HBT - Rural Focus March 2021

RURAL

FOCUS Hawke’s Bay March 2021

Spotlight on our region’s rural sector

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Environmental issues make for a busy year ahead.

George Tatham Director Beef + Lamb New Zealand

One of the numbers that has captured the media’s attention and caused alarm amongst some farmers is the perceived call to reduce livestock numbers by 15%.

The Climate Change Commission has told me directly that this is not a target, but considers that this may be likely as a result of a range of factors such as increasing productivity efficiencies and other policies leading to land use change.

W

hile many of us were pleased to see the back of 2020, it feels like we barely drew breath before we were once again facing dry conditions in parts of our region and considering the implications of the recently released Climate Change Commissions report.

It’s important to remember that this is just a draft document and open for discussion before the commission makes its final recommendations to the Government.

Its release is a great opportunity for New Zealanders to collectively decide how we, as a nation, are going to address the urgent need to reduce our greenhouse gases emissions.

This report is not just about agriculture, it is about all our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and will be confronting for many sectors.

On a positive note, the Commission has endorsed taking a split-gas approach to emission reduction, acknowledging the impact different gases have on our climate, rather than taking a blanket approach to all gases.

Carbon dioxide, for example, lasts in the atmosphere for about a thousand years, unlike the short-lived methane.

The report also stresses that as a nation, we cannot just plant our way out of climate change through pine trees and that absolute reductions in fossil fuel emissions have to be made. This is something that Beef + Lamb New Zealand has been arguing for.

B+LNZ will be providing farmers with more detailed analysis of the commission’s recommendations and its implications for red meat producers in the coming weeks, we will also be working with other agricultural groups and making a submission on farmer’s behalf.

Looking ahead for 2021, B+LNZ’s other priorities include securing sensible rules on water and climate change and supporting farmers by developing

practical tools to help them meet new regulatory requirements.

Before Christmas, there were glimmers of progress around the water regulations and we fully support the recommendations of the Southland Winter Grazing working group which were released in December.

As farmers, we need clarity about the rules as soon as possible so we can get our systems in place before October.

B+LNZ will keep farmers up-to-date on progress.

It will be a big year for us as an organisation, because levy payers also get to vote on the future of B+LNZ. The Referendum is held every six years and is a great opportunity for farmers to let us know whether the organisation is meeting their needs.

It also recognizes the value of wetlands and small blocks of trees on farms for sequestering carbon and encourages the planting of native trees over exotics.

There are areas of confusion in the report and one is around methane reduction targets. As a sector we would like clarity on these.

Call Steven 021 421722

Rural Cartage Specialists Nick Agnew 027 583 7373 1445 Omahu Road Hastings

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The perfect harvesting investment

A

aron White Dealer Principal and co-owner of Power Farming Hawke’s Bay is pleased to announce that they have a Revo Piuma Harvest Platform which is ready to be inspected at their Omahu Road premises.

Alternatively orchardists can request a demonstration and test drive at their own orchard.

The Revo Piuma 4WD Harvest Platform is surprisingly compact, stable and very quiet. Perhaps the greatest advantage is that the technology opens up additional

options to employ pickers who previously would not physically be able to cope with the traditional demands of picking apples. There’s no heavy lifting, bags or ladders needed. Opening up workforce opportunities, especially when pickers are in short supply, is a win-win solution for orchardists. There is no loss of productivity and pickers will be less fatigued at the end of the day.

for yourself. Machines can be indented for next season and delivery time is about 4-6 months.

The platform enables pickers to work in groups of four to six with two on hydraulic elevated and manoeuvrable platforms and two on the ground. The whole system has been designed to reduce bruising and minimise fruit handling thus giving the owner a better pack out.

PIUMA 4WD Revolution specifications

The technology incorporates movable extension conveyors at the extremity of the machines. The apples are placed on the conveyor belts (each apple is separated) and transported to the central conveyor belt which deposits the fruit very gently into the pick-up bin which revolves to further minimise damage to the fruit.

