) machine to formulate diets. If the farm is not growing grass to potential, we work out a day-today management plan to get that right. Cows have to be fully fed or you lose efficiency. The choice of supplements changes according to the need. There is a combination of factors. It is complex.”

While some rural-services companies are experiencing a drop-off in business, he has noted farmers are ringing him a lot more with more questions: “Do I cull? Do I keep them? Do I put on extra nitrogen?

“When things were good, people would just do it. Now banks are wanting extra information. Cuts in animal health are going to come back and hurt.

We are seeing more empties, which is going to cost farmers more.”

Andrew’s father, Lindsay, who does the dayto-day management of the farm along with one full-timer and a relief milker, says their farm uses AI and some of their own bulls for their all-pedigree holstein friesian herd.

“We import some embryos from North America.

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“We haven’t had the right economic conditions for it to reach its full potential yet,” says Andrew.

“First, it didn’t really rain, then the payout fell. But it will be better in the long run.”

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Business Rural

FORESTRY » Southern Wood Council awards

| 49

Awards recognise industry’s top performers Karen Phelps More than 350 forest managers, forestry contractors, transport operator and product and service suppliers gathered in Dunedin in May for the Southern Wood Council 2015 Forestry Awards.

The awards seek to recognise the industry’s top performers from across the lower South Island, says council secretary Brent Apthorp.

“The event profiled the real contribution that forestry and those working within the industry are making to the economic and social well-being of the region,” he says.“It was an opportunity to celebrate the success of those from within the industry who have achieved formal training qualifications over the year and, through a series of new awards, to recognise the industry’s top performers from across the lower South Island.”

The Southern Wood Council, which was set up in 2001 to promote and co-ordinate sustainable economic development of the forest-products industry in Otago and Southland, represents all major forest-owners and most of the major woodprocessing companies in the area.

Brent Apthorp says the turn-out at this year’s event was probably a reflection of an increased focus on on-site training and safety in the region.

Some travelled many hours to attend and some brought other employees as well.

The strong support from the wider industry, supporting organisations and major equipment and product suppliers was an important milestone for the forestry industry in the lower South Island.

He sees the awards ceremony becoming a major fixture on the forestry calendar.

The event, organised in conjunction with industry training organisation Competenz, included a variety of presenters and speakers. Among them were rural broadcaster Jamie Mackay, the associate minister for primary industries Jo Goodhew, All Blacks physiotherapist and high-performance sports consultant Peter Gallagher, principal rural fire officer

PHOTOS – Above: Wayde Lindsay, forestry trainee of the year (harvesting), receives his professional tree-feller certification from associate primary industries minister Jo Goodhew. Below: A section of the large crowd that attended the 2016 Southern Wood Council forestry awards.

Otago Stephanie Rotorangi, and representatives from local forestry companies.

Around 120 national training certificates in forestry and wood processing were presented to contractors and employees, and nine major industry awards were made.

The big winner in the training-excellence awards was Shane Griffin Logging – Keanu Falconer, an employee, was rated modern apprentice of the year, and Wayde Lindsay forestry trainee of the

year (harvesting). The forestry trainee of the year (silviculture) was Darren Lundin, from McHoull Contracting.

In the skilled professionals section, Craig Gamble (Gamble Forest Harvesting) won the forestryexcellence award (establishment, silviculture, fire, harvesting). The wood processing excellence award went to Phillip Townshend (Niagara Sawmilling Company) and the forest products/logistics/ transport/port award to Blair Keelty (McNeill Drilling

Company Ltd logging division).

In the industry-excellence category, Greg Kendall and Paul Hart (Ernslaw One) won the forestry environmental management-excellence award, Johnson Forestry Services was training company/ contractor of the year, and Gillion Logging took out the forest products health and safety award.

Four new certificates were awarded for professional tree-feller certification, a new scheme implemented in the Otago/Southland region.

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50 |

FORESTRY » Laurie Forestry

Business Rural

It’s time to get planting Kim Newth Planting of new forestry has declined significantly over the past two decades, but registered forestry consultant Allan Laurie says that trend is set to change as new investment enters the industry.

There are real incentives to do so, with the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) offering generous afforestation grants designed to help establish 18,000 hectares of new forest area by 2020.

“It is quite a growth area for us,” says Allan, who is managing director of Australasian forestry company Laurie Forestry Ltd. “We have had a number of successful afforestation grant scheme applications, under which farmers can seek reimbursement for the cost of replanting at a fixed rate per hectare.”

According to the MPI, new forestry has declined from 55,000 hectares planted on average each year in the 1990s to just 3000 hectares in 2014.

“So we do need to get planting because we are going to suffer a decline in harvest as a result of that slow down,” says Allan Laurie.

“There is a lot of good land available for forest in New Zealand. Now is the right time to start investing again and choosing forestry as a good, high-return option.”

