FARMING sheep definitely has a future but it will require a substantial lift in prices and a recovery in crossbred wool return to be economically sustainable, say farmers and sector leaders.
Those spoken to urge sheep farmers to stay positive and to plan for the long term, though exporters think it could be late this year or early next before lamb prices recover.
Prospects for a significant turnaround in wool are less obvious.
Farmers are looking at their options as they respond to falling lamb prices, with Hawke’s Bay ram breeder Matt Holden saying some clients plan to cut sheep numbers by 5-10% and run more cattle.
Beef + Lamb NZ (BLNZ) is forecasting farm profits will halve this year, following a 29% drop in 2022-23, squeezed between low returns and high input costs.
The effect plunges sector profitability to levels last seen in the 1980s, forcing some farmers to seek off-farm work to stay afloat.
Leaders say this is driven by the persistent underperformance of crossbred wool but also weak demand for sheepmeat in China and competition from Australian lamb.
New Zealand lamb prices are currently 12% lower than last season and 13% below the five-year average, but, significantly, prices have not followed normal seasonal fluctuations, remaining relatively stable through the mid to late part of the season.
South Otago farmer Simon Davies is working off farm to pay for fertiliser and knows of other farming couples using alternative employment to stay afloat. The lift in returns from sheep that farmers say is needed, suggests a tectonic shift from current levels.
South Canterbury sheep farmer David Irving believes store lamb breeders need to average $100/lamb and finishers $150/ lamb.
Wairarapa ram breeder Derek Daniell said wool prices of $10$15/kg are required, a level that would once again make sheep a dual-purpose animal and could increase gross income off hill country by between $250 and $500/ha.
Daniell said a development at Wool Source, a subsidiary of Wool Research Organisation of NZ, which deconstructs the fibre to create powder, pigments and particle products, has enormous potential.
The insoluble format retains wool’s characteristics of pollution
School-aged helpers were in the yards, riding shotgun in trucks and leaning on the rails at saleyards across the country during the recent school holidays. Hunter Lane and Ben Gallen take a look at the sole pen of weaner bulls at the Feilding weaner fair last Tuesday.
SunGold kiwifruit shipment may be written off due to a mouse infestation.
Southland dairy farmer Bruce Dinnington is enjoying the good life, thanks to a move to robotic milking.
DAIRY 18-24
NZ food and fibre sector success relies on larger, better skilled workforce.
New automated lamb cutting system is installed at SFF’s Finegand plant.
Bryan Gibson | 06 323 1519 Managing Editor bryan.gibson@agrihq.co.nz
Craig Page | 03 470 2469 Deputy Editor craig.page@agrihq.co.nz
Claire Robertson
Sub-Editor claire.robertson@agrihq.co.nz
Neal Wallace | 03 474 9240
Journalist neal.wallace@agrihq.co.nz
Gerald Piddock | 027 486 8346
Journalist gerald.piddock@agrihq.co.nz
Annette Scott | 021 908 400
Journalist annette.scott@agrihq.co.nz
Hugh Stringleman | 09 432 8594
Journalist hugh.stringleman@agrihq.co.nz
Richard Rennie | 027 475 4256
Journalist richard.rennie@agrihq.co.nz
Nigel Stirling | 021 136 5570
Journalist nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com
Lana Kieselbach | 027 739 4295 production@agrihq.co.nz
ADVERTISING MATERIAL Supply to: adcopy@agrihq.co.nz
SUBSCRIPTIONS
0800 85 25 80 subs@agrihq.co.nz
PRINTER Printed
Andy Whitson | 027 626 2269
Sales & Marketing Manager andy.whitson@agrihq.co.nz
Andrew Fraser | 027 706 7877
Auckland/Northland Partnership Manager andrew.fraser@agrihq.co.nz
Jody Anderson | 027 474 6094
Waikato/Bay of Plenty Partnership Manager jody.anderson@agrihq.co.nz
Palak Arora | 027 474 6095
Lower North Island Partnership Manager palak.arora@agrihq.co.nz
Omid Rafyee | 027 474 6091
South Island Partnership Manager omid.rafyee@agrihq.co.nz
Julie Gibson | 06 323 0765
Marketplace Partnership Manager classifieds@agrihq.co.nz
Andrea Mansfield | 027 602 4925
National Livestock Manager livestock@agrihq.co.nz
Real Estate | 0800 85 25 80 realestate@agrihq.co.nz
Word Only Advertising | 0800 85 25 80 Marketplace wordads@agrihq.co.nz
cushla.williamson@agrihq.co.nz
PGG Wrightson has downgraded its earnings guidance for the current financial year from $50 million to $43m.
Trading conditions have deteriorated in the primary sector with restrained spending because of drought, weak sheepmeat demand, higher interest rates and input costs.
PGW chair Garry Moore said sentiment in the agriculture sector remains subdued.
Fonterra has appointed Anna Palairet chief operating officer. She had been acting in the position since June 2023.
CEO Miles Hurrell said Palairet has valuable expertise and a strong relationship focus, which serve her well in leading a critical part of the co-operative.
For the third successive year New Zealand’s gross carbon emissions have fallen, with the latest drop equivalent to three times the emissions produced by domestic airflights in 2022.
The Ministry for the Environment’s latest greenhouse gas inventory reveals that in 2022 there was a 4% decline from 2021’s emissions, coming after an 0.1% drop in 2021 compared to 2020.
A major cause of the declines relate to the amount of renewable electricity generation the country generates.
Horizons Regional Council is reminding farmers to continue their vigilance to keep Chilean needle grass out of the region.
Because of the known presence of Chilean needle grass in the Hawke’s Bay region, the recent expiry of the Tukituki Controlled Area Notice regarding gravel extraction and expiry of biosecurity restrictions relating to gravel extraction on the Waipawa River increases the risk of Chilean needle grass spreading to the region.
Richard Rennie NEWS Transport
ZESPRI executives are grappling with the possibility that the first shipment of SunGold kiwifruit to Europe this season, valued up to $12 million, will have to be written off due to a mouse infestation discovered on board in Zeebrugge, Belgium.
Zespri’s forecast to SunGold growers this season is for a payment of between $10 and $11.50 a tray, putting the ship’s cargo of 1.2 million trays at a value of about $12 million.
Extensive infestations of mice were discovered on board the specialised charter vessel Crown Garnet when it docked, and the entire load of fruit has been unloaded and quarantined in Zespri’s storage facility at the port. Staff are working their way through the shipment to determine the extent of damage to the 1.2 million trays of cargo, while the start of the European selling season has been delayed as a result.
Zespri’s chief operating officer, Jason Te Brake, said early indications are the infestation extended throughout the entire ship, with mice discovered in all
Continued from page 1
control, oil, odour and moisture management and fire retardance and Daniell said may just provide the step change that wool and the sheep industry needs.
BLNZ Farmer Council chair Paul Crick said it was just a year or so ago that sheepmeat prices were buoyant.
He is confident those days will return and said the sector needs to take a long-term view as he has from hearing accounts of farmers who survived the 1980s economic reforms.
“At times I think we are guilty of
16 of its refrigerated holds.
“There were enough mice to have repeated visual sightings.
The extent of the damage to fruit through multiple holds indicates a reasonable number of mice there.”
Mice carry a number of diseases that are infectious to humans, including leptospirosis and salmonella. Their discovery brings a high food safety and ensuing reputational risk for Zespri if infected fruit were to be linked to health issues.
“The next step for us is to determine to what extent it is affected, and is fruit salvageable while meeting our very high
being short-sighted and focus on the here and now. It’s important we look ahead.”
His attention is on what he can do on his farm, and he is embarking on affordable projects that illustrate he is improving his business.
Meat companies are confident lamb prices will recover but say it will not happen immediately.
Affco chief executive Nigel Stevens said production volumes have levelled off after successive years of decline.
With the exception of China, most markets have relatively strong demand, although exporters
quality and food safety standards?”
Zespri’s food safety issues in past years have included a 2011 typhoid detection in a kiwifruit worker who handled fruit, resulting in staff being isolated. No further outbreaks were detected but 100,000 trays of fruit were dumped as a precaution.
In 2016 contamination of packaging from oil off a packing line machine resulted in 1.7 million trays being individually checked.
Last year hundreds of punnets of kiwifruit were recalled in the United States after testing found listeria present.
face ceilings in the price people will pay.
“Unfortunately, we don’t see the current situation changing quickly, but fundamentally NZ lamb is a high-quality product, with a bright long-term future,” he said.
To achieve a substantial and sustainable lift in price, companies say lamb must be repositioned as a value-added product desired by affluent consumers prepared to pay premium prices.
Progressive Meats founder Craig Hickson said lamb is popular but relatively scarce, forgiving and easy to cook and, in the case
Te Brake said losses off this vessel are highly likely.
“There are visual signs [of mice], but there are also areas you simply do not know if they have been or not, and we are prioritising human health and the risk of a food recall if the fruit got into the supply chain.”
The ship is not one of the newer charter ships launched in the past four years, and is operated by European ship charter company Cool Carriers.
Dr Paul Craddock, an entomologist and adviser to Pest Management Association of NZ, said finding mice on board a ship is relatively rare compared to rats.
“It is not the usual environment you would find mice in, but anything is possible. One would suspect they would have already been on board the vessel.”
Te Brake said Zespri conducted thorough preload surveys of the ship’s condition, and many also have a post-load survey conducted that includes R&M status, cleanliness and condition.
Craddock said pest monitoring was generally the responsibility of the carrier. He said alongside the disease risk there is also the “ick” factor Zespri has to consider, and its reputation for marketing high quality, safe fruit. It is similar to the issues
of French racks, offers restaurant presentation opportunities. To connect exporters with consumers will take time and money, he said.
Sheep numbers have fallen every year since 1982.
In 1999 there were 45.6 million sheep but this had declined to 25.3 million by 2022.
A BLNZ-commissioned study found 175,000 hectares of livestock farmland was sold for forestry and carbon farming between 2017 and 2022.
BLNZ chair Kate Acland said the reasons for the decline in stock numbers and farmers selling to
supermarkets recently had to deal with during rodent infestations. Te Brake said in 20 years the company has never had to deal with an issue like this. He has spoken to the ship’s surveyor, who reported there was nothing out of the ordinary about it to have rung alarm bells.
“We are pretty disappointed to be at this point, particularly after such a good start to the season. It was pretty much perfect, with good fruit and strong sales, particularly through Asia. Our European customers were chomping to get their hands on the fruit.”
Authorities in Zeebrugge will be looking to Zespri to put forward a plan for managing the fruit.
The cargo is insured as marine cargo and against contamination losses.
“But we will have to work with the insurers as to the level of cover that will be provided based on our plan for the fruit.”
In late 2022 Zespri informed growers about major losses from two spoiled shipments of Green fruit, one to Japan and one to Europe.
This resulted in a shortage of 1 million trays to the burgeoning Japanese market, and a downgrade of 60c a tray to Green growers.
MORE: See page 7
forestry are complex and particular to each farming family. She acknowledged that times are tough, describing conditions today as a perfect storm, but is confident sheep will continue to play a central role in mixed farming systems.
MORE:
Hear an extended interview on the future of sheep farming on Farmers Weekly In Focus, wherever you nd your podcasts.
MORE:
Does sheep farming have a future? See pages 4 and 5
A temporary blip or something more permanent? That is what sheep farmers are wondering as they grapple with falling returns and soaring costs for sheepmeat and wool. Neal Wallace asks the question on many minds.
MATT Holden is unequivocal in his answer when asked if sheep farming has a future.
“Bloody oath it has,” says the Hawke’s Bay farmer and ram breeder.
As part owner of the Kelso sheep breeding business, Holden could be seen as having a vested interest, but he qualifies his enthusiasm by noting the low environmental footprint of sheep and the potential to use New Zealand’s attributes to add value to its sheepmeat and wool.
Holden sees the sheep industry moving more towards vertical integration to enable niche marketing of branded NZ products to discerning consumers.
“We’ve got a great back story on which to integrate farmers and consumers,” he said. He recalled a friend saying NZ
should be the world’s farmers market, using its natural attributes to promote food to consumers willing to pay premium prices for products that meet their values and expectations.
Developing new wool products and uses is crucial to the future viability of sheep but may require farmers looking for new opportunities, Holden said, as he has been doing for the past 15 months with a friend in the United States on a project using NZ wool.
“We must develop wool solutions that solve the requirements and demands of consumers worldwide,” he said.
“Nature has been doing research and development on wool for 10,000 years.
“There is no product that can match it and we must not forget that.”
His vision is to breed low-input ewes that grow only fleece wool,
READY FOR RECOVERY: South Canterbury farmer David Irving says sheep farmers must maintain production and quality so they benefit when prices rebound.
do not require crutching, are shorn once a year and clip about 3kg to 4kg.
Wildly fluctuating prices make it difficult for budgeting and Holden believes farmers and companies need to enter into long-term fixed price supply contracts to smooth out extreme pricing.
He urged farmers to keep faith with the sector, to keep looking forward and plan for the next five to 10 years.
“You only get to put rams out about 40 times during your career and you want to make sure everything you do, you do for the right reasons.
“It’s not about tomorrow or next year, it’s about 10 to 20 years in the future.”
Holden said some of his rambuying clients are planning to reduce sheep numbers by 5-10% and run more cattle. He can see benefits from such a move in managing parasitic worms and having stronger and more productive ewes and faster growing lambs.
South Canterbury sheep farmer
David Irving is confident in the future of sheep, too. They are a perfect fit with his mixed cropping business, there is demand for protein and prices will recover, he said.
“It will come back, we just have to have faith.”
Irving acknowledges the difficulty some sheep farmers are facing, especially those selling store lambs.
“We need finishers to be making $150 a head and store lambs $100 a head.”
The Irving family run 4000 ewes on 930 hectares at Albury, of which 400ha are in crops.
He has previously sold lambs
OPTIMIST: Matt Holden, a Hawke’s Bay farmer and ram breeder, is optimistic the sheep sector will recover.
as store but plans to grow more lamb-finishing crops and maintain his 4000 breeding ewe flock.
Central to improving the fortunes of sheep is a recovery of wool.
Irving, the family’s fourth generation to run the farm, said his father ran more sheep than he does, but in the 1950s wool made up 50% of farm income. On a direct comparison basis, he
estimates it currently contributes 5%.
With three of the family’s five children wanting to go farming, he is maintaining sheep production and quality to help with succession.
It is a tactic other farmers can also use.
“It all goes in cycles and it will get better, so don’t drop your production or quality so you are
The challenge facing sheep farmers: Farm costs have increased 35% in the past three years.
Average profit before tax for 2023-24 is expected to be 54% lower than in 2022-23 and 67% lower than in 2021-22.
• Estimated prices for lamb this year are 651 c/kgCW, down 12% on last year, and mutton 241 c/kgCW, down 34%.
Since 2015-16 average prices for all wool types have fallen 44%.
From 1990-91 to 2023-24, sheep numbers fell 57%.
Over the same period, the area occupied by sheep, beef, deer and arable declined 5.2 million hectares, or 41%. – Source Beef + Lamb NZ Economic Service
Neal Wallace NEWS
Food and fibre
FIX crossbred wool, and the sheep industry will have taken a substantial step towards improved farmer viability, says Progressive Meats founder Craig Hickson. He is confident the sheep industry has a future but said it is currently a single-product animal, with wool returns barely covering harvesting costs.
Acknowledging that low meat prices are hurting farmers, Hickson said the meat market is responding to the sharp price rises that occurred during covid.
Lamb should not be treated as a commodity product and he sees opportunities for companies to add value by getting closer to consumers and commanding higher prices.
But that takes times and investment.
“We need to master it and have
pricing more aligned to what consumers are paying and remove some of the fluctuation.”
His confidence that this will work is heightened by the popularity and relative scarcity of lamb, how easy it is to cook and, especially in the case of French racks, the restaurant presentation opportunities.
We need to have lamb pricing more aligned to what consumers are paying and remove some of the fluctuation.
Craig Hickson Progressive MeatsHickson calculated that between 1985 and 2024 there was an 11-fold increase in meat income generated per ewe, thanks to improved lambing, higher lamb weights and improved prices.
He acknowledges that inflation has eroded the impact of those returns, but it shows prices have been improving.
Silver Fern Farms chief supply manager Jarrod Stewart is not expecting prices to improve any time soon.
“Unfortunately, we have a few big levers working against us in the markets at the moment, with depressed consumer confidence and increased production out of Australia impacting pricing.”
Stewart said sheepmeat will continue to be a critical part of SFF’s business and he is optimistic about longer term prospects through its promotional programmes and its broader Nature Positive branding focus, which is backed by industry assurance standards.
“Our farming system is unique and we create some truly premium products.
“In the last year, we’ve increased programme premiums for lamb
supply, and we’ve expanded our Net Carbon Zero range to include lamb.”
Stewart said there is increasing evidence that focus is resonating with customers.
“While there’s more work and investment in our markets needed, we do feel confident in our direction of travel.”
He said industry collaboration is addressing collective challenges facing the sheepmeat sector, which includes working with Wool Impact to improve the viability of sheep farming.
Alliance Group chief executive
Willie Wiese told the Farmers Weekly earlier this month that ways have to be found to return more value to farmers.
