rural news 501

OCTOBER 4, 2011: ISSUE 501 www.ruralnews.co.nz

RURALNEWS

IRISH OUTLOOKMary and Eddie Downey say New Zealand and Ireland should work together. PAGE 18

SULKYFrench fertiliser spreaders are even ‘to the last kilo’. PAGE 41 ANIMAL WELFARE

NZ expert among speakers at

international conference.PAGE 9

TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS

Tatua tops payout table

LIFE’S WORK RECOGNISEDThe New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Trust lauds Gallagher Group chairman Bill Gallagher’s contribution to dairy.

More on page 13.

Feds pan Auditor General water report

TO PAGE 3FEDERATED FARMERS has panned as “disappointing” and “nothing new” a report by the Office of the Auditor Gen-eral (OAG) on regional councils’ perfor-mance on improving fresh water quality.

OAG has defended its work but Feds president Bruce Wills says he’s unhappy the report doesn’t sufficiently recognise work already being done on water qual-ity issues by farmers, councils and com-munities.

“We were disappointed it didn’t look at point source issues and that it

focused on the diffuse issue of stock effluent finding its way into waterways,” he told Rural News. “But the biggest thing for me was that there was noth-ing new in the report that added to the debate over water quality issues.”

Wills says most farmers are aware of the issues and are well down the track in dealing with them. He was “intrigued” that an area (water quality) needing a lot of expertise to sift the science and emotion on this subject was done by the OAG. “We just have a question mark against the experience and capability of that office conducting this report.”

PETER BURKEWills says he would have expected a

report of this nature to be done by the

Steve Allen

SMALL WAIKATO processor Tatua Milk has again trumped Fonterra in the payout stakes. It last week announced $8.68/kgMS payout for the 2010-11 season, comfortably beating Fonter-ra’s $8.25/kgMS figure released late last month.

For both co-ops the results are records, beating previous bests of $8.62/kgMS and $7.90kg/MS, respectively, in the 2007-08 season.

Tatua, Morrinsville, earned $200 million for year ending July 31, 2010. Its 112 shareholders will receive $8.10/kgMS with the co-op retaining 58c/kgMS. Fonterra is holding back 35c leav-ing shareholders with $7.90/kgMS.

West Coast processor Westland Milk

also announced its payout last week: $7.80/kgMS with a 10c/kgMS retention to come off that.

Tatua chairman Steve Allen says shareholders are “very happy” given most sup-pliers faced weather prob-lems during the last three to four years. “The weather has not been kind in our region so the results will help suppliers solidify their positions,” he told Rural News.

Allen says while Tatua doesn’t com-pete with Fonterra in the payout stakes it must perform well to keep suppliers on side.

“If we don’t perform well, then our farmers have a choice... they can go to Fonterra. On the other hand, Fonterra

is a big company and we can’t take their 10,000 suppliers. We are one 100th the

size of Fonterra, which is really the gold standard. One of their factories can process all our milk in three to four hours.”

Allen says beating Fon-terra is not important and Tatua is “quite low key” about it.

Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden complimented Tatua for “a very good result”.

“We beat them last year and they beat us this year so there is good com-petition. Well done Tatua.”

Tatua, which gets 50 million litres of milk annually from Fonterra under the Dairy Industry Restructuring

Act (DIRA) processed 12m kgMS last season, an increase of 4.2% over the previous year.

Allen says demand for product remained firm throughout 2010/11 and product mix returns were favourable versus milkpowder. Foreign exchange management remained a challenge

and its hedging policies mitigated the impact of this to a large extent. Tatua’s gearing ratio (debt divided by debt-plus-equity) was stable at 28%.

Allen says the $7m retained from the payout will partially help fund a $25m expansion underway.• More from Westland p8

SUDESH KISSUN

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NEWS 3

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Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) not the OAG.

“Farmers can rightly be excused for being confused as to where this report has come from and why the OAG was involved. Some parts of it read as though some issues raised are new whereas they’re not.

“Farmers are well versed in the environmental responsibilities they need to front up to and we at Feds have a strong water policy group with a couple of people with PhD’s trying to untangle and solve environmental issues.”

Wills says the report appears to come from left field and raises more questions than answers.

The OAG says its review of the work of regional councils and in par-ticular their performance on manag-ing fresh water quality does fall within its role. Bruce Robertson, assistant auditor general – local government, says the role of the OAG is broad and that under section 16 of the OAG Act it has an important role to look at the efficiency and effectiveness of public

entities such as regional councils – their financial performance and whether they provide value for money to ratepayers.

The OAG report took about a year to produce, in-house and with NIWA contracted to do some scien-tific work. Councils were consulted and Robertson says the councils have since acknowledged the value of the interface.

“The report has [spotlighted] a bunch of areas... especially in the enforcement area… and in approach and policy,” Robertson says. “Yes it’s arguable it’s shown nothing new, but our report reinforces the view that all parts of the community, includ-ing farmers, are part of the solution.”

He says the report tries to reflect a balance of the development of the economy with protection of the fresh-water values New Zealanders hold.

“That is clearly the key debate and benefit of this report in refreshing the issue.

“The second big issue is whether the policy responses by regional councils are working.”

Feds pan OAG reportFROM PAGE 1

FARMERS ARE not surprised at news Alliance plans to close its Sockburn, Christchurch, plant next year. The plant is old and, given the overcapacity in the industry, everyone expected it, says Fed-erated Farmers Meat and Fibre chair-person Jeanette Maxwell.

“No one is particularly surprised. The land use has also changed around the plant so it’s quite logical,” she told Rural News.

Farmers supplying Sockburn won’t be affected, she says. Trading arrange-ments between Alliance and farmers will change to another plant once the beef and venison plant closes. Alliance livestock agents were last week asking farmers for feedback on the proposed closure.

Alliance chief executive Grant Cuff says farmers won’t end up paying higher transport costs. “Cattle is often trans-ported reasonable distances and based

on nearby works in Christchurch, trans-port costs would not change.” The com-pany will increase capacity at other plants.

Cuff says Sockburn has not operated profitably in recent years and the company has explored ways to address this. Closing the plant will reduce fixed costs, increase the company’s overall processing capacity and enhance profitability.

Beef processing will transfer to the company’s Mataura, Southland and Pukeuri, North Otago plants where capacity is being expanded. This will increase the company’s total capacity.

Venison processing will go to a new facility to be built at Smithfield, Timaru. Sockburn also processes pigs on behalf of Porkcorp New Zealand which is making alternative arrangements with Ashburton Meat Processors.

Alliance is consulting staff and unions on closing Sockburn at the end of the 2012 processing season.

Meat plant closure expected – FedsSUDESH KISSUN

SOME FARMS hammered last Septem-ber by storms in Southland have again had a tough spring with a few reporting even worse losses this year.

While the weather didn’t hit the national headlines this time, it was persistently and extremely wet until late last month, says Federated Farm-ers Southland Meat and Fibre chairman Andrew Morrison.

“This year it has been insidiously wet and really challenging,” he told Rural News. “It’s been difficult and frustrating especially for people who went through it last year.”

But by last week things were look-ing up.

“The guys lambing early got hit but luckily not everyone was lambing. Most people are reasonably happy at the moment, but we did have snow [the last

weekend of September] which made it hard for people in the hills.”

Morrison couldn’t put firm figures on losses at this stage but he has spoken with one farmer who says he has fewer lambs this year than last. “That’s only one guy; many are disillusioned.”

Local Beef + Lamb New Zealand director, Leon Black, echoes Morrison’s comments.

“I can confirm we’ve had very wet ground conditions especially in mid-September, and it’s been very hard and trying especially for those hit last year. It has been very difficult for many farm-ers.”

Morrison is urging people to remain positive and suggests focussing on what were great prices last year and predic-tions they’ll still be reasonable for the year ahead.

“We will have to wait until tailing time to really see what the situation is.”

BARBARA GILLHAM

Southland struck by tough spring again

Cuff says there is no connection between the Christchurch earthquakes and the proposal to close Sockburn. “Many employees are now making decisions about their future and it is important they are informed of the company’s proposal as early as pos-sible.”

If the proposal is confirmed the company will offer its 250 employees transfers to jobs at other Alliance Group plants where that is practicable. Financial help would be provided.

Employees not wish-ing to transfer, or where a suitable position is not avail-able, will get redundancy compensation according to the appropriate agreement.

Employees will have several months to make up their minds. Consultation on the proposal will take four weeks.

Jeanette Maxwell

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4 NEWS

NZ dairy nutrition central?FONTERRA’S NEW chief executive Theo Spierings says the co-op can make New Zealand the dairy nutrition capital of the world.

Meeting news media for the first time last week the Dutch dairy industry

veteran noted Fonterra was blessed with “a grass to glass integrated model and a fantastic global cus-tomer base.”

“If you put those strengths together there’s a fantastic challenge and opportunity and that’s why I call it the envy of the dairy world globally.”

However, the challenge is to build another layer of value in the business.

“The vision is a natural source of dairy nutrition for everybody, every-where, every day. That is a very ambitious and strong vision but I believe Fon-terra can really make New Zealand the dairy nutri-

tion capital of the world... based on its strength and based on the business it’s running at the moment.”

Spierings, who led the merger of Dutch co-ops Friesland Foods and Campina, says Fonterra remains the envy of the dairy world. But he points out Fonterra is a small player in the global milk market and faces chal-lenges. The global milk market is expected by 2020 to grow by 160 bil-lion L. New Zealand’s milk supply is expected to grow 5% -- only 3% of the pro-jected increase.

Another challenge is meeting the growing needs of customers, con-sumers and the commu-nity.

“Fonterra is so big and interwined with New Zealand’s economy. It is the biggest employer and exporter” in the same way as Nokia is to Finland and Nestle to Switzerland. “It brings a responsibility with it.”

Spierings says the long-

term outlook for dairy product demand is bullish. Long term, demand is out-pacing supply. But a dou-ble-dip recession could cause short-term pain.

“If, short term, there a deep recession, the second in three to four years, that could have an impact like it did in 2009. You could see commodity prices coming down for a short while.”

Europe’s debt crisis could have been avoided “with the right measures” though the many voices and viewpoints in the region have hampered the process, he says.

“ But that’s a job for politicians, not Fonterra. “We’re not politicians; we have to manage what we can manage.”

SUDESH KISSUN

Back to the drawing board on milk pricesSINCE ARRIVING here 10 days ago Theo Spierings has visited a few supermarkets and found “a normal retail scene”. Retailers are running promotions on various dairy products.

But Spierings says a public backlash on soaring milk prices is bothering Fonterra. He plans to “go back to the drawing board” on the issue.

The price of fresh milk has become a political issue as seen in the inquiry by a parliamentary commerce select. But the co-op is not setting the retail price, Spierings says.

“We only sell milk to the retailers. But the percep-tion is the prices are too high and that is bothering us. Fonterra wants to make sure milk consumption per capita is growing, not declining.”

Economy strong despite US, EU difficulties

WESTPAC’S HEAD of agribusiness, David Jones, has joined the chorus of commenta-tors talking up the future of the New Zea-land economy despite the difficulties of Europe and the USA.

Jones says Westpac is quietly optimis-tic about the future of the farming sector and says the fact New Zealand has shifted its exports from wealthy western countries to emerging economies mainly in Asia has cushioned impacts from further afield.

“If you look at our ag sector, the opera-tors are relatively smart. They’ve seen the opportunities and they’ve looked for new markets to evolve into. When you look at the urbanisation in Asia, with people becoming wealthier and looking for qual-ity diets, as a country we can fulfill those needs.”

Jones says anyone who wrote off agri-culture as a ‘sunset industry’ was pretty naïve given the growing world population that needs feeding. New Zealand is ideally placed to feed the world given the science and production systems that it has in place.

But one aspect of the New Zealand agri-cultural sector not marketed particularly well is its science, whether it’s genetics, soils or pasture, Jones says.

“If we could take that to the world market, it would be as good as being in it if not better.

“I don’t necessarily think we need to sell our intellectual property (IP); we just need to get more value from our science. Our science in the agricultural industry is our answer to Silicon Valley.”

But New Zealand ag science is very underrated and there appears to be a slow-ness in getting it overseas, Jones says.

PETER BURKE

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings.

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NEWS 5

Second vote motion backed by meeting

No second vote requests yet - van der Heyden

HALF WAY into last week’s series of Fonterra share-holder meetings farmers were asking about the role of the custodian in TAF, but none had called for a second vote, chairman Henry van der Heyden told Rural News.

“There has been no talk so far on another vote. However, there are questions on the custodian so [we need to] find agreement on this issue,” van der Heyden said last Thursday morning prior to Fonter-ra’s shareholder meeting in Ashburton which came a week after the Glass/Guiney meeting (main story).

There is widespread support for TAF: farmers and the board are on the same page on that, as they are on 100% ownership and control, the chairman says. Fon-terra is taking farmer questions on board and will go back with answers.

When the co-op first began designing TAF, the thinking was farmers would continue to own the shares and transfer the underlying financial rights to a fund. “But as we looked at it, it became clear the custodian was a better solution.”

Fonterra stresses the custodian will be a 100% subsidiary, not an entity outside the corporation. In essence, the custodian represents a ‘locked box’ in which shares placed with the fund are kept, the direc-tor says.

“It’s the best way of keeping track to ensure that for every Fund unit on issue, there is a contract over a Fonterra share.”

A SECOND shareholder vote on Fonterra’s TAF (trading among farmers) proposal has the backing of a vast majority of sup-pliers, judging by a show of hands late last month at a packed meeting at Ash-burton.

Only one shareholder among the 200 or so pres-ent opposed a motion call-ing for such a vote once Fonterra has thrashed out the detail of the proposal. A show of hands found 145 in favour.

While most attend-ing were local, some came from Southland, others the North Island. They represented 57.6mkg of milksolids production/year, at least 4% of Fonter-ra’s total supply.

The meeting was called by Methven farmer Eddie Glass and others in light of concerns that transfer of share titles to a custodian, as now proposed under TAF, would give investor institutions a foot in the door on the way to con-trolling Fonterra (Rural News, Aug 23). The way that could happen was explained to the meeting by cooperative law expert David Stock.

While the share cus-todian would be a wholly owned subsidiary of Fon-terra, with a manager appointed by the coop-erative, outside inves-tors buying units giving them the dividend ben-efits of the shares would, under Section 50 of the Trustee Act, be able to

demand a new custodian be appointed.

“Where the title to the share rests is the key to this,” Stock told the meeting. “There are a lot of shareholder rights the unit trust can get... by asking the custodian to step into the constitu-tional issues to protect and look after their [divi-dend] rights for them.

“You may have a situa-tion where total control of this transfers to the insti-tutions and when they do that, they can really start to flex their muscles.”

Meetings with Fonterra have, to date, failed to pro-vide an explanation of how this threat would be overcome, he said.

“There is a raft of tech-nical issues in this which may well be overcome. But they did not come up initially because the title did not transfer to the custodian [in TAF as origi-nally proposed].”

Stock speculated the board of Fonterra was worried the concerns being raised would upset negotiations with the Government because the board had probably been telling regulators “this is in the bag.”

Many questions fol-lowed Stock’s presenta-tion, such as did it matter if investor institutions gained control of a 20% shareholding.

Stock replied it did, because such a block would usually carry the day on key votes because smaller shareholders often don’t bother to

vote, either by proxy or in person.

Questions were also asked about the Share-holders Council’s role in the development of TAF.

South Canterbury ward representative Desiree Reid told the meeting councillors were unable to discuss the detail of the proposal with share-holders because they were bound by a confidentiality agreement. However, she

was able to explain that the council’s final vote on whether TAF should pro-ceed was to be assessed against four criteria: that a viable farmers’ market for share trading be set up; that the fund for investors would work; that the legis-lation to allow TAF was in place; and that stakehold-ers had been adequately consulted.

Meeting chair Leonie Guiney, Fairlie, warned if

SUDESH KISSUN

those four pre-conditions were met, TAF would go through. “It’s a done deal, and none of those are about ownership and con-trol.”

Stock said he didn’t believe shareholders

had been given the full story and that investor influence had probably prompted the custodian proposal. He also said he believes the Government will be looking at legisla-tion to allow TAF and the

milk pricing and DIRA reviews, “as a total pack-age.”

“This is all part of the trade-off with the Gov-ernment for allowing Fonterra to continue in a dominant position.”

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6 NEWS

DEER FARMERS’ incomes shouldn’t drop as a result of the collapse of a consor-tium set up as single entity to sell velvet, say a sector leader and one of the firms involved.

Deer Farmers Associa-tion president Ed Noonan says the concept of the consortium was good and had been sought by farm-ers to get some discipline into the market.

“But the practicality involved in New Zealand velvet marketing was an amalgamation of differ-

ent companies and cul-tures didn’t mix in reality. It is unfortunate they were unable to make it work,” he told Rural News.

