Farmers Weekly NZ June 4 2018

34 Farming turned his life around Vol 17 No 22, June 4, 2018

farmersweekly.co.nz

Advice for farmers inside

Photo: Annette Scott

Farmers roast MPI T

Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz

HE heat was on Ministry for Primary Industries officials as they sat before 800 farmers at a whereto-from-here Mycoplasma bovis meeting in Ashburton last week.

As the questions and criticism flew from the floor so did the eyebrows rise at the front table that included MPI directorgeneral Martyn Dunne, MPI response veterinary adviser Eve Pleydell and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.

The turnout was indicative of the concern the district stands to lose 25% of its dairy herd.

Farmers slammed the ministry’s sluggish communication.

“For God’s sake start bloody talking to us,” was a call from the crowd.

“We have got to get this right,

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you are giving us no confidence.

This crowd needs belief.

“Openness and honesty has not been forthcoming. Give us proper information and we can keep on track,” farmers said.

One infected property owner demanded responsibility from the top.

“I want the bigger guys to come and sit around my table.

“We are farmer for farmer, and MPI, if you want farmers, join in and start talking,” the farmer told the officials to a round of applause.

O’Connor said “Yes there are mistakes and we need to do better” as he pledged to “ease the burden of those in the firing line”.

MPI director-general Martyn Dunne acknowledged the “deep knowledge and experience” coming from the Canterbury farmers.

He was stunned to hear a farmer whose herd had been killed at two different processing companies was charged $100 a head by one

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His regular processor had offered to do it for nothing but MPI said no.

“We all have much to learn and we are learning. I acknowledge the experience showing out here. We are getting a very clear message.”

“At a recent meeting in Waikato half the people in the room had never heard of the disease,” Dunne said.

He promised immediate action on several issues raised by the farmers.

“One month ago I thought we could crack this then we had a spike in notices of direction (NoD). It was much easier then than where we are now,” Dunne said.

O’Connor said there is more than a 50% chance of successful phased eradication.

“We believe the goal is worth the shot but we need to rely on cooperative spirit to get through the next two years.”

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There are off-ramps if eradication is found to be not working, O’Connor said.

Pleydell said there is not a “set in stone point” when the eradication strategy would be dropped in favour of management.

“We are aware there are infected places out there that we don’t know about so constant reviews will monitor where it is headed as we progress.”

Pleydell said trigger points for a change of direction include finding there is more than one strain, finding a cluster of diseased properties not linked to the current network, the scale of the outbreak increasing significantly or the timing of new infections.

As for the disease pathway – Dunne is not confident that will be fully solved.

“I am not confident we will crack this quickly.

“I can assure you we are turning every brick to find out how it got here and we seek your cooperation to come forward with

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any information that might help.”

O’Connor urged farmers to be accurate with their compensation applications.

“The system has been stretched since day one. There have been some unnecessary delays but the whole system is getting better.”

MPI pledged to make initial payouts in 4-10 days of receiving completed and accurate applications.

Meantime affected farmers are encouraged to seek help and support from the Rural Support Trust.

“We are seeing farmers frustrated, angry, sad, scared – mental health issues are building,” RST M bovis Canterbury-Otago response leader Sarah Barr said.

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NEWS

WEATHER OVERVIEW A BIG low in the Tasman Sea will this weekend move into the country, mainly the North Island, bringing a warmer sub-tropical airflow but also plenty of cloud, some wind and areas of rain with isolated heavy falls. The big high that was with us is now tracking east over the Chatham Islands allowing the Tasman Sea low to grow in size. Rain will spread over the North Island this weekend and even into the South Island for a time. By today the low will be coming in to the North Island with more rain and showers. Driest weather will be in the lower South Island. Tuesday and Wednesday next week sees another cold snap then another big high.

NZX PASTURE GROWTH INDEX – Next 15 days

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7-DAY TRENDS

18-20 Fonterra scorecard:

Wind

Rain

Wilson and Spierings speak

New Zealand dairy farmers who supply Fonterra now receive better payouts than their counterparts almost everywhere in the world, chairman John Wilson and chief executive Theo Spierings say.

As the low crosses the North Island today it will bring areas of rain and showers, somewhat brushing the South Island too. Over Tuesday and Wednesday southerlies push rain more into southern and eastern areas. A dry weekend coming up.

Southerly quarter winds are again the theme for this week, spreading up and over most of New Zealand across Tuesday and Wednesday then fading out over Thursday and Friday.

High pressure pushes in for the weekend bringing calm conditions for most.

Quin gets back into fertiliser business ������������������������ 10 Women are getting farming fit ������������������������������������� 22 Banks still vulnerable to dairy ������������������������������������� 31

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Highlights/ Extremes

Temperature Today remains somewhat mild in many places but a colder-thanaverage change moves up NZ from the Southern Ocean on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by a high late week or on the weekend to lock in the cold and potentially bring frosts back.

Another polar blast on Tuesday and Wednesday could bring heavy snow to fairly low levels while heavy, cold rain and strong-to-gale, southerlyquarter winds might also be an issue for some exposed areas. Frosty high pressure likely by the weekend.

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For further information on the NZX PGI visit www.agrihq.co.nz/pgi The brakes were suddenly pulled on pasture growth last week nationwide as winter finally locked itself in after a milder-than-usual run for many so far this year. Hoar frosts, heavy frosts, low single-digit daytime highs in parts of the South Island and frosts as far north as Auckland mean pasture growth will now be limited or will even stop for some who had the soil freeze recently. After a mild Queen’s Birthday Weekend more cold is coming this week.

SOIL MOISTURE INDEX

REGULARS

– 31/05/2018

Real Estate �������������������������������������������������41-45 Employment ����������������������������������������������������46 Classifieds ��������������������������������������������������46-47 Livestock ����������������������������������������������������47-51

56 Beef exports face clouds

After a positive start to the global beef trading year Rabobank is warning storm clouds building on the horizon could have negative implications for New Zealand exporters.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

3

Advice given for cattle farmers Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz FARMERS looking for advice on moving cows and graziers on receiving cows in the light of Mycoplasma bovis left an Ashburton meeting on Wednesday disappointed.

Several expressed amazement at the lack of knowledge of Canterbury dairy farming systems

by Primary Industries Ministry officials fronting the meeting.

One grazier taking in several different herds was “blown away” when she asked for advice on checking animal movements and biosecurity requirements, especially when it comes to herds that might be on notice of direction.

“They had no idea where I was even coming from. They didn’t get why I would even be taking in multiple herds so they hid behind the Privacy Act. “It was easier to give up than try and explain something you would think at this stage they should know and be able to advise straight off the cuff,” the woman said.

MPI acknowledged the meeting highlighted the need for detailed information for both graziers and dairy farmers.

“There were very real issues around the privacy one – we are struggling to solve a problem everyone wants solved but there are huge challenges.

“We need to have a look at whether we can use a liaison function to get around this,” MPI director-general Martyn Dunne said.

On Fridy MPI said Notice of Direction (NoD) herds are under movement restrictions but can go to a grazing block under an MPI permit.

A grazing block that takes cattle from a NoD will become a NoD but there are options to limit the NoD to parts of a grazing block and get back to normal quickly.

We are struggling to solve a problem everyone wants solved but there are huge challenges.

Martyn Dunne MPI

MOVING: Cattle can still go from one farm to another but in some cases a Primary Industries Ministry permit might be needed.

Photo: Annette Scott

MPI said any farm under a NoD will not be financially disadvantaged by it.

Cattle that have undergone surveillance testing are very low risk of spreading the disease.

They are free to move and can be managed on a grazing block like any other cattle group.

Nait must be used correctly for all movements.

Farmers under NoD should contact their MPI manager to arrange a permit to move stock.

Beef farmers agreeing to take on NoD herds and adhere to MPI’s rules will not be under restriction after the NoD herd leaves.

If a NoD herd is elevated to a restricted or infected status while on the grazier’s property or in the spring after leaving, as long as the grazier has complied with all requirements and the NoD cattle have been isolated from the rest of the property, the grazier’s remaining property will be unaffected.

If the herd status changes to RP or IP then the property or area used for grazing will have a 60-day stand down period from the date the cattle leave. During this time crops can be planted.

In interviews following the meeting farm management advisers said being organised to minimise risk is key.

Keep good records and do everything practical to keep herds separated.

Good accurate information is crucial between farmers – knowledge of where the animals are coming from and going to.

Nait has proved it’s not bulletproof so it’s not a bad idea to have farm back-up records if to be absolutely certain every animal can be tracked and traced.

Draw up a farm biosecurity plan, include the location of each herd and how fencing has been set up to maintain separation.

Maintain boundary fences and gates, create semi-permanent

double fencing and have just one main entrance to the property to help secure boundaries.

The main risk posed by lanes is cattle on the other side of the fences. Make sure 2m buffers are in place between all groups of cattle, including lanes and roads.

Take photos and get MPI to approve the plan – then it’s on record that you are implementing best management practice.

Consider involving your vet in the development of your farm biosecurity plan.

General common sense hygiene is a must – visitors, gumboots and vehicles are potential sources of many diseases.

Having a sign at the entrance directing unexpected visitors to stay on the farm track and phone a farm owner or manager is a sensible general biosecurity strategy.

A clean-on, clean-off policy for visitors will minimise the risk of transferring disease.

Waireres can take the pressure Lyndon Chittock farms 158 hectares near Gore. “We run a grass factory. Our 1900 ewes and 500 hoggets are behind wires for nine months of the year. The winter stocking rate is over 18 per hectare.

“The 2017 lambing was 157 percent. The percentage has been lifting steadily over the three years that I’ve used the Wairere Multiplier over a Wairere Romney base.

Carcass weights have lifted to an average of 22kg this year, including a thousand trade lambs that we buy in for the summer.”

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Calf milk is a huge risk.

“I don’t think discard milk should go in the calf milk vat.

That’s just upping an already extremely high risk,” one consultant said.

Maintain yards to a high standard as yards are contaminated with fluid from the noses and mouths of cattle during periods of heavy use.

Poorly maintained yards become covered in muck and are hard to disinfect.

Consider using portable ramps to offload.

Work with herd owners so herds from different owners arrive well apart.

The risk of M bovis transmission by machinery is low but machinery can be contaminated by saliva when licked by curious cattle.

Feeders and troughs get covered in saliva – keep the same ones for the same herd for the grazing season.

It is good practice to involve your staff with the planning of procedures. Create standard operating procedures so the team has a clear understanding of expectations during most situations.

Biosecurity guidelines for graziers can be found on both the DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ websites.

MORE:

mpi.govt.nz/bovis

4

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Siege mentality is setting in Some farmers have definite views either for or against the decision to try to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis but some are torn between the options. Farmers Weekly reporters sampled views and found all taking the threat seriously and doing their utmost to mitigate it.

Paul Snoxell PAUL Snoxell has one very good reason to support the Government’s decision to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis. Late last year his herd of 787 cows and 253 calves was slaughtered to control the disease, a waste had the decision been different.

But the loss of 26 years breeding has prompted a life-changing decision to end farming on his own account and employ a 50:50 sharemilker for his coastal South Canterbury farm at Morven.

Snoxell urged the industry to support the eradication policy by being honest and having integrity by fulfilling their Nait obligations and working with the Ministry for Primary Industries.

“If farmers don’t help everybody else we won’t best this.”

HAURAKI farmer Stuart King hopes the M bovis cure is better than the disease, given the wholesale slaughter of herds that cure requires.

Having spoken to a Canadian vet about the disease’s presence there, King said it appears farmers

have learned to manage their way around it.

“The reality for them is that their cows are simply too valuable to cull as a whole herd so they have learned to farm with it. We can only hope the prospects for eradication are high here but my concern is as farmers we still seem to know so little about it and how best to avoid getting it.”

King said to avoid getting the disease in any of his herds he is considering the options he has for Jersey bulls sent out grazing.

“We will need to do our research on whether we bring them back home or not.”

Stuart King He also has a run-off block for young stock but said the biosecurity around that could also be a concern given there are cows from different herds in the family business passing through it.

“We will be doing everything we can to avoid it but need to know things like is it possible to test stock coming home from grazing?”

With heightened biosecurity

risk onfarm the likelihood was farm productivity might take a slide as farmers graze more animals at home, rather than risk grazing exposure to the disease.

the stigma it can attach to anyone whose herd tests positive.

“There have been times down here the pitchforks have been out and people have been feeling they are in an information vacuum.”

His 900 head herd is a closed one but Wilson said neighbours in his district communicate more about stock movements and are also running a closed member message group.

He expects it will change how calves are reared and sold to beef rearers.

He is also using some technology, the OnSide app (see New Thinking, p35) to better monitor visitors to the farm.

dairy and beef farms but they have tightened up on movement controls and checked all boundaries and possible stock interactions with neighbouring properties.

Aaron Wilson Micheal Askin NORTHERN Southland farmer Aaron Wilson admits he has been torn about the decision this week to eradicate M bovis, coming after his region has suffered the stress and losses of the disease for almost a year.

“It could be the horse has bolted on this but there may still be a chance to get the disease eradicated. I think the pain of having to work now to get rid of it will be tough but it could be the better option than the pain of having to farm with it for good.”

However, he holds reservations about attitudes and approaches that have been taken up to this point and believes there has been a risk of a north versus south schism opening up in the industry.

“I think people in the North Island are only now waking up to the ramifications, things we have been having to deal with for some time down here.

“I only hope everyone comes to realise this is a NZ ag problem, not a dairy problem.”

He cautions farmers just starting to understand the disease will have to come to terms with

Sue and Jim Rhynd NORTHLAND dairy and beef cattle farmers Sue and Jim Rhynd, of Tangiteroria, welcomes the M bovis phased eradication decision, heard while holidaying in Hawaii.

Jim, a Northland Rural Support trustee, said the country has only one shot at eradication and he believes it can be done, just as brucellosis was tackled.

“We will find better ways of tracing the bacteria, especially in beef cattle and if everyone works together instead of being antagonistic we will beat this thing.”

Farming operations for the Rhynds are mostly self-contained, moving animals between their

ASHBURTON dairy farmer Michael Askin said there is not enough certainty or clarity around the Government’s decision to eradicate so he is not in favour of pushing on with whole herd eradication.

“They have to be sure they can eradicate for good because if there is any possibility they can’t – then it’s all a waste of money, time, resource and heartache.”

He is willingly ensuring his family’s 2000-cow dairy operation, which include two sharemilkers and milking through two dairy sheds, meet all the required compliance and practise good onfarm biosecurity.

“We are quarantining all our animals both coming on to and leaving the farm. All animal movement records have been checked and updated. We are being extra vigilant about tracing as while we pretty much run a self-contained system we do buy in bulls and we have implemented practices to increase animal health awareness – it’s siege mentality.”

His farm is not under any MPI restriction.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

5

Just get on with it, farmer says Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com LEO and Maite Bensegues aren’t really interested in how Mycoplasma bovis arrived on their South Canterbury farm last August.

It meant the destruction of 950 cows and 222 yearlings but the Morven sharemilkers do not dwell on those dark days.

Instead the Argentinian who arrived in New Zealand in 2005 with $728 to his name focuses on the future and a day in late June when his farm will be declared free of the disease and he can start preparing for the calving of his recently bought 700-cow herd.

That herd has been grazing on a separate property but is an amalgamation of cows bought from four herds along with his 200 heifers that were disease free.

“It’s back to normal for me.”

As someone focused on the future Bensegues speaks only in sweeping reference about the past, conceding that initial contact with the Ministry for Primary Industries was difficult and messy but improved and he worked well with his case manager.

He has received all but $200,000 of his $2 million compensation and expects the balance within the next few weeks.

When the disease was discovered he double fenced his

Levy word expected soon Hugh Stringleman and Annette Scott DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand will levy cattle farmers for the $278 million industry portion of the estimated $886m cost of the phased eradication of Mycoplasma bovis.

They are expected to do so under as-yet unsigned Government-Industry Agreements (GIAs) on biosecurity, which have provision for farmer levies.

It is assumed dairy farmers will pay the biggest share, perhaps 80%, based on the proportions of affected and notified herds that are dairy or beef.

DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel said they have not yet decided the time frame of the new levy.

B+LNZ has not decided on the mechanism for levying, except it will be under the GIA provisions and not the Commodities Levy Act. Chairman Andrew Morrison said the GIA principles give the farmers some governance input through their industry bodies to the disease response and is not “just signing the cheque”.

Morrison said the Meat Board reserves will not be used because they are specifically for rebuilding trade after a disease outbreak.

boundary and while it was to no avail he has no interest in how his herd became infected.

Bensegues said he recovered because all parties worked together to clear his property of the disease and to put him in a position where he can start again.

He describes what the family has been through as just another pothole in the road of life, a challenge to overcome like other difficulties such as the season they received a payout of $3.90/kg MS. “You cannot change the past.

“We have learnt a lot and we have to take it as another learning.”

What he has learnt is the need for all farmers to unite with the

REBUILDING: Leo and Maite Bensegues with dog Machito from Morven in South Canterbury are starting again having lost their herd to Mycoplasma bovis.

ministry to eradicate the disease.

It would not be done by farmers acting alone.

There is also a need for honesty, something Bensegues said got them through the past year.

Just as important is the need for sharemilkers to have the support of their farm owners, something Bensegues said he has had from

Ian and Jenny Williams.

“It wasn’t easy but having that support from Ian and Jenny was great and what we needed.”

Despite his difficulties he is confident about his future and that of dairy farming.

“I am still enthusiastic about farming in NZ.”

MPI answers farmers’ questions WHEN did Mycoplasma bovis arrive in New Zealand?

All the evidence we have is that Mycoplasma bovis arrived in New Zealand in late 2015 to early 2016.

Investigations are ongoing.

Why do you think this?

We have two lots of evidence. A genetic clock and our tracking and tracing activity where we identify and test animals on farms that have received cattle or other risk items from Mycoplasma bovis positive farms, like milk for feeding calves.

What’s a genetic clock?

Since we discovered Mycoplasma bovis in NZ in July 2017 we have been gene sequencing the disease to identify its genetic fingerprint.

There is only one strain of Mycoplasma bovis present here, which was an important part of the decision to go to phased eradication

as this implies the disease entered NZ on a single occasion.

All DNA including human is constantly altering or mutating at a low rate. We have compared the mutations in the DNA of Mycoplasma bovis grown from individual infected properties.

We have then time-sequenced that backwards, based on mutation rate.

This work indicates the NZ strain likely entered the country in late 2015 or early 2016.

Based on current knowledge the genetic clock shows no evidence of the disease arriving before this date.

Who did this analysis?

This work was done by the MPI Animal Health Laboratory in collaboration with the molecular epidemiology laboratory at Massey University.

Could they be wrong?

The science is strong and the techniques used are well known and proven. The labs that did the work are world-standard and quality-assured.

Genetic sequencing and tracing work is on-going. It is possible new evidence will come to light. But right now we have sound scientific evidence pointing to a likely entry date of late 2015 to early 2016.

A farmer says he received animals from the “first infected farm” in 2014.

So how can your analysis be right?

That’s where our second piece of evidence comes in – our tracking and tracing work.

That farmer is obviously right.

He did receive animals from the suspected first infected farm in 2014.

However, we have no evidence those animals were carrying Mycoplasma bovis and investigations of that and other potential sources of infection are ongoing.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

7

Food safety message not being told THOUGH Mycoplasma bovis doesn’t affect humans eating dairy products the Government has failed to get that message to overseas consumers, dairy exporter New Image Group’s found Graeme Clegg says.

And the industry has not learnt from past scares involving baby powder and whey.

His firm has been inundated with inquiries from international customers worried about eating New Zealand dairy produce.

They are confused and concerned.

Now the firm is busy allaying fears, advising its products are completely safe, that the disease is widespread throughout the world and does not affect humans.

A major Taiwanese partner urgently requested some safety information from New Image and said it too is handling lots of consumer requests for assurance in that country.

New Image is pointing its customers to further information on Mycoplasma bovis on the Ministry for Primary Industries website.

When the inquiries started Clegg, who founded New Image more than 30 years ago, thought “Oh no, not again”.

“As someone from a farming background my heart goes out to farmers who are faced with losing sometimes whole herds that they have reared and tended over the years.

“But as an exporter I am feeling upset that we will have to again battle to correct a misconception about NZ dairy products.

“You would have thought NZ would have learnt from the past scares around infant formula and whey that consumers would react in this way and made sure they got the food safety message upfront every time.”

Based on export sales through its direct selling channels and traditional consumer branded business New Image says more than half a million people around the world consume New Image colostrum and dairy based products every day.

The group is also a major exporter of infant formula from

NOT GOOD ENOUGH: New Zealand should have been more proactive in putting customers’ minds at ease over food safety after the Mycoplasma outbreak, New Image founder Graeme Clegg says.

goat milk. Goats are not affected by the disease.

Government messages, including the joint statement of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Agriculture, Biosecurity and Food Safety Minister Damien O’Connor have been all about eradicating Mycoplasma bovis and not mentioned food safety.

A scan of international media shows many stories do contain a line about food safety but it is generally buried deep.

“People read the headlines about hundreds of thousands of

cows being slaughtered to contain a bacterial disease and they don’t always get to the bit about food safety,” Clegg says.

“We should have been more proactive about specifically mentioning that this disease is found globally and poses absolutely no danger to health.

“It is good NZ has taken a leadership position to eradicate this disease in terms of animal welfare and productivity but the impact of making it should have been measured across the whole economy and handled accordingly.”

As an exporter I am feeling upset that we will have to again battle to correct a misconception about NZ dairy products.

Graeme Clegg New Image

Farm costs go up at double inflation rate SHARP rises in the price of fuel, insurance and electricity in the past year were moderated by lower increases for other farm inputs to give an annual farm inflation rate of 2% for the year to March.

That compares with a consumer price index inflation

rate of 1.1% over the same period and a 0.2% decline in sheep and beef farm inflation for the year to March 2017.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Economic Service chief economist Andrew Burtt said the latest data showed the biggest price rises were 12% for fuel, 6.7% for insurance and 5.8% for electricity, accounting for 5.7% of all sheep and beef farm

expenditure. Moderating those increases was an average 0.3% lift in interest, repairs, maintenance and vehicles, fertiliser, lime and seeds.

“Of the 16 input categories, prices were up to some degree in all categories except for fertiliser, lime and seeds, the largest category of expenditure, which was down 0.6%.”

It was the second successive

year of high input prices after four years of relatively little change.

Fluctuating fuel prices have a major influence on inflation, rising 19% in 2016-17 but falling 22% in 2014-15 and 13% in 201516.

Last year’s farm input price rise reversed the trend of recent years where the CPI, a measure of the rate of change in the price of

goods and services bought by NZ households, has been higher that the increased farm costs.

Burtt said the CPI in the year March 2018 was 1.1% but for the previous decade CPI increased 7.1 percentage points more than onfarm inflation.

Sheep and beef farm inputs on average rose 0.3% over the last five years and 12% for the last decade.

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8

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

NEWS BRIEFS Synlait price up SYNLAIT Milk has raised its forecast base milk price for the 2017-18 season from $6.50/kg MS to $6.65. Combined with a forecast average premium payment of $0.13/kg MS, the total milk price forecast for 2017-18 is now $6.78/kg MS. “The increase to $6.65/kg MS for this season reflects an increase in dairy commodity prices since our last update in January,” managing director and chief executive John Penno said. He forecast an opening base milk price for 2018-19 of $7/kg MS, based on milk fat prices remaining firm throughout the season.

Better result WESTLAND Milk Products predicts a payout range of of $6.75 to $7.20/kg MS for the 2018-19 season. Its prediction for 2017-18 is $6.10 to $6.30/kg MS. Chairman Pete Morrison said there are several key factors in the prediction for an improved performance in 2018-19. “We are now seeing improved sales and a better sales outlook. There is a much-improved performance from our infant and toddler nutrition (ITN) and UHT plants and consumer butter has been and we believe will continue to be a star performer.” Morrison said Westland is starting to see some payback on the capital investments in ITN and UHT capacity of the last few years. While these had taken longer than expected to start delivering a return to the company, they were now adding value. “ITN volumes are significantly up this year and UHT is close to capacity.”

One new face HORTICULTURE New Zealand’s Board has a new director in Bernadine Guilleux and reelected director and Welcome Bay kiwifruit grower Mike Smith, after four candidates contested two vacant roles on the board.

Guilleux, marketing manager at Balle Bros in Auckland, was a first-time candidate. “We had four very strong candidates but there were only two positions on the board and Mike and Bernadine secured the highest votes,” president Julian Raine said. “Mike has already made a significant contribution to the board and we are thrilled to see him have the opportunity to continue that.

Bernadine, who has been immersed in horticulture since childhood and has an impressive CV, including international qualifications, will bring a new perspective to the board.”

Improving customer links Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com SILVER Fern Farms new chief executive Simon Limmer wants to take the company even closer to its customers and has started employing more staff in key markets.

Three months into the role Limmer wants to strengthen those links, continuing a move started under previous management.

The former chief operating officer with kiwifruit marketer Zespri, Limmer said one of the biggest differences he noticed between the two sectors is that Zespri was formed to market kiwifruit and invest in research and development for the industry’s long term future.

In contrast the meat industry has not had that luxury, trading a lot of value away upfront to attract stock to their plants and having to invest heavily in supply chains and processing plants that divert funds from the market.

Kiwifruit growers have operated a single desk seller for 25 years and the Zespri brand has existed for 20 years.

Limmer estimated growers have invested $1.5 billion to create a “phenomenal powerhouse that pulls value out of the market”.

He has no doubt New Zealand red meat is the best in the world but it faces extra challenges from a crowded global market supplied by multiple sources of protein and falling livestock numbers.

“It is hard to get the mechanics right so we are investing in the market and the brand.”

That means continuing to build relationships with customers and consumers supported by a brand and supply chain providing product of guaranteed quality, healthy attributes, points of difference, consistency and traceability.

“We need to invest in the brand but we need to underwrite that brand with a quality proposition which we can deliver on.”

Limmer has already moved to strengthen the marketing presence, appointing two marketing staff in North America and a refresh of its China strategy is likely to see more in-market staff employed there.

Growing demand from consumers in

GROWTH: Silver Fern Farms is just starting to unlock opportunities in the Chinese market, new chief executive Simon Limmer says.

North America and China for quality, healthy, ethically produced meat is an opportunity for NZ meat companies but especially for Silver Fern Farms because of research it has done on eating quality and traceability.

“We all have a compelling story with a focus on NZ production but what we have done at Silver Fern Farms takes it a bit further.”

The partnership with Shanghai Maling is critical, not only for providing financial stability but opening marketing opportunities and helping Silver Fern Farms navigate the complex Chinese market.

“We are only beginning to unlock opportunities in that market and Shanghai Maling is part of that process.”

Limmer said he has not seen the degree of animosity he had heard existed in the meat industry and attributed that to the introduction of new personalities across several companies.

He believes there is a co-operative environment leading to opportunities for pan-industry and inter-company collaboration.

“Where we find areas for collaboration we absolutely need to take them such as health and safety. We need to work together to protect our people.”

There is further potential for collaboration to address challenges such as labour shortages given it is an issue affecting all companies.

Entering the meat industry with its reputation as a tough business for tough people was not taken lightly by Limmer but he saw much he likes in Silver Fern Farms.

“What attracted me was the brand, the opportunity to evolve the market and get closer to customers and consumers and extract more value from the product.”

In addition, Limmer was lured by its strong balance sheet, clear strategy, cost-effective processing and a workforce that had bought in to the direction the company was headed.

There are similarities with kiwifruit, in that both businesses are owned by growers who have invested heavily in the primary sector and are exposed to the vagaries of weather and the environment.

Limmer started with Zespri in 2008 and in 2013 was appointed general manager for China before being appointed chief operating officer in 2014.

On graduating from Waikato University with a management, commerce and marketing degree he began his career with Ford.

Before working for Zespri he spent 14 years in management and business development with Veolia Environment, a multi-billion dollar international environmental services company reaching the position of deputy vice president-commercial director of global industrial markets.

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News

10 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

BACK IN BUSINESS: Bert Quin is back in the fertiliser business having launched Quinfert to import and sell reactive phosphat rock.

Quin gets back into fertiliser business Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com BERT Quin is back in the fertiliser business after 13 years absence, having landed two consignments of reactive phosphate rock from Algeria last week.

The former fertiliser scientist and SummitQuinphos company part-owner said he is fed up with the lack of information about and promotion of RPRs by the two large fertiliser co-operatives.

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He has launched Quinfert. an importing and wholesaling company, paid for container loads of Algerian supplies and teamed up with distributors.

In the North Island that is Marsden Agri, owned by Carl Sisson, and in the South Island the company Fert Wholesale Direct, under principal Shane Harald.

Along with Quin, they are long-serving fertiliser industry executives.

The RPR was shipped in one tonne bags, which will be opened at the depots and usually sent to farmers as blends with other nutrients in bulk spreaders.

The Algerian RPR is 12.7% phosphate at 30% citric solubility in the form of a free-flowing sandy material and a cadmium content of 18 ppm or 140mg/kg of total P, only half the level of the industry’s cadmium standard.

RPR isn’t getting the exposure it deserves or needs to provide farmers with more environmentally friendly fertiliser options, Quin said.

Phosphate run-off is reduced because of the low soluble P portion coupled with slow release remainder to guard against build-ups of excess P. Quin founded Quinphos in 1989 and battled to have RPR accepted as a useful alternative to superphosphate because of its slow-release quality.

At its peak Summit-Quinphos had 12% of the national phosphate market, about 75% of which was sold as RPR or mixes.

It imported 100,000 tonnes of RPR a year and total company sales were about 200,000t.

He exited the company in late 2005 and Sumitomo sold it to Ballance in 2009.

At its peak RPR accounted for 15% of phosphate used in New Zealand and Quin believes many farmers would use it again if it is well-described and promoted.

Initially the Quinfert RPR will be comparable with superphosphate in price but as sales volumes grow and he can use bulk shipping the cost to farmers will come down.

Co-incidentally, Ballance had just issued a price list, dropping the superphosphate price by $5/t and taking $40 off the DAP and Triple Super prices.

Yet the worldwide prices of phosphate and shipping rates have risen and the NZ dollar is weaker, all factors working against fertiliser prices for farmers, Quin said.

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Have you done the math?

Here’s the difference between taking milk from the vat at $6.70 payout versus feeding Sprayfo calf milk replacers.

The calculation is based on rearing 100 calves for 6 weeks with the same amount of total dry matter (500g/day) and total volume of milk.

Number Calves

100

# Days Feeding CMR or Vat Milk

42

CMR BAG PRICE Sprayfo Blue CMR 20kg $75.00 ex GST Sprayfo Red CMR 20kg $69.00 ex GST

Dairy Payout

$6.70 per kg milk solids

Cost Vat Milk

$2.33

per calf/day

Milk Solids % (FAT/PROTEIN)

8.70%

Cost Sprayfo Blue

$1.88

per calf/day

Feed Rate Vat Milk (usually 5-6L)

4

L per day

Cost Sprayfo Red

$1.73

per calf/day

Total Dry Matter per Calf/Day

500

gms per day

Feed Rate CMR

4

Concentration CMR (Can be 125-150gms) Total Dry Matter per Calf/Day

COST PER LITRE MILK Vat Milk

$0.58

L per day

Sprayfo Blue CMR

$0.47

125

gms per litre

Sprayfo Red CMR

$0.43

500

gms per day

# Calves

Cost/Calf/Day

Total Cost per day

Vat Milk

100

$2.33

$233.16

Sprayfo Blue CMR

100

$1.88

$187.50

-$45.66

$7,875.00

-$1,917.72

Sprayfo Red CMR

100

$1.73

$172.50

-$60.66

$7,245.00

-$2,547.72

Sprayfo Blue Premium 20kg

NOTE that this does not take into account dry matter content or feed rate required. See below for comparison.

Difference per day vs Vat Milk

Total Cost All Days $9,792.72

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Contains soya protein (lower cost)

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News

12 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

BIG BOYS: PGG Wrightson livestock agent Alex Horn inspects Limehills bulls before the onfarm sale on May 29.

READY: At the sale were, from left, PGG Wrightson genetic specialist Callum McDonald, Dave Lilley, John Duffy and Limehills owner Gray Pannett.

Limehills’ bull sale top price $33,000 LIMEHILLS Starter broke a 39year record selling for $33,000 at the Limehills Poll Hereford onfarm sale at Millers Flat in Central Otago.

In all 49 of the 51 R2 bulls were sold for an average of $9512.

Starter went to Okawa Poll Herefords. The second-highest price was $31,000 paid for Limehills Gallant by North Island Poll Hereford studs Mahuta and Craigmore.

Gray Pannett, who has run the stud with Robyn Pannett, said “I’ve been in the ring for all but

The sale attracts the same buyers year after year.

Callum McDonald PGG Wrightson one sale in the last 39 years and this year was a ripper.

“The gallery was full of active bidders and it was standing room only.

“We run a commercially focused operation.

“It’s about identifying a bull that will add value to our client’s farming system as each bull will suit different operations,” he said.

PGG Wrightson Livestock genetic specialist Callum McDonald said “Again this year there was strong interest in Limehills bulls due to the highquality bloodlines, along with Gray and Robyn’s well-respected breeding programme.

“There was plenty of competition for the bulls on

offer with buyers, largely from throughout the South Island, seeking beef bulls for their commercial farming operations.

“The sale attracts the same buyers year after year.

“Some buyers, across a number of farming generations, have been to all 39 sales.

“We saw a few new faces in the gallery this year and that’s good to see.

“About 90% of bulls headed to commercial farming operations in Otago and Southland and the balance to Canterbury.

As always a few, including the top two bulls sold, were stud transfers.

“All around the country commercial buyers are seeking out quality beef genetics to suit their individual commercial operation.

“I’ve seen it this year at bull sales in both the North and South Islands. Commercial farmers are doing their homework and buying a quality bull as they see it as a long-term investment in their commercial beef operation,” McDonald said.