The conveyor platform can be removed so that after picking it can also be used for pruning and thinning.

Servicing and parts are available at Power Farming Hawke’s Bay and there are several payment options along with low interest rates.

4 wheel drive fruit harvester Low consumption Yanmar engine 18.5 Kw (25 HP) Negative brake system Ground clearance: 230 mm Weight: 2500 Kg Control system: Electronic Hydraulic pump system: Variable displacement pump 21 cc Hydraulics: 3 gear pumps 11, 4, 2.5 cc Working pressure: 180 bar Lateral platforms: size 1100 x 350 mm, height from 1100 to 1750 mm Max lateral platform extension: 3000 mm Rear forklift: Independent with adjustable rollers Central track width adjustable to fit different bin sizes Single conveyor belt system for exceptional gentle handling 4 small conveyor belts: front length 2300 mm, lateral 1000 mm Independent front and rear wheel steering and crabbing

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Pulling out all stops for the Hawke’s Bay apple harvest

A

lan Pollard, New Zealand Apples & Pears Chief Executive, says the Hawke’s Bay apple industry is doing everything it can to ensure that as many apples as possible are picked, so domestic and export supply can be maintained.

“It’s been a great growing season and we have a large, high quality crop on the trees,” he says.

“We started the harvest in late January and will peak in March, with Royal Gala – our largest variety – hitting its straps.

“Ordinarily, up to about 10,500 workers from the Pacific are in the country helping with harvest but this year, it’s a little over 5,000. Similarly, there are usually about 50,000 backpackers in New Zealand, keen to help with picking.

But this year, it’s a bit over 10,000 and they are not moving far from the main centres.” Alan says the apple industry is doing all it can to attract New Zealanders.

“We’ve been working with the Government on attraction campaigns, using the Opportunity Grows Here and Work the Seasons websites. We’ve also been working with the Ministry of Social Development and Department of Corrections to find suitable roles for their respective clients.

“At the same time, multiple grower initiatives and industry advertising are underway to attract as many New Zealanders as possible.

“However, you have to be realistic.

Harvest is seasonal work, lasting a couple of months. Not many people are going to want to leave rented or owned accommodation, and whanau and family support for several weeks’ work, even if accommodation and other incentives like transport and meals are on offer.”

Alan says the apply industry is at least 3,500 workers short for harvest this season. “The impact of this shortage will be that apples do not get picked. We estimate that this will hit the industry to the tune of about $100 million.”

Asked about the long-term impact on the Hawke’s Bay apple industry, Alan says industry losses will ripple through the provincial community.

“Redevelopment work is already on hold. Usually, a percentage of trees are replaced each year. These tend to be the less productive or less valuable varieties, grown in the traditional three-dimensional way. They are replaced by new higher value varieties grown on a twodimensional structure, in preparation for greater use of automation and robotics.

“The trees currently being removed are not necessarily being replaced, which will affect our future prospects.”

Alan says the situation has become so serious and stressful that a number of growers across New Zealand’s apple growing regions are questioning if they’ll continue.

“There’s a lot of talk now about whether or not apple growers have the confidence to stay in business. For many, the labour crisis is the last straw on top of COVID disruption and serious weather events.

“If these growers choose to give it away, it will affect not just them and the packhouses, and the people they employ. It will put permanent jobs at risk in the ancillary businesses that support the apple sector, which would be catastrophic for the communities in our growing regions.”

Alan believes that – in time for next season’s harvest – the Government needs to move from a solely health focus to one that balances health and the economy.

“If the primary industries are to spearhead New Zealand’s economic recovery, the Government needs to be more pragmatic and support initiatives such as regional private isolation facilities. An initiative led by Hastings District Council was put to the Government pre-Christmas but was rejected at the time.”

