Rough road ahead for rural networks
Richard Rennie NEWS Infrastructure
MANY kilometers of tar-sealed country roads around New Zealand could be downgraded to gravel as councils struggle to source adequate funding for maintaining routes.
Southland District Council is already facing the prospect of having sections of three rural roads reverted to gravel, with the council unable to source sufficient funds to meet spiralling maintenance costs.
Southland mayor Rob Scott said the district is being crippled by an inequitable funding system playing against Southland where there are 150 metres of road per capita, against only 4m per capita in Auckland, and 1.6m in Wellington.
As a region we have the country’s second largest roading network ... over half is unsealed.
“As a region we have the country’s second largest roading network after Auckland with 5000km. Of that, over half (3000km) is unsealed.”
Southland needed $179 million in National Land Transport
Programme funding for 2024-27. It pared it back to a bare minimum of $147m, and only received $124m.
The region is receiving only about half what it generates in road user charges and fees for council roadworks.
Mossburn farmer Pete Turner has farm property on Waterloo Road, one of those identified as being too costly on part of its 14km length to have tar seal maintained.
It serves 11 ratepayers and 16 residents, while providing access to properties running over 60,000 stock units, and three forestry blocks.
Turner said ratepayers feel blindsided by a council report suggesting the roads may not remain tar sealed.
“There are real safety concerns there, and dust issues affecting stock and people living on it.”
He also said the region is not receiving the funding it should.
In 10 years, Southland road users have paid $1 billion in road user charges and fuel excise, but received $551m in return as roading investment.
Further north, Ashburton District Council mayor Neil Brown said the council had budgeted for $2.5m in government funding which it did not receive, a loss that came the same time as road repair costs had soared 25% in three years.
He acknowledged the “cheapest road is a gravel road” and his
Continued page 3
Southland District Council may have to downgrade some roads to gravel due to funding shortages. Mayor Rob Scott says the district has received only about half what it has contributed to roading through road user charges and petrol taxes in the past decade.
Photo: Gerhard Uys
Govt may extend existing horticulture resource consents.
NEWS 3
From bare paddock to blooming business
Wānaka’s Lavender Farm turned 10 last year. Co-founder Tim Zeestraten shares how they transformed a tiny plot into one of New Zealand’s most photographed farms.
HORTICULTURE 16
Redundancy fears at AgResearch with 40 jobs on the line.
NEWS 5
The policy missteps that hollowed out NZ’s science sector.
OPINION 15
Rob Scott
Southland District Council
EDITORIAL
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News in brief
Exports slow
The value of New Zealand exports grew only 2.8% in the year to September due to weak Chinese demand, but trade officials believe the coming year could see a significant recovery.
A Ministry for the Foreign Affairs and Trade report says exports grew 12.2% for the previous year, 2022-23, but slowed sharply last year. However, exporters should benefit in the current year from the recent strengthening of global commodity prices, a weaker NZ dollar, and rising primary production.
Wyeth resigns
Richard Wyeth has resigned as chief executive of Westland Milk Products. Wyeth joined the company four years ago and helped turn it around from making a multimillion-dollar loss into being profitable.
Beef seminar
Those with a passion for beef and genetics are invited to attend a day-long seminar on the topic in Christchurch next month. Hosted by Beef + Lamb New Zealand, the seminar, on March 18 at the Addington Events Centre, brings together experts and sector leaders including Simon Kenny, head of impact and communications for McDonald’s NZ, and new BLNZ chief executive Alan Thomson.
Settlement reached
Bremworth has reached a full and final settlement with its insurer for the damage caused to its Hawke’s Bay plant during Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023. The settlement amount is $104.2 million, of which the company has already received progress payments of $62m, leaving $42.2m to be paid before the end of February. That will coincide with Bremworth’s interim results release for the six months to December 31.
Govt mulls red tape relief for growers
Neal Wallace NEWS Horticulture
THE government is considering extending or grandfathering resource consents held by vegetable growers and orchardists – and may extend the relief to all farmers.
The policy would replicate a move introduced by the government last year in which the life of consents held by marine farmers were extended by at least 20 years.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones told Farmers Weekly that he has staff looking at extending the policy to consent held by vegetable growers and orchardists. He is keen to do the same for pastoral and cropping farmers but said those sectors are the responsibility of Agricultural Minister Todd McClay.
Jones said NZ First campaigned on a policy of “recalibrating regulations” that it said were suffocating the productive sector. Given the current weakness of the economy, there needs to be an easing of regulations.
In his capacity as regional development minister, Jones has spoken with vegetable growers about rolling over or grandfathering their consent and
plans to meet with orchardists.
An option would be to roll over existing consents for five to 10 years to allow business owners to focus on their role of growing food and not tie up time and cash renewing consents.
“Green tape has been growing year on year and it forces growers to justify themselves.”
He said the pendulum has swung too far away and is compromising productivity.
“We are steering down the barrel of relying on imported food because vegetable and food growers have to comply with stifling nutrient and water regulations,” he said.
“It’s an indictment on our system if food growers close up and we rely on imported vegetables and greens.”
Horticulture NZ declined to comment until it had more detail from the minister’s office.
Last year the government extended the terms for existing marine farm coastal permits by at least 20 years, part of a package that included cutting fishing levies, providing new tools to tackle kina barrens, the creation of an aquaculture strategy, and reform of the fisheries sector.
The aquaculture strategy aims to triple sales revenue to $3 billion by 2035.
The move means that New
Continued from page 1
district may not be far from having to revise what rural roads remain in a sealed state.
“It’s hard to guess which ones they would be.
“You can look at lower-use roads, but that is not where the costs are. It’s the high-use ones that are costly to maintain.”
Almost 40 years ago major grants by the Crown to local councils led to many rural roads being sealed, and mayors agree many of these roads now require major rehabilitation, all coming to fruition around the same time.
Brown estimated his council is about $5m short a year for its road maintenance budget.
“And things are really starting to pile up.”
In Taranaki, local farmers and landowners have pushed back against New Plymouth District Council’s plans to turn part of Tarata Road into a gravel road.
Zealand’s approximately 1200 existing marine farms that require one or more resource consents, or coastal permits, would automatically have the consent renewed, authorising a continuation of activities by 20 years, but not beyond 2050.
Jones said this move and his proposal for land-based agriculture is part of a push by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon
to his ministers to enable rather than prevent development and economic activity. It has become difficult for businesses to expand or to invest, he said.
He cited a recent case in his home Northland province where what he called three unelected and unknown commissioners turned down the extension of Northport on Whangārei Harbour
Green tape has been growing year on year.
Shane Jones Regional Development Minister
“due to some obscure critter in a mangrove swamp”.
McClay said the idea has merit though it would need to balance environmental obligations against any consent extension or rollover.
“But if we can get the balance right and it supports farmers then it is worth considering.”
McClay said the government has already made a large number of changes to reduce regulatory burdens for the food and fibre sector by streamlining regulations and making domestic production more permissive.
The government is currently rewriting the Resource Management Act and has previously stated its intention to make rules for activities such as food growing more permissive. McClay said it will explore further reforms through upcoming RMA announcements.
“Our ongoing RMA reforms and national direction changes in freshwater will consider practical solutions to help farmers and growers focus on production and growing farmgate returns.”
GDT prices fuel prospects of milk price topping $10
Hugh Stringleman MARKETS Dairy
SMALLER sales volumes through the Global Dairy Trade platform contributed to a healthy 3.7% increase in the price index, the biggest single-event increase since early November.
Drystock farmer and Federated Farmers executive member
Jarred Coogan said heavy forestry traffic of up to 60 truck movements a day had torn the road apart.
“Council tried to claim it was only a forestry service road in their long-term plan, but it is a through road, serving the community.”
A community group successfully pushed back on plans to revert it to gravel.
Coogan said the council had long been aware of the huge surge in timber tonnages to come out of the district, but had done little to gear up for it over the past 20 years.
He urged rural communities facing the same fate not to accept it.
“In many cases farmer ratepayers have paid a rate specifically for roading. They have put the dollars in over the years, but councils have diverted the money elsewhere.”
Fonterra reduced powder offer volumes by 20% compared with the previous GDT event and the one in February last year.
Increases of 4% in whole milk powder and skim milk powder prices plus a bounceback for anhydrous milk fat and butter all helped push up the index.
Cheddar was up 3.7% and lactose 17.7%.
The increases have strengthened the floor under farmgate milk prices for Fonterra and its New Zealand rivals as speculation turns to $10-plus forecasts.
“One key driver behind the price lifts is the seasonal reductions in Fonterra offer volumes in recent weeks combined with channelling into off-platform markets,” NZX dairy analyst Rosalind Crickett said.
While NZ milk production in December and for the whole of 2024 was positive, the United States and Australia reported negative monthly figures.
Momentum under WMP prices since the beginning of the NZ season has lifted them over US$4000/tonne for the first time since mid-2022.
GDT buyers had been speculating on the $4000 price prospects, Crickett said.
Should the NZ autumn pattern of 2022 repeat, WMP prices have some further upside potential and that will be a key determinant of the seasonal farmgate milk price outcome,
For dairy farmers who like more certainty, the SGX-NZX milk price futures market is already trading around $10 for this season and the next.
PUSH: Increases of 4% in whole milk powder and skim milk powder prices plus a bounceback for anhydrous milk fat and butter all helped push up the index.
SYSTEM: Southland District Council mayor Rob Scott says the district is being disadvantaged by an inequitable funding system playing against Southland.
Photo: Gerhard Uys
FRUITFUL: Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he has staff looking at rolling over consents held by vegetable growers and orchardists.
US sheep farmers show their hand on tariffs
SNigel Stirling MARKETS Sheep and beef
HEEP farmers in the United States are calling on President Donald Trump to use tariffs to hold back a surge in New Zealand and Australian lamb imports.
Tariffs at the 21% suggested by the American Sheep Industry Association would have the potential to suck up to $130 million out of the pockets of NZ farmers.
Outgoing American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) president Brad Boner said he had fielded “multiple” inquiries from members since Trump’s reelection in November.
US sheep farmers want to know “because of Trump’s strong stance on tariffs what ASI plans on doing about imported lamb” which was up 38% in 2024, Boner said.
“With the big jump in 2024, ASI will be bringing this to the attention of the Trump transition team,” he said.
Boner said a 21% tariff was needed for the US sheep industry “just to maintain its market share.”
Statistics NZ data shows exporters shipped $626m of sheepmeat to the US last year, up 15% from the year before, making it NZ’s second most valuable market after China, which was worth $956m, down from $1.4 billion in 2023.
Sales out of Australia, which ranks well ahead of NZ as the largest source of lamb imported into the US, were up 23% in the year to June.
There is the question of a trade war with countries considered our allies.
up against foreign competitors.
He said the ASI had begun investigations of its own into Australian and NZ lamb imports in 2018 and 2020 as a preliminary step to asking the US government to initiate its own investigation. Last year it employed a Washington DC law firm to conduct yet another investigation.
It found it “might be able to prove harm” to US sheep farmers from imports.
However, the lack of taxpayerfunded support for NZ and Australian farmers, as well as little evidence the countries are dumping lamb on the US market at a price significantly below what they sell it for on their own domestic markets, undermine the legal case for tariffs.
Based on 2024 exports a 21% tariff could lop $130m and $375m off NZ and Australian lamb returns respectively if the full cost of the tariff was passed on by US importers.
However, Boner said tariffs were not a slam-dunk despite Trump’s enthusiasm for them as a tool to give US producers a leg
“In addition there is always the lingering question of the political resolve and geopolitical consequences of a trade war with countries who are considered our allies,” Boner said.
Beef + Lamb NZ senior manager for international trade Frances Duignan said a tariff on NZ lamb would be damaging to US producers, who are not able to meet consumer demand and need
to see supplementary supplies come into the market to keep lamb in front of US consumers year-round.