Laurie Forestry provides consultancy, management and marketing services to forestowners, farmers, local authorities, partnerships and investors. Before Allan and his wife, Gail, formed Laurie Forestry in 1990, he had a career in the New Zealand Forest Service. Today, their company manages several thousand hectares of privately owned forest in Canterbury, Otago, Marlborough and Westland.

• To page 51

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FORESTRY » Laurie Forestry

Business Rural

| 51

New Zealand timber sales to China, our biggest export market, have been dominated by logs used in that country’s construction sector.

Farmers look to diversify forest investments • From page 50 Currently, the company plants around 100 to 200 hectares of new forestry every year, and Allan says the majority of the company’s clients are choosing to replant after harvest.

“We went through a phase when people were looking at other land use options but we’re now seeing a higher commitment by forest-owners to replanting. Wood-fibre commodity prices have been improving and showing far higher levels of stability than other commodities, so people are looking back to forestry as an investment proposition.”

Consultancy and valuation are important components of the business, with Laurie Forestry employing a forester to meet clients’ requirements.

“Our ability to plan all forestry operations and execute them for growers is our key point of difference.”

Forestry has always been a very good investment, Allan says. He believes its value to investors will only increase given the shift towards greater price stability in the international market and increasing interest in New Zealand softwoods from countries such as India.

Alan Laurie, managing director of Laurie Forestry.

The biggest export market for our forestry products remains China and Laurie Forestry has strong and well-established marketing connections there.

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“I go to China regularly and negotiate directly with customers there. We are very fortunate to have a logistics company that assists us; that company is owned by the Chinese government, so everything is done to the letter.

“The way we work with Chinese companies is critical to our business and the relationship we have with them is exceptional.

“We can offer forest-owners a full suite of selling options. It is all about helping them to minimise risk. We are a fully transparent service company, so everything is on the table.”

Laurie Forestry’s marketing options for trees include a managed sales process, lump-sum purchase, and forward contracts.

New Zealand’s timber sales to China have been dominated by logs destined for use in the construction sector there.

However, Laurie Forestry is now re-focusing on furniture and mouldings companies in China as a way of avoiding the peaks and troughs associated with construction, and ensuring higher export values. The company also sees opportunities to supply lumber from New Zealand sawmills to China.

“We are looking to expand on that as a way of

adding value in New Zealand,” says Allan Laurie.

Pinus radiata always used to be the default tree of choice in New Zealand, but many farmers are now looking to diversify their forestry investment, he says.

“We’re getting increasing levels of interest in cypress, douglas fir and native planting. Cypress and douglas fir take longer to grow but they are much higher value. Some plantings of redwoods have occurred and other species are also being trialled and planted.”

Laurie Forestry employs a core staff of 10, along with specialist contractors. It has a health and safety manager, and Allan is a member of the Forest Industry Safety Council, representing small growers.

“Accident and fatality rates in the industry are falling dramatically. There is a very strong focus on health and safety within the industry.”

Meanwhile, harvest rates in Canterbury are holding steady, but the company is observing significant growth in harvesting on the West Coast and in Marlborough where planting carried out in the late 1980s and 1990s is now coming to maturity.

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52 |

FORESTRY » Stuart Drummond Transport

Business Rural

High-tech keeps things on track Karen Phelps A high-tech computer system offers Stuart Drummond Transport customers live reporting, giving them the ability to track their delivery.

“Details of all of our loads are sent direct from the computer at the office to a tablet in the truck,” says company manager Brodie Drummond.

“We have a TV screen in the office so that we can see where all the trucks are at all times.

Customers can log on through their own computer and see up to the minute where their order is.”

The company’s fleet of 28 trucks also receives, frequent updates to new models. Already this year two new DAF trucks and one new Freightliner – which offer the best logging specs on the market according to Brodie – have been added.

He says the company has the only self-loading Hiab in the Nelson/Marlborough area. It can cart loads of around 25 tonnes, and the crane can lift around 2.5 tonnes.

“This vehicle, which eliminates the need for a logging machine to complete this part of the job, is proving popular with rural clients who cut down trees on their property for firewood.”

Stuart Drummond Transport was formed in 1985 with one truck by Brodie’s father, Stuart, who had worked in the transport industry. The company has its head office in Richmond, Nelson and a base in Blenheim. Its business is log cartage from Christchurch to the Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast areas.

The firm’s clientele includes forestry companies such as Tasman Forest Management, YS International, Nelson Forests and Robinson Forest Management, plus farmers. Logs are carted from the forest to ports, mills, wherever the client requires. A six-wheel tip truck is available for hire, with or without a driver, and with a log loader.

The trucks are obviously the lifeblood of the business. In 2009 Stuart Drummond Transport bought a high-spec workshop in Richmond to service and maintain its vehicles. The threebay workshop has a pit and the latest tools and equipment. Being able to service its own equipment gives the company greater control, says Brodie Drummond.

“Because logging is a specialised industry, our trucks need specialised care. For example, logging trucks need to be serviced every 5000 kilometres.