He said lamb will benefit from growing demand for protein and, like other companies, Alliance is looking to find innovative higher priced products from lower value, or fifth quarter, items.
He said lamb prices would be less
COLLABORATION: Silver Fern Farms chief supply manager Jarrod Stewart says industry collaboration is addressing collective challenges facing the sheepmeat sector.
volatile if it could be positioned as a niche product, something Alliance is doing.
Wallace NEWS Sheep and beef
PAUL Crick understands why questions are being asked about the future of farming sheep.
The Wairarapa farmer and chair of the Beef + Lamb NZ (BLNZ) Farmer Council, acknowledges times are tough, but said sheep farming is a long game.
“I can understand why people are asking why they should stick with sheep, where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Where is the inspiration to keep people engaged?”
For him that inspiration comes from controlling what he can control and doing small, progressive things around the farm.
It also comes from regularly hosting school pupils participating in the Primary Industry Trades Academy course, which he said gives him a buzz and the opportunity to encourage them into the industry.
Crick has adopted a dairy industry practice in assessing the per-head performance of his stock by using body scoring and electronic identification tags, which helps him make calculated management decisions.
“It’s something in our control that we can use.”
He is optimistic that innovations such as Alliance Group measuring intramuscular fat to identify and reward premium quality lamb and beef could underpin genetic improvements.
A recovery in wool is needed, but Crick believes that will involve deconstructed fibre.
Crick said farmers need to do what is best for their situation, adding that the sector needs stories about farmers taking control of their destiny to provide confidence, show there are opportunities and to provide tips and tricks for farm toolboxes.
He said farmers need to focus on what they can control, which could see more integrated businesses such as forestry, tourism or accommodation.
The current low sheep and beef farm profitability situation is driven by overseas market prices and high domestic inflation –beyond the control of individual farmers.
What is within farmer control is tight management of onfarm expenditure, maintaining a long-term focus on improving management systems and animal genetics.
BLNZ chair Kate Acland is optimistic about lamb’s potential.
Our total exports in terms of kilograms of meat remain at similar levels to 1990 but off the base of a far smaller breeding flock.
Kate Acland BLNZ
“There will always be a market for sheepmeat and there is huge potential in emerging markets like India and other southeast Asia countries,” Acland said.
“New Zealand lamb has amongst the lowest carbon footprints in the
world and customers in our higher value markets tell us that is increasingly important as consumers consider environmental factors in their purchase decisions.”
Despite these cycles, Acland said, farmers have improved productivity and efficiency.
“There have been significantly improved lamb percentages lifting from an average of 100 lambs per 100 ewes in 1990-91 to 130 for 2023-24 due to improvements in genetics and management.”
Lamb carcases are leaner, meatier and heavier, with average export carcases averaging 13.9kg in 1990-91 and 19.4kg in 2022-23, a 39% increase.
“This means our total exports in terms of kilograms of meat remain at similar levels to 1990 but off the base of a far smaller breeding flock.”
Acland sees potential for further productivity improvement through artificial insemination, body condition scoring, and breeding for specific types of fleece. She cites BLNZ research and extension programmes contributing in recent years to genetic advances to identify traits that reduce labour, chemical use and environmental footprint, such as low dags, short tail, clear breech and points and parasite resistance without drench.
Neal Wallace NEWS Sheep and beef
SIMON Davies is moonlighting as a fencing contractor to raise funds to pay for fertiliser for his South Otago farm.
The Toko Mouth sheep and beef farmer believes the sheep industry has a future but said it will be vastly different to what it is today and require diverse income streams.
I am looking for every dollar I can earn off every square metre of my land.
Simon Davies Toko Mouth
“Relying on sheep on their own leaves you too vulnerable to the ups and downs of the market,” Davies said.
He knows of other sheep farming couples who are working off farm to keep their farming businesses afloat.
Costs have been cut and Davies is looking at alternative income streams such as more pine trees and growing cash crops on land he now uses to finish lambs.
Last year he grew hops as an experiment and is looking at adding on-farm accommodation.
Regional council regulations prevent agricultural intensification.
“I am looking for every dollar I can earn off every square metre of my land,” he said.
Another option to be explored is biodiversity credits, as up to 10% of his farm is in native vegetation and protecting it could be a source of income.
Such is the dire state of wool, Davies has introduced selfshedding sheep to reduce shearing costs – and there are added benefits as they do not require dipping or crutching.
Davies supports efforts by meat companies to increase returns by adding value but said the volume of sales has to increase significantly to provide meaningful returns to farmers.
“If we are talking about valueadd, it has to be three or four times what it is now to see meaningful results back to suppliers.”
James Hurley is not dismissing the economic challenges facing the sheep sector when he says there is reason to be optimistic.
“If you think about where we’ve come from, how far we’ve come and how we have done so much especially with meat going into niche markets, we need to get alongside those companies.
“Surely those markets will come out of the worldwide recession first.”
He also sees flickers of life in
wool but concedes end uses that take bulk volume are still some way off.
James and Sarah Hurley run a breeding and finishing business centred on Siberia Station between Hunterville and Taihape which, combined with leased and subsidiary owned blocks, covers 5000 hectares.
Alternative land use options are limited given the steep terrain, but he has little interest in forestry and doubts carbon farming has a long-term future.
He is weathering the current downturn in sheep by aligning with innovative breeders and talking to people he trusts and who know his business, other farmers, ram breeders, stock agents, his accountant and family.
“We talk about what they are doing, look at options and decisions they are making because it builds confidence in the decisions we are making.”
Aligning with innovative breeders gives commercial farmers access to genetics providing greater worm tolerance, less dags and better meat quality.
“They are doing this breeding work for us,” said Hurley.
“There is this stuff out there, we have just got to go and look for it and choose which track to go down.”
We’ll sort the power before the cows come home.
Our Agribusiness team are here to help this Moving Day with up to $300 credit per ICP*.
Fill out our quick form using the link or QR code below.
Scan or visit: meridian.co.nz/MoveFarm
* Terms and conditions, break fees and eligibility criteria apply.
SUSPENDED: The Bill will allow for the suspension for three years of the requirement for councils to identify new Signi cant Natural Areas.
Neal Wallace POLITICS Regulation
THE government will next month introduce amendments to the Resource Management Act to remove winter grazing and stock exclusion regulations.
Chris Bishop, the minister responsible for reforming the Resource Management Act, said the Bill will reduce the regulatory burden on consent applicants and support development in sectors such as farming, mining and other primary industries.
The move has been welcomed by Federated Farmers as “government ends war on farming” and by Beef + Lamb NZ (BLNZ) for correcting legislation that was based on a onesize-fits-all approach, which it said was problematic and impractical.
The amendment initiates five changes and includes:
• A review and replacement of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater
• Resource consent applicants will no longer need to demonstrate that proposed activities follow the Te Mana o te Wai water quality hierarchy
• Amendments to stock exclusion regulations on sloped land
• The repeal of intensive winter grazing regulations
• The suspension for three years of the NPS-Indigenous
biodiversity requirement for councils to identify new Significant Natural Areas.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said management of stock exclusion and winter grazing will be more risk-based and catchment-focused, using non-regulatory measures such as Freshwater Farm Plans.
“We’re proposing to remove the problematic and contentious low slope map and for regional councils and farmers to determine where stock need to be excluded, based on risk.”
He said sector groups will continue to work alongside farmers.
The changes means an estimated 10,000 farmers will not have to obtain consent for winter grazing for next year. This will instead be managed through good practice and regional council plans.
Federated Farmers freshwater spokesperson Colin Hurst described the regulations that are being removed as “a complete nightmare” that were so devoid of practical reality they required eight government amendments in three years and were still unworkable.
BLNZ chair Kate Acland welcomed the amendments but wants to see the details.
“Farmers need clarity and certainty to make on-farm investments and changes to their farming systems, safe in the knowledge that regulations will be science-based, practical and enduring,” she said.
Annette Scott NEWS Employment
THE success of New Zealand’s food and fibre sector will rely on a larger, better skilled workforce.
Addressing a seminar facilitated by B.linc at Lincoln University, Ministry for Primary Industries principal adviser for the primary sector workforce policy team Richard Lynch said while the food and fibre sector is critical to NZ’s future, several key actions need to be a focus going forward.
These include lifting productivity and export demand, investing more in technology to augment labour and free up people to do more highly valued roles, and upskilling the existing workforce.
Forecasting is important to help understand what actions we need to undertake to ensure we have the workforce we need.
Richard Lynch Ministry for Primary Industries
Formal education will be particularly important for developing future skills to attract new workers with a different skill profile, some of whom will be in high demand in other sectors.
The food and fibre sector is diverse and sophisticated in its responses to global market and environmental forces and, given the wide variety of products and opportunities across the sector, the rapid growth of precision farming technologies, artificial intelligence, automation, and the multitude of different roles needed, the agricultural workforce needs to keep pace.
As NZ firms embrace innovation and new technology to enhance their profitability and productivity, the workforce will adapt, Lynch said.
This will involve combining traditional agricultural knowledge with cutting-edge technologies to build a resilient and sustainable future for the food and fibre sector, with people fundamental to its success.
Continuous education and training will play a crucial role in preparing the workforce for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
The MPI understands the changes that the food and fibre sector is facing.
“We also know that the NZ population is both aging and becoming more urbanised.”
To meet the challenges and opportunities of today, and tomorrow, the industry needs to attract, retain, and upskill people from diverse backgrounds who bring extra capabilities to the sector.
Recently, the MPI took a closer look at how various parts of the food and fibre workforce have changed.
“The sector is dynamic and is rapidly transforming in response to economic and environmental factors and changes in knowledge and technology.”
Work to understand the workforce has been undertaken in close partnership with industry and cross sectors, and the government.
“While there are many ways to count who is working in the food and fibre sector, we use monthly numbers as labour demand and seasonal peaks can be estimated.”
For roles and skills, the work uses three categories: managers and highly skilled, semiautonomous skilled, and managed or frontline semi-skilled.
Currently there are about 360,000 people working across
FOCUS: MPI adviser for the primary sector workforce policy Richard Lynch says while the food and bre sector is critical to NZ’s future, several key actions need to be a focus going forward.
the food and fibre sector with the workforce having grown over the past decade from 328,000.
About half of the workforce is in production: on farms, on orchards, in forests or on the water, while the remaining workforce are in roles beyond the farmgate in manufacturing and processing. About 60% of the workforce are in skilled or higher skilled roles and two thirds of the workforce is male.
Seasonality drives large fluctuations, with migrants on average 18% of the horticultural sector’s workforce compared with migrant labour representing 3% of red meat and wool and 11% dairy farming.
“Forecasting is important to help understand what actions we need to undertake to ensure we have the workforce we need.
“Modelling suggests that employment in the food and fibre sector could increase between 8% and 16% from the 2020 base to 2032.”
AMENABLE weather, a good labour supply and high-quality fruit are all helping the kiwifruit sector enjoy one of the best harvest runs for several years.
Colin Bond, CEO of NZ Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (NZKGI) said the Bay of Plenty has enjoyed a run of dry weather ensuring fruit flow from orchard to pack house has been continuous and smooth. This comes after four years of assorted disruptions for the sector.
Two years ago record crop volumes coincided with a record labour shortage, resulting in poor picking practices and significant crop damage manifesting in shipments months later.
The two years before that had been disrupted by covid restrictions on staffing and allocations that had added a layer of operating headaches to a harvest that coincided with lockdown in 2020.
“We were due a good season. Labour supply has been good thanks to more backpackers around, an increase in the Recognised Seasonal Employer staff numbers, along with postharvest operators installing more automation in their packhouses.”
There is, however, a level of concern among growers about Zespri’s latest crop estimate, which has been revised down from 195 million trays to 180 million trays, including a record SunGold harvest estimate of 125 million trays.
This downwards revision is far
less significant than last year’s, which had volumes drop from their original 190 million down to 135 million, partly as a result of significant weather events. “We know the industry and Zespri is working to try and get crop estimates more accurate,” Bond said.
ABOUT TIME: NZKGI CEO Colin Bond says this season’s kiwifruit harvest is out of the box, with labour, weather, returns and crop quality all aligning.
“It is important because it means Zespri can then offer a better starting price. Had we known it was going to be 180 million trays this year then that may have helped push up the opening price for growers, given the jump in volume from last year’s volume was not as high.”
Return wise, growers are hoping for a better year with estimates Green operators can expect $60,000-$64,000 a hectare, up from the 2022-23 March return of $57,000.
SunGold growers are looking to $138,000-$143,000 a hectare, against last year’s average of $137,000.
Richard Rennie NEWS Weather
ADAMNING grab bag of failures underscored emergency response throughout the North Island before, during and after the devastating weather events of early last year.
The release of the government inquiry into the response to the North Island severe weather events leaves little doubt the country’s emergency response systems are in dire need of an overhaul to avoid outcomes similar to the devastating outcomes of last year.
The inquiry covered responses across three major weather events – Cyclone Hale January 8-12, heavy rainfall from January 26-February 3, and Cyclone Gabrielle on February 14.
Chaired by Sir Jerry Mateparae, the inquiry produced a report that does not apportion blame to individuals or entities, but clearly states the current system is “not fit for purpose” and contains “significant shortcomings” in the way emergency management functions.
It cites the lack of early warning for many communities, a lack of co-ordinated response between departments, decision making that
was either slow or non-existent, and a lack of equipment and supplies.
The report panel found individual communities managed to cope heroically during the events. However, the disconnect between them and civil defence emergency management teams was “striking”.
The lack of warnings has undermined public confidence in councils, weather forecasting and the wider emergency system.
It appeared emergency officials assumed communities and volunteer groups already knew their role, but this had often not been made evident to the communities themselves.
Many communities considered civil defence to be all but absent.
Among one of 14 recommendations, the panel says that communities’ role in emergency responses should be put at the heart of an integrated response system.
This would include education programmes and more engagement from national civil defence staff.
Making more use of wider government resources is also recommended, including expanding the Defence Force’s role, utilising special skills such as logistics and air co-ordination during emergencies.
The inquiry also called for a weather forecasting system review to identify changes in access to weather data and require timely weather forecasting to all councils.
The big role marae and iwi played in the disaster response has also been recognised, with a call for legislation to enable iwi to participate in planning for and response to natural disasters.
A major overhaul of the national emergency response leadership is called for. This would include having clearer lines of responsibility and leadership across local and national government during an emergency.
A deeper pool of skilled operators capable of being seconded throughout NZ is required, alongside three fulltime emergency management assistance teams capable of being deployed nationally.
Guidance on the supplies required by communities for self-sufficiency after an event is recommended to be lifted from three days to two weeks.
A physical move to a purposebuilt national crisis management centre is also recommended, with a back-up facility in a city other than Wellington.
The recommendations of the panel matter in a country ranked the second riskiest for insurers globally.
A 2018 Lloyds of London report referenced by the inquiry cites Bangladesh as the world’s highest risk for insurers due to natural disasters, followed by New Zealand, then Chile, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey.
Taken over the past 20 years, natural disaster recovery has cost NZ 4.3% of its GDP per year, similar to that spent on superannuation.
In response to the findings, Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell said he will consider the inquiry’s recommendations more fully, along with other recent reports,
and make further decisions in the next few months.
Released in February, the independent review into the Hawke’s Bay civil defence emergency management response after Gabrielle revealed similar shortcomings particular to that region.
“We need to look at these as well as what is coming through in other reviews of these events. I want to take the time to get this right,” Mitchell said.
He said it is clear the existing emergency management Bill does not go far enough to elicit systemwide change to deliver a fit-forpurpose response system.
Gerhard Uys NEWS Food and bre
ALOVE for wool has inspired a group of women from Gore to launch a festival in the fibre’s honour
The 45°Fibre festival will be held May 4 and 5 at the Gore Town and Country Club.
Event organiser Amy Hughes, who is Creative Fibre Southland’s area delegate, said she dreamed up the event after attending a wool festival in Christchurch.
“I thought, ‘Why do we not have something like this in Southland? I’ve travelled all the way from Gore to Christchurch, I’m sure people will come down here,’” Hughes said.
She said she is horrified by what is happening in the wool industry and said as a “bit of a dreamer” she would like to open a mill and be able to pay farmers a decent wage.
She hopes the wool industry’s woes will turn at some stage.
Between 1990-91 and 2023-24 wool production fell 59%, which is slightly worse the 57% decline in the sheep flock but reflects lower production per head.
Data from Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Economic Service shows wool prices peaked in 2015-16 but have since fallen. All-classes sheep and beef farm wool prices have eased 44%.
In the same period, shearing charges have increased 46% per kg of wool.
“The combined effect of this has been a 91% fall in per/kg wool receipts after deducting shearing expenditure,” the Economic Service said.
This fall has been most pronounced in crossbred, especially North Island crossbred wool, where prices have fallen 60%, but
returns net of shearing costs reveal a drop of 128% less than revenue earned.
Hughes has help from two friends in her wool spinning group who also share her vision – Michelle Wood, who is designing posters for the event, and Sarah le Roux.
“I’m very passionate about wool and fibre. We need a creative outlet as it’s good for mental health. I also want to bring the community together. Wool is sustainable, we need to go back to it in this plastic world,” she said.
Creative Fibre and Creative Communities are co-sponsoring the event, which means the public can enter for free, she said.
Wool is sustainable, we need to go back to it in this plastic world.
