Rural News 18 November 2014

NOVEMBER 18, 2014: ISSUE 573 www.ruralnews.co.nz

RURALNEWSTO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS

NEWSInnovate or die –

kiwifruit bossPAGE 12

MANAGEMENT76th NZGA conference attracts 400 people. PAGES 28-32

MACHINERYSalute to NZ’s wartime history. PAGE 38

Cut fees for Ag degrees Organic flight?ORGANIC DAIRY farmers say they are disillusioned with rules put in place by Fonterra and are quitting supply to the co-op.

Rural News understands the number of certified organic farmers has fallen from 127 in 2011 to 50-70 this year. Sources say there is little likelihood new certified organic suppliers will sign with Fonterra.

The number of Biogro certified farmers has fallen from 40-45 in 2009 to 31 in 2014.

Many of these disillusioned farmers are in Northland and Taranaki, where the co-op no longer collects organic milk to cut costs.

One formerly certified farmer dropped the certification when rules forbade the use of Tanalised fence posts; replacements had to be hardwood or concrete.

“If I had known this I wouldn’t have got certified,” he told Rural News. “They seemed to be making it up as they went along.”

Fonterra general manager for milk supply technical and assur-ance Dianne Schumacher refused to confirm the co-op’s number of organic suppliers but told Rural News that the organics business was a niche part of the cooperative.

“Fonterra is always looking at ways to better use our collective knowledge and skills to improve our organic milk supply pro-gramme. – Full story page 18

GETTING YOUNG people into agri-business is critical for New Zealand’s future, says ANZ chief economist Cam-eron Bagrie.

He told the recent Zespri conference that he is concerned to see the right people enter the agri sector in the num-bers required. For example, the kiwifruit industry will soon be producing 30 mil-lion more trays of product and will need more people to cope with that trend.

Bagrie is convinced that most young people do not understand the long term future they could enjoy in some primary industries.

“People study commerce and law because the perception is they are going to make an awful lot of money. [But] I

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

am pretty sure an agri manager has a higher starting salary than a lawyer or an accountant. Who would have thought that possible five or ten years ago? The relative price signals are start-ing to shift.”

New websites enable young people to see the opportunities in the vari-ous sectors and income prospects over time.

He proposes drastic moves on uni-versity fees to encourage agri studies

and discourage arts. “If you want to get more people into agriculture there is a big lever you can pull in regard to fees. If you want fewer arts students ram the price of these degrees up and put the price of an agri degree down. Students respond to those sorts of dynamics.”

Bagrie also has a strong message for teachers: education is the only sector where, regardless of skills, people get the same pay.

“Can you imagine a bunch of law-

yers on strike, marching down the main street in Tauranga holding up signs saying ‘because we are worth it’?” he asks.

“I’m a big believer in economics 101: if you get the right economic incentives in front of people you will drive the right sort of behaviours. So if there is a qual-ity mis-match between one teacher and another there should be a pay mis-match between one and the other.”

• Huge career opportunites - page 5

HAIL MARY!Although in some cases a long way from their orchards, delegates to the recent Zespri conference in Tauranga had a sharp reminder of the risks the weather poses to their industry. Just as they were leaving the conference, late on the first day, the heavens opened up and down came hail in big chunks. Terry Newlands, who runs a kiwifruit orchard at Waihi Beach, Bay of Plenty, was one of many who got nervous when the hail fell. He and many other growers were hoping their orchards wouldn’t be hit like others around the country. More on hail damage on page 10.

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FAR

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19

RURAL NEWS // NOVEMBER 18, 2014

NEWS 3

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ISSUE 573www.ruralnews.co.nz

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Shopping by drone

MARKETING ‘FUTURIST’ Doug Stephens believes digital devices will in future be attached to refrigerators to warn householders they are running low on, say, kiwifruit. And it will tell them where they can buy it.

Stephens, speaking at the recent Zespri conference, detailed huge changes in the retail market. Digital devices will fundamentally change the way people shop, he says, and New Zealand must be wise to such changes to retain its competitiveness.

E-commerce retailers have no difficulty in getting people to buy online, Stephens says.

“The challenge is getting what we are buying online delivered to us [quickly]. Shipping has become the new moon race. E-bay is now delivering within an hour in major cities. Amazon is looking at delivering goods by drone helicopter to our doors. The German postal service is already delivering packages by drone helicopter.”

Stephens says big retailers such as Walmart are now struggling worldwide to find relevance in the new digital era. But though digital shopping will impact on conventional retailers, e-commerce will not completely take over the shopping ‘space’.

He believes people still see shopping in store as “relaxing and entertaining”.

Gen Y shoppers pose a particular challenge for marketers because they frequently change brands and are always looking for new products. • More on Zespri conference and the changing face of retailing page 12

PETER BURKE

peterb@ruralnews�co�nz

TPP deadline loomsTIME IS running out for a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), says a New Zealand business leader.

The executive director of New Zea-land International Business Forum, Stephen Jacobi, told Rural News that negotiators have a six-month opportu-nity to hammer out a deal.

Jacobi, who attended this month’s APEC summit in Beijing, says there is a risk that if TPP is not concluded soon people will get bored and even walk away.

“We have six months until the next presidential election gears up in the US – that’s the window we’re working with,” Jacobi says.

Leaders involved in TPP, including Prime Minster John Key, met on the sidelines of APEC. Key believes leaders have momentum and a desire to com-plete TPP but have only until August 2015 to reach a deal. Failing this, the TPP would be put on the backburner for a couple of years at least.

Key referred to strong desire among the leaders of the 12 TPP countries to complete the deadlocked talks. But he warned an agreement was needed by August 2015 or it will be too close to the next US presidential election in 2016 to get anything done.

Jacobi agrees the 12 TPP countries have moved further but how far remains to be seen.

He believes the key is the US and Japan reaching agreement on their market access package. “Until they do this and make that available to the other nine, I do not think we can conclude this agreement.”

President Barack Obama is adamant the deal would be done and has prom-ised to keep working on it.

“I met with several other members of the TPP who share my desire to make this agreement a reality and we are going to keep working to get it done,” Obama said in a speech to a business summit related to APEC.

“Once complete, this partnership

will bring nearly 40% of the global econ-omy under an agreement. That means increased trade, greater investment and more jobs for its member countries, a level playing field on which its busi-nesses can compete, and high standards that protect workers, the environ-ment and intellectual property.”

But there are questions over Obama’s ability to get a deal through the Congress; the Senate falls into Republican control from January.

Jacobi says the US mid-term elections pave the way for the incoming Republican leader-ship of both houses to draw up an ambitious negotiating mandate for Obama.

This would allow him to commit seri-ously to the negotia-tion, he says.

“That has been a problem until now: the US has been negotiat-

ing but it has been unclear what their bottom line is.

“This is particularly important for the negotiation with Japan. There is some possibility that the Trade

Promotion Authority can be passed in the lame duck

session in the coming month but I think

it more likely this will happen in

February.”

SUDESH KISSUN

sudeshk@ruralnews�co�nz

Executive director of New Zealand International Business Forum Stephen Jacobi.

Skins for skis: former Hawkes

Bay farmers John and Fiona

Hudson were selling cow and

calf skins at Canterbury’s A&P Show to

help raise funds for daughter

Peira’s ski racing. At 18, she’s the youngest in the NZ Alpine Team

and only female. She’s already in the US training

for the northern hemisphere

winter, which will see her race

in the World Championships at Beaver Creek and compete on the Europa Tour.

More pics and stories from the show on

pages 8 and 9.


4 NEWS

Feds, Landcorp plan water talks

LANDCORP AND Fed-erated Farmers plan to talk in the next few weeks about issues including water allocation in the upper Waikato catchment.

Feds provincial presi-dent for Rotorua/Taupo, Allan Wills, says as many as 60 dairy farmers in the catchment fear they will be denied enough water to wash down their dairy sheds.

Wills claims this is because Wairakei Pastoral, the owner of large land-holdings now being con-

verting to dairying, has gained consents for most of the available water in the catchment. Landcorp manages the farms for Wairakei Pas-toral.

Wills acknowledges Wairakei Pas-toral acquired the water con-sents by legal and legitimate means, but ques-tions the ethics of its move.

Farmers had the same opportunity as Wairakei Pastoral to apply for the water consents, but these

were awarded by the regional council on a first-come, first-served basis and local farmers missed out.

Says Wills, “The Wairakei Pastoral Land-corp partnership needs to be part of the solu-tion. Every farmer has to

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

have consent to use water for cleaning stock sheds. Stock water and domes-tic water is guaranteed, but the problem is with

the water used for irrigation and shed wash-down.”

Landcorp chief executive Steven Carden says while he knows Feder-ated Farmers’ con-cerns about water allocation, it’s the regional council

that allocates the water. Wairakei Pastoral, as the owners of the land in question, applied for the water consents in 2011

Fonterra expands global milk poolsFONTERRA HOPES to be collecting 30 billion litres of milk worldwide by 2025, says chief executive Theo Spierings.

Addressing the co-op’s annual meeting in Palmerston North last week, Spierings referred to six global milk pools – three in the southern hemisphere (New Zealand, Australia, South America) and three in the north (Europe, North America, China).

Spierings defends the concept of expanding global milk pools. “Milk pools gives us access to safe, quality milk and we need extra milk to stay relevant.”

He stressed that all milk pools will deliver quality milk. “The same standards apply in all milk pools as in New Zealand.”

When Fonterra was formed 12

years ago it processed 13 billion litres of milk in New Zealand; today, it picks up 21b L in New Zealand, Australia, Chile and China.

Spierings says Fonterra’s ambition is to pick up 30b L by 2025; more milk will come from pools in Europe and China.

Most of the extra milk will be turned into products for China; the Australian milk pool will process cheese, whey and infant formula and Europe will turn its milk into whey for China.

Spierings says the milk collected from Fonterra farms in China will be turned into UHT products and food service ingredients for the domestic market.

New Zealand milk products will go mostly to China, Middle East and Africa.– Sudesh Kissun

@rural_news

facebook.com/ruralnews

Theo Spierings

and gained these in 2012. The water is essentially for stock and for shed wash-down, with some provi-sion for irrigation. Only about 14% of the Wairakei estate is irrigated, Carden says.

“Landcorp and Wairakei Pastoral will have

to sit around the table and work out the options. It’s certainly not Landcorp’s aim to see people disad-vantaged.”

Carden says the meet-ing with Federated Farm-ers, in early December, will be part of a wider dialogue Landcorp is having with

its stakeholders. Landcorp wants to be open about what it is doing and give others an opportunity to engage with the company and see what can happen as a result of that dialogue.

@rural_news


“Landcorp and Wairakei Pastoral will have to sit around the table and work out the options. It’s certainly not Landcorp’s aim to see people disadvantaged.”

Landcorp chief executive Steven Carden.

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NEWS 5

City teachers impressed by Ag sector opportunities

FOUR YOUNG people on the trip – three recent graduates and one undergraduate – told the teachers about the job prospects in agriculture and their own stories.

Sam Tennent, now LIC’s farm solutions manager in Whanganui/Rangitikei/Northern Manawatu, opted for a bachelor degree at Massey University as fitting around caring for her baby. She studied veter-inary technology with elective papers in production animal/agribusiness. This helped her get the job she was looking for when she left university.

“The career in agriculture is fantastic. My role is flexible – almost self-employed – but with the support of the company. I’m out on the road, orga-nise my own diary and plan my own days and weeks within reason.”

Brigitte Ravera, with an agricultural science degree from Lincoln University, is heading to Inver-cargill as a trainee consulting officer on a DairyNZ scholarship. She has her heart set on farm owner-ship.

Ravera had to work at convincing her father about her plans for a career in agriculture and didn’t at first reveal her goal of being a farmer. Instead she told him about the science she would do, and he has finally accepted her career choice.

“The number of job opportunities has been immense,” she told Rural News. “I had a job before I was halfway through my last year of uni. Every year since starting uni I’ve been offered a full time job on a farm. There are plenty of scholarships out there and nowhere near enough graduates to fill all the jobs.”

Ravera enthuses about the financial incentives, the lifestyle and the independence that goes with jobs in the primary sector.

Four of the best

A CHANCE to see at first-hand the employment opportunities in the pri-mary sector proved a hit for some 40 secondary teachers from the greater Wellington and Horow-henua regions.

One teacher described the day as an “outstanding initiative” and another an “inspirational day”.

The day-long trip saw careers advisors, science and commerce teachers visit a sophisticated aspar-

agus farm near Levin and a high-tech dairy farm near Feilding. And they vis-ited a Massey University sheep and beef research farm and the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre at Palmerston North. At day’s end the teachers met informally at Parliament with the Asso-ciate Minister for Primary Industries, Jo Goodhew.

The trip was organised by Rural News reporter Peter Burke and DairyNZ

industry education facili-tator Susan Stokes. It’s the second year it’s been run and the demand for seats meant a waiting list of teachers wanting to go.

Massey University chancellor and former Landcorp chief executive Chris Kelly went along to give an overview of the primary sector and to highlight the huge range of highly paid jobs available in the wider agri-business sector.

Cheryl Robb, a teacher from Tawa College, says the trip was of great value and widened teachers’ views to see the jobs on offer. “Coming from a city like Wellington you’re not exposed to what’s avail-

able in the agricultural and horticultural indus-tries, but… we now know what to recommend to our students.”

Goodhew told the group it’s important that people promoting careers in agriculture speak with enthusiasm and passion about the sector “to form a picture in the minds of young people of the excit-ing jobs available in it and that a lot more people are needed in the sector.”

But to get these jobs, some level of training is now necessary.

Goodhew described as a ‘glaring statistic’ from last year that 14 students graduated with degrees in forestry, while 24 gradu-

ated with degrees in acu-puncture. And performing arts graduates outnumber by 3:1 those doing primary

industry-related degrees.“People should be

encouraged to think about what they might do in

their spare time [and]… for a job that’s fun, excit-ing and well paid,” she said.

Associate primary industries minister Jo Goodhew and Tawa college teacher Cheryl Robb discuss the vast array of career opportunities available to young people in the primary sector.

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6 NEWS

THE AUSSIES blocked our apple exports for 90 years, but they were keen to get their hands on The Apple Pickers – at least a noteworthy 1940s painting by the famous New Zealand artist Rita Angus.

But Nelson apple growers have played a major part in keeping the iconic work on this side of the ditch and securing it for the city’s Suter Gallery. The 1944 painting depict-ing apple pickers relaxing in a Upper Moutere orchard came up for sale suddenly and an Australian gallery wanted it.

Rita Angus was among a group of important artists, including Colin McCahon, who visited Nelson in summer in the 1940s for sea-sonal work picking apples, hops or tobacco to augment their art sales. These artists developed a distinctly New Zealand style of painting and landscape in the 1930s and 40s and

their Nelson works were the start of New Zealand Modernism, says Nelson art historian Julie Catch-pole.

Suter Gallery had works by all those artists except Angus. When The Apple Pickers suddenly came up for sale by the Angus Trust, the gal-lery had 10 weeks to raise $245,000 to buy it or likely see it go offshore to an Australian gallery. But the Nelson community, especially the apple industry, rallied to secure the paint-ing for the Suter and on Friday the gallery announced it had raised the money ahead of time and unveiled the painting in the gallery.

Fundraising committee head Dame Ann Hercus told Rural News The Apple Pickers, although a paint-ing unknown to most in the wider community, clearly struck a chord with the apple industry in the Nelson Tasman region.

“Orchardists and the corpo-rate entities which service the great apple industry here now strongly

identify with this nationally signif-icant painting; they tell me it could be a scene from childhood on a family orchard long ago or a paint-ing of today,” she says.

“They tell me that they see the acquisition of this work of art as part of their responsibility to their region and their own history. And they certainly do not want it to go to Australia! So they have given most generously to the cause. In a way, it has become their painting as much as the Suter’s.”

Craig Potton, chair of the Bishop Suter Trust, also acknowledged the “incredibly generous” support from the families and corporate entities associated with the apple industry. “They recognised and ‘claimed’ this painting as theirs and representative of their history and the region,” he said at the unveiling.

Former mayor and now wine-grower Philip Woollaston donated a watercolour by Toss Woollaston – one of those 1940s influential artists in the ciricle know as ‘The Group’ .

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

How do you like them apples, Cobber?

The Apple Pickers by Rita Angus, 1944. The Aussies didn’t want the apples then or now, but they wanted the painting.

Art of asparagus

Horowhenua artist Jill Brandon was among many local artists who recently exhibited their works in what could be termed an ‘agricultural space’.

Levin asparagus grower, Geoff Lewis recently turned part of his packhouse into an art gallery for a group of local artists to show their works, but still kept his operation going. The event is a fund raiser for the local hospice and a special evening was organised which attracted a large crowd of locals.