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Hawke’s Bay farmer ready to repay feed favour if dry conditions worsen this summer

By MPI

A Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer is emphasising the importance of having a buffer of feed to get through tough seasons. Bruce Goldstone farms 4,000 breeding ewes, 1,000 hoggets and 450 cattle on 1,045 hectares at Putorino, north of Napier.

He started running short of feed for his livestock as a drought gripping the entire North Island early last year continued to worsen. Bruce turned to the national feed coordination service, funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), for help.

“If it had not been for friends and the baleage we sourced through the feed coordination service we would have been in serious trouble,” says Bruce.

“I could not fault the organisation of the service. It was a lifesaver and I will be forever grateful.” The feed coordination service helps connect farmers who are short of feed with available sources of supplement, such as silage and hay.

Through the service, Bruce sourced 100 round bales of grass silage from the Waikato and the South Island. He was sent a further 100 bales of baleage by friends, bought 40 tonnes of palm kernel

expeller (PKE), and already had 200 bales of silage.

“The situation was exacerbated because our farm is in a livestock movement control area for tuberculosis (TB),” says Bruce. “In a normal season, when it got dry we would be able to sell store cattle at the saleyards, but we had to carry an extra 50 to 60 steers through.”

The shortage of feed had major flow-on effects for his business.

“The ewes were not fat enough at mating.

That resulted in a 40% drop in our lambing last spring – costing $150,000 in lost income. A further $50,000 was spent buying extra feed,” he says.

The situation has made the Hawke’s Bay farmer reassess the buffer of feed he needs to have on hand for significant adverse weather events such as drought.

“We are in a much better situation this summer.” Last year, 16 hectares of lucerne were planted. Sixty bales of silage were harvested in the first cut of the forage crop. Another 120 bales will be harvested this autumn. An additional 7 hectares of lucerne were planted in late 2020 and 40 bales have already been harvested.

Last winter, 21 hectares of ryecorn or annual grass and 7 hectares of oats were sown to provide extra feed. The crops were grazed by cattle. Three hectares of the ryecorn or annual grass re-grew, producing 100 bales of baleage in the spring.

The Ministry for Primary Industries has extended funding for feed coordination and planning services until the end of June.

The feed planning service is delivered by Beef + Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ, Federated Farmers, and other specialist providers.

A feed plan helps farmers set trigger dates for key management decisions, such as culling surplus livestock.

“It is important to make decisions early. Do not watch as your livestock get lighter while you wait for rain.

Do not leave it too late,” says Bruce.

This summer, Bruce has a solid buffer of stored feed and is ready to help if drought hits.

“I have told the people who sent me feed that if they are ever short, I am ready to return the favour,” he says.

The feed planning service can be accessed by phoning 0800 BEEFLAMB (0800 23 33 52) or 0800 4 DairyNZ (0800 43 24 79 69).

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Quality tools and accessories for the home butcher Fresh on the market is The Rural Butcher Range of home butchery tools and accessories.

Most farmers or hunter gatherers need good quality home processing tools and up until now there has been very little available for the home butcher… until now! All the products have been tested on farm or in the field by customers or by The Rural Butcher Range’s own hunter gatherer staff.

The Rural Butcher Range is your one stop shop for game and meat processing.

From knives to meat saws, mincers to sausage fillers, hanging hooks to hand tools, slicers to mixers, workbenches to chopping blocks and vacuum sealers, they offer a wide range of equipment for setting up your own personal home butchery.

The first step is to get those whole animals dressed down into manageablesized primal cuts. The Rural Butchers Range of equipment can help you do this with ease.

We’ve equally important equipment such as heavy-duty meat hanging hooks, workbenches and other tools make the handling process more enjoyable.

Our rugged, high-powered electric meat saws or meat slicer and knife range can shave deli-thin slices or cut steaks and chops to whatever size you want. All this can be processed on our range of stainless steel workbenches or chopping blocks to give you a hygienic, easy to clan surface for preparation and more.