News

14 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Copeland to lead Federated Farmers NEW BOSS: Young Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland is moving to take the lead staff role at Federated Farmers.

THE man who helped transform Young Farmers has been appointed to lead Federated Farmers.

Terry Copeland, 50, is the new chief executive. He replaces Graham Smith.

Copeland has been Young Farmers chief executive since 2013.

“I feel the time is right to take the step up to Federated Farmers during a period when the wider industry needs renewed leadership,” he said.

Federated Farmers’ president Katie Milne

described Copeland as a strategic thinker who understands young people.

“Terry’s done an amazing job lifting the profile of New Zealand Young Farmers, building its membership base and increasing member participation,” she said.

“We need to get more young farmers engaged in the important work our organisation does. We’re confident Terry can help do that.”

At Young Farmers Copeland spearheaded projects designed to grow the number of people entering the primary industries.

Almost 200 secondary schools have downloaded free teaching resources giving students a taste of career opportunities in the agri-food sector.

“I’m really proud of our results across education engagement, membership, the FMG Young Farmer of the Year and the development of the Donald Pearson Farm in Auckland,” Copeland said.

“Many of our NZ Young Farmers members join Federated Farmers when they age out. It’s a natural progression. So the irony of my latest career move isn’t lost on me,” he said.

Young Farmers chairman Jason Te Brake said “Terry has helped transform our organisation and put it on a more sustainable footing.

“He also cares deeply about the well-being of members and has been a passionate advocate of tackling suicide in rural communities.”

Young Farmers expects to begin advertising for a new chief executive next month.

Before joining Young Farmers Copeland had more than 20 years’ experience in the wine industry. He’s also an international wine judge.

Copeland will finish in mid July after the 50th FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in Invercargill.

SAFE keeps its charitable status Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com ANIMAL welfare group Save Animals from Exploitation (SAFE) has kept its charity statues following a review prompted by a 2105 complaint and public petition.

The complaints stemmed from SAFE’s involvement in video footage of mistreated bobby calves collected by Farmwatch, an aligned pro-vegan group. In a statement the independent Charities Registration Board said following a review of its eligibility it has ruled SAFE should stay on the Charities Register.

The complaint alleged SAFE was not advancing charitable purposes but the board said SAFE met the standards and any noncharitable work was ancillary.

“The board decided that SAFE has a charitable purpose to advance education and also considers that SAFE has a charitable purpose to advocate on animal welfare issues.”

It did not make a determination on SAFE’s advocacy on animal welfare laws, regulation or industry practice because that was seen as ancillary to its charitable purposes.

The board sought to differentiate this ruling from its decision not to register Greenpeace as a charity, saying the environmental group’s main focus was advocating its own particular views on environmental issues in a way that courts have ruled is not for the public benefit.

Greenpeace members have also broken the law which disqualified the organisation from being registered as a charity.

“There is no evidence that SAFE is involved in illegal activities from which an illegal purpose can be inferred.”

News

farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Decisions made.

For today.

15

LUSH: This Waikato dairy farm sold for a record $120,000 a hectare.

Dairy farm sells for record price A 92.5 hectare dairy farm on the outskirts of Cambridge was sold at auction for $11.1 million.

The $120,000 a hectare is a record for a Waikato dairy farm though the buyer, who is a neighbour, intends decomissioning the dairy operating to focus on horses run in conjunction with his existing equine operation, PGG Wrightson Real Estate agent Martin Lee said.

The farm, between Maungatautari Road and the Waikato River, was owned by one family for 120 years.

It attracted considerable attention, Lee said.

“Previously the highest price paid on land and buildings for a Waikato dairy farm was a May 2016 transaction when a 107 hectare Clevedon property changed hands, also for $11.1m. That equates to around $104,000 per hectare making this sale a clear record for a Waikato dairy farm.

“Interest in this farm covered

a range of different parties. We had more than 70 people in a packed auction room.

“This property’s appeal was increased by its proximity to Cambridge and its potential for development,” he said.

PGG Wrightson Real Estate North Island auctioneer Sloane Morpeth, who conducted the sale, said “We started the auction at $4m and bidding progressed at a healthy pace.

After our vendor confirmed the property was definitely for sale, at $7m, the intensity raised another notch.

“By the time the hammer fell we had received 55 bids from four different bidders,” he said.

“We received plenty of interest from local dairy farmers.

“Sitting so close to Cambridge developers were also in attendance and that potential is still on the table for the farm in the long term.

“However, the new owner intends to continue farming this property, albeit

decommissioning the dairy shed and shifting its focus to horses,” he said.

PGG Wrightson Real Estate general manager Peter Newbold, who attended the sale, said it reflected the underlying strength of the rural property market despite the various challenges facing the dairy sector.

“Mycoplasma bovis and changes to overseas ownership regulations are making decisions around investment in dairy more complex, which is holding that part of the rural property market back as farmers work their way around those issues.

“However, good sales like this one demonstrate that the positivity in the wider rural sector remains, with excellent demand for properties with the right characteristics,” he said.

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P41

FORMER consultant Jules Benton is the new Dairy Women’s Network chief executive.

She took over from Zelda de Villiers on May 16.

Benton was recently general manager of research and workflow solutions firm Wolters Kluwer CCH New Zealand. Before that she spent more than a decade as a leadership capability, processes streamlining and professional development and education consultant.

Network chairwoman

Cathy Brown said Benton brings a wealth of experience in leadership, education and strategy development, which are key areas of continued opportunity for the network and the dairy industry.

“Jules’ knowledge, skills and experience are perfectly matched with Dairy Women’s Network and the role we play in continuing to provide unlimited opportunities for women in dairy.

“She has decades of experience in managing multiple stakeholder interests

and competing deadlines as well as streamlining operations to ensure businesses and projects run effectively and efficiently.

De Villiers will focus on a new business venture in Northland.

Benton said “I think the NZ public hasn’t yet fully grasped the breadth of knowledge and skills women bring to the dairy industry so I’m looking forward to continuing to build on the great work the network has been doing in this area and continuing to highlight those achievements.”

RAV-HE04JUN-FW01

Network gets new leader

INSIGHT TO ACTION

News

farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Decisions made.

For tomorrow.

17

POPULAR: Applicants for free manuka trees wanted three times as many as were on offer.

Too many farmers but too few trees application was 480 hectares with the smallest at 0.5 hectares.

A condition of the offer is landowners must be ready and committed to planting the seedlings this year.

“Ideally, the land is already free of weeds and pests as this will enable planting to take place between July and September,” Lee said.

Though the seedlings are free, landowners have to pay for packing and sending the seedlings from the nursery, site preparation, including pest and weed control, fencing if required, planting costs and ongoing post-plant monitoring.

“MFNZ will be available to provide wrap-around services, including advice, co-ordination and management of planting to ensure greater growing success,” Lee said.

“We have a large range of developed, tested and trialed high-performance manuka varieties designed and tailored for specific regions as well as eco-sourced varieties suitable for planting at or near their source.”

Final decisions on which landowners will be offered manuka will take a couple of weeks.

Those who miss out will get the chance to buy high-grade manuka seedlings for planting in 2019. The sale season for orders is now open and closes at the end of August.

Landowners not participating in the initiative can apply for funding through Primary Industries Ministry programmes such as the Erosion Control Funding Programme.

MFNZ will also work with relevant councils and government agencies to help facilitate investment that could

be available to landowners for planting.

Te Uru head Julie Collins said the offer was a huge success in identifying new plantation potential across the country.

“We are thrilled with the strong interest by landowners keen to plant manuka,” Collins said.

“We now want to ensure we all get the very best possible outcomes by ensuring the right manuka seedlings are matched to the land.

“MFNZ has experience and expertise in this area.”

It was formed in 2011 as a result of a Primary Growth Partnership programme called High-Performance Manuka Plantations.

Through a seven-year programme of research and pilot plantations new knowledge has been developed about how to establish and manage high performing manuka plantations for the production of medical grade manuka honey.

MFNZ was established to make that knowledge available to landowners.

It has 15 manuka a trial sites on 400ha across NZ. The sites are monitored for manuka survival, growth, floral density and nectar quantity and production, stocking rates, pest and weed issues, nectar production and honey production.

MFNZ provides consultancy services on the establishment of manuka plantations, including initial assessment, site visits, development of master plans on plantation and apiary establishment and management and financial forecasting, plantation and apiary establishment, monitoring and honey harvesting.

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AN OFFER of 1.8 million free manuka seedlings proved so popular applicants wanted a total of 5.2m trees.

Now Manuka Farming New Zealand has a huge job to sort the wood from the trees in assessing the applications covering land from Northland to Te Anau.

“We had 1.8m manuka trees available, which would cover about 1635 hectares in plantings across NZ,” general manager Stephen Lee said.

The response was overwhelming.

“Within a week we had 70 applications totaling 3.6m seedlings and covering around 2841 hectares.

“We now have a big task ahead of assessing potential plantations from Northland to Te Anau.”

The initiative, run in conjunction with Forestry NZ Te Uru Rakau, contributes to the Government’s One Billion Trees Programme.

Lee said the first step is to assess the applications, followed by a series of site assessments of those selected based on size, suitability for planting and availability of suitable manuka stock for that location.

Te Uru has contracted Manuka Farming to assess the suitability of sites for manuka to be planted this winter and to organise the delivery of seedlings to landowners.

It can also help landowners establish their manuka plantations.

There was no maximum limit on the size of potential plantation sites. Larger sites are more suitable because they produce higher quality manuka honey.

The largest land parcel

INSIGHT TO ACTION

News

18 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Wilson, Spierings argue valid com For the Fonterra Scorecard series Farmers Weekly sought an interview with chairman John Wilson and chief executive Theo Spierings, now in his last year at the top of the world’s second-largest dairy processor and trader.

Aspects of Fonterra’s historical performance, Spiering’s strategies, the dairy industry review and Fonterra’s most-recent downgrade in earnings and dividends were discussed. It was their only joint interview with rural media during the past seven years. Hugh Stringleman reports.

Fonterra’s performance NEW Zealand dairy farmers who supply Fonterra now receive better payouts than their counterparts almost everywhere in the world, chairman John Wilson and chief executive Theo Spierings say.

In the past decade the average farmgate milk price paid here has been at least $1/kg higher than the average of Fonterra’s first decade or $1.50 higher if you back out the two recent disastrous seasons caused by geopolitical problems.

Valid comparisons over Fonterra’s lifetime should also include exchange rates, as a couple of the high payouts in the first decade were achieved on a NZ dollar worth around US40c, Wilson said.

Whereas in the $4 seasons following Russia’s invasion of Crimea the NZD was up at US70c.

That is $3/kg difference on exchange rate alone.

“As recently as 10 years ago our farmers were 30-40% behind and now they are paid the same or better.

“So any assessments of Fonterra’s performance must take into account the value created on NZ dairy farms.”

The co-operative is an extension of the farm and the

Fonterra ?

Pass ?

Fail farmers have the most efficient, pasture-based milk production model on the planet.

Fonterra’s assets were built to accommodate the pasture curve and the giant stainless-steel machine is strongly competitive with anywhere else in the world, Spierings said.

“We have a spring peak of 80-85m litres/day and a winter trough of 1m/day – our global competitors don’t have that,” Wilson said.

“Right across the footprint those assets deliver a 7% weighted average cost of capital but individual plants used for short periods are not making that return.

“We enable our farmers to maximise their own businesses and produce as much milk as they are able through the peak.

“We could make our figures

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look a whole lot better, hypothetically, by incentivising farmers to produce milk across the winter but the productivity and profitability of the NZ dairy industry, impacting the entire NZ economy, would diminish dramatically.

“So that needs to be included in any understanding of our performance,” Wilson said.

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Capital structure TRADING Among Farmers has delivered permanent capital through some tough years and seasons and Fonterra has stayed on strategy, which is fantastic, Wilson said.

“We invested in stainless steel for the growth milk and those returns go into the milk price.

“Through good capital management we have also built food service capacity, funded internally or by debt.

“Our balance sheet has very conservative valuations such as the plants and land they are on when Fonterra was formed which have never been revalued.

“But $7 billion debt is at the higher end of our comfort level so we would like to bring it down.

“Capital is not going to be a constraint on growth in the future.

“We could sell some global

assets, make more joint ventures and use the flexibility that comes from permanent capital.

“Some farmers from time to time want to free up share capital.

“Personally, I don’t agree because if you have up to $50/ kg of money tied up in land, cows and shares it makes sense to stay invested in a strong co-operative in which every employee every day tries to maximise your total farmgate returns.

“We are talking to our farmers at present about share standard and capital, particularly about farm and business succession and how to provide more flexibility.

“They tell us they want to remain in the co-op and they know the value proposition but they may have to come up with a solution to a capital need shortterm.”

DIRA review COMPETITION now exists in most dairying regions and the universal open entry requirement on Fonterra sends entirely the wrong signal to farmers, Wilson said.

“It means that with even the thought of more milk production we have to build the processing capacity.

“It makes it difficult to drive a strategy to add value with that sitting in the background.

“We think that is widely accepted now but we need the relevant regulation change.”

Fonterra also needs to be free of

the obligation to provide milk to start-ups that are exporting.

It will always respect and guard the domestic milk market – right from Goodman Fielder down to niche cheese makers.

“The milk market needs the right incentives,” Wilson said.

“Fonterra will always want to pick up milk and farmers must produce the right quality, with environmental and animal welfare standards. These things should drive the farmer-Fonterra relationship, not regulation.

“It has been an indictment on regulators that Fonterra was forced to pick up milk from environmentally sensitive areas over the past decade when we have been quite clearly against it.”

Spierings’ strategy and achievements THEO Spierings was reluctant to talk about any legacies because he insists all the company’s people share in its successes.

“We all should be very proud that Fonterra is the most trusted source of dairy nutrition in the world.

“Moving up the value curve has been a big achievement – revenue is now $1/LME (liquid milk equivalent) whereas it used to be 60-70c.

“I am also proud of the $5b China enterprise value we have created, which is a 27% increase over the past three years.

“We changed from a very siloed organisation to this open and

News

Decisions parisons, value-add made.

More informed.

farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

19

HAPPY TOGETHER: Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings, left, and chairman John Wilson have given their views on Fonterra’s performance and its results for farmers and investors.

My farm

Earnings downgrade THE shock earnings downgrade on May 23, from 35-45c to 25-30c, was a result of dairy prices rising late in the season on top of one-off deductions, Spierings said.

The one-offs were the Danone settlement and the Beingmate impairment, which was not write-off.

Farmer-shareholders and Fonterra Shareholder’s Fund unit investors were rightly concerned about the volatility in annual dividends. This financial year’s dividend guidance is now 15-20c/share, compared with 25-35c made in March.

The company’s units and supply shares have lost 60c or 10% of value.

“I talked to investors after the latest announcement and they

were balanced, understanding the short-term issues and wanting to know what it means for next year,” he said.

The FY2019 earnings forecast will be made in late July after the budgets have been written and approved.

“I told investors that we still see strong demand that will generate 11-12% return on capital and 7% dividend yield and these are still our target numbers.”

Wilson said the higher milk prices are great news for farmers but not so good for earnings.

“The mindset of our people is to maximise total available for payout but the rapidly rising milk prices impacted gross margins in our consumer, food service and specialty ingredients businesses.”

Spierings said with milk prices in the range $5.50 to $7.50/kg persisting over 12 to 18 months his team will be able to create earnings above that.

“If the milk price products rise late in the season with limited volumes still available and we have to absorb that in cost of goods sold it will have a temporary effect on earnings.

“Below $5.50 and we get issues of supply and above $7.50 issues of demand.

“Within that range, over a long period, profitability should not be affected – the consumer will pay and can afford those prices.

“Chinese demand at current

milk prices is not slowing down.”

Wilson said the co-operative sets out to maximise the total available for payout and the 87-page Milk Price Manual says where the cut occurs between milk price and earnings.

“We have a totally transparent milk price, which nobody else in the world has.

“It provides clear signals to Theo and his team to drive performance and to our farmers.

“But we have a margin squeeze right at the end of a season on top of the impact of Danone, on a matter that goes right back to 2013.

“We expect this year will be an anomaly and we will go through the business plans, sign off the budget and have an earnings view in July.”

Spierings said the FY2017 season began with a $4.25 milk price that kept on rising and ended 50% higher at $6.12 but profitability was hardly affected.

“We had the whole season to implement those higher milk prices through consumer/food service products and advanced ingredients and we delivered earnings that were comparable to the year before (a low milk price year).”

Wilson said 46c had migrated from earnings to milk price over the years and been baked in but there is nothing inherent in the Continued page 20

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transparent company, attractive for young people, some doing disruptive start-ups in the company.”

His Volume-to-Value-atVelocity (V3) strategy will continue to reap the benefits from the unconstrained demand for higher dairy categories.

“This is not just my story about V3 and Disruption but a company-wide story.

“In the next five years will see much more dramatic changes than the last 10 years.

“That is why we have our Disruption strategy, the New Ventures and the Co-Labs.”

INSIGHT TO ACTION

News

20 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018 Continued from page 19 Milk Price Manual that means only 10c, 20c or 30c will always be left over for dividend.

If non-milk price products, like cheese and casein, rise in price and milk price products fall then earnings will benefit relative to the farmgate milk price.

Commenting on the new adverse factors of falling sales in NZ and lower volume growth in food service, Spierings said Fonterra Brands NZ has already been reformed by bringing in the best people available globally.

It has the right products and brands, many of them iconic like Mainland and Tip Top, but those brands need more linkage with Fonterra, Anchor and Trusted Goodness.

The food service growth target has been 20% a year since inception but has regularly exceeded that.

“Now, because of strong fat prices, European competition in China has increased.

“Our marketing model and products are still superior so I see no reason to adjust the T20 target.

“It has been a temporary slowdown this year, but China in the third quarter was still 12% growth.”

The ambition FONTERRA’S ambition for 2025 is to use 30b litres of milk from

Greater China operations are a substantial business

• Greater China’s share of EV estimated to be $4.7bn Beingmate and China Farms included at current book value and balance based on pro-rata share of gross margin

It has been an indictment on regulators that Fonterra was forced to pick up milk from environmentally sensitive areas over the past decade when we have been quite clearly against it.

• Conservative estimate relative to valuation of similar China businesses, plus upside potential of China Farms

John Wilson Fonterra

• Based on our current share price, Fonterra’s Enterprise Value (EV)1 exceeds $16bn

• Since 2015 the EV of Fonterra’s business in Greater China has grown by $1.0bn or 27% 1.

Enterprise value (“EV”, being market value of equity plus net economic debt) is based on Fonterra’s share price and shares outstanding as at 31 January, plus average net debt for the respective half year period. 2.

Greater China’s share of EV is calculated as a sum of book value of Farms, plus Fonterra’s carrying value of its investment in Beingmate as at 31 January 2018, plus a pro-rata share of EV (excluding Beingmate and Farms) on the basis of gross margin (16% HY15, 23% HY18)

five or six milk pools and derive revenue of $1.20/LME, generating a $35b turnover.

How realistic are those components?

Spierings said they already know unconstrained demand will account for 30b LME much earlier than 2025.

“The NZ milk pool will not grow to 30b so we look elsewhere.

“Perhaps we sell some legacy assets and invest the money elsewhere in milk pools where we can make a difference.

“Europe has turned right around for us through new joint ventures and partnerships gaining 2b litres of milk.

“We have the Dairy Crest UK agreement over demineralised whey powder, tapping into almost 1b LME. “Investments have been made in the Netherlands, Lithuania, Russia based on our knowledge, IP and the abilities of sales machine worldwide.

“We have also invested in a German start-up called

Foodspring, which is using whey protein in active nutrition products.”

All the steps taken in Europe now give Fonterra access to roughly 4b litres of milk, he said.

Comparisons FONTERRA reported a 47% return on capital for its consumer and food service division, which is a big help in generating the full company’s 11.1% return on capital.

Fonterra then compared its

return favourably to Friesland Campina (Spierings’ old company) at 8.8% and the Danish company Arla at 7.4%.

“We use $1.2b of assets, without brands and goodwill, and we achieve $600m EBIT,” Spierings said.

“It is only the dedicated assets, not those used to make the ingredients in the first place, eg cream, or the related assets, like whey from mozzarella cheese, which go into the ingredients category.

“We are also using like-for-like basis when comparing ourselves with Arla and Friesland Campina although they have different financial years so it gets a little harder when prices are moving around.”

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News

farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Decisions made.

Made smarter.

21

HUMBLED BUT HONOURED: Andy Macfarlane accepts the prestigious deer industry award 2018.

Macfarlane takes out Deer Industry Award A MAN with an industry vision, passionate to a fault, an exemplary inspirational leader committed to industry-wide success on all fronts – that is Andy Macfarlane, the winner of the Deer Industry Award 2018.

Macfarlane, the Deer Industry New Zealand chairman from 2010-2017, was honoured for his leadership at the deer industry conference in Timaru.

He is principal of Macfarlane Rural Business agricultural consultancy and a member of the deer industry Passion 2 Profit (P2P) advisory group. He entered the deer industry with a single purpose – to put more money in the pockets of all participants.

He identified the scope of onfarm improvement and inmarket value. The result was a $16m P2P programme.

Farmers were engaged, improving knowledge and profitability and industry players were capturing more value from the marketplace with new Cervena initiatives.

Macfarlane’s vision resulted in a unified front with clear goals and the industry is now reaping the rewards.

P2P advisory group chairwoman Mandy Bell said Macfarlane was pivotal in leading change in the industry.

“He has passionately given time and energy to set the industry on a very solid footing from pasture to plate.

“We are seeing unprecedented behaviour change in the farming stakeholders that is creating enduring value but is also setting up a different way to respond and act to challenges and change.

“This will be a critical positive for the industry in the next five to 10 years as the primary sector faces a number of significant external challenges,” Bell said.

“I believe that we will look back on this period as a significant, key event in the history of the industry moving from the entrepreneurship of the founders to a period of

visionary consolidation.”

During his tenure Macfarlane inspired and led the industry into a critical evaluation of productivity, especially related to onfarm reproductive and growth performances relative to other livestock options.

With the board and then chief executive Mark O’Connor he established the Industry’s Productivity Improvement Programme.

It set out clear opportunities on deer farms to systematically improve performance and profitability through reducing waste and managing breeding, feeding and deer health.

While MacFarlane and his board led this process it has been inclusive of the Deer Farmers Association, deer farmers and the venison

Productivity gains in large parts of the industry had been very poor and farmers were over-reliant on product price increases alone to improve profitability.

John Somerville Deer Farmers Assn marketing sector from the start.

The DFA is one of several who nominated Macfarlane for the award.

“Andy’s contribution to the deer industry during his tenure as chairman has been huge,” DFA executive member John Somerville said.

“When he came onto the board and became chairman he saw an industry that was lacking in strategic direction.

“Productivity gains in large parts of the industry had been very poor and farmers were over-reliant on product price increases alone to improve profitability,” Somerville said.

Many farm systems hadn’t changed in decades

and were unsuited to the modern competitive farming environment.

“Andy led his board to view the possibility of accessing government money through the PGP to help the industry achieve its goal of enabling farmers to improve onfarm productivity.

“The vision involved development through localised farmer groups backed by national projects involving themes around animal health, feeding and genetics.

“The PGP application also envisaged that accessing new venison market opportunities was an equal part of the equation and developed, ensuring that the industry proposal was accepted.”

When Macfarlane retired from the board the farmers Advance Parties groups were still growing and proving very successful in enabling farmers to upskill and the increased interaction helped increase farmer confidence, Somerville said.

New venison market opportunities through the rejuvenated Cervena appellation are being developed in Holland and Belgium.

The major plus in marketing is having all five main venison processors signed up.

“Retaining their individual company identity but working on a common goal is a first for any meat industry.”

Somerville said the entire P2P programme is the legacy of Macfarlane’s time as DINZ chairman.

“With the changes he has initiated and led in the deer industry Andy is a very strong and well-deserved winner for this year’s deer industry award.”

Humbled but “truly honoured”, Macfarlane said it was not all about him.

The success of his vision had been a very wide team effort, he said.

“It’s probably more that I was a leader in a good space at the right time to drive a vision that had to be and was shared and supported by all in the industry.

“I don’t believe I can take all the credit,” Macfarlane said.

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Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz

INSIGHT TO ACTION

News

22 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Women are getting farming fit A SIX-WEEK programme to help women get in condition for the demands of calving season is being launched nationally with the support of Farmstrong.

Nicole Jackson and Alice Liljeback began creating Fit For Calving in Mid Canterbury last year after talking to other women about the strains and injuries they got going into the physically intensive season unprepared.

It’s a common issue, Jackson said.

“Most women prepare for the calving season by getting the kids ready, getting meals ready, getting their husbands ready but they don’t actually look after their own needs.”

And 2017 Sharemilker of the Year Siobhan O’Malley’s agrees.

“I’m getting involved in Fit for Calving because basically every year I come into calving unfit and within a couple of weeks I am hurting so badly.

“So this year I’m going to be up and ready to go by the time I start feeding those calves and calf rearing.

“We run a sharemilking business of 600 cows so that’s generally 600 calves that need rearing.

“Next year we’re stepping up to 1000 calves so I’ll need to be even fitter.

“That’s why I’m taking steps this year to take care of myself.”

Rachael Rickard has a similar story.

She helps run a sharemilking business with her partner about 3km out of Hinds in South Canterbury.

“When the calves start dropping and we’re picking them up and moving them round the sheds we’re suddenly active in a different way on the farm.

“I think anything that helps women get more mobile so they stay injury free and get stronger before they do all that lifting is a great idea.”

The Fit for Calving exercises are tailored specifically to the needs of calf-rearers, Jackson said.

The programme of stretches and condition exercises works for women of all physical abilities and involves movements that will strengthen muscle groups commonly used during the calving season such as arm circles, calf raises, toe taps and shoulder shrugs.

“We’re lifting buckets, we’re leaning over fences so we definitely need these types of exercises to target those

farmstrong.co.nz

repetitive movements so that we can avoid injury.”

The idea of the six-week programme is that women can begin where they are comfortable.

“If that’s with five to 10 minutes of exercises a day that’s great and then build up to 20 minutes a day by the end so they’re ready to go.”

Women don’t need to be gym bunnies or buy specialist equipment to participate.

“The exercises are designed so that everything you need for these exercises can be found around the farm – cans of food, cast iron pots and chairs.”

Fit for Calving has also been developed with busy rural women in mind.

Jackson and Liljeback both juggle family and farming responsibilities.

Liljeback works alongside her husband sharemilking 350 cows on the outskirts of Methven while raising a nine-month-old. Jackson runs a busy farm contracting business with her husband and has two children.

“Women are often so busy looking after the needs of their families and farms that they often neglect their own wellbeing,”Liljeback said.

“Fit for Calving has been designed with them in mind.”

Jackson said “Scheduling the time in for yourself is a big one to make sure you are looking after yourself physically and mentally.

“Women are often the glue that holds the whole family together so it’s important that they do what they can to keep healthy and active.”

MUSCLES: Getting fit for calving in Hinds, Mid-Canterbury are Jessie Chan-Doorman, Alice Liljeback, Julie Cressey and Rachael Rickard.

WATCH:

A series of exercise video clips has been produced featuring farming women demonstrating the exercises. They will be promoted through social media and on the Farmstrong website.

JOIN:

To sign up for Fit for Calving head to the fitforcalving facebook page or contact Nicole Jackson fitforcalving@gmail.com or visit farmstrong.co.nz is the official media partner of Farmstrong

Pay $115,000

CONDITIONING: The six-week conditioning programme is designed for women of all physical abilities and strengthens muscles commonly used during calving. The only equipment required can be readily found onfarm.

Julie Cressey, left, and Rachel Rickard show how it’s done.

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JOIN: The 2017 Sharemilker of the Year Siobhan O’Malley, left, signed up with Fit for Calving organiser Nicole Jackson.

ADVERTORIAL

Investment off farm for succession

Property Managers Group (PMG) CEO, Scott McKenzie, was recently interviewed

by Sarah Perriam of RadioLive’s Rural Exchange programme (REX). From good Central Otago farming stock herself, Sarah was interested in the role diversifying investment off farm has to play in succession planning.

We’ve all heard about the farm sales that are happening around New Zealand, often to foreign buyers, to the angst of the general public. Many can’t understand why such treasured family farms are being put on the market after two, sometimes three generations of being held in one family.

Quite simply the massive capital value increases in these properties hasn’t translated to cash. Farmers are sitting on properties worth millions of dollars, yet over the past 10 years their net income may have been moderate. This is a hard environment in which to save enough of a retirement nest-egg from which to live on indefinitely.

Over the years many have also leveraged the farm to invest in stock, plant and equipment. So handing the farm onto the next generation and expecting it to support a new family, support the parents into retirement and service accumulated debt is nigh on impossible.

Scott McKenzie, CEO of PMG believes getting good independent financial advice as early as possible on how to leverage the farm value and direct any surplus income into off-farm investments is essential. Having grown up as a farm boy from Lawrence, South Otago himself, he’s seen first-hand the necessity to diversify income streams.

“My generation are the children of baby boomers. Our parents went through the ‘87 sharemarket crash, through the dairy boom, commodity booms and busts, corporatisation, massive technology change and intensification – this has all impacted on cash flows significantly”, explains Scott.

“At the same time they’ve also seen massive increases in the value of their farms – making the proposition of selling up and securing a comfortable retirement very attractive, and who could blame them!”

“For my generation, if the family farm is sold, it’s almost impossible now to get back in. So we need to do everything we can with the farms that we have left in family ownership, to keep them there.”

Also, by being a sole or syndicated investor it can be hard to get your money out when you want it – as there aren’t as many buyers, compared to a fund where you may have hundreds or thousands.

How does this relate to commercial property, many readers may now be asking? It’s simple, farmers have always intrinsically understood land and buildings, being major asset owners themselves. Therefore commercial property is a simple first step outside of the farm.

Lastly and importantly, all income is distributed monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly, meaning that farmers can expect a regular and reliable income stream, unaffected by seasonal fluctuations.

“The commercial property sector isn’t as affected by the coming headwinds of regulation and environmental issues, such as is affecting the residential market, dairy industry and farming in general.”

Cameron Bagrie Cameron Bagrie, former ANZ Chief Economist and now Managing Director of Bagrie Economics agrees that commercial property makes sense, but for different reasons.

A good case in point is Adrian Baker, a long-time investor with PMG and second generation dairy and poultry farmer.

“Since investing with PMG, I’ve got my life back and I haven’t looked back”, explains Adrian, who now gets to spend more time at his main passion - fishing!

“For my generation, if the family farm is sold, it’s almost impossible now to get back in. So we need to do everything we can with the farms that we have left in family ownership, to keep them there.”

Scott McKenzie

“The commercial property sector isn’t as affected by the coming headwinds of regulation and environmental issues, such as is affecting the residential market, dairy industry and farming in general”, he explains.

Why an unlisted property fund, rather than investing directly into a single property?

Investing into an unlisted property fund structure means that you’re buying a share of several properties – which removes the single asset risk, so if something goes bang in the night or a tenant goes bust – there are still several other unaffected properties earning income. Plus, because it’s managed – you also won’t get a call in the middle of the night to deal with it yourself!

The content of this advert is the opinion of the individuals quoted in this article and Property Managers Group, and is not intended as personalised financial advice. You should seek independent financial advice from an Authorised Financial Advisor before making any investment decisions.

A video of the original REX interview and this article which features in Property Managers Group’s 2018 ThinkBook, are available online at www.propertymgr.co.nz

News

24 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Climate change is starkly real HELP: Local government needs expert advice on how to cope with climate change and discussion on how it will pay for, Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder says.

The council’s catchment has been hit with seven major flood events in two decades, with last year’s Cyclone Debbie dropping a $50 million repair bill on ratepayers.

“What we are seeing is these events are becoming more frequent and almost monsoonal in intensity and the ability to deal with that intensity becomes limited,” Leeder said.

He welcomed a key recommendation to form a centralised service providing expert advice to local government for risk-based decision-making

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and to build climate adaptation capability.

“We all have our own experiences and skills to share but one of the biggest challenges local government faces is having this discussion on where you can and cannot build. The issue will be at what point does a regional council review conditions and engage with local authorities on whether it can occur?”

Local Government NZ president Dave Cull reiterated Leeder’s concerns.

Sensitive issues including community relocation had to be discussed.

In Leeder’s patch the tiny township of Matata that was nearly wiped out by a massive flood in 2005 is a living example of the realities more communities might face in near future.

“The regional council is currently receiving a request for a plan change for Matata to effectively extinguish property rights to the people living there due to flood safety concerns.

“If this proceeds it could have a wider impact across NZ, in other areas like South Dunedin where salinity intrusion is an issue,” Leeder said.

Cull said he is pleased the Government has picked up on what local government has been seeking, with a plan and discussion on adaptation funding.

Leeder said his region’s river protection schemes highlight the

challenges faced under present funding models.

“You have the Rangitaiki scheme that faces a 25% rate increase just to accommodate the repairs (from last year’s floods) and that scheme already has a debt on it of $30 million.”

The neighbouring Whakatane River protection scheme was also hit with a multimillion dollar repair bill and huge efforts to remediate riverbanks after 70ha of its plain was swept away.

“It comes down to the ability of ratepayers to continue to pay and you get to the point where they drop off the other side of that.”

In the eastern Bay of Plenty the Opotiki protection scheme saddled ratepayers with a targeted $600-a-year bill just to cover their flood protection.

“And that is not a particularly wealthy entity there.

“What such a rate does do though is it focuses people in terms of where they will build in future.”

Leeder said the group’s plan reflects a Government that appears to be willing to engage at local government level on climate change.

“They have done a lot of hui.

“You can have as many partnerships as you like but when it comes time to make those tough decisions on location and building or not, it will come back to Government to make those decisions.”

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LOCAL government leaders hope a more cohesive and planned approach to managing the impact of climate change will be an outcome of a report on adapting to the phenomena.

