THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

RURAL

■ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN FROM RADIO HOST DOMINIC GEORGE

FRANFRAN

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2 Te Awamutu Courier Thursday, June 26, 2014

COMMENT byDOMINICGEORGE

Oh...oh ...myeulogywasa littleunnecessaryRural radio personalityDominicGeorgewill air his views right here every Thursday

I heard a great story last week from thegodfather of New Zealand broadcasting,Keith Quinn. It was 19 years to the daysince he uttered his famous line as AllBlacks wing Jonah Lomu ran overEngland fullback Mike Catt en route to aquartet of tries in the 1995 World Cupsemi-final at Newlands.

The “Lomu . . . Oh, Oh . . . ” line wasactually more accident than design.Quinn was searching for a pre-preparedline he’d included in his match-day notesfor the broadcast but failed to locate it intime, hence the “Oh, Oh”.

He says it wasn’t entirely the productof a lost piece of paper, as Lomu’s effortthat day did leave many people lost forwords, but it certainly wasn’t entirelyspontaneous either. It has become one ofthe best known pieces of Kiwi sportingcommentary — ironic as it was two-thirds “sounds’’ rather than words.

What it shows is that blunders aren’talways costly and can, in fact, work in

your favour. A few weeks ago, TheFarming Show received a text that read:“Jamie, Friday was a sad day for SheepFarmers of NZ as we have Lost a Gr8Scientist Dr Julie Everett-Hincks whoworked for Agresearch.

As you can see, it’s pretty sombre stuff— a eulogy by text, if you will. I read thetext out and then pontificated in suitabletones along with host Jamie Mackay as tothe terrible nature of someone beingtaken before their time.

Turned out, however, it was simplyEverett-Hincks’ last day at work. I canonly imagine what her family andfriends went through as they digested theinformation. I did manage to track herdown, though, and can assure you she’svery much alive. I managed to get a verygood interview in which she spokeopenly of her redundancy from Invermayand that she is now starting a newchapter in her life.

There has been vociferous and vocal

opposition to the AgResearch restruc-ture, incorporating the relocation of jobsfrom Invermay and Ruakura tocentralised “hubs’’.

The protests have been wellorchestrated and consistent butultimately have failed in their objective.

Save for the occasional concession,especially in relation to deer research atInvermay, the proposal has been giventhe green light. The majority of thosewho have voiced an opinion on thismatter in a public forum have over-whelmingly stressed it’s a mistake, plainand simple.

They have been forthright in theiropinion that it will lead to some of thebest and brightest this country has tooffer plying their trade elsewhere orquitting the profession. They may well beright, given the seemingly iron-fistedapproach with which the restructure hasbeen implemented and despite evenAgResearch’s own change management

team recommending Invermay beenhanced rather than downsized.

But, as we’ve seen, it doesn’t followthat the result will ultimately be anegative one. As Federated Farmers’president-in-waiting, Dr William Rolles-ton, says: “We must not become senti-mental over tired bricks and mortar.”

There’s always a degree of sentimen-tality when it comes to change. Heck, Iwas engulfed with pangs of nostalgiawhen they started turning Carisbrook torubble, despite the creation of thecountry’s best stadium across town.Many thought that was the biggestmistake in the history of Dunedin. Somestill do, but there is no better place inNew Zealand to watch the national game.

Put simply, a mistake doesn’t neces-sarily manifest in failure.

And by the way, the line Keith Quinnwas going to use when Jonah scored“that’’ try against the Poms: “All muscleand pump.” Not bad.

CONTACT USADVERTISING

Alan Price 07 871 5151 xt 703alan.price@teawamutucourier.co.nz

EDITORIAL

Dean Taylor 07 871 5151 xt705dean.taylor@teawamutucourier.co.nz

NATIONALADVERTISING

Matthew Sherry 021 2710364matthew.sherry@apn.co.nz

NATIONAL EDITORIAL

Colleen Thorpe 021 775 005colleen.thorpe@apn.co.nz

The Land is published every Thursday in APN Regional Newspapers throughout the North Island.

Thursday, June 26, 2014 Te Awamutu Courier 3

OPINION FRANO’SULLIVAN

MillionsatstakeinmilkscarestoushFrench supplierDanoneclaimsFonterramisled it over the

risks associatedwithbotulismscandal

Businesswriters FranO’SullivanandAlexanderSpeirs call the shots here every Thursday

Fran O’Sullivan is a business columnist for the NZ Heraldand Alexander Speirs is a business journalist for Herald Business Reports.