It’s important to have the right equipment to make the process easier, quicker and more hygienic for you - butcher saws to get through the big bones, knife sets that include hefty butcher knives, cleavers, boning knives and shears for dressing small game and domestic poultry.

The Rural Butcher Range of mincers and accessories gives you the basics for making and mincing all your minced products. From beef, lamb, venison, pork, p ua, fruit and veg and you’ll have control over the ingredients and texture of your meats. Their selection of electric grinders, with a range of horsepower and wattage including the T22, can process up to 250kg of meat per hour. Also for those making your own sausages this can be done from the electric mincers or by using the manual sausage fillers.

The Rural Butcher Range of equipment and accessories are available from selected rural supply stores, online at https://www.ruralbutcher.co.nz/#, and at CD Field Days 18 - 20 March 2021.

Whether you’re a farmer, hunter, fisherman, home chef or semiprofessional, you’ll have the tools you need to be efficient, creative and successful as we have everything you need for DIY processing.

Plenty of people will hire a local butcher to turn their produce into cuts of meat ready for use in the kitchen and on the grill. But if you really want to ensure the integrity of your bounty and have absolute control over your food, you put on an apron and do it yourself.

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Adding value to by-products of the meat industry

By Chrys Ayley

T

hanks to Victoria Beckham a highly successful boutique business based in Central Hawke’s Bay garnered positive world-wide attention via the media in 2012.

The world learned that placenta from New Zealand sheep, along with a sprinkling of gold flakes, was the only ingredient good enough for Victoria’s facials. Beckham was a regular visitor to a Beverley Hills specialist who also treated other high profile celebrities such as Kim Kardashian. Soon the source of the placenta was tracked down to AgriLab Co-Products based in Waipukurau.

Agri-Lab Co-Products, founded by Angela in 2002, is a processor and exporter of raw materials for ingredients for the pharmaceutical, dietary supplements, medical devices and cosmetic industries. The company is the world’s top supplier of animal placenta which adds significant value to the by-products waste stream of the meat industry in New Zealand.

Angela founded the company while working as a vet nurse and caring for her small children. She took on feasibility studies for meat companies and was able to pick up work that they deemed not part of their core business. The business has grown from there.

In line with the focus on health and wellness the company offers a range of products besides placenta: brain glands and brain circuits, stem cell material and glandular extracts, for example.

They also offer contract processing services that include freeze drying, deer velvet processing and custom product processing – dissection, fermentation, mincing, freeze drying and all packed or frozen to clients specifications.

Freeze dried pet products, all of which are exported, makes up about 50% of

freeze drying dairy products. “The end results were beautiful,” she says.

Summer is quiet time but when in full production Angela does employ a full-time compliance manager with a strong support team. Over summer she employed three casual staff: Elijah BuriMacleod from Wainuiomata who aspires to be a paediatric surgeon and Sally and Johnny a couple who are travelling and working around the country.

Angela sees the company being at the forefront of the sheep milking revolution in Hawke’s Bay. “The world is telling us it wants fewer emissions and fewer cows: sheep are the way to go.”

Angela believes that the next high growth area will be processing and export of dairy products- milk, colostrum, cheese, yoghurts. They trialled a number of processes during lockdown, including

Founder of Agri-Lab Co-Products Angela Payne, a no-nonsense, award winning, entrepreneur was somewhat surprised by the publicity and says supplying products for the cosmetic industry is a very small component of the business.

The latest in the string of awards she’s received was the BWR Innovation Award at the Napier Port Hawke’s Bay Primary Sector Awards late last year.

does all the office work the good, oldfashioned way- manually.

Agri-Lab Co-Products has grown too big, too fast, and Angela is selling the business so she can spend more time on other pursuits such as farming. She hopes to be involved in an advisory capacity and that the new owner will continue to keep supplying her current clients to the same high standards.

Angela Payne founded the company in 2002.

the business, Angela says. They produce Kaimata pet food under contract which is extremely popular in Japan and Korea where pets are very much revered.