The Adapting to Climate Change report makes more than 20 recommendations on what New Zealand needs to do with some urgency to have a more measured, collaborative and consistent response to dealing with climate change impact on the country’s natural resources and man-made infrastructure.

An earlier stocktake report by the same group, the Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group, indicated almost $20 billion of national infrastructure is at high risk from climate change, largely from rising sea levels.

Co-chairwoman Judy Lawrence said there is an expectation of a timely response and timetable from the Government for implementing the report’s recommendations.

Those recommendations extend from a base plan for assessing risk and vulnerabilities to establishing a central service to provide expert advice to local government and to use a Zero Carbon Bill to provide the legislative framework to ensure adaptation occurs.

The comprehensive outline was welcomed by Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder, whose region has been hit particularly hard by climate events in the past two decades.

For a region, like his, relying on major flood mitigation projects the issue of adaptation is starkly real and becoming a regular one to deal with.

more information on our website

Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

25

Kiwi trade out of sunshine state DIPLOMATS and New Zealand exporters are pressing Queensland to stop flouting competition law and trade agreements.

Queensland Minister for Housing and Public Works Mick de Brenni said the state’s Buy Queensland procurement policy gives local businesses preference when procuring goods and services for the Queensland government.

Since the policy was introduced 84% of Queensland government contracts have gone to Queensland businesses, he said.

It does not prevent interstate or international firms tendering for Queensland government contracts but the policy unashamedly prefers Queensland suppliers.

The principles must be applied to major construction and infrastructure projects of $100 million or more and by all government agencies covered by the Queensland Procurement Policy—including departments, government-owned corporations and statutory bodies.

Government tenders can include a weighting of up to 30% for businesses maintaining a workforce within 125km of where goods and services are supplied.

The weighting can increase to 40% once all local benefits and best practice principles are considered.

Preference can be given to a company using a local workforce, providing training programmes for local staff, increasing opportunities for apprentices and using local sub-contractors and manufacturers.

There is a preference for particular types of suppliers such as small and medium enterprises, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander businesses and social enterprises.

“This presents a huge opportunity to back secure, quality, local jobs.

SELF HELP: Excluding outsiders from contracts means Queensland’s government supports firms creating jobs and apprenticeships and helps ethnic groups and social enterprises, Public Works Minister Mick de Brenni says.

“By spending money locally businesses can have the confidence to hire more workers and take on apprentices and that’s the heart of Buy Queensland,” de Brenni said.

Local benefits can be delivered by businesses based either in or outside of Queensland.

“That means that businesses based in NZ or anywhere outside of Queensland can increase their chances of winning Queensland government business by

employing Queensland workers when they do business in this state.”

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said the procurement policy “continues to concern our Government and it has been raised with the Queensland government at a political and officials level.

“These discussions are continuing.”

The Australia-NZ Government Procurement Agreement

(ANZGPA) is a pillar of NZ’s economic relationship with Australia, supporting a transTasman commitment to a single procurement market.

Officials “look forward to Queensland delivering on its commitment to ANZGPA”, the spokesman said.

Export NZ executive director Catherine Beard said Buy Queensland flouts competition law and the Closer Relations Agreement. The 30% tender weighting is an anti-competitive, preferential tariff for Queensland businesses and should be subject to both countries’ competition law, she said.

“Queensland is a signatory to ANZGPA, which commits them to ensuring that Australian and NZ suppliers can compete on an equal and transparent basis for government contracts in the Commonwealth of Australia, all Australian states and NZ.” The Buy Queensland promotion should be about encouraging Aussies to buy their local product, just like Buy NZ Made encourages New Zealanders to buy Kiwimade, she said.

“It’s okay to encourage your people to buy local but it’s not okay to mandate state government weightings that amount to protectionism.”

The state government’s investment strategy 2017-22 said foreign direct investment not only creates new jobs but also higher-paying jobs with workers typically engaged in high-value industries incorporating the latest technologies that enable industries to be internationally competitive.

Foreign investment could also open up and secure markets for Queensland businesses in an investor’s home country. As an example, Japanese investment in Australian coalmines was largely motivated by a desire to secure coking coal supplies for Japanese steel mills.

Australia is an attractive market for investors with foreign direct investment into the country growing by 118% over the 10 years to 2015. The United States and European Union are the dominant sources of investment.

“Queensland government supports foreign investment in new projects that employ Queensland workers and engage local suppliers and service providers. The government does not support selling existing infrastructure assets to either Australian or foreign companies.

This does not create new local jobs and only results in a transfer of the infrastructure from public to private ownership.”

It’s okay to encourage your people to buy local but it’s not okay to mandate state government weightings that amount to protectionism.

Catherine Beard Export NZ A NZ-owned plumbing, pumping and irrigation supplies wholesaler, Hydroflow, wants to expand Queensland.

Chief executive Kathryn Sixton said any growth will be through the acquisition or start-up of a Queensland-based business and would mean employing local people.

“Our customers and suppliers would be supported with experts from the area as well as the added benefit of supporting the local economy. In the meantime, any opportunities that arise, we would ensure we comply with the local benefits test and apply accordingly.”

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News

farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

27

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TEAM EFFORT: The team behind the trial, back from left, Chris Boom, Peter Flood, John Roche, Northland Dairy Development Trust coordinator Kim Robinson, Kerry Chestnut, Sean Bradbury, Allister McCahon and vet Brian Lowe with, front, Michael Rope and farm manager Kate Reed.

Study finds palm kernel useful for tough season Glenys Christian glenys.christian@nzx.com A THREE-YEAR Northland trial has shown the value of feeding palm kernel in a difficult season.

But the results have come with a warning for dairy farmers that higher milk production doesn’t always equal greater profit.

“For North American dairy farmers their base milk is more expensive and the more they produce the less it costs,” DairyNZ principal animal scientist Dr John Roche, who is taking up a new role at the Ministry for Primary Industries as science adviser to the Mycoplasma bovis response, said.

But in New Zealand the reverse is true, with base milk cheap to produce.

As volumes increase through feeding supplements, so do costs.

Profitability depends on the cost of marginal milk, which is determined by the amount of extra milk produced, the price of the supplement used and nonfeed costs such as labour and fuel.

Roche said fixed costs are not fixed over time but all tend to increase.

“I prefer the term mixed costs,” he said.

A recent analysis of DairyBase data showed the marginal cost of milk from increased use of supplementary feeds ranged from $7.50 to $7.66 a kilogram of milksolids.

However, in the Northland Agricultural Research Farm (NARF) trial the milk production response to feeding palm kernel was very high at an average of 126 grams MS/kg drymatter (DM) of palm kernel fed compared with an average DairyBase response of about 80g.

That means the cost of marginal milk produced is low at an average of $5.30/ kg MS. On average 110g MS/kg DM palm kernel bought at $270 a tonne delivered is needed to ensure the cost of marginal milk produced is less than $6/kg MS. A return on the extra investment needed would be achieved only if the

LEADER: DairyNZ’s principal scientist, animal science, John Roche, who has taken up a new position as a Ministry for Primary Industries science advisor.

milk price is above $6.50/kg MS. The first year of the trial at the farm outside Dargaville saw a very low milk price, which meant the grass-only farmlet stocked at 2.6 cows/ha turned in a higher operating profit before and after the cost of extra capital was considered.

In the second year, with a higher milk price, it fell slightly behind the palm kernel farmlet, stocked at 2.8 cows/ha but overtook it when the extra capital cost required was added in.

This season a milk price of $6.55/kg MS was used but a very wet spring saw the grass-only and cropping farmlet herds having to be milked once-a-day.

Roche said the grass-only farmlet could have benefitted from buying in a small amount of supplement to get it through had that been possible.

The palm kernel farmlet was well ahead at $3224/ha operating profit compared with $2470 and also held on when capital costs were added at $3063 compared with $2438. The cropping farmlet, also stocked at 2.8 cows/ha, performed poorly, largely because heavy clay soils put it well back at an operating profit of $1783.

Averaging the three years of results the palm kernel farmlet came out on top at $2120, followed by grass-only at $1974 then the cropping farmlet at $1408.

Northland Dairy Development Trust science manager Chris Boom said on Fonterra’s fat evaluation index (FEI) calculations there were no issues for the grass-only and cropping farmlets, which stayed in the green or low band.

Levels on the palm kernel farmlet went into the orange band in early October then again in January and March with the management team agreeing it would swap the supplement for grass silage if there was any risk of levels reaching the red band, for which penalties will be imposed by the dairy company from September 1.

NARF is now concentrating on a new three-year project studying dairying in a variable climate. It will look at managing highly stocked farm systems within Fonterra’s FEI constraints. It will involve three farmlets, one grass-only, one using palm kernel only as a supplement and the third using other supplements alongside palm kernel.

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28 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

News

Tariffs against Indonesia possible Nigel Stirling nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com NEW Zealand could impose retaliatory tariffs against Indonesia if it continues to thumb its nose at a World Trade Organisation ruling in a billion-dollar beef dispute.

The restrictions, involving measures ranging from complex import licensing rules to outright bans on some cuts of beef, were estimated to have cost beef exporters a billion dollars in lost sales between 2010 and 2015.

In that time Indonesia slumped from being NZ’s third largest beef market to its seventh.

Government lawyers successfully challenged the trade barriers at the WTO in 2016 but Indonesia appealed against the ruling.

A ruling by the WTO’s appellate body last November upheld the earlier decision in NZ’s favour on all counts.

But six month later problems remain, Silver Fern Farms group beef sales and marketing manager Murray Jones.

“We have not got back to where we used to be but it is a lot less restrictive than it was.”

As far as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is concerned Indonesia is continuing to flout international trade law.

“While Indonesia has made changes to its import regime since NZ commenced the dispute those changes have not removed all of the non-tariff barriers that NZ successfully challenged,” a spokeswoman said.

“NZ’s view, therefore, remains that further changes are required in order for Indonesia’s import regime to be consistent with its WTO obligations.”

Under WTO rules countries ruled against have a “reasonable period” to put things right although how long this should be is undefined and up for negotiation between the countries in dispute.

The MFAT spokeswoman said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Trade Minister David Parker raised compliance with the ruling with Indonesian President Joko Widodo during his visit to NZ in March.

“Both of whom made it clear NZ’s expectation that Indonesia move speedily to implementation.”

We have not got back to where we used to be but it is a lot less restrictive than it was.

Murray Jones Silver Fern Farms Should the countries fail to determine a deadline for implementation then the matter will head back to the WTO for arbitration.

“If Indonesia does not comply by the end of the reasonable period … there are compliance options available.”

Although rarely used they could include tariffs on Indonesian imports equivalent to the damage done to NZ exporters.

While Widido gave assurances that Indonesia will respect the rulings next year’s presidential elections when he is up for re-election could make that difficult for him to deliver.

Self-sufficiency in beef is a vote winner in Indonesia and has featured in at least the last two presidential elections.

Following a promise in the 2015 campaign Widido implemented payments for farmers to adopt new technology to boost productivity and wean the country off imports.

“I want to have our own farming and not to be dependent on imports,” he said at the time.

Chapman Tripp trade law consultant and former trade negotiator Tracey Epps said many factors will be weighed up in determining how long a country should be given to comply with a ruling.

“For the winning country you have to try and strike a balance between keeping the time reasonably short because you have commercial interests at stake but also realistic for the losing country.”

Typically, a period of 18 months is the rule of thumb but next year’s elections in Indonesia could change the calculation for NZ. “You would want to get compliance before you get into the election period otherwise it’s hard to imagine it happening, especially if selfsufficiency comes up again as a policy that gets adopted.”

In NZ’s corner, however, is a powerful ally in the United States as co-litigant in the WTO case against Indonesia.

It is reportedly considering withdrawing tariff concessions in the US market for several Asian countries including Indonesia for a failure to grant reciprocal access to American exports.

Epps agreed the threat by the US could be used as “leverage outside of formal retaliation authorised by the WTO”.

ALLY: New Zealand has a powerful ally in its corner in the trade dispute with Indonesia because the United States is a co-litigant in the World Trade Organisation case, trade law consultant Tracey Epps says.

News

farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

29

UK farm groups want free trade THE British Government is under intense pressure to deliver free and frictionless post-Brexit trade with Europe while also securing the benefits of existing European Union preferential trade arrangements, such the deal with New Zealand.

This headline demand is contained in a new United Kingdom food supply chain manifesto presented to British Prime Minister Teresa May on Tuesday with the backing of more than 100 British food and farming organisations.

Noting the UK and the EU27 will continue to be each other’s most important postBrexit trading markets in food and drink, the manifesto’s 100plus backers want Britain’s future trade agreements to give clear priority to the UK food supply chain.

That includes maximum guarantees of tariff-free trade and as few non-tariff restrictions as possible.

“Future UK trade policy should reflect the UK’s potential for growth in food exports as well as the role of food sourced from outside the UK in expanding consumer choice and value,” it said.

“UK traders must also be able to secure the benefits of existing EU preferential trade agreements.

“Government must secure an agreement that retains the UK’s current status

amongst the EU’s existing preferential international trading partners during the transition period and beyond as a prerequisite for a broader UK trade policy which realises the opportunities from other potential trade deals with the rest of the world.”

The manifesto’s authors also demanded the government develop comprehensive architecture for the management of future trade agreement negotiations, ensuring stakeholders’ interests are fully considered and consulted on.

DEMANDS: British farmers and food firms want the benefits of existing “Moreover, it is a matter of European Union agreements and free trade after Brexit, National priority for the government Farmers Union president Minette Batters says. to be properly resourced, equipped and upskilled in food we believe it is critical countryside that, in turn, order to be able to conduct that the different elements delivers over £21b in tourism technical and complex of Brexit are carefully back to our economy. negotiations and the considered by all government “In the manifesto we warn, implementation of trade departments including the as a collective, that a Brexit arrangements with trading that fails to champion UK food Prime Minister who has partners across the world.” herself spoken about the producers and the businesses National Farmers’ Union importance of supporting our that rely on them will be bad president Minette Batters, one sector through Brexit in recent for the country’s landscape, of the manifesto’s signatories, the economy and critically our days. said “We are presenting a “As we enter this critical society. united voice as a food and period in the Brexit “Conversely, if we get this farming sector worth at negotiations the signatories to right, we can all contribute to least £112 billion to the UK this manifesto will be looking making Brexit a success for economy and employing to the government to ensure producers, food businesses around four million people, its objectives are aligned with and the British public, a food and farming sector ours to ensure British food improving productivity, that meets 61% of the nation’s production – something of creating jobs and establishing food needs with high-welfare, which every person in this a more sustainable food traceable and affordable country enjoys the benefits supply system. food, a food and farming – gets the best possible deal “When it comes to the sector that cares for threepost-Brexit.” nation’s ability to produce quarters of the iconic

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Changes at top of AWDT Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz THE Agri-Women’s Development Trust patron Mavis Mullins has stepped in to chair the primary sector women’s development organisation as it expands to meet growing demand.

Mullins was named as interim chairwoman at the AWDT annual meeting.

Three new trustees were also appointed at the meeting.

Jenni Vernon, Damian Buckley and Jessica Smith were appointed to the board through a national recruitment process in late 2017.

The trio replace outgoing chairwoman Charmaine O’Shea and trustees Hinerangi Edwards and Ross Verry, who have each served five years on the board.

Vernon, who farms a dry stock property in Waikato in partnership with her husband, is on the New

Zealand Geographic Board and the board of the National Fieldays Society.

She is a former chairwoman of Waikato Regional Council, deputy chairwoman of the Open Polytechnic and on the Waikato River Authority and Nuffield Farming Trust boards.

Buckley has been involved in British and NZ primary sectors for his whole life. He is experienced in business development for food production, rural media and software.

He has recently returned from a Voluntary Service Abroad assignment in Samoa where he developed the leadership team at a coconut growers association.

Smith has a background that includes agriculture, horticulture, tourism and fisheries.

One of the early graduates of AWDT’s Wahine Maia, Wahine Whenua programme for Maori

women in agribusiness, she is a business relationship manager with Te Tumu Paeroa and was the 2017 Zespri scholarship recipient for the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme.

Mullins will help guide the organisation through its next stage of growth.

“AWDT is wellpositioned for the future with established industry partnerships, strong culture, reputation and governance,” Mullins said.

“Operationally, we have expanded our team to respond to the growing demand for development of people in the primary sector.”

Last year the organisation delivered development and support to 56% more women than in 2016.

It broke new ground with fresh research, two new pilot programmes and new industry and government investment while building its own capability.

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LEADER: Mavis Mullins, chairwoman of the Agri-Women’s Development Trust.

The three new faces on the board join existing trustees Dr Scott Champion, Fi Dalgety, Murray Donald and Lindy Nelson.

Mullins said the board changes are part of a wider leadership succession plan that includes a transition of trust founder and executive director Lindy Nelson out of day-to-day operations and into strategic and programme development roles.

Nelson will continue her role as a trustee.

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FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

31

Banks still vulnerable to dairy Stephen Bell stephen.bell@nzx.com HIGH dairy farm debts are making banks vulnerable to losses from product prices falling, from Mycoplasma bovis cutting productivity and profit and from regulatory changes, Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr says in his Financial Stability report.

Though cautioning both banks and farmers to manage debt prudently and carefully Orr said the behaviour of both parties is encouraging.

Banks are now closely monitoring about 20% of their dairy farm loans because of concerns about the borrowers’ financial strength.

“Losses on dairy loans in a dairy downturn are unlikely to threaten the solvency of the banking system on their own but they would weaken banks’ resilience to other shocks,” he said.

The Mycoplasma bovis infection is an emerging risk that could reduce the productivity and profitability of the sector and could lead to losses on bank lending.

Adrian Orr Reserve Bank Dairy sector indebtedness has increased in recent years and become more concentrated with a bigger share of debt held by the most indebted farms.

“This risk has not changed materially in the past six months due to a stabilisation in farm income and dairy debt levels.

“However, the spread of the Mycoplasma bovis infection is an emerging risk that could reduce the productivity and profitability of the sector and could lead to losses on bank lending to the dairy sector,” Orr said.

Dairy sector indebtedness increased significantly between 2014 and 2016 when weak global dairy prices reduced farm incomes and forced farms to borrow to meet operating costs.

Since then dairy prices have increased and stabilised at a higher level, near the long-run average.

The average New Zealand dairy farm’s income for 201718 is expected to be relatively unchanged from the 2016-17 season.

Fonterra forecasts a slightly higher payout but milk production is expected to be slightly lower than the previous season because of dry weather.

The proportion of dairy farms cashflow positive is also expected to remain broadly unchanged at about 90%. Just 40% of dairy farms were cashflow positive in the 2015-16 season at the worst of the dairy price downturn.

Bank lending to the dairy farm sector has remained steady since mid 2016 but the proportion of loans on principal and interest terms has increased from 6% in January 2017 to 12% this March And the proportion of dairy sector loans being closely monitored by banks has continued to decline in the past six months.

“But the sector remains vulnerable to shocks,” he said.

The stabilisation in dairy farm incomes and debt levels is positive and the vulnerability of the sector has not changed materially in the past six months.

“However, there remains a significant proportion of farms that are vulnerable to shocks that could reduce their ability to service their debts, such as a fall in dairy prices or higher borrowing costs.

“These farms could also be challenged by various regulatory changes, including tighter restrictions on foreign investment in farms, which could reduce the value of dairy farms, and environmental regulations, which could increase farm operating costs.

“While these changes may improve the long-run sustainability of the dairy sector they could reduce the profitability of highly indebted farms and their equity buffers.

“The spread of the M bovis disease is an emerging risk to the sector.”

Both the disease’s spread and the reponse management will affect its impact on the ongoing profitability of the sector and losses to banks.

“Bank lending to the sector should remain prudent,” Orr said.

Existing high debt levels and the future challenges for the dairy sector mean dairy farms should manage their borrowing carefully.

“It will likely take time for the most indebted dairy farms to manage down their debt.

“It is encouraging that banks are working closely with these farms and an increasing proportion is moving from loans with interest-only terms to repaying principal.”

The Reserve Bank has also done a benchmarking exercise

ENCOURAGING: An increasing proportion of dairy farmers are moving from interest-only loans to repaying capital, Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr says.

on the dairy lending of the ANZ, Westpac, BNZ and ASB banks, which are allowed to determine their own capital requirements.

Capital requirements are determined by the risk of farmers defaulting. The exercise required the banks to measure the risk of the same portfolio of loans to 20 hypothetical dairy farms.

Banks were asked to estimate the probability of default and the

was significant. The provisional results show significant variation in model outcomes, even for the same level of underlying risk.

The Reserve Bank is now doing more analysis of banks’ farm lending portfolios to see if patterns in actual risk estimates are consistent with the results of the hypothetical exercise.

That will help inform its review of bank capital requirements.

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resulting loss for each loan using their approved models.

The preliminary results showed significant differences in estimates across banks.

The highest and lowest average risk weight for the whole hypothetical portfolio differed by 40 percentage points, leading to differences in the hypothetical capital requirement.

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32 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Mobile use is key to Asian sales Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com

to the smartphone, which is their sole connection for purchasing activity.”

Cheap, knock-off versions of ASIAN commerce is now tipping more advanced smartphones traditional western approaches mean retail prices lie between $50 to business, retailing and even and $100 for capable machines, banking upside down and it’s something New Zealand exporters even if they don’t last as long as the ones they mimic. need to understand better if they “So what has happened is there are to tap into the true potential has been this leap to m-commerce of those markets, Nuffield scholar or mobile commerce and it’s a and Taranaki FMG area manager move not all companies more Jason Rolfe says. familiar with an e-commerce He spent time during his concept have necessarily scholarship year learning about managed that well.” how e-commerce payment Mobile phone transactions now systems have leapfrogged the account for nearly two in every traditional evolution of retail on three online transactions in China the internet. but despite that only about 3% of “I started off initially knowing NZ’s and Australia’s agricultural how all we hear about here is how product is sold via e-commerce. retail stores are struggling with The obstacles to stop that move online commerce. online being successful can be “But throughout Asia they surprisingly simple ones. have skipped the entire stage Rolfe pointed to a fresh fruit where we may have got online company that had poor success using a personal computer. Many with its online sales, largely would not have even worked because its site was unsuitable with a PC and have gone direct for mobile phone use and almost unworkable for potential customers.

He came to define the food markets he viewed as either thick or thin, with thick Saturday 09/06/2018 to Sunday 10/06/2018 markets offering National Poultry & Pigeon Show lower margins but Venue: Barber Hall, Waldegrave St, Palmerston North being generally Time: Sat 9 Jun 2018, 2:00pm–6:00pm; Sunday 10 Jun more conservative 9:30am–2:00pm and broad in Admission: Adults: $5.00; Children (5 to 14 years): appeal. Thin $2.00. Door sales only markets are more niche with fewer Friday 15/06/2018 to Sunday 24/06/2018 Apiti School Fundraiser Hunt & Family Fun Day choices but greater Event margins for The event itself involves the “Hunt” part which runs producers selling all week with daily drop off of Possums, and other to customers who categories of ‘pests’, at Apiti school, 8.45am to tend to be stickier 9.15am from 16th to 23rd June. Then the final tally up, prize giving and the “Apiti Family Fun Day” are in their loyalty to on at Makoura Lodge on Sunday 24th June 2018 that brand. from 10am.

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farmer-dominated co-operatives NZ has tended to fall towards the middle ground putting it into a commodity product area, a zone the country is working hard to come out of and one where mobile technology could help accelerate a move towards the higher-margin, thin sector.

“Mobile technology in these markets is that missing link. It allows us to target these thin markets, to take that risk without putting up outlets. It’s a way to communicate to these consumers directly.”

That compares to the traditional scatter-gun approach to markets with all its inherent channel and distribution issues.

Rolfe cited a United States apple company that managed to create a niche for its apples from Washington State, leveraging off the m-commerce platform provided by Alibaba, but putting barcoded links on its apples that led consumers back to its own site.

“It was early days but it did look like it was proving to be successful.”

He believes NZ’s small size should give processors the flexibility to pursue such niches with relative ease, given the foundations of quality and food safety are already well instilled in the products exported through more traditional outlets.

The number of Asian consumers with bank accounts is small, with only about a third in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines having accounts.

Credit card penetration is only a tenth again of that.

That low level has helped drive new payment platforms spinning off from large online retailers like Alibaba and social media services like We Chat.

Payment apps through the likes of We Chat Pay have turned phones into digital wallets, without the need for a bank account to make payments. Those

CATCH UP: Asian consumers have developed their own ways of paying for goods bought via mobile telephones and New Zealand marketers need to cater for them, Nuffield scholar Jason Rolfe says.

wallets are refilled like topping up a mobile phone account to allow payments between parties using the We Chat Payment account. It has 950 million users.

While the mobile provides the convenience, Rolfe cautions most Asian consumers are not hung up on ultra-fast delivery of products.

Mobile technology in these markets is that missing link.

Jason Rolfe Nuffield scholar “It is more about trust and consistency than super-fast delivery like we may have heard about through Amazon and drone deliveries.”

Trust is a key one to earn in China where consumers are typically wary of food safety and buying online direct from source helps alleviate that.

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PRIORITY: Asian consumers are more about trust than super-fast delivery.

“But building that trust when you are not dealing face to face is important and we are seeing technology like block chain help achieve that transparency along with the likes of QR codes to reinforce brand sources.”

He acknowledged for many NZ exporters there is a paradigm shift needed from the traditional sit-down-and-get-to-know-you relationships usually formed overseas.

“That is still important but you also need to be able to do it via e-commerce.”

The good news is many might not appreciate how relatively easy it is to hook into such platforms, with companies like ePayments in NZ aimed specifically at integrating outlets to the Chinese payment systems.

Rolfe’s study and observations while travelling have produced a comprehensive checklist of must-dos and must-avoids for exporters wanting to hook into e-commerce.

Accepting popular payment options is critical to meeting the needs of an increasingly Millennial-aged Asian market as is having a mobile-friendly website.

He also advised carefully calculating the real cost of online order and delivery.

One fruit company he visited had consistently been unable to keep the cost of its delivered fruit below that of in-store fruit.

That linked closely to the caveat of watching shipping costs, often coming up at the end of an order and causing consumers to bail out of their purchase.

More companies are working on incorporating shipping into the final price and offering shipping for free.

Rolfe acknowledged building a brand online can be daunting but found using social media, such as WeChat in China, to create awareness is a good strategy to start with.

News

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

33

Gold pushes Zespri share surge Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com

PACKS PUNCH: A lift in the value of Zespri and its shares has been driven by SunGold fruit and licence sales.

Chris Byrne Craigs Investment Partners

That is expected to also push the dividend level up from this year’s estimated 70c a share to $1.13 to $1.20 a share and puts the kiwifruit marketer’s net yield firmly into double figures at 13.8-14%, up from this year’s 8.4% and well ahead of the 3% yield reported for the 2016 financial year.

Licence sales revenue continues to form a growing portion of Zespri’s corporate income, at almost $200m for this year

compared to about $75m only two years ago.

The analysis also notes the recent change to Zespri’s constitution got strong grower backing and put in place an effective share cap, with the maximum shareholding of four shares for each tray of production for active growers while introducing dividend restrictions on non-grower shareholders.

Byrne said restricting future share ownership to growers could

ultimately quell the share price but that will take some years to play out given the seven-year timeframe non-growers have to exit ownership.

He has put a relatively wide valuation on the Zespri stock price, acknowledging growers are in a better position to pick the subtleties of the market and the industry.

However, he also cautioned there is always the risk of gamechanging events that can highlight

the industry’s reliance on a single, highly successful crop.

They include a recurrence of a Psa type outbreak or even a marmounted stink bug incursion.

“You have to be a bit wary.

“In five years’ time we could be looking at a very different industry.

“It could be one that has taken a hit from something like that or it could be one that is even bigger than it is now with a successfully launched red fruit and continuing strong demand for SunGold.

“Hopefully that is what we will be seeing.”

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An analysis of Zespri’s share price by Craigs’ Investment Partners analyst Chris Byrne moved the indicative share price range up from $6.20-$9.50 to $6.50-$10.20 a share, with a base valuation of $8.20 a share.

Underpinning the increase in value is the greater-than-expected revenue from the 2018 SunGold licence, backing a strong 2019 earnings prediction, 95% up from the 2017 result.

The boost in land area offered from 400ha to 700ha has had the main impact along with the lift in licence prices.

The average price of $257,000 a hectare is 12% up on what Craig’s estimate.

Craigs also painted a rosy picture for this financial year, predicting a net profit after tax of $170 million to $175m.

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34 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Porirua boy now a top farmer An extra year’s experience was the telling factor for Harepaora Ngaheu, this year’s recipient of the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award. Neal Wallace spoke to the Te Teko dairy farmer.

O

N JUNE 1 Harepaora Ngaheu began contract milking on a Bay of Plenty dairy farm and, according to his long term plan, should own a dairy farm within 10 years.

It is a spectacular turnaround for someone who five years ago was drifting through life and stumbled on the dairy industry through a training course.

Ngaheu remembers the lifechanging moment he first put cups on cows while attending an industry training course in Bay of Plenty.

It was his 21st birthday and the now 26-year old said until then he had never touched a cow and knew nothing of the milk producing process.

I didn’t even know a cow produced milk after having a calf. I thoughty a cow always produced milk.

“I didn’t even know a cow produced milk after having a calf.

I thoughty a cow always produced milk.”

When course attendees were invited to apply for a relief milker’s role Ngaheu said he was the only one with a licence so took it on.

He was instantly hooked, attracted by working outdoors with animals and on the land.

“I loved it.”

Underpinning that new-found enthusiasm was the realisation he had to provide for his partner Aiesha and two daughters, Reve and Kesiah.

Fate provided another

significant boost to his life with local farmer Colin Wilson offering him his first job.

Not only did he give Ngaheu a start but helped develop his career and broaden his experience by arranging work on other farms before employing him as a manager this past season and contract milker for the coming season.

From June 1 Ngaheu is overseeing the running of a 160ha farm milking 440 cows and employing one staff member, an important step towards his goal of 50:50 sharemilking in five years.

An Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award finalist in 2016, Ngaheu said the extra year’s farming experience gave him the necessary attitude and skills to be a positive role model for young Maori.

Born in Porirua, Ngaheu moved at an early age with his family to the small Bay of Plenty town of Te Teko where he concedes he did not make the most of school and began drifting through his late teenage years.

But that changed when he was introduced to dairying.

In tandem with the onfarm experience Ngaheu has been studying through Tectra and is up to a level 5 diploma in agribusiness, contributing to his knowledge on how to run a profitable business while developing wider knowledge of dairy farm management.

“We’re tracking along pretty good,” he said.

He hopes his story will inspire other young Maori and Maori trusts to strive to meet goals and to also attract young people into agriculture by using his “if that fella can do it then I can do it” experience, he said.

ROLE MODEL: Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer winner Harepaora Ngaheu wants others to take encouragement from his achievement.

Photo: John Cowpland/Alphapix

He also wants to help young people needing a kick-start in life by teaching them life skills and how to save money. He already employs young relief milkers.

A keen rugby union and rugby league player, Ngaheu has decided to hang up his boots to spend more time with his family but will continue his love of hunting, fishing and diving.

The other two finalists were Mathew Pooley, 25, who manages Ngai Tahu’s Maungatere dairy farm near Oxford in Canterbury, and Cheyenne Wilson, 25, an assistant manager of Lochan Mor farm near Ashburton.

The Onuku Maori Lands Trust from Rotorua was named the winner of the Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Excellence in Farming Award.

The winning farm is the trust’s 72ha Boundary Road property near Lake Rotomahana, about 30km south of Rotorua on which it milks 220 cows and produces about 90,000kg MS. The farm has a strong environmental focus being part of Project Rerewhakaaitu, a voluntary local farming initiative to help protect waterways and lakes by focusing on reducing nitrogen and phosphorous loss and operating the highest possible

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animal welfare standards.

The trust runs four dairy farms, a drystock farm, forestry, natural reserves and a manuka plantation.

Onuku has also developed businesses outside the farm gates, starting an export honey company, Onuku Honey.

The other finalist in the 2018 competition was Mawhera Incorporation, which farms near Hokitika on the West Coast.

Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee chaireman Kingi Smiler says both finalists set very high standards in terms of their farming and the governance of their operations.

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New thinking

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

35

Smart app proves value for disease tracking Developers of an app to make farm health and safety easier to manage say it can also monitor and even predict biosecurity incursions. As the country grapples with Mycoplasma bovis Richard Rennie spoke to OnSide chief executive Ryan Higgs about the app’s potential to help manage such outbreaks.

T

HE easy-to-use OnSide smartphone app has been married to a relatively new field of mathematics known as network science, supercharging it from being a farm visitor monitor to disease predictor.

The app, launched two years ago, was developed in response to the tightening of health and safety regulations putting greater pressure on farmers to account for visitors to farms and to clearly identify the risks to them on the property.

Its backers include Synlait founder Juliet Maclean and agritech innovator Ryan Higgs.

A two-click sign-in system has made registering and logging into a property simple, with clear, realtime information on who is where at any given time and matching risk areas identified on an online farm map.

“From a fairly early stage we thought OnSide would have the potential to be a great tool for biosecurity.

“What we realised was with visitor records you can get a feel

SIMPLE: OnSide has kept its app easy to use.

for where people are moving around and how different farm properties are interconnected by those visitors,” Higgs said.

A conversation with mathematician Dr Hautahi Kingi, a classmate from Cornell University, prompted Higgs to push further with the app’s biosecurity tracking potential.

“Hautahi is quite a brilliant mathematician who is working in the field of network science, a relatively new field of mathematics that is attracting some of the best and hottest talent in mathematics today.”

Network science studies the connectivity within complex networks including computers, telecommunications, biological systems and even social networks – essentially any interconnected system that generates large amounts of data.

Pulling on multiple fields of statistics, sociology and physics, it enables algorithms and predictive tools to be created from the data.

At the time Kingi was studying data to predict what teenagers were likely to be peer influencers for smoking.