THEDAIRYCOOPERATIVEHASALREADYFRONTEDUP

TO ITSFAILINGS

It’s high-stakes for Fonterra and itsmore than 10,000 farmer shareholdersas the dairy cooperative tries to haltDanone’s multimillion-dollar action inthe High Court at Auckland.The French food conglomerate

wants compensation for allegeddamages of the more than half abillion dollars it claims to havesuffered as a result of last year’sbotulism scare. The scare ultimatelyproved false, but Danone’s valuableChina trade was severely affected asits New Zealand subsidiary Nutricearecalled several Karicare infant for-mula brands and other potentiallyaffected products fromChinese super-market shelves.Fonterra is arguing that the cor-

rect place to settle Danone’s claim isbehind closed doors at arbitration inSingapore. The New Zealand com-pany argues that because Danone’ssupply agreement was with FonterraLimited, its liability is capped at A$30million ($32.3 million) with the finalsettlement to be determined througha binding arbitration.Problem is sources close to the

arbitration believe it could stretch onfor another year.And with Danone reckoning its

damages totalled $544.5 million fromthe product recalls and associatedbrand damage alone, it’s easy to seewhy it has the Fonterra CooperativeGroup — and a potentially muchlarger damages award in its sights.Fonterra’s reputation will inevit-

ably be on trial if Justice GeoffreyVenning allows the Danone action toproceed in open court rather thanwait for the outcome of arbitration.The dairy cooperative has already

fronted up to its failings in the

rigorous internal inquiry headed byFonterra director Sir Ralph Norris. Ithas quietly settled claims with eightother customers who were affectedwhen Fonterra publicly fronted up tothe possibility that a batch of wheyprotein concentrate, known asWPC80, was affected by thebotulinum bacteria.But the Norris report was also

“trimmed for trial”, with any conten-tious findings that could haveexacerbated a damages claimredacted from the final report.Danone has brought four causes of

action against Fonterra; two forbreach of the Fair Trading Act andtwo for tortious conduct. Tortiousconduct is a claim actioned when acivil wrong has occurred, resulting indamages against the plaintiff. Themost common category is negligence,but the possibility of defamation couldalso fall under a tort claim.That contract however is between

Danone and Fonterra Ltd, a subsidi-ary company under the FonterraCooperative Group umbrella thatowns the Hautapu plant where thesuspect batch originated. Danone’saction lists Fonterra Group as thedefendant, skipping the web of sub-sidiaries and commercial agreementsto seek reimbursement from thesource.Danone’s attorneys however

maintain that although their presentclaims arise from the botulism inci-dent, they differ fromwhat is coveredunder the supply agreement and theyshould be free to pursue their casebefore the High Court.Thisweek’s skirmishes at theHigh

Court tell the story.Danone’s counsel has alleged

Fonterra Cooperative Group em-ployees provided it with “incorrectand misleading information” in Aprillast year. This included the fact thatthe WPC80 whey protein concentratewas clear of certain bacteria whentesting was yet to be completed.Danone had been “lulled into a falsesense of security” in April andcontinued to manufacture and distri-bute product. The crucial point is thatDanone alleges that Fonterra knewthere were uncertainties about thewhey protein product.It also has concerns that it had to

issue a multi-country recall when itlater turned out to be based on a falsealarm.This month Fonterra was fined

$150,000 by the NZX Markets Discip-linary Tribunal for breaching continu-ous disclosure requirements to thestock exchange during the botulismscare.That followed a $300,000 fine from

the Ministry of Primary Industriesafter Fonterra admitted four charges.Danone’s action will be far more

worrying to Fonterra and its farmersthan the relative slaps on wristthey’ve endured thus far — that’swhy the stakes are so high.