Amy Hughes 45°Fibre
Besides ready-made wool products, and fleece and skeins of wool being sold by over 40 traders, there will also be workshops for aspiring wool aficionados.
On Sunday May 5 the public can attend workshops on rag rugging, a class on dressing the loom for those who want to learn to weave, dyeing wool with pantry products, and a workshop on dividing different coloured fibre braids before spinning.
Ann Sutherland from Clifden Rural Women said the festival will increase “awareness of wool products and how it has been used in our culture and creatively”.
“At a time when the selling power of fleece is at rock bottom prices, we need to encourage people that wool is to be appreciated through various techniques and worn proudly,” Sutherland said.
Annette Scott MARKETS Food and bre
THE humble yet versatile potato may all of a “spud-den” be making a more frequent appearance at mealtime with a good harvest seeing potato prices fall 16.2% in March compared to the same month last year, according to the latest Stats NZ Food Price Index data.
Unearthed Produce is one of the leading suppliers of potatoes for Foodstuffs, and general manager Ben Buchanan is excited to
see North Island supply rebound following the significant impact last year’s Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle had on potato volumes.
“Last year’s growing season was one of the toughest, and this impacted the availability and supply of potatoes through most of 2023. It’s been great, for both growers and consumers, that the summer has provided favourable growing conditions,” Buchanan said.
“We’ve seen a good balance of heat, sunlight and rain, which has produced great quality, delicious potatoes.”
CONSTRUCTIVE meetings in China and New Zealand are making good progress towards new regulation for NZ frozen velvet access into China.
A flurry of constructive and positive meetings in NZ and China on the frozen velvet issue have revealed “healthy relationships at all levels”, as negotiating teams aim for a timely resolution, Deer Industry NZ (DINZ) executive chair Mandy Bell said. Bell and DINZ markets manager Rhys Griffiths visited China last month to meet with NZ and Chinese officials as part of negotiations towards new access regulations ahead of the 20242025 velvet season.
DINZ is collaborating with both the NZ and the Chinese governments to determine new market access regulations coming into force.
From May 1 2024 only dried velvet will be able to be imported as a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into China, and NZ authorities are seeking agreement with their Chinese counterparts on the appropriate classification for frozen velvet imports.
The changes apply to velvet imported by China from all countries, not just NZ.
DINZ believes these changes are being introduced to better align the import regime for TCMs in China, which are overseen by several Chinese authorities.
On her return to NZ, Bell updated the industry on the meetings via a town hall video conference, which attracted 50 velvetters, processors and other deer industry stakeholders.
Looking to turn over every stone during the visit, Bell was encouraged to find “very healthy relationships at all levels”, she said.
A meeting was held at the NZ Embassy in Beijing, which included the NZ ambassador and trade commissioner, the Ministry for Primary Industries’ two in-market counsellors and representatives from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Bell said the meeting confirmed that deer velvet is their current “No 1 priority”.
Travelling with the China Deer Velvet Coalition’s Felix Shen, Bell and Griffiths also met with other contacts in a comprehensive programme which began at the start of the velvet
THE deer industry is reporting demand for New Zealand venison looks likely to outstrip supply this year, with farmgate prices expected to at least hold up or be slightly above last year’s values.
Deer Industry NZ markets manager Rhys Griffiths said venison has been holding its own in the tough global headwinds for the red meat sector, with exporters signalling expected strong demand.
“It’s still a little early to get a handle on firm farmgate prices as marketers are just starting to work towards negotiations for chilled venison contracts with their customers,” Griffiths said.
Some exporters are already offering minimum contracts.
Alliance Group agribusiness manager Jamie Saker said the cooperative is expecting increased demand from Europe for venison and will be working hard to meet the expectations of customers in the face of lower supplies following the heavy hind kill last year.
Alliance expects “pricing to be around the same as last year, with the prospect of any lift dependent on customers’ willingness to pay higher levels and economic conditions leading into this year’s
value chain in northern China and led to Beijing.
Shen will be in weekly contact with the MPI team in Beijing to be on hand for any developments.
Strong support is also coming from business contacts who are lobbying provincial governments seeking a “favourable and timely resolution” to the issue.
The MPI’s negotiators are dealing with multiple Chinese agencies on the highly complex issue, with DINZ continuing to support them with advocacy and technical assistance, Bell said.
Communications have continued since the delegation’s return from China with DINZ meeting with MPI and MFAT personnel in Wellington.
DINZ has already given technical input for the initial negotiation phase, “remembering that the goal is to regulate health and safety and avoid any unjustified barriers to trade”, Griffiths said.
He said understanding deer farmers will need market certainty on what is happening, the MPI negotiators are aiming for conclusion by the middle of this year.
The MPI’s Wellington-based negotiating team is planning to go to China in the coming weeks to continue negotiations.
AGREEMENT: From May 1, 2024 only dried velvet will be able to be imported as a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into China, and NZ authorities are seeking agreement with their Chinese counterparts on the appropriate classi cation for frozen velvet imports.
DINZ has given technical input, ‘remembering that the goal is to regulate health and safety and avoid any unjustified barriers to trade’.
Rhys Gri ths DINZ
Last week, Damon Paling, the trade adviser contracted by DINZ on behalf of the deer industry to co-ordinate activity,
briefed NZ Trade and Enterprise’s incoming trade commissioner for Shanghai, Steve Jones, who will be heading out to the market in June on deer industry business, in particular the velvet access issue.
Velvetters attending the deer industry conference in Napier next month will hear a further update, followed by another town hall conference call later in May.
Meantime, DINZ will continue to work closely with MPI, MFAT and the relevant players along the whole value chain with any urgent matters communicated directly with velvetters as needed.
chilled season”.
Exporters are reporting frozen products have had some negative price pressure in Europe.
Griffiths said this is because alternative sources of game meat from around the European Union continue to increase in quality and are eroding the quality advantage NZ venison has over other sources for frozen.
Pet food returns also remain depressed, affecting fifth quarter products such as offal and bone.
Shipping disruption could be another impediment.
Only just almost recovered from covid-19 supply chain problems, it faces potential disruption again from the Middle East and Ukraine conflicts.
Venison pricing in the US remains stable and it
continues to be our fastest growing market.Matt Gibson First Light Farms
Even so, First Light Farms general manager venison Matt Gibson said the EU outlook for chilled venison “remains positive”.
“Venison pricing in the US remains stable and it continues to be our fastest growing market.”
Demand for trim there is still high, which is encouraging as
A TASTE FOR IT: Alliance Group agribusiness manager Jamie Saker says the co-operative is expecting increased demand from Europe for venison and will be working hard to meet the expectations of customers.
more venison mince is consumed in the United States year on year. Asia also continues to grow as small premium niche markets make their way into retail and online-based retail customers.
First Light is offering a spring guaranteed minimum contract at $10.10 a kg, “which has already had ready uptake”, Gibson said.
Similarly, demand is building for Duncan NZ in Europe.
According to its most recent supplier update, the company is looking at adding a guaranteed base to its 12-month supply contracts for the spring supply period “as a way to help deer farmers with weaner pricing and farm forecast budgeting”.
Suz
Bremner MARKETS LivestockIN EARLY April, an atmospheric river well and truly hit the South Westland region, bringing with it 500-700mm of rain.
Due to the copious amount of rain, the annual Whataroa calf sale was delayed a week and was held under blue skies and sunshine on April 18. South Westland farmers farm to this sale and they do a fantastic job of it.
Hazlett agent Phil Manera said the vendors put everything into their stock for this day.
“The calves presented to buyers are of the highest standard and the quality is always magnificent.”
They are a top representation of the breeds, most of which are Angus and Angus-Hereford and Charolais-cross.
A handful of vendors feed calves into this sale and the day began with regular vendors David and Robert Scott, Karangarua.
A Silverstream Charolais bull is used over homebred cows to produce calves that are heavy-boned with great muscle pattern. Their Charolais-cross steers topped the sale at $1165, while Hereford-Angus made
$1035-$1105 and Hereford, $1015.
The Scott Brothers’ first-cross Hereford-Angus heifers topped the heifer section at $860 and the balance made $665-$800, while Charolais-cross returned $850.
D & B Friend also offered Charolais-cross steers, which sold for $950-$1060, and heifers, $710-$770.
Keeping the exotic-cross calves coming was Des Routhan with Charolais-cross steers at $910-$1130 and heifers, $650-$850. Routhan also sold Hereford steers for $1000.
Another consignment of traditional calves from R &A Lash rounded out the sale and Angus and Angus-Hereford steers made $830-$950 and heifers, $660-$700.
Annette Scott NEWS Agribusiness
ASTRATEGIC re-focus for Ashburton-based Ruralco will bring the farmer co-operative back to its roots in the local farming community, where it will no longer actively seek business connections beyond the Canterbury region.
Ruralco was established in Mid Canterbury as the Ashburton Trading Society (ATS) in 1963 by a group of local farmers who were looking to lower input costs for their farming operations.
The grassroots focus began to move in 2013 with a joint card venture with Ravensdown, followed four years later with the launch of Ruralco as the customerfacing brand replacing ATS.
The divestment of ATS’s card and Mobil fuel business into Ruralco left ATS with the trading divisions of farm supplies, electricity, fertiliser and ATS Seed. Ruralco’s strategy to re-focus to stay local first, announced earlier this month, takes the cooperative back to its original intent.
“It is a change of direction from our previous national growth strategy which was well intentioned in a very different market environment,” Ruralco chair Sir David Carter said.
“The decision to consolidate our focus and return to our original vision followed careful consideration by the board and Ruralco’s executive team following feedback from both shareholders and merchants.”
Carter acknowledged Ruralco has had different strategies from time to time over the years, but said it’s original intent to make farming life easier for its shareholders remained.
“We have stayed true to this function, and we want to continue strengthening those ties across our core territory of Mid Canterbury and the wider Canterbury region.”
Ruralco chief executive Tony Aitken said this is a deliberate move back to Ruralco being more shareholder and farmer focused.
“Our purpose is to keep local farmers thriving for generations to come by offering real value with the latest innovation in farm supplies, services, and expert advice.
“Mid Canterbury is at the heart of our homeland, so it is logical we retain our focus locally,” Aitken said.
“We are very fortunate to have such a loyal and parochial support base.
“Our size and local focus gives us opportunities that many companies do not have; that is to be very connected and responsive to our shareholders.
“We are small, nimble, and local.”
Over the coming months Ruralco is rolling out new initiatives that highlight the renewed local focus.
These include Ruralco-initiated local farmer reference group meetings to identify how best to support farming communities.
There will also be exclusive shareholder and merchant networking events that inform and encourage collaboration.
A Spend for Your School monthly promotion allows locals to win $500 for their primary school by using their Ruralco card.
The Ashburton based farmer co-operative
reported a $2.1 million loss for the year 2023. The group’s turnover for the year was $293.3m compared to $279.1m in 2022.
At the time of the annual result announcement in October, Carter said the 2023 fiscal year had been challenging.
“The challenge has been to respond and adjust to these changes and commitments, resulting in our business moving from a growth strategy to a more consolidated approach, which has seen Ruralco consider all costs wherever necessary.”
LOCAL: Ruralco chief executive Tony Aitken says the move away from a national focus is a deliberate move back to Ruralco being more shareholder and farmer focused.
You’ve bred from your best ; the R2’s have joined the milking herd, and you’re starting to see production results
Now ’s the time to gain some insight
Regular herd testing provides accurate data to confirm how your animals rank within the milking herd. This valuable information feeds directly into MINDA® herd records and highlights the variation in performance and production efficiency
From there, you can identify top producers, so you can continue to breed from your best , and detect low producers so you can make management decisions for culling or dry-off
So, continue to add value with regular herd testing
Talk to your Agri Manager today about regular herd testing or visit lic.co.nz/herdtesting
There's always room for improvement
Neal Wallace Senior reporter
TO THOSE with an abundance of grey hair or receding hairlines, the current downturn in the sheep industry is not new.
The reasons for and the scale of the sudden decline in sheepmeat prices have been well traversed in this publication and will not come as a surprise to some.
That is not to diminish the effect on individuals squeezed by low returns, rising input prices and debt servicing, but as our investigation this week reveals, it comes after several consecutive years of oncein-a-lifetime returns for lamb, driven by insatiable global demand for protein.
A market correction was expected after the heights reached following the outbreak of African swine fever in China and the changes in consumer behaviour during covid.
Noted ram breeder Derek Daniell
calculates demand from China alone added about $40 a head to lamb, but that has now largely disappeared as Chinese consumers stop spending amid economic uncertainty.
Farmers are reacting as any business would, by cutting costs and looking at what pays the bills. One ram breeder noted his clients were cutting ewe numbers back between 5-10% and replacing them with cattle.
There is another sense of inevitability about this correction.
For too long we have relied solely on income from meat to carry the fortunes of sheep and it has finally proven unsustainable.
We need to turn around the fortunes of crossbred wool so sheep can once again become a true dual purpose animal.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Economic Service data reveals that since 2015-16 wool prices have eased 44%, but in the same period shearing charges have increased 46% per kg of wool.
The proliferation of cottage industries is commendable, but change will only come when we find a user of large volumes of crossbred wool.
There has been much talk about differentiating NZ sheepmeat in markets by using the attributes of our environmental, production and animal welfare standards to target wealthy discerning consumers.
Most meat exporters are doing this at some scale, and while it is a slow and expensive process, it is not without
precedent. Think Mercedes-Benz, French Champagne and Bluff oysters, all commanding premium prices due to their attributes of quality, differentiation and terroir.
NZ farming has that in abundance.
Another idea, floated by Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese, is for meat companies to co-operate to reduce costs and return more value back to suppliers.
We need to turn around the fortunes of crossbred wool so sheep can once again become a true dual purpose animal.
He has had a mixed response, a benefit of the new crop of meat sector executives coming from outside the industry.
They do not have inherent company tribalism, which gives them freedom of thought, something we need if we are to get the sector on a more solid footing.
The advice to farmers outlined in this week’s Farmers Weekly is to maintain their production and quality, plan for the long term and, above all, retain their faith in sheep.
Significantly, lamb returns have been relatively stable for most of this calendar year and the consensus is that lamb will recover after this market correction.
Unfortunately, that may not happen until next year.
to
Waimea Water Users SocietyRICHARD Rennie’s good-news story on the Waimea Dam, “Dam gives kiss of life to the drought zone” (April 15), masks the true reality of the position.
Who would build a dam close to a major earthquake fault and on fractured rock and then forget to attach a clip-on hydroelectric plant to produce clean energy from the stored water?
Who would build a dam of 13 million cubic metres and let 90% of the water flow out to the sea when it could be captured with pipes for a much smaller dam?
Who would build a dam to irrigate just 2800 hectares at a cost of $250 million, or $90,000 per hectare?
The Waimea Dam must be surely the most expensive infrastructural mistake New Zealand has seen. And all because the irrigator company and the Tasman District Council did not listen to the ratepayer consultation process, which established a cost of $78.5m.
Now the final cost is expected to be at least three times that amount and subject to a $50m litigation claim by the dam builders.
The council’s main defence for building the dam was that it would ensure Tasman residents and industry had sufficient water. But from figures supplied by the council there are regular pipe leakages of 1 million cubic metres, which equates with what the irrigators would use in a “dryish” year.
When the final cost is divided up, 50% irrigators and 50% council, the irrigators will not be able to afford the costs.
As Murray King suggests, the three dairy farms on the plains will not survive and will have to convert to a high-paying crop like pip fruit – costing upwards of $180,000 per hectare to establish plus the cost of dam shares and maintenance until the third year of production.
It is highly unlikely this will occur, leaving the dam shareholders drowning in debt and exorbitant water charges.
It is not beyond the realms of realism that the irrigator company, Waimea Irrigators Ltd, might just file for voluntary liquidation and leave the council and ratepayers to pay the debt.
The project shows just how naïve the farmer irrigators were and shows the council in a very bad light, led by a mayor who was a main proponent of the dam.
It has been a very expensive lesson for Tasman and serves as a stark warning to any of the water storage projects that the government and Irrigation NZ are promoting.
In my view ...
Hurrell is CEO of Fonterra
LAST week, I was fortunate to join Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s mission with accompanying business delegation to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
Southeast Asia is a thriving cluster of markets full of potential for New Zealand exporters, Fonterra included. The region is home to 640 million people with a growing middle class.
To put this in perspective, if southeast Asia was a country, its population would be the third largest in the world.
Collectively, it is the world’s fifth largest economy, and enjoys some of the fastest economic growth rates in the world. The opportunities for NZ businesses are apparent and I saw this firsthand as part of the delegation.
The delegation provided a platform for leading NZ businesses to showcase the work they are already doing in the region but also to develop connections and understanding of new markets.
Singapore has a strong focus on sustainability under its 2030 Green Plan, and companies like
CarbonClick are already tapping into this potential with their partnership with Changi airport.
In Thailand we saw firsthand how Beca is helping to shape some of the country’s largest buildings in Bangkok, and in Manila we experienced the opportunity for collaboration in the geothermal industry as well as the potential that arises from the country’s young and growing Englishspeaking population.
Fonterra’s focus is on bringing NZ dairy to everyday staples, such as egg tarts in Thailand, banh mi in Vietnam, ube jam in the Philippines and local crepes in Indonesia.