Noonan says there are still options for deer farm-ers with existing compa-nies including PGW and ProVelco and it’s in the interests of all parties that the price at least holds or moves up during the season. He believes the remaining entities will sell responsibly.

Though determining the price of velvet is com-plicated by the different grades, Noonan predicts

THE DEER Farmers Asso-ciation says the outlook for venison short- to medium-term is good, despite economic diffi-culties in Europe and to a lesser degree in the US.

Chief executive Mark O’Connor says New Zealand is now producing venison for the chilled season mainly in Europe – a critical time of the year for the industry.

“Demand for New Zealand venison in Euro-pean markets remains firm and stocks are not in too bad shape in New Zealand and Europe. Consumer demand is also good despite the economic crisis.”

Deer farmers are doing well given this is the fourth year of good prices for venison in export and the domestic market,

he adds. The venison schedule price is now over $9/kg, up nearly a dollar on last year.

“Prices to producers are reasonable, but they need to be. One point in our favour is that prices have tracked up and have remained strong for a few years now which is good.”

O’Connor says medium-term prospects are also good.

Venison season going well

Bust-up not a threat to price

PETER BURKE

the average price for the season will be $87/kg, not including levies.

PGG Wrightson’s national velvet man-ager Tony Cochrane says they’re going back to square one. PGW put a lot of effort into setting up the ‘single seller’ type con-

sortium to get some stabil-ity and discipline into the industry.

The partnership didn’t work because of fun-damental differences between the parties, Cochrane says. One was the system whereby the selling season for velvet extended almost year round with sellers being paid in instalments.

“That didn’t fit well with everyone because there are a lot of spot sell-ers who want their money on the day and it became a case of money in the hand. Also for some deer farm-ers velvet is a by-prod-uct of venison so in many cases there was an attitude of ‘just get it sold’.”

For the past two years PGW hasn’t sold velvet, selling what is procured under the consolidated model instead. Now the

firm is on its own – pro-curement, grading, export-ing, selling. A direct-sales option via contract, pri-vate sale or tender is being rolled out, all with the aim of enhancing cash flow for farmers, Cochrane says.

“We’ll be offering sup-pliers a weekly schedule of sale dates with sales in a managed but free-flow-ing way [as opposed to] the previous spread sales systems with instalments. This should improve sup-plier cash flow while making velvet more acces-sible to buyers.”

PGW lost some market share as a result of the single-seller venture and Cochrane says they are now working to regain that.

China is the emerging market and the amount of velvet sold there and price is increasing every year.

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NEWS 7

Minister mulls council inquiry callTHE MANAWATU River is again proving a lightning rod for regional council handling of environmen-tal issues.

Environment Minis-ter Nick Smith is seek-ing advice from officials on whether or not to hold an inquiry into the way Horizons Regional Coun-cil (HRC) and the Palmer-ston North City Council (PNCC) have dealt with pollution issues in the river.

This stems from an allegation the PNCC has breached parts of its con-sent to discharge effluent from its waste water treat-ment plant into the river without prosecution.

National’s candidate for the Palmerston North electorate – Leone Hapeta – has written to Dr Smith suggesting an inquiry into the activities of both councils. She told Rural News she wanted the min-ister made aware of the issues. She asked Smith for an independent inves-tigation of reports into alleged resource consent breaches by PNCC and the failure of HRC to pros-ecute.

“Neither myself nor the Palmerston North public have sufficient expertise to judge defi-nitely whether the coun-cils’ actions have been appropriate. I believe that should be judged by inde-

pendent inquiry… [to] get the facts.”

Hapeta’s main con-cern relates to the Manawatu River Leaders Accord involving farm-ers, councils, iwi and envi-

ronmental groups, all in agreement that any breaches of the accord would be followed up.

Rural News under-stands the Ministry for the Environment will make a

recommendation to the minister.

HRC chairman Bruce Gordon says he’s disap-pointed Leone Hapeta acted before learning facts on non-compliance issues on discharge to the river. He claims Hapeta withdrew her call for an inquiry after speaking to Horizons’ chief executive. But Hapeta insists her call for an inquiry stands.

Gordon has told Smith any inquiry now would be premature. He urges waiting until HRC has decided what action it will take against PNCC. Any-thing about the Manawatu River has become emotive, Gordon says, given false claims last year that it was one of the world’s dirtiest rivers. Though it appears some aspects of PNCC’s activities comply with

PETER BURKE

Nick Smith

A HIGH profile Horizons employee, Greg Carlyon, in late September announced his resignation. Carlyon, who heads the council’s regulatory and policy group, was a chief architect and driver of HRC’s controversial ‘One Plan’.

Carlyon was not on the Christmas card list of many farmers in the region because of his perceived tough stance against those alleged to have breached their resource consents.

Rural News understands Carlyon will leave in weeks and has no job to go to now.

Chief executive Michael McCartney emailed all councilors not to talk to news media about Carly-on’s resignation.

One Plan architect departs

Manawatu River

its consent, those on the effects of the discharge on the river do not comply.

“The matter is going to the HRC strategy and policy committee on October 11 and that com-mittee will decide what action to take. My guess is PNCC will get a notice of significant non-com-pliance and an abatement notice which will give them a period of time to fix the matter.”

Gordon says he’s dis-appointed at claims the council is keen to pros-ecute farmers but reluc-tant to prosecute a local authority. In the past year only two farmers in the region have been pros-ecuted, and the council helps farmers comply, he says. Two rural advisers

are assigned to this role.Local farming leader

Andrew Hoggard, Fed-erted Farmers’ provin-cial president, says while in the past there’s been

a perception HRC has been quick to ‘ping’ farm-ers, in the last year things have changed. Farmers no longer appear to be pros-ecuted for minor technical

breaches of their con-sents and only the major breaches go to court, he says. “All we want is for all parties to be treated fairly and equitably.”

This year’s Spring Land Production guide is packed with quality products and sound technical advice for all your pasture and cropping requirements.The PGG Wrightson team can also help you choose the right products for the best results in the months ahead.

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2011 Spring Land Production

help you choose the right products for Spray Out 04-05

Brassica 06-13

Cereals 14-19

Maize 20-27

Pasture 28-39

Brushweeds 40-41

Adjuvants 42-44

Fertiliser 45-47

Land Production Planner 48-51

Index 52

Contact Information Back Cover

Spring land production

Your ultimate guide to crops, pastures, sprays and fertilisers.

Spray Out 04-05 Brassica 06-13 Cereals 14-19 Maize 20-27 Pasture 28-39 Brushweeds 40-41 Adjuvants 42-44 Fertiliser 45-47Land Production Planner 48-51

Expert advice on:

2011 Spring land production

Contents

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8 NEWS

DESPITE TRAILING Fonterra and Tat-ua’s payouts, South Island West Coast dairy cooperative Westland Milk Products was last week upbeat over its $7.80/kgMS payout news.

“A record year for milk collection and revenue, and our second-highest payout on record,” chief executive Rod Quin told Rural News. Comparisons with Fonterra’s $8.25/kg package need to be put in perspec-tive, and allow for Westland’s $1.50 share price, he says.

“If you make the comparison on a net cash payout you’ll realise the return on investment [in Westland] is highly com-petitive.”

And though the cooperative’s perfor-mance is broken down for shareholders, it’s not “deconstructed in the same way as Fonterra’s.”

Colostrum was a “star performer” adding 12c/kg to the payout, the yoghurt business EasiYo 3c/kg, and the sale of West-land’s Farmcentre retail store 2c/kg.

In milk powder products, the best returns are in protein and nutritional prod-uct powders but fats are making a come-back. “We’ve changed our fat-to-protein payment ratio [from] the start of this season.”

Co-op chairman Matt O’Regan says the

2010/11 result was strong given sharehold-ers were operating in a challenging climatic and economic environment.

“The 2011 year has been described by many shareholders as one of the toughest years yet experienced with a remarkably wet spring and a dry spell in the summer presenting difficult farming conditions year-round. It is therefore a credit to West-land Milk Products, including shareholders and staff, that we’ve been able to deliver a strong payout.”

During the year Westland focused heav-ily on maximising value and efficiency, building on existing and new relation-ships with global customers and expanding milk processing capability, O’Regan says. “These efficiencies have delivered strong financial results for our shareholders.”

The result is 21% up on last year’s total payout of $6.45/kgMS. Turnover, at $525m, was $100m up on 2009/10’s $422m.

Quin says Westland finished the finan-cial year with a strong balance sheet and “favourable equity position of 54%, enabling us to negotiate advantageous finance rates heading into the 2012 season.

“Lean principles have been applied to all facets of the business, resulting in many successful cost saving initiatives that have improved the bottom line.” Operational efficiencies continue to be a high priority this season.• Infant and GUMP move: p21

Westland weighs in with $7.80/kgMS

SUDESH KISSUN & ANDREW SWALLOW

BEEN WATCHING the rugby? Ever paused to think what grass the pitch might be, especially under the roof of Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr stadium?

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It was sown at 400kg/ha with a blend of three turf ryegrasses: one New Zealand bred winter active type called Colosseum, and two imported American summer active types called Fiesta Four and SR 4600.

It’s constantly over-seeded at varying rates with up to 2000kg/year going on.

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THE PUBLIC worldwide are increas-ingly interested in animal welfare issues, says animal welfare expert Prof David Mellor, of Massey University.

He returned recently from UK where he presented a paper on production animal welfare at the first international conference on veterinary and animal ethics, organised by the Royal Veter-inarian College and attended by 100 people from 20 countries.

He told Rural News the conference put an ‘ethical’ stake in the ground regarding veterinary thinking and prac-tice.

“This is not to say veterinarians have been unethical. It’s more about the eti-quette that operates in a profession rather than the fundamental ethics of what veterinarians are doing.”

Animal welfare is a ‘top two’ topic of letters to politicians in New Zea-land and UK, Mellor says. The public are very responsive to negative stories

about animal welfare in the media. Affluent consumers tend to look at

how food is produced and how animals are managed and this influences their purchasing decisions. But for the less affluent it’s different, he says.

“People having trouble every week paying the food bill and buying shoes for their kids... have to go for the cheap-est food so they don’t make decisions on animal welfare criteria.”

In the UK big changes have occurred in egg buying. For example nine or ten years ago 95% of the eggs came from cage layers; now free range is much higher.

“That’s got some interesting difficul-ties: free range isn’t a bowl of cherries; some birds are victimized and canni-balised and disease issues persist. But the public thinks free range is better, so they buy free range even though in some

animal welfare terms they may be misguided,” he says.

But Mellor acknowledges aspects of free range farming are positive.

One fact emerging in the UK is that well-to-do people look more closely at labels on food and unless they can be cer-tain of its origin they may not buy it.• More from Mellor: p24

NEWS 9

NATIONAL FIELDAYS Soci-ety and Mystery Creek Events Centre is on the hunt for a new general manager following the resignation last month of Barry Quayle (left).

After 20 years with the organisations Quayle says he feels the time is right to step

down as they are “now well established with a healthy balance sheet as well as being home to some of New Zea-land’s leading events.”

National Fieldays is the largest exhibition of its kind in Australasia, attracting 115,000 visitors/year and $500m in

economic benefit to the coun-try, says the society.

Other events hosted at Mystery Creek Events Centre take the visitor tally to 220,000/year.

“We’ve added significant value to the local economy,” Quayle says. “Mystery Creek

Events Centre is also the only events centre in New Zealand with no local or central government funding.”

Quayle remains as direc-tor of Stream EAM, Fieldays’ wholly owned subsidiary spe-cialising in event access man-agement and ticketing.

Animal welfare climbing the agenda worldwide

PETER BURKE

David Mellor

Quayle quits as Fieldays general manager

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10 NEWS

NZ-EU farmer talks start to deliverBLNZ CHAIRMAN Mike Petersen says five years of developing a relationship with French and Irish sheep farming representatives is finally starting to pay off.

All farmers want to see prices remain high and they are at last recognising New Zealand is helping not hindering their industry.

“I’ve spent a lot of time up there talking them through the issues. The key message I’ve been giving is New Zealand can’t be a threat in Europe.

“We supply different production windows with 70% of our product going there when the domestic product is not available.”

Imported lamb is needed in Europe to sustain the market and demand, Petersen says. Without it, lamb would become a seasonal niche product.

“No one wants to sell product cheaply in the market. We all want to sell at the best possible price. It seems our messages are now starting to get some traction in Europe especially with our main protago-nists the Irish and the French.”• Irish perspective: p18-19.

Time right for standard carcass trim schemeA STANDARDISED car-cass trim scheme could save farmers millions of dollars, says Beef + Lamb

New Zealand.The levy body is in

talks with meat compa-nies to try to get them to adopt Suretrim, a scheme designed to set a consis-

tent standard for trim-ming carcasses in all meat processing plants before weighing for payment.

“We think in lambs the difference could be up to

PETER BURKE

200g/head and with cattle 8kg,” BLNZ chairman Mike Petersen told Rural News.

“If you look at 8kg on a cattle beast that amounts to a difference of about $30 dollars a head between one plant and another. On lambs it’s only 200 grams, but that’s still about $1.50 a head which can mean a lot of money lost to farm-ers.”

Petersen says they hoped to have the scheme operating by October, but a realistic target might now be the end of the year. Inconsistent trimming now taking place could be costing farmers millions of dollars.

Suretrim is designed to replace a compulsory system and standard of trimming run by the Meat Classification Authority in the days of the former Meat Producers Board. But various changes to the Meat Board Act have seen this disappear so BLNZ is trying to introduce a new

scheme. But it cannot be compulsory for meat com-panies and requires their voluntary compliance.

Most farmers probably wouldn’t be able to pick up a 200g difference between processors’ yield returns, Petersen says. But incon-sistent trim standards can severely distort returns to farmers.

“For example a farmer getting paid $4/kg for a cattle beast may be get-ting less on a per-head basis than a farmer being $3.90/kg because of dif-ferences in trimming poli-cies.”

All the meat compa-nies see merit in Suretrim, Petersen says. But if one company chose to sit out-side the scheme and gain a commercial advantage by trimming harder, that would make it hard for the others to be in the scheme.

“This is one problem you have with such a com-petitive interface between the farmer and the meat companies.”

“This is one problem you have with such a competitive interface between the farmer and the meat companies.”

Mike Petersen


NEWS 11

RRMS spawns lambing % toolCOMPARING A farm’s performance against those of peers should be much easier for sheep and beef farmers with a new web tool launched by Beef + Lamb New Zealand.

The need to lift perfor-mance on many farms was identified in the Red Meat Sector Strategy (RMSS), but the problem is most don’t know how they are performing in the sector, says BLNZ chair Mike Petersen.

“So the first tool we’re coming up with is going to be a lambing percentage calculator,” he told Rural News. “That will allow farmers to compare their own performance against farms within their region, farms on their land class and also farms throughout New Zealand to see how they stack up. We hope to roll this out over the next few months.”

The calculator will draw on high quality data held by BLNZ’s Economic Service.

Petersen says it’s sur-prising a good benchmark-ing system hasn’t been developed before.

“There’s a lot of talk about lambing percent-ages and in particular

‘pub lambing percentages’ which seem to be a lot higher than the industry is achieving. We think many farmers are looking for more information about how they are performing in key areas of their busi-ness,” he says.

Despite their best efforts, BLNZ is struggling to get all farmers along to extension field days so as to lift their perfor-mance. Petersen says they can’t drag farmers along. He admits at least 40% of farmers have no desire to lift their performance. This he concedes is dis-appointing, but says atti-tudes in the beef and lamb sector are no different from others sectors.

“Farmers have to want to improve the perfor-mance of their business so one of the key things we’re trying to look at is the sort of incentives farmers need to start them taking the tools and technology that will make their busi-nesses perform better. We will focus on the top 60% of farmers, then hope they will drag along the rest of the industry.”

Another issue concern-ing Petersen and others is the difficulty in imple-menting one of the themes from the RMSS – efficient

PETER BURKE Farmers need better

benchmarks than pub-talk percentages,

says BLNZ chair Mike Petersen.

aligned procurement. The market is now very com-petitive: stock are in short supply and this and other matters are making it diffi-cult to achieve the goal.

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12 NEWS

Dairy awards return to AucklandTHE DAIRY industry awards are coming to Auckland with a message for urban New Zealanders: ‘dairy farmers respect the environment.’

The 2012 awards were launched last week at Gordon-ton, Waikato, on the farm run by the 2011 New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmers of the Year – Jason and Lisa

Suisted. The contest finals will be on March 12 next year at a dinner in Auckland. The finals were last held in Auck-land 10 years ago.

Awards executive committee chair Matthew Richards says it aims to change some urban perceptions of the coun-try’s dairy farmers and the industry.