For the next week, as people came to buy aspara-gus they had the bonus of attending an art exhibition as well. Many of the paintings sold on the opening night and Brandon also received a commission for a painting.

For the record – there were no paintings of asparagus! – Peter Burke

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NEWS 7

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Critic joins Fonterra board Payout review comingFONTERRA’S BOARD will review its forecast milk payout at a board meeting early next month.

Chairman John Wilson is urging farmers to exer-cise “real caution” in budgeting.

“We will have a good look at it in December and then as we get through the season, of course we will have more informa-tion. Farmers want more information to make the right decisions. We’re saying to farmers show real caution in budgeting as it is bouncing around.”

The co-op has dropped its forecast payout to $5.30/kgMS as economists warn of hefty downward pressure as dairy prices remain low.

The next Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction will be held this week.

SOUTH CANTERBURY dairy farmer Leonie Guiney received a phone call last Monday after-noon confirming her elec-tion to Fonterra’s board.

Congratulations started flowing in next day when Guiney and her husband Kieran hosted 230 farmers at a field day on their home farm in Fairlie for finishing second in a dairy business competition.

Guiney says most farmers in the region quickly learned of her win. “The bush telegraphs works pretty well in the dairy industry so it was on fire,” she told Rural News. “I am humbled and stoked by the win.”

Guiney, an outspoken Fonterra shareholder, fin-ished a strong second in

the election of three directors. Rural News understands sit-ting director John Monaghan got the most votes, followed closely by Guiney.

Taranaki farmer and sitting director David McLeod fin-ished third, ahead of unsuccessful candi-dates Gray Baldwin, Grant Rowan and Garry Reymer.

Guiney and hus-band Kieran milk 3000 cows and supply 1 mil-lion kgMS to Fonterra. She is a champion of the co-op model, having taken Fonter-ra’s board and man-agement to task over TAF and other financial issues.

Guiney says she spoke out on issues because she is passionate about the future of the co-op. “And I have seen that as

a strength…. I’m sure a strong board will have robust discussion and debate on the industry and future of the co-op. I struggle to see how that can be seen as a problem in a strong and effective

board.”But Guiney says she

has no intention of “revis-iting the concerns of the past”. “However, I will always be asking good questions in the interest of farmers.”

Addressing the Fon-terra annual meeting in Palmerston North last week, she called the co-op to improve two-way engagement with share-holders.

Despite having issues

with Fonter-ra’s management, farmer shareholders were committed to the co-op, she says. “They are commit-ted as long as they get a hearing.”

Guiney remarks on farmers leaving the co-op in parts of the South Island to supply other proces-sors.

She insists the co-op has a respon-sibility to reward loyal farmers “with a milk price and an opportunity to improve engage-ment. Commit-ted farmers are our

future and we must never forget that.”

Guiney will attend her first Fonterra board meet-ing early next month.

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

Let’s all be friends: Fonterra chairman John Wilson welcomes new director and outspoken critic of the dairy co-operative Leonie Guiney at the company’s annual meeting held in Palmerston North last week. Fellow re-elected director John Monaghan looks on.

@rural_newsfacebook.com/ruralnews


8 CANTERBURY A&P SHOW

Stalemate still hard to beatNEW FACES leading the two main meat process-ing cooperatives will prove the acid test of what’s really prevented industry reform to date, says one of the departing chief exec-utives.

Speaking to Rural News at last week’s Can-terbury A&P Show, Silver Fern Farms’ chief execu-tive Keith Cooper said if there was something going on that he believed would change the industry model to the benefit of all stake-

holders, he’d probably have stayed on.

But as it is, he’s look-ing forward to retiring in December, having made that decision “absolutely” of his own accord back in April.

“It’s a stalemate posi-tion. The industry as a whole is not seeing the opportunity of the prize at the end and everybody is still protecting their own patches. Farmers are all calling for change but no-one is capable of deliv-ering it because they’ve all got divergent views.”

The acid test of

whether that’s the case, or whether, as some have claimed, it is “egos” among the cooperatives’ leaders preventing prog-ress, will come in the New Year when both coopera-tives will have relatively recently appointed chair-men leading their boards, and new chief executives. “Then we’ll see whether it’s egos or just the reality of the industry.”

Cooper says his big-gest disappointment in his eight years at the helm of Silver Fern was that the partnership with PGW didn’t go through. “It

got approved two weeks before the global financial crisis in 2008 and when PGW went to the banks for the capital they said the world had changed and they couldn’t have it.”

He lists his highlights as pulling PPCS and Rich-mond together after the “acrimonious” process of the buy-out, rebranding PPCS as Silver Fern Farms and moving it “into the

food business” with retail packs and brands, and, more recently, the Farm IQ PGP with its Beef EQ (eating quality) measure-ment and related retail assurances, and soon to be rolled out Lamb EQ – not to mention the Farm IQ integrated farm manage-ment system.

But the number-one topic farmers coming onto the cooperative’s stand at

the Canterbury A&P Show were talking about was the buoyancy in the beef market, he said. “It’s put a bit of a spring in people’s step.”

Cooper’s view is that there’s been a step change from the $3-4/kg cwt range to $5-6/kg cwt, or, in US dollar terms, US$2.50-2.80/lb.

Lamb prices are also looking positive and rea-

sonably sustainable with $100/head at peak kill on the cards, provided the currency doesn’t take off again. Compared to other meats it is at the top end of the price range at that, but not out of touch with beef or the cheaper options of pork or poultry, he points out. “Lamb can be more expensive than white meat but it can’t be way out of the ballpark.”

ANDREW SWALLOW

[email protected] Fielding questions: sheep and bull-beef farmer Ian Jackson (right) catches up with Silver Fern Farms chief executive Keith Cooper.

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CANTERBURY A&P SHOW 9

Cool first day but good enquiry

A CHILLY first day kept the crowds away from Canterbury A&P Show on Wednesday last week but farm supply exhibitors told Rural News they’d received good enquiry nonetheless.

“It’s been much better than Ash-burton,” said one, noting the crowd was bigger at the Mid Canterbury show earlier in the month, but fewer farmers had asked about products.

As Rural News went to press, Canterbury A&P marketing man-ager Nicola Henderson said she didn’t have final figures for Wednes-day’s attendance but it was probably “slightly down on last year.”

That suggested Thursday and Friday – Canterbury’s Anniversary Day – would be even busier than usual as pre-show online ticket sales were 40% ahead of last year. “So we’re expecting big crowds today and tomorrow,” she said.

With most of the sheep and cattle judging done on Wednesday, those areas were as busy as usual with some superb stock on display. Among the winners was Andrew Stokes, with his seven-year-old cow and calf at foot from the Sinai stud, Oxford.

“I’ve been coming for eleven years and this is the first time I’ve won it,” he said after picking up the Supreme Champion Angus title.

Another regular exhibitor in the ribbons was Robbie Gibson, of Mal-vern Downs Merino Stud, Tarras, win-ning the superfine ram title.

“He’s a very thick, productive

ram with extremely good underlines, wool down the flank and belly. He was grand champion at Wanaka [in March],” he added.

Among the meat breeds judges were hard at work on classes, includ-ing several taking measurements as well as the usual eye appraisals.

“We try to include all the technol-ogy we’ve got available on the day and judge the general stockmanship to come up with a fair appraisal,” Brent Macaulay said as they worked round the pairs of rams entered in the Merial Southdown Carcase Evaluation Class.

The class, which has run 30 years, has helped the breed “put the muscle in the right places,” David Wylie, a past president of the Southdown Breeders’ Society added. “And now CT scanning has confirmed that.”

In the trade pavilion, among the more agriculturally useful exhibi-tors was Off Road Refunds, Taranaki, which does the paperwork to reclaim fuel duty paid on juice used in off-road machines such as farm bikes and chainsaws. “People are loving it,” director Leanne Hardgrave said.

The amount claimable depended on the size of operation but usually there was at least a thousand dollars available and for big operations it ran into tens of thousands. “Our biggest to date is $130,000 after our fees.”

Just round the corner Southland farm workers Jamie and Lee Lamb were doing a brisk trade in Lee’s ‘On the Farm’ series of children’s books.

“We released a new one a couple of weeks ago, Snow Rescue, so now there are five in the series,” said Lee.

ANDREW SWALLOW

[email protected]

Farm books: Southland farm work-ers Jamie and Lee Lamb were doing a brisk trade selling chil-dren’s books.

Superfine win: Robbie Gibson with a winning merino ram from Malvern Downs stud, Tarras.

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10 NEWSGrowers don’t hail storm

ABOUT 40 pipfruit and kiwifruit growers in a con-centrated orchard area of Motueka to Riwaka, west of Nelson, were affected by the Guy Fawkes-night hailstorm, says HortNZ president Julian Raine.

Many cases are now in the hands of insurance assessors and the true extent of damage won’t be known for probably

another month. “I suspect it will range

from total write-offs to those able to be thinned out so it depends on each

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

orchard, where it was and how the hail hit them,” he told Rural News.

Raine had not heard reports that staff had already lost their jobs, but says many affected growers will still have to thin their crops.

“You can’t just walk away because you can’t overload the trees otherwise you will swing the thing into biannual bearing. You’ve got to take off some of the crop load. If trees become overstressed they will only bear a light crop

the following year.”Although there is

never a good time of year for hail to hit, Raine says at least it occurred before thin-ning rather than, say, a week before harvest – so some orchardists will have a chance to recover.

Most of the pipfruit crop, which comes from Hawkes Bay and other parts of Nelson, were not hit by the hail, so the national crop isn’t affected. “But it is devastating for a small number of people,” Raine says.

Horticulture NZ president Julian Raine.

READERS ARE deserting mainstream newspapers but not rural publica-tions, according to the latest Nielsen print readership results.

While there was little good news in these results for daily newspapers, rural papers surveyed by Nielsen bucked the trend and tallied good readership growth.

Rural News enjoyed the biggest bump up, climbing from 180,000 to

195,000 readers, followed by Dairy News’ climb from 59,000 to 72,000.

Over the last decade, each time the Nielsen print readership and ABC circulation results are released, the major publications’ readership takes a dive from their perch in the previous quarter and year. And the latest results show this trend continuing – but not for the rural publications.

There were year-on-year dips in readership for four of the five daily papers, with only the Waikato Times registering an increase in readership.

The dips in circulation were wide-spread: the Herald went from 149,000 to 144,000, Dominion Post from 73,000 to 70,000, Waikato Times from 33,000 to 28,000, The Press from 71,000 to 65,000, and Otago Daily Times from 71,000 to 65,000.

Rural News bucks the trend

Feds blast Air New Zealand cutbacksPROPOSED CUTBACKS by Air New Zealand of flights to and between provincial cen-tres has been condemned by Federated Farmers.

Feds’ leaders in affected regions of Westland and Northland have accused the Government and the airline of further abandoning the regions.

Northland provincial pres-ident Roger Ludbrook claims the move is another example of how the government will not support the province.

“Kaitaia is just a provincial town Wellington will allow to die, because they need the votes not from the provinces but from the urban centres. So that is where resources will be spent,” he says.

“This move by Air New Zealand is a short-sighted tragedy, because New Zea-land’s spending is done in the cities, whereas wealth is created in this country from provincial townships like Kai-taia.”

Ludbrook believes the move will cause more busi-nesses to leave his region and

make creating new businesses even harder.

West Coast provincial president Katie Milne says dropping the Westport-Wel-lington service is “another step in the quiet deteriora-tion of New Zealand’s outly-ing rural areas”.

“You might say the Coast still has the Hokitika service to Christchurch, but that service is often disrupted by bad weather, and even at the best of times it’s the long way round to get to Wellington.”

Air New Zealand announced, last week, it would end services from Kaitaia, Whakatane and Westport and shut down sub-sidiary Eagle Airways as part of a revamp of its regional ser-vices.

From April the air-line will suspend these ser-vices: Kaitaia-Auckland; Whakatane-Auckland; Whangarei-Wellington; Taupo-Wellington; Westport-Wellington and Palmerston North-Nelson. Hamilton-Auckland will also be sus-pended from February 2016.

Although there is never a good time of year for hail to hit, at least it occurred before thinning rather than week before harvest.

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NEWS 11

Research priorities need sorting

IN BRIEF

CONERENCE AWARDS

FUNDING FOR science and extension in the sheep and beef industry needs better coordination and Beef + Lamb NZ should step up, says a long-standing New Zealand Grassland Association member and scientist.

“One of the roadblocks to more co-ordinated science and extension in the [sector] is the large number of funding bodies,” Jeff Morton told delegates at the associa-tion’s annual conference in Alexandra.

“There is a need for identification of industry priorities by all parties and co-ordination of the fund-ing through one agency, probably Beef + Lamb.”

Delivering the key-note Levy Oration* at the conference, Morton said BLNZ with its levy funds is “a major player”, but other funders such as Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment with its

Pastoral 21 Programme and MPI with its Primary Growth Partnerships and Sustainable Farming Funds make for “a piece-meal approach.”

Inadequate salaries and job insecurity also means there’s a “current and impending shortage” of pastoral scientists to do what work is funded and communicate results to consultants and farmers, he warned.

Newcomers need sound knowledge of farm systems so they under-stand how their work fits and BLNZ should con-sider emulating Dairy NZ’s recruitment of students before their final year with funding and a subsequent job working with estab-lished scientists, consul-tants and farmers before returning to post-graduate study and science.

“Beef and Lamb could organise a similar scheme through the Crown Research Institutes,” he suggested.

Farmers looking for

ANDREW SWALLOW

[email protected]

a new challenge might be recruited and trained to facilitate extension of applied science findings, he added.

“Science findings need to be robust but they are of little value unless com-municated to users in a manner that can be under-stood and put into prac-tice.”

Morton summed up how to do that with three C-words: contact, co-operation and communication.

“Contact with farmers so you live in their world; co-operation with farmers so that the research you do is relevant to them; communication so that they can understand and

apply the research results to their farm.”

BLNZ director Anne Munro was at the confer-ence and told Rural News she would put Morton’s message to the levy body’s board.

* The Levy Oration is an annual address to the NZGA conference by an invited speaker in

memory of Sir Bruce Levy, a pioneer in New Zealand grassland research. “The recipient is someone of longstanding recognition and influence in the field,” NZGA president Warwick Lissamann said introduc-ing this year’s oration. • More on the conference in general, in Management, p28, 30-32.

THE NEW Zealand Grassland Association’s parent body, the NZ Grassland Trust, made several awards at the conference.

AgResearch principal scientist Dr Stewart Ledgard received the Ray Brougham Trohpy in recognition of his work on soil fertility and environmental research and management, while Beef + Lamb NZ’s senior extension manager for the Central South Island Aaron Meikle picked up the trust’s regional award “for extension services to farmers and rural communities in the Central South Island region.”

Farmer Awards were made to the Fastier family of Simons Hill Station, in the Mackenzie Basin, for innovation in farming systems and leadership in the Central South Island, while the Paterson family of Armidale, Maniototo, were similarly recognised for sustainable farming practices and community support.

Levy Oration presenter, Jeff Morton, was made a life member of the association.• More on NZGA conference p28, 30-32

Jeff Morton

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12 NEWS

Innovate faster or die – kiwifruit boss

KIWIFRUIT’S ACHIEVE-MENTS to date are not enough to sustain a com-petitive advantage and

change is needed, says Zespri’s chief executive Lain Jager.

He told Zespri’s recent Momentum conference that massive changes are occurring in global retail-

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

ing with the move to online selling. The world has never changed so fast, he says, and industry must be aware of the changes and capitalise on the opportunities.

“One reason we are the category leader in kiwi-fruit is because we focus only on kiwifruit. We have developed scale by work-ing together and have invested heavily in inno-vation and the brand and

built a category leader-ship position because most of our competition is relatively fragmented and focused on a range of fruits.

“But… in the next ten years the nature of our competition will change: we will face businesses focusing strongly on kiwi-fruit, businesses much larger than we are, so this not a time for compla-cency.”

Consumers now want their food in ‘convenience formats’ and many more are shopping online, Jager says. Zespri is launch-ing a new organic product online. The challenge is to be compelling in a ‘con-venience format’ but still to ensure that growers get good returns.

“The big question is how we innovate faster than the competition. What is going to continue to earn us a sustainable living in this world, to earn our margin… is our rate of

innovation.“This is not a generic

question because what guides our innovation is what we focus on – the convenience market, internet shopping, taste and what we need to do in China. The quality of the questions we ask will define our future.”

The kiwifruit industry is performing well and has recovered strongly from Psa, Jager says. The indus-try plans by 2020 to be

exporting 120 million trays of kiwifruit. Importantly, they are lifting the price paid for green kiwifruit to about $5/tray – a dollar more than the average for the last seven years. This means that by 2020 Zespri will be delivering grow-ers at least $60,000/ha – almost double the figure of the early 2000s.