Looking at the opportunity for dairy, the population’s appetite for high quality food is increasing, with the gap between dairy demand and supply expected to widen by 30% by 2030. NZ dairy is already trusted by the region and is well positioned to fill this growing demand gap.
I always enjoy being in-market and it’s a privilege to see where Fonterra farmers’ milk ends up. Our co-op has been present in
southeast Asia for nearly 50 years and our footprint spans eight markets.
We deliver dairy nutrition across all life stages through our consumer brands Anchor, Fernleaf, Anlene and Anmum, which enjoy good market share in the region, and we partner with local customers through our foodservice and ingredients businesses.
As Western diets become more prominent, we are forecasting growth in demand for butter, cream and cheese, with more dairy being used in regional cuisine such as creating a laksa with dairy cream rather than coconut milk.
Our foodservice business in particular has a lot of potential to cater for this demand, with southeast Asia shaping up as our next growth market outside China.
We have a team of chefs in-market supporting the foodservice sector to use dairy in local and regional cuisine and we are working with partners to develop new applications based on consumer need and preferred formats.
Fonterra’s focus is on bringing NZ dairy to everyday staples, such as egg tarts in Thailand, banh mi in Vietnam, ube jam in
the Philippines and local crepes in Indonesia. We’ve seen growth in the bakery channel too, with the rise of specialty bakery and lifestyle cafes across the region.
We are also leaning into the hyper convenience trends through our ingredients business, in particular in Thailand, with our dairy going into ready-to-eat and ready-to-drink foods, which are increasing in popularity.
We’ve found that southeast Asia is an excellent market for launching and testing new product concepts. Last year we opened a local application centre, Te Mātāpuna Lab, in our Singapore office, to focus on supporting the region’s pipeline
of innovation and application projects.
Fonterra has a real strength in adding value to farmers’ milk by working alongside customers, using our innovation expertise, to create products for changing consumer needs. Southeast Asia is a great example of where this comes to life.
Southeast Asia presents plenty of opportunities for further growth, both for Fonterra and NZ’s export sector as a whole.
It was a real pleasure to see this first-hand as part of the prime minister’s mission and I look forward to seeing what comes of the connections and partnerships formed by the business delegation.
Trude Ertresvåg
Ertresvåg is Chief Sustainability Officer at Devold of Norway
FARMER Toby Williams
shed light on why he stopped selling his wool at auctions in a recent opinion piece. Auctioned wool barely covers the shearing costs, leaving the farmer in the red while others profit.
But the reasons for not buying at auction have not been explained.
In 2018, Devold revamped our wool sourcing, launching the Sheep to Shop quality strategy, bypassing auctions to collaborate directly with New Zealand wool growers. Though often linked with sustainability, an alluring narrative, the truth is simpler: the change stemmed from customer complaints and high return rates.
Continuing with auctions would have meant blending short and long wool, making wool tops at a lower price, but leading to higher rejection rates. As our wool guy in NZ, Craig Smith, says: “If we can’t spin a great yarn, it won’t make a great product.”
Williams eloquently likened auctions to mixing various drinks – an incompatible concoction.
Previously, we faced a high rejection rate due to holes, resulting from prioritising price
over quality. Now, with a less than 0.5% rejection rate, our improved sourcing yields superior products, reducing waste and supporting farmers. It shows how sustainability is a derivate of quality.
We cut down on consumption by maximising how many times you can wear our clothes, ultimately drawing in new customers.
Through six-year contracts, we ensure stability and reward wool growers based on individual performance. This contract model has been developed in
full collaboration with our wool growers.
After an initial failed attempt, we sat down with our wool growers, who rightly pointed out that benchmarking with the auction system was not appropriate – the wool we were buying from them was anything but average.
Consequently, we cancelled the contract, and realigned with the growers’ wool quality, devising a new agreement featuring fixed prices and a bonus model for even stronger and longer fibres.
Our growers are selective about who enters our Sheep to Shop programme. Their discerning approach in selecting participant wool growers reflects pride in their product and our shared success. Our Devold wool growers choose to work with us, and we proudly choose to work with them.
Williams rightly highlights a key challenge: “The problem is that 90% of our wool is sold on the international market as a lowvalue raw material, where we’re competing with cheaper synthetic fibres made from fossil fuels.”
This competition is worsened by proposed European Union legislation requiring brands to label their garments with emissions from production.
The EU wants brands to use the Product Environmental Footprint methodology, PEF, or, as we call it, the biggest load of bull since the invention of synthetic fleece. It’s like comparing a fluffy sheep to a plastic water bottle.
PEF measures the impact of making natural fibres but overlooks the impact of synthetic ones derived from crude oil.
Fossil fuels, the source of synthetics, are labelled “sustainable”, while natural fibres like wool, naturally renewable and biodegradable, are rated as less sustainable.
This matters because brands will seek fibre options with better ratings.
Renaming it “preferred materials” or “sustainable materials” doesn’t change the fact that 99 % of recycled polyester comes from the closed loop system of recycled bottles, which are then used only once in garments, rather than being kept in a circular system.
The EU wants brands to use the Product Environmental Footprint – the biggest load of bull since the invention of synthetic fleece.
We’re optimistic for PEF’s overhaul or its silent demise, aiming for true sustainability. The road to quality faces obstacles without broader support or regulatory frameworks pushing for it. Without such support, the future of quality wool hangs in the balance.
But we’re not backing down. Instead, we are doubling down on efficiency and uncompromising quality, because when life hands you wool, you make the softest damn sweaters the world’s ever seen. And that’s a fashion statement worth making.
THE price of wool is back in the headlines where it has been, intermittently, for the past 50 years. I can remember as a very young journalist covering an Electoral College meeting in the mid-1970s. For the more modern, the Electoral College was elected by farmers to appoint members to the then Meat and Wool Boards.
It’s since been nuked and good riddance. The Wool Board has gone the same way; it wasn’t much use either.
Back in the ’70s the debate was all about the price of wool, and the late Wilson Whineray as then head of the Wool Marketing Corporation was summoned to give answers. Whineray gave a classic Mark Antony-style speech, saying he could sell all the wool we produced but he needed to give the amount
of wool available, the quality and the price, and that meant acquisition in some form or other.
The reaction wouldn’t have been dissimilar to that of a condom vendor on the Vatican steps. It was hysterical.
Federated Farmers back then was neutral, desperately trying to tell both sides of the story. That wasn’t satisfactory to many and the ragingly right-wing Sheep and Cattlemen’s Association was born. It was resourced to a large extent by the carpet companies, which told you a lot, especially about farmer naivety.
The acquisition debate was the most hysterical I’ve ever encountered and facts seemed irrelevant.
We’re back there now with wool in the doldrums. But this time, I believe, it’s the last chance for wool. Farmers are looking at expanding their beef operations and getting self-shedding sheep.
Derek Daniell is the country’s leading ram breeder and a person who is passionate about farming.
To meet the current market he’s selling self-shedding sheep among his other lines and he can’t keep up with demand.
He sells a total of 2600 rams a year and wants wool to produce upwards of $250 a hectare on hill country. That’s ambitious, but he believes it’s achievable.
Wool has two strong supporters in Minister for Rural Communities Mark Patterson and Feds meat and wool chair Toby Williams, who has stopped selling his wool at auction.
“I’m selling privately because the
system isn’t working,” Williams told me. “We need to go to a different system. It’s the same people doing the same things. Wools of NZ are on life support in my view. Wool Impact’s problem is too much talk.
“We need to get everyone to work together. We’re losing land to other uses.”
I rate Williams and agree with him. My belief is that Wools of NZ, Wool Impact and the Wool Research Institute are largely a waste of rations.
Patterson agrees with Williams.
“There’s genuine potential but no silver bullet,” he said.
“I am confident of a demand upsurge with the environmental advantages wool has.
“There’s some real upsides on the horizon with new uses for the product. We must look at new initiatives.
My belief is that Wools of NZ, Wool Impact and the Wool Research
Institute are largely a waste of rations.
“I’d also question what farmers are doing to make sure any price increase goes to them. I’m pleased to see Toby Williams is saying we need better pathways to the market. We need to grow demand and make sure the price increase goes to farmers.
“I met with wool industry leaders recently and there’s potential with a different marketing model, similar to what Zespri uses.
cuts required for hearty winter meals, we prepare for the colder months ahead.
The past summer and autumn have offered generous sunlight hours, which is a big change from last year.
The long days of summer are easily filled with an even longer list of projects to improve the farm, often at the expense of social and family time. The lack of balance is somewhat unsustainable, especially for my wife and kids.
Winter presents a stark contrast to summer. Its short daylight hours and miserable weather are compounded by the demands of feeding out and lambing season.
“We can’t continue what we’re doing,” he said.
I agree. There are some positives and Bremworth’s commitment to wool carpet is just one example. My solution, for what it’s worth, is to start with the basics. Develop a strong story for wool, that it is a natural product and biodegradable. That it doesn’t put microplastics in the ocean killing fish. It doesn’t put microplastics into the air causing respiratory issues.
Develop a strong story around those features so that people feel bad about not using wool.
I’d go one step further. If we’re taxing CO2 emissions as we are in the Emissions Trading Scheme, if we’re considering taxing burping and farting ruminants, then surely we can tax synthetic fibres.
Are we saying that food and fibre should pay a climate tax while producing food and biodegradable
eating.the.elephant.nz@gmail.com
AS THE leaves begin to change colour, and with daylight saving having drawn to a close, we are reminded that winter is just around the corner.
With the firewood neatly stacked and the freezer stocked with the
Add to this a house of kids with their signature winter runny noses and it is easy to let the less desirable elements of winter compound.
However, among these challenges there lies a certain stoicism that makes winter both rewarding and draining.
Last year, going into winter felt like preparing for battle.
The calendar was marked with important dates, some practical
and some purely there as mental milestones. Outside of the shearing, scanning and lambing, the main milestones on the calendar were taking the kids to the snow for a winter break, and a ring was put around the shortest day – we thought we could fool ourselves into thinking the run into spring was downhill from this point on. It wasn’t.
An observation from watching top performers is that they don’t swing at every pitch. It is somewhat the opposite – they know how to say “no” and channel their energy into what counts. They also know when to take breaks to avoid burnout and prevent injury.
A goal of mine is to remain a constructive farmer, one whose career is not ended by injury or burnout. Achieving this may have to come from taking a path that some stalwarts may deem soft – taking time off to ensure we remain focused on what is important.
This year, we are trying a few different things to ensure we can keep up the energy for the things that matter.
HYSTERICS: In the 1970s, the head of the Wool Marketing Corporation, Wilson Whineray, was summoned to defend the wool price. He gave, says Alan Emerson, a classic Mark Antony-style speech.
fibre while giving synthetic fabrics including carpets and clothing a free ride?
Are we also suggesting that it is better to cause billions of dollars of respiratory complaints in humans while killing our fish, plus putting microplastics in the food chain is less important than an environmentally responsible food system?
If people buy electric cars and eat mung beans to save the planet then surely wool must be the fabric of choice.
It just needs to be marketed from a simple story. We don’t need to travel the world attending conferences and meeting people. We need to be developing a simple story right and selling it.
We also need to change our industry model so farmers get the benefits and the Zespri initiative has some appeal.
METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING: The wood that burns quickly is easy to find, while the wood that provides lasting warmth proves more challenging, says David Eade.
Three things stick out – trading the family holiday at the snow for a week of sun, committing to an endurance event in spring to make training over winter easier, and making up for the lost social time by getting dinners with friends and family on the calendar now. All relatively simple, but representing a slight shift in priorities.
The search for firewood tells the story. The wood that burns quickly
is easy to find, while the wood that provides lasting warmth proves more challenging.
Similarly, our sector, like others, has many stories of people who burnt out before their time. The list of jobs is always going to exceed the number of hours in a day.
This coming winter offers another chance to ensure we can continue to burn long and slow.
Keith Woodford MD at AgriFood Systems kbwoodford@gmail.com
IN EARLY April I spoke to the New Zealand Farm Forestry Conference in Napier about farm forestry options as I saw them. Most of the farmers I was talking to have had many years of experience in farm forestry, so I was certainly not going to tell them how to grow trees. Rather, I explored how to find a pathway through some of the challenging and at times imponderable issues that farm foresters currently face.
Many of my forestry presentations have focused on flaws in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This presentation was different. I simply took the rules as they are and looked at how farm foresters could best respond in their own interests, be they economic interests or broader issues coming from the heart.
My starting point was to briefly look at the journey NZ’s production forestry has taken in recent decades. I used graphs published in November 2023 in a USDA GAIM Report, where GAIN stands for Global Agricultural Information Network. GAIN reports are a great source of current and historical facts with not political messaging.
The first graph demonstrates two key points. The lower, darkcoloured area shows how NZ production forests were sold off in the 1990s from public to private ownership. The upper, light blue area demonstrates the big uptake in forest planting in the 1990s.
The second graph demonstrates that processed-wood volumes have bounced around but there has been no overall growth in recent
years. In contrast, the log trade has grown from almost nothing 30 years ago, reaching a maximum in 2023.
What the graph does not show is that export volumes are declining this year. This is not because there is less timber to be harvested, but because decreasing returns and increasing costs mean that the economics of harvesting no longer stack up on land that is steep or distant from ports.
Other data made clear the wall of wood aged 26 to 30 years waiting to be harvested from the big plantings in the 1990s. If it were not for economic issues that threaten harvest operations, the next five years would see more exports than ever before.
Timber is where we are more dependent on China than for any other export product, with almost 90% of log exports going there – and China now has less need for our timber than in the past. This is in part because China’s big infrastructure years are now behind us. Our logs are largely used for concrete formwork rather than products with higher value-add.
NZ is now the only country that exports significant volumes of softwood logs to China.
Countries like Russia now only export lumber, not logs. Also, China is becoming increasingly self-sufficient in timber, with big eucalyptus plantings in the south of China.
However, China’s timber markets are obscure and it is hard to confidently take an overall positive or negative stance about the future.
I then looked at the economics of sheep and beef farming relative to various farm-forestry options. There is no doubt that most sheep and beef farmers are doing it tough right now. Profits in the past 10 years have typically been in the range of 1-2% return on capital and slipping below that in the last three years. Right now, many farmers are cash-flow negative, with land values also dropping precipitously.
This also means that many farmers lack cash right now to convert some of the rougher country to trees.
When preparing the talk to farm foresters, I ran lots of spreadsheet models of net present values and
(Source: USDA 2023 GAIN Report, Stats Dept data)
The big message here was that carbon credits are the business to be in if converting pasture to trees.
internal rates of return for various production forestry scenarios. The big message was that using prices and costs from two to five years ago told a story of nice returns for radiata pine.
But that story now belongs to history. Looking forward, the big message relating to production returns is lots of uncertainty and high economic risk.
This aligns with the current attitude of the big forestry companies. Whereas until about 18 months ago there was a mad dash to buy land for its potential timber value, that interest has disappeared. Almost no one is interested in buying land for production timber by itself.
I then looked at what happens if land is developed out of pasture for new radiata pine production based on harvesting at 25-30 years and at the same time earning carbon credits through to 16 years under the ETS averaging regime.
I used a conservative price of $60 per tonne of carbon (NZU) whereas the minimum prices for which the
(Source: USDA GAIN Report, Nov 2023, MPI data)
government currently auctions carbon is $64 this year, with this price having been officially set to rise in each of the coming years.
I used the official look-up tables for radiata pine growth in different parts of NZ. These tables are used for assessing carbon credits for all forests of less than 100 hectares and are generally considered to be conservative. Forests of more than 100ha are measured on actual growth.
The big message here was that carbon credits are the business to be in if converting pasture to trees. They can rapidly turn a likely unprofitable timber-production business into a profitable dual business. It did not matter what scenario I looked at – as long I used a carbon price of $60, the internal return was acceptable, and in many cases much more than acceptable.
In a typical example, it raised the IRR from around 2% to about 9% even with these low carbon prices and an inbuilt land value. It also brought the payback period including land value as a cost back to around 10 years or slightly less.
These projected returns raise questions as to why the big investment companies are not doing this right now. The most important reason is that confidence has been knocked around so much over the past two years, with governments changing the regulatory rules of the game multiple times, that commercial investors lack confidence that the rules won’t be changed again. Forestry is a long game.
I then looked at growing socalled permanent forests, where new forests are registered in the permanent scheme and then not harvested for at least 50 years.
I compared this to two cycles of production timber harvested at 25 and 50 years, combined with carbon credits under the averaging scheme limited to the first 16 years.
The results showed that both systems were profitable but the economics of the permanent
scheme were superior under almost all realistic scenarios that I could envisage.
Of course, pine forests can grow for much more than 50 years. There are radiata pines in the Wellington Botanic Gardens that are more than 160 years old. They are believed to be the first radiata pines ever brought to NZ. Some farm foresters are not keen on the idea of non-harvested pine forests. The reasons are generally unrelated to economics. Also, some farm foresters, who have been committed to both production and environmental forests for much of their lives, are suspicious of the whole concept of carbon farming.
Subsequent discussions went on well into the night, as we not only talked about radiata pines but also discussed eucalypts, redwoods and poplars. Within the farm forestry association there are groups of farm foresters strongly supportive of each of these other introduced species and with sound reasons developed from experience.