In NZ, Meat Industry Association chair Nathan Guy was adamant increased sheepmeat sales to the US have not come at the expense of US producers.
“The demand for high-quality lamb products in the US is increasing to the point that it cannot be met domestically,” he said.
“We believe there is ample opportunity for growth in the US sheepmeat market for both domestic and imported product.”
NZ especially vulnerable to Trump trade attack
NEW Zealand is more exposed than Australia to United States President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on imports.
A RaboResearch report by senior macro strategist Benjamin Picton says NZ’s vulnerability to rising protectionism is due to several factors: our greater reliance on trade, the US being our second
largest export market, having a trade surplus with the US and low levels of defence spending.
“New Zealand is more tradeexposed than Australia with trade accounting for 53.5% of all economic activity.
“For Australia, trade only accounts for 37.9% of economic activity, which is likely a function of Australia’s larger population and more developed domestic market,” Picton said.
The US buys 12.4% of our
exports, and our dependence on China increases out exposure to US trade policy, with tariffs Trump imposes on Chinese imports likely to negatively impact growth and therefore demand for our products.
“In recent times, NZ has run a trade surplus with the United States, whereas Australia consistently runs trade deficits.
“Since eliminating the US trade deficit is the principal aim of Trump’s tariff plans, this perhaps
places Australia in a stronger position than others to argue that it should be given favourable trade terms by the US, but there are no guarantees that the new US administration would find such arguments persuasive.”
Compounding NZ’s position is its lack of spending on defence, which the report notes is likely to be a new dimension in trade negotiations.
Picton said that, historically, periods of trade liberalisation
have been associated with rising prosperity in Australia and NZ, while periods of rising protectionism are typically associated with slower growth. Australia and NZ lack the scale to pursue strategic autonomy, so must choose balanced policy.
One option is to maintain the status quo, which is described as high risk and high reward.
Another is to pivot to Europe and southeast Asia and reduce reliance on China.
DAMAGING: Beef + Lamb NZ senior manager international trade Frances Duignan says a tariff on NZ lamb would be damaging to US producers, who are not able to meet consumer demand.
Photo: File
Brad Boner American Sheep Industry Association
Neal Wallace NEWS Trade
More AgResearch jobs on the block
Richard Rennie NEWS Research
SCIENTIST job losses are starting to be confirmed at AgResearch, coming hard on the heels of the government’s science sector changes announced late last month.
Grave concerns over the job losses to come have also prompted the pastoral sector to write an urgent open letter to the new science minister Shane Reti, outlining alarm over the impact of the cuts on New Zealand’s livestock industry.
AgResearch CEO Sue Bidrose confirmed to Farmers Weekly that about 40 full-time science roles are on the block, and seven staff have opted for voluntary redundancies.
She said the science areas of parasitology, food safety and weed science are affected – and animal bio-technology is to be discontinued altogether.
“The reviews of both the science and science support functions is driven by the need to break the cycle of ongoing financial losses by AgResearch, and to live within our means, heading into the next phase for Crown Research Institutes,” she said in a written response to Farmers
Weekly questions.
The losses come as AgResearch has faced an ongoing sinking lid policy on staff numbers, with fulltime employees dropping from 722 to 666 between 2019 and 2023. The CRI also removed 25 full-time nonscience roles in an earlier review.
Wormwise manager Ginny Dodunski said news of the job losses in the parasitology research area confirmed fears expressed by Wormwise late last year to the government about funding for the vital research poised to “fall off a cliff”.
Dodunski said gaps remain in the understanding of drench resistance, while parasites like lungworm are increasing due to the impact of climate change.
The open letter to Reti highlights that the cuts are coming at a time when
CUTS: AgResearch
CEO Sue Bidrose has confirmed to Farmers Weekly that about 40 full-time science roles could go, and seven staff have opted for voluntary redundancies.
livestock resistance to existing drench treatments is becoming a nationwide problem.
“This is an area that needs immediate attention to safeguard farm productivity, animal welfare and the broader economic contributions of our rural sector,” the letter states. It points to years of underfunding in long-term agricultural science and a competitive funding model contributing to the current situation and succession planning becoming almost impossible in an area like parasitology.
Dodunski said she could only hope the small number of experts in the parasitology field may be able to form a coalition across their different organisations to present a united front in attracting more research funds in future.
Forestry fears unfounded, sector players believe
Wallace NEWS
Emissions
NEW Zealand does not need to plant vast areas of new forests to meet new greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, say foresters and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts.
Last month the government announced plans to reduce emissions by 51-55% compared to 2005 levels by 2035, as part of its second international climate target under the Paris Agreement.
Federated Farmers and Beef + Lamb NZ both said the new target will require a surge in new afforestation to achieve, but Watts said that is not the case.
“That is not the reality.” Watts said in an interview that forestry offsetting is part of the government’s emissions reduction plan, but other measures, such as
renewable energy, electric vehicles and technology for the agricultural sector, will all contribute.
“We want to grow the economy, and we need the agricultural sector to play to its strengths.
“There has got to be a balance so we ensure we do not put NZ farming at risk.”
Last year the government introduced controls on the classes of land and areas of forestry that can be planted. Watts also rejected claims the government will have to spend billions of dollars buying emissions offsets from overseas, saying the focus is on reducing domestic emissions.
Forest Owners Association chief executive Elizabeth Heeg also doubts the new targets will encourage a surge in planting of new production forestry. She said proposed new regulations on planting trees on certain land
STEVE’S NEVER AGAIN BUYING DAIRY APRONS ONLINE.
use classes (LUCs) and the registering of those forests on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have created uncertainty among investors.
Heeg said the area of production forestry is currently lower than it was 20 years ago and data shows that recent plantings have been on less productive land.
“Hopefully we can work with government and others to see trees planted in the right places, but I don’t think there will be a huge amount of afforestation.”
Ollie Batelier-Belton, the managing director Carbon Forest Services, also doubts achieving the policy will require vast areas of new forestry, due in part to changes to the ETS.
“It’s hard to see how this will lead to a huge increase in planting,” he said.
MORE: See page 12
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It’s been designed to meet the needs of farmers and landowners looking to purchase smaller quantities of quality fertiliser, seed, chemicals, and soil tests.
Garry Diack, Ravensdown CEO, said “Resupply is designed as a one-stop-shop for customers who know what agronomy
supplies they want and don’t require any additional services or support ”
Resupply orders can be paid for by credit card or bank transfer, and Ravensdown shareholders also have the option to pay via invoice to benefit from their shareholder pricing and rebates.
Conveniently, delivery or pick-up is available for Resupply’s range of seed, chem and soil tests, while fertiliser orders are available for pick-up from Ravensdown stores nationwide.
To learn more about Resupply and take a look around the range of quality fertiliser, chemical, seed and soil tests now conveniently available direct online, visit resupply co.nz
Neal
DairyNZ considers its first ever levy hike
Gerald Piddock NEWS Dairy
DAIRYNZ has begun talks with dairy farmers to decide how much should be paid in milk solid levies, which are used to fund the organisation.
The levy is currently set at 3.6 cents per kilogram of milk solids. Of that, 0.8 cents is paid to TBfree NZ (on-paid to OSPRI), leaving 2.8c for DairyNZ.
DairyNZ’s board is floating two options for farmers, which it will be consulting on over the next month: a 4.4c-4.6c/kg MS dubbed the “Maintain” option, and a higher, 4.7c-5c/kg MS levy called the “Accelerate” option.
Chair Tracy Brown said the board had looked at what DairyNZ would need to be able to operate sustainably. At the minimum, that was 4.4c.
“It’s never been adjusted in the whole time DairyNZ has existed.
It hasn’t changed for 16 years. If it was inflation adjusted it would be 5.2c.
“There’s been no change over all of those years. The world has changed around us in the meantime and so have the challenges – there are more and bigger and we really want to set farmers up for the future.”
The world has changed around us in the meantime and so have the challenges.
Tracy Brown DairyNZ
DairyNZ has offered a price band because it is unsure what the new levy should be and the eventual amount will depend on farmers’ feedback.
DairyNZ has also just had a major restructuring with a new strategy and it wanted to get that
bedded in before having the levy consultation, Brown said.
The Maintain option would keep the current research and science programmes, retain some projects such as bobby calves and forages as well as allowing DairyNZ to meet its financial obligations.
“At that rate, if other challenges came along in the next couple of years, we couldn’t do a whole lot of other projects and that’s why we’re testing the 4.7-5c /kg MS, which is the Accelerate option,” Brown said.
“That’s about expanding investment in science and research, farm system extension and trying to keep ahead of the challenges. We can basically do more and quicker under the Accelerate option.”
Board-level conversations around raising the levy began in late 2023.
At 4.4c, it meant another $800 per 100,000kg MS while a higher 5c levy meant an additional $1400, replacing the 3.6c currently being paid by farmers.
The new levy consultation is separate from the six-year milk solids levy vote, which will occur in 2026, when farmers will vote on whether or not to continue to support DairyNZ.
Letters have gone out to every milk solids levy payer. They contain a unique identifier that provides access to a secure online feedback form.
Brown, along with chief
executive Campbell Parker, members of the management team and board members, will be holding in-person events across the country and hosting online presentations that will allow farmers to talk to them about the proposal.
Consultation closes on March 2, at which time the board will consider that feedback and make a decision on the levy by May 1.
ACC, Safer Farms team up for farm safety
Staff reporter NEWS Safety
ACC and Safer Farms have announced a partnership to reduce harm, injuries and fatalities in the agricultural sector.
The partnership will see over $11 million invested by ACC over the next five years, supporting the agriculture sector in the implementation of Safer Farms’ innovative grass-roots Farm Without Harm strategy. Agriculture remains one of the most dangerous places for New Zealanders to work.
In 2024, ACC accepted over
17,116 new farming-related injury claims, and spent over $124m to help people recover from farmingrelated injuries.
Safer Farms chair Lindy Nelson said the investment is a significant boost to the programme, which has resonated with farmers since its launch in 2023.
“This support from ACC means we can amplify what we have already been doing, working with farming leaders and supporting farming people to protect each other from preventable harm.
“We will be investing additional resources into initiatives which are designed to change behaviours and foster a stronger safety culture
on farms, enhance engagement, capability and capacity within the sector and empower sector leadership and collaboration to drive aligned and coordinated action.”
ACC’s deputy chief executive for strategy, engagement and prevention, Andy Mine, said the organisation is excited to enter a partnership with Safer Farms.
“We’re committed to driving positive and enduring change for New Zealand’s agricultural sector and we believe Safer Farms is key to supporting that commitment.”
The key focus areas in the action plan are: psychosocial risks resulting in diminished wellbeing;
harm experienced while working in and around vehicles and mobile plant; muscular stress and injury caused by livestock handling; harm caused by exposure to agricultural chemicals; and airborne risks.
Milne said Safer Farms and ACC are focused on supporting
This support from ACC means we can amplify what we have already been doing.
Lindy Nelson Safer Farms
the agriculture sector in ways that are practical, impactful, and sustainable.
“We’re confident that the investment will translate into safer practices and reduced risks on the ground. Safer Farms has already achieved significant progress in strengthening their leadership across the sector, built strong relationships, and focused on a ‘by farmers for farmers’ approach to drive sustained change.”
To mark the launch of the partnership, Milne, alongside ACC’s head of injury prevention Renee Graham and workplace safety manager Paula Wood, visited Nelson’s Wairarapa farm.
FIRST: DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown says the organisation plans to lift the levy for the first time in its 16-year existence.
Farmers sticking to traditional systems
THE record dairy payout appears to be not a big enough carrot to get farmers chasing production. Instead, they are largely sticking to their systems. Those with the infrastructure, staffing and feed are remaining on twice-a-day milking while
smaller and low-input operators are sticking to moving to once-a-day (OAD) or “10 and 7” milking as pastures dry out and more supplementary feed gets used.
One of the latter is Waikato Federated Farmers dairy chair Matthew Zonderop, who switched to OAD milking just after Christmas.