Demand has increased during the Covid epidemic as people need nutritious, freeze dried goods that can be stored at home.

“Covid has pushed my business in all sorts of directions and demand for wellness products is increasing. It’s all about health and wellness.

Freeze dried bovine blood is another speciality and Agri-Lab supply this to the world’s largest black pudding manufacturer. They freeze dry Kiwifruit and they’ve even conducted experiments on grass for a client. “My business has its finger in many, many pies.”

Angela is very hands on. “I’m a micro manager, a flaw that’s key to my success.

A few degrees out, or a tilt of a machine makes the difference between success or failure. I’m constantly keeping an eye on the details. Doing everything properly is the key to success.”

“I put the business success down to the fact there’s a short chain of command.

It basically comes down to me and the bank. There’s no corporate chain to hinder decision making.” In addition she

Sally, a casual worker, is working her way with her husband around the country.

Freeze dried pet products make up about half the business.

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You will be impressed with the quality of produce that has for many years been a feature of this Pakowhai orchard.

There is a mix of summer stone fruit plantings with a number of IP varieties on the orchard. Merrivale has produced quality fruit for the local and domestic market throughout New Zealand for many years. The roadside shop is a great outlet which runs for approximately four months of the year.

There is a three bedroom family home located near the front of the property. Other features include a large pack house shed, three cool stores, under cover apron storage area and sealed load out yard area for trucks.Finding horticultural properties is not easy so you will want to take advantage of this opportunity. Boundary lines are indicative only.

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Rural champion acknowledged

By Chrys Ayley

S

ue Wilson has long been a champion for her rural community.

She’s a dedicated volunteer who embraces new projects and turns community dreams into reality. It’s no surprise then that Sue was named the 2020 NZI Rural Champion at the Rural Women’s Business Awards. The Rural Champion title is awarded to a person or business who goes above and beyond in supporting the rural sector or rural enterprise.

Sue was quite surprised to hear that she was the recipient of the award “as there are so many people out there doing great things in their communities, so it’s very humbling,” she says.

Her company SMW Design and Events works with rural businesses and community groups in initiating projects that help to break down rural isolation including community events, fundraising initiatives, brand identity and design.

Sue with the NZI Rural Women NZ Business Award winners 2020. From left, Becks Toswill, Chelsea Millar, Kate Ivey, Sarah Higgins, Sue Wilson, Henrietta Purvis and Lisa Brink.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg as she’s actively involved in so many projects, clubs and causes it’s quite mind boggling.

Sue and Fenton are sheep and beef traders.

Sue and her husband Fenton live twenty minutes outside Wairoa and are sheep and beef traders. They come from a long line of farming families and the Wilson family has been involved in some form or another with the Wairoa Show for five

generations. The Wairoa A & P Society has been a huge part of our families community involvement,” she says. Sue stepped down from event managing the show, held every February, in 2016 but the family are still very much involved with helping out.

The couple have raised three children who are all continuing the family agricultural tradition.

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“Alice, who has a science degree, majoring in nutrition, is currently working with a large harvesting company based in Methven. Jonty, a graduate of Smedley is at Middlehurst High Country merino station in the Awatere valley, and Penny a graduate of Waipaoa Farm cadet Training Trust is working on Parikanapa Station just south of Gisborne.”

Sue grew up on a farm in the Ngatarawa triangle. Her father, the late Don Gordon was a fat stock buyer and ran a trading operation. He grew Lucerne, and made hay and chaff for the thoroughbred industry. Don bred and raced horses for nearly 60 years and owned some of the finest to come out of the Hawke’s Bay Racing Centre. Both Don and his wife Wendy were heavily involved with their community and Wendy was particularly active in equestrian and sporting circles. Being actively involved with the community is a family tradition that has been handed down the generations. “It’s just something we do,” Sue says.

