rural news 3rd march 2015

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MARCH 3, 2015: ISSUE 579 www.ruralnews.co.nz RURAL NEWS TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS AGRIBUSINESS Feds say its time to move on over the selling of interest swap rates. PAGE 22 WORKING WOMEN A new network for farming women emerges on the East Coast. PAGE 17 MACHINERY Massey Ferguson launches a new range of work horses. PAGES 37-38 YEAR OF THE (MILKING) SHEEP As Chinese communities in mid February began celebrating the Year of the Sheep, scientists, farmers, marketers and regulators attend- ing a Massey University confer- ence were engrossed in the subject of sheep milking. They heard from all sorts of experts, sampled sheep milk and products and watched sheep being milked. Massey sci- entist Dr Sam Petersen has been milking sheep for 30 years as part of his study of lactation. He has uses sheep instead of milking cows because they are less expensive. Many at the conference hoped the year of the sheep will bring good luck for an animal more or less dis- placed by the cow. Could this be set to change? More details on pages 23 & 28-29 Dry to bite lamb crop DROUGHT IN the central South Island has reached the point where losses cannot be limited to this year, industry representatives say. With mating only weeks away, ewe condition is below normal in many areas and fresh feed for flushing scarce to non-existent. “I expect ewe bodyweight will be back at mating and there won’t be the number of hoggets mated this autumn,” Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s economic manager for the region, John Holmes, says. “People might have to cut into their capital [stock] numbers from here on in too, if they haven’t already started to do so.” Consequently, there would “defi- nitely” be an impact on next season’s production, though putting a figure on that now is hard to do, he says. BLNZ economic service data shows Marlborough and Canterbury produced 4.7m lambs (18%) of the national crop in 2014 – second only to the North Island East Coast with 6m (24%) of the drop. Holmes says with hindsight, fore- casts for 2015 fed into BLNZ’s Mid Season Outlook report this week are too high. “It’s based on what we did at the start of February. At that point it looked like it was turning a bit, but they were still fairly low.” The drought has “just deepened really” in the four weeks since that data was collected and Holmes says he’d revise the figures if doing them again. The next four weeks will be “abso- lutely critical too” as time is running out for rain to save dryland winter feed crops and revive burnt off pasture. “There’s only so long before winter and the ground getting cold, and you don’t get any growth even if it does rain.” Holmes’ North Island East Coast colleague Amanda Bowie declined to comment on whether the dry there had reached the point of affecting next sea- son’s lambing, but she admitted rain is needed “ASAP so we can grow autumn feed to get us through the winter. What- ever is in the ground needs a drink.” On February 12, Minister for Pri- mary Industries Nathan Guy declared the drought a medium-scale adverse event east of the Southern Alps from Central Otago to Marlborough and said Wairarapa was “on watch”. Last week, his office said there was no plan to extend the area to include Wairarapa but the minister was “still keeping a close eye” on the situation. Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre chairman in Mid Canterbury, Mike Sal- vesen, says the foothills and high coun- try, which carry most of the region’s breeding flocks, are not so bad as to affect next season’s output. “But in South Canterbury it’s a different story and we’re not as bad as North Canter- bury either.” His counterpart to the north, Dan Hodgen, say with rams due out in a week or two, if not already, there’s bound to be an impact on next spring’s lambing. “It’s going to roll over to next season. It’s just a question of how much.” ANDREW SWALLOW @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews $ 3495 * $ 2495 * How are you tracking? Let’s talk. 0800 263 278 Data capture – made easy Visibility – made easy Set up – made easy Data transfer – made easy Data storage – made easy Hard work Made easy 5000 Series Weigh Scales * Pricing includes GST Call us for an on farm demonstration

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Rural News 3rd March 2015

TRANSCRIPT

MARCH 3, 2015: ISSUE 579 www.ruralnews.co.nz

RURALNEWSTO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS

AGRIBUSINESSFeds say its time to move on over the

selling of interest swap rates.PAGE 22

WORKING WOMENA new network for farming women emerges on the East Coast. PAGE 17

MACHINERYMassey Ferguson launches a new range of work horses. PAGES 37-38

YEAR OF THE (MILKING) SHEEPAs Chinese communities in mid February began celebrating the Year of the Sheep, scientists, farmers, marketers and regulators attend-ing a Massey University confer-ence were engrossed in the subject of sheep milking. They heard from all sorts of experts, sampled sheep milk and products and watched sheep being milked. Massey sci-entist Dr Sam Petersen has been milking sheep for 30 years as part of his study of lactation. He has uses sheep instead of milking cows because they are less expensive. Many at the conference hoped the year of the sheep will bring good luck for an animal more or less dis-placed by the cow. Could this be set to change? More details on pages 23 & 28-29

Dry to bite lamb cropDROUGHT IN the central South Island has reached the point where losses cannot be limited to this year, industry representatives say.

With mating only weeks away, ewe condition is below normal in many areas and fresh feed for flushing scarce to non-existent.

“I expect ewe bodyweight will be back at mating and there won’t be the number of hoggets mated this autumn,” Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s economic manager for the region, John Holmes, says.

“People might have to cut into their capital [stock] numbers from here on in too, if they haven’t already started to do so.”

Consequently, there would “defi-nitely” be an impact on next season’s production, though putting a figure on that now is hard to do, he says.

BLNZ economic service data shows Marlborough and Canterbury produced 4.7m lambs (18%) of the national crop in 2014 – second only to the North Island East Coast with 6m (24%) of the drop.

Holmes says with hindsight, fore-casts for 2015 fed into BLNZ’s Mid Season Outlook report this week are too high. “It’s based on what we did at the start of February. At that point it looked like it was turning a bit, but they were still fairly low.”

The drought has “just deepened really” in the four weeks since that data was collected and Holmes says he’d revise the figures if doing them again.

The next four weeks will be “abso-lutely critical too” as time is running out for rain to save dryland winter feed crops and revive burnt off pasture. “There’s only so long before winter and the ground getting cold, and you don’t get any growth even if it does rain.”

Holmes’ North Island East Coast colleague Amanda Bowie declined to comment on whether the dry there had reached the point of affecting next sea-son’s lambing, but she admitted rain is needed “ASAP so we can grow autumn feed to get us through the winter. What-ever is in the ground needs a drink.”

On February 12, Minister for Pri-mary Industries Nathan Guy declared the drought a medium-scale adverse event east of the Southern Alps from Central Otago to Marlborough and said Wairarapa was “on watch”.

Last week, his office said there was no plan to extend the area to include Wairarapa but the minister was “still

keeping a close eye” on the situation.Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre

chairman in Mid Canterbury, Mike Sal-vesen, says the foothills and high coun-try, which carry most of the region’s breeding flocks, are not so bad as to affect next season’s output. “But in South Canterbury it’s a different story and we’re not as bad as North Canter-

bury either.”His counterpart to the north, Dan

Hodgen, say with rams due out in a week or two, if not already, there’s bound to be an impact on next spring’s lambing. “It’s going to roll over to next season. It’s just a question of how much.”

ANDREW SWALLOW

@rural_news

facebook.com/ruralnews

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

NEWS 3

HEAD OFFICE Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622

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NEWS�������������������������������������1-17

WORLD ��������������������������������������18

MARKETS ������������������������ 20-21

AGRIBUSINESS �������������� 22-23

HOUND, EDNA ����������������������� 24

CONTACTS ������������������������������ 24

OPINION ���������������������������� 24-27

MANAGEMENT �������������� 28-30

ANIMAL HEALTH �����������31-35

MACHINERY AND PRODUCTS ���������������������� 36-41

RURAL TRADER ������������42-43

ISSUE 579www.ruralnews.co.nz

Is biosecurity being traded away?

FARMLANDS ANNOUNCED late last week that its chief executive Brent Esler was stepping step down as of March 1.

The rural supplies co-op’s chairman, Lachie Johnstone, said Esler’s contribu-tion had been “significant”. Esler devel-oped the business case for, and helped lead, the merger of Farmlands Trading Society Ltd and CRT in 2013.

Chief financial officer Tony van der Hoorn will be the interim chief execu-tive pending a new appointment.

Esler says he enjoyed leading CRT and more recently Farmlands. The merger had taken much time and energy… and “the time is now right for someone with new skills and energy to take the business into its next phase”.

GONE!CANTERBURY’S Synlait Farms has rebranded as Purata.

The former farming subsidiary of Synlait Ltd owns 13 dairy farms in Canter-bury, putting it among the largest dairy farm operations in New Zealand with total land of 4820ha.

With Latin and Maori origins meaning ‘clear, bright - like a beautiful morn-ing,” Purata’s name reflects the company’s new vision since the ownership change, says Purata chief executive Juliet Maclean.

She says changing the brand name, tagline and colour palate will help Purata reinforce its separate identity since leaving parent company Synlait Ltd.

“While we continue to have a strong customer-supplier relationship with Synlait Milk, we have operated as independent companies for some time so we’re excited to have a fresh look and name to reflect this evolution.”

The farming business was sold last year to a partnership of Chinese com-pany Shanghai Penxing, with Maclean and Synlait chief John Penno keeping minority stakes.

The company says it intends to grow further by raising productivity, irriga-tion development and buying complementary dairy farms where management can improve performance.

Name change for Synlait

LABOUR’S PRIMARY industries spokesman Damien O’Connor is con-cerned that trade-related issues may be overriding biosecurity issues.

His comments come as MPI tries to catch the latest batch of Queensland fruit flies, discovered in Auckland last month. O’Connor says he’s seen MPI reports in which trade considerations have been seen as “preeminent”.

“My concern has been for years that biosecurity has been pushed to one side or has been usurped by trade consid-erations. So whenever there might be a need to increase the level of scrutiny at the border it’s been pushed back by people who believe it could be seen as non-tariff trade barriers.”

However, O’Connor says he doesn’t see the biosecurity risk increasing as New Zealand moves to secure more

free trade agreements. (FTAs). He says all the FTAs New Zealand has signed, including the one with China, have left in place our sovereign right to protect our borders.

“That will always be the case. From a biosecurity perspective those things should never be traded away and I don’t think they have been, but officials get

overly sensitive to the issue of non-tar-iff trade barriers.”

O’Connor won’t comment about what is happening ‘on the ground’ in Auckland; he trusts MPI staff will be doing all they can to deal with the problem. But he is concerned about the overall capability of MPI to deal with the fruit fly incursion.

“I have [heard] that in other core areas of MPI’s responsibility some expertise has been diluted as the tasks have become more generic. I’m sure they’ll have people on the ground who’ve been roped in and that’s good. But I guess [dilution of expertise is in] the nature of having a big multi-task organisation.”

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

O’CONNOR SAYS he had a very productive meeting with the group he once labelled ‘The National Party in Gumboots’ – Federated Farmers.

At Parliament last week Feds Meat and Fibre section executive met with O’Connor for what may be seen as a landmark meeting. O’Connor praised Feds for their initiative, which he says involves “actively engaging” politicians from all parties.

Until now meetings between Labour and Federated Farmers have been sporadic, he says, describing this latest initiative as a “very smart move” that will help shore up relations between Feds and the Labour caucus.

“I welcome the opportunity to host them back to meet a number of my colleagues on a wide range of issues. I know my colleagues are keen to meet with them to talk productively about the issues we share.”

O’Connor says Labour is pro farming and that any “honest” farming leader will acknowledge Labour has made some of the most significant progressive changes in agriculture over the years.

RELATIONS THAWING? Damien O’Connor

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

4 NEWS

Happier dairy days aheadTHE GLOBAL dairy price slide seems to be over and farmers are banking on happier days ahead.

Federated Farmers Waikato Dairy chairman Chris Lewis says a few more rises in the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auc-tions will allow farmers to “hit the happy place for a while”.

Lewis says the posi-tive in Fonterra’s decision last week to hold the milk payout at $4.70/kgMS was that the payout wasn’t reduced.

With most of the milk from this season pro-cessed and sold, Lewis says farmers are turn-ing attention to the next season, starting June 1.

“Not only farmers but the banks and the busi-ness community are look-

ing forward to the next season with confidence; we don’t expect a record payout but a middle range figure,” he told Rural News. “Farmers expect prices to hit the happy for a while.”

But for this to happen, GDT prices must con-tinue to rise; since December, GDT prices for whole milk powder have risen 45% and skim milk powder prices 13%. WMP

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

prices are hovering at US$3272/tonne and WMP US$2744/t.

Fonterra chairman John Wilson says the increase was not suffi-cient to raise the forecast milk price now.

On the coming season, Wilson says it’s difficult to predict prices so far ahead. “There is so much volatility, we are finding to difficult to forecast on a week-to-week basis, let alone 18 months.

“Significant volatil-ity [continues] in interna-tional commodity prices. New Zealand volumes are down, with uncertainty in milk production due to… drought in Canterbury, Marlborough, Central Otago and North Otago.”

He says WMP prices must reach US$3500/t by April to sustain the $4.70/kgMS payout forecast.

The ASB Bank, which has lifted its forecast payout to $5/kgMS for this season, says it was “a touch surprised” by Fon-terra’s decision.

For the coming season, the bank is forecasting an opening payout of $6.50/kgMS, based on a slow-down in milk supply growth in Australia, the US and Europe, drought in New Zealand and a rebound in demand in China.

ASB economist Nathan Penny says Fonterra has not taken into account the drop in the New Zealand

dollar. But he concedes Fonterra’s hedging policy won’t allow it to reap the immediate benefits of the lower dollar.

BNZ economist Doug Steel isn’t surprised Fon-terra stuck to the $4.70/kgMS forcast payout. There is too much volatil-ity in the global markets for Fonterra to raise the forecast payout by a few cents and then get caught out by a big drop in GDT prices, he says.

Steel says dairy prices have clearly firmed but he cautions farmers against getting carried away by prospects for next season.

“We have gone from record highs to extreme lows within a few years,” he says. “The next season

is looking better but we should not get too excited. Prices will push higher in the coming months and it’s all to do with the drought in New Zealand.

“Weather [permitting], production will recover in New Zealand next season and then further price increases will be capped.”

The BNZ is forecasting an opening payout of $6/kgMS for next season.

But Chris Lewis, Federated Framers, says with rising cost of production, debt servicing and capital costs, farmers need at least $7/kgMS for long-term sustainable business.

“Farmers will be keep-ing an eye on GDT and hoping the market finds

a place for a fair value price; all farmers want is fair value for their hard earned product.”

Lewis says many farm-ers are struggling this season with $4.70/kgMS. “When the milk cheques arrive over the next six months, there will be a lot of negative financial fig-ures on farms.”

Wilson says Fonterra is mindful of the tight cash-flow and the struggles of dairy farmers.

“As a farmer, I know we all want a higher payout but farmers understand the global market dynam-ics. We are advising farm-ers to continue to be cautious with budgeting and we will update them as the season progresses.”

Fonterra chair John Wilson.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

NEWS 5Higher production key driver for local economies

SECTOR LACKS STRATEGIC PLANNINGNEW ZEALAND is making mistakes in research, data protection and bios-ecurity, for example, because we are terrible strategic thinkers, claims Labour’s primary industries spokes-man Damien O’Connor.

“We have come a long way in 250 years to become, we hope, a first world country. Change has occurred very rapidly, the government has been known as the fastest law makers in the west,” he told the Agcarm con-ference in Auckland last week.

“That has assisted us to make changes when and where necessary – not to be locked into a constitution or a lawmaking process that takes forever. We can change laws quickly and adjust to what we need. But that rapid change has left us with a short horizon, some shallow thinking and in my opinion little vision.”

Knowing where we are heading is often assumed but not considered or clarified by many organisations, gov-ernance included, he says.

“For the biggest industry in New Zealand, the dairy industry, there is no strategic plan. How dumb is that? DairyNZ has a strategic plan and it’s kind-of farmer focused as it should be. They are the people paying the levy and DairyNZ is servicing their

needs. Fonterra I hope has a strategic plan – I’m trying to work out where it is – but they are not the only dairy company. While it is a cooperative, there are now people with interests in Fonterra who are not farmers.

“There is no strategic plan or vision for our dairy industry and this economy relies on it.”

O’Connor says he is not surprised the red meat industry doesn’t have one although they tried a red meat strategy that for a start omitted ven-ison. It was an exercise in reluctant participation by the industry play-ers. The wool industry, of course, has been in chaos.

“The deer industry is now floun-dering around with a product that is first class, premium, the best pro-tein in the world, yet they can’t get their act together enough to give the farmers enough confidence and cer-tainty to keep there and grow their numbers in the industry. All these things affect each and every one us in the economy.”

The Government has tried to assist through the Primary Growth Partnership scheme, he says. But O’Connor thinks it is “an outra-geous slush fund” for a whole lot of business-as-usual practices and

experiments that should be funded by the industry. He says $350 million taxpayer money has been allocated to the meat industry. About $40m has gone to ANZCO for one initia-tive alone – to add value to a beef cut. If that company is not already doing that it shouldn’t be in busi-ness, O’Connor says.

“The need for some direction and innovation has been apparent to many but the initiatives and help have not been good,” O’Connor adds.

The report from the auditor-gen-eral released a couple of weeks ago said that, of the six projects it inves-tigated – some more than halfway through – there is no identifiable economic benefit.

“Which one of you would spend that kind of money without some strategic direction and some indi-cation of moving in the right direc-tion?”

The Government has a goal of doubling exports by 2025, “but a goal is not a strategy,” says O’Connor. “Until we become more coordinated within the sectors and between the sectors and Government we are not going to get to where we need to go.” – Pam Tipa

HIGHER PRODUCTION is the key driver of regional economies, even though higher profit is important to farmers, says DairyNZ’s Rick Pridmore.

Increased milk production, greater sheep and cattle numbers and any other production increase are what generate jobs and wealth in a community, he says. As agriculture intensifies it boosts a local economy.

Pridmore says examples abound of how dependent some communities are on agriculture. If it were taken out of the south Waikato towns Tokoroa and Putaruru it would slash employment there, and many people may not wish to travel further afield for jobs.

More social research is needed to get an accurate handle on the effects of changes to agriculture on many small New Zealand towns and regions, Pridmore says. Many have grown rich on agriculture and want to retain the benefits of growth.

He says there is a

scarcity of research on what happens in small towns and regions when their economies soften, hence regional councils’ growing interest in economic analysis as part of proposals for change to district and regional plans.

Linked to this is the quality of science used as evidence in planning change proposals. “A lot of science is produced, designed to be [neither] good nor bad. But there are many way to interpret that science.

“Often in any organisation you have a mindset which, if it isn’t challenged, the assumptions get twisted and people start to believe them rather than having new eyes look at them. That’s why I like the new collaborative process – it makes people ask questions.”

Pridmore says in an advocacy process, lawyers are shrewd and frame questions in a certain way to support their case. Often what a scientist ends up saying in court is not exactly what he or she believes.

“Personally, when I have given evidence I’ve

found it hasn’t helped because [I’ve been] presenting to someone else who has a bigger story they are trying to sell. So for me, the collaborative process allows you to get away from that environment – to stand up and say ‘Here’s a study DairyNZ has funded: it’s been tested by peer reviewers who’ve been selected by the council independently and they think it’s a good study, but you might want to make some interpretations from what I say’.”