Welcometo ournew ruralsectionToday we launch our newliftout, The Land, celebrat-ing our all-important prim-ary sector.The Land

will be part ofyour Te Awa-mutu CouriereveryThursday.In this first

edition we fea-ture a monthly rural prop-erty update, with TonyVerdon finding out that aneasing of the soaring price ofdairy farmland is beingwelcomed, plus he checksout how values are trendingin your region.Every week, Fran

O’Sullivan will turn her ana-lytical eye to the politics,business matters and cur-rent affairs that are having abearing on our rural econ-omy. Today she’s focusingon the Fonterra issue.A full page of data from

Agrifax and the Metservicewill gather together vitalweather, climate and marketinformation, and, on alighter note, rural radio’sDominic George will museeach Thursday on life, sportand goings-on down on thefarm.In the weeks to come we’ll

be exploring the questionsposed for the rural sector bythe upcoming general elec-tion, we’ll look at how qual-ity issues and food scaresare threatening New Zea-land’s global reputation,we’ll check out how beef andlamb are riding the wave ofChina’s growing economyand much more.Let us know what you’d

like to see covered in TheLand. Our team of ruralspecialists will be pleased tohear your feedback.

— Dean TaylorEditor

PROFILE

Award-winnereyesfarmownershipHardworkand intensive studyaretakinganambitious youngmanto thegoal he’s longhad inhissights. Dairy farming’s something

hegrewupwith and it is alifestyle he loves

AMBITIOUS:WiremuReid at the awardsevening inTaurangawith his partnerBettina.

PHOTO/JOHNCOWPLAND

Sharemilker Wiremu Reid has his heart seton owning a farm by age 30 and he’smakingall the right moves to get there.The fourth-generation dairy farmer grew

up in Whangarei and moved south with hispartner Bettina in 2009. Since then thecouple have been building up their equity,making many sacrifices along the way,hoping to reach farm ownership by 2020.“I’m confident we’ll get there,” says the

24-year-old. “Ultimately, we want a run-off,or a lease block, with conversion possi-bilities. But, for the short term, we wouldlike somewhere to graze our own stock.”The couple are in their first season 50/50

sharemilking 1150 cows inRanfurlywith thesupport of Wiremu’s parents.“We’re all doing a big marae-style

partnership,” says Wiremu. “My parentsare helping out with the wintering andmating. Having them involved meansthere’s more time to do extra jobs that willhelp us get to where we want to be faster.”

On June 13, Wiremu was announcedwinner of the 2014 Ahuwhenua YoungMaori Farmer of the Year competition.Sponsored by Primary ITO, Te Tumu

Paeroa, Te Puni Kokiri and Allflex, thecompetition, established in 2012, has becomean exciting addition to the AhuwhenuaTrophy BNZ Maori Excellence in FarmingAward.He says he was impressed with the high

calibre of the other entrants and believes

Maori are well-suited to farming.“As Maori, we naturally have many key

attributes that make us successful farmers.We have a good sense of humour; makelight of any situation, no matter howstressful; we have an easygoing attitude,where we give anything a go; and alsohardness to stick it out.”As an applicant, Wiremu was assessed

on a range of skills and qualities, includinghis commitment to farming, training andeducation, expertise relative to his position,community involvement, plans for thefuture and personal attributes.The runners-up for the award were 50/50

sharemilker Joshua MacDonald, from Wai-kato, and herd manager James Matheson,from Gore.To improve his business management

skills, Wiremu is studying for a Diploma inAgribusiness Management through Prim-ary ITO. The diploma is a qualification foragribusiness decision-makers who want to

upskill and acquire the tools to give thembetter business knowledge.Though dedicated to his goal, Wiremu

still recognises the importance of family andmakes every effort to take time out to spendwith his young sons, William andManu.

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4 Te Awamutu Courier Thursday, June 26, 2014

North Is. Schedule This Last Year Versus$/kg CW net Week Week Ago 5-yr Avg

BEEF GRAIN & FEEDOVERSEAS PRICES FARMGATE PRICES

DAIRY FORESTRYPOWDER PRODUCTS FAT PRODUCTS

GlobalDairyTrade Previous Year VersusUS$/t Auction Ago 5-yr Avg

MORE: The information above is extracted from key reports produced by NZX Agrifax, the leading provider of specialist industry data and intelligence on the New Zealand sheep, beef, dairy, forestry, venison, wool and grain sectors. Please contact us to view the full reports. www.agrifax.co.nz | info@nzxagrifax.co.nz