Sue established The Wooden Spoon, a catering, event and gourmet product business, when they first moved to Wairoa about 28-years ago. It’s still a going concern but has taken a back seat as advances in digital technology made it easier for her to pursue a career in graphic design for which she’d trained.

The East Coast Farming Expo was an idea hatched between Sue and Wairoa A&P Society past president Dave Martin in 2015. The sixth event held recently had fantastic support from the community and was well supported by local farmers.

11

Sue was contracted to oversee several corporate events at the Hawke’s Bay A & P Society’s annual show and National Horticultural field days. She’s District Commissioner for the Wairoa Pony Club, Vice-Chair of the Hawke’s Bay Area Pony Club and she’s just stepped down from eight years as Club Captain of the Havelock North Ski Club!

She attributes her relentless energy to the influence of her father and is determined to get things done. “It’s just the way I’m wired I think. I’m an active relaxer. I don’t watch a lot of TV, my idea of relaxing is gardening or catching up with friends.”

Sue was also involved with the Salute Wairoa project, a memorial to those from Wairoa who took part in WW1.Details such as photos, stories, letters and Sue designed and produced ‘A Kaiserbahnhof in Halbe’ for Peter Macky. They are seen here at the launch in late January at the ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland. memorabilia for over 900 people are now recorded on The future will no doubt involve more voluntary work: it’s very rewarding. Sadly the world’s first interactive voluntary work is a bit of a dying thing. A digital touch table. Sue’s role focused on ideas and finding the right person take up graphics and fundraising. There are two lot of community groups are struggling. the challenges with her. Sue’s work is “all touch tables at the iSite and the other at I encourage people to volunteer even about relationship building, sponsorship Wairoa Museum. if it’s only a couple of hours. It’s really seeking and tapping people on shoulders important that rural people get the Why does she tackle so many projects? and you can’t do that by email or text! opportunity to get off the farm and “Because I enjoy it and I meet loads of You’ve got to have cups of coffee or volunteering is one way of doing that…to amazing people. You have fun and it’s chats on the phone. giving back to the community. A lot is have another thing to focus on.”

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Young farmers acknowledge the Black Dog

By Chrys Ayley

D

epression, loneliness and suicide amongst the farming community isn’t often openly discussed or acknowledged. However, one Young Farmers Club, under the leadership of Kit Holmes of Norsewood, has taken the initiative to encourage talk about anxiety and depression.

What primarily inspires Kit, chairperson of the Dannevirke Young Farmers Club, is that the club, and many others

Kit loves her dogs and the rural way of life.

throughout New Zealand, provides valuable support and social interaction to youngsters employed in the farming sector.

about young male suicide is terrifying.

Nobody wants to talk about it, yet they talk about cancer and the road death toll,” she says.

A couple of years ago Kit suffered from depression and anxiety “and having somewhere to go every month was such a relief. There’s such a support network of people you know are going through the same things you are. Farming can be stressful and lonely. The lack of publicity

Luckily Kit has a supportive partner, David whom she met at Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre in 2015, and he helped her through her depression, but she knows there are people out there who aren’t as fortunate as herself.

The club members get to enjoy plenty of social events.

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“I sat and talked about mental health at the club… and another suicide had happened. I wasn’t doing my best. I really have loved my time as chairperson and being able to give back to the community was a huge part of my first year as chairperson,” she says.

Kit decided the club should give something back to the rural community and so the Black Dog socks project was initiated. Last year the club teamed

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up with Norsewear NZ in Dannevirke and produced a blue sock with black dog motif which they sold and all the proceeds, almost $600, were donated to the East Coast Rural Support Trust. (The phrase “The Black Dog” as a metaphor for depression was attributed to Winston Churchill.)

This year the club plans to produce singlets featuring the black dog motif.

The idea is that they, and the socks, can act as conversation starters about depression.

Young farmers are so isolated, work is everything, their job and their lives are “the farm”. So many guys are under tremendous pressure to meet deadlines, especially financial deadlines. The main difference is that they’re dealing with live animals, Kit says.