The real competition facing Zespri is not so much other kiwifruit pro-ducers, such as Chile, but

other fruits, “… colourful and tasty and high quality. That is really tough com-petition. We are the little brown ones [that] account for less than 1% of the global fruit bowl so we are competing with really big fruit categories.”

He says the growth in recent years has been dis-proportionately in citrus and bananas and to a lesser extent in apples.

GLOBAL KIWIFRUIT is a northern hemisphere business, Lain Jager says.

Almost all the kiwifruit eaten worldwide is grown in the northern hemisphere and that is where New Zealand must position itself strongly – where the business is done. (NZ supplies about a third of the globally traded kiwifruit.)

China produces as much kiwifruit as all other producers

combined, just as China is the world’s biggest gold producer..

“China’s kiwifruit volume will probably double in the next five years. Zespri and its consultants probably know more about the Chinese kiwifruit industry than anyone else in the world and I can tell you it’s all going on in China,” he adds. “China is hugely important to our future.”

Jager says Zespri’s strategy is

underpinned by strong platforms, especially innovation and plant breeding.

Quality will be the driver of success for the industry, as will developing strong relationships with consumers.

“The important thing now is for the industry to work together and look to the future and be a part of the changes that will inevitably take place.”

Good relationships vital


Lain Jager says massive changes are hap-pening in global retailing.

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NEWS 13

Guy pitches NZ to premium marketA STALLED free trade agreement (FTA) with India has been kicked into life again.

This is what Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy believes after he led a business delegation there and met with the country’s new government. The next step is for officials to get together soon and hold the tenth round of negotiations.

The agricultural trade target in India is pre-mium food and beverage to the growing 300 million middle class. There are also opportunities in shar-ing New Zealand expertise and technology.

“We have been nego-tiating a free trade agree-ment since 2011 and we’ve had nine rounds of discus-sion,” Guy told Rural News. “The tenth round has taken too long to get organised. I met my counterpart, agri-culture minister (Radha Mohan) Singh, and we had a constructive meeting. He is keen to see the FTA advanced.”

Since recent elections the new government seems to have renewed enthusi-asm for trade, he says.

“The tenth round looks like looking progress-ing very soon and there seems to be an appetite to get on with it. This market has huge potential, they know New Zealand, they like New Zealanders and

they like our products and we will keep pushing hard to land a comprehensive FTA.”

India has a population of 1.2b population with 300 million middle class and growing. Half the popula-tion is under 25 years. Two-way trade between the countries is $1.1 billion and both countries acknowl-edge we should be doing more, says Guy.

“We have a strong his-torical connection to India. We have a commonwealth history and 155,000 Indians living in New Zealand, very much part of our culture. There are 35,000 visitors from India to New Zealand a year.”

Wood and coal are our main exports and there is opportunity to do more in food and beverage and in services. Some kiwifruit, apples and avocados are already going into India, although with high tariffs, so Guy says an objective would be eventual tariff removal.

Frozen lamb is also being exported through Quality New Zealand. “The opportunities are for pre-mium quality New Zealand products so lamb is going in there frozen, but ulti-mately it would be going in chilled. We need to work on an open skies agree-ment with Air India and Air New Zealand.”

“Then there’s our IT, technology, processing and equipment, and we can further partner with

PAM TIPA

[email protected]

India on refrigeration, post-harvest handling facilities and other technology.”

Dairy is challenging because India is the world’s biggest producer – 70 mil-lion farmers with on aver-age two-three cows each

– but also an opportunity because they are also the largest consumers.

“As their population grows they will need food imports, so that’s where NZ has an opportunity to pitch at the premium market.”

Stephen Fleming and Nathan Guy at a busi-ness function in Colombo. Nathan Guy hopes cricket will help open trade doors.

CRICKET WAS never far from the conversation when Nathan Guy led the delegation through Sri Lanka and India.

Stephen Fleming attracted attention everywhere as a cricket legend, Guy says. He holds the top score in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo of 274 and was also mobbed everywhere in India as the successful coach of the Chennai Super Kings.

The Government was keen to promote the Cricket World Cup New Zealand will co-host with Australia early next year. It is seen as an opportunity to bring top ministers and business people to New Zealand. “It’s about collaboration in business and competition on the sports field,” says Guy.

Guy met with Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa who says he is keen to visit New Zealand during the World Cup. The first game is NZ v Sri Lanka in Christchurch on February 14, 2015.

“We are excited about attracting leading politi-cians and business leaders to NZ in February-March to showcase what we have to offer on the sports field and in tourism, food and beverage.”

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14 NEWS

Massive change in how the world buys food – KPMG report

SYNTHETIC FOOD, a trend away from milk products that need to be reconstituted, food police and the rapidly changing digital age.

These are some of the issues canvassed in KPMG’s newly released

Agribusiness Agenda ‘Exploring Our Global Future’.

The author of the futuristic document, Ian Proudfoot, head of KPMG’s global agribusiness operation, explores and highlights many changes New Zealand primary producers must grapple

with to retain their ‘relevance’ in global markets.

Proudfoot told Rural News that accessibility and connectivity are driving business ideas and change so rapidly that compa-nies have to be up with trends – demographic, political or related to nat-ural resources. KPMG set

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

out to explore the macro trends expected to shape political, social, environ-mental and economic effects on the global com-munity during the next 20-30 years.

“The aim is to chal-lenge the agri-food sector to think beyond the bounds of their immediate circumstances and scan the global horizon for new opportunities and threats. What we are trying to put out is that people need to have a perspec-tive that is much, much wider than they have ever had before,” Proudfoot explains.

“Nowadays, things can change very quickly and evolve in ways that have quite material impacts on the overall global econ-omy. We are telling people

they have to be very close to everything that is hap-pening and sort out the noise from the key signals that will impact how they do business on day to day basis.”

Companies must not only know what’s happening in the market place, but also what’s happening in the ‘virtual’ world, Proudfoot says. Companies must get people on their boards and management teams to deal with such trends, and “have the right people to filter all the information. There is so much data created and a growing plethora of mobile devices. It’s predicted there will be 50 billion connected devices in the world by 2020. There is so much information coming out

of each of these devices that how we filter it to get at what we need is very important. The risk is being snowed under with data.”

Proudfoot sees the dig-ital world as critical to com-panies, and he sees a ‘coming together’ of the digital and real worlds that will cause people to change how they do business to fit around a digitally enabled world.

The report also notes huge changes in con-sumer trends, some hap-pening right now such as more online buying of food. People want to buy food same-day and have it delivered in their pre-

ferred portions, Proud-foot says.

“The retail model is rapidly changing and everyone in the supply chain, including farmers, will have to tailor their operations to the demands of consumers.” This applies especially to New Zealand, a small food pro-ducer that must be ‘rele-vant’ to consumers.

FUTURE FOODS may be vastly different from those of today, Ian Proudfoot says. They could include laboratory-grown beef and milk, both heralded in the past year.

“These are trends we need to be open to. [We may be] the world’s greatest natural food producer, but we also need to play an impor-tant part in emerging synthetic food markets.”

New Zealand producers should explore ways to tailor their food products to the ageing population and/or meet the growing demand for religious-based diets, Proud-foot says. He predicts that by 2050,

40% of the world’s population (3.6b people) are expected to be eating in accordance with religious beliefs.

Also, limits on water could affect the reconstituting of milk. Looking at the supply chain for milk products into China, for example, the biggest risk of disruption is reconstitution.

“In China the average consumer is allocated fresh water – about 2 million L/year to produce their food and clothing and cater for day-to-day needs. Take the 15,000 L of water consumed to produce one kilo of beef and extrapolate that out; it means they don’t have much water for day-to-day uses.

“So is… building milk powder plants the right thing to do, or should we be looking at producing new consumer products designed for markets where people don’t have the water to reconstitute powder?”

Then there’s ‘food police’ to enforce high standards of food quality and combat food ‘fraud’.

NZ has primary sector leaders thinking about the big picture and future trends, Proudfoot says. NZ has been somewhat ‘shel-tered’ from such trends, but this is changing.

Foods fit for shrinking

KPMG’s head of global agri-business Ian Proudfoot.

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NEWS 15

A NEW infant formula plant in South Auckland is on track to start production in February next year.

The $200 million facility at Pokeno is owned by Yas-hili, a leading infant formula and soymilk products com-pany in China.

Operations manager Terry Norwood told Rural News the new plant will have the capacity to produce 50,000 tonnes of infant formula annually; all products will be exported to China.

Norwood says it will use milk and milk powder to make premium infant formula for export; about 100 people will be employed. “It will be a huge economic boost for Pokeno and the whole of New Zealand.”

Yashili is majority owned by China Mengniu Dairy, one of China’s largest dairy companies.

Recently a unit of French food giant Danone bought a 25% stake in Yashili International for $730 million; under the deal, Mengniu’s stake in Yashili will drop to 51.04% from 68.05%.

According to the Yashili NZ website, it has been a long-standing importer of New Zealand milk powder.

“Now we are taking that one step further. We are not just sourcing our milk powder here, we are producing our finished goods here. Our $200 million investment in Pokeno focuses on [building] a 30,000m2 manufacturing plant.”

The company says China’s infant formula market is expected to grow to $32 billion by 2017.

“That’s why we have looked to New Zealand and its internationally recognised expertise in the manufacture of quality milk powder to build our newest dairy processing.

“Yashili already promotes the high quality of New Zea-land-sourced milk content in our premium brands. We have imported milk powder from New Zealand for over 10 years and we have used New Zealand milk powder exclu-sively in our infant milk formula since August 2010.”

Yashili says it’s one of the “big three” producers of infant milk formula for the domestic market in China.

The company’s products are sold in 105,000 retail out-lets in China.

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

$200m Pokeno plant on track

MPI defends PGP extensionTHE MINISTRY for Pri-mary Industries has defended technology transfer to farms from Pri-mary Growth Partnership programmes, follow-ing criticism from former Landcorp chief execu-tive, and now Beef + Lamb Genetics chairman, Chris Kelly.

At BLG’s recent Sheep Breeders’ Forum in Dune-din Kelly said PGPs wouldn’t succeed “until we crack the technology transfer problem.” (Rural News, Oct 21).

That implies a lack of technology transferring from PGP programmes, which is not the case, says MPI’s PGP director Jus-tine Gilliland.

“Technology trans-fer is one of the areas that we focus on in PGP pro-grammes,” she told Rural News.

“In fact, many PGP

programmes are actively focussed on this, such as Clearview Innovations, Transforming the Dairy Value Chain, the Red Meat Profit Partnership, NZ Avocados Go Global and the New Zealand Sheep Industry Transformation programme.

“These programmes are ensuring that grow-ers and others have access to usable information, data, knowledge, tools and services and support to enable their businesses to succeed.

“For example, the FarmIQ System is connecting farmers more directly with their processor and consumers, as well as helping them to drive farm performance.”

Gilliland says MPI has also facilitated discus-sions across and among PGP programmes about technology transfer and

other topics, to “leverage outcomes using the col-lective knowledge of pro-grammes.”

A standard framework for technology transfer across PGPs helps infor-mation and knowledge sharing, she adds.

An MPI-commissioned independent report on

PGPs by the New Zea-land Institute of Economic Research earlier this year concluded that cur-rent and future PGPs will deliver about $6.4 billion/year growth in GDP from 2025, points out Gilliland.

And if all innovations are adopted widely, and aspirations of programmes

reached, an extra $4.7 bil-lion is possible.

“The PGP is making good progress in enabling technology transfer from PGP programmes to the primary industry sectors, and this is supported by increasing collaboration among and between PGP programmes.”

MPI’s PGP director Justine Gilliland.

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18 NEWS

Fonterra’s organic rules too tough!ORGANIC DAIRY farmers are being asked to do too many tricks for too small a treat, say disillusioned formerly certi-fied organic dairy farmers.

Rural News understands the number of certified organic farmers has fallen from 127 in 2011 to 50-70 this year. Sources say there is little likelihood new certified organic suppliers will sign with Fonterra.

The number of Biogro certified farm-ers has fallen from 40-45 in 2009 to 31 in 2014.

Many farmers were in Northland and Taranaki, where the co-op no longer col-lects organic milk to cut costs. Industry sources say many organic farmers were in the greater Waikato region and were paid a premium for their milk because of tight regulations.

One formerly certified farmer dropped the certification when rules forbade the use of Tanalised fence posts; replacements had to be hard-wood or concrete. “If I had known this I wouldn’t have got certified,” he told Rural News. “They seemed to be making it up as they went along.”

Prominent former organic Waikato

dairy farmer Mike Moss is the latest to give up certification saying that while he supports the bulk of the organic standards New Zealand adheres to, some conditions stipulated by the US Department of Agriculture national organic program (USDA NOP), adhered to by New Zealand certifying bodies as part of the equivalence struc-ture, goes too far.

“I’ve had to live within a very inflex-ible standard for far too long,” Moss says.

Okaihau dairy farmer Mark Clunie, also disillusioned by the work required to maintain certification, says the certi-fication program seemed to have little logic. “The issue I had was that the people attracted to the certification process were more likely to make deci-sions based on a political point of view rather than decisions that make good farming sense.”

Decisions included a temporary ban on selenium in fertiliser mixes, a ban on magnesium oxide on pasture and, for a time, a ban on giving downer cows cal-cium borogluconate.

Moss says limitations on prod-ucts with calcium borogluconate were unnecessary and caused bad feeling

among animal health professionals towards organics.

“It cost a fair bit of following for organics in the dairying sector, and I know vets who privately voiced their frustration to me about how the system worked and the animal welfare compro-mises it could create.”

Moss noticed a big drop in paper-work when he dropped the certification. Getting approval to use any element, or taking any form of action not already approved by the certifying body, caused a lot of extra paperwork every year. This also put pressure on reps, who he had to ask for help in getting extra certificates

needed for certifying agencies. “My fertiliser advisor had to spend

weeks going back and forth between his company and the organic auditors to get trace elements approved for use.”

Lucy Terpstra, BioGro communities manager, says initial standards come from overseas regulators and final input from New Zealand farmer reps, auditors and key staff from BioGro and industry players. BioGro gives licensees as much time as possible – about 12 months – to get ready for changes.

Hauraki Plains dairy farmer Ray Rid-ings says he managed to cut down on paperwork by applying for extra permis-

sions at the start of the year when sub-mitting an organics management plan.

“It means we -- as with any business -- must have systems in place to ensure records are kept up to date.”

Working with OrganicAg, a support network of organic farmers, Ridings says he was able to find feed and better negotiate an unexpected inspection by Korean auditors.

But Fonterra had become less com-municative in its dealings with organic suppliers over the past 12 years, Rid-ings says.

“It’s been run poorly for 12 years and it’s now time for them to listen and involve the farmers in the management of the programme, rather than just handing down advice or instructions on something they know little about.

“Most other aspects of farming within Fonterra involve farmer reps at various levels. Why should the organic programme be any different?”

Fonterra declined to answer ques-tions on organic programme num-bers or the conditions farmers worked under, but Dianne Schumacher, general manager for milk supply technical and assurance, told Rural News in a written

GARETH GILLATT

There is too little cream from organic milk production, claim Fonterra critics.

TO PAGE 19


NEWS 19

statement that the organics business was a niche part of the cooperative.

“Fonterra is always looking at ways to better use our collective knowledge and skills to improve our organic milk supply programme… how the co-op will meet con-sumer and market needs, including growing global demand for organics, and ensuring that we support our farmers by building a business model that is viable for the long-term.”

While the international market can be tight to get into Ridings says there are openings in the domestic market.

Moss says he has increased his focus on the local market, supplying raw milk and meat to neighbours as well as sending milk through Fonterra. He still sticks to basic organic principles, but he has no plans to certify while cus-tomers are happy with his products.

“We have an open gate policy – we’re up front about our farming practices and we run open days where customers can see first-hand how their food is produced.”

Ridings and his wife Madeline have long campaigned against palm kernel, palm oil and the use of GM feed in New Zealand.

“You can do things better with organics and natu-ral health, but if a sick cow needs antibiotics to solve an animal welfare issue then I couldn’t name one client in the 140 people I supply who wouldn’t support it.”

FROM PAGE 18

Fonterra’s tough organic rules

Industry stalwarts win kiwifruit gongTWO KIWIFRUIT grow-ers who helped establish the industry as it is known today have jointly won the prestigious Fresh Carriers Hayward Medal.

Paul Heywood and Leo Mangos were presented with their medals by the president of Fresh Carri-ers, Takao Takeshige, at the recent Zespri Momen-tum conference in Tau-ranga.

The chairman of the judging panel, Paul Jones, says the two worked together during the late 1980s to win support from growers and the govern-ment for a single point of entry for kiwifruit export, allowing growers to own and control their industry.