My own perspective is that all of these other species are underutilised within the NZ forestry landscape. I plan to say more about them on the coming months, and what we need to do about this.
There is also the issue of indigenous species and the role they can play. I had long discussions about this with both nursery providers and farm foresters, including the monumental issue of establishment costs.
Many of the farm foresters are absolutely committed to using indigenous species, particularly for riparian plantings, but the cost of establishing indigenous woodlots at scale is so much more than for introduced species. Also, the introduced animal-pest species absolutely love indigenous trees. Introduced species are much more pest resistant.
The biggest message from all of this is that carbon credits lie at the heart of forestry economics. But it is not a simple story.
People connected with the war orphan training scheme are asked to come forward to help mark its centenary. Hugh Stringleman reports.
THE 100th commemoration of the 1924 opening of Flock House planned for the weekend of July 20 and 21 in Palmerston North is rapidly approaching.
Former farm cadets, staff members and descendants of the more than 750 war-orphaned boys and girls from the United Kingdom sent to New Zealand between 1924 and 1931 are urged to register for the historical event, and attend.
The boys did practical farming courses at Flock House near Bulls in Rangitikei, its farms and facilities.
The UK girls went to Awapuni, Palmerston North, and were taught cooking, baking, laundry, sewing, butter-making, nursing, milking, poultry and bee-keeping and orchard culture.
Their training centre, called Shalimar, went to the Women’s Division of the Farmers Union in 1939 and was destroyed by fire in 1958.
Those cadets from the UK were sourced and assisted by the NZ Sheepowners’ Acknowledgment
of Debt to British Seamen Fund of £237,000, donated from the proceeds of the sale of wool during and immediately after World War 1.
Flock House also trained more than 2400 NZ cadets between 1931 and 1988, under government ownership and the management of the Ministry of Education, followed by the Department of Agriculture and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Up to 60 trainees were taken on each year for a 12-month course, and there were also short courses in skills such as shearing and butchery.
In the 1980s the introduction of full fees under the user-pays principle led to a dramatic fall in student numbers, and in 1988 the programme was closed.
Flock House and the farm were transferred to AgResearch with the formation of the Crown Research Institutes in 1992 and sold to private interests in 1999.
The student facilities and buildings had been used as a commercial conference centre, during the time the farm was
used for research. From 1969 to 1983 the principal was All Blacks rugby coach and agriculturalist JJ Stewart.
The homestead was built in 1908 by a Whanganui building firm, Russell & Bignell, for the farm owner Lynn McKelvie, who sold Flock House to the Sheepowners’ Fund in 1923.
It is now a Heritage New Zealand listed historic place, category one.
The centenary commemoration has been proposed by Alasdair
DR KYLE Eggleton was woken at 3am one morning recently by a family with a medical emergency. Such is the life of a rural general practitioner. The emergency was resolved, but Eggleton, a part-time GP in Hokianga, said that is an example of the peculiarities of working as a health professional in a rural communities.
Eggleton, who is also an associate dean (rural) at Auckland University, said health education is urban focused and to promote careers in rural communities requires exposing students to life and work.
He was one of two people to have their longstanding service and dedication to rural health recognised with Peter Snow Memorial Awards at the recent National Rural Health Conference.
The other was Rhoena Davis.
Dr Peter Snow is considered a revered figure in rural health and the award has been presented in his name since 2007, according to a statement from the Rural Health Network.
Eggleton said one factor to attract rural health professionals is to lure students into training who have rural backgrounds.
Over half the current rural health workforce has a rural background, but their path through the tertiary training tends to be more challenging as rural students tend
to endure more debt than those from urban areas.
His clinical practice influenced his academic roles as a teacher for medical and health students, as a researcher leading medical education and rural health projects, and as a leader, the latter culminating in his appointment at Auckland University.
Through this role, he helped establish a rural stream for medical students and implement admission schemes to professional health programmes for ruralorigin students. A successful tactic is to expose medical students to life in rural communities by staying on a farm, spend time embedded in a rural community or a weekend on a rural marae.
Bettles-Hall of Feilding, the son of a UK trainee called Victor from 1929, who had been in an orphanage from age seven to 15.
Bettles-Hall is now helped by an organising committee to work on the format, speakers and social activities. The event will be held at the Silks Lounge, Awapuni Racecourse.
“As we are now two years into the project, it has become clear that finding the descendants of the original orphans is a lot harder
Word of mouth between former cadets and their families and registration of interest through the website are our main means of getting participation.
than first thought,” Bettles-Hall says.
“Nor is it easy to notify former NZ farm cadets, because the records, where they exist, have redundant addresses and no telephone numbers.
“Word of mouth between former cadets and their families and registration of interest through the website are our main means of getting participation.”
The organisers are aware of numerous reunions held in the past, one for the UK trainees in 1960 and others for NZ cadets according to their years of attendance.
An article in Farmers Weekly in September 2022 drew 70 replies and the website flockhouse.nz has registered about 475 emails of those interested in the event.
LIFETIME:
In addition to his medical degree, Kyle holds Master’s degrees in medical science and public health, and a PhD, which explored the concept of measuring the quality of Māori health providers using a kaupapa Māori-aligned methodology.
Davis has been honoured for
her service to Māori health, rural healthcare delivery and nursing leadership.
As a Māori board member of the College of Nurses Aotearoa and a member of the New Zealand Nursing Council Komiti Māori, Davis has played a pivotal role in shaping nursing leadership and advocating for Māori health at local, regional and national levels.
At the forefront of her leadership is Aronuku, the Māori caucus of the College of Nurses Aotearoa, which Rhoena chairs.
She has led initiatives to develop cultural safety competencies, advocated for funding and policy changes to support nurse practitioners, and worked to address inequities in healthcare delivery, particularly in rural and remote areas.
Davis is involved in the National Nurse Leaders Group, Ora Taiao, the Federation of Primary Health Care and is the deputy chair of Hauora Taiwhenua board.
Almost two decades after work on it began, a new automated primal lamb cutting system has been installed at Silver Fern Farms’ Finegand plant. Neal Wallace reports.
THE latest piece of kit installed at Silver Fern Farms’ Finegand plant has been 18 years in development.
Dubbed LEAP but officially called a Primal, Middle and Forequarter System, it is Scott Automation’s latest iteration of its robotic primal lamb cutting system, which uses the latest imaging technology to replace even more manual cutting and boning roles.
Marthinus Hendriks, Silver Fern Farms’ South Island regional project engineer, says the carcases pass through a DXA Xray that measures bone position and density and shows the robots the optimum places to separate the forequarter, middle and hindquarter.
Forequarters then pass through 2- and 3-D cameras to identify the next cuts, which are determined by the production schedule and markets.
Hendriks says the robot can then remove the neck, strip out the joint or remove the brisket as required.
Similarly, 2- and 3-D imaging
of the middle enables robots to remove the flaps or cut the length of ribs to what is required.
This mixture of cuts is then dispatched for packaging or further processing into valueadded products.
Humans are still required to bone out the hindquarters as the technology has not been developed to remove the pelvic bone.
Hendriks says the drivers for introducing the technology were to improve health and safety and cutting accuracy to improve meat yield, which ultimately leads to increased revenue.
Plant manager Bronwyn Cairns says the robots replace seven people, who have been deployed elsewhere in the plant.
Introducing the technology ensures consistency of product and yield and its precision will enhance the move to produce more added value product
“We can deliver what we promise and deliver it every time,” Cairns said.
She has worked in the industry for 40 years and was previously a
without incident and with minimal disruption to plant operations.
intercostal meat off the bone in French racks.
The amount of detail and work is so precise, it’s incredible.
production manager with SFF. She says she never imagined robots performing these tasks.
“The amount of detail and work is so precise, it’s incredible.”
She says the more than $10 million investment is a vote of confidence in the plant, the staff, the sheep meat industry and the South Otago community.
Scott Automation spent the best part of a year at Finegand designing the new version and integrating it into the production process.
Cairns says that happened
Andrew Arnold, Scott Automation’s director of meat processing, says there are 18 lamb systems of various configurations in plants in New Zealand and Australia but the Finegand system incorporates a number of new enhancements that improve the accuracy of cutting and the delivery of improved product quality.
Arnold says Scott is developing or has developed new modules for its automated lamb processing systems.
One, which is commercially available as a standalone machine and could eventually be integrated into fully automated systems, automatically removes back straps and tenderloins from the loin.
A new module undergoing trials does not use water to clean fat and
It will be a standalone unit or integrated into automated lamb systems, and Scott has installed and is trialling its first prototype, which he hopes will be commercially available next year. He did not say what it uses instead of water.
Scott is also developing beef automation with its commercial partner JBS, the Australian Meat Processor Corporation and Meat and Livestock Australia.
Beef automation will, like lamb automation, consist of a number of modules, which will ultimately be integrated into one standalone automated unit, but Arnold says it is too early to reveal any details. He says this approach de-risks what is a complex development process and allows for commercialisation as each module is developed.
Richard Rennie TECHNOLOGY Forestry
AS NEW Zealand’s primary sector tops out on its head count for cows, sheep and deer, supporters of forest bio-products believe they could be the next big growth area for adding value to land-based production.
Forestry bio products include wood-based fuels and chemical compounds extracted from forest material that are often also suitable replacement chemicals for conventionally sourced hydrocarbon-based products.
Brian McMath, business development manager for the NZ Product Accelerator programme, said an industry working group looking at potential in the forestry sector has estimated an industry worth $18 billion to $25bn a year lies beyond straight log and timber processing here.
The group has recently completed a report outlining the industry’s potential value to the NZ economy.
At present NZ exports 60% of its timber volume as low-value logs, with value-added products forming only 15% of the total.
Despite the volume of logs being felled doubling in the past decade, domestic processing capacity
remains the same as it was in 2000.
“This is a coalition of the willing, with all industry players realising they cannot do this on their own.
The aim is to identify those ‘sticky’ industries in the NZ economy that provide potential for greater economic growth,” McMath said.
With the government advertising NZ as being open for business, McMath is hoping the lack of foreign investment, one of the biggest obstacles identified in the report, can be overcome soon.
The report notes that, despite
the supply of high-quality, fastgrowing forests to provide the raw material, NZ is not a particularly attractive place for investment at present.
The cost to establish and run a bio-refinery in NZ is higher than in other countries, and the sector is also handicapped by distance to markets, and slow consenting processes putting investors off.
The report cites the construction of a wood bio-pellet plant that included 10-15% for consenting fees, took over three years and
ultimately put investors off going ahead.
NZ also offers investors fewer incentives than global competitors do, whether as tax breaks or through strong R&D programmes.
The report’s authors strongly encourage co-investment between government and private investors to kickstart the industry here to scale.
Finland, a world leader in wood bio-product technology and processing, uses state grants to support renewable energy R&D, and Canada’s Quebec province supports companies with grants and low-interest loans.
McMath said the programme is hopeful the government will be supportive of a privatepublic partnership to develop an innovation centre with Scion, similar to the Food Bowl innovation model in Auckland.
The Food Bowl provides a platform for start-up food businesses to trial and scale up technology before commercial release.
Globally the timber bio-products sector is worth about $105bn a year. As the world moves to reduce its hydrocarbon reliance and the technology advances this is anticipated to experience $500bn in growth over the next two decades.
“As a sector it also helps NZ tick the boxes around carbon emission reductions, and also offers a domestically sourced substitution for imported petroleum-based products.”
Trials at Genesis Energy’s Huntly coal-fired station late last year proved wood pellets offer a realistic alternative to coal, reducing emissions by 90%.
NZ does have some examples of successful forestry bio-products companies already operating.
Port Blakely Essential Oils in Otago distils Douglas fir foliage using steam. The oils are used in fragrance and aromatherapy markets globally.
NZ Bio Forestry uses proven IP to convert plantation forestry bio mass into bio-fuels, chemicals and new materials.
McMath said there is “plug and play” technology already available globally that NZ could hook into its existing forest stock, but there is also a need here for continuing research.
“It could be that we may find it is possible to harvest trees within a shorter timeframe to extract certain compounds from them.
“The key thing is that we need to move the dial to the next stage which is the development of a bioinnovation centre.”
TO THE untrained eye there is nothing going on in Bruce Dinnington’s Southland milking shed.
There are no staff around, Dinnington is having an easy yarn, and cows are ambling about unhurriedly, waiting their turn for a back scratch on one of two electric brushes.
But a low pneumatic hiss and the constant flow of cows leaving the milk shed, and new ones strolling in, means it’s not holiday time on the farm. Something’s going on.
The untrained eye would also not know what to make of the six Lely robotic milkers, which look like a cross between a cattle crush and the sort of data storage unit you see in a sci-fi movie.
“The cows run the farm, not me. That’s what we’re getting at here,” Dinnington said as another cow calmly exited a robot unit.
“All I have to do is turn up twice a day to change filter socks and hose down. But it’s very flexible as to when that time is.”
In 2017 when the old 50-unit rotary needed to be replaced, Dinnington took the leap and converted to robotic milking, and also added one winter shed, one composting barn to calve in and a calf-rearing shed.
The switch to a robot milker was motivated, among other things, by a desire to reduce staff and go back to “being a family unit”, he said.
The farm had its first taste of automation in 2012 when he bought an automatic calf feeder to make it easier for his mother, Noeline, to rear calves.
Although the robot unit was new to them in 2017, composting pads weren’t a novelty on the farm. Dinnington’s father, Alan, was also a dairy farmer and housed cows for many years.
In 2000, when they bought
a neighbouring property and increased cow numbers, they began housing cows and quickly saw a difference in production, with housed cows outperforming others.
Buying tunnel houses with composting barns was costly, but the production increase from housing more cows the next year paid off the cost of the tunnel houses, Dinnington said.
He believes being outside in winter and on winter crops will break a cow down, and that a cow housed through winter has a longer milking lifespan.
He said having cows in a barn also eliminates some of the rules and regulations, such as wintering plans that now need consenting.
One driver for using composting barns was to prevent pasture damage in spring and autumn.
In Dinnington’s old system he fed a lot of baleage, and as a result had a lot of trampling damage to paddocks.
“Paddocks had to be regrassed.
It’s all money.”
Dinnigton said other farmers in
the region who also use barns grow 30%+ more grass, just because they have less pasture damage through trampling.
On his own farm he feeds a quarter to a fifth less supplement as a result.
Keeping a cow warm in winter also means she eats to produce milk, and doesn’t eat to keep herself warm first.
Dinnigton said the robot system revolves around feeding.
Once a cow is milked she leaves the shed and a gate automatically directs her to a new block every six hours.
“They know roughly what time to come in to get milked, and then they go out to a fresh break of grass. The entry gates are always open and they come in when they feel like it, have a full udder or want to feed.”
Paddocks are broken into six feed breaks, with a paddock grazed over six days.
After that cows start eating regrowth.
Controlling break size is important as cows in this system who are overfed “don’t come home”, and those who are underfed start roaming and coming into the barn often to eat supplements, he said.
All baleage is grown on the farm, with grain imported.
Grain and soy are fed as cows need it, with extra soy fed in autumn and winter to fulfil cows higher protein needs.
A robotic unit is slightly more expensive than a rotary unit that has all the bells and whistles, he said.
But the cost comes with many rewards.
High-producing cows visit the barn two or three times per day.
Top cows produce between 60 and 70 litres of milk per day, with
a 45l average peak for spring and autumn calvers.
Mastitis has decreased significantly with the use of the robot.
The robot measures milk production per teat from every cow, with a full herd test and data on volume, and fat and protein percentages recorded for every cow at every milking.
The robot also gives a full cell count of each individual quarter at every milking and measures the temperature, so identifying mastitis is easy.
Collars on every cow act as a pedometer and also measure how much cows chew the cud, which in turn dictates how fibre in their diets has to be increased or decreased, he said.
The collar also shows when a cow is in heat.
Dinnington said herd health has improved as a result, with other factors also contributing.
With no handling of cows, no hierarchical pushing and shoving, and less hurried walking to and from the shed, there is less stress in the home environment, he said.
“If we get lower stress, we get lower somatic cell counts, increased fertility, and less lameness”.
Dinnington said there was a 10% to 15% production increase after
The entry gates are always open and they come in when they feel like it, have a full udder or want to feed.
Bruce Dinnington Southlandhe switched from a conventional system. This was achieved with no other changes to his system.
Additional changes, such as split calving and 18-month calve intervals, saw another jump in production.
He attributes gains to lower stress levels.
Grain and molasses are fed by the robot during milking. The robot does not “dump the feed all at once”, but spreads a cow’s ration over 80% of her milking time.
Spreading the feed means a cow’s “attention is kept” and milking is less stressful, he said. It also means there is less spoilage.
Dinnington has specific criteria that he inputs into the system, which determines how much a cow is fed. In short, a higher producing
cow is fed more than a lower producing cow.
“The robot knows how often she was milked today, how long she’s in the box and how much milk she’s given.”
The six robots need three services a year, done by technicians.
Most breakdowns are easy to fix, but technicians are needed for some, he said.
“We can’t afford to have a robot down.”
The herd has just been reduced from 600 to 350 cows, with ease of operations at the forefront of the decision, he said.
A spring and autumn split calf operation is focused on keeping cows healthy.
High yielding cows produce about 750kg of milk solids per cow per year.