“People put their life work into the stock and to see your stock suffer is a farmer’s worse nightmare, the pressure is just overwhelming.” Mobile phones and social media may also have a negative impact as there’s no physical interaction involved. The days are long and many don’t eat properly, she says.

Kit first joined the Tikokino Young Farmers Club a few years ago. “I just loved it-the idea of all these different people, all these different backgrounds and just one thing in common: their passion for farming”. She relocated to the Dannevirke Club when she changed jobs. Kit now works on a 1000 ha sheep, deer and beef property and has recently

The club undertakes many fundraising activities including stacking hay bales.

established a business training working dogs.

interested in farming in general and who want to socialise,” Kit says.

The club meets at 7pm on the first Thursday of every month at the Mangatera Hotel in Dannevirke. There are about 15 members but with regular visitors numbers generally tally 20.

There’s plenty of time to socialise, attend to business, and they all have a meal together. Sam, the owner of the Mangatera Hotel is terribly supportive and hosts their meetings free of charge.

Social events have include paintballing and social football and most recently a boat charter trip on Lake Taupo where they enjoyed fishing, swimming and riding the water biscuit.

“We’re very open, friendly and very welcoming. I feel we’re very engaging.

You can just be anyone; you don’t have to be a farmer. We’ve got two vet techs, beekeepers, a teacher and people

In addition to social events the club holds a number of fund raising activities, especially over the summer. They might involve dagging, crutching or stacking hay bales which they do at a good price.

The next event is an evening charity auction on 9 April at the Mangatera Hotel.

The black dog socks were a huge fundraising success.

Anyone interested in farming is welcome to attend the Young Farmers Club meetings be they Dannevirke, wider Hawke’s Bay or throughout the country.

Contacts dannevirke@youngfarmers.co.nz https://www.youngfarmers.co.nz or info@youngfarmers.co.nz

Technical Advisers here to help seed & grain farmers

Farmers are the heart of Seeds & Cereals.

The Masterton-based company works with them to grow, harvest, and sell seeds and grains throughout the lower North Island.

Seeds & Cereals is a “circular” business, in that it is involved throughout the growing season, from the planting, to the harvest and sale of seed and grain, to replanting the next year.

It works closely with its farmer clients, to help them grow healthy crops with high returns.

To achieve this, Seeds & Cereals employs four Technical Advisers –

Bruce Tocher, Paul Holden, Pearse McGougan, and Gemma Dorotich. They all have a hands-on role in helping farmers to manage their cropping and re-grassing programmes. They also have extensive knowledge and the resources to manage nutritional requirements.

The Technical Advisers can also broker the sale of farmers’ grain, baleage, hay and straw to other farmer clients, as well as on-sell these through its Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay retail stores.

Bruce is the owner of Seeds & Cereals and has been involved in farming,

agricultural contracting, and seed & grain all his life.

Paul has specialised in seed and grain for over 20 years, Pearse grew up on a dairy farm in Waikato and Gemma on a cattle stud. Pearse and Gemma both have degrees in agricultural science.

One of the important features of Seeds & Cereals is that it is a privately owned business, Bruce points out.

“So we have access to a huge diversity of products and knowledge that can be tailored to suit a particular region and individual farming enterprise.”

The circular nature of the business means that Seeds & Cereals can ensure total quality control from planting to harvest and sale, says Paul.

“This means that our growers know they are buying a quality product.”

The Technical Advisers visit farms regularly, and even more often during the growing season, points out Gemma.

“Our goal is to work with growers, contractors and end users to create and re-create opportunities and solutions to produce a combined outcome.”

