rural news 17 sept 2013

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SEPTEMBER 17, 2013: ISSUE 546 www.ruralnews.co.nz RURAL NEWS NEWS Last season’s drought will see meatworkers face lean times. PAGE 9 MANAGEMENT Getting lambs from hogget flock replacements could be one way to boost productivity. PAGE 37 TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS Quarantine drenching with Startect. Keeps unwanted pests off your field. ZOE9300 Ravensdown AGM expected to be testy DISGRUNTLED RAVENSDOWN shareholders have filed three motions to be heard at the co-op’s annual meeting in Ashburton next week. The motions, from South Can- terbury farmer Jeremy Talbot, call for shareholders to record their dis- satisfaction with the performance of the cooperative and ask it to con- fine its activity to its core business of supplying fertiliser products and services. A review of the constitution, in consultation with shareholders, is also called for, including the number of farmer elected directors and wards, the number of independent directors and their areas of exper- tise, the number of other director- ships a Ravensdown director may hold, share redemption policy and notice period for motions at the annual meeting. The last point is a reference to this year’s August 14 no-rebate result announcement leaving shareholders only a few days to lodge motions within the constitutional deadline for the September 23 AGM. As Talbot’s motions were lodged outside the constitutional deadline an informal show-of-hands vote on the motions will be held at the meet- ing so the board can gauge the reac- tion of shareholders attending the meeting, Ravensdown chairman Bill McLeod said in a letter to sharehold- ers earlier this month. – Andrew Swallow AgResearch stays mum FONTERRA AND AgResearch remain at loggerheads over tests carried out for the bacteria responsible for caus- ing botulism. However, AgResearch is not making any comments on a Fonterra WPC80 operational review, which says the SOE “confirmed the likely presence of Clos- tridium botulinum in bacteria sourced from product containing the whey pro- tein concentrate”. An AgResearch spokesman said it had no further comment to make on this issue. In an earlier statement, it denied confirming the presence of Clos- tridium botulinum in the isolates pro- vided by Fonterra. However, it says the research had potentially detected Clos- tridium botulinum and recommended further testing. The interpretation of the test results is crucial because Fonterra says that after receiving AgResearch’s results it immediately advised the MPI. The co-op also initiated a precautionary recall of the WPC80 with the eight cus- tomers that had received it, and pub- licly communicated the test results and potential food safety risk. A Government investigation into the WPC80 incident will be in three parts: Part A will look at how the poten- tially contaminated whey protein con- centrate entered the New Zealand and international market, and how this was subsequently addressed. This is expected to include scrutiny of the test results from AgResearch. Parts B and C will look at regulatory and best practice requirements against the background of this incident in rela- tion to the dairy industry, including the role of regulators. The inquiry will then report on any recommended legal, regu- latory or operational changes. The inquiry’s first-stage results must be reported before Christmas. Earlier this month, the Government named businessman Tony Nowell and food safety expert Dr Anne Astin as inquiry members. The inquiry will be chaired by lawyer Miriam Dean. The inquiry’s report will be peer reviewed by Professor Alan Reilly, chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, who has worked 30 years in food safety. Before assuming his pre- sent role he worked in food safety in the World Health Organisation in Geneva. He is chairman of the scientific advisory board of the European Food Informa- tion Council. Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye says the inquiry will send a strong mes- sage that New Zealand takes these issues seriously, and that we are deter- mined to protect the strong reputation for food safety we have built up over generations. SUDESH KISSUN [email protected] CANTERBURY DAIRY farm- ers aren’t going to forget last week’s storm in a hurry. But Ben Jaunay will have a better reason than most to remem- ber the exact date: he was in Timaru hospital with his wife who had just had their fourth child, a daughter, when the 100kmh-plus winds struck. What’s more, the story made the front page of the local paper a couple of days later. “We’ve had all sorts of sug- gestions [for a name] for her: Gail, Windy, you name it,” the sharemilker of 2200 told Rural News. While the power was on when he got back to the farm, it didn’t last long, going off Tuesday night with cows on the platform. “We had to use the tractor to get them off.” Wednesday morning was spent finding and, in the end buying, a genera- tor. “$9000 when you’re pro- ducing $30,000/day of milk isn’t much. It’s something we should have done ages ago.” Power to the farm at Ran- gitata was back on by Thurs- day morning, but many others further north weren’t nearly so fortunate, he said. More on storms page 3 That’s what works out here. Unlike them, we know this has nothing to do with a small primate and everything to do with making life on the land easier. Not that it means you can avoid hard work. But what you can avoid is getting stuck with someone who has no idea what you’re on about. So why not talk to an insurer who speaks your language instead. Ask around about us, or for some advice call 0800 366 466. FMG0346A A Go on, ask your city insurer about your post rammer's monkey.

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Rural News 17 Sept 2013

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

september 17, 2013: Issue 546 www.ruralnews.co.nz

RuRalNEWS

newsLast season’s drought will see meatworkers face lean times. page 9

managementGetting lambs from hogget flock replacements could be one way to boost productivity. page 37

to all farmers, for all farmers THE KNOCKOUT DRENCH

Quarantine drenching with Startect. Keeps unwanted pests off your field.

ZOE

9300

Ravensdown aGM expected to be testyDISGRUNTLED RAVENSDOWN shareholders have filed three motions to be heard at the co-op’s annual meeting in Ashburton next week.

The motions, from South Can-terbury farmer Jeremy Talbot, call for shareholders to record their dis-satisfaction with the performance of the cooperative and ask it to con-fine its activity to its core business of supplying fertiliser products and services.

A review of the constitution, in consultation with shareholders, is also called for, including the number of farmer elected directors and wards, the number of independent directors and their areas of exper-tise, the number of other director-ships a Ravensdown director may hold, share redemption policy and notice period for motions at the annual meeting.

The last point is a reference to this year’s August 14 no-rebate result announcement leaving shareholders only a few days to lodge motions within the constitutional deadline for the September 23 AGm.

As Talbot’s motions were lodged outside the constitutional deadline an informal show-of-hands vote on the motions will be held at the meet-ing so the board can gauge the reac-tion of shareholders attending the meeting, Ravensdown chairman Bill mcLeod said in a letter to sharehold-ers earlier this month.

– Andrew Swallow

AgResearch stays mumFONTERRA AND AgResearch remain at loggerheads over tests carried out for the bacteria responsible for caus-ing botulism.

However, AgResearch is not making any comments on a Fonterra WPC80 operational review, which says the SOE “confirmed the likely presence of Clos-tridium botulinum in bacteria sourced from product containing the whey pro-tein concentrate”.

An AgResearch spokesman said it had no further comment to make on this issue. In an earlier statement, it denied confirming the presence of Clos-tridium botulinum in the isolates pro-vided by Fonterra. However, it says the research had potentially detected Clos-tridium botulinum and recommended further testing.

The interpretation of the test results is crucial because Fonterra says that after receiving AgResearch’s results it immediately advised the mPI. The co-op also initiated a precautionary recall of the WPC80 with the eight cus-tomers that had received it, and pub-licly communicated the test results and potential food safety risk.

A Government investigation into the WPC80 incident will be in three parts: Part A will look at how the poten-tially contaminated whey protein con-centrate entered the New Zealand and international market, and how this was subsequently addressed. This is expected to include scrutiny of the test results from AgResearch.

Parts B and C will look at regulatory

and best practice requirements against the background of this incident in rela-tion to the dairy industry, including the role of regulators. The inquiry will then report on any recommended legal, regu-latory or operational changes.

The inquiry’s first-stage results must be reported before Christmas.

Earlier this month, the Government named businessman Tony Nowell and

food safety expert Dr Anne Astin as inquiry members. The inquiry will be chaired by lawyer miriam Dean.

The inquiry’s report will be peer reviewed by Professor Alan Reilly, chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, who has worked 30 years in food safety. Before assuming his pre-sent role he worked in food safety in the World Health Organisation in Geneva.

He is chairman of the scientific advisory board of the European Food Informa-tion Council.

Food Safety minister Nikki Kaye says the inquiry will send a strong mes-sage that New Zealand takes these issues seriously, and that we are deter-mined to protect the strong reputation for food safety we have built up over generations.

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

CaNterBUrY DaIrY farm-ers aren’t going to forget last week’s storm in a hurry. But Ben Jaunay will have a better reason than most to remem-ber the exact date: he was in timaru hospital with his wife who had just had their fourth child, a daughter, when the 100kmh-plus winds struck. What’s more, the story made the front page of the local paper a couple of days later.

“We’ve had all sorts of sug-gestions [for a name] for her: Gail, Windy, you name it,” the sharemilker of 2200 told Rural News. While the power was on when he got back to the farm, it didn’t last long, going off tuesday night with cows on the platform.

“We had to use the tractor to get them off.”

Wednesday morning was spent finding and, in the end buying, a genera-tor. “$9000 when you’re pro-ducing $30,000/day of milk isn’t much. It’s something we should have done ages ago.”

Power to the farm at ran-gitata was back on by thurs-day morning, but many others further north weren’t nearly so fortunate, he said.More on storms page 3

That’s what works out here.

Unlike them, we know this has nothing to do with a small primate and everything to do with making life on the land easier. Not that it means you can avoid hard work. But what you can avoid is getting stuck with someone who has no idea what you’re on about. So why not talk to an insurer who speaks your language instead.Ask around about us, or for some advice call 0800 366 466.

FMG0346AA

Go on, ask your city insurer aboutyour post rammer's monkey.

Page 2: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

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Page 3: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

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issue 546www.ruralnews.co.nz

More than just great products...

WOOLS OF NEW ZEALAND kicks off 17 roadshows around the country next monday (Sep-tember 23) with the first in Wells-ford, north of Auckland.

They’re an open forum for both shareholders and other growers interested in what the company is doing, says chairman mark Shadbolt.

New chief executive Ross Townshend will speak, as will Cheryl Kindness, a director of Camira Fabrics in the UK. Shad-bolt says WNZ have built a strong relationship with Camira over lambs’ wool contracts. Also speaking is Steven Parsons, Wools of NZ’s UK-based innova-tions and marketing manager.

“He will be talking about new products right out to the con-sumer and new opportunities around wool. We will be discuss-ing two important points – some options open to growers that we’ve created they will not only be around an efficient route to market but also some new sales options. The other one will be around the Camira lambs’ wool contracts.

“The meetings are open to any growers and anybody involved in the wool industry. We’ve taken a transparent approach to what we are doing and we’d like to see as many growers in New Zealand benefit as possible.

“We have a responsibility to our shareholders in the first instance, but we really want to build the Wools of NZ brand and the value of that the opportunity for growers.”

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

Wools of NZ roadshows

Farmlands move questioned

EX FARmLANDS director Hugh Ritchie, who resigned over what he felt was a lack of adequate data to support the merger with CRT earlier this year, says he “just can’t fathom” why the cooper-ative has now acquired NRm.

The feed miller, which claims to be the biggest in New Zealand, is to be sold to Farmlands and mainfeeds.

The move comes just six months after Farmlands merged with South Island counterpart CRT, which already had considerable feed milling capacity at Rolleston and Winton in the South Island.

“I suppose the rationale is vertical integration… but it is so far away from where the Farmlands model originally

was,” he told Rural News. “They’re just adding another layer of cost.”

That original model was to get the best possible price on inputs and ser-vices for Farmlands members, he says.

“That’s quite different from just being cheaper than PGW. The aim was to keep the cost structure low and pass on the benefit.”

Ritchie stresses he’s not saying the CRT merger is what’s changed Farm-lands, as it had “already gone off the rails a bit with its huge expansion of shops and vehicles” prior to the merger.

Since resigning as a Farmlands direc-tor he’s started taking tenders from multiple organisations for inputs and services to the family’s large-scale crop-ping business in Hawkes Bay, and says the substantial savings he’s now achiev-ing makes him “disappointed” in the

savings he formerly made by buying from Farmlands.

“For exam-ple, we’ve taken $9000 off our phone account by going direct.”

Even after what used to be a sizeable rebate from Farmlands, his business will be considerably better off, he says.

“Our spend with Farmlands is now probably a quarter of a fifth of what it was. It used to be all our business went there regardless. Now we’re putting all our business up for tender.”

ANDREW SWALLOW

[email protected]

Severe storms savage the country

SEVERE SOUTH ISLAND weather blocked access by milk tankers to some suppliers last Tuesday and some West-land and Synlait processing was tempo-rarily affected by power cuts.

However Fonterra, Westland and Synlait all report these problems were quickly resolved.

Fonterra’s general manager of oper-ations South Island, Tim Keir, says the weather in the South Island, particularly in Canterbury, prevented milk tankers accessing some of its suppliers’ farms on Tuesday night. However, with con-ditions clearing on Wednesday they worked quickly to return to a stable milk collection schedule.

Westland milk Products says it responded quickly to challenges pre-sented by Tuesday’s severe storm to maintain milk collection and produc-tion.

The storm cut power to the compa-ny’s Rolleston plant, preventing pro-cessing, and affected part of the plant at Hokitika, which slowed processing.

Briefly this placed pressure on the com-pany’s ability to collect and store milk.

Both on-farm and plant storage capacity is near maximum limits at this time of year and while some farmers faced delays in milk collection, busi-ness rapidly returned to normal, says chief executive Rod Quin. Rolleston and Hokitika plants soon returned to full operation.

Synlait milk says blocked roads and widespread power outage affected some of its Canterbury suppliers. The com-pany worked to ensure normal oper-ations resumed as soon as possible, focusing on trying to collect all milk from farms.

meanwhile, Federated Farmers pres-ident Bruce Wills’ farm in northern Hawke’s Bay was hit hard by the storm last week.

He is due to start lambing this week “but I’ll have fences down, hundreds and hundreds of trees all over the place, over buildings, tracks and fences,” he told Rural News. “That’s farming, I’m not complaining but when you have trees and you live in a windy spot, they create an awful lot of work.”

Wills only heard about his farm from his staff, as he was trapped in Welling-ton with the airport closed. He learned then that damage was not too bad in other parts of Hawkes Bay – only about half a dozen farms on the ridges, includ-ing his, were hit badly.

But he says none of this damage compared to Canterbury. “When you’ve got welfare cases, the power’s out, you can’t pump water to stock, you can’t milk stock – that’s the important stuff.” They were still trying to locate the last of some generators to help out the Can-terbury farmers.

Nevertheless Wills says what he and other farmers are now faced with was something environmentalists don’t appreciate. He would be out for weeks with chainsaws clearing the damage. “This is farming” – droughts, storms, flooding – but Wills says he has more trees than most so he has to accept that.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time trees are great and they do good things for the environment and they are lovely for stock and animals. But they are a lot of work... something environmentalists don’t appreciate.”

@rural_news  facebook.com/ruralnews

Hugh ritchie

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

Page 4: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

rUral NeWs // september 17, 2013

4 news

mPI applauded for its reactionWhile the blackgrass seed spill is a serious threat to arable farming in New Zealand, mpI has to be commended for identifying the contamination and informing the industry, says Federated Farmers mid-Canterbury Grains chair-person, David Clark.

“blackgrass has proved to be one of the toughest weeds to control on european and uK cropping farms. Without specific management, blackgrass can reduce yields in wheat to beyond the point where it is economic to grow the crop and could also put in

jeopardy New Zealand’s lucrative ryegrass seed export business.”

If it established in New Zealand it would mean more chemical use and deeper cultivation to try to keep it in check.

“even then, blackgrass has shown a strong tendency to

develop resistance to a number of different chemical families,” he notes.

In terms of the incursion response, it’s vital no effort is spared, he adds.

“We have just one chance to get this right.”

Noxious weed spill threatens arable sectorSEED OF Europe’s most notorious arable weed, blackgrass, has almost certainly been spilt in Canterbury prompting a cross-industry effort to try to contain the incursion.

The spill is along a 40km stretch of highway from Ashburton to methven, caused by an ill-fitting lid on a steel container on an open truck, mPI response manager David Yard told Rural News.

The blackgrass seed was identified by mPI inspectors in a consignment of fescue seed from Denmark at a transitional facility at Rolleston after import through Lyttelton in may.

The importer, PGG Wrightson, had then, with mPI’s permission, moved the consignment to Ashburton, where it was debagged, put into bins, and transported to methven for cleaning.

“This is where the major mistake occurred,” says Yard. “We had specified it had to be transported in an enclosed vehicle.”

About 28kg of the seedline was lost, which, based on the level of contamination mPI had found, probably contained about an eggcupful of blackgrass seed. “We estimate there would have been about 2100 blackgrass seeds lost.”

mPI germination tests on the blackgrass seed show it has low viability, likely because it was immature at the time of harvest of the fescue. “We anticipate that three or four blackgrass plants [from the spilt seed] will grow this year, and one or two plants in the second year. But those low numbers don’t mean there’s no risk, which is the only thing acceptable to the industry.”

The ministry is working with a range of industry bodies to determine the best course of action. Possibilities include allowing the seeds to grow and trying to identify and destroy any blackgrass plants that establish, before they set seed, and/or spraying the roadsides with selective herbicides.

Yard says he believes a combination of selective herbicide use and subsequent surveillance to be the best bet.

“We are working with scientists at FAR to determine which herbicides we could use. We’ve looked at the research in Denmark and the blackgrass there is resistant to quite a large number of herbicides so we would use that information to decide which selective herbicides we would use.”

Glyphosate or another broad spectrum-type product is an option but such a “scorched-earth” approach isn’t likely, he believes.

Yard says the blackgrass incursion is the only one mPI has recorded and that while there was a mistake in the transportation of the product within New Zealand, the real fault lies with the Danish exporter and authorities, as it was certified as being free from contaminants. “We will be taking this up with the Danish authorities.”

The Foundation for Arable Research says it is working with mPI, Federated Farmers and E-Can on identifying specific areas or properties along the stretch of road most at risk from the spill.

FAR chief executive Nick Pyke says while the volume and viability of the seed spilt was low, given its potential economic impacts it is vital all reasonable steps are taken to prevent establishment.

“Blackgrass, or meadow fox tail, is a serious invasive weed of winter crops in the UK and Europe, where it has developed resistance to many herbicides and is thus very difficult to control in a number of crops. It competes with crops for nutrients, light, water and space, out-competing crops and reducing yields.”

The weed is an annual grass that grows up to 1m tall, ie taller than most winter crops, with hairless leaves, an open sheath and rolled in the bud. The sheaths can be green or purplish and the seed heads are usually reddish-purple in colour, giving the appearance from a distance of black grass.

Blackgrass can mature within 100 days hence early reporting of any suspected incursions is vital, Pyke says.

PGG Wrightson Seeds says the spilt seed was part of a larger consignment of imported seed that was to be returned to its country of origin.

mPI was informed immediately the spill was discovered in late June.

“We are working with mPI and associated parties to determine the appropriate mitigation strategy and are co-operating with mPI’s investigation of the breach,” says PGW Seeds’ group general manager John mcKenzie.

ANDREW SWALLOW

[email protected]

far’s Nick Pyke says it’s vital all steps are taken to prevent establishment.

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Page 5: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

news 5

Losses mount for infant formula exportersSmALL AND medium-size infant formula makers are each losing up to $2 million a week in China as consumer confidence erodes following the false Fonterra botulism scare.

Infant Formula Export-ers Association chairman michael Barnett says con-tracts worth up to $30m have also been either stalled or put at risk. He warns damage to the New Zealand brand in China extends beyond infant for-mula and other milk prod-ucts.

Barnett, taking a del-egation to China next week, says a recovery plan involving government agencies and exporters is needed to rebuild con-sumer confidence and stem losses.

Barnett told Rural News it is unfortunate that exporters have become “collateral damage in the botulism incident”. “They are suffering through no fault of their own,” he says.

The result for them is their China business has ceased and is being taken over by other foreign sup-pliers. “I am aware of busi-

nesses losing millions of dollars each month, so we urgently need to see a change in trust and confi-dence in the New Zealand brand.

“Our people on the ground in China report that European [competi-tors] now see an oppor-tunity to challenge New Zealand’s premium posi-tion as suppliers and are incentivising Chinese buyers to change.”

The Government has outlined an initial plan to rebuild consumer confi-dence in key markets. It includes a $2 million to help small and medium-

size exporters travel to key markets.

Barnett says it’s a signal the Government recog-nises the need for a recov-ery plan. He points out the fund is an assistance pack-age, not compensation. “The strength of balance sheets of small companies operating in the area is not enough to pick up costs so the travel grants will help.”

He expects many infant formula exporters to dip into the fund but the brand damage “cuts across every bit of food-related export business”. “New Zealand’s brand has suf-

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

fered and this can’t go on.”