Zonderop sharemilks a low-input farm system near Te Poi and said remaining on twice-a-day milking in the new year risked jeopardising the health of his herd.
“There will be a lot of guys out there thinking I’m not going to sacrifice cow condition for this payout because I’m only going to shoot myself in the foot when I’m drying off or come calving time.”
But the double-digit payout made it appealing, he said.
“I was tempted myself but I thought, no I’ll stick to our system and continue with our system because we know that if we don’t do that, it’s going to bite us in the arse.”
For those farmers who have more intensive systems, it came down to the per-cow production, and they would be averaging around 1.5-1.6kg MS a day. On that basis, they would continue twice-a-day because they had those levers, he said.
“But those on System 1-2, they’ll be having to make those tough calls. It goes back to the economics because at this stage of the season, we’re pushing the boundaries of physical limits of production anyway.”
There will be a lot of guys out there thinking I’m not going to sacrifice cow condition for this payout.
A DairyNZ spokesperson said feedback from farmers indicated most are sticking to past systems – and will go to OAD when it is dry.
Masterton-based BakerAg managing director Chris Lewis said historically, the drivers for changing milking intervals were not financially based, but are a combination of lifestyle, people, animal welfare and cow condition.
“This year, the financial driver will be to keep milking twice a day for longer than you otherwise would.”
However, this would not be done to the long-term detriment of the herd. Assuming the milk price stays strong for next season, farmers will be happy to pay attention to cow condition, supplementary feed and pasture covers without potentially putting themselves into a negative position.
The margin between the cost of milk and cost of feed is such that people will keep milking if it is prudent to do so, he said.
On feed costs alone, it might cost farmers as much as $7 to make a kilogram of marginal milk solids. When labour, power, animal health and other costs are added, farmers have to weigh those decisions up.
“You have a $3 margin over feed before you pay for these other costs and it’s better than it otherwise would have been as some years that margin’s next to nothing.”
For Lewis, that decision for most of his farmer clients was one that would be made closer to autumn – although he knows of some who went to OAD in the new year.
“Dollars and cents don’t always guide that decision, and you can still have a good bottom line if you go OAD.”
Gerald Piddock NEWS Dairy
Matthew Zonderop Federated Farmers
JEOPARDISE: Waikato Federated Farmers dairy chair Matthew Zonderop sharemilks a lowinput farm system near Te Poi and said remaining on twice-a-day milking in the new year risked jeopardising the health of his herd.
Photo: File
Zespri moves to squash dodgy overseas kiwifruit
Richard Rennie NEWS Horticulture
ZESPRI is doubling down on efforts to stamp out counterfeit fruit branding with incidences expected to rise with greater volumes of illegally grown overseas fruit.
A recent visit by an industry insider to Indonesia found supermarket shelf displays of poor-quality “Zhouzhi” kiwifruit with a label strongly resembling the Zespri brand’s.
The same brand was seen marketed in China by Farmers Weekly during a visit there in March 2019.
Zespri’s head of strategy, Tim Clarkson, told Farmers Weekly the marketer is familiar with the Zhouzhi brand, which originated in China. It sells fruit locally and exports to southeast Asia.
“Zespri includes this brand and others in its regular monitoring programmes, and we take enforcement action where appropriate,” Clarkson said.
He said as part of its ongoing efforts to protect the Zespri brand, it is successfully using legal channels to address the issue of
counterfeit labels in China and other markets.
The volume of illegally grown Zespri SunGold fruit is likely to provide a headache for the marketer, with the growth in planted area there now almost 9000 hectares – greater than the 8600ha planted in New Zealand.
Zespri has been working with Chinese authorities to take enforcement action against a small number of people it says are involved in extensive counterfeit operations.
In early 2024 information gathered enabled local police in China to conduct several raids on sellers buying local kiwifruit to sell through stores set up on e-commerce sites.
Following the raids, legal action resulted in successful prosecutions against three individuals in China for online sales of locally grown fruit with counterfeit Zespri labels, to the value of NZ$700,000. They were subsequently sentenced to non-custodial sentences from six months to one year and fined NZ$125,000.
A further nine people involved in the same case were sentenced last November for the manufacture and distribution of over 9 million
counterfeit Zespri labels in China. All received either jail or noncustodial sentences and fines.
“The work in this space is increasingly important with similar cases of counterfeit expected to rise as the availability of locally grown unauthorised G3 (Gold fruit) increases in future years.
“We acknowledge the strong support of these local authorities and look forward to continuing to work with them in the future,” Clarkson said.
Zespri has also been operating a verification audit programme since 2020, testing where Zespribranded fruit is grown, providing an opportunity for commercial consequences if China-origin fruit is found in Zespri packaging in authorised outlets.
While counterfeit Zespri labelling is an issue, the “fake food” categories most susceptible to fraud are olive oils, honey, spices and alcoholic beverages.
In Europe authorities have started a “fight fake honey” campaign in the face of increased volumes of honey produced without using bees and adopting technology using genetically modified bacteria to modify sugar profiles.
FULL WOOL: Lots one and two for the southern ram sale on February 12.
Ram sale marks breeding centenary
Staff reporter MARKETS Genetics
MEADOWSLEA Romneys is celebrating a century of breeding this year with the first of seven scheduled sheep and cattle sales to be held at Gore, where the Giddings family genetics business began.
The southern ram sale will be held on the Grant Brothers property, on the outskirts of Gore, on February 12 where Gilbert Giddings purchased his first 40 stud Romney ewes. The offering will be 40 terminator rams and a selection of rams for maternal breeds, including Romneys.
In 1925, when Gilbert took a train to Gore to buy stud sheep, he was still a teenager and not old enough to have them
registered in his own name so the first Meadowslea sheep where registered in the name of his mother, Mrs Sarah Giddings.
Meadowslea at Fairlie in south Canterbury is now run by Gilbert’s son David and grandson George. George has a son named Gilbert and all three generations live on the property.
The centenary is a good time to take stock, with Meadowslea now consisting of around 3000 recorded ewes run over four properties with 700 registered Angus cows.
David said while there have been massive changes to the breed and its performance over those years, some things haven’t changed at all with the fundamentals of structural soundness and strong constitution as relevant today as they were in 1925.
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Kāinga Ora backs down on wool carpet tenders
Neal Wallace NEWS Food and fibre
LOBBYING by wool and farming sectors is being credited for a backdown by the state housing provider, which has re-opened bids from suppliers to provide carpet for its houses.
Kāinga Ora’s exclusion of wool carpet suppliers from its Request for Proposal (RFP) process in December provoked a backlash that has seen it reopen the tender process, saying it wants to compare the quality and price of nylon and wool carpets.
Bremworth chief executive Greg Smith welcomed the move, saying it was not easy to revisit a decision and Kāinga Ora should be commended for taking what he described as a pragmatic decision.
The state housing provider has said wool carpets need to be competitive on price and durability, and Smith said he welcomes the opportunity to prove they are.
“It deserves a chance, it’s an amazing product and it has to be in there,” he said.
Chief executive Matt Crockett said Kāinga Ora has used nylon carpet for more than a decade due to its durability and price.
Kāinga Ora owns and maintains more than 75,000 homes throughout New Zealand and in the next two years will add 2650 new homes and significantly renovate or replace another 3000 existing homes.
“It’s important the products and materials used in these properties are fit for purpose, durable and cost-effective to ensure value for money.
“These will continue to be our key assessment criteria when we compare supplier proposals.”
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision.
“As part of this process, Kāinga Ora specifically excluded woollen carpets from the tender’s scope,” said Bishop.
“While they did so in an effort to be fiscally responsible, unfortunately this meant that suppliers of carpets using NZ wool did not have the opportunity to put their best foot forward as a cost-effective option.
“Although flooring choices for Kāinga Ora properties are operational decisions for the agency, I was disappointed to see woollen carpets ruled out unequivocally.”
Patterson said wool is being given the consideration it deserves while the decision also honours the National-NZ First coalition agreement to direct government agencies to prefer wool where practical and appropriate.
While pleased with Kāinga Ora’s decision, Campaign for Wool NZ manager Kara Biggs said it is not a level playing field.
“We urge the government and Kāinga Ora to look not just at market pricing as their benchmark for suitability, but to investigate more fully the long-term benefits
KUDOS: Bremworth chief executive Greg Smith says Kāinga Ora should be commended for taking a pragmatic decision over wool carpet.
that laying wool flooring can bring to a home.”
Wools of NZ chief executive John McWhirter said all he has wanted was an opportunity to tender for the contracts and show wool is different from synthetics.
“By mandating the use of wool in public buildings, schools, and social housing, the government can drive demand for wool, support local farmers, and promote the environmental benefits of wool.
“By choosing wool over plastic carpets, it will send a signal to other governments around the world to follow suit and help drive export growth for NZ wool manufacturers.”
Smith acknowledged the efforts of Federated Farmers and the Campaign for Wool in highlighting Kāinga Ora’s initial stance.
“It’s a great opportunity for wool, hence it’s a great opportunity for growers to target value out of it.”
US food dissatisfaction gives Kiwi brands a chance
Food and fibre
A SENSE among young United States consumers their food system is flawed and even poisonous is an opportunity for New Zealand food and beverage producers to build on consumers’ generic appreciation of our products.
The results from NZ Story’s latest consumer perceptions survey for the US have been released. It has insights based on in-depth interviews with consumers in key cities of Los Angeles, Houston and New York. The survey was conducted with 24- to 54-year-olds who had some knowledge of NZ.
As of last March, the US is NZ’s second most important export market after China with $16.2 billion of exports to year ended June 2024, compared to $11bn of imports.
“I was really quite surprised to hear how vocally negative people were about food in the US,” said Joshua Thomas-Goodey of
research company Fiftyfive5.
“There is a sense there is a great lack of regulation, corner cutting, additives that are not great.
“It’s a real suspicion and negative attitude toward quality of food that is available day to day, and the best food that is available in America is that which is imported.”
That finding is supported by a 2022 University of Minnesota survey of 1000 Americans that found less than a quarter of US consumers trust information about where their food is grown and how it is produced, and that gap widened with Gen Z with only 17% trusting information. They were also the generation
two and a half times more likely than Baby Boomers to pay for sustainable and responsibly sourced food.
However, US consumers’ perception of Kiwi-sourced food and beverages tended to be superficial by food type, associating NZ as a good source for kiwifruit, dairy, lamb and wine.
“Aside maybe from our sauvignon blanc, there are no real hero products. We are known to produce a lot of dairy but we are not producing our own Parmesan. There’s not that kind of uniqueness, that unique food that is ‘owned’ by NZ per se.
“It’s a fairly broad, superficial knowledge about what we produce.”
He said to drive further value from this belief that NZ food is good quality, we need to talk more about the experience, practice and skill sets that sit behind it.
Deeper consumer perceptions of NZ include still being seen as a country that is sustainable and cares for its land, people and resources, all highly appealing to many US consumers.
A similar survey of Chinese consumers done last year found they related strongly to NZ’s close links and respect for its indigenous population.
The US survey also found US consumers are aware of Māori culture but that understanding lacks depth.
Those who do recognise it do however appreciate it reflects an open-minded, tolerant and multicultural society.
But Thomas-Goodey cautioned that exporters wanting to leverage off that without a clear purpose would be seen as tokenistic.
“Shoehorning it in [to marketing] would be a really risky move.”
The survey also highlighted NZ’s high ranking for its “soft power” influence globally, coming in No 26 out of the United Nation’s total of 193 countries.
Asked if they would recommend NZ based on investing, buying, working, studying or visiting, consumers ranked NZ highly.
“Out of a 193 member states we are in the top 20 for all these stats. This is really powerful for us,” said David Downs, NZ Story CEO.
Land approved for Ashburton food and fibre hub
Neal Wallace NEWS Food and fibre
DEVELOPMENT of a food and fibre business hub near Ashburton has taken a step forward with approval given for a New Zealand, United States and Canada-owned company to buy nearly 30 hectares.