“We were interested to know if different farms that had been visited might be more influential than others on the spread of disease.

“When Kingi saw the data we sent him he was very impressed and got really interested in it and what we could learn.”

What his work discovered from the OnSide data was threefold.

“The first was around surveillance. We could help identify what property was most likely to get the disease first, which is valuable for setting up monitoring pre-disease infection in regions and possibly for

nationwide surveillance when there is a known disease risk.”

The second was on response capability, with the modelling ranking which properties are most likely to have the disease, enabling agencies to respond in a targeted manner to contain it.

The third related to source detection of a disease and echoes a method recently used in Africa for the identification of a cholera outbreak source.

OnSide has 5000 subscribers, of which 2000 are rural property owners using it to manage farm visitors. Other users include quarries, local authorities and packhouse operators.

“What we have found, as was the case in Africa where they only had 20% network coverage, is that you don’t need a large penetration to make predictions. You can infer a lot from the data, with a good level of accuracy.”

From a fairly early stage we thought OnSide would have the potential to be a great tool for biosecurity.

Ryan Higgs OnSide Algorithms and modelling simulations in Canterbury have been done on a disease outbreak, using data from existing client farms.

“We worked on half the property visits being highly likely to spread a disease, such as a stock truck with cattle from another

Dairy farmers, what does Mycoplasma bovis mean for you?

CLEVER: Harnessing the power of network science means the OnSide app can do more than count visitors on and off farms, chief executive Ryan Higgs says.

farm on it. The other half were not likely, such as the bank manager visiting the farmer’s house.”

Their work found just by monitoring three or four properties in a region they could reduce the disease spread risk by 50%.

Adding an official response on top of the monitoring data reduced the spread risk down to only 10%.

Higgs acknowledges the exercise was hypothetical but has become highly relevant in light of the M bovis outbreak and the issues identified around trying to track stock movements.

“What is concerning is this is a disease specific to cattle.

“If we were looking to control foot and mouth which affects far more animals, about 40 million nationally, you have to question

whether trying to require farmers to enter data on all these animals is really realistic.

“Farms are busy places, farmers are busy. It seems unrealistic to expect a tracking system for livestock to be accurate.”

The ability to track vehicle and people movements on and off farms gives the app potential for epidemiological forecasting and modelling across all farm and orchard types.

Higgs expects greater interest from farmers, as much for the biosecurity application as health and safety in coming months, but shies away from expecting it to be a compulsory app on farmers’ smartphones.

“If you tell people they have to do something there will be push back. Our approach has been to keep this simple to use as a key appeal.”

We are here to help Get your questions answered on our website dairynz.co.nz.

Or you can call our farmer information service on 0800 432 47969.

DairyNZ - working for NZ dairy farmers

Opinion

36 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

EDITORIAL

Leaders must get farmers on board

S

O WE’RE going to give it a crack.

We’re told there’s one chance to rid New Zealand of Mycoplasma bovis and we’re going to take it.

It’s the right choice, in my opinion, but to have a realistic chance of success we’ll need farmers fully on board. That’s not going to happen if there is not a transparent, inclusive and fair plan on the table.

At a packed meeting in Ashburton last week government officials and farming leaders seemed still unable to give clear answers and also seemed unaware of many of the very real concerns farmers have as they try to move through this crisis. That needs to change fast.

Farming is complex. Stock moves around the country, especially at this time of year. Graziers might have animals from several different farmers on their land over winter. How do they manage risk?

There are a couple of ways this might go if the right messages aren’t received.

Farmers might thumb their noses at the plan, thinking it has no hope of succeeding. Or they might shut up shop unnecessarily, in fear that they’re on their own in protecting what they’ve worked so hard to achieve.

We don’t want either of these things to happen. But to avoid that we need to know how to play this game.

It starts with the plan: stock movement and sale, compensation for losses paid in a timely manner, support for the farmers affected. These things not only need to happen, the way in which they will happen needs to be clear to every farmer.

Farmers can get behind a well drawn up plan that gives them belief that they’ll be treated fairly.

As Morven dairy farmer Leo Bensegues said last week, life is not plain sailing but if you’re treated fairly and given the support you need to carry on then you can do just that. This is not the time for learning on the job, it’s time for leadership and it’s time for listening because no one knows how to farm better than a farmer.

Bryan Gibson

LETTERS

Tough to keep meat relevant production does not repel them at all.

The agricultural sector and the farmers who work in it are expected to step up their game or become obsolete.

But how can they compete with a product that is expected to be cheaper and more animal-friendly because it involves no slaughtering of livestock?

However, if you buy a goodquality, farm-raised steak I think you will find it always tastes better than a lab-grown alternative.

After all, the beast from which the steak came roamed hilly paddocks, soaked up sun rays, breathed good country air and munched on grass and baleage.

A steak grown in a white room under artificial light can never compare flavour-wise.

We have to wonder how far they intend to go.

Why go to all the effort of

CLEAN meat, that’s what they’re calling lab-grown meat.

The silly thing is they’re not even making some sort of meat substitute, designed and marketed for vegans and vegetarians.

No, instead, this clean meat will be actual meat, just grown in a lab.

They take live cells from an animal like a cow or sheep and they grow it in their labs till they have meat. So, it’s still animal tissue, just synthetically produced.

Despite the all-natural trend the world is taking on they appear to have no problem with eating a synthetically grown meat.

You can find article after article on the web listing the best places in America and Europe to find grass-fed beef or mutton and yet the idea of this “better” system of meat

bringing in cows for milking when you could just grow milk in a lab? Pig-farming has a bad reputation.

That’s fine, we’ll create labgrown pork. There is no end to it.

In conclusion, I think labgrown meat could be a real threat to the industry and the agricultural sector is going to have to start thinking about stepping up their game if they wish to stay relevant.

Rebecca Graham Ashhurst

Systems failure YOU have recently published articles on the farming disaster of Mycoplasma bovis.

My heart goes out to all who are caught up in this mess.

My short response is that Mycoplasma bovis is a signal of a systems failure.

Trying to catch a bacterium

in a farmer’s field is about as sensible as trying to eradicate house flies from New Zealand with a fly swat.

Unfortunately, the people in charge don’t know of any other way to work on this issue.

The organisms that will rid the country of this disease will emerge when we develop a thriving aerobic soil biology that will enable a thriving population of beneficial biology on plant leaves and in animal digestive tracts.

This will afford them the good health and immunity needed to bid this disease farewell.

It will also help to feed farm animals what they are designed to eat.

I appreciate that this is a harsh judgment but anything other would be dishonest.

Peter Bacchus Waipukurau

Letterof theWeek EDITOR Bryan Gibson bryan.gibson@nzx.com EDITORIAL Stephen Bell editorial@nzx.com Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com Annette Scott annettescott@xtra.co.nz Hugh Stringleman hugh.stringleman@nzx.com Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com Nigel Stirling nigel.g.stirling@gmail.com

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Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

37

Agritech growth needs unity Nicky Molloy

I

NNOVATIVE kiwi companies can play a greater role in feeding the world through a united approach.

New Zealand has a proud history as a food exporter but with global population growth, changing consumer demands and technological advancements, our primary producers face a future full of challenges and questions.

How will the rise of alternative proteins impact our farmers?

What role will robots and artificial intelligence play in the growing and harvesting of crops?

What sustainable production solutions will NZ be able to offer global consumers?

The convergence of technology and food production was a hot topic for discussion at 10 Billion Mouths, a major industry event in Tauranga as part of Tech Week 2018.

A key theme was collaboration – how can NZ producers and exporters work together to best tackle the challenges of the global food market?

Appropriately, on the same day and in the same city, Agritech NZ – an exciting, collaborative, sectorwide venture – was launched.

At the heart of any successful product or business are great people – when you bring great people together with common goals and ambitions and an openness to work together, you create incredible impact.

This is the essence of what collaboration is about and the reason Callaghan Innovation supports taking early stage businesses offshore to events like the World Dairy Expo and on United States agritech missions.

At the early stage of developing a great technology solution there is so much uncertainty and so many unanswered questions.

Who can I talk to in a new market?

Will my product meet that market’s needs?

How do I sell it there?

These are hard questions to answer about a market like the US or Europe when you’re sitting in

The

Pulpit

NZ. When we talk with experienced NZ exporters – those companies that have developed technology and got their products offshore – we often hear stories of how they spent years developing new products before launching them offshore only to find they didn’t meet local regulations or didn’t work with local farming systems so had to be redeveloped and relaunched.

We need to shift the focus from developing tech in NZ that solves only NZ problems to ensuring our potential exporters think about building in global solutions earlier so they can scale faster.

If this country is going to build more successful growth companies we need to shift the focus from developing tech in NZ that solves only NZ problems to ensuring our potential exporters think about building in global solutions earlier so they can scale faster.

COLLABORATE: Callaghan Innovation agritech business innovation adviser Nicky Molloy says Kiwi firms can meet challenges by banding together.

There is great capability in NZ to get companies prepared to be globally focused.

Our government agencies share the common vision that we need to develop locally and think globally.

Support and resources is available for export-focused companies to draw on.

Callaghan Innovation helps businesses to innovate and create new products and services the world wants.

Trade and Enterprise provides know-how and know-who to help export focused businesses grow bigger, better and faster.

The NZ Venture Investment Fund provides early stage capital to help tech companies gain scale.

The NZ Story helps kiwi companies tell their story offshore.

Agritech NZ works collaboratively to connect the agritech community to international capital and new market opportunities.

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Opinion

38 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Huge changes to OSPRI needed Alternative View

Alan Emerson

I AGREE with the Government’s Mycoplasma bovis response.

It consulted widely and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor and Federated Farmers head Katie Milne visited the affected areas and talked to farmers.

I believe it is worth throwing the kitchen sink at the problem if there is any chance of eradication.

To do otherwise would be irresponsible in the extreme.

If the Mycoplasma bovis incursion has done nothing else it has proved beyond all doubt that we don’t have a working identification and traceability system.

I found the entire blame game about traceability both annoying and frustrating.

Primary Industries Ministry head Martyn Dunne said he is disappointed by the number of farmers failing to tag stock.

That was supported by MPI readiness and response director

Geoff Gwyn who told us Nait fell short of expectation.

Nait administrator, OSPRI head Michelle Edge then told us the system is only as good as the data entered.

While I accept that premise I ask whatever happened to OSPRI’s monitoring. Surely, it had some idea of the level of compliance.

It isn’t good enough to sit in a comfortable seat in Wellington and say your systems are fine but the input is abysmal. Surely you would know.

O’Connor said compliance in some areas is as low as 30%. He described farmers’ attitude as lax.

At 30% compliance he has a point.

OSPRI chairman Jeff Grant said compliance at sale yards is 94% and 96% for stock going to slaughter.

For the record, I don’t accept those figures.

Tirau farmer and Nait director Ted Coats, who helped set up the system, made an Official Information Act request to MPI and was told by the acting readiness and response services director Samiel Leske “I can confirm there is no report authored by MPI relating to Nait’s effectiveness or fitness for purpose”.

So it’s okay to castigate farmers for non-compliance on traceability when the agency tasked with

policing it hasn’t a clue as to the system’s effectiveness or fitness for purpose.

The shareholders in OSPRI are listed as Dairy NZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, Deer Industry NZ and MPI. I strongly suggest the farmer industry-good organisations are asleep at the wheel and what is MPI doing?

Why wasn’t it monitoring OSPRI to establish its effectiveness or whether it is fit for purpose?

That begs the question if OSPRI is being monitored at all.

Farmers say there is universal concern about OSPRI’s disestablishment of the compliance team.

“The compliance team was visible and helpful in getting NAIT established.”

“The main issue was to get NAIT up and running. There needed to be feet on the ground.”

“There needed to be audits of transport companies, sale yards and processing facilities.”

“Tags fall out due to poor placement. Education and training were needed.”

“Some farmers were confused by the technology. They needed assistance.”

It all makes good sense to me.

You can’t run a system by keeping a chair warm in Wellington.

I approached OSPRI to ask why it had axed the compliance team.

It told me OSPRI did not “axe”

WHAT’S GOING ON: Nait director Ted Coats is questioning the system he helped set up.

the compliance team – its focus was shifted to verification.

My issue with that response is that if you have no compliance feet on the ground how can you verify anything Edge’s response to the shortcomings of Nait that the system is only as good as the data entered suggests verification isn’t working.

As an aside I did get a lot of feedback about the tags themselves. They aren’t up to it and not user-friendly.

Getting back to Grant’s claim of 94% compliance at sale yards and 96% at slaughter. I suggest the presence of a tag doesn’t have to mean a lot. You’d want to question if the animal status declaration was correct and whether the animals came from the place the database claimed.

Truck drivers tell me that if an animal isn’t tagged processing companies don’t want to know.

One farmer had, according to Nait, cattle on his property.

They’d been killed and the tags hadn’t been read by the processing company.

Another was told by Nait to just wipe all the tags that haven’t recorded and start afresh. You have to be joking.

And one had an email saying he’d bought 22 cattle when he hadn’t bought any.

One truck driver was given a pocketful of tags. Another said he’d often find tags in his truck.

We’ve had a Nait review and changes need to be made. Farmers do need to get their act together but so do MPI and OSPRI. I suggest OSPRI is dysfunctional and that huge changes are needed.

Imagine if the incursion was foot and mouth and not Mycoplasma bovis.

We’d be stuffed.

Your View Alan Emerson is a semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath-emerson@wizbiz.net.nz

Debate is over, now let’s work together The Voice

Craig Wiggins

THE Government’s aim to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis from the national dairy herd has been received as a negative by many as well as a positive from just as many in the primary industry.

Nearly everyone in New Zealand has an opinion on this issue with so many people in the media with little or no knowledge of the cause and effect of this disease adding their perspective.

The truth is this outbreak is affecting rural people in so many ways it is now a huge threat to the financial and personal health of not only rural NZ but our ability to be a financially stable nation.

This outbreak has taken its toll on many and left a lot of people suffering and destitute to the point of no return.

We must tighten up the borders because past incursions and infections have taught us our borders are not as protected as we thought.

Rabbit calicivirus disease was readily imported and should have served as a warning to those in control of biosecurity that we have some big holes to fill.

During the time M bovis entered our herds until now we have also had many other imported attacks on the sustainability of many facets of the primary industries.

Previously in this column I have written and warned of the huge threat our pork industry faces with the import of fresh and chilled pork and this must stop now along with anything else that might be a threat to our economy and future as a trading nation.

This outbreak is the most significant biosecurity breach in modern history. It has potential to ruin the primary industry as we know it today.

Whether you think it was brought in to the country to feed the greed of a few farmers and boost their incomes at the risk of the nation or that it has been here lying dormant and the increase of intensive farming has caused its eruption, we now have it.

I can’t say whether eradication or management is right or wrong.

What I can say is this is a game we have all got to take part in as a nation.

It’s our biggest test since we went to war to defend our shores – over-dramatised maybe but this

ONE PURPOSE: The decision to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis has been made so even those who don’t agree with it must work to do it.

is a national issue.

The cost of eradication has been estimated at $880 million with the support of the Government being 69% of the cost.

However, the cost of a management only policy would be huge to farmers and the country.

The reduction of cow numbers as farms become closed units will mean those who rely on dairy grazing will struggle to carry on, The bull beef industry won’t want to take on the risk of dairy cattle, the bull service industry will fall over and incomes will be reduced as the dairy industry loses stock to the disease and has to rebuild.

The staff once required to run

intensive dairy operations won’t now be required, creating stress and unemployment.

Rural mental health will be highlighted again as farmers find their livelihoods threatened.

These are all changes no one can put a price on in comparison to eradication, especially in regards to the mental health costs.

Those who believe we can just carry on and farm with it have blinkers on and perhaps haven’t thought about what effect it would have on them if a large proportion of their herd did become infected and the Government had of thrown their hands in the air and taken the option to change the rules and not support those farms

that will become infected.

At least we still have the Government working to support farmers in this whether you agree with the eradication programme or not.

I suspect if the other option had been taken the financial support might not have been as readily available.

I don’t think there is an easy answer to this and the cost to NZ will be huge as we lose the incomes and equity in the industry.

Banks will be nervous, farmers stretched beyond financial and mental limits and again rural communities will struggle to survive.

I have heard of private legal action being taken by farmers against farmers who might have knowingly infected other farms who want to recover their losses.

This pits farmer against farmer as does the angst over the handling of the outbreak by the Primary Industries Ministry weakening our position of strength to move forward.

We must all now work together with no one being left in the dark about the way our herds became infected right through to supporting the Government while it tries to ensure we have a future as a trading nation, whether you agree with eradication or not.

Opinion

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

39

Showing resolve and compassion From the Ridge

Steve Wyn-Harris

AS WE all know, the Government has made the big call to have a go at eradicating Mycoplasma bovis from the country.

It is supported by our own industry bodies.

They were damned if they tried and damned if they didn’t but have shown faith in the scientists and experts and believe there is a reasonable chance of achieving the goal.

Leadership can be a difficult place at times like this and I respect the resolve, compassion and decision-making Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor have shown over this very difficult matter.

I’ve had several conversations with farmers from South Canterbury who have been dealing with the consequences of this disease.

One was adamant an attempt at eradication was just too tough on the people involved and had fair arguments to support his stance.

Obviously, I don’t have any say in the matter but I asked Damien to have a talk with him, which he did, and I guess they ended up in agreeing they disagreed on the decision that was to come.

I’ve had several conversations with an old mate and neighbour from here who is now a dairy support farmer among other activities on his farm down south.

Six weeks ago it was discovered they, too, had M bovis on their property in dairy heifers they had grown to terrific weights for the owner.

Now, all the other cattle on the property from other dairy farmers as well as their own growing stock are in the process of going to the works.

He and his family are devastated by the news and the process.

This is happening on many other farms and some of the braver souls have been talking in the media to show a human face to the pain and despair this disease and the cull is taking.

I think we are in two camps over the decision.

If you have had it identified on your property and are going through the horror of seeing healthy animals you might have put decades into breeding being culled or a property where it is suspected then you are likely feeling the medicine is worse than the cure, as my editor put it in his editorial.

The majority of those of us who

RURAL SUPPORT: In the wake of Mycoplasma bovis farmers must rally round to help each other in the same way they formed the Farmy Army to help Christchurch people after the earthquakes.

don’t have it or are unaware we might have it support the decision to at least give it a bloody good go and then reassess how effective the attempt has been later in the spring.

But this support of the attempt to eradicate puts a strong moral pressure on the rest of us to support the farmers who through no fault of their own are bearing the brunt of this incursion on behalf of all of us.

I spent three days in the eastern suburbs working with the Farmy Army after the Christchurch earthquake to help those unfortunate citizens who had seen everything they owned and cherished disappear in a couple of minutes.

I was hugely impressed with

the organisation of Canterbury Federated Farmers, the rural women’s groups who fed us at the end of the day and the large numbers of mainly Canterbury farmers who flocked into the city each day to help their urban cousins.

The rest of us in the rural sector can now do something similar for our own sector and colleagues.

How about we set up a website or something similar where families who have a holiday house offer it up for no charge to any afflicted families to use to give them a break away from their farms?

And some way of knowing when the offer has been taken up so meals and some company can be provided by others who live

nearby? Maybe dinner invitations and recreational opportunities could be extended to those having a break.

The rest of us could donate some money to help with travel costs. I’ve had preliminary conversations with the Rural Support Trust and Dean Williamson.

Dean’s family is about to take up ownership of this paper and he is supportive of the idea and willing to put in some resources to help it happen.

Watch this space.

Your View Steve Wyn-Harris is a Central Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer. swyn@xtra.co.nz

Failure is better than lack of transparency Amy Williams

I’VE been watching the story of Happy Cow Milk Co with interest since it popped up on my Facebook feed.

It shows how being up-front and transparent can ultimately save you if things go tits up (pun intended).

Happy Cow Milk Co’s story began four years ago when founder Glen Herud wanted to create a more sustainable model for dairy farming and built his own milking shed and processing equipment to fill reusable glass bottles that can be recycled.

So far, so good.

The company had a following of customers who believed in its purpose.

You need only look at the comments on Happy Milk Co’s Facebook page from some of its 4500 followers to get the picture: “I don’t drink cows’ milk or eat veal because I think most farming practices are cruel or unethical at best. But I’d happily change my mind and buy milk from you.”

But reality bites.

Investors were hard to pin

down and the economics caught up with this small upstart, which last month went into liquidation owing creditors about $100,000.

What interests me is not the David versus Goliath story, against milk processing giants, but the way Happy Cow Milk Co valued its customers.

This was a company that not only talked to its customers from the get-go but treated them like insiders, as part of its purpose and journey – through the good and the bad.

When Herud shared the story of his decision to wind down the company on Spinoff it attracted attention from around the world.

So much so, he decided it was worth pursuing again – this time with crowd funders and a new distribution model.

Happy Cow Milk Co set up a sign-up page for supporters to receive updates on the company’s website and received thousands of hits.

On a Business is Boring podcast, Herud says he has received invitations to speak, investor inquiries from San Francisco and renewed interest from local investors he’d been trying to entice.

Why? Because consumers have spoken, because it was a continuation of a conversation, because it was like hearing a friend needed help.

“People really want to know the story and that’s because no-one’s really doing what I’ve been doing.

“No one’s really actually committed to solving the problem,” Herud said on a video on Happy Milk Co’s Facebook page.

Customers don’t expect perfection – they expect transparency.

The take-out from this is that it’s okay for companies to admit failure and talk about how they plan to improve the situation.

We’ve seen the opposite of this

TELL THEM: People really want to know a company’s story, Happy Cow Milk Co founder Glen Herud says.

its supporters-cum-investors in the retail industry recently, and whatever comes next will be where a doyen of fashion, followed on social media and World co-owner Dame Denise not just in NZ – there’ll be L-Estrange-Corbet, has appeared interest in this story from other defensive and out of touch with dairying nations facing similar her customers. challenges.

World has been vocal about the In the words of a Happy Cow importance of making its clothes Milk Co Facebook follower: “The in New Zealand but a Spinoff future of dairy. Compassion and investigation recently revealed empathy.” its clothing is not entirely NZmade.

The problem World faces is not that some garments are made elsewhere but that the company appears to not have been upfront about farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz using offshore manufacturers Agribusiness (2) and promotes Assistant Manager (1) its brand as Farm Manager (3) Made in NZ – Farm Positions (2) not surprisingly, General Hand (1) the Commerce Livestock Operations (1) Commission is Manager (1) investigating.

Regional Manager (1) It’s when Shepherd (2) people feel misled Shepherd General (2) that brands can Stock Manager (1) really suffer Tractor Driver (1) damage.

Back at Happy Employers: Advertise your vacancy in the Cow Milk Co, employment section of the Farmers Weekly sure, there’s been and as added value it will be uploaded to failure but all is farmersweeklyjobs.co.nz for one month or close of application. not lost.

The future Contact Debbie Brown 06 323 0765 appears to be or email classifieds@nzx.com in the hands of

RURAL SECTOR

JOBS BOARD

LK0092630©

Town Talk

World

40 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

Farmers to face ammonia limits STRICT and tighter limits will be imposed on ammonia emissions from British agriculture under government plans to improve air quality.

Farmers and livestock producers face further restrictions on organic and inorganic fertiliser including manures, slurries and nitrogenrich chemicals and their application.

Environmental controls will be extended to large dairy farms by 2025 under the plan – similar to the permits already applied to intensive pig and poultry units.

The proposals are contained in the government’s Clean Air Strategy, which was launched

by Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Michael Gove.

For the first time, the government will take concerted action to tackle ammonia from farming – which is responsible for 88% of ammonia emissions, the document said.

Farmers will be required to invest in the infrastructure and equipment necessary to reduce emissions – and supported to do so through a new system of

public money for the public good.

The government said air pollution is the fourth-biggest threat to public health after cancer, obesity and heart disease.

Other industries will also face restrictions.

“We will work with businesses, farmers, industry and households to develop innovative new solutions to reduce emissions,” Gove said.

The Country Land and Business Association said it is important any scheme provides genuine incentives to support farmers making the changes.

President Tim Breitmeyer said any system must provide flexibility and easy engagement for farmers alongside clear obligations for delivery.

“We will consider carefully the proposals that require farmers to invest in any system or new infrastructure and equipment that helps deliver sustained improvements.”

But the Soil Association said the government’s plan for tackling air pollution fails to do enough to tackle serious ammonia emissions from

Premium lifts bar for dairy

LIMITS: The British government is to put controls on fertiliser use to control air pollution.

farming. Policy officer Honor Eldridge said “If the United Kingdom is to improve its air quality, it is critical that we address all the causes of air pollution.

“While UK emissions of nitrogen oxides have fallen by about 70% due to measures to control air pollution in the last two decades there have only been small decreases in ammonia emissions.”

Eldridge said the government should support and promote a wider shift towards more extensive farming systems,

such as organic, grass-based systems with lower stocking densities.

The proposals are in addition to the government’s £3.5 billion plan to reduce air pollution from road transport and diesel vehicles, set out in July last year.

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the combined actions will reduce the costs of air pollution to society by an estimated £1b a year by 2020, rising to £2.5b every year from 2030.

UK Farmers Weekly

“

EUROPE’S largest dairy co-op, FrieslandCampina, will pay producers a premium for higher-quality milk with sustainable attributes.

The new Top Dairy line will reward higher animal welfare, biodiversity and lower greenhouse gas emissions with a price premium believed to be about 10 eurocents/litre.

Discussions are under way over exactly what will qualify producers to sell into the new line, with products expected to hit shops in the first quarter of 2019.

Expansion for producers on the new tariff will be allowed proportionately, in line with the demand the new line of high-welfare products creates.

“By accelerating our sustainability efforts we set the bar higher for dairy in general,” chief executive Hein Schumacher said.

The aim is also to improve nutrition while providing a good living for farmers.

“Being one of the leading dairy cooperatives in the world, we ask our members to show strong commitment to meeting the demand for more sustainable and special milk flows,” parent co-op Zuivelcooeratie chairman Frans Keurentjes said.

The co-ops’ 18,645 faremers in the Netherlands, German and Belgium get 29.29p/litre for milk with constituent contents of 4% butterfat and 3.3% protein.

”

I’m learning something new everyday.

Tammy Wright

Punching above her weight

Tammy Wright from Ryal Bush Transport is a young woman paving her way in a male-dominated industry.

Tammy had a big job pulling the logistics together at the Flock Hill Station annual lamb draft sale and talks to Craig “Wiggie” Wiggins about her enthusiasm for working out where the stock were heading and the best way of doing it.

2415FW

Watch our real farming stories on Farmer’s Voice farmersweekly.co.nz/farmers-voice

Real Estate

THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

41

Gold values fly high in tenders Richard Rennie richard.rennie@nzx.com INDUSTRY faith in the returns from Zespri’s SunGold fruit is reflected in the prices paid in the latest Gold3 licence tender by the kiwifruit marketer.

In tenders for another 700ha of licensed SunGold area growers have forked out an average of $265,180 a hectare, up $30,000 a hectare on last year’s sale.

Strong prices coincided with a heavily oversubscribed offering with 474 successful bids from 710 tenders.

Tauranga property valuer and orchardist Dylan Barrett said the values are a positive vote by the industry in SunGold’s future.

“But at the same time growers are conscious of the caveat around Zepri’s commitment to releasing 700ha of licence per year for the next four years. which is subject to an annual review that would consider any potential new risks to the demand outlook.”

Zespri’s plans at this stage are to release 700ha of new SunGold licences a year for five years, with this year being the first tranche after last year’s 400ha.

The marketer remains firmly upbeat about its ability to move

CONFIDENCE: Prices for SunGold kiwifruit licences are a positive vote on the industry’s future, Tauranga property valuer Dylan Barrett says.

the fruit, with volumes surging to 50 million trays last year.

Barrett said it will be interesting to see how the orchard market adjusts to the values and particularly what the effect might be on Green orchards.

“Good Green orchards could sell for up to $500,000 a hectare and there are people out there willing

to pay but we have not seen many top quality Green blocks sell this season to put a real line under values.

“There are people willing to pay for a good Green orchard, knowing they can secure a Gold licence – you can potentially justify paying $500,000 a hectare for Green to convert over to SunGold where the net earning potential could be north of $100,000 a hectare under effective management.”

This year is the first year the licences have been opened up equally to green field and conversion or cutover from Green fruit.

Zespri grower and alliances officer David Courtney said the split between the two planting options is estimated at about 50:50, slightly more even than last year.

Courtney acknowledged Zespri could have a problem in future over Green supply if it continues to lose land to SunGold.

“We are not there yet and ultimately what will slow it down is the economics of Green returns.

“Some growers at the top end are able to make $100,000 a hectare on Green against an average of about $60,000 so it is worth their while to keep at it.”

The combination of SunGold’s high yields (15,000 or more trays a hectare) and high returns is a strong drawcard to growers, despite the high entry cost of the licence fee.

Barrett said the pressure on Green supply will also serve to keep some pressure on Green orchard prices, despite SunGold being such a popular option.

Some growers at the top end are able to make $100,000 a hectare on Green.

David Courtney Zespri “But SunGold’s high cropping volume and its sheer consistency compared to Green, which can tend to be a bit up and down, makes it a great crop to budget on and if you are in it for the long term then converting does make sense.”

Bayleys Te Puke real estate agent Snow Williams said his greatest challenge is a shortage of quality

orchard listings, with no shortage of buyers looking.

“And they tend to be people from within the industry who know it well and see the future earnings to come out of it realistically.

“Buyers are now looking very favourably on Green as SunGold values get up there.”

He recently sold a 4.9 canopy hectare SunGold orchard for $5 million and Green orchards are averaging about $450,000 a hectare.

Williams expects a result very soon on the sale of the country’s largest privately owned kiwifruit orchard, a 98 canopy hectare property near Te Puke with the potential to generate 1.3 million trays when all vines are at full maturity.

Courtney said the marketer is finding SunGold remains a fantastic fruit to sell.

“We do know that we need to be cognisant that at some time the demand may slow down and of the issues that exist around the labour squeeze at this time of year.

“There is also a need there for greater processing capacity.

The opportunity is there but the industry will be working together to address it.”

Finishing farms are in demand Alan Williams a.dubu@xtra.co.nz FINISHING farms have been the most sought-after in rural real estate over the last year but activity has slowed sharply heading into the usual winter lull.

The trend has been most evident in Canterbury and Southland, taking some focus off dairy farming, Real Estate Institute rural spokesman Brian Peacocke said.

If a property is on the market and identified as infected that would stop the sale stone dead.

Brian Peacocke Real Estate Institute Mycoplasma bovis is a strong talking point everywhere but so far has not stopped too many sales.

“But if a property is on the market and identified as infected that would stop the sale stone dead.”

The institute’s all-farm price index has risen by 1.5% in the three months to the end of April and 2% since April last year whereas as the dairy farm index fell 2% in the latest three-month

period and is down 5.2% year-onyear.

Taking the dairy prices out of the all farm index signalled a healthy market for sheep and beef properties and for arable farms though sales activity in the latter is typically quite low, Peacocke said.

The index figures adjust for differences in farm size, location and farming type and are considered a more accurate summary of the market over the median price figures.

For all farms the median price per hectare for the April quarter was $27,309ha, compared to $28,368ha at the same time a year earlier.

Canterbury is one of the regions where sales activity in the April period this year was stronger than a year earlier, with solid sales across most categories and especially for finishing and grazing properties.

A larger number of sheep and beef farms coming onto the market at the northern and southern ends of the province indicated a busy spring.

There was increasing concern around M bovis there as there was in Southland.

That was highlighted by zero turnover there on dairy farms, whereas finishing and grazing farms had solid turnover.

Nationally, finishing farms made up 32% of sales in the April quarter, grazing farms 26% and dairy 20%.

CHANGE: The trend in demand for finishing farms has taken some focus off dairy.

The finishing farm number is significant given there is nearly always low availability of good properties in that sector, Peacocke said.

West Coast and ManawatuWanganui, mainly in sheep and beef, also had lifts in sales over a year ago but sales in Northland, Waikato and Otago were much lower.

The Healthy Rivers regulatory impact in the Waikato and Waipa river zones is now spilling over to the adjoining catchments.

Sale figures fluctuated for no obvious reason, except for Otago, which was beginning the winter

slowdown as strong activity in previous months showed the region is in good heart.

The median price for dairy farms was $36,028ha, up from $33,750 in the March quarter and $35,186 for April last year. That measure shows a stronger return than the more representative dairy farm index reading.

The median sale price for finishing farms was $28,427ha for April, well up from the $25,585ha a year earlier, a 15% gain, but below the March 2018 figure of $30,044.

Grazing properties told the opposite story year-on-year, falling to $10,692ha, the same as

March and down from $15,079ha for April last year, a fall of 29%.

Horticulture properties were steady in price with the median figure of $278,258 in the latest period being marginally higher than for March and marginally lower than April last year.

Total farm sales for the year to the end of April were 1468, a 19% fall on the previous year.

Finishing farm sales rose 10.8% but there was a 2.9% fall in dairy, a 37% fall for grazing farms and 39% fewer arable farm sales.

There were 30 more farm sales in the April quarter than for the three months to the end of March.

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

FARMERS WEEKLY – June 4, 2018

IMMEDIATE OFFERS REQUIRED – SELF CONTAINED DAIRY, WESTLAND

122ha F/H + 48ha L/H – Little Wanganui, Karamea Under Vendor’s instructions this property is being sold with immediate possession. Currently milking 240 cows 3yr ave 85,640kg MS. Approximately 114ha milking platform including 48ha lease and further 38ha F/H support. Excellent standard improvements. Large 4 bedroom permanent material homestead with attached flat. 28 A/S shed with ACR’s. Excellent compliment farm buildings.

Available going concern. Options to purchase with property in four titles.

Your chance to purchase in this great location and enjoy the lifestyle on offer. All offers to be submitted by 7 June 2018.