Pridmore says it’s hard for the public to recognise good science, and though he is a scientist he also finds it hard.

“I’ve been asked to judge some university science – very esoteric stuff – and it’s very hard even when you are in science to know what good or bad science looks like. So I don’t think the public knows what good science is.”

He says he doubts a lot of the science on the internet and in social media has ever been peer reviewed or published.

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

@rural_news

facebook.com/ruralnews

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BEEF FROM Kiwi Cross cows offers dairy farmers a way to boost their profits, says Firstlight Foods, Hawkes Bay.

The company, which for six years has been mating Wagyu bulls to Angus cows, is now turn-ing its attention to AI mating using Wagyu semen across Kiwi Cross dairy cows, which make up 43% of the national herd.

Spokesman Gerard Hickey says a Kiwi Cross Wagyu bobby calf generated by AI, regardless of sex, would be worth about $150 to a dairy farmer, as opposed to the average price for a bobby calf of about $35.

The great thing about the Kiwi Cross is the Jersey influence, he says.

“We know they have a high quality, marbled beef and when you add the Wagyu you get a superb piece of meat. So that’s our interest. Also the Kiwi Cross cow is less utilised, in terms of the calf for beef, and we think there is an opportunity to grow our business for the benefit

of all parties.”Hickey says Firstlight Foods has

processed enough Wagyu cattle – from the beef and dairy sectors – to have seen evidence of marbling level and eating quality in the product. And though they will continue to cross Wagyu with Angus, he believes

the Kiwi Cross probably offers the greater opportunity for growth.

“There are obviously some size-able herds out there so we’re trying to raise the level of understanding of what we’re doing. We’ve been going for a few years and we have strong, stable retail markets… and 140 farm-ers working with us who want to grow further.”

It won’t matter whether the calves are heifers or bulls, Hickey

says. The heifers tend to finish faster than the steers and that means they get a natural year-round spread of supply which is grass fed.

Farmers who sign up for the latest Wagyu deal buy semen from the Firstlight Wagyu Producer Group and when the calf is born it

is bought by the company then on-sold to farmers who spe-cialise in rearing and finishing these animals. There are also options for the dairy farmer to rear and grow their calves for a later sale.

Hickey says they have established markets and now need more beef to fill these.

Wagyu beef is different from other beef in the value of the different parts of the carcase. While in all beef the high value cuts are in the middle of the animal, in Wagyu the second-best cuts are around the shoulder and the lowest value cuts are around the legs – the reverse of other breeds.

Hickey says they see the huge resource of Kiwi Cross cows as one they can utilise for everyone’s benefit.

A DISTURBING element of Russia’s ban on dairy and other imports is that food trade has been politicised, says Kimberly Crewther, executive director of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand.

“This is a concern for all food produc-ers globally,” she told the Agcarm confer-ence in Auckland last week.

“Given the humanitarian importance of food, generally our view is you want to protect it and protect the flow of food glob-ally even in tense geopolitical situations.”

The last year has seen significant dis-ruption and dairy price volatility because of the geopolitical situation, she says. Russia has blacklisted a number of coun-tries, preventing them from exporting their dairy products, some fresh fruit and vegetables, meat products and seafood.

“What that meant for dairy is the sec-

ond-largest import market globally was closed to some major suppliers, in partic-ular the EU,” Crewther said.

“Russia is a very large cheese importer, the EU is the world’s largest cheese exporter and suddenly that trade dynamic was turned off overnight.”

If one market opportunity goes down you switch product. The EU has the ability to do that in some of its processing of milk, so they are now looking actively at where they might place some of those milk solids globally.

“The markets they’re looking at are some of the places we send our products to, so there would be a significant loading of product at a time when, globally, pro-duction levels are good.

“That will take some time to work through. The ban was due to be in place for a year and came in August so it has some time to go. The geopolitical situation still looks tense in the market.”

Impact of Russian ban felt by all

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

Profitable dairy beefPETER BURKE

[email protected]

Wagyu bobby calf generated by AI, regardless of sex, would be worth about $150 to a dairy farmer, as opposed to the average price for a bobby calf of about $35.

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

NEWS 7

Rural trader shrugs off head windsRURAL TRADER PGG Wright-son has reported a half-year gross profit of $33.6 million, its best result in seven years.

Group revenue was up 3% and net profit after tax increased to $19.7 million, up from $13.4 mil-lion for the same period last year.

PGG Wrightson chief execu-tive Mark Dewdney called it an outstanding result with increases recorded in most areas of the busi-ness.

“The momentum we’ve built up as a group over the last few years is continuing to increase sales and earnings.

“This is a pleasing result for the first half and while there are headwinds… such as falling milk prices and a dry summer, we’re cautiously optimistic about the

remainder of the financial year. “Right across our diverse business we’ve got great people and great products. We are working hard to stay ahead of our competitors, and our customers are continuing to respond to our improv-ing offering.”

PGW’s board declared a fully imputed dividend of 2 cents per share to be paid out in April.

The improved results owed much to improve-ments in PGW’s three largest businesses: retail, livestock and seed and grain.

Retail grew sales and lifted margins to achieve a $2.6 million increase in operating profit. “This improvement was led by our core agronomy categories, where our technical expertise is strong,” says Dewdney.

Livestock improved operating

profit by $2.3m; livestock tallies were broadly in line with the prior corresponding period but prices were higher in cattle and sheep, resulting in higher commission income and earnings.

Seed and Grain posted a $3.6 mil-lion increase in oper-ating profit; increased demand for supplemen-tary forage crops in New Zealand, such as fodder beet, brassicas and herbs, played a big part in this improvement.

PGW chairman Alan Lai says shareholders were pleased to see continued improvement in core businesses.

“The board notes that the exe-cution of the strategy outlined at the annual shareholders meeting in October is on track across the three themes of improve, grow

and change.” PGW’s last trading update in

December reiterated guidance that the company was on track to better last year’s gross profit of $58.7 mil-lion. The company updated full-year guidance to a range of $62-$68 million.

“The strength of this first half result has given us confidence that the 2015 full year result will be a solid one”, says Dewdney. “How-ever there is still a lot of trading activity to get through yet.

“The dry summer in New Zea-land will lead to reduced farm spend if it remains as widespread as in 2013. On the other hand, if the dry conditions become more local-ised, that could stimulate trading in livestock and feed. The livestock segment makes most of its contri-bution to earnings in the second half and changes in livestock prices will continue to affect the results.”

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

TOO TOUGH!MORE CALLS are fielded by Federated Farmers South-land about tough immigration criteria for migrants than about any other issue, says the region’s president Rus-sell MacPherson.

“A bit too tough” is how he describes criteria for migrants, including Filipinos and other nationals want-ing to live and work in Southland.

The situation has gone sour. Filipino dairy workers, whose labour is said to have underpinned Southland’s dairying, are now leaving New Zealand.

And many are no longer seeking entry, says Anne Hanning, of Hanning Immigration, Invercargill. She files and supports residency applications for many Filipinos, but sees many turned down by Immigration New Zea-land. Many go where residency is easier to get.

Hanning says many Filipino families approaching Immigration NZ casually are rejected as not meeting the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) criteria for residency in either country.

Dorothea Hawkins, chair of the Southland Filipino Society, says the Filipinos are getting a hard time from Immigration NZ. She says her nephew was declined res-idency and went to Canada, getting dairy farm work and residency after one year there.

She says it is “ridiculous” that Immigration NZ is invit-ing people to apply for residency at great cost when about 85% of applications received in Southland are declined.

Without residency visas, Filipinos workers here on worker visas had to leave New Zealand when they reached age 54, she says. – Peter Owens

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

NEWS 9

INITIAL FINDINGS from important research on rural mental health will be released at the first-ever National Rural Health Conference at Rotorua on March 13-14.

“We’re looking at the suicide rate of farm-ers and comparing it to what is actually happen-ing with the external fac-tors at the time – the weather, exchange rate, were we in drought, what was happening to the acci-dent rate and fatalities on farms,” explains Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (RHAANZ) chief executive Michelle Thompson.

The research looks at any spikes in suicides and links these to any of the above factors or to short-ages in the health work-force.

“We don’t think this work has been done before in New Zealand but until we can see the cor-relators we can’t consider the solutions.”

Some findings or at least an overview of the key correlators may be released at the inaugu-ral joint conference of New Zealand Rural Gen-eral Practice Network and the Rural Health Alli-ance Aotearoa New Zea-land (RHAANZ). Rural

health providers, primary industry professionals, community groups, dis-trict councils, researchers, funders and policy makers will attend.

RHAANZ was set up in May 2012 and represents a united voice of rural organisations. Its aim is to offer solutions and influ-ence policy.

Thompson told Rural News that RHAANZ was a decade in the making. “It is a group for rural health professionals, rural indus-try and rural community groups committed to the health and wellbeing of our rural community. So it’s doctors, nurses, phar-macists, farmers and con-tractors, shearers, truck drivers – everybody who makes up rural commu-nities.”

Thompson has worked ten years in rural health management. She was a chief executive of the NZ Rural General Practice Network and the network is a founder member of the rural health alliance.

“There is a general feel-ing among all of us that rural has been left off the Government’s agenda for quite some time,” Thomp-son says.

“The catalyst for get-ting us all together was the increasing concern about mental health and wellbe-ing issues in rural regions, particularly among farm-

Mental health to come under the microscope at conference

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

ing folk, and the lack of rural connectivity. The two are closely related.”

Rural broadband mini-mises the sense of isola-tion and opens doors like ‘tele-health’. Also prompt-ing formation of RHAANZ was the rural GP crisis:

the average retirement age of rural GPs in New Zealand is 57-58 and few are coming through. At any one time, a quarter of the rural practices are looking for a replacement. In rural communities it is often only the general

practice that is the health provider.

“Those three things brought matters to a head and we realised we had a great will to join together to influence Government policy and direction.”www.rhaanz.org.nz

SUSTAINING LIFE IN RURAL TOWNSTHE RURAL community needs to avoid “this awful tag of becoming zombie towns,” says Thompson.

An important keynote speaker at the confer-ence, Dr Ernesto Sirolli, an international advocate of sustainable economic development for rural communities, may have some answers.

His online ‘Ted’ talk on the Christchurch earth-quakes has had two million views. He will speak and run a conference workshop.

His speech ‘Facilitated health services – responding to rural communities’, will explore ways communities benefit from a caring, listening, facili-tative approach to the delivery of education, health and social programmes. Dr Sirolli will then run a workshop titled ‘Don’t let a single ounce of intel-ligence go to waste – best practices for growing local economies’.

Other addresses will include KPMG’s Ian Proud-foot on the ‘Global future of food and how best to equip our rural communities to deliver to the world’, Kaitaia rural GP and 2014 New Zealander of the Year Dr Lance O’Sullivan, Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

10 NEWS

New lad on the dairy block(s)

THE NUMBERS are almost frightening – 59 farms, 55,000 cows and 20 million kg milksolids a year. That’s the contri-bution Landcorp makes to New Zealand’s dairy industry and the nation’s economy.

Mark Julian has, for some time, been seen as a talented young execu-tive. He has a Bachelor of Applied Science with a major in agriculture from Massey University, fol-lowed by a postgraduate year focused on dairy pro-duction and farm manage-ment. In the final year of his degree he was awarded the prestigious William Gerrish Memorial Prize in Farm Management.

After leaving university he worked as consulting offi-cer for DairyNZ and then joined Landcorp over six years ago as a business manager in Wellington.

His rise to the top has been quick. In 2013, Julian was named as the young business executive of the year. Since taking up his new role as general man-ager dairy operations for Landcorp, late last year, Julian has already started to make his presence felt.

He is very much focused on the future and is setting up systems and strategies to take Land-corp’s dairy operation forward. Julian says in 10 years’ time he expects its dairy farming systems to

be quite different from what they are today. He believes one of the key changes in the future will be on environmental issues. He adds there will also be systems in place to recruit and retain good people to run their busi-

ness. “All our business plans

we put together have a section on sustainable management, which talks about the nutrient budget, where things are heading and where they are going to go to and options about

mitigating loss,” he tells Rural News.

“So within areas of a farm we are looking at some of the key sensitivi-ties about environment. In some cases it might be erosion control and others it might be sensi-

tive waterways. So there will be goals for that,” he explains.

Julian says his role as head of Landcorp’s dairy operations is to look at what the industry as a whole is doing and what research projects are underway. One idea he is looking at is setting up a ‘future focus farm’.

“This would involve looking at how we get profitable systems with half the nitrogen leaching footprint. It may involve taking some risks so we would bring in some of the best people in the industry – not just Land-corp,” he explains.

“The aim would be to define what environmen-

tally sustainable farm-ing systems look like and what this might involve such as stocking rates, inputs and infrastruc-ture.”

Julian says the idea is very much in the embry-onic stage and no con-crete plans are in place, but it fits quite neatly into an industry leadership role that Landcorp by its nature assumes.

“A lot of the things we’re going to be doing will have flow on effects for the industry. But they are going to be for our own business as well because we are a big busi-ness.”

Julian says Landcorp is

He was raised on a typical dairy farm at Okato in Taranaki and is now in charge of running arguably the biggest dairy farming operation in the country. Reporter Peter Burke recently met up with Mark Julian, who heads Landcorp’s dairy farming operations.

TO PAGE 15

Landcorp’s head of dairy operations Mark Julian.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

12 NEWS

Less tillage key to barley recordTHE GROWER of what’s probably a new world record for barley yield says a switch to a reduced tillage system five years ago laid the foundations for this summer’s success.

From there it’s been a case of getting a good

season, with the right variety grown to maxi-mise yield potential and minimise yield loss to pests and diseases.

“Every day the crop is in the ground there’s something trying to take the yield off you,” notes Warren Darling who har-vested 13.8t/ha of winter

barley off an irrigated 11.6ha block just south of Timaru on January 23.

On the day the record attempt was witnessed by a justice of the peace with every load put over a cer-tified weighbridge and analysed by SGS. The aim was to meet the require-ments of Guinness World

Records and beat the long-standing record of 12.2t/ha off 21.29ha, set in the Scottish Borders in 1989.

“We set it up from planting in March to have a crack at the World Record, but it was only in the last three months that we knew we were

on track and only 10 days prior, when we took a last test cut to evaluate the yield, that we knew we’d be on the plus side of the record,” Darling told Rural News.

The record attempt was supported by a team of commercial companies, including Carr Group sub-

ANDREW SWALLOW

sidiary Canterbury Seed which markets Blackman Agriculture (BA) cereal varieties in New Zealand through the Exclusive Grain Group (EGC).

Darling’s EGC mem-bership gave him access to BA’s true winter barley variety 776 and in 2014 he harvested 11.5t/ha of it across the farm, which in due course spurred this season’s record attempt.

Fortuitously, the weather played its part, high sunshine hours driv-ing grain fill but with cool temperatures minimis-ing losses to respiration. Little spring or summer rain also meant minimal disease pressure.

The record block was irrigated with 15mm/week during November and

December but Darling plays down its role in the record.

“The rest of our barley this year has done 12t/ha and only 30% of it was irri-gated.”

More important was establishment in March with 60kg/ha of Raxil Poncho treated seed into a seedbed prepared with two passes of a Great Plains Simba SL500 cul-tivator to incorporate oil-seed rape stubble, create a stale seedbed, and remove any barriers to rooting.

“It was all in before the rain in early April.”

Having a true winter variety with stiffer straw and superior disease resistance to spring types is important for such early sowing, he believes.

Darling’s agronomist, Roger Lasham, says the season and good soil management were key factors in the record yield.

“Too often I see farmers beat the living daylights out of [soil]. Warren’s doing one or two passes and in. He’s keeping the soil alive and it has very good fertility… The roots are feeding off the whole profile. On some farms they’ve just got the top six inches, not the best part of two feet.”

Spring started with soils at field capacity too so in clays like Darling’s Claremont series ground with high water holding capacity and no barrier to rooting there was a good reserve of water for crops to draw on. Meanwhile the dry conditions above ground mini-mised disease pressure.

SEASON AND SOIL BEHIND SUCCESS

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

14 NEWSJapanese giant steps in as ANZCO shareholding changes

CHANGE IN ownership at Anzco Meats is a vote of confidence in the meat industry, claims company chairman Sir Graeme Harrison.

Japanese food company Itoham Foods Inc has increased its stake in Anzco to 65%, buying more shares from Harrison. He says contrary to negative comments by some industry players, the

share transaction shows investors’ faith in the industry.

Harrison, a shareholder since 1987, now owns 14% of the meat processor; other shares are held by Nippon Suisan Kaisha

Ltd (Nissui), and JANZ Investments Ltd, which is majority owned by Harrison with senior ANZCO managers.

Mitsubishi Corporation, Itoham’s largest shareholder,wants to grow its business

outside Japan to become “the most trusted manufacturer of processed meat in Asia”. Mitsubishi has 200 offices working with 600 group companies in 90 countries. Itoham and ANZCO will access this

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

network. Harrison says

Mitsubishi’s entry to the local meat industry via Itoham is a big vote of confidence. “We haven’t had one of the world’s top 50 businesses invest in our agriculture sector so this is a big confidence boost for the industry,” he told Rural News.

ANZCO launched in 1984, first owned by the New Zealand Meat Producers Board which sold out 11 years later for one hundred times its investment. In 1995 Harrison led a group including Itoham and Nissui to buy the shares

held by the Meat Board and listed company Huttons Kiwi Ltd.

Nissui makes marine products, processed foods and fine chemicals. It became ANZCO’s second-largest shareholder in 2001. Nissui is a 50% shareholder in Sealord Group Ltd.

ANZCO is New Zealand’s second-largest beef company and third-largest meat company, with 3000 employees and annual sales of NZ$1.3 billion. It operates New Zealand’s only large scale cattle feedlot, has investments in businesses processing raw material from the group’s seven slaughter and processing sites and has a network of overseas offices.

Itoham and Nissui began buying meat

from ANZCO before starting joint ventures which over time were taken over by ANZCO. Until now Itoham and Nissui have been passive investors in ANZCO, their investments having been in the hands of former presidents of both companies.

Food sales are handled by Mitsubishi’s Living Essentials Group, with 28,000 employees and interests in Asia, China, Indonesia and India. Mitsubishi dominates the distribution chains including convenience stores in Japan and Indonesia.

Itoham has been large in the Japanese ham, sausage and processed foods segment.

No change will be made to the ANZCO board; Harrison (66) will remain chairman and Mark Clarkson managing director. The moves foreshadow Harrison’s retirement.

Concurrent with the Itoham offer Harrison has made an identically priced offer to the seven smallest ANZCO shareholders to simplify the company’s ownership.

ANZCO’s shareholding has been virtually unchanged since 2001. The company has paid dividends every year since then.

Overseas ownership of ANZCO will increase by 8.3%, from 73.5% to 81.8%.

“We haven’t had one of the world’s top 50 businesses invest in our agriculture sector so this is a big confidence boost for the industry.” – Graeme Harrison

Sir Graeme Harrison is dropping his shareholding in ANZCO to a 14% stake.