The land is being sold by the Ashburton District Council for
$8.5 million to Inside Out LLC, a company majority owned by Susan Elisabeth Amis-Cameron, with Carrfields Food & Fibre Investments Limited Partnership as a joint venture partner.
The approval to purchase the land is contained in the latest decisions by Land Information
NZ’s Overseas Investment Office, and was granted as the application is likely to benefit NZ. The agreement is to purchase
21.33ha of sensitive land with an option to purchase two further lots, 5.92ha and 2.33ha, located at the Ashburton Business Estate.
The land is owned by the Ashburton District Council for the purpose of providing land on which to establish businesses.
It is the intention of the purchasers to develop a sustainable food and fibre hub.
The deal also includes the purchase of 50% of shares in Christchurch-based natural fibre and carpet yarn company Rubisco Ltd.
Approval has also been granted to Beehive Demetra Ltd to buy a 61ha of grazing and horticultural property at Pongakawa in the western Bay of Plenty.
It intends to extend by 13 canopy hectares an existing 23 canopy hectare kiwifruit orchard
which will be managed by Craigmore Sustainables.
The company, a subsidiary of a German reinsurance company, has European, United Kingdom and US shareholders.
Ponga Silva, which is NZ registered but wholly owned by a German multinational insurance company, has been given permission to buy two Marlborough forests covering 412ha off Permanent Forests Ltd.
Richard Rennie MARKETS
GENERIC: US consumers still generally have a homogeneous appreciation of NZ food, extending only to broad food types such as kiwifruit, dairy or lamb.
Photo: Pexels
‘Pine plantation of the South Pacific’
RENEWED afforestation to meet the government’s new emissions reduction target could turn New Zealand into the pine plantation of the South Pacific, warns a farming leader.
Federated Farmers meat and wool chair
Toby Williams was responding to the government’s new greenhouse gas emission reduction target of 51-55% by 2035 compared to 2005 levels.
Williams said the target was not feasible
and will cause extensive planting of carbonabsorbing pine trees.
“There is a very real risk that we could become the great pine plantation of the South Pacific – hardly something to be proud of.”
The Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets are part of the government’s Paris Agreement obligations.
But Williams said NZ has few options – to either pay billions of dollars for international units or plant large areas in forestry, moves that would have a profound impact on NZ’s economy.
He described the government’s initial 50% reduction for the 2021-2030 period as “completely beyond reach” noting Treasury estimates it would cost $24 billion to meet.
The Climate Change Commission last year suggested that keeping an all-gases target and at least a 50% reduction would mean an extra 850,000 hectares of land converted to forestry, he said.
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts described the new 2035 NDC as both ambitious and achievable and reinforced the government’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and global climate action.
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“This target also brings our international and domestic climate change commitments into line, so we can focus our efforts on the actions that will make the biggest difference towards reaching our net zero 2050 target.”
He said NZ could potentially reach its net zero goal by 2044 through strengthening the Emissions Trading Scheme, supporting technology to reduce agricultural emissions, and accelerating the transition to a cleaner, electrified economy.
Scientists and academics have variously labelled the targets as unambitious, weak, a missed opportunity and the bare minimum the government could get away with.
The latest NDC increases the minimum target from 50% originally to 51%.
“The Climate Change Commission had advised that reductions of 66% were achievable from domestic action alone, so to see such a weak target is very disappointing,” said Robert McLachlan, a Distinguished Professor in Applied Mathematics at Massey University.
Dave Frame, a Professor of Physics at the University of Canterbury, said the targets should have split long- and short-lived gases, which is becoming an international trend including in the United States.
“The failure to do so is a victory for bureaucratic obscurantism, and a missed opportunity to show a bit of leadership.”
Rebecca Peer, a senior lecturer in the Civil and Natural Resources Engineering Department at the University of Canterbury, said the target means NZ is not doing its fair share.
“This is effectively promising stagnant action on climate under the guise of a progression in ambition. To be clear, this is not an ambitious target.”
Beef + Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland said while NZ has split gas for domestic targets, it doesn’t when reporting its Paris Agreement obligations.
“This creates confusion as to what reductions NZ is actually trying to achieve from an emissions reduction perspective from each gas and creates uncertainty for farmers about what future policy objectives will be.”
Acland called for the government to amend NZ’s methane targets in line with an independent report last year.
That report found reductions in the range of 14-24% by 2050 would mean methane did not add any additional warming from 2017 levels, depending on how quickly the rest of the world reduces its emissions.
Neal Wallace NEWS Forestry
NOT FEASIBLE: Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Toby Williams says the government’s new greenhouse gas emission reduction target is not feasible and will cause extensive planting of carbon-absorbing pine trees.
Photo: File
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From the Editor
Sealing the deal on funding disparity
Craig Page Deputy editor
TO SEAL or not to seal? When it comes to rural roads, that is the question increasingly being asked by some councils as the squeeze hits roading budgets.
The situation came to the fore in Southland last month when a report presented to the Southland District Council raised the possibility of downgrading three rural roads from seal to gravel because of the cost involved in maintenance.
Outside of the State Highway network, councils are responsible for maintaining roads and bridges. They get some funding through the New Zealand Transport Agency’s National Land Transport Programme, and the rest comes from the council.
Southland mayor Rob Scott told Farmers Weekly his district is being crippled by an inequitable funding
system. In Southland there are 150 metres of road per capita, against only 4m per capita in Auckland, and 1.6m in Wellington.
“As a region we have the country’s second largest roading network after Auckland with 5000km. Of that over half (3000km) is unsealed.”
Southland needed $179 million of National Land Transport Programme funding for 2024-27, but cut it back to a bare minimum of $147m, and received only $124m.
Much of the land surrounding those Southland roads is rural and not heavily populated, meaning the council does not have a large ratepayer base to call on to help fund the roading upkeep. Some roads provide access to just a few farm houses, but can take a pounding from heavy vehicles such as stock or logging trucks.
It is a problem being echoed in other parts of the country.
Ashburton District Council mayor Neil Brown said the council had budgeted for $2.5m in government funding which it did not receive, yet road repair costs had risen 25% in three years.
He said his district may not be far from having to look at what rural roads remain sealed.
Federated Farmers is hot on roading maintenance and intends to take the issue up with central government. Feds wants the government to give up some of
vote by visiting the new poll page at farmersweekly.co.nz and we’ll report the results in the following edition. And remember, you can give feedback on any story in Farmers Weekly by texting the editor on 027 226 8553. Have your say on the big stories in
We’re
Letters of the week Indifference to the rural sector
Tim Gilbertson Ōtāne
A GREAT many people, Federated Farmers among them, have the idea that the current government is the most farmer friendly for years. The evidence hardly supports them.
One of many examples of the government’s indifference to the rural sector was the prime minister’s recent proposal to encourage and expand overseas students and tourism as engines for economic growth.
Both rely on air travel. Depending on which set of figures you use, transport contributes roughly 40% of greenhouse gases. Airlines make up 10% of those emissions. So increasing students and tourism will worsen climate change, meaning more extreme weather events: more floods, droughts and fires. Hardly farmer friendly.
Two years ago I watched as my hillsides were devastated, my farm tracks disintegrated and my fences floated off down the Tukituki River during Cyclone Gabrielle.
And I was comparatively unscathed. The PM’s fossil fuel-heavy solution is not just unfriendly, it is distinctly anti farming.
By contrast, this government has endorsed an Education Department refusal to put woollen carpets in schools and has effectively agreed that woollen carpets should be banned from state houses. If ever there was a case for promoting widespread bottomup economic development through environmentally friendly, profitable, long-term investment, it would be to support the wool industry.
its roading tax take, sourced through fuel taxes and road user charges, and hand it back to councils for maintenance.
“We say that the lion’s share of the cost of repairing and renewing local roads should fall on road users, not property owners,” said Feds local government spokesperson Sandra Faulkner.
Feds says that, on average, councils get 53% of this cost via the NZ Transport Agency, and the rest comes from ratepayers.
The council does not have a large ratepayer base to call on to fund roading upkeep.
They would like that contribution to increase to about 90%.
“Property value rates are a poor mechanism to fund roads for the same reason as general taxation: it does not tie those who use roads with those who pay for roads,” Faulkner says.
The Feds argument is that in areas with a lot of tourism or freight, locals are left paying for roading networks that serve a wider regional or national purpose.
Given how vital the roading network is to this country’s economy, some additional council funding seems a fair exchange.
This week’s poll question: Have your say at farmersweekly.co.nz/poll Is New Zealand’s emissions reduction target of 51-55% by 2035 too low, too high, or just right?
Instead, concrete plants, coal-fired power stations and aluminium smelters get gifted carbon credits worth hundreds of millions of dollars to allow them to continue to pump carbon into an overloaded atmosphere to the detriment of everyone, not just the farmers.
Recently I witnessed the perfect illustration of almost everything this and previous governments have done wrong over many years. A large new supermarket was being built in the main street of our local town. It was entirely framed in steel. Every few minutes a logging truck would pass by the building site, hauling logs destined for China from a skid site 40km away to the port a further 60km down the track.
Steel was imported from Australia to do a job that could and should have been done with timber that grew a few kilometres from the building site.
When that absurd situation is addressed and remedied, the belief that the government is farmer and rural NZ friendly might become credible.
Otherwise the current belief that our government is exceptionally farmer friendly can only be logically explained by the story of the man who was asked why he was constantly hitting his head against a brick wall.
“Because,” he said, “it feels so good when I stop.”
Keep your paper going
Murray Jess Waikato
I’VE been a long-time subscriber to the Waikato Times, now with very little local news and plastered with pages of Harvey Norman advertising. My other local paper, the Te Awamutu Courier, has after 70 years found it too difficult to print due to financial pressure along with many others around the country.
I appeal to readers of the Farmers Weekly, which has excellent reporters like Barber, Piddock and Emerson just to name a few, to stump up and pay the voluntary subscription.
I found it extremely disappointing to find only 128 people at the time of the February 3 paper had put their hand in their pocket.
Come on people, we don’t want to lose this informative magazine as well.
Science reform without funding won’t work
Eating the elephant
John Foley
Eating the Elephant guest columnist Foley works in the seed industry. In 2021 he completed a Nuffield Scholarship focusing on NZ’s science sector
N‘EW Public Management” was a term coined in the 1980s for policies that advocated running a government more like a business. That meant a focus on efficiencies, private sector style management, the centralisation of services and the outsourcing of key functions.
Under this model, governments would no longer “pick winners”. Winners would now be determined by the market. New Public Management reduced the role of a government to that of an interested spectator whose focus became eliminating red tape and bureaucracy.
New Zealand was a keen adopter of New Public Management and this legacy continues to shape most aspects of public policy today, including in our science sector.
Thirty years ago, the Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) were created, competition was introduced between sciencebased institutions (including the
universities) and competitive funding models were introduced. Today, New Zealand has a highly fragmented, hyper competitive and chronically underfunded science sector that successive governments have tried to fix.
Science policy in NZ has fallen into a complexity paradox – which is a fancy word for when policy fixes end up creating an even more complex and unwieldy system than before.
The government has recently announced a major restructure of the science sector. The seven CRIs are to be replaced with three public research organisations (PROs): Bio-Economy, Earth Sciences, Forensic Sciences and a new fourth PRO to focus on Advanced Technologies.
Commentary on these changes has been wide ranging, with the main frustration being that the changes don’t go far enough in addressing the fundamental issues facing the science sector.
Like many private sector restructures, this one risks looking like shifting the chairs on the Titanic. Without more fundamental changes, it’s not much use.
In the government’s defence, science policy is complex and time consuming to implement. Particularly in the wake of decades of New Public Management, where our slimmed down government lacks the talent, funding and will to properly enact major changes
(in science and in other sectors). These problems are now too big to solve with the political toolbox we currently have.