Richards said at the launch that most dairy farmers respect the environment. “A majority of dairy farmers are a hardworking bunch but we get blamed for the bad work of a minority group.

“We want Auckland and the rest of the country to wit-ness the bright, talented and well presented individuals working hard on this country’s dairy farms to drive the industry forward as the global leader it is.

“Many past winners have gone on to leadership roles in the industry and we expect many current winners will be the industry’s future leaders.”

The awards have three categories: Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year, Farm Manager of the Year and Dairy Trainee of the Year.

Jason Suisted says they initially entered the awards to “stand out from the pack” when applying for sharemilking positions. They have gained considerably more.

“What we did not know at the time was how much we were going to learn about ourselves and our business. We’ve been able to fine tune some of our farm systems and the awards also allowed us to work side by side, high-lighting the strengths we both bring to the business.”

The awards challenged them and forced them to take a brutal and critical look at their business. “The benefits from this have paid off immensely.”

Changes were made last year to awards, in particular enabling equity farmers to enter the sharemilker contest and restricting the age group in the dairy trainee contest. The changes were well received, Matthew Richards says.

“One of our equity farmer entrants won one of the 12 regional competitions and restricting the age had the effect of increasing the standard and making the contest tighter within the dairy trainee competition.”

About 200 of the 500 award entries received in each of the past two years have been for the dairy trainee contest.

The Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown and RD1, along with industry partner AgITO.

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WHEN JOE the horse in the early 1930s used the Gallagher family car as a scratching post, the horse could not have known what his annoying habit would lead to.

To break the horse’s habit, Bill Gallagher senior set up an electrical device that gave the horse a hard lesson; this was the start of Gallagher Group, Hamilton.

In 1937 Gallaghers made its first electric fence. Now this icon for Kiwi ingenuity is used on dairy farms around the world. And the man credited with this success – chairman Sir William Gallagher –has been formally recognised for it, last week gaining a lifetime achievement award from the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Trust.

Gallagher Group employs 650 people in New Zealand and 400 overseas. Sales are now $US160 million, about 50% from farming, 25% from petrol pumps and 25% from security control.

Accepting the award on a Gordonton dairy farm, Gallagher said it honours

the family. His father, Bill Gallagher senior, started as a dairy farmer in Horo-tiu.

Gallagher proudly refers to New Zealand agriculture as granting the country with “west-ern style living based on unsubsidised agriculture,” the only country to do so.

Agriculture is an important part of Gal-lagher Group’s busi-ness, which is now “a little more than fencing”. Traceability and animal identification are the new buzzwords.

Though New Zealand is behind Australia and other countries in imple-menting traceability, this technology is the way to go, he says.

“Traceability is impor-tant. The good news is New Zealand is embracing animal traceability. Those who do will get a premium for their products.”

Trust chair Barbara Kuriger says Gallagher’s contribution to New Zea-land farming systems has been huge.

“Sir William is a natural leader whose communi-cation skills and business influence is nation-ally and internationally

recognised. He has cre-ated a work environment that encourages personal empowerment and inde-pendent thinking.

“A true entrepreneur, he has a sense of urgency and controlled risk taking, supported and managed by the positive team he works with.”

Gallagher has a strong and active commitment to the environment he lives and works in: he is a major sponsor of the Rescue Helicopter, Waikato Sta-dium, Mounted Police, Gallagher Family Hospice, Gallagher Hockey Centre and the establishment of the Performing Arts centre at Waikato University.

He is only the second recipient of the trust’s life-time achievement award. Retired Massey University professor Colin Holmes in 2009 received the first award.

NEWS 13Lifetime award for Gallagher

New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Trust chair Barbara Kuriger presenting the award to William Gallagher in Gordonton last week.

SUDESH KISSUN

HIGH COMMODITY prices caused government support for agriculture in the 34 OECD countries to fall last year to a record low 18% of total farm receipts.

New Zealand had the lowest level of support to farm receipts at 1% of farm income, followed by Australia (3%), and Chile (4%). The US (9%), Israel and Mexico (12%), and Canada (16%) were also below the OECD average.

The OECD says support to producers stood at US$227 billion, confirming a longstanding trend toward falling farm support. Most government support is still given in ways that distort production and trade while doing rela-tively little to improve productivity and competitiveness, ensure sustainable resource use or help farmers cope with risk. OECD trade and agriculture director Ken Ash says the time is ripe for reforming farm support.

“With tighter government budgets and farmers get-ting top prices for their crops, governments should begin to shift from payments that further support farm incomes and move to policies that have long-term benefits for the global food economy,” Ash says.

The OECD says the European Union reduced its level of support to 22% of farm income, but remains above the OECD average. At the other end of the scale, support to farmers remains high in South Korea (47%), Iceland (48%), Japan (49%), Switzerland (56%) and Norway (60%).

Farm support in emerging countries is generally well below OECD levels, but also varies over time and across countries.

NZ farm support OECD lowest

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14 NEWS

HBRC goes for one dam not two

HBRC engineer Graeme Hansen overlooks the 400ha, $180m Makaroro dam site.

A TWO-DAM irrigation scheme in Hawkes Bay now looks like being based on just one reservoir.

Months of preliminary investigations on water storage options for the Ruataniwha Plains lead to a proposal to dam both the Makaretu and Makaroro rivers. Now, expert advice from engineering con-sultants Tonkin & Taylor has prompted Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to rule out the Makaretu dam, near Waipawa – the smaller of the two pro-posed sites.

Climate change pre-dictions for the Eastern North Island and specifi-cally Hawkes Bay are for a drying climate long-term. Consequently, pres-sure on water resources will increase and stor-age is seen as vital for the region’s future.

Feasibility studies on the larger Makaroro River dam site west of Tikokino suggest the site, although complex, is technically feasible. Further geotech-nical investigations are under way.

Although the size and scale of the dam hasn’t been closely defined, Graeme Hansen, HBRC water initiatives group manager, says its capac-ity is likely to be 75m cubic metres over an area of 400ha and six farms.Esti-mated cost is $180 million.

The intention is for the dam to be built at the bottom of the Rua-hine Ranges, using the Makaroro and Waipawa

Rivers as a conduit. Water would flow to the upper end of the flood plain then be taken out of the river and reticulated through races or pipes.

“The goal is to pro-vide certainty and secu-rity to existing irrigation and consent holders and takers,” Hansen says.

“At the moment we have sustainability and allocation issues to deal with in this area. Equally, we have huge green-field (non-irrigated land) potential; we currently have 6000ha under irriga-tion and another possible 20,000ha or more we can service. We are looking to unlock that potential and to do that we have to have secure water.

“We are keen to see a mosaic of land uses. Stor-

age water will be for land-owners on the Ruataniwha Plains. We see a range of opportunities in dairying, cropping and mixed arable farming. We are not focus-ing on one land use.”

Water security would mean the opportunity to increase cropping and would encourage proces-sors to invest in future developments. “There’s already some innova-tive thinking going on by the bigger players,” says Hansen.

“The knock-on effects in the regional and national economy are significant. It could be a transformation for Hawkes Bay in what we are doing and what we produce and to local pro-cessors and industry.

“We are thinking care-

fully about benefits to Hawkes Bay in process-ing crops that also have a process industry here. And being owners of the port we are also keen to see ini-tiatives that support the region. We are looking at the whole cross-section of potential benefits.”

The regional coun-cil is working with lead-ership and stakeholders’ groups to ensure commu-nity involvement in the investigation and options. Landowners and group members have been told of this latest decision.

The study includes refining geotechnical information, dam design, assessment and costings, assessing environmen-tal costs and benefits, and looking at financial viabil-ity and economic benefits.

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16 NEWSBLNZ launches lucerne tips by txt service

If the lucerne service is a success, other text tip topics may follow, says BLNZ Central South Island extension manager Aaron Meikle.

MANAGEMENT TIPS by text is the latest tool Beef and Lamb New Zealand is trial-ling to help raise farm productivity.

Lucerne is the pilot topic but Central South Island extension manager Aaron Meikle says if that works, services geared to other areas of sheep and beef farm man-agement could be offered. “This is a first,” he told Rural News.

“We’ve used texting before for example around the time of the referendum to get feedback and raise awareness and we’ve played with reminders for field days, but this is the first time we’ve used it like this.”

Effective extension means using a range of tools to get messages across as different mediums work for different people, and subjects.

Email is great for some things, but it requires the recipient to be at their com-puter. A text will reach them any time,

pretty much wherever they are. “Just about every farmer has a mobile phone these days and you don’t need much reception to get a text through.”

Lucerne management is a hot topic and an ideal “stand alone” subject to trial the idea with, especially as Lincoln-based lucerne specialist Derrick Moot has agreed to provide the material.

“Anyone, anywhere can subscribe, but we intend to make the messages quite region-specific. There’s no point some-one in Central Otago being alerted to a pest that’s posing a problem in Marlborough,” says Meikle.

There will be opportunities to request more information, and Lincoln Univer-sity is building a website BLNZ says will be the one-stop-shop for dryland pasture and forage management.

Past messages will be recorded online as an archive for growers to refer too. See https://twitter.com/#!/BLNZ_Lucerne

ANDREW SWALLOW

Ballance bags big PGP packageBETTER FARM nutrient and pest management is the aim of a $9.75m Pri-mary Growth Partner-ship allocation announced late last month to Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

The Government money will be matched by Ballance over the scheme’s seven years.

Fully realised, the proj-ect is expected to bene-fit New Zealand pastoral farming by $340 million by 2025, says MAF.

Ballance chief execu-tive Larry Bilodeau says the scale of investment, on top of the co-op’s antic-ipated regular $12.5m R&D spend over the same period, is a measure of its confidence in the scheme.

“Through more effi-cient use of agri-nutrients, farmers will be able to pro-

duce more with less. This is a win-win for farmers, the environment and for New Zealand as a whole.”

Up to 60% of New Zea-land’s primary produc-tion depends on fertiliser but by reducing reliance on traditional fertilisers and targeting the nutrient losses that have environ-mental impacts, pasto-ral farming’s productive future can be safeguarded, he maintains.

“By 2025 we envisage a pastoral sector operating with a lower chemical load thanks to new biological forms of pest control and we will see both yield and economic gains. Nutri-ent efficiency will be much higher and there will be a reduced impact on our waterways.”

The PGP announce-

ment preceded Ballance’s annual meeting on Sep-tember 21 at Napier, where a change in the board from eight farmer directors and two independents to a six-and-three structure was passed.

PGP grants awarded now total $227m in nine schemes. Including indus-try contributions, the tally is $493 million, a figure illustrating the huge potential in New Zealand’s primary sector, says MAF director general Wayne McNee. “PGP is investing in visionary business plans [to] transform our pri-mary sectors.”

Information sharing, particularly on nutrient management, between this and other PGP schemes will enhance the benefits of each, he says.

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NEWS 17

Wetlands provide $ms benefitsPUTTING AN economic benefit value on the res-toration and preservation of wetlands produces star-tling figures, which few take into account.

The ability of wetlands to control floods, store water, filter pollutants and trap sediments has only recently filtered through to the general conscious-ness, in New Zealand and many other countries. From being ‘bogs to be drained’ in the past, wet-lands are now seen as pro-viding ‘ecosystem services’ with multiple values to the human community.

Calculations in 2003 gave an economic ben-efit value of $10m to the Whangamarino Wetland, a Waikato site nominated under the Ramsar Conven-tion, and more recently an estimated value of up to $18m for the Peka-peka Swamp in South-land. Since 1995 there have been eleven serious floods around Whangama-rino and flood control sav-ings have been estimated at $5m in that time.

A recent one day sym-posium, part of the 15th International Diffuse Pol-lution Conference in Rotorua, focused on wet-land ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.

Shona Myers, an ecolo-gist working for Wildland Consultants in Auckland,

looked at New Zealand’s history and experience of wetlands. For a coun-try once replete with wetlands, we now have only 1% of the land mass (249,776ha) still with wetland areas. A huge 264,000ha of wetlands were drained in 1954-76 and the process contin-ued into the 1980s. Most of what remain are smaller than 10ha, and only 6% of lowland land still con-tains swamp areas. What is left contains 20% of our endangered species.

Myers points out that wetland preservation had been seen as a matter of national importance and priority since we signed up to the Ramsar Convention in 1976. Since then legis-lation and strategies such as the Resource Manage-ment Act, the Biodiversity Strategy, a National Policy Statement on Freshwa-ter Management, and the Clean Streams Accord had come into effect. How-ever, actual improvements from all of these were still patchy.

Says Myers, “The prob-lem is many councils have different requirements for permission and con-sent and most of the land involved is in private own-ership. So first there is a need to persuade the landowner to take some suitable land out of pro-duction, and then find funding to fence and plant

SUE EDMONDS the wetlands themselves and indigenous planting of buffer zones to allow them to work properly.” This variety of rules causes yet more land clearance, drain-age and unsuitable sub-division and land use to continue.

In the three years to 2010 the MfE and Doc Bio-diversity Advice and Con-dition Fund gave out $1.1m for 56 wetland projects, and the QE11 National Trust continues to work with landowners on private land.

Wetlands were the focus of a recent one day symposiom in Rotorua.

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18 WORLD

IT WOULD be disastrous if New Zealand and Ire-land, two countries with top grass growth, start to compete, says a leading Irish farmer.

Eddie Downey and his wife Mary farm 48ha on the beautiful rolling coun-tryside of County Meath, north of Dublin. Downey has been a farmer all his life. Aged 18 he and his brother took over the family farm when his father died. They ran sheep and beef cattle but have had to make changes as market forces and the European Union dictated.

Some beef cattle remain, but the main income today is from hatching eggs for the broiler market. He has 25,000 hens and sells eggs to Denmark and the UK. He also grows barley, wheat and oats for animal feed.

He became involved in the Irish Farmers Associ-ation after he got caught out by not understand-ing what was happening

in Europe, and has since risen through the ranks. As chairman of the IFA’s farm business commit-tee he persuaded the Irish government of the day to make taxation changes that benefited farmers.

Today he’s the associ-ation’s deputy president and believes there’s great potential for New Zea-land and Ireland to work together, not least to try to ensure international com-modity prices are held at levels which benefit farm-ers.

“We are both small players in the world in the quantity of the food we produce but we are major players in the export market because there is such a small quan-tity traded on the world market.

“We have to find some way to control or manage that market so we’re not going to end up with peaks and troughs in prices. We need some system that will give back to farm-ers some form of decent

returns and remove the volatility from the market-place.”

The fact New Zea-land is selling product into China, Ireland, the rest of Europe and the US shows the world has become a smaller place and Ireland and New Zealand face sim-ilar challenges in that envi-ronment.

Like New Zealand farmers, Irish farmers are deeply concerned at the high prices consumers are paying for food not being reflected in the returns on farm, he says. Farm-ers’ share of the profit has been constantly shrink-ing due to pressure from supermarkets. It’s a world-wide problem, he notes.

“We have supermar-kets here such as Tesco. They’ve become huge operations with mas-sive power: the power of a small country.”

Downey says there are four pillars in the food industry: farmers; pro-cessors; distributors; and retailers.

“In my view the farmer, the processor and the dis-tributor have been weak-ened by the power of the supermarkets. We need to balance this out otherwise this whole system could fall apart. If you keep pushing the pressures down on profit levels on farms to create output you’ll have people starting to chase output and stan-dards could drop.”

For him the biggest worry about supermarkets is their own brand ‘yellow packs’. “We’ve insulted food enough…. It’s time to stop insulting it with such brands.”

The IFA has regular contact with New Zealand, notably with Beef + Lamb New Zealand, though Downey himself has never been here.

He says with both countries aiming to obtain premium prices it’s impor-tant they align market-ing strategies. The last thing they need is each other dumping product on world markets, as has hap-

Farming leader sees parallels with NZ

Rural News reporter Peter Burke visited Ireland recently and found farmer attitudes to New Zealand much more positive than 20 years ago, with many common issues emerging. He talked to Irish Farmers Association deputy president Eddie Downey.

Irish farmers Mary and Eddie Downey.

Downey checks a crop of barley on his Co. Meath farm.

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WORLD 19

Pakistan inundated again

FARM'S HISTORIC SETTINGDOWNEY’S HOUSE was once the farm’s main barn. He restored it for a mere $40,000 and it blends in beautifully with the surrounding historic landscape.The nearest village is Slane and the farm is adjacent to Newgrange, a world heritage site with tombs of an ancient civilization dating back to 3200 BC; older than Stonehenge.On a hill overlooking Slane, and just a few kilometres from the farm, is the place where St Patrick began his mission to bring the Christian message to the Irish. The River Boyne, across which, in July 1690, the armies of King James (Catholic) and King William (Protestant) fought, is also just a stone’s throw away.

pened in the past.“In the lamb market

we both need to focus on the high prices. The Irish sheep flock is expand-ing for the first time in 10 years and I think it will continue to expand, but it’s a measured expan-sion…. The only guys look-ing at increasing sheep numbers at the moment are those who’ve been in it for the long haul.”