Cows calve every 18 months.
“Having a six-month break between calving and mating is beneficial to the cow, especially young heifers, as it gives them a chance to recover from calving and puts a bit of condition back on them.”
“It adds years to her life. In a normal system a cow’s virtually in calf her whole life. That basically just sucks the life out of a cow.”
All cows are artificially inseminated. None are mated until six months after calving.
If a cow doesn’t take then she gets another chance six months later, he said.
Cows are on a 450-day lactation, but are not mated until they drop under 40l.
For 10% to 15% of the cows in his herd, this means they are mated only every two years.
The farm is self-contained, with
all young stock on farm and all wintering on farm.
“They’re the future, you need to be in control of them,” Dinnington said.
Dinnington made a move to World Wide Sires American genetics 20 years ago.
The northern hemisphere mostly breeds high-yielding cows and he saw that once he reached 35l production per day, the central ligament on the udders of cows
with Kiwi genetics were damaged.
Once he switched to genetics from higher producing cows, with stronger central ligaments, the problem disappeared.
Dinnington’s sister Sheryl Horrell raises all the bull calves for slaughter.
After he transitioned to a robotic system Dinnington reduced his staff and cow numbers.
The drop in cows means he needs one to one and a half fewer labour units, which amounts to about $80,000 every year, he said.
When Dinnington needs time off, a relief unit easily fills the role.
Young tech-savvy relief workers “catch on very quickly”, he said, and in case he worries he can oversee what is happening via a phone app.
As he gets older this system allows him to manage the farm for much longer.
“It saves wear and tear on the body. Once you’ve been in the cowshed for 30 or 40 years your knees and hips are gone. It prolongs your farm life. The cold also doesn’t help arthritis either. I can now fully open my hands for the first time in a long while,” he said.
As he isn’t tied to two milkings a day, it also gives him a lifestyle.
Gerhard Uys TECHNOLOGY Animal welfare
ASTUDY of three composting barns on the West Coast looked at the effect of composting barns on cows, the environment and farm labour.
The study, Composting Mootels in a West Coast Context, was done with support from Our Land Our Water, Peak Agricultural Consultants, Rural Consulting and Agrifood Systems.
Speaking at a DairyNZ discussion about composting “mootels” in Invercargill, Peak Agricultural Consultants farm adviser Robb Macbeth said one of the key motivators for the farmers who took part in the study to start using composting barns was to secure and maintain environmental social licence.
Another driver was moving away from intensive winter grazing and minimising winter and spring pasture damage, Macbeth said. None of the farmers were primarily driven by finances, Macbeth said.
The three farms that participated in the study were
Prospect Farm, run by Murray and Gaye Coates; Mangawaro, run by Matt and Carmel O’Regan; and Turkey Creek, run by Tegel and Wendy Oats.
The study said it was expected that feed use would increase due to the ability to feed into dedicated feed lanes or troughs in all weather.
A DairyBase analysis showed a 12% increase of feed use at Prospect over three seasons from 2020 to 2023.
Mangawaro had a 26% increase and Turkey Creek a 7% increase in feed use over the same period.
Farmers expected an increase in pasture production “of between 1-2tDM/ha through reduced pugging pasture damage and improved utilisation”.
The study showed no clear increase in pasture harvested, but it was noted that the data was inconclusive and “further study is warranted”.
A financial analysis of the three farms showed total capital investment of between $3200/cow to $4000/cow, but this could be as high as $6000 per cow, depending on area per cow.
There was an estimated net increase in farm working expenses
of between 12-22c/kgMS, predominantly from bedding costs.
Macbeth said a discounted flow analysis of the systems showed on average a farm had to lift production by 11% to cover the cost of a composting barn.
There were however significant savings made, with saving in winter crop costs and from pasture and supplementary feed use, he said.
The study showed “there will be significant savings from a feed utilisation perspective if moving from a winter crop system to a cut-and-carry system on the same land”.
Depreciation or operating capital will be the biggest cost increase, ranging from 14c/kg to 27c, depending on the farm.
Key benefits to the cows (from one season’s data) showed less heat stress, 2% to 3% lower death rates, a likely decrease in days in milk of up to 10 days and a likely increase in per-cow production of 10% to 5% and the ability to manage body condition score gain better.
There was no evidence of improvement in mastitis.
Macbeth said due to cows possibly lying in their own muck, there could be increased incidence of E coli mastitis, although none was reported. There was also no evidence to date of an increased six-week incalf-rate or evidence to date of effect on lameness. Farmers who attended the DairyNZ discussion in Invercargill said they found feed utilisation surprisingly efficient, to
MOOTELS:
There will be significant savings from a feed utilisation perspective if moving from a winter crop system to a cut-andcarry system on the same land.
Composting Mootels in a West Coast Context Study
such an extent that some cows grew fat very fast and they had to learn how much feed cows needed in a composting barn environment and that feed should therefore not just be ad lib available.
Foggy sites reported more moisture in the bedding, but there was no apparent odour or drainage observed from any of the three mootels. The study showed woodchip used for bedding cost around $22.50 to $30/m³.
Tilling woodchips is required as it aerates the woodchip and facilitates the aerobic composting process and moisture evaporation.
Farmers in the study used a range of tilling equipment and frequencies, with some tilling twice a day and some only once every two days.
In such a case composting material often did not reach optimal temperature again to restart the composting process, they said.
Tilling wood chips was also not always effective, with some farmers at the discussion not able to lift bedding from the bottom half of the layer.
The study suggested a composting material temperature of 50degC to 60degC at 15cm to 30cm depth, with a dry matter content of ≥ 50%.
The farmers in the study said none of the samples reached optimal temperatures.
This was echoed by farmers attending the Invercargill discussion.
Moisture in feed areas was a problem due to higher urine and dung content.
“Lower DM feeds such as pasture silage introduced a lot of moisture into the mootel during winter. Moving to a higher DM feed such as PKE or concentrates may lead to system creep and increased costs, particularly if it is replacing homegrown feed,” the study showed.
Macbeth said despite challenges, farmers who took part in the study “were pretty much sold” on composting barns and that “improvement in cow comfort” played a large role in this.
At the DairyNZ event farmers said they experienced challenges when temperatures dropped and composting material stopped composting.
Farm workers are just as busy, but say they often more productive and enjoy work more, the study showed.
The nature of the global dairy market at the moment requires producers to keep a close eye on developments and react accordingly.
MARCH presented a complex landscape for the dairy industry as the month was marked by volatility, regional production shifts and evolving trade patterns – highlighting the industry’s resilience.
A comprehensive analysis of key factors, including the Global Dairy Trade (GDT), milk production in New Zealand and worldwide, dairy exports and a forward outlook offers insights into the industry’s current state and future trajectory.
The past month witnessed a significant shift in the GDT indices.
The downturn was largely
anticipated, attributed to the customary drop in demand postChinese New Year and the Middle East’s pre-Ramadan stock supply.
Whole milk powder (WMP) prices declined by -7.2% from Event 350 to Event 352, while skim milk powder (SMP) recorded a -9.7% decrease during the same period.
However, the downward trend was reversed in the first event of April, with the GDT Index increasing by 2.8%, indicating a potential rebound in prices after the temporary decline observed in March.
Milk production trends continued to vary across regions. In NZ, February’s milk production showcased resilience, with an average daily milk solids growth of 2.8% year on year, driven by favourable weather conditions.
However, projections indicate a potential decline in March’s production and for the remainder of the season, with NZX’s milk production predictor anticipating 1.6%, 1.1%, and 5.3% YoY declines for March, April, and May.
Regarding milk price, NZX’s milk price calculator had an increase in the first week of April, following GDT Event 353, lifting the price for the remainder of the season to $7.82/kgMS.
In addition to this, by the end of the first week of April, all SGX-NZX dairy derivatives commodity futures and milk price futures ended with prices up across all contracts.
Meanwhile, global milk production trends remained mixed.
Europe reported a slight YoY drop of 0.2% in January, the United
States witnessed growth in February of 2.2% YoY (but down -1.3% YoY after leap day adjustments), and Argentina faced significant declines (-17.7% for Feb adjusted to leap day).
On the other hand, Australia and Uruguay reported growth in production, (4.9% and 3.5% YoY each adjusted to leap day), highlighting continuing regional disparities in output.
On the export front, NZ emerged as a prominent player, reporting a remarkable 33% increase in dairy exports by volume for February.
This surge was fuelled by significant growth in WMP (76%), anhydrous milk fat (AMF) (62%), and milk protein concentrate (MPC) (84%) exports.
Notably, WMP exports to China doubled compared to last year, and volumes to the Middle East surged by 176%.
However, Europe reported a -3.0% decline for their January exports, and the US, after its January -6.6% YoY decline, has had a comeback with February exports increasing 12.7%% YoY led by growth in cheese exports (+32.1% YoY).
Looking ahead, the dairy industry faces a myriad of challenges and opportunities as it progresses into the second quarter of 2024. Uncertainties persist, such as the recent avian flu outbreak in the US.
This emphasises our belief that proactive strategies and robust market insights will be essential for stakeholders to navigate the evolving landscape.
Retirement and investment planning doesn’t have to be intimidating or overwhelming, says an industry adviser.
help guide you with your retirement transition.
• Set retirement lifestyle goals: This means thinking about what kind of lifestyle you want in retirement. Consider when and where you want to retire and what will be on your “wish list” and write these goals down.
• Reduce debt: Having too much debt can set you back in retirement. That’s why it’s important to have a personalised debt repayment plan to repay debt in the best way possible to clear all your debts and still have enough time to save for a comfortable retirement.
• Prepare a budget: Identify all your current and estimated personal expenses in retirement and create a budget. Also assess current and anticipated retirement income. If your income is currently $100,000 and you anticipate it dropping to $28,000 in retirement, it’s important to plan and prepare accordingly.
By effectively planning for retirement now, you can avoid the stress of worrying about how to support your desired lifestyle in the future.
Also, have a plan for your investments. Having a smart strategy for your current and future
investments is critical to secure a comfortable retirement.
Dairy farmers who are new to selling and investing outside their farm may find this overwhelming. The good news is that with a proper plan, your investments can grow and provide a stable income through retirement.
It’s vital you review your milk price hedging policy and insurance cover to ensure cover remains adequate. These will protect your wealth, stabilise income, mimimise risk and help safeguard farm value.
Investment and retirement planning is never a “set and forget” process but requires regular review and adjustments to account for changes in life and circumstances beyond your control.
Make a farm succession exit plan to smoothly sell or transfer your farm to the next generation. It is vital that a succession/exit plan is created that considers all relevant family, legal, financial, operational and estate planning matters, including your will.
A retirement and investment planning adviser familiar with milk price hedging can co-ordinate your retirement income and help you make your money last.
AN EASTERN Bay of Plenty iwi’s vision combining people, innovation, sustainability and cultural identity was conveyed to around 250 people at a field day at the Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board’s dairy farm in early April.
Whakatōhea is a finalist in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy competition to select the top Māori dairy farm in Aotearoa. As part of the competition, each finalist stages a field day at their farm, giving judges and members of the public the chance to see the property. Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board’s dairy farm, Te Riu o Kānapanapa, is a collective of five dairy farms and is located 4km south of Ōpōtiki.
Whakatōhea chief executive Dickie Farrar said she found it inspirational to see the hard work of her staff coming together, as well as to understand the tremendous effort that goes into the running of the competition, including the judging process.
Whakatōhea learnt a lot from the competition process, including by attending the field day of the other finalist, Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani Incorporation, she said.
Ahuwhenua Trophy management committee chair Nukuhia Hadfield said Whakatōhea, like many farms in the region, had a difficult year with adverse weather conditions making for challenging times for staff trying to manage the property.
“But it was great to see just how proud Whakatōhea are of their dairy farming operation and what they have been able to achieve.
“Whakatōhea have a proud history and an impressive vision which is strongly entrepreneurial, weaving together six strategic pou: cultural identity, language and heritage, being well educated, healthy, socially connected and economically and commercially savvy.”
Among the guests on the day was Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka.
He described the field day as outstanding, saying it was a day to celebrate Māori farming and Māori business, as well as New Zealand’s primary sector.
The judges were impressed with the farm’s strong focus on feed budgeting, monitoring and feed allocation to maximise animal performance, with staff involved throughout.
Their decisions on supplements are driven by economics with a clear understanding of production costs.
Their economic returns are part of a five-year strategy through to 2025 that is focused on further land acquisitions and climate proofing.
Whakatōhea have a comprehensive strategy and vision shared throughout their organisation that drives governance and on-farm performance that is focused on food sovereignty and sustainability.
The dairy platform is 218 hectares effective made up of 175.7ha of corpus whenua, plus an additional 29ha and a 13.3ha lease block. The farm winters 748 cows and milks 690 to peak with a production target of 300,000kg MS.
It is subdivided into 87 paddocks and runs two herds through lactation and up to four herds through winter to minimise pugging.
Farm water is supplied via a bore at the cowshed and a diesel generator is there as backup.
of Matawai in the Gisborne catchment. There are four permanent staff on farm and one casual, along with two calf rearers when required.
A new 60-bale rotary shed was constructed in 2013, combining what was two separate dairy units into one. The shed includes GEA technology, Protrack Vantage, inbale teat spraying, automatic cup removers and in-shed feeding.
The milking shed is also equipped with a 600-cow feedpad that is located next to it along with a lined effluent pond, a solids bunker and silage pit.
The farm receives 1327mm of rain annually and spring can be challenging, especially during wet periods. Summer milk production is limited by C4 grass types –yellow bristle grass and paspalum.
Whakatōhea aims to maintain its farm working expenses at $6.50/ kg MS for the 2024 season. Last season these expenses lifted to $7.73/kg MS. Its environmental focus areas are based around nutrient loss in drains and streams. Native trees are planted alongside streams and drains, and the main race has been moved to reduce runoff and effluent from entering a nearby waterway.
visits from the kōhanga to give rangatahi a taste of dairy farming that hopefully sows the seeds for later in life. The farm also uses a Youth to Employment scheme that gives work experiene for young people.
Whakatōhea also has a comprehensive health and safety plan that sees all staff inducted at the start of employment. Regular meetings are held to discuss safety in the workplace and identify and minimise hazards.
To date, no ACC injury claims have been filed for the past five years.
Whakatōhea has a proud history and an impressive vision which is strongly entrepreneurial.
Nukuhia Had eld Ahuwhenua Trophy
The farm is protected from flooding by stop banks on both the Waioweka and Mill streams. They also rear stock on a 346ha support block at the Motu, 10km north
Next year, Whakatōhea hopes to have maintained an annual operating profit of $800,000-$1m, have a return on assets of 6% and maintain livestock sales of $1/kg MS.
People are key to Whakatōhea’s success and regular team meetings are held to promote a culture of inclusiveness. All of the staff are encouraged to attend off-farm training and personal development through organisations such as Primary ITO, Growsafe and first aid.
The farm team facilitates
Whakatōhea has also made major infrastructure changes to reduce the farm’s impact on freshwater and improve its biodiversity. Sensors are used to measure water quality and assess its impact on the Waioeka River. The farm is also part of the Fonterra-Nestlé greenhouse gas farmer support pilot project. Whakatōhea’s breeding strategy centres on genetic gain and producing a cow that can be used to produce beef calves.
Both sexed semen and AB are used to increase replacement numbers and add genetic gain to the herd.
The Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board joins Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani Incorporation as the other finalist in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy. The winner will be announced in Hamilton on May 17.
TARGET: Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board’s dairy farm winters 748 cows and milks 690 to peak with a production target of 300,000kg MS.
APiddock
SOUTH Waikato hapu’s high care and high efficiency farming model on one of its landholdings has seen it recognised as a finalist in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy.
Wairarapa Moana’s ki Pouakani Incorporation’s (WMI) Farm 4 uses inputs strategically as well as measuring and managing its pasture covers in a challenging environment to consistently see it placed in the top 10% of benchmarked dairy farms in the Taupō region.
WMI consists of 12 dairy units across 4300 hectares, plus three dairy support units comprising 1900ha and two forestry blocks totalling 6100ha. It aims to produce 5 million kilograms of milksolids from its 12,000-cow herd and is the largest supplier to milk processor Miraka.
Its Farm 4 is run by five staff and has a milking platform of 309ha milking 980 cows and producing 416,000kg MS in 2023.
It recently hosted around 300 people at a field day. As part of the competition, each finalist stages a field day at their farm to give people the chance to see their property and hear about how it has made it through to the finals of this prestigious competition. The competition is in its 91st year with the country’s top Māori dairy farmers being judged this year; the competition alternates between dairy, beef and horticulture each year.
Wairarapa Moana are a previous winner of the trophy, having won it when it was a sheep and beef farm in 2005.
Its tribal affiliations is Ngāti Kahungungu ki Wairarapa me Rangitāne o Wairarapa and has 4000 owners.
It is governed by a five-member board chaired by Kingi Smiler. Ahuwhenua Trophy judge Gill Haenga said WMI was chosen because it had a clear vision and values around nurturing its people
and place and its future as an industry leader.
“The operation here at Farm 4 is a great example of what can be done on challenging land while maintaining profit and a low environmental footprint.”
It has a strong, detailed strategic plan that is underpinned by a strong vision and principles that reflect a drive for excellence.