We have three specialist mechanics on staff so that we can service our trucks on time and stay on top of maintenance.”

In 2008 the company started importing its own tyres, primarily for its own requirements. This

has grown into a separate business, Supertyre Warehouse, which now has outlets in Christchurch, Nelson, Blenheim and Auckland. The company supplies and fits tyres for road vehicles, plus loaders and tractors for the rural market.

Safety is a massive part of the logging industry,

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Right: One of two new DAF logging trucks.

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• To page 53

Business Rural

FORESTRY » K & L Contracting

| 53

Canterbury based K & L Contracting specialises in the manual felling of trees in tricky situations.

Fellers go where machine doesn’t dare Kelly Deeks Felling trees by hand for the past 12 years has seen Canterbury’s K & L Contracting become a specialist in dealing with trees in tricky situations.

Company director Lucy Maley says some trees are too big or inaccessible to be felled by a mechanical harvester, and these are the projects where K & L Contracting’s manual tree-felling skills come to the fore.

However, recent changes in health and safety legislation will have K & L Contracting becoming partially mechanised this year.

The company has been working on its health and safety policy for the past five years since requirements have intensified.

“Full compliance is non-negotiable for us, our principals, and our clients,” says Lucy. “Whenever

we start a new block, I assess and record all the hazards and how we will manage them.”

K & L Contracting has also implemented tailgate meetings every morning, where the whole crew discusses and records the work schedule, then signs off on it.

If the weather or the ground conditions or anything that could present a new hazard changes during the day, this is also recorded and communicated with staff.

Lucy says that since updating the company’s health and safety policy, the only incidents have been a couple of guys tripping over their own feet.

“The awareness of our staff of what is or could be a hazard has certainly improved,” she says.

K & L Contracting has been working on one of those tricky projects that requires manual felling.

Glenfalloch station is a sheep and beef property

located in a high wind zone at the head of the Rakaia River, where K & L Contracting is removing very large, 100 year-old trees.

“They are in lines of three or four trees and at really funny angles, so the mechanised crews can’t get in there,” Lucy says. “Some of the trees are two metres across the butt, and a normal felling machine will only go up to a maximum of 1m.”

She says the manual felling skills K & L Contracting prides itself on are becoming rare in the industry as more companies become mechanised.

The company gets its new machine this year, but will continue to seek out those tricky projects that require manual felling, while using the machine on the simpler projects to improve health and safety and become more efficient.

K & L Contracting’s six staff are all working through training programmes. Several types of

Big investment in health, safety • From page 52 and Stuart Drummond Transport has held tertiary -level Accident Compensation Commission accreditation, the highest possible, for nearly 10 years.

The company has achieved gold standard with ACC Fleetsaver, which reflects an advan-ced, bestpractice framework, safety-management systems and continuing improvements in on-road and workplace health and safety.

“Because we work in such a demanding industry, good health and safety systems are a priority,” says Brodie. “It’s the top of our list to get everyone home safely every night. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our healthand-safety systems and we continually get driver feedback on how we can achieve this.”

He says the company invests heavily in this aspect of the business. For example, a ratchet system has been introduced on all trucks so that staff can safely and easily restrain a loaded logtruck.

Recognising that throwing chains over logs to secure them was a potential health-and-safety hazard, the company changed to lighter chains.

The firm is a member of the Log Transport Safety Council and the Road Transport Association New Zealand.

After more than 30 years in business, Stuart Drummond Transport is still very much a familyowned company. Stuart Drummond is managing director and Brodie’s older brother, Dayne Drummond, runs Supertyre Warehouse. Brodie says much of the company’s longevity and success can be attributed to its 40 staff.

tickets are required by the industry; these include machine operating and loading trucks as well as felling trees.

Lucy has recently started studying for the National Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety, and has trained in areas such as traffic management.

“If any tree is being felled within two tree-lengths of a road, through-traffic must be stopped and controlled,” she says.

“Offering this service in house cuts down on cost to the client, as well as meaning the job is not interrupted by waiting for suitably qualified STMS staff to be available.”

K & L Contracting also offers earthworks and ground preparation services, often preparing a paddock for pasture or for an irrigation system after clearing it of trees.

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admin@frewstransport.co.nz www.frewstransport.co.nz

Forest Management Group With 25 years experience in the industry the Forest Management Team offer services in: • Woodlot and shelterbelt harvesting • Timber sales to domestic and export markets • Forest establishment of harvested and greenfield sites • Forest valuation • Emission Trading Scheme advice and management • Trainer/Assessor in NZQA forestry related units Our highly experienced teams aim to ensure value optimisation in all aspects of forest management.

To find out more call us on 03 343 4101 or visit www.forestmanagement.co.nz

Business Rural

54 |

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Business Rural

| 55

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Business Rural

56 |

OTAGO - TRADE SERVICES & EQUIPMENT DIRECTORY TIMBER

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