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NEWS 15

State farmer’s main dairy mannow engaging much more with stakeholders includ-ing iwi, farmers and the wider community. For example, the company is hoping to work with a group of Upper Waikato dairy farmers who are pushing the environment space and thinking about what their farm systems can do.

“We are trying to open up our business. For example, if we go with a focus farm we’d be build-ing an online capacity so people can see what we are doing and hold field days and that sort of thing.”

Julian says Landcorp looks at the Maori concept of kaitiakitanga and how this links in with Land-corp’s goals, which is to

‘rejuvenate’ the environ-ment – not just manage within the limits of the law. He says this philoso-phy is embedded in their environmental plans.

Julian believes one of the keys to good environmental management and making a profit is having good quality data. The state farmer is renowned for collecting a lot of data from the milking shed right through to the paddock and beyond -- information which can be shared by all in the company.

Julian says the com-pany is constantly evalu-ating new systems, which are being developed for the dairy industry.

“I have seen some farms in the Waikato

where they grow their own maize and they have a herd home and that provides 95% of their fertiliser. They are just putting on minerals and they are getting away from using fertiliser and imported feed and becoming almost like a closed system. If they could keep their young

stock on the property it could almost become a totally closed system.”

In the meantime, Julian says Landcorp will continue to scope out ideas and look at new and innovative ways to run their dairy farms. Along with his focus on innovation he remains passionate about the dairy

industry.“I like cows and love

farming – it’s what I have grown up with. The few times when I haven’t been directly involved in farming it’s something I have always wanted to get back to. I love the dairy industry. it’s where I have spent my career and it’s a fantastic place.”

AUSTRALIAN DAIRY farmers are working with animal rights activists on the industry’s animal welfare creden-tials.

Dairy Australia chief executive Ian Halliday says farmers are “not out of the woods, they’re in the spot-light”.

He told the recent Australian Dairy Conference in Tasmania that farmers will be glad they are not in the greyhound industry. (A recent ABC Four Corners report showed live piglets, possums and rabbits being chased and killed by dogs. It was secretly filmed by Animal Australia at training tracks in Queensland and Victoria.)

Halliday says the dairy industry is not complacent about animal welfare and is telling this to animal rights groups. A lot of work is going on behind the scenes on animal welfare, he told the conference.

“We are not out of the woods; we’re in the spot-light on animal welfare but we’re having a lot of dia-logue with animal right groups, to explain that we look after and care for our animals – as an important part of our livelihood.”

Halliday admits the industry still has issues to deal with – induction, tail docking and treatment of bobby calves – but is doing its best. “We will continue look-ing after animal health and welfare as an industry… it’s always on our mind.”

Halliday predicts farmgate returns will improve by the end of the year. He pointed to a drop in milk output in key markets like New Zealand and Europe.

‘’New Zealand pulled back full year forecasts by 3.5 % compared to the prior year. It has been pretty dry over there. We know Europe was up about 5% last year; it’s down 2% this year.”

“When world prices go towards record levels, every region responds, every dairy region around the world chases that record price. We know New Zealand was up 9% last year, US was up 3% and Europe 5%.”

Australia finished last season only 0.4% up. Halliday puts this down to a tough start to the 2013-14 season.

This year’s national milk volume in Australia will be up 2%. “We are running at 2.6% after a strong start but it has tapered off this summer.”

At the same time consumption in the domestic market remains steady. – Sudesh Kissun

KEEPING ANIMAL LOBBYISTS AT BAY

FROM PAGE 10 Landcorp’s dairy operations are made up of 59 farms, 55,000 cows producing 20 million kg/Ms a year.

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

NEWS 17

Women working for women on East CoastA NEW network on the North Island East Coast has sprung from a vision for supporting and devel-oping women in farming.

Farming Women Tai-rawhiti aims to improve contact among women via regular events, per-sonal development and rural based education. The idea arose from the Agri-Women’s Develop-ment Trust (AWDT) ‘First Steps’ course in Gisborne last year.

Sandra Matthews and Marie Burke, farm-ing with their husbands near Gisborne, attended the courses. With the sup-port of the AWDT they formed a group from the course participants, lead-ing to Farming Women Tairawhiti.

“The women in the Mastermind Group meet regularly to set personal goals, discuss progress and support one another,” says Burke.

“I aimed to combine my teaching background with a love of farming, and use the skills to help rural women network and up skill through organ-ised events. Sandra and I had discussions with the members of the Master-mind Group to find out what areas they wanted development in and we then set about forming FWT and organising our first focus day.”

The network is free for all farming and rural women from Wairoa, Gis-borne and East Coast dis-tricts. It is independent

but gets money from Beef + Lamb NZ.

“We decided we didn’t want to be part of a national network as we wanted the focus to be more on education and social support, rather than politics,” Burke says.

“I am passionate about education, but also social networks can be lacking for some rural women, especially if they are busy raising a family or working on or off farm.”

Matthews established the FWT Facebook page in January to start build-ing social networks; sea-sonal Focus Days will get members together “to learn new information on farming topics and have a bit of fun. Follow-on from the focus days will allow women to up-skill in the area they choose. The days are free and run within school hours.”

The first focus day will be on March 26 in Gis-borne and will cover farm safety and wellbeing.

“This topic was chosen because WorkSafe NZ has launched Safer Farms…. Quad safety is still a hot topic and new workplace laws are about to come out which will affect all farmers and their families.

“We are aware of the impact of depression and suicide in rural commu-nities and wanted to pro-vide information on this difficult topic as well. Our guest speaker Wendy Avery has first-hand knowledge of the sub-ject. She will tell how she coped with her husband’s depression during years

SARAH CHARTERIS of drought, and will intro-duce Resilient Farmer.”

Burke hopes FWT has come at the right time for many.

“When I enrolled in the AWDT course my life was at a bit of a cross-

roads: having been a teacher for 20 years, while part-time farming with my husband Rob, I suddenly found myself with no chil-dren at home, no teaching role and a full-time job on the farm.

“As much as I love working with Rob, there was something missing in my life. ‘First Steps’ helped me realise I could use my skills… to help not only myself but other rural women.”

KEY POINTS:● What: Farming Women Tairawhiti Focus Day

– Farm Safety and Well Being

● When: Thursday March 26, 9.30am to 2.15pm

● Where: Shearing Pavilion at the A & P Show-grounds, Gisborne

● Who: Any women involved in farming or the wider rural sector living throughout the Wairoa, Gisborne or East Coast districts.

● To register: email: [email protected]

● Facebook: FarmingWomenTairawhiti

● Tel: Marie Burke 0274845262 or Sandra Matthews 0274966336

Sandra Matthews (left) and Marie Burke.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

18 NEWSUK farmers plug pollies for ag-friendly policies

UK FARMERS are put-ting food production at the centre of the UK gen-eral election campaign. UK heads to the polls on May 7.

The ‘Great British Food Gets My Vote’ cam-paign, launched last week, wants politicians to back British farming, and urges consumers to buy British food and support British farming.

The National Farmers

Union (NFU) is advertis-ing in national dailies and farming publications to stress British farming and food production as cru-cial to the country; and farmers are encouraged to invite their local MP onfarm.

Over 200 NFU mem-bers have signed up to get and display 3m x 1m banners emblazoned with ‘Great British Food Gets My Vote’. Campaign window stickers will be distributed to 50,000 members.

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[email protected]

NFU president Meurig Raymond says with the general election three months away, British agri-culture and the future of domestic food produc-tion must be recognised as hugely important for Britain.

“Before the campaign has launched, we already have hundreds of mem-bers interested in get-ting behind it. Farmers are behind this campaign, which shows the impor-tance of our lobbying.”

Food and farming needs recognising for con-tributing to the UK econ-omy, creating jobs and maintaining a rural land-scape that attracts mil-lions of tourists every year.

“We know people care about farming: look at the recent dairy crisis to see people wanting to help solve the current crisis. People realise it takes years of commitment, investment, time and care to rear good quality beef and dairy animals; plant, nurture and harvest crops; protect soils and manage land. This is a long-term business that needs long-term thinking by the next

government.” Raymond says like

many farmers he is proud of producing food, but he’s also intensely aware of the major challenges facing British farmers.

“We have to produce more food but with fewer inputs and better care for the environment. I want the next govern-ment to work with the NFU to set an agenda for growth, building on the professionalism and con-fidence of British farmers. By backing British farm-ing and working together we can increase food pro-duction by supporting research, investment and growth.

“Global and domes-tic demand for food and renewable energy is on the rise: 88% of the UK public think farming is important to the economy.

“Farmers are ready too, with the potential to grow production and reduce our reliance on imported produce. What is needed now is a Government that understands farming, that supports growth and that has the policies that send the right business signals to farmers across the UK.”

■ Work with the industry to develop a comprehen-sive plan to grow UK food production over the next Government’s term

■ Cut over-prescriptive CAP greening requirements during the European Commission’s review in 2016

■ Use the UK’s 2017 presidency of the Council of the European Union to set the agenda for CAP 2020 reforms, based on principles of fairness, simplicity, commonality and market focus

■ Establish fiscal incentives for sole traders and farm partnerships to encourage a balanced approach to investment to manage volatility

■ Increase on-farm water storage and reservoir building with financial support and tax incentives and by reducing red tape for reservoir applications

■ Champion the use of regulatory impact assess-ments at all stages of EU decision making and show leadership by conducting a cost benefi t anal-ysis early in the life of all proposed European legis-lation that affects agriculture

■ Promote the ‘Britain is Great’ campaign for British produce to open up export markets by backing exporters and embassy staff.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

20 MARKETS & TRENDS

Beef & venison prices are reported as gross (before normal levies & charges are deducted). Lamb & mutton prices are reported nett (after levies & charges are deducted).

Meat North Island South Island

c/kgCWTChange

c/kgLast Week

Changec/kg

Last Week

Lamb - PM 16.0kg -10 5.48 -10 5.13

Steer - P2 300kg -5 5.45 -10 5.10

Bull - M2 300kg -5 5.60 -10 5.10

Venison - AP 60kg -10 6.40 -15 6.30

North Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$4.0

$5.0

$6.0

$7.0

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr Ave Last Year This Year

South Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$3.5

$4.5

$5.5

$6.5

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr Ave Last Year This Year

North Island 300kg Bull Price

$3.7

$4.2

$4.7

$5.2

$5.7

$6.2

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

South Island 300kg Steer Price

$3.5

$4.0

$4.5

$5.0

$5.5

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

North Island 60kg Stag Price

$6.0

$6.5

$7.0

$7.5

$8.0

$8.5

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

South Island 60kg Stag Price

$6.0

$6.5

$7.0

$7.5

$8.0

$8.5

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

BEEF PRICES

c/kgCWT Change Last Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

NI P2 Steer - 300kg -5 5.45 5.50 4.55M2 Bull - 300kg -5 5.60 5.65 4.50P2 Cow - 230kg -5 4.55 4.60 3.50M Cow - 200kg -5 4.25 4.30 3.45

Local Trade - 230kg -10 5.30 5.40 4.50SI P2 Steer - 300kg -10 5.10 5.20 4.28

M2 Bull - 300kg -10 5.10 5.20 4.18P2 Cow - 230kg -10 3.90 4.00 3.05M Cow - 200kg -10 3.90 4.00 2.90

Local Trade - 230kg -10 5.10 5.20 4.30

Slaughter

Export Market DemandChange Last Week 2 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

95CL US$/lb +3 2.58 2.55 2.06 1.97NZ$/kg +6 7.27 7.21 5.50 5.48

Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks Ago 3 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

% Returned NI -3% 77.7% 80.4% 82.66% 76.1%% Returned SI -1% 71.5% 72.8% 75.9% 69.8%

Demand Indicator - US 95CL Beef

$1.70

$2.20

$2.70

$3.20

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - South I.

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Last YearThis Year

Procurement Indicator - North I.

60%

70%

80%

90%

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Last Year

This Year

South Island Weekly Cattle Kill

k

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

North Island Weekly Cattle Kill

k

10k

20k

30k

40k

50k

60k

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

LAMB PRICES

c/kgCWTChange Last

Week2 Wks

AgoLast Year

NI Lamb YM - 13.5kg -10 5.46 5.56 5.56PM - 16.0kg -10 5.48 5.58 5.58PX - 19.0kg -10 5.50 5.60 5.60PH - 22.0kg -10 5.51 5.61 5.61

Mutton MX1 - 21kg -5 3.35 3.40 3.40SI Lamb YM - 13.5kg -10 5.13 5.23 5.29

PM - 16.0kg -10 5.13 5.23 5.31PX - 19.0kg -10 5.13 5.23 5.33PH - 22.0kg -10 5.13 5.23 5.34

Mutton MX1 - 21kg -10 2.88 2.98 3.28

Slaughter

Export Market DemandChange Last

Week2 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

UK Leg £/lb n/c 1.95 1.95 2.00 1.87NZ$/kg n/c 8.40 8.40 8.12 8.50

Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks

Ago3 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

% Returned NI -2% 67.9% 70.2% 70.8% 67.6%% Returned SI -4% 62.5% 66.7% 67.5% 68.2%

Venison PricesChange Last

Week2 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

NI Stag - 60kg -10 6.40 6.50 6.35 6.95SI Stag - 60kg -15 6.30 6.45 6.40 7.10

Demand Indicator - UK Leg Price

£1.00

£1.50

£2.00

£2.50

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - South I.

45%

55%

65%

75%

85%

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - North I.

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Last Year

This Year

North Island Weekly Lamb Kill

k

100k

200k

300k

400k

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

5yr AveLast YearThis Year

South Island Weekly Lamb Kill

k

100k

200k

300k

400k

500k

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

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NEWS PRICE WATCH

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

MARKETS & TRENDS 21

BEEF: North Island beef dipped further last week as delays of up to two weeks were reported at some processing plants around the North Island. The growing dry conditions and falling prices are causing the space issues as cattle flood into the plants. 300kg cwt bull prices are back to $5.60/kg while 300kg cwt steer prices have eased back to average $5.45/kg. It is a similar situation in the South Island where beef prices remain under pressure. 300kg cwt bull and steer prices reduced to average $5.10/kg last week. There are reports prices have fallen below the $5/kg mark at some processors. Delays of 10-12 days are common at most processing plants as the dry weather has prompted many to offload. Delays of 10-12 days are common at most processing plants as the dry weather has prompted many to offload. Delays of 10-12 days are common at most processing plants as the dry weather

LAMB: Lamb prices plummeted through the Christmas break with prices in the South Island taking a 20-40c/kg hit. Prices last week were down to an average of $5.15/kg gross. Space issues at processing plants appear to be the main driver of the slumping prices. Spreading

dry conditions mean lambs are being drafted down to lighter weights adding to the processing delays which are now up to 10 days long. Prices in the North Island have also eased but generally by only 20c/kg since Christmas. Prices last week were back to an average of $5.60/kg gross. The dry conditions are starting to weigh on farmers minds with many opting to offload now. This has impacted on space at processing plants with delays of up to 7-10 days common. If the dry conditions intensify then expect prices to remain under pressure right through the month

DAIRY: Whole milk powder (WMP) prices look to have stabilised with prices holding into the New Year. This is despite mixed demand from China. While general demand from China remains slow, some of the bigger buyers are once again showing some interest. Interest for WMP from other markets remains active. The sharp lift in the butter market may be fortelling of prices rises in the weeks ahead. from China. Whole milk powder (WMP) prices look to have stabilised with prices holding into the New Year. This is despite mixed demand from China. While general demand from China remains slow, some of the bigger buyers are once again showing

some interest. Interest for WMP from other markets remains active. The sharp lift in the butter market may be fortelling of prices rises in the weeks ahead. from China. butter market may be fortelling of prices rises in the weeks ahead. from China. butter market may be fortelling

of prices rises in the weeks ahead. from China. butter market may be fortelling of prices rises in the weeks ahead. from China. butter market may be fortelling of prices rises in the weeks ahead. from China. butter be fortelling rises in the weeks of. China.

WOOL PRICE WATCH Overseas Wool Price Indicators

Indicators in NZ$ Change 08-Jan 18-Dec Last Year Indicators in US$/kg Change 08-Jan 18-Dec Last

YearCoarse Xbred -15 4.88 5.03 5.03 Coarse Xbred -8 3.80 3.87 4.17

Fine Xbred -15 5.23 5.38 5.22 Fine Xbred -7 4.07 4.14 4.32

Lamb n/c 6.21 6.21 5.45 Lamb +5 4.83 4.78 4.51

Mid Micron - - - 7.28 Mid Micron - - - 6.03

Wool Indicator Trends

450

500

550

600

650

Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov

CXI FXI LI

Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Last YearThis Year

Coarse Xbred Indicator

300

400

500

600

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Last YearThis Year

Wool Indicator in US$

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov

CXI FXI LI

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

22 AGRIBUSINESS

THE ‘CASH for Communities’ scheme run by PGG Wrightson and Ballance Agri-Nutrients has raised $365,000 in the four years since it began, helping schools and com-munity groups nationwide, the firms say.

In the three months to Novem-ber 30, the companies gave $1 for each tonne farmers spent on par-ticipating fertiliser to schools and charities selected by farmers shop-ping at the rural retailers.

Last spring was the first time it has run during that season. About 1300 farmers took part, resulting in $45,000 going to 220 rural groups.

$21,000 will go to rural schools, $11,000 to rescue helicopters and $10,000 to St John. Other clubs and group will also benefit.

Stephen Guerin, PGG Wright-son manager retail, said the sup-port showed “farmers and suppliers [want to help] organisations that needed assistance to survive in rural communities. Funding is increas-ingly difficult to source so every bit makes a difference.”

The top three recipients were BayTrust Rescue Helicopter ($2488), Tatuanui School ($2341) and Westpac Rescue Helicopter Waikato ($2253).

RURAL CASH APPEAL CLOCKS UP $365K

Feds call time on swaps debacleFEDERATED FARMERS says it is time to move on after the Commerce Com-mission’s $2.97 million settlement with Westpac over the selling of interest rate swaps.

The commission has

settled with all the banks – ANZ, ASB and West-pac – that promoted and sold interest rate swaps to rural customers between 2005 and 2012.

Federated Farm-ers president William

Rolleston says the agreements are a fair and equitable solu-tion and it’s time to move on. The banks must pay a total of $23.67m to 256 eligible farmers, says Rolleston.

“While some farmers felt they were not adequately informed of the risks with swaps, it is that important les-sons are learned from this. Farmers must get independent advice and be sure they under-stand the implications of the

contracts they sign. And banks must not take that understand-ing for granted. Trust between banker and client is paramount: it must be earned and can quickly evaporate.”

Westpac will pay $2.47 mil-lion to 38 eligible customers who registered their com-plaints with the commission. Westpac will also pay $250,000 towards the commission’s costs and $250,000 to Rural Support Trusts.

Commission chairman Mark Berry says the settlement was a good outcome for the 38 eligi-ble farmers. “The payments to be made under the settlement are, in our view, a reasonable approximation of the poten-tial losses that the commission could have recovered through any court process.”

Berry says securing a settle-ment was important in avert-ing the uncertainty of contested and lengthy court cases.