metservice.com | graphic compiled by

North Is. Schedule This Last Year Versus$/head net Week Week Ago 5-yr Avg

SHEEP WOOLOVERSEAS PRICES FARMGATE PRICES

40

60

80

100

120

Jun�12 Dec�12 Jun�13 Dec�13 Jun�14

NZ$/t

200

700

1200

Jun�12 Dec�12 Jun�13 Dec�13 Jun�14

NZc/kg

29�Micron 39�Micron Lamb

200

300

400

500

Jun�12 Dec�12 Jun�13 Dec�13 Jun�14

NZ$/t

Milling�wheat Feed�wheat Feed�barleyJun 12 Dec 12 Jun 13 Dec 13 Jun 14

Milling�wheat Feed�wheat Feed�barley

300

350

400

450

Oct Jan Apr Jul

NZc/kg�(net)

5�yr�avg 2012/13 2013/14Oct Jan Apr Jul

5�yr�avg 2012/13 2013/14

Beef schedules in the North Island are holding at very high levels. Prices jumped up earlier than normal this season, due largely to increased procurement pressure and record-high prices for NZ beef in the US.

P2 Steer 4.41 4.41 4.03 +14%M2 Bull 4.19 4.19 3.95 +9%M Cow 3.10 3.10 3.05 +9%

� �

The GDT auction last week recorded its fi rst overall gain since February, giving the market a much needed confi dence boost. Volumes off ered are at seasonally low levels however, and are forecast to increase at the coming auctions.

WMP 3658 3594 4668 –5% AMF 3898 4058 4589 –13%Average 3807 3756 4598 –5%

� �

Lamb schedules have remained steady during the past three weeks. It seems companies are satisfi ed with processing numbers, operating reduced shifts for now. Their main focus is on completing chilled programmes for UK customers.

Lamb 17.5kg 102.82 102.82 88.27 +1%Lamb 19kg 111.68 111.68 95.88 +1%Mutton 21kg 123.49 123.49 106.03 +1%

� �

50

75

100

125

Oct Jan Apr Jul

NZ$/hd�(n

et)

5�yr�avg 2012/13 2013/14

2000

4000

6000

8000

Jun Sep Dec Mar

US$/t

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

EXPORT LOG PRICES SINK ivan.luketina@nzx.com

A real estate slowdown in China has caused a huge correction to its imported log and lumber markets. New Zealand exports over half its log production to China so this has resulted in a big fall in returns to New Zealand foresters and exporters. A-grade log export prices have fallen by 30% since March, to $87/t at the wharf gate, and are yet to fi nd the bottom.

China’s slowing real estate sales have weighed on market sentiment and tightened credit availability for developers and log buyers. The resulting slowdown in log consumption has combined with a 21% year-on-year increase in China’s fi rst quarter log imports to tip the market into oversupply, approximately doubling log inventory levels

at Chinese ports. Prices were forced into a downward correction to balance supply and demand, but with such large volumes already in the system, supply has taken longer than expected to correct.

China’s log prices cannot consolidate until imports slow and provide more certainty that the lower price will bring about shrinking inventories. This is expected to occur in June and July, when supply from the more price-sensitive sources such as Australia, Ukraine and southern regions of the US is reduced. New Zealand exports will also ease as winter conditions hamper harvesting and production from marginal stands stops.

IVAN LUKETINA – Agrifax Market Analyst

0

50

100

0.0

1.0

2.0

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014exportsmillionm³

Exports A�grade price exportlogprice

($/tAWG)

NZ log exports vs A-grade log price

�100%

0%

100%

200%

2006 2009 2012year

onyear

growth

C i l h i l S ft d (RWE) i tCommercial housing sales Softwood (RWE) importsSource: Agrifax, GTIS, China NBS

China Housing Sales vs Softwood Imports

26Jun2014

17/6/14� ��

� � �

� � �

As at June 22, 2014

Last 15 Days

The NZX Pasture Growth Index (PGI) is

an indicator of potential pasture growth

based on three key climatic variables –

temperature, moisture and light.