It’s also true that the public doesn’t really think too much about science. Dunedin hospital, the inter-islander ferries or the cost of living get headlines. Science sector systems don’t. In a political sense, science is a cost without a political reward.
Still, there are leverage points in every system where actions can net outsized results. In science, this is the funding model. Few people appreciate that some of the smartest people in this country lack job security. Or that our science system is almost entirely based around short-term projects. Or that scientists aren’t measured on their real-world impact, but their publishing record.
If there is no project there are no jobs, and if you don’t publish, you perish.
Under these conditions, securing funding is always paramount – to the point where specialist people are hired to write funding applications, tailoring projects to fit various funding criteria. This is known as “grantsmanship”.
Because everyone is competing for funding and scientists are compelled to take safer, less risky projects (out of fear of careerkneecapping failure), we have created a science system that is management heavy and fails to foster truly innovative thinking.
To quote Sir Paul Callaghan, one of New Zealand great scientists, “make New Zealand a place where talent wants to live”.
But top talent costs money and we are still not prepared to pay for this. NZ invests 1.5% of our GDP into R&D. World leaders like South Korea and Israel invest more than 5%. Until this changes, it seems highly unlikely NZ will get the talent it needs to transform the economy and raise living standards.
The outgoing science, innovation and technology minister, Judith Collins, has suggested that the private sector needs to step up and invest more to close the funding gap.
How realistic is this? The fully costed science model in the CRIs became too expensive for the private sector to engage with, and as a consequence, there has been constant restructuring of these
organisations at the expense of long term, enduring science.
The nature of our economy matters too. The large, commodity-based industries that anchor our economy simply cannot fund the science sector on their own and we lack research-intensive industries (like pharmaceuticals and semiconductor manufacturing) who can build out science infrastructure like talent development pipelines and regional science hubs.
There is just no way around it – more government science investment is needed.
The nations and multinational private sector companies that have successful research programmes have a common feature – longterm, stable funding. So maybe the government has something to learn from the private sector after all.
Red meat is responding to market drivers
with adaptability. That is what the red meat sector is coming together to do.
THROUGHOUT my political career, I fronted in global markets on behalf of our farmers and I know how sought-after our products are.
But we always need to look at ways to work smarter to ensure our products remain at the forefront of consumers’ purchasing decisions and that’s not easy against such stiff and well-funded competition.
There’s no doubt the past 18 months have been tough for the red meat sector, with many factors influencing financial returns.
The resulting frustration is understandable, but claims made in a column in Farmers Weekly, “Serious questions dog red meat marketing” (February 3), are overly simplistic and underestimate the challenges of international consumer engagement.
Global markets are dynamic, with many factors influencing customer and consumer purchasing decisions. A good marketing strategy understands this and must balance consistency
Framing the decision to shift from the United Kingdom and United States to China as a failure is also incorrect. Market conditions change, and businesses must adapt.
In this situation, for example, the UK market became more competitive, and China was paying higher prices. Adapting to these realities is not bad marketing, it makes good business sense.
Modern consumers, especially in premium markets, care about differentiation, sustainability and provenance. They are not looking for a generic label. Red meat exporters have responded to this, and their marketing has evolved to include branded storytelling, such as grass-fed, nature-based and full of nutrition.
Criticism for past marketing efforts for being discontinued fails to acknowledge that brand building is a long-term process. Effective marketing requires sustained investment and patience. Consumers do not change their purchasing habits overnight.
Meat exporters are experienced operating in-market and have been investing in customer relationships for decades, using this experience to best target the limited funds available.
Brand positioning in new markets, especially premium ones, can take years to gain traction. Successful campaigns often evolve and improve before returns are realised.
The sector has taken a lot from the first phase of Taste Pure Nature (TPN) and Beef + Lamb New Zealand has laid a solid foundation for meat processors to carry forward into the next phase of this work.
In early 2024, it became obvious that the same approach would not shift the dial in the face of economic headwinds the sector is experiencing.
Market research backed this up, indicating that TPN Phase 1 had gone as far as it could in the current environment, and the time was right to shift to a processordriven and market-informed approach.
While this is a joint effort between processors, each company has its own marketing programmes and has fostered relationships with customers and consumers for decades. The sector has built a robust trading strategy, with access in well over 100 markets. However, we cannot turn our back on the opportunities that exist within China, where New Zealand’s market share for red meat has been tested over the past 18 months.
For this next phase of TPN, the sector is coming together, alongside the government, to adjust our approach to cut through
our competitors’ campaigns with targeted and creative marketing that converts social media impressions into the purchase of New Zealand beef and lamb products.
New Zealand has a solid reputation worldwide as a supplier of high-quality and great-tasting beef and lamb to the world. However, we are also facing stiff competition in market with sophisticated marketing campaigns from other nations. Our unique environment makes conditions ripe for year-round pastoral-based farming systems that makes us a complementary trading partner with many northern hemisphere markets. We need to make sure we continue to promote our naturally unique attributes, to avoid getting lost in the noise of our competitors’ campaigns. Doing what has been done previously isn’t enough and we must be adaptable and responsive to market drivers.
This will take time, but only by working together will we be able to shift the dial to increase returns for the sector.
IN PIECES: New Zealand has a highly fragmented, hyper competitive and chronically underfunded science sector that successive governments have tried to fix, writes John Foley.
SEEING RED: Meat Industry Association chair Nathan Guy says recent criticism of marketing efforts underestimates the challenges of international consumer engagement.
Nathan Guy
Guy is independent chair of the Meat Industry Association
In my view
From bare paddock to blooming business
Olivia Caldwell ON FARM Horticulture
BROTHERS Tim and Stef Zeestraten were meant to be tomato men, following in their grandfather’s footsteps by farming tomatoes in the south of the Netherlands.
But as fate would have it, their parents sold the farm and shifted to New Zealand while the kids were still at school, and the crimson fruit was eventually exchanged for the many shades of purple at Wānaka’s Lavender Farm.
“My grandfather started a tomato farm in Holland in glass houses and my parents took over and so I was destined to be a tomato grower for sure,” said eldest brother Tim.
“Then Mum and Dad moved to New Zealand and I was gutted. My vision was that I was going to be the next generation of tomato farmers.”
Now in his early 40s, it’s hard to ever imagine a life without lavender wafting through the air, tourists walking through his gate and of course, that purple Instagram door.
“The whole taking photos and putting it on Instagram is such a bonus ... they [tourists] are doing the advertising for us.”
The farm turned 10 in November, and while it’s not what you’d call a traditional Kiwi farm by size or crop/stock numbers, there is no denying it is one of the most recognisable farms in the country to a tourist audience.
Tim was 11 when the family left the growers and farmers zone of De Lier in the Netherlands for Aotearoa, and was working near full-time hours between classes at school.
The family based themselves
in Christchurch at the beginning and while he and Stef pursued careers in mechanical engineering and snowboarding respectively, their parents bought Kaikoura’s Lavender Farm, which they operated commercially.
They were on to something, he said.
In 2011 the brothers and Tim’s wife Jessica purchased 12 hectares between Wānaka and Luggate – a location that is renowned for its picture-perfect landscapes, scents and tantalising lavender tea.
Tim never envisaged what was to come of the bare paddock of an old sheep and deer farm – more than 700 visitors a day to the farm during peak season, a larger staff count, and 364 days of trading, with Christmas Day being their only day off.
“It is the volume of humans coming this way, but also, you have to push it, you can’t do a halfarsed business.”
The farm didn’t ask for a door charge initially, but it crept to $2 a
head, and now during peak season an entry fee will cost a child $7.50 and an adult $15.
“Locals, internationals who come and visit, they do that whole experience here on site. They like and appreciate that everything they can see here, buy here, is being done on site.”
He puts much of the success down to luck and location.
When the three looked over the district for the right spot to set up, they very nearly settled in the Maungawera Valley, between Lake Hawea and Wānaka. But at the last minute they found the perfect location.
“One of the locals says ‘That bit of land might be fine, see what that’s worth’, and basically that’s how we decided this is a good site. It’s on the highway. It’s good access and not too far from Wānaka.”
A decade on, he admits such a prime spot would be unaffordable for the small start-up that they were.
Avo industry bound for recovery
A STELLAR season means avocado production is back on track towards pre-cyclone levels.
Marketing and communications manager at New Zealand Avocado Matthew Ball said spring 2024 was “almost textbook perfect” and that fruit set for next season looks promising.
Last season the industry picked about 5 million trays of avocados, but is projected to harvest 7 million trays this season, Ball said. Depending on the region, fruit picking begins in May.
According to Ball the industry had been well on its way to a 7
million-tray harvest when Cyclone Gabrielle hit, knocking fruit off trees and affecting fruit set.
Cyclone damage also affected fruit quality, which curtailed exports.
Farmer’s Weekly reported in April last year that the New Zealand avocado industry had a disappointing 2023-24 harvest, with the lowest export sales volume of the past 10 years.
Growers were told to expect prices that would barely cover picking and packing.
Ball said total hectares were just over 4000ha, with not a lot of change in area planted over the last few seasons.
“Last season the average orchard return per hectare was around
“If you have got deep pockets or a good backing there is still that option to produce the same business, but it is worth a lot more now. Finding the right bit of land is key.”
The operation produces 200 litres of lavender oil, hand creams, soaps, teas, ice cream, moisturisers, lavender honey, pickles and so on. They didn’t open their doors to the public for the first three years while they worked to get it up to scratch.
There’s now over 25 varieties grown on the farm.
“There’s white, purple, there’s even green lavender, there’s pink lavender, there’s the bluey and then there are different sizes and some produce oil better than others.
“They are special. Especially when they are first coming up after the winter and you get that first new growth all uniform in colour and it is spectacular in a large mass.”
He hasn’t tired of the scent after all these years.
“When we are doing that first run in the distillery it is unbelievably beautiful when that oil comes out and the smell that comes off that is amazing. I love it.”
The work that goes into a farm
$10,000. The current season is not over but early reports indicate that all the markets are very buoyant especially compared to last season.”
The Ministry for Primary Industries’ Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries December 2024 report said avocado export revenue fell 52% to $37 million in the year to June 30 2024, the lowest since 2012/13.
“Two factors that drove the decrease were the La Niña weather pattern in prior seasons causing fruit quality and quantity issues, and reduced export demand from Australia, New Zealand’s largest avocado export market. Despite the challenges of last season, there is optimism for the current season
like this is around the clock.
Tim is often on the tools, Jessica runs the shop, the staff, the business and Stef does everything in between, such as the financial side, layout and design of the farm.
As with many farming set-ups, brotherly love can be displaced at times of stress.
“There’s always things. You can swear your brother to pieces, but you are still family so you are going to have to work it out.
“It can get niggly running a business with family, but we’ve chosen to go for it and there has been some really positive stuff out of that too, because everyone has got a different skill set to bring to the party. If we didn’t have differing opinions it wouldn’t be what it is today.”
While the family could have capitalised on its brand and sold throughout New Zealand, they have chosen to keep purchasing on site and online.
“We sell it only here because the whole model of our business is that you must come see it for yourself, you must come experience the lavender, you must smell it and you must taste it.”
His parents Jan and Corry both live on the farm, and for the record, the Zeestratens still grow good tomatoes.
with export revenue forecast to grow 147% to $91 million in the year to June 30 2025.”
Ball said there is some normality in the season and grower spirits are up.
Gerhard Uys NEWS Horticulture
QUALITY: Last season was plagued by fruit quality issues, bad weather and reduced demand for avocado. Photo: Supplied
VARIETY: Tim Zeestraten says the operation produces 200 litres of lavender oil, hand creams, soaps, teas, ice cream, moisturisers, lavender honey and pickles.
Photos: Supplied
TOURISTS: The farm turned 10 in November, and while it’s not what you’d call a traditional Kiwi farm, it is one of the most recognisable farms in the country to a tourist audience.