Fed Farmers national president William Rolleston says the interest swaps settle-ments are fair and it is time to move on.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

AGRIBUSINESS 23

NZ sheep milking could storm the world

NEW ZEALAND could lead the world in sheep milk production, says Nuffield scholar Lucy Griffiths.

She told the recent Ewe Milk Products and Sheep Dairying Conference at Massey University the industry is well set up to lead internationally.

Griffiths recently completed her Nuffield scholarship project on the sheep milk industry, travelling three months in the UK, France, Israel, Italy, Switzerland and the USA to compile her report.

She chose this industry because of its potential to help double New Zealand’s exports and because of her marketing work with a sheepmilk cheese maker in Wairarapa.

“We have one of the biggest sheep dairies in the world here – Blue River, with 20,000 ewes. We are leaders in bovine dairy, we are the leaders in sheep farming so why can’t we be the leaders in dairy sheep?’ she told Rural News.

“However, we

are competing with traditional sheep milk countries like Spain, Italy and France, producers of sheep milk and cheese for centuries. For example, Roquefort in France, with 1700 suppliers, has produced cheese since 79CE. Today they produce some of the most expensive cheeses in the world.

“So we have competitors in cheese, but there is a lot of opportunity for us in the gourmet food market (butter, yoghurt, milk, fresh milk and ice-cream) and in functional foods, sports nutrition, UHT and infant formula.”

Griffiths notes that worldwide at least 10 million tonnes of sheep milk are produced annually, the largest producers being China and Turkey. And though New Zealand could not reach such volumes it has the capacity to produce for high-value, niche markets.

New Zealand’s many advantages include its world leadership in sheep farming, breeding, technology and research, Griffiths says.

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

Our farmers are good adopters and developers of milking technology and some of the main sheep milking breeds, e.g. East Friesian and Awassi, are here.

She concedes the challenges in developing a large sheep milk industry in New Zealand: the lack of a strong

tradition of sheep milk consumption, limited flocks of milking sheep breeds, and few people with experience to run sheep milk operations.

“But sheep dairy has the potential to be a billion dollar industry in 10 years if the right breeding programmes, feed mixes and other

technologies are implemented. Demand for sheep milk products is growing worldwide driven by health, tradition and fashion.”– More on the Massey conference and sheep milking pp 28-29

@rural_news

facebook.com/ruralnews

Lucy Griffiths

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

24 OPINION

EDITORIAL

Want to share your opinion or gossip with the Hound?

Send your emails to: [email protected]

EDNA

THE HOUNDReally?THE HOUND nearly choked on his bone when he heard that Bitch and Complain (Fish and Game) head and chief farmer hater Bryce Johnson turned up at the recent Feds dairy council and claimed his lobby was not the enemy of farmers. He then had the temerity to blame Feds for not pushing enough positive dairying messages and claimed this was why the public had such a negative view of the industry. However, your old mate suggests it’s Johnson and his Bitch and Complain cronies who constantly fan the public’s negative image of dairy farming – such as its recent allegations that South Canter-bury farmers were evading irrigation restrictions by trying to manipulate river flow monitoring meters. Trouble was F&G was too quick to blame farmers – based on unsubstanti-ated rumours. Turns out it was swim-mers, not farmers, blocking the river.

Thick or what?YOUR CANINE crusader continues to shake his head at the sheer stupidity of NZ First’s primary sector spokesman Richard ‘the Tosser’ Prosser. His latest brain explosion was to blame the recent fruitfly incur-sions on the new Smartgate passenger processing system at airports around the country. A mate pointed out to yours truly that Prosser’s call to abolish Smartgate is one of the dumber things a politician has ever said. The fact is Smartgate does not get visitors around biosecurity checks, it just scans a passenger’s passport details and takes a photo of them. This all happens before any overseas arrival picks up his/her luggage – after which they still queue for biosecurity and have a chat with a biosecurity/customs officer.

Paid mouthpieceREGULAR READERS of this old mutt’s column will remember suggestions made earlier about opponents of Hawkes Bay’s proposed Ruataniwha dam having gotten into bed with the unemployed, overweight, greasy blogger and central figure in the ‘dirty politics’ scandal – Cameron ‘Whaleoil’ Slater. Confidantes of the Hound point out that Slater seems to be in the pocket of shady political operative Simon Lusk, an outspoken critic of Ruataniwha and sponsor of a number of the anti-dam council-lors on the Hawkes Bay Regional Council. It seems Slater continues unabated to run Lusk et al’s anti-dam stance on his blog site, a refuge for nutjobs and losers. It would be interesting to discover the real link between these strange bedfellows.

Fairly satedNEARLY FOUR years ago the Hound savaged Fed Farmers for its treatment of journalists attending a luncheon at Feds’ annual conference. The guests were fed chicken, yes chicken, which was bad enough, but the newshounds got nothing except a plate of sandwiches to share! At the recent Feds Dairy section conference, where one of the Hound’s reporter mates was enjoying a nice meal, the chairman sidled up and reminded him that at least dairy farmers know how to feed jour-nalists.

“They must have come over for that Hero Parade!”

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RURALNEWS

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Another doorstop?THE MEAT Industry Excellence Group’s (MIE) much-vaunted and so far highly secretive report into meat sector reforms is due to be released later this month.

No one can accuse MIE and its supporters of lacking passion or determination, and their ini-tial efforts in rousing farmer support and getting endorsed candidates onto the boards of Alliance Group and Silver Fern Farm is commendable.

However, passion and understanding aside, this knotty question remains: given all the huff-ing and puffing by MIE, what real and tangible reforms will it actually achieve? The reality is that getting a couple of directors onto meat co-ops’ boards, and increasing voter turnout among apathetic suppliers is nice – but it doesn’t mean much.

Not long ago MIE’s predecessor ginger group MIAG (Meat Industry Action Group) was calling for similar meat sector reforms and even got a number of endorsed candidates onto the boards of Alliance and SFF.

And what happened? MIAG’s leader gave up and went dairy farming, while its meat com-pany directors either retired or got voted off the boards and nothing has changed in the ensuing years!

MIE claims it has… “strong farmer support for a new processing and marketing co-opera-tive with much greater scale…. There is clearly a groundswell and we need to get on with it.”

But will this ‘groundswell’ translate into actual support for MIE’s recommendations for reform when they are finally published? Espe-cially when it requires farmers to dig into their own pockets to pay for industry consolidation (read plant closedown) and reduces their oppor-tunity to shop around?

And how will farmers feel about the lack of capacity in the industry when they are desper-ate to get stock killed in a dry year?

No doubt all will be revealed when the MIE report is published.

While admiration for the group’s efforts and work are one thing, one gets the uneasy feeling that this latest effort at meat sector reforms will just turn out to be another doorstop – with a $200,000 price tag.

It would be good to be proven wrong, but the history of the New Zealand meat industry is lit-tered with good intentions and dozens of ‘change reports’.

We’re not holding our breath.

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

OPINION 25

RE YOUR front page picture (Rural News Feb 3): ‘Rain Please’. Why should I feel for Jamie Powdrell? There he is with a hat on but with only what I would call one tree for shelter or shade for his animals.

Do people not realise that willows and poplars not only help control erosion, but also provide shade and shelter from wind and rain and shade on hot dry days, as well as making good fodder in times of drought?

Trees are also valuable in attracting moisture. But note the long term damage done to the land by clear felling for an extra dollar without any consideration to animal welfare.

Yes, the time is long overdue for farmers to look at slow release dams on their properties to take advantage of nature’s gift of rainfall on their land; this instead of over draining. They should plant fodder trees as well and give something back to the land. John BassettKaitaia

PLANT MORE TREES

No child bans on farm

WorkSafe NZ Francois Barton says children will not be banned from farms under new health and safety laws.

FARMERS DEAL in facts, so let’s do some myth busting. When the new health and safety law is passed, children will not be banned from farms.

Jacqueline Rowarth erroneously concluded (Rural News, Feb 17) that kids will be kicked off farms as a result of a new health and safety law due to be passed this year. Rowarth incorrectly stated that under the new law “liability” would be “extended to farm work-ers’ families – their part-ners and friends”. She also fails to note that farmers already owe a duty under the current law to ‘other persons’ on a farm – and that includes children. The new law will make this duty clearer, but it’s a duty that already exists.

Now let’s take a look at the reality of kids on farms.

Farms are unique, active workplaces. Farm-ers choose their work because it’s a way of life. Children are a funda-mental part of this and WorkSafe appreciates and respects what a vital component of farming family life is. Farmers’ kids become farmers them-

selves, often because they love the lifestyle they’ve grown up in, and Work-Safe has no interest in seeing this change.

But farming is a risky business: children are being killed by such as farm vehicles, by live-stock, by falling into efflu-ent ponds or offal pits. These are the kinds of risks WorkSafe is focused on and plenty of farm-ers are telling us they’re focused on them too.

The good news is that these risks can be man-aged; not by wrapping kids in cotton wool and ban-ning them from farms but by fencing ponds, cov-ering pits, creating ‘safe kid zones’ in dairy sheds and having kids ride in the cab, not the back of the ute or on a trailer. It’s just common sense. Thus farming parents can still safely keep their kids with them during hectic work times, and WorkSafe sup-ports this 100%.

Children also die in swimming pools, rivers, beaches, on roads and on driveways. But keeping kids safe on farms and in the city isn’t an either/or situation. Everyone has a responsibility to watch over children, and we can all learn from examples being set by many farm-

FRANCOIS BARTON ers.Rowarth’s comments

were particularly disap-pointing given that Rural News’ facing-page edi-torial urged farmers to “clean up their collective act” to address agricul-ture’s “shameful record” in health and safety. The paper’s editorial sup-

ported the aims of the recently launched ‘Safer Farms’ campaign – simi-larly Federated Farmers Waikato provincial presi-dent Chris Lewis and Gis-borne/Wairoa provincial president Peter Jex-Blake.

We don’t need to wrap children in cotton wool to keep them safe. Instead,

known risks on farms must be understood and managed practically by those best placed to do it – farmers, not because it’s the law but because it’s the right thing to do. • Francois Barton is WorkSafe New Zealand’s national programmes manager.

Check out our websiteswww.ruralnews.co.nzwww.dairynews.co.nz

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

OPINION 27

ag twitsRural News’ irreverent and hypothetical look at what’s happening in the farming world

Top Bleats view all

thatguynathanminister: Oh for f@*&s sake tell me @MPI just how the f#$% did this latest Queensland fruitfly incursion happen? #bloodyaussies

MPI: Officially @thatguynathanminister it is not an ‘incursion’ just yet, but merely an early ‘detection’. If we detect more fruitfly incur-rences then we will officially declare it as the former and not the latter. #asscovering

rpossernzfirst: I’m certain this recent fruitfly overstayer snuck into NZ from Wogistan, fool-ing the airport Smartgate system by wearing a full-length burka. Outrageous! Smartgate must go! #howthehelldidieverbecomeanmp

damienoconnormp: I blame National-led government lax biosecurity measures for the current outbreak of Queensland fruitflies swarming New Zealand’s countryside and destroying our horticulture industry. Under La-bour’s watch we only ever allowed in pests like varroa, gypsy moth, didymo, Russel Norman and Kim Dotcom. #itisalltheirfault

sbrowninggreenmp: Kia ora. There’s only one sure-fire cure for eliminating Queensland fruitfly from the shores of Aoteoroa: we must implement a full-scale organic, homeopathic eradication programme immediately just like I advised in the fight to cure Ebola. #whosay-sthegreensarenolongerlooney

littleandrewlabour: I promise under a government I lead I’ll always look after the little guy. Especially when that little guy is one A. Little and not some contractor who I owe $950. #idonotpaymybills

johnkeypm: I don’t often agree with @little-andrewlabour but completely agree with why he didn’t want Greens co-leader Metiria Turei on the intelligence and security committee – because we need someone with intelligence and security as a starting point.

johnmcarthymie: MIE has completely changed the face of the meat industry. So far we have put five new faces onto the boards of the two big meat co-ops and lamb prices have soared…. oh wait a minute #sameoldsameold #nothingreallyeverchanges

fbartonworksafenz: Our new Safer Farms campaign is aimed to make farms safer. This will be achieved by sending WorkSafe NZ people all over the country to ensure no work is done on any farm and therefore making sure all are safe – especially our jobs. #bureau-craticbrilliance

drbillfeds: Fed Farmers is delighted that set-tlements with all three banks over the sale of interest rate swaps have now been reached. We can now swap our interest to something more interesting than farmers being ripped off by bankers. #wedroppedtheballonthisone

‘MISSING’ SHEEP STILL A MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENON!I WAS interested in the work at Massey University on reducing wastage in commercial flocks. ‘Missing sheep’ were mentioned as an issue (Rural News, February 17, p39).

I did a small survey in the late 1970s at the Whatawhata Hill Country Research Station about ‘disappearing sheep’, and got into trouble with MAF head boffins. The cause was the NZ Journal of Agriculture showing on its front cover a clever picture of sheep fading away into the distance, to promote

the story John Dobbie and I wrote, headed ‘Disappearing Sheep’. This appeared when the sheep retention scheme was at its zenith, so we were blamed for inferring that farmers were collecting money for phantom sheep.

We were frustrated by never being able to make our Whatawhata tallies tally.

We always had missing sheep with close shepherding by technicians where every sheep was tagged, the tag of every dead sheep

found was brought back to the office – and still they disappeared. At the end of the year we couldn’t account for hundreds of sheep, and I knew this went on in other research flocks. It was not to be talked about.

Things got so bad at one stage that the auditors arrived from Wellington to count our sheep. This was

a laugh for our technicians who just kept running the same sheep around the yards to be counted two or three times.

I knew this was a major hill country problem and probably still is. All our farming neighbours had disappearing sheep and some were honest enough to give me their tallies. They just learned

to accept it. The biggest loss was

in weaned lambs from December into the new year, and among our breeds the Perendales were the best at turning up at each muster.

There were always plenty of reasons suggested for these lost sheep but they were just guesses.

Rustling came up regularly, but we could never find proof.

I learned from Lands & Survey shepherds that to keep the field officers off their backs they always kept extra lambs at docking (their first tally) up their sleeves, to be drip-fed into the tally books to cover up lambs that disappeared without trace

after weaning, as they had to tally sheep every time they moved them.

So my scientific conclusion is that the sheep went into thin air without trace and left the planet. Clive DaltonHamilton

@rural_news

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

28 MANAGEMENTTASTE WILL BE THE DRIVERSHEEP MILK products will sell only if the consumer likes the taste.

Dr Abby Thompson, food innovation manager at the Riddet Institute, Palmer-ston North, and her team at the confer-ence handed out samples of sheep milk products. These included yoghurt and several ice-cream varieties that proved popular with attendees.

Thompson, a food scientist, says most consumers will choose a sheep milk product on the basis of its taste, wholesome heritage and because it’s a ‘bit different’ – a neat product.

“Sheep milk products fit the idea of food culture or heritage that is becoming increasingly popular around the world,” she told Rural News.

“An example is the slow food move-ment: enjoying our food, taking plea-sure in it and appreciating what has happened to bring it to our table – including the farmers milking the sheep and people transforming it into ice-cream or cheese.”

She perceives an image problem for sheep milk products in New Zealand: they are not what many consumers would instinctively associate with great tasting, good quality food. So for a sheep milk industry to succeed, most of its products would be for export – a view

shared by most attending the confer-ence.

On developing sheep milk products, Thompson says there are “science chal-lenges”.

“The higher levels of protein mean that there are potential precipitation issues when you freeze or heat the milk. But on the other hand, the increased levels of fat and protein means there is effectively ‘less water’ in sheep milk than in cow milk, enabling you to take the milk straight from the sheep and make it into thick creamy yoghurts and beau-tiful gelatos without having to add extra cream.”

A food product must simultaneously appeal to the consumer’s heart, tongue and head.

Dr Abby Thompson

High society for sheep milkingPLANS TO expand the sheep milk industry have advanced to the formation of a society to develop and promote the industry, confirmed at the close of a recent two day conference at Massey University.

The conference exceeded the expectations of its organiser, associ-ate professor Craig Prich-ard from the university’s school of management.

Prichard told Rural News they set out to attract a few key indus-try players: 40-60 people would have been great, he said. “In the end, we got 157 people, effec-tively the whole industry

in the same room, which was fantas-tic. We had sheep milk producers, regulators, consul-tants, new farmers – a great range of people.”

He says the spirit of the group imparted a sense of what’s possible for this new industry.

The new soci-ety is a “coalition of the willing”. It will raise money for in-market research on sheep milk products, he says. The society needs some sort of marketing role given the nature of the industry, which cur-rently has one big com-pany – Blue River Dairy

– and smaller ones. There is speculation

Landcorp will form a joint venture with a marketing and brand company and could then play a large role in the industry.

Prichard says there is

so far no decision on what structure a sheep milk industry might adopt. The present aim is to get the society running well, hold more conferences, do some research and go from there.

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

Massey University’s Craig Prichard with sheep milk.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

MANAGEMENT 29

Ice-cream optionSue and Guy Trafford are

among many people planning to get into the sheep milking industry. They work fulltime

at Lincoln University and have 125 milking ewes. They plan to spend $200,000 on an ice-cream making plant.

Guy says sheep milk is a great product and while it has

some lactose it has less than cow milk.

Better late, than never!NOTED ANIMAL geneticist Dr Jock Allison is full of praise for the initiative to build a larger sheep milking industry.

He says the move has come late given that East Friesian sheep (the main milking breed) have been out of quarantine for nearly 20 years. The other milking breed, Awassi, is still held tightly by Saudi interests, he says. Another breed, the French Lacaune, could possibly be imported.

“Sheep milk is a totally different product: it’s not as tough on the environment and we

can have systems just as profitable as dairy because of the high level of milk production. Sheep cause less pugging of the land and their effluent is not as great as a dairy cow’s.”

An economic unit of sheep milkers would be about 600 ewes. They must be fed well, like cows, to obtain good milk yields.

“It’s fantastic to have a group at Massey wanting to get involved in research,” he told Rural News. “Looking around at places such as Lake Taupo where they are restricting nitrogen runoff, sheep

dairying could be a major opportunity.

“We now have dairying in the Mackenzie Country; sheep milking would fit in there quite well.”

❱❱ A high yielding ewe will produce 450L of milk per year

❱❱ The average NZ farmgate price for sheep milk is about $2.00/L

❱❱ The lambing percentage from an East Frie-sian flock in the UK is 175%

❱❱ China produces 1.5 million tonnes of sheep milk annually

❱❱ New Zealand has the largest sheep dairy operation in the world (Blue River) with 25,000 stock units. The next largest is in Spain.

❱❱ The largest consumer of sheep dairy prod-ucts is the USA, which consumes over half of the world’s production of sheep cheese.

KEY POINTS

Jock Allison

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

30 MANAGEMENT

Production boosted and costs cut

A NORTHLAND Partner Farm increased milk pro-duction by 34% over three years and cut farm work-ing expenses by 27%.

People ask how you cut a dollar per kilo out of your farm working

expenses, AgFirst con-sultant Gareth Bayn-ham told the Northland Dairy Development Trust annual conference.