The judges were impressed by WMI’s financial results and its ongoing focus on reducing its farm working expenses, Haenga said.
“One thing that really stood out for me was its focus on people – the kaupapa they have around looking after their people, which is supported by having a strong health and safety framework and
The operation here at Farm 4 is a great example of what can be done on challenging land while maintaining profit and a low environmental footprint.Gill Haenga Ahuwhenua Trophy
HR strategies in place to support staff retention.”
WMI general manager of finance Brett Bennett said they benchmark their farm and financial data against DairyBase regional data for Taupō as well as internally among their own farms.
One of their key focuses is to produce the highest sustainable returns possible. Its kilograms of milk solids per hectare for last season was at 1371kg MS – 30-40% above the Taupō benchmark.
Its operating costs lifted from $4.62/kg MS in 2021 to $5.25/kg MS in 2022-2023, but are still well below the regional benchmark of $6.82/kg MS. This drives WMI’s operating profit margin of 41.6% against the Taupō benchmark of 24.7%, he said.
“Farm 4 operates in the top 10% for the Taupō benchmark catchment.”
About one-third (100ha) of Farm
4 is irrigated and WMI’s consent allows it to take water from October to April.
It produces an extra 2-3 tonnes of dry matter and gives them confidence of their system in drier years. In wetter years the extra half a stock unit ensures the extra pasture grown is properly used.
The farm’s ability to grow and harvest more pasture has been key to hitting that target, he said.
The amount of pasture harvested sits at around 2.5t above the Waikato region benchmark.
Its fertiliser, repairs and maintenance and grazing costs are also lower than the regional average, he said.
It is not a flat dairy farm, with half of it in rolling to steep paddocks and pumice soils.
Environmental scientist and WMI farm adviser Lachie Grant said Farm 4’s staff intensely monitor the pastures using visual soil assessments and plate metering. He said the depth of topsoil on top of the pumice soils has increased since the farm was converted to dairying.
“We know that dairying is a stable option on here, it’s a really good story for dairying on Dairy [Farm] 4. What we are doing is sustainable.”
Soil scientist and fellow WMI adviser Gavin Sheath said much of WMI’s environmental strategy is based on futureproofing it so it meets its environmental obligations under whatever is the final form of Waikato Regional Council’s Plan Change 1.
That plan change is currently in front of the Environment Court.
Farm 4’s
biggest contamination risk is from nitrogen because of the freedraining soils and high rainfall, Sheath said.
It halted winter cropping in 2016 and any cultivation is done by direct drilling only, to reduce leaching.
N fertiliser usage was also reduced from 200kg a year to an average of 115kg. Prior to 2016, its N leaching according to Overseer was around 68kg.
“Currently we estimate this sits at around 46kg of N,” he said.
IFarm manager Kim Turner said they plate meter every 10 days with the information stored in P Plus pasture management software. That information is then used to make grazing management decisions.
“With the information from P Plus and my observations I can allocate my feed correctly.
“Anything over 2800kg DM we close up and conserve for silage and everything we make for silage on Farm 4 stays on Farm 4.”
They also plate meter paddocks before sending in the cows to ensure cover lengths are correct and before they leave to ensure they have hit the residual target. Ninety percent of the herd’s diet is pasture-based, including silage, and palm kernel is used to fill any gaps.
Turner is a firm believer that good grazing practices improve the pasture harvested.
This year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy winner will be announced on May 17.
Hugh Stringleman NEWS Conservation
EFFECTIVE and reasonably priced constructed wetlands can do a great deal to reduce sedimentary run-off and provide a habitat for native species, a wetland demonstration day in Northland was told.
Held on the Matthews family beef farm south of Waipu in the northern foothills of the Brynderwyn range, the demonstration day attracted 35 local dairy and drystock farmers and landowners. They heard from the farm owner, catchment co-ordinator Graham Matthews, as well as the Bream Bay Community Catchment Project, DairyNZ, Fonterra and Whitebait Connection.
Bream Bay Catchment Groups come under the umbrella of Piroa Conservation Trust, operating over 23,500 hectares of the Brynderwyns district of lower Northland.
The trust was founded on kiwi conservation and pest control and has broadened into catchment and landcare activities with about 30 groups.
With the help of Whitebait Connection and NZ Landcare Trust, several inanga spawning sites have been identified and
efforts made to protect and enhance them.
Whitebait Connection spawning habitat restoration manager Nick Naysmith said inanga spend half of their lives in freshwater and constructed wetlands provide an ideal habitat for adult rearing sites.
The riparian needs include deep thick grasses to protect against sunlight and keep eggs wet enough not to dry out and fail.
It’s a way to bring awareness of the river health and the collective responsibility for making waterways better.
Inanga are poor climbers. They like lowland habitats and require fish ladders to overcome perched culverts and steep rises.
The health of whitebait stocks feeds directly into the conservation of rare native birds, like the fairy terns (tara iti), a critically endangered species found only in the Waipu estuary and nearby Mangawhai heads.
Farmer Matthews was inspired by the inanga story and decided to have a small wetland built last winter in a low-lying area.
He told the field day that moving earth and constructing ponds and channels ideally should not be done in winter, but that was the only time available for local contractor Paul Jenkins.
About 4ha of catchment areas feed into the wetland site of about 800 sq metres. It contains about 30% sediment pond and 70% planted areas for nitrogen mitigation.
There is also a bypass for heavy flows during storms once the wetland vegetation is fully established.
“I have drawn on NIWA and DairyNZ publications, not following them 100% but making sure we have effective elements to get the maximum benefits from the least cost,” he said.
“Any of these features you incorporate into a wetland, well and good, and the more you do the better.”
NZ Landcare Trust co-ordinator in Hawke’s Bay Nathan Burkepile, formerly of Northland, is a specialist in wetlands restoration and construction and he has advised on the Matthews project.
The most important aspect is the sediment trap, which catches a surprising amount, Burkepile said.
A delay in construction was caused by the non-availability of a digger with laser height
RISING WATER: The water levels in the planted areas will be raised slowly over a year so as not to drown the sedges and grasses.
monitoring to ensure the right falls in the ponds and races.
Matthews is very conscious of water levels because the four varieties of sedges planted could be drowned under excess water.
He is increasing the water height by about 25mm a month.
The sedges in shallow water grow strongly and will shed leaves into rotting litter where bacteria perform the denitrification.
The excavated clay soils have been mounded and planted in natives and some big stumps left in the ponds to provide some inanga habitats.
Matthews had an existing wetland draining about 20ha
elsewhere on his property when he put his hand up to construct a new one, follow best practice and open up the process to scrutiny on behalf of the Piroa Trust.
The whole project has cost Matthews about $7000 so far, half for construction and half for plants.
Simon Couper, a dairy farmer by the Millbrook River and trustee for Piroa Conservation Trust, has felt for some time there was a need to start a catchment group on the river.
“It’s a way to bring awareness of the river health and the collective responsibility for making waterways better.”
Many farmers are doing it tough but a new report shows they’re continuing to invest strongly in one of their greatest assets – their sta .
The 2024 Federated FarmersRabobank Farm Salaries Report shows that, since the 2022 survey, the average salary for a farm worker has increased by $7480 to $71,411.
Weighted average annual incomes across the 13 surveyed on-farm positions have grown by 13%.
“For some more senior roles, the average increases have been signi cantly higher,” Federated Farmers employment spokesperson Richard McIntyre says.
“For example, the average salary for a dairy herd manager is up 19% to $74,185. A sheep/beef farm manager is earning an average 22% more than two years ago ($88,381) and the average income for an arable farm manager is up 28% to $101,264.”
McIntyre says the survey underlines why jobs in agriculture are not only satisfying but o er a clear career pathway.
“Despite all the headwinds farmers have contended with since 2022 – Covid, severe weather events, production-su ocating red tape, in ation and roller-coaster commodity prices – farming incomes
remain attractive and competitive.”
This is the 14th farm remuneration report Federated Farmers and Rabobank have produced, and it’s seen as a useful benchmarking tool for farmers.
The two organisations commissioned independent rm Research First to conduct the survey, carried out between 21 February and 5 March this year.
Findings use data from 529 farm employers covering nearly 1800 employees.
Weighted average salaries between 2022 and 2024 rose 11% to $70,923 in the dairy sector, 17% to $72,608 on sheep and beef farms, and 14% to $71,541 on arable farms.
“Statistics NZ data tells us that Labour Cost Index wage growth across all New Zealand sectors in the 24 months to December 31 last year was 11%, so our sector has been ahead of the game,” McIntrye says.
He suggests there are several factors behind this.
“With low unemployment rates over the last two years, I think it re ects the ongoing challenge of recruiting and retaining sta to work in remote areas.
“Two or three decades ago it wasn’t a huge deal to work way o somewhere with poor cellphone
PATHWAY: Farm Salaries survey results underline why jobs in agriculture are not only satisfying but o er a clear career pathway, Richard McIntyre says.
coverage because few people had them. Facebook wasn’t a thing.
“Now you need reasonable internet so you can do all that social media stu , watch Net ix and so on.”
For many other reasons, most people like to live and work in or near towns, McIntyre says.
“So, farmers need to nd those people who don’t mind a bit of isolation, enjoy the outdoor life, hunting, working with animals – all those things.
“When they nd people like that, they want to keep them and they’ll reward them for good work.”
Sheep and beef farms tend to be a little more remote than dairy farms, which may help explain why that sector’s increases in weighted average salaries are slightly ahead, McIntyre says.
Another factor is at play in dairy, with the remuneration report noting the Accredited Employer Work Visa
Taranaki dairy farmer
Federated Farmers sharefarmer chair
Despite farm salary rises already being ahead of national averages, an added bonus for sta is the range of other bene ts often provided.
“These can include such things as discounted accommodation, meat, rewood, phone and power allowances,” McIntyre says.
“For many farm employees, those extras can add up to several thousands of dollars a year.”
For example, the remuneration survey found the ‘total package value’ (TPV) for someone working in the sheep and beef sector is a weighted average of $76,296, nearly $3700 more than the salary.
The survey found mean TPV and salaries in dairy are slightly lower compared to sheep, beef and arable sectors, with senior dairy industry roles not seeing the large percentage increases seen in senior roles in the other industries.
Despite all the headwinds farmers have contended with since 2022 ... farming incomes remain attractive and competitive.
Richard McIntyre Federated Farmers employment spokesperson
(AEWV), introduced mid-2022, has continued to impact pay rates for migrant workers in dairy.
“That’s because a condition of the visa is that employers must pay at least the median wage as a per-hour rate,” McIntyre says.
“This requirement has tended to ratchet up pay for domestic workers as employers have looked to provide pay parity with their international counterparts.”
One factor in this is that around 60% of all dairy employees are entrylevel dairy farm assistants.
McIntyre says the lower comparative increases in salary and TPV for senior dairy roles may be because pay for these sta was higher than senior roles on sheep and beef farms in 2021/22, and the latter sector was to an extent “playing catch-up” in the last two years.
Average hours worked on farms are also well below the International Labour Organisation’s recommended maximum standard weekly total of 48 hours.
The survey shows the average weekly hours worked by a permanent dairy sta member was 46.3. On a sheep and beef farm it was 44.4 hours, and on arable farms 46.3 hours.
Sharemilkers and contract milkers should have a conversation now with their farm owner to head off any potential disputes over low feed covers, Federated Farmers warns.
National sharefarmer chair Sam Ebbett says extremely dry conditions in many parts of the country have left pasture cover levels low this autumn.
That will make it very challenging to achieve the end-of-season covers agreed to in most sharemilking and contract milking agreements, he says.
“Normally a sharemilking and contract milking agreement will include what cover is to be on-farm when you start on June 1, and what the cover should be at the end of the contract on May 31 too.
“That generally sits somewhere between 2200 and 2400 kg DM/ha average cover.”
Contracts also state how much supplement in either bulk silage, silage bales, or hay are on-farm when you start and finish the contract, he says.
Ebbett, who’s also Federated Farmers Taranaki dairy chair, says some people will be really struggling to achieve the agreed-on average feed cover and supplement levels. “There’s potential for disputes this year after the dry we’ve had, and that’s probably through no fault
of their own either. Many farmers in affected regions are looking at average cover levels of more like 1800 right now.
“It’s not poor management or anything, but just purely a result of challenging weather conditions.”
Another complicating factor is that contracts usually include a condition score the cows have to be left in on May 31 as well, he adds.
Ebbett says most sharemilkers, contract milkers and farm owners will have already taken proactive measures by starting the conversation a few months ago.
“Ideally, the two parties will be reviewing the farm plan regularly through the season, adjusting it based on what’s happening with things like growth conditions.”
For those who haven’t yet, now’s the time to come together and agree on a plan to avoid any last-minute surprises for either party, he says.
“We’re getting late into the season, so you definitely need to have that talk right now.
“What needs to happen is for both the farm owner and sharefarmer to sit down and work out a plan together as a team for how the farm is going to be managed through to the end of the season.”
Ebbett says the two parties need to focus on what’s best for the farm and the animals.
“This is about the two farmers
CHALLENGES: National sharefarmer chair Sam Ebbett says extremely dry conditions in many parts of the country have left pasture cover levels low this autumn, making it challenging to achieve the end-of-season covers agreed to in most sharemilking and contract milking agreements.
being realistic about the problem and making sure the farm’s being run as efficiently as possible, which takes collaboration.
“Work together to mutually agree on what each side can reasonably do with the cards they’ve been dealt.”
Disputes arise every year, but decent planning and communication will usually prevent any problems, Ebbett says.
“In a normal season where you have your autumn rains and everything’s tickety-boo, it should be easy to meet your target cover levels.
“But you’d hope in a situation where there’s been a weather-related event, like drought or flood, that everyone is sensible and doing the best they can.”
Ebbett encourages sharefarmers and contract milkers to finish the season well.
“Regardless of whether you’re moving to a new farm or not, take a total-farm approach to the feed situation instead of an approach that only considers your own personal business side of the operation.
“That’ll have far better flow-on results for everyone involved.
“Help give the next sharefarmer coming on the best start you can. What goes around comes around.”
Ebbett says Federated Farmers agreements include a clear process
There’s potential for disputes this year after the dry we’ve had, and that’s probably through no fault of their own either.
for dispute resolution, outlining how parties should bring disputes, how disputes are managed, and the timeframes that need to be adhered to.
Members also have access to free employment and legal advice through the Federated Farmers 0800 line.
“I strongly encourage anyone who needs some advice to pick up the phone and make use of that free service you get as a member,” Ebbett says.
GET ALONG TO YOUR LOCAL FEDERATED FARMERS AGM
Much-needed changes to unworkable and expensive regulations mark the end of the war on farming, Federated Farmers say.
The Government has announced it will be making urgent changes to the resource management system, with a Bill expected to be introduced to Parliament next month.
Federated Farmers freshwater spokesperson Colin Hurst says farmers will be pleased to see the back of impractical winter grazing and stock exclusion rules introduced by the previous Government.
“These rules have been a complete nightmare since the day they were introduced,” Hurst says.
“They were rushed through before the 2020 election by overzealous regulators with a complete disregard for those who’d actually need to implement them behind the farm gate.
“Farmers are always looking to improve environmental outcomes on their properties and to care for the land, but regulation needs to be practical, pragmatic and affordable.
“These rules failed on all three counts. They were completely disconnected from the reality of
farming, devoid of commonsense, and heaped a tonne of unnecessary costs onto farmers.”
In its April 23 announcement, the Government said the Resource Management Act Amendment Bill will improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants.
“The Bill focuses on targeted changes that can take effect quickly and give certainty to councils and consent applicants, while new legislation to replace the RMA is developed,” RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said.
Bishop said the Bill will reduce the regulatory burden on resource consent applicants and support development in key sectors, including farming.
One change will mean that, while the Government reviews the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, resource consent applicants won’t have to demonstrate their proposed activities follow the Te Mana o te Wai hierarchy of obligations.
The intensive winter grazing regulations will be repealed, stock exclusion regulations will be amended, and the requirement for councils to identify new Significant
Natural Areas (SNAs) will be suspended for three years.
Hurst says these farming rules were poorly thought through, as shown by the fact that they had to be amended eight times in three years.
“Even then they remained totally unworkable and confusing for farmers,” he says.
Farmers are always looking to improve environmental outcomes on their properties and to care for the land, but regulation needs to be practical, pragmatic and affordable.
Colin Hurst Federated Farmers freshwater spokesperson
“The constant chopping and changing has been incredibly confusing and has completely undermined farmers’ confidence to invest in their businesses.”
Hurst says the previous Government should have listened
when farmers told them a one-sizefits-all approach was never going to work.
“Winter grazing rules would have required more than 10,000 farmers around the country to get a resource consent just to feed a winter crop to their stock.
“Even if farmers had complied, the councils wouldn’t have had capacity to process that number of consents.”
Hurst is also deeply critical of flawed stock exclusion rules which currently require extensive sheep and beef properties to fence their waterways by July 2025.
“Fencing streams on extensive properties with low stocking rates has the potential to cost farmers hundreds of thousands of dollars, for very little environmental gain.
“It makes no sense to have a blanket rule requiring fences on these vast properties with difficult terrain and a very low stocking rate.”
The previous Government had two attempts at mapping out where sheep and beef farmers needed to fence streams, and they still couldn’t get it right, he says.