Paul Holden

Pearse McGougan

Gemma Dorotich

Bruce Tocher

Seeds & Cereals

Hawke’s Bay

Manawatu

Northern Wairarapa,

Wairarapa

0800 21 31 41

M: 021 308 735

M: 021 308 629

Central Hawke’s Bay

M: 0274 302 642

820 Caroline Road, Hastings

M: 021 308 292

www.seedscereals.co.nz

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Forests crucial for buying time to meet carbon obligations

T

he Climate Change Commission has affirmed the crucial rule to be played by new tree planting in meeting NZ’s carbon emission goals. The Commission’s Chair, Rod Car anticipates planting 380,000 new hectares of exotic plantations to support massive reductions of emissions from industry, agriculture, and transport.

The forest industry has never claimed that it will do the job by itself.

Decarbonisation must be the thrust of meeting our climate change obligations, but this will not be easy, and it will take a good deal of time. Carbon sequestration through large scale tree planting of exotics is above all else, a tool for buying time.

Indigenous trees hold a deep emotional value for New Zealanders. However, it takes 100 years or more, before an indigenous tree could outperform and replace a radiata pine in carbon lock-up capacity.

All the same, farming versus forestry is a polarising topic and emotions are fed by misinformation and too-quickly derived conclusions. The current mood seems to be in favour of putting the brakes on forestry. The’50 shades of Green’ campaign has a long reach.

In mid-January, the Wairoa District Council lifted the differential on forest land rates to 4.0. This compares with 0.7 on other rural land and doubles the forest rate bill since 2017.

for many rural communities and the wider economy. It is difficult to see how restrictions on plantation forestry will not be both an economic and an environmental step backwards.

Central government too appears to have abandoned a previous commitment to use trees to soak up atmospheric carbon, such as through the ‘Billion Tree Programme’.

Phil Taylor takes this further “I can’t see what the panic is about. The total planation estate is 74,000 hectares smaller than it was in 2003. It’s only occupying seven percent of the arable land area. It’s hardly a takeover.”

The Environment Minister, David Parker has said Labour would limit forest planting on areas of more than 50 hectares which is classified as arable.

The Forest Owners Association President, Phil Taylor says “a quarter of the forest estate is already on these land classes. If foresters were only allowed to plant the harder non-arable class 6 and 7 land, then the overall forest planting rate will fall”.

In which case, taxpayers are likely to have to pay billions of dollars for imported carbon credits. Is this a fair price for protecting farming?

Planting restrictions would be a hit on iwi and farmers who in a market led economy have a choice to plant trees for sound economic as well as environmental reasons.

Forest products are a seven-billiondollar industry and hugely important

Hawke’s Bay Forestry

• Competitive, profitable adding investment choice • Committed to responsible environmental outcomes • De-risking dependence on sheep & beef

Phil is not referring to carbon forests where the owner has no intention to harvest the trees. “There is a place for these carbon forests. It’s on the most highly erodible land which would be unprofitable and irresponsible to harvest.”

Notwithstanding an ambiguous political support for tree plantations, we still must work out how we are going to deal with agricultural emissions which make up 48 percent of New Zealand’s total greenhouse emissions.

that “Ideally any discussions should avoid unnecessary competition between two industries that are the backbone of the NZ economy. Industries that can and should co-exist in harmony on both a national and individual property scale”.

The PwC analysis shows “that when utilised in a manner of co-existence the combined power of farming and forestry is significantly greater than the parts”.

We agree and are simply asking for forestry to be allowed to play on a level field.

Keith Dolman CEO Hawke’s Bay Forestry Group

Without the full range of forest planting options, there is no way that we are going to meet our targets without tough action to reduce emissions further down the track.

In May 2020 PricewaterhouseCoopers pulled together some solid qualitative analysis on the economic facts around farming and forestry. They concluded

• Varied and attractive job opportunities • Easiest way to achieve zero carbon goal by 2050

www.hbforestrygroup.org

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Contact the specialists for a no obligation quote

Factory Showroom: 416 Omahu Rd, Hastings Email: heyhoe.engineering@gmail.com Website: www.heyhoe.co.nz

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Thursday Th d 18th - Saturday S t d 20th March M Stop by the stand and talk to our team about the

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