Downey says it would be “pure stupidity” if Ire-

land and New Zealand compete on price with lamb in markets such as the UK and Europe.

As for dairy, in some-thing of an understate-ment he says abolition of EU milk quota in 2015 will see an expansion “and some movement in the cattle market.”

In this changing Euro-pean environment farming leaders have to be much smarter than they were, he says. Anyone can carry

placards and march in pro-test but farm leaders today must focus on the positive contribution agriculture makes to their respective economies and not high-light or moan about prob-lems, he believes.

Downey’s been in the deputy role with the IFA for two years and has two more to run before he’ll stand for president. Between now and then don’t be surprised if you hear he’s in New Zealand.

FARMERS IN southern Pakistan face worse flooding than last year, says the UN. Its Food and Agriculture Organisa-tion is seeking $US18.9m of immediate aid in the rural Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

FAO’s call for funds is part of the latest UN appeal for Pakistan, and aims to provide emergency live-stock support and critical agriculture packages to 300,000 needy families. Heavy monsoon rains began mid-August and 73% of crops and 67% of food stocks are destroyed or damaged in affected dis-tricts of Sindh.

Nearly 78,000 livestock have been lost. Millions are destitute and face an uncertain and food-insecure future as the region hadn’t recovered from last year’s flooding.

“Around 80% of people in the affected area depend on agriculture — including livestock — for a living,” says Luigi Dami-ani, FAO senior emergency and rehabili-

tation coordinator.“These animals often represent a fam-

ily’s entire life savings. It is vital to reach animals with emergency feed rations, fodder seed, vaccination and de-worm-ing supplies.” At least 5 million surviving animals are at risk.

Destruction of crops has wiped out farmers’ present and future sources of food and income, with spiralling humanitarian consequences unless immediate assistance is provided. “Delayed assistance will lead to height-ened food insecurity, increased public health threats, loss of land tenure agree-ments due to farmers’ inability to pay their debts, population displacement and longer-term dependence on food aid,” says FAO’s representative in Paki-stan, Kevin Gallagher.

FAO’s response to last year’s floods reached 7 million people with vital farm-ing inputs, livestock support and repair of irrigation systems.

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20 AGRIBUSINESS

Seed deal ‘last plank’ in Ravensdown farm inputs strategy

RAVENSDOWN HAS announced an agreement that will see its sharehold-ers able to order Cropmark’s seeds through it.

“It makes us more of a one-stop shop for our customers,” chief exec-utive Rodney Green told Rural News ahead of the cooperative’s annual meeting last week. “And of course any profits on that business go back to our shareholders.”

It is the cooperative’s first move into seed but far from its first diver-sification from its fertiliser roots. It has sold generic animal health and agrochemical products since the mid 2000s and earlier this year branched into pasture monitoring by buying C-Dax.

“It gives an extremely impor-tant link between the nutrients we supply and are applied and the pas-ture grown,” says Green.

Asked about reported reliability problems with some of the pasture monitors, Green says now the tool is in-house, Ravensdown will be able to “get in close conversations about them and sort them out.”

One seen on a visit to a dairy farm in Golden Bay before the annual meet-ing had done about 7000km so far, he points out. “The cost is about 1c/kg of

milksolids and the farmer relies on it for many of the farms.”

Ravensdown’s meeting was held near Nelson this year and about 200 shareholders and staff attended, Green says. Media were excluded.

Chairman Bill McLeod told Rural News the meeting “had a very good feel”.

“Of course there were some ques-tions on what we’ve been doing, for example should we be sticking to the core [fertiliser] business. But we explained we’ve been able to maintain prices comparable with our compet-itor which I think is a good gauge of success.”

McLeod says the Cropmark agree-ment is “one of the last planks in our strategy to get into farm inputs that we laid out a few years back.”

Ravensdown has not so far invested cash in Cropmark but that

is “a strong possibility.”Green says a review of the year’s

performance leading to the $71.6m profit was planned for the annual meeting and there was to be a “quite open presentation” about why its second year in Australia had again resulted in a loss, albeit reduced to $1.6m from $11.2m in 2009/10. “The situation in Western Australia was quite ugly, caused by a significant drought.”

Meanwhile in Queensland floods hit sales. “Northern Queensland was profitable before rebate and this year both sides of Australia are looking very, very strong.”

Back home, he doesn’t believe Ravensdown has missed out in light of Ballance’s $9.75m PGP award (see p16). “We have one applied for but it is actually with Ballance.”

Ravensdown has already invested enormously in nutrient environ-mental effect management by way of econ-n, he adds.

“Look at all the information coming out of Southland on water-ways, and Canterbury and Waikato. I’d say we were five years ahead of that [with econ-n] and have made major investments in these areas already. We’ve got a mature product on the market when farmers really need it.”

ANDREW SWALLOW

ECO-N MARKETED in a soluble bag, to allow farmers to apply their own mix of the nitrification inhibitor, was unveiled at the annual meeting.

“A lot of farmers have always said they want to apply it themselves,” notes Green.

A soluble bag formulation of Express, a giberellic acid product “at least as good as the competition and offering a margin back to share-holders” was also launched at the annual meeting.

Eco-n farm formulation

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It is involved in breeding unique cultivars and novel endophytes with the aim of improving pasture yield, and achieving higher nutritional values, better drought and disease resistance, and improved seasonal responses.

Ravensdown is confident its diversification from the core fertiliser business will pay.

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AGRIBUSINESS 21

Paediatric product move at WestlandWESTLAND SUPPLIERS can look forward to their processor moving more of their milk up the value chain from next season. The Hokitika-based cooperative last week announced a multi-mil-lion dollar investment in a state-of-the-art paediatric nutritional product plant.

“It’s principally about adding more value,” chief executive Rod Quin told Rural News.

The work, which will involve modifying one of Westland’s four dryers, increases capacity but how much depends on the products to be made.

Infant milk powders, which can be as little as 20-30% milk solids, are the slowest and require more batching, while growing-up milk product (GUMP) is typically 60-70% milk so allows a higher through-put.

“The reality is these products are reasonably slow compared to pro-cessing raw whole milk powder.... We produced 90,000t of finished prod-uct in the season just gone. This year with that plus milk growth we’ll be looking at close to 100,000t.”

The modified dryer should be ready for next season’s production.

This latest announce-ment is hot on the heels of additional drying capac-ity being commissioned at

Hokitika, and the coopera-tive’s expansion into Can-terbury.

Last month a reverse osmosis plant next door to its office at Rolleston came on stream. The plant will take roughly half the water out of what are its first season’s collec-tions in Canterbury before they’re railed over the Southern Alps to Hokitika.

Quin is coy about the volume of supply West-land has picked up in Canterbury but says it is already sufficient to jus-tify the osmosis plant. A proposal to build process-ing capacity at Rolleston hasn’t been approved by the board yet.

“We are delighted with the outcome of the Rolleston and Hokitika projects which were com-pleted on time and budget and have positioned us well to take the next step in our growth phase.”

The paediatric formula plant is that next step, giving the co-op capacity to market its new nutri-tional product capabilities at scale before considering a dedicated plant, Quin says.

“If we’re successful at Hokitika it will give us the confidence to move for-ward with a dedicated plant.” Whether or not that will be at Rolleston remains to be seen.

Rolleston is just 17km up SH1 from Synlait’s Dunsandel site. Synlait’s second dryer there, a spe-

ANDREW SWALLOWcialist unit capable of making infant formula among other mixes, was commissioned last month.

Quin says Westland’s investment will help trans-

form it from a medium sized commodity dairy company into a growth oriented, value added and higher margin dairy prod-uct manufacturer.

Bright future: Westland’s reverse osmosis plant at Rolleston was completed on time and budget, says chief executive Rod Quin.

Seed deal ‘last plank’ in Ravensdown farm inputs strategy

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Lamb Market Trends Beef Market Trends

Lamb Prices

c/kgCWT ChangeLast Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

NI Lamb YM - 13.5kg n/c 7.82 7.82 5.66

PM - 16.0kg n/c 7.84 7.84 5.93

PX - 19.0kg n/c 7.86 7.86 5.94

PH - 22.0kg n/c 7.87 7.87 5.94

Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 4.60 4.60 3.45

SI Lamb YM - 13.5kg n/c 7.58 7.58 5.26

PM - 16.0kg n/c 7.58 7.58 5.83

PX - 19.0kg n/c 7.58 7.58 5.84

PH - 22.0kg n/c 7.58 7.58 5.84

Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 4.08 4.08 3.15

NZ Slaughter Estimated Weekly Kill

1000s Change2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

Lamb NI +19% 116 97 108 117

Lamb SI +5% 75 71 51 62

Lamb NZ +13% 191 169 160 179

Mutton NZ -28% 15 20 14 18

Export Market Demand

ChangeLast Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

UK Leg £/lb -4 2.40 2.44 1.90 1.47

NZ$/kg +11 10.42 10.31 9.02 8.14

Procurement Indicator

Change2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

% Returned NI -1% 76.4% 77.1% 66.5% 52.9%

% Returned SI +0% 72.9% 72.7% 66.0% 61.9%

Venison Prices

ChangeLast Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

NI Stag - 60kg +5 8.85 8.80 8.00 7.51

SI Stag - 60kg n/c 9.20 9.20 8.05 7.83

NZ Weekly Lamb Kill

0

150

300

450

600

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last YearThis Year

Demand Indicator - UK Leg Price

£1.50

£2.00

£2.50

£3.00

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - South I.

45%

55%

65%

75%

Jul Sep Nov

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - North I.

50%

60%

70%

80%

Jul Sep Nov

Last Year

This Year

Beef Prices

c/kgCWT ChangeLast Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

NI P2 Steer - 300kg n/c 4.50 4.50 4.15

M2 Bull - 300kg n/c 4.27 4.27 3.98

P2 Cow - 230kg n/c 3.50 3.50 3.41

M Cow - 200kg n/c 3.20 3.20 3.23

Local Trade - 230kg -5 4.48 4.53 4.33

SI P2 Steer - 300kg +5 4.35 4.30 4.00

M2 Bull - 300kg +5 4.05 4.00 3.70

P2 Cow - 230kg +5 3.15 3.10 2.83

M Cow - 200kg +5 3.05 3.00 2.75

Local Trade - 230kg +5 4.25 4.20 4.13

NZ Slaughter Estimated Weekly Kill

1000s Change2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

Cattle NI -13% 14.1 16.2 15.6 12.7

Cattle SI +7% 4.4 4.1 3.9 4.0

Cattle NZ -9% 18.5 20.3 19.5 16.6

Bull NI -50% 0.9 1.8 1.3 1.3

Bull SI +100% 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3

Str & Hfr NI -11% 8.6 9.7 8.5 6.7

Str & Hfr SI 0% 3.3 3.3 2.7 2.9

Cows NI -2% 4.6 4.7 5.8 4.7

Cows SI +29% 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.8

Export Market Demand

ChangeLast Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

95CL US$/lb -5 1.89 1.94 1.73 1.53

NZ$/kg +14 5.33 5.19 5.24 4.79

Procurement Indicator

Change2Wks Ago

3 Wks Ago

Last Year

5yr Ave

% Returned NI -2% 80.1% 82.3% 76.39% 80.6%

% Returned SI -2% 75.0% 77.1% 71.6% 73.6%

NZ Weekly Beef Kill

0

20

40

60

80

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last YearThis Year

Demand Indicator - US 95CL Beef

$1.20

$1.40

$1.60

$1.80

$2.00


Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - South I.

55%

65%

75%

85%

Jul Sep Nov

Last Year

This Year

Procurement Indicator - North I.

60%65%70%75%80%85%90%

Jul Sep Nov

Last Year

This Year

Market Snapshot Meat

North Island South Island

c/kgCWTChange

c/kgLast Week

Changec/kg

Last Week

Lamb - PM 16.0kg n/c 7.84 n/c 7.58

Steer - P2 300kg n/c 4.50 +5 4.35

Bull - M2 300kg n/c 4.27 +5 4.05

Venison - AP 60kg +5 8.85 n/c 9.20

North Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$3.5

$4.5

$5.5

$6.5

$7.5

$8.5


5yr AveLast YearThis Year

South Island 16.0kg M Lamb Price

$3.5

$4.5

$5.5

$6.5

$7.5

$8.5



North Island 300kg Bull Price

$2.5

$3.0

$3.5

$4.0

$4.5



South Island 300kg Steer Price

$2.5

$3.0

$3.5

$4.0

$4.5

$5.0



North Island 60kg Stag Price

$6.0

$7.0

$8.0

$9.0



South Island 60kg Stag Price

$6.5

$7.5

$8.5

$9.5


5yr Ave

Last Year

This Year

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

Hatuma Dicalcic Phosphate® is always there when and how you

need it, to ensure your operation runs smoothly.

After all, Hatuma Dicalcic Phosphate® has a dedicated network

of nationwide manufacturers working exclusively with Ballance

Agri-Nutrients to ensure you get consistent supply.

Hatuma has been showing that dedication to farmers for more

than 50 years. So deal with the team committed to reliability, by

calling 0800 80 65 65 or contact your local Ballance Technical

Sales Representative or Altum Field Consultant.

‘It’s available when I need it, and that’s good for my business’.

John Wood, Sheep and Beef Farmer, Northland

STRONGSUPPLYNETWORKTR

ACTA

3800

6-RN


Beef

South Island cattle prices firm Export cattle prices in the North Island held steady last week. A 300kg cwt bull is averaging $4.27/kg with 300kg cwt steers earning $4.50/kg. Slaughter numbers continue to fluctuate week on week with the latest weekly slaughter statistics showing a 13% drop on just a fortnight ago. Tight supplies and an easing of the kiwi dollar should help to underpin North Island returns in the weeks ahead. Export cattle prices in the South Island firmed again last week. This takes the price of a 300kg cwt bull to $4.05/kg while 300kg cwt steer prices have firmed to an average of $4.35/kg. The volume of cattle for slaughter has picked back up according to the latest estimated slaughter statistics and this could be put down to the improved demand from processors but there are indications that some plants are set to close for maintenance in the coming weeks.

US imported beef market not so flash US imported beef prices look set to remain under pressure which will likely have a negative influence on manufacturing beef prices back here. The heavy offload of cows for slaughter combined with record numbers of cattle being placed on feed in the US as a result of the drought will see beef production surge in early 2012. It is expected that the US domestic market will be well supplied with cattle into next April. The mass offload of beef cows in the US will continue to boost overall manufacturing beef supplies, limiting the need and price for imported beef. Any decline in production will not show up until next May at the earliest according to US industry analysts. From there demand for imported beef is likely to improve.

Lamb High supplies fail to dent prices Export lamb prices in the North Island remained unchanged at $7.82/kg nett last week despite a dramatic surge in the number of lambs coming forward for slaughter. The latest kill statistics shows a 19% (or 19,000 head) jump on the previous week as farmers finally decide to push the offload button. Some are heeding the warning from plants that they are going to be tough on hoggets teeth this year with others worried about a further possible hike in the discount for heavy end lambs. Export lamb prices in the South Island also held last week with a 16kg cwt lamb netting $7.57/kg on the hooks. Slaughter numbers remain well above normal for this time of the year but prices have yet to see any downwards pressure from the additional supplies. This is perhaps an indication that volumes could drop off soon.

Set to push over the 19 million head mark With the 2010-11 slaughter season drawing to a close, the national lamb kill looks on track to scrape past 19 million head. The latest statistics show 18.8 million lambs have been slaughtered. Season to date slaughter rates are still trailing last season by over 1.7 million lambs. But the tighter supply situation becomes a lot clearer when the current season’s kill is compared to five-year average slaughter rates. Historically by this time of the season New Zealand has normally slaughtered close to 24 million lambs.

Venison Venison prices lift by 20c/kg through September Demand to fill the lucrative spring chilled venison orders to our overseas markets has prompted strong upward movements in slaughter prices over the last month. The increase in prices offered has also lifted slaughter rates. Indicator prices for an AP 60kg stag in the South Island last week were averaging $9.20/kg. This price is $1.15/kg higher than this time last year. In the North Island prices firmed to an average of $8.85/kg last week, 80c/kg stronger than a year ago.