The partner farm joint project with DairyNZ and the trust started in Sep-tember 2011 on the farm of Alister and Lyn Candy who farm with daughter

Christine at Okaihau, near Kaikohe, milking about 315 cows on 103ha.

Baynham says a great group of farmers came together as a management team, meeting monthly on the farm. There were three focus areas: improv-ing reproductive perfor-mance, getting more out

of the grass and managing spending.

The result was a a 34% increase in milk produc-tion over the three years from a three year aver-age of 73,000kg to about 112,000kg last season. Pas-ture eaten went up – “we got that lift despite grow-ing less grass last year

then we had in previous years” – and they achieved a 27% drop in farm work-ing expenses.

“That extra milk came at the same cost the farm had been running at. At $6/kgMS that would have been an extra $190,000 in revenue.”

The results were

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

achieved firstly through benchmarking: Alister and Lyn used Dairy Base to look at what they had achieved relative to other farms.

“In the areas they were higher they used the rural professionals around them to make some of those changes and that worked well; there was also animal health shear-ing the budget.”

He says Alister and Lyn firstly sliced the budget themselves then the man-agement team helped get another 50c/kg out of the budget. Then they mon-itored actual expendi-tures against the budget to ensure they were on track and “if you’re not, what are you going to do about it?”

Where to next? “We are in the final year of the Focus Farm so we’ve gone from monthly meetings to quarterly meetings. “I think the team has been pleased with how Alister and Lyn have made their decisions on the farm. We’re just there to drink the coffee these days, so it has been a real win,” says

Baynham.“We’ve had a few chal-

lenges with a wet spring this year; it has put the farm under a bit of pres-sure. So to the end of Jan-uary production is about 2.6% behind last year but we are hopeful that, depending on the season, we might catch up on some of that.”

They have had 170 people at field days and the final event is Tuesday, May 26.

Northland Dairy Development Trust and DairyNZ are taking what was done at this farm out to others. Another Far North farm has been oper-ating since about May with a “fantastic” management team. They are working with Tony Lunjevich who is 50/50 milking with his parents at Takahue, just south of Kaitaia.

“It is a great farm because it is a really tough bit of dirt, it’s got a lot of hills. It’s neat to see how people can tackle those challenges,” Bayn-ham says. A field day will be held there on Tuesday, April 21.

DON’T WAIT NEW RESEARCH confirms it’s better to sow treated pasture seed early in dry autumns instead of waiting for rain before planting, says seed supplier Agriseeds.

Benefits include faster pasture establishment, higher DM yield and potentially better pasture per-sistence, and it’s easier to get a contractor. It all helps get a head start on feed recovery after drought, says the company’s agronomist Will Henson.

“Last year many farmers did not sow while it was dry. When the rain came in April, it kept raining on and off for three weeks; contractors were working 24 hours a day but couldn’t keep up.

“So a lot of sowing that should have been done, wasn’t. And paddocks sowed late were slow to estab-lish, yielded less and were more difficult to manage through winter and early spring.”

Questions arise about early sowing, the company says, e.g. how well do seed and endophyte survive in hot, dry soil? And is there possibility of poor estab-lishment?

“There hasn’t been a lot of research done on this, so we decided to test it last year,” Henson says. “We show that Trojan ryegrass seed with NEA2 endophyte can keep well in the soil for six weeks without signif-icant rain, and establishment is much better than if planting is delayed until after rain.”

In a replicated trial near Cambridge last autumn, Trojan perennial ryegrass with NEA2 endophyte was sown on three dates: February 20, March 20 and April 27.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

32 ANIMAL HEALTH

Johne’s an ‘iceberg’ on our farmsHAS YOUR herd got Johne’s?

Whether you’re talking dairy or beef, chances are it has, and if you run sheep there’s a good chance some will be carrying the disease too, albeit probably a different strain.

The disease causes ill-thrift, diarrhoea, and, as

there’s no cure, eventual death. However, it only shows itself in cattle and sheep in more mature animals so it’s likely many cases go undiagnosed.

“Most are infected as very young calves and most infection has happened by the time the animals are 12 months old,” Dr Eric Hillerton of the Johne’s Disease Research Consortium

told a recent Lincoln University Dairy Farm (LUDF) focus day.

“But we don’t see the disease in young stock, only in older cattle. That’s why we call it an ‘iceberg’ disease. You don’t see the other 50-60% of your herd that are probably infected.”

A nationwide survey of 600 herds by Massey University produced 457 useable responses, of which 54% reported

having clinical Johne’s. Incidence appears

higher, or it could be that awareness of the

disease is higher in the South Island,

with 68% reporting cases.

“It’s not uncommon for

herds in the South Island to see this

disease,” noted Hillerton.

“You might not see a lot of cases, maybe

only three to six cows a year, but for the last few

ANDREW SWALLOWyears those cows will have been shedding the bacteria into your farm’s environment so over half your young stock are likely to be infected.

“Even the 30% who have not seen the disease, it might not be because you don’t have it: it might be because you’ve had your sunglasses on all the time [and not noticed it].”

The disease is noticed at LUDF, South Island Dairy Development Centre executive director Ron Pellow pointed out.

“We typically see six or seven cases a year which are culled specifically for Johne’s so that’s six or seven we’re not able to cull for other reasons.”

Hillerton said a comprehensive guide to management of the disease on dairy farms was being released the day of the LUDF focus day, and that a similar guide for sheep and beef farms will be out soon. Both have been produced by the Johne’s Disease Research Consortium with the respective sector levy bodies.

The consortium is also running courses for vets to bring them up to speed on dealing with

the complexities of the disease.

“We’ve had over a hundred vets on a Johne’s course now. They’re trained. They know about this. They can help. Like everything else in animal health, it’s a joint problem and a joint solution.”

The disease guide for dairy (see www.dairynz.co.nz/animal/health-conditions/johnes-disease) describes five strategies to reduce Johne’s risk with (see panel) farm practices under each ranked as “best practice”, “alternative options”, or “high risk activities so

avoid”. The alternative options are a compromise if the best practice is too hard.”

Breeding is one way to reduce risk, incidence in Friesians being a third of what it is in Jerseys, with Kiwi-cross somewhere in between, said Hillerton.

With that in mind, the consortium contracted LIC to produce a Johne’s index for bulls which will feature in semen catalogues for the first time when they’re released in a few weeks.

“This was paid for with your levy money so it is not exclusive to LIC customers and will be

available to everybody.”Hillerton said the

disease would never be eradicated as the causative bacteria, Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis is always present in the environment but incidence on farms can be substantially reduced, he believes.

In turn that would reduce replacement rates and/or allow culling for more productive reasons than Johne’s, hence there’s likely to be a substantial financial benefit to the farm long-term, he acknowledged to Rural News.

JOHNE'S STRATEGIES IN DAIRY❱❱ Test and cull high risk cattle.❱❱ Manage calving to minimise exposure

through colostrum and faeces.❱❱ During rearing, prevent calf contact with

cows and effluent.❱❱ Rear replacements off platform, ideally

on farms without adult ruminants.❱❱ Avoid buying cattle from high risk

sources.❱❱ Adapted from: Johne’s Disease –

Management for New Zealand dairy herds.

Dr Eric Hillerton

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

ANIMAL HEALTH 33

A changed character – shocking!I HAD a phone call recently from a chap who had a problem with his young dog. He bought the 9-month-old pup from someone who had reared it well; it was a relaxed happy confident young-ster and keen to work.

Everything was going well and he was very happy with how the dog was shaping up – it showed a lot of prom-ise. That is, until recently, when its character changed in a matter of weeks – for no apparent reason.

Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won’t.

It was originally a friendly dog, but now it has become standoff-ish with him and also his other dogs. He is adamant that he hasn’t mistreated it in any way and I could hear the concern in his voice. He is at a loss as to why it has happened and what he can do.

The first thing I asked was had someone looked after his dogs lately while he was away? Maybe something had happened that he was unaware of that caused the behav-ioural change. The answer was no.

Because the dog had become somewhat reclu-sive from his other dogs I asked about the kennel-ling arrangement, because I have seen personal-ity clashes between dogs develop when they are housed next to each other. It was kept in motels, with a young pup on one side and a dog of the same age on the other.

I advised him to sepa-rate the two dogs of the same age, putting the ‘problem’ dog at one end so its only neighbour would be the pup. Dogs of similar ages, reared together and supposedly good mates, often end up vying for pack position between the ages of 1 to 2

years old. Maybe the more domi-

nant dog was intimidating the submissive one when they were housed side by side. This may explain why

his dog was now reluctant to be in close proximity of his other dogs. Anything is worth trying in order to solve a problem.

So why would the dog also be inconsistent with his work – there had to be a reason. If it hadn’t been mentally or physically abused, if it was in good health and without pain, what had caused a once enthusiastic dog to be become reluctant to work?

I then asked if it had recently come to grief with an electric fence – as they can pack quite a punch. I feel so sorry for the innocent dog’s that are doing nothing wrong and, out of nowhere, comes several thousand volts.

And yes, the dog had recently come into con-tact with electric fences – 3 or 4 times. That would explain a lot, par-ticularly if he was being given a command at the same time. He may asso-ciate the working com-mand with shooting pain and therefore he natu-rally becomes too terrified to do so. It isn’t the dog’s fault – humans created electric fences.

Some of you will dis-agree with my next sen-tence. If one of my young dogs gets a nasty shock from a fence I call it to me and sooth the pain; if it happens again I’d rather it made a beeline to me than bolt off into the distance.

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34 ANIMAL HEALTH

MARK WHITE of Treidlia Biovet told Rural News a New Zealand release of the vaccine “is a signif-icant part” of the firm’s plans, though it will be subject to regula-tory approvals and could “take a while to happen”.

“Regulatory approval in Australia was only granted after intense lobbying by sheep industry groups and is still a problem as the permit is for only six months. Various other conditions make the permit impractical as it stands. We’re still working on those issues with the regulator here, with the support of our colleagues in the sheep industry.”

To use the vaccine in Australia farmers must first take swabs from lame sheep for culture and serotyping as the vaccine is customised to the strains on particular farms. White says immunity from the vaccine can be strong enough to work as a tool in

eradicating footrot from individual farms or possibly larger areas.

Lincoln University’s Jon Hickford, who was instrumental in developing the footrot resistance marker gene for breeding purposes, says vaccines can be useful but are not a solution on their own.

“Vaccination with other treat-ments like foot-bathing are only short-term management tools and in the longer term, sheep farmers need to look at better manage-ment to minimise the occurrence of serious outbreaks.

“This might include making changes in stock manage-ment, stock class and sheep breed. Equally, I have pushed the approach of breeding sheep that are less susceptible, including the culling of footrot-affected sheep and making breeding choices to use sheep that are more resilient when challenged.

“This approach has been shown to work by a number of NZ sheep breeders, and has been augmented in the last 16 years by the use of the gene-marker test developed at Lincoln.”

Unlike Australia, New Zealand still has access to Coopers’ Footvax vaccine, he adds. Used appropriately – vaccinating well in advance of a footrot challenge and then putting a booster into the sheep close to the challenge – it is a good way of stopping severe outbreaks that might cause a large-scale welfare concern and lead to major production losses, he says.

The strain-specific vaccine technology now being launched in Australia has been around for a while and has been effective in trials, says Hickford. But like White he says it takes time to develop such a vaccine for any given outbreak. – Andrew Swallow

A NEW strain-specific footrot vaccine for sheep, developed by Sydney Uni-versity, has been approved for use after months of negotiation.

The previous footrot vaccine, Coopers’ Foot-vax, was banned in Aus-tralia in 2008 and sheep producers have struggled to control and eradicate footrot.

They had been lim-ited to foot paring/bath-ing, antibiotic treatment under specific condi-tions and the culling of flocks under a destocking regime.

The Australian Pesti-cides and Veterinary Med-icines Authority has now given emergency approval to Treidlia Biovet, a Sydney vaccine maker, to supply the custom foot-rot R-Pilus Vaccine for six months, until July 30.

Western Austra-lian Farmers Federation wool council president Ed Rogister says the decision is a first step. “Footrot is a serious and contagious disease…. Once estab-lished in a flock, footrot will persist if a vaccine is not available.”

Rogister says the fed-eration worked on the government authority to

approve the emergency permit, “which is the beginning of a more per-manent solution for the strain specific vaccines”.

Farmers need a long-term solution to the issue of strain-specific footrot

vaccines because there is no registered prod-uct available. “The tar-geted nature of these new footrot vaccines means moving to full registration is not a realistic option,” Rogister says.

As temperatures increase during spring and summer, the bacteria that cause virulent footrot inflame the moist inter-digital skin of the feet, which can cause sheep to become lame.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

34 ANIMAL HEALTH ANIMAL HEALTH 35

UK support for non-stun slaughter ban

ALL THE GEAR TO RAISE LAMBINGWHETHER YOU have a ewe with a bearing, a ewe you want to take a lamb to, or a ram you want to use as a teaser – it can be harnessed, says Rurtec.

The company says its Bearin prolapse harness, developed with international veterinary input, com-bines the effectiveness of the old style rope design, but with modern straps for ewe comfort and snap lock buckles for easy fitting.

The new hybrid design has been tested onfarm in Europe, the US and in Wairarapa, says principal Ian Carr. Canadian vet Sara Sutherland, now work-ing in Wairarapa, gave valuable input.

“The local result saw farmers lining up to buy ten each for this lambing. A big part of their effective-ness is in preventing the ewe from straining, with the neck strap tightening when she drops her head.”

The harnesses can be pulled out year after year, giving many uses to ensure the initial outlay is more than returned, Carr says.

Rurtec’s Adopta restraint harness, used for mothering-on, also has a Wairarapa connection.

“It was born out of finding a better way to tether ewes, rather than using ram harnesses as Andy Free-man was doing in his Beef + Lamb supported ‘Two per Ewe’ programme. This new harness allows ewes to be held via the back strap and neck strap against a fence or rail.

“When the ewe becomes more lamb friendly the neck strap can be released from the fence to allow nuzzling and eating. It is a great option for those that don’t have stanchions or similar and it can be stored for reuse year after year.”

And Rurtec’s No Mate harness can be attached to a Matingmark harness to temporarily prevent mating.

“This means the same rams can be used for teas-ing and for mating, rather than having to have some vasectomised. It also allows nomadic farmers to run rams with ewes, something that has gained the attention of the Chile government in particular.”

Carr says the genetic gain in New Zealand’s sheep flock in recent years has been impressive and more farmers are now using ram hoggets for further acceleration in productivity improvement.

“Rurtec now has this covered, with a new smaller version of the world’s best breeding harness,” he says. “You can now check the coverage and more of these young lads with a small size Matingmark harness.”Tel. 0800 RURTEC

A PETITION calling for non-stun livestock slaugh-ter to be banned in the UK hit its target 100,000 sig-natures last month, says instigator the British Vet-erinary Association.

“We urge the chairman of the backbench busi-ness committee to honour the petition and pledge to debate an end to non-stun slaughter at the first opportunity in the next Parliament,” said BVA

president John BlackwellThe petition hit

100,000 two months ahead of its March 30 close and only a handful of e-petitions (0.1%) ever achieve 100,000 signa-tures, says the BVA.

A 2013 UK Food Stan-dards Authority sample survey of welfare practices at Britain’s 232 red meat slaughterhouses found a 31% increase in cattle not stunned before slaugh-

ter for Halal compared to 2011, and a 56% increase (from 28,734 to 44,950) of sheep and goats not stunned.

Meanwhile there was a decrease in kosher (Shechita or non-stunned

slaughter) in cattle from 1314 to 475 (-66%), in sheep and goats from 1917 to 601 (-68%) and poul-try from 71,236 to 21,716 (-69%).

The results indicate that overall the number

of animals not stunned prior to slaughter in Great Britain accounted for 2% of cattle, 10% of sheep and goats, and 4% of poultry.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

36 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Productive duo set to raise their scoreBROTHERS SCOTT and Leighton Campbell grew up on a West Coast dairy farm, making silage pretty much all their lives and seeking to do it better.

Now a Lely Tigo PR 70 loader wagon their business Campbell Agri-culture bought last November is helping their quest for improvement.

Scott will soon com-plete a heavy diesel apprenticeship and Leigh-ton is in his final year at high school.

Scott says they had a look at other brands before choosing the Tigo, with parts and service through their local Hari-hari Motors.

The Lely Tigo comes in two series: the PR with capacities of 45m3 to 70m3 at medium compaction, and the XR with capacities from 65m3 to 100m3.

The Campbells have a PR70, with capacity of

70m3 and a 1.9m pick-up which “follows the ground really well,” Scott says. “It has a roller underneath which holds it so it floats and doesn’t dip into hol-lows, which means there is less wear.”

The loader wagon has a moveable bulkhead that can be tilted forward to increase the load space. “The moveable bulkhead means we can load a bit more than normal wagons and it also takes the pres-sure off the back door. We used to run another brand, and when it was fully loaded it stretched the back door out.”

The wagon is easy to run, Scott says. “We oper-ate ours on automatic load. All we have to do is steer and lift the pick-up at the end of each load. Once it’s loaded the bulk-head comes forward and you can put more in.

“The bulkhead can be

set at different pressures. We have it on 10% for wet ground and 20% for dry. When it reaches that pres-sure the board comes for-ward.”

Having so many auto-matic functions makes working easier. “There’s less to worry about. When you’re driving you’re look-ing back all the time and there’s a lot happening.

Having a wagon that does a lot of stuff itself makes it more user-friendly.”

The Tigo PR has 40 knives and the Campbells cut at 37mm chop lengths. There is an option to cut longer, but so far every farmer has wanted the grass short.

“The knives are fitted with protective springs. We’ve had the odd rock

go through and the knives survived it. We also bought a Lely knife sharpener. The knife bank swings out from under-neath so you can work on it.”

The brothers pull the wagon with a 200hp tractor. “We wouldn’t want to go bigger as it’s too much weight and also the gateways and races

aren’t that big.”Many of the soils they

work are swampy, so they specified their wagon with 800mm-wide tyres. The wide tyres also give them even more stabil-ity on a stack. The wagon generally travels at 41 kph and follows the trac-tor well.

Lely Tigos are offered with a variety of suspen-sions and axles to keep the wagon parallel with the slope. The Campbells’ PR70 has a tandem axle.

The Campbells also use auto-unload on their wagon. “It’s quick to unload. We put the trac-tor in crawl and fill out paperwork as it spreads the grass. It spreads out on the stack well enough that we don’t have to flick it out on the stack.”

The unload function has two speed options. When it first starts the two chains move slowly

and the bulkhead pushes back on the load to assist. Once the load is moving the chains can go into the second faster speed.

Scott has been pleased with the service he and Leighton have received from Lely. “Nothing has gone wrong. After the third job, a guy came out and sat with me for a few loads. He adjusted the pick-up chains and drive chains and made a few adjustments after it had been worn in a bit.”

Lely staff also spent time with the Campbells when they first bought it. “They sat with us and gave us operator training and showed us the tricks of the trade.”