Barnett hopes to take about 10 export-ers to China. mPI and NZTE officials will be on hand to help. The purpose is to meet with Chi-nese officials, distrib-utors and retailers in Shanghai and Bei-jing to start rebuild-ing trust.

“To do that we

need to front up to our market in China and provide them the confidence and infor-mation they need to convince consumers. If we are to be suc-cessful this is going to take hard work and that can only happen if our exporters and government agen-cies can stand side by side,”

minister for Pri-

mary Industries Nathan Guy says a key compo-nent of the Government’s recovery plan will be an intense round of targeted visits to key markets by mnisters and senior offi-cials once essential techni-cal issues are resolved.

“Our response needs to be fine-tuned and targeted to the particular needs of each key market. We already enjoy close rela-tionships with overseas

regulators at a technical level but where appropri-ate, ministers themselves are prepared to engage to assist resolutions.

“These visits will be complemented by incom-ing visits of overseas min-isters, regulators and media to demonstrate first-hand the robustness and professionalism of New Zealand’s regulatory framework and produc-tion processes.”

small and medium-sized infant formula exporters are losing up to $2 million a week in China, claims michael Barnett.

“It is unfortunate that exporters have become “collateral damage in the botulism incident”. “they are suffering through no fault of their own.”

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Page 6: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

6 news

Drought has dramatic impact on this year’s lamb numbers

THE ImPACT of the severe drought, especially in the North Island earlier this year, will mean nearly two million fewer lambs to go to slaughter this season.

And a survey by Beef + Lamb New Zealand shows a big drop in ewe and hogget numbers.

The survey of 500 sheep and beef farms nationwide shows that while nationally breeding ewe numbers at 20.21 million are down by 1% on the previous year, in the North Island the drop is 2.7%. The biggest decline was in Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. In the South Island, ewe numbers remained almost static. Hogget numbers are also down by 1.3%, the biggest decrease being on the North Island east coast.

The downward trend also continues for the beef sector: beef

cattle numbers are estimated at 3.69 million – down by 1.3% on last year and nearly 4% down on the 2011 figures. Again the biggest fall is in the North Island, the South Island having only a modest decline.

B + L NZ’s executive director, economic service, Rob Davison, says the drought in the North Island posed particular problems because virtually every region was affected and there was nowhere for the stock to go. This resulted in a higher-than-normal slaughter of adult sheep. However, Davison does expect a recovery in the present favourable conditions.

“Because of the drought the numbers have dropped but we expect them to come back up to pre-drought numbers. In the South Island, where most of the dairy growth is at the moment, the question is how much that expansion is going to continue.

“It’s a bit early to say that at the moment, but we know there will

be more conversions there, though this will depend on the granting of resource consents. But we know there is a bit of a bow wave of consents that haven’t been taken up yet so it’ll be interesting to see whether that materialises.”

The drought affected ewe condition and scanning results around the country were variable. But while there may be fewer twins born, Davison believes this will to some degree be offset by heavier single lambs.

What remains unclear is what will happen in the coming months. Clearly some ewe lambs will be retained as replacements and what happens at the saleyards may hinge on climatic conditions. Then there’s the rise and rise of dairying, rolling out on the best sheep finishing country, says Davison – meaning the sheep flock is moving up onto more hill-type country.

B + L NZ is also predicting a lower mutton kill this season. The drought saw all but the best animals retained on farms and Davison expects this season’s mutton kill to be down by about 200,000.

For the same reason, the beef kill – especially the cow kill – will be down this season. Dairy farmers tended to get rid of their culls early because of the drought and tended to cull hard. Davison predicts the cow cull to be down by 3%, steers the same and bull beef holding steady on last season.

PETER BURKE

Beef+lamb’s rob Davison says this year’s lamb crop will be

down by 2 million.

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Page 7: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

news 7

AN EXPERT in hogget mating says many farmers underestimate the true feed requirements of hoggets that have been mated.

massey University’s professor Paul Kenyon told Rural News if a hogget is going to be bred in its first year, many farmers tend to underestimate the animal’s feeding requirements.

As a result, the farmers get caught out because they are dis-appointed in the weight of the lambs or the hoggets at weaning.

“They also get concerned at the number of lambs that survive and how heavy the hogget is. If she ends up being light as a two-tooth this has impacts on her later performance.

“So if farmers really want to get the benefit out of hogget breeding they have to ensure that the first year goes well and that’s all about meeting liveweight targets and feeding her very well.”

Kenyon says that first year sets the scene for the breeding life of a ewe.

“What I would say is if farmers struggle to feed their hoggets enough in pregnancy to gain about 140 grams a day, then they should lift their minimum liveweight at breeding, which means they have got less pressure in pregnancy.

“So instead of having a minimum liveweight of 40kg, if you move that minimum liveweight to 45kg then they’ve only got to gain 100 grams per day during pregnancy, because they have already grown that much better themselves in terms of their own weight and size,” he adds.

More page 37w

PETER BURKE

Hoggets need more feed!

CRAIG HICKSON, managing director of Progressive meats, says this coming season’s lamb kill will be the lowest he can remember.

He reckons you’d to go back to the 1960’s to find such a low kill. But the industry is not in crisis nor is it the end of the world, he says.

“The kill will be 18.6 to 19 million and it will mean there will probably not be a peak to the season – depending on the weather. The kill will be flatter and we’d expect farmers to take their stock through to heavier weights because of the fewer numbers.

“I also think the companies will drop off their lower-paying markets because they won’t need to sell [to them] because they won’t have the

volume. This will assist in lifting the average price paid because the lower-priced markets will be dropped.”

Hickson says the challenge for the sheep and beef industry resembles what’s happening in the dairy industry and other primary sector groups.

“As long as land is being used for other activities, such as horticulture, viticulture and dairying, we’ll see a decline in the sheep and beef industry. This means that in general the returns from sheep and beef farming have to match the returns from the alternative uses and if that happens the decline will be addressed.”

Hickson says he and many of his colleagues are concerned about what’s

happening. One solution is to get an improvement in wool prices. “It’s a long shot to expect lamb to do it all on its own.”

Looking back over the history of the sheep and beef industry, Hickson says it’s much healthier than in the 1970s and early 1980s when there were subsidies for farmers. Though there were many lambs then, many were skinny and prices were not good.

“In a marketing and economic sense, if you produce more of something it becomes more plentiful and… and less valuable. So you have to have the right balance of supply and demand to maintain

the price.” Hickson says the drought

affected New Zealand’s low cost production system based on feeding animals grass; any variation in grass growth will have inevitable consequences.

We will survive – exporter

Craig Hickson

ATV Spring Deal Rural News Advert.indd 1 9/12/2013 10:51:26 AM

Page 8: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

8 news

Lower lamb kill not all bad – Petersen

Despite the drop in lamb crop, mike Petersen says NZ is still a serious global trader.

THE LOW lamb kill could see farmers get better prices for their animals this season, according to Beef and Lamb chair mike Petersen.

He told Rural News that the drop in lamb num-bers is not just a New Zea-land issue and that globally there will be about five million lambs less. This, he says, will certainly tighten supply and is good news for farmers.

Petersen says he’s aware that the drop in overall sheep numbers in New Zealand is giving rise to fears that the country is losing ‘critical mass’ in terms of sheep.

“I don’t see that as being an issue at all. In fact, we seem to be settling into a number which produces between 18 and 21 million lambs. From that point of view, we are still a serious

global player and still the biggest cross border trader in lamb,” he added

“I don’t think we are losing critical mass. The issue is, of course, that it makes it more difficult for our processing compa-nies with excess capacity to manage lower num-bers again and that’s going to see some procurement tension. I have no doubt about that and maybe in the short term farmers might benefit, but in the long term that has to be addressed.”

Petersen says one of the major issues raised in the Red meat Sector Strategy (RmSS) was the need for a ‘behavioural change’ by all those involved in the meat industry in respect to the ‘efficient aligned procure-ment’ of stock. He admits that with fewer lambs around, the odds of effect-ing such a change is harder.

“I don’t think the com-

PETER BURKE

panies are going to be silly about this in the coming season. They are talking about ‘sensible procure-ment’. You have to remem-ber that balance sheets aren’t strong in the meat industry. I think there will

be tension, but I ‘m not expecting a ‘procurement war’ as such where people will be paying dramatically over the top,” he says.

The other issue that’s seen as a problem for the meat industry is the expan-

sion of the dairy industry. Petersen says this is going to continue and is just the reality of the economics of farming.

“I have never been one to be overly concerned about that. I look at some of the performances hill country sheep and beef farmers are putting out now especially the top per-formers. They are getting outstanding results on hill country that we could pre-viously only dream about

on flat country. “You can’t fight dairy-

ing. The other thing is if sheep and beef farming is enjoyable and farmers get satisfaction and reason-able returns from it; then many will stay as sheep and beef farmers.

Petersen quips that he hasn’t met very many sheep and beef farmers who want to be dairy farm-ers.

the weather seems set play a hand in prices for store lambs in the coming season with few people willing to say where prices might go.

mike petersen believes the whole issue is ‘grass dependent’ and says it’s possible there will be less store lambs available as farmers re-stock after last season’s drought.

He says that last season’s drought was unusual because virtually the

whole country was affected and there was nowhere for stock to go.

pGG Wrightson’s livestock manager in the manawatu/Horow-henua, maurice stewart agrees the weather will play a big part in what might happen. He points out that in many parts of the hill country in the central North Island problems are looming.

stewart claims, in some areas,

another drought is on the horizon because of recent strong drying winds and lack of warm rain. He adds that on some farms there is no cattle tucker.

stewart says yardings for both cattle and sheep are good at Feilding. He says for the last 8 weeks between 1000 and 1200 cattle have been up for sale with sheep numbers between 12,000 and 20,000.

What’s in store?

“You can’t fight dairying. the other thing is if sheep and beef farming is enjoyable and farmers get satisfaction and reasonable returns from it; then many will stay as sheep and beef farmers.”

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Page 9: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

news 9Meatworkers face a lean season

GrAHAm COOKe says the meat Workers union shares many of the concerns raised by the meat Industry excellence group (mIe).

His organisation has spoken with mIe leaders and it has similar views on what is happening and what needs to happen in the meat industry.

Cooke says the union has major reservations about where the industry is heading. meat companies are still competing with each other and “they don’t stop still and are always looking to take an advantage over another company.”

the industry needs behavioural and structural change, Cooke says.

“I am not advocating a Fonterra-type structure, but… when you compare the two industries – dairy and meat – if the meat industry had done what dairy did

20 years ago, wow the industry would be taking on world markets instead of taking on each other’s.

“We take each other on at the farm-gate, we take each other on in the indus-trial arena and then we take each other in the international markets. It’s just a recipe for disaster and a continuing one at that.”

Cooke, involved in the sector since 1968, has press clippings about the issues of that era. today’s issues are no different from nearly 50 years ago, he says.

“Our union has been saying for some time that we are more interested in an industry solution than what is carrying on at the moment. Our members don’t enjoy coming to work doing two hours a day while their counterparts down the road are also doing two hours.”

Continuing recipe for disaster

mANY mEATWORKERS are ‘subsisting’ and strug-gling to make ends meet, says the general secre-tary of the meat Workers Union, Graham Cooke.

His comments follow news that the lamb kill will be down by as many as two million lambs. Cooke told Rural News that last sea-son’s drought will severely affect the 23,000 mem-bers of his union, which recently began sorting the

implications of the lower lamb numbers available for slaughter.

Ironically, says Cooke, last season’s drought had some upsides for his members with the higher mutton and cow kill up at certain peak times. But the situation will reverse this season.

“On the shoulders of the season they had longer layoffs and got more short time. So in other words where they are contracted to do eight hours a day, they might have only got

six – or even as little as three hours’ work and, in some cases, no work,” he explained.

“So that’s where the bigger impact is on the shoulders of the season. We’ve had discussions around our executive table and came to the conclu-sion very early on… that this season is not going to be a good one.”

Like many others dependent on the sheep and beef sector, Cooke knows what’s happening in dairying.

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

“I was recently down in Southland and I saw a massive increase. Ten years ago on the coast road from Invercargill, there were only about ten dairy farms. Now you just see more and more dairy farms going in and the conversion to dairying is of major concern to meat workers.

“Ok, meatworkers get the benefit on the beef side of the operation with more cows being slaugh-tered, and obviously there are a few more bobby calves that give our mem-

bers work in the off-sea-son. But our big concern

is the steady fall in the number of breeding ewes.”

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Page 10: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

10 news

More science, please!

GOVERNmENT DEPART-mENTS and agencies have been castigated by the Government’s chief sci-ence advisor for failing to use good quality robust science when formulating policy.

Sir Peter Gluckman, in a report, calls on depart-ments to appoint their own science advisors to improve the process and to improve their commu-nication of science related issues. He notes that mPI is one of few agencies to have its own independent, science advisor.

Gluckman notes in his report that “worryingly some officials have limited understanding of the sci-entific process of knowl-edge production or were uncertain about it. They were not clear on how research based evidence could be used to support policy formation”.

“Some [policy makers] preferred to work from their own beliefs or rely on their own experience. At its extreme, I find this deficiency to be unaccept-able.”

The report praises mPI for “improving the qual-ity of its policy forma-tion processes”, and says

it’s encouraging to see the department has given pri-ority to the use of “evi-dence-informed advice”.

While mPI gets some kudos, Gluckman points to the “unevenness across government regard-ing departmental use of and respect for research derived evidence”. The

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

report points the finger at them for their “inconsis-tent” approach and proce-dures, and notes there is a lack of whole-of-govern-ment guidelines or proto-cols for expert scientific advice.

Gluckman calls on government agencies to develop communication policies that promote and maximise openness and transparency on scientific matters.

Overall, the report calls into question what

many organisations deal-ing with government have been saying for years: that policy is being dreamed up by individuals with little knowledge or understand-ing of the implications of their policies. Some go as far as suggesting some policy papers are “univer-sity essays in drag” and bear little relation to the reality of the real world. Government ministers are believed to be perplexed by some of the policy papers presented to them.

sir Peter Gluckman

Wake-up call on food safety

FONTERRA AND food safety can never be the same again: it has to be better, says Federated Farmers chief executive Conor English.

“It has been a big wake-up call and there are a whole lot of questions on accountability,” English told Rural News. “The way you have to look at it it’s an opportu-nity to reposition New Zealand again, but the damage has been significant.”

English says neither the DCD issue nor the food safety scares were handled well. “The cumulative effect of this adds up and now the integrity of New Zealand is being called into question, rightly or wrongly, and so we absolutely have to up our game.”

It was both a food safety issue and a communication issue, English says. “There was obviously stuff happen-ing at a particular factory, issues around the testing and how it was handled in the whole public arena.”

English says the inquiries, particularly the ministe-rial inquiry which will be independent, will hopefully get to the facts of what did or didn’t happen. “Some-thing will be learnt and implemented. I was on The Nation and there was a guy from the Chinese embassy who just said ‘three strikes and you are out’.”

English says we are now on strike two. “We abso-lutely cannot afford to mishandle these things. Our trade patterns have shifted dramatically, so quickly and we have to adapt.

“Whether it is the exporters and/or the Govern-ment, we need more resources where the trade is hap-pening. So I think the trade flows have shifted but the resources haven’t necessarily shifted in line with that.

“So you are seeing, for example, mPI putting more people into China now. It’s our number-one market; a couple of years ago it wasn’t. It’s been a dramatic change.”

People forget Europe and America were not the easiest markets. “There have always been issues from time to time, so you just had to adapt. The customer is always right.”

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

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Page 11: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

news 11

Kiwi, Aussie avocado growers snuggle up

COLLABORATION WAS a major theme at an Aus-tralasian avocado growers’ conference last week – even to the extent of work-ing together with Aussie competitors.

But cooperation would also lead to a solution to the New Zealand avocado industry’s major stum-bling block to boosting productivity – the bien-nial bearing problem, says NZ Avocado Grow-ers Association chairman Ashby Whitehead. many orchards in New Zealand are only productive every second year.

Whitehead told Rural News that Plant and Food Research and the avo-cado industry collabo-rated to gain a $4 million research grant, announced about two weeks’ ago, to drive productivity and find solutions for growers on orchards. The industry will also contribute about $500,000 over five years.

“It will mainly look at on-orchard productivity; our main Achilles’ heel is the biennial nature of the avocado tree in New Zea-land, so it will look at miti-gating that,” he says. “If we can get constant supply in market we would be a lot better off than the ups and

down we have.”Whitehead deliv-

ered his first speech as chairman of both the NZ growers’ association and Avocado Industry Coun-cil. He was elected to both positions this year. The take-out message from his speech is “the growers need to up their produc-tivity and work together; we will find the solutions to the biennial bearing problem in conjunction with Plant and Food and also on-orchard, because there are some orchards in New Zealand that aren’t biennial.

“So we need to work more collaboratively amongst ourselves… the whole industry needs to be united for a common goal.”

About 440 people attended the fifth New Zealand and Australian Avocado Growers’ Confer-ence in Tauranga which is held here only every eight years. About 70 Australian representatives turned up, and there were 15-20 speakers, exhibitors or delegates from the United States or South Africa.

NZ Avocado Growers Association chief exec-utive Jen Scoular says although we compete with Australia in market, dis-cussion emerged to say ‘let’s look to see if we can

collaborate rather than compete’. There was also talk of sharing research across a number of coun-tries.

Networking at local level also emerged. “Growers are saying I haven’t met this grower who is in my region before; I’d like to talk to him about what he is doing and I would like to share the innovation I’m doing,” says Scoular.

“On the produc-tion side there’s a huge range of possibility across orchards. What we are saying is let’s look at the most successful export-

ers, find out what they are doing and look at how we can do that across all orchards.”

Scoular says although it was a growers’ confer-ence, discussion moved up several notches to ask where “avocados fit in the global need for healthy safe food and how can we meet those global expec-tations”.

An example from among 50 world-class speakers was a US research presentation on the nutritional attributes of Hass avocados includ-ing potential for helping reduce obesity and blood

pressure. “These find-ings enabled us to think differently about how we market avocados and how avocados meet consumer needs for foods that are

very healthy,” says Scoular.Avocados earn $60-$80

million annually includ-ing $20 million in the New Zealand market.

They are the third-

largest fresh fruit export. Scoular says in a strat-egy with Government the industry aims to treble export volume and qua-druple value by 2025.

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

NZ avocado Growers association chief executive Jen scoular says there was talk of trans-tasman cooperation.

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Page 12: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

A mAJOR infant formula maker has welcomed the Government’s $2 million ‘war chest’ to win back reputation in key export markets tarnished by the false botulism scare.

GmP Pharmaceuticals, making about 300,000 cans of infant formula every month for 20 cus-tomers, says it will help convince consumers that New Zealand products are the safest in the world.

GmP New Zealand chief executive minesh Patel says consumer con-fidence in China, a key market, is very low. It has affected mostly small companies. “New Zealand made product off-take

from shelves is very slow,” he told Rural News.

According to Patel, New Zealand infant for-mula are mostly small brands sold in second-ary cities and smaller towns where consumers are not well educated and are influenced by tradi-tional media like cable TV or local newspapers. Local Chinese media have been carrying negative stories about New Zealand infant formula.

However, in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, consumers are more educated and follow international media. Patel says these consumers understand New Zealand’s safety-first approach. But these large markets are captured by big multina-

tionals.The new $2 million

market Connections Fund will help dairy export-ers travel to key markets to help rebuild reputation and trust with partners, distributors and consum-ers.

Announcing the fund last week, Trade minister Tim Groser said a coordi-nated, all-of-Government response is needed.

“New Zealand’s highest priority is to protect the safety of consumers. The Government will be work-ing in close consultation with affected New Zealand companies to help rebuild trust with their in-market partners and customers.

“We need to restore full access to those mar-kets where restrictions

have been put in place, re-establish confidence in the robustness of our food safety system, and reaf-firm the positive image of New Zealand brands.”

Patel agrees it’s cru-cial to convince con-sumers that New Zealand products are safe. “New Zealand has shown its honesty and consumer safety-first approach.

“Without looking at consequences, Fonterra went public. I do not think many countries or compa-nies would do this.

“We have to pass on this message to consum-ers worldwide, convince them that New Zealand products are the safest in the world.”

A key component of

the recovery plan will be an intense programme of targeted visits to key mar-kets by Government min-isters and senior officials once essential technical

issues are resolved. “Face-to-face contact

will be crucial to Govern-ment and businesses. We can’t allow this incident to halt the growth of our food

export industry, particu-larly our innovative small and medium size compa-nies,” says Groser.