Currency Watch

vs. NZ DollarLast Week

2 Wks Ago

4 Wks Ago

Last Year

US dollar 0.782 0.824 0.831 0.728

Euro 0.578 0.595 0.577 0.546

UK pound 0.508 0.522 0.510 0.465

Aus dollar 0.799 0.798 0.793 0.766

Japan yen 59.66 63.26 64.21 62.01

Euro

0.50

0.55

0.60

0.65


Last Year

This Year

UK Pound

0.40

0.45

0.50

0.55


Last YearThis Year

US Dollar

0.65

0.75

0.85

0.95


Last YearThis Year

Wool Price Watch Dairy Price Watch

Indicators in NZ$ Change 22-Sep 15-Sep Last Year Indicators in NZ$/T ChangeLast 2 Wks

Prev. 2 Wks

Last Year

Coarse Xbred Indic. +10 6.23 6.13 3.86 Butter +43 5220 5177 5627

Fine Xbred Indicator -5 6.52 6.57 4.33 Skim Milk Powder +43 4279 4236 4358

Lamb Indicator - - - - Whole Milk Powder -120 4233 4353 4666

Mid Micron Indic. - - 9.57 7.13 Cheddar -16 5220 5236 5456

Overseas Price Indicators Overseas Price Indicators

Indicators in US$/kg Change 22-Sep 15-Sep Last Year Indicators in US$/T ChangeLast 2 Wks

Prev. 2 Wks

Last Year

Coarse Xbred Indicator -4 4.98 5.03 2.79 Butter -100 4300 4400 4100

Fine Xbred Indicator -17 5.22 5.39 3.14 Skim Milk Powder -75 3525 3600 3175

Lamb Indicator - - - - Whole Milk Powder -213 3488 3700 3400

Mid Micron Indicator - - 7.85 5.16 Cheddar -150 4300 4450 3975

Wool Indicator Trends

250

350

450

550

650

750

Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul

CXI FXI LI

Coarse Xbred Indictor in US$

150

350

550

750


Last Year

This Year

Coarse Xbred Indicator

250

350

450

550

650

750


Last Year

This Year

Dairy Prices Trends

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug

SMP WMPBut. Ched.

Whole Milk Powder Price in US$/T

3,000

3,200

3,400

3,600

3,800

4,000

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Last Year

This Year

Whole Milk Powder Price (NZ$)

3,500

4,500

5,500


LastYearThis

Wool Indicator in US$

185

285

385

485

585

685

Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul

CXI FXI LI

Dairy Prices in US$/Tonne

2,500

3,500

4,500

Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug

SMP WMPBut. Ched.

Hatuma Dicalcic Phosphate® is always there when and how you

need it, to ensure your operation runs smoothly.

After all, Hatuma Dicalcic Phosphate® has a dedicated network

of nationwide manufacturers working exclusively with Ballance

Agri-Nutrients to ensure you get consistent supply.

Hatuma has been showing that dedication to farmers for more

than 50 years. So deal with the team committed to reliability, by

calling 0800 80 65 65 or contact your local Ballance Technical

Sales Representative or Altum Field Consultant.

‘It’s available when I need it, and that’s good for my business’.

John Wood, Sheep and Beef Farmer, Northland

STRONGSUPPLYNETWORKTR

ACTA

3800

6-RN


EDITORIAL

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24 OPINION

Dirty old king ColesA MUCKER of your old mate’s recently returned from Queensland’s dairy farmers’ annual confer-ence where a man from supermarket giant Coles was among speakers.Coles is in the gun across the ditch for marketing milk as a $A1/litre loss leader. It’s forcing cockies off the land.Tensions were high and after fielding some abuse, Coles’ man quickly exited stage right, straight into a waiting media scrum.Fair go to Coles’ man for fronting, but New Zealand’s dairy farmers, particularly those not supplying Fonterra, take note. Coles screws Aussie farmers because they can.

Better put out the RWC begging bucketsWHAT WAS the New Zealand Rugby Union thinking about last week when it announced New Zealand might not be able to afford to go to the next Rugby World Cup? It prompts the ques-tion how many mana-gerial leeches are the All Blacks having to support? Next NZRU will be putting begging buckets out at the quarter-finals. With countries like Rumania, Namibia and Georgia having made it halfway round the world to play here, the NZRU should button it, and learn to cut its cloth accordingly. It was not a good look.

Korda Mentha content to waitNEWS THAT Crafar Farms receiver Korda Mentha is content to wait for the Overseas Investment Office to rule on Pengxin’s offer for the farms came as no surprise to this old dog. Every month that goes by means more manage-ment fees for the receiver, so what’s the rush? What would be really inter-esting is if Sir Michael Fay’s offer had beaten the Pengxin bid. What would KM’s response have been then?

Far-flung annual meetingsWHAT’S THIS trend to rotating annual meet-ings? We’ve had Ballance in Napier, Ravensdown in Nelson, and Fonterra is off to Whangerei. The argument is they’re more accessible to share-holders. True, but only once every ten years or so when the coopera-tive comes to you. Other-wise it’s twice as difficult to reach the meeting as it would be in a main centre. It’s a convenient ploy for boards who don’t want to face too much flak from farmer share-holders. Maybe a confer-ence centre at Fox Glacier, or perhaps the Chathams, would prove popular.

Jersey jerky anyone?MCDONALD’S AND Angus Pure’s burger marketing success – not to mention Merino NZ’s and SFF’s moves with Silere – got your old mate pondering what other meaty marketing tricks might we be missing: Romney ribs? Simmental steak? Or even Jersey jerky? Let’s face it, by the time those skinny old girls reach the slab they’d probably produce chewiest jerky ever. New Zealand Pure Jersey Jerky, the toughest taste sensation in town. How’s that for a sales’ pitch?

Farming for fresh waterTHE PAST fortnight has seen water, and farm-ing’s influence on it, back in the headlines. Rotorua hosted a week-long International Dif-fuse Pollution Conference and then the auditor-general, Lyn Provost, released a report on four regional councils’ management of freshwater.

On the face of it, the news isn’t good. Many fingers are pointing at farming as the source of the problems, particularly through non point-source or diffuse pollution of water by nitrates, phosphates, sediment and bacteria.

But is it really news? In New Zealand farm-ing’s been the fall guy for water quality prob-lems for decades. And not without justification. The industry is facing up to this, identifying the practices we now know to be causing problems. Unfortunately, the benefits will take time to show up, and when they do, they’re unlikely to make front-page news in the mainstream media.

NIWA principal scientist Bob Wilcock says the institute’s ten-year study of dairy farming’s effect on water quality – he relayed the findings at Rotorua – is the only robust study available. Funding for the work “will stop just as we are getting to see further benefits of best practice being adopted by farmers and new approaches to environmental management,” he told Rural News. Those approaches include the National Freshwater Policy Statement, and audited self-management such as the Clean Streams Accord and Fonterra’s Every Farm, Every Year.

At the same conference, other speakers explained how wetlands can work wonders, either restoring already-degraded water qual-ity, or preventing deterioration in the first place.

Wilcock’s NIWA colleague Chris Tanner showed that as little as 1-5% of a river or lake catchment in wetland can reduce nitrogen con-tent of the waterway by 20-50%. Wetlands, or at least riparian plantings, are also great for trap-ping faecal matter, phosphate and sediment in surface run-off from farmland.

Decades of development have destroyed most of these natural filtering and flood miti-gating mediums. The farmer-bashing fraternity take this as another opportunity to have a dig, but in truth much of the development was Gov-ernment driven.

Today’s Government needs to take the ini-tiative and reverse the process by incentivising landowners in targeted areas accordingly: buy them out, or compensate them for lost produc-tion and pay a fee to see the wetland reinstated and managed to deliver desired results. Regional councils threatening to regulate farmers in prob-lem catchments to the point of insolvency need to be stopped and shown a better way.

“So what sort of lambing percentage are you expecting from your electorate sheep?”

EDNA


OPINION/LETTERS 25

ag twitsRural News’ irreverent and hypothetical look at

what’s happening in the farming world

Top Bleats view all

aferrierexfonterra: My work at Fonterra is done and the thing I’m most proud of is the record payout. That’s the $20-odd million in salary I earned during the past 8 years. #creamedit

dnicolsonact2@drdonbrash: I thought I was joining ACT not the bloody Greens. I know you’re in favour of growing the economy... just not that growing economy! #dopeymove

fonterrapr@henryfonterra: Mr Chair, only talk positives when discussing former chief executives’ tenure. No mention of San Lu, the 2006 capital-raising debacle, milk price inquir-ies, dirty dairying or PKE imports. #spiningit

drdonbrash: Ahhhhhhh, I believe it is both fiscally prudent and electoral palatable for ACT to support legalising marijuana. Frankly, our polls numbers are so low we really need a high. #desperate

henryfonterra@aferrierexfontera: Andrew, this just goes to show how Fonterra is truly a wealth-producing international company: we make international executives wealthy! #bigbikkies

dcarterminofag: Popular agriculture minister hopes to be even more popular with farmers after Government’s recent ETS announcement to leave ag sector out. #goodmove

rnormangreenmp: Whinging Aussie ex-unionist predictably whines about imminent destruction of earth and end of humankind following recent Government ETS announce-ment on ag sector. #yadayada

profarobb: Long-forgotten New Zealand academic of some unknown overseas univer-sity relishes chance to rehash his decade-old claims about the demise of Fonterra’s co-op structure #sameoldstory

mfaymultimillionaire: Former well-known flogger of New Zealand’s strategic assets keeps a straight face during failed attempt to secure Crafar farms by playing the nationalist card. #worthacrack

WRITE AND WIN!Got a gripe? Want to air an issue? Rural News welcomes your letters on all matters affecting farming and/or the rural community. To boot, Skellerup has thrown in a pair of classic Redbands for one lucky letter writer every issue. So pull out the pen or keyboard and write, e-mail or fax The Editor.

Send to: Letter to the Editor PO Box 3855, Auckland 1140. Email: [email protected]. fax: 09-307 0122

The winner of this issue’s Redbands is Ashley Robinson, Woodend, Canterbury.

Correspondence should be brief and to the point. Rural News reserves the right to edit letters as necessary. Please supply name and locality for

publication, plus contact details in case of need for clarification.

AS A Fonterra supplying dairy farmer I write in support of farmers raising concerns regarding TAF (trading among farmers).

I believe strongly that Fonterra is a co-operative with all suppliers equal and treated equally. I am concerned, however, that farmer trading of shares means not all farmers will be equal as existing farmers will potentially face a loss on share value due to no co-operative regulation. This will impose a barrier within the co-operative, in my view, and erode the good faith of co-operative members.

I am also concerned the Prime Minister indicated the poten-tial listing of the cooperative on the sharemarket. Any non-supplier ownership of Fonterra shares threatens the principles of the co-operative, and this is a step in the wrong direction.Joy Burke, Waimate

SUPPORTING TAF CONCERNS

THE SITUATION with school bus regulation and observance by motorists is ludicrous and dangerous. Anyone who has lived or driven in the US knows school buses there are painted bright orange. New Zealand buses are poorly identified with a variable and usually small sign. Supposedly there is now a provision buses may be painted yellow. Secondly, US buses have large lights back and front which flash orange as they slow down and red when they stop. All traffic – in both directions – must stop, except on a divided highway. In my experi-ence this regulation is well obeyed. Again NZTA has

approved flashing lights that bus companies may put on their buses. Is there any solid evidence that the 20km/h speed limit in New Zealand is less likely to result in injury? We know anecdotally that this rule is poorly observed here. Data published by NZTA show that since 1980 seven persons have been killed and 55 seriously injured in school bus inci-dents. What is wrong with Kiwi drivers if they can’t spend a couple of extra seconds and actually stop when a school bus is loading or unloading passengers? Ashley RobinsonWoodend, Canterbury

SCHOOL BUS SITUATION LUDICROUS

IN RESPONSE to Jacqui Dean, MP for Waitaki (‘Give dairying a break’, Rural News, Sept 20), I can’t speak for Labour or the Greens but I vote Green and I am certainly not anti-farming as you assert.

Food and its clean and healthy production are dear to my heart and stomach. I can’t think of another person who wouldn’t feel the same

way. Your comments that the Greens are anti-farming are old, tired and incorrect.

Time for a new campaign strategy perhaps?

I live rurally, I vote Green with pride, and I support the many farmers who actively and thoughtfully work to improve the environ-ment by sustainable farming practices, as

does the Green Party with its ‘Good Farm Stories’ (www.green.org.nz) launched 2009 and praised by Federated Farmers chief executive Connor English.

What I don’t support is industry of any sort knowingly polluting the environment that feeds us all, and as an MP neither should you. Leanne SteelPukeatua, Waikato

GREEN VOTER NOT ANTI-FARMING


though most of the ser-vice was in Tongan, it was obvious when the minister was particularly anxious to drive home a point to the players – his arm waving , fist pumping and the stir-ring singing of ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ leaving no doubt as to what was expected.

The women of Tonga also have significiant influence and play a piv-otal role in Tongan society.

At the conference, attended by 230 rural women from New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Timor L’est, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Tuvalu, Cook Islands and Western Samoa, speakers included the former Tongan Minister of Justice, the former Minister for Communications and Information and other high ranking officials from the Ministries of Education and Health – all Tongan women.

A food and nutrition workshop was hosted by the Women’s Division of the Ministry of Agricul-

ture, Food, Forestry and Fisheries.

Pacific Island dele-gates joined with scien-tists from the Australian CSIRO to discuss climate change and compare expe-riences of what was hap-pening with the weather, sea levels and impacts on their agricultural projects at home.

There was a lost oppor-tunity here because there were no statistics made available as to what impacts climate change is having on individual islands, if any.

The information from delegates was anecdotal and focussed on individ-ual perceptions of flood and drought; why crops grew well one year but not the next. There was doubt about the reality of climate change.

Unlike in New Zea-land, where the debate has moved on to how we are going to pay for it, it seems many in the Pacific are still not sure there is any sig-nificant or unusual change at all. And, any funding

available would be better spent on growing agricul-ture and exporting.

ACWW is a world-wide organisation which promotes rural women in business – whether that be by funding a small sewing project in Papua New Guinea, or larger health and education related endeavours, such as refur-bishing a boarding school in Fiji. The plan for the project has to come from the women who pres-ent their case for financial or technical input them-selves.

Rural Women New Zealand members have recently given money for water tanks so that village families can store clean water and given seeding money for micro-lending facilities to get self-help projects started.

Fencing out the roam-ing pigs and chickens makes a big difference to the food growing capa-bility of a rural family in Tonga. Fencing in the pigs and chickens makes a meat business.

EIGHT DAYS in Nuku’alofa during the buildup to the opening of the Rugby World Cup left our group of rural women in no doubt about the importance of rugby in the Kingdom of Tonga.

There for a South Pacific area conference of the Associated Coun-trywomen of the World (ACWW), our last day co-incided with the first day of the tournament. A holi-

day was declared for the people of Tonga. On the main island of Tongat-apu, whether in town or country, decorated cars and vans roared round the streets all day.

Early the following morning as we made our way to the airport, there were still remnants of rev-ellers and fans wandering about. But the pigs, chick-ens and dogs, which confi-dently roam free especially

in the rural areas, were undisturbed as they ambled down the road in search of food from rub-bish piles and vegeta-

ble patches. At low tide, even the pigs go fishing in Tonga, but these are not wild animals: they belong to families and everyone knows who owns what.

The ACWW offi-cial Sunday church ser-vice, which also served as a farewell exhortation to the Ikale Tahi [Tongan] team, took two hours and was attended by hun-dreds, including members of the royal family. Even

26 OPINION

Pigs, chooks vital to island economy

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Our group were left in no doubt about the importance of rugby in the Kingdom of Tonga.


OPINION 27

Potential and problems in China

CHINA’S AVERAGE annual per-person con-sumption of meat increased from 20kg to 50kg between 1985 and 2000. By 2030 it is esti-mated the figure will be 120kg per person (simi-lar to that of Americans and New Zealanders) for the urban population, but rural people will still be eating only 40kg; the Chi-nese average will be 85kg per person per year.

Milk consumption is currently no more than 10 litres per capita per year, in comparison with 84 litres for the average American and 90 litres for the aver-age New Zealander. The Chinese consumption of butter and cheese is neg-ligible whereas in the US 2.1kg of butter and 16kg of cheese are consumed per person per year, and New Zealanders consume 6.3kg butter and 7.1kg cheese each.

If the Chinese wester-nisation of diet contin-ues to dairy products in the same way that it has in meat, an awful lot of cows will be needed.

China is already con-cerned about environmen-tal pollution and impact of agricultural production systems on waterways. Its constitution stipulates that “the state protects and improves the living environment and eco-

logical environment, pre-vents pollution and other public hazard,” but it has a population increase of 13 million people a year. Urbanisation is increasing as well, increasing pres-sures on the peri-urban productive land that pro-vides about 70% of current dairy and vegetable needs.

Now at least 900 local rules and regulations apply to environmen-tal protection and man-agement of resources. However, enforcing the regulations is difficult. The government has acknowl-edged the rapid growth of the economy has been at the expense of even faster damage to resources and the environment; Chi-na’s environmental prob-lem is actually a crisis, and immediate action is required.