Lely Tigo wagons are dual purpose. They can also be loaded from the top to serve as a transport wagon.Tel. 07 850 4050www.lely.com

Leighton (left) and Scott Campbell are pleased with the extra capacity their Lely Tigo PR has added to their contracting business.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 37HYDRAULIC POWERMassey Ferguson launches

new range of work horsesMASSEY FERGUSON has launched the first new tractors in its new Global Series.

The tractors were shown for the first time in New Zealand at the recent Northland field days.

The MF4707 and MF4708 are the first new models in a new 74hp to 82hp range. These are the initial tractors in a new Global Series that will eventually offer three ranges, four differ-ent transmissions and be available in footstep, semi-platform and cab versions.

“It’s taken the best brains in Massey Fergu-son to design and build this brand new range of workhorse tractors. These state-of-the-art tractors are the result of a $350 million investment in a completely new, clean sheet design,” says Simon Hole, director marketing.

“The Massey Ferguson Global Series has been designed and built in the 21st Century and is pur-pose-built for modern

applications. While using the very latest, advanced engineering and manu-facturing tools and tech-niques, they still retain our traditional straight-forward operation, dependability and value for money.”

Hole adds that, where possible, the company has used existing design tech-nology and components from our recently suc-cessful ranges, which are

not only specially devel-oped for the modern era, they allow us to provide local parts and service most efficiently across our whole range of trac-tors, wherever they are in the world.

He says more than 90% of the parts and com-ponents in the Global Series are entirely new - designed and engineered specifically for the trac-tors. Combined labo-

ratory and field testing has reached over 36,000 hours and, reflecting the global nature of the new machines, prototypes have been tested in brutal

conditions from Arizona in the USA to Lusaka in Zambia.– More pg 38

MASSEY FERGUSON has developed a completely new open-centre hydraulic system for the new Global Series.

This employs a responsive, high pressure gear pump to supply the main services including rear linkage and auxiliary spool valves, while another pump provides lower pressure for the auxiliary hydraulic circuits including the steering, 4WD and diff-lock engagement as well as PTO control.

This dual circuit system ensures there is always sufficient flow for continuous, efficient operations.

The tandem pump is mounted to the right side of the rear housing, with much of the system built into the cover plate. This keeps the oil paths short to mini-mise operational losses and provides simple and easy access for service and maintenance. An exter-nally mounted, spin-on filter is simple to replace and a warning light alerts the driver when it needs changing. There are also quick-connectors on the cover plate for diagnostic testing couplers.

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38 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

‘Straight’ gears easy to serviceMASSEY FERGUSON engineers at Beauvais, France have developed a completely new transmission with synchronised mechanical reverse shuttle for the Global Tractor Series.

The gearbox’s modern

constant mesh, sliding collar design features specially designed gears with a high contact ratio for strength and durability. Unlike helical gears, the straight gears don’t require thrust bearings to support the

sideloads – which makes them not only more durable, but easier to service.

The two MF4700 Series models offers a 12 forward/reverse speed gearbox, which are engaged with two straightforward levers mounted either side of the driver’s seat. The levers act directly on the selector rails - one lever shifts the gears, while the other selects high or low range.

■ Robust rear axle based on existing, proven design. The modern, heavy duty, structural casting design contains new inboard reduction units and oil-immersed brakes

■ Choice of purpose-

built 2WD or 4WD front axles with hydrostatic steering, offering excellent manoeuvrability and enhanced traction

■ Efficient, modern open-centre high pressure hydraulic system employs a tandem pump to supply the pressure and flow required to control and power the latest implements

■ Responsive electronic hitch control combines

straightforward lever operation with advanced electronic control and reliability of the most modern systems. Maximum

3,000kg rear linkage lift capacity on the MF4700 Series

■ 540rpm speed Independent PTO, with easy operation by a three-position rocker switch for optimum reliability

■ The MF4700 Series models are available with comfortable, footstep or semi-platform operator environments with logical and easy to use controls. A fully approved ROPS frame and optional sun canopy are fitted to protect the operator

THE MODERN GEARbox design provides an additional output shaft to provide drive to the front axle. The drive shaft is tucked neatly underneath the centre of the gearbox and engine and is fully guarded for protection.

Four-wheel drive is engaged electro-

hydraulically on the move, through a simple, robust ‘dog-tooth’ clutch. It is permanently engaged by spring pres-sure and released by hydraulic pressure.

There is also the choice of a purpose-built 2WD front axle, which like the 4WD version has power steering.

CENTRE DRIVE 4WD

APPLYING NUTRIENTS in water to, say, tomato crops (hydroponics) is a commonplace, but using a pivot irri-gator to apply water and fertiliser is slow to catch on in New Zealand, says a ‘fertigation’ expert.

Graeme Pile, head of a company selling this tech-nology, says he’s surprised its take-up here is not rapid.

Pile told the annual Fertiliser and Lime Research Centre workshop at Massey University that fertigation is widely used in the Middle East, Israel, the US and Australia. It’s used mainly in cropping and commer-cial growing, and is increasingly common in dairying.

Fertigation is simple, he says. “You have a tank alongside the irrigator that’s got fertiliser in it – either liquid or soluble solids. A proportional dosing pump doses it into the irrigator line at a set rate.

“The fertigation system can be connected to K-line irrigation or a larger pivot system. We train people and… within about two weeks they will have solved all their issues.”

Total installation cost is about $4000 and payback about a year. His company advises on, supplies and installs the system and sells the fertiliser at the same price as other fertiliser.

“The benefits are many,” Pile claims. “For a start, it is low cost and farmers or growers don’t have to get a truck to spread the urea. There is also less environ-mental impact because you are only putting a little on at a time.

“You can adjust when you apply the water and fer-tiliser and only put fertiliser on where it’s needed. So you can put more fertiliser on heavier soils and less on lighter soils with the result that you get better

quality pasture, the cows are healthier and there is more productivity.”

Pile claims fertigation can cut fertiliser use by 30% and water by 35%. He says it fits perfectly with coun-cils’ new environmental limits and rules.

Fertigation has been in New Zealand for about 15 years, used so far by about 35 farmers in Canterbury and Otago and 10 in the North Island.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 39

NO MORE SLOWING DOWN WHEN BALING

LELY’S NEW continuous baling system will allow operators to just keep going when baling any type of crop – no need to stop or slow down

The Lely Welger CB variable baler allows the operator to make a new bale while the previous bale is being finished and ejected. It’s an easy way to make a large quantity of high-quality bales, saving on fuel and reducing wear and tear, the company says.

When a bale reaches its full size, a transport system moves it within the belt to the extended back of the baler. This creates room for a new bale to start immediately at the front.

After the first bale is tied by the net wrap system, the tailgate will open and drop the bale on the go. The baler returns to its compact position, ready to finish the bale being made at the front.

During this continuous process, a belt buffering and tensioning system ensures a consistent tension on the belt resulting

in high density bales.The split functionalities in the bale

chamber enable the operator to have a bale in progress without the need for any buffer system.

By eliminating stops, delays and wait-ing times, the continuous baling concept makes a huge difference. The baler is less dependent on the driver’s concentration to reach the maximum output.

The automated mode simply con-trols the baler’s functionalities. Contin-uous outputs of 110-130 bales an hour are realistic, even during long days.

Driving at a steady speed will much improve comfort for the driver, reduc-ing the need for stopping, accelerating and rocking. The driver just focuses on the field and the swaths in order to make quality bales.

The new baler concept was developed by engineers of Lely and its American partner Vermeer. Testing and fine tuning of the machine will continue during the next few years, followed by a commer-cial launch.

MARIE SHERRY

Versatile dozer/ digger

EXCAVATOR AND bulldozer technology are combined in a new machine, Blade Runner, on sale in New Zealand from April.

Distributor Mimico the machine is more productive than either an excavator or a dozer.

“Unlike most excavators, this 92hp, 15,700kg model has a six-way power-tilt blade with float, tilt, lift and angle options.”

Designed for heavy dozing, the ED160 has a rugged undercarriage and curved track pads for best traction and higher flotation.

The machine also has a 0.5m3 bucket and a zero tail swing radius making it suitable for digging, even in tight spaces.

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A TYRE TRUSTED BY A TYRE PROFESSIONALRemember when washing

machines and refrigerators lasted a generation? And tyres lasted for years too? Things were made to last back then. Now it seems things are made to wear out.

The reason for this is original tyres fitted to new vehicles are made to the vehicle manufacturer’s price. This may result in a compromise on the tyre performance and life.Cooper Tires are better value.

One tyre company, continuing to construct quality aftermarket tyres that last, is Cooper Tires. Drivers choosing quality American made Cooper Tires are finding they are getting a lot more mileage and better value for money than

original tyres. This is because Cooper Tires make tyres that last without compromising on high quality tyre components.

Cooper Tires are only sold through appointed local tyre professionals, so they know your conditions and can advise the right tyre for the job.

TyreLAND are one of the leading independent tyre specialists in New Zealand with 9 stores in the south Island and a store newly opened in

Auckland. Raymond from TyreLAND explains why they trust Cooper Tires for their customers;

If you’re looking for decent tyres for your 4WD call 0800 4 tread for your local TyreLand store. If there isn’t one in your area, call 0800 mileage (0800 645 243) or visit www.coopertires.co.nz to find your nearest Cooper retailer and request your free info pack.

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depths and a stronger casing, which means Coopers last longer and perform better. We always offer Cooper Tires to customers who want the best.

We keep records of our customer’s performance so they can see the money they save. We had a customer come in for his second set of Coopers; he got 65,000kms out of his first set, while he only got 30,000kms out of the original equipment set.”

“We have been selling Cooper Tires for over 25 years and believe they are the best 4WD tyres available on the market. This is because they have deeper tread

Call the team today to discuss your requirements

or see us at Site 093Central Districts Field Days

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

40 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Ploughing all about doing job wellIF YOU’RE going to plough, do it well, says the president of the New Zea-land Ploughing Associa-tion, South Canterbury farmer Norm Styles.

Whether it’s on a 0.2ha match plot or a 20ha paddock, the principles are the same: cut all the roots with your opening split and bury everything thereafter, leaving a level finish that will facilitate subsequent operations, he says.

“It comes down to the quality of weed control and seedbed produced. If you do a good job it will save you one or two passes in follow-up culti-vations.”

It also reduces the number of weeds her-bicides have to control. That reduction in weed pressure is seeing the

plough make a comeback in many cropping systems around the world as grow-ers attempt to prevent herbicide resistant weed populations developing, or battle already resis-tant populations by bury-ing seed.

“The chemistry’s not been able to keep up with the grassweed control,” notes Styles.

In such situations making a good job with the plough is more impor-tant than ever, as every weed and, perhaps more importantly, every weed seed, needs to be buried so deep it won’t grow.

Once seed has been ploughed down, typically best practice is to leave it there for two or three years by using non-inver-sion tillage, or direct-drilling, until the seed becomes non-viable. Then the plough might be used

again to bury another potentially resistant pop-ulation of weeds that may have built up on the sur-face, safe in the knowl-edge that little if any old seed brought to the sur-face will grow.

But Styles doesn’t plough an inch of his 400ha farm about 20km inland from Timaru and

with good reason.“I don’t plough here

because of the nature of the terrain. By direct drilling we cut the ero-sion in bad weather so if it pours we know the soil is going to stay on the hill-side. Basically I stopped ploughing on the farm when we moved here,” he explains.

He also has a diverse rotation of crops – cere-als, peas, and grass and clover seeds – integrated with pasture to make her-bicide resistance less of a risk.

So if he doesn’t plough, how did he become presi-dent of the New Zealand association? A neighbour noted his neat furrow work on a previous farm on flats near Timaru and suggested he try match ploughing. In due course he qualified for half a dozen national finals.

“My last was in 2006. Mainly I’m involved with judging now and admin-istration with the local championship and with

the national [Ploughing Association] executive.”

He’s also judged at a World Championship, in Canada in 2013. “You’ve got to be on top of the job at the ‘worlds’ because there are so many plots.”

This year’s world championship is in Denmark, October 3-4, with Ian Woolley of Blenheim representing New Zealand in the conventional, and Malcolm Taylor of Putaruru, Waikato, the reversible representative. Styles is team manager and Bruce Redmond, a former NZ and world champion, coach.

Woolley will be among

competitors at this year’s NZ national champion-ship which is at Palmer-ston, Otago, April 18-19, (see panel) having qual-ified at Rakaia. The nationals will be his first competition using a new John Deere 5720 tractor.

“With the help of Gordon Handy Machinery we’re altering the wheel spacing and getting the rims refitted, then we’ll start practicing. It’ll be a bit of a learning curve.”

In June, the tractor and his Kverneland plough will go in a container for the 6-8 week trip to Denmark. The team will follow by plane to arrive early September.

“It’s a huge expense but we want to give our-selves a good chance. We’re not just going to make up the numbers.”

As for this year’s NZ championships at

Palmerston, the win-ners of the conven-tional and reversible

classes there will qual-ify for the World Cham-

pionships to be held in Yorkshire, England, Sep-tember 2016.– More ploughing in Rural News March 17 and April 7.

ANDREW SWALLOW

60TH NEW ZEALAND PLOUGHING CHAMPIONSHIPS❱❱ When: Sat April 18 (stubble) and Sunday

April 19 (grass)❱❱ Where: Sheat family’s Harpsdale Farm,

Palmerston, Otago❱❱ Host association : East Otago Vintage

Ploughing Committee❱❱ Site: Flat, river silt soil.❱❱ Major sponsors: Case IH; Famlands

Fuel; Mainland Minerals; Rural News.

Norm Styles

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 41

Tractor favourite gets a rebootCASE IH, in relaunching the Farmall C, Farmall U and Farmall U Pro series, expects the iconic brand to reclaim its title as a heavyweight in utility tractors.

Farmall tractors appeared in 1923 and gained a name for reliabil-ity and versatility. Ninety years later comes their relaunch in an all-new lineup.

All three series feature the same brand new 3.4L electronically controlled, high-pressure common rail engine developed by sister company FPT (Fiat Powertrain Technologies).

Incorporating a waste-gate turbocharger and intercooler, this respon-sive new engine has cooled exhaust gas recir-culation (CEGR) which lowers the temperature of the exhaust gases, then blends them with fresh air and returns the mixture to the cylinder to maximise combustion efficiency.

The engine also fea-tures a new diesel oxida-tion catalyst (DOC) and maintenance-free par-ticulate matter catalyst (PMC) technology, which automatically burns off particulates in the exhaust gases, ensuring the system

remains clean and oper-ates at peak efficiency. Much better fuel econ-omy, less noise and vibra-tion, greater pulling ability and a more constant power curve are the result.

The Farmall C four models span 85-115hp. Introduced as a replace-ment for the long-stand-ing JXU series, this medium-duty workhorse is an all-rounder good for the tasks typically found on livestock farms.

It has ample manoeu-vrability, good power-to-weight ratio, strong hydraulic performance and superb all-round vision.

The Farmall U series, also new, is ideal for heavier work such as ground cultivation.

The Farmall U is avail-able in cab only configu-ration in 105hp and 115hp models. Cab and operator environment are notewor-thy, the maker says.

For long working hours, the Farmall U has cab suspension as stan-dard, a passenger seat and Bluetooth high perfor-mance stereo.

The Farmall U Pro, the premium model, has fea-tures normally found only on much larger machines, e.g. programmable auto-matic gearshift, electronic

MARIE SHERRY remote valves, an inte-grated joystick for front loader work and a four speed PTO.

The Farmall U Pro is an economical machine thanks to its numer-

ous “big tractor” fea-tures like the 100L/min closed centre load sens-ing hydraulic system, which pumps oil only on demand.www.caseih.co.nz

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

42 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS / RURAL TRADER

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In times of stress reach outSO IT’S official – we now have a drought in large parts of the country: no surprise to most of us in the rural sector.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has declared the drought condi-tions on the east coast of the South Island a medium-scale adverse event. I understand the Gov-ernment and MPI are also keeping a close eye on Wai-rarapa and southern Hawkes Bay, also suf-fering very dry con-ditions.

Reports suggest most farmers have coped so far by destocking and using up supplemen-tary feed supplies on hand. But it’s clear if these dry conditions continue – especially into autumn – that things are only going to get tougher as the sea-sons change.

The declaration of medium scale recovery measures to deal with the effects of the drought means Govern-ment funding will now be made avail-able to Rural Support Trusts – who work closely with farmers and others affected by drought, providing support and guidance.

I know that many rural people, including contractors, can be reluctant

to ask for help. But it is critical to lose this attitude and know what support is available. However, the declaration of a drought does not mean big handouts or a financial windfall for those affected.

What it actually means is that Rural

Assistance Payments (RAPs) will be available from Work and Income through the Ministry of Social Devel-opment. These are equivalent to the Jobseeker Support benefit and availa-ble only to those in extreme hardship.

The adverse event declaration also makes funds available for Rural Sup-port Trust activities, facilitates tax tools such as provisional tax deferral and income equalisation, and provides welfare support in cases of extreme hardship.

It is estimated that with long-term

forecasts not predicting much rain, a typical 3000 stock unit sheep and beef farm may already be looking at a finan-cial hit of $170,000-$200,000. This of course has major flow-on effects for many in the rural sector including con-tractors.

Farmers and contractors facing financial stress and mounting pressure, exacerbated by the dry weather, should reach out for help. The drought, on top of the lower forecast milk price and

falling commodities, could see some contractors feeling overwhelmed and under huge financial pressure.

It is crucial in these times of stress that contractors who feel ‘under the pump’ communicate with their support networks including advisors, rural pro-fessionals and other farmers and con-tractors, and tell family what’s going on.

Note that support is already avail-able from Government agencies. Con-tractors should contact IRD if they

need help or flexibility with making tax payments and standard hardship assistance is available from Work and Income.

I want to reiterate the advice given by others, including the Rural Health Alliance and Federated Farmers, that dealing with stress and feelings of help-lessness on your own will only make it worse.

It is also important that those in the rural sector keep an eye out for others who may be suffering from stress and, if appropriate, see if they can help in any way or encourage that person to seek help.

If possible, take some time off the farm and/or contracting; remove your-self from what is causing you stress to get a different perspective on life. Reviewing where you are at with your business regularly is important; so is communicating regularly with your support network, including talking to friends and family.

Remember also that farming and contracting have always been cyclical businesses. It might be dry now and commodity prices down, but it will rain again. Milk prices have already started rising again.• Agricultural contractor Steve Levet, Wellsford, is president of the Rural Contractors New Zealand (RCNZ).

It’s good to talk: Getting out and sharing yarns with others is important in times of stress like last year’s drought shout.

Reports suggest most farmers have coped so far by destocking and using up supplementary feed supplies on hand.

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

RURAL TRADER 43

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MARCH 3, 2015: ISSUE 579 www.ruralnews.co.nz

RURALNEWSTO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS

Central Districts Field Days

FEILDING MARCH 12-14

‘Investor Showcase’ for Central regionAN ‘INVESTOR Showcase’ launching at Central Districts Field Days (CDFD) will seek to match companies with high growth potential with local and international investors.

CDFD is partnering with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) in the showcase, taking place on the opening night.

Quentin Quin, general manager capital, NZTE, says New Zealand has a reputation for developing sustainable and innovative technologies in the agribusiness and food sectors.