FEDERATED FARMERS
Feds want changes to rate burden
After rampant rates rises across the country last year, Federated Farmers is calling for the Government to make seven key changes to restore confidence in local decision-making.
“The funding model for our councils is broken,” Sandra Faulkner, Federated Farmers local government spokesperson says.
“Rage about rates increases will feature strongly when voters have their say in council elections this October, but the Government should also do more to rein in cost pressures.
“Central governments over the years have pointed the finger at council excesses and failings but some of the remedies lie squarely with correcting faulty legislation and government policy.”
The Federated Farmers’ local government policy makes seven recommendations.
“It’s clear that change is needed to turn back the tide on massive rates increases,” Faulkner says.
“Fewer people are voting in local body elections, rates jumped an average 15% this year alone, and central government chips away at the autonomy of local government with an ever-increasing list of national directions and requirements.”
Two of the Federated Farmers’ recommendations call on the Government to surrender some of its tax take in favour of councils.
“We say that the lion’s share of the cost of repairing and renewing local roads should fall on road users, not
property owners,” Faulkner says.
Outside of the state highway network, councils are responsible for maintaining roads and bridges.
On average, councils get 53% of this cost via a NZ Transport Agency/ Waka Kotahi Funding Assistance Rate (FAR), paid from fuel taxes and Road User Charges. The rest comes from ratepayers.
“Property value rates are a poor mechanism to fund roads for the same reason as general taxation: it does not tie those who use roads with those who pay for roads,” Faulkner says.
“The system also lacks logic. In areas with a lot of tourism or freight, for example, locals are left paying for roading networks that serve a wider regional or national purpose.”
Because ratepayers baulk at rising road costs, councils feel obliged to scale back renewal and maintenance on what is a lifeline for rural families and businesses.
“So we get deteriorating tarseal, potholes and even road closures in rural areas,” Faulkner says.
Federated Farmers argues the FAR rate should be lifted to an average 90%.
Another change that would reduce council funding pressure is to make Crown land rateable.
Currently, government land is exempt from local authority rates, apart from targeted rates and charges for utilities.
In 2023/24, Auckland Council estimated the Government was exempt from paying a total of $36.5
FAIRER: The lion’s share of funding for maintaining and renewing local roads should come from road users, not from property owners via rates, says Federated Farmers local government spokesperson Sandra Faulkner (inset).
million in rates that year – worth $506.40 per household.
“The exemption of Department of Conservation (DOC) land and national parks has been particularly controversial,” Faulkner says.
“This leaves ratepayers in the regions to pick up the tab for the impact of visitors on local infrastructure such as roads and toilets.
“Regional councils are left holding the bag on pest management costs.”
Federated Farmers also seeks legislation that focuses local government on providing necessary infrastructure, local public services and regulation.
“We want councils to stick to core services,” Faulkner says.
“That requires withdrawal of
the controversial ‘four well-beings’ mandate – social, economic, environmental, and cultural – which has led to councils drifting into areas outside their areas of expertise, often duplicating work already handled by central government.”
Faulkner says there’s always debate on where to draw the line on what is a legitimate ‘local public service’.
“There should be room for fostering a sense of community through events such as celebrating Matariki, or investing in social infrastructure such as libraries, halls and swimming pools.
“But there should be restraint on councils from destroying their balance sheets through risky investments beyond their core purpose – things like convention centres and sports stadiums.
“We’re proposing that a referendum must be held before spending is committed on commercial facilities and ventures costing more than $500 per resident.”
Federated Farmers’ other recommendations include removing the 30% cap on council uniform charges, constraining central government’s ability to make unfunded demands on councils, and investigating the worth of more unitary authorities.
New Zealand is at a crossroads with its 78 councils, Faulkner says.
“We can either continue to underfund big challenges on water, transport and housing, or we can look for new ways to restore confidence in a refocused and resourced local government.”
Overlays overreach ‘totally arse-about’
Tell councils to stop bringing in restrictive new district plan overlays until there’s clarity on Resource Management Act (RMA) reform.
That’s Federated Farmers’ request to the Government in response to growing concern in multiple districts that landowners’ property rights, and farm production, are being trampled on.
“It’s totally arse-about,” Federated Farmers South Canterbury president Greg Anderson says.
“Councils are beavering away on ever-expanding overlays coverage, meaning farmers and other landowners are blocked, or need consent, to do run-of-the-mill activities on their own properties.
“They’re continuing this work – at massive cost to ratepayers – despite knowing that a cornerstone policy of our elected Government is to overhaul the bloated RMA system.”
The Government is working on legislation changes that could well mean councils need to start again on district plan regulations, Anderson says.
“So why are councils ploughing on with plan reviews and new overlays when a fundamental shift is coming down the line?”
If the Government agrees to tell councils to push pause on new overlays, it wouldn’t be a first.
After strong advocacy from Federated Farmers last year, councils were directed to stop work on new freshwater rules until a new National Policy Statement is out.
Local authorities’ work on SNAs (significant natural areas) is also on hold thanks to the Government telling councils to down their tools.
“We’re now asking for the same commonsense approach to be applied to overlays,” Anderson says.
Common overlays affecting farms include sites and areas of significance to Māori (SASMs), and
outstanding natural features and landcapes (ONLs and ONFs).
These overlays can block, or require expensive resource consents, for things such as moving earth, cutting a track, removing vegetation, putting up a new building, or changing using paddocks from say, grazing, to cropping or horticulture.
Farmers just want to get on with producing food and fibre but they’re being sucked into complicated planning processes just to protect their rights.
Greg Anderson Federated Farmers South Canterbury president
In Anderson’s province, Timaru District Council’s mapping of SASMs is changing to capture 97 out of 315 farms with 100% coverage. One farm
has 210% coverage, meaning there are multiple SASMs on it.
In the Mackenzie and Waitaki districts, the fight is centred on ONLs.
“Key words in these overlays are ‘outstanding’ and ‘significant’. These landscapes are typically recognised for their unique, irreplaceable qualities, and are often subject to special protection under the RMA and local district or regional plans.
“To have overlays covering vast areas of a district, sometimes the whole district, is a mockery of the meaning of those words and the intent of protecting the best of our landscapes and natural features,” Anderson says.
“Farmers just want to get on with producing food and fibre but they’re being sucked into complicated planning processes just to protect their rights.
“If an overlay is entrenched on their land, they could be forced into paying for ecological reports or negotiations with multiple iwi,
to get on with an ordinary farming activities.”
Overlay mapping can be a ‘desktop’ exercise, with no site visit to prove the need.
Farmers may need to hire technical experts to challenge the assessment process and criteria.
Anderson says it’s doubly expensive for ratepayers in Timaru and other areas because there’s a shortage of planning staff.
“So, the council employs contract planners that are twice as dear, and they’re hiring landscape architects or paying for cultural assessments.”
Federated Farmers resource management spokesperson Mark Hooper says the appeal to the Government to step in is not a blanket rejection by the organisation of overlays and district plan rules.
“We’re just asking for a pause until there’s a clearer picture of where the Government is heading with reforms – probably by the end of this year.”
What does need to be addressed in the reforms is the argument that overlays and similar restrictions
should not erode private property rights without compensation, Hooper says.
“New Zealand’s truly outstanding features, and archeological sites that are a taonga, deserve protection.”
But when that means a landowner is involved in resource consent and other costs to gain permission to do something on their own land, or when an overlay reduces the market value of the property, there should be compensation, he says.
“The costs of a ‘public good’ shouldn’t be unfairly sheeted home to landowners.”
For outstanding landscapes and natural areas, there should also be government and/or council help for landowners to keep on top of weed and pest control, fencing, new planting and the like, Hooper says.
“Councils are likely to become a lot more judicious about what areas deserve extra protection if ratepayers are asked to fund incentive schemes and compensate landowners for a loss in private property rights.”
OWNER RIGHTS: If a council or government decides some feature of private property should be subject to special protection and restrictions, the question of compensation for the landowner arises, Mark Hooper says.
STOP: After strong advocacy from Federated Farmers last year, councils were directed to stop work on new freshwater rules until a new National Policy Statement is out.
Dreams on hold: overlay threatens South Canterbury farming legacy
When Matt and Tory Simpson bought their beloved South Canterbury station from Matt’s parents 12 years ago, they dreamed of one day being able to pass the land on to their own kids.
But that dream now has a major question mark hanging over it.
“We have three children, Jack, Harry and Meg, and you can’t live on a place like this and not want to farm,” Tory says.
“All of them are itching to have a crack and we’d love to somehow create a pathway for one, two or all three of them to go farming here, but that’s all up in the air now.”
Mackenzie District Council planners decided last year that 65% of the Simpsons’ 4100ha high country station should be classed as an Outstanding Natural Landscape (ONL) in its proposed district plan.
The ONL sits as an ‘overlay’ over their farm, restricting the Simpsons from making changes to the way they farm or to the landscape.
“It means we’d need consent to bulldoze enough earth for a reasonable fencline, and if we wanted to put a haybarn or shed up, we probably wouldn’t get it across the line because of the height restrictions,” says Matt, Federated Farmers South Canterbury meat and wool chair.
“What’s worse is that we had plans for our farm to help bring the kids in, to give each of them a way to farm this land one day, but that’s all under threat because of this overlay.”
The Simpsons’ Ranui Station stretches over the Hunter Hills from Albury on one side to the Hakataramea Valley on the other, rising to 5500 feet at its highest point (Mt Nessing).
One option they’ve long considered is to subdivide and oversow low country on the Hakataramea Valley side.
“That would allow us to increase stock units, creating another farming unit so we could set one of the kids up,” Tory explains.
“That idea was always on our radar and now there’s very definitely a question mark over it.”
Another option to future-proof the sheep and beef station is agritourism, which would no doubt prove popular given the farm’s location.
“As farming becomes tougher, that could be a good option for income, but this overlay means it would be so much more difficult to add any buildings or infrastructure now,” Tory says.
“It just affects everything and puts doubt over our future ability to farm or change the way we farm.
“These overlays significantly restrict farmers’ ability to diversify our income streams, whether it’s through forestry, dairy, subdivision, agritourism, or whatever.
- Rober t Har ding
UNCERTAINTY:
Having 65% of their farm classified as an Outstanding Natural Landscape has cast doubt over Matt and Tory Simpson’s future – and their children’s.
“Land classifications like this are not an asset – instead, they are a threat to the property’s valuation and bankability.”
It was 40 years ago that Matt’s parents Peter and Sonia took a big step to pay for freehold property tenure from Crown ownership.
“That cost them a lot but they chose to do it to future-proof this farm,” Tory says.
“For us, just one generation down, to already have that challenged, that boils my blood. That’s where my emotion really stems from.”
Matt agrees.
“That was a huge financial sacrifice for my parents and to have that all eroded away in a blink is just bloody frustrating.”
The council planners initially classified an even greater area of the farm as ONL, but the couple clawed some back through consultation and negotiation.
“That’s something positive, I
suppose, but we’re hugely frustrated the council has completely failed to recognise any existing fencelines or natural barriers,” Matt says.
“On both sides of the hill we have a fenceline at 900 metres to keep stock below the snowline during winter.
“But the overlay they’ve imposed is just a line through the block.
“It’s so disappointing the council has ignored those established fencelines.”
As if the current restrictions aren’t tough enough, the Simpsons fear what could happen under a new Government.
“This classification makes us really vulnerable to leadership changes in the future, because a new Government could come in that adds stock restrictions and all sorts of things on top of this.”
There’s a ray of hope that common sense could yet prevail, with the Simpsons among a group of farmers
We had plans for our farm to help bring the kids in, to give each of them a way to farm this land one day, but that’s all under threat because of this overlay.
Matt Simpson Federated Farmers South Canterbury meat and wool chair
working with Federated Farmers to appeal the overlays.
“With the proposed new RMA on the way from Government, we’ve said to the council, ‘Cool your jets until we get the new rules’.
“We’re trying to get them to see reason and we’re crossing our fingers for a good result.