Web Ref: GDR3287541

Greg Daly AREINZ Mobile 027 478 3594 or A/H 03 762 6463

www.gregdalyrealestate.co.nz Real Estate Agent REAA 2008

“50 YEARS SERVICE TO FARMERS ON THE WEST COAST” Contributor to realestate.co.nz

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42

N O TI CE FIN AL

HISTORIC TYNESIDE- ATTRACTIVE SCALE, LOCATION AND BALANCE 1052 Te Wharau Road / Ruakiwi Road, Carterton, Wairarapa Tyneside has been farmed by the Duffy family since 1946 and presents an opportunity for those looking for a smaller sheep and beef unit in a desirable district being 20 minutes equidistant to Carterton and Masterton. Tyneside is 335 hectares that is well balanced with around 40 hectares that is fertilised by truck and the balance mainly medium hill on a mix of mudstone and limestone soils. Subdivided with permanent fencing into 33 main paddocks and 15 holding paddocks there are around 320 effective hectares. An oak lined driveway leads to the large character 1920´s four bedroom Tyneside homestead, set in mature grounds including a tennis court.

Other buildings include an older three-bedroom cottage, four stand woolshed, covered yards, stables, hayshed, and central cattle yards. A second block, Moons, is located 5km from Tyneside on the Ruakiwi Road. Moons is 155-hectare hogget block with around two thirds effective grazing land, the balance is a mix of attractive bush and some scattered scrub. There is a set of combination sheep and cattle yards and it is subdivided into six paddocks, with natural water sources and dams.

Moons has a real X-factor and features a 100-foot waterfall and hunting opportunities. The vendors´ intention is to sell the whole property, as one, or separately offers will be considered for each block individually. Sound like you? - give Blair a call today to arrange an inspection - a detailed property report is available.

BUSHGROVE - 1086 HECTARES 72 Adams Peak Road, Tinui, Masterton Located 20min from Masterton sits this economically sized sheep & beef unit. Bushgrove & Glentarn have been farmed as one for many years and together carry around 7,000su on around 845ha effective with the majority being medium hill, also 58ha of QE2, 60ha of forestry and 120ha of bush & Manuka scrub gullies. A real feature of the property are the lanes, tracking & access. An attractive character homestead and supporting shearers quarters, 4 stand wool shed with covered yards and other support buildings all being very tidy. Attractive scale and location- close to the shops, employment & schools.

1,086 hectares Video on Website www.nzr.nz / RX1506959 Tender, 1pm Fri 22 June 2018 NZR 1st Floor, 16 Perry St, Masterton 5810 Blair Stevens AREINZ 06 370 9199 | 027 527 7007 blair@nzr.nz NZR Real Estate Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

490 hectares (335ha & 155ha) Video on Website nzr.nz / RX1456847 TENDER Closes 4pm, Thurs 14 June 2018 NZR Office, 16 Perry St, Masterton Blair Stevens AREINZ 06 370 9199 l 027 527 7007 blair@nzr.nz NZR Real Estate Limited | Licensed REAA 2008

44

farmersweekly.co.nz/realestate 0800 85 25 80

Real Estate

FARMERS WEEKLY – June 4, 2018

RURAL rural@pb.co.nz Office 0800 FOR LAND

Property Brokers Limited Licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008

Punawaitai - coastal 465 ha

DEADLINE SALE WEB ID WR62173

CENTRAL HAWKES BAY 3340 Pourerere Road After over a century, Punawaitai is ready for its next custodian. Located at stunning Pourerere Beach on Hawke's Bays east coast is this bull and lamb finishing farm. 41 paddocks, most with reticulated water supply.

Modernised main home with tennis court and salt-water swimming pool. Two other rented homes, with a former shearers' quarters providing holiday accommodation.

The titles offer numerous options, including:

- Main farm 453 ha (bareland) - Main dwelling, cottage on 1.7 ha - Woolshed and quarters on 2.0 ha - 3rd house on 965m2 - Front flats 6.5 ha - 0.7 ha and 1.0 ha vacant lifestyle blocks Buy one, or any number of combinations, better still, buy the lot!

www.propertybrokers.co.nz

RURAL Office 0800 FOR LAND

Property Brokers Limited Licensed REAA 2008

Finishing, location, first farm

FINAL NOTICE

WEB ID WGR61871 FORDELL 146 O'Leary Road View By Appointment TENDER closes Friday 8th June, 2018 at 4.00pm, at Well located and in 2 titles this 80.1917 ha (more or less) finishing farm offers a good balance of fertile flat Property Brokers Ltd, 51 Taupo Quay, Whanganui country, with a balance of medium hills. Fencing is all conventional and in generally tidy condition. The farm has aesthetic appeal, with a scattering of established trees and an area of bush in the gully. A former milking shed and yards have been converted to handle sheep and cattle. There are 2.1 ha of well-tended pine Richard White trees valued and ready for harvest. A three bedroom Mobile 027 442 6171 Office 06 281 3720 home is located near the front of the farm.

TENDER

richardw@pb.co.nz

www.propertybrokers.co.nz

VIEW By Appointment DEADLINE SALE closes Tuesday 17th July, 2018 at 4.00pm

DEADLINE SALE Bevan Pickett

Mobile 027 220 2766 Office 06 928 0520 bevanp@pb.co.nz

Pat Portas

Mobile 027 447 0612 Office 06 928 0521 Home 06 855 8330 patp@pb.co.nz

4 2

New Zealand’s leading rural real estate company RURAL

|

LIFESTYLE

|

RESIDENTIAL

Just released Check the market pulse today, with the latest edition of the Rural Property Pulse.

We have just released the winter edition of our highly-read, national publication that contains relevant and up-to-date information on the rural and lifestyle real estate market.

Sourced from expert market commentators from across the PGG Wrightson business sectors.

Pick up a copy from your local PGG Wrightson Real Estate branch today. Or go to pggwre.co.nz/rural-property-pulse

TENDER

EXCLUSIVE

Avocado Retreat

Katikati

329 Thompsons Track An executive home and an exceptional private orchard on 3.5813 hectares with 220 mature healthy avocados holding a good crop. Fertile, sheltered land lies well to the harbour, massive views. Magical moonrises and sun streaming over the horizon into the master suite in the morning. Huge covered deck, triple garage and B&B income. Three phase power in the lock up shed, security gates, lots of sealed parking and a plug for the motorhome or caravan.

5

3

3

pggwre.co.nz/TAR28292

TENDER (Unless Sold By Private Treaty) Closes 4.00pm, Thursday 5 July VIEW 11.00-12.00pm, Sunday 10 & 17 June

Andrew Fowler B 07 571 5797 M 027 275 2244

afowler@pggwrightson.co.nz

PGG Wrightson Real Estate Limited, licensed under REAA 2008

Eildon Park Dairy Farm • 202.4080ha flat extensively sheltered fertile dairy farm • 600 cows, 240,000 kgMS, Fonterra shared supply • Border-dyke and spray irrigation, Lower Waitaki Irrigation Company water • Sharemilker engaged, winter grazing in place 2018/19 season • Settlement/possession immediate, benefit of new season payout projection of $7.00/kgMS • In conjunction with: Southern Wide Real Estate, Barry Meikle, 0274365131 pggwre.co.nz/OAM27466

North Otago DEADLINE PRIVATE TREATY Plus GST (if any) (Unless Sold Prior) Closes 4.00pm, Monday 2 July

Dave Finlay B 03 433 1340 M 027 433 5210 dfinlay@pggwrightson.co.nz

pggwre.co.nz

Employment

Classifieds

This Assistant Manager role offers a good mix of practical farming as well as higher level monitoring, planning and pasture and feed management.

Wanted September to January. Prepared to work long hours.

Remuneration negotiated dependent on experience.

Shepherd General To join our team of Owner/Manager and General on our sheep and beef finishing farm 12 minutes north of Feilding.

Successful applicant will have: • At least two working dogs and enjoys working with livestock • Fencing and water maintenance skills • Initiative and desire to learn and contribute in an intensive, high performing operation Single or family accommodation available. Remuneration package negotiable.

Apply to Ian Strahan 0274 30 40 21 strahani@inspire.net.nz

Role requirements: • Hands-on pastoral farming experience with a focus on pasture management and high-performance livestock systems • Strong people leadership and sound time-management skills • A desire and ability to train and develop others • Affinity for technology and intermediate level computer skills • An appropriate tertiary qualification is desirable • Driver licence essential

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, GARLIC & HONEY. 200L - $450 or 1000L - $2000 excl. with FREE DELIVERY from Black Type Minerals Ltd www.blacktypeminerals. co.nz BOOK AN AD. For only $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in The NZ Farmers Weekly Classifieds section. Phone Debbie Brown on 0800 85 25 80 to book in or email classifieds@nzx.com

Advertise your vacancy in Farmers Weekly Plus receive added value of online free of charge*

Phone Debbie Brown 0800 85 25 80 or email classifieds@nzx.com *Available for one month or until close of application

Territory Manager Lower South Island DE SANGOSSE is an international supplier of crop protection, plant nutrition, seeds and pest control products. The company is supported by its fully owned subsidiary Agronutrition, which specialises in foliar fertilisation and plant nutrition.

Our mission is to promote the implementation of more competitive agricultural technologies that are environmentally friendly, safe for users and use less water and energy, with a view to addressing food issues, climate risks and environmental challenges. We integrate the three pillars of sustainable development, being Economic, Social and Environmental.

DE SANGOSSE aims to create value for its customers by offering innovative product solutions backed by robust technical and trial based evidence.

Due to company growth that has led to an internal promotion, we are now searching for either a junior or experienced Territory Manager to grow the company’s specialty plant nutrition business.

In this role, you will report to the South Island Sales Manager and be supported by the Australia/ New Zealand Technical Development Manager. Your territory will encompass Otago, Southland, and the West Coast, possibly with extension into Canterbury over time. The role involves servicing DE SANGOSSE’s retail customer base, as well as visiting arable, dairy and horticultural operations, alongside their agronomists to provide on-farm technical support.

Competencies required to be successful in this role include: • Environmental, AgSci or other relevant qualification - preferred • An understanding of crop agronomy • The ability to provide technical advice to growers, agronomists and contractors • Sound negotiation and business development skills • Ability to travel extensively throughout the area To inquire in confidence about this role, phone Deb Francis on 021 224 5000. Otherwise, forward your CV with covering letter via www.agrecruit.co.nz by Wednesday 13 June.

GORSE SPRAYING SCRUB CUTTING. 30 years experience.

Blowers, gun and hose.

No job too big. Camp out teams.

Travel anywhere if job big enough. Phone Dave 06 375 8032.

AY

T FIELD

SA VISIT U

NEW HOMES udly NZ Madew Pro Since 1975

frigidair@xtra.co.nz

LK0091109©

Call or email us for your free copy of our plans Email: info@ezylinehomes.co.nz Phone: 07 572 0230 Web: www.ezylinehomes.co.nz

021 441 180 (JC)

FOR FARMERS & HUNTERS When only the best will do!

Gen Fielduine Spec ays ials

Combi Clamp Sheep Handler

The most versatile Sheep Handler on the market • No power • No air • No breakdowns • Hands free operation • Good flow • Complete control • Portable • Weigh, dag, draft, feet, vaccinate – all in one pass!

The Combi Clamp …

EMPLOYMENT ADVERTISEMENTS

Under the Human Rights Act, 1993, it is unlawful, apart from some exceptions, for employment advertisements to restrict applicants because of their sex, marital status, religious belief, colour, race, national origins, age, family status, or sexual orientation.

Known for good sheep flow, has been tested and proven to be the fastest and most popular Sheep Handler sold in Australia, replacing many Automated Sheep Handler units on properties throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Cattle Handling Equipment

Standard Crush, Vet Crush, Weigh Crate, Auto Head Yoke, Sliding Gates • Heavy Duty • Hot dipped galvanized • Efficient • One-man operation • Sure catch – never miss • Self-catching with auto reset • No weight limit • Easily adjustable width • Built to last • Full range of options available

Advertisements that discriminate in any way will not be published.

LK0090589©

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On-farm accommodation is available and, being close to town, gives opportunities for those with family and singles alike with a wide range of schooling, sports, social and outdoor pursuits in close proximity along with employment opportunities for partners.

CONTRACTORS

FREEZERS

RL62 S SITE

Our homes are built using the same materials & quality as an onsite build. Easily transported to almost anywhere in the North Island. Plans range from one bedroom to four bedroom First Home – Farm House Investment – Beach Bach

RUN OFF YOUR FEET?

www.gibb-gro.co.nz GROWTH PROMOTANT $5.85 per hectare + GST delivered Brian Mace 0274 389 822 07 571 0336 brianmace@xtra.co.nz

CHILLERS &

SOLID – PRACTICAL

You will be well rewarded, get to farm in a great environment and will be exposed to a wide range of innovative farming practices and passionate people.

www.agrecruit.co.nz

ANIMAL SUPPLEMENTS

WELL INSULATED – AFFORDABLE

This is a role with huge potential requiring experience, drive, an outgoing nature and a passion for farming and its people.

We specialise in agri-business

FLY OR LICE problem?

Electrodip - The magic eye sheepjetter since 1989 with unique self adjusting sides.

Incredible chemical and time savings with proven effectiveness.

Phone 07 573 8512 w w w. e l e c t r o d i p . c o m

T HI NK P R E B U I L T LK0092970©

• Provide management support and cover for the Operations Manager • Play an active part in the Livestock leadership team helping set and implement policy and direction • Manage and coordinate a team of Shepherd Generals which will operate as a centralised team across all farms with a focus on animal handling activities • Plan and coordinate workloads which see optimal use of people and equipment • Measure monthly pasture covers, monitor grazing management and maintain farm maintenance plans • Understand how livestock finishing systems operate and have insight into how to maximise these

www.drench.co.nz farmer owned, very competitive prices. Phone 0800 4 DRENCH (437 362).

CRAIGCO SHEEP JETTERS. Sensor Jet. Deal to fly and Lice now. Guaranteed performance.

Unbeatable pricing.

Phone 06 835 6863. www.craigcojetters.com

Apply to brandrethcontracting@hotmail.co.nz

Reporting to the Operations Manager, you will:

A full Position Description is available upon request from: jobs@brownrigg.co.nz To discuss, phone HAYDEN ASHBY on 0272 931 682

LK0092923©

Experienced in maize/fodder beet precision drilling: reversible ploughing and bale wrapping.

ATTENTION FARMERS

ANIMAL HEALTH

LK0092908©

Agricultural contracting business near Waimate.

Due to exciting developments within our Livestock enterprise we have a new role available which will provide senior level management and coordination support for our multi-farm operation.

Learn more about our business at www.brownrigg.co.nz APPLY NOW with CV and Cover Letter: jobs@brownrigg.co.nz

ANIMAL HANDLING

Tractor Driver

LIVESTOCK OPERATIONS

Reliable Strong, ffi cient E and

Myster Creek Fie y lday Site#C92 s

0800 227 228

www.combiclamp.co.nz

Videos on website – On-farm demonstrations available SI Stuart 027 435 3062

DOGS FOR SALE

DOGS WANTED

FORESTRY

PUMPS

7-YEAR-OLD all round mustering Huntaway. $700.

Phone 06 376 6254.

FORTY DOGS $500$2500. Trial. Guaranteed.

Ship NZ wide, Buy back any dog*. 07 315 5553.

Mike Hughes.

SOUTH ISLANDERS, shipping dogs down there on Pet Bus. June special $150! 07 315 5553. Mike Hughes.

YOUNG HEADING and Huntaways. Top working bloodlines. View our website www.ringwaykennels.co.nz Join us on Facebook: Working dogs New Zealand.

Phone 027 248 7704.

HEADING, HUNTAWAY, handy, backing dogs or bitches, 2-6 years. Top money paid. Phone Ginger Timms 03 202 5590 or 027 289 7615.

BUYING DOGS NZ wide!

Running. Handies. Fully broken. No trial or breeding required! No one buys or pays more! 07 315 5553.

Mike Hughes.

FOR ONLY $2.10 + gst per word you can book a word only ad in The NZ Farmers Weekly Classifieds section.

Phone Debbie Brown on 0800 85 25 80 to book in or email classifieds@nzx.com

NATIVE FOREST FOR MILLING also Macrocarpa and Red Gum, New Zealand wide.

We can arrange permits and plans. Also after milled timber to purchase.

NEW ZEALAND NATIVE TIMBER SUPPLIERS (WGTN) LIMITED 04 293 2097 Richard.

WANTED

HIGH PRESSURE WATER PUMPS, suitable on high headlifts.

Low energy usage for single/3-phase motors, waterwheel and turbine drives. Low maintenance costs and easy to service. Enquiries phone 04 526 4415, email sales@hydra-cell.co.nz

DOLOMITE, NZ’s finest Magnesium fertiliser.

Bio-Gro certified, bulk or bagged. 0800 436 566.

12 MONTHS TO 5½-yearold Heading dogs and Huntaways wanted. Phone 022 698 8195.

FOR SALE

CITRUS TREES

NEW SLEEP-OUTS. North Otago and South Canterbury. $9000 inclusive GST. Call / text 027 967 6881.

WILD CATTLE and goats wanted. 50/50 mustering.

Portable yards available.

Phone Kerry Coulter 0274 944 194.

HEREFORD PURE BRED, quiet rising 2-year-old bulls.

Owner bred. $1600+GST each. Phone 09 439 1055 or 021 205 2605.

JOHNNY GRAY

Price list available.

COPPERFIELD NURSERIES Ph: 07 552 5780 Fax: 07 552 4638

Ph: 027 959 4166

grant@copperfield.co.nz www.copperfieldnurseries.co.nz

johnnyanderin2017@gmail.com www.aotearoastockman.com maiexperiencejohnnygray

LK0092991©

LK0092561©

Specialists in mustering Wild Goats, Cattle, Horses and Sheep across New Zealand

NILB LIMOUSIN BULL sale. 7 June 2018, 1 pm.

View 16 R 2YO bulls from noon. 234a Te Tuhi Road, Matamata 3471

PROPERTY WANTED HOUSE FOR REMOVAL wanted.

North Island.

Phone 021 0274 5654.

JOHN DEERE 6410, 6600, 6610, 6800, 6900, dismantling Andquiparts.

Phone 027 524 3356.

WEED SPRAYING BOOM SPRAY. Broad acre, brush weed control, total vegetation. Hilux gun and hose units x 2 and mist blowers for gorse, broome, blackberry control.

Covering Lower North Island. Phone 06 375 8660 or 021 396 447, email kingbilly718@gmail.com

FOR SALE

Do you have something to sell?

•

Woodlands Trust, 63 Fsn/FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 107, PW 117

•

BJ & AT Bird Partnership, 43 Fsn/ FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 98, PW 103

•

Luke Bird Trust, 29 Fsn/FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 112, PW 109

•

Brian Coogan, 25 Fsn/FsnX Spring calving c/over cows, BW 99, PW 139, very good conditioned cows, calving fron 21st July to Hereford bulls, well farmed young cows.

DETAILS: •

Calving from 20 July to Jersey bulls, out 20 December

•

All vetted in-calf and have in-calf warranty

•

Farmed on Taihape rolling country from weaner hfrs

•

BW‘s up to 185

•

•

•

•

•

0800 85 25 80 classifieds@nzx.com

Check them out Taupiri Private Sales 07 824 6751 - Kelvin

Aubrey

Katikati 07 552 0815 - Ken 021 520 244 - Craig

Browns

Morrinsville Private Sales 07 889 5965 - Hamish

Bullock Creek

Waitara Private Sales 06 754 6699 - Roger

Corsock

Ongarue Bulls for sale from 1st May-30th June 07 894 6030 - Allan

Tahuna Sale

Waipawa Sale June 7, 11am 07 378 8979 - Tim

Hiwiroa Sale

Mangaotuku

Stratford Private Sales 06 765 7269 - Jack

Westwood

Tuatapere Private Sales 03 226 6713 - Anita

Q 1149 – 200 Fsn in-calf hfrs, BW 99, PW 94, 20/7 calving to Jsy, 460kg/lw, very good, $1300.

Hamish 027 432 0298

Hinewaka Sale

Glendhu

Heriot Private Sales 03 204 2052 - Fraser

Q Steve – 46 Fsn/FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 98, PW 97, calv 31/7 to Jsy, very good hfrs, $1600.

Steve Quinnell 027 278 3837

Waipukurau Sale June 7, 11am 06 858 5369 - Jim 06 855 4737 - Nick

Masterton Sale June 6, 3pm 06 372 7615 - David

Maerewhenua

Oamaru Private Sales 03 431 2871 - Norman

Rough Ridge

Q1117 – 89 Fsn/FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 45, PW 21, 15/7 calv, Capital stock, cracking hfrs, $1200.

Noel 027 588 7632

T&Cs apply. See nzfarmsource.co.nz/rewards

Glenrossie

Whangarei Heads Sale June 29, 1pm 09 434 0987 - David 09 434 0718 -Will

Mahoenui 07 877 8977 - Russell

Q 1079 – 23 Kiwi X in-calf hfrs, BW 125, PW 143, 24/7 calv, mated to AB, long estab herd, $1500.

Brian 027 244 0845

EARN FARM SOURCE REWARD DOLLARS ON ALL FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK PURCHASES & SALES*

Kerikeri 09 401 9633 - Shane & Dot

Raupuha

Q 1082 – 51 Fsn/FsnX in-calf hfrs, BW 60, PW 77, 20/7 calv, tidy hfrs, pick 35+, $1400.

Sheldon 027 222 7920

0800 548 339 | nzfarmsource.co.nz/livestock

Longview

Lochburn

Orena

Q 1077 – 280 Fsn and Fsnx herd – predom XB, 25/7 calv AB, 400kg/ ms, BW 57, PW 77, R/A 88%, Farm just sold, good operators, farmed on hills. $1700.

Eric 027 233 16878

FARM SOURCE LIVESTOCK AGENTS: Pat Sheely 027 496 0153 Kelly Higgins 027 600 2374

*

Looking for a Beef Shorthorn?

Ranfurly 03 444 9277 Malcolm

Using a n bull in Shorthor eeding ss-br your cro l increase wil program ne up to m botto li 20%

Renowned for great marbling producing top quality meat

LK0092258©

COMPRISING OF:

(Or PGG Stud Stockman Callum McDonald 027 433 6443)

Waitomo Private Sale 07 873 6968 - Ron Smith

Call Debbie

DAIRY COWS & HEIFERS FOR SALE •

Anita Erskine, Westwood, Papatotara, Tuatapere RD 9691 Phone: 03 226 6713 Email: westwood.farm@xtra.co.nz

CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING

AUCTIONS

DATE: Friday 8 June 2018 ADDRESS: Cambridge Sale yards, Hickey Road, Cambridge START TIME: 11:30am VENDORS: a/c Clients

See www.shorthorn.co.nz to view bulls for sale

https//www.facebook.com/westwood.shorthorns.and.coloured.sheep/

All bulls’ blood tested negative for BVD and vaccinated, TB C10

Livestock

ANNUAL AUCTION OF OUTSTANDING FRIESIAN AND FRIESIAN X IN-CALF HEIFERS

Bulls for sale by Private Treaty until 10th June

TRACTOR PARTS

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE

Specialists in superior field grown trees, all varieties grown.

221 Snodgrass Rd RD 4 Tauranga

GOATS WANTED. All weights. All breeds.

Prompt service. Payment on pick up. My on farm prices will not be beaten.

Phone David Hutchings 07 895 8845 or 0274 519 249. Feral goats mustered on a 50/50 share basis.

Westwood Shorthorn

LK0092992©

FERTILISER

DOGS WANTED

GOATS WANTED

47

Livestock

Classifieds

www.shorthorn.co.nz

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Livestock

GRAZERS WANTED WAGYU CROSS GRAZING CONTRACT

For further information please contact: Tim or Erin O’Brien Phone: 06 857 8305 Mobile (Tim): 0272 780 496 Email: tim@brownrigg.co.nz

TOTARANUI ANGUS Friday 8th June 1.30pm on farm, Pahiatua

Angus Pure index

+$153

+126

Self replacing index

+$130

+$108

600-day weight EBV

+107

+103

EMA EBV

+5.2

+4.8

www.totaranuistud.co.nz Pierre Syben 027 625 9977

50 ANGUS 2-YEAR-OLD BULLS FRIDAY 15TH JUNE AT 1PM 839 VALLEY ROAD, HASTINGS Contact: Will MacFarlane 06 874 8762 will@waiterenui.co.nz

• BVD tested and vaccinated • C10 status • Carcase scanned • Independently assessed • i50k

Email for a catalogue: bulls@totaranuistud.co.nz Daimien & Tally 06 376 8400

www.dyerlivestock.co.nz

Ross Dyer 0274 333 381

Contact Ross Riddell 0272 111 112 Grant Aiken – Whangarei 0272 458 821 Karen Fitzgerald – Palmerston North 0274 080 098

A Financing Solution For Your Farm E info@rdlfinance.co.nz

Mark Crooks PGG Wrightson 027 590 1452

Check bulls on www.shorthorn.co.nz (refer to “Sale Catalogues”)

Chris McBride Carrfields 027 565 1145

CAPITAL INCALF HEIFER SALE 86a Thames Road - Paeroa - 21st June 2018- 1pm

Monday 11th June 12 Noon Morrinsville Dairy Complex

Wa i t aw h e t a A n g u s On Farm 2yr Angus Bull Sale - 24 Bulls Bulls Sired By:

Waitawheta H8 ET - Waitawheta D12 - Waitawheta K44AB Kowai Trust 484 - Te Atarangi C Man I003 Plus 6 Waitawheta Pure NZ Sires

On A/c Venlaw Farms 153 (80 Friesian, 73 Crossbred) In Calf R2 Heifers BW 91 PW 101 Calving 18/7 to Jsy Bull, Out 18/12/17.

From a good herd producing 400MS/Cow, C10, EBL free, BVD milk rest clear, M Bovis not detected.

Showing very good dairy type.

The Heifers are well grown, fully recorded and transferrable, in good condition and are all one herd code.

VIC Plus a 4-week incalf guarantee.

Contact: Alistair & Pat Sharpe 07 863 7954 or 021 054 7862 Kevin Fathers 0272 799 800 - Brent Bougen 027 210 4698

Contact Agent in Charge Tim Rodwell (Rodwell Livestock) 0274 845 316 Auctioneer Darryl Houghton 0274 515 315

NZ Farmers Livestock Stud Stock: If you are looking for Pure NZ Genetics with substance and constitution we recommend you attend this sale.

LIVESTOCK ADVERTISING Advertise your stock sales in Farmers Weekly

LK0092972©

GOOD QUALITY GENUINE HEIFERS

farmersweekly.co.nz

13 Bulls available for sale Paddock sales

❱ Agent enquiries and inspection always welcome ❱ Can be used as a terminal sire. Will make off spring quiet ❱ BVD tested clear and vaccinated ❱ Tb status C10

LK0087799©

2018 Breed avg

Request Catalogues or view online: jersey.org.nz/jms

LK0087924©

Totaranui Angus sale bulls avg

Go with the tide at Jersey Pride

BULL SALE

2-YR BULL SALE

36 BULLS

115 x 6-8YR STN bred heavy ANGUS COWS SIC ANG 1/12 2 cycles 50 x 8YR STN bred top ANGUS COWS SIC ANG 5/12 STORE LAMBS 28-40kgs SIL Breeding EWES Due Jul/Aug 18MTH FRIES BULLS 400-480kgs 18MTH A&AH X STEERS 380-430kgs

LK0092968©

Fred, Chris, Jennifer Chesterman & Family @ 811 Maraetotara Road, RD12, Havelock North 4294 Ph: 06 874 7844 or 06 874 7728 Mobile: 0274 888 635 or 0274 777 637 Email: kphp@xtra.co.nz

FOR SALE

STOCK REQUIRED

Featuring the cream of Jersey stock Cows, In-calf and yearling Heifers BW’s to 239 +Top Type

LK0092913©

SALE DATE: Thursday June 14th, 2018 @ 1.00pm 66 Rising Two Year Bulls On farm auction

Elite Jersey Female Genetics 25th Annual Jersey Pride Photo Sale Thursday 7 June 2018 – 5.30pm

• Steers and heifers at competitive per kg weight gain rates • Wagyu Dairy Cross steers and heifers, minimum 90kg on arrival - Autumn born from June 2018 - Spring born from November 2018 • Simple no-fuss agreements

• 750 Cow herd selection pressure • Extensive performance recording • Balanced performance figures • Bulls health, service and semen tested

FARMERS WEEKLY – June 4, 2018

colvendshorthorn&angus

Alan & Val Park Phone 07 894 6030, Taumarunui

LK0092792©

48

Livestock

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS WEEKLY – June 4, 2018

RANUI Bull Sale

Strathmoor Polled Herefords and Iona Angus

Bull sale June 7th, 2018 2.00pm at Te Kuiti Saleyards 6 Hereford rising 2-year bulls 6 Angus rising 2-year bulls for sale Te Kuiti Combined Bull Sale

Brent Bougen NZ Farmers Livestock 027 210 4698

Bill Harrison PGG Wrightson 07 877 7778 Cam Heggie PGG Wrightson 027 501 8182

Brent Wallbank NZ Farmers Livestock 027 488 1299 Richard Bevege NZ Farmers Livestock 027 453 9824

All bulls are semen and service tested Scanned for carcase Independently inspected Cow herds run under commercial conditions

• • • •

at Kairuru, Reporoa JUNE 6 AT 1PM (m

Bulls displayed on concrete Hard surface in sale ring. Feet visible BVD Tested Antigen Clear & Vaccinated 3-year Guarantee for soundness & fertility

“Internationally proven from sea level to snow line” Enquiries to: Lin Johnstone Phone: 027 445 3213 Lindsay Johnstone Phone: 027 445 3211 ranui.w@farmside.co.nz PGG Wrightson Agents Callum Stewart Ph: 027 280 2688 Ken Roberts Ph: 027 591 8042

SINCE 1979

27TH ANNUAL SALE ON FARM LK0092666©

or agents: John Grainger PGG Wrightson 07 878 8969

POLLED HEREFORDS

LK0092491©

Audrey and Bruce Bevege 07 877 7541

• • • •

49

KAIRURU

3.00pm Thursday, 7th June Karamu, 662 Rangitatau East Rd,Wanganui

LK0092629©

Enquiries: Bruce Masters 07 878 8502

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

26th March a 28 R2YR BULLS FREE DELIVERY

GET THE WHITEFACE ADVANTAGE

LOT 4

KEVIN & JANE MCDONALD (REPOROA) 07 333 8068 • 027 451 0640 JEFF & NICOLA McDONALD 021 510 351 • kairuruNZ@gmail.com

Sale Catalogue online: www.ranuiangus.co.nz SALE TALK

F I R S T O N - FA R M SALE T U E S DAY 1 2 T H J U N E 2 0 1 8 , 1 0 . 3 0 A M 1 0 2 L AW S R O A D , D A N N E V I R K E

A guy unfortunately loses both of his ears in an accident at work.

The surgeon says there are no human transplant ears available but they have one dog’s ear and one pig’s ear they can transplant.

The guy isn’t very happy about this but realises it’s better than being deaf, so he agrees to go ahead with the operation.

A month later, he goes back to the hospital for a check up and the surgeon asks him how he is getting on with his new ears.

Home of - Zalta / HB#13615012529 | HD50K curvebender Limited semen available

INSPECTIONS WELCOME Willy Philip 102 Laws Road, Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 8857 Email: anui@xtra.co.nz

John Philip 923 Mangatuna Road,Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 2861

SIRES OF 2018 BULLS INCLUDE: WHENUAPAPA CRUMBLE 8-10

Auction TAKAPAU C E N T R A L

RANUI I650

HAWKES BAY

RATANUI ROCK 226

WEDNESDAY

The guy says, “Well, the dog ear is fantastic – I can hear for miles and no-one ever talks behind my back any more.”

13th JUNE 9AM

13 in-calf R2yr heifers 13 heifer calves PHOTO TO BE SUPPLIED Kate Taylor (2/3 Feb 2015)

Registered Polled Herefords

The surgeon asks, “Great!

And what about the pig’s ear?”

The guy says, “Well to be honest, it’s not so good. I seem to be getting a lot of crackling in it.”

SECOND ON FARM

BULLS ALSO AVAILABLE BY PRIVATE TREATY FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

JUSTIN & MEG KING, BROOKWOOD STATION 34 PAULSEN ROAD, RD 2, TAKAPAU 4287, CENTRAL HAWKES BAY P: (06) 855 8288 | M: 027 248 8400 | E: justin@brookwood.co.nz

www.brookwood.co.nz

KEVIN & JANE McDONALD

07 333 8068

Angus Cattle bred and tested under

COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS for you

SUDELEY

RICHON/BEECHWOOD

Tuesday 12th June, 2pm At ‘Meadowbank’ 546 Selwyn Lake Road, Irwell, Leeston

76 Rising 2-year-old Bulls Andrew and Anna Laing Rob Stokes 03 329 1709, 027 253 5625 03 314 8251, 027 757 1673

Rob & Mary Ann Burrows 03 313 2857, 027 263 3582

LK0092657©

GLANWORTH

PINEBANK

On farm auction 28th June at 2.30pm

By Private Treaty On Sale Now

GLANWORTH

PINEBANK

Joe Fouhy (06) 376 7324 Shaun Fouhy (06) 376 8869

Willie Falloon (06) 372 7041

50

livestock@nzx.com – 0800 85 25 80

Livestock

FARMERS WEEKLY – June 4, 2018

Real farmers breeding real hill country cattle for real farmers!