Pasture Growth Index

Above normal

Near normal

Below normal

NZX DAIRY PGI

NZ Feed Grain IndicatorNZ Feed Grain Indicator

Agrifax Log Price Indicator

Wool Prices

Agrifax WMP Price

North Island Steer Schedule

North Island Lamb Schedule

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Thursday, June 26, 2014 Te Awamutu Courier 5

PROPERTY byTONYVERDON

Farm prices remain firmas economy continues to grow

Evenwith international dairy commodity prices falling fromhistorical highs, regional rural real estatemarkets remain stable.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN NORTHLANDARE HAVING DIFFICULTYFINDING ENOUGH FARMS

TO SELL TOWILLING BUYERS

It may sound odd at first, butfarmers, rural economists andvaluers are welcoming an easing ofdairy farm price increases acrossmuch of the country.They say a continuation of the

soaring international milk pricescould have ultimately led to over-investment in rural property andfarm prices inevitably reachingunsustainable levels.Most rural land prices remain

firm, and with the local and interna-tional economy continuing to grow,prospects look encouraging.ANZ rural economists say from a

long term perspective a fall in milkprices is likely to be a good thing.Back-to-back record high pay-

outs could have fostered over-investment, unsustainable landprices, and too large a supply ofmilk around the globe.This would ultimately have led

to prices undershooting a season orso down the track, causing unneces-sary investment volatility.So the easing of milk prices from

historically high levels has beenaccepted with few complaints.Quotable Value’s registered

valuers point to Northland as anexample of a much improved ruralproperty market.QV’s Rural Value head valuer,

David Paterson, says following sev-eral years of difficult rural propertymarket conditions, Northland wasexperiencing a moderate increasein prospective purchasers, which inturn was lifting sales volume.“With parties competing for pro-

perties, this has brought an in-crease in values for the first timesince 2008,” he says.Mr Paterson says real estate

agents in Northland were havingdifficulty finding enough farms tosell to willing buyers.Some well-located areas had

seen increases of more than 10 percent for smaller farms thatattracted a larger pool of prospec-

tive purchasers.Values for dry stock pastoral

farms in Northland were typicallybetween $500 and $850 per stockunit.Mr Paterson said the dairy mar-

ket in the Waikato and Bay ofPlenty Regions was positive andshowing signs of a good recovery invalue levels in some areas. Therehas been a slight increase in valuesgenerally.“Those areas that saw large

declines post 2008 and havestruggled since with high numbersof mortgagee or forced sales arenow also experiencing good interestin properties on the market, and acorresponding increase in salesvolume and values,” he says.There had been a strong recov-

ery in values in the Bay of Plentyand the Hauraki District in particu-lar.The market for sheep and beef

properties around Rotorua waslimited because most farms in theregion had already been convertedto dairying.Mr Paterson said many of the

smaller properties were beingbought as dairy support.The largest breeding sheep and

beef farm sold over the past 12months in the Central North Islandwas Mangaohane Station, near Tai-hape, which sold at $553 per stockunit for 4840ha.The property also included an

area of commercial forest.Other smaller properties in the

Rotorua area were selling forbetween $625 and $1001 per stockunit with the higher value beinginfluenced by dairy farm or dairysupport potential.The Hawke’s Bay-Gisborne re-

gion had been recovering relativelywell following drought conditions.After a relatively subdued few

years, current sale levels weregenerally strong and showing aslight increase on recent years.

“There have been 22 confirmedsales of properties over 300ha insize since June 2013, plus a numberof others which are yet to settle.Value levels are generally in the$500 to $800 per stock unit range,with good levels of interest shownin most properties,” he says.Values probably remained

slightly behind those seen duringthe 2007-08 period.The Manawatu/Wairarapa re-

gion had seen renewed interest indry stock pastoral properties on themarket.“There have been slight value

increases for this region of between2 to 4 per cent which reflected the

more positive sentiment in the ruraleconomy and property market.”Mr Paterson says smaller blocks

oftenhave good interest from neigh-bouring owners prepared to paygood money for land adjoining theirown farms.

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6 Te Awamutu Courier Thursday, June 26, 2014

Doghousecanbeacosyplace

DOGGONE IT: RosieTodhunter.