“The 1988 stock market crash and the subse-quent effect on the kiwi-fruit industry coincided with a steep drop in prices in Europe, the industry’s major market. The indus-try, at that point very frag-mented, was heavily at odds over how to recover from its slump,” Jones said.

Nelson kiwifruit grower Paul Heywood was the president of the pow-

erful industry group the Fruitgrowers’ Federation, and Bay of Plenty grower Leo Mangos was the direc-tor of the Bay of Plenty section of the Fruitgrow-ers’ Federation and chair-man of the Labour Party’s primary producers’ coun-cil, which set policy for the primary sector.

“With their very differ-ent personalities and phi-losophies, Leo and Paul were both committed to having their industry run by growers and coopera-tive marketing. Against strong opposition they worked tirelessly, speaking at grower meetings up and down the country.”

Jones says the Gov-ernment at the time was staunchly opposed to mar-keting boards.

“The group spearheading this was set the Herculean task of getting 80% grower support to establish a single desk exporter – something no one thought possible. They did it. Leo and Paul succeeded in persuading 84% of growers to back their call for a kiwifruit marketing board with statutory powers to buy all export kiwifruit – a precursor to the Zespri of today.”

PETER BURKE

[email protected]

According to Jones, the foresight of the pair has allowed New Zea-land kiwifruit growers to develop the industry into a global business with concerted investment in branding, marketing, qual-

ity and research and devel-opment.

Paul Heywood (left) and Leo Mangos were presented

with their medals by the president of Fresh Carriers, Takao Takeshige (centre) at

the recent Zespri ‘Momentum’ conference in Tauranga.

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MARKET SNAPSHOT BEEF MARKET TRENDS LAMB MARKET TRENDS


0800 624 843

www.nait.co.nzTag your cattle and deer before 6 months old, or before they move off farm – whichever comes first.

1 TagRegister animals within 7 days of being tagged to activate their NAIT tag.

2 Register/activateRecord all farm-to-farm movements for animals on and off your property within 2 days.

3 Record movements

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

BEEF PRICES

c/kgCWT Change Last Week

2 Wks Ago

Last Year

NI P2 Steer - 300kg +5 6.05 6.00 4.65M2 Bull - 300kg +5 6.15 6.10 4.50P2 Cow - 230kg +5 4.85 4.80 3.50M Cow - 200kg +5 4.85 4.80 3.50

Local Trade - 230kg +5 5.80 5.75 4.50SI P2 Steer - 300kg +10 5.40 5.30 4.35

M2 Bull - 300kg +10 5.40 5.30 4.15P2 Cow - 230kg +10 3.90 3.80 3.10M Cow - 200kg +10 3.90 3.80 2.95

Local Trade - 230kg +5 5.15 5.10 4.32

Slaughter

Export Market DemandChange Last Week 2 Wks

Ago Last Year 5yr Ave

95CL US$/lb -1 2.99 3.00 2.06 1.89NZ$/kg +13 8.57 8.44 5.45 5.28

Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks Ago 3 Wks


% Returned NI +0% 71.2% 71.1% 82.54% 76.6%% Returned SI +1% 61.8% 60.4% 76.1% 69.9%

LAMB PRICES

c/kgCWTChange Last

Week2 Wks

AgoLast Year

NI Lamb YM - 13.5kg n/c 6.61 6.61 6.06PM - 16.0kg n/c 6.63 6.63 6.08PX - 19.0kg n/c 6.65 6.65 6.10PH - 22.0kg n/c 6.66 6.66 6.11

Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 3.80 3.80 3.50SI Lamb YM - 13.5kg -10 6.38 6.48 5.86

PM - 16.0kg -10 6.38 6.48 5.88PX - 19.0kg -10 6.38 6.48 5.90PH - 22.0kg -10 6.38 6.48 5.91

Mutton MX1 - 21kg n/c 3.25 3.25 3.45

Slaughter

Export Market DemandChange Last

Week2 Wks


UK Leg £/lb n/c 2.08 2.08 1.86 1.89NZ$/kg +4 8.60 8.56 7.97 8.41

Procurement IndicatorChange 2Wks

Ago3 Wks


% Returned NI +0% 78.5% 78.3% 79.0% 76.5%% Returned SI +1% 75.6% 74.8% 75.3% 77.9%

Venison PricesChange Last

Week2 Wks


NI Stag - 60kg -15 7.45 7.60 7.05 7.72SI Stag - 60kg -20 7.65 7.85 7.50 8.15

NEWS PRICE WATCH


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www.nait.co.nzTag your cattle and deer before 6 months old, or before they move off farm – whichever comes first.

1 TagRegister animals within 7 days of being tagged to activate their NAIT tag.

2 Register/activateRecord all farm-to-farm movements for animals on and off your property within 2 days.

3 Record movements

BEEF

High beef prices enticing the numbers out

Record high export beef prices are succeeding in slowly drawing the slaughter numbers to the works in both islands. The last four weeks have seen sharp increases in export cattle prices as processor capacity has increased, and competition for the killable cattle has intensified. Procurement pressure has led the surging prices in both islands, as market prices and exchange rates have remained largely steady. Slaughter numbers are not expected to rush out anytime soon in great numbers, rather a steady flow is expected; with momentum gaining towards the middle of December. This suggests competition may keep operating prices from pulling back sharply over this period.

US market remains stable

The US market maintained its run of stability last week with 90CL steady around $2.82/lb and 95CL around the $3.00/lb level. Large quantities of 90CL & 85CL continue to be offered from Australia, and this combined with the onset of the US domestic cull cow slaughter, appear to be meeting end-user demand at present. Some industry participants believe that when larger quantities of 95CL become available from NZ, prices may fall more in line with 90CL prices. Supply fundamentals continue to indicate tight global supplies early in 2015 which will continue to support imported prices. However, as abundant supplies of competing proteins in the form of pork and chicken become available at much lower prices, consumer demand for higher priced beef may be tested.

LAMB

Christmas chilled trade signals fall in prices

While most NI processors signalled that schedules would fall following the end of the Christmas chilled trade; patchy slaughter supplies may have played havoc with these intentions. New seasons lambs are still slow to come forward, with supplies expected to pick up towards the end of November. New seasons lambs have been between $6.70-$6.80/kg gross last week, with some processors signalling a fall, but others holding steady until numbers lift. Prices in the SI did come back following the end of the christmas trade, and even though slaughter remains low it is increasing each week. $6.50–6.70/kg gross was achievable at most processors for new seasons lambs last week. Reports from both islands suggest that lamb schedules are likely to fall significantly before Christmas, as the markets do not support the current operating prices.

New seasons store lambs hit the market slowly

New seasons lambs are yet to hit the store markets in great numbers, with Stortford Lodge being the only yard to offer significant numbers so far. The first small yardings in the NI achieved $3.40-$3.50/kg, however Stortford’s offering of just under 6000 last week saw the market come back to $3.25/kg; on par with the same time last year. In the SI, farmer to farmer contracts are now on offer and paddock sales of new seasons lambs are picking up, however numbers are still very light. Contracts for December delivery for 30–32kgLW lambs are between $2.60–2.70/kg, while a handful of paddocks sales last week have been sold at $2.80/kgLW for a 30kg lamb.

DAIRY

Demand remains weak for WMP

Milk production has reached its seasonal peak and supplies of whole milk powder (WMP) are building. Manufacturers are attempting to shift product quickly, but demand, and subsequent prices, remain weak. Earlier expectations that China may re-enter the market soon do not look like they will evenuate. Reports suggest that their inventory levels are more than sufficient. Supplies of skim milk powder (SMP) are also increasing but product is slow to move as buyers are sitting back and waiting for the building supplies to push prices even lower. Butter and cheese prices also remain under pressure from increasing global supply.

WOOL PRICE WATCH DAIRY PRICE WATCH

Indicators in NZ$ Change 06-Nov 30-Oct Last Year Indicators in NZ$/T Change Last 2

WksPrev. 2

WksLast Year

Coarse Xbred Indic. +8 5.49 5.41 5.62 Butter -45 3658 3703 4802

Fine Xbred Indicator +11 5.68 5.57 5.73 Skim Milk Powder -36 3349 3385 5582

Lamb Indicator - - - - Whole Milk Powder -34 3431 3465 5957

Mid Micron Indic. - 7.74 - 7.72 Cheddar -14 5008 5022 5462

Overseas Price Indicators Overseas Price Indicators

Indicators in US$/kg Change 06-Nov 30-Oct Last Year Indicators in US$/T Change Last 2

WksPrev. 2

WksLast Year

Coarse Xbred Indicator +2 4.24 4.21 4.64 Butter -100 2813 2913 4000Fine Xbred Indicator +5 4.38 4.34 4.73 Skim Milk Powder -88 2575 2663 4650Lamb Indicator - - - - Whole Milk Powder -88 2638 2725 4963Mid Micron Indicator - 5.98 - 6.38 Cheddar -100 3850 3950 4550

CURRENCY WATCH

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

US dollar 0.769 0.784 0.786 0.833Euro 0.621 0.622 0.619 0.621UK pound 0.485 0.490 0.488 0.518Aus dollar 0.897 0.888 0.897 0.880Japan yen 88.55 85.62 84.81 81.82

Euro

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan

UK Pound

US Dollar


22 AGRIBUSINESS

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100 not out and leading the scoreboard

WAIKATO MILK processor Tatua Dairy Co-op rounded off its centenary year celebrations with a gala dinner this month in Hamilton.

About 700 people – Tatua share-holders, staff, local dairy industry lead-ers and key customers from around the world – attended the event at Claude-lands Events Centre.

Hosted by comedian Te Radar, the event reflected Tatua’s heritage and its success as an independent dairy pro-cessor.

Formed with 10 shareholders in 1914, Tatua is today owned by 87 farming fam-ilies in and around Morrinsville. Last year the co-op achieved sales of $266 million and a record payout before retention of $10.32/kgMS.

Unlike most dairy processors in New Zealand, Tatua is not a major milk powder maker; instead it is a supplier of specialised ingredients and foods.

Answering questions from Te Radar on stage at the celebration dinner, Tatua chairman Steve Allen says it is a story of “unique interdependency” between farmers and staff.

“Milk is perishable so it goes off if

not collected and processed. Our farm-ers milk cows every day and we have a wonderful group of staff who take care of the milk; they create value for us while looking after our customers. We need each other, we trust each other and over time we have built this wonderful business and loyalty just like a family.”

Allen says the most challenging time for Tatua was after dairy industry dereg-ulation in 2001.

While most dairy companies merged to form Fonterra, Tatua was one of the few co-ops opting to remain indepen-dent. Prior to Fonterra, all dairy exports were handled by the NZ Dairy Board, a statutory body.

Allen says as an independent proces-sor Tatua had to reorganise and dig deep to remain competitive.

At the same time, Tatua has main-tained a working relationship with other big processors Fonterra, Miraka, Westland and Open Country Dairy. Fonterra chairman John Wilson and Miraka chairman Kingi Smiler were at the dinner.

For Tatua chief executive Paul McGilvary, the defining moment for the co-op was in the mid 1960s when the directors had to decide how to upgrade an ailing factory. They decided to spend

23,000 pounds from cash reserves to build an edible lactic casein plant. But no sooner was the plant completed than the NZ Dairy Board sent the co-op docu-ments stating the best returning prod-ucts were speciality powders, not edible lactic casein.

The directors were forced to go back to shareholders and admit they had been wrong. After lots of meetings, the directors got the go-ahead to build a 100,000 pound specialised product dryer. This launched Tatua on the path of specialised ingredients, says McGil-vary.

“Without that decision, which was

made under some duress, we would not be doing specialised products; that was a defining moment for the company.”

Tatua is building a $65m special-ised powders dryer – its third dryer – that will be commissioned early next year. Most of the specialised foods will be exported to Japan, China and other parts of Asia. Japan remains Tatua’s number-one market and the dinner was attended by many Japanese customers and staff.

McGilvary says without customers there is no business. While the con-nection between suppliers and staff is important, for the company the critical

connection is between staff and cus-tomers. About 94% of Tatua products are exported to 60 countries.

A leading Tatua product in the domestic market is Dairy Whip – fresh cream in an aerosol can.

Allen spoke about the “long ardu-ous process” to make Dairy Whip a best seller. Soon after launch in 1970s, Dairy Whip ran into trouble with some cans exploding in supermarkets. During tests at the company site, one exploding can landed on the roof of a trading store across the road.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy spoke of the good times he had with Dairy Whip while growing up. “We never told our mum but my brother and I sprayed Dairy Whip into our mouths until we nearly exploded.”

Guy praised Tatua for growing from a modest company to an “iconic NZ company that started in 1914 with 10 shareholders; there was electricity in the factory and delivery was by horse and cart.”

The centenary dinner was the final part of the celebrations; the co-op launched a book, held an incorporation day for staff and suppliers and threw a party at its Tatua Japan office for staff and customers.

SUDESH KISSUN

[email protected]

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy receives a gift from Tatua chairman Steve Allen (centre) and chief executive Paul McGilvary at the centenary dinner.


AGRIBUSINESS 23

Little change in livestock business claims PGG’s manPAEROA SALEYARD is a far cry from Beijing where Peter Moore worked before joining PGG Wright-son (PGGW) in August as head of livestock.

But he revels in the change, unable to resist the opportunity to return to an industry he under-stands.

“I grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Waikato. While having farming in my blood I did take a diversion in becoming qualified in risk management. But I always returned to farming, first with AgResearch, running their research farms and abattoir, then with Fon-terra in Asia and South America where I led the development and operation of their global farming business in China and Brazil.”

Moore says the opportunity to return to New Zealand to work with PGG Wrightson was hard to resist. “[It’s] grassroots and close to farm-ers by virtue of the personal nature of the business and being repre-

sented in every region.”Three months into the role,

Moore believes the fundamentals of the livestock business haven’t changed from 140 years ago – “relationships, building trust on farm… superior service – but the way we work with farmers is changing, thanks to technology. And the old notion of ‘one size fits all’ no longer applies.”

Technology is enabling an evo-lutionary change in the way the livestock business transacts, Moore says. “Many of our farmers are happy to continue with the status quo, selling or buying stock in the paddock… or at the saleyards, but a growing number also want to be able to do business via the inter-net…. This will see all PGG Wright-son stock agents provided with tablets so they can ultimately do away with docket books and record every step in a sale or purchase of stock as it happens.”

Tablets will be in the hands of

PGGW agents by Christmas, the rest will get them early 2015. The tablets will complement the firm’s online selling service Agonline and online livestock quotes.

Moore says the stock and sta-tion industry appeals as a career option to young people. PGGW gets enquiries from university graduates, school leavers and a few

farmers wanting to enter the indus-try. The company has a training course accredited to the Primary ITO and a course for auctioneers.

The strength of the PGGW live-stock business is “260 people driv-ing up farmers’ driveways every day”, of the 500-600 stock agents, excluding meat company buyers, in New Zealand.

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Rural News18x2

Notice of Election2015 Election of Directors to the Beef + Lamb New

Zealand Ltd BoardBeef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd gives notice that elections will be held in 2015 for the following electoral districts:

Northern North Island One PositionNorthern South Island One Position

Invitation for Candidate NominationsNominations are called for candidates to stand for election for these two electoral districts. Nominations must be on the official form, which can be obtained from the Returning Officer on the Election helpline on 0508 666 447. Nominations must be received by the Returning Officer by 5 pm on Friday 19th December 2014.

ElectionsElection Day will be Friday 27th February 2015. Elections will be conducted by postal and internet voting and forms will be posted out in February 2015.

To be eligible to vote, a livestock farmer must, on 30th June 2014, have owned at least 250 sheep, or 50 beef cattle, or 100 dairy cattle.

Livestock farmers owning at least the minimum number of livestock in either of the above two electorates should contact the Election helpline to check if they are on the electoral roll or to get a voter registration form. To vote, you must be on the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd electoral roll by 5pm on Thursday 29th January 2015.

A copy of the roll for each electorate is available for inspection at the office of: Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd, level 4, Wellington Chambers, 154 Featherston Street, Wellington 6011.

Election Helpline: 0508 666 447Warwick LamppReturning Officer – Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd0508 666 447PO Box 3138, Christchurch [email protected]

Notice of Election2015 Election of Directors to the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd

BoardBeef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd gives notice that elections will be held in 2015 for the following electoral districts:

Northern North Island One PositionNorthern South Island One Position

Invitation for Candidate NominationsNominations are called for candidates to stand for election for these two electoral districts. Nominations must be on the official form, which can be obtained from the Returning Officer on the Election helpline on 0508 666 447. Nominations must be received by the Returning Officer by 5 pm on Friday 19th December 2014.

ElectionsElection Day will be Friday 27th February 2015. Elections will be conducted by postal and internet voting and forms will be posted out in February 2015.

To be eligible to vote, a livestock farmer must, on 30th June 2014, have owned at least 250 sheep, or 50 beef cattle, or 100 dairy cattle.