PETER & CAROLINE FOSS

R.D. Aria, King Country Ph/fax (07) 877 7881 pcfossy@xtra.co.nz

BVD Tested Clear 45 Top Quality hill BVD Vaccinated Country bred bulls Breedplan Recorded TB Status C10 Herd completely free of known genetic defect Only proven NZ bred bulls used in last 10 years Renowned for great temperament

Sound well fleshed sires, Excellent temperament Fully breedplan recorded on Commercial hill country 20 Bulls Catalogued

Enquiries and inspection welcome. Contact

Kevin or Megan FRIEL ph: (06) 376 4543

33rd Annual on-farm sale ANNUAL SALE THURSDAY 7TH JUNE 1PM, TE KUITI SALE YARDS

BULL OPEN DAY ALL ENQUIRIES WELCOME WEDNESDAY 30TH MAY 1 - 5PM

Monday 1 1

th

June 2018

TE WHANGA ANGUS power plus performance

625 Jackson Road, Kumeroa kev.meg.co@xtra.co.nz

www.mtmableangus.co.nz

ATAHUA 2yr Bulls SALE DATE: 11th June, 2018 - 11.00am

2018 FRIDAY 8 JUNE SALE DATE 10.00

2018 Sale Bulls by: Merchiston Stoker 350, Atahua 785-12, Atahua 15-14, Atahua 20-14 24, 2 year old Angus Bulls

See ebook catalogue online via Pivot Design or Internet Solutions VISITORS AND ENQUIRIES WELCOME

JASON COFFEY 691 Te Kopi Rd, RD4, Masterton P. 06 372 77 20 M. 0274 570 526 ROBIN BORTHWICK P. 06 370 3368 M. 0274 412 728 www.borthwick.co.nz te_whanga@borthwick.co.nz

Alan and Michele Dalziell 283 McBeth Road, RD7, Feilding 4777 Ph: 06 328 9784 Mb: 027 629 8954 Email: atahua.angus@farmside.co.nz

Colin and Louise Dalziell Ph: (06) 328 5011

RIVERLEE HEREFORDS

M R A F Y UALIT

2nd Annual Bull Sale 13th June 2018, 1.30pm

Y R E N I MACH ALE

Q

Held under cover on farm 2354 Rangiwahia Rd Rangiwahia, Manawatu

S E N I L DEASDING ON 22 JUNE 2018

CLO 1 MAY, VIEWING FROM 8.30AM, SALE VIEWING OFFROM ITEMS10.30AM CAN BE

AT TINWALD SALEYARDS, ASHBURTON

BY CONTACTING SALE INCLUDESARRANGED TOP ITEMS SUCH AS: CLAAS HARVEST CENTRE CANTERBURY

• • • • • •

FENDT 930 VARIO JOHN DEERE 1750 PLANTER JOHN DEERE 960 COMBI WRAPPER BALER CLAAS AIRION 640 CEBIS WITH STOLL F51 SL LOADER CLAAS LEXION 570 COMBINE NEW HOLLAND TM155 W/ QUIKE Q65 LOADER NEW HOLLAND TM190 SIMBA X-PRESS & ST BAR JOHN DEERE 6430 STD WITH LOADER PLUS MANY MORE

• JOHN DEERE 7750 PRO DRIVE FORAGE HARVESTER • CASE 2388 COMPLETE WITH 6M GRAIN FRONT & TRAILER • BREDAL MULTIDRIVE 6185 FITTED WITH BREDEL FERTILSER BIN • JCB 434S WITH BUCKET • KRONE TRIPLE MOWER GROUPER • MERLO 40.7 TELEHANDLER • CASE MX 255 TRACTOR • PLUS MANY MORE

or

DRUMMOND & ETHERIDGE

0800 432 633

FOR A COMPLETE SALE LIST VISIT

carrfields.co.nz

26 R2yr Polled Hereford Bulls HILL COUNTRY BRED FOR HILL COUNTRY FARMERS

Selling Agents: PGG Wrightson Callum Stewart 027 280 2688 Alex Stewart 027 461 1215

www.agonline.co.nz or www.herefords.co.nz Enquiries & Visitors Welcome Murray & Fiona Curtis 06 328 2881

Email: mfcurtis@farmside.co.nz

No bull, be in the know with Farmers Weekly bull sales results Delivered to your inbox every Friday get in touch with Nigel on 06 323 0761, 027 602 4925 or livestock@nzx.com to sign up or feature your sale results and receive weekly updates today.

farmersweekly.co.nz

2353FW

• • • •

LK0092581©

03 307 9400

Your source for PGG Wrightson livestock and farming listings

Key: Dairy

Cattle

Sheep

Other

OUTSTANDING HERD & IN CALF HEIFER SALE

SPECIALISTS IN GENETICS PERFORMANCE

Tuesday 19th June, 10.30am Start 25 Cochrane Road, Ngahinapouri A/C David & Karen Camp Comprising: 78 Incalf Frn-Xbred- Jersey Cows.

38 Incalf Frn-Xbred- Jersey Heifers.

18 High BW Empty Cows.

134 Head.

PGG Wrightson Genetics is a nationwide team of livestock breeding professionals, passionate about improving farm productivity through genetics.

BW 162/50, PW 232/54, RA 100% Due to ill health, our vendors’ herd which currently ranks number 2 in the country for both BW & PW is been sold thus giving purchasers a great opportunity to obtain cows with indices -AI contracts (42) and proven bull dam families rarely sold in NZ. 4 Koru Glen bulls currently at LIC and making an impact on the national herd include the top Xbred bull Beckon, BW 260. His dam Flor, BW249, PW554 and 9 family members sell mostly with contracts.

Calving commences the 12/7/18 with all cows incalf and scanned to AI. In-calf heifers were mated to AI and then tailed with Jersey bulls.

Our vendors have achieved up to 1800MS/ha and average 440/450MS cow most seasons with a 129 SSC this season.If you are wanting to up the ante with your herd genetics or require genuine herd replacements this is a must attend sale.

This is a totally closed herd including young stock grazed on a lease block next door, bulls which have been reared & retained on the farm.

Tested negative to BVD, EBL, Staphyloccus, Milk test free for Mycoplasma. TB-C10.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK Follow what’s happening out in the field, visit: fb.com/pgwlivestock

FOR SALE

A full range of farm machinery will be advised next week.

Purebred 114 Cheviot Ewes RW Cheviot Ram 16/4 2th, MA and Ewe Lambs available.

Contact Callum McDonald – 027 433 6443

A catalogue will be available online with all relevant information at pggwrightson.co.nz Or contact PGGW: Andrew Reyland – 0272 237 092 Vendor: David Camp – 021 182 3402

NORTH ISLAND JUNE

BULL SALE DATES Specialists In Genetics Performance View our upcoming on-farm bull sales over the next few weeks.

To find out more contact your local genetics specialist or head to www.pggwrightson.co.nz

NATIONAL TEAM. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE.

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 15 18 22 25 25 26 26 27 27

NI Limousin Bull Trail, 1.00pm Ipurua South Devon, 1.00pm Strathmore Hereford & Iona Angus, 1.30pm Pine Park Angus, 11.30am Ranui Angus, 3.00pm Waitangi Angus, 1.00pm Tahuna & Hiwiroa Shorthorn, 11.00am Glenanthony Simmental, 12.30pm Totaranui Angus, 1.30pm Te Whanga Angus, 10.00am Twin Oaks, 1.00pm Atahua Angus, 11.00am Mt Mable Angus, 2.30pm Ngaputahi Angus Bull, 3.00pm Danaleith Angus Sale 9.30am Snake Gully Limousins, 1.00pm Dannevirke Combined Bull 11.30am Motere Angus, 3.00pm Brookwood Angus, 9.00am Riverlee Down Hereford Waiwhero Angus, 12.00pm Elgin Angus, 3.00pm Hallmark Angus, 10.00am Koanui Hereford, 1.00pm Waiterenui Angus, 1.00pm Okupata Hereford Tawanui Hereford Ratanui Angus, 12.00pm Kaharau Angus, 4.00pm Whangara Angus, 11.30am Turihaua Angus, 3.00pm Rangatira Angus, 9.00am Matawhero Combined Angus, 12.00pm

Cambridge Te Kuiti Te Kuiti Marton Wanganui Waitangi Flemington Waipukurau Pahiatua Masterton Te Akau Kiwitea Dannevirke Pohangina Dannevirke Mangakaramea Dannevirke Waipukurau Takapu Rangiwahia Waipukurau Elsthorpe Stortford Lodge Havelock North Hastings Oparau Stratford Matawhero Gisborne Gisborne Gisborne Gisborne Gisborne

27 28 28 28 29

Turiroa Angus, 4.00pm Forrestview Charolais Matapouri Hereford 12.30pm Mokairau Hereford, 10.30am Wilencote Hereford, 2.30pm Glenrossie Shorthorn/Santa Gurtudra 1.00pm

East Coast Marua Gisborne Gisborne Whangarei Heads

SOUTH ISLAND JUNE 7 7 8 11 11 12 14 14 14 15 15 15 18 18 18 19 19 20 21 22

Grassmere & Capethorne Hereford, Riverlands J Angus, 2.00pm Haldon Station Hereford & Angus, 1.00pm Earnscleugh Angus, Hereford, Composite Martin Farming, 2.30pm Lake Station Herefords, 10.30am Sudeley Angus, Richon & Beechwood Hereford Bull, 2.00pm Fossil Creek Angus & Roseville-Moonlight Charolais, 2.00pm Kaiwara Angus Bull Hemmingford Charolais Bull, 2.00pm Blue Duck Angus Grampians Angus, 11.00am Red Oak Angus, 1.30pm Blenheim Angus, 11.00am Taimate Angus & Burtegill South Devon, 2.30pm Kakahu Angus & Charolais Bull, 1.30pm Centrewood Charolais, 11.00am Matariki Hereford & Woodbank Angus, 1.00pm Te Mania Angus, 12.30pm Stern Angus, 1.00pm Meadowlea Angus, 1.00pm

Cheviot Mackenzie Alexandra Wakefield St Arnaud Irwell Ngapara Culverden Culverden Agonline Culverden Weka Pass Ward Geraldine Geraldine Clarence Bridge Conway Flats Totara Valley Fairlie

NATIONAL TEAM. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE. Freephone 0800 10 22 76 | www.pggwrightson.co.nz

Helping grow the country

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Dairy

Grain & Feed

MILK PRICE FORECAST ($/KGMS) 2017-18

FONTERRA 2018-19

AGRIHQ 2018-19

7.00

6.97

AS OF 24/05/2018

AS OF 31/05/2018

Last week

Prior week

Last year

Canterbury (NZ$/t)

6.0 5.5 Nov 17

Jan 18 AgriHQ Spot Fonterra forecast

Mar 18 May 18 AgriHQ Seasonal

What are the AgriHQ Milk Prices?

The AgriHQ Seasonal milk price is calculated using GDT results and NZX Dairy Futures to give a full season price. The AgriHQ Spot milk price is an indicative price based solely on the prices from the most recent GDT event. To try this using your own figures go to www.agrihq.co.nz/toolbox

WMP GDT PRICES AND NZX FUTURES

7.50

6.35

379

379

334

NI mutton (20kg)

5.00

5.00

4.00

380

380

326

SI lamb (17kg)

7.35

7.30

6.30

Feed Barley

379

379

333

SI mutton (20kg)

5.10

5.10

4.00

225

Export markets (NZ$/kg) 9.10

9.19

9.08

286

286

UK CKT lamb leg

Maize Grain

421

421

410

PKE

287

287

219

* Domestic grain prices are grower bids delivered to the nearest store or mill. PKE and fertiliser prices are ex-store. Australian prices are landed in Auckland.

7.5

Last week

Prior week

6.5 5.5

Last year

5.0

CBOT futures (NZ$/t)

4.5

Wheat - Nearest

281

266

226

Corn - Nearest

230

226

208

South Island 1 7kg lamb

8.0 7.5

430

424

317

444

440

316

Feed Wheat

328

328

293

2500

Feed Barley

403

402

275

2000 Jul 17 Oct 17 Jan 18 C2 Fonter r a WMP

PKE (US$/t) Ex-Malaysia

120

129

7.0

NZ venison 60kg stag

6006.5

$/kg

APW Wheat ASW Wheat

5006.0

5.5

400

5.0

300

4.5

Oct

91

Oct

Dec

Dec

Prior week

vs 4 weeks ago

WMP

3240

3215

3290

SMP

1915

1890

AMF

5900

Butter

5660

Last week

Prior week

Last year

Prior week

Last year

1895

Urea

523

523

507

3.51

3.75

5900

6125

Super

307

307

317

Nth Isl 37m

3.60

3.60

3.80

5505

5250

DAP

739

Sth Isl 35m

5.10

5.20

3.90

775

775

150 Jun 14

Sep

Oct

Nov

4 w eeks ago

ON THE global front geopolitical tensions dominated markets last week while locally we have been focused on the reporting season as well as a number of important data points.

Italy’s political instability has been the cause of much of the volatility in markets recently. Last week things intensified as the coalition between the two populist parties hit a stumbling block when President Sergio Mattarella vetoed the choice for Minister for the Economy as he is a vocal Eurosceptic and would jeopardise Italy’s place in the eurozone. A caretaker Prime Minister, Carlo Cottarelli, who worked in the International Monetary Fund, has been appointed to ensure a budget is approved, however, it is thought that the cabinet he has assembled is unlikely to be approved.

Later in the week, it appears that the two populist parties decided to try again to form a government with the League’s leader Matteo Salvini gaining in popularity. It is certainly something to keep on our radars over the coming months and remains a threat to the Eurozone, with Italians registering the lowest satisfaction with the currency and trade union.

Market commentary provided by Craigs Investment Partners

8659

$/kg Jun 15

Jun 16

Jun 17

Feed barley

Sharemarket Briefing

S&P/NZX 50 INDEX

c/k kg (net)

NZ$/t

US$/t

3150

S&P/NZX 10 INDEX

8275

NZ venison 60kg stag

4.5

600

350 250

Coarse xbred wool indicator

5.5

CANTERBURY FEED PRICES

3200

22799

This yr

3.46

3250

16633

Last yr

Aug

Last week

3300

S&P/FW AG EQUITY

Aug

Jun

Coarse xbred ind.

450

S&P/FW PRIMARY SECTOR

Jun

(NZ$/kg)

3350

Latest price

Apr

NZ average (NZ$/t)

WMP FUTURES - VS FOUR WEEKS AGO

Aug

Apr

WOOL

* price as at close of business on Thursday

Jul

Feb

FERTILISER

Last price*

Jun

Feb

5‐yr ave

NZX DAIRY FUTURES (US$/T) Nearby contract

7.0 6.0

INTERNATIONAL

3000

Apr 18 Jul 18 NZX WMP Futur es

North Island 17kg lamb

8.0

c/kkg (net)

3500

Last year

7.60

Australia (NZ$/t)

4000

Last week Prior week

NI lamb (17kg)

Feed Wheat

Waikato (NZ$/t)

6.5

Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Milling Wheat

PKE

7.0 $/kgMS

SHEEP MEAT

DOMESTIC

MILK PRICE COMPARISON

US$/t

Sheep

$/kg

52

PKE spot

300

2.5Oct Jul

Dec

Sep

Feb

Nov

Apr

Jan

Last yr

Jun

Mar

Aug

May

Jul

This yr

Dollar Watch

Close

YTD High

YTD Low

Auckland International Airport Limited

6.60

6.77

6.11

The a2 Milk Company Limited

10.87

14.62

7.66

Meridian Energy Limited Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd Spark New Zealand Limited Ryman Healthcare Limited Fletcher Building Limited Mercury NZ Limited (NS) Contact Energy Limited Air New Zealand Limited (NS)

2.99 13.28 3.66 11.40 6.59 3.23 5.76 3.13

3.09 14.39 3.74 11.70 7.96 3.45 5.79 3.43

2.75 11.92 3.28 10.27 5.74 3.08 5.15 2.86

Listed Agri Shares

3.5 400

5‐yr ave

Top 10 by Market Cap Company

500

5pm, close of market, Thursday

Company

Close

YTD High

YTD Low

The a2 Milk Company Limited

10.870

14.620

7.660

Comvita Limited

5.850

9.210

5.750

Delegat Group Limited

8.700

8.750

7.510

Foley Family Wines Limited

1.550

1.610

1.400

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (NS)

5.170

6.660

5.140

Livestock Improvement Corporation Ltd (NS)

2.950

3.000

2.250

PGG Wrightson Limited

0.700

0.710

0.560

Sanford Limited (NS)

7.700

8.500

7.350

Scales Corporation Limited

4.700

5.000

4.350

Seeka Limited

6.800

7.010

5.800

Synlait Milk Limited (NS)

11.250

11.600

6.260 3.100

T&G Global Limited

3.100

3.300

Tegel Group Holdings Limited

1.170

1.240

0.810

S&P/NZX Primary Sector Equity

16633

17332

14417

S&P/NZX Agriculture Equity

22799

23669

18488

S&P/NZX 50 Index

8659

8713

8059

S&P/NZX 10 Index

8275

8451

7640

THE New Zealand dollar This Prior Last NZD vs has remained in a holding week week year pattern for the past USD 0.7013 0.6930 0.7018 week, oblivious of some EUR 0.5999 0.5913 0.6272 international ructions.

BNZ currency strategist AUD 0.9276 0.9154 0.9436 Jason Wong said after GBP 0.5280 0.5182 0.5452 steadily falling from midCorrect as of 9am last Friday April to mid-May the NZ dollar appeared to have found a level, holding at about US69c.

That was despite a fresh political crisis in Italy in which the President Sergio Mattarella has vetoed plans to form a coalition Government, unsettling European financial markets.

Wong said the NZ dollar similarly hardly responded to news the United States is imposing a 25% tariff on steel and 10% on aluminium imported from the European Union, Canada and Mexico, potentially sparking a trade war.

He said investors and speculators are not worried, having heard this rhetoric before but it also shows the value of the currency has consolidated.

“It is good to see. It means some downward pressure has gone away for some time,” he said.

Wong said BNZ maintained the view the NZ dollar will eventually start appreciating over the next few months to sit about US70-71c later in the year because of the fundamental strength of strong commodity prices, healthy terms of trade and global equity markets.

Little immediate movement is expected with the Australian dollar but there could be some easing against the euro and sterling because of the risk from the Brexit negotiations.

Alan Williams

Markets

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018

COARSE CROSSBRED WOOL INDICATOR

SI SLAUGHTER STAG

SI SLAUGHTER LAMB

($/KG)

($/KG)

R2 HEREFORD-FRIESIAN HEIFERS, 360-425KG, AT FRANKTON

($/KG)

($/KG LW)

11.10

3.46

7.35

Cattle & Deer BEEF Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week

Prior week

Last year

NI Steer (300kg)

5.40

5.40

5.70

NI Bull (300kg)

5.30

5.25

5.60

NI Cow (200kg)

4.35

4.25

4.30

SI Steer (300kg)

5.25

5.25

5.50

SI Bull (300kg)

4.90

4.90

5.15

SI Cow (200kg)

3.70

3.65

3.95

US imported 95CL bull

6.77

6.85

7.51

US domestic 90CL cow

7.06

7.01

7.15

Export markets (NZ$/kg)

North Island steer (300kg)

$/kg

6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0

South Island steer (300kg)

6.0

NZ venison 60kg stag

5.5

c/k kg (net)

$/kg

600

5.0

500

400 4.5 300

4.0

Oct Oct

Dec Dec

Feb Feb

5‐yr ave

Apr Apr

Jun Jun

Last yr

Aug Aug This yr

VENISON Slaughter price (NZ$/kg)

Last week Prior week

Last year

NI Stag (60kg)

10.60

10.60

8.90

NI Hind (50kg)

10.50

10.50

8.80

SI Stag (60kg)

11.10

11.10

8.90

SI Hind (50kg)

11.00

11.00

8.80

New Zealand venison (60kg Stag)

12

$/kg

11 10

NZ venison 60kg stag

c/k kg (net)

600 9 500 8

400 7

300

6 Oct

Oct

Dec Dec 5‐yr ave

Feb Feb

Apr Apr Last yr

Jun Jun

Aug Aug This yr

2.39

53

$2.85-$3.01/kg $2.61-$2.69/kg high R2 R2 Hereford-Friesian lights Traditional steeres, 390-510kg, steers, 410-500kg, at at Feilding

Wellsford

Mixed age ewes $200

J

ust over 2000 scanned-inlamb ewes kicked off the season properly at Stortford Lodge last week. Interest for two lines of two-tooths was limited, but mixed age ewes to terminal sires and early lambing proved popular, with most lines making $182-$203.

NORTHLAND NORTHLAND A local farm sale boosted cattle numbers by 300 head at WELLSFORD last Monday, and they were easily the feature of the yarding. The majority were R2 beef-Friesian steers and a buyer from Manawatu took a large percentage. The competition upped the ante, and Hereford-Friesian, 409-501kg, sold for $2.61-$2.69/kg, with Angus-Friesian of similar weight trailing by 5-7c/kg. Steady returns for lighter Hereford-Friesian, 382-401kg, had these earning $2.70-$2.74/kg, while a good line of 22 Angus-cross, 362kg, reached $2.79/kg.

The remainder of the sale sold well enough considering recent weather and high throughput. R2 Beef-Friesian heifers, 375-384kg, managed $2.53$2.60/kg, though Hereford-Friesian, 385-440kg, eased to $2.50/kg. Most lines with quality ranged from $2.35$2.46/kg.

Weaner Hereford-Friesian steers managed a lift as 146-165kg returned $640-$720, and heavier types, 253-282kg, earned $850-$920, with Hereford, 273kg, also slotting in that range. Hereford heifers made top dollar, with a few small lines at 247280kg fetching $600-$695, though there was some good shopping through the rest of the section.

Friesian bulls, 125-165kg, sold for a respectable $445-$550.

AUCKLAND AUCKLAND Results were solid across all sections of the PUKEKOHE sale on Saturday 26th May. Quality was mainly good in the prime section, which was reflected in the prices. The best of the steers, 616-779kg, returned $2.74-$2.81/kg, with second cuts, 496-518kg, making

ALL SMILES: The PGG Wrightson auction team enjoy banter with the gallery at the recent Limehills sale.

$2.50-$2.68/kg. Heifer prices were more consistent across the different weights, and 446-650kg traded over a tighter range than the steers at $2.62-$2.75/kg, with the heaviest line attracting the highest $/kg.

Like recent weeks boner cows were variable, with a line of 744kg earning $2.11/kg though lesser sorts, 436kg, fetched $1.41/kg.

Longer term store cattle around the R2 age proved to be the harder types to sell as they would need to be wintered and are harder to carry through than the lighter weaners. Medium R2 steers, 317356kg, looked buyable at $2.55-$2.65/ kg, while crossbred heifers, 365-384kg,

Continued page 54

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Markets

54 THE NZ FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018 made $2.30-$2.50/kg.

There was a bit more life in the weaner pens where steers, 160-173kg, realised $565-$650, and smaller crossbred types, 133179kg, $430-$480. Heifers, 122127kg, returned $420-$550, with some lines well over $4.00/kg.

COUNTIES COUNTIES Younger steers and heifers held value at the TUAKAU store cattle sale last Thursday, but the market for older heifers eased, Kane Needham of PGG Wrightson reported.

The bigger steers in the 600head yarding sold at similar rates to the previous sale, with 545kg Hereford-Friesian making $2.74/ kg. Another pen of HerefordFriesian, 422kg, made the same rate, $1155, and 323kg Angus R1 steers, $3.30/kg, $1070. Angus weaner steers, 201kg, fetched $760 and Hereford-Friesian, 160kg, $660.

The heifer section included 404kg Simmental-Friesian, which returned $2.29/kg. HerefordFriesian, 418kg, made $2.36/kg, and Angus weaners, 210kg, $665.

Hereford-Friesian weaner heifers, 231kg, earned $640 and a 160kg Angus pen made $545.

About 950 cattle were yarded at last Wednesday’s prime sale.

Heavy beef steers traded at $2.79-$2.84/kg, with medium types making $2.70-$2.76/kg, and lighter $2.65-$2.70/kg.

The best of the prime beef heifers fetched $2.60-$2.66/ kg. Medium beef heifers earned $2.50-$2.56/kg and lighter sorts, $2.40-$2.45/kg.

Beef cows sold at $2.05-$2.18/kg and in-calf Friesian, $1.85-$2.00/ kg. Heavy, well-conditioned empty Friesian made $1.70-$1.80/kg, with medium boners returning $1.63-$1.67/kg, and lighter $1.50$1.60/kg.

About 1600 ewes and lambs were presented at last Monday’s sheep sale and the market was very strong. The best of the prime lambs traded at $164-$186, medium $145-$155, and lighter $130-$140. The offering included about 500 store lambs with the best of these making $120-$131.

Medium types earned $112-$118, and light $95-$105. Heavy prime ewes sold at $135-$155, medium $100-$125, and lighter lines $85$95.

WAIKATO A moderate yarding at FRANTKON last Wednesday included a larger proportion of R2 cattle and in particular steers, which doubled in volume as the recent taste of winter encouraged more vendors to reduce stock to winter levels.

Heavier lines of Hereford-cross steers, 430-522kg, traded at $2.61$2.73/kg, while 333-361kg earned $2.34-$2.55/kg. Angus-Friesian, 513-551kg, received $2.54-$2.76/ kg, while a line of 11 at 447kg met keen interest and sold for $2.92/ kg. Lighter lines of lesser quality only managed $2.29-$2.37/kg.

Hereford-Friesian, 411-472kg, lifted to $2.71-$2.85/kg.

Hereford-cross heifers, 328393kg, were steady at $2.23-$2.38/ kg, while Hereford-Friesian, 406425kg, fetched $2.35-$2.43/kg. As the weight climbed so did the $/ kg, with 438-466kg earning $2.51$2.63/kg.

Steers and heifers made up the majority of the weaner pens and the market was steady for most. Angus steers, 170-232kg, traded at $560-$855. Three Hereford-Friesian, 158kg, were well contested and managed $600, $3.80/kg, while heifers of the same breeding and 257kg were steady at $680. Friesian and Friesian-cross bulls, 181-258kg, realised $455$660.

Vetted-in-calf Hereford cows, 452-634kg, were a feature and made solid returns at $890-$1480, and three Galloway cows with calves-at-foot returned $990 per unit.

The prime market had a softer tone for most, though HerefordFriesian steers, 625-722kg, were steady for the majority at $2.74$2.80, though 603-643kg eased to $2.47-$2.53/kg. A consignment of 20 Friesian steers, 628-681kg, earned $2.56-$2.61/kg.

BAY OF PLENTY BAY OF PLENTY A last rush of boner cows came to market at RANGIURU prior to Gypsy Day on Friday, and the influx was more than the buying bench needed with prices falling away. Better Friesian, 500kg plus, sold for $1.66-$1.76/kg with a few exceptions to the rule, while 470490kg fell to $1.60/kg. Lighter lines continued the downward slide and Friesian and Friesian-cross, 417-480kg, traded at $1.48-$1.58/ kg.

Hereford-Friesian steers filled most prime pens, and 530-591kg earned $2.70-$2.73/kg, while Friesian bulls, 616-655kg, made a solid $2.66-$2.74/kg.

Store cattle were good shopping and those that are able to buy at current levels will be rewarded with good margins later on.

R2 Angus steers, 451-455kg, improved slightly to $2.64-$2.71/ kg, though Hereford-Friesian, 413468kg, were discounted to $2.63$2.69/kg. There was no premium for a line of Angus heifers, 343kg, which made the same value as Hereford-Friesian, 338-416kg, at $2.37-$2.44/kg, with both selling on a softer market.

Weaners struggled and just one line of steers exceeded $3.00/ kg, while there was no interest for dairy-cross heifers with most well below $1.00/kg. Angus and Angus-cross, 150-164kg, sold for $2.41-$2.50/kg.

Around 140 prime lambs sold well at $117-$146, with stores making $92.50-$116. A small yarding of ewes sold for $77-$113.

TARANAKI TARANAKI Results were mixed at TARANAKI last Wednesday, with better quality cattle showing some improvement, but a number of dairy dominant lines hardly raised a bid.

A small yarding of boner cows showed improvement, with prices for 470-550kg Friesian firming to $1.77/kg. Two small lines of prime steers, 534-552kg, returned $2.78$2.80/kg.

R2 Hereford-Friesian steers managed to sell to $2.86/kg for the best line of 400kg, with nearly all other beef-Friesian returning $2.70-$2.79/kg. Shorthorncross, 446kg, also slotted in that range at $2.74/kg. Dairy lines however were discounted quite significantly with some small lines dropping below $2.00/kg.

R2 Hereford-Friesian heifers, 366-437kg, only managed $2.51$2.58/kg, but that was actually an improvement on the previous week.

Weaner prices were variable depending on what was liked and what wasn’t. HerefordFriesian steers, 185-200kg, made respectable values at $658-$670, but Hereford-Jersey, 163-177kg, were not as popular and sold for $455-$500. The difference was much more evident in the heifer pens where the better lines of Devon and Hereford-Friesian managed $610-$620, but Jersey and Friesian lines mostly sold below $300, with Jersey lines below $100. This was also repeated in the bull pens.

POVERTY BAY POVERTY BAY Cattle numbers were very low

by MATAWHERO’s standards, with few vendors keen to test the market last Tuesday. Just 220 cattle were offered, which trailed the equivalent sale of 2017 by 500 head.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand

Addington Raceway Thursday, 28 June 2018 beeflambnz.com/events The weather did not help the cause and buyers were as limited as cattle. Two bigger lines of vetted-in-calf cows commenced the sale, and both had seen an Angus-Hereford bull on the 20th November. The more Angus dominant line sold for $980, while a lighter line of Hereford-cross fetched $900. R2 volume was very limited, and the steer pens consisted of three lines of Angus steers, 300-400kg, which traded at $2.80-$2.92/kg, while the better heifers in a 315-395kg range were good shopping at $2.51-$2.66/kg.

While the weaner section did not hit 100 head it was by far the biggest. The market was hard going, with good weighted Angus steers making $830-$850, while heifers really struggled, with most trading at $600-$665 for 220-265kg. A small bull section featured a line of four Angus, 295kg, which sold for $700.

There were only store lambs at MATAWHERO on Friday but the decent sized yarding, 2750 head, was a little too much for buyers to take without prices dropping back a little. There wasn’t all that much difference between the heavy and good male lambs, nearly all selling at $125-$135.50 though a single line topped the day at $138. The medium and light males were often $105-$116. Only one large line of medium ram lambs did better at $123.

Fewer pens of ewe lambs were sold though they were often in lines with good numbers to them.

A group of good ewe lambs made $124.40-$127 with other medium

types generally $111.50-$118 if the pens weren’t too small. The remainder made $80-$98. The average price was $118 though weights were down a little too.

HAWKE’S BAY HAWKE’S BAY A busy week at STORTFORD LODGE had a number of highlights and some lowlights – heavy prime lambs easily exceeded $200, ewe numbers – both cull and in-lamb – climbed, while store lamb prices eased last Wednesday. Angus steers again featured at Monday’s sale, and a larger yarding of store cattle sold for mixed results.

With plenty of interest from both local and Waikato buyer’s, prime cattle numbers were not high enough last Monday to satiate current appetites. However more quality annual draft Angus steers were in and gave buyers something to get their teeth into. These steers were yarded overnight and at 575-628kg sold for $2.96-$3.02/kg.

In the sheep section, demand was strong across the board. A good buying bench was in place and lamb returns were very solid. The market improved for the majority, with the top mixed sex and male lines achieving $213-$221. All very heavy lines strengthened to $178-$213.50, as did medium-good to good lines at $133-$139. More very heavy ewe lambs were on offer and traded on a strong market, with the top lines nearly reaching male and mixed sex levels at $203-$208. Other very heavy lines lifted to $157-$180, with the next cut earning $148$162.

More ewes are coming to sale as scanning is in progress and dries are being shed. The top end strengthened by up to $10 to $166.50-$186.50, but the remainder softened $5-$10 for most. Heavy ewes traded at $144-$157, and very good types earned $137-$140. Medium to good lines fetched $119-$134.50, and light-medium types managed $104-$112.50, while the tail end maintained levels of $97.

Last Wednesday’s sheep sale kicked off with just over 2000 in-lamb breeding ewes. All lines were early lambing with ram dates between 10th January through to the 20th February, and all had been with terminal sires; mostly Poll Dorset and/or Suffolk.

Few buyers were keen to bid on the first two lines of two-tooth’s, despite a good quality lineup of Romney. The first line made $191, with the second earning $179.

Buyers had however come for mixed age ewes and the first line sold in three run-outs for $201$203. Most other mixed age lines sold for $182-$188, while four-five year sold for $195, and four-year $184-$185.

There was a notable market adjustment for store lambs as it came back $12 per head on average. Quality was much more mixed, and nearly half the yarding were ewe lambs, with over 600 lambs also sold in the very small pens.

Heavy male lambs sold for $130$145, with good types earning $120-130. Ewe lambs made up nearly half the yarding and quality was very mixed. Heavy lines made $120-$142, good types $111-$122, and medium $100-$120. There

was a portion of lighter lines offered as well which sold for $80$100. Mixed sex made $94-$123.

De-stocking to winter levels lifted store cattle numbers to 600 head. The market for older steers and bulls was robust, and R3 traditional steers were consistent at $2.86-$2.94/kg, though lesser beef-cross sold to limited interest, earning $2.54-$2.58/kg.

R2 Angus steers, 395kg, attracted a premium at $3.05$3.08/kg, matched by a line of 475kg South Devon-cross at $3.05/ kg. Other South Devon-cross lines stayed local for $2.83-$2.92/ kg, with Angus-cross, 457-562kg, returning $2.77-$2.79/kg.

Enough local interest for Friesian bulls firmed the market and 425-459kg fetched $2.76$2.77/kg. A heavier line at 570kg was passed in as it did not meet expectations. Two lines of Hereford bulls sold out of the region for breeding at $1500$1570, with the lighter line making $3.50/kg.

The heifer market was hard going and two lines were passed in, while those that did sell were buyable. Traditional, 371-428kg, were good shopping at $2.55$2.68/kg, while Charolais, 381kg, returned $2.71/kg.

