A festival of country music

It is mid-morning on David and Sally Anne Scotland’s dairy farm, and geochemist Dr Clint Rissmann of Landscape-DNA is sitting in a hole.

The metre-deep hole is one of over 100 soil pits excavated in Tākaka Valley paddocks last month, as part of a hydrogeological study that aims to quantify the risk of nutrient loss from farmland, and thus inform decisions around fertiliser regimes, stocking densities and grazing patterns.

The study is a collaborative effort between the local catchment group Farmers on the Arthur Marble Aquifer (FAMA), dairy co-operative Fonterra, and Landscape-DNA. The work involves soil structure and permeability assessments, plus detailed topographical mapping, techniques that Clint – a senior adjunct fellow at the University of Canterbury’s Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management – is very familiar with. Nutrient (specifically nitrate) flow from a dozen or so dairy farms in the AMA recharge zone is an ongoing concern, given the aquifer’s intimate connection with Te Waikoropupū Springs. It is especially pertinent in the context of the upcoming decision on a Water Conservation Order. Information collected from the pits is being used to literally groundtruth the soil and geology profiles for the catchment produced following a quantitative survey of radio isotopes, including potassium-40, thorium-232, uranium-238 and caesium-137, which are common in all soils. Clint explains that isotopic characteristics, such as solubility, mobility, redox behaviour, and affinity for particulate matter, can be used in conjunction with the survey data to build a detailed understanding of a farm’s soil. “It’s good at picking out textural contrast and moisture content.”

Mixed weather did not deter festivalgoers from attending the three-day River Inn Tākaka Country Music Festival this past weekend.

The inn was perfectly set up for all weather eventualities with a sheltered stage and seating areas – combined with music, food, and beverages on tap. Organiser and president of the (local) Marble Mountain Country Music Club Karen McCleely tells The GB Weekly that “the festival is in its eighth year – it has run every year with the exception of last year.” The objective of the festival, she says, is “just to have a casual fun day of country music, raffles, and food. We can have anybody from the public walking up and have a sing – it’s an open mic with a backup band.”

Karen started the festival after being approached by the New Zealand Country Music Association to be included on their circuit – as they were keen to include a location in the Bay. Attendees did not need to travel far, with the fields across from the inn hosting a swarm of 50-plus motorhomes housing circuit followers. Friday and Saturday night boasted crowds of 100-plus.

Karen tells The GB Weekly that their line up showcased “The Harmony Hunters from Nelson – a band with ages ranging from 13 to 41 years old. Zac Griffiths is in the band – just back from a festival in Tamworth. We have watched him grow up [through the music scene] since he was young.”

When The GB Weekly visited mid-afternoon on Saturday, the bar and garden was a joyful rocking affair. The front two rows of the audience boasted ladies singing and knitting in rhythm to the open mic tunes. Occasionally a group would break ranks and take to the floor for a spontaneous boogie. One camper named Kevin said “You should have seen it last night. There was a woman over here who is 92, she sang last night, and she brought the house down.”

“We are thrilled with how the festival has turned out,” said Karen. “And we will be doing it all again next year.”

Sitting on the edge of the pit, Clint “reads” the soil. “There’s very little risk of nitrate leaching here,” he says, looking at the vertical structure of exposed earth. “If it was well-drained gravel there would be a higher risk.” And that may well be the case at other locations in the valley. “There’s a huge geological variability.”

Soil oxygenation, through its effect on bacterial denitrification, also influences nitrate leaching. “Nitrate only accumulates when there is a lot of oxygen around,” says Clint, adding that water content is an important factor. “In wet soils, the oxygen penetration reduces by 10,000-fold.”

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Hammers & Horsehair

It’s pretty hard to beat a performance by three professional musicians with the music they enjoy and want to share. Hammers & Horsehair are touring again with a collection of light classics from concerts 100 years ago.

The name of the group refers to the hammers in the piano played by Jonathan Berkahn and the horsehair on the bow of Robert Ibell’s cello, and the trio is completed by soprano Rowena Simpson.

The songs and instrumental pieces in their Homecoming concert were found in the programmes of Kiwi soprano Rosina Buckman who toured the country during 1922-23 with cellist Adelina Leon and pianist Percy Kahn.

Rosina had become a famous opera singer in Britain, but she was born in Blenheim and her mother grew up on the Waimea Plains so there was a warm welcome when the concert party came to Nelson in 1922. The Theatre Royal was so full that some people had to sit on the stage and the Evening Mail declared that local audiences “have a partiality for the cello”.

“We are looking forward to finding out if that is true,” says Rowena, “and to sharing more stories about the touring musicians of 100 years ago with our audiences.”

The Mussel Inn, 8pm on Wednesday 15 March. Tickets: $25 pre-sale from Eventfinda and $30 door sales.

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Complementing the one million-plus radiometric data points, three-dimensional topographical maps are being created from a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey of the area. “From this, we’ll be able to see where the water goes,” explains Clint. “We can combine all the data to map variations around the landscape and produce fine-grained information at the paddock and sub-paddock scale.”

Using this information strategically, along with local knowledge, existing farm maps, and routine ongoing soil sampling, should enable farmers to better understand their land and help them optimise on-farm practices to meet environmental targets.

After Clint had completed his field work, members of FAMA gathered in Tākaka last Tuesday to hear his presentation. One of those listening was Tākaka Valley farmer and Federated Farmers Golden Bay president Cherrie Chubb, who said they appreciated Fonterra’s support and were looking forward to Clint’s report. “We’re all now eagerly awaiting our individual farm results once he’s done all the data collation and analysis.”