Livestock farmers owning at least the minimum number of livestock in either of the above two electorates should contact the Election helpline to check if they are on the electoral roll or to get a voter registration form. To vote, you must be on the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd electoral roll by 5pm on Thursday 29th January 2015.

A copy of the roll for each electorate is available for inspection at the office of: Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd, level 4, Wellington Chambers, 154 Featherston Street, Wellington 6011.

Election Helpline: 0508 666 447Warwick LamppReturning Officer – Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd0508 666 447PO Box 3138, Christchurch [email protected]

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24 OPINION

EDITORIAL

THE HOUNDWant to share your opinion or

gossip with the Hound? Send your emails to:

[email protected]

EDNA

NEW ZEALAND’S farming future is not just black and white or – at least – just black and white dairy cows.

Improving red meat prices and lower dairy prices, combined with growing concerns about the environmental impacts of more and more cows, may give impetus to the resurgence of the all-important sheep and beef sectors.

There is no doubt the rural sector and the country’s wider economy have benefitted from the boom in dairy production over the last 10 or so years. The days of New Zealand living off the sheep’s back have well and truly gone; now we’re reliant on the cow’s udder.

But concerns have been expressed about our country’s growing dairy dependence – econom-ically and environmentally.

Some commentators, somewhat facetiously have made claims that New Zealand’s ‘one-trick’ economy – due to the importance of the dairy sector – is a recipe for economic disaster. Many of these commentators now believe their claims are being vindicated with the recent drop in dairy prices. This is far too simplistic a diagnosis and ignores the fact that all markets go up and down.

More relevant, and likely to stunt continued explosion in the country’s dairy herd, is the grow-ing worry about the environmental impacts of dairy farming.

More and more dairy cows cannot continue to be milked in New Zealand without the coun-try reaching ‘peak cows’ at some stage. We may not be at that point yet, but growing public pres-sure will soon see this time come.

The dairy industry will always be an important and vital component of New Zealand’s economic story. However, as with all things in life, it is not healthy to have all our eggs in one basket.

This is why it is good to see more positive talk about the red meat sector, e.g. Professor Tony Bywater, of Lincoln University, who says “done right, sheep farms can compete with dairy”.

He made these comments at the official open-ing of Lincoln University’s sheep technology farm (LUSTF) earlier this month. Sited on the 21ha former South Island Field Days site, the new unit will be used for student and farmer training, field days, demonstrations, and research.

News that both the major meat co-operatives Silver Fern Farms and Alliance Group have expe-rienced better returns this year – although still pitiful – is also good reason for optimism.

Let’s hope these truly are signs that long-term profitability is returning to the red meat sector – that they’re not just a flash in the pan.

New Zealand needs a strong, vibrant and prof-itable sheep and beef sector just as it needs a strong, vibrant and profitable dairy sector.

Variety is good

Smells fishyYOUR OLD mate notes that self-professed ‘inde-pendent’ economic expert and ardent Ruataniwha dam critic Peter Fraser is taking his fight against the dam to great and strange lengths. The Wellington ‘consul-tant’ drove all the way to the meeting in Hawkes Bay with fellow Welling-tonian and dam oppo-nent Fish & Game chief Bryce ‘I hate farmers’ Johnson. As a mate of the Hound’s advised, “Follow the connec-tions between these anti-dam campaigners and a certain, nefarious polit-ical operative based in Hawkes Bay and the plot thickens.”

Seriously?THE HOUND reckons you know just how highly the Green Party rates agricul-ture when its spokesman is deemed far too kooky to represent it in the alterna-tive medicine portfolio, but still retains responsibility for primary industries. Green Party MP Steffan Browning was stripped of his natural health prod-ucts portfolio following news that he had signed a petition encouraging the use of homeopathic reme-dies to combat the Ebola pandemic. According to Green co-leader Metiria Turei this was a clear signal to the country that the Green Party treats health matters based on evidence.

Tough jobYOUR CANINE crusader understands AgResearch is due to appoint a new chief spin doctor, after nationally advertising the role. Apparently, the new position has been created at Lincoln for a communications person who will report directly to chief executive Tom Richardson. According to the Hound’s sources, it sounds like the CRI wants a spin doctor to smooth over its hubbing furore, which has caused great consternation in sheep breeding circles, espe-cially with the news that Invermay is to be scaled down and a new breeding hub based at Lincoln. Good luck with that!

New ‘Broome’THE HOUND hears that long-time Fed Farm-er’s chief spin doctor David Broome has left the farmer lobby to take up the taxpayer-funded role of Winston Peters’ chief of staff. Your old mate reckons ‘Beltway’ Dave will be in his element as 2IC to the slipperiest politician in Wellington. Meanwhile, this old mutt suggests Winston’s hatred of anything not associated with NZ circa the 1950s will show up Broome’s work of trying to make the farmer lobby relevant as having been a doodle compared with portraying the laziest and grumpiest man in poli-tics electable to modern-day New Zealanders.

Poacher/gamekeeperTHE HOUND notes that long-time Fonterra critic Leonie Guiney has now been voted onto the board of directors of the dairy co-operative. It will be interesting to see how the ‘Mouth from the South’ – who hurled all sorts of crit-icisms and accusations at those directors and others who supported the development of TAF – is welcomed to the board table at Gumboot HQ. Meanwhile, your old mate reckons Guin-ey’s TAF opposition has paid dividends in the form of the $165,000 salary a Fonterra director commands.

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RURALNEWS

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OPINION 25

No longer business as usual at AgResearchINVERMAY AND AgResearch continue to be a worry. The Rural News headline ‘Call for head’s head’ reports that Minis-ter Steven Joyce is refer-ring stakeholder concerns about the Future Foot-print Proposal (FFP) for Invermay to the AgResearch board. As the board approved the actions in the first place, the likelihood of anything changing is slim.

What is required is a national call for a re-exam-ination of AgResearch’s FFP. The country is being affected by the FFP – not just Invermay.

The fundamental prob-lem for AgResearch (and the other research insti-tutions in New Zealand, including universities) is funding. Financial pres-sure means that busi-ness as usual is not an option. Restructuring is a common activity to achieve change – but is not always successful in achieving positive out-comes: the cost (human and financial) of the dis-ruption is often greater than the benefits achieved.

In its 2011 annual report, AgResearch stated that “the senior manage-ment team was restruc-tured from eight to four members (plus the chief executive). The science groups were reorgan-ised from three into a new matrix style structure with six groups aligned with five portfolio lead-ers. The matrix system had been implemented at Scion (which the current AgResearch chief execu-tive had led before being appointed to his current role, but was removed by his replacement Dr Warren Parker).

The point is that matrix systems are difficult to operate and for knowledge management are doomed.

Their best chance of success is when one campus and one sector are involved – at Scion, for example. In con-trast, AgResearch serves a diverse sector (dairy, deer, beef and sheep, with soils, pasture, pest and animals to consider) from four main campuses. In order to make a matrix system work for AgResearch, con-

solidation was necessary – hence the relocation of ‘positions’.

Although AgResearch has asserted that staff turnover is no greater than usual, staff numbers have reduced by 13 since 2011. Of greater concern is that between those years research positions have gone down from 564 to 494, and ‘management and support’ has gone up from 216 to 271. In 2010, the total number of FTEs was 824 (with 592 researchers). This means that between 2011 and 2014 there was a 14% decrease in science and 25% increase in man-agement and support.

In addition, staff morale has plummeted. Staff engagement for New Zealand in general is 23% (similar to the global aver-age) but the latest internal survey of AgResearch staff indicates only 9% engaged.

The question for the AgResearch management team should not have been: what do we need to do to make the matrix system work? But, what do we need to do to enable our people to do great sci-ence?

It comes back to the funding system and the amount of money distrib-uted – not just for science, but around the whole country. Better financial support is a necessary step for improving recruitment into science and creat-ing a scientifically literate society.

In time we will know the effects of the AgResearch reorganisa-tion; history suggests that the architects will have moved to some other posi-tion by then. Sadly the sig-nals to the young about the value New Zealand places on science have already been sent and are negative.

AgResearch should be in the driving position for

the underpinning research to step-change New Zea-land pastoral agriculture into the future. The suc-cess of the activities of AgResearch scientists is critical for the economy, but the scientists and their

teams are in turmoil. This is more than an

Invermay problem – it is a problem for New Zea-land. A national call for re-examination of the FFP is vital.• Jacqueline Rowarth is pro-

fessor of agribusiness, The University of Waikato.

There have been calls for AgResearch’s

boss Tom Richardson

to go.

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26 OPINION

Ruataniwha not perfect, but an opportunityCRITICS SAY the recent ‘It’s now or never’ Ruatani-wha meeting organised by IrrigationNZ and Feder-ated Farmers did not com-pare the operational set-up of Hawke’s Bay’s proposed irrigation scheme with others in New Zealand.

But the event in Waipawa was not adver-tised as a detailed oper-ational overview of the project; it was set up to inform farmers about what irrigation can do for them onfarm. Those farmers are now free to assess the scheme in greater detail and have done so; the dam now has enough support to get it over the line and the focus has moved to getting farmer uptake to over 60%.

The meeting we held was for information shar-ing at farm scale: compara-ble irrigating farmers from

ANDREW CURTISother parts of New Zealand sharing their experiences about how they have per-sonally funded irrigation development, how it has improved their produc-tivity and diversified their land use options, and how their wider communities have benefited from this investment.

We had a clear objec-tive for the event which was met: to provide accu-rate and quality infor-mation about irrigation investment onfarm. We gave Hawke’s Bay farmers and growers access to rel-evant data sourced directly from their counterparts in other irrigating regions, supported by our own research and surveys.

Calls from those opposed to Ruataniwha, that said farmers and growers should shy away from the project because they are not part of the ini-tial ownership structure, were a fallacy.

Despite what some have said, farmer-only irri-gation scheme develop-ment is not the norm in

the South Island; in fact, this could not be further from the truth. All large scale irrigation schemes developed in the past 10 years have had a mixed ownership and investment structure.

Lines companies Alpine Energy and Electricity Ashburton, private enti-ties earthmoving com-pany Rooneys and local government all have taken stakes in irrigation devel-opments. For example, the Barrhill Chertsey Irriga-tion scheme is a 50:50 joint venture with Electricity Ashburton which receives a commercial rate of return on its investment. And the North Otago Irri-gation Company scheme is underwritten by a loan from the Waitaki District Council. So it is incorrect to say farmer financed irri-gation schemes have been the only method used to date.

Here’s what it takes to get a modern irriga-tion development off the ground: an initial outlay of hundreds of millions of

dollars for storage and dis-tribution infrastructure – about $275m in the case of Ruataniwha. This is well beyond the debt financing levels of individual farm-ers, particularly as they must now spend a lot of money onfarm to install efficient irrigation equip-ment and alter their farm-ing systems to meet new environmental standards. It is absurd to expect this outlay and the cost of stor-age and distribution infra-structure to be covered through debt alone. With-out council or other pri-vate investor support it is unlikely any irrigation scheme would have seen the light of day in the last couple of decades.

Central government in New Zealand has now recognised this huge stumbling block. Tar-geted funding is avail-able through the Irrigation Acceleration Fund for the early stages of develop-ment including feasibil-ity and design, and more recently Crown Irrigation Investments is assisting

Proponents of the Ruataniwha dam hope the extra 25,000ha of irrigation it will provide in the Hawkes Bay will mean an end to the devastating flow-on effects of droughts in the local area.

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with commercial loans for irrigation projects.

Interestingly nowhere else in the developed world has irrigation scheme development been left to a market-only approach. Typically, schemes are constructed by a major-ity grant from local and national governments with

a lesser contribution from private individuals – usu-ally ranging from a 60:40 to an 80:20 public-private split.

In the case of Ruatani-wha, farmers can be part of the ownership struc-ture: there is a clear path-way for those who wish to invest and in the long-term it makes sense for them to do so.

The other persistent criticism of Ruataniwha is that the cost is too high. But you only need to hear

a farmer’s view on this to see it in perspective. Rab McDowell, a sheep and beef farmer who spoke at the Waipawa event, is chairman of the Bar-rhill Chertsey Irrigation Ltd scheme, recognised as very expensive. Yet the company’s latest share offer saw 30% more water

being taken up and there is potential for more growth next year.

The North Otago Irriga-tion Company is also about to publish a prospectus for its stage 2 and it appears they will get the required uptake to get construction underway. South Island farmers are also paying big money for access to water but recognise the value of doing so.

Make no mistake, the Central Hawke’s Bay com-munity is behind the Ruta-

OPINION 27

JOHN KEY seems obsessed with squandering $26 million discussing a new flag.

Our real national emblem is the kiwi, our indig-enous and endemic icon now officially becoming extinct.

Apart from identifying the cause as our pet cats and dogs, our government (DOC) seems to have accepted that the kiwi’s demise is inevitable. We must not accept this; we must find a way of controlling cats and dogs so the kiwi can take its rightful place in our eco-system.

Maybe our pets will not be able to enjoy the same freedom they have in their northern, native hemi-sphere. Dogs and cats must be prevented from roaming beyond their own property.

Our clean green image is vital to our ecology. Wiping out our native national bird with our exotic pets will not endear us to our world customers. Rob ButcherWanganui

FORGET THE FLAG, SAVE THE KIWI

Letter

Ruataniwha not perfect, but an opportunity

Irrigation NZ chief Andrew Curtis.

niwha dam. The turnout and support shown at the ‘Now or Never’ meeting showed this. Communities in Hawke’s Bay are now turning their minds to new business opportunities arising from the dam.

A further 25,000ha of irrigation will have huge flow-on effects for

local service industries – during construction (dam and onfarm) and afterwards (maintenance and increased and more consistent production). There will be increased need for construction, agribusiness related service industries (transport, fencing,

advisory), retail, and education and health services. For every $1 an irrigator makes, at least another $3 is created in the local community.

Attention now needs to be on how New Zea-land best advertises the Hawke’s Bay ‘high value food production’ oppor-

tunity internationally – prime horticultural land, a climate that grows almost anything and a reliable water supply.

Hawke’s Bay has been given an amazing oppor-tunity with this dam, and while IrrigationNZ sup-ports robust debate as part of the process to evalu-

ate Ruataniwha’s viabil-ity, energy should not be wasted by picking unnec-essary holes in a project which, while not perfect, has been carefully thought through and modelled by experts and voted on by ratepayers. • Andrew Curtis is chief exec-utive of Irrigation NZ.


28 MANAGEMENT

United effort needed to lift productivityDelegates attending the recent NZ Grasslands Association conference were told that the entire rural sector needs to work together to lift productivity if the challenge of doubling primary industry export value by 2025 is to be met. Andrew Swallow reports.

“FOR ANYBODY seated in a comfort-able position, it’s time to get up and do your bit so that the various productive sectors can grow,” New Zealand Grass-land Association president Warwick Lissamann told delegates at the associ-ation’s conference in Alexandra earlier this month.

In a broad-ranging address to his audience of scientists, farmers and rural professionals, he warned of pseudo-sci-ence and a proliferation of fertilisers and plant growth enhancers, many with little scientific data to support their use. “A single analysis from one season is not proof!”

Smart marketers and salespeople could make unwary farmers “believers” in products “at which point you stop asking questions,” he warned. “Sellers

always have to be challenged: ‘where is the data?’.”

That’s particularly the case with products claiming to provide benefi-cial bacteria or fungi, or to benefit such organisms in the soil, he said.

For scientists, debunking pseudo-science is frustrating as they’re often required to prove the same point time and time again – time which could oth-erwise be spent on research, or com-municating research, that would take farming forward.

Lissamann not only called for more engagement between scientists, farm-ers and the rural sector, but with the whole of New Zealand. “Collaboration with the other 3.8 million New Zealand-ers will be essential. We cannot do this alone.”

Large, corporate farm businesses would play an increasing role, but a problem with such an industry struc-ture is they reach a scale where research is privately funded and not shared, he warned.

Currently there’s little to stop such a trend but family farms could “evolve in ways we’ve not considered” to retain their place in the industry, he suggested.

Technological advances should focus on things farmers need to improve pro-ductivity, and while there are plenty of IT-type innovations emerging, there are some notable gaps, such as in direct drills, where bigger and heavier is the trend. “No-one has developed a light-weight drill for hill country.”

Improving productivity from pas-toral hill and high country in New Zea-

land, and globally, holds huge potential to meet the challenge of feeding the burgeoning world population, which will need 70% more food by 2050, Lis-samann continued.

However, food production research is focussed “almost entirely on food crops”, and grassland gets relatively little investment. That’s despite 3.5b ha of farmed pasture globally – twice the area cropped.

In many cases farmed grasslands, particularly hill and high country such as New Zealand’s, also deliver essential environmental services, storing and filtering water, preventing erosion and maintaining biodiversity.