The government’s goal is to increase agricul-tural production sustain-ably and control pollution at source. This is pos-sible with the increas-ing number of modern housed-animal facili-ties such as those being developed by Fonterra near Beijing. For these dairies greenhouse gas (GHG) emission per kg of milk solid are best prac-tice and point sources of pollution can be cap-tured. For the traditional small dairy herd, however, GHGs are three times greater than best prac-tice, and the potential for contamination of water-ways with effluent is high. The case is similar for pig-geries; although there are some efficient production houses.

At least part of the problem is that farm-ers in China are regarded as ‘peasants’. They are mostly poorly educated and because children have been encouraged to seek education in cities, and not come back, the rural population is ageing. Corporate farming with housed animals is

being discussed openly.New Zealand’s greatest

potential to assist China in moving into sustain-able agricultural produc-tion is likely to be through

precision agriculture and engineering. Housing ani-

mals and processing the edible product (milk and meat) near the population hubs makes sense but only

if sustainable methods of bringing in fodder and managing effluent can be developed.

In the meantime, animal protein for human consumption can still be exported to China with a small GHG footprint – and the food is known to be ‘safe’. The New Zealand brand continues to be the

main selling point.• Jacqueline Rowarth is Professor of Pastoral Agriculture, Massey University. She attended the annual China Association of Science and Technology Conference in Tainjin as part of the Science Promotion strategy supported by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

China’s environmental problem is actually a crisis, and immediate action is required.SCIENTIFICALLY

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MANAGEMENT 29

Whole farm focus for nationwide tree days Key themes to be addressed during the workshops

include:• Trees in the farm business: integrated land use

strategies generating diverse revenue streams – spreading risk and cash flow, and enabling short-term and inter-generational/succession planning.

• Trees as a land management tool: fit-for-purpose planting – erosion control, riparian management/water quality, weed control, managing trouble spots and protecting valuable soils.

• Integrating trees with livestock: trees for shelter and fodder, animal welfare issues, impacts on animal health, productivity and profitability.

• Trees and ETS: planting to offset on-farm emissions.

Workshop themes

A THREE year programme of Sustain-able Farming Fund-supported work-shops on the role of trees on farms will start in November.

Organised through New Zealand Farm Forestry Association branches, the workshops break new ground with their ‘whole farm’ approach and region-specific content, says the ssso-ciation.

Project manager Ian Nicholas says nearly every farm in New Zealand has land difficult to farm or marginal in some way.

“In these situations trees can pro-vide better returns than traditional farming, as well as creating an on-farm asset that, when mature, will provide farmers with a range of finan-cial options.”

But farmers need more informa-tion about the multiple benefits, short and long term, of tree planting, as well as the practical specifics of tree spe-cies selection, planting and manage-ment, he says.

“Many have put the idea of plant-ing trees in the too-hard basket, partly

because of lack of knowledge of the best tree species to plant, and where, and also because in recent years many farmers have been in survival mode and tree planting has not been on their radar.

“More fundamentally they haven’t been able to see where trees fit in their particular farming operation and how they can contribute directly to the bottom line.”

The ETS is creating renewed inter-est in tree planting amongst land owners throughout New Zealand, says Nicholas.

“For farmers, planting woodlots is an excellent way to offset on-farm carbon emissions, but to gain the maximum benefit from these wood-lots, and for optimum establishment, the right species need to be sited in the right areas – where the land will benefit most from trees, and where returns from stock are marginal.

“Farmers need targeted informa-tion in a forum and style that best suits their business and decision making processes. They want to know

how to site trees most effectively within their particular farm land-scape to augment farm income and address land management issues such as erosion-prone land, offset carbon emissions and to comply with local government requirements.”

Each day-long workshop will include local case studies, Agfirst experience including use of Farmax modelling, panel discussions and field trips. Video clips of successful farm foresters from the local NZFFA branch will show local farm tree suc-cesses.

Written information and hard copies of presentations will be pro-vided, plus a CD of workshop pre-sentations, interviews with local farm foresters, and electronic hand-books outlining best practice growing and management of the major farm forestry timber species: redwood, cypresses, eucalypts and blackwoods.

Tane’s Trees Trust, Agfirst and regional and unitary councils are also supporting the planned 25 workshop/hui programme.

Ian Nicholas

Trees have helped protect steep slopes at Wensleydale, Whangara, near Gisborne.

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30 MANAGEMENT

FAR’s Rob Craige helps South Canterbury grower Colin Hurst get to grips with the Aquatrac package at a recent workshop.

Crop irrigation tool tuned-up

ANDREW SWALLOW

AQUATRAC, THE crop irrigation scheduling tool devel-oped by Plant & Food with FAR funding, has had an upgrade.

About 35 growers attended workshops late last month to learn how to run the new model which predicts the water requirements for 10 different species.

“It’s got all the main crops, but we don’t have some of the niche ones,” FAR’s Rob Craige told Rural News.

The main change from the original launched last year is it now downloads weather data from NIWA instead of users having to copy and rekey records.

Weather data is also more accurate now, tuned to pad-dock location with NIWA’s virtual climate station calcu-lation which looks at the nearest two or three weather stations and works out what was likely to have happened at the grower’s grid reference.

Another upgrade is a screen shot facility showing the priority order to irrigate paddocks. Paddocks can be blocked according to irrigation system, so a centre pivot area can be managed separately from a block with rain guns, for example.

Craige says feedback on the system last year was that it was good on crops with full canopy but needed some interpretation for later sown spring crops where ground cover wasn’t complete.

“Now the grower can input an estimate of crop cover and it will adjust the evapotranspiration accordingly.”

Even growers who’ve been irrigating for years, and have soil moisture sensors, could benefit from using the tool, he believes.

“It’s a learning tool as well as an irrigation scheduling tool. You might use Aquaflex as one guideline [when to irrigate]; this is another.

“Also, soil moisture sensors like Aquaflex only measure the moisture in the one or two paddocks where they are, and at the point in the paddock where they are. Using a range of tools will give you a better idea of where the whole paddock is at.”

“Using a range of tools will give you a better idea of where the whole paddock is at.”

invites all levy payers to their

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Nominations are open for Farmer Council positions for Upper Waitaki/Mackenzie

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MANAGEMENT 31

Catches remain now gift duty gone

Owen Cooney

LEGISLATION PASSED recently by Parliament abolished gift duty effec-tive October 1.

This effectively means the old limit of $27,000/year no longer applies and gifts of more than this can be made without there being any liability for gift duty taxes. (Note this relates only to gifts between ‘natural persons’ including family trusts and where the ‘natural love and affection’ requirement is satisfied.)

People might now assume it will be in their interests to simply go to their lawyer and for-give all indebtedness they have with any family trust formed by them. But this issue must be treated with caution.

For instance: in respect of residential resthome subsidies, the previ-ous policy of the Minis-try of Social Development (MSD) was to focus on the ‘gifting period’ of five years immediately before an application was made. However, MSD now intends to police situa-tions which fall into the definition ‘deprivation’ of property or income. Included in the defini-tion of deprivation is gifts of more than $30,000 in total during the five years immediately prior to a resthome subsidy appli-cation; or if (at any time) before the ‘gifting period’ gifting occurs above $27,000 in any one twelve-month period. This is to be calculated on a per-appli-cation basis, so it is there-fore effectively per couple.

The definition of depri-vation covers other situa-tions as well as the above and, accordingly, anyone considering making a gift should seek advice on what effect this might

have on their ability to get a residential care subsidy.

Section 346 Property Law Act 2007 makes it clear that a disposition by gift or without receiv-ing “reasonably equiva-lent value in exchange” by someone who is insolvent can be set aside. Accord-ingly, before any gift or other such disposition is made, a review of that per-son’s solvency situation (both before and after the gift) needs to be taken into account.

Section 344 Property Law Act 2007 provides

that the court can set aside certain dispositions of property that “prejudice” creditors. This includes certain transfers of prop-erty to a trust. Property is defined as everything capable of being owned, whether it is real prop-erty or personal, tangible or intangible property and includes the proceeds of any property.

Recent court decisions indicate the courts are willing to utilise these pro-visions to satisfy a credi-tor’s claim.

If a spouse or part-ner has received an inher-itance and loaned the inheritance money to a trust, it is likely to be in their interest to retain the advance by way of loan. Whilst the inheritance is a loan to the trust, it is pos-sible for it to have retained its status as separate prop-erty. However if the loan is forgiven, then it may be difficult to argue that the amount continues to be separate property in the event of a relationship breakup.

The above is merely a summary of some key issues arising from the proposed change to the gift duty legislation. It is important for anybody to get detailed advice in relation to their own cir-

OWEN COONEY cumstances before under-taking any gifting, whether they fall into one of the above categories or not.• Owen Cooney is a partner

in law firm Cooney Lees Morgan. Based in Tauranga, he specialises in family business and commercial property investment advice.

The information in this article is general and cannot be relied on as specific advice. Contact your advisor before taking any action.

If a spouse or partner has received an inheritance and loaned the inheritance money to a trust, it is likely to be in their interest to retain the advance by way of loan

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Think yield not cost when drilling crops

Every cultivation cuts soil moisture.

IF YOU ask a farmer har-vesting a no-tillage crop how much the process costs he may not know or even care because he expects the crop return to more than cover the har-vesting cost. But ask the same farmer when he’s drilling his crop how much that’s costing and he could probably tell you to the last cent.

At harvest, he is think-ing about returns, at drill-ing he is thinking about costs. The reasons are understandable. At drill-ing, returns are at least three months away and yield is expected to be more affected by weather and things other than the drill. But is this really the case?

In conventional till-age it nearly always is but in no-tillage it is another matter. Everyone knows poor tillage affects final yield but with no-till-age everything a range of tools would have done is now done by just two: the sprayer and drill.

No-tillage drill openers have a big influence on the microenvironment seeds and seedlings experience,

whereas in tillage, the cul-tivation tools rather than the drills have the most influence.

A seed’s microenviron-ment is largely determined by how the drill manages the surface residues. Since there are no surface resi-dues in tillage, they play virtually no role at all.

In no-tillage, the more crop residue left the better, as it improves soil structure and carbon con-tent. This demands drill openers that can handle and manage lying residues. Many can’t.

Seed microenviron-ment also influences how seeds derive water for ger-mination. In dry condi-tions no-tillage gets the benefit of vapour-phase soil water as well as liquid-phase water. Tilled soils rely almost entirely on liquid soil water as vapour

TACKLING TILLAGEJOHN BAKER

water escapes each time the soil is disturbed.

No-tillage drill open-ers also influence aeration around seeds and seedling roots in wet soils, as do tillage tools in convention-ally cultivated seedbeds. The openers are key to the consistency of seeding depth in no-tillage, which is more of a challenge than on cultivated ground which should be soft and smooth.

Compaction by some no-tillage openers adversely affects seed-ling root development, and openers influence seed cover and fertiliser placement. Consequently the opener design is piv-otal, whereas in tillage it is

much less so.All no-tillage prac-

tices, and minimum tillage to a lesser extent, reduce establishment costs to well below conventional tillage. The key question is: should a farmer aim for the cheapest no-tillage drill or a more sophisti-cated and therefore more expensive model that will improve crop yield?

The US Department of Agriculture created a spe-cial calculator to answer that specific question. Based on two machines – one costing twice as much as the other to buy – and sowing 200ha of wheat/year or 100ha of turnips, for the two machines to have the same net costs

of operation there would only have to be about a 2% difference in yield of wheat at $400/t or a 9% better output of turnips valued at 20c/kg DM.

Not surprisingly, increasing the annual area drilled, as a contrac-tor might, reduces the percentage differences required between the two machines.

Practice shows some sophisticated no-tillage drills sometimes achieve 100% increases in crop yield, and 20-50% gains are common. When no-tillers think returns, not costs, they will almost always find it is a false economy to simply choose the cheapest drill.

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32 MANAGEMENT

Think yield not cost when drilling crops

Every cultivation cuts soil moisture.

IF YOU ask a farmer har-vesting a no-tillage crop how much the process costs he may not know or even care because he expects the crop return to more than cover the har-vesting cost. But ask the same farmer when he’s drilling his crop how much that’s costing and he could probably tell you to the last cent.

At harvest, he is think-ing about returns, at drill-ing he is thinking about costs. The reasons are understandable. At drill-ing, returns are at least three months away and yield is expected to be more affected by weather and things other than the drill. But is this really the case?

In conventional till-age it nearly always is but in no-tillage it is another matter. Everyone knows poor tillage affects final yield but with no-till-age everything a range of tools would have done is now done by just two: the sprayer and drill.

No-tillage drill openers have a big influence on the microenvironment seeds and seedlings experience, whereas in tillage, the cul-tivation tools rather than the drills have the most influence.

A seed’s microenviron-ment is largely determined by how the drill manages the surface residues. Since there are no surface resi-dues in tillage, they play virtually no role at all.

In no-tillage, the more crop residue left the better, as it improves soil struc-ture and carbon content. This demands drill open-ers that can handle and manage lying residues. Many can’t.

Seed microenviron-ment also influences how seeds derive water for ger-mination. In dry condi-tions no-tillage gets the benefit of vapour-phase soil water as well as liquid-phase water. Tilled soils rely almost entirely on

liquid soil water as vapour water escapes each time the soil is disturbed.

No-tillage drill open-ers also influence aeration around seeds and seedling roots in wet soils, as do till-age tools in conventionally cultivated seedbeds. The openers are key to the con-sistency of seeding depth in no-tillage, which is more of a challenge than on cultivated ground which should be soft and smooth.

Compaction by some no-tillage openers adversely affects seed-ling root development, and openers influence seed cover and fertiliser placement. Consequently the opener design is piv-otal, whereas in tillage it is

much less so.All no-tillage prac-

tices, and minimum tillage to a lesser extent, reduce establishment costs to well below conventional till-age. The key question is: should a farmer aim for the cheapest no-tillage drill or a more sophisticated and therefore more expensive model that will improve crop yield?

The US Department of Agriculture created a spe-cial calculator to answer that specific question. Based on two machines – one costing twice as much as the other to buy – and sowing 200ha of wheat/year or 100ha of turnips, for the two machines to have the same net costs

of operation there would only have to be about a 2% difference in yield of wheat at $400/t or a 9% better output of turnips valued at 20c/kg DM.

Not surprisingly, increasing the annual area drilled, as a contrac-tor might, reduces the percentage differences required between the two machines.

Practice shows some sophisticated no-tillage drills sometimes achieve 100% increases in crop yield, and 20-50% gains are common. When no-tillers think returns, not costs, they will almost always find it is a false economy to simply choose the cheap-est drill.

TACKLING TILLAGEJOHN BAKER


ANIMAL HEALTH 33

Unnecessary copper costs dearlyTEST FOR copper defi-ciency to avoid causing toxicity with unnecessary supplementation.

That’s the headline message in recently pub-lished research by Richard Laven, senior lecturer in production animal health at Massey and fellow Massey University scien-tist Peter Wilson.

In a monitored study, year-old stags were

divided into two groups and injected simultane-ously with either 0.8 or 1.6 mg of mg/kg Cu or no copper at all.

Blood samples and liver biopsies collected 1-17 days later showed those injected with the higher dosage had elevated activ-ities of gamma-glutamyl transferase and glutamate dehydrogenase which indicated injecting with copper induced a moder-ate degree of subclinical hepatopathy. Both groups of treated animals also showed decreased live-weight gain compared with those untreated during the 17 day period.

Laven says deer were

just an example spe-cies used at the time, but there is definite evidence to show over-supplemen-tation of Cu has toxicity problems associated with it, whether it is with deer, sheep or cattle.

“Probably the toxicity in cattle is a bigger concern but certainly from a deer point of view there is a big issue with people using copper unnecessarily and it is more toxic in deer than in

dairy cattle.“It’s not that they are

getting too much copper; it’s because the copper is being absorbed too quickly. It goes straight from the [injection] site to the liver.”

In cows the same thing can happen but because they are less sensitive it’s only when a high copper feed is being used and an injection is given that problems tend to be seen. High copper in palm kernel can cause the liver to get overloaded with copper but “it’s more of a chronic problem than an acute one,” he notes.

“With our deer study we took some animals that

BARBARA GILLHAM

Deer are particularly sensitive to copper over-dosing says Massey vet Richard Laven.

were normal for copper so they had no evidence of any deficiency and it was part of a trial for testing a copper product. We gave it to them and the animals that got the double dose lost significant weight and showed evidence of renal damage which copper causes.

“The conclusion we got from that is if you are going to supplement deer with copper you need to work out how much you are supplementing already, check the deer and the nature of their status, and if their status is reasonable you don’t need to do it.”

Laven has no doubts many farmers are over-supplementing stock with copper which could be avoided by more accu-rately assessing feed con-tent and the copper status of the animals.

“Seek professional advice and ask: is this sufficient? Do I need to

COPPER (Cu) deficiency is not as common as many think, says Laven.