The weaner section was very small though did feature a few lines worthy of a mention. Angus & Angus-Hereford steers, 222kg, fetched $840, and Angus heifers, 210kg, $630.

MANAWATU MANAWATU With space for lambs and ewes readily available these continued to sell well at FEILDING last Monday, while a bigger yarding of boner cows managed to sell on a firm market, despite the odds being against them.

Manufacturing schedules have held and most Friesian cows, 470kg and better, sold for $1.68-$1.83/kg, while 412-450kg regularly made $1.51-$1.61/kg.

Just the very lighter types dropped below that at $1.46-$1.50/kg, with Jersey, 430-448kg, returning $1.52$1.55/kg.

A small yarding of prime bulls was very consistent with most making $2.69-$2.79/kg. Both numbers and quality were limited through the rest of the yarding and the prices reflected low interest and the lesser conditioned lines.

It was hard to fault the lamb market, with more strong results posted as the regular buyers competed. The top lines managed to push to $180-$185, but overall the market was consistent. A larger entry of ewe lambs matched male and mixed sex prices, with a very heavy line of 90 selling to $174, while heavy types made $144-$155. Top price of $185 was spent on 20 mixed sex lambs, with most others making $150-$167.

Male lines generally sold for $163$180, and over the whole yarding no lines dropped below $130.

Ewe volume continued to trend down, though the pens did feature a line of 167 very good two-tooth’s that returned $141. The cheapest ewes were $102, with the top line selling to $167, while the bulk sat in a $130-$150 range.

RONGOTEA finished off May with a typical yarding for the time of year, with a slight increase in R2 numbers as locals de-stock to winter levels.

Markets

The only cattle present in the prime and boner pens were cows, and a line of Hereford-Friesian, 430kg, managed $2.05/kg, while better boners made $1.66-$1.85/ kg, and medium types, $1.25$1.55/kg.

Red Devon steers, 435kg, were good shopping at $2.44/kg, while other better types tended to trade more in a $2.23-$2.36/kg range.

Lesser beef lines and Friesian steers sold for $1.85-$2.06/kg.

One line of Angus bulls, 560kg, returned $2.57/kg. Autumn-born Hereford-Friesian bulls, 323kg, finished up at $3.28/kg.

Heifer prices also reflected limited interest and HerefordFriesian, 425kg, sold to $2.39/ kg, and good Friesian, 393-425kg, $2.29-$2.33/kg. Most other lines were even off that pace however, with a number of lines dropping below $2.00/kg.

The lighter cattle found in the younger pens were subjected to a bit more interest from the bench and a few lines managed to exceed $3.00/kg. Friesian bulls, 139kg, fetched $440, $3.16/kg, while lighter Hereford-Friesian, 116137kg, made $415-$490. Murray Grey, 170kg, made $500 and Hereford, 195kg, $550. Most beef and beef-cross heifers traded at $480-$550.

Calves are still trickling in and Friesian bulls made $190-$310, and Hereford-Friesian, $180-$280.

Angus-cross sold for $100-$270 and Red Poll, $180. HerefordFriesian heifers earned $100-$330 and Friesian, $100.

Mixed age ewe’s fetched $146, Two-tooth’s $151, and mixed sex lambs, $72-$139.

It was a rather uneventful day for the 1300 store cattle offered at FEILDING on Fridayu. Good traditional and Charolais R3 steers, 470-670kg, were bought at $2.87-$2.92/kg, though a few lesser types were comfortably lower. A single line of R3 Angus heifers, 380kg, were $2.39/kg.

There were very few dairy-cross lines in the R2 steers, instead mainly consisting of traditional and Simmental types. The traditional steers, 480-510kg, made $2.77-$2.76/kg, but rose to $2.90-$3.02/kg for 390-455kg.

The 545-575kg Simmentals were $2.78-$2.80/kg. Buyers were quite selective on the traditional R2 heifers. A few 360-395kg traditional heifers made $2.81$2.91/kg, but the rest, 305-395kg, were more like $2.52-$2.60/kg.

Hereford-Friesian heifers, 395445kg, were $2.65-$2.68/kg. R2 bulls were quite mixed too. Some Friesian and beef-cross lines, 455-545kg, made $2.71-$2.81/kg, but other lighter beef-cross pens, usually shorter in numbers too, were at $2.44-$2.64/kg.

Weaner Friesian bulls, 225285kg, were at $3.19-$3.39/kg.

Hereford-Friesian heifers, 175235kg, made $2.72-$2.86/kg, while other straight-beef types, 130215kg, were at $2.98-$3.26/kg.

It was another busy day in the sheep yards as more than 20,000 store lambs arrived. The sale began 30 minutes late and never really got rolling to the same extent as a week ago. Heavy male lambs were $143-$148 normally, but one line did make $161. Good male lines were $123-$140, while mediums were more like $112$131. Ewe lambs took up a decent

FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018 portion of the sale though, and these were closer to steady. Heavy ewe lambs were $123-$140.50, while good and medium lines averaged $117-$122. Even the lighter pens were still solid at $100.50-$116.

CANTERBURY CANTERBURY The CANTERBURY PARK sale was definitely a game of two halves last Tuesday, with the rostrum not offering up nearly as an enjoyable selling environment as the sheep pens.

The strengthening of the South Island store lamb market continued, with this yard following in a very similar vein to Temuka by posting the highest prices seen since 2011. The general rule of thumb was that any lines 34kg and under sold at or over $4.00/kg, and all male lambs traded at $120-$135, with three lines of ewe lambs returning $127-$130. Few mixed sex could be purchased for less than $115, with most easily selling in a $115$137 range on a lifting market. $200 was hit and passed in the prime lamb pens, where a few small lines sold for $200-$204. A number of other pens were not far off and traded at $190-$199, with most other lines earning $130$188.

Prime ewes made consistent returns for another small yarding, and the top line of three shorn ewes made an impressive $286.

Heavy ewes sold for $172-$198, but in general most lines fetched $110-$168.

The prime cattle market was good enough, and a special entry of 40 well-bred Angus and AngusHereford steers sold slightly above expectations at $2.75-$2.88/ kg. That flowed through into the Hereford-Friesian pens as 508-525kg managed $2.81-$2.84/ kg, while a lone Charolais steer, 650kg, topped the section at $2.94/kg.

The heifer market was harder going as buyers stuck firm to budgets. Better yielding types sold to $2.63-$2.77/kg but were few and far between, and most lines sat somewhere at $2.46-$2.60/kg.

Demand was solid for the limited number of prime cows on offer, and Murray Grey always have high yield potential and so those offered made a premium at $2.06-$2.14/kg for 615-785kg.

Auctioneers earned their lunch on store cattle, as they had to work to coax bids out of a reluctant buying bench. While traditional cattle traded at typical levels for the time of year, the beef-Friesian and dairy-cross cattle were also subjected to further lessening of interest as buyers see these cattle as too higher risk of M.bovis.

The R2 steer pens offered up some nice lines of Angus & AngusHereford and at 402-501kg these sold for $2.83-$2.94/kg. HerefordFriesian of similar weight were discounted 30-35c/kg on that.

Prices were more consistent through the heifer pens, with a very solid price ceiling of $2.60/ kg firmly in place. Just one line pushed past that, with all breeds, from Angus through to crossbred and Limousin, trading at $2.43$2.60/kg.

An entry of Simmental-cross weaner steers and heifers had plenty of weight and sold at relatively good levels. The steers,

243-284kg, returned $820$940, and heifers, 296kg, $920.

Hereford-Friesian heifers, 192200kg, were very good shopping in comparison at $560-$600.

Autumn finished on a strong note in the sheep pens at COALGATE last Thursday, while cattle results were mixed.

Store lamb numbers dropped below 1000 head, and reasonably similar per head prices to previous week for a much lighter yarding meant that the market had strengthened. Most were light to medium types which sold for $90-$129.

Prime lamb numbers increased to 1575 and prices held at $130$185, with nearly 100 head also making $192-$199.

The ewe market continued in its holding pattern, and even though quality was very mixed there was no shopping done under $110.

Most ewes traded at $110-$185, and two-tooth’s sold for $111$141.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand

Addington Raceway Thursday, 28 June 2018 beeflambnz.com/events Breeding ewes made an appearance, in the form of two lines of annual draft Romdale ewes, scanned-in-lamb to Hampshire Texel-cross rams.

These ewes were in light condition and sold above works value with the top line of 233 earning $128, and a smaller second line, $127.

The cattle sale was best described as mixed in regards to results posted, with highlights and lowlights throughout the day.

Prime steers lifted from the low levels they found themselves at the previous week. Good beef and beef-cross lines sold consistently at $2.60-$2.72/kg, though Dairycross and lighter, lesser yielding lines traded at $2.45-$2.51/kg.

One line of 16 Angus heifers, 424kg, made $2.59/kg, but most traded at $2.42-$2.56/kg.

Friesian made up the bulk of the cow section and prices edged south, with 575-630kg earning $1.60-$1.64/kg, and lighter lines, $1.25-$1.40/kg.

The store pens offered up a smorgasbord of cattle, with lines to buyer’s tastes selling above current market values, while other lines were left alone.

A specially advertised consignment of in-calf beefFriesian heifers and cows were offered due to a lease expiration.

The heifers had been to a Murray Grey bull and sold for a respectable $1040-$1180, $2.24$2.46/kg. The cows had seen a Hereford bull but results were much more mixed, and while a few lines sold up to $1.64-$1.82/ kg, most made processor value at $1.24-$1.48/kg.

A consignment of R2 Charolais-

cross steers and heifers were annual draft cattle and sold streaks ahead of anything else, with the steers 479-523kg and trading at $2.75-$2.84/kg. The closest line to that was six light Angus at $2.72/kg. HerefordFriesian were well off the pace at $2.44-$2.54/kg for 443-493kg.

The Charolais-cross heifers also made a premium with 455-513kg returning $2.64-$2.65/kg.

Charolais-cross weaner cattle were from a different camp and also met keen interest, with the steers weighing 277kg and making $890, and the heifers, 256kg, $810.

Angus was the main feature, and prices reflected good interest as the steers, 178-230kg, sold for $745-$910, and the better heifers, 194-258kg, $650-$790. In contrast there were no takers for Friesian bulls, and a line of 21 147kg made just $220.

SOUTH CANTERBURY SOUTH CANTERBURY For the first time since 2011 TEMUKA store lamb prices pushed past the $4.00/kg mark last Monday, bringing them to very similar levels currently seen in the North Island.

There are more buyers, more confidence and less lambs, which, all rolled into one, was the main driver of prices, with increased demand from the wider Canterbury region for both short and long term lambs.

Last Mondays sale had all lines (except Merino) 31kg and under exceeding $4.00/kg. That meant that just one line sold below $110, with most mixed sex up to 31kg making $111-$130, with heavier types trading at $122-$134.50.

Three lines of Merino sold for $48-$88.

The other talking point was the first of the breeding ewes, in the form of three lines of capital stock run-with-ram Romney’s, which equated to nearly 400 head.

Suffolk rams went out with the ewes on the 22nd April, and were sold with them. All lines were picked up by one buyer at a very reasonable $148-$178.

The prime market could not be overlooked as lamb prices firmed $3-$5 across the board with the majority trading at $130-$176.

One buyer again dominated a small ewe section and as a result the market maintained the high levels set a few weeks back. The top line sold to an impressive $270, while heavy types made $170-$196, and most other lines, $111-$165.

Buyers kept a lid on bids for manufacturing cattle with many unsure what for the Government’s announcement on M.bovis would take.

All weights eased very slightly for Friesian cows, and a blanket could be thrown over much of the offering at $1.30-$1.45/kg, though heavier lines did manage to push to $1.50-$1.53/kg.

There was a bit more life in a small prime section. A firm bull market seen the previous week was repeated, though low numbers worked in their favour.

High yielding lines of all breeds and 614-725kg managed $2.56$2.70/kg, while heavy ex-service bulls made $1.95-$1.96/kg.

Breeding also helped coax out bids, with good yielding Angus steers, 568-625kg, making

55

a premium at $2.63-$2.70/kg, while a line of 510kg heifers were hot on their hooves at $2.60/kg.

Hereford-Friesian steers, 493600kg, sold on a steady market at $2.50-$2.58/kg.

Heifers also tended to trade over a tight range which was similar to the steers at $2.50-$2.63/kg.

OTAGO OTAGO Results out of the BALCLUTHA sale yards continued to be very positive last Wednesday, with very heavy prime ewes selling up to $238, and all other sections strong, PGG Wrightson agent Alex Horn reported.

Demand held firm for store lambs with prices at similar levels to the previous week.

The top lines sold to $120-$128, medium $100-$120, and lighter types, $80-$100.

Good numbers of prime lambs are still flowing and all weights held last week’s lift in prices.

Heavy lambs sold for $160-$190, medium $140-$160, and lighter, $125-$140. That was then repeated in the ewe pens, where heavy lines sold for $190-$238, and medium types firmed to $120-$180. Lighter ewes were steady at $80-$120, while rams started at $60 and sold up to $126.

SOUTHLAND SOUTHLAND Store lambs held value at LORNEVILLE last Tuesday, as demand continued to be high.

Boner cow prices firmed, though store cattle continued to trade at winter levels.

The store lamb market was a very close reflection on the previous week, as top lines made $105-$120, medium $85-$100, and light, $70-$85.

Quality was more variable through the prime lamb pens and as such prices were not as high as the previous week.

Heavy lambs sold to $140-$171, medium $124-$138, and lighter, $100-$120. That was repeated in the ewe pens for medium types with prices slightly softer at $103-$127, though heavy lines improved to $130-$172, and lighter types made steady returns at $80-$100. Lower condition ewes sold for $20-$60, and rams, $40-$66.

A medium yarding of prime and boner cattle sold with a firm tone, especially in the cow pens where prices notably improved.

Heavy cows, 550kg plus, firmed 5c/kg to $1.38-$1.45/kg, with medium types following suit to $1.24-$1.34/kg. Lighter types did lose some ground though, as 380-420kg returned $1.00-$1.10/ kg. Steers, 450kg plus, sold on a steady market at $2.45-$2.50/kg, while dairy-beef heifers, 420kg plus, earned $2.30-$2.40/kg.

Dairy heifers, 320kg, made $1.60/kg.

Winter mode has well and truly hit the store pens and prices reflected limited quality and demand. R2 beef-cross heifers, 410-440kg, made $2.24-$2.38/kg, while Friesian bulls, 350-400kg, returned $2.12-$2.14/kg, and steers, 390kg, $2.15/kg.

That left a handful of weaner cattle to sell and Hereford-cross steers, 213kg, were buyable at $590, while heifers of same breeding and 174kg made $500.

Friesian bulls, 185-201kg, fetched $490-$560.

Markets

56 FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 4, 2018 NI SLAUGHTER LAMB

NI SLAUGHTER BULL

SI SLAUGHTER COW

($/KG)

($/KG)

MEDIUM MIXED SEX LAMBS AT TEMUKA

($/KG)

($/HD)

7.60

5.30

3.70

125

high $2.96-$3.02/kg lights Prime Angus steers, 575-

625kg (empty weight), at Stortford Lodge

Beef exports face clouds Neal Wallace neal.wallace@nzx.com

A

FTER a positive start to the global beef trading year Rabobank is warning storm clouds building on the horizon could have negative implications for New Zealand exporters.

Global beef supplies are starting to grow because of dry weather in the United States, surplus protein stocks in Brazil and changes to the Australian live cattle trade, Rabobank animal protein specialist Blake Holgate said.

“Each of these factors has the potential to cause major disruption to global beef trade flows and to drive global beef pricing lower,” he said.

It is estimated 70% of US beef cows are now under manageable drought stress, which is disrupting the US cow market.

Slaughter numbers are already higher than previous years so there could be some forced liquidation, increasing domestic US beef supplies and stocks in international markets.

“The next few months will be crucial with continued dry weather likely to see a liquidation around August.”

Growing beef supplies in Brazil and falling exports of chicken and pork because of restrictions have flooded the domestic market with animal protein, deflating prices.

DANGEROUS: Threats to New Zealand beef exports are looming but the dry weather in the United States is likely to have the greatest impact, Rabobank animal protein analyst Blake Holgate says.

Should the US imported beef price drop further it is likely NZ beef prices would follow.

Blake Holgate Rabobank “If low domestic protein prices continue it could push the Brazilian beef industry to try to find other export destinations for their product.

“We have already seen Brazilian beef exports

increase by 20% in the first quarter of 2018 and unless the pork and poultry industries reduce their supply we are likely to see Brazilian beef exports grow even further.”

Australia began live cattle shipments to China in January with forecasts 100,000 could be transported this year.

“While 100,000 head is a small volume in the context of total Chinese beef production the potential flow-on effects of redirecting Australian cattle from other southeast Asian markets may set in motion a shuffle of southeast Asian beef procurement,” Holgate said.

NZ Representative Daniel Aldworth Mobile 0275 562 256

Mixed age Romney ewes, early lambing to terminal sires, at Stortford Lodge

Cattle buyers wary of any dairy stock IT IS a bit odd writing reports on sale yards at the moment, as I do for our AgriHQ LivestockEye. It is all very exciting when talking about the lamb markets but get onto the cattle and it’s a very different story. That is Suz Bremner very typical for the time of year but AgriHQ Analyst to me it seems this year is more of a stark contrast, helped largely by the lamb markets at levels reminiscent of 2011’s highs but the cattle sales have the Mycoplasma bovis cloud hanging over them as well as the typically limited interest through winter.

Temuka and Canterbury Park joined the North Island yards this week by pushing past the $4/ kg mark for store lambs. There have been reports of some regular cattle buyers switching focus to lambs in a bid to avoid the M bovis risk, which has meant more competition for the limited number of lambs available. Male lamb volume in the North Island has peaked and while some markets were softer because of buyers being full up, they are still very high and prices should rebound once they empty out and scramble for the last of the lambs.

And then there are the store cattle markets and the M bovis elephant in the room. A few weeks back I mentioned we were starting to see the effect of the disease at some South Island yards and while many are not happy to admit it, that concern is mounting. Even in the North Island there are murmurs of wanting to know exactly where cattle have come from in case they have been in infected areas and this, unfortunately, is only the start.

If more properties in other regions are found to be infected then sale yards in those areas will face the same scrutiny. The beef cattle market is at typically winter-low levels and is largely unaffected by the risk of the disease but buyers are very cautious on anything with dairy blood and the heifer market, in particular, really has fallen away. Sadly, this situation is going to get worse before it gets better and our poor industry is in for a rough time ahead. suz.bremner@nzx.com

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“Indonesia’s announcement it will import 100,000 tonnes of carabeef from India in 2018 would easily account for the loss of 100,000 Australian live cattle diverted away from Indonesia to China and potentially establish a more permanent supply chain between the two countries.”

Of the three looming threats, the dry weather in the US would potentially have the greatest impact on NZ. “Since April we’ve already seen weaker US beef import prices contribute to domestic cattle prices falling by 2% in the North Island and 3% in the south,” he said.

“We do expect the depreciation of the NZ dollar against the US dollar to limit further softening of schedule prices over the coming months.

“However, should the US imported beef price drop further it is likely NZ beef prices would follow.”

News a further 126,000 cattle will be culled in the next two years to control Mycoplasma bovis will put pressure on prices but the long-term impact should not be significant, Holgate said.

Export volumes rose only 1% in the first quarter of the year but fell in key Asian markets Taiwan, South Korea and Japan because of competition from Australia and the US and a temporary tariff hike by Japan.

In contrast, exports to China rose 9% over the same period.

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P52 P53

NZ’S #1 RURAL REAL ESTATE BRAND ISSUE 1 - 2018

YOUR GO -TO GUIDE FOR REGULAR, INFORMATIVE COMMENTARY ON KEY MATTERS AFFECTING THOSE LIVING AND WORKING IN RURAL NEW ZEALAND.

THERE’S SO MUCH HAPPENING

beyond the gate There is an old saying “you can make a small fortune in farming – provided you start with a large one”.

While there may have been an element of truth in that over time, let’s not downplay the importance of hard graft and perseverance, coupled with the improving operating returns we have seen across most agri sectors over the last couple of years. Add in the rise in rural land prices that we’ve witnessed in recent times and there remains plenty of opportunity in the wider agri sector.

Like any pursuit, farming – and this includes forestry, horticultural and viticultural activity – is all about optimising opportunities, making the most of what you have and working smarter – not necessarily, harder.

Bayleys Rural Insight is a way to share ideas, explore trends and drill down into factors affecting the rural sector from large scale farming ventures through to small holdings.

A flick through the pages of this edition reveals thoughtful discussion of how and why the Sungold variety of kiwifruit has thrown the industry a lifeline; a look at the thriving New Zealand cherry sector; how cutting-edge technology is boosting high country pastoral operations; and how to successfully transition from a life on the land when the time comes to leave the farm.

There’s plenty of other great reading too and it shows just how diverse and stimulating the rural sector is.

Bayleys is New Zealand’s number one rural real estate brand – selling more farmland, specialty rural property and lifestyle property than any other agency in the country. Our rural team knows what it takes to get a deal together and they’re prepared to get stuck in, boots and all, to make a sale happen.

But just as importantly, the individual sales agents are deeply connected to the communities where they are selling property.

Bayleys understands its clients and genuinely wants the best outcome for all concerned. Our proven track record across the rural sector is reflected in the snapshot of recent sales successes on page 3.

I encourage you to sign up to receive regular Rural Insights direct to your inbox by heading to bayleys.co.nz/rural-insight.

Every fortnight or so, a new Bayleys Rural Insight will be released online to keep you up-to-date with topical conversations from the dairy, sheep and beef, forestry, viticulture, horticulture and lifestyle property sectors.

Join us as we champion rural New Zealand and all that it has to offer.

Cheers, Duncan Ross Bayleys national country manager

TO STAY UP TO DATE AND IN-THE-KNOW, REGISTER AT BAYLEYS.CO.NZ/RURAL-INSIGHT TO RECEIVE BAYLEYS RURAL INSIGHT DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX.

*For the period 1st April 2017 - 31st March 2018.

2

Rural Insight

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

Boundary lines are indicative only

74 Sands Road, Kerikeri, Northland

SOLD

164 Monument Road, Clevedon, Auckland

SOLD

2326 Tairua Road, Hikuai, Coromandel Peninsula

SOLD

Boundary lines are indicative only

415 Top Road, Patetonga, Waikato

SOLD

105 Ohinewai North Road, Ohinewai, Waikato

SOLD

Te Puna Road, Te Puna, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty

SOLD

Boundary lines are indicative only

28 Pokare Road, Pukehina, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty

SOLD

2198 Wharekopae Road, Ngatapa, Gisborne

SOLD

700 Manawahe Road, Lake Rotoma, Rotorua

SOLD

90 Waitara Road, Brixton, Taranaki

SOLD

110 Corbin Road, Otamauri, Hastings

SOLD

557 Surreydale Road, Pahiatua, Wairarapa

SOLD

Boundary lines are indicative only

154 State Highway 3, Westmere, Whanganui

SOLD

1602 Kaniere Kowhitirangi Road, Hokitika, West Coast

Flaxmore Road, Upper Moutere, Tasman

SOLD

59 Jeffries Road, Rapaura, Marlborough

SOLD

1424 Maronan Road, Ashburton, Mid Canterbury

368 Otara Haldane Road, Haldane, Southland

CONTENTS SunGold brings potential green field orchard development......4,5

Is there life after farming?.................................................................................... 14,15

Cherries blossom with prospects ........................................................................6,7

Bright prospects after positive farming year ..................................... 16,17

Golden Shears get sponsorship boost.............................................................8,9

Farmers may be sitting on quarry gold ................................................... 18,19

Bringing high tech to high country tradition ....................................... 10,11

Women in agriculture face unique challenges ................................ 20,21

Pastoral farming can seize protein opportunities......................... 12,13

Easing the workload when you own a lifestyle block ................. 22,23 Rural Insight

3

BRINGS POTENTIAL FOR

GREEN FIELD ORCHARD DEVELOPMENT

In the wake of the devastating Psa disease that struck the kiwifruit sector in 2010, the Psa tolerant SunGold variety has proven to be an industry lifesaver, outperforming even its creators’ expectations and helping turn the sector into an industry star performer.

T

hanks to Zespri carefully managing supply against growing demand for the fruit, prices for SunGold have remained at a premium even as volumes have ramped up from less than 20 million trays three years ago, to almost 50 million this year.

The continuing strong demand growth has prompted Zespri to increase the licenced area it is offering to growers to plant more fruit. Initial plans had been to offer 400ha a year from 2015 through to 2022.

But this has been ramped up significantly to 700ha a year starting this year, pushing the total new area committed to SunGold to 3,500ha by 2022.

4

Rural Insight

“It is clear from performance in the markets in recent seasons and from our assessment of future demand that we need to accelerate supply growth of SunGold.

“The gap to fill between the strong demand outlook and our current trajectory of supply growth presents a significant strategic opportunity,” said Zespri chairman Peter McBride.

The SunGold fruit has proven to have a golden touch not only on consumers’ palates but also on orchard values.

Initial licences were valued at only $7,000 a hectare, then the formal 400ha a year licencing process had those values jump to

$170,000 a hectare, with 2017’s 400ha touching $235,000 a hectare.

With supply of existing orchards tight, orchard sales of $1.0 million a hectare have been reported and some have sold within only days of being listed.

With supply of existing orchards tight, orchard sales of $1.0 million a hectare have been reported and some have sold within only days of being listed.

Te Puke based Bayleys rural agent and orchard specialist Snow Williams said orchards continued to sell quickly. He says he is constantly being asked about land that would have the potential to convert into SunGold kiwifruit to take up the additional area being allocated under the licencing process.

“Right now, we could find buyers easily for blocks of land suitable for kiwifruit plantings, but the challenge is actually getting listings of that land, it is proving quite difficult to find.”

While supply was tight, he said the SunGold variety was proving to be particularly robust, heavy cropping and suitable for growing beyond the traditional Te Puke-Western Bay of Plenty growing zone.

“We have sold quite a bit of land down Opotiki way that is very suitable for SunGold kiwifruit planting. Down that way the dry matter levels in the fruit seem more assured, and there are some beautiful tracts of land through there that suit the crop.”

For smaller block holders the flexibility of orchard management and location could make conversion to kiwifruit an appealing option. With its strong economy, the greater Bay of Plenty provides multiple opportunities for off-orchard income to supplement an orchard in its early stages of development.

The BoP economy claimed the biggest GDP growth to March 2016 of 7.7% against a national average of 3%, and growth is continuing strongly through 2018.

Meantime a well-established orchard management support sector also means block owners converting to kiwifruit can tap into a base of highly experienced management skills if they lack the skills or time to run a new orchard themselves.

While larger corporate type orchardists were seeking larger (10ha-plus) tracts of land, there was also green fields orchard opportunities for existing pastoral farmers wanting to add another income stream, and additional capital value, to their properties.

“We could easily move a drystock or dairy property that had land suitable for kiwifruit plantings upon them, these sort of properties are highly desirable,” says Snow.

He said demand for quality horticultural land in the region was also buoyed by crops other than kiwifruit. Avocados were also enjoying a surge in interest on the back of promising market returns and expansion into China.

Right now, we could find buyers easily for blocks of land suitable for kiwifruit plantings, but the challenge is actually getting listings of that land, it is proving quite difficult to find.

Zespri has confirmed green field conversions for SunGold is likely to form a big part for the next four years’ of licence issues. Over the past two years of the 800ha planted in SunGold, 500ha was cut over and grafted onto Green orchards with the remainder being green fields developments.

However the kiwifruit marketer is also acutely aware of the value of the long standing Green variety, and did not want to lose much more Green crop cut over to SunGold.

“It is good to know Zespri are aware of Green’s value. It is a longstanding crop that has served the industry well, and we are going to be having to look at where other land lies that is suitable for SunGold,” says Snow.

Rural Insight

5

BLOSSOM - WITH PROSPECTS -

The connections between Central Otago and China extend back over a century to the gold mining heydays and today those links have become even firmer, this time thanks to a small juicy fruit bringing a gold rush all of its own.

T

he New Zealand cherry industry is a minnow internationally, producing just over 5,000 tonnes last year off only 650ha, a volume that pales against the United States’ massive 110,000t annual crop. Of New Zealand’s total production, over 90% of exported cherries a grown in the Central Otago region as areas like Marlborough have moved into apple and vineyard production.

In recent years the profile of this high quality niche fruit has grown as an increasing number of Asian consumers have been introduced to its taste sensation.

A high level of local expertise and efforts to market it in the premium fruit sector are paying off as Otago cherries build on their reputation as being among the world’s best.

Summerfruit NZ chief executive Marie Dawkins said the Central Otago region has cemented its reputation for premium grade fruit, thanks in part to its dry climate, cold winters and soils proving well suited to a range of cherry varieties.

6

Rural Insight

“And as a marketed crop they have a novelty element to them – they are only available for a certain length of time during the year, making them particularly sought after when they do come onto the shelves.

We are very much being drawn by market pull demand at present.”

A high level of local expertise and efforts to market it in the premium fruit sector are paying off as Otago cherries build on their reputation as being among the world’s best.

The 2016-17 season had the cherry industry achieve some new records, including a 5,000t harvest that earned the industry $88

“We have seen a large Hawke’s Bay company making a substantial investment in the Roxburgh district developing a 200ha cherry orchard on the side of Lake Dunstan.

“Another operator has established a 1,000t capacity pack house at Bannockburn, and another at Pisa Moorings, both just commissioned. All up we would be looking at about 350ha of cherries going into the ground in the coming seasons,” says Gary.

With their short shelf life a quick turnaround between picking, packing and air freighting shelf ready for retail is vital for growers to maintain their reputation as top end premium suppliers to increasingly discerning consumers.

“This has been a vital part of our success, keeping that reputation for quality. Chilean growers have higher volumes, but tend to containerise their cherries, which lowers their value from the start,” says Marie Dawkins. million, of which two thirds came through export sales, largely to China and Taiwan.

The last season proved a particularly fruitful one for all stone fruit, thanks to some record breaking hot ripening weather pushing maturity dates at least two weeks ahead of where they would normally be.

Bayleys Cromwell real estate agent Gary Kirk has had close contact with cherry orchardists and investors looking to expand their operations. He works alongside Doug Macgillivray and the two agents report healthy interest in the sector.

In an industry where intergenerational family ownership is common, they have noticed increased interest from larger scale fruit growing investment companies and operators in the past 18 months.

In an industry where intergenerational family ownership is common, there has been increased interest from larger scale fruit growing investment companies and operators in the past 18 months.

Gary Kirk cautions while market prospects for the small red fruit are positive, getting root stock to start an orchard can prove a challenge, with supplies so tight investors can expect a two year wait for trees, before they even get them in the ground.

“Add in the time it takes to start producing, and you could be looking at up to seven years before you are seeing a real return on your $200,000 a hectare set up cost, so you do need to be prepared to be in it for the long haul.”

And despite their appealing returns there is a high level of risk in a crop that can be wiped out by hail or rain in a single weather event.

Gary and Doug have witnessed local orchardists removing apricots to make way for cherries, and the accepted district boundaries for growing them spreading as new varieties become available.

“Typically you would look at an economic investment block being around the 40-50ha size, with land being sold for $25,000-$40,000 a hectare.”

Gary and Doug predict the biggest challenge for the industry will be finding places for the additional 500-600 people needed to pick the high value crop in coming years.

“Accommodation is a real challenge even for the locals here, and will need to be addressed,” says Doug.

Overall however the industry has responded well as a small sector that is punching well above its weight globally to deliver consistent quality and high value produce to discerning consumers.

Rural Insight

7

GOLDEN

Shears GETS SPONSORSHIP BOOST

Despite New Zealand’s sheep population being only half what it was 20 years ago, interest in the iconic Golden Shears competition in early March was intense, with a world class field of competitors taking the stage.

T

his year’s competition also marked the first time it had a major Open event shearing sponsor on board, with leading real estate company Bayleys underpinning what has become the highlight on the competitive international shearing calendar.

Golden Shears president Philip Morrison said having Bayleys on board was a milestone in the competition’s history, providing a sound footing for an event that involves a significant amount of organising and co-ordinating to deliver a standard its competitors deserve.

“Bayleys enjoys a high profile in the rural property market, and provides a very high standard of service, so we are absolutely rapt to have them on board to help keep the profile of the Golden Shears as high as it can be.”

8

Rural Insight

The competition typically draws over 350 entrants, competing across all aspects of wool harvesting including handling, pressing and shearing. The Open event is regarded as the Wimbledon of international shearing competition. In the Open final six shearers each shear 20 second shorn sheep, aiming to beat the current world record of 15 minutes 27.4 seconds.

This year’s winner of the Golden Shears Bayleys open shearing final was Rowland Smith of Hastings, who completed his 20 sheep in 16 minutes 32 seconds with 57.2 points, claiming his fifth victory in the competition. He was followed by David Buick of Pongaroa in 16 minutes 29 seconds and 59.6 points and John Kirkpatrick of Napier third in 16 minutes 45 seconds.

Victory at the competition has been hard fought over the years with 24 champions over 57 years with legendary shearer Sir David Fagan dominating the awards for 11 successive years from 1990, ultimately claiming 16 Golden Shears wins and a knighthood before stepping down in 2016.

James Macpherson, Bayleys principal for East Coast, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay says the opportunity to sponsor such an iconic event could not be passed by, given its significance the importance of shearing to so many in New Zealand’s rural communities.

“There would be few people in rural New Zealand who have not experienced shearing, who are more than familiar with its smells and sights.

“Like real estate shearing is intensively competitive, and you only get paid for what you do, so the Golden Shears attracts a group of very hard working, independent athletes who are always determined to do their utmost to perform – it is a great fit for our company, with its links to rural New Zealand and the land.”

Like real estate shearing is intensively competitive, and you only get paid for what you do, so the Golden Shears attracts a group of very hard working, independent athletes who are always determined to do their utmost to perform – it is a great fit for our company, with its links to rural New Zealand and the land.