New Zealand’s diverse geography

and consequent range of pastoral farm-ing systems make it best placed to lead international research into improving production from such areas while safe-guarding other values, he suggested.

And as an association focussed on pastoral production, the NZGA is well placed to facilitate that but the confer-ence “family” atmosphere of collabo-ration and communication, researcher to researcher and farmer to researcher, needs to extend year-round.

“We need to trust each other and learn from each other… It’s up to research to work with farmers to achieve a step change.”

Technology transfer: Northland farmer Laurie Copland and AgResearch’s Grant Rennie during a conference break.

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MANAGEMENT 29

Sheep can compete with dairy!DONE RIGHT, sheep farms can compete with dairy, says Professor Tony Bywater, of Lincoln Uni-versity’s faculty of agricul-ture and life sciences.

Bywater’s comments were made when local MP Amy Adams officially opened Lincoln Univer-sity’s sheep technology farm (LUSTF) earlier this month.

Sited on the 21ha former South Island Field Days site, LUSTF will be used for student and farmer training, field days, demonstrations and research.

Bywater says Lincoln’s sheep research division, LincolnSheep, is focussed on two main farm types: summer safe or summer dry and, with LUSTF, use of irrigated finishing blocks.

‘’The true opportu-nity cost of an irrigated lamb finishing block is not what you might get run-ning a dairy farm; it is what you get on your dry land breeding farm if you don’t have one.”

Putting irrigation onto a finishing block to increase sheep numbers costs about one third of a dairy conversion, which, with nitrate levels under scrutiny, may not seem as attractive as it once did, he suggests.

LincolnSheep will also research ewe ‘elastic-ity’, using a CT scanner to measure body fat and

protein relative to weight through the year, and hor-mone treating ewes to lamb more than once per year.

Work to identify more efficient ewes in terms of weight of lamb weaned is also planned. That could mean big differences in productivity ‘’without doing anything else,” says Bywater.

Selective drenching – not treating animals with no evidence of para-sitic infestation – and the power of electronic tag-ging as a management tool are also on the agenda.

Lincoln University vice-chancellor Dr Andrew West says the intention is to scale up Lincoln-Sheep’s findings at the Lincoln-Westoe Trust’s 400ha drystock training and demonstration farm at Westoe, Rangitikei.

The farm was trans-ferred to the trust earlier this year by Jim and Diana Howard who gave Lin-coln University exclusive use of the property to help train the next generation of farmers.

The Howards’ generos-ity and vision was recently acknowledged with the inaugural Lincoln Uni-versity vice-chancellor’s award.

West says the farm is a ‘’gift to the nation’’ and will be used as a training and demonstration sheep and beef farm. The Westoe homestead, with nation-ally significant gardens, will be used for horticul-ture and arboriculture

courses.Howard says he won’t

have to worry about fixing fences at Westoe anymore, but he will still garden around the homestead and, as a member of the trust, will keep a “close eye on the place”.

West notes there is no such sheep and beef dem-onstration farm nationally

and says the Westoe farm will be ready for such a role in less than two years.

Lincoln University Vice-Chancellor Dr Andrew West,

left, Justice Minister and Sel-wyn MP Amy Adams, and

Professor Tony Bywater, of the Lincoln University Fac-ulty of Agriculture and Life

Sciences, at the opening of the LincolnSheep Sheep

Technology Farm. PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID HOLLANDER

Lincoln finalFOUR FINALISTS in this year’s Lincoln University Foundation South Island Farmer of the Year will tomorrow (November 19) give presentations at the university about their businesses before a winner is announced.

The finalists are Southland dairy farmers, processors and marketers Robin and Lois Greer; sheep breeders and finishers Barry and Julie Crawford, Gore; sheep, cattle and deer breeders and finishers Mark, Rachael, Sam and Keri Zino, Harwarden, North Canterbury; Patoa Farms, a 580ha pig farm also at Harwarden, managed by Steve, Josie and Holly Sterne.

“A standout feature of the finalists this year is the strong family ownership models,” says Lincoln University Foundation judging coordinator Tricia Macfarlane.

“These are innovative, successful businesses at the cutting edge of their industry.”

The winner will receive a $20,000 travel grant to examine overseas farming practices, new technol-ogies and innovations to enhance their business. Four category prizes of $5000 are also awarded.

ANDREW SWALLOW

[email protected]

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duction Grant Edwards presented data from the irrigated light land of Ashley Dene showing there’s little to choose between kale and fodder beet as winter feeds, so long as you feed plenty of them.

“The drivers should be how cheap is the crop to produce, how well can you grow it on your farm and how it fits the farm system, rather than how well it will put condi-tion on the cow,” he said, reflecting on work where mobs of 50 cows on kale, either early or late sown, and fodder beet, all achieved well over the target 0.5 gain in body condi-tion score through June and July.

Fodder beet did yield more than kale in the second year’s work but by sowing forage oats behind late sown kale and harvest-ing them as green chop silage in November for subsequent winter feed-ing, annual dry matter per hectare was on par with beet.

Answering questions, Edwards stressed transi-tion of cows onto winter crops, particularly fodder beet, needs care, with alternative feeds during transition to keep intake at about 150MJ of ME/day, as it should be throughout winter if that target of 0.5 BCS gain is to be achieved.

Costings from the

trials came in at 9-10c/kgDM for fodder beet, 13c/kgDM for early-sown kale, 15c/kgDM for late-sown kale, and 12c/kgDM for the forage oats. But when the cost of supplement was added – fodder beet was allocated at 8kgDM/

cow/day plus 6kgDM/cow/day of baleage, early kale at 14kg with 3kg of barley straw, and late kale at 11kg with 5kg of greenchop oat silage – Edwards said the net cost/cow/day of all the diets was similar at $2.30-2.50/cow/day.

Meanwhile, Lincoln colleague Professor Der-rick Moot presented papers on lucerne and lupins, showing how the latter lifted production off high aluminium, low pH land at nearly 800m above sea-level to 10tDM/ha.

“It’s currently being used as lamb feed and the lambs seem pretty happy to be in amongst it,” he

commented.In the trial 40-60% of

the lupin drymatter was eaten.

“They ate it and they ate the material between [the lupins],” he said, showing slides of stalks but little else left.

Sowing rates of 2kg/ha to 32kg/ha were tested, all with 2kg/ha of cocksfoot, though the lupins pro-duced 79% of yield overall, and 90% in spring.

Seed emergence was only 40% regardless of sowing rate.

“It is quite hard seed and if you put it fresh in the ground it won’t germi-nate. It needs scarifying.

30 MANAGEMENT

Lucerne tips: Lincoln Universi-ty’s Derrick. Moot.

Lucerne, lupins and much, much moreThe New Zealand Grassland Association held its 76th annual conference earlier this month, drawing 400 researchers, farmers and rural professionals to Alexandra for three days of scientific papers and field trips. Andrew Swallow reports.

TWO CROPS commanded an unusually high percent-age of papers at this year’s New Zealand Grassland Association conference: lucerne and lupins.

From the scene set-ting opening papers to the

closing session research reports, lucerne’s renais-sance and ability to revit-alise dryland productivity and lupins’ potential as an alternative on low pH, high aluminium soils fea-tured.

Given the venue and theme – Alexan-dra; “Farming in a land of extremes” – their domi-nance was understandable but it wasn’t all about the L-crops: the latest science on ryegrass, clovers and

various other forages was relayed, as was some graz-ing management and fer-tiliser work.

For example, AgResearch’s David Stevens showed how adding 100-150kgN/ha in spring to regular dryland hill country inputs phosphate, sulphur and lime at a site near Roxburgh increased drymatter production of tussock country from about 3200kgDM/ha/year with no fertiliser or just lime, to 6000-8000kgDM/ha depending on the season. Phosphate and sulphur alone boosted production to 4000-5000kgDM/ha.

“Where we weren’t using fertiliser the feed was extremely poor qual-ity and where we were using only nitrogen the feed was also extremely poor quality because we were suppressing legumes,” he pointed out.

Those pasture produc-tion gains could increase stocking rate from under 5 ewes/ha to nearly 10 ewes/ha, adding a potential increase in net margin of $200/ha.

“If we can grow 7t/ha in that environment we are getting close to what we could achieve using the plough,” he added.

Lincoln University’s professor of dairy pro-

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MANAGEMENT 31

Lucerne, lupins and much, much moreThat’s why it turns up in the rivers…. but 8kg/ha is probably enough seed,” he reflected.

Despite its being a big seed, sowing depth is also critical, at 10-20mm, and into soil, so if there’s a thatch of dead mate-rial intended sowing areas should be taken through a cycle of ryecorn or two.

Ryecorn’s use as an entry crop also featured in David ‘Gundy’ Ander-son’s paper on how lucerne has transformed their system at Bog Roy Station in upper Waitaki. The 2860ha station runs from 400m by the shores of Lake Benmore up to 1000m, with only 420mm of rain. “So it’s much the same as around here,” he told the Alexandra audi-ence.

Spraying out pasture, taking two ryecorn crops, then sowing lucerne has established the deep-root-ing legume across 200ha which they now lamb ewes on, albeit with a “light touch”, low set-stocking rate of 7/ha.

Ewes are scanned for foetal age, grouped by lambing date, then ideally go onto 15cm stands of the crop just before lambing, though a cold spring this year meant it was 10cm. “But it was 20cm when they came out.”

In previous years con-tinued rotation of ewes and lambs round the lucerne paddocks has lifted pre-wean growth rates from 205 to 235g/

head/day, dropped lamb mortality from 30% to 21%, and boosted pre-winter ewe lamb replace-ments to 38kg from 35kg. In turn that’s lifted two-tooth scanning from 111% to 129% and weaning per-centage to 100% from 84%.

Anderson stressed the “ripple effect” the crop is having on the property, reducing overgrazing on native and oversown hill country so that too is now more productive.

As for the lucerne itself, that’s lifted annual drymatter production from a 3-8tDM/ha range, depending on the season, to 10-12tDM/ha/year. “There’s a real consistency with this plant if you look after it.”

Anderson wasn’t the only farmer speaker laud-ing lucerne’s dryland pro-ductivity. On a field trip to Greenfield NZ Pas-tures delegates heard how sowing 2300ha of the crop, sometimes mixed with fescue, has more than dou-bled carrying capacity of its 3900ha Hills Creek Sta-tion.

And in a scene-set-ting paper in the confer-ence’s opening session, former NZGA president Pat Garden touched on how he’s planning to use lucerne and fodder beet to finish cattle in 15 months.

Meanwhile Moot, who co-authored seven papers presented at the confer-ence, drilled down into the detail of winter weed man-

agement in lucerne, pre-senting findings from an on-farm herbicide trial at Hills Creek showing suc-cessful weed control with atrazine and glyphosate during July and August when the crop’s dor-mant and had cover below 100kgDM/ha.

Farmer speaker: Gundy Anderson addresses the NZGA crowd.

Run out: lucerne and fescue due for renewal at Green-field Pasture’s Hills Creek Station, one of three farms vis-ited by the NZGA conference.

PO

W04

29

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32 MANAGEMENT

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$600/ha/year wasted – research

MOST DAIRY farms are missing out on substantial income due to mistakes or compromises in pasture

management, research by DairyNZ relayed at the NZGA conference shows.

Presenting a paper on ‘Opportunities to improve grazing management’, DairyNZ’s developer feed

and farm systems Sean McCarthy said a survey of seven farms in the lower North Island found 49% of paddocks were grazed before the optimum 2-3 leaf stage of ryegrass,

and 62% were grazed either before or after the recommended (2600-3200kgDM) biomass trig-ger.

Post-grazing overall 48% of paddocks missed

the target residual band of 7-9 clicks on the plate-meter, with two farms fre-quently over-grazing and

two frequently under-grazing. Of the other three that got it right more times than not, even the best was only on target two-thirds of the time. “Of course the residual is often a symptom of what hap-pens before,” said McCar-thy.

A DairyNZ colleague had run a similar monitor-ing exercise on two farms in Canterbury and found “just the same thing,” he added. “One farm tended to over-graze, the other tended to under-graze.”

To get grazing heights right – entry levels and residuals – clarity is needed onfarm about what the targets are and who is responsible for meeting them, and those people need the skills and moti-vation to make it happen, said McCarthy.

A wider survey of 300 farms found 15% use some form of measure to gauge residuals, 15% go by the clumps that are left and about half visually assess residuals.

McCarthy said visual

assessment capability had been checked during dis-cussion groups and nearly half were out by more than 100kgDM/ha – either over or under – in assess-ing what was left. “That’s quite a substantial amount when you’re making deci-sions on feeding based on dry matter.”

McCarthy said about half of dairy farms measure pasture eaten/year.

“We need to ensure more and more farms are doing that. We need to provide the motivation to grow and harvest more pasture.”

To that end DairyNZ has a ‘focus on pasture’ initiative underway aiming to improve pasture man-agement capability and provide a calculator for a daily pasture eaten figure.

“There is plenty of opportunity to improve grazing management out there… Potentially there’s $600/ha there for the taking. That’s about $85,000 for the average dairy farm.”

MASTERTON NEXT YEARIn keeping with its north-south alternation of conferences, the NZGA heads to Masterton next year, Nov 3-5, with the theme: ‘Farming into the future: innovation, technology and efficiency’.

Conference delegates attending one of several seminars pre-sented at the NZGA conference.

ANDREW SWALLOW

[email protected]


ANIMAL HEALTH 33

Vet sorts mystery illnessI KNEW something was wrong when Chloe was in her kennel on a lovely day: usually she’s with me or eyeing the cat; and she was sick twice that afternoon.

Poison, bones and any sort of injury could be immediately ruled out, so I expected to see her bright and perky the next morning, but the Chloe who greeted me was lethargic and when she took no notice of the cat I knew things weren’t good.

I set up a heated pet pad in the corner of my office, which is at one end of the kitchen. From there I was able to monitor her every move. She slept.

There was no raised temperature or unnat-ural discharge, apart from the odd spot of blood which was nat-ural as she was coming off heat. Her stool and urine appeared normal for the circumstances. She was drinking a little water but had no appetite, so I slowly and gently syringed small amounts of colostrum, with an added tonic and appetite stimulant, into her mouth several times a day. This kept up fluids and the colour in her mouth was good. I expected her to improve, but she didn’t.

Days passed. It is a wonder she had any hair left with all the stroking she received, and she was permanently sodden from my tears. All I could think was cancer. I’d lost two dogs in the past to it, and the down hill spiral can be sudden.

You’re probably asking: “Why

didn’t you take her to the vet?” Chloe is a very special dog, not only in work-ing ability but in her kind and gentle

nature, and I have a unique bond with her. If she was going to die it was to be at home with me, not in a vet clinic, possibly on the operating table and among strang-ers. I couldn’t go through that again, especially not with her.

For four days I kept a vigil at her side until I could bare it no longer. A hole was dug and the gun dusted. We walked outside. I sat on the steps and choked “Chloe give me a sign, any-thing, and I won’t do it”. She put her head on my knee to have it stroked - the first time since she had been ill. No bullet was fired.

I rang my dear friend Liz Hancock who is a vet; I felt comfortable sob-bing Chloe’s symptoms to her over the phone rather than to a male vet I hardly knew. She said it was worth taking a fresh urine sample for testing, doing blood tests and x-rays. Maybe

it was something that could be cured. Sometimes there can be an internal infection without a temperature, she told me.

I took Chloe to my local vet clinic and with huge reluctance left her behind. I kissed her nose and walked away crying, praying it wasn’t the last time I’d see her alive. The blood tests indicated an infection, probably in her uterus, but they didn’t want to oper-ate until she was a bit stronger. Hope-fully the drip and antibiotics would help. Five days later they operated.

Apparently there was a nasty infec-tion and all her female bits needed removing. She stayed at the vet clinic for a further five days before finally getting the all clear to come home. It truly was one of the happiest days of my life.

My heartfelt thanks to Liz for her wise advice and to Malcolm and the team at Hunterville Vet Club. They all saved darling Chloe’s life.• Anna Holland is teaching people dog training. For more information www.annaholland.co.nz or Ph 06-212 4848 or [email protected]

A healthy Chloe and friend back at home.

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CyNF Oct14

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2014 External Parasite Treatment Survey – Sheep SATURATION DIPPING METHODSProduct Company Active

ingredientConcentra-tion

Dilution RateConstant Replenish-ment Shower

Part Per Million in Active Ingredient Wash

Withholding Period

Claims COMMENTS– asterisk (*) indicates not for treatment of existing strike

MEAT WOOL LICE KEDS FLY ITCH MITE

TICK

SERAPHOS 1250 Bayer NZ Ltd Propetamphos 360g/L 1:1250 14 days

RE

CO

MM

EN

DE

D:

• FIN

E W

OO

L 1

80

DAYS •

MID

MIC

RO

N 9

0 D

AYS •

ST

RO

NG

WO

OL

60

DAYS •

AT

LE

AST

2 M

ON

TH

S

Yes Yes Yes No Yes Mid term fly protection.