“Fences don’t go up overnight, so
the reality is those farmers couldn’t comply with the current rules by July next year, even if they wanted to.
“Farmers are New Zealand’s leading conservationists. I can’t think of a group of people doing more to protect and enhance our countries biodiversity.
“We need to be empowering farmers and supporting them to make further improvements on their properties instead of tying them up in needless red tape.”
Federated Farmers strongly believe winter grazing, stock exclusion and on-farm biodiversity can be better managed through the upcoming roll-out of farm plans.
“Farm plans allow farmers and rural communities to tailor their environmental improvement actions to match their specific local needs,” Hurst says.
“This will always lead to much better outcomes, and more community buy-in, than impractical and expensive one-size-fits-all rules driven out of Wellington.”
Legislation is expected to be introduced to Parliament in May and passed into law later in this year.
10
This 621ha property of strong hill country presents a range of options with exposure to different markets.
Planted in 2017, 193ha of Mānuka is entered in the ETS, attracting carbon and honey income, with potential to increase this. The property has a history of pastoral farming, with regular rainfall. On a separate title, the 4-bedroom home offers comfortable accommodation, along with a single garage, a three stand woolshed, satellite sheep yards and implement shed.
The 186.96 ha Makuri wilderness property includes large areas of Mānuka, with around 30 hectares planted in 2017, and regenerating native bush. This Mānuka produces high quality honey with MGS values consistently above 20. The 2-bedroom lodge provides options for recreational enjoyment and hunting or ecotourism ventures, supported by the Department of Conservation land that surrounds it.
Unlock the potential of this property nestled across two titles, boasting 761ha (more or less) of versatile land. Located in proximity to the renowned Hawera water-ski club and camping area, convenience meets leisure at the end of the road. With two huts, two woolsheds, and well-maintained access tracks, the property is equipped for both lodging and utilizsation for honey production and recreation.
Located 80km east of New Plymouth, Okau Road is a 429ha (more or less) bush block, currently utilised for manuka honey production. Okau Road provides good access year-round to the northern side and the property has a central valley track providing ground access to hive sites. Eco-tourism possibilities can be explored.
Unlock the possibilities of this diverse property spanning six titles, currently optimized for manuka honey production and grazing. With the option to expand grazing pasture on the valley floor and
Situated at the end of Rotowai Rd, some 20 km east of Waipawa and 75 km south of Napier. Tainui is secluded and surrounded by farmland. Approx 590 ha Class 6 land and 100 ha Class 4. A feature of Tainui is the fully reticulated water system to troughs in all paddocks with water sourced from a large dam/wetland area. Fenced into 71 paddocks with 10 km of new fencing completed in 2020-22. Presently utilized as a breeding and finishing block for sheep and cattle with excellent results achieved. Infrastructure is excellent with a four bedroom homestead featuring open plan living, four stand woolshed and covered yard and a full array of other farm improvements An excellent lane system allows for good stock movement and access The extensive plantings of Willows and Poplars make for an aesthetically appealing property while providing for a pleasant working environment Tainui is genuinely on the market as the absentee vendors look to pursue other interests.
4 2 2
Tender closes 2.00pm, Fri 17th May, 2024, Property Brokers, 98 Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau
View By appointment
Web pb.co.nz/WR181094
Pat Portas
M 027 447 0612 E patp@pb.co.nz
Sam McNair
M 027 264 0002 E sam.mcnair@pb.co.nz
I Innnnoovvaattiivve e Design
Ezi-flo pit gates completely clear exit ways and cannot be touched by cows leaving the milking area.
Ezi-flo pit gates completely clear exit ways and cannot be touched by cows leaving the milking area.
The fully galvanised gates are available in kitset for speedy installation
I Immpprroovvees s Efficiency completely clear exit ways and cannot be touched by cows leaving the milking area.
Ezi-flo pit gates completely clear exit ways and cannot be touched by cows leaving the milking area.
$3,100 + GSTper set
$3,100 + GSTper set
The fully galvanised gates are available in kitset for speedy installation
Ph Jim 07-850 5971 Mob. 0274 936 693
Ph Chris 07-849 3630 Mob. 0274 936 692
The fully galvanised gates are available in kitset for speedy installation. Suppliers to Farmers, Builders and Engineers.
The fully galvanised gates are available in kitset for speedy installation. Suppliers to Farmers, Builders and Engineers.
P.O. Box 10 188, Te Rapa, Hamilton www.dairybuilders.co.nz
Ph Michael 027 259 5732
Ph Jim 07-850 5971 Mob. 0274 936 693
michael@systemax.co.nz
Ph Michael 027 259 5732 michael@systemax.co.nz
Ph Chris 07-849 3630 Mob. 0274 936 692 P.O. Box 10 188, Te Rapa, Hamilton www.dairybuilders.co.nz
www.dairybuilders.co.nz
www.dairybuilders.co.nz
Farm at scale close to Timaru Rooney Farms owns and operates a range of farming proper ties throughout Canterbur y and Nor th Otago This includes sheep beef deer dair y and arable interests
Taiko consists of 1870 ef fective hectares made up of mostly developed rolling to steep hill countr y just 20 minutes from Timaru A true mixed system we need a farm manager who has the skills to do this proper ty justice and can execute a complex system at scale Primarily a deer breeding and finishing unit, the proper ty runs 1000 breeding hinds carr ying our velvet and trophy genetics, 500 velveting stags as well as finishing 2500 weaner deer for other Rooney proper ties The proper ty also finishes upwards of 7000 lambs and 400 trade cattle as well as wintering dair y cows and a small herd of beef cows The role is suppor ted by a team of five on farm, plus our in house Ag team who carr y out the cropping and supplementar y feed programme
The successful applicant will ideally have:
• A passion for and experience with deer In par ticular an interest in velvet and trophy genetics would be an advantage
• Extremely high animal welfare standards
• Great pasture management skills and attention to detail - an absolute must in this intensive system
• An ability to build strong and ef fective relationships both internally and externally
• Strong planning and organisation skills as well as the ability to use technology (FarmIQ, Excel, Outlook and Farmax would be advantageous)
• Exceptional leadership skills and the ability to run a large team The role comes with a large and recently renovated 5 bedroom home as well as a generous remuneration package As a par t of the wider Rooney Farms group, there is ample oppor tunity for a manager to continue to learn and expand their skills
For an informal chat about the role, please contact the Business Manager, Victoria Magazinovic on 027 579 5870 Applications close 5th May 2024
The
The qualities and skills we are looking for are:
• Be future-focused, value continuous improvement, innovation and responsiveness to the sector’s challenges and opportunities.
• Effective, persuasive and respectful communicator.
• A role model for the values of the organisation.
• Independence in thinking; be prepared to challenge and be challenged.
• Close connection to sheep and beef farmers and their rural communities.
• Proven and effective governance and/or executive level expertise, strategic planning and execution.
Passion, integrity, and a genuine desire to do our best for farmers is what drives us at Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ). We are 100% farmer-owned and funded and work on behalf of New Zealand’s sheep and beef producers. Our vision is for thriving sheep and beef farmers, now and into the future. Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s investments play a critical role in underpinning New Zealand’s second biggest export sector.
The Independent Director position will bring independent judgement, outside experience, and objectivity to the board table. We want to strengthen the board in key areas of Māori Agribusiness and Information Technology. The successful candidate will have proven experience in governance and be committed to a successful and thriving New Zealand sheep and beef sector, be collaborative in nature, possess sound judgment and be willing to demonstrate strong leadership to the sector, and B+LNZ management.
This is a remunerated position and will commence 1 July 2024 and is for a three-year term. The commitment required will be approximately three days per month.
For further information, contact Bridget McIlraith, B+LNZ People & Culture Manager on bridget.mcilraith@beeflambnz.com or 027 220 7789.
Please apply via the B+LNZ job site: https://beeflambnz.com/about-blnz/work-for-us Applications close 5pm Monday 6 May.
CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND
Oraukura Station (Oraukura No 3 Incorporation)
• Approx 998 effective hectares, 10,000+ stock units sheep, cattle and deer
• Flat to easy rolling ash and pumice approx 35km from Taumarunui and Turangi
Well developed with full facilities including two dwellings, 330ha deer fenced, approx 100 paddocks, reticulated water throughout
• 6 years from 1 July 2024 (flexible)
• First Right of Refusal offers potential for longer term relationship with compatible Tenant
• Possibility of 1200ha adjoining property becoming available for lease in 2025
• Joint inspections proposed 1pm Thursday 18 April and Thursday 2 May
Information pack with basic lease terms & conditions, proposal requirements and inspection details available from:
Geoff Burton Farm Business Management
Taumarunui
Phone 07 895 8052
gtb@xtra.co.nz LK0118305©
Another field day in this series, funded by Te Uru Rakau/NZ Forest Service and organised by NZ Farm Forestry Association.
Field Days are being held around the country including a very successful one on steep hill country just outside Whanganui in March.
This one, also in the Whanganui/Manawatu region but on sand country, will focus on mature stands of eucalypts, cypresses and blackwoods, emphasising where they have thrived and where they have failed. No redwoods and few poplars.
Venue: Rangitoto Farm, 370 Parewanui Rd, Bulls (3.7km on road to Scotts Ferry). Will be well sign-posted, but entrance visibility is rather restricted. Be careful.
Date: Saturday 11th May.
Start time: 10.00am. Finish when you want to go. Free lunch if registered.
Registration: Please register via the Farm Forestry website: www.nzffa.org
Pre-ordering of R1yr seedlings available in Autumn 2024. It
We currently have R2 Cork & Native Beech Truffle trees available in our Nursery for Spring delivery 2023 (limited numbers).
Give Mark a call on
021 327 637 or visit truffles.nz
LK0118049©
An older, white haired man walked into a jewelry store one Friday evening with a beautiful young girl at his side. He told the jeweller he was looking for a special ring for his girlfriend.
The jeweller looked through his stock and brought out a $5,000 ring and showed it to him.
The old man said, “I don’t think you understand, I want something very special.”
At that statement, the jeweller went to his special stock and brought another ring over.
“Here’s a stunning ring at only $40,000,” the jeweller said.
The young lady’s eyes sparkled and her whole body trembled with excitement. The old man seeing this said, “We’ll take it.”
The jeweller asked how payment would be made and the old man stated by check. “I know you need to make sure the cheque is good, so I’ll write it now and you can call the bank on Monday to verify the funds and I’ll pick the ring up Monday afternoon,” he said.
Monday morning, a very teed-o jeweller phoned the old man. “There’s no money in that account.”
“I know”, said the old man, “but can you imagine the weekend I had?”
Lamb and weaner calf numbers are mounting on the islands as farmers itch to get a chance at mainland markets before the winter slowdown, though thankfully feed is not a problem.
WHILE a lot of the focus on the South Island has been around the trying dry conditions on the east coast and northern parts of the island – and the ideal growing season in Southland – there has been little conversation about what is happening on the Chatham Islands.
Despite being on the far east, conditions have been far from dry on the islands, and up to 450mm has fallen over the summer months.
While this sounds like a lot, rain has been at regular and manageable intervals, encouraging plenty of grass growth. This summer and autumn have set feed conditions up well coming into winter.
However, with the weather capable of going from one extreme to another, it only takes one wintry blast to come through to bring growth to a halt. This
has been seen in Southland more recently where the dream run of growth has abruptly slowed with a sudden decrease in temperatures and sunshine hours.
Scheduled maintenance on the Chatham Island ships last year delayed the ability to transport stock for several months and farmers’ patience was tested.
This came as the outlook for the markets, particularly for lambs, was already sounding fairly negative.
It wasn’t until August that the first lot of lambs could get on the boat, but, despite crossing the water later than they usually would, the stock was in fantastic order.
The generally forward condition of lambs did mean they earned a premium, but the late offload meant that farmers were a bit behind the eight ball.
The backlogs from the delay left farmers with a bit of an overflow of numbers coming into the 202324 season, which has continued to have flow-on effects even though half the season has already passed.
There is still plenty of this season’s stock to leave the islands, as the season began later. Thankfully, feed levels can accommodate this for now, but as noted, it only takes one bad turn from Mother Nature to put the pressure back on.
Currently, transport is on a dry dock for inspection and repairs for six weeks. The South Island store cattle and lamb market is currently holding up fairly well but, once again, Chatham Islands’ farmers are itching to get their share of the market before winter subdues trading.
Typically, cattle are the first to set sail, followed by lambs, and agents anticipate that a large
number of weaner calves will be ready to enter the market near the end of May.
But although the return of sailings is in sight, farmers’ nerves are far from settled. The sooner a large offload of cattle can be worked through, the sooner the lambs can board, and winter stock levels will begin to look more manageable.
Given the current prices of stock and transport, the ever-decreasing returns being made by farmers have many on the islands worried they will be receiving bills rather than cheques when their shipping time comes.
One thing that could work in farmers’ favour is a delay
The ever-decreasing returns have many on the islands worried they will be receiving bills rather than cheques when their shipping time comes.
in mainland cropping farmers entering the store lamb market. A slow-growing autumn across most of the mainland has many waiting for some growth before they purchase their winter trade lambs. The timing could line up well for Chatham Islands farmers who are patiently waiting for their run of some good luck.
“ There’s so much coverage there when you want to hone in on the main issues, and that’s its strength. You cover all the issues, and in depth.”
Ian Strahan
Kiwitea sheep and beef farmer, Federated Farmers Manawatū-Rangitīkei president
Low numbers allowed the Feilding weaner heifer fair to be combined with steers and bulls last Tuesday. Average weaner steer returns remain just below $4.00/kg, $3.93/kg for traditional. Above 220kg, any per kilogram returns over $4.00/kg usually coincided with return buyers battling to secure the same breeding that served them well last year. Meanwhile, some more buying power under the roof of Canterbury Park had a positive impact on the store lamb market. Heavy cryptorchids reached $102 and 32-37kg males managed $90-$95. Mixed-sex lines were discounted, as they are at other yards and should be at this point in the season.
NOTE: Slaughter values are weighted average gross operating prices including premiums but excluding breed premiums for cattle.
Data provided by
Philip Duncan NEWS Weather
EL NIÑO is over. For some regions, we hardly knew ye, while for many central and eastern areas the dry has been certainly noticeable over the past few months.
As we come into the final stretch of April and towards the middle portion of autumn, the soil moisture maps still have an El Niño hangover. Soil moisture levels are drier than usual in parts of Canterbury, Marlborough, Wairarapa. Manawatū, Horowhenua, Hawke’s Bay, Whanganui, Gisborne, Hauraki Plains/Coromandel Peninsula, and the eastern side of Northland. This is all classic El Niñodriven dryness courtesy of more westerlies and southwesterlies, and the bulk of the rain bands have been westerly driven. Life is returning to our weather! Marlborough, like many regions, now has a wet side and a dry side. Rain fell in recent days and again the week prior giving some locations so much rain that the soil in parts of Marlborough is now
wetter than it historically would be at this time of year.
Of course, it depends on who you ask and what they do for a living if the rain has been enough, too much, or still not yet the right amount.
With New Zealand shaking the El Niño weather pattern, we transfer into an autumn pattern. It’s a bit like the difference between a sunrise and a sunset – both look the same but they are different and we just need a little more time to see that pattern leave us.
As we head more towards winter there will likely be more breaks between the highs and more chances of low pressure. As we look at the weather maps there is life all around us.
In recent days – and in days to come – we have low pressure south of NZ, east of NZ and north of NZ. But we’re still seeing high pressure zones like giant cargo ships sailing out of the Australia region to our west.
These big, slow-moving systems are still in the mix and are bringing very dry weather to places like Victoria. (Had a message on our WeatherWatchTV YouTube page just this week from someone
saying they would “unfollow us” if we didn’t start forecasting some rain for the wheatbelt there soon!)
So the dry weather in Victoria, and New South Wales and Tasmania is dragging over to our side of the Tasman Sea too – but we currently have better chances for rain events than our Aussie neighbours.
We’re now in a “neutral” season.
Think of El Niño as first gear – it allows you to move along in a steady direction. La Niña is reverse – again, it allows your vehicle to move along in a steady direction.
Neutral is like you (or your kids)
WET OUT WEST: The 15day rainfall map shows we still have a westerly lean to the wet weather, but lows around NZ are close by – it only takes a slight change in high pressure for more rain to come.
Minimum investment of $100,000
Wholesale investors only
No costs or fees deducted
Returns are pre-tax
Finbase provides private investors, family offices and high net worth individuals who meet relevant wholesale investor criteria an investment backed by First Mortgage Security.
Investor security: Funds are utilised to provide First ranking mortgages to commercial borrowers for the purposes of short term property projects, maximum 12 month term of any loan.
Maximum lending of 60% of property value.
We will cover your legal and accounting fees of up to $2,500 to discuss this investment opportunity with your professional advisors, with no obligation for you to invest after doing so.* Finbase is proud to have never missed an investor interest payment nor suffered a single loss of investor capital. Earn a fixed return of 11-12% p.a. with interest paid monthly secured by first mortgage.
taking their first driving lesson and there’s a lot of gear grinding. As a passenger you don’t know if you’re moving forwards, backwards or stalled.
Put short, El Niño is more about westerlies and dry, but “neutral” means more weather chaos and anything can happen.
For more information visit our website at www.finbase.nz