12 news$2 million war chest to help infant formula makers win back consumers

market recovery action plan❱❱ Intensify engagement with food safety authorities in overseas markets,

including a proposed visit to China during september by the acting director-general of mpI, to address restrictive measures and to restore normal trading conditions.

❱❱ use opportunities for ministerial engagement to reinforce at high levels the messages conveyed to food safety authorities.

❱❱ Organise visits to New Zealand by ministers, senior regulators and media from key overseas markets, to improve their knowledge of, and confidence in, New Zealand’s food regulatory systems.

❱❱ utilise existing regular official dialogues, such as those established under the NZ/China FtA, to explain how New Zealand’s regulatory systems work.

❱❱ use high level political events – including the east Asia summit, ApeC and the WtO ministerial Conference – to talk with ministers representing key markets.

❱❱ utilise, and potentially add to, cooperation agreements in place with key markets including China.

❱❱ provide support from New Zealand government agencies offshore to New Zealand exporters to assist them in meetings with overseas customers and commercial partners.

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

@rural_newsfacebook.com/ruralnews

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Page 13: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

news 13

Wandering stock endangering lives

THE NEW Zealand Trans-port Agency (NZTA) is reminding farmers about keeping their properties secure to prevent stock from wondering onto roads.

Wandering stock are a serious danger to motor-ists in rural areas and the NZTA is reminding land-owners of their responsi-bility to ensure that land is securely fenced to pre-vent animals straying onto roads, where they can cause serious crashes.

NZTA statistics show that between 2008 and 2012 there were 1388 crashes caused by live-stock on roads: three motorists died and 44 were seriously injured.

One problem area is Northland where NZTA manager Jacqui Hori-

Hoult says her office receives more complaints about wandering stock than any other type of highway incident. She gets about 50 calls every month from motorists and resi-dents concerned about livestock running loose roads.

“When farm animals escape and stray onto a highway or road, they [endanger] all road users. In the five years between 2008/12, there were 146 crashes in Northland involving farm animals that had strayed onto the roads and highways. Four crashes involved serious injury, 21 minor injuries and 121 were non-injury,” she told Rural News.

Hori-Hoult says the NZTA is writing to land-owners in areas where animals have been found wandering, to remind them of their responsibil-

ities. “People who own stock

have to ensure their land is securely fenced to pre-vent animals straying onto the highway. Besides an economic loss if an animal is injured, stock owners can face prosecution by the police or the risk of a civil case from someone injured in a crash. NZTA

may also recover costs for herding or impounding animals that have strayed onto highway reserves.”

Hori-Hoult says in places like Northland many tourist travellers are not familiar with our rural roads and the hazards associated with them.

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

@rural_newsfacebook.com/ruralnews

in brief

foNterra DIreCtors and chief executive theo spierings visited China last week to meet staff and stakeholders.

Chairman John Wilson says the board had already planned to visit China in early september for talks and to view progress on fonterra’s farming hub in Yutian.

“Now that it has been confirmed there was no Clostridium botulinum in our whey protein concentrate, we need to address any remaining concerns our stakeholders in China might have,” he says.

“the feedback we have been getting is that people believe we did the right thing in initiating the precautionary recall, but at the same time we want to provide every assurance about our food safety and quality systems and processes.”

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Page 15: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

news 15

Fonterra’s Chinese expansion continuesFONTERRA IS march-ing on with its growth strategy in China. It has announced a second farm-ing hub of five 3000-cow farms, in Ying County, Shanxi Province. Its first was in Hebei Province in 2007.

The co-op says the second farm hub is expected to begin pro-ducing in the second half of 2014 and is the next step in a strat-egy to produce one billion litres of milk in China by 2020. Strate-gic partners are sought for the development.

Fonterra’s head of greater China and India operations, Kelvin Wick-ham, says the project is a key part of a strategy to become a more inte-grated dairy business in China and to contribute to the growth and develop-ment of the Chinese dairy industry.

“Having secured the right location in the Shanxi province we are now able to approach potential strategic part-ners,” he says.

“Ying County provides an ideal environment for us to expand our farming operations due to its new agricultural zone, prox-imity to customers and the high quality supply of animal feed available in surrounding areas.”

Fonterra will employ at least 500 people in Ying County, about 75% of them locals.

The second hub builds on existing investment in

Hebei Province and will help to meet customer and consumer demand for fresh milk, Wickham says.

“Raw milk supply growth in China has been about 2% over the past three years but demand is growing at 6% to 8%. So there are significant

opportunities for Fonterra to help bridge this supply gap by growing our own domestic milk supply in China and continuing to import our finished dairy products.”

When fully operational, Fonterra’s two hubs will together produce up to 300 million litres of milk per year.

“The new Ying County farm hub is a significant step forward in our stra-tegic plans in China,” says Wickham.

“We have received strong support from many levels of government in China and we are look-ing forward to continuing to build partnerships with our local communities in Shanxi Province and Hebei Province over the

coming year.”Fonterra has extended

its farmer training pro-gramme to Shanxi to

support the new hub development and to build the strength and capability of the local industry.

fonterra’s head of China and India Kelvin Wickham.

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fonterra’s second hub of five 3000-cow farms will be based in shanxi Province.

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Page 16: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

16 news

LIC spending big to improveEARLY ESTImATIONS of genomic selection of bulls fell short of expec-tations, but intense work over the last six months has increased reliability to 55-60%, says LIC general manager R&D, Dr Richard Spelman.

LIC is spending $2-4 million annu-ally to make genomic selection better and aims to reach 65% reliability, says Spelman.

Daughter-proven, with 80 daughters, has 82-85% reliability but it takes five-six years for daughter-proven to come through, Spelman told Rural News. Genomic selection can be used at one year, so there’s a four year speed-up.

When LIC first marketed genon-ically selected sires it thought they would have a 20-40 BW advantage over the daughter-proven team. This fell short of expectations. But the research team has made significant progress and

is now confident its genomic estima-tions are unbiased and it has increased reliability to 55%-60%.

“A phenomena we continue to see with genomic technology is that the statistical methodology we have at the moment has been biased in its estima-tion, ie the genomic estimates have been higher than the true genetic merit of the animals. That’s really hurt us in our selections we have been making and the product we have been selling to our farmers,” Spelman says.

In September new methodology will come in place. NZAEL (New Zealand Animal Evaluation) will cease generat-ing its genomic evaluation and LIC will operate genomic evaluation for LIC ani-mals and likewise CRV for its animals.

LIC has also changed its marketing. Its top genomically selected bulls now join its top daughter-proven bulls in The Forward Pack. The genomically selected bulls have a $5 premium and have BW 10-15 points better, on average, than

their daughter-proven contemporaries. Combining the young with the proven bulls provides farmers with good reli-ability and high BW.

“There will always be reranking of the bulls as they go through the season but LIC expects 55-60% of the bulls will graduate as daughter-proven.”

Earlier Spelman said the Americans have genotyped about 30,000 bulls and 250,000 cows compared to New Zealand’s 7000-8000 bulls and 60,000 dairy cows. The Americans report a reli-ability of about 75% but Spelman thinks this well overstated. He believes that will come back to a more realistic value, probably the high 60s.

Four European countries have gen-otyped about 24,000 bulls: they report reliability of 65-67%. “We think that is where we will end up over time,” he says.

Recently LIC researchers have found two genes: the first a spontaneous mutation which occurred in a sire called

Halcyon and which was passed to his son, matrix, Spel-man says. What became known as the matrix muta-tion is a dominant defect so half of all progeny received the gene from matrix and also had the same pheno-type.

more recently LIC discovered a recessive gene which has been in the dairy herd for at least 100 years and is one of the causes of small calves born in Holstein Friesian herds.

“All humans have between 100 and 120 loss-of-function genetic varia-tions. Two people with the same vari-ation could result in offspring with an abnormality. In the same way, bovine

animals have genetic variations which have effects. Genomic technology pro-vides us with a way to find out what is what.

“What this means is that organisa-tions like LIC will continue to uncover variations which have been in the bovine population for years and give tools to farmers so they can avoid those matings and progressively breed these defects out of the national herd.”

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

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Page 17: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

news 17

FAst brOADbAND is critical if agriculture wants to attract young people into the regions, says english.

“they won’t come if we don’t have it. We are competing for people and demographically on the supply side we’ve got a bit of a challenge. We need that broadband and telecommunications stuff so we can get younger people into the regions.”

the technology will also enable the next wave of productivity – whether to reduce our carbon footprint or improve profitability, he says. “that whole area of precision farming is reliant on broad-band and telecommunications. We need as good a service and coverage in as cost effective a way as possible.

“rural broadband and telecommunications should be the priority if you want to double your exports.”

rural broadband should have priority over urban as the deficit is greater, the market is harder because people live further apart and the benefit is greater.

the $300 million rural broadband Initiative is now in its third year and runs for six years, but it should roll over after that, says english. “If the government of the day is serious about doubling exports in the primary sector, that investment needs to keep going.”

a must to attract young talent

Rural win in spectrum sell-off – Feds

RURAL COmmUNI-TIES have scored a win for mobile phone services and fast broadband in the auc-tion details of the band spectrum freed up by the switchover to digital tele-vision, says Federated Farmers chief executive Conor English.

The 700mHz spectrum will be used by mobile net-work operators to build 4G network infrastructure and the Government will

auction the spectrum from late October.

Auction details just released stipulate that successful bidders will be required to upgrade at least 75% of their existing rural 2G and 3G cell sites using the 700mHz spec-trum within five years.

English says this requirement was not in the initial proposals by Government. Federated Farmers submitted that the successful competi-tor should be required to use the spectrum in rural

areas. “So that’s a new

requirement – it wasn’t there previously – which says whoever wins must put it on to at least 75% of their existing rural towers; so that is going to push

it further out into rural areas. That is what we wanted to see so we have made some gains.”

The Government spent $157 million clearing the 700NHz band to allow the spectrum to be used

for 4G mobile networks. It will sell frequencies in the band in nine lots, each with a reserve price of $22 million on management rights for 18 years. The auction starts on Octo-ber 29.

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

federated farmers chief executive Conor english.

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Page 18: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

18 newsResearch hotel reinvents science wheel

A ‘RESEARCH hotel’ set up recently near Devon, southwest England, rein-vents a science ‘wheel’ New Zealanders are famil-

iar with. The North Wyke Farm

Research Platform is in some ways a creature from the past, but using modern technologies and tech-niques.

Dr Phil murray, who

heads the station, in New Zealand earlier this year told Rural News the focus of the research station is on ‘sustainable intensifi-cation’. This buzzword is echoing around the UK and EU.

Essentially, says murray, the idea is to pro-duce enough food for everybody but in a sustain-able way. It’s about trade-offs.

North Wyke, opened a year ago, consists of three

20ha sheep and beef farm-lets, managed differently, so British and overseas scientists can devise ways to increase production but manage environmen-tal impacts. The farm is set up to maximise the oppor-tunities for monitoring just about everything that moves and doesn’t move.

For example, the drains on the farm have been dug and built so that all run-off passes through moni-toring equipment. Says murray, “We monitor everything: water quality, which includes all the pol-lutants and nutrients we are losing, the sediment that comes from the fields, air quality and greenhouse gases.

“We are measuring animal production, grass quality and grass produc-tion. But [unusually] we are monitoring the eco-nomic aspect – the farm management aspect: how many man hours, how much diesel we use, how many tractor hours it takes for each operation.”

But while North Wyke is a research station, murray says the farmlets are run no differently from a normal farm. “We work with farmer groups in the local areas who feed back to us if we are doing some-

thing silly. Equally we can bounce ideas off them. Farmer reaction is posi-tive. They see the value in it and what we are trying to do, and they want to learn from us.”

murray says by this process, research will be ‘road tested’ before it reaches farmers – a huge advantage. Definite research findings will be some time in coming. The present focus is on setting up baselines for future research.

Notably, North Wyke is reinventing the science wheel. The UK, like New Zealand, did away with many of its integrated research stations in favour of individuals working on specific subjects, with little attention paid to integration. That is now changing.

“The old research farms, like we used to have, were not as instru-mented and monitored as they are today. In the sci-ence there’s been a lot of work looking at effects on individual animals or crops,” murray explains. “But putting it together in a system or a more holistic view is the way we need to look forward and it helps farmers pick up knowl-edge.”

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

Dr Phil murray says focus of the research station is ‘sustainable intensification’.

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Page 20: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

20 world

aussie going to the dogs

AUSTRALIAN WILD dogs running amok, savaging sheep in many regions, are in the sights of officials.

A draft plan proposes national and state coordination and best practice standards to kill them. 1080 has been effective on some farms but its use has been patchy, says the ABC.

WoolProducers Australia says the plan aims is to promote and support community-driven action for landscape-scale wild dog culling.

It addresses national priorities, drives innovation, builds partnerships and seeks to achieve broad-scale out-comes by harnessing work already being undertaken to kill wild dogs nation-wide and to coordinate this nationally. A 14-strong committee comprising industry, government, animal welfare and research organisations has guided the development of the draft.

WoolProducers Australia president

Geoff Power says the plan will guide implementation of a nationally agreed framework focussing on a strategic and risk-based approach to wild dog slaugh-ter.

“It will emphasise humane, safe and effective [killing] techniques and the mitigation of the impacts of wild dogs at appropriate scales,” Power says.

Wild dog incursions are devastat-ing the sheep, cattle and goat indus-tries. The animals have become a major pest in urban areas with cross-breed-ing between traditional wild dogs and domesticated dogs.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data show the Queensland sheep flock has fallen from 14 million in the 1980s to less than four million in 2007-08.

WoolProducers Australia says while there are a range of reasons why graziers are getting out of sheep, in a large pro-portion of cases the decision is due to the impact or threat of wild dog preda-tion.

ALAN HARMAN

US to become dairy exporter?THE UNITED States dairy industry is turning its attention outside its own borders and could emerge as a significant competitor to NZ and Australia in inter-national export markets, a visiting global dairy expert has cautioned.

Rabobank’s New York-based global dairy strate-gist Tim Hunt – recently in Australia present-ing to local industry – says the United States, long focussed on its own domestic market, is reori-enting towards the global market place, attracted by the allure of better returns across some product cat-egories.

Until recent times, the entire US dairy indus-try had been dedicated to servicing its own lucra-tive and growing domestic market, with countries like NZ and Australia trying to gain access through bilat-

eral trade agreements.“Historically, the US

dairy industry lived in a fortress,” Hunt said.

“It had a very large, affluent domestic market, which grew strongly and had very high prices. It was pro-tected from the international market by high tariff barriers and had gov-ernment support.

“But US dairy market growth has slowed in recent years, while the commodity price boom has seen international prices rise above domestic US market prices, making export returns more allur-ing for US dairy players.”

This, in effect, was turning the US from ‘the hunted to the hunter’ as

its dairy industry sought to compete in the more attractive global market-place, Hunt said.

“The US dairy industry is becoming increasingly cost com-petitive in export mar-kets due to a combination of its large-scale farm operations, easing feed costs and a

lower US dollar, while it is also beginning to align products to suit the global market,” he said.

mr Hunt said US dairy exports had already begun to steadily grow as a result, with, for example, milk powder exports increas-ing from about 300,000 tonnes in 2007 to 500,000 tonnes in 2012, and cheese exports going from about

100,000 tonnes to more than 250,000 tonnes in the same period.

But Hunt added it was not all smooth sailing for the US as they reoriented towards world markets, with a number of obstacles to overcome.

“With the entire US dairy industry having developed to service the domestic market, they are not aligned to the require-ments of exporting dairy,” he said. “Essentially, they have the wrong plants and they make the wrong products for global market exports. In addition, US regulation makes export-ing hard for the industry.”

And there are also market access and cus-tomer relationship issues, Hunt said. “The US dairy industry doesn’t have good access to several impor-tant markets and they also have relatively weak rela-

tionships with offshore customers,” he said.

However, progress is being made towards the US becoming a better exporter. “Plants are being tweaked to make export products and new plants are being built to service export

markets,” Hunt said.“market access is

improving and rela-tionships with offshore customers are being strengthened.”

And with Australia largely having lost its cost of production advantage in world dairy markets, it

will be increasingly likely to compete head-to-head with the US in coming years, Hunt warned.

“maintaining Austra-lia’s edge in post-farmgate processing and market-ing will be crucial to sus-taining returns on fram,” he said.

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Page 21: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

world 21

Trade deals high on Abbott’s agenda

prIme mINIster John Key is looking forward to working with incoming Australian prime minister tony Abbott.

“We will have several opportunities to meet over the next few months to discuss how our two countries can continue to work together.

“Australia is our most important relationship. Our common interests span trade, economic, defence and security matters and we cooperate closely in our region and on the international stage.”

Key ready to work with aussie Pm

THE INCOmING Coali-tion Government in Aus-tralia intends to revitalise free trade negotiations in key markets.

During the election campaign, incoming Prime minister Tony Abbott noted his country lagged behind New Zealand when it came to FTAs.

He pointed out New Zealand had started and concluded an FTA with China while Australia’s negotiations were stalled for eight years.

“That’s not good enough. New Zealand agricultural exports to China are booming while ours are just ticking over. If Australia was serious about being a foodbowl for Asia in the future, the government had to con-clude lingering FTAs and improve trade condi-tions.”

The Coalition’s agri-culture policy pre-elec-tion included completing an FTA for “a meaningful outcome for agriculture”. Other funding promises were $A100m in R&D, $A15m in helping small

exporters meet the costs of trade, and $A100m for better mobile phone cov-erage in rural communi-ties.

Australian farmers want the incoming Federal Government to turn its promises into action. The National Farmers Federa-tion says agriculture must remain a priority.

NFF president Duncan Fraser says it is ready to work with Abbott and col-leagues to ensure farm-ing remains profitable and competitive.

“The NFF has made it clear in the leadup to the election where the pri-orities for food, fibre and agriculture lie… inno-vation, research, devel-opment and extension (RD&E); that we continue to ensure agriculture is globally competitive; that the farming workforce is developed to address the growing labour shortages in the sector; and ensuring natural resources are man-aged while increasing agri-cultural production.

“The need for agricul-ture to be reprioritised on the national agenda remains as strong as ever…. It is now time for

the Coalition government to turn their promises into action.”

Shadow Agriculture minister John Cobb is expected to be named the new agriculture minister. Cobb is a member of the

Nationals, the junior part-ner in the Coalition. The Nationals represent Aus-tralia’s rural constituents.

Last week, Abbott con-firmed Nationals leader Warren Truss will be the deputy prime minister

and infrastructure minis-ter. Deputy Liberal leader Julia Bishop will be foreign affairs minister.

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

Incoming Pm tony abbott wants to stitch up more ftas for australian farmers.