MAGGO Bayer NZ Ltd Propetamphos, Paradichloro-benzene

16g/L400g/L

1:40 14 days No No Yes No No For treatment of flystrike in sheep and protection against restrike and as a docking medication.

SWAT LIQUID Bayer NZ Ltd Cyromazine 500g/L 2:10001 1:10002

1000500

7 Days No No Yes* No No 1. For longer term protection against flystrike. 2. For medium term protection against flystrike. Swat Liquid should not be used to treat active flystrike.

ZAPP JETTINGLIQUID

Bayer NZ Ltd Triflumuron 480g/L 1:1000L 480 42 days Yes No Yes* No No Specialised jetting formulation. Long term control of flystrike and lice.

ZENITH® CONCENTRATE

COOPERS Diflubenzuron 250g/L 1.5L/10002.5L/1000

375 625

Nil Yes – Yes* No No 1.5L/1000L for shower/plunge dips, 2.5L/1000L for jetting controls both fly and lice. Non-stripping formulation. Water-based.

EXTINOSAD®

LIQUIDElanco Spinosad 25g/L 1:1250 20ppm spinosad Nil Yes No Yes No No Fast knockdown lice control with no meat or wool withholding.

20 week lice control guarantee on coarse wool breeds. Short term flystrike prevention and treatment.

CYREX ™ Elanco Cyromazine plus Spinosad

500g/L cyroma-zine and 12.5/L spinosad

1:500 1000ppm cyrom-azine and 25ppm spinosad

7 days Yes No Yes No No Combination dip for long term flystrike protection plus fast knockdown of maggots and lice. Treats active flystrike.

CRYAZIN KO® Merial Ancare CyromazineIvermectin

500g/L and 15g/L

1:500 1000 Cyromazine, 30 Ivermectin

21 days No No Yes No No For medium term protect against Flystrike.

CYRAZIN LIQUID®

Merial Ancare Cyromazine 500g/L 2:10001 1:10002

1000500

7 Days No No Yes* No No 1. For long term protection against flystrike. 2. For medium term protection against flystrike. Cyrazin will not treat active strike.

FLEECEMAS-TER®

Merial Ancare Diflubenzuron 250g/L 1.5/1000l

2.5/1000l

375 625

Nil Yes – Yes* No No 1. For dipping and jetting of all adult sheep and for medium term fly protection in lambs. 2. 2.5/1000 For long term fly protection in lambs. 3. Fleecemaster is an insect growth regulator therefore: (i) lice control is achieved only when adult lice die naturally which may take 8 weeks or more (ii) Fleecemaster should not be used to treat active flystrike.

BANISH LIQ-UID

Norbrook New Zealand Ltd

Cyromazine 500g/L 2:10001 1:10002

1000 500

7 days No No Yes* No No 1. For up to 12 week protection against flystrike. 2. For up to 6 week protection against flystrike.

LUCIFY LIQ-UID


Cyromazine 500g/L 2:10001 1:10002

1000 500

7 days No No Yes* No No 1. For up to 12 week protection against flystrike. 2. For up to 6 week protection against flystrike.

VETRAZIN LIQUID

Novartis Cyromazine 500g/L 2:10001 1:10002

1000 500

7 days No No Yes* No No 1. For long term protection against flystrike. 2. For medium term protection against fly strike. Vetrazin should not be used to treat active flystrike.

SATURATE CLASSIC

Ravensdown Diflubenzuron 250g/L Lice: 600mL/1000L for off-shears; 1.5L/1000L for longer wool. Flystrike: 1.5-2.5L/1000L

150-375 (lice), 375-625 (flystrike)

7 days Yes No Yes* No No For lice control a unique cost-effective low dilution rate of 600mL/1000L for off-shears (1.5L/1000L for longer wool). For flystrike control use 1.5-2.5L/1000L (see label). Non-stripping water-based formulation.

SATURATE GOLD

Ravensdown Diflubenzuron 100g/L & Cyromazine 250g/L

4L/1000L for flystrike prevention & 2L/1000L for lice control

400 diflubenzuron & 1000 cyromazine for flystrike prevention200 diflubenzuron & 500 cyromazine for lice control

10 days Yes No Yes* No No Unique combination IGR for fly and lice control. Non-stripping formulation. Water-based.

FLYSAFE LIQUID

Ravensdown Cyromazine 500g/L 2:10001 1:10002

1000500

7 Days No No Yes* No No 1. For long term protection against flystrike. 2. For medium term protection against flystrike. Flysafe Liquid should not be used to treat active flystrike.

NOTE: The Rural News External Parasite Treatments Guide for Sheep is compiled from information supplied by animal health companies. Although the information has been checked by our independent animal health advisor, Rural News accepts no responsibility or liability for inaccuracies. Asterisk (*) indicates not for treatment of existing strike. NOTE: – = Not supplied. N/A= Not allowed. A = Not allowed on animals producing milk for humans

CYRAZIN LIQUID FOR THE PREVENTION OF FLY STRIKE IN LAMBS AND SHEEP.

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PROUDLY AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL VETERINARY CLINIC.

MAL_Cyrazin_14x7_advert.indd 1 11/11/14 2:01 PM


2014 External Parasite Treatment Survey – Sheep POUR-ON OR SPRAY-ON METHODSP

roduct

Com

pany

Meth

od o

fA

pplicati

on

Acti

ve

Ingre

die

nt

Concentr

a-

tion

Form

ula

ted

Dose

Rate

Withholding Period

SA

FE

TY

MA

RG

IN

Treatment Times

RE

GIS

TE

RE

D

FO

R G

OATS

Claims

Comments— Asterisk (*) indicates not for treatment of existing strike.

MEAT MILK FINE WOOL COARSE WOOL

LICE KEDS FLY

SWAT SPRAY-ON

Bayer NZ Ltd Spray-on Cyromazine 60g/L See label 21 days 35 days 4-12 weeksOff-shears

4-12 weeksOff-shears

No No No Yes* Apply with a coarse spray nozzle. Swat Spray-on will not treat active flystrike.

ZAPP ENCORE

Bayer NZ Ltd Pour-on Triflumuron, Imidacloprid

25g/L30g/L

See label 56 days 35 days 5x Machine shorn off shears and lambs up to 6 months – lice only

Flystrike and lice control off shears up to 6 months

No Yes No Yes Double combination pour on for knockdown and long term control of flystrike and lice. Can be applied to wet sheep. Easy to apply, fast spreading formulation.

ZAPP POUR-ON

Bayer NZ Ltd Pour-on Triflumuron 25g/L See label 49 days 35 days 5x Machine shorn off shears and lambs up to 6 months – lice only

Flystrike and lice control off shears up to 6 months

No Yes No Yes* Can be applied to wet sheep. Easy to apply, fast spreading formulation.

MAGNUM® COOPERS Pour-on Diflubenzuron 25g/L Refer to label Nil 35 days 10x Fly: Any length Lice: Off-shears

Fly: Any length. Lice: Up to 3 months

No Yes1 No Yes* Magnum® is water-based and rainfast. 1 Recommended off-shears treatment for lice.

VANQUISH® COOPERS Pour-on Alpha Cypermethrin

50g/L Refer to label 7 days 35 days 5x Lice: Up to 10 months

Lice: Up to 10 months

No Yes*1 Yes Yes*2 Rainfast. 1 Vanquish is recommended off-shears but can be used as an emergency long-wool lice treatment. 2 Up to 6 weeks protection against flystrike.

WIPE-OUT® COOPERS Pour-on Deltamethrin 10g/L Refer to label 3 days 35 days 5x Lice: Up to 3 months

Lice: Up to 6 months

Yes Yes1 Yes. Excludes goats

No Rainfast. 1 Recommed off-shears treatment for lice.

EXPO Elanco Spray-on Spinosad 20g/L See label Nil Nil >25x Off-shears up to 3 months

No Yes No No Lice pour-on for sheep with no meat or wool witholding. Rainfast.

CYPERCARE® Merial Ancare BacklinePour-on

Cyperme-thrin

25g/L 1m/5kg LW2ml/5kg LW

14 days 35 days 10x Off shears Up to 3 mths3-6 mths

Yes YesYes*

Yes No *Lice on goats. Contains scourable marker Pour-on 2ml/5kg LW 3-6mths wool.

EXIT® Merial Ancare Pour-on Triflumuron 25g/L Refer to label 49 days 35 days 5x Off shears2 Off shears or with up to 6 mths wool1

No Yes2 No Yes1* 1. Fly: up to 3 mths following. Shearing lice - up to 6 mths wool growth. 2. Fine wool lice only - off shears.

EXIT EXTREME®

Merial Ancare Pour-on Cypermethrin Triflumuron

30g/L25g/L

Refer to label 49 days 35 days 5x Off shears2 Off shears or with up to 6 mths wool1

No Yes2 No Yes1 1. Fly: up to 3 mths following. Shearing lice - up to 6 mths wool growth. 2. Fine wool lice only - off shears.

CYRAZIN SPRAY-ON®

Merial Ancare Spray-on Cyromazine 60g/L Read label for dose rate

14 days 35 days 4-12 weeks 4-12 weeks No No No Yes* Apply with a coarse spray nozzle. Cyrazin Spray-on will not treat active flystrike. Do not use on sheepproducing milk for human consumption.

BANISH SPRAY-ON


Spray-on Cyromazine 60g/L Refer to label 7 days 35 days N/A 4 to 12 weeks off shears

4 to 12 weeks off shears

No No No Yes* Apply with a coarse spray nozzle.Additional Point: Wool Withhold, 60 days.

LUCIFLY SPRAY-ON


Spray-on Cyromazine 60g/L Refer to label 7 days 35 days N/A 4 to 12 weeks off shears

4 to 12 weeks off shears

No No No Yes* Apply with a coarse spray nozzle.Additional Point: Wool Withhold, 60 days.

CLIK Novartis Spray-on Dicyclanil 50g/L Read label for dose rate

1. 2 35 days >10X Any length wool Any length wool

No No No Yes 1. Meat WHP - Merino 56 days. All other breeds 35 days. 2. Do not use on sheep producing milk for human consumption.

CLIKZIN Novartis Low volume spray-on

Dicyclanil 12.5g/L Refer to label 7 days 35 days >10x Any wool length, including lambs at docking

Any wool length, in-cluding lambs at docking

No No No Yes

VETRAZIN SPRAY-ON

Novartis Spray-on Cyromazine 60g/L Read label for dose rates

7 days 35 days N/A Up to 5 mths wool

Up to 3 mths wool

No No No Yes* A water-based spray-on which will give protection against flystrike.

FLYSAFE SPRAY-ON

Ravensdown Spray-on Cyromazine 60g/L Refer to label 7 days 35 days N/A 4 to 12 weeks 4 to 12 weeks

No No No Yes* Apply with a coarse spray nozzle. Flysafe Spray-On will not treat active flystrike.

FLEECE-GUARD

Ravensdown Pour-on Diflubenzuron Deltamethrin

20g/L10g/L

Refer to label 7 days 35 days 5x Off-shears and up to 6 weeks wool growth

Off-shears and up to 6 weeks wool growth

No Yes No Yes* Unique double combination pour on for knockdown and long term control of lice plus up to 14 weeks flystrike control. Easy to apply with a standard applicator and T-bar nozzle.

SHOW FLY AND LICE THE DOOR!EXIT® is a highly effective, easy-to-use IGR Pour-On that controls fly and lice on sheep.

l EXIT Pour-On for sheep contains triflumuron, an extremely effective insect growth regulator (IGR)

l IGRs provide longer acting control of fly and lice, as well as being more user-friendly than traditional OP dips and SP Pour-Ons

l EXIT Pour-On, with its no-mix formulation means it is extremely easy to use anywhere on the farm for effective fly and lice control

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36 ANIMAL HEALTH

Aussies claim world-first worm vaccineTHE WORLD’S first sheep worm vaccine has been released in Australia.

Barbervax protects against barber’s pole (Hae-monchus contortus) giving

farmers and vets a drench alternative that will limit drench resistance, says Australia’s Sheep Collab-orative Research Center (Sheep CRC).

Decades of research have gone into worm vac-

ALAN HARMANcines but to date the only other anti-worm vaccine is against cattle lungworm.

Barbervax was devel-oped by Scotland’s More-dun Research Institute and the Department of Agriculture and Food in Western Australia. It was launched last month in New South Wales. DAF WA’s Albany laboratory

makes it and NSW rural retailer GrazAg is selling it.

Sheep CRC says it will be particularly useful where barber’s pole is endemic, where frequent drenching is usually nec-essary to prevent sheep deaths and where resis-tance has slashed drench options, such as in the NSW Tablelands.

It’s registered for use in lambs, administered by five 1ml subcutane-ous injections at six-week intervals during the bar-ber’s pole risk season.

The developers stress the first two vaccinations do not provide protection, but prime immune sys-tems so six weeks protec-tion is gained from third and subsequent vaccina-tions.

It’s envisaged initial jabs will be at lamb mark-ing, the second three-five weeks later and the third

at weaning, usually with a drench to ensure exist-ing barber’s pole burdens, and other worms such as Trichostrongylus spp (black scour worm), are removed.

Trials show the vac-cine provides 75-95% pro-tection against barber’s pole and because pasture worm burdens remain low

behind vaccinated mobs, the small percentage of sheep that do not respond to vaccination do not face the worm challenge they otherwise would.

Faecal egg counts are recommended to check barber’s pole burdens when vaccine protection is being established at the second or third injection, and periodically thereafter to ensure low counts are maintained.

Pasture planning to avoid significant barber’s pole intake, and breeding for worm resistant sheep, are also recommended.

Sheep in poor body condition or showing signs of worms may not respond fully to vaccination and may require further support, Sheep CRC warns.

A first run of 300,000 doses, enough for 60,000 lambs, has sold out.

Only in Australia: the world’s first sheep worm vaccine. PHOTO: PARABOSS

Decades of research have gone into worm vaccines but to date the only other anti-worm vaccine is against cattle lungworm.

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MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 37

New tractor mixes manoeuvrability and performance

GARETH GILLATT

JOHN DEERE is show-ing that a 300hp trac-tor need not be ungainly. Its new model 7290R was delivered last month to a Northland rural contrac-tor by local dealer Cervus Equipment.

Launched early 2014, the 7290R (290hp) is powered by a 9L turbo-charged 6-cylinder engine that gives the power of a large machine without the ungainliness, says Cervus Northland manager Tim Ormrod.

He says that with its wheelbase and length more akin to 200-250hp tractors, it suits a vari-ety of applications. “Their

Northland use will mostly be cultivation but their manoeuvrability ideally suits them to silage pickup wagons or slurry tankers.”

The tractor’s AutoPowr transmission uses a hydro-mechanical system for no-step gearing backwards and forwards between zero and 50km/h. It is also available with the new e23 transmission option offer-ing manual, automatic or optimised manual shifting modes. Built on a 23F/11R shifted through a hydrau-lic wet clutch, the system allows the user to config-ure gearing to suit the job and situations required. “It is a great addition to the options we have available. This transmis-

sion provides great pull-ing power and stability,” important for the tasks the tractor will likely do.

Ormrod expects large-scale farmers and contrac-tors to show most interest, for cultivation or ‘inten-sive’ work. “Trailed gear is getting bigger – 3m power harrows are being replaced by 6m.”

“Maintaining one large tractor is cheaper than two smaller ones and it reduces the number of good operators a farmer or contractor needs to find.”

An optional 3.4t fac-tory-fitted front hitch widens the possibilities with the tractor. And a 22 LED headlight pack-age makes night work a

“walk in the park,” Orm-road says.www.cervusequipment.co.nzwww.deere.com.au

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38 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

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Salute to NZ’s wartime historyFARMERS ARE being asked to join a move to preserve New Zealand’s wartime history.

‘Marines @ Mahia’ has been launched as an annual commemoration of US Marines landing on the beach at Mahia Peninsula in 1943. They did this

to practice for island landings in the Pacific during the war with the Japanese.

A Wairoa group is working towards a 75th

anniversary celebration in 2018; a promotional 72nd event is planned for Labour Weekend 2015.

Marines @ Mahia Museum Club coordina-tor Ross Hedley says rural landowners may be unwit-tingly harboring wartime artifacts of value in the celebrations.

“We have no idea what’s out there but… when you go around farms, particularly those that were government bal-loted after the war, you can find military pieces.

“Those working the

farms now might remem-ber their grandfather using an old piece or their father driving one around before it broke down and was put in a shed. People might not be sure if they are of any real value but they are in preserving our war his-tory.

“The war wasn’t just about guns and bombs. Many others pieces of machinery and hardware are worth donating for res-toration.”