“New Zealand has a large number of talented agribusiness companies with high growth potential who require capital to grow

faster and higher than they otherwise would. NZTE’s purpose is to grow companies internationally bigger, better and faster for the benefit of New Zealand, and unlocking capital constraints to growth is one of the first steps. NZTE will help these companies upskill and source capital for growth at the showcase.”

NZTE’s Better by Capital Programme will work with participating companies to review their business growth and capital requirements, develop their investment propositions and help companies create and deliver strong pitches.

“And we’ll remain working with participants after the showcase to ensure their investor

readiness and help coordinate and maximise investment leads.”

Technology-focused New Zealand companies in the agribusiness and food sectors that need $500,000-$2 million to grow internationally can contact NZTE for an application form.

Also new at CDFD is a programme to promote and foster farming careers including a local leaders debate on the future of youth in agriculture.

Other features of CDFD will be wood chopping at the Husqvarna Wood Chopping Arena, the Central Districts Fencing Competition, the Ag Machinery Demonstrations and the ever popular Tractor Pull.

CDFD is partnering with NZTE to launch its ‘Investor Show-case’ to match local companies with high growth potential with international investors.

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

2 CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

Horizons scholarships gets students from classroom into work bootsTHREE MASSEY Univer-sity science and agricul-ture students have worked the summer at Horizons Regional Council and on farms as a result of win-ning council sustainable land use initiative (SLUI) scholarships.

The scholarships are available to students of soil fertility, soil mapping and farm management. In nine years the council has granted $150,000 to stu-dents.

Council spokesman Malcolm Todd says the scholarship encourages students in particular skills and provides real life experience.

“SLUI aims to con-trol hill country erosion, in a partnership between Horizons, central govern-ment and farmers. When

SLUI was introduced in 2006, we identified we had a skill shortage… and have set the application criteria for scholarships accordingly.

“Students need a soil science background and need to understand the practical side of run-ning a farm and be able to relate to farmers. Those who meet these criteria can receive a scholarship and a lucky few also get opportunity to work for Horizons full-time over summer.”

This summer three students, Josie Winters, Courtney Mitchell and Natalie Hiyslop, have spent three months cre-ating soil health plans, auditing SLUI farms and updating data in Horizons geographic information

system.Agriculture science

student Winters says it’s given them “a huge boost of confidence to get out on farms and work with farmers”.

“Practical experience looks good on our CVs

and we’ve had opportu-nity to learn much more than we could have in class. Our summer here has been a 50/50 split between learning new skills and practical work on farm.”

Horizons environ-

mental management offi-cer William McKay, a past SLUI scholarship winner, has worked at Horizons for two years.

“I studied for a BSc at Massey, got a scholarship three years in a row and worked for Horizons each

summer,” says McKay. “The scholarship

helped me to include more farm management papers in my studies than I otherwise would have, and it helped my understanding of more advanced papers I did

in soil science and farm management. It also put me in a favourable position to apply for a job that came up at Horizons and I’ve been here ever since.”

Applications for SLUI scholarships open every

Students (from left) Courtney Mitchell, Josie Winters, Natalie Hiyslop and Horizons environmental monitoring coordinator Malcolm Todd.FENCING PRODUCTS TO SEE!

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS 3Tastiest field days yet – organisersTHIS YEAR’S Central Districts Field Days is shaping up as the tastiest yet, say the organisers.

For the discerning foodie, the Taste of Central Districts returns, serving wines and foods from around the region. Favourites such as Pheasant Creek wine, Ruahine wines and Basecamp venison salamis will be available, as will newcomers Koast Limoncello, Gladstone Vineyard and Southern Grain Spirits.

Southern Grain will have a variety of spirits on offer, including Duckshooter Port and a special aged whiskey. With a relaxing atmosphere and great outdoor set-up, organisers say the Taste of Central Districts is the ideal location for visitors to sit back and enjoy the delicacies and beverages on offer.

Visitors will also be spoilt for choice with different food zones serving up crowd favourites like whitebait fritters, gourmet burgers, hot dogs, fresh hot donuts and other tasty treats. Supporting local business and talent, these food zones will be a central hub of activity over the three days.

This year’s Central Districts Field Days sees food inno-vation and research experts FoodHQ on site offering visi-tors the opportunity to talk to experts about the science being done in New Zealand.

FoodHQ is an internationally recognised centre for agri-food science and innovation with expertise across the food value chain - from ideas generation to products sitting on the shelf. The FoodHQ campus being developed in Palmerston North will give global customers one-door access to the best in New Zealand food innovation.

“We’ll be talking to people about our vision and what we’re doing to help grow New Zealand’s agrifood sector,” says Mark Ward, programme director at FoodHQ. “They’ll get to hear from food science experts and get to taste some enjoyable, innovative treats.”

The Central Districts Field Days will be held at Man-feild Park in Feilding from March 12-14, 2015.

The event is claimed to be the largest regional field days in New Zealand. Averaging over 540 displays, it markets to the lower half of the North Island rural sectors. CDFD averages 38,000 visitors each year.

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This year’s Central Districts Field Days sees the return of the popular ‘Taste of Central Districts’, with the region’s best food and drink on offer.

SMALL INPUTS LARGE RETURNS

Supplementation achieves a high feed conversion with lower pasture consumption!

Historic results:Peter and Diane Lowe finish 95 weaner from 105 hinds per year. Peter has historically trail-fed for 150 days at a rate of 250grams/day plus a roll of Lucerne baleage every other day from May until they stop eating it – usually the end of July.Historically, dressed kill-weights averaged 61kg and the majority of weaners were sent to the works in October.

2014 results:The weaner deer were fed 275grams/day through Advantage Feeders. They averaged a dressed weight of 68.18kg and were sold, on average, one month earlier allowing all to be sold before the schedule started to drop. The weaners stopped eating the Lucerne baleage by the end of June, one month earlier, and reduced baleage supplement requirements by 15 rolls.

Other benefits identified by trial operators, Peter and Diane Lowe of Ashburton include:• No waste.

Peter commented, “Before Advantage Feeders there was always volunteer barley growing in spring. Now there is none, so we must be getting close to 100% converted into meat production.”

• A reduction in time required to feed weaners. The feeders were filled fortnightly with two front-end loader buckets of barley rather than trail feeding daily.

• Only fill the feeders up during dry weather. The Advantage Feeders system offers this opportunity because they only required filling once a fortnight. Trail feeding during rain can increase waste rates above 50%.

• Weaners are easier to manage as they follow Advantage Feeders through gateways into other paddocks or yards.

Trial shows the profitability of the Advanced Adjustment System

Supplementing with pellets or cereal feeds ensures the rumen maintains an optimal mixture of different microbes – essential for keeping the rumen functioning efficiently.

Please contact us for the full trial report. 09 431 7276www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7e5-P3fj5MTrial showed net income

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SEE US ON SITE O82

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

4 CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS 5

Event is constantly evolving to attract the best talentA CONSTANT process of upgrading the Cen-tral Districts Field Days (CDFD) ensures new exhibitors are attracted to the event, say the organ-isers.

“The annual field days leverage off agriculture and food as New Zea-land’s most important industries, their success felt and valued by every New Zealander.

“This is why, as New Zealand’s largest regional rural event, CDFD is constantly evolving and attracting new exhibitors, and 2015 is no exception.

“This year we wel-come food innovation and

research experts FoodHQ. They’ll be offering the opportunity for visitors to talk to their researchers about the remarkable sci-ence being carried out in New Zealand.”

Central Districts Field Days has partnered with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) to create the inaugural Central Districts Inves-tor Showcase, which will match companies with high growth potential with local and interna-tional investors seeking opportunities within the sector.

Also new to 2015 is the Get Ahead programme,

a dedicated initiative focused on promoting and fostering careers in agriculture. A number of exhibitors will have Get Ahead champions onsite explaining the benefits of a career in the agri sector.

For the discerning foodie, this year’s event is shaping up to be the tasti-est yet. They’ll be spoilt for choice with differ-ent food zones serving up crowd favourites over the three days. The Taste of Central Districts is also making a return with a delicious range of food and wine from around the region. With a relax-ing atmosphere and great

outdoor set up, it’s the ideal location for visitors to sit back and enjoy the delicacies and beverages

on offer.Other old favourites

also return in 2015 includ-ing wood chopping at the Husqvarna Wood Chop-ping Arena, the Central Districts Fencing Compe-tition, the ag machinery demonstrations and the

ever-popular tractor pull.“Events like this aren’t

possible without the gen-erous support of organisa-tions dedicated to the agri sector,” the organisers say. Sponsors include Bay-leys Real Estate, Donut Express, Massey Univer-

sity, Husqvarna, Norwood Farm Machinery Centre, Suzuki and Brent Smith Trailers.

Some 500 exhibitors will be on site from Thurs-day March 12 to Satur-day March 14 at Manfeild Park, Feilding.Soil Aeration Specialists

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS 5

Call for all single, rural blokesENTRIES ARE now open for the 2015 Rural Bachelor of the Year com-petition, held in the lead-up to, and during, National Fieldays at Mystery Creek.

The organisers say the Rural Bach-elor contest is a “fan favourite each year and 2015 will not disappoint”.

Single, rural men will face a range of challenges over the Fieldays week, the man crowned Rural Bachelor walking away with $20,000 of prizes.

“The eight finalists will get an-all-expenses-paid trip starting in a mys-tery location and racing from there to Fieldays, facing various challenges along the way,” says event manager Waimarie Taimai.

At Fieldays, contestants will show their prowess in farm work, fitness and flare in the kitchen.

Sovereign is a major sponsor. “We’re encouraging Kiwis to take a more proactive approach to their health,” says the chief marketing and innovation officer Chris Lamers. “This is a great opportunity to take our ‘Life Take Charge’ message to the rural community.

“It’s to meet new people, get out-side your comfort zone and challenge yourself to try new things.”

Last year’s winner, Jeff Peek, says being awarded Rural Bachelor of the Year in 2014 was “one of the great-est experiences of my life.,” and has

opened doors for him in many ways.“The dairy industry is small in

New Zealand and [participating in Rural Bachelor] has put opportuni-ties for employment and career pro-gression in front of me that I may not have otherwise been offered.”

Asked if he would do it again, Peek grins and says he would have to speak with his girlfriend about that, “but I wouldn’t hesitate to tell anyone to go for it and have a crack.”

Finalists from New Zealand and Australia must be at least 21 and employed in the rural industry. Entries close April 17. All entrants must be able to participate in the entire competition.

The Bachelor final-ists speed dating heat The Bachelors take over Kiwi’s Best Kitchen.

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Keep up with the latest stories from by following us atGET SOCIAL WITH RURALNEWS

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

6 CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS 7

WAIKATO FARMERS led the way in tractor buying in New Zealand during 2014, and tractor sales approached record highs.

A total of 4061 tractors were bought January-December, including 3419 at least 40hp, the most common measure for farm tractors. In 2013 sales of 40hp and bigger were 3065.

Ian Massicks, president of the Tractor and Machin-ery Association (TAMA) which gathers sales data, says record dairy payouts last year and good grow-ing conditions got farmers spending.

“The July-September sales figures were the high-est in a decade,” says Massicks. “They then continued steadily for the remainder of the year though stopping short of the 2005 record when 3515 tractors of at least 40hp were purchased.

“2014 was a healthy year for tractor sales and we expect 2015 to be a good year too, though with some reduction due to forecast lower dairy payouts.”

Of the 684 tractors bought in Waikato, 614 were over 40hp, followed by Southland with 418 over 40hp from a total of 430. Otago farmers bought the next-highest number – 249 40hp-plus from 291 sales.

This January’s purchases nationwide were 210 – at least 161 of them 4hp or bigger. Waikato again led the way with 25 purchases: 23 of them were at least 40hp, followed by Southland with 20, 19 of them 40hp or over.

Massicks says farmers prefer to buy from New Zea-land machinery dealers rather than risk buying online from overseas suppliers.

PLENTY OF BUSINESS FOR TRACTOR DEALERS

Help in navigating environmental rulesBALLANCE AGRI-NUTRIENTS has formed a specialist team to help farmers navigate environmental regulations and consent requirements.

Spokesman Alastair Taylor says such schemes as the Sustainable Dairying Water Accord are pressuring farmers to manage farm nutrients.

“Farmers need to navigate the regulations on effluent management, nutrient use and environmental performance. Our new team will provide a direct link between farmers and regional councils to take the hassle out of environmental compliance.”

Taylor points out that regional councils monitor farms using the Overseer nutrient management model jointly owned by the fertiliser industry, AgResearch and the Ministry for Primary Industries.

“Throughout New Zealand there are myriad environmental regulations, by region and within regions. Our specialist team, with local experience and knowledge, helps

farmers comply with their local land and water plans.”

The team offers nutrient budgets for resource consents, compliance and sale and purchase agreements. It started in Canterbury and now services Horizons, Otago and Southland regions.

“We also work with the Ballance science and sales teams to ensure we’re giving farmers the best science-related advice in the market,” Taylor says.

The team recently contacted all Ballance dairy customers in Canterbury, offering to help them obtain their Nitrogen Baseline required under the regional Land and Water Plan. [email protected]

Ballance has formed a specialist team to help farmers navigate environmental considerations.

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS 7

PERMANENT ELECTRIC fence power and wireless water level monitoring will be prominent on the Gal-lagher site at the Central Districts Field Days.

National sales man-ager Peter Nation says the company’s high-powered M10,000i fence energiser, and its innovative wire-less water level monitoring system, point the way for-ward in these technologies.

Due for retail release in March, the M10,000i has a stored energy capacity of 100 joules and a potential output of 10,000V. It can power 405ha of multi-wire fencing.

Part of the Gallagher i Series range of energisers, the M10,000i combines “brute force with incredible intelligence, delivering advanced monitoring capabilities to give farmers peace of mind their animals are where they should be,” the company says.

“A good energiser is like an invisible asset protector – making sure valuable ani-mals, pastures and crops are safe and secure,” says Nation.

Like other i series ener-gisers, the M10,000i has

a controller unit that moni-tors energiser performance and highlights faults in a fenc-ing system. The controller can be located up to 50m from the main ener-giser.

The water-proof control-ler displays the energiser’s voltage and current read-ings and can be used to turn the energiser on or off, set alarm levels and fine-tune operating output voltage.

Up to six fence mon-itors can be installed onfarm and linked back to the central energiser controller to fully moni-tor a fence system – saving time and giving confidence a fence is working effec-tively.

“Having six fence mon-itors spread around a farm is a bit like having six staff members out there look-ing after six different zones, all the time,” says Nation. “The beauty of the i series energiser is that everything is monitored for you, so staff can focus on other jobs. It’s a huge

labour saver, especially for larger farms with bigger fencing systems.”

The M10,000i can be supplied with an optional remote that enables the farmer to quickly locate faults within a monitored zone, turn the energiser on or off remotely, and test a fence once a repair is com-pleted.

An optional SMS controller adds a cellphone dimension: if a fence problem is detected it will notify the farmer immediately via mobile phone.

Meanwhile, Gallagher’s wireless water level moni-toring system notifies of water leaks.

Launched last year, this system gives farm-ers a close watch on water

usage without the high costs of flow monitoring. It measures water pres-sure in the water vessel, transmitting that data to a wall-mounted or desktop display unit as far away as 4km. Power is by solar.

Up to nine tanks can be monitored by one display unit. The display has a 2.8inch colour touchscreen and shows, e.g. abnormal water loss caused by broken pipes or overflowing troughs, number of days of water remaining, and 30-day historical levels of monitored tanks.

The system can also alert farmers if the level in one or more tanks begins to decrease rapidly. Tel. 0800 731 500www.gallagher.co.nz

GARETH GILLATT

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

8 CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

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PLAN DATE: 9/02/2015

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Programme of eventsTHURSDAY 12 MARCH

Husqvarna Woodchopping – 10.00am – 3.30pm

National Excavator Championships – All Day

Norwood Farm Machinery Centre – Tractor Pull All Day. Practise for Standard, Modified and Pre 85 Classes Modifieds running at: 10.30,12.30, 3.30pm Daily Business House Tractor Pull Thursday Only

Drilling and Cultivation – All Day

FoodHQ (visitor Entrance ENT5) – All Day

NAIT workshops (Manfeild Stadium) – 9am, 11am, 2pm

FRIDAY 13 MARCH

Husqvarna Woodchopping – 10.00am - 3.30pm

Central Districts Double Power Fencing Competition – 10.00am briefing at 9.45am. (Prize Giving at 3.30pm at Goldpine site N21,22,23)

National Excavator Championships – 9am, 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm, (6.5 and 12 tonne active all day) & 3pm

Norwood Farm Machinery Centre – Tractor Pull All Day

Battle of the Brands Competition

Practise for Standard, Modified and Pre 85 Classes. Modifieds running at: 10.30, 12.30, 3.30pm Daily

Drilling and Cultivation – All Day

FoodHQ (visitor Entrance ENT5) – All Day

NAIT workshops (Manfeild Stadium) – 9am, 11am, 2pm

SATURDAY 14 MARCH

Husqvarna Woodchopping – 10.00am – 3.30pm

National Excavator Championships – All Day

Excavator Championships – 9am, 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm , (6.5 and 12 tonne active all day) & 3pm

Norwood Farm Machinery Centre – Tractor Pull All Day. Standard Modified & Pre 85 Class Competition. Modifieds running at: 10.30,12.30, 3.30pm Daily

Taste of CD Marquee Prize Draw – 2.30pm

Suzuki Rural Prize Draw on site J10 – 3.30pm

Drilling and Cultivation – All Day

FoodHQ (visitor Entrance ENT5) – All Day

Find you local Mahindra dealer at www.mahindra.co.nz or call 0800 282 726SPECIFICATIONS & PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. LOADER FITTED ON THIRD SERVICE FOR TRACTOR. MAHINDRA IS THE WORLDS NO 1. TRACTOR COMPANY IN THE WORLD BY VOLUME.

SHOWN WITH OPTIONAL LOADER.* PLEASE NOTE WITH OPTIONAL EXTRAS & ALLOYS SHOWN.

14,990+ GSTTRACTOR FROM$ 71,490+ GST

TRACTOR & LOADER$23,470 + GST

+ ORC

PIK-UP FROM$

WORLD’S NO. 1 SELLING TRACTOR22HST

SEE US AT

CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

12-14 MARCH

www.longveld.com0800 566 483

SOLUTIONS FOR COSTLYWATER COMPLIANCE ISSUES

Visit Longveld at field days to hearabout immediate and future savings.

Find out how Longveld has helped farmers like Carl and Ally Steiner to improve profits and productivity by making the switch to gas in their dairy shed with Dairy Hot Water, and by installing Iron Out, the low maintenance, non-chemical, system that drastically reduces iron levels in your farm’s water supply.

The long and the short of it is a small talk with Longveld can save your farming business big bucks.

Come talk to the guys from Longveld at the Central Districts Field Days from 12-14 March at site K8.