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Page 22: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

Market snapshot laMb Market trendsbeef Market trends

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

Andrew WoodPalmerston North

Bill Hodgson Dunedin

Jeremy MacAvoy Ashburton

Peter Young Hawke’s Bay

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

MeatMeatMeatMeat North IslandNorth IslandNorth IslandNorth Island South IslandSouth IslandSouth IslandSouth Island

c/kgCWTChangeChangeChangeChange

c/kgLast Last Last Last WeekWeekWeekWeek

ChangeChangeChangeChangec/kg

Last Last Last Last WeekWeekWeekWeek

LambLambLambLamb - PM 16.0kg +10+10+10+10 5.585.585.585.58 +10+10+10+10 5.585.585.585.58

SteerSteerSteerSteer - P2 300kg +5+5+5+5 4.704.704.704.70 n/c 4.354.354.354.35

BullBullBullBull - M2 300kg n/c 4.504.504.504.50 n/c 4.154.154.154.15

VenisonVenisonVenisonVenison - AP 60kg +15+15+15+15 7.207.207.207.20 +10+10+10+10 7.407.407.407.40

North Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceNorth Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceNorth Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceNorth Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$4.5

$5.5

$6.5

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

5yr AveLast YearThis Year

South Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceSouth Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceSouth Island 16.0kg M Lamb PriceSouth Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$4.5

$5.5

$6.5

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

North Island 300kg Bull PriceNorth Island 300kg Bull PriceNorth Island 300kg Bull PriceNorth Island 300kg Bull Price

$3.7

$4.2

$4.7

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

South Island 300kg Steer PriceSouth Island 300kg Steer PriceSouth Island 300kg Steer PriceSouth Island 300kg Steer Price

$3.5

$4.0

$4.5

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

North Island 60kg Stag PriceNorth Island 60kg Stag PriceNorth Island 60kg Stag PriceNorth Island 60kg Stag Price

$6.0

$6.5

$7.0

$7.5

$8.0

$8.5

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

South Island 60kg Stag PriceSouth Island 60kg Stag PriceSouth Island 60kg Stag PriceSouth Island 60kg Stag Price

$6.0

$6.5

$7.0

$7.5

$8.0

$8.5

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

BEEF PRICES

c/kgCWT Change Last Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

NI P2 Steer - 300kg +5 4.70 4.65 4.27

M2 Bull - 300kg n/c 4.50 4.50 4.30

P2 Cow - 230kg n/c 3.65 3.65 3.70

M Cow - 200kg n/c 3.55 3.55 3.60

Local Trade - 230kg +5 4.80 4.75 4.40

SI P2 Steer - 300kg n/c 4.35 4.35 4.20

M2 Bull - 300kg n/c 4.15 4.15 4.00

P2 Cow - 230kg n/c 3.10 3.10 3.30

M Cow - 200kg n/c 2.95 2.95 3.10

Local Trade - 230kg n/c 4.50 4.50 4.40

NZ Slaughter Total Monthly Kill

1000s Change Jul Jun Last Year 5yr Ave

Cattle NI -33% 86,426 129,288 82,808 95,399

Cattle SI -60% 23,153 58,383 23,620 24,104

Cattle NZ -42% 109,579 187,671 106,428 119,503

Bull NI -51% 11,179 22,924 11,998 12,950

Bull SI -84% 1,023 6,382 1,226 1,731

Str NI -35% 26,982 41,453 27,236 28,465

Str SI -28% 10,114 14,094 9,794 9,035

Cows NI -40% 22,522 37,422 19,609 26,231

Cows SI -79% 5,295 25,691 5,188 6,125

Export Market Demand

Change Last Week 2 Wks Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

95CL US$/lb n/c 1.92 1.92 2.13 1.81

NZ$/kg +16 5.40 5.24 5.78 5.33

Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks Ago 3 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

% Returned NI -2% 83.3% 84.9% 74.41% 76.3%

% Returned SI -3% 76.9% 80.2% 69.2% 69.7%

NZ Weekly Beef KillNZ Weekly Beef KillNZ Weekly Beef KillNZ Weekly Beef Kill

0

20

40

60

80

May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

Last Year

This Year

Demand Indicator - US 95CL BeefDemand Indicator - US 95CL BeefDemand Indicator - US 95CL BeefDemand Indicator - US 95CL Beef

$1.80

$2.00

$2.20

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.

60%

70%

80%

Jun Aug Oct

Last YearThis Year

Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.

60%

70%

80%

90%

Jun Aug Oct

Last Year

This Year

LAMB PRICES

c/kgCWTChange Last

Week2 Wks

AgoLast Year

NI Lamb YM - 13.5kg +10 5.56 5.46 5.46

PM - 16.0kg +10 5.58 5.48 5.48

PX - 19.0kg +10 5.60 5.50 5.50

PH - 22.0kg +10 5.61 5.51 5.51

Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 3.25 3.25 3.30

SI Lamb YM - 13.5kg +10 5.58 5.48 5.41

PM - 16.0kg +10 5.58 5.48 5.43

PX - 19.0kg +10 5.58 5.48 5.45

PH - 22.0kg +10 5.58 5.48 5.46

Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 3.13 3.13 3.15

NZ Slaughter Total Monthly Kill

1000s Change Jul Jun Last Year 5yr Ave

Lamb NI +6% 677 639 541 594

Lamb SI -45% 290 530 277 274

Lamb NZ -17% 967 1169 818 868

Mutton NZ +84% 202 110 160 212

Export Market DemandChange Last

Week2 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

UK Leg £/lb n/c 1.82 1.82 1.34 1.75

NZ$/kg +22 7.98 7.76 5.77 8.49

Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks

Ago3 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

% Returned NI -1% 70.2% 70.9% 98.0% 70.1%

% Returned SI -1% 68.9% 70.2% 96.2% 69.0%

Venison Prices

Change LastWeek

2 Wks Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

NI Stag - 60kg +15 7.20 7.05 7.40 8.02

SI Stag - 60kg +10 7.40 7.30 7.75 8.34

NZ Weekly Lamb KillNZ Weekly Lamb KillNZ Weekly Lamb KillNZ Weekly Lamb Kill

0

150

300

450

May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

Last Year

This Year

Demand Indicator - Demand Indicator - Demand Indicator - Demand Indicator - UK Leg PriceUK Leg PriceUK Leg PriceUK Leg Price

£1.00

£1.50

£2.00

£2.50

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.Procurement Indicator - South I.

45%55%65%75%85%95%

105%

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.Procurement Indicator - North I.

50%60%70%80%90%

100%110%

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

Page 23: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

news price watch

BEEF

Cattle procurement a hard game

Securing cattle for slaughter remains a tough game for meat companies, with good premiums being paid above printed schedules, particularly on 300kg prime steer. Export prices for prime steer in the North Island were $4.75/kg last week and $4.50/kg in the South. Reports suggest there is upside to this. The bull price in the North was $4.50/kg, and $4.30/kg in the South, but meat companies are paying more if there is a good line on offer. Farmers are warned to be wary of interpreting schedule prices as market signals at the moment, as exporters cut margins to secure cattle.

Indonesia scraps import quotas for price-parity

Indonesia recently announced it is scrapping its current import quota system for beef imports. It will be replaced by a parity pricing system that will only allow beef imports into the country when domestic beef prices are 15% higher than a regulated price set by government. The country is attempting to move to beef self-sufficiency; the previous quota system resulted in beef shortages and high prices. The new system is intended to improve supply and reduce the price of beef. Large volumes of beef imports will be required in the short term to bring prices to the regulated level. This will provide an opportunity for NZ beef, as well as reducing the pressure in NZ’s export markets as Australia will certainly off-load their excess production.

LAMB

New seasons lamb contracts look promising

Export lamb prices are continuing to edge up, with North Island prices averaging $5.90/kg gross (including wool/pelt, presentation etc) last week and in the South the average was $5.70/kg gross. Christmas trade negotiations have began, and the expected shortage of lambs to fill these orders may result in some competitive pricing. Christmas trade contracts that have been released range between $6.00/kg and $6.25/kg gross. Following last season, farmers will be happy with the signs for the beginning of the season, but will hold no expectations about how the season may close.

Store lamb market stabilised

Store lambs are few and far between at present, but demand is still good for what is available as farmers look to take advantage of good feed supplies and $6.00/kg contracts. Prices for lighter lambs are back, as is expected this close to end of season and heavier lambs are making around $2.80/kg-$2.90/kg irrespective of sex. Trade of ewes with lambs at foot (LAF) is also active in the North Island, with prices last week ranging between $58-$85 all counted.

Lambs pour into North Island plants

Slaughter statistics show the North Island lamb kill continues to defy the odds by lifting 6% between June and July. The July kill was also 25% up on last July and 14% above the 5yr avg. Reports indicate that this trend has continued through August with weekly slaughter rates significantly higher than normal. At a time when slaughter rates are traditionally declining, this increase is a result of the lambs reaching killable weights following the excellent winter conditions.

DAIRY

Dairy prices hold firm

Excellent conditions for pasture growth is equating to higher levels of milk production across New Zealand. Dairy prices are steady to firm, with whole milk powder demand from China and other importing countries looking positive. Prices are expected to hold firm for the next couple of months until supply from New Zealand’s peak production kicks in. Fonterra is also expecting to offer a reduced volume of whole milk powder to auction this season, 20% less than last season. This is having an impact on prices, and is expected to prevent whole milk powder prices falling as far as predicted.

WOOL PRICE WATCH DAIRY PRICE WATCH

Indicators in NZ$ Change 05-Sep 29-Aug Last Year Indicators in NZ$/T Change Last 2

WksPrev. 2

WksLast Year

Coarse Xbred Indic. +34 5.00 4.66 3.67 Butter -273 4980 5253 3608

Fine Xbred Indicator +20 5.30 5.10 4.65 Skim Milk Powder -6 5754 5759 3608

Lamb Indicator - - - - Whole Milk Powder -94 6125 6218 3577

Mid Micron Indic. - - 7.63 8.55 Cheddar -30 5444 5475 4379

Overseas Price Indicators Overseas Price Indicators

Indicators in US$/kg Change 05-Sep 29-Aug Last Year Indicators in US$/T Change Last 2

WksPrev. 2

WksLast Year

Coarse Xbred Indicator +31 3.95 3.64 3.00 Butter -125 4025 4150 2925Fine Xbred Indicator +20 4.19 3.99 3.80 Skim Milk Powder +100 4650 4550 2925Lamb Indicator - - - - Whole Milk Powder +38 4950 4913 2900Mid Micron Indicator - - 5.96 6.99 Cheddar +75 4400 4325 3550

Wool Indicator TrendsWool Indicator TrendsWool Indicator TrendsWool Indicator Trends

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun

CXI FXI LI

Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$

250

300

350

400

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last YearThis Year

Coarse Xbred IndicatorCoarse Xbred IndicatorCoarse Xbred IndicatorCoarse Xbred Indicator

300

400

500

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last YearThis Year

Dairy Prices TrendsDairy Prices TrendsDairy Prices TrendsDairy Prices Trends

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun

SMP WMPBut. Ched.

Whole Milk Powder Price in US$/TWhole Milk Powder Price in US$/TWhole Milk Powder Price in US$/TWhole Milk Powder Price in US$/T

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

5,500

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

Wool Indicator in US$Wool Indicator in US$Wool Indicator in US$Wool Indicator in US$

250

300

350

400

450

500

Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun

CXI FXI LI

Dairy Prices in US$/TonneDairy Prices in US$/TonneDairy Prices in US$/TonneDairy Prices in US$/Tonne

2,500

3,500

4,500

5,500

Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun

SMP WMP.But .Ched

CURRENCY WATCH

vs. NZ Dollar Last Week 2 Wks Ago 4 Wks Ago Last Year

US dollar 0.783 0.808 0.807 0.813

Euro 0.587 0.606 0.607 0.647

UK pound 0.503 0.517 0.524 0.512

Aus dollar 0.868 0.881 0.873 0.779

Japan yen 77.53 78.87 80.06 63.89

Euro

0.56

0.60

0.64

0.68

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

UK Pound

0.46

0.48

0.50

0.52

0.54

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

US Dollar

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

Andrew WoodPalmerston North

Bill Hodgson Dunedin

Jeremy MacAvoy Ashburton

Peter Young Hawke’s Bay

Page 24: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

ADVERSITY MAKES you struggle, so think and look for answers, say horticul-ture industry pioneers and innovators Fay and Joe Gock.

The pair, both in their 80s, have for 60 years wheeled out good ideas: they were the first in the world to put stickers on fruit, they’ve grown seed-less watermelon, and they pioneered using chilled polystyrene boxes to export broccoli.

They were winners this year of the horticulture industry’s highest honour, the Bledisloe Cup. And they won an award from the Dominion Federation of NZ Chinese Commer-cial Growers “in recog-nition of your lifetime of innovation and contribu-tion to the horticulture industry”.

Fay even now drives the

tractor on their 60ha prop-erty where the Gocks still grow commercially. Both born in China, they came separately on refugee per-mits to New Zealand at the end of World War II. They married in 1956, when Joe was market gardening with his father in Mangere and Fay was the daugh-ter of a Karangahape Road, Auckland, fruiterer. They started their own growing business and a partnership of innovation which has led the industry.

Fay, during her teens, erected the first signs in her father’s shop.

“Nobody cleaned veg-etables then,” she told Rural News. “I was 15 or 16; everything looked dirty, nothing got sold. I said to my dad ‘why don’t we go wash it and see how it per-forms?’ I suppose every shop down K’Rd was curs-

ing me for making a start on washing carrots; then they all started washing them.

“When I married Joe we decided to do com-mercial washing – the first fruit and veg wash-ing – carrots, parsnips…. now potatoes get washed. Everything comes in stages… one thing leads to another.”

Asked to explain their talent for new ideas, Fay says: “It’s through hard times you struggle, and then you have to think ‘what can I do to make things better’. Your brain starts working. If every-thing’s milk and honey you don’t worry about things like that.”

Joe: “I think that’s what we growers do: we are always trying to think of something new, some-thing better. We started

growing seedless water-melon; that was not even thought of then.”

The idea came through reading.

“There wasn’t anything available at that stage. We thought ‘oh yeah we can always be mad scientists’,” says Fay.

However, the deliv-erer got their seedless watermelons mixed up with ones with seeds. “So we decided to put stick-ers on,” explains Joe. “We were the first in the world to do that. We looked all over New Zealand, all over Auckland and nobody could do it. We thought ‘how the heck are we going to put the name on it?’

“We managed to get hold of Allens who do cal-endars and a sticker devel-oped from there.”

In the 1980s the Gocks grew large quantities of

broccoli, a relatively new crop at the time. Joe devel-oped and patented the Gock bushel-sized poly-styrene box, which can be packed with ice and are still used in the industry today.

It was a matter of trial and error, he says. “Some exporters wanted to send the broccoli overseas. We thought ‘how the heck are we going to keep it for a longer period?’.

“So we thought of a

chilly bin – put that in chilly bin, close the lid, after a few days still no good. We try again, we put it in the cooler, chilled it first…. put in a chilly bin, close, open, still not good

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

24 agribusiness

Fay and George Gock pictured with PM John Key after winning horticulturers’ highest prize the Bledisloe Cup at this years’ Hort NZ Conference.

Think for yourself, persevere and the answers will come, say horticulture innovators Joe and Fay Gock. The Mangere couple have succeeded with many new ideas during 60 years of growing fruit and vegetables commercially. Pam Tipa reports.

Never too old for new ideas

to page 25

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Page 25: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

agribusiness 25

No debt crisis for Aus agricultural sector

CLAIMS OF a farm debt crisis in Australia have no basis in fact, industry experts say.

The Australian Farm Institute Farm Policy Journal’s reports that the financial state of the vast majority of Australian farm busi-nesses is pretty good: the debt crisis claims are flimsy.

The journal says there is no doubt that in several regions, farm finances are under pres-sure. These include cattle farms in northwest-ern Queensland now suffering from drought

and the disruption of the live cattle export trade, and in parts of the cropping zone of Western Australia that have experienced poor seasonal conditions over recent years.

But it says any idea there is about to be a wholesale takeover of large numbers of farms by banks, or that the only future for Australian farm businesses is under corporatised or over-seas ownership is not justified based on avail-able data.

Institute executive director Mick Keogh says the strong reliance of the farm sector on debt financing, in combination with the vol-

atility of farm returns in Australia, inevitably results in periods when there is relatively rapid growth in aggregate farm debt.

“The overall picture is of several debt ‘hot spots’… but aggregate rural debt levels have declined over recent years and farm equity levels remain quite high.”

One author argues that equity capital rather than debt financing may feature more in agricultural development, and in concert these structural changes in capital may pro-mote a more productive and profitable agri-culture sector in Australia.’

aLaN HaRMaN

Innovators keep on keeping on

George and Fay Gock at the their Mangere market garden.

enough. So we thought, ok, we put some ice in and see what happens. So we put ice in it and it comes out perfect.”

Using a chilly bin was too dear so they looked around to find someone to make the boxes. The mould cost $8000, so it was patented and charged out to others at “a few pennies” each.

“So the exporters started buying it from us and sending it to Hong Kong, Hawaii, no prob-lem. Meanwhile, we use the boxes to send broccoli to South Island and we get about $6 a kilo – $60 a crate, that was quite good. Everyone was using it and it paid for the mould in two years.”

The Gocks have grown kumara for nearly 60 years and were the largest grow-ers in New Zealand in the 1950s. They were the first to raise kumara tubers by using under-earth heating in modern hotbeds.

They developed a dis-ease-free kumara strain, which became known as O-wai-raka Red. In the late 1950s, theirs was the only disease-free stock in Auckland. When Ruawai and Dargaville stock was devastated by black rot they donated their stock, through the then Depart-ment of Science and Industry Research (DSIR), to help re-establish crops.

Joe says they had devel-oped the disease-free stock through vigorous testing, keeping the best each year. They also pio-neered, with DSIR, a pro-totype kumara curing shed, reducing crop loss

from 50% to less than 1%, enabling kumara to be marketed all year round.

Although they believe hard times make you inno-vate, Fay says not everyone has that ability. “It has got to come into you naturally. If you like what you are doing it’s not a chore, but if you have to be forced to do something it becomes hard work.”

Still many people don’t bother to experiment or persist with a problem, Joe adds. The answer is there if you want it: “Keep trying and keep think-ing for yourself,” Fay says. The answer may not come immediately, but it will come.

The Gocks have been active members of the Chinese Commercial Growers Association since the 1950s, mentoring many young growers. But Fay says a lot of Chinese young people go into pro-fessions these days and are not attracted to growing.

“Market gardening, you don’t make a lot of money: manures, wages and other costs have gone up, but the prices haven’t gone up, some have come down.”

But just like farmers, many growers enjoy the lifestyle. And along with a love of growing, the Gocks share a deep belief in helping their fellow man. “What are we going to eat? Somebody has to do the growing. You must work for mankind, not your-self ”.

Joe: “Remember why you are growing: you have it in your heart to do it for the people, not for your pocket.”

fRoM page 24

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Page 26: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

26 agribusinessChinese charm offence needed – exporter

HIGH PROFILE media coverage is needed in China to get the mes-sage out that infant for-mula products are safe, says Chris Claridge from the NZ Infant Formula Exporters Association.

The New Zealand Gov-ernment needs to take

the lead and Prime Min-ister John Key should visit soon, with industry people, he says.

Claridge is highly frus-trated that he cannot seem to get his message heard in New Zealand: our prod-ucts are still at high risk because the Chinese con-sumer still thinks New Zealand infant formula is poisoned.

Meanwhile New Zea-land’s competitors are cashing in.

Claridge made the comments to Rural News from a mother-and-baby store in Guangzhou prov-ince where he was hearing first-hand the concerns that remain about New Zealand products. He had met with 50 retailers the night before.

Carrickmore Nutri-tion, of which Claridge is managing director, faces

a loss on sales of at least 30% over the next three months.

“What is clear is all New Zealand brands are affected. The subtlety of Fonterra, wpc, botulism is completely lost on the Chinese. All they hear is New Zealand, infant for-mula poison.

“I don’t know how I communicate back to

New Zealand – I have been trying – this affects our ability to sell in China.”

In New Zealand every-one understands it was a false alarm, but not so in China. “All they hear is our infant formula is contam-inated. The distributors and the retailers are start-ing to understand it was all a false positive, but the consumers have not heard that message.

“It is the same story – bad news gets public-ity, good news doesn’t. We need the Government to take the lead in China and get media coverage that our infant formula is safe.”

The offer from John Key to visit China should go ahead. But it needs to have industry people involved otherwise it just becomes a general discussion about New Zealand; it has to specific about products and infant formula.

Claridge says the issues of product being unduly held up at Chinese ports seem to have resolved itself. “The issue here is to keep selling. The main purpose of my trip to China is to assure our dis-tributors and retailers that our product is safe and it isn’t contaminated.

“I am meeting my

retailers and distributors, we’re in 2100 stores in China. I am standing on a street in China going from city to city to try to explain to all our retailers and dis-tributors in the period I am up here that there is nothing wrong with our products.

“Meanwhile all the other international brands – France and Australia – are busy trying to cap-ture this market. On Sep-tember 23 a French label in association with the French Government are flying 20 or 30 journalists from Shanghai specifically to show them their infant formula industry.”

Claridge asks, “Does New Zealand under-stand what its lack of coordination and coher-ent approach means? It means our capacity to sell is reduced. Sure we can sell bulk powders to the market but our ability to sell added value retail products in this market is at high risk.

“China is a huge place: just because we publish a few articles in the New Zealand media that it was a false positive, does everything get changed to normal? The answer is ‘no’. That message is not out in the media in China.”

Chris Claridge

CONCERNS ABOUT food safety in parts of the China market underlie a plan by the Chinese infant formula maker Yashili to build a $220m plant at Pokeno, just south of Auckland.

The company explained this to an independent com-missioner, Michael Savage, appointed by the Waikato Dis-trict Council, which late August granted consent for the plant.

The consent is subject to a 15-day appeal period which finishes early this week.

Yashili NZ Dairy Co is a wholly owned subsidiary of a Hong Kong listed company Yashili International. China Mengnui Dairy, of which the Chinese Government is the biggest shareholder, currently has a deal to buy a majority stake in Yashili International – worth about $2billion – as part of a plan to expand its milk powder business.