“A lot of people think copper is this ‘magic thing’ so they give their stock more, but it isn’t and we are seeing more cases of copper toxicity as a result.

“A lot of people out there are supplementing copper because that is what they have always done and they want to prevent copper deficiency, but they can and should do testing because their animals are probably never going to get it.”

Increased use of palm kernel which “contains quite a bit of copper” is a change in practice that should be taken into account.

“Where it gets complicated is if you have high molybdenum,” says Laven. The molybdenum prevents copper absorption from feed. Some farms that have identified a copper deficiency will be wasting money on oral supplements as a result, he warns.

There’s also an issue with advisers telling farmers certain mineral levels should be attained without evidence it’s really necessary.

A study by former AgResearch scientist Neville Grace of stock on farms in Waikato found many had no need for supplement. Grace echoes Laven’s comments about copper, and also urges testing and monitoring, particularly in autumn.

Wider message

change what I am doing?“If you have been

spending a lot of money on supplements, the simple thing to do is get a liver biopsy done at the abattoir. That will tell you how much copper you’ve got and can tell you if you need to be doing what you’re doing.

“If you find you’ve got copper toxicity, that can be costing you thousands of dollars.

“It’s a lot of money [which] you can easily recoup for a small amount spent on testing.”• Laven and Wilson’s paper is published in New Zealand Veterinary Journal, July.

Treated animals also showed decreased liveweight gain compared with those untreated during the 17 day period.

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34 ANIMAL HEALTH

More not always better: paradigm shift needed?

THE PRODUCTIONIST paradigm ‘more is better’ can have animal welfare downsides and in some circumstances will need a rethink, says a Massey

University expert.Prof David Mellor, a

speaker at a recent inter-national conference on veterinary and animal ethics in UK, says the pro-duction philosophy is now understood to have some

undesirable effects on animal behaviour, physi-ology, health and welfare, genetic diversity and the environment.

With animal welfare science emerging as a dis-cipline in its own right,

there is general interest in exploring how ethical con-siderations may inform decisions on what are and not acceptable farming practices, Mellor says.

“Farmers will need to show they are aware of

PETER BURKE

such multidimensional thinking on these mat-ters if they wish to retain public support for their methods.

“Images of debilitated, dying or dead newborn animals presented with increasing regularity by the media are particularly potent.

“They heighten public concern about neonatal suffering on farms.”

Mellor says calf induc-tion, now in the public spotlight, has dwindled to low numbers, but the very nature of the practice concerns the public. In particular this applies to suffering a calf may expe-rience after it has been induced.

“The fact calves cannot suffer if they never suc-cessfully breathe air, and therefore remain uncon-scious, gives little assur-ance to those observers strongly affected by seeing those calves as they are dying,” he says. Such images have been an issue in the dairy industry phas-

ing out ‘non-therapeutic’ inductions.

Mellor says giving birth ‘in the wild’ is rec-ognized as hazardous and it’s normal for some young animals to die. Some level of neonatal death is unavoidable even when the best care is provided.

But in intensively or semi-intensively managed livestock systems there is a greater opportunity, and possibly an obligation, to practise euthanasia.

“For example it may be argued induced calves that are struggling to breathe and clearly will not survive should not be left to die of their own accord, espe-cially if there is any like-lihood they may become conscious,” Mellor says.

The same criteria should also apply to any conscious lamb, calf or piglet whose survival is unlikely because of “seri-ous functional impairment or debility.” The issue then is what method would be used to euthanase such animals.

LAST YEAR saw the lowest number of animals used in research, testing and teaching since the introduction of the Animal Welfare Act 1999, says the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee (NAEAC).

The total of 242,149 animals in 2010 was a decrease of 18.5% on 2009 and the rolling three year average – a truer reflection of animal use because of the way statistics are reported – was down 0.5% and 2.9% from 2008.

The uses were for husbandry and veterinary research, basic biological research, and testing the safety and effi-ciency of animal health products. The animals most com-monly used were rodents, farm animals and fish.

“A drop in the number of animals experiencing high or very high impact manipulations – down just over 19% – is always gratifying,” says NAEAC chairperson Dr Vir-ginia Williams.

“As a committee we are committed to the ‘three r’s – the reduction, refinement and replacement of the use of animals in life sciences.”

Any research, testing or teaching involving live animals in New Zealand must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of Part 6 of the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and must be approved by an Animal Ethics Committee (AEC).

NAEAC’s annual report is at www.biosecurity.govt.nz or by request from [email protected]

Animal research count drops

It’s normal for some young to die, says Massey animal welfare expert David Mellor.


nine cows. Not all of these would develop masti-tis, Thatcher says, but the threat is there, because any flaw or nick in the liners will retain bacteria. He recommends changing liners every 2500 milkings (every cow milked = one milking) or twice a year.

Irregular pulsation leading to backjetting of milk can also cause bugs to be reintroduced to the udder. Inspect-ing teats, particularly on young cows, could show

up machine inefficiency. Constant vigilance is nec-essary, identifying and keeping infected cows sep-arate, and milking them last.

A long dried-off period can help reduce suscep-tibility. He recommends post-milking stripping of 50-60ml of any infected quarter, using a clean glove each time. Bugs can’t spread from quar-ter to quarter internally, so drying off one infected teat can help.

ANIMAL HEALTH 35

Prevention key with mastitis

MASTITIS PREVENTION is better than cure, espe-cially in an organic herd, says Alan Thatcher of Massey University.

Thatcher, involved in a five year trial com-paring two small farms – one organic, one con-ventional – says because teat skin has no oil glands, it is prone to drying out. That makes it suscepti-ble to damage, providing homes for bacteria which can invade the milk duct where they breed and mul-tiply.

Streptococcus uberis and Staphyloccus aureus, two mastitis-causing bac-

teria, are normal resi-dents in many cows’ gut and faeces. Consequently, keeping the race close to the shed clean will help reduce transfer of bacte-ria into the shed. Thatcher says ensure the camber on both sides is a slope of 1:12 to allow rain to wash it clean and drain it.

Infection from pasture is less of a risk on all but the shortest rounds. “In pasture the bugs don’t live longer than two weeks, so with a longer rotation pastures are ‘clean’ by the next round.”

Stress, be it from inad-equate feed, bullying, or

A hefty dose of mastitis in an organic dairy herd can be very difficult to treat. So research and advice from Massey University trials presented at a recent Waikato organic farmer and supporter group was welcome. Sue Edmonds reports

DAIRYNZ ORGANICS expert John Vosper, who has just transferred from Manawatu to South Waikato, says from experience he supports the ‘prevention rather than cure’ concept.

“That last 100 metres of the race can be a hazard for introducing the bacteria into the dairy shed,” he says, echoing Thatcher’s point.

“Checking teats, lowering stress levels when hunger, behaviour or weather are causing prob-lems for cows, and keeping the milking plant in good order are all good basic ideas which must be followed, particularly by organic farmers who haven’t got antibi-otics to fall back on when things go wrong.”

weather such as persistent rain, can markedly reduce a cow’s immune response.

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36 ANIMAL HEALTH

Synchronised heifers least risk option with sexed semenPROSTAGLANDIN SYN-CHRONY is the least-risk option when using sexed semen with heifers, says supplier Liberty Genetics. The Hamilton firm says it is seeking to identify

the most cost effective options for using sex-sepa-rated sperm in dairy herds. With Animal Breeding Services it did 4500 trial inseminations in spring 2009 and more in winter

and spring 2010. The 2009 results showed an aver-age 11% depression of con-ception rate, with a 4-20% range, compared to con-ventional semen.

That result was across

a variety of synchronised and natural mating sce-narios from which the project team was able to determine techniques and advice “that should pro-duce satisfactory results at

a sustainable price,” says the firm.

“The least risk option is a prostaglandin based synchrony program in the yearling heifers at the start of mating.”

A limited commercial release of the technology has been approved by the board. However an LIC injunction has prevented sales. A court decision is expected later this month.

Farmers who suc-cessfully use heifer syn-chrony and sexed semen can double genetic gain, says Liberty Genetics. It also means the bottom half of any such herd can be available for higher value beef cross matings, with shorter gestation and much easier calving.

The cash flow from the first crop of beef-cross calves will more than cover the heifer AI cost. Extra days in milk and fer-tility are also likely. Herds in expansion mode can increase replacement availability about 40%.

Sexed semen has been marketed in the Northern Hemisphere for ten years and production peaked at

4 million straws per year. However, conception rates are known to be depressed 8-12%. The sexed semen also requires extra care and attention in handling.

Liberty Genetics and Animal Breeding Services (2007) received govern-ment and industry funding to research and optimise implementation of sexed semen in the New Zealand market.

Government funding and an equity deal with ABS provided a sufficient base to encourage Sexing Technologies to set up a lab in Hamilton.

Liberty Genetics and ABS say that with support from AgResearch they lead the world in the applica-tion of sexed semen as a fresh product.

Embryo production with sexed semen to pro-duce preferred-sex calves is another value opportu-nity, the firm says.

All heifers? They could be if and when sexed semen is available.

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ANIMAL HEALTH 37

New welfare policy for trucking stock

A NEW code of welfare issued this month lays down recommended best practices for transporting animals.

The Animal Welfare (Transport within New Zealand) Code of Wel-fare 2011 was developed by the National Animal Wel-fare Advisory Committee (NAWAC). It encourages all those responsible for animals during transport to adopt the highest stan-dards of husbandry, care and handling. The code came into force on Sep-tember 16.

NAWAC deputy chair Hilton Collier says trans-port can be a time of great stress for animals. It is important it is done well.

“The purpose of this new code of welfare is

to encourage everyone involved to minimise the stress placed on animals by adopting the high-est standards before and during transport.

“The code covers all animals and all forms of transport within New Zealand – air, land and sea. Minimum standards cover stockmanship, plan-ning, equipment design and maintenance, prepar-ing and selecting animals for transport, loading and unloading, and the pro-vision of food, water and rest.”

Collier adds that spe-cific requirements for transport in emergencies and emergency humane destruction are also included.

The code was drafted

and reviewed by compa-nies and organisations involved in the commer-cial transport of animals by road and sea, farm-ers, veterinarians, animal advocacy groups and envi-ronmental agencies.

Agriculture Minister David Carter says animal handlers must become familiar with the relevant codes. He warns failure to meet a minimum stan-dard in a code could lead to legal action.

What is the purpose of this code of welfare? Transport can distress animals. The code

describes the minimum standards of care and management for transporting animals and encour-ages carriers to adopt the highest standards of husbandry, care and handling, and to equal or exceed the minimum standards.

The recommendations for best practice are intended to encourage standards of care over and above the minimum. Advice is given to encourage owners and operators to strive for a high level of welfare.Who does this code apply to?

All persons transporting live animals within New Zealand by land, air or sea waters (including to and from the Chatham Islands).

Under the Act the ‘owner’ and the ‘person in charge’ of an animal are responsible for meeting the legal obligations for welfare.What animals does this code apply to?

All live animals (terrestrial and aquatic) being transported within New Zealand on land, air or water (including to and from the Chatham Islands).

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38 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Italian still taking to the hillsTWENTY FIVE years after it was launched – notably with patented, indepen-dent front braking –there’s still no hill-country trac-tor better than the SAME Explorer, says Power Farming’s national prod-uct manager Ken Bill.

Well-specced, even-tually becoming well-regarded, this utility tractor suited New Zea-land farming conditions.

Now Power Farming is “ramping up the pres-ence of the SAME brand,” Bill says.

“The brand has had a positive perception over many years, and the Explorer has long been something of an iconic model for SAME.”

With wet and dry clutch options, the Explorer range “offers price points well suited to most farm capital bud-gets” and the offered gear-

box combinations can make just the right match with the demands typical of farming here, Bill says.

Two models are offered: entry-level Explorer 85 naturally aspi-rated, and Explorer 95 turbo-charged models. The naturally aspirated SDF engines are known to be dependable – they’re simple and durable, Bill says.

Of the three patents registered over the trac-tor, the independent front braking remains the stand-out. The current Explorer is still the only tractor in its class to offer such a feature, coming today as oil immersed discs on all four wheels, run through a hydraulic braking system.

The Explorer’s sta-bility has contributed to its popularity for steep work, Bill says. The key to this is low centre of grav-

ity, and a wide (2100mm) wheel track front and rear. Tyres are 540/65R34 tyres front, 480/65R24s rear). The machine achieves an aim said to be long-held by SAME designers: even weight distribution across the tyre profile so that soil compaction is minimal.

In its dry clutch option the 85 and 95 offer a 20:20 gear selection with mechanical selection. A wet-clutch version (Deutz powered), the Explorer GS 85 (to 110 hp) has a 40:40 gear range through a hi-lo power shift.

An ‘overspeed’ fea-ture allows the Explorer to be driven on the open road in economy-mode top gear, or matching the engine to conditions using lower gear ratios. This gives a 12% improvement on fuel economy, Bill says. German Profi magazine has rated Deutz diesels

as leaders for economy, averaging 10% better than other engines in the equiv-alent class.

Bill cites two key design features as the reasons:

1) An individual ‘wet’ fuel pump supplying each injector is driven by the camshaft and lubricated

by the tractor’s oil supply. When a tractor is run on bio-diesel this is critical to eliminate the corrosive effect of such fuel.

2) Short fuel lines mini-mise resistance and maxi-mise fuel-flow pressure for a higher, constant rate of delivery to the cylinder.

Similarly, the hydrau-lic system has a pump separate from the power steering – no compromise when the steering is work-ing hard. Rear hydraulics will lift 5.1 tonnes. And a four-speed PTO includes a feature rare on utility tractors, Bill says: an ‘eco’

500rpm and 1000rpm power selection. The ‘eco’ matches power to the task being done; with low demand implements, e.g. spray pumps, the engine can run at a lower crank-shaft speed, saving fuel. Tel. 07 902 2284www.powerfarming.co.nz

Independent front braking, on which SAME holds a patent, distinguishes the Explorer.

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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 39‘Organic, not magic’ORGANIC CERTIFICA-TION is expected soon for the BioMagic Ltd soil con-ditioner EFX, the com-pany says. The product was launched here last year.

EFX contains nutrients and 90 trace elements suf-ficient to sustain the biol-ogy for at least a year, BioMagic says. The nutri-ents include bacillus aero-bic bacteria, several fungi, actinomycetes and other aerobic organisms – molas-ses, fish, kelp, humic acid and fulvic acid.

Corn, potatoes and kiwifruit are said to be doing well as a result of the product.

And DOC is trialling it in treatment of diseased kauri trees. EFX turns soil aerobic and it is expected the phytofura disease

threatening the kauri will be eliminated because phy-tofura requires anaerobic conditions.

BioMagic says EFX reduces magnesium bio-logically, ‘balances’ soil and biologically reduces con-taminants such as copper or salt. ‘It rapidly restores soil biology eradicated by over use of chemical fer-tilisers.”

As a soil conditioner it

will “biologically release fertiliser to plants.”

“EFX is extremely eco-nomical and in most cases only 1 L/ha is required. It is easy to apply and can be used as a foliar spray, applied any time of year.”

It converts organic matter into plant available nutrients, creating healthy soil and maintaining soil moisture and oxygen levels.

Users are said to report

increases in health and new growth of citrus trees and larger crops, and sweeter tasting fruit, cauliflowers, broccoli and cabbages.

Peter Bennett, Te Puke, last year used EFX on a horse paddock where the pasture “quickly turned dark green with good grass and clover growth. The horse manure broke down faster than previously and soon disappeared.”

And citrus grower Jat-inder Singh is reported to have used EFX on citrus trees which “had not put on new growth for two years, but within a few weeks of applying EFX had new shoots. We had the biggest ever crop of sweet fruit.” Tel. 09 418 4575www.impactnz.info

After (left) and before using EFX.

Maize yield hits recordHUMATE HAS lifted maize yield to a record high on a King Country farm, reports supplier NZ Humates, Mt Maunganui.

Humate is a ‘super-compost’ applied in the base fertiliser dressing.

The company says Fertco customers Graeme and Ellie Voyce, Piopio, recently won the Pio-neer Maize for Grain Yield award for greatest yield in the 38P05 variety. NZ Humates says the yield of 15.2 tonne/ha – with moisture of 21.6% – is an

outstanding yield for the cooler district and 50% higher than the expected norm.

Another impressive yield on the Voyce’s prop-erty was that of newer variety P9400, which yielded 17.2 tonne/ha. The area on which the maize was grown is predomi-nantly miroa ash soil, used for maize grain for the past five years.

Says Graeme Voyce, “The inclusion of humate in the base fertiliser dress-ing seems to have been the icing on the cake of a good growing season. We did get dry in early summer

but the crop didn’t seem to suffer.”