We liked the idea of gas and saw the economics of Dairy Hot Water, while Iron Out saves me money and time in maintenance and my water quality is markedly improved compared to my old sand filter. After talking to the guys at Longveld and finding out how easy, and cost effective everything was, it was a no brainer.

Carl and Ally SteinerMilking 900 Jersey/Friesian cross cows

KingSt12981/RN/B

Complies with Farm Dairy Effluent

Code of Practice

• Cost effective pod systems• Easy to install• Low pressure operation (2-4 bar)• Live stock friendly• Tough long life components

White Irrigation Pod System also available

Special offers end 31st March 2015

PLUS Irrigation Pods from $35 ea

Irrigation or Effluent Problems?

ex gst$4499FIELD DAYS ONLY

RRP

$5500Complete Eff uent System

Visit us at Central Districts Field Days:

Site G16

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

10 CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

Mahindra out to show tractor range is diverseINDIAN FARM machin-ery maker Mahindra will show its expanded trac-tor range, including new offerings at both ends of the power spectrum, says national sales manager Russell Burling.

The company will launch its 20-24hp eMax tractors and the mForce 100hp, its first large machine in New Zealand.

At 100hp the mForce 100P will meet the “known largest demand in the New Zealand market – for 90-120 hp tractors,”

Burling says.“They’re used by

everyone… sheep and beef farmers, and dairy farm-ers; we’ve been were look-ing forward to getting a model in.”

With power coming from a 100hp 4-cyl Per-kins 4400cc turbo diesel

engine, this model has plenty of power, managed by a 32x32 power shuttle transmission including eight creeper gears.

The loader can lift 1870kg and the rear 3-point hitch can carry a maximum of 3110kg.

The designers have

kept simple the layout of the large, double-door cab, but haven’t skimped on features farmers want, offering hydraulic con-

GARETH GILLATT

trols for the three point linkage on the left and right of the trac-tor.

Burling says the three year, 2000 hour warranty should be an attractive offer.

And while the new eMax series (22-25hp) might appear to be the polar opposite to the larger tractor, they offer more than one might

imagine.The full chassis rail,

Tier IV eco-friendly engine, and highly engi-

neered drawbar and 3-point linkage means users are essentially get-ting the strength of a full-sized tractor inside a compact. “It’s definitely stronger and better,” Bur-ling says.Tel. 0800 282 726www.mahindra.co.nz

“They’re used by everyone… sheep and beef farmers, and dairy farmers.”

www.fairbrotherind.com 0800 476 868 [email protected]

Central Districts Field Days Site Number W66/W67

INCLUDES • 4M 180UB Mast • 3 Bank Valve

• Top Link Ram & Angle Adjustment • 227Kg

Hammer • Adjustable Legs

INCLUDES • 4M 180UB Mast • 4 Bank Valve • Top Link Ram & Angle Adjustment • 227Kg Hammer • Adjustable Legs •

Terminator Base 900mm Side Shift

INCLUDES • 4.25M (150UC) Beam • 270Kg Hammer • 6

Bank Valve • Hydraulic Hinge • Terminator Base 900mm

Side Shift • 250mm Mast Shift*Prices do not include Tractor. Postdriver only. See your agent for a full price list. Expires March 31 2015.

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS 11

Ring top replaces pigtailA NEW ring top post turns the concept of the tradi-tional pigtail standard on its “curly little head,” says maker Gallagher.

The design deals with the nuisance of tangled pig-tail posts, making it easier to store, carry and erect temporary electric fences.

Product manager Graham Johns says a key feature is its distinctive ring-shaped head. Made from heavy-duty glass-fibre nylon, the heads suffer no electrical shorts. And they are light and strong.

The company talked to many farmers and did a lot of R&D.

“We talked to farmers about what they liked and didn’t like about portable fencing and a common complaint about pigtail standards was entanglement during transport and storage,” Johns says. “Farm-ers were also frustrated about pigtail heads wearing through, resulting in shorting.”

Johns says feedback from farmers who have tri-alled the new post has been “fantastic”.

“We’ve run tests in Taranaki, Waikato and South-land, and farmers love them. Most said they wouldn’t go back to the old standards and one farmer said his staff members argue over who gets to use the new ring top posts.”

Gallagher has also redesigned the foot section for more strength and usability. Made from over-moulded glass-fibre for increased durability, the foot will withstand 200kg of tread pressure and will not bend out of shape like a steel foot.

The blade-type design of the foot prevents the standard from rotating when erected, and its profile reduces the risk of standards becoming tangled and entrapped during handling and storage. An extended insulated section also provides extra strength and better handling.

These boots are made for workingA NEW version of Skellerup’s Red Band leather lace-ups and slip-ons, available in both safety and non-safety models, hits the shelves this month.

National manager Perry Davis says the boots’ new fit, protective features and a rubber sole have come at the request of farmers.

“All Red Band work boots are now upsized to fit extra wide feet…. whether they want lace-up, slip-on, safety or non-safety models.”

The new anti-slip rubber outsole resists heat, oil and acid. And the safety versions of the lace-up and slip-on Red Bands have greater protection under-foot, thanks to a new penetration resis-tant midsole.

Davis says the key features remain unchanged.

“These boots were designed to handle some of the toughest working conditions on the planet, with features like triple stitching, tough high grade

leather, double sided elastic in the slip-on models and super strong laces in the lace-up models.”

All Red Band work boots have uppers made of heavy gauge buffalo leather and scuff resistant toe guards for protection against increased wear, plus shock absorbing polyurethane midsoles for support and comfort.

Steel shanks strengthen and stiffen the boots, and their removable inner-soles have an anti-microbial layer to

reduce odour, and ventilation zones to reduce foot fatigue.

Introducing the leather designs was the result of farmer requests, Davis says.

“If we didn’t listen to farmers, the Red Band work boot would have never eventuated in the first place. It was farmers who first asked us to go beyond gumboots.www.skellerup.co.nz

Robertson Manufacturing | Main South Road, Hinds | Mid Canterbury www.robfarm.co.nz | 03 303 7228

ANDREW 027 443 4777 TYRONE 027 303 7259

PROVEN QUALITY, RELIABILITY & EFFICIENCY

Transpread335 TA

Super Comby EX

COME AND SEE US ON SITE B23 B24 AT CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

Side Feed 2000 Wagon

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

12 CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

NEW PLAYERS in the NZ off-road market, CFMoto, have launched their feature packed, sports side by side vehicle, the Z8S.

The 800cc sports side by side (SSV) is part of a growing range of off-road vehicles offered by the global powersports manufacturer who have

been producing feature packed, value for money vehicles for 20 years.

CFMoto New Zealand general manager, Dale Schmidtchen believes the Z8S will be well received by Kiwi’s given its competitive retail price of $12,490 ex GST.

“When you compare the cost of a Japanese

500 ATV which sells for close to $14,999, with a CFMoto Z8S side by side for $12,490 ex GST including a two year warranty, it’s a no brainer – the safety and versatility of a SSV should win every time,” Schmidtchen says.

The new Z8S will complement CFMoto’s

Sporty side x side now in New Zealand

KEY VEHICLE HIGHLIGHTS❱❱ V-Twin, 8 valves, 4 stroke 799.6cc

❱❱ Liquid cooled with EFI

❱❱ Engine braking

❱❱ 62hp engine

❱❱ Selectable 2WD/4WD modes

❱❱ L-H-N-range with lockable diff

❱❱ New graphics, wheels, seat insert design

❱❱ Standard with alloy wheels and tow hitch

❱❱ Standard with roof kit

❱❱ Optional screen and winch available

Z8 EX model already offered in New Zealand for $15,065 ex GST ride away.

“The main point of difference between the Z8EX and the Z8S is the narrower wheel track which make it more trailer friendly,” Schmidtchen says.

“The Z8S also offers $2,600 worth of accessories such as alloy wheels, tow pack, roof kit, independent

front and rear suspension and selectable 2WD-4WD modes.

“We hope Kiwi’s will respond well to the value for money this model offers and expect it will be a good seller for us in 2015.”

INDEPENDENT IMPORTER - DIRECT TO FARM0800 MOLASSES

Visit us at Central District Field Days 12-14 March 2015

0800 665 277 37 or 03 326 [email protected]

Jamie Stephens Waikato - BOP 021 838 261

Tim White Canterbury - North Otago

021 863 345

Jo Scharvi Southland - South Otago

029 201 7361

Darrell Stratton Manawatu - Taranaki

021 859 911

FEED IMPORTERSwww.wintonstockfeed.co.nz

Tel. 0508 140 [email protected] www.vredesteintyres.co.nz

DEALING WITH DEMANDING AGRICULTURAL SITUATIONS? Vredestein can help you get better results with greater operator comfort, lower machinery wear, lower soil compaction, improved traction and increased fuel efficiency.

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Central DistrictsSite D17-D18

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS 13

Good harvest for region

Top crop!Harvesting in the central North Island – like the rest of New Zealand – has been blessed with good weather and equally good yields.Pictured is Middle Hills Contractors Harvesting bringing in the barley crop in mid-January on the property of Colin and Jenny Schaw at Tikokino, central Hawkes Bay. PHOTO - JOHANNES HOOGENBOOM

Southern event experiences jump in exhibitors numbersEXHIBITOR NUMBERS are 50% higher at this year’s South Island Agricultural Field Days (SIAFD) than at the previous event – 450 vs 300, say the organisers.

And a good spin-off is much greater interest in the Agri-Innovation Awards, to be judged during the event on March 25-27 at the new Kirwee site. Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy will open the event on March 25.

Committee member Daniel Schat says the larger number of entries in the Agri-Innovation Awards reflects the growth of the event. “This exhibitor growth has also led to an increase in interest in the Agri-Innovation Awards, showing our economy is still pushing forward.”

Agri-Innovation entrants get to demonstrate their inventions and

technological innovations. Past entries have ranged from motorcycle componentry to sizeable items of farm machinery.

The contest has three categories: first, New Zealand-made farm machinery,

such as Robertson Manufacturing’s Little Ripper two-bale feeder; second, farm aids and farm inventions, such as Fertigation Systems’ fertigation pump, Richard Miles Engineering’s milk transfer trailer, and

Te Pari Products’ an electronic drench gun; third, imported farm machinery, such as Mountpanther NZ’s Slurryquip effluent umbilical system, and Kelly Engineering’s 6.0m harrows.

SIAFD has bought 40ha on Courtenay Road near Kirwee as its permanent venue. It was held at Lincoln University for 32 years.

Schat says the new rectangular block at Kirwee is the ideal shape for exhibitors to work on. Public entry into the event will also be easier and more logical.

SIAFD usually attracts about 25,000 visitors over the three days, although the committee is hoping the larger site and new location will result in more.Tel. 03 423 [email protected]

“This exhibitor growth has also led to an increase in interest in the Agri-Innovation Awards, showing our economy is still pushing forward.”

– Daniel Schat

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Forage Wagons

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I30 - I35

CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

14 CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

POLARIS IS adding more grunt to its range of farm vehicles.

Notably, its 2015 Ranger 1000 diesel HD, built specifically for the New Zealand and Austra-lian markets, has some “heavy duty upgrades” – electronic power steering, engine braking and 4-wheel

descent control (4WDC) for hilly terrain.

This new model, built on the Ranger XP platform, also has updated styling, a new 1028cc diesel engine, a “massive” 110 amp alter-nator and a new ROPS cab frame.

Other features are dual A-arm front suspen-

sion, new flip-up seat stor-age, new lock-and-ride cab accessories, 37.6L fuel tank, easier serviceability and a quieter ride due to engine repositioning rearward.

The Ranger 1000 diesel HD also has new intake openings on the pillars behind the driver and pas-senger, improving airflow to the engine and clutch.

The new 1028cc Kohler diesel is a 3-cyl overhead-cam liquid cooled unit with indirect injection “that delivers smooth power and reduced combustion noise,” the maker says. It has a cast iron crankcase for durability and an alu-minum cylinder head for weight reduction. Alterna-tor output is double that of the outgoing model.

“Full pressure lubri-cation provides supe-rior protection and engine life. The automotive over-head camshaft design also reduces mechanical drive-train noise and with the engine being repositioned rearward in the chassis this new model is expected to be harder working and smoother riding”.

The Ranger 1000 diesel HD has class-lead-ing 907kg towing capac-

ity, 680kg payload capacity and a rear dump box (gas-assist dumping) that can carry 454kg and a full-sized pallet.

For New Zealand, the Ranger 1000 Diesel will come as an ‘HD’ (heavy duty) spec model with an upgraded rear driveshaft, grease fittings, HD sway bar and driveshaft spline seal-ing – ideal for dairy farms.

The company says the HD spec is a direct result of

recent visits by Polaris Industries USA manage-ment and engineers to New Zealand, “during which they spent hours with deal-ers and end users research-ing the usage of quads and side x sides in New Zealand conditions”.

The 2015 Ranger 1000 diesel HD will be available in New Zealand from early March. Price: $21,398 incl. GST.www.polaris.co.nz

Polaris gives farm work-horses a ‘heavy duty’ upgrade

OTHER STANDARD FEATURES❱❱ 25.4cm of steering adjustment

❱❱ 30.5cm of ground clearance, room and seat belts for three adults

❱❱ 25.4cm of Dual A-Arm suspension travel up front

❱❱ 25.4cm of independent rear suspen-sion travel to keep the ride smooth when towing and hauling up to a tonne.

The Polaris 2015 Ranger 1000 has a new 1028cc diesel engine.

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‘OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD’

Cridge seeds is situated in Canterbury. We specialise in high quality, locally grown seed ready for sowing alone or in mixes to suit your pastures. We grow, clean and sell our own seed but are more than

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Purity and Germination tests available on request.Please contact us for autumn sowing suggestions

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Th

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RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS 15

Mixer wagons help double productionTHE HORIZONTAL action of a Keenan Mech fiber mixer wagon is credited with dou-bling production on a Northland farm – from 100,000 kgMS to over 200,000 kgMS a year, says the owner/operator, Jenny McLean.

Mclean and her daugh-ter Tracey run a split calv-ing, 400 cow operation on 180ha of marine clay south of Dargaville.

Six years ago, McLean decided to put in a large maize crop after enduring the 2008 drought, considered by many the second worst drought in 20 years; she wanted more certainty in her system.

While the maize responded well to the heavy marine clay, pro-ducing 15 tonnes/ha on land that normally aver-aged 8t/ha in pasture yields, it did not bring the desired production boost.

Mclean fed the herd, then 450 cows, using a 12m3 feed wagon on an uncovered 1125m2 lime-stone pad. And while it did lift production by an aver-age of 20,000kgMS/year, there wasn’t quite enough to fully justify the work required.

“Even though I was growing maize, the pro-duction didn’t change much. It went from 96,000kgMS the season before to no more than 124,000kgMS in the best year of growth, and that’s when I was milking 450 cows.”

That all changed two years later after McLean swapped the silage wagon for a second-hand Keenan Mech Fiber Mixer Wagon, sought spe-cifically because she had used one before and seen the effectiveness of the tumbling action of the horizontal system.

“I had worked with a Keenan mixer wagon before and I liked how the cows ate everything we fed them,” she says.

The consistent mixing of the feed worked, caus-

ing production to jump from 120,000kgMS at one peak – before the instal-lation of the feed pads – to 174,000 kgMS; this was despite two succes-sive droughts and a drop in cow numbers from 450 to 380. McLean also attributes some of this increase to the services of a nutritionist.

“The cows were going out into the paddock fully fed, rather than hunting for food, which made a mess of the paddocks in spring.”

She says the Keenan service support is exem-plary, even though she was using a second-hand machine. “We get good service from Jon Kimber (JK Engineering). It didn’t matter what time, they were always available for repairs or servicing or were happy to talk us through by phone.”

Now the feed pad and mixer wagon are inte-gral to the farm, “so if the machine that supports it is causing grief you get rid of it and get something else.”

Now McLean has upgraded to a Keenan 16m3 Mech-Fiber 340. At 2.9m high x 6.2m long x 2.6m wide the wagon delivers 6 tonnes per batch. With 42 knives fitted on the floor, double the farm’s previous machine, the mixing is smoother and consumes less power despite bigger volumes.

McLean says an advan-tage of the new mixer is Keenan’s series III bale handler. This allows the bale to enter the mixing chamber without overwhelming the knives. Mclean says the technol-ogy makes life easier for workers feeding out. They previously had to use a front loader to manually feed hay into the mixer. “Everything is much faster with the MF340 feeder, and the guy feeding out loves it.”

A simple trans-mission and low rotation speed of 7-8rpm means the farm’s 110hp Case JXU 10

GARETH GILLATTcan adequately handle mixing and feeding out.Tel. 03 302 7305www.keenansystem.co.nz

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On Farm MillingDisc MillingAustralian dairy farmers say “for less grain you produce more milk”

RURAL NEWS // MARCH 3, 2015

16 CENTRAL DISTRICTS FIELD DAYS

Clever software puts boot into mind-numbing paperworkFARM SOFTWARE developed by Manawatu firm AgRecord offers farmers an electronic alternative to huge, mind-numbing paper health and safety manuals.

And the firm’s Cloud Farmer has propelled it into a place in the NZTE 2015 New Zealand Agribusiness Investment Showcase, says managing director Gretchen Bunny.

Since launching Cloud Farmer at the 2014 Central District Field Days (CDFD), the company has further developed the modular farm recording system.

Its advisor BCC (Building Clever Companies), Palmerston North, nominated AgRecord for the NZTE New Zealand Agribusiness Investment Showcase, Bunny says. BCC suggested that outside investors’ money would likely help AgRecord grow faster and accelerate its expansion into overseas markets.

“We want to consolidate and hone our business model here in New Zealand before we jump too fast into overseas markets.”

Getting ready for the showcase has already had a huge impact on the business, accelerating its growth. “Things that would have normally sat on the ‘to do’ list for a year we’ve had to get done in six weeks.”

However, the company is still confirming the system’s mobile platform – crucial to the business but complex to work through. We’re getting conflicting advice on whether we should build a native app or just optimise the website and go through the device’s browser.”

And while the company is leaning towards a native app there are complications about the operating system they need to build it for. “Our users access our service with Apple tablets and Android phones so we have to build for both of those.”

The company has added other modules, reaching out to rural professionals who support farmers, e.g. vets, stock agents and bank managers.

It now offers modules to record climate information, workplace hazards and payroll information – timely given the Government’s emphasis on health and safety and the need for timesheets on farms. WorkSafe will soon enforce tough new labour laws including farm health and safety manuals which must map all workplace hazards.

Most farmers will want to comply with the law, Bunny comments, but the high cost of health and safety plans makes it tough, especially given the changing environment on farms. That’s where Cloud Farmer clicks in.

“Hazards change onfarm daily so you’d need a big paper manual – not practical. [Alternatively the company’s software] can serve exactly

the same purpose as a cumbersome health and safety process manual.”

Mobile functionality is high up the company’s list. “Farmers are allergic to being in the office, they want to be out there growing grass and looking

after stock. We need to build a mobile app to help them manage the whole farm better while doing the part of farming they enjoy most.”Tel. 06 211 4298 www.agrecord.co.nz

GARETH GILLATT

AgRecord’s Gretchen Bunny will be at this year’s CD field days.