Yashili is ranked about eighth in the China milk for-mula market and China Daily says the acquisition would be the largest single deal in the Chinese domestic dairy industry.

It is expected to lead to further integration in China’s milk powder business, the newspaper reports.

General manager of Yashili NZ, Yingxiang Zhao, told the hearing for the Pokeno infant formula plant that Yas-hili International is based in the Guangdong Province in China and it has plants there, and in two other locations in China. Established in 1983, Yashili has since 1998 focused on making infant milk formula and nutritional foods prod-ucts. Its infant formula brands are Scient and Yashili. It has a research and product development centre in China employing 32 scientists.

paM tIpa

[email protected]

Food safety behind $220m plant

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Page 27: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

agribusiness 27

THE SUCCESS of the Lincoln and Massey agricultural research hubs will be defined by how much investment they can attract from the private sector – whether multi-nationals or domestic business, says Minister of Economic Development, Steven Joyce.

This country needs $160-$200 bil-lion more invested in export-orien-tated business if it is to achieve its stated target of growing exports from 30% to 40% of GDP over the next 12 years, Joyce said at the opening of a new Bayer research centre in Auckland.

Domestic investment will not be enough. The sort of investment Bayer is making is important, Joyce says and there are now many international com-panies wanting to invest.

“If you start with the primary indus-tries, the hubs we are setting up in Lin-coln and Massey are designed to attract

more international research player into those hubs. I think that will be a defini-tion of their success.

“I have said to those hubs, and to the Waikato one, that my definition of success is not how they rearrange the buildings for themselves – it is how much international or domestic com-panies they attract in and the mixture between the public and private sector.

“To me that is the definition of suc-cess, so it is very early days. We haven’t set any targets on them. We’ve said ‘let’s look at the plans’. The plans need to be much more about that than just rear-ranging themselves.”

Multinationals and domestic com-panies are needed. “I was just talking to Bayer about Lincoln and whether it is something that would interest them because we’ve got a high concentration of New Zealand scientists in geographic locations – those two hubs. The oppor-tunity to bring in international research players to bolster that I think is a good

plan for New Zealand.”Earlier Joyce said given our remote

location, attracting more companies to build their business in this country is a challenge. To be successful busi-ness needed different combinations of about a dozen things: access to a market – a crucial one for New Zealand, access to skilled people, natural resources, capital and the necessary public infra-structure. This was behind the Govern-ment’s Business Growth Agenda.

“The reason why companies want to do research here… this country has this amazing ability of people who can cross discipline, who sit there saying ‘we’ve got to be able to solve this prob-lem, let’s work out how we can do it, and let’s make it practical.’

“I personally think it is related to our geography and history: we were isolated down here so we had to make things for ourselves anyway.”

Joyce says he has lost count of the number of overseas people who com-

ment on our ability to innovate. “That’s something we’ve got to hang on to – develop our innovation and skills base here.”

The Government had just reorgan-ised its R&D co-funding into three more straight-forward approaches.

R&D growth: open to all players including international

R&D projects grants: for the more

‘out there’, less immediately commer-cial R&D

R&D student grants: to get more graduates and undergraduates into business, so they can get straightfor-ward interface.

This country is getting more post-graduates but they could not all go into academia; a good mix of them needed to go straight out into industry, says Joyce.

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steven Joyce speaks at the opening of Bayer’s new research facility in auckland. Joyce is Minister of economic Development and science and Innovation.

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Page 28: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

the houndWant to share your opinion or

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[email protected]

28 opinion

editorial edna

putting the boot inYOUr OLD mate would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at the recent primary sector chief exec-utive’s bootcamp confer-ence, coming as it did in the wake of the Fonterra’s clostridium botulinum and nitrate contamination inci-dents, not to mention Alli-ance’s labelling lapse and Westland’s own nitrate niggle. Given the damage these incidents have done to New Zealand’s repu-tation overseas, most notably in China, a few chief executives were probably keen to put the boot into the bootcamp, giving their peers at the helm of the guilty organ-isations a hard time.

testing timesACCOrDING tO a mate of the Hound, the jokes were flying thick and fast following the reve-lation that Fonterra’s botulism scare was not that at all, after further testing by mpI showed the dairy co-op botched-up its tests. Here’s one of the better ones: “It has now been revealed that Fonterra was actually in charge of the All blacks when they were knocked out by France in the semi-finals of the 2007 rugby World Cup. Appar-ently this is not the first test they have got badly wrong.”

Credibility failure, againJUst WHeN your old mate thought the Austra-lian-owned and controlled weakly (sic) rural rag couldn’t get any less credible – it has. A recent issue ran a full page of articles about the evils of Ge. Nothing wrong with that – if there is any actual news in it. Unfortu-nately, the first story quoted some stubbies, walk socks and sandal-wearing council bureaucrat upset about a Fed Farmers press release on Ge, which the pen pusher found ‘insulting’. It then followed up this effort with another article quoting the ramblings of one of the most unbalanced and fervent anti-Ge campaigners in the country.

good news onlytHe HOUND hears that Fonterra chairman ‘Little’ Johnny Wilson – who went AWOL during the co-op’s botulism botch-up saga – was very keen to be proac-tive and front the media when it announced the latest milk payout increase. Fonterra’s spin team were offering Wilson to any media outlet happy to have him to chat about the bump in payout. However, a mere day later when it was revealed that Fonter-ra’s much publicised botu-lism incident was, in fact, not botulism, Wilson was again doing his imperson-ation of the Invisible man – and was unavailable for comment.

2 extremes?tHIs OLD mutt reckons this year’s annual meet-ings of the country’s major fertiliser compa-nies – ballance and ravensdown – at the end of this month will be an interesting dichotomy in shareholder senti-ment. As one wag – and disgruntled ravensdown shareholder – suggested to yours truly about the difference in annual meet-ings, “[ballance] will prob-ably be serving caviar and champagne, while I reckon ravensdown shareholders will be lucky if they get a sausage roll and a cuppa..”

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“look edna – we’re foiling!”

QUESTIONS ARE piling up as the Government launches its inquiry into Fonterra’s false botu-lism scare.

One month ago, questions were swirling around Fonterra’s handling of product recall and how a dirty pipe at a Waikato factory could derail our global dairy exports. Fonterra manage-ment’s inquiry has traced back manufacturing of the potentially contaminated WPC80.

However, attention is now focused on the tests in New Zealand. Enter AgResearch, an SOE describing itself as “one of New Zealand’s leading research organisations”. AgResearch’s purpose, its website says, is to enhance the value, produc-tivity and profitability of New Zealand’s pastoral, agri-food and agri-technology sector value-chains to contribute to economic growth and beneficial environmental and social outcomes for New Zea-land”.

If Fonterra is to be believed, it was AgResearch’s test results received on August 2 that triggered the precautionary recall of WPC80 from eight customers. The recall was complex as the 38 metric tonnes of WPC sold to customers had been turned into a variety of value added products – infant formula, sports drinks and animal feed.

For its part, AgResearch says it never con-firmed the presence of Clostridium botulinum in the isolates provided by the co-op. It had detected the possible presence of Clostridium botulinum and recommended further testing.

This calls into question Fonterra’s testing regime. As the world’s largest exporter of dairy products, shouldn’t it have access to testing facil-ities that can confirm immediately the presence of bacteria and harmful substances in any of its dairy products?

It is clear Fonterra acted solely on the test results from AgResearch in initiating the recall and going public. Was it the correct decision? Apparently not, and in hindsight more tests out-side New Zealand would have confirmed that the strain present in WPC80 was Clostridium sporo-genes, and not the fatal Clostridium botulinum.

The damage to Fonterra, and New Zealand’s trading credentials, anxiety to consumers and losses to customers caught up in the recall is hard to measure. Surely, some of the eight compa-nies involved in the recall will be recouping their losses from Fonterra.

Fonterra, AgResearch and MPI will all have their say at the Government inquiry. Whatever the inquiry concludes, steps must be taken to pre-vent a repeat of the WPC80 fiasco.

For Fonterra and AgResearch’s sake, let’s hope everything in life happens for a reason and some-thing better always comes out of it.

More questions than answers

Page 29: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

opinion 29

Why stop doing what we’re good at?GET OFF the Grass is a new book urging a kick-start to the New Zealand economy by moving on from agriculture.

New Zealanders work harder for less money than most people in the devel-oped world, and authors Professor Shaun Hendy and the late Sir Paul Cal-laghan (died 2012) suggest this is because we have been capitalising on ‘sheep not smarts’.

As productivity and innovation in agriculture are higher than in other sectors, the case could be made that a lot of smarts have been employed – as well as sheep, cows, deer, goats, etc.

Further, attempts to move away from agricul-ture in the past have failed. The ‘knowledge wave’ focus on biotechnology, information technology and the creative and per-forming arts, for instance, has not revolutionised anything except student enrolments in qualifica-tions that don’t necessar-ily lead to jobs.

The problem with neg-ative suggestions is the damage they do to under-standing the truth and

the reduced likelihood of recruiting great people.

The second volume of the KPMG Agribusi-ness Agenda 2013 (avail-able at www.kpmg.com/NZ) focuses on this challenge. ‘Maintaining our people powered performance – leading New Zealand’s primary industry into a prosperous future’ picks up on many of the themes Rural News has reported through the years and is based on discussion with industry leaders earlier this year.

The vision presented of a dynamic and innova-tive primary sector burst-ing with credible ideas from talented people, all focussed on creating a vibrant economy, should inspire New Zealanders to get involved.

Some of the initia-tives already underway are showcased: St Paul’s

Collegiate School, for instance, with its new Centre of Excellence for Agricultural Sciences and Business. Initiatives like this have potential to be expanded to create the national platform for a change in thinking.

The big change required is simply in the value that New Zealand places on primary profes-sional workers – on farm, in the support indus-tries, the testing laborato-ries, through research and development, business and marketing, as well as policy and education.

Changing the percep-tion of what it takes to be involved in the multi-million dollar indus-tries that comprise the primary sector – from farm through the innova-tion value chain – is part of ensuring the vision is achieved. Everybody has a part to play.

The basic call in Get off the Grass is correct: take science seriously by increasing funding. This can be done without affecting agriculture det-rimentally – and increased investment in agricultural research from farm to

fork would enable bigger returns to the country. In particular, research in sim-plifying the value chain, and focussing on sustain-able primary production, would reduce the need for food processing – and hence minimise the poten-tial problems with food recalls.

Hendy and Callaghan suggest that New Zealand-ers should agree to double the intensity of spending on science and innovation in the next decade with a substantial increase in untargeted, basic research. It was this sort of research that laid the foundation

for the agriculture sector – the most productive and innovative sector in New Zealand.

In order to get on with Sir Paul’s legacy, the book urges New Zealanders to vote for the party that has the best science and inno-vation policies at the next election.

This party had better have a great agricultural policy as well, in order to encourage the ongo-ing production of great food and fibre. Add a top-notch education policy, which sends signals about skills shortages by remov-ing fees in those areas, and

smart use of grass, will continue to be what drives the economy while other sectors catch up.

• Jacqueline Rowarth is Pro-fessor of Agribusiness, The University of Waikato: [email protected]

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Page 30: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

30 opinionClosing Invermay – deja vu all over again!IN 1981 farming and Inver-may had every reason to give thanks for the pres-ence of Dr Jock Allison when the government of the day was quietly prepar-ing to rearrange southern agriculture research.

This meant Invermay’s future was on the line.

Now – three decades later – Invermay is again looking to be saved and

Jock Allison is again in the front row. He’s obviously a bit older and possibly mel-lowed, but he hasn’t lost any of that old bite.

In 1981 led by Minis-ter Bill Birch of ‘think big’ fame a group of parliamen-tarians were checking out the Invermay research sta-tion. They disingenuously claimed to be just looking at southern research loca-

tions and suggested their visit was nothing more than a routine outing.

At that stage, in the early 1980s, Invermay was still little more than a col-lection of sad, old, bore-riddled, former air force buildings on the border of Mosgiel.

But looks can be illu-sory. Invermay since the appointment of Jock Alli-

son as director of the MAF Invermay Research Centre – in 1978, aged 34 – was undergoing a renaissance.

Allison’s approach was to pick top people who were ambitious, wanted to suc-ceed and had the ability to be leaders.

By the early 1980s, Invermay was already achieving significant pio-neering success in tra-ditional and new age research projects such as deer farming, biogas, embryo transfer, climate

mapping (for growing grapes) agroforestry, goats and even rabbits.

Despite the look of the buildings, with the Allison energy, Invermay research was way out in front.

Jock saw the Govern-ment visit as a warning sign. He had already fallen out with Birch after one of his scientists had criticised the wasteful use of Maui gas. At the time, Invermay research was looking at growing crops as an energy source.

Birch’s response to this criticism was to immedi-ately authorise a report on the effects of relocating Invermay research. Allison realised the research pro-grammes he had nursed along were at risk: it was time to act and decisively.

Over the years, Alli-son had built up a loyal fol-lowing, especially among southern farmers. Inver-may’s pioneering research had attracted enthusias-tic supporters. He also broke public service rules and visited farming groups, explaining the likely Gov-ernment decision on Inver-may’s future.

Whereever he went there was rousing sup-port along with disbelief. Federated Farmers were high on the hit list. Alli-son addressed Southland, Otago and North Otago Federated Farmers. The vote for saving and expand-ing Invermay research was unanimous.

The real plus, of course, was getting total farmer support because most were National Party members who were the Government at the time.

Ever helpful, Allison wrote draft letters for dele-gates to send to their MPs. Then a draft letter written on an Invermay letterhead inadvertently turned up in Wellington

Suddenly the Gov-ernment could no longer tiptoe around the issues. They realised closing Invermay would have brought about a rural uprising.

Allison was duly sum-moned to Wellington, given another stern warn-ing and the rebuilding of the Invermay campus got underway in 1983.

Although appearing to have won the first round, Allison maintained his involvement in the build-ing. He was far from happy with the proposed designs

of the structure, the work of Wellington Ministry of Works architects. This became the next battle-ground. The MOW archi-tects were moved on and input from the Dunedin personnel was reduced to a supervisory role only. Local architects were brought in, and with Allison look-ing over their shoulders, the problems ended. The result is a magnificent building that incorporates the latest in architecture.

However, the build-ing was to be the centre of another controversy when it was opened by then Prime Minister David Lange on April 15, 1986. By then the Labour Govern-ment’s market-led restruc-turing and deregulation was destroying farming communities.

The Invermay open-ing was seen as a chance to show the Government how far the hurt had spread. The result was a march, culminating at Invermay as Lange was making his speech. 2500 hardy souls turned out, including pil-lars of rural society and farming leaders. It became one of the more dramatic occasions in farming folk-lore.

The timing of the farm-ing protest was spot on, arriving at the opening cer-emony as Lange stepped up to the podium. Then all hell broke loose. Lange was furious – this was meant to be a good news event. He threw aside his notes and marched off the stage.

No one knew what to do next. These were now uncharted waters. The parliamentarians had to decide how to escape. Did some of the marchers have guns? They decided to run for it, but as the official limousines took off, the marchers, realising their quarry was about to be lost, threw themselves at the cars. One well known farming leader wrenched a small flag off the main vehicle. It became a battle trophy.

Behind the scenes Alli-son was walking a tight-rope. He wanted to see the march completed and with minimal damage to march-ers or the campus.

Looking back the march and the Lange response put Invermay on the map. It also ensured rural New Zealand issues were better understood.

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Page 31: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

opinion 31

Local government should concentrate on core businessIN TRYING to regulate genetically modified organisms (GM), Feder-ated Farmers is reasonably asking Northland councils if this is the best use of ratepayer money.

The question is especially pointed given that this regu-latory task is the role of the taxpayer funded Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA).

This has nothing to do with the debate about GM. Federated Farmers simply asks, is it right for Northland councils to spend money and time trying to regulate something already heavily regulated by the EPA? This issue boils down to the respective roles of local and central government.

Federated Farmers would respond similarly to any council wanting to compete with Work & Income or the police.

Federated Farmers can rightly claim expertise in commenting on the activities or ambitions of local government.

We engage with and advocate on almost every council area where there is a farmer. We have built up huge knowledge and experience on local government rates and regula-tion

To show that our response is neither for nor against GM, we ask the reader to ponder the sum of $700 million: that’s New Zealand councils’ excess of expenditure over income during 2011/12.

Much of the increased spend-ing – operational and capital – was

on infrastructure like road mainte-nance.

This reflects the way central government has cut funding for local roads so it does not get off scot-free.

What this means, according to the NZ Herald, is the worst col-lective local government operat-ing deficit ever. During the 2011/12 financial year, our councils were collectively spending $22 more every second than what they earned.

Since councils rightly com-plain about how the Government delegates responsibilities but not necessarily the funding, why are Northland councils trying to muscle into a Government space? Guess who ultimately will pick up the tab.

We also know that sticking to core council roles became harder with the 2002 Local Government Act. This gave councils a power of general competence backed by an

activist purpose statement. What we see in Northland councils’ attempt to regulate GM is a hang-over from the 2002 Act.

From 2002 until last year’s

reforms, councils found it hard to say ‘no’ to demands for increased spending. That old act also made councils susceptible to interest groups pushing new and exciting activities for councils to get into. I suspect GM regulation could fit there.

Regulation of GM would be fine if we did not already have leg-islation and the taxpayer funded agency specifically charged with regulating it.

Since we do have that agency, Northland’s councils are straying dangerously and expensively into territory where they have little expertise or skill. It sets them on a collision course with the Environ-mental Protection Agency.

The EPA has an annual budget of about $22 million and its New Organisms team, which looks after GM, largely employs people who have science backgrounds – post-

graduate research experience in molecular biology, immunology and pathology, genetics, mamma-lian physiology, ecology, conserva-tion and biodiversity.

According to its website and annual report, many of the people before joining the EPA’s New Organisms team worked in academic and industry research on biotechnology and medical research and disease investi-gation. This is what the EPA brings to the table backed by a legislated focus. When it comes to new organisms the EPA also undertakes public consultation. Anti-democratic? Hardly.

Councils must focus on becoming the best and lowest cost provider of effective local roads, rubbish collection, wastewater and the like. There is a heap of work that needs to be done and rate-payers deep down know it. Every dollar, meeting and report not ded-icated to these core functions costs rate and taxpayers alike.

Since 1876, when we were under full provincial government, we have centralised responsibilities where they are more efficiently and effectively undertaken at a national level.

Our health, social welfare, police, defence services, and the like, have all benefited from this shift and where services or impacts cross ‘provincial’ boundaries, as GM regulation does, then leaving it to the centre is appropriate and sensible. • Katie Milne is Federated Farmers local government spokeswoman.

katIe MILNe

Katie Milne

Federated Farmers simply asks, is it right for Northland councils to spend money and time trying to regulate something already heavily regulated by the ePa?

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Page 32: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

32 management

pastures to boost hill country

AT LEAST 40% of New Zealand is too steep to cul-tivate yet still less than 1000m above sea-level.

The challenges of improving pasture on such land are considerable, but as the early results of a long-term project show, establishment of more productive species is pos-sible.

What’s more, with the work on four contrast-ing sites around the coun-try (see panel) on-going as part of the Pastoral 21* initiative, the findings promise to fine-tune best practice for improving and maintaining such country in the future.

“There is potential to substantially increase pas-

ture production and herb-age quality, particularly in late winter and spring,” explains AgResearch pas-ture scientist Katherine Tozer, lead author of a paper on the project to be presented at November’s New Zealand Grassland Association conference.

Late winter and spring are key periods because dairying’s growing dom-ination of lower or flat-ter country means there’s a growing need to finish stock, particularly lambs, on hills. Growing more, better and earlier pasture should increase weaning weights and the propor-tion of stock sold prime.

“That’s where the financial gains can really be made,” she stresses.

While data analysed to date is only from the establishment phase of the pastures, Tozer says the aim is a 400kg DM/ha increase in feed grown in early spring and improved pasture quality over sum-mer-autumn, with about a one unit lift in ME (metab-olisable energy).

“A year down the track we will have information

on this from this project.”The lift in quality, say

from 10 MJME/kgDM to 11, can make a huge dif-ference to stock perfor-mance, she adds.

What the establish-ment phase has shown is that even in a wetter than normal year – plots were sown spring or autumn 2011/12 – getting legumes, grasses and herbs to take by broadcasting is chal-lenging.

In only a handful of situations did more than 50% of seed applied pro-duce viable plants and, in many, the establishment percentage was in single figures.

The NZGA paper anal-yses the influence of four treatments on establish-

ment: aspect; season; loca-tion/site; and seed mix. The trial also includes establishment following fallow or summer brassica, but that data is still to be analysed.