“The future of this farm – and our children’s ability to farm here – really depends on it.”
New climate goal means more pines
Federated Farmers has sounded the alarm following the Government’s announcement of a new climate target of a 55% reduction in all gases by 2035.
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced the Paris Agreement target at 8pm on Thursday, January 30, after most of Parliament’s journalists had switched off for the week.
“It seems the Minister was trying to sneak this new target out late in the day, hoping no one would notice,”
Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Toby Williams says.
“Well, we certainly did notice, as this target is very concerning and will simply result in another decade’s more planting our productive farmland in pines to achieve it.”
Williams says Federated Farmers has spent a huge amount of resource engaging with proposals to tax farmers for methane or pushing back on ever-expanding carbon forests over the last decade.
“What many farmers need to realise is the reason there’s so much pressure to tax methane or plant land in pines is because successive governments have signed Kiwis up to overly ambitious UN climate targets that create the pressure for these targets.
“For example, the previous Government signed New Zealand up to a target of a 50% reduction by 2030 on 2005 levels.
“With half of New Zealand’s emissions coming from agriculture, and even transport emissions continuing to rise, achieving such a target is simply impossible.”
I really don’t want to see any more sheep and beef country swallowed up in pine trees in the name of achieving these targets.
Toby Williams
Federated Farmers meat and wool chair
As a result, our only options are to cut agricultural production or plant pine trees to offset emissions, Williams says.
“Failing both of those, we can even apparently buy our way out of it by purchasing international carbon credits.
“Each of these options is incredibly damaging. Treasury has estimated purchasing international carbon credits to meet the 2030 target could cost up to $24 billion.
“Officials are also now estimating we would need to plant another
BEYOND REACH: With half of New Zealand’s emissions coming from agriculture, and even transport emissions continuing to rise, achieving such high targets is simply impossible, Toby Williams says.
850,000 hectares in forest to achieve the 2035 target.
“I really don’t want to see any more sheep and beef country swallowed up in pine trees in the name of achieving these targets.”
Williams says, as a country, we need to rethink how we show the world the climate actions we’re taking.
“Under the Paris Agreement, our targets are nationally determined, so we have options.
“Federated Farmers have always said our targets should treat agricultural methane differently.
“It’s increasingly clear we also need to shift away from basic singlenumber targets that force us down a path of pine planting.
“Farmers are already taking huge steps to plant areas of their farm in native bush, but this takes longer to remove carbon.
“New approaches to these targets that focus on highlighting all the good work New Zealand is doing, rather than a simple single number, are needed to drive responsible action on climate change.”
Feds support Shane Jones’ banking crackdown
Federated Farmers has welcomed Minister Shane Jones’ efforts to hold banks accountable when they stray from their core function – lending money.
Jones, Minister for Resources and Regional Development, is spearheading a Members’ Bill seeking to ensure financial institutions focus on their legal and social responsibility to provide credit rather than engaging in selective lending based on ideology.
“We’re right behind that. Banks
exist to lend, not to lecture,”
Federated Farmers banking spokesperson Richard McIntyre says.
“It’s the job of elected governments to determine which businesses are lawful, not a handful of banking executives imposing their own moral compass.
“Yet we’re seeing banks decline credit to legal businesses simply because they don’t align with corporate PR strategies.”
One threat identified by Federated Farmers is to petrol stations, a vital
lifeline for rural communities and isolated parts of New Zealand.
Internal BNZ documents provided to Federated Farmers in late 2024 clearly state there is to be no new lending to petrol stations, and all existing debt needs to be repaid by 2030.
“If banks are unwilling to provide lending to pay for things like upgrades, expansion or compliance, petrol stations will just disappear,” McIntyre says.
“It’s ideologically driven nonsense.
Banks exist to lend, not to lecture.
Richard McIntyre
Federated Farmers banking spokesperson
Do they not think farmers and rural communities will still need petrol in five years?
“If a business is lawful, creditworthy, and can service a
loan, then why should it be blacklisted by bank officials who jetted off to Glasgow together to sign an agreement on joint lending criteria?”
Banks hold a social licence, and with that comes an obligation to serve their customers fairly, not to dictate how they should run their businesses, McIntyre says.
“We continue to put pressure on banks to be fair to their customers, and we’re pleased to support Minister Jones’ proposal.”
Ongarue 5386 State Highway 4
Future Farm #1
Located only 15.5 km north of Taumarunui is this great starter farm or run off. 112.74 ha total 62 ha effective made up of approximately 5 ha of flats, with some rolling hills and the balance steeper hill country. The farm has a mixture of reticulated water systems and natural water and has historically been used for sheep breeding and finishing, with some breeding cows on the hills The farm comes with a two bedroom cottage with a third bedroom sleepout nicely elevated above the road, a two stand woolshed with covered yards and cattle yards If you are after a larger land size, there is an additional 168.17 ha farm that boundaries the property and has been run as the same farm. 2 1 1
Dannevirke 253 Oringi Road
Ongarue State Highway 4
Day Future Farm #2
Located only 15.5 km north of Taumarunui is this great starter farm or run off. 168.17 ha total 109 ha effective made up of approximately 6.5 ha of flats, with some rolling hills and the balance steeper hill country. The farm has reliable natural water with some reticulation. It has historically been used for sheep breeding and finishing, with some breeding cows. This property does not have houses or other buildings It has a set of satellite yards for stock handling. If you are after a larger land size, there is an additional 112.74 ha farm that boundaries the property and has been run as the same farm. This farm offers many opportunities to start your farming business or grow it!
Wiha Farm - 94 ha
Discover the ultimate farming opportunity at Wiha Farm, a 94 ha property blending fertile soils with exceptional functionality.
Located just outside of Dannevirke at Oringi, this farm offers a combination of flat land with upper and lower terraces, ideal for sheep, beef and cropping operations. Fertile Manawatu sandy loam and silt loams paired with excellent contour, maximising farming efficiency. Water is supplied via a reliable bore system, ensuring consistent supply for intensive practices. Subdivided into over 24 paddocks with conventional post and batten fencing. Wiha Farm is ideal for standalone operations or diversifying into multiple farming ventures. This is your chance to secure a productive property in a desirable and tightly held location.
Tender closes 2.00pm, Thu 6th Mar, 2025, Property Brokers, 4 Stanley Street Dannevirke View By appointment Web pb.co.nz/DR179233
Sam McNair M 027 264 0002 E sam.mcnair@pb.co.nz
Jared Brock M 027 449 5496 E jared@pb.co.nz
Ashburton 361 Poplar Road
Poplar Dairy Trust - Large scale with options
maker - Kereru beef finishing
Boundary lines are indicative only
Westmere 30 Mitchell Road
Kevin Deane Real Estate
• 54 Papesch Road - with extensive frontage against Frontier Road, Te Awamutu district
• 172 2 hectares - 4 titles
• flat contour, enhanced with attractive deciduous trees, with water courses, fenced and planted with natives, leading to the Waipa River
• the property is very well subdivided & raced; soil type is predominantly Puniu silt loam
• v g water supply sourced from deepwell bore & metered town water supply
• 530 cows calved; 4 yr average of 229,918 kgs ms for 20/21, 21/22, 22/23 & 23/24 seasons
Malvern Dair y Open Day: Wed, 12 February 11.00am - 1.00pm PRL En terprises L td t/a PRL Rural Licensed R EAA2008 MREINZ
• 44 a/s farm dairy; large feed pad; excellent effluent system from dairy shed & feed pad to collection sump then to large lined effluent pond; effluent pumped to approx 40 ha
• multiple implement, hay & calf -rearing shedding; large 500t concrete maize silage bunker; additional concrete bunker; PK / fertiliser bin with roller roof
• excellent housing with quality 4 brm homestead; 2 additional 4 brm homes; 1 x 3 brm dwelling plus single person's cottage
• an outstanding opportunity to acquire a special property in an exc ellent location with easy access to multiple options for schooling
Ph Brian Peacocke 021 373 113 TradeMe / Realestate co nz - search # R1440 Sale by Auction: Thurs, 27 Feb 1 00pm
373 113 bjp@prl308.co.nz
An excellent dairy unit situated in a premium location, bounded to the south by the Puniu River, and to the west by the Waipa River, situated approx 3 to 4 kms from Pirongia, and 8 kms west of Te Awamutu
SALE TALK
“Two cod fillets, please - large.”
“I’m sorry, we can’t get hold of any at the moment.
Can I get you anything else instead?”
“No, it has to be cod.”
“Coley’s quite similar to cod - we’ve got some of that.”
“The recipe says cod.”
“How about pollock? Lovely meaty fish, very good value.”
“Young man, I must insist on cod.”
“Or there’s whiting. We don’t often get it, but we’ve some nice fillets over here.”
“Look, I don’t want whiting,I want cod.”
“Madam, how many Fs are there in fish?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Fs. In fish. How many Fs?”
“Well … one, I suppose.”
“And how many Fs are there in coffee?”
“Two.”
“Right, and how many Fs are there in cod?”
“There’s no F in cod, you silly man.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
HORTICULTURE
Fact 10. Potash is more e cient, and must less likely to cause metabolic problems, if applied in small doses 4 times a year, adding up to 50-60% of the total annual amount you are using now. Easy to mix with your prilled urea. Leaching of anions like nitrate will be minimised as well. For more info, email Bert Quin on bert.quin@quinfert.co.nz, or phone 021 427 572, or visit
See www.quinfert.co.nz for prices or contact Bert Quin 021 427 572 bert.quin@quinfert.co.nz
Quinfert Algerian RPR 12.9% P and sulphur blends
Available ex Waharoa, Waikato and Washdyke, Timaru
Fact 8. In a nutshell, for maintenance of P levels any genuine RPR (not an RPR/Boucraa mix please!) can be used. Just check the Cd content. For low fertility situations or low rainfall, use a blend of RPR and high-analysis soluble P. Fact 9. For N, rather than granular urea, use prilled urea, sprayed immediately prior to, or during, the spreading with urease inhibitor. Use of N can be literally cut in half with big savings.
Fact 7. in any case simple fenced-o 3-metre wide grass riparian strips are essentially as e ective and vastly cheaper than more complex strips. Both reduce bacterial and sediment losses. Neither will have any signi cant long-term bene cial e ect (on a whole -farm basis) on soluble P and nitrate-N loss. But grass strips can be harvested in summer to be fed out, to improve P and N cycling.
5. Following 1-4 above will greatly reduce P run-o and leaching. This should be done before anything else, and the situation reassessed before spending huge amounts of money! Fact 6. It is nonsensical to give in to pressure to install expensive mitigations riparian strips, excessively large wetlands and ‘phosphorus walls’ when you have no idea of their long-term e ectiveness and maintenance costs, and before you have established whether changing to sustained-release RPR is all you need to do!
4. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. RPR-based fertilisers are even cheaper than super-based products as well! Added sulphur bentonite (sulphur 90) is far more e cient than the excess sulphate in super.
Note: Quinfert Algerian RPR may not quite meet the NZ ‘Fertmark’
3. If you want to build up your soil P in an environmentally-protective way, simply apply R PR. It does not get leached or lost directly in run-o , but releases P in a sustained fashion for plants.
Once you have Olsen P levels that are more than a third of the P retention (ASC), application of additional soluble P is very prone to loss to the
The overuse of
P fertiliser is by far the largest cause of P run-o and leaching, and therefore of the decline in the quality of Kiwi waterways.
use in agriculture and horticulture. Growth promotant / stock health food. As seen on Country Calendar. Orders to: 03 322 6115 or info@nzkelp.co.nz
LEASE LAND WANTED NORTH WAIKATO AREA please call Rod on
PUMPS
farm maintenance skills
A can-do attitude
• Initiative and the ability to operate independently
• The ability to multi-task and adapt to everchanging priorities
Additional Information
In Return we can offer:
• Great Team Culture
• A challenging but rewarding work environment
• Opportunity for individual growth Competitive starting remuneration rates depending on experience Plus on farm housing available if required Ready to start?