First-time inventor Rosie Todhunter went toNational Fieldays with a concept for a new type ofdog kennel inspired by her late grandfather, TonyPrentice.The Thermo Kennel is designed to keep dogs

warm in winter and cool in summer. It earned amerit award.Her invention is based on a design Rosie’s

grandfather made 20 years ago— a double-skinned,insulated dog kennel.Rosie says it is basically a chilly bin — two skins

insulated with 30mm of polystyrene and a polyvinylchloride door (that’s the flash name for PVC stripsused on walk-in freezers and coolstores).Rosie lives on High Peak Station in Canterbury’s

Rakaia Gorge and works for New Zealand YoungFarmers as project leader for the Get AheadProgramme.She says people assume shemade it for her dogs

because she lives in a cold climate, but she has onlya pet dog — although her fiance has a team ofworking dogs.And, she adds, an important aspect is also

keeping dogs cool in summer.She says the obvious benefit is better rested

dogs, but there is a cost benefit as well.“In winter, dogs aren’t using a lot of energy

trying to stay warm, therefore they need less food,”says Rosie.The same applies to a lesser extent to dogs trying

to get cool in summer.The kennel isn’t on the market yet, but Rosie

reckons she could have sold plenty as she hadnothing but positive feedback about the invention.She has 65 people ready to buy when the productcomes on the market.Rosie says the benefits of being at Fieldays

included meeting people with knowledge aboutproduction and distribution.She has a couple of leads to follow and hopes to

have the kennels out there this year.She is aiming for a $500 price tag, putting her

product right in the middle of the existing market.Rosie also got advice from farmers, and the

production model will be bigger than the prototypeand able to be used with a run.

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Thursday, June 26, 2014 Te Awamutu Courier 7

DairyNZ teaches StockSense

LEARNING: Dairy farmerTimDeBeer (left)learns about birth presentation fromJoeCraddock fromTaratahi Agricultural TrainingCentre,whowasworkingonbehalf ofDairyNZat theDairyNZStockSense calvingworkshop.

WAIKATOSTOCKSENSEEVENTSTHE SESSIONSWEREINTERACTIVE, BUT REALLY

CLEAR AND EASY TOUNDERSTAND.

Farm teams are gaining hands-on skills forthe calving season, as DairyNZ StockSenseevents continue around the country.Te Awamutu, Putaruru and Piopio will

host a StockSense event over the next twoweeks, with workshops for both junior andsenior dairy farm staff.July heralds the start of a new calving

season. Dairy farmers nationwide begintheir ‘busy period’ when calves are bornand set up as the future of the milkingherd.The junior workshop focuses on practi-

cal skills to get staff ready for calving,while the senior workshop focuses on thenew requirements for humane slaughteron-farm and udder health.Taranaki farmer Tim DeBeer attended

last week’s Stratford StockSense eventand said the junior workshop was practicalfor developing calving skills.“I’m new to dairy farming and it gave

me a good heads-up for what to expectover calving and how to prepare for it,” hesaid.“The session on the birthing process

was really helpful. I learnt the signs andstages of labour, how to tell if the calf ispresented properly for birth, how to useropes to assist if the calf is in the wrongposition and when to get the vet in.“The sessions were interactive, but

really clear and easy to understand so I gota heap of value from it.”He benefited from the tips for reducing

stress over the busy season.“I really like how the workshop pro-

vided advice for staying healthy overcalving. I actually went out and bought acrock pot. Having hot meals ready when Iget in late from the farm sounds like a goodidea.”DairyNZ’s animal husbandry and wel-

fare teammanager Chris Leach says in thesenior workshop, farmers are updated onthe recent welfare code change whichprohibits the use of blunt force foreuthanasia of calves, except in unforeseenemergencies.“Most dairy cattle, including calves, are

generally not slaughtered on farms byfarmers anyway, but are sent toprocessing facilities. The amendments tothe code of welfare make it much clearerwhat is an emergency and what isacceptable practice on farms when thatsituation does arise.“Farmers learnt what humane options

are available, what best practice looks likeand skills training to ensure the very beststandards of welfare are achieved onfarm,” he says.

“In the Healthy Udder session, mostattendees went away with a draft policy anda procedure for managing mastitis in theircolostrum herd. There were some reallygood discussions about strategies to reducemastitis.”Participant numbers are limited and

farmersmust register. Events are free for alllevy-paying dairy farmers and their staffand a free barbecue lunch is provided.

■ Te Awamutu— June, 30.■ Putaruru— July, 1.■ Piopio— July, 7.Farm locationwill be provided upon

registration—events run from 10am till 2pm.

■ Register atwww.dairynz.co.nz/stocksense

8 Te Awamutu Courier Thursday, June 26, 2014