Autumn broadcasting of seed was more success-ful for most species, for example, 36% of perennial ryegrass seed established, compared to 13% in spring. The mean for all grasses was 22% establishment in autumn, to 9% in spring.

Aspect also had a sig-nificant impact: the mean establishment of all spe-cies on south faces was 14%, compared to 8% on north faces; for ryegrass it was 31% to 18%.

“Broadcasting seed on south aspects during

autumn is likely to result in the highest establish-ment of sown grasses and legumes, but not neces-sarily herbs,” the paper states.

However, the authors and Tozer, stress the season was an unusu-ally wet one so the estab-lishment work is being repeated this season with a fine-tuned selection of species.

“The ones that per-formed poorly in that first year were consistently poor, so given the scale of the project; it makes sense now to target our efforts on the better perform-ing species to see whether we get a similar ranking –regardless of whether it’s a good or poor year for

How can country that’s too steep to cultivate be made more productive? A paper to be presented at the New Zealand Grassland Association Conference in November holds some answers. andrew swallow reports

the New Zealand Grassland Association’s annual conference, its 75th, is in tauranga, November 5-7. the programme features a mix of the latest applied agricultural research papers and a couple of field trips. early bird registrations are open, offering a $100 discount. see www.grassland.org.nz for more

about NZGa conference 2013

Katherine Tozer

ATV Spring Deal Rural News Advert.indd 2 9/12/2013 10:51:36 AM

Page 33: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

management 33

production

One of four hill country sites putting a range of pasture species to the test.

establishment.”As for seed mix affects,

on average establishment of the grass-legume-herb mix (GLH) was higher than the legume only (LEG) mix by 14% com-pared to 8%, but white

clover was one of the exceptions within that trend, 17% taking when broadcast alone, com-pared to 8% in the GLH mix.

“White clover is likely to be suppressed in a seed mix containing grasses, legumes and herbs and may establish best if sown before the grasses,” sug-gests the NZGA paper.

In the trial 10m by 10m randomised plots were sprayed off with a robust rate of glyphosate 7-10 days before broadcast sowing by hand. In prac-tice, helicopters would likely be used, putting

establishment cost in the region of $6-700/ha, says Tozer.

Following broadcast-ing, trial sites were briefly mob stocked with sheep at 500/ha, something that should be replicated on field scale, she adds.

“That’s very important. If you don’t have good seed to soil contact the chances of getting good

germination plummet.“We’re doing additional

studies on the sites to look at leaf litter’s influence to see whether it helps or hinders establishment. On the one hand it can stop seed to soil contact. But if the seed can get through to the soil, the litter can act as a mulch prevent-ing it drying out. However, it can also harbour pests, so the results are going to very interesting.”

* Pastoral 21 is a joint venture between the Minis-try of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), Dairy NZ, Beef + Lamb New Zea-land, Fonterra and the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, aiming to increase pastoral production while reducing farming’s environmental footprint. AgResearch manages the programme with a range of other organisations contrib-uting to the research.

treatments analysed to datesites: Ngaroma, south Waikato (summer wet); poukawa, central Hawke’s bay (summer dry); Woodeville, southern Hawke’s bay (summer moist); Cheviot, Canterbury (summer dry).Aspects: North and south at each siteseed mix: Grass, legume and herb mix (GLH) or legume only (LeG).season: spring (september 2011) and autumn (march 2012).

“There is potential to substantially increase pasture production and herbage quality, particularly in late winter and spring.”

ATV Spring Deal Rural News Advert.indd 2 9/12/2013 10:51:36 AM

Page 34: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

34 management

Get tHe foundations for improving hill country right – fencing, fertility, and stockwater – before even considering pasture species, Kath-erine tozer’s colleague on the NZGA paper (see p32-33), tom Fraser, told the recent New Zealand Institute of primary Industry management conference.

“In a lot of cases farmers will go at it the other way round because all the commercial push is in that last part,” he warned.

Also, easier country on the farm should be producing to its maximum potential before the higher risk

and cost option of devel-oping hill country should be tackled, he added.

Having done that, the key thing to understand with hill country is that nitrogen is nearly always the limiting factor, so establishing legumes is essential if grass species such as ryegrass are to perform.

“the majority of New Zealand’s grasses are bred for high fertility, rotationally grazed, dairy conditions.”

making sure pH is high enough for legumes – minimum 5.2 for lotus, and a bit higher for the clovers – should be a first step, and targeted at areas of hill with most

potential.“We tend to think of

hill faces as just hill faces, but within that there are lots of microclimates and some will have quite high moisture availability and quite high fertility… It may be that 10 to 15% of the land area produces 60 to 70% of the forage.”

Once improved pasture species are sown, fertility, including pH, needs to be main-tained if they are to persist. Legumes should occasionally be allowed to flower and reseed, building regeneration potential.

“We need a seed bank to take us through some of the droughts of the

future.”With white clover

capable of setting seed within 6-8 weeks of closing, and as few as 10 flower heads per square metre setting the equiva-lent of 17.5kg/ha of seed, building up that seed bank shouldn’t be too hard, it seems.

Planning pivotal to success

Tom Fraser

tool to cut losses and grow moreA NEW farm nutrient management package promises to show how and where to get the best bang for your buck with envi-ronmental damage mitiga-tion options.

What’s more, the flip-side is it should help iden-tify where production might be intensified with-out causing unaccept-able consequences to the farm’s environmental footprint.

Branded MitAgator, the package is being promoted by fertiliser cooperative Ballance Agri-Nutrients which, with the help of Government money from the Primary Growth Part-nership, has been working with AgResearch on it.

It takes data from Overseer and links it with a geo-referenced farm map, soil map and digital

elevation model.“It’s a decision support

tool that will help farm-ers make more objective decisions,” Ballance R&D manager Warwick Catto told Rural News. “Overseer gives you a [nutrient loss] number but it doesn’t tell you spatially what to do about it.”

MitAgator does, gener-ating maps showing areas at high risk of N, P, sedi-ment and/or bacterial loss. “Once the base risk maps are developed, mitigation and management strate-gies can be modelled, and can be targeted to an indi-vidual paddock, or even part of it.”

Options might include riparian planting, buffer zones, use of low solubil-ity fertilisers. Typical costs and likely efficacy of each are given.

Catto stresses the pro-gramme is a manage-ment tool, not a regulatory

one. “The way Overseer is being used at the moment the last thing the farmer needs is another set of numbers. This is about the relative changes that doing certain things will achieve. We’re not so wor-ried about the absolute numbers as we are with Overseer.”

Despite those com-ments, he denies the inspi-ration for MitAgator was because Overseer has been hijacked by regulators.

“We became involved with this four or five years ago when there was a huge focus on nitrogen (Over-seer’s forte). We felt it important that phosphate, sediment and e-coli be considered as well.”

While a farm-ready ver-sion of the tool won’t be available until the end of next year, a prototype is being tested and proofed with data from over a dozen farms nationwide.

With 80% of a farm’s nutrient losses often occurring from just 20% of a farm’s area, Catto stresses it’s far more cost effective to target miti-gation and management to those key areas. Work-ing with Overseer and using extra data on soil and topography, Mitigator shows how to do that.

“It will help farmers to minimise losses while get-ting better use efficiency from their phosphate (P) and nitrogen (N) fertil-iser….

“This has great poten-tial benefits in help-ing farmers to continue farming within nutrient-restricted catchments.”

A next step with the model is to integrate it with other data sources to allow real-time risk man-agement, such as cross-referencing soil moisture data and forecast rain to decide whether to graze stock or irrigate effluent on a paddock or area of the farm.

aNDReW SWaLLoW

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warwick Catto

Hot spots: a Mitagator image showing high phos-phate loss areas in pink.

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RuRal News // september 17, 2013

34 management

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Page 37: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

management 37

Managing hoggets for lambsGetting a lamb or two from hogget flock replacements is one way many farms could boost productivity, but it’s not without its problems, as Massey’s Prof Paul Kenyon told Peter Burke.

THE KEY issue with in-lamb hoggets is making sure they continue to grow and ensure that the animal has sufficient feed to allow for the foetus to grow as well, says a leading researcher on the subject.

Massey University’s Prof Paul Kenyon says this means if farmers want the young hogget to gain 10kg of her own weight in preg-nancy, plus the 10-12kg of pregnancy itself (foetus plus fluids), she needs to put on about 130-140g/day.

That’s different to in a mature ewe where for the first two thirds of preg-nancy maintenance feed is all that’s required and you feed for the sudden growth of the foetus in the last trimester.

“In a young hogget you can’t afford to do that,” stresses Kenyon.

“In the first two thirds of pregnancy you have to make sure that she grows and that you give her a good level of feeding and remember it will go to her and not to the foetus. Then in that last third those high levels of feed-ing will go to the foetus because that’s the way she physiologically switches. In late pregnancy, the mother always gives to the foetus.”

If you don’t grow her on the first two thirds of pregnancy, and just feed well in late pregnancy, what happens it all goes to the foetus, which grows to almost normal size in a mother that hasn’t grown, often resulting in birthing difficulties and a reduced chance of lamb, and indeed hogget, survival.

Lambs and hoggets that do survive will be lighter at weaning.

Kenyon says success with lambing hoggets starts before mating: get liveweights well up, then use harnesses on rams to identify animals tupped, and follow up with scan-ning to be sure which ones are pregnant. Those that aren’t can go on a tradi-tional hogget management regime; those that are need to looked after from

the outset.One of the myths

that needs busting with pregnant hoggets is that because they have a lower liveweight than ewes, they can be fed less. Grow a crop or bring in extra feed to ensure they can be well fed, suggests Kenyon.

Either that, or reduce numbers in other stock classes to increase feed availability.

But when it comes to lambing hoggets, Kenyon says the same rules apply to them as to mature sheep.

“You should try to pick out sheltered pad-docks, put multiples at lower stocking rates than singletons and hopefully not have the covers going below 1200 kgs/DM which is about 4cm sward height.

“Those are things you do which don’t differ from what you do for a mature ewe. The only thing I would say is that some people who are very suc-cessful lamb their hoggets on to Lucerne, chicory or plantain. The evidence is that when you do that you get even higher per-formance than even a very good rye grass white clover.”

If hoggets are strug-gling a bit after lambing consider weaning two or three weeks earlier, he adds.

“While you might forego a bit of value on that lamb, you are actually giving her more time to recover because she won’t be lactating so long…. You will ensure that she’s a good two-tooth and you want her in your flock for the next four years. It’s a

case of a bit of short term pain for a bit of long term gain.”• Farmer perspective: p38

Paul Kenyon

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Page 38: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

38 management

a farmer’s perspectiveONE FARMER who is a great advocate of lambing hoggets (see p37) is John Heald, man-ager of Pohuetai Farms, Dann-evirke.

Last autumn he put 1800 High-

lander hoggets to the ram, about 1000 down on normal because the dry meant they were strug-gling to get hoggets to their 40kg target for mating.

“We had to start hard feed-ing a few. It wasn’t all beer

and skittles but we man-aged to pull a few up

and it worked.”Grain

supple-menting

about 700 saw them achieve 164% scanning, but by docking that dropped to 120%.

“We’re not sure what went

wrong.”Mated hoggets are grazed on

the best pasture and given pref-erential treatment.

“This coming season we’re going to try and set about 1000 going on a plantain rotation and see if we can achieve a 48 kilo-gramme average weight instead of the norm which is about three or four kilos lighter.”

While the Highlander hoggets are good mothers, it’s important to ensure they’re not stressed as lack of feed or a worm burden can increase mis-mothering, he adds.

And while mated hoggets may be a bit more work, overall those that produce lambs are probably the most profitable stock on the farm.

“If you can get a hogget lambing by the time she’s 13 or 14 months of age you are in the money,” he says.

John Heald lambs a thousand or more hoggets every year.

Early weaning best in dry

WEANING CALVES early when severe weather such as drought hinders beef pro-duction is the best option, US Department of Agriculture studies confirm.

Working with local ranch-ers, Montana State Uni-versity scientists and the American Simmental Associ-ation in Bozeman, Montana, Richard Waterman of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service evaluated early wean-ing and its impact on cow, heifer and steer performance.

Calves at two locations in Montana were weaned at 80 days old or the more tradi-tional 215 days.

Weaning early saw cows weigh more and in better body condition at the start of winter, cutting the amount of feed required to maintain cow weight and condition through winter.

As a strategy for farmers, it presents fewer problems and

gives better control of produc-tion, Waterman argues.

The research also showed early weaning increases the likelihood heifers become pregnant on time in the following breeding season, and early-weaned steers reach maturity sooner than traditionally weaned steers

when body weightgain, feedlot performance and carcass traits were measured.

That needs to be taken into account in management of early-weaned steers, as it can affect how carcasses grade: in some cases, the early-weaned steers had poorer yields because they were overfat.

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Page 39: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

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Page 40: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

40 animal health

in brief

ClINICal Issues OF antimicrobial resistance in human medicine are primarily the result of antibiotic use in people, rather than the use of antibiotics in animals, a new strategy released in the uK acknowledges.

However, it also notes veterinary use of antibiotics is an important factor contributing to the wider pool of resistance, says the British Veteri-nary association (BVa).

welcoming the uK Five Year antimicrobial Resistance strategy 2013-2018 BVa president Peter Jones said antimicrobial resistance is one of the most significant threats to animal

and human health.“In addition to measures to

improve prescribing practices, we welcome the focus on surveillance, research needs, and development of new drugs. as the strategy acknowl-edges, the development pipeline for new antibiotics is at an all-time low, which is very true of the animal health sector as well, and so we welcome measures to investigate how to manage this trend… the ‘One Health’ approach of medical and veterinary professionals working together will be crucial to the success of the strategy.”

Man and beast antibiotic strategy

DOGS DON’T beat one-another with sticks. Pups learn respect early from growling, snapping and being towered over. From the day a pup is born the bitch will growl or snap to reprimand it. She has no need to hurt it and doesn’t: the noise or quick-ness of the movement is all it takes. I have yet to see a bitch draw blood, even as the pup gets older and bolder. As a litter of pups grows, play fights evolve, and inevitably will turn a little more serious. It will usu-ally end with one either shaking the other by the scruff of the neck or stand-ing aggressively over it,

looking it in the eye and growling. As the pups begin to inter-act with the other mem-bers of the pack they are put in their place by the same methods. There will be a gentle warning growl and if that is not heeded, a snap follows - lighten-ing quick, giving the pup a fright rather than inflict-ing pain.

teach pups with pack principlesIt will either scamper off whimpering or roll on its back submissively. Some older dogs are more tol-erant than others but it is rare for a pup to be injured in these lessons. You will never see a dog pick up a stick and give the pup a walloping, so why, therefore, do we do it? Let’s look at how we can use ‘the pack’s way’ to our advantage.

This is a very important lesson for all pups, ideally carried out at about 10-16 weeks of age. If you get an older pup or dog do this lesson after he has settled into his new home and you have made friends with him. It goes without saying that the older the pup, the bigger the pup, and it can be a tricky lesson to enforce. He will put up a fight, and you will proba-bly get scratched, but this is not his fault and do not

punish him; just hold him down the best you can. Straddling him and lightly sitting on him works well for dogs that are bigger. Gently lay the pup on its side, holding him with one hand over his neck and your other hand holding the flank belly area. Do not use force, just enough pres-sure to stop him getting up.

The first time you do this the pup will struggle -

it will fight being held and try to get away.

Do not hurt it, you are only using enough pressure to stop it getting up; when it realizes it can’t, it will settle. It is vital that it stays there for a couple of min-utes, lying flat on its side, totally relaxed. Don’t talk or praise because you will defeat the purpose; this lesson teaches the pup that you are the alpha member of

the pack, the top dog. When you let the pup up don’t let it run off. Hold it gently at your feet for a minute or two and keep quiet. Because you haven’t hurt it, it isn’t afraid of you, but it does have respect. I repeat this lesson if a pup is being annoying or dis-obedient but this time I lean over it, glare it in the eye and say in a rough voice “grrrrrr, listen to me … grrrrr, listen to me”.

The growl and words are important, in time you will drop the growl and only use “listen to me”. I use this to discipline dogs of all ages and I never let the dog up and run off. I hold his collar and keep him at my feet for a minute or two.• Anna Holland is teaching people dog training, for more information www.annahol-land.co.nz, [email protected], ph 07 217 0101

worthwhile exercise: the pup learns who’s boss, and to trust you.

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Page 41: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

animal health 41

embryos needed if fMD strikesSTORED SEMEN is all very well, but will there be enough female cattle left to use it on to regener-ate the national dairy herd in the wake of a foot and mouth (FMD) crisis?

That’s the ques-tion a former MAF and Ruakura researcher, Dr Clive Dalton has, follow-ing a briefing by Livestock Improvement (LIC) on its preparedness for an exotic disease outbreak.

Dalton, whose doctor-ate was in animal breed-ing and was awarded the Landcorp Communica-tor of the Year title in 1993, says it’s good the dairy industry has contingency plans for protecting and storing semen, but not enough consideration is given to where the females to inseminate would come from.

At any one time about 4 million straws of frozen semen are held by LIC - about 2.4m in Hamilton and 1.5m in Christchurch. Every bull used since 1970 has 80 straws held in spe-cial quarantine tanks as ‘genetic insurance’ for research and insurance against any event which would prevent the coop-erative from collecting semen.

Dalton says FMD can be carried on the wind and prevailing westerlies in

the Waikato could see the disease infect every herd from Raglan to Te Aroha within a week. Authorities would have two options: slaughter or vaccination. What the policy would be hasn’t been made clear but vaccination would mean New Zealand’s FMD-free status would be lost for-ever, so slaughter could well be the route taken. If that happened, would there be enough cows to regenerate the national herd, particularly if the South Island was also affected?

He believes that when top performing cows reach their natural use-by date and are culled, ova-ries should be removed and eggs stored, much the same as semen. Better still would be keeping a bank of high-genetic embryos on ice, ready to put into surrogate mothers in the event of an FMD outbreak. Those mothers could be sourced in large numbers from the Australian out-back, he suggests.

While some of the responsibility for better contingency planning rests with LIC, which he says needs to think a lot wider than just bulls, there’s an urgent need for a gene bank for all our live-stock industries for the day when – not if, he adds – FMD arrives.

When Rural News put Dalton’s comments to

paM tIpa

[email protected]

LIC, it said a number of evolutions have occurred with semen technology since Dalton was actively involved as a scientist and it would be happy to “bring him up to speed…. In gen-

eral, though, a national response to an outbreak of an exotic bovine dis-ease would not rely on one solution.”

Dalton says LIC’s missed his point: it’s not

about the semen; it’s about where it would be used.

“Who is storing the female side! That’s what I’m concerned about. Where is their store of embryos?” Clive Dalton

Drench resistance rampant in AussieAUSTRALIA’S FIRST national drench resistance study in almost 20 years has found unexpectedly high levels of resistance to common sheep drenches, including market leading active moxidectin.

The study reports growing concern about the preva-lence and severity of resistance to ‘old’ drench classes and supports urgent calls for sheep producers to make strate-gic use of new drenches in their treatment programmes.

Incidence of resistance to moxidectin was 54%, while for benzimidazoles and levamisole, the oldest drench classes, it was 96%.

No resistance to the newest drench active, monepan-tel (as in Zolvix), was reported.

While some sheep producers have long been aware of the need to manage drench resistance, the results of the study show no sheep producer can afford to ignore roundworm drench resistance and all must address the issue quickly to guarantee the health of their flock and business, say the authors. – Alan Harman

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Page 42: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

42 animal health

A NEW virus has been identified as causing neurological symptoms similar to BSE in US cattle.

The find, reported in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal, will help rule out BSE as a possible cause in such cases, say researchers. The also say the new virus is unlikely to pose a threat to human health or the food supply.

“Understanding the role of this virus is crucial for vet-erinarians as well as for the dairy and beef cattle indus-tries,” says Patricia Pesavento, corresponding author on the paper.

The work was carried out by researchers from Uni-versity of California, Davis; the Blood Systems Research Institute in San Francisco; the Bishop Veterinary Hospi-tal, California; University of South Florida; and Stanford University.

Pesavento says neurologic disease in cattle can be dif-ficult to diagnose because there are a number of different causes, and pre-mortem sampling and analyses can be cum-bersome and/or expensive.

Following discovery of the virus, studies of brain tissue samples preserved from 32 cattle that had unexplained neurologic symptoms revealed the virus in three.