Voyce applied humate at 100kg/ha with dical-cic phosphate and potash. Their Fertco rep says the farm used dicalcic phos-

phate because it gives a sustained release of phos-phate over the grow-ing period. Also, because miroa ash soils have a high phosphate retention the dical suffers less from soil lock up.

The humate came about when potash prices increased sharply in 2009 and Voyce was keen to save a few dollars on inputs, not knowing the likely return for his grain.

In 2009 they substi-tuted 50kg of potash for 75kg of humate and the results were positive, so last year they applied 100kg of humate and again

50kg less potash than nor-mally recommend.

NZ Humates says humate is super-concen-trated compost. “But vol-umes much smaller than compost are required and it can be blended with any fertiliser for simple and cost effective application.”

Graeme and Ellie Voyce, King Country.

Dressing make-up• Soil tested, use lime to alter the pH to 6.0.• Base fertiliser: 200kg/ha Dical8, 100kg/ha

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40 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Pride of place for steel yardingAN INCREASING number of cattle farmers are look-ing at how they can make electronic identification work for them to maxi-mise their herd’s perfor-mance. However, regardless of how good the technol-ogy is, if working cattle through your yards is one of those man-ver-sus-beast battles you put off until you have to do it, then regular weigh ses-sions to monitor each ani-mal’s progress is not going to happen. Likewise if the yards need repair or are in the wrong location for convenient use.

As with the dairy shed, workshop or shearing shed, the cattle yard is an important work area and on the beef block or dairy runoff is the one oppor-tunity to observe each animal closely. It there-fore figures that if work-ing your cows through the yards is a safe, low stress and positive experience then you’ll do it more often.

A yard layout that lets you do the handling tasks safely and efficiency is important, as is the method of animal contain-ment (headbail or cattle handler). Equally impor-tant is the strength and type of materials used in the yard and its installa-tion.

Wood initially may be cheaper but it lacks the longevity, low mainte-nance or relocatability of steel yards.

For steel yards to remain in good working order, with gates swinging freely and panels and link-ing points straight and in line, the yard components need to be strong enough for the more testing situa-tions likely to arise.

Two bulls proving their mettle or a lone animal desperate to return to the mob are obvious sce-narios where the yard’s infrastructure may be impacted. But keep in mind other situations that can cause the cattle to move unexpectedly such as a cow bulling, litter flap-ping in the pen, or a dis-traction outside the yard.

All too often the yard’s strength is either over-estimated or compro-mised.

As with wood, there are different grades of high steel available. Light panels and gates use a narrower profile of rail and are designed for use in low-pressure hold-ing areas of the yard and for lighter classes of stock (calves and smaller breeds). They are also more convenient to carry for portable yards.

For high-pressure han-dling areas such as gates, lead-in and force pens, loading and drafting pens, and for heavy/larger adult cattle and stock not used to yards or human con-tact, a heavy panel is more suitable. These panels use heavy-duty rail that has a

thicker wall and wider pro-file, which also makes it more visible to the stock. All beneficial to the opera-tor and stock.

In addition, Tech-niPharm yards have an unsurpassed 10 year bend-it-or-replace-it warranty providing great handling, comfort and protection of the investment.

The gateway is a high pressure area of any yard – wood or steel. Gates have to withstand impact and pressure on them when open and closed, and hinges need to be up to the job. Can the gate be opened back fully and fastened flush against the rails? Or does it sit ajar, at risk of damage when the mob press against it or an animal becomes wedged behind it? Gate latches

should be simple to use, accessible from both sides and either of a style or position to reduce the like-lihood of an inquisitive cow inadvertently opening the gate.

With steel yards, how the gates and panels are aligned and linked with the each other, and how they are anchored to the ground, are important for stability.

If the yard is to remain on site for the long term then a concrete base under the force pen, race and handling area are recom-mended. This ensures a level, easily cleaned work area to bolt the yards to. www.technipharm.co.nzTel. 0800 80 90 98 • Belynda Norrish is a cattle handling specialist at Technipharm Ltd, Rotorua.

Wood initially may be cheaper but it lacks the longevity, low maintenance or relocatability of steel yards.

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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 41

Even spread to ‘last kilogram’FRENCH FERTILISER-spreader maker Sulky, working in a recently opened plant, has launched three models, reports the New Zealand distributor.

The new DPX mounted spreaders are DPX18 (width 9-18m, capacity 1500kg), DPX24 (12-24m, 2100kg) and DPX28 (12-28m, 2800kg); this latter model is offered with Vision WPB (on-board continuous weighing).

But wait, there’s more, Sulky says. Even larger are the X12-44 spreaders (the X36 and X44 – 36m and 44m) and the Polyvrac XT trailed spreaders (capacity 7200 L and 9500 L, up to 44 m wide).

A notable feature is precise spreading width control: the feed chutes accurately regulate the width by modifying the point where the fertiliser drops onto the discs, says Sulky. So the operator

need never change cogs, plates or vanes, even when spreading late during a season. One result is con-stant flow “practically to the last kilogram of prod-uct.”

For horizontal distribu-tion, “multi-overlapping is achieved via graduated spreading vanes of differ-ent lengths.”

Moderate, constant rotation speed, even at the machine’s maximum working width, ensures granules are projected in accordance with their physical characteristics, an essential point for accu-rate ground distribution, Sulky says.

The desired working width can be set logically using the “continuously” adjustable Sulky chutes; the working width is increased by increasing the setting in the graduated quadrant and vice versa.

And a device called Tri-bord (an option on the

DPX18 and DPX24) is con-trolled electrically from the driver’s cab, ensur-ing minimal waste when spreading at the edge of a plot. Tel. 06 356 4920www.sulky.co.nz

Vintage vision clarifiedAPOLOGIES to Kaipara Vintage Machinery Club and its president Bruce Galloway for the errors bedevil-ling our story on them last issue – ‘Vintage vision’, p 55.

We incorrectly referred to the Dargaville club as Northland Vintage Machinery Club; that club is at Whangarei. And we renamed Bruce Galloway as Bruce Galsworthy.

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ONE PASS CULTIVATION


42 MACHINERY & PRODUCTSNEW COMBINED premises at Morrinsville for Piako Mitsubishi and Piako Tractors are reported to be impressing the locals. The opening on September 23 allowed proprieters Darrell and Catherine Russell and staff to show the facility to the region’s customers, farmers, suppliers and others.“We’ve added 3000m2, including 1800m2 of workshop space for the two businesses, so we can handle all the machines we sell and can service them on site,” says Russell.The latest Massey Fergusson tractors, hay and silage machinery, and Mitsubishi cars and utes were on display.Inset: Darrell Russell.

Only heater you’ll ever needFROM AMERICA’s Pacific Northwest, the home of lumberjacks, treestumps – they call Portland ‘Stumptown’ – and Boeing aircraft, comes a new cen-tral-heating wood burner.

With a difference.It’s the Greenwood Frontier CX

wood ‘gasification’ boiler. It will heat your water and, incidentally, your space, if installed in your basement. Or it may be installed in a garage or shed.

Your reporter recalls seeing, inside the front door of a German home, an imposing ceramic-tiled solid fuel burner from a bygone era. The Green-wood could serve in such a location.

The maker, in Bellevue, WA, near Seattle, says it will not smoke or require you to haul out the ash more often than monthly.

Greenwood Heating, Timaru, holds the distribution rights for New Zealand and the company’s Stuart Loveday displayed the fire at

National Fieldays. Obviously New

Zealand is not short of wood burners or wetbacks, but com-bustion efficiency and low emissions now rule, and in these the Green-wood shines. Effi-ciency is 89% and it meets EPA (Envi-ronmental Protec-tion Agency) Phase 2 emission standards, the benchmark for modern, clean-burning boilers in North Amer-ica, says the maker.

And the winter workload is reduced: wood need not be split to burn and, as said above, the ash dis-posal is less onerous.

The key concept is ‘gasification’. Temperatures attained by gasifica-tion in the ceramic firebox reach 1000oC, almost completely burning the wood, and so leaving little partic-

ulate matter to exit as smoke, creo-sote or ash. Combustion gases leave the furnace at average 175oC.

The firebox is made of ‘super-duty’ cast ceramic refractory with walls designed for best efficiency.

Arriving next year is the Frontier LX model (14.5-38kW) and the Fron-tier MX (26-66kW).Tel. 03 684 [email protected]

NEIL KEATING

KEY SPECS (CX MODEL)• Operating range 9-22kW.

• Peak output 32kW.

• Delivered output per firebox 146.5kWh.

• Min/max supply water temperature 60oC/90oC.

• Fuel type: log wood.

• Maximum log length x diameter 530 x 350 mm.

Stuart Loveday, of Greenwood Heating, with a Frontier.

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MOTORING 43

Flagship XJ ‘even more special’

Landy’s cafe cruiserIN A sneak preview, Rural News got to see the first Land Rover Evoques to land in New Zealand.

This much-hyped new release is a compact cousin of the Range Rover with the emphasis on style and the style-conscious as its target buyer.

The styling is dramatic yet retains enough Land Rover DNA to be instantly recognisable as part of the clan that includes the Free-lander, Discovery, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Vogue.

Less obvious is the family con-nection to the stalwart Defender.

The Evoque can apparently still manage itself well enough off-road though, limited only by its reduced ground clearance, restricted wheel travel and lack of a low-range trans-mission.

Off road ability will be academic though. This car will sell better in the city than the country.

Having said that, the wagon version looks like it would be a practical vehicle and it should perform well – it’s powered by the latest common-rail diesel or a turbocharged petrol engine married

to a six-speed automatic.The interior is decked out with

the leather and high equipment levels you’d expect from the Landy brand these days.

Pricing also reflects the upmar-ket position of the brand, starting at $79,990.

Available in both 5-door and Coupe forms, it will have three spec-ification levels: Pure, Dynamic and Prestige, and extensive personal options such as accessories, equip-ment and styling packs.

Deliveries begin November.

THE 2012 Jaguar luxury ‘flagship’ XJ sports sedan is arriving in New Zealand.

For $155,000 buyers can enjoy high specs, including a ‘rear seat com-fort pack’ allowing a mas-sage, electric adjustment of the backrest recline angle and four-way lumbar support. The pack is stan-dard on the long wheel-base Supersport model and an option on the others in the XJ range. Increased comfort is also provided by new winged headrests and rear seat footrests.

A new interior colour combination reflects buyers’ preferences.

The Jet/Ivory option has ivory seating with con-

trast jet stitching, piping and upper surfaces while the headlining is available in either colour, according to customer preference.

“An XJ should be the ultimate in comfort, design and refinement. The bespoke interior

changes in the 2012 model make it an even more spe-cial car,” says Paul Rick-etts, brand manager for Jaguar New Zealand.

The original XJ was the last car designed by Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons.

“Revolutionary, not

evolutionary, the XJ is truly a product of the 21st century and is the clear-est indication yet of the singular sense of purpose behind design director Ian Callum’s vision for the future of Jaguar,” the com-pany says.

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44 RURAL LIFE

People the heart of rugby clubsAs Rugby World Cup fever sweeps New Zealand, Rural News brings you this exclusive extract from the ‘On the Sidelines’ chapter of recently published book Our Game, detailing what makes our rugby clubs tick.

‘WHAT’S THE secret of our club?’ Ask a member of one of New Zealand’s 590 rugby clubs this question, and you won’t hear about their club’s new deck, the hot showers that thaw the frozen, the floodlights that took 10 years to fundraise for, or the new sand-based

field that’s almost too flash to play on. Instead, you’ll hear a variation of the Maori proverb He tan-gata! He tangata! He tan-gata! The most important part of our club, you’ll be told, is our people.

For a club is a com-plex and interdependent

ecosystem. The 15 play-ers in the senior team are backed by reserves and a raft of coaches and help-ers—trainers, strappers, physios, waterpersons. There are the marshals—referees and linesmen, scorekeepers and ground-skeepers—and then, side-

line, an army of volunteers cooking, cleaning, pouring pints and maintaining club assets—the clubrooms, the finances, the equip-ment.

People like Walter Pease of Whangamomona, which hides off Tarana-ki’s Lost Highway. Wal-ter’s a local boy and, bar a couple of seasons when he played in the big smoke, for Eketahuna, he’s played for Whanga. Now 36, the contract digger-driver and farmer’s hitting his peak as a clubman. He’s currently treasurer, coach of the U6 Little Rippas and working-bee controller. He wasalso hooker for the seniors

until the club dropped out of regular competition in 2000: Whanga has been struggling for numbers as the farms get bigger and the farmers fewer.

“We still get a team together and have about four games a year,” he says.

“You’ll have heard about the Dean Cup? No? Holy hell – it’s the oldest continuously contested rugby trophy in New Zea-land. It’s played between us, Strathmore and Toko.” Bull Allen was roped in for a few games, Reuben Thorne (who lived in Whanga briefly as a kid) has been approached.

For length of ser-vice, you can’t go past Pukekoke’s Owen and Doris Reeve. They’ve been helping out at Wesley College for 40, maybe 50 years; no one knows for sure. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, they open the tuck shop down by the main rugby field. Now in their 80s, this is their last year on the job.

“They’re the kauma-tua,” the Rev Steve Tema says, “the elder states-persons of the school. They’re cherished. Anyone who does the food in this place… well, let’s just say they’re very close to the

boys’ hearts. Those hot pies, the chips, the lollies… the boys love them.”

Down in Ngongot-aha, Hika the Hooker’s old club, Owen Sircombe, 52, is the resident Trojan. “When there’s a job to be done,” club president Mike Beckett tells me, “Owen’s the ‘go-to’ man.

“He does everything. He puts the flags out. Cleans the changing sheds. Runs the water on for the premiers.”

He’s a Ngongotaha legend and the club, Mike says, are just as proud of him. When Owen returned from the 2007 Shang-hai Special Olympics with two golds in 10-pin bowl-ing, the club put on a huge bash. It was the least they

could do.Then last year, Mike

presented Owen with the club’s dress shirt at prize-giving. Each shirt has the Ngongotaha logo with the name of the team – say, Senior A – embroidered below. Under Owen’s club logo it simply read, ‘Club Stalwart’.

Down in the deep south, in Invercargill, you’ll find Martin Muir and Zane Soper operat-ing Rugby Park’s clock and scoreboard. They’ve been doing it for about 100 years, people say—and it’s only a slight exaggeration.

Working out of the ‘new’ hut – it was built in 1960 – the two cover every game played here. Martin,

Stalwarts of Invercargill’s Rugby Park, Martin Muir and Zane Soper.

Makeshift posts, St Bathans Domain, Otago.

TO PAGE 45

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RURAL LIFE 45

slightly older – he’s in his mid 80s – has been involved in rugby for more than 70 years. He and Zane both played, then became refs—Martin’s a past pres-ident of the New Zealand Rugby Referees Associa-tion—and have moved mountains for their club, Star. You can’t keep them away.

“They’ve just lived rugby,” a Southlander tells me. “That’s been their life. They’ve given so much.”

Love of the game is a major motivation, love of community another. Put-ting something—putting others—before yourself. It’s the very definition of

teamwork. It’s what, at its best, is at the heart of the New Zealand game. Ask yourself where else in the world would the presi-dent of the national union know most of a club’s junior players by name, help out at their train-ings, chip in with team talks, even occasionally put the flags out on Sat-urday mornings. But for NZRU president Bryan ‘Beegee’ Williams, Pon-sonby patriot, it’s all in a week’s work.• Our Game is published by New Zealand Geographic. Order from www.nzgeographic.co.nz. RRP $49.99

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JUST OVER one year ago Rural Women New Zealand launched its chunky cookbook A Good Spread: Recipes from the Kitchens of Rural Women New Zealand.

Published by Random House, it has already notched up nearly 13,000 sales, “a great result for any New Zealand book,” an RWNZ spokeswoman

told Rural News.The following baked

jam or fruit pudding recipe from the 360-page tome is a favourite with Rural News’ editor Andrew Swal-low’s family.

“It’s a good way to use up frozen fruit before this year’s starts to come in and it’s quick and easy,” says his wife Imke.

“You just mix all the

ingredients and pour them over the top [of the fruit].”• The book is available online, at bookstores, or from RWNZ (Tel. 04 473 5524). RRP $34.99 ISBN 978 1 86979 314 2.

The heart of rugbyFROM PAGE 1

Chopping champ at Canty A&PAXEMEN AT Canterbury A&P, Nov 9-11, will be up against the best in the world – literally.

World champion lumberjack, Jason Wynyard, is a regular competitor at The Show and recently won his tenth Stihl Timbersports Series Championship, a record in the history of the competition.

Wynyard also holds the world record for the standing block at 12.11 seconds, one of the most physically exhausting disciplines requiring a 12-14 inch vertical white pine log to be severed with blows from both sides of the log.

Show event director Rae Finlay says the chop-ping is “a unique combination of when rural life meets sport.”

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46 RURAL TRADER

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