Applicants must be legally entitled to work permanently in New Zealand. If this sounds like the opportunity you have been looking for, please email a copy of your cover letter and CV to info@fairfieldfarms.co.nz or alternatively contact: Geoff Roberts on 027 487 9867.
WILTSHIRES-ARVIDSON. Self shearing sheep. No1 for Facial Eczema. David 027 2771 556.
RAMS FOR SALE SHEEP CRUTCHING WANTED TO BUY AND SHEARING TRAILERS. Triple and single trailers. Operating in Canterbury and Southland areas for over 30 years. Call Shaun Adams 021 204 1274.
WHAT’S SITTING IN your barn? Ford, Ferguson, Hitachi, Komatsu, JD. Be it an excavator, loader or tractor, wherever it is in NZ. Don’t let it rust. We may trade in and return you a brand new bucket for your digger or cash for your pocket. Email admin@loaderparts.co.nz or phone Colin 0274 426 936.
Arable Operator
GLEN ISLAY LTD
On Farm Ewe Sale
Tuesday 25th February 2025, 1.00pm 519 Waimea Valley Road, RD7, Gore
COMPRISING OF APPROX.
12,500 1,2,3,4 & 5 shear Romdale ewes
All ewes in top condition and ready to enhance your breeding flock
bidr will be available for online bidding
FOR
ALL
ENQUIRIES
CONTACT: Matt McBain 027 306 5807
ON FARM CAPITAL STOCK EWE SALE
On A/C of Moonlight Station B & C Paterson 309 McKenzie Road Waikaia
Wednesday 19th February 1.30pm
700 Perendale 1 Shr Ewes
600 Perendale 2 Shr Ewes
500 Perendale 3 Shr ewes
500 Perendale 4 Shr Ewes
400 Perendale 5 Shr Ewes
150 Perendale 6 Shr Ewes
This sale offers a great opportunity to purchase quality capital stock of Perendale ewes due to the sale of the property.
With Sudeley bloodlines, these are hardy genuine hill bred easy care ewes that will shift to any farming operation.
5 in 1 program, January shorn.
For all enquiries contact:
Paul Roulston 027 616 4241
Open
Day –
Limestone
Downs
10.50am
(Massey University)
11.30am Nitrate losses under sheep pastures – Lydia Cranston (Massey University)
11.50am Sheep and beef farming beyond 2025? – Pita Alexander
Note:
- If possible please bring a 4WD vehicle. Helmets will be required on quads, no passengers
- No riding on back of farm utes
- Greenlea are putting on a sausage sizzle for lunch, or bring your own packed lunch
- Tea and coffee provided
- Will proceed wet or fine
Contact General Manager: Paul Mahoney 09 232 9897
HIGH INDEXED AUTUMN CALVING DAIRY COW SALE
A/c Faraway Farms Ltd (David Van Bysterveldt)
Wednesday 12th February 2025
Matamata Sale Yards Dairy Pavilion Start Time: 11:30am will be available for online bidding
COMPRISING:
200 x Mixed Breed & Age Autumn Calving Cows
DETAILS:
• BW 401 PW 581 (BWs up to 593 PWs up to 1015)
• March and April calving, blanket dry cow.
TB Tested.
• All in-calf to AI Charolais only, no bulls used.
AUCTIONEERS NOTE:
This exclusive line of strong Mixed Breed carryover cows were hand-picked from herds from Waikato to the North. Were milked through and mated for autumn calving.
Will come forward in excellent condition.
All cows guaranteed sound and in-calf by the vendor.
PAYMENT TERMS:
14 days after the auction. Immediate delivery.
OUR VENDOR:
David Van Bysterveldt: 021 189 9888
CARRFIELDS LIVESTOCK AGENT:
Reuben Wright 027 2846384 Or your local Carrfields agent
C. Alma Baker Trust (NZ) Ltd
MANAWAHE WILTSHIRES
Shedding the wool and getting trim
Growing interest in self-shedding sheep breeds is
NEW Zealand’s strong wool market is seeing an improvement, with a lower exchange rate pushing crossbred fleece prices to an eight-year high, consistently surpassing $4/kgCL.
This surge in price is linked to rising demand for wool used in carpets and insulation. However, while this may seem promising, the demand is largely driven by a reaction to a smaller wool supply on the market, rather than a sustained buildup of long-term demand.
Although global trends indicate a shift towards natural flooring, wool is still viewed as a luxury good, with cheaper synthetic alternatives remaining more popular.
For wool’s demand to be consistently strong, consumers need to better understand its value, both in clothing and carpets. This uncertainty in the industry, after years of struggle to achieve steady demand and prices, has prompted many farmers to consider self-shedding sheep breeds.
Breeds such as Wiltshire and
Nudies, which do not produce wool, are growing in popularity. These breeds are more focused on meat production and require less maintenance, reducing the labour costs associated with shearing. This trend has developed in response to years of low wool prices and high shearing costs. As a result, January shedding sheep sales have seen more buyers than usual. The increasing demand for these breeds has led to a rise in their numbers, with sale tallies adjusting to accommodate the greater interest.
Recent shedding sheep sales from both the North and South Island include the Hawarden saleyards, the southern shedding sheep sale, Waitui Wiltshires, and the annual Wairere sale. Feilding also hosted its first-ever shedding sheep sale, on January 30.
At the Hawarden sale, primarily 2-tooth Wiltshire ewes, mixed-age ewes and ewe lambs were sold.
Top-quality 2-tooth ewes fetched $240–$320, while lesser-quality were priced around $165. Mixedage ewes typically sold for $170–$197, and ewe lambs went for $140–$170. The Waitui Wiltshires returned similar values.
Feilding’s inaugural shedding sheep sale was considered a success. Starting with 800 sheep,
due to the larger supply available, this price drop is not necessarily negative.
the sale ultimately doubled in size to over 1600 head. There was a full clearance of 2-tooth ewes, which made up the bulk of the sale, providing confidence for future events.
The sale also had significant online interest via bidr, with most of the sheep going to Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay. The 2-tooth Wiltshire ewes generally sold for $200–$220, with some reaching up to $245.
Although prices for 2-tooth shedding ewes are nearly half the price they fetched 2-3 years ago,
Prices remain stronger than those for traditional breed types but do bring them closer in line, stimulating healthy competition among both buyers and breeders to source and enhance highyielding genetics.
Buyers have noted that finished yields are comparable to traditional breeds, which bodes well for the future, especially if crossed with meat breeds but still bringing through the desirable shedding characteristic.
Although a few lines of smaller ewe hoggets were passed in at Feilding, most fetched $145–$160.
The small pool of 2-tooth rams available were popular, selling for $210–$350, with one exceptional pen reaching $650.
However, for top stud rams, the place to be was the southern shedding sheep sale and Wairere. In the South Island, just under 100 stud rams were sold, most fetching $1500–$4000. Wairere Wiltshire-cross rams typically sold for $2000–$5000.
Shedding sheep rams can fetch double the price of traditional Romney rams, but farmers are weighing these costs against the reduced workload and elimination of shearing expenses. Some of the hoggets at the sheep sales held recently had only been yarded once at weaning.
Farmers have commented that to justify the cost of shearing, wool would need to be priced at $10/ kg. With current returns sitting at $4/kg, this price point seems far off, making shedding sheep an increasingly attractive alternative.
SUCCESS: Feilding’s inaugural shedding sheep sale was considered a success. The 2-tooth Wiltshire ewes generally sold for $200–$220, with some reaching up to $245.
Photo: Supplied
Sara Hilhorst MARKETS
Cattle Sheep Deer
Weekly saleyard results
These weekly saleyard results are collated by the AgriHQ LivestockEye team. Cattle weights and prices are averages and sheep prices are ranges. For more detailed results and analysis subscribe to your selection of LivestockEye reports. Scan the QR code or visit www.agrihq.co.nz/livestock-reports
BIG
475kg 3.92
Boner Friesian cows, 655kg 2.65
Boner Friesian heifers, 395kg 2.88
Store male lambs, all 111-145
Store ewe lambs, all 104-130
Store mixed-sex lambs, all 95-143
Prime rams, most 90-133
Prime ewes, all 81-159
Prime mixed-sex lambs, all 79-204
Hawarden | January 31 | 7950 sheep $/kg or $/hd
AD Romney-cross ewes, all 126-150
AD Halfbred ewes, all 107-122
5-year Romney ewes, all 125-172
5-year Halfbred ewes, all 108-137
Mixed-age Texel-cross ewes, all 148-162
Mixed-age Halfbred ewes, all 120-177
Mixed-age Corriedale ewes, all 130-155
2-shear Romney-cross ewes, all 172-196
2-shear Texel-cross ewes, all 162-187
2-tooth Halfbred ewes, all 150
2-tooth Corriedale ewes, all 152-178
Canterbury Park | February 4 | 357 cattle, 5202 sheep $/kg or $/hd Prime traditional steers, 595kg 3.95 Prime dairy-beef steers, 590kg 3.89
wether lambs, most
mixed-sex lambs, all
ewes,
Southern highs mean February starts dry
THE latest monsoon on record developed over Australia over the past week – and it arrived with a deluge, with flooding rains lingering in the tropical Queensland region into this week too.
There was also an unofficial tropical cyclone briefly early last week around New Caledonia (so short lived it wasn’t named). There were two other tropical cyclones to the west of Australia, over the Indian Ocean – Tahliah and Vince. Neither posed a threat to Australia.
On top of these three offshore cyclones we have a number of lows – in fact it was quite weak low pressure that brought all the flooding to Queensland, not a storm.
All this sinking low pressure north of New Zealand is coinciding with the peak heat in the southern hemisphere and going into the peak of the cyclone season (which is February/March).
Expect to hear more news about
flooding in Queensland, or at least more heavy rain there.
At the moment we have an “air pressure sandwich” in our part of the world. The top layer in the tropics is low pressure – the bottom layer over the Southern Ocean is low pressure – and in the middle, where NZ and southern Australia are, is the high pressure filling.
This high pressure is doing an effective job at keeping most big rainmakers out of the NZ area.
This high-pressure belt is pushing parts of South Australia and Victoria closer to drought –and is also the main reason parts of New Zealand are so dry. This high pressure is doing an effective job (for better or for worse) at keeping most big rainmakers out of the New Zealand area. I described it like this in a radio interview the other day: this high-pressure belt is like some superhero character that uses all its power to elbow away
Your Scale. Your Securit y.
You ’re mak ing New Zealand ’s mos t sought af ter milk
Your team is t ak ing it to the world
Your Fonterra supp l y chain and global s ales team are proud to t ake your milk to the world and b uild the s t able relation ship s that se cure your inves tment
Your milk
Your se curit y Your Co - op
rainmakers. Bam! Pow! Biff! Over the next couple of weeks these high-pressure zones remain centred south of Australia – yes, even south of Tasmania. This means they enter the NZ area south of the South Island. This southern placement of high pressure does two things in the coming week or so. One, it continues injecting the odd cooler, lower humidity weather into the country – most felt in the south and east of the South Island. Two, it makes the Tasman Sea and northern NZ more vulnerable to low pressure and easterlies – and it starts to increase the chance of showers and wet weather in the north.
Long-range rainfall maps suggest the Tasman Sea has more wet weather over the next 10 days, but heavy rain looks mostly north of NZ (it always has that chance of clipping us).
Put short, the West Coast might see an overdue uptick in wet weather now, while eastern areas (especially in the South Island) have drier conditions. The North Island – further away from the high pressure – has more showers, some of those heavy afternoon ones, and also the chance of a northern low brushing by. But to keep it simple, over this
specific next week ahead, if you live in a region that’s dry already, it will likely get even drier.
Philip Duncan NEWS Weather
SAME AS: The latest soil moisture anomaly map. Simply put, if you live in a region that’s dry already, it will likely get even drier. Image: NIWA