The newly identified virus is an astrovirus now referred to as BoAstV0NeuroS. It is the third separate astrovirus species detected in brain tissues and all are associated with neurologic disease. – Alan Harman

Virus causing BSE-like cases

City hives a risk to beesBRITISH SCIENTISTS are urging people in towns and cities keen to help the beleaguered honey bee not to buy a hive but to grow bee-friendly flowers instead.

Francis Ratnieks and Karin Alton at the Univer-

sity of Sussex’s Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) report in the journal The Biologist that urban beekeeping has never been more popu-lar, particularly in London, but the boom could be bad for honey bees and other flower-visiting insects as it risks overtaxing the avail-

ALAN HARMAN able nectar and pollen supply, and potentially encourages the spread of diseases.

Data from BeeBase, a register of apiaries maintained by the UK’s National Bee Unit (NBU), shows that in five years, from 2008-13, the number of beekeepers in Greater London tripled from 464 to 1,237, and the number of hives doubled from 1,677 to more than 3,500.

Ratnieks and Alton says the beekeeping boom has seen London reach about 10 hives per square kilome-tre, compared to about one

per square kilometre in England as a whole.

Many restaurants, gal-leries, businesses and shops use rooftop hives as a means of visibly greening their business or as a team-building exercise for staff.

“Both honey bees and wild bees have been declining,” Ratnieks says. “Although the causes are complex the most impor-tant one seems to be loss of flowers and habi-tat…. If the problem is not enough flowers, increas-ing the number of hives risks making that prob-lem worse… If a game

park was short of food for elephants, you wouldn’t introduce more elephants, so why should we take this approach with bees?”

High colony density in London and an influx of inexperienced bee-keepers also runs the risk of spreading certain honey bee diseases, espe-cially American foulbrood (AFB), now rare in Brit-ain. The “cure” for AFB, a highly contagious bacte-rial infection of honey bee larvae, is to burn the hive because it has very long-lived spores that contami-nate the wax combs.

The scientists calculate each new hive in London would need the equivalent of 1ha of borage, a plant that attracts mainly honey bees, or 8.3ha of lavender, a plant that attracts mainly bumblebees but some

honey bees, to support it.Honey bee numbers

may have declined but the species is in no immi-nent danger of extinction, unlike some other criti-cally endangered insects in the UK, they add.

Well-intentioned townies aren’t helping the honey bee’s plight, say UK scientists.

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Page 43: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

animal health 43

Tail trial inconclusiveDOCKING LAMBS? Wor-ried what’s the right length to leave? Judging by first year findings of research last week released by Alli-ance Group, it seems it doesn’t matter that much, at least from a production point of view.

In the first of what is a three year study, tail length had no effect on kill date or carcase traits, but longer and intact tails did increase dags and conse-quent time crutching.

The research involves a nationwide farmer survey on docking/tailing prac-tice, plus on-farm trials in Southland, Canterbury and Manawatu. The work is supported by Minis-try for Primary Industries Sustainable Farming Fund, UK supermarket Sains-bury’s and Beef + Lamb New Zealand.

“While the outcomes only represent preliminary findings, they do provide some useful early confir-mation on the effect of tail docking on growth rates and we will be looking for-ward to the final results in 2015,” says Murray Beh-rent, general manager of livestock at Alliance Group.

“There is currently a lack of scientific informa-tion addressing the pro-ductive, economic and welfare aspects of dock-ing lamb tails. This situa-

tion leaves New Zealand farmers vulnerable to any concerns from interna-tional markets in regards to the actual length of tails docked.”

Behrent says it’s impor-tant welfare issues that concern consumers and that could become bar-riers to exports can be addressed scientifically with trial data. The study should allow New Zealand to do that.

Economic benefit or cost to farmers of leaving tails longer or intact will be part of the remaining two years of the study.

“Once complete, the research should provide suppliers with reliable information in assess-ing the impact of their tail docking practices,” he says.

For the trials, the effects of four differ-ent tail lengths are being assessed: flush (1cm); short (3-4cm – currently the most common in New Zealand); long (7-10cm – usual in the UK); and intact. Lambs are weighed at docking, weaning and slaughter, and dags are scored at weaning and slaughter. Fly strike is assessed at any crutching or spray treatment.

Previous studies have shown dags increase likeli-hood of fly strike but so far in Alliance’s work any link

between tail length, dags and fly strike is incon-clusive. Similarly, intact tails, which some have suggested have a posi-tive effect on meat yield, haven’t produced a consis-tent across breed and sex affect to date.

Alliance’s research partners include Abacus-

Bio, farmers, and tailing and shearing contractors.

The survey aims to determine prevalence of different docking practices and drivers for those.

A best practice book-let on tail docking will be developed and distributed to Alliance’s suppliers in 2015.

Minimum standards and best practiceSection 6 of the Animal Welfare (Painful Husbandry Procedures) code of Welfare 2005 deals with Docking.

it states, under Minimum Standard no.4, that docking of sheep’s tails must only be undertaken where there is significant risk of faecal and urine contamination, and/or flystrike, that leads to poor hygiene, health, and welfare and/or failing to do so adds a significant cost to the farm system.

Docking without pain relief must be done as young as possible and pain relief is mandatory over six months of age.

it also says recommended best practice is for tails to be docked before six weeks and left long enough to cover the vulva of a female, regardless of wool length, and a similar length for males.

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Burning issue: Alliance’s trial aims to ensure New Zealand has the data to support its tailing practice.

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You should also keep infected animals or those of unknown BVD status from coming into contact with your herd.

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Page 44: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

44 animal health animal health 45

WHOLE GENOME sequencing will give researchers a better understanding of bovine TB outbreaks, a paper presented at a recent Society of General Microbiology conference

in the UK predicts.Researchers from the

University of Glasgow, working in collaboration with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and the Department of Agri-culture and Rural Devel-opment, Northern Ireland, sequenced the genomes of 147 million samples of the

bacteria responsible for bovine TB, mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis).

The samples came from a decade of out-breaks in Northern Ire-land. By combining the genomic sequences of the bacteria with information about when and where the samples were isolated,

and stock movement data, researchers were able to build a detailed foren-sic map of the disease’s spread.

The results show that, even over a few kilome-tres, M. bovis samples from neighbouring farms were more closely geneti-cally related than those

geographically distant on farms which had had cattle moved between them.

The finding confirms that, while long distance spread via cattle move-ments plays a role, local transmission mechanisms appear to drive the spread of the disease, although the researchers are unable

TB genome work aids tracing

to determine what these are at the present time.

“The inclusion of whole genome informa-tion in our data will give us unprecedented insight into how bovine TB spreads, and will help us to develop better control methods for the disease,” says one of the paper’s authors, Hannah Trewby.

Crucially, it will help clarify the role UK native species the badger plays in spreading the disease, and which, after many years of lobbying from farm-ing organisations, the UK Government finally, but controversially, agreed to allow a limited cull of, starting this year.

Professor Rowland Kao, the Principle Inves-tigator of the project, says the Northern Ireland results suggest establish-ment and local persistence of the pathogen in cattle has a distinct spatial sig-nature.

“We believe that explaining this signature is the key to quantifying the role that badgers play…. While we do not yet have sufficient data to be defin-itive, it is clear that whole genome sequencing of the bacterium will play an important part in solving this puzzle.”

It should also be a rela-tively inexpensive way to track TB, farm to farm.

“Given the exten-sive collection of sam-ples already collected from cattle and badgers, we are optimistic that this approach will help accu-mulating the right sci-entific evidence over the coming years to tackle this important problem.”

Rural News invited TBfree New Zealand to comment on this work and what benefit there might be in tracing the disease here, but it was unable to respond before this article went to press.

ANdRew swALLow

[email protected]

Possums behind 70% of cases

DNA identification of TB strains is helping researchers home in transmission pathways.

AnnoUncinG GRoUnD baiting and trapping of possums between Mosgiel and Dunedin, tBfree last week said scientific evidence indicates possums are responsible for about 70% of new herd infections in new Zealand’s tB risk areas.

Ground control work last took place in the Mosgiel-Dunedin area four years ago and was extremely successful in lowering possum densities but surveys show numbers have increased to a level where they pose a risk of spreading tB to nearby cattle and deer herds, it said.

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Page 45: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RURAl NeWs // SePteMBeR 17, 2013

animal health 45

spring brings surge in Theileria cases

ANdRew swALLow

[email protected]

CATTLE FARMERS are being warned to be on the alert for anaemic and lethargic animals as a new strain of tick-borne disease Theileria sweeps south.

In some cases the ikeda strain, identified in New Zealand for the first time last autumn, has left cows dead while others have resorted to once-a-day milking to ease the stress on affected animals.

In May, after a spate of cases in Northland, MPI, Beef + Lamb, DairyNZ and New Zealand Veter-inary Association warned the hot dry autumn may have increased tick populations. Now it seems the warm spring combined with calving stress is causing a spike in cases across Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

DairyNZ put out a warning to pro-ducers last week to be alert for symp-toms: anaemia, as indicated by pale mucous membranes, exercise intol-erance and increased respiratory and

heart rates. Affected cows are lethar-gic, likely lagging behind mobs when moved, if not recumbent.

“There have been a number of cases and a growing number of cases,” DairyNZ’s chief scientist Eric Hiller-ton told Rural News.

“Ticks transmit the disease and it’s been such a devastating spring in terms of tick numbers,” he added.

Colleague John Bluett, an animal husbandry specialist with DairyNZ

and a Waikato dairy farmer, said cases are happening “exponentially” in the Waikato at the moment.

“The weather and long grass have been ideal for the tick that carries it.”

The ticks infect cattle with the Theileria protozoa when they attach to the animal, then the protozoa destroys red blood cells, causing the anaemia and other symptoms. Cattle will develop immunity after exposure to the disease but if stressed before that immunity develops, they can go down with milk fever-like symptoms and even die.

“If you think you’ve got it, get the vet in straight away and get a test done,” urges Bluett, who had a cow go down with the disease on his

farm last week.“These cows have to be nursed

very gently. Give them plenty of high energy feed because they’ve not got the energy to go and get their own, and it will take them a while to recover.

“Some farms that have had quite a few cases have put them on once-a-day milking.”

Hillerton says keeping an eye-out for ticks around the tail head, base of udder and inside the legs – “basically wherever the tick can get close to the skin” – is a good idea, but warns the ticks are hard to spot as the immature forms are only the size of a pinhead, and even the adult is only 2.5mm across initially.

“It grows to about the size of a pea before they drop off.”

Cattle movements, and possibly other animals including birds, spread the ticks.

“They’ll go on virtually anything warm blooded and are well recog-nised on deer,” says Hillerton.

Other strains of Theileria have been present in New Zealand for at least 30 years. There is no animal-to-animal risk of spread in the absence of ticks, nor is there a human health or food safety risk associated with the disease.

theileria key points• tick-borne disease affecting cattle.• causes anaemia, lethargy, high heart/

respiratory rate, death.• Avoid stress or movement of affected

animals.• Provide high quality feed and water.• control ticks with vet-only pour-on

Bayticol.• Avoid moving stock to/from tick

infested areas.• Seek veterinary advice.

John Bluett, DairyNZ

Vector: ticks transmit Theileria but are hard to spot.

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Page 46: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

46 machinery & products

Contractors conquer light soil countryWIND AND light soils – easily blown away – keep Kaweka Contracting Ltd on its mettle in Hawkes Bay.

The owners of Kaweka Contracting Ltd, formed in 1990, brought plenty of farming experience into the company. David Ward and Martin Jones and their

wives Linda and Shona live at Waiwhare, 40km from Napier on the ‘Gentle Annie’ road to Taihape.

They service an area 340m above sea level, working up to 30km from their base.

“I had been working with a conventional baler for many years and there was a growing demand for round bales and after dis-

cussions with Martin and our respective spouses we formed Kaweka Contract-ing and it has been a suc-cessful partnership,” said Ward.

David and Linda own a 350ha (310ha eff ) prop-erty and Martin and Shona lease a 271ha (200ha eff ) property 2km away. Both run sheep and cattle and the land is rolling contour.

ToNy HopkiNsoN

“Our clients are mostly sheep and beef farmers plus one dairy farm and several lifestyle blocks,” said Jones.

Their baling business is cutting, drying when necessary, and baling and wrapping all baleage. “We try to wrap the bales adja-cent to where they will be stored which reduces the chance of damage to the wrapping when the bales are being carried,” said Ward.

They average 7500 bales a season; last year’s numbers were down because of the drought.

They have two Duncan drills, a Renovator for direct drilling swedes and kale planting 400ha annu-ally and a Renovator Clas-sic for under-sowing. They

use a Willet roller drill for planting about 100ha annually of grass seed. All drilling is followed by a rubber tyred roller.

They do giant disc-ing of brown-top ground and land following crops followed by a rotary hoe. “This is light soil country around here so we can’t

cultivate too fine or the soil will blow away,” said Ward.

Kaweka Contracting also does mole ploughing, has a reach mower and a Taupo Hand for clean-up work.

“We also have a post rammer but only place the posts.

“Either the farmer or a contractor places the wires,” said Jones.

They formerly had two Vicon balers but now have a McHale 660 baler and a McHale 991 hi-speed wrapper.

Their tractors have

always been SAMEs. “We started with a SAME Silver 90 which is still operating and we now have a SAME Silver 110, a SAME Iron 120 and a SAME Iron 140.”

The SAME Iron 120 is fitted with dual wheels for drilling and rolling on the steeper country.

“We have bought our tractors from Stort-ford Machinery and our other machinery from Power Farming, Hastings and now Power Farming has taken over Stortford Machinery all our business will be with one firm,” said Ward.

David Ward Martin Jones

Kaweka Contracting clients are mostly sheep and beef farmers.

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Page 47: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

machinery & products 47

New tractorsNEW SMALL and medium-frame tractors from the John Deere 6R series tractor range are now available in Australia and New Zealand.

Including these, nine models are now available sized 78-154kW (105-210hp). All 6R models offer new levels of power, performance and operator comfort, including improved suspension and cab visibility, more powerful hydraulics and increased lift capacities.

The small frame 6105R, 6115R and 6125R models are equipped with a Stage IIIB 4.5L 4-cylinder John Deere PowerTech Plus engine rated from 78-154kW. The maker’s fuel efficient diesel-only PowerTech engines meet the latest emission standards. The medium frame 6130R model is powered by a 96kW 4-cylinder engine mounted on a 6-cylinder frame; the other two medium-frame models, the 6140R and 6150R, are powered by Stage IIIB 6.8L 6-cylinder John Deere PowerTech Plus engine rated at 103kW and 110kW, respectively.

These new tractors also have a longer wheelbase to provide improved stability for loader applications. In addition, a higher permissible weight and payload allow bigger and heavier implements to be carried.www.Johndeere.co.nz

New rotary shed futureproofs farmA NEW 50-bail rotary dairy shed will ‘future-proof ’ the farm it’s installed on, says its Northland owner.

Pakotai farmer Graeme Edwards owns three farms in the mid North, the latest a 240ha (eff ), 420 cow unit at Tangowahine, northeast of Dargaville.

He bought the property two seasons ago, some-what run down.

An existing 31-aside herringbone shed built in 2001 was located at the extreme south of the prop-erty. Edwards set out to rearrange the farm with a central shed that would last.

A solid concrete panel design built by farm and industrial builder Bar-foote’s appealed to him most. Shed visits with the company’s director, Trevor Barfoote, convinced him.

Barfoote set up in 1989, first building a cowshed for his uncle. Now the firm has projects worldwide and at home. A 15m rail bridge on Walton street, Whangarei, was built in a weekend.

The company erects concrete tilt-slab build-ings: the wall slabs are made on the ground then lifted into position and secured with metal brack-ets.

This initially drew

Edwards to the company as he wanted something robust. “I was confident they could build me the shed I wanted.”

Edwards wanted effi-cient use of resources and one-man operation of the shed. Flow to and from the shed was set up so one herd could comfortably be milked while the other was wait-ing in the circular yard. Animals need not make any right-angle turns.

Water and effluent sys-tems are gravity fed to reduce the need for extra pumps.

Electricity use is mini-mised in the cleaning pro-cess, Edwards says.

“We are recovering some heat from the refrig-eration unit to pre-heat the hot water unit.”

He decided against a floating rotary platform, instead choosing one with a steel ring and nylon roll-ers.

“The nylon roll-ers made sense. They will need to be replaced over time but they won’t damage the steel ring.

“I’ve also included some variable speed drives and tried to be as energy efficient as I can.”

The 50-aside Westfalia plant was supplied by GEA and includes automatic cup removers, a drafting system and Dairyplan milk

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a line of sight to the Uber-net tower on the ranges

monitoring.Edwards hopes eventu-

ally to have the entire farm controlled centrally.

“The idea is that when you’re sitting in the cow-shed office you could

almost control the whole farm.

“Everything from draft-ing to water control could be done from there.

“Connectivity isn’t a problem because we’ve got

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Page 48: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

48 machinery & products

The greenest choiceA COMPANY making biodegradable skincare products says it’s all about “the greenest choice”.

Earthwise says its products are grey water and septic tank safe and suitable for those living on lifestyle blocks or farms.

“As with all Earthwise products, the range is without parabens, artificial colouring, toxic petrochemicals, lauryl sulphates or animal sulfates. Addition-

ally, all products from the Earthwise range are biodegradable,” it says.

The Earthwise bodywash and soap range is formulated with Vitamin E to gently cleanse and nourish, without stripping skin of moisture. Earthwise’s natural cleansing bar soaps are free of toxic chemicals and artificial colourants.

Earthwise’s Body range includes gentle shampoo, conditioner, decadent body wash and cleansing hand wash.

plough’s high-carbon workfaces wear well, last longerTHE LEMKEN semi-mounted plough range is extended with the launch of the Diamant 11 and 12 series models. CB Nor-wood Distributors mar-kets the brand in New Zealand.

Retaining the 160mm beam of the Diamant 10, the new machines have such new features as the DuraMaxx bodies fitted to the Juwel mounted plough range.

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mouldboards are made from high-carbon steel, without drill or punch holes, allowing increased hardening, higher wear resistance and long ser-vice life. Because they are simply hooked in with-out need for tools, rather than bolted on, they can be changed quickly. Indi-vidual slats are also avail-able in plastic to ensure that ploughing is always ideal, even on badly clog-ging soil.

The Diamant 11 is avail-able with up to nine fur-rows; the Diamant 12 can have up to 10 furrows depending on its equip-ment specification.

Both ploughs are also available with the Hydro-matic auto-reset system whereby the tripping body is always returned to the ideal working position regardless of the work-ing conditions: 380mm upwards movement, and 200mm to the side, are said to be more than enough, even for deep ploughing, to minimise interruptions. The trip-ping force can be adjusted without the operator having to leave the trac-tor seat.

The Diamant 11 can be equipped with a trac-tion increase unit similar

to that used on the semi-mounted Karat cultivator range. The Diamant 12 is available with a new trac-tion increase unit with headland management included in its basic ver-sion.

The traction increase unit ensures weight is shifted from the plough and tractor front axle to the tractor rear axle, reducing wheel-slip on the tractor.

At the headland the traction increase unit, on the Diamant 12, auto-matically regulates the pressure in the hydrau-lic system to match the bucking angle between the plough and the tractor so the tractor remains stable. The pressure in the trac-tion increase unit can also be reduced to stabilise the transport ride.

Electro-hydraulic angle adjustment is also new to the Diamant 12, allow-ing the plough inclination to be adjusted and saved directly from the tractor.

The turnover device holds the plough non-mechanically in the pre-set position, so that the body remains securely seated in the ground even when a packer is mounted. Tel. 06 356 4920www.lemken.co.nz

f o r t i m ava ri a b l e round b a l e r

0800 88 55 624www.tulloch.co.nz DEALERS NATIONWIDE

Features the EasyFlow Camless Pickup for quiet running and reduced wear and tear saving service and maintenance costs.

MultiCut System – new rotor gives increased throughput and superior quality of cut making bales that are easy to feed out.

Variable Chamber – for high density bales in silage, hay and straw.

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Page 49: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

machinery & products 49

Film-on-film wrapper saves time, money

Advantage of new technology

BALER AND wrapper spe-cialist McHale says its new Fusion 3 Plus baler-wrap-per with ‘film-on-film’ technology makes better silage than conventional balers and saves time and money.

The brand is distrib-uted in New Zealand by Power Farming.

The company’s sales and marketing manager, Paul McHale, contrasts the new machine with conven-tional baler-wrapper tech-nology, in which the bale is first secured with net or string then transferred to a wrapping table for seal-ing with plastic for fer-mentation.