Philip Morrison said while sheep numbers have declined significantly in New Zealand, the fact so many sheep are second shorn has helped preserve solid demand for shearers and their skills.

With its beginnings 57 years ago in Masterton when sheep reigned supreme in New Zealand agriculture, the competition has weathered the huge downturn in sheep numbers, continuing to draw the cream of shearing talent from around the world to try their hand and claim the ultimate shearing recognition.

With its beginnings 57 years ago in Masterton when sheep reigned supreme in New Zealand agriculture, the competition has weathered the huge downturn in sheep numbers, continuing to draw the cream of shearing talent from around the world to try their hand and claim the ultimate shearing recognition.

“Usually those 70 million sheep we had were only shorn once.

But today twice shorn is not unusual, and even lambs may be shorn twice before going to the works.”

He said the reputation of New Zealand for offering shearers large numbers of quality sheep to shear meant it was still a “must do” country on any professional shearer’s calendar.

“They rely upon us to learn and get work when in their off season, while we also look to them to help boost our numbers here, so there is a great level of international camaraderie in this industry,” he says.

Duncan Ross, Bayleys national country manager says the opportunity to sponsor such an iconic event was an honour for the company.

“Few competitions at any sporting level would have the recognition and respect that Golden Shears has earnt in over half a century of events.

“Bayleys see it as something New Zealanders both rural and urban can relate to with athletes who provide intense, enjoyable competition fueled by their utmost commitment to their profession.”

Rural Insight

9

New Zealand’s iconic high country often leaves visitors stunned by its beauty, and with a pervasive sense that little has changed on the properties that have called this country home over generations. But one station operator is leading the charge on integrating cutting edge technology with traditional high country pastoral operations to improve productivity, safety and success in some of New Zealand’s toughest landscape.

J

On John’s watch the family have been able to turn the slide in station area around by purchasing neighbouring Mount Difficulty and joining it to the original property.

The original sprawling 100,000ha has been reduced over the generations with the original station area forming the foot print for other stations that have splintered off from it over the generations since its founding in 1858.

The tenure review process also provided the family with some funds to invest back into the station, and for John the focus has been on how to boost productivity on the station without necessarily having to throw more manpower at the challenges.

Today it sits on about 10,500ha of land comprising both freehold title and covenanted Queen Elizabeth II river front property. There is also Crown land leased for 30 and 10 year grazing rights in a deal established under the tenure review process in the mid-2000s.

This has involved a blend of common farm improvements with some exciting “out of the box” approaches to tipping traditional farm management on its head.

ohn Anderson’s family have owned Kawarau Station at Bannockburn in Otago for three generations, and can proudly point to it being the original founding station in the district.

“The main reason we supported the tenure review was the security it gave us, as opposed to possibly having to pay very high rentals in the future,” says John.

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Rural Insight

Over on the property’s Mount Difficulty block John has invested in a new set of yards that will mean he does not have to run wethers back to the home block for drenching, a job that consumes two days walking and working.

Meantime back in the hills when mustering starts it is not always a helicopter and dogs that are echoing off the valley walls.

Two years ago John invested in a drone, with an eye on using it to check fence lines after snow events to save time heading into the back country on ute and foot.

Two years ago John invested in a drone, with an eye on using it to check fence lines after snow events to save time heading into the back country on ute and foot. He knew he was onto something when it only took him three minutes to check a fence line that would have taken a good hours’ worth of driving and walking to get to.

“But it has been for mustering where we have found it really useful. One morning I kicked off mustering 2,000 wethers and left home at 8am, drove 20 minutes to where I launched the drone and we had them all down by 10.30am, in time for a coffee. Normally it would have taken three men and a ute to bring them down, and only be finished by lunchtime.”

John says the sheep are wary of the drone’s presence and respond well, moving away from it steadily and without becoming overly spooked.

The high tech machine does not make either his dogs or his mustering pilot redundant, but instead integrates well with both.

“We will still use the chopper over some of the levels, but the drone gives me the opportunity to go in where it may be too dangerous for either dogs, men or choppers, particularly when there are high winds.”

He estimates even at this early stage of its use the drone has saved him over $10,000 in chopper time and labour.

Jokingly he says he has asked the drone’s distributor for commission, having had half a dozen farming friends either buy a drone or have one firmly on their shopping list.

Meantime he is also taking an alternative approach to managing the fertility on the property’s 112ha of invaluable river flats. After years of using traditional superphosphate based fertilisers John and his father Richard decided nine years ago to trial a fish-lime based liquid fertiliser.

“The aim was to stimulate the microbes in the soil and get the plants healthier at their roots, and it certainly seems to have worked for us.” He has noticed more aggressive, rapid regrowth in his hay paddocks even heading into dry summers, and higher grass yields when harvesting the flats for hay.

To optimise the potential of his flat country even more, he is also examining an alternative irrigation system that incorporates a coupling that allows the irrigation standard to be hooked on and off, saving the labour intensive work that goes with running traditional K line irrigators.

After a recent visit to Kawarau Station, Bayleys National Country manager Duncan Ross says he was struck at how John had incorporated innovation within a traditional station system.

“Everything he has done has been with one eye on improving productivity, and on keeping the system sustainable – many people think of stations as being stuck in traditional ways of working, but he has definitely stepped outside the square.

Everything he has done has been with one eye on improving productivity, and on keeping the system sustainable – many people think of stations as being stuck in traditional ways of working, but he has definitely stepped outside the square.

“I have no doubt this is something of a quiet revolution we hear little about that is happening through many of our traditional sheep stations, and it’s really refreshing to see.”

John admits he has spent much time thinking about alternative approaches to farming in the tough high country, and some of his ideas have gained a life of their own.

His purchase of a Te Pari sheep handler, and suggestions for modifying it have been taken up by its creators and he will be the first to trial the new model.

Longer term like the generations before him he remains committed to the high country and Kawarau Station, appreciating that his back yard is the same one many of the visitors to Queenstown only minutes down the road travel half way around the world to see.

Rural Insight

11

CAN SEIZE PROTEIN OPPORTUNITIES

A new survey examining the threat of alternative proteins to New Zealand’s red meat sector may offer a glimpse into as many opportunities as threats the new food types pose for Kiwi farmers.

T

he report commissioned by industry body Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has done much to highlight where the threats lie for New Zealand, and provide some options for how the new proteins can be tackled.

The rise of alternative proteins has been a rapid one, fuelled by millions of dollars sourced from cash rich tech companies, often headed up by passionate alternative meat advocates who are translating that passion into product on the shelves alongside traditional protein sources.

They are even on New Zealand shelves now, with New Zealand company SunFed Meats claiming to be this country’s first nonanimal protein company.

The company has kicked off producing non chicken ‘chicken’ now available in stores in New Zealand.

The B+LNZ survey identified New Zealand’s critical United States burger beef market as the most vulnerable to gains in alternative protein sales.

Long a market for taking New Zealand grass fed beef and blending it with fattier United States feed lot sourced beef, this market accounts for almost half the country’s beef exports.

12

Rural Insight

In the report B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor notes large scale production of “non-meat” patties and mince is likely within five years and the rise of alternative proteins has some big drivers behind it.

These include environmental concerns around climate change and the sustainability of animal farming, the use of animals in food production and health issues around eating meat.

But far from being a doom and gloom prospectus for the future of New Zealand pastoral farming, the report has found some significant positives for farmers and the industry to pursue in coming years.

But far from being a doom and gloom prospectus for the future of New Zealand pastoral farming, the report has found some significant positives for farmers and the industry to pursue in coming years.

12.8m tonnes by 2026. Alongside that China’s growth is anticipated to rise by 50% over the same time to 9.5m tonnes.

Sam McIvor has emphasised New Zealand has a valuable window of opportunity to capitalise on these trends to “natural” beef. Global population growth also suggests there will be more than enough growth for New Zealand to feed the world’s wealthiest 40million people, rather than trying to feed everyone.

Capitalising on these opportunities will rely upon a brand that brings integrity and validity to the claims New Zealand’s red meat sector wish to make to that premium market.

Behind the scenes there has been much work branding a “New Zealand story” to take to consumers, due for official release next month.

It has been well tested in six markets including India, China, United States and United Arab Emirates. The brand has six meat companies in collaboration and has received positive feedback in the test marketing stages. This has given marketers confidence that despite alternative proteins’ threat, consumers will not turn their back on red meat if they can see it is natural and grass raised.

The brand’s integrity has also been assured from the farm gate to the processing plant. Farmers are now compiling farm environment plans, fencing waterways and ensuring welfare requirements are met.

Meantime for farmers with suitable land, alternative proteins could provide a valuable income source.

Guy Wrigley, Federated Farmers arable industry chairman said the prospect of plant based protein foods should not be cause for alarm.

In a region like Canterbury where land is suitable for red meat, dairy or arable production, alternative protein sources could easily fit into the farming mosaic.

Sam McIvor pointed to a growing but almost untapped demand for grass-fed red meat reared without hormones or antibiotic use in natural environments, a product that consumers were prepared to pay a significant premium for.

Ironically it was the United States market, the one most vulnerable to alternative meat patties that offers the greatest potential. There grass-fed beef sales have doubled every year since 2012, reaching over a third of a billion dollars in sales in 2016. Premium grass-fed beef burgers are one of the fastest growing categories in the red meat consumption sector.

This also comes in a market where beef consumption is anticipated to continue growing, with forecasts 2010’s 12.2m tonnes will be

In a region like Canterbury where land is suitable for red meat, dairy or arable production, alternative protein sources could easily fit into the farming mosaic.

“But in the meantime we also have a very strong alliance with traditional protein sources that remain in demand, namely dairy, poultry and pork that all rely upon the arable sector for grain supplies.”

Beef + Lamb NZ special trade envoy and red meat farmer Mike Petersen said he also sees the alternative protein market as one presenting as many opportunities as threats.

Bayleys national country manager Duncan Ross said the rise of alternative proteins should not give farmers cause for concern, but rather the opportunity to consider alternative income streams from the opportunities they presented.

“Ultimately it is all about protein sources, and we may even see land that was once used for dairying or beef head into crop production for these products, without necessarily suffering any loss in capital value or income reduction, in fact the opposite may be true in the long term as demand increases for these products.”

Coming developments signal an exciting time, and New Zealand farmers are the world’s best at identifying an opportunity and making it work for them.”

Rural Insight

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IS THERE AFTER FARMING?

Making the step from farming to retirement can be a big challenge for many farmers with close ties to their land, but it is also one that can open doors to some exciting new opportunities, good physical health and new social networks.

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A

Rabobank survey conducted back in 2013 found retirement was weighing heavily on the minds of farmers surveyed, with two thirds of respondents aiming to hand over the farm in the next 10 years as they approached 65.

Retirement is weighing heavily on the minds of farmers, with two thirds of those surveyed aiming to hand over the farm in the next 10 years.

The 2013 census revealed the average age of cattle farmers was 56, up from 53 in 2006, and no doubt that has risen again with the latest census just being completed.

But making that move from the land to the new life stage of retirement can be daunting for farmers who often have a life of hard working habits that have helped them get to the point where they no longer need to employ those habits quite as hard.

Ian Handcock, Fit4Farming consultant and fitness coach works closely with farmers across the farming and personal level of their lives. His holistic approach to “healthy body healthy mind” means he often spends time helping farmers get their personal lives and health together, before starting work on their farm business.

Ian has noticed older farmers generally seizing the opportunities that can come with retirement, and are often in a better state to do so than their peers who may have spent years behind a desk before taking the gold watch of retirement.

“Often a good approach is to try and coax older farmers off the farm earlier, almost ahead of retirement, so they are not going ‘cold turkey’ so much when they finally leave.”

He says this helps them build up new social networks of contacts and friends, making the transition to a new home or even new location less abrupt and socially isolated.

“That social connection is vital, it is a case of almost replacing the social contact you may have got in farm discussion groups, with a new network, maybe through a mountain biking group.” Mountain biking in particular is proving highly popular with retiring farmers who often have the fitness levels required, don’t want the impact running has, and can still talk to their fellow cyclists while enjoying the ride.

Ian also reminds farmers intending to retire not to underestimate their mental resilience, and ability to adapt.

“Most of these guys (and women) are tougher than they realise.

They have usually been through some tough times, nothing is insurmountable and they are a pretty resilient, adaptable bunch.”

However he appreciates for some, acknowledging that the farming career is over can take time to adjust to.

His own brother made the move from a commercial farm to a smaller 12ha block before ultimately retiring to become an avid mountain biker.

“That move to the smaller block was a really good transition stage for him.”

Long time Bayleys rural agent Lin Norris from Whangarei says

while all farmers are different, health and age are obvious factors in how they manage their retirement.

“One thing I have noticed is that farms in general are now more business-like in their operation and this includes succession planning. So retirement is planned as opposed to being suddenly thrust upon them.

Farms are now more business-like in their operation and this includes succession planning. So retirement is planned as opposed to being suddenly thrust upon them.

“Some are keen to go straight to town whilst others prefer to retain some interest in the land – perhaps a smaller grazing block with a nice home that can be utilised as a dairy support unit or the like.”

Lin says the influence of wives and partners cannot be underestimated either.

“With the farm always coming first until then, this is the time for her to have first say on where they will enjoy their retirement.”

Wairarapa based Clinical Psychologist, Sarah Donaldson (East Coast Rural Support Trust) provides 1:1 support to farmers facing challenges. She says a key challenge for retiring farmers can be identifying differences between what they may want on retirement, and what their partner or other family members seeks.

“There can be differences in expectations and breakdowns in communication between family members when it comes to succession planning, and determining roles and responsibilities in retirement.

“Open communication and negotiation between a partner and family members about what life will look like practically for all once that retirement phase starts, including the level if any of involvement on the farm is important.”

Like Ian, she suggests a gradual transition from working full time and easing back provides time to develop other interests and roles to build upon.

“Having a sense of purpose or still contributing in some way is key to staying well and happy. Essentially carving out a new worthwhile existence beyond working life on the farm is really important.”

Rural Insight

15

BRIGHT

PROSPECTS AFTER POSITIVE FARMING YEAR

Farmers may rightly feel under siege in recent months, from the weather as much as from media coverage about the environmental impacts of farming, the rise of alternative proteins, and the tough toll the job can have on mental health.

But looking through the weather’s challenges and negative headlines, the farming sector has a highly positive story to tell as the farming year approaches its seasonal end.

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ithout exception every part of New Zealand’s farming sector has enjoyed a positive profitable year in terms of returns, delivering record incomes to provinces from Kaitaia to Bluff.

Latest data from Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) will provide welcome end of season news for dry stock farmers, many who battled with tough times through the mid-2000s where farm incomes dropped to their lowest point since World War II.

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In its latest economic service forecast B+LNZ has revised farm profit before tax up to $126,300 for its general “all classes” sheep and beef farm for 2017-18. That is a lift of 39% on last year.

B+LNZ economist Andrew Burtt said the positive news reflected strong returns for both sheep and beef.

Sheep revenue is expected to be up 22%, with lamb values revised well up on the start of the year, to average 661c a kg or about $120

Without exception every part of New Zealand’s farming sector has enjoyed a positive profitable year in terms of returns, delivering record incomes. a head for the season thanks to continuing strong demand and tight global supplies.

Despite the volume exported expected to be almost exactly the same as last year, the lift in value will push lamb meat returns to New Zealand over the $3 billion mark for the first time in history.

Beef is also expected to return in excess of the magic “3”, earning the country $3.2 billion this year, with a lift in value offsetting a 5% drop in export volumes.

And that’s just the meat component. Valuable contributions come from all the other co-products that come from an animal such as offal and skins.

Despite global beef production increasing, a growing Chinese appetite for beef is helping underpin the strong prices, while continuing growth in the United States economy has kept New Zealand’s sales of beef there buoyant.

“This is a really positive thing when we consider where the New Zealand dollar is, compared to 15 years ago. It indicates market demand is strong, and New Zealand’s key markets are in very good health.”

B+LNZ will continue to monitor the US-China trade situation, says Mr Burtt, but also advocate for New Zealand’s current access to the UK and Europe to be maintained following Brexit.

He also points to a level of reliance upon New Zealand product in a market like the US, where New Zealand’s leaner grass-fed beef is blended with feed lot cattle meat to produce a product – ground beef – that meets consumer needs.

“And as a supplier, New Zealand is still regarded as a very safe, reliable and consistent provider for a market that is still experiencing strong growth.”

A shortage in venison numbers and a concerted effort by DeerNZ to develop new off-season market niches has meant that sector is also experiencing record high schedule returns on meat.

“Building year-round venison demand and more consistent prices throughout the year have long been industry goals,” says Deer Industry NZ marketing manager Innes Moffat.

Demand is running comfortably ahead of available supply as farmers work to rebuild their herds after an industry slide through the 2000s.

Meantime across the fence in the dairy sector a tumultuous couple of years have steadied out this season, with Fonterra revising up its expected milk solids payout to $6.55/kg milk solids.

Such a solid figure puts dairy farmers, many who have had to take on additional debt in the past two years to cover the poor payouts, on a more confident footing.

DairyNZ economist Matthew Newman is also cautiously optimistic about the coming season, with expectations the dairy payout will be close to this year’s figure, and production this year is likely to only be down by about 1%.

“The good news has also been that as an industry we have managed to keep farm working costs low. For 2016-17 they averaged $3.75/kg milk solids. While likely to be up slightly this season, they are still significantly down on where they were at their height of $4.33/kg milk solids, back in 2013-14.”

Overall the dairy sector is expected to generate $16 billion in earnings this year, up on the $13.4 billion a year ago.

Horticultural returns are also looking highly positive across all crop types, with Zespri anticipating at $2 billion-plus crop for the first time this year. Apple growers are also 10% up in volume, with highly positive sales prospects across all overseas markets.

Industry leaders’ greatest concern in recent months has been more around finding pickers for harvesting and processing fruit, rather than where that fruit will be sold.

Bayleys national country manager Duncan Ross said the optimism in the primary sector is being reflected in the strong level of interest being expressed in pastoral and horticultural land. He said that interest was coming from both existing farmers and from outside investors looking for strong returns in markets with sustainable prospects.

“There have been some tough years across all sectors, and it is rare they all align as they do. But it suggests there is a maturing of our primary sector, focussing on providing increasingly wealthy markets with high quality, safe and sustainably sourced food – it is a great time to be part of the primary sector.”

The optimism in the primary sector is being reflected in a strong level of interest being expressed in pastoral and horticultural land coming from both existing farmers and from outside investors looking for strong returns in markets with sustainable prospects.

Rural Insight

17

FARMERS MAY BE SITTING ON

quarry GOLD

As the construction sector’s appetite for rock and aggregate continues to grow, farmers may find themselves sitting on the opportunity to invest in a second income source, in the form of a quarrying operation.

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elevision New Zealand recently reported on the burgeoning demand from the construction sector for rock fill, generated as much from the continuing growth in building construction as it is from earthquake repairs and roading development.

New Zealand is a heavy user of aggregate, at about 40-45 million tonnes a year it equates to almost one dump truck per person.

But heavy extraction from quarries near cities is pushing many to the end of their economic life, and gaining consent for new quarries in increasingly urbanised areas is proving more difficult to do. Due to aggregate’s low value and high bulk transport costs, councils, roading contractors and spreaders all prefer to source locally where possible.

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Heavy extraction from quarries near cities is pushing many to the end of their economic life, and gaining consent for new quarries in increasingly urbanised areas is proving more difficult to do.

Earlier this year Templeton residents near Christchurch launched protest action at a planned quarry project they said would lower property values and affect lifestyles with its dust and noise emissions.

“You can be up for a considerable investment to get it over the line, and you need to be confident you have the size of the resource there to make it a commercially viable decision.”

Steve Levet, Northland based president of NZ Rural Contractors is three years into operating a quarry business. He has welcomed the opportunity to find a second income source alongside his rural contracting business.

His own operation runs on a 5ha footprint with three full time staff, and a moderate investment in diggers alongside a crushing plant he developed himself.

He is quarrying lime rock that is proving suitable for applying to farm and forestry roading around the region, and further field for Auckland City.

“There is a good supply there, and the dairy farmer we lease the quarry off is completely hands off, he receives a royalty cheque every month and we have a good resource with a good life span ahead of it to work with - so it is very much win:win.”

Steve says he has a farming friend further north who attributes a quarry operation on his property to helping keep his farm business going during a particularly tough downturn in 2008.

“When farming hit the doldrums for him, the quarry business allowed him to continue investing in the farm. He was able to maintain and even upgrade the fencing and races which he says he would not have had a hope of achieving otherwise.”

For Steve the quarry operation is also a win:win for his other business, rural contracting.

“It is a very volatile business to be in, and especially so in Northland given how the weather can swing quickly against grass growth, you don’t want to over-invest in gear. So the quarry provides us with a good year round income that is more stable, and good winter income in particular, when farmers are wanting rock and material for races.”

Farm-quarry operations often go hand in hand when the footprint of the quarry also includes some pastoral land around it. Sometimes that pastoral area provides the necessary buffer to reducing noise, dust and traffic impacts that can accompany quarry operations.

Steve cautions a quarry operation will always be dependent upon resource consent, which can be particularly onerous about the operation’s traffic, noise and dust impacts.

Bayleys Whangarei rural agent Alex Smits has a Matarau limestone quarry and transport business west of Whangarei listed and up for tender in the region at present that is attracting strong interest locally and further afield. He also has a farm listed that includes a valuable silica sand operation on it, near Tapora on the Kaipara harbour.

The simple Matarau limestone operation on a 4.15ha footprint is returning a profit of about $150,000 a year, providing high quality limestone to farms around the district for farm races.

“This operation has consent to run until 2035, with good equipment and machinery. If you have been farming and are seeking an alternative income, or maybe want to step off the farm but stay involved in the industry, this is a great opportunity.”

When it comes to looking for aggregate deposits on a farm, Alex says it is a resource that can add some intangible value to a property, even if it is not developed by the current owner.

“It may save you money if you just quarry for your own use. Or if you feel the resource is big enough, you could partner up with someone who is more experienced in quarrying, and earn a royalty for your efforts.”

If you have been farming and are seeking an alternative income, or maybe want to step off the farm but stay involved in the industry, this is a great opportunity.

Rural Insight

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Women IN AGRICULTURE FACE UNIQUE CHALLENGES

Thanks to technology, better access and growing equality, or at least expectations of equality, the agricultural sector has more women than ever engaged in the sector, across the spectrum of job types, and how they choose to engage with their rural community.

W

hether it is maintaining a professional career in a nearby town or city while living in the country, or engaged at a hands on level within the farming business, participating in daily tactical decisions and having equal input to “big picture” strategic moves on farm, more women than ever are regarded as equal partners in multi-million dollar businesses.

With its many and varied subject topics ranging from managing farm working dogs to choosing a suitable dress pattern, the site has grown to have almost 11,000 followers.

But the choice to live in a rural environment can come with its own social costs, something that “Farming Mums NZ” Facebook group founder Chanelle O’Sullivan recognised when she established the group back in 2013.

Chanelle’s work has helped prompt a national research survey funded by Farmstrong that is due to kick off this winter. It is founded on initial findings from interviews with 26 women in rural New Zealand on what their key issues were.

Starting with a blog she ironically titled ‘just’ a farmer’s wife, the qualified vet nurse, mum, Kellogg Scholar and long-distance runner captured many of the issues rural women grapple with, and turned it into a popular Facebook page.

“What that work revealed was the high level of stress many rural women experience, particularly younger ones – it comes with having to support husbands in their business, which is often subject to weather and price variations that can’t be controlled, maintain family life, and often deal with the paperwork and compliance demands.”

The ex-city woman is living a life far removed from the big city, but it is the social networks that go with such a city she has endeavoured to create in an online social network.

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It has also helped its creator play a major role in helping raise awareness of the issues facing women on the land.

She praises the work done by groups including Farmstrong, with its focus on farmers’ mental health, but points out women on the land

The role of women at governance and board level in agribusiness firms is something to be encouraged, with diversity of gender and skill sets brining multiple benefits.

Like Chanelle she is acutely aware of the challenges around geographical isolation, internet connectivity and time-labour challenges that go with being a farming woman.

“A personal challenge for me, as for many others, was combining the physical demands of farming with starting and raising a family.

I planned to be one of those amazing women who would keep milking cows until the day I gave birth – that plan lasted about all of one week when severe morning sickness developed!”

She says it is wise to have a plan A, B and C and remember the quote “women can do everything, but not at the same time.”

Her advice to women entering the rural sector is to take some “me time” away from distractions of family and farm where possible, focusing on goal setting, and having some flexibility about how those goals will be achieved.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about which gender you are or who your industry has traditionally been dominated by, it’s about you; your values, interests, goals, skill sets and what you have that you can offer to others. If there is an industry or a role that you are passionate about – go for it!” also face mental health challenges that she hopes the survey will clearly identify and help rectify.

Kathy Young, Bayleys rural agent for Waipukurau has been involved in the agricultural sector for over 25 years, kicking off her career as a sole charge milker on a dairy farm near Whanganui.

Today she is shareholder and director of a drystock and dairy farming company, while also busy selling rural properties in the Tararua and Central Hawke’s Bay districts.

She says attitudes towards women on the land have changed markedly since she started in the industry, but she admits being surprised even today at some of the comments she hears.

“These come from others’ own experiences and perception of life and can often be taken in good humour. It is a different matter however if someone is being disrespectful, don’t put up with that, you have to set the tone of how you wish to be treated.”

She says fortunately most people in the rural sector are “lovely” – down to earth and delightful to work with.

She believes the role of women at governance and board level in agribusiness firms is something to continue to encourage, and firms will only benefit from having greater diversity on their boards, through both gender and skill sets.

“In my experience, a lot of the women in farming partnerships are either taking care of the finances or at least have a big say in any major financial decisions.”

Rural Insight

21

EASING THE WORKLOAD WHEN YOU OWN A

Lifestyle Block You’ve bought the lifestyle block, and you’re loving it – but, hang on, there’s quite a bit of work involved in running the property. Here’s how to ease the load so you can enjoy a lifestyle, not a life sentence…

I

t’s a common “trap” among lifestyle block owners – underestimating the time and energy involved in maintaining a property in the country, and realising that you may not have all the necessary skills to independently take care of it.

If you’re still holding down a city job, ferrying the kids to school and extra-curricular activities and trying to be involved with your community, time is a valuable commodity.

Help is at hand in most parts of the country – if you look for it. There’s no “one stop” complete lifestyle property management service provider that we’re aware of, however, there are contractors around the country who offer comprehensive services in their specialist fields.

Green, green grass of home Keeping stock on a lifestyle block sounds idyllic but you need to factor in the animals’ health and welfare, the upkeep of pasture and fencing, and what happens to the animals when you are on holiday?

Where the grass is concerned, Lance and Sheryl Pawley operate a successful business in the wider Auckland and Rodney area, with

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lifestyle block owners their main clients. Having lived on a lifestyle block themselves for 20 years, the Pawleys quickly recognised a need for a tractor-based property maintenance service to help owners of small holdings and so they started Block Busters Lifestyle Maintenance.

“Block owners sometimes struggle to keep on top of pasture health and wonder why the paddocks get so barren. Add in overstocking, saturated ground in winter when the ground gets destroyed and that’s when the services we offer are a lifesaver,” he says.

“We can help restore the health to the pasture and give them a maintenance plan to follow.”

Mobile shearing – they’ll come to ewe Since 2003, Bruce and Ngaia Richardson have offered a mobile shearing service in the wider Hawke’s Bay area having identified a real demand for a one-stop sheep care provider – mainly for lifestyle block owners.

Bruce says they’re so well set-up now that they can take care of a single sheep to a flock of 7,000. They’re certified to do everything from haircuts, pedicure and manicures – to drenching, taking care of foot rot, crutching and docking, giving new lamb inoculations and organising the sale of wool via a broker.

“As Hawke’s Bay Mobile Shearing, we started out with a small 4-tonne truck and created a tailor-made shearing unit on the back,” says Bruce.

“The truck comes complete with a 1-stand Lister shearing plant, fold-down catching pen, electric winch, fadge holders and is fully generator powered so we can park up pretty much anywhere to shear or crutch sheep.

“We’ve expanded now and have a team of experienced, qualified shearers and two trucks servicing the area from Taupo to Takapau to help a wide range of clients from vineyard and orchard owners through to grazing block holders and smaller lifestyle property owners.

“It works out to be a really cost-effective way to look after sheep and because we’re mobile and come direct to the client, it’s hasslefree for them.”

There’s no “one stop” complete lifestyle property management service provider, however, there are contractors around the country who offer comprehensive services in their specialist fields.

“It’s simply not economic or practical for many lifestyle block owners to be buying tractors and other machinery as the usage seldom justifies the outlay,” explains Lance.

“And not everyone is confident to be operating heavy equipment in a rural context.

“The established big agricultural contractors are not that interested in the small jobs so we found a high demand for services like one-off or regularly scheduled large lawn or paddock mowing and mulching, light or heavy gorse mulching, lime and/or fertiliser application, weed spraying, rotary hoeing or soil renovation.”

Lance says he regularly comes across lifestyle block owners who thought that getting animals in to keep the grass down would save on maintenance.

Chop, chop – homekill services If you are keeping animals for meat, you must either kill it humanely on your own property, or hire a listed homekill service provider to do it for you. The Ministry for Primary Industries website outlines the strict legal requirements around homekill along with a list of service providers.

Adam Morrison and Teresa Wakelin moved to Helensville, northwest of Auckland, for a taste of the good life and now operate a purpose-built, dual-operator butcher shop and homekill business.

Cleaver’s Edge is registered with MPI and must follow strict food safety standards to be able to offer both homekill services and retail meat to locals.

“We offer a farm-to-freezer service and are kept really busy with the homekill side of the business around the district,” says Adam.

“We work with experienced slaughtermen who go to the property and take care of everything; from the careful slaughter and disposal of the offal (if the client doesn’t want it) through to putting ID tags on the animals before delivering them by truck direct to our factory.

“When we receive the animal, we’ll hang the meat for optimal times and then butcher it according to the clients’ cut requests, supplying the finished product packed fresh or frozen.

“It’s a surprisingly detailed but seamless process and means that rearing animals for meat is viable for lifestyle block owners.”

Rural Insight

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Doing our bit for New Zealand.

Communities are the lifeblood of New Zealand and at Bayleys we are strong supporters of many community organisations, schools, sports teams and events across the country. It’s a big part of our culture and values - it’s what we do!

National

Northland

• Golden Shears

Mid & Far North Warkworth Far North

• ESNZ Jumping

Northland Rugby Warkworth A& P Show Hospice

• Make-A-Wish New Zealand

Bay of Plenty Waikato Waitakaruru Pukekawa Thames Valley Thames Valley Hauraki Plains Hauraki Plains Hauraki Plains Hauraki Plains Hauraki Plains Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Waitetuna Morrinsville/Te Aroha

Waitakaruru Calf Club Pukekawa Bowling Club Thames Valley Youth Rugby Thames Valley Youth Netball Hauraki North Rugby Waitak, Kopurahi, Kaihere School Newsletters Hauraki Plains College Hockey Karl Davis Charity Golf Day Hauraki Lawn Bowls Club Goodwood School Cricket Goodwood School Rugby Cambridge Junior Rugby Cambridge Junior Cricket Waitetuna School Fun Run Mike Fraser-Jones Race Day

Te Puke Te Puke Pongakawa Pongakawa Whakatane Whakatane

Te Puke Golf Club Te Puke Bowling Club Pongakawa School Quiz Night Pongakawa School Agricutural Day Whakatane Fishing club Paroa Rugby Club

Auckland Auckland Counties Manukau Rugby Auckland Karaka Sports Park Auckland Clevedon School

Taupo Taupo Taupo Taupo Taupo

Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu Manawatu Manawatu Manawatu Manawatu/Horowhenua Manawatu/Horowhenua Manawatu/Horowhenua Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu/Whanganui Manawatu/Whanganui

Apiti Golf Club Manawatu Golf Club Feilding Golf Club Bike Manawatu Club Rugby HKRFU Rep Rugby AP& I Show Arohanui Hospice Feilding Business Association Hurricanes Federated farmers Kimbolton Sculpture festival Breast Cancer Foundation Bowls Whanganui - North Island Bowls Tournament CD Field Days - Rural & Lifestyle Pavilion Horowhenua Boys & Girls Ag Club

Nelson/Tasman Nelson Nelson Nelson Motueka Motueka Motueka Motueka

Tapawera A & P show Nelson A & P show The Brightwater Market Motueka Community Swimming Pool Project Motueka High School Rugby Hula Rugby Club Kaiteriteri Mountain Bike Park

Gisborne Tahunga Gisborne Gisborne Gisborne Gisborne Wairoa Ngatapa

Gore Gore Invercargill

Neo Natal Unit Gore Harness Race Meeting Wyndham A&P Show & Glenham School

Otago Queenstown Arrowtown Volunteer Fire Brigade

#1

RURAL REAL ESTATE BRAND

bayleys.co.nz/rural LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Tahunga Golf Club Poverty Bay A&P Association Westpac Business Awards Eastland Rescue Helicopter Trust Poverty Bay Hunt Inc Wairoa Agricultural and Pastoral Society Ngatapa Dog Trials

Hawke’s Bay Hawke’s Bay Hawke’s Bay Hawke’s Bay

A&P Wine Awards Primary Sector Professional of the Year Relay for Life

Taranaki Taranaki Taranaki

Dairy Industry Awards Taranaki Beef & Lamb NZ

Marlborough Marlborough

Southland

Riding for the Disabled Yachting Hospice Womens Elite Bike Race

Marlborough Marlborough

Marlborough Sheep and Beef Farmer of the Year A&P Show Wine and Food Festival

Canterbury Christchurch Canterbury/North Otago Canterbury

Canterbury A&P Association NZ Dairy Industry Awards Regional Balance Farm Environmental Awards West Coast Top of the South NZ Dairy Industry Awards