These could include Jeeps, Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) trucks,

General Motors Corpora-tion (GMC) trucks or Bren gun carriers.

“Farmers used some of these vehicles for carting things and to pull ploughs and discs instead of horses…. Although there’s a year until the 2015 cele-bration we need to be get-ting the word out now.”

Hedley says a love of the military runs in his blood; his grandfather served in WWII. Hedley has served in the army ter-ritorials and did a tour of duty in Fiji during the 1980s. His personal expe-

rience of the military and stories he has heard moti-vate Hedley to give time to the Marines @ Mahia cam-paign.

“This is the history of our war effort… and all the New Zealanders who took part and people from other countries…. We’re trying to preserve the things that can still be seen and touched and experienced.”Tel. 027 220 [email protected]

SARAH CHARTERISA General Motors Corpora-tion (GMC) truck that was restored by Marines @ Mahia coordinator Ross Hedley. The truck was used as a logging truck for many years by his family’s Timber Mill business.

@rural_news



MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 39

Irish slurry handler finds Kiwi homeWEBBLINE AGRICULTURE is to distribute the Slur-ryKat dairy slurry handler in New Zealand.

Webbline director Stan Malcolm says the North-ern Ireland company is “great to do business with… a like-minded organisation with a clear plan of where it wants to go”.

SlurryKat chief executive Garth Cairns says his com-pany is “pleased to partner with Webbline”. “SlurryKat has enjoyed growth year-on-year and this exclusive dis-tribution agreement will allow us to reinforce our sales and support in New Zealand, an important market for us [where] we know our equipment is well received.”

SlurryKat makes a range of slurry handlers such as dribble bars, pumping systems, reelers, flow-metering systems, parts and accessories.

Webbline was founded in the early 1960s by the Mal-colm family. It distributes European mowers, rakes, feed mixers, loader wagons, muck spreaders, balers and bale wrappers and trailers, and their spare parts.

Set up in 1994, SlurryKat is an award-winning com-pany employing 28 people and selling in 20 countries. Its machines are designed by contractors. Tel. 0800 932 254www.webbline.co.nz

Mixer keeps goats and farmers happyA JAYLOR feed mixer wagon is providing ‘room service’ for 700 Saanen in-milk goats living in a goat ‘motel’ on 52ha at Waharoa, Waikato.

Geoff Hicks owns the farm and runs it with sharemilker Sean Baty. Hicks switched from drystock farming to dairy goats about 20 years ago.

“The goats were outside but they do much better indoors. They don’t have worm problems, which they’re susceptible to outdoors, and they don’t like getting cold. They’re happy now and production has increased.”

They used to mow grass every day and bring it to the goats but now they’ve gone one step better. They ensile all the grass and combine it with other feeds to prepare mixed rations.

In May, Hicks bought a Jaylor 4425 mixer wagon. He and Baty looked at other brands but preferred the Jaylor. “It was quicker than the others we trialled and made a better mix. We talked to a dairy farmer who lives nearby who’d had one for years. He hadn’t had any problems and was getting another.

“The Jaylor is robust and simple…. It has a

single auger with a heavy-duty gearbox. It’s not going to create trouble long term. We’ve ended up with a much better machine at a great price.”

He says the Jaylor is also manoeuvrable, which speeds up feeding in an enclosed area. “It has a short trailer and turns corners easily. Compared to others it’s a much smaller wagon for the same capacity.”

The machine had one issue that had to be addressed. “With goats we need a long skinny feed row rather than the bulky row you have for cows. I liked the Jaylor’s mixing, but didn’t like how it fed out.”

Hicks brought this to the attention of Power Farming Morrinsville. They came back with a modification that produced the feed flow the operation required.

Baty fills it in the evenings and feeds out three times during the day. It takes 13.9m3 and he uses a tractor with grabs to add two bales of grass baleage, one bale of lucerne and two tonnes of maize. Then he switches it on.

Canola meal, minerals and 1500kg of grass silage from the pit are added to the mix. The Jaylor 4425

has built-in scales to tell them when they have the right amount. It takes 10 minutes to mix and then it is fed out. “The goats love it,” Baty says.

He has only blocked it once, when he put a bale at the back. “That was my fault and since then I put all the bales at the front.”

Baty uses a 140hp

tractor to pull the wagon, but reckons 100hp would be plenty.

“We used to mow every day and bring the goats fresh grass but now we put everything in the pit or bales. Hopefully it’s an advantage as we don’t get any variance,” Hicks explains.

“When you’re cutting

every day the weather determines what you’re feeding. It may be dripping wet or it may be wilted. Now we don’t get that variance. The silage pit gives a consistent product and we can cut baleage when the conditions are right.”Tel. 07 902 2200www.powerfarming.co.nz

Geoff Hicks with his Jaylor 4425.

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40 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS

Irish ploughing champs – a big show to be sure!MASSIVE CROWDS and excellent site facilities distinguished the Irish National Ploughing Cham-pionships at Ratheniska, Stradbally, County Laois, 100km NW of Dublin, in September.

The annual event is held at the same site for two successive years, con-current with the national machinery and equipment field days.

The 2014 ploughing championships was the 83rd such event. Inter-est in ploughing was high, the Republic of Ireland’s two entrants in the world championships having just returned from compet-ing in France. Eammon Tracey won the conven-tional world title, after gaining third in the pre-vious year. John Whelan in the reversible section gained third after winning the world championships the previous year.

The Irish competition is huge compared with the New Zealand event. At least 280 ploughmen and women competed in about 20 classes. This includes the Farmerette conven-tional plough class for

women (12 entries), and many women competing in open divisions.

Allied to the plough-ing competition, as part of Ireland’s farming festi-val, is the Irish equivalent of our National Fieldays. But there any compari-son ends.

In Ireland’s biggest annual event, the plough-ing match, machinery and exhibits combine to pro-mote all that is best in Irish exporting and sup-plies for agricultural and urban communities.

Total attendance at the three-day event was 279,500 – 82,000 on the first day, 102,000 on day two and 95,500 on the last day. For comparison, last June’s National Fieldays attracted about 120,000 over four days. Exhibitors at the Irish event num-bered 1400 – about double the Fieldays.

Getting through the crowd was a challenge, but helped by excellent walk-ways covered by alumin-ium panels called Trakway.

“The National Plough-ing Association spends upwards of €500,000 (NZ$810000) annually on Trakway,” the manag-ing director/secretary of

the Ploughing Associa-tion of Ireland, Anna May McHugh, told Rural News. “But it’s essential, allow-ing all the movement we could ever require for exhibitors, machinery and the public before, during and after the show.”

The Trakway panels are

3 x 2m and some 85,000 have been laid – 5ha of covered ground – ensuring access to all sites is clear and free of mud. “With Ireland’s reputation for wet weather combined with our crowds the area could quickly turn to a disaster,” McHugh said.

Even the bus areas had Trakway covered paths so patrons could arrive and leave in comfort. The panels are removed with special machinery three weeks after the show fin-ishes.

Next year’s event will be held in Country Carlow.

TONY HOPKINSON

Crowds at the event can easily find exhibits via signposts with the row of names at each section. Note Trakway panels in background.

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40 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS MACHINERY & PRODUCTS 41

GPS keeps farmer on the ‘Case’SOUTH CANTERBURY crop farmer Barry Copland’s Case IH advanced farming system (AFS) has saved him time and money and taken the guesswork out of his spraying and drilling, the company says.

Copeland, and wife Sue, farm 400ha on the Geraldine-Fairlie highway. For three years he’s operated a Case IH AFS 372 receiver which enables him to pick up CenterPoint and RangePoint RTX.

AFS precision farming has been available at least ten years, enabling farmers to achieve repeatable accuracy down to 3.8cm, reduce overlaps and cut input costs, Case IH says.

The AFS capability can include automatic steering, sprayer boom control, yield mapping and more by adding the maker’s completion package.

Copland’s AFS 372 roof receiver was an upgrade from his previous AFS 262 model. He uses it for seeding, culti-vation and other tasks. “The receiver can also go back into the combine harvester for steering and for the yield maps the combine produces at harvest time,” he says.

A sat-nav in a car typically has positioning accuracy of 5.0m. The Case IH RangePoint RTX has a pass-on-pass deviation of 15cm, and the maker’s AFS CenterPoint equip-ment can achieve accuracy down to 3.8cm. CenterPoint RTX is best used with the AFS 372 receiver on farms out-side RTK base station coverage.

Copland says the system takes a lot of the inaccuracy out of his work. “The sprayer tractor is using an FM 750 receiver for boom section control and we’re looking at get-ting the tractor to do that with the drilling.”

He believes many farmers overlap more than they know when spraying, fertiliser spreading and cultivating.

“With the accuracy we now have in the sprayer with boom section control, I’m spraying right out. Previously I was happy to have 100L left because I didn’t want to run out of chemical… it’s a big job going back for more.

“With a paddock done and the boundary picked out I’m finding the paddocks are remaining within 0.1ha. Without some sort of system it’s a complete guess on how much chemical you’re going to use. We’ve found the accuracy with spraying is really good.”

The AFS system is especially good for young drivers who are not always as accurate as older drivers. And it is relatively simple to operate.

“I had come from a lesser system on my sprayer that did steering but none of the boom sections, so I had a basic knowledge. They are similar to the setup of a cellphone; you scroll your way around the screen and select. They’re touch screens and the combines have had a touch screen for seven or eight years so I’ve been familiar with them.”

Copland operates a fleet of Case IH tractors, includ-ing a CVX150, a Puma 160, a CVX 1190 and an MX135, and he has a Case IH 8120 combine harvester. He deals with Cochranes, Timaru.• Article and pictures reprinted from Case IH Farm Forum, vol. 15.Tel. 0800 CASEIHwww.caseih.co.nz

Sue and Barry Copland

“The sprayer tractor is using an FM 750 receiver for boom section control and we’re looking at getting the tractor to do that with the drilling.”

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• ATV Carrier Mats • Exit/Entry Areas• Calf Trailers • Horse Floats & Trucks

• Weigh Platforms • Bale Mats • Comfort Mats for Wet & Dry Areas

• Utility Deck Matting

Phone: 0800 80 8570www.burgessmatting.co.nz

Rubber Safety Matting

Check out the latest news and information atwww.ruralnews.co.nz

QUAD SAFETY

Just think of how much a life is worth

$1299+GST

✰ Used by Landcorp and DoC & more

✰ Winner of 4 design and safety awards

0800 782 3763www.atvlifeguard.co.nz

IT’S A SMALL PRICE TO PAY

A New Zealand

Innovation

‘LifeGuard®’ – The only Flexible CPD and the safest in the world

Please add $12 Freight per order

$30valued at

$140

RAINWEAR CLEARANCE SALE! 50-60% OFF!PRICES SLASHED!!! MAKING ROOM FOR OUR AMAZING NEW BUFFALO BOOTS - DUE SOON!!!

$40valued at $180

$40valued at$140

$30valued at$120

$25valued at

$110

$25valued at $120

Rainwalk is ultra light nylon.More breathable, but lesswaterproof than Flexiskin.Ideal for Spring/Summer!


RURAL TRADER 43

ONE STOP WATER SHOP

Culvert Pipes Phone 0800 625 826

for your nearest stockistNew Zealand’s CHEAPEST Culvert Pipes!

FREE joiners supplied on request.

•Lightweight,easytoinstall

•Madefrompolyethylene

McKee Plastics Mahinui Street, Feilding

Ph 06 323 4181 Fax 06 323 [email protected] | www.mckeeplastics.co.nz

300mm x 6 metre ................................ $410

400mm x 6 metre ................................ $515

500mm x 6 metre ................................ $690

600mm x 6 metre ................................ $925

800mm x 6 metre .............................. $1399

1000mm x 6 metre ............................ $2175

1200mm x 6 metre ............................ $3475

Joinerssupplied FREE with culvert

pipes

ALL PRICES INCLUDE G.S.T.

McKee Plastics, Mahinui Street, Feilding | Phone 06 323 4181 | Fax 06 323 [email protected] | www.mckeeplastics.co.nz

MOBILE FEED TROUGHS4.5M (3 Wheel) Jumbo Culvert

PK Feeder$3499.00 inc

4M - 800L Budget Drawbar

$2050.00 inc

6.0M (6 Wheel) Jumbo Culvert

PK Feeder$4999.00 inc

6M Culvert (mobile)

$1375.00 inc

2400 Litres

1700 Litres

$595+GST delivered

BE SAFE... FIT A QUADBAR

For a Quadbar, call me, Stuart Davidson, owner of Quadbar NZ, on 021-182 8115.

Email [email protected] or for more info

go to

www.quadbar.co.nz

The award winning Australian Quadbar is now on over 3000 farms

in NZ and Australia and is saving lives and preventing injury daily. It is now

made here and is a well proven crush protection device for quad bikes.

Minimal SweatingPOLY SILOS

No RustLonger Lasting

Fast Easy AssemblyNo BlockagesPolyethylene

Call: 0800 668 534 Rangiora

www.advantageplastics.co.nz

Full Rangeof SizesAvailable

www.clicdualwheels.co.nz

Clic Wheel Systems Ltd, Rotorua Phone/Fax 07 347 2292

on Duals for more traction, stability, flotation, towing power, versatility.

‘Be Safer With Duals’

FLYSTRIKE AND LICE❖ Fantastic Penetration❖

NO ONE BEATS OUR PRICE• Make a big job quick & easy• Total body coverage,

2.5 litres/sheep

PPP Super Jetter

• The magic eye sheepjetter since 1989• Quality construction and options• Get the contractors choice• Direct from the manufacturer• Efficient application and unequalled cost savings

FLY OR LICE PROBLEM?

Phone 07 573 8512 • www.electrodip.com

Unique self adjusting

sides

DOLOMITENZ’s fi nest BioGro certifi ed

Mg fertiliserFor a delivered price call...

0800 436 566


For details contact: JULIE BEECH

Ph 09-307 0399 •

[email protected]

YOUR ADVERT

HERE


PROMO STARTS 01 NOV–20 DEC 2014. FROM PARTICIPATING VETERINARY CLINICS.

PROUDLY AVAILABLE FROM YOUR LOCAL VETERINARY CLINIC. *While stocks last.

Merial is a Sanofi company. MERIAL NZ LTD. LEVEL 3, MERIAL BUILDING, OSTERLEY WAY, MANUKAU, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND | WWW.MERIAL.CO.NZ | ALL PRODUCTS ARE ®REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF MERIAL. REGISTERED PURSUANT TO THE ACVM ACT 1997 | NO.S A6416, A6417, A9270, A10640, A7191, A010759, A10399, A10222, A10018, A6859, A7189, A7456, A9888, A7353, A9822, A9222, A10120, A6481, A10131, A10132, A9544, A9390, A9418, A10274, A9964, A9970 & A10734 | ©COPYRIGHT 2014 MERIAL NZ LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NZ-14-MAL-186. *Some clinics may not have both types of ham available.

THIS FESTIVE SEASON WHEN YOU PURCHASE SELECTED MERIAL ANCARE PRODUCTS, YOU’LL RECEIVE A 100% NZ KIWI HAM.

QUALIFYING PRODUCTS: ARREST® 2x 20L, ARREST® Hi-Mineral 2x 20L, ECLIPSE® Pour-On 1x 2.5L, 5L, or 10L, ECLIPSE® E Herdpack 4x 500mL, EPRINEX® 1x 5L or 20L, EXODUS® 1% Injection 4x 500mL, EXODUS® Se 1x 20L, EXODUS® Pour-On 2x 5L or 1x 20L, EXODUS® Long Acting Injection 4x 500mL, FIRST® Drench Hi-Mineral 1x 20L, GENESIS® Hi-Mineral 2x 20L, GENESIS® Injection 4x 500mL, GENESIS® Injection B12 + Se 4x 500mL, GENESIS® Pour-On 1x 5L or 10L, GENESIS® Ultra Oral Hi-Mineral 1x 20L, GENESIS® Ultra Pour-On 1x 5L, IVER MATRIX® Tape Hi-Mineral 1x 10L or 20L, IVOMEC® Plus 4x 500mL, MATRIX® C 1x 10L or 20L, MATRIX® Mini Dose 1x 10L or 20L, MATRIX® 1x 20L, MATRIX® Hi-Mineral 1x 20L or 50L, MATRIX® Tape Hi-Mineral 1x 10L or 20L, SWITCH® 1x 20L, SWITCH® Hi-Mineral 1x 20L or 50L, SWITCH® C 1x 10L or 20L, TRIMOX® 1x 20L.

CHOOSE EITHER:

Kiwi ½ COB Ham 4.5-5.5kg or Kiwi Banquet Ham 2.8-3.5kg*

MAL_Xmas_Ham_2014_390x265mm_advert.indd 1 23/10/14 3:22 PM

Documents

Rural News 18 November 2014