Crucially, the McHale system eliminates the use of netwrap, instead apply-ing plastic directly to the bale in the bale chamber.

New Zealand was a crit-ical testing ground for the new concept baler, Paul McHale says. The com-pany’s managing director, Padraic McHale, and engi-neers, spent 12 weeks on farm in New Zealand trial-ling and refining the pre-production versions of the new concept machine. Several Kiwi contractors ran prototype machines last season.

“These machines worked well and have since been put into pro-duction,” McHale says. “Now 20% of the new Fusion 3 machines work-ing in Europe this season are being supplied with film-on-film instead of net wrap.

“We have been work-ing on our film-on-film system for four years and once farmers have expe-rienced the increased

quality that our system delivers, they do not want to return to more tradi-tional methods.”

Power Farming machinery division gen-eral manager Graeme Leigh says when a tradi-tional baler applies net or twine, the bale expands by a couple of inches before the plastic is applied.

“When the plas-tic wrap is applied in the bale chamber, it does not stretch so the bale does not expand. The bottom line is that more air is excluded, the bale is denser and the quality of the silage is significantly better. Depending on the number of layers you can apply, you could save $1.00-$2.00 per bale.

“Without netwrap, feed out is easier and faster, especially if you are using one of the new bale slic-ers, and you only have one form of waste to deal with, which makes recycling easier.”

Paul McHale says the company’s engineers had to make several techni-cal innovations so that the Fusion 3 Plus could effec-tively and consistently apply net replacement film.

“The Fusion integrated baler wrapper can deliver 10% more output than other baler wrappers on the market. It was impor-tant for us to get the film working well so that it was reliable and did not reduce the baler’s output as it passed through different crop types and as the tem-perature changes over a day’s work.

“The Fusion 3 Plus offers contractors a new

The McHale Fusion 3 Plus film-on-film wrapping system delivers higher quality silage and makes recycling easier.

the plastic applied to the barrel of the bale in the baling chamber also forms part of the wrapping process. it adds value by placing more plastic on the largest surface of the bale.

When plastic is applied to the barrel of the bale it can be stretched about 20%. the stretch ratio is higher than can be achieved with net wrap or twine so the crop is kept tighter and the result is better bale shape.

As the plastic is stretched and applied to the bale it expels more air than net wrap can, giving the benefit of better silage quality.

Feeding out is easier and faster without netwrap.

service they can provide to differentiate themselves from their competition.” It also gives farmers and contractors who need to bale hay, straw or other stalky crops the option to use netwrap because the

chamber is designed to handle net or plastic.

Power Farming expects half its McHale orders for the 2013-14 season will be Fusion 3 Plus machines.Tel. 07 902 2200www.powerfarming.co.nz

When it comes to value for money there’s nothing better than BKT, New Zealand’s most popular replacement tractor tyre brand. BKT’s worldwide reputation is built on providing a competitively priced, quality tyre that is manufactured to meet exacting international standards. With NZ’s largest range of agricultural tyres TRS can provide farmers with the right BKT tyre to fit most applications.

So for expert advice, talk to someone who knows the territory.

www.trstyreandwheel.co.nz or see your local reseller

0800 336 33410529

Amazing Performance. Even Better Value.

Page 50: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

50 machinery & products

Greater comfort and efficiency in harvestersJOHN DEERE’S S series harvester has a new engine speed management system that raises fuel effi-ciency, the company says.

It says the S series harvesters are the most productive harvesting machines the company has

ever designed and built. For model year 2014, new features will be offered to optimise performance and provide more comfort and control for the operator.

“We continuously look at our harvesting line-up, gain feedback from

our customers, and test new features to bring more productivity to our machines and headers,” says Steve Wright, market-ing manager, John Deere Ltd.

“For the first time ever, John Deere will be offer-ing 26 inch (66cm) and 36 inch (91cm) tracks to Aus-tralian and New Zealand producers for better floa-tation with reduced com-paction and fuel use in challenging field condi-tions.”

Because of a large foot-print, the tracks allow reduced ground pressure and the ability to harvest in a variety of conditions. They are designed with a high-idler configuration for enhanced performance and easy changeability between tracks and tyres.

“When harvesting in tough conditions, oper-ators will be able to get in the fields earlier and harvest longer with the new track options,” says Wright.

“The tracks can be ordered as a fac-tory-installed option or

ordered separately for our model year 2014 S series machines.”

Other enhancements to the S series line-up include a new interactive combine adjustment (ICA) in base equipment which auto-mates harvester settings while harvesting on-the-go. This simplifies over-all operator adjustment and brings more consis-tency and accuracy when harvesting in varying field conditions.

“We also added a new heated and ventilated leather seat with lumbar support,” says Wright. “A

leather wrapped steering wheel and leather instruc-tor seat completes the new comfort package. Our large cab, increased visibil-ity, improved heating and cooling systems, and inte-grated AutoTrac provides a comfortable and pro-ductive operator environ-ment.”

Other enhancements include the new engine speed management system which will reduce overall cost of operation with increased fuel effi-

ciency, especially at trans-port speeds. There is a new dual adjust chaffer to pro-vide an additional adjust-ment for improved grain tank cleanliness and an 8-wing feed accelerator to improve material flow in tough harvest conditions for customers with the variable stream rotor.

The S series will also be available to Australian and New Zealand producers with a choice of a US EPA Tier 2 or a US EPA Final Tier 4 engine.

“We recognise the needs of Australian and New Zealand produc-ers vary from those in the United States and Europe”, says Wright. “This is why we offer Aus-tralian and New Zealand producers choice when it comes to our latest release of machines.

“Be it Final Tier 4 or more economically priced Tier 2 engine, we strongly believe in tailoring our harvesting solutions to meet needs.”

The s-series harvester features a new engine speed management system, that reduces operation costs and lifts fuel efficiency.

New 66 and 91 cm tracks provide better rotation.

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Page 51: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

machinery & products 51

THE MAKER of the new Narva Hi-Optics rotating bea-cons describes them as the new benchmark in emergency/warning lighting.

Narva has combined engineering with the latest in LED technology to produce warning lamps that are powerful and reliable: the performance of traditional rotating bea-cons with the brightness and long life of LEDs. They suit contractors, emergency vehicles, utilities and councils.

Eight 3W LEDs and a precision reflector have the light output that meets Class 1 standard. Multi-voltage solid state circuitry is used with a brushless magnetic drive – no belts, gears or brushes to wear out.

Virtually unbreakable polycarbonate lenses are impact and shock resistant, while the aluminium base dissipates heat and resists vibration.

Options include a magnetic base lamp with rubber suc-tion pad. This lamp includes a pre-wired spiral lead with a cigarette lighter/merit plug.

Red, amber and blue lens options are available. Volt-age: 12/24.

LED beacons set new benchmark

Local tests add extra features to balerKRONE COMPRIMA bale users could soon be able to run netting and film through the same machines, as achieved during tests in New Zea-land, says Krone New Zea-land importer Tulloch Farm Machines.

Principal John Tull-och says the German farm machine maker has worked out a way to run netting and wrap through conventional Comprima bailers with a few attach-ments and was checking to see if the process would work in New Zealand.

A baler in Wairarapa and a combination baler/wrapper in Taranaki have been fitted with aftermar-ket attachments since October 2012 and Tulloch says operators have been happy with the results.

“They liked the waythe film is fully stretched across whole width of the bale from start to finish.”

Tulloch said the operator with the combination wrapper was especially impressed.”With the combi baler the whole operation is faster. On steep country little time is lost where you may wait at the bottom to wrap and drop the last bale so you have an empty machine to get a clean run up the hill.

“They are looking forward to running the system again this year.”

Tulloch says Com-prima balers will only need a film kit to use the system which he says requires the changing of the duckbill, adding a few rollers and changing some settings in the controller programme.

“This will be a low cost kit which is easy to retro-

GAReTH GiLLATTfit. Changing from net to film or vice versa takes no longer than it normally would when you change a roll of net.”

Once this is added Tull-och says operators will

get tighter balers at lower cost. “The bales are easier to feed out as the film sep-arates away from the bale-age with ease, and there is no separation of net and film for recycling.

“The wrapper only needs to apply half the amount of stretch film, saving in time and money.”Tel. 0800 88 55 624www.tulloch.co.nz Krone round silage baler.

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GISBORNE Power Farming Gisborne 06 868 8908HASTINGS Power Farming Hawke’s Bay 06 879 9998HAWERA Power Farming Taranaki 06 278 0240FEILDING Power Farming Manawatu 06 323 8182MASTERTON James Trucks & Machinery 06 370 8240BLENHEIM Tractor Repairs & Spares 03 572 5173GREYMOUTH Power Farming West Coast 03 768 4370 NELSON Brian Miller Truck & Tractor 03 544 5723

CHRISTCHURCH Power Farming Canterbury 03 349 5975ASHBURTON Power Farming Ashburton 03 307 7153 TIMARU Power Farming Timaru 03 687 4127 ALEXANDRA Peter Watt Machinery 03 448 8490MOSGIEL Power Farming Otago 03 489 3489 GORE Power Farming Gore 03 208 9395 INVERCARGILL Power Farming Invercargill 03 215 9039

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Designed light and built strong the DS power harrow is ideal for use with lower horsepower tractors on small to medium sized farms.• 3mpowerharrow• 120hpsinglespeedgearbox• PTOshaftwithshearpin• Packerrollerwithpin adjustment or cage roller

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Page 52: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

52 machinery & products - motoring

Auto oil burner plugs a gap for subaruA DIESEL powered Subaru Outback is a rare sight on New Zealand roads, largely because it came only with a manual gearbox – until now, that is.

The Outback 2.0D automatic uses a high-torque version of Subaru’s Lineartronic transmission, a CVT gearbox. It is strengthened to suit the high torque output of the turbo diesel engine and keeps the engine in the creamy part of its torque curve. The result is impressive and makes the diesel the pick of the Outback family, in Rural News’ opinion.

Subaru says the new transmission control system switches seamlessly from variable

mode to stepped gears, in response to accelerator use, while maintaining engine speed. It is designed to compensate for the typically narrow usable power band of diesel engines that would otherwise require drivers to constantly change gears.

In addition to the seven-speed manual mode, there is a second gear takeoff mode, allowing secure take-off on roads with low friction, such as snow and mud. Time didn’t allow an off-road excursion in the diesel, but previous drives have proved its mettle in the mud. The torquey diesel should enhance that ability.

On-road the usual Subaru poise and balance is there. Parts of the Outback 2.0D suspension system have been changed to cater for increased weight over the front axle. The changes avoid any front-heavy sensation and ensure sharp turning, but firm up the ride.

The engine is quiet by diesel standards, but to kill the clatter completely more soundproofing is applied to the front under-cover, reducing cabin noise when idling or accelerating. The Outback 2.0D is powered by a turbocharged 2.0L 4-cylinder horizontally opposed Boxer diesel engine, producing 110kW power at 3600rpm and 350

Nm torque between 1800-2400 rpm.

In the combined cycle, fuel consumption is an

impressive 6.5L/100km and carbon dioxide emissions 172 grams/km.

The Outback 2.0D automatic is priced from $59,990, $2000 more than the manual version. The automatic diesel shares a wide range of other changes to the Outback model year 2013 line-up, including a revised grille, front bumper, fog light

surrounds and wheel patterns.

Wallis Dumper, the managing director of Subaru of New Zealand acknowledged the importance of a diesel model in the SUV market: “The Outback diesel automatic plugs a gap in our model line-up. A significant proportion of medium SUV sales are

automatic diesels and we have not ‘played’ in this space.

“We use the word ‘played’ with trepidation as in fact it was Subaru who created the first Outback that helped lead the whole SUV phenomenon we see today. So having a 100% AWD boxer engine line up we are far from ‘playing’ in this segment.”

The diesel model is Rural News’ pick of the Outback family.

MS1189

Page 53: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RuRal News // september 17, 2013

real estate 53

STRONG SALES numbers and prices for rural property – farm and lifestyle – throughout the winter have gone against the traditional seasonal slowdown, providing a good platform for the market heading into spring 2013.

The REINZ All Farm Price Index rose by 2.1% in the three months to July 2013; year on year the index has risen by 4.6% from July 2012. However a lack of listings could hold the spring market back and if continued shortage persists then higher prices will be needed to attract additional properties to the market.

Add in low interest rates, investor fund interest, a competitive lending environment and strong milk payouts, and things could really start to heat up as summer arrives.

Of course there are the usual uncertainties involved, such as increasing environmental regulation, industry-specific challenges and – being an export-driven industry – the international economic climate. We can see how these international influences impact median farm prices in the historical graph (right).

There was a sharp run-up in prices from June 2004 to June 2008 during the buoyant economic years in the global economy, however in August 2008 when the global recession hit in earnest, farm prices dropped away sharply and remained volatile right through to a gradual increase from 2011.

Dairy farm prices have proven more volatile than all other farms over the longer term, with sharp movement in both directions whereas all other farm prices track relatively steady.

wonderland of riches

Farm sales, prices buck seasonal trend

Median Price Per Hectare April 2013 May 2013 % Change June 2013 July 2013 % Change

Dairy $34,819 $34,850 0.09% $29,555 $34,882 15.27%

livestock - Finishing $20,293 $17,903 -13.35% $18,672 $22,500 17.01%

livestock - Grazing $12,900 $13,443 4.04% $13,831 $15,367 10.00%

Arable $34,410 $30,811 -11.68% $30,031 $27,287 -10.06%

Horticulture $118,119 $128,248 7.90% $120,345 $100,667 -19.55%

lifestyle (per sale) $518,500 $509,500 -1.77% $505,000 $488,500 -3.38%

MAPUA SITS roughly halfway between Nelson and Motueka on the South Island’s stunning northern coast.

The Mapua Wharf, with boutique shops, lively cafés and the quaint Rabbit Island ferry, make this one of the most magical settings in the Tasman district.

Tennis courts, park, bowling club, village hall, medical centre, church and primary school give Mapua its friendly Kiwi community vibe.

Mapua is also home to the beautifully crafted four bedroom, 247m2 plaster and tile property, set on 5283m at 142 Aranui Road.

Its grounds include native, exotic trees and shrubs that provide a safe playground for the children, while the privacy offers sun-bathed and secluded al fresco dining from breakfast to midnight.

The 136m three car garaging features auto garage doors with an adjoining extensive work-shop with shower and toilet facilities.

A picturesque shared lake with immaculate pathways, barked beds, citrus and fertile vege-table gardens add colour and offer a delicious annual bounty in the wonderland of riches that 142 Aranui Road and Mapua provide.

Rural realtors know their businessIN SOUTH Island rural real estate, Trevor Wright and Jim Weir of Cowdy & Company have it covered.

Wright specialises in sheep, beef and deer farms while Weir’s main focus is dairy farms and lifestyle properties.

Wright went into real estate in June 1972 selling subdivisions and new homes in the Christchurch suburbs of Avonhead, Merivale and Huntsbury.

He moved into rural real estate in 2000 when a Nelson

farmer, the late Rudolf Abelen, asked him to find a high coun-try farm in the Hawarden/Culverden Basin. Wright found him Glen Carey sta-tion (4000ha) in Hakataramea Valley. He enjoyed this so much he has stuck with rural real estate ever since.

Weir also has expert knowl-edge of the South Island rural sector, having been raised on a 600ha property in Central Otago. He spent many years working on farms and shearing in New Zealand and overseas.

His goal was to own a farm, which he achieved in 1992. He has owned a farm on Banks Peninsula and now lives on a lifestyle block in West Eyreton.

He started selling real estate in 1995, working under inter-national rural real estate fran-chises. He strives to provide a high level of service and prides himself on getting the best pos-sible result for his clients.

Whether buying or selling, your rural property is in expert hands with the experienced rural team at Cowdy & Co.

Trevor Wright 03 355 6555021 212 [email protected]

Blackhill Run Deadline Sale• 183.64 Ha of hunting & grazing land

on 3 titles with 1057mm rainfall•Would suit sheep, cattle or forestry• Includes 125Ha steep hill block with

quad bike track to top• 57Ha of old river flats suitable for

grazing with stock water troughs• Located 40 minutes from Kaikoura &

1 hour south of Blenheim

Deadline Sale: All offers on or before 4pm Monday 30th September 2013 (unless sold prior)

REAA 2008

Waiautoa Road, Clarence Valley

ref: CC100771www.nzfarms.co.nz

www.trademe.co.nzwww.cowdy.co.nz

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Motueka

142 Aranui RoadThis exceptionally stylish home has been built to the highest standards and provides luxurious, private family living coupled with a convenient location, on the fringes of Mapua Village. Offering large open-plan living spaces, designer kitchen, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, laundry, triple garage, workshop and carport, all set upon 5283m² of immaculate grounds. This residence has elegance, a commanding presence and the power to please.

For Sale $1,100,000View by appointmentwww.bayleys.co.nz/650975Jan LongM 021 337 267B 03 528 5242 [email protected] Tania WilkinsM 021 726 083 [email protected]

VINING REALTY GROUP LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

FRANCis woLFGRAM

[email protected]

Our table (below) shows the most farm price activity during April and May this year was in livestock finishing and arable land, with drops of at least 13% and 11% respectively; the other land groups were generally flat over April and May except horticulture, up 7.9%.

There was a lot more activity during June and July this year, with double-digit price movements across the board – dairy, livestock (finishing and grazing) all

up sharply and arable and horticultural land down sharply.

The median price per hectare for all farms sold in the three months to July 2013 was $20,667, a 15.1% increase on the $17,955 recorded for three months ended July 2012.

Lifestyle prices were down 6.14% for the three months from April to July 2013 but this is not a true reflection of the market as strong interest and price rises in and around Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton have been brought down by a weakness in the national average. On a yearly basis however the national median price for lifestyle blocks rose by $13,500 (+2.8%) from July 2012.

The number of days to sell for lifestyle properties eased by three days, from 69 days for the three months to the end of June 2013 to 72 days for the three months to the end of July 2013.

Page 54: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RURAl NeWs // SePteMBeR 17, 2013

54 rural trader

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“We have listened and heard exactly what farmers want”. Market leaders McKee Plastics are doing it bigger and better with their JUMBO SIZED PALM KERNAL FEEDERS. Another 100% New Zealand bit of kiwi ingenuity, built to last and withstand local conditions.

The 1.000mm tubs available in a 4.5 Metre 3 Wheel (the largest of the small troughs on the market) and 6 Metre 6 Wheel length. Made from UV light protected polyethylene with bolt-on ends. All componentry is replaceable, making the troughs unique, able to stand the test of time.

From the ground up these troughs are TOUGH, TOUGH TOUGH. Reinforced with 65mm x 35mm RHS galvanised perimeter framework. The troughs are cradled in a heavy duty galvanised frame, complete with galvanised chassis. Also fitted with support clamps placed at intervals around the top of the trough giving incredible strength and flexibility, eliminating stock damage and promoting animal welfare. A hinging drawbar completes the independent braking system, located at the front of the unit, once again accommodating animal safety. Both 3 Wheel or 6 Wheel options have heavy duty axles, hubs and stubs.

Every single piece of trough componentry from the ground up is replaceable making yet another McKee Plastics product line stand out from the rest – giving amazing durability – “our products just keep on going”! – year after year after year.

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Page 55: Rural News 17 Sept 2013

RURAl NeWs // SePteMBeR 17, 2013

rural trader 55

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go to

www.quadbar.co.nz

The award winning Australian Quadbar is now on over 250 farms

in NZ and is saving lives and preventing injury daily. It is now

made here and is a well proven crush protection device for quad bikes.

Advantage Plastics Rangiora

call: 0800 668 534 or (03) 313 57500800 38 44 50

22HP 42” / 26HP 48”USA MADE / LOW NZ PRICE FULL RANGE AVAILABLE

NEW

ZERO TURNMOWERS

FROM

$6,590PLUS GST

Happy BirthdayTo mark a birthday, retirement or any

milestone, give that special someone, something special - a personal cartoon portrait by

Edna cartoonist Malcolm Evans - $200 plus GSTSend no money - just email a few up-to-date photos of subject, with a note of details you’d like included, to; [email protected]

Or post your inquiries to; M. Evans, 39J Cape Horn Road, Hillsborough, Auckland 1041 . .

and don’t forget to include your return address.

Please add $10 Freight per order

$48valued at

$140valued at $190

RAINWALK RAINWEAR SALE! 40% OFFOFFER AVAILABLE 2 WEEKS ONLY! COMFORTABLE, HIGHLY BREATHABLE & LIGHTWEIGHT!

$66

$100

valued at $200

$42valued at $120

Page 56: Rural News 17 Sept 2013